(no subject)

[meredyd]

Title: Five Stories Katara Told
Recipient: Izilen
Rating: G
Characters/Pairings: Katara-centric, with background Katara/Aang, and appearances of various other characters.
Word Count: 9.776 WHAT AM I DOING
Summary: It’s a lifetime in words.
Notes: For the prompt: Katara, telling her children and/or her grandchildren stories, both the ones she lived and the ones she learned, but I also tried to incorporate bits of two of your other prompts. I REALLY HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. <3



i.

At sunrise, the village appears in the horizon, glimmering in the light, thin columns of smoke stark against the changing sky. Katara observes every change: deep blue turns to violet, and the village becomes visible, still far away, small like her thumbnail; violet becomes pink, and the ice shines, clean and perfect; behind her, in the saddle, Sokka and Aang are asleep, wrapped in their blankets; the sky is a clear light blue before the sun is out, and her village, among the frozen hills, is tiny and bright.

Appa lands before the ships have even appeared, and when they jump to the ground, they are immediately surrounded by blue-eyed children yelling, they're here, they're here, and women rushing towards them. Katara sees faces with less baby fat, sturdier fingers, heads that reach her waist and not her hips anymore. They've grown, she thinks, and she hugs her grandmother thinking, I've grown too, and it's obvious: she's lived battles and adventures and she's gone around half the world and seen things she'd never thought she would - but it hits her now, like the sun is blinding her.

They sit close to the fire and they are surrounded by people, but Katara doesn't feel dizzy - they're fewer than she's gotten used to, now. Sokka yawns and Aang laughs; the kids shout; food for Appa is found quickly, and he takes his sweet time with it. They don't eat before the ships have arrived. They smile and answer questions and gaze around still half sleepy and a bit astonished. Katara knows what is going to follow and she knows how she is going to react - she can already feel the tears sting behind her eyes before the boats hit shore and the warriors come back home.

They sit together, after, and she only catches bits and pieces of what is happening around - Stop calling me Grampakku! and Sorry, but I don't eat meat, and You must be so tired, and Then what in the name of Spirits are you going to eat?. She's hugged Gran Gran and she and Sokka are sleeping next to each other, at home, before the sun has reached the middle of the sky.

*

In retrospect, she should have expected it, but she is surprised when, later at night, she is asked to tell them the story.

Master Pakku is there, and he is the eldest, so he should have that right, but he is from the North, and he wasn't with them all the time. Her father is the chief, but he was also not there all the time. Sokka is older than her, and Aang is the Avatar, but the village still asks her to tell them what they did while they were away.

So, Katara starts, just a bit anxious.

It's not like she hasn't told stories before. It's not like she hasn't even told important stories before. But this is different. She's lived it, and it's a brand new story for most of these people, and, she soon realises, it's even more important because it's practically history.

She would gulp, but she's in the middle of a sentence, so she just goes on.

She tells about what traveling on Appa feels like, and about her surprise upon seeing completely new places. She tells about Zuko being constantly after them. Sokka spoils that last bit, saying, "Actually, he's a good guy. He didn't look like it, but eh. Bit of a dork, but a good guy" (Aang can't help but laugh). She tells about the Great Divide, and about finding the tribe's ships, and about reaching the North.

The faces are painted red and orange by the fires, and Katara feels strangely important, now. She feels awkward, and she gets stuck at words, but they all give her a hand, all the while staring at her in an eager, curious way. She does her best.

Soon, she realises that she doesn't actually have to say everything. About the Cave of Two Lovers, she says "We got lost, but we found each other again later" and hopes no one sees the blush on Aang's face. It's strange to tell a story when you take part in it, and she has to cut a lot of things: no-one has to know about each of their insecurities. She doesn't say about Aang when they'd lost Appa. She doesn't say about Zuko telling her about his mother. She doesn't say about Sokka feeling like he was just a regular person in a team of benders. She doesn't say anything about the Southern Riders, and she only tells of the funny bits in the play they saw on Ember Island.

What she says is this: about the North, and the Fire Nation's attack, and Yue; what happened in Omashu; how they met Toph (everyone is sad that she didn't come with them, but she went back home to...settle some things, as she said); what happened in Ba Sing Se; how they organised the first invasion, and how it failed; how they came to accept Zuko; how they organised the final battle. She works it all in her head before she says it, and she is satisfied.

In the end, she looks around, her body all tense and her head kind of dizzy, and she can see as many different reactions as there are people. Sokka looks wistful in a funny way; Aang smiles at her sheepishly, and she smiles back.

*

Later still, she and Sokka are lying on their beddings again, staring up at the darkness of their hut. Aang is still outside, taking care of Appa.

"You said it all very well", Sokka says. "Even I couldn't have done it better!"

Katara chuckles.

"Thank you. That's actually very nice of you."

"Well, I would have made it a bit more adventurous, but yours was good too."

"I thought you said that even you couldn't have done it better."

"I did say that. It's true."

Katara gives a chuckle again, and they stay quiet for a bit.

"How long are we going to stay?" Sokka asks eventually.

She doesn't even pretend to be surprised. They both know they won't be staying for long. The village is too small for them now, the world too big.

"I don't know", she says simply. "What do you want to see?"

"There's still an Air Temple we haven't visited. But I'd like to go back to the Northern Air Temple at some point, there's stuff I want to see there."

"And the Earth Kingdom is very big", she adds.

"And we haven't seen all of the Fire Nation."

Katara sighs, counting the shapes in the darkness.

"This is so strange", she remarks, and Sokka nods solemnly for once. "I think we should relax for a bit. Catch up on our sleep and see Gran Gran. And then we'll go. I mean, wherever Aang goes, we go, and he'll have to travel a lot."

