Kya groaned as pain blotted out the world. Hakoda brushed a clump of sweat-drenched hair off her forehead with a shaking hand. "You can do this, my love."
The golden sparks that swam through his blue, blue eyes should have soothed her. They usually did, but right now they fed the irrational anger that filled her as the pain eased. "You do it and then tell me that" she growled at her husband. "I hope you're happy with two because I am never doing this again!"
She rocked back and forth on her hands and knees, trying to find some position that didn't make her feel as though her body were being wrenched apart.
Kanna's voice came from behind her. "Don't push yet. Breathe."
Kya moaned as the pressure and urge to push mounted again. She tried to keep the tone low even though her throat tightened and she felt a scream building in her chest. The worst pain yet gripped her, pressure and burning and cramping and a vise of nausea.
As the wave ebbed, Kanna breathed a sigh of relief. "Kya, you're ready. Next time, push."
It was such a relief when the pain came again, to follow its direction. Kya pushed. And her baby came into the world so smoothly it felt like a dream.
Kanna hadn't expected this last stage to go so fast. She had hoped for Hakoda to catch his new baby as he had done for Sokka, for a father's hands to be the first ones to touch this child. But the baby came so quickly that hers were the hands that reached for them. She looked down into wide-open eyes, serious and knowing. "An old soul" she whispered.
Kya collapsed to her side, gasping for breath. Hakoda caught her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and kissing her temple. "Nice work, love. What a warrior you are!"
Kya smiled wearily and looked toward her husband's mother, worried that she hadn't heard the baby cry. Her heart thundered in her ears with sudden fear.
Kanna's smile was like the sun reappearing after a long dark winter. "You have a daughter. She's perfect." Kanna gently placed the baby on Kya and covered them both with a warm blanket woven from cloud-soft quiviut fibers. "Hold her there and keep her warm. The afterbirth should come soon, but that will be the work of a few moments. You three get to know each other a bit. I'm going to get some tea for us."
All Kya's irritation disappeared, replaced with boundless joy and wonder. Blinking tears from her eyes, she smoothed a palm across her daughter's damp hair. Her daughter! She still hadn't cried, but she was fine. Better than fine—magnificent! She stared into her mother's eyes with a surprising focus.
Hakoda started to pull the blanket down so he could examine the baby completely, hardly believing such a quiet baby could truly be whole and hale. Also, he was curious. Just because Sokka didn't have one didn't mean...
Kya stopped his hand. She smiled at him. "We can wait to see. Let's appreciate her for the miracle she is all on her own before we look for a soulmark."
Hakoda chuckled. "You can't blame me for trying." He diverted his hand to trace the delicate curves of the baby's ear with a fingertip. "She's so beautiful."
Kya nodded, sniffling. "She's Katara." She thought of her older sister Katara, killed in a Fire Nation raid these 20 years gone. Katara had been so valiant and had hidden Kya in a large chest, warning her to stay silent before standing in defense of their home, though she was only 12 years old. Kya shook off the wrenching memory and instead pictured her beloved sister's warm smile. Tears slid down her cheeks as she stared into her daughter's deep blue eyes. "Welcome, Katara."
Her husband's eyes were a bit misty, too. He cleared his throat. "Welcome, Katara."
The trio continued exchanging soft glances and even softer touches until Kanna returned with tea. In oddly perfect timing, Kya felt the dull pain of the contractions begin again. Thankfully, this pain was a faint shadow of what she'd felt earlier. Kanna, ever observant, noted Kya's grimace. She lifted the edge of the blanket and efficiently examined her.
"She's ready to deliver the afterbirth. And the cord has stopped pulsing. Come, Hakoda, make yourself useful and cut the cord after I get this string tied around it."
Once the cord was cut Kanna wrapped Katara up and sent Hakoda away to show her off to her older brother. Sokka had wandered into the main room while Kanna prepared tea over the qulliq. She'd wrapped him in furs, ruffled his hair, and told him to wait there while she brought the tea to his parents.
When Hakoda came back in with both children, Kya and Kanna had finished their work. Kya had moved from the hastily constructed pallet and was lying in the bed, cleaned and clothed. Katara whimpered softly and Kya reached for her.
