Chapter Text
Prologue - That Night
Sirius' POV
Sirius awoke with a start, his breathing heavy on his chest. It was unusual, how coated in cold sweat he was.
His dark eyes darted around the dim room, racking his brain for a reason why he awoke so suddenly. But he didn't have a nightmare. He strained his ears for sounds of distress but heard nothing. Everything around him suggested normalcy, safety. But something felt...wrong.
Looking up, he watched and listened as his wooden wind chimes gently tipped off of each other creating a soft thunking sound. He sat up as he watched them in the pale moonlight, his heart was still beating out of his chest. He slowly forced his gaze away from the wind chimes to his right, looking out his window in the sky of the Southern Air Temple. The clouds were low, the air temple window being above them. It looked like it was near day break, judging by the soft glow below.
He sighed and rubbed his head, the smell around him was giving him a headache but he couldn't place it. He inhaled a bit more, trying to figure it out. He looked out the window again, at the glow. His eyebrows furrowed, he spoke raspily to himself "Why is the moon still so high for sunrise..."
He glanced at the moon, then the glow, then inhaled again. His breath hitched. Smoke. The faint smell was smoke. The glow below was growing brighter.
Sirius shot up from the bed "f-fire" he whispered "Fire Eaters"
The Fire Eaters were an elite group of fire nation soldiers, those closest and most trusted of the tyrannical Firelord, Voldemort. They could be identified by the scarred brand on their forearm. Each Fire Eater is branded by a hot steel rod of the Fire Nation emblem. Other than the Firelord himself, they were the most feared people on earth. They are hand selected by him for a reason, they are the most ruthless, cruel and loyal soldiers to the fire lord.
Their reputation of cruelty is staggering once you consider their leader has only come to light after his coronation as Firelord, three years ago, but the violence really picked up after the fire nation avatar died, 21 months ago. But it was clear their fire bending supremist cult was forming long before that. The final spark to start this war was Voldemort becoming Firelord.
Sirius swallowed hard and grabbed a bag under his bed he had packed for an event like this. Mad-eye, an old paranoid earth bender advised him to, they were both in the 'The Order of the White Lotus', an ancient secret society about philosophy and unity across nations, turned anti-fire nation war strategists. He would always end his rambling paranoid lectures with "Constant Vigilance!". Now with a very real, very dangerous attack being sprung on him in the dead of night, Sirius is now thanking that old codger for the advise and himself for being as paranoid to listen to him.
He strung the sack of emergency supplies over his shoulder and bolted out his door, not a second too soon. The fire had reached his floor now and he was on one of the highest floors. The smoke filled his lungs and burned them within. He coughed heavily and tried covering his nose and mouth with the thin layer of his night shirt.
"J-James!" he coughed hard as that one word allowed more smoke to reach his lungs and tears stung his eyes. But he had to try and scream, try and wake the others on his floor.
"Lily! James!" the next breath he took in was raspy and sounded like his ribs were rattling inside him. He had to get to them, if not them at least Harry. His godson Harry...only one year old- No! He couldn't think about that, he won't let himself consider that boy dying, not on his watch! He started to air bend any fresh air he could find that wasn't tainted with the thickening smoke. He swirled it around himself, creating a purified air ball, although it helped him breathe and not pass out, it didn't help his vision having air swirling around him, and he had to act fast- this fresh oxygen won't last long. With his vision blocked, he relied on his memory to run down the hall, taking a left, towards the flames, towards James and Lily's room. He heard their frantic cries for help coming from behind their door. He slammed himself against it, it groaned but wouldn't budge "James! Why can't I get in?!" he was panicking now and slamming himself harder on the door "What-"
He heard James' voice "Sirius?! A plank h-has fallen in front of the door! It's on fire! Me and Lily can't lift it, even with air bending!"
Sirius was still using his own bending to give himself air "Ok...Ok! You and Lily start bending to lift it, I'll keep slamming against it!" he instructed "Ok?! 1-2-3!" He started slamming his shoulder against the heavy wooden door again and again, it started to crack open a little, just a little each time- letting out some of the building thick smoke in their room.
