Hey guys! I'm back! This is my 2nd fanfiction, but it's just a collection of oneshots for Kataang.
I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender.
The first chapter is based on "Story of Us' by Taylor Swift. Enjoy!
~oOo~
I stared out the window of the Fire Lord's palace, gazing at the sky and the forever shifting cream-colored clouds. I was hypnotized by the way it seemed to go on forever. I was supposed to be helping set up tables with food for Zuko's birthday party, but for some reason, I just kept getting lost staring at the sky. I guess something about it-the energy, the freedom, the openness and beauty reminded me of—him.
"Katara!" Suki called. I snapped back to reality and looked around the huge hall decorated with fire nation flags, chairs, and tablecloths.
"You're supposed to be setting up the tables, not staring out the window." Suki scolded me, walking into the hall. I looked down at my feet and sighed forlornly.
"Y-yeah, I know. I just can't seem to find the energy anymore." I said tiredly, not meeting her eyes. Suki sighed and seemed to understand what was going on. She gently placed her arm on my shoulder.
"Listen, Zuko's birthday is in a few days! He'll be turning 21 and it's going to be a big coming-of-age party. We promised that we'd help him." She explained.
"I know, I know." I said.
" We have a lot to get done and you can't keep getting distracted. Just—try not to think about Aang." She said, softly. I shut my eyes as soon as I heard his name and felt tears fill up in my eyes. Suki noticed me trembling and placed both hands on my shoulders.
"Katara—"
"Well, how am I NOT supposed to think about him? He j-just left us here—left me. I can't help it if I get distracted at everything that reminds me of him!" I shouted at her. Then, I buried my face in my hands as hot tears began to spill out of my eyes. Suki gasped and pulled me into her arms. She tried to calm me down as I began sobbing.
"It's just been 10 months. He's probably off doing his avatar duties and stuff. He has to look out for the world, you know. It's not easy." She softly explained.
"H-he c-could h-have v-visited us or something! Y-you don't understand! Imagine not seeing s-Sokka for ten m-months!" I cried.
"Hey guys, how's it going? Whoa! What's going on? What's up with Katara?" Sokka asked, dumbly. I turned around to glare at him. Suki shook her head and motioned him to leave the hall.
"Ok, whatever. Do whatever you girls do." Sokka mumbled as he left. Suki turned to me.
"You know, not seeing Sokka for a while might actually do me some good." Suki said, laughing. I couldn't help but laugh along with her as I wiped the tears out of my eyes and met her gaze. Then, I slowly looked down.
"But you start to miss him after a while, won't you?" I asked sadly. Suki sighed and nodded.
"Listen, Katara. Try to get some of this work done. We need to be ready for the big party. Everyone's going to be there. Just try to focus on other things, okay?" Suki consoled, rubbing her hand on my back. I sniffed and nodded. She left the hall and I resumed setting plates and silverware on the large table. Eventually, my gaze met the sky again. I just shook my head and closed the window with the deep red curtains.
After I was done setting up the table, I walked down to the main hall where the party will be held. I began setting up decorations around the huge hall like red balloons with the black fire nation insignia on them around the whole place. When I was finished, I gazed at the room. There was food set up at side tables for the guests to eat. There was even a space reserved as a dance floor in the middle of the hall. At the back of the hall was the fire lord's magnificent throne perched on top of a huge stool-thingy and was decorated with gold and red ribbons. At the sides of the throne were two dining tables. The one on the left of the throne was reserved Zuko, Suki, Sokka, Toph, Me, Mai, Ty Lee, the Kyoshi Warriors, some of the freedom fighters including Smellerbee, Longshot, the Duke, and Pipsqueak. These were all of the Fire Lord's closest friends. There was one particular chair at that table, however, that was reserved for someone who I was sure would not show up.
"If you haven't shown up in 10 months, what makes me think that you'll show up now?" I muttered under my breath. I turned to the right side of the throne. This dining table was reserved for the white lotus, some water tribe men including my father, and the Earth King, King Kuei.
