Disclaimer: Avatar and everything else I mention in here or any quotes from random places are not mine. This goes for the whole story. You sue me and I send a whole girl scout troop of sabretooth moose-lions after you.

a.n. Okay, please review! I want to know what people think and if I should continue through the season. And if you want to know how the story really goes, check it out on youtube. That's where I'm rewatching the ep.s for reference. (ZizzoKojin doesn't know me and will probably never read this, but I must thank the dude for being the only one to upload the first two episodes… yeah.) On with the story.

Book One:
Water

Chapter One:
The Boy in the Iceberg

It was a pleasant day in the Southern Water Tribe. The sun was bright, the sky was clear, and two siblings took advantage of the mild temperature to go fishing for the family.

Sokka and Katara sat in their canoe in a calm patch of water surrounded by icebergs of varying sizes. This was the farthest they had been out from home on their own, but they had been following an uncommonly fast school of sting fish. Now, they had finally caught up with the fish.

Sokka removed his gloves and held his bare hands out. His building concentration was shattered when he heard his sister's loud scoff.

"You are not going to waterbend them into the boat, are you?" she commented. Katara's arms were folded across her chest and an annoyed look dominated her features.

"Maybe," replied Sokka innocently. "Hey, I gotta practice somehow."

"How about on your own when our dinner isn't at stake? In all the times I've gone fishing with you, your wonderful bending has only helped the fish get away!" With a huff, Katara picked up Sokka's spear and shoved it into his hands.

"Jeez, what's gotten into your fur hood?" he muttered loudly. In response, Katara wiggled one foot, showing the rope tied to her ankle. The other end of the rope was fastened to Sokka's canoe seat.

"Hey, that's for your own safety," her brother said with a superior nod of his head. "You'd fly off and drown yourself. Besides, you chose to come." He leaned over the side of the boat, spear in hand, and skillfully began searching the waters.

It was no secret in the Southern Water Tribe that Katara could fly. It wasn't anything extraordinary anymore, either. When she had turned thirteen, she and the rest of her family had discovered her powers of levitation, which had turned into all-out flying. At first, Katara was injuring herself about once every few days, but since then she had learned how to control her strange powers and was often the one sent to do quick errands.

Sokka ignored his sister's attempts at freeing her ankle because in all the years he had been tying those tiger-monkey knots, Katara had never been able to undo it.

"Kinda wish you hadn't handed over the spear so soon, huh?" he chuckled.

The girl folded her arms across her chest again, mumbling, "Just fish."

Several minutes and unsuccessful stabs later, Sokka again reached a hand out. Lifting it higher, he saw a large bubble rise a few yards away, a fish circling inside.

"Hey, hey, Katara! Look!" he cried victoriously. He banged the spear on the side of the boat for her attention. Katara's eyes widened.

"Wow, Sokka. You… actually got one."

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

Before he had brought it much closer, a seal-shark broke through the surface, caught Sokka's fish in its mouth and dived back into the icy sea. As the water calmed, all that could be heard was Katara's fit of laughter. Her brother fumbled for an oar as she began wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's not that funny!" he snapped. Sokka began viciously stabbing the water, following the scattered fish. "Don't just sit there– grab an oar and help! They're on the move!" Calming down, Katara snatched up her oar to assist and the canoe instantly sped up. Sokka, who was in front, gave a groan.

"They're getting away!"

"Well, why don't you use your powers and make us go faster?" chided his sister. Just as the boy rested his oar across the boat, it gave a lurch and was nearly spun around. Katara clung to the sides to keep from being tossed overboard.

"Not so fast!" she cried.

"It's not me!"

Their little canoe was being pulled along by a strong current, and all of Sokka's fierce strokes weren't enough to free them. Katara's oar had already been lost and she was clinging to the boat for dear life as they zipped by potentially dangerous icebergs.

"Get us out of here, Sookkaaa!" The canoe gave another lurch as it was caught between two floating ice slabs, and as it was being crushed, the siblings were tossed out onto the ice. Katara again cried for her brother when the boat started drifting away, pulling the tied girl with it. She helplessly clawed at the ice, only succeeding in capturing handfuls of snow. Sokka ran over, spear in hand, and sliced the rope clean through. They both fell onto the ice and sat up slowly, afraid to look at their departing wreck of a canoe. Katara dusted the snow off her sleeves as she looked at her brother.

