Don't own Avatar in any way
I would like to thank Lucrezia6565 and Ashen Phoenix for their encouragement, but also all of you who have reviewed, it means alot to me.
Katara swirled streams of water above her palm, bending the liquid into random shapes
Katara swirled streams of water above her palm, bending the liquid into random shapes. Kaya's golden eyes followed the water in utter fascination and wonder, delight flickering through the tiny suns as her small hand reached for her element. A small orb of the clear liquid balanced above her chubby fingers, attempting to mimic Katara's manipulations. Kaya's efforts were rewarded with a misshapen circle, and she proudly held up her bending achievement.
"Look mommy!" Her three year old daughter squealed in elation, her voice as bright as the fire shining in her amber eyes.
"I see Kaya, that's very good." She had often imagined watching her children waterbend; the reality was better than the fantasy. "I'm so proud of you." She had taught waterbending once before, she'd taught it to Aang with the hope of saving the world, but there had been a deep feeling of urgency that had corrupted the purity of teaching, like a handful of sand could taint drinking water.
"When are you gonna teach me bending like daddy teaches Iroh?" Kaya began to move her little bit of water through the air; it sparkled as it caught the rays of the sun.
"When you're older." The youngest years of childhood were meant to be innocent and carefree, the only lessons needed were to walk and talk and be familiar with the basic alphabet. She had lost her childhood early in life; fate would not repeat itself with her children.
"I'm free, I'm big." Kayla held up three small fingers and the water splashed wetly onto her head, her dark braids damp. "Oops." Her daughter's laugh was a sweeter sound than rain on the ocean.
"Here, let me show you a trick." With a flick of her wrist, the water left Kaya's hair. "The key is to focus all your….."
"Mommy." Iroh burst through the front door crying, large tears rolling down his face. She wanted to run to him and scoop him up, cuddle him close and comfort him the way she used to, but the familiar swell of her stomach prevented her from doing more then bending his tears away as he sat beside her and buried his face in her shoulder.
"What happened?" She scanned his hands and face and body for burns, for red patches of skin that she would scold Zuko for later.
"Daddy loves Anchee more than me." Iroh said sadly, as though he honestly believed it. Her little boy who looked so much like his father doubted his father's love. Iroh didn't know of Zuko's resolve to be the opposite of his father, to bring peace and love rather then death and war and destruction.
"Who told you that?" She almost laughed, almost laughed because children could believe the most impossible things.
"Nobody." Iroh blushed and wiped at his cheek when Kaya kissed it.
"Then why would you think that?"
"Cause Anchee's the avatar and she's a better firebender than me. He teaches her things he won't teach me." It was simple jealousy, she had gone through the same phase with Aang, history repeated itself in strange ways.
"That doesn't mean he doesn't love you sweetheart. Some people just learn faster than others. You will learn on your own time, and your father will always be there to teach you. He loves you very much; we both love you very much. Our little sun." She kissed his forehead; he was warm like fire and smelled sweetly of smoke. "Go back out and practice with your father."
He scampered back out into the snow, and the world seemed a bit brighter.
"You take a breath" Zuko inhaled deeply. "and channel the energy through your arm until…" A burst of hot, orange fire shot from his palm into the air, heating his skin and the surrounding area. "you get fire."
"Like this?" Iroh took an exaggerated breath; his small chest puffed out, and released a stream of fire from his bronze hand, yellow and orange flames mixed together to form one steady fire.
"Just like that." He ruffled his son's dark hair the way he had always wished his father would back when he was a child. Even when his father had claimed to love him, he had been emotionally distant and physically absent. His only hugs had come from his mother or Uncle Iroh, and Azula before she had grown old enough to understand evil and adapt it as her nature.
"Is it true that you and mommy fought here afore?" Iroh asked, big blue eyes shining with liquid curiosity, a few beads of sweat on his dark brow from the pleasant heat of the atmosphere and the intense hotness of their fire.
"Once, but I deserved it." The grass of the Spirit Oasis tickled the bottoms of his bare feet, and he watched Kaya splash in the warm water out of the corner of his eye. She moved through the liquid gracefully, her dark braids and hair loopies never coming unraveled as she laughed and was chased by the moon spirit fish.
"Did you forget her birthday?"
"Something like that." He would explain the truth when his children were older and the Fire Lord was defeated. He let his shirt fall to the ground as he prepared to demonstrate more complicated firebending forms, he had burned the sleeves of his last trying to show Anchee how to do fire fists. "Take off your shirt before you set it on fire Iroh or your mother is going to be very upset with me."
"Will she fight you?" He could have sworn Iroh looked hopeful.
"No."
"Who won the fight?"
"Mommy did." Kaya bent a stream of water at them, warm and wet and refreshing.
"No mommy didn't win."
"So you won?" Iroh cocked his head to the side, confused.
"Not exactly." Technically they had each won a different part of the fight, so combined it was a tie.
"Don't listen to him, I won." Katara joined them in the only spot of warmth that wasn't controlled by the Fire Nation, little Ursa balanced on her hip.
"Because you cheated." He took his youngest daughter into his arms, gazing into the familiar blue eyes that belonged to Katara and Iroh and now Ursa. "Your mother cheats kids; she used the full moon instead of her abilities."
