avatar: the last airbender AU
when the most recent avatar, gleeson from the earth kingdom, died, the fire nation was scoured to find out who the next avatar was. it took them a few years, five to be exact, but they eventually found leo and his mom in the outskirts of the fire nation
leo’s mom, esperanza, didn’t believe them. at the tender age of five, leo hasn’t even shown any signs of firebending, despite the fact that his father was one. she had long accepted the fact that he was nonbender. she sent the officials on their way, telling them there was no way her son was the avatar
when leo was six, he started showing signs of firebending. it started off small, with his body heating up at random times and the flames of their fires growing higher at his will. but by age eight, he was able to form flames by himself. he wasn’t a prodigy by any means but he was definitely more powerful than most firebenders his age
his neighbor, nyssa, was a couple years his senior and taught him te basics of firebending. his mother couldn’t afford firebending school on her meager salary and leo drank up any information given to him
but he mostly learned by watching other firebenders, eyes wide whenever he happened upon someone bending
when he was sixteen, he found out he was the avatar. the officials that had visited when he was five came by again, this time determined to show the valdez family that leo was the avatar
when the reality of the situation hit leo, he was scared
he knew of all the past avatars. he knew the responsibility it held. and he was scared. how was he, a boy who’s never known responsibility outside of helping his mother, supposed to be the avatar?
he was sixteen when he left his mother for the capital of the fire nation, where he would be trained to be the avatar. he begged for her to come, to start her life over there. but it simply wasn’t possible and he promised to visit her whenever he could
the next four years kept him busy. the first two years was spent learning the other elements. air and then water and finally, earth. he was eighteen when he finished his training in all four elements. the next two years was spent travelling around the world as a diplomat and meeting new people.
since he was born into a time of relative peace, he was mostly acting as a third party to small treaties and contracts being made. he’s quite sure if it wasn’t for team avatar, he would have gone crazy
leo’s always been hyperactive, something that got in the way as the avatar. he had to meditate, for agni’s sake! and he hated it. if it wasn’t gleeson telling him to be violent, it was triton telling him to try out surfing. meditating was supposed to be relaxing but instead, he had the past avatars in his ear
team avatar, his closest confidants, consist of three people. it’s a smaller group than what past avatars have had (dionysus had nearly twenty people in his team avatar, if rumors were to be believed)
there’s jason. he was the apprentice to leo’s airbending master and the first friend leo made. the two spar a lot and although jason is only limited to one element, he’s good. he’s beaten leo far too many times that it could be considered embarrassing
piper is the daughter of the fire nation’s most prestigious matchmaker. but you couldn’t tell that by looking at her, for she favored her water tribe father’s appearance more. she’s a nonbender but she’s dangerous, even for someone who has no combat training. she’s all eyelashes and pouts and has a mind like no other
(she has jason wrapped around her little finger)
calypso is a waterbender from the northern water tribe. leo’s quite sure he’s in love with her but she doesn’t give him the time of day when it comes to romance. she’s a great friend though, always there for him when he needs her. and she kicks his ass when it comes to waterbending. what more can a guy want?
it was at his friends’ suggestion that he go visit his hometown again. reground himself and relax. he hasn’t had a vacation since he was sixteen and he was nearing twenty-one. it didn’t take much convincing
he was twenty when he finally kept his promise to visit his mom. only to be greeted with nyssa’s sad eyes as she explained that she had died a few years prior
he was heartbroken. he holed up in his room in the palace and had to be forced out for his avatar duties. it took years but with the help of his friends, he healed and continued to live life as he had before
he was ninety-six when he died. he’d outlived his friends and had been hanging on by a thread, time taking its toll on him. he was buried next to his mother, in an unassuming grave you wouldn’t think would hold an avatar
thalia was born in the northern air temple, to a highly spiritual family
shortly before her birth, avatar leo had died at ninety-six. all infants of the air nomads were gathered. one-by-one, they were shown the avatar relics. thalia was the only one who chose the relics in the correct order
her parents travelled a lot and never took thalia with them, leaving her to the monks and nuns of the northern air temple. she never grew a close bond with them, although they promised her they would show her the world when she got her tattoos
as an air nomad, it was expected for her to be an airbender. it was common for a child to show signs of being an airbender before they were five. thalia was the lone exception, not showing signs of it until she was eight
this was due to her rebellious personality. due to the high spirituality of air nomads, all of them were benders and tapped into their powers at an early age. meditation was a daily routine for them, a routine that thalia hated
she hated staying still. she hated being left to thoughts. and she absolutely hated meditating. it wasn’t until she was seven that she stopped fiddling excessively while meditating and it took a year for her to show any signs of bending. the monks and nuns of the air temple could hardly believe she was the avatar
but well, thalia was a natural at airbending. although her powers came rather late, it was obvious that she was gifted. it didn’t take long for her to catch up to her peers, despite her late start in training. it took her a while to pass the thirty-six levels of airbending as her focus was lacking but she managed to do it shortly after she turned sixteen
on the eve of her tattooing ceremony, she was told that she was the avatar. it was long overdue, seeing as she had turned sixteen a few months prior. but the monks had waited for her to pass all thirty-six levels of airbending to tell her, wanting her to have mastered airbending before she dared to take on the remaining three elements
she found it hard to sleep that night
as the sun crept up the horizon, bathing the temple in its golden rays, thalia made up her mind. she packed what little belongings she had and ran away
she had always known she wasn’t fit for the air nomad lifestyle. she was too brash, too active, and she had felt restricted. she knew that if she had stayed, she would have gone crazy. and who wants a crazy avatar?
