It's Kataang week 2015 y'all! Here's my entry. Each chapter title is that day's prompt.
Sleep Talking
A week earlier if someone would have told Katara that she would meet a man on the train, she would have scoffed. If they told her they would have kissed, she would of shook her head. If they'd told her that they would sleep together, she would have laughed in their face. And if they would have told her that she would be traveling back to Gaoling with him, she would have thought they were insane.
But she was there, back on a train, headed back to Gaoling, with Aang.
Aang and Katara had spent the day before seeing the sights in Ba Sing Se; he had accompanied her to the best shops in the Upper Ring so she could buy some new things for her wardrobe and gifts for her brother and father, she'd gone with him to a zoo in the lower ring where the head zoo keeper was a friend of his, and everywhere in between that they could see in the time they had. It was nearly morning when they made it back to the hotel where they helped each other pack for the next day's journey.
They boarded the train around dusk, this time sharing a sleeper from the start. Once they got settled they ate dinner, then went back to their room where they promptly fell asleep.
Katara woke up to the sound of Aang's voice. At first she thought he was awake and on his phone, but then she realized he was asleep. She propped herself op on her elbows and looked at him.
"That's not funny Gyatso. You shouldn't joke like that." he mumbled, tossing his head to the side, then he shook it "No. You can't do that. I don't know how I'm going to do this." he turned onto his side and clutched the cover closer to his chest "Gyatso…" he whined with a bit of a whimper.
Katara sat up and shook his arm gently "Aang," she said softly "Aang. Wake up."
He shot up with a sharp gasp and she jumped back a little. Aang looked around confused, fighting to catch his breath. When his eyes landed on Katara he remembered where he was "Katara," he sighed with a bit of relief "I musta' been dreaming." he rubbed his head "I'm sorry I woke you."
She noticed the tears threatening to fall from his eyes "You're crying." she reached out an wiped the moisture away with her thumb "You were calling out to your dad."
Aang's face dropped "Oh. I did?"
"Yeah. You were talking like there was something wrong." he held his head down and turned it away from her. Katara put a hand on his shoulder "There is something wrong, isn't there?" he wouldn't answer her. She realized she's only seen him make one phone call the entire time they were together, and that was to Toph. "You want to call him in the morning. It may make you feel better."
"I can't call him." Aang said sadly.
"Why not?" he didn't answer again "Did you guys have an argument?" he laid on his side and pulled the thin sheet closer to his neck, staring at the wall. "I get it. You don't want to talk to me about it." Katara laid on her back and looked at the ceiling "But if you do, I'm here."
When Katara woke up again the sun was just starting to come up and Aang was not there. She tapped on the door to the little bathroom, and when he didn't answer, she opened the door. He wasn't there either.
The water bender pulled on some shorts and a pair of flip-flops before she made her way through the train. When she found Aang he was sitting slouched in one of the armchairs in the parlor car with his head slumped to the side as he watched the landscape go by.
Katara sat across from him with her elbows on her knees "Are you okay?
"Yeah." Aang he said faintly. He glanced down at the trim around the window "Gyatso died."
She sat up in shock "I'm so sorry. When did it happen."
He sighed deeply "A little over a week ago."
"A little over a week ago," she twisted her head trying to meet his eyes "Why didn't you call the office? We could of rescheduled the meeting."
"He told me not to. He said it was too important. That if I didn't go when I was scheduled I would miss out on something important."
"The contract would have been there. We would have understood."
Aang finally looked at her, his eyes red, and smiled a little "I don't think that's what he meant. He insisted on it like he knew something one in a million was going to happen."
Katara smiled back and put a hand on his knee "Why didn't you tell me when you talked about him at dinner?"
"I didn't want to think about it. We had his service the day before I left. I figured that since I was away I could just act like he was at home waiting for me to come back with good news." he held his head down again "It worked for a little while."
Katara looked at him. Sweet, fun-loving Aang was miserable and she was at a loss about how to deal with it. There was only one thing she knew to do. She slid out of her seat, shuffled over to him on her knees and gave him a hug.