Art drawn by me!

A 15-year old Sokka ran up to a tall young man with silver white hair who was training silently in the open snowfield. Said young man was doing his warm-up, simple movements to properly stretch his body. He was readying himself for his hunting trip, wanting to get something nice for the village. They'd only been eating dried meat and he wanted them to have something better, even if just for today. Although much taller than Sokka, with a good amount of muscle filling out his southern pole attire, this young man was the now 17-year old Ayaan.

"Ayaan, you gotta show me how to do the thing." Sokka begs. Ayaan, not sure what he meant, raised his eyebrow when he looked towards Sokka. His younger brother, able to read his brother's many silent mannerisms, answered the unspoken question.

"You know what I mean! That cool trick you did with the spear. The one where you were like 'WHOOSH'" He waved his hands around him, "and then 'CRACK'!" He did a movement similar to a punch, but way too animated for it to have any effect. "Ya'know?—The Thing, Ayaan! The Thing!"

"Ah." He figured out what Sokka was talking about. He took out his spear.

It had the base of one of the traditional fishing spears one would be able to find abundant in the village, but Ayaan had strengthened it with the help of the village weapons' smiths over the course of many years. The bottom of it was like that of a club, while the spear's blade was a bit larger and jagged than their fishing spears. It had a bit of weight, but it was balanced and easy for Ayaan to carry.

After their mother died, he never let it leave his side.

The spear was the first weapon he'd ever picked up, and he took to it like a fish to water. With the relentless training he did against any beasts he could find in the south pole, he'd become better than any of his tribesmen when it came to his spear arts.

"This?" He tossed the spear in the air, watching it flip before he grabbed it, letting the natural rotation it had attained maneuver seamlessly around his body. Because of the momentum the spear had, the air seemed to 'whoosh' in that direction; wherever it stopped, it would 'crack' as it spit the air. Masterful hand movements that could barely be seen, this move was as easy as breathing to Ayaan. His body, trained to the point of instinctually following his wants, moved with the spear as if it were an extension of his body.

His many movements were like the currents of a fast flowing river, many subtle moves that compensated for every obstacle he might face, always changing direction, beautiful like a dance. But lethal, like the rivers he sailed in his canoes that forever broke the ice that flowed through them. It was the only way Sokka could describe Ayaan's spear art.

There was no way for him to properly describe that feeling he got from watching Ayaan practice with his favorite weapon. After Ayaan finished demonstrated he pointed to it to signal his unspoken question. He wasn't sure why Sokka wanted to learn something like this, he was just spinning his spear.

Ayaan had no idea how amazing he was.

"That's it! That's the thing! Please teach me!"

"Okay." He agreed simply. If Sokka wanted to learn his moves, he'd show him as many times as he wanted to see them. For Ayaan, it was not hard.

"Yes!" Sokka's wide smile brought out a small on of his own. Ayaan liked making him happy, but it was not hard to please Sokka thanks to his preference for training his body over training his waterbending.

"Let's go hunting." Ayaan stated simply. Sokka was confused by this.

"Hunting? Why? We have so much stored seal jerky even I can't eat it all. We shouldn't have to go hunting again for a while, at least."

"The children wanted to eat freshly caught fish." He replied simply. Sokka's eyes clouded over with realization before a knowing smile graced his lips. Even before the incident, he'd always been like this. If he saw they wanted something, he would go out of his way to get if it was in his power to do so. They'd practically been spoiled under his care.

He didn't always give them what they wanted when they wanted it. He taught them right from wrong and reprimanded them when needed, but he'd always been gentle despite his warrior's visage.

Kind, Quiet, Respectable, Reliable, Strong.

Handsome was also added to the list, which to Sokka just made it unfair. They look similar, they have the same parents, were raised the same way with the same love, but Ayaan just got the longer end of the stick!

'He's a friggen dreamboat...'

Sokka would not admit that he was envious of Ayaan's looks. The cool silver white hair, his height and amazing muscles; Sokka was not jealous at all, not even a little bit. He did not look at his scrawny arms and compare them to his brother's impressive biceps and triceps. Nope.

The universe just loved to mess with him, so he stuck to Ayaan like glue hoping some of his talent and coolness would rub off on him, even a little bit.

Sokka proceeded to touch Ayaan's arms, examining him like he was looking for the secret to true manliness his brother must of had found.

