Hi! If you stumble upon this before reading my fic titled Su'yin, please read that first. This is a companion piece to it. In the final chapter of that story, I skipped three months of time. This is one of things that happened in those three months. Just a few chapters for this little side piece. Enjoy!
Chapter 1 - The Letter
"But we were too late. When we got there, the man was gone. And so was she."
When Katara was eight years old, the Southern Raiders had invaded her village. Katara had ran into her house to check on her mother when she realized she wasn't alone. She was told to go get her father, and that's exactly what she did. When she ran back inside with her father, the man had left, but her mother was gone, too.
"Mom?" the little girl's voice cracked with sadness.
"Kya?" her father's voice called out at the same time.
Kya was on the ground, slightly slumped over on her side. Her hair seemed to be loose from its braided bun, pieces sticking up and out all over. Katara ran to her mother's side and began to shake her, the same way she would when she wanted to wake her mother up to play with her. But Kya's body shook lifelessly, and flopped onto her back when her daughter tried to rouse her.
Hakoda pressed a mitted hand to his mouth to mask the sad gasp that escaped from his lips. He knelt down beside her to observe her body. She had black ash all over her body. And considering the way her hair looked, it seemed as though she was electrocuted to death. Hakoda took a glove off and brought it to her neck, checking for some sort of pulse. But there was none.
He looked up at his daughter, who was now sobbing and begging her mother to wake up. His breath hitched in his throat as he pondered how on earth he was going to break the news to his daughter. While she wasn't paying attention to what he was doing with his hands, he took off his other glove to remove the necklace from his wife's neck and slipped it into his coat pocket.
When Hakoda looked up again, he saw his son in the doorway very briefly, before his friend Bato came swooping in and carried him away. Sokka tried to fight him off, but Bato was much stronger than the little ten year old boy.
The sky was dark for the early afternoon. The gloom of an incoming thunderstorm blocked out almost all of the sunlight. The current of Yue Bay was at an all time high; the fastest the master water bender had ever seen it. The overcast sky had distracted her from cleaning the kitchen. She stood at the sink, gazing out the large window mounted above it. The pitter-patter of her daughter's footsteps brought her attention back to her surroundings.
"Hey mom?" Kya's sweet voice called out. She hesitated when she saw Katara's attention seemed to be fixated on the gloomy sky. When Katara turned her head to look at her daughter, Kya continued. "There's a messenger hawk here from you. Looks like it's from home."
Kya hadn't been born in the Southern Water Tribe, but because of her heritage and the fact that she was a water bender, she would refer to it as home. However, it was days away from her actual home, Air Temple Island. The prodigy water bender knew her mother loved when she referred to the Southern Water Tribe as home. It reminded her of one of the many bonds they shared.
Katara gently tossed the rag she was using to wipe down the counters aside. "Did you open it?"
Kya shook her head. "No, didn't want to be nosy. I'm sure it's for you, maybe Dad."
Katara walked over to her daughter and placed her hands on her cheeks. She smiled at her and gently pulled her face closer to place a kiss on her forehead. "Thanks honey. I'll go check it out."
"Want me to finish cleaning the kitchen?" Kya asked.
Katara pulled Kya in for a quick hug. "I'd love that. That's why you're my favorite daughter!"
The woman giggled to herself as she began to walk away. Kya rolled her eyes playfully at her mother's remark.
"I'm your only daughter!" the young water bender called out to her mother, who was already out of her line of sight.
Katara made her way down the hallway and out the back door of the dining hall. She walked out across the courtyard, which would lead to the area that most of the messenger hawks would drop off their scrolls. Half way to the mail station, the storm that had been approaching the island for hours had finally arrived. The rain began to pour heavily from the sky.
There was a cubby of slots for mail, usually separated by whichever nation their mail was coming from. The Southern Water Tribe slot had a single scroll sitting in its cubby. She carefully pulled it out and delicately unrolled it.
Katara, Sokka and Family,
We hope that you are all doing well. I'm sorry to inform you that we do not bare good news. This is regarding the health of Chief Hakoda. We fear that his time in this world is scarce. We summon you to visit before he passes. He is still well enough to speak, but he is not very mobile. We're sorry for any interruption this may cause in your day to day lives. We hope to see you soon.
