Prologue

Most inspired by The Firebenders by whitetigerwolf

Floating. The sensation most prevalent was one of weightlessness, or so it seemed to the small child called Harry Potter. He didn't know where he was, all he could remember was the evil snake man that hurt his mother with the green light, then tried to do the same. He couldn't remember a thing after the green light hit him, aside from a small sting he felt on his head.

"Hello? Who's this?" Startled, Harry tried to turn around, but struggled, unused to the floating experience. Now that he actually looked, he wasn't exactly floating, but the area wasn't real, it was misty or foggy. Like being inside of a cloud. As he became used to the sensation, he attempted again to turn to face the voice that had spoken. When he did, all he saw was a monkey sitting funny on a rock.

"Why it's just a child, an infant. What are you doing here?" The monkey was talking to him! But Harry couldn't really understand it that well, and barely knew how to speak as it was. He was mostly used to calling his parents and uncles names, and they usually understood what he wanted. Harry was better at understanding intentions than words, and he could tell the monkey was curious about him, so he walked over to try and communicate with it.

The monkey, who was still sitting on the rock, watched in mild amusement as the child struggled against the misty path. Eventually, it got to the rock he was sitting on and sat down heavily. The monkey smiled slightly. He may generally dislike humans, what with their annoying ways, but that didn't mean he hated them. Besides, this was just a babe, and the Spirit World was no place for an infant.

Emma, the monkey, rose slowly, as not to startle the child, and gently bent over to pick him up. As he did so, the child giggled, and shuddered lightly as his fur tickled. Emma let out a small chuckle and began to walk down an invisible path through the mists. He needed to get closer to a connection point, where hopefully another spirit, or maybe a human even, would soon show up and be able to take the child back to the mortal relam.

As he walked, the child yawned, and his eyes began to droop shut. Emma tried to keep him still as possible as he continued down the path and passed various landmarks. He skipped right over the air temple connections, those would be useless, they hadn't worked in almost 100 years. He skipped past the earth also, the swamp and forest were too close to the spirit world for someone to be sure to bring him back. That left the Northern Oasis or the Fire Temple.

As he made his way toward the Fire connector, he saw a figure already standing there, back to him, looking around in puzzlement but awe. Emma cleared his throat to gain the figures attention. Startled, he turned around, revealing a stocky man in fire nation robes with graying hair with sideburns and a goatee. "Hello," the man said politely, bowing slightly before eying both Emma and the child with mild suspicion and wariness. Emma chuckled.

"Hello," he said back. "Forgive me if I do not bow, I found this child wandering this realm. I was hoping to find a spirit or man to bring him back to your plain. Would you be willing?" The man eyed him with suspicion again.

"How do I know I can trust you spirit?" He asked, not rudely, but cautiously. Emma smiled.

"Again, forgive my presumptuousness, I haven't properly introduced myself. My name is Emma. I am a guardian of the Spirit World, and a lesser known Spirit as I do not have a connection to the mortal realm. I merely keep watch over the happenings here, and as this boy appeared here out of nowhere, I thought it best to return him. Although there is strange energy at work around him, he does not belong in this realm, his energy is more similar to yours, firebender. As for how you can trust me," he chuckled again, "I can't really give you a reason, but seeing as I am doing this to protect both my realm and the child, I hope that is reason enough for you."

The man eyed him again, but nodded slowly. "Very well Emma, I will take the child back with me. You say his energy is similar to mine, does that mean he is a firebender also? And forgive me as well, I seem to have forgotten my manners, my name is Iroh."

Emma nodded slowly, handing the child to the man before explaining, "The child has similar energies, but I would recommend waiting to find his limits before assuming anything." The man called Iroh nodded, obviously slightly confused, but sure to remember the warning. Emma watched as the man bowed once again and turned, making his way back to the mortal realm with the child. Satisfied, he turned also, and made his way back to his rock.

"Well, that was enough excitement for one day," he said to himself before resuming his meditation.

