What would the Avatar Universe have been like if the main characters' genders had been reversed? How would this have changed the characters we all know and love?

All adult characters will remain their original gender. Only the Gaang and their counterparts will change genders and ages. Note that Toph and Ty Lee kept their names, as I felt these names were pretty gender neutral. Sokka's name is still pretty much pronounced the same, and Suki's is pretty close depending on your accent. The names ending in 'a' pretty much just dropped the vowel to make it more masculine, and Mai's name had an addition to make it a masculine vernacular. I couldn't think of anything closer to Aang that Anne and spelled it according to his original name's spelling. Zuko's name I pretty much just changed from a masculine vowel to a feminine vowel. I tried to keep them as close to the original as possible to make it easier to follow the flow of the story. I played around with Suki's name some because I felt every other alternative was too close to the femZuko and would have just been too confusing.

Zuka(Zoo'-kah)- Zuko, age 17

Katar(Kah-tar')- Katara, age 20

Saka(Saw'-kah)- Sokka, age 17

Tsake(Ss-key')- Suki, age 20

Toph(Tawph)- Toph, age 17

Aann(Anne)- Aang, age 14

Azul(Ah-zool')- Azula, age 14

Maito(My'-toe)- Mai, age 14

Ty Lee(Tie'-Lee)- Ty Lee, age 14

Appearance:

I Googled our characters to see what other people would have thought the Gaang looked like if their genders were reversed, and I thought that the depiction of Katar was pretty much spot on, So I'm going to go with the half-up pony tail with the two braids that would have been his hair loopies, all hitting the top of his shoulders. I picture his physique kinda like Korra's in LOK, but a little more defined, broader in the shoulders. Saka I kinda picture tall and thin, not curvy at all, with hair that hit the bottom of her shoulders pulled into a pony tail at the base of her neck. Aann I picture much like Jinora but instead of her hair curving around her face, it being straight and falling flat with the front shaved and no knot, just completely loose. Toph I picture very skater-boyish. Shaggy wavy hair that just hits his collar and bangs that cover his eyes. I picture him deceptively thin and fail-looking- small, about equal height with Aann. Azul I picture to be athletic but not particularly broad, much like Zuko at 13 with the same ponytail hairstyle Zuko wore before his banishment. Ty Lee will, of course, still be just as flamboyant, tall and thin like a male dancer, with a long, high ponytail. Maito I picture looking a little older for his age, broad shouldered with mid-shoulder length hair left loose and bangs cut straight across his eyebrows. His face would be very angular.

Zuka is the character design I struggled the most with. I tried to picture her still very feminine with the scar across her face, but all I could see was a young boy. So I changed her scar up a bit. Instead of covering her left side of her face, it covers her left shoulder and collar down her arm to her elbow, across her neck all the way up to her ear, and the left side of her chest. This still makes her mark visible with traditional fire nation clothing and uniforms and would perceptively ruin her feminine figure. Any young woman with a scar like that would feel less confident in their appearance (especially when the Fire Nation casual wear leaves so much of the top half uncovered) and Zuka would see this scar as a mark of shame. Her hair in season one would be in braids on the left side, pulling her hair away from her scar to display her shame like Zuko did by shaving his head, and it would be cut short, probably barely touching her collar in season one and hanging loose and flat on the right side. Facially, I'd expect her to look like Azula, but softer, more like their mom, especially in the forehead with a slightly wider forehead than Azula, accentuating her softness. I'd expect her to be slightly curvier than Azula to give her a more feminine look, and shorter than Azula. Her short, soft, feminine look would only add to Azul's jealousy that she was ahead of him in the line of secession. In season two, her hair would be pulled to the side in a loose braid to cover her scar, and in season three she would have bangs that reached her chin like Azula's but she'd keep the length pulled back in a high ponytail that reached her shoulders, revealing the scar she was no longer ashamed of.

