Author's Note: I of course don't own anything. This is just a short little one shot. I hope you enjoy. Reviews = Love. I want to do more Avatar Fics when I get the chance!
Also, I edited it to fix typos and add some content. :)
The journey ahead of them was going to be a long and challenging one, but there was no denying that the most difficult task was over now. The moment of truth had come and passed and good had once again proved itself. The nervousness and determination that had fueled their journey had now come and gone, burning as brightly and quickly as Sozin's Comet, now a mere memory. In some ways, Katara was beginning to realize that the way of life which she recently had fought so hard to bring back – that peace – could sometimes be more difficult than war. War gives you purpose. War outlines right and wrong and sets a wall of flames between the two. It gives you passion and fight and pumps adrenalin through your veins. Peace is difficult; it is not resilient like war, whose flames can burn even when the reason for its beginning is forgotten. And peace does not heal the wounds left by war the way war wipes out peace without a second thought. Peace requires a different kind of courage and a new set of skills to master.
The days after Sozin's Comet indeed came with new and gentler challenges, challenges fit for an air bender, for Aang, for the Avatar. They were the kind of challenges which had once came so naturally to Katara as well. But although they did not mar her face, the scars the Fire Nation had left were as apparent as Zuko's. It had been troubling Katara for sometime now. These were the things that kept Katara up at night and they were the things that kept her up tonight. On nights like this, Katara found solace in the water, swimming and bending and simply being in her element. Katara would sneak out after bedtime and run off to the pond near by, striping down to her swim clothes and jumping right in. Tonight was no different.
The cool water engulfed Katara's toes as she broke the surface tension, and then her ankles and her calves. It swallowed up her thighs and stomach and then her chest, her neck, washing over her face and soaking into her hair. This was what gave Katara peace: submersion and solitude. She lingered underwater for as long as she could bare to go without air. And then, both gracefully and forcefully, she shot up out of the water, propelling herself by bending the water beneath her her. When she reached the surface, she discovered that she was not alone tonight.
"Aang?" She said, gasping for air.
"Katara," Aang said softly.
"Aang," she said again, feeling a little dumb but unable to say much else. Her breaths were still fast and irregular. The two stared at each other for a long while, before Katara spoke again, catching her breath, "What are you doing out here so late?" she asked.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Katara just chuckled.
"May I join you?" Aang asked after another moment passed. Katara simply nodded and the Avatar wasted no time striping down to his underwear and jumping right in. The two began swimming and smiling, bending waves of water at each other occasionally. After what felt like a good amount of time, Aang prepared to speak again, "You come out here a lot at night."
"Have you been spying on me, Aang?" Katara asked playfully splashing some water at him. Aang's face turned a faint pink as he struggled for the words to defend himself.
At a loss, Aang said, "y-yea. You're really fun to watch." Aang immediately regretted saying that. That sounded creepy, but Katara didn't seem put off. He was beginning to hope she'd change the subject.
"Aang, can I ask you something?" Katara said, lowering her tone.
"Of course, anything. Anytime."
"Well, it's just that ever since you defeated Fire Lord Ozai it's been. . . well I expected everything to be better and..."
"It's not better?"
"Well, of course it's better. The world has peace now and hope. We can live our lives in pursuit of happiness and love. The world can move on now and it's all because of you-"
"I couldn't have done it without your help though. You saved the world too Katara and you saved me..." Aang looked at Katara seriously, his eyes full of love and appreciation. Katara couldn't help smiling whenever Aang looked at her. There was just something about him and how kind and genuine he was.
"I just … I hated the Fire Nation for so long. Everyone expects me to work with you to bring peace but I can't even find peace within myself. I want to forgive the people of the Fire Nation. I know that many of them were victims of the war too. Zuko taught me that. But I just can't. It's not coming easily at all."
"Forgiveness is hard," Aang said, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Fire is just so dark and it destroys everything. I feel like I'm trying to forget what fire did to my mother, but I don't want to! I loved her with all my heart and soul and she died protecting me. I owe it to her to-"
"You owe it to her to live a long and happy life. Her sacrifice was a gift. And you've already paid her back a thousand times, Katara."
"You just don't understand, Aang."
"I don't understand?" Aang asked, feeling slighted.
"Please don't get mad but you really don't know what it's like."
"Yes, I do," Aang said sternly.
"No, when I faced Yon Rha three years ago... I felt so angry and so weak. I keep telling me it was strength that allowed me to let him go but I can't help but feel that it's weakness."
"Are you forgetting who I am? My entire people died to protect me. And when I had the chance to avenge them, I choose peace. I chose forgiveness. Am I weak Katara?" Aang's eyes were faintly glowing as he stared at her. In the time since the war, Aang had matured a great deal and he had become more powerful too. He truly was a fully realized Avatar now, not just an airbender. And although Katara knew that his "anger" was never anything but a desire for what was right and that he would never hurt her, it was intimidating.
"I-..." Katara studied the young Avatar's eyes before looking down in shame, "You're the strongest person I know Aang. I just-"
"You know, we have a lot in common. And you're not alone. Fire is a great and terrible thing and I struggled with it too. It must be respected. I too tired to cut fire out of my life, remember? After I burned you. I hated myself so much."
"You didn't mean to do that. It's not like what the Fire Nation did. That was deliberate."
