1. the girl with the arrow tattoos

Hi readers! I'm celebrating the fact that I finished my AP Summer work (just in time to return to school :/ ). I've had this plot on my mind for a bit now, and decided to finally get it written down. For now, it's a long one-shot. I think maybe in the future, I will continue it. Your thoughts would be appreciated.

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Avatar: The Last Airbender**

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**the girl with the arrow tattoo**

"_Aang: I have something I need to ask you._

_Katara: What is it?_

_Aang: Will you go penguin sledding with me?"_

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The world had seemingly fallen from underneath her feet. Her vision was faltering, making the orange clad nuns in front of her blurry smears, and there was a rushing in her ears that sounded like a great wind. The nuns took no notice and her heart beat skyrocketed in tempo, the sound reminiscent of loud drums in her ears. Palms sweating, she backed away from her mentor and the Council of Elders, slowly gaining speed until she was flat out running towards the bison's quarters.

"Elena, what's the rush?" The dark haired girl shoved passed her friend in her haste and called back a sharp and distracted apology, using her airbending to go _faster faster faster. _She passed several others in her class and many young Airbender girls who hadn't even started their tattoos yet.

The only thing on Elena's mind was reaching her bison and then her good friend and biological brother, Jeremy, from the Southern Air Temple. She would be able to talk about this with him. He would listen to her and then give his opinion, and probably make her laugh. He would tell her she was overreacting. Elena kept the short mantra going in her head to keep her focused.

Her face was flushed when she arrived at the bison stables and she collected hers, a young female Elena had named Ari. Elena patted Ari's soft and furry head, pushing her face into the fur as Ari grumbled low in her throat.

"We're going to visit Jeremy today," Elena murmured and used a recently learned technique to airbend Ari's saddle on. Then she flipped up onto the bison's back and flicked the reins gently. "Yip, yip, Ari." She let her wooden staff fall behind her into the saddle before taking off.

The bison grumbled again and walked out of the stables, and using her tail to propel her into the air, started to fly. The wind rushed through Elena's hair, chilling her. The young airbender didn't settle until the Western Air Temple was far behind her, and even then, she remained vigilant.

"What am I going to do?" Elena asked Ari, voice almost cracking as her eyes began to tear up. Her gaze fell to the bright blue arrows on her arms, and she knew that they would wind up her back and down her legs, and that the head of an arrow would be visible on her forehead, the rest of it covered by her hair. She had earned her Master's tattoos when she was eleven, just two years before. Jeremy and she had celebrated during one of their short visits together.

Thunder was rumbling far off in the distance, ominous, despite the clear looking sky. Elena urged Ari to go faster. They traveled for days, stopping only to purchase a little food from a couple of villages and to use the facilities. They slept very little. As the bison and the girl passed into the Southern Hemisphere, the temperature rose and then fell as they got closer to the South Pole.

Dark clouds gathered, thunder rolled, and lightening touched down several times, but Elena, too blinded by an overwhelming sense of fear of her fate, her future as the one person to bring balance to the world, ignored the warning signs of a terrible, terrible approaching storm. It would serve to be a nearly fatal mistake.

As Elena neared the South Pole and the Southern Air Temple, the storm hit. The sea was choppy; the waves rose higher and higher and crashed. Elena leaned forwards to make her as small as possible and Ari's speed decreased as the rain pelted her fur. A strike a lightening flashed a little too close and Ari roared in terror, veering sharply to the left and jarring her rider.

"Ari!" Elena screamed as the bison went down, falling from the sky at alarming speeds. They dropped into the water forcefully and it stung against the airbender's skin. She clenched the reins and struggled to the surface, but the waves turned them over and over, disorienting and tiring both Elena and Ari. Slowly, consciousness drifted away and Elena's fingers went slack against her beloved friend.

Only moments later did the unthinkable happen; Elena's eyelids peeled back to reveal brightly glowing orbs and the earth shuddered at the immense power that was released.

In another part of the world, a comet reigned overhead and Firelord Silas harnessed its energy, razing all of the Air Temples to the ground.

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_Water. Earth. Fire. Air. _

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, the master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed her most, she vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar – an airbender named Elena. And although her airbending skills are great, she has much to learn before she is ready to save anyone. _

_But I believe Elena can save the world._

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"Do it again."

Breathing hard and blinking sweat from his eyes, Klaus growled and rose from his crouch on the metal deck of the ship. The silk shirt he'd worn at the start of practice had long been discarded, and so the only article of clothing on his body was his silk trousers that were cinched at the knee to him from catching on fire mid set. He stomped over to his Sifu's resting place at the Pai Sho board and roared; flames burst from his mouth, red hot with his potent ire.

"I've done that set all morning, Elijah! It was perfect!"

His older brother and Firebending Sifu, Crown Prince Elijah Mikaelson, did not react to the furious raging in any physical way except for the careful arching of his left brow. His hands were relaxed in his lap and the low table in front of him hosted the board to his Pai Sho game. He was seated comfortably on a large, blood red pillow on the deck.

Elijah looked up from his game and calmly said, "No. It was not. I suggest you practice it again if you want perfection, Prince Niklaus."

Klaus bared his teeth when the flames stopped licking his teeth. "You were not even paying me any mind, were you?"

"On the contrary, I could barely look away from the sight of you butchering the katas," Elijah said smoothly, meeting Klaus' clear blue eyes. "Now do it again."

Klaus roared again, but spun on his heel to return to his firebending practice. Lieutenant Trevor glared at the prince and muttered, "Spoiled brat doesn't know how good he has it – got the bloody Dragon of the West teaching him firebending and he goes and mouths off."

"I wouldn't say Prince Niklaus was spoiled, what with being banished when he was fifteen years old, and having searched for a lost airbender for the better part of four years," Elijah said mildly, almost sending the Lieutenant into asphyxiations. "Tracking down the Avatar is an insurmountable task, Lieutenant, and you know that as well as I. What does that tell you about Firelord Mikael's intentions?"

Lieutenant Trevor felt his Adams Apple bob in his throat as he swallowed harshly. "I-"

"That was a hypothetical question, Lieutenant," Elijah's voice turned sharp. "Get back to work or I will demote you to a stable boy in some small and unknown Fire Nation colony."

Trevor saluted. "Yes Sir. I apologize, Sir." He scurried away, leaving the princes almost entirely alone, excepting those smart enough to not say anything foul about their commanding officers. Four of those were the firebenders scrimmaging with Klaus, and they all appeared terrified to try their best against their unruly – and irate – prince.

Elijah sighed and pushed his game of Pai Sho away; he'd never be able to concentrate now. Instead, he focused more closely to his brother's stances and critiqued from a distance, calling out the correct forms. Klaus liked to add more passion and flare than was precisely necessary (which was saying something, because firebending _required _passion and flare) and it would mess up the young adult.

"I'm finished," Klaus announced when he'd mucked up his footwork again, and he nearly spit flames. "I'm done for today. I'll be in my quarters – no one bother me." He set off in the direction of the living quarters of the ship, but froze in place when a bright beam of white-blue light pierced the sky. It was a beacon and Klaus' cheek twitched. Elijah's eyes widened minutely and he felt his own body stiffen.

"Elijah." Klaus' body was still with barely restrained energy, his eyes focused intently on the pillar of light.

"Yes, Niklaus?" Elijah could scarcely keep his own eyes off of it as well; to think only seconds ago he'd told Trevor that finding the Avatar would be impossible . . .

"We have our heading." Klaus's voice was sharp and decisive, and Elijah could hear the urgency and excitement beneath the calm veneer.

Nodding slowly, Elijah agreed. "I believe we do."

"Helmsman!"

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"Would you stop with the magic water for five minutes and help me row this damn boat?"

Stefan fought for patience and let his arms fall to his sides; the water he'd been bending plopped back into the ocean. "You looked like you're doing fine and so I was trying to catch a fish."

Damon shoved the paddle at Stefan's chest and smirked. "I know." He put his hands behind his head. "I'm just tired of it. Your turn."

Stefan pulled in a deep breath and let it out quietly. "Sure. Good luck finding dinner."

"Are you implying I can't fish? I'm an excellent fisher," Damon defended himself as Stefan began to row them forwards.

"Of course you are, Damon," Stefan appeased his sixteen year old brother. When Damon was looking away, the fourteen year old ceased his paddling and started to move his hands, bending the water to push them ahead instead. A grin lighted his face and his green eyes sparked with a moment of glee; he hadn't been able to do this technique as cleanly before.

He frowned as he realized dodging ice flows was more difficult without the paddle than he'd initially thought. "Hold on tight," Stefan warned and at the last minute, tried the paddle again to maneuver them to safety; but it was too little too late. The Southern Watertribesmen crashed into a large glacier, putting a large crack in their canoe and sending them careening off course.

"Damn it, Stefan!" Damon snapped angrily. "What did I say about the magic water?"

Stefan cursed silently and tried with both his bending and the paddle, but their canoe was not to be stopped. In a hurried attempt to save their lives, Stefan threw his arms out in front of him and something cracked loudly. Their canoe rammed into newly formed ice and the brothers were pitched head first onto a rounded glacier.

Stefan blinked the blurriness from his eyes and focused right ahead of him; the circular glacier had cracked and opened, sending steam into the air. Next to him, Damon was winding up for a long lecture, but soon he stopped and merely gazed at the ice, stupefied.

"What'd you do this time?"

"Why do you always blame me?" Stefan asked half-heartedly.

"Because you're the one with magic fingers," Damon spread his hands and wiggled his fingers and his brows suggestively.

Stefan glowered. The steam continued to rise from the sphere, and so Damon hopped up and started forwards.

"Damon," Stefan hissed urgently, "What are you doing?"

"Getting a closer look," Damon rolled his eyes and climbed up and then slid out of view. Panic rose in Stefan's belly, prompting him to follow soon after. "Hot damn," Damon breathed a moment later, and Stefan hurried faster.

There in the center of the frozen sphere, was a girl about Stefan's age with pin straight, long brown hair. She was tan, despite having been frozen in ice, and she was curled within the grasp of a ten ton . . . furry . . . thing. What was very curious (besides the being _frozen _part) was the girl's tattoos; there was the tip of a blue arrow just on her forehead that was a little less than a hand's breath in width. An arrow on each arm wound down and the heads sat on her curled hands.

While Damon was still with shock, worry shot through Stefan's heart; he slid down the side of the glacier and checked the girl's pulse; her heart was still beating.

"She's alive!" Stefan shouted and was then joined by an incredulous and disbelieving Damon only seconds later.

"You're not kidding," Damon muttered as he felt her heartbeat with his own fingers at her pulse. "How in the hell is that possible?"

The girl started to groan a moment later, her limp form shifting around in the melting ice and snow. Damon and Stefan put a little space between their bodies and the girl's, giving her room. She blinked open eyes – big, platypus-bear brown eyes – up at the brothers.

"Where am I? Ari?"

"I'm Stefan and this is my older brother, Damon," Stefan introduced quietly, his tone placating, "You're in the South Pole. The Southern Watertribe is just a bit that way." He pointed behind him. He could hear Damon cursing him for giving away the location of their home, but surely this girl wasn't dangerous.

"I'm Elena," The girl yawned and sat up. She shivered in her orange-yellow tunic. Immediately, Stefan started to shed his overcoat and he put it on the girl's shoulders. Flushing, she thanked him.

"That's my brother, the chivalrous one," Damon said snarkily and Stefan glared. "Now, where are you from, _Elena_?"

Elena blinked. "The Western Air Temple." She twisted around and checked the flying monster's eyes and patted its nose. "I'm on my way to see my brother, Jeremy."

"Where does Jeremy live?" Stefan asked after a moment of silence.

"The Southern Air Temple. I got caught out in a storm . . . everything's a little fuzzy after that," Elena admitted.

"So you're a waterbender with airbending tattoos?" Damon demanded.

"What?" Elena asked and then snapped, "No."

"Then how did you bend the water to protect yourself? You can't have just entered a glacier without _some _kind of waterbending," Damon pointed out against Elena and Stefan's protests. Stefan stilled when Damon's reasoning sunk in; his brother was right. The tattoos were the ancient print that the Air Nomads had used, but since they were gone, exterminated by the Fire Nation . . .

The girl paled a little and then took a deep breath. She stuck out her chin defiantly and stated very plainly, "I'm the Avatar."

Damon and Stefan's jaws dropped in sync.

There really wasn't a delicate way to phrase this. "You've been missing a hundred years," Stefan said quietly.

Elena blinked. "No, that's impossible. I just – I just found out I was the Avatar. I came to talk to my brother about it and got caught in a storm. I must – I must have entered the Avatar State or something. I can't have been in the ice for more than a few days." She was babbling, her dark eyes nearly popping out of her skull as she began to piece together the truth she was trying so hard to deny.

"Sorry, _Elena_," Damon said tactlessly, putting that emphasis on the Avatar's name again, "but if you're really the Avatar – and clearly _you are_ if you can waterbend and airbend – you've been stuck here for a long, long time."

"Damon," Stefan hissed angrily, "you can't just – can you at least pretend to sympathize?" Or have a little tact?

"You must be mistaken," Elena's voice was strained. "I'm going to go to the temple and everything will be the same. If you'll excuse me –" She stood and brushed the snow off of her strange orange clothes, handing Stefan back his heavy coat.

"I'll go with you," Stefan said suddenly, surprising even himself with the words. Damon glared, but Elena gave him a tentative smile.

"Are you sure?"

"No," Damon said flatly.

"Of course," Stefan nodded.

The brothers exchanged furious glances.

"Yes, I'm sure," Stefan repeated and ignored Damon's spluttering. "How are we getting there?" Elena was going to be horrified at the carnage that awaited her at the Southern Air Temple, and Stefan wasn't about to let this girl out of time face it by herself.

"Ari, my flying bison," Elena patted the furry monster's head. She twisted her arms in a strange kata, airbending herself aloft and onto the bison's massive head. Stefan started forwards and climbed into the saddle. Both the Airbender and the waterbender blinked large and round eyes down at Damon's sour form on the ground.

The dark headed water tribesman threw up his arms and stalked forwards to climb aboard. "If you think I'm going to let you go off with some weird stranger, Stefan, your water magic has made you crazy."

Elena whipped around and she smiled. "You're a waterbender?"

Stefan flushed. "I don't know much."

"He just kind of flaps his arms around and when he's angry enough, the water moves," Damon said nastily, pouting in the back of the saddle.

Stefan's ears turned red.

"I'm sure we could learn together," Elena said decidedly, nodding her head, "after we get my brother from the Air Temple." She turned back and murmured, "Yip, yip," to the bison, and Ari sluggishly moved forwards. Stefan shot a look at Damon and his older brother only shrugged. Elena didn't want to believe the truth, but there wasn't much they could do until she saw it for herself. The only thing left of her brother she might find at the Air Temple was his brittle bones.

"I thought you said this fluffy monster could fly," Damon drawled as Ari only flopped into the water and began to swim.

"She's tired," Elena excused her bison.

"After sleeping for a hundred years?" Damon asked dryly.

"It wasn't more than a few days," Elena said, staying firmly rooted in her denial.

When it looked like Damon was about to make another snarky comment, Stefan intervened. "What's your temple like?"

Elena shot him a look that said she knew what he was doing, but she humored him. "The Eastern and Western Temples are for the Nuns and young airbending girls. The Southern and Northern Temples are for the Monks and young boys. The Western Air Temple is close to the Fire Nation and the architecture was build upside down, beneath ground level. It's beautiful."

Stefan wondered how they'd built the temple like that.

"All the temples are different, but the only way to get to any of them is by a flying bison," Elena explained confidently when Stefan didn't say anything more. "That's how I know the Fire Nation couldn't have gotten to my people. Even if they had, there are evacuation routes, bison, and gliders to get everyone out before an invader could have the time to scale the mountain."

Stefan nodded but Damon only snorted derisively. A mountain came into view and Elena's face softened with a smile; just looking at her grin made Stefan blush again. Damon noticed and smirked.

"Come on, girl, yip, yip," Elena murmured to Ari, and at the sight of the familiar temple, the bison groaned tiredly and used its tale to propel them into the air. Stefan grabbed onto the sides of the saddle and Damon's eyes nearly popped out of his head as they became airborne.

"We're flying," Stefan murmured, in complete awe as Elena laughed delightedly and Damon's jaw was someone around his feet in shock.

The Southern Air Temple got closer and closer, and as they searched for a landing space, noticed that many of the trees and shrubbery dead and black. They touched down in what looked like it had been a courtyard, but was now filled with snow, fallen trees, and wreckage from the temple itself like walls and shattered glass.

Elena's face drained of any color as she floated to the ground from Ari's fluffy head. Stefan swallowed hard and followed her, mindful of the glass. Damon slid off behind Stefan.

"Well, this place is a dump."

"Damon!"

Elena paid their argument no mind as she stood stock still in the courtyard, straining her eyes for any signs of life. She took a tentative step forwards and then before the brothers realized she was leaving, the Airbender had taken off at a run aided by her natural element.

"Elena, wait!" Stefan shouted and ran after her.

"Damn it," Damon sighed. "Why am I the only one with any sense?" He shoved his trusty boomerang into its carrier at his hip, and held a water tribe dagger in his other hand as he trotted off after his brother and their new companion.

He found them in a large room only lit by the waning sunlight. The room was round and the ceiling wasn't visible at all; there were statues that spiraled up for as far as the eye could see –farther, even. Elena and Stefan stood in front of one of the statues, a female in ancient Fire Nation clothes.

"Are you talking to inanimate objects now?" Damon asked dryly.

"My mentor told me that I could talk to the Avatar before in a room like this, when I was ready to see her," Elena explained quietly.

