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Cartoons & Avatar: Last Airbender

Distorted Reality ! Follow/Fav

By: Ogro $
Three years after losing the war, a bitter and cynical Aang is told by the Avatar spirits that he has to
relive his adventures - this time, with Zuko and Azula at his side in a war against the Water Tribes. [AU
from The Day of Black Sun; working on editing earlier chapters] [Cover art by Axxonu from the
Distorted Reality webcomic, used with permission]
Rated: Fiction T - English - Drama/Adventure - Aang, Sokka, Zuko, Azula - Chapters: 58 - Words: 519,504 -
Reviews: 2,182 - Favs: 2,544 - Follows: 2,200 - Updated: Jun 21 - Published: Dec 18, 2007 - id: 3952155

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Author's Notes: Thanks for

the great reviews so far, everyone. Now, at first, this story may seem a
lot like the show, but as time goes on things will change.

Edit 7/3/20: I know I said I wasn't going to change anything

else in the story beyond the prologue, but I wanted to make the
introductory chapters, at least, a little more palatable for new
readers. Nothing major changed - I just cleaned up some
sentences, fixed some grammatical issues, added more
description, changed some awkward scenes, and tried to make
the dialogue flow better.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and I am in no way

associated with the creators of the show.

Book 1: Fire

Chapter 1: The Boy in the Volcano

Uncle had told her once, years ago when she cared for stories such as
these, that the twin volcanoes began protecting the island after the last
firebenders had been taken. The villagers on her island simply called
them the Twins, or even the Sisters, because the last two firebenders
happened to be such a pair (and beautiful ones he knew in his youth, if
Uncle was to be believed). Stalwart defenders that stood on opposite
sides of the island, it was said that they began erupting the very next
day after they had been taken from its shores, steadily draining lava
into the sea for all the years since with no sign of stopping. The Water
Tribes didn't dare to approach, too afraid of the poison sea to reach the
village nestled in the valley between the Twins.

Her uncle had believed that the volcano spirits protected their little
island, but the Water Tribes had proved him wrong not long after that.
That had been when she stopped listening to his stories.

The raven-haired girl sighed at her brother as she chased him through
the dense jungle, pushing aside dewy palm fronds as they ventured
further and further from established trails. He refused to listen to her
taunts about him being an incompetent hunter, which only seemed to
spur him on. She didn't even know why she came out here to hunt with
him, her sense of irritation growing like a stoked flame when sweat
dripped from her brow. Her face twisted into a grimace as she and her
brother continued to chase their elusive prey. They nearly had a whole
village to feed, so couldn't they get a break?

"Zuzu, you really need to work on your hunting skills, you know that?"
she said to her older brother. She came across an ancient statue of one
of her tribal ancestors, just a giant head now, cradled in the crook of a
massive tree's roots, the trunk high above her. It wore a placid smile
that taunted her just as she taunted her brother. "Zuzu, where are
you?" she sang.

"Shut up, Azula!" he whispered, his voice a harsh whisper. And then she
saw him crouched in the foliage, his broadswords held out as he
watched the rabbit-fowl standing on a pile of vivid green leaves bigger
than both of its predators' heads.

"You can't hunt an animal like that with broadswords, dum-dum. You've
got to be kidding me," she said with a dramatic sigh. At the sound of
her voice, the animal dashed away again with a squawk.

"You let it get away again!" he yelled in frustration to her, running after
it.

"I bet I can get it before you," she challenged with a smirk, running
alongside him as they ran. She gripped her bow, made from strips of
bamboo, and ensured she still had her arrows in the sling at her back.
In her hands it wasn't much more use than his broadswords, but she
didn't need to remind him of that. Breaths filled her lungs as she tended
to her inner flame in preparation for their little contest that she knew he
wouldn't turn down. The air was heavy and moist, carrying the rich
scents of wet soil and something floral.

His golden eyes narrowed. "You're on."

Her smirk grew wider as the two ran through the trees and the dense
underbrush, avoiding the gnarled roots with practiced ease, neither of
them taking their scrutinizing golden gazes off of their prey. They
followed it over a clear river, balancing delicately on a tree that had
fallen across it. Zuko almost fell when the animal diverted its course
toward the mangroves along the river's edge, but recovered in time to
avoid falling in the water. Azula grinned in triumph over her better
sense of balance, but stopped short when she noticed they had been
heading up a progressively steeper incline.

