After saying good night to Tenzin and Pema, Katara retired to her bed room. She was alone again in the bed that Aang and she shared for nearly 50 years. So many memories. So much fun. But alone now, so alone. It had been four years since his passing, and it was no less hard now than the first day without him.
She dearly loved Tenzin and Pema and the life they were building together. They grew closer each day, ever since she was just a green eyed teenage Air Acolyte in love with the culture of the Air Nomads and a student of Tenzin. No one knew at the time she'd fall in love not only with the Air Nomad culture but also with her teacher. Their wedding was the last happy moment for Katara and Aang, just before his decline.
She slept fitfully, as she always did without Aang. Master Katara was an accomplished leader in the world and her mark on history was forever written. But she still had that little girl's dream inside her that only beside her husband was life truly fulfilled. Those days would never return. Finally she fell into a deep sleep.
She awoke on a glade. She was surrounded by a forest and gardens. She got up and started to walk around.
Birds were chirping, but there were a lot of unknown noises too. A panda lumbered by in the distance, looked at her and moved on. She suspected something was very different about this place.
"Could it be Hei Bei?" She thought.
Then she chanced upon a monkey meditating, and knew in a moment that she was in the spirit world. She was so shocked that she could not speak. So instead, the monkey spoke to her, "Oh, one from among the living. The one you are looking for is over there."
There, on top of a short hill, facing away from her, a familiar figure sat cross legged, eyes closed, and meditating. She ran as fast as she could, and tackle-glomped him. They tangled up together, rolling part way down the hill, and looked with joy into each other's eyes.
"Aang! It's you!" she exclaimed.
He was so handsome. He looked just like he did in the prime of his life – 30's. He looked he did then, sporting a dark beard and chiseled features. The tunic he wore revealed his muscular shoulders and chest. She was so in love with him always, but especially then. She was the luckiest girl on the planet.
They hugged and kissed deeply and long.
Katara came up for air, "Aang, I can touch you, I can hold you!"
Aang calmly explained, "We are both in the spirit world. It's like the physical world. It's only when the spirit world and physical world mix that spirits and people can't touch."
Katara looked at herself, and she saw all the effects of her old age were gone. Her long brown hair had only a streak or two of gray, "Aang. I'm like you. I'm thirty again!"
He just smiled and answered, "Fortunately in the spirit world, the age you appear is how you feel in your heart."
He joked further, "There's some unfortunate consequences of that too. On days I am really, really sad and tired, I look like I am 90 years old! I am really glad I didn't make it that far. I am not a pretty sight at 90."
Both laughed, for the first time in four years.
She caressed his bald head and face, and hugged him tightly, "I have missed you so. I wish you had lived to 90. I don't care what you look like."
Aang laughed with happiness, "And I feel the same, Katara. Not a day goes by that I don't want you by my side. It hurts me so much to see you so lonely there in our home. But it's not your time yet. You have more to do in life."
"And what would that be Aang?" she puzzled and sat up straight, looking him right in those steel gray eyes she missed so much.
"Katara, I can't be with you long. It was everything I could do to get you here. Listen to me. The new Avatar has been found. You have to teach her. I need you to mentor her."
"Her? A girl? Whoa, I was expecting another boy."
"She's Southern Water Tribe too."
Her eyes sparkled, "I would get to go home?"
But then the mother within her felt guilty, "How can I leave Tenzin and Pema?"
Aang scolded her a little, "They aren't twelve. They need their own life now, without either of us."
She sighed but fretted further, "You're right, but what about grandchildren?"
"Katara, they'll be fine. You'll see them. You have even more important things to do for the new Avatar. You are needed to train her. She's brash. She's always going to be ready to fight first and ask questions later. She's me and yet she's totally not me, which is why she needs you. It is not yet time for me to visit her – not until well into Tenzin's teachings. She is not spiritual enough for me to reach her yet."
"Haven't I trained enough Avatars?" sighed Katara with a sudden wave of fatigue.
"We spirits think you have a talent for it," smirked Aang.
'We spirits.' The words haunted her.
He looked at her with that wry smile that thrilled her every time, "Don't you want to find out if friendships really do last more than one lifetime?"
She frowned, "The only friendship I care about right now is ours."
