A/N: I wasn't expecting so many follows so thank you everyone for deciding to embark on this journey with me. I was sick for a few days so I'm sorry this took so long, but here we go now! I hope you enjoy! God bless!

Also, I do realize that the bison were raised at The Eastern Air Temple but I just wanted to change it up because of the story. It's an AU, it happens.

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or its characters.

Chapter 1

The rain that had started after the strike of the Air Temples, was as thick as woolen sheets, blazing across their skins as the two airbenders tried their best to see ahead. The beast they rode upon was severely untrained, dropping sharply whenever he couldn't see due to the blinding storm.

Aang made a quick decision, one he would have never considered had he not had Appa and Katara to think about. He directed the large bison in the direction of a cave on a lone island. He had wanted to reach the other temples, but he figured he was already too late.

It was just all too surreal. Like a nightmare that had jumped from his mind and into the real world. When the monks had told him they felt as though something bad was about to happen, they never used the world torture or death in their descriptions.

Even Katara moved as though she was in a trance, shakily jumping to the dry ground of the cave and wringing out her hair mechanically. Grey eyes looked at the wall unseeingly as the sounds of the rain pattering outside filled their senses.

The young man took a good look at the slender airbender as she just stood there, not really knowing what to do and trying hard not to break down. Her expression was one of loss, her usually prim and proper red and yellow robes now tattered and charred. His heart broke a little when he spotted the singed tips of her usually immaculate, brunette curls. She had never looked more lost or terrified than she did in that moment while standing in front of him, completely safe, yet completely alone even if she really wasn't.

His heart ached to take away the pain from his best friend.

They had met on a warm summer day, the sunlight warming the stone beneath their feet as they stood in front of one another awkwardly. As a boy of only 7 years of age, Aang wasn't much to look at. He was as skinny as the staff he carried around in his grasp and his head was as bare as a freshly picked moonpeach.

Even at 8 years old though, Katara shown with a light of her own. She was so different from the other girls he had met from The Western Air Temple. She had wide set eyes, bigger than what was the norm for his culture, and her skin was a few shades darker than his own. She had been taller than him at that time,
something she had never let him live down even after his growth spurt had kicked in a few years later. Something that he had found most unusual about her though, wasn't her incredibly headstrong personality or obsession with order, it was the fact that she had two orange beads resting on the top of her forehead, forming little loops with her hair that extended to somewhere hidden behind her ears. He had instantly been drawn to her.

She was training in medicine, a job her mother had always prided herself in. Part of her training was to attend to the sick bison in the stables.

Unknowingly in Aang's absence from The Western Air Temple, Appa had fallen ill. Katara had been the one asked to look after him.

They didn't get along at first being so different, but then they eventually found their balance. He was awkward back then, stumbling over his words just trying to put them into a sentence that actually made sense. He wasn't around girls normally, so he really had no idea what to say to one.

Katara was stubborn, yet incredibly patient. As he became tongue tied, she would usually turn the conversation to a topic that she found easy to talk about. Facts about sky bison and all the different kinds of medicines were usually what they would turn to. Though Aang realized soon it was incredibly one sided and ended up resting his chin in his hand and simply listening to the girl prattle on about the things she felt passionate about.

There was just something so fulfilling about seeing her happy.

Their friendship took a few years to build, considering that Aang was at the Southern Air Temple the majority of his time and there was really no way to stay in contact with his friend at the other. But neither of them gave up on it.

Even after Appa was well again, Aang would spend his days at The Western Air Temple with the beautiful girl who had nursed his bison back to health.
As time wore on, they became more comfortable around each other and talked about their lives rather than the facts they had been learning during their lessons.

Over the course of those years, they had gotten into a good amount of trouble together. On one of his visits, Katara had tried convincing him to sneak off with her to find her father whom she was convinced was still alive. When they had gotten to the bison stables, ready to leave and follow whatever hope she was still holding on to, they had mounted on to the wrong bison in the dark and were violently bucked off.

Their was a bison back then who was known as Mushi. No one had ever really claimed him, his wild nature being an extreme no no for a kind of people who were so calm and serene. But the nuns could not just throw him into the wild like nobody's business so they kept him in a separate stall away from all the other bison.

Somehow, that was the stall Aang and Katara had found themselves in.

That was the first time he had ever seen her scared.

A few broken bones later, Aang was forced to return to The Southern Air Temple. He was only 11 at that time.

The next few years had flown by in a blur to him, many a milestone passed during the lapse. The biggest one of all, earning his tattoos.

When he had returned to The Western Air Temple for the first time after receiving his pale blue arrows, Katara gave him a strange look as he presented himself to her.

The young airbender had never been very good at bending her element, her grasp of the concept of air coming to her a little slower than everybody else's. Though she was serene and agile like an airbender should be, she could also have a hot temper. This usually hampered her skills.

In that moment, he saw fear in her eyes again. A different fear. A one of failure.