I suddenly noticed that I was exhausted and plopped myself down in a chair. Then, I heard Zuko come in. He was dressed in simple fire nation clothes with his hair down instead of his traditional fire lord robes. He looked around the room.
"So, how does it look?" I asked him.
He shrugged and smiled. "It's okay."
I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, Zuko. Isn't it amazing? You have this huge birthday party in your honor and—" Something in his hand caught my eye.
"What's that?" I motioned to the piece of paper in his hand. He looked down and his eyes grew wide.
"Oh this! This-this is just nothing! I-It's just a letter, nothing you need to worry about." Zuko said, nervously. Suki and Sokka walked through the door.
"So Zuko, what was it that you needed to tell us about?" Sokka asked. Mai and Toph came in, too. I looked around.
"Is there something you need to tell us, Zuko?" I asked him. Zuko sighed.
"I sent a letter to one of our friends asking him to attend my birthday party. I didn't think he would actually reply." Zuko scratched the back of his neck. He met my gaze. "He's coming."
"Who?" Toph asked.
"Yeah, who? I think we have everyone." Sokka said.
"I don't think there's anyone else….Ohhhhhhh….." Suki said slowly. She face-palmed herself and met my gaze. After a couple of seconds, Toph, Sokka, and Mai have realized who it was, too. Everyone was staring at me.
"Well, I'm confused. Who is it!" I asked. Zuko sighed and handed me the letter. I looked at him and then to the letter slowly.
Hi Zuko!
Thanks for inviting me to your birthday party! I would love to come! Sorry I haven't been sending letters lately. I've just been way too busy. You know how it is, protecting the world and whatnot.
I actually have some free time now. The Council of Leaders agreed that I could have some time off since the rebelling has died down.
Make sure you say hi to Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Mai for me! Don't forget Katara. I hope she's doing okay.
So anyway, I'd love to come to your birthday party. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon, Sifu Hotman.
-Aang
I couldn't stop staring at the letter, even when I was done reading. A huge swirl of emotions were rushing inside me—excitement, anger, sorrow, happiness, frustration, and love. I shut my eyes and reopened them again. I slowly handed the letter back to Zuko. He carefully took the letter from my hand, still looking at me. I took a deep breath, stood up, and quietly left the room, with everyone's eyes on me. I went to my room that I was staying in inside the Palace. I slowly walked inside and as soon as I shut the door, I broke into enormous sobs. I buried my head in my pillow as I heard footsteps coming near my room. I heard a knock on the door.
"Katara?" Suki asked.
"Go away." I sobbed, but Suki allowed herself to come in. I could hear her footsteps toward me and the sound of her sitting on my bed. It was a long time before she spoke.
"If I was you, I'd be really excited." Suki chuckled. I glanced at her and slowly sat up on the bed.
"After 10 months, he decided to finally come just for Zuko's party." I stated.
"Oh no, he came for all of us, Katara. He mentioned how he had some leisure time and he's visiting us." Suki attempted. I didn't say anything. After a long time, she spoke up again.
"What will you say to him when you meet him?" She questioned me curiously. I shook my head.
"No. I'm not meeting him." I declared. She laughed.
"Oh please, Katara. How can you not meet him? He'll be at the party, you'll be at the party, it's impossible not to see him." Suki explained.
"I'll avoid him." I replied. She laughed harder.
"You can't avoid the avatar. He'll just probably sense where you are, and make you talk to him." Suki said. She paused as she looked at me.
"Why don't you want to meet him?" She asked.
"He LEFT ME FOR 10 MONTHS. Do you really expect me to be happy that he caused me that much pain after he returns? No!" I cried.
"But Katara, he didn't see you for just as long. Don't you think it was just as painful not seeing you, or any of us, and having to look after the world every day?" Suki asked more softly.
"Then he shouldn't have left!" I said, plopping down on the pillow.
"Katara, you're being unreasonable!" Suki exclaimed.
