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The night was settling over the Republic City as Appa started his descent to the little island they made their home. Katara briefly wondered whether she should make a quick stop and check on Sokka, but it was late and she wanted to come home.
The house was quiet, the lights out. Katara wondered whether everyone was asleep already. It was definitely bedtime for Tenzin, but Bumi and Kya generally tried to stay as late as possible. What was Aang doing to get them so quiet? And where was Aang himself?
“Appa, where do you think Aang is?”
Appa nimbly moved beyond the house, to the southern tip of the island. There, by the edge of the ocean sat her husband, in his meditating pose. Appa quietly touched the ground, and Katara slid down.
“Thanks,” She petted the sky bison tenderly. “We won’t disturb him if he is meditating.” Appa ambled away, eager for food that waited for him and his favorite spot to rest, while Katara silently walked towards Aang. She raised her hand and made a small playful wave in the ocean to attract his attention. Aang turned around with a large grin, and Katara walked into his embrace.
“How was your trip?” Aang asked after she had settled by him.
“Pretty successful. Found some really old waterbending scrolls and a huge tome on healing theories in the archives.”
“And how was Zuko?”
“The usual. It was nice at the beginning, and then I almost killed him.” It was often like that. They all knew it was ridiculous, and yet continued – Zuko saying something really stupid, she arguing her point with all power of a tsunami wave, their friends being entertained.
“What did he do this time?”
“We were talking about the cruelty of catching waterbenders and making them die slowly in inhuman conditions, and he agreed, and then he said at least they didn’t destroy all the scrolls. And here I lost it. If Mai didn’t show up with tea in that exact moment, I don’t know what would happen. I swear she has a preternatural sense when to come and save her husband.”
“She knows exactly how long it takes you two until you start arguing in earnest.”
“I am beginning to think Zuko does it on purpose. He couldn’t be that stupid.”
“I think you both are enjoying it, to be honest. He is a safe outlet for you be angry.” Aang chuckled and hugged her closer to him. Katara long suspected that her and Zuko’s explosive arguments served as free entertainment for their friends.
“Whatever.” She kissed his cheek lightly. “What did you do to the kids? I can’t believe they are all asleep.”
“I was telling them about Air Nomads’ most venerated gurus… Bumi and Kya were asleep almost immediately. Tenzin tried to stay awake real hard, but without success.”
“Couldn’t you tell them any funny and adventurous stories?”
“I could, of course. But they wouldn’t be asleep then.” Aang kissed her forehead, his beard tickling her. Katara felt obligated to respond to tickling by plopping some water on his head. He laughed, threw away the water, and kissed her properly.
They sat in silence for awhile, holding onto each other tight and watching the ocean, the sky above them with distant stars and small clouds, and the sliver of the Moon. They bended water into playful waves or fountains, Katara starting and Aang answering, their own private language they made up as they went along.
“They love your stories, you know. Even about gurus that were so enlightened that nothing whatsoever happened to them. It’s just the age, I guess. I mean - remember me at Bumi’s age?”
“Oh yes! It was when you ran away with the first boy you found in an iceberg!” Aang smiled with the same wide smile she remembered from their first meeting.
“It was a very special boy.” Katara smiled back.
“One of a kind.” Aang chuckled, but his smile slowly disappeared and the silence grew heavy.
“I didn’t mean it like that...”
“I know, but I did. I think about it more and more, you know… When you found me, and later - it didn’t really sink in, the reality. It was too recent for me, and too impossible. But now – I keep remembering everyone. I see them in my dreams from time to time, sometimes I think – I open my eyes, I fly with Appa to an Air Temple, and here they are, as usual… They feel so real, so I think maybe all of this is a dream.”
“I refuse to believe no one escaped.”
“I thought some might escape, kids maybe? They couldn’t just kill all the kids, right? It just… doesn’t fit in the head, you know? Maybe they went on to hide in the Earth kingdom, it’s huge, unwieldy, easy to hide in… But nobody came out after the war… When those kids started their Air Acolyte clubs, I was ecstatic…”
Katara chuckled, remembering early years after the war, adoring girls, Aang swimming in their adoration and her own jealousy, but he continued.
“I was hoping, a little bit, maybe they – were the new generation of air nomads, grandkids of those to escaped, and when they learned about our culture, they start airbending, but nobody did.”
“maybe they are just nonbenders?”
“It doesn’t work like this Katara. In other nations, sure – Sokka, Suki, Mai, but we were all airbenders, that’s how we were.” He was silent for a moment that felt like forever. “Something is lost, truly lost now. There is just me – and Tenzin.”
“At least you are not the last airbender anymore.”
“No. But Tenzin is. I am sorry that all I can give to him is this horrible burden.”
There was nothing to add. They could have more children, they even talked about it, but even if she gave birth to another couple of airbenders, it wouldn’t make much of a difference. In some twisted way Bumi was lucky to be a nonbender, and although a lot of the knowledge of southern waterbenders was lost, people were here, so Kya would never be alone.
It drove her mad that the was something she couldn’t fix. There was no one to heal, there was no one to fight. People who were responsible for this crime were all dead and beyond retribution. Fire Nation was paying what they could – at one point of an extremely heated argument- almost literally heated – exasperated Zuko just showed them the budget he operated with. Sure, Katara was thinking he could cut more of some expenses, but apparently keeping a country away from civil war had some hidden costs. Anyway, no money would bring back the dead, or to teach people to airbend. She was grateful she was bringing southern waterbending back, by bits and pieces. Old scrolls survived in libraries, random antique bookstores, archives, private collections, and she traveled far and wide to collect, buy, copy or - well – steal back the precious pieces of her heritage. New waterbenders were being born, and she could teach them the art that was all but lost in her childhood.
“I refuse to believe that. I just flat out refuse to believe that there won’t be any more airbenders who are not related to me. Just as I believe that someone escaped the massacre, like you, just – not like you, and they survived and they had children...”
“Katara, it’s ok.” Her husband swooped her and placed her in his lap. For a moment they sat listening to each other heartbeats, in silent comfort. “I’ve made my peace with it. There are things that one can change, and there are things that one cannot. It’s just these memories… they become more and more real...”
“Something will happen some day, believe me. I know it just as I knew that the Avatar would be found.” She took his face in her hands and kissed as if trying to pass her hope onto Aang with it. The kiss went deeper and deeper, and as they broke it out of breathlessness, she said, “You know what – take Tenzin, and go, just two of you. Have an air nomad adventure, talk about all the gurus, pie throwing and ridiculous nun jokes you have. It will be good for you both.”
“What about you? And the kids?”
“I want to stay put for a while. See what is happening in Republic City. Then we can go on vacation all together. Mai invited me and kids to see the mountains in her home town with her and Izumi. If you ask nicely, I’ll take you with me.”
“That would be good.. Something to look forward to.”
“We have a lot to look forward to, and you know it.”
“I guess I do. Every new day is a little gift.”
“Right now I am thinking about this night. What do you think if we head home? I am kind of tired after the road. Of course, Appa did most of the work, but he is asleep already.”
A loud rumbling snore of the sleeping bison confirmed her words. Aang smiled and lit a little fire in his hand to light their way home. They went side by side, holding hands, feeling both too young and too old with the weight of future lighter to bear together.
“You know, I am not too tired for a cup of tea”
“And a cuddle in front of the fire?”
“And a cuddle in front of the fire.”