Heimat | Aang

PART TWO

"Lya, be careful or you will fall!"

The little girl didn't listen and kept on giggling away as she ran away, jumping over small hills of ice, swerving around men heading to the ocean to hunt fish for the community, her bright blue eyes glued in front of her as she focused on running away from her mother. This was a game to her, her mother would soon come and catch her, take her back home without scolding her – she didn't have the heart to punish her anyway. The girl kept on running, her two dark pigtails bouncing with every little jump she did, until the inevitable happened.

She stepped on ice and at once, she let out a high-pitched scream as she lost her balance and started falling. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the impact. Yet it never came. Instead, she felt something soft around her waist, and when she blinked her eyes open, it was to the face of a woman not too far away.

She was rather young, with eyes an unusual shade of blue the little girl had never seen in her life before, her lips set into a small smile. She had seen her before, although she didn't usually smile.

"You should be more careful, sweetheart," the woman spoke, her voice deep and soothing and instantly putting her at ease. Slowly she drew back, helped stabilise her, just as the girl's mother appeared. She instantly rushed to their side.

"Oh Lya – Tapeesa, thank you so much."

"It was no problem," Tapeesa assured her softly as she took a step back, watched the mother and daughter moving away, back to their house. Slowly, she turned her eyes away, a brow raising as she took notice of Katara watching her not too far away. "What is it?"

"Nothing at all," Katara answered with a grin as she walked ahead. The two women walked side by side through the rest of the people living with them in the South Pole, their population having increased dramatically in the time after the war. Both of them were dressed in identical blue garments, although Tapeesa's bordered on grey. Their hair was mostly let loose to reach their back—Tapeesa's intricate buns existed no more these days—and from behind, one would have trouble distinguishing Katara from Tapeesa. The two women had spent so much time together they had even started picking up on the other's mannerisms, although some things remained the same. Tapeesa couldn't have loosened her stance even if she tried.

They stepped in the house in the middle of the small town, the place where everyone knew the leaders of the Southern Water Tribe lived in. This was Katara's home, with Tapeesa's located right next to her own, although by the amount of time the two of them spent in the other's space, one would think they were sharing both houses. If asked, they would both deny that fact.

If today had been any other day, Tapeesa and Katara wouldn't have been home so early. After all, it was barely noon then, and in the two years Tapeesa had moved to the South Pole to live there permanently, it had been decided the two of them would spend most of the morning on a canoe, fishing in tandem. But their routine had been disrupted rather early on when a messenger hawk had cirled over them twice before it had thrown a letter at Katara's lap. Katara had taken one look at it, noticed it had been sent by Aang, and decided they would read it on land and that their fishing attempt would be coming to an end early. Now the letter was in Katara's grasp, secure, and Tapeesa, despite how well she was hiding it, was eager to know what it was about.

Katara sat down at a chair around the table and Tapeesa wordlessly sat down next to her. Katara only needed to take one look at her companion's face to open the letter and start reading. Yet she stopped the moment she realised it wasn't directed just to her.

"This is for both of us."

At once, Tapeesa scooted forward, attempting to read the letter for herself, but Katara was so absorved in her reading she didn't notice. Her grip on it didn't get any more loose as she read and Tapeesa was forced to wait until she finished to read what Aang had written.

She had received letters from him in the past, most of them letting her know about his negotiations when it came to the colonies, and almost a year ago, he had let her know King Kuei had accepted for part of his land to be used for a city to be built, where people from all nations and tribes would be welcome. The place would be called Republic City, after a sudden epiphany Zuko had had, and as far as Tapeesa knew, they were in the process of building it. That was all she knew about Aang and what he was doing lately, though. The things he knew about her weren't much either, just what she was up to in the Southern Water Tribe. Katara's sigh from beside her was enough to bring her to look her way once more.

"What is it?"

"You know how he has been trying to make Republic City a proper place for people to live in, don't you?"

"I know," she agreed, a small frown on her lips as she noticed Katara's hesitation. "What about it?"

"He wants help," she sighed, "he is asking if we could travel to Republic City and help him realise his goal. If not both of us, then one of us."

"That is all?" she raised a brow at her. "You make it sound dreadful, Katara."

"I know it isn't but I can't help but think we can't leave the South Pole," she admitted with yet another sigh, "the place here still needs so much work, we aren't the way gran-gran said we had been in the past, there are still so many things we need to accomplish."

"It is fortunate Aang didn't ask both of us to come without giving us a chance to refuse then," she told her with a small smile. "You can stay here, ensure the town is alright while I head to Republic City to help."

"But-"

"You can take care of this place on your own, you don't need me around," she assured her without letting her protest.

"I can't let you leave on your own, though, what if-"

"Katara, just because I've been staying here for the past two years it doesn't mean I have forgotten my past experience with the sea," she couldn't help but chuckle as Katara's shoulders shagged in defeat. "You need not worry."

Katara glanced at the letter in her hand before she looked over at Tapeesa once more. "Are you sure?"

"Of course." She patted her hand in an effort to comfort her. "You know I cannot seem to stay in one place for long anyway."

"I do know for sure," she couldn't help but laugh, "you have talked about your travels so many times I feel I've been there myself and I have lost count of all the times you have said how easy it would be to take our canoe and row away while fishing."

"I seem to be a wanderer," Tapeesa smiled at her softly. "The people here have you, they don't need me. Aang though..."

She trailed off and Katara had no choice but to nod in agreement, although she still stood up and pulled her in for a hug that lasted more than usual. Tapeesa held her loosely in return, let her chin rest on top of her head as Katara spoke against her shirt.

"I'm going to miss you."

She hummed in response, "I am going nowhere."

Katara didn't say a word.

A/N
Hi everyone! Thank you for reading this far, I hope you have enjoyed the story! From here on, the second part of the fic starts, set two years after the first part of the story. Updates will continue as normal, every Thursday, a week apart. The second part of the story is going to be slightly different than the first in the sense that as time has passed, Aang and Tapeesa have changed somewhat. I was really happy to write this and I hope you'll love reading it.
Happy reading!
Love, Olga