Repeated Nights
Ch. 9
"Why? Because your marriage is the most important representation to this council." Kupado continued. "You are the Avatar, and Katara is a war prodigy. You both are so highly honored in this council, and you two represent so much to the world. The entire world knows of you two and what you did for them. You two stopped an endless war, and then afterwards bonded yourselves to each other in matrimony. The world thinks highly of you, as do we."
Aang didn't understand, "Then why must the punishment be harsh?"
Another council member spoke out, "You swore under your marriage that you would follow the water tribe traditions and respect our laws and order."
And then another one, "And since we think of your marriage so highly, the punishment must be high as well. It is for the benefit of your marriage."
Katara scrunched her eyebrows, "But that's unjust and unfair. How does that benefit us?"
Kupado bellowed to her, "We must restrict your marriage to laws and present higher punishment to keep the face of your marriage as it is. Since you are highly looked upon by the world, the world needs to see your marriage as it is. Happy and hopeful. By breaking that law you have endangered it!"
"How so?" Aang asked.
"Avatar, do you know the purpose of the abstinence law?" Kupado questioned him like he was some lower being.
"It was created to avoid impatience between the husband and wife." Aang answered.
"Correct, but its more heavily weighed than that. The abstinence law creates an era of patience. And this patience sets patience for the marriage. It allows the husband and wife to have patience with each other and prevent arguing and discomfort. Its an obstacle in the marriage and makes it stronger. If it is failed then it must be punished. Your marriage to one of our own, Avatar, is the most important marriage in the entire water tribe! If your marriage with Katara is not strong, than you lose your public face and chaos is bond to erupt. People would question your judgment since your marriage is weak. There is a saying that 'a man in marriage reflects a man's decisions.' By breaking the abstinence law it makes your marriage weak, therefore it will cause problems with the public about your judgment as the Avatar."
Katara felt herself sinking deeper and deeper inside herself. She watched in horror as Aang's face grew redder and redder to Kupado's words.
"Are you accusing me of having a weak marriage to Katara? I love Katara more than you can fathom! I broke your law because Katara and I both felt like we were ready for the next step in our relationship." Aang snapped.
"Don't test us boy!" Kupado thundered. "How could a young man like you fathom love when you've only been married less than 4 weeks! How could you understand what love is when you are barely 16 years of age! How could a boy be ready for the adulthood of an intimate love! The patience of this law builds your readiness of that intimacy. Due to the fact that you're so young and that you are praised so highly is the reason we must punish you harshly for your wrong doing!"
"How can following my heart be of wrong doing?!" Aang yelled. Katara had to agree with Aang that this was going way too far to be judged based on their public appearance.
"Your heart is too premature to be set free. We always knew that we would have trouble with you. You were raised like a wild newborn, free of any rules and restrictions." Kupado added.
"Now are you accusing me of how I was raised?! I was raised by highly trained and masterful monks! How dare you accuse their methods and teachings! Those were my people!" Aang made fists, his anger was making cracks in the ice floor.
"Avatar if you are having difficulty trying to combine your customs with ours than maybe this marriage shall end here as it is!" Kupado replied.
Aang dropped his anger immediately. An expression of sadness overwhelmed him.
Kupado continued, "We understand that this marriage is difficult because you have to balance both your customs and ours, but this is also another reason why it has to be heavily restricted and watched. This foolishness must stop and be disciplined. If you want the world to respect as the Avatar, you must in turn respect the world's rules. Being the Avatar doesn't mean that you can follow whatever rule you choose. You are the law enforcer, not a ruler."
Aang dropped his gaze to the floor. He was defeated, Katara wished she could defend him. But what other points could she present that Aang hadn't already hit? What else could she say to make them win? Could they win?
Katara hugged Aang's arm, "Then what punishment are we being disciplined with?" She didn't look at them. Katara was determined to face this punishment, whatever it may be. Once it was done, then the council would be happy and they would have to worry about them anymore.
There was a moment of silence before Kupado spoke again. "In order for your marriage to continue you must endure this punishment that is suitable for this crime. You and Aang must be temporally separated."
Shocked crept up Katara and Aang's backs. 'Separated?!'
"You two must be separated in replace of the abstinence law. You two will be away from each other for 2 full months."
2 months?! Separated!!
"Master Katara, you will be stripped of your status during that time period. Your teaching lessons will be discontinued, and you have been stripped of the honor of performing in the First Snows Festival. Your status will be given back to you after 2 months."
Katara felt the blood drain out of her veins and into her heart. Her heart felt like it stopped and her body was working hard to give it life again. Her breath was drawn out of her lungs. Her limbs felt very weak.
"Avatar Aang you are banished from the Southern Water Tribe. You cannot return until the 2 month period has elapsed."
Now it felt like a 2 ton boulder was crushing Katara's frail body that was now bloodless and breathless. Her arms felt weak around Aang's arm. She tried to fight against the weakness and clutch on to Aang harder, but the more she tried the further it felt like he was away. Aang was drifting away from her grasp, it was filling Katara will deep hurt and emptiness.
"Fine." Katara heard Aang's voice. It sounded just as hurt and empty as she was. His arm wrapped around her waist. Katara wrapped her arms around his chest, she clutched on tight to him. She absorbed his warmth. She didn't want to leave this, she wanted Aang's heat beside her and hugging her. She wanted to see his face, which was always staring lovingly at her. She wanted to smell his familiar scent. And taste his kisses. But all this, all of him, was going to be dragged away from her.
"We have made preparations for your departure, Avatar. We request that you leave immediately." Kupado motioned to the great doors behind them. "Make your final good-byes."
"No." Katara moaned and grabbed handfuls of Aang's shirt. Tears streamed her face, her cheeks was red from anger and anxiety. "This is not right! How could you….No he can't leave!"
