Waiting for the Day
By DemOdemyx
Disclaimer:(/I do not own ATLA/LoK/or any characters involved in said series./)
Chapter 1
A Promise
oOo
The afternoon turned to evening quickly that day.
The air became, suddenly, not so wispy and flamboyant.
The night was musky and gloomy in the Southern Water tribe where His final breaths of free air passed.
Katara had done what she could to mend his illness thus far with her healing abilities but she knew long before this that she couldn't mend the illness of age. She decided today that he mustn't suffer any longer and that his time as the avatar was ready to finally come to an end. Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi were for warned by Katara of this day and were standing alongside her at the foot of Aang's bed. There were no words said at the time but thoughts were flying across the room and cries would've been heard loud and clear had it not been for Aang's disliking for sad situations. Momo was also there, sitting to the right on his inn table next to his staff. Appa was outside the hut, peering in through one of the upper windows. Aangs aged and wrinkled eyes opened and he had a comforting yet tired smile on his face. You could tell that his powers were nearly transferred to the next avatar. He was weak looking and had a since of exhaustion in this features. The avatar cycle was starting to wither him so it could move on and continue to the next generation, with or without his permission. Katara saw that he'd awaken and she looked at her children, silently asking them for one last talk with their father. Silently acknowledging the request, they nodded, picked up Momo from where he was sitting, and left the room to the two of them.
Katara inched closer to her husband and flashed him an easing smile. He smiled back; their wrinkles were both very deep compared to when they first met. Katara's hair had begun to grey and her figure became wide and bulky. Aangs baldhead revealed freckles and age spots now and his beard had long since been shaved away. He lay there with his hands clasped in Katara's and both could tell that the end was crawling closer and closer towards them.
"Thank you, my dear, for being there for me in my life. You were my forever girl even when you didn't know it." Aang said in a warm, under breathed tone.
"And to you, for showing me hope when there was none. You were my life from the day we met." Katara replied, closing her eyes in an attempt to hold in her tears.
He raised his hand to her cheek as comfort. "Katara, you and I both know that my life is ending." He started, "Once my life is over, the new avatar will be born. Please do well to watch over them. Promise me you'll set them in the right path." He said.
Katara sniffled. "I promise." She was showing her tears now; they were running down her cheeks as she began to picture her life without Aang. It was the worst feeling and the creeping emptiness was almost painful.
"Aang, promise me. Promise me we'll be together. When I pass I want to be with you." she said, sniffling in between sentences.
Aang flashed a trusting smile. He shook his head slowly. "I promise. I'll personally take you to the spirit world. We'll be together forever, Katara. Even when you're alive and I'm not, I'll be watching over you. Always…..always…always…al..ways."
Aangs eyes slowly shut.
Katara froze; for fear that he was finally gone. Then she saw his chest rise and realized that he'd only fallen into a sleep. Her eyes, still filled with tears, were wiped dry as she went to go bring her children back into the room to say their final farewells. They each had their moments with their father before he passed and they stayed awake through the night until finally his breath subsided. It was during the third pai shou game of the night, between Katara and Bumi. Aang was talking about his adventures with Zuko that he'd had after the war. He was just getting to the story of Zuko's mom when suddenly his voice began to fade. His head went slack sideways and this body soon went limp. Katara, noticing the sudden silence, looked up from the pai shou board; her tears, now, tremendously flowing. She shot up from her seat and ran to her husband. She quickly pressed her head against his chest. There was no pulse. She couldn't feel his heart thumping as it always did. It was completely silent. Even the air in the cold arctic weather subsided for more than a minute or so. Katara lay her head on her husband's lap. Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi were in tears as well. They stood around their mother and offered comfort.
That night, that family stayed awake in tears.
The air was in a silent mourning and it felt as though, for that one night, the entire world shifted into an unknown position of grief.
oOo
Thank you for reading! Please tell me any thoughts, good or bad! And any advice on how I can make this better, please feel free to review and tell me!
-Demodemyx