"Sorry I took so long. Kiri had wandered over from next door and I brought her back home and showed off our little Katara a bit." Hakoda explained, kneeling next to his wife. He motioned for Sokka to come closer.
Hakoda settled his daughter against Kya's chest. Kya opened the top of her garment and brought the baby to her breast. Over her daughter's contented grunts, Kya smiled at her son. Spirits, why did he look twice as large as he had when she'd tucked him into bed? Her wide eyes darted to her husband.
Hakoda chuckled. "Are you wondering why Sokka looks so huge?"
Kanna joined his laughter and answered "Older children always look so much bigger to their parents right after a new baby is born. Now come on, stop with your delaying, Kya, let Hakoda see if the child has a soulmark."
Rolling her eyes, Kya peeled the blanket down to expose Katara's back. Hakoda and Kanna gasped and the joyous atmosphere stilled, growing suddenly colder. Kya couldn't see anything of the baby's back from her position and didn't understand.
"What? What is it? Tell me it's not the fire symbol!" Kya spit the name of the hated element as though she could taste on it all the pain it had wrought in her life.
Kanna's gaze was infinitely sad. "No, it's worse. Air."
As his wife sobbed, Hakoda pulled his son close. "Ah, Sokka. Better to be free like you than tethered to a soul that was never allowed to be born. You have to look out for your sister. Guard her well, be her champion. Fate has doomed her to always long for something she will never have."
Kya gathered her composure and hissed "No. Do not put the burden of protecting his sister on him. That is too heavy a task for a child. If protection is needed, I will provide it. I will protect both of them to my last breath." She leveled a fierce glare at her soulmate and his mother. "My daughter has no soulmark. Do you understand? No one is to know of this."
She kissed Katara's downy head. "Least of all her."
Katara loved her mother's stories about brave and resourceful warriors who defended their village from all attackers. And she loved her father's tales of bold explorers who set out from the North Pole to find out what lay on the other side of the earth, loved the freedom they found there, and decided to stay. She and Sokka both adored Gran-gran's tales of the Avatar. But the stories Katara loved most were the ones their cousin Kiri told about lovers, soulmates, who found their way to each other against all odds.
Katara braced her elbows on her knees and stared at Kiri, listening intently as the story began.
"Many, many years ago the cleverest girl in the Southern Tribe was named Ummi. Her mother died bringing her into the world, so it was just Ummi and her father. He was a great healer and was in such demand that people came from all over the South to be made well. And Ummi was learning the art and proving herself equally talented, though-"
Sokka interrupted. "What was her father's name?"
Katara gasped, then covered the shocked O of her mouth with her hand. You didn't just cut into a storyteller's narrative. What was he thinking?
Her brother looked over to her. "Come on, we know Ummi's going to have soulmate, just like Kiri does, and they're going to find each other and fall in love. Who cares? I don't know why you like these stories."
Kiri glared at Sokka. Her eyes were the same hazy blue as his. That would only change if Toklo, her betrothed, came into her home. Then both teens' eyes would coruscate with flecks of gold. Katara had witnessed it with her parents her entire life, but still found it mesmerizing.
"As I was saying, Ummi was happy that so many people came to see them. She had a Water Tribe soulmark, but she had never found her soulmate. She always hoped that someone new would come to be healed and she would touch their brow to get a sense of their problem or their fingers would brush and her whole life would change."
Sokka scoffed "What did I tell you? It's another soulmate story. Oogies."
Katara glanced worriedly between Kiri and Sokka. Why couldn't he try to get along? Kiri would make him wash and chop sea prunes for dinner again if he didn't behave better. They only had another day with Kiri until their parents were expected back from the trading trip they'd made with Gran-gran. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut to make the rest of the time fun and easy. But that was something he couldn't seem to do.
"Sokka! Since you don't care for my story, would you like to go outside and gather more berries. No? Then how about you stay quiet and listen." She waited until Sokka reluctantly nodded to continue.
"But Ummi hoped in vain. No one ever came who brought the sparks into her eyes. So she decided to travel to every village and town and find her other half. Her father worried about her too much to let her go on her own; she was all the family he had in the world. So they traveled together."
