A/N. Geez, I was writing this, and it went so well, that when I checked how many words were done (I aim for 4000-4500 per chapter) I saw 5200. So… Well, that was longer than expected.
A tanbur is a traditional persian instrument, something like a lute. I found several ways of writing it, so just picked one.
"Strip."
Katara tried to hold in her laughter, but it was difficult, as Aang was being commanded by her grandmother. The bundle that the old woman was holding was clearly the parka some of the women had made for the airbender, and there was also a tunic that was lined with fur. She had helped with that, trying to find enough fur from a living source to make that. Luckily, Appa had been shedding his summer coat, so that had served rather well. Still, it had been a pain to find good quality, so it had taken a week.
A week since the hunt had returned, and the most unnerving week she had spent here in the south. On the one hand, it felt so much like home it was as if the whole year had not happened. But home was changed. There were the northerners, who were keeping to themselves as much as possible. They had helped to make some long, low buildings. Those buildings consisted of one long room, empty, with the hearth in the middle. It wasn't luxurious, but it would serve in case Eternal Moon Season arrived earlier.
They were assembled in one of those building, and Katara leaned against the wall with Momo on her shoulder as Aang was smiling and nodding politely, all the while trying to escape the clutches of Gran Gran and her helpers. Padding the lemur's head, the waterbender saw how the silver eyes looked over the heads of the women towards her, a clear plea in his gaze.
She just lifted her shoulders, smiled, and kept leaning against the wall. She knew that Aang didn't stand a chance.
"And you are sure it is just Appa's fur?" She heard the hesitant question.
"Airbender, if you ask that question one more time, I will begin to use force." Her grandmother smiled kindly, but the tone suggested she would actually do that.
"I could change at Appa's shelter." He suggested. The shelter had become his unofficial home, to the distaste of the northerners. They had proposed to build him an igloo just for himself, but Katara watched Aang refuse. He had told them he was used to simple things, so, as long as the others had no home, he would not accept one.
That had been their reality for a week. Refuse politely, try and make the northerners do things that were in the interest of everyone. It had been irritating, teeth grinding her irritation away at each remark. And listening to her father who suggested things only to be ignored by the northerners.
"Nonsense. You will only change your tunic, and put on this parka." Gran Gran held the piece of clothing up, "We all have seen men change. So, strip."
It was true, of the twenty or so women in the room, most were married. But Katara also knew why they were present. She had heard them whisper among themselves during the meals. Most meals were done with the whole community, and to keep up appearances, Katara had been forced to sit with her grandmother, while Aang had joined the other side of the table, where her father sat, alone. The Northerners sat on their own table.
She had heard the whispers. Even if Aang was considered strange by most, the greatest part of the women had agreed on one thing. He was handsome, in an exotic way. Not attractive in a marriage kind of way, but that had not been part of discussion. They all had heard what the Air Nomads were like. And they were curious if those things were true.
Katara knew far better than most that those ideas were far from the truth, born of Fire Nation propaganda and prejudice. But she had not admitted to knowing things about that. For Gran Gran had warned her. Most women talked to the northerners, and there was one thing they did very well. Talk. So, if she admitted to knowing things about Aang's… ideas… the northerners would learn that and would grow suspicious. So, teeth grinding during the meals it was.
"I see they had finally managed to corner him?" Her father's voice interrupted her thoughts, and glancing to her left, she saw him stand close to her, a bag underneath his arm.
"He has been walking around like this for a week. I believe they had a heart attack each time they saw him." Katara smiled, seeing how Aang took the tunic, studied it, and tried to escape the corner he had been forced into.
"Not only because he walks around like it is high summer in the Fire Nation, I believe." Her dad's lips twitched up, "They would stop talking like if…"
"I know." She quickly cut of his thought process. Yes, the women of the tribe would stop this kind of gossip the second they learned about their marriage. But the northerners would grasp at anything to break the influence Aang could wield in the South. And hers too. Katara had seen Maruk glance at her suspiciously whenever one of the women laughed at what she told the person. And that was clear enough.
