Avatar: Harmony of Elements

Prologue

The invasion had failed, and their forces were scattered. The narrow range of time they had to defeat the Fire Lord during the solar eclipse had passed and Aang could not locate Ozai let alone defeat him. Azula managed to distract them during the eclipse while Ozai hid in one of his underground safety vaults. With the eclipse over and the fire nation soldiers getting their bending back, the kids and their remaining invasion force, had very little survival chance against the entire defense force of the Fire Nation capital. They had to retreat and figure out a way to escape the city. Getting everyone to safety was the priority, but their underwater submersibles were seized and destroyed. There was no other way to escape the city except Appa. Even with several warriors comprising their invasion force captured or killed, Appa would still not be able to carry all the remnants. The grownups had decided to give themselves in, so the kids could have a chance to get away to safety. Katara did not like this idea. She pleaded with her father, but Hakoda convinced her that it was best for everyone, especially Aang. He was right. The Avatar was the utmost priority and needed to get away from the city as soon as possible. He could not do it without his friends. Katara and Sokka reluctantly agreed to separate from their father once again. They decided to take the remaining kids along on Appa and leave the city, while the grownups stayed back and surrendered, to be taken in as prisoners.
Katara could not believe everything that had happened so far, as they flew away from the city on Appa's back. She stared back at the city they had just left behind along with their family and friends. Her head ached from the intense heat from the sun. Fire nation climate did not suit her well. Her body ached from the running and fighting she had done, and her heart ached with the pain of having to separate from her father again. Tears streamed down her cheeks, as she stared back at the capital and the fire palace. She could faintly see the destruction they had caused and the streets now filled with the warriors and fighters they had left behind. She clutched the edge of Appa's saddle tight, and dared not to look towards anybody else on board. She couldn't let anyone see that she was beginning to break. She was tired. Tired of having to live on the edge not knowing what the next day will bring. Tired of not knowing whether her family and loved ones will be safe. Tired of always being on the run. Tired of leaving people behind. Tired of always living in fear that the fire nation will win the war and everything that everyone has fought for over the past hundred years will just vaporize into thin air. Tired of not having a normal life. She was tired not knowing what the future held for her and her friends and family. She was just tired of everything.
She grabbed the saddle as tight as she could with both hands and closed her eyes shut, in a desperate attempt to stop the tears, but she failed. The delicate features of her face now marred and contorted with dirt, sweat and blood. Her vision became a blur as tears flowed down her dusty cheeks. She clenched the saddle hard with her hands, trying to swallow back rising lumps in her throat. Her knuckles turned white and her whole body shuddered with exhaustion. Anxious heat began to spread through her as she tried her best to hold back the escaping sobs and sniffles. No, she cannot break down. She cannot show weakness or vulnerability. Not here, not in front of everyone. Not in front of Aang. With whatever strength and will was left in her, she slowly relaxed her grip on the saddle, and let numbness take over her. She never turned around to face the rest of them. Keeping her back still towards the group, she continued to stare towards the fire nation lands they had left behind in the distance, with silent tears still spilling from her deep ocean blue eyes.

...

Aang clutched Appa's bridle in a tight grip. He never looked back at the city behind him, nor at the defeated faces of his friends. Tears flowed down his cheeks as well, but he sat motionless at Appa's head wordlessly. They had failed. He had failed. Everyone was so confident the invasion plan would work that they had never even considered the possibility that it might not. They never thought about what they would do if their plan did not work and if Aang was not able to find Ozai. They were so confident that they would take over the Fire Nation capital, that they had never thought about the escape plan in case they failed and now majority of the invasion force had been captured and made prisoners of the Fire Nation. Those were some of the best warriors and fighters from the other nations. What will happen now? He did not know what was in stored for them next. He was not sure what was in stored for him ahead.
He had no family of his own, no parents or siblings. The Air nomads were raised in a secluded community away from the rest of the world and believed in achieving spiritual superiority. Like their element, they believed in rising above the earthly concerns and relations and focus rather on the bigger wider picture of attaining spiritual balance. Hence, Aang never knew his biological parents. None of the boys at the air temple knew their biological parents. Every child was separated from its mother at birth. The women would not even be allowed to see or hold their newborn babies. Many newborn babies would not survive the first few months, but those that did would later be vigorously inspected by the monks for signs to see whether they could air bend. The non-benders would be raised to support the community performing other ordinary tasks and work, and those that proved to be air benders were separated from non benders at a very young age trained by the monks in the art of air bending. Aang always wanted to know who his parents were, but even monk Kiatso did not know. For Aang, Kiatso was the only parental figure in his life and the other boys along with him were his only family, except until that fateful night when he ran away, leaving them all behind.
He felt a jab of pain in his chest and the guilt began to claw at this throat, however he was not sure what else he could do except run. He was just a thirteen-year-old teenager after all! He ran from the air temple because he was afraid. His life was turned upside down, as his freedom, his friends, and his family—monk Kiatso—would be taken away from him, but it was not just that. He began to feel that his identification as the avatar had suddenly made him different from everyone else in the world. Different and all alone. He did not want to abandon monk Kiatso or his friends. He ran because he did not want to be the Avatar. He still did not, but after emerging from the iceberg, after meeting Katara and Sokka, after coming to know that he had been gone for a hundred years during which the fire nation had attacked and annihilated the air nomads—his people—and had been waging war against the rest of the world, Aang had no choice but to accept his destiny as the Avatar. It has been two years since he returned to the world from his icy sleep. He was fifteen years old now and from the moment he emerged from the iceberg until now, for the past two years, it was Katara who was by his side helping him accept his destiny and learning water-bending. Katara held his hand and led him in every way thus far. Katara has been his sole emotional and spiritual support. She is now his only family and today he failed her too.