"Sounds good to me. Let's have some fresh air, eat some good healthy food. And we'll see. We have all the time of the world in front of us."

"We do", she agrees, and feels her heart skip a beat.

ii.

It's quite obvious that Kya doesn't feel like sleeping.

Katara is comfortable in her blankets, and Aang is already snoring, when their eldest gets up from her bedding, which she has already kicked, pulled, and turn around, and comes to stand beside them.

Katara can make out her short form in the dark and the thick hair obscuring the face. The baby is asleep at last, and she really needs to sleep, too, but she pulls back the covers and scouts over to let Kya burrow in and get comfortable next to her. She lets her eyes slip closed again.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Are there lionelephants so far up in the north?"

Aang shifts in his sleep. The covers shuffle.

"You can't sleep?"

"No."

Once again, Katara pulls the covers back and tugs her feet free.

"Let's go outside."

Kya smiles in the dark, teeth shining for a moment.

Katara stretches her legs and wiggles her toes before shoving them down in her boots and securing herself inside her overcoat. Kya is already outside and her thick coat makes her look almost round. She extends a small hand and tucks it safely inside that of her mother's, and she pulls her away from Appa and the small camp, where smoke is still rising from what is left of their hearth, towards a flat rock from where they can hear the sea in the distance. The sky is littered with stars and Katara is tired, really tired, but she can manage for a bit longer, so she follows the insistent tug at her hand. Come morning, they will have to cross the sea on Appa and reach the North Pole, so she will probably have the chance to catch up on some of her sleeping.

Kya makes herself comfortable on the rock and presses herself against Katara's side - where they came from it's not winter yet, but they are far into the North and the icy wind flushes their cheeks. Her legs aren't long enough to even brush the ground and her hands are lost inside her huge furry sleeves. Kya is six years old and still a bit small, though Katara senses that she will not be like this for long.

"What's over there?" Kya says, pointing far away towards the sea. Katara stares at the night sky. In front of them, north-west, is the sea. Behind them, towards the South, is the Earth Kingdom, where they came from, crossing the continent from the Kyoshi Island to the wastes of the North. Their destination is to her right, facing the sea: the Northern Water Tribe.

"That's the North Pole", Katara replies, nodding the way Kya was pointing. "There", she says, pointing to the right, "is where we're going, the Northern Tribe. Remember Grampakku? That's where he was from, like my Gran Gran."

Kya is actually too young to really recall Pakku or Kanna, but she acknowledges their existence and nods.

"Then you're Northern Tribe, too, a little", she says.

"Well, yes."

Kya might not remember her great-grandparents well, but she knows the North Pole. The Southern and the Northern Water Tribes have renowned relationships and many people travel back and forth, with quite a few Northerns immigrating to the South as well. Katara still has an insistence to make the long trip at least once a year, which may seem strange to others, but is very reasonable to her. She knows things have changed in the twenty years that have passed since she was a teenager, but she needs to ensure the communication of the two tribes herself, so that no-one will have to experience the isolation she had lived in for so long.

"But, you know, I'm more Southern than anything", she adds. "I didn't know my grandma was from there and my home has always been the South Pole."

Kya seems to consider those last words.

"I think if I had to pick, my home would be Appa", she says, and Katara's heart takes a leap, because raising a child while traveling is a risk to her, and she's not always sure she was right to take it.

"Do you like Appa as your home, then?"

"Of course I do, mom!" Kya says, childishly incredulous. "He's my home and I can travel on him, too. The only bad thing about him is that he needs to be washed often."

"Actually, all homes do", Katara says and she smiles.

Kya seems to work on that particular bit of information, but her next question is completely irrelevant.

"Why do you look at the stars to understand where we are?"

"Because stars are consistent, and if you know their positions, you can relate your own location to theirs and figure out where you are."

"And because of the moon..."

"...because of the moon, you can tell time periods and days."

Kya strains her head to look up.

"But I can't see the moon anywhere now!"

"That's because she's taking a rest."

"But the moon is not a person!"

"In fact, she is."

Kya's eyes widen.

"And, I knew her personally."

Kya looks at her expectantly.

"You've seen her statue", Katara continues. "In the North Pole. It's the lady with the lovely hair."

"The statue we usually play around?"

"Yes. Her name is Yue, and when I met her, she was a little older than I was. She was a princess. But the story doesn't start there. It starts long, long ago, when the spirits of the moon and the ocean -- "

"Decided to come live here instead of the Spirit World and help people bend water!"

When they're not traveling, they usually stay in the Southern Tribe, and Kya likes to watch the older kids train. She sits a little by the side, and watches very carefully their wide movements, her brow scrunched up in attention.

"Yes, and that's why they acquired a form suitable to our own world. They became creatures you could see and touch, and that could also die, and stayed in our world. This happened so many years ago, that almost no-one remembered it any more. However, someone found out, and Tui and La found themselves in danger, because the person who found out was not a sage, but a cruel and powerful warrior who wanted to destroy the Water Tribes and let the Fire Nation rule over them."

"But the Fire Nation is not bad people!"

"It's not. But when I was a kid, the Firelords wanted to rule all over the world, and thought the other nations lesser than them. That's why there was a war, as you know."

"Yes, but they weren't bad, were they?"

"Some of them were, but not all. Most were not."

Kya seems satisfied with that.

"What did the warrior do, then?"

"He managed to get inside the palace of the Northern Water Tribe, and into the most sacred place, and captured the moon spirit. You see, the form Tui and La had chosen was that of two fish, and the Tribe was traditionally their protector. But there was a battle going on and everyone was confused, and so the warrior managed to find them, capture the white fish that was the moon spirit, and put it inside a satchel. It was the scariest thing I'd seen: the world went darker and no-one could waterbend anymore.
I could feel something disappear, in the outer world and inside me."

