((AN: Okay, yes, in my absolutely shameless love for Kataang fluffiness and the love of writing these characters, I decided to turn another idea for a scene into a chapter. x3 I hope it's liked, and I thank the people who've read and given me a review or two so far. ^^ I also must admit, I have the most fun writing a conversation between the group. It's so freakin' easy to have them go off on tangents with Sokka. xP

As I hope I've stated, these characters do NOT belong to me, but to Mike and Bryan, God bless their genius.))


The day that the Avatar found out he was going to be a father was an unremarkable one at first, except for the fact that the entirety of the group had come back together again for a visit to the massively newly-refurbished Southern Air Temple.

The season was winter and all life closest to the poles still trudged and hibernated in its depths. The air was frosty and a layer of snow blanketed the mountains around the sacred plot of land. But with torches burning in the hallways and plenty of warm clothing for everyone, it was comfortable inside the rooms of the main temple building; thankfully, as Toph had said a thousand times over, it was nowhere near as chilly as the South Pole and about a million times more livable.

It was where Aang had remade what he called his "home-home"…not like the apartment in the breathtaking upper ring of Ba Sing Se that belonged to himself and each of his closest friends; or the mansion and spare rooms of the Fire Nation palace; or the gorgeous, expansive ice hut that was made just for them in the Southern Water Tribe, where they could always return for a time if the love of his life wanted. This is where he was rooted, and no matter where his Avatar duties or his Air Nomad wanderlust took him, there was always a place to come back to.

And wherever he went, so did Katara. After the end of the war, they barely left each other's side; forever they were a formidable and unbreakable team as friends, soul mates, and later a married couple. The Waterbender always figured that before she knew she fell in love with Aang, she fell in love with traveling the outside world with him; she was never fated to stay in the icy, blank South Pole as once she feared. She helped him, fought with him, and the Avatar knew that there was nobody else he deemed more worthy to rebuild the world with…in more ways than one, as the idea went that crossed both of their minds from time to time.

Their friends were always in touch, no matter where they were in the world at the time. Fire Lord Zuko and his wife Mai kept the peace both within and without the confines of the royal palace and traveled rarely, but were always welcomed by whomever they saw. Sokka took his duties as a warrior and the next in line for the Southern Tribe chieftain rather seriously; but as the world was living in a time of quite heavy peace, there was little need for fighting other than training to keep his skills sharp. He and his love Suki, fierce leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, always traveled together between the South Pole, the Southern Air Temple and her home on Kyoshi Island with her band having been appointed official guardians of the southern portion of the sea. As for Toph, she was hard to keep track of; always the traveler, wandering the world looking for ways to help or things to do; Jet's old band of followers often tagged along as her personal little armada of warriors, as per the insistence of The Duke, who was growing rather quickly into a capable new leader. In her spare time she schooled any new Earthbenders that she deemed worthy of her help, or she visited all of her other friends when the loneliness got to her.

All in all, they were still a family no matter where they were, and always would be; little could be done to change that, even when new arrivals appeared among Team Avatar—namely, Sokka and Suki's baby daughter Kimiye, who at the moment this story took place was peaceably playing with Momo on the ground nearby.

That cold winter morning was a special one, as everyone had decided to take a relaxing stay for a week or two at the Southern Air Temple since they were crossing paths anyway. A warm breakfast was shared by all around an ornate oak table. Sokka wolfed his food like a starved hog-monkey while the others watched with bemused—and slightly nauseated—expressions. Suki rolled her eyes. Across from them, Zuko and Mai simply tried to look bored and dignified as they ate (Mai did, anyway. Zuko had a smirk, wondering if the Water Tribe warrior was going to choke at one point). Iroh, who had decided to take a trip to visit Zuko after finding out where he was, was busily brewing a new pot of tea as always. Toph was resting back on the chair, munching loudly on a peach. Aang was at the head of the table picking at his bowl of rice with his chopsticks, chuckling at the goings-on.

The only one who wasn't present was Katara, and the sight of the empty chair beside him only made Aang sigh with worry. That morning, and for a few mornings past in fact, she'd been sick to her stomach; slightly nauseous throughout the day and awakening with a none-too-painful churning in her gut that made her rush out of bed and to the sink. The Waterbender had passed it off as a quick bug until that very morning.

But finally, Katara emerged from the doorway to greet the smiling faces of her closest friends in the dining room together. She didn't look any worse for the wear, but her strong countenance always did little to betray any type of sickness. Only Aang and the others knew better.

"Morning, guys," she greeted cheerfully as she paused in the door.