Best regards,
The Southern Water Tribe Council of Elders
Katara carefully rolled the scroll back up and resealed it before gently placing it into the waistband of her skirt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her stomach had flipped and twisted itself into a knot. Her hands slowly curled into tightly clenched fists. She wanted to throw something, scream and cry but for the sake of her children and air acolytes around her, she held back. In fact, it took an awful amount of inner strength to keep her composure. Despite all of the sudden intense emotions that dawned upon her, there was a piece of her brain that managed to think clearly. She knew exactly what she had to do next.
Katara arrived at City Hall right after the council finished a meeting. She was approaching the front desk secretary to ask where she would find her brother, but then the great doors of the courtroom swung open and she watched the Northern Water Tribe representative walk out of the courtroom. The Northern Water Tribe representative had stopped to kick the doorstops under the doors to hold them open for everyone else. And just like that, Katara's question had been answered and she had arrived just in time. She walked right past the front desk and entered through the room's open doors. She walked in about half way when her eyes fell upon her brother.
Sokka was talking to the Earth Kingdom representative with Aang. Both her brother and husband's backs were turned to her, so they didn't see her coming. When she was just a few feet away, she stopped and stood there, eyes on the Earth Kingdom representative. The Earth Kingdom Representative, a man named Yao, noticed her after a few seconds and locked eyes with her. He seemed to be saying something at the time, but when he saw Katara's distressed expression, he stopped speaking.
Sokka turned around first. His inquisitive expression quickly softened into a look of concern once he saw his sister. Her cerulean eyes glistened with tears, her brows raised and knitted together, a small quiver to her chin.
"This can't be good," he muttered, causing Aang to turn around.
Aang excused himself from the two men and walked over to his wife. His eyes went round with concern as he took the few steps to close the distance between him and Katara. Sokka was quick to follow behind Aang. When they both stood in front of her, there was a few seconds of silence. Katara's lack of ability to speak was more powerful than a thousand words; they knew something extremely bad was coming.
Aang exchanged a worried glance with Sokka before returning the focus to his wife. "Let's go somewhere a bit more private..."
Aang wrapped his arm around Katara's shoulders and took her hand in the other. Sokka placed his hand on the back of her shoulder, just below Aang's arm. Together, the three of them took a discrete exit into an empty hallway. When they were sure they were alone, Aang and Sokka started asking questions.
"Did something happen to the kids? Are they okay?" Aang asked.
Her inability to speak was due to the large lump in her throat. She felt like she was using all of her power not to burst into tears. She was trying so hard to swallow the emotional lump that seemed to make a home at the base of her throat. She shook her head at her husband's frantic questions.
"What is it, Katara?" Sokka asked with doleful eyes.
She finally gained the ability to speak. "It's dad."
Her voice was hoarse and cracked with the last word. Then, the dam holding her tears back had finally crashed. She buried her face into her hands as the tears spilled out of her eyes. Aang didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms. He used one side of his cloak to wrap around her, granting her some feeling of security and comfort as she spastically sobbed into his tunic.
On the other hand, Sokka placed his hand on her shoulder and was begging her to explain what happened. When her only response was an increase in the intensity of her sobs, Sokka broke down into tears himself. He leaned his head against Katara's shoulder and wrapped his arm around her, too. Aang wrapped his other arm around Sokka, and held the two siblings as they stood there, crying in his embrace.
After a few moments, Katara wiped her eyes and took a half-step back. She drew in a deep breath, followed by a shaky exhale. Her hands trembled as she bended her tears out of Aang's shirt and smoothed out the fabric against his chest. Her tearful eyes met with Aang's watery ones. Aang couldn't quite figure out what the expression on her face meant. The emotions behind the look on her face was a combination of a bunch of negative ones. He reached a hand to her face and brushed away any left over tear marks with the pad of his thumb.
Sokka carefully crept out of the embrace. He wiped the tears away from his face with his sleeve. He turned to face his sister, who caught his gaze but then quickly turned her head to avoid getting too upset again.
"We need to go home," Katara stated hoarsely, "As soon as possible."
