Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA... yada... yada... yada...

Chapter 32

Aang woke up bright and early the next morning and headed to the dining room to have breakfast with Hakoda. The two men engaged in small talk throughout the meal, then loaded into a canoe and paddled toward the iceberg near the underwater cavern when they were finished. Aang was dressed a little warmer this morning thanks to remnants of Sokkas wardrobe that he had left behind. They finally reached their destination and secured the canoe then traveled the remaining distance on foot, with Hakoda leading the way and providing tips on where the best moonstones could be found. The entrance to the cavern was rather obscure and Aang would have easily missed it if it hadn't been for Hakoda pointing it out to him.

Aang stripped down to his underwear then prepared to enter the water, his eyes and tattoos began to glow and he dove in. Going into the Avatar State would protect him from hypothermia caused by the frigid water and his luminescence would provide the light needed to see in the nearly total darkness. He wondered how Hakoda managed to survive the freezing temperature of the water and locate the gemstone all of those years ago, perhaps love and sheer determination played a role. He swam fairly deep into the cavern before coming to an area where the gems were glistening in the walls, easily able to hold his breath for long periods of time due to his airbending abilities and the Avatar State. Once again, thinking of his soon to be father-in-law with a great deal more respect and admiration. He stopped along a section of the cavern wall that was particularly abundant with the gems and placed his hands on the wall then closed his eyes and used his earthbending to sense the location of moonstones that might be buried deep in the stone, and within seconds he honed in on one particular gem that was nearly perfect and fairly large. With one strike of his fist the stone fractured and crumbled, then fell to the cavern floor revealing the object he was seeking. A second strike broke the gem free and he collected his prize, then headed back toward the entrance of the cavern. Hakoda gazed into the water watching for any signs of Aang, ready to dive in at the first sign of trouble. Only to find him returning to the surface in a matter of minutes with gem in hand. Aang climbed out of the water and handed the moonstone to Hakoda, then got dressed while Hakoda inspected it.

" This is a spectacular gem Aang, it will make a beautiful necklace. I can't believe you found one of this quality so easily. I guess being The Avatar has it's perks." Hakoda said smiling.

" It does. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for you Hakoda, I truly admire you for being able to retrieve a moonstone without bending or the Avatar state." Aang replied sincerely.

" It wasn't easy, that's for sure. But, it was worth it." Hakoda said smiling softly. " Come on, let's head back before you catch your death of cold." He added.

" I'm for that." Aang said with a chuckle.

The two men walked back to their canoe then headed back to the village. Aang inspected the moonstone and asked Hakoda for tips on how to carve the stone, figuring that his bending skills would be useful in shaping it. He decided that he would carve it in to the shape of a heart, and add the Watertribe and Air Nomad symbols. Perhaps he would embed some diamonds and aquamarine gems or sapphires, too. Spending the rest of the trip back mulling over ideas and designs. He had already decided to weave silk ribbon by hand to hold the gem, remembering the necklace that he made for Katara out of Sokkas fishing line when she had lost her mothers necklace, and smiling softly.

Kataras eyes snapped open as she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and bolted upright in the bed, then jumped up and ran to the bathroom of the cabin. Barely making it before she expelled the remains of last nights supper. She sunk to the floor of the bathroom and blindly stared at the wall as she recalled last nights conversation with Suki, wondering how she could have been so careless. ' I'm pregnant.' She silently scolded herself, not hearing Tenzin enter the bathroom.

" Momma, are you okay?" He said softly, bringing her back to reality.

" Huh? Oh, Tenzin... I didn't hear you come in, I'm fine. Just feeling a little under the weather this morning." She replied smilling softly.

" Oh, okay." He said rubbing his eyes sleepily.

" Why don't you go pick out something to wear, then we'll get dressed and go have breakfast. We should be home within a few hours." She said smililng.

" Okay." He replied, then left the bathroom.

Katara stood up and gazed at her reflection in the mirror, turning sideways to see if her abdomen showed any signs of the child growing in her womb. Then realized that she couldn't possibly be more than a few weeks pregnant, and wouldn't appear any different at this stage. ' How am I going to tell Aang?' She thought as her brow furrowed, deciding that she would wait until she felt the time was right, and upset that she would be having yet another child that would be considered illegitimate by her people. She rinsed her mouth, then joined Tenzin in the other room to get ready for breakfast.

