Avatar the Last Airbender

Pillow Talk, Chapter 13: Time's Lament

The winter season was perhaps Katara's favorite time of year, bringing the blustery winds and freezing climates that brought forth memories of her home in the Southern Water Tribe. There were times when she desperately missed her home, and the seasonably blistering temperatures helped ease her apprehensive mind and homesick heart.

Of course, the real reason she had come to love this time of year was because it legitimized her an unnecessary excuse to snuggle closer to the warm body of her beloved Aang. Not that she needed a reason, the two found any and every excuse and opportunity to cuddle in each other's arms. For the years since the war, their relationship had evolved from cautious flirtations to all-consuming love, and both Aang and Katara could not imagine that there were any two people on the planet who had ever shared a love as deeply defining as theirs.

Thinking of such simple pleasures; a tigerlily blossom on their anniversary, a lingering touch or meaningful look in a crowded room, those long, hungry kisses that erupted along every nerve of her body and made her want to love him with every fiber of her being. Those small moments of their lives were what defined her love for the Avatar, and they brought a smile of deep satisfaction to her lips whenever those memories danced across her heart.

And thus she found herself, on this plush feather mattress as she snuggled further beneath the blankets, her hand moving to where her lover lay, only to have her hand settle against the empty space. Startled awake by the missing form of her partner, Katara's eyes opened in bleary confusion as she craned her neck to look around the interior of their bedchamber before calling out in a weary voice, "Aang?…"

There was no answer, and confusion gave way to apprehension as she pulled the covers from herself and stood to find her missing lover. Wrapping a dressing robe around her waist as she shuffled down the hallway, Katara called his name a few more times with no answer before hearing what sounded like screaming echoing from the terrace, causing a chill to course its way down the length of Katara's spine. Apprehension giving way to unshakable fear, the young waterbender rushed with abandon as she at last threw open the doors to the courtyard, coming to a sudden stop as Aang's body was illuminated in the Avatar state, his face turned towards the shimmering moon that remained watchful in the evening sky.

"KOH!" Aang screamed, his voice echoing in reverberation from the thousand lifetimes that had come before. "I know you can hear me Koh! Give her back to me, do you hear? Give HER BACK!"

The scene was confusing enough for Katara without wondering who or what Aang was calling for, and she took a step forward, her foot sounding loudly against the stone floor. Hearing her approach, Aang turned his sinisterly glowing eyes upon her, bringing a trembling sense of fear as looked into the eternally endless lifetime that reflected there within. "You were not supposed to see this," the overlapping voice spoke, his face nearly scowling in frustration at being discovered.

Katara was not at all afraid of Aang however, even in his Avatar state, she was the only one who could talk him down, the only one he'd never harm. What brought her instincts to warn her of the figure before her was the sense that something was unnaturally wrong with the young man. "A-Aang?" She asked hesitantly, hoping that she could again bring him back to her. However his words came crashing down upon her in shattering resolution.

"No, I am not your Aang," the voice spoke as he turned back to gaze at the moon, his attention seemingly divided between his earlier angry outbursts and the young woman standing before him, asking for her lover. "I am Avatar Kuruk."

She knew the name; any waterbender would recognize the name of the last Avatar of the Northern Water Tribe. However, rather than feeling humbled to be in his presence, the man who was an inspiration for waterbenders the world over, she felt a deep resentment at his uninvited intrusion into her life, and the life of Aang. "Why are you here Kuruk? What have you done with Aang?"

"Your Avatar is safe. He merely sleeps within this form," he stated briefly before turning to face her once more. "As to why I am here, I am in need of his services."

Something about the statement did not seem right. If Kuruk needed Aang's help, why not ask him directly or come in a vision, why inhabit his body? But therein was the source of Katara's confusion. She had witnessed both Roku and Kyoshi called forth from the past, their spirits overwriting Aang's and taking their own physical form when doing so. Kuruk however, remained in the body of Aang, only his mind seemed to supercede him. In both previous occurrences, Aang had willingly accepted their assistance, enabling them to take their physical form, but not this time, which meant…

"You've kidnapped him!" She said angrily, approaching the glowing form of her lover who was presently possessed by the spirit of his past life. Had she not been so terrified what might happen to him, Katara might have found the situation ironic. "Give. Him. Back."

"I cannot," Kuruk said simply, his eyes again turning towards the moon and drawing Katara's attention to it as well. "You know what this day is, don't you?"

"The Winter Solstice."

"Yes, the day when the boundary between the spirit realm and the mortal realm is at its weakest. It has been many centuries since a Winter Solstice has fallen on the day of the full moon, meaning my power has never been so encompassing."

"Which is how you managed to take control of Aang's body," Katara whispered as she turned her eyes back to the foreign spirit in the familiar body. "I don't care about any of that, give him back to me now!" As if to further make her point, Katara drew upon her powers, summoning the frozen water from the snow and ice and calling it to herself.

Kuruk seemed only mildly amused however as he waved his hand, causing the water to freeze against her arms. "You would fight me little sister. You really don't know what you're dealing with."