"But Mother is right… For the moment. You have, at most, a week, remember." Her father nodded, biting his lip. She had not forgotten. The warriors would be dropped off by a Fire Nation ship in a few days. And that was good, as the weather was already slowly turning. Today, the first heavy snow had fallen. It had stopped, but it was clear that the Eternal Moon season was just days away.
And the warriors knew about the marriage, and would talk about with their families. And they would need to tell the women before.
Laughter was heard from the corner, and the waterbender lifted her head, standing on her toes to see that Aang was trying, as fast as possible to put on the tunic her grandmother had handed him. The yellow and orange fabric of his summer tunic fell to the ground, and a flash of pale skin could see before he put the blue tunic against himself, pulling it over his head as fast as possible.
For some reason, he had to turn slightly, and that revealed his back. The laughter stopped immediately as the women saw the huge scar that ran up his lower back, before Aang managed to pull the tunic down. The joyous and teasing mood had disappeared in an instance, and Katara saw the concerned looks. Sure, they had enjoyed the gossip, and Katara had told about some of their adventures. But they probably thought of them as stories, not true events. But now, they had seen the proof of Aang's injuries.
Katara watched as some women turned towards her, and her own gaze was pulled towards the pale eyes of her grandmother. She saw the worry, quickly replaced by something that looked a lot like… Pride. And Gran Gran looked impressed.
"Well?" Aang, not aware, or rather, trying to move past the awkward moment, lifted his arms to show the tunic. And Katara had to admit, the others had made some work of it. Normally, Water Tribe clothing was decorated with moons, waves, stars, and other symbols important in her culture. The women of the tribe had, however, made the tunic the same blue as her own clothes, but had changed the symbols. Instead of moons and waves there was only the twirling wind symbols. They had probably copied the symbols from his old tunic, or his chest, that stood in the igloo of her grandmother at this very moment.
That chest had changed contents since she had first opened it in the spring. Then, it had been filled with scrolls, candles, Aang's flute, and the blanket he had given to the baby Hope. Now, it still contained the scrolls and the flute, but additionally, it also held the book Air People Ideas of Lovemaking, and the necklace Aang had given her before the Invasion.
They had decided it would be better to keep that in a safe place for the moment, to make sure no one saw it before they found a way to make their marriage acceptable. It made her angry, hiding that necklace. Ever since Aang had given it to her, it had either spent its time in his or her pocket, or in the hands of Azula.
"Blue is not your colour." Her grandmother's voice broke the silence, and a ripple of soft laughter could be heard. Looking at the airbender, Katara had to agree with Gran Gran. The tunic was nice and fitted like a glove, but it didn't match the blue of his tattoos, and the shade of the fabric made his skin even paler. All in all, she preferred him in his traditional colours of orange and yellow.
The group around the airbender began to dissolve into smaller groups of two or three. It was clear that the teasing was gone, and that none of the women wished to make fun of the Avatar anymore. Katara began to make her way, slowly, towards the airbender, who was handed the parka by her grandmother.
"Sorry about that young airbender." She heard Gran Gran whisper as soon as she was in earshot, "I believe I should have thought about that." The old eyes dropped, clearly indicating Aang's back.
"No worry Kanna. It doesn't matter." She heard Aang answer kindly, as he took the parka from her hands.
Her grandmother turned slightly, spotting her. Katara saw one eyebrow lift.
"So, some healing skill? Those were Pakku's words. That old fool always underplays it." Gran Gran shook her head, scoffing her husband's name.
"The Spirit Water did most of the work." Katara answered, feeling her chest tighten as it always did when she talked about those three weeks. Weeks of worry, stress and violence.
"The Spirit Water did some of the work." Aang spoke up, "You did most." Glancing into the silver eyes, Katara felt a smile creep up her mouth, remembering his words as he had woken up above Ba Sing Se. Mero mana, timro ho, mero premakura, my Katara… Still looking into those eyes, she saw what he meant to say, but couldn't say out loud. I survived because of you. Because I couldn't leave you behind.
"Well, I hope those healing skills will be used for things less severe than losing half one's back." Those words were spoken by her grandmother, as the old woman shook her head.
