Something Wrong
Katara moved from her seat at the dinner table. She placed her fork and plate into the dishwasher and made her way down the hall. Aang noticed something was wrong with Katara all day as she barely had said a word to him or their children. He heard a click and knew that Katara had gone into their bedroom.
"Bumi, can you clear up the table please?" Aang asked his son quietly
"Okay Dad" Bumi was nervous, "Is Mom going to be okay?"
Aang wasn't sure and he told his son, "I'm not sure Bumi; I have to go talk to her"
Aang gave his son a hug and rustle of his hair. He turned towards Kya and gave her a hug as well.
"Kya, can you take Tenzin down to his room and crib please?" he asked his young daughter.
Yes Daddy" the little one said with childlike joy. She promptly picked up her brother, remembering how her mom and dad showed her how to hold him and walked down the hall.
Aang stood up and sighed, he was really worried about Katara. She was usually very calm about things unless someone made her angry.
"Did I do something to make her upset or did the kids do something" Aang wondered. He'll ask the kids later if the latter was the case or if he did something, he was going to find out.
Knowing the Bumi was capable of doing the cleaning and could wash the dishes by himself, Aang walked down the hall. He was in front of their bedroom door when he heard loud sobbing coming from within.
Aang slowly opened the door and peeked his head in. he saw his wife on the bed with her palms pressed against her eyes. He could hear her sobs, now a lot fainter than before and she had her knees tucked under her chin.
"Katara?" Aang asked with his voice almost a whisper. There was no response from his wife.
Aang moved slowly into the room, afraid of what to do. He had consoled Katara many times before and she had done so to him. They had a deep understanding of each other and usually could tell what each other was thinking and feeling. He had never seen her basically ignore her family all day and it worried him a great deal.
Aang sat on the bed and went to put a hand around Katara when a small voice spoke up.
"Please don't" it was Katara; her voice was hoarse from crying.
"What's wrong sweetie?" Aang asked with obvious worry in his voice.
"Please leave Aang" Katara's words shocked him; she never told him to leave the room even after an argument or a fight.
Aang wasn't going to be deterred and he mistakenly kept pushing on; "Honey, you have me worried sick, you have the kids worried too, what's wrong?"
Katara finally looked up and turned her gaze towards Aang, giving him a cold stare, Aang recoiled as if he had been hit.
"I told you to leave" she said to him coldly, "If I told you what was wrong, it would lead to a fight"
"It won't lead to a fight, I promise" Aang was almost pleading with her.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Katara screamed at her husband, making him recoil with shock.
"I want to try to understand and help you, Katara you know you can come to me for absolutely anything"
"Not for this" she growled
Aang looked at her with sadness and confusion. He had hoped to figure out what was wrong….but she wasn't budging.
He was desperate and gave one last try, "Katara, whatever is hurting you or making you feel this way, I want to know to help you"
Katara had kept her cold gaze fixed on her husband the entire time and after a while of silence, spoke up, realizing that Aang wasn't going to back down. A trait she loved in him but not right now.
"There are a couple of things I never told you" she said coldly
"What haven't you told me, you basically tell me everything sweetie" Aang was puzzled.
Katara sighed and put her index and middle fingers up to the bridge of her nose.
"I never told anyone this, not Sokka, not even Toph who we all know can see when someone is lying"
Aang raised his eyebrows at the mention of Toph, since Katara and Toph grew close before her and Aang got married, even considering Toph to be an Aunt to the kids.
Katara interrupted Aang's thoughts with a question that he didn't expect, "Do you know what today is?"
"I don't know, I do know the Bumi's birthday is coming up" Aang said
Katara sighed again replying quietly, "Today is the Ten year anniversary of Jet's death"
Aang was stunned, he had completely forgotten about the anniversary as they usually held a little vigil for him every year. Aang started thinking that time had flown by as the day Jet died was etched into his brain. He was trying to save everyone and had died a hero.
"I'm so sorry Katara, I had completely forgotten" sadness was raining down in Aang's voice. Katara ignored his apology and continued.
"That wasn't the reason why I'm upset as this has been eating at me for a long time" Katara's voice softened a little bit, she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
Aang eager to know what was wrong and still processing that he forgot Jet's death; was caught off guard by her next words.
"I kissed Jet" Aang felt a sharp pain ripple through him as if he was stabbed, "back when we first met him and The Freedom Fighters, I developed a crush on him"
"I always thought that you liked Jet" Aang stammered out, "b-but I never realized you had a crush on him or even kissed him"
Aang looked away from Katara and Katara's face had softened considerably. She knew the words would hurt Aang and make him mad at her but it had been eating at her for a long time and she needed to release these feelings.
"I'm sure you're mad at me for keeping this from you and I'm not even done" Katara said with a gentle voice.
