The Necklace

The Iceberg

The soft, light landed on Katara's eyes, prompting her to wake up. She stretched and yawned before opening her eyes, excited to wake up next to Aang for the first time in over a week. Disappointment washed over her as she noticed the empty space next to her in their bed. Turning her body to stand up, she frowned at a letter on her night stand addressed to "Katara" in Aang's handwriting. She furiously opened the letter only for her heart sink after reading its contents. "Great, here for barely one day and leaving me again," she said aloud to no one.

Katara shuffled her feet noisily across the bedroom until she was in their kitchen. She quietly made a cup of tea and sat down at the low, wooden table. Pensive as she began to drink from the cup, a curious question popped into her head. "Are you mad that he left or that you can't be out there with him?" She didn't have an answer for that. "More tea," she thought. After two cups of tea, the answer to this nagging question still hadn't been located. Thinking over their time together traveling, she realized the fighting between the two of them began to happen more after she had to stop traveling with him as much.

After getting married, Katara took a position as a healer in Republic City, since the population began to grow immensely after the much needed name change. Katara grimaced at the name "Cranefish Town" before returning to the current thoughts in her mind. Even though she was Water Tribe, she had always felt the need for exploration and travel much like an air nomad. Katara became tired of thinking on this topic that didn't have a solution at the moment. She felt satisfied in knowing why she was feeling angry whenever Aang left. Now all she needed was for him to come back so they could discuss it, if he would ever allow himself to be involved with a confrontation.

The sun had rose to clear away the darkness of the night as Aang rubbed his eyes after his slumber. The airbender had slept next to Appa all night, almost making Aang forget why he had left. He stood up on the snowy ground, remembering that he was now in the South Pole. Aang chided himself for running away like he always does, but he couldn't face the possibility that the love of his life didn't love him anymore. He fed Appa and began to walk into the newly industrial village of the Southern Water Tribe. After finding an area for Appa to stay, Aang began to walk through the different shops before a family approached him.

A child with chubby cheeks ran up to him, much to the chagrin of the little boy's parents. "Hi, Avatar Aang!", the boy said with much excitement as he was at Aang's feet. The boy's personality, big, blue eyes and olive skin reminded him of Katara, causing his face to frown slightly at remembering what brought him here. The boy's parents caught sight of his frown and grew angry with embarrassment over their son. "We're so sorry, Avatar Aang! Our son loves to hear stories about you and your friends, he just became too excited. We'll leave you alone," the boy's mom emphasized with an annoyed look at her son.

Aang smiled and chuckled much to the confusion of the boy's parents. "Please, it's just Aang. And, well, it's no bother at all. I just have a lot on my mind, but you and your son have brought a smile back to my face." Before the parents could talk, the same little boy looked up to Aang and blurted out whilst tugging on Aang's robes, "Where's Master Katara? Isn't she always with you?" Aang smiled weakly at the boy, ignoring the pain in his chest from hearing her name. "Not today, no. It's just me I'm afraid." The boy's dad chimed in, "I'm so sorry, Av...Aang, our son, Katak, his favorite stories of your travels are the ones about Master Katara and Sokka. I'm Iqluk and this is my wife, Quissa. We're heading home, please allow us to prepare you something to eat for your trouble." Aang shook his head, refusing to have them make him food but took up the man's offer to join them in their home.

Inside the house made of ice, the family and Aang sat at a round table in the living room. Quissa prepared tea and handed a cup to Aang, as well as noodles for her son. The topic of Katara came back around, much to Aang's dismay. Katak slurped his noodles and asked, "Is it true Master Katara freed you from an iceberg?" Aang's frown began to turn to a smile at the happy memory that entered his mind. For something that only happened eight years ago, Aang was surprised when he noticed how infrequently he thought of that time. He told the boy, "Yes, I'm sure you've heard the story hundreds of times." The little boy shook his head, "Not really. I just know that she found you and then you began to travel the world, but that's it." Aang began to grin at the prospect that he could tell his side of the story to this family.

"Well, as you probably know, I was trapped in a storm 108 years ago. I was just a kid, but a new airbending master, the youngest in history. But, when I was out there fighting to survive in the storm with Appa, I unknowingly triggered the Avatar State, causing us to be protected in a ball of air. It froze into an iceberg because of the cold climate here. 100 years later, Katara and Sokka were on a fishing trip and thanks to Sokka arguing with her, Katara got mad and cracked the iceberg where I was encapsulated," his smile grew wider, "How fateful that the only waterbender in the southern water tribe found me and freed me, all by accident. When I woke up, I was staring at the most beautiful girl in the world. Since that day, she's saved me too many times to count."

He laughed before quieting himself to resume his story, "She never gave up on me and defended me against Sokka, who at the time thought I was a spy for the Fire Nation." He paused to let the family laugh and continued when the laughing died down. "I didn't know it at the time, but I began flirting with her as soon as I saw her. The first thing I asked her after waking up after 100 years was 'Will you go penguin sledding with me?' She was so confused but eventually I got to go penguin sledding with her. To this day, it remains one of my favorite memories. We were both kids who had to grow up too fast because of the war. But, for those few hours, we got to play and forget about the daunting realities we had to face."

The family sat at the table in comfortable silence. Aang's eyes were shiny with tears as thoughts on the war and what was lost raced through his mind. He was somehow even more appreciative of their time as kids at this very moment. The innocence that was lost so that the world could be saved. He shook his somber thoughts away and asked the family about themselves. Aang beamed when he found out that Katak is a waterbender and is being taught by Pakku at the moment. The family eagerly listened to Aang retelling the time he first met Pakku and the epic battle between Pakku and Katara.

In Aang's story, the little boy remembered a name he had not heard before. "Who's Yue?" the Katak asked. Aang grinned, "She's one of the bravest people I have ever met. She was princess of the Northern Water Tribe with hair white as snow. She helped us defeat the Fire Nation by sacrificing herself and returning to the spirit world as the moon spirit. During that battle, I had spent most of my time in the spirit world. Unfortunately, my body was moved by Zuko but the terrible storm prevented him from capturing me," he winked at the little boy, "Don't worry, Zuko and I are great friends now. Back in the battle, Katara kept watch over my body while I entered the spirit world and even came to find me after Zuko kidnapped me in the blizzard. Another time she saved me and because of that, she helped save the people of the Northern Water Tribe.

As the airbender said goodbye to the family, he promised to return soon and introduce the family to Katara and Sokka on his next visit. Aang decided to make his way to Appa to begin his next stop. He was aware that his previous feelings of sadness were no longer present, but instead were replaced with confusion. "Katara has never lost faith in me before, how could she now? Is that even possible?" he asked himself. He wondered if confiding in someone who knew her well might help him solve this mystery. He brushed and fed Appa before bounding up onto the great sky bison's head. "You ready, buddy?" he asked Appa before they took off into the crisp, sunny sky, setting course for Omashu.