Aang knew she wasn't talking about their home on Air Temple Island; she was talking about her true home, the Southern Water Tribe. He nodded and voiced his agreement.
"Dad isn't dead," Katara spoke to Sokka, "But he doesn't have much time left."
The wave of emotions Sokka experienced was so volatile; relieved, hopeful, and then upset again. And it was all from the nine words Katara had just spoken to him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and to stay grounded.
"We'll all go home and pack our warm clothes," Aang instructed. When he locked eyes with his wife, his face immediately softened. "How long will we be staying there?"
Katara's eyes dropped to the ground as her shoulders drooped down with the sad sigh she huffed out. "I don't know. The letter just said he didn't have a lot of time."
"Then we'll leave tonight," Aang stated, "Let's go."
When Aang turned on his heel to start walking towards the exit, Katara stopped him by grabbing his arm. "There's a really bad storm right now. We should wait it out."
Aang nodded. He turned to look at Sokka. "We'll fly you home quickly. Hopefully by the time you, Suki and the kids finish packing, the storm will be over. We'll fly back to your place once we've got our belongings together."
Sokka nodded his head at Aang. They all agreed to those terms before quickly shuffling off to get outside to call Appa. When they stepped outside, Katara water bended an umbrella-like formation to protect them from getting soaked. Aang had to help her out when the rain started coming down in different directions from the wind.
Luckily, they weren't waiting in the rain for too long. Appa descended upon them with a loud roar. The trio quickly climbed up on the great beast before swiftly taking off in the direction of Sokka's house. They arrived in no more than a few minutes. Sokka leapt off the bison's saddle and raced inside. After making sure he was safely indoors, Aang whipped Appa's reins and they were off again.
When Aang and Katara landed on Air Temple Island, they practically sprinted inside. The first stop they made was in their bedroom to pack their belongings. Aang didn't need much. As an air bender, he was able to regulate his body temperature. But he still packed his warmer air nomad attire. Katara, however, had a couple pairs of hefty parkas to pack. Then, she had to worry about making sure her kids were up to speed on the plans and get them packed, too.
Aang watched as his wife picked up her parka with trembling hands. His face softened into a sympathetic expression and he dropped his satchel of belongings to comfort her. He almost slipped up and asked if she was okay. Clearly, she was everything but okay.
Katara didn't even notice he was so close until his hands were grabbing hers. When she looked up, he was kneeling down in front of her. He grabbed the parka from her hands and gently air bended it onto the bed. When he turned his attention back to his wife, he opened his arms to her. She nearly threw herself into his embrace and let out another series of tears into the fabric of his tunic.
He soothingly ran his fingers through her hair in one hand. His other arm was wrapped around her, and snaked around to her face, where he was caressing her cheek. He quietly hushed her, trying to calm her down bit. He leaned his head into hers and kissed the crown of her head. She gazed up at him with tearful eyes and his heart broke for her.
"Don't worry, sweetie," Aang consoled her, "I'll get the kids ready. You just take your time and just give yourself a moment."
She thanked him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He reciprocated it before he left the room, closing the door almost all the way behind him.
Aang gathered all three of his kids to meet in the kitchen. He sat them down to explain the entire situation and their plans. He told them they'd be going to the South Pole and staying there until their grandfather would pass away. They were unsure how long it would be, but from the letter, it didn't seem like they'd be there any longer than two weeks.
Kya was the first to start crying out of all of them. She excused herself and ran off to go check on her mother. Bumi tried to hide the fact that he was crying, but Tenzin and Aang both saw the tears rolling down his face. He left to go pack his belongings. Tenzin relatively understood the concept of death, but he wasn't a very emotional child. He knew it was sad, but he did not muster a single tear. Instead, he just gave Aang a hug. Aang hugged him back and led him to his room to pack. Since Tenzin was only eight, he hadn't completely mastered air bending, so Aang made sure he'd pack heavier clothes.
Kya knocked gently on her parents' bedroom door. Since the door wasn't completely closed, the door opened a little more with her knock. She stepped in and put the door back in the almost-closed position it was in before she entered. When she walked in, she saw her mother sitting down on the corner of the bed with tearstained cheeks. She immediately rushed over to her mother's side and wrapped her arms around the woman's shoulders.
