Breathing in the cold South Pole air calmed her nerves. She could see the darkened sky outside, not light but not entirely black. A smile spread across the nineteen-year-old waterbender's lips as she set out five candles by the window, one for each year he'd been gone. She would wait for him, with a numbed hope that the light would lead him home.

She lit the candles one by one, remembering the morning that he left. It was the morning after the battle that changed the fate of the world. She had awoken at noon, along with the others. She had been exhausted. When the sun had finally forced her eyes open, she found that Appa and Momo were gone, and so was the man she loved. All that remained of all of them was a note placed next to her things.

Dear Katara,

I hope you had a good night's sleep. Everyone was out cold last night when I left. Roku came to me in a dream that said I need to go help rebuild peace in this world. I don't know how long I'll be gone, but it's going to be a long and dangerous journey and I don't want to risk anything. I promise I'll be back someday.

Aang

That morning she had gone off and tried to find him, alone. The others told her that she should wait for him to return, but she hadn't listened. She had to find him. She searched for two years, but never made it very far. The day of her sixteenth birthday Sokka and the others found her and brought her home to the South Pole. After her brother married, everyone from her home pressured her, saying that now that the war was over there were plenty young men in the South Pole for her to choose from. But she didn't want them. There was only one person in the world she wanted, and he was the only one who wasn't there.

Pulling up a chair, she stared out the window at the sea. With every breath, the flames flickered, as if struggling to remain on the candles. She wondered where he was, if he was thinking about her, if he even remembered her. He'd probably forgotten her by now, gone off to the village where Meng lived and married her. She was closer to his age, anyway.

The wax dripped down the sides of the candles, and Katara had to look away. It was too symbolic of their love slipping away. She had to control herself. She couldn't give in to what everyone was saying, trying to control her. She was faithful. She would wait for him, even if she had to wait forever…

She clutched the letter in her hand. It crumpled between her fingers, and some of the ink rubbed onto her palm. She put the paper on the floor and looked at her hand. She wouldn't get up to wash it off. She had to stay where she was, in case he came. Her family thought she was losing it. They threatened to take her away— away to somewhere she'd never been, to somewhere where there would be no memories of him.

Slowly, she focused on one drop of wax slowly falling down onto the ice. She tried to shift it, just the slightest bit, but it refused to follow her command and fell onto her foot. Ever since he left, she hadn't even had the will to waterbend. It brought back too many memories. Everything did. The only thing she did was stare out that single window, alone in the daytime, and with candles in the nighttime.

A single tear rolled down the girl's face. She began to blow out the candles, one by one, because the sun was rising. And he still wasn't home.