A/N: Sorry this is late :( But anyway . . . what do you think of the chap title? xD
Btw, all that angst in the previous chapters has gotten to me, and I ended up writing an angsty one-shot. It's called "Dark Side", inspired by the song by Kelly Clarkson. It's about Aang talking to Katara after "The Puppetmaster", and of course, there's a bit of Kataang :) Feel free to check it out sometime! :D
Thank you again for the RFFs! Glad you liked that last chap :)
I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.
"Everyone here?" Katara hoisted herself up on Appa's saddle, wincing at the sharp stab of pain the movement caused.
She turned to Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin, who were all seated comfortably. They nodded.
"Kya, your waterskin?" she asked, at the same time checking on her own.
"Filled," the young waterbender replied.
"Bumi, your boomerang?"
"Right here." He patted his precious weapon, which was right next to him.
"Okay, then," Katara said, sitting down as well. "We all remember the plan, right?"
Kya and Tenzin nodded again while Bumi, on the other hand, grinned. It was his plan, after all . . . with a bit of his mother's input, of course.
Operation: Get Dad Out of the Avatar State (as he called it) was simple: they would reach Aang on Appa, armed with water, air, and a boomerang. Elemental shields would protect them on all sides against the winds and anything the Avatar might possibly hurl at them. When they were close enough to be heard, they would try to calm him down "in the gentlest way possible", as Katara had told them.
The boomerang . . . well, it was important, that much he knew. He decided he'd figure out its exact role later.
Initially, Katara wasn't too excited about taking Appa; she was going to argue that she had gotten Aang out of the Avatar state numerous times while on the ground, but one glance at her husband convinced her otherwise. He was about a hundred feet in the air, higher than she had ever seen him.
She glanced at her eldest son. He was definitely clever, and Aang and Sokka had had countless debates regarding who he had taken after. Though she refused to get herself involved in that "nonsense", she was positive about two things: Bumi had gotten his impulsiveness and incurable knack for mischief from Aang, and his unbelievable appetite from Sokka.
"Mom? Are we going to make the water shield now?" Kya asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Oh, right." Together, they lifted the water from the pond and shaped it into a sphere that surrounded Appa.
"You know, 'water shield' is a mouthful. Let's just call it the 'bubble'," Bumi suggested.
"That sounds lame," Kya pointed out.
Bumi scoffed. "When you're on a mission, you have to use the least words possible so that you don't waste too much time talking," he said matter-of-factly.
"Which is why you named this mission 'Operation: Get Dad Out of the Avatar State'." she retorted sarcastically. "Definitely not a mouthful."
"It's OGDOOTAS for short," he replied smugly. "Og-doo-tas. See?"
Kya growled in annoyance. "You know, you're lucky my hands are busy holding up a water shield right now."
"That's enough, you two," Katara chided them. "Naming things is the least of our worries right now." Kya and Bumi turned away from each other, huffing indignantly.
"Tenzin? It's your turn." The airbender, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, stood up. He touched his fists together (just like his father had taught him) and soon, he was surrounded in a ball of air. He concentrated hard, trying to make it big enough to fit all of them, but unfortunately ended up falling back with the effort.
"Ten! Are you okay?" his mother asked, concerned.
"Yeah. I'm fine, Mom." He rubbed his back, which was sore from the impact. "I'll just try again." He started to get up.
It was obvious that they were asking too much from the young airbender. "That's all right, Ten," she reassured him. "It's hard to make one on your own. See, it takes both me and Kya to make a water shield this big."
"Hey, I can totally make one on my—" Katara cut her off with a look before turning back to Tenzin.
"Why don't you steer Appa instead?" she suggested, upon seeing his crestfallen expression.
His face immediately lit up. "Yes!" He was at the reins a blast of air later.
"Ooh, can I help too, Mom?" Bumi jumped up and down excitedly, apparently having forgotten about his argument with Kya.
"Why not? As long as you two don't fight."
"All right! I promise, Mom, we won't!" He gave his mother a huge grin before picking up his boomerang and taking off. He seated himself right next to his brother.
Katara shook her head. If Bumi had been an airbender . . . no, she didn't even want to imagine it.
"Is everybody ready for takeoff?" Bumi announced in a very pilot-like manner.
Kya rolled her eyes. Ignoring her, Katara smiled as she answered, "We sure are, Captain."
"Hey, how come Bumi gets to be the captain?" Tenzin complained.
Katara mentally groaned. Bumi seemed to be a trouble magnet lately.
"Because—" He emphasized the word. "—you're my assistant."
"That's unfair!" the airbender said indignantly.
"Do I hear some fighting?" Katara asked.
"No, Mom! Argh, fine, we're both captains," he reluctantly conceded. His brother grinned, triumphant.
"Boys, we need to get going," their mother reminded them.
"Right," Bumi said. "Appa—"
"How come you get to say it?"
"Ugh, why are you so-" Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "Forget it. Let's just say it together."
"Appa, yip yip!" they cried, one sulky and one cheerful. With a roar, the sky bison flew into the air.
