A/N: Please review! This is the longest oneshot I have ever written and I'm quite proud of how this ended up. I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could.
Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or "Legend Of Korra".
The dark night was left in complete darkness as grey storm clouds stole the sky from the usually bright moon, ready to unleash their full potential on anything below. They rumbled slightly as if to taunt those who did not fear them, and they realeased lightening to show what true power they beheld.
Air Temple Island was being plumented by rain as the bay tossed and turned from the turbulent wind, blowing madly as it ripped leaves from their trees and sent branches hurdling to the damp, forest floor. Lights could be seen sporadically throughout the housing buildings on the island, yet most people were asleep at this hour, finding comfort from the storm.
Katara could never bring herself to find comfort from any type of storm, especially one that showcased lightening almost as if it was flaunting its ability.
She sat alone in her room on the window seat, multiple candles lit in order to illuminate her surroundings, they cast shadows across the wall only adding to the woman's unease. The waterbender pulled her barefeet beneath herself, biting her lip as memories flooded back.
Aang's death in Ba Sing Se being the one to usually break her.
He had sent word from the city that he would not be able to make it home that night, that him and the council were making some final decisions that were meant to be announced to the public the very next day. It was a very apologetic letter, him knowing it made her uneasy to stay alone though the Air Acolytes were fairly close.
But tonight was harder than most, even if her husband had been there, she feels as though it wouldn't have made much of a difference.
She was genuinely afraid of the lightening, it was pure destruction, it was lethal, it was what had brought Aang down at Ba Sing Se.
She laid her head defeated against the window pane as the rain splattered against it, making the glass cool to the touch. "Aang," she whispered desperately.
"Mother?" The young woman turned to see her youngest child standing in the dark doorway, not hearing his light footsteps on the wood outside of her room causing her to smile at how much the trait resembled his father.
"Yes, Tenzin?" The boy was only five, yet he was more cordial than both of his older siblings put together, he was also strictly serious, focusing more on his airbending training than playing what he saw as worthless games with his brother and sister. Though he had always looked like Aang, even from the time he was an infant, it took Katara's breath away sometimes how much of a likeliness they shared.
"Why hasn't father arrived home yet?"
Tenzin sounded a bit timid, always fearing that something had gone wrong in Republic City, always fearing that somehow his father wouldn't come home after all. His big, blueish-grey eyes stared into his mother's as he waited for an answer.
She gestured for him to come over to where she sat and the little, bald child complied. He was promptly picked up by his mother and sat on the seat next to her, tanned hand holding tightly onto his pale one.
"He won't be coming home tonight," The child's expressive eyes widened in alarm as he squeezed his mother's hand tightly. She quickly added on, "He just has some work with the council that needs attending to."
The little boy let out a relieved sigh as he followed his mother's gaze to the storm outside, him too cringing as another streak of lightening cut through the black canvas that was the night sky.
"I don't like storms," He muttered to his mother as he scooted closer to her, trying not to react to the rolling thunder that seemed to be challenging all who heard it to answer.
His mother nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around the young child, "I don't either, Tenzin."
They sat like that for awhile, the storm raging on and seeming to pick up momentum every second it lived on. The thunder became more frequent, and branches could be heard hitting the roof of their home, lightening still striking mercilessly beyond their window pane.
"Mother, can I stay with you tonight?" Katara smiled slightly at Tenzin, petting his head affectionately before nodding.
"I"m actually quite surprised your brother and sister haven't barged in by now, they don't like storms either," Right on cue though,
a tanned girl with dark brown braided pigtails and a young boy with untamable dark hair and a boomerang held tight within his grasp barged into their mother's room, both their grey eyes wide with fear.
"Mommy! Where's dad?" Kya asked frantically as she ran across the wooden floor, nearly colliding with the bed but quickly swerving and jumping into her mother's lap, kicking her younger brother with one of her flailing feet.
"Hey!" Tenzin shouted rubbing his cheek where a red mark had already formed on his pale skin.
Bumi walked as calmly as he could across the floor, trying to mask the fear in his eyes, "Yeah, isn't he usually home by now?" A loud rumble answered him and he jumped slightly, "It's not like I'm scared or anything though!"
Kya looked up at her mother though, eyes wide, "Uh, I am!"
Katara looked pointedly at her children, trying to mask her own discomfort of the storm as well, "Everyone just needs to calm down, your father is busy discussing matters with the council so he won't be home tonight," Her two older children shared a slightly uneasy look as Tenzin just nodded his head, affirming what his mother had said.
"Then can we stay in here with you?"
The mother nodded to the eight year old girl, clinging to her neck, "Ofcourse you can! Bumi can even stay, I mean unless he's not scared and would like to sleep in his own room," Bumi's face was a bit torn at first before he regained his normal, mischevious demeanor.
"Actually mom, being the one with the warrior skills in this family, and being the only real man in this house right now, I see it as my duty to stay with you tonight and make sure you stay safe," The two girls rolled their eyes at the boy's poor attempt at keeping his fear hidden while Tenzin scoffed, crossing his arms.
