A/N: Hello. I'm making a collection for my little oneshots that are too short to be on their own. If any ships, it's probably Kataang or some form of the Sokka Three (SokkaxYue, SokkaxToph, SokkaxSuki). Huzzah!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Happy Reading!

Brainwashed

"Brainwashed."

The word coming from Sokka's mouth sounded more like a conviction than a statement. Katara buried her face in her hands in groaned in dismay. After everything, he'd been gone for one day and he'd been brainwashed.

The exasperation of the Earthbender wasn't restrained in the slightest; she fell back on the straw bed and sighed an annoyed sigh. "Oh great, just fantastic," she spat. "He's finally got the elements under some control, and then he goes and gets his memory erased by the Dai Li. And judging on what I've heard, it's a whole lot worse than what happened to your buddy Jet. Twinkletoes doesn't even know that he's the Avatar!"

This was true. Aang sat there on a rickety three-legged stool, looking around the room with a sort of frightened interest. His wrists were red and raw from his struggling to break the strong bonds that the Dai Li had used to hold him, but Toph had long since removed the metal shackles. Even so, he remained as still as if he were at knifepoint. They'd tried reminding him of his identity, of his past adventures, and of his task for the future. Heck, they'd even done the same method they'd tried on Jet; the method with the water. So far, no reaction. The Avatar, who had expressed the utmost shock at being referred to as such, could remember nothing besides what he had for dinner at the Air Temple 'last night'.

Then, suddenly, Katara was hit by an idea. It were as if a figment of the past had leapt forward into her sight. A crazy idea, yes, but maybe a possible one. After all, her crazy ideas had worked in the past, and this was really no different.

Katara looked up from her hands for the first time in about a minute and dropped to her knees in front of Aang.

"I know you don't remember anything," she said quietly, taking his hands in his lap. Aang looked down at her hands, then back at her, and she saw the hesitation on his face. "But I know you must remember, somewhere deep inside your heart. Please, try to remember something, anything."

His only response was a sad stare. Sighing, Katara bowed her head and closed her eyes. Time for plan B. She looked up at him from the floor – looked straight into his gray eyes – and saw that they were filled to the brim with despair and confusion.

"I thought you'd remember my name, at least, but you have no idea who I am," she said, now acutely aware that her brother and Toph were paying attention to every move she made. Her voice was low, her head bowed once again, until she looked up and raised herself on her knees. The wooden floor was painful to kneel on, but she didn't care just then. Hands shaking the slightest bit, Katara reached up and placed a hand on either side of Aang's face, pulled his head towards hers, and brought her lips crashing down on his. Behind her, Sokka let out an exclamation, tripped backwards over the bed, and collided with an unsuspecting Toph. Both shouted in alarm upon impact.

A few moments later, eyes still closed firmly shut, Katara slowly began to take her mouth away from Aang's. Before their lips had parted completely, though, she felt something that she hadn't been expecting – a salty teardrop. Next, in a voice so quiet that she herself hardly heard it, Aang muttered a single word against her lips:

"Katara."

Katara gasped and pulled away so that she could look him in the eye. His face was streaked from the tear, but a smile was on his face, and that said everything.

"Oh Aang!" she exclaimed. Without looking back to see if her brother was readying his machete, she pulled Aang into her arms, held him, and wept.

-

"Maybe Katara could kiss him. That should bring something back. "

-

Fin.