Chapter 79: To See You Just Once
"I knew my little brother had a thing for you," Katara told a blushing Kunya, whom the waterbending master knew as her student and friend from her self-defense classes, "I still remember the first day you walked into training. Kohana stopped by to 'observe my class' and specifically volunteered to help you with your stance. I knew it right then."
"And you didn't think about telling me and your brother about this, Katara?" Yue asked.
"I didn't think it would be serious," came the answer. "They were so young. I thought it might be a phase."
"Master Katara," Kunya began, "I…"
"Enough formalities," Katara beamed and placed her arm around the young woman, "We're family now, dear ukuaq. Just call me Katara."
From there, the trio spent time sieving through the portrait collections. Katara and Yue were pleased to see Kunya lightening up, giggling with every funny story they shared and asking questions more comfortably about anything that stirred her curiosity.
"And this portrait was drawn for our wedding."
"Yep," Katara smirked at Yue, "When all that sexual tension really hit the ceiling. A decade later, and they're still insatiable."
"Oh, come on now," Yue raised her eyebrows.
"What? Everyone here knows how much fun you and my brother have. Seriously, we can't even walk the halls at night in the eastern wing anymore with all the, "'Oh, Sokka!' 'Oh, Yue!''"
"As if you and Aang never went around making out in public!" Yue flushed.
Kunya laughed at the women's banter before studying the portrait of the chief and chieftess's wedding further. "This was when you two were twenty-three, right, angaju?"
"Yeah," Yue nodded.
"Ningauk and 'Hana look very similar," the young tribeswoman pointed out. "It was hard to tell at first with ningauk's beard, but 'Hana looks a lot like this right now."
"They always looked alike," Katara noted.
Kunya blinked at Yue, "You know what's interesting, angaju? You and I look very similar, too, don't you think? It's like we could actually be sisters."
Katara looked from Kunya to Yue; being aware of the truth that Kunya's late aunt was Yue's biological mother, the waterbending master, too, noted the significance of the comment. The chieftess only wore a smile, not making eye contact as she pretended to be occupied with the dust that she brushed off of the portrait album, "You think so?"
"Yes," Kunya said. "Seriously, you look nearly identical to my aunt. Her name was Kunya. too. She passed away long before I was born, so I was named after her."
Yue swallowed, "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that…"
"She's in a better place now," Kunya said. "The poor lady went insane in her last days. I hope she found peace and is with the Spirits."
Katara cleared her throat and turned to the next page in the portrait collection in an attempt to change the topic, "Hey, this is mine and Aang's wedding."
The attempt succeeded. Kunya looked over the portrait in which Katara and Aang were dressed fancifully in each other's fanciest cultural attire; Katara wore a long yellow dress with an orange sash snaking around her waist, and Aang was clad in fancy Water Tribe silks that lacked animal fur. The couple was holding hands, standing in the middle of the Moon Temple in front of the Aninnialuk idol. Beside them were several Air Nomads, smiling Air nuns standing next to Katara and jubilant monks standing beside Aang. Gyatso was standing behind the couple, his arms around both of the newlyweds whereas the senior White Lotus sentries were dispersed throughout the portrait.
"Ukuaq officiated our wedding," Katara said, pointing to Yue in the picture. "It was the first wedding she conducted after becoming the high priestess. Isn't that right, Yue?"
"Yes," Yue smiled, "That's right."
Indeed, the chieftess was clad in pristine white high priestess robes and was standing near the nuns in the portrait, her palms clasped in front of her baby bump.
"You were pregnant then, angaju?"
"Yes, this was three months after I found out I was pregnant with Ummi."
Sokka was standing beside his wife, wearing a wide grin on his face, one arm wrapped around her waist. His other arm was holding onto his little brother, who was sitting on top of the chief's shoulders, the icing on his hands and face sticking to the chieftain's hair.
"Is that 'Hana?" Kunya asked, amused.
"Yeah, he was eating a lot of cakes that day."
Kunya giggled, turning to Yue, "You know what I've been thinking? We should have a portrait drawn of all the ladies in the household. "You, me, ukuaq Katara, ukuagek Ki'ma and Mother Ahnah, and the girls— Ummi, Yuka, Yura, Amala."
"That's a great idea!" Katara said. "It's definitely nice to celebrate the women in the family. Let's do it!"
"And if you and Kohana have a baby girl, we can update the portrait," Yue told Kunya, earning a wide smile and an eager nod.
"We should also have a portrait of the three of us," Kunya suggested. "Ukuaq Katara is basically my hero when it comes to combat, but you're my hero in terms of healing, angaju. You're the hero of our entire family, angaju. My father always told me a lot about you."
"Did he?" the chieftess asked, tensed for a moment.
"Of course. You're Kuunnguaq. You healed him when he was attacked by a deadly bloodbending terrorist a few years before I was born. If it wasn't for you…we don't know what would've happened…"
Yue sighed, partly in relief.
"You're the reason why I wanted to be a healer," Kunya told her. "I'd always wanted to meet you…and now we're sisters. We get to see each other every day!"
The chieftess softened at her excitement, "It's very noble of you to take inspiration from that incident and come this far to help people. Your parents didn't want to be involved in any inquiries over that terrorist and wanted to leave the tribe for the sake of your family, but you stepped up with so much courage and came back here to help others." With a sincere look, "I'm very proud of you."
"That means so much coming from you," the young tribeswoman said happily. "Seriously, I'm very lucky. I'm finally with the love of my life. My favorite professor and my hero happened to be my sisters. The only thing that can make this complete for me is if I get a chance to meet my cousin."
"Your cousin?" Yue blinked.
"Yeah…the daughter of Aunt Kunya."
"Why do you want to meet her?" Katara asked carefully, "She hasn't reached out to you. Maybe she wants to be left alone…"
"She does. She apparently told my parents to never contact her. And it's very understandable." Kunya said, "Aunt Kunya had eloped with a guy and married him, but he left her when she was pregnant. My parents and grandparents told her to abandon her baby if she wanted to be let back into the family. And she did, but…She didn't seem to realize how much she loved that baby when she abandoned her. She ended up going insane. My father tells me she drowned trying to save a baby doll that she believed was her actual baby." Frowning, "It's crazy how much love she had in her heart even after she left that baby angrily to starve. She had to have been depressed or mentally unstable for that to be the case. I can't imagine how painful it must've been for her. Imagine having to live with something like that. You can't do it." Shaking her head, "But of course, she did something horrible. She left that baby to starve instead of giving her to someone else who will look out for her. She'll never be forgiven, and she shouldn't be, and my cousin has every right to stay away from us… But I still wish I could see her. Just once."