"No I'm not!"
"Okay, now you're just being a baby." Suki said.
"Shut up." I said. Suki just laughed and got up, making her way to the door. Before leaving, she glanced at me one more time.
"You know you're in love with him—you're just too afraid to admit it." She said, before closing the door, and leaving me pulling out my hair.
It was the day of the party. Great.
I woke up feeling like I had been sat on by a badger mole. Suki made me quickly get dressed in my fire nation outfit, did my hair and pushed me out in the main hall to greet the guests.
I had to greet random people who I didn't know, mostly leaders of small earth villages which were previously controlled by the Fire Nation. After greeting my father, the Kyoshi Warriors, and the Freedom Fighters, I decided I wouldn't stick around until I saw Aang. I explored the hall, meeting new people and tried some of the Fire Nation food. The spicy fire noodles nearly burned my tongue off.
After an hour, the ceremony began, and Aang wasn't there yet. I was relieved, but a small part of my heart was sad. I thought about what Suki had said, but I just shook my head and made my way over to the reserved dining table for us. Everyone joined me later.
"Yum! I can't wait until THE FOOD COMES!" Sokka said with his watering mouth. I just rolled my eyes as he sat down two seats down from mine. Suki came and sat next to me and Mai sat across. Everyone came until all the seats were taken—well, almost all. Aang's seat still remained untouched. Thank the spirits that I sat nowhere near him. Soon, the waitresses came out with the food and served us hot steaming bowls of traditional fire nation rice. Sokka began digging in immediately. The horns sounded, signaling the beginning of the ceremony.
"Maybe Aang's not coming", I thought, a little sad. This made me more depressed and left me with no interest with my food.
After the horns stopped, everyone turned their attention to the main door.
"CONGRATULATIONS TO HIS MAJESTY, FIRE LORD ZUKO, FOR HIS COMING-OF-AGE 21ST BIRTHDAY! MAY WE WELCOME HIM WITH GREAT HONOR!" The guard shouted from beside the door. The horns began playing again as Zuko entered with his long red, black, and gold fire nation robes. Every one stood and stared as he made his way slowly up to his throne. He turned around, motioned everyone to have a seat and then sat down.
"Well, that's over. I guess we can eat!" Sokka said.
"But what about-" Suki began, but her voice was drowned out by the loud horns once again. I rolled my eyes.
"What is it this time?"
"AND NOW, A SPECIAL GUEST AND A CLOSE FRIEND OF FIRE LORD ZUKO HAS GRACIOUSLY COME TO ATTEND. PLEASE HONOR AVATAR AANG!" The horns sounded as people stood up and craned their necks to see.
"Oh no!" I whispered.
"Are you okay?" Suki asked. I just shook my head.
"It'll be fine. Just don't worry!" Suki comforted me. I just shut my eyes and hoped for the best when the horns stopped. After a few seconds, the guests began mumbling curiously. I opened my eyes carefully and looked around the room and to the main door. No one came.
"Where's the avatar?" One lady whispered.
"I don't know, maybe he's late." Another man suggested.
"Or what if he didn't come at all?" An old man pointed out. The suspicious mumbling of the guests grew louder until everyone turned their attention to the guard.
"I could've sworn he was here." He muttered to another guard. He turned to face the guests.
"UM…THERE SEEMS TO BE A PROBLEM. THE AVATAR WILL ARRIVE MOMENTARILY!" He declared. Zuko stood up, just as confused as we were.
"Until then, let us begin the celebration. Thank you all for attending." He said as the music began playing and the guests began bustling about.
"Hmm…I guess Twinkletoes is late. Oh well." Toph said.
"LET'S EAT!" Sokka resumed devouring his food. Suki just patted my back and began her meal.
I couldn't describe the pain that had settled in my heart. Despite saying that I wanted to avoid him, I wished I could see Aang one more time. I really thought he was coming to see me. I didn't know what I wanted anymore. I didn't want him to come, but since he really didn't come, I wished he had came…and if he really had come, I wouldn't have wanted him to come in the first place. These overwhelming feelings filled me with such anxiety, anger, and sadness that I wasn't interested in the party-or anything-anymore.
