Chapter Text
Aang was already just a speck in the sky by the time Katara hopped on Appa and gave him a “yip yip!” She was still angry at the old fisherman who blamed AANG, a twelve-year-old BOY, for not stopping the war and disappearing for 100 years. But right now, her anger was mostly eclipsed by her worry for Aang. Worry about where he was running off to and what could happen to him if someone like Prince Zuko caught him alone, and worry about why Aang responded to the fisherman’s accusations the way he did and how much undeserved guilt Aang was holding onto because of it.
When the rain started, Katara briefly lost sight of Aang, but he had been flying towards a nearby mountain so she hoped that’s where he would’ve landed. Peeking into a cave, Katara relaxed slightly as she spotted the familiar yellow and orange of his clothes. He was kneeling on the floor of the cavern, back towards the opening and head hanging.
“I’m sorry for running away,” Aang apologized, voice quiet even as it echoed around the stone of the cave walls.
“It’s okay,” Katara assured him. “That fisherman was way out of line.”
“Actually, he wasn’t.”
“What do you mean?” Katara couldn’t believe that anything Aang could’ve done would warrant the harsh words and guilt that the fisherman hurled at the young Avatar.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Aang said, shaking his head. Katara knelt next to Aang, placing a hand on his shoulder, but before she could think of something to say, Aang spoke again. “But we could soulbond. I can show you what happened.” He avoided Katara’s gaze until he finished his suggestion, glancing quickly at her to gauge her reaction.
“I want to say yes, but I’m afraid that some of the things you’ll see in my past won’t exactly help you feel better,” Katara stated, her free hand instinctively going up to where her necklace should be, frowning at the reminder that it was currently in the clutches of the Fire Nation Prince.
Aang’s frown deepened. “You’ve… mentioned what happened to your mom,” he said, looking down at his hands as he began idly tracing patterns into the dust on the cave floor. “I know it won’t be easy, but I want you to know where my guilt is coming from. And I want to better understand you. And understand what it’s like to grow up during this war.” He looked up to Katara again, his eyes wide and open with sincerity.
Katara held Aang’s gaze for a moment before standing up. “I’ll make a fire, and grab Sokka’s knife,” she told him, glancing over to Appa as he walked into the cave for shelter from the rain. The bison plodded up to Aang and gave the young Airbender a comforting nudge with his snout as Katara climbed up to his saddle to grab supplies.
——
The fire Katara made was small, but she didn’t want to accidentally fill the cave with smoke. She knew that no matter how long she and Aang perceived their soulbond, it only took a few moments in the current physical world, not enough time to worry about the small fire burning out.
Satisfied with the size of the fire, Katara turned to face Aang, her crossed legs nearly touching his as she sat in front of him. Aang had already made a small cut in his palm with the knife and wiped the blade clean, now holding it out to Katara.
“Last chance to back out if you’ve changed your mind,” Katara warned Aang as she took the knife, putting the tip to her palm and slowly applying pressure.
Aang shook his head. “I want to soulbond with you,” he stated with all of the confidence that he’d been lacking since the encounter with the fisherman. He held out his hand as though for a friendly handshake (or a Water Tribe-style arm clasp, Katara noted).
Katara gave a slight wince as the knife broke skin, setting it aside to deal with later as she looked up at Aang. “Ready,” she told him with a firm nod, reaching to take his hand in hers, blood touching blood.
****
After a blinding flash of light, Katara found herself at what she could only assume was the Southern Air Temple. Structurally, it looked like the air temple they had visited at the start of their journey North with Aang, but it was, for lack of a better word, alive. Monks clad in orange and red were everywhere, flying bison dotted the sky around the temple, some with riders, while children ran around, giggling at whatever games they were playing.
One of those kids of course was Aang, Katara guessed he was somewhere around six years of age. Katara nearly didn’t recognize him so young and without his arrows. He seemed to be racing three other boys around his age towards the terrace Katara had found herself in. Aang had been lagging in third place, until he moved his arms in an airbending move she’d seen him do whenever he wanted to run even quicker than his legs would normally allow. Suddenly he zoomed out in front of the other boys, skidding to a halt once he nearly ran into the wall, and turned with a cheer of triumph.
“Yeah! I win!” He shouted as he watched the other boys also slow to stop at their designated finishing line.
“How did you DO that?” one of the other kids asked, sounding impressed.
