A New Life

Chapter 3

By: Sophie LeBlanc

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Dedicated to patience and willpower – without both I would have deleted this story a thousand times over again in frustration.

The rising sun beamed brightly through the open windows of Aang and Kataras' bedroom, soaking the walls and in a rich golden hue. The sky held a relaxing ocean colour that blanketed over the town of Ba Sing Se. There were only a few clouds in the sky that hovered around the elevating sun, filtering a degree of its' blinding brightness. Outside, the only thing audible were the birds that happily chirped their morning melodies, and the wisp of grass as it blew gently in the morning breeze. There was no sound of city life from where Toph and Sokka lived.

Katara's eyes suddenly shot open. She sprang upwards; sharply snapping into consciousness. Staring forward, a feeling of sickness greeted her morning. Experiencing a slight burn in her cheeks and a deep queasiness in her stomach, she suddenly doubled over and vomited.

Breathing heavily, she flopped herself back against her bed. As her head hit the soft pillow she moaned at the nausea that bubbled threateningly in her stomach. Wrinkling her nose from the foul smell that whiffed under her nose, Katara raised her arms weakly and bended the pile of stomach acid out the balcony door and onto the earth below, clearing the floor of her sickness.

Beside her, Aang slept peacefully, undisturbed by Katara's morning outburst.

Unable to fall back asleep, Katara carefully eased herself out of bed. Her stomach did not disagree as she rose to her feet. Feeling slightly better all ready, she left the sunlit room quietly, sliding the door closed. The hour was early, so as Katara sluggishly entered the living area downstairs she found herself alone. With nothing to do she quickly decided to occupy her time by cleaning the dinner dishes from the previous night. From the water pipe outside the kitchen window, Katara bended enough water to fill the granite sink. She grabbed a fresh bar of soap and began cleaning each individual piece of dirty tableware by hand. The morning breeze blew freely through the open window, killing the queasiness in Katara's stomach as she breathed in its freshness.

Although Katara's hands were occupied, her mind was not. Her thoughts soon began to stagger in another direction, slowly drifting off to a different section of her mind. Flooding into her head, the previous night flashed behind her eyes.

Pregnant? Katara thought to herself, I'm pregnant? The possibility seemed to answer all her questions. She figured her mood swings and impulsive behaviour could have been due to hormonal unbalances, and the difference and changes she felt within her body must have been because of the new life she incubated. Naturally, her body would have to change and modify its usual workings to support the growing baby within her. She considered these ideas, realizing how perfectly they answered her situation.

She couldn't deny – she was with child.

But what did that mean, being pregnant?

A smile slowly ignited across Katara's face as she realized it meant she was going to have her own little baby. Throughout her youth she always adored babies and children, awing at their cuteness and their playful liveliness. But now that she was due to have her very own, Katara's perspective and appreciation for them greatly changed.

It was not simply any child that she bore within her womb; it was her and Aang's child. Inside of her, she grew and protected a precious life composed and created from both their souls. Together, sparked within her body, she and Aang had given life to a single living being, a single existence that could breathe and live for its own. She looked down at her stomach and forced her eyes past her skin, picturing their baby resting peacefully between her hips.

A single tear of joy fell silently down Katara's face. How precious it was that she held a life partly made from her own, and that someday she would forever have her heart beating outside her body.

However, upon the thought of bearing Aang's child, Katara saw there was more to understand than that single aspect. Aang was the Avatar and the last known airbender to their world; by carrying his baby, she bore not only a new life of her own, but a new life of this world – a child that would begin the rebuilding of their worlds' lost nation – a child whose destiny was to restore the Air Nomads, and recreate the fourth kingdom of their world.

Katara's smile dimmed slightly as she began to realize the gravity of her position, and what she carried. She instinctively placed a hand against her belly—despite that it was wet with dish water—and felt her eyes widened with a new realization and understanding.

She carried a new hope...a new beginning for a part of their world...

"You're up early," came a voice from behind her.

The dinner plate clutched in Katara's other hand suddenly slipped from her grip as she gasped in surprise. It fell to the floor and broke into a number of pieces. Spinning around, she found Toph casually leaning against the kitchen wall. Toph could feel Katara's stringing tension and racing heart vibrating through the floor. Putting together her jumpiness and strain, Toph knowingly put forth a good guess as to what clouded Katara's mind.

"Why so jumpy?" Toph inclined smugly.

"You scared me," Katara answered breathlessly. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Was there anything on your mind?"

Katara's breath stopped in her throat. "No," she denied.

Feeling her lie, Toph stood silently for a moment. She's figured it out, she thought to herself, lifting the corner of her lip in a smirk. Despite that Toph was blinded in sight, she could still see the evident denial in Katara's behaviour. She considered Katara's situation, and how tense she appeared standing before her, and decided against pursing the conversation. Instead, Toph figured it would be good for Katara to get some fresh air and a chance to clear her mind.

