Chapter 1

"Hey you, stop!"

I was running around the village as I led the fire nation soldiers on a wild goose chase. The firebenders were harassing a group of earth kingdom citizens when I ran into them. I never could stay my hand when I see firebenders hurting people. Especially since my parents were murdered by firebenders when my village was attacked.

"Damn, these guys are getting serious." I said ducking and seeing a fireball soar through the air above my head. Deciding that we were far enough away from the village, I quickly spun around and unsheathed my sword, dissipating an incoming fireball.

Seeing the soldiers surrounding me, I jumped back, using the wind to put some distance between me and the firebenders.

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That's right, I was airbending.

So, you're probably wondering how that's possible.

Well, my name is Rohan and I am the last airbender.

The reason I could airbend is because my grandparents were air nomads. They survived the initial purge because they aren't on the temples when the fire nation attacked. They were traveling the world together when it happened. To ensure their survival, they shed their identities as air nomads and blended in. They ultimately settled down in a village somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

Not long after, they had my mother. My mother was a kind woman. She grew up in the village tending to their family's farm with her parents. One day, a guard approached her after seeing her beauty. They eloped and they had me. My dad was just an ordinary Earth Kingdom guard. There was nothing special to him, but my mother fell for his charms.

He trained me in swordsmanship because he didn't want me defenseless in this war torn world. I took those lessons like a fish to water. While my dad wasn't a swordmaster by any means, he taught me everything he knew. Added with the tricks he learned in the military, he was confident that I could take care of myself.

When I was 12, while I was tending to the gardens, a few flying pollens caught my nose. I sneezed and the craziest thing happened. I flew 2 meters into the air.

"AAAAHHHH!" I was so shocked I let out a yelp. My head was spinning when I landed in a thud.

"What was that?" I groaned and pulled myself up. I rubbed the back of my head as I looked around. I dusted myself and went back to the house to tell my mom what happened.

"Mom! Mom!"

"Yes honey? What is it?"

"I went flying!" I explained to my mom excitedly what happened and I saw her go wide-eyed. She turned pale and she dropped the plate that she was holding. It made a terrible sound as the plate shattered upon landing.

The noise seemed to shake my mother awake. "Did anyone see you?! Rohan, did anyone see you?!" She kneeled and grasped both my shoulders tight.

"No one mom! There was no one there." I let out a yelp as the grip on my shoulders tightened.

"You must never let anyone know Rohan. Promise me that you will keep your airbending a secret."

"I… I promise mom." I looked down on the ground. "Is that what I did? Airbending?"

My mother let out a sigh as she lightened her grip. "Yes honey, you were airbending."

"But how? Didn't all the air nomads go extinct?"

"No.. not all of them" Mother said with a shaky smile.

That was when my mother told me about my lineage. How my grandparents survived. It was possible that despite them not being airbenders, they still had air nomad blood in their veins. Blood that was passed on to my mom and then to me. It was a wonder that my mom couldn't do airbending herself. When I mentioned it to her, she said that it was better that way. She didn't know if she had the strength to keep such a gift a secret.

"Rohan, no one can know. If word of your airbending comes out, you would be hunted by the fire nation forever. There would be nowhere that you can run. Please, I can't lose you." My mother choked through her tears.

"I promise mom." Seeing the tears in her eyes broke me. I hugged my mother tightly until the tears dried out.

"I love you Rohan."

"I love you too, mom."

---- The Not so Last Airbender ----

Life continued on our small farm. My father heard what happened and the worry lines on his face turned deeper. He's trained me even harder since then. He wanted me to be prepared for anything.

While I did promise my mother that I wouldn't let anyone know, it didn't mean that I wasn't curious about my newfound abilities. Every chance I get, I would practice my airbending in a forest near our house. It was tough learning something so unique without any sort of reference. When my mother heard of what I was doing, she was horrified. But I managed to convince her that it was better for me to learn how to control my gifts rather than me using it accidentally.

After I managed to talk her down, I asked my mom if she had anything that could help with my training, maybe something that belonged to my grandparents. Unfortunately there wasn't anything like it. They were traveling nomads so they didn't have much stuff to begin with. However, my mother told me that her parents once taught her the breathing techniques that all air nomads were required to learn when they were young and that she could teach it to him as well.

