#Like Toph would NEVER allow for her babies to be neglected
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do you have any headcanons for the dunebabies (toph and aang's kids)?
Hello Anon!
Thank you so much for sending an ask - as you can tell I absolutely love talking about Taang and everything related to them. I especially love talking about the dunebabies and how they'd handle parenting!
Ok, as I previously stated in a past post, I really think Toph and Aang would have a very big family - about five to six kids. It comes in part because of Aang's burden of repopulating the Air Temples and keeping his culture alive. But I just genuinely believe that Toph and Aang are such a good team and couple that they take the challenge of raising a large family, test their communication, relationship and love.
They have 3 girls (one earthbender, two airbenders) and 3 boys (one earthbenders and two airbenders);
Their first-born son, at the ripe age of two, sneezes twelve feet into the air - scaring his mother as she momentarily lost "sight" of her boy; his father, on the other hand, cried with thrill with the notion he was no longer the last living proof of the Air Nomads;
Their first three children are all airbenders. Toph loves them more than she'll ever be able to put into words, but a part of her does fear that her earthbending genetics would not pass onto her children. Thankfully, their fourth child, a beautiful girl, at one, whilst throwing a temper tantrum, cracked their living room wall.
All their children are menaces - they either adopted their mother's humor and confidence, or inherited their father's mischievous and playful personality. They're kind and respectful children, but, just like their parents when they were young, they love having fun and goofing off;
Toph loves parenthood, adores being a mother. It's something she had once believed ill-suited her and she'd worried she lacked the nurturing, soft, gentle touch that came naturally to Katara and Suki. Despite everyone's concerns, Toph is an amazing mom. Laidback and carefree but strict when need be; she gives her children the freedom her own parents had denied her but always keeping a close, protective "eye" to guarantee their safety; she plays with the kids, tells them bedside stories of her adventures with Aang, suffocates them with tender love and care (love and care exclusively reserved for her family). Aang never once doubted her.
Aang would take all his kids to the Air Temples - earthbenders and airbenders alike - he took great pride in teaching them his culture, his values and morals, his history. He'd promised Toph he wouldn't force the Air Nomad lifestyle on his kin, unless they showed interest in pursuing it; additionally, Toph had made it clear that if he ever showed any sigh of favoritism for his airbending children, she'd terminate the Avatar Cycle with him - it was a threat he had taken seriously (though Aang would never neglect his two little earthbenders, he loved all their kids equally);
The kids adore teasing and pranking Toph because of her blindness - especially her airbending boys. They had found great joy in airbending their way out of her sight to escape punishment - so much so, that she had crafted little metal bracelets for all her children so she could keep tabs on their whereabouts (and so they wouldn't surprise her into an early grave);
The dunebabies love their uncles and aunts - and when accompanied by the steambabies and bladebabies... chaos and mayhem is certain. It doesn't help that the two youngest members of the Gaang enjoy causing their friends just as much stress as their children - many a times, Aang and Toph would join all the children in terrorizing the Fire Palace Staff or pissing their parents off;
Instead of having a permanent home - they have little homes in every nation due to Aang's Avatar duties. However, once the children grow old enough to go to school, cultivate friendships and need that stability - Aang and Toph agree that a forever home was long overdue. They eventually settle to reside within a calm town just on the outskirts of Republic City;
Toph eventually reforms the old Dai Li into Republic City's law enforcers. Balancing motherhood with her professional life was no easy feat, however, she and Aang had always worked in perfect harmony. So, when she needed to be present at work to teach metalbending, Aang would be at home caring for the kids; When Aang needed to leave for Peace Summits, Political Events and other Avatar duties, Toph would step in. They were always a team and because of that their kids never once had to be alone or without a parental figure.
Despite the odds, Aang and Toph raise their children beautifully and their a happy family, imperfect yet wonderful.
#dunebabies#aang x toph#taang#toph x aang#atla aang#toph beifong#adult taang#taang headcanons#taang as parents#they would be such great parents#they balance each other out so well and together I think they'd avoid becoming what they become in TLOK#I'm still pissed off with Toph and Aang's characterization in TLOK can you tell?#Like Toph would NEVER allow for her babies to be neglected#SHE KNEW HOW THAT FELT AND YOU'RE TELLING ME SHE BECAME A NEGLECTFUL MOM??? NAH BRO
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Did lin have any endearing nicknames for her sister when she was in toph's womb/newly born? Or was it just "the baby"
Did toph have any nicknames?
