It was an unseasonably hot day in the Earth Kingdom. The ground crackled, and steam rose from anemic streams. Plants wilted under the oppressive heat, and even wild fox-cats seemed to drag themselves forward, unable to find adequate shade. Even the gang traveling with the avatar could not avoid the sun's murderous rays. Sokka and Aang completely stripped down to their pants, while Toph and Katara had to settle for just their under-wrappings. Despite all their efforts, there was no escaping this heat.
One would think training would be put to the side due to how uncomfortable and irritated everyone was, but Toph did not believe in quitters. The blind bender hauled Aang from his less-than shady resting place and squirrelled him away for earthbending practice. Aang grumbled as he was dragged away, leaving Sokka and Katara to fight for the maximum amount of shade.
Katara won out, due to her handy water pouch, leaving Sokka to pout under the blazing sun. The waterbender did not notice her brother, however, because at that moment, she was fixated on the gleaming muscles of a certain avatar. For having such a lean body, his muscles were well defined, glistening with sweat. His power lithe body was further accentuated by the blue arrows curving around his form. In the dark recesses of her mind, Katara wondered exactly how far down the arrow stretching down his back went.
For an unknown amount of months, random thoughts kept popping up in Katara's head. There was no warning to when they would occur. They could be having dinner, and Aang would lean over her lap to talk to Sokka. Suddenly, Katara would be flooded with thoughts – thoughts she should not be having about her best friend. One day, when Aang bent over to sort out his pack, Katara had to excuse herself to clear her head. Katara was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with her.
Here the thoughts started up again. It wasn't like Katara hadn't seen Aang topless. Despite being a monk, he was not modest about his body. Somehow, though, this was different. Watching his muscles stretch and strain under the force of the earth, his chest and back slick with sweat, did something to the waterbender. It was almost like she was under some sort of trance, and the trigger was Aang.
Katara was so enthralled in the delicate dance Aang was engaging in, Katara almost did not hear her brother call her name.
"Katara!" Sokka spoke in a loud decibel that could almost be considered shouting.
"What?"
Sokka raised his hand to wipe some sweat away, "Are you okay?"
Katara cocked her head in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You've been staring into space for ten minutes now," Sokka shrugged. "Wanted to make sure we weren't losing you."
If Katara's face wasn't already flushed from the heat, it would be bright crimson now in embarrassment. She could not even go ten minutes without Aang crossing her mind. It was a problem that she needed to rectify, especially before Aang became aware. It would be the worst thing in the world if Aang found out.
Katara could not quite pinpoint when her obsession turned more lecherous. Perhaps it started at the North Pole. Seeing Aang's raw power in full force was a sight to behold. Yet it couldn't have been then – Katara definitely noticed her problem earlier. Maybe her obsession started with the kiss they shared in the Cave of Two Lovers. Even today, Katara would find herself blushing in memory of their embrace. That date still did not seem quite right. To Katara, it almost felt like she had been eyeing Aang for forever.
Speaking of Aang, the young boy ran back to the siblings, and without even asking, stole Katara's water pouch, chugging all of the contents inside. Katara could not help but to eye a bead of sweat, dripping down his neck to his toned chest, and finally into the waist of his pants. His pale skin was flushed from the sun, and the heat covered his entire chest. The avatar finally broke Katara's lingering gaze by starting to sway back and forth. Aang muttered something about being tired, before landing face-first in the dirt. Snores immediately began to emit from the boy, and Katara and Sokka continued to stare at Aang in shock.
"Jeez, Toph, what did you do to the boy?" Sokka called out to the earthbender who was returning to the group at a more sedate pace.
"Twinkle-toes needs to toughen up. All that waterbending made him soft," Toph called back, her sightless gaze settling on Katara on her last comment.
Katara fumed, "Just because waterbending isn't about brute strength—"
Toph waved her off, "Yeah, yeah. Sacred art. Blah blah blah." Toph turned to Sokka, and unseated him with a bit of earthbending. "Go find us some firewood."
"Firewood?" Sokka whined. "But it is one-hundred degrees out!"
Toph only had to reply by holding a giant boulder over the boomerang-slinger's head.
"Firewood, you said?" Sokka stammered. "I'll get the most firewood you've ever seen…er, I mean not see, but—"
"Sokka, just go," Katara interrupted, before Sokka dug himself into an even bigger hole.
