Fic: "Of Geneses" [Avatar, PG-13, Aang, Zuko, Katara, Toph, various canon-ish pairings]
Title: Of Geneses
Author: sporkyadrasteia
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Four elements. Four children. Four discoveries that spurred Fate.
A/N: Contains four ficlets that are not connected to one another but follow a common theme and follow in a chronological order.
-air-
The nurse looked down as the toddler grasped her robes, pulled on them determinedly to hold his weight as he struggled to stand up.
He laughed at her smile, the happy gurgles echoing in the stone corridors. His happiness was contagious as she chuckled back and grasped his hand to provide more leverage to his endeavors.
Such a happy child for one that had been simply left by the prayer gates barely a fortnight ago.
She cooed back to him, dimly aware of the possible embarrassment from her stiffer-lipped peers as she adapted to the boy's baby-talk. Children had never been a step in her life-path but she truly enjoyed her time with this cheerful orphan baby. The occupation of babysitter surely defeated the merits of developing philosophical treatises or cleaning manure in the air bison stalls.
But now, the boy, apparently finished with his standing exercises, thumped back to the floor and picked at the moss between the stone slabs of the courtyard. The nurse rushed to prevent him from putting the rocks and grubs into his mouth. She pulled his closed fists away from the floor and tried to pry them apart to take away whatever he manages to grab from the ground.
Instead, she opened his small fist to find bits of pebbles, dirt, and leaves swirling in a tiny ball of air. The baby giggled at his own display as it disintegrated and then he turned to her, lifting his arms and begging to be carried back inside.
"Well," she smiled as she picked him up, "we now know something about you, don't we, my dear Aang?"
-fire-
His mother had always told him that he had been a bold one, fighting his way out of her womb to face the world proudly. According to Fire Lady Ila, his baby self had then promptly set his own infant blankets on fire. Ozai was fond of this anecdote, especially as he looked forward to a newborn of his to embrace.
Prince Zuko's birth, however, was relatively quiet. Anticlimactic even.
"Has he let out his first flame yet?" he asked the midwife, who responded in the negative as she tended to the sleeping Ursa.
And nothing happened until a cheerful Iroh paid a visit with young Lu Ten in tow. He hurried over to the refreshed Ursa, who welcomed his company.
"You must try some raspberry leaf tea, Ursa," he urged her, "it worked wonders when Lu Ten was born."
As Ozai watched his brother animatedly discuss the virtues of postpartum tea with his wife, he tried not to scowl.
"And where is my beloved newborn nephew?" Iroh finally asked the midwife. "Is he awake?"
She murmured an affirmative, bowing, before leaving the room to bring the baby from his nursery.
"And just look at him!" Iroh laughed as he gently held the infant Zuko in his arms. "Doesn't he look handsome, Lu Ten?"
"He looks cute," Lu Ten chirped, admiring his new cousin.
Zuko, opening his bewildered eyes to this strange world, took this opportunity to sneeze, hurtling a fireball towards his uncle's face. He smiled bemusedly as the horrified midwife and nurses attempted to extricate him from Iroh's arms while simultaneously trying to douse Iroh's burning beard. They placed him safely by his mother, where he promptly fell asleep again.
"Will you look at that, Ozai?" Iroh asked while Lu Ten sniggered at the intense facial hair damage on his face. "My beard may never recover! Although, I am flattered to be the object of attack for his first flame for Prince Zuko is already a strong firebender!"
"Perhaps you think you should be the one to train him then?" Ozai replied irritably.
"Oh, that would be an honor."
Ozai did not return Iroh's grin. His suggestion had been sarcastic.
-water-
When her young grandchildren returned from outside with mutinous faces, Kanna thought nothing of it. Siblings were siblings and these two certainly used petty arguments as a form of affection.
"Katara did something weird today," Sokka grumbled, and then added eagerly. "Are we having seal blubber for dinner?"
"Just wait, you," Kanna advised him as she pushed a hot cup of yak milk into his arms. "Your mother and I have been busy with cooking and cleaning all day. We need a break too. What did Katara do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Katara piped in after sipping her milk.
"Did too," Sokka retorted (Katara stuck out her tongue in response) and then turned to Kanna with the gravity of reporting a crime. "She made the water come towards her."
"That's called waves, silly. Katara didn't do that."
