And boom second chapter is good to go!

So glad you guys liked the first chapter, good to know I treated all the characters with respect. That's always the thing I'm afraid of when it comes to doing a story about a series I've never done before, making sure I keep everyone in character and make it seem natural.

So hey so far so good!

Once again thank you to Petrus, Qazse, and YellowPikmin88 for going over this chapter before I uploaded it.

And here we'll learn a little more about how the Devil Fruits work in the Avatar world so look forward to that.

Hope you all enjoy!


BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Aang screamed as he and Appa soared through the air above the southern sea, but it wasn't a pleasant trip. Storm clouds were seen through out and thunder boomed throughout as lightning provided Aang his only source of light.

The winds were strong, too strong for even Appa as the bison was sent falling downward and splashing down into the water. The waves were fierce and unforgiving. Appa and Aang managed to resurface but were only forced down into the water again by another wave.

The raging waters proved to strong for them as they both sank down, slowly losing consciousness. But as they sank down, something truly strange happened. Aang opened his eyes yet again, but his eyes were glowing brightly. His tattoos then started to glow as well as he slammed his fist together, causing a sphere of air to surround him and Appa that slowly began to freeze over.


"Aang! Wake up!" Aang immediately sat up with his eyes wide open. He breathed heavily for a moment and wiped sweat off his head before looking at his surroundings. He seemed to be in a small tent with an animal skin cot and a blanket on him. He looked at the icy floor on the tent and it all came back to him. Waking up after Katara and Sokka finding him in the icy berg, meeting Luffy and Coby, and then heading to the southern water tribe. Looking at the entrance of the tent, Aang saw Coby looking at him strangely. "Hey are you ok? You were moving around a lot in your sleep,"

"Uh, y-yeah I'm fine," Aang smiled at Coby before standing up and stretching his body out. "Just had a crazy dream is all, no big deal."

"If you say so," Coby gave Aang a nod and a small smile. He's made many crazy dreams before, well, mainly nightmares about Alvida and her crew. If Aang wanted to talk about it we would've. "Hey come on out, breakfast is served! I can't wait to actually have something fresh!"

"What does that mean?" But Aang didn't get an answer as Coby rushed out of the tent. Aang simply shrugged before walking out the tent and standing next to Coby who seemed to have frozen in place. "So what's for-" But Aang froze as he looked forward and witnessed what Coby and everyone else in the village, including Katara and Sokka, were seeing.

MUNCH! MUNCH! MUNCH!

CHOMP! CHOMP! CHOMP!

"Oh yeah!" Luffy, who was now wearing a water tribe coat, yelled out his mouth completely full. But despite that he kept shoveling in more food. While Aang was asleep, Sokka had managed to catch a large fish and began cooking it over a fire. Right as it was cooked Sokka was about to dig in and start handing out portions to the other villagers…but then Luffy woke up due to the scent of cooked fish. "This is great! I could eat this all day!"

"It took me all morning to catch that…" Sokka whimpered as he watched his hard-earned fish being completely devoured.

"He's even…eating the bones…" Coby let out with a dropped jaw.

"And I thought you were a pig…" Katara whispered to Sokka as she couldn't help but watch the pirate pig himself out. She wanted to look away, but it was like a ship wreck and she just couldn't.

"So…what's left for us?" Aang asked as he watched Luffy stuff his face. Granted he wasn't gonna eat any fish himself due to the fact that he was a vegetarian. But still seeing someone else eat was making him feel hungry and it felt like forever since he's last eaten.

"Uh, here," Katara walked up to Aang and Coby with a basket of bread in her hands. "It's not much but we still have plenty of seaweed bread,"

"Seaweed bread?" Coby asked as he and Aang took some. The pink haired boy never had something like this before. It looked enough like normal bread just with some shades of green in it. Granted green and bread usually don't mix but Coby could tell it wasn't moldy. He's knows plenty about moldy bread after all. Taking a bite of it, Coby hummed a bit as he tasted it. "Hey that's not to bad, a little bland but not bad,"

"BUUUUUURP!" A loud burp got their attention and they looked to see Luffy laying on the ground with his belly bloated. Luffy smacked his gut a few times before grinning and laughing. "Oh yeah! That hit the spot!"

"W-Well, u-um, glad you liked it," Katara said sheepishly as she grabbed Luffy's arm to help him stand up. Aang and Coby then walked up to Katara and Luffy with the former two still munching down on bread. "Anyway, allowed me to introduce you all to our village. Aang, Luffy, Coby, meet our entire village."

Katara gestured forward where a group of woman and small children stood in front of them. Strangely there wasn't a single man in the entire village. There was Sokka but that was about as close as it got. "Hey what's up?" Luffy casual greeted while Coby simply waved with Aang giving a respectful bow. However many of the villagers backed away a bit looking a bit fearful, the mothers hiding their kids behind them. Luffy, Coby, and Aang rose a brow at this before turning to Katara. "What's up with them?"

"Yeah, they're all looking at me strangely," Aang quickly agree uncomfortable with the way everyone was looking at him. It's like they thought he was an alien or something. "Did Appa sneeze on me or something?"

"W-W-We didn't d-do anything wrong did we?" Coby said with a worried tone. He just got away from pirates he didn't want to have a whole village after him.

"Well no one has seen an airbender in a hundred years," An elderly voice spoke up. Stepping up from the crowd was on old woman, probably the oldest in the entire village. "We thought they were extinct, until my granddaughter and grandson found you,"

That shocked Aang to the core as his eyes widened greatly. "Extinct?" Why would they say something like that? That didn't make any sense at all.

"Aang, Luffy, Coby, this is my grandmother." Katara introduced the old woman to the three of them.

"Call me Gran-Gran," Gran-Gran told them with a flat tone and dull look.

"Hey Gran-Gran!" Luffy smiled widely and waved to Gran-Gran. "I'm Luffy!"

Gran-Gran then turned to Luffy and examined him. "You're also a reason why everyone's so on edge," Gran-Gran told the straw hat boy, making him raise a brow. "My grandson told everyone you're a pirate, and we don't exactly have high opinions on them."

"Really? Why's that?" Luffy asked in a confused tone. Pirates were the coolest people in the world, why would people not like them?

However Coby gave Luffy an unimpressed look. "Most people aren't exactly too fond of pirates Luffy," Coby informed the rubber man as if it was obvious. Which it pretty much was. "Normally when people think pirate they don't think good things and I'm pretty sure I would know!"

"Exactly, which is why you need to leave as soon as possible," Sokka told Luffy before going up to Aang and snatching away a wooden staff that was sheathed on his back and examined it, looking unimpressed. "And what's this supposed to be, a weapon? You can't stab anything with this!"

Aang waved his hand and created a small current of air that blew the staff outta Sokka's hands and back into his own. "It's not for stabbing," Aang pointed out as he clicked a button on his staff and everyone watched in amazement as glider wings opened up on the staff. "It's for airbendering!"

"Magic trick!" A little village girl smiled as she and a few other of the village children ran up to Aang. "Do it again!"

"Not magic, airbending!" Aang explained as he twirled his glider around and shot out small burst of air from it to demonstrate. "It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly!"

