Pained…
"Again!" Toph said as she tossed another rock toward Aang. He easily deflected it for the millionth time. This time Aang was annoyed from doing same thing over and over again, so he tossed a small rock as hard as he could without paying any particular attention to where it went.
When he heard a scream in pain he immediately looked toward where it came from. He saw Katara on the ground. He immediately ran over to her. Sokka who was on his way back to camp from the nearby village ran as fast as he could. He had recognized Katara's scream. When he got there he saw Aang crying over Katara. She was unconscious. "What did you do?" Sokka said. "I tossed a rock on accident and I wasn't paying attention and it hit Katara in the back head." Sokka heard this and tackled Aang. Meanwhile Toph was standing shocked in place. Sokka was on top of Aang. "How (punch) could you (punch) hurt (punch) my sister (punch)."
Aang just lay their taking it. He knew he did something wrong. He would never forgive himself. All of a sudden he fell unconscious. "Sokka stop!" Toph said as she pushed him aside. "Look at his face" Toph said. "Look what he did to my sister!" After a few minutes Aang came to. He felt even worse than before even though his physical pain had lessened. He went to Sokka's tent and said, "Thank You"
"What?" Sokka said. "It made me feel a little bit better." With that he walked away. He saw Toph and asked "Where is Katara?" "Sokka and I brought her to the doctor in the village."You should go too; it looks like your face hurts a lot." "It helps with the pain."
He walked away leaving a confused and concerned Toph. He started walking to the village. Not wanting to see Katara, but wanting to at the same time. He got there at sunset. He asked around and found out where Katara was. He walked in thanking the doctor. "She will have to stay here for a day or two. It won't take long for her to wake up, but we have to make sure her wound isn't infected." Aang nodded and the doctor left. He sat there in silence all night too afraid of nightmares to go asleep. It was dawn and he still wasn't tired. He was in too much pain for sleep. Katara stirred and she slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she felt was pain from her head. She pushed it aside and looked around. She finally saw Aang. "What happened?" "I… I hit you on accident" Aang said failing to choke back a sob. She then saw his face. "What happened to your face!" "Sokka." "Oh he is so dead."
"No, Katara I deserved it." "Aang, I am fine" "Katara, I hurt you and I will never forgive myself." He started sobbing and put his face in his hands. Katara put her hand on his shoulder and he pushed her away. "I'm sorry Katara" he whispered and with that he ran out the door. Katara sat there saddened.
He ran back to camp and sat on a log thinking. "How is Katara?" Toph asked. "She's doing fine." Sokka came out and said, "Aang… I'm sorry" "No Sokka I deserved it." "Aang I overreacted" "No you didn't Sokka. I hurt Katara and I will never be able to forgive myself." "It's ok Aang. Katara is ok." "I know it's just I feel like I did when I hurt her with fire bending." "Aang I am sure Katara has already forgiven you." "Even if she has forgiven me I will forever hold this guilt." "Go see her Aang."
Aang took off on his glider towards the village. He asked the doctor how she was doing and went in to see Katara. "Hi Aang." "Hi Katara." he said glumly. After a few minutes of silence Katara said, "Aang I was wondering." "What is it?" "Why are you acting this saddened? I know that you care about me as a friend, but this is just overreacting." At this he was silent. These next words were a long time coming. "Katara I act this way, because… because…I love you." Katara sat there dumbfounded. She had her thoughts about him, but she had no idea that he felt the same way. Aang took in her expression all the wrong way and hung his head and started to walk out of the room. "Aang." "What Katara?" She had trouble saying these words. "Aang… I…I love you too." At this Aang's eyes went wide and a humble smile fell upon his face as he turned toward her. "You do?" "Yes Aang and I have for a long time." Aang stood surprised for a few seconds and then quickly touched his lips to her's. Then she pulled him back and kissed him passionately. Both Aang and Katara knew how they both felt and how long they had felt that way.
