Chapter 4 - Everyone Needs A Little Time

Katara, Kya, and Bumi checked into a nice hotel in down town Republic City. It was a very nice, classy hotel with a spa, a bar, a big pool, hot tubs, and a dining area. The lounge was pretty nice too. It was a big room, with a bunch of couches surrounding a fireplace. Bumi and Kya had their own hotel room, which was down the hall from Katara's suite. It was around 10pm when Kya wandered down the hall to knock on her mother's door. Katara answered, and let her in.

"What's up, sweetie?" Katara asked.

"Are you and daddy getting a divorce?" Kya asked, so sweetly and innocently. Yet, there was sadness in her tone.

She watched as her question made Katara freeze. Katara didn't know how much of the argument her children had heard, but she was hoping she didn't hear that part where Katara mentioned them splitting up. The last thing Katara needed right now was more family drama. She was just hoping to spend a nice night in the hotel away from Aang, and the tension they'd just created in the previous hours.

"Don't worry about that now, sweetie," Katara said, climbing back into her bed. She patted on the empty space beside her for Kya to come join her. Kya jumped up, and curled up next to her mother.

"Good," Kya said, hugging her mother, "Because I didn't want to start any trouble with this whole sibling rivalry thing- Or, well, that's what Bumi refers to it as."

Katara laughed at the goofy nickname. She loved how her kids reminded her of how she and her brother was when she was their age. She smiled at Kya, and Kya smiled back. She pulled Kya into a closer embrace, and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

"I don't know how much of that little argument I had with your father," Katara said, "But we will work things out. Your father has a lot of owning up to do to you and your older brother. I'm so sorry I never noticed it before."

Kya squeezed her mother reassuringly, "It's okay. I don't know if it'll be the same though."

Katara looked down at her, with sad cerulean eyes.

"Like now whenever he spends time with us it's going to be awkward and feel forced," Kya admitted. "Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut."

"I'll talk to him about that, too," Katara said, "I'll make sure it won't be awkward or forced. It's about time you guys get to go on vacation. After all, it's spring break."

Immediately, Kya thought about Kesuk. She told him she would be able to hang out all of spring break, since she didn't have any planned vacations. She was hoping she would be able to get to know him better, and become his girlfriend, officially.

"Maybe," Kya said with a shrug. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed. See you tomorrow, mom."

"Night, sweetie."

Kya found her way to Kariana's house from the hotel. She had snuck out late at night, and knocked on Kariana's window. Kariana was still awake, and she had just gotten off the telephone with Ryuu.

Kariana opened her window, and helped Kya climb in. She then flopped back into her bed, and scooted over to make room for Kya. Kya crawled on, and sat up near the head of the bed.

"How'd it go?" Kariana asked.

"Bad," Kya said, dragging out the word.

Kariana sat up and faced her. She looked at her with concerned eyes. She expected tears to come after a long sigh from Kya, which sounded sad, but when she spoke she sounded apathetic.

"My mom left with me and Bumi and we're staying in a hotel," Kya said.

Kariana gasped. She froze for a second with complete terror. She could never imagine Katara and Aang splitting up so suddenly. It must have been one hell of a fight.

"What did she say to him?" Kariana asked.

"Basically everything," Kya explained, "She actually understood my pain. It made me so happy. And now she's saying that she'll work it out with my dad, so that it'll finally be equal."

"But won't it feel forced?" Kariana asked.

"That's exactly what I said," Kya said, "but then my mom explained that she would make sure it wasn't. For once in a while, I'm feeling hopeful."

Kariana smiled, "That's so great." But she didn't sound too happy. Kya immediately detected this, and asked her about it.

"It's my parents," Kariana said with a sad sigh.

What is it with our parents and always having problems? Kya wondered. Her heart almost stopped. What could possibly going wrong with Sokka and Suki's relationship? They were soulmates, just like Katara and Aang.

"Oh no," Kya cried, "What ha-"

"No, it's not like your situation," Kariana said. "They said I can't date Ryuu because I'm too young."

Kya gasped, "Oh no! That's terrible!"

"What's worse is that they were our age when they were dating."

Kya nodded. She knew the whole story; while Aang was trying to get Katara to notice him and have romantic feelings for him, Sokka was going out with Suki, and basically doing the same thing. Only Sokka wasn't with Suki everyday like he was with Katara and Aang, so it was a lot more difficult for him to be with her.

"Honestly though, just date him behind their backs," Kya said.

Kariana nodded, "I will, but it's going to be hard. After you left, my dad sat down with me and we talked for almost an hour about boys and sexual shit. It was kinda awkward, but I understand why he did it."

Kya nodded.

"What about you?" Kariana asked, "Did you even tell your parents about Kesuk?"

Kya shook her head, "I don't think I had the chance to with everything that happened tonight."

"True."

The two girls laid back down on the bed. Kya put her hands behind her head and stared at the ceiling for a bit. Kariana was curled up on her right side, facing Kya, but she was zoned out. There was a window on the wall Kariana was facing, and she was looking out at the dark abyss Republic City was in the middle of the night.

