#because shelagh in pants

[chariot-to-somewhere]

@kneesntoess the tags are for you

We Stan Sheels in slacks😍

[gabolange]

opening lines meme

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories. (If you have less than 20, just list them all!) See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Tag some people to play the next round!

Tagged by @cozcat, thank you, lanya!

The walk back to Fal Dara is long and cold.

She puts him to bed, again. 

It’s summer on Minbar. 

John Sheridan gives the order that will kill himself and his crew but save the world. 

Elizabeth Lochley doesn’t see Michael Garibaldi for three days after she releases him from the brig. 

Elizabeth Sheridan had not meant to eavesdrop. 

Claudia isn’t surprised that she can’t sleep. 

A week before his father died, the young Doctor Blake had swept in, a flourish of wet raincoat and damp cases, dripping onto the floor of his childhood home as if he were still in short pants and allowed to make a mess. 

Their first assignment—before making contacts in the shipping industry, before infiltrating Hartono’s business, before making themselves indispensable—is to learn who they are. 

The door slams, and Jean looks up from her book. 

Lucien hears the sheets rustle beside him as Jean climbs into bed. 

Nick awakes to the feeling of Trish’s weight shifting the bed beside him. 

Phryne wakes. 

“Patrick,” Shelagh said, her teeth clenched together as she forced her lips into a smile. 

Messages to the Hammond are delivered in batches, sporadically. 

Lucien settles beside Matthew in his friend’s battered sedan. 

Nick unlocks the door to the house—their house, Trish and Wesley’s house—and steps aside to let her in.

The phone call, this time, is from Alice. 

Rose delivers the news of Lucien’s divorce hearing, earnest in her concern. 

He’s alive. 

Patterns? Honestly, the big one is that apparently people are in bed a lot. But stylistically, there’s a bit more short and declarative than not? But other than that, nothing really obvious.

Favorite? Oh, that’s hard. I quite like “The phone call, this time, is from Alice,” because it tells you so much about what’s happening without actually using many words. And I’m also fond of “John Sheridan gives the order that will kill himself and his crew but save the world,” because you know immediately what the stakes are.

Find all of this (and more!) at AO3!

I tag @sapphoshands, @holdouttrout, and @rahleeyah!

[rebeccawritesbooks]

I loved the pregnancy prompt with Val and Lucille! could you do Lucille helping Valerie through the birth?

Of course! I hope you like this as much as the pregnancy one!

Valerie and Lucille both had the next two days of work, which was certainly unusual for them to both have a day to themselves at the same time.

The first day was absolutely perfect. It was December, and it had been snowing for the last couple of weeks it was also absolutely freezing, but that was okay as long as they were together that was more important than anything. They lived in a time where being gay was only legalized a few years ago and being able to have babies, well that was only just allowed too, it was still very difficult to be out in the open with their relationship and for their family.

Neither of them cared how difficult it would be they just needed each other, and at the end of the day, the people who knew them; friends and family like; Patsy, Delia, Trixie, Phyllis and Shelagh, they were the people who they counted on. They were the people that knew who Valerie and Lucille were and loved them for the people that they were and not because of their sexuality. Especially Patsy and Delia.

Being a midwife Valerie got to choose who would deliver her baby, everyone thought she’d choose Lucille, but Lucille didn’t want to and Valerie didn’t want her to either, she actually wanted Lucille to be holding her hand the whole time. She instead, without even a question had chosen Patsy to deliver her baby, she trusted her and she found Patsy to be the one she trusted to stay as calm as she could if anything did go wrong.

Valerie and Lucille decided to go for a walk, and go and do some shopping just the really small things, that to them they enjoyed doing together, things they missed out on when they were working almost 24/7. They had the perfect day, perfect evening too, cuddled up on the couch watching an episode of Doctor Who on television which Sister Monica-Joan had made them love.

At precisely 10pm Lucille went up to bed and Valerie made herself a cup of tea to take up to bed with her which she did every time she went to bed. However, although she didn’t know it yet, everything was about to change.

Valerie was walking up the stairs with her cup, she then felt her first labor pain, but Valerie being Valerie, she just went up the stairs put her tea next to the bed and got in next to Lucille. She didn’t think there was any need to worry her until there was a need for Patsy, so she drank her tea before trying to sleep as best she could until about 4am when she woke not able to take the pain any longer.

“Luc! Luc!” Valerie sat up, breathing heavily and shaking Lucille awake

“Val?” Lucille woke up suddenly, seeing Valerie sat up on her knees facing and clutching the headboard. “Valerie, how long have you been in labor?” Lucille asked standing up and running to the other side of the bed and picking up the phone.

“Since I came to bed at 10-”

“Valerie! You should have woken me!” Lucille said, with a frustrated tone lacing her voice.

“Why? So you could be sat up worrying until we needed to call Patsy? Which in turn would have me sitting up worrying about you, worrying about me. Neither of us needed the worry and you know it, love.” Valerie replied softly, holding her breath before letting out a whimper of pain “Just call Patsy!”

Lucille dialed the number quickly, whilst rubbing soothing circles on her wife’s back.

“Nonnatus house, midwife speaking, how can I help?” Patsy Mount asked as she answered the phone

“Patsy it’s Lucille, Valerie sh-”

“LUC! JUST TELL HER  THAT I AM IN A FUCKING LABOUR - ARRRGGHHHHHH!!” Valerie screamed out

“The doors open Patsy,” Lucille stated

“I’m on my way.” Patsy replied, and hung up the phone, grabbing everything she needed before making her way, cycling over to Valerie and Lucille’s home.

Lucille stayed with Valerie, rubbing her back “Maybe sitting or laying down would be better?” Lucille asked gently

“No! No! - wait - no grab me the bowl I’m gonna be sick!” Valerie cried, she had a really, very intense fear of being sick. Everyone else’s, no issue but her own she was terrified.

Lucille grabbed the bowl passing it to Valerie, who was quite literally trying not to throw up, even though her body was needing to. “Val, petal, your body needs to. I’m here, alright? Nothing bad will happen.”

Valerie nodded, in floods of tears as she gave in, letting her body do what it needed to.

–

Soon Patsy walked through the door and up to the bedroom of the couple “Oh dear, what’s been going on here then?” Patsy asked as she put down her bag and getting her surgical gloves onto her hands.

“She’s thrown up a few times.” Lucille whispered

“Nothing we can’t deal with.” Patsy smiled “Lucille why don’t you go and wash that out and then bring it back up.”

Lucille nodded doing as she was told, whilst Patsy not taking a no for an answer, helped Valerie of her knees and laying on her back “Have your waters broken yet?”

“No.” Valerie replied as she clutched the pillow in her hand above her head, trying to pant and quite frankly, just to breathe.

“Okay, first we need to get your bottoms off and your knickers too.” Patsy smiled in a reassuring manner, as she helped Valerie out of them leaving her in just a pajama top, which wouldn’t take long to come off too.  "Now legs apart sweetie… that’s it, I’m just going to check and see how far along we are.“

Valerie nodded, as she screamed with another contraction, and Lucille was back in the room. Luc went and sat quickly on the bed, putting the bowl on the table next to her. before she wrapped an arm around Valerie, and with the other held her hand.

Patsy finished up examining her "Valerie, I’m going to have to break your waters for you.”

“What?! Why?” Val asked in a knowing panic

“Because it’s nearly time for you to push and waters still haven’t broken on their own.”

Valerie nodded “Wait before you do I need to get out of this top, it’s too hot.”

Lucille helped her wife remove the rest of her clothing before she sat behind Valerie holding her in her arms and pushing her hair from her face. “I’ve got you, babe.”

Valerie quickly grabbed Lucille’s free hand, giving Patsy the nod to do what she needed to.

“Ready?”

“Just do it Patsy, please - OH GOD AHHHHHHHH!” Valerie let out another small scream as a contraction hit “I need to push!”

 “No, not yet, I need to break your waters, legs apart. That’s it.” Patsy elbowed Valerie’s knees apart properly “Stay like that, take a deep breath sweetie.”

Valerie breathed in slowly, and Patsy carefully broke her waters “There we are.”

Valerie at this point was just screaming on a constant loop.

“Screaming won’t help you, babe.” Lucille tried

“Well then you try pushing another fucking human being out a very small hole in your body!! ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH  I NEED TO FUCKING PUSH!”

Patsy had another check “Valerie, you’re ready, push with all that strength I know you have.”

Valerie let out a blood-curdling scream, squeezing at Lucille’s hands and pushing with all her might, and she pushed and pushed and pushed.

“Have a quick breather and then with the next push we should have baby’s head” Patsy Smiled, with a hand on Valerie’s knee “You have this, doesn’t she Lucille?”

“Absolutely, she’s the strongest, bravest woman I know.”

“She has to say that she’s my wife.” Valerie smiled through her tears and got ready to push again

“You can do this Valerie, a strong hard push, scream your head off if needs must but you must have the energy to push your baby out.” Patsy said firmly

Valerie took some deep breath before giving another had push as she screamed her way through “And we have a head! Stop pushing, stop-”

“W-what? why? what’s wrong?” Valerie asked shakily

“Cord wrapped around your baby’s neck, nothing we can’t sort out - ” Patsy slowly unwrapped the cord from the baby’s neck “There we go. Valerie in the next couple of pushes you will have your baby in your hands, you can do this. Now push!” Patsy said firmly, with the care in her voice that she had in everything she did and said.

 “I can’t…I’m too tired…” Valerie cried, shaking her head leaning back into her wife.

“Valerie you can”

 “I can’t!”

“Valerie, I love you but you gotta do this, for you and for us.” Lucille piped in, trying to convince her wife to push again.

Valerie was in tears, but she gathered her strength, squeezing again at Lucille’s hand and giving everything into the last few pushes. She was sure everyone in Australia would have been able to hear her with the earth-shattering screams.

“AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!” Valerie screamed before hearing the cries of her baby and she herself was crying too leaning back into Lucille.

“You have a beautiful, crying baby girl!” Patsy beamed and cut the cord before wrapping the little girl in a towel and handing her to Valerie who happily took her into her arms, allowing her daughter to take a hold of her little finger with her fist. “Well aren’t you just something else.” Valerie cried

In fact, everyone, including Patsy was now crying, it was a room full of waterworks at the beauty that had just come of the birth.

“Tell her.” Lucille looked from Valerie to Patsy

“Tell me what?” Patsy looked up a little confused

“Lucille had come to the decision a few months ago that we would name her after our favorite people in this world, that’s you and Delia…”

“So, what are you naming her?”

Valerie looked to Lucille before back at Patsy “Her name is Patsy Delia Julienne Dyer”

“I- I’m honored. I don’t deserve it but I am truly honored.” Patsy smiled before seeing Valerie wince a little “Looks like the afterbirth is on its way, Val pass, your daughter over to your wife while I help you deliver the after birth.”

Valerie did exactly that, and Lucille walked around the room a little with baby Patsy, who was fast asleep already.

Patsy delivered the afterbirth. checking it over she realized very quickly some of it hadn’t come away and she went back to Valerie who had now lost a quite a bit of blood and was as pale as anything and getting weaker. “Lucille, I need you to phone for an ambulance. Now.” Patsy grabbed the needle, injecting Val with what she needed to help deliver the rest of the afterbirth.

Lucille rang for the ambulance and soon enough, they were all, including Pasty being taken to The London Hospital.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Tag game!

Tagged by @nonthirsty-queenie​

Answer 21 questions and tag 21 (or how many you want who cares) people you’d like to get to know

Nickname: I don’t have one :( please give me one

Sign: bold of you to assume I was born

What I’m wearing: fuzzy pajama pants

Dream job: I don’t even know. I might want to be a writer in a magical world where I could pursue a creative field without worrying about health insurance. 

Favorite quotes: There are a whole bunch from Lemony Snicket I usually recite but I’m too tired to find them right now. Just know there are many more I’m not listing. 

“The truth is, these weren’t very bright guys, and things got out of hand.”  --Deep Throat

“I find it more comforting to believe that this... isn’t simply a test.” --Dr. Gregory House on “House MD”

I’m gonna annotate this one because I do feel a little ridiculous including a House quote, but it’s actually very important to me because it kind of sums up a significant part of my worldview. The scene this is from, a conversation about the afterlife, articulated some of my thoughts. I adamantly do not believe in an afterlife and find the idea somewhere between unappetizing and horrifying. 

Favorite food: I love so many food. Sushi, especially spicy tuna roll. Pasta and pizza of all kinds. Tacos. Chocolate cake. 

Favorite movie: Apollo 13, Bohemian Rhapsody, Star Trek IV: The One With the Whales, Yellow Submarine, this is only a selection

Favorite sport: soccer and baseball

Dream trip: I want to go to Australia and New Zealand so badly

Languages: English and very limited very bad French

Favorite song: I can’t pick but my defaults are You May Be Right and Vienna by Billy Joel. I’ve also lately been fond of ‘39 and The Miracle by Queen. Also, Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton. 

Favorite book: Matilda, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Good Omens, Ella Enchanted, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Fault In Our Stars, Speak, this is just what I can think of off the top of my head

What do I hate: being sick right now

Random fact: I’ve had platinum in my body for over nine years

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: yellows, reds, bold prints, sunlight filtered through trees, lemons, daffodils, fresh-baked bread, dripping ice cream cones

Do I get asks: not enough :( send me more!

Other blogs: none that are active. I keep meaning to make @jedbartletsdankmemestash active again but I never have time. (if you want to mod a west wing meme blog hmu)

Hogwarts house: I don’t know I guess I’m a Ravenclaw but I don’t really care

Patronus: cat! snow leopard, maybe. 

Favorite characters: to name a few: Julian Bashir (DS9), Spock (Star Trek), Josh Lyman (The West Wing), Esther Hoffman (A Star Is Born 1976), Crowley & Aziraphale (Good Omens), Tony Stark (MCU), Ellie Miller (Broadchurch), Alec Hardison (Leverage), Shelagh Turner (Call The Midwife), Hazel Lancaster (The Fault In Our Stars), Melinda Sordino (Speak)

Any updates on a new fic: I’m working on a Star Trek fic currently. It was supposed to be the short fast one to get the ball rolling on my big one but it’s not going so fast now, which is predictable. 

Tag Others: I’m tired and sick and suffering but I want to get to know you all so do it if you want! That goes for anyone reading this. 

[sincerelybluevase]

Fanfic Friday: Lessons In Lovemaking, Lesson Number Nine

Life is quite hectic at the moment, but I’ll try and keep the fanfics coming at a somewhat regular basis! Thanks to @purple-roses-words-and-love for  checking this fanfic for spelling mistakes and the like. 

 Shelagh sat in front of her vanity mechanically brushing her hair. The bristles rasped through her locks with a strange, almost papery rustle she had stopped noticing almost ten minutes ago.

Sister Julienne must think me immoral, she thought for what was surely the hundredth time since she’d come home from the surgery. She must think my standards have become really rather lax since I’ve left the order.

It was no trouble at all to recall the disappointment on her former Mother superior’s face when she sided with Patrick on the topic of contraception, nor her hurt. The worst of it all, though, was surely the ice in Sister Julienne’s voice when Shelagh had tried to make peace by offering her a lemon puff, and the other woman had asked whether she didn’t have “anything plainer”.

But what had the nun expected of her? That she’d side with her and not her husband? Or, perhaps even more hurtful, that Shelagh had no opinion of her own and was simply waiting to be instructed by a former authority as to what to think?

“You’re doing that awfully hard,” Patrick said.

Shelagh blinked and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He stood behind her, his face crumpled in a tender smile. The top two buttons of his pyjamas were open, allowing some greying chest hair to spill out.

“I’m sorry?” she said.

“Your brushing. You’re bound to hurt your scalp,” he said.

As he said it, she felt her scalp start to tingle and burn a little. She grimaced, and put the brush down. “I’m not entirely myself,” she said.

“Oh, darling, do you want to talk about it?” he asked, resting his large hands on her shoulders, his chin on her crown.

“Let’s sit on the bed,” she said. He stepped away from her and sat down on the edge, patting the place beside him. She sat down next to him, the difference in their weight causing the mattress to dip more on his side. She slid closer to him because of it. He tucked her under his arm instinctively, and dropped a kiss on her temple as he waited for her to start talking.

“Our talk with Sister Julienne has made me think,” she said, choosing her words with care.

Patrick’s thumb dipped underneath the capped sleeve of her nightgown to caress the strip of skin normally hidden by the thin fabric.

“And what did it make you think?” he asked.

She sighed and removed her glasses so she could rub her eyes. Patrick took them from her and placed them on the nightstand.

“We never had to think about contraception ourselves,” she started, “because I wanted a baby.”

“We wanted a baby,” he corrected her.

“Because we wanted a baby,” she said. “And I suppose the topic would’ve come up at some time if I hadn’t been infertile, but because I was, we never had to discuss it in relation to ourselves, and I’ve never given it much thought. But now that we’ve spoken to Sister Julienne, and she has spoken about morals, I feel…” She blinked in frustration, looking for the right words. “I’m afraid she judges me,” she said.

“She’s never judged you badly for differing from her opinion before,” Patrick said.

“Not because of that, Patrick,” she said, and tilted her face towards him. “I’m afraid she’ll judge me because we have marital relations even though we’ll never have a child. I’m afraid she’ll think it lustful.” She gave a tremulous smile. “I’ve never thought she’d think that before today, but now…”

“Oh, Shelagh,” Patrick said, and sighed.

“I’m sorry, I know…”

“Haven’t I tried to teach you from the first that sex is about a lot more than getting a baby?” he asked, his voice gentle.

She nodded. “Of course you have, and I think you’ve been rather successful. After all, we sometimes do things that could in no way ever lead to pregnancy…”

He grinned at her, looking somewhat like a naughty schoolboy. “Like when you give me a good, hard suck?” he said.

She flamed crimson. “Patrick, you’re a dirty beast,” she exclaimed, and slapped his chest.

He laughed, and caught her hand in his. “If I am, it’s because you make me one,” he said.

She was still flushing. “I’m just afraid Sister Julienne will think me immoral. She knows sex is necessary for a healthy marriage, and yet…” she said.

He stilled his laughter, his hand still folded around hers. “Sister Julienne’s experiences with sex are those of an outsider, and I’m afraid sex is one of those things one really needs to experience to understand all facets of it,” he said.

“You are right, I suppose,” she said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Why don’t you go to her tomorrow and talk it over? Sister Julienne is a loving, caring, forgiving person. I’m sure your worries will be soothed once you speak with her,” he said.

“I suppose I should, yes,” she said.

“Come, don’t frown,” he said, and took her face between his hands so he could kiss her between her eyebrows. His breath was warm on her face, a little moist.

She placed a hand over his to trap it there. He kissed her cheek, her nose, the corner of her mouth. She looked at him through her lashes, the first throb of desire starting low in her belly. His eyes locked with hers, his pupils dilating until they had swallowed almost all colour. Something arced between them then, and when he pressed his mouth against hers, it wasn’t tender, but demanding.

She opened her lips immediately, touching the tip of her tongue to his. Patrick turned on the bed, placing one knee on the mattress. She let her hand fall from his and leaned back, resting her weight on her elbows as Patrick devoured her mouth.

“Lay back on the bed,” he panted between kisses. She did as he asked, her nightdress rucking up around her hips. He loomed above her, big and solid and safe, then ducked down and pressed against her.

“Patrick,” she mewled as he kneaded her breasts through her nightgown. “Patrick, I want you. I want you hard and long.”

He sat up, his chest falling and rising rapidly. “Undress,” he growled, his own hands fighting with the buttons of his pyjama. She sat up and pulled her nightdress over her head with trembling fingers, then dragged her knickers down. Patrick threw his pyjama bottoms and underwear into some corner of the room. Contrary to her expectations, he didn’t duck down to devour her again.

“On your belly,” he said. She did as he asked, a thrill of arousal spiking through her. Patrick would sometimes get a little dominant with her (and, truth be told, she sometimes would with him), but she sensed strongly that tonight he’d be more than just a little dominant. Once, when they’d been safely ensconced in each other’s warmth and the dark of night, and he’d asked her what she’d desired, she’d sleepily murmured into his ear she’d like him to ravish her. He had smiled, and had kissed her eyelids, first the right, then the left, then the right again. “When you’re ready for it, I will,” he’d promised.

She supposed tonight was the night.

Patrick didn’t lie on top of her. Instead, he kneaded her buttocks, then gently touched her between her legs with his middle finger, stroking her. She gasped and bucked against his hand.

He leaned over her, gently pushing her hair to one side so he could kiss her neck, then the shell of her ear. “You’re exactly how I like you best,” he whispered, his voice thick and rasping.

“How?” she managed to ask.

“Wet, and warm, and willing.” He kissed her neck again, then suddenly, finally, entered her, doing it sharp and quick.

She gasped and moaned, her belly clenching. Her hand fisted in the sheets. I’ll have to wash these sheets tomorrow. I would’ve put a towel underneath us had I known we would do it on top of the sheets, she thought, and realised she was happy she hadn’t known.

“Tell me if it is too much,” Patrick said.

“It’s not enough,” she said. She cried out when he thrust into her, doing it deep and hard and quick, exactly like she’d wished he once would that night almost two years ago. Sweat beaded on her body, beaded on his. The sounds they made were slick, their moans and pants hoarse, loud. When she came, she did so with little warning, her whole body convulsing, pleasure bursting inside her belly, fragments of the explosion travelling through her legs to her curling toes.

“I love you,” she sobbed as Patrick placed another sloppy kiss on her neck. He stopped driving into her so vigorously so he could take hold of her chin and tilt her face to his, kissing her.

“I adore you,” he growled.

She came another time, and a third, each orgasm deeper and more intense until she felt she’d fall apart.

“God, your body is trying to drag me in deeper whenever you come,” Patrick grunted, his movements becoming somewhat haphazard, a sure sign he was close to his own completion.

“It’s because I don’t want to be empty, and I’m so empty without you,” she said.

“Let me take care of that.”

“Then come,” she moaned.

He thrust into her a few more times, then pressed himself into her as far as he could, spilling himself in her for what felt like a very long time. When he was done he rolled away from her and lay on his back. He dragged a hand through his hair and let out a very deep sigh.

“Damn,” he said.

“Damn,” Shelagh agreed, interlacing her fingers with his. She was weak as a kitten from pleasure.

Patrick grinned at her. “May I ask you not to mention any of this when you’re having your conversation with Sister Julienne about the benefits of sex for a healthy marriage?”

“Don’t be filthy,” she said.

Patrick laughed, the sound rumbling and dear. She opened her mouth to say something, then simply joined in with his mirth, and laughed till she was spent.

[turnertimeline]

Maybe?

Collection: Tim and Annie

Year: 1971

Characters: Timothy Turner, Annie Turner, Shelagh Turner

Content Warnings: none

Rating: K+

Style: Prose

Summary: a little bit of a happier time ahead for Tim and Annie

The small plastic stick with two lines was wrapped up in cloth and in her bag, hiding from Tim. Annie didn't want him to find it accidentally before she got the chance to tell him. 

Tim was getting ready to help Patrick at his surgery and Annette was planning to join and stop in to visit Shelagh and the other nurses. Daniel loved going to the clinic days and playing with the other kids.

With Annie working in Violet's shop, they'd been able to save up and afford a car, which made life considerably easier. Relying on the bus or Tim's parents was a thing of the past and Annie couldn't be happier about that. If her dates were right, she was going to be heavily pregnant during the worst of the summer and did not enjoy the idea of busing around in the heat being that close to term.

With Daniel packed into the car, they set off to Poplar for the day. Daniel bouncing with excitement over getting to play with Teddy. Annie and Tim parted ways with a quick kiss as Tim went to his Dad's surgery and Annie went to the clinic with Daniel.

Once in the clinic after Daniel had run off to play, Annie wasn't entirely sure how to go about getting examined. At least without alerting all the nurses and nuns, who were essentially her family, to the fact she suspected she was pregnant.

Annie had noticed that Shelagh was not at the check-in desk yet, for which she was thankful. But Teddy was playing with Daniel so she knew her mother in law was around.

Annie jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Shelagh at her side.

"Alright?" Shelagh asked, pulling Annie into a quick hug.

"Yes, sorry. Just startled me is all." Annie replied, returning the hug.

"What brings you by today?" Shelagh said as she turned to start walking over to the check-in table.

Now that she had already been seen by Shelagh, Annie knew there was no point or hope in keeping her out of the loop. Reaching into her bag Annie pulled out the bundled cloth and opened it. Looking around she shyly shows it to Shelagh.

"I need to know if it's accurate." Annie says quietly, sticking it back in her bag.

Shelagh gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh Annie! That's absolutely wonderful."

Annie grins brightly at her. "Can you?" She asks.

"Of course!" Shelagh beams at her. "Go on back behind the last curtain, I'll get someone to cover check-ins."

Annie nods and goes over to the exam area, and is followed shortly by Shelagh.

Shelagh asks her the usual questions, trying to stay professional, even when talking to her daughter. She sent Annie to the toilet for a sample and made notes about her dates and what signs she was showing.

"This will take a few days to come back." Shelagh informs her, and Annie nods in understanding.

"What if.....what if I'm not?" Annie asks quietly. She'd been here before. And in the time it took for the sample to come back, she had gotten her period. That time she hadn't used a home test though, she went right to the clinic.

Shelagh sits on the stool in front of Annie and takes her hands in her own.

"Then you move forward. You go home and cuddle your little boy, and your husband." Shelagh stands up and gives Annie a hug. "I'll put a different name on this so Patrick doesn't see when he signs for them."

Annie gives her a smile of thanks and leaves the little exam area.

Test results usually get back to Patrick's office in a week, give or take a few days. And as soon as they came in, Shelagh rifled through the stack to find the one under the name she put on Annie's test. It took a lot of personal strength not to open it right away to find out if she's going to be a grandmother again. But she folds the envelope up and slips it into her bag to give to Annie that coming Sunday.

Sunday dinner came and it seemed to have dragged. Shelagh had called to let Annie know the results were in, and asked if she wanted to know now, or wait until Shelagh and Patrick came up for dinner. And as much as Annie was incredibly anxious, she wasn't ready yet to know that she wasn't pregnant.

The week or so it had been since taking the home test had been difficult for Annie. Mostly because she wanted so much to tell Tim that she thought she was pregnant. But she didn't want to get his hopes up just to break his heart as well as her own.

When Shelagh, Patrick, Angie, and Teddy all got to Annie and Tim's, Shelagh pulled Annie aside after everyone hugged in greeting. They talked quietly in the corner, oblivious to the odd looks their husbands were giving them.

"Do you want to read it alone?" Shelagh asked quietly, going to pull the envelope out of her bag.

"No." Annie said quickly. "I don't want to be alone if I'm not."

Shelagh nods, "upstairs then?"

Annie nods back and they both go upstairs, telling the boys they'll be back down in a few minutes. As their going up they hear "women" muttered from both of them.

Sitting down on her and Tim's bed Annie takes the envelope Shelagh handed her as they got up the stairs. Her hands are shaking a little as she stares at the front of it.

Shelagh sits down beside her and places a hand on Annie's shoulder.

Slowly, Annie tore open the envelope and pulled out the result. The paper shaking slightly with her hands. Her eyes scanned the paper, roaming over words and numbers she didn't really understand. But at the bottom it read Pregnancy Result: Positive.

The results swam in Annie's vision as her eyes filled with tears. She felt Shelagh pull her into a hug and whispered her congratulations. Annie hugged her back and let out a laugh of pure joy. Pulling back Annie sat down on the bed the test results still in her hand.

"Would you like a moment alone?" Shelagh asked, smoothing a bit of hair behind Annie's ear.

Annie nodded and Shelagh left her with her thoughts for a little. Downstairs she just told Tim and Patrick that Annie was in the rest room and would be down shortly.

Annie folded the test results back up and tucked them into the drawer on her bedside table. Placing her hand low on her belly she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Everything was so different this time around. She wasn't gripped with fear like she was when she found out she was pregnant with Daniel. There’s no uncertainty about timing like there was with the baby she lost. Instead, she was filled with excitement and couldn't wait to tell Tim. She could already picture his face. Not wanting to worry the rest of the family, Annie stood up and made her way back downstairs. She tried to keep her face neutral, not wanting to give anything away just yet. She wanted to tell Tim when it was just the two of them.

Dinner went smoothly and if anyone suspected the secret she was holding on to, they didn't say anything. Keeping her hand off of her belly under the table was difficult and she had to make a conscious effort not to do it.