A large, surly looking man with a scarred face and weathered skin entered the boiler room of the ship and headed toward the boisterous sounds coming from the back of the room. Finding a group of rather intoxicated men of questionable reputation seated around a table laden with empty bottles, gambling on a game of cards.

" Have you idiots been up all night?" Captain Hachiro, the leader of this druken bunch of pirates asked irritated.

" Yep. Mornin' boss." A man named Jinhai replied drunkenly.

" We're gonna be to Kyoshi soon, so get your drunk asses up and clean up this mess!" Hachiro said angrily.

The men folded their cards and began to do as they were told, grumbling to themselves.

" We're going to have to find another way to come up with some cash, we don't have near enough to buy a ship. And without the chaos of the war, aquiring one by less honorable means is next to impossible these days. We have our beloved Avatar to thank for that." Hachiro said sarcastically.

" We could always kidnap The Avatars kid and hold him for ransom." A man named Kazuo said chuckling.

" Yeah, right!" A man named Nianzu said laughing.

" I could have snatched the little bugger easy last night while I was swabbin' the deck!" A man named Renshu said with a wide toothless grin, and the others laughed uproariously.

" Huh? What are you talking about?" Hachiro asked.

" The Avatars kid, he was on deck with his uncle last night when I was swabbin' it." Renshu replied.

" You mean the rumors are true? The Avatar really does have a kid, and he's on this ship?" Hachiro queried.

" Yep." Renshu said.

" How do you know he was The Avatars kid?" Hachiro asked cocking an eyebrow.

" I overheard um talkin'. He asked his uncle why his daddy couldn't come with um and his uncle said 'cause he's The Avatar and had Avatar stuff to attend to." Renshu replied.

" Really? Interesting... And you say The Avatar isn't with them?" Hachiro asked intrigued.

" Nope. Just him, his uncle, aunt, and their kid... and his mom." Renshu said.

" His mother... she's the waterbender that helped The Avatar end the war, isn't she?" Hachiro asked.

" I think so... I know his uncle ain't no bender though." Renshu said.

" No, he's not. Quite skilled with a sword though, if I recall. And his wife... she's a Kyoshi Warrior." Hachiro said rubbing his beard, deep in thought.

" You're not seriously thinkin' about kidnappin' the kid... are ya boss?" Kazuo said. " I was just kiddin'." He added.

" Hmmm... maybe. The idea does have it's appeal." Hachiro replied grinning.

" But, boss... his mom's a master waterbender, not to mention the fact that his dad's The Avatar!" Nianzu exclaimed.

" All the more reason, Nianzu. We could score some cash, and get even with his parents for ruining our lucrative careers by ending the war." Hachiro said. " This whole law and order crap is for the birds." He added.

" But... but... he's The Avatar!" Nianzu said nervously.

" And... he's not around at the moment, it's the perfect time." Hachiro replied. " We'll have to plan, of course, and wait 'til we get to Kyoshi Island since we presently have no means for escape." He added.

" I don't know boss, this sounds like a bad idea to me." Jinhai said.

" No one asked you, and I'm the boss. Now get this mess cleaned up, then meet me in my cabin to discuss the details!" Hachiro said angrily.

" Yes sir!" The men shouted simultaneously, then rushed to clean up their mess.

Aang went straight to his room when they returned and started working on the betrothal necklace right away. He had stopped in the village to purchase the ribbon for the necklace on the way back, but would leave that for last. He focused on shaping the gem into a perfect heart shape, finding that carving and shaping it by hand with the tools Hakoda provided actually worked much better than using his bending skills since he had never tried to use them for such fine detail before, and was rather inept at it.

Several hours later the moonstone was finally beginning to take shape. He had chipped away the excess material to form the heart, and only needed to smooth and polish it now. He called for the servants to serve his meals in his room for the day, not wanting to waste any time. This was harder than he thought it was going to be, and he was afraid that he had severely underestimated the amount of time it would take to complete the necklace. He would have to leave at the end of the week whether he had finished it or not, not wanting Katara and Tenzin to have to wait any longer for his return.

