A/N. I had too much fun writing from Kanna's POV lol! It is a longer chapter than usual, and it only adds a little to the story. I wasn't planning on spending too much chapters on building up the Southern plot, but I am having too much fun with the traditions, storytelling and so on!
Shuffling past the snoring form of her son, she had to shake her head at how he was sleeping. He had put his sleeping bag on the ground, next to the empty one where her granddaughter would have slept, if she had been remotely interested in spending the night inside.
That was something she had not expected, to be honest. What Kanna had expected, was that the airbender and Katara had turned around each other, not knowing how to say what they felt in their hearts. She knew her granddaughter. Katara was bold and adventurous, but not like that. Sure, there had not been a boy in a hundred-mile radius when she had hit puberty, so Kanna had known her granddaughter would be shy about boys.
But apparently not. Apparently, she had been everything except shy. Because Kanna didn't see the airbender acting boldly about his feelings. What had the elders told to her about the Air Nomads, all those years ago? They lived in temples, strictly separated. Two temples for men, and two for women. How would a sixteen-year-old even manage to know what a girl was? Sure, there were rumours that the Air Nomads had been… Very promiscuous.
But the airbender didn't strike her as lascivious. He struck her as a gentle, unsure boy who had lived through things he shouldn't have. Pakku had told her that apparently, the boy had been frozen in that iceberg for a century. It would explain how he had survived Sozin's attack… But Kanna still thought it surprising those two had managed to do something so bold.
Then again… Thinking back to herself at that age, it was exactly what she would have done. What she had done. She had left the North, and her own family and friends, when she had been just seventeen. It had scared her, it had been terrifying the first weeks… But it had made her who she was, who she wanted to be. That was why she had encouraged her grandchildren to go with the Avatar last year. It would make them so much more than they could ever hope for.
Stepping outside, Kanna saw the slight sliver of light on the horizon. It was still a little early for Eternal Moon Season, so there were still night and day, but that wouldn't last long. As the snow crunched beneath her leather boots, she looked towards the south, towards where the tundra stretched for miles and miles. Squinting, Kanna cursed her eyesight. But if she wasn't mistaken, there were some fires far away, just at the foot of the mountains.
That meant the hunting party would make the last stretch of their journey this morning, and with the waterbenders, it wouldn't take very long. The waterbenders… Kanna kicked the snow, trying to make out how she felt about that. Waterbenders were so, so useful… And the northerners wasted their talents by refusing to do anything that didn't agree with tradition.
Maruk and his brother had stayed behind, to guard her. From what? The local otter penguin? And had they missed the whole thing about her chasing Pakku of with a spear? Tui and La, she had never seen the idiot lost for words, but the spear pricking into his arse had done the trick.
So why had she need of guards? She suspected that the two had stayed behind to make sure she didn't do anything that could undermine their… influence. For influence, they had. Maruk was one of the best waterbenders from the group that had come in the spring, and Loatuq was clearly not far behind with his skill, even though he was younger, around twenty.
Since that Pakku had left for the Earth Kingdom, Kanna had seen how the two brothers became more and more predominant. Quite quickly, they had become the ambassadors of the northern group to explain what they would do… And more importantly, what they wouldn't do. Kanna had tried to talk to the two women in the group, but they had all but rolled over and accepted the brothers authority. And if that wasn't enough, they had begun to take decisions concerning the South Pole without her being present. If there was someone who represented the authority of the chieftain… Well, that would be her, right?
Her son was the chief. Her grandson had been all but chief. Her granddaughter had been a leader when there was no one else. And Kanna liked to think that she had some influence. She cared about every single one of the Southerners. She had seen the birth of nearly all the people in the village, excluding some of the older women. So, yes, she thought she ought to have been included.
But that wasn't the opinion of the brothers. The northern brothers thought that her place would be in the igloo, quietly watching as they turned the south into their own little personal kingdom. If they thought she would just roll over and let them, they had not heard any stories about her from their grandfather.
She had not crossed the world to be back at the Northern Water Tribe. She had crossed it to enjoy the relative freedom offered by the south. It had been a hard life, filled with gloom and death. But it had been her choice. Her own choice. Kanna had chosen to live here. And she would be damned if some young northern fools would change that.
