This is the first chapter of my new Rohan-centric AU. A lot more is explained in the Author's Note at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

His earliest memories were always of fire, unbridled and destructive.

Looking back on it now, it made perfect sense. He had been born into the throngs of war, his first few months of existence spent in hiding or on the run. He had always assumed that the screams and cries he remembered were his own, but he now realized that to be only half true.

Rohan sighed, running his hand through short, dark hair. Just an hour ago he had been normal. Well, as normal as an airbender in hiding could be. Taking care of his mother and their farm, and trying to stay out of the spotlight.

But now he knew the truth. He was Rohan, the last airbender. The grandson of Avatar Aang, the man who had stemmed a world war at age twelve.

When the masked visitor had come to the door his mother had been worried, putting Rohan on the defensive. But when the man knocked politely and said something about pai sho, his mother had smiled and let him in, waving Rohan off to go make tea. When he returned with the steaming cups, the man had removed his hood, revealing gray hair and smiling eyes that had seen far too much destruction in their years. And then the stranger had uttered the words that changed his life forever.

"We have found the Avatar."

His mother had froze then, hand still over the pai sho board poised for a move. The piece in her hand-a white lotus, outdated in most modern games-fell and rolled to the ground. "Where is he?" his mother asked, breathless.

"She," the man had responded. "She's in the earth kingdom, not too far from here."

"And you're sure she's the avatar?"

The man had frowned, increasing the etching of wrinkles around his mouth and forehead. "It's the strongest lead we've got in ten years. We used to locate the avatar at birth and reveal their real identity at sixteen, but with the current...stance against bending, you can imagine how difficult it is to gather information on benders. Nobody wants to talk, even to old masters."

"And what does that have to do with me and my son?"

For the first time, the man had turned his head and met Rohan's eyes, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. "My dear, I think it's time you told your son who he really is."

And so, an hour and much talking later, Rohan sat in his room, trying to make sense of it all.

He had a little knowledge of the war that had started in Republic City and spread throughout the world. How could he not? It was the reason he and his mother rarely left their tiny farm, secluded amongst the mountains. They traded only when they needed to, and though Rohan had studied a little in the village, the school there only held classes once a week. History was a banned subject, the current regime always worrying about students trying to regain bending's former glory.

The Equalists had sentries everywhere, and anybody who showed signs of bending was immediately arrested and shipped to the capital of Republic City to be "cleansed." They would return, months later, never quite the same.

Rohan had always known that, in order to keep his bending, he would have to hide it from the world. He didn't know that he also needed to hide it because he was the last airbender alive.

His grandfather was the hero Avatar Aang. He had never formally learned about him, of course, but there were always whispers. An airbender so powerful he defeated the tyrannical Fire Nation at the age of twelve. But his legacy had ended with Avatar Korra, who had perished at the hands of Amon during the uprising of the Equalist Empire.

His father was Tenzin, the airbending council member of Republic City. He had been captured by Amon too, as had his mother and siblings. Until tonight, he didn't know he once had siblings, and the thought made him feel like there was a gaping hole in his chest. Only he and his mother had managed to escape, the rest of his family left for dead in the grip of the Equalist leader.

Rohan sighed again, leaning his head against the window pane. Now he knew why his mother was so much more fearful of the Equalist sentries than anybody else in the area. She thought they would take her only son, the last thing she had left.

He lifted his head up when he heard the door to his room slide open. "Rohan?" His mother tentatively took a step into the room. "Are you alright?"

He drew away from the window and looked over to his mother. She looked tired, and older than he could ever remember seeing her. He noticed the gray streak of hair running next to her left temple, and the lines permanently etched around her mouth and forehead. The face of someone who had seen years of sorrow and despair. How had he never noticed before?

"I'm...okay." Rohan dropped his gaze, and picked at a loose thread on his pants. An earthy brown, standard casual-ware for the Earth Kingdom. "I just wish you had told me sooner."

His mother sighed and walked further into the room, dropping into a threadbare chair next to him. "I know, I was selfish to keep it from you. But you are the only thing I have left in this world, and your happiness always brought me peace. I was going to tell you on your eighteenth birthday, but it seems the Order of the White Lotus beat me to it."

He looked up to meet his mother's eyes and immediately felt any anger replaced with a hollow feeling of sorrow. His poor mother, living through the pain of losing a husband and three children that he never knew. Instinctively, Rohan reached over and wrapped his arms around his mother's shoulders, feeling the slight moisture of tears around her eyes.

"It's okay mom, I'm just sorry this all happened."

She drew back, eyes bright and gleaming with pride for her son. "Oh Rohan, you've grown up to be so brave and noble. Your father would have been so proud."