"She did, too! That water came ten feet from the shore to Katara's feet. Waves don't do that."
Kanna did not say anything as she collects his emptied milk mug.
She did not know what to say.
None of this should have happened. She had left that world, that life a long time ago.
And, yet, memories that should not have happened crept into her mind; her father informing her of the betrothal… Pakku's hand grasping hers, dragging her away from her parents' eyes… the slick feeling of his lips on her neck… the smug smile as he fingered her necklace and then slid his impatient hands down down down… and the sick sick feeling that she was beginning to enjoy it all.
Kanna tried her best to explain to her granddaughter that she was not a "freak" (Sokka's suggested description) but a girl with a special talent, but she knew better about the truth.
This was but a dogging ghost from her past.
-earth-
"Is there anything you can do about this… condition?"
Master Yu tapped his foot in his excitement. "Oh, Lord Bei Fong! This is certainly no illness. Your beautiful daughter has a gift, something that needs to be nurtured and perfected through proper training."
Lao Bei Fong's tea cup plinked from across the table as he lifted to drink and then placed it back on the table. "Well, I suppose. I saw her move a rock in the garden and I'm quite concerned that she just might hurt herself with these… powers."
"Oh, sir, you need not worry. I will exercise the utmost caution in care in helping your daughter harness her skills and control them. I will show her how she can still function with earthbending despite her… condition."
"Very well." There was a heavy thunk and the dull clinking of many gold pieces against each other. "Will this be compensation enough for this year's classes?"
"Of course," replied Master Yu's voice, weak with excitement.
Toph, who had asked to roam in the garden, was stopped from expressing her disgust to all of this when she feels a low rumble crescendo below her. She pulled away from the wall adjacent to her father's study and slid her toe to gauge the commotion beneath her feet.
Badgermoles. Interesting.
_______________________
A/N: I came up with the ideas for these ficlets before "The Beach" aired but I loved that one cap with Zuko, Iroh, and Lu Ten! And I like to think that Ozai was pissed off about how Iroh doted on Zuko. XD
Also, Pakku being the real father of Kanna's child (Sokka and Katara's mom?) is a big crack theory I've been nurturing and I'm looking forward to seeing some Pakku/Kanna in S3. XD
Author: sporkyadrasteia
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Four elements. Four children. Four discoveries that spurred Fate.
A/N: Contains four ficlets that are not connected to one another but follow a common theme and follow in a chronological order.
-air-
The nurse looked down as the toddler grasped her robes, pulled on them determinedly to hold his weight as he struggled to stand up.
He laughed at her smile, the happy gurgles echoing in the stone corridors. His happiness was contagious as she chuckled back and grasped his hand to provide more leverage to his endeavors.
Such a happy child for one that had been simply left by the prayer gates barely a fortnight ago.
She cooed back to him, dimly aware of the possible embarrassment from her stiffer-lipped peers as she adapted to the boy's baby-talk. Children had never been a step in her life-path but she truly enjoyed her time with this cheerful orphan baby. The occupation of babysitter surely defeated the merits of developing philosophical treatises or cleaning manure in the air bison stalls.
But now, the boy, apparently finished with his standing exercises, thumped back to the floor and picked at the moss between the stone slabs of the courtyard. The nurse rushed to prevent him from putting the rocks and grubs into his mouth. She pulled his closed fists away from the floor and tried to pry them apart to take away whatever he manages to grab from the ground.
Instead, she opened his small fist to find bits of pebbles, dirt, and leaves swirling in a tiny ball of air. The baby giggled at his own display as it disintegrated and then he turned to her, lifting his arms and begging to be carried back inside.
"Well," she smiled as she picked him up, "we now know something about you, don't we, my dear Aang?"
-fire-
His mother had always told him that he had been a bold one, fighting his way out of her womb to face the world proudly. According to Fire Lady Ila, his baby self had then promptly set his own infant blankets on fire. Ozai was fond of this anecdote, especially as he looked forward to a newborn of his to embrace.
Prince Zuko's birth, however, was relatively quiet. Anticlimactic even.
"Has he let out his first flame yet?" he asked the midwife, who responded in the negative as she tended to the sleeping Ursa.
And nothing happened until a cheerful Iroh paid a visit with young Lu Ten in tow. He hurried over to the refreshed Ursa, who welcomed his company.
