Kat: Slow chapter, sorry, but kinda sweet. Unfortunately, no Matokka in this chapter, but the chapter will explain why he doesn't make an appearance...sort of. And Katalana gets a little down on herself too, so maybe it's not a good idea to read this chapter when you're feeling down yourself, so...idk. Just a thought. Anyway, I really didn't think I'd finish editing this chapter today, even with it being a 3-day Easter Weekend and all, so I'm pretty happy that it all worked out! Praise the Lord! He is risen! :D 3

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"Katalana! You okay?" Korra's muffled voice sounded through our bedroom door. "Stupid question, I can feel your sadness. Come on, let me in." I smiled through my tears. Korra had always been tough – on the inside and out – but she cared. With my head still tucked between my legs, I flicked my index finger, causing the metal door to whoosh open. "Show off," she muttered as she came in and sat down next to me on the bed. "Hey, what happened?"

I raised my head, resting my chin on my knees and tilting my head so I could peer at her. "We're leaving."

To get more comfortable she leaned back against my headboard, pulled her legs up onto the quilt, and pressed her feet against my side. "So? You were ecstatic when they told us. We both were." Frowning, she shifted the pillow behind her so that her shoulder blades weren't digging into the wood at her back. "We can finally learn airbending together! Isn't that what you want?"

"Well yes, but-" I hesitated. I couldn't bring myself to say the words aloud. How could I tell her that that wasn't all I wanted? That maybe...it wasn't enough?

I sensed rather than saw that Korra wasn't angry. Merely concerned. "But...what?" she asked gently. "What's changed since the party?"

"You couldn't feel it?"

"Sure, but, I could only feel your emotions. You didn't let me see what was happening, nor did I want to invade your privacy," she explained, slightly embarrassed. "So...what changed?"

"This. This changed." I sat up taller and lowered my shawl, revealing the small, handmade necklace that Matokka had given me. Korra's eyes widened with understanding. "He proposed, Korra."

Her lips moved ever so slightly, and although I couldn't hear her voice, her thoughts were soft but clear. "So I was right..."

"You knew?" I asked, hurt that she hadn't said anything. "Is this what you refused to tell me about earlier?"

"Um...sort of." Her voice took on a low tone, almost solemn. "I didn't know exactly what he had in mind, but I had a feeling that he was going to do something special for you. I mean, dressing up to meet you after the party... Taking you somewhere alone to talk... Being so secretive about everything... What did you think he was going to do?"

Her question was met with an unconvincing answer, an answer that I wasn't even sure I believed. "I don't know. It's not like this is the first time he's done anything out of the ordinary. I still can't believe you didn't say anything."

I saw Korra frown again, and her eyebrows knitted together in regret. "Well, knowing what you do now...would you have wanted me to?"

Sighing, I thought about her question. On one hand, I would have liked for her to trust me enough with her hunches, but on the other hand...she was right when she said that telling me would only ruin everything. Telling me would have spoiled Matokka's surprise, and I might have disappointed him with my answer. "No, I guess not." I sighed again and leaned back against the wall, then groaned dramatically. "Why must things be so complicated?"

Korra snorted, bemused by my complaint. "Your guess is as good as mine."

I remained in place, but I turned my head to give her a sidelong glare. "You're a huge help."

"I try," she said with a shrug. Then, smiling mischievously, she yanked another pillow out from under her and whacked me across the face with it.

"Hey! What was that for?!" I scoffed, only slightly annoyed, as I tucked my newly frizzled hairs back behind my ear.

"To get you" -she snacked me again- "out of your own thoughts" -and again- "for a while!"

She raised the pillow to slug me again, but I caught it and yanked it out of her grasp before she got the chance. I waited a few seconds for her to settle down, then swiftly thumped her with it once before hugging it between my chest and my knees, guarding it from her devious clutches.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that," she admitted.

Giving her a grateful grimace, I explained, "Thanks, Korra, for trying to cheer me up, but" -I laid my head back down- "I'm not exactly in the mood. I need to be thinking. Sure, it's painful, but it gives me something to do. It's better than crying."

"True." She shifted positions again by scooting towards me, turning her back to the wall, and crossing her legs like a pretzel. For a minute she stared down at her feet in thought, her lips scrunched into a lopsided frown that made her look as though some foul taste had crawled across her tongue. "So...what are you going to do?"

