Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Child of Two Nations

Book 1 - Water

Chapter 1 – The Boy in the Iceberg

Located in the South Pole, two teens are in a small canoe fishing for food for their tribe. The 15 year old boy's name is Sokka, who stands up in the canoe readying himself. He looks down at the water, spear at the ready. The other was a girl is named Katara, Sokka's youngest sibling. The canoe is drifting slowly through the ice-cold water as Sokka concentrates on his fishing. A fish swims close to the surface of the water in front of Sokka.

"It's not getting away from me this time." Sokka muttered, then boasted to his sister "Watch and learn, Katara. This is how you catch a fish."

Katara leans over the edge of the canoe to see her own fish. She hesitates at first but removes a glove from her hand, before taking a calming breath. Her look is a mixture of concentration and apprehension as she starts making a wavy motion with her wrist, moving her hand up and down. Then, a globe of water containing a fish bursts out of the water as she continues to move her arms around from side to side.

"Sokka, look!" Katara exclaimed in excitement.

"Shhh. Katara, you're gonna scare it away." Sokka whispered as a look of bliss adorns his face. He licks his lips and wiggles his fingers, not taking his eyes off the fish. "Mmmm... I can already smell it cookin'!"

"But Sokka! I caught one!" Katara tries to retain her control over the globe of water as it floats closer to Sokka, who at the wrong time raises his spear in the air to strike the fish, and ends up bursting the water bubble, allowing the fish to fall back in the water while Sokka gets drenched in water "Hey!"

"Ugh! Why is it that every time you play with magic water I get soaked?" Sokka asked unhappily.

"It's not magic. It's waterbending, and it's-" Katara tried to argue.

"Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture, blah blah blah." Sokka interjected while grabbing his warrior's wolf knot with his left hand as he turns away from her, wringing the water out of it while Katara has crossed her arms. "Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers, I'd keep my weirdness to myself."

Katara raises an eyebrow skeptically, arms still crossed. "You're calling me weird? I'm not the one who makes muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in the water." She smiled smugly as Sokka was making muscles and looking at the water's reflection. He stops, giving his sister a look. Suddenly the boat gets caught in a current, to which they look to see an area full of ice ahead. They move around trying to manoeuvre their canoe between the icebergs in the water. "Watch out! Go left! Go left!" The canoe moves through the ice pack with speed but the icebergs around them are colliding with one another. They narrowly miss them one by one till their canoe is crushed when three icebergs all collide at once. The two teens jump out at the right time onto one of the icebergs. "You call that left?" She questioned her brother angrily, sitting on the berg of ice.

"You don't like my steering." Sokka argued, then made swerving motions to mock waterbending "Well, maybe you should have waterbended us out of the ice."

"So it's my fault?" Katara asked indignantly.

"I knew I should have left you home and asked Sorin instead." Sokka continued to complain "Leave it to a girl to screw things up."

Katara gained a look of anger, pointing accusingly at Sokka "You are the most sexist, immature, nut-brained..." She raised her voice at him but while shouting, the iceberg they are sitting on begins to move and a crack appears on the iceberg behind her. "Ugh, I'm embarrassed to be related to you! Ever since Mom died I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

"Uh... Katara?" Sokka tried warning her after seeing the cracking iceberg behind her.

Katara ignored him and continued her angry outburst "I even wash all the clothes! Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, NOT PLEASANT!"

"Katara! Settle down!" Sokka pleaded, his eyes open wide in fear.

"No, that's it. I'm done helping you. From now on, you're on your own!" Katara screams at the end, which was enough as the iceberg behind her splits open entirely. It falls apart the major pieces falling into the water around it, pushing the iceberg away as the teens hold on tight until the iceberg settles down on the water.

Sokka, holding a protective arm over Katara, looks at her. "Okay, you've gone from weird to freakish, Katara." He commented, releasing his sister.

"You mean I did that?" Katara asked in astonishment.

"Yup. Congratulations." Sokka replied with a slight smirk, looking as they both lean over the edge of the iceberg raft.

