1.

Late Night, June 21

The cool South Pole air was sullen and still as a dark vessel slunk its way to the shore. Without so much as a whisper, shadows silently drifted across the ice and hid among the darkness. The warriors who guarded the borders were laughing and having a good time, grouped together, gossiping like school girls, despite the time and seriousness of their job. No one knew nor cared about the recognizable fishing ship that docked itself on their shores, for the men continued joking, paying to attention to the fishermen unloading their supplies. One of the fishermen saluted the Water Tribe warriors, who waved to acknowledge they knew who he was and that he was admitted into the village. He and his crew unloaded the boat and headed into the night, the laughing of the guards fading into the distance as he climbed up the hill to his home. Static from the clothes he wore was visible in the night as a faint stream of electricity, but it disappeared with him over the mountain.

Looking in the window of the closest building, a couple was preparing to give birth. The woman looked tired as any woman going through labor would, but she looked kind, and was not throwing a fit. She was average looking and could have been mistaken for any other Water Tribe woman her age with tan skin, dark hair, and surprisingly blue eyes, as most water benders have. She was beautiful, and despite the weathered appearance, she seemed slightly radiant as new mothers often will. She rested on a pelt of some kind and was being taken care of by two midwives. Her husband was sitting by her head, staring into her sparkling eyes, and stroking her long hair. They shared weary smiles and seemed unmarred by the thought of what was coming next. She was calm and ready, while the man looked slightly worried. Her smile had a look of reassurance in it as if to say, "I am okay."

The man was the more interesting one. Although he was dressed in the average Water Tribe attire, there was something much different about him. He had fair skin and gray eyes and did not have the air of a member of the Water Tribe. He was lean but clearly muscular, and overall, reasonably attractive. His gentle hands knew every curl of his wife's hair as he ran his fingers through it. Under his hood peaked out the hint of straight, black hair. His face was long with defined features, but his eyes had a boyish look to them, and if they hadn't looked scared, one would assume they were usually filled with joy and excitement. This could be the description of any man except for one key importance. Despite his face being mostly covered by the fur of his hood, if one looked close enough, they would see, tattooed on his forehead, a light blue arrow.

In his peripherals the man saw the faint light of the static electricity caused by the fisherman's clothing escape over the mountain. It appeared to be lightning in his eyes; however it had no accompanying thunder to explain it. The man looked up from his wife to collect his thoughts about the situation. Despite being about to give birth, the woman shot a worried look at her husband, for she was more worried about him than she was about herself. He had a strange look on his face; somewhere between a skeptic smirk and an absent-minded stare. He turned back to his wife wearing a false smile, but she raised a weary eyebrow suggesting she knew that face very well. She weakly nodded in acceptance as if to give him permission to leave. As he turned toward the door, his wife began to give birth to the first child. Tears filled his eyes as he smiled at his wife and mouthed the words don't worry, I'll be back soon. The woman cried happy tears as she watched the tapestry door wave slowly to a stop. The woman did not scream as most do in labor, but sat there in tears, too tired to make a sound. One of the midwives mumbled words inaudible to her but could be imagined as describing how well she was doing. Words along the lines of beautiful, healthy, and almost there were strung together by seemingly lengthy terms that meant almost nothing to her. Suddenly, the room was silent in greeting to the new arrival. A soft cry broke the silence raising a sigh of relief through the air.

Outside the comfort of his home and family, the man stepped lightly through the snow. Lightning was unsettling to him, so even in the current circumstances, he felt the need to check it out. The mountain of snow was easy to climb, even in the tired night, for his well trained muscles. Before the South Pole had been built up, the hill had been empty, a perfect place for sledding for the man in his youth. The hill had lots of memories, which is why the young couple had their house built there.

Little did the young man know, the younger of the two midwives saw him disappear over the mountain. Since her services were not needed at the moment other than to clean up the first baby, she took the bundled child and tiptoed away from the hut. Following the tracks of the young man, she sneaked up the mountain in order to pass the baby to the father while the wife gave birth to the second one. It was the original plan, anyway that the man would hold the child while his wife continued to give birth. She smirked at the cleverness of her plan, and how happy the man would be that she spent the time to bring his baby to him. After all, she knew the man, and the woman for that matter, for they had looked after her when she was young. Being only twelve years old, the young midwife did not think of any consequences of her plan, so in her eyes, it seemed flawless.

