this is how remembering begins
Summary: "Long ago, there was a dragon, and his home was in the sea…" Katara tells her friends the story of The Dragon and The Moon. Written for Zutara Month 2018, Day 11: "Mythology."
A/N: This is actually gonna be part of my ongoing story, "This War of Ours," but since I've been neglecting that for Zutara Month, I decided to polish this up for the prompt and tweak it so it'll be easier to fit into the 'verse. For those following TWoO, this may contain minor spoilers, but really, it's just a preview of what's to come, 'cause not much is happening in that fic yet, honestly. For those who haven't read TWoO yet, just a bit of a backgrounder so the setting's not confusing: it's a sort of Harry Potter-inspired AU where most of the Gaang stays in one school that trains them in combat.
As with most chapters in "This War of Ours," credits for the title goes to a poet. This one's from Merlinda Carullo Bobis' "Word Gifts for an Australian Critic." Now that's done, let's get on with the fic. Enjoy!
"So what's the deal with this lunar whatever?" Toph said, lying down in the cold stone floor of the library.
Katara shuddered and hugged her arms to herself, closing her eyes at the memory. She'd seen a handful of eclipses before, but none had affected her bending quite as drastically.
"It's this thing that happens once in a while where the moon turns red 'cause the earth comes between the moon and the sun or something," Sokka unrolled a dusty scroll, nearly upending the haphazard pile from the table. "Gran-Gran wasn't much for science, so all we heard about 'em were fairytales. Katara ate them all up."
Katara scowled at him. "Well, I thought The Dragon and the Moon was just beautiful."
"Of course you would, you're a girl," her brother shrugged. "Fairytales don't explain why you lost your bending."
"Well— well, you're just heartless!"
"No, I just prefer facts—"
"Hang on, nerds," Toph interrupted. She tapped her foot on the floor almost lazily. "Wanna join the fun, Sparky?"
Zuko emerged from the shadows of the shelves, scowling.
"What are you doing?" he asked, looking at the scrolls strewn around the trio.
"Lookin' for some explanation on that bright light you guys saw and that sky thing that took Sugar Queen's bending," Toph picked dirt between her toes. "Oh, and these dorks were arguing about fairytales and other crap."
Katara crossed her arms and frowned at the blind girl. "The Dragon and the Moon is not crap!"
"You have dragon myths in the South?" Zuko asked, sitting on the floor beside Toph.
"Yeah, the Fire Nation doesn't have a monopoly on dragons, Your Highness," Katara said sardonically, then frowned. "Although… now that I think about it, this might be our only dragon myth."
"How does it go?" Zuko asked, and Sokka guffawed into his scroll.
"Oh, Jerkbender, you do not wanna know," he said, waving him the Fire Prince away. "It's just a cheesy Spirits love story."
"You didn't seem to think it was that cheesy when you cried over it," Katara retorted, sticking her tongue out at him.
"I didn't cry!" Sokka squawked, brandishing his unfurled scroll at his sister. "Warriors don't cry!"
"Ooh, now I wanna hear the story!" Toph sat up and smacked her fist into her palm. "Let's make Snoozles cry!"
Zuko tried— and failed— to disguise his laugh as a cough.
"Ha! See, even Prince Pouty wants to make Snoozles cry. Cry! Cry! Cry!"
Sokka pouted at them all as Toph continued chanting.
"Cry! Cry! Cry! Cry!"
"Toph, we're in the library," Katara reminded her, pinching the bridge of her nose. Toph simply blew her bangs from her face with a wicked grin.
Katara fell backwards as Toph's earth column toppled her stool.
"Hey!"
"Sweetness, it's summer. No one's in the Academy," the earthbender reminded her in the same condescending tone. "Get that stick outta your butt and tell us the story already! I wanna hear how pathetic Snoozles would be."
Sokka threw his hands up and gathered an armful of scrolls, dragging himself two tables away. Katara chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Zuko.
"You sure you wanna hear a story about a sea dragon and the Moon Spirit? Shouldn't you be having tea with the Headmaster or something?"
He shrugged. "You know how Uncle is about learning from other cultures."
Katara nodded and Toph crowed.
"Alright!" she leaned back on her grubby hands and looked expectantly in Katara's direction. "Hit it, Sweetness!"
Katara took a deep breath and remembered how Gran-Gran used to tell the tale.
