A soft wind rippled Katara's hair. The sandy beach she was sitting on was small since the tide was high. She glanced out near the water where Aang was playing tag with Sokka, and Sokka was losing pitifully.
"Heads up!" Aang shouted.
A huge glob of wet sand hit Sokka's face and mixed with his hair.
"Ugh! Aang! If you weren't going to save the world I'd kill you!" He sighed exasperated.
Aang laughed before turning to Katara. "Katara, watch this!" He started whipping is hands around and then a huge wind from behind her pushed her off the ground and to her feet and it didn't stop until she was on the beach right in front of the boys. Aang bowed and starting talking to someone as though he was in front of a huge crowd. "Yes! The Avatar! Who just happens to be the World's Greatest Airbender! Aang!"
"AND the ONLY Airbender." Sokka rolled his eyes and continued pulling the much out of his hair.
"Hey Aang! Muck for brains!" Katara called out motioning Aang and a sulking Sokka toward. "We got to get going! Come on!" She grabbed the bag that lay beside Appa and threw it on top of him. Then climbed up herself before lying as though she was sun tanning.
Aang laughed and Katara beamed and continued the joke.
"Wait, guys." Sokka suddenly stopped short. "Do you feel that?"
Katara and Aang held out their hands and felt little drops of waterfall from the sky and start a light shower.
"Great! Just our luck!" Sokka fumed as he climbed up on Appa.
Aang followed him with a huge leap into a gust of wind that pushed him into the basket. He beamed and did a couple of sit-down bows. Katara giggled which made Aang turn a light pink.
He got up and took hold of the reins. "Yip, yip!" He called out to Appa who rose with a jerk that threw Katara into a sleeping bag, Aang in to the basket with a jolt, and Sokka hanging on to side of the basket over the edge.
"Ack! Help me you guys!" Katara and Aang were laughing to hard to hear him and Momo clambered out of the pack he was sleeping in to see what all the commotion was about. Finally after they had calmed down and Sokka's pleas increased they grabbed him by the arms and pulled him into the basket.
A few hours later, it was pitch black. They hadn't had any dinner and had to endure Sokka's complaints and moaning until he fell asleep at the back end of the basket. Katara was just as sleepy and had to continuously drench herself with her bottle of salty ocean water to keep her awake. She didn't want Aang to be alone… She got up and walked to where he was steering in the front. She wasn't surprised to find Aang asleep with Momo as his pillow. She smiled and took the reins that were held loosely by his hands. She smiled and shifted Aang next to her so he wouldn't fall of the edge. Momo who was startled by the movement ran to the back and occupied himself by placing a leaf over Sokka's mouth and watched it go up and down with his even breathing.
Before long Katara couldn't concentrate long enough to steer. It must have been well past midnight. Katara spotted an island and had Appa land on it. Before falling asleep almost automatically.
"Tch, tch, tch." Katara's opened her eyes groggily and a bright light greeted her. The sun seemed to want her to get up now. Her head was on Aang's shoulder and Momo was messing with an acorn that simply refused to open for him. Katara reached over and cracked open the acorn before handing it back to Momo. He scampered off and Katara sat up.
It has to be around noon. She looked around. Everyone was still asleep. She slowly and quietly slipped off Appa to go look for something edible. The sand on the beach they had landed on was warm so she slipped off her shoes as well and placed them close to Appa before trudging off down the beach. It seemed to be a circular island with a white sandy beach around the edge and a jungle in the middle. She walked for about ten minutes before spotting a tree with some type of plant on them. They were shaped like oranges but they were bright purple with deep crimson spots. She'd never seen them before but picked off the ones that appeared the ripest. With her arms full she walked back to camp but stopped. What if they're poisonous? Katara fearfully thought. She placed them on the ground and to pick one up to test. Slowly she peeled off the skin. Inside, were small circular bits. Only these were light green. Hesitantly Katara placed one on her tongue and started to chew. A light tingly sensation warmed her right down to her toes. She felt like she was walking on air and picked all the fruits up before running back to camp.
"Katara!" Sokka ran up to her when he spotted her. "Where have you-FOOD!" He grabbed the nearest fruit to him and tore off the peeling like a child on Christmas morning. He put four of the little fruits inside into his mouth. "Mmmm."
"Aang?" Katara realized he hadn't come. Where is he? I hope he's okay…
She had a startled and fearful look on her face. "Relax Katara. I'm sure he's fine. When he woke up and you weren't there he went to search for you. But hey, he's the Avatar. What's the worst that could happen?" Sokka shrugged as though to make her feel better.