They got it open seven inches but then it wouldn't budge no more and the smoke was getting thicker in that room, Sirius could see the the fire starting to come up through the floor in there. They were all panting with effort, Lily and James were panting and gagging from the smoke and Sirius's air ball wasn't going to last much longer. Sirius was using all he could to try and break open the door, slamming it into it over and over "No No No NO!" he cried out
Lily's face appeared in the crack of the door "Sirius- Sirius! Listen to me. Take Harry. This gap is only big enough for him- take him." Sirius opened his mouth to scream and argue but she cut him off "Don't you dare stay here and kill us all. Get Harry and yourself out. Now!" Her green eyes were intense, contrasted with the red on the whites of her eyes from the smoke aching them and her own tears. Her eyes conveyed strength that only a determined mother could have. She took the crying boy bundled up in a white blanket and pushed him through the gap. She hiccupped a breath and pushed Sirius away from the door as far as her arm could reach "Go!"
Sirius stood stunned, dark eyes wide with shock and horror as he watched through the gap, Lily's hand retracting and her face disappearing from view. He caught a glimpse of James who gave him a determined nod and that was the jolt he needed into action. He turned on his heel, clutching Harry in his arms as tight as he could and sprinted down the hall towards the bison pens. He ran and ran. He didn't look back, he couldn't.
He skidded to a halt at the bison pens, nearly all of them had gone- Sirius had hope other air nomads took them and escaped but he knew deep down that they probably sensed the danger and fled. The only bison left was a smaller female one, Hedwig. Sirius dropped his air ball to use a free hand to get a saddle on her back, it was heavy and big to stretch her back but with the adrenaline pumping his veins he got it on her and climbed on. He dropped his bag and held Harry close. He took a shaky breath.
"Hedwig, Yip Yip!"
His stomach got a whooping sensation as the flying bison lifted off of the ground and soared from the open pen into the night sky. Sirius felt a wave of sorrow and helplessness as he looked back at the Southern Air Temple and saw it engulfed in bright blue flames and the occasional flash of lightning.
"Bellatrix", Sirius growled when he saw the lightning bending, she was the only Fire Eater he knew of that could do that. His deranged cousin. His family were fire-benders, all of them, and they were all supportive of Voldemort's ideologies of fire bending superiority. Sirius was born an air bender, it was incredibly rare for a bending style to be born into a differing family, but there must have been some ancestor of his that married an air nomad. And that gene just happened to present in him, sometimes he despised himself for being different but most days he couldn't be more grateful his family banished him to the nearest air temple. Because it was there that he met James, his best friend....James
He was broken from his train of thought as he remembered James and Lily being left in the temple to burn and he has their child, his godson. But he doesn't know how to raise a child! He doesn't know the first thing about children, he was only 21! Yeah he was the same age as Lily and James but they had their lives together, they had each other. He loved Harry but he cannot be the sole caretaker of the boy, he cannot be responsible for this life.
He racked his brain for anyone he could turn to- Remus was captured by the Fire Nation when they raided the Southern Water Tribe, eight months ago. Marlene was killed by Fire Eaters just under 6 months ago. Dorcas is M.I.A and assumed dead after her mission to map the boiling rock prison in Fire Nation territory. Pandora married Xenophilius Lovegood and then disappeared from the Southern Water Tribe before the attack to run away from the Order and the war, people say it's because Pandora got pregnant. Frank and Alice Longbottom were laying low in an Earth Kingdom city when Bellatrix tortured them with lightening bending for reason unknown, but now after the attack, she was probably trying to get the locations of the different air temples off of them, knowing that they are friends with the air nomads, but they never knew. And Peter...
Sirius scowled in thought, he hasn't seen Peter since Harry was just born, since then he has been unreachable. Maybe he was captured? He was the only non-air nomad who knew where the temple was. Then something clicked. He was the only non-air nomad...who knew where the temple was. Sirius' stomach churned and he felt as if he was going to be sick. This was hardly the work of Peter? Right? That's ridiculous, Peter is their friend, he had trusted him enough to tell him where the temple was so he could visit. But if it was Peter, and who else could it be but him- then that means Sirius is the one who told him and this is all his fault.
Sirius choked down a sob and gasped against the fast cold breeze of the night air as Hedwig soared. He doesn't deserve this pure air. James and Lily are dead and it's all his fault. He leaned forward and held himself as he screamed into his knees. He screamed and cried until his lungs hurt and he couldn't scream no more. He couldn't breathe and his ears were ringing. The only thing that brought him back into his body, into reality was when he stopped screaming, still heard the sound. He raised his head and blinked at the boy in the blankets, crying and screaming. Sirius crawled towards him "no no- I" he wiped his eyes and picked up Harry "no shh it's okay...we're okay" he said to himself more than to Harry. He pulled the boy onto his lap and leaned his back against the arch of the saddle. Sirius gently bounced and rocked Harry to calm him, the boy wasn't a fussy or loud baby so he doesn't have much experience with having to calm him, but eventually he quieted down and started to doze off to sleep.
