Lost Stories of the Last Nomads

Author's Notes:

This is my 'Spirit Moon' story revamped and re-titled. Minor changes, corrections, and better chapter breaks. Totally new material begins with the chapter titled 'The Banished Spirit's Tale' and continues from there. I'm not going to delete the old piece because i don't want to lose the comments.

I got the idea for the belt swapping from Kota Magic and the piece Avatar: the wind on the water. Everything else is of my own creation- except, you know, the whole Avatar universe. That belongs to Bryke.

This is written in the same time/storyline as my other piece 'Avatar Spirit.' I reference it heavily, but you don't necessarily need to read it to understand this.

This starts with Aang and Katara's wedding night… well, their second wedding. It will make sense when you read it. I know their wedding night is overdone, so I didn't go into detail. This will be the story of their life after the creation of Republic City.

Rated M for language and adults have sex. Couples are comfortable with their bodies and sexuality around each other, especially ones that have been together and known each other as long as Aang and Katara have.

Also violence and gore.

(silly author's note, I met my spouse at 14. yes. Young, first love that blossoms from friendship really happens… it's probably why I love Kataang as much as I do because I can relate to them.)

So... welcome newcomers, and welcome back my faithful followers. Enjoy the read! Please leave reviews!

Wedding Memories

She was his everything. His mentor, his equal, his partner, his lover, his wife, his best friend.

She was leaning across the railing, overlooking the city they had created together, from the balcony on the island home they had founded. She was bathed in greys and whites in the dim light. The long pale underskirt was hugging her hips and her long wild hair was brushing across her bare lower back. The locks were apparently happy to be free of its strict plaits and dance gently with the breeze. The moon was waning to a quarter empty. Enough light to reflect off the bay and illuminate the surroundings, but not enough to cast strong shadows. A new breeze tugged the wavy brunette tresses around her shoulder, now exposing her entire back, wrapped in bindings that matched her underskirt.

Well, this breeze came from inside of the bungalow, not out of it.

She turned and peered toward the source of the gust of air that blew contrary to the natural breeze. There was a bald and bearded, yet handsome young man leaning shirtless and barefoot against the door frame, devouring her with his stormy grey eyes.

The same eyes she had seen look up at her so hopefully 11 years ago when she found the young man as just a boy, frozen in time in an iceberg. At the time, she too had just been a young girl as well. Two children who would shape history, just like they could shape the clouds.

The young man thought back for a moment, and his mind was flooded with the events of the past, reliving all of the good and the bad in an instant as only a memory can do.

Now it had been 10 years since the war ended. 10 years of trying to make amends. 10 years of victories and short comings. 10 years of very tentative peace. VERY tentative.

But there was peace. As much as that word may mean. Day to day crime existed. Shit happened. People were cruel and evil to each other as only humans are capable of being. But that was between individuals or small factions.

Not entire nations anymore.

The United Republic had been created from the ashes of the War- a gathering of colonies that had formed their own unique mingling of nationalities. For thousands of years prior to The War the nations had been at relative peace, but separate. The globe was previously divided in four based on the elemental bending abilities of the races.

Now there was a place where differences were embraced and celebrated.

For a hundred years previously though, the Fire Nation had waged war on the world following the legacy of a megalomaniac dynasty. They wiped out an entire race, and tried to enslave the others. They were finally defeated by the perseverance of a rag tag team of youths comprised of the best elemental benders and warriors from EACH nation. They had strength in their unity and were fueled by their individuality.

The final team that brought down the empire included the dishonored and banished prince of the Fire Nation and his childhood friends turned enemies of the state, the last remaining water bender from the Southern half of the Water Tribe and her swordsman brother, a blind female earth bending prodigy and a non bending skilled female warrior of the Earth Kingdom, and finally the very last surviving member of the Air Nomad race.

The survivor was also the Avatar. He was the only being on the planet that could control all four elements.

The world thought he was their savior, but he would have never succeeded, never survived, without his friends. Every single one of them, like butterflies directing a hurricane, aided him in his success at ending the war.

The world cheered him.

He cheered his friends.