Iroh woke from his state of trance, refreshed. He recalled his odd experience with the spirit called Emma, and wondered if it had really happened or if he had dozed in his meditative state again. He was roused from his thoughts by the sound of another person breathing. Odd, no one should have entered while he was meditating. He looked for the source of the sound, and found it as a gasp escaped his lips. It wasn't a dream, or even a vision.

For there, laying peacefully in the exact center of the room, under the watchful eye of Avatar Roku, was a sleeping child with unruly black hair and pale skin. It was the child Emma had given him before he left the Spirit World. Iroh made his way over to the sleeping babe and picked him up, tears slightly filling his eyes. The child reminded Iroh of his lost son, Lu Ten, and of his past mistakes. It was odd coincidence, or perhaps fate, that after loosing his son and turning to the ways of the spirit world to atone for his mistakes, the spirit world had granted him what could be another son.

Iroh shook his head to try to clear the memories. He would not make the same mistakes this time, he knew better now. The Fire Nation had thrown the worlds, both spirit and mortal, out of balance, and everyone suffered for it. He would raise this child in the old ways, rather than send him through the terrible farce that his nation called education. Perhaps this one would be able to help restore the balance of the worlds, after all, there was no avatar to do it.

That got Iroh thinking again. There was no avatar, there hadn't been for almost 100 years. The avatar was often referred to as the bridge between the spirit world and the mortal, and Emma said that the child had just appeared in the spirit world, though he belonged in the mortal. He had also said that he would be better to find the child's limits rather than assume anything. Could this child be the avatar?

Iroh pushed the thoughts away. He wouldn't assume anything yet, better to not get his hopes up, it wouldn't do to have unreasonable expectations for the child. Besides, for now he had to get back to the Fire Nation. The sages had informed him the day prior of his father's death and Ozai's ascent to the throne. Though he had no desire to rule after the death of his son, he still needed to be there for his brother's official coronation. It would be the perfect time to introduce the royal family to their newest cousin.

He was startled from his plans as the child stirred in his arms when the doors opened, the fire sages having unlocked it just after sunset. They stood in a row, all five, staring at Iroh holding the child in his arms. The lead one, in the middle, stepped forward and bowed slightly. "General Iroh, may I respectfully ask what happened during your meditation?" he asked respectfully, not noticing what Iroh was holding.

Iroh smirked slightly, this ought to shock the sages. "Well Fire Sage Shyu, I entered the spirit world, and met with a spirit called Emma." The Sages faces were in shock already, this should be interesting. "After a pleasant conversation, I agreed to do him a favor and was charged to raise this child."At this point he revealed the small child, and he Sages faces were priceless. Shyu coughed and asked politely, "And does the child have a name?" Iroh frowned, he hadn't asked Emma, but Emma hadn't mentioned it. Luckily, the child awoke slightly at this point from the increased volume, and blinked, looking around.

As he did, Iroh got his first look at his eyes. They were a brilliant emerald green, and seemed to have a depth to them that didn't seem to fit his age. Since the child was awake, Iroh shook him gently and asked, "Child, can you tell us your name?"

He looked at the man, blearily, still sleepy, and muttered, "Harry," before nuzzling back into Iroh's robes and falling asleep again. Iroh chuckled at the boys antics and said, "Well, I believe that solves that question. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I must be going. I wouldn't want to be late for the day my brother steals my crown!" he said jokingly, making the sages chuckle.

With that, the legend of Harry, son of Iroh was born.

A/N: Okay, so I was inspired by The Firebenders by whitetigerwolf, however this will not be similar at all to it. I think. Harry was thrown into the spirit world by the killing curse (which still rebounded and struck Voldemort). Emma is a real character, though he is acting very OOC. I was trying to keep Harry within reason, being only a year old. Harry will not be the avatar, however that doesn't mean he is only a firebender. To find out what I mean you will have to wait for my updates. Also, to the readers of my other fanfics, I apologize for putting up yet another new story before I got a new chapter out. This idea has been buzzing in my head since I read The Firebenders 2 months ago, and I really wanted to get it started. Oh! And many thanks to Avatar Wikia!