LES: Happy March!

Chapter IV: The In-Laws

One week had passed since Katara's arrival at the Eastern Air Temple, and it seemed that she had been busy ever since. Every moment that was not spent familiarizing herself with her future husband's affairs was spent with the nuns of the Temple, getting her ready for the wedding. And every moment that was not spent going over Aang's affairs or with the nuns were spent in Aang's company. And Aang had his own things to do. He spent an hour or two every night reading scrolls that were sent to him from all over the world. Most of them were congratulations on becoming a fully-realized Avatar, but a lot of them were also updates on the status of the world. After all, it had been twenty years since Avatar Roku died, so Aang needed a brief catching up period.

To Katara's delight, she found that it was very easy to spend time with her future husband after they got over their initial nervousness about meeting each other. Even though he was the Avatar, and that made him seem unapproachable, he welcomed her company. He was a gentle soul who had a great love for life. Perhaps he did not love her yet, but he respected her and he genuinely cared about her. He was shy in his advances with her, and seemed overly concerned about not wanting to push their relationship further than was appropriate for the state of their relationship. So even though they were going to be married within a few days, they behaved as if they were merely dating.

For Aang, those few days were a dream. After meeting her and being able to talk with her, he became much more comfortable in her presence. Of course, he was still nervous about the idea of marrying this woman, but as he spoke with her, the idea became more and more compelling.

When she had arrived, she had been somewhat reserved. Aang expected that had something to do with the expectations that the Water Tribe placed on their women, that they become submissive to their husbands. But once they started practicing their Waterbending together in order to keep up their skills, the reserved shell fell away to reveal a fiery and passionate young woman. Aang quickly grew to like this passionate version of Katara and resolved that he would make it clear to her that, just because he was her husband, he didn't expect her to suddenly become submissive to him.

Gyatso once told him that relationships worked as a balance, with each half of the whole supporting one another. That was the sort of relationship that Aang wanted with his wife, not to force her into domestic servitude. There's more to marriage than forcing the one you love to cook, clean, and lay with you. Aang thought to himself, blushing at the last thought.

That was another thing. After the initial slow start, Katara seemed to want to speed up their relationship to levels not yet appropriate. They had only known each other for a week and had been kissing each other for that long, and Katara had all ready tried to undress him at least once.

He had to stop what they were doing and ask her to wait. She had agreed, albeit with some reluctance.

It was mid-day and now was not the time for them to be together. Aang had spent the entire day in meetings about finalizing where all the guests for the wedding would be staying, and Katara had spent all morning at the apartment that would be theirs after their marriage, making sure that they had all the things they would need to begin their married life. Now she was in with the dress-makers, having another fitting of the gown she would wear at the wedding.

Personally, Aang had no idea why she needed to attend so many fittings. She had just had the wedding dress fitted yesterday. Surely there couldn't be that much change in her figure to warrant an alteration. When Aang had mentioned this to the Head Nun as she dragged Katara away, the woman only acknowledged him briskly. "Such fittings are necessary. There is no need for you to interfere with this, Avatar, this is woman's work." And thus was Aang left alone to read these mind-numbing scrolls.

Aang massaged his temple, and groaned as he realized he had read the entire scroll without taking in a trace of meaning. If only the inability to feel boredom was one of the skills that the Avatar had. Aang thought to himself.

As he resigned himself to reading the scroll all over again, someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." Aang said, pleased to have any sort of distraction from his current job.

One of the monks walked into the room and bowed. "Avatar Aang, Lady Katara's family has arrived. Would you like to go greet them?"

Aang paled. Suddenly, staying in this room to read boring scrolls sounded like the better option.

Aang knew that he was in trouble as soon as he approached the make-shift docks that he had created at the base of the mountains as soon as he heard the commotion.

Aang got closer and was able to make out what all the commotion was about. One of the Water Tribe men apparently did not want to waste time with pleasantries, and kept insisting in a loud voice that the Air Nomads take him to Katara.

"Will you stop bowing to me like that? I just want you to take me to Katara! Take me to my sister!" The man yelled at the Air Nomads, who shrugged off his yells with good grace.

Aang grew more nervous. This had to be Katara's older brother, Sokka, who he had all ready been warned about. It seemed that he had just approached his first test as a new husband.

Aang stepped forward, and the other Air Nomads instantly backed off, respecting his right to deal with his future brother-in-law. Sokka noticed the other Air Nomad's reaction to this newcomer and he gazed at Aang for a moment before he realized who he must be. "You must be the Avatar."

"I am. My name is Aang. If you want to see your sister, I'm afraid you'll have to wait. She is currently with the Head Nun of the Temple being fitted for her wedding dress. I, however, will be more than happy to escort you to your quarters."

Another Water Tribe man stepped forward, one who obviously held greater authority. Aang could only assume that this was Katara's father, Chief Hakoda. "So you are the young Avatar?" Aang nodded. "You seem a pleasant enough young man. I hope that you'll be able to keep my daughter happy and healthy."

"I swear to do that and more, Chief Hakoda." Aang vowed.

By Hakoda's side was a woman that Aang instantly knew had to be Katara's mother. The mother-daughter resemblance was so striking that it shocked Aang for a few moments. And behind Kya stood Katara's grandmother. She stared at Aang with wise, critical eyes, but did not say anything.

Aang bowed to them. "Follow me." And then began to lead the way up to the Eastern Air Temple to show them where they would be staying.

As they began to walk, Aang heard Kya whisper to her husband. "He is handsome, isn't he?" Sokka scoffed.

Aang could not stop a grin from forming on his face.

Katara stared in shock at her reflection in the mirror. Because she was marrying into the Air Nomad culture, she was dressed as a perfect Air Nomad bride. And, yet, despite the differences in their skin tone and features, the dress really complimented her.

The base of the dress was a long, floor-length gown with several lacy layers. Instead of the blues that the Water Tribe preferred to dress their brides in, the dress was a fiery red-orange. Next was a matching shawl that draped over her right shoulder and down across her front to her opposite waist. Golden jewelry hung from her wrists, neck, ears, and a golden diadem rested on her head. The nuns were currently adjusting the length on the final piece: a veil that would drape on her head and down her back. It, too, was fiery red-orange. The overall effect was that she was on fire. It looked glorious, and Katara could hardly believe that was her image in the mirror.

Suddenly, one of the nuns stepped into the room. "Lady Katara, forgive me, but a young man claiming to be your brother is waiting outside. Shall I let him in?"

"There's no rule that says my brother can't see me in my dress before the wedding, is there? Let him in." Katara said.

The nun bowed and stepped outside to get her brother. Sokka stepped into the room, staring at Katara in shock. "You look…"

"Who would have suspected that it would be easier to keep my future husband away from my dressing room than my brother?" Katara asked playfully. She stepped down from the platform that the nuns had her stand on and embraced her brother.

"Wow, Katara, that looks really beautiful on you." Sokka said. "But why is it red? Isn't red more of a Fire Nation color?"

"The nuns say that red represents love, passion, and lust." Katara said, blushing at the last sentiment.

"Well… these Air Nomads aren't very shy about what goes on during the wedding night, are they?" Sokka said.

"Well… the Air Nomads aren't… but it seems Aang is."

"Aang?" Sokka asked. "So he's not 'Avatar Aang' anymore. That's good, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Katara said. "He's a good person, Sokka."

"Well, that's good I suppose." Sokka said. "But the important question is do you think that you can spend the rest of your life with him? Do you love him?"

Katara paused thoughtfully. "I really think I'm on my way to loving him."

LES: If you want to see a picture of the wedding dress and Aang's clothes (minus the turban), it can be found here:

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