Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.

The Winter Months

"Once there were two igloos combined by a shared wall with an opening so that the occupants may visit both". Gran-gran said. The dark season had arrived, and with it came heavy storms of snow and sleet. Our work became limited and our days shorten. Activities were restricted to chores that could be done sitting around the hearth and listening to the tales of the past. "Two people were living in one of the combined igloos while a full family lived in the other." Already I could feel my eyes dropping. This story was one of Gran-gran's favorites. She told it every year. I had heard it so often, that it was hard to pay attention to. Katara didn't have that problem. She shares Gran-gran's love for our people's traditions and cleaved onto every word. I just didn't understand why we couldn't come up with new stories. "The larger group had water in their igloo. The smaller group had no water". And then there's Kaya. Not used to dark filled days, she moved groggily at the start of the season but she adapted. Gran-gran's stories must be more difficult for her to sit through than they are for me, considering that she didn't know enough words to really understand what Gran-gran was talking about. "The two living together were brothers while the family was made up of a grandfather and his grandchildren who had lost their parents". While Katara sat close to Gran-gran; eagerly awaiting every word, Kaya was next to me on the other side of the hearth. She was laying on her stomach, her side pressed against my thigh for extra warmth as she worked on darning one of Gran-gran's socks. A skill that the yellow-haired girl had only recently required. She was slow at it; having spent all day on this chore and she often got her fingers tangled in the thread. But at least it gave her something to do. "The older brother wanted a drink of water so he asked his brother to get him some from the family next door. The younger brother agreed and as he crossed into the other igloo, he said, 'I have come for a bit of water for my brother'. The old man said, 'Help yourself to water on the floor, but first remove your tunic before dipping in'. The grandfather spoke quietly for all of his grandchildren were pretending to be asleep in their beds", Gran-gran continued as the fire cracked and I fought a yawn. "The boy obediently removed his tunic. But as he started to get water, the grandchildren saw the younger brother's bare chest. They jumped out of bed and onto the younger brother; cutting him with their long fingernails and eating his flesh". I winced. I always did at this part of the story. I could never figure out why Gran-gran liked it so much. "When the boy felt awful pain from their fingernails he started to cry calling to his older brother, 'These children are monsters!'" Kaya looked up when Gran-gran changed her voice to match what was happening in the story. Her eyes studied Gran-gran, before turning to an enraptured Katara, and then to me. We locked eyes and did nothing but stare for a moment until Kaya smiled and turned her focus back to the sock she was holding. For a second, I forgot that it was winter. "The big brother came immediately to the rescue; holding a big hunting knife in his hand. He cut off the grandchildren's noses with one strike, leaving them to hang loosely by the skin", Gran-gran paused to take a breath. "And that is why, we don't ask strangers for water", she finished.

I rolled my eyes. "Last time you told that story, you said, 'that is why we don't combine our homes with strangers'", I complained. Gran-gran liked to change the morals of her stories every year. Which wouldn't be a bad thing if the stories changed as well.

"I liked it", Katara broke in.

"You always like Gran-gran's stories". I argued as Gran-gran smiled to herself; sitting back to watch Katara and I verbally spar. "You even liked that one about the flying polar bear-dog".

"I was five", Katara retorted. As if age was an excuse to have bad taste.

The wind was howling, and visibility was poor as I worked on bringing fresh fish to different families' hearths. It hadn't been snowing this morning. It was the first break we've had in days. The opportunity couldn't be wasted, especially since it met that we could stretch out the food we had preserved for a longer length of time. So, with my gear in hand, I had set out early to try my luck at fishing. This time, I didn't take Kaya with me. While the girl had adapted surprisingly well to our way of life, she wasn't surefooted on ice or snow and I didn't want to watch her attempt to trudge through the winter landscape.

Fishing wasn't a complete success. I had managed to catch some, but not enough for every hearth in the village to have a fresh catch. It was tempting to stay outside of the Village and fish longer. But when my nose started to burn from being so cold and the tips of my fingers started to go numb, despite my gloves, I knew I had to turn back with what little I had. It was lucky that I had headed back when I did. Not even halfway home and the wind had picked up, bring more snowfall with it. I made the decision to disperse the fish to the families with the youngest children. Knowing that it was harder to keep little bellies satisfied during the winter months than it was for the people who had survived many winters before. Even though that meant that my family wouldn't have anything fresh to eat. Sanna and her boys got the last one and then I was hurrying to enter my family's tent. The only thing I wanted at that moment was to sit close to the fire and eat something warm.

No one welcomed me as I slipped through the entrance of our tent and secured the flap behind me. Gran-gran was telling another one of her stories and Katara was too enthralled to interrupt her to give me her usual greeting. But Kaya looked over her shoulder at the sound of my approach and smiled. This time she did not have any small tasks set up before her as Gran-gran told her tales. No socks to darn or spearheads to sharpen. She must be bored, I thought as I set my fishing gear near a wall of the tent before stepping closer to the warmth of the hearth. Listening to Gran-gran talk for hours already wasn't that exciting, but imagine doing that when you don't understand most of the words spoken. Although, who knows? Maybe Kaya could understand more than she could say. I continued to think as I sat cross-legged next to the yellowed-haired girl on her side of the hearth and started to pull my coat off from over my head. It had gotten a bit wet with the fresh snowfall, so I had to make sure it dried otherwise I wouldn't be able to leave the tent to get any work done tomorrow. Coats aren't normally worn inside tents anyway. The fabric of our tents are thick and does a good job of keeping the heat trapped inside. But Kaya tends to keep hers on; always feeling the cold.