Kya's mouth is tense, and even though she hasn't shown any signs of being able to bend yet, she seems to feel the distress herself. She squeezes her mother's knee and Katara goes on.

"Uncle Iroh, who was there with the Fire Nation army, tried to convince him to let the spirit free, but the commander used fire to kill it, and the world went darker still. But hope was not lost yet, because Yue offered herself to save the spirit. When she was born, she had been almost dead, but the spirit had saved her, making her hair turn white. Yue had the moon's blessing, and with that, some of the spirit itself in her. So she decided she would give up her life as a Northern Tribe girl, and become the moon spirit itself and bring balance back."

"So she died?"

"No, she didn't - she just became a spirit and lived on in the spirit world. She's here and there simultaneously, and her life is not the same anymore, of course. She didn't grow up, or become chief of her tribe. But she saved not only the tribe, but the whole world. She knew that if she chose to do that, she would never live as a normal person, but she was brave and willing and chose to give up some of her own pleasures in life in order to bring balance back."

"So she still exists?"

"Of course! And I'm sure she's gotten used to being a spirit."

"She sounds nice. I wish I could meet her."

"Maybe you will! I am very happy that I got to meet her, you know."

Kya grins, her cheeks dimpling, and she shifts on the rock, lying down with her head on Katara's lap. Katara has got caught up in the story, but she is still tired and she can't even stifle her yawning.

"What do you say about lying down in the tent?"

Kya pouts.

"But I like it here! There are so many stars. Are they spirits, too?"

"Some of them, but that's a whole other story. You could ask Dad, he's met more of them. Come on, now! I'm a mean old lady who wants her sleep."

Kya giggles, and presses her face down in Katara's coat.

"And I won't let you sleep at all!"

"Nope, lady, not happening!"

She picks the girl up and Kya yelps, face upside down, and giggles in the dark, grabbing for Katara's arm, but she has a good hold and only turns Kya around and wholly into her arms.

"Now, sleep. I'll tell you another story while we walk back."

"Noooo! Let's stay more outside!" Kya says, but it's playful and not real at all, because she brings a hand up to cover a yawn. "I don't want to sleep."

"Well, I think you do. Come on, now", Katara says and lets her daughter down, in front of the tent.

Kya looks up, frowning, but she yawns again and Katara laughs.

"That was it, young lady. You're off to sleep."

They go inside together, and Katara takes the time to tidy Kya's coat and tuck her properly inside her blankets.

"Goodnight, sweetie."

"'Night, mom", Kya takes her arms out of the covers and pulls Katara closer to give her a sleepy kiss on the forehead. "Tell me another story tomorrow."

"Uh-huh. I will. Sleep tight", Katara says, planting a kiss on Kya's hair.

She doesn't even want to think about the trip that awaits them tomorrow. She takes her coat off mechanically and pushes herself inside the covers and against Aang's back. Before she can even think about what story she should say the next day, she's asleep, warm in her blankets and breathing quietly on Aang's shoulder, in the peaceful darkness of their tent.

iii.

"Moooooom!"

Katara looks up from the rice she's stirring, at Bumi and Tenzin sitting crosslegged on the table. Bumi has his paints in front of him, but his roll of paper is blank. Tenzin looks mildly distressed.

"I want to paint, but I don't know what", Bumi says. "And Tenzin only has bad ideas."

Katara looks at him sternly.

"It's not your brother's fault that you're not inspired", she points out.

"Yes, but he's not helping!"

Tenzin's shoulders tense and he flushes.

"Still not his fault", Kya says, smacking both boys on the head as she enters, and winks at her mother.

"Paint me."

"Like I'd ever want to paint you", Bumi sticks his tongue out.

Kya is fifteen now, and tall, and not quite grown into her body, but that will come in time. She takes the knife left on the counter and resumes her mother's work, chopping shiny red peppers.

"I think maybe you're just bored", Katara smiles at the two boys over her shoulder.

"You could tell us a story, then", Kya says.

It's nearing noon, and the room is filled with light in this barely completed building. Sometimes Katara wakes up in the morning and thinks, we're building a city, and she can't quite grasp it yet, so she lies awake, listening to the sound of what is built of the city awakening as well, still a bit astonished at what they are doing.

Right now, she knows exactly what she is doing: she's making lunch for the kids, and she is in a hurry, because there's a meeting to attend in about an hour and a half, and she's probably going to get angry at someone there, and if she does, of course she's going to fight for what she thinks is right! Aang will probably be back by the time she will have to leave, but not early enough to have lunch together; their duties in the building and organising are completely different, but they also have a family, and a family isn't a periodical job. They share the cooking, and, for the first time in their common life, the household chores, and Aang will spar with the kids and Katara will look over their studying, but it's increasingly rare to have a peaceful moment, so maybe she should stop stirring like her life depends on it and enjoy her free hour.

Bumi and Tenzin both look hopeful in the prospect of a story, so she starts to talk before she has even thought about it.

"There were once three warriors", she starts.

This is a traditional Water Tribe story, and Kya knows it very well, so she smiles over the peppers. Her kids are more kids of the world than anything else, Katara knows well, but she is a Water Tribe girl, so she wants them to feel at home in the poles. Kya does, maybe because she's a waterbender. Bumi feels at home everywhere, really. Tenzin, at nine years old, is still shifting, sometimes obliviously cheerful and some times painfully aware and awkward, but she knows he'll grow into something, and that this something will be remarkable.

"Um, mom? I know the story is about warriors, but I don't really want to be a warrior", he says now, scratching his shaved head above his ear.

