The Eternal Lost Lurker
18th November 2006, 12:27 PM
Kanna gazed wistfully up at the waning moon, washing the icy seas with its
shimmering silver luminescence, as it had since before the time of man. It
was a night very much like this when her precious little Waterbender was
born...
--------------------------------------------
"Great spirits of the Ocean and the Moon, please bless the birth of this
child, may you be strong yet gentle, ferocious and yet meek, calm but able
to give rise to great power in time of need--OH, FOR THE SPIRITS' SAKES,
WILL SOMEONE *PLEASE* QUIET SOKKA DOWN?"
"Sorry, Gran-Gran!" Hakoda grinned weakly, darting from his wife's side to
attend to the noisy toddler in the corner. Shaking her head, Kanna returned
her attention to the sleeping pallet, where her daughter lay, slick with
sweat and flushed with fever, straining as she fought to expel the new life
from within her.
Fifteen agonising minutes later, the plaintive cries of a newborn baby girl
filled the tent. Sokka, who had quieted down, joined his father in staring
wonderously at the tiny, sticky creature.
"Great spirits, she's beautiful," Hakoda breathed.
Kanna split the umbilical cord with an edge of flint, then gently cleaned
the infant off with the warm water her son-in-law had prepared during the
birthing rites. It was not quite as hot as she'd have liked, despite having
been boiling minutes earlier; still, this was one of the drawbacks to living
at the South Pole. Wrapping the child in a soft blanket, she handed her to
her mother.
"Now, Kya, with the blessing of the spirits of the Moon and the Ocean, name
your daughter."
Kya looked down at the girl, who had begun to doze lightly, and smiled.
"Katara. I'll call her Katara."
--------------------------------------------
"Gran-Gran!"
Kanna smiled as the six-year-old girl ran up to her, poncho covered in
slush. "Good afternoon, Katara dear."
"Gran-Gran, look what I can do!" Katara gathered the slush adorning her
clothing into a ball in her hands, and held it out. After a moment, she
withdrew her hands, and the ball of snow hung suspended in midair between
them.
"My goodness! What a talented child you are!" Kanna said, smiling. "Now, why
don't you go show that lazy brother of yours a thing or two?"
"Okay!" Katara ran off, giggling. A moment later, Kanna turned to walk
inside the tent.
"Is something wrong, Mother?" Kya asked, looking up from where she sat
mending a fishing net.
"Katara has the gift," Kanna replied. "That child is a Waterbender. A
natural!"
Kya glanced up sharply. "A Waterbender? Are you certain, Mother?"
"Child, I know a Waterbender when I see one. Your daughter is the first born
in this tribe in my lifetime to have the gift. It must be nurtured."
Kya nodded. "I understand. Please, Mother, teach her."
Kanna sighed. "I wish that I could. But..."
The younger woman stood, and crossed to face her mother. She placed her
hands on her shoulders and looked at her seriously. "Promise me, Mother.
Promise me that you will see my daughter do what I could never do."
Kanna blinked at the determined gaze of her daughter. "Yes, yes, of course,
Kya."
--------------------------------------------
Kanna knelt, sobbing, over the still form of her daughter. The glow gently
faded from her hands as she reluctantly gave up trying to heal the wounds
which had stolen her precious child from her. She had left her home tribe
before she had finished learning the advanced healing forms; she now
regretted that rashness deeply, for it may well have cost her the life of
her only child.
"Gran-Gran?" the young voice asked timidly. Kanna steeled herself. She did
not want to do this...it wasn't right.
"Is Mom...she's okay, isn't she?"
Kanna gathered herself, forcing her tears to abate as much as possible. She
turned to face her eight-year-old granddaughter. "Katara...your mother...I'm
sorry. She's...gone."
Katara stared at her for a long moment, then threw herself on top of her
mother's body, pleading for the badly burned woman to wake up, to stand, to
be okay.
Kanna could only watch, the tears streaming down her face.