Once Shelagh and Patrick had left, and after Shelagh had given Annie another big hug whispering how happy she was for her in her ear, Tim offered to clean up while Annie put Daniel to bed.

Daniel didn't usually give his parents a hard time about going to bed, but he was so keyed up after playing with Teddy and Angela that it took a few extra stories to lull him to sleep. Annie sat with him on his bed, rubbing his back as she read to him. When she was sure he was completely asleep, Annie put the book she was reading from on his bedside table and watched him sleep. Her little boy wasn't so little any more. At four years old he was getting so big and Annie could hardly believe it. She could already see that he was going to be tall, and fortunately he wasn't as lanky as his Daddy. Maybe he'd have a chance of not being as clumsy.

When Annie hears Tim coming up the stairs she leans over to kiss the side of Daniel's head before standing up and meeting Tim in the hall.

"Is he asleep?" Tim asks peeking around Annie into Daniel's room.

"Finally, it took 3 chapters of the Hardy Boys to get him to sleep." Annie chuckled. They had moved on to simple chapter books for bedtime that Tim or Annie would read to him. Daniel read a picture book first, to work on his own reading, and then Tim or Annie would read to him until he fell asleep.

"What do you say to changing into our pajamas and cuddling on the couch?" Annie asks grinning up at him.

"I'd say yes please." Tim bends and presses a quick kiss to her lips.

As they're changing, Annie has to again resist the urge to run her hands over her belly. There's no visible evidence that she's pregnant, not even a tiny bump. She puts on a pair of pajama pants she stole from Tim and a t shirt. Tim left the room first and Annie went to her bedside table and pulled out the test results and stuck the paper in her pocket.

Downstairs, Tim makes them some tea and brings it into the living room where Annie is sitting with her back against the arm of the couch, and stretched out. Tim lifts her legs so he can sit and replaces them on his lap. Annie giggles as he moves her. Couch cuddles happen almost nightly and in usually the same position. Before he sat down Tim had turned on the radio so they weren't sitting in silence. The music was quiet and they were each reading, or rather Tim was reading and Annie was watching him while she pretended to read.

She wanted to tell him but was having trouble finding the right words. His free hand was resting on her knee, rubbing across the fabric covering her leg slowly with his thumb.  She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out the piece of paper.

"Tim, I have something for you to read." Annie said breaking the calm quiet that was surrounding them.

"Yeah?" Tim asked looking over at her. She holds the paper out to him and he takes it.

Annie watches his face as he reads it, confusion flashing first at the name on top. It was just A. Thompson, her maiden name not quite clicking in his mind right away. When he gets to the bottom of the page, his eyes go wide, but there's still a look of confusion as he reads the name again. And she can see the moment he realizes exactly what she had given him.

"Is this....? Are you....?" Tim focuses on her, his eyes going to her belly. The joy in his voice at the possibility brings tears to Annie's eyes.

She nods at him. "We're having a baby."

Tim just stares at Annie, letting the words echo in his mind. Did she really just say that they were going to have a baby? He moves out from under her legs on the couch to kneel down at her side. reaching out his hand slowly he places it on her belly and meets her eyes. He's looking at her with such wonder in his eyes. He searches her eyes for fear or trepidation, worry that this pregnancy will end like the last. But he just seeing her excitement.

"A baby?" He whispers more to himself than Annie.

"Yeah Tim, we made a baby." Annie whispers back, tears choking her voice a little. And when Tim looks at her with a bit of concern he sees that she's smiling.

With his hand still on her belly, Tim leans to be able to kiss her, smiling back against her mouth. His hand finds its way under her shirt and strokes the skin beneath his hand. Tim breaks away from the kiss and goes back to lift up her shirt a little where he presses a kiss just below her navel. Annie runs her fingers through his hair as he places more kisses on her bare skin.

"Hi little one." Annie hears him whisper and it makes her giggle a little.

"I don't think they can hear you yet my love." Annie teases him.

Tim rests his head on her belly and glares up at her teasingly.

[kristallioness]

Call the midwife

Summary: It was going to be another regular day working as a paramedic in the emergency room for Katara, until she stumbled upon a sick child.

Word count: 29,040

Author's note: Happy (late) winter solstice! I think it's pretty obvious which series inspired me to write this fic. The italicized monologue at the beginning and ending of the story is elderly Katara talking to the audience, exactly like Jenny does in each episode. I tried to stay true to that format (also by having 2-3 major plot lines). But during the events, Katara is 34-35, exactly the same age as in their family photo. @avatarwindboy - here it is, I hope you like it! The events start in the morning, hence the first character is named Chen, which means morning in Chinese. Mamoun means trustworthy in Arabic, because he's Katara's "trusty steed". Othmar means wealth and fortune in German, since I figured that a shopkeeper would be rather well off. The young man who found Katara and asked for her help is Azor, which is Israeli for helper, and he's of Fire Nation origin. Doctor Rima's name means white antelope in Arabic, indicating that she's light-skinned. Ilo's name is actually a Finnish word meaning joy and delight (+ it's very close to the Estonian word "ilu", which means beauty). Iniko is an African name and it means "born during troubled times" (read and you'll find out why). The final scene was inspired by a heartwarming scene from the series, where doctor Turner's son said something funny to his adopted baby sister when his father Patrick and stepmother Shelagh kissed each other. They were one of my favourite couples on the show. I based the ostrich horse (ambulance) carriage idea on the fact that it was the most common vehicle during that time (as seen when Yakone escaped his trial). When working as a paramedic/in the emergency room, Katara wears the same uniform as seen on the healer who healed councilman Tarrlok's self-inflicted burn. I even drew two sketches - the first one being with her and Mamoun, the second one with her and Niyok - to show what I had in mind (+ a third one where she's in her regular clothes and yes, her parka is the same one she wears throughout Book 1). One of her patients has the Avatar world's version of measles (same disease, different name), which I made up. There's a reference to one of my recent fics called "Bring your daughter to work day". I teared up a few times when writing out some of the more emotional scenes. I started writing this in the middle of November and now my (new) longest fanfic ever is FINALLY FINISHED! Enjoy!

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"The solstices were always the time of year when both spirits and humans would become closer than ever. If ordinary people, who were just minding their own business, ever came across one, they'd usually be frightened and later tell stories of their encounter with a ghost to their friends, who often didn't believe them.

I came across quite a few spirits during my time travelling the world with my husband. He believed that most spirits were good-hearted beings who were watching over us. I liked to think so, too. Especially when it concerned being a mother to our three wonderful children, or helping other mothers. I liked to think that my own mother's spirit was watching over me, guiding me on that joyous journey with her compassion, courage and love - all the qualities she'd passed down to me, which I'd been carrying along with me in my heart."

"There we go.. all done, Mr. Chen!"

Katara rolled up the unused bandage and put it away in her shoulder bag. She was finishing her morning rounds by doing home visits to a few of her eldest patients, who lived in the northeastern borough, which was known to be a poorer part of the town. Mr. Chen lived very near the border and he was the last patient that morning.

"Thank you so much, dear! Here, take these biscuits with you to share with your colleagues. You hardworking young healers need your daily dose of sugar to have enough energy for the rest of the day."

Katara chuckled as the old man dropped a handful of those leftover sweets into a paper bag and handed it to her.

"And thank you, Mr. Chen! You're really spoiling me and my employees."

He liked to glaze the biscuits with powdered sugar, which made them extra sweet. He'd snack on those and drink some jasmine tea while his healer healed the burns and worked on replacing the old, soiled dressings wrapped around his leg with new, clean ones.

Ever since Mr. Chen was injured, which happened about two weeks ago after he'd accidentally dropped a kettle of boiling water on his right foot, Katara often ended her evening rounds at his place. She would sometimes sit with him for almost an hour, talking about her adventures during the Hundred Year War. Mr. Chen's grandson had marched side by side with her on the Day of Black Sun.

"You deserve it. You're the best healer in the world leading the finest hospital in Republic City. We're all lucky to have you."

Katara released a short giggle, her cheeks blushing a little at the compliment.

"I'm flattered. Well, I'd better get going if I wanna get back to the hospital in time for lunch. I'll see you again in the evening," she said while she tied the two strings, which held her healer's hat in place, together under her chin.

"I certainly hope so. I didn't finish telling you about how the first time Junior tried to earthbend he ended up flinging himself straight up into a tree. Took us nonbenders three hours to figure out how to climb all the way up there and bring him down."

"Can't wait to hear it. Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Chen!"

Katara waved back at him as she stepped out of his tiny apartment, closing the door behind her before she headed downstairs.

Mr. Chen's humble abode was, in every meaning of the word, humble. Located near the sink, stove and food cabinets, there was a dining table, which always had a bowl filled with fruit or cookies on it in case he was expecting guests, along with a wooden chair on either side. His cosy armchair and a coffee table, piled up with newspapers, in front of it were in the opposite corner. These pieces of furniture comprised the kitchen and living room. There was a huge bed just for him in the other room. Necessary everyday items, some souvenirs and photos of his family decorated the shelves and cupboards in either room.

If Katara hadn't known better, she would've guessed that this man was an air nomad. The way he'd arranged his furniture and few personal possessions reminded her of the interior of the air temples, of her own home.

The apartment was located on the third floor, the highest in that building. Katara hurried outside and approached her ambulance carriage, which she'd parked right in front. She climbed up on the driver's seat and began searching for the paper bag she'd dropped among the medical supplies inside her shoulder bag. Once found, she picked one.. No! Two biscuits and stuffed them in her mouth.

"Mmm!.." the waterbender hummed in delight as she crumpled up the paper bag and put it back. She grabbed the reins that were attached to the ostrich horse, who was harnessed to the front of the vehicle. After her mouth was empty from the yummy snack, she clucked her tongue a few times.

"Let's go, Mamoun! Back to the hospital!"

Katara gave the reins a softer flick so her ostrich horse would begin trotting. Puffs of warm air escaped its nostrils as he pulled the carriage. It was nearly a 3-mile ride back to the city center, which would take her less than half an hour in such snowy conditions. She gave another flick and the ostrich horse began cantering.

She and Mamoun were almost the same as Aang and Appa - they'd known each other for almost a decade and they had a unique unbreakable bond. He was her favourite ostrich horse out of all the other ones who drove the ambulance carriages and, whenever possible, she'd choose him each time she was assigned to a call. Every healer who'd had the privilege to ride with Mamoun would say the same - he was the best ostrich horse around.

Sometimes when Katara visited the hospital at the weekend to do some paperwork, she'd bring Kya along. They'd take a break to go see Mamoun and pamper him in the afternoon. Katara would let Kya feed him, comb his mane or even braid it together with her daughter. No wonder the ostrich horse was so fond of the two waterbenders..

"Wait! Ambulance! Please, stop!" a young man shouted as he began running after the carriage Katara was driving. She didn't notice him since she passed him swiftly on a bigger intersection, but she heard his plea. She pulled the reins backwards until her ostrich horse slowly came to a halt. She didn't want the carriage to go out of control on the slippery road.

"Wooaahh there, Mamoun! That's it.. good boy," Katara praised once her vehicle stopped moving. The young man who'd yelled for her to stop caught up with her in a few seconds. He leaned against the edge of her driver's seat to catch his breath.

"Sir, are you okay? What's the matter?" Katara asked as she scooted over to take a closer look at the man. She was ready to examine him.

"I'm fine.. but there's been.. an accident. Please.. you've gotta come and help them!" he panted.

"Hop on!" Katara said as she scooted back and patted the empty side of her seat, waiting for the man to climb aboard. She clucked her tongue and tugged at the left rein to turn Mamoun around.

"Where's the scene of the accident?"

"In the corner of the intersection you just passed, over there!" he said, pointing to a shop to their right a few hundred yards away. Katara let Mamoun trot the way back, then turn right at the crossroad to park the carriage in front of the shop. A small crowd had gathered around the entrance to the shop and someone was clearly moaning in pain.

"Make way! Healer coming through!" Katara exclaimed as she elbowed her way through the crowd, as politely as she could. She gasped once she saw the state one of the injured was in.

"Oh my gosh.. what happened here?" she inquired as she sat down on her knees, next to the plump middle-aged man who was lying in a pile of snow. He was conscious, but his left knee was completely dislocated.

"Ohh.. I was putting up some decorations for the winter solstice celebration. The next thing I knew, the ladder slipped away from under my feet and I was lying here on my back."

"You didn't faint, did you?" Katara asked as she withdrew the water from her pouch and began waterbending it over his body to detect internal injuries, especially ones in his spine. He shook his head.

"I saw it happen. He was trying to reach the windowsill on the second floor to put up these lights, but it was too far away and he lost balance. He fell on his left foot. Unfortunately, the ladder fell on this customer's head just as he was coming out of the shop," the young man, who'd brought Katara there, explained and gestured towards another man, who was sitting on the steps leading inside the shop a few feet away. Katara glanced at the other victim. He was rubbing his head.

"Oh no.. make sure that he doesn't leave before I've examined him, too! I'll get right on that as soon as I'm done with this gentleman here. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, mister..?"

"..Othmar. Call me Otto. Everybody does," he chuckled, but winced a second later as Katara carefully waterbended the glowing water up his thigh, over his left knee and down to his toes. Her stomach churned when she felt the way the bones and muscles around his knee were out of place and strained.

"Can you move your toes for me, Otto?"

Katara watched how the tips of his boots moved slightly as he wiggled his toes. She sighed in relief as she waterbended the water back inside her pouch.

"Good. I didn't feel anything wrong, other than your knee, which seems to have popped out of the socket. You're lucky this soft pile of snow was here to break your fall."

"So, what now, healer.. healer..?"

"Katara."

"Healer Katara. Can't you just pop it right back in?"

"Otto, I think you and I both know that getting it back in the right position isn't going to be easy. Especially since you're struggling just to hold it still and it's causing you so much pain. I'd like to take you to the hospital where my healers can carry out the necessary procedure to fix your knee in a calmer, warmer and more private room."

"Sounds good to me."

"Young man, could you help me?" Katara turned to the lad who'd brought her there. The crowd gave her some room as she walked to the back of her ambulance carriage, hopped inside and slid out a stretcher, which the young man helped carry and lay down next to Othmar. Katara knelt down beside him again and began fiddling with her healer's belt.

"I'm going to lift you onto this stretcher now, Otto. And then we'll lift you onto my carriage and drive to the hospital. You should try to keep your knee as still as possible. It might hurt a little."

"What's with the syringe there, healer Katara?" Othmar asked, his green eyes growing wide as she drew some medicine into it from a small vial.

"I'm gonna give you some morphine to reduce the pain until we reach the hospital," Katara barely managed to finish her sentence before the needle already poked him near his thigh. That small pinch was nothing compared to the radiating pain around his knee. After giving the injection, she stood up and waterbended the snow underneath Othmar's body into a thicker layer of ice, using the smooth plate to lift him onto the stretcher. The young man helped her carry him onto the bed inside the carriage.

"There's one more patient who requires my attention before we go. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"

Otto smiled and nodded to her. Katara jumped out from the back of the carriage and walked over to her second patient, who remained sitting on those steps in front of the shop. The young man followed her every step and stayed close behind, like a little helper.

"Hello, sir! I'm healer Katara. Can you tell me where it hurts?" she asked as she squatted down in front of him.

"Ugh.. my head, obviously. You heard what the boy said. I got hit by a ladder."

Katara looked behind her, slightly surprised to see the young man standing very near them. She gave him a quick smile and turned her attention back to the injured man. He supported his head on the palms of his hands and he didn't wanna look up at her. She couldn't see any visible cuts or bleeding beneath his short hair.

"Do you feel any dizziness? Nausea?"

"Yes, I'm a bit dizzy.. but only a little bit. Look, I'm not the one you should be worried about. It's just a bump. The other guy was in pretty bad shape."

"Sir, I'm a healer. It's my job to worry about everyone's health. Now, did you faint after being hit with the ladder?"

"I don't know.. maybe? I'm not sure," he pondered, feebly shaking his head, still preferring to stare down at the ground.

"He did. When I ran over to help, he was unconscious for a minute," the young man added.

"In that case, it's not just a bump. I hope you don't mind coming along with me for a routine checkup to make sure that you don't have a concussion," Katara said as she snaked an arm under his to help him up. Other than a groan from having to stand up when the world was slightly spinning around, her patient showed no sign of protest. The young man grabbed his other arm to help Katara walk him over to the ambulance carriage.

"Sorry, we're short of beds right now. You'll have to sit on the healer's bench on our way there," Katara apologized, supporting the man while he took a seat opposite to Othmar.

"If either of you start to feel worse, you let me know right away. Got it?" she instructed with a wave of her finger. Both her patients understood, so she turned around. The waterbender was pleasantly surprised to see the young man offer his hand to help her climb down from the back of the ambulance carriage.

"Thank you, young man! What's your name?"

"Azor."

"Wait here, Azor..."

Katara ran to the front of the carriage and leaned over her driver's seat. She shuffled through her shoulder bag for a few seconds, then skipped back to the young man with a proud smile on her face.

"Here, have some biscuits for being such a caring citizen and calling for help."

"Wow! I, uh.. I don't know what to say. Thank you!" Azor chuckled and hesitantly picked up three biscuits from inside the paper bag. Katara crumpled up the top, then proceeded to close the doors at the back of the carriage.

As the majority of the crowd began to disperse, she heard someone coughing horribly. It didn't sound like a normal cough and the fit lasted for several seconds. Katara looked around until she spotted a very small girl, not older than her Kya, coughing in the alley between the shop and the neighbouring building. It looked like she was trying to remain hidden, yet wanting to be seen by her.

"Azor, would you guard my ambulance carriage? I'll be right back," Katara said, patting him on the shoulder before approaching the little girl. As soon as she saw the healer coming closer, she ran further into the alley.

"Hello? Little girl? Are you okay?" Katara called to her. She peeked from behind the corner of the shop playfully. The child stood in the middle of the alley, keeping a safe distance tens of feet away from the stranger.

If her parents had been in the crowd, she would've been with them. But she seemed to be alone. She couldn't have been homeless since she didn't look malnourished and she was wearing nice clothes. But the amount of layers she had on for such cold weather was what worried Katara. Only a summer dress as yellow as the sun, a snow-white long-sleeved blouse underneath and shoes of the same colour with laces tied up neatly. No scarf, no coat, no winter boots. It was weird that she wasn't shivering.

She started coughing again, this time the fit lasted for at least a minute. Katara didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"Hi there, little one! There's no need to be scared," she spoke in her motherly voice, taking a few steps closer and then squatting down a bit. The little girl didn't budge.

"My name's Katara, I'm a healer. What's your name?" she wondered. The little girl still didn't answer, she merely tilted her head and stared right back at the woman.

"It's okay, come here! I heard that you have a nasty cough. I can help you feel better. Would you like to come with me to my ambulance carriage?"

At that suggestion, the little girl turned around and began running away towards the other end of the alley. Stupid! That was the only word going through Katara's mind as she dashed right after the child. She could've phrased her request a lot better. Obviously the girl's parents had taught her not to go with strangers.

"Wait up! Please, I wanna help you!" Katara shouted to the child, but she continued scampering.

What kind of parents would send their child out on the cold streets in such light clothing? And she looked so young to be wandering around all alone, her home must've been nearby. How did she seem fine in appearance yet sound so unwell when she coughed? Thinking about the situation brought up more questions than answers.

The little girl reached the other end of the alley and turned left on the corner. By the time Katara came out of the narrow path between the buildings, she was gone. For a clearly ill child who had difficulty breathing, she sure did run fast.

While Katara tried to catch her breath, she looked around the wide street. A couple of pedestrians were walking on either side of the street, further away from her. One or two regular ostrich horse carriages passed her. But there was no sign of a little girl in a bright yellow dress. There weren't many hiding places either unless she ran into another alley around the corner. She should've spotted the girl immediately.

"Monkey feathers!.." Katara muttered under her breath. She gave the surrounding area a second look. Sighing in defeat, she turned around and headed back to her own ambulance carriage. There were two other patients who required medical attention.

"Thank you for all your help, Azor!" Katara waved back at him after she'd flicked the reins and the carriage started moving. The young man had stayed put and looked after her vehicle like she'd asked while she ventured after the little girl. She hoped the tasty reward she'd given him was enough to show how much she appreciated his help. Judging by the way his face lit up when she offered it to him, he was delighted by her gratitude. Or at least he didn't expect to receive anything in return. That was one good deed done for the day.

Katara smiled at that thought. She liked to meet people who were like Azor - willing to give anything to help others in need yet asking for nothing in return. All those selfless faces she'd met throughout the years were like mirrors that reflected herself, how much she was willing to sacrifice. Her small detour to the scene of that accident had only taken her ten minutes. She made up for lost time thanks to Mamoun, who cantered the way back.

Katara arrived at the hospital within a quarter of an hour. The clock on her husband's memorial island struck noon just as she stopped by the northern entrance, which led straight to the emergency room. It was specifically meant as a pit stop for ambulance carriages so the paramedics could hand over the patients they were transporting.

Katara hopped out of the driver's seat and ran inside to fetch a couple of employees who would help her bring the patients inside. She returned less than half a minute later, accompanied by three other healers, who she'd briefed about the incident and her patients' conditions. Two of them lifted Othmar out on the stretcher, using that to carry him onto an empty bed in the emergency room.

"Did you enjoy the ride, Otto? I hope it didn't shake your knee too much," Katara asked.

"Nah, it wasn't too rough. That shot you gave me really worked wonders. It's like I can barely feel the pain."

"Good, that's the way it's supposed to be. Now go inside, Otto. My healers will take good care of you," she assured him by giving his hand a gentle squeeze before letting her workers admit him.

The third healer helped Katara by supporting the other man from under his arm as he staggered out from the carriage and sat down in a wheelchair. He didn't look too happy. In fact, he looked even more under the weather, like he would throw up any minute. The bumpy ride on the carriage hadn't done much good for his dizziness. At least he'll be under close observation now.

Katara watched how the healer pushed him inside. By the time he'd been admitted too, the two healers brought the stretcher back. She thanked her employees before she hopped back on her driver's seat and guided Mamoun to the stable on the western side of the building. Having parked the ambulance carriage amongst the other ones, Katara also thanked Mamoun for all his hard work with a nice big juicy red apple. Having said her goodbyes to the ostrich horse, she headed inside through the main entrance on the southern side of the hospital. She deserved a break after a busy morning, which meant eating lunch with her good friends.

Katara took the elevator up to the floor where the cafeteria was located. She was craving for something salty after those sweet biscuits Mr. Chen had given her. She brought the paper bag along to share them with her colleagues, exactly like she'd promised him.

The cafeteria was usually packed around high noon, but it was surprisingly calm today. Katara gazed around the wide room to find an empty table for four. Some other healers were already enjoying their meal, as well as a few patients who weren't on bed rest, and a couple of visitors. None of her companions had arrived yet.

Her choice for the second meal of the day included stewed sea prunes, which always reminded her of her homeland, two moon peaches and a cup of green tea. Since most healers were from the Water Tribes, the cooks prepared a wider variety of water tribe dishes for the workers to choose from.

Katara took a seat behind the table she'd chosen and put the tray of food down in front of her. She hung her shoulder bag on the edge of the chair, taking the bag of biscuits out and placing it in the middle of the table. She untied the strings under her chin to remove her healer's hat. After that, she began slurping down some steaming broth from her bowl of sea prunes.

"Mmm..." she hummed in delight. It was one of her favourite childhood dishes which she'd never get tired of. She managed to finish almost half of it before someone tapped on her shoulder.

"Is this seat taken?"

"Niyok, hi!" Katara exclaimed, jumping up from her chair to hug her old friend. Niyok was one of the bubbliest healers around. Well, she wasn't exactly a healer since she wasn't a waterbender, so the correct term for her occupation would be a doctor. But her cheerful personality affected everybody around her in the most positive way. She'd given up her job at the refinery soon after Katara had established the first hospital in Republic City. She spent a few months as an intern there and started working as a doctor from then on.

"It's good to see you, Katara. So, you're working in the emergency room today?" Niyok wondered as she sat down in the chair right next to her.

"Well, yeah.. Can't you see I'm dressed in my healer's uniform?"

The two girls shared a good laugh. Being the best healer in the world, Katara was dedicated to helping out in all the departments of her hospital. Most of her time at work passed in her own office at the top floor, where she worked as a family physician and her working hours were full of appointments. On some days, just like this one, she'd assist in the emergency room as a paramedic who'd drive an ambulance carriage to the scenes of accidents, examine the patients brought in by other paramedics, plus do home visits or special morning and evening rounds. The most rare occasions were scheduled important surgeries.

"You look fabulous in that uniform."

"He-he, thanks!" Katara chuckled. The rest of the conversation passed in a similar joyous mood. Two other healers joined them a few minutes later, one of them being a family physician and the other a specialist in her field. Having exchanged a bit more formal greetings with their boss and co-worker, the four ladies could all dig in.

"Mhm.. did anything interesting happen in the morning?" Niyok asked while nibbling on a piece of blubbered seal jerky.

"Besides home visits and an accident involving a dislocated knee and a bump to the head, umm.. nothing big," Katara joked, shrugging her shoulders. Everybody giggled.

"Oh! But there was one thing. I saw a little girl dressed in very light clothing alone on the streets. She had a terrible cough, but I couldn't persuade her to come with me so I could examine her."

"Mphm.. Mm-maybe she was an orphan?" the specialist asked, her mouth half full.

"I don't think so. She was well dressed and she didn't look mistreated. She seemed to be around the same age as Kya. How many little girls have visited their family physicians recently? With the main symptom being an abnormal cough?"

"Oh, quite many since it's the flu season," the family physician replied. Katara knitted her brows and hummed in thought. She couldn't narrow it down, hence she decided to leave it at that for now. She opened the paper bag, being the first one to reach inside for a few biscuits. Everybody else followed her example.

"Mmm! I love these biscuits so much!" Niyok said, grabbing two more.

"Nobody makes them quite like Mr. Chen does," the family physician agreed. All four ladies nodded and hummed in delight as they enjoyed the dessert their boss had arranged. After such a delicious lunch to keep them going for the rest of the day, each healer returned to their respective wards.

Katara headed back down to the emergency room on the first floor to help the paramedics who brought in new patients. Healing broken bones and treating mild sprains was what kept her busy during the following hour. Those were the most common injuries during winter. Luckily none of those people needed to be referred to the orthopedist, unlike Othmar.

Katara heard that Otto had been very cooperative with her healers, but spirits did he scream when they pulled his knee back in place. Not even morphine or the healer waterbending the water around his knee could relieve the pain he felt at that moment. The good news was that he was recovering in the general ward and would soon begin his physiotherapy. The healers who'd treated him said that if he worked really hard there, along with a little help provided by them healing his muscles and joints daily, he should be up and running on his feet again within a week or two.

Katara was nearly done healing a fracture in a woman's forearm just as the phone rang and the receptionist answered it.

"Republic City Hospital, what seems to be the problem?.. I see, but we don't usually send an ambulance to check on a patient who only has a high fever-" she attempted to explain, but the person on the other end of the line seemed to be very persistent and loud, judging by the way she held the receiver further away from her ear until they finished talking.

"Who's your family physician?.. Uh-uh, you haven't been able to contact her since it's her day off today."

The caller spoke again for a few seconds. The receptionist quirked an eyebrow.

"Why do you want a light-skinned healer?"

That question attracted Katara's attention as well. She continued wrapping her current patient's arm in a sling while eavesdropping on the unusual conversation. The receptionist sighed as she grabbed a pen.

"What's your address?.. Uh-uh.. uh-uh.. southeastern borough. Got it. We'll send an ambulance as soon as possible. Good day!" she said with a fake smile, hanging up so quickly Katara didn't even manage to blink. The waterbender sent the lady, whose broken arm she'd healed, on her way and approached the receptionist.

"What was that about?"

"A mother called. Her daughter has a high fever and she wants a light-skinned healer to do a home visit. Their family physician, doctor Rima, is off-duty today."

"Why does she want a light-skinned healer?"

"I don't know.. She just claimed that she doesn't like dark-skinned ones, especially Water Tribe healers or any of those Fire Nation shamans. Ugh, she sounded so vicious when she said that!"

"Hmm.. maybe they're just used to seeing their regular doctor. I mean, Rima is from the Earth Kingdom, after all."

"I don't know, Master Katara. Maybe she's just racist?"

