Katara has always yearned for an adventure.
The only thing is that there are not any out there for her to have. Sure there's plenty out there, but it's all beyond her reach. All across the ocean, far away from her icy little home. Every day is just the same. All she has is her little village, with her brother and her grandmother as companions. That, and lots of snow. But she doesn't even know how to bend it.
Three long years it has remained this way. Three long years since her world fell apart.
Three years was the amount of time since her dad along with the men of the village left to fight the war. It was also the same amount of time since the last Fire Nation raid.
It might have been easier to deal with the absence of her father, if she wasn't also dealing with the death of her mother.
Katara often wondered why. Why, after several years without being touched by the Fire Nation, that they would suddenly come back just to kill her mother. But there is never an answer for the senseless violence of war. There is only death and sadness.
And anger.
Katara's father also happened to be the chief of their small village. The people were outraged that the wife of the Chief was killed. Some wanted to fight, and others wanted to stay to protect their own wives and children. But at the center of it all was a very sad and lonely man. This man was Chief Hakoda.
It was his decision to leave. It was for the best, he said. The Earth Kingdom was fighting them on land, so they would fight them on sea. The comet was coming regardless, so they might as well go out fighting. And so the men left, to fight a war started long before they were born.
But they also left behind one hurt, and confused girl.
Long after their boats had left, she had sat there in the snow. At the age of fourteen she knew that the chances of her father coming back weren't great and it made her angry.
She had already cried more than she had ever cried before after she saw her mother's lifeless body. She had felt the pain, the grief. The emptiness.
And when her father left she was angry.
She understood why he did what he did but she didn't want to accept it. Didn't want to accept the fact the only parent she had left, abandoned her to grieve without him. Had abandoned her to fill a void that couldn't be filled by anyone but her mother.
She didn't blame it on her dad though. She blamed it on the war.
In the time before Katara and her brother were born, the Great War began. It was a dangerous time and the four nations knew that the balance in the world that had allowed them to coexist was in danger. Fire Lord Sozin had killed the last Avatar and destroyed any hope of him returning by eliminating the entire race of Air Nomads. The most peace loving of the three nations were slaughtered in a mass genocide and thus, the balance was tipped and so the world plunged into chaos. The Avatar was thought to be gone forever and never appeared again. The ultimate power that kept the four nations functioning was gone.
Turmoil erupted, and the Fire Nation became a country of war. The remaining nations were forced to protect their homelands.
Without the Avatar's guidance, the world became a dark place. Families were torn apart, children went hungry, and there were many, many deaths. The Fire Nation's superiority in machinery gave them an edge no one else had. They burned and they killed, under the reign of a series of corrupted Firelords.
They defended and they protected, waiting and waiting for the savior to deliver them. But he never came. This war has lasted one hundred years and the end was drawing near. Almost every single man, from the ages sixteen all the way to sixty were out there trying to preserve what is left of the original world, the world that was created under peace and balance. The dream remains, but the hope is dwindling. The Comet that started the war is coming back to end it. Time is not on the side of those who still dream of peace.
And in a corner of the world, are the remains of what once was a large and prosperous Water Tribe.
The Southern Water tribe vilage is now a small and desolate place. After repeated raids and the capturing of the water benders, it had become of little worth to anyone who did not live there. Women, children and widows live there now. The men are gone fighting and all they can do until they come back is wait.
Day to day life there is more or less the same. Children are taught by the women, while the older kids go trapping. Traps are made by the older folk who spend their times quietly now, inside their homes near the fire place. Their experienced hands twist dried animal skin into ropes and into traps so they might have a meal the next day. A select few of those who still knew how, went fishing.
Katara and Sokka are the most able bodied because they were just young enough to be left behind when the Southern Tribe entered the war. They ventured the farthest from the village, and brought home whatever they could.
But even then, food was scarce. The village shared everything from food to clothing to a warm fire. Everyone knew everyone and each person was like family. They functioned well together but they lived a strained life. Tension is ever present but it 's The waiting is what kills them the most, especially for those who have a father, son, or husband in the war.
Katara and Sokka do their best for the tribe in their father's absence. Sokka built a watch tower, though poorly made and hardly used. Katara helped the children and the elderly. They hunted and they stuck together always.