A/N: I know Zutara month is over, but December is SO BUSY! I read a two-shot with this sort of idea, and I don't know why I haven't thought about it before because I LOVE GENDER BENDERS! Now, most fandoms I like the change in gender wouldn't alter the events of the canon storyline so much, but with the cultural and familial influences of the A:TLA universe it's going to change things a little bit, but I'm going to make sure to hit all of the main points. Once we get to season 2, though, things are going to divert immensely. We'll have the cannon Sukka pairing, as well as one-sided Kataang, and just because I think that their opposing personalities compliment each other (and I think Toph deserves more than to be left by 2 baby-daddies, though it's entirely possible that she's the one who did the leaving) I'm pairing Taang together. And as a hard-core shipper of the best non-cannon couple in all of fandom, this story WILL be a Zutara ship! So, without further ado...

All Aboard!

Katar: The Last Waterbender

Book One

{Preface}

Heartbreak

It was spring time, not that you could tell. The Southern Watertribe never melted. Year-round, white covered the ground except for a brief time in the summer, when the rain hit and the frozen wasteland became a sheet of blue ice. The soft, spring snow fell around them lightly, reflecting the sunlight that was gracing their village more and more each day. It was perfect snowball fighting weather, and their parents had dismissed them from their morning chores to go out and enjoy the few seasons of childhood they had left.

Katar would be twelve that year, and that would make him ready for warrior training at the end of the summer. He would go ice dodging with his father and receive his tribal tattoo when he went on his first whale hunt with the other warriors. His sister was jealous. She was only nine but already she was learning the ins and outs of womanhood, sewing and cooking, which she was terrible at. She'd much rather be hunting and training with her older brother. Their father indulged her, and had allowed her to start practicing with her boomerang when the sun had finally started showing at the end of winter. Saka had been so excited and proud of herself when by mid-spring she had mastered her aim with the weapon.

Her aim with a snowball was pretty good, too. Katar sputtered when a glump of wet, cold slush hit him square in the face. Saka rolled on the ground laughing as he shook his parka to dislodge the clumps that made their way inside.

"I'll show you, you little pipsqueak," he growled playfully, rolling the biggest snowball he knew he could throw a decent distance.

He was just getting ready to launch it when the first flurry of grey passed his face. He looked up at the sky and the snowball hit the ground.

Black snow.

The Fire Nation had come.

Instantly, ice ran through his veins. No Fire Nation ships had raided their village since before he was born. They'd taken the last of the Waterbenders when his Grangran was a young woman, and had quit harassing their village shortly before Katar was born after deciding that all of the Waterbenders had been captured and the line of Southern Waterbenders had ended.

Except for Katar.

His Grangran had left the Northern Watertribe at seventeen. Shortly after she had arrived in the Southern Watertribe, she had married Katar's Grandpop, and her father was born three short months later. It was no secret that her Grandpop was not her father's biological dad, but the man who'd fathered him hadn't followed the young maiden from the Northern Watertribe, and everyone assumed that he had died facing the Fire Nation. After all, if Katar was a Waterbender, that meant that there had to have been a Waterbender in his lineage at some point within the last few generations.

"Go find Mom," Katar ordered his little sister, "I'm going to look for Dad."

Katar and Saka ran in opposite directions, and Katar looked as he passed the homes of his family and friends burning to the ground as the Fire Nation faced off against his people. He kicked the leg of a Firebender who had a warrior pinned, and the man fell flat on his back. Katar continued on as the Firebender continued to face off again the warrior, who had regained his footing. Finally, he was able to see his father across the village and raced towards him, only to be cut off by a stream of fire. He cried out, and he heard his father calling his name in panic. The Firebender smirked at him as flames danced on his fingertips. Katar was just about to whip a line of snow across his face when the soldier gasped and fell to the ground. His father stood behind him, panting from excursion, club still raised above the would-be attacker's head. The man dropped the club, grabbed his shoulders, and looked him over.

"Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

Katar shook his head mutely and his father nodded.

"Good, good," he sighed in relief and stood, gathering the boy who was almost too big to carry in his arms.

"Dad!" he protested.

