Chapter II
Kanna was busy knitting when she first heard their voices past the entryway.
"Of all the monkeyfeather brained, irresponsible things to do..."
"I know, I know."
"If you knew you wouldn't have done it! You're not the only one on this iceberg, Aang. People live here!"
"Katara, I said I'm sorry like a hundred million times already. Isn't that good enough?"
Kanna shook her head. Apparently even the most peace-loving of couples weren't immune to mid-winter spats.
"Good enough? Good enough? Aang, you bent the whole island twenty miles off course to go arctic hippo watching!"
They were moving through the entrance tunnel now, their steps confirmed it. Katara using the voice Kanna remembered from years ago. The tone she took whenever Sokka got particularly irksome and she was trying her best to both lecture and annoy him as revenge.
"I wanted to see where they were going in such a hurry! Don't you ever wonder where they disappear to in the winter?"
"Not when I'm in charge of bending an entire island sheltering a whole village worth of people to the Southern Tribal Conclave!"
"What should I have done Katara," Aang's voice, who she had never heard be anything other than accommodating when it came to her granddaughter, now sounded distinctly strained. "Just fly after the hippos on my own and leave the island without any steering at all?"
"Yes! Or better yet, you couldhave not left in the first place and just done your job."
They were through the tunnel now, and had paused at the edge of the bamboo mats and animal pelts to take off their winter boots. Kanna kept her eyes on her knitting, and her ears on her young ones.
"Well I got us back on course, and we're only a few hours behind Sokka's completely unrealistic schedule. Besides, all the kids in the village seemed to like seeing the hippos too, so you know what? I take it back. I'm not sorry at all anymore."
Katara's jilted screech cut off when Kanna took that moment to clear her throat.
"Huh-charamlookuphah-hem."
Katara rose her gaze from Aang, just as he did the same. And hanging above them was a ornamental grouping of green leaves and white berries. The next moments were devoid of any rational thought, as they were instead filled to the brim with Aang pulling her flush against his growing frame (Just how tall was he going to get, anyway?) and kissing her very, very soundly.
As they finally disengaged, panting like a couple of overrun ostrich horses, Kanna stowed her knitting and moved into the kitchen to start work on dinner.
"All right then." Katara's voice was throaty and low, an octave above sin itself. "Apology accepted."
"Heh heh...Wait, what?"
Kanna could only chuckle as the two started up again, though this time devoid of any actual anger.
"Ahh, young love."
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