"Long ago, there was a dragon, and his home was in the sea—"
Zuko frowned. "Dragons can't breathe underwater."
"You're really arguing the logic of a fairytale?" Katara countered. Zuko just rolled his eyes and motioned for her to continue.
"Long ago, there was a dragon, and his home was in the sea.
"The Spirits created him to lead souls into his home and bring them to the Spirit World. The dragon delighted in his task— he had maws that could swallow villages whole, jaws that could snap ships in half, a powerful body that could coil twice around the largest sea creature.
"But over time, the dragon grew restless in his duty. Mortals fled from him, frightened of his Spirit-given duty, and the depths of the sea no longer felt like home.
"He sought the presence of the moon, for she was the only one he saw in his dark world. Though she was the force opposite his own, as her duty was to guide mortals through the darkness of endless nights, the two found solace in each other.
"The moon felt the dragon's anguish deep in her heart. She, too, no longer felt at peace in the vast expanse of the black sky. While she delighted in guiding mortals with her light, she felt envious of their freedom to roam the lands, and would watch from her perch in the sky as the mortals lived, loved, and lost. She longed to be among them, instead of above them, and praised only for fulfilling what the Spirits created her to do.
"In the darkness, they grew closer and whispered their longing to be together, to be free of the prisons granted to them by their creators. The moon told the dragon stories of the mortals she'd guided, stories of family and love and friendship. The dragon responded with confessions of his guilt, being the last thing mortals saw before the Spirits took them.
"The moon, compassionate in nature, drew closer to the dragon, wishing in her heart of hearts that she could guide him from his lair, and soon, she hung too low in the sky to guide weary travelers away from the treacherous waters, and the dragon, touched by the moon's stories, took it upon himself to create gentle waves that would send mortals safely to land, so they may live with the freedom he did not have.
"The Spirits, seeing this, became enraged and vowed to keep the two apart. They sent the dragon deeper into the sea, that he may never see the moon, and they sent the moon higher into the sky, that she may never touch the shores.
"But darkness was death once one saw the light. Nothing could stop the dragon from breaking free from his lair to see the moon. He coiled and he coiled and he coiled his powerful body and sprung high into the air. The moon laughed gleefully from her heavenly place, and the dragon flew towards her, eager to finally hold her in his arms.
"But alas, defying the Spirits comes with a heavy price. The Spirits' gift was also the Spirits' curse.
"The dragon's nature was to devour— so devour he did, and before he knew what had happened, his beloved moon was gone.
"His mighty roar shook the mountains and called up the waves, and he twisted and twisted on himself, creating whirlwinds that destroyed everything in its path.
"He cried to the Spirits in anguish, and the Spirits laughed. How foolish they were, they said, for thinking they could escape the lot they'd given them. But before the dragon could reply, the moon's warmth filled him, and her voice thundered around them.
"'You gave us life, yet you mock our desire to live,' she said, 'We hold the mortals' fates in our hands, and yet we do not hold our own.'
"'What, then, do you ask of us?' the Spirits sneered. 'Freedom from the duties you are bound to?'
"'No,' the moon answered from within the dragon. 'But if you want us to continue doing the duties you've bound us to, you will grant us a fraction of the freedom you afforded common souls.'
"'You dare negotiate with us? You have no power save for what we have bestowed!' the Spirits mocked.
"The moon glowed, blinding as her brother the sun, red as the scales of the dragon, searing as the wrath of the Spirits themselves. The dragon roared, and the moon spoke.
"'No, we do not. However, you were fools for underestimating the two of us combined.'
"Fueled by the power of the moon, the dragon ripped the seams connecting the Spirits' world from the sea and the sky. The dragon and the moon swept all over the world, tearing away the Spirits' influence on the mortal realm.
"But just as the Spirits underestimated them, so did they underestimate the power of the people.
"Warriors hunted down the monster that led them to their deaths and stole their moon. They pierced his sides with spears and drove him to the land, where he was powerless, and they forced open his maw and coaxed the moon from his belly.
"The moon, recognizing their ignorance, encouraged the dragon to flee to his home, for without the power of the Spirits protecting them, they were both greatly weakened.
"And so the moon took her place in the sky, so as to appease the people, and the dragon returned to his dark home, only devouring the souls that would satiate his hunger.
