Hey guys! This is my first ever FanFic so bear with me if you don't love the beginning. Please review! I'll take all the praise and criticism I can get.
Disclaimer: I don't own AtLa (rats!)
Together At Last
Aang gazed deeply into those dark ocean blue eyes, while Katara pierced through his stormy gray ones. Katara leaned ever so slowly in towards Aang and his mind went into overdrive remembering the kisses they had shared throughout their perilous adventures.
Aang handed Katara the woven necklace that he had worked so diligently on, praying that Katara wouldn't be offended by the replacement. To Aang's delight, the Waterbender accepted the gift graciously, placing it on her neck. She looked so stunning with it on. And as thanks, she kissed him softly, but only on the cheeks. He blushed a deep shape red at the feeling of those cool lips against his burning skin.
And then in the Cave of Lovers, where he had made such a fool of himself. Why did he have to act like such an idiot around Katara? He had the perfect reason to kiss in that labyrinth; they were running out of light and had no other alternative, no other hope of escape. All he had to do is keep his mouth shut and let Katara do all the talking, but of course he had to ruin that moment, too. What could have been the most romantic kiss ever, turned into the softest peck on the lips ever, he wasn't even sure if they even touched. Ugh! Why did things have to be so complicated with her?
Their eyes connected and Aang leaned quickly in to meet Katara's lips, she was caught completely off guard, so Aang pulled away seeing the confusion written on her face and in her eyes. He had been wishing much more considering he may not come back alive. Suddenly, he turned around and glided off the Fire Nation Capital to face Fire Lord Ozai on the Day of Black Sun.
Once again, Aang went for Katara's lips, he just couldn't stand anymore. Everything in that ridiculous play actually had a piece of truth of it. Katara never seemed to like him as anything more than a brother, and after their time in the catacombs, she didn't act the same way… maybe she did have feeling for Zuko. But this was it, once and for all; Aang would force her to face her feeling by quickly kissing her. Of course this wasn't the best idea and this time Katara pulled back, and at a lost for words, she turned and headed back to the play.
And then their lips touched.
At first it was tentative, but then it just felt so perfect. Aang pushed harder, feeling the wave of coolness flow from her lips, like a light ocean breeze. Katara smiled at the heat pulsated from the Avatar's soft lips; it was like the sun beating on her face. The heat and coolness of the other complemented and completed them. Aang had been waiting for this moment for quite time, and now that it had finally come, it almost seemed surreal. Was it his imagination or did Katara lean in for the hot, passionate kissed that ensued. This was exactly what the Avatar had been waiting for! Sure saving the world from Ozai was great and all, but he did for one person and one person only, Katara, who was his entire world, he just couldn't imagine one without her. And that is how he was able to fend off and eventually defeat the Fire Lord. Every time the Airbender felt like giving in the fiery inferno, Katara's frightened face would flash before his eyes, and his strength would renew itself. And in this steamy, tongue-wrestling, kiss Aang could see his fantasy of future unfold: long, happy days with Katara beside him the whole time, their children running in the yard, playing with air and water, and growing old with her… forever and always. After a few minutes of their sealed lips, they stopped to gasp for air, and in this moment Katara said reluctantly, "We'd better get inside before they get too suspicious."
Aang nodded and replied with, "I supposed you're right." But before they reentered their Ba Sing Se home, Aang softly grabbed Katara's wrist and spun her around until they were face-to-face. "What are we going to tell Sokka?" Aang asked, while his brain simulated all the different possibilities of her brother's reaction to their blossoming relationship.
Katara saw the fear flash quickly across his face and she said, "We don't have to do it right now, we could always wait for a day when he's in a good mood. Which might be a while." They both grinned at Sokka's tendency to harm himself, but Aang shook his head, stating somewhat reluctantly, "I don't want us to be a secret, I have to tell him right now." Katara smiled in agreement, she wouldn't be able to keep her affections for the young Avatar a secret for very long anyways.
They both walked back in and Aang strode right over to Sokka and said softly, "Uhh… Sokka, could I talk to you for a sec, alone?"
Sokka gave Aang an annoyed glanced and looked back and forth from the Airbender to his painting that was supposed to "capture the moment." Sokka grumbled, "This had better be important Airhead, you're distracting me from some very significant artwork here" pointing as his hideous drawings of Gaang.
Aang replied with "Oh yeah… This is pretty important" trying to stifle laughing at that horrifying painting. The two of them walked towards Sokka's room while Aang looked back at Katara who gave him reassuring smile. He knew this had to done, and right now was as good as any.
As the boys walked away, Zuko and Iroh headed outside to talk about his new role as the Fire Lord, leaving the girls alone in the living room. Suki turned to Katara and gave her a toothy grin, which Katara looked at with a questioning face. Suki said in a soft tone, "So… how did it feel?" Katara blushed a deep shade of red and, with a slim smile, said in a girly voice "Oh! You saw all that?" Now Toph laughed and said "Trust me, Sugarqueen, you don't need eyes to know what just happened! Your two heartbeats were enough to make the earth shake!" Now all of them, including Mai, laughed at Toph's comment and after a little bit, Mai repeated Suki's question: "So how did it feel?" Katara's mind warped back a few moments ago while their lips were locked, she didn't know how to explain the overflow of emotions going through her at the time. She was relieved, happy, estactic even, but more than that she was…complete. She decided on one word to describe the feeling of finally kissing the Airbends soft lips, "It felt…right." All the girls looked at each other and smiled, that's exactly how it should be. Suki continued with the questions, "So what's your future going to be like with the Avatar as your boyfriend?" Suki, Toph, and Mai smiled at the Waterbender's glowing face and racing heart as she thought of the good times she and Aang would have together. And right then, before she could respond, Aang called her name from Sokka's room.
