AN: This story is an AU. The 4 nations are named completely different and theres no bending, but the true heart of each nation is revealed in the elements itself. Lastly, the first two chapters of this story are short, but they get much longer after that (this was due to me trying to get a feel of the story).

Disclaimer: The Last Airbender and all its intellectual property does not belong to me. This is just for pure enthusiasm for the fandom and my love for these two characters.

Enjoy!

Danu - Capital of the Isle of Jala

People watching is great. Observing a person in their environment, when they think your eyes aren't on them, shows an essence of our humanity, whether it be pain or happiness or neutrality.

I darted my eyes away from them and focused on writing my article. I worked at the Daily Telegraph, a popular newspaper company in Danu, the mainland island amongst the Isle of Jala. At first my employment experience wasn't the greatest since it basically consisted of getting coffees and teas, faxing, filing, and other menial tasks. I worked day and night to write pieces to intrigue my editor, about the latest scoop on local happenings and avant-garde opinion pieces, but he insisted I focus on daily news pieces instead, which I detested. Don't get me wrong, daily news is important, but I don't necessarily feel the spark when I write about for the tenth time in a row about how "The Moonpeach Thief Strikes Again". There's no revolutionary news and stories from this quaint island and it make me feel so passionless about my job. As months went by and I continued to hand in more opinion pieces I did on the side, my boss caved. I guess my persistence wore him thin and he finally gave me spot on the Op-Ed, known as the opinion editorial, team. So far being on this team was an eye opener. The many views and standpoints of these journalists excited me, exchanging insight and having disagreements thrilled me. I loved allowing the readers to look at pieces with no claim of objectivity, to open their minds to opinions they have never considered before. It truly was a great opportunity, but I still had my eyes set on gaining my own column, sue me, but I really have a lot to say!

My latest task was quite unusual and at the moment it was giving me a migraine. When Mr. Holrok, my editor, asked me to write an opinion piece in collaboration with the Travel team, I was insanely confused. I couldn't get out of this nonsense task, despite my efforts, and decided to suck it up and be the determined journalist I am. However, this optimism faded and here I am now, a few days later with no direction on where this article should go. I sipped my tea and sighed, knowing the only relief I had was having approximately a month to write the damn thing.

"Come on everyone off the bus! I need you all checked-in and we will meet out front in 2 hours for your tour around the capital", shouted a frazzled tour guide.

I glanced back up at the noisy tourists, mostly consisting of travellers from Ignisia, a nation known for its varying hot climate and spicy cuisine, and Achalaregno, as their natives call it the "kingdom" of great land forms and endless mountain peaks. As most of the group rushed to the hotel entrance to freshen up, from what I presume a long journey, I noticed the stragglers of the group.

First, was a tiny girl, probably in her early 20s, lugging baggage twice her size with pure ease as she stomped up to the entrance while calling out to a young bald man standing by the palm trees.

"Twinkletoes! What are you doing?! Get your butt over here and carry your luggage like a man!", she bellowed at him.

The man in question stopped snapping pictures from his camera and blushed in embarrassment, before rushing over to grab his suitcase from her. While they were bickering, I looked at them closely and noticed that the man had peculiar tattoos marking up and down his body, arrows feathering his arms and legs. Ah! He must be from the Lands of Caelis, I thought to myself, happy I recalled some basic geography from high school about the scattered lands known for their unique architectural beauty and crisp air. As they bustled into the hotel, their arguing incoherent to me, I turned my head back towards the bus as a deep voice shouted with caution.

"Uncle careful! I can do it, just…just go inside," the young man with dark hair huffed at the elderly man who was chuckling, amused by the young man's frustrated antics.

As the young man turned around from the bus with the baggage in tow, I finally got a good look at him but all I noticed apart from his smooth pale skin and obsidian hair was the equally contrasting scar that marred the left side of his face, shaped like a flickering flame of a candle. As the two men began to converse, I became increasingly intrigued by the pair. I sound like a stalker, but honestly it was an interesting dynamic to watch. For instance, even though the young man's tense body and unpleased look exudes frustration, I could tell how receptive he was to what his uncle said by the way his eyes held fondness for the old man. The elderly man on the other hand, always had a look of mirth while he either chastised, advised or tried it placate his nephew, I couldn't really tell.

As I watched the pair walk up to the hotel, I felt a hand ruffle my hair and yelped in annoyance.

"Sokka!" I shouted angrily, while smoothing down my dark brown hair. He plopped on the chair beside me and grinned.

I sighed, internally. My brother, pain in the ass but I love him to death, a paradoxical relationship. He is technically my only family left, since our parents died in a fire when I was toddler. It saddens me that I can't even picture the faces of my parents and that all I have to remind me is old photos. Their death hurt Sokka more, at the age of five coming back home from a day of play in the snow, to our family home burning down while his family was stuck inside. He always told me how grateful and lucky he was to see the firefighter bringing out a wailing three-year old out of the house, that I was a reason he had to be strong. The goofball still had a way to melt my heart and it truly taught me to be resilient despite the loss of our parents and to live in honour of them. We made our life here with our aunt and uncle who adopted and moved us from cold South Aquam, where we were born, to tropical Danu.

"So, how's the article coming along? I brought some brain-food," Sokka asked while waving a piece of jerky in my face.

I pushed his hand away and hit my head on the table, mumbling, "Not good."

"Don't worry little sis, it'll come to you and BANG! You got yourself an article."

"It's easier said than done, Sokka."

"Hey! I'm just trying to help. I figured hope speeches would have worked with you, considering its your thing and all…", he said scratching his head in thought, while I glared at him.

"Wouldn't it be great if you weren't from here and you're one of those annoying tourists, doing touristy things. You'd have this article done no problem…", he rambles on.

When I catch a glimpse of the tour guide talking to some people from his group, it dawns on me. All I had to do was become a tourist, get on the tour bus and see the Isle of Jala through new eyes; the eyes of a foreigner.

"Not a bad idea, Sokka," I said musing to myself, concocting a plan to became a legitimate tourist.

"Huh…?" Sokka said in response with a piece of jerky hanging out of his mouth.

Quick Summary of Geography

- Ignisia (Fire Nation), derived from Latin

- North Aquam and South Aquam (Northern and Southern Water Tribes), derived from Latin

- Isle of Jala (translates to Isle of Water from Sanskrit, sister nation of North and South Aquam). The mainland island of Danu is within it and is named after the Hindu goddess of lakes and waters of life.

- Achalaregno (Earth Kingdom), derived from Sanskrit and Latin

- Lands of Caelis (Air Temples/Nation), derived from Latin