"Wow you can fly too!?" Luffy asked in an excited tone as both Coby and Katara face palmed. Katara tried to explain to Luffy last night that she couldn't fly like Sokka said but it was like in one ear and out the other.

"Sure can with this," Aang nodded at Luffy.

Sokka however wasn't buying it and crossed his arms. "Ya know, last time I checked, humans can't fly!" Sokka was having enough of this ridiculousness. He just wanted Aang and Luffy out of his village before they caused any more trouble.

Aang smirked at Sokka and decided to challenge that. "Check again!" Aang then held his glider behind him and jumped up high into the air, releasing a burst of wind from his feet to help give him a boost. Everyone looked up in amazement as they witnessed Aang use his glider to fly through the air, even doing a few fancy tricks as well.

"Woooooooah! Cool!" Luffy grinned as he looked up as Aang did a big loop-de-loop. "I wanna try!"

"Man, I wish I could do that," Coby whispered, imagining himself soaring through the air without a care in the world. But Aang seemed to get a bit to cocky as he was flying and failed to see a snow watch tower coming up in front of him and crashed headfirst into it. "On second thought…maybe it seems harder than it looks…"

"My watch tower!" Sokka screamed as he watched the tower he worked so hard on be destroyed.

Meanwhile as Luffy started laughing Katara, Coby, and the village children went over to Aang with the former helping him stand up. "That was incredible!" Katara complimented Aang.

"Yeah it was!" Luffy stated as he walked up to Aang. "You're gonna be a great part of my crew! And so will Katara with her waterbending skills!"

"R-Right…" Katara nervously smiled in response. Little did Luffy know her greatest skills were struggling to lift up some water. "Skills…"

"Crew?" Gran-Gran's voice cut in causing Katara to flinch. Slowly, Katara slowly turned to see her grandmother looking at her in shock. "Katara what is he talking about?"

"She and Aang are joining my pirate crew!" Luffy revealed before Katara could explain things to her gran-gran simply. Gran-Gran gasped as Katara gulped a bit in worry while the other woman in the village gave Katara shocked looks. Joining a pirate crew? Was she serious? "I came here to south pole to look for a waterbender and I found an airbender too! Talk about lucky huh?"

"Katara…you're not actually joining him right?" Gran-Gran asked her granddaughter in a quiet tone.

"W-Well…" Katara tried to give an answer but found herself unable to find the words. Joining Luffy to go sail around the world certainly had a lot of opportunities, but that would mean leaving her village…

"No, she's not." Suddenly Luffy looked down to see Sokka holding a sharp boomerang to his neck. "She's staying here and he's leaving! She's just being a silly little girl!"

"What did you just call me?!" Katara yelled as she glared at Sokka with gritted teeth.

"Hey," Luffy spoke up as he poked the weapon that Sokka held up to his neck, "What's this thing?"

"It's my boomerang," Sokka explained as he continued to hold the boomerang to Luffy's neck. "It's my signature weapon and you're gonna get a piece of it if you don't leave now!"

"A boomerang is your signature weapon?" Luffy asked before he started to laugh right in Sokka's face, taking Sokka aback a bit. "Hahahahah! You fight with a toy! That's so dumb!"

"Pfft," Katara put a hand to her mouth to try and stop her laughter, but a few giggles did leak out.

Eventually both Luffy's and Katara's laughter spread to many of the others. Eventually Aang, Coby, and many of the village children started to laugh at Sokka's expense making his face red from embarrassment and anger. "S-Shut up! A boomerang is a great weapon!" Sokka yelled as Luffy stopped laughing to give Sokka an annoyed look. "Look you're not taking my sister ok so just drop it!"

"Well if you're gonna cry about you can join her on my crew," Luffy told Sokka as he crossed his arms and looked Sokka in the eye. "But you should probably get a real weapon,"

"Would you be quiet about my boomerang already!" Sokka yelled as he held onto his boomerang possessively. No one would take his precious boomerang away. "And speaking of which where are the rest of your crew huh? Waiting in the shadows so they can ambush us?"

"No," Luffy simply shook his head before pointing at both Aang and Katara. "They aren't hiding they're right there."

Sokka rose a brow as Aang grinned and waved while Katara just looked at her brother with crossed arms. "Wait, that's it?" Sokka questioned as he looked back at Luffy with a confused look. "You don't have anyone else with you?"

"Nope!" Luffy shook his head with his big grin plastered on his face. "Aang and Katara are the first members of my crew! I already got two people to join me!"

"Wait Coby aren't you apart of Luffy's crew?" Katara asked as she looked at the pink haired boy.

"Uh, n-not exactly," Coby shook his head with a sheepishly smile. "Me and L-Luffy just kinda ran into each other and he h-helped me out of j-jam you could say,"

"So you don't even have a crew with you?" Sokka smirked before he began to laugh and point at Luffy. "Hahahaha! You're not a pirate!" In an instant Luffy's grin disappeared as he glared at Sokka and the water tribe male was unable to reacted as Luffy knocked Sokka right on the head with enough force to send him to the ground, making everyone nearby gasp. "OW! Hey! Whatchu hit me for?!"

"Because I felt like it," Luffy gave the same answer he gave to Coby when he hit him. "And you were being annoying."

"Luffy!" Katara yelled as she went to help her brother up. Sure she was annoyed with him at the moment but it didn't mean she wanted to see him hurt, even if it was just a knock on the head. "You can't just hit someone for no reason!"

"Well how else was I supposed to get him to shut up?" Luffy asked making Katara deadpan at him as Sokka glared. Luffy then looked at Sokka and pointed at him with a fire burning in his eyes. "And I am a pirate! Not just any pirate, I'm the one whose gonna be King of the Pirates!"

This got everyone to stare at Luffy strangely, his words echoing throughout the village. "King of the Pirates?" Aang repeated with a whispered voice.


Back in the icy ocean, Zuko's ship continued to sail through the waters. Ever since seeing that light yesterday, Zuko had ordered his men to search all over that area for any signs of the Avatar. That light…there was no mistaking it. It had to be the Avatar, nothing else could produce something like that. As they searched Zuko knew he had to get himself ready for an intense fight, so he ordered his uncle to train him but…it wasn't going so well in the eyes of the prince.

"Enough!" Zuko yelled after easily downing two of his men. "I've been drilling this sequence all day. Teach me the next set! I'm more than ready!"

"No, you are impatient," Iroh told Zuko calmly while sitting in front of his table with a bowl of food and a cup of tea. "You have yet to master your basics. Drill it again!"

Zuko growled and clenched his teeth in anger. He was getting more then sick of this. He's done these drills countless times and his uncle, who is supposed to be a firebending master, wouldn't teach him any advanced moves. "The sages tell us that the Avatar is the last airbender." Zuko growled out as Iroh gave his nephew a look that showed he wasn't too happy with his attitude. "He must be over a hundred years old by now. He's had a century to master the four elements! I'll need more than basic firebending to defeat him. You will teach me the advanced set!"