"And you used the sun, we're even." Katara shed her dress and slipped into the water with Kaya, her undergarments as white as snow. "Unless the kids would like to see a rematch."
Iroh and Kaya cheered, and water and fire combined once more.
The chill of snow against her skin sent shivers through her body like ripples over the surface of water. The cold was delightful and unpleasant, reminiscent of happy times with Sokka and Gran-Gran and her parents. Days of frolicking in the icy cold, tumbling and chasing and bending. But memories of happiness brought sorrow, sorrow for the people that had been lost. Her mother and her brother. Two family members who had both perished in fire, burnt flesh and burnt bodies and charred spirits. She could still smell the world burning in her nightmares, a strong and heavy ashy scent, flesh and wood burning together.
"What're you doing out here?" Zuko asked softly, his dark hair hidden beneath the hood of his blue parka. Fourteen years and she still wasn't accustomed to the sight of Zuko in blue, the color of her element, the opposite of his.
"Just thinking." She moved until her back was pressed against Zuko's chest, his warm arms found their way around her waist out of habit. He radiated heat like the sun. "How's Anchee's firebending?" Time had passed, long amounts of time, and she wanted peace soon, wanted freedom and justice for all those who had died or wished they had.
"Good, I don't know how much more I can teach her." One of his hands found hers, their fingers locking together, hot skin met cold flesh, water and fire touching.
"And Iroh's firebending?"
"Great." There was pride in Zuko's voice now, and she knew without looking that he was smiling. A flash of white teeth and satisfaction. He had rarely smiled when they traveled with Aang, but now it was a daily occurrence. "He's better than I was at that age, he's better than Anchee too. I think it's because it's his natural element. How's Anchee's waterbending?"
"She qualifies as a master."
"Is Kaya better?"
"She is." Zuko's chest rumbled with laughter against her back, the corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. They were so close to saving the world. "How is Ursa's firebending?"
"It could be better, but I'm looking forward to a few more years of lessons." There was a fond note in his voice, a sweet cherishment over more time with their youngest child.
"We may have to have another baby so I can have someone else to teach waterbending too." She teased, resting her head against his shoulder. They had spent their teenage years and early adulthood being parents to toddlers, as much as those days were missed, another baby would only come when the world was safe again.
"I'll probably just be a firebender."
"Maybe, Zuko, if we're going to try the plan again, Anchee needs to learn earthbending." The light conversation turned serious, it wasn't how she wanted to spend the afternoon, but it needed to be done.
"I talked to Haru, he said there are some islands a weeks fly on Appa from here that are uninhabited and escaped the fire during the comet."
"When do we leave?"
"A few days, I think the kids will love actual land."
"You hate the snow." She chuckled, she could see through his façade, fourteen years and she had come to know him like she knew herself, maybe better.
"I hate the snow." He agreed, laughing again. "Where are the kids?"
"Iroh and Anchee are out bending at the Spirit Oasis and Kaya and Ursa are fishing with my father."
"Fishing? I think that gives us about an hour before they return." She recognized the playful lit to his voice and the heat of his mouth against her ear.
"I'll race you to the house."
She froze his feet to the ground before starting to run.
The feel of naturally warm air felt foreign on his face, the feel of solid ground that didn't crunch beneath his feet was something he had almost forgotten. The smell of grass and flowers and trees, fresh and sweet, flooded his senses with each inhale, it was almost dizzying, and his children seemed overwhelmed and mystified and astounded. It was bitter to think they had been forced to live their lives in the snow and ice, without the freedom to choose to visit the mainland. His father had done more than take lives and destroy humanity, he had forced his children to lives of isolation in the north, never knowing the wonders of earth and plants and all the animals associated with them. His father had deprived his children, and that was somehow worse than everything else.
"Look, a flower!" Ursa plucked the simple red flower from the dirt, and Katara put it in her dark brown hair, directly above her right hair loopie. Both his daughters had adopted Katara's traditional hairstyle, but Ursa was the only one with Katara's hair color.
"It's so warm here." Kaya removed her parka and promptly climbed the nearest tree, swirling water above her head for amusement as she reclined in the branches.
"Let's go look around before you start your earthbending training." Iroh tried to make the suggestion sound casual, he and Anchee walked off slowly, Iroh a bit closer to her than when they had been standing.
"I'm going to go earthbend, it's been too long." Haru sent a rock out into the sea, bending for the first time in nearly fifteen years. "That feels good." He grinned, green eyes truly alive, as green as the grass and the plants and the leaves of the trees.
"Can I watch you bend Haru?" Ursa blushed, her cheeks burning bright and red and hot, infatuated with the earthbender.
"Sure." Haru gave an amused and worried frown when Ursa attached herself to his leg.
"Maybe we should tell Ursa Haru is too old for her?" Katara was doubled over with laughter, bronze hands clutching at her sides as she shook with laughter. He failed to see the humor in the situation; his daughter was too young for childish infatuations. "Lighten up Zuko." Katara kissed the corner of his mouth, turned his frown into a smile. "I had a crush on Haru once." He couldn't tell if she was teasing him, but it didn't seem to matter.
It felt like the world truly had hope again.
If you read, please review.
Also, the next chapter will be the last.