A soft, vibrating sound sounded throughout the room of the temporary building, and Katara frowned, a memory bubbling to the surface of her mind. She had heard that sound just a few times, and each time, it had been from far away, as it had been her bedtime. The sound had disappeared around the same time as the trouble with raids, food shortage and so on had begun, when she had been around seven or eight.
Turning to where the waterbender had left her father, she saw he had opened the bag he had been carrying and had taken an instrument out of it. She had forgotten he possessed it, as he had not taken it with him, and it had been tucked away with his other possessions by her grandmother.
The tanbur had been made in the Earth Kingdom, and had been given to her grandfather, the father of her mother, who had been the Chief before her own father. It had been so long that the instrument had been used that the vibrating sound seemed off.
"Sorry." She heard her dad say to no one in particular.
"Tui and La, not that thing again." Gran Gran rolled her eyes, "He spend weeks playing that thing when Otaluk gave him it for the wedding."
Katara knew that story. Otaluk, her grandfather from mother's side, had not been too fond of her dad, but had nonetheless been gracious enough to give one of his most priced possessions during the wedding, as custom dictated.
Spirits, custom. Custom was what was being a real pain in the ass at this moment. What she wouldn't give to be able to make people accept the fact she took her own decisions. How difficult was it? Just because she had not followed Water Tribe custom, meant that the knowledge had to be hidden.
Her grandmother quickly went to her dad, the soft clicking of her tongue loud enough to be heard. Katara watched as she grabbed the instrument from his hands, beginning to tune it while grumbling.
"Seems… Seems like Sokka inherited his music skills from your dad?" Aang spoke softly beside her, and the waterbender smiled.
"Not only him. Have you ever heard me sing?" Katara was well aware that her own talent lay in other fields than making music, "I will leave the singing to you if you don't mind."
"I would like to hear it actually!" Aang laughed.
"You won't, trust me." Katara shook her head, the smile widening. It was too easy. She didn't mind being teased by him… It was actually nice. Nice to feel this relaxed… To be honest, she had not felt this way since before Ba Sing Se. All the stress, all the worry… It was far away. Who cared Maruk was trying to get power in the South? That was a small problem for them. An easy problem, but without an immediate solution.
"Rain will drown us? The earth will shatter and swallow us whole?" Aang spoke evenly, but she felt the soft push of his elbow in her ribs.
"The ice will crack and create waves as high as the wall around Ba Sing Se." She pushed back with her shoulder.
"Sounds easy enough to solve. I'll have to bend the rain away, the earth back together and the waves down as you sing. See? No reason to hide your talent." Aang laughed louder this time, and Katara saw several women look into their direction, and it seemed to her that they all had the same look. Amusement. But they couldn't have heard their banter, so it was amusement at something else…
"They are watching us… Again." She glanced towards the women so Aang would see where to look. It had happened several times this week… Every time she talked to the airbender, trying to stay as friendly as humanly possible. If she acted like she usually did around him, the others of the tribe would have realized almost immediately that they were something more than just friends.
But it was just so hard to switch off… How they acted around each other. She had tried to recall how they had interacted before, during the winter of last year. But it was just… Well, they had not ever been just friends. The attraction had always been there… And even though Katara considered she had been able to hide her feelings quite well, it was also true that all the people knew her, probably as good as she knew herself.
"Let them." Aang shrugged, "It is not as if we are doing something that would suggest…" He didn't finish his sentence, but she understood him all the same.
"But we are." She sighed, knowing how the tribe's folk were thinking, "We spent a year in each other's company, and even though the tribe is rooted in their traditions, they also know things happen."
"Things happened?" The airbender asked in an innocent voice, and Katara had to resist smiling. Aang knew, as well as her own family, how serious the situation was here… But he brought some amusement to it. She had missed that to be honest. After the failed invasion, his goofier side, the side he showed to the world without shame, had all but disappeared… And ever since coming here, Katara had seen it appear more and more once again. She had heard her grandmother laugh more than once at his jokes, and she had seen how the children had loved each moment he had spent time in their presence…
That was his strength. Most people thought it was his bending, the fact he was the Avatar, or his ability as a weapon. But she knew better. If left to his own devices, Aang grew into a person able to bring happiness to wherever he was. And that was the real strength of the airbender. He loved being able to make people laugh, to solve sadness.
