4~
Katara hastily finished the letter to Sokka, telling him all about the Airbenders, and sent it off. She wasn't sure what to do, but she was full of energy and excitement and felt that she should do something, so she went back downstairs where a lot of the new Airbenders were still drifting around. Many of them were staring around with plain awe and whispering to each other. This was, she realized, as big a deal for them as it was for Aang: all but four of them had lived their whole lives in hiding, thinking they would never be able to come out. Now all at once they learned there was another Airbending survivor, he was the Avatar, the War was over, and the world was welcoming them with open arms. Katara could imagine how topsy-turvy everything must seem. Finding Aang had been a big enough shock for her and Sokka, and after that they had worked for almost a year to end the War, so that hadn't been so much a surprise as a relief.
Acolytes moved through the crowd, every so often ushering small groups of Airbenders out of the main room. Perhaps they were showing them to bedrooms so they could begin to get settled?
As she stood watching and wondering how to help, a young Airbender sidled up to Katara. From her peripheral vision she thought it was a boy because of the shaved head, but when they introduced themselves she heard a sweet, quiet female voice. Unfortunately she was so busy processing this that she immediately forgot the girl's name.
"This all must be pretty strange for you," Katara suggested, unsure of what else to say.
The girl smiled. "Very strange, yes. I have never even been inside a real building before. When I was very young, Grandmother Malu took some of us to see the old Temple. We could hardly understand that people had used to live there. Our people, no less."
"Grandmother Malu?" Katara repeated curiously. "I didn't know Airbenders used family titles like that."
The girl smiled again. She had a very nice smile, but Katara still thought it was strange that the girl should shave her head completely. "Generally we don't. We wouldn't if the annihilation hadn't happened. Familial relationships tend to go against our philosophy of dissociation. But since so few Airbenders survived to have children, keeping track of family lines is actually pretty important. Most of us are cousins one way or another. Malu is my mother's mother's mother."
"Huh." She was a little embarrassed to realize she was surprised that Airbenders could be so practical. Aang had never had such an inclination. "It sure will be different with so many people living on the Island. For so long it's just been Aang and me and the Acolytes. The household is suddenly ten times bigger!"
"That's a big change all at once," the girl suggested, furrowing her blue-arrowed brow. "Are you going to adjust okay?"
"Sure," Katara said, smiling at the antics of an Airbending toddler across the room. "I've adapted to a lot. This'll be fine." It would be fine. In fact, if she had anything to say about it, it would be great.
A/N
Someone was worried that the air bison seemed to take off by themselves a couple chapters ago, so just to clarify: I figure they'd be allowed to fly around on their own, just for fun or for the joy of flying in freedom. For an analogy, horses are allowed to run in pasture without riders. Same sort of thing, I was thinking.
All characters are owned by Bryke, Nick, and Viacom.
E.I. signing out