Greetings, avid readers!

I'd like to start with thanking all the reads, favs and follows in this story. Even if silent, your support means a lot. As for the ones that took their time to write a review, thank you as well!

I've made the conscious decision to post every two weeks. If that ever fails, it means my ADHD is having a disassociation episode.

Dommie, as always my number 1 fan ❤️ Of course I took the bait, you dangled it over my heart with a night in of the extended versions of LOTR!

This is my first try at a Avatar fanfiction. Go easy on me. Reviews and flames are always welcomed, for they keep my cat and I warm at night.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar nor any of the characters. Such credit should go to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. I do own a... certain amount of characters that will be recognized further into the story.

Thank you, and enjoy the chapter!

Chapter II: The Fake Avatar

X—X

"What about the Earth Kingdom?" Aang asked. "A lot of people ran there when the Fire Nation first attacked."

"I don't know, Aang." Katara shook her head. "I think we'd know if any airbenders were hidden in the Earth Kingdom."

"Unless they kept themselves a secret." he tried. "You really think I'm dreaming too high?"

"No, of course not!"

"I heard you talk to Zuko before we left..." he sighed. "You told him you thought I was looking for something that might not even exist anymore."

"Aang..." she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "It's complicated. I don't think it's completely preposterous. I do believe some airbenders must have escaped. But I think you're putting too much faith in this. You need to be with the people, the ones that spent dark, dark ages praying for your return, to rescue them from the Fire Nation. Not... looking-!"

"For my people." he concluded. "You think I should be attending to all peoples except mine."

"Aang, it's not like that." Katara placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I will never turn my back on the world, Katara... but what about the airbenders?" he frowned. "Where does that leave them?"

She did not say anything, for there was nothing to be said. She of all people knew just how much Aang struggled with the genocide of his people, and how much he yearned and needed to travel across the world to look for them. He refused to believe he was the only one that had escaped, much like Katara, but while he was optimistic of it, Katara was a bit more realistic.

She sighed and paid for the mangoes before walking back to the small camp where they had left Appa. Aang was already ahead of her, head down and mulling over their conversation. She wished she could do something to get his mind of it, but when he wasn't preaching peace or visiting cities, he was searching for the air nomads.

Katara thought back to the conversation she had had with Zuko before leaving the Capital. She had been concerned about Aang, but they had dealt with issues of her own mission. Zuko was concerned about a rebellion in the Earth Kingdom that Suki and his guards had told him about, and he had asked Katara to check it out with Aang.

So far, they had only broken two fights, one of them where the individuals had alcohol running through their veins instead of blood. The small rebellion that Suki suspected must be just whispers in the streets, for she was yet to find it. Working for the soon to be Fire Lord wasn't what she believed she would do, but it had its advantages. The main one was the possibility to spend more time with the brooding firebender.

"Aang?" Katara frowned as he placed what he was carrying down and turned back to the village. "It's late. Where are you going?"

"I'm going for a walk. I'm sorry, I need to clear my head." he looked away, feeling guilty.

"It's okay. Don't take too long, okay?"

"Okay." he smiled softly and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be back before you know it."

Katara watched him leave and sighed, sitting down against Appa. Aang had been thoughtful enough to start a fire before leaving, so the waterbender began to good dinner, making some extra just in case Aang returned hungry. The act itself was soothing, but it was merely physical, letting her mind wander free.

It had been about a month since the encounter with the fake Avatar. Suki had not gotten any leads on her, but Katara knew Aang questioned people about her every town they went to. When they woke up, they flew Toph back to her Academy, and returned to the Fire Nation where they had stayed up until two weeks prior. Katara was not sure what was worst: the fact that they had lost her trail, or that Aang seemed to be obsessing with this girl.

Far from her to be jealous! She knew Aang cared for her, that he would never betray her like that. But something inside irked at the thought of Aang constantly asking about her. She knew it was the curious boy in him. She knew he wanted to find out how exactly had she manipulated all four elements, when only the Avatar could. But a twisted part of her wondered if there was something more beyond the curiosity.

"I can't think like that." she sighed. "You think Aang would want something other than knowledge from that fake avatar girl, Appa?"

The flying bison huffed.

"I guess you're right, Aang is just... curious. But it's not like I'm innocent myself." Katara poked the fire. "Appa, do you think there are still any airbenders around?"

He growled.

"Yeah, I think so too." she smiled. "What am I gonna do? Aang is... out there, thinking about whatever, and I'm here, trying to find my way between them."

Appa groaned.