A loose thread on my quilt grew suddenly interesting to me, and I fiddled with it as I gave her the unsatisfactory answer I had been giving myself all night. "What can I do? I have to go with you. You're my sister! I can't let you travel halfway around the world without me!"

"Sure you could!" she exclaimed, bolting upright in her enthusiasm.

For a second I wondered what she meant by that. "Is that supposed to be encouraging or insulting?"

"Encouraging, if you can believe it."

"Really? 'Cause it almost sounds like you're trying to get rid of me," I said in mock suspicion.

"Ha, now would I do that?"

"In a heartbeat."

Korra sucked in a deep breath through her teeth. "Ouch."

I shot her a look. "You know I was just teas-"

She cut me off with a playful eye roll. Then she got up on her knees like she was in some position of power, which forced me to look up so I could see her and really listen to what she had to say. "Okay look, let's say you stayed here. After I left, I would know that you'd be supporting me in spirit, even if you couldn't physically be in Republic City. (I'll know because I can read your thoughts.) And I can find someone else to teach me earthbending. There are plenty of other masters out there."

Pressing my knees closer to my chest, I mumbled, "That's just what Matokka said."

A huff from Korra woke me from my memories. "Katalana, I may be your sister, but you are my sister too, and I won't let you be miserable in Republic City with me when you could be happy here with Matokka!"

Stubbornly, I shook my head. "Korra, no. I am going with you. Don't try to argue because my mind is made up." I shook my head again and stared blankly down at the bed, my fingers fiddling idly with that loose thread in the quilt again. "I'm just upset because I don't know when I'll see him again. It could be years before we're together again – I just don't know. He proposed, Korra. He was crushed when I had to turn him down – after I had already told him that I wanted to marry him. And I really, really want to. More than anything."

For a moment, my mind wandered. I wasn't sure if it was really a vision of the future, or just my imagination, but either way, it was wonderful to think about. There were images of Matokka and I together, newly married, bright-eyed and smiling wide as we embarked on another adventure up to Paku Peak. Images of us years later, serious, yet overjoyed as we cradled our first child. Images of us nearing our end, solemn and sweet as we held hands on one last walk along our frozen shores.

Then the images were gone.

Vanished.

Never to be.

Tired and stressed and angry, I pressed my hands tight over my ears, as if doing so would somehow block out those depressing thoughts. "I wish you could have seen his face when I said yes..." I said softly, smiling, as I recalled his shining face. "He was so happy. I was happy. But once I told him about Republic City...everything changed. I feel like accepting only made things worse for him when I remembered the party."

"No," Korra said, shaking her head. "Even if I wasn't there, I know that you were honest with everything you said to him. Had you remembered the party sooner and told him 'no' from the start, he would have thought that you didn't feel the same way he did by your own choice, not because of some circumstance interfering with your decision. No, I believe things worked out the way they did because that was the way they were meant to work out."

"I appreciate you saying that, but I still feel guilty. I only got his hopes up to cut them down again." I was quiet for a minute, thinking, then I kicked the side of my bed in a sudden burst of anger. "Ugh! I hate this! I wanted so badly to say yes, to be able to say yes... Just think about it: Matokka and I as a married couple! Who would have thought? After all these years..." I sighed and collapsed back onto the bed. With one hand I rubbed my eyes, and with the other, my fingers traced the ribbon around my neck. "I guess I was pretty thoughtless when I accepted in the first place, huh? I should have known that we wouldn't stay here forever. I should have known that you're the Avatar and that you'd have to leave and save the world at some point. And I should have known that I wouldn't let you do any of that without me. Ugh! Why am I so stupid?"

"Okay, first of all, you are not stupid. And secondly, come on! This isn't the end of the world! You can still write to him if you decide to come with me. And it's not like we'll be confined to Air Temple Island or anything so you can still visit him at any time, or he could visit you."

"Long distance relationships never work out, you know that."

"True, for normal people. Do you think there's anything normal about us, Katalana? You're an Earthbender from the the Southern Water Tribe. The very first! Plus, you're the twin of the Avatar! How many Avatars had a twin? Or any siblings for that matter! Together we know four elements: water, fire, earth, and metal (if you count that as its own element). We can bend four elements; I'm sure we can bend the rules of love!"

Once I started laughing I could hardly stop. I even had to sit up in order to take in more air to laugh. "The 'rules of love'? Really, Korra?"

