The first time Kya bent water she was two and had frozen Bumi's feet to the floor for stealing her favourite doll. No one really realized this at first though, because Katara had turned on her husband to scold him for bending at one of their kids. This accusation was not exactly unfounded as the young Avatar was accustomed to using his bending to entertain his children. To be fair, he usually only used his airbending, though some instances to the contrary had popped up over the years. Aang had immediately defended himself, claiming he thought Katara had done it and it took about three seconds for it to sink in that the culprit was their giggling toddler.
Kya was put under the immediate tutelage of her mother, who was ecstatically through to the roof. Over the years she learnt her forms well, being as naturally gifted with the element as both her parents had been. Katara had even been a little jealous of her daughter, who seemed to have inherited her father's prodigious ease of learning.
For most of her lessons, the young girl approached every move with the enthusiasm and dedication of the most avid of students. Except for one area…
Healing.
Kya found the lessons boring and tedious, she rarely put any effort into them and forgot everything her mother tried to teach her by time she was out the door. If Katara was disappointed, she didn't show it, but Kya could certainly feel it. No matter what she did though, no matter how many times she tried to hype herself up, she just had no passion for the subject.
Kya's greatest relief from her mother's insistence she learn, were the rare occasions her father had time to waterbend with her. No one else, no Mom or Bumi or even little Tenzin to distract her father's already limited time. Just her and Dad, waterbending together.
He often did so with her mother and lately she had been allowed to join in, though she had the feeling those times were more of a private thing for them. But when it was just the two of them, she could dump everything she was feeling and he'd listen. It was the cool thing about having an Air Nomad for a father, he was the most sensitive, easy going person she knew and always tried to work things out by making her think of the problem from both sides. It was a kind of patience she would always look back on years later and admire.
"But I don't want to be a healer," the ten year old whined, "And Mom just keeps insisting."
Aang nodded serenely, sending the ball of water she had just bent to him back. He had taken off his shirt and rolled up his pants. The two of them stood knee deep in the ocean lapping against the shores of Air Temple Island. The sun shone hot above them, glinting off the deep blue of the water. They couldn't see Republic City from this side of the island, but beyond stretched the sea, rolling out to meet an endless horizon. Kya often found herself sitting on this beach, watching the waves and wriggling her toes in the sand. Whenever her dad was home, this place turned into their special spot and she liked that the most. Lately, most of his time had been taken up with training Tenzin and she missed him when he wasn't around.
"We all have different strengths," Aang said fairly, "Your mother just wants to make sure you can utilize all of your skills. You have the ability to be a healer, not every waterbender does."
"Can you?" Kya had never seen her father heal or asked before.
Aang smiled.
"Not with water," he admitted mysteriously.
"I don't get what the big deal is," she returned grumpily, streaming the water between them once more, "Its not like the healers in the city can't do the same thing…and most of them are not even waterbenders!"
"There are many different types of healing," her father agreed, and then frowned, "But then, I am biased..."
"I'm sure you are," for a ten year old, Kya seemed to have developed a wit all her own.
"You know healing works," Aang carried on, "You've seen it done first hand. So what's the matter? Does it just not interest you?"
Kya sighed.
"It's boring," she deadpanned.
Her dad's grin was infectious.
"Ah," he chuckled, "I can see how that would make things harder."
"Mom's pushing doesn't help," she grumbled.
"It's only because she's trying to share something she loves with you," Aang let the water drop, "Come on monkey, let's go for a swim."
His suggestion brightened the young girl's mood immediately. Swimming with her dad was always way more fun than doing it with her mom. Aang liked to play games in the water, race her and even take her exploring deep below the depths in a bubble he constructed with his air and waterbending. He could also throw her up really high, allowing her to bomb dive into the sea. She could climb all over him, stand on his shoulders and sometimes they even went ice surfing. They always played games of pretend, usually featuring Kya as the brave warrior princess and Aang as the evil sea monster she must defeat.
It was times like this that she could forget her troubles with healing, her dislike of disappointing her mother and the bitterness she sometimes felt towards her father when he stayed away too long or paid more attention to Tenzin than to her or Bumi. Because it was times like this that reminded her that she was loved and that her dad was always going to be around to help her forget her problems for a little while.
Hey, it wasn't always easy being the Avatar's kid.
But she could handle it.
The afternoon waned on, the hot sun beating down on them from the clear, blue-sky overhead. They paused in their play only once to wave hello to a passing ship, laughing as the crewmen immediately snapped to attention, giving the Avatar and his daughter a salute. Finally, tired from the cold waves and the hours of games, Aang and Kya made their way back to the beach and practically collapsed on the sand, still laughing.
Having inherited her height from her father, Kya was a tall, gangly ten year old who still wore her hair in pigtails most of the time. Today though, she had left it loose and was regretting the decision as soon as she tried to comb her fingers through the sea knotted locks. She winced a little; already aware of the exasperated sigh her mother would have for her and the painful hour with a comb. Deciding it was better to face the music than try to untangle it herself and get the strands even more knotted than they already were, she merely worked on shaking the water out.
Aang stretched his long limbs out before taking a seat in the sand, his entire back exposed to his daughter as he settled in. As it always did, Kya's eyes immediately wrenched to the large scar in the centre of his tattooed back.
"Hey, Daddy?" she asked softly, squeezing a small rainfall of water out of her hair, "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, monkey," her father said, reaching over to tweak her nose.
She playfully slapped his hand away, beaming at him good humoredly and shaking her head.
"Dad!" she protested.
He laughed, blowing a little air to dry her off.
"Ask away," he reminded innocently as her hair puffed out into a frizzy ball. Sighing a little, Kya pressed her hands against the mess to tame it. It was fairly dry now, but all her hands did was add sand to it. She'd have to ask her mom to comb it out for her later. She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed.