"Let's not prejudge so soon," Katara tried to cheer up the receptionist, holding a supportive hand on her shoulder. It was easy for her to say, she wasn't the one who had to listen to that complaining on the phone. She read the address written down on the paper on the desk.

"I'm gonna take this call myself," Katara said, turning around to go grab her shoulder bag full of medical instruments and head outside through the main entrance. She took that call gladly. Healing one broken bone after another was becoming a bit tedious for her. Katara was a woman who couldn't sit still in one place for very long, not to mention do nothing at all.

As she came around the corner and reached the stable where the ambulance carriages were parked, she was surprised to see her favourite ostrich horse resting in a small pile of snow.

"Hey there, Mamoun! You're still here.." Katara coaxed. Her familiar voice got the animal's attention as he lifted his head to look at her approach him calmly. There were two rules that everybody had to follow when approaching an ostrich horse. First, never approach him from behind since he can't see the person coming. And second, never approach him while running or making loud noises. Both actions could scare the animal.

Katara stepped beside him and tenderly stroked his beak. She could see how much he enjoyed it by the way he closed his big brown eyes every time she did that. She reached for some hay from the trough and held it in front of Mamoun's beak, slowly lifting it higher until he stood up on his legs, shaking the snowflakes out of his feathers. Warm air came out of his nostrils in small puffs, stroking the waterbender's bare fingers as he sniffed the food before accepting it.

"Good boy," Katara said, running her hand through his soft grey mane, which prompted him to nicker.

"Didn't anybody else wanna ride with you?" she wondered and continued combing Mamoun's mane until he finished eating. The ostrich horse shook his head for an answer, almost as if he'd understood what she'd asked him. The response only made Katara giggle.

"You ready to ride now?"

Mamoun snorted and threw his head back a little, which she took as a 'yes'. Katara checked that his harness was attached correctly, hopped in the driver's seat and gently pulled the left rein to turn the carriage towards the front of the hospital.

The woman who'd made the call to the emergency room lived in the middle of the southeastern borough. It was a quick 10-minute ride there.

The pavements on either side of the roads were covered in huge hills of snow, only the paths leading to the doors of the houses had been shovelled clean. Katara didn't see a problem. She simply waterbended a big pile of snow away with a flick of her wrist, making enough space in front of the rather nice apartment building where she had to visit. Having parked Mamoun outside, she headed inside and knocked against one of the doors on the ground floor.

"Healer calling!" Katara shouted and waited for someone to open the door. The faintest answer, followed by some shuffling, echoed from inside, indicating that someone was coming. The lock clicked a few seconds later and a pregnant woman pulled the door open.

"Took you long enough.. Ugh! I specifically asked for a light-skinned healer."

Katara gulped, but offered a sincere smile.

"Good afternoon, madam! I'm well aware of that, but I'm all you've got. The other healers are busy saving the lives of others."

"I don't want a dark-skinned woman like you anywhere near my daughter! I'm going to report you to your boss!"

Katara's eyes grew wide for a moment, then narrowed into a glare. She didn't like being threatened.

"Well, in that case, you can report straight to me," she said and crossed her arms.

"Wait, what?" the woman exclaimed, staring at the healer wide-eyed.

"You're talking to her. I'm the boss - Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, the best healer in the world and head of the Republic City Hospital - at your service. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at your daughter."

The mother grunted, but stepped aside and let Katara enter. She wiped her feet on the doormat and watched how the lady shut the door.

"And you are?.."

"Jia."

"Okay, Jia, where's the patient?"

"Right this way," she said, intentionally bumping against the healer with her big belly in the cramped corridor and leading the way to the living room. This was going to be one pleasant home visit.

Their apartment was small but cosy, there was enough room for a nuclear family. As the two women entered the living room, Katara could see a brunette little girl lying on the couch in the middle of the room, wrapped up in a warm blanket. She moved a little under the blanket and her small hands peeked out from the edge, pulling the covers up to her neck. Katara gasped at the sight of all-too-familiar red marks on her skin. She nearly shrieked, but she managed to cover her mouth in time. She didn't want to frighten the girl nor her mother.

"What's the matter?" Jia asked, completely bewildered by the healer's reaction. Katara stood in the same spot for a few seconds to gather herself.

"N-nothing.. I just need to take a closer look," she stammered, after which she approached the child cautiously. She stared at the healer with her big olive green eyes.

"Hello! I'm healer Katara. What's your name?" Katara wondered. She removed her shoulder bag and put it on the coffee table next to the couch, the medical instruments clinking together inside.

"Jia-Li," the girl answered, then went into a coughing fit. Katara squatted down beside her.

"That's a beautiful name, Jia-Li. Are you named after your mommy?"

She nodded and smiled at the healer.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Katara asked, pointing at the edge of the couch. Jia-Li shook her head and gave the waterbender some room for sitting.

"Aahh, there we go.. Jia-Li, how old are you?"

"Ten."

"Alright. A little winged lemur told me that you're not feeling well. I'm going to examine you now so I can help you feel better. Are you okay with that? Does that sound like a good plan to you?"

Jia-Li nodded again, watching how Katara began rummaging through her bag.

"Wait a minute, I never asked you to carry out an examination. I don't want you touching my daughter! You wanted to see her, you saw her. Now you can just lower her fever and leave!" Jia yelled slightly and pointed to the door. Katara merely released an exasperated sigh.

"Okay.. Jia, the most important thing for you right now is to remain calm. Being angry isn't good for your baby. And what concerns your daughter, then first off, I don't know how high her fever is or if I even need to lower it. I have to take her temperature before I can do that. Second, you didn't mention the spots all over her body! I need to examine her to find out what's wrong with her. And third, I'm not going anywhere until I've given your daughter a proper diagnosis, the right course of treatment and lowered her fever if necessary, all of which involves touching her."

The two women glared at each other in silence for what felt like an awkwardly long minute, but in reality it lasted for a couple of seconds. Jia's face was more grimaced, whereas Katara's expression looked much more restrained. It was the piercing coldness in her diamond blue eyes and slightly knitted brows that made her look a lot more serious and furious than she was showing.

"You can call the hospital again if you want, but they know I'm stationed here. They won't send anyone else," Katara shrugged nonchalantly, then proceeded with the exam. Jia huffed and decided to grab a chair from her kitchen so she could observe what the healer was going to do to her daughter. Being in her third trimester with her second child, her feet thanked her for every opportunity to sit down and rest from the extra weight.

"Does she have any other symptoms? Besides a high fever and these spots," Katara asked as she lifted Jia-Li's right arm and placed a thermometer under there.

"Just a cough," the mother added while she carefully looked into her daughter's inflamed eyes.

"I see.." Katara thought for a second, then pulled out her stethoscope from her bag. She put the earpieces in her ears and breathed on the cold diaphragm to warm it up.

"I'll just have a quick listen, okay?" she explained, after which she lifted the girl's shirt up a bit and laid the diaphragm on her chest. She couldn't hear any crackles when listening to her lungs, which was a very good sign, but she felt how badly Jia-Li shivered. Her fever must've been climbing and she would've wanted to bury herself under a heap of blankets instead.

"Can you cough for me?" Katara asked in a hushed tone once she reached the lower part of her chest. Jia-Li did so twice so she could compare the sounds coming from either lung. Katara was very pleased since they sounded identical.

"And I'm gonna listen to your heart, too," she said with a loving smile, placing the metal end of her stethoscope above the girl's heart. The high fever must've spiked the heart rate as well, but the beats were otherwise steady and she couldn't hear any murmurs. Another good sign.

"Can you sit up for me? I'd like to listen from your back, too."

Jia-Li gave her a quick nod, after which she grabbed her weak arms to slowly help her sit up. Katara stood up from the couch and stepped behind the girl, pulled her shirt up and laid the diaphragm against her back, repeating the same pattern. The poor child was shaking like a leaf the entire time, and not because she was scared.

As soon as Katara finished auscultating, Jia-Li plopped back against the pillows, grabbed the blanket and pulled it up to her neck again in the blink of an eye. It wasn't helping against her chills, she was shivering visibly underneath the covers. Katara removed the stethoscope from her ears, coiled it up and dropped the medical instrument back inside her shoulder bag.

"Jia-Li, I could feel you trembling and I know it's because you're cold, but you were such a brave girl for letting me listen to you," she praised her patient with gentle strokes along her hot forehead. The waterbender took out a wooden tongue depressor from her bag and sat back down on the couch.

"There's just one more thing I'd like to do before I'm done. Open your mouth.. stick out your tongue.. That's it, good girl... Say 'Aahh!'."

"Aahh!"

The little girl followed the healer's instructions obediently. Her throat looked fine, but Katara noticed something else, something that confirmed her fears. There were white spots inside her mouth.

"Alright, that's enough," Katara said as she pulled the wooden stick out of her mouth, prompting Jia-Li to come down with another nasty coughing fit. She frowned, waiting until the poor girl caught her breath again.

"Can I have my thermometer back now?" she asked with a smile, fiddling with the collar of the girl's shirt until she could grab the tip of the medical instrument and pull it out from under her arm. Katara stared at the mercury, which had risen unusually high inside the glass. She would've been a lot more staggered by the measurement if she hadn't known all the other symptoms. A fever of nearly 40 degrees didn't surprise her anymore.

"Thank you for being such a good patient, Jia-Li. Here's what I'd like to do next - you have a very high fever, it's almost 40 degrees. That's why you're so cold. I'd like to help you by lowering that fever with my healing abilities so you'd be a bit more comfortable. Would you like that?"

She nodded, watching how Katara summoned the water from her pouch around her hands, then placed them on her temple. The liquid shined a bright blue glow around her face and the healer's hands.

"Jia, I'd like to have a word with you after I'm finished here and before I leave," Katara said, glancing back at the mother for a moment. She gave the healer a disapproving look as she stood up from her chair and asked her daughter whether she'd like some tea. The little girl hummed a 'yes', being unable to move her head to nod or to look at her mother since Katara was holding it steady. She heard how the kettle was placed on the stove and the water was poured inside.

For a minute or two, Jia-Li didn't feel any different, her head shivered against the waterbender's palms. The cooling sensation started to take over five minutes later, by which time her fever must've fallen into a much more normal range between 37 to 38 degrees. She'd stopped shivering by then.

"Tell me, how are you feeling now?" Katara wondered as she finished the healing session by waterbending the water back into her pouch.

"Much better. Thank you, healer Katara!" Jia-Li said, prompting Katara to giggle as she laid one hand over her temple and grabbed her wrist with the other one to check her pulse. It was a lot slower now that her fever had fallen.

"You're welcome!.. Alright, Jia-Li, I'm just gonna go talk to your mommy for a minute before I leave. Will you promise me that you'll be a good patient by getting lots of rest and drinking as much tea as your mommy makes?"

"I promise."

"Good girl. I'll see you soon!" Katara stroked her head one last time before she stood up, hung her shoulder bag across her chest and beckoned Jia to come to the corridor with her for a more private conversation.

"Jia, I'm afraid your daughter has pentapox."

"So? Go ahead, make her better!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can do than lower her fever for the time being. There is no cure for pentapox."

"Then how does she get better?"

"You wait. Pentapox blows over in a week or so. You should treat the illness like a regular cold, but with an unusually high fever. That's why I'm prescribing you some paracetamol, which will help lower the fever when it gets too high," Katara said, writing the prescription down on paper and handing the document to the mother.

"Give Jia-Li plenty of fluids to drink. Both of you have to be very careful when coming in contact with other people since pentapox is highly contagious. Wash your hands, stay indoors as much as possible and try to avoid any contact until your daughter recovers. Keep a close eye on that fever and cough. If it gets worse or Jia-Li loses consciousness, you have to call for an ambulance immediately."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. I have to ask, why hasn't your daughter been vaccinated against pentapox?"

Jia averted her gaze down at the floor to avoid the healer's scrutinizing diamond blue eyes, fiddling with the prescription in her hands in complete silence.

"Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be near a person sick with pentapox, especially in your condition?"

"I don't want any poison injected into me or my children!" she spat out. Katara became even more enraged. She hated to see children suffer because of their parents' ignorance.

"Oh, for goodness' sake! Vaccines are not poison!" she exclaimed, practically wanting to scream, but she pinched her nose and took a deep breath. She had to keep her voice down, keeping in mind that Jia was expecting.

"A vaccine is a weakened form of the disease which your body will react to, creating special antibodies that'll protect you for the rest of your life. Now tell me, would you risk having the disease in its full form and dying from it? Or would you rather get a quick shot and basically have no symptoms at all and get a protective shield forever?"

The mother remained quiet after that. Katara sighed in exasperation once more.

"I'll arrange for another vaccinated Water Tribe healer to come visit your home daily until Jia-Li has fully recovered. They can lower her fever if the paracetamol isn't working. They'll also report back to me and doctor Rima, keeping us informed and updated on your daughter's condition and progress. When she's feeling better, they'll make sure that you make an appointment with your family physician so she can examine her properly."

The waterbender already grabbed the door knob, but turned around one last time.

"Oh, and one more thing! To avoid catching or spreading pentapox in the future, you need to be vaccinated, too, after you've given birth to your second child. I'll tell doctor Rima to handle that as soon as possible.. Good day!" Katara said as she stepped outside of the flat, hearing how Jia huffed an ungrateful 'thank you' before closing the door behind her.

"Pshh!.. Some people," Katara muttered under her breath as she washed her hands in the nearest pile of snow by waterbending it into water so she could at least grab the reins to guide her ostrich horse back to the hospital. The first thing she'd have to do is take a shower.

"Let's go, Mamoun," she said and clucked her tongue, tugging at the left rein so he'd pull the carriage out from her makeshift parking space. She gave the reins two flicks in a row once they were on the street and the vehicle was moving straight forward.

There'd been outbreaks of a disease with similar symptoms countless times in the past. During the current era, where modern medicine was making remarkable development, healers and doctors started gathering information on all known illnesses and documenting them in books. They needed to come up with a name for this particular deadly infectious disease. Since it came in the form of a high fever along with red marks all over the patient's body, Katara remembered what she, Sokka and Aang had once done in Omashu, hence she decided to call it pentapox.

It'd taken her scientists two years to develop a vaccine for it and ever since it came out, most children and even adults were being vaccinated against pentapox. Katara had immunized everybody in her family - Aang, Bumi, Kya - except for Tenzin, who was still too young to receive the shot. She'd even let one of her own healers give her the shot so she'd be protected as well.

People like Jia endangered everybody else who weren't vaccinated yet, especially other children, whose parents would not allow their family physicians to give them these shots. Katara sighed sadly at the thought, slouching a bit in her driver's seat. As Mamoun cantered most of the way, she slowed him down near each intersection to check that no other vehicles were crossing the road.

She pulled him into a complete stop before she reached the border between the city center and the southeastern borough, allowing a bunch of pedestrians to safely cross one of the streets as well as a trolley to pass. She was lost in her thoughts when she suddenly heard someone coughing. It sounded uncomfortably familiar, like what she'd heard earlier in the morning. Katara immediately became more alert as she sat up and eyed the small crowd who'd crossed the street to her right. She couldn't see anyone familiar, particularly any little girls donning a bright yellow dress. She flicked the reins once the path was clear to order Mamoun to begin trotting again.

Having passed the intersection and the first few buildings on that side of the road, she heard it again. Katara looked to her left, then to her right. Her eyes darted at the small figure on the sidewalk, running along at the same pace as her ostrich horse right next to her ambulance carriage. It was her, the same little girl with the unusual cough, who she'd chased in an alley in the northeastern borough.

Katara yanked the reins so hard that Mamoun nearly ran off course, neighing as he pulled the carriage to a sudden halt. Katara bumped against the protective wall in front of her seat, but otherwise remained unharmed. Luckily, he hadn't started cantering yet, so their speed was much slower.

The sounds of other vehicles stopping behind hers, along with panicking ostrich horses followed. The waterbender held a hand across her ribs as she carefully hopped out of the driver's seat to take a look at the damage she'd done. Two carriages were criss-crossed rather close behind hers. She'd nearly caused a collision between all three of them.

"Hey! Watch it, lady! Some of us are driving here!" the man who'd been riding an ostrich horse carriage right behind hers shouted to her, shaking his fist in the air.

"Sorry! I'm a healer! It was an emergency!" Katara apologized. He and the second driver guided their ostrich horses around her ambulance carriage and headed their way. She checked whether her own vehicle was still intact. Mamoun was a bit shaken from the whole incident. She grabbed some fodder and a slice of bread from his feeding bag at the back of the carriage.

"It's okay, Mamoun. Everything's okay now.." Katara coaxed him by running her hand down his mane. The ostrich horse calmed down and sniffed the food she offered to him before nibbling it out of her hand.

"I'm sorry," she said and stroked his beak after he'd finished eating. Mamoun shook his feathers, glittering Katara with the snowflakes that'd been stuck in between, then nuzzled his beak against her chest. The waterbender giggled as she hugged him back. She was forgiven.

Their bonding moment was ruined when Katara heard the little girl cough again. She was peeking at the two of them from behind the corner of another alley tens of feet away.

"It's you.. How did you find me?" Katara asked as she approached the girl, who hid behind the corner once she'd gotten too close. When she stepped into the alley, the little one was already waiting for her behind the next corner.

"Please, come here. I'm not going to hurt you. I wanna help you, you're not well," Katara spoke in her motherly voice, trying to negotiate with the child as she slowly approached her. She ran further into the narrow path between those two houses. Katara wasn't going to let her get out of sight this time. She quickly waterbended the surrounding piles of snow into ice and began sliding on it to chase her in the maze of alleys between the buildings.

"Wait up! Why are you running away from me? I'm trying to help you!" Katara shouted to her, but the girl continued scampering. She was very fast skating on her element, but the little one was even faster on foot. The chase came to an abrupt end when Katara slid out from behind another corner and almost crashed into a brick wall. She waterbended the ice into a smooth curve under her feet, managing to dodge the walls of the houses. It was a dead end and the girl had disappeared. She'd lost her, again.

Katara frantically looked around - there weren't any hiding places, any other paths the child could've taken. She would've noticed if the girl had turned around and run back the way she came. She didn't understand, nothing made sense. It was like she'd just vanished into thin air.

Katara lifted herself high in the sky by bending the ice into a water, or much rather a snow spout. She did a full circle above the rooftops to get a better idea of her surroundings. She was almost half a mile away from her starting point, much nearer to the border of the eastern borough. They'd meandered through the alleys, but Katara realized that there was a pattern - the little girl had always headed northwards. It was no wonder she'd ended up there.

But how did the girl end up in a completely different part of town? And how could she have known that the healer was there? Did she follow her all the way back to the hospital and then to Jia's home without her noticing?

"Arrrgh! Double monkey feathers!" Katara screamed as she bended the snow back down towards the ground. This mystery was starting to drive her nuts.

She went back to her ambulance carriage by following her own icy path. Having plopped down in her driver's seat, Katara groaned and clutched her stomach. Maybe that impact had been worse than she'd thought. She waterbended the water from her pouch around her hands and examined her ribcage. She sighed in relief since she couldn't feel any broken ribs. The clock on Avatar Aang Memorial Island began striking, it was three o'clock. Time to return to the hospital for a disinfecting shower, plus a short healing session to be sure that she was okay after that small crash.

It was getting dark outside by the time Katara arrived back at the hospital, which was only about five minutes later. The day of the winter solstice was the shortest one in the year after all. She'd parked her ambulance carriage and headed inside through the main entrance. As she walked to the elevator and waited for it to come down, the receptionist saw that she was back from her home visit. Katara looked her dead in the eye.

"Oh yeah.. she was racist alright."

The receptionist held a hand in front of her mouth to stifle her laughter since she was on the phone. She felt so happy. Judging by the self-satisfied smirk on her superior's face, she'd put that lady in her place.

Katara took the elevator upstairs by a few floors and headed straight to the nearest changing room meant for her female staff. It was a vast area made up of two rooms - one for dressing and storing clothes in lockers, the other half consisted of about a dozen shower stalls separated by opaque curtains. These rooms were mostly used by nurses, paramedics or surgeons since family physicians and specialists didn't need to change uniforms that often. The latter two usually changed clothes in their own offices or, like scientists, they'd simply put on a white lab coat and go straight to work.

As Katara went through the dressing room, where a couple of healers were chit-chatting about their day, she stepped inside the shower room where three other ladies were busy washing themselves. She dropped her shoulder bag on one of the benches in the middle of the dry area. First, she disposed of the water she'd used to lower Jia-Li's fever, then swilled the inside of her pouch with some fresh water before filling it completely.

Next, she undressed down to her undergarments, leaving the rest of her clothes next to her bag, and stepped under the shower. Washing herself always helped her relax. It felt soothing to stand under the running water, to let it caress her skin and cleanse her of the blood, sweat and tears she'd poured, to be at peace with her element. She didn't mind any company either, especially if it was a certain airbender who liked to play with her and her element whenever they showered together at home.

Katara ran her hands softly over her skin, combing them through her long loose hair, washing her face, sliding her fingers down to her forearms, coming back up to her neck, then down to her chest. As her hands slid over the sarashi covering her breasts, she felt something strange. She sensed her own heartbeat against her fingertips, as if she'd just inadvertently used her healing abilities near the area. She looked down, her hands were indeed glowing.

Katara dropped the water and as soon as the glow faded, she gasped. She saw a large pinkish bruise slightly above her stomach, on the lower half of her ribcage. She summoned some more water around her hands to examine the injury more thoroughly. No internal organs were hurt, the bones were strong and healthy for a woman her age. But the bruised spot was tender when she palpated around it with her fingers. She hoped that healing it a little bit more would help ease the pain.

Having dealt with her injuries and scrubbed herself clean, Katara began washing her clothes. She took each item of clothing separately along with her under the shower - the white uniform, the mauve skirt, the shoes, the healer's belt and hat. Everything had to go since she couldn't risk spreading pentapox to her other patients. She and a few high-ranking specialists had established some very strict rules on how to act when it concerned highly infectious diseases that didn't have a cure yet. Taking a thorough shower and washing the equipment used was one of them.

Katara dried herself by waterbending the excess drops of water off her skin, repeating the same procedure with her uniform so she could put it back on. After she was dressed again, she left the showers and took a seat on the line of benches in the locker room, dropping her shoulder bag next to her. She found a small box of special sanitizing napkins inside to wipe the thermometer and the tip of her stethoscope clean. She was sitting with her back facing the door of the dressing room when Niyok stormed in.

"There you are! The receptionist told me you headed upstairs and a bunch of healers saw you come in here," her friend said as she skipped in front of her.

"Hold on, I'm almost done cleaning my instruments," Katara replied without looking up at her, running the napkin over the metal of the chestpiece.

"Why do you need to do that?"

"I did a home visit to a little girl who was sick with pentapox."

"Pentapox!?" Niyok exclaimed perhaps a bit too loudly, her hands landing on her mouth immediately after since a couple of healers stared at her. Katara simply nodded.

"Wow! I thought we'd gotten rid of that disease thanks to the new vaccine."

"Well, let's just say that the girl's mother doesn't quite understand how vaccines work. And she has to suffer because of it.. poor Jia-Li," Katara sighed and stared at her own distorted reflection on the round metal end of her stethoscope. Niyok sat down next to her and held a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"She'll be okay, Katara. I know it because you saw her and you'll do everything you can to make sure that she receives the best care we have to offer."

Katara smiled at the gesture.

"Thanks, Niyok."

"Now c'mon! Hurry up or we're going to be late!" she patted her on the shoulder. Katara giggled and put her clean instruments back into her shoulder bag, after which Niyok grabbed her hand and they dashed out of the changing room. She practically had to drag Katara along on their way to the elevator because she was so eager to show her what she'd done in the children's ward. Ever since she'd officially become a doctor, she'd chosen to specialize in pediatrics, having spent so much time with children as an intern. Her bubbly personality fitted well with her task of taking care of and cheering up young patients.

Katara could already hear the children's laughter before the elevator doors opened. They took it to the floor of the general ward, where kids who'd been admitted to the hospital stayed. A broken bone shattered into so many pieces it took a lot more time and effort to heal, which was a tough job even for a waterbender to do, recovering from major surgery, diseases that needed to be monitored - those were some of the main reasons for having to stay in the general ward.

As the two stepped out of the elevator, Katara's mouth fell slightly agape at the unusual sight. Two nurses and most of the kids were happily sitting in a circle on the carpet at the other end of the vast room, playing with the available toys from the toy box. Some of them were tossing paper snowflakes in the air. There were colourful lights decorating the walls behind their beds, drawings done earlier in the day on the nightstands next to them. All part of the winter solstice celebration.

"Niyok.. you did all of this?"

"Me and a couple of nurses.. The kids helped out a lot, obviously. We just wanted to make this day extra special for them, because.. you know. They have to spend it away from home, in this hospital," Niyok said with a sad voice, rubbing her arms and swaying herself a little bit. One of the kids stood up from the circle and ran over to them.

"Doctor Niyok! Will you come play with us?" the 4-year-old boy asked, holding a koalaotter plush in his hands.

"Sure. I'll join you in a minute," she smiled as she squatted down and patted his head.

"Can your friend play, too?" he wondered, tilting his head and staring into the other healer's pretty blue eyes. Niyok looked up at Katara. She nodded and smiled back at him.

"Of course. She'd love to," Niyok said. The little guy scampered back to the rest of the group to continue playing. Katara's heart melted at the sight of such wide smiles on these children's faces. They'd never done something like this on such a large scale before.

"You know what? We should make this a tradition."

"Really?" Niyok gasped, her eyes wide and hands clasped together in delight.

"Yeah, I mean.. look at them. These kids are who knows how far away from their homes on one of the most joyous holidays of the year. But all these decorations and activities and games help them take their minds off it. Instead, it feels like they're still at home, having fun and surrounded by people who love them. They're so snug and happy here. And it's all thanks to you, Niyok," Katara said. She laid a hand on her friend's shoulder, then pulled her in for a very tight hug.

"Mmm.. thank you, Katara!" Niyok hummed as she hugged her back, blinking away a couple of tears. The Southern Water Tribe girls released their embrace and smiled at each other before deciding to join the little boy and his companions.

He was playing with some plush animals, so Katara and Niyok each grabbed one to join in. Katara picked an otter penguin to teach the kids what penguin sledding was. Niyok chose a small fluffy white hamster since she always liked to chase those swift little critters back home. Her parents were never as fond of hamsters intruding their household as she was though, especially when they managed to steal some of their stored seaweed or sea prunes.

A few toddlers about the same age as the boy were building a shilouette of Republic City using wooden blocks. One of the nurses helped them finish it. The other nurse was reading a children's book to a group of kids sitting in a bigger circle around her. Two older girls were playing Pai Sho near them. And a couple of children were resting in their beds, reading a book of their own or taking comfort from their stuffed toys.

The medical staff were able to entertain the kids for another twenty minutes before their expected guest arrived. A third nurse came to Niyok and whispered something into her ear, after which she ordered all the children to huddle up on the carpet, even those who were lying in their beds earlier. The ones who had to stay bedridden were lifted onto the beds closer to that end of the ward.

"Alright, kids. Since today's the winter solstice celebration, we thought that you all might like to hear an amazing tale from a very special visitor. Without further ado, here he is!" Niyok said with a wave of her hands. A tall man donning a blue fish-like costume stepped out from behind the corner of the corridor leading to the private wards in the western wing, accompanied by Katara.

"Woo-ooo! I'm Koizilla and I've come to capture some firebenders so I can hug them!" he booed as he walked over to the kids. His weird appearance scared the younger ones a little bit and made them snuggle up to the nurses. Halfway there, he stepped on a ball and tumbled forward, which prompted everyone in the ward to start laughing instead.

"Uh, guys?.. A little help?" Sokka groaned. His sister and Niyok ran over, grabbing him from under his arms to help him stand up again. He dusted himself clean.

"Now where was I?.. Oh, yeah. That's right! Are there any firebenders in this ward?" he continued in character. One of the nurses pointed at the 8-year-old girl who played Pai Sho earlier.

"Aahh, yes! I've captured my first firebender. And now I'm going to give you the biggest hug you've ever received!" Sokka said as he lifted the girl up in his arms, then wrapped her in a very tight embrace. She giggled the entire time. While the councilman was busy messing around with the kids, Niyok began to calm down after laughing hysterically.

"Oh my gosh! Where'd he get the costume!?" she wondered as she wiped the corners of her eyes dry.

"Let's just say that Zuko pulled some strings and had the Ember Island Players send it to the United Republic for a very special play," Katara said with a smirk.