I hope i'm not bothering you with mama!toph asks, im just in my mama!toph feels. srry if they're a bit repetitive
Hi Anon, thank you for the ask, and your patience! I've seriously neglected my ask box as of late, and I'm so sorry about that. But don't worry! I love these Mama Toph asks, and they're never repetitive! It's always Toph Beifong Loving Hours, and sometimes an idea just takes hold and you can't stop thinking about it lol.
This is a great question though, because I don't think I've ever considered what Lin would call the baby while Toph is pregnant. I'd imagine that she mostly just says stuff like "Mama what's the baby doing right now?" "Is the baby sleeping?" "When is the baby coming, Mama?" so that would be my first guess.
If Toph tells Lin that's she's gonna have a little sister, I can see Lin saying that as opposed to just baby. Sister, sissy, or little sister, that sort of stuff. Nothing too specific, but it's still really sweet when Lin runs up to Toph and gives her a hug and then she goes "I need to give sissy a hug too!" That for sure makes Toph's heart melt hehe.
I usually HC that Toph calls the baby "Little Badgermole" or "Badge" or maybe even "Baby Beifong" depending on who she's talking to, but I'm not sure she would make a specific nickname for the baby before she's born, probably not to have an established nickname if it doesn't fit the baby's personality. Maybe once in a while the baby kicks her and it's a strong kick and she calls the kid a martial artist or something because "what's with the kicking match, kid? My kidney did nothing to you!"
I think it would be super adorable if at night, Lin just lays next to her mom and starts coming up with crazy names for the baby so that the nickname is fun. She combines a lot of names together or sees household objects and thinks that it would be a good name for a baby. Toph tries to hold in her laughs, but some of the names are just so ridiculous she can't help but chuckle.
Lin is perhaps a little disappointed to find out that her sister's name is Suyin, but she allows it only because Su is a pretty cute baby. It all evens out hehe.
Okay! I think that answers the question. Thanks again for the ask, Anon, and I'll be sure to not neglect my asks like this again pls. I don't have many in my inbox anymore, so it's just me being a bit of a bum and I promise to be less of a bum moving forward LOL.
Anyway, if you are still in your Mama Toph feels, please stop by and I'm happy to chat! Until then, I hope you have a nice day!
......
Send me asks about ATLA, or anything, really! :D
#toph#toph beifong#lin#lin beifong#suyin beifong#atla#lok#headcanons#toph beifong loving hours#my asks#thanks for the ask!#anon#mama toph asks are just amazing#because she was an awesome mama i take no criticism LOL#at least in my universe she was an awesome mama lmao
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It’s come to my attention that a good majority of people on this website have a really poor understanding of the conflict between Toph and Katara in “The Chase.” As somebody who loves both characters and their friendship, this irritates me. Without further ado, let’s unpack that in what is in theory supposed to be a meta but turned out more like a rant.
“Katara was hostile towards Toph because the fact that she’s a gender non-conforming girl made Katara uncomfortable because Katara is obsessed with gender roles.”
Alright, so right off the bat this is just... completely idiotic and clearly fuelled by an agenda (and likely also a lot of projection). First of all, how is Katara of “I don’t want to heal, I want to fight!” fame “obsessed with gender roles?” There’s an entire episode in Book One dedicated to Katara refusing to conform to societal norms for women in the Northern Water Tribe! Katara routinely calls Sokka out on his misogynistic bullshit! (Mind you I adore Sokka but he could be a little twerp at times and Katara was 100% right to challenge him on it) Katara is the feminist icon of ATLA! The fact that people act like Katara is some sort of conservative tradwife who loves gender roles instead of the outspoken feminist and political activist she is makes me incredibly angry.
Second of all, Katara was extremely kind and welcoming towards Toph at first. She gently encouraged her to join in with the group as they all set up camp together as opposed to setting up her own private camp. It’s only when Toph refuses to comply with her that Katara begins to get irritated. Mind you, Toph has her reasons for this, something I’ll get to in a minute, but from Katara’s perspective (key word here is perspective) she’s just being an annoying little stubborn, selfish, lazy, anti-social, entitled brat. Of course we the audience find out later that this isn’t the case at all (or at least in theory we should find out later but apparently some people on here skipped that part), but for all her many talents Katara is not a mind reader and has no way of knowing what’s going on inside Toph’s head, nor does she know her well enough yet to fully grasp the context behind why Toph acts the way she does. Katara is somebody who greatly values community and believes in teamwork, so Toph turning down her warm welcome in favour of “carrying her own weight” likely felt like a slap in the face. Not to mention that she’s already emotionally exhausted from having to constantly mother Aang and Sokka. If I were Katara, I likely would have reacted the same way.