Sirius let out a sigh of relief and whispered softly "what am I going to do with you...?"
James' parents passed away a few years ago. He doesn't know anything about Lily's non-bending parents...but he knows she has a sister. Somewhere East of the temple, in one of the non-bending villages south of the main earth kingdom, it was a long shot but it was something. Sirius sat up to a little to grab Hedwig's reins and steer her more towards the East. With the course set, he leaned back with Harry nestled in his arms and with his emotions drained, head throbbing and eyes heavy, he too drifted off to sleep.
**********
At sunrise, Sirius was awoken by a loud "Squawk!", he sat up with a start and choked on his own gasp. After having his mini heart attack and coughing on his own oxygen, he realised he was still in the sky on Hedwig's back with a Seagull making noise in his face and using it's beak to try and rummage through his sack for food.
He sat up in a huff "Oi!- Bugger off...ruddy beast" he grumbled as it flew away and he turned his head when he heard Harry's little giggle, he had a big gummy smile on. Sirius grinned "think that was funny huh?" he laughed a little himself at his overreaction before taking in the scenery. The seagull gave a clue that they were flying over a fishing port. Sirius leaned over the edge and squinted "alright lad, I think we made it, this village doesn't look all that advanced or big, that usually means non-benders live here"
He set Harry down gently near his sack of supplies and crawled onto Hedwig's head to have better control of the reins "alright nice and easy girl" he tugged and guided her down to a secluded part on the outskirts of the village. He gave her full rein over some nearby hay that she promptly started to eat with a sassy side eye in his direction that communicates 'about time'. Sirius smiled a little and stroked her soft fur and spoke, "you did good Hedwig", before stepping away.
He kept her saddle on, not confident enough to settle down just yet, he just grabbed his bag, put it over his shoulder and picked up Harry. He headed off to the nearest house that seemed to be the owner of this little ranch, he wasn't sure what time it was but he wasn't in the mood to care about disrupting the beauty sleep of these people. So he used his fist to bang on their wooden door until a stalky woman with a long neck and short curled blond hair opened the door, eye twitching "Do you know what time it is? No soliciting!" She went to slam the door in his face but Sirius chanced his arm to hold it open "um are you...Lily's sister?"
The woman's face turned a shade pale and her rigid frame became impossibly more rigid. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and Sirius took that as a yes, he took in a breath, steeling himself to explain what happened, more for himself than for her, "She's dead....the Fire Nation made an attack on our air temple last night and...I barely escaped with her son". She looked utterly stunned and a flicker of pain crossed her eyes for a moment "Son?" she whispered
Sirius nodded slowly and held Harry up "I...I can't take care of him myself- you're a non-bender, you can keep him hidden, keep him safe!" Sirius rambled out in a panicked breath and she looked more overwhelmed by the minute. She cast a paranoid glance around her and then behind her "my husband won't like this..."
"You're his only living blood relative for all I know..."
She looked at Harry, then at Sirius. She looked as if she was trying to form an excuse, trying to raise walls to prepare for the coldness of shutting him down, but some sympathy in her eye and some lingering guilt won over. She looked around once more and held out her arms "give him to me...but you have to leave, I don't want you or whatever you brought with you to follow you to my doorstep. I'm risking my family for this"
Sirius had relief but also fear plaguing him once he heard this. Yes, Harry is now off his hands, he can't do anything to mess him up but Lily put Harry in his arms, James trusted him with his son, he can't just leave the boy with a stranger. He swallowed dryly and nodded a little "I understand...but I will visit- I'll be discreet, I won't risk any of you, I just want to be able to check on him..."
The woman lifted her chin "Don't do anything to risk us" she hissed and promptly shut the door again, now with Harry inside.
Sirius sighed and turned to go back to Hedwig. Climbing on quickly, he urged her to leave despite her being tired while it was still early morning. With Harry in better hands, he could now focus on his own grief and revenge. He would kill Peter Pettigrew.
Now with determination, he grabbed Hedwig's reins and directed her towards Fire Nation waters, where no doubt, that little rat would be, cosied up next to Voldemort.