Happy New Years, everyone! With less than an hour to go, I finished editing this story. I figured since it is a New Years story, I should have it posted before then... anyways, this is just a fluffy Kataang oneshot inspired by my friend who was telling me how they celebrate New Years in Korea, so I squeezed some information out of her and made it into a story with some of my own made up stuff. I'll talk more about the Korean traditions and what I altered at the end. In the meantime, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender.
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Heavy, morose storm clouds began to form across the azure sky, swirling around threateningly. Traces of thunder could be heard distantly in the west. Frivolous rain drops fell from the gloomy skies from time to time, a warning to those few who were still outside. One group of people, however, remained undaunted. Despite the worsening weather conditions, Aang, Katara, and Sokka proceeded to soar through the air on their faithful bison, Appa.
"Sokka, there is no possible way you can deny that there is going to be a storm. First of all, look at the sky. Second of all, it is starting to rain."
Sokka relented a bit. "Okay, so it's misting. But so what? No big deal. We've handled the fire nation. We can handle a little wetness."
Katara groaned exasperatedly, shaking her head. "Sokka, in a few minutes it won't be 'a little wetness'. We'll be soaked! Besides, it's dangerous to be flying when there is thunder and lightning. Have you forgotten our last experience with a big storm?"
"What's all this 'lightning' talk? The last time I checked-"
Aang sighed and tuned the bickering siblings out. He had grown used to their almost constant fighting, but he still didn't like it. They had been arguing over the storm for the past ten minutes. Aang personally thought that they should land and find some shelter to wait the storm out in, but he didn't feel like attempting to inject his opinion into Katara and Sokka's heated conversation.
"-don't care what you think," Katara persisted. "What does Aang think we should do?"
Her voice broke through his thoughts and the young airbender looked up from Appa's head. He turned around and saw both Sokka and Katara staring at him expectantly.
"Uh… I really don't care, you can decide," he muttered, not in the mood to join the argument. But when was he ever? He hated fighting.
"Well, I think we should fly to the nearest town and take refuge there for a while."
"What?" cried Sokka indignantly. "But we just started flying a few hours ago! It's not even noon yet. We don't need any more breaks or we won't make it to the North Pole until next year!"
Just then a flash of lightning illuminated the sky for a split second before fading into the oblivion. Aang made up his mind.
"Sorry, Sokka, but we're better safe than sorry. Katara, find the nearest town on the map."
"I already have." Katara shot a dirty look at her brother, who was giving Aang a look that plainly said, 'Sure, side with her like you always do'. "It's called Sah Rang. I know nothing about it, but it's very close and it's the only civilized place we'll see for a long time."
"Sah Rang it is, then." Aang glanced briefly at the map in Katara's hands before steering Appa in the right direction. In less than ten minutes, the three friends had landed in a clearing close to the town and were hiking promptly down to it, Appa in tow.
The moment the trees let up and the town came into view, the gang stopped dead in their tracks, in awe at the sight before them.
"Wow," Katara whispered, gazing transfixed at the magnificent sight.
The "town" was set in between the small mountains that surrounded and protected it. The houses were huge and elaborately decorated with lush green gardens and red and pink flowers. Stands were set up along the cobblestone road, selling food, clothing, and who knows what else. Despite the poor weather (which, incidentally, did not seem to be worsening), the inhabitants of the town were out and about. It seemed as though the entire town was hurrying up the road to some place that hadn't yet come into Katara and the boys' range of vision, their arms leaden with items such as decorations and ribbons.
"Look at this place!" Katara exclaimed. "What are they doing? It looks like they're getting ready for something. C'mon, let's go!"
"Wait," Aang stopped her. "We can't bring Appa through the town, he's way too big, and the streets are mobbed with people."
"He'll have to stay here," Sokka observed, still sounding sour over missing a half a day of flying. "We can come back for him when we find somewhere to stay."