"Oh, mom," she sighed sympathetically, "I'm so sorry."
Katara rested her head on top of her daughter's. She was afraid to speak because of the lump that formed in her throat. But she croaked out a sad hum and flashed Kya with a closed mouth smile. Katara reached her arm around her daughter's tiny frame and rubbed her arm lovingly.
Swallowing hard, Katara finally found the courage to speak. "Have you packed yet?"
She felt her daughter shake her head. "I wanted to check on you first."
Katara turned her head to kiss her daughter's cheek. "Thank you, Kya. I'll be fine. It'll just take some time."
Kya nodded. She gave her mother one last hug before trotting off to go pack her belongings. When she opened the door, Aang and Tenzin were standing on the other side. Kya smiled at them and continued walking down the hall to her bedroom. Aang and Tenzin entered the room after. Tenzin airbended himself onto the bed beside Katara.
"All packed and ready to go!" he spoke cheerfully.
Katara eyed him suspiciously. She gently took the satchel off from his shoulder and checked his belongings. She saw the heavy clothing packed and carefully secured the bag closed and handed it back to her youngest son.
Katara neatly folded up her parkas and stowed them into her duffel bag. She packed a pair of ear muffs for the whole family and threw them in her bag, too. Now, all they waited for was the other two kids to finish packing their belongings.
Katara observed the two air benders sitting on the edge of the bed before her. Despite the emptiness and sadness that had made a home in her heart regarding the news about her father, she smiled at the two of them. The world's last two air benders always gave her hope and put a smile on her face. She was happy to be distracted from the sad news, even if it was for a brief moment.
"This is so exciting!" Tenzin effused, "It's been so long since we've been to the South Pole. It has to have been at least two years since we last visited."
Katara acknowledged that she should have been joyed to see him so excited for their trip. However, all she felt was the sinking feeling of guilt building up in her gut. She swallowed hard and forced another smile as she reached over to ruffle the very small amount of hair on her youngest son's head.
After a little bit of small talk to pass the time, the three of them concluded they should probably get a meal in them before they went anywhere. Aang declared he was going to cook, and did not allow Katara to try and fight him about it. He wanted to make everything as easy for her as possible in these troubling times. She already had enough on her plate to worry about. He wanted her to be able to relax before what would surely be an emotional rollercoaster when they would arrive at the South Pole.
Even though she had not eaten since breakfast, Katara wasn't hungry. But she knew well enough that she had to get some food into her system, especially before a long journey. When dinner was served, she had forced the food into her system. She ate slow and was very quiet at the dinner table. Dinner on Air Temple Island was never held in silence. Usually, the kids would be fighting to get a word in and talking over each other, but considering the circumstances, no one spoke more than a few words. Kya was trying her best to lighten the mood by talking about the art of waterbending, something that she thought would definitely perk her mother up, but it was like talking to a wall. Katara wasn't very responsive, so the conversation fell short very quickly.
By the time they had all finished dinner and loaded their belongings onto Appa's saddle, it was nightfall. They hoped Sokka and his family would still be awake and ready to go by the time they arrived. When everyone was all settled in, Aang quickly ran back inside to make sure nothing was forgotten.
Meanwhile, Kya was keeping an eye on her mother. Katara was laying down on top of her rolled out sleeping bag in Appa's saddle. She stared up at dark cloudy sky with an absent gaze. Kya crawled over to her mother's side and laid down beside her, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Katara wrapped an arm around the ten year old and gave her shoulders a slight squeeze.
"How are you feeling?" Kya asked in a low pitch.
She felt Katara shrug. "Got a pretty sick headache and feeling a little drained. But don't worry, I'll be fine."
Kya rolled her eyes at her mother. She knew that Katara was belittling her own pain; trying to come off as strong so that her family wouldn't worry. Always putting on a good front in order to keep everyone together. A trait of hers that had been prominent since before she was her daughter's age.
The girl sat up and bended the water from her own canteen. Using the methods that her mother taught her, she manipulated the water to wrap around her hands like gloves, and placed both hands on either side of Katara's head. While she transferred the energy to heal Katara's headache, she also massaged her temples.
