A/N: Happy Kataang week! ^_^ As usual, I procrastinated a bit and whipped this up in a bit, so I hope it's decent, given that I wrote this in an hour or so. Happy readings!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. ^^

Day I: Hands

XIV. Simplicity

There were few things that made Katara stop in her tracks and drop what she was doing. Naturally, if one had seen the waterbender enter her house and had heard the clang of the wooden basket filled with clothes as it hit the ground and Katara's sudden lack of movement, they'd have assumed something had gone wrong. Indeed, there were a good many things that could've gone wrong that day, not the least of which was baking bread and nearly setting the house on fire in a cooking accident. But, for once, what caused her to stop and literally drop what she was doing wasn't something awful. For once, it was something so heartbreakingly beautiful, Katara thought she really might cry, though that may have been because the hormones from her second pregnancy were influencing her emotions.

The waterbender had left the house to wash and dry the clothes while Aang kept an eye on little Kya, who kept running about the house. Normally, laundry didn't take long but Katara had washed a rather large amount of clothes and it had taken her a while to wring them all out and hang them up in one of the courtyards in main house. Waiting for them to dry and folding them had taken even longer and it was well past midday when she was done. By the time she'd come back, Aang lay sprawled on the couch with little Kya on top of him. Both were napping and Kya was clutching a stuffed doll Katara had made for her in one hand and sucking her thumb as she slept. Her dark hair fanned out behind her and Aang had one arm looped protectively around her. Katara wished she had one of those new-fangled contraptions (a camera, was it?) that captured images and could be persevered forever because an endearing scene like this was worth preserving. She stared at her husband and daughter a minute longer, smiling to herself, before she stooped down and picked up the basket of clothes and set them in her room. Aang had given Kya her afternoon meal and she always slept afterwards, so Katara gently extracted her daughter from her husband's arms and carried her to her room. Kya stirred slightly and her eyebrows scrunched together, her tiny hands balling into fists, but Katara brushed her hair aside and gently kissed her forehead, before setting her down in her bassinet. The little toddler relaxed and Katara breathed a sigh of relief, before heading out.

She found Aang sitting on the settee, with his head back and eyes closed, when she returned to the sitting room. He looked tired and worn, but there was a smile on his face that made Katara feel like the luckiest woman alive for being the cause of it. Another man might have complained about playing silly games with his daughter after almost four days of nonstop work and little to no sleep, but Aang bore it all rather cheerfully. He'd been the one to ask Katara not to take Kya with her as she did the laundry because he'd hardly spent any time with her over the past few days and he was determined to play with her to make Katara's job easier. That alone had made Katara feel better, but seeing Aang sitting there, smiling like that because of his daughter- their daughter- made Katara feel incredibly blessed.

The airbender smiled even brighter, if possible, when he saw Katara. His gray eyes were twinkling and his smile so impossibly wide, Katara couldn't help laughing.

"Had a nice nap?" She asked, laughing.

"The best," he admitted, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her down so she was seated next to him. "You should try it sometime. Too much work can't be good for you."

"And if I don't do the work, who will?" Katara demanded, allowing herself a few minutes to curl up beside Aang. The temptation to stay there and forget about her work was too great and Katara almost decided against leaving Aang's side, but at the last minute, she sighed and made a move to go. The evening chores weren't going to do themselves, she reasoned. But, before she could make it very far, the airbender pulled her back again.

"I know you love doing the chores so much," he teased. "But you really should relax."

"You're making it awfully hard for me not to relax," Katara chuckled, curling up beside him and resting her head on his shoulder.

He grinned. "Just doing my job."

Katara rolled her eyes but she was laughing.

"Aren't you tired, Aang?" She wondered, curling up beside him once again. The airbender wrapped an arm around her and his hand rested over hers on her protruding stomach.

"You mean from all the work?" He wondered. Katara nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am."

"You guess?" Katara repeated.

The Avatar shrugged. "I mean, I should be and until I step into the house, I am. But then, whenever I see you and Kya, I kind of forget about how tired I am because I'm too busy marveling how lucky I am to have two such wonderful girls in my life and thinking about how I hardly get to spend time with you, these days."

"Well, your work with the United Republic is probably more important."