Barely a moment later, several small bubbles appear on the surface of the water directly in front of them and a small spot of water begins to glow with a bright bluish hue. The siblings back away on their little raft as the new iceberg begins to settle on the water. Katara moves closer to see and noticed something. Deep inside the ice, a young boy is in a meditation pose. The outline of white arrows on his fists and head when suddenly his eyes pop open with his eyes glowing and his arrow markings also glowing white too.

"He's alive! We have to help." Katara shouted snatching Sokka's club while putting her hood down and rushing forward. Sokka reached out in an attempt to hold Katara back, though she is already running across the ice

"Katara! Get back here!" Sokka called out, retrieving his spear and chasing after Katara "We don't know what that thing is!"

Katara ignores him as she skips across a few little patches of ice towards the boy trapped in ice and Sokka follows behind her. She begins using the club whacking the ice a few times after a few hard whacks, the ice cracks open. Air releases out as if the iceberg has a hollow chamber within it but it is not entirely clear. The iceberg cracks from the top to the bottom before exploding open. A large shaft of white-blue light shoots straight into the heavens above. The iceberg part under the water it glows brightly, the shaft of bright light can be seen from afar.

Within the other side of the South Pole, a young boy with black hair and blue eyes, who is the same age as Sokka, is carrying a wooden basket full of fish. The boy's name is Sorin, and he then turned around in surprise to see a beam of light shooting towards the sky.

"What...?" Sorin muttered, scratching the side of his head.

Back at the iceberg, where the gale has begun to settle. Sokka tries shielding his sister from the blast, the siblings look up to see a blue light still swirling around the top of what is left of the iceberg. Suddenly a boy, his eyes and arrow markings still glow a white light, emerges slowly from the depression in the iceberg.

"Stop!" Sokka warned while raising his spear at the glowing boy, who stands up as the glowing and residual energy begins to fade. He slides down the side of the ruined iceberg Katara gasps and runs forward to catch him before he could hit the ground. Sokka follows behind and begins to poke at the boy's head with the blunt end of his spear.

"Stop it!" Katara scolded while waving the spear away before gently turning the boy over so he's lying on his back. The boy begins to wake up, then slowly opens his eyes and the first thing he sees is Katara. A gentle breeze blows her braids and he takes a breath.

"I need to ask you something." The boy whispered in a quiet tone.

"What?" Katara asked.

"Please... come closer." The boy said.

"What is it?" Katara continued asking.

"Will you go penguin sledging with me?" The boy asked her in a normal voice filled with excitement.

"Uh... sure. I guess." Katara answered awkwardly, then the The boy elegantly rises to his feet in one swift motion, surprising the other two.

"Ahh!" Sokka exclaimed in slight fear at the movement.

"What's going on here?" The boy began to wonder, rubbing the back of his head.

"You tell us! How'd you get in the ice?" Sokka asked him as he pokes the boy's side with his spear. "And why aren't you frozen?"

"I'm not sure." The boy replied while absentmindedly moving the spear away. A low, gruff noise suddenly fills the air, coming from within the crater of the iceberg. Quickly, the boy scrambles up the ridge of ice and happily jumps on the head of a large, six-legged furry creature that has the same arrow-shaped marking on his forehead as the boy. "Appa! Are you alright? Wake up, buddy." He leans down opening one of the beast's eyes then closes it again. The boy hops down from the beast and tries to lift the animal's enormous head, but with no effect. Katara and Sokka appear around the corner and their mouths both drop in shock to see the beast, whose mouth opens and licks the young boy trying to wake him up. "Haha! You're okay!" He hugs Appa, who gets up shaking himself off a bit.

"What is that thing?" Sokka asked, pointing towards Appa.

"This is Appa, my flying bison." The boy introduced him.

"Right. And this is Katara, my flying sister." Sokka said sarcastically pointing to Katara, who shoots him an odd look. The boy looks questioningly at Sokka for a moment, but his attention is diverted back toward his bison when Appa starts to inhale deeply. Realizing what is about to happen, the boy ducks before Appa sneezes, sending a large blast of green snot flying directly onto Sokka, who becomes completely covered in it. He squeals in disgust and begins to frantically try clean it off, rubbing his face in the snow under the amused gaze of his sister "Ewww! Aahh!" Sokka tries getting rid of it, rolling around on the ice and snow.