Oh and I agree that the “the stars look beautiful tonight, too bad you can’t see them, Toph” comment was out of line, but it doesn’t make her a horrible person. It makes her a 14 year old, and 14 year olds can be nasty, especially sleep deprived 14 year olds. Katara is otherwise a very kind and compassionate person. Other characters have said worse than that. Hell, Toph herself has said worse than that. That being said, it was a deeply hurtful comment and I do like to imagine that she apologized for it off-screen.
“Toph is a lazy, entitled, and classist spoiled rich brat who just didn’t want to do chores and expected other people to wait on her.”
This is another one that makes me roll my eyes and ask if they even watched the show. First of all, the presumption that Toph is a lazy or entitled person is just... laughable. I feel like people forget that Toph isn’t actually an earthbending prodigy in the way that Azula is a firebending prodigy (I could say more about Azula and how her belief that she was the unshakeable prodigal daughter ultimately caused her downfall and how by the end of the series Zuko is arguably a better firebender than her but this isn’t a meta about Azula and Zuko, now is it?). Nah. Toph was a sheltered kid who discovered she had the ability to earthbend, was told that she could never become great at it because she was blind, and in response said FUCK THAT and decided to work her ass off until she was not only great but the very greatest all thanks to her crazy, stupid, off-the-charts nerve, drive, grit, ambition, and desire to prove people wrong about her. Does that sound like a lazy person to you? Believe me when I say that you do not achieve that kind of skill level by sitting around on your ass and expecting to have things handed to you. And entitled? Don’t make me laugh. Toph hates having things handed to her, that’s one of her defining characteristics.
As for the implication that she’s classist and enjoys basking in her family’s wealth and being waited on...... are you stupid? Did you even watch the show? Toph absolutely despises everything about her parents’ lifestyle. Growing up like that was traumatizing and restrictive for her. We’re talking about a girl who likes to play around in the mud for fuck’s sake. Toph does not care how much money you have. She never wanted any to begin with. She even says it herself; “I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. They gave me everything I could have wanted. But they never gave me what I actually needed - their love.” Not to mention that she easily could have continued to freeload off her parents wealth but instead chose to sneak out of the house and make her own money doing what she did best; disproving people’s assumptions about her earthbending. Oh and I’ve seen someone point this out before but WWE is generally considered a “low brow” activity that “proper” people frown upon and shouldn’t associate themselves with. Toph fucking loved it. I don’t know how seriously people take the comics, as they often miss the mark when it comes to characterization (Toph’s, however, was generally pretty accurate), but there’s a part in The Rift where Sokka asks her when she’s going to start charging people to learn metalbending and she gets all serious and flat out tells him that she will never do such a thing, because money doesn’t matter to her. Sharing her one true passion with the world is what matters to her. Oh and the part where she basically tells a bunch of rich and sleazy businessmen to fuck off and “stop thinking about money and start thinking about people’s lives” is just... *chef’s kiss* Sorry my thoughts here are so incoherent but this take is so piss poor and makes me so angry that I don’t even know where to start. As for “Toph enjoys being waited on” I just- *sigh* Toph has such a visceral and defensive reaction to any implication that she is unable to take care of herself. Like I said earlier, that’s one of her defining characteristics as well as the reason for her behaviour in “The Chase.” Where are people getting these takes?