"I may not know who you are, but I know Aang is still in there, and he would never hurt me."

The statement caused Kuruk to deflate only slightly as he bowed his head, the ice encasing Katara's arms melting off her and sloshing against the cobbled floor. "You are right, Katara, Aang does love you, more than you can realize. His love for you is so strong that it has sent ripples through all the past lives of the Avatar's so that we each have experienced it. There has only ever been one love as devoted as his for you, and that is mine…for my wife Ummi.

"That is why I am in need of his body, so that I may at last face Koh and release her from her torment." Kuruk said, his anger abating, as he seemed to emotionally crumble at the mention of his wife. "Three Avatars have come after me. That is three lives of new techniques and wisdom. With that, I can free her, I know it."

"And what happens to Aang?" Katara asked bitterly. She could not deny she did not feel pity for Kuruk's troubles, but the thought of losing her beloved airbender sent a quiver of fear racing through her veins. She would not lose him, and she would steel herself against the will of this arrogant Avatar if need be to ensure he was returned to her.

"If all goes well, nothing needs to happen to him. He will be returned safely back to you."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then the Avatar will be reborn into the next cycle as is the way of the spirit."

"I won't let you do that," she said simply, and though her words were bitter, she struggled to see the man who inhabited the body of her Aang. She would not lose him, not to his past lives, not to anyone. If Kuruk so wanted to reclaim his wife from the Face Stealer, then he could do so without Aang. This was not his destiny.

"You can't stop me," Kuruk replied simply, his voice sounding eerily ethereal in the Avatar state. But as he turned, preparing to leave, he did not expect to feel the lithe form of the waterbender crash against him, her fists pounding against his back as hot, angry tears spilled from her eyes.

"Give him back to me, please…" she begged, her voice hitching under the crushing weight that this man, this former Avatar would steal away with the body and spirit of the man she loved, taking with it her heart, her soul and her reason for living. She couldn't bear the thought of it, and if she knew she could not fight him into submission, perhaps she could reason with him. He had to be a good man once. "You can't take him me. I need him." The words were barely audible beneath the crippling sobs that ravaged the young woman as she clung ever so tightly to the folds of Aang's robes.

"And I need my wife," Kuruk replied simply, his words hollow and empty, as though that admission had drained him of all resolve, leaving him a husk of what he once was. "For more than 400 years I have sought a way to free her. Would you deny me that?"

"Would you?" Katara practically screamed, her eyes bleeding tears as she turned her desperate face to the glowing eyes. "I'm sorry about Ummi, I truly am. Koh had no right to steal your wife from you. But you have no right to take Aang from me…"

"You can't possibly know what it's like…"

"Yes I can. Because you're making me live it right now," Katara wept, her knees buckling slightly as she lowered herself to the deck, her fingers still clutching the hemline of Aang's robe. She was suffocating, she was drowning in her own fears that this man, this former Avatar would simply vanish, taking Aang with him and she'd never see him again. "Please don't do this…I beg you, let him go."

For several moments that seemed to stretch hours, the two stayed as they were, with Katara kneeling in the dirt and whispering pleas of mercy that Kuruk would release Aang and leave them alone while the former Avatar remained unnaturally quiet. Finally, Katara felt a pair of strong hands grip her shoulders and lift her unsteadily to her feet. Despite the luminous glow of the Avatar's eyes, there seemed to be a sadness that settled within his posture.

"I hope he knows how lucky he is to have you," Kuruk said, in final resolution before closing his eyes. "You must promise me that you will never take him for granted. Do not fall victim to my folly. Celebrate my love for Ummi through each other. That is all I ask."

"Wh-what are you?…" Katara began, however she never finished the question as the illuminating tattoos and shining eyes of the Avatar spirit slowly faded, returning Aang to himself as he swayed on his feet and collapsed painfully to his knees.

"Uh…" Aang moaned quietly as Katara fell to her knees beside him, squeezing him tightly around the neck as her moist cheeks brushed against his chilled skin. "Katara? What am I doing out here on the patio? And…are you crying. What's wrong Katara, what is it?"

She didn't respond though, she couldn't. Her words had fallen silent. Instead she pressed her lips against, repeatedly kissing him his face until her lips had touched every available patch of skin. "I love you," she spoke simply, the all-consuming fear that she had nearly lost him had become nearly a tangible force as she buried her face into the crook of his neck and let the tears of both panic and relief pour from her. "I love you so much Aang, I just…I…" Her words had petered off against the hitching tears that had caused her body to shake with emotions too powerful to contain.

At a loss as to what this was all about and feeling he had missed something dramatically important; Aang could only tighten his arms around his lovely sifu and whisper reassuring words and promises that everything would be okay. And all the while, the moon stared sadly down at the scene between these two young lovers and moved along its steady course.

A/N: I'm not really sure what motivated this story, but it just kind of attached itself to my brain and wouldn't let go. It did take me a while to find Kuruk's wife's name, but I guess I'm kind of happy about the way this turned out.

Anyway, as always, reviews are welcomed, encouraged and appreciated. Thank you.