The elderly woman heard the soft crunch of snow behind her, and glanced over her shoulder to see Katara walk towards her, that blanket she had been "taking" to the airbender wrapped around her shoulders. Kanna smiled, remembering how the girl had come like that to her bed every night the first few weeks after Hakoda had left. She had been too old to crawl into the bed of a relative, but Kanna had not minded.
"It is early Gran Gran. Why are you already out of bed." Her granddaughter spoke softly as she came to stand beside her. Kanna still couldn't really believe that the girl she had sent with the Avatar was this confident woman. She had changed a lot in a year, but then again, Katara was at an age where she changed a lot in short amount of time.
When her granddaughter had left the South Pole, she had been around eighteen, and in many ways, still a child. Now, at nineteen, Kanna looked at a woman. Harder, less jovial… But also with wisdom and confidence in those eyes that looked like Kya's eyes.
"The others are supposed to come back later in the morning." She explained, pointing a chin at the far away campfires, "I like to make sure they are on schedule."
"You worry?" Katara asked, and Kanna remembered how they had stood like this several times, when Sokka left for a hunting trip, and was late.
"No, not exactly. There are benders with the tribe's folk, so there is not really something to worry about. But still, the children might have hurt themselves. And there is always danger, certainly with the Eternal Moon season coming." She answered, feeling the anger bubble back.
"Why are you irritated?" Katara asked. Tui and La, Kanna had forgotten the uncanny ability of the girl to smell out worry.
"There is a lot to be irritated about. But that will all blow over now that your father is back." Kanna spoke, half truthfully. She doubted the northerners would actually accept that their little power had to be given up.
"Let me guess, the northerners." Katara sounded bitter, and that didn't surprise Kanna. Her granddaughter had lived a month at the North Pole, and after hearing the stories about that part of her travels, Kanna doubted it had been a nice experience.
"Yes." It was no use lying about it, and she wanted her granddaughter to know it, "Maruk and Loatuq were in charge after Pakku left, and they are acting all high and mighty." Even though Kanna would have loved to stay indoors for days, speaking to her son and to Katara about everything that had happened in their lives, she also knew that she had to be practical. Eternal Moon season would have to serve to catch up. Now, she needed to break the northern power in her home.
And she couldn't… But Katara and the airbender could.
"As soon as Pakku was gone to the Earth Kingdom, they took over, right? Took decisions, made sure that the people were depended on them. And let me guess, the two women were put in charge of taking care of all injuries, while the male benders were leading hunting parties and decided when and what to hunt."
Kanna raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter, impressed by how the girl had guessed everything. To be honest, it had stung. She had not really cared about the decisions about hunting, but being removed as a caretaker? That had hurt, so very much… She had taken care of most of these people for early all her life. She had seen most people born, and with every injury, they had used to run to her igloo… And the northerners had taken that away from her.
She just nodded. Katara had understood the problem and had collected the facts without too much effort. Then again, with her experience with the northern way of thinking, it wouldn't have taken long to guess the facts.
"And they will want to take over most, if not all, of Dad's power. Not that that will be very difficult, seeing that the warriors aren't here, and the women haven't seen him for six years. La, I'm sure some of the children don't even remember he is the chief. So, if those two idiots want to be the real authority, they will have to act fast, as the ships bringing the warriors are probably already on their way." Katara began to talk, and Kanna suspected it was more thinking out loud then really meant to be answered.
"The warriors are coming back?" She asked instead. Koda had spoken of some deaths… But he had not told her that they were coming back!
"Of course, Zuko gave transportation. And he also added some supplies, but not many, for the civil war is still ongoing, even though we don't know where that bitch is." Katara continued thinking out loud, but Kanna didn't understand a thing.
Zuko had been that angry stupid boy that had attacked their village. And the elderly woman tried not to purse her lips disapprovingly as she heard the insult, probably directed at that Azula girl. She could understand where her granddaughter was coming from, because she had been told that the princess was the one responsible for the airbender nearly dying.
"That is some good news." She smiled, before growing more serious once more, "Could you tell me the rest of the story? And now without forgetting some parts you didn't tell me yesterday." At that, she couldn't help but glance towards the girl, and saw the tanned cheeks redden as she understood what she had meant.
"Where had I left off?" Katara asked, her voice slightly higher than usual. Kanna smiled, suspecting that her granddaughter had indeed left out some… key elements.