Aang looked a little worried. Katara noticed his hesitation.
"Don't worry, Aang, Appa will be fine," she reassured him.
"You sure, buddy?" Aang asked him. Appa grunted and plopped down underneath a tree. Momo flew off Sokka's shoulder and landed on Appa's head, curling up happily.
"Okay, Momo, you stay here with Appa. Let's go, guys."
The trio continued their descent to Sah Rang, Katara in the lead. Nobody spared them a glance as they passed along the road; they were all occupied with their own activities. Before they had an opportunity to stop someone and interrogate them, a young girl of about eight dashed up to them ecstatically, her short pigtails flapping around her ears.
The girl walked boldly up to Aang and looked him up and down. Then she noticed the tattoos on his hands and head. "You're the Avatar!" she declared confidently.
Slightly nonplussed, Aang nodded.
"I knew it!" she squealed.
"Kia, what are you doing?" Another girl around Katara's age came storming over to the group. "Grandmother told you to stay inside during the Seh He preparations. This is the third time I've caught you wandering around. And what are you yelling about?"
"That boy's the Avatar!" The child pointed at Aang. The older girl gasped, glancing from Aang to Katara and then back again.
"And look who's with him! Didn't Gran say-"
"That's enough, Kia. And it's rude to point, you know." She cut across Kia's proclamation, leaving a perplexed Aang to wonder what in the world the girl was going on about. Seeing the puzzled expressions on Aang and Katara's faces, she proceeded to explain herself. "I'm so sorry, where are my manners? Welcome, Avatar and friends, to Sah Rang. I'm Cho, and this is my sister, Kia. You've come for the Seh He festival, am I correct?"
"Er," Aang began.
"What's Seh He?" Katara filled in for him. "I'm Katara, by the way, and this is my brother, Sokka." Sokka raised a hand to acknowledge his name being called.
"Nice to meet you, Katara and Sokka." Cho bowed politely. "Come with me, I'll bring you to my grandmother's house."
The two sisters led them down the road, informing them of them of the events taking place around them as they passed them.
"Not to sound rude," Sokka said in a voice that suggested the contrary, "but I don't remember you telling us what Seh He is."
Cho blushed and Katara glared at Sokka reproachfully. "Oh, right, I guess I got a little ahead of myself. Well, the Seh He, or new year, festival celebrates the coming of the new year. The festival starts around eight o' clock on the last day of the year – which would be today – and lasts beyond midnight, depending on how late you wish to stay. The fireworks begin at midnight, though, so people don't generally leave before then.
"You see, down in the center of the town, we have a sort of marketplace that we use to host the festival. There are traditional dances, games for the children, and, of course, food."
Sokka only seemed to have registered one word out of Cho's explanation.
"Food!" he shouted hungrily. Cho smiled at his enthusiasm and nodded.
"Yes, this year's main dish is dduk gook with man du. Gran prepared it herself, and her cooking is to die for. But Seh He is much more than just dances and food," she continued, her eyes sparkling. "Seh He is quite a romantic holiday." She threw Aang and Katara a mysterious look. Aang began to feel uneasy.
"Uh, what do you mean, 'romantic'?" he asked her, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"Well, you see," Kia took over for her sister, apparently growing bored from lack of talking, "during the festival, all of the available girls dress up and make themselves really pretty. Then they put one of those white bracelets on their left wrist. We use white because it is the symbol of innocence and purity." Kia gestured to one of the nearby stalls as she spoke, where there were bundles of white, thin, ribbon-like bracelets for sale. Next to them there was an assortment of different color strings and pendants.
"What's the string for?" Aang asked curiously.
"For the guys to make bracelets for the girl they love. Generally what happens is the guy will make a bracelet for the girl using the colors native to that girl's home and weave a pendant or two into it. Some even add a little bit off their own background into the bracelet to show the coming together of the families of the guy and the girl if they get married.
