Title: Day 3: "Of Necklaces and Confusion" (K+ one shot)
Author: A6
Rating: K+
Word count: 1324
Summary/Notes: It's not long after the Ember Island fight between Aang and Katara, and Katara can't sleep but doesn't want to talk to Aang. So she goes off by herself and thinks about the future, when things are the right time. To keep her strength and focus, she relies upon a small gift given to her by Aang – the fishing line necklace. And we find out the necklace means a lot more to her than just the simple gift that it was in the beginning.
Acknowledgement:For Day 3 I had nothing in my head to write. Absolutely nothing. Then along comes my Kataang Forever Forum friend team-megan (awkwarsauce on Deviant Art) with a beautiful art piece of Katara on the Summer Palace dock, with a very sad face, pondering her necklace. It's posted on that Forum. And the story came. Thank you, my dear sister for inspiring me yet again in this fic and pic collaboration. *hugs*. I would like to give you the link for that but I don't know how to do that on FFnet.
This is my third in a series of stories created for the Kataang Forever Forum Kataang Week 2012 celebration in July. The Day 3 theme was "Spark and Confusion" that focused on love's growth and pitfalls along the way in Season 3 of ATLA.
Upon their return to the Summer Palace after departing the Ember Island Players drama, each member of the Gaang went about their own business somberly. No one was in the mood to talk to each other. Aang and Katara were particularly cold to one another. Suki and Toph were very attuned to the couple's feelings, and feared the worst. There had been a fight. Toph knew it more than anyone. She could feel the bad vibrations between them.
Katara laid down on her bed for awhile, but tossed and turned. She got up, and left the room where the girls were staying.
Toph felt her rise, "Katara?"
"I need a walk Toph. And no, I don't want to talk about it."
"Far be it from me to ask about you and your feelings about Aang," scolded an annoyed Toph.
Toph's words stung and irritated Katara even more that it was that obvious what her troubles were about.
She walked the distance down to the dock, and let her feet touch her element. It made her feel better. The moon was high in the late night sky. Katara looked up.
"Yue, we really have made a mess of things, haven't we?"
She shook her head, realizing that there would be no answer from her friend who had become a spirit.
Then she cast her eyes against the water and sounded very dejected as she muttered to herself, "Really great excuse tonight Katara: 'I'm confused'. It was one thing for him to not listen to me and kiss me anyway..." The tingle of his sweet kiss still lingered on her lips but she tried not to acknowledge it. "...But I could have not made it any worse. A simple, 'We need to wait 'til it's all over' would have at least given him some hope for our future."
She sat on the dock and sobbed, but after awhile she was cried out. She evaporated her own tears, and looked into the shimmering water, realizing there was no answer there either.
Her heart ached as she pleaded, "Oh Aang, If only things were simpler now, just like they were then."
She took a small object from a hidden pocket in her tunic, and held it delicately. It was Aang's fishing line necklace he made for her so long ago.
As soon as she got her mother's necklace back, she almost tossed his small gift aside. But she didn't, and it never left her side since. It was always there even when he wasn't. His gift was so unselfish, so innocent, so pure, and so beautiful. He really was quite the artist. He only had the thought of making her happy when her mother's cherished keepsake was ripped away from her.
It was so simple and elegant as she flipped it over in her hands, knowing the line of every thread, and her fingers traced the intricate patterns. She should be tracing every line of his young face right now, but shivered with regret.
It was his symbol of friendship with her then, and a symbol of his love now. Yes, his love showed all the time, but she couldn't admit it.
In the darkest of days, the necklace became a symbol of hope. Without this simple gift, she would have never kept her sanity. She recalled how many times she had clutched it in her hand during the healing time, when days and days would go by with almost no change in him, or the times he would slip closer to the brink.
In those terrible times, the necklace had been almost like a set of Air Nomad monk's prayer beads to her.
Clutching the necklace tightly to her breast, she daydreamed again what would it be like being betrothed and married to this 'powerful bender'. He'd dote on her, always with simple and heartfelt gifts. They'd see the world – on their own pace - and safe from harm this time.
Being married to Aang would be like a constant ride on a unagi, with something wild always happening, with him solving the world's problems - with her right by his side. Sure the world would demand a lot, but they'd always have each other.
But in between those demands, they'd do the simple things, like experiment with lots of different veggie meals, most of which she'd happily make for him. She'd let him do the fruit tarts. No one did better than him.
Being together would make anything hard in the world seem easy.
There'd be the closeness that came between them during their water bending practice, with a lot of swimming and splashing game distractions added like they always did. In the winter there'd snow ball fights, and penguin sledding.
And she even dared to dream about their future in a sweet love-making relationship. He was already handsome and growing taller and muscular, and she blushed what it would be like laying right next to him with her in his arms.
That would eventually mean children.
She smiled thinking about having and raising kids. She pondered all the possibilities. How many? What would they be like with his sweet face and gray eyes? She knew in her heart that he'd be a great father, and she'd be a proud mother. She smirked knowing the twelve year old kid in him would force her to have to mother him once and awhile.
She had a shiver wondering how long their relationship would last. She didn't forget about his real age. She hoped they'd be together long enough to grow old together. But any time at all would be a good time married to him.
Just like she knew every thread and pattern in that simple necklace, she really wasn't confused.
She was confronted. And so was Aang, whether he liked it or not.
They were confronted now with the pressure of the events at hand. Aang had to meet his destiny to battle the Fire Lord the next few days. The rest had to take on the might of the Fire Nation battle forces. And they all had to survive.
Literally nothing else mattered. And that was why, and only why, she had dialed down the heat of their relationship.
She really didn't want to think about the alternatives without him. She'd already been down the dark road of losing him once, just like she lost the others. She couldn't bear to think about that now.
"He has to come back to me,"she tried to assure herself silently.
Anyone other than Aang would be like having stale leftovers. It was him and only him for her. There was no confusion in that at all.
She said softly, "I know you love me Aang, I see it every day in everything you say and do for me."
She held the necklace up against the moonlight and promised, "I will wear this again, and you can put it on me yourself."
"We'll get through these final few days, Aang, and then I can finally tell you."
She knew it was too late tonight to make amends with Aang. The moment had come and gone. The time left until Sozin's Comet was too short and too distracting to drag each other's emotions through the muck yet again.
Until then, Katara vowed to be as supportive of Aang as possible. She'd keep him refreshed in the final days of training. He'd support him on his "down" days. Even in times of stress and fear, she would be there – doing all the things she always did, and always will do as his friend.
She would never let last night get in the way of their future together.
The right day will be when he comes home victorious. Then it would be time. But then she paused, and held her breath.
She resolved then and there, with closed eyes trailing a trickle of tears, a whispered final promise, "And if you don't come back, then I will join you on the other side, and tell you there."
She sighed, tucked the delicate necklace back into its special place deep within her tunic in a place where no one could ever take it from her, stood, and made her way back to her room.