Kataang: And the Baby Makes Three

by stargazer2935

Story that takes place eight years after the end of the war.

Aang

I blinked my eyes open to sunlight that streamed in through the window. Momo sat on the edge of my bed, staring at me curiously. I looked to my right to see that katara was still sleeping, her hair spilling out onto the pillows. I stroked one of the strands, always amazed at its beauty and softness. As not to disturb her I floated up and leapt off the bed on a cushion of air. I made my way out of the bedchamber and to the door of our house, where I stepped outside to look around. Ba Sing Se, as always, was beautiful. I had risen early- no one on our street was awake yet. Perfect for a morning flight. Eagery, I grabbed my glider from where it leaned against a table inside and leapt into the air, feeling the wind lift me higher and higher until I was soaring just below the clouds, laughing excitedly as Momo swooped up to fly beside me. I angled the glider up into a loop, spinning and going as fast as I could. My flying was childlike, but I didn't care and kept it up until I reached the great wall of the city. Here I landed softly and crept to the edge. This was the site where, eight years ago, Katara, Toph, Sokka and I had stopped the Fire Nation's drill from getting inside. I sat down on the edge of the wall and stared down at it. It stood exactly the same as it had when we stopped it- huge, monstrous, and dead, yet still haunting everyone who looked at it with a reminder of how close the Fire Nation was to winning the war. I shuddered, opened my glider and flew back into the air, heading back to my house. Katara would be awake soon, if she wasn't already, and I didn't want her to worry about me.

It only took me a few minutes to fly back to the house, and only seconds after I landed I heard my name called from the street.

"Hey, Aang!"

I looked in the direction of the call. Sokka was walking towards me, a grin on his face and a bag full of food on his shoulder. "You're up early," I said, returning his smile and resting my glider against my chest. He was still a bit taller than me, and I had to look up at him when he stopped walking about two feet in front of me.

Sokka groaned. "Yeah, I am. Needed more food, and I wanted to get to the market before it got crowded."

I nodded understandingly. "Good idea. So, do you know if we're still all meeting with the Earth King at the Jasmine Dragon?"

"Yup. In only a couple hours. Wake up my sister, will you? She won't want to be late."

I smiled and nodded again, turning and walking into my house. When I came into the bedchamber Katara was already awake, and she was sitting on the edge of the bed putting up her hair. When she saw me, she smiled brightly and walked over.

"Good morning." We shared a kiss and then walked to the main room, eating a piece of fruit each before going outside. Appa stood near the door, his eyes closed in contentment. Peering around him, we saw that the Kyoshi warriors were grooming him. He was especially close with them ever since they saved him so long ago.

"Good morning, Suki," Katara said, smiling at the warrior. Suki grinned and stood to greet us.

"Hey, guys."

"Thanks for grooming Appa," I said, stroking the bison's head.

"No problem. We needed a break from our new job anyway."

Right. They were Zuko's bodyguards. "How is Zuko, by the way?" Katara asked.

"Pretty good, I think. He seems excited to see his uncle again today."

I laughed. "Who wouldn't be? Iroh's the best tea maker I've ever met, and his advice has helped us more than once."

Katara shot me a smile, and we thought back to that day when I had rescued her from the cave, before we fought Zuko and Azula. We finished our conversation with Suki, leaving when Sokka came out, and then decided to take a walk. I reached for her hand and she took it without a word, a smile forming on her perfect face. We walked in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the beauty of the morning, until we arrived at a small meadow with bunches of wildflowers that had sprouted here and there. I picked one gently and set it behind her ear, the soft pink of the flower reminding me of the one she wore in her hair on the day of our first kiss. Our first real kiss, anyway. The day that we'd both grown so much, after I had defeated Ozai and she took down Azula.

Breaking me out of my thoughts, Katara smiled at me. "Let's sit here. We have a little while, and... there's something I need to tell you."

A pit of anxiety rose in my stomach as I sank down next to my wife in the grass. "What is it?"

Katara took my hand and looked into my eyes, her own eyes flashing with excitement and secrets. "I.. I'm pregnant."

My eyes widened, I'm sure, to the size of the moon, and my mouth hung open for a second before I sputtered, "Really?"

"Really." She placed my hand on her belly, and I sensed the presence of a little life there.

"Spirits..." I murmured, tears welling at the corner of my eyes that I refused to let show by blinking rapidly.

She searched my eyes worriedly, perhaps thinking I was upset. I shook my head and grinned at her. "Sweetie, this is amazing!"

The worry vanished from her face and was replaced by genuine happiness. "I'm so happy you think so."