Azula looked up at the long mountain pass stretched before her. The
foolish creature ran right up the rocky, dangerous road through the
mountains. Even Uncle didn't know what lay beyond.

"You go first," Azula dared her brother.

"What? No, this place is forbidden, you know that!" he said, taking a
cautious step back.

"Aw, my big brother is trying to abide by the rules like a good little
boy," she said in a mock-baby voice. "Honoring Uncle's rules, like
always. It's not like the place'll explode!"

"What are you talking about? That's where the volcano is. You know
what those are, don't you? They explode," he said to her, arms crossed.
She thought he looked like a petulant child.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna give up chasing that
annoying little creature so soon. I'm going in," she said, setting her jaw
and leading the way up the mountain slope, the one the village called
the elder sister (though Azula could never figure out why, or how they
could tell. Weren't they supposed to be twins?). Vegetation grew much
sparser here, unable to pierce the blackened earth blanketing the soil.
Uncle had said that one day all kinds of things would grow here, as this
would make the soil much more fertile over time. But that day hadn't
come yet.

Zuko groaned. "Why do you have to be like this? If you die, it's not my
fault," he said. Azula just laughed to herself in a way that she hoped
demonstrated bravado.

The siblings walked forward slowly as the heavy, rotten smell of sulfur
hung in the air. The heat rolled over them in waves, causing even more
sweat to fall from their brows. Azula looked up at the sun as if trying to
convince herself that, as a firebender, the heat shouldn't bother her this
much, but even as the thought crossed her mind she envied Zuko and
his sleeveless vest. Zuko wore dark red trimmed with yellow and black
boots. He couldn't have been much cooler than her, she told herself, in
a thin short-sleeved robe with the same color scheme and a yellow sash
tying it together at her waist.

After a few minutes of walking, they came to an opening in the path

where steam and hot gases belched from vents in the earth with hisses.
Azula had to remind herself that there wouldn't be any ferret-snakes up
here.

She walked forward without pausing while Zuko stopped behind her.
"Coming?" she asked him, looking over her shoulder.

"Are you crazy? It's only getting even more dangerous. By now, the
thing's probably fried," he told her. "Either that, or it left already," he
muttered under his breath.

"Let's keep looking. This place is pretty intriguing," she said. He

hesitantly stepped forward, and when he did, a jet of steam shot from
the ground right in front of him. "Zuko!" she yelled, running over back
to where he stood, narrowly dodging another spurt of the scalding air.
"Zuko!" she called again, unable to see him. Her heart pounded in a
frantic rhythm as she searched all around and avoided blasts of steam
and smells that made her feel nauseous. She felt ready to choke; the
sulfur seemed everywhere, in her lungs, stinging her eyes...

"ZUKO!" she shouted, her voice betraying anguish. No, he couldn't be

gone, this was all her fault, she made him come... He was practically all
she had left... She threw her arms up into the air, pulling them down
again as she shouted for her brother with a stomp of her foot. "Zuko,
stop hiding! You have to be here!"

A crack as loud as thunder ripped through the rock wall next to her,
causing her to jump back with fright. Magma surged from the gaping
wound like blood, forcing her to scramble away and further up the
mountain pass to avoid being burned or worse. A red glow pulsed from
within the crack like a heartbeat. The gap widened and the earth
rumbled as if the Sister bellowed in pain. Azula's eyes widened when a
shaft of white light erupted from within the wound, blinding in its
intensity and unlike anything she had ever seen before.

"Azula!" a familiar voice called out. Relief washed over her when she
saw a pale hand reach up from the cliffside, gripping the rock as he
tried to pull himself back onto solid ground. She thanked Agni for
perhaps the first time in her life, grateful that he had managed to grab
hold of something as he fell. She ran over to pull him up, and with their
combined efforts, Zuko climbed back on the mountain pass and they
retreated far from the rapidly cooling lava, panting with exertion.