Katara started having second thoughts about letting them steer, but she figured that since Aang had been giving bison flying lessons to Tenzin (with Bumi sitting in ), they would probably know a thing or two about flying . . . maybe. Just in case, earlier, she had carefully explained the situation to Appa. He was a smart animal, after all.
She shook her head. A worrier she was indeed, even back when she was a teenager. But that aside, she couldn't figure out why the the world seemed to have decided that it was National Go Wrong Day. Usually it was that way for Sokka, but she guessed maybe the spirits finally found him annoying and decided to move on to her.
Get back to reality, Katara. No use blaming the spirits or Sokka or whatever, she told herself. She decided to turn her attention to something that was actually worthwhile.
"Kya, it's going to be harder holding the shield up when we get closer to Dad, so be prepared," she warned her.
"Okay, Mom," she answered. Neither of them said anything after, so they just spent the next few minutes listening to Bumi's yells of exhilaration and Tenzin's attempts to explain to his brother how flying bison were the first airbenders.
If there was one thing common between those three kids, it was their apparent incapability to hold grudges. At least, that was what Katara believed. "Incapability to hold grudges" sounded much better than "extreme mood swings."
"Mom?" Kya asked.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"What if . . . what if it doesn't work?"
"It will, Kya. Trust me," she reassured her. Inside, however, she was trembling. Her daughter had struck on one of her greatest fears.
"When we get Dad out of the Avatar State, will he go back to normal?"
"Well, aside from being really tired, yes, he'll go back to normal," she answered. "But he's also going to be mad at himself. That's why we have to make him feel better, because what happened wasn't his fault." Kya seemed to absorb her words slowly, thinking about them.
Katara sighed miserably. "I'm so sorry you kids had to go through this. I promise, if your father and I could have prevented this in any way, we would have—"
"Relax, Mom." Kya smiled up at her. "It's not your fault, and like you said, it isn't Dad's fault either. But at least this whole thing is pretty exciting, huh?"
"E—Exciting?" Katara thought the more appropriate term was "dangerous." "Exciting" had a positive connotation, and she couldn't see anything positive in their current situation.
"I mean, you and Dad and all your friends talk about your adventures when you were kids all the time. We've wanted to go on our own adventure for ages!" she exclaimed.
Katara tried to process what she just heard. "You have?"
"Of course, Mom! And so do Lin and Honora and Pako! Can we bring them along next time?"
"Er . . ." Her mother was at a loss for words. "Let's just hope there won't be a next time, sweetie."
"But can we?" she wheedled.
Katara sighed. "We'll see. But you have to ask permission from their parents."
"Yay! Thank you, Mom!" she squealed. The water shield/bubble shook, and Katara instinctively moved to steady it. "Oops, sorry."
Kya glanced at her mother. She looked tired, stressed out, and extremely worried at the same time. Her sharp eyes also noticed how Katara winced every now and then. The young waterbender (and now amateur healer) was sure the pain was much more than she had let on.
She wanted to make her feel better, even just a little bit. "You know, Mom, don't worry. Dad will be fine in no time."
Katara turned to her. Her eyes seemed to belong to someone else, someone much older. "If only I hadn't blacked out—"
"Mom, Dad went into the Avatar State because he thought you were dead, right?"
"Yes."
"Then that means he loves you a lot," she said. The master waterbender was silenced.
"And Bumi, Tenzin and I love you a lot, too, Mom. We didn't know what we would do without you earlier," she continued earnestly. "Honestly, we still don't."
There was a certain sincerity that children were naturally capable of, and Kya's every word rang with it. Katara's eyes teared up, but she smiled. "Thanks, Kya. That means a lot to me."
"Anytime, Mom."
They were so absorbed in their conversation, they had almost forgotten where they were. Bumi and Tenzin, however, quickly brought them back to reality.
"Mom! Kya!" Tenzin cried.
They turned. "Wha—"
"FIREBALLS INCOMING!" Bumi yelled as he and Tenzin frantically pulled at the reins.
Appa roared and swerved to evade them. Unfortunately, the bison wasn't able to avoid the last one.
"Argh!" It was all they could do to keep the shield together.
"Mom! The winds!" Kya exclaimed.
"I know," Her voice sounded strained. "We're almost there, I think. Just try to hold on a little longer."
However, they were no match for an Avatar at full power, and it took only seconds before the shield collapsed, leaving them vulnerable to the strong winds.
In an instant, Katara had directed the water towards the saddle, freezing her and Kya's legs securely in place. With everything happening so fast, she had forgotten about Bumi and Tenzin, who at the reins.
"HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!" The wind blew Tenzin backwards, even with his desperate attempts to airbend himself to safety.
Instinctively, Katara uncorked her waterskin and drew out a waterwhip. She was able to grab him by the ankle just in time, but Bumi, however, was nowhere in sight.
"Bumi? BUMI?!" She searched around frantically.
