… Epilogue …
Korra snuggled back against the warmth beneath the sheets, sighing in contentment as Noatak's arms tightened around her. The pre-winter chill had soaked through the blinds of the window, creeping across the sheets and into her thin nightgown. She was grateful for her husband's body heat. He was like her own personal furnace, warming her blood and soothing her aching muscles.
She felt him shift behind her, his breath warm against the back of her neck as he buried his face in her hair.
"I know you're awake," he murmured, his deep voice sending a pleasant shiver through her.
"Mm, only for a few minutes."
He slipped his arms around her waist, turning her over so that she faced him. Korra wrinkled her nose in irritation. "You woke me up."
"Did not."
"Yes, you did."
He smiled, a mix of cheekiness and sleep in his half-lidded golden eyes. "I'm sorry." He drew her closer, brushing his lips along her cheekbone. "What can I do to make that up to you?"
Korra smiled. "Oh, I'm sure you could think of something."
He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently. She snuggled up against him, curling her fingers in his silken nightshirt, reciprocating with a soft nip of her own.
"Ah, so that's how it's going to be." With a devious chuckle, he flipped her over, pinning her to the mattress. All sleepiness drained out of her as he met her lips with warm passion, slipping his hands beneath her short nightgown, trailing them up the taut muscles of her stomach, up across her ribs, and higher.
She broke the kiss, gently pushing him back. "Not the time, Noa," she murmured against his cheek. "We've got company."
Noatak propped himself up, elbows on either side of her head, and glanced back toward the door. A tiny figure stood peeking around the threshold, trailing a floppy, well-loved teddy bear. He let out a soft groan and rolled off of his wife, while Korra sat up.
"Kaya? What are you doing up so early, sweetheart?"
Their little girl padded across the room and hopped up onto the bed, crawling up over the sheets to snuggle up against her mother. Her four-year-old eyes, big and blue as her mother's, were sheepish.
"I had nightmares," she whimpered.
Noatak reached across Korra and slipped his arms around his daughter, pulling her across the bed beside him. He brushed her wispy black hair out of her eyes and cupped her cheek.
"Nightmares?" His voice was soft. "What about?"
"Tonraq kept telling me scary stories last night," she pouted, cradling her teddy bear against her chest. "About chi-blockers and scary monsters who can take my bending away."
Noatak stiffened, and Korra quickly came to his rescue. "Well, there's no such thing," she assured her daughter, reaching around to snuggle her against her chest. She stroked her fingers through Kaya's hair. "Where did Tonraq hear those kinds of stories?"
"School. Tonnie's friends said those monsters used to live in the city. Is that true, mama? Were chi-blockers real?"
Korra hesitated, with a quick glance at her husband. Noatak's golden eyes were tight. "Not anymore, honey," she whispered, hugging Kaya tight.
"That's not what I heard," came a snooty voice from the doorway.
Noatak sat up, looking over to see Tonraq, hands on his hips, marching into the room. He sighed.
"What are you both doing up so early?"
"She makes noise when she gets up," Tonraq said, leaping up to land with an irritating bounce on the bed. Korra sat up and patted the mattress beside her for her son to join them.
"That's enough of those stories around your sister," she said sternly.
"But Mom…"
"I mean it." Korra reached out to grasp his chin, frowning down into his eyes—golden, just like his father's. "No more. Got it?"
Tonraq sighed, trying to pull away from his mother's strong grip. "Fine. Okay! I got it."
"Good." Korra released him, settling herself back against the pillows. Noatak leaned back and slid an arm around her, the other around his daughter, pulling them both close. Korra laid her head on her shoulder, while Kaya snuggled herself against his chest. Tonraq wasn't one for cuddling, but Korra reached out an arm and snagged him by the waist, yanking them against her side.
"Mom," he complained, squirming. "I'm ten. I don't like snuggling anymore."
"Don't care," she giggled, squeezing her son around the waist. "You're my kiddo, and you gotta deal with it."
Noatak chuckled. Kaya reached out and brushed her knuckles against Korra's bicep.
"Hey, Mama."
"Yes, sweetie?"
"How did you meet Daddy?"
Noatak choked, a mix between a laugh and a strangle sputtering in his chest. Kaya giggled, and Korra had to fight to contain her smile.
"Um, well. That's quite a story, hon."
Kaya snuggled back against her father, cuddling her teddy bear tight against her chest. "I got time."
Noatak groaned. "Boy, does she take after you."
Korra laughed. "All right, then. Well…" she glanced at Noatak, a sparkle in her blue eyes. "You could say your father and I had heard a lot about each other before we met."
He snorted. "I'll say."
"Was Daddy famous?"
Korra grinned. "You could say so."
"Mama was more famous," Noatak countered, tugging Korra closer against him. "I'm pretty sure I heard about her first."
"Maybe you did. But I met you first."
"That doesn't make any sense," Tonraq said. "When you meet somebody you both meet at the same time."
"Not when one of those persons is standing on a giant stage."
"So Daddy must've been really famous," Kaya twittered.
"Still not as famous as your mother."
"Well, that doesn't count. She's the Avatar."
"So what happened next?" Kaya pressed. "When did Daddy get to meet you back?"
Korra chuckled. "Well… I believe we had our first meeting on Avatar Aang Memorial Island."
Kaya wrinkled her nose. "That's not very romantic."
