A/N. Have you seen the new pictures of the Fire Nation from Netflix? They look good! A small recap chapter, so that after this, we can continue with the plot!
The day had been… Well, Aang could say it had been uplifting, to be honest. A whole day where his only concern had been about how much an old woman knew about his relationship with her granddaughter. As he had bent a shelter for Appa and Momo, he and Hakoda had rejoined Kanna and Katara inside, only to find the two talk about Omashu, and then, their other adventures.
Hakoda had listened too, as Katara talked about what they had lived through this past year. Aang knew Sokka had told his father about their travels, but he had probably never heard about it from Katara's point of view.
Aang had not interjected, he had actually tried to blend in with the background. This was feeling like a personal, long longed for reunion, and he had not tried to attract their attention away from this family gathering by talking. So, he too, he had listened.
Kanna had laughed at several stories, notably at the month they had spent at the North Pole. The airbender had seen the worry in Kanna's eyes as Katara had told about the fact she and Sokka had fought in the siege. Surely, she had already known that, with Pakku telling her… But Aang still felt the worry and love oozing from the old woman. After that, Kanna had listened to the stories of the Earth Kingdom, laughing about Toph's antics and looking disgusted by the way of life in Ba Sing Se.
Aang had felt the woman's eyes on him as Katara had talked about the Crystal Catacombs. The waterbender had left out several key moments, such as their… encounter… In the barn next to the Earth King's palace. Kanna had not asked how he had known Katara had been captured, but for some reason, the airbender suspected she knew.
Hakoda had taken over after that, recollecting about the six years he had spent abroad. Then, he had told his mother about Sokka and himself coming to the Water Tribe's camp, but Aang thanked the chief silently as he didn't speak about their talk in the tent, where Hakoda had rejected him.
The airbender had seen the light fade during the stories, and so had Kanna, because before Katara could talk about the Fire Nation, the older woman had interrupted them, saying that there would be several days to catch up, and that now, they needed to eat and sleep.
Aang had seen the raised eyebrow as he had offered to help with the meal, and how they had risen even higher as he had proven he was able to cook. He had not touched the tiger seal meat that had been offered by Kanna, but still, he had tried his best to keep the Southern Water Tribe cuisine inside his stomach.
It had not been easy, as he had watched how Hakoda had devoured it, with an eerily resemblance with Sokka when he ate something he liked. He had seen too how Katara had relished the dishes, in a somewhat more dignified manner. He had smiled as the waterbender had laughed aloud at something her grandmother had said.
Finding a place to sleep had not been easy, as the igloo had been built for two or three people, so Aang had suggested he could sleep with Appa and Momo in their shelter. After having to convince Kanna it was alright, he had glanced at Katara, who had mouthed a silent few words to him.
I'll join you when I can.
So, that had been a long. But, as the wind screamed over the tundra outside the icy walls of the shelter, Aang inhaled deeply as he sat with his legs crossed and his fists pressed together.
Roku?
Silence
Kuruk?
Still more silence. This had been like this since Kirashi, and he had there had been no spirits trying to speak to him since then… Even Sozin and Szeto had not spoken, had not tried to poison his mind… And, neither had those he longed to talk to… Gyatso, or Jinora… Aang had never thought about it, but after him meeting Kya before the battle with Ozai, it seemed logical. Why would the Avatars be the only ones he could communicate with? Why not any spirit?
And his time in the Spirit World had confirmed that idea. Gyatso and Sozin had not been Avatars, or powerful spirits… And yet, he had talked with them.
But still, there was silence.
Kyoshi?
It was not that he really wanted to talk to her… But perhaps she would help him. Concentrating on the sound of the wind around him, Aang tried to clear his mind, but a soft crunch of someone taking a step in the snow made him break his concentration. Katara!
Opening his eyes, he quickly stood up, waving a hand to the candle he had put on his wooden chest. The small flame cast shadows on the ice walls, and he saw how Appa opened an eye to look at the flame. A soft bellow and the big brown eye closed once more to slumber.
Quickly crossing the space towards the entrance, Aang let a small fire begin in the palm of his hand. The darkness outside was absolute, so a way to guide Katara towards the shelter would be nice.