"You can't be here," his father said as they rushed deeper into the village, away from the main fight, "they can't find you."

"Dad!" Saka called, "Dad, there's a strange man in our house!"

"Kya!" he gasped, and suddenly they were changing direction. He'd set Katar on his feet and held both children's hands as they all raced towards their home.

Their home that was, other than the burnt pile of ashes lying in the floor, completely empty with the exception of a small blue pendent.

{Chapter One}

The Girl In The Iceberg

Eight Years Later

"Come on, Saka, we've been out here all day. We're not going to find anything here."

"Just wait! I know there's fish here. Dad always talked about fishing here," the fourteen-year-old protested.

Katar sighed and leaned back against the end of the canoe, a stream of water flowing around his hands in a figure eight. He'd been getting better at bending, even without anyone to teach him. At around fourteen, about two years after their dad had taken the warriors and left him to protect the village, he had finally started to make some progress with his bending. He'd pushed and pulled with the tides, and danced with the moonlight reflecting off of the gentle waves during the winter solstice. He'd learned to melt and re-freeze ice and snow, and had started crafting ice bricks for the watch tower that Saka had insisted they needed to protect them from invaders, her obsession since they had lost their mother.

Though he hadn't had much chance to learn how to use his bending defensively, he used it to guide the fish closer to make them easier to catch, and to clear the snow and ice after particularly bad storms, and to make repairs to their igloos so that they didn't have to live in the tents anymore, which couldn't withstand the winter winds.

As a fish swam near his side of the canoe, he guided it into his little bubble and lifted it out of the water over the top of their canoe.

"Saka, look-"

"Sh, Katar, you'll scare the fish away," she whispered, leaning closer to the water.

"But, Saka-"

She lifted her spear, and the end of it hit the bubble Katar had created, popping it all over Saka's head and depositing the fish back into the icy river.

"Why is it," she whined, holding her arms up for inspection as the water dripped off of her hides, "that every time you play with magic water, I'm the one that gets wet?"

"It's not magic," Katar growled, "it's Waterbending."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she grumbled, and then the canoe pitched. Katar turned around and gasped. They were hitting some pretty rough currents, and the ice was getting thinner and thinner ahead of them.

"Saka, turn left!" he called out.

"I got it!" Saka growled, but pushed the small boat in the opposite direction.

"Saka, I said left! We'll never get through here!"

"I can do it! Dad always went this way!" she argued and continued towards the icebergs and shifts.

"Saka, don't!" Katar warned, but it was too late.

They hit the ice hard, throwing them and their one meager bag of supplies onto the floating, tossing ice drifts. Saka cried out as she began to slide towards the water, and Katar grabbed the back of her parka, hauling her up next to him. He fought the current with as much hold on his Waterbending as he could manage to get them closer to the side of the river so that when they passed solid land, they could jump. The current picked up, and he saw a small outcrop coming up that would be hard to jump as it was right in the middle of a very sharp turn, but he watched as the current ripped the chunks of ice ahead of them up, breaking them into smaller pieces and forcing them under the icy water. He gritted his teeth, and used the momentum of the flow to push them faster and faster into the curve, hoping that it would be enough to project them from the ice up onto the landing. The drift pitched, and suddenly their were airborne and Saka was screaming. They landed hard on the ice, and Katar groaned as the back of his head hit the ground. He looked up and was relieved to find that his little sister had landed in a snow drift against the frozen wall. Once the relief had passed, though, his anger took over and he stomped over, pulling her by the front of her parka out of the soft snow.

"What in Tui's name were you thinking!?" he growled.

"Dad does it all the time-"

"Dad's not here, and he left me in charge of protecting you!" he growled, holding her coat tighter, "Why is it that every time we leave the village you have to test me and ignore me when I tell you something important? You almost got us killed!"

"Katar, I-"

"No!" he yelled, "I've had it for the last time, young lady! This sealbull-shit of you not listening when you're told something ends. Right. NOW!"

"Katar!" Saka cried, pointing behind them.