And he cheered the woman before his eyes more than anyone else.

She smiled softly at the young man back in the doorway of the balcony. His formal robes from earlier had been tossed aside, leaving him in just his dark knee length harem pants. She couldn't help herself as she eyed his broad chest and toned arms lustfully. Not muscle bound or bulky, just strong and fit. No harm in finding your husband attractive. A boyish smirk crossed his face as she saw his silvery eyes make a similar trek across her body.

She cocked her brow at him and turned back out towards the city, knowingly swinging her hips and arching her back ever so slightly while flipping her hair back down her spine. After a decade, she knew exactly how to tease him. She could hear him groan from behind her and she stifled a giggle. His light footsteps were soundless as he sidled up behind her. Strong fingers wrapped around her broad hips and she could feel him melding against her backside.

"Come on, Katara, do you have to be like that?" he whispered in her ear, his trim chinstrap beard tickling her cheek. "It *is* our wedding night." He pressed a hot kiss to her shoulder, biting gently right against the crook of her neck. She moaned slightly and bucked her rear against him reflexively.

"Really, Aang?" she sighed, leaning her head back against his shoulder. He released her neck and nuzzled into her fluffy hair. It still smelled of the jasmine and cinnamon soaps she used early this morning. Before all of the festivities. She spun in his arms and looped her own around his neck. Her hips fit so nicely around his that he could feel himself twitch at the possibilities. "I thought we were married years ago?"

"Well, yeah," he mused, his cheeks blushing at old memories. Even now, after all these years she could still get to him. He rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. She smirked at his obvious tell. "But today was official-official."

"Today was a stinking joke," she laughed and kissed his rough cheek. The incense from his early morning meditations still clung to his skin. He always smelled faintly of the fragrant smoke and ozone.

"Well, yeah," he repeated, chuckling again. "I liked our first wedding way better. You know I couldn't wait for the finalization of Republic City to marry you." He brushed his knuckles across her cheek, remembering how the crowd giggled and awwed as he kept brushing her hair loopies out of her face during the breezy ceremony earlier. Some servants had painted her up in the latest makeup styles for the occasion, leaving her lovely, but with a sticky gloss on her lips that her hair kept getting trapped in. When the time came, he didn't want to kiss her and smear it. It was honestly the only thing he truly remembered of the whirlwind day. "It's fun marrying you, though."

The pair had put off marriage for much longer than either of their cultures typically did in order to spend their time focusing on the Harmony Restoration Project. The reparations following the Hundred Year War turned into a decade long process of unifying the nations into a single, new nation. They had put so much effort into the project for so long they had let their personal lives get pushed aside. There never seemed to be a good time for the whole pomp and circumstance of a wedding- which was sure to become a huge to-do. It was destined to be an even bigger celebration than the wedding of Firelord Zuko and Firelady Mae as Avatar Aang and Lady Katara were beloved by most of the world. Because of this, they kept waiting for the finalization of Republic City in order to have the official wedding. It would be the culmination of all of their hard work and a fitting tribute to the unification of the races. Because of this, the couple had just about zero say in what had happened that day.

It had been loud and extravagant. Speeches and rituals jig sawed from each nation into a single ludicrously long ceremony. A day filled with an absurd amount of stuffy nobles from all over the world monopolizing the couple's time in order to rub elbows with the most influential people on the planet. Extravagant feasts with music and servants from every corner of the globe. It was above and beyond anything Aang and Katara wanted. They had given up any control of the events many months ago. They realized the celebration was more for the people of the world than themselves. For the crowds they had smiled and bowed, kissed and danced on cue. Everyone in attendance was so happy. Only their closest friends could see the strain around their eyes and the hear cracks in their voices as they appeased yet another dignitary's request.

At least the Best Man's speech was funny, reliving the glory days. The Maid of Honor's speech was short, blunt, and to the point, just like her.

As far as most of the world knew, the couple had been engaged for nearly five years before today. In reality, and as far as they were concerned, they had already been married for two.

"Yeah, that little ceremony we had at the Southern Air Temple was much nicer," Katara smiled, picturing the simple, private affair. "Just the six of us like old times- well, plus the Acolytes who were present."