"Well, that makes sense," Damon said sarcastically, "I mean, she's dead and all, but I'm sure you're able to recall the deceased back whenever you want a chat. But! Only in this very special room."

"Stop being a dick," Stefan said harshly, green eyes sparking as they cut to Damon's form. "Please."

"Her name was Katherine," Elena murmured quietly, apparently not having heard the bickering around her.

"There's no plaque, though. How did you know?" Stefan turned back to his new friend.

"I just . . . knew," Elena shrugged helplessly.

"Great. Spiritual intervention – the Avatar can sense dead people's names," Damon said to himself. Spiritual mumbo jumbo – he didn't believe in any of it. What was next?

"I need to find my brother," Elena said a moment later and Damon face palmed. Really?

"If this place isn't proof enough that you were stuck in that ice berg for a hundred years, you really are thick," Damon snapped, "Let's say the Fire Nation didn't really attack this Air Temple. I still _really_ doubt your brother – who would be over a hundred years old by now – is just sitting up in his room waiting for Big Sister to come and find him."

Elena spun around, eyes narrowed. "I'm going to find my brother. You can stay here or come with me, but I will find him." She pushed passed him and rushed out of the room and ran up some winding stairs, leaving the Water Tribe brothers alone.

After she was out of earshot, Damon turned to his brother. "Stop encouraging her," Damon pointed accusingly at Stefan. "You _know _there's no way that her kid brother is still alive. It's only going to hurt her worse when she finds out the truth, or rather when she finally _believes what's right in front of her face._"

"When did you start caring?" Stefan snapped and brushed passed him, not waiting for an answer.

Damon sighed and wondered if he banged his head against the wall if that would do anything to wake him up from this wretched, strange dream. "Probably not," He drawled to himself. Something lit up in the corner of his eye and Damon turned his head to see what the problem was _now_.

Every statue's eyes were lighting up with the same white-blue light that had exploded from Elena's ice berg when she'd been awakened. Around and around they went, straight up in the spiral formation they'd been built in, lighting up the entire room. Damon felt his heart quicken.

"Elena and Stefan," He breathed and then cursed his little brother and the Avatar both. Without another second's pause, Damon vaulted himself out of the Avatar's Sanctuary and headed towards the part of the temple that contained a live tornado.

Debris was flying off the mountain face and in the center was Elena, tattoos and eyes glowing both, controlling the sudden storm. Clinging stubbornly to a large rock rooted in the mountain was Stefan, his blue tunic and trousers a beacon on the dry, grey land. Though he would deny it later, panic filled Damon at the sight. He charged forwards, frantically attempting to climb, but at each attempt he would slide back down or be knocked off course by the raging windstorm.

A deep rumbling sounded behind him and Damon's sharp blue eyes darted towards it; Ari the flying bison was standing there, seemingly waiting for him. Damon grinned. He changed course and headed towards the bison, slipping atop its head and muttered, "Yip, yip." Ari jumped into the air and flew them towards Stefan's form.

"What happened?" Damon shouted over the noise.

"She found her brother's body!" Stefan called grimly. He ignored Damon's proffered hand and started forwards – towards the Avatar.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"I'm going to help her," Stefan said insistently and he weathered the harsh winds until he was just behind the hovering Avatar. Damon squinted and cupped his ears, but could barely make out the impassioned words that his little brother said to the enraged Airbender.

Slowly, the winds slowed and Elena floated back to the ground, where Stefan wrapped the girl into a hug. She clutched at him, crying, and the tattoos' glow faded. Damon landed Ari and jumped off of her head, walking towards the couple in front of him. He paused when he reached them and patted Elena's shoulder awkwardly.

"There, there," Damon winced, but Elena smiled gratefully through her tears.

"Do you want to come stay the night at the village?" Stefan asked her quietly.

Wiping her tears, Elena nodded. "That sounds great." Stefan and Elena released each other, but she stayed close to him. Damon walked on her other side and the three headed towards Ari, ready to return to the South Pole. Elena paused, stopping the brothers in their tracks. "I want to thank you," She said quietly, "for pulling me from the ice and staying with me even though I didn't believe you."

"It's fine," Stefan reassured her and even Damon reluctantly nodded his head.

"Well, thanks anyway," Elena said, voice stronger. She floated up to the top of Ari's head with some quick bending katas and then waited until the brothers jumped up into the saddle. "Yip, yip." The bison lifted off once more; they left the Southern Air Temple behind them and Damon thought to himself, _things were not going to be the same ever again._

He did not know how right he was.

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Elijah stood back as Klaus used his spy glass to locate the Avatar, his Pai Sho game completely forgotten. Klaus was practically breathing fire and there was steam rising off of the younger man's bare shoulders while he paced back and forth, urgently searching the skies for any signs of the returned airbender.

"Might I suggest clothing yourself before we meet with the Avatar?" Elijah deadpanned. Klaus waved an impatient hand in Elijah's direction, making the latter sigh. "Brother."

Klaus stilled and there was a tense moment between the brothers before the younger finally turned to face the elder. "I'll do you one better, _brother,_ and will put on my armor," Klaus drawled, "Do keep a look out, will you?"

"Yes, Prince Niklaus," Elijah said smoothly as he was handed the spy glass. Klaus stomped off below deck, leaving Elijah with the Helmsman and a few other active crewmen. Elijah straightened his crimson wrist cuffs and then delicately put the spy glass to his eye. There was nothing in his immediate vision, but as the ship continued to sail and land got closer, the Crown Prince could see what seemed to be a mound of snow . . . but upon closer inspection, Elijah spied smoke drifting skyward.

Civilization.

"So that is where you are hiding," Elijah murmured. Had the Avatar traveled to the remnants of the Southern Water Tribe in hopes of finding a waterbending teacher? The last one had been found and exterminated some eight to ten years before, so there was nothing for him or her there. "Set course for the Water Tribe," Elijah commanded and immediately the ship turned in the direction of the small village. "Full speed," He added after a moment and just minutes later they were barely a mile out from the tribesmen.

Stomping feet approached and the spy glass was snatched out of Elijah's hands. "Why are we altering course?"

"The Southern Water Tribe is as good as any a place to start searching for the Avatar," Elijah replied smoothly.

Klaus nodded thoughtfully. "He must be one hundred and thirteen years old by now; he can't be moving very fast."

"Don't underestimate him," Elijah warned quietly, "or her. Avatar Qetsiyah lived to be over two hundred years old, and she was a fearsome opponent until her death. Which, may I remind you, was not at the hands of any foe; she died in her sleep." Klaus barely acknowledged Elijah's warnings, only pressing the spy glass closer to his eye. The older man sighed, but said nothing else; if Klaus refused to listen, there was nothing Elijah could do about it.

At the edge of the village was a large brown and white beast; a sky bison. It confirmed that the Avatar was an airbender at least, and that he was nearby. The village itself was just a small collective of igloos and wooden huts within a snow wall that circled around them. The wall was nothing as impressive as the Great Walls around Ba Sing Se, or even like those at the Northern Tribe. That was expected though; without waterbenders to actively maintain the snowy architecture, the once great ice city of the Southern Tribe had fallen into ruin.

"I want five men with me," Klaus commanded and five soldiers fell into line as they neared the village. "Elijah, I want you at my side." He tossed the spy glass off to Lieutenant Trevor, who fumbled with it. Thankfully, his friend (Elijah privately called her his keeper), Rose, caught it. "He's had a hundred years to master all elements, but I believe we are well trained enough to handle him."

Elijah said nothing. Their ship, _The Vampire_, named ironically by Elijah (those of the Earth Kingdoms and Water Tribes often called them soul-sucking fire fiends, but that had been too long, so he'd coined the phrase _vampire_ from some of their ancient folk tales of blood-sucking monsters) crushed through the ice and snow, breaking the small wall surrounding their village. The gangway was released slowly, letting the heat from the ship escape as steam in the frosty air.

A crowd had gathered in the center of the village, nearly entirely consisting of adult women and small toddling children. The only two boys over the age of six looked to be two teenagers, who stood in front of the crowd with a young woman around their age in orange. The men have all gone off to war, Elijah realized. It would be easier for them to capture the Avatar; the less interference the better.

Prince Niklaus led the way down the gangway with Elijah at his right side, five firebending masters marching behind them. The group included Rose, but not Lieutenant Trevor (thankfully; they didn't need him bumbling to his death out there). As they got closer to the village, the more frightened the children became, but it was clear that the Water Tribe people were too afraid to take them to safety; the Fire Nation was ruthless after all, Elijah thought wryly, and any sudden movements might urge the fire fiends to lob flames at them.

"Where are you hiding him?" Subtle, Niklaus was not. When it appeared no one was going to answer, Klaus surged forwards and snatched an elderly woman away from the bunch. "He'd be about this age, master of all four elements!"

The group of young teenagers stiffened, drawing Elijah's attention once more. He narrowed his eyes; now that he looked, the girl had blue on her forehead and arms . . . arrow tattoos. Elijah met her eyes and the girl refused to look away; there was certain fierceness in her brown orbs that he had to admit was admirable.

But all the same . . . "Brother. I believe she is the one you are searching for." Elijah inclined his head towards the girl and her companions instantly went on defense. "She has the tattoos that were customary for airbending masters."

Klaus' gaze instantly shot to the girl. "She does," He observed and without a second thought, strode forwards.

"I don't think so, buddy," The oldest of the group said and he launched a metal weapon at Niklaus; it missed, and Klaus made sure to gloat, but the teenager only smirked. Elijah saw why seconds later; it returned, hitting Klaus in the back of the head in the process, dislodging his helmet. The five soldiers leant forwards as if to defend their prince, but Elijah held them back. Klaus would handle himself; they were only back up.

Klaus roared and flames licked the air in front of the boy's face, and then Klaus charged forwards. The younger brother's eyes darkened angrily and it was he, not the elder to meet Klaus' attack. He raised his arms and water followed his lead, shooting towards Klaus' feet. Elijah only had a moment to be surprised that there was still a waterbender in the South Pole. Klaus was frozen in place for the moment – but only a moment. He melted the ice and brought forth another flame in his hand and shot it wildly over the heads of the villagers. The sight and heat of the fire elicited terrified screams.

"Enough!" Klaus yelled and his face was red with fury. "If you don't want your village burned to ashes, you'll hand over the girl. If you don't, I'll make sure there _are no_ survivors."

Instantly the fighting stopped as the young woman with arrow tattoos pushed forwards. "It's me, it's me! I'm the Avatar," She stood firmly in front of Klaus and Elijah, shaking but brave. "I'll go with you if you swear to leave this village alone."

A cruel smirk curled Klaus' lips. "Deal, little girl."

"Elena, no!" The waterbender yelled.

"It'll be fine, Stefan," Avatar Elena falsely assured him. The other teenager grimaced and clenched his fists, but said nothing. He was smart, Elijah thought, or just helpless, another voice said in the back of his mind.

"Bind her," Klaus commanded and Rose stepped forwards to do the job, and then led the girl up the gangway. Klaus smirked at the village people, but he focused on the two teenagers. "It was a pleasure doing business with you." He turned around and called, "Back to the ship!"

The other four soldiers loaded up next, followed by Klaus and then finally Elijah. The Avatar was settled between the princes, each with a hand on her shoulders as the gangway drew back up. Elijah confiscated her staff, while Klaus commanded she be taken to the brig.

"Finally," Klaus breathed as they stood in the deck, the _Vampire_ pulling out of 'dock'. "I'm going home." Elijah inclined his head, but didn't voice his own thoughts about their return to the Capitol. The Firelord would not be pleased, whatever Klaus may think, though their younger sister Rebekah might; it really depended on her mood and the lies their father told her. Their brothers Finn and Kol would be indifferent.

Their mother was gone.

There was a sudden commotion below deck, making the princes simultaneously turn their heads; the Avatar had somehow managed to evade her guard and was airbending her way towards them, her face set firmly into an expression of utter determination.

"I'll be taking my staff back," She announced and Elijah had to admit; she was better than they'd initially given her credit for. Well, the rest of them, anyway; Elijah knew that she had to have some more tricks up her sleeve than just surrendering.

"I don't think so, Avatar," Klaus hissed and he launched a volley of crimson fireballs in her direction. She used her airbending to twist her body away from them and push herself high into the air; she landed just behind Elijah, where she plucked her staff away. Klaus bellowed and chased after her, bombarding her with flames. Elijah moved to help him close the girl into a corner, but a low grumbling was heard above them.

"Ari!" Elena shouted with a grin on her face.

"What, no welcome for the a_ctual _rescue team?" The older boy drawled as he leapt down and bared his teeth at the Fire Nation soldiers gathered.

"Ari did all of the heavy lifting, Damon," The waterbender, Stefan, said dryly as he came after him, water at the ready.

"Enough of this!" Klaus snapped and executed a spinning kick, shooting flame at the Water Tribe peasants out of his left heel. Stefan was knocked to his knees while Damon deflected some of the fire off of his boomerang. Elena performed an airbending kata, spinning a miniature tornado at the Lieutenant and Rose that knocked them off their feet. Elijah decided now was the time to join the fray; he shot blue fire at Damon, sending the boy overboard.

Stefan glared and shot water at Elijah, which he was able to artfully dodge. Klaus took to battling Avatar Elena one on one, which would have been quite a sight to see; his ferocious straight-forward tactics put against her dodge and flight evasions. As it was, Elijah focused his attentions on putting down the waterbender.

"I'm sure my father would be interested in hearing about you, little waterbender," Elijah murmured to him as his blue flames licked Stefan's feet and heated the steel beneath them. "But even I'm not that cruel," He admitted. Mikael would not be kind to the last waterbender of the Southern Tribe, especially one that had evaded the last of the raids. "A quick death it will be; unless you'd rather bow out now and save you and your brother?"

Stefan narrowed his eyes and sent a wave of water at Elijah. "Damon and I aren't going to abandon Elena for anything." At the last moment, the water turned to ice, freezing Elijah into place from the neck down.

"Clever," Elijah allowed. "But not-" He paused when Stefan's eyes rounded and focused behind Elijah's body. In his peripheral vision, the Crown Prince caught sight of the Avatar rising in the water, eyes and tattoos glowing as she forcefully took out Klaus and the remaining crew. Elijah stilled. And waited.

When the Avatar Spirit saw everyone out of commission, it left Elena and the glowing ceased. She was helped onto the bison by her Water Tribe friends, and then they took off quickly into the sky. Elijah then released his breath of fire, melting his body of its icy casing.

"Elijah! Help me!" Klaus screamed as he climbed back onto the ship. Elijah gave him a hand up, and then, together, they performed the steps of a familiar kata that launched a giant blue and red fireball after the flying bison. But before their very eyes, the Avatar spun around and reflected the fiery mass back towards them with just her glider. It hit the mountains and sent snow vaulting down in an avalanche towards their ship, locking them in place and destroying much of the exterior of their steel home.

"The good news is that the Avatar is just a thirteen year old girl," Elijah said mildly when everything settled.

"But look what she did!" Klaus snapped angrily, "She destroyed our ship! And she only knows airbending!"

Elijah refrained from saying, _I told you so_ as the bison and the children's forms shrank into the distance, turning into tiny specks in the darkening sky.

"We'll be prepared next time," Klaus swore, "I _will_ return home and regain my honor."

"Of course, Prince Niklaus. Now let's get the crew and dig ourselves out of this snow."

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.

"So where are we headed to next, Team Avatar?" Damon drawled from his place sprawled in the back of the saddle. Two packs and three sleeping bags were tied down behind him, enough to keep them until they could find another village.

"Well, Stefan and I need to learn waterbending," Elena said from Ari's head, "and since Qetsiyah Island used to be a mix of Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom people and it's fairly close, I think we should start there."

"If there are no waterbenders at the island, we'll have to go to the North Pole," Stefan said grimly. "That will take weeks."

"Okay, Debbie Downer. What's the rush anyway?" Damon asked almost cruelly, "The war's been going on for a hundred years; I doubt it's going to end any time soon."

"I still need to learn the last three elements as quickly as possible," Elena said flatly, getting used to the incoming signs of an imminent fight between the brothers, and acted quickly to avoid it, "so that I can end this war as soon as I can. The violence, this bloodshed – it has to stop."

"Qetsiyah Island it is, then," Stefan said quietly.

Elena's fingers gripped the reins a little tighter and she focused her gaze ahead of her. The events of the last two days were catching up to her; she was tired, not just in body, but in mind too. It was just a few days ago to her that she'd been told she was the Avatar and she'd headed off to tell the news to her brother. Her brother, who was now dead because of her. Because she hadn't been there to stop it the invasion that had wiped out her people.

Elena narrowed her eyes. Well, she'd be there this time; she'd save the world with her two new friends at her side, and bring balance to the world.

Just like she was supposed to.

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* * *

_Reviews are lovely things for an author to receive Especially if they are kind._


	2. the boy with the angry scar

Hello again, readers! If you've continued to read this, all I have to say is thank you! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and please leave any thoughts you may have.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or The Vampire Diaries.**

**the boy with the angry scar**

* * *

_"He said that Prince Zuko's challenge to the General was an act of complete disrespect . . . and there was only one way to resolve this."_

_"An Agni Kai."_

_- General Iroh, Liuetenant Jee _

_(The Storm)_

_._

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"I hate to be the one that nags –"

"No, you don't."

"– but are we there yet?" Damon blithely ignored Stefan's interruption.

"Actually, yes," Elena said to the two brothers without bothering to turn around. "See?" She pointed forwards towards an island that gradually grew larger the closer they approached. "Welcome to Qetsiyah Island." The Airbender murmured something to her bison, and moments later Ari angled downwards to land. Damon refused to admit he grinned as the bison picked up speed and the wind blew his hair back.