She held her palms up as if to apologize, shrugged, then quipped, "Hey, I make it up as I go along!"

I shook my head, still laughing on the outside, but still saddened on the inside. "I still worry, though. Even if Matokka and I keep touch, do you really think things would be the same when we return?"

"Well, honestly, I don't really know. Friendships can last over any distance, for any length of time, but I've never heard anyone say whether or not that friendship changed." Her grimace tipped up into a sly grin, and she shoved my shoulder with hers. "But I believe you two could manage. You and Matokka are two of the most stubborn people I know – and the most caring. You two care too much to stop talking to each other."

"But what if-"

"Oh good grief, Katalana!" Korra exclaimed, getting a little exasperated at my constant worry. "Enough of the 'what ifs'! Get a hold of yourself! Look, I'm only saying this because I love ya', but really, what's the worst that could happen? What, is he gonna find another girl?"

My eyes widened. That was one of the few 'what ifs' that hadn't crossed my mind.

Instantly Korra glared at me. "You really think he would do that to you? After everything you two have been through?" Despite her need to scold me for my lack of trust, she chuckled a bit. "Come on, do you really think you have much competition down here anyway? I'm sure he will have more competition once we move to the city!"

"I would never-"

"Would he?"

"Well no! But-"

"Then what's the problem?!"

"I don't know, but-"

"Enough 'buts'! Katalana, if you keep this up I'm not even going to allow you come with me!" she threatened. Thank goodness she was only half-kidding.

Still, my heart remained heavy in my chest. And I turned my head from Korra to face the wall across the room. Korra remained still, continuing to look at me like I was some lost lizard-puppy, while I sat immersed in thought. I want to go, I really do, but I equally want to stay. Why can't it be possible to do both? To both travel the world with Korra and remain here with Matokka? How can there be no way around this?

"But...maybe there is!" Korra interrupted aloud.

Only slightly annoyed, I faced Korra again. "It's not polite to eavesdrop." She gave me a look as if to say she didn't care and just wanted to share her idea. "Oh alright," I huffed. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, maybe you can have both."

"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that."

Her face again contorted into a jokingly annoyed expression. "You didn't let me finish!" She relaxed, but remained sitting upright so she could focus her attention solely on me. For a minute she hesitated, suddenly unsure of her plan, but she relayed it to me anyway. "Now, don't think I'm crazy and don't shoot me down right away, okay? This is just a thought. You don't have to go through with it, and neither does he."

"Where are you going with this?" I wondered, suspicious.

"Well... What if...what if you and Matokka get married before we leave?"

"You mean...plan and hold a wedding within the next two days? Are you serious?"

She nodded slowly. I let out a surprised breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding, placing a hand on my head as I leaned back against the wall. "You're crazy."

Her head fell for a second before she looked back up at me, a tired smile on her face. "Now how did I know you were going to say that?" She paused, collecting her thoughts again. "So what do you think?"

"Obviously, I think you're crazy! Why would I marry someone and leave the next day? That would only hurt us both all the more."

Korra shook her head and put her hands on my shoulders excitedly. "That's the beauty of it! You're thinking about this all the wrong way! If you two got married now, then maybe – just maybe – Matokka could come with us!"

"What?!"

"Sure! You could do it! If you two are married, then you shouldn't be separated. If that was the case, then it would make sense to either have you stay here with him, or for him to come with us! Of course we have to leave, but no one has ever said he has to remain here!"

"Well...I don't know. I hadn't really thought about that before."

"Naturally, but still, wouldn't it make sense? The only reason you don't want to leave is because you would leave Matokka behind. If he comes with us – problem solved!"

"Maybe... Do you think he would go for it?"

"You know that I know that you would know the answer to that question better than I would." She paused for us both to laugh. "But seriously though, I believe he would do it if it meant he could be with you."

I sighed, satisfied with her answer, but then another doubt crossed my mind. "What about his mother? She's already lost her husband, I'm not sure she could stand losing her son too."

"Maybe not, but don't you think she would be at ease knowing that he would be happy? And safe? You know there's no safer place on earth than here in this compound and there on Air Temple Island."

"True..."

"And...I doubt that she would want what happened to her to happen to you. To be separated from the one you love..."

"I guess so..."

"So, now that you get it...what do you think?"