Ayaan, not minding his brother's odd actions in the slightest, was making sure he had all he needed while adding an extra canoe, tying it to his own. He had already prepared his canoe, his spare spears and nets, and his own rations just in case he was out longer than normal.

"Ayaan! Sokka! Wait!" Both turned, seeing a familiar face running towards them. Her famous 'hair-loopies' were longer now than when they were kids, her long hair braided down her back. Beautiful blue eyes and fair, brown skin, Katara grew to look like a mini-version of their mother. She was much shorter than Ayaan, being four years younger than her eldest brother.

"Where are you off to so early?" Katara asked when she got to them. Neither one of them reached Ayaan's shoulders, which is why some of the tribesmen mistake him for being a bit older than he actually is. The elders of the village thought that it was because of his extreme vitality, boosted by the blessing he received proven by the silver color of his hair.

"Can I come too? I wanna help!"

Ayaan smiled softly. "Sure."

Katara beamed. It had been a while since she could hand out with her brother. She'd been busy helping around the village, taking on what she could to lessen what Ayaan had to worry about, even just a bit.

Sokka just stared at her. "...I'm getting soaked again, aren't I."

"Sokka..." Ayaan said, giving him a look. It had been a while since he was able to spend time with her and waterbend, since he was always training with his spear arts and instincts and she was busy in the village. Now that they had that time, he wasn't keen on Sokka ruining it because of his want to train with him. He wanted to spend time with both of them and now was his chance.

Sokka, reading all of that by him just saying his name, sighed while conceding. Even if he did get soaked, if it made Ayaan happy to spend time with both of them, it didn't matter. He never got wet when Ayaan would practice his bending around him. It was just Katara because she was, well, Katara.

...

..

.

"It's not getting away from me this time. Watch and learn, Katara, this is how you catch a fish." Sokka said with a grin, Katara giving him an unimpressed expression.

"Ayaan's always caught a bunch, you've been stuck on the same fish for the past half hour."

"...I fish a lot." Ayaan said, trying not to let his brother feel bad about his lack of fishing skill. It was true that Ayaan did this much more often than Sokka did, making sure the village had plenty to eat as well as the skins from animals to make new coats and clothes for the children. Because of this, he'd accumulated skill in hunting as well as his natural ability in combat.

Sokka was not like this. Although Ayaan tried many times, any time Sokka had asked him, to teach him the things he knew, it never went well for Sokka. Either he couldn't comprehend Ayaan's teaching at all, or he just wasn't physically fit enough to keep up with him. Ayaan was more instinctual with his combat style, it was something one had to gain through experience which Ayaan went out and actively got after their mother's death.

Before the men of their tribe left, he would often challenge them to spars. Of course, there were many times he would lose, being just 13 at the time and freshly healed from what had been a life threatening event. But Ayaan persevered; train, fight, hunt, repeat. It didn't stop when they left for the war. As he could no longer train those skills, he decided to test what he knew against the local beast: Polar Bear Dogs, Snow Leopard Caribou, even the occasional, territorial Southern Tiger Seals.

When he made these trips, he'd leave with lots of bags and sleds, only to come back with freshly salted meat, fresh fish, and animal hides to be used in various ways. He'd have small scratches here and there, but he would never let the others worry about them. That was the whole reason they had so much food in the first place. And because of this build up, he took a break from hunting and concentrated on his self training.

That was, until now. And this time, he made use of the opportunity to have Sokka and Katara with him.

Sokka was working hard to catch that fish, trying to impress his brother who was laser focused on his task in another boat. He'd caught plenty of fish, his skill with a spear shining through. But Sokka had still been stuck on this singular fish that seemed to constantly elude him.

"Look Sokka! Ayaan! I caught one!"

Ayaan glanced at her work, eyes widening as she had indeed caught one. He was fascinated with how the fish was trapped in her water bubble, something he new she'd been working on for a long time. He gave her an impressed nod, Katara's smile beaming at the praise. Even though he returned to his own, much more successful fishing, he'd at least stopped to acknowledge her achievement and that was all she asked for.

"Shh! You're gonna scare it away!" Sokka, on the other hand...

He lifted his spear high as he prepared to finally stab his prey, only to pop Katara's water bubble that she'd accidently floated above him. Her fish landed in the river and swam off, and just as Sokka predicted, he was now soaking wet.