Yue took a deep breath, looking away as she asked quietly, "You don't know who your cousin is. How can you meet her?"
"Exactly. That's where I was hoping you would come in, angaju." Holding Yue's hand, "The Black Lotus is super efficient. Do you think maybe if I put in a request…the sentries will be able to locate her?"
Katara widened her eyes, "But I thought you said your cousin wanted nothing to do with you."
"I just want to know who she is. I'm not going to bother her. She won't ever know who I am," Kunya said.
"Don't you think her wishes should be honored?" the master waterbender insisted.
"Well yes…but she's still family. I want us to be close. She really won't know who I am."
Katara gave Yue a helpless look. Yue, though surprised, managed to summon a smile when Kunya turned to her. "I'll take care of this. Don't you worry."
"Really?"
"Yeah…"
The women were soon interrupted by a soft rapping at the leisure room door. Yue let out the breath she'd been holding, thankful for the intrusion, "Come on in."
Sokka opened the door, letting Kohana step inside before eyeing Yue, "Natsiq and Lusa are here, nalligima. They've been directed to the throne room."
Kunya appeared worried, sharing a look with an equally nervous Kohana.
"Don't worry," Yue told them, "Everything will be okay. You two are married now, you have nothing to worry about."
Katara gave the chieftess an inquisitive look, looking from her to Kunya back to Yue. She needs to know at some point, right?
Yue only shook her head, indicating her preference for silence on the matter before following Sokka out of the room, leaving Katara to calm the new couple's nerves.
"The kids are with Aang," Sokka told his wife. "Aang took 'em for a sky bison ride."
"That's good," she said. "Did Akluviq send the news about Kohana to the South?"
"Yeah, he supposedly mailed the scroll last night after the ceremony."
"I would imagine they would be furious…or disappointed, in the least, that all of this happened without them," she mused. "They haven't been able to see any of your weddings. We got married in secret. Katara and Aang got married here first before going down South for a small-scale appeasement ceremony. And now Kohana and Kunya got married here as an emergency."
"Well there's nothing they can do by crying about it," Sokka furrowed his eyebrows, "They brought this on themselves."
"They likely aren't going to object to Kohana relinquishing the throne, though. It wouldn't make a difference that he turned the position down. Since they're trying to disassociate their bloodline from royalty anyway. So the problem will still be there; it's just going to shift from Kohana to Karuna. And they're going to do what they can to disqualify Karuna."
"Yeah…this really does leave Karuna…" the chief processed, "unless he becomes a lovebird, too, which is a great thing…but if the South doesn't get its shit together by then, it's gonna lose its only hope."
"This is a matter of leadership," Yue said. "Communication is going to be extremely necessary. We need to inform Ivaneq and the Council about the situation so they can consistently communicate with the South."
"We also need to find someone as a backup. Just in case. If Karuna ends up saying no, too, there won't be anyone available right then and there to take responsibility. There's no way we're going to be interims for the rest of our lives.."
"Then it's time we started interviewing."
When they approached the throne room entrance, they were greeted by an investigative officer.
"Your Majesties, our report indicates that there's no evidence of Natsiq and Lusa having actual intent to harm Princess Kunya," the man told them. He handed them a scroll, relaying a few other details before taking his leave.
"We still need to keep an eye on 'em until we're sure there's nothing to worry about," the chief said, still skeptical.
"Of course. They didn't hesitate to get a child out of the way for their prestige in the past. We can't easily trust that they wouldn't do it again."
Sokka's eyes softened, a warm hand wrapping over hers, "You sure you wanna do the talking, love?"
"Yes," she said. "It'll be okay. As long as you're with me, I have nothing to worry about."
"Sometime today, Mr. Natsiq?"
Natsiq and Lusa, who were again caught up in the nostalgia emitting from their niece's appearance, snapped out of their memories and tried to shake away the past for at least the time being. Keeping their heads hung and their tears at bay, "We really did not think this would happen, Your Majesty." Kneeling on a set of pelts in front of the Northern leaders, who were seated on their thrones, "Ever since you told us not to be involved in your life, we'd been careful. You told us not to be involved in donations, either, so we kept to ourselves. Six years ago, I faced a big loss in my business, and our income was hit hard. I was forced to find other work."
"Kunya said she wanted to learn healing here in Agna Qel'a under a scholarship," Lusa said, "and she said she would send some money back home when she got a job here. We figured she wouldn't get in your way because she doesn't know any of this, and we really didn't expect her to be courting His Majesty's brother—"
"That's not our concern," Yue said. "Their courtship is not the issue. What's completely unacceptable here are your horrid threats of harming their child—"
"I really did not mean any of it, I swear on the Spirits," the man's voice quivered. "I was only doing that to protect my daughter and grandchild. I only said that so Prince Kohana would leave us alone. I would never do that to an innocent life."
"Oh?"
Sensing the mockery in the chieftess's tone, "And I didn't expect that the prince would go as far as attempting suicide…"
Folding her arms, "So you're the type to severely neglect a child and order others to neglect their children. Even if you don't directly harm them—"
"Your Majesty, please," Lusa let out a sob.
"Enough," Sokka snapped. "It wouldn't be the first time you wanted to get rid of a baby who you feel will hurt your reputation. It certainly wouldn't be your first time separating a mom from her child."
Natsiq turned away, his eyes squeezed shut in shame. "We weren't about to make the same mistake we made with Kunya. We love and cherish our grandchild with open hearts and open arms." Turning to the chieftess, "Just as we love and cherish you, Your Majesty—"
"Cut the act, Mr. Natsiq," Yue said, unmoved, "That's not what I asked."
"We would never hurt our grandbaby, Chieftess," Natsiq insisted. "We only said that to drive the prince away. He may be perfect, but his parents are far from it—"
"That gives you no right to separate two people deeply in love," the chief insisted, "And it gives you no right to separate a father from his young. Kohana wants to be with her and their baby. He wants to spend the rest of his life with them. You must honor that and respect the sanctity of their family instead of making him suffer for the actions of a maniac."
Natsiq and Lusa stared at the ground in persistent uncertainty.
"When he was a little boy, Kohana couldn't bear to separate a litter of husky pups from their parents," Yue said softly. "He valued the idea of family so much that he kept them together and wanted them all in his home no matter how inconvenient it would be. To this day he keeps them all by his side. That's the kind of tribesman he is. A gem. He's sensitive and hardworking, very family-oriented. Instead of running from responsibility, he's looking to provide for Kunya and their baby. He relinquished the Southern throne so they wouldn't have to bear the brunt of Southern politics. He wants to work here in the North for a living. He's even going to establish a school to teach children waterbending. And for his loyalty and pure heart," shooting them a glare, "he does not deserve the scrutiny of people like you."
