A/N: Reviews are always nice!
Disclaimer: I don't own "The Legend of Korra" or its characters.
The waterbender in her had her rising before the first flake hit the ground, the sun still resting well below the line of the horizon. Tiny feet hit the wood in a hurry, bare skin chilling the instant they touched the floor. The small child could have cared less, her bright cerulean eyes glued on the only window that lined her room. The muted grey of the promising twilight did little to curb her enthusiasm, only increasing it when she realized what the dreary weather was prelude to.
"Snow!" Kya whispered excitedly, watching as a steady stream of flakes began to fall to the ground, sticking to the concrete of the courtyard in front of the Air Temple. She knew what that meant. An early morning snow usually led to an afternoon of fun.
At four years old, there was only one winter that she could easily recall. Her little brother had just been born the autumn before, her mother still forced to remain at home due to a lapse in her health that had occurred during the birth Tenzin. Unable to return to her duties running the hospital, the master waterbender had been home all winter with her children, their father also sticking around to make sure their mother didn't over exert herself. It had been perfect.
They would spend days upon days rolling around in the snow, her father initiating snowball fights and snowman building contests. Their mother would watch from the porch, a newborn Tenzin wrapped snuggly in her arms, his pale nose chapped but eyes wide and curious. Bumi would pick her up and throw her into large mounds of snow, their laughter echoing around the island, the Acolytes glancing out there windows to see what all the commotion was about only to stick their heads back inside with knowing smiles.
Kya wanted it all to be just like last year. Starting with the snowman building and then ending with the snowball fights.
Knowing that she would be unable to fall back asleep, the child opened her door as quietly as possible, looking both ways for her parents before stepping out into the hall. She knew she shouldn't be up so early, but the knowing excitement of what would come later in the day was too much for the girl to handle alone.
Tiptoeing to the right of her room, Kya grabbed the brass knob of her brother's door, turning it just as quietly as she had her own. Once she was in the room with the door closed, she ran directly to her older brother's bed, jumping on top of it and consequently on him as well.
"Oof!" Was the only sound Bumi made when the breath was knocked out of him, his sister landing squarely on the middle of his stomach. Suddenly little hands grabbed a hold of his shoulders, a little nose nearly touching his as Kya willed him to open his eyes.
"Bumi!" She didn't even try to keep the excitement out of her voice at this point, her light eyes watching as his groggily opened, "It's snowing! It's snowing!"
Throwing his head back, the nine year old groaned at the disturbance, his eyes shutting once again as he tried to fall back into unconsciousness, mumbling a, "That's nice, Kya." before turning over. His little sister fell on to the bed beside him, his movement knocking her off her perch, but her joy and insistence still there.
"Come on, silly!" She tugged at his arms, the slick material of his pajamas making it hard to pull them up from the mattress, "It's time to go play!"
"It's time to sleep," The boy grumbled, a tan hand coming up to run lazily through his dark hair as he stuffed his face into the crook of his elbow. Kya would have none of it.
Sliding off the bed, Kya ran for the window, her tiny fingers grabbing at the curtains and parting them to reveal the light grey of the morning, the sun hiding behind the dark clouds that would remain for the rest of the day. The small amount of light enough to send Bumi into another round of groans.
"Come on, Boom! Daddy is probably already awake! I wanna play in the snow!"
Giving into the fact that he would be getting no more sleep with his little sister in the room, the boy sat up. Rubbing at his eyes, he released a yawn.
"Kya, Dad's probably already left for work."
"What?" The little girl turned to face her brother, a crease in her brow appearing as she walked closer to the bed, "He wouldn't go to work on a day like today. It's snowing!"
Bumi looked down at her with sleepy eyes, his mind still cloaked in fog from his dreams, "Dad always goes to work when it snows. There's a big council meeting today, Uncle Sokka has to be there too. I'm sure Mom still has to go into the hospital, too. Just because it snows doesn't make anything different."
"But last year – "
"Kya," The boy gently pulled her up on to his bed, sitting her beside him while leaving a tan hand resting on the sleeve of her nightgown, "Momma was sick last year."
"I know," She quietly insisted, frowning instantly at his words. She hated to remember her mother ill.
"That's why they were home," His words were said hesitantly, Bumi fully expecting his sister to have a dramatic outburst at any moment from the revelation, "Last winter was different from this one and the ones before."
"I just remember that one."