"I'm a simple monk, what can I say." Aang cocked his brow at Katara as he pressed his hips into hers harder, leaning her into the balcony railing. His voice dropped in pitch in an attempt at seduction. "But this time it's just you and me. On our very own private island, in our own private temple. No catcalling from Toph or 'Oogie' screaming from your brother…"

"Oh goodness," Katara laughed, rolling her eyes at her husband. This was old hat for them. "You're ridiculous, you know that, right?"

"What?!" he drew that one word out sarcastically innocent. "It's not my fault that I have a hot wife!"

"Aang, I'm exhausted," Katara huffed, pushing at him a bit. "Today was insane. I thought we talked about this- that none of that 'wedding night' BS mattered. Especially since we've been married for years already… and have been… together… for even longer than that." Her mind tracked back for an instant on a night years ago under a full moon on the Winter Solstice.

"I know…" He flashed a viciously hungry smile that Katara immediately recognized. "Doesn't mean I can't try!"

"Oh no… don't you da-ARE! AANG!" she squealed as she felt his gentle grip on her hips turn into a vice as he effortlessly lifted her and slung her over his shoulder. Katara was no skinny mini- years of training and maturation had left her more muscled and heavier than meets the eye. But age and training had filled Aang's frame as well- and he had always been immensely strong anyways.

Her shriek had been so loud she was sure folks on the mainland would have been able to hear it. She playfully kicked and struggled weakly for a few moments before laughing and hanging slack, defeated. She propped her face up on one hand and tapped slender fingers of the other along his spinal tattoo line. She summoned some nearby water and energized it, sliding the liquid through her fingers along the blue mark. She trailed her touch down past his waistband to just above his cleave where the tattoo split. This drew a shudder from him as she knew it would. He gave her ass a playful slap in response, laughing.

"We had a long day, and have an even longer one tomorrow," she whined. He could feel her breasts bobbing against his back even though she was still wearing her bindings. He added a little more bounce to his step for good measure.

"I can't carry my wonderful wife to our bed so she can rest?" he chided as they entered their bedroom.

"You are sooooo full of it," she mocked and laughed again. He unceremoniously slung her down onto their bed. They were years past tentative and gentle romance. No cradling her and carrying her gently over the threshold for them.

He crawled his way up the bed and held himself up over her. He slid her legs apart with his knees, nestling himself comfortably against her center. His fingers trailed up her sides, dipping between each rib and along her arms up to her wrists, pinning her down. Her sky blue eyes shimmered with anticipation and lust, ignoring her own protests and earlier decision to just sleep.

"I'd rather you be full of it," he purred before sealing his mouth to hers.

Early the next morning, Aang was tightening down the straps on the giant sky bison's saddle and horn reigns while Katara was finishing packing their meager supplies. The black and white flying lemur was more grey and white now, curled up on the bison's rump. He was getting fairly old for a lemur, but still had some good years left in him. It was a pleasant spring morning on Air Temple Island as The Avatar and his wife prepared for their long awaited honeymoon. Construction of the buildings on the island had actually wrapped up only a few weeks prior, just like many of the final agreements and treaties for Republic City had just recently been finalized.

Aang glanced back toward the bungalow and caught sight of his wife as she was finishing brushstrokes on something she was writing. Her hair was more free flowing than her typical single tight braid, just half tied back. Something else was different about her hair, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. She wore her traditional blue travel dress and sported her long black finger-less riding gloves. A yellow sash was tied around her waist instead of her blue one. She looked serious and ready for battle. Exactly the way he knew she would always look.

He loved that about her, so full of spirit and fire. Serious while he was playful- but ready to be jovial with him at a moment's notice. Making her giggle and laugh and break out of her stoic disposition was one of his favorite pastimes. He could feel his face making a dopey, doe-eyed expression and couldn't help it.

