It was a bright, peaceful day just like the ones before it had been. A young boy no older than twelve sat in the snow simply enjoying the brisk, cold air of the southern pole. His silver white hair was shaved on the sides, pulled back into a traditional wolf tail with a navy blue band. A single small braid with blue beads framed one side of his face. His brown skin was on the paler side despite how often he was in the sun. This child's name was Ayaan. (Pronounced "Ah-yahn").

"Brother!"

"Big Bro!"

He heard two voices calling to him. He knew them all too well. His younger siblings, Sokka and Katara, ran towards him, each pulling an arm to get him up from the soft snow he sat upon. The ten and eight year old had giant smiles on their faces as they pulled him along.

"You promised you'd show me awesome warrior moves today!"

"Hey! Ayaan was going to the river with me today!"

"Pssht," Sokka scoffed, "You can play with magic water later, me and Ayaan are going to train, like real men!" Both of the children were glaring at each other, the imaginary sparks flying as both of them wanted Ayaan to themselves.

"Now now you two. Cut it out." Ayaan chastised. This always happens between them. Both of them want to spend time with him at the same time and end up arguing about it. Being taught by their father, Hakoda, Ayaan was found to have natural talent for combat. Sokka thought he was the greatest brother in the known universe and wanted him to teach him to be a warrior of the tribe.

And then there was the fact that he too was a waterbender and understood the curiosities Katara had about being one. He was not a master, but as he was older there were some things he could figure out faster than she could. Being the only one she could look to about her bending heritage, Katara sought him out constantly so that he could show her what little he can.

Being the understanding brother that he is, he made sure to give both of them equal amounts of attention when he could. He turned them around, hugging them both as he was now leading them both to their usually play spot. "I never make promises I can't keep." He sported his own smile, his pearly whites showing.

A river bank just a ways away from their tiny village, their was an open snow field right beside it, and it was clear so that even if they ran a bit, he would still be able to see them. The perfect place to play with them to their hearts desires. Ayaan first went to Sokka, showing him some of the moves he'd been perfecting with their dad just that week. Sokka soaked it all in with a sparkle in his eyes.

Katara, however, was bored with their little routines. So after showing him the final set of moves and leaving him to practice to his heart's content, he went to his little sister who was more than eager to show him the new trick she'd come up with.

"Ayaan! Ayaan! Look what I can do! I've been practicing all week!" She lifts her arms, letting them reach out towards the water of the icy river. At first, nothing happens, but she keeps concentrating until finally a tiny water bubble surfaces in front of her. Struggling to hold it, but happy she was able to do it, she excitedly exclaims, "Do you see it! I made a bubble! I am a waterbending master now!"

It then pops, splashing them with a bit of water. Before she started to sulk, Ayaan praised her. "That was awesome, Katara! Teach me your ways, O Wise One." He does a mock bow which makes her giggle, forgetting her failed bubble. And that was how they began playing in the water.

"Big Bro, why do my kicks look so lame while yours look so cool?! I can't be a man with these lame punches! Quick! Give me some of your talent! My lame is spreading!"

Ayaan shook his head with a sigh, but smiled at his little brothers antics. Now would be the perfect time to give him that. "Sokka, come here for a sec."

"Are you gonna give me some of your talent?!" He asked eagerly.

"No, silly. You have plenty of that on your own, I've got something else that I think you might like though." He hadn't been able to give it to him on his birthday a few weeks back because it wasn't ready, but he'd been working with the weapons' smiths in the village, getting the bones and other materials with the help of their dad.

Sokka's eyes went wide as Ayaan pulled an triangle shaped something from his thick coat. It was wrapped in cloth so Sokka couldn't tell what it was right away. Ayaan carefully put it in his little brother's hands, little him feel the weight of the object. With a bit of urging from his older brother, Sokka took off the cloth, revealing what would be his most trusted and beloved weapon.

His boomerang.

"Happy late birthday, Sokka." He said with a warm smile on his face. "I wanted to give it to you sooner, but—" He was unable to finish before he was literally football tackled to the ground by a crying, elated Sokka shaped bulldozer.

"I love it! I love it! I love you! You are the best, ever! I'll never ever lose it! I will take great care of it! You are awesome, best brother in the world. I love you so much right now! Did I tell you that I loved you?"

Ayaan couldn't stop the laughter that escaped him as he patted his head, glad that he liked it so much. Katara stood to the side watching, having known about the gift that Ayaan and their father had been making for Sokka. She didn't feel jealous of him at all, because around her neck was the gift she'd received from their mother. It had been passed down to her from their grandmother, and now it was hers to keep.

The necklace.

Everyone was happy. Too happy to notice that in the distance someone had been watching them. An informant. This person sent a messenger hawk with a little note to his employer, and left without ever making a sound. The children continued to play together, blissfully unaware of the danger that was now imminent to come.

