Author's Note:
My first attempt at full GAang dialogue! Trying to keep everyone IC was mind boggling, I hope I succeeded!
This story is set some time after TSR episode and before TEIP episode. I think Katara is the glue that keeps the GAang together, and as such, she is not only a Master Waterbender and a Master Hopebender but a Master Gluebender as well. And Sokka is just a Master Trollbender.
Inspiration: I would suggest listening to Forever Young by Youth Group while reading this story. Story portrait is a screenshot.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.
And as always, reviews are appreciated!
Forever Young
"If you could wish for anything, what would it be?"
Katara rolled over onto her stomach with her chin resting on her arms. They were on their way to Zuko's childhood holiday home on Ember Island, and after a unanimous decision, the group had decided to set up camp a little earlier. Now, all six were lying in a circle in a field of tall grass and wild flowers. Appa was hidden in a nearby copse of trees, with Momo, scampering from branch to branch in a wild search for fruits, giving him company.
Aang repeated his question once more and continued. "I mean, we're all on this journey for a reason, but if there was something you could change and if you had the power to change it, what would it be?"
Katara stared at the grass below her. What a question. There were so many things she wished for: a hot bath, a clean bed, a proper meal, but those things seemed almost frivolous when compared to what was going on. Wouldn't a potential wish be better spent on something that would win them the war? She wondered idly what the others would say.
"I'd change my family. To a real family, a proper one. Not like the one I have.. had. Except for my mother and uncle, I'd gladly get rid of them all."
Katara's eyes widened. She had not expected him to go first. Her brother, definitely and maybe even Toph, but Zuko? She kept her gaze down, knowing if she looked at him, she would agree with him wholeheartedly. She had fought his crazy sister, met his kind uncle and heard of his mad father which made her even more curious about him. What was Zuko really like?
"Well, since Sparky started with the family thing, then I wish my parents understood me, that I didn't have to hide my Earthbending from them. Things would have been so much easier for me. But then maybe I wouldn't have left and come with you guys. Then Aang wouldn't have had the greatest Earthbender ever to teach him." Toph snorted. "Great, somehow I've talked myself out of my own wish. Never mind, that's what I would change."
Katara turned to look at the Earthbending girl and almost snorted herself upon seeing her lounging back, one leg propped on another, with a pinky carelessly lodged in her ear turning every now and then. She would never understand how a person could be as unconcerned and blunt as Toph, but the younger girl was definitely refreshing.
"I wish I wasn't the last Airbender.. that I wasn't alone."
The silence was palpable. Katara heard a quick exhale of breath from her left and she knew Zuko was once again feeling guilty, not only for what his mad family had done but also for setting such a somber tone for the answers to Aang's question. She had known Aang felt lonely sometimes, being the last of his kind, and guilty too, for running away, but she never gave it much thought. He was so good at hiding it all behind his cheerful smile, a smile he was currently trying to pull up but failing. It wasn't fair.
"Uh.. well, here's one we can actually try and make happen," said Sokka, and Katara looked at him just in time to catch his uncomfortable glance at the Airbender. "I wish I could end this war. Preferably right now, but I'll take what I can get." Sokka sighed. "I wish we could go home. I think we'd all like that, even if some of us have not so great home situations." The distant look in her brother's eyes caught Katara's attention and she had to strain to hear his softly spoken words. "I know we can't go back to how things were, and for some of us, how things used to be was really bad so maybe thats a good thing, but I'd just like to end things and go back. Home."
Sokka's talk of home brought a painful lump to Katara's throat. It reminded her of her mother and father and grandmother and the men and women and children of her tribe and how things used to be and how things had changed. "I wish my mother hadn't died. And that I knew where my dad was right now. If he's safe, if he's still alive." Katara met Sokka's eyes over the rest of the group and a silent understanding passed between them. Although they couldn't bring back their mother, they wouldfind out any information about their dad as soon as possible.
Suki was next to speak, her patient voice piercing through the gloom surrounding everyone's thoughts, but her words only adding more. "I'd really like to know where my girls are, if they're okay? They're like my family. More so than my real one."
The last thing Katara saw before resting her forehead on her arms was her brother reaching for the Kyoshi warrior's hand. She swallowed, but the lump was not leaving her throat.
