SERENDIPITY: The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.
It takes her a long time to read his letter.
It takes her even longer to reply,
But when she does,
And she does,
She feels just a little bit better.
They write regularly,
Or,
As regularly as they can without a flying bison as a go between.
She tells him about her new life,
How there have been new births,
And new water benders for her to train.
She shares her worries for Gran-Gran's health
And her triumph at finding Gran-Gran again.
He tells her about being Firelord,
And all the boring meetings and obligations that go with it.
He also tells her about Azula,
And her progress.
And eventually,
They both,
Tell of their grief.
It starts simply when she writes,
It's days like these when I miss Sokka most.
It get's less simple when he replies,
Do you think it's our fault?
It takes her a while to reply.
No.
It takes her a while longer to believe her answer.
A year goes by,
And then another,
And another.
What started as frequent letters,
Soon become infrequent letters.
Her birthdays pass,
And so do her betrothal offers.
Toph visits,
Suki visits,
And eventually,
Even Aang,
Visits.
The letters that arrive do not receive replies for a while,
But things are said,
And made clear,
And there is closure.
And the letters are answered again,
Though,
They are answered less frequently
And they arrive less frequently.
She is considered something of an anomaly in the rebuilt South Pole.
She is now nineteen years old,
And unmarried.
But this changes.
There is a man come back from war.
He is not much older than her,
And he is kind.
And there is no pressure,
And she feels herself wanting something she hasn't wanted in a long time.
The announcement is made.
Before the last hunt of the season, the water bender will finally wed.
She means to write him,
To write all of them,
To share her good news.
She doesn't.
She is married,
And she is loved,
But as kind as he is,
And as understanding,
It is not like it should be.
She reasons with herself that it has been a long time,
She has simply forgotten what it feels like.
She reasons that Gran-Gran is sicker,
That she is just distracted.
She does care about him,
She wants to be married to him.
She likes being married to him.
They are good together.
But still,
She can't help but wonder,
What if.
The hunt comes,
Then men leave.
They spend a late night saying goodbye in the way that only lovers can.
She sees him off the next morning,
And it is the last she sees of him.
Nineteen,
Married no more than a month,
A widow.
She wonders if she is cursed,
If she is being punished,
If there is a reason,
That everyone,
She cares for,
Dies.
She mourns,
Not just him,
But what he represented.
Gran-Gran tries to hold on,
She really does,
But no one can hold off the spirit world for long.
The day after,
A new letter arrives from the firenation.
She will not look at it.
She waits a month,
Wondering,
If she is truly alone,
If all her ties to her birthplace are gone.
When she bleeds,
She knows for sure.
She reads the letter.
She considers writing a response.
She reads it again.
What are the odds,
She thinks,
The he asks for her help now.
He does not know of her marriage,
Or how it ended.
He does not know about Gran-Gran.
And yet this is when his letter arrives.
This is when he needs her.
She stares at the candle flickering on her table.
It has been a long time since she associated the necessity of fire,
With,
Him.
She is not ready,
Will she ever be ready?
It will take her a month,
Maybe two,
To reach the firenation.
Winter is coming,
She only has this chance.
She must make up her mind.
It is already made up.
She doesn't bother writing a response.
She will arrive at the same time it will.
She stands up and surveys her igloo.
Strangely it doesn't feel like home anymore.
She spends the night packing,
And leaves on the next available ship two days later.
She is on another ship deck,
With another letter in her hands.
But this letter,
She reads on board.
Or rather,
She re-reads it.
Katara,
I have received a letter. Uncle is alive but I think he is in trouble. Please come.
She does not know what it means,
Or even where he is.
For all she knows he has already left in pursuit.
If it were her family,
She knows she would have.
But that does not matter.
She is going to him,
To help him find his family.
And if she has to chase him across the four nations to do it,
She will.
After all,
He may need someone to save him from the pirates.
A/N: Well I did promise you all a sequel didn't I? This sequel is going to be considerably shorter than After the Storm and told probably in seven parts based off the prompts for zutara week 2012. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you did After the Storm.