[Katara calls Ikki and Jinora family for a reason. She can't quite face being a grandmother. She can't quite face being married and having children and grandchildren and being widowed and staying behind and fading away. And it's for that reason that when Masaomi calls her a grandmother, a shadow of pain flickers across her face, a crack appears in her resolve of calm.
They are family. She'd never make them ashamed of that. She'd never let them see how much their presence her rocks her down to her very core and leaves her shaken.
And she is. Shaken. She's happy and full of life and terrified and alone and so, so lost that she welcomes the little responsibilities, the things that she can focus on doing for others so that she doesn't have to think about herself, and where this leaves her, and the dark side of what happened to Aang. What happened to Sokka.
She's going to be alone.
She's going to be a legend, the Avatar's wife, the Mighty Katara, and a matriarch of a new generation of airbenders, and they are all going to leave her alone.
And he's right. She can't afford not to be okay. She can't afford to be shaken. They need her. Aang needs her. Sokka and Zuko and Toph and Roku can't handle children. Not the same way she can. She can't afford to break right now.]
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They are family. She'd never make them ashamed of that. She'd never let them see how much their presence her rocks her down to her very core and leaves her shaken.
And she is. Shaken. She's happy and full of life and terrified and alone and so, so lost that she welcomes the little responsibilities, the things that she can focus on doing for others so that she doesn't have to think about herself, and where this leaves her, and the dark side of what happened to Aang. What happened to Sokka.
She's going to be alone.
She's going to be a legend, the Avatar's wife, the Mighty Katara, and a matriarch of a new generation of airbenders, and they are all going to leave her alone.
And he's right. She can't afford not to be okay. She can't afford to be shaken. They need her. Aang needs her. Sokka and Zuko and Toph and Roku can't handle children. Not the same way she can. She can't afford to break right now.]
No. I can do this.
[Think of Ikki's laughter, Jinora's smile.
Let the future fade away.]
At least so far.
[But her brows are drawn together now.]