"How'd you get him to agree to this?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"I just asked. He was more than happy to do it for the kids."

"Kataraaa..." Niyok teased her with a gentle nudge, making her giggle.

"..aaaand for a quarter of the blubbered seal jerky dad has sent me, which Aang and I have stored in our fridge."

Now that Niyok believed. They watched how Sokka "captured" each child who was of Fire Nation origin and awarded them with a big hug. He knelt down in front of the group so that his feet were hidden under the short costume. He resembled Koizilla a lot more when those brown boots with furry white edges didn't pop out.

"Okay, now I want all the Water Tribe kids to come and hug me because I'm the ocean spirit and I love and protect the Water Tri- OOF!" he barely managed to finish before five little ones scampered to him and knocked him over, their laughter filling the general ward. Niyok helped him out by shooing the kids off from on top of him and back onto the carpet. Katara stepped forward, grabbing her brother's hand to help him up and pull off his costume.

"Alright-alright, that's enough. I'd like you all to meet our real guest, councilman Sokka!" Niyok said, clapping her hands together along with the three nurses as Katara revealed his true appearance. Some of the kids screamed with joy as they clapped, too.

"He-he! Hi there, children! I'm councilman Sokka, representative of the Southern Water Tribe. This is my little sister, Katara," he started, grabbing her by the shoudler and pulling her close to his side, prompting her to chuckle.

"She's the head of this hospital and the best healer in the whole world. And she asked me to come and tell you an amazing story. It's a story that happened not too long ago," Sokka continued as he sat down in front of the children. Katara found a cosy spot next to Niyok, who was already surrounded by three toddlers - her protective arms holding them close to her sides, and the third one was sitting in her lap. She was very popular and loved amongst the kids, exactly like the nurses who worked there daily.

"I'm sure most of you have heard stories of the Hundred Year War from your moms and dads. Well, about 20 years ago, me, my sister Katara and Avatar Aang were travelling the world, heading northwards to the Northern Water Tribe. The war was ongoing, so it was a very dangerous journey. We fought against Fire Nation soldiers and pirates and went through storms, but we never gave up. We had to go there because we were searching for a waterbending teacher who would help Aang, and my sister, master waterbending," Sokka spoke, waving a hand towards Katara each time he mentioned her. She smiled back at him. A couple of kids had crawled closer to the councilman and snuggled up to his side while he was telling the story. He even lifted the 4-year-old boy with the koalaotter plush onto his lap.

"Katara was the only southern waterbender we knew at that time, so there was nobody else who could teach her or Aang waterbending back home. But we found them a teacher at the North Pole. It was there that we also met Princess Yue. She was the most beautiful princess of the Northern Water Tribe who ever lived. And she was also the bravest princess I'd ever met, because she sacrificed her life to save the moon spirit.." Sokka went on, describing how Yue looked like before that happened - from her pretty violet dress to her luxurious white hair. The children listened to his story in complete silence, their eyes wide and mouths slightly agape. Even the bedridden ones were holding on to the edge of their beds as close as possible to hear everything.

Katara looked around her, her soft smile slowly turning into a frown. She felt left out since none of the kids wanted to snuggle up to her. She wasn't a very familiar face around that ward, so it made sense for them to want to be close to their regular doctor, Niyok. But she was still a tad disappointed.

Katara quietly stood up without disturbing the group or her brother's storytelling to go fetch that otter penguin plush from the toy box behind him. At least it'd keep her company and remind her of home, of penguin sledding together with Aang.. Great, now she remembered how much she missed him and their babies. She should call them after they finish here..

Her train of thought broke and she stopped in her tracks when she turned around. Before she could go back and sit down, she saw a little boy at the other end of the room. He was sitting on a small chair and staring out of the window, his back facing them. Katara tiptoed to Niyok and knelt down beside her to whisper into her ear.

"Hey, who's that little guy over there? He seems so lonely.."

Her friend looked behind her and noticed him.

"Oh.. that's Ilo. He's a very quiet little boy and pretty homesick. He prefers to be by himself, but we didn't wanna put him in a private ward since his injury isn't that serious."

Katara looked at Ilo sitting there all on his own, then glanced at Sokka, who was retelling the beginning of the events from the Siege of the North to all the other children.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," she whispered to Niyok, patting her on the shoulder before heading over to the boy. He didn't notice her when she walked right next to him, or at least he pretended not to notice her.

Katara knelt down and simply looked at the poor child. He was gazing out of the window with a blank stare. He couldn't have been more than 6 years old. His right hand was in a plaster cast. The bones had most likely broken into hundreds of pieces after a serious accident. Otherwise her healers would've healed it with their waterbending abilities in a matter of minutes and he wouldn't have stayed in the hospital for so long.

"Hello there! What's your name?" Katara asked in a low, motherly voice.

"Ilo," the boy replied, but he still didn't wanna look at her.

"Iroh?"

"No, Ilo. I-L-O," he spelled it out for her. What a clever little one, she thought. Katara had done that on purpose to get his attention.

"Well, Ilo, I'm Katara. K-A-T-A-R-A.. Katara. It's nice to meet you. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me to hear councilman Sokka's story of the brave Princess Yue."

The boy averted his gaze back outside.

"C'mon.. it must be really boring to sit here all by yourself. Don't you wanna join everybody else? It's much more fun."

"I wanna go home," Ilo mumbled to himself.

"Hmm?" Katara tilted her head.

"I wanna go home," he spoke up more clearly this time.

"I know you do, but you have to get better before you can go home," she sighed, rubbing his back in an effort to console him.

"I miss mom and dad."

"When did you last see them?"

"I saw mom yesterday during visiting hours."

"But you still miss them, huh? You wanna be at home, together with them."

"We've always been together at home on every winter solstice celebration. But not this year."

Ilo looked like he was on the verge of tears, but putting on a brave face in front of strangers like her. He continued to stare outside. Katara thought for a moment.

"You like looking out of the window, right? The city is really beautiful during winter when it's all lit up with these pretty lights, huh?"

The boy nodded, at least that was a start.

"Do you see that small island back there in the bay, behind that huge statue?" Katara asked, pointing a finger at Air Temple Island. Ilo narrowed his eyes and hunched a bit to find the tiny speck in the waters at nighttime.

"Yeah."

"That's where I live, that's my home."

"Do you have a family?"

"Yes, I do. I'm married to my loving husband and we have three wonderful children of our own."

"Then why aren't you at home with them? It's the winter solstice celebration."

"Because I'm also a healer, it's my job. I love cheering up and taking care of people who aren't well, like you," she said, softly running a hand through Ilo's hair.

"But don't you miss them?"

"Of course I do. And they miss me, too. But do you know how we can still be close to each other?"

Ilo shook his head.

"It's because they're in here," Katara said with a fond smile, laying a hand on her chest.

"In your heart?" the boy quirked an eyebrow.

"Exactly. They know how much I love them, and I know how much they love me, too. Love keeps us close even when we're apart. I'm sure your parents must miss you, too. And they're probably thinking about how you're doing right now. Even when they're far away, they'll still always be in here," Katara explained, pointing a finger to the boy's heart and slightly tickling his chest. He started laughing. She felt like she'd finally gotten through to him.

"Ilo, I have a proposition for you. Why don't we go listen to councilman Sokka's amazing story together? I'll heal your hand while you wait for your parents to come visit you."

"Okay, Katara!" he said merrily. Katara stood up and offered her hand, which he grabbed before they quietly walked back to join the rest of the group. Niyok noticed how her friend sat down beside her and lifted the boy in her lap. She smiled at the sight.

Katara took off her healer's hat and let Ilo put it on. He grinned and supported himself against her, allowing her to grab his right hand. She summoned the clean water from her pouch around her hands and carefully began examining the fractures in his bones.

She had no idea what heavy object could've possibly crushed this boy's hand, but she sensed the hard work her healers had already done. The carpal bones in his wrist were in place, but remained seriously cracked. The metacarpus, which connected his fingers to his wrist, had almost healed completely, only a few fractures could be felt. Katara continued work on his wrist, seeing as though it was in worse condition than the other parts of his hand. Ilo didn't let the healer bother him, he was too immersed in the councilman's story.

"..then Aang and the ocean spirit disappeared into the pond. The water around the pond began to glow, lighting up the entire colourless tribe in a bright blue luminescence. It rose high above us and formed this huge fish-like creature. Avatar Aang and La had fused into Koizilla. They were almost as tall as this hospital. Koizilla marched into the city and began capturing the evil Fire Nation soldiers who were attacking the tribe. He was so scary that he drove them all out of there," Sokka retold proudly, mimicking some of the spirit's movements with his hands. The children cheered him on.

"Sadly, while Koizilla was busy ridding the tribe of the Fire Nation, the moon spirit had died. We placed Tui back in the pond, but she didn't swim anymore. She didn't move at all. She just floated above the water, the horrible dark burn evident on her back. Without her, the waterbenders had lost their bending abilities and the moon ceased to exist. We had no idea what was going to happen to the world. But then, General Iroh noticed Princess Yue's white hair. He said: 'You have been touched by the moon spirit. Some of its life is in you.'"

Sokka tried to say that in Iroh's voice. Katara attempted to heal Ilo's hand to quicken the healing process in the meantime, but by then she began to listen to her brother, too. There was something that moved her - the memories of the hopeless situation, the way her brother's voice began to crack.

"Princess Yue agreed with him, he was right. She told us that if Tui gave her life, then maybe she could give it back. I grabbed Yue's hand as strong as I could and pulled her back. I said: 'No! You don't have to do that.' We both knew she had to, but I wasn't ready to let her die yet. She stayed true to herself, so she let go of my hand and placed her hands on Tui. The moon spirit glowed white for a mere moment and then, Yue sighed and she fell back into my arms.. I held her, I stroked her cheek gently, but she wasn't breathing... She was gone."

Katara had to lift one hand away from Ilo's to dry her cheeks. She was surprised at how well Sokka was holding back his emotions, not a single tear in his blue eyes. He retold the story so realistically, acting out all the movements and things that'd been said, almost as if he was reliving it.

Niyok had heard of these stories back in the day, how her friends had saved their sister tribe. But she'd never heard it in such great detail. It was a complete shock to her as to what they'd been through.

Niyok saw how Katara was crying right next to her, trying with every fiber of her being to swallow her sobs so no one would notice. She laid a hand on her shoulder. Katara jumped a bit at the contact, but she returned her gaze, her diamond blue eyes wide and decorated with glistening teardrops. She grabbed the hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze, whispering a silent 'thank you' by moving her lips.

"I hugged Yue, I didn't wanna let go of her. Until suddenly she vanished from between my arms. The next thing we knew, the moon spirit began to glow again. We placed her back in the pond, she was swimming! The whole pond reflected a white glow, which rose up like a haze and took the form of a beautiful young woman. It was Princess Yue, she'd become the moon spirit. Her spirit flew closer to me, looked me in the eyes and softly cupped my cheeks with her hands. She said goodbye and told me that she'd always be with me. We kissed for the last time before she disappeared. I looked up at the sky and saw how the moon reappeared. How the colours returned to the world. At that moment we knew we'd won the battle. To this day, Princess Yue watches over us in the form of the beautiful moon that flies high up in the sky every night. And that, kids, was the story of Princess Yue, who became the moon spirit, and how we saved the Northern Water Tribe together."

The quiet ward became filled with children's cheers and the staff's clapping as everybody applauded. After the kids had calmed down, Niyok and her nurses began ordering them to get back into their beds since visiting hours would begin soon.

"Do you wanna meet my big brother?" Katara asked Ilo, who nodded in agreement as she waterbended the healing water back into her pouch. They stood up and she beckoned him to follow her. Ilo watched how the healer practically ran to the councilman and wrapped her arms around him for a very tight hug.

"You were so good!" Katara whispered, burying her face in the crook of his neck, her eyes closed and a proud smile on her lips.

"Thanks, Katara! That means a lot," Sokka said as he nuzzled his nose into her hair and tenderly ran a hand down her back. They remained in each other's embrace for a few seconds. Katara released her hold and squatted down next to the little boy.

"Sokka, this is Ilo. He's a patient here. Ilo, this is my big brother Sokka."

"Hello, Sokka!" the boy smiled, reaching out his left hand so he could shake it. Of course Sokka had noticed how his sister had gone over to talk to him near the beginning of the story and how she'd used the time to heal his right hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Ilo. Now don't you worry, young man! My little sister here is the best healer in the world. She's gonna fix your hand by healing those broken bones and you'll be home in no time," Sokka said and winked at him, making the child giggle as he lifted him onto his broad shoulders.

"Be careful with his hand! Don't shake him too much!" Katara warned, but Ilo grabbed Sokka's head to steady himself and held on tight.

"Don't worry, I won't.. Ow! Watch the wolftail!"

"Sorry!" Ilo apologized after he'd gotten a better grasp with his free hand.

"Now, where's your bed?" Sokka wondered as he began walking towards the other end of the ward, bouncing Ilo on his shoulders.

"Over there! It's that one," he pointed at an empty bed in the middle. Before the Southern Water Tribe siblings could tuck him in, one of the kids scampered to the window and shouted.

"Hey, guys! It's snowing!"

Most kids who weren't bedridden got up from their beds to go look outside, the medical staff joining them soon after.

"Woah!"

"It's so pretty!"

The children gasped as they watched the big puffs of snow slowly gliding in the air, being tossed around by a few stronger currents until they fell down on the street several floors below. Sokka and Katara stepped closer to marvel at the beautiful display of nature as well. She placed a hand on his back and supported her head against his shoulder, releasing a soft hum. Ilo had the highest view out of all of them.

"Alright, back to bed now!" Niyok ordered, but the kids didn't budge and they protested a little when the nurses attempted to pull them away.

"Aww!"

"Not yet!"

"I wanna see more.."

Katara immediately had an idea. She took a few steps back and widened her stance. Everybody else noticed how the snow behind the glass began to move in a strange way, almost as if it didn't want to obey the laws of gravity anymore. A ribbon of snowflakes was being flicked in the air, forming all kinds of symbols and patterns. Sokka and Niyok looked behind them and witnessed Katara dancing through the forms like a ballerina.

"Hey, everybody! Look at Katara!" Ilo exclaimed proudly. Some of the children glanced at her, realizing that she was the one responsible for creating that amazing performance for them to see. She twirled around and twisted her hands, the snow outside following her commands. When Katara finished her graceful bending display, her friends, staff and the patients clapped loudly. She managed to take a bow before the elevator to her left opened and the first visitors along with another healer arrived.

"Mom! Dad!" a couple of children screeched and ran over to their parents, including Ilo, who waited for councilman Sokka to put him down first.

"Oh! Happy winter solstice celebration, son!" his mother said while his father lifted him up on his arms and they hugged him.

"What are you wearing?" his father wondered, poking the feathers on top of the hat. Katara coughed as she approached the family to get their attention.

"I believe that belongs to me."

"Mom, dad, this is Katara. She helped me feel better," Ilo said as he tried to remove her healer's hat with one hand and give it back to her, but she stepped closer to help him out.

"Wait a minute.. Katara. As in, Master Katara? The best healer in the entire world? It's an honour to meet you!" the boy's mother said and bowed to her while she was busy tying the strings together under her chin.

"Of course, we've heard great things about you. Thank you for taking good care of our son, Master Katara!" his father added.

"It's nice to meet you both. And you're welcome!"

Katara introduced her brother Sokka to Ilo's family and they exchanged pleasantries while the room filled with chatter. The first few kids got to tell their parents about everything exciting they'd done that day. They showed off their drawings, retold the story councilman Sokka had shared with them, said how well the healers were taking care of them, gave their parents a tour around the ward that'd been decorated to bring in some holiday spirit.

Niyok received much praise from the families for her efforts. She decided to stay for a little bit longer to see what all the other visitors would think of her initiative. While she was busy arranging everything with the healer who'd arrived to end her shift and let her take over, her friends came to say goodbye with another hug. Before the Southern Water Tribe siblings could leave, Ilo scampered to Katara and wanted a goodbye hug, too. She knelt down and wrapped her arms around him.

"Will you come and visit me again tomorrow, Katara?"

"I'll try, Ilo. If I'm not too busy. Should I forget, then let doctor Niyok know you wanna see me. She's a very good friend of mine, so she'll remind me and I'll come and visit you as soon as possible," Katara smiled and stroked the boy's head by running her hand through his short brown hair.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

After that wonderful afternoon spent in the pediatric general ward, Katara and Sokka took the elevator down to the first floor so she could escort him out from the hospital.

"I know Yue was looking down on you when you were telling her story to those kids. She'd be so happy."

"Aawww!.. Thanks, sis!"

"Are you.. crying?" she asked in a teasing tone as Sokka began rubbing an eye.

"No! I just have something in my eye.. a snowflake!"

"We're still indoors, silly.. Come here!" Katara said fondly and pulled him into a hug.

"Happy winter solstice celebration, Sokka!" she murmured.

"Happy winter solstice celebration, Katara!" he replied, tightening their embrace and stroking the back of her head with his hand. She told him to give her family's greetings to Suki, too.

Once Sokka had left, Katara went back to the emergency room to help out for another half hour before calling it a day. A few minutes passed as Katara barely managed to talk to the receptionist to find out whether there were any calls she could take or patients she needed to tend to in the emergency room when there was a commotion at the northern entrance. A paramedic carrying a little girl and a rather worried pregnant woman following them burst in.

"We need help!" the healer yelled and made her way to the middle of the room. Katara's mouth dropped wide open when they came closer. She recognized them.

"Jia-Li? Jia?" she mumbled to herself in disbelief before she ran towards the other paramedic to meet them halfway, stopping any other of her workers who wanted to approach them.

"Stay back! I've got this! What happened?" Katara inquired, taking a look at the child's limp body in the healer's arms. When she touched her forehead, she was burning up.

"Jia-Li, a 10-year-old girl with a very high fever, fainted on our way here-"

"Master Katara, you have to help her! Please!" Jia interrupted the paramedic.

"Give her to me and follow me, both of you! I know what's wrong with her," Katara ordered, grabbing Jia-Li from her employee's arms and running to the nearest empty healing tub. She placed the girl in the cool water, took a seat beside the tub and began waterbending the liquid around.

"How did this happen?" Katara asked as she worked on lowering Jia-Li's temperature, the water reflecting a bright blue glow as it flowed up and down in small waves.

"I went out for a quarter of an hour to go buy some paracetamol from a nearby pharmacy, but when I returned home, Jia-Li started rambling nonsense. I called the ambulance and they drove us here, but she fainted soon after we left," Jia explained as she paced back and forth on the other side of the tub.

"Master Katara, what's wrong with this child?" the paramedic wondered as she leaned closer to get a better look.

"She's suffering from pentapox. I did a home visit earlier today. You're going to have to take a shower after this, and it's probably a good idea to disinfect the inside of your carriage, too."

It took Katara some time before her patient's fever began to fall and she managed to stabilize her condition. She began shivering once her temperature was below critical level. A couple of minutes later, she ceased her shivering and her eyes began to flutter open.

"Mphm.. m-mom?" Jia-Li stuttered as she regained consciousness. Katara released a sigh of relief, luckily they'd gotten to her just in time.

"Where am I?"

Katara stroked her temple, she blinked and gazed at her with her olive green eyes.

"Jia-Li, do you remember me?"

"Healer Katara?"

"That's right. You're in my hospital. Your fever was so high that your mother called for an ambulance and this kind paramedic drove you here so I could help you."

"So, what now? Can we go back home?" Jia wondered.

"I'm afraid not. I'd like to keep you both under observation until the pentapox blows over. Jia-Li, my healers are going to take you to the infectious diseases unit shortly. They can keep an eye on your condition and keep your fever at bay until you've fully recovered. Okay?" Katara explained, to which the girl answered with a hesitant nod. Her mother and the paramedic stayed by her side while Katara went to talk to the receptionist. She told her to phone that department and ask for a healer with a wheelchair to be sent down to the emergency room to pick up a new patient.

"Can I go with her?" Jia asked as Katara helped her daughter dry off and the specialist from the infectious diseases ward waited for her to sit down in the wheelchair.

"Yes, but you'll be quarantined in a separate room once we're there. I don't wanna risk you catching pentapox from your daughter and putting your baby's life in danger. Or spreading the disease to anybody else in case you're a carrier."

"What can happen to my baby if I'm infected?" the mother wondered in a concerned tone, tenderly rubbing her abdomen.

"Well, judging by the size of your bump, I'm guessing you're due any day now. If you catch it, you might have a stillbirth or an early delivery. Miscarriage is highly unlikely at this stage," Katara said, grabbing the handles to push Jia-Li herself.

"We'll take them upstairs. Make sure to change the water in this tub. I don't want an epidemic to break out here," she ordered the paramedic who'd brought them in before the four of them headed to the elevator. Jia looked at Katara, the specialist and finally, her sickly daughter as they waited for the elevator to come down in complete silence. Katara noticed that she seemed a bit on edge.

"I'll have my healers test you for pentapox, to put your mind at ease. If you're healthy, you'll be referred to the maternity ward," she added just as the doors opened and their group stepped in. Jia's gaze fixed on the floor as she fiddled with her fingers, considering everything the healer had told her and how poorly her precious girl looked in that wheelchair.

"Umm.. Master Katara?"

"Yes?"

The mother gulped before she said what she wanted to say.

"I want that shot."

Katara's diamond blue eyes grew wide with surprise and her face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yes.. please. I don't want me or my baby to go through what Jia-Li's had to go through. Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart!" she apologized by combing her fingers through her daughter's long dark brown hair.

"It's not your fault, mom," Jia-Li managed to say before she covered her mouth and started coughing horribly.

"Yes, it is. If I'd listened to the healers and let them vaccinate you, you wouldn't be sick. Please, give me that shot right away."

"No, not yet. You can have it done once you've had your second child. It's not safe to inject a weakened form of pentapox into your system right now, it could infect the baby," Katara argued.

"Okay.. then that's the first thing I'll do after I've given birth to this little fellow," Jia said in a lighter tone as she ran circles above her bloated belly, prompting both Katara and the specialist to chuckle. She felt certain that the mother understood now.

Katara escorted them to the infectious diseases unit, helping the nurses tuck Jia-Li in while the specialist checked that Jia could make herself comfortable in the private quarantined ward right next to her daughter's.

"Don't worry, my healers are gonna take good care of you now. You'll have to stay in hospital for a while, but I'm sure you'll start to feel better in a couple of days," Katara said, patting the sheets above the girl's tummy.

"Thank you, healer Katara," Jia-Li smiled weakly.

The master waterbender let her staff take over from there so she could go take a disinfecting shower a second time to finish her shift as a paramedic at the emergency room. She headed to the same changing room she'd used earlier. At least she didn't have to clean her instruments this time. She met the paramedic, who'd brought the mother and daughter in, already under the showers ahead of her. She was a fun co-worker to hold a conversation with while they cleansed themselves of the virus.

After a nice chat and a thorough shower, Katara dried her hair and skin, waterbended the excess water out from her uniform and pulled it back on. She took the elevator up to the waiting room on the top floor. She headed to her own office in the western wing to change into her everyday clothes, the ones she usually wore at home as well as on the days she worked as a family physician.

Katara opened the door leading to her dark office, walked over to her desk and switched on the table lamp. After that, she closed the door to get some privacy. Her regular clothes were in the wardrobe next to the coat rack.

She removed everything until she was only dressed in her undergarments, putting those pieces of clothing on the empty hangers, as well as hanging her belt next to the uniform and placing her shoes, hat and blue scrunchy on special shelves, which were at the bottom and top inside the closet. She grabbed a pair of dark blue pants and brown boots, slid a navy blue tunic on top, pulled on her short-sleeved water tribe coat and two armbands. She also fluffed her hair after it'd been tied together for almost the entire day.

Katara hummed in delight as she smelled the white fur collar of her coat. The familiar scent was a mix of the herbal remedies that were stored in the cabinets in her office, the fresh air in Yue Bay that she breathed as she took the boat from their island to the harbour early in the morning, the sandalwood and her home cooking that filled their home.

Katara gazed out of the window as she stepped in front of her desk, trying to spot that "tiny speck" of an island. It was still snowing, the snowflakes were slowly gliding in the air and swirling downwards after the wind stopped swaying them. The white fluff that covered the capital like a soft blanket also helped the street lamps illuminate the paths and bigger roads of Republic City at night. The clock on her husband's memorial island began striking, doing so six times.

But don't you miss them? Yes, she did. Katara rubbed her arms as she eyed the telephone on her desk. She decided to ring him up. She picked up the receiver, dialled the correct number and waited a few seconds until someone answered.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asked. There was the faintest sound of a baby crying and some shuffling heard in the background.

"Aang?"

"Katara?"

"Good evening, sweetie.." Katara smiled lovingly, her voice sounded very yearning.

"How's everything at home?"

"Fine! Fine.. we're doing fine. I was just looking after Tenzin."

"Yeah, I can hear him near you," she giggled.

"Hold on a sec, I'll call the kids.. Kids, your mother's on the phone!"

Katara heard faint running on the wooden floorboards.

"Hold on, they're coming downstairs.." Aang added, waiting for Bumi and Kya to reach the living room. Then there was the sound of a mattress plopping.

"What is it, daddy?" the little waterbender asked.

"Mommy's on the phone. Who wants to go first? Here.."

Aang handed the phone over to one of them, Katara waited in silence.

"Mom?"

"Hey, Bumi! How was your day?"

"It was great! After I got home from school, we had a waterbending lesson together with dad. Kya had already learned some new moves, so we fooled around a little bit.. Ow!"

Katara laughed quietly. Aang must've nudged him gently, judging by the way he tried to correct his son as she heard him say something to him.

"..I mean we had a snowball fight, built some snowmen and just.. had fun," he shrugged.

"I'm glad to hear that, Bumi. Anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"Nah, not really."

"Okay then, give it to your little sister."

"Here, Kya. Mom wants to speak with you."

"..Mommy!? Hi, mommy!" the little waterbender exclaimed, making her mother giggle again. She could imagine the excited look on her daughter's face or how she was hopping on the couch next to her father and brothers.

"Hi, sweetie! I heard you learned a new waterbending move today."

"I did, mommy! Daddy taught me how to turn water into ice just by breathing correctly."

"It's called breath of ice, Kya," Katara corrected.

"That's right, mommy!"

"That's so cool.." she said, prompting her little waterbender to giggle at the unintentional pun.

"Did you have a good day with your brothers and daddy?"

"I did! But I miss you, mommy. Please come home soon!"

"I will, my little waterbender. I just gotta go visit one more patient and then I'll come straight home."

"Okay. I love you, mommy!"

"I love you too, sweetie. Muah!" Katara murmured, blowing an air kiss inside the phone.

"Now give the phone back to daddy."

"Here you go, daddy."

There was a moment of silence as Aang struggled to hold the phone in one hand and cradle Tenzin with the other.

"Katara, you still there?"

"Mhmm, I'm standing near the window in my office. Can you see me?"

"Yeah, I thought I saw that dim light in your office. Kids, your mother's in her office. Let's wave to her."

She heard how Kya shouted another "Hey, mommy!" as she stepped closer to the window to stare down at that little island of theirs a couple of miles away from the city center.

"Are you coming home soon?"

"I just need to visit Mr. Chen. It'll take me at least an hour and a half to get there and ride back to the hospital. I'll probably be home at around eight."

"Take your time, sweetie. The kids and I have everything under control."

"Good. Make sure to prepare supper for them."

"I will. I'll also light a candle later in the evening."

"Mmm.. thank you, Aang. I love you."

"Love you too, Katara."

Katara heard how he blew an air kiss into the line as well, after which she hung up. Having put the telephone back on her desk, she looked outside through the window, placing a hand against the cold glass.

"I'll be home soon, sweetie."

She grabbed her water tribe parka from the coat rack and pulled it on, scanned her office one last time before turning off the table lamp and locking the door with her key for that day. She took the elevator down to the first floor to go grab her shoulder bag and pouch from the emergency room, where she'd left them before the paramedic had rushed in with Jia and her daughter. Katara wished the receptionist a good evening and headed outside to the western side of the building.

There were a lot more ostrich horses to choose from in the evenings since the number of accidents that paramedics had to respond to usually decreased at night. But the waterbender still walked over to her favourite, who was grazing some hay.

"Hey, Mamoun.. Who's a good boy, huh?" she asked as she stepped beside him and scratched his head, more specifically, behind his left ear. Mamoun shook his head and whinnied happily to her.