"I don't believe… Things happened." She answered, as innocently as possible.
"I guessed so. I would have remembered if it had." Aang nodded, stepping to his left to create some space between them.
The room, filled with whispered conversation, resounded with a purer version of the vibrant musical note that her father had tried to make with the instrument, and looking back to the corner where her father and grandmother had been tuning the tanbur. Apparently, Gran Gran had managed to tune it and had given it back to her dad, who was now trying the sound the four strings made.
"They used those at the Air Temple." Aang suddenly said. Katara turned back, slightly surprised. It had been so long ago the airbender had talked about his childhood, or the temples in general, that she felt the same tug in her stomach as she had felt the first few times he had done so.
"For what?" She asked, knowing he would enjoy talking about it.
"Parties." He grinned towards her, "Ji…. Jinora taught it in her class at the Western temple. The sisters tried to insist she showed the girls other things, like the flute or the pipes, but Jinora liked the music made by tanburs."
She heard the soft hesitation before the name of Aang's sister. Putting a hand on his now blue-clad arm, she pressed her fingers gently into his flesh.
"Sounds like you." She smiled, "Do you know how to play it?"
"Spirits, no! We might be a comedic duo, you sing and I will play the tanbur." His serious mood disappeared instantly, a small smile creeping up his lips, "But she did teach me one thing." A twinkle appeared in his silver eyes, and she had seen it several times.
The same twinkle as had been in his eyes during the party in the cave.
There was a gentle wind appearing, which, under normal circumstances, would be impossible indoors. But Katara knew that it was Aang, being himself. The airbender moved quickly, away from her, toward her father, who was still trying to make a half-decent tune with the instrument.
Katara sighed softly as she watched how the airbender was whispering in her dad's ear, and how the older man smiled and nodded. It was weird, seeing them in such a… normal atmosphere. The few times she had seen the two interact was either during the invasion, at the Air Temple or during their journey to the South Pole. And none of those moments had been really stress free. But here, she could see the potential of a friendship…
"I believe you didn't have any parties here since the men left?" Aang's voice rang through the room, and all the people inside turned towards the sound. Katara smiled, recalling how he had done the same thing for the Fire Nation students.
"Hakoda," Aang spoke lightly, "would like to play a few songs. Do any of you know how to dance?"
Katara knew the answer to that. All people here knew the group dances that were traditional here, the dancing in one big circle… But Aang's own style was more individual.
"What is the occasion?" One of the older women asked.
"Do you need one?" Aang's smile flashed, all teeth and lopsided grinning. She watched as he slowly began move, gracefully. It wasn't exactly dancing, more walking with some rhythm. She had seen him do that so often that it didn't surprise her, but she could see the slightly confused, and amused, looks of some of the women present.
"Really not one to sit quietly in a corner, heh." Her grandmother's voice sounded beside her. Looking to her right, Katara saw the old woman stand next to her, moving a little to the left and the to the right each time her dad strung one of the cords of the tanbur.
"No." She laughed as Aang moved towards the group of children that had been standing close to the door of the building, "I would worry if he stayed still for longer than a minute."
Her grandmother didn't respond to that, but the waterbender heard a soft rumble of laughter as they watched how Aang was trying to coax the children towards the centre of the room. As he managed to actually get some to the middle, he took the hands of one of the smaller girls, and showed her how to step into the rhythm of the tune her dad was managing to play on the instrument.
"They like him." Gran Gran spoke softly.
"I have not met a child who doesn't like Aang." She answered, feeling the smile on her face.
"Not only the children Kat. The others too. They are beginning to see him as… Well, as a person, not just the Avatar. And there are rumours."
Ah… Of course there were.
"Let me guess, they think Aang and I are kind of together." She rolled her eyes, but the smile stayed on her lips as she saw how the airbender showed the same steps to another girl, and then put the two children together to dance with each other.
