Aang awoke groggily from his dream. What was it about? He couldn't seem to remember. He swung his feet out of bed, and stood up. A cold breeze drifted through the room, and Aang was surprised to find his window open. He walked over to close it, but couldn't move it. After a few more tugs there was a cracking sound and it came loose. He sighed, and looked over at his alarm clock. The blue numbers flashed 6:08.

He made his way out of his room and into the kitchen, the tile cold on his bare feet. Aang grabbed a box of cereal that was already out on the counter, and poured some into a bowl. Then he began to slowly eat his breakfast, mind elsewhere as he thought of his beautiful new co-worker. Her name was Katara. Her brown hair and icy blue eyes were gorgeous, and he often found himself staring during the work day.

His eyes flicked over to the clock on the stove, and panicked when he saw the numbers read 8:15. How long had he been sitting there? He raced to his room, propelling himself with some air, and put on the first outfit he could find. He hopped back into the kitchen has he pulled on his socks, and jammed his feet into his shoes. He didn't bother tying them as he sprang out the door. But he didn't, exactly. He stopped, right before the door. His feet felt like they were glued to the spot. He began to panic as he realized he couldn't move. He checked his watch. 10:53! How was this happening? He tugged harder, but to no avail. Finally, he gave one last jerk of his foot and it broke loose. He fell backwards, and landed in his bed. But how was that possible? He wasn't anywhere near is bedroom?

Aang sat up, and gave a start when his alarm clock read 6:08. It was only a dream. He let out a sigh of a relief, but winced at the sound of rain pattering on the roof. He hated rain. He disliked admitting it, but he was afraid of it too. He stepped out of bed, this time putting on his slippers. The window was open again, but this time it closed with no issues. It was wet from the rain, and Aang wiped his hands on his orange and yellow pajama pants. He walked into the kitchen and made himself another breakfast. After that he got dressed and grabbed his briefcase. Time seemed to be progressing normally, so he knew this wasn't another dream.

Aang covered his head with his briefcase and ran as quickly as he could out to his car. He didn't want to get all wet from that stuff. As he drove to work, he called his friend Sokka. "Sokka, you like wouldn't believe what a weird dream I had last night! It was, like, a real day but like it wasn't because it was still a dream but like I didn't know it was. You know?" Aang spoke fast, eager to share his experience. Sokka laughed from the other end of the line. "And you're telling me this because…?" Aang paused. Sokka sounded different from usual. "We like, always share our dreams! I'm surprised you haven't told me yours," Aang responded, trying to hide his confusion at Sokka's change in behavior. "What are you, eight? Why are you calling me? Is this actually important, or a prank?" The voice was very different now, and it almost exactly resembled the voice of Zuko, His boss. Aang looked at his phone to see if he had dialed the wrong number. Sure enough, Zuko's number was at the top of his screen. But he could've sworn he dialed Sokka's number! The two numbers were anything but similar. He put the phone to his ear and was about to apologise when he heard a different voice from the other end. "Hey Twinkle Toes! I heard you had quite the dream last night," his friend Toph said. Aang was startled. How did she get on the line? How did she know about the dream?

His thoughts were interrupted as his car began to deteriorate around him. It flaked away into black void, as did all his surroundings. Soon, there was nothing left but him and his seat. He clung to the edges as the black swallowed him.

Aang awoke with a start, sweat pouring down the sides of his face. It was another dream! Sure enough, his alarm clock flashed 6:08 He breathed a sigh of relief, and went through his morning for the third time. After arriving to work with no strange happenings, he felt much calmer than before. He gazed lovingly at Katara as he walked by, then sat down to do some work. But as he reached down, he realized his briefcase wasn't there! He looked all around his desk, but there was nothing.