"There were once two warriors, and a sage", she starts again, giving in.

"I wouldn't say anything, because the story has warriors", says Kya, now skinning a mango, "but if we're doing this, I want my warrior to be a politician."

"I'll still be a warrior", Bumi says, in a very matter-of-fact way. He's now leaning over the table, scribbling something, his mass of hair covering his face.

"All...right", Katara says, kind of unsure. "There was once a politician, a warrior, and a sage."

All three of her children are looking at her, satisfied and eager.

"Their village was poor, and lost somewhere in the white plains of the South. They were used to this way of life and did not complain, though, and lead their lives with patience and insistence. One night, while they were on one of their long hunting trips, they were camping around their fire, when they heard a strange noise. They were well accustomed to the noises of the night in the pole, but this was nothing like they'd heard before."

"I've always been curious", Bumi interrupts, still not looking up. "What was that noise like?"

"Well, it was produced by a spirit", Kya says, "so it would have to be...enchanting."

"Yes, but was it like singing? Or music?", Bumi insists.

"Maybe it sounded like music, but not exactly?"

"Mom, what do you think the sound was like?" Tenzin asks.

Katara has to pause and think.

"I've always imagined it to be like singing, but not exactly. It may have sounded like singing and music, but you could feel it was something else."

"So then, they went towards the sound, and they saw a whole lot of seals! Seals everywhere! But they did not look exactly like seals."

Bumi seems to have taken the yarn and to be running with it, looking up now and gesturing wildly.

Katara can't really complain. She works on the peppers and onions in a smaller wok.

"They knew the noise couldn't be coming from the seals. It felt like something out of this world", Kya adds.

She has sat down with her legs crossed and is sharing the mango with Tenzin. Her hair is long and braided in parts, but still falls across her face.

"So then, the politician, the warrior, and the sage, fell down through a hole and ended up in the underworld!" Bumi says, enthusiastic.

"That...is not how the story goes", Tenzin says, reserved. "And now it's you who's saying it, not mom."

"It's okay, honey", Katara calls, and she can't say she minds her first son's original additions. Twenty five years ago, still an isolated teenager, she would have cringed, but now she knows better.

"The warrior was the first to wake up", Bumi continues.

"I think it should be the politician", Kya says around a mouthful of mango.

"The warrior makes more sense! He is the most alert of all and is aaaalways prepared!"

Kya shrugs.

"So the warrior woke up, to find himself in a very dark place! He could make out his companions lying somewhere near him, unconscious. Maybe they were dead. Maybe...he was dead, too", Bumi goes on, rather dramatically. Kya rolls her eyes.

"Bumi, please don't go this way."

Bumi pauses, pondering.

"When the politician woke up", he starts again, "he knew--"

"She knew."

"She knew, um, she could tell that they were not dead."

"How?" Tenzin asks.

"She could tell", Bumi dismisses him. "Then, they woke the sage up together. He had always been kind of a sleepy head and it wasn't going to change now."

Tenzin's face flushes red.

Katara is almost finished with the cooking, at last, and looks sternly over her shoulder. "Clear the table of your stuff and come help me with the bowls and cups." She pauses. "When they were all up and alert, they thought they should explore the place they were in. They were never really quitters, you see."

"Good", Kya says, bringing out bowls for the rice. "Isn't Dad coming?"

"He is, but later. He said we should start with the lunch early because I'll have to leave right after."

"But you're telling us a story!" Bumi protests.

"Technically, you are telling the story", Kya points out. Tenzin gives a small grin.

"It's not the same without Mom!", Bumi says, and all three of them seem to agree.

"Then go on while I'm here", Katara says, handing him the big bowl for the fruit. "Fill this. Tenzin, come here and get the bread."

"All right, all right. Where were we? Oh, they were exloring the place. Um. Uh, they soon found out they were in a cave."

"It was a huuuuge cave", Kya says, and stuffs Bumi's mouth with a piece of flat bread. "They could make out just a tiny speck of light up, up over their heads. They had no idea how they had not died on their fall. Or had they?"

"We agreedth they weren't deadth", Bumi says, chewing angrily.

"Yes, but how could they know?" Tenzin says, clearly on board with Kya on this.

"If they were, they would have gotten up and see their bodies still lying down!"

They all seem to ponder this.

"It's not necessary", Katara says. "Maybe they weren't in the same place as their bodies. And now, please pause. I don't want to eat and talk about dead people in mysterious caves."

"But the story--", Bumi starts, taking his place on the table as Katara approaches with the large bowl filled with rice and vegetables.

The cooking was hurried, but it still smells lovely, Katara has to admit. Rice has a way, she thinks, of always looking like there's a lot of it. Sometimes she wishes it tasted as good as it looks, but then again, she's grown up eating mostly meat. The kids love it, though, and that's what matters at the moment.

"You can figure out the story together, and tell it to me when I come back. You can tell Dad, he'll have lots of ideas", she says as she serves large portions of rice on each of their bowls.

The boys look at each other and nod, simultaneously. Kya is skinning some more fruit. Katara tries to take her time with her meal, and slows down deliberately.

"But!" Bumi suddenly says. "I just had a very good idea!"

Katara smiles. "Then don't say it yet. I want to listen to the whole thing when I come back."

"But I will forget!", he says anxiously. "Can I at least tell Tenzin?"

When Katara shrugs, her mouth full, Bumi leans towards his brother and whispers something in his ear.

"What? No! That's an awful idea!" Tenzin says, immediately moving away. Bumi laughs mischieviously.

Kya glares at them.