When Kya first started training with Katara, she would beg her to teach her healing methods more often than offensive and defensive moves. Kya had been fascinated by healing ever since she could remember, recalling all the times her mother would fix up any bruises, scrapes or cuts in a matter of seconds with just a little bit of water. Katara's healing hands was the best thing anyone could ever ask for. Kya hoped that one day, she would take Katara's place as the best healer in the world.
Katara let out a satisfied groan as her daughter alleviated the pain in her head. "I've taught you well."
The sudden gust of air almost interrupted Kya's healing. Aang had returned from his final check around the temple. He appeared to be a bit flustered upon his reappearance. His attention was on his wife and daughter.
"What's wrong?" he queried, eyebrows knitted in concern.
"Mom said her head hurt, so I wanted to help her feel better," Kya told him, keeping focused on her task, "Just like all the times she's helped me."
Aang favored her with a smile and placed his hand on her shoulder. "That's very thoughtful of you, Kya."
Kya withdrew the water back into her canteen. She smiled at her father and shrugged lightly at him. "It's the least I can do."
Aang made sure everyone, and everything, was secured before commanding Appa to take off. The passengers watched as their home became smaller and smaller as they gained more height and distance from the island. A few minutes later, they were greeted by the city lights illuminating the area around them as they got closer to Sokka's home. The bison let out a grumbling roar once they approached Sokka's street.
Sokka's abrupt entry into the house scared the daylights out of his family. Suki gasped and the kids screamed, which caused Sokka to also scream. Suki then met his gaze with a glare, and continued making dinner for everyone. The news about Sokka's father made him momentarily forget about how his wife now loathed him.
Sokka walked into the kitchen to happily greet his two children, who were sitting at the island countertop, bothering their mother while she was cooking dinner. They jumped down and leaped into their father's arms. Sokka carried both of his kids on either of his arms and swung them around playfully. After kissing both of them on the cheek, he set them back down on their chairs.
Then, he walked over to Suki to give her a hug. For the sake of acting like everything was okay between them in front of the children, she let him hug her. However, she tensed up a bit and forced a smile through the entire embrace. Before he took her arms away from her, he managed to whisper something into her ear.
"We need to talk," he whispered in a very low pitch, "and it's not good news."
"Okay," she said simply, aware to keep the appearance of their interaction peaceful in the presence of their children.
Sokka went back over to the island counter and sat down with his kids. They took turns, talking over each other, babbling nonsense about their days. Sokka struggled to listen to either of them as they constantly battled to share their stories at the same time. Sokka just smiled and nodded along. Quite frankly, he had way too much going on in his head to pay attention, even when they spoke at separate times.
He dismissed himself for a brief moment. He went upstairs, to his children's bedrooms to pack up their winter clothing into suitcases. He set the suitcases aside, in a discrete spot in their closets, so that the suitcases wouldn't catch the attention of his curious kids. Then, he packed his own winter clothes in his suitcase. After he was finished, he joined them for dinner.
At the dinner table, he briefly mentioned a future visit Southern Water Tribe to his family. His children seemed to be intrigued, but they weren't expecting Sokka to be serious, or act on it as soon as he intended. Since he hadn't spoken to Suki about it yet, he figured he'd leave that part out. He hoped Suki would be okay with them going, as it would be the last time they'd see their grandfather. He couldn't say much more about the topic without getting choked up.
After finishing dinner and getting their kids ready for bed, Sokka met Suki in their bedroom. Even though Sokka no longer slept in the bed with Suki, he would still refer to it as their bedroom. Sokka sat on the bed as he waited for Suki to finish tucking in their daughter, who always had so many questions to ask her mother at bedtime. It was actually Sokka's grandmother who mentioned that with children, everything always comes out at night; all their questions, any truths they were hiding, etc. Suki typically spent fifteen extra minutes with their daughter before she fell asleep, answering all the questions that ran through her curious little mind.
Suki came into their room and quietly closed the door behind her. She stood in front of him, arms folded across her chest, hip propped in a sassy manner. She asked him about what they needed to talk about.