"Here!" He whispered as loudly as he dared, and he could see the darkness shift slightly as a figure turned and walked towards him.
"The others are asl…" He began to ask the question but he screwed his lips tightly shut as he saw who had actually been walking around in the dark.
"Oh, they are asleep young airbender. But I guess by your expression I was not the one you were waiting for." Kanna's face was lit by the flames in his hand, and Aang could feel his own face heat up as hot as the flames.
"Ehm… K… Katara… She… ehm… We talk before going to sleep." He answered awkwardly, feeling the shyness about their relationship creep up like he had not felt it since before Sokka and Toph had learned about it before the Invasion.
"Ah, of course." Kanna's lips twitched up in a smile, before she looked at the shelter he had built, "You might want to explain this to the tribe's folk when they come back tomorrow. Some might not like the fact that their children freeze in tents as your animals enjoy a palace."
A palace? Aang glanced to the roof of the shelter, and realized he had actually built them a full-fledged house… Right next to tents and small huts of animal hides and snow…
"Spirits, I'm sorry!" He quickly extinguished the flames in his hand as he had seen Kanna look at it with suspicion, "I'll make something less fancy!" At those words, he could have sworn he heard some sleepy chittering coming from where Momo had fallen asleep.
"I didn't say that. Just explain that you made it, and you would be more than happy to do so for them too." At those words, Kanna's eyes changed. Ever since she had seen that Katara saw safe, Aang had seen only kindness and carrying. Now, those ice blue eyes looked much like how they had done when he had landed. Steely.
"Ehm… I thought they wanted to wait for when the men were back?" He had thought it was a rather bizarre decision, but he had not said so, because it wasn't his place to do so… At least, he didn't want to be the one to say it.
"Oh, that is part of it. But the northerners are a rather intervening bunch." Kanna sighed, "Will you let me stand all night, or will you be so kind to find me something to sit on?"
At that, he quickly bend an icy bench. The elder woman arched an eyebrow but sat down. Aang himself squatted against the wall in front of Kanna.
"How so?" He asked. He and Hakoda had discussed that whole thing while he had bent the shelter. The chief and Aang had come to the conclusion that there was surely more to the story than the explanation Kanna had given them, but they had not wanted to ask her.
"The igloos were for everyone's use before Pakku left. Most people chose to keep living in the tents, for the reason I said before to Koda and Kat. But most mothers wanted their children to sleep in the igloos, for that was better for them."
Aang nodded, for the moment, it made sense. Even though most children were older than six years, he could understand people desire for their children to have a comfortable place to sleep.
"After Pakku left, Maruk was given charge of the northern benders." Kanna continued, "He said that the arrangement, that one igloo was for the northerners and the other for the children, was impracticable. As it forced the men to sleep in the same room as the women."
Aang recalled that two women had left with Pakku, out of the twelve benders who had chosen to accompany their waterbending master. And it didn't surprise him to hear that kind of talk, coming from northern waterbenders.
"Yeah, of course, he would say that." Aang sighed, nodding, "And they hadn't the bright idea to make a third igloo, just for the women?"
"Northerners aren't the brightest." Kanna chuckled, something that surprised him to be honest, "I offered to house the two women in my own igloo, but that was also improper, for I am… A dishonest woman."
Ah… Of course.
"Because you left the North Pole?" He asked, making certain.
"Because I left, and married a… how did Maruk put it? A dirty savage."
Aang gritted his teeth. He actually didn't know much about Katara's grandfather, but he had always guessed that the man would have been nice, and more tolerant than most to earn Kanna's respect.
"So, they refuse to do anything because you made your own choices, and because they feel superior?" He felt the bitter taste the question left in his mouth.
"Exactly. And with the return of Koda, they will want to play nice with him. And Koda will need the northerners to rebuild the tribe. And I know my son, he will refuse to work with people that insulted his people. And let's face it, Kat would beat Maruk into a pulp."
Yeah… That, Katara would do if she learned about this.
"So, I would like you to give the northerners an example. If the Avatar does something, they can't refuse to do the same."