She joined in, but the moment soon faded and her own expression became more serious as she thoughtfully asked;
"How'd you get the scar on your back?"
Her father stiffened a little, his expression becoming a withdrawn, but he looked at her squarely.
"It's not a very nice story," he said gently, "You might want to wait till your older to hear it."
That was the other thing she loved about her dad, he never tried to keep anything from her.
"Please?" she begged, "Just a little?"
Aang sighed, but nodded.
"Alright, just a little."
She sat down on the sand beside him, stretching out under the sun to dry off. Aang's little trick with the wind had done little for her still dampened clothes. Her father closed his eyes and lay down on his back, but Kya suspected this was more to take in the sunshine fully than it was to relax. That was another funny thing about her dad, because he was a firebender, the sun gave him energy, where Kya just felt drained from her all her time in the sea. In fact, she was more than ready for a nap, but she wasn't about to tell her dad that.
So instead she curled up next to him, laying her head on one of his shoulders and closing her eyes, preparing to listen to the story.
Her dad had quite a few scars on his body, no doubt the products of years of bending and hardships, but that one on his back had always fascinated her. It was certainly the largest one he had. She had asked her mother about it once, but she had only unhelpfully insisted that Kya was too young for such things. She hadn't asked her dad before because she expected the same answer, but for some reason, today she just had to know. Her parents had told her and her siblings a lot about their adventures, but there were some things she suspected they were waiting to tell.
This was one of them.
"I got it when I was twelve, at Ba Sing Se," her father began slowly, "We were in the catacombs below the city. Your Uncle Sokka, Aunt Toph, General Iroh and I had gone to save your mother and Fire Lord Zuko from Zuko's sister Azula-"
"So his sister was the bad guy?" she asked drowsily.
"Yes," Aang nodded, "She was. There were some other things that happened…but to cut a long story short, your mother and I were fighting against her and Zu – ah, a whole lot of Dai Li agents."
He was missing things out, she knew, but this was what he'd meant by a 'little bit' so she'd have to be content with it. For now.
"We weren't doing so well," he grimaced, "I entered the Avatar state but I didn't notice Azula had crept up behind me. She shot me with lightning and that's how I got the scar. The lighting passed right through my body –"
"Did it come out again?" Kya asked innocently.
"Yes," Aang lifted his foot up to show her another scar on the sole.
"Right there," he said, tracing the scar with his fingertips.
She reached up and did the same.
"But – if it went out again, you were okay, right?"
He smiled at her, but his eyes were extremely sad.
"No monkey, I wasn't," he closed his eyes for a long moment, "I was in a really bad way. If it hadn't been for your mother…"
He trailed off and sighed.
"Your mother healed me," he completed, "She saved my life and if she hadn't been there, if she hadn't been able to heal, your old dad wouldn't be around right now."
The story sunk in slowly. She sat up, making her dad do the same, to which he obliged, seeming to know what she was after. She traced her small fingers over the scar, feeling the raised, rigid quality of the skin, the way if broke his tattoo and the now white, fleshy colour it held now that the years had passed. For a moment, she imagined it like a spiders web, trapping the memory of that terrible day to her father forever.
She didn't like that.
"Did it hurt?" she practically squeaked.
"Yes," her father breathed, "It did."
"How'd she do it?" Kya wondered allowed, she could only imagine how deep the wound had gone.
"Well, apart from the fact that your mother is a master healer," she could hear the laughter in her father's voice again, "She also happened to have a little help from the spirits."
"Spirits?"
He nodded.
"Water from the Spirit Oasis," he confirmed, "She used it to bring me back."
She felt him physically flinch as the words left his mouth, but she was already letting the meaning sink in. If her mother had had to bring her father back after an injury like this…then it must have been really, really bad.
She leaned her head against her father's back, cheek resting on the scar and let out a little sob. Immediately, she could feel her dad turning and his arms encircling her, pulling her into a bear hug. She let him rock her gently, the smell of salt all over them, the rough sand scratching their skin.
"Don't cry, Kya," he father begged, "There's nothing wrong."
"I know," the little girl hiccupped, "But I feel sad for you. I'm sorry you got hurt, Daddy."
For a long time, Aang didn't say anything, but he did stop rocking, startling his daughter even more. She looked up at him, wondering what would happen next, when he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
"Thank you," he murmured against her frizzy, sand ridden hair, "Thank you, Kya."
They stayed like that for a long time, just the two of them. They swam a little more and Aang tried to cheer her up with a little display of his sand bending, which he claimed to have been working on recently. From sand castles to sand Appas, he very soon had her giggling again.
But the raw effect of what his story had invoked, stayed with Kya all the rest of her days. Her admiration for her mother grew ten fold, as did the realization that her father wasn't as invincible as she had once thought.
Other thoughts roved their way into Kya's head as she spent time with her dad, hitting her each time she caught a glimpse of his scar.
I want to save people too, she thought, I want to help people too.
It was so simple a motivation that she couldn't imagine why she hadn't thought of it before. Later that afternoon, after her father had piggybacked her home and her mother had cleaned the sand from her hair. After Tenzin had refused to play games with Bumi so he could go meditate and Aang had tried to coax him into taking a break. After Uncle Sokka had appeared for dinner, brightening up the children's days and after her mother had commanded she go down for a short nap, before she fell asleep at the table.
It was just as her mother was tucking a blanket around her that Kya grabbed her sleeve and said in a small, but clear voice.
"I want to be a healer."
A/N: Just felt like writing something father/daughter-ish. Have to admit, the only reason I still watch Korra is for the Kataang kids, so I want to try writing something for each of them, not necessarily about their relationship with Aang, but we'll see. This was just something fun to do to get me writing again.
~Southern Hearts~