"Why wouldn't I?" I wrapped her in a hug, followed by a kiss. "Katara... we're going to be a family."

She grinned, and a tear of happiness rolled down her cheek. "I know. My vision is coming true."

I sat closer next to her, wrapping a gentle arm around her waist. "I wonder who our baby will become." It felt so amazing to say that, our baby. It was surprising to me when I realized this was all I wanted. There would be a person who we created, both a part of me and a part of her. I looked into the distance, daydreams of the future speeding through my mind.

Katara snuggled closer to me. "Soon, we'll be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl."

"How long have you known?"

"A few weeks. I was so nervous to tell you."

I shook my head. "This is so amazing. You didn't need to be nervous."

She shrugged and looked away. "I don't know. I was worried. I thought maybe you..."

My eyes widened as she trailed off. "Katara, I could never leave you! And especially not over news like this! You mean everything to me. You are my entire world. And soon, we'll have a new life to create. We get to raise a child together."

I choked on my words a bit, emotion filling me to the brim. Katara faced me again, my words exactly what she'd needed to hear. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too." We shared another kiss and then sat together in the grass, her leaning against me as I played with her hair. The wind blew lightly, and the wildflowers that surrounded us swayed, the whole picture serene and beautiful.

But of course, things like that never last long.

The earth shook tremendously, causing Katara and I to gasp in surprise. Moments later, the voice I had suspected rang out from behind us. "Morning, Sugar Queen and Twinkle toes!"

I groaned, and we turned around. Katara got up and put her hands on her hips. "Toph, can't you see we're having some alone time here?"

"In case you've forgotten, I can't see anything. And anyway, I was told to come get you. The meeting starts in ten minutes." The earthbender smoothed her clothes and smiled smugly.

"Of course it does." Reluctantly, I rose from the grass and stood next to Katara. Toph started walking back to the town, but after a moment's hesitation, she faced us again.

"I... uh, I kind of heard part of your conversation."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "How much?"

A smile spread on Toph's face. "Just enough. Congratulations, you too. I mean it. It'll be a beautiful baby."

Katara and I grinned at each other, and my wife hugged Toph in appreciation. "Thank you."

Toph nodded, and then laughed. "Good luck telling Sokka, though."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka will get used to it, even if it takes a while. The bonehead will probably lecture us about 'oogies' again, but that'll be the worst of it."

I nodded my agreement. "Hopefully he'll take it as well as he did when we got married. I'm surprised it went that smoothly."

"Well, he's grown up at least a little. You'll be fine," Toph said. We thanked her again and then the three of us continued down to the tea shop.

"She's pregnant?!" Sokka's mouth dropped. It was only a few minutes after the meeting, and Katara and I had decided to share the news with Sokka and Zuko.

Katara nodded, her chin high. "That's correct, Sokka."

Zuko let out a short laugh at Sokka's reaction, then nodded towards us. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, Zuko." I grinned and put an arm around Katara's waist.

Sokka blinked and then straightened up, his surprise fading a little. "Well, how about that. I'm gonna be an uncle."

Katara smiled widely at her brother's approval, and they hugged before Sokka broke away and came up to me. "You take good care of my sister, got it?" His eyes were narrow, and he poked a finger into my chest.

I nodded rapidly, and Katara scoffed, "Oh, leave him alone. You can't pretend there's anyone better to take care of me."

"She's right," Toph piped up. "He's a softie, Sokka. You know that."

I glared at her, and she laughed. "You know I'm kidding, twinkle toes. No softie could have saved the world."

We all laughed, and Zuko stole a glance behind him. "Have you two told Uncle yet?"

"Oh, not yet." I said, looking around. "Where is he?"

"He should be back any minute. It's Lu Ten's birthday today."

All of us nodded in understanding. Iroh paid respect to his dead son each year, at the same spot near his shop on a hill. None of us wanted to rush him, so we sat in the shop to wait while Zuko made some tea.

"So, Toph. How's the academy going?" I asked.

"Good. My students are getting better at metal bending by the day. There's one student who's exceptional, though. He mastered coins on his first day, and he's moving on to big hunks of metal. He's barely been my student for three months."

"Wow." Katara reached for a cup of tea that Zuko had brought and blew to cool it. "What's he like?"

"A bit stoic, really. He never shows any excitement at his achievements, and he also doesn't talk to any of the other students."

"That's strange," I said.

"Yeah, well, I guess as long as he's a good student everything's fine. That's what he's there for, anyway." Toph shrugged.

