Work Text:
For most of the latent phase, Katara walked around, stopping only to breathe through the contractions.
She had decided that her first child should be born at the Southern Water Tribe and was now happy to be in this peaceful environment.
The healing room was one of the largest chambers in the Southern Water Tribe's Capital. Remarkably few pieces of furniture had been placed in the room, just a bed and two chairs. The center of the chamber had deliberately been left open. A wide, low platform with a wooden rail behind it stood toward the back wall, piled high with clean blankets, waterproof mats, folded towels, and furs. A wooden rail ran along its rear edge, supported by thick posts and positioned at a height that let her grip it while standing. The platform was large enough for someone to kneel upon, sit cross-legged, squat, or lie down without ever feeling confined.
She had tried every position she could think of before she decided she needed to move around.
No one told her to lie down. That was one of the things Katara appreciated most about the people in the room and the Southern Water Tribe's approach to childbirth in general. The healers had arranged everything so that she could move as much as she needed. Water and clean cloths were within easy reach at all times. Bowls of herbs and medicines occupied the shelves along the walls, each one carefully labelled and arranged so she could find what she needed immediately.
No harsh lights, no cold metal instruments dominating the room, nothing that made it feel like a place where something medical would happen, rather than something magical.
Another contraction was beginning.
Her fingers closed around the wooden rail. She breathed deeply and groaned a little in pain.
She stopped moving when she felt the pain build up slowly, like a belt wrapping tighter and tighter around her big big round abdomen, before it turned into a sharp, hot sensation.
She knew it would be painful and she knew every wave of pain just got her closer to the big finale she had been waiting for.
Then the contraction passed. Katara exhaled shakily. Tiny beads of sweat glistened on her forehead.
"Do you need anything?" Aang asked. Katara shook her head. "Not yet." He was visibly excited. She was happy about it, but the more painful the contractions became, the more he got on her nerves. “I’m fine.”
One of the older Water Tribe women smiled knowingly. “You've been saying that for six hours.” “Yeah, because I AM fine.”
She felt fine indeed, she was just eager to finally give birth. She had already known that labour usually occurred between 34 and 38 weeks after conception. Sometimes later, sometimes earlier.
She had felt relieved when she and the baby had reached 34 weeks so they didn’t require special attention.
By the time 38 weeks had passed her anticipation had turned into impatience. It annoyed her incredibly that she was restricted in her movements because her big, heavy belly always seemed to be in the way.
She loosened the belt around her soft tunic a little bit. It was all she wore. She would've loved to give birth naked, since she hated the feeling of something covering her belly. Still, when the time actually came, she appreciated being offered the soft traditional tunic reserved for labour. It was a very soft long, loose, sleeveless tunic with a very wide neckline, reaching to Katara's knees.
It didn't cling to her body and gave her some privacy.
She walked around again, one hand resting on the back of her hip, the other resting on her belly.
Another contraction started and she stopped dead. She clung to the rail again, this time so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her shoulders tightened and she moaned in pain again. She closed her eyes and breathed through her nose. Aang stood a few feet away, watching her with an expression that was equal parts admiration and terror.
The opening phase had clearly begun.
The contractions were becoming increasingly painful and were occurring at shorter intervals.
Katara waited and breathed until the contraction passed.
Then she immediately started walking again.
Aang followed. “Do you need anything?” “No.” “Water?” “No.” “Do you want me to…”
“No.” A few seconds passed. “Actually…walk with me.”
Katara walked slowly around the room, one hand resting against her stomach again and the other around Aang's forearm.
The room was warm and crowded with women from the Southern Water Tribe, two experienced healers and several younger women helping with hot water, towels, and whatever else the healers requested.
The atmosphere remained calm at all times, and so did Katara. She knew what her body was doing, she had helped deliver many babies before. She knew exactly what came next and when to conserve energy. But knowing exactly what was happening did not make it hurt less and certainly did not give her more energy.
Another contraction seized her. She grabbed Aang's forearm tightly. “Don't move.”
She leaned into him. The healer watched her carefully. “Good. Let it come.”
Katara breathed through clenched teeth. Aang rubbed slow circles between her shoulder blades. “You're doing amazing, sweetie.” “Don't.”, she hissed between her teeth.
The contraction intensified. Her grip tightened. “I hate you,” she managed to say.
Aang blinked. “Okay.”
The contraction ended and Katara opened her eyes and looked at him. “I'm sorry, I just hate you right now.” He said nothing, just smiled softly, kissed her forehead, and she started walking again.
The next contraction rolled in like a wave and literally swept her off her feet.
Eventually, Katara couldn't walk through them anymore. She leaned over the bed in the room, breathing hard. Her breathing got unsteady and she needed to scream out loud for the first time. She still felt strong but the pain was intense.
When the contraction had passed she felt the desperate need to move again. She walked across the room, but Aang had to support her now.
Another contraction came.
