For the longest time, Aaron only heard whisperings and strange sensations as the world shifted around him, and things happened.

The wind whipped against his bare body, and bits of conversation floated to him.

"He's like me, an Airbender," someone said.

"Airbender? I thought all benders were supposed to be bald and have tattoos, or is that an Avatar thing?"

"Only masters get tattoos."

"That doesn't explain why he has hair or give us any reason to trust him."

"He's a bit intense but mostly harmless," a voice he recognized said. It was Mark's.

"Who are you again?"

"Mark, soon-to-be Earthbending master, and his student."

"How can you be his student?"

"Well, you see, it's a long story…."

The voices became noise after that.

When Aaron came to, they were still flying, but it was towards a structure he never thought he'd see. "Is that the Southern Air Temple," he muttered. It was silhouetted against the morning mist, but Aaron could make out the crumbling outline on the singular peak it stood.

"Yup," Mark said from beside him, startling him. "Never thought I'd see it. The animation does nothing to prepare you for it."

Animation? What was he going on about?

"You're finally awake!" the girl from the night before chirped, startling him. She had dark skin and jet-black hair, as most people from the water tribe do. He didn't recall if he had actually caught her name.

"We thought that Katara might've killed you. You didn't talk in your sleep or move or anything really," a young boy sitting across from him said. He bore similar facial features to the girl.

Siblings.

"Thank you for looking, Mark and me, Katara, and…" Aaron started, and the boy gladly answered with his chest puffed out. "Sokka, proud warrior of the Southern Water tribe. It's good to meet a fellow soldier like yourself."

Soldier? Aaron frowned.

Although he was out of it the night before, he would've never revealed that information willingly.

Unless…

Aaron threw a look at Mark, who was preoccupied with drinking in the sights around them.

Sokka noticed the look. "Mark told us all about you."

"Did he now?" Aaron said, and Mark was finally paying attention.

"They kept asking?" He flushed with some embarrassment. "I had to give them something."

"We are almost there," Aang, the Avatar, said, and instantly any perceived slight Aaron felt melted away. He focused entirely on him.

He was bald, probably eleven or twelve, and he had a playful smile tugging at his lips. He looked so aloof and content, like he didn't have the whole weight of the world on his shoulder.

Aaron tilted his head. Or maybe he didn't just realize it yet?

"---any Airbenders left in the Southern Air temple?" Aang had said something, but he only caught some of it, but he was quick to recover.

"None that I know of," Aaron said. "I grew up in a village in the Earth Nation, and I didn't meet Airbenders until I was 9."

"My Gran Gran told me that the Fire Nation wiped out the Air nomad 100 years ago," Katara said. "Since he's here, she obviously got that part wrong."

"I still can't believe it's been that long," Aang muttered before shaking his head. "Anyways, I haven't been home in a hundred years. We can look for the Air Nation after we're all set up."

He pulled on Appa's reins, urging the air Bicen to dive.

Appa let out a moan, and Aang yelled. "Hold on tight, everybody."

Igi grabbed onto the side of the basket as Aang dove down and settled on a patch of deserted land.

Aang showed them around the grounds of the temple, pointing out prominent places that Aaron had only had to privilege to read about. He followed the boy around in silent awe bordering on reverence as he stared at an Air Master out of time. Aaron did not even know how to begin to talk to him.

What should he say?

Ahead of them, Sokka whined about not having enough sleep. Apparently, Katara had kept them up all night while she fussed after him. Aaron saw the girl in a new light, touched that she'd go out of her way for a total stranger.

Beside Aaron, Mark drank in the atmosphere in deep breaths. "Even the Air is better up here. You think it's all the Chi?"

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"Partly," Aaron answered with a thoughtful look. "Spiritual energy and Chi concentrates in areas with an abundance of life or a rich spiritual past."

"So, sticking around places like this could teach me a thing or two about Chi?" Mark asked, and Aaron gave an absent nod in response, his eyes shifting to the Avatar.

"He's not going anywhere, you know?" Mark said, nudging him.

"I do know," Aaron muttered. "I just—I expected my first meeting with him to be more—impactful. I had a speech planned."

"Like yours with Igi?" Mark wagged a brow.

"Can you believe he was spying on me?" Aaron laughed. "In certain circles, you know, trying to steal your opponent's martial art is ground for execution. He was lucky his father is rich."

The smile blooming on his face thinned to a line as he relived the memory. Mark saw the change but had the grace to remain silent.

