This is an idea I have had for like a year now and I am happy to finally get it down on paper. I picture Aang turning 13 before the end of the series and Katara's birthday being a couple months after the finale so ages are as follows, Katara: 16, Aang: 15, Sokka:17, and the rest of the ages go from there.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar and I probably never will.
11 years ago
Five year old Katara laid down in bed as her mother tucked her in for the night. They were inside their small hut in the Southern Watertribe. Her father, Hakoda, her older brother, Sokka, and her grandmother had gone to bed already; laying a few feet away from where Katara's fur blanket that severed as her bed was located. Like most nights though, Katara and her mother, Kya, stayed up later then the other members of their family; mostly because Katara loved to hear bed time stories. It was a time of night that allowed daughter and mother to bond as Kya told Katara stories of her childhood.
Tonight, Kya had just finished telling the story about the last time the Fire Nation had been to the Southern Water Tribe and how Hakoda, a young boy at the time, had protected her. Normally, Kya didn't tell Katara stories that included the Fire Nation. She believed it best that her daughter grew up away from war and even though the Fire Nation had not attacked their tribe since Kya was just a little over Katara's age, Kya knew the harsh reality that the world was at war and the Fire Nation could strike again at any time. Because of this, she believed that she should expose her to children to stories about the Fire Nation every now and then to make them better prepared should the Fire Nation come again.
As Katara laid in bed, allowing her mother to pull a blanket over her, she reflected on the story she had just heard. She was surprised that the first time her mother had really met her father had been during a Fire Nation raid but that was not what was on her mind. The young girl looked up at her mother questionably "Mommy?"
"What is it sweetie?"
"Why did the Fire Nation start the war?" Katara asked, looking up to her mother for an answer.
Kya looked down at her daughter surprised by the question. Sure, she knew that the question was inevitable if she was going to tell stories that included the Fire Nation, but she wasn't expecting Katara to be asking that at only five years old. Sokka hadn't even asked something like that and he was a year and a half older than his sister. Then again, Kya thought, Katara always had been the more curious one. Sokka has always just accepted things for what they are, no questions asked.
"Well," Kya finally said as she thought about the right words to say to her daughter, "it's complicated…they just believed they had a right to."
"But why?" Katara asked again, "if the world was peaceful before, why would somebody want to start a war? Why wouldn't they just want to have peace?"
The mother sighed, "That is just how some people are, my dear. Some people want power and control and some people just believe that they are better than others," she explained, "no matter what the state of the world is at the time; there will always be that one person that just wants to make a mess of things. That one person that thinks they can rise up above everyone else. That is why the war started. It was just one person's desire to rule the world and unfortunately he was in charge of a nation that would obey his every word."
"I don't understand why someone would do that though," Katara stated, confused at her mother's explanation.
"It is just the way some people are Katara," Kya repeated, "that is all there is to it. It just starts with one person and then that person gains followers.
Katara looked away from her mother as she thought about what her mother had said.
"You don't have to worry about it though," Kya assured kissing her head, "the Fire Nation hasn't attacked the tribe for years. Not since the last Waterbender was taken away."
"But I'm a Waterbender. What if the Fire Nation comes back for me?" Katara said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"They won't," Kya declared, grabbing her daughters hand and squeezing it, "no one outside the tribe knows of your gift and it will stay that way. You have nothing to be afraid of."
The young girl looked up at her mother feeling comforted by her words, "Okay Mommy," and with that she sat up to hug her mother.
Kya smiled, tucking her daughter back into bed, "Good night, my little Waterbender," she said quietly.
Katara felt her mother kiss her forehead before she drifted off to sleep.
Present Day, Nearly 2 years after the war
Sixteen year old Katara smiled at the memory that played through her head, but also saddened by thought of her mother, who was murdered years ago. One thing her mother had told her though stood out to her in that memory.
There will always be that one person…
The words echoed in her head. It was something that she didn't want to believe. The One Hundred Years War had been over for almost two years now and she didn't like the thought that someone would actually try to destroy the peace that the world had achieved. After travelling the world with Aang though, trying to save the world and seeing all the different kinds of people, she had begun to believe there was actually some truth to her mother's statement. She still found it hard to imagine someone trying to destroy the peace now though.