"That's right, you are!"

Katara tenderly stroked his beak as they stared into each other's eyes. The ostrich horse lowered his head a bit to nuzzle his beak below her chest, his big brown eyes looking up at her tiny diamond blue ones.

"One last ride tonight," she murmured to him, holding his beak close with one hand and combing his mane with the other. Mamoun snorted and closed his eyes for a moment, lifting his head and standing up straight like a proud steed to show her that he was ready to ride with her once again. Katara checked whether he was harnessed to the carriage correctly, then jumped into the driver's seat and grabbed the reins.

"Let's go, boy," she said, clucking her tongue to guide them out of the stable and onto the streets. As Katara drove through the bustling city center, she saw street lamps decorated with colourful lights, candles burning on almost every window to thank the spirits for their kindness and to remember those who were no longer with them.

The winter solstice celebration had always been about coming together to spend time with one's family, but also to show respect to the spirits. This day was unique to the United Republic of Nations and it was inspired by the Glacier Spirits Festival back at the Southern Water Tribe. Aang, being the Avatar and the bridge between humans and spirits, along with Katara, being a southern waterbender who valued the traditions of her homeland, had proposed the idea of such a holiday many years ago. This day had always been the most long-awaited of the year amongst many families.

The further Mamoun cantered into the northeastern borough, the duller the streets turned. The wealthier as well as most of the middle class citizens lived closer to the heart of Republic City and could afford more to celebrate. It was a blessing if there were similar colourful lights hanging from a bigger block of flats in that area or the residents had enough yuans to buy some matches to at least light a candle.

Having passed the border between the city center and the northeastern borough, the traffic seemed to become more sparse. Less than half a mile later, Katara and Mamoun were the only ones out on the streets, the street lights and a single candle displayed on every tenth window or so being the only things lighting their way to the suburb.

She heard a trolley gain on her ambulance carriage in the middle of the street a minute later. The railway tracks ran straight on their left side for another half a mile. There were about a dozen passengers on their way to their homes. Two pre-teen boys noticed the ostrich horse running alongside the tracks. They decided to make funny faces to mock the driver for being slightly slower than their public transportation. When one of them blew a raspberry at her, Katara decided to have some fun of her own. She gave them a smug smile in return.

"Hi-yah!"

She flicked the reins to order Mamoun to begin galloping. He gained on the front of the trolley in a matter of seconds, running neck and neck at a rather fast speed. Katara sat up straight and smirked back at the boys who'd made fun of her and her companion, their faces now as long as her ostrich horse's.

"Go, Mamoun! Go!" she prodded competitively as he pulled the rest of the carriage past the trolley. They won the race when the railway tracks turned left on a bigger intersection. Katara started laughing as she shifted to the left side of her seat to glance back at the empty street behind them.

"Ha-ha! Good boy, Mamoun! Good boy!" she praised loudly, attempting to slow down since the road was covered with spots of black ice, which shimmered under the street lights. She didn't have time to react when suddenly a small child ran across the street right in front of her ostrich horse.

"Wooaahh!" Katara yelled and yanked the reins to avoid crashing into the child. Mamoun neighed in panic and tried to stop, but his feet slipped on the ice and he lost his balance. He pulled the carriage to his right, sending it skidding across the ice and straight towards a street lamp. Katara screamed and held on tight as the vehicle slammed against the post, which forced it to split in half from the middle. She hit herself against the side before she was plunged out of her driver's seat and straight into a pile of snow.

Mamoun's neighing was the only sound that filled the quiet street after the crash. Once the carriage had stopped under the street light, the ostrich horse swiftly got back up on his feet and broke free from his harness with sheer force. He cantered further away and ran a couple of circles until he began to calm down, his neighs being replaced by short unhappy snorts.

Mamoun panted as he looked around to spot something familiar. He saw the broken ambulance carriage parked next to the post, so he hesitantly walked back to the scene of the accident. He eyed the huge crack inside the wood, which separated the rear and front of the vehicle. As Mamoun sniffed the driver's seat, he noticed his friend lying still on her stomach in the snow a few feet away. He trotted to her side and tilted his head, staring at her near-lifeless body. However, her back did move slowly, rising up and falling down in a steady rhythm. She was breathing.

The ostrich horse stepped closer and softly nudged her with his beak. She didn't budge. He tried it again, pushing a bit harder this time, but Katara remained unconscious. He brought his beak close to her face and breathed some warm air out from his nostrils. When that didn't work either, he started licking her face. Mamoun repeated those actions several times until he heard her groan.

"Ughh..."

He kept licking the side of her face until she slowly lifted her head from the pile of snow and her diamond blue eyes fluttered open to meet his worried gaze.

"M-Mamoun? You woke me up.. good boy," Katara said as she looked at her loyal companion with wide eyes, forcing a smile to show him that she was alright. She thanked him with a few strokes along his beak before he let her grab it to help her stand up carefully.

The waterbender supported herself by holding onto the ostrich horse's face. She let go when she felt sure that she wouldn't have a dizzy spell. She groaned again, her hand landing above her left eyebrow. Mamoun tilted his head and gave her a short nicker before licking the left side of her face.

"I'm okay, Mamoun. It's just a bump," Katara assured him and gently pushed his beak away so she could check her injury. She summoned some water around her left hand like a glove and placed it above her left eye. She rubbed her temple, moving the glowing water around near the nasty bump until she felt a little better.

Once she'd waterbended the water back into her pouch and fluffed the snow off her parka, she turned around to have a look at her ambulance carriage. She gasped at the sight. That vehicle was as good as firewood. Mamoun followed her as she walked around the carriage, checking whether there was anything left to save.

Katara headed to the back and crawled inside for a moment to pick up his feeding bag. She found another nice big juicy green apple and held it in front of her ostrich horse's beak, letting him sniff it before he ate it out of her hand in one bite. She rummaged through the bag to offer him some bread, too. Mamoun snorted to sniff the slice, then gently nibbled on the bread without biting her hand. She crumpled up the small leather feeding bag with the rest of his feed and put it inside her shoulder bag, in case Mamoun would become hungry later.

The ostrich horse lowered his head a bit to look straight into her diamond blue eyes once he was done eating. His big brown eyes fell shut as he rubbed his beak against her. Katara stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him.

"Ugh, good boy! Good boy, Mamoun!.. You're such a good boy.." she murmured to him, running her hand up and down his mane.

"Thank you."

Mamoun nickered as he rested his beak on her back to hug her, too. He might've saved her, but what about the child who'd ran right in front of them? Katara hadn't noticed anyone else injured near the scene of the accident. She heard someone cough on the other side of the street. She released her embrace to look behind her.

"You? You ran in front of my carriage?" she asked, her eyes wide in disbelief. It was the same mysterious girl in a yellow dress, standing in another alley.

"Mamoun, sit.." Katara ordered in a stricter tone, waiting for her ostrich horse to sit down next to her broken vehicle.

"Good boy. Stay here," she said as she stroked his beak a couple of times before she turned around and crossed the street to go talk to the child. Oddly enough, she didn't run away from the healer as she approached her. Katara decided to keep a safe distance between the two of them so she wouldn't scare her away again. She squatted down only a few feet away from her.

"Are you hurt?" she wondered, tilting her head as she examined the girl's appearance. Surprisingly, she didn't seem to have a single scratch on her.

"Do you know how dangerous it is to run in front of a carriage? It could end with a serious accident, much more serious than this," Katara scolded her, waving a hand towards her ambulance carriage and ostrich horse. The little girl hung her head in shame for a moment, looking up at the woman with puppy eyes as she went into a horrible coughing fit. The waterbender frowned, she couldn't stay mad at her.

"You're still sick, huh? That nasty cough must be really bothering you."

She waited until the little one caught her breath.

"I can help you feel better, if you let me. It makes me very sad to see you suffer.. Please, let me help you," Katara begged, stretching her right hand out to her. Her diamond blue eyes grew wider with every hesitant step the child took until she was close enough to lay her tiny hand onto her palm.

"There we go.. that's much better. Aren't you cold?" she asked as she shifted closer and knelt down in front of her. The little girl let her cup her cheek and touch her forehead.

"You are a bit warm. I think you might have a fever, too. Would you like to pull on my water tribe coat?"

The girl shook her head.

"Okay then. Where's your home?"

She remained silent. Now that Katara thought of it, she'd never heard this girl say a word ever since she'd met her this morning. She seemed old enough to know how to speak though.

"If you're lost, I can take you to my hospital where I can examine you and help you feel better while I inform the police so they could search for your parents. Toph is one of my best friends and she's also the Chief of Police. She's gonna find your home in no time. What do you say?" Katara smiled, but the girl raised a finger to her mouth as she glanced back towards the alley with a concerned look.

"What is it? Is something there?"

She grabbed the waterbender's hand and tugged at it, taking a step away from her.

"Oh.. you want me to follow you?" Katara asked fondly as she stood up and began following the little girl, who looked back at her to be sure that she wouldn't fall behind. She guided the waterbender into another maze of narrow paths between the dilapidated houses.

"Where are you taking me?" Katara wondered out loud, trying to remember their way back. The deeper they went, the more abandoned those buildings seemed to be. Broken windows without any candles to be lit for the holiday, old rusty street lamps that'd been built in the early years of Republic City's founding and provided light with flickering bulbs, small heaps of trash covered by snow.

Katara readied her free hand near her pouch, in case there were thugs waiting to ambush them behind a dark corner. But the little girl seemed to know exactly where she was headed. She peeked at the waterbender every now and again, making sure that she'd always see where she's going.

Pretty soon, they could hear a faint cry in the distance. The little girl began scampering. Katara was afraid she might lose her again, but the child had a very strong grip on her right hand. She wanted the waterbender to run along with her. As they came closer, Katara distinguished the voice as a woman's. It sounded like she was crying and moaning with pain.

Another corner to the right and a short straight narrow path eventually led them to a blind alley, where the little girl came to a sudden halt. It was a bigger square-shaped area, surrounded by the walls of two shabby wooden houses and a taller concrete building. There weren't any lights on in them, only an old street lamp that hung in the corner cast a light around the otherwise empty square. Two big trash containers had been pushed against the wall of the concrete building for the residents to use, if there were any.

Katara had stopped beside the little girl and looked around their surroundings. The woman's cries were loudest in that spot. She noticed somebody's near-bare feet in the snow behind the dumpsters and ran over to take a look.

"Oh no!" Katara gasped, her hands landing on her mouth. It was a pregnant woman, not much older than she was. She forgot about the little girl and hurried to the woman's side to help her.

"Are you okay, ma'am?"

"Oh, please! Make it stop!" she screamed in agony and clutched one of Katara's hands. Her cheeks were stained with tears, her nails unclipped and she had long messy dark brown hair. She was wearing a torn white dress that'd turned grey from the filth, remnants of what seemed to be a brown winter coat, shoes with holes in the heels and in front where her toes popped out. Katara looked below. She saw a puddle of slightly yellowish snow under her bottom. Her waters had broken, she was already in labour.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make it stop now. You're going to have a baby pretty soon," Katara stated and tried to pull her hand back so she could help, but the woman held onto it real tight.

"Nooo!.. I don't wanna give birth!"

"You don't have a choice anymore. You should've thought of that nine months ago," Katara replied a tad coldly, to which the woman pulled her even closer to her face.

"P-please! I don't wanna lose it again! I'm scared to lose this one, too!" she begged, staring into Katara's diamond blue eyes. She'd misinterpreted the situation - this wasn't an unwanted child, this was a mother who'd already lost one child.

"You're not going to lose this baby, ma'am! What's your name?"

"Iniko."

"Iniko, look at me.. look at me!" Katara demanded. The woman looked at her with her teary lime green eyes.

"I'm a healer. My name's Katara, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I'm the best healer in the world and head of the Republic City Hospital. And while I'm here, I'm going to do everything I can to help bring this baby into the world safe and sound. Do you hear me?"

Iniko nodded and sniffed.

"Good. Now just try to remain calm and breathe really fast for me.." Katara ordered as she pulled her hand back. She dropped her shoulder bag next to her on the snowy ground, in case she needed any of her medical instruments. Having waterbended the soiled snow away, she summoned the water from her pouch around her hands like gloves, laying one of them on the woman's swollen belly and the other under her dress to check how far she was with the labour.

"How long have these strong contractions been going on?"

"I don't know.. maybe two hours? I've heard the clock chime twice since I collapsed here. I tried to continue walking, but I couldn't move because of the pain," Iniko panted between breaths. Katara thanked Aang a thousand times in her mind for telling her the time. She waterbended the water back into her pouch.

"You said you already had one child. This is your second baby?" Katara asked as she swiftly pulled off her long parka. She placed the top behind Iniko's back so she wouldn't feel cold against the concrete wall and lifted her bottom up a bit to slide the lower half of her parka under there so she wouldn't touch the ground. The woman hummed a positive answer.

"In that case, this baby is coming really fast. I could feel it," Katara added, also removing her short-sleeved water tribe coat and laying it over Iniko's chest like a small blanket to keep her as warm as possible. Being covered up only by her navy blue tunic and a sarashi underneath, Katara had to fight back the cold herself. The chilly winters in Republic City were nothing compared to the freezing climate of her homeland. This was a fight she didn't need to focus on right now.

"That's it, Iniko. Just breathe through the pain, keep panting!" the waterbender encouraged her as one contraction followed another. She spread the woman's legs and knelt down in between to have a better look.

"You're almost there, I'm gonna ask you to begin pushing soon," she explained as she waterbended two ice handles near Iniko's hands for her to grab on when that stage would begin.

It took them another quarter of an hour and the clock struck seven in the evening. Iniko had been in labour for at least three hours. Katara's hands remained covered with water as she constantly examined both the mother's womb to feel the position of the baby, as well as the baby's vital signs to be sure that it wasn't under too much stress. Everything was going smoothly so far.

"Okay, now during the next contraction, I want you to push gently. Ready?"

Iniko gave the healer a quick nod before she grimaced as she shut her eyes and pushed until Katara told her to stop again so she could catch her breath.

"You're doing great, Iniko! The head's almost out. We gotta get baby's head out fast, so get ready to push again.. As hard as you can this time, c'mon!" she urged the woman, who crumpled her face once more and released a loud scream.

"That's it.. a little more.. keep pushing! Okay, that's enough!" Katara instructed as she quickly grabbed her water tribe coat from on top of Iniko and tossed it on the ground in front of her knees with one hand. She held the baby's head steady with her other hand.

"Your baby is almost born. If you're strong enough to give me another good push, then you can hold your baby in a minute.. Are you ready to meet your baby?" she asked with a determined smile on her lips. The woman barely managed a nod before the next contraction hit her and she continued screaming. This one wasn't as painful as the last one though.

"Good girl, Iniko! Just a little bit more.. here it comes.. Well done!" Katara praised as she held the baby's upper body in her hands.

"Now pant for me."

Iniko started panting and waited for the healer to slowly and carefully slip the rest of its body out from hers. A moment later, the blind alley became filled with the sound of a baby crying. Both women shared a hearty laugh.

"It's a boy! You have a son, Iniko!" Katara exclaimed happily as she cleaned the little guy with the remaining water from her pouch.

"A son?" the mother asked in wonder as she lifted herself on her wobbly arms a little bit to have a look. She saw how Katara used the water like a sharp knife to cut the umbilical cord and then immediately heal both ends. She wrapped the baby boy into her water tribe coat and lifted him into a cradle hold, standing up to hand him over to his mother's arms.

"My son..." Iniko's voice quavered as the healer placed the baby in her arms. She moved the furry edge off from one of his hands to let him grab her finger. His crying quietened down, whereas the tears continued trickling down his mother's cheeks.

"Hello there, little one! I'm your mommy. I didn't think we'd make it, but here we are.. thanks to this kind woman.. What did you say your name was?"

"Katara."

"Thanks to Katara here. She helped bring you into this world, just like she promised," Iniko cooed to the baby and kissed his vernix-covered forehead. Katara rubbed at her eyes to hold back her own tears. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the same little girl who'd brought her there, standing right beside Iniko. She looked so happy, a small smile decorating her face as she stared at the mother and her newborn son. She gazed back at the waterbender.

"Thank you," Katara said in a hushed, but loving tone.

"Who are you talking to?"

Katara froze for a second at Iniko's weird question.

"Umm, a little girl, right next to.. you?" she replied, pointing a finger to Iniko's left side, but when she averted her gaze from the mother, the girl was gone.

"Where?"

Both women looked around the alley, but they didn't see any souls other than the three of them.

"Wait, you didn't see her?"

Iniko simply shook her head. Katara felt confused once more as she crawled back between the mother's legs. While the latter was busy admiring her newborn son, the healer helped her deliver the placenta within minutes. Katara grabbed some clean snow from nearby to wash her bloody hands as well as scrub some of the bigger stains out of her armbands, tunic and pants. It'd been a pretty fast and successful delivery.

The waterbender had been so focused on helping the woman that she didn't even notice how cold she was until she started shivering. She rubbed her arms as she walked back over to Iniko's side to pick up her shoulder bag and hang it across her chest. After that, Katara helped the mother stand up slowly, making sure that her long water tribe parka would stay on her shoulders and hang down on her back to keep her warm. The baby boy seemed pretty warm and cosy in her coat, too.

Katara escorted them back to her broken ambulance carriage. Without the little girl to help out, she had to rely on her memories of which narrow paths they'd taken. Also, the slightly visible footprints in the snow helped her out. The light snowfall had covered them up with a fresh thin layer, but there were definitely two different-sized pairs.

How could the child have disappeared like that? And why didn't she leave footprints on her way out of there, if she'd even run out that way? Katara shook her head, every single thing about that child puzzled her. But she knew one thing for sure - she'd led her to Iniko for a reason.

Mamoun pricked up his ears and wagged his tail as he gazed at the two women who came out of the alley on the other side of the street. Iniko tightened her hold on her baby and stopped in the middle of the road for a moment.

"It's okay, he won't bite. He's very friendly, I'll show you," Katara smiled as she walked over to her ostrich horse and stroked his beak. He nuzzled the side of his face against her chest and tummy. Iniko watched the healer bond with her animal a few steps behind.

"Oh, Mamoun.. Did you miss me? I'm back, and I brought two new friends along. Are you okay with them riding you, too?" she murmured to him and stepped aside to introduce the mother and baby. The ostrich horse tilted his head and merely stared at them curiously, releasing a short nicker in the end.

"He'd be happy to give you a ride," Katara chuckled and beckoned them closer. Iniko hesitantly walked around the animal and she helped her climb on the saddle on his back. The waterbender sat behind them to give the mother something to support herself against. She could also keep herself warmer by holding her body close to her parka. It was going to be a bumpy ride.

Katara grabbed the long reins from Iniko's sides to hold her steady, after which she clucked her tongue, waiting for Mamoun to stand up and begin walking.

"Hold on tight," she said, flicking the reins twice to let her ostrich horse begin trotting, then cantering. She didn't let him gallop since it would've shaken the mother and infant too much. Besides that, the slower speed helped prevent them from falling off the saddle and having another accident.

"Where are we going?" Iniko wondered as Katara turned right at the first bigger intersection on their way.

"My hospital's half an hour away from here. I know a warm and safe place much closer, where we can call for help and recuperate."

She guided her ostrich horse to the Southern Water Tribe library in the northwestern borough, which was less than two miles away, taking them less than fifteen minutes to get there. It closed at eight o'clock each workday. The clock showed a quarter to eight when Katara and Mamoun pulled over in front of the vast building. The ostrich horse let out a loud neigh as she tugged at his reins to stop him.

"Wooaahh.. Good boy, Mamoun!" she praised as she hopped off from the back of the saddle to go and reward him with some more bread. The ostrich horse nibbled the slice out of her hand, breathing some warm air onto her slightly frozen fingers.

"Sit.." Katara coaxed by rubbing his beak and gently pushing it downwards. She patted his neck and combed his mane to thank him for all the hard work he'd done. After that, she helped Iniko climb down from the animal's back, grabbing her by the shoulders to head inside the library.

The librarian working the shift that night was an elderly member of the Southern Water Tribe. She'd helped Katara and Sokka with establishing the building in Republic City and gathering scrolls, books or any other valued reading material from back home for everybody else to browse through.

She was reading today's issue of The Elemental Times, ready to begin closing up in a couple of minutes, when she heard the door open. She averted her gaze from the newspaper towards the guests who she hoped would be eager to learn something about her culture.

"Master Katara!?" she gasped, dropping the paper on her desk and quickly making her way to the waterbender and the stranger with a baby.

"What happened to you? Look at you, you're all dirty," she sighed, trying to dust Katara's tunic.

"I'm okay, Alda. But this mother and her baby need some help. Can I call my hospital?"

"Of course! Go ahead, dear," she waved a hand towards her desk.

"Thanks, Alda. You're a blessing," Katara said as she leaned down to give the old lady a hug.

"Would you find Iniko a nice place to sit so she could rest while we wait for the ambulance to get here? And maybe something to eat or drink?"

"I'll get right on it!" Alda said with a smile. She grabbed Iniko's arm to lead the way to the couch in the quiet reading corner. She was surprised at how filthy and poor the mother looked, but she didn't wanna judge her only by her appearance. If Katara had helped this lady out, then she must've really needed it.

"Oh, he's one handsome little fellow, isn't he?" Alda cooed as she tickled the baby's cheek, making Iniko smile.

"I think I might have some bananas and lychee nuts in my drawer. I'll go fetch them for you," she squeezed the mother's shoulder before she walked back to her desk. In the meantime, Katara was busy talking to the receptionist on the phone. She asked for a backup ambulance carriage and the paramedics to bring along warm blankets for the fresh mother and infant. She ordered a second ambulance carriage with another healer to be sent on its way to Mr. Chen's place in the northeastern borough. The original as well as only patient who she didn't reach during her evening rounds that night.

"Here you go, dear. I'll go put on some tea," the librarian said as she handed Iniko one of her leftover dumplings, a banana and dropped a dozen lychee nuts into her palms. Katara finished her call and joined the mother as she began eating for what seemed like the first time in days. By the time she finished her meal, her baby had started to fuss in her lap.

"I think he's hungry, too. I want.. I'd like you to breastfeed him."

Iniko rubbed her hands cleaner against her dress, then picked up her son and put him in a cradle hold. Katara helped her undo the buttons and pull the tattered cloth off from the left side of her chest. She attempted to teach her, but before she could, she watched how Iniko guided the baby boy to his source of nourishment and he latched on immediately.

"Wow, you're really good at this!"

"As I said, this isn't my first child."

Katara observed how Iniko fed her baby in complete silence, her diamond blue eyes full of wonder and admiration at the same time. There was definitely something far deeper to this woman than she was showing. She seemed to be such a loving and caring mother, she knew how to take care of her baby, but she'd already lost one child for some unknown reason. Katara couldn't comprehend how she could've possibly ended up homeless nor how she'd survived the challenging weather of the four seasons while expecting. She was a fighter, that's for sure.

Alda's heart melted at the sight of the mother nursing her baby as she brought her some hot ginger tea. Iniko managed to finish the small cup just before they heard the siren of an approaching ambulance carriage. Katara ran outside to greet her healers and show them the way to the patients. The paramedics exchanged their boss's clothes for two soft blankets, which they used to wrap up the baby boy and his mother. Katara wasn't as fond to get her stained coat and parka back as she'd initially hoped, but it'd have to do while riding back to the hospital on her ostrich horse.

She said her goodbyes to the librarian and headed outside with the group. Having climbed on the saddle, she grabbed the reins and ordered him to stand up again. The healers had Iniko sit down on the bed at the back of their carriage before they took off, with Katara and Mamoun cantering right behind them.

It was half past eight by the time they arrived at the hospital. The two healers stopped their ambulance carriage at the northern entrance to escort Iniko inside as she cradled her son in her arms. Katara rode her ostrich horse straight to the stable since her broken vehicle was left behind under that street lamp. Having hopped off the saddle, she held onto the reins to lead him to one of the stalls so she could take off the equipment and he could get a well-deserved rest to be ready to aid her or any of her employees once more the following day.

"Muah! Good boy, Mamoun.. you were excellent today," Katara murmured, leaving a kiss on the side of his beak before she hugged him and stroked his mane. The ostrich horse wagged his tail and gave her a very happy nicker in return, nuzzling the side of his face against her chest. Having hung his feeding bag in the stall, she headed inside to go wash her clothes, and maybe herself, a third time.

Katara pulled off her dirty parka and coat as she reached the elevator and pushed the button, waiting for it to come down. Before that happened, she overheard the conversation between the receptionist and a middle-aged man who'd just entered the emergency room after her.

"Hello, sir! How can I help you?"

"Good evening! My wife left me a note on the table, saying that she went to the hospital with our little girl. Could you tell me whether she's been admitted here? They're not at home."

"Of course. What are their names?"

"Jia and Jia-Li."

Katara jolted around to look at him.

"Aahh, yes! I remember them! They were brought in by the ambulance around five o'clock."

"The ambulance!? What happened?" the man gasped, an even more worried look on his face.

"Your daughter had a very high fever because of pentapox, so your wife called the ambulance. She fainted on their way here, but luckily, Master Katara was working a shift here today. She rushed your daughter to a healing tub and lowered her fever and she woke up. After that, she had them admitted and referred to the infectious diseases unit."

"Where's that?"

"It's on the 17th floor, you can take the elevator.. Oh, there she is! That's Master Katara right there!" the receptionist smiled, pointing a finger towards her superior. The man thanked her for the information and walked over to the master waterbender. She wasn't looking at her best - her clothes covered with stains and blood and who knew what other fluids. An occupational hazard. But the man grabbed both her grimy hands and gently shook them, returning her wide-eyed gaze.

"Thank you!.. Thank you for saving my daughter's life, Master Katara."

"Y-you're welcome.. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," she stuttered and blushed, scratching the back of her head with one hand.

"I'm Li-Wei, Jia's husband and Jia-Li's father. The receptionist told me what you did. I cannot thank you enough."

"Just doing my job.. I can show you where they are, if you'd like," Katara said, tilting her head towards the elevator that'd opened the doors.

"Oh! Yes, please!" Li-Wei grinned and stepped inside after her. She waited until the doors closed and they were being lifted upstairs to have a more private conversation.

"I'm sorry, but considering everything that happened to your wife and daughter, and as a healer, I have to ask.. Are you vaccinated against pentapox?"

"Oh.. no, I don't think so," Li-Wei thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Can I ask why?"

"I wasn't aware there's a new vaccine. I would've had it done in a heartbeat."

Katara sighed in relief without him noticing. At least he wasn't against it.

"That's great. But since you're not vaccinated either, I'm afraid my healers are going to have to put you in quarantine to check that you aren't a carrier of the disease. You'll have to stay here until they figure it out."

"I don't mind. I just wanna see my wife and daughter."

"You should also wash your hands before you go see your wife to avoid infecting her. It could be very dangerous for both her and the baby if they catch pentapox. I'm sure she'll tell you more about it and I hope you both have a very serious conversation about why it's important to get vaccinated, for Jia-Li's sake."

Li-Wei had no idea why Katara seemed so serious and reprimanding when she talked about that, but he promised her that he'll let her healers vaccinate him as soon as possible. She offered him a smile at that promise, lightening up a little bit. She escorted him to the wards where his wife and daughter were resting, having him wash his hands before she allowed to enter Jia's private ward.

The waterbender looked through the glass part of the door to see how Li-Wei simply walked in and embraced his wife, who was lying rather comfortably in bed. He ran a hand over her bump and tried to give her a kiss, but she stopped him and grabbed his hands. He took a seat in the chair next to the bed and they started talking, their faces solemn and full of concern.

Katara decided to let the pair have some privacy, so she took the elevator back down by a few floors to head to the showers again. She washed her hands after spending some time so close to Jia's husband, considering that he'd touched her too, then proceeded to scrub the remaining stains out of her clothes.

Katara spent twenty minutes in the changing room. Having cleaned her coat and parka, she stepped under the shower without removing any of her other clothes to wash herself. She dried them by pulling the dripping water out with her bending. Once she'd filled her empty pouch, pulled on her short-sleeved water tribe coat, grabbed her parka and finished freshening up, it was time to go see how Iniko and her newborn son were doing.

They'd been admitted and referred to the postnatal unit in the maternity ward. Katara left her parka, pouch and shoulder bag in a small wardrobe, which was meant for the workers on that floor and located behind another receptionist's desk, who also worked there. She went to the infant unit first to have a look at the baby boy.