"During the festival, a guy can go up to a girl, rip off her white bracelet, and tie the one he made on her right wrist. Once a girl has a bracelet on her right wrist, she can keep it on, signaling that she is taken, or she can rip it off and put her white one back on. If she shares the same feelings as the boy, she'll keep it on. If not – well, tough luck for the guy." Cho paused and took a breath, turning around to face the others.
Aang's face had been turning steadily redder throughout the entire speech. Sokka looked uninterested. Katara, however, appeared to have been drinking in every word.
"Wow, that's so romantic," she gushed. "It must take a lot of courage on the guy's part to go out there and risk getting their heart ripped apart."
Aang silently agreed with her. He knew what he wanted to do, but there was no way he could summon up the courage to tell Katara he loved her. What if she didn't feel the same way?
"I know, isn't it?" Kia asked her dreamily. "You're not taken, are you?" she demanded suddenly. Katara blushed a little.
"Kia, don't be so rude and demanding," Cho scolded her younger sister.
"Sorry," Kia apologized, looking down shamefacedly.
"It's okay. And no, I'm not taken."
Aang hung his head dejectedly. Kia and Cho chose this moment to share a significant look.
"Great! You must allow Kia and I to dress you up this evening!"
"Oh, I don't know." Katara hesitated shyly. "I really shouldn't-"
"Please?" Kia begged her, looking up into her eyes with her lower lip stuck out in a pout.
"Well…" The waterbender looked helplessly at Aang and Sokka.
"I think it's a great idea!" Aang encouraged her, grinning sheepishly. Sokka glowered at him suspiciously. Too late Aang realized how eager he had sounded.
He tried to backtrack. "Uh, I mean, if it is traditional, you know," he mumbled, aware of the heat rising to his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck in an embarrassed gesture.
Katara relented. "Well, I suppose."
Kia and Cho positively beamed. "Wonderful! Oh look, we're here!" They had reached what was so far the largest house in all of Sah Rang. It was also the house closest to the marketplace where the festival was being held and was decorated elaborately multicolored streamers.
Cho noticed where her new friends were looking. "Yeah, Gran really gets into the holiday spirit."
"Welcome, welcome!"
A medium height elderly woman greeted them from the doorway. "I've been expecting you. Come on in, youngsters, make yourselves at home."
They entered the house which smelled strongly of lavender. The main room was filled with crystal balls and different assortments of tea leaves and bottled fragrances.
"Oh, are you a fortune teller?" Katara inquired interestedly. At the words "fortune teller" Aang inwardly groaned. He didn't want a repeat experience of Aunt Wu.
"Somewhat." The old lady waved her hands dismissively.
"Hey, what's going on here?" A teenage boy with long, messy, dark brown hair came into the living room from a door to their left.
The woman clapped her hands. "Marvelous. Avatar, this is my grandson, Tai, brother of Kai and Cho. He just celebrated his sixteenth birthday a couple of days ago."
Aang smiled and bowed. "Nice to meet you, Tai. And you can call me Aang. These are my friends Katara and Sokka." He gestured to them. Katara smiled sweetly at him.
"As I was saying, Gran, the cook says the lunch you ordered should be ready shortly. I guess this is why you requested so much food."
"Oh yes, the cook. Normally I would have cooked the food myself, but I've been so busy with the festival, and until your grandfather returns…" she rambled incoherently for a moment before realizing what she was doing. "My apologies. Well, shall we move to the dining room for lunch, then?"
The three friends had a wonderful time with Cho and her family over a long lunch, during which Sokka and Tai immediately began discussing the different tactics to catch a fish. Thankfully, by the time they were done, the storm had passed completely; it was no where near as big as they had thought it was going to be. As Sokka left the table to go hunting with Tai, grumbling about lost time, Katara called after him,
"Technically, we wouldn't have made it to the North Pole until next year anyways," causing everybody to laugh heartily.