After the war, people had been very open to the idea of peace. They were tired of war so when the Fire Nation surrendered and rebuilding began, no one really tried to stir things up. Major reconstruction had ended about six months ago and even though there were still things left to be done, they were things that didn't really require the Avatar's help. During the year and a half of reconstruction Katara, along with the rest of the gang, had travelled the world again helping people rebuild. After that was over, the influence of the military that had been running the reconstruction weakened and politics began to take the forefront by making policies and keeping the peace between the nations, and it became quickly apparent to Katara and the gang that they weren't really needed anymore. Despite what they had done during and after the war, they were still just teenagers and they didn't know much about politics to really be helpful. Firelord Zuko had told them that he and the rest of the world's leaders could take it from there, though if help was needed Zuko would contact Aang. So the group began to head back to their homes. Toph had been dropped back off at her parents with the intention of trying to reconnect with them and Suki had been dropped off at Kyoshi Island so she could continue running the Kyoshi Warriors much to Sokka's dismay, but she had told him that when her business at Kyoshi was done she would send him a message to come pick her up again. With that done, the group had just been the original three; Avatar Aang, Katara, and Sokka. They had made their way to the Southern Watertribe in the South Pole and Aang had been living with Katara and Sokka there for the past six months.
All in all, Katara believed that things could get much better, but then why could she not get what her mother said out of her head? Katara couldn't quite place her finger on it but she had a sinking feeling that something was going to happen soon.
"Katara?"
She looked up, coming out of her thoughts, to see Aang and her family, Hakoda, Sokka, Kanna and Kanna's husband Pakku, staring at her. They were in their home, which was quite big since Hakoda was the chief of the tribe. The family had sat down in the family room of the house to have a late night chat with each other but obviously, they had noticed Katara hadn't said much since they were there. Katara's eyes settled on Aang, who had been the one to bring her out of her thoughts.
"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, "you haven't said anything since we sat down."
"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him, "I'm just thinking".
"About what?" Sokka questioned from his spot in the corner of the room. He was in the corner, and to his left sat, Hakoda, Kanna, and Pakku, and across from them sat Katara with Aang right beside her. There were fur mats distributed across the room to serve as seats.
Katara shrugged, "Just about what has changed in the past two years that's all. It is just hard to imagine how different things are now…especially how different things are here."
"Yeah, I see what you mean," Hakoda said joining in on the conversation, "who ever thought that this tribe would grow to become a small city after how damaged it was during the war. It even surprises me sometimes."
"Well, I think we have Pakku to thank for that, "Aang said, smiling a little at his former teacher, "he is the one that brought all the water benders here to fix it in the first place."
All Pakku did to acknowledge Aang's praise was nod a little in Aang's direction but what he said was true. Under Pakku's guidance, the Southern Watertribe had been rebuilt and was now a city, similar to the Nothern Watertribe. Icy Streets ran throughout the area and the homes, which had been small huts and tents when Katara was little, were now bigger homes made out of thick blocks of ice which ironically, helped keep the inside of the homes warm to the point that people no longer needed to wear the big parkas as long as they were indoors. Some of the homes, like Katara's, were even two stories tall. However, these types of homes were usually just for the leaders of the city, which was a group of people that served as councilors for Hakoda. They served to advise him, but he had the final say on matters. If Hakoda had to leave the tribe for political meetings with the other nations the council would run the city by themselves until his return. Needless to say he and his family had the biggest house in the city and they didn't have trouble having their own space. Everyone had their own rooms on the second floor and the first floor housed everything else they needed.
"Yeah," Sokka stated, responding to Aang's previous comment, "if only he had come and fixed it before. Childhood would have been a lot better."
This caused Sokka to receive a few glares from around the table and the room became silent.
"Well," Hakoda said, finally speaking up, "ignoring that comment and speaking about how things have changed, we do have the two year anniversary of the war coming up in three days. The council and I have been putting together a celebration. Just a big party throughout the city, nothing complicated."
"That sounds nice" Katara responded, "Aang and I could help prepare for it over the next couple of days if you need help setting up." Katara then looked to her boyfriend sitting next to her to see if he agreed with the idea.
"I don't mind," he shrugged, "I think it would be nice for the city to celebrate the anniversary. Besides, I like parties."
"What about those parties with all of those politicians?" Katara smiled teasingly.
Aang grimaced, "Oh yeah, I could have done without those. Out of the many that we had to go to, there were probably three that were actually exciting to be at. I am almost willing to say that running from the Fire Nation was more fun than those things."
Katara giggled at his comment, "Well I guess that is what you get when you stick a whole bunch of politicians in a social setting," she then stopped talking, remembering that her dad could be seen as one of those politicians. She turned to look at him and saw him raising an eyebrow at her, "No offence dad."
"None taken," Hakoda laughed, "I could almost agree with you two."
"Well," Aang said, "let's just make sure that we will do this party right."
"You don't have to worry about that Aang," Hakoda said, "most of the planning for it is already done; we just have to put it together. The council has already managed to get some volunteers to help set it up so if you and Katara would just like to relax the next few days, we can take care of the party."
Aang and Katara looked at each other, "You sure Dad?" Katara asked, "Aang and I really don't mind helping."
"I'm sure. You two deserve some rest. You ended the war. Let us worry about the celebrating."
"Well, on that note," Pakku interjected, "Kanna and I are turning in for the night. We're getting tired and it's late."