"I just found out today that my dad isn't doing too well," he started, "Katara and I were summoned to go home to say our final goodbyes. Katara, Aang and their kids are all coming to the Southern Water Tribe. I'm going, too, but I was hoping you'd be willing to go and bring the kids to see their grandfather one last time."
Suki's face melted into a look of sorrow. Her eyes rounded with concern, her lips puckered out into a sad pout when Sokka told her the bad news. She closed the small distance between them and grabbed his hands. She pulled his arms a bit and he rose to his feet. She wrapped her arms around his torso and gave him a slight squeeze.
"Oh, I'm so sorry honey," she sympathized.
She didn't even mean to use the pet name. Even she was shocked by it. Mentally, she shrugged it off as old habits. Sokka was surprised by this, too. He took the opportunity to lean in and steal a kiss from her, right on the lips. He longed for the opportunity to kiss his wife again for over a month.
Suki's cheeks flared up in a light shade of pink as she immediately jerked her head back. Her brows furrowed, mouth agape as she gawked at him angrily. It took a few seconds for Sokka to register what he did was not acceptable. He hesitated to apologize, as he'd missed being able to kiss his wife whenever he wanted.
"I'm going to assume your emotions are going a little crazy after hearing the news about your father," she declared, "I'll excuse it this time but don't pull some bullshit like that again."
Sokka finally apologized. He figured it'd be best to agree with what she said; blaming his actions based off the emotions he was going through after receiving the news about his father's crippling health.
"Are you down to go to the South Pole?" Sokka asked, "Aang and Katara are probably seconds away from here to pick me up. I wasn't sure if you'd agree or not, but just incase, I already packed the kids stuff."
Suki wasn't against going to the South Pole at all, especially given the circumstances. She agreed that it would be a good idea for everyone to get the chance to say goodbye to Hakoda before he passed. It's not often that anyone is offered the opportunity to say their final goodbyes to their loved ones. She nodded her head.
"I think it's a great idea," Suki praised, "And I admire you thinking ahead and packing the kids' stuff. Good thinking."
Sokka favored her with a smile. "Well, I was also under the impression that there was a very strict time limit. I'm surprised-"
He was going to express how surprised he was that Aang and Katara weren't there yet. But before he could finish the sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of Appa's roar and the massive beast landing on the street in front of their house. He chuckled to himself and dismissed what he was going to say.
"But, I'm not packed yet," Suki fretted.
Sokka was already walking to the door of the bedroom when she spoke. He turned to give her a slight smile. "No worries. Just make it quick. All you'll need is a couple of parkas and warm clothes to sleep in. I'll get the kids."
Suki nodded and immediately began rushing around to look for her winter clothes. Sokka granted her privacy, and walked down the stairs to greet his sister and the Avatar. He came running out of the house to give them a brief explanation of their plans. He explained that when he got home, dinner was already being cooked and he had to get his kids ready for bed before he even brought it up to Suki. He emphasized for them to not stress, as his kids were already packed and just needed to be carried out to Appa.
Aang leapt down from his spot on Appa's head to give Sokka a hand. He followed Sokka up the stairs to grab their suitcases. When they returned outside with Sokka's family's belongings, Aang used his air bending to toss them up into Appa's saddle. Then, he offered to help Sokka with the kids to bring them down to Appa, but Sokka politely declined. It would be way too overstimulating for their kids to suddenly be woken up by their uncle.
Sokka headed upstairs to get Koda first. He carefully scooped up the sleeping ten year old and carried him down the stairs. On the way down, Koda began to stir. He was a bit confused, but Sokka gave him a very short explanation. Koda was too tired to really react, and fell back asleep in his father's arms. When they got outside, Sokka passed the sleeping boy to Aang, so that he could leap into Appa's saddle with his air bending, and set him down comfortably. He did the same for Nora.
Suki was the last one out the door. She quickly got all of her belongings into Appa's saddle, which was now a bit crowded. Katara did a quick scan of all of the people and items in Appa's saddle. She voiced her concerns of Appa's ability to make it to the South Pole, considering all of the extra weight. Aang dismissed it and assured her that Appa would be fine. Katara trusted his instincts and only hoped he was right.
Without any further hold up, Aang ordered Appa to fly, and off they went.
