"Momma, when is Daddy coming home?"
"Soon Kya, soon." Katara sighed to her daughter, bending down to stroke her hair.
"How soon?" Bumi whined, walking in from the other room.
Katara quickly tried to come up with a date, for the answer: "I don't know" would not suffice for the curious children.
But, it was the truth.
"I don't know." She said plainly.
"Why don't you know, Momma?" Tenzin now asked in a small voice.
"Well," She sat on the ground and her children gathered around her, eager for a real explanation. "As you know, your father is the Avatar."
"We know, Mom." They all chimed.
"The Avatar is great because he knows ALL the elements! He can bend water, earth, fire, and air."
"We know that already, Momma!" Kya interjected.
"Shh." Katara shushed. "The Avatar's job is to protect our world. He brings balance, peace, and hope by uniting the four nations as one."
"But why does that mean he has to be away all the time?" Bumi asked.
"Well, the world isn't perfect. Often times there are problems outside of Ember Island that Daddy needs to tend to."
"Like what?" Bumi asked.
"Bad people do bad things, and it's Daddy's job to make sure they are getting the punishment they deserve."
Her children looked intrigued. "Why are there bad people in the world, Momma?" Kya wondered.
She paused. Aang was so much better at explaining things to the kids then she was. Unfortunately, he wasn't here right now. What would he say?
"Some people's pasts were hard. People they love might have left and people they needed abandoned them. Instead of taking this pain and using it to make them stronger, they use it negatively. They use it against others." Memories of Katara using her bloodbending many years ago on the man she thought killed her mother hit her like a punch to the stomach.
Her kids sat in silence for once.
"I want you to remember something. Everyone goes through a difficult time in their life. For me, it was losing my mother. For your father, it was losing the Air Nomads. But, whether you take this difficult time and learn from it or let it destroy you is your choice. Before I met your father, I had lost almost all my hope. So did most of the world. But he made me regain my trust in the future. I want you all to find someone who will make you feel this way. And with this person, you will be happy."
Of course, she knew her children did not understand now. And they wouldn't for awhile. But she knew they would remember.
"I miss Daddy, Momma!" Bumi cried, head in hands.
"Me too." Katara smiled, placing her hand on Bumi's back.
"I wish he was here more." Kya whispered.
"Me too." Katara sighed, defeated.
"Where is Daddy, Momma?" Little Tenzin piped.
"Right now, he is in Republic City with Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph. They are having a trial for a man who can bloodb—" She stopped herself, realizing what she was saying to her innocent children.
"Who can what?" Bumi asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." She whispered, closing her eyes. Flashes of painful memories and her own bloodbending abilities coursed again through her mind in painful waves. A single tear rolled down her cheek.
A warm, familiar hand was placed on her shoulder.
"Daddy!" Her children squealed.
Katara's eyes flashed open to find her husband standing there with a worried look in his eyes.
"You're home!" She cried, flying into his arms.
He wrapped his strong hands around her waist and kissed her on the head.
"I'm so sorry, Katara." He whispered
"I missed you so much, Aang." She whispered back through tears.
He lifted her chin in his fingertips and placed a warm kiss on her trembling lips.
"Don't cry." He brushed her tears away with strong yet delicate fingers. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Aang."
"Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" The children chanted around their feet gleefully.
"Yes I am." Aang smiled.