Just a short and sweet Kataang piece. (Note: minor update in September 2011, mostly for formatting issues.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, no matter how much I wish I did. :)
The Luckiest Woman Alive
I am the luckiest woman alive, a smiling twenty-two-year-old Katara thought as she gently cuddled her newborn baby against her chest. This is the greatest life I could ever have imagined. I wouldn't change a single thing about it.
Her husband stroked her face gently with his hand and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Katara leaned her head against his shoulder and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too," came her husband's automatic but sincere reply.
As Katara sat in the soft comfort of her own home, tears of joy began to stream down her face, tickling her husband's bare shoulders. He tilted Katara's chin toward him and stared deep into her sapphire eyes.
"Katara, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. It's just... I'm so happy. I want you to know that." She smiled as Aang wiped her tears away with his thumb. "Do you remember what you said to me after you proposed to me?"
"Of course I do," he said softly. "I rehearsed it so many times I think my future lives will remember it. I just wanted to know you were sure. I said, 'Katara, you deserve so much more than I can give you. We'll have to do a lot of traveling, and it's bound to get dull after a while. I don't have a lot of money, and there are lots of risks involved in being the Avatar's wife. I want you to think very seriously about that before you answer. I want you to be happy.'"
Katara nodded. "And what did I say back?"
"You said..." He paused and smiled at the memory of her heartfelt reply. "You said, 'I've been thinking very seriously about it ever since I met you, and I know the only way I'll ever be happy is if I can spend my life with you.'"
"And that's still true," Katara assured him. "I love our lifestyle. I love our new baby, Aang, and I love you."
"I'm glad, Katara," Aang replied. "I love you too." He smiled and kissed her again, then turned to look at the infant Katara had given birth to only a day before. Hikari. Her name meant "light" - because Aang and Katara, together, had won the battle and given light to the darkened, war-torn world. The child would be a constant reminder of the harmony that had been restored to the nations after Fire Lord Ozai's defeat.
Aang smiled affectionately at the little sleeping bundle in Katara's arms. Even though Katara was a grown woman and Hikari was merely a day old, the mother-daughter resemblance was striking. In fact, in the position Hikari was sleeping, she looked exactly like a miniature Katara. But Aang knew that her eyes, which were now closed peacefully in sleep, were the exact shape and brilliant blue-gray color as his own.
A perfect blend of water and air.
Aang pulled Katara tighter to him, and Katara shifted Hikari to her other arm - carefully, so as not to wake her up - and snuggled the newborn comfortably between her and her husband. Aang and Katara both placed a protective arm around the tiny child and laced their loose fingers together delicately.
Yes, I am most definitely the luckiest, happiest woman to ever walk the earth, Katara thought again as she and Aang drifted off to join their daughter in a tranquil slumber.
A/N: FLUFF. OVERDOSE. I know. D: