The Avatar's Marriage

The Arrangement

It was a fact that Katara had known almost all her life: she would marry the Avatar, a man that she had never met.

It was a custom: the Avatar had a difficult job and would lead a difficult life. Having a life-long companion who could look after mundane concerns while the Avatar focused his energy on the world was a great idea.

So when each new Avatar turned five, the search began for the Avatar's companion.

Under normal circumstances, only young people from the Avatar's nation were considered, but the Air Nomads were different.

The Avatar was nobility… practically royalty. Only those of nobility, who would be used to being in the limelight as the Avatar's companion, could handle such a life. The Air Nomads had no nobility, so it fell to the other nations to provide.

They were looking for young girls of nobility who were also five years old, just like the unknown Avatar.

Only half a dozen girls were offered and young Katara was the one chosen.

Thus did she find out she would be the Avatar's wife before she found out who the Avatar was.

When Katara was sixteen, she waited with bated breath along with the rest of the world. The world leaders and Katara were the first to receive the scrolls of announcement from the Air Nomad leaders.

The Avatar, her future husband, was revealed to be Master Aang, an Airbending prodigy from the Southern Air Temple.

Katara received an additional scroll from the Air Temple monks. Master Aang would leave on his Avatar journey to master the other elements; only upon the completion of his training would she be called to the Eastern Air Temple where she would live with him as his wife.

Katara sighed with relief. It took most Avatars ten years or more to complete their training. She would be in her mid-twenties and more prepared for the idea of marriage by then.

But Master Aang was a Bending prodigy. It only took him four years to Master the other elements and the Avatar State. It took him half a year for him to master Water, two years for Earth, a year for Fire, and another half a year for the Avatar State, making him easily the youngest ever fully-realized Avatar.

So it was that Katara was only twenty years old when she received her summons from the Eastern Air Temple. The wedding would be in a few weeks, and she needed to be ready when her Air Nomad entourage would pick her up

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"I don't like this." Katara's older brother, Sokka, said as he watched his sister pack the things she would need to start her new life at the Eastern Air Temple.

Katara looked up from her packing in shock. In the Water Tribe, arranged marriages were not only acceptable, but the norm.

Many of the couples had their marriages arranged by their families, and they all seemed content with their matches. Sokka and Katara's parents had an arranged marriage, but it was clear they loved each other. "What don't you like? It's just an arranged…"

"Katara, pretty much every marriage in our tribe was between two people who have known each other since childhood. But Avatar Aang… do you know what he looks like?"