"I can't get it to come back to me! It just falls in the snow! You're suppose to come back, Boomerang!" He begins to berate the boomerang as he goes to pick it up. Ayaan shows him the right way to throw it while Katara continues to try and perfect her water bubble. The hours go by in a flash, and soon they find that the sun is setting.

"Time to go home guys. Come on." The responsible big brother silenced all of their protests, leading them back to their quaint little village. They were greeted by other younger children running around them laughing, the smiles of their neighbors who they were close enough with to call aunt and uncles, and the pleasant feeling of being home.

As he looked around though, he noticed that some of the men were missing that would normally be all over their wives, who were expecting. The odd feeling he got was pushed aside however, as he was pulled along by his siblings once again as they got closer to their igloo. As he watched the other families go by, a question popped into his mind. It was one he had often by then forgot about, but something was telling him to ask his mother when they finally reached home this time.

"Welcome home, you three."

"Gran-Gran!" The youngest Katara ran up to her grandmother, giving her a big hug. The 75 year old was warmed at the sight of her beloved grandchildren. "You are getting so big," She reminisced, before motioning for her two grandsons to join in, "You aren't too old for a group hug yet, young'uns."

"Am too! I'm a man now! I have a man's weapon, see!" He showed his boomerang proudly, a knowing smile appearing on the old woman's wrinkled features. Sokka's resolve was solid... until he saw Ayaan walking in and joining the hug.

"Ayaan Bro!? A warrior shouldn't need warm hugs from Gran-Gran!"

"But I love Gran-Gran's hugs. Do you not like Gran-Gran's hugs anymore?"

"I—That's not—But—"

"Oh, just shut up and join the hug Sokka." Katara cut him off. He was silent for a moment, likely contemplating the complexities of life in a way a ten year old could understand before easily smiling and jumping into the hug.

"I can still be an awesome warrior and hug Gran-Gran."

"Where's Dad?" Ayaan asked, having looked around and not finding him anywhere. His answer came from his mother, further in the igloo.

"He called a meeting with the some of the other warriors. About what, I'm not sure, but he should be home soon."

Ayaan wanted to ask about what, noticing the slight worry in her voice. But he chose not to because of his siblings who were off running again to hug their mom, Sokka having forgotten completely about his dilemma with hugging a few minutes ago.

"Hey, Mom." Ayaan said, reaching them where they stood. His mother, Kya, greeted her eldest son with a beautiful and kind smile. She gave a kiss to each of her children on their forehead, earning giggles from the youngest two and a chuckle from her oldest. That reminded him of his question. Noticing the look on his face, Kya stopped babying her younger kids to give him attention.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"I've been wondering for a while now... how come, aside from the elderly, my hair is silver? It's weird, it makes me look like an old man." He grumbled at the thought.

"Nonsense, everyone knows you're the most handsome young man in the village." She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, making the young pre-teen blush at her bluntness.

"Mom! I'm serious here!"

"And I take personal offense at that notion, Ma." Sokka said before looking at his brother, carefully examining his face before adding, "Even if I can't deny it."

"Sokka!"

"Yeah, Brother. Your hair is really pretty!"

"Thanks Katara..." Ayaan felt his ears burning.

"Give me your looks for a day, Big Bro. I'll swoon all the ladies." Sokka said with a straight face. Was he actually serious? Kya sighed before hitting him lightly upside the head, earning a indignant but not actually hurt "ow" from the silly child. He whispered "It's true though, just look at him."

Another smack to the head and a thoroughly embarrassed Ayaan later...

"But really, though." Sokka asked after they got their laughs out. "Why is Ayaan's hair like that? It's super cool!"

"Yeah, why?" Katara added, now just as curious as her brother was.

Now all three of them were leaning in towards their mother, hoping she had the answers they were searching for. Kya let out a laugh, motioning for them to sit with her. Sokka and Katara were on either side of her, while she motioned Ayaan to lay his head on her lap like he used to when he was their size. Embarrassed but willing, he did what she asked. That was how she began telling the story of Ayaan, their eldest brother and her first child's birth.

"The moon was the closest I had ever seen it that day. It was so big in the sky it seemed as if it would touch the ground at any moment. The day was warm even though we were surrounded in ice, and beautiful lights appeared to dance in the sky. Despite the beauty happening all around us, I couldn't pay attention to it then as I can now looking back on it. It was because I was having trouble giving birth to you."

Ayaan's eyes went wide. "What?! Did I hurt you?!"

She chuckled lightly, reassuring her eldest who had a guilty look on his face. "It wasn't you, dear, it was me. See, I had been very sick since I became pregnant with you. You were growing so fast and so strong I just didn't have the strength to keep up. And I ended up going into labor a month earlier than I was suppose to, and you were a very large baby compared to little old me. No matter how hard I pushed, you just couldn't come out."

