Chapter 9: Back to the Present

So, you've seen a brief overview of my story. You've seen the past. And now it's time for the present.

I've been sitting here in a newly erected Water Tribe building, thinking over my adventures and missing Aang and Zuko. It's been a year to the day since we defeated the Fire Lord. I'd been suddenly broken away from my friends because I felt it was my duty to help rebuild the Southern Water Tribe.

Perhaps more strongly, I felt the need to get away.

I hate to admit it, but as soon as I was away from them I felt better. The burden, for a short time, was lessened. Sokka was still with me, but he had become less of a responsibility as he drifted away from my "care."

The burden was about to be hideously increased, though. As soon as I arrived home, a million memories came flooding down on me. Washing everyone's clothes. Cooking everyone's food. Keeping my eye on everyone's business. Making excuses for everyone's wrongs. I tried to be happy as Dad, Grangran, Paku, and I were reunited. But I felt myself more besieged than ever. Dad—he was the one who had left me to fend not just for myself but for the whole tribe. Grangran—she was the one who stimulated my efforts at being a control freak during the two years after Dad left. Paku—he was the one who had given me the gift of Power, a gift that allowed me to control almost anything; a gift that I both loved and fanatically hated.

Sokka and I had plenty to do. We built new structures of ice and stone, opened a trade route to the nearest city, and improved and replaced all the old boats, nets, and tackle. Soon everyone would have a house to live in a boat with which to do as they pleased. Sokka seemed to be having fun, telling war stories to his young "pupils" and constructing crazy architectural ideas for new buildings.

One day I was bending water from the ocean into a trench which led right to the new walls we were constructing around our tribe's grounds. I would bend the water into a great wave and begin freezing it, while the water bending architects shaped it perfectly into the already half-erected ice wall. It was an easy job, if tedious; or so it had been until one particular day. I was moving my arms upward, directing the flowing fluid into a tall, stately wall of frigidity. Without warning I felt my strength decrease at alarming rate. My hands lost their place and the seawater lost its form, cascading down to create great rocking waves. More than one fisherman, working precariously close to the wall, had his boat overturned and was submerged in icy liquid. The incident was strange but isolated, I hoped. Probably it came from a lack of concentration; my attention was not held well by doing the same chore over and over.

We spent a long four months there. I missed Aang, Zuko, and even Toph terribly. Then when it was so frigid and stormy we couldn't even walk outside, Aang surprised us. He came on Appa, accompanied by the Kyoshi warriors and of course Toph. Zuko would be coming on a Fire Nation steamship in a day or two.

When Aang knocked on the door of the igloo-like palace we had built, I was mystified. Who'd be knocking in the middle of a storm? I opened the door and my vision was filled with his childlike bald head, imploring eyes, and cheerful smile. I was so startled I couldn't move, but I wouldn't have had time anyway, because Aang threw himself at me.

"Katara!" he exclaimed jubilantly.

"Wow—Aang," I stammered. "Why-why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I did," he said, blinked those prayerful eyes in befuddlement. "Guess the letters didn't come through." He shook off the momentary unease and grinned broadly. "So, you gonna invite me in for some hot chocolate?"

"Of course!" I ushered him inside, conscious of his gaze fixed unmoving on me. Toph and Suki and Ty Lee hurried in afterward, the older girls dusting snow off their hair and clothes. The kitchen was huge, and cooks were bustling around firing up the stoves for dinner, but there was a small breakfast nook in one corner. We all piled onto the grey stone benches while Grangran fixed the hot chocolate.

"Want help?" I offered.

"Not this time, sweetie. Be with your friends."

Feeling slightly lazy, I got in beside Aang. He was pretty quiet, satisfied to just look at me. Ty Lee and Suki were already chattering so much I could hardly keep up, and Toph was sprawled in an unladylike position, smiling at me. "How's it, sugar queen?"

"Good to see you, Toph," I said dryly. "I've been helping rebuild all season. How are things in the Earth Kingdom?"

Her unseeing, ethereal eyes brimmed with puzzlement. "Uh, you off your nut, Katara? Me and Aang been sending letters pell-mell! Didn't you get any of them?"