Kariana was used to the boring view of darkness at this hour. Usually the city lights would shine through her windows, the constant honking of vehicle horns sometimes kept her awake, and the loudness from people walking around didn't help either. Kariana favored the city at these dead hours, she enjoyed the silence. She always wished she lived on Air Temple Island to be away from all the noise.

Kya was dazing off, dreaming about all the possible fun vacations she could take with her dad, now that someone had finally given him a well-deserved reality check. She dreamed of going to Ember Island to surf the waves, and build giant sand castles. She really wanted to go down to the South Pole to visit her grandfather and just be in more touch with the culture she was more attached to.

It's not that Kya didn't like being part air-nomad, it's how Aang directed most of his teachings about the air-nomad culture to Tenzin. When she was younger, before Tenzin was born, she appreciated listening to the stories at bed time of Aang's past. That was when she learned she was "mixed." Plus, she's a water bender, so she's bound to be more connected to the water tribe. It was just more natural to her.

"Are you going to spend the night or go back to the hotel?" Kariana's voice broke her chain of thought, and reminded Kya that she wasn't even in her own house.

"Oh yeah," She said, "I should probably get back so that my mom doesn't wake up and notice I'm gone."

Kariana helped Kya leave through her bedroom window, and wished her good luck before Kya ran off into the darkness.

There was no problem getting back into the hotel room the night before. Bumi was sound asleep, and since he was such a heavy sleeper, he never heard her leave or come back. It was still dark, and an unusual time for any interactions in the city. She flopped into the other full sized bed, and immediately fell asleep. Unfortunately, her slumber only felt as if she slept for 5 minutes.

When she fell asleep, it was 4 in the morning, and when she woke up it was 8. Her mother and Bumi were peering over her, yelling at her to wake up. Kya slowly opened her eyes to see Katara, who was holding up her already packed back, pointing to it, and yelling words that Kya's exhausted mind was too incapable of comprehending yet.

"Kya, come on already!" Bumi whined.

But Kya just stared through him with tired eyes, that were already beginning to close again. She heard her mother grunt angrily, as her eyes completely shut once again. Before she knew it though, she was woken up by what felt like a mini waterfall collapsing onto her face.

She sprung up, coughing to catch her breath, and screeching at the top of her lungs. Katara angrily crossed her arms across her chest, while Kya threw a fit.

"Mom, that was not cool!" She cried, "I didn't get much sleep at all! What's the rush for anyway?"

Katara sighed, "Check out is at 9 o'clock sharp. I needed to make sure you were up and running."

Kya glanced over at the digital clock that stood on a nightstand beside her bed. It was barely a few minutes after 8 o'clock, and her mother was already rushing her. She swung her feet over the bed, and hopped out. Katara realized she was still in yesterday's clothes, and thought it was suspicious. Kya was looking around for a new outfit, not realizing that her belongings were already packed, thanks to Katara.

"You said you didn't get much sleep?" Katara asked.

Kya shook her head, "I fell asleep late. 4 hours felt like 5 minutes."

"Why are you in yesterday's clothes?" Katara asked.

"I guess I just forgot to change," Kya said, with a chuckle, laughing at herself. "Speaking of which, where's all my stuff?"

Katara grunted angrily and rolled her eyes. She held up Kya's bag, containing her perfectly packed clothes for the previous night. Kya jumped with excitement and skipped over to Katara. She grabbed her bag, and latched onto Katara for a big hug.

"You packed my stuff for me?" Kya asked. "You're too sweet, Mom. I love you!"

Instead of being angry with Kya, for having to back her clothing for her, Katara decided to brush it off, and hugged her back. She sat down on Kya's momentary bed, and crossed her arms. Her face was wiped with an expression of sorrow. Kya immediately noticed this, and sat beside her on the foot of the bed.

"What's up, mom?" Kya asked. "Are you still not ready to go home?"

Katara let out a distressed sigh, "No, not really."

Bumi sat down on his bed, which was right next to Kya's. He sat there staring at Kya and Katara, listening to the conversation.

"I thought you were going to make everything okay with Dad?" Kya asked.

Katara looked around before she answered. She was just thinking about their fight, and then how she just left him there with Tenzin. She called him out for something he was doing too much, which was spending too much time solely with Tenzin, and then took their other two kids with her and left. Now he was there alone with Tenzin, which only provided him with more time alone with Tenzin.

Then she thought about what she said to Aang, how she talked about splitting up. She knew she loved him, but now she was finding out this whole other side of him that she never knew was true. She only thought Kya and Bumi were just making up lies in the past. It was so hard for them to convince her. She felt as if she'd been hit by a giant truck, and then repetitively ran over. She felt like absolute crap, and as if she neglected her two children for their entire lives.

"I just can't believe I never noticed what he was doing until now," Katara said, tears beginning to flood her eyes.

Bumi switched over to Kya's bed to sit beside Katara. He put an arm around her, and hugged her close.

"I'm proud that you even noticed," Bumi said. "It doesn't matter how long it took you to notice. Once you did, you spoke up immediately. You did the right thing, Mom."