She peered out through the open window and put her writing brush down. She had been leaving extra instructions for her water bending students in case they stopped by while she was gone. She had fully prepared them for her absence, but still wanted to cover every possible angle. Her eyes locked with his and she saw his goofy grin as he leaned into the shaggy white fur of their animal companion. Simple orange and yellow sashes slung asymmetrically over one shoulder and tucked into his bright blue belt. She covered her laugh with her hand and waved when she saw her husband shake his head and cheeks turn rosy, realizing he had been caught staring. He lost his balance a bit and slid off the bison's leg, just barely catching his footing in time with the aid of a gust of air. He tugged at the blue sash subconsciously, just like she would when encountering lustful thoughts. Even after a night of intense passion, silly little things would still make him flush.

Years ago they had accidentally swapped belts in a frantic dash for clothing after they had heard Sokka loudly approaching their tent one morning. The waterbender's brother knew exactly what had been going on for some time between his sister and best friend- which was why he was being so noisy. He enjoyed torturing them into thinking he disapproved of their actions and was being over protective. On the contrary- he really didn't care and would have been hypocritical to have said anything otherwise. They were old enough to make whatever decisions they wanted with each other. He had at their age. As long as no one got hurt –or pregnant- who was he to judge?

They had taken to sharing a tent some time after the war, and sharing a bedroll shortly after Aang had turned 16. When they tumbled out of their tent that morning, mumbling their typical denials of any amorous or scandalous acts, Sokka had eyeballed their belts hard and gave them squirrely looks, but said nothing. Just glared at them for about ten minutes until they figured it out. The look of terror and utter mortification on their faces when they realized that the owl-cat was out of the bag was worth it. Before they could babble some kind of lame explanation, Sokka was doubled over with laughter, unable to catch his breath as tears leaked from the corners of his eyes.

"What's so damn funny, Sokka?" Katara had demanded angrily of her brother. "Are you going to give me some lecture on purity and virtue now?"

"Oh can it Sugar Queen," Toph had shouted from inside her earth tent. "Sokka's been fucking with you two for months. Everyone knows you two haven't been 'pure' in a long time!"

Aang and Katara had gasped in shock- hadn't they been discrete enough?

"Is… is that true, Sokka?" Aang had tentatively stammered. He was more embarrassed than his lover by far. "You've known…and haven't said anything? Aren't you mad or something?"

"Mad? Bwahahahaha!" Sokka had finally caught his breath and looked up at Aang- actually up as Aang had grown so much that he was taller than the other young man. He put a firm hand on his friend's shoulder, wiping away a tear with the other. "What's there to be mad about? Suki and I were doing the same before the War ended! I'm just sad that I can't pretend to be hating you for touching my sister anymore. Blue is a good color on you, buddy." He laughed, flicking the trailing ends of the sash and then glared at him hard before continuing, "Just don't get her knocked up and no major public oogies. I draw the line there."

The swapped belts stuck as an inside joke among the friends.

"What'chya looking at, Aang?" Katara asked, carrying a pack on her back and another full basket against her hip.

"Just you," he admitted and reached out to run his thumb along her yellow sash. "Yellow's a good color on you."

She set the supplies down and hooked her own fingers into his belt and leaned into his embrace. She stood tiptoe to whisper in his ear.

"And blue was a good color on the bedroom floor last night," she purred before running her tongue along his throat. He grasped her chin in his hand and brought her mouth hungrily to his own, tongues sliding past each other and gasps muffled by choppy breathing. They fell against the shaggy leg of the bison.

Appa groaned in displeasure, shaking them from their reprieve, laughing.

"I know, I know, buddy," Aang conceeded, patting his old friend's flank. "Too much oogies, right? Thanks for being Sokka."

Katara snaked her hand around Aang's hips and cupped his tight rear in a little squeeze. She rocked her hips into his again as he could feel a growing need taking control of his senses.

"We'll never get out of here at this rate," he growled at her, clinging to her hips as well.

"It's your fault," she teased, curling into his chest and running her fingers along his exposed pectoral.

"Mine?!" he replied incredulously. "How so?"

"You started it last night," she smirked. "I had planned on just going to bed."

"Oh come on…"

She pecked his cheek with a devious grin and slid out of his grasp. "I have a few more bags to bring out, then we should be ready to go." She headed back into the bungalow and called over her shoulder. "Need some cold weather clothing. Who knows where we might end up!"