Katar looked up and paled. The glacier behind them had cracked under the pressure of his temper, and now the crack had reached all the way to the top. He pulled Saka behind him as the ice separated and pushed them back as if a massive storm front had just hit them head on. A bright light filled the sky and a dull ringing sound filled the air. His arms were still shaking and his breathing was coming in shallow when it finally died down.

"Well," he whispered after a moment, "at least there's somewhere for us to go now. Maybe there's a way out the other side. Come on, stay behind me, and for La's sake, listen if I say something!"

Saka nodded, her head bowed in shame. Katar tossed their supply pack over his shoulder and led them up the small icy slope. When they reached the top, he gasped.

"What the-"

A small, brown-haired teenaged girl dressed in yellow and red robes lay on the ground in the center of the makeshift bowl, a large white fluffy beast behind her. Katar quickly climbed down the embankment and felt her arm. She was cool, but there was an underlaying warmth that spoke of life. He removed his glove and placed his hand under her mouth and nose.

"She's alive!" Katar called up to his sister.

Saka hurried down after him and looked in awe at the younger teen.

"How did she get in the ice?" Saka asked in amazement.

"I don't know. Hey, can you hear me?" Katar asked.

Long lashes quivered and batted for a moment, until finally they opened to reveal tawny grey eyes.

"I have a question," she murmured sleepily.

"Of course," Katar agreed immediately.

"Come closer."

Katar leaned a little closer to be able to better hear the girl, who's face suddenly lit up with life, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Will you go penguin sledding with me?"

Katar blinked, not expecting that to have been the girl's all-important request.

"Um, I'm a little old for that, but yeah, if you want..."

The girl squeaked, then bent over coughing so hard until finally her nose scrunched up and she let out a massive sneeze, shooting herself fifteen feet into the air.

"You... you're an Airbender," Katar gasped in amazement.

"Yeah, I sure am!" she said cheerily as she floated back down to the ground.

"No one's seen an Airbender in a hundred years," Saka breathed, eyes wide.

"Really? I guess we don't visit this area often. Oh- Appa!" she cried, turning around and running to the giant, hairy beast behind them.

"Appa, come on, Buddy, we're at the South Pole!" she called.

The animal groaned, and a large pink tongue darted out and licked the girl, who giggled in relief and hugged his nose.

"Who are you, and what is that thing?" Saka asked.

"What? Oh, I'm Aann, and this Appa, by flying bison."

"Right," Saka snorted, "I'm Saka, and this is Katar, my flying brother."

"How did you get in there?" Katar asked.

"Oh, we hit a nasty storm on the way here. I guess I must have bent the air around us so much that it froze into a ball. That was pretty scary, huh, Bud?"

Appa groaned in agreement and Aann turned to smile at them.

"So, where's your village? Do you guys need a ride?"

"Actually, that would be great, since SOMEONE broke our canoe," Katar said, glaring at his sister.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'll listen better next time, I promise."

Katar nodded in acceptance.

"Well, climb on! Bet you've never been on a flying bison before."

"Come on, Saka, it'll be fun," Katar encouraged, climbing up into the saddle.

The girl grumbled, but climbed up as well and sat back against the saddle.

"Come one, Appa, yip yip!"

The bison groaned and jumped into the air, only to belly flop into the icy water.

"What was that you said about flying?" Saka snorted.

"Appa's just tired," she assured her, "after he's gotten some more sleep, he'll be good to go and I'll take you guys on a ride."

They arrived back at the village quickly, and their Grangran came to greet them.

"Grangran," Katar explained after they all dismounted, "I'd like you to meet Aann. She got lost in a storm recently."

"It must have been the storm to the west two days ago," Grangran assumed, "it looked to be quite trying. You are lucky you were not hurt."

"Two days?" Aann said with a smile, placing her hand over her stomach, "no wonder I'm so hungry."

"Grangran makes the best sea prune stew," Saka informed, "you're welcome to eat with us and stay in our igloo until you leave."

"Great!" Aann said with a smile, "thank you!"

