Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender.
A/N: I had this idea and I figured I'd write it. Almost the same thing's probably been written before, but I don't care. It's a bit different from my other smut-fics, and Kataang lovers are warned: there is some seriously depressing stuff in here for Kataang fans.
Aang was sitting on Appa's head, directing the beast into the forest where the gang would spend the night. As he flew, he looked back at Katara, sitting in the saddle and staring off into space behind them.
When they finally found a clearing to land in, they set up camp. Then, just as Aang was getting up the courage to do what no man (or boy) should ever have to do – talk about his feelings – Katara walked off, saying that she was going to gather some fruit and firewood. While she was gone, Aang tried to put something together in his head to say, and when she came back, his thoughts were still just as muddled as before.
The quartet ate in silence, before Sokka and Toph retired for the night, leaving Aang alone with Katara by the fire. Soon, he had scooted closer to her on the log they were sharing, and was just opening his mouth to say something, when he and Katara heard a scream from Sokka's tent.
Katara and Aang jumped up, running over to the tent, Aang thinking about how close he had been. Then Sokka shot out of the tent, screaming, "SPIDER! SPIDER IN MY TENT!!!" at the top of his lungs. Katara and Aang sighed in relief and exasperation.
"Katara…" Aang started, then stopped. She turned to face him with a questioning look on her face.
"What is it Aang? You sound a little nervous," she asked.
"Well, you see, there's been something that I wanted to tell you," Aang said, before spitting out the next sentence so fast that it was a wonder Katara understood him. "IthinkIloveyouandIhopeyoulovemetoo," which translates to, "I think I love you and I hope you love me too."
Katara looked at him in confusion, before smiling slightly. "Of course I love you, Aang. You're like a brother to me. Now, let me go take care of this dreaded spider for Sokka so I can go to bed," she replied. Aang stared after her, broken-hearted.
He then went over to the fire and sat next to it with his head in his hands, and stayed there until morning, when he got on Appa without a word to a worried Katara, Sokka, and Toph. He did not talk to Katara for the next week, and after that, it was always very tight and shallow, until Katara got married and left their group, after which he would always think about her response that he was 'like a brother' to her.
