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They actually arrived back at the farm a while ago, in the middle of the night, with no fanfare. Since then, Katara has been soaking in the winter sunshine, running around blissfully, practicing her bending and hugging her friends and brother, and basically just having a wonderful time. Today she's sitting at the edge of the pond, feeding Spots and grinning enormously at everyone who comes near. Life is great! Especially when you haven't had it for ages!

Steph is still working in Smallville at the bar, and has been catching up on missed shifts for the past couple of days; this is the first afternoon she's had off since they got back, and she's down at the training area making good use of her workout time. At the moment, just bending and stretching and general maintaining-of-absurd-Battish-flexibility. Any suggestions that she is avoiding Babs, using physical activity to avoid thinking, will be ... avoided via physical activity.

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Katara blinks, confused, and then her eyes widen and her face falls.

"...I can't see her," she says, desperately upset. "Oh Marie, I'm sorry!"

Bridgette clears her throat, wishing her palms hadn't started sweating. Looking somewhere to Katara's left, she says, "Um. I'll. Uh. ...I'll talk to her. Later. So she gets it."

Katara sits down on the ground and holds out her arms to slightly-to-the-left-of-where-Bridgette's-looking.

"I'm sorry," she repeats dismally, lower lip wobbling. "I didn't think it would ... I didn't know."

"Well." A small, irritable shrug - she's irritable at the situation instead of Katara herself, though Bridgette can't express that clearly. "Not everybody gets this chance. So. Not like anyone could know, I guess."

It's just Bridgette and Marie again. Like always.

Katara could definitely have known if she ever paid attention - actual real attention, not just seeing-them-as-people-to-Save-Heroically-With-Waterbending - to anyone besides herself.

Not that she'd realise that. Katara is kind of dumb.

"I'm sorry," she says again, sadly, still hugging the air. "I'm going to miss her."

Bridgette gives a small nod. "Yeah," she mutters.

If there's a way to salvage even a bit of this situation, Bridge doesn't know it.

It takes a while for the words to form, during which Bridgette watches looks to the left, then to the right, then to a spot in front of Katara.

"I'm sorry you're crying." Bridge's own eyes are welling up with tears. Grinding her teeth, she quickly wipes them away.

"I'm not crying," Katara lies, and wipes her face sulkily. Being a Waterbender means this actually does remove the tears, but that's mostly just luck.

She doesn't know what else to say. She used up all the spirit water on herself, and it didn't even work all that well - she has gloves on today, and her jacket buttoned all the way to the top. There's nothing to offer Marie.

Sad Katara is sad. (because obviously this situation is all about her, and it's her grief to work through, and everyone should have sympathy for her.)

Bridge is angry. Katara should be happy, and now she's not, and it's because of Bridgette and Marie, even if they didn't mean to, and Katara was so nice to Bridge when she was crying, and Bridge wants her sister back, and she doesn't know what to do about any of it.

Dinah said that growing up makes things complicated. Bridgette doesn't want to grow up, if that's the case.

After a moment, Bridgette sets down her mug of cocoa, walks over to Katara, and will attempt to hug her: a stiff, loose, awkward hug.

"She's hugging you here," she whispers.

Hugs make things better. Right? That's how they work?

Katara hugs Bridgette back, tightly. "I'm sorry, Marie," she says sadly, guessing that the tiny girl is probably upset. "I can't see you any more."

This sucks. And it's a suck that Katara doesn't know how to fix. That makes it worse.

Bridgette's hug becomes a bit tighter in response.

Bridgette suddenly breaks the hug and whirls to her left. "BE QUIET!" she screams - and without further warning, will run full speed into the farmhouse, slamming the door.

Katara is left b y the side of the pool.

Somehow, Spots' squishy energetic hugs aren't quite so attractive any more.

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