"You must try some raspberry leaf tea, Ursa," he urged her, "it worked wonders when Lu Ten was born."
As Ozai watched his brother animatedly discuss the virtues of postpartum tea with his wife, he tried not to scowl.
"And where is my beloved newborn nephew?" Iroh finally asked the midwife. "Is he awake?"
She murmured an affirmative, bowing, before leaving the room to bring the baby from his nursery.
"And just look at him!" Iroh laughed as he gently held the infant Zuko in his arms. "Doesn't he look handsome, Lu Ten?"
"He looks cute," Lu Ten chirped, admiring his new cousin.
Zuko, opening his bewildered eyes to this strange world, took this opportunity to sneeze, hurtling a fireball towards his uncle's face. He smiled bemusedly as the horrified midwife and nurses attempted to extricate him from Iroh's arms while simultaneously trying to douse Iroh's burning beard. They placed him safely by his mother, where he promptly fell asleep again.
"Will you look at that, Ozai?" Iroh asked while Lu Ten sniggered at the intense facial hair damage on his face. "My beard may never recover! Although, I am flattered to be the object of attack for his first flame for Prince Zuko is already a strong firebender!"
"Perhaps you think you should be the one to train him then?" Ozai replied irritably.
"Oh, that would be an honor."
Ozai did not return Iroh's grin. His suggestion had been sarcastic.
-water-
When her young grandchildren returned from outside with mutinous faces, Kanna thought nothing of it. Siblings were siblings and these two certainly used petty arguments as a form of affection.
"Katara did something weird today," Sokka grumbled, and then added eagerly. "Are we having seal blubber for dinner?"
"Just wait, you," Kanna advised him as she pushed a hot cup of yak milk into his arms. "Your mother and I have been busy with cooking and cleaning all day. We need a break too. What did Katara do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Katara piped in after sipping her milk.
"Did too," Sokka retorted (Katara stuck out her tongue in response) and then turned to Kanna with the gravity of reporting a crime. "She made the water come towards her."
"That's called waves, silly. Katara didn't do that."
"She did, too! That water came ten feet from the shore to Katara's feet. Waves don't do that."
Kanna did not say anything as she collects his emptied milk mug.
She did not know what to say.
None of this should have happened. She had left that world, that life a long time ago.
And, yet, memories that should not have happened crept into her mind; her father informing her of the betrothal… Pakku's hand grasping hers, dragging her away from her parents' eyes… the slick feeling of his lips on her neck… the smug smile as he fingered her necklace and then slid his impatient hands down down down… and the sick sick feeling that she was beginning to enjoy it all.
Kanna tried her best to explain to her granddaughter that she was not a "freak" (Sokka's suggested description) but a girl with a special talent, but she knew better about the truth.
This was but a dogging ghost from her past.
-earth-
"Is there anything you can do about this… condition?"
Master Yu tapped his foot in his excitement. "Oh, Lord Bei Fong! This is certainly no illness. Your beautiful daughter has a gift, something that needs to be nurtured and perfected through proper training."
Lao Bei Fong's tea cup plinked from across the table as he lifted to drink and then placed it back on the table. "Well, I suppose. I saw her move a rock in the garden and I'm quite concerned that she just might hurt herself with these… powers."
"Oh, sir, you need not worry. I will exercise the utmost caution in care in helping your daughter harness her skills and control them. I will show her how she can still function with earthbending despite her… condition."
"Very well." There was a heavy thunk and the dull clinking of many gold pieces against each other. "Will this be compensation enough for this year's classes?"
"Of course," replied Master Yu's voice, weak with excitement.
Toph, who had asked to roam in the garden, was stopped from expressing her disgust to all of this when she feels a low rumble crescendo below her. She pulled away from the wall adjacent to her father's study and slid her toe to gauge the commotion beneath her feet.
Badgermoles. Interesting.
_______________________
A/N: I came up with the ideas for these ficlets before "The Beach" aired but I loved that one cap with Zuko, Iroh, and Lu Ten! And I like to think that Ozai was pissed off about how Iroh doted on Zuko. XD
Also, Pakku being the real father of Kanna's child (Sokka and Katara's mom?) is a big crack theory I've been nurturing and I'm looking forward to seeing some Pakku/Kanna in S3. XD