Right as the conversation ended, Iroh entered through the door. Seeing all of us, he smiled and came towards the table.

"Hello again, everyone."

We all returned his greeting, and Zuko made room for him at the table. "Uncle, Aang and Katara have some big news."

Katara took my hand and smiled at Iroh. "I'm pregnant," she said.

The old man's eyes widened and he smiled as he sipped some tea. "That's wonderful. It seems like just yesterday you were children, asking for my advice. But now you are grown, and soon to be a family."

I smiled gratefully at Iroh's kindness. "Thank you. We're excited."

"I would expect nothing less. Now Zuko, how about another round of that tea?"

Katara

It had been exactly eight months and ten days since I had told Aang of my pregnancy. Each day I arose with excitement, but today I felt horrible, and had just woken up. My belly had swollen to a huge bump in the past month, and now the entire area hurt. Groaning, I forced myself to sit up, and then gasped as something inside me twinged.

Aang shot up in bed, immediately by my side with a hand on my shoulder. "Katara? Are you okay?"

There it was again, a shooting pain, and I couldn't contain a small shriek. "Katara! What's wrong?" Aang's face was full of fear, and I almost laughed. Even the most powerful man in the world could be so easily scared by something like this.

"Aang-" I gasped again and started breathing hard. "Get the women."

He nodded and sprinted out the door, coming back a minute later with the midwife and her assistants in tow. They surrounded me around the bed, and the midwife laid a hand on my belly before nodding seriously. "She's ready. Aang, please wait outside the room."

He looked at her, panicked. "But-"

"Go!"

With one last desperate glance towards me, Aang reluctantly left the room, leaving me with the assistants. I groaned as contraction after contraction wracked my body, and the women around me scurried around the room, putting support for my head and shoulders under me and urging me to breathe. This went on for hours, and impossibly long, painful time, until suddenly the voices around me grew louder and more serious, and the midwife appeared at my side.

"You're doing great, Master Katara. We're seeing crowning. Now I know you're tired, but what you have to do now is push!"

I nodded, gritted my teeth and pushed with all my might. Come on Katara, I urged myself, you can do this..

I was exhausted, and my breath came in short, shallow gasps. I closed my eyes and my mind seemed to go blank for a moment, and then suddenly, it was over. The pain had vanished, and something was different. After a few more moments, I opened my eyes. Standing in front of me, the midwife held a newborn baby. My newborn baby. Taking a deep breath, I reached out, and the midwife handed me the baby, who I cradled in my arms.

"Congratulations," the midwife whispered. "It's a girl. I'll go get the Avatar."

I stared in wonder at the baby in my arms. Her icy blue eyes stared into mine, and I whispered a soft, "Hello."

The door opened again, and Aang rushed to my side, freezing in place as he caught sight of his daughter. He put a hand to his mouth, and then looked at me, his eyes full of pure love.

"She'll be a waterbender," I said softly, looking up at him.

"What should we name her?" Aang asked, staring down at the baby with a new softness that, even as kind-hearted as he already was, could only come with being a father.

I thought for a moment, then spoke. "I'd like to name her after my mother. I'd like to name her Kya."

Aang smiled at me. "That's a beautiful name."

I held Kya out for him, and he gladly took her into his arms, cradling her close to his face so he could peer down at her. "Hello there, Kya," he said. "Welcome to the world."

Kya let out a small cry in response, and Aang kissed her on the forehead ever so gently before giving her back to me. He sat down next to me on the bed, one arm around me and the other touching the blankets Kya was wrapped in. We sat in silence, watching our daughter as she fell asleep. After only a few minutes, there was a knock on the door before Sokka let himself in. He blinked in wonder when he caught sight of the baby, and cautiously made his way over to us. I grinned at my brother and then held Kya out for him to hold.

"Say hello to Uncle Sokka," I told her quietly.

I watched as my brother held the baby, looking down into her eyes. "She looks like you," he said finally to me. He smiled softly and gently rocked her back and forth. "What's her name?"

"Kya," Aang responded proudly, and Sokka's smile widened. "For mom?"

I nodded just as Toph came inside. She made her way to the bed and finally spoke. "Is it over?"

I smiled. "Yes. She's a beautiful, healthy waterbender. Her hair is thin, and her eyes are blue."

Toph took a deep breath. "I wish I knew what blue looked like. But I'm sure she's beautiful. Can I..."

"Of course." I placed Kya in the earthbender's arms, and she held her with one arm while using the other to gently feel the baby. Toph's fingers lightly traced Kya's face, shoulders and arms while Kya remained perfectly calm.