The salutation was returned in kind by everyone, including a respectful bow from Iroh and a spare wave from her brother as he still had his face in his bowl licking at any food remnants. Aang looked up, his expression brightening as it always did upon laying eyes on the Waterbender. "How's your stomach, Katara?" he inquired with concern. "Can you eat breakfast?"

"I think so," she nodded with a reassuring smile back toward her husband. "Still, this is starting to get weird. I've been sick for five days…I should probably think of going for a quick trip back home to have a healer look at me."

"Probably the best idea," Sokka pointed out once he swallowed his meal enough to speak. "You can never tell what types of sicknesses sneak up on ya. Remember when Aang got that cold?"

"How could anyone forget?" Toph piped up; even at age 19, the former Blind Bandit hadn't lost an inch of snark. "The guy still sneezes hard enough to send people flying into walls."

"Yeah, like me," Sokka dryly remarked.

Aang rolled his eyes. "I said I was sorry, Sokka. I can't exactly concentrate enough to control my sneezing when I'm sick. It's an Airbender thing."

"That type of problem isn't exclusive to Airbenders," Iroh said as he poured tea into several cups on a tray. "When young Firebenders get fevers, they have to sleep on fireproof blankets."

"Well, some do," Zuko snorted a laugh. "Anyway Katara, hope you feel better."

"Yeah, me too," Katara smiled gratefully, before dismissing the matter and walking further into the room. "The tea smells great, Iroh."

"It's good for what ails you, too," the old General smiled. "A few cups of this, and I guarantee your cookies will stay in your gut."

"Iroh's tea could cure the blind if he knew how to do it," Mai rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't drink it then," Toph shot back. "I wouldn't change myself for the world."

The younger friends all shared a quiet laugh at the banter and accepted his tea. But as Katara moved closer to the table and Toph let one of her feet to the floor, her foggy eyes narrowed. "Hey…wait. Katara, stop moving."

The Waterbender froze and turned a questioning glance to her friend. "Why?"

"It's just…huh…" Toph's expression turned quizzical as she put both feet on the ground and stood to approach Katara. "Hold still a second."

With the others curiously looking on, Toph moved in a slow circle around her, scrutinizing with her Earthbending vision what her eyes couldn't see or her ears couldn't pick up. She concentrated, listening to Katara's steady bodily rhythms and pulse, which was going a little quicker as the awkward moment passed.

Finally, Katara had enough of the vague behavior of her young friend. "Toph, you're creeping me out. What's going on?"

Toph kept her answer to herself for a second longer before stopping and looking up at the Waterbender with her face twisted in confusion. "Katara, this is probably gonna sound really strange…but there's an irregularity in your heartbeat. It's kinda…almost like you have two of them."

"Two heartbeats?" Katara drew back, eyebrow quirked. "That's pretty impossible, Toph."

"Yeah, really," said Sokka as he drummed his fingers idly on the table. "People don't have two hearts. I mean, it could be possible, since sky bison have five stomachs, but still, Katara I think always had one." He regarded his sister with a grimace. "You didn't grow another one, did you?"

"Will you quit joking for just one second?" Suki lightly shoved her husband in the shoulder and regarded Katara with a tilted head. "Why do you think Toph would hear two heartbeats?"

"Could you be picking up one of ours by mistake?" Zuko mused.

"No…I can kinda feel it too," Aang remarked, one of his bare feet having brushed the hard stone floor. His Earthbending vision, though not as finely-tuned as Toph's, was still good enough to be of use. His eyes were locked on firmly on Katara, wondering what could be going on with her. "There's your heartbeat, and a slightly different, smaller pulse right with you."

Trying to stay calm while being the unwitting center of attention, Katara was going through all she knew of the human body in her head; as a practiced healer, she thought that she could find an answer. "Okay…irregular heartbeats…stomach ache…throwing up…"

It was then, Suki's eyes shot open in recognition of one symptom. She leaned forward eagerly. "Katara, you've been sick? And early in the day?"

"Pretty much every day for the past few days, yeah," Katara shrugged. "Why?"

Suki leaned back in the chair again, her hand slapping to her forehead. "Oh…my…gosh. I forgot all about that! Why didn't I see it?"

"See what?" Sokka demanded. "Suki, what's going on with my sister?"

She glanced back at her husband. "Don't you remember, how sick I was when…"

"When you were just pregnant with Kimiye," Katara finished for her, thoughtfully. "But that would mean…that…" her eyes widened, slowly. "That…"

Katara's arms dropped to her sides and the room seemed to disappear as all eyes fell on her. Through her mind, she flashed back to all the times she had helped deliver babies in the South Pole, what Gran-Gran had told her…how one could tell a pregnancy through little symptoms...