Katara stared at him in disbelief. "What's the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen? Sokka! He could get killed! Or hurt! Or attacked! Or-Aang!"
"Katara!" Aang ran up to her, and hugged her.
"Are you okay Aang?" Katara looked at him worried, as though Zuko would jump out of Aang's body.
"Of course. Hey, watch this!" He smiled mischievously before putting his hands behind his back for a moment and pulling them back out to reveal a marble spinning in circles in mid-air between them.
Katara smiled relived that Aang was all right and gave him some of the food she had found. Sokka, Katara, and Aang sat around laughing as the watched Momo dance around them after eating a piece of the fruit and get pretty hyper. Afterwards Sokka packed up camp while Aang and Katara were supposed to be looking for more food. But that's not necessarily. They were racing each other down the beach. Katara occasionally soaked Aang with the water from the beach. Aang occasionally did too unless he was bending the wind to blow such a strong gust at Katara that she was lifted off her feet and into the air, and then he would make another gust put her back on her feet.
"Guys!" Sokka yelled from camp. "It's time to go!"
Katara ran back to Appa and jumped into the basket and Aang jumped in after her.
"Yip, yip!" Aang called to Appa and they rose into the air. A few hours later it was very late and Aang landed on another small island like the one before. But this one was different somehow…he could feel it. But with Katara and Sokka asleep in the back, he fell asleep without another thought about it. What he didn't know, was that on this particular island, was danger.
Prince Zuko crept out silently with his troops. He had made a different plan the night before to catch the Avatar.
XxxxxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxxxFlash backxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxxxxx
How does he do it? Every time he had the Avatar cornered he somehow managed to slip through his fingers. Zuko had mapped every particular detail of the times he had captured Aang. He glanced at all the complicated drawings and maps, and suddenly it hit him. Of course…
XxxxxxxxXXXXXXXxxxxxxxEnd of Flash backxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXxxxxx
Slowly Zuko pulled out the bags he'd brought and tip toed over past Aang. Quietly, but quickly he and his soldiers stuffed a cloth into Sokka's mouth, so he couldn't talk, and tied ropes to his arms and legs so he couldn't move either, before they threw him into one of the sacks and tying it quickly shut.
Over on the other side Katara had the same fate. She woke abruptly when one of the soldiers stuffed a damp cloth in her mouth. It tasted salty. She tried to fight back but they tied her with ropes that were uncomfortably too tight and threw her into a smaller sack before tying it tightly. Katara winced as someone kicked the bag hard. The foot collided with her stomach and she doubled over, winded. What about Aang and Sokka? She thought fearfully. She hadn't seen any of them. I hope they're all right.
Meanwhile, Zuko was watching and making sure it was as silent as possible, and they didn't wake the Avatar. It was all part of the plan. He hadn't seen it before, but every time the Avatar got away, the girl and her brother always played a part. It was brilliant. He watched as the two hostages where thrown onto the ship they had docked on the beach when they arrived. Soon enough, the Avatar would come to save his girlfriend and her brother. Then he would capture him as well. Zuko saw no flaw in his brilliant plan as he walked up onto the ship and it cast off into the sea. Leaving Aang, alone with only Appa and Momo.
Katara felt tired and weary, thinking that she maybe was alone in a bag and being held hostage by the Fire Nation. Maybe I'm not a hostage. Maybe they just want Aang but decided to take me just for the fun of killing me. Her heart raced as the ship moved along. Oh, Aang. Where are you? Sokka, help me. Her eyes closed and that was her last thought before drifting into an uncomfortable sleep.
The next morning Aang got up slowly. "Katara?" He called groggily. "What's for breakfast?" He heard no reply except the sound of Appa breathing. "Katara?" He called again, still no reply. Where is she? "Sokka? Katara? Where are you guys? Is this some sort of joke? Okay, I climbing off of Appa now." Slowly he climbed off, waiting for one of them to pop out and shout "Fooled you!" or something. But the quiet was eerie. He looked down and gasped. It was Katara's necklace. She would have noticed it fall off. But it wasn't until he looked toward the back off Appa was he truly frightened. Laying there in the sand a glove, and not just any glove, one bearing the Fire Nation sign.
