I've decided to bring this story back. This is a revised version and--hopefully--y'all can fall in love with it all over again as much as I have.
If this is the first time you've read this, this is a mature romance between Hakoda and an OC I created, Kita. Most the characters in here are OC's, but I do have some canons as well--Bato, Arnook, Hahn, Sokka, Katara, Iroh and Zuko.
Again, since this fic is a mature romance, I guarantee adult language, situations, violence and--yes--sex.
I do stray from canon, too, so don't shoot me for it. Most of this story was written before season three ended. Plus I have my own ideas for how the story should have ended up. Ah, the glories of fanfic.
Enjoy!
Prologue
水水水
Twenty years ago - Capital City of the Northern Water Tribe, North Pole
"I mean it you two. Stay together this time!" Kita's grandmother lectured before she gave her a warm hug.
"We will Grandma. Promise," the brown-haired girl assured, her voice muffled by her grandmother's fur anorak.
"And be back here before dark. I'm making squid stew for dinner tonight."
"Sounds delicious Grandma," Kita lied through her smile as she gave her grandmother a peck on the cheek. She looked over at her twin brother to see him scrunch his nose and stick out his tongue. Kenji detested squid stew just as much as she did.
The children blurted their good-byes out as they sprinted away to embark on another adventure in their frozen city.
"Let's play Hide and Seek." Kita insisted once their house was out of sight. It was her favorite game, even if she wasn't very good at it.
"Grandma told us to stay together, sis. Remember what happened last time she caught us apart?"
Kita's stomach churned when she remembered the punishment they had received—a week of cleaning the buffalo-yak stalls. Still, that possible penalty was worth a fun game of Hide and Seek. Or at least it was to a boisterous seven-year-old.
She yanked on her brother's arm in a pleading gesture. "But I'll be 'It' this time, Kenji. Pleeease!"
Kenji rolled his eyes at his sister's persistence. "One game and that's it, Sis!"
With a squeal of excitement, Kita ran to face the wall of the first ice-covered hut she came to. She closed her eyes and began counting as her brother ran off to hide, the crunch of his footfalls growing softer with each number she called off. About one hundred seconds later—less actually since she had jumped to the nineties after she had reached the number fifty—she rushed off to find him. She hummed to herself as she searched, trying to forget the thought of her furious grandmother if they were caught separated.
Kita had never met her real mother. She had died when Kita and her brother were infants. Her father never talked about her, and would often times tear up whenever Kita asked. She could usually get a story from her grandma every now and then, and when she did, she would listen with enthusiastic ears about the woman whom she could never remember. She had always dreamed of having a mom, but to Kita, her grandma was the next best thing, even if her older age most times demanded that the energetic twins play outside.
As Kita raced round a corner, she ran into her best friend. Literally. Both girls lost their footing on the slick ice and toppled to the ground.
"Ouch! What's going on, Kita?" Mina asked, annoyed while dusting the snow off her long blue coat.
"Me and Kenji are playing Hide and Seek again. Want to help?" Kita asked as her friend helped her to her feet.
"Not really. Just yesterday he said I looked like a turtle-seal. He is always teasing me. I say let him stay where he is."
"Come on, Mina. Please? Grandma's making squid stew tonight." Kita knew Mina loved the dish her grandmother made and baited her with it.
Mina hesitated for a moment before she gave in. "Oh, all right. But your brother really is such a dork. I can't believe the two of you are related..." Mina prattled on and on about how mean Kenji was to her as they both set off together to search for him.
Kenji had always been skilled at hiding, and Kita usually could never find him when they played this game unless he decided to go easy on her. She needed Mina's help with this or else she'd be forced to give up like always, and that just would not do. He'd be sure to make fun of her again. For once, she wanted to win a round of Hide and Seek.
She and Mina began looking around every corner, under every bridge and in every doorway. All the structures at the North Pole capital were carved out of ice, taking on a light bluish-white hue. Kenji's midnight blue parka will be easy to spot, Kita thought to herself, but as the time passed, she found it wasn't.
She was about to give up and head back to where she had last seen her brother when a strange sensation swept over her. A bone-chilling coldness crawled under her skin, making her feel as if she had fallen into the frozen sea. Her chest felt as if it was caught in a crushing vice-like grip.
Kita began gasping for air, falling to her hands and knees as her friend looked on in disbelief. She managed to get out one word.
"Drowning..."
But as soon as she did, the attack mysteriously subsided, leaving her panting—and in utter terror. As a crowd started to gather from her spectacle, she somehow knew what had happened.
Kenji!
Mina helped her to her feet, her voice quivering. "Kita? You better not be joking because that wasn't funny!"