You wanna know why Toph acted the way she did in The Chase? Well, first let’s recap her life up to this point. Toph was born the blind daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the Earth Kingdom. From day one her parents treated her like glass due to her disability. She was not allowed to leave her house unsupervised, and even then she was only permitted to walk around the gardens of her home. Every day of her life she was pitied, gaslit, babied, ignored, emotionally neglected, and made to feel ashamed of herself. She was not allowed to make any decisions for herself. She was not allowed to do anything for herself. She was not allowed to talk to other children. She had no friends. Other people didn’t even know she existed on account that her parents kept her locked up in her own home and didn’t tell anybody about her because they were so ashamed to have a blind daughter. Flash forward to “The Chase.” Toph begins to set up her own camp separate from the rest of the Gaang. Considering that she flat out was not socialized as a child and hadn’t even interacted with anybody her own age prior to a few days ago, this is understandable. So then Katara comes up to her and asks her why she isn’t setting up camp with the others as if she’s somehow incapable of taking care of herself (again, this is just what happened from her perspective) like she’s her mom or something and it just angers her because she thought she joined this group to get away from all that and she doesn’t understand how friends work because she’s never had one, all she knows is that apparently this girl thinks she isn’t capable of taking care of herself, and that infuriates her because it’s the exact same bullshit she thought she was running away from.
There’s a lot more I could say about this but I’m sick of typing so yeah in conclusion both of these takes are piss poor and I’m sick of having to read them. Stan Toph, Katara, and their friendship.
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Day 19: Hurt/Comfort
I’m re-posting my 2019 fic “Making Space.” It’s post-canon and very heavy. There are mentions of past self-harm, a statement of suicide ideation, miscarriage, blood mention, various forms of depression, and implied child neglect. Thinking about this made me sad, writing it made me sad, do not let it make you sad unless you want it to. Click on the title to read on AO3 or continue under the cut. Be aware of trigger warnings! Includes Kat-ang and Ma-ko.
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“Tenzin is an Airbender, he needs to know these things.”
“You have never cared about that. You have never made others feel lesser like this!”
“They won’t get it.”
“If you leave. If you leave with just Tenzin, we won’t be here when you get back.”
Sokka and Suki arrived on the earliest airship as soon as they heard. Bumi and Kya, knowing something drastic had happened, couldn’t be separated, so Sokka took them both out to go penguin sledding. Suki stayed with Katara, moving around the hut in silence till Katara inevitably dissolved into tears.
“They’ll hate me.”
“It’s better this way. If they hate you, you’ll be around to love them.”
“I’ve lost my baby.”
“He’ll come back.”
They stayed for a whole season, ignoring all of Katara’s anxious questioning about what they had left behind. At night, since Katara couldn’t sleep, she could often hear her brother’s angry whispers as he summoned all the curses he knew from the ocean depths. His anger lasted longer than her tears, and Katara wrapped herself in her brother’s anger like a thick fur.
Bumi did well under his uncle’s attention, though his comments about his father made Katara wince in pain. Sokka deflected each question and comment easily, refocusing Bumi on some project.
The more Katara watched them, the more she realized she should have reached out to Sokka sooner. Standing between his aunt and uncle, Bumi beamed. These were two great heroes, and both were non-Benders. With the other South Pole children - more non-Benders than Waterbenders - Bumi only stood out by the paleness of his skin. But then, there was Suki: just as bundled up and red-cheeked.
Kya was quieter, often trailing behind the others. When Katara was close by, her daughter would come and sit with her. Their mirrored sadness wove them together, a common blanket that bound mothers and daughters everywhere.
“Daddy isn’t coming.” Kya said.
“It has always been his choice to make.” Katara replied and pulled her daughter to her side. None of this made sense; Aang had always stressed the importance of living in harmony, of being friends with all types of people. As they had grown, Aang had even recognized the patronizing way he would speak of the Air Nomads. When he reminisced, it was never to compare his people to others. He never again acted as if the Air Nomads had been some sort of paragon. Letting go of that pride had allowed him to open to the new occupants of the various Air Temples.
The Air Nomads were gone, but they would never be forgotten. Aang held a pained resignation in his chest and Katara would find him staring off in thought when they stopped at the Temples.
She thought that sadness would fade with time. Aang was more present and tempered, rejoicing in everyone’s growth. The sadness returned when Bumi died, and when other pieces of his past started to slip away. But every time, her husband would return and they would go on a trip where he would kiss her till she felt her body rise into the stars.
Katara never expected that sadness to be running like a river through him, slowly eroding away his insides.
When Bumi was born, Aang cried. At first, Katara thought it was from joy. But she heard him late at night, after she had gotten up to feed the baby and found Aang gone. He wept like an animal was trying to escape his chest and Katara was frightened.
She had shut the door, feeling her heart flutter behind her ribs.