"Why is it that every time you play with magic water I get soaked?!" He squeezed his mittens, water gushing from them. Katara frowned at his choice of words, while Ayaan wasn't paying attention to their banter, having speared the fish that swam away from Katara and adding it to his many successes.

"Let me help you." Ayaan lifted his hands up, performing a smooth and simple motion. The water that was trapped in Sokka's clothes lifted out of them, leaving him drier than before and thankful to his brother.

Ayaan was able to do little things like this thanks to his self practice, wanting to be able to do practical things with his bending. Though that did not mean he had lots of control, he could not get out all of the water. The water he did get out he could only drop unceremoniously in the river, causing an splash.

"Thanks Ayaan."

"No problem.

Katara was still peeved about what he'd said. "It's not magic, its waterbending. A—"

"An ancient art unique to our culture blah blah blah." He grumbled silently. "Look. I'm just saying if I had weird powers I'd keep my weirdness to myself."

"...My waterbending is weird?" Ayaan looked up, a look of genuine concern on his face. Did Sokka really not like waterbending? Well, he didn't resort to his as often as Katara did, so he was sure his bending wouldn't be any better, if not worse that hers. Should he avoid using it at all? Did Sokka feel jealous for not having it when both of his siblings did?

How could he not realize that? Ayaan now felt bad. "I'm sorry."

"AH! N-no Ayaan I didn't mean you! You're not weird!" Sokka said, quickly backpedaling what he said realizing that both Katara and Ayaan were waterbenders and what he'd said, which was pointed at Katara for always getting him wet, inadvertently targeted Ayaan who always made him dry afterwards.

Ayaan seemed relieved. Sokka did not seem bothered by him being the only non-bender aside from their dad. He seemed content with being the guy with the boomerang. Which Ayaan was proud to say that Sokka was much more proficient than he will ever be in. If there was anything he was a master in, it was his boomerang.

"If anyone's weird, it's Sokka. He's the one who makes muscles at himself every time he sees his reflection in the water." Katara smirked as Sokka was indeed doing just that. Sokka frowned, about to retort her.

"Self confidence is very good." Ayaan said, not wanting any of his siblings to feel like they were weird. "Waterbending is also very good." He nodded to himself, ready to return to fishing when suddenly both of their boats rocked violently.

They were caught in a strong current. Sokka and Ayaan began to row with their oars, but it was no use. Big chunks of ice began to converge on them, slamming into each other.

"Go left! Go left!" Katara didn't have an oar to use, so she could only watch as the current led them to more violent and ice filled waters. Their canoes bumped into many large pieces of ice, each getting closer and closer to each other. Seeing the danger, Ayaan hopped over from his boat in front of his siblings and grabbed them with either of his arms. Holding them tightly, he leaped from the boat just before it was crushed by the colliding ice. After the initial adrenaline and fear subsided from the incident, Katara voiced her concerns.

"You call that left?"

"Oh, you don't like my steering? Well, maybe you should have 'waterbended' us out of the ice, Katara? I didn't see you with an oar or even a spear to try to help."

"So it's my fault?"

"I knew we should of left you home. Leave it to a girl to screw things up."

Even Ayaan thought that was too far. This wasn't Katara's fault at all, it was just a freak accident that happens often in nature; a mistake by not paying attention to where their boats were floating to. This was the last straw for Katara, however, and she promptly went off on Sokka.

"You are the most sexist, immature, nut-brained—I'm embarrassed to be related to you!"

"Um, Katara..." Sokka tried, only to be completely ignored.

"Ever since Mom died, I've been doing all the work around camp while you've been off playing soldier!"

"Katara!"

"I even wash all of the clothes! Even if Ayaan trains all the time and leaves for a bit, he always came back with lots of game and even help me wash the clothes when he could. Have you ever smelled your dirty socks? Let me tell you, not pleasant!"

"Katara, settle down!" Sokka pleaded, only to be ignored once again.

"Katara..." This time, Ayaan tried, but she was far too angry.

"No! That's it! I'm done helping him. From now on, you're on your own!" With the last angry wave of her arm, the glacier behind them broke. Katara, finally noticing what she was doing, couldn't react more than to get down when the resulting wave pushed the sheet of ice they were on away. Ayaan got on top of them protectively, digging his spear into the ice to give them something to hold on to.

