"Please?" The boy asked excitedly as he wrapped himself in the pelts for warmth from the icy floor of the hut. Katara sat at the edge of the furred bed and sighed as she tucked the young boy in for the night. Katara had given everything to Aang when she turned 18, and then she gave the world what was needed. They now had a twelve year old airbender, Loa, for a daughter and an ten year old waterbender, Kussa, for a son.
"No Kussa, go to sleep now." Katara's tone was playful even though she put the covers up to his chin. Kussa had the straight, behaved hair of his mother, and the grey eyes of his father, an uncommon feature of those of the water tribe, his olive skin and bony scarecrow build gave him the appearance of his uncle when he walked, he was like a cross between his uncle and father.
"Okay, I'll tell it once then you must go to sleep, promise?" She replied softly, looking into her son's eyes for an answer.
"I promise." Kussa put his hands behind his head and rolled onto his back in anticipation of the story.
"Long ago, when the hundred year war was still ravaging the world, your father sought out teachers for his training in the three elements he had yet to master, water, earth and fire." She began quietly; her way to add suspense and intrigue to almost any story.
"He was freed by me and Uncle Sokka. I would not only become his waterbending teacher and best friend, but later his wife and the greatest waterbender who ever lived." Katara continued, wasting no time for thought, for the details of the story had become carved into her memory. She had told it so many times to the other children of the tribe; everyone wanted to hear the story of the youngest fully realized avatar…which, like Avatar Kyoshi's feet, was Avatar Aang's claim to fame.
"But with no other waterbenders in the tribe to teach me, I was as inexperienced as he was. And so along with Uncle Sokka, we traveled to the Northern water tribe, to find a master to teach us." She continued with a smile. Aang had taught her forgiveness just in his small acts towards others, and she was grateful. "Grandpa Pakku, although reluctant to teach me based on old tribal traditions, soon agreed." Katara smiled, the outcome of the whole ordeal always brought a smile to her face, she had gained a waterbending teacher and a grandfather.
"So we continued our journey after the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, to the far reaches of the earth kingdom, finding new allies and enemies along the way. Two of which became Aang's earth and fire bending teachers; Queen Bei Fong of Ba Sing Sei and Firelord Zuko." Katara smiled, she thought it ironic that she was best friends with the leaders of the two most powerful nations in the world, and wife to the avatar himself.
"Firelord Zuko's sister, was she as powerful a firebender as they say?" Kussa asked frightened of the answer, but curiosity was in his nature as he was his father's son.
"Only her bending was unimaginable powerful, the princess herself was not, she lacked one thing her brother had, humility. The willingness to accept defeat and become better for it, understand?" This was met with a nod from her son, something him and his mother always loved was their sacred art, it would connect them like mother and son, even if they were not so. "A bender is never more powerful than their own defeat." Katara explained with a teaching in her eyes.
Kussa gave a heavy sigh, and laid his head on the pile of furs he used to cushion his head. Looking slightly disheartened about something as he stared at the nearby wall, while his mother, still close at hand and sitting by him looked down at the skinny cheeks of her son. "Something wrong?" Katara asked scrutinizingly, trying to study and decipher the young boy's face.
"Are dad and Loa still coming home tomorrow?" He asked addressing the wall.
"Yes, they'll be here in the morning." Katara stood and went over to her own bed. Aang had been off training Loa and teaching her airbending at the eastern air temple, from what the last messenger hawk said. That was two days ago.
It was maddening; Kussa hadn't fallen asleep since his mother tucked him in two hours ago, the promise of seeing his dad and elder sister was all he needed to be to excited to sleep. Him and his sister got along great, they would have snow ball fights and sometimes Loa would create air cushions to send his own snow balls back at him… of course that was against the rules.
Suddenly he heard footsteps enter the tent, and Kussa's senses told him to him to attack! He twirled his hand and sent a water whip through the air at lightning speed, but it was to late, the attacker had frozen his water whip in mid air! He could not see who it was, but he heard the rustling of fur-lined water tribe parka.
Katara awoke with a start "Kussa what is it?" when she too sensed someone else was in the room. She froze the assailant in place by the feet and bound their wrists to the nearby wall of the hut, which turned to liquid before they were fully wrapped around the wrists of the stranger. Kussa only knew of one person with that kind of bending reflexes.
"Dad?" he asked the darkness. The man removed his hood. Which in fact revealed the familiar bald head of the air nomad. He then shot his index and middle finger forward and lit a nearby candle. You couldn't tell underneath the baggy parka, but Katara had noticed that Aang around sixteen, had developed muscles and six pack which now reminded her more and more of his grueling training with Toph so many years ago.
He stood an average six feet two inches, which if it hadn't been for him being who he was, people would have thought he was a weirdo, an airbender with a physique.
"Aang!" Katara screamed in surprise. "You scared me half to death!" Aang came over and hugged his son and ruffled his hair, before looking up at his wife, who now had crossed arms and a scowl befitting her.
"I thought I'd come early, surprise you guys." Aang's voice was deep and strong, but his nature both as an air nomad and as the avatar always gave it a nice non-threatening tone. Suddenly a sharp gust of air hit Kussa and knocked him to the floor.
"Kussa!" Came Loa's voice somewhat louder than what was expected in the twilight hours of the night. The two siblings hugged and Loa wrapped an air bubble around herself and her brother, floating them up about five feet off the ground.
This got a laugh from Katara as she knew Kussa had no idea what was happening around him, Aang looked less than amused, I thought I trained her better than that, he thought.
"Loa, control yourself please." Aang came on authoritatively, putting a hand on the twelve-year-old girl's shoulder.
Kussa's head then came up from his sister's shoulder with an interested look on his face. "Wha-." He was interrupted by his own yelp of surprise, which in turn distracted Loa and sent them both tumbling to the floor, Aang quick reflexes caught them in an air pocket to soften the fall.
"Dad I'm sorry, I was just having some fun." Loa seemed discouraged and panicky to make thing right all at once. Aang just hugged his daughter and when they parted, he knelt down to one knee and asked,
"Lesson learned?"
"Pay attention to your surroundings?" Loa responded hopefully. Kussa stood up and brushed himself off.
"Airbending, at its lowest most primal form, is about self-awareness. How would an airbender know where to go if they were blind?" Aang explained. He then took her by the shoulders and spun her slowly till she faced her brother's bed. "Off to bed now, we have a long day ahead of us." Aang then joined his wife in their bed.
"Move over!" came Kussa's voice.
"I'll move over when you stop touching me with your ice cold feet!"
"This is the south pole!"
Katara sighed, it was a lot of work, but she wouldn't trade anything for it. "You guys its late, go to sleep." She then rolled over and faced Aang. "Don't you think they're too old to be sleeping in the same bed?" Katara asked in a whisper.
"They protect each other, that's why they sleep in the same bed, because we might not always be there to protect them." Aang's words gave way to Katara's comments.
" Stop being so dramatic, we're in the same hut as them, and the beds are five feet apart. What could happen?" Aang suddenly felt like Sokka after that. "Kussa come here and sleep with us, give your sister a break."
"Thanks mom." The kids said in unison. Kussa knew his place, in between his parents.
"Hey Aang?" Sokka's head poked in the tent. Had he noticed the commotion from the nearby tent?
"What?" came a half-asleep and somewhat annoyed Aang.
"Just thought I'd say hi and welcome back." Sokka whispered when he saw the kids were sound asleep, and before Aang could respond, the head disappeared. Perfect timing, Aang thought as he then laid back down to sleep, and just laying there, next to his son and wife beside him, he gave a sigh of contentment and closed his eyes.