Katara started packing before she knew where she was planning to go.

When they had met to discuss the terms of the divorce, Aang had gone against his lawyer's advice and offered to be the one to move if she wanted to keep the house. Briefly, she was pleased, and almost accepted without thinking. It felt like he should be the one to move. He was the one who was never there anyway. She was the one who spent nearly all her time rambling around the property, keeping up with the expansive vegetable garden and teaching the kids. Then she had thought about what that would actually look like - early mornings and late nights working in the little office at the back of the house, days still spent homeschooling, the drafty master bedroom even colder for the lack of even his belongings keeping her company, and the oppressive darkness that pressed in at night. "You can move if you want to," she had told him, finally. "But I don't want to stay there. It's too quiet."

In the end, they had decided that he would move out temporarily - until Katara figured out where she and the kids were going to make their new home. Now, wrapping her picture frames carefully in newspaper, she still wasn't completely sure. Maybe she would move back to her original home to be near her father and brother. The kids might like being around their cousins more. It didn't particularly appeal to her though. She hadn't gone back to live there after college the way Sokka had - everyone that stayed still remembered her as a girl. The thought of returning as a divorcee, three kids in tow...no, home wasn't an option. She loved it, but the small-town gossip would be unbearable.

Kyoshi Island might be nice. It was close to home, but much friendlier to women who were single by choice. A couple girls she'd been friends with college worked out there, so she might have at least a chance of some friends. Or perhaps she could go to Ba Sing Se. Toph had decided to go big city after college, and it might be nice to reconnect. For years now they only kept in touch via the group chat that was a relic at this point. It would flare up occasionally when old inside jokes became relevant or someone found a meme that reminded them of the good old days - but she missed who she was when she hung out with Toph. Still happily single, kick-ass-and-take-names Toph had always made Katara feel bolder. She was the only person who could really convince Katara to let down her hair and make some trouble. So yes, that might be nice for Katara, but the culture shock may be too much for her kids, who were hardly used to seeing anyone but family.

She sighed and looked down at the frame in her hands. It had been on her desk, knocked flat long ago and buried under paperwork, but still whole. The frame was made of brightly painted clay, a cheesy souvenir that proclaimed Ember Island across the top. Along the bottom in curling script it read, Discover Your True Self. In the photo, she was ten years younger and not looking forward into her older self's eyes. Her eyes were scrunched up from laughing, head tipped back and arms holding her stomach. Beside her was another friend she'd lost touch with. Zuko's smile was smaller, more hesitant, but just as real as her own. He was reaching towards her with a pointing finger. She couldn't remember if it had been to poke her or accuse her, or even what had made her laugh so hard in the first place. Back then, she hadn't paid much attention to remembering things - there had been an abundance of laughter and love in her life, and it had felt as though she could only get endlessly happier.

She remembered that summer well though. Aang had just graduated from college and she'd wrapped up her Masters'. It was the last summer before they joined most of their friends in the world of adulthood for real, and they'd wanted to make it count. For Aang, that had meant living out his longtime dream of backpacking the Air Temples solo. Her own plans hadn't extended much past a list of novels she'd been putting off and not setting an alarm for a couple months. Until Zuko had offered up the other bedroom in his family's summer cottage. He was telecommuting to his job at his father's company for the season, hoping that stepping back from the city itself would help him stave off impending burnout. She'd gone for the promise of undemanding company and beautiful beaches, and found herself falling in love with the island itself.

Cute local festivals and terrible community theater made her feel right at home, and the sound of the ocean at night and warmth of the sun all day had her relaxed. Eventually, she'd even convinced Zuko to use a few of his hoarded vacation days to show her around for real, and they'd had the time of their lives. The photo in the frame had been taken on one of those days, down on the boardwalk full of games and fried foods. It wasn't even clear to her what day - there had been so many like that during her layabout summer. That, she thought, studying herself again, is the Katara I miss the most. So, the photo didn't get packed away just then. It lived on her bedside table, taking the place of the wedding photo she wasn't sure what to do with, and every night as she went to sleep, she would look at her own smiling face and long for the peace she had felt all those years ago.

When the thought came to her weeks later, it wasn't much of a plan. Just a soft voice telling her, The kids would have fun there.