"She's strong," Toph said, and I almost saw something come into her blank, pale eyes. For just a second, she looked... motherly.

The four of us stood together, admiring the baby, for a long time. After a while, Sokka and Toph left together, politely leaving Aang and I in our room. "She's so beautiful," my husband said.

"I know." I hugged my baby closer to me and kissed her tiny nose. A few more moments of silence passed before I looked up. "Aang?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the first time you kissed me? At the invasion?"

He smiled at the memory, his cheeks turning a bit red. "Of course I do. I was afraid I wouldn't come back."

"But you did."

"And I always will, when I have you to come back to." He leaned down and kissed my lips, which I returned with equal passion. When we broke apart, he stood up again and smiled. "Now let's get you out of bed. We have a celebration to arrange."

Two days later, I stood in front of a mirror in the bedroom I shared with Aang, smoothing out one of my dresses that I hadn't worn in months as I grew. I slid into the soft material, and slipped my head through the hole at the top. In the mirror, a new reflection had appeared behind me. Aang had come in, undetected as always, and was standing behind me with a hand on my waist.

"You look beautiful," he said, kissing my cheek.

I turned and gazed at his air nomad colors, wrapped around his perfectly structured muscles. "You're not too bad yourself."

He laughed, still the same magical, twinkling noise as I had heard so often when we were kids. "Well, I'm glad I'm good enough for you." He kissed me again and then took my hand. "Are you ready for the party?"

I nodded, stealing one last glance back into the mirror. We walked out into the main room, where Aang had left Kya sleeping in her cradle. I picked her up gently, and her blue eyes opened and stared up at me. "Hello, sweetie!" I cooed. "Are you ready for your celebration?"

Kya pouted in response and looked back towards her crib. Aang, laughing to himself, reached into his pocket. "Hold on," he said. "I know what'll cheer her up."

After a moment, he found what he was looking for. The marble trick. Great. As my husband spun the marbles around each other in front of Kya, she laughed in glee and wiggled, now full of happiness and energy. Well, I'm glad someone still likes that.

When Kya was ready, we walked outside together and waited. Sokka and Toph were to pick us up in a few minutes, as they had taken Appa out for a flight earlier in the day. After about ten minutes I leaned back on the wall and rocked my daughter gently in my arms, impatient at our late ride.

Suddenly, the peacefulness of the scene was interrupted. "Katara! Aang! Watch out!"

Before I even saw what was happening, Aang had scooped me up off of the ground and leaped out of the way, just as the ground where I had stood shot up in lethal towers of earth. Angrily, I looked up to see a tall lanky boy, his dark hair falling in front of his face. He sneered and laughed, his eyes narrowed in a evil, almost insane manner. Moments later, Toph ran up about ten feet behind him, her head turned urgently in our direction.

"He's my student- the advanced one I talked about. He's crazy! Run!" Toph shouted, stopping to shoot up an alarmed earth wall as the student launched a rock at her.

Aang's face turned into one of concentration, and he looked at me. "Get Kya to safety."

On normal circumstances, I would have stood my ground, demanding to help fight, but my instinct as a mother agreed with Aang- Kya was more important right now. I sprinted inside, making sure I had a good supply of water to defend myself with, and held Kya to my chest as I stared out the window at the fight. Kya began to cry, but I rocked her urgently. "No, sweetie, don't cry.."

Outside, Toph was stuck on defense from the nonstop attacks of her crazy student. Aang, always the peaceful soul, didn't use one flame to fight the student, but launched blasts of air until finally the earthbender was knocked off his feet. Toph grunted, got to her feet and ran over to the student's side, encasing him from the neck down in a prison of rock. I clutched Kya to my chest and then walked outside, wanting to know what was going on since it was safe now.

Aang walked over to the student, who looked no older than fourteen, and when I got to his side

Aang was already speaking.

"What's your name?" Aang asked.

The student glared up at him. "Why should I tell you?"

Toph growled and raised a fist threateningly, but Aang dismissed it, lowering her hand gently with his own. "I can understand why you're reluctant, but I don't understand why you wanted to fight. What happened to you?"

The boy's eyes dropped to the ground, and he shook his head. "You're the avatar. You're supposed to be there to help everyone. But my village has been ignored for decades. That's why I came here- to learn earth and metal bending and to confront you about it."

Aang raised an eyebrow. "Ignored? Where do you come from, exactly?"

"My village is called Kuan Gong. Troublemakers from other areas nearby have harassed us for so long, and they grow more and more powerful. They steal our food, our supplies, our money, and they disrespect us everywhere we go." The boy glared at the ground.