Iroh simply sighed as he looked up at his nephew. "If you can't master even the basics of fire bending, then your chances of besting the Avatar if he even is around are slim at best," Iroh spoke to his nephew calmly before narrowing his eyes. "Not to mention that Devil Fruit user might be with him, which will only make it all the harder,"

"That stretchy kid…" Zuko was unable to forget the encounter from yesterday. How could he? Zuko witnessed some kid in a straw hat stretch like rubber and take out a pirate captain that had to be at least ten times heavier than him with little effort. While Zuko's main target was the Avatar, that straw hat guy did peak his interest. "You mentioned Devil Fruit when he showed up. What is that?"

"Sit," Iroh told his nephew while gesturing to the spot in front of his mini table. "I'll tell you one of the greatest legend of all these waters and even the world. One that dates back to a time before even bending."

"A time before bending?" Zuko asked as he sat down. "But how's that possible?"

"When it comes to the Devil Fruit, nothing is impossible," Iroh explained as he looked his Nephew in the eye. "The origin of the Devil Fruit is unknown, but legends about them date back to times long forgotten, many claim they are the incarnations of the sea devil but no one truly knows. What is known is that when you eat from the fruit you gain a special and unique power."

"Like that kids rubber body," Zuko stated with Iroh nodding. Zuko looked down in thought for a bit, processing the information his uncle told him before looking back up at Iroh. "I need one of those fruit." Iroh gasped in response as Zuko stood up. "If I had the power of the fruit and my bending, no one would be able to defeat me. Not even the Avatar!"

"I'm afraid you would only have one of those of things," Iroh pointed out in a dead serious voice. "It's said when a bender eats from the fruit they gain the power of the Devil Fruit but they completely lose their bending abilities,"

Zuko's eyes widened in response. "Lose your bending…" He couldn't even imagine not being a firebender. The thought sent shivers down his spine.

Iroh nodded his head. "Not to mention how rare they are. A single Devil Fruit is said to be worth hundreds of millions of berries. You could find one of course, but the search would be long with many others on the same trail." Iroh further explained the risk of the Devil Fruit. "And you would have to take the ultimate gamble. You wouldn't know what power the fruit will bare. It could be something incredible and powerful, or it would simply allow you the ability to turn into a girl or change your skin color."

"I see…" Zuko said as he lowered his head.

"If you want my opinion, you should focus on what you have now," Iroh said as he drank from his cup of tea. "Hone the skills you know and have experienced with to their fullest potential."

Back at the southern water tribe, Sokka was currently in the middle of warrior training…which involved trying to teach a bunch of uninterested young boys to fight and be soldiers. However the training quickly devolved in the kids all wanting to take potty breaks and play with both Aang and Luffy which the kids quickly grew to like much to Sokka's frustration. As Sokka growled at seeing the 'warriors' he was trying to train playing with Appa, Coby walked up to him with a raised brow. "Don't you think they're a bit young to be training for that stuff?" Coby asked Sokka with a confused tone. Sure he's always wanted to join the marines ever since he was a kid but it's not like he was going through an intense work out routine when he was 6 or something like that, however old these kids were. "They're just kids."

"They're gonna need to learn sooner or later and I rather it be sooner," Sokka said firmly as he crossed his arms, his eyes twitching as he saw the kids using Appa's tail like a slide. "Ok stop! Stop it right now!" The children's laughter stopped immediately as Sokka barged in on their fun right at Luffy and Aang laughed and slide down Appa's tail together. Sokka then glared at Aang and yelled. "What's wrong with you?! We don't have time for fun and games with the war going on!"

"War?" Aang gave Sokka a confused look, not understanding what he meant. "What war?"

Meanwhile everyone, even the likes of Luffy, looked at Aang with a confused look. "You're kidding right?" There's no way anyone could not know about the war. Even the people in neutral territory had to know about it.

Aang opened his mouth to answer, but ended up spotting something on a nearby hill. "PENGUIN!" Aang yelled out in excitement as he spotted an otter-penguin and immediately began running after it.

"Hey wait for me!" Luffy yelled as he ran after Aang.

"They're kidding right?" Sokka asked Coby, who merely shrugged in response.

"Coby come on!" Katara yelled as she gestured the boy to follow her as she ran in the direction Luffy and Aang went. Coby followed the water bender up the hill and eventually came across a snowy field filled with hundreds of otter-penguins that were either just walking around or sliding down icebergs. "Aang! Luffy! Where are you?"

The sound of laughter got their attention and they saw Aang and Luffy trying to catch a penguin but both failing. "Hey come on little guy. Wanna do sledding?" Aang asked as he tried to jump on top of a penguin only for it to dodge leading to Aang belly flopping in the snow.

"Hey come back here!" Luffy yelled as he chased after a group of penguins that were belly sliding away. "Hahahah! I'm hungry!"

"How are you still hungry?!" Coby yelled at Luffy in disbelief. He only knew Luffy for less then a day and he was easily the hungriest person Coby knew.

"Is food all you think about?" Katara asked Luffy with hands on her hips. So far today she's watched Luffy single handily eat an entire massive fish, bones and all, as well as a bunch of seaweed bread, multiple bags of blubbered seal jerky, and a huge bowl of soup. "I swear you're an even bigger glutton then my brother,"

"Hehehehe, well I can't help it if something looks delicious," Luffy told Katara with his usual grin.

Coby sighed as Katara rolled her eyes but she couldn't help but smile. Luffy was strangely endearing despite his…quirks. Katara then turned to Aang, who was currently imitating a penguin, and made him an offer. "Aang, I'll help you catch a penguin if you teach me waterbending,"

"You got a deal!" Aang grinned as he failed to catch a penguin by the tail. "Just one little problem, I'm an airbender, not a waterbender. Isn't there something in your tribe who can teach you?"

Katara sighed sadly before shaking his head. "No." Katara shook her head, making Aang and Coby raise a brow at her. Luffy seemed to be interested in hearing this as well and turned to her. "You're looking at the only waterbender in the whole South Pole."

"The only one?" Luffy questioned with a raised brow. He thought the South Pole was full of them, it was the reason he came after all. "How come?" Katara's only response was to clench her eyes shut and look away, her face looking pained.

"Yeah, that isn't right," Aang shook his head and looked at the ground. "A waterbender needs to master water." Aang thought for a moment before coming up with the perfect idea. "What about the North Pole? There's another Water Tribe up there, right? Maybe they have waterbenders who could teach you."

"Aang that's absolutely crazy! That's on the other side of the world!" Coby yelled, not believing how nonchalant Aang was at suggesting something like that. Katara's probably already thought of that but didn't act upon it for obvious reasons. "Not to mention how dangerous the waters are these days! A trip like that is suicidal!"

"Not to mention how long it's been since we last contacted our sister tribe," Katara couldn't even remember a time in her life where her tribe contacted the north tribe. Fire nation ships as well as pirate ships made travelling really hard. "I just don't see how I could possibly get there…"

"I could take you!" Aang offered with a large grin. "I have a flying bison! Appa and I can personally fly you to the North Pole. Katara, we're going to find you a master!"