She shrugged, "Alright then. Common, let's go outside."

"What about this plate?" Katara said, motioning to the broken pieces on the floor.

"Common," Toph urged, already half way out the door.

After standing in a second of deliberation, Katara left the broken plate and joined Toph outside the front doors. In the beautiful blue sky, the sun's blinding shine assaulted her eyes; forcing her to squint tightly. Its radiating warmth beat against her skin in rays of golden light, relaxing her tense muscles and lifting her thoughtful mind. There still lived a peaceful breeze in the air which whooshed in gentle gusts, brushing delicately through Toph and Katara's hair. Against their skin, it offered a refreshing touch from the sun's heat.

"It's a nice day." Toph smiled, breathing in the fresh air.

Katara agreed.

Standing by the front doors, the grand courtyard lay before their eyes. Walking across its grey stones, Toph moved towards the side of the square, where the stones extended in a pathway that led to a small passage through the house. To their left, a stone drive led miles away though strips of bare land towards the city. Thin flower beds, filled with assortments of colourful flowers, lay decoratively along the pathway sides. Their petals trembled lightly in the cool breeze. As Toph and Katara sauntered through the houses' boxed tunnel they entered a quiet, serene area, filled with soft green grass and quiet equanimity. The yard extended largely, and was bordered with thick hedges. The area was bare but for only a small pond in the middle of the enclosure where a single cherry tree grew along its edges, leaning over the pools' dark water in an interesting curve. The wind blew through the trees branches, brushing off its loose flower petals. They fluttered down to the water, sending quiet ripples through its stillness.

"Wow," Katara awed, taking in the area's exquisite tranquillity. During her many visits, Katara had never been introduced to this place. "It's like a mini oasis."

"I like to come here sometimes to relax," Toph said. The warm grass was soft and gentle against her bare feet. "...and just lie here in the sun."

"It's so nice and quiet – you can't even hear the city." Katara noted aloud.

"I know," Toph agreed. "I don't mind living here at all. Out here,"—she gestured to the space around her—"it's almost as if we don't live in the worlds' biggest Earth Kingdom city."

Katara walked up to the still water and gazed down at her reflection in the small pond. As she peered down at herself however, she didn't see her normal appearance; instead her reflection projected an image of herself with a grown, rounded belly. Katara remained calm and serene, as she was not jostled by the sight of her altered image. She gazed deeply at her reflected picture, absorbing her future shape, when suddenly a cherry blossom delicately fluttered down from the small tree. It landed amid Katara's reflection and sent tiny ripples through her image, quickly blurring her morphed illustration until the water resumed its original stillness and her reflection regained her present figure.

Katara turned her head to the side and blankly stared to the ground. Seeing the image of her pregnant belly had given her a sense of awareness – one day her belly would jut out as large as the reflection had portrayed. She knew she could not deny her pregnancy – she was to give birth to the last airbender's child, despite what pressure that lay upon her...she had to accept it.

Though unexpectedly, a new thought occurred to Katara – a thought that sent her heart into a panicked: what if her baby wasn't an airbender – what if their child could not rebuild Aang's people? Katara's face froze in unyielding shock as this new contemplation sunk into her mind. The entire world would anticipate the Avatar's child to be an airbender, in order to help rebuild the air nation. But what if the Avatar's baby wasn't an airbender? – the Air Nomads would seize to exist, and the Avatar Cycle would be permanently changed forever. It was the Avatar's duty to provide balance to the world, and keep a harmony among all people. If life forever existed without the Air Nomads the world would never be in proper balance, leaving Aang in shameful disgrace as the Avatar. With only three Nations, the world's existence would live under a level of instability, where life would continue to grow without a fourth relation, leaving new life and energy to be dispersed unequally throughout the world. What would the people of the world think? What would Aang think?

With an inaudible gasp, Katata rethought that: what would Aang think? The consideration left her tingling with apprehension and fear. What would Aang doif his child could not extend his linage into rebuilding his lost people, and fulfil his duties as the Avatar? How would he take it? What would he say? Would he be angry? Disappointed? Broken? Even past his duties as the Avatar, Katara knew how strong Aang's love for his people was, and could see how much it would mean to him if he could build his nation back up. The possibility of Aang having to accept that his nation would forever be lost left Katara feeling scared and nervous to admit her pregnancy.