He retraced his steps back out to the car, and looked inside. The briefcase was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, he heard a loud thump, and his car alarm went off. He leapt back from his car, and saw his briefcase. On top of the car. It had fallen, and left a dent in the roof. He spun around as he heard another thump. There was his briefcase, fallen into the parking lot. A few more thumps followed. His briefcase was everywhere! He shook his head and realized there was no way he was awake. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Aang found himself back in bed. He sighed, getting sick of this cycle. He knew this was another dream. It had to be. He looked over at his alarm clock. 6:08.

Aang decided to skip his morning routine and head straight outside. Instead of getting into his car, he walked over to his bicycle. He mounted it and pedaled around town. The crisp morning air felt so real, but Aang knew it wasn't. He dismounted his bike when he arrived in the middle of the city. He walked around, not caring that he was in pajamas. He high fived strangers, and ate food off the shelves in grocery stores. Nobody seemed to care. And before too long, he found himself lying in his bed again. Another dream. Fantastic.

He wondered how many of these could occur before he had to wake up. Aang decided what he wanted to do for this dream. He went through his routine, and got into the car. He drove to work, taking a quick side stop to get a bouquet of roses. When he got into his building, he walked confidently to Katara's cubicle. He felt his cheeks grow red as he stood behind her, but took a deep breath and summoned all his courage.

"Katara, I.." he began. She turned around, eyeing the roses.

"What is this?" she asked with a slight smile. Aang reminded himself he was dreaming and proceeded more confidently.

"Ever since you've become my co-worker, I've wanted you to be mine. You're beautiful, kind, smart.. Like, we were just meant to be! So, like, what do you say? Dinner tonight?" He scratched the back of his neck, averting his gaze. She giggled.

"That sounds lovely." Aang sighed in relief, thrust the bouquet into her hands, and was almost sad that he was going to have to wake up from this.

"Well, I should probably get back to work," he said, pointing his thumb at his own cubicle. She nodded, and he walked slowly over to his desk.

He sat down, a love-filled haze blocking him from getting any work done. He checked his watch. This is the longest he'd gone without waking back up. He shrugged it off and relaxed for awhile longer. When lunchtime came, he began to suspect that maybe this wasn't a dream. A knot formed into his stomach. If he was right, he just asked Katara out. Like, actually. He pinched himself once. Twice. A few more times, for good measure. But he was still awake. Oh, boy.

After work, he prepared himself for his date that he didn't think was actually going to happen. He fretted over how casual he should look, what tie he should wear. In the end he decided on gray dress pants and a white button up shirt rolled up to his sleeves, as well as an orange and yellow tie.

He picked up another bouquet on his way to dinner, and then arrived at the restaurant. The waiter showed him to his reservation, and he squirmed in his seat as he waited for Katara. When she arrived, Aang did all he could to keep his jaw from dropping. She was gorgeous. A blue, satiny dress fell to her knees, and her wrists sparkled with thin white bracelets. He couldn't take his eyes off her. He shakily handed the bouquet, his eyes never leaving hers. Finally, he realized he should say something. "You look.." he searched for the right word. "You look stunning," he said. She blushed in appreciation, and replied,

"You look quite handsome yourself." He grinned, unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face. There were a few minutes of silence as they looked at the menu.

After they placed their orders, Katara looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "So what is this about, anyways? The whole, spontaneous asking me to dinner thing." Aang hesitated. Did he want to tell the truth?

"Honestly? I thought I was in a dream. Like, I kept having dreams where it was the real day but then I woke up again, and like I thought today was just another one of those dreams so I thought asking you to have dinner with me would like just be part of the dream," he said, speaking quickly. Katara giggled.

"Wow. Well, I'm glad you had those dreams. This is a lovely date." Aang felt his cheeks and ears grow warm.

"I agree. I love you, Katara." Her eyes widened at those three words, but quickly softened again.

"I love you too, Aang."

Here's the most generic sitcom romance that I could think of!

Prompts:

Like is, Like, a Comma

Dream within a Dream

Absurd Phobia

Word count: 1,701

I used my element: air.