They don't talk about the story after this. Kya asks about the city, Bumi pretends to snore (when you're eleven and anything like Bumi, bricks and boards aren't in your list of immediate interests). Katara asks Tenzin about his training, and he answers with just the slightest hint of pride, and Katara feels her own chest swelling. Kya and Bumi fight over the last piece of kiwi. Bumi says a joke ("A soldier, a shepard, and an earthbender walk into a tavern..."), and they all laugh. Kya asks about the North Pole. Tenzin actually expresses interest in going to the North Pole again. It's a regular day, and Katara leaves just a little later than she wanted to, but she dismisses it when she hugs her kids goodbye and they laugh against her shoulders and the crook of her neck, saves the feeling for later.

Later, after the meeting, she walks home. She sees streets getting paved, and workers taking their breaks, and the late afternoon light paints even the uglier building in progress a lovely shade of orange, warming the city and making Katara smile. We're building a city, she thinks, incredulous even now, and finds herself excited in the prospect of a story, even if it's about three possibly dead people in a mysterious cave.

iv.

"See how wrinkled my fingers are!"

Korra stretches, excited, and brings her palms, small and brown, in front of Katara's face. The pads of her fingers are wet and wrinkled because of the long lesson. Korra grins widely. Katara smiles back.

"Would you like to stop?" she asks.

Korra's eyes widen.

"No, no! Not at all!"

She straightens her shoulders, her grin toothy and eager, and looks at Katara expectantly.
Korra has grown a lot: her cheeks are still round and her eyes large, but her hands have started becoming rough and practiced, with round thick fingernails and bony knuckles. She is missing two of her upper teeth, and the white edges of the new ones are only beginning to show.

The water glimmers around two sets of hand, wide and calm movements accompanied by smaller and more nervous. Korra can waterbend almost impulsively, which is natural, and is impatient but insistent, very much unlike Aang at times. She is eager and cheerful and bright, though, and sometimes she grins with her eyes closed, and Katara feels a sting of something in her chest. But Korra is very much her own person, and a very stubborn one at that, and Katara knows Aang would - does- love her.

"Are you tired?" Katara asks.

Korra shakes her head to say no, wolf tails swinging.

"Not even for healing practice?"

Korra chuckles, air coming out of her mouth, her shoulders rising, and she looks to the side.

"Let's go sit somewhere", Katara says, decisively.

The snow is crisp under their feet. Back in the compound the White Lotus has built there are all the necessary installations for their lessons, but Katara would not for any reason choose to make an eight year old kid stay in there when she could be practicing outside.

They sit on a flat stone close to the place where they were training. The thick furs protect them from the cold, but they both seem to savour the coolness. Katara can't help but remember that this is where she grew up, and next to her, Korra is filling her lungs with the cold air impatiently, almost furiously, nostrils flaring and chest heaving.

"You know, Korra", she starts. The girl springs her head towards her. "I didn't want to learn healing, either".

Korra's eyes widen in this revelation and her jaw falls slack.

"It's not that I don't want to learn it", she says. "It's just...kind of boring."

Katara nods. Korra is eight, and active and bold and impatient. It's completely normal not to enjoy healing, and not to be able to understand why.

"I used to think it was boring, too. I just wanted to learn all kinds of waterbending."

Korra, puzzled, tips her head to the side.

"It's not the same anymore, but when I was younger, women in the Northern Water Tribes were not allowed to learn the fighting forms of waterbending. They could only learn how to heal."

Korra purses her lips and her eyebrows bend together.

"The Northern Water Tribe is dumb, then!"

"Yes, it's true that that tradition was not the wisest. You know, when I was growing up, the Southern Tribe was very small. I was the last waterbender here, and I couldn't learn advanced bending by myself. So when we got to the North, I had already waited for years and years to learn how to fight, and we had had numerous adventures already and were very tired. I was very excited about finally being able to properly work on my bending!"

Korra nods, her fingers flexing on her knees.

"So the Chief of the Tribe ensured Aang that, as the Avatar, he would have the chance to learn waterbending from the best! And the same would go for his waterbender friend. But when we arrived to the practicing field, the teacher saw that I was a girl and denied to teach me."

"And?", says Korra, eager.

"And, I made him teach me", Katara says, voice edged with amusement and pride.

"How?!"

"I challenged him to a duel. You see, I already knew some waterbending from practicing myself and studying moves written down on an ancient scroll. I was not so much angry about having to wait so long and then be denied access; what had outraged me was the way he dismissed me as well as all girls. I knew I didn't stand a chance against him, but I didn't care."

"Then how did you make him accept you?!"

"He saw that I was fierce and determined enough to do this. It was the best way I'd ever bended water up until then. My anger gave me more strength than I thought I had."

Korra's mouth is twitching upwards to one side.

"He doesn't sound very nice, your teacher", she says.

"Actually, he was rather sweet. When he was young, he was in love with my grandmother, and wanted to marry her, but she fled and came here because she wouldn't take the oppressive rules of the Northern Tribe."

Korra's face brightens. "And she did very well to do so!" she says.

"Indeed", Katara says. "But she and Master Pakku did get married in the end."

"So he was your grandfather and you didn't know?"

"No, no. I never met my grandfather; he died before I was born. Master Pakku and Gran Gran got back together when I was almost fifteen, after meeting so many years later."

Korra's face is betraying her enthusiasm, despite her tendency to dismiss love stories and romance.

"I never met my grandpa either!" she says.

"Is that so?"

"He died when I was small! Mom's dad, I mean. Dad's parents are in the North Pole."

"And your grandma?"

"Gran's alive, she lives in the village with my aunties. She was born here, so you should probably know her since she was young. I guess so."

"Probably", Katara agrees.

The sun is low in the sky, but it will still take a long time before it's really dark. Katara considers waiting. She hasn't seen the sun set in the South Pole for a while now.