I slowly got up unnoticed and headed towards the nearest exit, leading to the garden.
When I was outside, I inhaled a deep, shaky breath. I had gotten a painful headache and for no reason, I felt like crying right there. I was rubbing my temples and trying to calm myself down until I heard a loud grunt. I looked up.
"Appa!" I ran towards the giant bison and hugged-or tried to hug the furry creature.
"I haven't seen you in such a long time! I missed you so much!" I told him. I had forgotten how much I missed the bison when Aang took him along on his journey. Then, Appa gave me a huge, slimy, wet lick.
"Ewwww, Appa!" I complained as I tried to waterbend all the saliva off me. When I was done, I came to a shocking realization.
"Wait….if you're here then…." I gasped, hearing a soft chuckle from behind me. I slowly turned to see a tall, handsome man of about 17 years of age wearing air nomad robes and a goofy but charming smile. Did I mention he had tattoos, too?
"Guess you and Appa got reacquainted." He chuckled, walking towards me with a bucket of water in his hand. He set it near Appa so the bison could lap it up with his giant tongue. He turned to face me and waited.
I could've sworn that I was as red as a tomato, gawking at the avatar that stood before me. My legs were weak and I was desperate to run back into the palace. He noticed this and raised his eyebrow in a teasing manner. I finally had the nerve to speak up.
"Aren't you supposed to be inside the palace?" I asked him. He met my gaze with his silver eyes.
"Hmm…I don't know. Aren't you supposed to be inside, too?" He asked and laughed when he saw the look on my face.
"I was told to stay outside and walk in to a grand entrance in my honor until I remembered that I had to give Appa something to drink. He gets tired on these long journeys." He said, rubbing the bison's head before looking at me again.
"And I also don't like such a big commotion in my honor, so I kind of decided to ditch them. You know how I can be, Katara." He said, laughing. Hearing him say my name made my already pounding heart beat faster.
"Well, I'm glad to see you and Appa are doing well. I should really just get back to the party." I nervously stated, avoiding his eyes.
"Wait." He said. My legs automatically stopped.
"Why did you leave the party in the first place?" He asked me. I turned around to look at his eyes again.
"I just needed some fresh air and some space from Sokka and his…eating habits." I said, laughing nervously. The airbender studied me intently, watching my every move.
"So, I'll just go now…" I said, starting to walk away quickly. Then, I felt another hand on my arm. I simply shut my eyes as the hand turned me around. I opened my eyes to find myself face-to-face with his intense stare.
"Aang-" I started.
"I need to talk to you, Katara." He said, an inch away from my face.
"I should really get back-"
"Look, I know you're mad at me, but—"
"But what?" I asked, sternly. Hearing this, he let go of my hands and backed away a couple of inches.
"10 months without you have felt like 10 years. I've never felt so alone." I whispered sadly. Aang looked to the ground and fixed his gaze on me.
"Katara, I would like nothing more than spend every second with you, but I'm the avatar. I can't constantly see you!" He reasoned with me.
"But you can't constantly keep looking after the world! The avatar is supposed to maintain balance between the four nations, not be everyone's babysitter!" I yelled. He was taken aback by this statement and stood still. I sighed sadly as the silence between us settled in. The only thing I could hear was music and noise from behind me in the palace, Appa lapping up water, and the singing blue birds chirping in the trees. The happy mood almost seemed insulting to us.
Aang was about to say something until one of the guards ran up to us.
"Master Avatar sir! You were given directions to enter the grand hall for Fire Lord Zuko's celebration! Please come with me, everyone is waiting!" The guard told Aang. The guard began to walk away, but Aang stopped him.
"You know, I think I'll just take the back door." He said. The guard wore a confused look on his face.
"But sir, we need to properly welcome you on the Fire Lord's orders." He informed. Aang nodded.