When she got pregnant again, she knew she had a Bender. She was excited when she told Aang and he had seemed like his old self. He stole her breath with kisses and everything seemed lighter.
As the midwife handed Katara the swaddled Kya, Katara squeezed her eyes shut.
Three days after the birth, Katara had woken to the pain of milk in her breasts. Going for the baby and seeing Kya missing, Katara almost fainted from the shock. Rushing about the house, she finally heard the faint lines of a song.
Aang sat in a chair on the balcony, rocking back and forth while singing a song too soft for Katara to make out. Holding her breath, she just watched. Her husband’s face was tight but his eyes were sunken. With one thin finger, he was tracing the curve of Kya’s cheek and drawing small swirls. Then he bent down and kissed her forehead before standing up. Silent, Katara walked over and took her, moving back into the house to feed her. Kya, smelling milk, started to cry, but Katara paused to look back.
Aang was still standing, looking out into the midnight air.
Tenzin’s birth was salvation. Aang had been overjoyed and could barely contain his excitement. For weeks, Katara would snap at him when his mania would wake the other children.
She didn’t notice how Aang’s sole source of happiness became Tenzin. Katara was busy, tending to the older children and continuing the work she was already doing. Aang took over most of the infant care, save for when he needed to be fed. But as soon as Tenzin moved on to more solid food, Katara would often not see her youngest for hours.
Katara thought it would pass.
Then Aang would start leaving, taking Tenzin to important Air Nomad places. That Katara could excuse, though she didn’t see why they all couldn’t go. Bumi had started school and Kya could work on her waterbending at home.
When one trip extended unexpectedly, Katara panicked. As soon as Aang returned, her fear came out as anger and they argued. He had just taken a small detour, to show Tenzin a special place. Cliffs that sang in the evening breeze and glinted like fire crystals at sunrise.
Aang had taken her there and told her that he would love her forever as they laid in the thick grass, listening as the ground below serenaded them.
It was a place they could have gone with all the children.
Katara had left to pick up Bumi and shut the door.
All of those doors being closed had ended up shielding her from what had been happening. The sadness had erased everything she loved about Aang and it was too late for her to fix it. The empty space had been filled with air.
When Sokka and Suki finally did leave, Bumi and Kya cried every night for a week. They became belligerent, fighting with her over everything from their clothes to their food. Already stressed, Katara yelled back and they cried even louder.
At night, Katara’s own sadness continued to heave out of her, like a bilge pump on a sinking ship. She would fall asleep out of exhaustion and when she woke up, Bumi and Kya would be curled around her.
They had woven a wide blanket and it covered them all.
Towards the autumn equinox, as the sun was starting to stay lower on the horizon for longer, Katara received a letter. She felt the rush of hope and the familiar lightness, but it left her as she read it. Toph, with children of her own and a job that allowed for few breaks, had written to check in on her.
Much to Katara’s embarrassment, everyone now knew about what had happened. The chain of events that led to the discovery was both mortifying and oddly satisfying.
Having stayed close, Suki had told Toph about their trip to the South Pole. Immediately after being told, Toph had tracked Aang down and dressed him down, loudly, in public. The argument had been explosive and Toph warned him to not set foot in her city. And she would know if he did.
When Toph returned, Zuko was already in Republic City. He had only recently gotten divorced and was attempting to be more like his uncle to achieve some sort of inner peace. Unfortunately, he wasn’t prepared to deal with Toph’s fury.
Zuko tried his best to defuse the situation, but then Sokka came into Republic City. With his anger still not assuaged, he reported the effect Aang’s decision had on Bumi and Kya. They talked more about what should be done; there were legal penalties for abandoning one’s wife and children, but that would involve a traumatic session of Katara testifying. Divorce was also tenuous, as Katara would have to forfeit all of her children if she won her suit.
Then Aang came to Republic City.
It had been daring, of course, as he could have gone directly to Avatar Island. Instead, he came into Republic City and it only took moments before word reached Toph.
Now with Sokka at her side, she renewed her fight. Sokka stepped in, but only to explain how Aang’s leaving had hurt Bumi and Kya.
All of this was written more like a police report, but Katara could tell from where Toph had bashed down on certain keys of the typewriter that certain sentiments had come up during specific points.
Toward the end of the letter, all Toph reported was that Aang had made an offensive comment, Sokka had lunged, but Zuko got there first.