"Couldn't one of us have wished for food or a bed or anything that's not so depressing?" asked Sokka, without his usual wryness.
Katara suppressed a snort at her brother's words and, looking at her friends, saw a sadness and loneliness in each of them; she knew, without a doubt, they could see it in her as well. She trailed her hands through the grass slowly and began to speak.
"We are each others family now. Not in the proper way, but we understand each other, and maybe even love each other in one way or another, and I guess, home is now where ever we all are, and if we're together, we'll never be alone. Well, obviously we won't be alone because we'd be tog-"
"Katara," interrupted Sokka, "You're rambling. As usual."
Katara blushed and buried her face in the grass. Stupid Sokka. Looking up a moment later, she flicked a blade off her nose and said, " Right. My point is-"
"You have a point?"
"Sokka! My point is, we may all have families that we'll probably go back to and deal with when the war is over, but for now, we have a new family. This one." She smiled. "And I quite like this one."
Katara looked around, satisfied with herself. It was the truth though. They had all come to depend on each other and survive with each other, even the unlikely members of their group. She slid her eyes to her left, where Zuko was lounging. He was on his back, staring at the clouds, his scarless side was facing her and- and what was Sokka doing? Katara lifted her head: on Zuko's other side, Sokka was sitting up, repeating her words from just before and waving his arms about in a stupid manner. He was mocking her.
Sneakily, she pulled water from her flask and drenched his head from behind and his whinging went unnoticed by her as she lay back down, still disgruntled. She should have wished for another brother. One that was less annoying.
"Another question, then?" asked Suki. "What's the first thing everyone's gonna do once the war is over. Has to be something fun, though. I'm going to.. get Sokka back into a Kyoshi Warrior's uniform and then beat him into the ground."
Katara snorted into the grass, while the others laughed at her indignant brother. She had heard about the last time it had happened, but to actually see it, her proud brother be beaten by a girl, that would be priceless.
"I'm going to win Earth Rumble XII," said Toph confidently. Katara didn't have to look up to know she was smirking in her usual way. "And maybe bring back 'The Runaway' for a bit? Sparky, you next."
Katara groaned quietly - Toph's 'Runaway' persona was too much trouble - but didn't say anything. She was interested to know what Zuko would say. He was always so serious, so focused, so quiet, that sometimes it was hard to know what he was thinking. Ever since their trip together and ever since she had forgiven him, Katara wanted to know more about him.
"Return to the Fire Nation and rule it."
This time she groaned out loud, along with everyone else.
"I said it had to be fun, Zuko,", said Suki.
"But ruling is fu- fine!" He rolled his eyes as the protests started again and continued. "I don't know what I'd do. I don't remember the last time I did something fun." He frowned. "How about, the first thing I do when the war is over, is something fun? And you all get to choose."
Katara inwardly glared. She had no idea what she wanted to do either, and Zuko's answer was both ambiguous and diplomatic, an answer fit for a Fire Lord, in fact. What did she want? She too couldn't remember the last time she had had fun, not before Aang had come along. Penguin sledding didn't hold the same appeal anymore, and before that, she could only remember doing chores.
"Okay, okay, my turn," called Sokka. He raised his hands in an attempt to build anticipation and smiled smugly. "Mine is in two parts. One," he held up one finger, "wear the Kyoshi Warrior's uniform and beat Suki instead, and two," then raised a second, "get Gran-Gran to make me a proper Southern Water Tribe feast. With meat, and sea prunes, and more meat, and more meat after that..."
Katara peered around Zuko at her brother and was not surprised to see a glazed look in his eyes and drool forming on his lips. Eating that much food did not sound fun and eating that much meat wasn't normal at all, but Sokka was by no means normal. Katara sighed, and it was only Aang's laughter that brought her attention back.
"Sokka, you're so funny. What about you then, Katara? What would you do?"
And there was the question again: What fun thing would she do when the war was over? Katara twisted the grass around her fingers. She didn't want to sound shallow and say something like take a hot bath or sleep in a proper bed - things which weren't done out of fun but more for necessity - the others would think her a bore. Saying she wanted to go penguin sledding again would make her look childish, and she was so not childish. Maybe she could sneak a ride in with Aang, everyone would think she was just accompanying him.