“I just bent the air around me, taking the air in front of me and moving it around to my back to push,” Aang explained, illustrating the movement of the air with his hands.
“Where did you pick that up from?” An older monk asked Aang, walking up to the group of children. Katara recognized him from the statue Aang had pointed out outside the air temple, this had to be Monk Gyatso.
“Nowhere,” Aang replied with a shrug. He seemed a little apprehensive, like he didn’t know if he was about to be praised or scolded. “I just figured there had to be ways I could use airbending to make myself faster, and that seemed like a good way to do it.”
Gyatso stroked the ends of his mustache, looking at his young pupil with an expression filled with pride. “Well, you just happened to figure out on your own a high-level airbending technique. I’m impressed, well done, Aang,” he praised.
Aang beamed at the praise from his mentor and the impressed exclamations from his peers. Katara smiled. Of course Aang was just as much of an airbending prodigy as he was waterbending. Spurred by her own pride (and perhaps a little leftover guilt from her behavior during the whole Waterbending Scroll incident), Katara reached out to give Aang a congratulatory shoulder squeeze. If it was even possible, Aang grinned wider at that, placing a hand on his own shoulder where Katara’s was.
——
There was a mishap when riding some hog-monkeys where Aang was thrown from its back and didn’t catch himself with airbending in time to avoid a painful-looking fall. That was when Katara realized that being a waterbender with a presence that’s cool to the touch was actually really helpful in soothing bumps and scrapes.
Katara also got to witness the moment Aang and Appa met at the Eastern Air Temple. She wasn’t sure why exactly Destiny deemed this moment important enough for her to see, but it was so cute that she was glad it was.
Overall, however, she didn’t see much of this period of Aang’s childhood, just a few bits here and there. It was clear to Katara he didn’t really need much from his soulmates at this stage. Everything was peaceful, Aang was progressing quickly in his airbending training, he was seeing the world and being a kid with Gyatso looking out for him and was making friends wherever he went.
——
“Aang, would you show the council the airbending move you came up with?” Monk Gyatso prompted.
Aang was a lot closer to his current age, though still without his tattoos. He was standing in the largest room in the temple that Katara’s seen so far, in front of a group of elderly monks, Gyatso kneeling next to them.
“You just form a ball of wind, like this,” Aang explained, doing a circular motion with his hands that Katara’s seen a dozen times. “Then you have to quickly hop on.” Again, Aang demonstrated, though he briefly wobbled before righting himself. “Then you can move and steer by shifting your weight!” Aang did a tiny circle, then a wider one, before jumping off and dismissing the ball of wind before he could lose control. “I call it the air scooter!”
Gyatso beamed with pride at Aang while the other elders looked impressed, a few clapping at the demonstration.
“Very impressive, young Aang,” the monk in the middle of the council of elders commented. “You have advanced through your training much faster than any airbender in recent memory. You’ve already surpassed all but our most advanced teachers. I’m sure the council can agree,” he glanced both left and right at the other elders, who all gave knowing nods. Katara could tell that the decision had been reached even before Aang’s demonstration. “That with the invention of a new Airbending form, you have demonstrated a level of mastery over the element that proves you are ready for your tattoos.”
Aang’s face lit up at the word “mastery,” but by the time the elder monk finished his statement, Aang just could not contain his excitement. “OH, YES!” he shouted, pumping his fist and literally jumping in joy. Katara glanced at the elders, and while Gyatso seemed faintly amused, the others looked less enthused about the new master acting so childish. Katara gave Aang a nudge to get him to reign it in. After a moment of confusion, Aang noticed the annoyed looks the monks were giving him. He cleared his throat and straightened his back, though Katara could tell he was practically vibrating with excitement still. “Sorry, I mean, thank you.” he said, bringing his fists together and bowing deeply. “It’s an honor to receive my tattoos. I will wear them proudly.”
——
The tattoo ceremony was beautiful. Just like everything else the Air Nomads did, it clearly had its foundation in ancient tradition, but that didn’t stop the monks from having some fun with it. Still, Katara found herself choked up with too much emotion to process when Aang pulled back his hood, finally looking like the young Avatar she knew. The happiness and pride of the moment tangled with the dread of what she knew must be coming soon.
——
Katara was confused to find herself in the middle of one of Aang’s lessons with Monk Gyatso. She hadn’t seen any of his official training sessions in her glimpses through Aang’s life so far, so it seemed strange to be shown one from one of his lessons post-mastery tattoos.