The sun had sank beneath the horizon four hours ago. The air around them was crisp and cool, and the temperature dropped as the altitude of their flight increased. Most of the children in Appa's saddle had crawled into their sleeping bags and fallen asleep. Katara had been fighting to stay awake; she wanted to keep Aang company on their journey. But eventually, she curled up beside her children and could no longer resist the exhaustion that washed over her from the day's events. The emotions she faced had completely drained her; her head throbbed from crying, her heart ached and her chest felt heavy from all of her tears.
However, before she'd fallen asleep she had a heartfelt exchange with Suki and Aang, as they were the last ones to remain awake. In the wake of it all, Katara was feeling guilty. She feared that she didn't take enough trips to the South Pole with her children to visit her father. She only hoped he wasn't angry at her for that. At first, she kept these thoughts to herself.
She rose to her feet to tip toe over all of the sleeping bodies in the saddle around her. She reached into her bag and grabbed a blanket out of her bag. She tip toed her way back to the spot she was sitting in prior. Aang seemed to be startled by the way he snapped around to look back into the saddle. His face softened when he saw it was his wife.
"I thought you were asleep," Aang commented, "You've been pretty quiet."
"Yeah, I've just been thinking a lot so I haven't been able to fall asleep yet," she answered him.
Aang released Appa's reins out of one of his hands and reached it towards Katara. Katara took his hand and smiled. Her smile quickly transitioned into a look of surprise when she found herself being yanked onto the bison's head beside him. For the first time that day, she laughed. Aang couldn't help but laugh too, but it was more of an awkward chuckle.
"Sorry, I just wanted to sit with you," Aang sheepishly admitted. "I didn't think I was pulling you that hard."
"It's okay," Katara told him with a hearty smile, "It's not the only time you've underestimated your own strength."
Aang's cheeks flushed a rosy shade of pink as he played back embarrassing memories in his head. He recalled their first date, when he was so excited he accidentally blown her hair out of place, messing up the beautiful way she styled it that night. There had been many times where he would pull her in for a hug that he pulled too hard and they fell over on each other. As a smile crept at the corners of his lips at the memories, he looked over at Katara, who was clearly masking her true feelings behind a slight smile. His face softened at the realization.
He grabbed her hand and rested it in the tight space created by their touching thighs. He lovingly caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. He turned his head to look at her. He was slightly disappointed when he saw that she was looking forward, out at the empty darkness of the unknown area they were flying into. Although she appeared to be absentminded, he could tell she was fighting hard not to break down.
"You know," he reassured her with a squeeze of her hand, "You don't have to be so strong all the time. It's okay to let yourself hurt."
His words brought the tears she'd been fighting off for so long to finally surface in her eyes. She ducked her head down to the side slightly. Her hair blew in front of her face, just enough to obstruct his view of it. He reached out with his other hand to tuck the hair behind her ear. When she tried to avoid him looking at her again, he gently cupped her chin and brought her face back to his. He winced inwardly at the sight of her face melted into a sad expression with tears rolling down her cheeks and flooding those beautiful cerulean eyes.
"Just let it out, sweetie," he coaxed gently, "You need to; it's the healthy thing to do. And it's okay."
He spoke in a low voice, considering the group of sleeping people behind them. He smoothed his palm across her cheek and caressed the soft skin there. He wiped away the fresh tears that kept leaking from her eyes.
"Let yourself grieve," he instructed soothingly.
She nodded a few times before mustering up the courage to speak. "I know. I... I just..."
"Tell me," he urged, "Please. Let me know what you're feeling. I want to be here for you."
She choked on the lump in her throat. She gently closed her eyes and her lips curled into a closed mouth smile. She loved his support, and she didn't want to not let him in. She just wasn't sure how to put it all into words. She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed.
"I'm just feeling so many things at once," she admitted meekly, "I don't know how to explain it. It's overwhelming."
He consoled her by running his fingers down her cheek, to her neck, and down her hair. "Try me," he whispered into her ear.
She sighed before she began, "I just feel guilty. I worry that I didn't take the kids to visit dad enough. I feel like I've been a disappointing daughter. I could have been around more and maybe then I'd be able to heal him more frequently and give him a longer life expectancy."