The midwife finally caught up with the man at the very top of the mountain. He was standing, in what appeared to be, deep in conversation with one of the village fishermen. She decided it would be best to wait for him to finish his conversation with his friend before surprising him, so she would not seem rude, and tucked the baby closer to her to keep it warm. The baby girl had her light blue eyes wide open and stared into the face of the young girl. Her look wasn't the look that babies give to their mothers, but it was a look of friendship and security. A big burst of wind suddenly blasted against them out of nowhere, and the midwife held the baby to her chest to protect her. She could barely open her eyes against the wind, but she saw lightning as well. The sudden storm frightened the girl, but the new born child reached her tiny hand out to touch her cheek in empathy. The baby could not stay here, she thought so she called out to the father to ask for help. "Aang! Where are you? I brought the first baby to you! It's a girl! You have a daughter!" She cried, but her voice was muffled by the wind. Aang could not hear her words, but turned around at the sound of her voice. The fisherman, who turned out to be a woman, grinned at her in apparent sympathy for a valiant effort.

"Annika! Go back to the hut now!" Aang yelled towards the girl. It was clear he was not done with his conversation and did not want to be interrupted, despite the horrible weather. Annika apologized for bringing the baby to such terrible conditions, but wanted to show Aang his child before she left. She stood up, holding the baby in her arms and Aang froze to look at her. His eyes filled with tears at the sight of his new born child looking back at him with the same eyes as Katara. In his moment of serenity shared with his new daughter, a great shot of lightning filled the sky, turning night to day, as Avatar Aang fell down, dead.

…

Early Morning, June 22

This time, Katara did scream. The pain was worse this time for some strange reason. Annika returned with the first baby wearing warmer clothes because of the storm. The baby was wrapped up even tighter to ensure warmth. Strangely enough, the storm had stopped so abruptly, that her dressing warmer had been a waste. Just as before the older midwife, Shika, whispered encouragements, but Katara did not even hear her voice this time around. Several seconds later, the second daughter and identical twin to the first, was alive and breathing. She did not cry, but she opened her eyes and blinked many times. Her lungs were working perfectly as if she was already used to them and had been breathing the air for many lifetimes.

Annika rubbed her lucky necklace before taking the second daughter off to be cleaned. Her smile faded as she stared at her necklace, not necessarily in sadness, just in a sleepy trance. She took the baby with her to grab some extra supplies and left through the tapestry once more. Katara fell fast asleep with her first born in her arms as Shika whispered encouragements with a soft, melancholy voice resembling a lullaby.

After she was sure Katara was asleep, Shika picked up the first born daughter for a checkup. Her heartbeat was a little faster than it should have been so she called for Annika to bring her some warm water to relax the newborn. After a minute or two, Annika did not return so Shika left to fetch the water herself. Outside, she saw the silhouettes of two women; one resembled Annika and was holding a baby. Shika let out an aggravated sigh at her apprentice and stood with crossed arms, tapping her foot. This was a look Annika knew well and could sense a mile away, but strangely, she did not turn to look at her master. Shika squinted to better see the silhouettes and make certain that one of them was Annika. The shorter of the two women passed the bundle to the taller while Shika just watched in shock. She convinced herself that was not Annika and the bundle was not the baby as the taller figure walked swiftly and silently to one of the fishing boats.

Shika began to turn back to the hut because she remembered no one was watching the baby while Katara was asleep, but out of the corner of her eye she saw the smaller silhouette fall to the ground once the taller one left on the boat. Shika ran to the fainted girl and used water bending to heal her. It was dark so she could not see her face, but tried to wake her anyway. The girl turned out to be a lot younger than she expected and started breathing again. She was still slightly faint and began to mumble in an entranced voice, "The moon weeps tonight as the air grows still but the waves grow stronger yet." Shika looked at the girl confused before she fell back asleep. The full moon came from behind the clouds and lit up the face of twelve-year-old Annika, asleep but with tears in her eyes.

"Annika wake up! Wake up! Where is the child?" Shika screamed as she shook her apprentice in hysterical shock. Annika awoke in tears and was only able to speak between sobs.

"I didn't mean to!" She wept again, "I couldn't control what I was doing. I wasn't in my body. I could barely hear my own thoughts but someone else kept speaking inside my head, clear as glass. She's gone. The baby is gone."

The silence broke when there were suddenly frantic footsteps throughout the village. The men of the tribe were acting like they were at war, sneaking around and whispering orders to each other. They had weapons at the ready and acted as though they were looking for something. A familiar face showed itself, with tanned skin and dark hair. His eyes were the same blue as his sisters, but he wore them with a much tougher attitude. The midwives watched the madness unfold around them as another man approached his leader, carrying the body of a friend. Sokka turned his teary eyes toward the midwives and nodded at them in casualty, as the world fell apart around them.