"Hell yeah!" Luffy spoke up as he walked up to Katara and Aang while putting a hand onto his hat. "I need a strong waterbender for my crew! So let's set sail for the north pole so you can become that!"

"Wait, you would actually help take me there Luffy?" Katara asked Luffy in surprise as she looked up at him. "You mean it?"

"Sure why not?" Luffy said with a laugh.

Coby simply deadpanned as he listened to this. "You still think that Bison can fly?" Coby still doesn't believe for a second that, that massive beast can fly. There was no way they were getting to the north pole on that thing.

"But before that," Aang, who didn't hear that Coby said, pointed to all the penguins. "Can you teach me how to catch a penguin?"

"Me too!" Luffy yelled with an excited look.

Katara simply chuckled in response and decided to give the powers what they want. "Okay, listen closely young pupils, catching penguins is an ancient and sacred art." The three boys then watched as Katara pulled a few fish out of her sleeve. "Observe."

Katara then tossed one fish to Aang, Luffy, and Coby and almost immediately the penguins started swarming around them. "Hi! Hahahah!" Aang laughed as the penguins surrounded him.

"H-H-Hey little guys," Coby was more skittish as the four-winged penguins tried to get his fish. "Please d-don't bite…"

"HEY! BACK OFF!" Luffy yelled as he wrestled with a few penguins before stuffing the fish he had in his mouth. "THIS FISH IS MINE!"

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT IT!" Katara shouted at the straw hatted pirate. "THAT WAS RAW!"

Despite Luffy's stupidity even he managed to catch himself a penguin and, after being yelled at by Katara and Aang, decided not to eat it and instead carried it up a glacier. Once they were all up the glacier Aang and Luffy immediately jumped up into the air while hanging on the penguins back with Katara following soon after with a slightly scared Coby screaming as he went down last.

"YEEEEEEEAHHH!" Luffy shouted in pure delighted as he and the others sledded down on the penguins.

"Woohoooo!" Aang cheered as he sledded next to Luffy.

"Hahahahaha!" Katara laughed as she started to catch up to Luffy and Aang.

"GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY THING!" Coby yelled as he struggled to hang onto his penguin.

As the four continued to sled down, Aang grinned as he waved his arms around to produce a gust of wind that caused him to go faster. As Aang sped ahead they all reached the bottom of the glacier and encounter a flat field of ice that they continued to sled on. But eventually they all started to lose sped until they came to a complete stop. They all got off their penguins who were quick to get up and waddle away as fast as they could, almost as if they were afraid of something. "Woah!" Aang let out as he pointed forward. "What's that?"

Katara and Coby gasped at what they saw. It was a fire nation ship stuck in the ice. It didn't seem as advanced as Zuko's, but there was no mistaking what it was. "A Fire Navy ship." Katara said in a dark tone as she glared at it. "And a very bad memory for my people."

"Cooooool!" Luffy grinned as he started heading towards it with Aang following him. "Let's check it out!"

"Wait we can't!" Katara yelled as she ran to catch up with Luffy and Aang before they went in. "We're not allowed to go near it! The ship could be booby trapped!"

"Y-Yeah maybe we should head back," Coby suggested with an uneasy expression as he looked at the ship. "I-I'm g-getting a really b-bad feeling about t-this place…"

"Stop being such dumb cowards," Luffy told them both harshly making Katara recoil in offense and for Coby to lower his head. "You're a pirate now Katara! Pirates aren't afraid of anything."

"And neither are benders," Aang told Katara with a grin. "If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear,"

Katara and Coby looked at each other, but still looking unsure. Both looked forward and saw Luffy and Aang entered the ship through a hole on the bottom. Though they were extremely reluctant, Coby and Katara followed them inside with the former gulping in fear. And so the four explored the interior of the ship, seeing the various rooms and various decaying and aging things inside with the only living things inside being small white furred hamsters using the ship as shelter. Eventually they came across a room filled with weapons, but they were either rusting or broken and clearly showed their age. "This ship has haunted my tribe since Gran-Gran was a little girl," Katara whispered, despite the place being abandoned a part of her feared someone might find them there. "It was part of the fire nations first attack,"

"Okay back up," Aang spoke up, getting all eyes on him. Nothing Katara said made sense. Fire Nation attacking? War? No way any of that was true. "I have friends from all over the world, even in the Fire Nation and I've never seen any war."

"You don't know about the war?" Luffy blinked strangely at Aang for a few times as he picked up a helmet he found on the floor. "Wow you're pretty stupid."

"Hey!" Aang yelled at Luffy in an offended tone.

"Sorry Aang but I gotta agree with Luffy on this one," Coby said as he gave Aang a strange look. He wasn't sure how anyone couldn't know about the war. Even when living on neutral territory before being taken by Alvida he was more then aware of the war and how it affects the four nations. "I don't see how anyone can't know about the war there are Fire Nation ships all over nation waters, heck some even come on neutral territory to take short cuts…g-granted they often get raided by pirate ships that way,"

"Wait, Coby are you and Luffy from neutral territory?" Katara asked in an amazed tone as she looked between Coby and Luffy with wide eyes.

"Well yeah," Luffy said like it was obvious. "Didn't we tell you?"

"Um, no, you didn't," Katara told Luffy in a blank tone. She always wondered about neutral territory, wishing her tribe had more information on them. But question for that could wait, there were more pressing matters to take care of right now as she turned to Aang. "Aang, how long were you in that iceberg?"

"I don't know," Aang shrugged a bit nervously as he stepped away from everyone, his tone uncertain. "A few days, or a week or something…"

Katara looked down in thought as the pieces started to form in her head. Aang being the first airbender seen in a hundred years and not knowing about a war that's been going on for over a century. Katara could only think of one thing to explain that.

"I think it was more like a hundred years!"

Needless to say everyone was surprised by Katara's explanation. Even Luffy's eyes widened a little bit. "What?! That's impossible!" Aang yelled in complete denial. There's…that can't be true! That was no way it was! "Do I look like a hundred-twelve-year-old man to you?"

"Well you are bald," Luffy pointed out as he lightly knocked on Aang's bald head.

"I shave it!" Aang yelled as he backed away from Luffy and rubbed his head.

"I'm not sure," Coby said with doubt in his face and tone. Granted he could believe Aang being frozen for 100 years more then he could believe in Appa actually fly but it seemed pretty farfetched. He's heard of frozen things being preserved, even living things, but for that long? "Can ice really keep something alive for that long?"

"Just think about it, the war is a century old. Aang doesn't know about it because, somehow, you were in there the whole time!" Katara explained as Aang found his heart skipping a few beats. Was it all true? Was he really just frozen in an iceberg for a century? "It's the only explanation."

"A hundred years…" Aang fell to his knees as the truth crashed down on him. So not only was he frozen for 100 years but there was a war going on in the fire nation during that time? How could that all happen? "I can't believe it…"

"I'm sorry Aang," Katara went to comfort Aang with Coby putting a hand to his shoulder. "But maybe there is a bright side to this,"

"Well…I did get to meet all of you," Aang brightened up and smiled at the three around him. Katara and Coby smiled back as Luffy grinned and put a hand on Aang's head.

