Chapter Text
Katara couldn't stop touching the pendant that hung around her neck.
It was made of bluish-gray marble and was about an inch in diameter, carved with the image of a group of snowflakes. It was a bit heavy, but that wasn't the part Katara noticed. She had, after all, worn a similar necklace from her grandmother for most of her life. (That necklace was no longer around her neck, but instead double-wrapped around her left wrist.)
What kept reminding Katara of the new pendant around her neck was people's eyes--her Gran-Gran's gaze returning to just below her chin, Hakoda looking at her and smiling, Sokka proclaiming "Oogies" every time he turned to face her, and Toph, who had made the same joke at least three times about how beautiful she thought the necklace was.
Katara, Aang, Kanna, Hakoda, Sokka, Suki, and Toph, who had taken a vacation from the metalbending academy for the occasion, were squeezed around the stone table that normally only seated Kanna and Hakoda. Both Katara and Aang were smiling from ear to ear as their family and friends went around the table toasting the newly engaged couple.
"When did you carve the necklace?" Hakoda asked gently. Things between him and Aang had been slightly awkward for the last few hours, since the proposal had been a complete surprise to Katara's father--Aang was all too familiar with Katara's contempt for the tradition of asking one's father for permission to marry. Hakoda, thankfully, appeared to be understanding.
"About a month ago," Aang answered.
"I carved his about six months ago," Katara offered with a guilty smile. Her fiance was wearing a new piece of jewelry, too--a smaller stone medallion around his wrist, which depicted a simple cluster of clouds. She was happy at the coincidence that they had both intentionally chosen symbols that were a fusion of water and air. "I thought he was about to propose back then," she added, glancing pointedly at Aang.
"Well, I would have if I'd known you were ready," Aang countered gently. If they were on their own, this would have escalated into a full-scale mock argument--as both Katara and Aang loved to argue in jest--but they didn't want to give the wrong impression to their guests, who were here to celebrate their engagement of approximately twelve hours.
"Okay, okay, we're all happy for them," Sokka interrupted the conversation. "Now can we please start on dessert?"
Toph had brought to the party a huge basket full of sweetened mochi. Sokka had been eyeing it all night, only distracted by the platter of seal-fish that had been the highlight of the meal (Aang was stuck with steamed tofu).
Katara rolled her eyes and reached to the table behind her to retrieve the basket.
After the small engagement party, Hakoda left with Toph and Aang to walk them through the snowy night to the inn where they were both staying. He had insisted Katara stay with him and Kanna, even though she and Aang lived together in the new air temple outside of Cranefish Town. They were visiting Katara's family when Aang proposed. Katara acquiesced without a fight, glad that Hakoda hadn't been upset that Aang didn't ask him for permission.
---
Aang and Toph sat together for a few hours in the inn's lounge room before going to their respective rooms. There was a lot to catch up on. Toph had just received more funding for her metalbending academy and had come up with a better system for screening for the talent. Aang had recently established a new environmental protection program to limit the damage caused by the factory in Cranefish Town. The two friends hadn't seen each other in almost a year.
Toph propped her bare feet up in front of the fireplace. She had tried wearing boots at first while in the Southern Water tribe, but eventually found that she would rather have freezing feet than keep bumping into things that she couldn't see. "Ahhh, that's more like it," she sighed loudly. Aang winced. He wasn't sure if Katara knew how to heal frostbite.
Toph leaned closer to Aang conspiratorially. "So, you always planned to propose this morning or did a certain little something give you a time crunch?"
Aang's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?"
Toph shrugged. "You know..."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know...Sugar Queen..."
"We are engaged, yes."
"Oh, come on Twinkle Toes, you forget I can feel everything with my feet. I know Katara's pregnant, I can feel the baby's heartbeat."
Aang turned to Toph, shocked. "Katara's what?" Toph bit her lip, smiling.
"Whoops! Sorry to ruin the surprise! Do you think Katara knows?"
Aang pondered the question for a moment, still stunned. "I don't think so. She would have told me this morning."