Their friendship grew, though they didn't get to spend much time together. Aang easily decided she was his favorite person in the world, even more so than Gyatso. There was just something about her that was welcoming, something that was right. He never felt displaced around her as he did around the boys back at home.

When he had found out he was the Avatar only a few short days ago, he had been scared. Scared and also a bit confused. It didn't help that practically all of his friends turned their backs on him. He decided then that he couldn't tell Katara who he really was until it was absolutely necessary.

When he had arrived at The Western Air Temple to tell the news of his knowledge of his title, he had been met by Katara at the front of the bison stables with a look of worry evident on her features. That was the third time he had seen fear in her eyes.

She told him that she had heard a few of the nuns talking about danger approaching, a threat that could potentially harm her and her people. Aang had brushed it off though. He told her to relax and that it probably was just a paranoia running through the community. But he couldn't deny that, in his bones, he could feel something coming.

"Aang?"

The boy was quickly shaken from his thoughts as he was met with fear filled eyes that he was becoming all too accustomed to seeing.

"Yes?"

Katara's voice was hoarse as she whispered, "It's kind of cold."

The air did have a certain chill to it, most likely a product of the falling rain. A streak of lightning lit the cave momentarily, Aang catching sight of the saddle he left attached to Appa's back. There should be an emergency blanket stashed in there.

"Let me check the saddle."

A blanket was soon found along with two sticks, though Aang had never really learned how to start a fire. A certain frustration set in when he realized he had the energy in his body to spark a fire with the snap of his fingers.

"Please don't."

Katara's plea was meak as she wrapped the woolen blanket around her shaking shoulders. Resting her back against the cool stone wall of the cave, she looked up at him with a desperate, silver gaze.

"I don't ever want to see it again."

Aang nodded, understanding her stance. It had only been a few hours since they had been surrounded by an intense heat, the only sounds coming from them being that of their labored breathing.

Even though he understood her reasoning, he couldn't deny the fact that he was cold. His orange wrap only covered one shoulder, leaving his other exposed to the harsh wind that weaved its way through the mouth of the cave. Katara could sense his discomfort as well.

Promptly, she lifted a hand that had been curled into her chest and invited him into the warmth of the blanket. He didn't even hesitate.

Sides touching, the two Air Nomads looked directly ahead at the stone wall in front of them, their only light being that in which the lightning bestowed on them from time to time. The only sound that could be heard was that of Appa's labored breaths, and the falling ran that continued to splatter on the ground relentlessly.

Katara was the first to speak.

"There was so much fire."

"I know, Katara."

She shook her head, a look of disbelief appearing on her features, "But it wasn't only from the firebenders. Before it rained, the sky had been on fire too."

"It was a comet."

The girl's brows furrowed, her gaze shifting to the face of her companion, "How did you know that?"

Because that was the danger the nuns had been speaking of.

"From my studies."

Though she wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, Katara was too shaken up to really press him about it at the moment, "I just don't understand why anyone would attack us. We are peaceful people. We have never even tried to resist the Fire Nation before. They have always just left us alone."

Guilt gripped at the edges of his heart as he wrapped a comforting arm around the young woman's shoulders, "It doesn't matter. They just want power. They don't care whether they have to step on other people to obtain it."

"That's sick."

Aang nodded, "I agree."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, a boom of thunder causing Appa to jump a bit before he settled again.

"Aang," The airbender looked down at the girl, her eyes gazing directly into his, "What do we do now?"

"We fly to the other Air Temples and warn them."

The look Katara gave him told him exactly what she thought of that idea.

"This was all planned," She murmured, venom still evident in her voice though it remained weak from both her emotions and the smoke they had encountered earlier on, "They must have struck the other temples as well."

"You don't know that."

A fire became evident in Katara's eyes at his meek attempt of hope, "Don't pretend like you don't feel it too, Aang. The emptiness that is suddenly there."

The boy shook his head, "I feel it but I don't want to listen to it. I need to see everything for myself."

"You want to see our people dead?"

That silenced the young man quickly. In all honesty, he was a bit shocked at how blunt his companion was at the moment, her usually being the one who the more hopeful of the two. It was a scarier side of Katara that he had never seen before.

Even though he felt as though she wanted to be pushed away due to the attitude she was adopting,
a war obviously brewing within the confines of her own mind, he drew her in closer.

"I don't want to see them dead, Katara," He murmured the words into her hair, hugging her tightly to his side.

"Then what do you want to see?"

"Them," He turned his face so that his gaze could meet her's, "I want to see them alive, and I want this all to be a nightmare."

Katara said nothing, but he could feel her arms wrap around his waist, pulling him closer to her as he did the same in return.

Guilt still swam within him, consuming all of his thoughts. This had all been his fault. They were in this predicament because of him. He was the Avatar, the Fire Nation wanted him. He had unknowingly just destroyed his nation.

And the young woman hugging him had no idea that he was the reason she was in so much pain. That he was the reason she most likely lost her mother. That it was him who had made them the last of their people.

Finally, that was enough to make him break. He began to cry, and so did she.