She fell to her knees and gave a weak laugh. "Zuzu, you're such an
idiot, falling like that..."

"What did you do?" he asked, looking over to the cracked rock which
still webbed across the side of the mountain. What would happen if the
Sister opened up and unleashed all of her rage? This side of the
mountain faced the ocean, but that sort of thing still couldn't bode well
for their village in the valley.

"W-wait, you think I did that?" she asked with shock. She regained her
composure and narrowed her eyes. "Not possible. Firebenders can't
bend lava no matter how good they are."

"You're the only crazy bender around here that I know," he answered,
throwing his hands up in the air. The wall exploded outward, thankfully
far enough from both of them that the convection didn't burn. The
magma surged within and a gargantuan semi-translucent stone toppled
out, like a ruby orb, rapidly cooling as it became exposed to the air.
Zuko shouted in alarm and turned to her as if she had all the answers.
"What is that thing?"

Azula narrowed her eyes when she saw the dark shapes inside the
stone. "Wait… there's someone inside?" She pushed herself to her feet
and walked over to it, curiosity winning over caution, and examined the
fiery red stone closely. What kind of material was this? The person
inside of the stone had their legs crossed and their fists pointed into
each other, with glowing white arrows on the backs of their hands and
on the forehead. The figure seemed bald. "What the...?"

And then the eyes opened, glowing just as bright as the stone and the
arrows.

Azula let out a small gasp. "He's alive! We've got to do something," she
said to her brother. She widened her stance, holding out one hand. Her
palm faced the stone as she braced her wrist with her other hand, and
taking a deep breath, she forced her energy into it. A ball of flame shot
out of her hand, but it did nothing to the stone.

"Azula! It could be dangerous!" Zuko yelled at his sister. Even from

what they could see, the stone was bigger than any statue in or around
their village, with much of it still concealed inside the mountain. The
magma that had gushed out of it already began hardening into volcanic
rock. Azula kept blasting the stone with fire, but it did nothing until hot
air burst from a crack in it, pushing her back. Zuko caught and braced
her as more cracks split the rock with all the fury and noise of a
typhoon. One huge rift split it up the middle and smoke and steam
flooded their vision, broken only by a brilliant white radiance that shot
straight up into the air.

A wooden ship cut through the currents offshore, navigating through

the choppy waters of the island chain with caution and precision. It
sailed with blue masts that had a giant silver orb in the middle—the
insignia of the Water Tribes.

A boy, deeply tanned with brown hair shaved on the sides and a
warrior's wolf tail pulling it back, gasped when he saw a shaft of white
light reaching into the sky from one of the islands they had passed.

"Finally," he said to himself, narrowing his icy blue eye. The other eye
was missing; carved out years ago and leaving only a vertical scar over
the socket where it had been before. He turned to the old woman who
sat cross-legged on the deck not far from him. "Grandmother, do you
realize what this means?"

The old woman sat calmly, playing a game of Pai Sho with the cook and
eating seal biscuits. "I won't be able to finish my game and biscuits?"
She had grey hair, and her face was lined with age, but she was as
equally tanned as her grandson. She wore lighter, breezier clothes in
Water Tribe blues while her grandson wore heavier leather wolf armor
despite the heat.

He scowled in irritation. "No, don't be obtuse," he said, turning to the

light again. "That light came from only one place—the Avatar!" he said,
face set with determination. He looked so much older than he really
was.

"Oh, it's probably nothing," his grandmother said with a sigh. "I do
think the heat is getting to you, Prince Sokka. Come, sit, and watch me
destroy our friend in this game. It's rather challenging, he's gotten
better," she said, scratching her chin as she placed down another tile.
She cackled with delight. "Ooh, I've got this game! Here, have a
biscuit."

"The heat is not getting to me," Sokka said, directing his scowl at her
again. He was not going to let her temper his excitement. "I might just
finally be able to catch the Avatar! Waterbenders, head a course for the
light!"

His grandmother cooled herself with a fan made from palm leaves. "I'm
not sure that is the best course," she said. "Volcanoes constantly churn
magma into the waters around that island. It makes the water
poisonous and the currents treacherous."