"Are you asking to keep this a secret?" He didn't like that. Keeping secrets from Katara… That was literally the worst plan he could imagine.
"I don't think that is something you do. Keeping secrets… From my granddaughter." Aang looked away when he met the penetrating glance the woman was casting towards him. And he hadn't missed the small pause in her sentence.
"I prefer to be honest with everyone." He answered, as neutrally as possible.
"Tell her but ask her to stay calm. I'll talk with her too." Kanna said in a definitive tone, suggesting that this topic was at an end, "So… If you are honest, can I ask you a question?"
He nodded, still thinking about what Kanna had asked of him, exactly. She had not said it in so many words, but what he had understood was quite… well, horrible. The northerners had been helpful until Pakku had left. And Kanna wanted him to fill the role of... Well, an example. To do something, forcing the northerners to do the same. Aang knew that as Avatar, he had that kind of power of large groups of people, something that had always made him uncomfortable. He wanted people to help each other by their own will, not by being forced by him… But here, he could see that it was necessary. But what could he do?
He would ask Katara. She would know more about the do's and don'ts of the Water Tribes, and he had a feeling she would want to help.
"How long have you been in love with my granddaughter?"
His thinking was interrupted by the question, and he felt like as if he had just been thrown the biggest boulder in existence, and that he had to catch it or be squashed by it. Quickly looking at the old woman, he saw that the serious exterior was completely gone, replaced by a more humorous look, one that looked so much like Katara when she was happy that he had a glance into the future, how she would look when she was as old as Kanna…
Scrapping his throat to give himself some more time, he managed to try and look surprised.
"What do you mean?" He asked, as innocently as possible. The airbender had not really talked about this with Katara… How would they tell Kanna about them? Sure, she would learn sooner or later, but he had never really thought he would have to talk about this with Kanna… Without Katara.
No. He wouldn't. He couldn't take that away from Katara… She would probably want to tell her family about them, and it would be cruel to do so without her.
"Airbender, I may be old, but I'm not blind. You walk around like you are a lovesick otter penguin." Kanna chuckled.
"That is a thing?" He asked, genuinely interested, but saw the deadpanned look Kanna was sporting, and guessed not.
"Kind of since… Well, last time I was here." He whispered instead, as an answer to her question. Sure, that was not a lie. He had realized he loved Katara during their first weeks in the Earth Kingdom last spring… But when looking back, Aang knew the feeling had always been present, ever since waking up and seeing those haunting ocean blue eyes.
Kanna didn't answer immediately, so he looked up to see the older woman look at him with a small smile.
"You know you aren't exactly what the Water Tribes consider as… future son-in-law material. Right?" Kanna didn't seem to mean it in a bad way, at least, the tone in her voice was more humorous than serious. And sure, Aang knew that. Katara had told him what the Water Tribes considered as a good match. A man with the means to provide for the family. Even the year that was supposed to happen between the betrothal and the marriage was meant for the man to build up his riches and material wealth. It was such a foreign concept to him that he had never considered such things when it came to love… And they hadn't really kept to the Water Tribe's cultural traditions when it came to their relationship.
"And any other Water Tribe woman would laugh in your face if you asked her to be together, you do know that? Not only aren't you a tribe member, but you are also quite literally the opposite of what is supposed to be handsome here." Kanna continued, and Aang frowned. At first, he had supposed the woman was trying to encourage him, but the last thing sounded so much like an insult that he tried not to bridle.
"So, a little ugly airbender with no wealth, no prospects and no one from the Water Tribe to speak in his favour… How did you think this would even work?" Kanna continued, and Aang missed the soft jump in the question, one that would have suggested to him she was teasing him.
"I have Sokka!" He protested before she could continue, "And I'm not that horrible! And my people have never believed in wealth. We believe in kindness, compassion and love. Do the Water Tribes? Katara never felt as if the men and boys of her own tribe respected her! She told…" He stopped immediately. It was not his place to say all that, and even less his place to speak for her.
"My grandson knows? You mean to tell me he managed to see it?" Kanna sounded surprised, "Tui and La, he keeps astonishing me. I always thought he was like Koda, blind to everything that was right in front of him."