"The airbender had been wounded. And you were going to the tribal camp." Kanna reminded her.
"Oh, yes… Well, I had to heal Aang… Which wasn't very easy. He was in a coma, and half his back had been opened." Kanna could hear the fear of that moment in her voice, and regretted asking, "But after three weeks, he woke up. He didn't understand what was happening, didn't like the plans Sokka had made, so fled… We followed, finding him on the edge of the Fire Nation. He had wanted to fight that ba… Ozai, but had fainted halfway through the flight I suspect. We talked him out of it, and began travelling once again… After making sure we could organize an invasion with the few allies we had left."
The elderly woman nodded. It surprised her that the Avatar sounded so… human. Of course, she had met the airbender, but it was difficult to imagine the young man as the Avatar, that being of immense power. But fleeing and trying something extremely stupid sounded what every young man would do when faced with a problem.
"After that, it was really rather… pleasant. The Fire Nation was different from what I expected, the people there had suffered too from the war. Many people hated it… But no one more than Aang. He had been there, before the war… And apparently, it was one of his favourite places in the world. He told me about the festivals, the parties and the way people treated each other… It is hard to believe that that changed so much in a century."
Kanna didn't find it hard to believe. She had heard her own grandparents talk about the Fire Nation, how… good it had been. How cultured. And that the people there had wanted to share and help other nations. And she had not missed the fact the airbender had told Katara about it. Not the others.
"Just told you?" She asked innocently.
"He likes to talk about other cultures. He even had some lessons about our traditions! He knows things about the Water Tribes that I don't even know! He told me about the life here before the war… And he talked about…" With that, her granddaughter's voice died away, sounding a little awkward now.
"He talked about his own people, I would gather?" Kanna asked gently. For someone who had lost everything and everyone, that must have been hard. She knew the feeling all too well. She too remembered the better days of the south… And had not told her grandchildren about it, for it would only bring bitterness.
"Yes." Katara sounded rather shy now, and Kanna didn't press any further. It sounded like something intimate.
"The invasion was defeated… And most of the warriors were captured. We had to flee to the Western Air Temple, where Zuko joined us. He had been disgusted by the way the Fire Nation waged the war, and had decided to join us. I hated it. He had been a danger to A… us all. It took a long time for me to even wanting to trust him. But Aang needed a teacher for firebending, and Zuko was the only option."
Kanna nodded, understanding the need to put personal feeling aside for the greater good. She had not said anything about it to the airbender, but she had been afraid when she had seen him, fire in the palm of his hand… It had brought rather horrible memories back. But she had said nothing.
"Sokka broke Dad out of prison. He didn't tell me, the idiot, but he went to the most secure prison of the Fire Nation, and freed Dad and Suki."
"Suki?" That name sounded rather familiar.
"The Kyoshi Warrior that kicked some equality into him. She kicked some other emotions in too." Katara explained, sounding rather amused. And Kanna couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of her grandson trying to be romantic… And failing horribly. But she also felt pride burn in her heart. That was something to be proud off! No one had messed with the Fire Nation for decades… And her grandchildren had done it on a huge scale.
"Oh, that was why the airbender had to give him a… talk?" She asked, fishing for some information.
"Yes." It surprised the older woman that her granddaughter didn't sound shy, but rather disgusted, "Aang hasn't told me what they talked about, and I will die happy if I never learn what they said to each other. Anyway, Azula found us later, and we had to flee again."
This time, Kanna didn't need to look at her granddaughter to know the emotion in her eyes. She had sounded angry… and apprehensive.
"What happened?" She asked kindly.
"How did you know something happened?"
"I'm old, not deaf. And I know you better than most people."
"Before the invasion… We met someone. In the Fire Nation." The words sounded abrupt, just like Kya had used to sound like when talking about something horrible, "Someone from here. A bender."
That surprised Kanna. The benders had been killed… or taken captive, lost forever, and ever heard from ever again.
"Hama." The name was spoken with such venom that for a moment, Kanna was taken aback. But after a few seconds, she realized what that meant."