"But! If", Korra starts, "the Northern Tribe wouldn't teach girls, what did lady Avatars do?"

"It wasn't always like this. Long ago, women had that right, but the Tribes were differently organized, too. You see, it's not just me and you and the individual people who grow. It's whole peoples and cities and countries that grow and change, and the things you know now aren't what was always there. However, the female Avatar before you, Kyoshi, was taught waterbending here."

"Oh!" Korra's brow wrinkles in effort. "Was it because Kyoshi Island is in the South?" She pauses anxiously. "It is in the South, isn't it?"

"It is, but it wasn't because of that. Kyoshi was from the Earth Kingdom, so Water was the last element she had to acquire and she had spent years traveling before that and had almost been all around the world. She just decided to be taught here because she didn't like the Northern Tribe a lot. She didn't appreciate the Avatar before her, Kuruk, at all. She thought he was too loose and soft."

Korra is leaning back and looking at the sky.

"But IF she had gone to the North, she could have persuaded them to teach her, right? She was the Avatar!"

"I guess they would have to make an exception."

"OR!" Korra suddenly sits up, "she could dress herself as a boy! How amazing would that be?!"

"Well, Kyoshi was proud in her womanhood and stubborn as a rock, so I don't really think she would do that. But there was another Avatar, long before her, who did."

Katara pauses mischievously and waits for the reaction. Cool wind is caressing her cheeks and smoothing her hair back and she's terribly missed a good audience.

"Who was that and why do I not know about her?!"

"Well, then let me tell you about Avatar Huang. He was an Earth Kingdom Avatar, who lived several generations before the Hundred Year War. You know about the Hundred Year War, don't you?"

"Yes! It was the war that you and Avatar Aang and --"

"That was it. Avatar Huang was born long before that, and long before even Kyoshi, who lived for more than two hundred years, was born. He was born a girl in a poor family of Earth benders, somewhere in the East. I didn't know about him until Aang met him during one of the times he went into the Spirit World. Apparently, as a small girl, Huang could bend the earth, but could only learn what his parents could teach him, since he could not afford traveling in order to learn more. In one of the trips his family made to the town to sell their goods, Huang saw other kids earthbend and spent some of the day with them, learning new things. Apparently, he was very good at it, and a master offered to teach him. Even though Huang lived as a girl back then, the master did not know that, because the young Avatar wore his brother's clothes and tied his hair like a boy. His parents thought about that and could not bring themselves to take such an opportunity away from their child, but they also agreed to let Huang dress himself in male clothes, for they thought it safer. Huang, who was far more comfortable as a boy than as a girl, also took the name with which we know about him. He went to the town and was taught advanced forms of earthbending, and it was when he traveled with his master that he met other benders. Upon meeting Airbenders, he felt something click inside him, and to the surprise of his master and peers, managed to shift the air around him. The Avatar had been found."

"So no one knew that Huang was a girl?"

"I don't think you could say that Huang was a girl. He lived all his life as a man and that was how he wanted to live, so no one else really has a say in it. He grew up and learned all types of bending, and married a girl from Ba Sing Se, who was an intellectual and an appointed judge of the court. They were not very young when they got married, and even though they never gave birth to children, they raised together the two daughters the judge had from her first marriage. Huang was said to be a good and just Avatar - not that his wife would let him stray from that path. He tried to keep peace not only between the nations, but also in the inside of each one of them, and helped found bending schools that accepted poorer kids of all genders. When he died, he was buried in the countryside, not far from the place where he'd been born, and his daughters helped in the education of the next Avatar, a girl from the Fire Nation. No one but his family knew that he'd been born a girl. Upon his death, it was discovered by some officials, but Huang's wish was that it should remain the secret of a man who died in peace."

Korra looks pensive, her eyes looking somewhere away.

"So, Master Katara... Will I meet all these people, some time? Like Avatar Aang did?"

When Katara was fourteen, she would never have thought that she would teach waterbending not to one, but two Avatars. She would have never thought she would accompany them in their lives, either.

"Aang was a people person. He loved talking, and meeting new people. When he started to control how much he stayed in the Spirit World, he started exploring not just in order to solve the problems he faced, but also because he wanted to know things better. You know, the Avatar is the Avatar, but they are also a person, and he wanted to meet all the previous Avatars not only because they had been his previous lives, but also because he wanted to know their stories. Aang loved stories a lot."

"I like stories, too!"

"I can tell! But you are different than Aang, and different than Kyoshi, and different than Yangchen, and Roku, and Huang. They were all great people, and you are a great person too, Korra."

Sokka would laugh at her if she told him, Katara thinks. She's become quite an expert in solving Avatars' existential crisises.

Korra smiles sheepishly, and her smile is nothing like Aang's.

Katara knows that she started taking care of her because Aang had wanted her to, but she knows she keeps taking care of her because she loves her, and she smiles back.

"Master Katara?"

"Yes?"

"I don't mind doing my healing exercises, if you want."

Katara can't help but raise her eyebrows. Korra shrugs.

"I don't mind not doing them, either."

They both laugh, Korra's face a little flushed.

"It's all right", Katara says. "Do you like watching the sunset?"

v.

The water in the bay is shimmering, and the breeze feels warm against Katara's face. Republic City has always been too warm for her, and she's had to change her boots for slippers and her thick clothes for a blue cotton dress that's soft to the touch. She's sitting by the window in one of the common rooms of Air Temple Island, the orange light of the sunset falling on squares across the floor.

Ikki is the first one to enter the room. First, her head appears from behind the doorway, looking inside incquiringly. Her eyes are big and grey, but they have just a hint of blue in them, and she smiles brightly when she sees her grandmother. What happens next, happens quickly, and Katara bites down on a laugh. Within a second, Ikki has fallen down with an "Ow!" and Meelo has rolled over her, leaving Jinora have a mildly curious glance inside the room. Korra has grabbed both girls by their hemlines and strolled inside looking cheerful.