"Yeah, Sugar Queen's not one to keep secrets from her true love," Toph mocked playfully. "Well, that's exciting! If the baby's an earthbender, you'd better send it to my school,"
Aang's broad smile was punctuated by an expression of confusion. "I know I'm the Avatar, but I don't think that's possible, Toph."
"Oh, right. Well, maybe an airbender. That's the second-best element."
"Hey!"
The pair continued talking and laughing by the inn's fire. Aang felt a note of relief when he saw Toph's feet returning to a normal color. But candidly, now that he was engaged to Katara, now that he had this wonderful new secret, nothing could put a damper on his joy.
Eventually, Toph got too tired to keep talking. "I think I'm gonna head up to my room. Night, Twinkle Toes. Congrats!" She gave him a punch on the arm, laughing when he yelped loudly.
Aang sat in the lounge for a little while longer before heading up to his room. If it was going to be difficult for him to sleep after just getting engaged, it was impossible now. He'd wake up Katara first thing in the morning, he decided. He hadn't been Toph's most talented student in terms of sensing vibrations in the earth, but maybe he would be able to feel the heartbeat, too.
Aang eventually climbed the inn's stairs and found his room. He laid in the small, creaky bed and stared up at the ceiling. But instead of seeing darkness, he saw the future.
---
It was well into the night when Sokka and Suki, the last remaining guests, gave their lasts hugs and kisses to Katara and left to go to the house they shared on the other side of town. Katara joined her Gran-Gran to help clean up from the celebratory dinner.
"Can you melt this water?" Kanna asked. "It's a getting a little frozen around the edges."
With a fluid motion of Katara's hand, the tub full of dish-washing water was liquid again. "Thanks, dear."
"You're welcome."
The pair knelt in silence in front of the tub for a few minutes. The only sound was the sloshing of soapy water as Kanna and Katara washed up after their guests. Hakoda was in his bedroom, mending a fishing net that had been ripped open by a dolphin-piranha.
Kanna spoke suddenly. "I'm so proud of you, Katara." Katara smiled and wiped her wet hands on her legs so that she could hug her Gran-Gran.
"Thank you. I love you, Gran-Gran. I missed you!" It had been five months since Katara and Aang had last visited the Southern Water Tribe. Appa had been too sick to carry them sooner; it took Aang a while to realize that he had built Appa's shelter too close to a cherry-birch tree, which gave sky bison incapacitating allergies.
"Will you still be able to visit after you and Aang are married?" Kanna asked. She would never have asked in front of the sensitive airbender, but that worry was at the front of her mind.
"Of course!" Katara answered. "It might only be every three months, though. I still only teach three days a week at the bending academy in Cranefish Town, but I'm a lot busier at the healing clinic at the air temple now that more people are moving there."
"That's just fine, Katara. But I'm holding you to that!" Kanna said seriously.
"And I mean it, Gran-Gran. I love visiting, and I love the Southern Water Tribe. But it's important to me to teach the Southern Water Tribe style of bending that I learned from Hama to as many people as I can, and it's important to Aang to rebuild the airbender culture. It just wouldn't work here." Katara got to her feet, having finished the dishes. "Do we still keep ginger in the cupboard? I'm a little nauseous, I'm going to make some tea."
"Yes, at the bottom left. Go easier on the sake next time."
Katara laughed. "I don't like how sake tastes. I think I just overate."
Kanna finished drying off the last plate and Katara helped her up. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, dear."
"Love you, Gran-Gran."
And then Katara was alone for the first time that day, sipping her tea at the table. She was almost glad to be apart from Aang just for this one night. She hadn't been alone for a long time.
Katara gulped down the bitter dregs of her ginger tea, got up, and headed to the door. There was a bedroll for her spread out on the floor of the house's main room, but she wasn't very tired.
