Chapter 3 - Comeuppance

Lots 'a dialogue in this one!

It was almost sundown when the two girls returned home from the carnival. Kya went home with Kariana, avoiding going back to her home purposely. At the carnival, she'd started talking to a boy named Kesuk, while Kariana was talking to Ryuu. They four of them got each other's phone numbers, so they could talk on the phone later. Kya was so excited she had something to look forward to everyday.

"Do you think Ryuu likes me?" Kariana asked. "I heard him and his friends talking about me before we left."

"He definitely does!" Kya answered. "I could tell by the way he looked at you."

"I would say the same thing about Kesuk," Kariana commented. She watched Kya sheepishly blush. "This is so cool. We got to meet some really cute boys today, and I'm surprised to see that they were so nice."

Unfortunately, the two girls didn't notice that Sokka was standing in the doorway of Kariana's bedroom, and happened to overhear the last part of their conversation. He cleared his throat loudly, causing the two girls to jump and scream.

"Damn, I didn't think I'd scare you that much," Sokka said with a laugh.

Kariana's whole face turned red from embarrassment, "Dad, what are you doing?" She yelled at him accusingly.

Sokka threw his hands up in defense, "Hey, I just happened to walk by and hear both of your voices. I didn't notice you two were talking about boys until just a second ago."

Kariana covered her heated, red face and grunted, "This is so embarrassing."

Sokka laughed in response, and stepped into the room. He walked over and sat down on Kariana's bed. "Actually, I have something to talk to you about. And I'd prefer if it were in private. Your mom is looking for you, by the way, Kya. She sounded very worried today at lunch. I'd love to have you stay over, but I think you should go back home and talk to her and let her know that you're alright."

Kya groaned, "I'm sorry Uncle Sokka, I'll leave you two alone. But I really don't think I should go back home tonight. I don't know if you heard, but I got in a fight with my dad today, and I'm still too mad to go back." Kya began to walk over to the door when Sokka said something back to her.

"I don't like telling you what to do, especially since you're not my daughter, but your mom will beat both of us up if she found out that you spent the night here when you have the choice to go back home. I'm well aware about the fight this morning at breakfast. It really upset your mom. She really needs to talk to you, though."

Kya sighed, "Did she finally realize I was right?"

Sokka hesitated. It sent a chill down his spine, as he thought it was creepy that she said that. Katara was talking to Sokka and Suki earlier that day at lunch, in tears, about Kya and Bumi being excluded from Aang and Tenzin. He remembered how upset and sorry Katara was.

"I think that's something you should discuss with her," Sokka said, but there was a sad edge to his tone. Kya recognized this, and she nodded.

"All right," Kya said, sounding defeated. "I'll go. But don't be worried if I come back later tonight. Hopefully we resolve things."

"I hope so too," Sokka said. "Good luck, niecelette."

Niecelette was the name Sokka would occasionally call Kya, usually when they were goofing off. Kya never liked being called "kiddo" so that's the name Sokka stuck with. Kya giggled. She waved goodbye, and left the room.

Kya slowly dragged her feet into the dormitory of their home. She stood in the foyer, after kicking off her shoes. She announced that she was home. She then heard Katara coming her way. She took a deep breath, and prepared herself for a long argument.

Katara grabbed Kya's wrist, and led her to Kya's bedroom. When they entered the room, Katara shut the door behind her. They each took a seat on Kya's bed, sitting together in an awkward silence at first. Kya didn't say anything; she was waiting for Katara to start.

"You really scared me today," Katara said. "The second I heard that voice message from your school, I only thought the worst. I was so angry this morning after hearing what you said to your father."

"I'm sorry I scared you," Kya said. She was not sorry about what she said to Aang, and Katara knew that's what she was thinking. She accepted her daughter's apology.

"I was so scared, and mad, and I was trying to find where you had gone," Katara said, "I'm sorry, but I saw your diary, and i..."

"And you read it, didn't you?" Kya asked, jumping off the bed, and facing her with an angry stance.

"But before you get too mad," Katara said, throwing up a hand to keep the distance. "I only read one entry. And it was about dad and Tenzin, from two years ago. I'm so sorry I never noticed how much he really is excluding you two. I haven't gotten the chance to talk to him about it, but I definitely will tonight."

Immediately, Kya began to tear up. She jumped into her mother's arms and gave her a big hug.

"I'm so glad you finally noticed," Kya cried. "It was about time. I'm so tired of being treated this way; he's my father. This isn't recess on the playground at school. It's ridiculous how much he favors Tenzin over us."

"You're absolutely right," Katara admitted, and she began to tear up herself. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to talk to him right now."

"Just so you know, that's not the only time he has taken Tenzin, and Tenzin only, out on a secret vacation," Kya said. "I found out he took him to Ember Island, both the water tribes... The list goes on."

Katara was almost shaking in anger, "This can't wait. I'm about to rip your father's head off."

