Comfort \kəm(p)-fərt\
1 : Strengthening aid : consolation in times of trouble or worry
2 : A feeling of relief of encouragement : contented well-being
3 : A satisfying or enjoyable experience
4 : One that gives or brings comfort
The nightmares were back…
They had started so long ago, that when she tried to remember a time they hadn't plagued her sleep, she honestly couldn't remember when exactly they had started. She'd been so young… And so naïve to the world's cruelties…
Her mother's face had faded with time, so that when she closed her eyes and tried to picture it, it was blurred and out of focus. However, her eyes had remained clear and blue. When she was younger, those eyes were her comfort during the times she was sad or grieving her lost family.
Years that passed had seen the rise and fall of a greedy nation, and the following pristine peace that they had struggled to keep… Summer faded to fall, fall cooled to winter, winter warmed to spring, and spring brought the rain that washed away the soot and ash. And through the years her mother's eyes had grayed and changed shape.
Not a fading or dying gray… More like the graying of the clouds right before a storm erupts, or the charcoal gray that dusts the sky afterwards. But oddly enough, despite their variations, she still found comfort in their cooler hues of silvery ash.
However, on this particular night, the moon high in the sky casting its dusty pale light on the empty Fire Nation streets below, she has awoken to the sound of her own groaning… the image of her mother's burning face and the sounds of her screaming fresh on her mind…
Katara breathes in her own hysteria, frantic eyes searching the dim room as she tries to calm the bursting sensation occupying her chest. As her eyes adjust to the darkness and the room sharpens, she sighs in relief as she recognizes her surroundings... the warm colors of crimson and cherry, the scent of cedar and cinnamon that always greet an arrival to the Fire Nation, and the sound of slow steady breathing at her side…
The wind breezes through the open balcony, and the sound of billowing fabric lulls her towards it. With only the hush of sheets and sigh of her footsteps, she makes her way out onto the balcony without waking her sleeping husband.
Here, she closes her eyes, as she has done a million times before, searching for those pair of eyes and the comfort they always bring. And just as reliable as the air she's breathing, there they are… Silver and gray almonds with the slightest hues of oceanic blue under thick black lashes… And instantly, every fiber of her being relaxes and she breathes a breath of assurance.
With her eyes still closed, she feels the tears collecting… It's been ten years… Ten years to the day since the Fire Nation took her mother. And here she is… standing in the very city whose oppressor was ultimately responsible for ending her life.
Her fear or hatred for the element hadn't faded much with time. Nightmares as these only made forgiveness more and more difficult. Despite her resentment, they had accepted their invitation to the wedding of the young Fire Lord and his rather standoffish fiancé. It was Aang's comforting words of reassurance and her trusting nature in those words that had even made her consider going.
She sighs, fighting unshed tears and biting her lip as the images of her dream, her nightmare, flood her mind once more. And, just as if he had heard her thinking his name, arrow-tattooed arms wrap around her midsection softly and pull her back into him…
"Hey," his voice is soft and soothing in her ear, and though he only whispers the one word, she instantly feels at ease in his arms.
"Hey," she answers back, hastily wiping at unshed tears and soothing them onto her nightgown. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
"Don't be silly, I was already awake."
He's lying, and she knows him well enough to hear it, but she is too emotionally tired to argue. She spends the silence that follows trying to keep silent sobs from rocketing out of her chest.
But he feels her shaking in his arms, and he turns her into him, lifting her face to his to wipe at her damp cheeks. Her eyes are closed and her face is twisted in pain and hurt. "The nightmares are back, aren't they?" he asks softly.
The lump has already gathered in her throat making it difficult to say anything without choking. She fights the tears, nodding her head silently as he plants his lips to her forehead affectionately.
She's trying… trying so hard to find her mother's gaze. Her feeble attempts of stoicism are being broken, and tears are falling now without her permission. Where are those eyes of comfort? She can't remember a time that she's ever been eluded by their presence when she needs them.
"Anything I can do?" he asks suddenly, peering down at her with earnest eyes.
She's screaming inside, tormented by her fear and agony. She opens her eyes to answer as tears slip past her lashes and fall onto chapped cheeks. And he's looking down at her, pleading for her guidance. What can he do to help her?!
A tug at her heart lifts her gaze to his, and she gasps silently at what she sees… The moon's light is in his eyes, the silvery hues of gray and blue… It's in his eyes all these years that she has found her comfort. And it's in his eyes at this very moment when she has needed them the most that she finds comfort again.
She smiles meekly, every unshed tear drying as she stares into those eyes of comfort, "You already did," she answers.