Shortly after this, the girls hauled Katara up to their dressing room to plan their outfits for the festival later that night and begin the apparently extensive process of getting ready. Why they needed six hours to get ready was a mystery to Aang, but he wasn't about to fathom the mysteries of girls.
Since Sokka was gone as with Tai, to whom he seemed to have taken a liking, Aang was left alone, free to do whatever he wanted.
The first thing he did was retrieve Appa and Momo. After discovering that the two were still safe and sound on the trail they had left them on previously that day, Aang decided to figure out how he was going to bring Appa into the town. There was a stable not to far from Cho's grandmother's house that was thankfully big enough to house Appa, but Aang didn't want to disturb the citizens by dragging Appa through the bustling streets of Sah Rang, so he came to the conclusion that he would have to fly Appa to the stable. About ten minutes later he had gotten Appa settled, Momo still asleep on his head.
Since Katara and Sokka were busy, Aang, being the nice guy, took their bags off of Appa's saddle and brought them into the rooms they had graciously been offered for the night, deep in thought about the upcoming festival.
Making Katara one of those bracelets seemed like the perfect thing to do, but would he be able to give it to her? Aang was fearful of her reaction – what if she didn't feel the same way? She had never shown any inclination to liking him as more than a friend before. What would happen to their friendship? 'It would be ruined,' Aang told himself. It was a huge risk.
But then, what's life without taking risks?
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Katara found herself being shown the entire contents of Kia and Cho's wardrobes – everything from simple, everyday shirts to fancy dresses and kimonos. Not that Katara minded; she just felt a little overwhelmed by it all.
"…and this one was from my cousins wedding," Kia told her, holding up a pretty light blue kimono, "and that one over there – well, it's a funny story, actually-" Kia's ramble was cut short by Cho's squeal of delight from one of the many wardrobes on the other side of the room.
"Katara, I found the perfect Hanbok for you!"
"You found the perfect what?" she asked curiously.
"Hanbok. The traditional dress for the Seh He festival. Close your eyes."
Katara squeezed her startling blue eyes shut and heard a rustling noise in front of her.
"Okay, open them."
Katara opened her eyes and gasped. The Hanbok was a gorgeous midnight blue dress made out of some extraordinarily silky material. The deep V-neck was lined with silver silk, and a large, silver bow was sitting just below the neckline, one end of the bow untied, allowing the ribbon to flow down the front of the dress. The sleeves gradually grew wider and wider, the belled end of each lined in the same silver silk. A narrow length of silver was belted around waist, and the dark blue fabric was imprinted with small, silver moons.
Katara's eyes widened in disbelief. "Where did you get that?" she whispered breathlessly.
"Actually, Gran picked it up a couple of weeks ago. Or, I should say, she picked the fabric up a couple of weeks ago. She made the dress. She said it was for a special occasion," Cho informed her, obviously pleased with Katara's reaction.
Kia determined that it was her turn to speak up. "Go on, try it on Katara!"
"I don't know." Katara was nervous about wearing such a beautiful and expensive looking dress. What if she ripped it?
Cho sighed exasperatedly. "Katara, this dress was made for you. The least you could do is try it on and see how it looks." She held out the Hanbok. Katara reached out slowly and took the dress from her, the precious and soft silk slipping through her fingers.
Slowly, she walked over to the changing screen. The walls of the room seemed to be nothing but mirrors, and there was no way she was going to watch herself change in front of two younger girls. Once behind the screen, she stripped off her blue robe and tossed it on the floor. Carefully, she slipped the dress on, loving the feel of the silk on her bare skin. It fit her figure perfectly, slithering over her body and hugging her curves. She shivered even though it was warm in the house.
"Let's see it already," came Kia's impatient voice.
Katara stepped out elegantly from behind the screen. The girls gasped delightedly.
"Katara, you look amazing," Cho whispered, grabbing arm and dragging her over to a mirror to look.