"Hama? She's alive?" That hurt more than she could have imagined. Sweet Hama… She had been a good friend to her, when Kanna first came here… She had been the one to teach her the ways of doing things in the south, and had been a good friend… Until the day the Fire Nation raids had taken her too. Kanna had wept bitter tears for weeks…
"She should have died, it would have been better for everyone." Katara still sounded angry and bitter, something Kanna wasn't used to from her granddaughter.
"What happened Kat?" She asked quietly, trying to imagine what Hama was like… After so long.
"She was held prisoner. Under horrible circumstances. She was mistreated, abused and tortured. But instead of breaking her spirit, it taught her lessons in cruelty." Katara nearly spat the last word, and this time, Kanna was genuinely worried for a moment. What had happened?
"She found a way. To escape I mean. She taught herself a way of bending that should not exist. Bending someone's blood."
That took her by surprise. Kanna had heard about it… In the north, in tales from thousands of years ago. It had been so much frowned upon by the ancient tribesmen that it was the most cursed way of bending imaginable. And no one had tried it in living memory, even when she had been a little girl… And she had never heard about it here down south…
"And she wanted to teach it to me…" This time, Katara sounded rather sad, "I… I didn't want to. But she took control of Sokka and Aang… And…. And I had to do something…"
Shuffling towards the girl next to her, Kanna put an arm around the tense shoulders, without saying anything.
"That was the first time I bend someone's blood. Hama was imprisoned, but I don't know what has become of her. The second time… I was in a bad place. Aang and I had a fight, and Zuko had come up with something… he knew… who had killed mom." The last few words were barely above a whisper, and Kanna cursed her hearing as she focused on the whispers.
Ah… That was it.
"You found him?" Kanna was horrified, memories flashing before her eyes of a little girl, standing next to the tent, looking lost and alone, tears streaming over her face.
"Oh, I did… But it was not worth it. I couldn't do what he had done. Maybe that was weak, maybe not."
She didn't think it was weak. Kanna suspected it had taken every fibre of Katara's being to be merciful… And to be honest, she herself would have slid that man's throat. It wouldn't have been the first time she had done that.
But perhaps that wasn't the best way. But it would have been a good way.
Pressing the girl against her with the arm around her shoulders, Kanna didn't say anything. She had learned long ago that the best way to comfort the girl was by just being there. After a long while, Katara just sighed.
"Anyway… Fleeing the temple meant we had to find another place to stay. Zuko brought us to Ember Island. It is some sort of a resort, for all the rich people. We hid in plain sight, in the Fire Lord's vacation house."
Kanna smiled a little. Typical Water Tribe. Accept the sadness and move on, not forgotten but put into the back of the head, for another time.
"That sounds rather dangerous." Kanna answered, steering the conversation away from the revelation. She knew Katara would talk about it some more if she wanted. And when she wanted.
"Tui and La, it was. But no one suspected a thing. Zuko and Aang had to stay out of sight, for they are rather… Well, recognizable. But otherwise, we could do whatever we wanted. We even went to a play."
At that, Kanna just laughed. It sounded so ridiculous… But exactly what a group of young people would do, without thinking. Or perhaps they had been past caring? They had told her yesterday about the day of the Black Sun, and that had not been so long ago… So, this part of the story, after the invasion, but before the comet… That had to be the last two weeks of summer. Meaning around two months ago.
"A play?" Kanna asked, amused. Better to move on ad try to find amusing things to talk about.
"Yeah, about us. They actually did a good job. On the story, I mean. The actors were horrible, and it was a lot of propaganda. But I have to admit, they had retraced our steps rather well. They even…" The shyness Kanna had heard before was back in full swing, and she suspected Katara had wanted to say something rather personal.
"They even what, dear?" She asked innocently.
"They knew… personal things. Things I would have rather kept private. It bothered Aang more than me, he was angry about it. And sad. It had reminded him of… other things."
Kanna suspected that the personal things her granddaughter talked about had to do with the airbender. The mention of him meant it had to do with him at least. The young man hadn't struck her as someone who would get angry about a stupid little play, but then again, she probably did not have all the information.
"You know… we married. But it was a bumpy road… H-he… Well, he made a necklace, and gave it to me, before the invasion." That utterly surprised her. Had the two done everything by the books? It sounded far-fetched, as you had to wait a year between the gift of the necklace and the marriage…
"I… I… Well, Azula knew about us, and had vowed to use it against Aang. I didn't want to be the reason he had to give up, so… well, ehm… I didn't accept."
