Healed and Hunted
Mourning Sickness
Chapter 38
Outside the Bathroom Door
Sokka
He was terrible at things like this. He hated listening to her be sick- it made him queasy as well- and not being able to do anything about it. He didn't know if it was a kindness of her to lock the door. He'd grown stronger about stuff like this, any father would, but it was still something he had to fight. Kat had always handled the sicknesses in the family, even before she could heal with her bending. Thinking about it, he couldn't remember a single instance where he had to take care of his sister. She'd always soldiered on, even when she probably shouldn't have.
Katara and Kyoshi were on their way here, since Kat couldn't miss any more school than she already had. She'd had to fight for the extra day to escort Kyoshi here. Apparently Kat had developed a bad habit of not showing up. Sokka suspected that Lee would have a similar absence list, if he cared enough to look. But he wasn't Kat's father, she knew what she was doing.
Suki made another noise that made him cringe.
Having another kid sounded great at first, but he had forgotten how violent pregnancy could be. His poor wife, enduring all of this. He wished there was something he could do other than stand around being sympathetic, but there wasn't.
The toilet flushed, and the sink started running. Suki was brushing her teeth.
When the door started to open, Sokka did his best to not look like he'd been standing around, completely helpless. Which he had been, and they both knew it. But she smiled, and patted the top of his head.
"It's going to be okay," she told him. Why she was reassuring him, he would never know. But he chose to believe her.
"I know. Besides. You're a tough girl. But I'm here if you need me to hold your hair." Sokka answered.
They stared at each other for a good while, both lost in their own thoughts. Sokka's thoughts drifted to her last pregnancy, to Kyoshi. Things had been so different. They were still running throughout the country, causing all kinds of havoc. It had been an accident, and the two of them had no idea what to do about it. All they knew about pregnancy was what they had seen on TV. And that left a lot to be discovered.
Most of it was not pleasant.
"Even if it makes you feel sick?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Perhaps, even, a bit hopeful.
He lifted his wife's hair, to prove his point, "Even then. We're a team, Suki. And you're never alone."
As he said it, he saw the sixteen year old girl who had run away with him and his family. She had no one of her own, but had always been part of a gang of young girls who also had no one else. It had been the closest thing to family she'd ever had. And she had been so alone. The truth was only admitted one night, when they were more than by themselves, and she was exhausted from running so much.
Suki pressed her head to his chest, and he couldn't help but smile. They had both come so far, hadn't they?
"When Kat gets here, do you think she could take a look at me?" Suki asked.
Sokka knew that, deep down, Suki had always been wary of Inheritors. While she was fine with them, Sokka had always felt that she was saddened that her child had been born with the gifts of their ancestors. Despite their work for equality- which Suki firmly believed in- Sokka thought that Inheritors had always set her ill at ease.
The husband grinned, "I'll bet she will find the time."
The Prime Minister's Funeral
Lee
They hadn't been to see the body yet. Neither of them could find the strength. He knew that this was something different for the two of them. For Azula, she had lost someone she truly loved. For Lee, there was a monster sleeping in that casket.
They held onto each other, looking like a pair of grieving siblings for anyone who saw them. But Lee felt no grief, not even for his sister. He felt no relief, like he had hoped. He saw the line of mourners, and felt nothing.
They were all strangers, every last one of them. People who were mourning a man he didn't know. Not anymore.
He knows that he should be feeling like he missed out. Like he should have been there, in his father's final moments. But he thinks about the scar on his face, and the should-have-felts faded away. It wasn't anger, not really. It was the realization that he and his father had nothing left to salvage, in the end.
He was here because it was expected, nothing more, nothing less. His sister needed him, for whatever that was worth. She was a torment growing up. And even now, seeing her in this different way, he could still remember.
This family wasn't the one he would have chosen. In fact, he had pointedly chosen another family. Or been chosen by another family. And that was beautiful. But, in Lee's eyes, he had to lay this family to rest.
He had to say good night to his demons, and say good morning to a spirit of happiness and hopefulness.
Here lies Ozai, and his son Zuko. He is survived by a brother Iroh, a daughter Azula, and a son Lee. Who will be happily married to a wonderful woman, just as soon as the roses and dirt are settled in place.
Lee squeezes his sister's hand, and begins to walk without her. It takes less than two steps for her to join him, hand slipping into his.
Cameras flashed around them, video was being taken. The fallen Prime Minister's children, looking down at his body.
Lee still wants that anger. Still wants to look down, hate and seethe.
But Ozai is pale, and old, and much thinner than he remembers. His hair, though done up in the ways of their forefathers, seems brittle and grey. Even in the peace of death, Lee can see the strain of sickness on his father's body.
"The fevers were bad, but… Well, he had trouble eating." Azula was saying.
Lee had nothing to say except, "I'm sorry. That you had to do this alone. I should have been here for you."
"I guess you don't have anything of him to miss." She was sniffling now, but not crying.
He didn't answer this time. He had no thoughts to send his father, no reason to keep standing about. Yet his feet remained obstinate and still. He wished Kat were here. She would have known. She would have had the words to make everything perfect again.