"Nanüu told me that the exact words her mother spoke were Those two are destined to be together." Her grandmother laughed.
Katara nearly gagged at the idea of being the topic of rumours and such cliché things as destined to be together. But Nanüu's mother had always had a flare of the dramatic. It was so much more than that… Not that she would be able to explain it precisely… But their love was more than that.
"Charming." She stuck out her tongue. Looking into the mass of blue and brown, Katara saw how most of the women had begun to at least, move a little to the left, then to the right, just as her grandmother was doing. And in that mass of blue, she saw silver. Looking straight at her.
Oh, how often she had seen that look. That look that held everything the airbender was. Joy, quiet strength, love and understanding. But also, passion. It was the look he always had when he looked towards her, and, if her brother was to be believed, her own look wasn't much better when she saw the airbender.
"Kat." Gran Gran spoke softly, and she would have heard the warning tone if she had been really listening. But she only looked to the airbender, who was weaving through the group of children, towards them. As he managed to walk towards her, she saw the determined grin on his face.
But she didn't see several of the older people in the room frown towards the airbender.
"Katara." His grin widened even more, "I seem to recall our last dance was quite rudely interrupted be a school teacher."
"We didn't finish that dance, indeed." The words left her mouth before she could think about it. She saw the silver eyes darken slightly, enough indication to her that he had caught her meaning. After the dance in the cave, they had managed to find a place to be alone… And they had done another kind of dance in that small hut.
Aang grasped her hand and pulled her towards the middle of the room, where some of the children were still stepping in an awkward caricature of dancing. She laughed as she saw one of the children look at her with big eyes, as he had never expected her to also join the dancing.
The airbender released her hand, nearly jumping in a circle around her, as she heard how he clapped his hands together in the rhythm of the tune. Glancing to her father, she saw the soft look. Katara realized suddenly that this was the first time that he saw her in this kind of setting. But the worry that had been present in his eyes during the weeks after the fall of Ba Sing Se was absent. This was just him, enjoying it. Enjoying the carefree feeling of being home, seeing the people he loved being happy…
And it had been years since she had seen him look like that.
"Tara." Aang whispered, and her attention was drawn back to the airbender. Said airbender was still clapping his hands, slowly and deliberately, and she followed his example. Without thinking, she stepped to the left, and began to turn around him, as he had done with her.
Who cared? Maruk and his northerners weren't here, and the women were already talking. So why not give them something to talk about? What harm would that do? If they already talked, it wasn't wrong to dance together. She had heard the story of her parents often enough to know that they had also danced and laughed and talked, even before anything official was said. So, what was wrong in dancing?
"I missed this." She heard the airbender whisper, and the relief in his voice was palpable, "I have missed this so much." The hurt was also present. The hurt of the worry of the last weeks. The hurt of all the scenarios his mind and the spirits had conjured to torture him. Without thinking, she put a hand to his face.
"I'm here. And so are you. Nothing else matters." She murmured, before letting the hand slide down and grasp his hand. Lifting his arm, she let go of the fingers and grasped his elbow.
"You taught me the some of the dances of the Earth Kingdom. Even of the Fire Nation. But I believe the lessons lacked Water Tribe dances." She laughed, "Put your hand on my elbow, just as I'm doing." She felt his fingers press into her skin.
Katara pulled, as to make them go into a circle. She quickened to pace, as to go around and around.
"Good! Now, change!" She laughed. Tui and La, it was too long. Too long they had done something like this… Too long that they had been able to just… enjoy themselves…
As Aang's finger released her elbow, she quickly turned and grasped the other arm of the airbender, and began to turn once more, but now in the opposite direction. Looking into his eyes, a small voice in the back of her head tried to say something, but she didn't listen. It didn't matter. She was home, and the war was far away, the war was actually over, and they were living! They were able to enjoy themselves… After so much hurt and worry.