"Normally I would say you are crazy – which I still believe, by the way – but considering our situation...I might actually ask him. This definitely sounds better to any of the alternatives."

Korra shook her head like she was a protective, much older sister. "What would you ever do without me?"

With one final eye-roll, I flashed her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Korra. You always have the right thing to say."

"'T's what I'm here for!" She hopped off the bed and stood to face me, her hands on her hips, resuming her mother-figure role. "Now hurry and get cleaned up; let's go and celebrate what's left of our birthday."

"Alright. See you in a few."

"See you in a few."

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"Morning Mom, Dad." I yawned as I joined my family at the kitchen table the next morning. As I settled onto one of the many cushions at the table, I gazed around at my family. My whole family. My father, sitting tall, his strong chin held high, cerulean eyes proud. My mother, shoulders slightly slumped as if she was half-asleep, hair pulled into two loose braids, each wrapped in crisscrossed leather straps, her cyan eyes shimmering in the early morning light. It was a comfort to have them there, even for just one night. Our igloo was only a few miles away, but they often worried about walking home so late.

Senna's lips turned up into a tired smile as I sat down. "Good morning, Katalana. Did you sleep well?"

I fiddled with a clean spoon that had been left out for me, turning it over in my hands and peering sadly at my distorted reflection in the scoop. "Honestly? Not really."

"Any particular reason why?" she asked. Her motherly senses suddenly kicked in, causing her to be overly concerned for my well-being.

For a moment I wondered if I should have told her about the previous night's events. I was aching to, really, but I also wondered if I should relay our plan right then or wait until I asked Matokka. "I-I'm just anxious about leaving."

It wasn't a lie. I was nervous about leaving.

Hearing my answer seemed to settle her a bit, and her shoulders relaxed as she gave me a warm smile. "We know you are honey, but you will be fine. You and Korra will be well taken care of. Tenzin is a good teacher and a great friend."

"I know, but that's not what I'm afraid of." Oh boy...should I tell them first? Or should I ask Matokka first? Well...I guess I should ask him first, seeing as if he refuses, then the idea would be rather pointless. My stomach churned as I thought about how to ask him. Would he even go for it? It was so hard to tell... But how do I explain this to my parents in a way they'll understand?

"It's just...Republic City is going to be so...different. New sights and sounds, new tastes and smells – and I am looking forward to that – but there is quite a bit of loss in that too." Idly I tapped the end of the spoon against the table, thinking, as I listened to the soft staccato clicks it made when coming in contact with the wood. "There won't be any igloos, or mountains, or thick heavy snow... Nor will either of you be there..." Or possibly my best friend, I added silently as I rubbed my thumb longingly over the small stone around my neck. I hadn't taken it off before going to sleep, not wanting to let go of the memories it carried. The stone itself seemed to fit so perfectly between my collar bones. Even if it was made specifically for me, it felt as though it was truly meant to be there. That thought had brought the question to mind as to how Matokka cut the silk and carved the stone so accurately, but he wouldn't have told me even if I asked.

My parents exchanged looks of concern while Korra leaned back in her seat leisurely and pointed an instructive finger at me. "Hey, remember what we talked about."

Slightly irked by her nagging, but grateful for her reminding me about her plan, I simply puffed up my cheeks with air before releasing it like a popped bubble. The air scattered about the room; the brunt of it flew towards Korra, causing a quick swish from the twin ponytails framing her face. "I remember, I remember." I waved a hand at her carelessly, then laid my crossed arms on the table before laying my head down on my arms. "But I'm still-"

My sentence was cut off by the gatekeeper bursting into the room. His eyes scanned the room rapidly, wildly, until they rested on me. He quickly entered the dining hall and nodded his head in respect before relaying his message. "I apologize for disturbing your meal, but...Katal- er, Miss Katalana, there is a woman at the gate who claims she knows you. She says it's urgent."

I glanced at Korra; she nodded in agreement. Then I explained to the guard, "I will go, but if the situation is dyer, then this may be a job for the Avatar."

With that said, Korra and I followed the officer down the corridors and out the front of the building. The guard signaled his temporary replacement, who promptly opened the gates. The officer insisted that he stay with us in case of trouble. Meanwhile, Korra transferred her thoughts to me. "Okay, first off, this is a frantic woman in need of help, so how dangerouscould she be? Secondly, this nut job is a nonbender with an arrow on a stick. If this woman really wasdangerous, what would that do? And lastly, we're two expert benders perfectly capable of defending ourselves."