We were in a lotus position in the middle of our garden. My mother guided me through the exercise as her mother did to her. It was said that this breathing technique helped airbenders regulate their temperature and also brought a feeling of peace to help with meditation which was why all air nomads needed to learn it.

As I breathed in and out, I could feel an energy within me calling. All around me the wind started to pick up and slowly got stronger and stronger. The fallen leaves on the ground started flew with the wind surrounding us.

"Rohan!"

I opened my eyes in shock and looked around me. The leaves were all scattered on the ground. I moved my eyes to my mother and saw the mess that was her hair. She had a wide-eyed look on her face. This was the first time anyone saw airbending in decades.

My mother was shocked. Seeing the power that her son wielded, she couldn't help but imagine what the true airbending masters could do. She couldn't help but mourn the loss of their culture and heritage. But then she looked up at me and smiled. Her parents would be ecstatic knowing that an airbender came from their lineage. They were truly heartbroken after the massacre. This way at the very least airbending had a future.

"That was incredible." I looked down on my hands in awe. This would definitely help in my training. I hugged my mother in gratitude for helping me.

"Of course Rohan." She gave me a smile. I looked up and smiled back. This was my first step in restoring the culture and heritage of my ancestors.

---- The Not So Last Airbender ----

Two years passed by.

I managed to learn quite a bit more about airbending. What was fascinating is that I could use airbending to enhance my physical capabilities. I've always loved running around as a kid. With airbending, I could run much faster than I ever could.

The first time I tried using my airbending to boost my speed, I lost control and ran into a tree. That was when I figured that learning techniques through trial and error was going to be a very painful process. I also discovered air jumping. Which was basically using the air to allow me to jump high distances. Again, I sprained my ankle by jumping too high and landing unceremoniously.

My mother was very exasperated at the injuries that I was getting, but compared to the sword training with my dad, it was nothing. Talking about sword training, one day while I was practicing with my dad, I had a thought. If I could use the air to boost my running and my jumping, could I use it to help my swordsmanship as well? When I mentioned it to my dad, he also got curious. So we went experimenting.

The first thing that came to mind was if I could use my sword as an extension of my own limbs and shoot some wind blades. Turns out, I could! By slashing the air, I could launch blades of wind at my targets. The strength varied. At one point I managed to cut a tree. It didn't go all the way through, but it was enough.

Then my dad asked if I could coat my sword with wind. He told me a story about one of his friends who fought the fire nation. Their soldiers used pretty tough armor that their weapons had a difficult time piercing through. After seeing the damage my wind could do, he suggested I make my weapon sharper with it.

It took a while to get down because I kept launching my sword away. It required some fine tune control to keep the wind around the blade that would make it sharp enough without ruining the metal, but I eventually managed.

The next morning, I woke up with the intention of some hard training. I wanted to discover more ways of using my airbending. So after doing my chores, I packed up some supplies and went deep into the forest.

I found a spot inside the forest a few years ago that was perfect for me to practice my airbending. It was deep in the forest that I knew there wouldn't be anyone. It was also close to a river for a water source if needed. The trees here were quite high as well that I used to practice my air jumps and air boosts.

As the sun set and the sky turned a beautiful orange, I decided that I had enough training for today. I packed up my belongings and made my way back to the village. However, that's when everything went wrong.

I began seeing smoke on the horizon as I drew closer. My eyes widened as panic filled through me. I immediately ran in the direction of my village with my wind boosted run. I quickly reached the edge of the forest and what I saw was horrifying.

The village was burning.

I saw bodies on the ground. Bodies of people I knew. I went to the nearest and kneeled in front of him. I checked for a pulse and found nothing. Fear went through me as I ran immediately to my homestead.

I quickly saw the corpses of fire nation soldiers scattered about. I went to the front door and saw it was open. I went inside and my heart dropped. It was my parents' corpse.

"NO!"

My father was leaning against the wall with his sword by his side. There were a few fire nation soldiers around him. It seemed that despite everything, my dad died fighting. My mother's body wasn't far away. She was lying face down with a burn mark on her back. I kneeled in front of her body and I couldn't hold back the tears.

"GAAAAAHHHH"

I let out a scream. Despite my new found abilities, I couldn't protect my parents. As the tears dried out, so did the sorrow. I hugged my mother's body tightly.