"But once in a while, the moon would leave her post to visit the dragon in the sea, with a promise to the mortals that no harm would come their way when she was gone. In these days, she would attempt to heal the dragon of his wounds, although it would always be in vain.
"In the days when the moon cries over her duty, the dragon would reach to the heavens and steal her away, if only for a few moments, and only when the warrior's spears thudded on the shores would he release her from the home they've made beneath the sea."
Silence followed Katara's story. Sokka had moved from his table to the floor beside Toph, and Zuko was staring into the distance, a furrow in his brow.
Finally, Toph spoke.
"That was not a good story."
"See! I told you!" Sokka pointed an accusing finger at the earthbender. "They don't even end up together! It sucks!"
"Yeah, why go through all the trouble if you just end up where you started?" Toph complained loudly.
Katara crossed her arms over her chest. "They did end up together! They can't be together all the time, but they're still there for each other!"
"Yeah, for a few minutes and about once a month," Toph argued snidely, and Sokka overrode her.
"They sacrificed the protection of the Spirits to be together and they still ended up doing what the Spirits wanted them to do!" He stood up and gestured for emphasis, his voice squeaking at uncertain places. "What kind of sad arctic seal dung is that?"
"But they loved each other enough to make do with what little time they had to be together!" Katara replied in a practiced tone— this was an argument she was familiar with. "They got their freedom, but all things come with a price."
"That's just some made-up lesson Gran-Gran taught us so we wouldn't sneak off into the tundra to go penguin-sledding!"
"This still doesn't explain why you lost your bending, though," the Fire Prince finally spoke.
Katara slumped dejectedly into her stool. "No, it doesn't."
"That's why we need to keep looking!" Sokka pointed to one of the higher shelves of the Water Tribes' section. "Toph, pull me up some earth, will ya?"
Toph grinned deviously and slammed a foot into the ground, shooting the Water Tribe boy nearly into the ceiling.
"Toph!"
"Firebenders lose their bending on solar eclipses," Zuko mused, ignoring the commotion caused by the squawking boy and the cackling girl. "Maybe it happens to waterbenders, too?"
Katara shook her head. "I've seen about two or three lunar eclipses before. I felt weak, sure, but I didn't lose my bending entirely."
"I'm sorry," he replied sincerely. "There hasn't been a solar eclipse in my lifetime. I can't imagine how that feels."
"You can fight without your bending though. You wouldn't feel too helpless," Katara smiled weakly. "You have your dao swords. I don't."
"The offer still stands, you know," Zuko said quietly. "I can still teach you how to use a sword. We still have a lot of time before term starts. You don't have to attend training under Piandao if you don't want to, but you'd be able to protect yourself."
"I'll think about it," Katara said, sliding down her stool to sit beside him on the floor. "I still don't like the idea of the Academy weaponizing whatever I learn."
"I know," he leaned forward so their arm brushed. "But it's getting really dangerous out there, with all the strange things that have happened. Uncle's not even sure he can keep students safe anymore."
Katara met his concerned gaze with her own. "Dad hasn't written in weeks. I'm really scared."
"Of course you are," Zuko gently took her hand in both of his own, tracing warm circles over her knuckles. "Trust me, if something happened to the Southern warriors, one of Uncle's friends would've sent a messenger hawk."
Katara swallowed through the lump in her throat. "Thank you, Zuko."
"Argh!"
The two sprung apart at Sokka's yelp. Toph wandered over to them from two shelves down, smirking.
"If you two are done smooching, I think Snoozles found something."
"What is it?" Katara scrambled up, dusting her clothes off.
Toph blithely waved a hand over her sightless eyes. "How'm I supposed to know, Sweetness?"
"You guys have got to see this!" Sokka nearly collided with the three of them. "I found something on the bright light!"
He waved a scroll over his head and thrust it at Zuko, who was nearest him.
The firebender frowned at the text.
"What?" Katara glanced between Zuko and her brother impatiently. "What does it say? What does the bright light mean?"
The Fire Prince rolled the scroll shut, face grim.
"It means the Avatar has returned."
A/N: Gah, I'm finally done! I had a really hard time writing the myth— which is sad, 'cause it's based on an actual Filipino folk story about the Baconawa, a moon-eating dragon. But hearing the story and writing it are two different beasts. Anyway, I know this fic's setting might be a bit confusing, so please tell me what you think!