"Get up girl!" A man kicked Katara's sack and grunted. She heard sounds of movement. It wasn't just a nightmare. It really happened. A tear rolled down Katara's cheek and when she instinctively reached up to wipe it away, her rope bindings stopped her from moving very far. She saw where they had dug into her skin and broken it. Little droplets of blood were all over her clothes from being kicked. The air in the bag was stale. If I'm in here too long I could suffocate. But maybe that's what they want… She coughed and the cloth in her mouth gagged her. Help. She thought weakly.
It was nearly noon when they were let out of the bags. A large man opened Katara's sack and threw her out of the sack by the scruff of her clothes. She tried to wiggle out of the man's grip but the ropes still prevented her from doing anything too strong. Two men forced her into a dark prison cell at the bottom of the ship. She looked up feebly and saw Sokka in the corner and looking just as surprised as she was. She tried her best to crawl over to her brother and after a few attempts finally managed to meet him in the middle of the cell. She curled up next him and the two of them fell asleep together.
Aang had set out on Appa to find them. They had been flying for hours and still no sign on Sokka, Katara, or the Fire Nation. He sighed and clutched Katara's necklace close to his chest. Going back memory lane, he remembered he'd run away and fell into the ocean where he'd froze himself and Appa in an iceberg. The next thing he remembers was seeing Katara's face. What if I never see her again? Aang's heart ached. It was his entire fault they were taken. It was obvious this was another one of Zuko's traps to lure Aang right into the palm of his hand and Aang knew he was walking straight into it. But he was going to get his friends back. No matter how much it cost him in return.
Katara woke up next to Sokka who was awake as well. She could move her mouth now. The cloth had fallen out sometime while she was asleep. It lay next to Sokka's who's appeared to have fallen out as well. It reminded her of her situation. Aang, what if I never see you again? A tear trickled down her face and her heart ached so bad it was almost too hard to bear. Sokka looked at her consolingly and it almost comforted Katara. But a guard walked up and opened the door.
"Her." He motioned at three guards behind him who walked over and untied Katara before pulling her roughly up by her arms and forcing her walk. "Prince Zuko will see you now."
Sokka jumped up and tried to grab Katara by the arm and pull her back, but a large flame pushed him back. He fearfully glanced at his sister who stood frightened. "Katara, I, I…" Sokka hung his head. "I'm sorry." Katara smiled, relieved that he was all right. She knew he was no match for three Fire Nation guards, even with her help. She gave him on last hopeful look that said, "It's going to be okay Sokka. I can feel it." Before the guards pushed her forward and out of Sokka's sight.
Aang hadn't slept for over a day. He was tired but every time he started to doze of he had nightmares about Zuko laughing hysterically with Katara and Sokka's dead bodies on the floor.
He hadn't seen any Fire Nation ships or any sign of them at all. He was starting to lose hope. He was starting to think about doing something rash but he spotted an island with a women lying motionless on the beach. He didn't know who she was but stopped Appa and turned him toward the island where they landed gently a few yards away from her. Aang jumped out and ran to the woman. She appeared to be about twenty or so, and was tall with light brown hair. She was wearing a plain white dress that went to her ankles and had long sleeves. She lay sprawled on the ground with a basket of apples spilled messily beside her. That told Aang she hadn't just decided to take a nap on the middle of the beach. He fell to his knees beside her and groped her wrist for a pulse. There was a strong heartbeat but she was unconscious. Aang started to gently shake her awake.
"Come on. Wake up. It's all right. Your safe now." He consoled her gently as her eyes slowly opened and she started talking.
"Marie…gone…berries…water…" The woman babbled on as Aang tried to decipher what she had said.
"What…is…your…name?" He said every word as slowly as possible.
She repeated the same message as before. "Marie…gone…berries…water…"
"Marie? Is…that…your…name?" Aang tried to communicate with her.
"Marie…gone…berries…water…" The same message, but this time she said something else along with it. "Fire…blood…knife…" She fell unconscious before Aang could ask anything else.
Fire? The Fire Nation maybe? What about blood? Was Marie a hostage held by the Fire Nation? Maybe they killed her, with a knife? Aang couldn't even begin to guess the rest of the possibilities of the woman's bizarre massage. He ran up to the closet villager he could find, a man who looked about twenty-five or so. He grabbed him by the arm and led him to the woman.
"I know she's alive. She just talked to me. She kept saying something about Marie being gone and berries and water."
"Marie?" He looked frightened. "Did she say Marie? Oh no. Oh no."
"What?" Aang had hoped this man would know something.