Wincing at the slap of her words, "The boy is loyal," Lusa said. "He is a gem. We are aware, Your Majesty. It's just that his background—"
"None of the alarming people in his 'background' are allowed in the North. He promised you that he will not move to the South. What else could you possibly want?" Yue demanded.
"What's the guarantee that he will never see or interact with his parents again?" Natsiq asked.
"Then what are you expecting? Disownment?"
"Maybe. If that's what justice for my daughter and grandbaby entails."
"Would you disown your daughter, then? If that's what justice for Kohana and the baby entails?"
The parents were visibly shattered by the suggestion.
"It hurts, doesn't it? Don't you think your expectations are equally hurtful? Of course, I can't expect anything more from you, can I? You haven't changed at all. Your idea of justice is still prying children away from their parents—"
"No, no, Your Majesty—!"
"You must think of yourselves as some superior souls. Free from the mistakes you've made. Telling innocent people they are undeserving of love and family." With a displeased huff, "Besides, I'm not sure why you feel like you wouldn't get along with the Southern leaders. The elders of both families have a fascination for disowning their young for prestige. Your interests and purposes are rather aligned in that way. I'm sure Chieftess Kya, especially, would be quite proud to have someone from your noble family as her ukuagek—"
"Your Majesty," Natsiq cried, tears slipping profusely from his eyes, "Please, we can't hear anymore. Our mistakes will haunt us for the rest of our lifetimes, we won't deny this!" Glancing at her, "Every time we look at you, we feel as if we're looking at my sister. The injustice we have done to her, the way she suffered in her final days… Oh, Tui and La!" Drying his eyes but failing to hold back his tears, "I think of Kunya as my sister reborn. I can't possibly stand by and watch her go through what my sister did."
And as the couple continued to weep and sob, Yue remained mostly unperturbed. Though rays of vulnerability did shoot through when Sokka held her hand, she held herself together.
"We did a grave injustice to you, Chieftess," Natsiq looked up ambitiously, vehemently, "but at least we're not like Pakku, are we—?"
"YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THAT WRETCHED NAME ANYWHERE IN THESE PARTS, DAMN YOU!" Sokka bellowed, his eyes on the verge of flaring black. Natsiq nearly had a heart attack, the older man almost collapsing back against the pelts before Lusa caught him, the older couple jolting with fright.
Yue laced her fingers with her husband's, managing to bring down his skyrocketing heart rate. The chieftain hissed in an embittered tone, "The pillars of ultimate neglect here in the North and the paragons of ultimate abuse down South are both reprehensible in their own right. Some abandon you at birth like you're worth nothing to anyone, and some abandon you years after raising you like you mean nothing to them. Some leave you to starve and think you're a sin, and some run after you with pitchforks and try to extinguish your happiness and bloodline altogether. And the chieftess and I are not about to sit around and choose who out of these monsters are better to deal with because EVERY ONE OF THEM is DESTINED for HELL!"
Natsiq and Lusa continued to cower in fear, tears continuing to drench their faces.
"But we do know that the sins of these monsters shouldn't dictate the happiness of their kids. Kohana and Kunya, especially, are untouched by the cruelties of their parents," Yue said. "The chieftain and I have complete faith in Kohana's loyalty, and it's with that confidence that we offer you two options. You will either leave the two of them to live their life, or you will give them your blessing and be supervised in every contact you have with them. No in-betweens, no exceptions."
Lusa dried her eyes, quivering as she spoke, "W-We will be happy to give our blessing, Chieftess, but we need some kind of guarantee that our daughter won't be mercilessly attacked. The boy may be loyal, but his parents are not tolerant. They may be on the other end of the world, but we cannot afford any sort of rivalry with them if they disapprove, which they likely will. They will certainly blame my daughter for being the reason their son is distancing himself…"
"We're not perfect by any means, but we are not unjustified in worrying about our daughter's safety, are we, Chieftess?" Natsiq asked.
"Kohana and Kunya will be living in the palace," Yue said. "The ban on the Southern leaders' entry will remain in force. Every contact you have with them — every gathering, every visitation— and every exchange you have with them — every correspondence— will be supervised by authorized persons until further notice." Folding her arms, "I think these measures should be enough to suggest that whoever it may be, they'll have to go through me and chieftain before they even think of touching Kohana and Kunya. Whether that's the leaders of the South or even you."
"You are our goddess, Chieftess, and we trust you with our lives," Lusa said. "As long as they're with you and the chief in the palace, we don't have anything to worry about. We will happily give our blessing." Turning to Sokka, "We just please ask that supervision not be required when we're with our daughter and ningauk. They're family. We would never hurt them…We can't bear the thought of being seen as threats…"
"You should've thought about that before you recklessly made those threats!" Sokka yelled. "Besides, Kunya agreed to these terms, and she was especially relieved by the supervision suggestion. If she doesn't feel safe around you, there's nothing we can do about it."
Natsiq swallowed, "Alright, Your Majesties. We accept it. We're grateful that we can still be part of their lives." Bowing before the leaders, "Please, just let us be part of your family. That is all we ask."
"Don't flatter yourselves," Yue glared. "If you think I will ever consider you two and your late sister as my family, you are very wrong. You may be a part of Kohana and Kunya's lives but never ours. So don't waste your time and ours with this nonsense." Standing from her seat, "Let me make it clear that you are not to tell anyone, including Kunya and Kohana, about me."
"We promise to steer clear of that, Your Majesty—"
"And also, you will not use this as an excuse to be close with me or my husband or our children," Yue glowered. "You are not to be anywhere near our children, and if you even think about them, you will regret it."
"W-We'll be careful, Chieftess," Natsiq and Lusa promised, "We will do as you wish."
Sokka scowled dangerously at Natsiq, who continued to keep his head hung. "Every polar centipede under every glacier in the Water Tribe knows how proud I am to sever the limbs of that blubberfuck you dared to mention. And every flake of snow in the Water Tribe knows exactly why I didn't kill him on the spot when it could've taken me seconds. I wanted him rot in pain and anguish. I wanted him begging for death for the rest of his torturous days."
Natsiq widened his eyes, fear trickling down as sweat from his temples.
"I did it before, and I'll do it again if I have to," came the low growl. "Keep this in the back of your mind."
Natsiq scrambled to qipe his sweat away, "Y-You won't have to do that, s-sir… We won't let things get to that point."