Katara shook her head. "And I guess you didn't get mine."

At that point we were interrupted. Sokka's feet pounded down the steps on the far end of the long kitchen. He loped down like an excited dog, carrying a bunch of scrolls, with his hair unkempt and untied, and his blue eyes glowing.

"Hey Sokka!" Toph called gleefully.

With his usual animated movements, Sokka froze with one foot raised, the other on the ground, his mouth gaping wide. He was not looking at Toph, but at Suki, who sat in full Kyoshi makeup with a fur coat draped over her shoulders. "S-s-Suki!" he exclaimed, hoarsely.

"Hi Sokka," the warrior answered simply.

Toph noticed that Sokka hadn't returned her greeting. "I'm right here!" she said, frowning.

"Uh—hey Toph," Sokka managed to say. Evidently he was tongue-tied and surprised to see all the visitors, and I felt a pang of regret for not calling him sooner. He had been in his upstairs study all day, working on a new construction sketch. Clumsily, pulled up a chair to the end of the booth and plopped down. Then, resting on his elbow, he grinned over at Suki. "Glad to see me again?" he asked, half proud, half sheepish.

"Glad to see everybody," she shrugged elusively.

"Marshmallows?" Grangran called from the kitchen.

"Yes please!" we all chorused, except me—I was too focused on getting to the point of our conversation. "So, how are things going in the Earth Kingdom?" I asked again. "You'll have to tell us everything. And you too, Aang. What's up in the Fire Nation?"

Aang snapped out of a daydream, frowned, and answered, "Zuko's been dealing with most of the stuff in the Fire Nation. There's a lot of political trouble. It's all so confusing." He glanced over at Toph. "I've mostly been in the Earth Kingdom trying to arbitrate the feuds between the Colonies and the natives."

I drew back, surprised. Aang's words sounded somehow different: more adult, more serious. The word "arbitrate" sounded so grown-up, but then, of course Aang would be spending a lot more time around grown-ups now. "What kind of feuds are there?" I asked, curious.

"Oh, just fights over land and power. The Fire Nation Colonists think they have a fair claim on the land, but the Earth Benders don't agree. Haru has been helping me, but things don't look good. There's still a lot of open fighting going on."

Again I was surprised. Of course I knew that Zuko's rule would be controversial, and that there could be some fighting. But it had been almost a year and a half. Wasn't it time for peace? Then again, a hundred years of living one way couldn't easily be changed in just one year. "Old habits die hard" was a truth I knew all too well.

Grangran placed steaming mugs of hot chocolate before us. It was a rare treat, only possible thanks to the new trade routes allowing us to get tropical products such as cocoa. I sipped the mug. Sipped too much, in fact, and got burned. I reined in my temper with effort, and began bending the cocoa so the air would make it cooler. The delicious brown fluid floated in front of me as a spun it around in little circles. Everyone laughed as I did so, especially Sokka.

"Man," he joked, "the prices for cocoa these days! You can just catch it floating by!" He looked over at Suki, hoping she'd laugh, but the warrior only gave a small smile while Ty Lee, Aang, and Toph chuckled.

Quite suddenly my arm muscles felt floppy and I was forced to drop the liquid I was bending. By great luck it fell into the mug, only a few drops spilled. I looked quickly around to see if anyone had noticed my mistake, a light flush of pink rising to my cheeks. However, the gang was still laughing and joking. I tried to bend the cocoa again, straining in silent effort, but nothing happened. My mind shifted back to the conversation, but the uneasy feeling in my stomach kept me from drinking much the hot drink I'd previously craved for.

Aang spoke with concern about the Earth Kingdom, and hinted that there would be greater fighting still. But his mind didn't seem to be at the table with us. He was deeply thoughtful, and there was something he wasn't saying. He told me this would be a long visit, at least two months, and throughout the time he would have fun and work together. We could go sledding like the first day we met. But still, there was something he wasn't saying, and that annoyed me greatly.

