Story [Avatar: Last Airbender] Destinies Rewritten: Book I, Water. AU. Updated 6/8

Title: Destinies Rewritten: Book I, Water
Author: MasterGhandalf
Timeframe: Same canon, but AU
Characters: Aang, Sokka, Katara, Zuko, Azula, Zhao, Suki, Lu Ten, Bumi, Ozai, Iroh, etc.
Genre: AU epic
Summary: Lu Ten survived the Siege of Ba Sing Se, with the result that Iroh successfully conquered the city and, after the natural death of Azulon about a year later, became Fire Lord. While a less overtly brutal ruler than his predecessors, without his son's death to force him to reevaluate his life he remains devoted to the cause of Fire Nation expansion and has continued the War so that only Omashu, the Water Tribes, and a handful of remote areas remain free. Meanwhile, his brother Ozai, chafing under his rule, has sent his children on a secret mission that he believes might give him the advantage and power he needs to potentially seize power himself. Into this context come two Water Tribe siblings, who have discovered a mysterious iceberg with a young boy frozen inside...
Notes: This is probably my most ambitious fanfic project yet, even moreso than "Fall of the Fire Empire", and I hope I can pull it off! It was interesting to me to explore how one seemingly small event could throw off the balance of the setting and result in Aang and co. having a quite different experience when trying to defeat the Fire Nation. The story will initially stick very close to canon, and then branch out further as it progresses, abandoning it almost completely around the time of "The King of Omashu". Also, my other fanfic "The Children of War" can be considered canon for the Fire Nation characters' backstories in this AU.

Disclaimer: I do not own the setting or the canon characters. I do own my OCs.

Prologue: Divergent Courses

Destiny is a funny thing.

At first glance, history would seem to be already written, unchanging and immutable. After all, what's past is past- why should it have been anything else but what it is? All we have to do is live with it and learn from it. And yet it is also true that in the end, great things are made up of small things, and that all of history can turn on individual events, so that if they are altered slightly, fate itself will run in a different course.

Imagine, if you will, a world where Prince Iroh of the Fire Nation did not lose his son at the climax of the Siege of Ba Sing Se. The loss of his beloved Lu Ten was the one thing that prevented him from keeping the siege up and taking the city; without that one death, the great capital of the Earth Kingdom falls. The Fire Nation moves in to occupy, and the city's people who survive the conquest are forced to live under its tyranny, their own culture slowly eroded to be replaced with that of their conquerors. The legendary city of the Earth King is now a jewel in the Fire Lord's crown.

With the passing of Fire Lord Azulon a year later, it is Iroh who takes the throne of his ancestors; having been given no reason to question the policies of his predecessors, he continues them, with an eye towards bringing the rest of the world under his rule and building an empire that will endure for a thousand years. Only two great enemies remain- the Northern Water Tribe and Omashu, first and last city of the Earth Kingdom, whose mad but brilliant King Bumi is now Earth King in all but name.

Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe still goes to war to avenge the murder of his wife and many others of his people, but with Ba Sing Se gone and Omashu landlocked he finds few allies in the Earth Kingdom. Instead he sails to the far North, and for the first time in centuries the two Water Tribes are joined together once more. With Southern ships and warriors backed by Northern waterbenders, he wages a guerilla war along the Fire Nation's coasts, and while he does damage, he also rouses the Fire Lord's anger.

In the Fire Nation Capital, unrest stirs. A new army is being marshaled under the command of Prince Lu Ten, its target unknown. Prince Ozai, the Fire Lord's younger brother, has been consumed by bitterness and ambition, and though he professes

 

Yay, I'm so excited!! You'll totally pull this off; you're the NSWFF A:TLA king!

Destiny is a funny thing.

Awesome line!!

I love the whole Prologue (especially the beginning). Awesome stuff!!

I can't wait

 

Chapter 1: The Boy in the Iceberg*

Katara sighed and settled herself more deeply in the back of the canoe, watching her older brother as he leaned over the edge, eyes fixed on the shadow of a fish moving just beneath the surface of the water, spear held poised to strike. Sokka was muttering to himself under his breath- whether urging the fish closer or debating with himself how to cook it when he caught it she was too far away to tell, but the sight brought an amused smile to her face. Sokka could be a show-off, and was sarcastic rather more than was good for him, but he was Katara's brother and she did love him- the moreso now because of the fact that, despite his faults, he was one of the only people in the South Pole she could stand to be around.

A sudden flash in the water on her side of the boat caught Katara's interest- another fish swimming along by the side. Swiftly, an idea formed in her mind- she wasn't technically supposed to be doing this, but it didn't seem likely she'd get another chance any time soon. Glancing back at Sokka, making sure he was thoroughly occupied, she stood up slowly and smoothed down her apprentice healer's furs, and then removed one of her gloves and stretched out a hand over the water.

Instantly the water responded to her movements and began to rise, forming a bubble around the fish- she hadn't been trained in this kind of bending, but the natural affinity for the element was there, just as it had been her whole life, and she relished the chance to actually make use of it for once. Slowly, responding to Katara's motions, the water rose above the canoe, the fish swimming frantically inside it.

Unfortunately, Sokka chose that exact moment to try and spear his own fish- which might have succeeded if the butt of his weapon hadn't smacked into Katara's water, throwing off his aim and sending cold liquid cascading down over both of them while the fish, grateful for its freedom, flopped back over the side and out of sight. Shaking himself off, Sokka slowly turned towards Katara.

