My foray into Kataang Week. Hopefully this isn't a complete disaster. Day 1: Secrets.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra belong to Nick and Mike and Bryan.
"Aang…" Katara traced the outline of the scar that broke the line of her husband's tattoos. Her fingers shook only slightly, a testament to how they both had healed. The air bender looked up from his place at Katara's chest, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other now moving to grasp her unoccupied hand. His brow furrowed in worry, recognizing his wife's pained tone. "I haven't felt this helpless since that day in the catacombs. I thought…I thought I wasn't weak anymore."
"Katara-" She squeezed his hand and kept speaking, her voice hoarse with unshed tears.
"I can't always save you, Aang, and nothing scares me more than that. Azula. Ozai. Now Yakone. Everyone wants to rip you away from me and I don't know if I can stop them next time." Aang sat up, removing his arm from around her waist to place a hand against her cheek, his thumb wiping away the beginnings of tears.
"You saved me today. I'm here. I'm alive." He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers. Their tears mingled together, the taste of the other's on their tongues. Katara kept her eyes closed as they broke apart, images reliving themselves upon her eyelids.
"I thought you had died again. I saw it when I was coming down the hall. I was fourteen again and you were falling…"
"Daddy died?" Katara and Aang whirled around, forgetting that they were both naked from earlier activities. Their three children stood in the doorway, Tenzin having been the one to speak.
"Come here you three." The Avatar made room for his children, having spoken only after sharing a long look with his wife. Tenzin reached the bed first, clambering over his parents' legs and settling in between them. Aang and Katara had shifted to sit against the headboard. Bumi and Kya followed their baby brother, sitting at the foot of the bed. They hadn't noticed yet, but they were holding each other's hands tightly.
"You know the story of how we ended the war, but we had to lose before we could win." Aang wrapped an arm around Katara as she spoke, including the eight year old beside him as well. The older kids shared a look before returning their attention back to their parents.
"Do you mean the fall of Ba Sing Se?" Kya's voice was uncharacteristically quiet, lacking its usual sarcastic bite.
"Yes. During the coup, before we really knew what was going on, I was kidnapped and taken below the city, to the Crystal Catacombs. Your father and Uncle Iroh came to save me. While on our way out to rescue your Uncle Sokka and Aunt Toph, Princess Azula attacked. We were outnumbered by the Dai Li." Katara took a shaky breath, tears reforming in her eyes. Aang squeezed her shoulder before continuing where she had left out.
"I entered the Avatar State in hopes of fighting our way out, but before I could even begin to think of attacking, Azula shot me with lightning." He removed his arm from around his wife and turned, showing his scar to his children. "If an Avatar dies in the Avatar State, the Avatar Cycle ends. Azula's lightning strike killed me." Tears were running down the faces of everyone around the Avatar. Snot was dripping out of Tenzin's nose as he threw himself at his father, sobbing into his chest. Aang clutched his son too him, reaching a hand out to touch his other children. "Shhhhh. It's alright. I'm still here. And it's because of your mother. Do you remember when we told you about the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole?" Three small heads nodded in unison.
"Mom was given some of the water, right?" Katara nodded at her oldest son, having gained some of her composure back.
"I used it to heal your father. I didn't think it worked at first, but…then he opened his eyes."
No one spoke for several minutes. The only sounds were those of the children sniffing and wiping at their faces. Tenzin eventually calmed enough to relinquish his chokehold around his father's neck. As their younger brother relaxed, Kya and Bumi pressed closer to their parents before climbing into their laps and wrapping their arms around them. Bumi was quickly gaining on Aang in height, but the airbender was still able to tuck his son's head beneath his own chin.
"Dad…was tonight another close call?" Kya broke the silence, moving a bit from her mother's arms to look at her father.
"Yes, Kya. And your mother saved me again. And Toph. And Sokka." Katara couldn't help the blush caused by her husband's praise, even after thirty years of it already.
"I know you guys already know this, but you have to remember, even I have to remember, that what Daddy does is very dangerous sometimes. And what I do. And what Toph, Sokka, and Zuko do. We all have to be strong for each other, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about it, alright?" Three heads, one bald and two with dark, thick hair, bobbed in agreement. Aang and Katara kissed all three foreheads before settling deeper into the pillows, holding their children.
"So…Dad, are you the last Avatar? You said if an Avatar…"
"No, Bumi. While I was healing, I reconnected with my past lives. The Avatar Cycle is intact." Aang couldn't help but to smile at the relief evident in everyone's faces. After a few more minutes of family cuddling, Bumi stiffened again.
"…Why didn't you guys tell us before? That…that Dad died." The Avatar and his waterbending master glanced at each other before sighing simultaneously.
"We didn't think you all were ready. We were afraid of scaring you." Katara ran a hand through Bumi's unruly hair.
"We realize, now, that of course you guys are ready. Bumi, you're the same age I was when it happened."
"We thought we could protect you from the horrors we couldn't protect ourselves from, but today proves we can't just protect you. We have to prepare you. Your father and I believe we've created a better world for all of you, a world we didn't have the luxury of growing up in, but you will have your share of dangers too. Today was a close call and we underestimated your ability to accept and handle such terrible things. And Kya, Tenzin, you are both much younger than when we faced such things. You guys are strong, stronger than even we thought." The young trio beamed before burrowing further into their parents.
After such a trying day, the family soon fell asleep. Little and tall, dark and pale bodies all tangled together. Aang was practially hanging off the bed in order to keep Tenzin and Kya from falling in the floor. Katara had somehow managed to be sprawled mostly across Aang, but still holding Bumi. The lanky Avatar and burly eldest child took up most of the space on the usually roomy bed.
Katara and Aang awoke first, an unusual occurrence. They couldn't move and Aang could barely breathe, even given his Air Nomad advantage, but they grinned at each other. They were happy. They were in love. They had three beautiful children. They were alive. Yakone had nearly succeeded in destroying a family, but what was more important was that he hadn't. Though hesitant at first to surrender the story they had guarded so carefully, husband and wife were glad that they had. Their family could only grow closer.