Sokka glared. "What do you know of seafaring, woman? I didn't bring

you along to give me counsel on things I know better."

His grandmother shrugged, her voice hoarse. "Fine, suit yourself. Man,
it's hot."

Azula and Zuko tried waving the smoke away as the beacon died out.
When they could see, they spotted the boy trying to push himself out of
the rock, his eyes and arrows still glowing. The siblings looked up in
amazement.

"Stop!" Zuko said in what Azula assumed was his most threatening
voice, regaining his bearings. He held out his swords. The young boy
stood up straight. She wondered what Zuko thought he was going to
do.

The bright light all around them died out as suddenly as it came and
the boy's arrows turned blue as he lost consciousness, falling forward.
Azula ran forward and caught him. She laid him down gently on the
ground, her arm holding his head up. "How is this possible?" she asked.
Could he be something delivered by the spirits?

The boy let out a weak groan.

Aang's eyes twitched as he felt air come into his lungs after so long. His
eyes were closed, but he didn't want them to open... He was
comfortable, and warm. He didn't feel this truly at ease for such a long
time. But then he felt his head lying against stone, and someone
moving his body. He weakly opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was rather nice—two golden eyes peering down
at him curiously, with just a hint of cautiousness in them. "Don't look
like that," he mumbled. "I'm not dangerous."

"What's he saying?" another voice asked. The deep voice didn't fit the
pretty girl.

"I can't tell," the girl shushed the boy. Wait a minute... Golden eyes.
Black hair. Eyes as sharp as a hawk's... Azula!

His awareness hit him full force. The first thing he did was thrust his
hands forward, producing a mass of air that struck the girl, sending her
flying backwards. He stood up with another gust of air, his movements
pure reflexes. Azula tumbled down the rocky path. Where am I? What
did she do to me? He didn't have time to ponder it - right now he
needed action.

"What are you doing?" the deeper voice roared. Next thing he knew,
someone attacked him with broadswords—reckless swings that Aang
easily dodged. He spun quickly and launched the boy into black volcanic
rock that stopped his fall. He got into a stance. No more running from
Azula. He decided that a long time ago. Ignoring the boy, who ran
toward him again, he ran full speed toward the girl who tumbled down
the path. He didn't notice that she lacked her normal cat-like
movements and that she was oddly clumsier than usual. He didn't even
realize that he wasn't bending any other elements; the air came so
easily to him... He pulled back his arm once he gained on the girl, ready
to strike her, ready to finally end her...

"STOP!" a voice desperately shouted, and he suddenly felt force against

his arm, grabbing him and pulling him back.

Aang looked at him with anger. "Let me go!"

"Leave my sister alone!" the boy yelled. Aang froze. His sister? Now, he
finally looked closer at the boy, a little taller than him, maybe around
his age. His eyes were just as golden as Azula's. Now he recognized the
face. It was Zuko. But he was different.

He had no scar.

What?

His gaze hurriedly switched to Azula. She knelt on the ground, looking
up at Aang with fear, but also with the determination to defend herself,
hands curled into fists. And then it hit him. This wasn't Azula. It
couldn't be. She did not have the coldness, the lack of mercy, or the
condescension in her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice catching in his
throat. He couldn't look at her. "I… I thought you were someone else."

"So you attacked her?" Zuko asked him, still full of anger.

"Tell us who you are," Azula demanded. "Those attacks - I couldn't see
any of them. Are you... an airbender?" She stood and dropped her
combat pose, framing her chin with her thumb and forefinger, peering
at him.

"Uh... Yeah," Aang answered, scratching his head. She forgave him,
already? Or was she still just shocked? As he scratched his head, he
realized something else. He didn't have any hair. After the failed
invasion on the Day of the Black Sun, he decided to let his hair grow
out again. But now... He was bald. Again.

"How'd you get in that fire stone?" Zuko asked, arms crossed. He
seemed to hold back his anger, for the time being. Azula, on the other
hand, looked more curious than anything.

