Avatar: The Last Airbender
Water.
Earth.
Fire.
Air.
It has been six years since the end of the Great War. Since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai.
The citizens are working hard to reconstruct their battered countries, and there has been great success so far. Fire Lord Zuko had reclaimed his nation's honor; Toph is now a great earthbending trainer; Sokka is chief of the Southern Water Tribe, with Suki at his side; Aang had started up a group called The United People's Society.
Great progress had been made in reuniting the Four Nations. Much is being done to maintain order and peace. But my friends and I know that where there is light, there is shadow.
No matter how far we've come, there is always more work to be done.
Chapter Nine: Rising Storm
Part One
"Katara!" Zuko gasped, and rushed to his girlfriend's side. She was doubled over, clutching her baby bump and drawing in sharp, pained breaths. "What's wrong?"
"They're...coming..." Katara said between breaths.
"What?" Zuko's mind went numb with confusion. He jolted as he soon figured it out. "Wait, what? You mean the babies?" He started to get very panicky.
"The twins are coming?" Toph had suddenly appeared at their side. "Now?"
"Yes..." Katara's hand flung out and she grasped Zuko's arm tightly. She locked her sharp, bloodshot gaze with his. "Get. Help. Now!"
"Got it," Aang said quickly. Before Zuko could even glance at him, the Avatar sped off in a burst of wind.
Katara flicked her gaze from Toph to Zuko questioningly. Zuko nodded, and gripped her under her arms and helped her to her feet. "Toph, we need to help her inside the building!" he barked the command.
"I'm on it." The blind earthbender stepped forward. In one smooth motion, she thrust her foot against the front door. It immediately disintegrated.
"Well, I wasn't originally thinking that you kick down the door, but whatever," Zuko said, mostly to himself.
"I'm sorry," Toph responded. "Would you rather have waited until one of the ice people came along with the key?" Her voice was heavy with sarcasm.
"Never mind." Zuko rolled his eyes at the blind woman, and proceeded to help Katara into the square house. Katara grunted with the effort, and still heaved sharp breaths.
"Aang, you better hurry the hell up," Zuko heard Toph mutter.
"Okay, here." Still supporting the woman, Zuko yanked one of the dining chairs into the middle of the floor. He stumbled next to it, and eased Katara into the chair. She sighed with relief as her weight was lifted.
"Dude, the kids aren't due for another..." Toph fell silent as she mentally did the math. "...month-and-a-half!"
"Oh, well." Zuko didn't leave his girlfriend's side as he turned to Toph. "Some babies are born premature. It happens. I was born prematurely," he added.
"Oh." Toph stared up at him with unseeing green eyes. "No wonder you're so ugly." She gave an impish grin.
Suddenly Toph glanced behind her, and muttered, "Finally."
Zuko momentarily left Katara as he peeked out the doorway. He hardly made out a small dust cloud that seemed to be approaching the building. With a small gasp, he recognized the dust cloud as Aang's classic air blast.
"How did you know?" he couldn't help but ask Toph as he turned his gaze from the doorway. "I'd imagine, with the snowy ground and those thick fur boots, you'd have a hard time seeing everything." Toph truly was blind, but she had a unique way of 'seeing' by reading the motions from the ground.
"Well, if you must know," Toph began, "lately I've really been honing my earthbending skills. Now I can see much more easier than before."
"Ah." Zuko nodded knowingly, even though he really had no idea exactly what the blind woman was talking about. Zuko didn't know much of earthbending; he was only a firebender.
Aang suddenly burst through the doorway and into the house. Behind him tagged two women—one old and one young.
"Oh my gosh!" The older woman practically flew to Katara's side. "Are you all right, dear?"
"Fine," Katara responded in breaths. "Babies. Coming."
"Oh, yes! Of course. Yanna—" The older woman turned to the younger one. "Hand me those towels and water now!"
Zuko switched his gaze to the woman called Yanna. He hadn't noticed that she held medical supplies. She cautiously approached the older woman and Katara, handing them the requested supplies.
Zuko turned away as the older Water Tribe woman had started taking care of his girlfriend.
"Now, Katara," she spoke very smoothly and clearly, "I need you to relax onto the floor. Delivery will be much easier than on that old chair."
Katara grunted as she lowered herself onto the ground, with the help of the two Water Tribe nurses. Zuko spared a quick glance at them, and decided to exit the building.
"Zuko, what's wrong?" Aang murmured as the former Fire Lord attempted to slip out of the doorway.
Haltingly, he turned to face the Avatar. "I love Katara, but I really don't think I can handle watching the birth..."
"But they're your kids," Toph interjected.
"I know. I feel horrible for leaving, but I'm really squeamish with this kind of thing." Zuko hated to admit it, but he really wasn't good with watching a delivery or anything of the sort. "Just come out for me when it's over."
Zuko didn't wait for their responses or rebukes. He shoved past Aang and pressed against the outside wall. He paused. He could still hear the sounds of Katara's struggle, and so decided to escape a little farther. Zuko slowly made his way to the edge of the village. He just stood, gazing out at the rippling icy waters.