"Well, that went horribly." The girl watched him as he stood. "I ask you to waterbend and you get us into an insane current. Wouldn't dad be proud?" The sarcasm dripping from her words was so thick that she could have packed it into a ball and hit Sokka in the face with it.

"What?" he cried. "After all that talk about how I shouldn't bend earlier, you suddenly want me to be a master?"

Katara rested an elbow on her knee and propped her chin in her hand. "Would've helped."

Sokka pulled at his hair. "You are unbelievable!" His arms started flailing as he finally vented his building rage. "Why didn't you just fly away, huh, bird girl? You think you're so fancy-shmancy, hopping around, but when I have a real talent, you don't seem to give a polar pelican-bear!" The water behind him tossed and writhed as if some sea spirit was about to unleash his wrath. "Well, I have had it, missy!" An iceberg behind him started cracking from the water level up, each splintering noise more ominous than the last.

"Sokka..." the girl whispered, wide-eyed. Her brother ignored her.

"You just don't want me upstaging you, is that it? Here I am, an actual bender, ooh-aah, and all you can do is fly. So you're out to make it look like flying is better than bending– isn't that it? Isn't that IT?" he accused, starting to jump with anger. The iceberg behind him kept cracking and some pieces had already started falling into the water.

"Well, no longer, Katara! As of right now, I–" His sister jumped up then, grabbed Sokka's shoulders and spun him around to see the great, crumbling iceberg. He was silent for a moment, expression frozen and shoulders drooped. Finally, in a much quieter voice he spoke up. "Um… would… would you mind flying us out of here–"

Suddenly, the iceberg let out a heart-stopping crack as the large, topmost spire of ice toppled over into the water. Giant shards splintered from the sides and followed the first spire into the water, adding to the waves. The siblings dropped onto their stomachs and clung to the edge of the ice, somehow successfully riding out the waves.

When the avalanche had stopped and the waves started to calm, Katara looked at her brother. "Done?"

"Yeah," he nodded. They stood up, glancing back at the iceberg that was broken in half, now much further away. Sokka shaded his eyes.

"Hey… does that look… hollow to you?"

"A hollow iceberg?" Katara scoffed, but looked anyway. "What would you say if I said yes?"

"I'd say fly me over there, 'cause I'd wanna check it out."

"Then nope– looks perfectly solid to me!" She quickly spun around and before Sokka could grab her, a thick, bright blue beam shot up from the iceberg, reaching impossibly high and visible to anyone within numerous miles.

----

One of those within the numerous miles was the one and only Prince Aang, standing on deck of his ship, the S.A.N.S. Appa. The cold sea air lashed at his bald head, but he wouldn't get a hat. That was not an option. His uncle was currently wearing all the hats on board and would not share.

But his freezing head was instantly forgotten when he saw that blue light. He couldn't even guess how high it went, but it seemed to last forever.

"Uncle!" Aang shouted, turning around. "There it is! I have found him! Finally!"

"Oh?" croaked the old man from behind a large scroll. The only thing visible was the stack of hats looming over the parchment. "I don't see Waldo anywhere. Oh, is that–? No, not him. I can't believe you spotted him so quickly. This is an especially hard one–"

"Not Waldo!" Aang cried, slapping his forehead. "The Avatar! I have found the Avatar, Uncle Bumi."

"Is that so?" Bumi questioned, setting the scroll on his lap and gazing at the boy with his crazed stare. "And how are you so sure?"

"That light– don't you see it?"

"Sorry, I was busy finding Waldo." Bumi picked up a cup of tea on a small table next to him and took a swig, watching the blue beam his nephew was pointing to. "But why do you think it's the Avatar's light?"

"It's incredibly powerful! Only an incredibly powerful being could've conjured it!" explained Aang with a triumphant smile. Bumi blinked.

"I don't follow your logic."

Aang smacked his forehead before ordering his helmsman to follow the light. The prince folded his hands behind his back and slowly paced the deck. Soon, so very soon, he would have the Avatar. It would have to be a firebender since the last Avatar– over a hundred years ago– was the earthbending Avatar Toph.