Katara thought she might collapse under the amount of pressure that weigh upon her shoulders. She was drowning, drowning under the amount of pressure that engulfed her entire being. She felt as if she were being pulled into a deep ocean of stress and anxiety. As she sunk increasingly lower into its depths the weight built against her lungs, suffocating her with its force and heaviness. From where she drowned into its deep dark void, she gasped for breath; centering her mind on brighter thoughts and filling her head with images of her giggling baby, whether it was an airbender or not. But to no avail – her mind forever held an image of her husband's broken face, after accepting that his people could remain everlastingly decease, and the world forever changed.

Fresh tears slid silently out from Katara's wide, frightened eyes. Her legs began to feel unstable and wobbly, breaking under the amount of pressure that now lay upon her. She dropped to her knees, staring down into the pond and her watery reflection.

From where she rested quietly by the pond, Toph felt Katara slump to the grassy ground. She could feel the perplex vibrations that radiated violently from Katara's body, and how her heart hammered forcefully against her chest. Toph was entirely surprised to witness the seriousness of Katara's strain, and wondered if she was okay. She assumed that Katara would have been high spirited over her pregnancy; so naturally, Toph couldn't understand why Katara's body seemed to contradict that supposition.

"Katara..." Toph crooned questioningly, unsure what to say or how to take her strange behaviour.

Sniffling, Katara raised her head, whipping her gleaming cheeks dry.

"Are you...crying?" Toph gasped in shock, hearing her quiet sniffle.

"No." Katara blubbered. Hearing an underlying pain in her voice, Toph could confirm Katara's tears were not of joy, and that she was profoundly upset. Utterly confused, Toph stood up and sat at Katara's side comfortingly.

Although she knew Toph couldn't see her, Katara looked deeply into the blind woman's shadowed eyes, her own eyes layered in an anxious tension. Gazing at her sister's face, Katara felt a sudden surge of ease and lifting relieve. She couldn't understand it, but as Toph sat reassuringly by her side, Katara's heaviness seemed to lessen. It was as if Toph reached down into the deep sea of anxiety that Katara drowned in, and was pulling her to the surface, enabling her to breathe.

Katara whipped away the quiet tears that streamed down her cheek, "I'm pregnant," she whispered suddenly.

Toph popped a smile at Katara's disclosure. Well that wasn't totally confusing, she thought to herself sarcastically.

"Katara," she beamed, coating on a small degree of over exaggeration. "That's wonderful!"

Wide eyed, Katara stood in a blank wall of frozen shock, comprehending what she had just arbitrarily admitted aloud. Although Toph stood directly before her, Katara could only faintly hear the congratulatory words that erupted from her mouth. From behind her layer of jolt, everything seemed to be in a fog.

"That's so wonderful!" Toph sung, beaming as brightly as she could manage.

"Yeah," Katara chuckled, a smile playing on the corner of her lips. "...pregnant..."

Being draw from her silent reverie by Toph's bright words of encouragement and congratulations, Katara began to return to her present surroundings. Even behind their wall of shadow, Toph's eyes seemed to illuminate. Her smile touched either side of her small face, creating laugh lines that extended up to her sparking eyes. Toph's brightness and joyfulness leaked over Katara, giving her a smile of her own.

"Yeah," she chuckled happily, "I'm pregnant..."

Rising from the ground, Toph took Katara's hands in hers and began jumping up in down in delight. Though she was already aware of Katara's pregnancy, there was something remarkably wonderfully about hearing them come from her mouth - it made acting surprised less of a chore. She was undeniably overjoyed to hear Katara announce the news allowed. As she smiled and presented a strong sense of happiness, Toph could feel a remarkable change is Katara's body – as if all her pervious tension was melting away. Under no sense of over dramatisation or exaggeration, she willingly smiled and laughed blissfully with Katara, celebrating her miracle and lifting Katara from her cloud of nerves and tension.

"I'm pregnant, Toph!" Katara laughed gleefully, jumping up and down. "I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant, I'm pregnant!"

"You're pregnant!" Toph cheerfully rejoiced with her.

Katara threw her head back with merry laugher, feeling a thick cloud of joy and happiness hover around her. Toph's happiness was a beam of light through Katara's mind, clearing away all the thoughts that clouded her head. It brightened her view until she could only see what mattered most importantly – the fact that she was having a baby. Despite that the discovery was rather large and pressuring, Katara now understood it wasn't singly that she carried the last airbender's unborn child and a new hope for the world, but more that she held Aang's baby – whether it would recreate his people or not. She was going to have a child, both her and Aang combined together to form a single thread of life, and that was the most amazing, wonderful thing Katara could ever appreciate.

Together Toph and Katara expressed their happiness through delighted shouts of laughter and buoyant dances under the warm sun. Jauntily bouncing around together in merriment and shining glee, they celebrated the amazing moment of this precious new life.

I have absolutely no rights to Avatar; Last Airbender, but I do, however, own this story.

© Sophie LeBlanc

© Sophie LeBlanc 2010