Chapter Text
Katara stared at the forms before her. The sum of her entire adult life laid out before her on crisp sheets of beige waiting for her to sign on the dotted line. Aang wasn’t there, a fact for which she was grateful. Katara didn’t think she could stomach seeing his face just then. It was just her and her lawyer going over the details of the settlement (a very generous sum, Katara thought. A nice severance package for three decades of hard work and sacrifice and not nearly enough love and appreciation); the terms of the non-disclosure agreement (can’t have the world knowing that the beloved Avatar had been cheating on his wife with a girl half his age); the conditions of the division of their assets (she wasn’t entitled to any portion of the home they’d built on Air Bender Island because Aang had turned it into a monastery, but she could take any of the furniture, the Water Tribe artifacts, books, and a flying bison).
The kids were all grown up, so custody wasn’t an issue- not that it would have been anyway. Well, maybe Aang would have fought to keep Tenzin. Katara snorted at the thought. If she had left ten years earlier, Aang might have gone into the Avatar State in his rage over Katara trying to take his son away from him. His son. As if he only had one.
Katara was grateful that her children had been spared the ordeal of seeing their father only fighting to keep one of them. That was one bit of damage they didn’t have to endure at least.
Finally, the lawyer finished explaining what Katara was signing, and slid the stack of paperwork over to her. With a sigh, Katara dipped the bush in the pot of ink and carefully printed out the characters that made up her name. And just like that, it was done. Her marriage was over.
“Now what?” Katara asked, mostly to herself, but her lawyer, a severe looking woman around her age, smiled tightly, but not unkindly.
“Now you get to start fresh,” she told Katara as she handed over Katara’s copy of the paperwork. Katara nodded, numbly. Nearly thirty years of her life, and now she was just supposed to start over again.
“Do you have anyone to take you home?” the lawyer asked. Katara nodded again. It wasn’t a lie necessarily. She had taken a cab here. She would take one back to the hotel where she’d spent the better part of the last two months since she was asked to leave Air Bender Island. Had to make room for the new model. It was Aang’s idea, though she had been the one to ask Katara to leave. Katara knew her husband...her ex-husband well enough to recognize his conflict avoidance tactics when she saw them. He knew no matter how angry she was, she wouldn’t attack a non-bender. Especially not one who was pregnant.
Katara’s terms for leaving was Aang paying for the hotel until her settlement money came in. She had chosen the best hotel in Republic City, and dared Aang to complain. He hadn’t. He hadn’t even spoken to her face to face since their last attempt at mediation almost a year earlier. All their communication had been either through lawyers, Tenzin, or in that one infuriating instance, through...Katara couldn’t bring herself to even think of the name of his new bride-to-be.
The Golden Phoenix offered Katara a level of luxury that she had never experienced, even after years as the Avatar’s wife. It was even more ornate than the palace in Caldera. The foyer was covered in a plush royal blue carpet and furnished with elegant chaises and couches and chairs upholstered in different shades of blue and purple. If Katara hadn’t known better, she would have thought the owner was from one of the Water Tribes. The young man at the reception desk waved at her as she entered.
“I hope you’ve had a good day, Miss Katara,” he greeted her cheerily.
“Hi, Daisuke,” Katara said, finding a wan smile for him. “Any messages for me?”
“Yes,” Daisuke pulled out his message book and looked up her name. “General Suki called you twice. Lieutenant Bumi called about ten minutes ago, but he said you might not be able reach him, so he’ll try again after dinner. A bouquet of panda lilies came in from the Avatar-”
“Toss them,” Katara said, her voice flinty and cold. “Along with anything else he might send.” Daisuke looked up, startled. Her divorce from Aang had been in the newspapers all over the world, but as far as anyone knew, it was an amicable split.
“Y-yes ma’am,” he stammered, scribbling a note. He looked up at Katara hesitantly, a light blush coloring his cheeks. “I-I know today must have been...would you like….I-I mean, I can have a bottle of sparkling wine sent up to your room. We just got a shipment of Subarashii. That’s a really expensive one.” Daisuke had caught on to Katara’s trick of running up Aang’s bill for her stay. Her mouth quirked up in a shadow of a smile.
“Make it two bottles,” she said with a conspiratorial wink. Daisuke’s blush deepened and he nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, when-
“Mom!” Katara turned to see her daughter making her way over to her.
“Kya!” she cried happily. “Oh, baby, it’s so good to see you! What are you doing here? I thought you were in the Foggy Swamp.”