"Don't worry. It'll wash out." The boy informed him as if it were nothing.

"Ugh!" Sokka groaned trying to wipe it off his face as Katara covered her mouth in disgust.

"So, do you guys live around here?" The boy asked them.

Sokka pointed his spear accusingly at the boy. "Don't answer that! Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the Fire Navy."

Katara pushes Sokka's spear away again and addresses him sarcastically "Oh, yeah, I'm sure he's a spy for the Fire Navy. You can tell by that evil look in his eye." She joked looking at the innocent face the boy was pulling. "The paranoid one is my brother, Sokka. You never told us your name."

"I'm A... aaaahhhh... ahhhhhh... aaah aaah aaah AAAAAAACHOOOO!" The boy sneezes, creating an air blast that sends him soaring into the air. He lands on the ground, unharmed. "I'm Aang." He introduces himself while sniffling and rubbing his nose due to the cold.

"You just sneezed... and flew ten feet in the air." Sokka exclaimed in disbelief, pointing upwards.

"Really? It felt higher than that." Aang said while looking questioningly toward the sky.

"You're an airbender!" Katara gasped in realisation.

"Sure am." Aang agreed immediately with a goofy smile on his face.

"Giant light beams... flying bison... airbenders..." Sokka began to walk away "I think I've got Midnight Sun Madness. I'm going home to where stuff makes sense." He stops at the edge of the iceberg, realising that he has nowhere to go.

"Well, if you guys are stuck Appa and I can give you a lift." Aang offered, airbending himself on the top of Appa's head and sat on a gigantic saddle on the beast's back, grabbing the reins attached to both of Appa's horns.

"We'd love a ride! Thanks!" Katara said while climbing onto Appa.

"Oh, no... I am not getting on that fluffy snot monster." Sokka argued.

While climbing on Appa, Katara turned to her brother, speaking sarcastically "Are you hoping some other kind of monster will come along and give you a ride home? You know... before you freeze to death?"

Sokka opens his mouth in defiance and point at Katara, ready to retaliate, but he cannot think of anything. He sighs and bows his head in consent and defeat. The siblings were now sitting in the saddle. Sokka has his arms crossed in front of him with a sulking expression on his face while Katara is full of excitement and anticipation.

"Okay. First-time flyers, hold on tight! Appa, yip yip!" Aang shakes the reins but Appa just makes a low rumbling sound and moves his tail up and down and takes a huge jump into the air. He soars through the air for merely a few seconds, making it appear as though he would fly, before belly-flopping into the water with a splash. The bison begins trudging through the water slowly. Katara crawls to the front of the saddle while Aang tries to get Appa flying, whipping the reins again. "Come on, Appa. Yip yip."

"Wow. That was truly amazing." Sokka said sarcastically as Katara shoots her brother an angry glance.

"Appa's just tired. A little rest and he'll be soaring through the sky. You'll see." Aang reasoned, making a 'soaring through the sky' motion with his hand.

Katara smiles at Aang, who returns this gesture. When she wants to move back, she realizes that he is still smiling at her. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" She asked, looking at him strangely.

"Oh... I was smiling?" Aang asked, feeling slightly flattered.

Sokka groaned in disgust, as Katara glares at him while Appa swims through the water, flapping his tail. Aang lies back onto the top of Appa's head. Katara sits down on the saddle on Appa's back with her brother. She then crawls forward and leans over looking down at Aang.

"Hey." Katara greeted lowly.

"Hey. Whatcha thinkin' about?" Aang asked.

"I guess I was wondering – you being an Airbender and all – if you had any idea what happened to the Avatar." Katara wondered.

"Uh... no. I didn't know him... I mean, I knew people that knew him, but I didn't. Sorry." Aang answered, trying not to look at her.

"Okay. Just curious." Katara said as she slants her eyes in disappointment for a second before smiling again at Aang "Good night."

"Sleep tight." Aang replied as she turns away back onto the saddle. Aang uncomfortably turns around and a look of guilt crosses his face. as Appa keeps on swimming.

