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I Found You

Summary:

After breaking it off with her husband of 13 years, Katara goes to the Fire Nation with her kids. She just wants a change of pace, a chance to catch up with her old friend and move forward but ends up getting much more than she'd bargained for.

Notes:

Guys this is my first fanfic ever and I’m so excited yet so scared. Excited because I’ve convinced myself to try my hand at something new and scared because I don’t want to mess up this story that has grown into something beautiful in my head. But I’ve long since got tired of waiting for someone else to do this, so it’s time to take matters in my own hands. PS: I’ve never watched TLOK, just read enough metas etc online so bear with me. Trigger warning: marital issues and divorce.

Chapter 1: Katara realises a Vacation is in Order

Summary:


Artwork by the absolutely wonderful @momochi_owo on Tumblr!! I cannot thank you enough for this. It nearly made me cry when I first saw it. The background is the summary for this fic.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text


It had been a month at that point.


A month of tears and questions and confusion. A month of people staring at her, at her necklace, at her kids. A month to the day Aang had flown off on Appa, no explanations given to anyone. A month since she’d broken it off with the only man she’d ever truly been with.


The first week had been the worst. She had had to come to terms with what she’d done. How she had perhaps irreversibly fractured the future which she’d laid out for herself at the tender age of 14. She hadn't been able to leave their home in that week. She’d reminisced over the good times…


You’re my forever girl


Which had been immediately followed by the bad: the crushing loneliness, the feelings of inferiority, the horrible last argument and all the arguments leading up to it. She’d shut herself in, refusing to see anyone. The kids were with Sokka anyway. He had come by, every day, twice a day to try to talk to her. Towards the end of the week, Hakoda had started coming too. He’d just sit outside waiting for her and leave by evening. Suki had just checked in once to say she’d take care of the kids. But Katara didn’t want to see anyone. She didn’t want to cry. She just wanted to swim in the cool pool of memories and the good old days, when nothing was so quite so complex and occasionally wallow in some self-pity. When it had got to be too much, she had tapped into her secret stash and drank until she couldn’t remember anymore. It had been an ugly morning after when Suki, tired of waiting had finally broken into the house, stale with the smell of vomit, alcohol, left overs and week-long grime. Katara had wondered how she'd appeared to her: long, wild hair unkempt, dark circles under possibly bloodshot eyes with clothes on that she hadn’t bothered changing for the last few days. She must have noticed that there was the old blue band around her neck again instead of the yellow but had chosen not to say anything. After Gran-Gran’s passing, Suki was the only other woman in the family, and Katara had never appreciated their bond as much as she did in that instance.


Suki had simply cleaned up and cooked and stayed. Made her some tea and got her to take a bath but kept quiet otherwise. Katara had to appreciate that her cooking had improved by leaps and bounds over the years - although Sokka was the better cook, penchant for experimentation notwithstanding. Finally, by evening, Katara had managed to gather the strength to rasp out her first words in days, “Aang and I are over”.


You’re my forever girl


“For real? Or is this a break?”


“For real, I think. I did return his necklace and tell him we’re done.”


Suki hadn’t asked her if she was sure about her decision or anything about what happened that night, and Katara had realized that even with all the saving each other’s lives they’d done as kids, she had never appreciated her more.


Instead she’d asked, “Is that all there is to it? With all the ceremony for your wedding, isn’t there a… longer process?”


Katara sighed, “The Water Tribes don’t really do divorce. It’s considered shameful. You know that. And the Air Nomads had no concept of marriage in the first place. We’re winging this as we go.”


“Oh.”


“Yeah, oh.” Katara had said derisively.


Suki had seemed to think about this a bit and then said, “I stand by what I said that day, you know. We are on your team one hundred percent. You can talk to me whenever you’d like, you won’t see any judgement here. But I strongly advise talking to Sokka sooner rather than later. He’s going up the walls with worry and you know what that means”


“Stress eating?” Katara had asked smiling wanly


Suki considered this a small victory. “We are going to run out of food,” she'd confirmed.