Ahead Katara was comforting Aang. He'd dropped to his knees at the edge of a field with hundreds of stone plinths sticking out. Aaron felt his chi and spiritual energy swell and the wind whip around him, but Sokka and Katara's ministrations somehow kept him tethered before he unleashed hell.

Aaron's heart dropped to his stomach at the sight. He didn't know what he'd have done if the child entered the Avatar state. The Airbenders did not bury their dead, but Grandfather insisted on a memorial to ensure they'd never forget them. He'd called them the first soldiers to perish in a war they never knew they were fighting.

Words churned in him, unspoken, and he longed to step up to Aang and tell him of their history and mission, but his nerves didn't let him.

What if he said the wrong thing?

For now, he only watched as Katara joined the group, and they spoke about families and loss.

Aang's mood remained in the dumps until they came to an open field with two wooden slabs on opposite sides with wheels within them askew. The field between was a labyrinth of poles of different lengths, and a small blossomed on his face as he realized what he was looking at.

He'd read about it in the scrolls at the Earth Temple, but it was a different experience altogether to see it in front of him.

"An Airball field," Aaron whispered.

"You recognize it?" Aang asked, then shook his head. "Of course you do. You're an Airbender. I kinda forgot about that with everything going on. You want to go a round?"

Should he? While he and every other child his age was endlessly fascinated by the ancient nomads, they knew better than to emulate them. Ren, his father, had said that it was their pacifist ways that ruined them. While the enemy had prepared for war, they sat around making mud pies and playing with lemurs.

"More of our people would've been alive today if they'd just trained the benders not to fight so defensively," he'd growled out in a rare show of emotion.

Grandfather had described his father as overzealous, but there was wisdom in his words. But, one game would not derail Aaron's entire mission.

"One game," Aaron said as he hopped on the peg using a bit of air.

"Don't overdo it," Mark yelled, "wouldn't want you fainting again."

Aaron snorted, and Katara, Sokka, and Mark placed bets on who they'd thought would win.

As Igi stood on the pillar across from him. Arms raised, heart pounding with excitement. He couldn't fight the grin that slowly tugged at his lips.

"Something wrong?" Aang asked.

"No," Aaron said. "I just thought I'd ever play Airball with the Avatar. My cousins will foam at the mouth when I tell them."

"Cousins? I thought the Elders raised all air Nation children. No parents or cousins. We're supposed to be one big family."

Aaron's smile dimmed at that. Most new Airbenders were still not technically raised by their parents. The orphanages took care of them until they manifested. Then, their parents became their masters. But unofficially, they still maintained the traditional family structure.

"A lot has changed in 100 years."

It was Aang's turn to frown. "I really have been away for that long."

"The Air Nation is fine," Aaron said quickly, seeing the boy's face cloud over. "Only a handful of us are left, but we've never been stronger in spirit. Over the last hundred years, we've been gathering allies and resources and have worked from the shadows to stop the Fire Nation, but there's only so much 10 or so benders can do. But with you here, things could finally change."

It was not quite the speech he'd planned, but he thought it was similar enough to his Grandfather'. He'd hoped it'd have a similar sway, but one look at Aang's face told him he'd been wrong.

"I don't think I am in the mood to play."

The boy drifted down from the pole, and Aaron was left wondering where he went wrong.

Aaron wanted to say something to comfort him, but again, the words eluded him.

"Come on," Aang said suddenly, "there is someone I have to meet."

He led them into the bowels of the temple until they came to a large door with a contraption carved from wood. It bore the signature swirls of the Air Nation, and Aaron recognized it immediately.

"The Avatar chamber," Mark whispered beside him, earning him another surprised look from Aaron. He had to remind himself that the boy was being spoon-fed answers to literally any question he might have by the divine.

"Aang, I don't think anyone could have survived in there for over 100 years," Katara said, looking up at the door.

Aang shrugged, "I survived in an Iceberg for over 100 years."

"Good point," she conceded.

"If there's someone in there, I bet they have a whole camp or something set up in there. They might even have decent supplies," Sokka said. "With two new mouths to feed, we need to start thinking about resource management."

Aaron stepped up next to Aang, who was gearing up to open the door.

Aaron feared he would refuse him. Thankfully, the young boy nodded, and together, they shot a jet of air into the two openings on the door and watched as the locks came undone from the pressure of the air that flowed through.

With a hiss, the door eased open, and the group slowly made their way inside. There, they met rows upon rows of stone-cut statues with their features outlined in detail, and each carried a spiritual heaviness that was obvious to Aaron's chi senses It was a mirror of the avatar but muted and earthy.