"He's just trying to be considerate – a lesson you might want to learn from him. Besides, it istheir job to protect the Avatar," I thought back to her.

Following her dramatic eye-roll, she returned, "True, but if you think about it, that logic is pretty flawed anyway. Isn't it the job of the Avatarto protect the people? Not the other way around?"

Before I could make a retort, the gates creaked open enough for me to see the supposed damsel in distress. Beyond the doors stood a petite, middle-aged woman. She was dressed simply – donning a plain, faded blue dress, a thin coat, clinking gold bangles, and heavy boots. Her face was round, heart-shaped even, with gentle creases around her temples and at the corners of her lips. Her hair, once a deep chestnut, was then a lighter, almost ash color, just beginning to gray. Her eyebrows were high, her eyes deep-set, shimmering in the deepest ultramarine blue. Of course I knew her.

"Makita?" I asked softly. In better times, she was beautiful despite her age. But right then her dainty fingers twitched nervously and her brow was creased with worry.

Korra glanced at me out of the corners of her eyes. "That name sounds familiar, but why?"

"She's Matokka's mother."

She just gave me one curt nod.

As she did, Makita rushed toward me on the verge of hysteria. The guard beside me and Korra took a step in front of us, his spear raised ever-so-slightly. I touched his shoulder lightly and shook my head. Suspicious, but obedient, he lowered the staff and stepped back.

"Katalana, I need your help."

It wasn't unusual for me to see Makita unnerved or stressed, but this was the first time I had seen her fully panicked. I placed my hands on the shaking woman's shoulders to both comfort and steady her. "Makita, relax. What's wrong? Where's Matokka?"

"That's just the problem," she murmured gravely.

"What is?"

"Matokka."

"What about him? Is he alright? Where is he?"

"I don't know," she paused, as if her next words would ring true if she uttered them. "He's gone."

"Gone? Gone where?" The panic in my own voice was becoming more evident as the fear within me rose to new heights.

Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes, and she had to squeeze them tight as if doing so would shut out the pain. She covered her mouth with one and and shook her head.

Korra gave me an uneasy look.

Growing desperate, but trying desperately to remain calm, I tilted my head so Makita could see me without looking up. "Please, you have to know something. When did he leave?"

"Sometime during the night. When he came home after his evening with you, he was...troubled, shall we say." She glanced up at my necklace, then up at me. Her eyes were losing their delirium, but they shined with gentle sadness. "He was so glad that you had accepted, Katalana, though he was...disappointed, with the circumstances. Understandably, of course." Her fingers moved up to her own betrothal necklace, and she rubbed it lovingly. The stone was worn smooth with years of gentle massaging, and the silk string it was attached to had been replaced more than once, for it was much newer and shinier than it should have been. Bringing herself back to the present, she shook her head forcefully. "Anyway, after he told me what happened, he went straight to bed. (I did too, after putting away the dinner that he wasn't hungry for)," she added. "Then when I woke up this morning...he was gone."

"But that isn't that unusual, right?" I asked, casting for some logical solution. "I mean, he and I wake up before dawn all the time. And most of the time we're gone all day!"

Makita's look suggested that she had thought of that, and that that conclusion was not valid. "Well he's not here with you now, is he?"

"Well...no..."

"Besides," she fretted, "he would always leave me a note. He would pin it to the icebox, or shove it between the wall and the front door, or even stick it right to my forehead while I was asleep." Again she chuckled a bit, a low, musical laugh, before her spirits sank again.

Korra stood silently through most of the conversation until she finally questioned, "Do you think he...ran off?"

"Matokka would never do something so stupid!" I exclaimed incredulously. Korra glared at me for my outburst. I felt bad about yelling, but hurt that she would insult his honor like that. Even so, I tried to remedy my rudeness. "Sorry. I just meant that he has done some...juvenile things in the past, but running away? That's extreme. Why would he want to? Where would he go? How would he live? There are so many reasons why that doesn't even make sense. But even if he had run away – for whatever illogical reason that may be – he would have said something to someone. To Makita, to me, to Katara, to...someone!"

She held up her hands defensively. "Hey, just trying to help. Okay, so if he didn't run off, kidnapped, maybe?"

"Kidnappers? Here? Not likely."