Bumi huffed a laugh, "Because it's one of the only one's we've all spent together. Mom and Dad were running around on Avatar business and White Lotus stuff the years before and usually you and I would spend the winters with Aunt Suki and Uncle Sokka."
"What?" Her voice broke in the middle of the word, her eyes welling up with tears. Seeing this, Bumi pulled his little sister up into his lap, his arms wrapping around her and hugging her close.
"It's okay, sis. We'll have fun. I'll play with you."
"But I want to build snowmen with Daddy again," She whined, pushing away from him and sliding off the bed, "I want Momma and Tenzin to watch us like they did last year!"
"Kya," Bumi stood from the bed, reaching out to grab her, but she had already fled from the room.
The small waterbender ran hurriedly down the hall, her feet taking her to the place where she would always find her father early in the mornings last winter. The Avatar's office sat a few doors down from the master suite of the Air Temple, its large wooden door protecting it from the sounds of the usually rambunctious children and fussy Tenzin. Though the closed door was different from the open doorway she had become so accustomed to seeing, Kya lifted a hand to knock softly against the wood.
"Daddy?"
She didn't receive an answer, but thought nothing of it. He had to be in there. Knowing it was rude to just barge in though, the girl stood her ground.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" A smile appeared on her face, her voice becoming hopeful as she continued on, "Come on, let's go and play!"
Still no answer came. Her lips twitched slightly, but she wasn't giving up.
"I never see you anymore," She insisted, her voice falling slightly, "Come out the door, it's like you've gone away."
She didn't want Bumi's words to be true. They couldn't be true. Her father would never leave when he knew how much this time of year meant to her.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" She asked again with no response, before feebly throwing in, "It doesn't have to be a snowman."
All thoughts of rudeness aside, Kya turned the knob of the door, opening the office to only be met with an empty space. Everything was in order, but her father wasn't there. The reality finally sunk in, tears welling up in her eyes as they continued to search the room for a sign of him.
"Come on, Ky," Bumi spoke softly from behind her, his voice uncharacteristically solemn, "I'll play with you."
Sniffling and willing herself not to cry, the little girl turned from the room, following after her brother.
Maybe next year he would be there.
A few years later, Kya awoke to a very similar sight as the one before. Seeing the snow on the ground, the nine-year-old took off down the hall to her brother's room, expecting to find him asleep just as she did every year.
The waterbender was shocked though to find his room empty, his bed already made and his sleep clothes strewn across the floor. Backing away from the room, the girl walked in the direction of the kitchen, the smell of an early morning breakfast already swirling through the air.
"Mom," The girl called before she had even reached the room, pulling on the sleeves of her nightgown as the chill of the morning finally hit her, "Where's Bumi?"
She was surprised to find him already in the kitchen with their mother; his back resting against the counter as the woman busily stirred a pot.
"I figured I was going to get an early wake up call anyway," He explained handing his mother the bag of grains she was gesturing for, "So I figured I would go ahead and skip the part where I have the wind knocked out of me and help Mom with breakfast before she leaves for work."
Smiling, Kya walked over to the waterbender, kissing her cheek good morning before joining her brother by the counter. She looked around curiously, noticing a very little someone missing.
"Where's Tenzin?" She didn't notice her mother stop stirring the pot, or the nervous look that appeared on her older brother's face when she said those words, "Did he go to work with Dad again?"
Her question went unanswered for a few beats, the chirping of a few insistent lemurs outside the window the only sound within those moments besides the bubbling of the pot. Continuing to stir, stiffer than before, her mother turned her eyes towards the breakfast she was making.
"Tenzin and Daddy are actually on a little trip," The woman answered evenly, her hand reaching for a few more ingredients to add in to their breakfast, "They left last night before the snow began to fall."
"What?" Her father rarely took any of them on trips, the man preferring to keep them safe at home while he handled sometimes dangerous business on the other side of the world. Of all people, why would he take Tenzin? He was just 6 years old!
"They'll be back some time next week," Her mother assured her, an uneasy smile falling on the waterbender's features, "Your father wants to take us down to the South Pole for a visit. It's been awhile since we have all travelled together and I have a few meetings I need to attend with some of the healers down there. It'll be fun."
"But why did he take Tenzin with him this time?" The question hung in the air, neither Katara nor Bumi answering it, "We're both off of school this week, why couldn't we go?"
"Because you two pester your little brother, " Kya rolled her eyes at her mother's words, though she knew there was some truth to them, "Don't even bother denying it. The poor child is terrified of the both of you."