There was lush green grass and tall trees, not to mention the numerous patches of foliage along the shore and towards the thick forests. Stefan and Damon simultaneously looked at each other's face and exchanged a look of surprise and wonder; perpetually cold was their native home and they'd never left it, so they'd never seen any such thing as grass.

They quickly found that they needed to shed their thick animal hide overcoats in the warm weather, as they were already beginning to heat beneath their clothing. Elena was smiling brilliantly, her white teeth gleaming in the sunshine as she patted her flying bison on the head for a good ride. Her orange tunic was ruffled in the cool breeze and she seemed genuinely happy.

"So what do we do now? Go knocking door to door, asking, 'Hey do you have a spare Master Waterbender lying around? We need to teach the Avatar and my kid brother how to magically move the ocean,'" Damon drawled.

Stefan scowled. "Be serious for a minute, Damon, please. If we don't find a master, then we have to keep looking for a teacher somewhere else and waste time."

"I – "

The light was suddenly taken away as someone blindfolded Damon, and from the indignant squawks, Elena and Stefan had been apprehended too. Their mysterious captors tied Damon's hands behind his back tightly, burning the skin on his wrists, and then they bound him to a tall wooden pole. They were not compassionate. Moments later, Damon was joined by a similarly handled Stefan and Elena, if he were to guess by their pained grunts.

"Who are you?" Stefan called out, entirely calmer than the situation warranted Damon thought, and his voice was loud and carrying. Unafraid.

The blindfolds were roughly ripped off, revealing a small group of young women in green armored dresses who all bore fans in their hands, raised in a position to attack. They wore paint that concealed the skin on their faces, which was white except for the red and black around the eyes. All shared the same unyielding set to their lips and glares were firmly fixed.

"Where are the men that attacked us?" Damon drawled with a quirked lip. Their captors had been strong, quick, and agile; he couldn't _really _believe that a group of giggling girls had taken him, his brother, and the Avatar down in a matter of seconds. However, a young woman stepped forwards; her eyes were dark brown, almost black, and the skin of her hands was mocha colored. Her lips were pressed into a severe frown as she turned to Damon, her eyes hard and unbending.

"Are you blind? We're the ones you tied you up, you buffoon," She snapped angrily. If she had been any younger, Damon would have imagined her to have stamped her foot in the dirt.

"But you're just a bunch of little girls," Damon's brows arched. He could practically _hear _Stefan's eye contemptuous eye roll.

"Now he's done it," Stefan muttered lowly with his tone full of unbidden doom. Well, Damon thought, Stefan could just stuff his unwanted trouble filled prophecies up his ass. They were not _doomed_ . . . just _delayed_.

The leader leaned in closely and hissed into Damon's face, "Well, this bunch of little girls took you down pretty quickly, Water Tribe. I guess they don't make warriors like they used to down south."

Damon narrowed his eyes. "I suppose you could blame the Fire Nation."

"Or just bad breeding," She said, hip cocked, and Elena choked.

"Bonnie," An elderly voice called, which drew the attention of the warriors and the trio of bound young adults. A woman of around sixty to seventy years strode towards them with moderate speed, wearing and an emerald dress with yellow-gold linings on the sleeves. Her skin tone was the same shade as the leader who'd spoken to Damon, though her face was uncovered by paint and she had a more benevolent air about her. "Who are our visitors?"

"There's a Water Tribe chauvinist pig," Bonnie muttered under her breath and Damon arched an unaffected brow at her. The elderly woman cleared her throat and Bonnie straightened her back. "I don't know yet, Grams. They were trespassing and so my warriors and I arrested them."

"Well, let's just find out," Grams said mildly and she reached the large group. She turned towards them and motioned for the gag to be taken off of Elena's mouth. Bonnie stepped forwards and did so, ignoring Stefan and Damon both.

"I'm the Avatar," Elena introduced herself as soon as the gag was gone and Bonnie had stepped back, "and my name's Elena. These are my friends, Stefan and Damon. We're looking for a waterbending master to teach us the art, and I was hoping there might be one here." Her big brown eyes were looking hopefully towards the elderly leader. Damon figured that those eyes had gotten her out of a lot of trouble back at her Air Temple.

Bonnie snapped, "There hasn't been an Avatar since Qetsiyah and then Katherine. And the last Airbender died over a hundred years ago." There was murmur of agreement among the warriors and if they'd been projecting distaste before, now there was an invisible wall of outright hostility. The elderly woman quieted them and turned back towards Elena for an explanation, hip cocked to the side just like granddaughter.

"I can prove it," Elena told her and there was burst of air as she released herself of her bindings and flew overhead, floating down to the ground slowly. The crowd that had gathered was in clear awe, their eyes rounding beneath their face paint. One girl was so surprised that she dropped her fan to the ground, which made a sharp clicking noise on the dirt.

Grams inclined her head and focused on Elena with an appraising look. "That was an impressive display, indeed, young lady. The world welcomes you, Avatar," She gave a short bow and continued speaking, "But I must apologize; there hasn't been a Master Waterbender here for sixty years at least, child. We've been mostly left out of the war, but only after the Fire Nation raided us and took all the waterbenders shortly after the Silas' Comet. There's nothing for you here."

Damon didn't have to look at either Stefan or Elena to know they were both wilting with heavy disappointment. Despite himself, Damon felt a tiny sliver of relief; they wouldn't have to return to the Southern Tribe nearly as quickly. There was a part of him, a large part, which hungered for adventure that he wasn't going to get in the South Pole. There was nothing there for him besides toddlers to terrorize and adult women to pity him and his brother for the loss of their only living relatives.

"But we'd be happy to host the three of you while you gather your bearings and plan out your next course of action," Grams continued diplomatically, "Bonnie, release and then lead them to one of the boarding houses for their stay with us." Without further ado, the elderly woman turned and left the warriors and the Team Avatar alone on the beach.

With reluctance written all across her face, Bonnie used a small knife to tear off the ropes used to tie Stefan and Damon to the pole. Her eyes narrowed onto Damon's face, and she warned him, "There's a sea monster that lives around our island; we call it the Unagi. You won't make any more sexist comments like before, or I _will _feed you to it. Clear?"

Damon met her dark eyes with his blue ones, baring his teeth. "Crystal, Judgy."

"Good," Bonnie smiled, "Then follow me."

.

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"_You wanted to fight me, Niklaus, so rise and do it!"_

"_I don't want a fight; I only wanted what was best for the Fire Nation and her army!"_

"_You are to obey me and respect my choices! Rise and fight, son!"_

"_I won't fight you."_

"_Then you will face the consequences of your actions!"_

_Heats blinding scorching terrifying heat make it stop _please _what did I ever do to deserve this_

Klaus flew up into a sitting position on his bed, panting and overheated. He shoved off the silk blankets and took notice of the lit candles that bobbed with each of his breaths and the steam that rose off of his bare chest and shoulders. With a sharp hand motion, the flames were snuffed and Klaus was left in the darkness of his quarters. Wiping the sweat off of his brow, the prince rose from his bed and went to the bathroom.

He relit a single candle in the washroom and used water from the basin to rinse his face. The mirror hanging over it loomed and Klaus gave into the ugly temptation to look up; his scar, the mark of the Banished Prince, was still there (as it would remain for the rest of his life, despite his wishes for otherwise) red and loud, the skin rough and thick. Ugly looking as it was, Klaus was look it was easy to hide.

He hesitantly touched the large handprint that lingered over his collarbone, a perfect mirror image of his father's palm. Klaus clenched his own fist and brought his hand back down and contemplated punching the glass mirror, shattering it into a million sharp pieces. It would do nothing to relieve his burning anger, but it might make him smile for just a moment.

There was a noise outside of his quarters, snapping Klaus' attention away and making the moment of brief opportunity pass. He strode out of the washroom and threw on his tunic and trousers, nice enough to befit a prince, and then entered the hallway; the morning had brought them to port and his men were waking so they could get into a village to send letters and buy supplies.

"Prince Niklaus," His older brother's quiet and enthralling voice greeted, "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever rise. We've entered a Fire Nation colony port and we will be departing our ship so it may receive repairs. Care to join me for breakfast?"

"No," Klaus growled, irritated with Elijah's good morning cheer. Didn't he realize that the Avatar and his Water Tribe peasant friends were getting farther and farther away by the second?! "I want to get my ship repaired as soon as possible so that we can get the Avatar and bring her to our father in chains!"

Breezily, Elijah said, "Of course, Niklaus; let's go above deck then." He gestured for Klaus to go first and so the younger prince brushed passed him huffily.

"And don't let the crew say a word about the Avatar to anyone or else they'll be thrown overboard for mutiny!" Klaus shouted within hearing distance of many of the crew; they cringed and nodded their heads rapidly in agreement.

Elijah and Klaus walked down the gangway, only to come face to face with Commander Connor, one of their father's trusted men. Klaus stiffened at the sight of him, but Elijah remained aloof. The Commander was dark skinned and his head was shaved down to his skull. His uniform was stiff and regal, exactly what one would expect of a Fire Nation soldier as high as Connor was. And one only got to such a position by being nasty and cruel; mercy was a foreign concept to both the Firelord and his favorite officers.

"Greetings, Crown Prince Elijah, Prince Niklaus," Connor greeted with the smallest bow he could get away with without being disrespectful. "What are you doing here? I last heard you were down in the Poles." He smiled nastily, "It's a bit chilly for a Firebender down there, isn't it?"

"Very," Elijah replied coolly.

Klaus knew when Connor caught sight of their vessel; the older man's eyes rounded and there was a spark of curiosity that was poorly hidden in his dark, depthless eyes. "Whatever caused the damage to your ship, Your Highnesses?"

"A raid," Elijah lied smoothly and Klaus had to grudgingly admire him for he was so convincing, "by the Water Tribe savages. One spark though, and their boat was lit up like a matchstick. It was quite an adventure, wasn't it, brother?"

Klaus let a smirk curl onto his lips, "Oh, yes, Elijah. T'was a brilliant undertaking."

Connor's intense eyes were narrowed, unconvinced, but he could not call out their lie without questioning the Crown Prince and risking his prized position. "I suppose we'll have to send someone down South to exterminate the rest of their resistance, then, won't we?"

"We took care of it," Elijah interceded smoothly.

Connor chuffed, but it was clearly forced laughter. He changed tactics. "Why don't you come and join me for some tea? We can discuss your travels."

"Absolutely no-" Klaus snarled, but Elijah slickly interrupted him with a hand on his shoulder.

"We would love some, Commander."

"Fantastic," Connor grinned and led the way. When he was a far enough distance away, Klaus turned on Elijah with a growl.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"If Connor is with us, he's not out there learning the real story of what happened to our ship;" Elijah said sternly, "Now let's go, lest we raise his suspicions."

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"This is a nice apartment," Elena complimented the Qetsiyah Warrior, and then said sincerely, "Thank you for letting us stay. It means a lot to us." The warrior, Bonnie, softened in a way that made her seem like a different person from when she spoke to Damon. Stefan was sure that Damon resented that.

"You're the Avatar," Bonnie said like it was obvious, "and we are the warriors for a great and respected Avatar; it only makes sense for us to honor her reincarnation." She gave a short bow, despite Elena's vehement protests otherwise.

"I want us to be friends," Elena insisted, "and friends don't bow to each other so formally. Damon and Stefan sure don't."

"Of course, Avatar Elena," Bonnie said formally, but her shoulders relaxed minutely. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Not right now," Elena shook her head, "But maybe later we can hang out?"

Bonnie was clearly surprised. "If that is your wish, Ava- Elena." She didn't bow, but the warrior did incline her head as she excused herself out of their room.

"Well, she's a stick in the mud," Damon drawled impertinently. "I bet their Avatar Qetsiyah was like that too." He arched a brow at Elena.

She shrugged. "I haven't talked to any of my past lives, even though I'm supposed to be able to. I guess I'll figure it out as we go along."

"You are the bridge between the spiritual world and the physical world," Stefan appeased, "I'm sure it'll just come to you. If not, maybe we can find someone to help you out."

"Like who?" Damon asked wryly, "All of the Air Nomads – who were notorious for their spiritual side – are all dead. And if she could just recall them up from the Spirit World, then she wouldn't even need their advice," He then added hastily, "Not that I believe in any of that mumbo jumbo anyway."

"Of course not, Damon," Stefan said sarcastically.

"I'm going to look around the village," Elena interrupted, clearly irritated with their banter, "Anyone want to come with me?" She was addressing them both, but her eyes were locked on Stefan. He flushed.

"Sure."

"Stefan and Elena sitting in the snow K-I-S-S-" Damon started to sing and Stefan's entire face inflamed. He glared at his older brother and then quickly ushered Elena out of the room and down the stairs. They left Damon by himself in the boarding house and headed out towards the market.

Damon quickly found that being alone was entirely too boring, and decided to follow Elena and Stefan's lead; he left the boarding house as well and wandered until he found an occupied dojo that was being used by Bonnie and some of her warriors. They were in full armor, practicing some motions with their fans. Admittedly, their footwork was smooth and their twists and jumps agile; the precision with which they handled their fans was lethal.

"Want to see what _real_ warriors can do?" Damon called cheekily through the window instead of praising their skills and Bonnie stilled. He would never admit to their prowess aloud, and certainly not to their faces.

"I warned you, Pretty Boy," Bonnie snapped, "but I guess you really want to bathe with the Unagi."

"Come on, Judgy. Just one spar." Damon wiggled his brows. "I bet I can toast you in five minutes."

"Or what?" Bonnie demanded.

Damon smirked. "I'll go for a swim with your big fish in the open water."

Slowly, Bonnie began to grin.

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"So, how's the search for the Avatar going?"

Klaus barely managed to not spit out his tea, but still choked a little. Elijah shot him a warning glance that he ignored. "We haven't found her yet."

Connor's body twisted around from where he'd been admiring the Fire Nation flag that was hanging over his desk. "Her?" He asked curiously.

"Or him," Klaus snapped hurriedly, "It could be either and I just said her because the last two have been women. Commander."

Connor nodded but he looked unconvinced. "Did you really expect your search to go any other way? The Avatar has been missing for over a hundred years; what makes you think that you, an incompetent nineteen year old _boy, _would be able to do something your father, and your father's father, couldn't achieve? You're_ nothing_ but a _failure."_

_Nobody loves you, boy!_

_Flaming fist reaching out for him - _

Klaus shook with barely restrained anger, but Connor wasn't finished.

"Your own father banished you and gave you a hideous reminder on your chest of your inadequateness. What more proof do you need that your father just doesn't want you?"

_Who do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. _

Connor leaned back against his desk, even as Klaus flew up from his chair and lit a flame with his hand, bringing it to the older man's face. "Maybe you'd like to see just how inadequate I am," Klaus growled, "in an Agni Kai."

Connor smirked. "You're on, Prince Niklaus. Suit up." He brushed passed the teenager and let the door shut behind him with a sharp bang. Klaus bellowed with anger as soon as he was gone.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Elijah sounded disinterested at surface value, but there were undercurrents of pain beneath the calm veneer. "You can't have forgotten your last Agni Kai, Niklaus. The consequences . . ."

"I will never forget," Klaus snapped, "But I will not allow Commander Connor to undermine me in this way. I will not have him speak to a prince like that."

"So it is your pride that is injured?" Elijah's voice was dripping with annoyance. "He could hurt you in a far more physical way if you go through with this."

"And my honor will be even more tarnished if I don't." Klaus stomped passed his brother and followed the Commander. He heard a sigh behind him, and then Elijah's footsteps followed Klaus, just as they always did.

The Agni Kai would take place on in a courtyard created especially for these types of challenges, as it was common for firebenders to have honor duels. Connor was already there in the standard uniform, and waiting with a grin alight upon his face. Klaus quickly shed his outer shirt and joined him on the court.

"Ready?" Connor taunted, "I won't go easy on you. Not like your father did."

Klaus saw red and was barely able to contain his fury until the match actually started. Then it was free for all.

"Arrgh!" He roared and attacked.

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"Are you a chicken-duck or what?" Bonnie goaded, "You lost your bet fair and square; the Unagi is waiting."

Damon glared fiercely at the warrior, but stepped out of his shirt and trousers, leaving him only in his grey underpants that left little to the imagination. The warriors behind him giggled into their metal and silk fans. Damon sent them all flirtatious winks and his confidence rose.

He prepared to dive in.

"Damon! What the hell are you doing?"

Damon sighed. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Committing suicide," Stefan hissed angrily, "They said there's some kind of sea monster in there; you could be killed!"

"Don't tell me you actually believe them, Stef," Damon rolled his eyes, "If you do, you're more gullible than I thought."

"Tell him he's an idiot," Stefan turned to Bonnie, "Please."

"I told him," Bonnie assured him, "but he won't listen to me and lost a bet. He's too stubborn to apologize, so he's going to take a swim."

"Damon, please," Stefan begged, but Damon just waved off his concerns.

"If I start to drown, you can save me with your magic water," Damon dismissed.

"Well, if you're doing this anyway," Bonnie said, bemused, "If you make it out alive, I'll teach you some a bit of our fighting techniques; the Avatar's companions have to be the best, after all." Damon saluted and waded in the water while Stefan watched on nervously, eyebrows furrowed deeply on his forehead.

The farther Damon got out, the twitchier Stefan became, pacing anxiously along the shoreline.

"Where did Elena go?" Bonnie asked to distract him.

"She's playing some of the kids in town; they wanted to ride Ari," Stefan murmured, attention riveted towards the water. Something rippled below the surface. "What was that?" He demanded.

Bonnie shook her head uncertainly. "I told him the Unagi was in there. But it could just be an elephant koi."

"See? There's nothing to worry about!" Damon shouted from the water.