"It is really hot in here", she says, lying down on her back, in a way that Tenzin would not approve of at all.

"Gran, Gran, Gran", Ikki starts, sitting on Korra's stomach, "Was the meat you had for dinner nice? Dad says we are not to eat it at all, but meat smells sooo nice, and Gran, if you could only eat one kind of food for all of your life, what would you eat? Korra says--"

"Korra says, could you tell us a story?"

Korra is still sprawled on the floor, and obviously comfortable. Her smile is white and it wrinkles around her eyes, pulls at the dimples on her cheeks.

Jinora, who has sat near Korra's head, shifts a bit towards her grandma. She smiles shyly, with her mouth closed, and her fingers squeeze around her knees. Her face is round, like Aang's, and like Kya's when she was a kid.

"Stooooory", says Meelo, rolling on the floor next to his sister. Korra, as she sits up, pushes Ikki to her lap and pulls Meelo on as well.

"Tenzin and Pema are putting Rohan to bed", she says mischievously.

Korra looks grown up since she's come to the City, Katara notes, she looks brighter and happier. She's sitting with the kids in the pool of light on the floor, and the sun shines on their hair, bringing out golden highlights even in her own Water tribe-dark ponytail. Jinora seems curious. Ikki looks like she's trying very hard not to start talking. Meelo is scratching his nose. They're all dressed in oranges and yellows that match with the sky, and their skin is fair, the first family of airbenders in years, and it's her own family, too, and Katara is painfully Water tribe. She is not quite sure what kind of story she should say to those kids who are growing up in a place and an era so different to hers.

"Grandmother?"

Jinora, like Tenzin, is very polite.

"Yes?"

"Could you tell us a story from the South Pole?"

Korra grins over Ikki and Meelo's heads.

"Yes, yes! Tell us a Water tribe story!"

"Oh, yes, yes, Gran, please tell us a story we don't know of! Will it be about you? Will it have penguins?!

Or polarbeardogs like Naga? Korra says polarbeardogs are not calm and nice, she says they are wild and people used to hunt them, too. Have you hunted a polarbeardog, Gran?", Ikki says clapping her hands.
Four sets of eyes are fixed expectantly on her.

A Water-tribe story it is, then.

"Very, very long ago", she starts, "the people of the Southern Water Tribe lived alone. They had their villages and their huts, and they hunted to eat, and once a year the various villages would come together to celebrate. They were capable waterbenders, and thought themselves blessed from the spirits. They did not know of the world beyond the tundra, and they thought themselves the only people to exist. That changed, when the Avatar was reborn within the tribe. Her name was Itigiaq and she was a very good bender early on in her life, and she showed signs of being able to bend not only water, but the other elements as well. Everyone was impressed and thought it was a miracle, and Itigiak grew up with everyone admiring her and thinking her a holy thing. She was a master waterbender, but with no guidance she could not develop her other abilities further. However, she often had strange dreams, that told of green plains and volcanoes and hot lava, and tall trees and the yellow wastes of the desert. She did not know what to make of them, and, afraid to tell the rest of her tribe, she kept silent. As she started to grow up, though, and got taller and heavier and approached her adulthood, the dreams came more often, and more bright and insistent. One night, when she was fifteen, she dreamt of a man with arrows etched on his shaved head and down his arms. The man wore a cloth too light to wear anywhere near the tundra."

"An airbender!", Ikki claps her hands again.

"Exactly, and the Avatar before Itigiaq. He told her who he was, and who she was as well, and that more people existed outside the pole. At first, Itigiaq was incredulous and not willing to believe him. When she woke up, she told no one, but something inside her kept biting at her and she kept rolling her dream in her mind over and over again. What scared her so much was not the idea that she was the reincarnation of the most powerful human being and that she had a duty to the world. What truly made her feel afraid was the idea of the world not being what she knew. She felt fooled, and she thought that her people would feel the same, and turn against her even though she was a mere messenger. But, in the end, she couldn't make herself believe that keeping the truth - if that really was the truth - from the tribe was a good idea, so she gathered them all in the centre of the village and worked up the courage to announce her discovery."

Korra, propped up on her elbows, looks thoughtful. Jinora is resting her head on her hands and her elbows on her knees, and she looks completely enchanted. Ikki's head is tilting to the side in a curious way. Meelo looks somehow completely content.

"When she finished talking, most people were in disbelief, and a lot were almost angry. Itigiaq felt unsure and small, and wanted the ice to crack open beneath her feet and swallow her whole. It did not, and the sages and leaders of the tribe tried to calm the people down and went inside the biggest hut to discuss, taking Itigiaq with them. They told her that as strange as her vision was, they couldn't dismiss it, especially since a few generations ago a scouting party had boarded the ships in order to try and search for a place beyond the tundra and had never come back. They had also noticed that even though they had lived there all their life, and so had their grandparents and great-grandparents, their own legends told that the Water tribe had arrived from somewhere else. So they decided that a searching party should go out in the sea and try to find the land of Itigiaq's dreams. Of course, Itigiaq, who had a lot of handy bending skills, and was also the supposed Avatar, would go with them.

"Itigiaq was more scared than she'd ever been about anything in her life. She was a capable bender and brave in the dangers of the South Pole, but she had no idea what awaited in front of her, out in the sea. She spent a lot of sleepless nights sitting outside, feeling the freezing wind on her face and praying for everything to go well. When the day came, she hugged her parents good-bye and boarded on the best ship the tribe had. For days and days the party was traveling, straight up north, without the slightest hint of land. Itigiaq was desperate - she was sure they would all die from starvation on that very ship, and that it would be all her fault. Until, one day, they heard croaks and woke up to see sea birds above."
"That was because sea birds can only live near land, and never stray much", Jinora adds helpfully, and Ikki nods.

