AN: This is the final oneshot for this series, but each oneshot is actually connected. Kya is thirteen, Bumi is eleven, and Tenzin is eight here.
"Hangin" is Filipino for "wind."

Day Seven: Continued…

"Hope" is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all—

- Emily Dickenson

They were in their early forties at the time and Avatar Aang had just recently completed a brutal trial that was held for a convicted bloodbender named Yakone. He had returned home shortly after the event and after he had went to extremes to take the criminal's bending powers away. But that was not before Katara and their children had already heard of the news.

Almost immediately as he set foot in the entranceway, he was bombarded with hugs and tears of relief and comments on how shaky he felt because his muscles were indeed trembling. His dark eyebrows were scrunched in tiredness and he had practically melted into his family's group embrace, accepting them without a shred of annoyance. The moment Aang had collapsed onto his haunches, however, had everyone on high alert.

He sat cross-legged on the wooden floor and buried his face into his youngest son's neck as the boy had went up to clasp his childlike arms around his father's upper body. Kya, the oldest and who was the girl in the family besides Katara, hugged her father from behind, and Bumi, the nonbender in the family, knelt right next to him. Crouching right next to her husband was Katara. She placed a comforting hand on his back, a solemn expression gracing her features.

"Aang," the woman whispered mildly, noting how he still had not raised his head from the loving encirclement of their children, "You're shaking like a leaf. Please, let me heal you…"

The man sighed, finally lifting his head and locking his gaze with hers. "No," he said hoarsely. "I'm fine. I'm just a little apprehensive. That's all." When he was shot a disbelieving look, he hastily furthered his explanation, "Really. I'm okay. I think I'm just going to bed early."

And through the ruckus and testaments of how he was definitely not okay in the slightest, the Avatar ignored them and made his way down the outdoor hallways in a daze while his lingering family took troubled glimpses at him. They watched intently as he moved with the grace of the natural airbender he was, a grace that only Tenzin, the youngest, could hope to recreate. His boots flowed as if possessed by a floating ghost, soothing yet obviously half out of it. And in moments the father had turned a corner and into the Air Temple itself, deep orange cloak ruffling in response.

The three children and their mother all glanced at each other, sadly accommodating the turn of events. For now, this would have to do. They would let him rest until the morning came and until the sun peeked above the waters of Republic City. It would not be until the next day during breakfast time that his family would pester him again.

Kya poked at her bowl of fruit with a pair of bamboo chopsticks, grimacing as she stared at the offending piece of ripe, red watermelon. It wasn't that the girl never ate her fruits; it was the opposite in fact. She adored them under normal circumstances and would even go to great lengths in order to salvage or pick the passion fruit from their vines before the flying lemurs did. When they were in season, of course.

It was just that breakfast was unusually quiet that day. No one spoke a word and even her rowdy younger brother, Bumi, only tentatively spooned a wallop of creamy yogurt. The young waterbender was about to break the ice, so to speak. She wanted to propose something, to make the place seem more normal as if something terrible had not just happened the day before, as if her very powerful father had not been almost brought down to his knees. But before she could open her mouth, someone had interrupted her.

"Dad," Bumi yelled excitedly, "Let's go take the sky bison out for a ride, huh?"

Katara nodded in acknowledgement, discreetly glancing over to her husband who was not really paying attention at that moment, a distant and glazed look in his eye. She knew why her older son had suggested the trip and she knew that they were all worried for him.

She placed a calming palm on Aang's shoulder, finally grabbing his attention and smiling gently at him. "Yes," she answered to her child, but her eyes never left her spouse's gray ones, "Why don't we do that?"

The man slowly peered upward, his face stoic, and he bowed his head in silent agreement. "Alright," he mumbled quietly enough that the other occupants in the breakfast nook had to strain their ears to hear. "Let's leave once we're done here. We can leave the city for a night."

"We can camp out," his wife advocated, "Just like old times."

"Yeah. I'd like that."

And so they packed their bags, waving goodbye to bewildered Air Acolytes, and brought two flying bison with them: Appa and a female named Hangin. They figured that with their group of five, travelling for hours would only serve to tire each animal quickly. As a result, they flew on Appa first, allowing Hangin to follow close behind them.

The winds whipped by rapidly and the children's hair blew all over the place, flowing every which way. The beasts groaned in delight, loving the experience of absolute freedom and the open space that the heavens provided. A few times, Aang directed his longtime spiritual companion to perform a couple corkscrews and turnabouts in the atmosphere, enjoying the laughter some simple tricks elicited from his family, and soon he was smiling again.

Kya and Tenzin, the respective waterbender and airbender of the trio of kids, stood up on Appa's saddle with the help and supervision of their mother and bended the clouds into various shapes and sizes, relishing in the fact that they had eventually created an image of a swaying Panda Lily.

They did not know this at the time, but Katara beamed at the memory of when Aang had given her a vase with the same flower for their first wedding anniversary. She could picture the pristine white petals trimmed with a deep shade of black. She could feel the feeling of happiness in her heart when Aang had explained that it was the symbol of true love, a rare flower that could only be found on the rim of a volcano.

The mother laughed, inching her way nearer to her husband, but still keeping a careful eye on their happy-go-lucky offspring. "You know," she murmured in his ear, watching as he tensed in surprise but then visibly relaxed, "It's just like the time when you can I were bending the clouds over Aunt Wu's village."

He chuckled, thoughts wandering to such a fond memory. "I suppose it is."