"I . . . love you so much Katara. My love for you was the only thing I couldn't give up."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that when it came time to detach myself from worldly things and enter the avatar state, you were the only thing I couldn't give up," Katara looked at him guiltily, "Don't give me that look! Iroh was right. I didn't feel like it at the time, but it was wise to choose love and happiness over power. Those are the two sides of fire: passion and love verses control and power. You're forgetting the love. But you forgave Zuko and you can forgive his nation too. I know you can, because you are strongest person I know."
"But how can I forgive something I'll never understand? Something that has never been part of me? You have a rare privilege, Avatar Aang. You're the only person in the world who has all four elements inside of them. I am not in touch with fire like you."
"That's not true," Aang began, "the four elements are what make up nature. They are in each of us, not just the avatar," Aang pointed at Katara's chest, indicating her heart, " . . . . do you know why the Avatar is human and not a spirit, Katara?"
Katara just stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
"Because the Avatar must experience humanity to understand how fragile and valuable it is. You don't have to be a bender to connect the the elements of humanity and of nature. You only need to be human, Katara you are kind and compassionate but when you get angry, quite frankly, it's scary." Katara smirked at this at splashed him. It was nice to see that she could still intimidate him a little too, "Hey! It's true. And you have the ability to make me feel so alive, so warm inside. It's like nothing that an airbender experiences from the his element alone. In fact, those kind of emotions are what we are taught to control in order to master air. But you bring out another side of me. When I'm with you, I'm can be totally reckless but I'm also the most alive. You make me feel like a firebender, Katara."
There was a few moments of silence between them as Katara digested what Aang was telling. She couldn't help but smile at the way Aang could see the good in everything. He could probably find the good in evil itself. The thought made her chuckle.
"You know, sometimes I forget that you're a firebender. And a powerful one at that," Katara said, blushing as Aang moved in closer, placing his hands around her waist.
"I am a firebender, Katara," the words rolled off his tongue and into her ears. They were close enough to kiss.
"I've just been having a hard time healing, after so much time fighting," she said tentatively.
"I know," Aang said, brushing the hair out of her face, "it's hard for me too. I've felt ashamed for turning my back on the world for so long. You find it hard to forgive the Fire Nation, but I find it hard to forgive myself."
"But you've done so much to make the world a better place..."
"And so have you. And so has Zuko. And the Fire Nation . . . its average citizen is overjoyed to be free from Ozai's rule. They are working hard to build the new world with us. Most of them anyway. But there is bad in every nation. Remember the way the Northern Water Tribe treated women. Or the Dai lee? Or ..."
"Jet?" Katara said.
"Yes, or Jet," Aang said annoyed, pulling Katara in closer to him, "peace is achieved by listening and appreciating every individual as the person they are and the karma that they are currently creating, not just their past or the color of their flag..."
"I know that and that's why I feel guilty for not forgiving so easily," Katara said softly
"Don't feel bad. You have a big heart and they broke it. I could never forget the Southern Raiders or the Fire Lords who chose to continue an era of war. I forgive them for me, not them. You should never feel guilty, you're amazing."
Katara blushed deeply, "you not so bad yourself." Aang smiled from ear to ear. Even though he was an adult now, he still maintained his goofy mannerisms.
"But if you're going to be with me, you'll have to be with all of me. Even the firebender in me," Aang said, his breath falling onto Katara's cheeks as his eyes pierced her soul. Aang wasn't normally this forward. There was a moment of silence between them which felt like an eternity. Aang's facial expression was serious and calm but his heart was racing. He wasn't used to being so forceful in his words or his movements. But what he said was true: when it came to Katara, there was a side of him that came out that was unlike the rest of him. He was waiting for Katara to tell him how much she wanted to be with him.
"What was Sozin's Comet like?" Katara asked quietly, breaking the silence.
"You mean fighting Fire Lord Ozai?" Aang said, a little disappointed at this choice of topic.
"No, I mean the comet itself. What did it feel like, as a firebender?"
Aang took a moment to remember back. It had been quite a few years and the memory took some retrieving to be fully appreciated. Aang smiled as he relieved the sensations of bending fire during the comet.
"It was like . . ." Katara's eyes met his in anticipation, "It was like a thousand full moons." Katara stared at him without expression, lingering for a few moments. Then, a strange sense of peace filled her stomach.
"That sounds really dangerous, that kind of power."
"But doesn't it also sound -"
"Amazing?" Katara said, smiling.
"Yea."
"It does," Katara said breathlessly. And then, taking this as his moment, Aang leaned in and kissed Katara passionately, pulling her in as close as he could be. When they broke apart Aang studied Katara seriously for a few moments, before leaning in for a lighter peck on the lips. He puts his hands back to her waist and began running his finger along her ribs, tickling her side as he pulled her closer in whenever she tried to get away from the tickling. Katara fought back giggling as she tried to get out from his grasp.
"No fair!" She yelled.
"Yea it's not," Aang said, leaving Katara a little confused, "it's not fair that I get to be with such an amazing woman."
The two of them continued to play in the water, switching between serious conversation and passionate kissing to lighthearted play and innocent kisses and hugs. This was the nature of their relationship: innocent and yet mature, deep and yet carefree. It was the perfect balance of air, water, earth, and yes, fire too.