She looked at the girls while they gave her the same reassuring smile that she had given to Aang a few minutes ago. As she walked towards Sokka's room, she continued dreaming about the adventurous and romantic future that she would share with Aang.
When she opened the door, she immediately knew things weren't going well: Aang was on the floor with Sokka across from him. The Airbender was holding his knees with his face buried in them, staring at the floorboards. She looked towards Sokka for some explanation, he responded with sigh and calmly told her to take a seat. She complied and waiting to hear the bad news that Aang had apparently already received. She wondered if for some reason Sokka didn't want them to be together, but it didn't matter, she was a grown girl now, a Master Waterbender, Sokka no longer had a say in her love life, she could make her own decisions.
Sokka saw the look of determination in Katara's face and decided to quickly to tell her what he told to Aang before she could say anything.
"First of all, I want you know that I am happy for the both of you, I know it wasn't easy, especially for Aang, but you two eventually did find each other." Wait, what? Katara thought, this is going pretty well, why does Aang look so hopeless?
Sokka continued, "But you both have to realize that those eight months of running around has to come to end. Aang did a fantastic job with mastering the elements and all, but now he has to take on the responsibility of a true Avatar, he has to keep peace throughout all the nations. That'll be a lot of stress by itself and I don't think adding a relationship into that mess is the best idea." Before Katara could interrupt, Sokka kept talking, "And just look at all that mess we've already gotten into. It may not just be Zuko, or Azula, or Combustion Man that comes after Aang now, there could be many more. I know, I know, you guys that just because Ozai was defeated that the world is magically a better, peaceful place, but it's not. Believe it or not, some people enjoyed the 100 years of fighting, their profiting from the arms dealing and government corruption, were talking about people with lots of power that the Avatar just took away from them. They're not going to be pleased when the Avatar waltzes through their town. Think about how Long Feng treated us when we wanted to the Earth King. No, they're going to be looking for revenge and, being the overprotective brother that I am, I don't think Katara should be put in harm's way. Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sokka said, waving off Katara before she could protest, "I know you're Master Waterbender Katara, but I mean it's two of you against potentially a small army of really pissed off people. I just don't want you to get hurt is all, and Aang feels the same way." With his spiel over with, Sokka waited for one of them to start arguing, but it didn't come as quickly as he had expected. He knew Aang would see the logic in all of these, mainly because it is true. The danger they'd faced had been avoided most through flying on Appa and quite a lot of dumb-luck.
This was worse than any other scenario he'd thought up. Aang hoped Sokka would do something stupid, like trying to fight him, or trying to prevent Katara and him from being together. Both of those would have been easier to deal with than the logic that Sokka had just presented. Aang stared at the floor, silently wishing that Sokka had never brought Katara's safety into the mix. But he knew the Watertribe Warrior was right, it was selfish of him not to think of Katara's safety during his Avatar duties. If anything did happen to her during his travels across the nations, he would never forgive himself. A life without Katara would be bad enough, but being responsible for Katara's death would be unbearable. He would never be able to face anyone again; he could imagine the grief in Sokka's face when he learned that his baby sister was no longer alive. Aang could never, never, let that happen, even if that meant they couldn't be together. Aang would much rather let Katara go and let her live her own life than risk being together.
Katara glanced over at Aang who seemed to have already made up mind. But Katara couldn't do it; she wouldn't allow her brother to get in the way of her and Aang's beautiful future together. So she decided to speak up, "Sokka you have no right to decide what is safe and what isn't. The fact of the matter is I am a Master Waterbender and I am fully capable of watching over myself! I know being with the Avatar may be difficult, but I love Aang way too much to let that be problem. I would gladly risk my life, my life, to be with Aang." She turned to left hoping that Aang would agree with her.
The Airbender was relieved to hear these words come out of Katara's mouth, but he still knew that if he lost her, that would be the end of happiness in his world, and he couldn't let that happen. Aang raised his head and wiped the single tear off his cheek and looked at Katara, "No. You can't come with me. If-if anything happened to you…" he trailed off as his mind tried to imagine a life without Katara.
The Waterbender looked him straight in his stormy gray eyes "I have as much of a say in this as you do! And I want to be with you no matter what!"
Aang smiled at the passion and bravery that Katara had, one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with this girl, and calmly replied with, "It's great to know you feel that way, but still, being the Avatar will be hard work, and I don't want to have to be constantly worrying about you."
"I am a Master Waterbender, Aang! And I'm as good as you, if not better! You won't have to worry about me at all! Plus, I'm one of the best healers in the world!" Katara shot back.
Aang's lips formed a thin smile again, and he said softly, "No" and with that, walked out of the room.
Katara couldn't believe what had just happened, had Aang rejected her? Didn't he feel the same way about her that she did about him? That kiss was supposed to be the gateway into our great life as a couple, but now it's-it's just gone! How could this happen?
Sokka saw the rage building up in his sister and quickly ran out the door before she decided to get violent with him… after all she was a Master Waterbender, and Sokka did not want to be there when Katara unleashes her wrath.
Please take a few seconds to review and tell me what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong! Thanks, hope you liked it.