When she quietly opened the door, she witnessed one of her healers trying to auscultate him, but he refused to cooperate with her. Katara closed the door behind her and walked over to the healer who was clearly in a pickle. She tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"May I try?"

"Master Katara?.. Of course," the healer said with a grateful nod as she removed the stethoscope from her ears and handed it to her boss. Katara grabbed the diaphragm and rubbed it against the palm of her hand to warm it up before she laid it back on the infant's chest. He began crying a little, hence she lifted one of his hands near his mouth so he'd shush up and begin sucking his thumb instead. It worked, she could listen to him in complete silence.

"You certainly have that magic touch with these little tykes," the other healer added.

"Years of practice," she giggled and spoke in a low tone. During her first pregnancy, as well as the two others that followed, Katara had used her own stethoscope to listen to her baby's heartbeat while it was still growing inside her. It was one thing to sense the tiny organ pounding along with her own thanks to her waterbending, or more precisely, healing abilities, but a completely different experience when she first heard the fast beats through the medical instrument. This little guy's heartbeat was just as fast and she couldn't hear any murmurs. She watched the clock on the wall and counted.

"136 beats per minute.. no murmurs.. respiratory rate at 46," Katara whispered to her colleague, who wrote the readings down on the clipboard. She gave the medical instrument back to her, then wrapped the baby up in the blanket underneath him.

"How's he doing?"

"He's doing great. Another nice healthy baby boy among us thanks to your refined skills."

Katara smiled lovingly. She was very pleased to hear that, considering everything he'd been through.

"Can I take this little guy along? I'd like to bring him to his mother."

"Sure, I just finished his first checkup. Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome. Come here, little one.." Katara cooed as she lifted him up from his small bed and placed him in a cradle hold. He released a short cry at the movement.

"Yes, we're gonna go see your mommy now," she said, gently rocking the baby in her arms as she left the infant unit and headed towards the general ward for mothers who'd recently given birth. When Katara entered the ward, she saw that Iniko was resting alone in one of the beds, no other mothers were around. Only the nurse, who was sitting behind her desk and writing something into someone's medical records, kept her company. She greeted her boss as she passed her and walked over to the patient. Katara's mouth fell slightly agape.

Iniko looked so different, as if she'd been given a complete makeover. The knots in her hair had been combed straight, her nails had been clipped short. The nurses had given her a bath, hence her light skin gleamed and she looked so tidy wearing a new hospital gown, being tucked under a warm blanket. Much more like a normal, decent person.

"Wow.. Iniko, how are you feeling?" Katara asked as she took a seat on the edge of the bed, on her right side.

"Pretty amazing. I haven't felt this way in ages," Iniko smiled and sat up a bit.

"I brought someone to see you. He just had his first checkup," Katara explained as she carefully placed the baby into his mother's arms.

"How did he do?"

"He passed with flying colours."

Both women giggled. Iniko tenderly ran the back of her hand over her son's cheeks. He didn't stir from the touch. He must've been tired from such a wild adventure and seemed to have fallen asleep.

"So, have you decided on a name yet?"

"I think I have.. I'm going to name him Taro. It means that he's my firstborn son. And there's a little bit of your name in it, too. I want both of us to remember the benevolent healer who'd helped me bring him into this world."

"Iniko, I.. I'm touched," Katara paused for a moment, not knowing what to say. She laid a hand above her heart and smiled.

"Thank you."

She watched the mother comb the tiny bundle of hair on her son's head and gently bounce him for a while before deciding to ask.

"Taro is your second child, your firstborn son.. so your first child was a daughter?"

Iniko's smile faded away slightly. She nodded.

"It wasn't always like this, you know.. I used to have a home, which I shared with my loving husband and our firstborn daughter.. Aiko."

"Can I ask.. what happened to her?" Katara wondered, entwining her hands and laying them in her lap as she leaned forward a bit. The mother sighed.

"She was only three years old.. One day, she became sick. We took her to the doctor. She examined her and we all thought it was just a cold. But three weeks later, she was still coughing so horribly. When we visited the hospital again, the doctor diagnosed something far worse. She told us it's whooping cough. Aiko was already too weak. She coughed so hard that her ribs began to break and she had to be admitted to the hospital. The healers tried to heal her broken ribcage and relieve the pain, but she just.. We held her hands until her final breath. S-she didn't make it.. I'm sorry!" Iniko finished quickly to wipe away her tears. Katara supported a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm so sorry, Iniko. I wish there was something my healers or I could've done. My best scientists are working on a vaccine for pertussis right now, but it's not an easy process. It could take years until the vaccine is fully developed."

The mother sniffed, having regained her composure and wiped her cheeks dry.

"That's okay.. I understand. I don't blame you for not having it when Aiko caught the disease. But I'm happy to hear you're trying, so no other parent or child would have to go through what we did."

"So, what happened to you? How did you end up homeless?"

"Me and my husband were devastated by Aiko's death. We didn't take it well. My husband became depressed and inattentive. He eventually died from an accident at work because of it."

Katara's heart skipped a beat. Her hand clutched the blanket near her thigh. She hung her head.

"I'm sorry.. I know how hard it is to lose the love of your life."

There was a moment of silence as neither of the women dared to speak. They mourned the death of their loved ones, or what almost could've been.

"After losing my entire family, I couldn't bring myself to do anything. I didn't work, so I had no income and couldn't afford to pay rent for our apartment. I became homeless. But then, three months after my husband's death, I realized that I was pregnant again. I had nowhere to go, so I'd been living on the streets around the northeastern borough, begging for food and shelter from others who shared my fate. Until you found me in that alley."

Katara remembered that she wouldn't have found her if it hadn't been for that little girl. She opened her mouth and was about to tell her, when she started thinking about it and rephrased her question.

"Umm, Iniko.. what did your daughter look like?"

"Oh, Aiko had beautiful dark brown hair! I used to braid it into two braids, one on either side of her face. She loved to wear a bright yellow dress with a white blouse and matching white shoes. I had to tie up the laces for her every time she wanted to go play outside.." Iniko described cheerfully. Katara's diamond blue eyes grew wide in realization, but she didn't notice.

"Ever since she passed, I began seeing her ghost walking around our apartment sometimes, like she was still with us. My husband thought that I might be going crazy and I agreed with him. That's impossible.."

"Maybe not," Katara interrupted.

"What?"

"Maybe you weren't going crazy. I saw a small girl with a similar appearance for the first time ever this morning. Throughout the day, each time I was out on a call, she somehow found me and tried to lead me northwards. She was the one who guided me to that alley, to you. I think that little girl was Aiko. I think she was trying to help you."

"Aiko?.. Y-you.. you saw her?"

Katara nodded.

"I didn't just see her, I touched her. I talked to her. She didn't talk, though. I tried to persuade her to come to my hospital several times since she had such an unusual cough. No wonder it sounded similar to pertussis.. I chased her in the alleys, she caused two accidents just to get my attention.."

"She did what?"

"Did you see my broken ambulance carriage? Aiko was responsible for that. I think she would've stopped at nothing to get you some help. Her spirit was there when Taro was born."

"She was there?" Iniko asked, her voice quavering.

"Yes. And she looked so happy when she saw her baby brother in your arms."

Iniko raised a hand to cover her eyes and cry, cradling her baby boy with her free hand. He woke up from the commotion and also began crying. Katara sat right next to the mother and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, comforting her with a gentle embrace.

"Ah-aiko.. My precious Aiko.. she's my guardian angel. She must still be watching over me, over us," Iniko managed to say through her sobs, lifting Taro a bit higher so she could kiss his temple. This wasn't the way Katara had imagined this year's winter solstice celebration to go, but she wouldn't have wanted it to go any other way.

The clock on Avatar Aang Memorial Island showed that it was a quarter past nine in the evening by the time Katara reached the harbour, where three air acolytes had been waiting for her to come home from work for over an hour.

"Master Katara? Oh, thank heavens! You're finally here. Avatar Aang must be so worried by now. What took you so long?" one of the young men asked as he grabbed her hand to help her step onto the boat.

"Just a small detour involving a patient. It was an emergency."

"Aahh, understandable. We'll be on our way shortly," he said while the two other acolytes prepared everything to begin sailing back towards the island.

"I hope you three didn't become too bored here."

"Not to worry! We found joy in building a sculpture of Air Temple Island over there," he explained, pointing towards a snowy replica of their home, which they'd sculpted together from a rather huge pile of snow near the dock.

"Not bad," she giggled.

When they were out on Yue Bay, Katara walked over to the stern, brushed off the fresh layer of snow and leaned against the wooden railing. She marvelled at Republic City all illuminated by colourful lights that hung from the houses and the bright golden glow in the clouds above, which was created by the street lamps that reflected the light from the snowy ground.

She gazed at one of the tallest buildings that shaped the capital's contour - her hospital. Most of the floors still had lights on in them, her staff working hard to provide the best care to their patients. Her office at the very top was dark, but she noticed the colourful lights on the floor of the pediatric ward. That was such a lovely idea to cheer up the kids.

The boat passed her husband's statue. Katara looked up at his younger self. The way he was looking over the city, protecting its citizens with his presence. She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself. It felt comforting to her, like he was looking out for her when she was away in the city, too.

They arrived at the pier within minutes. Katara left the air acolytes to dock the boat and walked up the side of the cliff to their temple. She noticed the tall tower was decorated with long strings of colourful lights that swirled down from the top. She chuckled, that must've been Aang's doing. No one else could've attached those so high so perfectly. When she reached their home, she saw a candle flickering on their living room window. She smiled lovingly. He hadn't forgotten.

Katara quietly slid the door closed behind her. She took off her parka and hung it on the row of pegs near the entrance, along with her shoulder bag and pouch. Her husband's voice echoed from the kitchen as she stepped inside the temple. He cooed something to their little airbender, but the baby didn't seem to stop fussing. Logical enough, his mother hadn't fed him in the evening, so it was no wonder the little guy was becoming upset due to an empty stomach.

She dragged her heavy feet towards the kitchen, walking through the dimly lit long corridor. As she reached the doorway, she leaned against it for a second to see what was going on. Her husband had his back turned towards her, he was down on his knees and his head was buried in one of the cabinets where they kept their food. He was cradling their younger son with one arm and reaching for something on a shelf inside the cabinet with the other. She noticed a small bowl filled with water beginning to boil on the stove to her left, as well as an empty milk bottle on the dining table.

"Don't worry, buddy! It won't be long now.." Aang assured Tenzin as he closed the cabinet doors, holding a small box of formula in his hand. The baby released another small cry and tugged at his daddy's robes. But Aang stopped in his tracks as he met his wife's gaze just as he stood up.

"Katara! You're home!" he exclaimed, as if it was a miracle. But once his grey eyes examined her figure from head to toe, it really could've been a miracle. Her knees were wobbly as she approached him and wrapped her boys in a soft embrace.

Aang put the formula next to the bottle on the table and let his free hand comb Katara's hair. Loose ends were still hanging from the bun on the back of her head and her hair loopies weren't done neatly. She didn't bother to make herself pretty before leaving the hospital, no one would've noticed how messy she looked in the dark anyway.

Aang kissed her forehead and stared into her diamond blue eyes as he cupped her cheek, noting the dried up streaks of tears on both sides. His thumb rubbed over one, like he was trying to wipe the spot dry.

Katara hadn't spoken a word ever since she'd returned home. Her attention turned to Tenzin, who began to cry even louder in between the warmth of his parents' bodies. She hummed in delight, forgetting all the anguish and happy moments she'd been through with her patients that day.

"Sounds like someone's a bit hungry. Can I feed him?" Katara asked with a smile as she let Tenzin grab her finger.

"Oh, sure! I didn't know that you'd be home so soon, I was just about to prepare some formula for him myself," Aang said as he attempted to put Tenzin into his mother's arms. Katara stopped him for a second to remove her short-sleeved water tribe coat, which she then used to wrap around the baby like a soft blanket.

"Come here, Tenzin.. Mommy's got you," she cooed as she picked him up from her husband's arms, slightly bouncing him in the process. The little airbender calmed down a bit, hearing another familiar soothing voice and being surrounded by a warm coat that smelled like his mother. Aang liked to describe the smell as a 'healer's scent' as it was always stronger on the days Katara spent working at the hospital. It reminded him of her office and the medicinal herbs inside the cupboards, as well as the healing hut in their temple.

"I'm going to the living room. Care to join me?"

"Of course, as soon as I put everything back to the way it was in here. I'll join you two in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay, sweetie."

Katara stood on her tiptoes for a moment to rub her nose against Aang's, their lips grazing, then melting into one to give a more passionate kiss. Tenzin interrupted their show of affection with a loud cry for more attention. Aang chuckled after she'd broken their kiss.

"Alright-alright, hold on! I'm gonna feed you in a minute," Katara hushed him as she headed back into the hallway to walk over to their living room. The baby looked up at his mother with teary light greyish blue eyes as he found solace in sucking his thumb instead. At least he remained quieter until his tired mother reached their living room couch and found a cosy position for sitting.

Katara released a sigh of relief as she slumped down in the middle of the couch. She closed her eyes and let her entire body relax after being up on her feet for hours. In.. and out. In.. and out. She slowed the pace of her breathing with the help of a technique Aang had taught her.

When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Tenzin mimicking her pattern, his mouth wide open and big grey eyes staring right back at her. Katara laughed, then proceeded to do what she'd intended to do in the first place.

Sliding the navy blue tunic off the left side of her chest, she then pulled the white cloth of her sarashi down to reveal her breast. After that, she held her index finger near the corner of Tenzin's mouth, slightly tickling his cheek. It was an old trick she liked to use to see whether her babies were hungry or not, and it had never failed her. If the baby was hungry, it'd usually start sucking on the tip of the finger. Tenzin did just that, so Katara pulled her finger away to guide him to his real nourishment.

"There we go.. good boy, Tenzin!" she said, letting her free hand comb the boy's hair as he began suckling. He placed his tiny hand above her heart to hold himself steady and to show his mother that she shouldn't press him too close. Having given birth to three kids already, Katara had learned a lot from her first two, so much that she'd become really good at nursing. All those tips she'd usually give to new mothers were actually ones she could use herself. She had less problems each time and she could easily pick up the signals when her own child didn't feel comfortable. Right now, Tenzin seemed to be rather cosy in her fuzzy coat.

He looked up at her all the time, his grey eyes rarely closing for more than half a minute. Katara didn't wanna break eye contact with him either. She felt like it would help her establish a special bond with her son. Like it'd help him remember what she looked like when he was little. Although she didn't realize it, it was even more therapeutic for herself.

Katara would sometimes end up talking about her day at work when it was just the two of them together. She'd share her deepest darkest secrets with him, as if he could understand what she was telling him. Every cry or gurgle that Tenzin replied with meant that he loved listening to her voice. That knowledge helped wash away his mother's sadness and stress. She'd smile back at him, coo something silly or rub their noses together, making her baby squeal with joy.

Whether it was baby Tenzin, or baby Kya, or baby Bumi, Aang would describe the mother and baby pair like two peas in a pod. Katara was always meant to have each one of them, to spend time with them, to be their mother. To be a mother.

"All done?" she asked when she felt that his suckling had gradually become weaker. Tenzin held his mouth wide open as she pulled him away from her breast, then tucked it back into her sarashi and covered her chest with her tunic.

Katara noticed the slightly melted candle on the windowsill, so she cradled her baby and walked over to look outside. The snowfall hadn't ceased since the afternoon. The little airbender gazed at the white fluff falling down from the sky in wonder. This was his first winter. He released a short cry and reached one of his hands out towards the window.

"You're still amazed by the snow, huh? You wanna touch it?" Katara cooed. He replied with another cry and a pout, which she took as a 'yes'. She cracked half of the window open and let some cool fresh air inside through the narrow opening. A couple of snowflakes intruded the living room and landed near them.

Tenzin squealed when he almost managed to catch one in his palm. Katara helped along by waterbending some more towards him so he could grab them. Her son giggled at the floating snowflakes until one landed on his nose and began tickling it. He fell silent and pulled a weird face for a few seconds. The next thing Katara knew, he sneezed, blowing such a strong gust of wind past her face that her loose hair flung in the air and landed on the front of her chest. The baby looked at his mother with wide eyes for a moment before he burst out laughing.

"Oohh.. you liked that, huh?" Katara wondered playfully as she closed the window and headed back to the couch. Tenzin merely held his tiny hands in front of his smiling mouth, like he was trying to hold back his laughter.

After she'd taken a seat, Katara puckered her lips and blew a soft breeze against his forehead to teach him how to do it again. Tenzin learned pretty fast as he tried to repeat the same motion, only with a little bit more powerful airbending, making his mother's hair fly and land on her back. He went into another giggle fit. She pulled a thick bunch of her hair on the right side of her chest, letting her son blow at it several times. This game seemed to amuse him to no end.

"What's so funny in here?" Aang wondered as he joined his wife and son, who were both laughing, one more loudly than the other.

"Come here, Aang," Katara said through her giggling, patting the empty side on the couch. The airbender sat down to her left as she held her index finger up to him.

"Wait for it," she smirked, then combed her hair onto her chest one more time. Tenzin took a deep breath and blew at it, laughing at the strands flying in the air before they landed on his mother's back.

"Oh my gosh.. how did you come up with that?" Aang started laughing, too.

"I didn't. He just sneezed and began laughing when my hair flew," Katara explained as she lifted Tenzin a bit higher so he'd cut it out. His giggling quietened and he calmed down at the faint sound of his mother's heartbeat, which thumped that soothing rhythm into his right ear. Aang gently pulled the tunic further away so his head would rest against his mother's bare skin above her left breast and he could hear it better. The little airbender laid a hand above her other breast and grasped the edge of her tunic, gurgling happily. His parents looked at him with loving smiles on their faces, their hearts melting at his little gestures.

"Sweetie, you're not gonna believe what an amazing thing happened to me today," Katara spoke in a low tone, her diamond blue eyes shimmering like the stars in the sky when she stared into her husband's grey eyes.

"I've seen some pretty bizarre things. Try me," Aang dared fondly, snaking his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer.

"I met a spirit. But it was no ordinary spirit. It was the spirit of a little girl who'd died from whooping cough when she was only three years old."

Aang frowned and rubbed her shoulder while she continued talking. She averted her gaze to Tenzin as she tenderly stroked his head.

"Her name was Aiko. I saw her in the morning just as I was finishing my morning rounds in the northeastern borough. I thought she was just an ill child and I tried to help her. She tricked me into chasing her through alleys and I had two accidents trying to catch her, one of which resulted with my ambulance carriage getting busted."

"Oh no.. you're not hurt, are you?" Aang wondered, a concerned look on his face as he cupped her cheek and examined hers for any visible injuries.

"I'm fine, thanks to Mamoun. It could've turned out a lot worse if it hadn't been for him. He was a true friend who helped me a lot today. And I healed myself back at the hospital, don't worry."

"Mmm.. okay," the airbender hummed and kissed her temple, running the back of his hand over the spot.

"So, then what happened?"

"After that last big crash, I finally managed to persuade her to come to me. I could literally touch her, she was physically in our world."

"The gift of the winter solstice," he added.

"Exactly. I didn't realize that back then. She grabbed my hand and led me to an abandoned square. I stumbled upon a homeless pregnant woman, who was already in labour, so I helped her deliver a healthy baby boy. She decided to name him Taro, after me and because he was her firstborn son.. Can you guess how Aiko was connected to them?"

Aang shrugged.

"Aiko was her daughter. All along she was trying to lead me to her mother so I could help her give birth. Her mother, Iniko, told me that she'd seen her ghost in their home after she'd passed away. Aiko still visited her mother during the solstices, when the Spirit World became closer to the mortal world and she could see her.. Can you believe that, sweetie?"

Aang simply smiled and gave Katara a kiss on the lips, their eyes closed before he pulled away and gazed into her half-lidded diamond blue eyes.

"I believe it, Katara," he said, rubbing their noses together as they released a hum of delight.

"Oogies!" someone exclaimed from behind the doorway.

"Bumi!" Aang and Katara replied in unison before their other two children scampered over to join them. Bumi sat next to his father and Kya hopped up on the couch, snuggling up to her mother's side.

"Happy winter solstice celebration, mommy!" the little waterbender said for the second time that day as she stood up for a moment to wrap her arms around her mother's neck and hug her.

"Aww! Thank you, Kya! Muah!" Katara grinned and kissed her daughter's cheek, prompting her to giggle as she sat back down.

"Who did daddy light the candle for this year?" Kya wondered. All five family members gazed at the candlelight still burning brightly on the windowsill.

"He didn't say?" Katara asked in surprise, returning her husband's gaze.

"Since you practically spent the whole day working away from home, the kids and I agreed we'd give you the pleasure of choosing."

The elder waterbender hummed in thought for a moment, considering everything that'd happened that day, before she decided.

"For Kya."

"For me?" the little waterbender gasped, her face beaming.

"For your namesake, sweetie. For your grandmother. For my mom," Katara specified, touching the carving of her necklace with one hand. Aang carefully massaged his thumb around near her neck, feeling her pulse slow down or rise depending on her mood or what she was thinking about.

"I hope that she can see me.. see us, our family, Sokka and dad from the Spirit World right now. She'd be so happy."

"I'm sure she is," he assured her, slowly letting his grey eyes fall shut as he leaned forward to kiss her again. Katara followed his example.

"That's how they do mushy stuff. You'd better get used to it," Bumi told Tenzin. His parents started giggling through their kiss, then burst out laughing as their lips parted when they couldn't contain it any longer. Aang ruffled Bumi's messy hair, after which he gifted Katara with another quick kiss on the cheek while Kya hugged her mommy. Tenzin gurgled when his mother kissed him, too.

"That winter solstice celebration was one of the most memorable ones in my life, with it being Tenzin's first winter among our family, as well as due to the unusual train of events that unfolded that day.

With my help, Iniko and Taro were given a place in a shelter where they stayed for a while until she found a job and could afford an apartment of her own once more. Jia-Li recovered from pentapox and her mother made sure that all members of her family would be vaccinated against any dangerous illnesses from then on, including their newest member, another healthy baby girl, who was born a week later.

Being married to the Avatar, I was blessed to be able to see so many spirits during my lifetime. I knew it in my heart that my mother saw us together that night. And she must've been one of the happiest mothers in the world, besides me."

[anamarialujan]

Ice cream.

With the spring came the heat and with the heat the sellers of ice cream. Patrick knew that also, came the time when his son spent the day asking for coins to buy them. This year he did not complain. He wanted to give him everything that was possible, both material and emotional. He wanted to spend more time with his son, that the child would erase from his mind that he was an absent father. And of course, he wanted to buy all the ice cream that Tim wished.

One afternoon, Tim went into surgery sucking an ice cream that threatened to stain his pants. Patrick knew it was him before seeing him because of the sound of the keys in his legs. He walked slowly but surely, and every day he ventured out a little more.

“That's the third ice cream today, son. No more, it will hurt your throat.”

“It's not my fault they're so delicious” the boy sat down in front of his desk, watching his father gather and read different papers.

“There's no work for you today, I'm afraid. The nurses cleaned everything before leaving.”

“Um, it doesn't matter, I know you'll give me money anyway” he smiled when his father tried to look at him harshly, “Hey dad, what's Shelagh's favorite ice cream?”

He stayed quiet, with the last of the papers in his hand. He had no idea. They had been engaged for a few months and had talked about everything, but he never asked her anything like that.

“Don't tell me you don’t know. Dad, you're terrible.”

“I never asked her. You?”

“Neither, but she isn´t my girlfriend. You should know.”

“You're right. It is a good excuse to invite her.”

“Will you buy ice cream and take it home?” Tim suddenly seemed very excited at the thought of more ice cream tonight and at home.

“Don’t even dream about it. You already had your ice cream today, and I told you that they will hurt you. I'll invite Shelagh to take one.”

Despite Tim's complaints, he felt happy. He always wanted to spend time with Shelagh and if it was to know something about her, even if it was something as foolish as her favorite ice cream flavor, he felt even happier.

He left Tim at home and went to Chummy's house. He knew she would be there with the nurses. Almost every afternoon they spent together, finalizing details of the wedding. The idea of, in addition, surprising her there, excited him even more. He felt that all that emotion would be appropriate for a boy a little older than Tim, and not for him, an old man, but he could not help it. He was a fool in love.

“Oh, good afternoon, doctor!” Trixie greeted him when she opened the door. He could not answer, because the blonde was already inside shouting a loud "Shelagh! Your man is looking for you!"

He choked and tried to hide his cough while listening to the female laughter. He was thinking that it was not a good idea to appear in the middle of a women's meeting but that thought dissipated when he saw Shelagh, completely flushed.

“Patrick, what are you doing here?” she smiled, “I thought that today you would work until the night…”

“I finished before. Do you want to come and have an ice cream?”

He saw her blink and frown.

“Ice cream?

“Sure, ice cream. What's strange about that?”

“Umm...I don't know…”

“Don’t you like ice cream?” It was impossible to believe that someone did not like ice cream, but he knew that there were many people who did not prefer it. Maybe Shelagh was one of them.

“I love it!” she exclaimed and he sighed with relief, "But it's just…Chummy was going to try on my dress. And Trixie wanted to try another hairstyle.”

“Oh” he could not hide his disappointment, although the cause was beautiful.He decided to try something else, because more than ice cream, what he wanted was to be with her even if it was for five minutes.“A trip to the ice cream parlor would take all your time but don’t you have a moment? Even if it's to get an ice cream from some seller around here.”

Shelagh's smile widened even more as she nodded.

As the street was full of children, Patrick guessed that an ice cream van would be nearby, so he decided to walk with her. He wanted to ask about the preparations for the wedding but he did not know anything about those things, so he decided to go straight to the subject.

”What is your favorite ice cream flavor?”

“I'm not very extravagant. Strawberry. And also cream. And...lemon. And...chocolate.”

“All?”

She nodded, hiding her laughter. Patrick knew that when summer came, in his house it would not be only Tim taking ice cream without stopping, but also her. When he remembered that soon she would live forever in his house, he trembled with emotion. He brushed his fingers with her wrist and saw her blush.

“And yours?” Shelagh asked without looking at him.

“Chocolate. You see, I am very classic and decisive. Here we are!” He pointed to a van.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that she was restraining herself from running there and wondered how he not thought of inviting her to take ice cream before. Now he not only knew that she liked all flavors but that she loved them.

He bought both ice cream and turned to look for her. She was looking at her watch, it was probably getting late but her eyes lit up when she saw him.

“You with ice cream. I think it's the best image I saw in my life.”

He was surprised that she said something like that but could not say anything because she immediately took the strawberry ice cream out of his hands.

He saw her close her eyes in pure pleasure when she tasted the ice cream and saw her lips wet and red and he could not help it.

He kissed her suddenly, feeling first the flavor of strawberry and then the own and sweet flavor of Shelagh. He did not care if his chocolate ice cream dirtied his suit, or that half Poplar was staring at them.It was their first kiss in public, in front of everyone, confirming that they were together. When he separated, he saw her surprised eyes but also a flash of mischief.

“I think you'll have to invite me to ice cream more often, dear.”

“All the times you want, my love.”

[turnt4turnadette]

Turnadette and All Things Smut: A Very Appropriate Choice

I have been wanting to write this for a while now, but I have been busy with school and did not have time to do so until now (My last day of school was Tuesday). This is my account of what happened after Patrick and Shelagh started dancing to “May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You” in Series 3 Episode 8.This fic is what I would consider 4 kettles, so proceed with caution ; )

Click here to read the other parts of this series of fics 

“Perfect, you and Jim Reeves” Patrick replied as he extended his arm as a silent invitation to dance. She took his hand and he pulled her into his embrace. He put his hand on her back as she put her hand on his shoulder. They held each other’s free hand as they danced to the sweet melody.