"What?" Aang asked, looking around him. He laid his eyes on the red
stone, now devoid of glowing energy. This all seemed familiar... What
was going on? Could it be...? He jumped up with the aid of air, landing
on the inside of the stone. Yes, it was the same. Appa curled up in the
hollow stone, a mournful groan to signal his waking. But how? How did
he and Appa end up like this? Last time he remembered, he was with
Avatar Yangchen and all of his other lives, including one he didn't
recognize, far more ancient and primordial than any other. Yangchen
had wanted him to abandon his regular mission for the time being, and
make new friends? She said he needed to see the world from all
perspectives. Was this what she meant? Was he on some kind of crazy
spirit quest? His chest burned with all the things he didn't know - unless
that was simply the volcanic gases seeping into his lungs.

"Appa, wake up buddy," the Avatar said to his bison. He climbed onto
his head and pulled open his eyelid, but he didn't move. He went over
to tug on his mouth as Zuko and Azula walked around to see what he
was doing. Zuko gaped just as Appa woke up and licked Aang.

"What on earth is that?" Zuko asked, holding his sword in front of him,
in case Appa attacked him too.

"Appa, my flying bison," Aang answered, with a ghost of a smile on his

face. Appa began to inhale, unleashing a mighty sneeze that Aang
ducked beneath in time. A mess of green goo launched toward a
gaseous vent and plugged it just in time for a burst of steam to shoot
and make it bubble and burst.

Azula grimaced. "Ugh, that's disgusting."

"That thing can't fly," Zuko stated, his voice solid and certain. "That's
impossible."

"You guys are from around here, right?" Aang asked.

Zuko pointed his swords at Aang again and glanced sidelong at his
sister. "Don't answer that! He probably signaled the Water Navy! He's a
spy." His accusatory tone cut through to Aang in a way that the swords
couldn't.

Aang's eyes widened. "Did you just say... The Water Navy?" His voice
and his legs felt weak and nearly buckled.

"Duh, who else?" He thought that was Azula, but suddenly he felt
lightheaded and dizzy.

"What's wrong with him?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know, but there's definitely something weird about him."

"First he attacks us, and now he's having a seizure or something. You
know, I don't really care," Zuko said, folding his arms. Aang fell to his
knees, clutching his head. What was going on? Did his previous lives
just dump him into some twisted, separate dimension? Am I just
dreaming?

"Tell me everything you know, please," he said to them, looking up at

the two. He chose to just accept the possibility that he was dreaming.

"Why should we?" Azula scoffed. "First you attack us, then you go
crazy, and now you just expect us to do what you want?"

"So it's the Water Tribe, as in, waterbenders, that's controlling the
world?" he asked, voice unsure, ignoring her protests.

"Of course, everyone knows that," Zuko said, speaking slowly.

"Ugh... I think I feel sick," he mumbled. "Please, tell me everything

about the war."

"It's been going on for a hundred years," Azula informed him. "One
hundred years ago, the Water Tribes invaded all the other Nations, and
they were winning. The Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation fought back,
but they wiped out all of the Air Nomads," she said, adding the end
almost like a weak afterthought with a look of sympathy that he
thought didn't suit her at all.

"I thought that might happen," he said with a sigh. "Keep going."

The two looked at him oddly as he casually dismissed the destruction of

his people, but Zuko continued. "Our father and most of the adults in
our village went off to fight."

"I'm the last firebender in the whole southern archipelago," Azula said
with a sigh. "My father looked all around for a master, but I haven't
been able to find any. Anyway, I'm Azula, and this is my dum-dum
brother, Zuko."

"Shut up, Azula."

"I don't think you're a Water Navy spy," she said, inspecting him from
all sides and ignoring her brother. "By the way, it's considered polite to
tell us your name after we've introduced ourselves."

"Oh... My name's Aang," he said, offering a weak smile. Just go along

with it... I'm just dreaming...

"Doesn't matter," Zuko said, turning around back to the path. "I'm
leaving. I need to protect the village. I don't believe him."

"Excuse my idiotic brother," Azula said to Aang. "Zuzu, he's an

airbender. The only one in a hundred years! He's kind of interesting.
That's the only reason why I haven't immolated him yet with my
firebending for almost knocking me off the mountain."

"You wouldn't be able to do that anyway!" Zuko turned around, his

outburst sudden, but he snickered at her. "You lost, Azula."