"I've never heard of your village. But I promise I'll come there and settle whatever is happening. All you need to do is show me the way, and you can't go around attacking others out of anger again."

The boy nodded understandingly, and the anger in his eyes faded to confusion. "I know. I'm just so upset over what's been happening."

"And I couldn't blame you for that." Aang smiled at him. "Can you tell me your name now?"

"It's Zhan."

"Nice to meet you, Zhan." Aang pushed both hands down, making the earth trap sink back into the ground. He gestured back at me, and I stepped forward to be introduced. "This is my wife Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe, and our daughter Kya."

Toph, folding her arms, frowned before Zhan could reply. "So you're just not doing anything about the fact that he just tried to kill us?"

Aang sighed. "He was angry and confused, Toph. He's still young."

After a few moments of hesitation, Toph nodded reluctantly. "Fine, then. Now are we going to your party or not?"

I looked at Aang with a raised eyebrow, and he shook his head. "The party will have to wait. We have to settle whatever's happening in Kuan Gong first."

I nodded my agreement as Zhan stood and brushed himself off. "I can take you there," he said.

Aang laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Great. We'll be ready to leave in about an hour." My husband glanced back at me. "We'll have to find Kya a babysitter. This isn't a trip she should come on."

Sighing, I looked down at my daughter in my arms, who was now sleeping peacefully. "Agreed. Sokka will probably be able to do it."

"I'll be able to do what?" With perfect timing, my brother walked up to us, looking over Zhang skeptically. "And who's that?"

"Sokka, this is Zhan, a student of Toph's. There's trouble in his village, and Aang and I are going to help, so we need you to look after Kya for a few days," I said.

He frowned in consideration, then shrugged. "Alright, sure. I'll take a little uncle-niece bonding time."

Aang looked at me, a bit panicked, then turned to my brother. "But, Sokka, do you know how to take care of a baby?"

Sokka hesitated for a moment, and then hung his head. "I forgot I have to do stuff. Suki will help me," he decided.

I laughed. "I think I'll verify that before I leave you alone with my daughter."

Aang, Sokka and I left Toph and her student and wandered off in search of the Kyoshi warriors, and soon found them in a small, previously unused building where they trained when in the city. Ty Lee was still hard at work teaching chi-blocking when we stepped inside, and Suki excused herself to greet us.

"Hey, guys," She said, planting a kiss on Sokka's cheek and smiling at Aang and me. "What brings you here?"

"Katara and I were informed of an issue with a small village, and we need to help them. We'll be gone for a few days, and we need someone to take care of Kya." Aang looked lovingly down at our daughter, and then continued. "Would you be willing to help Sokka?"

"Of course!" Suki put down her fans. "I'll be ready whenever you are."

I smiled in gratitude. "Thanks, Suki. We're going to have to go in a few minutes, so if you could take her now, that would be great."

Suki bowed, a gesture my husband and I returned, and she took Kya from my arms. "Good luck on your trip!" She said, and we thanked her before walking out, leaving Sokka with her.

Aang clasped my hand and squeezed it gently. "I'm sorry your party is being delayed."

"It's not a big deal. We need to help this village first."

He nodded, and we walked slowly back to the house, enjoying the luxury of just being together while there was still time.

Aang

I finished tying Katara's sleeping bag to Appa's saddle and then slid off, gently patting the air bison's nose. He grunted at me and stood up, ready for his flight, and I helped Katara onto the saddle while I took the reins. Zhan scrambled up after us and held on tight to the side, his eyes giving away his excitement for his first flight.

"Ready?" I called. Once I heard two responding voices, I pulled on the reins. "Yip yip!"

Appa groaned and smacked his tail on the ground, and seconds later we launched off the ground, flying higher and higher until we could see almost all of Ba Sing Se below us. I looked back at the saddle to see Zhan waving his arms excitedly.

"Wow, this is amazing! I've never flown before," the earthbender said, leaning over the saddle with wide eyes.

I laughed before responding. "Well, you're taking it better than the last earthbender who flew with us."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Toph just hated riding bareback, Aang. She was fine with the saddle."

"Hated it? Master Toph must've been out of her mind. I'll never forget this." Zhan sighed happily and leaned back, closing his eyes in contentment.

I laughed softly to myself, remembering the only slightly faded memory of Sokka and Katara's first flight. Sokka, always the skeptic, had doubted Appa every second until they were off the ground.

