Forgotten Language

how did it go?

i have had this idea since i watched atla in 2020, special shoutout to ocean for FINALLY getting me to write it!! i just have a Lot of feelings about how war (and as a subset, cultural oppression) impacts individuals and the passing down of language, which i paralleled with waterbending here. it's not a 1:1 comparison, but then again, what is? thank you for giving this story a shot!

(also, the title is taken from the shel silverstein poem of the same name, and i use a modified version of his poem throughout)

~*~

Once I spoke the language of the waters,

Kanna sat curled against her mother's side, watching with cautious fascination as her mother wove a tapestry of glowing blue liquid against her left calf. The water seemed to glitter, even in the low light of their icy home.

"Does it hurt?" she whispered, and Nida smiled, shaking her head.

"No, Kanna." She moved her hands, pulling the water up near her knee. "It's cold, but it doesn't hurt."

Kanna hesitated, then reached out to touch the bright water, giggling at the chill it sent flowing through her fingertips. "I want to do that!"

Her mother hummed, and Kanna frowned, staring up at her with worried eyes.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Nida shook her head. "No, my love. One day, perhaps I will be able to teach you the art of healing. Unfortunately..." She trailed off, and Kanna pouted.

"I don't want to wait. Why can't you teach me now?"

"I would if I could, sweetie. But not everyone can heal like this. Not everyone is born a waterbender."

"That's not fair!" Kanna buried her face into the blue fabric and white furs of her mother's coat, eyes brimming with hot tears. "That's not fair. I want to learn water-healing, too."

"Shh, Kanna. Don't cry," Nida crooned. She waved the glowing water into a wooden basin that sat on her right before she wrapped her arms around her distraught daughter. "Time will tell where your talents lie. Whether you are a bender or not, you are a child of the Northern Water Tribe. No one can steal your connection to the waters."

Slightly mollified by her mother's words, Kanna lifted her head. "So you can't teach me anything about waterbending?"

Nida paused. A smile twitched at the corners of her lips. "Well... There has always been more to bending than sheer ability." She kissed the top of Kanna's head, earning a delighted giggle from her daughter. "Would you like to know the most important rule?"

Kanna sat up, nodding eagerly. "Yes!"

"To speak the language of the waters..." Her mother winked at her. "The first thing you must do is listen."

Once I understood each word the ocean said,

Kanna closed her eyes, the ocean breeze whistling like a flute past her ears as her boat approached the icy lands of the Southern Water Tribe. Her journey from the North Pole had been...

'Treacherous' was an understatement.

Ukaleq had insisted day after day that Kanna was suicidal to take the long trip alone, but Kanna knew she couldn't stay. Not after she'd lost her mother, her father, her brother all within a single year. Not while other members of her beloved tribe were adamant her place was in the healing huts, that her role was to wait for the warriors to return home, that she was supposed to be one of the protected. She could do more. She wanted to do more.