Aang's grasp tightened, as Katara could feel herself being pulled to the airbender. If they had been alone, without a care in the world, she knew he would have kissed her, and she saw the hunger in his eyes as they flashed towards her lips. But she also managed to see the discipline, or rather the torture, he was putting on his emotions. He wouldn't kiss her here… But later, Katara knew, she would go to Appa's shelter to bring another… Blanket…
It wasn't as if he already had a whole pile of blankets in the shelter.
She stepped away from him, as much for him as for herself, and grinned as she bowed politely to the airbender. Aang himself laughed, the hunger forgotten, and replaced in his eyes by joy.
"You need some training in our dances." She acted as if she was thinking, "You know what?" Katara turned to the children, "Would you like to teach to Avatar dancing?"
The children cheered.
"Good luck!" She waved at the airbender, and quickly rejoined her grandmother, who was looking at her with a mix of delight and worry.
"You wanted them to stop talking, right?" Gran Gran sighed, "I think that by tomorrow, those who aren't here will hear you practically stripped the poor boy right in front of us."
"It was just dancing Gran Gran." She shook her head.
"You would be surprised how often I heard that. Your father said the exact same thing to me some twenty-two years ago." Her grandmother chuckled softly, "Just watch out not to get caught doing whatever people do after the dancing." With those words, Gran Gran actually laughed out loud and walked away.
Katara saw movement from the door, and turned towards. Maruk and two of the other northerners came into the building, their parka's covered by the snow that melted as soon as they entered the warmer room. The northerners had been keeping to themselves, and to be honest, she was surprised to see them here.
"Maruk!" Aang had apparently also noted the arrival of the waterbenders, "Does the Northern Water Tribe have any traditional dances? Katara and the children are teaching me!" She heard the amusement in his voice, but also saw how Maruk looked. Pleased.
He wouldn't look pleased by the question in normal circumstances.
"We aren't really a dancing kind of people up north, Avatar Aang." The waterbender bowed politely, "But I could teach you one or two things about our common tribal traditions, if you want."
Those words were too specific. Katara, without thinking, began to move back to where the airbender was standing. He too seemed to have realized that Maruk was saying something important, as he had stopped dancing.
"Such as?" Aang asked, in a neutral tone. But Katara heard the slight worry.
"Chief Hakoda." Maruk ignored the question, turning to her father who had stopped playing the instrument and had clearly also sensed the change of the mood, "I would ask for a tribal council to discuss certain matters."
"Such as?" Katara couldn't help but raise her voice, "You are a northerner, without a say in the affairs of the south. About what would you want to talk in a council?"
"Regarding the morality and dignity of my new home, of course… Master Katara. Some people seem to have forgotten there are rules."
The mask had fallen, Katara realized. Maruk knew something, or rather, she thought he suspected something. The only people who knew about her and Aang were her father and Gran Gran, and both would rather swallow their own tongues than reveal secrets of one of their own.
The airbender took a step backwards, and Katara felt his arm graze her own. She couldn't help it, but she glanced to him, and saw the same worry as she herself was feeling. All the happiness and amusement were gone from the room. Maruk knew something.
"Tui and La, be plain man." Her father spoke irritably.
"If you wish." Maruk bowed politely towards her dad, "I accuse Avatar Aang of breaking the ancient laws and traditions of the Water Tribes, and propose banishing him from both Poles for the rest of his life."
Answers :
Kalaong : I understand what you mean! Even though the Kataang has some bumpy parts, such as the balcony scene on Ember Island, they are essentially partners who respect each other, while, in my opinion, Zutara doesn't have the same kind of mutual respect.
The Talent : Azula slowly descending into chaos, even if she herself doesn't realize, is so interesting to write, and at the same time, quite sad. You know she isn't capable of ruling the Fire Nation, but at the same time, you know her father made her think she was. So, in her mind, she is right… And if is hard to watch.
McChartney : I was hestitating on killing Kantuno (the poor guy is dead), but realized that this war has, for the moment, not claimed anyone I named lol. So, killing the irritating bad governor was a good solution lol. With Azula, I enjoy making her talk to the good and bad people in her head. It makes for an interesting dynamic. As if she knows she should hate the bad guy, but react that hate on the good people.