The firebender wasn't sure how long he'd been standing at the edge of the water when he heard the familiar crunching of snow underfoot. He turned to see Toph walking up to him.
"Hey." She gave him a light pat on the back and smiled. "They're ready."
"Oh." Zuko turned back to the ocean.
"Okay," the blind woman said, pressing closer to him. "Something's bugging you, Hothead. What is it?"
The firebender sighed heavily. He answered honestly, "I don't know. This all just...feels wrong."
"You still dwelling on the affair thing?" Toph gazed at him, a deep compassion and understanding shining unusually in her green eyes.
"Yeah, I really am." Zuko sighed as he finally realized that that truly was the issue. "I'm just feeling so guilty."
"Still?"
He ignored her comment. "I just had to screw everything up and go and have a thing with Katara. I betrayed my wife and my daughter. I betrayed my nation." Tears threatened to flow. Zuko wiped at his eyes and continued, "I screwed up badly with Mai. Now she's out for revenge, and I don't blame her. She deserves to be mad at me for what I did. Basically, I'm the whole reason our lives were uprooted and we had to move to this...this..." He suddenly found himself at a loss for a proper description of the South Pole.
"This frozen hell?" Toph offered with a small grin.
"Yeah."
Toph blew out a long, exasperated sigh. "Jeesh, what are you, the world's most sobby couple?" She gave another sigh, and turned to face Zuko squarely. "Okay, listen up, 'cause I'm getting damn sick of repeating myself. Quit feeling so damned sorry for yourself! Dude, it's over. What's done is done, got it? It's in the past—" She animatedly swept her arm to the back. "—and there's nothing you can do about it now, okay? You gotta stop dwelling on the past. Nothing good can possibly come out of it. Besides," Toph added, "I dunno about you, but it seems we're pretty happy here."
"We've been here only for a few hours," Zuko pointed out.
"Nevertheless, you don't hear anyone complaining, do you?" She grinned as she said, "Katara's absolutely head-over-heels in love with you, Fireboy. Anywhere you go, she goes. And this is her home; she's perfectly comfortable here. As for me....I hate the cold, but I wanted to be with my friends. And Aang...." She trailed off, and paused for a few moments. "Well, Aang's just a giddy idiot. Is it really any surprise that he followed us here?"
Zuko chuckled softly. "I guess you have a point."
"Of course I do." Toph gave him a nudge, and turned away from the ocean. "Now come on. Your family's waiting for you." She flashed him a warm smile.
Zuko hung his arms around her shoulders as the two walked back to what now would be his and Katara's house.
Zuko came to the doorway, and he hesitated as he stood just outside the door.
He felt a light shove on his back as Toph hissed, "Go on!"
So Zuko ventured further into the house. He didn't see Katara nor Aang nor the two Water Tribe nurses. Automatically he called for them.
"In here!" came Aang's muffled reply.
Zuko and Toph followed the sound of his voice until they finally made their way into one of the bedrooms. His eyes found the Avatar, and traced the path to the two nurses and finally he spotted Katara. His girlfriend was settled snugly in the new bed, with the covers pulled up all around her. Katara looked weary, exhausted, but absolutely elated as she gazed down at the twin newborns that rested in her arms.
Zuko cautiously took a step forward, and then another, fearful that the wrong footstep would shatter the beautiful image that lay before him.
"Keep going," came Katara's weak voice. She grinned at him as he slowly walked towards her.
"Wow," he breathed as his new children came into better view. "Two little boys..."
"Uh..." Toph suddenly appeared at his side. She leaned forward and muttered, "You might want to get a better look."
Zuko came to Katara's bedside, and realized that they were, in fact, a little boy and a little girl. Tears of happiness started forming as he just stood and stared at the little miracles of life.
"They're the most beautiful things in the world," Zuko murmured his thoughts.
"Aren't they?" Katara's smile was nearly taking over her whole face.
Zuko glanced lovingly at her. "Just like their mother."
Aang appeared on the other side of her bed, opposite Zuko. "They're awfully small, though," he remarked.
Zuko shrugged. "Doesn't make them any less precious," he responded simply.
"What are you gonna name them?" Toph suddenly asked from her spot beside Aang.
Zuko glanced at her. Toph's eyes sparkled with fresh tears, and her cheeks were starting to redden, but a wide smile was plastered on her face.
He tore his gaze away from the blind earthbender to stare at the mother of his children. "Well?" he prompted. "What shall we name them?"
Tears flowing down her cheeks, Katara gazed at the sleeping children in her arms. Suddenly, the baby girl stirred, and opened her eyes. She peered blearily at her mother. Then her eyes took in her surroundings. As the infant stared at Zuko, something jolted inside him as he noticed her eyes.
"Green eyes..." he murmured, mostly to himself. "Where did she get green eyes?"
"Kayana," his girlfriend said suddenly, as if he'd never spoken. She looked back up at Zuko. "Her name is Kayana."
The former Fire Lord grinned through tears. "Kayana. That's perfect."
"What about the baby boy?" Aang asked softly.