After a short break for lunch, he resumed working on the necklace and worked late into the night. Stopping only when his eyes were no longer able to focus and he could barely keep them open. Hakoda had checked on his progress periodically throughout the day and occasionally gave him advice, but kept the visits brief to prevent too many distractions and interruptions, which Aang appreciated. Unable to stay awake any longer, he finally crawled into bed and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The ship arrived at Kyoshi Island by mid afternoon and everyone disembarked. Katara, Tenzin, Sokka, Suki and Kya were eager to get home, and wasted no time getting there. But, unfortunately, they had failed to notice that they were being followed and someone was watching their every move from the shadows.

Everyone was so exhausted by the time they reached the house that they didn't even bother to unpack. Katara and Suki laid the children down for a nap, while Sokka went in to the village to announce their return and purchase a few supplies. He was a respected member of the council on Kyoshi Island, so he needed to stop by the council chambers to retrieve updates on the current affairs on the island, as well. He was most likely well on his way to being the next council leader, and quite possibly the next chief of Kyoshi Island.

While the children slept the girls upacked their things and put them away, then started preparing supper when they were done. Tenzin woke up from his nap and wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching the women cook and becoming quite bored.

" Momma, can I go outside and play for a while?" He asked.

" I suppose so, but stay out back where I can see you. Supper will be ready soon." Katara replied smiling.

" Okay!" He shouted happily on his way out the door.

Katara resumed what she was doing, stopping every once-in-a-while to peer out the window to check on Tenzin. She chuckled lightly as she watched him chase a baby kangaroo-cat around the yard, giggling with glee.

Tenzin chased the kangaroo-kitten until it scampered up a tree and perched on one of the highest limbs, then stood at the base of the tree trying to coax it to come down. When suddenly a filthy hand covered his mouth from behind and he was swept off his feet. He struggled violently against his unknown attacker, but was unable to free himself or scream for help. " Keep quiet and stop fightin' and you won't get hurt." He heard a gruff voice say quietly in his ear and he did as he was told, the tears streaming down his face as he prayed for his mother to rescue him.

Sokka stepped on to the front porch and started to open the front door when he caught a glimpse of something or someone out of the corner of his eye, lurking in the bushes on the west side of the house. Slowly he lowered the bags he was carrying and quietly placed them on the porch, then assumed a crouching position to avoid being seen as he removed his boomerang from its leather sheath. Silently and stealthily he made his way to the west side of the house and then toward the back when he wasn't able to find the prowler in the bushes where he had initially seen him. Peering around the corner of the house toward the back he spotted two men sneaking out of the yard and one of them was carrying a bundle or something. No, someone!

" Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shouted then sprung into action, quickly launching his boomerang at the man next to the abductor clocking him in the back of the head and knocking him out cold. Then, as he regained his posture he was suddenly overwhelmed by an sharp, burning pain to the back of his head and everything faded to black as he slumped to the ground.

That was all the distraction Tenzin needed and he clamped his teeth down hard on the hand covering his mouth, causing his abductor to release his hold on him.

" Ow! Why you little..." Kazuo exclaimed as he withdrew his hand.

Tenzin dropped to the ground then quickly righted himself with airbending, forming an airscooter and zipping away from his attacker at a high rate of speed. Only to colloid with another man, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

" Get 'em!" Hachiro shouted, as the remaining men dashed toward them.

Tenzin jumped to his feet and quickly took his stance and launched a fierce blast of wind at the oncoming men, knocking them off their feet. Then continued his attack on each one of them as they tried to stand up, while he dodged the man he had collided with.

Katara heard a commotion in the back yard and ran to the window, then rushed out the back door when she realized that her son was under attack, with Suki close behind.

" Katara, what's going on?" Suki shouted as she raced after her friend.

