Author's notes:
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' and I reference my piece 'It all started innocent enough." But this makes sense without having read those.
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. The meat of this story will be their honeymoon- which won't be relaxing at all. But they planned it that way.
Rated M for language and sexual allusions. More graphic situations later. Maybe. Probably. Definitely.
Spirit Moon
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 doorframe, 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 fractions.
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 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 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 fingerless 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 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 said carrying a pack on her back and another full basket against her hip.
"Just you," he smiled 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 laughed, 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 had crisscrossed the globe a hundred times over the years, rarely staying in one place more than a few weeks. But 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 laughed, 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."
"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 continues to wear his as a sign of mourning until he is ready to take another wife, if he chooses. My father has 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 replied 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.
"Well, we're heading for a remote Fire Nation forest off the north western edge of Sun Sei," Aang's tongue was poking out the side of his mouth while he thought. "We crossed the sea and are in Fire Nation territory now…"
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."
"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 so many places that are known to be spiritually connected, but have been wrecked. I want to 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.
Mid day settled hot and muggy over the Fire Nation mountain range. It was always hot in the Fire Nation, laying right along the equator. Even along the northernmost ridge, flying high in the atmosphere, the South Pole native found herself tugging at her clothing uncomfortably. The peaks of the mountains were poking out through a dense fog of what appeared to be low hanging clouds. The high sunlight bounced off them and scattered into every shade of the rainbow. Villages dotted the landscape at the foothills of the mountains. The whole scene was quite peaceful. The fog seemed to be most concentrated inside the ring of mountains, just spilling out from between the peaks.
"I wonder what might be wrong with the Gufeng Valley?" Katara inquired. She was in the back saddle reading the maps to make sure they stayed on target today. "This place is beautiful!"
"It might look it from up here," Aang replied, searching for evidence of spiritual or natural mishaps, "but who knows what it's like down in the valley past that fog."
It didn't take long to discover what the problem was. They reached the edges of the misty fog and were assaulted by the thick gas. They could barely breathe and their lungs began to burn as they started coughing.
"It's all smog!" Katara choked out. Her eyes were stinging from the noxious fumes trapped in the clouds. She grabbed a cloth and tied it around her face in hopes of blocking out the toxins. The unnatural chemicals were actually what was causing the beautiful colors they had seen from the refracted sunlight. The flying bison was having even greater difficulty breathing and was already starting to go down. His breath was ragged and he was bucking wildly as he was hacking through the smog. Momo hid, wedged between the sacks and baskets of gear.
"Hang on buddy! Katara! Get up here and wrangle him!" Aang called back to his wife. Not being an air bender made shuffling between reigns and saddle immensely dangerous- a task compounded by the convulsing bison. He turned back to the water bender and with a flick of his wrist he seized control of the liquid in the water skin at her hip. He snaked the water out of it and wrapped it around her torso like a rope to steady her as she clambered out of the saddle and towards her husband. "I got you!" he gasped, grabbing onto her and returning her water to the skin.
"Thanks! And I got him!" Katara struggled with trying to calm Appa.
Aang jumped nimbly to the peak of the saddle and swirled the air around them into a giant protective sphere. The spinning winds kept the smog at bay and cleared the air enough for breathing. He was balancing and concentrating hard, holding his hands outstretched to maintain control of the rolling ball of air. But Appa was still having difficulties and was losing altitude fast. They were heading straight for the side of the mountain range.
"Keep steady, Appa! We gotta get over the ridge!" Katara yelled to the ill beast. "Aang! I have an idea! Keep up your bending. Don't worry about me."
Aang looked over just in time to watch in horror as his wife dove off their shaggy companion and into the void.
"KATARA!" he screamed, helpless as they continued to careen towards the looming wall of mountain. His vision flared as Aang fearfully slipped into the Avatar State. The power of the Avatar State would allow him to keep the protective windscreen around them without sacrificing all of his concentration on that one action. He had to save Katara!
Then he saw that the horn reigns had been cut on one side.
He trusted her and knew he had to let her go.
Appa was hurt on the inside. The toxic fumes had gotten into his lungs and were shutting them down. Thinking quickly, Katara used her water to slice off the rope on one side of the horn reigns. She tied the rope around her waist and froze the knot to make sure it stayed before jumping. Her weight pulled Appa unevenly off course, but there was nothing else she could do in that moment. Off course was better than into the side of a mountain. She fell between the bison's rows of legs and slammed against his underbelly.