Bumi shared a guilty glance with his sister, memories of them wrestling the tiny boy to the ground bubbling up in both their minds. That didn't stop Kya from continuing on though, trying hard to mask her hurt with simple curiosity.
"Well then why couldn't he just take me and Bumi?"
"Your poor father would not be able to handle the two of you alone at the same time," The mother gave a genuine laugh, her stirring returning to normal, "You would knock each other off Appa before you had even left the Bay."
Bumi chuckled, "You've got a point there."
Kya ignored her brother's laughter, finding nothing funny about their father leaving them behind and taking Tenzin on a trip. That's when it finally clicked.
"They're going to an Air Temple, aren't they?" The question caused Katara's stirring to slow for a moment, her hesitance the only answer the little waterbender needed, "This is an 'airbenders only' trip, isn't it?"
"Kya," Katara turned to the young girl, her motherly hands resting firmly on her shoulders, "It's not like that. Tenzin has been so quiet lately and your father fears that it's because of this environment. He doesn't want Tenzin to be ashamed of his gift and is trying to encourage him to learn it. This has nothing to do with Tenzin being the only airbender, it's about giving him a comfortable setting that he can learn in."
"So he can take time off to spend with the cue ball, but can't take time off to spend with me or Bumi?" Disbelief colored Kya's tone, accusal obvious in her words.
"Sweetie," Katara ran a practiced hand through her daughter's dark curls, letting it rest on the side of her head, "Your father just took you to the Northern Water Tribe a few weeks ago for a visit, and it was just you and him. He didn't have to do that, but he wanted to spend time with you."
"I know," The girl mumbled, her light eyes casting downwards to her bare feet, "But he worked the entire time."
"He's the Avatar," The mother remarked simply, her thumb wiping away a tear that fell from her child's eye, "We have to share him."
On her way back to her room, Kya paused at her father's office door. The memory of her standing there that morning so many winters ago hit her hard, the feeling of loneliness griping her tightly as it had before. She raised a hand to knock, but let it fall limply to her side.
This time, she knew for sure she wouldn't get an answer. Hurriedly, she continued down the hall.
"Maybe next winter," She murmured wryly to herself, closing her door tight and getting ready for the day.
"It's snowing!" Aang chirped excitedly, rising from his place in bed to stand by the window. Once again, Air Temple Island was covered in a fine layer of white powder, the sky painted a muted grey though the Avatar couldn't imagine a more beautiful day.
"Aang," Katara murmured, turning over in bed to escape the light spilling in through the window, "It snows every year. Go back to sleep."
"It just gets more beautiful every year," He remarked honestly, already searching through the drawers for his winter robes, "Now where did I put my cloak?"
Finally awake enough to gain hold of her senses, Katara sprung up into a sitting position, rubbing her eyes furiously and glancing at the round clock they kept on their wall.
"Uh, Sweetie?" She asked once she had realized the time, swinging her legs over the bed to also begin preparing for the morning, "Shouldn't you have already left for the city?"
Aang turned to her, discarding his sleep pants and replacing them with a pair of thick brown ones, a smirk present on his features, "I'm skipping."
"What?"
"Nearly everyone on the council has kids now," He threw his robes over his head, pulling at the fabric to get them into place, "The children are off from school and so it was decided there would be a two week break for the council members as well."
"Yes, and why didn't you tell me this?" Katara stepped forward to help him with his robes, easily pulling them into place and straightening his collar as well. The man was beaming, his smile contagious to the point where the waterbender couldn't even pretend to be stern with him.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," He ran a hand over his tattooed head, shrugging his shoulders, "This is the first winter I've been given off in awhile.
"I know," Katara remarked quietly, a tan finger running over the curve of his brow, "I'll call the hospital and tell them I can't come in today. With Bumi back from the Forces for a few weeks, I don't want to miss this time together with all of you."
Leaning forward, Aang gave his wife a gentle kiss, "I'm sorry I haven't been around more often, but that's about to change."
"It's just the kids have gotten so old and-"
"I know," The airbender stopped her, resting his forehead against her own, "We have a twenty three year old."
"Don't say that out loud."
Aang chuckled, "Kya's eighteen now, we should be greying soon."
"Don't joke about grey hair, Avatar"
"You'll look beautiful either way," The man nuzzled his nose into the line of her hair, "Grey hair and all."