"Damon, look out!" Stefan yelled as a huge dorsal fin appeared behind his brother. "Come back!"

Damon turned his head and they could see his eyes widen from the shore. He started to swim as quickly as he could. The sea serpent's back crested the waves again and rose out of the depths like a monster from hell. It was long and lean, with ropy muscles visible from beneath its scales. Honestly , the only thing Stefan could think of to describe it was water-dragon.

"He's not going to make it," Stefan murmured. He broke into action and ran towards the water. Concentrating on the feeling he got when he turned water to ice, Stefan froze some of the water as he ran, creating an ice bridge. The Unagi's tale slammed down across it though, shattering the glass and sending Stefan into the water.

From the shore, he distantly heard Elena's voice, but it was becoming more and more unclear as he struggled to fight against the combined efforts of the undertow and the Unagi to send him into the sea. He tried to blink the water out of his eyes, managing to clear them just in time to see the Unagi's tale come back around and smash the surface of the water just over his head.

Everything went dark.

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Sweating and panting, Klaus and Connor danced around each other in the Agni Kai ring. While Connor had more experience, Klaus had the burning vigor of youth and a never ending temper to tap into to aid his firebending. Not to mention the Dragon of West himself had been tutoring Klaus the entire time he'd been at sea. Despite this, they were almost completely evenly matched, and so when Klaus saw an opening, he took it.

Whipping his feet around, Klaus managed to knock Connor of balance and pin the older man to the ground. Connor's chest heaved and his eyes widened as Klaus's flaming fist barely slowed in its descent towards his face.

"If you beg, I might not scar you for life," Klaus hissed.

"Never," Connor spat, launching saliva into Klaus' bare chest.

"Very well, then." Klaus could have smiled. His burning hand met Connor's cheek; the resounding scream of unadulterated agony was shrill and would have made a grown man flinch. It was heard around the entire compound, echoing off the sides of the building and freezing the soldiers and servants alike. The sharp noise was haunting. "Unlike you, _Commander,_ I learn from my mistakes. Never again will I underestimate someone in battle, nor will I assume mercy will be given to me." Klaus rose smoothly and left the twitching Master Firebender on the ground, bleating and moaning in pain. "Someone might want to check on that!" Klaus called casually and immediately Commander Connor was descended upon by numerous medics and healers, all of whom gave the Fire Prince a very wide berth and refused to meet his eyes.

Elijah's face was expressionless as Klaus rejoined him and they headed back to their ship, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip.

Klaus was good at picking up his older brother's moods after living with him for his entire life. "Say it." Klaus said flatly.

Elijah didn't hesitate. "The Commander might be a coward and sniveling quim, but he was a human being," Elijah said evenly, "and you just tortured him for your pride."

"I was a human being when Father burned me," Klaus said, monotone, "and I was just a child. There is no mercy in this world; the Commander should have known that. And if he hadn't, he certainly does now."

Elijah only sighed, resigned.

"Now, the Avatar was headed in the direction of Qetsiyah Island last, according to our navigation systems. I want a course headed in their direction immediately."

"Yes, Prince Niklaus."

.

.

.

When Stefan opened his eyes again, he was in a bed and light was streaming through the unshielded window. Blinking rapidly, he rocketed up into a sitting position and the world spun.

"Easy, Stef." Hands pushed against his shoulders firmly. "Not so fast; you just about hacked up a bathtub worth's water and I just changed into this shirt."

"Damon?" Stefan wiped the grime out of his eyes and the blurry form in front of him took the shape of his brother. Damon's hair was wet and it indeed did look like he'd just changed his blue and white tunic and trousers in for the soft earthy green tones the islanders wore. Memory rapidly returned to Stefan, and the waterbender quickly sat back up. "Are you alright?" He demanded, "You were about to be killed by the Unagi!"

"Clearly, I'm fine," Damon brushed off the worry.

"And you're supposed to be resting," A sharp voice announced Bonnie and Elena's presences in the doorway. "Get back into bed. You were thrashed about by a giant sea monster; you're bruised, battered, and swallowed half the ocean." Bonnie pointed to the bed to the left of Stefan's, where he took notice of the rumbled sheets for the first time.

"You said you were fine!" Stefan accused.

"I'm a lying liar who lies," Damon shrugged and limped back to his bed while Stefan glowered at his back.

"Luckily who both escaped with only bruises and some scrapes," Elena reassured Stefan quickly as she sat on the end of his bed. "It could have been a lot worse."

"You saved us," Stefan remembered and smiled a little at the Avatar. "Thank you."

Elena grinned. "I couldn't just leave you guys out there. You're my friends." They were interrupted by a large explosion outside; the noise was booming and echoed, but it was the screams that followed that made the four teenagers jump up and sprint out the door and down the stairs of the boarding house.

Outside they could see fire raining down on the village, huge volleys of it that were bright red and searing heat. The villagers, children and adults alike, cried out and ran away from the source of the flames at the docks; the small black metal Fire Navy ship that had found them at the South Pole.

An angry young man was prowling towards the village with his hands wreathed in burgundy flames and a snarl curled upon his lips. He was wearing a fancy soldier's uniform and was riding atop a komodo rhino, creatures the Water Tribe brothers had only ever heard about until that very moment. At his side was a slightly older man, the one that Stefan had momentarily froze on his ship, and he was wearing just as fancy a uniform and was in fact more decorated than the other. Behind them road ten to fifteen other soldiers, all firing their weapons: their firebending.

"I am Prince Niklaus of the Fire Nation!" The young man in front shouted, "Give me the Avatar and we will leave your village, piteous as it is." The man next to him said nothing, his face impassive.

Elena was tensed next to Stefan and he saw her bite her lip out of the corner of his eye. "I've got to help." She started forwards, but surprisingly, it was Bonnie who reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"You can help by leaving," The mocha skinned girl said plainly, "Get on your bison and fly far away from here. The Fire Nation scum will follow you." She added briskly, "If there's anything left, of course."

Elena's dark eyes widened. "I can't leave you here by yourselves! I can help fight!"

"Your friends are in no condition to fight anyone," Bonnie said sharply, "and we need you to learn waterbending, earthbending, and firebending to save the world, Elena. You can't do that if you're dead or captured by the Fire Princes. Get out of here so you can live to fight another day."

Elena's eyes narrowed but she nodded. "Okay. Damon, Stefan, come on. Ari's close to the beach." She gave the Qetsiyah Warrior a tight hug and Damon lingered for a moment after Elena led the way towards her bison. Stefan staggered his steps so that he didn't get too far ahead of his brother.

"Listen, Bonnie," Damon said.

"This isn't the time to talk," Bonnie snapped and tried to sidestep Damon. He blocked the doorway and she glowered.

"Then I'll make this quick; I was a dick and I said some things I shouldn't have," He finished and crossed his arms.

Despite herself, Bonnie asked, "That's your apology? 'I was a dick and said some stuff I shouldn't have.' That's a real shitty apology."

"Yeah," He agreed.

Bonnie rolled her eyes and another fireball was shot off. She leaped up and kissed Damon's cheek, pleasantly surprising the older teenager. "That's for good luck; don't screw up your mission to help the Avatar." She ducked away and leapt into battle, eyes blazing.

"I'm looking forward to that training session promised!" Damon called to her.

"Damon, come on!" Stefan shouted and Damon quickly followed. They got to Elena and Ari, hopping onto the back of the giant flying bison.

"Yip, yip!"

Then they were in the air, looking down upon the carnage of the village that had helped them so. Their supplies had been replenished and were sitting in the back of the saddle, and their clothes were mended, a reminder of the caring aid they'd been provided.

"This isn't right," Elena whispered.

Stefan silently agreed.

"I have to do something," Elena said, voice stronger.

"We are," Damon pointed out, "We're leading the enemy away. That's something."

Elena either didn't hear or didn't care; she took a flying leap out of the saddle and soared in the air with her airbending, dropping neatly into the water hundreds of feet below them.

"Elena!" The brothers bellowed together, horrified.

The Avatar resurfaced though, riding the terrifying Unagi, and controlling its water blasts by pulling its long and wiry whiskers. She yanked and a long stream of water shot out, putting out part of the fire in the town. The Fire Nation took notice and immediately headed for their ships, ready to fire at the girl while she was in the air and on the back of a nearly uncontrollable monster.

Stefan's fingers turned white from the pressure exerted onto the leather saddle and he didn't even look up when one of Damon's hands gripped his shoulder. Later, he would look back on that moment and be surprised. Until then, he would watch his new friend put out the terrible fires caused by soulless men who only wanted one thing and would let nothing stand in their way of getting her.

When the fires were at a manageable level and the Fire Nation was still getting their ship ready, Elena left the Unagi and lifted herself back up with a twisting airbending kata that put her safely back onto the saddle.

"Are you crazy?" Damon demanded loudly.

"Are you hurt?" Stefan quickly ran his hands over Elena's arms and shoulders. "Did you get burned?"

"I'm fine," Elena reassured them serenely, "everything's fine. Let's just get out of here before Klaus catches up with us." Damon grumbled some more not so quietly, but when back to the back of the saddle and glowered. Stefan hovered anxiously.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked softly.

"Really, I'm fine," Elena smiled. "You worry too much."

Placated, Stefan sat back a little. "I have to, with him around." He jerked a thumb back to Damon. Humorously, he asked, "Did you know that he once got two fishhooks stuck in his thumb?"

"Two?"

.

.

.

"How can they have gotten away?" Klaus raged, "We almost burned that town to the ground and they still somehow jumped onto that flying monstrosity and flew away!" Back on his ship and sailing after the Avatar and her companions, Qetsiyah Island was already a distant memory. He and Elijah stood on top of their metal deck together, the latter patiently listening to the former's furious temper.

"Speaking of burning things to the ground," Elijah said dryly, "Perhaps next time we could leave the civilians out of the carnage."

"I want the world to remember it was me that captured the Avatar," Klaus snapped, "and if that means I have to turn every town they've visited to ashes, then so be it."

"Father will want good land to colonize," Elijah said mildly, "and he can't colonize something that doesn't grow any crops or sustain any other life."

"He'd rather have the Avatar and his son back home," Klaus' voice left no room for argument. "I'm going to my quarters. Keep up vigilance for the Avatar's bison." He strode off deck, still fuming, and went to his bedroom and locked himself inside. It was pitch black, so he lit his bedside candles so he could see enough to release himself of his heavy armor.

It clunked loudly as he dropped it to the floor, and his bed dipped as he laid down on it and closed his eyes. Klaus' fingers drifted upwards towards his chest and his scar. The skin was still rough and thick. It would still look the same in the mirror; red and angry. It still meant the same thing.

Banished.

Dishonorable.

Disgraced.

That night, he dreamt.

And he remembered.

"_Elijah!" He was thin for his age, and his curling blonde hair wouldn't stay in its topknot on his head, instead trying to escape in small tufts that made him look younger than his fifteen years of age. His dark red armor was trimmed in gold and very handsome; exactly as it should on a royal prince, third in line for the throne. _

_The man he was calling was twenty two and tall, with dark hair and dark eyes; a startling contrast to the blue eyed blonde haired teen. He wore a similar designed armor, except it was somehow, if at possible, even more regal and foreboding. His face was impassive, but his lips twitched at the sight of his brother. Elijah was standing next to another young man, this one twenty, and he was of similar coloring: pale skin, dark hair and hooded eyes. He was expressionless._

"_Elijah," The teen repeated and barely gave his other brother a glance. "Can I come into the war meeting?"_

_The other unnamed brother's face turned from expressionless to frowning in less than a second's time. "I don't think that's wise, Niklaus."_

"_I was asking Elijah," Niklaus didn't miss a beat._

"_Finn is correct," Elijah agreed. "It really isn't proper for you to attend until you're at least sixteen."_

"_Which I will be, in just ten months' time," Niklaus tried to appeal to his brothers._

"_Why don't you go and play with Kol and Rebekah?" Finn dismissed him. Niklaus scowled at the thought of playing with them; Kol was ten and Rebekah nine, hardly any fun at all._

"_They're just kids," Klaus snapped._

"_You're just a kid," Finn remained unchanged, "Really, Niklaus. Enjoy your childhood while it lasts or go study your firebending forms if that entertains you. This topic is closed." He turned to go inside the heavy brass doors._

_Klaus looked up at Elijah with large round eyes and the Crown Prince Elijah wavered. "You may come, but you must be silent and never speak unless someone speaks to you. Quickly, now." Finn glowered and Klaus smirked at him as he walked behind Elijah. They found their seats quickly; Elijah at the Firelord's right hand, Finn at his left, and Klaus at Elijah's other side. Firelord Mikael arched one meticulous blonde brow at the sight of one extra son, but did nothing but send Elijah a curious glance._

_The Crown Prince shrugged and the matter was closed._

"_Let the meeting commence, now that my sons have graced us with their presences," Firelord Mikael's voice wasn't loud, but certainly commanding._

_Klaus paid rapt attention to the proceedings and at one point bit the inside of his cheek from calling out against of the one General's moves with a platoon of new recruits._

_Someone spoke his thoughts for him._

"_Father, that move will put that platoon in a position that will be advantageous for the Earth Kingdom savages; it will destroy them." Somehow, Elijah's voice made the horribly villainous act seem commonplace. _

"_It will also open up the eastern side for an invasion," The General's voice was sharp, "and we will be able to take the entire city. It is a worthy sacrifice."_

"_But it's wrong!"_

_Every head swiveled towards Prince Klaus. "Excuse me?" Firelord Mikael snapped, "Prince Niklaus that was out of turn."_

"_But you were going to let him sacrifice an entire platoon without their knowledge about it! They'd be walking into a trap!" Klaus shot back angrily and Elijah paled._

_The General stood angrily. "Why, I've never seen a child so disrespectful!"_

_The flames dancing around the Firelord rose and the color flickered from red to violent for several seconds. Klaus felt his heart leap into his throat; colored flames were dangerous._

"_Why, yes, General Connor. I do think Prince Niklaus could stand to learn a lesson in respect," Mikael's voice turned silky. "There will be an Agni Kai at dusk this evening. Until then, Prince Finn, take Prince Niklaus away from the room; I do not even want to look at him right now."_

"_Father, I could –" Elijah started._

"_No!" The green flames licked the ceiling. "Prince Finn will do it."_

"_Yes, Father," Finn rose and bowed before roughly collecting Niklaus, grabbing him by the shoulder and he steered him out of the war chamber. The door stuck fast behind him. "What were you thinking?" Finn hissed, "Elijah told you to be quiet!"_

"_They were going to needlessly kill those soldiers!" Klaus protested violently._

"_Well, are their lives worth more than yours? Because I doubt you'll escape the Agni Kai unscathed," Finn snapped and they reached a bedroom with engraved flames dancing up the center. He deposited his younger brother into the bed chamber, startling Prince Kol and Princess Rebekah from their game._

"_Make sure he stays in here with you," Finn told Rebekah and waited until the nine year old nodded before he departed._

"_What happened?" Kol demanded eagerly, "Did you get into trouble? Where's Elijah?"_

"_Shut it, Kol," Klaus sneered, "or I'll light your Komodo dragon toy on fire." The little boy's eyes rounded and he dove for the bed and snatched up his plush toy, hugging it to his chest and glaring at his older brother. _

_Rebekah smirked at Kol as well before skipping to Klaus' side. "What happened?" She asked sweetly._

"_I got challenged to an Agni Kai," Klaus admitted and the room fell silent. The three children stayed in the bedroom as per instructed and waited until it was dusk, when Elijah came to collect them. _

"_We get to come?" Kol asked, eager but surprised; they were never allowed into important things, and there was hardly anything more important than an official Agni Kai._

"_Yes," Elijah said shortly, "It is required. Come along, Niklaus." He put a hand onto his shoulder and then led the three children towards the arena. After making sure Kol and Rebekah got to Finn, Elijah detoured with Klaus to get him ready for the event._

"_Don't worry," Klaus assured Elijah, "I can take that General fine."_

_Elijah's eyes shuttered. "Do not be cocky. It could cost you something more important than your pride; your life. Now, be sure to remember your basics . . . and be brave."_

"_Why wouldn't I be brave?" Klaus scoffed as he followed Elijah back towards the arena. Elijah departed to sit with their siblings, while Klaus got into position. At the appropriate time, he rose and the silk scarf fluttered off and he turned around to face the General._

_Only it was not the General he was facing._

"_Father," Klaus gaped. "Where is the General?"_

"_You disrespected me in my war chamber, boy," Mikael breathed," not General Connor."_

_Klaus sank to his knees and prostrated his body before his father before he could even think about it. "I'm sorry, Father. Please forgive me; I only had our country's best interests at heart."_

"_Rise and fight, Prince Niklaus!" Mikael roared._

"_I won't fight you," Klaus shook his head._

"_You wanted to fight me, Niklaus, so rise and do it!"_

"_I don't want a fight; I only wanted what was best for the Fire Nation and her army!"_

"_You are to obey me and respect my choices! Rise and fight, son!"_

"_I won't fight you."_

"_Then you will face the consequences of your actions!" Mikael kicked Klaus onto his back and a flaming fist raced towards Klaus' heart._

_Everything went dark._

_When he woke, there was a voice murmuring lowly into his ear. "I forgave your mother for her indiscretions long ago, boy, but that does not stop me from seeing _him_ every time I look at you, Niklaus. I see him in every mistake you make, every word you speak, every rebellion towards my authority; you are just like your birth father, Niklaus."_

_I'm not like him, Klaus wanted hissed savagely, I will never be like him. But the words wouldn't leave his lips, not even his throat._

"_But you are and you cannot help what you were born to be," Mikael continued, "Do you want to know who the General of that platoon of new recruits was, Niklaus?"_

_Distantly, through the hazy pain, Klaus genuinely wanted to know._

"_Your father," Mikael whispered into Klaus' ear. The young prince's heart raced. "Your birth father. And I so wanted to get rid of him all these years in retribution for bedding my wife, so I finally found an opportune moment. But then you came to the war meeting and interrupted; I was so surprised that you showed more loyalty to a coward than the man who raised you."_

_How was I supposed to know it was him? Klaus wanted to ask, wanted to scream. How could he take it all back?_

"_I have decided a punishment for you, Niklaus, so that you may regain your honor," Mikael murmured and Klaus tried so hard to pay attention. "You must capture the Avatar and bring him to me in chains. That is how you will regain what you've lost."_

_And in a moment, he was gone._

Klaus woke up in a cold sweat and cried.