"And now you're a member of my crew," Luffy told Aang with a smirk and a thumbs up. "And we're gonna form the greatest pirate crew the worlds ever seen!"

"Heheh, yeah!" Aang said enthusiastically as he looked up at Luffy and asked a question that Aang's had on his mind. "So earlier you said you wanted to become King of the Pirates. But what does that mean? How do you become King of the Pirates?"

"By obtaining everything the world has to offer," Luffy answered as he took off his straw hat and looked down at it. "By finding the treasure known as the One Piece!"

"One Piece?" Katara and Aang repeated with slightly widened eyes. It was the first time either of them heard the name of the legendary treasure but just the name alone emitted something amazing neither could describe.

"It was the treasure describe by Gol D Roger, the previous King of the Pirates." Coby began explaining since Katara and Aang probably had no idea about this. Aang for now obvious reasons and Katara because it was likely this story hasn't gotten word to the South Pole. "He obtained everything the world had to offer, wealth, fame, power, treasure, you name and he had it. The day he was executed he said he hid all of his treasure in one place and combined it all into one, hence the treasures name. Not much else is known, but the person who ends up finding it will be crowned the next King of the Pirates."

"And that person's gonna be me!" Luffy put his straw hat back on, everyone else could feel the drive in his voice. "But if I'm gonna be King of the Pirates I'm gonna need a strong crew, which is why I want you to become part of it! So come on! We gotta go find more people to recruit, and I promised Coby I'd drop him off at a Marine base,"

Katara and Aang were silent as they took in all of Luffy's words. They could feel his drive and determination and quite frankly…it was contagious. "Ya know…ever since I was a little girl I wanted to travel the world." Katara revealed with a bright smile. "See everything this word has to offer without fearing the Fire Nation. Especially neutral territory. I've heard how dangerous it is but…that just makes me want to see it for myself more and really experience something other then life in my small tribe." Katara then looked up at Luffy with a fire in her eyes now, determination coursing through her. "Count me in,"

Luffy chuckled as Aang spoke up next. "Same for me, what better way to learn about the new world then exploring it!" Aang said with enthusiasm in his voice. Sure learning he was frozen for 100 years was a huge blow but mopping about it wasn't gonna do anything for him. "And he may not be a pirate ship but Appa can get us from place to place easily! And Coby, we can help get you to a marine base…whatever that is?"

"Wow really?" Coby smiled, forgetting the impossibility of Appa flying, as he looked towards Aang. Aang looked to Coby and nodded his head, confirming his promise. "Gee, thanks guys."

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Luffy stopped his foot on the ground while yelling out excitedly. They all had their minds made up, now they just had to go "Let's go!" Luffy then began to run out of the room with everyone following him with excited expressions…until…

TRIP!

"Huh?" Luffy let out as he felt his leg get caught in something. Looking down, everyone saw Luffy ended getting his stuck in some wire that was attached to the floor. "What's this?"

Everyone else however paled a little bit at seeing the trip wire. "K-K-K-Katara…" Coby heavily stuttered as he shook in fear. "Di-Didn't you s-say this p-p-place could have bo-booby traps?"

"Y-Yeah…" Katara nodded slowly right before they started hearing loud creaking sounds. They watched as the ship suddenly came to life. The pipes rumbles as steam came out of them, gauges came to life, and suddenly they heard the sound of something shoot and looking outside they saw some sort of flare fly up before exploding right into the sky, almost like a signal.

"….Uh-oh…" Aang let out as they all witnessed this.


The sun was now beginning to set on the South Pole as Aang, Luffy, Katara, and Coby all returned to the tribe. "Yay! Aang and Luffy are back." One of the children said as the rest of the kids smiled and cheered as they ran up to the group with Aang and Luffy smiling. However standing in front of all of them were all the adults in the village, and they didn't look pleased at all as they starred at the four of them.

The four noticed this and looked at them strange with Coby flinching a bit at their stares. Sokka then pushed through the crowd with an incredibly angry expression as he glared daggers at both Aang and Luffy. "I knew it!" Sokka yelled as he pointed at Aang and Luffy. "You two signaled the Fire Navy with that flare! You're leading them straight to us aren't you?!"

"Aang and Luffy didn't do anything!" Katara defended the two as she stood in front of them. She wasn't about to let her brother bad mouth her new friends, heck her only friends really. "It was an accident!"

"W-W-We s-swear w-we didn't m-mean too!" Coby yelled while waving his hands. "W-We're sorry!"

"Zip it pipsqueak!" Sokka yelled at Coby, making him flinch violently and hide behind Luffy. Meanwhile the straw hat pirate simply stared at Sokka with a blank look, seemingly not reacting. "This is between us."

"We really are sorry Sokka," Aang apologized with a sheepish look on his face. "There was this booby trap, and, well, we booby-ed right into it."

"Katara, you shouldn't have gone on that ship!" Gran-Gran scolded her granddaughter with a disappointed look. "Now we could all be in danger!"

"Look, don't blame Katara. Or Luffy," Aang said sorrowfully as he got ready to take the blame for what happened. "It's my fault…"

"Aha! The traitor confesses!" Sokka knew Aang was nothing but trouble and now he had the proof he needed. "Warriors! Away from the enemy!" The kids looked down sadly before they followed Sokka's ordered and walked away from Aang and Luffy. "The foreigners are banished from our-"

STOMP!

"Shut up!" Suddenly Luffy stomped down on the ground as hard as he can. Cracks formed where he was and the ground started to shake causing everyone to looked shock at the display at strength. Sokka then flinched as Luffy's eyes met his, the pirate glaring right at him. "You can't blame them for that! I'm the one who triggered the booby trap that sent the flare, not them. So stop yelling at them! They don't deserve it!"

The entire village starred at Luffy in surprise. He openly confessed to setting off the flare to defend Aang without a hint of hesitation. Meanwhile Sokka glared back at Luffy after gaining his bearings. "Well that still means I was right!" Sokka yelled right into Luffy's face, Luffy not flinching at all. "I knew a pirate like you would be nothing but trouble! You're banished from here too!"

"…Fine," Luffy didn't argue. Instead he just turned around and started walking away. "Come on guy's, let's go. We gotta drop Coby off and find more members for our crew."

Aang and Coby nodded and, much to Sokka's and the rest of the tribes shock, Katara nodded as well. "Hold on Katara!" Sokka yelled, getting his sisters attention with his face showing that he demanded an answer for what she was doing. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"…I'm going with Aang and Luffy!" Katara answered after a brief moment of silent. "I'm going to explore and see the world like I always wanted! And I'm gonna find a waterbending master in the North Pole to train me to become a true waterbender!"

"Would you really choose them over your tribe?" Sokka asked with narrowed eyes as he gestured to the rest of the water tribe. "Your own family?"

"IF YOU'RE HER FAMILY THEN YOU SHOULD SUPPORT HER DREAMS!" Suddenly Luffy snapped, screaming loudly as he gave Sokka truly pissed off look that caused him to step back with the rest of the tribe also flinching. "Family should support one another! Help them achieve their dreams and what they want to do! If you're her family then why aren't you doing that?!"

