I've edited now that I've had the time and corrected a lot of the weird phrasing and grammar problems. I'm thinking about writing some kataang fluff pieces actually, and so if anyone is interested in being a beta would you let me know?
Katara peeked into the tent-flap of the tent they had put him in. The kid, Aang, was so far out of her scope of reference that he seemed very strange to her. She'd never seen someone who moved quite the way he did, like gravity wasn't really effecting him and he was just playing along with it. His clothing was lightweight and ruffled with the slightest breeze, but he didn't seem to get cold. His skin was rather pale too, as though he might get lost in the snow if he wasn't always moving around. She'd be lying if she said he didn't intrigue her, she had suddenly wanted to know everything about him from the moment he woke up in her arms.
Apparently he was a light sleeper, her footsteps seemed enough to wake him.
"You took your clothes off to sleep?" Katara asked, noticing the clothes neatly folded to his left. Aang sat up and she carefully didn't stare at his bare chest.
"Of course. Don't you?" He asked.
"Never, it's so cold we don't get fully undressed for anything. I don't understand how you're not completely frostbitten." Katara looked him over, he didn't even look uncomfortable.
"The monks taught us breathing techniques to help with things like hot and cold weather. I almost never notice it." Aang took a minute to feel the air around him. "I guess it is a little cold."
Katara just raised an eyebrow at him.
Aang turned and started getting dressed. Katara found herself staring as he got up out of the blanket and uncovered his body, the sight of so much skin was sort of distracting. She blushed a little and took this time to admire his form and tattoos without feeling awkward.
"What I want to know is how you can possibly sleep when it's so sunny, even at night?" Aang said after he'd pulled his clothes on and turned to face her.
"You'd get used to it if you lived here, the sun doesn't set until winter. When it does we all pool our resources and build a longhouse and sleep together to preserve body heat."
"That sounds fun, like a slumber party." Aang said excitedly.
"It can be fun, but after 3 months or so you start getting on each others nerves really fast. By the time Summer rolls back around we're all so happy to get out of there the work of rebuilding camp and gathering food doesn't seem so bad." Katara explained. She found the life cycle to be rather boring really. But in Winter the elders would gather all the kids around the fire and tell interesting stories and that was always fun. She'd stopped sitting around the fire when her mother died, but she always kept an ear out to listen anyway.
"It's so strange here." Aang commented, but not sounding at all disturbed by this determination. "You know, the rest of the world has four seasons."
"Four? What's that like?" Katara asked, sitting down in the automatic 'rapt audience' response (as one is wont to do when they feel a story coming on). Aang smiled and sat down in front of her.
"Well, You know the two extremes. Winter and Summer. But when you don't live at the poles there's also Spring and Autumn." Aang explained. "The year starts off dark and cold because Winter is still ending from when it started at the end of last year. But then, about 3 months in the snow begins to thaw and the weather begins to warm up and the plants begin to grow again, and that's Spring."
"Plants? Like seaweed?" Katara asked. Aang laughed.
"No, not like seaweed. Like... well. I'm not sure how to describe it to someone whose never seen it." Aang puzzled it over for a moment. He started up again. "Think of the ground. It's all hard and cold and it's all ice here right?"
"That's right." Katara affirmed.
"Well, in other parts of the world the ground isn't like this. There's earth under your feet, not ice. And plants grow out of the ground. Mostly different types of grass. Which is small and thin and green and it grows really close together. Sometimes it's so thick you can't even see the ground under it." Aang explained.
"That sounds almost impossible." Katara laughed, feeling excited just thinking about it.
"It's not though, it's real." Aang insisted. He smiled at her, not for the first time he couldn't help but think this rough arctic girl was very pretty.
"What about the other seasons? I can't even imagine is being so warm that things can grow when it's not even Summer yet. Does it get warmer?" Katara asked, pulling him back on track.
"It sure does. After Spring ends it's time for Summer. That's when it's really warm and you can pick fruit and berries right off the bushes for something sweet to eat." Aang smiled, his sweet tooth remembering the lingonberries they grew at the temple.
"We used to get fruits and berries from the Earth Kingdom traders, I didn't know they came from plants. That seems so strange, the only plants we eat here are kelp and sea prunes and they taste so different from fruit." Katara mused. She was really enjoying this, Aang's voice was a bit hushed and excited like he was sharing a big secret with her by telling her what the rest of the world was like.
In truth, the Earth Kingdom traders would often tell her stories of what the world beyond the poles was like but Aang's childish spin made it seem a thousand times more exciting though.
"Are they? I've never tasted sea prunes." Aang commented.
"They haven't grown in all the way yet, and they're hard to get at. So we haven't collected any this year." Katara said with a hint of disappointment.
"That's too bad." Aang commiserated. He didn't know what they tasted like, but it was clear that they were a treat she liked and he knew how it was to have to wait for a treat you were fond of.
"So what's the season between Summer and Winter like?" Katara asked, wanting to wrap up the story.
"Autumn is when everything starts preparing for winter again. The trees make nuts that the chipmunk-squirrels and all sorts of other animals collect to eat over winter and then all their leaves die so they don't have to waste extra resources. All the green turns to reds and browns and yellows. The leaves that fall off the trees crunch under your feet when you walk." Aang's smile was really wide and Katara got the impression that Autumn was his favorite season. "Once there are enough leaves on the ground you can pile them up and play in them - it's really fun!"
"Playing in dead leaves?" Katara wondered what that must be like.
"Well, they're crunchy and brittle and really lightweight. So when you fall into them they fly up into the air and cover you. It's sort of like playing in snow, only not as cold and you can't really build anything out of leaves. I know, I've tried." Aang nodded. Katara giggled.
"Then after that it's Winter again?"
"After all the leaves have fallen, and all the animals have gathered as much food as they can, the world gets all still and quiet again. The snow falls and covers everything up, and most of the animals go to sleep until it's time for spring." Aang replied, not exactly sounding sad. He sounded a bit more sedate though, mimicking the pace of the season he was describing.
"It's not the same as it is here exactly though. Since the trees still stick up out of the snow. They look really different without their leaves. Like a person that has a lot of arms and they're sticking them all into the air. They're praying for the warm weather to come back - at least that's what one of the monks told me once. I think they go to sleep like all the animals though and they're happy for the break."
"I bet the animals don't just go to sleep. At least not all of them. I bet they're like us. We gather and store food for the winter season and then we hole up to protect ourselves from the Winter, but we're still active and do things to prepare for Summer. There's probably a lot of activity from all those animals that you don't see." Katara reasoned. Aang smiled.
"I never really thought of it that way. I'll bet the chipmunk-squirrels spend a lot of the winter running around their little holes doing all sorts of things!"
"Probably." Katara said. She got up off the floor and dusted herself off.
"The rest of the world sounds so interesting. I wish I could go see it." She thought wistfully of what grass and trees might actually look like.
"Maybe you can. I'd love to be able to show it to you." Aang said enthusiastically. When Katara looked at him he smiled and turned a little pink.
Katara didn't hold out much hope for the idea, but entertaining it for a while seemed like the best thing in the world.
"That would be wonderful Aang..." She started, her cheeks flushed a little at the thought of traveling the world with him and seeing all sorts of things that she didn't think she ever would. Before she got too far along in that line of thought she remembered why she was coming to wake him up in the first place. "But first I want you to meet the whole village. They're all awake by now and I'm sure they want to meet you - no one here's ever seen an airbender before!"
She dragged him out of the tent and into her little icy world.