~A~

The Importance of a Name

~A~

The two men standing together in the bright sunlight talking paused as a beautiful young woman approached them with a bright smile and a chattering lemur riding her shoulder, and Hakoda smiled in welcome to his daughter.

"Hi, sweetheart, and you, too, Momo," he chuckled as the excitable creature flittered over to him and landed on his shoulder, chittering happily. Hakoda looked at his grinning daughter and asked, "Where's Aang?"

She shrugged wryly and motioned back over her shoulder towards the Fire Nation Palace. It was the chosen venue this year for the Council of World Leaders, which Avatar Aang had created on a bi-yearly basis in order to keep relations open between nations. "He's still inside somewhere." She paused for a moment and then smiled at her father's friend. "Bato, could you give us a few minutes?" she asked softly, her eyes going serious.

The older man just nodded, and after a glance at Hakoda, who was beginning to look concerned, turned and ambled off into the depths of the gardens.

Once he was out of earshot the Southern Chief looked at his daughter. "What's on your mind, Katara?"

Her smile widened a little and she shook her head. "I didn't mean to worry you – it's nothing bad. There was just something I needed to talk to you about."

Looking increasingly confused, Hakoda gestured for her to walk with him and turned, putting his hands behind his back. "Well, then, why don't you let me know what's on your mind. Does this have anything to do with Aang and your betrothal?"

"Well, sort of, I guess," the young waterbender chuckled, blushing a little. After a moment she sobered, however. "He and I were talking a few days ago. Just idle conversation, really, but I brought something up to him and he agreed with me. The thing is, I... I need to ask you if it's okay first. I mean, I suppose I don't need permission, but it's kind of a respect thing."

"Oookay..." Hakoda peered at his daughter, wondering what could have her this flustered.

Coming to a halt, she met her father's gaze and straightened her shoulders, drawing in a deep breath. There was really no way to lead into this easily, so she decided to just come out and say it. She only hoped it didn't hurt him too much.

"Well, I... I want to know what you think about... about Aang and I naming our first daughter after mom," she blurted, wringing her hands a little anxiously, watching her father's gaze carefully.

Hakoda blinked, wondering if he was hearing things wrong. Had his daughter just asked him...? "What?"

The waterbender shrugged a little uncomfortably. "I've always wanted to name my first daughter after mom," she began, looking sad for a moment before meeting her dad's gaze with a small, though far-away smile. "Even before..." she trailed off, and then shook her head and forced herself to continue, despite her father's shocked expression. "But now, well... I didn't want to just do it without talking to you about it first. I didn't want to surprise you and possibly bring up painful memories."

The Chief's eyes lost their focus on the here and now as the subject triggered a flood of memories of his beloved wife, and Katara was pained to see the haunted look in them at mention of her. After a few minutes, though, he brought his gaze back to the present and his hopefully waiting daughter with a smile that carried only a hint of his pain.

"That's a great idea, my dear," he sighed softly. "I think she'd have been very honored that you held such affection and respect for her as to do such a thing... and I'll be honored to have a granddaughter with that name to remind me of just how special she really was."

"Are you sure?"

Hakoda nodded, his smile lightening until there was no sadness left. "Yes, I'm completely sure." He cocked a brow at her. "Have you mentioned this to your brother?" he asked curiously.

His daughter shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "Are you kidding me, dad? If I brought up such a subject he'd immediately start demanding to know if we had a reason to be askingsuch a thing right now and threatening to emasculate Aang if we did. I figure I'll wait to bring this up with him until after the wedding."

The water-tribe Chieftain laughed a little at the mental picture those words evoked, knowing Katara was dead-on with her reading of what her brother would do as soon as such a subject was broached. "I take it you wish to avoid alerting Sokka, then?"

Katara flushed and narrowed her eyes. "No, not really, I'm just trying to avoid having to kill my own sibling, because if he goes after Aang I'm going to freeze him to the nearest surface and use him for target practice," she said with a rather evil look in a dangerously sparkling blue gaze.

Hakoda laughed again, louder this time.

Even as adults his children hadn't grown out of fighting with each other, and he had the funny feeling they never would. They'd probably be arguing and carrying on when they were ninety and on their deathbeds. He shook his head.

Kya, I wish you could see how well our children turned out, he sighed, looking up into the bright blue sky that reminded him so much of his deceased wife's eyes.

But somehow, as they both walked back towards the palace's council room to continue the meeting, he thought she did know, and he smiled to himself. Someday he'd join her in the spirit world and find out for sure, but for now he would be content to call his first granddaughter by his wife's name.

It was, after all, a very special name, one that had belonged to the most amazing woman, and he was certain that merely by association any little girl named Kya would be just as amazing.