Aang smirked. He had fought plenty of firebenders before. He would capture the Avatar and return to the Southern Air temple with restored honor and a butt-load of glory. Gyatso would come to respect the prince again. And, yes, Gyatso was neither king nor Aang's father, but since he was currently in charge of the whole thing, he was like a king and therefore people called him king. He didn't mind. He was originally Aang's mentor and tutor, and they used to be so close that he was like a father. So by association, Aang was called a prince. He proceeded to have that engraved on a two-by-four slab of pure, hard, heavy, shiny gold. Unfortunately, the gold was back in the temple and Aang had no way of getting to it.

"This is a great day!" the prince smiled, arms outstretched. A maniacal laugh issued from Bumi.

"You're telling me! I just found Waldo!'

----

Sokka and Katara landed on the fresh slope created by the ice avalanche. The boy had finally coerced his sister into flying him over to check, and once they set foot on the iceberg, Katara held up the only remaining oar like a baseball bat. Sokka had only taken one step before a figure crawled out of the hollow inside, the left side of his face glowing blue. When the blue faded, the lights in the sky faded as well. The stranger collapsed and rolled down the slope, only stopped when he rolled into the siblings' legs.

The kids stared at him in wonder; he wore Fire Nation clothes and he was bald except for a ponytail near the top of his head. But what really caught their attention was the scar covering half the left side of his face.

"Think it's dead?" Katara whispered, repeatedly poking the stranger with her oar.

"He was just up and walking, wasn't he?" questioned her brother in a normal voice. Katara pushed the Fire Nation boy with her oar so he flopped on his back.

"Let's hit it with a rock!" she cried with so much enthusiasm that Sokka took a couple of steps away from her.

"Yeeeah… you go look for a rock, and when you find one, you can clobber the guy," Sokka said seriously. Before Katara could wander off, the stranger gave a weak moan and slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sokka asked, kneeling next to him. The Fire Nation boy looked as if he were half asleep.

"I… think so. But for some odd reason, I have this overwhelming urge to… go penguin sledding."

"Evil!" Katara shrieked and brought the oar back like she was getting ready to whack the stranger. Her brother quickly jumped up and slipped between Katara and her intended target. He grabbed the oar handle, wrenched it out of her hands and pointed in a random direction.

"Go find your rock."

Katara gave a mutinous huff and folded her arms across her chest, but stayed where she was. Another moan, much deeper than the newly awakened boy had given, emanated from inside the iceberg, capturing the attentions of both Water Tribe siblings.

"What was that?" Sokka croaked. Katara suddenly popped up behind his back, screaming, "Evil!" right into his ear. The stranger jumped up and pawed his way to the top of the iceberg.

"You're up!" he shouted happily, staring at something inside the crater of ice. He hopped in and slid down to the bottom while the siblings circled around the iceberg until they found a ground-level opening. They found the boy helping an elderly man, also in Fire Nation regalia, to his feet.

Sokka made to approach the strangers but his sister held him back, clinging to his arm. "Don't! You don't know where they've been!" she cried in a low, ominous voice. She quickly piped down when both Fire Nation strangers neared them.

"Sorry," the boy began, "I never introduced myself. I'm Zuko and this is my flying ride, Roku."

"Really?" questioned Sokka, eyebrows rising. "This is Katara, my flying sister. And I'm Sokka of the Southern Water Tr–" He was silenced by a swift slap to the back of his head by his sister.

"Don't tell them everything!" she chided. Again, she pulled on Sokka's arm. "Let's go! It's getting late!"

"We can give you a ride," Zuko offered politely. Katara fought back a scream.

"Are you sure he can carry all of us?" Sokka asked slowly, eyeing the lanky Roku with disbelief. Zuko laughed.

"Of course! He could carry a fully-grown sabertooth moose-lion!"

"But… is he okay with that?" questioned the Water Tribe boy.

"He doesn't talk. He just flies me around," Zuko said with a shrug. "That's how it's been all these… y-ye…" The boy's head jerked a little and he immediately gave a powerful sneeze with large, searing flames shooting from his mouth. The siblings jumped back. Zuko rubbed his nose sheepishly.

"Bless you," a wide-eyed Katara automatically said, clinging to her brother even more. Sokka, however, laughed.

