whimsical (adj)- to be playful/ unpredictable, especially in an appealing or amusing way
Katara watched from the front porch as her children played in the sand. Aang told her Republic City was too unsafe with the whole Yakone business, so she decided to take the children away to their home on Ember Island.
She put her hand on her belly, privately enjoying her third pregnancy. This baby was so much less rambunctious than her other two. It worried her at first, but every time she sensed the baby's chi inside her, she knew she was carrying another powerful bender, just like Kya.
And who knows? Maybe this pregnancy would finally bring Aang the airbender he'd always wanted.
"No bending, that's not fair!" yelled Bumi from the sand.
Sure enough, every projectile shell Bumi threw over his sand-fortress was shattered in the air as Kya drew from the ocean beside her.
"Nya nya!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him.
A long shadow suddenly blocked the sun and the children looked up simultaneously. "Reinforcements have arrived!" cried Bumi.
Katara followed their gaze and smiled broadly. Fire Lord Zuko was riding on his dragon, Druk, to see them.
Whenever Katara and Aang came to their vacation home, Zuko made a point to visit. With instructing Onji on the ways of the courts and leading the nation, it seemed he never had time to go to Republic City anymore. The sad truth was, as the years passed, they saw each other less and less.
"Fire Lord," said Bumi, after Zuko had dismounted from his dragon. "Help me take out those Water Tribe savages!"
"Oh, no!" said Zuko as he dived behind the fort with the little commander. "Are they really as savage as all the stories claim?"
Katara rolled her eyes. The children in Republic City had started this insane game of "Soldiers and Savages"- a game Katara firmly believed was based on the city's prejudice against Water Tribe immigrants flowing into the city. For years, she'd been repulsed by it, imploring the schools to do something about it. Then Kya started attending school and Katara had never seen her more happy than when the other students playfully called her the waterbending warrior. Kya was too young to understand the racist undertones, but so were the other children, Katara supposed. For the time, Kya was included in their play, and that was what mattered.
She watched now as Zuko sent tiny fire bombs, no bigger than sparkles really, at Kya's fort. She was proving just as adept at extinguishing them with her bending as she was at Bumi's clumps of sand.
"We'll never stop her, she's too powerful," said Zuko, hunkering down. "We need a diversion. Cover me!"
Bumi and Kya both laughed as Zuko leapt into the water. Katara wondered what his plan was. Then, both children squealed in delight as Zuko used his bending to boil the water into a thick steam. Kya simply parted it, revealing Zuko standing in no-man's land, sopping wet.
"Retreat!" Bumi yelled and Zuko made a wild show of running around like an arctic hen with its head cut off. Kya sent another jet of water at Zuko's feet and knocked him on his butt.
"Do you surrender, sir?" Kya asked.
"Yes, please spare me, great warrior chieftess!"
"Warrior Chief!" Kya corrected. "Girls can be chiefs just like boys can!"
"Oh of course, how silly of me," said Zuko, standing up.
After a proper scolding for his sexism (but not his attack on her fort), Zuko climbed the steps and collapsed in the chair next to Katara.
"I can't believe you lost that battle," said Katara.
Zuko shrugged. "The Fire Nation is no match for such a worthy opponent."
He and Katara looked at each other, the sound of the waves and the gulls adding to the serenity of the moment.
"How's the little one?" asked Zuko.
"He's doing fine," said Katara. "He's quiet. I appreciate it, given everything that's going on."
Zuko nodded. "He'll have a lot of work catching up with those two," he nodded at Kya and Bumi, who were now working together to create an even bigger fort.
"How is the situation in Republic City?" asked Zuko.
"Aang wrote yesterday," said Katara. "He and Toph arrested Yakone and sent an appeal to the last judge to take him before the City Council. Sokka has been preparing testimony on the nature of bending abilities. I sent him all the research I could find. I think we can bring his crime network down if the council sees reason."
Zuko nodded. "I'm thankful for that. Onji is coming along great. She'll make a fine Fire Lord. We've done a lot to make the world for our children."
Katara rubbed her belly again. "I hope you're right." Then she gasped. "He just kicked! Feel!"
Zuko reached across and put his hand on her belly. Katara felt the warmth of his hand and of his smile. "I feel it," he said.
Katara couldn't help but smile.
For years later, as her children grew into adults, as her family tore itself apart, Katara would remember that moment on the beach with her children and one of her closest friends. It would stand out in her memory as the last truly happy moment before it all fell apart around her.
Even at the time, she realized its magnitude. After a lifetime of conflict, it finally seemed as if all was right with the world.
Little did she know that that very night, her husband shared a kiss with another woman.