"I told him. Right after speaking to Hakoda about this very topic." He answered, looking the old woman straight in the eyes, "Sure, your son said no. But I still went back to Ba Sing Se after the guru told me to let go of my earthly attachments."
The ice blue eyes didn't betray anything, but he could see a slight rise of Kanna's eyebrow.
"So I may be a horrible-looking airbender with nothing to offer, but I don't think that matters." What he didn't say was that it had certainly not mattered. Kanna didn't know about the fact that he and Katara were already together and married. But he didn't want her to think he would just abandon any hope, even hypothetical hope.
"Oh, I'm certain it doesn't matter. It is written all over Kat's face. That girl may be good at hiding her true feelings, but she is an open book if you know her. She loves you, you have realized that?" The gruff laugh was enough for Aang to understand she had not meant her previous words to be an insult, and he could feel his cheeks heat up at the realization he had told her off like that.
"You don't look surprised." Kanna smiled wickedly, in a way that made him think of Toph when she realized that there was something to tease him with. Swallowing dryly, Aang realized that he should either shut up or come clean.
Shutting up it was.
"So, I suppose you knew before going to see my son. You don't seem like the type to just presume a girl likes you, you rather seem like someone who would miss all the signs. So, Koda said no, you told Sokka, and presumably had some knowledge about Kat's feelings. The only thing I wonder is-"
"Aang?" A whisper outside of the shelter.
The airbender groaned out loud. Out of all the moments Katara could have chosen to come to his sleeping spot… This was it? He saw Kanna clamp her lips shut, but the lips still curled up in a big smile, as she rocked back and forth, not even trying to hide her amusement.
Looking up towards the entrance, he saw Katara's figure stepping around the corner and freeze right inside the entrance. The candlelight flickered over the beautiful face, which looked horrified for a mere second before settling into the fakest smile he had ever seen.
"Gran Gran! What… What are you doing here?" Aang saw a blanket drop right behind Katara, as she had clearly intended to take that inside. Kanna smiled at her granddaughter, and Aang saw how her eyes flickered to the blanket behind Katara.
"Cold?" Kanna pointed her chin to the fabric.
"Eh… I thought Aang could use a blanket. We didn't give him one, how silly, right?" Katara bend down to grab the fabric, straightened and handed it to him, still with that fake smile. As he took it, the airbender tried to convey the one thing she needed to know… Help me…
Katara stayed standing between them for a few seconds, clearly not knowing what to do.
"Tui and La, sit down child, I'll leave you two alone after… we talk." Kanna plucked the waterbender's sleeve, and Aang watched as Katara sat down next to her grandmother.
"So, airbender, you were about to tell me I was right." Kanna turned back to him.
"About wha-" Katara began, but was cut short by her grandmother, who waved a wrinkled had in front of her granddaughter.
"About him knowing you love him, keep up child." Katara spluttered at that statement, but then Aang felt the big ocean blue eyes on him and as he glanced to them, he saw the question in her eyes… What does she know?...
The airbender didn't know what to answer. He would be lying to Kanna about something very important, but they couldn't just drop all that information on the old woman… right?
"Spirits above and beyond, just spit it out, we haven't all night, and I want to go to sleep. I have much to do tomorrow, and playing matchmaker isn't something I'm used to anymore. So, you love him, he loves you. It is simple!" Kanna spoke instead, a mix of irritation and amusement at their embarrassment clear in her voice.
"We know Gran Gran." Katara spoke softly, surprising him. So… They were going to tell her? He saw the quick glance the waterbender cast in his direction, and he gave a little nod. Better to tell her and to face the music then her discovering by a slip of the tongue or Hakoda talking about it without thinking.
"Do you?" Kanna just smiled sweetly.
"We… ehm… We kind of… you know. Have known since the spring." Katara sounded shy, something Aang had not expected to be honest. From the stories the waterbender had told him, it sounded like she had told her grandmother everything that happened in her life. But he could understand that something like this would be reason enough to sound shy. Spirits, he himself could feel his cheeks burning.