--------------------------------------------
"I need--agh!--to find--ARGH!--a Waterbending master, Gran-Gran!"
"What you NEED to do," Sokka's cracking voice cut in, "is stop playing
around and take care of that huge pile of orca-lion skins. We've got little
kids running around half-naked, and they're not gonna get any less naked if
you don't do something about the orca-lion skins!"
Katara huffed in irritation at her brother, flinging a large ball of
barely-unfrozen water at him before marching off in high dudgeon. After
grumbling, Sokka skulked off as well.
Kanna chuckled as she watched her grandchildren walk away. "So like me at
that age..." She sighed as she looked down at her hands. "Kya...I'm sorry. I
truly want to keep my promise to you, but...what use am I? What use am I to
that child..."
--------------------------------------------
"What use are you, you old bag?! You think you've got the luxury of standin'
around starin' at the moon? This ain't a cruise ship, ya know!" A sharp jab
to the back brought Kanna out of her reverie, and she grunted as she
staggered from the force of the blow.
Glowering briefly at the Fire Nation soldier who had struck her, she bowed
her head and assumed an air of meek submission. She stared down at her
hands, chained in heavy iron manacles, and allowed herself to be lost once
more in thought as she was forced off the deck of the ship into the hold
with the other prisoners--the other women and children of her tribe.
*I'm so sorry, Katara. There's so much I couldn't teach you...and so much
more I myself could never learn...I pray you have fared better than your old
Gran-Gran. And...I hope, wherever you are, Kya, you can forgive an old woman
her foolishness.*
The ship sailed on, uncaring of the silent silver tear the moon above seemed
to shed in passing.
****
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" and all associated names and trademarks are the
property of Viacom International, Inc., and are used here without
permission,
for fair-use, non-profit purposes.
================================
As for the PS3 being "an engineering
masterpiece"--so was the Spruce Goose.
That turkey didn't fly either
~~*~~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins (AT) anifics (DOT) com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request (AT) anifics (DOT) com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'
shimmering silver luminescence, as it had since before the time of man. It
was a night very much like this when her precious little Waterbender was
born...
--------------------------------------------
"Great spirits of the Ocean and the Moon, please bless the birth of this
child, may you be strong yet gentle, ferocious and yet meek, calm but able
to give rise to great power in time of need--OH, FOR THE SPIRITS' SAKES,
WILL SOMEONE *PLEASE* QUIET SOKKA DOWN?"
"Sorry, Gran-Gran!" Hakoda grinned weakly, darting from his wife's side to
attend to the noisy toddler in the corner. Shaking her head, Kanna returned
her attention to the sleeping pallet, where her daughter lay, slick with
sweat and flushed with fever, straining as she fought to expel the new life
from within her.
Fifteen agonising minutes later, the plaintive cries of a newborn baby girl
filled the tent. Sokka, who had quieted down, joined his father in staring
wonderously at the tiny, sticky creature.
"Great spirits, she's beautiful," Hakoda breathed.
Kanna split the umbilical cord with an edge of flint, then gently cleaned
the infant off with the warm water her son-in-law had prepared during the
birthing rites. It was not quite as hot as she'd have liked, despite having
been boiling minutes earlier; still, this was one of the drawbacks to living
at the South Pole. Wrapping the child in a soft blanket, she handed her to
her mother.
"Now, Kya, with the blessing of the spirits of the Moon and the Ocean, name
your daughter."
Kya looked down at the girl, who had begun to doze lightly, and smiled.
"Katara. I'll call her Katara."
--------------------------------------------
"Gran-Gran!"
Kanna smiled as the six-year-old girl ran up to her, poncho covered in
slush. "Good afternoon, Katara dear."
"Gran-Gran, look what I can do!" Katara gathered the slush adorning her
clothing into a ball in her hands, and held it out. After a moment, she
withdrew her hands, and the ball of snow hung suspended in midair between
them.
"My goodness! What a talented child you are!" Kanna said, smiling. "Now, why
don't you go show that lazy brother of yours a thing or two?"