"That was so totally awesome, dude! You're a firebender!"

"Yeah… didn't I mention that before?"

"Don't worry. We here at the Southern Water Tribe accept all types. …Except airbenders… and rabid fan girls." One of Katara's high pitched "Evil!"s echoed off the iceberg's walls.

"Please stop that," Sokka said, rubbing an ear.

Somehow he and Zuko managed to talk Katara into riding with them and all three climbed onto Roku's back. Surprisingly, there was room to spare. Zuko grabbed a couple locks of the man's thick, long hair and slapped them like reigns.

"Okay, Roku, yip yip!" The old man gave a large leap, arms and legs stretched out, and for a moment appeared to be flying. But then he crashed into the water and floated there. Zuko advised everyone to sit cross-legged to avoid getting wet.

"Um… is he okay?" Sokka asked, staring at Roku, who had been face-down in the water the whole time.

"He'll be fine," Zuko said in an unbothered tone. And so they headed back to the Southern Water Tribe.

----

"Well," Bumi announced, stretching, "I'm hitting the hay." As he did a toe-touch, a sickening crack came from his entire back. Aang, who was all the way on the other side of the deck, heard it and spun around looking concerned.

Bumi merely stretched his back next, saying, "That feels better." The prince gave a roll of his eyes and returned to watching the horizon. They were nearing that source of light, though long vanished, and Aang wouldn't move until they had arrived.

"Good luck with Avatar hunting, and considering your family's record, you'll need it! I mean, all the men up to your great-grandfather completely blew it. Too bad half of those guys aren't still alive so you can rub their noses in it…"

"Weren't you going to bed?" Aang cut in impatiently.

"Was I? All right, if you say so. G'night." As Bumi left, the prince rubbed his forehead, wondering how he got stuck with the old man in the first place. He was an earthbender, no way related to the airbending Gyatso. Maybe Gyatso had just as much tolerance for Bumi as Aang, so Gyatso shipped them both off together to be rid of both of them. Aang wouldn't put it past the "king." But like Bumi said, once the Avatar was captured, Aang could rub Gyatso's nose in it.

----

The Water Tribe kids were bored. They had been sitting on Roku's back for the longest time and still weren't home. And for that entire time, their ride had been face down in the water, though Zuko repeatedly told the siblings Roku was fine.

"So, if you're a firebender," Sokka began, leaning out from behind his sister, "do you know what happened to the Avatar?" At that, Zuko gave the longest, most high-pitched girly scream either of the siblings had ever heard. The echo that followed, bouncing off all the surrounding ice, sounded more like a pitiful, dying animal. The Water Tribe kids blinked.

"Um, I mean… why would you ask that?" Zuko said, clearing his throat.

"Well, one: for filler conversation, and two: the Avatar would have to be a firebender and you're a firebender, so…" Sokka gave a nonchalant shrug. Zuko started to sweat a little.

"No! No, I don't know anything! Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you believe me?" He scrunched up and his eyes grew big and watery so he resembled a helpless animal.

"Evil…" Katara snarled, eye twitching.

"Hey, dude, chill! Hakuna Matata… it was just a question."

"Hakuna… Matata?"

As if on cue, the siblings broke out in song. Their explanation song of "Hakana Matata" was so weird and frightening that after only a few minutes, Zuko blacked out, completely missing his scripted dream sequence.

----

"Think it's dead?" a feminine voice whispered. A scoff responded.

"You know he's alive!" a boy protested. "He was talking to us like twenty minutes ago."

"Let's hit it with a–"

"Leave, Katara!"

Zuko opened his eyes to see the furry face of Roku staring at him. The Water Tribe siblings had no clue why the man didn't drown out there since he was face-down in the water for the whole nearly hour-long journey. Zuko smiled and began petting Roku's head.

"Oh, you're up," Sokka said, reentering the hut. "I hope my sister didn't wake you. I had to keep her from killing you in your sleep, but now you've gotta fend for yourself. Just saying." He gave a shrug. "So, wanna meet the village?"

Zuko sat up in his little cot and stretched. "Are they anything like your sister?"

"No."

"Then okay."