"Oh… And have acted upon it, if your embarrassment is any indication." At those words from Kanna, he saw Katara become even redder than she had been… And it wasn't the light from the flame that did that.
The waterbender nodded.
Alright, here it came. Of course Kanna was going to stab him for real now. But instead of doing that, she heard a soft chuckle grow into a real laughter. He looked towards Katara, who herself was clearly not understanding why Kanna found it amusing.
"So… No sermons or speeches about how foolish this is?" He asked softly.
"Tui and La, no!" Kanna laughed a little more before calming down, "Believe me, I am not the person to tell anyone what to do. Tell me that Sokka had to learn about this the hard way."
"No. But I had to give him the talk." Aang grumbled before realizing what he had just said, "Not that I would know anything about…" He let the words die away as he saw how Kanna looked at him.
"Of course, you don't." It sounded so sarcastic he wanted to crawl away into a corner, "Anyway, not my business. Does your father know?" This question was directed to Katara, who had grown as red as he had ever seen her when he had said the thing about the talk.
"Yes, and he is not happy about it." Katara grumbled, "He sent Aang into an enemy town all alone because he was mad about not being told w…" The words died on her tongue.
"Not being told what?" This time, Kanna sounded serious.
"Ehm… Well, we… ehm…" Aang stuttered, "We might have done more than…being together."
"Please don't tell me I'm going to become a great-grandmother." This time, the airbender didn't see any amusement in the ice blue eyes.
"No!" He and Katara answered at the same time, before the waterbender took over, "What Aang meant was… Well… ehm… We might have…" The rest of the sentence was so low and mumbled that the airbender strained to hear even some sound coming from Katara's lips.
"Might have what?"
"Married." Aang spit it out, before he even realized he did so.
"Married?" Kanna sounded genuinely surprised, and let the word roll over her tongue, as if to test the sound of it, "Wait, you mean to tell me I came out in the middle of the night, freezing my toes off, to beat some sense into you, and you had already figured everything out?"
"You're… not mad?" Katara asked, sounding surprised too.
"Tui and La, no. Why would I? You may do whatever you like, as long as it makes you happy! And to be honest, I'm just surprised at the marriage part. Please tell me everything about this whole… situation… in the morning." At that, the elderly woman stood up, dusted off some small snowflakes that had found a way into her lap, and shook her head.
"Spirits, you are never too old to see something new. I thought that the most surprising marriage in this family would have been Pakku and me. But I have to admit, bringing the Avatar back home might outdo what I did." With that, Kanna padded Katara's shoulder twice before shuffling towards the exit of the shelter.
"However, I would watch out. The others from the tribe might not be so accepting, and the northerners will certainly be a nuisance. But tell me more about this in the morning, now, I'm going to bed." Ad with those words, she stepped outside.
"Oh! One other thing! Sound travels around here! So, no funny business!"
Aang heard the chuckling until Kanna entered her own igloo.
"Well, that was awkward." He spoke, breaking the silence that had settled inside the shelter. Straightening from his squatting position, Aang could feel the exhaustion in his muscles.
"You can say that again." Katara grumbled, looking at him, but she shuffled a bit, making space next to her on the icy bench. Sitting down, Aang didn't really know if he should put an arm around her, or not… Katara pressed herself against him, however, so he guessed it was alright. Letting his arm slip over her shoulders, he closed his eyes, drinking in this small moment. It had been so long they had just… sat together. If he thought about it… Last time was at the villa on Ember Island. After that, there had been the battle, and the horrible weeks of worry… And after finding each other, they hadn't taken time to just sit next to one another, talking…
"So… What now?" He asked, feeling Katara's head rest on his shoulder.
"Tomorrow, I will show you how to live around here. And we are going to make you some clothes, so you don't look like you just walked out of a tropical rainforest. And we will wait for a message from Sokka. And in the meanwhile… Just stay put. Tui and La, I hated the idea of hiding away… But now? I think we deserve a break."
Answers :
The Talent : Yeah, I always found it surprising Kanna wouldn't tell where she came from, and that she would sent her grandchildren to such a place. So during this story arc, I'll talk about it a little more.
Nova Blue: Thanks!
