Katara was walking towards them while rubbing her eyes with her small hands clenched in a fist, she had clearly just gotten out of bed and wasn't fully awake yet, the entire scene was just too cute for Levi, he just wanted to go and squeeze her little cheeks, he now kind of understood why his mom treated him like she did though he will never admit it.
Walking around the table Katara first gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before going to wash her face and wake up, making the family of three smile.
"Sweaty wake your brother up after you're done, okay?." Said his mom as she started putting the food on the table.
"Okaaaay." came a voice replying from behind him, it didn't take long for Katara to wash up and wake Sokka up who also did the same, their mother finished setting food down and before long the family of five was sitting around the table and enjoying their breakfast in silence, or that's what it should have been like.
"So today I am going to go watch the warriors of the tribe train and learn from them, when I am old and strong enough I will help the tribe, and then… " said Sokka, the food in his mouth not hindering his talking ability at all, it was like this every single morning and Levi wouldn't have it any other way.
His brother will talk about getting stronger and fighting off the fire nation every day, helping the tribe and the world, ‘To some extent he would keep that promise.’ thought Levi, smiling.
He remembered how Sokka was the only man left in the tribe by the time the show started, if a 14-year-old could be called that, how he didn't hesitate at all to defend his tribe and family when Zuko and his soldiers came to look for the Avatar, and how he will go on a journey along with the Avatar later on and will literally save the world just as he's saying he would, but one thing weighed on Levi heart, he knew that in grand scheme of things his brother wouldn't amount to much, unlike his sister who had a natural talent for water bending.
Only he knew how much of his potential he'll uncover in the end, sure he improved a little at the end of the show but it wasn't much, he also remembered that Sokka wasn't alive during the events of Korra, some say he was killed by the red lotus, he wasn't sure if that was true or not but that's why he vowed that he was going to make sure that his brother will take an entirely different route, he will make sure that his brother is as capable as possible.
"Dummy Sokka, who told you that you can become strong just from watching people train." said Katara, giving him a suspicious look and making Levi spit water out of his mouth and their parents burst out laughing.
"AND WHO SAID YOU CAN'T, HUH?." retorted Sokka, fuming in anger at his little sister’s innocent remark.
'Well I certainly can.' thought Levi. Not long ago he had discovered by chance that he could actually increase water bending EXP just by watching Benders train, of course, it was not much to speak of compared to actual training but it was certainly a possibility.
Hearing Sokka answer Katara was speechless and couldn't retort, she had a look on her face that basically said “Maybe he really can get strong like that”. 'Oh my innocent little sister, If only you could stay like this.' he thought, smiling at her contemplating look knowing how unrealistic it sounded but he didn't want to burst her bubble.
Sadly for him, Katara seemed to think he was a more reliable source of information than her parents as she turned toward him asking, “Levi, is that true!? Can people really get stronger by just watching other people practicing.” he could see her eyes almost shining as she asked that question, it seemed Sokka wasn't the only one trying to get stronger, he noticed that his parents had a schadenfreude look on their faces obviously entertained by his loss of words so he decided to turn the table on them.
“Well my dear little sister I am just a kid so I don't know much, but I am sure that our parents have the answer for that.” said Levi with a mischievous smile as he saw his parent's smile disappear when Katara turned towards them, they started stuttering to come up with an answer that wouldn't hurt her little heart.
Seeing their interaction Levi couldn't help but reveal a genuine smile, this wasn't something he was used to in his previous life.
These simple family interactions around the table may seem normal or even expected for many people, but for him?, it was a very far away concept until now that is, and he appreciated every moment of it.
***
Before long they were done with breakfast and everyone got up to do their own thing, his father went out on the mission he had talked about previously with Levi and his mother started cleaning and preparing lunch, as for him and his siblings, they got out to have fun of course, what would someone expect from just kids.
The three of them ran closely together around the tribe with Levi at the front and the other two chasing behind him but not managing to catch up receiving smiles and greetings from almost everyone they passed by, As for why Levi was going along with this?
He didn't care for it previously, sure entertaining his little siblings once or twice was fine, but doing it everyday? That was absurd, that is until he discovered that it can increase his stamina and agility points and so he started doing it whenever he could, it was the perfect cover up for his little extra training.
"Hey, wait for us." shouted Sokka at Levi as he started to run as fast as he could before running out of breath and still not catching up, Katara was the Same.
Hearing him Levi had to slow down, 'I sometimes forget that not all kids are like me.' he thought with an awkward smile on his face as he reduced his speed, he had been mindful of his physical health since he was young and with the assistance of the system he was fitter than some adults. To be more precise he had 2 points in Stamina and Agility which were twice that of an average adult so yeah they had no hope of catching up to him.
They caught up to him not long after he slowed down, and after waiting for them to catch their breaths they ran even further.
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Before long they caught sight of a group of penguins which made Levi flinch, ‘Oh god please don't notice them.’ he prayed in his heart as he tried to change their course, but it seemed that his prayers fell on deaf ears as Katara immediately saw them and her eyes started shining like stars in the night sky, especially when she looked at the cute little ones.
"Oh my God, look PENGUINS!!, Levi, Sokka look it's penguins…" She started jumping up and down and screaming excitedly as she called her brother's names in excitement, thankfully the penguins were still a little distance away and couldn't hear her so they didn't get scared away by her.
'Oh dear sister, you wouldn't have that look on you face if you saw the insides of their mouth.' thought Levi, shuddering as he remembered a picture he saw in his past life on the Internet showing the insides of a penguin's mouth, but he would never dare burst her bubble. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.
"Oh no, they're moving away." said Katara sadly after watching them getting further away from them, Levi and Sokka only sighed in relief, it seemed that his younger brother also had very little interest in the small creatures.