she’s only been travelling for a week when her flying bison, aegis, joined her. in her rush to leave (and fear to wake anyone), she had left her lifelong companion behind. but aegis had found her, their bond too strong to forget
the two flew around pretty aimlessly for a while. they touched down in the earth kingdom a few weeks after her departure. there, they met luke. with his light hair and electric blue eyes, you could tell that he was trouble. but well, trouble always found itself to thalia and the two were fast friends
luke was a nonbender and belonged to no nation, preferring to travel by himself to see the world. he made ends meet by stealing and thalia could practically hear the monks tell her not to join him in his travels
luke found it pretty believable that she was the avatar, saying she had a spark to her. the two decided that they would try and find her other benders to learn from, that way she can be a proper avatar. or as proper of an avatar she could be
when they stopped by a little town in the fire nation, they met silena and beckendorf. they were a couple torn apart by their families and were looking for a way out
beckendorf was a firebender and readily agreed to teach thalia, so long as silena could come along for the ride. and so, two became four. they set off for the northern water tribe next, knowing that it was full of benders
in one of their stops, they found a poster about thalia’s disappearance. it seemed like news of her running away had reached the other lands. the fire nation and earth kingdom were eager to find her, wanting her on their side if disputes ever formed
the group was quick to tear down any posters and decided they would avoid major cities for the most part. recognition already flashed in people’s eyes when they looked at thalia
she wasn’t ready to be the avatar yet. she wanted to travel the world before she settled down and began her life as the figurehead for peace and balance
the next few years of her life was spent travelling. she learned the other elements, doing her best to stick to the proper order. in their travels, they helped the less fortunate and gained a reputation in the four nations as somewhat of vigilantes. the fact that she was the avatar solidified their reputation
despite her promise to start her official duties as the avatar once she travelled the world, thalia found that she didn’t want to stop
instead, she chose to live by her own rules. she helped out whenever she was needed but never stepped foot in any official politics. she lived in a world of peace and egged on by leo, her mentor in all things avatar, she decided that she could do more good in the world by travelling than by being stuck in political meetings
she lived to be one hundred and fifteen. she spent the last leg of her life in the outskirts of the earth kingdom, having given up her previous lifestyle to live out her last days in peace
percy was born in the southern water tribe
his mother, sally, was originally from the northern water tribe. she was all percy had. his father was a prince of the northern water tribe, betrothed to a noble there. despite that, he had fallen in love with sally
when sally found out that she was pregnant with percy, she knew life in the north wasn’t for her. not only were they more traditional and treated women as objects, her status as an unattached pregnant woman would mean a life full of grief for both her and the child
with the help of poseidon, she snuck into a trade ship going to the southern water tribe. the journey was tough, especially considering she was pregnant. but she lived off the little supplies poseidon had given her for the journey
when she arrived at the southern water tribe, she was quick to marry gabe in an effort to make it seem like the baby was his. a retired hunter, gabe was a nonbender and passing him off as percy’s father would push her worries of the slim chance that percy would be a waterbender to the back of her mind
she gave birth to percy a few months after her arrival at the southern water tribe and mere days after avatar thalia’s death. when percy was barely learning to walk, sally was told that he was the avatar
and her heart dropped. for while the northern and southern water tribes were at peace, the northern tribe would often take all waterbenders from the south for training. everyone knew it was because they wanted to claim the next avatar as northern water tribe and ever since thalia’s death, any water tribe child who showed signs of waterbending were to be sent up north
sally didn’t want to lose percy
they lived the next few years in relative peace, save for the few times gabe got angry and hit sally
that’s how percy’s powers were discovered. during one of gabe’s angry rages, percy had doused him with water to protect his mom. after that revelation, the chief of the southern water tribe wrote to the northern tribe and percy was set to move to the northern pole for training
he begged sally to go with him but she refused, saying she had left the tribe for a reason
at twelve years old, percy was sent to the northern tribe with only his mother’s stone necklace to remind him of his old life
it took him a while but he settled into life there. he trained, wrote home often, and clutched onto the stone necklace like his life depended on it. the chief of the water tribe, poseidon, took a special interest in him and the two sparred from time to time
at age sixteen, he was told that he was the avatar
and his life was uprooted once again. this time, he was sent to the fire nation to train under the best firebenders. they would train him in the northern water tribe but well, firebenders never reacted well with the climate so the fire nation it is
the next few years were spent training. he had accepted the fact that he was the avatar quicker than expected, though a bit begrudgingly at first. for the most part, it wasn’t a bad life. he didn’t like meditating as his mentor, thalia, was always in his ear and always encouraged him to “screw shit up”
and every time he countered that he was the avatar, he can’t exactly do that, she would scoff and tell him about her tales as the avatar
during his years in training, he met what would soon become his team avatar
there was annabeth. she was a nonbender but what she lacked in powers, she made up for in her prowess in weapons and strategy. the two got off on the wrong foot, as percy had accidentally singed her hair while he was firebending