"She had a lovely top-knot, that used to be her tail. When the man saw her in human flesh for the first time, he thought she was very beautiful". I rolled my eyes as I picked up on the story Gran-gran was telling tonight. The man who married a fox. I did my best to keep silent as I laid my coat out flat in the last free spot next to the fire. Katara must have picked this one. Gran-gran preferred the tales that held a word of warning. While Katara always preferred the girly lovey-dovey mush. "For a moon, the man and the fox appeared to be very happy together as he hunted and she cooked", Gran-gran continued. As soon as I had finished with my coat, a bowl of steaming stewed sea prunes and a slab of salted fish was pushed into my hands. I accepted them but fumbled slightly as I tried to keep my grip on both. "But the fox started to talk about traveling, and living amongst other people. So, they wandered until they found a village and settled down amongst its people".

As soon as I was sure I wouldn't drop the food I had been given, I looked up to see Kaya. She was still smiling; seemingly pleased that I had accepted the food she had given me. Not that she had given me much of a choice. Still, food was what I wanted. I nodded my thanks before sticking the fish in my mouth and let hang from my teeth as I cradled the bowl with both of my hands, letting it warm them.

"This village was well suited to the man and the fox because one of the villagers also had an animal for a bride that had taken human form; an artic rabbit", Gran-gran said. And around my mouthful of food, I started to remember this story. Maybe Katara hadn't chosen this one if it has the type of ending, I am thinking of. "The two men decided to change wives to see if one suited them better than the other. However, the villager who now had the fox found that he did not like her as much as the hare. She smelled and wasn't nearly as sweet as the rabbit had been".

Kaya had turned back to face Gran-gran and was copying Katara's posture as they listened to the story. But I knew she couldn't really be paying attention. We definitively hadn't taught her the words for wives or fox…. She might know the words for the artic rabbit. I think we had that for dinner one night before the dark season hit. "This angered the fox because she believed that she was desirable to all men. So, in the dead of night she ran away; going inland to a place where man rarely ventured".

Once I had eaten all the salted fish I had been given, I moved on to the stew. I took big gulps of the broth with the bowl raised to my lips. It felt good as the warmth trickled down my throat. As I did this my eyes kept glancing over to the yellow-haired girl. Her hair had grown back. It wasn't at a girl-long length yet. But long enough that Katara had been able to pull it into a small ponytail. The strands of her hair that were still too short for this remained free to frame the girl's face. And… I think it looks nice. "The man who had originally taken her to be his wife, was distraught because he was fond of her even though he also enjoyed his time with the rabbit. So, he left the village to search for the fox. He searched for many years but never found her. And the man never settled down again". Gran-gran finished with her hands relaxed in her lap. She took her time as the looks at all of us in turn. Spending more time on Katara and me than on Kaya. "And what does this story teach us?" She asked.

Katara answers first. "That are men are fickle", she said in indignation with her hands placed on her hips. I roll my eyes, my action is hidden by the bowl I am drinking from. Soon there will be no broth left and I'll have to eat the sea prunes.

"That is one interpretation", Gran-gran said, sounding amused. But she doesn't allow Katara time to give an explanation about why she's right. Instead, Gran-gran's eyes swing over to me. "What about you, Sokka? What do you think the message is?"

I take my time to swallow and lower my bowl before answering. Gran-gran usually doesn't ask us what we think during storytime. She's happy to tell us what meaning she found in the tales as is her right as our elder. But now she's staring at me, with something twinkling in her eyes that I can't decipher. She has a reason for telling this story and asking us this question, and I can't figure out why. I don't like it. Briefly, my eyes find Kaya again before flickering back to Gran-gran. The yellow-haired girl isn't paying attention to any of us. Instead, she's running her finger around on the ground like she's drawing something. Lucky. I wish I didn't have to listen to Gran-gran's stories. "I think it means that when you find something good, don't assume you'll find something better".

A pleased grin grows slowly across Gran-gran's wrinkled face. She's acting as if I had just passed some type of test. I have an inkling about what that test had been about, but… I glance back over to an oblivious Kaya. I'm not sure I like what Gran-gran is hinting at. Kaya's nice. And she never complains (not that she knows how to) or avoids work. She helps Gran-gran with the chores that are starting to become too much for the old woman and Katara likes having her around. The rest of the village is still not too sure about the strange girl with the yellow hair, but she was the first person in my age-group that I had gotten to be within a long time. She was also the only girl around my age that I had seen in a long time. Kaya and I were the only two teenagers in the south pole. Gran-gran probably reasoned, and I did too, that if things didn't change, I'd only have one option. If the men don't come home and traders don't visit our shores again; bringing with them new people and opportunities, there would only be one person I could build a life with. There was no one else. Katara was my sister and all the other girls in the village were at least a decade younger than me. When I looked at Kaya, I was most likely looking at my future wife.

When you find something good, don't assume you'll find something better. I repeated in my head as I went back to eating. But was Kaya the fox or the artic rabbit?

Work Cited

U. (n.d.). Eskimo Folk-Tales (1025110693 786920528 K. Rasmussen, Ed.; 1025110695 786920528 W. Worster, Trans.). Retrieved November 02, 2020, from.