“I’ll talk to him first thing tomorrow.”


“Good. I’ve got to head back now. It’s late and I need to make sure the kids or Sokka haven’t turned the house into a heaping pile of snow yet,” she'd said as she turned to leave.


“Suki?”


“Yes?” she'd asked, turning around.


A beat.


“Yes, Katara?”


“Nevermind.”


The next morning she’d cleaned up and gone to see Sokka, who was now the acting Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, a mantle he’d accepted only a year ago. He’d begun his family years after Katara had. This was primarily because Suki had needed time to find a way to juggle her duties on Kyoshi Island and now as the Chief’s wife. And also because as a man he simply didn’t have the same pressures she traditionally did. Even now, Suki still travelled to and fro often. They’d had Yue, a beautiful daughter, a non-bender but the pregnancy had put a strain on her. And knowing what happened to Mai, it had been mutually decided that one child was more than enough.


Sokka had been more than overjoyed to see her. He’d bear-hugged her for a solid 5 minutes as soon as she set foot in the room. Over the years, her brother had only grown taller and stronger, and his hugs too had changed.


“Let go… Sokka… choking… me.”


He’d let her go his eyesight immediately falling to her neck where instead of the 13 year old yellow band with its wooden pendant, lay once again their mother’s old necklace in its seat of honour.


She’d seen his face go through a range of emotions: shock, anger, concern before settling into a grim line. “What happened?” And as she’d looked at him blue eyes to blue eyes the exact same shade and shape their mother’s had been, it had felt like she couldn’t stop the flow of tears that she’d kept at bay next to Suki. Here was her brother, her best friend, her partner in crime. They’d barely ever been apart since childhood. If he couldn’t understand her, who would? It was like a dam had broken somewhere and an inescapable torrent of emotion had just burst forth. He held her through it all. She was shepherded inside and made to sit on furs. A mug was thrust in her hands and the whole story came tumbling out. The whys the whens.


Somewhere in the middle of it all had come a small voice, “Mom-?”


“Room, Bumi. Now.” You couldn’t say no to Sokka’s Tribe Chieftain voice.


And the horrible sobbing had gotten worse. It had felt like all the frustration and fear that had accumulated over the week had been leaking out. Then some time later there had been the rambling “they’re all going to hate me, all of them, what have I done? I have kids. What will Dad say? He will hate me, won’t me. I’ve caused an international incident and now we’re in trouble.” Somewhere along the way, her speech became incoherent. After around 15 minutes of this she’d just started hiccupping.


Patting her back, Sokka tried his best to console her “Shh shhh. Okay. Okay. First: Dad will totally understand. You know he was never fully on board with you marrying Aang in the first place, clash of cultures and all. Second: as the leader of the Southern Water Tribe, I can guarantee you that there will be no repercussions. We are strong in ourselves and Aang’s not one to take out his anger on others.” Katara sniffled, not one to argue with that logic.


“Finally, the kids will understand. Might take ‘em some time but they’re good kids and they love their mom. It won’t be easy, but we’ll get you past this. We will. You trust me, don’t you?” It had taken a lot more convincing and talking. They’d even called an ‘Emergency Meeting’ with their dad who, as promised, was completely understanding once he’d been told of what had happened.


Chief Hakoda, now with streaks of white in his hair, had never been one to mince words, “I support you, no matter what. You’re my daughter and nothing could take away from that. But you have to realise that we’re simply not a progressive people. Sokka and I will always have your back but I can’t say that for everyone else and you know it.” She'd nodded. She loved her home but she knew all too well that there was still a lot of regressive thinking prevalent, courtesy of the Northerners who’d brought their outdated values and prejudices with them when they moved down South. It was sometimes the only reason Suki left to go to Kyoshi, and Sokka would then get her back a few weeks later. Attitudes were changing, but not fast enough.