The grass twisted too much and broke off in her hands. She sighed and allowed the broken blades to drift away. Katara didn't know why she was so bothered by what the others thought of her. She just couldn't imagine doing anything simply for fun anymore. Sure, her adventures with her friends were fun, and dangerous, but they had a purpose.
A hand nudged her shoulder, and when Katara turned, a pair of golden eyes caught her gaze.
"Katara? What do you want to do?"
Not what did she want that others would think would be acceptable for her to want, but what did she want. Katara groaned silently. She had no idea what she wanted to do for fun. Why was she so boring?
"I think.. I think I'd like to.. ugh! I think I'd like to pass the question? I can't think of anything."
"Boring! Katara is boring!" Immediately, Sokka began to chant, his voice loud and annoying. She could hear the others laughing in the background as well.
"Sokka, I swear to all the Spirits and Tui and La and even Agni if you don't-"
"B-O-R-I- Ow, Zuko!"
Seeing her brother rubbing the back of his head with a wounded expression, Katara's glare lessened and she smiled at the Firebender beside her who was once again lying on his back. Quick to change the subject, she turned to the monk on her other side.
"What about you, Aang?"
"Easy. Make a fruit pie, like the ones Monk Gyatso used to make." He grinned, once again rotating the marble in a circle of air while lying on his back. "And maybe go back and ride the Koi fish, and the Unagi, and th-"
"Doing things for no reason, for fun, just sounds so childish though. Only kids would do that," said Zuko, and Katara knew his eyes were rolling without even seeing them.
"Zuko, you're a kid too. You keep forgetting," replied Aang.
"And you keep forgetting that we're not going to stay forever young. This war has changed all of us, and it's not even over yet. We may look like kids, but we're not, not really. Normal kids don't do the things we've done, or will have to do."
The group fell silent. As hard as it was to admit it, Zuko was right. She wasn't the same young girl who lived at the South Pole doing everyone's chores. Sokka was more than just her goofball brother now and Aang had become more of an Avatar now than when she had first met him. Normal kids didn't go to prison, fight assassins, escape pirates, plan attacks on the Fire Nation, infiltrate secret headquarters or travel the world on a flying bison and live in hidden camps that changed location every night. None of them were the same as before, but she wasn't sure if that was a bad thing.
They remained quiet, either staring at the sky, playing with the grass, closing their eyes but each one lost in thought and old memories. Just as Katara was about to suggest setting up camp, a voice broke through the quiet.
"Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?"
"I don't see why not," answered Aang immediately, his voice so sure, so confident.
"So the six of us will always be friends then?"
Katara lifted her head from the grass and peered at Toph. She wasn't used to the usually rowdy and headstrong girl acting like this: quiet, insecure, hesitant. Her black bangs covered her eyes more than usual and she kept her gaze down.
She smiled even though Toph couldn't see it and leaned up on her elbows. "Of course we'll always be friends. The things we've been through, together, you can't just forget that. I don't think any of us could go back to our old lives after all this, even if we wanted to. We've got the Avatar, a future Fire Lord, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, an heiress of the Earth Kingdom and the Southern Water Tribe's chief's children. We're going to win the war and we're going to bring back peace and we're going to change the world. And still be friends through it all." Katara took a deep breath and looked around, tucking back her hair consciously after noticing the stares the others were giving her. She heard Sokka mutter something about hope.
"So we're stuck with each other," drawled Zuko.
Katara nudged his side with her foot and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Prince Zuko, you're going to be stuck with us peasants forever. However will you manage?"
Sitting up fully, she glanced at her friends. The smiles she had spied on each of their faces at Toph's question had now grown to grins and loud chuckles. She knew things changed and people changed, but she didn't want this to change. After they would win the war, she wanted them to still be a group; as they would grow older, she wanted them to remain the best of friends; and in twenty, thirty, even forty years, she wanted things to be as strong between them as it was right now.
She grinned as well. Nothing could spoil this moment in her memory, not even her brother.
"Well, scientifically speaking, there's no way to prove that friendships can even last lifetimes or for us to know that we'll always be-"
"Oh, shut up Sokka!"