She leaned in to kiss him again, and whispered, "Can spirits...umm...you know...?"
"Yes. They can."
"Can we?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" and winked at his lifetime love.
They embraced and wouldn't let go.
When they had finished, they rested under a great banyan tree, spooned together and held tightly to each other.
"Aang I'm sleepy."
"Then let's just rest and take a nap together," he whispered, and they fell asleep quickly. It had been delightful.
She awoke, not nestled together with Aang, but in her own bed embracing his pillow. So many times she woke up doing exactly that, crying and longing to see him just one more time.
Last night she got that 'one more time', and rather than cry, she sighed happily, felt totally at peace, and squeezed his pillow harder.
She spoke softly to the heavens, "Oh Aang, how wonderful it was, if only for a short time."
Then she whispered even softer, "Did it really happen? Please say it did, spirits."
Somewhere deep within her she knew that it happened, and smiled with deep satisfaction.
She was startled by a loud knock on her bedroom door from an Air Acolyte, "The Order of the White Lotus Avatar search team is here."
She quickly dressed and went to the gate to greet the team.
The stocky leader of the team spoke, "Master Katara, we are sorry to interrupt your morning, but we have important news."
Katara decided to spoil their surprise, "You've found the little girl Avatar at the south pole, haven't you?"
They were absolutely bug-eyed. No one knew but them.
The team leader stammered, "H-h-how did you know?"
Katara grinned, "Don't forget I am the widow of the previous Avatar."
The White Lotus team thought just how little they still knew about the unprecedented spirit-centered relationship Aang and Katara had experienced together throughout life and now death. This was only one more dramatic example of her ability.
"Master Katara, we have something else to discuss with you about Avatar Korra."
"Go on?"
"She is very self aware. She knows she is the Avatar to an unprecedented degree, and has skills to match. She has natural water, earth and earth bending skills. Especially fire bending. But she overly proud of that talent. Aang and Roku never had skills like that so early."
He continued, "You know that Aang's ordered to protect the new Avatar as soon as we found her, and to start training her so that she could take his place in leading the world forward. With all the troubles brewing, we need her to be the Avatar as soon as she can."
Then he asked Katara, "Korra may be a water bender by birth heritage, but she only knows a little now. She deserves the best to teach her. No one is better than you Master Katara. We would humbly ask if you would be Korra's water bending sifu."
Without hesitating, she answered, "Working with strong willed children has always been my specialty."
She smiled thinking of her three grown children and all the challenges in raising them along the way.
"Then you agree?" inquired the team leader hopefully.
"Yes. As much as I don't want to leave my two dear newlywed children, I have known in my heart for a long time that I should teach the next Avatar how to water bend. It should be easier with Korra than with Aang. She already has the innate skills. Aang had to start from scratch. Perhaps along the way I can teach her some lessons in humility and calmness, and how to be confident without being obnoxious."
"Besides it's time to go home. Tenzin and Pema need their space to grow and to build the new Air nation. I have been gone too long. Only when Sokka passed did I go..." she stopped, choking up.
She switched subjects quickly to keep from losing it, "Do you have the Avatar Training Center plans and equipment ready as we have discussed?"
"Everything Aang and you and the Grand Lotus decided was necessary is ready. You know it's been packed on the transport ship for nearly a year. We just needed to know whether we were sailing north or south."
She and the team members chuckled, "Yes I suppose you did."
Over the next few days, Katara packed and was ready to go. There was only one night of argument and tears over leaving, but in the end Tenzin and Pema both knew it was the right thing to do, especially when Katara described her spirit visit with Aang. Tenzin was always amazed at the relationship that his father and mother had, and this just added to his love and awe that he was blessed to be their son.
It was already decided, but Pema showed her wisdom beyond her 20 some years when she told her mother in law, "You must go, Mother Katara. Help Korra be as good an Avatar as Father Aang was. Who among us can say they trained two Avatars?"
They promised to visit Katara often. In fact, Tenzin wanted to know Korra as much as Katara did, as the day would come when he had to teach her air bending.
She 'just' had to say goodbye. That was a lot harder than packing. The dinner the night before had been wonderful, but the three of them avoided saying the words.
This morning it couldn't be avoided.