The Southern Water Tribe had grown into a respectably-sized city, but as it grew, her Gran-Gran and her father had moved into a small house just outside of it. They preferred the quiet and isolation from when it was a much smaller village. Katara understood, and she appreciated the fact that she was alone now as she stepped outside into the snow, breathing in the icy air and watching her breath rise by the light of the full moon. She could see the aurora australis tonight: it wasn't stunningly bright, but it was there, shifting from green to blue to violet. Katara felt suddenly warm inside. Even the night sky was celebrating her and Aang.
A light radiating from behind a nearby boulder caught Katara's attention. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. Kanna and Hakoda didn't have any neighbors for about a half-mile, so what was this? She walked closer to investigate, drawing water from the snow below and holding it at the ready.
When she saw what it was, Katara gasped with delight. It was a polar leopard, albeit one that was glowing with a strange bluish-white light. Katara had some clothes made from polar leopard fur, but those had been passed down to her by her Gran-Gran's mother. They were rare now; Katara hadn't seen one since she was little.
"Hey, buddy," Katara crooned, cautiously walking closer to the polar leopard. It purred happily. She let her ball of water settle back on the ground and reached out a hand to touch it on the head.
That was a mistake.
The polar leopard went berserk as soon as Katara's fingers came into contact with its glowing fur. Katara let out a shriek, but it was stifled in the back of her throat as the polar leopard started running rapidly forward, into the empty tundra. It was almost as if her hand was glued to its mottled white pelt; Katara tried to pull it away, but the polar leopard continued to drag her along with it.
Katara managed to swing her legs up over the animal's back so as to stop hitting her legs on rocks. "Help!" she shouted, although she was far away from the house now. She yanked her hand away from the glowing polar leopard again, but to no avail. Katara took water from the air and tried to slice between her fingers and its fur. Nothing. She tried slapping the creature's neck with her other hand. Nothing. "Help!" she yelled again.
The polar leopard ran with Katara for a long time, and she unsuccessfully struggled to get off the creature's back the entire time. Eventually, they arrived at a cave that ran underground. Katara was at a full-blown panic by now, and she could feel vomit rising at the back of her throat. "Let--me--off!" she screamed, kicking at the polar leopard one last time. This time, though, she slid off of the leopard's slippery pelt and landed in a heap at the floor of the cave.
"Good job," said a familiar female voice. Katara sat quickly back up.
"Azula!" she exclaimed. The fugitive Fire Nation princess hadn't been seen since she escaped arrest in the Fire Nation Capital a year and a half ago.
"Katara!" Azula said, smiling. "Good to see you."
Katara moved to collect water from the air, but Azula shook her head. "Kenchi chi-blocked you on the way here, didn't you notice? Oh, Kenchi is the polar leopard. Spirit polar leopard. He showed me this place! Kenchi, Katara. Katara, Kenchi."
"What do you want?" Katara growled.
"Oh, you don't really need to know that," Azula said casually, shrugging. "Kenchi, can you take her through the portal?" The polar leopard purred, and Katara's eyes widened in fear. The polar leopard started dragging her again, but this time to a shimmering wall of light at the side of the cave.
"Sorry, Katara."
Katara disappeared through the wall of light.
"Thank you, Kenchi," Azula crooned, scratching the side of the polar leopard's head. "I'll inform the Avatar of her whereabouts, and once he's through, you know how to close the portal, yes?"
The polar leopard meowed in reponse.
"Wonderful, Kenchi." Azula's stoic face was split by a smile. "We won't have a common enemy for much longer."
---
Katara was brought slowly into consciousness by the slow appearance of daylight on the street. She groaned at the light, wanting to sleep for longer. Eventually she opened her eyes, annoyed by something under her that was poking at her back.
And suddenly the events of last night came rushing back to her, along with all the fear. Katara's head whipped wildly back and forth, taking in her surroundings. She was sitting at the side of what looked to be a strange street, which was filled with machines instead of with carts and ostrich-horses.
She was in a city; she knew that for sure. But it wasn't any sort of city that she had ever seen before. The buildings seemed to stretch almost to the sky; the sidewalks were filled were filled with more people than Katara had seen in her life. She took a breath, trying to remain calm.
Where am I?