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At the end of the first week, I found Sokka alone and gorging himself on seal blubber jerky. His face was knotted up like an old tree. "What's wrong?" I asked in concern.

"What's wrong? Haven't you noticed? Suki won't talk to me at all! She was just here, and when I tried to get her talking, she called me a jerk!"

"Well, that could have to do with your food choice," I told him jokingly. He wasn't in the mood for jokes, so I stopped. "I bet I know what's wrong. You—"

"Thanks Katara," Sokka interrupted almost sharply. "I know you're trying to help, but I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a man. I can handle this myself."

Affronted, I stuck my nose in the air and tromped away. Although I knew he was right and he didn't need me, I felt it was stupid of him not to let me tell him the obvious truth about Suki. She was clearly upset that Sokka's letters had not come to her. Shaking my head, I retreated to the icy courtyard to see what the others were up to. It was good to have them around again and supervise them.

Zuko came a day later than expected. I was shocked to see him looking so stern and grown-up. He couldn't be over eighteen, and probably wasn't even that old yet, but he looked so mature. His face had hardened, losing the last of his "baby cheeks," and he had grown very noticeably taller. His muscles had always been well-defined with the amount of physical activity he did.

The same was true for Aang. While most boys his age were either puny or rather stocky, Aang was wiry and there was already a lot of definition in his arms. His face was still babyish, with the soft cheeks, and I Imagined his eyes would have that prayerful look no matter how much he grew. Aang's birthday was mid-winter, before the Solstice, so he was now just fourteen years old. During the two months in the South Pole, his voice changed, which embarrassed him a great deal. I was kind to him all throughout, though Sokka and Toph teased him frequently.

Zuko proved not to be much of a talker. He wrote letters back home, and did a lot of helping with the newly opened trade routes and constructions. As far as having fun, there wasn't a lot to do except go penguin sledding and have bending bouts. We spent a lot of time discussing the events in the warmer parts of the world, and on this subject Zuko was most knowledgeable. Otherwise he was quiet, except to offer a few jokes. He was far too tall to go penguin sledding with us, and Sokka was overwhelming the beasts with his lanky body as it was.

I assume Sokka and Suki worked things out, because I caught them talking a great deal at night. When I peeked into heir conversations, a way of supervising them, I heard them talking about education and accomplishments; but mostly about their feelings. Sokka had always been good at assessing things, and that held true for his emotions. He was always aware of the state of his heart, and tried to correct things that needed correction. I once overheard him telling Suki without touch of awkwardness how much he had loved Yue, and how he was ready to put her behind him. After two years? Come on Sokka; she was just a girl!

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As spring came, Zuko grew more and more anxious about returning home. It went without saying that I would stay and lead the tribe with Dad, while everyone else was leaving. Sokka was going to a college in Ba Sing Sey, Zuko, Toph and Aang were going back to the Fire Nation, and Suki was visiting Kyoshi. I felt abandoned, but I knew where my duty was.

But then, two days before he left, Aang changed the course of my life.

With spring, it was just warm enough to sit outside with a small fire between us and heavy coats over our shoulders. Aang and I were eating a wonderful meal, and drinking some tea that Zuko ordered via the new trade route. Once again I felt that exciting tension—Aang had something to tell me, and I didn't think it was bad news.

Bet you didn't know—air bender culture allows marriage at age thirteen. Aang had just turned fourteen, and I was nearly sixteen. Is that a hint enough?

Aang looked up at me with a smile, and his face had that not-quite-right look as if he was trying not to cry. "Katara. I have something to say. Being the Avatar is a huge responsibility, but I don't want to do it alone. Avatar Roku wasn't alone. And you—you've always been there for me."

I blushed, and didn't know what to say. As Aang went on, my heart fluttered and I grew breathless—with nervousness as much as with gratitude.

"You saved me from the iceberg so I could help the world," he said. "When I woke up in your arms, you looked just like an angel to me. And you saved my life again with the spirit water. You're the most caring person I know, and you're beautiful." The young teenager got down on his knees, turned his appealing eyes up at me, and held out a gold ring with the symbols of all four Nations engraved on it.

"Katara, will you marry me?"