Katara (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
markofthebrave) wrote2011-05-07 12:18 am
markofthebrave) wrote2011-05-07 12:18 am
[ Action, Voice ] .043
[All right, enough of this. It's Spring and she still loves Spring (only her third Spring ever!) and Katara has decided she is going to enjoy it. No school today, so in the late morning to mid afternoon, if you are by the paths along the river you will see one (1) Katara, with a basket and her knife, taking cuttings of wildflowers. She's careful not to take too much from any one tree or bush, and she's clearly enjoying herself.]
[General Voice]
I think my favorite part about Spring is the flowers. We just didn't have anything like this where I grew up. Although in the summers I'd go on a hunt for Mouse Ears. [She pauses, remembering the last time she'd done that...] Or at least I did when I was a kid. I even found one once!
But for all you people who grew up with flowers like this - what was it like, in your Springs? Did you have any fun flower traditions?
[And after the wildflowers have been turned into bouquets, it's time to go visiting! If she hasn't seen you or heard from you in a while, and she knows where you live, your house/apartment is Fair Game.
There are, however, a few people she needs to speak with about a few specific things, so it's time for some courtesy filters! These are not very strong and mostly to prevent your journals from spam]
[Filtered to Shikamaru]
Hey - you up for a spar later?
[Filtered to Nami]
...are those mikans still up for grabs?
[Filtered to Trafalgar Law]
...would you mind if I stopped by?
[Filtered to Zoro]
...hey. I haven't seen you, and I think we should talk.
[Hmm. That was everyone she needed to talk to, right? Hopefully that was it. If it wasn't, she hopes she'll bump into people during the day. Like Sokka - an idea has occurred to her which needs discussing.]
[General Voice]
I think my favorite part about Spring is the flowers. We just didn't have anything like this where I grew up. Although in the summers I'd go on a hunt for Mouse Ears. [She pauses, remembering the last time she'd done that...] Or at least I did when I was a kid. I even found one once!
But for all you people who grew up with flowers like this - what was it like, in your Springs? Did you have any fun flower traditions?
[And after the wildflowers have been turned into bouquets, it's time to go visiting! If she hasn't seen you or heard from you in a while, and she knows where you live, your house/apartment is Fair Game.
There are, however, a few people she needs to speak with about a few specific things, so it's time for some courtesy filters! These are not very strong and mostly to prevent your journals from spam]
[Filtered to Shikamaru]
Hey - you up for a spar later?
[Filtered to Nami]
...are those mikans still up for grabs?
[Filtered to Trafalgar Law]
...would you mind if I stopped by?
[Filtered to Zoro]
...hey. I haven't seen you, and I think we should talk.
[Hmm. That was everyone she needed to talk to, right? Hopefully that was it. If it wasn't, she hopes she'll bump into people during the day. Like Sokka - an idea has occurred to her which needs discussing.]
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But the deja vu is gone as quickly as it is felt.]
They're lovely. Thank you. [He offers her a cup.] I'll have to find them a vase later.
[No. Not really. And it's good.]
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The experiment itself is still raw and scraping, and Katara's not sure what she wants to say - what has to be said - about that. But she does have something else in mind that she thinks will make things better. Harder for now. But better sooner.
She cradles the cup in her hands and looks down at it before glancing up at him.]
...I want to tell you about my dad.
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Not me. He does not have children. Or a father. Or brothers. Or a large extended clan. He has none of that.
No matter how there is a lingering fading part of him that howls otherwise. And that Law and this Law both bleed.
So he sits and he nods for her to continue, silently. Because... just what do you say to that?]
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His name is Hakoda. [All right, that's a good start. Now what?] He's... got blue eyes, like ours. A beard. He wears his hair to his shoulders with two beads, here.
[She lifts up one hand from her cup to demonstrate.] It's similar to the hairstyle chiefs wear, but he's not our chief. The Southern Tribe hasn't had one since we scattered, long before I was born. He's our war leader, though. Two - three years ago, my dad gathered up all the men in our tribe and went to fight the Fire Nation. They helped secure the Earth Kingdom's borders against their navy. We hadn't seen him since...
[No, wait. That's not the point.] He's a good leader. He won the faith and confidence of his men. He's smart, too, like Sokka. The two of them were always coming up with crazy ideas and finding ways to make them work. And he had a terrible sense of humor - always making puns and calling things silly names.
[Her hands tighten around her untasted tea cup.]
...when I was little, he called me Sunshine.
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Hakoda. His name is Hakoda. He has blue eyes (like him). A beard (like him). A warrior (like him). A leader (like him).
And he called her Sunshine. Like he called her Sunshine.
Similar in some respects... but oh so different.
And he aches.]
...
Go on.
[He can barely get the words out and they're quiet. He feels scraped.]
1/2
She hadn't planned on saying much more than she did. Her childhood memories... one hand goes up to the necklace at her throat.]
After my mom was killed, it was just us. Me and Sokka and Dad and Gran-Gran. [And a quick smile.] And the whole village. But we weren't the only one who'd lost someone that day...
He was always quieter after that. There was this shadow... I always thought... [I always thought that it was my fault. If I had just run faster, got him there sooner. So I had to make up for it. I had to be strong, and I had to make him smile, and I had to take care of Sokka, and help Gran-Gran and somehow make everything okay...
The hand holding her teacup trembles for a moment, and she ducks her head.]
2/3
[She swipes at the tears with one half-fist, and her teacup may be in need of rescuing.]
And they made me love you like love him and I hate that, because I feel like it makes me a traitor. And it's not fair, because you were a good dad, and I -- it was so good to have everything right again. But it wasn't true and it's not fair, because you deserve to be loved for yourself. And that's why I wanted to tell you about him.
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[This admission: rare. costly. painful.] I guess it depends on what you want to do.
[She still wants to be his friend. But she's asked enough of him already - she's not going to add that to the rest. It's not in her to clear the way for someone to walk away from her; abandonment is something she hates above all things. But she's not going to try to trap someone to be near her either.]
1/???
Bepo. Nakama. No one else.
We get to be who we really are again.
... But he'll never forget who he was. What he had.
Never.]
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[And then wraps his hands around hers.]
[He doesn't let go.
- he could stop caring -
He holds on.
- just like he has most of his life. Not feel. -
And both their hands are warm.
- kill the pain. kill his heart. Make it easier to endure. like. like. -
And the sun is bright outside.
- like then. -
And the birds are singing.
- and there will be so much more pain. -
And she is smiling.
- but no. -
And he quietly smiles.
- no. -]
[He holds on.]
Done
... Let's take it day by day, alright?
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Family. And home.
And she quietly yields him the right while realizing this is far from a promise, or a declaration, or anything about the future.
But their hands speak to today. And some wall inside her crumbles, and she wonders if she dare let herself take comfort from that-
-and she looks back up at him. She sees him smiling.]
All right. We can do that.