"Well, first, did she say anything else?" He glanced at Aang sternly.
"Well, yeah, something about fire, blood, and a knife."
The man gasped before continuing slowly. "Well, yes of course. But, how? Marie never, well, until lately. I suppose she…yes."
"Who's Marie?" Aang blurted out. He was feeling a little awkward, but like this could help Sokka and Katara somehow.
"I suppose I could tell you." He checked to make sure the woman was breathing before beginning. "Well, a while back our village was peaceful. We had not intention of involving with the war. But, of course, the Fire Nation attacked. Our rulers, King Domin and his wife, Queen Sahara, tried desperately to keep them away. Eventually the Fire Nation tried to attack the King and Queen to get them out of the way. Domin knew that they were in the castle. Sahara was going to give birth soon and he decided to save her and the baby, risking his life. They attacked him and he was killed. Soon they found Sahara trying to escape on a boat. They captured her and took her hostage. That night in the castle the Fire Lord had taken over, Sahara had a baby girl in one of the dudgeons. She quickly named her Marie before a guard came and killed her on the Fire Lord's orders. Now, Marie was well hidden in the Queen's cloak, which the guard didn't bother to take. Eventually, we fought back hard enough and earned our village back again. Marie was found a day later, nearly dead. It took our best healers weeks to keep her alive. Finally, she was healthy. Since then she has been watched over by the maids. The Royal Advisers were in charge of ruling until she came of age at sixteen. She's only eleven and all I know was that she left the castle for a walk on the beach. (Every one's informed where she goes so she doesn't get hurt or lost.) But I also know some Fire Nation ships were spotted nearby. They must have taken her. I don't know for sure, but I think the guards from the palace were walking with her since they Fire Nation was so close by. But even the most well trained warriors wouldn't stand a chance against an entire ship full of Fire Nation soldiers. Even with our earth bending. Wait, who did you say you were?" The man stared at him.
"I didn't. My name is Aang." Aang felt even more terrible, now he knew the Fire Nation had Katara and Sokka along with another girl.
"Those are some nice tattoos you've got there. I suppose you're a water bender?" He pointed at Aang's arrow on his forehead.
"Well, there not tattoos and I'm sort of a water bender. I'm just learning." Aang didn't feel like explaining everything to a man he'd just met. Just to be on the safe side. "But do you know where the ships are now? They have my friend's on them."
"Got a girl, eh?" He checked the woman's pulse again. He must have been beating because he turned to Aang and smiled.
Why is he asking me about girls? "Well, one's a girl, Katara, and her brother Sokka." Aang said hastily not understanding the question. "I need to know which direction the Fire Nation went in, umm…"
"Maro." Maro looked at Aang aggravated. "And how am I supposed to know? I don't go looking for Fire Benders! I avoid them! What kind of crazy person would go looking for Fire Benders?" He shouted as though accusing Aang of being crazy. It was the first time in their short encounter Aang had seen Maro angry.
Aang paused for a moment to think…I can't believe I'm doing this but… "The Avatar." Aang quietly replied.
"The Avatar's dead you silly boy. He has been for one-hundred years." Maro glared at Aang. They were almost friends and now Maro was treating him like vermin.
"No, he's not. He's not dead. I know he's not." Aang mumbled.
"How would you know? You're just a kid." Maro smirked at Aang, as though superior to him.
This time Aang glared back with his voice rising in fury. "I know the Avatar's alive. I know because the Avatar is me! I am the Avatar. And I can prove it." Aang walked over to Appa. "This is Appa, my Flying Bison. I supposed you know what a Flying Bison is don't you?" Aang shouted at him. Angry that he had delayed him in his search for Sokka and Katara, and furious that he wouldn't even say which direction the Fire Nation ship went in. He pulled out his glider from one of the packs and jumped off the ground. He flew around the man and landed next to Appa again. "So you believe me now?" He asked.
"No. That's a simple glider even a child like you could operate." Maro was still smirking.
This time Aang sent such a powerful wind at Maro that he was swept off of his feet and flew ten feet through the air before falling in a heap on the sand. Maro eyes widened in fear.
"N-n-north." He spurted before jumping to his feet, snatching the woman up in his arms and running up to the village up ahead.
Aang flew onto Appa. "Yip yip! He shouted halfway onto the Bison. Appa jerked upward and once again they were flying. Only this time, they had a faint idea of where they were going.