And then suddenly she knew that Toph's sensing two heartbeats in her made very logical sense. Suki's grin widened, Iroh's eyes lit up with knowing, and the others were awaiting her next words as they hadn't caught on just yet.

"I'm…" she breathed, one of her hands reflexively touching her abdomen. Slowly, a smile spread onto her features. "I think I might be…having a baby."

Everything came to a halt. Several pairs of eyes all locked squarely on Katara. The room was dead silent…except for the echoing clatter of Aang's chopsticks as they had fallen from his fingers to hit the edge of his bowl.

Then, several things happened at once:

Suki sprang from her seat to hug Katara with a loud squeal of joy. Toph sat down again, proud of herself for helping them to figure it out. Sokka had yelled "You're WHAT?" and proceeded to stand, only to end up tripping on the chair and face-planting himself into the floor. Mai looked dumbfounded, while Zuko and Iroh had shaken themselves from their surprise to give congratulatory pats on the shoulder to Aang.

And the Avatar himself, completely red-faced, had fallen back and promptly fainted on the ground with a groan, taking the chair with him.

"Oh, my…" Iroh grimaced once the others stopped their celebrating to notice his prone form. "Ah, I'll go fetch the smelling salt, shall I?"

"Haha…!…I think you broke him, Sugar Queen!" Toph laughed.


What seemed like an eternity later—but was perhaps only a few minutes—Aang was finally starting to come around with a very strong and pungent odor assaulting his nostrils. He had been moved from the dining room to one of the common areas and placed on a couch, with the others hovering nearby.

He was only vaguely aware of them as he blinked away the fogginess in his eyes and registered the bump on the back of his head he had gotten from the impact. He sat up slowly and rubbed at it while his friends backed away to give him some more air.

"Buh…wha' happened?" he groaned once everyone and their relieved faces came into focus. "Did I get attacked?"

A few of the others stifled their snickers as Toph answered dryly. "Nah; you just fainted like a hypnotized gorilla-goat. Congratulations, by the way."

"Congratulations for what?" he asked, only just fully out of his haze. "For fainting?"

Knowing smiles appeared on the faces of the others, who were comfortably seating themselves on the various chairs around the small table dotting the living room. "No, for what made you faint," Suki laughed. "Try to think."

Confused, Aang scratched his head and bit his lip.

It took only a second. Like a lightning strike, the last few moments before he blacked out returned to assault his memory. Katara's murmured words…her smile…everyone's reactions. His eyes widened, and he leaped to his feet. "Katara! Where is she?"

"Up here."

The familiar and most relieving voice caused his heart to race when she answered. He looked over to notice his wife, leaning with her arms on the couch head just behind him. Her azure eyes were glittering, and she had a peaceful but bemused smile.

Overcome with emotion, Aang turned and sprang around to her, taking hold of her shoulders and locking her eyes with his. His voice quivered, and nearly faltered several times. A closer match to the Avatar that the spectators all knew very well.

"Katara, please tell me that I heard right, and that I wasn't dreaming. Are you…am I…are we…" his voice started to break into tiny, hopeful sobs. His cheeks were bright crimson.

The Waterbender listened to his stammer and replied with a soft giggle, her hands placing themselves over his. Her face, though a few shades darker than his own, held that same rosy blush. The joy in her eyes never diminished. "You heard right, Aang…I have to visit a doctor to confirm it for real, but…I can feel it myself too. I think..."

His heart thundered in his chest, his pulse so loud in his ears that it was threatening to impede her words…but he held onto each one she spoke. Every syllable, every letter, every pause for breath his soul mate took, he registered in his very mind and spirit.

"I really think I'm pregnant," she breathed, cupping his cheek with her hand. She regarded him with an expression that was so loving as she finished…he felt like he was melting on the inside. "You're going to be a father."

Katara couldn't remember the last time his storm-gray eyes hid so much unspoken emotion. "A…father…" he echoed, feeling as if he were about to faint again. But he fought to keep steady as the words sunk in, still gripping her shoulders while she cupped his face with her hands. "A father. Me. We…we're gonna be parents. You're gonna be a mom…and…wow…"

"Yeah…hard to believe, huh?" she let out a shaky giggle and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Overcome, he returned the embrace, clutching her like he was holding a treasure more precious to him than the world itself. And indeed, she was.