"Brother, can we follow them? please please pleeeeeeeease.'' Katara started asking him pleadingly with her puppy eyes showing in full, their parents had always told both of them to listen to Levi when they saw how mature and responsible he was and so if they had to do anything out of the norm they always had to ask him like it was happening now.
Hearing her begging him Levi couldn't help but agree while sighing, there were few requests that he could deny his younger siblings especially when they used those puppy eyes on him. Of course they weren't doing it intentionally, it was just how he saw it. 'Or were they?.' he thought in suspicion as he glared at them.
"What!? I didn't do anything. Why are you looking at him like that?." Asked Sokka feeling wronged as he caught Levi glaring at him.
"Sigh, it's nothing, alright we can follow them but only for a while, and we won't get too far away okay?." He said not seeing anything wrong with it, they were very close to the tribe. What could go wrong?
"Yaay" shouted Katara at the top of her little lungs as they took off running after the penguins with Levi following them while making sure the penguins did not notice them.
They caught up to them before long and observed for a long time as the penguins slept and socialised with one another while hiding behind a big ice block. By the time they were done he had already lost track of time.
"Aaaahh I'm bored of this, let's go back." said Sokka complaining almost pulling at his hair, and Levi couldn't agree more, he didn't enjoy this in the first place and only did it for Katara but after a while it started feeling like torture. Sure he loved her but he can show his love in other ways. It doesn't have to involve stalking penguins right?
"You're the one that's boring dummy Sokka, how can the cute little penguins be boring?" retorted Katara pouting with her arms crossed while glaring at him seriously before turning again to watch the penguins.
"Hey, what did you say to me, you dwarf." Sokka shot back angry at being insulted by Katara.
"You're the dwarf." Katara shot back again.
Levi stood by the side for a while enjoying the little back and forth before deciding to calm them down, ‘I gotta say watching them fight is way better than watching damn penguins.’ he Levi.
"Alright alright, Sokka is right Katara. We've already been here for long enough, let's go back." said Levi hoping he didn't have to convince her too much and it seemed his luck state was finally showing.
Hearing him Katara immediately agreed, she could argue with Sokka but when it came to her older brother she was always obedient, and the same went for Sokka.
"Humph." Sokka clicked his tongue seeing her agreeing so easily like that right after the fight they had.
***
Back at the tribe, a group of guards were gathered at an igloo that was bigger than the normal ones, it was obviously an important place.
They were gathered around a table looking at a man that appeared to be 45 years of age. His name was Kato and he is a powerful water bender as well as the head of the guards of the southern water tribe, his position only below that of the chief and elders.
Kato observed everyone around the table with a serious expression before finally speaking, "So the situation is as you've heard, an adult polar bear has infiltrated the borders of the village and we still don't know where it is, the only reason we even heard about this is thanks to someone from the patrol team who had managed to escape the bear attack, the others are all confirmed to be dead, if we don't quickly do something about this things are going to turn out really bad." he stated his tone and face not changing.
"How can we do anything if we don't even know where to look for it?" someone asked and nobody retorted. Everyone was silent, they knew he was right, if they could pinpoint its location it would be a piece of cake to get rid of it, but as of now that bear was a hidden threat to them, it could appear at any time and attack their patrol teams.
"If only the tribe's chief was here he would know what to do." another person that appeared to be in his 20s said mostly lamenting then anything but it seemed he had caught Kato’s attention.
Hearing him Kato showed a frown as he replied with an angry tone. "So without the chief we are nothing but helpless little kids now, are we? We can only rely on the chief's help to do anything. What will become of us if something happens to the chief? Should we just give up and die?." said Kato one word after another berating the guy.
"I…I didn't mean it like this sir." replied the person who spoke earlier in shame lowering his head, he had clearly not expected his simple remark to agitate Kato so much.
"I know what you meant, but your thinking is wrong son." Replied Kato, his tone softening before continuing, "We should never put all our hopes and responsibilities on one person, that's how civilizations fall.” hearing his words everyone couldn't help but link them with how the three nations were relying on the avatar and waiting for him instead of fighting back, which seemed to be Kato's intention all along.
“Plus the chief is human just like us, we can't throw every minor problem we face his way." By this point Kato's frown was gone and his tone turned from an angry one to an educating one
"I understand sir." Said the 20-year-old guy who had spoken before, straightening his posture and nodding seriously.
"I am glad you do, now back to our subject, Hakoda had left this morning with a lot of our powerful warriors and water benders leaving us short staffed, the only ones left behind are just enough to guard the perimeter of the trib and nothing more, we can't risk sending them away." Said Kato not showing any expression but everyone could sense the hint of concern in his voice.
"Do you think it's the work of the fire nation? Maybe they could have led that bear here." Someone suggested.
"Unlikely" Replied Kato, "They wouldn't bother with us, in their eyes we are nothing more than an inconvenience not really a threat they would go to such lengths for"
Hearing him they couldn't help but clench their hands in anger and frustration, they felt humiliated by his words but no one said anything, they knew he was right. Compared to the Fire Nation the southern water tribe was really nothing much.
Seeing that nobody could come up with a solution Kato could only sigh and say, "Seeing that we can't do anything about it for the time being arrange a patrol of five strong men to keep watch for this bear around the tribe’s perimeter, and don't engage with it unless necessary, the previous patrol team was almost all wiped out so I don't need to emphasis how dangerous this monster is, report to me immediately when you encounter it, I will deal with it personally.” Said Kato with a dangerous tone in his last sentence.
"Yes sir."
"Yes sir."
No one had any objection and they all agreed. After all, even though Kato looked just like any other middle-aged man he was actually a really powerful water bender, a master at that, and they all believed him when he said he would deal with the bear personally, they could only pray for the bear if it fought him.