The older couple, deathly pale, held in their heartbreak as they made their way to the leisure room, the watchful glares of the Northern leaders burrowing into their backs. When Natsiq and Lusa stepped inside, Kohana and Kunya clasped each other's hands tightly. Kohana stepped in front of his wife protectively, summoning a glower, but the young couple's defensive demeanor relaxed when Sokka and Yue eased their fears with a reassuring nod.
"We want to apologize, ningauk," Natsiq told Kohana. "We weren't being considerate of your sincerity. Even though we knew you were more than worthy, we were judging you too harshly because of your parents and grandparents… and we were afraid that your attachment to them would make you turn out like the man who abandoned my sister. We were acting out of that trauma…which haunts us to this moment…" Drying his eyes, "That's why we made those threats. We would never hurt our grandchild, we promise you. Not even in our dreams. We only wanted you out of our lives."
"But we realize now how serious you were being," Lusa said. "And we're glad that we were wrong about you." She reached for her daughter's hand, but Kunya yelped and hid behind her husband.
"I'm not going to hurt you, paniga," Lusa's gaze welled up with tears of regret. She reached again for her daughter's hand and placed it in Kohana's, "We give you our blessing."
Natsiq reached for a whale-bone arm cuff that was cast around his upper arm. He slipped it off, "This is a family heirloom. My father passed this down to me along with two other artifacts. I gave them to my older sons, but I reserved this for my future ningauk. You can pass this onto your son or future ningauk one day." Holding it out to Kohana, "If you don't mind…"
Kohana and Kunya looked at Yue with uncertainty, but she nodded in reassurance and a silent promise that they had nothing to worry about. The prince then held out his arm, and Natsiq happily placed the cuff around it, granting him a relieved look.
"The wedding happened last-minute, but we will personally take the pains of arranging a grand reception—"
"That's not going to be necessary," Katara told them. "Uncle Amaruq and Silak Arnook are working on those arrangements. You're already in a difficult financial position—"
"Please, allow us to contribute," Lusa said. "This is the least we can do. We've saved up a decent amount for Kunya's wedding; we can use that for her reception, at least." Looking at Kunya, "We will do what we can to make this a grand event. We'll invite your brothers, too."
Kunya again looked at Yue. The chieftess took pity on the shuddering girl and walked up to her, granting a smile. Kunya then acquiesced to her parents' idea, still holding tightly onto Kohana, "That sounds good."
"I'm sorry," a visiting Southern councilman told the former Southern chief and chieftess, "You must have misunderstood me. Prince Kohana had always been like a son to me. I had never considered him to be a potential suitor for my daughter."
Hakoda, worn out by the same kinds of replies that several tribesmen have given regarding a potential alliance, burst, "Why? What's wrong with my son? What about him is so undesirable that you wouldn't accept him as a son-in-law?"
"You're mistaken," the councilman said. "It is because I love Kohana and think of him as a perfect young man that I see him as a son than a son-in-law. My daughter, too, has always seen him as a brother. As a matter of fact, she's seeing someone else."
"Oh…who is she seeing?"
"A tribesman in the next village. An arithmetic professor like my daughter. He taught a few classes along with her in the past, and they have taken a liking for each other. We, too, think he's a proper match, and we wish to have them married by the end of this summer." Standing up, "I must be going now. Sorry to disappoint you—"
"Wait, wait, please," Kya said, "How about your younger daughter? She's not seeing anyone, is she?"
"She's still in healing school," came his patient answer. "She's not interested in marriage just yet."
"We can wait until she's finished with healing school—"
"She has also seen Kohana as a brother, Lord Hakoda."
"But—"
"Please," the man nearly snapped, barely holding in his frustration, "My wife and I don't wish to have our daughters marry into your household. We prefer our daughters to be married to common men who can fend for the family than to princes whose parents are impossible to please and can launch pitchforks at women they don't like." Shaking his head, "If I'd known this was a matchmaking conversation, I never would have come here."
Horrified, Kya shrieked, "We weren't the ones who threw those pitchforks!"
"That's not what I meant, Lady Kya—"
"We love your daughters and will accept either one of them with open arms! We would never let any harm come near—!"
"Execute me, if you wish, for my disobedience, or throw a pitchfork at my gut, I don't care," the tribesman told Hakoda and Kya, "but leave my daughters alone, I beg you. Kohana is a wonderful boy, but…no one is worth my daughter bleeding out in the middle of the tundra."
The councilman stormed out, brushing past Bato, who was standing by the entrance with an unfurled scroll in hand. Kya and Hakoda didn't even try to hide their devastation, the former Southern chieftain dropping into his pelt chair and Kya holding onto something to try to will away her shakiness. They pulled themselves together, though, as they noticed the Northern Water Tribe seal on the scroll.
"A message from the North?" Hakoda cleared his throat.
Bato nodded, "Kohana…Kohana is married."
The leaders widened their eyes, exclaiming simultaneously, "What?!"
"The bride's name is Kunya," Bato handed the letter to Kya, who sieved through the contents of the scroll as quickly as she was able, "She's a healer up North, and she's the daughter of one Natsiq and his wife, Lusa, both settled in the Earth Kingdom but of Northern Water Tribe descent. Kohana had been in love with her for the past couple of years. They are now expecting."
"Expecting?"
"Yes," Bato said. "So they got married a few days ago at the Moon Temple. Ataniq Yue and Angayok Sokka organized the event." Turning to Kya, "Amaruq and Ki'ma represented you and Hakoda at the wedding, and Lord Arnook and Lady Ahnah represented Lady Kunya's parents. Her parents had been in investigative custody at the time, so they weren't present at the wedding. There was apparently a skirmish because they didn't agree to the wedding at first, but I assume that's been sorted now. A wedding reception is to be held soon."
The leaders let the news sink in and took several minutes to process it. By the end of it, Hakoda had hardened his gaze, not necessarily with anger but with heartbreak, "He's following in his brother's footsteps, I see."
Kya, however, was least offended, simply happy with the fact that her son was finally married and was also going to be a father. "This is wonderful news! Ko-bear's all grown up," she dried her eyes, laughing happily, "Send them our heartfelt blessings. Prepare gifts for the newlyweds and our new grandbaby—"
"Kohana himself requested that there be no gifts sent—"
"Then we'll just have to pamper them when he comes here with his bride!" Kya said excitedly.
"Actually…he's staying in the North with his wife," Bato said, "And it's unlikely that he's going to bring her here. Even for a visit."
Kya's smile dwindled, "What?"
