Here is my contribution to Kataang Week II. After seeing a scene from a movie, of which this fic is based upon, it reminded me of today's prompt. Secondly, thank you to all who have read "Just Another Morning". It was a treat to work on that, and an even bigger treat to see your reviews. Thirdly, this fic is set just before the beginning of "Sokka's Master". And last but not least... just read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". It is owned by Mike & Bryan, Nickelodeon, and Viacom. Nor do I own the quote from the movie "Spider-Man", or the film itself. It is owned by Sam Raimi, Columbia, Sony, and Stan Lee.
After their brief encounter with the people of the Jang Hui village, the Gaang decided to rest for a little bit to figure out what to do next.
Sokka took this as an opportunity to further map out the plan for the invasion on the eclipse, seeing that the time for that was conflicted with that whole Painted Lady fiasco.
Toph used this time to practice some Earthbending, and to learn some new techniques to teach Aang.
Katara was looking at the sky, seeing that it would be dark soon, and noticed that it would be a meteor shower tonight, due to the alignment of the stars. She had been thinking about what she had just experienced, from the townspeople, to meeting the actual Painted Lady herself.
She didn't know what to expect next.
She was soon brought out of her subsequent daydreaming by the sound of an all too familiar voice.
"Katara?"
She didn't have to snap her head back, think twice, or hesitate. She knew it was Aang.
"What are you thinking about?", he asked.
"Oh, I don't know", she responded. "Just stuff, I guess."
"What stuff?"
"Well, it's just that... everything that's happened so far, it just seems so surreal. You get what I'm saying?"
Aang didn't hear her. He was too busy being entranced with her beauty as she was talking. He didn't mean it to be rude, but he couldn't help it since it was such a distraction, in a good way.
"Aang?"
He was soon brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Katara's voice.
"Did you hear me?"
Trying to think of a way to say anything that went with her question, he came up with something.
"Uh, yeah, I did." He finished this statement by flashing his big, toothy grin, a sight Katara always loved seeing.
She then continued to think out loud her thought process.
"I was also thinking about that letter your received from that guru guy."
"Really?", he said, sounding surprised.
"Yeah, I just wanted to know how things went."
"Well, um..."
He didn't know what to say. The last time he was asked about it, he quickly shrugged it off, saying that he mastered the Avatar State, knowing full well that it was a big lie. He then decided to try this again, only using different words.
"It went fine, pretty great", he stated. That's all he would say. He didn't want to explain to her what he to go through emotionally, primarily involving her.
"Did he ask anything about me?", she asked.
Aang was stunned by this. He didn't have anything to counter that, and he wanted to know why she would ask such a question. So he quickly decided to lie again.
"Yeah, he did."
"Well, what did you say?"
She was really persistent. To Katara, it seemed informational, but to Aang, it was really uncomfortable. He had no idea what to say next. So, it was then and there, he had to say what he was feeling at this exact moment.
"Well... I said, um, 'Guru Pathik', I said, uh..." he then decided to say what what he had felt about Katara, but without revealing his love for her.
"'the great thing about Katara is... when you look in her eyes... and she's... looking right back in yours... everything feels not quite normal, because you feel stronger, and weaker at the same time.'"
He felt a certain urge to continue, and so he did.
"'You feel excited, and at the same time, terrified. The truth is... you don't know what you feel, except you know what kind of man you want to be. It's as if you've reached the unreachable, and you weren't ready for it.'"
After a long silence, Katara said something.
"You said that?", looking perplexed, with a small smile on her face, and a tint blush on her cheeks.
"Oh, well, uh, something like that." Aang responded, looking away from her. But inside, he meant every single word. Katara was his strength, but also his weakness, and he didn't want anyone, especially her, to know.
Before he could say anything else, he felt someone's hand holding his.
He then turned his head to see that it was Katara, doing this with a loving smile on her face. Aang then smiled along with her.
It was as if time stood still, with those two just looking at each other, not knowing what to say, but thinking the same, exact precise thing.
The pair was soon interuppted by the sound of footsteps. Quickly, they let go of each others hands, and saw that it was none other than Sokka.
"We're gonna be stopping in the Shu Jing village tonight", he said.
"Is that okay?"
The mumurs of "yeah", "uh-huh", and "sure", were being said by Aang and Katara, rather quickly, trying to forget the sensation of the other person's hand in theirs.
Thankfully, Sokka didn't notice, and was soon off on his way to tell Toph the same thing he had just these two.
"Well, see at you at camp, I guess", Aang said.
He was about to walk away, when Katara said something.
"Aang, wait."
"Yes, Katara?"
"There's gonna be a meteor shower in a few minutes. Could you maybe, watch it with me?"
There two things noticeable with this statement. The sound of nervousness in Katara's voice, and the slight reddening that appeared in her face.
"Sure", he responded.
"But let me get Sokka and Toph first, they might be interested by this."
He then went to go look for the two, leaving Katara, standing in her spot, to think over what he had said to her just a little while ago.
Only one thing came to her mind.
"He really likes my eyes."
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