"I'm not mad" Aang sounded sad, "I'm disappointed that you kept that from me"
"I'm sorry sweetie" Katara said
"Apology accepted" Aang still sounded dejected, "What else did you have to get off your chest?"
Katara took a deep breath and exhaled slowly through her nose, a breathing exercise Aang had taught her.
"You won't like this one either Aang" Katara was trying to stay calm but could feel the wave of tears coming up.
"I'm prepared, I promise" Aang's voice was dull and toneless
There was a rather large and odd silence between the two which Katara broke by telling Aang her next feeling.
Katara could feel tears well up as she spoke, "I used to have feelings for Zuko too"
Aang's jaw dropped, he had expected another Jet confession but he was not prepared for this confession.
"w-when did you h-have f-feelings for z-zuko" Aang was finally able to stutter out.
"Right after we went towards The Southern Raiders and to find my mother's killer" Katara said with a nervous tone she was not used to, "I noticed that he kept staring at me until I asked him what he was staring at; after some time he told me that he was staring me because he thought I looked pretty"
She could see that Aang was getting a little hot under the collar at the mention of Zuko thinking she was pretty, he cut her off.
"When he said that, that's when you noticed him?" Aang had a questioning look and tone in his voice.
"Yes" Katara sighed sadly, "I thought at the time, he was good looking and those feelings carried over to when we were at Ember Island"
"That explains a lot" Aang cut Katara off again
"That was only part of the battle I had inside of me at Ember Island though" she quickly retorted
"What do you mean?" she could tell Aang was getting more and more mad at her for keeping this from him as he was open to her about everything.
"I was worried about you the most, I had romantic feelings for you but I was scared about you losing to Former Fire Lord Ozai; the romantic feelings kept getting stronger as we traveled together but so did the fear of losing you"
Aang's mouth was completely agape; he couldn't believe what he heard. It wasn't just with Zuko but of her battle within herself especially at Ember Island.
"That's why you rejected my kiss and advances toward you at the time" his voice full of sadness, "That makes sense but what happened to the feelings with Zuko?"
"I ended up talking to Zuko about my feelings when I got a chance to be alone with him before fighting Azula"
"What did he say?" Aang asked with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.
"He told me that he thought I looked pretty but he didn't have any feelings for me; we ended up having a long conversation about various topics that night, I found the more we talked, the less we had in common but we could still be great friends and I kept thinking about you which he sensed"
"What did say about me? Aang asked again
"He said that you were a great person and he could see the way we reacted around each other, he also pointed out to me that everyone else saw it but us" Katara said, "that is when it hit me and my feelings came full circle, I had fallen for my best friend and he had fallen for me"
Aang was floored to say the least. He never knew that everyone else saw the way they had acted towards each other and flirtatious or subtle they thought they had been. He figured it was from blind young love, which he was right.
Katara's voice broke Aang from his thoughts, "What do you think sweetie?"
"Hmm?" Aang said shaking his head.
"What do you think about everything I said, sweetie?" Katara said again, "I know it might be a lot to process but
Aang cut her off for a third time but there were no sharp words only the sound of soft lips smacking together in an embroidered passionate kiss that caught Katara off guard. Aang released the kiss slowly, leaving each other's taste on both of their lips.
"How was that for an answer?" Aang said with a small chuckle.
It was Katara's turn to stammer over her words in a series of, "You're not…..But you were...why did you…"
"I'm not mad at all, I'm a little disappointed but I trust you with everything in my being and I know you trust me the same" Aang had a huge grin on his face which wasn't going to go away anytime soon, "How you do feel sweetie?"
Katara gave a huge smile and answered, "I feel a lot better now especially knowing you aren't mad"
Aang wrapped his wife in a tight embrace, his arms around her waist and his head near her neck, doling out small wet kisses on the nape of her neck.
"I'm glad we can talk about anything" Aang said between kisses, "Please don't hesitant to ever talk to me about deep feelings or any feelings for that matter, I'm always all ears for my family"
Katara blushed and gave a crooked grin, mimicking her husband. Aang caught the mimic and started lightly brushing his fingertips up and down her sides, tickling her and making her laugh loudly.
"I Love You Katara" Aang had on his crooked grin which couldn't help but come upon his face.
"I Love You more Aang" Katara snorted out in between fits of giggles and laughs.
Katara suddenly threw her arms around Aang to stop his tickling, "Let's go check on the kids, I know I worried them and I feel bad"
"It's okay, the kids will understand"
The couple was a little older and wiser but that doesn't mean they aren't children at heart. They sat up from the bed and Aang had his arms around his wife, his Katara and she thought the same thing, her Aang. They walked out the door, holding each other, ready to tell their children what happened.