It was a breezy fall afternoon, and Katara was out practicing her waterbending and then gathering up some food for dinner.
"Aang. Aang?" Katara was searching for her husband of two years and could not find him anywhere. "Avatar Aang…where are you?" She needed to find him, she didn't have that much time before her water bending lesson with Master Pakku. If he made her late…"oh. There you are…."
Katara walked in on Aang lying on their bed, half naked and completely asleep. She sat down next to him and let her fingers lightly dance over his back. "Aang…babe…I have to go..please wake up.." She nudged his side to get him to wake.
"Katara?" Aang said dreamily. "I'm sorry..must have dozed off."
Katara leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Its okay, but I really need you to watch Nalia for me while I'm at my waterbending lesson."
"Where are you going?" He asked, clearly half asleep.
"to my waterbending lesson." She answered. "Aang…you shouldn't sleep so much. If I catch you in here taking a nap again..well..i better not catch you in here taking a nap again!" She teased, playfully hitting his arm.
" Oh really? Big bad Katara is going to stop the Avatar from taking a nap?" He stuck his tongue out at her.
"Yeah, actually. I am. So you better stay awake young man" she glared at him.
"Young man? Oh okay mother." He glared back.
They sat there for a few moments, staring into each other's eyes. Neither person moved a muscle until a soft cry could be heard from the room next door. "Nalia!" Katara screamed. She broke their gaze and dashed over to her daughter's room.
Aang took a moment to wake himself up, and then walked over into his daughter's room as well.
Everything about Katara was always beautiful. No matter what she did, she was always a shining beacon of beauty. But as Aang stared at the scene being played out before him, he couldn't help but be overwhelmed with love for both his wife and his daughter.
Katara stood next to Nalia's cradle, holding the little bundle and rocking her slowly back to sleep. Her hair was falling across her face as she leaned in to kiss this precious gift. Aang always knew of Katara's beauty, but here, in this moment, he felt like the happiest man in the world to have such a wonderful wife, and such an amazing daughter.
Aang couldn't simply stand to watch this anymore without interfering, so he gently came up behind Katara and wrapped his arms tightly but gently around her waist, resting his chin in the crook of her neck to stare at Nalia.
"I can't believe this is all real…" Aang confessed.
"What do you mean?" asked Katara.
"It's just…everything is so perfect. It's hard for me to comprehend how lucky I am. I have cherished every moment I have been with you, and with Nalia. I would do anything for you both. Anything to make you both happy." Aang kissed Katara's neck.
Katara couldn't help but smile. She felt the exact same way. "Aang I-" Aang could tell Katara stopped moving and could feel her heart rate getting faster. "I'm late for my waterbending lesson!" She handed Nalia over to Aang, and quickly started walking to the door.
Aang followed her, the little bundle of life wrapped in his arms. "Right. Forgot about that." He walked to the door as she was walking out.
"Bye Aang" she said in a hurry, yet took more time to kiss the love of her life. "And remember- don't let me catch you sleeping again!"
"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here!" Aang teased.
With Katara gone, Aang could do whatever he wanted. So he did exactly that.
Katara came home, and the scene played out before her took her breath away.
Aang was laying on the sofa, cradling the infant in his arms. His rough, masculine hand holding her tiny soft one, over his heart.
Katara was struck by the simplicity of this moment, and yet it meant everything to her.
Then she remembered Aang was napping….she would get him later.