Katara didn't know what she would have done if she didn't have Sokka and she liked to imagine that Sokka didn't either. She thought he was an insufferable jerk and he thought he thought she was an overbearing snoop but they loved each other. And they couldn't had survived without the other.
They tried to be each other's rock, but they didn't fool each other one bit. Katara would sometimes cry when she thought Sokka couldn't hear and Sokka would disappear time to time out into the icy tundra by himself and come back, eyes puffy and red. Each would be met with a sympathetic look and then a half-smile joined with bad joke to lighten the mood.
But neither of them really talked about what happened. It was a memory that they tried to push away with time. But Katara still remembered it like it happened yesterday.
And so, three years later finds Katara and her brother on the outskirts of the village collecting clean snow to melt over the fire for water.
Sokka carries two buckets, and Katara one. Bending the snow makes for a better and easier way to collect water. This is the extent of her water bending abilities.
She loved the water. In the times she spent alone after her mother died, she felt disconnected from everything. She was broken, and the pieces needed to put her back together were irretrievable. The people she trusted the most were gone and bending even the tiniest amount of water, made her feel a connection with something again. With her water, she learned to find another way to deal with her life. She accepted her loss, and put herself together again, flowing over the obstacles. It taught her that there would always be problems, but like the water, you just had to keep flowing.
Either way, she was not an accomplished bender in the least. She didn't have time to practice anyway. Living in the South Pole made everyday life a fight to survive.
"Hurry up Katara, I want to be there when Dad come home." Sokka said as he lined up his buckets for his sister to fill.
Katara spread her feet apart in the snow and leaned away from the buckets. Slowly, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, moving her hands together from left to right in an upwards motion. The white snow in front of her seemed to reluctantly mimic her movements and slid over the ground and up into a bucket. She moved onto the next one, rubbing her gloved hands together before starting again.
"I'm not so sure I want to see him." She said in reply, not looking at her brother. "It's been three years you know."
Sokka played with the white fur tassels on his coat answering, "He's our dad Katara. I know he left us, but at least he's coming to see us. The war isn't even over yet and he's taking the time to be with us again. Don't you want to see him just a little tiny bit?"
She smiled as she filled the last bucket. "I know, you're right. I'm finished now so we can head back." She said picking up a bucket now filled with snow. "And we aren't even that far away. Don't worry, we'll know when they're here." She said jokingly, flicking a bit of snow into Sokka's face. She was used to this now. Keeping the hurt inside.
He spat out the bit that landed on his mouth and ran after his sister, hefting the two buckets off the ground. "Hey!" he yelled annoyed.
One week ago they received a message from a messenger arctic pigeon-fowl, bearing a delicately rolled up scroll in a case made of animal skin upon its snowy white back. Before the tribe even opened the note, they knew something was going to happen soon. When the men left, they took exactly two pigeon-fowls with them to send a message to the tribe if anything major happened. The birds were the last connection between them.
The scroll contained a long letter from the chief, stating the condition of their fleet and the men along with the news that they were to return home. The men had fought hard the last three years, and needed a moral boost that could only come from their loved ones. They missed home terribly. So therefore, the fleet was returning for exactly three days because they could spare no more time. The war was going to end soon anyway. Sozin's comet was near. This visit back to the tribe was most likely a final good-bye before they fight a battle they have already lost.
The water tribe siblings entered the village, swinging their buckets by their sides and waving to their neighbors as they walked towards the southern part of their tiny home where their grandmother waited in their house constructed of ice.
Katara brushed the tent flap aside calling out to her grandmother. "Gran-Gran we're back!" She settled her bucket over the fireplace, sliding the handle on to the bar hanging over it where the snow could melt onto water. Sokka placed his buckets outside where the snow would stay snow until later.
"Children, what are you doing here?" Their grandmother said as Katara nearly ran into her. Katara stepped backwards into Sokka.
"What are you talking about?" Sokka asked his grandmother as he set his spear against the wall and letting down his hood.
"The call just went out that the ships have been sighted. I was just on my way out when you came." She said.
The two stared at her, a bit in shock at the news. The men were finally here. After three years.
"Well, don't just stand there. Let's go see your father!" Gran-Gran said ushering the teenagers out. She pushed them gently through the flap of the tent, and took the lead in walking towards the ocean.