Aang just slumped and hung his head, arms drooping to his sides.

"Cold weather my ass," he grumbled and scowled, turning back to his task of loading the bags. "I'm gonna need a cold shower now."

In no time at all they were soaring through the sky and away from the only place they would call their home. They were finally getting the chance to spend some time as nomads again. They had crisscrossed the globe a hundred times over the years, rarely staying in one place more than a few weeks. But the last several years they had been bound to Republic City and now Air Temple Island would become a permanent dwelling for them in between other adventures and duties.

The pair was cuddled up close for warmth on Appa's head, peacefully observing the world below.

"I still can't believe we're getting away," Katara noted, tracing her dark fingertips along the blue arrow on the back of her husband's hand.

"Republic City has to survive on its own," Aang replied, concentrating hard on what their absence might mean for the new city. "If I'm there to worry about every minute issue, the city will fall. Everything we've worked so hard for will crumble. We've done everything we can to unite the people. It's time to take the training wheels off. The WORLD needs me. Not just one city-nation."

"I need you too," Katara whispered to herself, hugging tight to her knees, ashamed of her selfishness. The blind earth bender had taught the Avatar to listen so well that he heard her murmur before it was captured by the rushing wind. Aang slid his arm around Katara's waist and planted a gentle kiss on her temple.

"I know, sweetie," he sighed into her fluffy hair. "You have no idea how much I need you too. The whole world is blind to how much it needs you. Zuko had said once that I was the real hero. He was wrong. You have always been the real hero. You and only you. None of this would have ever happened without you being there for me at every single turn."

"You really think so?" She turned her face away from the distant horizon and looked into his deep loving eyes.

"I know so." He instinctively reached his hand to brush a hair loopy from her face. But it wasn't there. In all the years he had known her, the only time she had been without them was when they were hiding out in the Fire Nation. The beads were gone and the tendrils that had usually formed the loops were lost in the rest of the chocolate mane that was tied back in a half braid.

"Katara!" he exclaimed in shock, "Where are your hair loopies?!"

"Oh sweetie! You haven't forgotten that we're married now, have you?" she teased, dipping her fingertips under his robe and caressing along his bare skin. "I'm not a maiden anymore…"

"Oh man! That's right!" he remarked, smacking the palm of his hand against his forehead. "You told me so long ago that I completely forgot that's why you wore them. Only unmarried women have hair loops. I guess it wouldn't really be fair to say I miss them, then, would it?" He leered suggestively at her, but then raised his brow in thought. "But what are you going to do with the beads now? They were such a big part of your personal style. I loved them."

"Actually… it's kind of up to you now," she cringed awkwardly. "When a woman gets married she takes the beads from her hair and gives them to her husband. He takes them and braids them into his own hair and wears them until the day he dies. It's actually part of the wedding ceremony." She reached into the small leather pouch on her belt and pulled her clenched fist out. She uncurled her fingers, revealing the sky blue beads. She held them out for Aang and he opened his own hand. She dropped the precious beads into his palm before continuing.

"If a woman is widowed, her beads are buried with her husband and she makes a new pair and wears them until she takes another husband if she chooses. If a man becomes a widower. He never removes the first beads if he remarries and just adds the second set because the first wife could never be replaced. That's why my father never removed his. I didn't include the bead ritual in our ceremony at the Southern Air Temple because if I went out in public without the beads it would have been pretty obvious to anyone that we were married- well obvious to anyone from the Water Tribe. And I skipped it this time because…well… it's not like you have any hair to wear the beads in." She bit her lip, thinking on the repercussions of what she had just admitted.

"Oh…" he mumbled sadly. He closed the fingers around the beads into a fist and rapped the knuckles against his lips in contemplation as well. He turned his face away from her.

"Don't be sad, sweetie!" she requested tenderly. She slid her hand along his scratchy jaw and turned his face back to meet her watery vision. Her eyes were so full of warmth and understanding that his heart nearly broke. "It's okay. We have totally different cultures. I completely respect everything about your traditions and your way of life. I would never ask you to do something at odds with your heritage."