"Luffy…" Katara whispered as she looked up at the pirate, a small smile coming to her face.

The rest of the tribe were silent after Luffy finished speaking, the pirate continuing to glare at all of them. Gran-Gran didn't say a word as she looked down sadly. After a few moments Luffy turned around and started walking away again towards his new crew but Sokka finally snapped out of it and glared at the back of Luffy's head before running up to him. "Hey! Get back here!" Sokka yelled as he harshly grabbed Luffy's arm. "I'm not done with you-"

STREEEEEEETCH!

"…" Suddenly everyone in the village went silent as shocked looks appeared on their faces. As Sokka grabbed Luffy's arm the straw hat pirate kept walking forward with Sokka holding onto him tightly…causing Luffy's arm to stretch out.

"Oh boy…" Coby let out as no doubt they would have some explaining to do about Luffy's…unique abilities.

"Huh? Hey let me go!" Luffy yelled as he yanked his stretched-out arm away from Sokka, making it snap back its normal length. Luffy then looked around noticed everyone starring at him and rose a brow. "Why's everyone looking at me funny?"

"L-L-Luffy…" Katara heavily stuttered as she tried to process what she just saw as she pointed at the arm that her brother grabbed. "Your arm….i-it…just stretched out!"

Gran-Gran then stepped up to Luffy and looked the boy over. A strange ability like that…it had only explanation. She didn't think it was real but looks like Luffy actually proved the legend real. "Tell me Luffy," Gran-Gran spoke to the pirate, making Luffy look down at her. "Have you eaten the Devil Fruit."

"Devil Fruit?" Aang repeated with a confused look. "But those are just bed time stories."

"No they aren't. I ate one!" Luffy explained with a grin as, similar to on Zuko's ship, he grabbed his cheek and stretched it to impossible lengths for everyone to see. "I ate the Gum-Gum fruit! Now I'm a rubber man!"

"Rubber man?" One of the village children asked as they stepped up to Luffy. Grabbed one of his fingers, the child pulled on it and watched it stretch out and quickly started giggling. "Woah cool!" Soon enough the other children run up to Luffy so they could check out his stretchy body.

"Ok? Devil Fruit? Rubber man? What the hell is going on here?" Sokka demanded an answer. He's had just about enough weirdness today to last an entire lifetime. He already had to deal with his sister and her water magic stuff but now there was Aang and his airbending and giant monster pet and now Luffy a pirate who apparently is some walking rubber toy. "Is he some demon or something?"

"No Sokka, he's not a demon." Gran-Gran explained the stories of the Devil Fruit she's heard in the past. "I've only heard about them through stories in my youth, but it's said that those who eat the fruit are given unique abilities. I never thought they were real…but it looks like the legend is real,"

"Wow, and to think I just thought they were stories the monks told to entertain us," Aang smiled as he thought back to the legends of the Devil Fruit that he's heard the other monks tell. How eating one could give one special powers, but would take a benders bending away if they were the one to eat the fruit. But there was one part of the legend Aang remembered that made him frown. "But wait, I heard that those who eat the Devil Fruit would have the sea hate them, and they could never swim again."

"Yep that's true!" Luffy nodded his head in confirmation. Ever since eating the Gum-Gum Fruit ten years ago he's never been able to swim again. "You lose all your energy and start sinking to the bottom."

"So wait, you can't even swim?" Sokka asked Luffy in complete disbelief. "Then WHY would you want to be a pirate that sails the seas, if you CAN'T SWIM?!"

"Well that's why I need a waterbender for my crew!" Luffy explained as he pointed to Katara, whose eyes widened in response. "They can fish me out if I fall on." Katara's jaw dropped in response. THAT'S the main reason why Luffy asked her to join him?! "Well we don't have any more time to waste crew! Let's go-"

CREEEEEEEAK!

Suddenly everyone went quiet as they heard the sound of what sounded like loud creaking metal. "What was that?" One of the kids asked in a scared tone as he ran towards his mother, followed by all the other children. Everyone looked in the direction the loud creaking came from and saw a large amount of fog in the sea in front of the village. The tension in the air was thick as everyone stared into the fog unable to see anything past it. "Wait…" Aang spoke up as he narrowed his eye into the fog. "I think…I see something approaching…"

Everyone continued to stare into the deep fog, trying to see what Aang was seeing. After a few more tense moments, it all become clear to everyone what was coming. A ship. Not just any ship…a fire nation ship. "EVERYONE GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Sokka yelled as all the villagers and Aang, Coby all ran away from the approaching ship.

Luffy however stood his ground as he starred down the ship. Even as the Fire Navy ship crashed through the icy ground in front of the village and shook everything up Luffy didn't move a step. "LUFFY!" Katara yelled to the pirate in concern. Was he crazy?! Why was he just standing there?! He's gonna get killed! "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

But Luffy only glared at the ship as it came closer to closer…and stopped. The ship was a mere few feet away from Luffy. Everyone in the village stared at the ship in fear including Coby with Aang only having widened eyes. Suddenly the front of the ship opened up and lowered, creating an incline plane that allowed the crew on the ship to walk down in the village.

They all watched as Prince Zuko himself walked down wearing a helmet that left his face exposed with other fire nation troops walking behind him. Luffy glared up at the invaders of the village as Sokka suddenly charged forward, yelling out a battle cry. He pulled out an odd-looking club and ran right at Zuko…only for the prince to easily step to the side and strike Sokka with an arm swipe and sent him down in the snow. Zuko didn't really care about Sokka, but what did pique his interest was the straw hat pirate glaring right at him. "It's you…" Zuko said as he looked right into Luffy's eyes.

"Yeah." Luffy stood his ground, not intimidated by Zuko at all. "It's me."

"Count yourself lucky I'm not here for you," Zuko said as he and his troops reached the icy ground. Zuko would love nothing more then to reduce Luffy to ash after he trespassed on his ship. But Zuko had bigger fish to fry, the Avatar was here and that was his primary goal. "Where are you keeping him?!"

Zuko's words made the whole village flinch as they stepped back from the prince. Zuko growled a bit before jumping forward and kicking the air and sending out a burst of flames towards all the villagers making them all scream in fear. "I know he's here! You can't hide him from me!" Zuko snapped with an enraged look on his face. "Bring him to me or I'll burn this whole place to ground! The last airbender! The Avatar!"

"What?" Luffy let out as his eyes widened a bit. Though it was wasn't at Zuko's demands…it was about his threat.

"Avatar…" Katara and many others gasped.

"No way…" Sokka muttered his disbelief.

"A-A-A-Avatar?!" Coby silently screamed as he slowly looked at Aang. There…There was no way. The Avatar vanished over 100 years ago…but Aang was frozen for around 100 years. Was…Was it actually possible. "A-Aang…d-d-does he m-mean that-"

"Enough! Stop it! Leave them alone!" Aang suddenly shouted as he grabbed his staff and swiped it forward and released a gust of wind that managed to blow Zuko and his men back a bit. Aang then jumped up into the air while releasing a gust of wind from his feet to boost him up in the air. Everyone watched as Aang flipped in mid air and landed next to Luffy on his feet and glared at Zuko. "If it's me you want, then I'm right here!"