"He also sent papers relinquishing the throne," Bato told them, handing them another set of papers that he pulled from the scroll canister in his pocket, "He does not want to be considered for the Southern throne. Ivaneq writes that Kohana is going to be starting a school up North. He will be teaching waterbending."
Kya and Hakoda sought to harden their hearts once more, but they failed with the smiling image of their younger son still shimmering before their eyes. In the back of their minds, the shadow of a ruthlessly unforgiving Northern chief glared at them, their hopes of reunion once again thrust into the dark.
The abundance of post-wedding festivities left the young dronningiit and isumataat exhausted from their antics, and they fell asleep in their parents' bed, preferring to crowd around and share the space, swarming their parents rather than taking to their rooms. Sokka and Yue didn't mind the chaotic sleeping arrangement; it warmed their hearts to cuddle with their children, to splay their arms protectively over the little lives occupying every inch of the bed, to bear with the gymnastics they performed in their sleep.
"Ow, oww," Ummi, who was huddled next to her mother, hissed as Yuka and Yura sagged on top of her long hair, pulling it in their sleep.
"Girls, let your sister sleep, okay?" Sokka said, "One of you come over here—"
And both of them lazily crawled their way over their mother's stomach, giving her a goodnight kiss before traversing atop Ahanu and Ahote's sleeping forms.
"Hey…"
"Ow!"
The four-year-olds both plopped on top of the chief. Sokka chuckled, pulling a quilt over them as they curled up against him. Yue, meanwhile, cast an amused smile at Ahuma, who had in his sleep somehow swung his leg over the chieftess's forearm. She corrected the boy's posture and lay him beside Ahiga, straightening the railing at the edge of the bed. The little airbender curled up and fell back asleep, drooling against his mother's shoulder with one arm splayed over a snoring Ahiga's belly.
"Good enough," Yue said before straightening the blankets over Ahanu and Ahote, who were huddled between her and Sokka. She brushed her fingers through their hair, smoothing their locks as she lay her head against her husband's outstretched arm. The chieftain's lips lingered at her temple, planting occasional kisses, and the duo let their eyes fall to a close, not overtaken by sleep but basking in the primal, sacred warmth of family.
"I still can't believe Ko-bear's married," Yue whispered.
"Seems like that kid was born yesterday," Sokka's voice rumbled gently through her being.
"Did you say that to him?"
"Yeah. And he frowned at me and said, 'What, only you get to have an epic love story?'"
She chuckled, planting a lazy kiss over his bicep. "Did you read the note from the South?"
Sokka shook his head. "What was the reaction?"
"They were actually happy about it," she said. "It was kind of shocking. I thought for sure they'd be pissed, but they took it rather well."
He hummed in acknowledgment, turning to his wife, "Are you really okay, nalligima?"
"Yeah," blinking at him, "Why?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," grazing his arm with her cheek, "I just want to stay like this, that's all…"
Concern wavering in his gaze, "Katara told me about your conversation with Kunya this morning. Ukuagek and silak are worried, too."
"They're is worrying over nothing. I'm fine."
Frowning, "I know you hate having Natsiq and Lusa hang out here, and I don't get why we can't tell them to stay out of the country."
"It's for Kunya's sake, you know this."
"But even Kunya doesn't want them around that much. She'll understand."
"We have every right to make sure they don't come anywhere near us, but after they gave their blessings, even after Kunya has less of a reason to hate or fear them, I have no right to keep Kunya apart from them."
"It's not like we're forbidding her from going to see them whenever. It was the same with Kohana; anytime he wanted to visit the South, we let him."
"Still…I don't want her to be suspicious about anything. She's innocent, and she doesn't know any of this. Right now she thinks we're repulsed by them only for their insensitivity to Kohana."
"We could just tell her the truth," Sokka said. "Sit her down and tell her you don't wanna think about any of this."
"Now is not the time. I don't want to upset them in any way. Especially after what Ko-bear tried to do. Kunya isn't supposed to be stressed right now, either. And we need to make sure anaana and ataata don't say anything about this, either..." Fingering the hairs on his arm, "I don't know where to draw the line. I don't want us or the kids to be anywhere near them, but I don't want to interfere with Kunya's relationship with her parents."
"We won't be interfering. We'll just be protecting ourselves."
"But still…"
With a sigh, "How about this? We can deny Natsiq and Lusa entry into the palace and confine them to the estate. Say it's a security measure if anyone asks. If Kunya wants to see them, she can go to the estate freely as long as an authorized person is there to supervise. The kids never go there anyway, so we'll be keeping them away from those imbeciles. Plus, the estate is right next door, so Kunya doesn't have to go through any traveling burdens."
It was a much better option than outright banishing Kunya's parents, and Yue found herself acquiescing. She burrowed herself in his chest, feeling its steady rise and fall, lost in the pseudo crashing of the seas in the conch at his neck, "Yeah…that sounds good…"
Her forehead was warmed by a soft kiss. "You still think about her, don't you?" he pressed gently, "You still have her notebook and her picture."
Yue swallowed, "I thought I let it all go… but I guess I really didn't. I don't know why it's so hard to let go. I didn't even know her, but I'm so angry and hurt. Why is it so hard for me to throw that notebook away? Why do I still have her picture?" Her voice shaking, "I feel so dumb feeling sorry for myself—"
"Hey," he softened his tone, speaking between chaste, comforting kisses, "It's not dumb. You have every right to feel betrayed."
"It's probably for the best that this happened anyway," Yue sighed. "If I was with her, we wouldn't have met, would we?"
"You don't know that," he said. "We're Wolf Moonites. We would've found each other somehow," brushing her hair away from her eyes, "We shouldn't justify abandonment just because of that. I would've found my way to you."
The chieftess swallowed the lump in her throat, tears slipping down her face. Sokka kissed them away one by one, not stopping her catharsis but holding her through it. He nuzzled against her cheek, cupping her face, "I don't want this getting to you, nalligima. I don't ever want you to feel like you don't matter. I love you. We all love you. So, so much. Don't ever forget this."
She nodded, snuggling against his neck, "I love you, too."
A soft tug on Sokka's robe caught their attention. Ahote blinked sleepily, worriedly at his parents, "Ataata, why is anaana crying?"
"No, no, my love, I'm not crying," Yue quickly dried her eyes, "Something fell in my eye, that's all."
"And I was just kissing it better," Sokka said.
"I wanna do it, too," Ahote struggled to sit up in the crowded space and kissed his mother's cheek, "Is that better, anaana?"
"Much better, my wolf pup," she drew him in his arms, her lips curling into a wide smile.
"What happened?" Ahiga stirred.