Katara pulled more water from the leather ballast and energized it. The glow coated her hands as she blocked out her panic. She closed her eyes and felt into the beast with her healing abilities. She could sense his strained lungs and thrashing suffocating heart. She could see the heavy contaminants coating the lining of Appa's lungs and felt an angry energy within him. She reached for the moisture inside the delicate air sacs. She used that to push the foreign substance out and Appa was able to cough the rest out. She used the therapeutic waters to penetrate the injury, soothing and healing the damaged tissue.
Within moments Appa was breathing steady again. He regained control and pumped his huge flat tail and soared up and away from the looming crag. The weight of the woman hanging onto the one sided rope was pulling him sideways, but they were out of danger. They were still in the thick smog but were able to clear the summit of the mountain range.
Katara slowly and laboriously climbed back up the rope and pulled herself up the side of the animal's thick neck. Aang was there, extending his glowing tattooed arm out to her to pull her up the rest of the way. The other was raised to maintain the airshield.
"That was amazing, Katara!" Aang gasped, pulling her into one of the tightest hugs ever. He trusted her insane risk, but that didn't change the fact that she had terrified him. She could feel his heart thumping wildly against his ribs as she melted into his arms. "You saved Appa. You saved us."
"Heh heh heh," she weekly laughed as the adrenaline rush was seeping away her remaining strength. "You were able to clear the air for me to be able to, Glo-Boy. I think it was a team effort." She ran her hand over his bright forearm. She could feel the energy tingling between their skin as it dissipated. Without being distracted by threat of death, Aang was able to keep the air shield steady by his own volition, and without needing the Avatar State.
Katara sat in front of Aang as he maintained the bubble. She curled between his straddled legs and attempted to give Appa some direction just through touch as his cut reigns hung out of reach.
"Think you can get us to the valley floor on your own, Buddy?" Katara patted the bison's head. "Hopefully this clears."
Appa grunted a positive response. They slowly made their descent.
The air didn't clear. If anything, it became worse. Inside the mountain range was more like a bowl, trapping the pollution, poisoning everything. There was no outlet for it. The land was desolate. No animals, no plants for leagues.
"Well, now we know what's wrong out here," Aang said sadly gazing out at the bleak landscape. Katara glanced over at her husband. Sweat was beading on his brow and his chest was slick. He was wearing out, trying to keep the air clear for them.
"Sweetie, we need to find a place to land," she took the edge of her dress and wiped his head with it. He smiled thankfully at her touch. "No matter how terrible this looks. Even you can't keep this up forever. Once we touch down, Appa won't be breathing as hard, so he won't be poisoning himself…as fast…" She frowned. It wasn't the best idea, but they didn't have any other options besides abandoning their mission.
"Yeah…I know…" His shoulders slumped. "I don't like it, but we don't have any other choice."
Appa landed heavily on the barren ground, crunching beneath his feet and kicking up dust. Aang took one last breath before dropping the shield. The smog rolled slowly back into the empty space.
"That's not so bad now that we're not breathing as heavy," Katara said as she hopped down from Appa. She scowled at the ground under her feet and searched the air for any signs of moisture. "Ug. This place is as bad as a desert. This smog is more smoke than fog. I can't bend anything."
Something more than just the pollution was pulling at Aang, creeping into his mind like another cloud. Aang tried to hold it in, but he started hacking anyway. He couldn't catch his breath after all of the exertion. His vision started to fade and he grew lightheaded at the lack of oxygen and sheer exhaustion. The last thing he saw was oddly enough butterfly wings. He didn't even feel himself fall from Appa's neck.
Katara saw Aang start to sway as he was coughing and immediately readied herself to catch him. He was probably the fastest person on the planet, but even he couldn't evade the need to breathe. For a moment an odd breeze pushed through the mist and Katara thought she could see something moving in it, but was more concerned with the rapidly deteriorating health of her husband. When he lost consciousness she was right there for him.
She was able to guide him gently to the ground, but it was a struggle now that he outweighed her by easily fifty pounds. She bent the remaining bit of water out of her ballast and felt along his air ways with it. There was more than just the smog constricting him. Some foreign energy had crept in as well.
"Oh man. I think we found the angry spirit, sweetie," she whispered to him. She looked around. She needed more water and shelter. Appa looked forlorn and Momo was peering down at them from the saddle worried. "Come on boys, we need to move."