" Someone's attacking Tenzin!" Katara shouted as she ran in to the back yard. Suddenly realizing that she didn't have her waterskin, her eyes quickly searched the yard looking for any water she could find while Suki launched an attack on the first assailant she came to. Finally locating a wooden pail that she used to water the flowers, Katara streamed the water out of the bucket and quickly launched a waterwhip at the man chasing her son but was knocked down by one of the other men, missing her mark, and the water crashed down on the ground next to him.

Tenzin was rapidly firing air blasts at multiple attackers when he heard water crashing down behind him and spun around toward the sound, only to see one of the men lunging directly at him. In a split second reaction he quickly swept his hand toward the ground then in the direction of his attacker, launching the pooled water off the ground at the man in a forceful wave that knocked him off his feet and slammed him face first into the ground.

Katara laid stunned on the ground as she watched her son waterbend and knock his attacker out cold. She couldn't believe her eyes. ' Did he just... no way... that's impossible!' She thought as she watched him resume his airbending assault until he and Suki had all of them laying unconscious on the ground. Suki raced to her husbands side as he started to stir.

" Momma! Are you okay?" Tenzin exclaimed with terror in his eyes as he raced to his mothers side.

" I'm fine, sweetie. Are you okay?" Katara asked when he reached her.

" I'm okay." He said out of breath, while his mother got to her feet.

" Tenzin, I saw you waterbend! How did you do that?" Katara exclaimed incredulously, still unable to wrap her head around it.

" I don't know, momma. I got scared and it just happened." He said shrugging his shoulders, not really understanding the significance of what he had done.

Suki and a slightly groggy Sokka approached them as they spoke, neither of them having witnessed Tenzins amazing feat.

" Are you guys alright?" Sokka asked.

" We're fine, Sokka. How about you?" Katara asked her brother with concern.

" I'm okay." Sokka replied.

" I'm going to get help before these guys come to." Suki said, then she quickly ran toward the nearest neighbors house.

" Good idea." Sokka said as his wife left them to get help.

" Who are these guys, Sokka? And what did they want with Tenzin?" Katara asked as she surveyed the attackers laying on the ground.

" I'm not for sure, but I think some of these guys were the pirates we ran in to a few years ago. The ones you stole the waterbending scroll from." Sokka said. " And as for what they wanted with Tenzin... I don't know. Revenge against you or Aang, maybe. Or maybe they wanted to ransom him for money or something, who knows." He added shrugging his shoulders.

" We need to send a hawk to the Fire Nation to tell Aang what happened. He'd want to know about this." Katara said.

" Ummm... yeah... sure... I'll do that once we get these guys locked up." Sokka said nervously, hoping his sister didn't notice his sudden apprehension.

Tenzin trotted across the yard then returned with something in his hand. " Here, Unca Sokka." He said as he handed his uncle his boomerang.

" Boomerang! Thanks, little buddy!" Sokka exclaimed with delight, taking his cherished boomerang from the boys hand then holding it close to his heart.

" You're welcome." Tenzin said smiling brightly.

" Sokka... Tenzin used waterbending to take out one of those men." Katara said in a serious tone.

" Say what? That's impossible!" Sokka said in disbelief. " Are you sure? Maybe it just looked like he did." He added.

" I'm sure, Sokka. I saw him do it." Katara said.

" Katara, that's impossible. No one has ever been able to bend more than one element before, except The Avatar... ever." Sokka replied.

" I'm telling you, Sokka. Tenzin can waterbend... I saw it. And he knows he did it." Katara said vehemently.

" How can he? It's just not possible, Katara." Sokka said with determination.

" Yes it is." Katara argued.

" Is not." Sokka retorted.

" I did it, Unca Sokka. I don't know how... it just happened 'cause I got scared." Tenzin interjected, silencing the siblings.

" Tenzin... Are you one-hundred percent sure?" Sokka asked.

Tenzin just nodded in reply, and Sokka stared at him dumbfounded for several minutes.

" I don't understand... how is that possible?" Sokka mumbled to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.

" I don't understand how it's possible either, Sokka... but it is. Tenzin can bend two elements." Katara said.

Just then, Suki returned with their neighbors and the Kyoshi Warriors and they bound the hands and feet of the unconscious men on the ground with rope. Then loaded them in to an ostrich-horse drawn wagon to be transported to the local prison.