"Something fell in anaana's eye, but ataata and I kissed it better," Ahote announced proudly, puffing up his chest as he said so and waking his siblings.
"I can do that, too! Anaana likes my kisses more!" Ahanu shot back, bombarding his mother with kisses.
"Well anaana likes my kisses and my hugs," Ahuma snuggled against Yue.
"Alright, wolf pups," Sokka began, "Everybody stay calm—"
"Anaana likes my kisses, too!" Yuka jumped off of her father and climbed into her mother's lap as Yura tackled her mother's right cheek with kisses.
"Well I was born first," Ummi hugged her mother tightly and kissed her other cheek, "My kisses are obviously more special."
"Settle down, my loves, I love all of your hugs and kisses equally," Yue laughed, drawing them into her arms. She leaned back against the chieftain's chest as he wrapped his strong arms around them, his robes enveloping them like a warm blanket. And as he went on to tell some story about an army of panda-sloths fending off a blob monster to keep the children settled, the chieftess ended up falling asleep, brimming with warmth, love, and peace.
"Lord Hakoda and Lady Kya filed another petition for relief, Your Majesty."
The Northern chief glared, "What is it now?"
"They're pushing for an in-person meeting to discuss future Southern leadership, sir, which would require a temporary lifting of the ban on their entry." Ivaneq turned to Prince Kohana, "They also wish to see the prince and his new bride. They would like to bless the union in person since they didn't get to see the wedding."
"We'll send them a copy of our wedding portrait," Kohana said firmly. "If they wanna see us so badly."
"You heard his answer," Sokka said simply. "As for the rest of their ban-lifting nonsense, you know what my answer is."
"They said they are willing to come without any security or any instruments to defend themselves—"
"You think that changes anything?" the chieftain nearly snapped. "Look, Kohana is their son, and normally they would have the privilege of seeing him and his family in any location other than the North. But if they're dangerous, and Kohana himself is opting against meeting in person, there's nothing we can do." Turning away, his glower only deepening, "They've been at our throats for the past decade one way or another. What part of 'get the hell away from our lives' is not clear to them? I'm not letting those monsters come anywhere near my family. We've been safe by keeping them out, and I'm not about to change that. So tell 'em not to act like pathetic pests."
Except the Southern leaders didn't take the command to heart. The requests from the South kept coming and being the cause of Ivaneq's frustration, and the assistant left Zhi and Ping in charge of taking these correspondences to the chieftain for review.
"They still want you both to assume the throne," Zhi approached the chief and chieftess months later with yet another scroll. "They're still looking to disqualify their bloodline. And they're again requesting you to temporarily lift the ban on their entry and discuss leadership terms with them." Turning to Kohana, "They also want to see Prince Kohana and Princess Kunya and give their blessings when the little one gets here."
Kunya, who was sitting beside the chieftess, curled her palms protectively around her ballooned stomach, a perturbed look raiding her face. Yue calmed her with a soft squeeze of her hand.
"I thought I made it clear that a reunion isn't necessary," Kohana glowered, rubbing his wife's back to soothe her, "This is the last we wanna hear about this. Next time, just throw that scroll down the drain, Mr. Zhi."
"And we are not going to force a reunion if it's dreaded," Yue reiterated. "What they really want is a capable ruler for the South, right? They'll get one. We have more time until Karuna reaches sixteen. Before then, the chief and I will finalize an alternative candidate."
"We're already working our asses off trying to find a suitable backup," Sokka huffed. "We're doing the job that they should be doing. They shouldn't expect us to show any more mercy than this."
"Ahanu, be careful, sweetheart, you'll fall," Kunya said, struggling to keep the boy from storming into his parents' chambers and climbing up their cupboard.
"I saw some paper in here, Aunt Kunya."
"You'll hurt yourself—!"
"I got him," Kohana swooped in, picking the boy up, "No, no, Nu-Nu, that thing's not strong enough to hold you."
"But there's some paper up there," Ahanu pointed to the very top of the cupboard atop which sat a notebook. "I need it for my homework."
"I'll get it, then, buddy, you stay here," the prince set the boy down and grabbed the notebook, handing it to him, "Is this what you're looking for?"
"Yeah!" But the boy's face fell when he saw that the notebook was filled with all kinds of sketches. Dropping the papers all over the floor, "Aww, somebody already drew on 'em!"
"Nu-Nu-bear," came Ahnah's voice as she held a stack of papers in her hand, standing by the entrance, "Don't give your aunt a hard time. Kunya, you should be resting, dear."
"But I need paper for my homework!" Ahanu said.
"I have some paper in my study. Come with me, and I'll give you some."
"Okay!" The wolf-tailed boy raced over to his grandmother and followed her out, leaving behind the jumbled mess.
"I'll pick it up, babe, you sit," Kohana guided his heavily pregnant wife to the bed before picking up the papers. Kunya, however, zeroed in on a portrait that caught her immediate attention.
"'Hana, what's that?"
"What's what?"
"That picture."
Kohana handed her the portrait, noting the surprise on his wife's face, "Kunya, what is it?" Taking a seat beside her and peering at the portrait in her hands, "Hey, isn't … isn't that your aunt? Your parents have this exact portrait. What's it doing here?"
"Let me see that notebook," Kunya took the book from him, and they both sieved through the contents, shocked to see that the subject of the numerous sketches was the chieftess as a baby (it had to be the chieftess given the fact that the baby had striking white hair and baby blue eyes).
"I don't understand. What is all this? What's it doing here…?" And realization quickly dawned on the prince. He looked to his wife, who was also processing the truth that revealed itself through the drawings, culminating with a note at the end depicting regret and love.
"Ahanu, are you in here—?" Yue halted as she saw the couple looking through the papers in utter shock. They gawked at the ataniq, hundreds of questions swiveling in their gazes. Kunya was nearly on the verge of tears.
"I… Kunya, I—"
"What is all this?" the young tribeswoman said. "Does that mean you…? You're…? You're Aunt Kunya's…"
"Nu-Nu, I got you some paper—" Sokka halted in his tracks by the entrance when he saw the book in Kunya's arms.
"Is ukuaq Kunya's lost cousin?" Kohana asked his brother.
Sokka turned to his wife, noting the look of pure conflict on her face. He was about to deny all knowledge of the book and its contents when Yue confessed, "Yes." Looking at Kunya, "I was the one your aunt abandoned."
Kunya could say nothing, simply staring ahead at the chieftess.
"A-And how long have you known about this, ukuaq?" Kohana asked, still shocked out of his wits.
"Natsiq and Lusa gave that book to me ten years ago," Yue admitted.