“Very good, Aang,” Gyatso said with a nod as Aang finished the complicated form. “Now, that move can also be effectively used mid-air, how would you adapt-” He abruptly cut himself off mid-sentence with a look of pain and panic as his right hand flew up to grip his opposite forearm. Katara recognized that look, she’d seen it on her dad years ago, the day her mom died. Suddenly it was clear why she was here. “We’ll pick this up later, Aang. I have something I must see to,” he explained, trying to sound composed, though his words were a bit rushed and he walked away with a bit too much haste to be casual.
“Wait, what’s going on?” Aang asked. He began to follow after Gyatso, so Katara reached out to grab his arm and stop him. Since she was not physically there, Aang could easily pull away from Katara to follow if he wanted, but the tug of her presence was enough to get him to pause.
“Something’s wrong, you don’t think I should follow him?” Aang asked into the air. Katara tightened her grip on his arm and gave him a little tug towards her to emphasize her point he should stay. “Do you know what’s wrong?” he asked.
Katara wished she could explain with words, but all she had was touch. Since Aang seemed to be staying put for now, Katara let go of his arm so she could poke the spot on Aang’s back just above his right hip, where she knew his soulmarks were. He reached his hand back to touch the same spot, realizing what she was getting at. “Soulmates?” he asked. “You think one of his soulmates was telling him something?”
Katara traced out a small X on Aang’s shoulder to tell him he was wrong. “Then what- Oh.” Aang visibly seemed to deflate at the realization and looked back in the direction Gyatso had disappeared to. Still standing behind him, Katara wrapped her arms around the small monk, both to offer comfort and to make sure Aang let Gyatso do what he needed in peace.
——
Again, Katara was caught off-guard by the next moment she found herself in. Everything seemed normal, Aang was his usual happy self, teaching some other kids how to do the Air Scooter. However, the lesson was cut short when the elders walked up to the group of kids.
“Aang, come with us. We need to speak with you,” Gyatso said, beckoning to his student.
Katara followed as Aang was led a short distance back to what Katara had gathered was the main council meeting room. As the elders took their places, Aang knelt on the floor in front of them. Katara sat beside Aang, not close enough that he could feel her, but still close enough she could reach out if she needed to.
“Aang, I’m sure you’ve wondered why we continue to train you even though you’ve achieved status as a master airbender,” one of the monks began.
“I just figured it was because I’m still a kid,” Aang commented with a shrug. “There’s not exactly any other kid masters.”
The monks exchanged glances, clearly surprised at the reply. “Well, regardless,” the elder continued. “It’s because you are the Avatar, and thus capable of much more than an average master.”
Aang looked shocked at the statement. “How do you know it's me?” he questioned.
A different monk spoke up. “We have known you were the Avatar for some time. Do you remember these?” he asked, airbending a rolled-up bundle towards Aang. As it opened, Katara was confused to see four toys. The monks continued, explaining the four Avatar relics. It made perfect sense to Katara, though she questioned if Aang was really listening while he played with the propeller toy.
“Normally we would have told you of your identity when you turned sixteen, but there are troubling signs. Storm clouds are gathering,” Gyatso stated. Katara winced at how accurate that statement was.
“I fear that war may be upon us, young Avatar,” another monk chimed in.
“We need you, Aang,” Gyatso stated. “We have a few things we need to do now. You can take the time you need here to process this new information. Whenever you’re ready, you’re free to meet back up with your friends.” The elders stood, each of them bowing to Aang as they passed to leave.
Katara sat there with Aang for a while as the young Avatar sorted through his feelings. As she reached over to wrap a comforting arm around his shoulders, she felt a few other invisible presences also reach out to comfort the young Avatar. She’d always wondered if soulmate presences could feel each other, and now she had her answer. Below her arm, she felt the firm presence of Bruiser wrapping their arm around Aang from his other side, and either her brother or Guardian accidentally bumped her arm as they gave Aang’s shoulder an encouraging squeeze.
Eventually, Aang stood up to head back out to his friends. Katara expected to be taken to the next moment of Aang’s life, so when she realized that wasn’t happening yet, she had to scramble back to her feet to follow Aang.
The other kids were still on the same terrace where Aang had left them, now zooming around on air scooters about as well as Aang did.
“Hey, not bad! You guys have been practicing!” Aang called out as he walked up to the group.