Her tone went more somber, remembering the day as if it were only hours ago. "The pain was too great, and because I could not get you out, you were getting hurt by it too. If nothing was done soon, neither of us were going to make it. There were no ready healers in our village, just like now. We were miles from any other place that could offer help. Stranded and without hope, your father, your grandmother, and I pleaded with the spirits."

"Did the spirits help you mommy?" Eight year old Katara asked, entranced with the story just as the others were.

"Remember when I said that the moon was larger than it ever was on that day? All of the beautiful lights that were dancing in the sky?"

"Yeah!" Sokka answered, his ten year old mind imagining what he was hearing.

"A stream of that beautiful light came down from the moon and lifted my pain away. It was beautiful and white, like freshly fallen snow. I could of sworn I saw a giant white koi fish swimming in the light. I hadn't even noticed it when my pushing had finally begun to work, and your head could finally be seen after hours and hours of nothing. But, you had been within me for much too long and were suffering because of it. I could feel it."

"But... that doesn't... how come..." Ayaan didn't know how to phrase his next question after all of that information. But Kya sent him a knowing smile, continuing on.

"That light that was lifting my pain, the moon in the sky, I didn't want them to heal me. I wanted all of the pain back if it meant saving you from it. I didn't think it heard my pleas at first as I sobbed, not knowing what was happening around me. But when you were finally born, your hair was just as white as the light that touched me. It had been going to you the entire time, keeping you safe from whatever was wrong with me."

Kya began to caress his silvery white hair. "The spirits answered our prayers, your small whimpers soon became strong wails. The lights disappeared from the night sky and the moon returned to its original place as if it had never left it. Though your father says he never saw any of the things that I saw and felt left out." She chuckled at the memory, his goofy personality being inherited by their second son.

"You were the most beautiful thing to me that day. A Gift. That is why your father and I named you "Ayaan", meaning "god's gift". Your hair is a symbol, meaning that you are blessed by the moon spirit. "

"Wow..." Katara and Sokka were in awe, and Ayaan felt better about his hair after the story. The three thanked their mother for the wonderful story time, hoping to have many more with her on another day. They went outside to play some more before it was time for dinner, Kya watching her eldest with a smile as thoughts from that day returned.

-Flashback-

Kya pushed when she was told, but it was as if her baby was trapped inside her womb. Her body was screaming for rest, no longer having the strength to continue. She could hear Hakoda pleading with the spirits along with Kanna and a few of her friends. She sent a wish of her own up to the moon that seemed so different than normal.

Maybe it was because she was so tired.

"If my life must end, that's okay. But this life inside me deserves to be born. I'll give anything I can give you, Great Moon Spirit, so please... please save my baby..." Kya could feel her own tired as her body became weaker, she could feel her baby so vividly in her stomach, struggling. Any normal unborn child would have long since perished; her child was so strong.

It was at that moment she heard a voice. It was soft and calm, for some reason putting Kya's frantic mind at ease within a single moment.

"My young one." It said, the moon's glow seeming to brighten steadily. It seemed like she was the only one who noticed. She could hear it, but it did not seem to be speaking to her. It was speaking towards her womb, as if her child and it were the only beings in the world. "This young mother brings you into the world in this life. Her body is too frail to bear you. I wished to watch you be born again, how happy it makes me you have such a kind mother to raise you..."

Kya felt her pain slip away as if it were a dream, and soon after her struggling body was able to do what it should have. The beautiful sound of a newborn child's cry echoed in her ears. She cried from the amount of happiness she felt, the moon only she was seeing receding into the sky like a wave on the shore.

"Take care of him as much as I would have, young mother. A precious gift he is..."

-End Flashback-

Kya promised herself she wouldn't let anything happen to her children. All three of them were her heart and soul.

Gran-Gran, being as old and wise as she was, knew that look on her face. She knew that those three children would do something great one day. She could just feel it. When, where, and how, she didn't know, but she felt it. And even though hope was something she didn't want to keep lest her heart be broken again, there was still an ember of it burning, thanks to those grandkids of hers.

Their father, Hakoda, was on his way home from the long meeting, and the family's night was spent laughing together, as peaceful as the nights before it had been. Hakoda wrestled with his boys, ending up in a pile on the floor while the women of the household shook their heads, exasperated but smiling all the same.

The next day, Ayaan thought it would be another peaceful day. He would do waterbending tricks with Katara, and play warrior with Sokka. He would train and have fun with his father, confide in his grandmother. And when night came again his mother would share stories from her childhood like they did every night.

He left with Sokka and Katara, staying in the village as they played in the snow with the other children. As the oldest of the kids, they saw fit to try and gang up on him. They would normally be way too slow for that, but being the great older brother he was, let them bury him in their snow balls and laugh in triumph as they "bested" their mightiest foe.

Of course Sokka was leading this charge. Even Katara was helping by making random little snow build ups fall. Though, those more often then not landed on Sokka, much to his dismay. The village was filled with laughter and smiles.

It was suppose to be like that.

It was suppose to stay like that.

But all of that changed when the Fire Nation attacked.