She grunted as she lifted her helpless husband onto Appa's tail and coughed a bit herself from the heavy breathing. "This is no good," she thought to herself, "I can't go down too or we're dead…" she pulled the cloth over her nose and mouth again. She thought for a bit on her healing training from the North Pole and wished she had paid more attention. She wanted to fight more than heal, so most of her healing had been experimental and on the fly. Well… she had been able to bring Aang back from the dead, so she must be doing something right. She sat next to her husband and placed a hand over his heart. It was pounding against his ribs, fighting the lack of clean air. She took a meditative pose and thought. Could she shield herself so she could press on?
'I am a water bender… Aang tells me all the time I'm the greatest waterbender … but I'm out of water…My body is mostly water…I am a bloodbender, even though it isn't a full moon…'
She felt inside herself for her own water and concentrated on her healing energy. She searched inside for the blood pumping from her heart and flowing through her own veins. She visualized the moisture inside of her lungs and focused on pushing her energy and life force into that water. Instantly, she could feel the weight lifting from her chest and windpipe and she breathed easier. She could feel a protective barrier form inside her lungs. It felt like the arctic air inside her chest, but she wasn't coughing.
"Maybe you are a master waterbender after all, Katara," she said aloud, congratulating herself. Toph was known for her pride and often touted her own accomplishments; Katara was much more modest and humble. She looked back down at Aang, still unconscious. She couldn't do the same for him- the barrier wouldn't keep. The energy had to come from within to do that. "Hang on, sweetie." And she started to lead Appa through the inhospitable landscape, pushing her waterbending energy and focus out ahead of her, searching.
It took about an hour of Katara acting as a living divining rod in order to find the stream. It was murky and sluggish and full of dense sludge. But it was there, and it had plenty of water. Nothing was living in or around it. She tried touching the water and it burned against her skin. If she wanted to use this water she'd have to separate it from the acrid pollution.
She followed along it for a ways, hoping to stumble across some sort of shelter, and thankfully wasn't disappointed. There were plenty of rocky outcrops and formations in the valley and soon she found a cave a short distance from the stream. It was deep and cool, but still thick with the low hanging smog. Katara shuffled Aang off of Appa's tail and cradled him gently, kissing his arrowed head.
"I'll figure this out, sweetie." She looked around the cave. It was big enough and deep enough for Appa to fit in as well. She bit against her lip and then talked soothingly to the giant beast. "Appa, I know you don't like caves, but the air out here isn't fit for us to be in right now. I need your help. Can you airbend the smog out of the cave? Can you stay in here with us?"
The sky bison grunted in disgust at the proposition, but the lemur jumped up on his head, chittering angrily at him. He roared back his apparent opposition, but begrudgingly entered the cave.
"Thank you, Appa," Katara said sweetly to him. He went into the crevice as far as he could before his nerves gave out and began pumping his tail up and down. Katara grasped her husband tightly as the bison created a gale force wind that blew all of the air from the cave. The air from deep within was dank and stale, but at least it was free of the smog. "Great work, boy! Now keep it up! Keep this clear long enough for me to seal it!"
Slowly Katara summoned just the water from the stream, leaving the toxins and sludge behind. It was a much more difficult task than it had been at the river village of Jan Hui because she was the only one bending. Before, she had Toph and Aang helping pull the water and the earthy mire apart in the river. Carefully she created an ice basin full of newly cleaned water inside the cave. All the while Appa was slowly keeping an air flow moving out of the cave to prevent the smog from creeping back in. She drew her energy center and flung her arms high, creating a great wave that flowed over the land and smashed against the entrance of the cave. She blew a frigid breath across the wave and froze it, sealing them inside with a small glacier of a door. She melted out a little opening near the floor so air wasn't completely trapped, but the ice itself would act as a filtering barrier for the time being. It was cold, but she didn't dare start a fire in the contained area. It was actually a relief from the earlier oppressive heat.
Now she could focus her attention back on her husband. She took the clear water from the ice basin and flowed it over her hands. It felt good to touch the pure liquid again and it revitalized her as much as she pushed her own energy into it. She ran her shimmering hands back along her husband's sternum and chest, pushing the healing energy into him. She could still feel the knot of strange energy as it clung to the muck coating his lungs. Cold sweat began to bead along her forehead as she willed his lungs to eject the gaseous intrusion. With a final forceful push of energy, Aang started coughing and expelled a thick black mucus and began breathing strongly again.
He blinked open his eyes and the first thing he saw was a shimmering blue glow. He knew he wasn't in the Avatar State because he could feel an outside energy pushing into his chest and around his heart. It was familiar and warm while the air was stale and cool. He closed his eyes again, enjoying the sensation. Her energy always prickled along his most basic instincts. Katara had once embarrassingly informed him that she discovered this as well after his lightning strike in Ba Sing Se. He reached up and grabbed her soft hand blindly, knowing exactly where it was, hovering over his torso. His kissed her fingers and pulled her to him, just holding her.