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_tbc_


	3. the boy with the blue blood

Hey readers! Sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing; it means a lot to me!

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Avatar: The Last Airbender**

* * *

**the boy with the blue blood**

"_Instead of seeing what they want you to see, you got to open your brain to the possibilities.__"  
— _A young Bumi to Aang in Omashu

_(The King of Omashu)_

_._

_._

_._

"What was it like in the South Pole?"

Sometimes Stefan was able to pretend that Elena was not the Avatar and that she was only his friend; they were exploring the world with Damon, having adventures and discovering new things. Then she would airbend or Ari grumbled particularly loudly or Elena asked questions like this one; all things that wouldn't happen if the pretense he'd created was real. Elena would know about his parents and monotonic South Pole and the coming-of-age event all thirteen year old boys perform called ice dodging. She would know about frostbite and how sometimes Damon and Stefan had to curl up during the harsh winter nights beneath mounds of fur blankets.

He settled on, "Cold."

Elena made a sound of exasperation, as Stefan knew she would, and she turned over to face him. They were lying on Ari's fluffy tale while Damon was slumped on the ground with both his and Stefan's sleeping bags, snoring. The sky was still dark, only lit by stars and a half moon. It had to be sometime close to dawn, but Stefan had found himself restless and Elena had already been awake when Stefan had opened his eyes.

So they'd talked.

"But what is it_ like_?" She pressed. "There's a shroud of mystery around you and Damon and I want to make it disappear."

"_Damon and I_ have a shroud of mystery? Who is it again that's the Avatar?" Stefan teased tightly but his hands clenched on Ari's pristine white fur. Elena just looked at him with her big platypus-bear eyes. Stefan sighed.

"Well, you saw the entire village while you were there," He started and pretended not to notice the grin on Elena's face at her victory. "All the adult men left to fight in the war when I was around seven and Damon was nine. Our father and uncle left, and since then it's just been Damon and I on our own, with the women, children and the elderly."

"That must have been so hard," Elena sympathized, "having your family go off to war."

"I remember Damon wanted to go with them, at first," Stefan murmured, "but it was easy to persuade him that it wasn't a good idea. Our father was going, after all, and he and Damon have never gotten along."

"Why?" Elena asked curiously, clearly riveted to the story.

"Mom used to say that they were just so similar that they butted heads at every opportunity," Stefan shrugged uncomfortably. He didn't have many fond memories of his father; what he did remember was a stumbling drunk that took swipes at his sons, only for Damon to take the beatings for the both of them every time, and he remembered his father sometimes screaming himself black and blue at them . . . Not that Stefan would tell Elena that. Not ever, if he could help it.

Elena seemed to pick up how uncomfortable Stefan was, and so changed her line of questioning. "When did you discover you could waterbend?"

This was a slightly cheerier topic. "I actually don't remember," Stefan confessed, "I've been doing it for so long. The only thing I know is that our mother was the one who found out what I could do."

Elena quirked her lips. "Why didn't you introduce me to your mom when we were at your home?"

"The Fire Nation took her when I was young," Stefan met Elena's eyes, "and I don't think I'll ever forgive them for that." Family may have been important to the Tribes, but as far as Giuseppe had been concerned, his family had been destroyed the moment his wife had been murdered in place of Stefan for waterbending. It was like the Fire Nation had taken both of his parents, until eventually, they _had _when Giuseppe left for war.

Elena put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry." She clearly wanted to say something else, but was holding herself back. Stefan was grateful for small mercies.

He reached into his parka and pulled something out, clasping it in his hands. Elena looked down curiously and Stefan slowly uncurled his fingers to reveal a very handsome – if simple – blue necklace with a circular piece in the center with intricate patterns carved into its surface.

"Was that . . . ?" Elena trailed off.

"My mother's, yeah," Stefan nodded hastily. "It's one of only real things we have left of our mother. I have this, and Damon has one of her rings. It's what we remember her by."

"It's beautiful," Elena murmured. She looked up at him and said decisively, "I think you should wear it. It's not girly or anything." She was right; his mother's betrothal necklace looked androgynous because of their father's less than fantastic carving skills. Art was never something that their father had spent much time on, even for their mom.

Stefan flushed all the same. "It's kind of engagement necklace. When you're sixteen you can make one for a girl you want to marry."

"So?" Elena asked confidently. "Like you said, it's the only thing you left of your mom and it's what you remember her by. No one in the Earth Kingdom will know what it means, anyway." She winked playfully. "Besides, I think you would look dapper. Go on."

Stefan nodded but privately thought this girl would be the death of him; he could truly deny Elena nothing. He put the necklace on and his green eyes sought Elena's after. She beamed.

"It looks very nice," She appraised and they shared a smile before settling back into Ari's fluffy fur.

"I never wanted to fight," He said suddenly and Elena blinked, a little startled at the topic change. She nodded though, intrigued, and her eyes told him to continue. "There are legends in our tribe about waterbending healers; I've always wanted to learn how to use my bending to help people."

Elena softly smiled. "I think that's a great idea. If we can't stay in the Northern Tribe long enough for you to learn both, I could learn the fighting and you the healing; then we can train each other after. It would be fun."

Warmth bloomed in him for this girl, for his first real friend outside of his Tribe. "Thank you, Elena. That sounds great."

"Are you too girls done gossiping?" Damon's aggravated voice made the two benders start. "Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep!"

"But Damon, you're already so narcissistic; what more beauty do you need?" Stefan drawled.

Damon growled and threw something in their direction; they ducked and found that it was a piece of Damon's blubbered seal jerky. "Shut up!"

"It's dawn, anyway," Elena appeased and stood, stretching. "We should get a move on." Indeed, the dark sky was lightening with the beautiful colors of the bright sunrise.

"Why are we going to Omashu again?" Damon grouched. "I thought it was the _utmost importance_ to get to the North Pole _as soon as possible_." Which was definitely true, Stefan knew.

"I need to see Omashu for myself," Elena declared. "One of my best friends used to live here; I need to see what happened to her."

"We can't stop in every single port and every town that one of your old buddies used to live in before the war," Damon snapped angrily. "We don't have the time or the supplies to do that; you can't possibly think everyone is going to help us out by giving us stuff, and our Watertribe money only goes so far."

Which was all true, Stefan conceded, but it was so very difficult to say no to Elena, and he didn't want to tell her what to do. Damon clearly did not have that problem.

Elena glared. "Just this last place, Damon, and then we'll head straight towards the North Pole. Omashu isn't even out of our way." She flung an arm towards the large earthen city and turned her large brown eyes onto Damon's face. Pleadingly, she said, "I have to do this one thing, Damon."

Apparently, constant exposure did not even make one immune to those eyes; Damon didn't really have much of a chance at all.

"Fine," Stefan's older brother growled.

.

.

.

"What do you mean; we've lost the Avatar's trail?"

Lieutenant Trevor swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed sharply in his throat; Elijah almost felt sorry for the man.

"Pr-prince Niklaus, I mean just wh-what I say. The Avatar and her Watertribe scum companions have eluded us," The Lieutenant stuttered out. Nearby, his good friend Rose winced in sympathy. Nearly the entire crew was neigh terrified of Klaus after the stunt he'd pulled with Commander Connor Jordan; the word at every port was that the Commander was scarred for life. Now a red, leathery scare stretched over his cheek and jaw, leading down to his neck roughly in the shape of fist-like comet. The man was said to be thrice times as vicious as he'd been before, and was now on a warpath aimed at vengeance.

Elijah was concerned.

Now that Klaus had had a taste of the power that came from hurting others, from burning them, Elijah was wary that his brother had changed. Once he was a brave young boy trying to do the right thing, then a scarred young man looking for a chance to regain his honor, and now a hardened young soldier prince determined to win back his place in the palace by any means necessary.

Once or twice Elijah thought that maybe Klaus would do anything to not just get back his place in Fire Nation royalty, but would aim to become Crown Prince and observed heir. He'd quickly banished such thoughts, but sometimes they . . . lingered.

In front of him, Klaus raged at Lt. Trevor, until finally, "You're being demoted! You!" He pointed at Rose, "You take his place." Rose was clearly surprised, but she bowed and then hurriedly pulled Trevor away from the scene before the man made the situation worse.

"Prince Niklaus," Elijah called quietly when they disappeared, "While I am glad that Trevor has been replaced by someone much for appropriate for the station, I must ask if you are feeling alright this afternoon. You seem on edge."

Klaus whirled around. Instead of answering his brother's question, demanded, "Teach me the new forms now. I need to do something constructive."

Elijah sighed. "Very well." Perhaps he would have a discussion with Niklaus later; for now, he would relent. "You must place your feet like this . . ."

.

.

.

"This is Omashu," Elena introduced as they walked through the city, arms spread wide. "It's different, of course, but still beautiful."

While the girl was beaming and chattering on to them while they walked behind the royal escort, Damon really thought that Elena needed to learn discretion; introducing yourself as the Avatar at every new city or village would not always get you what you want. Stefan was no help in corralling her in; if anything, Damon felt like he encouraged her (which while not necessarily true, Damon needed someone to blame and his brother was always his go-to person for any accusations, being his little brother and all).

The guards were to take them straight to the Queen of Omashu's palace, and introduced the Avatar to her. Elena, he supposed, planned on inquiring if she knew anything about her probably long dead friend (which was absolutely ludicrous, but did anyone listen to Damon's opinion?). No.

"And see those mail carriers? We would ride on those for fun when her parents were busy in meetings," Elena continued cheerily.

"Avatar Elena," One of the guards interrupted her. "We have arrived." Damon's eyes swept the huge earthen palace and had to admit it looked glorious, at least on the outside.

"Eh," He said aloud. "I'm sure Ba Sing Se's fancier." It earned him fierce glares from the guards and a rough hand to the back, pushing him forward as they entered the Queen's dining hall. Damon stood on Elena's left, Stefan on her right, and they were presented to the Queen at the end of her large, rectangular table that looked like it was serving seventy instead of just one.

The Queen of Omashu could be described easily: old. She was a tiny thing, wrinkled beyond recognition with white hair pulled back into a badger mole bun, and she wore elaborate emerald and gold robes befitting a woman of her status. Her eyes were green, the usual Earth Kingdom color Damon supposed, and looked a little glassy with age.

"Hello," Elena greeted and bowed to the woman, "I'm Avatar Ele-"

"I know who you are," The woman spoke in a gravelly voice and there was a deep, underlining shock in her tone of voice, "Elena, the last airbender. It's been a long time, my friend."

"'My friend?'" Damon questioned. "Have you gone off your rocker, lady? You'd have to be like . . . a hundred . . . years . . . old." He trailed off as he took another look at the Queen. "Actually . . ."

Stefan's own green eyes widened to the size of the dinner plates on the table. "Damon!" He hissed, absolutely horrified.

"I am one hundred and thirteen years old," The Queen confirmed with a slow nod.

Everyone in the hall heard Elena's sharp intake of breath. "_Jenna?" _The Avatar's jaw had dropped nearly to the floor.

Queen Jenna of Omashu smiled, revealing more gums than she had teeth. "Elena," She almost sighed. "It's been so long . . . we searched for you for many years."

Tears streamed down Elena's face as she rushed to the Queen, engulfing her into as tight a hug as she could possibly give. "Jenna, I'm so sorry." Stefan and Damon exchanged awkward glances and looked to their feet, uncomfortable, while the guard shifted their weapons uneasily.

"I know," Jenna murmured. "Why don't we eat dinner and then you and your friends may get a good night's sleep?" Elena nodded and smiled through her tears.

"It's so good to see you."

"And you. Now sit down and let us talk familiarly."

.

.

.

While a happy reunion, it was a short one as well; Queen Jenna spent a day and half with Elena and they got reacquainted, but Jenna was no fool. She knew that they were on a tight schedule, and so sent them on their way as soon as they'd restocked their supplies and a day of rest.

"But I'll need a Master Earthbender to teach me," Elena begged. They were leaving in the afternoon sunshine; there was a light breeze that ruffled their hair and Ari's fur. Their belongings were already packed away in the saddle and the Watertribe brothers sat atop the bison, waiting for their friend so they could disembark.

"And you'll have one," Jenna reassured Elena as she pulled the girl into a tight hug. "But you must learn the elements in the cycle; it is tradition and the way the spirits desire it. After you've learned waterbending, you may return if you have not found an earthbender to teach you yet."

"You're the best earthbender there is," Elena assured even as Damon rolled his eyes.

"I highly doubt that," He muttered to his brother. Stefan glared at him.

"Tact, Damon. Find yours, please."

"Goodbye, Avatar Elena," Jenna murmured into the younger girl's hair.

"Bye, Jenna." They parted and with one last teary goodbye, Elena mounted Ari. "Yip, yip," She commanded, the bison flew up into the air. Elena turned to give the city of Omashu one last glance. It was truly a beautiful city and she was sad to leave it behind, and nostalgic for all of the fun and games she and Jenna had had a hundred years ago. She turned back to face the large blue sky and caught sight of Stefan fingering his mother's necklace at his throat, and saw a shiny silver band glittering in the sunlight on Damon's right hand. Peering closer, she saw it had a dark blue gemstone sitting in the center.

Hiding a smile, Elena turned her attention back to the journey ahead of them.

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"Sir! The Avatar's been spotted!"

Lieutenant Rose was showing herself to be much more useful than that other Lieutenant had ever been, Klaus mused to himself. The Fire Prince strode over to the woman who was nearly sprinting up the gangplank from the Earth Kingdom dock they'd settled in to restock. The rest of the crew was milling about, but they were slowing their pace as they saw their Prince address the good officer.

"Where?" He asked brusquely.

"Omashu," Lt. Rose saluted sharply, "but she's on the move again. North still, Sir."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Klaus smile was all teeth.

"Just your orders, Your Highness," The woman inclined her head respectfully.

"Let's move out then, Lieutenant."

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Damon lounged in the back of the saddle, bored out of his mind. There was nothing to do on the back of a nine ton flying bison, after all, except needlework and agitating his brother and the Avatar. It was not nearly as exciting as he'd hoped when leaving home; he'd expected a fair bit more Fire Nation heads to do in, for one.

"Are we there yet?" Damon drawled and had the pleasure of two teenagers younger than him shout back that they were not, in fact, at the North Pole yet, obviously. He sighed and peered over the ridge of the saddle. Below them were fluffy white clouds, mountains, forests, charred ground . . . Damon frowned and leaned a little bit far over the edge.

"What is that?" Stefan joined Damon. The ground was black and shadowy, almost looking like a . . .

"Scar," Damon muttered, "It's like the land's been scarred." Abruptly, Elena turned the bison in the air and they did a nosedive down towards the blacked out area of the earth. The closer the got, the more grim and terrible the outlook appeared. When Ari landed with a groan and a tired huff, the three teenagers hopped off her back. The land and hills around them for at least a mile on all sides was charred and ash; the trees that had once stood were ashen stumps, burned to a crisp, and there was no sign of any life at all.

"Everything's dead . . ." Stefan stooped down and gently cupped some of the dust left over, letting it fall from his hands slowly.

Damon spied footsteps in the dirt and he growled, "Fire Nation. Should've figured they'd have been the ones to do this. No natural fire would have only taken this and not the land around it."

Elena was suspiciously silent.

"Elena?" Stefan called quietly.

Damon licked his lips and kicked some of the ashy dirt up, sending it into the air like a fine powder. "Damned Fire Nation," He muttered again. "They destroy everything they touch."

"Not helping," Stefan reprimanded swiftly and then hesitantly moved to Elena's trembling form. "Elena?"

"Why would they do this?" She spun around and the brothers quickly realized her trembling was not from fear or hurt; she was furious. "What was the _point_?"

"There is no point," Damon said scathingly. "The Fire Nation takes what it wants and leaves the ash for the rest of us." He spread his arms wide. "Usually literally."

Elena, in an uncharacteristic show of anger, threw back her head and screamed, releasing a rush of air skyward that ruffled her hair. She threw her hands back to her sides and sank to the ground. "I'm the Avatar," She turned big brown eyes up at the boys. "I'm supposed to stop stuff like this from happening."

"That's why we're going to the North Pole, so you can learn. Once you've learned everything, you _can_ stop this kind of stuff." Stefan put a hand onto Elena's shoulder.

Damon looked away from their mushy rapport and spotted a new threat heading their way. He pulled out his boomerang and pointed it sharply at the robed woman standing next to Ari. "Who are you?" He demanded.

The woman's eyes were rounded with surprise and awe. "I saw the bison in the sky, but I wasn't sure . . ." She turned her gaze to Elena. "It just seemed so impossible . . . but you have the markings . . .you must be the Avatar."

"Right and I asked who _you_ were, not her," Damon strode up to the woman and pointed the sharp end of his weapon into the stranger's throat. "Answer the question."

The woman quickly put her hands up in surrender. "My name is Andie and I live in one of the nearby villages. We desperately need your help. Please."

