A/N - I wrote this some time ago. This is my first serious attempt at an Avatar story, because I have always loved the concept of going back in time to fix mistakes, and occasionally making things worse as well. To be honest, I didn't originally have this prologue, I was going to go along without one and make the reader in the dark for the first few chapters, but the more I thought about it, I disliked that idea, so I came up with this at a whim.
Prologue
It has been twelve years since Aang had come out of the Iceberg in the South Pole. In those twelve years, the end of the war that has been raging in the world was come, with the victor being the Fire Nation. The Avatar and his friends tried their best to fight back this oppressing force, but even with the help of the remnants of the conquered Earth Kingdom, and the Water Tribes, the superior might of the Fire Nation won.
Over the years, the opponents of the Fire Nation continued to shrink, until only a few pockets even dare to resist their rule. One of those groups was the Avatar and several of his friends. This particular group had a huge bounty on its head, each member worth a fortune. With bounty hunters on their tail, as well as the Fire Nation, the group fled to the Southern Air Temple, knowing their time there was short.
"It seems Aang is worth the most." Sokka sighed, reading the advertisement that has been posted up all around the world. He had grown to be a very powerful swordsman, still using the same weapon he had created when he was taught by Piandao. He never tied up his hair anymore, instead just letting it fall over his head. He also grew quite a bit of facial hair, which he almost never shaved.
"Well, of course he is." Suki said reading by his side, "He is the Avatar." Suki had grown to be almost as tall as Sokka, the tallest woman of their group. She had been taught by Sokka how to use a sword effectively, and also has been using her fans quite a bit. Though not a master yet in Swordsmanship, she was very skillful with her fans, and appropriately titled a master of them.
"I know he is." Sokka answered, "But I think we all have taken out a ton of their men!"
"You're acting like a child Sokka. Why does it matter how much your bounty is worth?"
"It's in terms of importance." He pointed out to her on the paper, "See, under our names is how much we're worth. Notice how I am worth the least amount out of everyone? Even you're worth more than I am!"
"According to the Fire Nation," She said and leaned in to kiss him.
"You're going to say something corny like, 'but you're worth more than that to me,' aren't you?"
"I wouldn't be your wife if I didn't."
Sokka laughed, "You got that right!"
"Can you two love birds stop flirting with one another and help us out?" Zuko called over to them, "Setting up this ritual isn't exactly all that easy, especially since Toph can't help."
"I heard that Zuko!" Toph yelled, but she didn't deny what he had said.
Zuko had grown to be almost a mirror image of his father, to his complete disgust. To counter this, he always shaved, to make sure he would never be mistaken for Ozai. He was just as tall as Sokka, give or take a few inches, but he wasn't as muscular as Sokka was, probably because he doesn't wave a sword around like a toothpick in a fight. He had become an equal with his sister when it came to fire, though he never made his fire blue, claiming that it reminded him of Azula.
Toph had grown to be the second tallest of the girls, a few inches smaller than Suki, something she constantly teased Katara about. She had lost her headband early on, and had asked Katara to cut her hair short. Though it wouldn't obstruct her vision, since she was blind, she said it was because she didn't want the enemy to use it against her, a very smart move on her part. She was about a head and a half shorter than Sokka. She is by far one of the most powerful Earthbenders in the world; no Eathbenders could match her skill.
"Fine, we'll help you. You have the scroll?" Sokka said walking over to him, making sure not to step on the markings covering the floor.
"Right here." Zuko held it up, allowing Sokka to grab it.
"So far so good," Sokka said, looking at the scroll and then the floor, "Where are all the heirlooms?"
"I got them right here." Toph said pointing to a spot on the floor next to her, where four items lay on the floor.
"Don't scratch them!" Sokka yelped, seeing that they all looked like they were just dropped on the floor.
"Stop worrying." Toph sighed.
"Yeah Sokka, lets help Zuko now." Suki said, pushing him towards Zuko.
They examined the scroll, which identified the symbols they had to draw on the floor with a chalk like substance they had gotten from the Earth Kingdom. Soon they had made a giant circle cut into four quarters, each quarter having an element to represent it.