"You are not the only man in the house..."
"Whatever, cueball."
Before Tenzin could retaliate though, Katara told her children to hop into the bed resting in the middle of the spacious room and to get comfortable, for it would be a long night.
An hour later, all of the candles in the room had been blown out, casting shadows across its occupant's faces, the storm outside illuminating the room every few seconds with its respective lightening strikes.
Bumi sat at the foot of the bed, his mother and siblings snuggled up at the head. Katara was fighting the urge to roll her eyes while her son told a rather ridiculous scary story, but Kya and Tenzin seemed to be completely engrossed in it.
"The little girl sat up in her bed when she heard the creak coming from down the hall, but she was too scared to move from the confines of her covers. The creaking got closer and closer until she saw a pair of feet, directly outside her door, the door opened, then it closed, the little girl never to be seen again." Bumi had a slight, manic smile on his face as he pressed on, both of his siblings shaking from their places beside their mother, their tiny hands grasping her hand and nightgown tightly in fear.
"Now on stormy nights, he wanders the halls of other children," Bumi stood up to his full height now ontop of the bed, looking down at his listeners, his pajamas rustling as he stood, "He usually leaves them undisturbed, but in the seasom of...season...of...what season is it again?"
Tenzin quickly answered him knowingly, "Autumn"
Bumi quickly went back to his story, "In the season of autumn, he captures the children and takes them back to his lair, none of them ever to be seen again."
Katara gave her son a disapproving look for first of all planting such ridiculous notions in the heads of his siblings, and for not knowing the current season.
"Bumi, are you sure that's true?" Kya asked her brother, squinting her eyes a bit skeptically.
"Yes it is, what do you think ever happened to that kid who used to live with the Air Acolytes? Notice how he disappeared last year at this time?" Bumi's eyebrows raised as if to challenge his sister, a winning smile on his face at successfully fooling his siblings.
"Bumi, he was sent to an academy across town. The Air Acolytes told me when I asked," Bumi's smile only grew at his sister's answer.
"That's what they want you to think, Kya."
"Ok!" Their mother exclaimed suddenly, breaking the tense air that had formed following the ghost story, two of her children extremely spooked and the other one practically radiating satisfaction, "I think it's time we all try to go to sleep."
Katara curled into her pillow, still uneasy of the storm raging on outside of her window, but desperate to be a brave example for her children who quickly climbed under the covers beside her.
About an hour later, the bell tower struck midnight and the storm continued to cause destruction outside their home. Katara had fallen asleep awhile ago, dreaming of her adventures with her friends years back, but her children still lay wide awake in bed.
"I wish Daddy were here," Kya mumbled as Bumi kicked her under the blanket again, shifting an elbow to where his boomerang painfully hit her in the stomach, "Ow! Bumi!"
Her brother gave her as innocent of a look as he could muster from his place beside her, "What? I just want to have my boomerang ready in case I need to protect you from the man in the story."
Tenzin, from his place beside their mother, looked over at Bumi, "You don't really think he would come for us in the middle of night, do you?"
His older brother grinned a bit, propping himself up on his elbow,
keeping his voice low, "Oh, I don't know. Our Dad isn't home, our mom's asleep, we're still awake, it seems like the perfect scenario for him, no?"
Tenzin sank down lower in the covers as Kya kicked her other brother promptly in the shin, "Bumi don't say stiff like that!"
The kids were silent for a few minutes, listening to the thunder outside, when suddenly they heard a creak at the front of the house.
"What was that?" Tenzin sat up quickly in the bed, followed by his sister and brother, their mother slumbering on.
They sat for a second, but didn't hear another sound.
Bumi rolled his eyes, smirking teasingly at his two siblings, but clutching his boomerang a bit tighter to himself, "You two are just shooken up from the scary story, that was probably the floorboards."
The two children shook their heads a bit, still nervous, when they heard the door downstairs creak open eerily slow.
Kya looked at Bumi, her usually tanned face, extremely pale as she whispered, "Unless the floorboards learned how to open doors, I really doubt that's them!"
Bumi now nervous held up his hands, clutching his boomerang, "Now, now let's try to be smart about this. It's probably an Air Acolyte."
Tenzin shook his head, sitting up with the blanket covering his nose, his whisper turning into a mumble as he remarked, "They never come into our house at night, even during emergencies."
Both of his siblings nodded at that, knowing it was true, but now they could hear creaks coming from the living room, making them all grab onto the other.
"Maybe we should wake up, Mother?" Tenzin asked as his brother shook his head, holding up the weapon in his hand.
"No, this is a man's job, if that man from the story really is here to get us, I refuse to go down without a fight," A bit of thunder roared outside, giving Bumi all the encouragement he needed to leave the confines of the covers around him and to step on to the cold, wooden floor.
"I'm going with you, to protect Mommy and Tenzin, and to keep you from doing something stupid," Kya whispered bravely as she too unwrapped herself from the covers, grabbing their mother's waterskin from the side table, "I can freeze them if they even try to grab us."
