Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends (and to everyone else, too, even if you don't celebrate it)! I know I'm not the first person to have this thought about The Runaway.
Exposure
After Sokka went over to speak to Toph, in hopes of repairing the rift between her and Katara, Aang felt somewhat at loose ends. He didn't know where Katara had gone off to, but he didn't think that he should eavesdrop on the hushed conversation going on at the nearby ledge. To take himself out of earshot, he scrambled down the rocks to the water below, thinking that he might practice his waterbending.
Aang began with some basic maneuvers, gradually getting bigger and flashier as he went on. Finally, he created a giant tidal wave and sent it sweeping off to his right. Suddenly, he heard a feminine cry and blinked in surprise. He readied another amount of water until he could find out who it was.
"Aang? Is that you?" Katara's voice came through the darkness. Aang dropped the water and moved down the bank. Night was falling, so he couldn't make out much, but as he drew closer, he identified a pile of clothing on the shore and saw Katara's head above the rippling waves.
"Katara! What are you doing here?"
"I was taking a bath," she retorted. "Don't come any closer!" Aang obediently stopped and noticed that her arms appeared to be crossed in front of her and her shoulders were bare, with no sign of underclothing.
"You mean…are you…naked?" Aang felt like his brain was shutting down in its attempt to fully comprehend the situation.
"Many people do bathe that way!" Katara exclaimed defensively.
"Uh, yeah," Aang agreed blankly. His mind began lurching sluggishly into motion once more. "Sorry, I didn't know you…that is…so, I should probably, um, go." He pointed vaguely back toward where he thought their campsite was.
"Well, the water's nice, but I don't really want to take up residence here." She was beginning to sound annoyed, and Aang started his retreat up the hill.
"Right. Sorry. I'll just…" With an effort, Aang shut off the stream of what was dangerously close to turning into babble, turned tail, and ran. When he got back to camp, he sat down on a hollow log, striving to take deep, even breaths. He'd just succeeded in achieving at least the appearance of normalcy when Toph and Sokka came back from their talk.
"Hey, Aang, what have you been up to?" Sokka asked.
"I didn't see anything!" Aang exclaimed guiltily, feeling himself blush belatedly over the awkward circumstance in which he had caught Katara.
"Huh? What are you—"
Fortunately for Aang, Katara approached then, still damp but fully dressed, and she and Toph immediately started talking. She didn't even look at Aang and appeared determined not to mention what had happened. Aang would have been happy to forget about it as well, if only his rebellious imagination didn't insist on filling in the things he hadn't actually seen….
It looked like it was going to be a long night.
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Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16
Author's Note: The "Many people bathe that way" line was actually from an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. For some reason, my mind has been running in rather naughty lines lately. Anyway, be sure to tell me what you think.