Although, it could've been the dust.

Mark sneezed, breaking the silence. "God, that is a lot of dust."

Everyone passed him a look, to which he shrugged. "I have a sensitive nose. Besides, who do you think these statues are?"

Aaron knew the answer to that, but Aang spoke up. "I don't know, but it feels like I know them somehow."

"Look, this one is a Waterbender," Katara said, coming up to a statue.

"And this one is an Airbender," Aang said. "The next is a Firebender."

"They must be Avatars," Igi said. "I mean, look at the cycle. Water, Earth, Fire, Air?"

"They must be your past lives, Aang," Katara said. Her eyes widened in wonder as she took in the entire room.

"Past lives?" Sokka scoffed. "Tell me you don't believe that crap, Katara."

"It's the truth. The Avatar is reborn into the next nation in the cycle."

"I am with Sokka on this one," Mark said, rubbing his chin, and Aaron resisted the urge to huff. "How is that supposed to work?" he said.

Katara blinked, a bit taken aback by the question. "Well… My Gran Gran said that it's the way it's always been. The last Avatar before Aang must have been a Firebender."

"There's no way, Katara," Sokka said, and Mark chimed in.

"Yeah, no way!"

Aaron tuned out the rest of the conversation and turned his attention to the Avatar. His eyes were glued on an ancient statue, the last on the line that formed a cycle that climbed up into the darkness of the hall. In life, the man would've spotted a thick beard and a hard yet kind, grandfatherly face.

"That's Avatar Roku," Aaron said, earning a look from Aang. The life of the Avatars was one of the many things he'd been taught in his time at the Earth temple. He knew what the Old Avatar valued, where he lived, and how he'd lost his life.

"He's the Avatar before me," Aang said with a thoughtful look. "And he was a Firebender?"

Aaron nodded. "Arguably, one of the best of his era. He was famous for his relationship with the leaders of the four nations and his pet dragon. The records also say he was a close confidant of the Fire Nation aristocracy."

And every Airbender born in the last 100 years hated him. It was common knowledge that his inaction led to this war. With the new Avatar, they were determined not to repeat the same mistake their ancestors made.

"How do you know all this?"Aang asked, looking at Aaron as if he was seeing him for the first time.

"World history is one of the many things they hammer into us at the Earth Temple."

"Earth temple?"

"We had to rebuild somewhere."

Aang's face fell. "I can't help but feel the war wouldn't have gotten this bad If I had fought."

He might've been right, but he was just a child. Even though he was a master Airbender, he was a child nonetheless. He would've died if he faced the combined might of the fire Nation during Sozin's comet. The fall of the Air Nation was not his fault. It was Sozin's and Roku's and the old air nomad elders who banned all talks of military strategy and proper defense.

"You would've died if you did," Aaron said. "You might be the Avatar, but you're still a kid."

In the corner of his vision, Aaron saw a shadow approach, and he pulled Aang behind Roku's statue before he could speak. A pointed look alerted the young bender to the approaching threat.

As the shadow grew longer, the children noted it also and scrambled to find cover. Sokka was convinced it was a Firebender, but Mark begged to differ. "It's too light on its feet," he said.

A quick peek around the corner confirmed he was right. There was no great threat, only a lemur. Aaron motioned to catch it out of pure instinct more than anything, but it darted away.

"Lemur," Aang's face lit up so bright it could've eclipsed the sun. He shot out to grab the creature, but Mark cut him off. "We can go looking for him later. Shouldn't finishing whatever you came here for come first?"

Aang blushed for a moment before nodding. "I suppose I got distracted. It's just that I haven't seen one in a long time."

"Your excitement is understandable," Aaron smiled. "I have never seen one myself. I've only seen paintings and terse literature."

"Did the new Air Nation send you to find me?"Aang asked.

"I've been wondering the same thing myself," Sokka added, strolling up.

"Why did you reach out to us in the middle of the night?" Katara asked.

Aaron shared a look with Mark before he let out a small sigh. "It's a long story. We should set up camp before I get into it."

They spent the rest of the day touring the temple. Aang showed them his old room and a workshop where the Air nation fashioned their equipment.

The Avatar stumbled into several more rooms and locations that made his eyes misty and reached out for Katara and Sokka, but Aaron was glad there was no repeat of that afternoon.

Despite the calm, Aaron did not look forward to the conversation he'd need to have later that night.