Disclaimer: I don't own anything Avatar: Last Airbender (or even Legend of Korra, though I don't anticipate this fic overlapping that one). I hope you like my little AU foray into Aang's world, though! Also, most of the little italicized prologue is taken from the series opening. That's why it likely sounds familiar to many of you!

Out of His Element

Water... Earth... Fire... Air...

Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most... he vanished.

A hundred years have passed and there is still no sign of the airbender, or even of his reincarnations through the other elements. Many believe the Avatar is dead and the cycle is somehow broken. Others fear that even worse, he is in the clutches of the Fire Nation...

But I still believe that he will return to help us and save the world.

"No," snapped Avatar Kyoshi, anger flashing in her green eyes. "Absolutely not."

"I agree with Kyoshi," replied Avatar Kuruk, his gruff voice more thoughtful than was generally expected of him, thus bringing sharply into focus the gravity of the situation. The large waterbender paced absently in front of the large statue of the most recent recognized Avatar, the firebender Roku. Five past incarnations of Avatars now occupied the otherwise deathly silent Southern Temple of the Air Nomads.

"It is completely against our traditions," chimed in Avatar Yangchen calmly. "It has always been a cycle of air, water, earth, and fire." The air nomad turned to the older man at her right, adding mildly, "You have been awfully quiet, Roku."

Avatar Roku's gold eyes were grave. He stroked his long white beard thoughtfully in silence for a few moments longer before he finally spoke. When he did, his words were slow and careful... His gaze fixed on nothing in particular—especially not on the youngest and newest Avatar, Aang, the untried monk from the air nomads, whose own eyes rested pleadingly on him.

Agree with me... please... the boy's eyes seemed to beg.

No one else seemed to feel his tug on their spirit. Then again, Roku had been Aang's most recent predecessor... and this whole plan hit closer to Roku's own heart than any other...

"I think," Roku finally said quietly, "that Avatar Aang has a point." He could feel everyone bristle save Avatar Yangchen, who appeared unsurprised, and, of course Aang, who radiated gratitude.

"Of course you do," spat out Kuruk. "You are Fire Nation, and that's what the boy's been babbling about since he came here. Giving them a chance..."

"That's not what I—" the boy indignantly started, but Kyoshi cut in before he could finish.

She sent a withering glare in her predecessor's direction that silenced him. "Be quiet, Kuruk. That has nothing to do with it. Roku is no more purely fire than I am purely earth or you are purely water." She shook her head, turning away as he crossed his arms in irritation. "One would think that after a few hundred years and several reincarnations of spirit, you could learn something."

The older man scowled, but didn't respond, knowing better than to further irritate Kyoshi. Especially when she was right.

She knew it, too. Her ruby lips curled into a small smirk. Lowering her head in deference to the fire Avatar, she said simply, "Please continue, Avatar Roku."

He nodded. "Thank you, Kyoshi." His eyes met the ice blue of Kuruk. "I expected that response, honestly," he said simply. "And I don't blame you, especially these days, but know this: I may have been born of fire, but I have no particular favorite among the nations and I never have. Still..." He finally turned his eyes to meet those of the twelve-year-old monk before him. "Still... Avatar Aang is right. We cannot rely on tradition in this case, because there is no precedent to lean on now. With the unfortunate death of Avatar Aang on the frozen Southern Seas over a decade ago, the air nomads ceased to exist. We cannot follow fire with air." He looked around, his eyes meeting with each of the others' in turn. "We had hoped for centuries to work this out as the Avatars cycled, but the Fire Nation—my people, yes—have destroyed this hope.

"Aang's successor, the Avatar of the Southern Water Tribe was murdered in a raid before her power was discovered. Only five years after her death, the Avatar of the Earth Kingdom drowned when she and her family attempted to escape a fire nation prison ship." He sighed, suddenly looking very old indeed. "And the current Avatar of fire lies on his deathbed as we speak, an infant dying of an incurable illness. Before this day ends, we must have in place plans for the new Avatar. To do this, some traditions must break."

Kyoshi raised an amused eyebrow. "And so we break all of them at once, Roku?"

His lips curved faintly. "Not all," he replied calmly. "Just most of them."

Her own eyes twinkled with amusement for a moment before she turned away, busying herself with the task of adjusting the deadly fan at her hip.

Kuruk shook his shaggy grey head. "Enough of this. We are clearly not willing to compromise. In this case, it must be one thing or the other. And, "he sighed tiredly, his voice taking on a resigned tone, "as Avatar Roku so clearly and—unfortunately—accurately pointed out, our time has grown limited. He waited a moment as a hush settled among those few spirits in the Room of Statues. "We must vote on it. The ideas have been presented and well-argued. Now we vote."

