Avatar AU

This kind of follows both ATLA and LOK's histories loosely. Hope you guys enjoy it

XX

Ivan solemnly stepped into the revered Western Air Temple. He walked proudly, clad in furs and leather as was traditional of the water tribe. He was taller than most of the air benders he encountered as he journeyed to the center of the temple where he would meet his tutor in Air Bending. Peculiar looking with flaxen hair and dark complexion, it was his eyes, dark enough to resemble purple that were his most striking feature.

"Ah Avatar," Yao said rising from his seat to greet the younger man. "Welcome! We are delighted to have you here."

"Thank you Yao," Ivan said curtly with a bow of respect. "I humbly thank you for agreeing to tutor me in the ways of air bending."

"All in good time. You young people are so eager and impatient," the older man tutted. "Why don't you join me for some tea outside first while I explain the situation?"

"Yes of course," Ivan said respectfully as he followed the elder out onto a sunny balcony under the sky. He was impatient. He had not discovered his identity until he was a teenager and there was no time to waste.

He sat on a plush cushion opposite the monk who measured out tea for them and commented on how sweet the lychee were this time of year.

Ivan stared out from his bird's eye view of the temple. All around him the rebuilt Air Nation was thriving with life. The benders were so graceful. He longed to be able to move the same way and soar above the clouds after gliding along the ice and ocean waves for so long.

"Head's up!"

Ivan turned towards the sound and was promptly hit in the face with a fruit pie. As the custard and juices dripped down his face as Yao offered him a napkin, doing his best to contain his laughter.

Mia floated down to land on the edge of the balcony with a grimace.

"Oops, sorry. A strong gust of wind came and kind of overshot my pie. I was aiming for Monk Wang I swear!"

"I was just about to send for you," the elder said calmly pouring tea as he held his laughter back. "The young man your pie hit is your newest pupil."

"W-wait," Ivan stammered, humiliated and irritated when the cream was finally cleared from his eyes.

He stared at the woman who only looked to be a few years older than him. Her long sunbleached hair hung over her shoulders in wind blown ringlets. The blue arrow marking her as an air bending master was tattooed on her forehead where the bangs had been shaved back. Her skin was golden no doubt from time spend in the sun, and her blue eyes were alive with mischief and curiosity as she looked back at him.

"Are you telling me that this girl is to be my air bending teacher?"

Yao merely smiled and sipped his tea while the tan blonde girl sheepishly smiled at the brooding water bender.

XX

"You're trying too hard," Amelia said sitting with her legs crossed as she made a ball of air in her hand.

"I thought that was the point. You speak as if I should not try at all," he said in frustration as he failed once more to produce a ball of air."

She leapt to her feet and studied the avatar. So serious all the time. He was her exact opposite with no sense of humor or enjoyment in life. He was as stoic and cold as the frozen tundra he'd been raised in.

"I think we've been going about this all wrong. What we need to do is dance," she replied pursing her lips in thought before nodding. "Yup. It's the only thing to be done."

He stared at her as if she were touched in the head. He was seriously starting to question the judgment of the dotty monk who had declared this nun, no girl, his teacher.

"You are serious?" he said with a frown as she nodded eagerly with a grin on her face.

"Before you learn bending I think you need to stop focusing on it so much," she told him with her hands on her hips as she stared up at him and tilted her head. "Being the avatar and mastering the elements is about balance right?"

"Yes of course. I know this," he said crossing his arms.

Luckily for him Mia was easy going enough to let most of his crabbiness roll off like water on a turtleduck's back.

"But you don't do this," she said mimicking his accent. "You don't have fun or live in balance. You're so strict and serious. You don't go with the flow which is a key to achieving air bending."

"I have the responsibility to lead the world to a better tomorrow," he stated as he looked down at her. "This is of great importance to me."

"Then maybe you should start by not being so down on yourself," she said resting her hand on his arm companionably. "Just try it okay? Tonight, dance with me."

He reluctantly agreed and when night fell he joined her down in the village below the temple. There was revelry as the villagers celebrated a festival and plenty of music. Amelia nodded when she heard it, nudging Ivan to watch her as she stepped into the circle to dance.

She twirled in circles, weaving in and out among the other dancers looking like she didn't have a care in the world. She was very beautiful he thought not for the first time with a blush. But now she was radiant glowing under the moon which was the source of his water bending powers.

She laughed and headed over to him, with a challenging look on her face.

"Alright tough guy it's your turn," she declared her face beaded with perspiration.

"Mi-I mean sifu do I have to do this?"

"You can't tell me there's no dancing down at the southern water tribe," she said with a chuckle. "I promise you everyone is just here to have a good time. No one's going to laugh at you for trying to relax and have a little fun Avatar."