Smart. But Kanna could guess that had hurt the rather fragile airbender. Sure, he didn't look fragile, to be frank, he looked rather anything but that. The young man was slender and tall, but not in a gaunty way. Rather the opposite. But she had seen the rather unsure way the airbender looked at the world. As if he wasn't sure about his place in it, and didn't know how to find it. He had probably put a lot his confidence about that on his relationship with her granddaughter… And it would have been hurtful.
"Aang was already in a bad place, being somewhere where his fa… where his friends were murdered. But it was better. The play reminded him of that… And he asked again. He was right, Azula knew enough, she would hurt me either way, married or unmarried. So, I said yes."
Family. The girl had wanted to say family. Tui and La… how much had the boy actually lost? But Kanna guessed she would never know unless the airbender told her. For Katara would keep those things to herself.
She understood the way Katara and the airbender had thought… But still, it would have been incredibly dangerous…
"He and I… we went to our bedroom and did the rituals… Air Nomads didn't always marry, but he had seen a marriage in one of the temples. So… Now you know."
Ah, so that had been how they had done it. Instead of waiting the traditional year, they had done a part of the Water Tribe customs… And that, to be honest, worried Kanna. Marriages could be undone by tribe councils if the marriage wasn't perfectly legal. And the woman would be an outcast forever after.
And they had probably not thought about that for a second. She too had not thought about it, but even now, northerners treated her with a rather icy manner.
"You really love him, don't you?" She asked instead. Katara had told her everything she would want her to know she suspected, but this was the most crucial question.
"Yes. It is… I can't really describe it. He is not like the tribesmen, for which I thank whatever spirit that I don't hate every day. But most importantly... He is just himself. And I love him for it." And here, the shyness was completely absent. And the girl sounded so much like Kya, when Kanna had asked her the same question about her own son, that it hurt.
"And he loves you too." This time, Kanna said it without teasing like yesterday. This time, she was dead serious. Her granddaughter didn't answer that, but there was no need. It would state the most obvious fact in existence. Just seeing him look at Katara would be enough to know.
The elderly woman heard some of the snow crunching behind them, and looking over her shoulder, she saw said airbender walk towards the wall, followed by that little flying beast. He had probably not seen them, otherwise he would have given a sign. Or at least, an awkward wave.
"Meditation. He does it every day around this time. The sun will be coming up soon." Katara explained, probably having heard the same thing as Kanna had done.
"Have you thought about what to tell the others?" She asked, "Tribe folk… You know how they are. They won't accept the airbender. Sure, he was pleasant and funny last year, but they will not accept him as a part of them."
"I don't know… The men know, Aang kind of shouted it from the rooftops in the Caldara… They kind of accepted him because of Sokka and Dad, but I understand what you mean. The northerners will try to make Aang as unwelcome as possible… So he can't influence the people here." Katara spoke quietly, and Kanna saw that the dark blue eyes followed the airbender until he disappeared behind the wall.
"And something else… He can't live in that shelter." Kanna pointed out, "And the northerners will say he is undermining our traditions if he sleeps in my igloo, with you close by."
"I thought they believed husband and wife should sleep under the same roof." The irritation was dripping from the girl's voice.
"In their eyes, your marriage isn't legal Kat." Kanna sighed, "You married a foreigner, an Air Nomad at that. And you didn't do the traditional ceremonies. So, even though most people would accept it without too much grumbling, they will make sure to use their influence to convince the people here that it is actually not a marriage, but two people living in sin. So even when the men return, who will want to please their wives, as an apology for staying away for so long, you are facing an uphill battle."
It hurt to say, but it was the truth.
"So, to be accepted, we need to break the northerners power, go against centuries of traditions and hope for the best." It wasn't a question that left Katara's lips. To Kanna, it sounded far more like a promise. And she couldn't help but smile. Exactly, nothing to worry about. Those two would just have to up against the most chauvinistic community in existence. And for some reason, Kanna didn't doubt who would come up on top.
Answers:
XxxRosmitrixxX : Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!
The Talent : I really enjoy this part of the story! And of course Kanna wouldn't care, she literally went to the other side of the world to get away from Pakku lol! Next chapter, Katara trying her best to fit back in with the other people in the tribe!