Toph flumped on the ground near Katara, with Aang still snoring between the girls. Toph began to pick dirt out of her toes, and Katara thought she was safe from the seeming omniscient Toph. For a blind girl, she always knew what someone was up to. With the earthbender occupied, Katara allowed her eyes slide to the sleeping boy.
His back rose and fell in time of his breaths, and its movements were almost hypnotic to Katara. Every time she saw his arrows close-up, she would marvel at the careful craftsmanship. Katara once asked Aang if getting the tattoos hurt, and he replied that he was in a trance the entire time. Only a master airbender could remain in a meditative state so long, and thus, only masters could get the tattoos. It was the same tattoos, that were placed on the boy's skin over a century ago, that currently enthralled the waterbender.
Thin, light blue arrows twisted their ways around Aang's biceps, ending at his hands. Katara's fingers itched to trace those very arrows. It was like those tattoos were teasing Katara. The young girl saw these tattoos on a daily basis, yet she was not allowed to sit before Aang, exploring each and every inch of his tattoos, as she so wanted to. Aang and Katara were allowed to hug, and explore strictly platonic physical touches, but all that did was make Katara burn more. She wanted to know if the tattoos had a different texture than the rest of his skin. Katara wanted to touch them and to taste them. She was overwhelmed by a need so shameful, that she doubted she would ever open up about it.
"I know what you're thinking," Toph interrupted Katara's musings with a smirk.
"What are you talking about?" Katara played a cool head.
"You want to touch him. You always have," Toph shrugged. "He won't mind, I promise."
Katara quickly rose to her feet, almost dislodging the sleeping boy. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Toph. I don't want to touch Aang! Not at all. In fact, I don't ever want to touch him again." With that, Katara fled the scene to help her brother look for firewood.
Toph shook her head at the stupidity Katara displayed. The earthbender was able to sense both Katara's and Aang's heartbeats, and she knew they both longed for more than their platonic status. Katara might be smart, but she sure is dumb when it comes to the matters of the heart. Toph just hoped her friends would figure everything out before it came to head.
From that day forth, Katara avoided all physical contact with Aang. If the avatar went to give her a friendly pat on the shoulder, Katara would duck away, citing some chore that had to be done at that very instance. At first, Aang brushed it off, but then he started to notice that Katara was still touching everyone – Aang was the only one to not be granted that right.
It did not make any sense. Katara was always a physical sort of person. The best part of Aang's day was when she would reach out for a hug. Aang could not help but to delight in the tingles her skin touching his always yielded, and now, he craved for the sensation. It had been exactly a week – seven days – since the waterbender reciprocated any sort of touch. Aang was starting to get frustrated. At first, he thought Katara was mad at him, but she still acted the same. She just wouldn't touch him.
Aang was crawling out of his skin, wanting his friend to just place her hand into his. Aang knew the root of his cravings rested in the fact that the avatar was in love with the waterbender, but even if Aang could not have Katara in the way he wanted to, he at least still wanted her touch. It was for that reason that this situation was more aggravating. If Aang had hair, he guaranteed he would be pulling it out of his scalp in vexation.
Aang was nothing if resourceful, however. If Katara was not going to touch Aang willingly, he would force the situation. He had to go about this carefully, lest Katara catch on to his machinations. This had to be done delicately, with a smart head. Aang was the avatar, if he couldn't get Katara to touch him, then no one could.
His plan started out simply enough. Every day, the two of them would practice their waterbending at whatever water source they found on their travels. Typically, Aang was quite proficient at his waterbending forms, but today, Aang was intentionally sabotaging himself.
"Katara," Aang said, 'giving up' on his stance. "I cannot get this waterbending form, can you help me?"
Aang waited gleefully, knowing that at any moment, Katara would wrap her arms around him to adjust his form. He was quickly disappointed.
"Copy my movement, Aang," Katara said, quickly positioning herself into the proper stance.
That wasn't supposed to happen! In the past, whenever they practiced waterbending, Katara would not hesitate to come up and correct his form. Her hands would maneuver his body into what it was supposed to look like, leaving him feeling warm and fuzzy. Today, this brush off almost felt like an insult.
Aang was never one to back down, however. Once again, hey twisted his body intentionally into the wrong form, "Like this, Katara?"