"What were you thinking?" he demanded. "Katara, you know you're not supposed to be doing that. If your Master saw you?"

"Master Sasiko's not here, Sokka," she shot back. "I'm sick of not being allowed to learn real waterbending! Maybe the Northern Tribe doesn't train girls to be anything but healers, but Gran-Gran says that's not how our tribe did it back when we still had benders. Besides, I thought you were getting tired of Northern Tribe warriors treating you like a kid."

"I am, believe me," Sokka said. "But this alliance with the North is important to Dad, and I don't want to do anything to screw that up- and you shouldn't either."

"Easy for you to say. You're old enough that you'll be able to go off and fight with Dad, the other warriors, and the Northern fleet soon. But under their stupid rules, I won't ever be allowed to be anything but a healer. It's not?" Katara never got the chance to say what the situation wasn't. The canoe suddenly rocked in a powerful current, and then it and the two Water Tribe siblings were being pulled along at a tremendous pace through a narrow, iceberg-choked stretch of sea. They attempted to regain control of their craft, but to no avail. The canoe slammed against a particularly large and unpleasant hunk of ice and splintered. Wet and exhausted, Sokka and Katara climbed atop the ice and surveyed their surroundings.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you talk me into taking me along," Sokka said, staring at the water where the canoe had been.

"What, because I'm a girl?" Katara demanded. "Listen, Sokka, I'm starting to get really tired of hearing that. Master Sasiko says I've got one of the strongest waterbending talents she's seen- I could use that to be out helping Dad fight the Fire Nation, but instead I'm stuck running errands for her and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon?" As Katara spoke, her temper built and she began to gesture more dramatically with her arms. The iceberg looming behind the young waterbender responded to he

 

Chapter 2: The Avatar Returns

The village children squealed in delight as Appa came in for a landing just outside the low wall, charging out and petting the great sky bison's fur or just babbling excitedly about this strange creature that somehow flew without wings. Appa gave a low rumble of delight and settled down into the snow, his large eyes regarding the children benignly, but as Katara slid down his side with Aang, she saw that the village elders, including Hakka and his warriors, were standing back, their expressions grim.

"Wait- what's going on here?" Aang asked as he walked forward, looking from face to face. "What's wrong?" Katara, though, thought she knew; her heart felt as if it had frozen from dread.

"Fire Nation," Sokka said before any of the adults could speak. "One of the warriors saw the smoke from the watchtower- there's a warship out there." His gaze fixed on Aang. "You led them here, didn't you? I knew there was something funny going on with you."

"Sokka, don't be ridiculous," Katara said, stepping protectively in front of the young Air Nomad. "Aang's been frozen for maybe a hundred years- he didn't even know there was a war on. Why would he signal the Fire Navy- and how could he if he wanted to."

Hakka put a restraining hand on Sokka's shoulder- Katara saw he brother flinch, but fall quiet. "Nobody's blaming you, son," he said looking directly at Aang. "I'm not sure if I believe your story, but I saw you airbending earlier, and no airbender has any reason to love the Fire Nation." He looked off towards the ocean. "From the smoke, I'd guess that one ship is coming, not a larger fleet. That means they're probably looking for something specific. I don't know why they'd be after you, but I'd recommend that you get out of here." His gaze shifted back to Aang, and his teeth clenched. "This? isn't going to end well, I'm afraid."

"If they're looking for you and you're not here, they might decide to leave us alone," one of the younger warriors snapped. "We can't win against even one ship."

"I think it might be wise," Gran-Gran added, though she shot the warrior who'd spoken a dark look.

Aang backed up slowly, head downcast. "If that's what you all want, I'll leave," he said quietly. "I'm sorry I brought the Fire Nation here."

Katara put a hand on his arm. "It's not your fault," she told him. "Don't worry about us- we'll be fine."

"I hope so," Aang said. Calling up a small gust of wind, he leaped impossibly high and landed on Appa's back. The bison stood and grunted loudly before shaking his fur out, sending snow flying over the children, who first laughed as the wiped themselves clean but then looked up with expressions of dawning sadness as sky bison and rider rose slowly into the air. Aang waved sadly from the saddle, and then Appa was gliding off away from the village and the coast. Katara watched him go and hung her head sadly.

"All right, men," Hakka called once he was gone. "Some of you get the old people and children to safety; the rest of you, man your posts. If the Fire Nation does try to take this Tribe, we'll make them fight for it."

Katara turned back and saw frantic activity as the village rushed to follow Hakka's commands- Gran-Gran might be the respected elder, but with battle looming, the Northern war leader was the one who unquestioningly took command. Katara had to bury a burst of irrational anger to see the Northerner taking the role that should have been Dad's, but shook herself out of it. Hakoda was doing something important; it wasn't his fault that meant he couldn't be with his family. That helped, a little bit.

Hakka himself was moving to take his position on the wall when he was stopped by Sokka. Katara saw her brother look up at the war leader with a pleading expression, but the older man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sokka," he said, "but I'm not going to let you join this battle. I don't want to have to explain to your father how I got his son killed."

"If the Fire Nation are here, they're probably going to try and kill everyone," Sokk

 

I've caught up, and I'm so excited to see more!! I love this!!

Is Ursa still married to Ozai?