Katara glanced warily over at her brother behind her grandmothers back. Too fast! She kept thinking. She didn't feel ready to see him again. She had been waiting for three whole years and now when they were finally back, she felt time was moving too fast. Suddenly the distance between her and her father wad shrinking at an alarming rate.
Her brother's eyes meet hers and he flashes a goofy grin. "Relax Katara. Just think of the huge feast that we're going to eat tonight!" Typical, she thinks. Her brother's mind is always on food. But the remark has its intended reaction and Katara smiles.
Her brother drew his fur hood over his head once again, and as an afterthought said, "It'll be okay. Dads home again. Just think of how much you miss him." He said before taking off to walk beside their grandmother. Katara shut her eyes and opened them again. She was ready.
Tightening her parka's hood to make sure it didn't blow off in the wind, she set off after her family clutching her mother's necklace in a death grip. The smooth stone made the same imprint in her hand she was familiar with and it made her braver. What was she so worried about anyway? She let go reluctantly and pasted a smile on her face, running to catch up.
Other women and children stepped out of their homes as they heard the signal the lookout used to alert people to the presence of incoming ships. People barely heard it anymore and its' rousing call made people excited. Horns signified the coming of trade ships or in this case, their very own boats. No one had heard it in a very long time.
Naiku, a woman whose husband was on one of the ships, fell in step with them. Everyone was heading towards the shoreline now. "It seems like it's been forever." she said. Her hands were tangled in her black hair, hastily pulling it into a braid, but the smile on her face was huge. The older woman was somewhat of a teacher for the children of the South Pole and over all a very sweet woman. Katara liked her.
"It has been." Katara replied. Naiku smiled and put both of her hands on Katara's shoulders and gave them a squeeze, just like she used to when Katara was just a little girl. It was comforting in a way.
Looking around at the rest of the village, Katara noticed the little children wandered eagerly along with the crowd. Some of them were just old enough to be walking and it was a bitter reminder to her that some of the children hadn't even met their fathers. But she pushed these thoughts away. Today was a happy day.
She had been so occupied with her thoughts that she almost missed the docking of the ships. They were still quite a bit away from the shore, but she could already make out the forms of men jumping off the ships and hammering the ropes down on into the ice with long pegs. Her heart swelled. She hadn't seen those blue sails for a long time. They all cheered in response to the arrival.
It seemed that even the universe knew the significance of this day, for in the first time in ages the day was cloudless and the sun shone down on them, making the white snow give off a bright glare. The little children began to get excited and took off skipping and running to the ships, off to the fathers they barely remembered.
"Well?" Kanna, Sokka and Katara's grandmother said expectantly. "What are you waiting for? Your father is home!" She shoved them off to meet the disembarking sailors who were already on their way over, just couple hundred yards away now. Katara's eyes met Sokka's and he shrugged his shoulders before waving for her to follow him on the trek to the shoreline. She followed his lead into
As the two forces of people crashed together, they merged into one. Two parts of one whole separated for far too long molder together again on the euphoria of incredible longing and happiness. Families reunited and children cried out in pure joy of seeing their fathers and brothers home again. Friends and neighbors were once again viewing each other with profound fondness. As husbands embraced wives, new promises were made of love that would last forever no matter how long the separation. But Katara and Sokka still searched among the reunited tribal members searching for the face that mattered most.
"Where is he?" Katara asked her brother. A dread started to set in. What if he was injured? What if he was somewhere else? What if he was… dead? He couldn't be dead, she decided. The spirits could not be that cruel to her.
"Sokka? Katara?" A deep, hesitant voice called out from behind them. And just like that, the fears disappeared. With one look at the man Katara had missed for three years, all the hatred she had for him was temporarily relinquished as she grabbed Sokka's gloved hand and jerked him to the man who had called for them: Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe. Her Dad.
When his searching eyes finally landed on his children, the man fell to his knees just in time to embrace the teenagers. They fell to the ground beside the many others embracing their loved ones. Amidst the laughter and tears they held one another closely. Katara inhaled the scent of her father and realized he still smelt the same as he did before, like old furs with a hint of the scent of fish. It made her feel like a little girl again. Tears leaked from her eyes and as her father pulled away, he took off his gloves and swiped her tears aside with his thumb. With his other hand, he ruffled his sons hair messing up is wolf-tail. But Sokka didn't mind.