Katara stared at Aang for a moment, and the avatar truly thought she was going to finally touch him again. However, Aang was quickly disappointed when Katara said, "You seem a bit tired. Why don't we stop for today and start again tomorrow."
As Katara walked away, Aang remained standing in the pool, mouth gaping open in disbelief. How could this not work? The plan was perfect, and Aang had everything in place. What did he do to offend Katara so much? What disgusted her about Aang so much, that she couldn't even bring herself to touch him? Did he smell? Did he hurt her feelings? The longer this went on, the more confused the avatar became.
"Try keeping your shirt off."
Aang yelped in fright, and spun around to see Toph planted firmly on the ground, and at least a foot away from the water's ledge.
"What?" Aang gasped, his heart still beating frantically.
"Keep your shirt off," Toph repeated herself, rolling her sightless eyes.
Aang scratched at his bald head, bemused. "Why?"
"I'm your teacher, aren't I?" Toph began calling out, reminiscent of a drill sergeant. "You have to listen to what I say, and I say keep your shirt off!"
"Okay, okay," Aang tried to placate the volatile earthbender, his hands in the air.
"Good," Toph nodded, before walking away. Aang was even more confused than before. Had all the girls gone crazy?
Aang conceded to Toph's advice, however, and rarely ever wore his shirt around camp. Aang felt like it didn't make much of a difference to his bending, he just felt more breeze. The effect of Aang's shirtlessness, however, had hit Katara hard. She was ready to claw her eyes out just to get a bit of a reprieve. It was almost a compulsion to follow the arrows that fell like waterfalls, and Katara wasn't sure if she was crazy or not, but with each passing day, Aang's chest and arms looked more and more defined. A shirtless Aang definitely tested her resolve, but Katara was not a quitter. She would continue to hold herself back. Katara had a good reason for avoiding any physical contact with Aang, she just couldn't remember it at the moment.
"Hey Katara," Toph spoke, seeming to pop up everywhere these days.
"What's up, Toph?" Katara asked, eager for a distraction.
"You should try wearing your hair down."
"Why?" Katara blinked owlishly at the resident earthbender.
Toph gave an exaggerated wink, a bit strange to behold when Toph was looking a bit left of you. "Just try it."
Katara was still baffled about just occurred, unknotted her hair anyway. It is better to do what Toph says than to get on the earthbender's bad side. Katara was still a tad concerned for Toph; what had gotten into her lately?
Katara did not give her hair a second though, but Aang sure was burning more than a few brain cells on this new development. Aang had always considered Katara to be the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, with her hair down, however, she could lure any man to her with a whistle, degrading every man to the status of a leopard-dog. The waterbender could literally ask anything of Aang, and he would deliver. He would give up airbending itself, just to see her smile.
Aang was growing twitchier day by day. Almost two weeks had passed since Aang last felt a brush of Katara's smooth skin. Suddenly, Aang felt like an idiot. They had been walking everywhere lately, neglecting Appa's ability to fly. As Aang was the only airbender, he had to assist everyone onto Appa's saddle. It was perfect. If they flew off today, Katara would have no choice but to accept Aang's helping hand.
"Alright guys," Aang clapped his hands together. "Today, we'll be flying off!"
"Where to?" Sokka asked, mouth full of seal jerky.
"There's an old Earth village that I used to visit when I was a kid," Aang fibbed. The gang always crossed across random villages, surely today would be the same.
Everyone agreed, and after a quick job of packing, it was time to hop onto Appa. Aang was bouncing on his tip-toes in anticipation. The moment was finally here. Aang would once more get to feel his hand entwined with Katara's. Aang could swear that he had almost forgot the sensation of holding the waterbender's hand.
"Katara, if you grab—"
"That's okay," Katara said hurriedly. "Sokka can hoist me up."
Somewhere in Aang's consciousness, he registered Sokka's cry of, "What?", but that was not important. What was important was that Katara snubbed him once again. Airbending himself to sit upon Appa's head, Aang refused to speak to anyone. What had changed between Katara and him? They were best friends, yes, but he also felt as if they were moving to something more. Was it just him? Did he do something to ruin their relationship?