"It's almost time," Zuko said, looking out at the sky overhead. "We better hurry, the last hour of daylight is about to come."
"Why do we have to hurry again?" Toph sighed, "Don't we get another chance if we miss this?"
"In six months, during the winter Solstice." Sokka answered, reading the scroll.
"Oh, yeah." Toph murmured.
"We have an hour starting now." Zuko said, looking at the suns position. "We need to get Aang, right now."
"I'm all ready here." Aang walked over to the group, Katara by his side. Aang still had his staff that The Mechanist had made for him in his hands. Ironically, Aang had grown to be the tallest person of the group, almost a head taller than both Sokka and Zuko. He grew a full head of hair, allowing it to cover his eyes and arrow, because it helped disguise him when they travelled around the world. Like Sokka, he was also growing facial hair, but he kept his a little shaven, unlike Sokka. He had mastered each element, but because of what Azula had done in Ba Sing Se seventeen years ago, he was unable to go into the Avatar state.
Katara was smaller than Toph by roughly eight inches, it seemed she grew only a little bit since the adventure began – a fact Toph never stopped teasing her over. She had her hair down like she always had it. Unlike Suki and Toph who both decided to cut their hair, she was the only one who kept hers long. She was the one person who always kept the group going, even when all they could feel was despair. Furthermore, she was an equal with Master Pakku when it came to Waterbending, a fact that she was very proud of.
Behind them, a much older Appa followed. Though the Sky bison was over thirty years old, it was still very strong, seemingly in its prime, surprising many people of the group. Aang eventually explained to the group that Appa aged as quickly as the rest of the group, and around age thirty for a Sky Bison is actually when they are most effective.
Upon seeing them Sokka spoke up, "Good." Sokka sighed, "I thought maybe a bounty hunter got you or something."
"I was with him Sokka." Katara spoke, "I doubt he'd be in much trouble even if one did manage to get near us."
Sokka shrugged, not caring much, "Aang, we got the place set up, and Zuko says it's time. The thirteenth hour of sunlight is here, you need to do it soon."
Aang nodded, "Before I do it, I have to ask all of you. Are you sure you're ready? I am not sure what will happen once I activate this. It might not be able to fix anything, and could end up doing nothing, or worse, killing us."
"I will do anything for a chance to fix everything that has happened." Katara said with determination in her eyes, "Anything's better than living in a hopeless world."
Everyone else there agreed with her.
"Ok. If it does work then…" Aang sighed, "I don't know what it will do exactly, the scroll was very vague when it came to what fixing our past mistakes meant."
"We're ready for anything." Sokka stated.
"Ok, I will start the ritual then."
Aang walked over to the center of the circle, while Zuko and Suki ran to get the four heirlooms and placed them circling around Aang. Everyone then sat around Aang, sitting cross legged, while Appa stayed near Sokka, and Momo on top of Appa.
Please… Let this work. Aang thought to himself as he began to gather his chi, feeling it flow throughout his body. His chi slowly began to seep out of him, and join the substance the circle was made of, making it begin to glow an intense white color. Each heirloom was beginning to crumble, joining the circle, and it began to circle around Aang, who was trying his best to focus. If he messed up now, there would be no chance to try again.
Suddenly a loud explosion sounded, and the floor below them gave way. Everyone was shocked and opened their eyes, and noticed that they were all falling in a while void.
"The hell?" Sokka shouted, unable to comprehend where they were.
"This is the moment of truth guys!" Aang shouted, "Get ready!"
"If this doesn't work," Toph added hastily, "I just want to say that you're all the best friends I have ever had!" Everyone agreed to the sentiment.
"Don't worry guys, I am sure it'll work," Aang said, wiping his eyes, "I hope we see each other again soon."
Before anyone else could say a word, the world suddenly went black.
Prologue - End
A/N - About the heirlooms and everything in this chapter, I came up with it on the spot. I was originally going to have the way how they traveled back in time be a mystery to never be solved. Though, since I decided to make a prologue, I filled in some of the blanks. Please don't analysis how they got to the past too much, I just ask for a little bit of suspension of belief. I hope you enjoyed it!