Chapter 1: Beam of Destiny

Just to let you know there are going to be some scenes or episodes that I'm going to either skip or gloss over. Any true Avatar fan knows that there's no such thing as filler in A:TLA (except for "The Great Divide"), but if I can't contribute to the AU aspect then I'm just going to summarize parts that I can't add any MHA flare.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Boku no Hero Academia (My Hero Academia) or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Kōhei Horikoshi, Shonen Jump, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Nickelodeon, and any other of their partnered companies. This is strictly for fun, not for profit.

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. My mother used to tell me stories about the old days, a time of peace when the Avatar kept balance between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. But that all changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop the ruthless firebenders. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years have passed, and the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the War. Two years ago, my Uncle Tensei and the men of my tribe journeyed to the Earth Kingdom to help fight against the Fire Nation, leaving me and my cousin Tenya to look after our tribe. Some people believe that the Avatar was never reborn into the Air Nomads, and that the cycle is broken. But I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow, the Avatar will return to save the world." – Ochako Uraraka

Among the glaciers of the southern waters, a small boat with two figures in it. One was a boy with a broad frame and short dark blue hair except for a side braid near his left ear. The other was a girl with shoulder length brown hair and natural rosy cheeks. Both had thick fur lined coats and gloves to not feel a hint of the cold. The boy had a spear in hand poised to strike while the girl had a basket ready if need be.

"Remember Ochako, keep your eyes peeled and remain quiet." The boy

"You know Tenya, it would be a lot easier if I used my waterbending."

"Well, I think we're better off until you get a little more practice in." Tenya sweatdropped.

While Tenya's back was turned, Ochako slipped off her gloves and started to use her waterbending to lift water. When a fish came to investigate, she quickly scooped it up in a water orb and directed it toward Tenya.

"Ochako, you got the fish." Tenya said a little surprised.

"Quick, I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it" Ochako said looking somewhere between nauseous and unnerved.

As luck would have it, right when Tenya went to stab the fish with the spear, Ochako lost focus. Resulting in the water from the orb spraying straight into Tenya's face like a deflating balloon. As if it couldn't be worst, instead of the fish landing into Ochako's lap, it flopped off it and into the water as she barfed over the side of the boat.

"This is why I told you that you needed more practice."

"I have." She said unknowingly shifting the water and glaciers.

"Maybe you need to recalculate the time you spend practicing."

"Oh really, maybe you can help we with that." She said sarcastically but starting a crack in a nearby glacier.

"I would love to, but I need to finish preparations for the hard freeze next month. There's still getting enough meat for the village, refortifying the barrier walls, training the new recruits…" Tenya went on, not recognizing that every time he listed something made Ochako's forehead throb and making the glacier behind them crack more.

"It's unbelievable how blunt and oblivious you can be!" Ochako threw her hands in the air.

Ironically that last fit of irritation was enough to finish splitting the giant glacier behind them in half. The waves from the breaking and falling glacier sent to pair flying out of their boat before it was crushed by the ice.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with up." Tenya said as he help Ochako clamber up a slab of ice.

"Because you my cousin and the only family I got" Ochako said heaving Tenya out of the water.

"See the boat anywhere?" Tenya said wiping his glasses dry and readjusting the secure strap.

"I think we have other things to worry about. Check that out!"

Ochako pointed Tenya to the object of interest. From all the shifting ice, a glowing iceberg that must have been submerged was now floating a couple of floats away from them. Before Tenya could inquire what, it could be, Ochako grabbed the club strapped to his belt, made a break for the glowing iceberg, and began attacking it with the club.

"Ochako, what are you doing?" Tenya questioned while trying to catch up to her.

"It looks like someone is in there. We have to help them."

"Although I'm not against helping someone. How do we know if this figure isn't hostile?"

Tenya reached to stop her but both were blown back from the air escaping from the hole made. The iceberg emits a bright light that shatters the upper half of the dome-like iceberg creating a column of light that towered over them into the heavens.

(In the far distance)

A little before the column of light was beaming into the sky, a fire nation ship chugged through the freezing water. On the deck of the ship was a boy with white & red hair tied up into a top-knot and a distinct scar on the left side of his face. He was training with Former General Masaru Bakugo, a mid-40 man with glasses, an inkling of a mustache, and spiky dusty-brown hair that was starting to gray. Despite the fierce expression Masaru had as he struck the boy to the ground, the brown spiky haired man just as quickly smiled fondly at him.

"I think you need to show me stronger attacks to break a stance." The boy said as he laid on his back.

"Shoto, you should really focus more on strengthening your own stance instead of trying to take down mine." Masaru said offering him a hand up.

Shoto clicked his tongue but accepted the hand, finding it hard to be cold to one of the few kind-hearted people left in his life. And then in the far distance, a beam of light shot into the sky like a beacon. Even with it lasting for a minute and disappearing, it still left the two staring mystified.

"You don't think…" Masaru wondered aloud.

"No, I don't." Shoto cuts him off.

"Shoto. What else could it be?"

"A Spirit maybe?"

"And if it isn't? You haven't been away from our homeland for a couple of years like my son and me. He will have your head for such a missed opportunity of finding the Avatar."

"I can deal with Colonel Explosion and you wouldn't let it go too far if anything happened."

"I think that's enough training for now. The exertion not allowing you to think clearly. Despites it time for our afternoon tea." Masaru ruffled Shoto's head before heading inside.

(*) So here is the thing about Zuko, I originally wanted Todoroki to be him. After re-evaluating Zuko's character, I found that Bakugo fits it better in some areas. But like I say all the time on various sites and IRL, "Todoroki is Zuko's anime cousin!" and it would feel off to not follow through with my beliefs on that. In the end, I decided to just split it up, have both of them in the Zuko-esque role and find a way to fill in the gaps from there.

If you're new to the story, please let me know what you think with a review. Constructive criticism is accepted, but no flames please. And don't be too shy to check out some of my other stories.