“Not only that! We made up a game you can play with the air scooters!” one of the kids exclaimed.
“Great!” Aang replied. He jumped on an air scooter to join in, though as he did, the others dismissed their own scooters. Aang frowned. “What's going on?”
“Now that you're the Avatar, it's kind of an unfair advantage for whichever team you're on.”
“So, what? I can't play?” Aang asked, and suddenly Katara realized Aang’s lie from when they first met about not being the Avatar made sense.
“Sorry, Aang,” the youngest of the kids apologized as Aang walked away, dejected.
“Aang? What’s wrong?” Gyatso asked, finding his young charge sulking.
“The other kids won’t play with me because I’m the Avatar. They said it would be unfair,” he explained.
Gyatso’s expression was one of sad understanding. “Well, come on, then,” he said, forcing cheer back into his voice. “You being the Avatar won’t stop me from kicking your butt at Pai Sho. What do you say to a few games?”
Aang perked up at this, smirking at Gyatso’s challenge. “You’re on! First one there gets the first move!” he said before racing off, Gyatso chuckling as he followed.
——
Katara was briefly panicked when she found herself on the sloped roof of one of the buildings. Aang was looking through a hole, spying on the meeting going on within, and Katara was just about to tug him back to get him to stop when she recognized Monk Gyatso’s voice coming from within the room.
“Aang needs to have freedom and fun. He needs to grow up as a normal boy,” Gyatso stated firmly. Katara couldn’t agree more, but she also knew the reality of what was to come. She didn’t know whether or not Aang should listen to this, but her own need to know swayed her to let Aang eavesdrop.
“Gyatso, I know you mean well, but you are letting your affection for the boy cloud your judgment,” one of the other elders stated. Katara frowned. She didn’t like where this was going.
“All I want is what is best for him,” Gyatso argued.
But what we need is what's best for the world. You and Aang must be separated! The Avatar will be sent away to the Eastern Air Temple to complete his training.”
Aang was shocked, but Katara was furious. Aang was the Avatar, sure, but he WAS still a kid! IS still a kid! No wonder Aang was upset. She watched him jump down from the roof, but as she was wondering if it was safe to do the same as a soul presence, she saw the flash of light that signaled another jump in time.
——
Rain was coming down, and Aang was out in it, coaxing Appa out of one of the bison stables. The bison groaned loudly in protest. Katara found herself already in Appa’s saddle.
“I know it’s late, but I need to leave,” Aang pleaded with the bison. “I can’t let them take me away from Gyatso. So I’ll leave for a little bit, and then come back and hopefully things will have blown over.”
Katara was torn. Obviously, she knows that Aang runs away. She knows that causes him to be frozen for 100 years, never seeing Gyatso or any of the air nomads again. And she knows that HAS to happen in order for Aang to be alive today to possibly end the war. But everything in her was screaming to try to convince Aang to stay, don’t go out in the dangerous storm that was only getting worse.
Apparently sensing Aang’s distress, Appa stepped out into the rain, letting Aang on with only a low grunt as further protest. “Yip-yip!” Aang called, and the bison took off.
Even though Katara couldn’t stop Aang from leaving, doing nothing in this situation was killing her, so she slid up to sit next to Aang on Appa’s head, putting a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Waterbender,” Aang greeted, forcing a small smile at the contact. “I don’t exactly have a plan on where I’m going. Shall I try to visit you?”
Katara didn’t exactly have a way to answer that, so instead of trying to give him a yes or no, she wrapped her hands around Aang’s gripping the reins, gently tugging them to have Aang steer Appa South.
“I take it you’re in the Southern Water Tribe then? Let’s see if I can find you!”
——
Katara was surprised and a little relieved to not have to witness the moment Aang was frozen in the iceberg. Instead, she was in the metal hallway of a Fire Nation ship, Aang being led between two guards with his hands bound.
“I bet I could take you BOTH with my hands tied behind my back!” Aang taunted, before doing exactly that. Even though she has a better idea now just how powerful and quick-thinking Aang is, she was still impressed with how easily Aang was able to escape being held captive so soon after being freed from the iceberg.
****
Seeing as how Katara and Aang have been at each others’ sides nearly constantly since Aang’s escape from the Fire Nation ship, it made sense that the Spirits had nothing more to show her. With one more flash of light, Katara was back in her body, sitting on the floor of the cave with the storm outside raging on.