Rohan felt an odd twinge at the mention of his father, the first time his mother had ever willingly brought up the subject. She must have noticed his discomfort, because she frowned and leaned back, folding her hands in her lap.

"I'm sure you must have more questions," she said, not quite meeting his eyes. "It's been a long time since I have talked about the past, but I will try my best to answer anything you ask."

Rohan didn't have to think. "Tell me about my father."

His mother smiled. "Your father was a kind and powerful man, who was unerringly loyal to his family and his city. He was a just advocate for all his people-benders and non-benders alike. He fought tooth and nail to keep Amon from destroying the city he loved."

"He was there when Amon took power?"

"We all were," she sighed. "It was a terrible time, every bender worrying if they were next on Amon's list. He started with the triads, gaining support from people who had been oppressed by the awful gang violence in Republic City. Then he went for the politicians, who he insisted were corrupt. Then he went for everyone else, and Republic City fell."

Rohan tried to put together the events with what little he knew of history. "How was our family captured? How did we get away, if they didn't?"

Her eyes closed, and Rohan felt guilty for forcing her to relive what must be her most awful memory. But his curiosity outweighed his guilt and he waited for her to answer.

"It's a complicated and long story," she began. "But it started with the Avatar. Korra was just a girl, your age, when she arrived at Republic City to learn airbending. But when Amon started moving forward with his 'revolution,' she ended up right in the middle of it. He wanted to use her-the avatar, the most powerful being on earth-to make a point about his own dark power.

"Tenzin, your father, tried to protect her. He tried to keep the council from taking rash moves against non-bending citizens to subdue the flames of rebellion and anger. But in the end, the council of Republic City fell and Amon used his army of machines to take over the city. We called for backup from the United Forces, but both fleets also fell. The new technology was too strong, too powerful.

"At Tenzin's suggestion, Korra went into hiding. But Amon wanted her, as she was the last thing standing between him and Republic City. So Amon captured us all-Tenzin, me, and all of you children-to lure her out into the open. And it worked." His mother shut her eyes tightly, angrily brushing tears from her cheeks. "The monster captured and used my husband and children as bait, just so he could gain more power.

"When we were captured, you were hardly a day old. We were kept in a prison cell, but he brought out your father and siblings in front of a crowd to take away their bending. He tied them to a platform and I had to watch as he raised them above our heads into the crowd. Once they were raised, I could hear what was happening from the noises above. Korra came to rescue them. She almost succeeded: she freed your father and your siblings and stayed behind to create a diversion for them.

"Your father came and got us, and rushed us all to meet with a White Lotus sentry that was stationed outside. Equalists found us just as we got out. You and I got away, but Tenzin and the children stayed to fight." His mother stopped trying to swipe at the tears, and her voice lost some of its strength. "I begged the children to leave with me, but they had too much of their grandmother in them. The White Lotus took us away, but the rest of our family ended up in the hands of Amon."

Silence descended on the room as Pema finished her story. Rohan blinked, fitting the pieces of the story together. "Did he kill them?" he whispered, not wanting to know the answer.

Pema shut her eyes tightly, a tear escaping and running quickly down the side of her face. "I can only assume so," she said, equally as soft. "Amon doesn't take prisoners. He doesn't need to. He takes away their bending and then releases them, or he doesn't release them at all. Part of his success at gaining support stemmed from his supposed humane technique of subduing 'the enemy'. Some people don't understand how torturous it is to take away somebody's bending."

His entire family, murdered for the sake of equality. It seemed so backward. Rohan frowned. "Wait, what happened to Avatar Korra?"

She frowned. "Nobody knows for certain what happened after Korra was captured. Word spread quickly that Amon took her bending away. But a few months later, we got word in the Earth Kingdom that she was killed." She looked out of the window, a pained look on her face. "Not a week after that, Equalist armies arrived on the Earth Kingdom shores, the White Lotus helped us moved out here to the farm, and you know the rest."

"What exactly is the White Lotus?" Except for the name of an outdated pai sho piece, the name was unfamiliar to him.

She smiled at that. "The Order of the White Lotus is an old society, almost as old as the avatar incarnation. They are keepers of history and information, and try to protect the avatar and help keep balance in the world. They were a secret until your grandfather's time, and have gone in hiding again since the fall of Avatar Korra. Master Howl is a member-he was the one who helped us escape Republic City in the first place."

As if summoned, the White Lotus member knocked softly on the door frame at the mention of his name.

"Madam Pema, if I may," he began, looking distinctly uncomfortable at interrupting. "I need to return to the compound soon, but I have something to ask of you and your son."

She frowned. "What is it?"

The White Lotus member, Howl, coughed. "It is more directed at your son, my lady."

Rohan narrowed his eyes and turned his attention to the man in the doorway. "What could you possibly want with me?"