“I was on my way to Makkapu to help with the flood recovery,” Kya explained. “Then Bumi told me he hadn’t been able to reach you, so I decided to stop by and see you. How are you doing?” To her annoyance, Katara’s eyes welled up with tears. She found a wavering smile for her daughter and patted her cheek.
“I’m doing much better now,” she said. She turned to Daisuke. “Better make that three bottles of Subarashii, and a room service menu.”
“Your wish is my command, Miss Katara,” Daisuke said. He rang for a page, and promised to have the wine delivered to her room. Katara led the way to the elevator and up to her suite.
“Wow, this is gorgeous!” Kya said, gazing around the room with wide-eyed wonder. Katara couldn’t blame her daughter. While her father hadn’t been against spending when it came to recovering Air Nomad artifacts, Aang had made a point not to be ostentatious with money. He had told his family that in order to keep from being too attached to earthly things, they should focus on making due with the basics, which to him included a solid home, plain serviceable clothes, and a pantry full of vegetarian friendly meals. Katara had bought meats and vegetables from her homeland to introduce her children to Southern Water Tribe cuisine from her earnings as a part time healer. Luxuries like the ones available in this hotel suite had been rare treats during Katara’s marriage to Aang, when she was able to travel with him to visit world dignitaries.
The wine was brought up a few minutes later, along with some delicate glasses and a menu. Katara led Kya out to the balcony, and poured their drinks while Kya admired the impressive view of the city below them.
“It’s like being up on Appa,” Kya said. “Everything looks so small.” Katara nodded in agreement, but stayed away from the railing. After another few moments, Kya joined her mother at the table.
“How are you doing, Mom?” she asked. “ Really .”
‘Kya,” Katara sighed. “I’m fine, honestly. It’s over, and I’m relieved.”
“Then why haven’t you been answering our calls?” Kya pressed. “How come no one’s heard from you in weeks?” Katara scowled off into the distance and drained her wine glass before helping herself to another.
“I haven’t had anything to say,” she told her daughter. “What is there to say? Your father left me for a younger woman. It sucks. End of story.” Kya folded her arms and stared at Katara pointedly. Katara set her jaw stubbornly and took a sip from her glass. Finally, Kya sighed in resignation.
“Dad’s a creep,” she said. The venom in her voice startled Katara slightly. “He invited me and Bumi to the wedding, you know. As if we’d actually go.” Katara hadn’t known that, and she knew she shouldn’t be surprised, but Aang wasn’t close to his oldest children, and the last she’d heard, the wedding was supposed to be a small affair. No one would notice that the Avatar’s children had chosen not to go.
“You don’t have to cut him off on my account,” Katara said, though she knew what Kya would say next.
“It’s not just that,” Kya huffed. “This was just the last straw. I only stayed in contact with him for your sake. He’s dead to me now.”
“You shouldn’t say that about your father,” Katara protested without much conviction.
“ You should stop defending him!” Kya snapped. “Mom, he is awful ! I wish you had left him years ago! It kills me that he was the one to finally end it!”
“What?” Katara gasped. She reeled back as if she had been struck. Kya shrank back, regretting her outburst it seemed. She shrugged her shoulders and slid down in her seat.
“It’s just that...well, we could see you were unhappy, you know? Bumi and I, I mean. A-and we heard the arguments.” Katara felt her face heat up.
“You kids weren’t supposed to hear any of that, I’m sorry.” She bowed her head, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears threatening to spill. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, Mom, don’t,” Kya reached across the table and took Katara’s hand. “We know you did your best. We don’t blame you.” That was the final crack in the dam. Katara buried her face in her hands and let the tears have their way. She hardly noticed Kya leaping up from the table until she came around and pulled her mother into a tight hug. Katara turned so she could wrap her arms around Kya. She was crying, too, Katara realized.
Katara grieved as hard as she had grieved the loss of her grandmother and her brother. She grieved the loss of her marriage; of the life she had built for herself; for the years she hadn’t realized how poorly she’d hid her unhappiness from her children; for the years she had lost to a man she’d never truly loved; she grieved the woman she could have been if she’d made different choices.
Finally, the tears stopped coming. By then both women were damp with tears. Katara felt better, but not much. The sun had begun to set, and Katara’s body was reminding her that she hadn’t eaten. She and Kya laughed weakly over the grumbling noise coming from Katara’ stomach.