Zuko managed to catch himself on his feet before he was blown away and looked forward at the one who created the gust of air and saw the airbender himself, Aang. But instead of the over 100-year-old master of all four elements Zuko was expecting he saw in front of him a 12-year-old monk. "You're the airbender? You're the Avatar?" The scar faced boy asked in disbelief as he took a fight stance with his men starting to surround Aang. Zuko took a fighting stance as he eyed Aang, completely forgetting about Luffy standing next to him. "I spent years preparing for this day. Training, meditating, but you just turn out to be a child!"

"Well you're just a teenanger," Aang pointed out as he narrowed his eyes at Zuko before slamming the ground with his staff. "But I'm not gonna fight you! If I go with you, will you promise to leave here and not hurt anyone." Zuko was silent for a moment for standing up straight and nodding his head, agreeing to the deal. Just as he about to order his men to take Aang into custody…

"Gum-Gum Pistol!"

"GAH!" Zuko yelled and his men and the water tribe gasped as Luffy stretched out his fist and connected it with Zuko's fact and sent the prince flying into his own ship.

"That's not happening scar face!" Luffy yelled as he tightened his fist and glared right at Zuko while gritting his teeth. "You're gonna leave this village alone! And you're not taking Aang either! He and Katara are coming with me on my pirate crew!"

"Hey!" Sokka yelled out at Luffy in an irritated voice. While he still had no interest in joining Luffy's crew the 'proud warrior' within him was upset at being left out. "What about me!"

"Oh yeah boomerang guy too," Luffy said as he pointed at a grumbling Sokka.

"Luffy…" Katara whispered as she watched the straw hat pirate fearlessly sock what was most likely the leader of the ship in the face. Meanwhile Gran-Gran was completely shocked at the sight. Luffy, a pirate, was defending their tribe?

"Grrrrrr," Zuko growled viciously as he grabbed his now bruised cheek and glared down at Luffy. Mercy was no longer an option now. "Men! Take the Avatar and kill the straw hat! And take down anyone that's in your way!"

Aang gasped in horror of the situation but Luffy merely grinned as the soldiers pointed their weapons at Luffy and Aang and began to charge. "This should be fun!" Luffy said as he crouched down and kicked his leg forward and stretched it out. "Gum-Gum Whip!" Luffy then kicked to the side and whipped his leg around in a circle. Aang's eyes widened as he used his airbending to jumped out of the way as Luffy kicked all the firebenders off their feet.

Not giving Zuko's men a chance to recover, Luffy stretched his arm out and grabbed the head of one of the soldiers and used him to ram the other soldiers and send them flying before Luffy threw the soldier he was grabbing into the water. "RAAAAAAAAHHH!" Luffy looked forward to see more soldiers charging right Luffy with either weapons in flames in their hands.

But Luffy wasn't intimidated in the slighted as he tightened his hand into a fist before slinging it back. "Gum-Gum…" As Luffy's arm was stretched out, he used his other arm to twang it causing his stretched-out arm to shake around violently. "Pistol Shotgun!" Suddenly all the soldiers were meant with a barrage of rubbery punches as Luffy's fist rapidly punched them and sent them all back onto the ship. "Wow you're all pretty weak! That's really sad, hahahaha!"

"RAH!" Suddenly Zuko screamed as he jumped down while glaring at Luffy and punched the air in front of him ad shot multiple balls at Luffy. But the straw hat pirate was easily able to jump high into the air, going past Zuko as he kept going high. Once he was at his peak Luffy punched forward and stretched his arm out to punch Zuko right in the head and send him crashing down in the icy ground below and cracking a few cracks. As Luffy landed, Zuko growled again as he slowly wiped the blood that fell from his lip and glared right at Luffy. "I've spent too long searching for the Avatar and I won't fail due to a rubber freak like you!"

"Shut up," Luffy told him with a blank look causing tick marks to form on Zuko's head. "You talk to much." Luffy then ran forward at Zuko and the prince punched the air a few times to launch fireballs at Luffy before to a side kick to send a wave of fire the pirates way. But Luffy kept running and dodged the incoming fire balls before jumping over the fire wave and landing right in front of Zuko and delivering an upper cut to the scarred teenanger.

Zuko grunt but managed to catch himself on his hands before flipped back onto his mouth before leaning forward with his mouth wide open. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Zuko roared as he unleashed a powerful torrent of fire from his.

"Ah!" Luffy yelled as he narrowly jumped out of the way of the flamethrower. "Hey that's hot!" As soon as Luffy landed he grinned again as he decided to finish this up. "Gum-Gum…" Luffy then spread his hands out before stretching both of his arms back as far as he could get them too. Zuko's flames then died down and the prince watched with widened eyes as Luffy's open hands rocketed towards. "BAZOOKA!"

Both of Luffy's palms hit Zuko right in the chest with incredible force, the prince hardly having time to react as he was sent right into the sky. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa…." To everyone's amazement, they watched as Zuko flew into the sky, soon disappearing into the distance with his screams echoing throughout.

"Zuko!" Iroh, who was still standing on the ship, yelled out in concern as he watched his nephew disappeared into the sky. "Everyone! Back to the ship! We have to go get Zuko!"

As the firebenders ran back to the ship, many of them looking back at Luffy in fear, Luffy looked up at Iroh with a glare. "Hey! Old man!" Luffy called out as Iroh looked down at him, not flinching from Luffy's stare. "Don't ever come back here again."

Iroh nodded at Luffy's demands. "We shall not return," Iroh said calmly before bowing his head at Luffy. "You have my word,"

And so, everyone from the water tribe watched as the ship retreated to go retrieve the prince, completely failing in their mission. "Luffy…" Coby began before breaking out in a grin as he ran towards the rubber man. "That was incredible!" And these words were soon followed by the words of the water tribe.

"Did you see that?"

"He took em all out by himself!"

"He's so strong!"

"I can't believe he protected us!"

"Three cheers for Luffy!" One of the woman shouted which was soon followed by all the woman and child of the tribe all cheering for Luffy. "Our savior!"

"Luffy! That was incredible!" Katara shouted at the Luffy with a big grin on her face. For a moment she was completely afraid that those Fire Nation troops would wipe out the rest of her village. But Luffy single handedly handled them all easily! "It…It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen! I had no idea you were so strong!"

"Hehehe! Thanks!" Luffy laughed as he readjusted his hat, making sure it was still on his head. "So now that scar face is taken care of you ready to set sail?"

"You bet I am!" Katara nodded, no a hint of doubt in her voice. "Aang? Coby?"

"Appa should be nice and rested by now!" Aang grinned and nodded his head, also fascinated by Luffy's fight with the firebenders. Not only did he get to see a Devil Fruit user in action but he seemed to be super strong as well. "We'll be soaring over the water in no time."

"You're still on that…" Coby sighed, not bothering to argue with Aang over the impossibility of Appa flying. He just wanted to get out of her before more Fire Nation troops showed up. "Well I'm ready if you guys are."