“This might just be a very appropriate choice" Shelagh told him with a smile

The pain of disastrous adoption interview followed by the cold distance between them evaporated as she looked at the way Patrick was beaming at her. She could not remember the last time that they shared a carefree moment like this, just enjoying each other’s company. She looked down briefly at this revelation, giving herself a chance to compose herself before looking back at him with the huge smile that she wore before. She loved being this close to him for the first time in a while, but she wanted more. “But what if he doesn’t want to?” she thought to herself, she didn’t want to ruin this moment. After a moment of pondering, she realized that she was being silly so she leaned up to him, closed her eyes and kissed him softly. He kissed her back immediately, and pressed his tongue against her lips to deepen the kiss. She opened her mouth to him as she ran her hands up and down his back. His hands were in her hair, trying to unpin it in a frenzy. Moments later he freed it and ran her fingers through her hair as they snogged which made her knees go weak. She took two steps back to the wall and they pressed against each other. She could feel his desire for her pressing against her. He pushed her cardigan off of her and she then unbuttoned his vest and he slipped it onto the ground. Patrick broke their kiss and although they promised to communicate more openly together with words, Shelagh knew by a look what Patrick wanted to do and she couldn’t of been happier.

He scooped her up in his arms which made her shriek which made Patrick laughed and he said “You’re going to wake Timothy up”

“I wasn’t expecting that” she replied with laughter

They went to their bedroom and he put her down gently on their bed. He locked the door and came back to the bed and removed his  shoes as she kicked hers off from the bed to the floor. He removed his tie and hopped onto the bed.

“I’ve missed you” he said

“Me too” she replied

She placed her lips on his neck and kissed him as she unbuttoned his shirt. She pushed it off of him and placed kisses on his chest, swirling her tongue around his skin. She heard him moan as she made his way to his stomach and then kissed the skin just above his belt. She lifted her head up and Patrick pulled her close and grabbed the zipper to her dress. He slid it down far enough so that Shelagh could wiggle her way out of it. He kissed her shoulders as he unhooked her bra and made his way down to her breasts. She sighed as his lips touched her smooth skin. He made his way down to her stomach and moved his hands to take off her knickers off along with her stockings. He threw her knickers and stockings to the floor and she undid his belt and pulled his pants and boxers off as fas as she could. He kicked them off the rest of the way and threw them to the other side of the bed. Their lips met and they moved against one another as the snogged. Shelagh realized how hard it really was to not do this for so long during the dark time that they were emotionally detached from one another. His hands roamed up and down her body as she explored his. He entered her and when she reached completion, she felt a part of her that she had only known for a couple of months come alive again and it was amazing. He quickly followed enthusiastically and they broke their embrace to catch their breath.

“I don’t think I can go that long again” Patrick said as he gasped for air

“Me neither” she told him

“I know that we will have more arguments, but as long as we tell each other how we are feeling and talk it out we’re going to be okay” she added

“We’re going to be fine my love” he replied and kissed her on the forehead

Patrick started to laugh and Shelagh asked “What’s so funny?”

“I just remembered that you never took the record out of the record player and that my vest and your cardigan are on the sitting room floor” he answered with a laugh

“We did get a little carried away, didn’t we?” she said laughing

“I’ll put on my robe and take care of it” he told her

As he was about to walk out of their bedroom Shelagh said “Hurry back because I’m ready for another round”

[swearronchanel]

Tired of these yet? A Christmas journey in March with 4.09

I’ve actually been productive today *claps* I’m the worst™ and a procrastinator to the core, so it was about damn time I got shit done. Plus+ I ran out of clean jeans so that was some motivation to do laundry & once I started moving I just kept going haha. But today I watched the Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher’s memorial & omg it was so emotional ugh. Now that I’m so sad I guess I’m going to watch Call the Midwife. Care to join me?

I closed my eyes and pointed to the episode list, looks like we’re watching 4.09 aka the 2015 Christmas special

I don’t have to pretend very hard that it’s Christmas because it was like 17 degrees f the other day lol

Am I the only one who hums along in their head to the theme song? ok nvm

Aw a baby

Tom is actually in church lol, we rarely see him there

Sister MJ lol, what is she looking for?!

Sister Winifred actually cooks/bakes pretty often

SISTER EVANGELINA 😭💔 I still miss her

Sister Winifred aka queen of cringey facial expressions, I love it

Ah no! the death joke is no longer funny sister E 😭😭 rip💔

My bby Trixie on the scene😍

What is quality street? I looked it up before but forgot. Candy right?

whoops is my American showing

I hope Sister MC comes back soon☹️

“Behold, I have located the Brandy” three cheers for alcohol 🍻 I wouldn’t choose brandy though what am I a rich old business man at a country club?

Lol Sister MJ & Sister W giggling so pure !

“You give us enough gip when you’re stone cold sober“😂 same

Gremlin kids in the front haha

Oh no😂 Babs gave them all candy and now has to make them spit it out😂

Aw I love Christmas

But looking at this snow is triggering even if it’s fake😭😂

WE’VE HAD SO MUCH THIS MONTH HERE & IT’S MARCH❄️

yikes these kids are awful, who let them up there! 😭😂

SHELAGH’S FACE 😂 SHE IS DISGUSTED OMG HAHAA

Patrick laughing so hard like same 😭😂

Welp he’s lucky, Saved by the bell thanks to Trixie

Doesn’t Sister MJ explode whatever’s in the pot?

Ahh Shelagh looks so good™!😍 I love when they dress her up!

In other news, Laura tweeted me, which means she knows I exists. What a time to be alive™😭✨👏🏼you know I was shook

Angela so precious aww, I hope my future baby is that pretty

Now I just think of The Crown when I see Mrs Willens *she’s in it if you haven’t watched*

Oh no Sister MJ!!! 😭😭 why are they always giving her illnesses! Dejala sola!

She was legit ill in the first Christmas special 😭

Love Trixie’s ponytail, why Patsy’s hair a mess tho? LOL I SHOULDN’T BE TALKING

I’m a walking ball of frizz. And when I don’t wash my hair for a few days it actually dread locks 😂 gotta love curls

Aw Delia’s not here- I forgot she cracked her head open and went back to Wales

Protect Sister MJ at every cost

Violet literally sewing Fred’s ass into the Santa pants 😂😂😂 fun fact they  did that to Olivia Newton John in Grease

not sure if I knew that because I have a junk brain of useless information or because I’m trash that reads buzzfeed

Violet’s been wearing blue eyeshadow for 3 series

“I’m not biting this, it’s too close to your backside” lol okay vi give it time. You’ll be cringeyly very handsy with each other in a bit anyway 😂

She’d do it now with no hesitation I bet

I’m here for their relationship tho😂

SISTER MJ HAD PNEUMONIA IN SERIES 1 DID SHE NOT?

Ugh distaval, fuck that. Just wait and see what chaos it brings

Aw Pats looking at the photo of Delia💔 oo wait that was a parallel then in the Cuban missile Crisis episode this series

PHYLLIS !! I missed her presence lol

Tom’s opening letter from bbc it’s lit

also: he looks good™

Poor Sister MJ! What are they feeding you, liver ew

Ah I forgot, this is when they get the tv😭

Poor Babs can’t go home for Christmas

You’ll have the nonnatus fam❤️❤️

“All should head home” *breaks out into song* THERE’S NOOO PLACE LIKE HOMEEE, FOR THE HOLIDAYSSS

Which is true because NYC is pretty beautiful at Christmas time, I can’t deny that

But also is when 100000x more people are visiting 🙃and stop in front of you when you’re walking to take pictures 🙃 *clenches fists* moving on..

Lol Tom you need to be more clear on this, they’re not getting it

Sister J shut him down 😂

“Mrs Mop” lmfao this BBC guy is a jerk😂

Laura’s another queen of facial expressions

“Aesthetics are vital” I feel

Aw Shelagh so cute being defensive of the kids of poplar

Lets be real though Shelagh’s always adorable bc Laura is an actual angel

pink wafers aye

i still have been craving them lol, there’s no bodega’s around my university though☹️

Angela is giggling, was this the last time we heard her make a noise lol

Wait this is when Sister MJ runs away

yikes measles

when did the vaccine become a thing then? that mmr shot ugh

Glad I got it because there’s supposedly someone with mumps on my campus like wtf

Why was Sister E so harsh yelling at Sister Mj!? That was unnecessary !!

LET 👏🏼SISTER 👏🏼MJ 👏🏼DECORATE👏🏼FOR👏🏼CHRISTMAS 👏🏼AND👏🏼WATCH 👏🏼TELEVISON !!

I’m so protective of her, stop😢😢

She doesn’t deserve that 💔

Sometimes I forget Patsy’s name is Patience

Fred’s Santa beard is gross ew😂😂

yikes an enema

I’d rather die

Oh no, there she goes *sings* there she goessss todayyy

Yes Babs lollipops are fascinating

She just slipped that baby out

I want to go to London at Christmas time

I love lights ✨✨

Delia! What up Bitch where you been!

BUT WAIT I HAVE A COAT THAT LOOKS REALLY SIMILAR TO MRS BUBSY’S LOL

It’s vintage too, i love it, makes me feel fabulous af

until I remember it’s probably a dead woman’s coat

WATCHING THEM LET THE BABY JUST HANG MAKES ME SO ANXIOUS OMG

“You clever girl!”

Aw poor iris 😭💔

Violet is actually so sweet & we don’t see much of her w/o Fred like why 

Everyone on this show is so sweet and pure !!! I just love it too much!

remember when I was normal and didn’t care so much about television? Yea me neither 😅

Sister MJ is gone

ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO PUT UP THE TREE!!

that necklace and sapphire ring were so pretty though 😭 wish my mom had a sapphire ring for me to inherit 

Shelagh is too pretty for this grey suit, where’s the navy one?!

I will never be comfortable with cookies being called biscuits tbh

“No dogs!” “If it can’t sing silent night I’m not interested”  SHELAGH IS GOLDEN

SHE HAS SOME GREAT LINES BUT GIVE HER MORE !!

Oh Hay Peter

if you think about it Miranda Hart put this poor guy out of a job. Like he used to have more screen time lol but he can’t be around much with out her

“Very like a family in fact” 😭 I love when they call themselves family cause they are !!

Wait rehearsing before school? Ugh that must have been so early 😂

I couldn’t have been in that choir. In high school I woke up at 6:45am everyday & started at 8:05am & only lived 2 blocks away but I still got there at 9:15am 🙃

plus I’m an awful singer 😂

“She probably thought her habit would keep her safe”

Sister Mary Cynthia says that about her self the next series when she’s attacked 😢

Babs was right though! She was just excited bendito 😭😭

How much is a bob?? £??

I barely can keep up with how many $ is a £ tbh

Lolol had to check when I donated to Laura’s fundraising 😂😂

Delia has been with this big ass bun for 3 series as well

The cafe they’re in is aesthetically pleasing

so Delia’s mom is hella protective but didn’t notice she left to another town lol??

well I guess they’re even now since patsy left & then lost contact for a bit

LET ME TELL YOU, THE FIRST TIME I WATCHED THIS EPISODE I WAS SCREAMINGGG

I THOUGHT THEY HAD KILLED SISTER MJ AND WAS FREAKING TF OUT ™

I’m trying to think of what Phyllis’s hat reminds me of

I wanna say Mary Poppins 

IT’S NOT SISTER MJ👏🏼

I knew it wasn’t but still!!!

Is Shelagh wearing lipstick? i’m here for it!

but I don’t like her dress

@ wardrobe/costume ppl be nicer to my bby pls

“Well, there’s just a word that no-one likes singing. It’s in that line and it begins with a "b”’ 😂 lmaooo c'mon Tim 😂😂

He was talking about breast feeding like how many episodes ago why is he embarrassed now? 😂

Patrick laughing 😭 me as a parent tbh

Poor sickly Sister MJ 💔

My bbys Trixie and Shelagh are ¡interacting!! 💕😍

How do I get my hair to look like Trixie’s/Helen’s

SORRY CANCELED

Lol jk all will be well bby

SISTER MJ REALLY OUT HERE IN THE WOODS, LIKE HOW ??

Ah Shelagh’s dressed up again! Love it 😍 and she’s wearing earrings & matching pearls!! so pretty!! 💕💕

this has been an episode of gushing over Laura sorry not sorry

Look at her hat, she can wear anything

LMAO HE WASN’T EVEN PETER PAN GET OUT OF HERE MAN

You have to be impressed that this 80 yr old woman with dementia found her childhood home

for real though I want Shelagh’s coat

mrs willens + shelagh was kinda a friendship & was cute

“Well I stopped holding out against that happiness, didn’t I?"💔💖

people on this show are always holding hands platonically & romantically like how sweet and pure !?

"Almost all the world was before your time child … you are concerned to see it last a little longer”

Hell yea lets get it, round up the nuns and nurses lets SING !!

“But it sometimes seems to me the older I get, the more I have to learn” 😭

“We get so much out of love, we find strength in it and courage. Love is our foundation and our fuel”

DAMN IT WHY IS THE WRITING SO GREAT??!

HEIDI CAN WRITE MY EUOLGY SINCE SHE’LL BE THE CAUSE OF MY ACTUAL DEATH WHEN THIS SHOW IS  OVER ONE DAY *WHICH IS HOPEFULLY NEVER, ..I MEAN DAYS OF OUR LIVES IS ON SEASON 50 SO IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE🙃🙃*

shelagh and sister j❤️❤️ so pure. I love their relationship + moments together

BUT I STILL *NEED* TRIXIE & SHELAGH TO HAVE A REAL FRIENDSHIP + ACTUAL SCENES TOGETHER

no sister, it’s not your fault that she ran away😢

broadcast about to be lit

Why did we never see Trixie giving Barbara a makeup lesson😭😂

Trixie getting excited about putting makeup on Babs like same 😂I like helping people with makeup *even though I’m not even that good haha*

“Oh some lipstick might be nice, with a touch of gay geranium you’d look quite like Jean Simmons” SISTER W SNEAKS OUT TO THE MOVIE THEATRE ON HER DAYS OFF AND NO ONE WILL CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE OK

PHYLLIS GARGLING OMG

WHY IS IT SO FUNNY 😂

yea sister E I’m sorry you were kinda bitchy

I’m sorry to call a fictitious nun a bitch oops lol

SHE’S GOING TO REDEEM HERSELF AND FIND SISTER MJ THOUGH SO IT’S OKAY!! 😭👏🏼👏🏼

Tom is so handsome! i think the collar distracts you from noticing though haha

What does wet behind the ears mean and why does it sound cringey?

on the next episode of I didn’t know I was pregnant: Christmas miracles in Poplar

No but for real it seriously was a show on TLC😂 I had a phase where I watched like every show on that channel

“Antonia! Nanny found a bible in your room again” so?? like you wish she would’ve found drugs or something?

Ugh I don’t think Sister MJ will live 3 more series & I WILL BE A WRECK™ WHEN SHE DIES

Surprise! you’re pregnant & will give birth in the next 12 mins before this show ends

imagine omg never mind not feeling safe Iris I’d be freaking tf out

I told you sister Julienne just shows up and speaks and you just feel calm

“Love is not going to be halved, but doubled” I swear someone says this again in another episode but I can’t remember

maybe I’m lying idk

The Fred + Sister E dynamic was golden

what is Sister Evangelina holding?

it looks like a bong tbh

Sister MJ saying pawning her mother’s jewels was an “interesting experience"😂 dios te bengida, she needs to always be protected  

aw pats & deels reunited *and it feeelsss so gooddd*

Fred saying rigging this raffle is immoral like HE WASNT THE BIGGEST SCAMMER IN POPLAR

I was here for it though lol😂

Phyllis gargling 😂😂

Wait omg she has earrings on how precious!

I always notice when girls/women don’t have their ears pierced because I didn’t realize for the longest time that it’s mainly just hispanics that get their ears pierced when they’re babies😂 I’ve had mine since I was six weeks old👶🏼

"Beatrix Franklin, midwife of mystery” aka my bby and ray of sunshine✨😭

it’s all good though, Trixie has Christopher, Tom has Babs, now where’s my handsome Englishman??

cue Vanessa Redgrave

“Sometimes the route to joy is indirect, our journey home not quite as we expected. There is no magic star to guide our steps, no ancient prophecies to predict our way. The greatest gift is to know that we travel not alone, but in the company of others. That there are hands as can reach for and hearts to keep us warm..”

Laura’s angelic voice blessing™ me on this Saturday night

I need it after being degenerate every other day of the week

*sings loudly* CHRISTTTTTTTT THEEEE SAVIORRRR IS BORNNNNNN

AHH I WANT CHRISTMAS NOW ! + THE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 

patsy lowkey snuggled up on Phyllis I love it

Trixie is serving looks in the corner 😍!

I still want those hoop earrings she has!

And they finally got a tv😭👏🏼

“And the family gathered round, watching their faces flicker black and white. Their very presence in the room an act of love, a welcome home”

*BANGS FISTS ON AN IMAGINARY TABLE* THIS SHOW IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND PURE AND IF YOU DISAGREE WE CAN FIGHT

I love it

Now I must go. until next time..

[mg-bsl381]

On the Move - Part Two

This is a scenario I imagined happening on screen, however the most recent spoilers make this more of a “what if” story.

When I posted part one - http://mg-bsl381.tumblr.com/post/157623457693/on-the-move  

I asked if anyone would be interested in reading this part and @alwayssmilingsam said yes, so here it is!

I hope you like this.

Part Two

Moving day came and Shelagh was up early.  She hadn’t slept very well and was feeling restless which was to be expected on such a momentous day.  The boxes were packed and the furniture was ready to go.  Shelagh had persuaded Patrick to take a few days off work.  He had agreed primarily because he didn’t want her overdoing it and ending up on bed rest again.  The removal men arrived and Shelagh was not required to do anything more arduous than brew endless cups of tea.  Timothy kept an eye on Angela and made sure she didn’t try to unpack the boxes.  After what seemed like no time at all, the van was loaded and they were ready to go to the new house.

Shelagh and Patrick walked around the flat hand in hand.  The empty rooms echoed around them.  So many memories had taken place in this small but loved home.  Patrick pulled her into a hug and was given a sharp kick as a reminder of why they were moving.  He stroked her bump and with a quick kiss to Shelagh, they left the flat.  Shelagh commented that the flat needed a good clean, now the furniture had gone.  Patrick reassured her that he would arrange for that to be done.

They went out to the car where Timothy and Angela were waiting eager to be on the move.  They set off for the new house with the removal van following them.  It wasn’t very far to the new place but it felt a world away.  The houses were not so crowded together and there were trees and gardens.  Shelagh was feeling restless wanting to get into the house and get unpacked.  If Patrick would let her she’d be moving furniture but she knew that would be unwise in her current condition.  

The removers set up the beds first and got the sofa in position, so at least they could sleep that night and Shelagh could put her feet up.  Shelagh and Patrick had already discussed where they wanted the furniture to go, even though it would look lost in the spacious rooms.  Shelagh was relegated to the kitchen, unpacking boxes and watching her children as they ran around the garden.  

Shelagh was feeling strange but put it down to the excitement and stress of moving.   She was reaching up to put something in one of the wall cupboards when she felt a pop and a whoosh.  She felt a wave of pain course through her abdomen.  Oh no, she thought.  Not today, of all days.  She called out to Patrick, trying to keep her voice as calm as possible.  He wandered into the kitchen and stopped suddenly.  She could see his face as he took in the pool of fluid on the lino and Shelagh’s hands gripping the work surface as a pain began to build within her.

Immediately Patrick was by her side, rubbing her back and holding her hand.  She felt him wince as she gripped his hand tightly.  He told her he was going to phone for an ambulance.  She shook her head and reminded him that the phone line wasn’t connected yet.  She paused to breathe through the next contraction.  Things appeared to be moving swiftly and she knew that she didn’t want to be in hospital again.  Patrick called Timothy in from the garden and instructed him to hurry to the phone box and call Nonnatus.  He explained that they needed two midwives, ideally one of them should be Sister Julienne and his medical bag from the surgery where he’d left it as he was off work and a delivery pack as they didn’t have one yet.  

Shelagh stayed in the kitchen as she didn’t want to mess up the carpets.  When they had the delivery pack, she would move into the bedroom.  Patrick left her for a moment to say farewell to the removers and check that everything was in order or at least as much order as it could be in the circumstances.  He came back carrying Angela who was happily holding some flowers.  Shelagh smiled and tried to hide her pain from her daughter.  She could feel the contractions increasing in strength and frequency.  She breathed deeply and evenly trying to remain calm.  This was not how she had planned it in her head but many years experience taught her that when a baby was ready to come, nothing and no-one could stop it.

Timothy arrived back breathless from running.  In between gasps for air, he announced that Sister Julienne was on her way.  Shelagh breathed a sigh of relief at the news.  There were two people she wanted present at the birth, Patrick and he would be staying whatever anyone else said and Sister Julienne who was her oldest and most trusted friend.  Timothy continued that Nurse Crane would be driving over with the medical bag and the delivery pack.  She would make herself useful in whatever capacity she was needed.  Midwife, brewer of tea and sorting out the house, under Shelagh’s guidance, of course.  Timothy wasn’t sure who else would turn up but he thought it likely that it might not be just the two.

In due course, Timothy called out that Nurse Crane’s car had just pulled up outside.  He rushed out to meet the reinforcements.  Shelagh was still in the kitchen and was now leaning heavily against Patrick for support.  The contractions were coming thick and fast but she was coping well.  Sister Julienne came into the kitchen to be with Shelagh.  Directed by Timothy, Nurses Crane and Franklin made their way to the bedroom to prepare the room for the delivery.  Thankfully the bed was already in place but the mattress was bare, with a roll of bedlinen on the end of it.  They started to unroll it only to discover it was all made up and had been rolled up when it was removed from the bed.  They made up the bed and set up all the things needed for delivery, including the gas and air machine.  

Meanwhile the fourth visitor was entertaining Angela and feeding her cake.  Shelagh was relieved that Angela was being looked after and hoped Sister Monica Joan wouldn’t make her sick.  There were a stack of cake tins on the work surface as Sister Monica Joan had raided Mrs B’s entire supply of cakes, leaving the Nonnatus pantry empty.  

Shelagh was helped up the stairs by Patrick and Sister Julienne.  Trixie and Phyllis looked at each other unsure of what they should be doing.  Timothy popped his head round the door and wished Shelagh well and commented that next time at least the phone would be connected.  Phyllis had a look on her face and Patrick smiled gratefully when she offered to sort out the telephone for him.  

Trixie decided that she would help Sister Julienne and Patrick.  She didn’t think she’d actually get to deliver the baby as she was sure it would be either Patrick or Sister Julienne.  She couldn’t decide who it would be but thought it was most likely to be Patrick as the one that delivered the baby was usually the one that handed the newborn to its mother.  After a while she decided that she wasn’t really needed so she offered to continue unpacking the boxes in the kitchen.  Sister Julienne assured her that she would let her know if they needed an extra pair of hands.

Shelagh was grateful of Nurse Crane’s inclusion of the gas and air machine as the contractions were really painful.  In her head she reminded herself that she had helped hundreds, maybe even thousands of women in this position.  It hadn’t felt the same when it was someone else though.  She knew Patrick was anxious about what might happen.  Her scar tissue was a complicating factor and their new house wasn’t yet connected to the phone.  In an emergency anything could… she stopped herself.  She had the best people she knew to help her.  She had been at countless deliveries with them over the years and knew how exceptional they all were.  She concentrated on the job in hand, getting through each contraction one at a time until her body was ready to push the baby out.  

Sister Monica Joan and Nurse Crane helped Timothy and Angela get their rooms set up.  Nurse Crane noticed Timothy tense with every cry Shelagh made.  She suggested the four of them went out for a walk.  Although they were close to Poplar, this was a new area for them and it would be good to explore.  She stuck her head round the door of the main bedroom and motioned to Patrick.  She explained what they were doing and Timothy was struggling hearing Shelagh in labour.  Patrick nodded and whispered his thanks to her for noticing Timothy’s reaction and for looking after the children.

Shelagh suddenly felt a change in her body as the urge to push came upon her.  She saw Patrick and Sister Julienne look at each other.  This was the most risky part of labour but the expertise in the room was phenomenal.  Shelagh concentrated her efforts on pushing even though the urge to shout out was strong.  She clasped Sister Julienne’s hand and pushed down with all her strength.  The sensation of her baby moving through her was very strange but their physical connection was almost over.

Through the fog of pain, she heard Patrick’s voice telling her to pant.  She felt his hand on her thigh and tried her best to pant.  It was a mammoth effort to slow down as her body wanted to push.  She felt a burning pain as if her body was being ripped in two and then her baby slid smoothly from her.  She saw Patrick’s face break into a smile and the tear that fell on her thigh.  A loud cry announced their baby’s presence into the world.  Patrick cut the cord and wrapped their newborn in a towel and handed the bundle to Shelagh.  Sister Julienne swapped places with Patrick and concentrated on delivering the placenta.  Trixie appeared and asked if there anything she could do.  Sister Julienne assured her that all was well.

Shelagh looked down at the bundle in her arms.  The first thing she noticed was a mop of dark hair.  She stroked her baby’s head and she then saw a pair of bright blue eyes squinting at her.  Those were her eyes.  Although she knew that many babies started off with blue eyes, she hoped these would stay the same.  The baby’s colouring was the same melding of hers and Patrick’s as Angela.  It seemed so strange now that Angela had been adopted when she looked so much like the two of them.  Where Angela had Shelagh’s fair hair and Patrick’s dark eyes, this little one had her eyes but the hair was all Patrick.

There was a ring of the doorbell and the wanderers returned with the Turner favourite of fish and chips, left in a warm oven for when the family were ready for them.  They all trooped up to the bedroom led by Trixie.  Sister Monica Joan bestowed blessings on the newest Turner.  Sister Julienne kissed Shelagh’s cheek and promised to return in the morning.  Trixie seemed deep in thought when she said goodbye but then she was probably wondering that long ago, Shelagh used to be Sister Bernadette.  Nurse Crane assured Patrick that the telephone engineer would be around first thing in the morning and she would be there to supervise that the work was done properly.  Patrick smiled gratefully.  

Timothy took Angela over to their parents and both children climbed onto the bed.  Patrick sat with his arm around Shelagh.  She nestled beside him holding Angela, while Timothy held his newest sibling.  Sister Julienne lingered for a few moments watching the family, marvelling at the happiness that filled the room.

Patrick handed the baby back to Shelagh and went to the kitchen to retrieve the fish and chips.  He saw his children’s rooms already looking lived in.  There were boxes in most of the other rooms but it felt like home.  He carried a tray back up the stairs and stood for a moment on the threshold of the bedroom.  He still couldn’t believe he had three children now.  Shelagh looked tired but radiant and he knew she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.  His love for her increased and strengthened daily but there were still days when he still couldn’t quite believe that Shelagh loved him as deeply as he loved her.  

Shelagh looked up to see Patrick standing in the doorway looking wistful.  She knew exactly what he felt.  To be cradling her newborn with her other children on either side of her, Shelagh knew she was truly blessed.  Timothy leapt up to take the tray of food and drinks.  Shelagh reached out her hand to Patrick who kissed it softly.  He then leaned over and with a hand on Shelagh’s face, he kissed her tenderly and deeply.  Timothy’s groans and Angela’s giggles caused Patrick and Shelagh to break apart but they both knew they were home.  In this house and with each other.

[weshallc]

Tangle wrote me this because I was poorly and needed cheering up. She knows as much as I love bold Shelagh, I also appreciate prim Shelagh and even more so Patrick in his pants 🤭 You really did make me laugh out loud and I wanted to share.

I hope you’re up to a little fun. @weshallc​ convinced me to publish this little silly piece which came to me out of the blue colonial nightie . She also referred me to lovely @lovetheturners​‘ Bri-Nylon dealing with the same topic.

[sincerelybluevase]

Fanfic Friday: Lessons In Lovemaking, Lesson Number Four (Part Two)

Thanks to @purple-roses-words-and-love for being my beta. 

Patrick lay unmoving inside her for a few heartbeats. Shelagh touched the wrinkle next to his mouth with her thumb, let the digit rest on his lips. He kissed the pad of her finger. She moved her hand to the nape of his neck.

“Are you ready?” he asked. His voice was very deep and husky.

“Yes,” she said. The word was barely audible, but Patrick smiled, and pressed his mouth against hers. He started to move, doing it very slowly and controlled. His breath, however, came in hot pants, betraying how high-strung he was.

It was a strange sensation, having him inside her. She’d already experienced a little bit of what was to come when he’d explored her with his fingers, but even that couldn’t completely prepare her for the strange burning that flickered with every thrust. Was it pain? Was it pleasure? Perhaps it was both. If anything, it was intense and maybe a little overwhelming, having him cradled between her thighs, feeling his warmth and his skin and his hair, smelling his aftershave and the deeply masculine tang of his sweat.

He’s heavy, she thought. His weight pressed her into the mattress. The only sounds were the rustling of sheets, their little breaths that sometimes turned into quiet moans.