The sentry sighed and leaned against the doorframe. It seemed everybody these days was simply tired of all the fighting. "You are the last airbender, Rohan. We need your help to train the Avatar, and we believe that she in turn can help you connect to some of the culture and past of your people. We are asking you and your mother to relocate to the White Lotus compound to begin training."

Rohan's jaw hung open as the offer was voiced. "You want me to teach airbending? I hardly know airbending! I've never been trained myself!"

Howl nodded, as if expect this answer. "We know. If there were any other options, we would have brought both you and the avatar to train with them. But you are the only airbender left, and we need to train the Avatar in the four elements as soon as we can. Amon's regime will only spread, and without the Avatar we may be powerless to stop it."

Rohan pinched the bridge of his nose. He had trained himself in airbending the best he could while in hiding from anti-bending sentries. But all of his talent was self taught, and he knew there was much he didn't know. "How, exactly, am I supposed to teach airbending if I hardly know it myself?"

The sentry nodded. "That's where we believe the Avatar can help you. An avatar can communicate with their past lives, which include your grandfather Avatar Aang. If she is able to speak with him in the spirit world, she may be able to relay information to you about airbending."

"So you want me to learn airbending techniques from my grandfather, relayed through an Avatar in training, and then teach them back to said Avatar?"

Howl nodded, looking apologetic. "Yes, that's about right." He shrugged. "We have other information for you-old scrolls from the former Air Temples, oral stories passed down through generations. But we still believe the best way for you to learn airbending would be through the Avatar."

Rohan sat down heavily, the sudden influx of information starting to catch up with him. He looked up at the sentry, and the back over at his mother. "What do you think, mom?"

His mother stood behind him and gave him a watery smile. "I believe you should go, my son. You are an airbender, and it's in your blood to seek your own journey and your own path." She closed her eyes tightly. "But I will not be going with you."

He leapt to his feet. "What? Why not!" He swept his hand towards the window. "What will you do on the farm? You won't be safe here!"

His mother chuckled, and put a hand on his shoulder. "I am not as defenseless as you think, Rohan. I am also a non-bender, and not in any real danger from this occupation. A long time has passed since I was an air acolyte, I doubt I'm going to be tracked down." She squeezed his shoulder and let go. "As for the farm, a young couple from town have had their eye on it for a while. I believe I will hand it over to them, and retire to Omashu."

"But there are Equalist sentries all over Omashu!"

Pema leveled a gaze on her son that he immediately recognized as the "stop-talking-back-at-your-mother" look. "Fine," he pouted, somewhat mollified.

Howl chuckled in the background. "I believe he gets that pout from you, Pema."

His mother laughed, a sound Rohan couldn't remember hearing for a long time. "I suppose you're right. He certainly didn't get it from his father. He did, however, inherit his rather hot headed protective streak."

Rohan scowled. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here!"

The distant sound of a van passing on the highway sobered the brief humorous moment in the room. Pema sighed. "When will you be leaving?"

"I will be heading back to the compound as soon as I can," the man dressed in blue responded. "We need to return under cover of darkness." He turned to Rohan. "Will you be accompanying me, young master?"

Rohan felt uncomfortable being addressed as a young master. He looked at his mother and then at the sentry. "

"Good," he nodded. "We will leave before dawn. Pack only what you need, because soon we will be travelling to Ba Sing Se."

"Why?"

"Why else?" the elder White Lotus sentry smiled wryly. "To pick up the Avatar."

A/N:

I'm not usually one to go for AU's.

I swear, I'm not. I'm about as canon compliant as an author/fan can be. When my OTP didn't come true in ATLA I immersed myself post-finale canon compliant fiction written on both sides of the shipping war.

But this one idea, this bug, really bit me and I just had to start writing it out. And it's turning into an epic.

It's based on one silly little thought. What if Korra and Mako didn't defeat Amon in the arena, and Pema and the baby were the only ones to escape as Republic City fell?

It's a pivotal change, and opens the door for so many possibilities. A world at war with itself, a repressed society of benders, another "last airbender", a new Avatar, a journey through past and present to bring balance to the world.

Call it an homage. Not a rewrite, but a continuation of the story in a parallel universe where the conflict is kept alive a bit longer. I loved the finale for Korra, and this is my way of keeping the world alive until 2013, using cues from both ATLA and LoK. A serious, somewhat dark premise, spaced out by quirky characters and amusing dialogue.

And yes, I had to add in Howl as the White Lotus member. I suck at coming up with names, so when I needed a name for him I couldn't help but use the one that our amazing fandom brought to life. This incarnation of Howl was stationed on air temple island, and did not have any relationship or friendship with Korra, though he was present for the war.