but because they were one of the few people their age in the large fire nation palace, they slowly became friends
it helped that grover was there to smooth things along. he was an earthbender, a damn good one at that. the best student of percy’s earthbending teacher, grover was a few years percy’s senior and always cheered him up when percy was struggling
the story of the time grover accidentally caused an earthquake when he was younger never fails to make percy laugh
when his training was finally over and his life as the avatar officially began, annabeth and grover joined him in his travels. they would even sit in the meetings with him, annabeth whispering to him about the treaties and grover keeping him entertained
during their travels, they met tyson. he was exiled from the northern water tribe and had been travelling alone. percy immediately invited him to come along with them, much to tyson’s delight and annabeth’s displeasure
when he was eighteen, percy decided to find his real dad. he had always suspected that gabe wasn’t his real father and after some pestering, sally relented and told him the full story
it took some convincing but soon, they set out for the northern water tribe
using the necklace his mother had left him, percy asked every male old enough to be his father if they recognized it. it only took him four tries before he was pointed to the chief’s igloo, for the carving seemed like his handiwork
his father was the chief of the northern water tribe
at first, he was angry. but over the years, he mellowed out and got to know poseidon. and while he could never redo his years without a father, he was pretty content with who he turned out to be
when he was thirty-five, percy stopped travelling and settled down with annabeth. the two had two children, the eldest being a water bender. he died at age eighty, having lived a full and happy life
hazel grew up in the earth kingdom, with her mother as her only family
her mother was a nonbender who dabbled in sorcery, a practice frowned upon by the government. most people knew about it and hazel, who has always been the black sheep of her school, became even more of an outcast
her only friend was sammy. he came from a long line of firebenders, his ancestors being fire nation refugees from the last major war. despite the generations that had passed and the mixing of earth and fire, sammy had defeated all odds and became a firebender
his powers made him an outcast in school but he always told hazel he didn’t mind because if it wasn’t for his powers, he never would have met her
sammy is there when she shows her first signs of earthbending. and he’s there when she finds out that she’s the avatar. her mother had been ecstatic. despite the fact that it was hazel that was the avatar, marie levesque celebrated as if she was the avatar and not her daughter
she’s barely mastered earthbending when she found out she was the avatar. and she’s heard of the avatars before her. they were all gifted in their element. and here she was, the girl who could barely lift a rock
because while she’s known that she’s been an earthbender for nearly half a decade, she’s never had the means to learn how to use her powers. her mother spends all their money on the necessities and her sorcery. there’s not much to spare for the earthbending academies that are scattered throughout the earth kingdom
and so, her learning officially started. she learns earthbending at the most prestigious academy there is, using her position as the avatar to her advantage. she feels bad for the littlest of moments but by her second day of classes, she had convinced herself that this was for the greater good
who wants an avatar that hasn’t even mastered her element?
once she finished her training at the academy (and gets a hastily-signed certificate of completion), she and sammy set off for the fire nation. along the way, they met nico
he was unassuming at first, draped in his finery that told them that he was well-off. he was the son of some earth kingdom nobles and he often escaped from them, suffocating from the grief in his house after his sister’s untimely death
when hazel asked if he wanted to join them, he was quick to agree. two turned into three. and three turned into four when they met reyna, another nonbender who had escaped from servitude from a sorceress
and hazel, knowing sorceresses and how crazy they could be, quickly brought her under their wing. this proved to be the right move, as reyna was a seasoned traveller and knew all the good spots to camp out and could barter like no other
when they arrived at the fire nation, they met apollo. he was hazel’s firebending teacher and despite his happy-to-go-lucky nature, he was a great one. whatever hazel was taught, she would show sammy. the two learned firebending together
airbending was taught by a monk from the western air temple. he was nice enough but his lessons were a bore. hazel secretly looked forward to when she mastered air so she didn’t have to suffer through one more lesson
she learned waterbending up in the northern water tribe. there, she met frank. he wasn’t much at first, scared and meek. but over the few months of her waterbending training, she learned that there was more that meets the eye
not only was frank a hunter, he was a waterbender. and while airbending should be her weakest element as its the direct opposite of her natural element, waterbending is her weakest. so, she asked him to join her in her travels as her waterbending teacher
their little group now felt full
they travelled around from place to place quite happily. they would encounter some criminals here and there but it was always something they could handle
during a fight with some fire nation soldiers gone rogue, sammy was killed. hazel was devastated. sammy, the person who had been there for her since she was a child. now, after twenty years of having him by her side, he was gone
she didn’t know what to do with herself. so she busied herself by doing her avatar duties. she meditated longer than necessary. she played around with her bending to distract herself
that’s how she found out that she could metalbend. it took her a lot of training but soon, her metalbending was as smooth as her earthbending
she died at one hundred years old, a century of friendships made and a legacy left behind