As they went to sleep, Aang had a dream. He was above the clouds, lightning echoed throughout the dark of night. Aang is sleeping on Appa's saddle while clouds build around and ahead of him. Lightning splits the sky and the rumble of the following thunder awakens him. He shoots up and looks around. In the next shot it is raining and Aang is sitting on Appa's head again, holding the reigns and screaming at the top of his lungs in terror while they go down. Appa and Aang splash into the waters of the ocean. Appa resurfaces again, growls, but is quickly subdued anew by another wave. Both Aang and Appa sink unconscious into the water. As Aang releases the reigns and drifts off, his eyes and tattoos suddenly start to glow brightly. He slams his fists together, creating a bluish-white sphere that encases Appa and himself. As the air sphere slowly solidifies into an icy globe, a voice permeates the dream.

"Aang! Aang, wake up!" Aang hears Katara's voice from far away growing closer, then he shoots up with a gasp finding himself in a tent. "It's okay. We're in the village now. Come on, get ready. Everyone's waiting to meet you." Aang happily gets up putting his shirt and hood on. Katara finds herself staring in wonder at the blue, arrow-shaped tattoos that trace his arms and legs and reach up his back and to his head, then grabs Aang's hand dragging him outside the tent as he carries his staff with him.

"Whaaaa!" Aang exclaimed at the fast action as she puts him out into the village with a small crowd gathered wishing to greet him, in the crowd, it was only women of different ages and children.

"Aang, this is the entire village. Entire village, Aang." Katara introduced. Aang bows to them in a friendly manner, but the people pull back from him anyway.

"Uh... why are they all looking at me like that? Did Appa sneeze on me?" Aang asked, looking over himself as an old woman, Kanna, walks over.

"Well, no one has seen an Airbender in a hundred years. We thought they were extinct until my granddaughter and grandson found you." Kanna informed him.

"'Extinct'?" Aang repeated, looking heavily confused.

"Aang, this is my grandmother." Katara told him.

"Call me Gran Gran." Kanna said.

Sorin stepped forward, approaching Aang with a friendly smile "Nice to meet you, Aang. I'm Sorin. Thanks for bringing those two home." He gestured to Katara and Sokka.

"What is this, a weapon?" Sokka walked up and grabbed the staff from Aang's hands as the boy looked slightly annoyed "You can't stab anything with this."

"It's not for stabbing." Aang used a current of air to pull the staff from Sokka's hands and into his own. "It's for airbending." Suddenly from inside the staff two orange fans popped out, one much smaller than the other. Sokka jumped with fright.

"Magic trick! Do it again!" A little girl exclaimed in excitement.

"Not magic, airbending. It lets me control the air currents around my glider and fly." Aang corrected.

"You know, last time I checked, humans can't fly." Sokka mockingly stated his disbelief.

"Check again!" Aang accepts the challenge as he launched himself into the air with his glider in his hands. He soars through the air, doing loops in the air as the villagers on the ground point at him in wonder. Sorin crossed his arms with a smile, amazed to see the airbender gliding.

Aang looked down at Katara who was beaming up at him and Aang grinned. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going and with an 'oof' he crashed into a tower of snow head-first. Snow fell everywhere as Katara covered her mouth with her mittens and Sorin couldn't help but chuckle at what he saw. They watch Aang struggle to extricate his head from the icy watchtower. Succeeding, he tumbles downward onto a pile of snow at the base of the tower that crumbled from the building. Katara immediately rushes to his side, and Sorin lightly follows while Sokka stares in shock at the damage inflicted on his watchtower.

"My watchtower!" Sokka cried out.

Sorin continued chuckling "That was funny."

"That was amazing." Katara smiled as she helps Aang back to his feet. Sokka runs toward his watchtower and starts to pat it in the hope that he can save it from collapsing any further. While Aang spins his staff around to retract its wings, Sokka is being knocked down by a large pack of snow that falls down.

"Great. You're an airbender, Katara's a waterbender, Sorin's a water and firebender, together you can just waste time all day long." Sokka grumbled, pulling himself out of the snow and walking off.

