CHAPTER 03 - SUNRISE

KATARA

Katara took a sip of her tea as the sun rose above the peaks of the icy mountains in the distance. The morning sun cast a warm, golden glow over the pristine white landscape, the snow glistening like hundreds of diamonds scattered across the horizon. Back when she lived in the south pole, her favorite part of every morning was waking up to watch the sun rise. No matter how many times she'd seen it, it made her truly feel at home.

The village had grown rapidly since the war had ended. What was barely a village struggling to get by, had turned into a thriving city. There were shops, various restaurants, meat markets, large inns, and even an entertainment district that was recently built. The barren shore where she had first met her husband, was now a massive harbor that allowed trade and new arrivals from all the other nations. It was the first thing Katara would see whenever she would come and visit her brother.

Their father Hakoda had served as chief of tribe, as well as emissary between the water and fire nation. He passed away two years ago, finally succumbing to his illness. Her father had kept it secret, but it had been something he was battling long before the war. Everything had changed after that. Katara and Sokka both volunteered to fill his role. Sokka became chief and she became Fire Lady to Zuko.

They were already engaged by the time her father had died, so tying the knot also served as a symbol of peace between both nations. It was the happiest day of her life and all of her friends had attended the wedding, minus Sokka, who was being ceremoniously inducted as the new chief of their village, and Mai who made her dislike toward her rather obvious. This was the last time she had seen Toph and the two years had passed quickly. It was a crazy day full of live music, traditional Fire Nation and Water Tribe dances, and speeches her friends had made for her they read out aloud. Zuko was less than enthusiastic when they held a roasting session dedicated to him, although Katara couldn't help but laugh at how brutal their jabs were.

"Too bad Meathead couldn't make it. I owe him a few good punches for leaving me with the bill last time we went out." Toph cracked her knuckles followed by her neck "He left his wallet in his other pants. Can you believe that?"

"Agh! That's so like him!" Katara sharing her frustration. "He ended up getting stuck with the whole "ceremony" thing back home, which is why Suki missed out today too."

Toph's expression tensed and the air around her shifted after mentioning Suki. "Right… Well, anyway tell that bozo he knows where to find me when he's ready to pay up."

Katara thought of a witty response, but Toph walked away toward the mini bar before she could.

Katara knew Sokka and Toph were best friends, and used to tease them about it sometimes, but Toph seemed genuinely uncomfortable just now. She never had a problem with Suki and they had hung out on a few occasions even, so why? This was when Katara had started to have her suspicions that Toph may have been hiding something, but it wasn't the right time to ask her about it during the party anyway. Besides, what if she was overthinking it and made things more awkward? Best to let it go.

Snow crunched down behind her as Aang came into view emerging from inside the home.

"Morning Katara. You're up early." Aang yawned and stretched out his arms still waking up for the day.

"Morning Aang!" Katara waved. "I like catching the sunrise before starting off the day. Hey, quick question, random actually."

Aang's expression looked puzzled. "Sure. What is it?"

"Did Sokka seem a bit off last night when we brought up Toph?" she asked hoping to reassure that she wasn't imagining things.

"Uhm. No not really. Why?" furrowed an eyebrow in confusion. He pulled up his hoodie to keep this shaven head warm.

"Oh, nothing!" She stammered back. Katara felt a bit silly for even asking; starting to believe she was wrong about the whole thing to begin with. Besides, he was with Suki and had been for four years now, and as far as she could tell, her brother and the Kyoshi warrior were doing great. Suki had told her that Ty Lee was in the process of being inducted as a fully realized warrior and guardian of their culture and way of life. This meant she would be joining Sokka any day now. She was glad her brother wouldn't be alone.

Katara changed the topic. "You said you visited Zuko a few weeks ago. I guess I was here visiting Sokka. How was your stay? Did you guys do anything fun?"

Aang rubbed his hands to fight off the cold. "Yeah! We had a few sparring sessions, trained on some new techniques, and even went surfing."

"Zuko? Surfing?" Katara chucked at the image of her husband falling into the water. "How'd you manage that one?"

"Slipped a little cactus juice in his tea," Aang struggling to keep a straight face.

"You did not!" Katara broke out laughing at the absurdity of things she missed out on.

Aang defended himself "Hey, he needed to relax. He's way too high strung, so I wanted to do him a favor."

Katara nodded. "Oh, your secret is safe with me as long as I get to be there to see it next time" She added in.

"Ha! Deal!" Aang shot her a thumbs up and winked deviously, their plan in motion.

They both spent the next hour swapping stories about their recent travels, the people they met along the way, and even old faces they came across again.

"So, then he started screaming 'My cabbages!'" Aang cried out and they both started chuckling.

"What's with that guy? How does he keep popping up everywhere?" Katara said in good humor.

After the laughter had died down, a comfortable silence fell over. Aang's playful demeanor gradually shifted to a more serious tone as he stared into the distance.

"Katara, the monks always taught us about the nature of change, renewal, growth, and forgiveness." Aang told her out of nowhere. "That's why Zuko and I are good friends, and that's why you and Zuko are together now."

This caught her completely off guard. She had no idea what he was getting at.

"What are you saying, Aang?" she was worried at what response he had ready. Was this about him and her?

Aang's eyes looked off to the side as he took a large breath in. "It's about Azula."

To Be Continued...

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar The Last Airbender nor the characters depicted. Avatar was created by Michael Dante Dimartino and Bryan Konietzko. All characters and settings are based off their world and is purely fan fiction made simply to entertain people as passionate about what they have created as I am.