Katara spared a glance to her son. "I'm thinking Huangji."
Zuko heard a small gasp escape Toph's mouth upon mention of the name, but he thought nothing of it.
"What do you think?" Katara was staring up at him again.
Zuko never took his eyes off of their children. "Kayana and Huangji. I think it's perfect, Katara." He leaned down and gave her a long, loving kiss on the mouth. "They're perfect," he added, laying a hand on top of baby Huangji. "I have a son." His heart swelled at the site of his children, and he leaned over to kiss his girlfriend again.
•••
Toph's heart lurched as Katara named her baby boy Huangji. Toph knew that she and Katara were the only ones who knew where the name came from. The waterbender sometimes would volunteer at The White Lotus Hospital, back in the Fire Nation. Among the patients, there was Huangji, a little Earth Kingdom boy who had contracted the dragon fever. A couple of days before Team Avatar left the Fire Nation, Katara attempted to pay the little boy a final visit, but the boy had passed away about a week before. Toph never knew Huangji personally, but even she felt a slight connection with him; many years ago, as she told Katara, she had a sister named Kai Lin who had contracted the dragon fever and died from it. It was difficult for Toph to tell the story. She barely remembered anything of her older sister—the moment she died, her parents never mentioned her again. At the time, Kai Lin was eight years old, and Toph was only five—far too young to remember a dead sister, her parents had assumed.
Somehow Toph couldn't stop crying...not at the death of her sister, but at the birth of her friend's children. She automatically stepped forward, and lay her hands on the twins, named Kayana and Huangji. For the first time in her life, Toph wished she had sight so that she could see the beauty of the infants. She had been born blind, but had managed to get around unassisted thanks to her super-sensitive earthbending abilities: she could read footsteps and vibrations in the ground, and so could 'see' her surroundings.
As Toph rested her hands on the twins, she studied their breathing and blood pressure. They both seemed perfectly healthy considering they were born a month-and-a-half premature. The babies definitely felt abnormally small, but Toph wasn't worried. Suddenly, the baby girl twitched, and Toph focused more on her. The earthbender extended her senses, and searched the child's health.
"Uh, Katara..." Toph began, still focusing her senses on baby Kayana. "I think there's something wrong with her..."
She could feel a sudden bolt of panic and fear strike Katara. "What do you mean? Is my baby okay?"
"Yeah. Um. I dunno." Toph paused as she probed the child's health. "It might be nothing, but her breathing and heart rate are irregular."
"Oh, dear." Toph heard one of the nurses who'd helped with the delivery approach the bedside. "Really?" She also put a hand on the baby girl's chest.
"Yeah, see?" Toph moved the nurse's hand to the spot where the heart rate irregularity was most noticeable.
"Oh, dear," the woman repeated softly. She withdrew her hands, and continued in a much cheerier tone, "Well, it is something, but it really shouldn't yield any problems in the future."
Katara let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness!"
Toph huffed. Through the earth, she could sense that the nurse was not telling the whole truth. This greatly angered Toph, but she didn't want to worry Katara, and so wasn't about to expose whatever the nurse was hiding.
"Aang..." Toph hated to break the peaceful silence. "I think we should get moving. We gotta go scope out our houses."
"Oh." The Avatar hesitated. "Um, Toph, I don't— well, we can always do it tomorrow—"
"Aang." Katara's voice was gentle and filled with compassion. "Go with Toph. We're fine right here."
"Uh, okay." Aang sounded surprised. "All right, come on, Toph. We'll see you guys later," he added in a squeaky-high voice directed to the infants.
Toph couldn't help but chuckle.
"Wow," Aang began as they left the house. "They're really precious, aren't they?"
"Yeah," Toph agreed. "Far as I can tell. First time I wish I wasn't blind," she admitted in a small voice. "What I would do for at least a moment when I could see the twins."
Aang placed a firm hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Toph, I—" He paused, and she could sense that he was at a loss for words. Suddenly the silent moment between her and Aang jolted something in Toph. Her heart beat started to quicken with a yearn for the young man.
"Look, Aang—" Now she momentarily found herself at a loss for words. "I—The whole thing, with Katara and Zuko and the babies...it all got me to thinking, uh..." She trailed off.
"What? Got you to thinking what?" She could swear the Avatar was staring into her eyes.
"Um...what about us?" Toph's heart lurched as she waited for his answer.
"Toph, erm...I'm not sure there is an us just yet." Aang shifted his feet uneasily. "I mean, it's kind of fast for me."
The blind woman longed to argue with him, but she knew that it would be futile. She sighed, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine. We'll wait." The words came out sharp and clipped with frustration. Toph's eyes briefly started to sting with the threat of fresh tears. She shut her eyes and turned away from the man. Without another word, she stomped off back toward the cluster of newly-constructed houses.
Tears had just started to flow as she came to the front door of her chosen house. She gripped the knob, ready to open the door, when sharp vibrations in the ground caught her attention. Toph froze, studying the vibrations.
Within moments, she recognized the footsteps all too well.
End of Chapter Nine, Part One.