Doctor Worm: Hi there, everybody. Name's Doctor Worm. Me and my colleague MspltChwdr (pronounced Misspelled Chowder, long story) are the East Towne Gurus. Check out our profile for stuff about us.

This is a modern AU retelling of Avatar, but a crapload of stuff has been changed around. Some characters are very different, some are very much the same, and the plot may go in directions you didn't expect. But we hope you like it. Our idea was to make it as original as possible while still maintaining a connection to the plot of the original.

Oh, and here's the fun part: You want to know if there's character death, or what shippings there are, or anything like that? Well, too bad. You'll just have to read to find out. You will see some Zutara in the opening chapter, and you will also notice some Kataang. Give other ships a chance, people. We think the whole shipping war with Avatar is kind of immature.

I don't know how often we'll be able to update this. This is our first story on the site, so... yeah. And the story is kinda big, so it will probably take quite a while to get through it all. If we even do get through it all. Here's hoping.

Our hope is to divide this into five books. This is Book 1: Home. So throw everything you know about Avatar out the window, and enjoy. And please review. We would love your feedback, and we want to know if we should continue the story. But no flames, please.

Disclaimer: I'm only saying this once at the beginning of each book: We don't own the rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender, the characters, the settings, or anything related.

Avatar: Reborn
Book 1: Home

Dear Diary,

School starts on Monday, and I'm not looking forward to it. I remember when things used to be a lot more peaceful here in Ba Sing Se. Gang wars notwithstanding, the squabbles between the martial arts schools in town are big enough to bring the police in from time to time. This city is starting to rot, and it all began right after Aang left.

I don't think I've ever told you about him before. Aang Yangchen was one of my best friends. Kind of on the short side, with short, messy black hair and a big smile. He always seemed to be able to brighten anyone's day with it. He used to hang out with me, Sokka, and Zuko all the time. But a little over two years ago, his house burned down. His parents died in the fire, and his grandfather took him out of town right away. By the time I had heard what had happened, he was gone.

I haven't seen Aang since. God, I miss him. Without him around, we all began to change. Sokka began to lose his sense of humor, I've become much more anxious and stressed about everything, and Zuko started to act like his sister Azula. I feel like Zuko was the way he used to be only because Aang had been around. If Aang hadn't left, he wouldn't have done what he did. If he had stayed, I probably never would have broken up with Zuko.

Soon after Aang left, I started taking Tai Chi at Tui La, a small school in town. At first it was just for stress relief, but now I've been trying to put as much effort into it as Aang did with his Ba Gua. I guess I'm trying to make him proud of me.

Shifu Roku's Four Elements Ba Gua Zhang closed down soon after Aang left. They were the biggest martial arts school in town, which is saying something in a city as obsessed with the martial arts as Ba Sing Se. Aang was Roku's star pupil and a Ba Gua protegé. Since the age of twelve, he won them national attention with his performances in competitions competitions and his impressive fights at Lei Tai (A/N: Full contact sparring) tournaments. With him gone, they began to lose membership, until Roku simply vanished one day, and the building was bought by Kevin Zhao, who renamed it the Black Sun Karate Dojo. Zuko and his sister quickly became the top students, and the school quickly surpassed all the others in town in terms of sheer size.

But I've been there before, and I've seen how they work. They don't see the martial arts as a form of meditation or self-defense. They act like soldiers. To them, Karate is all about the quickest way to incapacitate or kill an enemy, and nothing more. I just wish that Zuko hadn't joined. It made him even worse.

Sokka says that we'll never see Aang again. But I haven't lost hope. I still believe that somehow, someday, Aang will come back to us. We need him. I ne-

Dear diary,

I just got a letter from Gyatso. He and Aang are coming home.

Katara Kuruk
August 18, 2011
Ba Sing Se, CA