Katara's whole body tensed. She buried her face against Aang's shoulder. “Breathe,” he whispered. “I am breathing,” she screamed at him, “Don't tell me what to do.” Aang nodded solemnly.
Katara's eyes widened with the next contraction, she slumped forwards and Aang caught her.
She knew the contraction was strong and let her body work. She felt her stomach tense.
Her breathing became low and rhythmic and Aang held her around the shoulders.
She clung to him, for a woman who had spent her entire life being the one who held everyone else together, there was something strangely vulnerable about the way she leaned against him now.
But there was nothing weak about it. She was doing exactly what she needed to do. When the contraction passed, Katara sagged against him.
“I'm so tired.”, she complained. “You're doing incredibly well.”
Katara closed her eyes.
She knew it was time and let a healer check her again, they just nodded at her. "You are almost there," she told her.
Katara looked at Aang who looked terrified.
She laughed breathlessly. “You look worse than I feel.”
It took two more painful, long contractions that seized her whole body and left her weak and sweaty until the contractions were accompanied by the urge to press.
Katara didn't want to lie down for the expulsive stage.
She wanted to be upright, feel in control, and feel the gravity. Her arms were wrapped around Aang's arms while he held her upright. One of the women in the room put pressure on Katara's lower back to ease the pain the slightest bit.
The next contraction came. Katara cried out. “Now push,” the oldest healer commanded her in a soft tone. Katara did as it felt natural to her. Aang held her firmly. The women spoke calmly around them.
Katara breathed. A wave of pain struck her and she pushed again. Her face twisted with pain, she groaned and Katara groaned and dug her nails into his arms.
“I can see the head.” The healer announced to her. Katara gasped. She knew the worst was yet to come. "I can do this", she murmured to herself, "I can do this. I’ve parted the sea and I have risen above myself… I can do this… I can do this." Her whole body shook.
She felt as if she were in a trance as the next contractions washed over her, she pushed instinctively, and the words of the healers and the other women sounded muffled, like background noise.
She pushed hard and could barely bear the pressure she felt.
Then it felt as though she were on fire, and suddenly a huge wave of relief and release washed over her, immediately followed by a loud cry.
Not hers, but the unmistakable cry of a newborn.
Everyone went silent. Katara froze. Aang's breath caught. The baby cried again.
Katara stared ahead, completely stunned. Her voice broke, she started to cry and watched the healer hold the tiny baby she had just brought into the world.
She looked at Aang, who stared at the baby too. He then looked at her and cried too, "You did that, Katara, you're Amazing." "My baby," she whispered, "Our baby."
All the exhaustion, the pain, and frustration were suddenly gone. There was only joy.
They helped Katara onto the bed. “Come here,” she whispered. She sank, exhausted. A healer wiped her forehead with a cloth and opened her tunic so that her chest was exposed for the baby to be placed against it.
A little boy. Katara stared down at him.
He was tiny and warm and oh so perfect. “Hello,” she whispered. She cried, feeling like she held her heart outside her body. She felt nothing but love.
The baby's tiny face scrunched. Aang sat beside her. He brushed his fingers gently over the baby's tiny hand.
The baby smacked his little lips and rooted instinctively against her. "He's hungry already."
Katara shifted him closer. The healer helped her settle him comfortably.
Then he latched. Katara exhaled. A deep, tired breath.
Aang looked at her. She looked down at their son.
Her eyelids were heavy now. Every muscle in her body felt exhausted. But her arms tightened protectively around him.
Aang kissed her forehead. "What shall we name him?"
Katara looked down at the tiny boy sleeping against her chest. For several seconds, neither of them said anything. “I don't know,” Katara whispered.
Katara looked down at their son again. His tiny fingers flexed against her skin.
Aang also looked at their son for a long moment. Then something in his expression changed.
“Bumi.” Katara looked at him. “Bumi?” Aang nodded slowly.
“Yeah.” She looked back down at their son, then at Aang again. “Like King Bumi?”
The eccentric king who had been his friend as a child, who had somehow remained completely himself through a century of change and helped end the war at the end.
She remembered how the baby had constantly pestered her with all sorts of kicks and dances in her belly. Keeping her up at night. The constant hiccups from swallowing too much amniotic fluid and him taking his time to be born.
Katara smiled faintly. “You'd name our son after him?” She looked down at the baby again. "Bumi." She said it silently once. The name settled strangely easily into the room.
Their son stirred against her chest, his little face scrunching before he relaxed again.
Katara smiled. “I like it. I think it could fit his little personality."
“Hello, Bumi.” Aang leaned closer, his hand resting gently over Katara's. “Welcome to the world, Bumi.”
She settled back against the pillows, Bumi warm and sleepy in her arms.
For the first time since the contractions had begun, Katara let herself completely relax.
Aang stayed beside her. And Katara, exhausted beyond words, looked down at her son and thought that she had never seen anything so beautiful in her life.