The guards led Katara down the hall way and around a corner. The entire ship was metal. One wall she had brushed up against. It was cold, just like her heart. If only she had driven for a while, none of this would have happened. She tried not to think about Sokka and Aang, it was to hard to think what might happen to Sokka while she was gone, and let alone what Aang was going to face when he found them. If he finds us, Katara reminded herself. There was and upside and downside to both situations. If Aang didn't find them, he would be safe. Katara decided not to think about what would happen to Sokka and her. But if Aang did find them, Sokka and her would be safe, but Aang might not be.
"In here." The man to her left side pushed her in the room in front of her. Inside was a sort of shrine with lit candles and Zuko in front of it.
"So, what do we have here?" He turned to face her and Katara felt years of white-hot hatred flow through her body.
"What do you want with us Zuko?" Katara glared at him. She knew perfectly well what he wanted but she wasn't thinking straight and her mouth was moving faster than her brain could process.
"To face the powers of a mighty water bender with the powers of a fire bender." He smirked. There was no way he couldn't win.
"I don't care what you do to me. You are never going to defeat Aang though." Katara felt herself say.
"Foolish girl. I will kill the Avatar, just like I'm about to kill you." Zuko took his fighting stance but Katara held her ground.
"You're just upset because you can't beat a twelve-year-old." Katara knew she was headed for trouble, but she needed to buy as much time for Sokka and herself as she could if Aang really was coming. Come on Aang. I can't beat Zuko.
"Have you ever wondered why he hasn't come for you yet? Maybe he doesn't care about you or your brother after all." He was provoking her. He wanted a chance to attack her. Katara knew that, but she didn't care.
"Yes-he-does!" She shouted and sent Zuko flying off his feet from a blast of water she had in a canteen under her dress.
He replied with a huge fireball sent toward Katara's head, which she blocked with another burst of water. She tried to water whip him but it quickly evaporated with the flame he sent out. Katara jumped out of the way just in time. It wasn't long before she was throwing water at every part of Zuko she could reach. When she realized it wasn't working, she starting dodging or putting out flames that Zuko sent at her. They stood glaring at each other, panting heavily.
"Hiya!" Zuko sent a fireball twice the size of Katara at her before she had time to react, but it was to late.
Aang searched for over an hour before spotting a small fishing boat. The fisherman told him the Fire Nation had passed by not long ago. He sped up Appa and after about five minutes of tense anticipation, he saw a figure of the water. Please, please let it be them. He held his breath and was relieved for the first time in his life to see it was a Fire Nation ship. Grabbing his glider he jumped off Appa and landed on an empty deck. That's strange. He had been preparing for six or seven guards to be on deck. "Katara? Sokka?" He called. The only answer he got was the wind whistling in his ear. He went and opened a door on deck. There were stairs behind it. Taking what could have been his last breath outside, he turned and determinedly walked straight towards the heart of the Fire Nation ship. When he reached the bottom he turned down a random hallway. Why aren't there any people here? Is it an abandoned ship? He was in a prison. He passed nearly twenty cells on the first row. Some were empty, other had things like stale pieces of bread, or skeletons bearing Water Nation or Earth Nation logos on their clothes. Aang even saw one older skeleton with an Air Nation logo.
"Aang?" Aang whipped around the corner. On the next row, in the third cell on the left side was Sokka, holding two of the bars in the front was of his cell.
"Sokka! Are you okay? Where's Katara?" He waited anxiously for some answers.
"Relax Aang. I'm all right. I'm not sure about Katara though…" His voice trembled and trailed off into silence. "She-she…a guard came and took her. He said 'the Fire Lord will see you now.' Aang, I'm worried about her." He choked on his word and tears formed in his eyes. He put his head down and wiped the tears away, not wanting Aang to see him crying.
"It's okay Sokka. I'll find her, I promise. But stand back." Aang waited until Sokka was as far as possible from the cell door and Aang blasted it open with particularly good air bending. But, suddenly they heard a scream from down the hall.
"Katara!" Aang ran after where he thought he heard the scream.
Sokka leaped over the broken door and out into the hallway before setting off in a run behind Aang to find Katara.
Katara screamed as the flame engulfed her body. Every part of it was in searing pain to difficult to bear. She staggered forward, before falling to the ground and lying motionless.
Zuko smirked at the girl's limp body. He started to laugh at the fact she'd even thought she could take him on. Now look at what it had cost her, her life.
