Chapter Three: 15th Birthday

It was the morning of Katara's 15th birthday. Aang and Sokka were already up. Katara still slept inside one of the tents while they began to set up for her celebration. There wasn't much decorating to do, let alone much decorative things to use. They had to be creative. Momo had gone out and gotten food while Aang went out and got as many flowers as he could. Within minutes he was back with a huge pile of flowers. Together, Sokka and Aang pulled the petals off and threw them all over the ground like confetti. Sokka prepared the food and lit small twigs on fire around the campsite as a type of candles. While they did all of this, Sokka filled Aang in on what was going on. When they finished decorating they sat down to talk more about the details. Aang stared at the ground in disbelief. "Y-you mean…she's a fire bender? She's one of them!" Aang said in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"No…not one of them. She's not just a fire bender. She is also a water bender. I'm worried. Once she meets her father and sees who he's an ally with…I'm not sure what she'll do. Also, I'm not sure where to place her. If she goes with the fire benders, she'd always be made fun of for being a water peasant. But if she returns to the water tribe, they will not be able to trust her…" Sokka looked solemnly to the ground. He didn't want this for his sister. She didn't deserve what was to come.

Aang tried to find a bright side to this. He couldn't. Finally a thought perked up his face, "Well, at least now we can both practice two bending skills. Fire and water. She'll be like…a half-Avatar." He laughed at the thought of a half-Avatar. Sokka didn't think it was funny. Another thought came to Aang. "Hey Sokka?"

Sokka was staring at Momo as he came back with a huge pile of fruit in his hands. Saliva slowly dribbled down his chin and he licked his lips. Food.

Aang repeated himself. "Sokka…Sokka!" He shook his head at Sokka's conquering hunger.

Sokka snapped out of his blissful trance. "Huh, what? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?" He looked down slightly embarrassed as he whipped the drool off his face.

Aang laughed slightly and then his face grew more serious. "Who is her father an ally with?"

Sokka hesitated for a moment. "Do you really want to know?" Aang immediately nodded. Sokka continued, "He's an ally with—" He was cut short as they heard a happy voice behind them.

"Hey guys!" Katara yawned as she stepped out from her tent. Her hair was in a tangle and her kimono was all crumpled up and wrinkled. Katara stopped short as she saw the petals and food all around her. A wide smile grew across her face. She ran to Sokka and threw her arms around him. "Oh, Sokka! Thank you!" She let go of him and turned to hug Aang. As she went to hug him she stopped at the look on Aang's face. "What's wrong Aang?" Katara asked. Just then a breeze blew and Katara's hair blew in front of her face. Her eyes went wide as she remembered yesterday. She quickly grabbed her hair and wrapped into a braid and stuffed it down into her kimono. "I-I can explain."

Aang shut his eyes for a moment as he pictured her in his mind. He opened his eyes again and shook his hand as if waving her comment off. "Sokka already told me. I know." He stole another look at her and was about to look away when her eyes caught his attention. They were so beautiful. They were now a swirl. As if different shades of blue and gold were caught in a hurricane around her pupil. He shook his head and looked away.

Sokka watched them as they both made embarrassed glances to each other. He tried to think about what was going on in there heads. "Sooo…do I have to eat all this food by myself?" He said as he ran over to the piles of fruit. Within seconds his mouth was stuffed with three different fruits at once.

Katara turned and stared at him. "Sokka! It's my birthday, not yours!" She ran towards him and grabbed food for herself. Aang waited a moment, watching her from behind, still not being able to believe what he was seeing. He sighed and slowly walked over to the group.

Later after they ate they began the real party. Aang played a little bit of music on a weird instrument that resembled a wooden flute as Katara and Sokka danced around a fire in the center of their camp. It seemed as if all their troubles and all their worries were floating away with the fire's smoke. Katara's laughing and smiles make Sokka heartbroken. Every time she smiled or laughed with joy, he knew that it would all soon come crashing to an end. He knew that her world was going to be shattered once they met her father. And he would've done anything to prevent that from happening.