"Not the way I see it," Aang laughed. "But honestly, being tired is a small price to pay for spending time with your daughter and wife. I can catch up on sleep later."

"A normal man would just catch up on sleep instead of making himself all the more tired by playing with his daughter and looking after his wife."

"Are you telling me I'm not normal?" Aang demanded, feigning indignation. "I'm hurt."

Katara just threw a pillow at him and rolled her eyes. "You are such an airhead," she laughed.

"Better than being a waterhead," he replied.

"Aang…"

"Yeah, that was so lame," he admitted, shaking his head and laughing.

"You've been spending too much time with Sokka," Katara said. "He's starting to rub off on you."

"Speaking of Sokka, he's coming over for dinner."

"And you're only telling me this now?" Katara cried. "I should be cooking."

"You should be resting," Aang corrected. "Honestly, Katara, do you even sit still for five minutes?"

"I try to, but there's so much to do."

" Well, then, I forbid you from getting up from this seat for an hour," Aang replied, smiling.

"You're joking right?"

"No."

"But, if I don't cook something before Sokka comes…"

"There's plenty of food and it isn't as if Sokka's going to eat everything we have," He pointed out.

"Yeah, but…"

"Just take a nap or something," the airbender said, closing his eyes. "An hour will go by before you know it."

Katara smiled and tried to do as she was told, but couldn't manage more than three minutes of attempting to nap. So instead, she let her mind wander as she absently traced the tattoos on Aang's hand. Her eyes took in the state of the sitting room and she made a mental note to take care of Kya's toys that were strewn about the floor. She wondered how her daughter had even collected so many toys, but then realized, a good majority of them had come from Aang and a good deal from Hakoda. Between the two of them and her uncle, Kya was sure to be spoiled rotten by the time she grew up. As it was, all three had little resistance to her and doted on her; Katara couldn't imagine what it'd be like when Kya was old enough to speak properly and demand things.

The waterbender was drawn away from her musings by a strong kick from the unborn baby within her. She and Aang often joked their unborn child was an earthbender because he (Katara was convinced it was a boy) had a strong kick and because Toph had once joked about him having the makings of an earthbender. The waterbender smiled to herself and beside her, Aang laughed.

"Even the baby's telling you to take a nap," he said, without even opening his eyes.

"How did you know I wasn't sleeping?" Katara demanded.

"I know you," was his reply.

Katara just poked him, eliciting a laugh.

"I can't nap, unlike you," she said.

"Then you're just going to have to sit still for an hour, because I'm not letting go of you."

"I don't mind," was her reply, though whether it was in response to Aang's comment of sitting still or not letting go of her, he couldn't say.

Katara once again let her mind wander again and found herself focusing on Aang's hands over her own. It was an odd subject to ponder and a regular person mightn't have seen the waterbender's fascination with his hand. After all, what was so remarkable about a hand? But, to the waterbender, the hand had suddenly become a fascinating subject to ponder. She hadn't really thought about it, but hands were more than just useful organs, vital to survival. They had the ability to cause great happiness, pain, and even great damage where bending was concerned. To Katara, it was amazing the power they wielded and yet how gentle they could be. She'd seen firsthand what Aang could do with his bending; even without the Avatar state, he was capable of great destruction. But, more often than not, those very same hands that bent the elements to his will were holding Kya's as she splashed in a shallow pool or held open to feed some small critters or gently wiping away tears whenever Katara or Kya cried. She'd heard about men and women who'd argue and hit their spouses in rage, but Aang's hands were never raised, especially not towards her or Kya. Even when they had their arguments, he'd never used them against her.

Katara recalled one particularly nasty fight the two of them had gotten into, when Kya was but a few months old. She couldn't remember the details of it, but it had left them feeling both hurt and Aang had flown away on Appa for some time, to think. Katara remembered watching him leave and asking him if he'd return and when, and the airbender had simply shrugged and replied that he honestly didn't know. But, he'd said, they both needed time to think things out clearly and he'd had gone off, leaving Katara all alone. She'd sat in a daze for nearly two hours, before she realized Aang had gone and then the torrent of tears came and she felt like she'd never wept more in her entire life. That was how the airbender had found her that evening, when he'd returned a few hours later. Instead of avoiding her, as a normal person who'd been in an argument might, he'd pulled her into his arms and wiped away her tears and apologized profusely for anything and everything he did and when she'd admitted she thought he'd been contemplating leaving for good, he had laughed softly, taken her hands in his and promised her he wouldn't unless she wanted him to.