Katara peered into the mirror and she opened her mouth in shock. She did look amazing. The dark blue silk made her eyes stand out and complimented her tan skin, while the silver worked to make certain parts of her body more noticeable than others. Every movement she made the dress followed. It clung to her body, making her look long and slender.
Cho's voice brought her back to her senses. "But if you don't want to wear it…" she trailed off, giving Katara a look a fake disappointment.
Katara smiled widely, showing off her white teeth. "Actually, I think this will work nicely…"
Behind Katara's back, the sisters shared a triumphant glance. He was going to like this dress…
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"And then there was this time when – Aang, what are you doing?"
It was an hour before the start of the Seh He festival, and Sokka and Tai had just returned, conversing loudly. Aang, who had been sitting in the corner of the living room, jumped, startled, and stuffed something into his shirt.
"Nothing," he said quickly, giving him one of his award-winning smiles so as to look innocent.
"What did you just-"
"So when did you meet this Suki girl?" Tai interrupted, realizing what Aang was doing and attempting to draw Sokka's attention away from the Avatar.
Sokka instantly perked up, glad for any opportunity to divulge in story telling. "Believe it or not, it was only a few weeks ago. You see…"
Aang shot Tai a grateful look, knowing what he had sacrificed to keep his secret from Sokka. He laughed silently. Tai was now feigning interest in Sokka's tale as the two walked off; Tai would be trapped for another half hour at least.
A few minutes later, Aang followed them up the stairs to their bedroom to prepare for the festival.
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"Oh, I don't know."
"Go on, you have to, it's tradition!"
"But-"
"Look, I'm wearing one!"
Katara and Cho were arguing with only minutes to go until the start of the festival when Kia suddenly scurried into the room and whispered something into Cho's ear.
Cho's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. Kia nodded enthusiastically. "Perfect." She turned back to face Katara, a wide smile gracing her features.
"C'mon, even Kia's wearing one! She's eight!" To prove her point, she lifted up Kia's wrist and shoved it under her nose to show her.
"Well… I guess if everybody's doing it…" she hesitated for a fraction of a second before holding out her left arm with a resigned expression on her face and allowing Cho to slip a thin, pure white bracelet over her hand – the final touch.
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Sokka shuffled into the bedroom he was sharing with Aang for the night and plopped down onto his bed. Aang glanced over at him and burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Sokka grumbled indignantly.
"You-you're clothes!" Aang choked breathlessly. Sokka was wearing beige pants that puffed out a bit and a long sleeved forest green shirt. The shirt was belted off in light green at the waist and continued down a ways before his knees with slits on either side, much like his ordinary clothes, only more elegant. The outfit was quite handsome, with a high, embroidered collar, accompanied by a weird, boat-like hat sitting atop Sokka's head.
Sokka appeared fairly stung. "What's wrong with them?"
Taking deep breaths and willing himself to keep a straight face, Aang shifted his gaze away from Sokka and replied carefully, "Well, it's not the clothes, I guess. It's the hat." He bit his lip to prevent himself from cracking up uncontrollably.
"What's so funny?" Tai had come into the room, carrying a bundle of clothes in his arms. "I heard you guys laughing half way around the house."
Sokka ripped off his hat and examined it idly. "There's no way I'm wearing this."
Tai looked from Sokka, who was staring with distaste at the hat, to Aang, whose shoulders were shaking with silent laughter and understood.
He chucked the clothes in his arms to Aang, who caught them with a bewildered expression on his face. "Don't worry, Sokka, Aang has to wear one too."
That sobered Aang up. "What?" He would look ridiculous, and in front of Katara too.
Tai ignored him. "Hurry up and get dressed, the festival is starting soon." He left them without another word.
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"Where's Katara?"
Aang, Sokka, and Tai had just arrived at the Seh He festival. The girls had not been seen for the past six hours, and Aang had grown anxious waiting for Katara. Not to mention nervous, causing the fluttery sensation he was feeling in his stomach.