"Excuse me," Speaking up and walking up to the group was Gran-Gran, the old womans eyes on her granddaughter. "Before you leave, may I have a word with my granddaughter please,"

"Oh yeah sure," Luffy nodded his head as he looked down at Katara.

Katara sighed a bit as Gran-Gran gestured for her to follow her. Deciding to cooperate, Katara followed Gran-Gran into the largest tent in the village that belong to their family. "Gran-Gran I know what you're gonna say," Katara looked down as she spoke up to her grandmother. "That I shouldn't leave and that I have 'responsibilities' to the village."

"Katara," Gran-Gran spoke up.

"You know it's always been my dream to see the world! I've been stuck seeing nothing but snow and ice my entire life!" Katara ranted with a fire in her voice. "You know all I've ever wanted was to see the rest of the world with my own eyes! And maybe even meet another waterbender that can help train me!"

"Katara,"

"Mom would support me! I know she would…" Katara's yelling got softer as she tightened her first. "She promised me one day that we would travel the world together…I know she'd want me to do this…so please…don't try and stop me."

"…I wasn't gonna try and stop you," Katara's eyes shot open as she heard Gran-Gran's words. Katara looked right into her grandmothers eyes and saw the old woman giving her a kind smile. "I just wanted a chance to properly say goodbye."

Gran-Gran then walked forward and wrapped Katara into a soft and warm hug. Katara was surprised by this but hugged back. "You're…not gonna try and stop me?" Katara asked as she separated from her Gran-Gran after a moment of them hugging. "You're letting me go with them."

"Yes I am," Gran-Gran nodded, still smiling. "Ever since Kya was killed I just wanted to keep you safe but…I can see that keeping you here is only making you unhappy. Even if I tried I know nothing I can do would stop you from going to achieve your dream. And after seeing Luffy, I think you'll be safe with him. Despite being a pirate I can tell he is a truly noble soul, not all that bright, but noble. You should join him and the Avatar."

Katara smiled gratefully at her grandmother, nearly having tears come from her eyes as she hugged her again. "Thank you Gran-Gran." Katara said softly before looking into her grandmothers eyes. "Gran-Gran…do you really think Aang is the Avatar."

"…Yes I do," Gran-Gran nodded her head, it was rather easy to put the pieces together. The next Avatar should have been an air nomad but for some reason he never appeared. But now here was Aang, an airbender, and after hearing Zuko's claims that was more then enough proof. "And Sokka…" Suddenly a high-pitched whelp was heard as Sokka suddenly fell into the tent through the entrance. Gran-Gran knew her grandson had been eavesdropping the whole time. "I think you should join Luffy's crew too, I want you to look out for your sister."

"Are you sure Gran-Gran?" Sokka asked as he stood back up and dusted the snow off him. "But the tribe-"

"Will be just fine." Sokka's grandmother reassured him. "We can take care of ourselves, you and your sister are destined for greater things. I'm sure of it. And maybe along your travels you'll reunite with your father and be able to help him in the war. Do more then just guard our village."

"I'd…really like that," Sokka admitted before going up to hug Gran-Gran. "Thanks Gran-Gran, I promise I'll keep Katara safe,"

"I know you will, and be sure to be nice to her as well," Gran-Gran told him, making Katara giggled while Sokka pouted a bit. Gran-Gran then picked up two nearby bags that had sleeping bags attached to them. "Here, you'll need these. Good luck you two,"

After giving their grandmother one more hug, the siblings left the tent to start their new journey with Aang and Luffy. "Hey! You ready yet Katara!" Luckily they were already ready for them as the two witness Appa standing in front of their tent with Aang sitting on Appa's head with Luffy on Coby on his back. "We're ready to leave!"

"Yeah I'm coming!" Katara smiled as she put on her bag and started climbing up onto Appa. "And my brothers coming with us too!"

"Oh hey boomerang guy!" Luffy waved at Sokka as he also climbed on top of Appa. "You've decided to join my crew too?"

"My names Sokka rubber boy," Sokka told Luffy with an annoyed look. "And I'm only coming to make sure my sister is safe alright?"

"Sure whatever." Luffy said before looking to Aang, only making Sokka more annoyed. "Alright Aang! Let's set sail!"

"Aye, aye captain!" Aang saluted at Luffy before grabbing Appa's reigns and looking down at his bison. "Alright Appa, we really need you to fly this time. So give it all you got buddy. Yip-yip!" Aang then whipped the reigns.

Coby simply sighed at Aang's attempts to get Appa to fly. "I'm telling you Aang there's no way this thing can-WOAH!" Suddenly Coby and everyone else on Appa on their backs as the giant bison let out a growl and stood up. They watched as Appa rose up his tail before slamming it down and creating large gust of wind. Appa repeated this a few times before leaping up into the air…and started to fly. Everyone but Aang watched in amazement as Appa actually lifted them up off the ground and got closer to the sky every second. "WHAT THE HELL! HE'S FLYING!"

"HE'S FLYING! WE'RE FLYING! WE'RE ACTUALLY-" Sokka was telling excited before looking forward and noticing Aang and Katara giving him smug smiles while Luffy just looked down in amazement. "Uh, I mean, I knew he could do it."

"This is so cool!" Luffy shouted as they rose up further and further. "This is almost as cool as a pirate ship!"

Suddenly they crew all heard the shouts of people and looked down to see all the members of the water tribe smiling and waving at them, wishing them farewell. "Goodbye everyone!" Katara and Sokka shouted as they waved to everyone in their tribe. "We'll see you all again at some point! I promise!"

"Rebuild my watch tower while I'm gone!" Sokka asked as he waved.

And so Appa flew them away from the village and over the cold waters of the south pole. As they flew, Katara looked to Aang and asked something that's been stuck in her find since Zuko appeared. "Hey Aang, I need to ask you something." Katara spoke up, getting all eyes on her.

"Yeah? What is it?" Aang asked with a simple smile.

"I have to ask…" Katara said slowly as she looked Aang in the eyes. "Are you…really the Avatar?"

"…" Aang was silent as all eyes locked on him. Aang's smile faded as he turned away from everyone while looking down. "Yeah…"

"I am."


And another chapter complete and the crew is heading out of the south pole!

Think I got the beginning done pretty well. Some things were done different and everyone got to witness both Luffy's strength as well as his noble and incredibly dumb soul. Things are bound to be shaken up now. And just so everyone know, when it comes to the Straw Hat pirates it's not just Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph that's gonna be joining. There are gonna be other Avatar characters joining the crew in the future, and I think some of them might be quite the surprise for everyone.

And me and Qazse also thought of plenty of our own original Devil Fruits ideas to use. Also what Iroh said was true, in this story should a bender eat a devil fruit they gain the fruits power but lost their bending forever. So its to keep someone from having both a devil fruit power and bending at the same time.

And for those saying that the OP characters completely outclass the Avatar characters...well you would be right. But that's something me and Qazse also thought about~ So don't know we have ideas and plans so they can stand with the best! Just you wait and see!

So make sure to follow, favorite, leave a review and stay tuned for the next chapter...

"Roronoa Zoro"