Sokka was going to say 'she's normal compared to them,' but decided against it. Instead he led Zuko out of the little wintery hut and into the middle of what would perfectly represent a Tribal Water Hick Tribe. Everyone, even down to the kids, had Southern Water Tribe war paint on and was watching the firebender hungrily.

"Tribe, Zuko. Zuko, tribe. Tribe, no eating Zuko." At that, the newcomer jumped.

"Uh… eating?"

"Yeah," sighed Sokka in more of a frustrated tone than anything else. "We've been trying to revert them from their cannibalistic ways, but it's been a long two weeks."

"They've only been non-cannibals for two weeks?" sqeaked Zuko.

"Yeah, but they're making great progress," Sokka replied with a proud smile. The firebender glanced around and noticed Katara with most of the children by the snow walls. She seemed to be instructing them how to hit things with large rocks.

"So…" the boy began, looking back at Sokka, "you and Katara. Were you two ever–"

"No way, man!" the brother interrupted, waving his hands quickly. "That's incest! Another thing we're trying to steer our village from."

Zuko's good eye twitched. "O… kay. I really don't want to know anything about that. I was going to ask if you two were cannibals." Sokka visibly gulped.

"Is… uh, is that really important?"

Zuko took a step away from the boy.

"How about we never speak of this conversation ever again?" the brother suggested with an awkward glance around.

"Sounds good." The patter of feet drew their attention as all the village children approached. At Katara's shout, they all pelted the firebender with large stones. Giggling at their successfully completed mission, they hurried back to Katara.

"Not bad," she told them. "But next time aim more for his head. Remember your drills, now."

Zuko coughed nervously. "Uh, Sokka… does your sister hate strangers or firebenders or just me?"

"It's hard to say. Sometimes she's always like–"

"PENGUIN!" Katara's voice rang throughout the miniscule village. "Take up your rocks, children. Target practice!" She pointed to the outskirts of the village– not more than six feet away– to a four-winged penguin, blinking with innocent curiosity. All the children grabbed up the biggest rocks they could carry and staggered toward the arctic animal.

However, Zuko was faster. He sent several fire blasts from his fists and the penguin flopped to the ground, completely black. The kids all dropped their rocks and ran screaming and crying back to Katara.

"Dude, what'd you do that for?" Sokka asked with a disgusted look.

"The little kids were going to kill it anyway! Besides, penguin is Roku's favorite food." Suddenly, Roku dashed past everyone on all fours, picked up the penguin in his mouth, and carried it off out of sight. The children's bawling intensified.

"They weren't going to kill it," Sokka protested, rubbing the back of his neck. "They couldn't hit the broadside of an Air Nomad warship– and they've tried… we have one stuck in the ice nearby. That penguin has been coming to the village every day for a few months to play with the kids."

"They played with that thing?" Zuko cried in disbelief.

"Every day."

"Wait, if their aim is as bad as you say, how could they hit me?" the firebender asked above the children's crying.

"Well, they were close and you weren't moving. But seriously, you should ask before killing anything around here." All of a sudden Sokka was pushed back as a plump, bent old woman squeezed her way in between the boys.

"Hey, do you have a permit for penguin poaching?" she asked in a surprisingly husky voice. Zuko staggered away from her with a frightened expression.

"Oh, this is my grandmother, Chica," Sokka introduced.

"And you," the grandmother shouted, poking Zuko in the gut, "are a Bob murderer! There must be justice!"

The firebender looked helplessly from the crazed woman who barely reached his elbow to Sokka. "Who's Bob?"

"The penguin."

Chica started poking Zuko in the gut even harder, ignoring his harassed cries of protest. "Listen here, you whippersnapper! I know you're a firebender and you come from a cruel nation, but leave your cultural habits before coming into this village! No more penguin-frying without a permit, kid! If anything, go after those little runts over there." The woman pointed to the crying children soaking Katara with their tears. Before Chica left, she poked Sokka's gut. "How is it you're the only normal bender around here?" As she creaked off, Zuko stared at the Water Tribe boy.

"You're a waterbender?"

"I dabble," Sokka replied with a modest shrug.

"Your grandma's not a bender, is she?" questioned Zuko nervously.

"Nope, you're looking at the only waterbender in the entire Southern Tribe. Yeah, no pictures please."