Aang raced down the corridor with Sokka falling in close behind. He wretched open the door and prayed. Oh please let us not be to-…
Aang ran forward and fell to his knees beside Katara's body. He felt tears well up in his eyes. "Katara…No…" He felt like his heart had been ripped from his body and the pain was worse than a million knifes stabbing.
"Aang! Where are-…" Sokka entered the room. His heart fell when he saw his sister. "No! No!" He shouted.
"So, Avatar, you finally show." Zuko was smiling as though he'd just won the lottery.
"To bad about your girlfriend. But don't worry, you'll be with her soon." He started to try and throw a flame at Aang, but Aang whipped around and shot a huge wind throwing Zuko into the back wall and onto the shrine.
Meanwhile Sokka fell next to Katara. "I should have known you wouldn't resist the challenge…I'm sorry…" He groped her wrist for a pulse, but he couldn't feel one. That must mean she really was… "You can't go Katara. We need you. Aang needs you…I need you…" A single tear rolled of his cheek and onto his baby sister's burnt hand. He didn't bother to brush it away. He reached up and pushed the hair out of her eyes. It was quick. She didn't have to suffer… He tried to tell himself it was better this way then a long, painful death. It only it hadn't been so early…
"You," Aang couldn't think of anything that was anywhere close to the pain he was feeling. He took out his rage on Zuko. Firing blasts of water, air, and occasionally any article he could get his hands on. After a few moments of fury Zuko slumped over unconscious on the floor. Aang got ready to deliver a fatal blow when he stopped. He felt worse than words could describe, and he wouldn't wish that on anyone, not even Zuko.
He left him on the floor and fell next to Sokka and Katara's lifeless body. "Sokka, we have to get out of here. Come on." He started to pick up Katara but Sokka stopped him.
"I'll get her." He picked up his sister and silently they walked to the deck of the ship where they found Appa waiting with Momo too. They climbed in and sat silently in the basket until Aang called to Appa.
"Yip, yip…" He nearly whispered the words. Appa must have sensed something wasn't right, because he slowly and gracefully started upward.
Sokka laid Katara's body in the middle of the basket at loss for words. Even Aang abandoned steering, allowing the Bison to roam as he pleased, to sit next to his best friend. He sat down nest to her and stared at her expressionless face.
"Sokka, I'm sorry." Aang looked up at Sokka, the pain he was feeling was probably ten times worse than Aang's.
"She knew it, you know." Sokka looked up at Aang.
"What?" Aang was at loss of words. He was feeling a lot of things, sadness, pain, anger, but he hadn't expected confused to be one of them.
"She knew you liked her. More than a friend I mean. She would talk in her sleep late at night, about how she never thought the great Avatar would ever like a peasant water bender like her. But she found out later on. She felt the same way." He took Katara's wrist again. Wait, it couldn't be…could it? "Aang, I think, I think I feel a pulse. It's very faint, but it's there." He started to smile and even giggle.
Aang moved over and tried her other wrist. There it was. A weak pulse beating on, but it was starting to fade.
"Quick Aang! I'll get some water, and start some air bending!" Sokka shouted and grabbed four or five canteens full of cold river water, and some cloths. Aang tilted Katara's head back and slowly started pushing and pulling air in and out of her lungs.
"Come on, Katara!" Aang tried to go faster to get her heart rate up until he started shaking so bad he had to go back to doing it normally.
Sokka quickly put a cold compress on Katara's forehead and started putting compresses on her burns. It was a few minutes later Sokka dared to check her pulse again. But there it was, a strong even beat. Aang stopped bending for a moment just long enough to see Katara take a deep breath. Aang and Sokka jumped for joy and starting shouting and dancing hysterically.
It was when Katara opened her eyes they stopped. "W-w-what?"
"Katara!" Aang shouted. "You're awake!" He couldn't stop himself. He reached over and kissed her. It was for only a few seconds but it seemed like hours, or days even, when they broke apart.
"Aang! Sokka!" Slowly Katara tried to lift herself to a sitting position but winced in pain. Aang and Sokka sat down beside her and helped her lean against a couple of sleeping bags. "You guys are the best." She said hoarsely. She hugged her brother despite the stabbing pain and leaned over and kissed Aang. "I love you Aang."
"I love you, too Katara. I always have."
And with that, the three of them rode of on a Flying Bison to an Earth Bending kingdom where they happened to meet an eleven-year-old princess that was a Fire Nation captive by the name of Marie, but that's another story, entirely.