"Okay then, Miss Priss, do you have any theories?"

"Well...no," I admitted, but I continued before she could make another snarky comment. "But there has to be something we can go on. Makita, is there anywhere you think he would have gone?"

The tired woman smiled knowingly at me. "You would know the answer to that better than I would, Katalana. You spent much more time with him than I ever got the chance to."

Her saying that caused my cheeks to burn, but in an oddly pleasing way. She was probably exaggerating a bit, but on the other hand, it really wasn't hard to believe. Matokka and I had spent a lot of time together over the years. Thinking that, I was ashamed for taking him away from her – for taking away so much time that they could have spent together as mother and son – but knowing that Matokka chose to spend more of his time with me gave me a warm feeling throughout.

Out of guilt or compassion, or maybe both, I reached out and took one of her hands into mine. "I'm sorry," I said softly.

Smiling ever-so-slightly, she nodded. "That's alright. He was happy. That was all I ever wanted for him."

Korra, getting back to the task at hand, broke in. "Sorry to ruin the moment, but, if Matokka is missing, then we really should come up with a plan for finding him. Any ideas? Katalana?"

I shook my head, frustrated. "He and I have explored every inch of this continent, he could be literally anywhere. There are a few places that we favored over others, but it could take us days, weeks, to cover it all again. And with winter setting in, there's not much of a chan-" I stopped myself, glancing discretely at Makita. "Winter would hinder our search."

"So where do we start?"

Makita spoke up first. "How about we head back to our home? That was the last place he was seen."

"Good thinking," Korra praised, as we all headed to the stables for her to saddle up Naga.

I followed slowly behind. Oh, Matokka, you crazy fool! I thought jokingly, trying to distract myself from worrying. What have you gotten yourself into this time?

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"Hi Khani! Down girl, down!" I giggled, as the Pygmy Wolf-Fox pressed her front paws against my legs in excitement. After crouching to pet her, she pounced up onto my legs and licked my face happily.

Makita let loose a nostalgic sigh. "Someone sure missed you. It's been a while since you visited last."

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's just hard to find the time to get away from the Order."

"I understand. Well, I would offer you ladies a look around, but there really isn't much to look at, I'm afraid," she explained, motioning to the cramped, two-room igloo.

There was a makeshift kitchen on the right side of the room, and a folded mat on the other. Korra knelt down next to the mat on the floor – Makita's bed. She checked inside, underneath, and around the mat in search of perhaps a misplaced note. But it was clean. Nothing was there. While she covered the front room, I investigated the back. Matokka's room. It was significantly smaller than the central room, but inside were so few belongings that it gave an impression of being somewhat larger than it actually was. There was a mat neatly folded and pushed along the far wall; a wide, but short wardrobe stood beside the door; a long, but narrow writing desk on the opposite side of the bed; and a small door to the outside between the bed and the desk.

It wasn't like I had never been in his room before. On the contrary, I had run in there to grab something for him all the time. When we were little he was always forgetting a flashlight or a rope or even a coat to wear out on our frostbitten excursions. But that was different. He'd always been waiting right outside. With him gone, I felt as though I was intruding on his personal life – trespassing on sacred ground.

After remaining in the doorway for quite some time, I finally dared to enter the hollow room. Carefully I unfolded his mat, checking for notes as Korra had done with Makita's bed. Nothing. Then I wandered to the wardrobe and pulled the dark wooden doors back, revealing a line of mostly well-worn shirts, pants, and coats – all casual, all stretched out of shape, all unraveling at the seems, all full of holes. Typical. Slowly I ran my fingers along the corners of the wardrobe, feeling for...I wasn't sure what, but something, anything, that might have helped solve our case. Nothing. Finally, I checked his desk. The top was clean, save a few worn-out homeschooling textbooks and an old mason jar used to hold a pen and a couple broken pencils. There was a picture pinned at eye level above the desk. It was a photo of us when we were little, about six or seven I supposed. Arms linked, smiles bright, our outermost hands curled in a thumbs up, we showed off the first fish we ever caught together. That was the only picture we had of us together. Neither of our families had a camera, but our town's unofficial bookkeeper had one and kindly captured the moment for us.