Katara looked up at her son and smiled. She hugged him back, and pulled him in so she could kiss the top of his head. She wrapped her other arm around Kya, who instantly accepted the hug, and curled up to her mother's side. She wrapped both her arms around Katara, and nuzzled her head into her side.

"It's going to be awkward coming back to the house," Katara said. "I mean, with your father and all. But, I just have to do what I did before and speak up immediately."

Bumi smiled and nodded, "We can be at your side if you need us to be."

"No," Katara answered. "I have something to talk about with him that'll have to be just between me and your father. I threatened to split up with him, but I don't think I meant it."

"You better not have," Kya interjected, "As unfair as it is in that household, I like us as a whole. I hope you can work it out."

"Me too, sweetie."

By the time it was 11 o'clock in the morning, Katara, Bumi, and Kya were back home. Kya and Bumi went into their own rooms, while Katara went around the temple looking for Aang. She wasn't surprised to see he wasn't in their bedroom. He was usually out in the Temple Grounds, practicing bending or in a meditation session with Tenzin.

Katara snuck into the meditation dojo, surprised to only see Aang sitting there. He was clearly in deep though, as his eyebrows were furrowed together, like they always would be whenever he was focused on something. She knew he didn't know she was there. She glanced around for her youngest son, but was surprised to see he was no where in sight, what so ever.

She walked up behind Aang, and stood there for a moment. She had her hands placed on her hips, as she was thinking for a good way to start a conversation, without having it immediately turn into an argument. She knew if she asked where Tenzin was, he would take it the wrong way, and it would start an argument. She was stuck in a thought, and didn't notice that Aang had shifted his position slightly, and now knew that someone was in the room with him. His first conclusion was that it was just Tenzin.

"Any reason why you're standing there and not joining me, Tenzin?" He asked.

He opened one eye, and took in the surroundings that stood in front of him, first. No one was in front of him, so therefore, the person had to be standing behind him. He twisted himself around, to face who he thought was Tenzin, and was caught off-guard, realizing it was Katara. He turned back around, and slouched his back.

"Oh," Was the only sound that came out of his mouth. He sounded disappointed.

When he looked up at Katara, all he saw was that her arms were on her hips, and since she was in deep thought, she looked angry. He didn't realize that she was actually there to make things better, though he was hoping for some kind of civil discussion.

"That came out wrong," Aang rushed to correct himself. He didn't want his short remark to be taken the wrong way, and have that start an argument either.

Katara was still thinking about ways to start off the conversation, so the only thing she responded with was a demand.

"Stand up."

"Um, okay," Aang said, quickly jumping up to his feet. He turned around to face her, and stood there observing her with a nervous expression on his face.

Katara avoided eye contact at first. She was still at a loss for words. The only way she could think of doing it was the "ripping off the bandaid" solution. She sighed, and then looked back up at him.

"Look," She started, "I didn't mean to scare you the other night, when I threatened to split up."

How else was I supposed to feel? Aang thought. But he knew not to dare say that to her face.

"I don't know how to explain how I felt when I found out about how you were treating Kya and Bumi," Katara continued. "But I was hurt for them, and I was also angry. Obviously, I had to confront you about it. But I didn't mean to threaten to split us up. I still love you, I'm just furious with you right now. I just hope you learned something last night."

Aang half-smiled, "I love you, too. I'm glad you confronted me about it, because it definitely taught me a lesson. So yes, I absolutely did learn something."

Katara smiled, "Good."

Without them realizing, they'd began to slowly close the distance between them. Before they knew it, they were standing right in front of each other, and gazing into each other's eyes for a short moment.

"So do you forgive me?" Aang asked.

"Not completely," Katara said.

"Do you forgive me enough for me to be able to hug you?" Aang asked, looking very hopeful, which made Katara laugh. It took Katara a moment, but she eventually nodded. Who could resist a hug, especially from the person you love the most?

Aang pulled her into his embrace, and rested his head on top of hers. They stood there for a moment, wrapped in each other's arms. But then, Katara looked up, and stood up on her toes so that she could kiss him on the lips. Aang was taken by surprise, since he thought she would be too mad to do more than hug her, but he went with it.

His hand traveled up to the back of her head, to deepen the kiss. Before they knew it, they were practically making out, and rubbing their hands all over each other's backs. Though Aang's head immediately travelled too far, and he decided to slide his hands down to her bottom. He attempted to goose her, but then she remembered how angry she still was with him, and immediately pulled away, slapping him across the face in the process.

"Hey!" He cried out.

She waved a finger at him, the motion that meant no, "Not-uh. You don't get any of that yet."

Aang frowned, "I'm sorry, I just thought since-"

"Don't forget that I'm still mad at you, and you have wounds to heal." Katara motioned head, pointing at the door which led to rest of the temple, where Kya and Bumi were in. "That's all you, boo."

"You're right," Aang said with a slight exhale.

"I'm always right," Katara teased him with a kiss on the cheek. Then she proceeded to walk out of the dojo. Aang had to apologize to his kids on his own, and that's exactly what Katara was implying. When she was on her way out of the dojo, she was well aware that Aang was watching her walk away. She couldn't stop him from admiring from a distance.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!