"You're a waterbender!" Aang exclaimed, looking at Katara, then at Sorin "And you're a firebender!"

"Well... sort of. Not yet." Katara tells him timidly "And Sorin can actually bend both. He's known as a dualbender."

"Wow, I've never met someone who can do that." Aang complimented Sorin, who smiled softly.

"Heh, I didn't expect it as well." Sorin admitted.

"Alright. No more playing. Come on, Katara, you and Sorin have chores." Kanna reminded as she lead the two teens away.

"I told you! He's the real thing, Gran Gran! I finally found a bender to teach me." Katara told her.

"Katara, try not to put all your hopes in this boy." Kanna warned.

"But he's special. I can tell. I sense he's filled with much wisdom." Katara said as she and Sorin look over to see Aang with his tongue frozen to his staff, the children gathered around him.

"Sthee? Now my tongue ith thuck to my sthaff." Aang slurred, a child next to him grabs the staff yanking it, but Aang's tongue stays stuck while Sorin stiffened some laughter, covering his mouth. The village kids laugh and applaud Aang as his tongue remains stuck to his staff.

Later that day, Sokka stands with the afternoon sky behind him addressing an audience as he paces back and forth.

"Now men, it's important that you show no fear when you face a firebender. In the Water Tribe, we fight to the last man standing. For without courage, how can we call ourselves men?" Sokka asked them but his audience a bunch of children looking at him with boredom.

"I gotta pee!" A little boy raised his waving hand.

"Listen! Until your father's return from the war, they're counting on you to be the men of this tribe. And that means no potty breaks." Sokka told them.

"But I really gotta go." The little boy argued.

Sokka let out a sigh before asking "Okay... who else has to go?" Every child immediately raises his hand. Sokka is surprised for a second, before facepalming in frustration as all six of them leave and Katara arrives with Sorin.

"Have you seen Aang? Gran Gran said he disappeared over an hour ago." Katara questioned.

Aang emerges from a small igloo outhouse, straightening up while adjusting his pants and smiles at the boys coming over to him. "Wow! Everything freezes in there!" Aang laughs gesturing over his shoulder to the toilet and the boys laugh with him.

"There he is." Sorin pointed out.

"Ugh! Katara, get him out of here. This lesson is for warriors only." Sokka is about to walk away when he hears the sound of playing children. He turns around to see the village children sliding down Appa's tail like a slide. The end of the tail is propped upward, so the children are propelled into the air. They fly over Sokka's spear, now serving as a mark that they need to cross before landing in a soft pile of snow. The children laugh at the fun and Katara and Sorin join in on the laughing. "Stop! Stop it right now!" The laughter of the children is stifled immediately and Appa turns his head to look at Sokka, who accusingly directs his anger to Aang. "What's wrong with you? We don't have time for fun and games with a war going on."

"What war?" Aang hopped down from Appa's back. "What are you talking about?"

"You're kidding, right?" Sokka asked.

Aang looks questioningly at Sokka, but the expression on his face changes to enthusiasm when he catches sight of an otter-penguin "PENGUIN!" He exclaimed enthusiastically.

The animal is startled by Aang's outburst and quickly waddles off. Aang gives chase, racing past Katara, Sokka and Sorin, enhancing his speed with his airbending. He leaves a deep trail in the snow as he dashes after the penguin.

"He's kidding, right?" Sokka further asked, looking at his sister who shrugs her shoulders.

"I don't think he is." Sorin crossed his arms with a worried frown.

Afterwards, Katara went after Aang while Sorin chose to remain behind, and went to his igloo, where he resides in. On the side is a sword that has been resting in the same spot for many years. He stared at it before sighing to himself until he saw a bright light coming from outside. Sorin rushed out to see something shot high up into the air, burning and leaving a smoke trail. It was a flare.

"Oh, no... That's not good." Sorin commented in concern.

End of Chapter 1

A/N: Here we are with the first Chapter of the Story. Progress may a bit slow due to having a very busy schedule, but I will try my best to upload in what free time I have. For now, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA or the story image, just the OC

Next Chapter: The Avatar Returns