"They only found land the following day, and it was a strange, rocky place, with a few trees and dry grass. When they tied their ship, they all fell to the ground and bent their heads in a grateful prayer to the spirits. They finally ate more than dried meat, and tasted the different fruit carefully. It was not until a few days later that they met people, who were astonished to see them, but friendly and willing to help. At last, Itigiaq slept peacefully that night, and the following day met her tribesmen's smiles with her own.

Of course, their trouble had not ended. The village people gave them food and shelter, but they did not speak the same language and had many difficulties at communicating. And even when they managed to learn some basic words from the Earth Kingdom local dialect and started to move on, they had a lot of adventures, not always pleasant, on their long trip. Many greedy people tried to take advantage of them, while others saw them as savages they should defend themselves from. The trip was long and difficult, but when Itigiaq and her companions reached one of the Air Nomad temples and she saw in the middle of a cobbled courtyard the tall statue of the man in her dream, she finally felt satisfied and safe and bent her head in silent thanks, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Finally, they managed to return to their homeland almost four years later. Itigiaq had left an awkward girl and she returned a bright, strong woman who had almost mastered Earth and Fire bending. Her parents, who had despaired and thought her long dead, embraced her with teary eyes, and the whole tribe was chanting, our girl, our girl, when she strolled across the village to meet the elders' committee. She didn't stay for long; she had grown curious and thirsty to see the rest of the world, and she had to master the rest of the elements, as well.

Years passed, and Itigiaq grew older, with dark hair that reached her waist. She got laugh lines around her mouth, and crow's feet around her eyes, and the veins on her hands grew thicker and more apparent, darker spots staining her skin. She became a nomad, traveling all over the continents on foot, or on various animals, or on passing carts and ships. She loved flying on a sky bison or a glider though, because she loved the air on her face and the sense of freedom."

Korra makes a grimace at that, but Meelo giggles and the sisters share a knowing smile.

"Itigiaq died when she was very old; she never got married, but she was perfectly happy, and all the statues I've seen of her are smiling. She died while visiting an old hermit friend of hers, up on a mountain somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. They say she died with a smile on her face, and I'm inclined to believe it. The girl who once thought of the world as a frozen tundra, died with a view of the world she'd discovered at her feet. I bet she was more than happy."

Katara finishes with a satisfied smile, and Korra is staring at her with a knowing look over the kids' heads. Jinora seems entirely satisfied with the story, and Meelo has a wobbly smile, but Ikki is ready to start with her questions, and she is only stopped by the short cough by the door.

"Dad!", she yelps instead.

Tenzin may look serious on the outside, but Katara is, in fact, his mother, and she's raised him, and knows he's all soft inside, especially in this moment. He gathers Ikki, who runs across the room, in his arms, and smiles at Katara.

"That was lovely", he says.

"It is, isn't it?" Korra grins, with Meelo still on her lap. "When I was a kid I loved to pretend I was Itigiaq on my way to the Earth Kingdom."

Meelo climbs on her shoulders, and she steadies him with an arm as she gets up. Jinora stands up, too, and walks up to Katara, smiling, and takes hold of her hands.

"Thank you, grandma", she bows her sun-bathed head. It's summer, and they're nearing the longest day of the year, so Katara supposes that for them, it's probably almost bed time. Katara kisses the girl's brow.

"Any time", she says sweetly.

Korra, with Meelo on her shoulders, winks at Katara before walking towards Tenzin and leaving Meelo in his arms.

"I'll stay some more", she says, and Tenzin nods, and she gives an experimental grin and hugs him, the kids sandwitched between them but not seeming to care. Jinora grabs for her father's elbow, and turns her head back to smile.

"See you tomorrow, Gran!"

"Seeee youuu Gran! I have a lot of things to ask, it's a pity Dad came so soon, because you see, are there more stories you want to tell us? please, oh please, tell us more stories. Did Itigiaq--"

"Shht, Ikki", Tenzin says, retreating to the door. "I'll be back later, mother."

He coughs again, but his eyes are tender, and he leaves the room with Meelo asleep in his arms and Ikki waving back at Katara. Korra is leaning against the window.

"You know", she says, "this story is very sneaky, actually, I never noticed."

"Sneaky?" Katara asks, raising her eyebrows but smirking. "How so?"

"It's sneaky when you tell it. I don't have to explain."

"Well, then it will be sneaky when you tell it too, later."

Korra laughs, and she bends down to hug her. Her arms are smooth and her muscles prominent, and she looks healthier and more comfortable than Katara has ever seen her.

"I'm really glad you're here", the girl whispers.

"Me too", she says back.

When Korra is gone, and before Tenzin comes, Katara has some time alone again, and she looks across the bay. She doesn't mind; she watches the ferry cross the waters, and if she listens carefully enough, she can even hear (or maybe just imagine) the faint buzz of the city. Aang's statue is tall on its base, and his face looks ageless and wise, but very much unlike him. Katara sighs.

"I might actually just stay here", she says. "It's too hot, but I can get used to it. You know, I've been thinking, and I think I'll stick around for a bit longer. I miss you, too, but there are a lot of things I would like to see here while I can."

Her bones hurt, and she's tired, and sometimes she lies on her bed and feels herself coming apart, but she will keep herself together for some more time. She can definitely do it, and there's still so many things she wants to do in this huge, changing world. Katara watches the last slice of the sun disappear behind the city's buildings, and smiles to herself, satisfied.