"Damon," Elena said, "it's okay." She stared meaningfully at him until the Water Tribe warrior lowered his weapon. Damon eyed Andie distrustfully. Elena stood and dusted off her orange tunic. "What is it that I can do to help?"

"Follow me," Andie replied quickly and gave Elena a deep bow. "You'll understand when you see." She turned and led the group of three plus Ari back to her village, which was truly not far at all. It was in terrible condition, though, with houses nearly totaled along the street nearest to the remaining forest, and all of the citizens – if there were any at all, Damon thought to himself grimly – were locked up tight in their houses even though it was only just sundown.

Andie took them to a large building in the far back of their village, made entirely of wood as it seemed most poor villages were in the Earth Kingdom. The building was full to the brim with people, all of whom looked curiously at the newcomers with jaded eyes.

"This young woman is the Avatar," Andie breathed with reverence, waving a gentle hand towards Elena, and the crowd of people broke out into excited murmurings. "It truly is good to meet you."

"Elena," Elena introduced herself with a small smile. "It's just Elena. These are my friends, Damon and Stefan."

A man joined them a moment later, this one dark skinned like many of the Qetsiyah Warriors. "Greetings, Avatar Elena and companions." He gave a low bow. "My name is Harper, and I must say that you've come at just the right time, Miss."

Damon crossed his arms. "What's going on here, _Harper_? What do you need Elena for?"

Harper hazarded a glance at Elena, his eyes quizzical, and she nodded once. Harper began to speak, and to tell of his village's story; for the last few days at sunset, a spirit monster called Hei Bai has come to taken a villager a night. They needed a solution before the Winter Solstice arrived, when the angry spirit would be able to wreak even more havoc than it already has.

"Who better to help bridge communications between the spirit world and ours than the Avatar herself?" Harper finished.

Elena, refusing to look at either of her friends, nodded. "Of course I'll try to help, Harper." Andie and Harper beamed.

"Can we talk to you for a moment, Elena?" Stefan asked quietly, and excused them from the villagers. "How exactly are you going to help these people?"

"I'm the bridge between worlds," Elena said unconvincingly. "I have to help."

"Great," Damon drawled and rolled his eyes up to the sky. "We're going to eaten by a spirit monster because Elena couldn't leave something well enough alone."

"What?" Elena rounded on him and glared. "You're willing to help if it's Fire Nation soldiers, but not if it's anything supernatural?"

"I don't do spirits," Damon snapped.

"Well, good thing you're not going to have to," Elena crossed her arms. "I am." She turned to Stefan. "Right, Stefan?"

Stefan swallowed. "Well, we can't just leave these people here to die at the hands of an angry spirit," He said firmly. "And something has to be done. This might be their best shot."

Damon stomped off in an angry huff, muttering obscenities to himself.

"Thanks, Stefan."

Elena rejoined Andie and Harper and talked for a few minutes, and then she set off from the communal building. Stefan went to the window and watched as she walked down the center pathway of the village, staff in hand as she called out to Hei Bai. Damon joined him at his vigilant.

"This is stupid," Damon grumbled. "She's going to get herself killed."

"She's not," Stefan disagreed. "I trust her."

"You give her too much credit," Damon said critically. "She just came out of an iceberg after a century and she's a people pleaser. Elena wants to help these people because she feels guilty."

"You're wrong," Stefan said firmly, never taking his eyes off of the Avatar. "She wants to help because it's the right thing to do."

Before Damon could comment any further, a large panda bear stepped out of the trees. It walked straight towards Elena, who continued to speak to it. They couldn't make out what she was saying, but it clearly was not the correct thing; the panda suddenly grew three times its original size and it's whole body warped into a terrible looking black and white monster. It roared out light blue light into her face.

Stefan and Damon exchanged glances and as one, rose to go out.

"You must not help the Avatar," Harper's grave voice made them pause.

"Like shit," Damon glowered.

"She needs help," Stefan said more diplomatically.

"She's the Avatar," Harper disagreed. "She is separate and above us." There was a large crash and Elena's voice grew louder.

"Elena is a thirteen year old girl who just woke up from the South Pole and discovered all of her friends and family was dead," Damon corrected sharply.

"And we're all that she's got," Stefan finished and the brothers quickly left Harper, Andie, and the rest of the villagers in the communal home, darting out to help their friend. She was floating around with her airbending, trying to calm Hei Bai, but the spirit was not to be appeased. It roared and smashed the wooden buildings and huts, destroying everything in its path.

"Hey!" Stefan shouted and lifted up some paper from a well, sending it splashing towards the beast and icing it to the ground. Hei Bai roared and broke free, more belligerent still.

"Get back inside!" Elena commanded. "Both of you! I can handle-" Hei Bai took a swipe at her and knocked Elena sideways. Damon launched his boomerang at the beast and the metal weapon clanged off the spirit's nose. It bounded towards him.

"Damon, no!" Stefan roughly pushed his brother down, wincing as Hei Bai's sharp talons raked across the back of his own neck, tearing clothing and his necklace.

"Damn it," Damon growled and the brothers rolled back to their feet, still moderately unharmed. Stefan's hand touched the back of his neck gingerly and pulled it back, spying blood. "Get back inside."

"Not without you two," Stefan rebuked and darted after Elena's prone form. He sank to the ground next to her, and gently shook his friend. Her wide brown eyes opened and she blinked hazily.

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" Stefan probed.

"Fine," Elena shook her head and stumbled to her feet. Her jaw went slack at something behind Stefan, prompting the waterbender to turn his head. He felt the ground fall from beneath his feet as he saw Hei Bai scoop up Damon in his clawed hands and sprint off into the forest.

"Damon!" Together, Elena and Stefan ran after the spirit and the non-bender together, as fast as they could.

"I'm going to use my glider!" Elena shouted. "I'll meet you back at the village!" Before he could say anything, she snapped out her wood and orange glider and took to the air, leaving Stefan behind.

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.

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"Elijah, where the hell are you?" Klaus grumbled. Louder, he shouted, "We're missing a lead to the Avatar!" He'd been prepared to leave on the dime as soon as Lt. Rose had said where the Avatar and her Water Tribe scum had gone, but he'd very quickly realized that his older brother was still on dock.

After asking around, he'd found that his brother had gone off into the forest to God knew what reason. Klaus had resorted to tramping through the forest, growing to himself. He came to a clearing and took a breath to scream some more when he found some of his brother's things; namely, his shoes.

"That's . . . odd," Klaus said aloud, for once in his life lost for words. " . . . Elijah?"

But his brother was nowhere to be found.

"Lieutenant!" He hollered, "Get the crew! We must find my brother before we're far too behind the Avatar to catch up to her! Get the komodo rhinos!"

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Elena returned back to the village as soon as she realized that she'd lost Damon, possibly for good. "I'm sorry, Stefan," She whispered as she found him at the gates of the village, patting Ari's head with a bandage on the back of his neck.

When he didn't move, she sighed. "Stefan, I'm sorry, but I wasn't able to get Damon. He's gone, but . . . but I'm going to find him. Stefan?" He didn't react at all and even looked right through her. Elena lifted a hand and gasped; she looked faded and tinted blue. "I'm in the . . . spirit world?"

Stefan sighed in front of her and left Ari (and indirectly, Elena too), and headed back towards the village's borders.

"Stefan!" Elena called again just to make sure, but he didn't even so much as twitch. She heard a rumbling and turned to look behind her, only to see a blue tinted speck drawing closer and closer from the sky. She squinted.

The shape drew nearer still and finally Elena could make it out.

"A dragon?" She yelped and she swept her arms around in front of her in an airbending kata that failed her. The dragon landed soundlessly in front of her and extended one of his long whiskers. Elena leaned backwards, but the dragon only followed until one of the whiskers brushed her face. Immediately foreign images flooded her mind and knowledge swept Elena off her feet.

"You're Avatar Katherine's spirit guide," Elena murmured and stepped forwards to pat the dragon's nose. "Fen."

Fen rumbled and extended her neck in an inviting manner. _Climb on_, she seemed to say. Giving the village one last glance, Elena hopped upon Fen and they darted through the air.

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"I really do not see any reason you could not have let me reclaim my shoes," Elijah announced crossly around twenty minutes into his impromptu ostrich horse ride.

"Shut it, filth," One of the Earth Kingdom soldiers spat.

"You're less likely to run without shoes," Another of the soldiers confided. This one was green still, a little younger than Niklaus.

"Mica," The older soldier warned and the young man immediately shut his mouth. Elijah fought a smirk.

"So where are we headed to, then?" Elijah inquired.

"To the city you nearly laid siege to when you were just eighteen and failed just four years later," The same older soldier sneered, "the magnificent Ba Sing Se."

"Sounds wonderful," Elijah said dryly, "truly. May I ask why?"

"You'll probably be ransomed," The older soldier said, unconcerned. "Or if we're lucky, you'll just be executed." He grinned savagely, showing off rotting teeth. "Maybe they'll use the guillotine."

"Charming," Elijah said distastefully and turned to his shackles. "By the way, Sir, I would like for you to know that these manacles are very poorly made."

The older soldier scowled. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, you see," Elijah explained, "if you don't tighten this screw right here, it'll come out and then the manacles will simply fall apart. Unless you'd prefer me to escape, which I would be obliged to do."

The group of soldiers grumbled for several seconds before stopping and a different one of the bunch – neither the greenie nor the older one he'd conversed with – hopped off of his ostrich horse and stomped over to Elijah's animal. Elijah heated his manacles.

The soldier touched the iron and screamed bloody murder, falling backwards and curling his burnt hands into his chest. Elijah took the moment of distraction and leapt off the ostrich horse and scrambled down the rocky hill they were on, forgoing the pathway. With manacles on his ankles and burning ones on his wrists, Elijah knew his chances for escape were slim. He winced with each bump down the hill and didn't come to a stop until he reached the very bottom.

The soldiers caught up with him quickly.

"What do we do with him, Sir?" The greenie asked his commanding officer.

"What we should have done at the start," The older soldier grinned, "We'll cut off those traitorous hands of his."

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Fen flew Elena across the Earth Kingdom with impossible speeds, and it soon became clear that the dragon was taking them to the Fire Nation.

"Crescent Island," Elena murmured and Fen rumbled as she flew them inside and upwards towards a sun dial. "No, wait!" Elena closed her eyes but never felt the impact. Instead, she found that when she opened her eyes that they were in a large gold and red room with a statue of Avatar Katherine in the center.

"This is just a statue . . ." Elena said quietly, confused. She turned back to Fen, and the dragon put a whisker to Elena's forehead again. A quick flashing image was driven into her head and the Avatar winced. "A comet . . . Katherine wants to talk to me about a comet?" Fen nodded. "How can I talk to her?" Fen seemed almost exasperated as the whisker returned. Elena's eyes fluttered closed as more images were planted in her head; days and nights passing over the island until the solstice arrived.

"It's a calendar . . . and the light will reach Katherine's statue . . . I'll be able to talk to her then," Elena realized. "But Damon needs help now, Fen. What am I supposed to do until then?" Fen scooped Elena up and flew her away, back to the Earth Kingdom.

The village was once again in sight, but the dragon continued until they reached the burnt out part of the forest. Elena blinked, startled when she saw her body sitting in a meditative form and her arrow tattoos were lit blue. She blinked again and woke in her own body. There was no trace of Fen.

Elena dragged herself back to the village, glider in hand, and full of disappoint in herself for not finding her friend or the other villagers. The gate at the front of the village loomed and Ari grumbled when she caught sight of her master.

"Elena!" She glanced up to find Stefan racing towards her.

"Stefan!"

They embraced and Andie and Harper breathed deep sighs of relief. "I looked for you on Ari, but you were nowhere to be found. Where's Damon?" Stefan asked urgently and Elena deflated.

"I don't know," She murmured and the sun was setting once more. "I'm going to face Hei Bai again this evening Stefan, and I swear I'll get him back." Elena met Andie's eyes. "I'll get them all back."

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.

"Here we go," One of the soldiers said as the forced Elijah onto his knees. The spread his manacled hands onto a large rock and the firebender prepared himself.

An earthbender lifted a large piece of rock and positioned it so it was hovering over Elijah's hands. "One . . . two . . ."

"Get away from him!" Elijah looked up to see Klaus roaring flames at the soldiers and kicking the rock clear out of the air.

"Brilliant form, brother," Elijah complimented, even as he rose and swept out a wave of flame at one of his captors. The brother rose and stood side to side, arms extended for the next kata. Klaus sent Elijah a rugged smirk.

"Well, I am brilliant," Klaus bragged and Elijah fought an eye roll.

"You're clearly outnumbered," The older soldier growled as they surrounded the Fire Princes in a ring with the five soldiers closing in.

"True," Elijah allowed with slow nod. "But you are most certainly outmatched." Almost as if they were one, the brothers moved in tandem; their forms were efficient and cohesive and most of all, full of utter _power_. The flames that burst forth from their palms were heated and bright orange and burgundy combined. Klaus jumped into the air and performed a roundhouse kick that had flames trailing his heel; it put two soldiers onto their backs almost immediately. Elijah punched two fistfuls of flames right after the other at one man, and then did an impressive sideways lunge to dodge a rock coming towards his head. He flipped himself back up and used his hands to spin a tornado of flame into the last men's ways, bowling them over and eliciting shrieks of pain.

Klaus' face was lit up with excitement and flush with exertion. "Get your shoes, brother."

Elijah arched a brow.

"Lt. Rose has spotted the Avatar."

Elijah did roll his eyes then. "We had better get moving then, shan't we." It was not a question and the two brothers turned and walked back to their ship together.

"Next time, Elijah, I do recommend not getting caught."

"I do not know why I didn't think of that before," Elijah deadpanned.

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Elena stood at the gate of the village once more, facing the dark forest in wait. Behind her in the communal house was Stefan and the other villagers, and this time she'd made sure he'd sworn to let her handle it. She waited. Wind chimes blew nearby.

But she didn't have to for long; Hei Bai stepped out of the trees as if on cue in his menacing form, roaring and snarling. He bounded towards Elena, who met him head on.

"Elena," Stefan murmured to himself. "What are you doing?"

She leapt up high using her airbending and lightly touched the spirit on the muzzle. His image became fuzzy for a moment and she could see the sweet panda shape within him. She floated back to the ground slowly and Hei Bai watched her.

"You're the spirit of this forest," She realized and looked up at Hei Bai with sympathy. "And you're grieving its loss." Elena reached up and patted Hei Bai again. "But you know what? I was furious too, at first. But then I found this." She dug around in her yellow and orange tunic and pulled out an acorn. Elena held it out for Hei Bai to sniff. "See? This is a sign of rebirth. A new tree with grow in time because of this acorn and the hundreds of others littering your forest and the ruins of the old parts. It will grow anew, Hei Bai." She set down the acorn and Hei Bai seemed to shrink in on himself, morphing into the gentle panda spirit.

He turned and bamboo grew in each of Hei Bai's footsteps until the spirit disappeared. Moments later, a dozen people sprang from the bamboo, including a befuddled Damon clutching his boomerang.

"What the hell?" He grumbled.

"Damon!" Elena grinned and she heard Stefan running towards them.

"What happened?" Damon demanded.

"You were in the spirit world for a day," Stefan explained and Elena smiled at his relieved grin. "Are you feeling alright?"

Damon frowned. "I . . . really have to use the bathroom." He started away, but then whirled back and pointed at Elena, "But then we're having a talk about attacking weird spirits!"

Elena rolled her eyes, but then turned to greet the other missing villagers and helped direct them back to Andie and Harper. Stefan and Elena kept close to Damon when he returned, each glad to see the other alive and well again.

"Thanks, Elena," Stefan said quietly, "for getting Damon back. How did you know what to do?"

"Obviously her creepy spirit-avatar powers came in," Damon snarked.

"No," Elena glared at him, but was genuinely happy that he (and all of his snark) was back. "I had some help. Avatar Katherine's spirit animal, Fen, found me in the spirit world. And she showed me something else. I need to talk to Katherine, and I think I know where I can talk to her," Elena explained.

"That's great," Stefan grinned.

"Creepy," Damon corrected.

"But," Elena said firmly, "it's on Crescent Island. In the Fire Nation."

Both brothers paled.

"Nope, not happening!" Damon shouted, "We just got out of one mess, no need to put ourselves into another one!"

"Damon," Elena rebuked, "I have to go. I understand if you think it's too dangerous. I'll go alone."

"No!"

"You're crazy if you think we're letting you go off by yourself," Damon snapped angrily. He stuffed his boomerang into his blue Water Tribe clothes and crossed his arms huffily.

"We can't afford to lose you, Elena," Stefan appealed to her, hands spread in front of his body.

"I have to go," Elena insisted urgently, "and I have to get there before the Solstice."

"Which is tomorrow," Damon pointed out. "We'll never get there in time."

"Ari can be quick," Elena said grimly, "when she has to. I'll make it."

"You can't go to the Fire Nation by yourself," Stefan said urgently. "We'll go with you. Right Damon?"

Damon sighed and both Elena and Stefan could see he was about to give in. "Someone has to go with some sense, and you two certainly don't have _any_."

Elena grinned but they were interrupted by Harper behind them, who was clearing his throat quietly. They turned around to face the man. "Thank you, Avatar Elena," Harper bowed when they saddled up Ari again, ready for takeoff. "You have been a blessing to our village."

"Thank you," Elena bowed in return. "I hope everything will be better now."

"Indeed, Avatar," Harper said cryptically, "indeed." He waved them off.

It wasn't until much later, when Damon, Stefan, and Elena were in the air and over half way to Crescent Island did Stefan's hand fly to his throat. Panic rose in his stomach.

"Mom's necklace is gone."