"Yes, but on my orders, I would like to take the back door, unnoticed." Aang said, grinning.
"Uh…whatever you say…Master Avatar sir…." The guard mumbled, wearing an I-hate-my-job look while walking away. Then, Aang turned to look at me, but he hadn't noticed that I had already started walking towards the palace.
"Wait up!" He said, jogging towards me. I just made my pace quicker until I reached the back door and entered to see the rest of my friends still eating at the dining table. Aang followed close behind me.
"Hey, it's Twinkletoes and Sugarqueen!" Toph smiled. Everyone widened their eyes when they saw us.
"I guess you two made up." Suki whispered, when I made my way over to my seat.
"Not really," I whispered as I watched everyone welcoming and hugging Aang. I noticed that everyone had already finished their meals.
"Alright, enough of this. LET'S DANCE!" Sokka yelled enthusiastically while pulling a surprised Suki onto the dance floor. I laughed as I watched everyone move onto the dance floor, but I remained in my seat.
I glanced to the right and I saw Aang quietly finishing his meal at the far end of the table. There was an awkward silence between us, considering that both of us were alone at the table and all of our friends were having fun. At this moment, I felt like I was truly alone in a crowded room, and the silence between us was louder than anything I've known. I was dying to tell him all of the things that I wished he knew. Things like how much I had missed him, his laugh, his voice, his eyes, and his smile. I felt guilty about putting him through all of this.
I was just about to speak to him when a man noticed Aang sitting at our table.
"Holy Spirits! The Avatar is here!" He yelled as everyone turned their heads toward him. Aang looked up surprised.
"Uh..hehehe…Hi everybody…" Aang said, smiling and waving nervously. Then, in a split second, a mob of people rushed towards Aang so fast that I had to get out of my seat and avoid all the chaos.
"Mister Avatar!"
"Over here, Avatar Aang!"
"Oh spirits! I'm actually meeting the avatar!"
I sighed as I watched everyone begging to talk or shake hands with Aang. At that moment, I realized that it must have been a gigantic pain in the butt to be the avatar. You have to look after the world every waking moment of the day, you never have time for your friends or family, you're basically treated like some huge celebrity everywhere you go, and you have to fight to see the one person you love turn you down because she couldn't live without you for almost a year. I sighed at these thoughts running through my head and finally understood what Aang was going through. I was being too hard on him, and all he wanted to do was see me after constantly working to protect the world. It's not his fault he had to leave.
I had to talk to him, but there was no way on this planet that I could get to him with all those people surrounding the avatar. Suddenly, the music shifted to a slow love song, which apparently everyone noticed.
"Avatar! Please, dance with my daughter!"
"No! Dance with mine! She's lovely!"
"No, mine is better! She is a big fan! I think you'll like her!"
I stared on, stunned as parents pushed their daughters and a confused Aang towards the dance floor. So many girls wanted to dance with Aang that they were instructed to form a line and wait for their turn. I just laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. It was unbelievable.
I rolled my eyes as I took my seat. Oh well, the avatar is the avatar. I looked on as Aang was forced to dance with a short girl about 16 with way too much make up on. She had a short purple dress with her black, curly hair tied up in a bun and was whispering something to Aang that was making his face turn as red as a tomato. I kept looking on with my elbow resting on the table and my hand supporting my chin. When the song was over, another girl stepped up to Aang. I sighed again knowing that I was alone at a table in a party full of people and the one guy I liked was dancing with a million other girls. When I knew I had enough, I stood up, walked straight on the dance floor, passed directly behind Aang and entered through a door on the opposite side of the hall. I entered into a small hallway where the maids would walk through with platters of food heading towards the main hall. I sighed as I made my way down the corridor towards my bedroom upstairs, keeping to the left side of the hall so I would not get in the way of the maids walking in the opposite direction on the right. I just wanted to get away from all of this. I wondered if Aang would even notice that I'm gone.