After that, things started to come together much faster. With a destination in mind, she was able to start looking for a place to live. All of the kids were excited when she showed them the pictures of the little yellow house she had found to rent. The prospect of living right on a little sandy beach and going to a real school with other kids got them running around excitedly, talking about how they were going to make so many new friends.

"I'm gonna learn how to surf!" Kya announced, bouncing up off the couch cushions in her excitement.

"I wanna ride a turtle seal!" Bumi told Katara. Even Tenzin, who had been so quiet ever since Aang left, got into the spirit of things.

"Can my room be a sand fort?" Katara laughed, and rubbed a hand over his fuzzy head.

"Well, you'll still have to sleep inside, but you and Bumi will be sharing a room, so if you want, we can get bunk beds and you can make your bunk into a permanent fort."

That appeased Tenzin, as well as Bumi who, while not thrilled about sharing a room with his baby brother, was mollified by the prospect of getting to his bed by ladder.

With the kids on board, all that was left to do was call Aang and tell him that the house would be all his as of the first of next month. That went less smoothly.

"It's just that Ember Island is kinda far, don't you think?" he said.

"Everywhere is far away, Aang," she reminded him. "This place is in the middle of nowhere. It would be farther if I moved home or to Kyoshi."

"I just don't know why you have to take them so far." Katara sighed.

"What does it matter if we're near Air Temple Island? You're never here. We already decided the only time you can take them is school breaks, so what's the difference?" There was a long pause before he answered.

"If you guys were closer...maybe I could visit in between trips too? Sometimes? Republic City has a great school system, and -"

"No." She felt a headache coming on.

"Can't you just think about -"

"I could, but I won't, Aang. I already ruled out big cities. The kids are used to a really small community, and I'm not going to put them through the shock of adjusting to that kind of lifestyle on top of the divorce." She heard him take a breath on the other end of the line, but refused to let him cut her off. "And on top of that, I'm not going to put them or myself through you blowing in and out of my house whenever you happen to be around. If I was okay living like that, this wouldn't be happening."

"I would check with you before I came," he tried. Katara rolled her eyes.

"And make me the one who kicked their dad out of the house, dragged them away from him, and now won't let him visit? That sounds super helpful, but I'll pass, thanks."

"Katara -"

"Stop it." The sharp tone of her voice worked. It was the same way she talked to the kids when they were acting up, and it always made her feel so old and terribly alone using it on him too. "We agreed months ago that what's best for the kids is consistency. They need to know what to expect from us. And you and I can't spend too much time with them together, or they'll get confused."

Part of her spitefully thought that he wanted that - for Katara to have to field too many questions about if they were getting back together and decide that the kids would be happier if she went back to him. She knew in her heart of hearts that Aang wasn't that conniving, that he was just sad and trying to figure out how not to let go of her all the way, but it still made her angry. This was about their marriage, yes, but their marriage was about a lot more than just the two of them. They couldn't be selfish about it.

"You're right," he said, quiet. "I know you're right. You're always right about everything." She winced, closing her eyes to the sight of their mostly empty bedroom around her. The compliments hurt worse than the parts where he'd been angry with her, not least because they were largely untrue. They were about a Katara he had shaped in his head over long stretches apart - a fairytale he'd told himself about the endlessly patient and wise wife he'd left behind. She was neither of those things. "It's just…" She braced herself. "I'll miss you." All the fight ran out on her exhale, and she slumped tiredly against the headboard, feeling herself list sideways in the dip she'd worn into her side of the bed.

"I'll miss you too," she said truthfully. "But I've been missing you for a long time already. I'm ready to stop now. You have to let me stop, Aang." She could hear sniffling on his end of the call, and her own eyes were hot and stinging. Nothing fell though - there had been more than enough of that in the years and months leading up to then. After a long moment where she pretended not to hear him blowing his nose and pulling himself together, he said,

"Okay, Katara." She breathed a relieved sigh. "I'll try to stop too."

"Alright. Goodnight then."

"Goodnight." She knew she had to be the one to actually disconnect the call, so she did.

Katara slept with her windows open that night even though it was supposed to storm. The wind that came with the black clouds brought the brine of the ocean, and the air in her bedroom turned too warm and wet. Sprawled across the middle of the quilt in underwear and an old t-shirt, she fell asleep thinking of Ember Island and the Katara she was going to find once more. She woke up smiling.