"Oh Katara…" his face softened and he smiled. He closed his eyes and nuzzled into her touch. He covered her hand against his cheek with his own hand and held it tight against his face, enjoying its comforting warmth. "I know that. You sacrifice so much of your own heritage to appease me that I never get the chance to return the favor. You're too good to me. You don't even tell me ways I can honor you as well." He let go of her hand and took her cheek in return, pulling her sweet face to his own. "I don't know how yet, but with your permission, I would like to wear your beads."

He pulled her into a soft chaste kiss. He could feel her energy rising to meet his from deep within her soul. At particularly strong spiritual times of the year they could feel each other's spirits. Like the solstices or equinoxes. There was nothing particularly special about this afternoon but he could feel her anyways. Maybe it had something to do with her beads. He ran his tongue along her lip searching to deepen the kiss. She eagerly obliged, granting him access to her waiting mouth.

His energy crashed into hers like a tempest against the ocean. They were two halves of the same whole and sometimes when they met, the energy they created was astounding. It felt like lightening was dancing across their skin.

"Mraaaaw!" Appa groaned at them. They were sitting directly on his head making out like teenagers again with no regard for the giant beast. They laughed and parted.

"Sorry, buddy," Aang laughed, scrambling for the fallen horn reigns and scratching his faithful companion's head, "That was rude of us. I know, you have to remind us sometimes."

"Hrmph," He huffed at them. Momo just chattered from the back of the saddle. He never cared much what his humans did as long as there was food involved at some point.

"Aw, Appa," Katara leaned down and hugged at his huge neck. He smelled distinctly of animal. Hay and musk and fur. She knew they would all share the pungent odor by the time they reached their destination. "We owe you a bushel of moon peaches for that."

"Mrrrrrr," he responded appreciatively. Momo jumped onto her back, chittering up an angry storm. Aang plucked the primate off his wife's back and cradled him like a baby.

"You too, old monkey," Aang said, appeasing the lemur. He apparently accepted the offering and bounced back into the saddle. Aang looked back out across the horizon and moaned. "Aw crap. Are we off course?"

"I'm not sure," Katara replied, shielding her eyes and squinting into the distance. "I'd have to check the maps back in the saddle. But I'm not about to try climbing back there while we're in mid air."

A devious smirk crossed Aang's face and he tightened his grip around Katara's waist. She realized what he was doing an instant too late as he scooped a pocket of air underneath them and flung himself into the sky while holding onto his wife. Appa was well trained for times like this and just kept a steady trajectory.

"AANG!"

It was only a moment of free fall, and Katara was used to these kinds of antics, but her heart was still thrown into her stomach every single time. Her face was buried in his robes, her ragged breath tickling across his chest.

"You know I do that just to make you make *that* noise," he giggled against her neck before releasing her. "You knew that was coming…"

"Ass," she scoffed, pushing away from him and pawing through the gear on her hands and knees. The wind whipped her long travel dress aside revealing nothing but the tight black legging hugging her shapely rear.

"I agree! It is quite a nice one," he mused. She shot a dirty look back at him. He held his hands up in surrender. "What? I didn't do that, it was just the wind that time, I promise!"

She sat back up with the map rolled up in her fist. Her sky blue eyes ticked up at a cloud above them and she twirled her fingers. Aang had just enough time to look shocked before a miniature rainstorm splashed down on him. It was just a few degrees above freezing.

"GAH! 'TARA!" he shrieked before laughing and shaking the water off his body. "Yeah. I deserved that."

He crawled up next to Katara as she smoothed the map out in the middle of the saddle. He wrapped an arm around her torso and rubbed his smooth head against her brow. She curled into his embrace automatically. Ever since the pair had met, they had always touched each other constantly, innocently or not. It had all started so innocently. Hugs, cheek kisses, shared meals, adjacent bed rolls… until it grew into something more all those years ago.