She let out a few sobs before giving her father another hug. "I missed you so much." She said with complete sincerity. She felt almost whole again. She hadn't felt like that since her mother died.
"I missed you too sweetie." He said against her hair. She pulled away, keeping her hand on his shoulder as he embraced Sokka again. Not to her surprise, Katara caught a tear sliding down her brother's face. "I took care of her, just like you said." Sokka told him.
Hakoda pulled away and looked at his children before him. "You've both grown so much, into wonderful young adults." He said. "My beautiful daughter." He said brushing his hand over Katara's face. She caught it and held it against her cheek, never wanting to let go. "And my strong warrior." He said patting his son's shoulder. This brought smiles to both their faces.
"Your children missed you." Kanna said from behind them. They turned to look at the tough old women in front of them. She had her arms at her sides, her wrinkled face expressionless. "And so did I." She finished allowing a smile to cross her features. Hakoda stood and embraced the old woman.
He chuckled and looked at his remaining family, as well as the many others around them. All the families were huddled together, smiling and hugging each other reveling in each other's presence. "Well men, let us be with our families. We will reconvene tonight." He announced in a raised voice. The village erupted in cheers and shouts and everyone took off in the direction in the village. Fathers scooped up their children and threw their arms around their wives and mothers. The chief himself swung his arms proudly around his kids as they took off in the direction of the village.
"It's good to be home." He said wistfully, looking to where the village was.
"We're glad you're home." Katara said truthfully. With her arms around her father, she felt like everything was finally going to be okay. The war faded away into the background and all that mattered was the person who had his arm around her. All the scolding she had built up could wait until later.
But then the Tribal chief halted his steps and turned around. "Oh, I almost forgot." He said. He removed himself from his children's grasps and walked back to where a lone boy stood. As Katara looked at him he seemed maybe a couple years younger than herself. He had a traditional water Tribe parka on that looked just a little too big for him. He had scruffy, curiously short dark brown hair and around his head was a white strip of cloth, usually used for keeping their under tunics together. His skin was paler than most, but he had on a sheepish smile that suggested nothing sinister.
Katara looked at him in confusion. She'd never seen him before. What was he doing here?
Hakoda put his hand on the boy's shoulder in a familiar way and said, "This is Aang. He came to us in the strangest of ways and he's been a part of the crew for about a year now. He'll be staying with us for the duration of our time spent here."
Aang held out his gloved hand to the siblings. "It's an honor to meet you. Chief Hakoda has told me a lot about you." Sokka stole a glance to his sister before grasping the stranger's wrist in a 'manly' manner and solidly shook it once. Katara smiled at him while she shook his hand to mask her apprehensiveness.
"I'm Katara, and this is my brother Sokka." She told him. In reply Aang waved his hand in greeting but looked up to Hakoda on how to proceed.
Hakoda nodded and then once again grabbed the sibling's shoulders to proceed to the village. Katara faintly heard Aang strike up a conversation with her Gran Gran behind them.
"Who is he?" Sokka said, beating Katara to the question.
Hakoda lowered his tone and said "I'll tell you in good time. For now, we celebrate."
Katara realized this was all she was going to get, so she changed the subject. "We're all planning to watch the lights tonight. On the same hill we always watch them from." She smiled as she looked up into her father's eyes.
He smiled back. "That sounds like a great idea." His narrowed eyes relaxed and radiated happiness, just to be back where he belonged. Katara shook aside the feeling that there was an intruder among them and decided to enjoy the moment and just be with her dad.
AN: Yup, it's me again. Its summer and I have gathered the gusto to begin rewriting this thing. I'm hoping that this turns out good and I'll only post chapters after I'm completely satisfied with them. I want the best for you guys as well as for myself. So I can't promise quick updates but I do promise my best work. I hope you join me on this journey. (And yes it's Zutara, I'll get there eventually ;)
As for my other series (Our Song & Finding You), its temporarily on hiatus. Sorry guys. It seems forever ago that I made those stories and honestly I think my writing has improved since then. Rereading that stuff makes me cringe.
On an ending note, I'll say something that you've probably heard too many times before.
Please review! It seriously feeds my desire to write. Bring on the flames, I'm ready and willing to improve my writing.