Author's Note: Of all the AU ideas I've seen floating around, one of the most intriguing of them all has to be the idea of Aang dying too soon, and the Avatar Spirit passing onto Katara. There are only a few, and almost all of them have romance (Zutara in particular) as the main plot. I got a little frustrated... this idea has so much potential to be something great, a total rewrite of the series that could go in just about any direction! We could see more cultural things, more spirit world shenanigans, more character development as the story we know and love changes into something that could be just as great but altogether different! So without further ado, here's my take on an already preexisting idea. Enjoy, and Review!

Prologue

Aang had never been in so much trouble in his life.

Granted, the above statement was a bit off because he was dead, and no longer living, but it still didn't change the fact that he knew he was in serious trouble.

Scratch that, Aang thought nervously, looking up meekly at the mass of people surrounding him, all wearing the most grave expressions, I'm in the most trouble I've ever been because I'm dead.

How he was even here (wherever here was... the Spirit World, perhaps? It must be, since he had yet to see a misty plain filled with slightly glowing people on earth) was still a bit of a mystery to the young boy. He had been running away, last he remembered; the freezing rain lashing at his skin in the fury of the storm he had foolishly flown into, the lightning and sharp cracks of thunder throwing Appa into a frenzy as they tried to fly through the tempest, and finally the breath stealing cold of the ocean as they were thrown in. He fuzzily recalled doing something that he had never done before in the panic he felt, doing something distinctly Avatar with a combination of water and airbending... then... nothing. He assumed that he must have died in the storm, though somehow he knew he had not drowned at sea.

However he got here he'd have to find out later. For now, the surrounding multicultural crowd of glowing people was first and foremost on his list of concerns. Glancing up at the imposing bearded man closest to him, he managed a weak (if confused) smile. "Um... hello?"

The regal looking Fire Nation man seemed to be one of only a handful who appeared to be elderly- most of the others appeared to be somewhere in their late twenties at the youngest to late forties at their oldest. Curiously only two others were children like himself, though they too wore the same serious expression as the elder Aang had addressed. The man uttered a sad sigh, inclining his head in a slight bow. "Avatar Aang," he intoned gravely, startling the boy with the use of the honorific title, "I'm afraid we have much to discuss."