And these slick, wet little sounds of two bodies meeting, she thought. No one had ever told her there would be these moist sounds. No one had ever told her that sex involved so much wetness. Their bodies were damp with sweat. Beads of it clung to the hollows of her knees, tickled her calves as they dripped down. She had perspired during the other lessons, knew she’d sweat during this one, but the intensity of it still took her by surprise somehow.  

Patrick nuzzled her neck. One of his hands was on her thigh, stroking her in long lines from knee to hip. His palm was damp, and that was new; his hands were always so dry from the constant washing his profession required. Did that mean he liked it? She wanted him to enjoy himself. He’d told her there were many ways in which to practice this fourth lesson. She’d have approved of whatever position he’d asked if that meant it was pleasurable to him. God, he was such a darling man, always trying to make her feel comfortable and loved, knowing so much about this intricate, delicate dance of lovemaking.

And I know so little beyond what he has told me…

How could she pleasure him tonight with this fourth lesson? She should’ve asked more before they’d started. Was she supposed to moan and wriggle and kiss him? Or was she supposed to lie in silence, letting him thrust inside her at a pace he set?

“Are you all right?” Patrick asked. Shelagh realised she’d been lying very still, her hands clenched. She had been holding her breath. She exhaled slowly and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Patrick stopped moving with what must have been an extraordinary amount of willpower and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Darling?”

She stroked his neck, used a little pressure so he ducked down and met her lips. She kissed him softly, tasting the wine they’d drunk at the reception, and salt.

“Are you all right?” he asked again. “Does it hurt?”

“No. I just…” She’d been lost in her mind, retreating there because it was a little much all of a sudden. She swallowed thickly. “I just don’t know what to do very well,” she said, her voice very small. She was suddenly desperately afraid she’d cry. How embarrassing would that be? And still he was inside her, and still her very core sang with need, that strange wet place between her legs thrumming like a taut bowstring.

Patrick touched his nose with hers, rubbing it like a cat might. It was a soft touch, intimate and sweet. She smiled, her lips trembling.  “I just want you to like it,” she whispered. An audible catch in her voice made it sound as if she’d swallowed a coin.

“Darling Shelagh,” Patrick said. “You don’t need to worry about that. You’ll learn a little more every time we do this. You don’t need to know it all. We can discover it all together.”

She lay still, mulling those words over in her mind. Patrick must have seen that she was worried still, for he kissed the lines between her brow, and said, “Do you want me to instruct you?”

She nodded. “Yes please.”

“All right. I’m going to move again. Try and rock your hips, darling. That way it’ll be nicer for the both of us.” He set a slow, easy rhythm. She moved her hips like he’d instructed her, doing it sloppily at first. Soon, though, instinct took over, and her hips rocked in perfect counter-rhythm to his. She was, after all, very musically inclined.

“Good,” Patrick whispered. He grinned, then groaned at the next thrust. “God, you feel good,” he said. She blushed, and kissed him. The burning between her legs was no longer a pain, but a pleasure, definitely pleasure. She realised that the ache that had been nagging in her lower belly wasn’t so much pain as emptiness. Patrick filled her for a moment only to pull away and leave her empty again, causing the ache to throb in time with his thrusts. The pressure inside her was building.

“You’re doing so well,” Patrick panted. It sounded like something he’d say to a woman in labour, and that made her smile, not in the least because the words were familiar but the tone he said them in was wholly inappropriate for the workplace. This gravelly, rasping voice was for her, only for her, because of her.

“Am I?” she asked.

“You’re a natural,” he said. He pulled out of her completely, leaving her raw and bereft, then pushed into her again, going deeper than he had before. She realised suddenly that his thrusts had been shallow up till now. He could go much further than he had, and the only reason why he hadn’t was because she was new to this, and he didn’t want to scare her or hurt her. If he wanted to, he could push his shaft into her to the hilt, and fill her completely.

I could never make love to someone else, she thought. To lie here with spread legs, accepting him into her over and over again, trusting him to pleasure her and not hurt her even though the possibility of pain was always there, was an intense form of vulnerability. She had known this before, but only now she realised the full extent of it.

Patrick’s hand travelled over her belly to cup one of her breasts. He wasn’t as gentle as he had been before, and cupped her a little haphazardly. She moaned as he rubbed her nipple, moaned louder as he pushed into her. She was liquid fire once more, the pressure higher than she’d imagined it could possibly be.

“Damn, Shelagh,” he rasped, his breath ghosting over her collarbones and throat.

“I’m…” she said, but she would be hard-pressed to form a good sentence, let alone find a word that encompassed all she felt, all she was. “Please,” she said instead, feeling like a supplicant worshipping another kind of divinity than those commonly found in churches.

Patrick continued to thrust into her, but did it shallowly, allowing him to put a hand between their damp bodies and insert a thumb between her folds, feeling for her bud. His finger slipped over it, causing her to inhale sharply. He found her again, and pressed down.

The pressure inside her broke. She was vaguely aware of saying Patrick’s name again and again, the word dripping from between her lips as she shuddered in the throes of ecstasy. Perhaps what made it so good this time was that her walls finally had something to flutter against, something to clench around. Surely this completion lasted longer than the others had? But how could she know? She was outside of time. There was just Patrick’s mouth over hers, drinking in her breath as it stuttered out of her lungs.

He was still moving inside her, doing it fluidly.

He’s a wave, and he’s about to fall into me and then we’ll be one, she thought. She clung to him as the pleasure ebbed.

“I love you,” she murmured.

Something inside him broke. Maybe those three words were the cause. Maybe it was the way her walls still trembled around him, trying to drag him in deeper. Maybe the ultimate responsibility lay in how she moved her hands over his back, his arse, feeling the muscle move underneath the skin. Whatever it was, he suddenly held her down and drove hard and deep into her, and again, and again.

“Patrick,” she gasped.

“God, Shelagh,” he rasped. A moment of breathlessness, and then he ground into her, growling against her throat, stickiness pulsing out of him and filling her.

She held him to her with all her strength, not wanting him to pull out of her and roll away. She liked his weight on her, even though he was so very heavy. He was breathing hard. She rubbed circles between his shoulder blades, cupped his skull with the other hand. He moved his face towards her, touched her nose with his.

“Darling,” he said, and tried to extract himself from her embrace.

“Don’t go,” she whispered, but he took hold of her wrists and lay down next to her anyway. She immediately placed her face on his chest. He tucked her under his arm. She slung a leg over him, wincing a little; she was sore.

He dropped kisses on her forehead, on her hair, on her eyelids. “I’m sorry. I lost control near the end,” he murmured. He hesitated, then touched her face with a hand, stroking her cheek with his thumb. “Have I hurt you?”

“No. I…” She hesitated, licked her lips. She was quickly becoming cold now that they no longer lay entangled the way they’d previously been. He rubbed her arms and pulled the covers over them. She’d have to wash the sheets.

“What did you want to say?” he asked, desperation and fear colouring his voice.

“I didn’t think you could go so deep. I didn’t know.”

He smiled a little at that. “I can go much deeper. It doesn’t always have to be gentle and sweet and shallow, Shelagh. It can be wild and rough.” He smoothed the worry lines between her brows. “But not for a while yet. All of that will come in good time.”

He reached for the flannels on the nightstand.

“Don’t,” she said.

“Darling?”

“Not yet. I don’t want to wash your seed away.” She blushed, and was unsure again. She chewed her lip, and admonished herself for being so silly. There could be no secrets between them. He had seen everything from her, had been with her like no other could ever be. If souls existed – and she firmly believed they did – theirs had touched and seen themselves reflected in the other; they were that similar. “I want to have a child with you, Patrick,” she said.

His face broke open into a smile at this confession. “You do?”

“Of course I do.”

“A little Shelagh,” he said.

“A little Patrick,” she said. He touched her lips with his, sucked her bottom lip between his teeth. Their kiss waxed and waned as it had earlier. Soon that strange place inside her woke, and wondered why it was so empty. She smiled inwardly; how could she be hungry for him even though she had been sated so recently?

“Are you tired, my love? Or do you want to have another round of this very special lesson?” Patrick quipped. “It’ll have to wait a while, but I’m more than happy to repeat any of our previous lessons in the meantime.”

“Patrick,” she murmured, and lightly slapped his arm. He grinned before his face grew tender once more.

“Or do you just want me to hold you?” he asked.

She nodded. As she lay listening to his heartbeat, her limbs growing slacker, she realised her lashes were coated together by tears.

It’s because I’m so happy, she thought, and smeared them out over his chest, bathing him in her tangible love for him.

[sincerelybluevase]

Fanfic Friday: Lessons In Lovemaking, Chapter Three; Lesson Number Two

Thanks to @purple-roses-words-and-love for betaing.

Lesson Number Two

“So it was quite nice,” Shelagh finished lamely.

They were sitting on the golden sofa in Patrick’s living room, sharing a cigarette again. Shelagh let go of Patrick’s hand so she could pick up her teacup and saucer. It was easier not to look at him now that she’d told him how she’d felt when she’d put his first lesson into practice.

“I’m glad,” Patrick said. His voice was soft, gentle. He put the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray, the smoke curling around his hand. He cleared his throat, and seemed to be on the cusp of saying something, but swallowed it down.

He’s waiting for me to speak, Shelagh realised. She drank the last sips of tea before putting the cup and saucer down. She put her hand on Patrick’s knee to steady herself as she slid back onto the couch. Patrick put his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple. Her belly coiled in anticipation. She put one leg over the other to quell the sensation. It seemed that she had become even more sensitive to Patrick’s touch now that she’d discovered what pleasure her body was capable of.

“Patrick, what’s that bud between my legs called?” she asked, her voice low. She fiddled with his tie so she didn’t have to look at him. The fabric was soft, the pattern one of the more palatable ones. Shelagh had decided she’d go through his collection of ties when she moved her clothes into their shared wardrobe, and donate the most obnoxious ones. The charity bin wasn’t picky about the colour of the ties it received; she, however, was.

“It’s called the clitoris. Sometimes that word is shortened to clit,” he said.

Shelagh frowned. “I don’t like it,” she said.

Patrick laughed. The sound rumbled through his belly, then seemed to echo within his throat and grow loud as it escaped between his lips. She startled a little at the loudness of his mirth. “Darling,” he said, and kissed her temple again, leaving his lips on her skin. The place burned, and she shivered against him, heat pooling between her legs. “And why doesn’t my darling like that word?” Patrick murmured. His breath ruffled the baby hairs that wisped past her ear, and her lashes. Gooseflesh rippled over her arms and legs.

“It sounds so harsh. Clit. It doesn’t describe what that little bud feels like at all.”

“It doesn’t, does it?”

She tilted her head up so she could meet his mouth. “No,” she murmured, and pressed her lips against his.

They sat kissing for a while, her hand tangled in his tie, his loosely placed over her hip, occasionally rubbing the harsh blade of bone with his thumb. The kisses were soft at first, but as their mouths grew wet and warm they pressed against each other with more force, sucking and licking and biting.

They broke apart when they were both dizzy and out of breath. Shelagh put a thumb on his bottom lip, stroking the sleek, slightly swollen flesh. He put his lips around the digit and sucked it, causing her hips to jump.

“Patrick,” she whispered.

He released her thumb. “Shelagh,” he said, unable to keep from smirking.

“May I see the bedroom?”

He cocked an eyebrow at her, causing her to blush. “It’s just that… I think I’d be more comfortable on our wedding night if I’ve spent some time there with you already,” she said.

He cupped her face and stroked her hot cheeks. “Of course, my love. I understand.”

“I’m looking forward to it very much.” She forced herself to be brave. “To have your weight press me down, to feel you inside me…”

She thought he’d tell her he wanted that, too, that he couldn’t wait to feel her around him. Instead, he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and smiled at her, a strange, sweet smile of gentleness.

He finds me endearing, she thought.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Shelagh, what do you think sex is?” he asked.

She furrowed her brow as she thought. “I always thought it would be about penetration,” she said slowly, “but now that you’ve asked me, and now that I’ve gone through your first lesson, I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Oh, it can be about penetration, and that is certainly something nice to try, but it isn’t exclusively about that,” Patrick said. She stroked his cheek. There was a patch of skin the size of her thumbnail he had not shaved very well. The stubbles were rough against her hand, the texture not unlike that of sandpaper.  “There will be times,” he went on, “when our lovemaking won’t involve penetration at all. We can make love with only our hands and mouths.” He smiled. “I think that will be my second lesson for you: to discover with me that we can use our hands and have a good time.”

“So I’ll need a partner for this lesson,” Shelagh said.

He swallowed again, his Adam’s apple prominent as it bobbed in his throat. “Would you care to go upstairs with me, so we can practice the second lesson?”

The coiling in her belly turned into an almost-pain. “Alright,” she said.

She was weak on her legs as they made their way to the bedroom. His hand grew hot in hers. They tiptoed past Timothy’s room, even though he slept like a rock thanks to his grapple with polio and due to the fact that he was a growing boy.

“Here it is,” Patrick whispered, and opened the door to the bedroom, stepping aside to let her go in first.

She stepped onto the soft carpet and looked around. There was a vanity standing close to the window. She saw her reflection in it.

Are my eyes really this shiny? she thought.

There was nothing on the vanity safe for a set of brushes and combs. She wondered how long it had been empty. Had it contained pots of rouge and cold cream and bottles of scent when Marianne had still been alive? Though maybe Patrick had bought the piece of furniture especially for her as a wedding present, and Marianne hadn’t used it at all.

Her eyes wandered to the spacious wardrobe, then to the bed. It seemed very large, the covers warm. There was a nightstand on each side, his cluttered with cufflinks and copies of The Lancet, the one soon to be hers empty.

Patrick stepped past her and to the bed. He stroked the covers, then peeled them back. There was something blowsy and inviting about rumpled sheets. More wetness pooled between her legs.

“Are you ready?” he asked, patting the mattress.

“We must undress,” she said. He smirked at her. Her face grew hot, and she shook her head. “I don’t want my clothes to get dirty,” she said.

“Of course. Do… Do you want me to help you?” His fingers twitched against the pillow.

Yes, she thought.

“No. I don’t want you to see me. That is, not yet, because…” She was lost for words, and looked at her hands, tapping the little gemstone of her engagement ring with a nail.

“You want to save something for the wedding night,” Patrick concluded for her.

She looked up and nodded. “Yes.”

“I understand,” he said. He stood, the springs inside the mattress moaning a bit. He went to her, and brought her hand to his mouth, kissing the silvery line on her palm. “I’ll go into the bathroom and undress. You can do it here. Tell me when you’re ready.”

“Yes,” she said.

He kissed her forehead, then went into the bathroom. She waited for the soft snick of the closing door behind him, then sat down on the edge of the bed. She heard the tap run, and a soft, metallic chime from metal on porcelain.

He removed his cufflinks, she thought.

Shelagh undressed swiftly but meticulously, placing her folded clothes on the stool in front of the vanity. She tried to avoid looking into the mirror; she wanted to see herself through Patrick’s eyes on their wedding night first.

The sheets were cold against her flushed skin. She shivered in delight, rubbing her feet over the mattress, taking comfort and pleasure out of the texture of the sheets against her skin. Soon her gooseflesh faded, though her nipples remained hard.

“Are you ready?” Patrick said, his voice muffled by the thick wooden door.

“Yes.”

“Don’t look.”

“I won’t.” She put her hands over her eyes, but couldn’t help but peek through her fingers as he came in anyway. He was somewhat wiry, and broad, and covered in hair. He was carrying a bowl of water, and some flannels. She quickly closed her eyes, her lashes fluttering against the sensitive skin of her hands.

The click of porcelain on wood indicated that he’d put the bowl and flannels down on her nightstand. The mattress dipped almost suddenly under his weight as he sat down and put his legs under the covers. He lied down with a sigh. She instinctively rolled towards him. He put an arm around her. He was very warm.

She opened her eyes. “Hello,” she murmured.

He grinned. “Hello.”

She placed a hand on his chest and pushed it through the hair that grew there. It was thick and somewhat coarse. Patrick nuzzled her neck, then started to place kisses along her jawline. Her hand opened and closed weakly. He shifted his weight. She gasped as she felt his manhood against her, heavy and hard.

“Patrick,” she whispered.

He paused, his kiss hot and open-mouthed on her throat. “Yes?”

“I want to touch you first,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

She rolled on her side and looked at him through her lashes. It wasn’t easy to make out the minute expressions flitting over his face, not without her glasses, but she could still read awe and anticipation.

Without looking down she pushed her hand through his chest hair, down to his belly. He was soft there, and though she had expected that, it still came as a pleasant surprise to find out just how soft. The hair that grew in an arrow from his navel to his manhood was curly and coarse. She stroked it, going a little lower with each movement.

Patrick put his face against her throat. His breathing was coming rapid now, in hot, swift pants that made her belly clench and unclench like a fist.

She touched him, noting with surprise that he was hard, but the skin wrapping his manhood was silky soft, almost as soft as the flesh between her legs when damp with want. She cupped his balls. They were even softer.  

Patrick groaned. He put a hand on her hip, his fingers long enough to dig into her buttocks.

“What do I do?” Shelagh whispered.

“Wrap your hand around me, and move up and down. Do it slowly,” he said. His voice had become deep, almost guttural.

She did as he asked and moved her hand along the length of him. He grew harder under her touch. She explored the length of him, wondering if something that big could really comfortably fit inside of her. Perhaps it was indeed best if their lovemaking did not always consist of penetration.

But baby heads are a lot bigger, and those can come out, too. With some tearing most of the times, of course, but he’s not nearly as big as a child’s head, she thought, and that made the nagging worry in the pit of her stomach fall away.

“Is this alright?” she asked.

“You may squeeze a little harder,” he said.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t.”

So she applied more pressure. He gasped against her throat, his fingers digging into her backside. She rocked her hips involuntarily. He copied her movement, bucking against her hand.

“Shelagh,” he moaned. Perspiration beaded on his face, at the nape of his neck. A droplet dripped down her throat and lay glistening in the hollow between her collarbones.

She placed the hand she wasn’t using to pleasure him on the back of his skull, dragging her fingers through his thick hair, lightly scratching his scalp. She kissed his forehead, smelling his shampoo.

He came undone with little warning. There was a moment in which he didn’t seem to breathe. Then, his hips bucked several times, his hands curling. Something hot and sticky coated her hand.

She didn’t move, just held him tight as he shivered against her, his penis growing soft in her hand.

It was such an intimate thing to have experienced with him that it was almost unbearable. She felt ready to cry, and didn’t know why.

“Darling,” he said after a while, looking up with a smile. “My darling.” He kissed her lips, then sat up and dipped one of the flannels in the bowl with cooling water. She held out her hand to him. He cupped it with the same tenderness he’d displayed in the Parish hall, and wiped his semen away. He cleaned each finger in turn, kissing the tips when they were done, swirling his tongue around.

“Was that alright?” Shelagh whispered. Her throat was thick.

“Very much so.”

He put the flannel away, then picked up his underwear. “Turn around, sweetheart,” he said. She did as he asked, listening to the rustling of fabric as he put his boxers on.

“You don’t have to for me,” she said.

He touched her shoulder, indicating that she could look again.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” he said.

“I’m never uncomfortable with you.”

“Good,” he said, and kissed her. There was something languid about his movements, something happy and relaxed that hadn’t been there before. He had been tense and coiled, but now the springs had unloaded their energy and he was almost floppy as he held her.

He kissed her eyelids, her nose. “It wasn’t too much for you, was it, darling?” he asked.

She shook her head. She was still reluctant to speak. “It was beautiful,” she managed to say. “It was intimate.”

He smiled and kissed her again, his dry hand moving to her right breast. She sighed as he lightly stroked the flesh, skirting around her nipple. He cupped her breast, and she found that he could indeed encompass all of her flesh there with one hand. It was comforting; there were many things about lovemaking she had never realised before, but this, at least, she had managed to imagine correctly.

“Touch me more,” she said. Her want for him was an ache now. She rolled on her back and pulled her legs up. Patrick curled against her, pushing his right arm under her neck, putting his mouth against her temple. His dominant hand rubbed the skin between her breasts, stroked her belly.

“Touch me,” she said. The words came out with more force now, almost a sobbing.

He parted her folds with his index and ring finger, dipping his middle finger in between. He exhaled in surprise as he found that she wanted him so much that it coated her thighs. “God, Shelagh, you’re very wet,” he whispered.

“It’s because of you. It’s all for you,” she said, and rocked her hips, whining as her bundle dragged past his hand.

He adjusted his hand and dragged his index finger through her wetness, spreading it. He stroked her labia. Did he think about how soft she was as much as she’d done with him? She didn’t know.

“Please,” she begged.

“Do you want me to touch it, or is that too much?” he asked. His voice was husky.

“Touch it. Just… just… please.” She couldn’t speak anymore. She couldn’t remember the words.

He moved in slow, almost dreamlike circles, skirting around her bud, sometimes touching it. She gasped, her hips rocking without her consent. The heat and pressure inside her were building with each stroke. Her back arched.

I’ll snap my spine, she thought. She clung to his right hand, digging her nails into his over-washed skin. He intertwined their fingers. She pressed his hand. He squeezed back.

She tottered on the edge for what seemed an impossible long time, not knowing why the pressure didn’t break, what she needed to do to make the dams crack and flood her system with pleasure like it had done during the first lesson. Her flesh was swollen and somewhat raw. She let out a frustrated whine.

“It’s all right, Shelagh,” Patrick whispered. “It’s all right. Just let go.”

He put his fingertip on her bundle and applied light pressure.

She gasped as the heat broke, as bliss rained down upon her and swallowed her. Her hips rocked against his hand, her walls fluttered uselessly inside her, her spine curled and uncurled.

“Oh,” she said, over and over again. “Oh. Oh.”

Patrick gathered her in his arms and held her tight. She was slack as a ragdoll. They were both damp and breathing hard. She kissed his throat.

She realised she was crying.

“Oh,” she repeated.

“Was it too much?” Patrick asked, his strong arms slung around her.

“No,” she said. “No. It was just more than I thought it ever would be.”

He held her tight as she cried.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you,” he answered.

They didn’t speak for a long time.

They didn’t need to.

[nunonabun]

If you have some time, mind jotting me a number 20 or a good and smutty #25? Love reading your work!

25 is over here but I decide to do 20 as well because why 2 heck not.

Putting it under the cut because well, kettles.

Clinic had long since finished, and all the others were settled in cozily at Nonnatus for tea. As she stepped out into the overcast, windy late afternoon, Barbara cursed herself for forgetting her scarf and having to loop back to the community centre. She was already a bit all over the place at the best of times, if she was being honest with herself, but the frantic preparations for her wedding two weeks from now seemed to be enhancing that aspect of her. She unlocked the community centre, thankful that she’d at least remembered to get the key from Sister Julienne before setting out.

A soft moan froze her in place. Was there someone in here? Her immediate thought was that it might be a girl who was trying to hide that she was in labour. It wouldn’t be unheard of. If she’d managed to keep it from her family and didn’t want any record of it, it made sense that she would come, after hours, to the place the whole community knew as a part-time maternity clinic. But how had she gotten in?  Barbara tiptoed in, shutting the door quietly. She wanted to find the girl, but bumbling about might scare her.

A clearly male groan stopped that theory - and Barbara herself - in its tracks just as she laid eyes on the origin - or origins, rather - of the alarming sounds. Dr. Turner was standing in front of the counter. He was breathing hard and seemed to be pressing his hips against it. Barbara was briefly baffled at this strange scene before she noticed a pair of shapely legs wrapped around his waist. She ducked automatically, hoping that his partner - Shelagh, it must be - hadn’t seen her. Given the continued noises to her left, she guessed she hadn’t been discovered.

Heart racing at the situation she had managed to stumble into, she tried to gather her thoughts. Would they hear her if she tried to sneak out? They hadn’t heard her coming in, but what if they had just ignored the first sound and caught sight of her at the second? That would be terribly embarrassing for all of them. Perhaps she should just try to grab her scarf and leave. Or should she wait them out? But that seemed such an intrusion. She really ought to leave a private activity private, even if she was coming to realize that she didn’t quite want to. She shook the thought off.  

Barbara crept around the side of the half-wall and caught sight of the elusive scrap of outerwear draped over the back of the chair just beside the kitchen entrance. If she went to collect it, they would surely spot her. She would definitely have to wait them out now. Unsettlingly, the thought sent little butterflies aflutter in her stomach. Planning her wedding ceremony was top of her mind, but the wedding night was a close and anxious second. None of her other friends were married, and even if Phyllis had had at least one fling during the war, Barbara would never be able to work up the courage to ask her dear friend about something so intimate. She felt sure Phyllis had already disclosed all she was willing to reveal about that event.

She rose to a crouch, so that her eyes were just peeking over the wall cut-out. Dr. Turner’s trousers and pants were around his ankles, and Shelagh’s skirt was pushed up. He held her tightly around the waist, her arms clutching his hips; their foreheads pressed together as they joined again and again. They seemed entirely lost in one another. Or perhaps found. Was that what it was to come together physically when you loved the other person? To stop being just yourself? She’d heard talk at clinic of course, but it was usually joking and Barbara didn’t know quite what to make of it.

Dr. Turner kissed along his wife’s jaw and murmured something in her ear that made her gasp. She took hold of the sides of his face, pulling his lips to hers to kiss him passionately. Shelagh’s hands had descended to grasp Dr. Turner’s bottom, cupping his rather well-shaped rear and pulling him more forcefully against her. Barbara’s heart beat faster. What little she did know - beyond the simple mechanics she’d learned in nursing school - was that the woman was generally passive. She’d considered that this might not quite be true, but she’d never actually seen it. All of the women in films tended to acquiesce to their lovers’ kisses, not initiate or spur anything on.

Yet Dr. Turner seemed excited by his wife’s enthusiasm, picking up the pace of his thrusts even as he maintained their kiss. He seemed eager to touch her as well, one of his hands roving up under his wife’s shirt to find the corresponding breast, seemingly massaging it in a way that - judging from the sounds Shelagh was making - she quite enjoyed.

Shelagh’s legs abruptly tensed around her husband and she moaned his name, her eyes falling closed as she let what Barbara assumed must be her, er, completion wash over her. Though she hadn’t noticed Dr. Turner reach a similar state, he stopped moving at this point, simply holding Shelagh in place, his eyes - from what Barbara could see - drinking in the expression on his love’s face. At last Shelagh opened her eyes, reaching up to place a soft kiss on his lips. This seemed to mean something more for them, as he kissed her again in reply and resumed his movements, rocking against her gently a few times before thrusting again in earnest. Once, twice, three times and then he too released a strangled sound of pleasure. His knees shook but he managed to remain upright, Shelagh keeping him in a firm embrace, an expression of pure joy brightening her face as he shuddered in her arms. They drew back, exchanging kisses once more. They lingered longer this time, showering each other’s faces with gentle affection, as if soothing the heat that they had just sated.

Barbara realized she’d been so caught up in observing them she’d forgotten where she was. She ducked down once more and silently scurried over to one of the curtained exam beds. A maelstrom of thoughts and feelings swirled around her mind as she quietly climbed onto one of the beds, waiting for the sounds of their departure.

She felt slightly guilty for spying on them, but she couldn’t quite regret it. If anyone asked her, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to explain it, but somehow she felt she understood something now she’d only been able to guess at before. Though the nerves about her wedding night were still there a bit, she felt a calm about it that she certainly hadn’t felt before.

The soft snick of the door was her signal to hop off the bed and hurry over to snatch up her scarf. She peeped out the door, noting with relief the green MG already making its way down the street. What she’d seen between the couple was playing over and over in her head, and as Barbara gathered her bicycle and set off, she sent up a small prayer that nobody at Nonnatus would see her face and guess at the thoughts it held.

[lovetheturners]

"I know I care too much about what other people think." I like Shelagh in this a lot. She could be me when she said this quote. I loved your Shelagh dialogue, I could hear Laura reciting it in my head. She is the voice of reason. I also love the pants, because I joked about that with my American characters.

I hope Tim can forgive Patrick. Between you and @tangledupinmist poor Patrick has done a lot to be sorry for this week. I finding that I'm intertwining emotions a bit. Looking forward to what happens next.

The dust has settled from the argument, Patrick is working toward making amends, and it’s time for Debbie to meet a second member of the Turner family…

As always, my love and thanks go out to @my-little-yellowbird and @thatginchygal for their help and support!