Aang bit his lip in frustration. He had remained silent for Roku's sake, having agreed with the old man that outbursts would do him no good, but he was reaching the end of his rope. How could they vote on something he hadn't even truly explained? "But Avatar Kuruk—"

Again, he caught Roku's slight shake of his white head from the corner of his eye as the old man warned silence. The boy clenched his fists and glared at the ground, his brow furrowed in frustration.

This display did not go unnoticed by Kuruk, whose voice took on a gentler tone. "I'm sorry, boy," he said, not unkindly, "but I do believe that at least three of the five present will be outvoting you and Roku."

"Not exactly," the quiet, musical voice of Yangchen spoke up suddenly, drawing four sets of startled eyes in her direction.

"Yangchen?"

She smiled faintly. "You are again forgetting tradition. We may be voting to revise old law of choosing the Avatar, but that is out of necessity. We needn't change everything at once."

Kyoshi's black brows drew together. "I do not understand."

Yangchen's smile broadened. "I came here because I was invited. And because I didn't want Aang—one of my people—to feel abandoned by the air nomads. But in reality, I have no say in this matter."

"Of course you do!" Blustered Kuruk, slamming his mittened fist down on the platform of Roku's statue. "You are the last realized Avatar of the air nomads! You are the only representative..." He trailed off as understanding dawned on him. His face flushed angrily. "Wait a minute... You aren't implying...?"

Roku chuckled, stroking his beard once more. His gold eyes twinkling at this simple turn of events. "I do believe that's exactly what she's saying, Kuruk."

Avatar Yangchen nodded. "Avatar Aang replaces me as the most current Avatar of the air."

Kuruk's lined face fell into a scowl. "This is ridiculous! I hold no ill will toward the boy, but he wasn't a fully realized Avatar. He never trained in anything other than air. The only time he even managed to reach the spirit realm was when he died. How can you consider him to be the new Avatar of the air?"

"He is of our spirit," she replied calmly. "That is enough."

"Which you are well aware," Kyoshi added sternly. "He doesn't have to be fully realized."

"Then why not have the recent earth and water children replace Kyoshi and I? Three unrealized children and Roku! That will make a fine council!" His eyes met those of the fire Avatar. "That is until tonight when the infant replaces you." The strong waterbender began pacing again.

Aang opened his mouth in defense of his predecessor, but a strong hand rested on his shoulder. The young monk looked up to see Roku at his side. His eyes were fixed on something else. His gaze drew Aang's own.

Yangchen was about to speak. "Aigii of the Earth Kingdom and Atka of the Southern Water Tribe were unaware of their existence as the Avatar, as is obviously, the infant Mako of the Fire Nation. They have no say. Aang, however, is different. He is not fully realized, but he is aware, and that is enough." Her expression was stern. "More importantly, he owes a debt to his world." Her hard hazel eyes fell on him. "Upon learning of his powers and his responsibility, he ran."

Aang's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to defend himself, though he didn't know what to say.

She held her hand up for silence. "I can't say it's something I would have done."

The boy hung his head at her words.

Her voice grew more gentle then, adding, "Of course, I can't say I wouldn't have either. There is a reason the Avatar is not told of his power until he is older." He turned to meet Roku's gaze. "You see? There is need for some tradition."

The old man smiled at her.

She folded her hands calmly in front of her. "Anyway, the point is that in running, Aang left the world weak. And in dying, he left them defenseless. He owes them a debt. I believe," she added, finally truly smiling at the boy, "that he is trying to atone with this idea of his. I can't say it's a good plan, but I won't take from him the right to try. Even if he didn't, in my eyes, deserve the seat of most recent Avatar of the air, I would defer to him now to give him a last chance to earn it."

"Thank you," Aang whispered.

She shook her head. "Don't thank me, child. If your plea goes through, you will have a hard time ahead of you."

Kuruk sighed. "Fine. The vote is between Avatars Roku, Kyoshi, myself... and Avatar Aang. He paused. "Before we begin, I suppose it is only fair if both sides have been fully presented." There was a strange tone to his voice. "I would say that all points against Avatar Aang's proposed plan have been clearly made. Let us listen to his idea in its entirety." An odd twitching of his lips accompanied those words. "I admit, the urgency of this entire situation has gotten the better of me. I have been more guilty than any in interrupting you." He smiled wryly. "Though I never have been known for my patience."

Kyoshi put a hand on his shoulder.

He sighed, motioning to Aang. "Your plan?"

Complete focus turned now to the small, twelve-year-old boy, who fidgeted uncomfortably before them. "It's nothing complicated," he started awkwardly. "And most of it has already been said. The cycle will break if the Avatar spirit isn't reborn when the current body dies. It has to be reborn somewhere, but it can't go into an airbender like it's supposed to, since the air nomads are... gone now." He winced slightly at that, but took a deep breath and bravely continued. "The Water Tribes and Earth Kingdoms aren't safe either. The Fire Nation has been hunting and killing and imprisoning them continuously for years." He met each of their eyes in turn. "Well, my old friend Bumi once told me that if you're going to rob a thief, then the safest place to hide the loot is in the thief's own house. It's the last place he'll look." For the first time since this meeting had started, Aang's face lit up as he mentioned his old friend. "We tried that once—Bumi and I—We were in Ba Sing Se and this thief had stolen a huge—"

Roku cleared his throat, drawing Aang's attention.

