Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Avatar: the last airbender. If so, there would have been much more Zutara!
Chapter Two: A Fresh Start
A lump from underneath a pile of furs groaned uncomfortably at the light that slipped through the window, the mixed hides shifting before being thrown from thin figure beneath them. "Mmph." Katara rested her head on the fluffy down pillow and squinted at the sun that was rising towards the middle of the sky, not even concerned with what time it was. Obviously, it wasn't noon yet, since her bending classes start then and someone would have awakened her rather abruptly, but from the position the sun sat in the sky, the water bender made a safe assumption that it was around ten thirty, eleven o' clock.
Grumbling under her breath, Katara swung her feet over the bed and onto the freezing marble floor. Despite how chilly the stone was, she was unaffected by the temperature; living in the South Pole, or more specifically extremely low temperatures, had made her body accustomed to the uncomfortable weather. Thanks to Toph and King Bhumi, the new Chief House had been remodeled. Toph bended sets of metal doors for the front of the house, as well as each room, since ice didn't seem too appealing towards the guests that stayed with them. Once Bhumi had settled back into Omashu, the old man sent over nearly a dozen shipments of black marble from one of the caves near his city, along with a crew of Earth benders to place the gargantuan tiles on the floor of Hakoda's home. After the reconstruction of the house, many thought of it as a small palace from how nice it looked, and in a way it was. Hakoda had taken his place as Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, which made his entire bloodline, and Gran-Gran of course, nobility. No one complained, other than Katara when Toph called her Princess Fussy Britches.
Her toned fingers rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she made her way into the bath that was connected to her room, yanking off her clothes with every step. A trough extended through the iced wall for her to bend water through it. With a flick of her wrist, icy water spewed from the iron channel and into the tub, Katara filling the brass tub until it was full. The wood that was piled beneath it were dry, and were kept that way so that igniting them to warm the water wasn't difficult. Grabbing a match, she rubbed the tip of the small flint against the rugged paper until a small flame flickered at the tip of the light wood, Katara tossing it onto the fire and watched the flames swallow the large pieces without a second to spare.
While the water heated, the water bender scrubbed her face with the chilling water to wake herself up, as well as cleansing her toned and perfect skin from the grogginess brought with sleep. Despite how used she was to the cold temperature, she gasped when the water collided with her cheeks, the young woman shaking her shoulders to drive the chills from blossoming over her limbs. Her hair loops had knotted since she had forgotten to take them down and put her hair up the previous night. Yesterday, everyone had celebrated Toph and Aang's arrival to the Southern Water Tribe for her birthday, and talking for so long with the two of them and the remainder of the group lasted until late into the night, and once she came into her room, she was reluctant to even put some more comfortable clothes on, none the less crawl under the covers.
Her hands wiped away the excess water that clung to her eyes before her finger submerged into the tub of water, it's heat warming her entire hand. The ties that kept her hair back were tossed on the dresser in her room before she climbed into the tub, Katara sinking farther into the hot water and sighed, completely relaxed.
The memory of Aang and Toph arriving last night wasn't a pleasant one, primarily her lack of excitement towards the Avatar. Even though she didn't realize it until after they were eating dinner, she hadn't greeted him as he had anticipated. She remembered smiling and waving at them until Appa landed, giving Toph a hug first and then her boyfriend when he jumped off shortly after the blind Earth bender. He hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead, now that he had grown several inches and towered over. But, when he leaned down to kiss her, Aang sensed her reluctance. Katara only pecked his lips casually, and not passionately and welcoming like he imagined his girlfriend would after four months of no contact. Aang had been moping around all evening, and as obligated as Katara felt to keep him company, dealing with him while he was pouting wasn't something she was going to do.
His childish tantrums were so irritating! It was every time he didn't get his way, the Avatar became so upset that he dragged the whole group's attitude down into the dumps. Grumbling, Katara slid down the copper tub and blew bubbles on the surface of the water to put her thoughts at ease.
It took twenty minutes to scrub her limbs, wash her hair with oils and lotions, and dry off, leaving her with about a half an hour until her classes started. Steam clung to the walls from the heat of the water. Her feet were hot against the chilled marble floor when she stepped out of the tub, bending the remaining water droplets from her hair and skin. That was always a plus to being a bender- there was no need for towels when you could just bend the water away! Well, it was more along the lazy side, but the water bender would never admit it.
From the closet beside her bed, Katara snatched a pair of thick wool undergarments that rested snugly on her hips. her bindings were on the nightstand and found their way into her hands. The wraps warmed her chest when it was covered with the thin material, along with a pair of navy blue leggings lined with fur. A thin body shirt made of the same material as the leggings were pulled over her shoulder and lined with the same white fur, both pieces of the body suit water proof. Convenient, huh? But the remainder of her outfit was the same as usual, the light blue robe tied back with a white band on her stomach to keep from getting in her way. Usually, that was all she wore, other than the pair of black flat shoes that were tight on her feet, but in the South Pole, the thick light blue jacket was always draped over her shoulders, along with a thick pair of boots full of lion panther fur.
The ice was was used as a bit of a mirror, Katara double checking that every article of clothing was in order before tying her hair back and placing the loops perfectly beside her cheek bones. After one more inspection, she was out the door and making her way towards the clearing now on an island that connected four bridges to the large ice blocks of the city.
The kids were playing, pushing each other and giggling about silly jokes, but what she didn't notice at first was the bald air bender propped up on the little ball of air in the middle of the group. A soft smile formed over her plush lips, and once she reached the bottom of the bridge to the island, Aang's cloudy orbs averted from the smiles of the children around him to Katara. "Hey Katara!" He called childishly, all of the children turning to see their teacher approaching them with a smug smirk. "Morning Master Katara!" they all chimed, grinning so wide, she could count each and every one of their teeth from where she was.
"Good morning." Her voice was gentle, and much more calm, compared to Aang's peppy demeanor. "Alright, let's get into our places, please," the woman waved her hand to the side, and the children hustled from their places around the Avatar into rows. Aang remained in his place but crossed his legs to meditate, blocking out the sounds of passersby and the cooing of the students.
She waited for a moment for the kids to get into their places before removing a pair of gloves and stuffing them into a pocket of her jacket. "Let's work on the water whip again." Her arms lifted gracefully as she bended water from the water that the bridges crossed, the children doing the same, but in much smaller amounts. There were few fast learners amongst the class, but all of them could summon the element just fine, as long as there was a body of water close by. All of them could form the whip, but once it came to moving it, the water the children were bending fell about their feet, drenching their boots and making the ice incredibly slippery.
As she instructed them how to move the water, her mind was somewhere else. The form and move was so elementary, she didn't really have to pay much attention, since her focus was somewhere else. The entire hour, she had been thinking about her birthday. It was only a week away, and stifling her excitement to have all of her friends together again was impossible. Really, she had been around Toph, Aang, and Sukki several times in the past few months, but who she hadn't seen was Zuko.
The last time the two were together was a few months after the war for his coronation, but they had been writing to each other ever since. With every passing day, she missed him more and more. Their friendship was a special one, since what brought them together was their mothers' absences. The grieving and discovering made them inseparable, being away from him for so long was starting to take a toll on her.
With a sigh, Katara watched as some of the kids finally turned their whips to and fro, slowly, but surely. She reassured herself he was on a ship heading towards the South Pole, and would see him soon.
Very soon.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to post D: School is starting next week and I'm having to get everything ready before the weekend. If it's boring, I sowwy. It'll get much more entertaining once chapter three is up! Happy reading!