I do not own Avatar

Chapter One - Waking, Shock, & Realization

"Is the strange lady awake yet?"

"I think so. But we must let her sleep for now?"

"Is she dead?"

"No. She's just resting."

Reyna's eyes jerked open, and she sat up as quick as lightning. Sweat covered her forehead. She felt sick.

"Are you alright?"

Reyna looked to the direction of the voice. A woman, in her late thirties, stood there. She wore a simple brown dress with a white apron tied around her waist. Her dark brown hair was placed in a braid that rested on her shoulder. A few strands of silver were visible.

Reyna instantly looked around. She was lying on a small matrices, a dark red blanket covering her lower body. Her upper body was covered by a light brown tunic.

Well… this wasn't the South Pole.

"W-where and I?" She looked at the woman. "Who are you?"

The woman gave a small smile that was full of nothing but kindness. "My name is Linu. I'm the head chef in the kitchen. And this-" She motioned to a small boy that Reyna had failed to notice earlier. "-is my son, Jaru. I'm sorry if we caused you a scare." Linu offered a hand to the confused Avatar.

Reyna accepted it.

Standing up, Reyna felt weak. Not weak. Powerless. She hated the feeling. To test her theory, Reyna made a motion to Linu, Jaru, and the rest of the kitchen staff (who had started to gather round). "Stand back." They did.

Reyna opened her hand and looked into her palm. A small flame sparked into extinction, dancing on her skin. Her watchers gasped.

"You're a firebender?" Asked a young man, amazed.

Reyna tilted her head, making the flame shiver and die. Suddenly her palm felt much colder than she wanted. "Is that such a surprise?"

The same young man shrugged. "You won't find much bending with the servants. Fire Lord Ozai makes sure of that."

Reyna froze.

Fire Lord Ozai?

No. That couldn't be right.

Lord Rai was the Fire Lord.

"Could you repeat that name again?"

Linu looked confused. "Fire Lord Ozai? Ruler of the Fire Nation? He had ruled for years, how can you not know of him?"

Reyna shrugged, pretending to know, but inside she was having a mental breakdown.

"Maybe she hit her head and has amnesia." Suggest an older woman.

"My grand-pappy hit his head once." Rambled a guy that looked over a million years old. "He couldn't remember a thing. Shame. I remember when he almost-"

"Shut up Chad!" Shouted one of the younger men.

Amnesia?

That would be a great cover story. Well, until she could find out what was going on. Part of being the Avatar was having a steady head. So stay calm.

"Yeah," Reyna tried. "There was a huge rock outside. I think I tripped." To prove it, Reyna rubbed a spot on her head like it hurt. "Ow."

An elder woman came out of the small crowd and gently took hold of Rayna's arm. "Oh you poor dear. Let Asone take care of you."

Asone took Reyna to an area with a small matrices (much like the one she had woken up on), an old hand mirror, and a bowl of water.

"Here you are, dear." Said Asone with a frail smile. "I'll let you wash up."

Reyna smiled back. "May I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Could I have some warmer clothes. It's boiling in here." (A/N: She's still in her South Pole clothes)

Asone chuckled. "That might be because of your old clothes. There were so many layers of coats. I'll be back soon with clothes from my granddaughter's closet. You two are about the same size."

Once the elderly woman had left, Reyna took the mirror and checked to see her reflection. She wasn't narcissistic at all (in fact, she usually hated seeing her reflection) but she also wanted to have a good impression on these people… whoever they were. Maybe after she got changed, she would ask for a message to be delivered to her father.

Reyna studied her reflection. Since birth, she had been told that she was beautiful. Flawless skin. Waist length hair that was a mix of brown and black. Warm amber eyes that could bring confidence in the weakest person.

But no matter what others said, Reyna didn't see herself as beautiful. Her hair was usually messy. Her skin had somehow avoided any kind of acne. Plus, there were tons of flaws in her personality.

Ten minutes later, Reyna was dressed in a servant uniform. She didn't mind, though. Part of being the Avatar was to serve others before herself. A rule that usually makes others think she was their personal servant.

Asone was a kind woman, a grandmother. She took the first few days to teach Reyna how to cut potatoes and boil them. Linu helped with talking to her about the royal family and history.

"The current Fire Lord is Fire Lord Ozai." She explained on the third day that Reyna was benign there. "His brother, General Iroh, was supposed to be the Fire Lort since he is the oldest. The Fire Lord had two children: Zuko and Azula. His wife. Princess Ursa disappeared years ago."

Reyna listened carefully. "What happened to Fire Lord Rai?"

Linu gave her a questionable look. "Fire Lord Rai? He lived over a thousand years ago."

Reyna froze. "WHAT?"

Linu winced. "He had been dead for a long time. Why would you be surprised at this fact?"

Reyna didn't answer. She was too busy panicking. Finally a question struck her. "Where is the Avatar?"

Linu sighed. "Oh dear, you have forgotten many things. The Avatar disappeared a hundred years ago. The four nations have been at war for a period of time. I don't like to think about it. Brings back horrible memories."

The avatar?

Disappearing?

Impossible.

She was the Avatar.

Immediately Reyna began to sway. Black spots danced in her sight.

"Rayna?" Asked Linu, concerned. "Are you okay?"

The avatar nodded. "Yeah. I just need to sit down-"

And with that, Reyna crumbled onto the stone floor.

A thousand years.

Reyna had been missing for a thousand years.

It seemed impossible but it was true.

But if she was alive, then how could the avatar spirit be passed down?

Reyna didn't know, and honestly didn't care about that part.

A week passed before anything major happened. During those seven days, Reyna helped prepare the food and clean for the royal family. Every once in a while, she would catch a glimpse of the prince and princess.

Zuko and Azula.

On day eight, Rayna helped clean the floors along with Jaru, who she had grown close to in a short amount of time. The two were cleaning a split from some soup when one of the younger men, Saire, ran into the small room and shouted two words.

"Agni Kai."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

Linu glared at Saire. "Young man, you should know better than spread gossip-" Saire hung his head in guilt. "-but if someone is participating in an Agni Kai, it's best that I know who it is."

Saire lifted his head and announced, "Fire Prince Zuko interrupted a general during a war meeting. Now he must fight the person he insulted in an Agni Kai."

Gasps. Followed by a round of conversations.

"The prince is just a boy-"

"Just turned thirteen-"

"How could he be in an Agni Kai at his age-"

Then the old storyteller: "When I was a young-ling, we had Agni Kais every two days. From the elder folk to the first walkers. My grand-mama fought a five years old and won once. Now that was an Agni Kai! It all started when-"

"Shut up Chad!"

Chuckles and laughter. Poor Chad. Reyna walked over to Saire and grabbed his shoulders, staring into his eyes. "When is this Agni Kai happening?" She asked him.

"Later today. But servants aren't allowed to watch."

Reyna smiled. "Well, lucky for us, I'm not a servant."

Wow, I wrote this chapter faster then I thought I could. I'm practically done with Chapter Two, but like I did for this chapter, I'm waiting until Chapter Three is written.

Random Facts

1) Reyna is one year older then Zuko

2) Toph was originally a going to be a boy

3) Azula was also originally male (and had an arranged marriage)

4) The Cabbage Merchant needs his own show (my opinion)

Chapter Song

"Memories" by Maroon 5 (For Reyna's "Amnesia")

Thank you everyone for reading. It means the world to me that people actually like my idea.

Please review to let me know what you think and how I can improve.