"It's not like that. He knows that I can't." Katara hugged her knees against her chest. "I'm with Aang. He loves me. Sure, he broke up with Mai, but he said they wouldn't work out anyway. And yeah, I'm not dumb... but I'm with Aang. My feelings on this matter aren't important. Aang needs me."

The bison blinked lazily at her.

"Don't look at me like that." Katara scoffed. "It's not like Zuko or I made a move."

Appa howled and turned on his side. She rolled her eyes. "Fine, be like that. But just for the record, you're being very rude."

–X–

Aang took a deep breath, looking down to the city. The flickering lights of the fire were but specks from the top of the hill he found himself in. It had been some time since he left Katara with Appa, and he only hoped she was not too concerned. He was not known to take off on his own, unlike Zuko, but he did not want her to be too concerned. He was fine, after all.

He had a lot on his mind if he were being honest. Not only he and Katara were trying to find a rebellion against the Fire Nation, but he also had the search for his people on the back of his mind. As much as he loved Katara, and as much as she said she understood, the truth was... she did not. He knew she had lost her mother to the Fire Nation. He knew she and her brother had to fend for themselves.

But Katara did not know what it was like to not have a home anymore. Even during their adventures, if she wanted, she could always go back to the South Pole. She could always go see her Gran-Gran, her people, the home she grew up in.

Aang didn't have that. The temple he had lived in up until he was twelve had been mostly destroyed. His people, the air nomads, killed by the Fire Nation. No family, no air nomad friends, no home to return to. Maybe that was why he always got so aggressive whenever anyone tried to harm or take Appa away from him. At the end of the day, Appa and Momo were the only thing he had left from his culture, from his people.

That was why he was so insistent on looking for any survivors. He was sure someone must have survived. He refused to believe the Fire Nation had completely wiped out all air nomads. Hundreds of thousands of years of history, and the soldiers come and burn it all to the ground? No. He could never. Where the surviving air nomads had taken off to was one of the mysteries in his mind.

The other... was that girl.

Woman, if he were being honest. He had consulted with the Avatars before him, questioned them if it was possible for more than one Avatar to exist at the same time. Roku had shaken his head slowly, Kuruk had stared at him, one eyebrow raised in a – strangely enough – very Sokka-like expression, Yangchen had smiled gently and Kyoshi had laughed straight to his face. Kuruk was the one that finally answered, after Kyoshi had stopped questioning his sanity, with a simple no.

The curt and straight-forward answer had led Aang to his current predicament. If it was not possible for two people to be the Avatar at the same time... how could she had manipulated the four elements? He had seen the ball of fire flickering in her hand. He saw how efficiently she had destroyed Katara's water whip. How could she do it if she was not the Avatar?

Aang pursed his lips. She was the most pressing mystery in his mind. And although he dared not reveal this to Katara, every time he dreamed, he saw her on the corner of his eye, bending fire in a beautiful slow dance. She never talked, she never looked at him. But the kimono danced around her as she spun, the wild brown curls bounced and her sparkling pearly eyes, alive with the fire she manipulated.

He fell on his back and sighed. Who was he trying to kid, she was a beauty. With the small button nose and the oval-shaped face, and the slender but curvy figure, she was... something. Katara was beautiful too, but her assets were a bit more generous, her hips rounder, her thighs thicker. Aang felt guilty about thinking this way. He was with Katara, she was his forever girl. But this girl, whom he did not even know the name of...

"Ugh, stupid, stupid brain!" he knocked on his head. "I just want to know who she is and how can she bend more than one element!"

He recognized he was getting nowhere with all this thinking, so he stood up and readied himself to return to Katara's side. He stretched and rolled his shoulders, gulping. He was about to create a glider to return faster when something caught his eye. A flickering flame, a punch and a kick. Aang moved quietly through the shadows and hid behind the tree closest to the fire show. He poked his head out of his hideout and gasped.

It was her.

She was down to her corset and pants, and she moved as she trained. A small bonfire glowed next to her, and Aang watched as she went through the firebending basic poses, only to gather the ball of fire in her hands and throw it up, side-kicking the ball to a tree. The branch caught on fire and she yelped, grabbing a water skin and pouring some over the branch.

Aang was about to step out from his hiding place when he heard a shout, and a young man approached her. She rolled her eyes at the sight of him, but got dressed, gathering her satchel and her staff. She pushed the guy away when he tried to wrap an arm around her shoulders. Aang smirked and silently left, ready to wake Katara up to follow the young woman.

A/N: Okay, that was fun. It would seem that I am definitely posting this story. But I'll keep it going or drop it depending on your feedback.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to review if you want, or if you don't, I hope you liked it!

First to review gets a cookie!

Lots of love from this weirdo,

LoneeWolf :)