I continued walking slowly down the hall as I traced the intricate firenation designs on the wall to my left with my hand. Then, I heard some maids stop and gasp in front of me as I felt a soft hand on my shoulder. They were all looking behind me, stopping in their tracks. I slowly turned around to face a handsome young man with arrows who was slightly taller than me. I felt my cheeks get warm considering how close we were.
"We still need to talk, Katara." He said, firmly with an expressionless face. I replied with the first thing that came to mind.
"I thought you were supposed to be dancing with those girls. How did you manage to get away?" I asked curiously.
"I wasn't 'supposed' to be dancing with them. They just wanted me to for their own reasons. I don't want to dance with them; I want to talk to you." He explained, looking into my eyes. I felt heat settle on my cheeks as I heard some maids behind me giggle.
"And if you really want to know, I just told them that I wanted to use the bathroom. " He chuckled.
"And between you and me," He said, leaning closer to my red face, "they're not very good dancers— I've had much more fun dancing with you, "He finished with a sweet smile that made me melt on the inside. Maids continued to giggle. I shook my head and stared at him angrily.
"Don't try to sweet talk me out of this, Aang. I'm still mad at you!" I irritably said, still aware I was blushing. He just nodded as if he expected I would say this.
"Yeah, I know, but it was worth a shot." He said, laughing. It was then that I realized how much I had missed his laugh and his smile. I remembered what I thought about earlier and how it must have been difficult being the avatar. I knew I had already forgiven him, but I just wanted to wait to hear what he had to say first. I looked at him with an irritable look on my face as he finished laughing. He noticed this look and sighed. Then, he took both my hands in his, sending electrical shocks through my body.
"Katara, I've missed you so much it hurts. I hated sitting through all those meetings, listening and talking about how to make everyone happy, knowing that you weren't. Well, I wasn't either. There was not a day that went by that I didn't think about you and wished I'd be here with you. Now that I'm finally here, it pains me to see you so sad and angry with me. You were right. I am giving the world too much attention. I am supposed to look after it, guide it, and maintain balance, not be in charge of it. Yes, the avatar is the bridge between the spirit world and the earth, but the avatar is also a regular guy who has friends and family—and this guy wants nothing more than spend every second of his life with his forever girl." He finished, smiling as his sparkling eyes gazed into mine.
Well, I must've looked like an idiot, just standing there. I was speechless. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn't get to finish. I felt warm lips over mine and strong but gentle hands gripping my shoulders. I felt myself melt as I gently put my arms around Aang, letting all the passion and longing I had for him for ten months flow out of me.
I heard all the maids behind us gasp, giggle, and say "awwwwww", but were soon interrupted by the cook.
"What are you all staring at? Come on, get going. We have food to serve!" The big man scolded, pushing them along, as they tried to get a better view at us. I didn't care who was watching us; I was lost in my own world.
We pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes and smiled.
"I love you." I said.
"I love you too," Aang replied, as we fell into a warm embrace. Just then, we heard someone come through the doors.
"Katara—" Suki stopped when she saw us. Then, she smiled.
"So I guess you two made up, huh?" She raised an eyebrow. I giggled and nodded.
"Well, that's good! I was just coming to get you. You want to head back to the party? We're having a lot of fun!" Suki exclaimed.
"Yeah! And you and I can finally get to dance!" Aang said, looking down at me. I made a face.
"Ugh. What about all those fan girls?" I asked.
"Don't worry about them. Soon enough, they'll understand that there's only one girl I have in mind," Aang said, grinning, as he pulled me out of the doors and onto the dance floor with a slow song already playing.
"May I take your hand and join me in dancing, my lady? Aang imitated an elderly gentleman while stretching out his hand. I giggled.
"Why of course you may, sir." I said, gracefully placing my hand in his. Then, we slowly fell into an embrace as the music carried us away into our own world of bliss.
Okay. Reeaaallly long one-shot. I didn't want to make it this long, but it just kind of happened.
Anyway, please review!