"Okay!" Katara ran off, giggling. A moment later, Kanna turned to walk
inside the tent.
"Is something wrong, Mother?" Kya asked, looking up from where she sat
mending a fishing net.
"Katara has the gift," Kanna replied. "That child is a Waterbender. A
natural!"
Kya glanced up sharply. "A Waterbender? Are you certain, Mother?"
"Child, I know a Waterbender when I see one. Your daughter is the first born
in this tribe in my lifetime to have the gift. It must be nurtured."
Kya nodded. "I understand. Please, Mother, teach her."
Kanna sighed. "I wish that I could. But..."
The younger woman stood, and crossed to face her mother. She placed her
hands on her shoulders and looked at her seriously. "Promise me, Mother.
Promise me that you will see my daughter do what I could never do."
Kanna blinked at the determined gaze of her daughter. "Yes, yes, of course,
Kya."
--------------------------------------------
Kanna knelt, sobbing, over the still form of her daughter. The glow gently
faded from her hands as she reluctantly gave up trying to heal the wounds
which had stolen her precious child from her. She had left her home tribe
before she had finished learning the advanced healing forms; she now
regretted that rashness deeply, for it may well have cost her the life of
her only child.
"Gran-Gran?" the young voice asked timidly. Kanna steeled herself. She did
not want to do this...it wasn't right.
"Is Mom...she's okay, isn't she?"
Kanna gathered herself, forcing her tears to abate as much as possible. She
turned to face her eight-year-old granddaughter. "Katara...your mother...I'm
sorry. She's...gone."
Katara stared at her for a long moment, then threw herself on top of her
mother's body, pleading for the badly burned woman to wake up, to stand, to
be okay.
Kanna could only watch, the tears streaming down her face.
--------------------------------------------
"I need--agh!--to find--ARGH!--a Waterbending master, Gran-Gran!"
"What you NEED to do," Sokka's cracking voice cut in, "is stop playing
around and take care of that huge pile of orca-lion skins. We've got little
kids running around half-naked, and they're not gonna get any less naked if
you don't do something about the orca-lion skins!"
Katara huffed in irritation at her brother, flinging a large ball of
barely-unfrozen water at him before marching off in high dudgeon. After
grumbling, Sokka skulked off as well.
Kanna chuckled as she watched her grandchildren walk away. "So like me at
that age..." She sighed as she looked down at her hands. "Kya...I'm sorry. I
truly want to keep my promise to you, but...what use am I? What use am I to
that child..."
--------------------------------------------
"What use are you, you old bag?! You think you've got the luxury of standin'
around starin' at the moon? This ain't a cruise ship, ya know!" A sharp jab
to the back brought Kanna out of her reverie, and she grunted as she
staggered from the force of the blow.
Glowering briefly at the Fire Nation soldier who had struck her, she bowed
her head and assumed an air of meek submission. She stared down at her
hands, chained in heavy iron manacles, and allowed herself to be lost once
more in thought as she was forced off the deck of the ship into the hold
with the other prisoners--the other women and children of her tribe.
*I'm so sorry, Katara. There's so much I couldn't teach you...and so much
more I myself could never learn...I pray you have fared better than your old
Gran-Gran. And...I hope, wherever you are, Kya, you can forgive an old woman
her foolishness.*
The ship sailed on, uncaring of the silent silver tear the moon above seemed
to shed in passing.
****
"Avatar: The Last Airbender" and all associated names and trademarks are the
property of Viacom International, Inc., and are used here without
permission,
for fair-use, non-profit purposes.
================================
As for the PS3 being "an engineering
masterpiece"--so was the Spruce Goose.
That turkey didn't fly either
~~*~~
The Eternal Lost Lurker
www.lurkerdrome.com
.---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
| Administrators - ffml-admins (AT) anifics (DOT) com |
| Unsubscribing - ffml-request (AT) anifics (DOT) com |
| Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject |
`---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'