"Well, we're heading for a remote Fire Nation forest off the north western edge of Sun Sei, the Gufeng Valley. I have reports that the area is restricted for some reason. No one goes there, and no one knows why." Aang's tongue was poking out the side of his mouth while he thought. "Now… we crossed the sea and are in Fire Nation territory …"

Katara sat up and looked around for landmarks. The Fire Nation's Eastern Volcano could be seen in the distance. To the north.

"Hey!" Katara quipped, shaking Aang's shoulder and pointing. "There's the Eastern Volcano."

"Monkey Feathers," Aang grumbled, "We're on the wrong side of the mountain range. We got pushed waaay too far south. Oh well. Now's as good a time as any to find camp for the night then. We didn't give anyone a time table for when we'd reach our destinations. Most don't even know we're coming. And I'd rather keep it that way. In, out, quiet. Only dealing with people if we have to."

"What a honeymoon," Katara feigned disgruntled, hands on her hips, "traveling the globe solving problems…"

"Yep, sounds about right," Aang laughed as he rolled the map up and slid it back into a bag. He kissed her forehead then lightly hopped back to Appa's head and guided him in the correct direction. "We accomplished the goal of unifying the nations. Something about that feels really good…and final. Like a mission that was destined for us to finish, Genjin. But there's always Avatar work that needs done. This time we're balancing spirits not humans. It's too long overdue. It's a Spirit Moon! I promise we can still share mead after appeasing said Spirits," he finally laughed trying to brighten his wife's demeanor.

"Yeah, I know." Katara slumped over the front of the saddle, absentmindedly petting Momo. "Heh heh, Genjin…" After a Spirit World journey the couple had accidentally taken years ago, Aang had insisted on calling Katara 'Genjin' from time to time whenever they were discussing particularly serious Avatar responsibilities. They had no idea why, so it became and personal joke and term of endearment between them. "The War really upset the natural balance in the world. We've been putting out fires for ten years." She grimaced. "No pun intended."

"Every time we encounter an angry spirit, I end up fighting with it and just making things worse," his shoulders slumped at all the memories- Koh, Wan Shi Tong, Old Iron, Mother of Faces and her Wolf. "I'm the great bridge or whatever and all I ever do is appease the human side of any conflict. I need to be impartial and right things. The only spirits I ever encountered without just leaving them more angry are Tui and La and Hei Bai- and even him I fought with at first. Oh and the Kemurikage…" he shuddred remebering THOSE creepy child-stealing spirits.

"Hey!" Katara interjected, "What about the Painted Lady?"

Aang glanced back and smiled, remembering how Katara looked so pretty impersonating that spirit. He even told her so. At that time he would have NEVER said that to Katara's face. It was a miracle he didn't die of embarrassment when he realized it was actually her the whole time.

"Yeah, but that was you who she thanked, not me," he admitted sheepishly. "I never even met her. I should have realized that she was around sooner. Anyway. I gathered reports on places that are known to be spiritually connected, but have been wrecked. I want to try and help those places like we did in Jan Hui. Restore balance, without a fight."

"Aang?"

"Hmm?"

"What if there is a fight…?" This was something Katara had been worried about ever since they decided to delve into this side of the Avatar's duties.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there…" Aang sighed.

"What if the humans are in the wrong?" Katara continued tentatively.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," Aang bit back grimly as he steered Appa down toward the earth to make camp. "It's not like we haven't taken drastic measures before…"

Aang prided himself on being a pacifist and trying to solve conflicts without violence. But they weren't naïve; they both knew they had killed many people during the war when they were young. They didn't talk about it, but blowing up mountain sides, creating avalanches, sinking ships, or crashing war balloons and tanks left people dead. It had never been for revenge; people die in war.

"No more talk of what if's. Let's make camp, enjoy ourselves tonight, and solve some problems tomorrow!" Aang chirped up again, wiping away his worries, looking forward to their near future with hope.

If this is your first time reading my tale, thank you so much for sticking it out until the end of the first chapter! I love reviews and respond to all messages! Sometimes they make their way into my writings! Come follow along on Aang and Katara's journey to heal a wounded valley in the next few chapters. Faithful followers, let me know what you think of the different chapter breaks and minor edits!