"So you knew even before Kohana and I got married. You all knew," Kunya said, "And you never told me…" Looking panicked all of a sudden, "I had no idea…I wasn't trying to hurt your sentiments or make you feel uncomfortable, angaj…" she trailed off, tears slipping down her face, "Chieftess, I-I mean…"
"Oh, Kunya," Yue softened her eyes and held the tribeswoman's quivering hands, brushing her tears away, "Why would you say that? You'd never make me feel uncomfortable."
"I swear I wasn't trying to give you a hard time—"
"I know that," Yue told her calmly. "Kunya, please don't cry. I would never blame you or your brothers for something your parents did."
"But you didn't really approve of me, did you?" the princess lamented, ignoring her husband's attempts at cajoling her, "You had no choice but to agree since—"
"Hey," Yue stopped her with a warm hand draped over her palm, "I don't want you ever thinking that. The past isn't worth jeopardizing yours and Kohana's futures."
"But you didn't want anything to do with—"
"With your parents, yes, but I was never angry with you or your brothers. I know you would never follow in your parents' footsteps." Tilting the tribeswoman's face so she could look at the chieftess, "You never wanted your baby to go through what I did…and I appreciate that very much about you. That's enough to tell me what kind of person you are." Looking from her to Kohana, "Sokka and I are so glad you two found each other. We really are."
"Then why didn't you just tell me about this?" Kunya asked.
"Because I knew you'd be upset just like you are now, and I can't have you stressing like this with a baby on the way."
"Well were you ever going to tell me?"
With a truthful look, "I honestly don't know, but it's not because I want nothing to do with you."
"Yue thought the truth would cause more tensions between you and your parents," Sokka explained. "They've accepted your marriage, and she didn't want to interfere now of all times. She thought the past wasn't worth revealing when she had no hard feelings against you—"
"Ukuaq, you've gotta be kidding," Kohana frowned, "They might've accepted us, but Kunya and I still don't want them anywhere near us when the baby gets here. There's no relationship between us and them for you to interfere with in the first place. And how could you think you don't matter? This is a very big deal for you. If it wasn't for you, Kunya and I wouldn't even be together. I would've been dead—"
"Let's not talk about that incident," Yue said, "Just let it go."
"Do Father Arnook and Mother Ahnah know about this, too?" Kunya asked worriedly, panicking further when the chieftess nodded, "Spirits, they probably hate me deep down—"
"No, no, Kunya," Yue thumbed away the young woman's persisting tears, "They see you as one of their own. They don't have any grudges against you. I have no grudge against you, I promise you. I would never hate you."
"Are you sure you're not just saying that?"
"I'm very sure."
Drying her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for what my parents did. They don't deserve to be forgiven…"
"But it's not something you should apologize for," Yue assured her.
"It's hard to believe this with what really happened, but…Aunt Kunya loved you," Kunya croaked. "She really did. Even if she made dumb decisions that suggest the opposite of that…"
Yue furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, the chieftain's hand on her shoulder softly bringing her back into reality, "Well I'm not concerned with all of that. Whether she loved me or not, I would never be able to accept her as my mother. I don't even know if I properly hate her anymore. I was the victim in her hands, and she was the victim in others' hands…"
"If she'd just been accepted as she was that day, she would've been with us… And you would've been with us, too."
"It wasn't meant to be," Yue said simply, "But I don't want you fretting about this. I'm very happy with my life. All the love I probably should've experienced, I've experienced it all with my loved ones here." With a wide smile, "I have a wonderful husband who keeps me laughing and smiling every day, and we have seven beautiful children who are our entire world. And besides, I found an even better anaana and ataata, and they love me so much that they can't even bear the thought of thinking I'm not biologically theirs. Every bit of my life is filled with love and happiness." Rubbing the young woman's back to bring her down from her sobs, "Don't get worked up over this. It's best if we move away from the past. And no matter what, you and I will always be family."
"So does this mean you accept me as your katangutik?" Cousin?
Smilingly, "You are my najâtsuk." Little sister. "And I'm your angaju. I don't have any sisters, and I consider you as one. Plus, katangutik is a mouthful—"
Kunya gave a happy laugh, accompanied simultaneously by a longing sob as she hugged the chieftess as tightly as she was able.
"Everything will be alright," Yue gently whispered to her, "I promise.
"Yep, just like that," Sokka adjusted the blanket around his newborn niece as an enraptured Kohana held her to his bare chest carefully. "There you go."
"And we have the talisman right here," Yue pulled out a black thread from her pocket and gently tied it around the newborn's right ankle, whispering a chant of protection.
The prince shared a look of overwhelming love with little Kinara, tearing up with every little noise she made, every sway of her sleepy, unfocused gaze in his direction. "Hi, Kinara," he sang softly, "I'm your ataata."
And when she turned in the direction of her father's voice, batting her tiny eyelids curiously, the prince turned giddily to his exhausted wife, who was lying beside him in bed and watching their interaction, beaming through her happy tears. Suddenly seized by a pang of anxiety, Kohana briefly turned to Yue, "Everything's okay, right, ukuaq?"
"Of course," Yue said for the tenth time that night, "Mom and baby are both very healthy."
Kunya let out a staggering sigh of relief, resting her head on Kohana's shoulder as she thumbed the black thread at her daughter's foot. The prince whispered a prayer of thanks to the Spirits, holding back a blissful sob as he kissed Kinara's tiny fist.
"Yugoda always recommended fifteen minutes as the minimum for skin-to-skin," Sokka told his brother. "You can go longer, obviously, like up to an hour or so."
"Fifteen minutes? That's ridiculous," Kohana choked out, planting soft little kisses all over his baby and brushing away the tears that slipped on top of his wife's head, "We're gonna stay like this forever. Spirits, she's…she's just perfect…"
Sokka and Yue smiled knowingly, watching the scene as a painful wave of longing ebbed through them and most certainly not for the first time that month. The chieftess clasped her hands together and cast her husband a look — the same look that had kept her awake the nights she fawned over the baby gifts they packed.
Chieftess, he widened his eyes.
She bit her lip, casting a stubborn frown of need, and she caught hold of a knowing gleam in his gaze, a sheepish but hopeful little smile on his lips, a pant that was nothing short of primeval. These feelings stayed with them until nightfall when, after the children slept, the chieftain swept his wife up in his arms and whisked her into their bedroom.
"One more, chieftess?"
"Spirits, yes—"
"We already have seven wild little wolf pups."
"Three pregnancies," she calculated. "I can handle a fourth."