"Are you two okay?!" Ayaan checked them over, Katara and Sokka letting a small smile slip at his protectiveness over them.

"Yeah, we're okay."

"Yeah, thanks, Big Bro."

Just as he let out a sigh of relief, they saw a strange blue glow in the water. His instincts kicking in again, he grabbed his younger siblings and went back to the ground. Just then, an enormous blue, round glacier surfaced. It must have been beneath the glacier that Katara broke. Inside it were odd shapes. On closer inspection, it looked like a person and a large animal, but that couldn't be right.

Until the person opened their eyes.

"He's alive?! We have to help!" Katara grabbed Sokka's club from his back, jumping across the ice flows.

"Katara?! We don't know what—Ayaan Bro?!"

Ayaan was right beside Katara with his own club in hand, helping her hit the iceberg to try and get the person out. With each hit they broke more of the ice, until finally a huge blast of air sent them flying backward. Ayaan was easily able to steady himself and catch Katara, both of them ending up beside Sokka as they watched the iceberg burst, an eerie light blasting into the sky.

And then the person, a boy with strange tattoos, came out from the top of the glacier. When his eyes met Ayaan, he felt everything in his body seize. His instincts were screaming at him and his hair stood on end. He stood in front of his younger siblings, his spear ready and his eyes hardened.

Then the boy fainted and fell down from the top of the glacier. All of the glowing stopped and his dangerous vibe vanished like a lie. It confused Ayaan, but he was quick to catch the kid and lay him down gently in the snow.

Sokka proceeds to bonk him in the head with the butt of his fishing spear. Honestly, Ayaan couldn't blame him. That was strange. He wakes up not long after, revealing gray eyes. His tattoos, now that they weren't glowing, were blue. He was clearly not from anywhere around here.

"I need to ask you something..."

"What is it?" Katara asked, a bit worried.

"Come closer." She did as he asked. "Closer." She obliged. "...Will you go penguin sledding with me?!"

All worry vanished, replaced with an awkward "Uh, sure? I guess."

Ayaan's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing.

The kid proceeded to get up, but not normally. It was more that he was lifted up by nothing. "What's going on here?" Sokka seemed to notice it too, getting his wits about him and proceeding to bombard him with questions.

"You tell us! How did you get in the ice? How are you not frozen?" He proceeded to poke him again with his spear. The boy swatted it away.

"I'm not sure." He answered. Ayaan's eyes narrowed more. This boy was strange. Something was definitely up, the lightshow proved that. Suddenly, a deep, low roar came from the inside of the glacier. The kid seemed to recognize it immediately, rushing to get back up from where he fell. "Appa! Are you okay? Get up, buddy!"

All three of them turned the corner, not expecting to find a ten ton beast with white and brown fur, a matching brown arrow, and reins connected to his horns.

"What is that thing?" Sokka asked, finding this suspicious as usual.

"This is Appa, my flying bison."

'His what bison?'

"Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister."

Ayaan shook his head, but still said nothing. He was watching the beast, now called Appa, and the kid closely. The kid seemed to be wary of something, Appa rearing his head up, if that was what he thought it was—Ayaan ducked down, avoiding the green snot from the massive sneeze Appa let out. Sokka was not so lucky.

"Ew! Ugh!" He desperately tried to rub himself clean with the snow, with no luck.

"Don't worry, it'll wash out." The kid said, trying to reassure him. That did not go well as Sokka touched the slimy green gunk, trying to get it off of his face. Ayaan could only grimace in silent disgust. "So, do you guys live around here?" Ayaan's eyes narrowed again.

"Don't answer that. Did you see that crazy bolt of light? He was probably trying to signal the fire navy!"

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure he's a spy for the fire navy. You can tell by the 'evil' look in his eye." She said sarcastically. The kid put on his best smile, making Ayaan's glare lessen just a bit. He didn't think he was a bad kid, certainly not fire nation bad. He'd seen and fought a fire nation soldier, and this kid just wasn't that.

"The paranoid one is my older brother, Sokka. And the quiet one next to him is our eldest brother, Ayaan. You never told us your name." The kid was about to answer, when it seemed he was going to let off a giant sneeze of his own. What they didn't expect to happen, was for him to fly meters into the air because of it.

He landed easily, wiping his nose and smiling. "I'm Aang!"

'Well, this just got stranger.'