The sun was setting, so they made their way home. The two girls sat down and Katar got out their bowls for their Grangran to dish up their dinner.

"This looks great," Aann said as she took the bowl, "thanks again for letting me stay."

"It's the least we could do since we'd have been stuck out there if we hadn't have found you," Katar denied, waving her off.

Aann took a bite of the stew and screwed her face up, but swallowed anyway.

"It's a little saltier than I'm used to," she explained with a tentative smile, but took another bite anyway.

"Sea prunes are an acquired taste," Grangran explained, "when I came from the North Pole, I'd never had them before, and the texture and flavor were not very appetizing. We have some dried kelp that will make it more palpable."

She took a leather bag and pulled a hand full of dried leaves from it and sprinkled it over the bowl. Aann stirred it in and took a bite, smiling back at the elderly woman.

"Thank you. I didn't mean to be rude," Aann grinned abashedly.

"Nonsense," she declined, "you did no such thing. Enjoy, young Airbender."

Aann smiled and finished her meal as they chattered about Aann's travels and their lives down in the South Pole.

"Our father and our warriors left years ago to join the war efforts in the Earth Kingdom."

"War?" Aann asked, "I haven't heard of any wars."

"How can you not know about the war?" Saka asked in amazement, "the Fire Nation has pretty much destroyed half of the Earth Kingdom. No one even knew there were any Airbenders left. We thought that all of them were killed a hundred years ago."

"What?" Aann snorted, "no, no, there's still tons of us. My temple alone had over a hundred Airbenders, and we're the smallest temple. I wasn't even aware there'd been an attack on the Air Nomads."

"Have you ever visited any of the other Air Temples?" Katar asked.

"When I was younger. All Air Nomads are raised at the Southern Air Temple, and when we turn 12 we get to go on a sabbatical for one year with our mentor. I wanted to go on a trip on my own, and since we didn't visit the South Pole during my sabbatical, I decided that this would be my destination."

"Well, I'm sorry there's not more here to see," Katar sighed.

"No, no, it's great! I may have gotten caught in the storm, but at least I met you guys! And you promised to take me penguin sledding, too."

"Katar," Grangran chastised, "you're too old to be penguin sledding."

"Oh, come one," Saka argued, "one time won't hurt. It's been so long since we went anyway, and all the kids are too scared to go passed the battle ship to go up there."

"So long as your chores are done tomorrow, you may go," she conceded with a sour look on her face.

Katar smiled gently and hugged the woman, who frowned at him in a way that said 'don't be cute'.

"I promise that everything will be taken care of before we leave."

"Tomorrow's going to be so fun!" Aann giggled.

Little did they know that tomorrow their entire lives would change.

~X~

"Lady Zuka," an elder, gruff voice called behind her, "you should be in bed. A young woman needs her rest."

"How can I sleep, Uncle, when the Avatar is so close?" she grumbled.

"You must sleep to have strength for tomorrow. Nothing more will happen tonight," he assured, placing a steady hand on her right shoulder.

He knew better that to touch her left shoulder. Many a times he'd seen men twice to thrice her size taken down for the simple action. Though the scar no longer brought her pain- nerves long since melted and hardened into a thick, leathered hide- the princess did not permit any to touch her scarred flesh, even by accident. Iroh had wondered for a long time if she would ever permit anyone to touch her at all, but he had found over the last few years that her horrible temper had begun to mellow and she allowed small touches from those closest to her, namely her uncle and his lieutenant, Jee, who was like an older brother-type roll model to the princess.

"I'm so close to getting to go back home, Uncle," she whispered, hands trembling even though her voice was steady and soft, "I'm sure that was the Avatar we saw. Nothing else could have produced that kind of light. I'll finally get to return to the Fire Nation. Father will finally be proud of me."

"I just hope you're not getting your hopes too high on this, Zuka. We've been searching for years. It could have been some other sort of anomaly."

"No," she denied as he guided her back below deck towards her chambers, "it was the Avatar. I can feel it."

R&R, please! Let me know what you guys thought!

-Mizuki