I carried my parents' body to our garden where I dug two graves. I slowly lowered their corpses inside and I closed up their graves. I put some stones as their markers. I gazed on the two graves and I closed my eyes.

"Mom, Dad, I swear I will live. I will go to the temples and I will learn everything I can about the air nomads. I promise."

I went back to the house and grabbed my father's sword. It was a typical sword owned by earth kingdom guards. But it was my father's and that meant something. I also made sure to grab all of the money that my parents saved up all these years. I could use them in my travels.

As I walked past the front door, seeing the destruction that wrought the village, my eyes turned cold. My village was peaceful. We were just farmers and gardeners but we were massacred by the firebenders anyway. I finally understood what my father meant all those years ago. I understood why he taught me everything he knew. He made sure that I could take care of myself. Because this was war. A war that has spanned for nearly a hundred years.

I made my way back to the forest where I trained. It would be too dangerous for me to stay near the roads for now. Who knows how many fire nation soldiers are about. As I gazed into the river, I caught sight of my reflection. I had messy black hair kept up with an earth kingdom headband wearing a dark green lightly armored sleeveless shirt with a scarf around my neck and shoulders and bandages around my arms. I have dark green baggy trousers tucked into my pointy end combat boots. It's funny to see how much I've grown over the years. As I looked up into the stars above, I made a promise to myself.

I will never allow something like this to happen again. I will go to the temples, and I will learn all I can about airbending. That way I will have a greater chance in fighting back against those tyrants.

---- The Not So Last Airbender ----

Now that you know my story, let's get back to the battle.

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After putting some distance between me and the firebenders, I looked up and made a headcount. There were four of them, all spread out in front of me. They advanced once again to try and surround me. Of course, I wouldn't let that happen. With a burst of wind aided push, I rushed towards one of the four and as soon as I got close swung my wind enhanced sword through his midsection. I easily pierced armor and before the body even reached the ground I was already pushing myself towards another target. He went down faster than the first firebender.

To say the other two soldiers were shocked was an understatement. In their eyes, I was a blur that they couldn't pinpoint. They immediately took a step back and unleashed a wave of fire together in hopes of trapping me.

Seeing the wave, I gripped my sword tight and bent even more wind to enhance its sharpness. I swung my sword sideways and a sharp blade of wind appeared. The wind easily pierced and cut through the fire like butter before making its way to the two soldiers. My silhouette of sheathing my sword was the last thing they saw.

I let out a breath after the battle. I never did like killing people, but I realize the necessity, especially during war times. If I let them live, then who knows how many other Earth Kingdom citizens that would suffer under their hands. Not to mention, they've seen my airbending. I definitely couldn't let them live after that. If the fire nation ever found out that there was still an airbender alive, then I was doomed.

I made my way to the bodies. The good thing about airbending slices is that the marks left on a body are similar to a cut from a blade. That way I am able to use my airbending in battle without worrying that the fire nation would figure out there was an airbender roaming the 4 nations.

After looting the bodies, mostly gold, I went back to the village. Most of the gold I found belonged to them anyway. I gave them back the gold as they were thanking me for saving them.

"You should learn to defend yourself." I said. "There won't always be someone to fight your battles for you."

Seeing as most of the villagers only cowered in the face of the firebenders, I thought of giving them a piece of advice. Especially since there were a few earthbenders amongst them.

After that last word, I made my way out of the village and headed south. Time to continue my adventure.

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Yo!

Hey y'all, I've actually been on this site for a while now just reading Chinese MTLs and fanfics and decided to give writing a try.So yes, Rohan is an airbender in the Avatar world so Aang isn't the only airbender. He will make his way to the Gaang soon. I do plan on having him travel together with them. He will be 18 during canon so he will be the oldest amongst the group.

I'm still a bit conflicted with the pairing just cause he's quite a bit older than the rest. I'm currently leaning towards Suki and have Sokka paired with Toph though. It definitely won't be harem though. As much as I enjoy harem fics, they are quite unrealistic especially in worlds where harem just doesn't work. And I see the Avatar world as one of those worlds.

I'm still a new writer so let me know what you think! Especially the fight scene. I struggled to write that part the most. As well as the emotional scenes with his parents. It was real tough.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy and see ya next time!

R&R.