She was pulled from her thoughts by her father staring at her sharply. “Katara, I’ll ask you this just once. Are you sure?” His forehead crinkled in worry.


You’re my forever girl


“Yes.”


“Okay then. We’ll consult the elders tomorrow since there really isn’t too much of a precedent for this,” and as she’d moved to head home, Sokka had insisted that she stay with him.


The next day, she’d had to state her case to the elders who had all looked at her distastefully, but knowing her status as healer and war hero, couldn’t do much else to ‘punish’ her. She’d then had to explain to the kids what had happened, and it hadn’t been pretty. They had wanted to know if they’d see their father again. They had wanted to know if he still loved them, if he’d fought for them. They had wanted to know if it was their fault, her two eldest especially.


“What about Tenzin? Tenzin needs me! The world needs him! 
“You aren’t even going to argue about Bumi and Kya? You never take them with you, always praise Tenzin in front of them even after we’ve argued about this multiple times! They feel guilty about disappointing you, about not being airbenders. Do they matter so little?”
“Stop putting words in my mouth Katara, you know as well as I do that it’s imperative that I stay in Tenzin’s life to rebuild my culture. I don’t intend to die as the last airbender.”
“Oh it always comes back to YOUR CULTURE doesn’t it? ...”


“Of course he wanted to stay with all of you. He loves you all. None of this is your fault.”


It had taken a while to convince them. Even then, she was sure they hadn’t grasped the magnitude of the situation. Bumi was 12 so he did, and she watched in pain as he withdrew into himself. He’d always been a loud child and an incurable prankster. Always one to live up to his namesake, but he’d gone quiet. The only person who could bring him out of his funk had been Sokka occasionally. The kid adored his uncle.


8 year old Tenzin was still mainly confused and kept expecting his dad back any day now. It was always depressing answering his excited “Is he here yet?” with a negative every time. Perhaps it was a good thing he had a bubbly Yue his own age to keep him occupied.


Katara honestly thought Kya had been handling it well. She’d always hero worshipped her mom. There had been some crying but nothing they couldn’t handle. Until one day, she came hurtling through the door and screamed, “It is not our fault he’s gone, it’s YOURS!” at Katara. Apparently she’d heard some women talking earlier. Nothing flattering had been said.

Surprisingly, it was Bumi who had risen to her defence immediately. He’d yelled back at his sister to “Stop yelling at Mom!” and then pulled her away. Katara had felt her heart physically breaking.


She had heard the whispers too, try as she might to pretend they didn’t exist. Her own people calling her horrible things. Home breaker. Soulless bitch. Slut. She’s going to die alone now. She thinks she’s better than the Avatar? He can do so much better than her. This is why women shouldn’t be taught bending. Makes them think they’re superior to us all. Those poor kids…


There had even been quite a few women who with the best of intentions had given her tips on how to ‘appease her man’. Each suggestion had made her more nauseous than the last.


A week ago the council had nearly pushed her out. Apparently her prowess as healer and master waterbender meant nothing if she couldn’t hold her home together. Sokka had gone ballistic that day. Parents of her students wouldn’t meet her eyes and some had even stopped their kids from attending her academy, afraid that she’d ‘rub off on them’. These were people she’d healed. With whom she’d spent cold winter nights huddled in the communal hut singing their poems. Telling their stories.


It had felt like each day the fight had gotten worse. Her kids were angry at her, her community hated her and she was just so so tired. So that night, a month later, she went to Sokka in his room. “I should call him back, shouldn’t I?” Sokka startled, dropping the boomerang he was sharpening. “This will all go away. We might be happy again. I’ll apologise. Say it was hormones or something. Convince the elders somehow. They already think poorly of me, it can't get much worse. At least the kids will have an easier time of it,” she said morosely.


Sokka moved to grip both her hands tightly. He sounded panicked when he finally spoke “No, Katara. Don’t do that. Please.”