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"What do we have here?" Klaus smirked. It was only him and Elijah at the gate of the village, for the rest of their crew was at the ship. Elijah looked down at what Klaus had spoken about and found that at the very edge of the village, was a blue necklace sitting in the dirt, looked to have been torn eschew in some kind of scuffle.

"It's Water Tribe make," Elijah commented.

"And what are the chances of there being more than two Water Rats away from home in the Earth Kingdom?" Klaus drawled.

"Very little," Elijah admitted. "The Water Tribes are an exclusive people and rarely, if ever leave their homes. I don't think that even the Warriors come this far inland."

"Agni's smiling down on us today," Klaus grinned and he bent down and plucked up the necklace, pocketing it. "Shall we inquired as to where the Avatar has gone?" His eyes flicked up towards the village and Elijah could see the hunger in them.

"Of course, Prince Niklaus."

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tbc.


	4. the man with the inferiority complex

Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Notes: Thanks for reading and leaving lovely reviews!

* * *

**the man with the inferiority complex**

"_...I have to talk to Avatar Roku to find out what my vision means! _

_I need to get to the Fire Temple before the sun sets on the solstice.__"_

_Aang, (__Winter Solstice, Part 2: Avatar Roku)_

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"My liege. The Avatar has returned."

Finn had been sitting on the Fire Lord's right hand, a place of great honor that was only occupied by the Crown Prince (_now Finn because Elijah abandoned them)_, when the Fire Sage had prostrated himself before them and delivered the grave news. The Sage, a mediocre Master Firebender that went by the name Frederick, was almost trembling with anticipation of the Fire Lord's reaction. It was almost a pity that he would not get to see it. Almost.

"You are dismissed," The Fire Lord's sharp voice snapped out like a honed fire whip and Finn could make out the Sage's thinned lips and glaring eyes before Frederick regained his composure. He bowed again and stood, hastily striding out of the great hall in his cumbersome Sage robes. The heavy door to the throne room shut heavily behind him. Finn thought he could see ashy footprints where the Fire Sage had walked.

He did not say anything, because he was a dutiful son and a dutiful son did not speak out of turn or unless spoken to (_why Niklaus you were supposed to know this why do you always have to cause trouble)_ and so he waited patiently for his father to begin the conversation, if there _was_ one to begin. He focused eyes forward, and practiced a few breathing exercises that would never make the element of the flame tremble with his power.

Finn could remember being a child and sitting in this very room, looking up at his grandfather the Fire Lord and then his father in later years. He remembered their mother – always calm and collected, even when her four boys would have driven any other mother to murder (_ha_)– sitting beside him (_in between him and Klaus, always_) and petting his hair. She and he – Mother and Finn – had an understanding. As the only two non-benders of the Royal Family, they had to work extra hard for appearances and it always pleased Finn to know that he had something that his bending siblings didn't; the favoritism of their mother. Petty? Certainly. But it was the only thing that had kept Finn from insanity because of the ridicule he would face from the other nobles' children (_his brothers and sister, the staff, the generals_).

"Well, this _is_ news," The Fire Lord finally spoke and even if Finn were to strain his ears, he would not be able to discern any emotion from his father's voice. That was the famous Firelord Mikael; emotionless, fathomless, unless in a terrifying rage. "What are your thoughts, son?" Finn still sometimes felt a thrill when his father deferred to him. Without Elijah there, the perfect son, and Klaus, the troublemaking attention seeker, many eyes were on _this_ son instead.

"The Avatar is strong, but I have faith that we will be able to capture him." Finn did not let any of his enthusiasm show in his tone. It would not do to let his father think he a child eager for attention, especially after his twenty-fourth name day. "He will be over a hundred years old and most likely too elderly to give much of a lasting fight for our armies. I believe even Niklaus would be able to come out of a combatting situation mostly intact." Mostly, anyway. Niklaus was hotheaded at the best of times, no pun intended, and it would get him in trouble one day, Finn mused.

"Oh?" The Fire Lord inquired and his voice had turned as sharp as a needlepoint. "Do _not_ forget Avatar Qetsiyah, Prince Finn. She lived to be over two hundred years old and not a single foe could best her in battle. She was clever and insane and vengeful; those feelings drove her until her dying breath in her second century. Avatar Katherine was only felled because of my grandfather's betrayal. Do not underestimate the Avatar Spirit, my son, or you will prove yourself to be as foolish as Princes Elijah and Niklaus."

Finn licked his lips and felt the shame balling up in his gut. Of course he was wrong; Father knew best. If he said that the Avatar was stronger than that, then the Avatar was. _(He should not have brought up his younger brother.) _"What do you propose we do then, my Lord?" The Fire Lord seemed to ignore the question as he waved a hand to a courtier, who immediately set off and opened the great door to the throne room. Finn's dark eyes traveled to the figure striding forwards and he felt his stomach drop.

"Commander Connor, at your service, my Lord." The mocha skinned Naval Commander prostrated himself before the Fire Lord and his son. Finn had to school his features to keep from gaping at the sight of the man's face; Commander Connor was now sporting a red, leathery scar that stretched over his cheek and jaw, leading down to his neck roughly in the shape of fist-like comet. It did not appear to affect his vision, but Finn had to wonder where on earth the man had acquired such an abomination.

Fire Lord Mikael arched a single brow. "You may rise, _Captain _Connor Jordan." He then added, rather unnecessarily, "I'm promoting you."

"What is it I have done to deserve this grand promotion, my Liege?" Captain Connor asked stiffly. Parts of his lips were included in his scar's range, clearly making it slightly difficult to speak.

"I have recently learnt of the Avatar's return, and I would like for you to track them down. Bring the Avatar to me, Captain, and I will have seen that you've earned your new title and you will find that you will be even more handsomely rewarded."

Surprisingly, the Captain did not appear grateful. Instead, he spat at the Fire Lord's feet and bared his pearly white teeth. "The only reward I want, Firelord Mikael, is revenge for _this_!" He pointed at the ravaged skin on his face.

Rather than being upset, the Fire Lord only twisted one of his lips. "Oh? And who gave you that scare, Captain?"

"Your _son_," Connor growled, "Prince Niklaus Mikaelson."

Immediately Finn looked to his father and then back at the scar. Surely Niklaus wasn't capable of such a thing? Kol, certainly, Rebekah, maybe, but Niklaus . . . ? He'd been such a curious and happy child . . .

"You give me the Avatar, Captain Connor, and we will talk," Mikael said smoothly but Finn could feel the change in temperature of the flames surrounding the throne and his royal pillow. Finn bit the inside of cheek to keep his jealousy and fear from showing on his face as the flames changed from red to green. "But if you_ ever_ show such disrespect towards me or another member of the royal family, I will burn more than your face and you will find yourself_ rotting_ in the Boiling Rock for the rest of your miserable life."

Captain Connor paled and bowed again. "Yes, my Lord."

"You are dismissed." Connor Jordan scurried out of the throne room as if the hounds of hell were on his heels. There was a moment of silence after the echoing footsteps disappeared and the door was firmly shut behind the retreating Captain.

"I did not think the boy had it in him." Mikael mused.

Finn started and then looked up towards his father. "My liege?"

"I did not believe that Niklaus had it in him to burn another," Mikael clarified and Finn felt a chill run through his body. Mikael was not disgusted at Niklaus at all; he was_ proud_. Almost absent mindedly, Mikael said, "You are dismissed, Prince Finn."

The twenty four year old weapons master and tactician rose from his seat and strode from the throne room without another word. He was a dutiful son, after all, and dutiful sons did not speak out of turn.

"_Is he going to live?"_

"_What kind of question is that? Of course Prince Niklaus will live." Finn demanded as he peered down at the ten year old standing next to him. The youngest Fire Prince, who looked eerily like the eldest with his dark hair and eyes, cleft chin and pale face, shrugged. Kol flicked his thumb and lit a bright flame there and then flicked it back out._

_Light._

_Dark._

_Flame._

_No flame._

_Life._

_Death._

"_Quit that," Finn hissed. Kol stuck out his tongue and put his fists onto his hips. Finn pinched the bridge of his nose and turned away from the little boy and towards the closed door of the healer's room. Inside, their brother Niklaus was laid up as some of the best healers began work on his burned chest. "Go find Rebekah," Finn told Kol after another moment. "Maybe she'll play with you."_

"_Rebekah's crying," Kol rolled his eyes. "She doesn't want Nik to leave."_

_Finn, though not particularly intuitive when it came to other human beings – he had a mind for battle tactics, not people – sensed there was something wrong with this; not Rebekah crying, but rather the fact that Kol _wasn't.

"_What about you?" Finn wondered in a moment of curiosity. _

_Kol shrugged and flicked his thumb again, lighting it up. Finn sighed. "What about me?"_

"_Why aren't you upset?"_

"_I don't really care."_

"_Why's that?" Finn blinked. Finn did not really like Niklaus, true, but they were _brothers_. There was some love there, even if he wasn't very good at expressing it._

"_Klaus sets my toys on fire and pushes me down," Kol pouted. "He's mean and plays dirty tricks. So I don't care if he has to leave forever."_

_Out of the mouth of babes . . . But Finn quickly caught something that his youngest brother had said so flippantly. "What do you mean, Niklaus has to _leave forever_?" Finn asked sharply._

"_Exactly as he said," Elijah's sudden presence surprised Finn into straightening his robes. "Niklaus has been banished from the Fire Nation and he is not to return until he has captured the Avatar. You and I both know that the Avatar is long gone." Elijah snorted derisively, the most disrespect Elijah has ever paid their father. "Father may be a vindictive bastard, but so can I." _

_Finn arched a single brow, even as Kol slapped his hands over his mouth and giggled at the usage of profanity. "Oh?"_

"_I am resigning my position as General and traveling with Niklaus until he finds the Avatar. I will come home with Niklaus or not at all, so Father will be missing his Crown Prince," Elijah declared and it was then that Finn noticed the bags in his hands. Clothes, personal items probably. _

"_But like you have asserted, brother, you _are _the Crown Prince. The Fire Nation needs you," Finn protested, "and the Avatar has been missing for over nine decades. She'll never be found."_

"_Then I will never come home," Elijah said flatly._

.

.

.

"This is it," Elena said grimly. She gripped Ari's leather reins a little bit tighter with her right hand and pointed with her left. Her nails were already chipped and dry from her time out living in the wild. "See that island over there? That's where Avatar Katherine's temple is. That's where I'll finally get to talk to her." The island itself did indeed appear like a crescent moon, and was grey and dead looking. The water around it was still except for the slow movement of the waves.

"Sounds great, really, and I don't want to rain on your parade," Damon started as he leaned over the edge of the saddle, "but it looks like we have some company."

"Where?" Stefan joined him and shielded his eyes from the sun. He pretended not to notice the absence of his mother's necklace around his neck or in his pocket. It was his own fault it was gone, so there was no use lingering. But still, he could feel the ghost of the fabric against his throat. "_What_ _is_ _that_?"

"A blockade," Elena realized aloud. A line of ships stretched out for as long as the eye could see, blocking off the sea and very clearly marking the line between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation. The black ships were spouting thick smoke into the air and were clearly there to stay.

"Well, we're screwed." Damon sank down into the saddle.

"Come on, Damon," Elena cajoled halfheartedly, "we'll be able to make it." She turned to Stefan. "Right Stefan?"

"I hate to agree with Damon," Stefan said slowly, apologetically, "but that's a Fire Navy blockade, Elena. I'm not sure we'll be able to cross it."

"Well," Elena turned away sharply and patted Ari's head. "I believe in you, Ari, even if they don't."

"It's not the bison we're worried about," Damon said dryly and Stefan nodded grimly. Both gripped the saddle tightly as Elena urged her to go faster. As they neared the blockade, it became clear that there was no way to go around the ships. Even worse, they appeared to be equipped with some huge metal projectile weapons.

"Hey, is that our very own Fire Princes' ship?" Damon squinted and Stefan hummed an affirmative.

"Forget that," Stefan muttered. "Are those enormous slingshots?"

"This might be a bumpy ride," Elena warned quickly and a huge ball of fire was hurled in their direction. It looked like it was made up of a huge chuck of coal and was brightly lit with red flames. Elena leapt off Ari's head and used her airbending and her staff to flip her body and deflect the fiery rock; it made the projectile implode within itself and send its remains scattering in the winds. Burning coal remains landed on Ari's fur, making the great beast grumble. Stefan frowned and quickly reached for his water pouch and put out the tiny fires.

Elena floated back to her seat and urged Ari to fly higher after murmuring soothing words to her beast.

"The hell, Elena?!" Damon snapped. "You could've been killed!"

"She did say it would a bumpy ride," Stefan breathed as the bison went faster and higher. Another fiery rock flew in their direction and Ari surprised them all by doing a head over tails flip midair to avoid it, causing all of her passengers to scream long and shrill.

Suddenly, the blockade paused. The trio was so surprised, they paused to see what exactly was going on; it seemed the Fire Nation blockade was stopping to let a smaller ship pass through the long line of naval vessels.

"Is that the Fire Prince's ship?" Elena squinted.

"Who cares, let's move," Damon urged, and so they took the moment of distraction to fly straight overhead and land onto Crescent Island.

"Let's agree to not ever do that again," Damon staggered drunkenly to his feet after he hopped off Ari. He brushed off his blue trousers and pulled a face when his hands came away with an abundant amount of bison hair.

"Seconded," Stefan murmured before he bent over, hands on knees, to throw up everything he'd eaten that day. Elena stood a little ways away, concerned but also impatient to get moving. There was a little frown on her forehead. Ari grumbled and laid flat onto the hardened ground. She snuffled a dry bush, but nothing was left of it but twigs and burnt leaves. She moaned mournfully.

"We'll be back soon," Elena sighed and reassured her friend and patted the great beast on the muzzle. "Promise." She turned to her other friends. "Ready, guys?"

"Oh sure," Damon snorted and he gave Stefan a hand up. The Water Tribe boys stood shoulder to shoulder. "Onward, to the dangerous Fire Nation Temple." Together, they made their way up to the temple, and entered silently.

"Halt! Who dares enter this scared place?" A Fire Nation citizen, a Sage, stepped up with a hand held out. Behind him, four other Sages stood in defensive firebending stances.

"Elena," Damon muttered, "Wait –"

"I'm the Avatar," Elena bowed and introduced herself, "and I really need to speak with Avatar Katherine's."

At once, the group of five Sages set onto the girl with hands held out and flames bursting forth. She jumped back and the Water Tribe brothers flattened themselves along the steel walls, hearts in their throats.

Elena was puzzled. "You're the Fire Sages; you're supposed to be _loyal_ to the _Avatar_."

"We have not served the Avatar in a hundred years," One of the Sages snapped, "not since you abandoned us!" He called forth another flame, but the trio quickly turned and ran from the adults. Their feet pounded against the metal floor, panic in their every breath.

"Go to the Fire Nation, she said," Damon muttered, "It'll be safe, she said."

"I never said it would be safe," Elena contradicted him, panting, as they rounded another corner. "I told _you guys_ to stay behind."

"And we told you that you couldn't do this alone," Stefan countered, "So we kind of signed up for this, Damon."

"Avatar," A voice hissed, "Avatar, stop." The trio rounded another corner to find one of the sages waiting for them. Stefan grabbed his water pouch while Damon reached for his boomerang, but the Sage only fell to his knees. "Avatar Elena, please. I can get you to Avatar Katherine. You need only follow me."

Elena paused and traded glances with the boys. "Why should we trust you? Your friends want to kill us."

"They want to turn you into the Fire Lord," The Fire Sage corrected, "which is by far the worse punishment, I assure."

"Why are you betraying your brothers by helping us?" Stefan asked quietly. "How do we know you won't deceive us too?"

"You don't," The Sage gave them a startling smirk, "but I am your only hope to reaching your destination."

Damon and Stefan gave each other unsettled glances and then deferred to Elena. The Avatar's face was drawn, but she lowered her arms reluctantly. "Lead on, Fire Sage."

"The name is Frederick, Avatar. I'm Fire Sage Frederick."

.

.

.

"Prince Finn, your new tactics presented at yesterday's war meeting were beautifully drawn up."

"Prince Finn, would you like your bath now?"

"Prince Finn, this is your new training schedule."

"Sir, would you like some tea?"

"Prince, your sister is looking for you."

Finn dismissed each servant and slave from his company as they swarmed him, except the last. "Rebekah is of need of my company?" That was . . . unusual.

"Yes, my Prince," The slave, brought in from the Earth Kingdom, bowed low to the ground. She was only good for sending messages and target practice because she'd been an earthbender when captured. And when earthbenders are captured and brought to the Capitol, well; everyone knew what happened to _them_. They couldn't have any of them practicing in the Fire Nation, after all, and the only sure way to keep an earthbender from bending besides setting them onto a steel ship was to take away their tools: their hands.

"Where is she?"

"In the gardens, my Prince," The slave girl bowed again, prostrating herself along the ground.

Finn nodded, turned and left her without a word and he knew she would rise from her kneeled position and the edges of her sleeves would drag in the places where hands would usually rest. He found himself in the gardens, where his beautiful sister was standing in the center, next to the turtle duck pond. She was facing the southern wall, so all that Finn could see was her long blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back and the pale skin of her neck. Rebekah wore the usual royal garments; red and gold silk dresses befitting only a princess. Finn knew though, that beneath the fluffs of the dress, his sister was clothed in her riding clothes, ready to spar with their brother.

"Princess Rebekah?"

"Finn," Rebekah greeted quietly. "I've been asking for you all morning."

"I apologize, sister. Our father had me detained for his hearings. What is so urgent?" Finn clasped his hands behind his back.