“What do you say we order a couple of medium rare steaks and some rock lobster tails?” Katara suggested. “Your dad is treating.”
“Okay,” Kya laughed. “But only if we can get caviar, and another bottle of this fancy wine.”
“I like the way you think!” Katara sent for their meal and resettled herself on the balcony to chat with Kya about her travels.
Ten minutes or so had passed when they heard a knocking at the door. Katara’s brow drew down in confusion. It was far too early for it to be their food.
“Who could that be?” she wondered out loud. Kya shrugged her shoulders and followed Katara to the door.
“Room service!” crowed a familiar voice. “Let us in before we break the door down!”
“Tui and La!” Katara gasped, throwing the door open to confirm her suspicion. “Toph! Suki !” Katara threw herself at her friends happily, and squeezing them in a tight embrace.
“Easy, Sugar Queen!” Toph complained. “You got divorced. You didn’t come back from the dead.”
“It’s so good to see you, Katara!” Suki said. “It’s been far too long.”
“It has,” Katara agreed. “How did you know I was here?”
“Um…” Kya piped up. “I may have sent a couple of telegraphs. Bumi and I thought having reinforcements would be helpful.”
“Kya,” Katara chided. “I told you, I’m fine.” Kya raised her eyebrow skeptically, but kept the scene from earlier to herself.
“What’s to eat around here,” Toph demanded. She flopped down on the sofa and kicked her dirty feet up on the table.
“Kya and I just ordered dinner,” Katara told her. “But I’m sure we can have them make two more meals at the same time.”
“You paying?” Toph asked.
“Aang’s paying,” Katara replied with a smug grin. Toph let out a loud snort of laughter.
“Even better! What’s the most expensive thing on the menu? And is it bloody?”
“Kya and I ordered steak, rock lobster and caviar,” Katara grinned mischievously. “Expensive, bloody and delicious.”
“I’m sold,” Suki said. “Two more orders?”
“I’m in!” Toph cackled. “I almost wish we could invite Twinkle Toes so he could watch us eat it all.”
“It would serve him right,” Suki agreed. She turned to Katara and took her sister-in-law’s hands. “Sokka would have beaten him within an inch of his life for what he did to you. Since he can’t, I’d be happy to do it in his place.” Katara shook her head.
“It wouldn’t do any good,” she sighed. “I’d enjoy it, but it wouldn’t leave me any better off.’
“I can’t believe he left you for that...that-” Suki turned to Toph to supply a suitable insult.
“That conniving little skank?” Toph supplied. “I knew she was trouble when I met her at that summit a few years ago. Aang’s secretary. Sure… As if Katara wasn’t already doing that job.”
“I was an idiot not to see it then,” Katara sighed. Aang’s mistress- one of many, as it would turn out- had accompanied Aang and Katara to a summit about seven years earlier. Aang told Katara he wanted the Acolyte to take over the scheduling and traveling arrangements from her. After all Katara had three young children to look after, and it only made sense.
“Aang had us all fooled,” Suki said. “Even Toph.”
“It’s true,” Toph sighed. “I guessed that broad...what’s her name?....Emiko?”
“Yes,” Katara confirmed with a wince.
“Well, I knew she had a thing for Aang,” Toph said. “I never thought Aang would fall for it, though. Not the way he worshiped you all those years.” Katara closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Mom?” Kya put a hand on Katara’s elbow, steadying her in case she passed out or started crying again.
“I’m okay,” Katara assured her. “It’s just… being on that pedestal that Aang put me on...it was rough. I think...I think that’s why we didn’t work. He didn’t see me as a human being, so when I fell short, to him it was a massive failure. What mortal could live up to the goddess Aang had in his head, right?”
“Oh, honey,” Suki reached out and pulled Katara into a hug. “I’m so sorry.” Katara chuckled and pulled away slightly.
“Me, too,” she said bitterly. “But it’s over now. The divorce papers are signed, and we have a ton of Aang’s money to spend on things he’d hate before he catches on.”
“I thought you got a settlement?” Suki said, scrunching her nose.
“I did,” Katara confirmed. “But that’s my money. Aang is footing the bill for this place out of his pocket. That was part of the separation agreement. And if I forgot to tell Aang that he could negotiate the terms of the legally binding contract I had him sign, well...I guess that’s not my job anymore, is it?”
“It’s sure not!” Toph laughed. “I love it when you get petty, Katara. You should do it more often.”