While Aang was sulking, Katara was doing her fair share of pouting. To be honest, she missed Aang. She missed the nights of just goofing off around the campfire. She missed when their waterbender training turned to splash fight. Most of all, she missed being able to reach out and hug Aang, for no reason what-so-ever. Katara could finally admit to herself that what she really missed was Aang. However, to preserve their friendship, she must keep her hands to herself. Katara could not even fully figure out why she has such a strong reaction towards Aang, but she had a feeling that if she let it out, their friendship would never be the same again.
Toph was grinding her teeth beside Katara, angry at the stupidity both of her friends were showing. Even Toph, who had no form of vision on the back of the air bison, could tell the two of them were sulking. Checking to assure Sokka was out like a light, Toph turned to where she thought Katara was sitting.
"You need to stop this."
"Stop what?" Katara played coy.
"You know what," Toph jabbed a finger in Katara's direction. "If you continue this, both of you will be hurt."
Katara remained silent, no reply was to be found. Aang had been acting weird the last couple of weeks. Was it possible that Aang caught on to Katara's plan? Was she really hurting her best friend. Before her thoughts got any farther, she squashed them down. In the end, Katara would hurt Aang more if she was allowed free-reign. No, this was better for the both of them. She just had to remain strong.
As Katara was giving herself her own twisted version of a pep talk, she did not notice Toph slowly scooting across the saddle. Having no idea which direction she was going, Toph only hoped that when she reached the edge, she would be within Aang's hearing. As much as she loved her friends, a blind girl careening through the air, with no dirt beneath her feet, was a terrifying sensation, one she was not willing to do again if she missed Aang.
The spirits must have been on Toph's side, because Aang's hand came down on her head, preventing her from going any further. "Be careful, Toph," Aang grinned, "we don't need you falling over the side."
Toph's breath was shaky, and the usual independent girl allowed Aang to take her hand for further stability. "Thanks Aang," she replied, once she got her breath back.
"What's up?"
"You need to talk to Katara," Toph said firmly.
Aang was past the point of feigning any indifference. "I think Katara has made it clear that she want nothing to do with me."
Toph would have smacked him for his petulant tone, but she was too afraid to let go. "Just try, okay?"
Aang silence was filled with so much anger, that Toph swore she heard his reaction. Her friends were absolute idiots. How they remained alive this long was beyond her. If her friends refused to make amends, then Toph was going to take this matter into her own hands. Now she just had to wait for the perfect opportunity.
That opportunity came sooner than even Toph expected. Appa had landed on safe ground, and everyone began unpacking the necessary packing gear. Tension was so high at the campsite, that even the birds in the trees must have felt it. The pot was boiling over, and everyone was ready to explode.
"Aang," Katara called out, "Can you help me with dinner?"
Something inside of Aang must have snapped, because the ticking bomb inside of Aang finally detonated. "Why should I help you, Katara?" Aang yelled out in a vile voice, previously unheard from the avatar.
"I just asked you a simple question," Katara snapped. "You could have just said no."
"Could I, Katara?" Aang seethed. "It seems as if you will just ignore me unless you actually need something."
"What are you talking about?" Katara screamed. Their anger fueled each other's until their voices had escalated into incomprehensible yells.
Toph had decided enough was enough. The tiny girl sent a giant rock wave at the pair, knocking them to the ground, Katara on top of Aang. Suddenly, everything changed. There was no more yelling and no more insults. Katara's eyes were locked on Aang's, and vice versa. The two stared at each other, chests heaving from their fight just moments ago. Everything in the entire world had stopped, and they were the only ones left in the universe.
Katara's bare arms laid across the avatar's chest, and Aang could not hold back a shiver. Aang's hard chest pushed up into her own, causing Katara's heart beat to race. The two of them had melded together, becoming one. There was no telling where one began, and the other ended. This had been the sensation they were missing. This had been what they both were yearning for.
However, this bliss could not last forever. Once they realized the compromising position they were laying in, the pair sprang apart. Katara tugged on her hair nervously, and Aang scuffed his shoe on the ground. They both peeked at each other, cheeks turning red when they were caught.
Finally, Aang cleared his throat, and asked, "So, dinner?"
"Right!" Katara responded quickly.
Without another word, their hands clasped together, as they wandered off to start dinner. Toph shook her head at the pair, unable to believe how dense the two of them were. Her friends were idiots, but at the end of the day, she wouldn't trade them for the world.