Born Beneath An Angry Star

1.Fool Me Once

Katara could never sleep in at the Western Air Temple. The unfiltered sun got her out of bed as soon as it's first rising rays kissed the temple's walls. Not that it mattered Katara always woke up early wherever she was. She'd been getting up before the sun and taking care of the villagers back in the Southern Water Tribe for as long as she could remember so it seemed natural to her that she would be the one to take care of her friends in that same capacity. 

Everyone had their roles to play. Her role was the motherly friend. Sometimes Katara felt like she was too young to be playing such an old role; especially since she hadn't grown up with a mother her self.

It wasn't always easy being the person everyone depended on. Sometimes she'd like to be the one who got to leave things till tomorrow, stay up all night, or not worry about "that" right now. She'd like to not worry about finding Aang a firebending teacher and trust that Aang would find one himself, but she knew that she was going to have to be the one to do it, or nag Aang until he did.

She started off her morning just like she started off every other morning since she'd been here. She bathed and got dressed in front of her ice bent mirror. Being a waterbender had it's advantages when it came to personal hygiene. She was still the only person awake but she knew that the others would wake up soon and be hungry. 

Everyone took turns cooking, but it was usually Katara who cooked breakfast. She didn't mind she liked getting up when the moon was still out. Sometimes Katara talked to Yue and asked her to look out for their group especially her brother. Spirits knew he could use all the looking after he could get. Taking a pair of spark rocks from a rock shelf that Toph had built she started a fire in the makeshift fire pit. Next she bent water into a cooking pot and set it over the fire pit to boil. 

The day was already warming up and the sky was as blue as an ocean. It was beautiful up among the sky and clouds but she missed being close to the water. It didn't matter if it was a beach, or a swamp, or surrounded by ice floes. If it was water she felt at home near it. Sometimes she missed her home so much it ached, but that ache was a puddle in comparison to the ocean of ache she had for her mother. 

Her father was back with her now, but they had lost so many moments together while he was away at war. There had been so many nights where she had cried herself to sleep because her father had been so far away from her and it seemed like he was never coming back. Since being reunited they had been trying to make up for lost time. Every moment of the day that she could spend together with Sokka and her father she did and still it never felt like enough. 

She felt like an orphan for so long that sometimes she still felt that way. If she didn't have Sokka by her side during everything that had been going on this past year she would not have made it as far as she had. Even though he drove her crazy at times she couldn't have asked for a better big brother.

The smell of the cooking porridge woke the others up. As their little group filed into the main room of the Western Air Temple Katara bent the jook into bowls and passed them out.

"Chit Sang and I are going fishing for tonight's dinner." Her father informed her. "What are your plans for today?"

"We're still working on finding Aang a fire bending teacher." Katara explained.

"Don't look at me." Chit Sang said. "That kid needs someone who will coddle him, and I'm more likely to throttle him."

Her father gave Chit Sang a look before responding to Katara. "I know you'll think of something. Aang's lucky to have a friend like you. I couldn't be prouder of you for helping the Avatar to end this war."

"We haven't ended it yet."

"We will. I know we will."

"Aw, jook again." Sokka moaned. "I'm sick of eating jook." He walked into the sunlit room with his hair rumpled and digging the sleep out of his eyes. As usual he was the last one up. He was always the last to get up in the morning.