"Mmmm. You're really good at that," he murmured, kissing her head. He sat up slowly, bringing her with him. "You caught me again, didn't you."
Her eyes met his and she blushed. "Of course. I'll always catch you."
"I feel like that should be the other way around… " he replied guiltily, then smiled. "But I wouldn't expect anything else from you. We catch each other." He looked around, finally getting his bearings. They were just within the mouth of a large cave. Even Appa was inside. There was a huge door made of ice closing them in, but letting light through. It was slowly dripping from the hot air and fading sunlight outside, but it was so thick that Aang suspected it would hold through the night."What happened? Where are we?"
"You've actually been out for a while. A couple hours I'd guess," Katara responded, handing him a skin of drinking water and a bowl of dried fruits and nuts. He graciously accepted them. "When we landed, you kind of hyperventilated after holding the airshield for so long. You took in a lot of the pollution. You fell off of Appa, but I caught you. You were hurt pretty bad inside and I needed more clean water so I could heal you. It took us a while to find this cave. There's a stream outside of it, but it's really dirty. The cave was actually pretty full of the smog too, but I had Appa air bend it all out before sealing us inside to keep it from seeping back in. It took a while to separate the water from the pollution by myself."
"Wow, Katara," he replied, astonished. "Have I told you you're amazing lately? I think I already did earlier. But I need to say it again. You are absolutely amazing. I don't know how you do it sometimes. Water really is the element of change. You can improvise anything!" He wrapped his arms around her tightly, entranced by her unending ability to astound him. He could feel her cheek grow hot against his own and he knew she was modestly blushing.
"I'm just thankful you're okay," she smiled, brushing a kiss against his scruffy cheek. She passed her hand into his robes and over his heart again and searched into his lungs and blood. It felt all clear. There was no sign of the pollution or strange energy anymore.
"Woah there, Touchy-Mc-Touch-ster," Aang gasped as he felt his wife's energy flow into him enticingly, "I don't know if I can handle that right now…but I could try…"
"I was just feeling for any more pollution, you big jerk," Katara gave him a snarky look and pursed her lips at him. "Plus when you went down there was a really weird energy that was hovering in your lungs. But it's gone now."
"Oh, right…" Aang rubbed his neck and felt kind of stupid for thinking that his wife was looking for a quickie right after that whole ordeal. Truth be told, his interest had been piqued on the issue the moment her hand touched his chest. He had to will his hormones to calm back down, but then remembered the last thing he saw. "Wait, a 'weird energy?' You didn't happen to see anything before I went down, did you?"
"Well, actually I thought I did." Katara cocked her brow at him, "The air whipped a bit oddly and I thought I saw something in the fog that almost looked like a giant butterfly… but I was pretty focused on catching you."
"I thought I saw something like that too!" Aang's eyes were bright and he actually clapped his hands a bit excitedly. "That must be the spirit of this valley! I bet it's an Air Spirit! I've never met one of those! It will be so happy to meet me, being an Air bender and all! This will be so exciting!"
"I don't know Aang," Katara grimaced, "It felt kind of dark and angry when I was trying to heal you… And it went after you… and I think Appa too… but it left me alone. I mean, I felt ill, but I didn't feel the spirit energy in me."
"Oh Katara!" Aang said gaily, squeezing her tightly again, "I'm sure everything will be fine. You'll see, come morning we'll get this all cleared up and have a happy spirit and valley again!"
She wasn't so sure, but right now didn't care as fatigue began to overtake her. Aang laid out the sleeping mats and bedrolls for Katara and insisted she rest a while and let him take care of her for a change. The monk began preparing the cave for bed. They would be plunged into secluded darkness soon… something he was planning on taking full advantage of.
Author's Comments:
So what do you think? Want more? Give me a review and let me know you want to know what happens next. Ask me about what you want to know more about!
I love responses. It tells me you don't just like it, but want more. I decided to write this after receiving a review saying the reader wanted more. anywho. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I wanted to give an explanation for Katara's hair loopies… I know in LoK and in the comics Katara is shown with the loopies at least twice after they're married, so I diverged from that idea. I just really wanted the loopies to have a specific purpose after thinking about the other water tribe men and women- particularly Hakoda and Kya ;) google pictures of them- Hakoda wears two beads and in Southern Raiders we finally meet Katara's mother…. And she doesn't have loopies….