And the Fire Lord knocked the Avatar out cold.
During all of this, Tenzin had been in the care of an Air Acolyte. At this point, the Acolyte stepped in, getting Aang up and making sure they flew to Avatar Island as soon as possible. A day later, Appa flew away again to destinations unknown.
Toph promised to visit soon, but urged Katara to return to the United Republic. There were plenty of cities far enough away from Republic City, but she would be close enough for everyone to visit.
Katara folded the letter and hid it in a small cupboard where she kept her unguents and pill casings.
At the dawn of the first twilight day, the sign that winter was fast approaching, an airship arrived. Regular shipments came into the South Pole to replenish famine rations that they were supposed to have stopped using five years ago. But the reconstruction took longer than expected, and the signs were suggesting that this would be a harder winter.
Katara brought Bumi and Kya to the dock as a reward for having a not-so-terrible day. They went shrieking like wild animals with the other children as the hydraulic ramp slowly lowered with a leviathan groan.
The flash of red the airshipmen wore at first made Katara think of Republic City and she suddenly couldn't breathe. But as the ramp hit the ground and the people began to move, she saw the Fire Nation symbol and relaxed.
Then the guards came and Katara felt lightheaded as she was suddenly pushed back thirty years.
Zuko looked so different, it scared her. Her fingers froze with electrified terror and Katara felt like she was going to cry. As he started to look around, she prayed he wouldn’t see her, but as the thought became wisps in her mind, his eyes met hers.
Then Bumi went barreling up the ramp and directly into Zuko’s stomach.
Once again embarrassed, and still on the verge of tears, Katara rushed forward toward the crowd. Her voice was thin and reedy as she pleaded and pardoned her way past people. And then, she was in front of Zuko.
Bumi was thrown over his one shoulder like a laughing sack of potatoes. Izumi and Kya stood together behind him, whispering and admiring a bracelet Kya had made.
“You didn’t have to come.”
“I know.”
“We’re doing fine.”
“No you’re not.”
Katara’s breath came in a shudder and her chest felt hot. Zuko set Bumi down and handed him a crowbar, telling him that he hid a prize in one of the crates. Kya cupped her hand around Izumi’s ear and then both girls were suddenly giggling before darting away.
“I’m fine Zuko.”
“His sadness changed him and you didn’t get to say goodbye to the man you loved. You’re not fine.”
“And how do you think that could possibly be it?”
“Because I never got to say goodbye to the Mai I married.”
Before she started to cry, Zuko put his arm around her shoulders and turned her away from the gathered people. No one was paying attention to them, as they were either unloading or going through the supplies. Still, Zuko steered her away and back toward her house.
Taking no prompting, Zuko sat her down on the couch and brought over a blanket while she was weeping. Katara curled into it, laying down on the couch and sobbing while the core of her soul ached. When he returned, Katara felt his warm hand on her back, slowly rubbing the tight muscles that seized with every arrhythmic breath.
“This is all my fault.”
“Not all of it. And you can’t be blamed for not fixing something you didn’t know was broken.”
“Why did he do this?”
“Because a sadness that deep can erase the greatest of joys.”
He gave her tea and he told her about Mai. The promises he made and how now, finally, everything would be as they wanted it. She had enjoyed it at first, the power and privilege that came with being married to the Fire Lord.
Then they started to get pregnant.
She usually lost them in the first trimester. Nothing to show of a pregnancy except the amount of blood. One pregnancy had been promising, and the doctor had ordered strict bedrest. Sages, not the Fire Sages but a new group to rise from their ashes, had said that if the spark caught, the baby would be a strong Firebender.
They had lost him during the seventh month.
Something had broken in Mai then, and Zuko insisted they stop trying. Mai needed the rest and to recover, so they traveled to various healing springs. The doctors had told him in very strong words that he must not even so much as sleep in the same bed as her, so that her body could heal. He did. She pulled away from him, receding more into herself. Maids and other noble ladies assured him that this was normal, and Mai would be fine. So Zuko had left her alone.
He had left her all alone.
During a new moon, when it was the darkest Zuko had ever experienced, he had been woken up as someone entered his room.
Mai had come to him and draped over him like a sheet. Zuko could still remember how he had traced his hands over her body and felt her ribs. And the thick scars on her legs.
She said nothing and the only sound was of their breathing.