We flew for hours, enjoying the sunny weather and the coolness of the breeze. When we were near the heart of the Earth Kingdom, I turned to face the saddle and called up to the earthbender.

"Zhan! Could you come up here, please?"

Nodding excitedly, he crawled carefully out of the saddle and hung tightly to Appa's fur as he came to sit beside me. Amused at his nervousness, I handed him the reins to hold on to, which he took with a look of relief. "So," I said, "Where exactly is your village?"

Still with a death grip on the reins, Zhan looked over the edge of Appa's head to look over the land and squinted. "I think we're getting close. Can you take us a little lower?"

"Sure." I pulled a bit on the reins, and Appa slowed as he angled downward. We took a slow descent, and after a few minutes Zhan noddded. "We're pretty much there. You can go ahead and land in this area- it's some farmland outside my village."

The land outside Kuan Gong looked beautiful- rolling green hills dotted with trees and crops spread everywhere. I landed Appa in the shade of one of the trees, and we all got off, leaving the bison to snack on the fallen leaves.

"Stay here, Appa," I said, pressing my hand to his snout. When he gave a moan in response, I turned to Zhan.

"It's up to you from here. Lead the way," I encouraged him.

The boy nodded, and I saw fear enter his eyes. "We're not far from the town. I haven't been home in months, so I don't know what it'll be like." He hung his head. "I don't know how much worse it's gotten."

Katara stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "That's why we're here. To help you. Don't worry."

Gathering his courage, Zhan nodded. After a moment he spoke. "Okay. Let's go."

We began walking, each of us internally preparing for anything that could greet us upon our arrival. At least the weather was nice- the sun wasn't too hot, and a cool breeze ruffled our clothes as shadows cast by passing clouds momentarily darkened the ground by our feet. I slowed my pace to walk next to Katara. Her eyes seemed misty, like her thoughts were a hundred miles away.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, taking her hand.

She sighed, turned her gaze to the earthbender walking in front of us and then to me. "Kya," she replied. "She just entered our lives, and now we have to leave her."

I nodded in understanding. "I know. I didn't want to either. But I'm the avatar, and my duty is to help people who need me. And since I was incredibly lucky enough to have you choose to marry me, we're together on that."

Katara squeezed my hand. "Of course. I'm sorry- that sounded really selfish. I can't expect a normal life when the duty we had as kids will never go away."

I searched her eyes. The tone she used had seemed sad. "No, it won't.." I said carefully, choosing my words. "I'm sorry."

She gave a small laugh and shook her head. "Don't listen to me, Aang. I don't know where all that came from. I could never ask for a better life, a better mission. And I get to share it with you."

Smiling, I turned my head back to the horizon, following Zhan up a large, grassy hill. When the three of us reached the top, I looked over the scene that greeted us. Not a hundred feet away lay a stone wall, about as high as a two or three-story house. In the center of the wall there was a beautiful set of gates, carved with the Earth Kingdom symbol and intricate designs that surrounded it. Two men stood in front of the gates, and when they caught sight of us they dropped into deep stances, each holding a fist up threateningly.

"Who are you?" One of them called.

Zhan grinned suddenly and turned to Katara and me. "That's my dad and my uncle. I guess the guard system is still up. Come on!"

He ran towards the gates, with the two of us in tow. When we reached the gates, Zhan threw himself into his father's arms, who returned the embrace after a minute.

"Zhan?" The man asked in wonder. "You've returned!"

After a few more minutes of reunion with father, son, and uncle, Zhan gestured in my direction. "Dad, this is Avatar Aang and his wife Katara. They've come to help us."

Zhan's father widened his eyes and bowed to us respectfully. "It is an honor to have both of you here. Thank you for coming. My name is Loh Yi."

I bowed in return. "It's nice to meet you. Now, what can we do to help?"

Loh Yi glared at the gates. "Well, our situation is a bit.. complicated, as I'm sure Zhan told you. There are troublemakers in our village. We're trying to keep order and have guard patrols, but they come in mobs and they're hard to defeat. They grow stronger by the day, and they steal from us, injure our innocent people, and destroy public pathways and markets. I don't know how long we'll last before they take us over completely."

Katara frowned. "How many of them do you think there are?"

"It's hard to say, but there are at least thirty of them. Almost half of our village's population."

"And where can we find them?" I asked.

"They usually come around the market at about this time to scare the vendors into giving up their inventory. I'd check there."

I nodded. "Okay. We'll go there first."