Aang wrapped Katara tighter in his arms, her face wept into his chest. He firmly hugged her sobbing figure. As much as he tried to hide it, tears streaked down his cheeks from his tightly shut eyes. He stroked the back of her head, not wanting to let go.
Aang knew deep in his mind that this was not fair and that he should be angry. But instead of anger he felt an overwhelming sadness. Anger was worse than sadness, but sadness was more painful to the heart. His heart pounded loudly in agony. He didn't want to leave his love behind. He didn't want to be apart from Katara for 2 months. She was the one who held his heart, and he held hers. No one could live without a heart.
The meeting doors were slowly being opened by the counsel guards. They were gesturing Aang to leave. Aang's arms wrapped tighter around Katara, he scowled at the guards.
"No…no…I won't let go…" Katara sobbed into Aang's neck. Her fingers dug deep into his robes, her knuckles were white from gripping him so hard. Her body trembled from her sobbing, her cries echoed through the meeting room.
"Katara….please….there's no need for anymore tears." Aang whispered in her ear.
"….I won't leave you….No…" Katara's voiced shook.
"I won't leave you, I'll be with you always. But please understand that we never did anything wrong. We did what our hearts told us to do." Aang stroked her hair.
"But now we're being separated because of it."
"We both knew there would be consequences. But this does not change the way I feel about you." Aang kissed her forehead.
Katara whimpered, words were failing her. She could not think of anything to argue with to keep Aang here. Nothing. No other option presented itself that would not further irritate the situation. If she escaped with Aang, that would bring more shame to her and she knew she would later regret it. She couldn't hide Aang with her, because her father would soon find him and report him. There were no other options, no more points to argue about. Aang's Avatar status was only making the situation worse, in fact it was because of his status that they were being punished so severely. His duty as the Avatar was now the cause of their suffering.
Katara shook her head. Aang pulled away a bit, missing reading her actions.
"This is not right….." Katara felt no end to her tears.
Aang stared at her for a long moment, his eyes were pondering. But it was a blank ponder meaning that he was trying to hide what he was thinking. Slowly he hugged her tight to him, his lips by her left ear.
"This will be set right, don't give up on me." Aang whispered faintly. He pulled away and wiped away her tears glistening on her cheeks, but only to be replaced with more tears. Aang tilted her head up and slowly caressed his lips against hers. It was such a motionless, sad kiss. Both of them could not find the energy to give each other more to that kiss.
Moving an inch per minute, Aang shrugged away from Katara at a sluggish pace. His eyes never left hers, their hands still desperately grasping each other. Aang slowly made his way to the open doorway.
Then they were holding each other no more, only eye contact was holding their will now. But now even that was beginning to diminish as Aang walked farther and farther away from her. The guards were now closing the doors. Katara's heart raced at an alarming rate as she saw Aang slowly disappearing behind those doors.
They closed with a loud click, the sound exploded in Katara's heart and made it stop suddenly. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't live at that moment. The air was drawn out of her lungs completely, it was like Aang took all the oxygen with him.
She felt helpless, she fought for breath but Aang was the air she breathed. And now he was taken from her, he was taken away because they were being punished for something that was foolish, unfair, and cruel. The reason for this punishment was to keep the face of their marriage to the public.
Since when did Katara ever care about what other people think, so what if they couldn't wait another month. Was it ever wrong? Why did this wrong thing feel so right? What was wrong with their marriage? Why would the public care about their marriage problems? Why do they need people to decide when they can or cannot be happy in their marriage? Katara's confusion was slowly turning into anger. Her helpless was only fueling her anger. Even though she knew that there was nothing more she could do, she still wanted to yell and scream for Aang to come back.
Katara turned to face the counsel with tears still dampening her cheeks. Her anger was now bubbling inside her, begging for a release. She was ready to pop into a hysterical fit of rage. But as she stared at the blank old faces, she found herself searching for someone. Someone who was not here, but was the one who told the counsel in the first place.
Her father.
Turning on a dime, Katara ran towards the meeting room's wall and blasted right through the 2 foot thick layer of ice. She took off running. Faster and faster she forced her legs, anger was demanding for more speed.
Of course it was her father!
He had seen them, and he immediately went to the counsel with that information. 'How could he! He didn't even let me explain! He didn't even question me! How could my own father betray my trust! Why didn't he talk to me first! Why wasn't he at the meeting? Was he too ashamed about taking the blame that he didn't dare show his face? That's not my dad, he wouldn't do this to me, not to his family! But how could he! WHY!!! WHY DAD!!!'
It was becoming harder to see through her tearing dry eyes. But eventually she made it to her house, panting and out of breath. She didn't give herself a moment's rest. Katara burst through the door, letting it slam against the wall. The thunderous bang rang throughout the house.
Sokka jumped up from his sitting spot next to Suki. Kana turned her head from the kitchen area. Hakoda was sitting at the head of the table, sipping tea, facing the open doorway. He looked the least startled from her rude entrance, like he was anticipating it.
"WHY DAD?!!" Katara stormed in and raced to the opposing side of the table. Facing her father, "Why did you tell them?! I wanted to talk to you first, I would have accepted the punishment easier. But you weren't there, you disappeared. You weren't there for me and now Aang is gone!! He can't come back and I can't see him!! He's gone and now…." Katara's knees came out from under her. She slammed her fists down on the table and the rest of her body gave out. Her upper body hung on the table, sobbing in her folded arms. She didn't have enough energy to yell anymore, her heart was too broken to search for the effort to continue fighting. What was the point now? Aang was gone, her honor was stripped, her heart was crushed, and now she felt beaten and helpless. And what was worse, her loving father had betrayed her.