He nodded, removing his jacket to free up his movements as he stood before her in his undershirt and loose pants, courtesy of the air benders.

"Let me show you how it's done in the southern water tribe," he told her, his accent thick and tickling her to her core as he moved. His body rippling and flowing like waves as he demonstrated the stances used to bend water.

Eventually she joined in after watching as they moved side by side without touching. The water moving beside the wind to make waves.

XX

"You did it!" Amelia squealed in delight.

Ivan could not keep the child like smile off of his face as he formed the spinning ball of air in his hand. He marveled as he controlled it, let the wind grow and then shrink so that it was no bigger than his pinky nail.

"Another month and maybe you'll be able to actually use an air glider," Amelia teased, getting a ball of air thrown at her gut in retaliation.

XX

Less than a week later the Avatar and his Air Bending teacher snuck off in the night. Ivan was more than capable with his air glider as they sailed away from the temple to a small island in the middle of a river.

"There's not much more I can teach you," Mia admitted touching down on the soil in her bare feet. "You'll be going soon."

"Yes I must," he agreed brushing his wind blown hair from his face. "I cannot stay much longer even if I dearly love the Western Air Temple."

He felt physically and spiritually lighter after spending time among a culture much different than his own. The Air Nation in the past had exemplified non-attachment and nomadism. But unfortunately Ivan had not been able to detach from the experience. He had fallen in love with his irritating and outlandish, incredible teacher.

"You were a bigger challenge then I thought," Amelia admitted wetting her feet in the river water a bit trying to keep her voice light. "I meditated a lot over you. Trying to figure out the best approach."

"How flattering," Ivan teased her, trying to lighten the mood as she smiled briefly at him.

"I hope I made a lasting impression," Mia replied staring at the moon. "You left one on me that I think I'll feel for the rest of my life."

"You could come with me," Ivan said quietly, blushing as she turned to meet his eyes. "See the world. You would still live like a nomad."

"Is that the only reason?" she asked tilting her head to look up at him.

She hadn't thought him very handsome when they met. He still wasn't but she loved his face. Filled with character, sometimes looking so solid and others so changeable when he would smile suddenly. Whenever he came into the same room she felt lighter than air.

"I would miss you terribly," he admitted as he reached out to take her hands in his.

She laughed and he felt his heart sink until she threw her arms around him, refusing to let go.

He buried his face in her neck and embraced her warm, lithe body, almost lifting her off of her toes.

"After all. Even nomads need companionship when they travel," she said with a smile as she closed her eyes.

XX

Five Years Later

Ivan returned to his home in the middle of the cold night. The meeting with the Southern Water Tribe council had lasted longer than usual and he was weary from a long day of work.

It was quiet and he assumed his lover was asleep as he stepped in quietly. A small lantern remained lit in her bedroom. Amelia laid on her stomach, her face away from the light as she slept. He sat on the edge of the bed and smiled softly down at her as he traced the blue arrow tattooed on her back. She was his teacher, his companion, his lover, and soon to be his wife.

"Tickles," she complained sleepily as she rolled over to look at him accusingly.

He smirked at her pout and began to slowly undress. Her eyes watched every move in the light, the blue in her irises slowly darkening as she greedily watched the reveal of his skin. Big, hard, and all encompassing. She licked her lips and pulled aside the covers to let him in. It conveniently revealed that she had once again gone to bed naked.

"What a generous invitation sifu," he whispered as she spread her legs and allowed him to lie between her warm thighs.

She moaned and smelled the snow on him as she caressed his back and ass. Too sleepy to roll on top and 'ride the waves' as she liked to put it, she lay beneath him and let their bodies mold together in mutual rapture. His big hands touched her everywhere, even the least sensitive patches of skin coming alive under his rough knowing touch.

"My apt pupil," she purred as his hand caressed her breast, traveling up to her face where she nipped at his finger pads. He shuddered, control snapping as their mouths came together frantic and hungry just before their bodies joined in the most intimate of ways.

"Was that to your liking sifu?" he teased in a quiet voice as they lay side by side, limbs tangled as they enjoyed the afterglow.

"Stop calling me that Avatar," she said tugging on a stray tuft of his light hair as he hissed quietly, pulling her hand away to pin it to the bed as she strained up beneath him and kissed him with the need to convey her love. He accepted the touch, caressing her cheek as her mouth smiled under his lips.

"Mia," he replied with a soft smile that was for her and her alone.

"Ivan," she laughed surging under him.

That night the Avatar and his Air Bender danced until the dawn among their blankets and sheets, body to body, and soul to soul.