"I would like to be the next to give my most sincere congratulations to Avatar Aang and Master Katara," Iroh declared, holding up his cup of tea. "This is the kind of news that the world won't see again for years to come!"

"Here, here!" the others chanted. The couple looked on with sheepishness and eternal bliss radiating from them, still holding on to one another.

"Way to go, Twinkletoes," Toph grinned.

"This is definitely good news for the world," Zuko admonished, his hand wrapping around Mai's waist.

"Just think, soon enough, Kimiye will have a cousin to play with," Suki laughed as she turned to look at Sokka, only to find that he'd disappeared.

The warrior in question had swiftly come up behind the two and had them both locked in a brotherly embrace. "Congratulations, you crazy kids, and thanks for making me an UNCLE!" he practically squealed in glee.

"Ack," Aang choked in his grip with a nervous grin. "You're welcome."

"Sokka, air, please!" Katara in turn wheezed.

Instantly, he let them go. "Heh, sorry…but I'm just so excited! First I was a dad, and now I'll be an uncle! I'm so happy, I could…"

He suddenly stood up, a stern expression crossing his face and his voice returning to normal. "That reminds me." Turning to face Aang, he delivered a swift punch to his gut.

Though a simple blow like that wouldn't really hurt him, the Airbender reeled back, nonetheless. "What was that for?" he demanded in surprise.

"It's in the Brother Code," Sokka shrugged with a smirk. "You got my sister pregnant, so I gotta sock you…Sokka socks ya. Ha! Yeah, I'm remembering that one..."

"Sokka, we're married," Katara reminded him with a slap to the back of his head. "The Brother Code doesn't apply here."

"What do you know of the Brother Code?" he demanded. "That's top-secret."

"I'm a brother," Zuko pointed out. "Shouldn't I have gotten a memo about that?"

"You don't count—your sister's nuts," said the Water Tribe warrior in a matter-of-fact fashion.

There was a pause from the Fire Lord. "…Okay, point."

"It's fine, I didn't get one either," Iroh chortled. "It's a family curse."

The banter continued on in the background between their friends…but as far as Aang and Katara were concerned right then, the room was empty but for each other. The fact that he was going to be a father couldn't leave the Avatar's mind, and in his gently-shown euphoria he didn't want to release his true love from his embrace. "This has to be one of the happiest days of my life," he murmured with quivering words into her hair.

The Waterbender in turn couldn't agree any more; she wordlessly clutched him for all it was worth, letting herself become lost in his presence. With him, there was a small aura of disbelief. Her best friend, the Avatar, the love of her life, the father of her child…how far we've come, she thought, nuzzling her head into his shoulder as his hand reverently caressed her still-flat stomach. "I love you so much, Aang."

"I love you more," he whispered back, just as much lost in Katara as she was in him.

Their attention was only caught again when Suki posed a question to Katara. "So, how far along do you think you are?"

"It'd be easier to pick a day where they weren't trying," Toph muttered rather loudly.

Simultaneously, the pair's cheeks turned bright red. "Toph, that's not funny!" Katara shouted, while Aang turned his head and pretended to have a sudden fascination with a spider-fly on the wall. The rest of them had either broken out into loud laughter or were trying to respectfully hide their embarrassed snickering behind their hands.

The Earthbender put on her characteristic toothy grin. "I sense all and I know all, Sweetness. You might wanna try and remember that when certain people are visiting." Her smile turned soft again. "To that end, it's about time you guys had a baby, already. You'll be the best parents in the world."

"I think we'll try our best, anyway," Aang smiled back, returning his tight hold on his wife.

Still feeling indignant, the young Water Tribe woman focused on Suki's earlier question. "I suppose it's been a few weeks, but like I said, I need to see a healer to be sure."

Iroh cleared his throat. "Well, now that we know that we're all okay, we ought to move back to the dining room and finish breakfast. We've got messages to send, too."

"Don't start the rumors so soon, Uncle," Zuko's eyes rolled. "We don't know for sure yet."

"Just to the White Lotus members, I assure you," the Dragon of the West assented. "I'm sure that at least Pakku will want to hear about this, Master Katara, as well as your family."

"I can't wait to hear their reaction," she laughed in response, discreetly intertwining her fingers with Aang's.

The Avatar laughed nervously. "Just as long as your dad doesn't punch me too."

"Nah…he knows better than to pick a fight with the Avatar," Sokka waved his hand. "Now, if you were any other guy, he'd just take his cudgel and…"

"—Sokka!" Katara practically snarled.

"What?"

"Spirits help me," Aang sighed, still smiling nonetheless.