"Calm down, Aang. I heard one of Cho's earrings went missing and she refused to leave without it. Katara and Kia were helping her look for it. They said they would catch up with us later," Tai told him.
"Who would catch up with you later?" Cho's voice called to them.
Aang spun around and there was Katara. The young Avatar's eyes almost popped out of his head. She was beautiful. Clad in a tight, royal blue and silver dress with her waist length cocoa brown hair tied near the top of her head in a loose bun, she was incredibly attractive. A few strands of her silky hair were let down, framing her soft face, which sported little to no makeup, showing off her natural beauty.
Aang stared, dumbfounded, and found himself at a loss for words.
He gulped shakily. "Katara… y-you look beautiful," he stammered nervously, the crimson blush gracing his cheeks visible to everyone even though it was dark out.
"Thanks," she replied graciously, a light pink tinge rising to her face. "You boys look nice too," she added, taking in Aang's new outfit as she did so. Thankfully, both Sokka and Aang's hats had been disposed of at the house. The design of Aang's outfit was very similar to Sokka's – pants and a long shirt – but the coloring was different. Aang's top was dark gray, matching his eyes perfectly, while his pants were navy blue. The effect made him look so…
"And look at you, Sokka. Who knew green was such a lovely color on you?" Katara reached over and embraced her older brother.
The warrior smiled. "Yeah, you look gorgeous too, Katara."
Katara straightened up and reached up to brush a stray piece of hair out of her vivid blue eyes. As she did so, the long sleeve to her elegant gown fell back against her elbow and Aang noticed that she was wearing a white bracelet on her wrist. This made him feel even more feverish.
"The dance will be starting soon, and don't get me wrong, the dancers are incredible, but the best part of the night is the fireworks," Cho had started speaking again, bringing them out of the awkward silence. Kia and Tai agreed with her. "Look, you see that cliff up there?" She pointed to a small, almost inscrutable cliff overlooking the entire town. "Well, that's the best place to see the fireworks. We're the only ones that know about it, though. It's where Gran's true love confessed his feelings for her. We don't go up there, though, because Gran says it's a magical place for lovers only. Someday I would love to see it, though."
Fortunately, Kia left no time for any more awkwardness between the group for she grabbed Cho's hand and yelled, "Look, the dance is starting!"
Sure enough, a large crowd had gathered around the stage and the dancers were starting to dance to a fast beat. Aang couldn't concentrate on the dance, however; his eyes seemed to be trained on Katara's stunning figure. So instead of watching the dancers performing on stage, he watched Katara and imagined dancing with her.
As the night waned on, Aang found himself under more and more pressure to do what he knew had to be done. It was about two hours into the festival and Aang had already "rescued" a bemused Katara four times.
The first time it happened, Katara had been alone, looking at some exotic jewelry for sale in a nearby stall. Aang had been secretly watching her out of the corner of his eye when all of a sudden a handsome young man started to approach her. His eyes narrowed in distrust, Aang discovered that he was carrying a woven bracelet in his hands. As comprehension dawned over him, Aang dashed over to Katara, saying,
"Katara, you have to see this!" A childlike grin on his face, he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the other guy, looking over his shoulder to glare at him.
After similar incidents like this happened, Aang grew annoyed and decided to prevent Katara from being alone for the rest of the night.
The waterbender was by far the most stunning girl at the festival. What was more was she looked exotic, especially with her gown, which made her even more appealing. Nobody had anything even scarcely similar to what she was wearing, so, naturally, she attracted a load of attention. Too much, in Aang's opinion.
Midnight drew nearer and nearer, and Aang knew he would have to do something soon or have the entire night go to waste. Taking a deep breath, the Avatar summoned up all his courage and turned to face the beautiful water tribe girl next to him.
"Katara, there's something I need to tell you."
Aang felt his face heat up and prayed she couldn't see it through the darkness.