"Good… she's scary enough. Doesn't she know that we firebenders are some of the most caring, generous, and environmentally aware people in the world?" Zuko said with a pathetic expression.

"Chica doesn't get out much."

All of a sudden, the woman popped back up, poking Zuko in the gut, who could barely get out, "Where'd she come from--?"

"And, sonny, I'd like to see your flying license and boating license and animal permit! Are you a real Fire Nation citizen? Let's see your green card!" Poke, poke, poke.

It took all of Zuko's resolve to keep himself from burning the woman. "Licenses? Permits? For what?" Chica pointed to Roku, who was only just returning with a red beard. All the children began a second wave of crying.

"That animal of yours!"

"When I got Roku, we didn't need any of those things," the firebender protested, but upon seeing the woman's determined glare, he sighed. "Fine, where do I get those things?" Chica glanced about suspiciously before opening her fur coat. Inside were many pockets with all kinds of jewelry and small, handheld weapons on one side and all kinds of papers and foreign items on the other.

"Let's see…" she mumbled, checking random pockets. "Hunting license fishing license, elephant koi riding permit, no, no, no… iPod, cell phone, su-do-ku handheld, nooo…"

Zuko looked back to Sokka, wide-eyed. "Your grandmother's a scammer?" The Water Tribe boy didn't look a bit surprised.

"By day." He then put a hand on the old woman's shoulder. "Chica, is'nt there some way Zuko can make it up to everyone without buying anything?" The woman closed her coat, looking perturbed.

"Demonstrate how you can use your powers for good instead of evil," she said slowly.

"I killed a penguin! That's it! That's not evil! That's just a Circle of Life kind of thing– Roku's gotta eat, too," Zuko cried, waving his arms like a madman. If he had had hair, he would have been pulling it out right now. "Y'know… Hakuna Matata."

Chica turned to her grandson, still looking perturbed. "Do you have to share that load with everyone?" Sokka only whined defensively and Chica looked back to Zuko. "Show you're a good firebender or you'll be dinner."

Zuko paled. "I thought you said they were non-cannibals!" he said to Sokka. The boy laughed nervously.

"Yeah, but I forgot to mention that Chica here heads the resistance movement and they're… um, out to eat the non-cannibals."

Before the grandmother could poke him anymore, Zuko took a great leap backwards, inhaled deeply, and sent one large, glowing fireball after another into the sky. They collided with each other and exploded in ear-shattering blasts. The children even stopped their blubbering to watch.

"Ooh, aah," the village cooed in unison.

"Fireworks, not bad, kid," Chica muttered after Zuko had sent up a dozen fireballs. "But I still want to see your green card."

----

Prince Aang was perched on the side of the Appa, scouring the waters below. He had his trusty flying stick in hand, ready to open it at any moment. Bumi, who was in the middle of the deck, finally noticed his "nephew."

The earthbender had been asleep, reclining shirtless on a chair with two broadswords crossed at his neck to reflect sunlight. The temperature had to be barely above freezing (degrees Fahrenheit) and the man could only conclude that it was perfect tanning weather.

"Whatcha doin', kiddo?" he called suddenly. Aang nearly fell off the side he was so startled. Luckily, he regained his balance.

"Trying to catch fish."

"But I thought you were a vegetarian– oh, that's right. Fish aren't meat. What was I thinking?" he laughed.

"No, I'm seeing how quick I am. That firebending Avatar has had a hundred years to master his skill… and I'm just an adorable twelve-year-old airbending prince. How else will I pwn him if I can't even catch fish?"

"Oh," nodded Bumi. "I don't see how fishing is any sort of respectable training for fighting the Avatar, but good luck. Eh… y'got a fishing licnese?"

All of a sudden, bright, loud explosions erupted in the sky not too far away, startling Aang so much that he fell overboard. He quickly flew back up, crying, "What was that?"

"Fireworks," grinned Bumi. "Those Water Tribers know how to throw a party!" Aang scratched his head, gazing at the smoke trails pointing toward the ground. He assumed a thoughtful yet mysterious pose.

"That's no firework! That's the bending work of a firebender. And not only do I smartly suspect it's the Avatar, I know exactly where he is! Booya!"

----

Yep, that's all of part one. What did everyone think?