1. Katara: A New Life

**Wisdom**

'There's wisdom in his eyes,' Katara thought the first time she saw her hew newborn baby boy. It was a wisdom that was so old, but still possessed the shine of one new to the world.

She looked up at the large, smiling man beside her with sleepy eyes. "Takur, look what we made." And with that statement she fell asleep on the cot, a sniffling baby boy held close to her breast.

* * *

The now six-month-old Taru bounced on top of a ball of water that Katara was bending for him in their small hut. This had always been his favorite game. He would start giggling madly the minute that spinning ball of water started bouncing him up and down. Katara looked at his happy face and her own split into a wide grin and she was soon laughing as well, her arms always moving at a constant rate, keeping the water spinning. 

Katara felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind and out of surprise, let the water fall. Taru fell onto the pillow below him with a tiny "Oof!"

"Takur!" Katara admonished her husband, "Taru could have been hurt!"

"But he wasn't." The large man gave her a kiss on the cheek. "And look how happy he is." They both looked over at their son who was shrieking and splashing happily on the water-soaked pillow.

Katara turned around to smile at Takur and gave him a kiss. Takur smirked and Katara felt fingers tickling her sides. Soon enough, they were both laughing and rolling on the floor, until Katara rolled away to gasp for breath.

"You're such a child," she said, giggling. But Takur didn't respond. He was staring at Taru. Katara turned to see what about their son had caught her husband's short attention span.

Obviously delighted at his parents' antics, Taru had begun to shriek even louder and was still splashing in the water, but when he lifted an arm up, the water followed.

"Honey," Takur whispered, "He's bending. Our son's a bender. It's Taru's first bending!" He was yelling by the end and ran over to the young boy to pick him up over his head and spin. Droplets of water flew off the young boy and mixed with his father's own happy tears. Standing still again, he held Taru to his chest and let the young boy oull on his dark ponytail. Takur looked down at his wife who was still kneeling on the ground.

"It's impossible," she was saying, "No bender has ever shown signs this early on."

"It just means he's going to be a great waterbender," Takur said, smoothing his large hand over her head. "Just like his mom."

She turned her dark, round face up to him and beamed. "Now, to clean up this mess." Katara stood up.

"Honey, let me." Takur practically bounced.

"You sure?" she asked, confused.

He just answered by solemnly handing Taru to her and carefully positioning himself into a bending stance. His face screwed in concentration, he lifted, both his arms in unison, and the water weakly followed.

His expressions and childlike enthusiasm brought a memory of a student she had once had. A student with a bald head and a happy outlook on life like she had never seen. A student that had saved the world. A student she had loved dearly, but whom she would never see again.

When her mind came back to present time, the sheepish face in front of her was her husband's, and water soaked the floor once more.

"Sorry, Katara. You know I'm not so good at this bending thing." Taking a closer look at his wife's face, he smiled kindly. "Got lost again?"

"Yeah, but I found my way back to you." Katara set Taru down in his crib and wrapped her arms around Takur's waist.

Takur rested his cheek against her head. "I'll always be there waiting for you. I'll wait forever if need be."

Katara smiled as she felt the rumble of his voice resonate through her body. "I'll always come back to you."

**A/N: And with that chapter, I kick off my debut into the fanfiction world once more. If you enjoyed it, that's great. I'll be writing more soon. I'm planning on writing this as a series of vignettes rather than a full-length story. And I'm really hoping that by working on this, I can improve on my prose writing. So stay tuned, guys. There'll be more to come soon! **


	2. Toph: Military Woman

**A/N: So, this is kind of a short little Toph interlude. I forgot to mention it before, but this story is going to be mainly Katara-centric. But I'll definitely be following what all the other characters are up to. Oh, I have plans for them. **

**I already have two other chapters in the works (one about Zuko, and one continuing with Katara), but this is the one that got finished first. So this is the one I'll be posting. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, but Takur and Taru are mine, plus any future original characters. So no taking without asking me. **

**Wisdom**

"Keep those stances solid!" Toph screamed at the soldiers lined up in front of her. She walked up and down the lines, head tilted upward, analyzing each of the men as they went through their Earthbending forms. "You all look like a bunch of Airbenders," she bellowed, "with those sissy movements! I could knock you down with my little toe!" The men grit their teeth and put more energy into their movements.

After the war ended, it got around that Toph had been the one who had taught the Avatar. Suddenly, all the Earth Kingdom cities were pleading her to come train their remaining troops. So she traveled the world, visiting the many Earth cities, and teaching week-long military training courses.

Normally she would have flat-out refused, but she agreed, if for no other reason than to "beat those wussy benders into shape so they can do their damn job." And beat them she did. She pushed them hard and they (generally) came out the better for it. Not that anyone she taught would ever admit to it. Her teaching style often created many bitter feelings.

Toph wouldn't have had it any other way.

One of the men at the back started grumbling and Toph was in his face faster than any of them could blink. She stared up at him hard with her blank eyes. "You got a problem, missy?" Toph had grown considerably since that stubby little girl she had been five years ago. She was still about a hand below the average man, but the way she carried herself gave the illusion that she towered over everyone.

"N-no, Sifu Toph," he stammered.

"Good." Toph turned on her heel, making the ground under the soldier's feet rumble, landing the man squarely on his backside.

She walked calmly to the front of the lines and stood, back turned, hands clasped firmly behind her. She could feel all the men frozen still, eyes staring.

"Did I _say _you could stop?" she screamed. As she heard the men scramble to get back into their stances, Toph let out a tiny smirk. She was really starting to love her job.


End file.