"Yes, Aang?"
"Katara, I-I… was wondering if you wanted to go find a good spot to watch the fireworks with me," he made up quickly.
Katara's face fell and she looked disappointed. "Oh," she said quietly. Then she smiled. "I'd love to, Aang."
"Great." Grabbing her hand, he pulled her through the town, far away from everybody else. He knew where he was going, and he hoped that it worked…
"Aang, where are you-" Katara stopped dead in her tracks. He had brought her to the cliff Cho had mentioned earlier. The one that was supposed to help lovers.
Cho was right; it did have a perfect view of Sah Rang. 'Why did he bring me up here?' Katara wondered, her heart racing. They stood there for a moment, looking silently out over the town. Katara decided to break the silence.
"Aang, you can let go of my hand now."
Aang blushed noticeably but didn't let go. He looked around at his surroundings. They were completely alone. It was now or never.
Wordlessly, Aang lifted up the sleeve of Katara's dress and put his hand over her bracelet. He heard Katara draw a sharp breath, but he kept going. He slipped his fingers underneath the ribbon, paused for a fraction of a second, and then snapped it off her wrist, allowing it to fall gracefully to the ground.
Katara stood stock still, frozen in place as she watched Aang reach into his belt and pull out something he kept hidden in his hands. He took her right wrist in his hands and bent over so she couldn't see what he was doing. When he finished, he stood up straight and locked his gray eyes were her ocean blue ones.
"I love you, Katara."
Stunned, the waterbender looked down at her wrist, were a beautiful white and blue bracelet had been tied neatly. It was woven with two pendants in it – the water tribe and air nomad symbols. Aang had been lucky enough to find one stall that had the air nomad pendant. For whatever reason, she had given the string and pendants to him free of charge.
Katara was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to say. She willed herself to say something, anything, but the words refused to leave her mouth.
Aang, taking her silence as a bad thing, felt hurt and rejected. Turning away miserably, he began to walk off dejectedly. A hand on his arm stopped him.
"I love you too, Aang."
Katara then did the only thing she could think of – she kissed him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she deepened the kiss, showing him just how much she loved him, as the clock struck midnight and the fireworks soared through the air, lighting up the dark night sky.
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"That's so romantic," Kia sighed as she, Cho, and their grandmother watched the fireworks illuminate the figures of Aang and Katara on the cliff.
"Everything went as planned," the old woman smiled at her grandchildren. "Long ago I foretold the Avatar would join us one day for the Seh He festival, leaving me to fulfill my destiny of assisting two romances."
"Two?" Cho questioned in surprise.
Her grandmother chuckled to herself. "Put it this way… how do you think I knew about the tradition of those bracelets when no one else did?"
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Okay...
Seh He: Means 'New Year' in Korean.
Dduk gook with man du: Dduk gook is a thick, creamy soup. Man du is the dumpling that goes in the dduk gook. Supposed to be very tasty though it sounds gross.
Hanbok: The traditional clothing worn by men and women during Seh He. The girls' hanbok is like a dress with a half untied bow at the neckline. Remember Song from the Cave of Two Lovers? She was wearing something very similar to a hanbok. The only difference is that hanboks are generally more colorful. Also, they aren't form fitting like the one I made for Katara. In reality, the skirt part is very poofy, but I thought it would be better if it was more on the tight side. The boys' hanbok I really can't describe that well. I didn't use it for Aang and Sokka's outfits - I just made those outfits up.
I turned Seh He into a romantic holiday. There is no bracelet giving and whatnot, I just made that up. Or, a character I made up in my story made that up. Anyways, most marriages in Korea are arranged, so it isn't very romantic over there.
Oh, and when Cho was talking about the dress, I couldn't help but make her say that her grandmother made the dress. I was typing it up and I couldn't resist. I make clothes myself, and that stuff fascinates me so... read and review! Happy New Years!