“Why not? It’s the easiest way out. Besides what do you want me to do? We both know that this can’t go on. I can’t stay here like this”


“Okay listen, I really didn’t want to say this, but please don’t go back to him. Aang is my friend too, and I was glad you two found each other though I really could have done without the oogies.”

“Hey, as if you and Suki are much better, and where exactly ARE you going with this?”


“It’s rude to interrupt your elders, Katara. Where did you learn those manners. Let’s sit. We need to discuss this. Back to what I was saying. I’m glad you found each other but all those years when you were with him, it was like you weren’t yourself anymore.”


“What do you me-”


“No, no listen to me! You’ve gotten yourself captured to free prisoners, you’ve fought and healed on the frontlines of a war and travelled all over the world but after you got with him, you just… changed? I don’t know when or why. I can’t pinpoint it. But it was like a ghost Katara. You have to understand, I grew up with that terrifying girl. To see her vanish in front of my eyes was… awful. Now I see a spark of her back in you, and I can’t let that go. Give me some time, we’ll figure out something else. Just don’t call him back.”


Katara was struck dumb. With wide eyes she asked, “Did... did all of you think that?” Sokka actually looked a little sheepish and said, “Well, Suki and I may have talked about this once or twice, but you know dad likes to keep his own opinion, and I don’t really know about anyone else. It’s been so long.”


And it had. The last time she’d met Zuko or Toph had been when? At Suyin’s birth? That had been 6 years ago. Toph hated the ice. She couldn’t see on it and Zuko had an entire country to run. As for Katara, she had stuff to do here too right? Take care of her family, heal, help Sokka. She wished she could meet them again. Toph would say something crass and sarcastic while Zuko would… she liked to think he would be there for her too. They had grown close to each other in the summer before his marriage. She remembered sparring at dawn, afternoons by the turtleduck pond, quiet conversations by nightfall. Then she’d gotten married and moved back here. They’d kept up with their letters for a while but then those had stopped too. She wondered why.


And there she had her answer. It must have struck her brother at the same time because his eyes lit up.


“You could visit Toph.”


“I could visit Zuko.”


“I mean, that’s cool too. Zuko did promise that we’d have a place there whenever we wanted it. I remember he swore on his honour,” he snorted. “Besides, he has a whole palace, and the kids haven’t seen the Fire Nation yet have they?” Sokka asked.


“No, they haven’t. It’s summer now, the Cherry Blossom might be in bloom.”


“Then that’s decided. There’s a merchant ship docked. It leaves in two days. Go with them.”


“Two days! Sokka, are you sure?”


“You doubt me? MY plans? Tell me ONE instance when they’ve failed. Ever.”


“Seriously? We might just end up sitting here all night.”


And that’s what they did. Midway through, Suki joined them, and Katara felt lighter than she had in a long time.

Notes:

Edit: finally getting myself to re-read this stuff after my beta pointed out the grammatical errors. Glad to say that there aren't too many inconsistencies though I feel that I ought to clear some stuff up. The Air Nomads (according to me, a lot of meta, and other fics I've read) didn't have the concept of a nuclear family. Hence, there was no concept of divorce, definitely not something that Aang would remember at age 12. The Water Tribes value the Tui and La dynamic and hold sacred the institution of marriage. Especially the North that has distilled and purified its sexist traditions over nearly a century of being closed off to the rest of the world and they have set up camp in the South. Thus, there isn't much of a precedent for what Katara has done and is really brave, considering the community she lives in. This is why it would be relatively easy to call Aang back because there was no paperwork or excessive formality to be done.
Also, Gods above is this chapter sad. The sadness continues for a while before getting better. I commend those readers who've stuck with me so far and promise the new readers that I've got good stuff in store for our girl too.
Idk how the Avatar Studios news is going to impact the fandom and the ATLA world, please bear in mind that this was written a fair couple of months before news of this and the 15 yr time jump got out.