"Right here, Mom!" She whipped around. Bumi was hanging on to Appa's reins with the use of his boomerang. Both of his hands were gripped tightly on the weapon, but anyone could see that it couldn't stay that way for long. "But, uh, I can't hang on much lonGGGGGEEEERRRRR!" His left hand slipped and he flew backwards through the air.
Katara lashed out another waterwhip, barely grabbing Bumi by his boomerang.
"Hold on tight, Bumi!" she instructed. "Kya, a little help?"
Kya seemed as if she had just snapped out of a trance. "Right!" She drew two waterwhips from her own waterskin and wrapped them around her brothers.
Fighting against the wind, they pulled the boys back to safety. Katara froze their legs to the saddle, just like she had done earlier.
Meanwhile, Tenzin and Bumi busied themselves with catching their breaths. "Wow, thanks," Tenzin muttered, as Katara and Kya bent the water back into their waterskins.
"That sure was close," Bumi said in between pants. "Thanks Mom! Thanks Kya! And thank you boomerang!" He kissed his trusty weapon. "I knew you'd come in handy!"
"Not the time, Bumi," Tenzin reminded him, yelling over the wind. "Wait a minute, who's going to steer Appa?"
"He can manage," his mother said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "And we've got something bigger to deal with."
She took a deep breath, preparing herself. Then she turned to face her husband.
Katara had to squint because of the wind, but she saw him clearly. Too clearly, in fact.
Aang's expression was livid, enraged. More than she had ever seen him before. His jaw was clenched tight and he was sending out random blasts of fire and air into the sky.
It hurt her to see him like this. "Aang!" she yelled. She didn't flinch as she faced the Avatar's glowing glare. "Aang! Calm down, sweetie, it's going to be—" She was met with a blast of fire, which she narrowly dodged.
She had long crossed the line of overexertion, and the sudden, sharp movement was too much for her injured body. Everything around her started to spin.
"MOM!" they yelled, starting to panic. The situation was worse than they thought. Their Dad would never ever hurt their Mom. But apparently, Glowing Dad could.
"DAD! I'm sorry for doing something stupid and dangerous, but Mom's okay now!" Bumi yelled.
"She's fine, Dad!" Kya tried to tell him. "She's alive! It might sound crazy, but I healed her!"
"Dad! Can you hear us? I swear by the spirits you'll never have to remind me to clean my room again!"
Kya and Bumi decided to follow his lead. "And I won't bend at my brothers!"
"I'll try not to pull too many pranks!" Bumi promised.
Meanwhile, Katara struggled to keep herself conscious. She had already blacked out once, and that was probably one of the worst mistakes she had ever made.
Like they were no match for the Avatar, the wooziness had to give in to her stubborn spirit. Everything slowly got clearer, and she was soon back to her exhausted but conscious self.
She focused on her children, who looked terrified and were promising things she knew they would never say under normal circumstances.
"Just snap out of it, Dad!" one of them yelled. She wasn't sure which one. "Please!"
The master waterbender had gone through too much that day, and the sight of her desperate children finally made her hit her breaking point. She was a mother, after all.
Most people cry when they hit their breaking point. In Katara's case, however, her temper usually flared up before her tears spilled. "Aang, calm down this instant or you're getting nothing but sea prunes for dinner tonight!" she snapped, throwing everything she had said about being gentle out the window.
It was almost comical how quickly the winds started to die down and how the sky returned to its normal color. They watched in utter shock as the glow faded from Aang's eyes and tattoos, and the sphere of air surrounding him slowly disappeared.
Katara closed her eyes, limp with relief. She couldn't believe it was actually over. In fact, she couldn't believe what had just happened or what she had just done . . . not that it mattered. What was important was that everything was going to be fine now.
"Woohoo!" Bumi fist pumped the air. "Mission accomplished!"
"Oh yeah, we are AWESOME!" Kya high-fived him.
"Wait, Dad's not airbending!" Tenzin sounded panicked.
"That's the whole point, Tenzin." Bumi rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a party pooper."
"Don't you get it, Bumi?!" Katara had never heard him sound so agitated before, so she looked up. She was surprised to see the airbender grab his brother by the shoulders; Tenzin never did that. "If Dad's not airbending—"
"He's going to hit the ground!" Kya screamed as she pointed at the Avatar, who was plummeting towards the earth at a dangerous speed.
Cliffhanger is back! Did 'ya miss it? :D
The mother-daughter talk was in celebration of Mother's Day! Advanced Happy Mother's Day to all mothers! :D
The other people Kya wanted to invite were Zuko and Mai's daughter and Sokka and Suki's son, respectively. I read somewhere that her name was Honora (makes sense), but I'm not sure if that's confirmed.
As for Pako (Pa-kow), well, uh, I just randomly combined Pakku and Bato. Anyway, I'll just make them canon-compliant as soon as I find out what their real names are.
So, reviews? What do you think of the anticlimactic touch? Yes, the Avatar's kryptonite sure is sea prunes xD
Constructive criticism is always welcome, btw, especially since this is the climax! :D