Loh Yi nodded in agreement and thrust a fist forward, causing the rock gates to slide open. With Katara by my side, I walked down the path that started at the gates. On both sides of the path were small but nice-looking houses, with people that looked curiously out at us. A few of the citizens on the path moved aside, looking at us in a confused manner. Suddenly, as we were walking, a tiny child ran up to us, her green eyes huge as she looked at me.

"Are you the avatar?" She asked.

I smiled and knelt down to be at her eye level. "I am. My wife and I have come to help you."

She grinned from ear to ear, and then looked at Katara. "You're pretty," she said. "You married the avatar?"

Katara laughed and knelt next to me. "Yes, I did. And now we're going to help your village be peaceful again. Have you seen the bad men?"

The little girl nodded. "They went to the market. Daddy said they steal from him every day, and they said if he stops coming they'll steal from our house too."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well don't worry. That won't happen anymore. Can you tell us where the market is?"

She nodded again and pointed to our left. "Down that path."

Katara smiled at the girl. "Thank you for your help." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a doll, a tiny thing that fit exactly in the palm of her hand. I'd never seen it before. "This was for my daughter," Katara explained to both me and the little girl, "but she didn't like it. I think you could give it a good home."

The little girl stared wide-eyed at the gift, took it gently, and cradled it in her arms. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You stay safe, okay?" I laid a hand on her tiny shoulder, and she nodded, running off to her house.

"Mommy, Mommy! The avatar's here and his wife gave me a doll!"

Katara smiled and we both stood, taking a deep breath before walking in the direction of the market. Once we reached the place, a round, cleared out area with multiple booths set up, the gang was hard to miss.

In front of one of the booths, several huge, dirty men and a few women glared threateningly at a cowering vendor, slipping most of what he was selling into a bag. When he tried to protest, he earned a fist to the face.

"Stop!" I yelled, spinning and directing a gust of air to push the gang away from the booth. Slowly, they all turned their gazes to me.

"Well, well, well," One of the men snickered. "If it isn't Avatar Aang. It's about time you got here."

Katara popped the lid on her water pouch and held a hand in front of it, gathering water around her hand. "Leave these people alone, and there doesn't have to be any trouble."

"Oh, I think there does," the man replied. "You see, this is my village now. These people do what I say, because if they don't they die. Simple as that."

I took another deep breath. "I'm afraid it won't work that way anymore. Either you leave now, or we'll have to take action."

The man snorted. "Please. Avatar or not, you're heavily outnumbered. Me and all of my... associates are staying."

"No, you're not!" Katara and I looked back in surprise as Zhan shouted, and we didn't have time to react before he forcefully raised a tower of rock up under the man's feet and lifted him, flailing, through the air.

When the man landed with a thump about twenty feet away, he slowly got to his feet, clutching his side with one arm. "So. A little earthbender has decided he alone can defeat me." He chuckled, then flicked his head. In response to the signal, two more of the gang members shot out from the group, each holding a sword. As Katara and I dodged the blows, she shouted, "Where's Sokka the Swordmaster when you need him?"

"Taking care of our daughter," I grunted, spinning and directing a plume of fire at my opponents.

Zhan stood his ground to help, sweat forming on his forehead as he struck again and again at any gang members who came in his sight. As the battle went on, opponent after opponent coming after us, villagers caught sight of the brawl and joined in. Soon, we were no longer outnumbered but now quite evenly matched- the earthbenders were obvious masters and struck with power, ferocity, and efficiency. I ducked as a chain with some sort of spiked contraption attached to it flew over my head, and then I launched a current of air in front of me that was so powerful that the opponents it hit went flying out of the market and far down the street.

Katara, fighting next to me, whirled as she saw an opportunity and shot carefully aimed blasts of water and ice at each of the thugs, leaving each one moaning on the ground. After the fight went on for a few more minutes, we were no longer attacked, and the gang members lay spread around on the ground, each holding a limb in pain or coughing in the dirt. I straightened up, breathed out once, and addressed them.

"Now, I think you see that the villagers here will not just stand by and do nothing. Katara and I have given them the help they needed, but now I'll leave them to decide what to do with you," I said, keeping my voice stern and serious.

"And just know, if we get word of any more trouble from you," Katara growled, "we won't be so merciful."

We watched as the village guards gathered up straggler gang members, collected them all in the center of the market, and marched them off down the road. Soon, it was only Zhan and his father who were left facing us.

"Thank you so much for helping us," Loh Yi whispered, bowing deeply.

Katara and I bowed in response. "We did what needed to be done," Katara said. "Now if you need more help, which I doubt you will now that your guards are back on track, don't hesitate to ask."