"Serve him up, Ma," Kya said, "Show 'em who's boss."

"You bet I will, sweetie," She said with a side grin.

Katara marched down the hall, and entered their bedroom, where Aang was laying on the bed reading the Republic City newspaper. Fortunately, Tenzin wasn't anywhere in sight. When Aang heard her walk in, he favored her with a smile. But when he saw how angry she was, it immediately changed to a look of fear. Uh oh.

"Yeah, uh oh," Katara growled. "We have some serious business to talk about, mister."

Aang was almost wincing, "... And that is?"

"Do you even know where Kya was today?" Katara started off.

"Uh, I hope she was in school," Aang stammered, slowly sitting up on their bed.

"Wrong!" Katara yelled, causing him to wince a bit. "She ran off with her cousin today, completely blowing off school. You know why? She was so mad after the little incident this morning at breakfast."

Aang reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, "Shit... Did she really?"

Katara slowly nodded, her angry eyes still locked on Aang's. "And where were you when I received the phone call, informing me about her absence? That's right, you were out playing fun and games with Tenzin!"

Aang sighed, now he was getting frustrated, "So this is about me spending time with Tenzin..."

"Yeah, but what about your other two kids, Aang?" Katara asked, throwing her arms up in anger. She was even more angry when Aang didn't have a response. "Do you know what I found out today? I found out that you and Tenzin have taken plenty of vacations, alone."

"I can explain about that," Aang said, standing up from the bed, "Most of those trips were down to the Air Temples, to get him closer with the culture."

"Okay, no," Katara interjected. "Taking him to Ember Island for a week is not the same as taking him to the Air Temples."

Aang rubbed the back of his neck again, nervously.

"I finally get what Kya and Bumi have been saying now. I understand their pain," Katara yelled. "They're so upset with you, and I am too. They have told me, countless amounts of times throughout their childhood, about how excluded they feel! Aang, those are your children, you should be treating them equally!"

"I'm sorry that they've felt this way," Aang explained, "But you have to understand, it's not easy being the last of your entire race. I've taken those trips to help Tenzin learn to be more comfortable as an airbender, and not to feel like an outcast."

"Ironic, since it's your other two kids who are being outcasted," Katara grunted.

Aang looked at her with a sorrowful look.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," Katara was now screaming, "If you can't treat all of your kids equally, then maybe you shouldn't be living with them at all."

Aang gasped. An emotional lump formed in his throat, and his breath hitched. He was absolutely speechless from shock. He didn't want to say Katara was overreacting, because she made several good points. She was verbally crushing him. He couldn't breathe. Katara stood there in disappointment, watching him struggle with what to say. She folded her hands across her chest, and tapped her foot.

"I can't believe you," Katara said, her pitch was low, but angry. "You really don't know what to say, do you?"

"Katara, I'm-"

"No!" Katara interrupted. "No more 'I'm sorry' bullshit. That's not going to work. I'm not the one to apologize to anyway."

"You can't do this," Aang cried. "You can't take them away from me. I didn't mean for things to end up like this."

"Well I didn't either, but here we are," Katara said. "And it wouldn't make much of a difference if we left, considering all you care about is Tenzin."

It was as if she had delivered the final blow to his heart. Those last few words cut him deep. Katara's blood went cold when she saw his eyes briefly flash white, for a split second. She was not about to have her bedroom destroyed, she needed him to calm down.

"Don't you dare jump into the Avatar State," Katara yelled. "This is not the time. We need to discuss this, and maybe we'll be able to work things out."

Aang sighed, "I'm so sorry Katara. I had no idea how much I've been neglecting them."

She glared at him before she continued, "Do you know that Kya came home today, crying about how upset she is, that you don't spend enough time with her and Bumi?"

Katara's eyes teared up as she said that, and she realized Aang's did too.

"Spirits, what have I done?" Aang cried, collapsing to his knees. "I'm a terrible father."

Katara remained silent. She listened to Aang cry, trying not to scream at him, or cry too. She watched as he regained his strength to get off of the floor, and walk over to Katara. He attempted to hug her, but she shoved his arms away.

"No," She growled.

"I don't deserve this..." Aang moaned.

"Your children don't deserve this," Katara growled. "I don't think they deserve to be here with you right now."

Katara turned around and started to walk out of the room. Aang leaped forward and grabbed her shoulder, and spun her back around. He didn't realize how hard he grabbed her until she yelped out in pain. He immediately took his hand away, and apologized.

"I've had enough," Katara said, her eyes tearing up again. "I'm leaving. Do not grab me again!"

"I'm sorry," He said, bowing his head in defeat. "I'll leave you be."

Katara rushed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. And out in the hallway was Kya and Bumi, each with a bag full of clothes to go spend the night somewhere.

"You've got the right idea, kids," Katara muttered.

And they followed her out the door.

Eek.