They all stood awkwardly on the dock of Air Temple Island next to the loaded oceangoing paddle-wheeler.
It was time.
Pema fidgeted, but had to ask on the verge of tears, "Mother Katara, when it is the right time in our lives for children, would you please do the honor of being midwife to me for our children?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way, dear," and they hugged. Pema was like a second daughter to her.
Katara gave them both one last hug, climbed the gangplank, and waved as the ship sailed off.
Tenzin and Pema stood on the dock a long time, waving to Katara, and then, even after the ship disappeared over the horizon, held each other, both in tears. The two people who had shaped their lives more than any other were now both gone from their lives. It was all up to them now.
Soon after arriving, Katara was insistent on meeting Korra. She argued with the White Lotus members, who wanted Korra to be brought to Katara. She was visibly upset and no one dared argue with her when she was angry. Some thought Katara's anger was worse than the Avatar State itself, "Don't you all forget who we serve. She is the Avatar. We will go to her."
Katara met for a short while with her parents Tonraq and Senna, and then it was time to get acquainted. Senna escorted Korra into the main room of her home, but this time she was little more shy. Her mother made the introductions, "Korra, this is Master Katara."
Without hesitation, Korra said, "You are old."
Katara ignored the candor of the four year old, bowed, and greeted her, "Avatar Korra, I am very pleased to meet you. Even if I amold."
Korra smiled and bowed back.
"Old people are nice. They give you stuff. Are you a water bender?" Korra asked.
"I am. Would you like to learn more about water bending with me?"
Korra frowned, "But Master Katara, I know how to water bend already."
Without hesitation, she put on a display of her water bending skills. At age four, her moves were in fact very advanced, but still rough.
"See?" she was very proud of herself.
Katara thought, "Aang was right. She was very confident. Some people would take that the wrong way."
But Katara said, "Very impressive young lady. But everyone, no matter how good they are, always needs a teacher."
"I know a lot. But show me more." said Korra with certainty, but her mother blanched.
Katara mused, "Korra is definitely not Aang."
Katara issued a challenge, "Well then, Korra let's see what you've got. Let's spar."
"That would be fun, Master Katara. I like fighting."
They both assumed starting stances and began sparring. Katara deliberately pulled punches, and let the little girl show off. But Katara easily deflected every water bending move, and even went on the offensive a little by soaking her in one deft move.
Her mother was aghast. She knew what was next. Korra didn't like to lose.
Korra's lower lip started to quiver, tears puddled up in her eyes, and she came after Katara with everything she had. The water bending had great power behind it, but no finesse, so Katara effortlessly deflected the moves. Unhappy with that, Korra started to earth bend underneath Katara. Katara deftly stepped and dodged, and froze some of the rocks in place, avoiding the attacks. Even more frustrated, Korra fire bent at Katara. It was formidable. She was better at fire bending than her native element. Katara doused each flash of fire.
It was time to end this first lesson. Winding up in a water bending move that drew much from Aang's air bending forms, Katara surrounded young Korra with a swirling cloud of steam that she instantly froze in an ice block around the tot, incapacitating her.
Korra realized she was trapped, and in perfect four year old form, cried, "Mommy!"
Senna started to rush to her daughter to comfort her, but Tonraq stopped her.
Her crying soon trailed off to whimpering, then to a few tears, which Katara bent away to comfort her.
"You're good. No one ever beat me before. Water can stop fire and earth bending too?" sniffled Korra.
Katara explained gently, "In my day dear one, I have encountered and fought many earth and fire benders. And even an air bender. Several became my best friends. The air bender became a very special friend."
Katara continued tenderly, "So, Avatar Korra. Would you agree that you have some things yet to learn?"
She looked defeated, but the cute little girl who was eager to learn looked up at Katara chirped, "Yes Master Katara. I sure do have a lot to learn. Mommy told me that you taught the last Avatar. Please teach me, too. I want to be your friend."
Tonraq and Senna hugged, in great relief.
Katara released Korra from the ice surrounding her, and evaporated the water from her clothes and hair.
Korra reached out to Katara, bowed at first, but then hugged her new sifu. Katara hugged back, and a trail of tears appeared.
...Friendships so strong they can last more than a lifetime.