Whispering Wind

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA

A/N: I was feeling angsty, or maybe I should say "aangsty" bah, anyway, I hope you angst fanatics enjoy this lol oh and just so you know, I'm not really all that used to writing angst so it might not be that sad lol.

The war was over. Ozai had been defeated, stripped of his power and left to rot in a cell. Ozai's insane daughter had it off a little worse, being under constant guard on the Boiling Rock. All seemed well, there were celebrations, there were rejoicing, rebuilding, and mourning... peace had finally settled the warring lands... but... fate, it seemed, had a way of twisting things... it seemed sacrifices almost always had to be made for the price of a better world.

At those times, Katara felt something strange about the wind, like it was changing. Where she once reveled in it, loving how it felt against her skin, reminding her of her dear friend... now it was coarse, bitter... it bit her skin and she could not understand why... when had it changed? Was it an omen?

How could she have known?

"Aang? Are you alright? You look a little pale." Katara asked, looking over at her beloved friend. She wondered if they were more than that now, after she had basically shown him how she felt that day two months ago at the tea shop.

"Hm?" He asked, blinking back to reality and turning to look at her. "I'm fine... just spacing out I guess." He said with a shrug and a smile. Normally Katara would have let it go, figuring he would tell her if something was really wrong... however, she noticed with alarm that the smile did not reach his eyes like it always would, without fail.

"Are you sure?" She asked tentatively. Katara blushed when Aang smiled at her again and leaned over, kissing her cheek quickly before going to stand up. His own face flushed when he did that rather impulsively, not that she was complaining, it was rather cute and she liked this new bolder side of him – the perks of growing up perhaps.

"I told you, I'm fi-" Katara was glad for her quick reflexes, courtesy of almost a year of constant training. "I'm fine, really, just... dizzy..." Aang insisted, waving off her hesitance. Katara new that he was entering a stage in his life where he was more moody, craved more dependency, and didn't like to be treated like a child... so she let him be.

Oh how she wished she had been more insistent...

No one had noticed the wound on his back, the trickle of blood... no one took into account that the dizziness he kept brushing off as just stress from the aftermath of the battle, was actually something far worse... in the end, not even Katara's healing powers were enough to save him, to stop his rapidly declining health... he was so young, once so full of life... and now just a memory.

Katara stood in her and her brother's hut, back home in the south pole. Sokka would stay with her when their grandmother could not, he would try to comfort his sister as best he could, but even he knew it was not enough. Sokka had gone out fishing and has asked Katara to go with him, to help clear her mind and find a bit of distraction... he even said she could splash water on him, like old times... but... it was too much, the memory of her first encounter with the boy she grew to love too fresh in her mind.

Katara stared at the fire within the hut, watching the flames flicker and bend with the soft wind that gently ruffled the doorflap. She could feel the wind blow against her face, the bitter coldness biting her skin, but she did not close the door... she welcomed it, closing her eyes and fighting the tears that threatened to spill. She was so tired of crying... so tired... but even when she thought she could cry no more, the tears returned. Would the pain ever leave? Wasn't losing her mother enough?

"Please..." Katara whispered in the wind. "Just stop..." she didn't want to forget him of course, but it was to unbearable now. Then the winds changed again, ever so slightly, she was unaware of it at first until the harshness of the biting cold suddenly turned warm and the air around her brushed softly against her skin, as though someone were there with her, caressing her cheek. "Aang..." Katara breathed, releasing a shuttering sob she tried to hold in, forcing herself to stop. Katara sank onto her cot and bent her head down until it was nearly touching her chest. "Please just make the pain go away..." she whimpered. "I lost him again..."

The wind gentle caress increased, the warmth in the air soothing her the way she remembered Aang's smile would soothe her. "Katara..." she heard the wind whisper. Fresh tears glided down her cheeks, she opened her eyes but she was alone... what was she expecting anyway? That he would just magically reappear? That everything would be okay? "I love you..." She remembered those words... the words he said before he fell asleep for the last time... the words that still haunted her today.

"I love you too, Aang..." Katara admitted quietly, regretting not having told him before.

"Katara..." the wind called again. Katara shut her eyes tight and shuttered.

"Please... please just stop..."

"I love you..."

End A/N: Sorry it was so short, I didn't know what else to write without it being redundant... I know I promised some of you a more fluffy story but I was in the mood for something sad lol now I need to go find something sugary D: my sappy heart can take only so much sadness... I hope you liked this ficclet anyway, please let me know what you thought!