Here Kiri paused and took Katara's small hands into hers "Even for people with a soulmate, family is the most important thing. Remember that, little bird, you have a family that loves you so dearly. You may not have a soulmate, but you have Aunt Kya and Uncle Hakoda and Sokka, and Gran-gran, and my mom and dad. And me. And you'll never have the emptiness of one who knows their soulmate is out there somewhere, but never finds them."
Something about Kiri's tone of voice was wrong when she said that, but Katara didn't understand exactly what. She decided the best thing to do was accept what she said and encourage her to finish the story. She rubbed her cheek against Kiri's hand briefly, then smiled up at her. "Did Ummi find her soulmate?"
Kiri returned the smile and dropped Katara's hands before continuing. "No. Though they went to every dwelling in the South Pole, they did not find Ummi's soulmate. They realized they would need to go to the North Pole. So they set out for a long journey. The first place they stopped was the Southern Air Temple."
Katara didn't know what the Southern Air Temple was, but it sounded really interesting. She tapped Kiri's foot to get her attention. "What is the Southern Air Temple?"
"Have you heard of the Air Nomads?"
Katara thought that sounded a tiny bit familiar, but since she couldn't remember anything specific, she shook her head.
"They were the fourth nation, but they're all gone now. Their benders could manipulate air the way you do water. And they had four temples where their most spiritual people lived—one in the east, one in the west, one north, and one south. But most Air Nomads traveled around the world all the time. They were friends to everyone and had the most amazing trade goods. You know the huge pottery bowl my mom has? That was made by the Air Nomads. It's over a hundred years old, but it's still beautiful and useful! They were amazing craftspeople."
Sokka finally seemed interested in what Kiri had to say. He was sitting forward and watching her intently. "What happened to them?" he asked.
"The Fire Nation" Kiri answered sadly.
All three sat quietly for a moment, each mourning the loss of an entire nation of people in their own way.
Katara broke the silence "I'm glad Ummi got to see the Air Nomads; they sound nice." She paused, then continued sadly "I wish I could meet them."
Kiri brushed back the fine hairs escaping Katara's hair loopies. "Me, too. But Ummi did meet them. The monks, for that's what their spiritual people were called, welcomed Ummi and her father and told them they had come at a propitious time. For the Avatar of that era, a man from the North Pole, had just arrived to begin his training in airbending."
Katara was so excited she interrupted Kiri. "They got to meet the Avatar?"
Kiri chuckled. "Little bird, they did indeed meet the Avatar. His name was Kuruk and he was the most beautiful man Ummi had ever seen. And when he grasped her hand in greeting, Ummi's eyes and Kuruk's eyes both lit up with golden sparks."
Katara gasped then clapped with glee.
Sokka looked as skeptical as an 8-year-old possibly could. "I don't believe the Avatar could have a soulmate. When there used to be Avatars, they devoted their lives to protecting the whole world. They didn't have time for romance." Sokka pronounced the word romance like it was the filthiest curse he could imagine.
"The Avatar was still a person. And any person can have a soulmate. In fact, my other gran said more people had soulmates when she was little. And since you're so smart" here she tickled him under his chin, "you ought to know that soulmates don't have to be romantic. Look at Pana and Amka! They are the very best friends, but neither has any interest in romantic love. Their friendship is deeper than many marriages." She resumed tickling Sokka as she told him "maybe you're like Pana and Amka."
Sokka giggled and tried to squirm away, but Kiri was eight years older and a lot stronger. Katara jumped in and went for the backs of Sokka's knees, which she knew were the most ticklish part of his body.
And that's how Kanna, Kya, and Hakoda found them when they returned from their trip early. The sight of the three children rolling on the floor in a mass of flailing limbs, filling the air with shrieking laughs made the adults laugh til they were gasping for air themselves..
Katara was loathe to hand over her cousin's sweetly sleeping toddler. His warm weight in her arms and his milky baby smell soothed her spirit as little else could. But Kiri had been working hard all night rendering seal blubber with the other women and she deserved the soft pleasure of cuddling with her son. Katara kissed the boy's spiky black hair before handing him over.
