Katara Interrupts Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, you may be assured Zuko would be less dense (heck, he has nowhere to go but up) and people would LISTEN to Iroh instead of dismissing it all as the ramblings of an old, more-than-slightly-eccentric man. But I don't own Avatar, so Zuko is still stupid and Iroh still ignored. Alas.

Note: I especially like this first one about bedtime with daddy dearest. In my family, it was my father's job to take care of tuck-ins. However, instead of stories I'd get mental two-two-equations-two-unknowns algebra problems (imagine my joy when I graduated to linear programming when I was eight) and pitch recognition (one in two in my paternal grandfather's family has perfect pitch—considerably higher than the international average of one in ten thousand). But such are the activities of family life of future mathematicians and musicians.

If I Remember Correctly…A Tribble

"…and that's how the Fire Prince rescued his beloved," he finished. The young princess sighed with happiness as her father extinguished all the candles (except for one; the four-year-old didn't like the dark) and left the room. The Lord smiled contentedly as he carefully closed the nursery door; life was good.

"Funny," his wife said as she came out from behind a shadowy column in the hallway, startling him, "I didn't remember the rampaging badgermoles."

"That was for dramatic effect," he retorted, affronted.

"Uh huh. And what about the pirates?"

"Well, I did save you from them."

"If I recall correctly, I was saved by a lemur that was saving me from you."

"Well, you don't know what the pirates would have done if I hadn't stopped them."

She conceded. "I'll give you that one. But since when does my brother spit poison and eat small children?"

"Ever since he punched me in my good eye for coming within ten feet of you. I could barely see for three days!"

"That hardly warrants the post of Resident Evil-Bedtime-Story Monster, though. He's harmless, really."

"Hah. You weren't there when he found out he was going to be an uncle. I'm surprised I'm still alive after that." He winced at the memory.

She snorted. "Hypocrite. Suki wrote today; she's expecting their third. But don't change the subject. I don't remember you there either when that crazed general tried to bury me in stone to provoke the Avatar state, and what about the time at the Oasis at the North Pole—"

She was cut off shortly. "Don't you know?" he whispered. "The point is that the Fire Prince finally found his Princess. That's the point to all bedtime stories."

She smiled. "And that has a grain of truth in it after all."

The Moon…A Quabble

"Papa, Teacher said today that the Moon is bad."

Dinner came screeching to a halt. Mother and Father looked at each other, Mother with a warning look and Father with an expression I'd only seen him wear occasionally after particularly infuriating meetings. Great-Uncle looked for cover.

"Did he say why?" Father finally managed to say, a funny sound in his voice confusing me.

I cleared my throat, just like Teacher always did. "It's because the Moon and the Sun are always fighting, so it must be bad. And then the Moon is also weak because she doesn't shine all the time and—"

"Teacher is wrong." Mother's voice cut through my speech like a knife. "The Moon and the Sun don't fight at all. I can show you." She left her place at the table to walk to the window, beckoning me to follow. Once I got there, she picked me up and put me on the windowsill.

"See? How can they fight if they are in the sky at the same time?" She pointed to the twilight sky.

"But Teacher said—"

Mother shook her head emphatically. "Don't listen to her. I met the Moon, and we were good friends. The Moon actually gave up her life to protect the balance of the world."

"You met the moon?" I was awed.

Mother nodded. "I did. I think we're distant cousins on my mother's-mother's side," she added absently.

"Did Father meet the Moon too?"

"He met her once," was the vague reply. Later, after questioning Great-Uncle I found out that Mother "forgot to tell me" that Father only met the Moon when he was at the North Pole trying to capture the Avatar. I wouldn't understand why Father would want to hurt Uncle Aang until years later, and being six at the time, I let it pass.

"What was she like?"

"She was a princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Her name was Yue. And I don't believe for a minute that she had a speck of evil intent in her, and I don't believe that she'd suddenly become evil after ascending to the sky."

I absorbed this information. "So Teacher is wrong?"

"Yes, she is," Mother said with the conviction she only used when I finally grasped a concept.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"How did you meet the moon?"

"Well, that's a rather long story. It started when I was fourteen…"

Bending

This one is pretty pathetic, but I wrote it in a rush before Zutara dies forevermore.

This is based on the idea that the elements are made of two parts—temperature and dampness—and that receiving a temperature and a dampness gene would create a bender. For instance, receiving a cool gene and a dry gene would result in an Earthbender, cool and wet Water, hot and wet Air, and hot and dry Fire. But if both parents are benders and they have opposing genes (coughZUTARAcough)…well, that's my premise.

"Well…"

"I guess that proves your crazy theory right, Aang."

"Katara's not going to be happy."

"I know."

"Zuko?"

"Yes?"

"When he's old enough—"

"No."

"It's only common—"

"No, no, no."

"What on earth are you two arguing about?"

"Um…nothing, Katara. We're just debating the relative merits—"

"As in there are absolutely none."

"Dear, even for you that's close-minded. What's the fuss?"

"It's about Lu Ten." Zuko pointed.

"Lu Ten, what are you—"

Katara was, for once, speechless. But how surprising would it be if you suddenly saw your son sneeze and fly ten feet?