"Good morning, Dad." He said at length.
Of course there was no answer. But his heart felt lifted of a weight he had been carrying for so many years. It was gone, the resentment he had lived in, the pain he had always feared, the terror of his memories. Just gone. He knew that it was impossible for it to have just vanished. But he suspected that Kat had been working on this without him noticing.
First Class Sky Bison Airlines
Kat
Kyoshi was still asleep. The girl had managed to climb up Appa and strap herself in, but beyond that was not aware of her surroundings. She had fallen back asleep before the dust had settled from their takeoff.
It was going to be a long flight there, almost as long as the old days. It had been a while since she'd flown for so long. Even longer that she was flying, for all intents and purposes, alone. Katara climbed to Appa's head, finding an old comfort in his fur.
"I bet you're glad, Appa. Been a while, huh?" She rubbed his head, wrist deep in white hair. He let out a growl. While she didn't speak Sky Bison, she took it as agreement. "I missed this, too. Just a little."
Another growl, "Okay, more than a little. Sometimes, I think I was a nomad in my last life. Do you think we knew each other then?"
But she was talking to herself. While she believed Appa understood everything and was more intelligent than his size implied, he couldn't talk back. He was a great listener, though. And she was chomping at the bit for someone to talk to.
"So, Lee has a sister. I mean, he may have mentioned it before. But they weren't close. And, then he just up and leaves. I know he had to go. And I'm not mad about it. It's just… Well, I don't know what it is. I don't like him being away. Does that make me weird?"
Appa didn't answer. It was nothing new, he rarely did. Only when she had reached the end of her conversation. She had spent so many hours talking to Appa after everyone was asleep. He was the one she went to when she was having a problem, or when she wanted to sort things out. Sometimes it was best when someone had nothing to say.
"Maybe, but we're engaged. I'm allowed to…miss him. Worry. Right? I mean, he just goes off to Russia, where that supermodel is waiting for him. And he's dealing with stuff from his past and I just want to be there for him. I feel like of all the things I should have been there for, this was it. But no, I'm here." She sighed.
It was going to be a long flight. But the sun was coming up now. It was a pretty orange, red and yellow sunrise. How long had it been since she sat and watched the sun? So long, too long.
"Appa, do you mind if I just sit here? I really didn't have a lot to talk to you about. But on the way back, I'll think of something more interesting."
He growled again, and Katara climbed back into the saddle. She curled up over Kyoshi, wrapping herself around the girl so that, while they slept, she would not risk falling out. Plus, it got a little cold in the air. It was nice to have someone to cuddle with. It made her remember her childhood.
Sokka, Aang and herself all flying and running. Those days were gone, but she was grateful for it. She and Lee were going to get a house together. She wasn't sure what type, exactly, they were looking for, but she already had a buyer lined up to buy her studio. She wasn't going to sell it originally, but she was done painting. At least, for a little bit.
There were very few negative things in her past left to create. And she wasn't sure she knew how to create something positive. That was another fear, but for another time.
For now, the sun was rising, and her family was safe and happy.
The Oval Office
The President of the United States
"I hear you retired." He said, "What a loss for our country."
"I can no longer perform the duties required of that post, mister president."
A small grin, "I know. Your children, right? Your daughter and granddaughter."
The other man, younger or older than himself he would never have been able to tell had he not known, matched the grin, "Should have known."
"Well, I know your squad was shaken at your loss." The president continued, trying to ease his way into the topic. But, the military man had already guessed. He was beginning to realize that this family was a lot stronger than they let themselves appear.
"You have a point here, right? My son and daughter-in-law are going to need a babysitter today."
"Very well, then. I'd like you to coordinate with the Ava. I want you to represent this side of the table. You and the Ava know one another, and you'll both argue straight. I know you have the qualifications to be the liaison of peace between Inheritor and, well, the rest of us."
Hakoda smiled, "Ah. We thought so."
"We?" He asked.
"The Ava, my children and myself. We all talked about this meeting last night."
Ah, of course. Very well then. He could admit to being surprised by this family. They, while only recently reconnected, seemed more solid than he could have ever believed. Then, so be it.
"And?"
"Only if you promise to keep me informed. I won't work blind. If I suspect you of lying, I will leave. Understood?" The Alaskan was offering a hand to shake.
The president reached into his bag and pulled a thick file folder out, followed by four heavy reams of paper. Statistics, specific files. All the information they currently had on the I-suppressant. Which, admittedly, wasn't a lot. But the market had demanded it, and there was very little he could have done t stem the tide. Instead, he gave it a government sanction so that when the time came, Uncle Sam could swoop in.
"There's four more bags. This is just the cursory stuff." The president pushed the stacks towards the other man, who took it without breaking the momentum of the paper.
Hakoda blew out of his mouth said, "I am too old for this," and pulled out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket. They added years to his appearance.
But that was it, apparently. Their conversation was over, and Hakoda had already begun writing his own notes. Without even dismissing himself, and despite the fact that it was his office, the president left the room and headed to his next appointment.