The two siblings gave each other an affirming nod, before they both turned to their little brother who sat comfortably under the covers still, casting weary glances at the door on the other side of the room, "I think you two are absolutely crazy."
Bumi laughed slightly at that, holding up his boomerang proudly, "You just watch, after we defeat this man, we will come back heroes."
The creaks still were coming from the living room, and whoever was making them sounded to be either quite big, or quite tall. Both siblings stood for a second, nervous of what they were about to do, but telling themselves that they were the children of the Avatar, and they should be able to handle some mysterious man.
"Ready?" Bumi whispered to his sister, as they crept closer to the door and he grabbed the knob. The girl nodded, putting on a brave face, yet silently hoping that the floorboards had learned how to open doors, and walk around on the floor.
The two children were able to open the door nearly silently, both making their way into the hall with silent foot falls, swiftly being swallowed up by the dark, unlit atmosphere of the hallway.
Tenzin sat under the covers beside his mother, his breath increasing nervously as he heard the creaks become louder as they made their way down the hall, the storm completely forgotten by the young airbender child.
Suddenly, the creaks stopped though, and the house became unusually silent, even the storm silented for a minute outside, Tenzin held his breath, more scared than he had ever been in his life. That's when he heard it.
"BUMIRANG!"
The words resounded through the house, the loud screech clearly coming from his brother down the hall, promptly being followed by a painful thump as he heard a man let out a surprised yelp.
Tenzin started to scream from his place in the bedroom, waking Katara up screaming, while he kicked his legs fearfully under the blankets,
knocking her clean off her side of the bed.
"Tenzin!" She yelped from the floor, where she was tangled up in the sheets she had taken with her, clutching her head where she had hit it on the side table, as her son continued to scream senselessly.
From the hallway, Tenzin could hear his sister uncork her waterskin, and screech, "Take that, crazy man!" which was followed by the sound of something being frozen against the wall, and another surprised yelp from the unsuspecting man.
By now Katara had finally gotten her bearings and was standing up, grabbing a candle on her nightstand and quickly striking a match to light it. "Tenzin, what is going on?"
The boy who was still shaking in bed, pointed with an unsteady finger to the hallway wordlessly, where the sound of muffled mumbles could be heard and frequent battlecries from his brother were victoriously being sang.
His mother, grabbing the now lit candle, quickly walked into the hall, where she was met with quite a surprising sight, letting out a slight gasp as she took in the scene in front of her.
"What is it, mother?" Tenzin asked worriedly from within the bedroom, clambering off the bed and running into the hall, making a beeline for his mother.
He could not believe the sight he was met with.
His mother stood in the middle of the hall, the candle flickering slightly but illuminating the space in front of them, her hand was over her mouth as she tried to suppress the giggles that her lips fought to set free. There, was the great Avatar Aang, frozen to the wall all the way up to his lips, his eyes wide as his two other children just stared up apologetically at him.
"This is bad," Bumi murmured to Kya as she gave a nod of her head, still looking up at their father who was frozen to the wall, trying to speak but the ice muffling what he was saying.
Suddenly though, the ice surrounding the bald, tattooed man turned into water and fell to the floor at his feet.
"Well that was certainly not the homecoming I was expecting!" This only made his wife laugh harder as Tenzin too began to laugh at the strange predicament. "I was wet when I walked in, so naturally the floor was creaking from the extra weight I had collected during the storm, but I sure didn't think that would send these two warriors after me!"
Their father was smiling as his daughter ran over to his legs, giving him a hug as if apologizing while Bumi just held up his hands in defense, a smug look on his face, "Well atleast now I can say I was able to defeat the Avatar."
Aang rolled his eyes, as his son joined him and his daughter in a hug, Tenzin and Katara soon following.
"Sorry, Aang," Katara kissed him softly on the cheek, chuckling a bit as she explained the reason their children were so quick to react to an "intruder" in the house.
"Ah, so you thought I was an intruder, hm?" All the kids sheepishly shrugged their shoulders as they were released from the hug, Aang still holding tightly to Katara's waist, smiling as he continued, "Well, it's good to know that my children can protect themselves and their mother while I am away!"
Kya gave him a slightly questioning look, cocking her head to the side, causing her ponytails to appear uneven, "Why are you home? Mommy said you wouldn't be home tonight."
The Avatar smiled as he stooped down to his daughter's level, "We finished early at the meeting, and I saw that their was a storm. I know my family doesn't like storms, so I came home as fast as I could, expecting you all to jump into my arms like I was some hero, but getting a very different reaction."
Kya looked back at Bumi, who was staring at the ceiling above him, boomerang hidden behind his back, "Daddy, I think Bumi was too focused on being a hero himself."
Tenzin nodded in agreement as their parents laughed.
Bumi looked back at his family, a slight apologetic look on his face as he addressed his siblings, "I guess it's a bad time to mention that, that story I told you, was kinda fake."
"BUMI!"
"Like I said, bad time to mention it."
The storm roared on, but so did their laughter.