Author's Note: this is my first story is three months. i'm sorry for not updating as i have had a lot of things going on in my personal life. i do plan on updating a lot more especially during this month. October is a busy month for me. i know a lot of people have asked about Nightmare, the second part is coming up, I've been stuck on where to go with the story. as with all of my other stories, i listened to music to get into the mood. i listened to Drudkh's Forgotten Legends and Autumn Aurora. i also listened to Opeth's Pale Communion and Sorceress. advice, comments, criticism, feedback are always greatly appreciated. enjoy the story!
When the Autumn Leaves Fall
The crunch of leaves echoed throughout the forest as Katara and Aang walked slowly side by side and holding hands. They had done this since they first started dating, relishing and drinking in each scene of autumn. Katara has been worried about her husband to be lately. He hasn't been talking as much as he usually does.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" she stops them in the middle of the forest and turns to look at Aang.
"You've been quiet lately, what's on your mind?" she asks him laying a gentle hand on his broad shoulder. Aang broke from his reverie and looked at his wife to be.
"I'm sorry" he muttered, "I have been thinking about a lot of things"
"It's okay" she flashes a smile that he immediately returns.
"What's on your mind" she asks again with the same concern in her voice
Aang hesitates before speaking, "well" he says, "I have been thinking about the past, I know I said I wouldn't dwell on the past anymore but this time of year is especially hard for me"
He continues, "ever since you found me in the iceberg three years ago, our lives have been different and that first autumn when we started dating was the hardest as Airbenders love autumn." Katara listened closely as Aang never told her any of this particular story.
"For Airbenders, autumn is when we are our strongest as the winds are constantly shifting and changing with each moment, my people loved autumn and I always felt a special connection to the season, being the Avatar" he continued as a small tear ran down his cheek. Katara slides her thumb up to his eyes and wipes his tear away.
"Aang, I had no idea" she pulls him into a tight hug to which he put his head on her shoulder and silently cries.
After a few minutes, Katara pulls Aang back and wipes his tears again.
"Sweetie, there is a reason I wanted to go to the forest today" she tells him which his head perks up, "let us walk down farther into the forest"
They continue to walk eventually coming out to a clearing that was decorated with a massive red and white checkered blanket and picnic basket adorned on the side. Aang's eyes went wide and he stopped to admire the beauty. The trees had naturally been formed, giving the right amount of shade. Brush never grew leaving the land barren but breathtaking.
"This is amazing!" Aang squealed out, hugging Katara as tight as he could, "you didn't have to sweetie"
"It wanted to" she says with a flutter in her voice, "I know you have been quiet so I figured I would surprise you"
"I Love You" he blurts out, halfway cutting her off
"I love You more" she turns and gives him a deep kiss on the lips, he pours himself into the kiss. They break the kiss and walk over to the red and white checkered blanket. Aang holds Katara's hand as she sits on the blanket. He then walks and sits across from her. They grab the picnic basket and open it. Aang's jaw drops in surprise.
"Katara!" he practically shouts, "you made my favorites!, where did you learn to make fruit pies?" his voice turns to confusion
She giggles, making Aang even more confused.
"I learned from watching you silly, I know they are usually made with Airbending but I made the filling lighter and when it went to cook, the filling would rise like the traditional way" she tells with a huge grin on her face. She can see his mouth water from looking at the pies.
Aang takes a bite and instantly hums in excitement. The flavors dazzle and dance in his mouth making him jump for joy.
"Katara, you have made the best pies in existence!" he squeezes her in a tight embrace, peppering her cheeks and lips with kisses before finally planting a long kiss on her lips. Her cheeks turn a crimson hue as she grins from ear to ear.
"I made a special fruit pie that we could try together" Katara breaks his excitement.
"What kind of pie is it?" Aang exclaims like a little kid
"It's a pie that celebrates autumn, combining the flavors of autumn to create something unique" she is barely containing her excitement
"Let's try it" Aang reaches into the basket and pulls out a multi-wrapped pie.
Katara takes the pie from Aang's excited hands, nervous that he was going to drop it. She peels back the layers of wrapping on the pie until a dark orange color appears. She takes a knife and slices up the pie, handing a piece to Aang and one for herself.
Aang takes a huge bite of the pie and the look on his face tells the whole story, he loves it.
"This is delicious!" he exclaims through a mouth full of pie, a couple chunks fly out as he speaks. Aang realizes the pieces of pie flew out and graciously puts them on a napkin.
Katara hums in agreement, "The pie melts in your mouth" she says as a piece of pie flies out her mouth. They both stop and look at the piece of unchewed pie before busting out into hysterical laughter. They continue to laugh until their sides hurt, finally coming down from the hilarity of what ensued. Aang moves over to Katara and slides his arm around her waist. He puts his head on her shoulder.
After a few minutes Aang looks up as says, "Thank You, this is what I needed today"
"You're Welcome" Katara flashes a smile and rubs her nose against his as he returns the sentiment gleefully.
She stops for a second before saying, "You will always have me and our unborn children"
The words catch Aang off guard but as he turns to say something Katara cuts him off.
"Remember what the guru said about replacing love and how you replaced the love of your people with the love of me?" she tells him which he nods his head in remembrance.
"do the same thing with autumn, replace it with the love of me and the moments we share to together like the laughter we had over the flying pie pieces and many more autumn moments to come" she gazed into his eyes as she told Aang this. He reacted thoughtfully for a few moments before realizing that Katara was right.
"You're right sweetie, I need to accept this part of the past and look forward to the future, our future together" he says with confidence not heard before, "I'm going to do it tomorrow"
Aang flashes a wide grin which Katara returns. She puts her head on his shoulder and happily sighs. For the rest of the day Katara and Aang soak in the rustic setting of autumn watching the leaves fall, happily in each other's arms