"You know," the woman continued as she gazed out into the light azure sky, "I found out a lot of new things that day…about my life and yours…"

He clasped his hands on the reigns of their animal friend and added in an extra "yip yip." He had spotted a clearing down below that consisted of a great cascading waterfall, jutting bronze stones, and an array of colorful plants and gardenias. The sweet aroma swirled up to their nostrils, engulfing the kids and the parents in a strange sense of quiescent joy.

Here they felt safe from the troubles and trials of the world. Here there was no Avatar Aang or Master Katara or the sons and daughter of the Avatar. Here there was just Aang, Katara, Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin. And for a moment, they were free.

"Oh?" The airbender questioned his wife as they started their decent. "And what did you find out?"

She smiled into his lean form, taking in his presence. "I found out that I would marry a very powerful bender."

He laughed in return, a smile somehow never leaving his face and his spirits finally being lifted from all the strain of the previous twenty-four hours. "That's funny," he said, "I found out that you can shape your own destiny as long as you trust in your heart," and he regarded her softly, taking her hand into his, "And I guess I just trusted my heart enough to find you."

A few seconds later, the family landed safely onto the clearing with Tenzin and Bumi tenderly rubbing Appa and brushing him of his excess fur. Hangin created a splash because she had somehow had the idea in her head that it was a wonderful time to land in the water.

The kids giggled happily, each person getting soaked to the bone as Appa wordlessly reprimanded his childish contemporary with a bestial moan. That only made matters worse, however, because the female sky bison shivered and shook out her fur, ruffling the extra droplets of water onto the still wet humans who were trying to pat themselves dry with either waterbending, airbending, or a towel.

"Hangin!" Tenzin shouted sternly, his serious nature always astonishing his peers. "What did I tell you about misbehaving? I trained you better than that! Now Appa isn't very happy with you."

"Aw, lighten up Tenzy," Bumi said with a droll. His shaggy russet hair stuck up in every direction and the fact that he was no longer dry had not made anything better. "She's just having a little fun. At least she's not a stick in the mud like you are."

"Hey!" The younger boy indignantly yelled back. He crossed his arms across his chest and huffed.

Their sister tried to play mediator, but was only splashed in the face by Bumi who kicked down on the waterfall basin nearest to them. It was soon an all-out war: the waterbender versus the airbender and nonbender. It was obvious who would win this one and Kya was loath to flaunt it off to the world.

"Hah," she proudly presented herself to her brothers who were now frozen up to their forearms. "Who's the queen now, fluff balls?"

Aang and Katara joined in, at first making an attempt to admonish their roughhousing children, but they were swiftly pulled into the fray with laughter and shoves into the waterfall itself. When Aang had conjured up an earth wall in order to protect himself more fully, he was unofficially "the big fat loser" of the game as he wasn't allowed to use his "Avatar powers." Only one element per person was allowed if they could bend, and Aang had initially chosen water.

The children pushed each other playfully and finally gathered that they were too bored to stay in the pool of running water, and began to sprint around the clearing. Well, it was mostly Bumi and Kya doing the running. Tenzin was trying (and failing) at calming himself and meditating. It wouldn't have worked anyway.

Aang and his beloved wife sat with their legs folded at the edge of the waterfall, each appearing as peaceful as the eye could see. They leaned onto each other, shoulders touching, and Aang laid his head on hers as an indescribable emotion of ecstasy came to rest upon his soul.

"I'm glad I met you," he said to her.

"I'm glad I got mad at Sokka for being a sexist nut-brain. Without that, I don't think I would have been able to break open that iceberg," she answered and they laughed.

And for a while, the couple was content.

But all of those events happened so many years ago. They were just memories now and soon, the story was brought back to the beginning: to the South Pole where it had all began. Their children had grown and had eventually had children of their own, creating and shaping their own new memories and destinies.

Aang had passed away at the age of sixty-six. While his health was already starting to fail because of the time he had spent trapped in suspended animation for a century, he never stopped fighting. And fighting was just what he did. In the end, the Avatar had not left the world quietly and surrounded by family and friends like he had wanted to, but by saving the lives of a group of young children from the onslaught of attacks from one of Yakone's lingering Triads. The men were brought to justice, but not before it was too late and the Avatar, though still easily a powerful man, had given in to his old age.

He left his wife and three children behind, all of whom were devastated by the shock and loss, but they had no choice but to keep moving forward. That is what Aang would have wanted for them after all.

That left his widow to live virtually alone in the Southern Water Tribe as they searched for the new Avatar, but it only took a handful of years to find her.

Katara had not seen her husband alive in exactly four years ago today, and today was a little girl's birthday. She was a little girl that Katara would eventually see as someone who was like her very own granddaughter. Almost at the same exact moment the two had met, each had felt a special connection in their hearts.

"Happy fourth birthday, Korra," the elderly woman greeted her new student as she patted her head. "I know you will go on to do many great things."

The little girl, whose hair was dark and tied into a pudgy ponytail, peered her wide blue eyes at her master and jumped her, embracing the woman. "Thanks Sifu! I love you!"

The elderly waterbender smiled, unconsciously grasping the round pendant on the longer necklace she always wore, a necklace that was carved by Aang. Then she held the child tighter, not letting her see the reflexive tears that had appeared at the corners of her eyes.

"I love you too," she replied. But she was not only talking to Korra.

And the story came back to the beginning. This is full circle. This is the way of things and this is how a life of love continues.

Fin.