"This went from romantic to depressing very quickly," Pushing her husband away with a playful shove, Katara nodded towards the door, "Go wake up the kids."
"Tenzin's the only one that's still – "
"Don't finish that sentence, Aang."
Chuckling, the man closed the door and walked down the hall. He planned to start with Bumi, given he was probably the one that it would take the longest to wake up, but when he walked into the boy's room, he was surprised to see the covers tossed on the floor along with the man's night clothes.
Aang didn't think anything of it, his soldier of a son probably used to getting up earlier now since joining the United Forces. Closing the door to Bumi's room, he continued down the hall to Kya's.
Knocking on his daughter's door, the Avatar received no answer. Knowing that she was probably still asleep, he knocked once more.
"Sweetie? It snowed over night."
No answer again.
He knew she had been angry with him the week before because of his trip to the Northern Air Temple with Tenzin, but surely she wasn't still ignoring him.
"Do you wanna build a snowman?" He asked, hoping that the proposition would finally get her to open up the door. But not one sound was heard from within the room.
Sighing heavily, Aang reached for the doorknob, twisting it slowly and peeking into the room. It was empty.
With brows furrowed, the Avatar opened the door wider to get a better look. Kya was definitely not in there. Thinking she had risen with Bumi, the man was about to turn back into the hall, when a little slip of paper laid out on the girl's bed caught his eye.
His heart stopped.
"Calm down, Aang," He murmured to himself, walking over to the bed and lifting the note up into shaking hands, "It's probably just telling you where she and Bumi went. No big deal."
But a growing pit in his stomach told him otherwise.
The second he read the first line of her note, the air left his lungs, forcing him to take a seat on his daughter's bed.
'Dear Family,
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every pain I have ever caused you, including this one. At the first flake of snow this morning, I took me leave to an unknown destination. I don't know where I'm going, but I need to do this. I can't remain here anymore, waiting and hoping that one day I will be good enough. Sitting around and doing nothing has gotten me nowhere in the past, and it's not going to get me anywhere now. I need to find myself and I can't do that while tied to you. I have to find who I am outside of the Avatar's daughter. I'm done with the favoritism and the 'vacations' and everything else I have had to put up with in the past. I can't stand around trying to make other people proud when no matter what I do it will never be enough. I need to start living for me, not for you. I thank you for taking care of me all these years, and I hope you can understand where I'm coming from now. I don't know when I'll return; so don't wait up for me. I know how hard it is can be left waiting for someone who doesn't ever seem to come back, and I don't want that for you. Take care of yourselves, save the world; carry on with your lives. I love you all and wish you the best.
-Kya '
Aang reread the note several times over, hoping that it was another one of Kya's tricks. But when Bumi walked into the doorway, dark circles under his eyes and snow stuck in his hair, the father knew that this was no joke.
"She really is gone," The man confirmed, his voice hoarse from the crying, "The rowboat has disappeared and a few of her robes are missing."
The Avatar couldn't speak, tears welling in his eyes as they drifted to the letter once again.
"Why?" He croaked, meeting the gaze of his son, "Why would she leave?"
The solder's face hardened, "Didn't you read the note?"
"It can't just be about finding herse-"
"Of course it's not!" Bumi interrupted the man, his temper flaring, "Can't you see that?"
The Avatar looked back at the note, searching for what else his son could be talking about.
'I know how hard it can be left waiting for someone who doesn't ever seem to come back…'
It took a moment for the accusation to sink in.
"She's talking about me, isn't she?"
"Every morning of the first snow of winter, she would wait by that door," Bumi gestured down the hall, towards the office the Avatar had barely used in years, "She would call to you, hoping for an answer and she never got one."
Aang thought back to a few minutes before, when he had knocked at her door to no reply.
Is that what he had done to her for all those years?
"Go get your mother."
Bumi's heavy footsteps echoed down the hall, the sound of the master suite's door opening and closing causing Aang's heart to ache. Katara was going to be devastated and she wasn't even the one at fault here. He was the one who caused this.
All those years he had spent trying to make everything right, the trips to the poles and into the city, had done nothing in the eyes of his daughter. It was the moments he wasn't there for her, the moments that really counted, that had caused this to happen.
She had been knocking on his door for years, to no answer.
Aang turned over the small piece of parchment in his hands, hoping that maybe she had left an address of somewhere she believed she would end up. But instead of an address, there was only a picture.
A clumsily drawn snowman looked back up at him and finally, he began to cry.