Katara rose and dished out a meager bowl of stew for Kiri. There wasn't much food for anyone this winter. But it was important that Kiri keep her strength up for Anik's sake, if not for her own. Then Katara gathered her mittens and turned to leave. "I'm going fishing with Sokka today. Maybe I can help him with my waterbending. I think I've figured out how to direct a current around the fishing boat" she explained as she pulled the mittens over her hands.
Kiri smiled tiredly. The past two years had been hard for everyone in the village, but perhaps more so for Kiri. Toklo didn't know she carried a baby when he left with Katara's father to fight the Fire Nation. They had been married for years with no children and had accepted that perhaps they would not have any. It seemed there were fewer babies every year. Of course, there were none at all since little Anik was born.
Katara reminded herself for the thousandth time that she was better off with no soulmate. Seeing her dad's anguish after her mother's death and Kiri's aimlessness after Toklo left should have protected her from the desire for such a love. But when she thought of soulmates, she felt such a deep ache of longing it almost had a direction. It pulled her to the sea. But perhaps that was just the natural inclination of a waterbender.
Her boots crunched through the thin skin of ice coating the snow as she made her way to the shore. Sokka waved silently and together they pushed the nose of the boat into the water. She climbed into the stern even though it would make more sense for the waterbender to be in the bow. She sighed in resignation and used an oar to push off the shore once Sokka was settled into the front of the canoe.
Katara's hope of guiding the boat through bending didn't pan out. So she sat and observed, miserable and cold and useless. Then she had a brilliant idea. One of her most reliable bending moves involved separating and floating a sphere of water. If she could do that with water that had a fish in it, she could float the fish right into the boat!
But Sokka ruined it by poking the butt of his spear through the water bubble and releasing the fish. He never even saw that she'd captured one. The next few minutes were a blur of angry words that somehow ended with them stranded on an ice floe, not sure exactly where they were and with their canoe smashed and lost. And an otherworldly glowing bubble of ice rose from the sea in front of them.
Within its depths Katara could make out two figures, one a small person and the other a large beast. The person opened eyes that blazed with brilliant blue-white light. In that light she saw the form of the boy in the iceberg clearly and knew she had to free him from his icy prison.
Katara grabbed Sokka's club and struck the ice. The boy, who seemed to be close to her age, began to stand on the edge of the ice, then tumbled over it. Heedless of any danger, she raced to him and caught him before he could hit the ice.
She stared at the boy in awe as he lay quietly in my arms. Katara didn't know why, but she found him the most compelling person she'd ever seen. He was close to her age, perhaps a bit younger, and a bright blue tattoo traced across the top of his bald head, ending in an arrow on his forehead. With a small sigh he opened his eyes and she was transfixed. His eyes were the gray of storm clouds and they shone with golden sparks.
His skin began to glow with a soft golden light. Katara shook her head slightly when she saw that the glow also extended over her arms. Then the world fell away and her mind filled with visions.
He hovered far above her, glowing, triumphant. Then a terrifying blast of lightning knocked him from the air. She drowned the world to reach him.
He had hair and they danced together in a dim room while a crowd applauded.
They kissed under a brilliant sunset.
They flew through the sky on the back of an impossible creature.
He held her in his lap while her body was racked with the pain of bringing their child into the world.
They kissed and danced and laughed and sang together.
When the visions faded his small gasp matched her own.
"Tui and La!" Sokka yelled as he came alongside them, "Who are you? What did you do to Katara? Why is my sister glowing?! Why are you glowing?"
Katara and the boy could not look away from each other.
"Soulmate" he whispered.
"I don't have one" she breathed a soft response.
"Yeah?" the boy laughed delightedly, "then why are there sparks in your eyes!"
Sokka looked back and forth between the two. "He's right. Great. Why does the universe hate me?" A pause, then a look of understanding crossed his face "Oh! Like Amka and Pana, right? Best friends?"
Katara pressed her lips together to keep them from spreading into a knowing grin. Sokka and Kiri might think their neighbors were just good friends, but she had inadvertently witnessed a blazingly sensual kiss between the two women and knew better.
She winked slightly at the boy—yikes, she needed to find out his name!
"Yeah, Sokka, just like Amka and Pana."