Author's note: Wow, I can't believe this litte fic took me days to reach the point I was satisfied enough to post it!
Summary: With Korra save at the south pole, Tonraq' mind and feet takes him to a place he hadn't know he needed to be. → Even Papa-Bear needs tome to cope with the recent events (post S3 final)
Eyes of Light
Small ripples turned into profound waves, threatening to burst out of their confinement.
The sound of splashing liquid called the middle-aged man out of his stormy thoughts. He eyed the amber substance between his hands with mild surprise before bending it back into his cup with a sigh.
This had happened before, except he'd been alone then. He starred at the moonlit tabletop, drawing courage from the full moon, and took a cautious sip.
The tea was cold.
With the shame-filled look of a school-boy, the chief of the southern Water tribe glanced up to meet his host's patient eyes in the near darkness.
"I am sorry, Master Katara."
And he was. For showing up in the middle of the night declaring his need to talk. For not finding the right words to express himself. And for not knowing why he had come in the first place.
The old woman smiled at him reassuringly. At first she had dreaded Korra's condition might have worsened, but the father's troubled, yet calm expression had soon calmed her fears. This wasn't about her charge's injuries. This was about Tonraq's state of mind. And these things tended to take time.
"Sometimes, loving the Avatar is a heavy burden." she offered as the silence continued.
"Yes... No! I mean..." he sighed in frustration. Talking about his feelings really wasn't his forte. "I love Korra and there is nothing I wouldn't do to keep my girl save. There is just too much..." he broke off, unsure if he couldn't or didn't want to speak further.
"There are many aspects of their lives we can never fully understand." Katara finished, showing him the resigned side of herself hardly anyone knew of. It was the result of one who had learned to accept the bitter truth, that even the people closest to the avatar, were left on the outside none the less. "Sometimes, it feels like the immortal soul inside eliminates the one we love."
He nodded. This was the reason he was in this hut, He didn't need to be strong for Senna for once or act the unwavering head of the tribe. With Korra's waterbending master, he didn't need to pretend at all.
The day Tonraq and Senna had realized their daughter was the Avatar (a fire-blast during a temper tantrum in contrast to her usually playful water-bending) had been only the beginning of many a surprise. Some where welcome, like the returning smile on Master Katara's face years after her husband's death, but most were unpleasant.
He had never thought his family would be separated, but he found himself in no position to protest as soon as the White Lotus had decided to relocate Korra's training inside the fortification after her failed kidnapping. The look of betrayal on her tiny face as he'd been ordered to leave her in the compound still weighted heavily on his heart. She had grown up with him being no more than a constant visitor in her life.
These hurtful images had been replaced only recently with such vehemency that regretting to have sent Korra away for better protection seemed petty. Now his sleeping hours were haunted with memories of his daughter's bruised, cut and lifeless form in his arms after the last battle. The fear of loosing her was like nothing he'd ever felt before.
But there was this other image he couldn't shake off. It also sent fear through his entire body, but not for Korra. Deep inside, he was afraid of her.
The fire emitting from her mouth like a dragon's... eyes and mind focused only on her enemy's demise... Not a single trace left of her humanity...
Eyes glowing with light... mercilessly taking control of my baby's body...
Katara reached across the table and took his hand in both her own. Tonraq woke from his trance, not having intended to share the last thought with his elder.
"The avatar-state is always threatening and yet it possesses a beauty of its very own. But this is not what you saw. You had been forced to witness the pure rage, despair and grief Korra felt. The negative feelings consumed her, just as they consumed Aang. It is not shameful to fear this uncontrollable power. The only shameful act is to forget the person behind it."
...
Long after Tonraq had left, Katara still sat at the table, bathing in the silver light. The full moon made her almost forget the restrictions of her age and she found herself yearning for the past more than ever. Ever since Aang's death, she had lived from one duty to the next: rebuilding her tribe to old glory, the right age for her children to bear living without her, the discovery of the next avatar, training her second avatar in waterbending, watching her grandchildren grow up, seeing the numerous new airbenders, …
It seemed there was always a reason to remain in the physical world just a little longer.
...
With a much lighter heart, Tonraq found his way easily through the rooms of his new house to find the one holding the forms of his sleeping family.
He lovingly covered his wife's back with a blanket where she'd fallen asleep kneeling on the floor on their child's bedside. Then turned to his daughter, who watched him through heavy eyelids.
"Dad..?" her voice was raspy and barely audible with sleep and weakness.
"Shhh, sweetheart. Sleep, we'll talk tomorrow." he kissed her forehead the way he'd done since she was born.
"'ove y'u" she mumbled, just before her breathing evened out again.
"I love you too, and always will. My baby girl." Tonraq smiled, replacing the haunting images of the past with the first peaceful smile he had seen on her for weeks.