Father and son nodded and said their goodbyes to us, after which we walked back down the road, through the gates, and finally climbed aboard Appa to go home.

"Well," Katara said, leaning on my shoulder and closing her eyes. "That was an adventure."

"We've had worse," I laughed lightly, pulling on the reins. "Appa, yip yip."

Katara

Finally, the party has arrived. I sat with Aang at a table at the Jasmine Dragon, sipping Iroh's always-delicious tea while guest after guest stopped by to greet and congratulate us. Toph took another sip out of her glass, set it down, and stared sightlessly around the restaurant. "Quite the turnout," she said. "This place is packed."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "This is the firstborn daughter of the Avatar we're talking about here, Toph. Can't exactly expect just two or three people to come."

"Well excuse me, Captain Boomerang."

I narrowed my eyes and looked away slightly. The Avatar, The Avatar, The Avatar. It's never 'Katara and Aang's daughter-' everyone who doesn't know us personally just knows Kya as 'the Avatar's daughter.' Shaking my head, I pushed the thoughts away. This was a celebration. I brought Kya, who was resting my arms, closer to my head and planted a kiss on her cheek. She smiled, a ray of sun that lit up the room.

"Oh, someone's happy," Aang chuckled, grinning at our daughter.

"If she's anything like you, Twinkletoes, she'll always be happy," Toph said.

Aang squinted at her for a moment, and then laughed. "I think I'll take that as a compliment."

Rolling my eyes at them, I turned to Sokka. "So, we never got the chance to ask. How'd it go watching Kya?"

"I was clueless. Suki did most of the work," he admitted, "but she made sure to walk me through everything she did."

I smiled at him. "You're going to need to know, if you two get a son or daughter of your own someday."

Suki, sitting next to him, laughed and kissed his cheek. "Maybe," she whispered in his ear.

Toph groaned and leaned back in her chair. "I miss the days when Sokka was complaining about you and Aang giving him 'oogies.' Now I'm all alone with the burden."

"You'll understand someday, Toph," I said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

I meant it as a joke, but a flash went through her blank eyes, something like pain or longing, and she looked away. "Whatever."

We sat in a bit of uncomfortable silence for a moment until Sokka broke the silence, rather desperately. "Do you guys remember when we were at the Western Air Temple when Zuko just joined us? Remember that joke he tried to make?"

Aang snorted. "The one about the tea saying 'I'm bushed', or something like that?"

"That's the one."

A voice came from behind me. "Well, I'm sure Uncle can tell it better than me, if you'd like to hear it again."

"Zuko!" Aang grinned at the Firelord behind us. "About time you showed up! You're late."

"Sorry." Zuko sat down beside Aang. "Congratulations," he said, nodding at me.

"Thank you. I'm glad you could make it. You must be busy," I said.

"Yeah, rebuilding a nation and working on the new city is no easy job.." a smile started to form on his face. "But I couldn't just forget about my best friends' party."

"Aww, look who learned how to have feelings!" Aang teased, laying a hand on Zuko's shoulder.

"How are the plans for that city going?" Suki asked. "Come up with a name yet?"

"We're thinking something bold and official, that really sets the point," Aang replied. "One idea was 'Republic City.'"

"I like that one," I said.

"Me too." Aang smiled and took a sip from the cup in front of him.

"The city itself has a lot of work to be done," Zuko said, closing his eyes briefly. "It's still going to be difficult getting people used to living together. Sure, there was the Yu Dao thing, but nations still aren't completely comfortable with all the tensions left over."

"We'll get there," Aang said. "We promised we would."

All of us smiled, then, remembering that day when Zuko's coronation as Fire Lord had sealed the deal that the war was over, that a time of peace was coming. Aang reached for my hand, and I took it with a squeeze.

"I'm just so glad there will be a peaceful world for our daughter to grow up in," I said, looking down at Kya. The love in my eyes was reflected in hers, and in the swimming pools of blue I saw energy and a bright future.

Aang laughed. "She'll be the safest girl in the world. Look who her parents are!"

"And her aunt and uncle," Sokka added, grinning as he put an arm around Suki. "We're always up for babysitting if you need it again."

"Oh, guys!" Toph suddenly sat up straight in her chair excitedly. "I forgot to tell you. I spoke with some officials- when Republic City gets its first citizens, I'm going to join the official police force!"

Everyone at the table's eyes widened and mouths dropped. After a few more moments of silence, Toph, frustrated, frowned at us. "Will someone please say something? I can't see your faces, remember?"

"You? Are going to be... in the police force?" Sokka asked slowly.

"That's right." She folded her arms.