Those same fingers that brushed away her tears so gently when she cried were often doing similar acts, Katara realized. Aang enjoyed combing Kya's hair and every morning, before he rushed off to work, Kya would grab her brush and scurry over to him as fast as her little legs would allow, hoist herself up onto his lap, and wait patiently while he worked through the knots in her hair and braided it. The waterbender smiled just thinking about it. She'd been partially responsible for getting Aang into this mess, even if he enjoyed it. She'd washed her hair one day and left it loose to dry and Aang had airbent it dry for her to save her time. Of course, it had become frizzy and knotted afterwards and she'd offhandedly made some comment about how long it would take her to brush it and the airbender had taken it upon himself to do it for her. So they'd sat while Aang gently ran his fingers through her hair and untangled the knots and plaited it for her. Kya had watched them and as soon as her father was done, she clambered up to sit on his lap and practically shoved her hair in his face and demanded he braid it. And when he'd finished, she'd smiled so impossibly wide and with such delight, her parents laughed and couldn't resist tickling her with the end of her braid. After that, Kya had developed an endearing habit of chasing her father (and her uncle and grandfather, when they visited) and trying to tickle them with the end of her braid. And, when her grandfather and her uncle were around, she often tried braiding their hair, much to Sokka's chagrin.

"It's a warrior's wolf tail," he'd complained as Kya tugged at it. "It's not meant to be braided."

Katara laughed at the memory. Kya had developed a fascination with braiding hair after she'd seen Aang do it and every so often, Katara would let her daughter braid her hair. Aang helped and together the two of them would plait Katara's hair and tie it and then they'd chase her around the house, trying to catch her to tug at it or tickle her with it.

"What's so funny?" Aang wondered, drawing her out of her reverie.

Katara shifted slightly and blushed. She wasn't quite sure how to explain herself.

"Nothing," she said, smiling. "Just thinking."

Aang smiled softly as Katara closed her eyes and rested her head on shoulder. He knew he should really attempt going over some proposals regarding the new United Republic, but with Katara next to him and his current sleep-deprived state, he didn't really feel like working. Wrapping his arms around the waterbender, he fell into a light sleep once more. Katara sighed in content and scooted closer to him. She opened her eyes to see Aang smiling and chuckled.

"Why are you smiling?" She asked.

"Because I'm happy and content," Aang said simply, lacing his fingers with hers.

Katara leaned up to kiss him and grinned. "That makes two of us," she said, as closed her eyes again. It always amazed how such a simple gesture as Aang wrapping his arms around her or lacing his fingers with her made her feel safe and protected. Until she'd met Aang, only her parents had ever made her feel that way. She thought of all the hunting trips she'd gone on with Hakoda and how he'd held her hand and Sokka's as they trekked deeper into uncharted territory or how sometimes her mother had taken her to the wharves to buy fish and they'd held on to each other as they wove through the crowds of merchants, fishermen, and villagers, back before the raids had started. When she'd been little, holding her parents' hands had always provided a sense of security and she thought nothing could ever compare to that until she and Aang started dating. After that, she realized he elicited the same feeling when he held her and she fell more in love with him, if such a thing were possible.

If Aang were to hear this, Katara mused, he'd think I'm crazy. She wanted to explain to him how she felt, but she couldn't quite figure out how to express it. It seemed strange to think that something as simple as hands could elicit such a variety of emotions, that those same hands that controlled all four elements could also be so used to make her laugh when he tickled her or make her feel safe when he intertwined their hands together or soothe her by running his fingers through her hair. The same hands that could be used to subdue and destroy if necessary were used to wipe away her tears and, occasionally, work through the knots in her hair, and frame her face when he kissed her. Katara didn't know how to express any of this, so she didn't. Instead, she buried her face in his shoulder and attempted to take a nap. The last thing she thought of before she dozed off was how incredibly lucky she was to have such a wonderful husband and daughter. And as sleep finally overtook her, she realized she'd never need more than this.

Thanks for reading and, as always, thanks for the reviews! You're all wonderful! ^-^

~ Cassie