Rebekah whirled around to face him, fury painted as clearly on her face as the womanly paints she wore on a daily basis. "The Avatar has been spotted, _brother. _You didn't think to tell me?"

This, of course.

"How did you find out?"

"I overheard a guard and then paid him off," Rebekah waved a hand, "but that's not the point. You've been out of council with Father for hours. Why didn't you tell me about the Avatar?"

"I was not allowed to tell you, as my station as Crown Prince prohibited me –"

Rebekah threw back her head and laughed derisively. "Don't give me that crock, _Crown Prince_ Finn. You and I both know that that title is unearned. If Elijah was here –"

Finn noticed the servants and slaves shifting and whispering around the courtyard and in the airy hallways leading to it, and sought a way to quiet his sister's ramblings. "But Elijah is _not_ here; he formally rescinded his title as Crown Prince, in fact, and that makes me the next in line for the throne."

Rebekah opened her mouth, but Finn had had enough of her overriding his opinions (_four years_) and he would not be silenced this day. "It is not a matter of merit, although I am in fact a very good politician, tactician and warrior; therefore I believe I _have _earned my rightful place. Please do not continue this line of discussion, my dear sister."

Rebekah smirked nastily. "Well, _dear_ brother, now that the Avatar has returned, I hope you realize that your rightful place is about to be given back to Elijah, just as soon as they come home."

Finn took a deep breath and refused to let his baby sister rile his temper. He was twenty-four years old and she only thirteen. He was the adult here and a Crown Prince. She was nothing more than his sister; a hormone driven teenager with daily changing whims. He would not be cowed.

"Rebekah, the Avatar has been training for a hundred years, so he or she must have become a fully realized Avatar at this time; why else reveal themselves? They'll have the power of all of their past lives with them, as well. I do not believe that even with the combined power of the _Dragon of the West_ and a spoiled Prince will be enough to capture and detain such a being. Do not underestimate the Avatar Spirit, my sister, or you will prove yourself to be as foolish as Elijah and Niklaus."

He left her then, standing the gardens as she fumed, quite literally by the sounds of burning underbrush, but Finn did not look back. He commanded one of the servants to check back up on her and then a slave to clean up whatever mess Rebekah would inevitably leave behind.

.

.

.

The Fire Sage was true to his word; he led Elena, Damon and Stefan to a large room that contained a huge, ornate door. Rather obviously, everything was red from the ceilings to the metal floor. Elena grinned at Stefan at the sight, and the waterbender gave a small smile in return.

"Thank you," Elena breathed. "Thank you so much, Frederick. This door is just like the ones in the Air Temples though, and if it's not too much trouble, would you open it for me? I don't know any firebending yet, you see."

Frederick arched both of his brows. "You're not a fully realized Avatar yet?"

Stefan's brows furrowed. "No. She's not."

"Why?" Damon demanded suspiciously. He narrowed his eyes and fingered his boomerang; he did not trust this Fire Nation scum with his life, let own his brother's or Elena's.

Elena explained, "It's kind of why I need to get to the North Pole, but Katherine sent her spirit guide to me because there is something urgent she needs to tell me before we got there. That's why we're here." Elena turned wary. "Is there a problem?"

Frederic snorted. "I'd say so, Missy." He ignored the way that the boys' clenched their fists at the nickname. "The only way in that sanctuary is for a fully realized Avatar to unlock it, or to have five firebenders have a go simultaneously. Since you only have me, it would see that you're out of luck."

"Why'd you bring us here then?" Damon growled.

Frederick held up his hands in surrender. "I thought the girl would have been trained, Water Tribe. She did have a hundred years after all."

"In which she was in a giant ice cube," Damon said dryly. "Not much time for bending practice."

Frederick scratched his bead. "Well, the others will be here soon; I can guarantee that, so you'll need to think of something before then."

"Wait." Stefan looked up and the others in the group turned to him. "You were under the impression that Elena was a fully realized Avatar, and the others still are, yes?"

Frederick nodded and Damon rolled his eyes.

"Well, what if we made it look like Elena was already in the sanctuary? The other sages wouldn't know the difference," Stefan explained furtively.

"And then when they came in, they'd want to go inside and bring me out," Elena said slowly, "but really, all they would be doing was opening the door . . ."

". . . and then Elena could jump into the sanctuary just before the solstice," Damon folded his arms. Grudgingly, he complimented his brother, "Nice idea."

"How do you make it look like she's in there, kids?" Frederick asked them doubtfully.

"Char the edges here," Stefan walked over and pointed to each of the holes where the flames would go in to unlock the heavy ornate door, "for all five entrances. It'll look like she used firebending to open the doors."

Frederick eyed them carefully and then finally nodded. "But first, I want a deal."

The trio exchanged looks. "What do you want?" Damon stepped forwards angrily.

"Immunity," Frederick gave them a nasty grin. "I know a reckoning when I see one, kids. This Fire Lord isn't going to stay in power for much longer, and I'm placing my bets on her," He inclined his head towards Elena, "for taking the bastard down. If I help now, maybe you'll remember me when these guys lock me up for treason after this."

"If you don't help us now," Elena reasoned, "I might just fail and then you'd have nothing to worry about."

"But you won't," Frederick leered, "because you're the Agni damned Avatar, girl, and you're more powerful than Firelord Mikael and his devil children put together. You just need time, and I just want out of this war, scot free."

"How will we know where to even find you when all of this is over?" Damon asked incredulously.

"They'll put me in the Boiling Rock," Frederick said assertively, "for the highest treason. You mention that to anyone in the Fire Nation and they'll tell you how to get there."

Stefan quietly spoke, "Fire Sage Frederick, you realize that you could be in the prison for a long time, right? It could be a while before we win."

"But you will win," Frederick said, clearly frustrated, "I'm not dumb enough to think that the Fire Lord can beat the Avatar." He threw out a hand. "When you win, what will you do with all of the Fire Sages and prisoners of war? Everyone who doesn't surrender? Probably shut them up into prison for the rest of their lives, if not the death penalty. If I throw my lot in with yours, I just get a reserved get out of jail free card."

"You're a selfish man," Elena observed with narrowed eyes. She folded her arms under her breasts, indecisive.

"Yes." Frederick didn't disagree. "But I'm also your only hope to get in that sanctuary in the next five minutes. All I want in return is your promise that you get me out of the Boiling Rock after you win this war."

Elena and the boys conferred for a few heated seconds before coming to a consensus.

"Deal."

.

.

.

"Brothers! The Avatar has accessed the sanctuary! Brothers!" Frederick hollered and the other men came running.

"How could this have happened? Why didn't you stop her?" One of the other Sages demanded of Frederick.

Frederick growled. "I got here just after the doors closed; I couldn't stop her."

Another sage pinched the bridge of his nose. "It is not too late for us to retrieve the girl before she contacts her past life. Together, gentlemen, let us open the door." The Sages stepped back, and from her place behind one of the huge stone pillars, Elena held her breath.

The Sages worked as one and blasted their fire into the five openings on the ancient door. It whistled and immediately locks began to move and pieces untangled; the door groaned and creaked open. As quick as fox, Elena darted from behind her hiding place and into the room. The door slammed behind her and Elena winced as shouting immediately erupted.

"I hope Stefan and Damon will be okay," Elena whispered. She tucked a long lock of hair behind her ear and approached the sundial in the center of the room. In the far back, as a part of the dial, was a golden statue of the famed breathtakingly beautiful Avatar Katherine. Elena caught sight of her and gasped; it was like looking into a mirror if she was only a few years older.

The sunlight slowly moved and the sounds outside the sanctuary quieted until Elena could only hear her own breathing. All at once, everything changed.

The sanctuary melted away to reveal and a beautiful field full of rolling hills filled with purple flowers and thick green grass. The sun was high in the sky and it warmed Elena's skin, bringing a smile to her face. And in the center of the field was the ethereal form of Avatar Katherine. She was the picture of utter perfection; she was angel.

Unfortunately, the perfection image was shattered as soon as Katherine opened her mouth.

"It took you long enough. What did you do, stop by Chin the Conqueror's grave and pay your respects? Because that's what you might as well have done what with your disappearing act a hundred years ago. Do you realize what you did, running away like that? Agni, but you're selfish."

Elena's jaw dropped and Katherine rolled her eyes. The spirit examined her nails.

"Ex-excuse me?" Elena stuttered.

"You heard me," Katherine said coolly. "If you had just stayed at the temple like a good little girl, none of this would have happened."

"I had just learned I was the Avatar. It was a _little_ overwhelming," Elena said slowly, "so you can't possibly be blaming me for all of this."

"Well," Katherine tilted her head and probed her thick, ruby red bottom lip with a sharp nail. "Some of it may have been my fault. Just a tiny bit." She pinched her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

"I didn't mean to disappear for a hundred years." Elena snapped, "And it's not like I planned that storm. I couldn't – can't – control the Avatar State. If I could, I would have come out of that iceberg a long time ago, Katherine."

Katherine sighed gustily. "Well, it's of no consequence now, anyway. What's done is done. We have to focus on the future now."

"Yeah, like why exactly did you bring me here?" Elena demanded. "I mean, besides to blame me for a hundred years' war." She didn't need Katherine to make her feel guilty; Elena already thought about the war every day and every night, worrying and wondering what if . . . Yes, Elena already felt guilty enough.

Katherine sobered and she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her blood red robes. The accents on the sleeves were bright gold and the patterns intricate. "There's a comet coming."

Elena furrowed her brows and hesitantly asked, "A comet?"

"It's called Silas' Comet," Katherine clarified, "It comes once every one hundred years, and the last time this one stopped by, Silas took advantage of the enhancement it gave his firebending and decided to take world dominion out for a spin. As you can see, it's not all that great for anyone other than the Fire Nation."

Elena frowned, and Katherine took this for encourage to continue talking.

"Firelord Mikael plans to finish what his grandfather started a hundred years ago, Elena," Katherine said grimly. "At the end of the summer when Silas' comet returns, Mikael will have enough power to take the rest of the world as his own. You have to learn the other elements and defeat him before that happens."

Around them, the beautiful blue sky bled gold and red and black as the landscape transformed into a barren wasteland. A middle-aged man in crisp red armor, someone Elena had never seen before, was leading an army of thousands through the cities of the Earth Kingdom, capturing, raping and killing in turns. The moon bled black. A disturbingly serene young man in royal armor with Dao blades led an army in Gaoling. Two mad teenagers spun colored fire in their palms and melted the north and south poles; one threw back his head with laughter as lightening spewed from his lips and crackled into the heavens while the other just watched on in satisfied silence. Two brothers stood on opposite sides of a battle field, dancing in the flames, burning . . .

"Stop, stop, stop! I can't watch this anymore!" Elena shielded her eyes from the blood and horror and devastation. The excitement, the exuberance on the faces of those distinct Fire Nation citizens was enough to curdle Elena's stomach. She put a hand to her mouth to keep from vomiting all of the lychee nuts she'd had for breakfast.

"Do you understand, Elena?" Katherine demanded and she seemed to grow three times her size; her voice was booming and all encompassing. "Do you understand why you must succeed? If you don't, all of this will come to pass." Elena sank to her knees in the ashes, unable to stand the thought of this horrid future happening. All at once, the images faded back into the quiet and soothing field of flowers, but Elena would not be comforted. She felt a hand on her shoulder and Elena looked up through her tears that hung on her lashes.

"Come on," Katherine said quietly. "So some of it's my fault, and as loathe am I to admit it, I'm sorry I can't clean it up. So it's up to you to set it right."

Elena felt something inside herself harden – it was her resolve to see this war through. She wiped her tears on the back of her hand and looked up, nodding. "I will. I will set everything right again, Katherine."

Katherine smirked. Said - "Raava picked a good one."

Elena furrowed her brows. "What?"

Katherine ignored her question. "You've got some company out there." She flipped her long, curly brown hair. "Some Fire Princes and a Captain Connor. Need a hand?" Katherine proffered a slim hand to take.

Elena didn't hesitate.

.

.

.

As soon as Elena had disappeared inside, Stefan and Damon had been found out and chained against the pillars together. And then the Sages were very quickly joined by a Captain Connor and the evil Fire Princes who'd given them chase for days. However, it became quite clear that the Captain and the Princes were not playing for the same team, even if they were fighting the same war; the Captain had them both apprehended and tied up like the Water Tribe siblings. Then they were all playing the waiting game; when Elena came out, she had to face the Fire Sages and a Fire Naval Captain and his crew. In other words . . . she was doomed.

Damon, however, was focused on something else.

"What happened to your face, man?"

"For the love of Tui and La," Stefan groaned.

Captain Connor turned to Damon with a fierce scowl, while Stefan spied Prince Klaus smirking next to his brother. "So kind of you to ask, Water Rat. I would love to explain why I give you a matching one."

"Actually, I gave it to him," Klaus called from his own spot of imprisonment, chained to a pillar across the room. "I'm quite proud of my artwork, I must say." Next to him, Elijah glowered disapprovingly and Connor roared in anger.

"Why, you little –"

Suddenly the door to the sanctuary flew open and mist rolled out, and in the center was the Avatar, eyes glowing white. She somehow looked older, more regal and menacing. Those white eyes roved across the room and settled on Damon and Stefan, and the Water Tribesmen swallowed thickly. The Avatar waved a hand and the brothers waited with a bated breath, but the only effect was the disintegration of their chains.

They brushed the ashes off of their blue tunics and trousers and staggered against the feeling of pins and needles in their legs as the blood started to circulate again. Damon started to sprint off, but Stefan hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Damon demanded urgently, blue eyes darting towards the Avatar and the Fire Sages.

"Elena's back there," Stefan protested, all wide pleading green eyes.

"She's being possessed by her past life." Damon argued, "I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself, as opposed to us, who are going to get blown up." Even as he spoke, the volcano beneath the island rumbled ominously. "Seriously, Stef. Elena's a big girl. She can handle herself."

"But-"

"Oh, come on!" Damon grabbed Stefan's arm and dragged him along with him down the rumbling corridors. The walls began to shake and tremble and there were shouts back by the sanctuary. Behind them, Avatar Katherine released the Fire Princes after a moment of consideration, and then she began to demolish her sanctuary and then the island itself.

"Prince Niklaus," Elijah said urgently, "forget the Avatar for now. If we stay here, we'll be killed."

Klaus hesitated.

"You have the Water Tribe boy's necklace," Elijah reminded him, "I'm sure you'll be able to find someone to track the boy down; and where he is, she will be. Please, Niklaus."

Klaus growled and spun on his heel in the direction of the ship wordlessly. Elijah breathed a sigh of relief and followed.

.

.

.

Elena felt as if she was disconnected to her body as she let Katherine take control and direct a fierce amount of power at the Sages who'd betrayed her for the Firelord. She'd released both sets of brothers – pauper and prince alike – free, and they'd immediately scrammed. Distantly, Elena felt her body rise on a pillar of fire and air, collapsing the roof and burying the Fire Sages under the rubble. Her heart cried out for the lives lost, but Katherine, somehow, felt nothing.

A bison flew in their direction.

With the temple destroyed, Katherine's tendrils of consciousness were letting go and disappearing. As Elena came back to herself and began to fall, the previous Avatar's last whispers were almost lost onto the wind. _You must defeat the Firelord by the end of the summer, before Silas' Comet. _Elena's eyes slid closed as warm hands grabbed her and pulled her into Ari's saddle. Consciousness left her as she felt enfolded into the safety net of her Water Tribe friends' arms and soft leather of Ari's saddle.

"You're safe," Stefan whispered.

"You're home," Damon muttered.

Elena breathed a satisfied sigh; yes, she was safe with family, at home with them and Ari.

.

.

.

"Perfect set, Prince Finn," Master Alaric bowed and Finn bowed in turn. "You are by and far a master of the Dao blade. I am proud to have been your teacher."

"Thank you, Sifu, for teaching me your craft," Finn said formally as Alaric bowed again and his assistant, a young blonde woman, took his sword and handed him a towel in exchange. "You are dismissed as soon as you are finished cleaning yourself up." He turned away from his sparring match with his Sifu. It was unusual for a student to recall their master for a match, but Finn was the Heir Apparent. He could do whatever he wished, and if that was calling the best swordsman in the Fire Nation – in the world – to spar with him at a moment's notice, so be it, as far as the Firelord was concerned.

He'd spent the entire afternoon working on his dexterity and speed; Finn had improved.

"You are looking better and better, Prince Finn."

Finn looked up, startled. Firelord Mikael stood in the shadows of the training arena, eyes focused intently on his second son.

"Yes, Father."

"You have more than made up for your . . . disability," Mikael observed and Finn remembered he when used to wince whenever his father had calling his non-bending a disability. Something that made him lesser. "You are also a chi blocker, yes?"

"Yes, Father." Rebekah had learned from a friend at the Academy and then taught Finn. He'd honed his skills since, of course, and still practiced long after Rebekah had abandoned the art, siting boredom.

"You are a gifted politician and tactician," Mikael stated.

Finn felt something stirring in his stomach. "Yes, Father."

Mikael nodded, seemingly to himself. "You are a good son, Finn," He said finally, and turned away. Facing the shadowed halls, he said almost to himself, but Finn was not fooled; he was the recipient of these next words. "Elijah and Finn have once again failed at a chance to retrieve the Avatar. Even Captain Connor let me down today."

Finn wanted to inquire as to what had happened, but it felt as if his lips were sewn shut.

Mikael continued. "I only give so many chances, Finn. Remember that. Do not do anything that might compromise your loyalty to the Crown, to your country, or to me, and one day you will be Firelord. If Elijah and Klaus continue to fail, and Captain Connor remains incompetent, I may need you to fulfill their task instead, Finn, no matter any personal feelings you may have. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Father."

"Good."

.

.

.

tbc.


End file.