The drawers were mostly the same as the desk itself, vacant, except for a few random household items. A pair of scissors, a watch, some loose coins, a pocket knife, a flashlight, and a few papers about shipbuilding, map-making, and nursing. Normally I would have overlooked all of those items; they wouldn't have seemed important to me before. What are these? I wondered, taking a closer look at the papers. They look almost like handbills for people searching for jobs. Was Matokka looking for a job? He could have been. I mean, I guess we'd run out of places to explore eventually. He'd have to have something to do with his life! But these jobs are all so different, I noticed. Shipbuilding...sounds easy enough, but...wasn't that the job that killed his father? Why would he want to follow in his footsteps, knowing it was dangerous? And map-making, that sounds a bit more like him. He'd get to travel some, draw shorelines and scale mountains and whatnot. But this flier for a nursing position...it doesn't look like the other two. It's handwritten...signed by Katara! Does he want to be a healer? A healer who's not a bender? Is that even possible? Did this come about because of his fall? Because of saving Khani? Why didn't he tell me about any of this?

"He wanted to surprise you."

I turned to see Makita standing at the entrance to the room, her arms crossed over her body comfortingly, as she leaned against the door frame. "How do you two do that? How do you always know what I'm thinking without me saying anything aloud?"

She shrugged. "Because we know you."

"I may be a little predictable, but am I really that bad?"

Korra's voice sounded from the next room over. "Without a doubt."

I sighed and called, "Wasn't talking to you!"

"I know!"

Turning my attention back to Makita, I resumed our conversation. "So what did you mean by 'he wanted to surprise' me?"

"He wanted to get a job to prove how dedicated he was to you. He wanted to be able to support himself, to support you, and maybe one day...a family."

For a while I couldn't meet her eyes; I stared at nothing in particular that was sitting on the far side of the room. "How do you know all of this?"

Makita laughed gently. "I'm his mother; it's my job to know what he's up to. Besides," she added, "he doesn't keep much from me anyway. He's a talker. He can't go five minutes without making some speech or another."

I let out an amused huff through my nose. "Now that I already know. But do you think that these are any of the places he could have gone?" I asked, holding up the handbills.

She shook her head. "He's already been to those places. He was accepted by all three employers; he just had to chose which employer to work for."

"Smart guy. And thoughtful... I just can't believe he went through all of this for me," I said in awe.

"You don't believe me? Just look in there..." She nodded toward a large tin pail beside the desk. The first thing I noticed was a bunch of wadded up sheets of paper. "Rough drafts of letters to you. Proposals, I think. Despite his love for rambling, he wanted to get this speech right."

Slowly I reached into the bucket and removed a few of the letters from the top. Using the side of his desk, I flattened and smoothed them out. My eyes scanned over them. Much of the words and phrases I recognized from the proposal he ended up giving me, but many of them were new – some highlighted, some crossed out, some even cut out of the paper entirely. Just as I was tipping the bucket to put the letters back in, a chorus of tiny clanks caught my attention. I tipped the tin further and peered in. Inside were dozens of stones, all of them chipped, chinked, or crushed, surrounded by millions of tiny shavings – obviously the products of many failed attempts to carve a betrothal necklace. Aw, I thought, touched. He really went through a lot of trouble...

Makita continued leaning against the door frame, smiling, as she rubbed her own betrothal necklace. "Matokka spent weeks working on those. I lost count of how many hours he spent in here carving them. He wanted it to be perfect... You really mean a lot to him."

I smiled too, then stood up and crossed the room to hug her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, dear."

We separated when Korra approached us from behind Makita. "Come on, there's nothing here that could help us. Is there somewhere else we could look?"

"I have a few ideas."

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Kat: Soooo...sorry, 'nother hindrance before they can leave for Republic City! Man, with so many things going wrong it seems like they'll never get to leave! But they will - promise! Just not right now. I feel like I've said this all before... Prob 'cause I have, but anyway! Hope y'all enjoyed and I hope to get some feedback! Congrats & many thanks to my friend Lordstone for being the only one thus far to comment!

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I do not own TLOK or any of its characters, settings, themes, etc. I do, however, lay claim to all of these scenes & especially Makita!

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May not be another chapter for a while, unfortunately. Unit tests, EOC's, SAT's, ACT's, & AP tests are all coming up soon, as well as a bunch of bowling practices & tournaments, choir rehearsals & concerts, church activities, photography assignments/stress, and loads and loads and loads of hmwk of course! But I'll try to work as much as I can whenever I can! Thanks for your patience! :D