Chapter 9

Kya sat in the frame of her window, staring through misted eyes. The sun was long set and a heavy moon crested between thick clouds. She could still hear the ocean.

"Kya. Why aren't you in bed?" Katara remonstrated from the hallway. The girl shrugged without breaking her eyes from her window. Concerned, the mother walked in and crossed her arms. "It's late. Lay back down, I'll get you some water." But Kya's eyes furrowed as she continued to gaze.

"Something's wrong…" she murmured. Katara shook her head and made to guide the girl gently back to bed, only to find her rigid and immovable. "Aang…"

"We've been over this" Katara snapped now, "there's nothing wrong. The brother-sister program is over. We've been busy. I'm not angry with him…I'm not anything to him—"

"No, mom" Kya rolled her eyes, "Aang is coming up the driveway and something is wrong."

Katara met him at the door, slightly startled at her 7-year-old's intuition. Aang was a mess, pale and frantic, and walked inside before she could get in a word.

"Is Bumi here?" He continued to scan the condo without waiting for a response. Katara had never seen him so rattled.

"No..wait, is he missing? How long? Have you called the police?" Katara started to bristle at Aang, who stood on the spot, staring blankly at Bumi's scrawl that still occupied half the living room wall. His eyes moved rapidly even as he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"No, no…I was hoping…he was out playing today and never came home. I've looked all over the island, I hoped he came here…" Aang trailed off and resumed his pacing, a hand flying over his eyes.

"Hey, hey…slow down. We're gonna find him, Aang. I don't want you to—" Katara's words stuck in her throat when she reached out a hand to stroke his shoulder reassuringly, only to have Aang move out of her reach pointedly. She drew back as though bitten and cleared her throat while wrapping her arms around herself instead.

"Did he say anything before he left? Anything that might be a clue as to where he was last? Anything that might have made him maybe run away?"

Aang shook his head again, swallowing hard and jamming his hands into his pockets. He let the tears spill over. Kya sighed from her peep hole of her bedroom door before closing it silently.

-00-00-00-

It was uncharacteristically early when Bumi wandered into the kitchen that morning, especially considering it was Saturday. Aang hadn't expected him until the smell of egg custard tart wafted at least halfway down the hall. But now as he bent to pull the tarts out of the oven, he jumped back in surprise to see the boy awake and transfixed on the screen of his laptop on the counter.

"Why are you looking at houses in Patola?"

Aang shifted guiltily, unprepared for the conversation in every way. Instead, he exhaled hard and patted his hands on his apron nervously. "Take a seat, bud."

Bumi's eyes narrowed, and Aang could practically hear the inner turnings of the boy's mind.

"Nothing is concrete yet but…there are some habitat grants coming in for the restoration of the temples…"

"Dad" Bumi interrupted, "Dad, no."

"Bumi…" Aang countered a little more firmly, "the work I do is important, and it doesn't always stay in one place…besides, we could be closer to grandpa?"

"I thought we left because there's no schools outside the temple. Do you know how itchy that uniform is!?"

"I am well aware, and you need to slow down before you jump to c—"

But Bumi was already feet-first into his spiral, "We don't HAVE to move. You don't HAVE to go to a new place, and you know it! Plus, grandpa is gone, dad! You're….just…YOU'RE-" the frustrated boy met his sweet-tempered father with balled fists and cheeks flushing with anger.

"Go ahead. You can say it." Aang said softly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter cooly.

"YOU JUST WANT TO RUN AWAY." Bumi burst out, louder than he meant to. Aang, who thought he'd had a handle on the situation, suddenly found himself squared off with a stubborn 8-year-old.

"Bumi. You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure, Dad. But you know EXACTLY what I'M talking about."

Before Aang could interject, his son turned on a heel and stormed to his room. Aang wouldn't see him again.

-00-00-00-

"Aang?"

Aang snapped out of his memory and met Katara's face full of concern. Equivocation led him here.

"We had a bad argument" he confessed, "when I went to check on him, his window was open. It's not out of the ordinary for him to explore the island. But he knows to come home when the lights come on."

Katara, reaching across the counter for her keys and purse, asked "what made you think he came here?"

He loves you.

You care for him like he's yours.

You and Kya are family.

Say it.

Tell her.

Aang rubbed the back of his neck and pressed his aching eyes shut. "I need to get to the police station. Would it be okay if—"

"I'm already on it" Katara responded, "We're going to drop Kya off with Sokka. Let's get a missing persons report and start checking the places he's most familiar with— school, the park, maybe even Zuko and Mai's since—"

"Oh yeah. Izumi…" Aang realized. They really did have roots that spread throughout the city. He felt his heart plummet, heavy with guilt and burning with regret.

"Katara what if…I mean, if he's in the city he walked the entire bridge by himself. What if something—" but before Aang could finish he was swept up into a tight, resolute hug. He dissolved into her hair, her neck, her shoulder. Katara squeezed tighter as the man who dwarfed her trembled and gave in to her comfort. She felt his breath shudder and suddenly needed to check her own emotions—a heart starting to race at the smell of him. She pulled back, embarrassed.

"He's okay. He's the smartest boy I know. We're going to find him, Aang."

Aang watched Katara pad quickly down the hallway towards Kya's room and gave a short-lived sigh of relief.

"Kya? Kya sweetie, get up. We need to go somewhere" Katara gave a soft knock on the girl's door. No response. She peeked in and noted the girl's usual blanket nest, having returned to sleep. The poor thing must be exhausted, Katara thought, grateful that Kya was unaware that Bumi was missing. She started to search for Kya's backpack to put together her clothes and things for a stay at Sokka's.

"Kya sweetie, I'm sorry. It's early but we need to get up. We're going to Sokka's right now. C'mon…"

Unable to locate the backpack, she turned to shake her daughter awake, only to find the blanket pile empty. It was then that Katara realized the window was open, too.

Kya was gone.

-00-00-00-

A/N: It's a short update, I know. It's not that I don't have the next part of the story though! I just really felt like the two parts needed to remain separate. Give me a couple days and the next part will be posted.

3 Coyote