Momo clicked his tongue and squeaked as he jumped around the fire, looking as if he was dancing too. Appa just watched them with an irritated look on his face and within minutes was asleep.

Then strange things began to happen as the night grew on.

As Katara's laughter grew louder and her dances quickened, Sokka and Aang both noticed something. Every time she made an enthusiastic movement, the fire in the center would suddenly grow twice it's size and then shrink back to normal when Katara's moment ended. Knowing what was happening; Sokka decided that it was time to end the party. He met Aang's gaze and he stopped dancing as Aang stopped playing his woodwind instrument. Katara stared at them. "Why are we stopping?"

"It's getting late." Sokka put bluntly.

Katara laughed as she looked up at the sky. It was dark, but hardly. It was still light enough to see the petals which were now trampled into the ground from their dancing. "I'm not even tired yet!" Katara protested.

Sokka glared at her. "Time for bed!" He said angrily. "Young women need their rest. You go to bed and sleep while Aang and I clean up."

Katara looked at him for a moment. "Well I can help. It's the least I can do to thank you for the party."

Sokka sighed and quickly answered, "I already told you, young women need their rest. It's our job to make sure you do. Now go to bed."

Katara glared at him angrily. "You are such a sexist! Girls get just as much sleep as boys do." She exclaimed. Behind her, the fire grew and the water from the stream began to rush faster. "All you ever do is try to show off like you're some, 'master of men'. Do you have any respect for women?" She yelled. The fire grew even higher and the water began to create small splashes onto the bank.

Sokka watched the fire behind her and the stream behind him cautiously. "K-Katara. Calm down." This was reminding him way to much of the incident that she'd created when they first found Aang in the ice.

Katara yelled, "I will not calm down. This is my one day to celebrate, and your sending me to bed. Is it because I've changed? Is it because of this?" She reached behind her and pulled out her braid that was tucked behind her kimono. "Is this why you're acting so strange? Just because I'm different? Or just because I'm a girl!" She threw her hands up as if she was begging him to tell her why. At the exact instant her hands flew up in an exaggerated motion towards the air, they heard a loud splash and pop. Katara whirled around and faced the fire as it suddenly cracked and sparks swirled around the camp like a hurricane. She heard another noise and whirled around just as a wave of water rose from the stream and also swirled around her like a hurricane. Together, fire and water swirled around her in a rippled wave. She screamed at the sight. Without even thinking about it she put her hands down to her sides. The moment her hands were at her hips the sparks returned to the fire and it shrunk to it's normal size while the water floated back to the stream and returned to it's calm, rhythmic pattern down the stream. She collapsed to her knees and stared down at her hands in amazement. "D-did I do that?" She cried out.

Sokka walked up and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Katara? I think it's time we have a family reunion. We'll leave tomorrow morning."

Sokka helped her up to her feet. Streams of tears were pouring down her face. "What am I? What's happening to me?" Sokka ignored her questions as he slowly lead her into her tent. She collapsed on her sleeping bag and was asleep before her head even hit her pillow.

Hello again. This chapter was longer than some of the other ones. Ah well, still pretty short. Since I promised the 4th chapter was going to be long, you guys are also going to have to wait longer. It will bemuch longer than these past few chapters and there will also be a few events that happen. But I'm not going to spoil anything. Expect the chapter to be done either late tomorrow night or early Wed. morning.

I want to say thank you to A Fading Shadow. She informed me that there was another story that was similar to mine. I just wanted to let you all know that I did not know there was another story like mine and I did not copythe otherstory. Actually, if you read both stories, they have a lot of differences. The only similarities are minor.

R&R! Thank you for all of your other reviews. I'm glad that you like my fanfic. For my first one, I've gotten a lot of comments. The more you review, the more I'll feel inspired to write. Also, please send me ideas. I need a lot of ideas. But don't forget the compliments and comments. :-) Thank you again. I love you all!

Next Chapter: Father?