After exchanging 'good nights' with everyone he and Kanna left the room and began to head back to their house, which was neighboring Hakoda's home.
Sokka yawned tiredly and he got up and began to walk over to the stairs that would eventually lead to his room, "I am going to go ahead and follow their example. See you guys in the morning."
This left Hakoda, Katara, and Aang in the room and the three glanced at one another.
"So you sure you don't need help?" Aang asked Hakoda, restarting their previous conversation.
"Trust me Aang, you and my daughter just spend some time with each other," Hakoda answered, before adding teasingly, "besides, we all know how you can get when it comes to helping out. I don't think Katara would appreciate it much if you forgot about her again."
Aang blushed as Katara giggled at her father's comment. When they had first arrived at the South Pole and introduced Aang as her boyfriend, he had been very nervous. So much so that he had insisted on helping out her family with every little thing as he tried to impress them. This had him working all day and it got to the point where he was pretty much ignoring her, spending all his time with the rest of the family. This whole fiasco finally ended when Kanna sat Aang down and told him that he doesn't need to try to impress them for them to accept him as Katara's boyfriend. Kanna had finished that conversation by telling Aang that she better not see him neglecting Katara again, and since then Aang had been very successful at giving Katara all of his attention, much to his girlfriend's enjoyment. Still, the whole situation was something that the family never let Aang forget.
"Is anyone ever going to let me forget that," Aang sighed, finally responding to the watertribe chief's comment.
"What would be the fun of that?" Katara teased before leaning over to whisper in Aang's ear, "between you and me though, I would say you have more than made up for it." She kissed his cheek.
Hakoda smiled at the exchange, happy to know that his daughter had found someone that she was happy with and he supported them as much as he could. "Well I think I am going to follow everyone else and head to bed. I will see you two in the morning. Good night."
"Good night Dad," Katara told him as she watched him go up the stairs to his room.
Once they were alone, Aang looked at his girlfriend, remembering her quietness from before and decided to bring it up, "Are you sure you're okay? You looked worried about something."
Katara looked back at him with a confused look on her face, "What?"
"Earlier," he explained, "when you said you were just thinking about how things have changed. I just thought that you looked worried about something."
"Oh," Katara said, learning her head on his shoulder, "I was just thinking about what my mother once told me. Don't worry about it."
Aang wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him, "Katara, you should know by now that if something worries you then it makes me worry."
"Well you don't have to worry about this though okay. It was just something that crossed my mind, nothing more."
"You sure?" he moved to her front and gazed at her skeptically. She seemed like she was trying to reassure herself, "you seem a little unsure about that."
Katara sighed, remembering the feeling she had that something bad was going to happen. She pulled Aang into an embrace and wrapped her arms around him while resting her head on his shoulder trying to find a little comfort, "I just…you don't think anyone will try something do you?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, his arms wrapped around her.
"I mean, you don't think someone will try to destroy the peace that we made…right?"
Aang pulled away from her to look her in the eye, "Is that what you are worried about? Katara, I think if someone was going to try something, they would have done it by now."
Katara gently bit her bottom lip nervously, "I…I just have this feeling that something is going to happen, you know? I can't help but think that it will true."
"Katara…" Aang began pulling her to his chest, letting her rest her head there as he held her in his arms. He rested his head on top of hers before continuing, "I know that it is hard to forget what we went thought during the war but that is over now. We won, and everything is fine. Do you really think that after one hundred years of war, someone will actually try to start another one?"
She smiled against his chest, "No I guess not…but still."
"Just don't worry about it okay?" he told her, kissing the top of her head.
She just nodded against his chest as she snuggled closer to him.
The couple sat there for a while holding each other as Aang rocked her gently back and forth, but eventually they both became tired and decided that they should head up to their respective rooms. Aang stood up, grabbing Katara's hand as he helped her to stand up next to him. The young Avatar walked her to her room like he often did, and stood by her bedside as she lay down and pulled the covers over herself. He bent down to kiss her lips gently, "Good night, love you."
"Love you to," she whispered tiredly.
Aang turned to leave her room to head to his own room when he heard her voice from behind.
"Aang?"
He turned back to face her from his spot in the doorway.
"Tomorrow," she continued, "let's take Appa to go flying for a bit. Just you and me, okay?
Aang smiled at her. Katara and him often took the bison out flying every few days to keep him company and they later found out that Appa didn't mind if they had some alone time on his saddle. It gave the couple some much needed alone time away from Sokka's watchful gaze, so either one of them always jumped right on the idea if one of them suggested to go flying.
"Looking forward to it," he told her as he turned back to head for his room.
Katara smiled, knowing the following day would be a good one, and all thoughts of her previous worries gone from her mind.
Hope you all like it so far. I will probably do weekly updates for this, but I may update a little more then that depending on how much time I have to write. I will at LEAST do weekly updates though.