Day One: Beginnings

Kanna woke to the sound of muffled sobs. With stiff fingers she lit the oil lamp on the ledge above her bedroll, illuminating the room and revealing her young granddaughter curled in a ball in the bed she shared with her brother, her shoulders shaking. With a few steps Kanna was at their bedside, and she brushed a hand over her granddaughter's hair. "Katara, what's wrong?"

"I had a bad dream," Katara mumbled, and Kanna's heart broke as she noticed the little girl's lip tremble. Katara had not gone a week without nightmares since her mother's death three months earlier. Not wanting to wake her grandson, Kanna scooped up her granddaughter and carried her back to her bedroll.

With a small sigh, she met Katara's deep blue gaze. "I know things haven't been so great lately, but I want to tell you that it won't always be this way." The young girl had such an adult look of disbelief that Kanna didn't know whether to chuckle or cry. "No, it's true. There was once peace, not just here but everywhere. The Avatar, master of all four elements, kept harmony among the four nations. He gave justice to the oppressed, protection to the weak, and hope to the downtrodden. Almost a century ago he vanished, and some say the Avatar is gone for good—" Katara's eyes widened— "but some believe he will return one day and restore balance to our broken world."

Katara snuggled under the furs and shivered excitedly. "Do you think he really will, Gran-Gran?"

"Do you?"

After a moment Katara declared, "Yes! And he's going to come and save us and things will be good again, just like in your story."

Kanna smiled as she pulled the furs up to Katara's chin. "There is always hope, little one."

Okay, the prompt suggested fluffy season 1, but when I heard the word "Beginnings" this just popped into my head. This is the first of seven shorts for Kataang Week, and I decided that for a challenge I would write drabbles or drabble multiples (200 words, 300, 400, etc.). Today's is 300 words.