When it was done, Mai got up and walked out of the room.
When they returned to the palace, she moved out of their shared room. And nine months later, Izumi was born.
Mai took care of all the motherly duties, but quickly handed Izumi to whatever nurse happened to be nearby. As those duties lessened, Zuko tried to reach out to her. Every time, she turned him away.
When Izumi turned five and they found out for certain she wasn’t a Firebender, Mai threw a glass into the dining room wall.
“I failed. The thing nearly killed me and I failed.”
“You didn’t fail. Please, Mai, if I ever made you think that-”
“It’s not you Zuko, it’s them. It’s this place. It’s me.”
“Mai.”
“Zuko, if I stay here one more night, I will die.”
Zuko let her go.
The divorce had been hard. Mai looked dead as she signed the papers, forfeiting her parental rights to Izumi. As her father’s only heir, there couldn’t be a chance that Mai would take her. As per the usual agreement, Mai was not permitted to remarry for one full year and any pregnancy had to be reported immediately to the palace. Just in case the baby was Zuko’s.
There was no ironic laugh. Mai only scratched out the character of her name and looked at the magistrate.
“She wasn’t even the same woman at that point. I hadn’t even been seeing her.”
“Why couldn’t they just tell us?”
“That sadness was theirs. Either they thought we wouldn’t understand or they didn’t want to drown us.”
“I love him so much.”
“Aang’s gone. Mai’s gone. And it is a terrible thing.”
“What do I do with my own sadness now?”
“Let love in.”
Zuko said he was staying until the solstice, claiming that he had never had the opportunity to spend a good one with her. Having him around, Katara tried to work on letting love in. She saw how sometimes Zuko’s sadness would seep in and he would begin to pace. He moved till he found Izumi and then pestered her, throwing handfuls of snow over her and the others while they ran about shrieking. By the time he needed a break, he was smiling and his eyes were brighter.
Katara took a chance. When her sadness lapped up her spine, she sought out her children. She taught them how to scrape furs and when Bumi started to roll over them, instead of yelling at him, she wrapped him up in one. As he struggled and laughed, Katara and Kya continued to roll him, using their bending to ultimately send him bounding down a hill. They would roll after him and end up on their backs, laughing and crying at the same time as their breath became clouds in the air.
Love began to take up too much room and the sadness had no place to linger. Zuko warned her that it wouldn’t always feel like that, and it would be difficult to push back the sadness for good. While he was prone to melancholy, it was still taking him time to recover.
At the solstice festival, she understood what he meant. Zuko had gone to help light the fireworks and the children were gone somewhere doing spirits knew what. A woman came by with a tray of sweets and Katara took two small plates. As the woman left, Katara turned.
Aang wasn’t there to take the other one.
He had been absent all this time, but her muscle memory still expected him to be there. When she washed dishes, the first she usually held out, waiting for Aang to dry. When she tucked in the children, she had to stop herself from saying their father would be in shortly to say goodnight. When she thought about the meals, she first thought about what dish could be made with and without meat.
But now, during a happy festival, she grabbed a dessert for her husband who had left her. Who had been gone for longer than she cared to admit.
“Katara.”
“He’s not coming back.”
“No.”
“I thought he loved me.”
“Katara, he’s not the same inside. There was too much of the pain.”
“It hurts, so m-much.”
Zuko held her while the fireworks boomed overhead. She pressed her face into his chest and crawled as close to him as she could. He took in slow breaths and his body warmed. Zuko wrapped himself around her and she cried.
“You have to let the pain out.”
“How?”
Her breath was hot and wet, and it curled against her flushed face. Her nose was congested but her eyes dripped.
“I haven’t figured that part out yet.”
“Zuko.”
Katara turned her head and Zuko went stiff. His sleeve had been pulled up as he held her awkwardly. There was a mark like a thumbprint burned into his skin. The skin was cracked and dry, with the flesh beneath looking dead. It had been burned repeatedly.
Her sadness and pain left her in a rush. Katara felt weak and wrung out. She sagged in Zuko’s arms and he sighed.
“I have to keep going. Even when I don’t want to, I have to.”
“It can’t be like this forever.”
“But we have to survive the waiting.”
Katara decided that staying in the dark for weeks and weeks wouldn’t help anything. An army of people packed up her house and loaded it onto the airship. Bumi and Kya were excited about the trip, hoping out loud and without subtlety that they would be able to stay at the palace for just a little bit before heading on to the United Republic.