"I repeat, we have seven—"
But her body was on fire as she locked their lips together, both of them toppling onto the sheets. She let him have his way with tearing their clothes apart in the heated moment, but in a blip of consciousness amid a long, amorous kiss, she whimpered, "Oh, Universe, what are we doing?"
"Huh?" came a shudder.
"This is insanity. Let's talk ourselves out of this."
A whine followed by an effort to compose himself with logic as he continued with his kisses all over her body, "Well… It'll be another nine months of different levels of discomfort."
"Mm…"
"Back pain, back rubs, foot rubs, massages, snacks in the middle of the night…"
She nodded, "Sore nipples, sore boobs—"
"Bigger boobs," he palmed a breast, "sexy times in the second trimester."
Feeling his lips briefly curl upward against her neck, "I see you're having fun with this."
"Just, uh, balancing the cons with some pros," he blushed, clearing his throat, "Anyway, back to the obvious. We're getting five hours of sleep now. More babies means we'll be back down to one. Or less."
"Mhm…"
"More supervision, more diaper cloths, more spit-ups, more messes, another crib or cribs—"
"Nalligima, your back's gonna give out at this rate. You don't need to make every crib from scratch. We can reuse the ones we have—"
"Pitting our babies against me, Baby Blue?" he huffed, "So they'll think, 'Oh, ataata loved us less, that's why he didn't personally make our cribs!'"
"Spirits," she shook her head, amused.
"As I was saying," he wrapped his arms around her from behind and gently rocked their embracing forms, "Longer play time, longer dinner time, longer story time… baby shopping, skin-to-skin, tummy times… More goodnight kisses, more toys, more cuddles, more blankies, more bibs, more binkies—"
"We can finally get those teethers!" she exclaimed, "The ones shaped like koala-seals!"
"Oh yeah!"
But the excitement was met with a helpless sigh from the chieftess, a soft groan as she lay back against the sheets, "Ugghhhh, it's not helping, I still want a baby…"
Kissing away the beads of her sweat, "You sure it's a baby? We have a strong history of multiples. Yet another thing to think about. Might be a teensy bit more chaotic if we have more than one."
"Teensy bit, huh?"
"Yep. Lots of teensy bits. And we're in charge of both tribes. We'll have to delegate more responsibilities to get more family time—"
"More agencies means more departments meaning more jobs, which means more family time," she said as if in a trance, pulling his flush against hers and wrapping her legs around him.
"I like the way you think," he grinned breathlessly as she happily nibbled at his neck, "Guess we don't have a choice. This is for the greater good…"
Batting her baby blue eyes at him, "And who knows, maybe we'll just have one this time."
"Breaking tradition, aren't we?" he resisted a smirk.
"It's not impossible."
"Well, I suppose having multiples three times in a row is rather rare, but…"
"One or more, I won't mind," she flushed in her desperation, frowning when she earned a boisterous laugh. "What? Instead of laughing, you can give me your side of this."
"You know me, ataniga," dipping his fingers between her legs, "I'm always happy to father your babies," and amid the chorus of moans, "Whatever you want me to do, I'm at your service…"
Digging her nails into his back, "Just put your babies in me, angayok."
In the midst of a raging blizzard in the wee hours of the night, Zhi and Ping panted their way into Ivaneq's estate. An irritable Ivaneq greeted them in his personal study, but all irritation and drowsiness fled from him when he heard, "The Southern leaders are at the border!"
"WHAT?!"
"Lord Hakoda and Lady Kya were caught trying to sneak into the North," Ping said. "Their ship was stopped before it could cross into the Inktun Sea. They're refusing to leave and making a scene. They're saying they won't seek shelter from the storm until the chief lets them into the North."
"Oh, Tui and La," Ivaneq hissed, "Do the chief and chieftess know about this?"
"Spirits, not yet," Zhi shook his head, "The chief will flip if he does. The chieftess is due any day now. This is NOT the right time for this shit."
"This is idiocy, this is madness!" Ivaneq burst, "We can't just not tell the chief and chieftess about this!"
"If we don't do something quick, they'll die of hypothermia, sir," Ping said worriedly. "They've been standing like that in the freezing rain for the past twenty minutes."
"Then have someone physically carry them away from here—"
"They're threatening suicide if their efforts are interrupted, sir."
"What in La's hell?!"
In a fit of outrage, the assistant found himself at the border in a short time, surprised to see the worn, shivering forms of the former Southern chief and chieftess, who were standing by the banks of the Inktun, letting themselves be drenched in the blistering thunderous, icy downpour that knocked away the feeble umbrellas, which the Southern crew tried and failed to hold over the leaders' heads. Several Northern border patrol men were surrounding the Southern leaders, seemingly preventing them from jumping right into the Inktun given how careful they were in keeping the leaders away from the water. Ivaneq's ship eventually docked against the shore of the Inktun, pitted against the raging winds as he stepped in front of the leaders.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" the assistant bellowed. "This would be a blatant violation of Northern Water Tribe security policy!"
"We're tired of sending scrolls," Hakoda said. "We want to see your chieftain just once. We'll never bother him again after that—"
"You were designated as the greatest threats to the Northern Water Tribe! You think he's going to give you a grand welcome?! If he finds out about this, he will bury us all alive for even speaking to you!"
"Just once, Ivaneq, please," Kya's tears mixed with the rain, "It's been ten years. We can't think of any other way than this to get his attention—"
"You need to turn back and stop this nonsense," Ivaneq warned. "There's no use going to extents like this. You will only be getting on his bad side—"
"As if we're not already on his bad side," Hakoda said sadly. "Look, we're technically not on Northern soil, are we? This is the border of Heijan. Earth Kingdom. We have every right to be here, and we will stay right here until he gives us the chance to speak with him."
"If you want to be treated the way enemies would be treated, then by all means, be our guests," Ivaneq fumed. "He would rather have the guards throw you out than let you in. The sooner you realize this, the better off you will be—"
"And if you do anything else to stop us, we will breathe our last right here," Kya hissed. "The decision to speak with us is his, and the decision to stay or leave this place is ours. If he takes mercy on us, then fine, but if not, we will end our lives here with pride."
Ivaneq fumed, the aftermath of the chieftain's knowledge uncertain but the chieftess's guilt should anything happen to the Southern leaders more than certain. Gritting his teeth, "I'll do what I can to convince him! Just go take shelter somewhere in Heijan! GO!"
"NO!"
"You can't meet him if you're seriously ill, dammit!"
But the Southerners didn't budge, firmly rooted to their spots, their antics spurring helpless looks from the Southern crew. Ivaneq facepalmed, "Great Spirits, give me strength."