Before Aang could answer, another voice spoke up from behind them, "You could never disappoint your father."
Katara and Aang turned around and their eyes fell upon Suki. They couldn't tell if she was still awake or if they had woken her up. Regardless, she was sitting up against the wall of Appa's saddle with her daughter sprawled across the front of her. She reassured the couple with a warm smile.
"Your father understood that you marrying and having children with the Avatar might put a strain on how often you'd get the chance to visit," Suki told Katara, "But he was never upset over that. He would always talk about how proud he was of you, Sokka too."
Her violet eyes pointed at her husband, who was sound asleep, curled up with his son. She watched them in awe for a few seconds before her eyes fell back upon her sister-in-law. "But please, don't beat yourself up over it."
"Really?" Katara asked with a glimpse of hope in her eyes.
"He's been proud of you the moment you left the tribe to help the Avatar save the world," Suki confirmed, "And he's also proud of you carrying on your family traditions to your own children and that you helped, essentially, save the Air Nomads when you gave birth to Tenzin. And he loves how your three children remind him of you, Sokka and Aang. He wouldn't want you to feel guilty about not visiting as often as you could." She paused to glance over at Kya and Bumi before fixating back on Katara. "And considering how high-energy those two were as children, and still can be, it's a miracle you got to take them to the South Pole as much as you did."
Aang chuckled at Suki's remark about his first two children. That was no understatement about them. They were extremely hyper and frustrating to look after when they were younger. Aang remembered thinking it was a miracle that Katara still wanted more children after the two of them. He gave Katara a squeeze on the shoulder.
"I know I don't have much to compare to when I say this, but you're an amazing mother to our three children," Aang chimed in, "I always knew you would be. I mean, you even took on a motherly role with us when we were kids and did a great job back then. You've given them the best life they could ask for. I hate to see you question that because there's not a single moment where you could ever be considered a bad mother."
Katara wiped away fresh tears from her eyes, but they weren't tears of sadness. "You guys are making me cry again!"
Aang pulled her in for a full hug and held her close. He planted a kiss to the top of her head and lingered there for a moment. He rubbed her back in the embrace and whispered to her, "You're the strongest person I've ever known."
She pulled away from him slightly, just to be able to look into his eyes. They sat there for a few brief seconds, just gazing into each others' eyes. She could feel the genuine love he had for her and that everything he said about her was truly how he felt about her. She smiled at him before nuzzling her head against his chest.
"Thank you," she whispered to him sincerely, "I really needed that."
He kissed the top of her head again. "I know."
There was a moment of silence. Behind them, Suki had slowly slithered down into a more comfortable position to rest in. And after a few minutes, she was already fast asleep again.
Aang gently freed one of his hands from Katara to grab Appa's reins once again. He listened to the wind whistling past his ears, speeding up, as they moved further into the southern territories of the world. A very small amount of flurries blew into their view, dancing frantically in the wind and starting to catch into the tips of Appa's fur.
After a few more minutes had gone by of nothing but complete silence, Katara shifted in Aang's embrace. He was constantly brushing back pieces of Katara's hair that continuously blew in front of his eyes, but he didn't mind at all. He felt her head move up a little bit, watching her peak out into the dark distance in front of them.
"We're getting close, aren't we?" Katara asked.
Aang hummed a noise of confirmation. "But we still have a few hours. We'll definitely get there after the sun comes up."
She gently laid her head back down to its place against Aang's chest. She noticed how he took a deep breath and felt some tension in his chest. There was something he was holding back on saying, and that didn't sit quite well with her. She asked him about it, and felt him draw in another deep breath before he responded.
"This is going to be a difficult visit, not to point out the obvious or anything," Aang started, "I guess I'm just a little anxious about the anticipation of it. And I know you already know this, but do you feel as though you're... as ready as you can be?"
He felt her nod against his chest. But she took a moment to respond. She had already started coming to the painful terms of her father's imminent death the moment she received the letter. But how much can you truly prepare to say goodbye to loved one?
"Yes... As ready as I can be," she finally answered.
This was a long chapter sorry about that. Hopefully it was easy to understand the shift from Katara and Aang's perspective to Sokka's perspective from when he got home from leaving City Hall with them.