Iroh greeted them when they landed, hugging Katara with such genuine warmth that she suddenly felt like she was drowning. She had resolved to stop crying so much, knowing that it was causing some sort of imbalance in the waters of her soul. Zuko told her it was only her body pushing out some of the pain to let in a little more love. Katara had told him that Iroh had been corny, not sappy so he had missed a lesson somewhere.
Now being outnumbered by Benders, Bumi started to act out. Iroh took every boast and bluster seriously, giving Bumi the attention he needed. When his anxiety waned, Izumi reminded him that she was a non-Bender and was going to become the next Fire Lord. She asserted that just being a Bender didn’t make anyone amazing because just look at her grandfather and great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, and then Iroh interrupted her to tell them that there were red bean buns in the kitchen.
Then Kya broke Katara’s heart as she took Iroh’s hand and asked if being a Waterbender was special enough. Iroh smiled at her and replied that he knew of one very special Waterbender who was also one of the women he most admired. Kya glanced back at Katara as she and Iroh went after the others, and Katara smiled.
That night, Katara made Zuko show her all of his scars. Working from his right arm, Katara glanced at his abdomen. Zuko put a hand over it.
“Not that one.”
“It’s just another scar you didn’t deserve.”
“It’s one I earned.”
“By throwing your life away.”
“To protect you.”
Katara found all the small burns and smoothed them away. The water around her hands stayed cool and glowed faintly, concentrating in spots as they found the damaged skin. The threadlike scars from very sharp blades were also erased.
“And here?”
“I earned that one too.”
“Don’t say that.”
“What else would you have me say of it?”
“You have earned kinder things.”
He sat up and pulled on his robe but left it open. Katara could hear the rush of blood and her limbs felt heavy. He faced her and took a loose strand of her hair. He watched his hand as she watched his face. Zuko tucked the strand behind her ear.
“I earned your friendship.”
“That hasn’t always been kind.”
Her fingers felt cold, or else it was that his skin was hot. Katara touched the place where Azula’s lightning had hit him and he smiled.
“I would take this type of kindness over your indifference any day.”
“I’m not indifferent.”
“I don’t mean to presume.”
“You have earned kinder things than my attention.”
Zuko’s hand returned to her face and he cupped her cheek. A small affection, but one so intimate that her body shuddered. This was not the touch of a brother or a comforting friend. It was a touch she had not known for a very long time.
“Then let me have your words, because you have my full attention.”
“Take them.”
And he kissed her.
As Zuko shifted to hold her, Katara cried out softly. There was nothing desperate or lustful, but her body still felt charged. Zuko only hugged her, kissing her gently, and cradling the back of her head with his fingers in her hair.
As Katara’s head started to spin, Zuko picked her up and moved her to his bed. He regarded her with a pained look.
“This isn’t how I want us to begin.”
“But I am ready for an ending.”
They spent the night together, and Katara got her first restful sleep in months.
It took two years.
Katara bought a house in Luodai, a promising city that wasn’t too far from Republic City. She met with Aang half a dozen times in various attempts to reconcile, or at least come to some sort of agreement.
Then came the proposal of a new law.
Katara had not been permitted to sit as the South Pole representative on the council as she was married to Aang, who also had a seat. Sokka had taken it instead, and had done a remarkably good job. It was because of how seriously he took his position that the proposal took as long as it did.
Called the Mothers’ Right Law, it outlined the new rules for any divorce occurring outside of any marriage where a legitimate heir was required to maintain the stability of a government. Women were now allowed to initiate a divorce on their own and did not have to forfeit their parental rights. Instead, custody must be shared between the parents in equal measure for all children. If the mother is unemployed or becomes unemployed before remarrying, the former husband must pay her an allowance.
Sokka presented it at a council meeting and as Aang rose from the table, Toph stepped forward. The other representatives all stared at the Avatar and ultimately the law was signed.
Aang signed it again, in another version, one month later.
For the spring and summer, Aang had all three children. Katara had them for the fall and winter.
And during the next winter solstice, Katara and Zuko decided they wanted a new beginning.
#zutara#fanfiction#zutara month#zutara month 2021#trigger: self harm#trigger: blood mention#trigger: miscarriage#trigger: depression#trigger: child neglect
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