Kita grabbed Mina and began to yank her down the sidewalk towards her house, "My brother... I... I know where he is. Go get my grandma and meet me at the Spirit Oasis. Hurry!"
Her friend hesitated, as if trying to figure out if Kita was playing a trick on her, but then took off. Kita began a sprint in the other direction towards her destination—her brother. Her breaths had become ragged when she arrived at the sacred sanctuary door. Her hand shook as she reached for the door handle, and she silently prayed to the Great Spirits that she was wrong about what she felt earlier. That it was just her overactive imagination again.
But her fears were realized when she opened the small wooden door to the Oasis. There she found Kenji, floating face down on top of the Spirit Pool—and not moving.
Her sibling instincts took hold. She raced towards the pool and jumped in to save her brother, forgetting the fact she could barely swim. Somehow, she was able to thrash over to him, swallowing much of the cold water in the process. As she choked on the liquid, she struggled to roll him over. When she did, she noticed his face was blue and he wasn't responding to her hysterical shouts of his name. And he's not breathing!
She put her hands over his mouth and concentrated hard, but she had no idea what to do. She had not learned how to heal yet. She was helpless. Powerless.
Her heart felt as if it had been torn from her chest when it sunk in that her brother was gone. There was no way she could go on without him.
As she wept, still clinging to his lifeless body, she felt something brush up against her sides. She looked down to see two Koi fish swimming around her in silent harmony, nudging her small form as they passed.
The Spirits.
"Great Spirits, I need your help. Please help me save my brother." she said through chattering teeth, but nothing happened as the two fish continued their circular dance in the water.
"Please! I will do anything. Anything!" she begged again as she and Kenji bobbed in the cold water.
But still, nothing.
Freezing, overwhelmed and completely devastated, Kita put her head down on Kenji's chest and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Kenji," she whimpered.
She let herself drop down into the pool, still hanging onto the body of her brother. As they sank, the water all around them began to glow a brilliant sapphire blue. Kita thought the light beautiful and it calmed her as she prepared to die alongside her brother.
Then everything went dark.
水水水
The next thing Kita knew, she lay wet and shivering on the grass next to the pool.
Her grandmother loomed over her as she pulled the water out of her lungs with her bending skills. Kita gagged at the uncomfortable sensation. After she was through coughing up the rest of the cold liquid, it sunk in that she was alive and unhurt.
"Kenji!" She struggled to sit up. She had to see him. Her heart soared when she heard his voice.
"Sis, you're okay!" he cried out through tears as he threw his arms around her.
"K-Kenji, you're alive! W-what happened?" she asked as she held him close, not fully understanding what had just transpired.
"I wanted to pick a good spot to hide and thought that this place would be perfect. I was running and remember tripping on that rock, but nothing after that." He pointed to a small stone near the water's edge that was half-buried in the ground as proof. He had an embarrassed smirk on his face as he continued. "I hit my head. I guess I fell in the water after that. But we're okay now."
"No you're not! This time, it's a month in the buffalo-yak stables for you two!" their grandmother reprimanded, even though her teary eyes contradicted her stern tone.
"Mother, I will deal with them." A strong yet comforting voice cut through the crowd. Kita and Kenji looked up to see their father pushing through the large group on onlookers that had gathered.
Apprehension shot through her. Now they would be punished right here in front of everyone.
But instead her dad knelt down next them and began weeping and hugging them both. He pulled back to look at his Kita, pride shining in his blue eyes. "You saved your brother, Kita. You are going to be a great healer just as your mother was, sweetie. I am so proud of you." Before she could form a protest, he crushed her and her brother under another fierce embrace and continued. "You two are my entire world. My life. I don't know what I would do without either of you."
Then, after a few more long teary moments, Kita and her family headed home to recuperate their bodies, hearts, and minds.
水水水
The next few days passed by in a blur. Friends and distant family members visited Kita's room nonstop, asking a barrage of questions about her experience and offering up congratulations. A parade of food and gifts from well-wishers packed her room. Kita was so excited by all the attention she barely had time to rest after her ordeal.
After the exhilaration wore off, though, she was left with questions. Too many questions. When Mina and her family came by two days later, she was able to get the full story from her best friend on what happened that day...
At Kita's frantic request, Mina had run off to fetch their grandmother, one of the most respected healers in the city. She explained that when they had arrived back at the Spirit Oasis, they had found Kita and Kenji both alive but unconscious on the bank next to the pool. Their grandmother had revived them both on the spot. Her grandmother, and everyone else in the city, had assumed that Kita had saved her brother then passed out from exhaustion.
But Kita knew better...
It was the Spirits who had saved them.
And it wasn't long after that day when Kita's hands first began to hurt.
水水水