The boy took the hint and nodded. "Riiiiiight. Anyway, the Fire Nation won't be looking for one of their own. It's the safest place for the Avatar."

Kyoshi nodded. "So the spirit would be reborn under their noses? Clever. However, it is also dangerous. In these times, he will be raised in an atmosphere of hate and lies."

"A-a-ah..." Aang glanced back at Roku, who nodded to him encouragingly. "Well, not exactly... See... waiting another ten or twenty years will be too long. Sozin's Comet is coming back. The people need help now." He hung his head again. "And I'm not there. They need a fully realized Avatar by the end of summer."

Yangchen leaned forward, keen interest gleaming in her hazel eyes. "And who exactly did you have in mind...?"

Amber eyes scanned the gloom, looking for his prize. He'd been hunting without success for so long, he hadn't even known what to do at first when he'd finally seen it. The image had been hazy, but he imagined that he had seen the image of a very old man with a long grey beard. Bent over with age. Radiating power. It had all been very vague. He had however clearly seen the arrow tattoos on the man's head glowing blue. Tattoos of an airbender.

The Avatar... He had to be...

He'd chased the man her and had lost him as the darkness had swallowed them up. What was this place? Clouds of... something... obscured his vision. Smoke? Dust? Steam?... Fog? Whatever it was, it was in his way!

The teenager gritted his teeth. He wasn't going to allow anything to get in his way.

If it's smoke, then there's fire. A cold smile flashed across his face. I can use that. He raised his hands to call what he hoped was a nearby source of power to him, but there was nothing.

"Dammit," he muttered, angry again. If only he could use the anger that burned inside of him, he'd have enough fire to take down the entire world, Avatar or no.

Shame it didn't work that way.

"It doesn't need to..." came a whisper in his ear. An old man's voice.

"Wha—?!" The youth's eyes flashed open wide and he whipped around.

No one.

"Where are you?!" he shouted.

"It isn't about hate..." This time the voice was a woman's.

He spun again in the blackness. "Stop it!" he snarled, again trying to draw flames to his aid. Still none came to help him. But he swore he felt heat now. Smelled smoke. "Only a coward hides!" he snapped arrogantly, angry with himself for not grabbing his swords when he'd begun this chase.

"You have much to learn about bravery and cowardice." Another man, this one sounding older still, yet with more familiarity.

"My name is Prince Zuko. Son of Fire Lord Ozai of the Fire Nation," the youth practically screamed into the blackness. "I command that you show yourself!"

"Okay, okay. Just calm down. Geez." A kid's voice .

The silhouette of a man appeared before him as the darkness slowly cleared. Its eyes were glowing an eerie blue.

Zuko didn't wait. He raised his hands, hoping to finally draw fire from somewhere in this godforsaken place. The figure, obviously the Avatar, raised his own hands as well.

The young fire prince completed his move, thrusting his hands out toward his enemy. No flames came to his aid, but a blast of air swept along the room—his bedroom on the ship, he finally realized—knocking over everything in its path and throwing the young man to his knees while sweeping the last of the darkness away.

The man before him was not an airbender. Was not even the Avatar.

It was a mirror image of himself. His own eyes glowing with a terrible ice blue power. A strange smile flickered upon his reflection's face.

"You've found me," it said in a voice that wasn't quite his own, echoed by many others.

This was finally too much. There were candles lit in the room, dammit. Zuko could actually see them now. He drew from them. Raised his hands... and attacked, throwing flames at whoever this was who dared taunt him.

Nothing.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and a lump formed in Zuko's throat that he was forced to choke down with his pride. Why can't I fight? Why is the fire failing me? It isn't the eclipse yet... Why?

At that moment, a boy, glowing faintly blue, stepped forward from the image and approached the prince. A young airbender. He grinned brightly. "Or I guess you could technically say that we found you... Avatar Zuko."

Author's Note: Thanks so much for reading. Hopefully this is a sign that I'm getting back into writing and will be able to update this (and other fics) on a more regular basis than I have for the ... ah... past year or so *coughs* ...

Anyway, again, I do appreciate your reading this. I'll try to update soon. Please review, since reviews are very motivating:)

Also, as a note to Aang's "successor's" names: Mako was chosen as a tribute to Uncle Iroh's original voice actor from Avatar: Last Airbender. It is not a reference to the Mako in Korra. The name Atka for the waterbender is an Inuit name that means "guardian spirit..." It seemed appropriate. I just made up Aigii. I don't think it's even a real name:P

That said, have a great day!

Sirius:)