"Not really," Noatak agreed with a low chuckle.
"So… what next? Did you guys get married?"
Korra shot her husband a mischievous grin. "Well… not exactly. The next time I saw Dad was a few weeks later… when he rescued me from someone who didn't exactly have my best interests at heart."
Kaya's small mocha-colored brow furrowed. "Who wanted to hurt you, Mommy?"
"Well…" she glanced at Noatak again, but he shrugged, indicating she was on her own for this one. "Your Uncle Tarrlok and I had a fight. You Daddy had to step in, because our disagreement got a little nasty."
"Are you the one who made his nose all crooked?" Tonraq sniggered. "Whenever he visits from the North Pole I notice that his nose is bent weird. You did that, huh?"
Korra grinned. "Yeah, well. He deserved it." She glared at him, though. "Don't you go getting any ideas. I still don't like to hear about you fighting."
Tonraq gave her a cheeky grin. "Sure, sure. I'm just the Avatar's son. I don't get into any adventures."
Korra frowned at him, but didn't smack him like he was expecting. Kaya wiggled against Noatak's chest and prodded her mother's arm.
"Then what, then what?"
"Well, then your Daddy and I spent a little bit of quality time together. We weren't exactly friends yet." Korra smiled, remembering the events in the cave.
"When did you become friends?"
Noatak cleared his throat, winking at Korra to tell her he was letting her off the hook. She sighed in relief, and sank back against him, curling up under his warm arm.
"Kaya," he began. "Do you know what a code is?"
The little girl frowned. "No."
Tonraq piped up, "I do! It's a secret message form. Me and Uncle Mako use it all the time."
Noatak chuckled. "Ah… but do you know what it means to live by a code?"
Tonraq frowned. "Well… no."
"Oh," Kaya squeaked. "I think I do. Isn't that where you have a way you live, where you won't harm others, where you'll be kind, and where you'll live at balance with the world? That's what my teacher says."
Noatak smiled down at his daughter. "Yes, that is one form of a code." He wrapped his other arm around Kaya, pulled her against his chest and kissed the top of her head. "Your mother and I discovered we lived by the same code. We developed a mutual respect for one another."
"That's when you became friends?" Tonraq asked. "Did you fall in love because of that, too?"
Noatak looked down at his young wife, noting the gleam in her sapphire blue eyes. "Yes."
"And you know what happens from there," Korra said, ruffling her son's sleep-tousled black hair. "We got married, and lived happily ever after."
Kaya pouted. "That's all? But, but what about the adventure, and the romance, and the harrowing chases and the fighting and the bad guys? What about all that? I thought you said your love story was exciting…"
Noatak laughed. "Oh, there was all that and much more. But you can hear the rest later. Right now, it's time for you to get on back to bed. You might see your father's grumpy side at this ungodly hour."
Kaya whimpered and looked between her mother and father. "But… I want to sleep with you."
"Hey. No fair, me too," Tonraq griped.
Korra sighed and shifted beside Noatak, opening up room for the two of them beneath the sheets. "All right, just this once. Climb on in."
"Yay," Kaya crowed, wriggling up between the both of them. She curled up with her feet on Korra's lap and her head tucked up just beneath Noatak's chin. Tonraq just sprawled across the both of them, not bothering to squeeze beneath the sheets.
"I vote for sleeping in," he drawled, burying his face in the extra pillow. "We've got no school today."
"I suppose I can go for that," Korra sighed, making herself comfortable beneath her husband's arm. He drew her closer, effectively sandwiching their little daughter between them. Kaya yawned and burrowed against her mother's ribs. Korra leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead.
"Mama," she mumbled, sleepy. "When I grow up, I wanna have a romance just like yours and Daddy's."
Noatak and Korra exchanged a glance. "I'm not so sure about that, sweetie. Maybe just hope for your own special romance."
"Hmmmm," Kaya murmured, her gentle breaths slipping into soft snores. Tonraq snickered.
"She always did sleep like a monkey-cat."
"That's enough from you," Noatak rumbled, tousling his son's hair. "You wanted to sleep in, so get to it. Your mother and I don't enjoy being disturbed."
"Oh, you didn't disturb us," Korra said. Then that devious glint returned to her blue eyes. "But, if you don't shut your yapper and close those little eyes soon, we might disturb you a little."
And with that, she leaned over and gave her husband a full, wet kiss on the lips. Tonraq wrinkled his nose and buried his face in the sheets, groaning. "Ew, gross. Didn't need to see that, Mom."
Noatak only laughed and drew his wife closer, tipping her head back to deepen the kiss. Now that they no longer had an audience, the picked up where they had left off a few minutes ago, only perhaps a little more chastely. Finally, Korra drew back, her eyes sparkling. She laid her head against his chest, just above her daughter's sleeping face.
"You know," she whispered, careful not to wake her now sleeping children. "Just a few years ago, I would've never imagined my life turning out this way."
"Mm, neither would've I." He smiled and rested his chin atop her head, closing his eyes in pure contentment. "But I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Korra's own eyes fell closed, and a soft smile graced her lips. "Mm," she repeated with a small sigh. "Neither would I."
….. …. …. … ….
Well, there you have it, folks. My first Fanfiction. It was so much fun to write, and I've loved all my supportive reviews. : ) Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you look into my other stuff as well. PM me if you'd like to check out my published works. Love you all! God bless. Sunny out.