Author Notes: This is my first Avatar fanfic. Meh. I've written for Fruits Basket under another name, maybe someone will find my writing style similar? Probably not. Merr. Well, this is pretty cool writing for Avatar. Yeah.. so, this story will probably not be updated as much as people like because I tend to say, "Oh, I'm going to update every week!" and then forget, so please be kind to me and continue to read even after an over 9000!! month/year hiatus. Well, enjoy this. And Katara will probably only be in this chapter and then in flashbacks because its a future Avatar fic! Bah! Read and enjoy? AND REVIEW! Please. Flames maybe acceptable if they're funny.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar and this is made for my own amusement, no money involved.

Fortuity

"The language of loss made me so much older.
The language of loss made me lose my grip.
The language of loss made me silent as a newborn child."
Voxtrot, "Sway".

Prologue

"Aang." It was a feminine voice, sweet and hinted with an emotion unknown. Only one girl would come into his room so late at night. Katara.

The Avatar turned around in his bed, looking at his current girlfriend who stood with her back to the door, garbed in the blood-red Fire Nation clothing. They had been in the Fire Nation Palace since the week before, Fire Lord Zuko and his Fire Lady Mai old friends from the time he was coroneted. They, of course, were not the only guests currently in the Palace, a reunion of sorts had happened with the coming of Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Suki all at the same time. Now everyone was comfortably tucked away in their beds, sleeping away the night, except for Katara and Aang, who were in his room.

His room. That reminded him. Sokka and Suki had only one room to themselves, and Aang and Katara didn't share one. They were boyfriend and girlfriend, wasn't it only typical for them to have one room? Well, it hadn't been that much of a problem anyway; his waterbending mater had been sneaking into his room during the last few nights anyway, snuggling close to him as they fell asleep in each others arms. However, something was off tonight. Katara stood awkwardly at the door, her hands placed behind her. When she did walk forward, she only came a few feet towards his bed before stopping. The moonlight struck her at an angle which made her eyes glow silver, and his attention was ripped from her outfit to those glowing pools, but she didn't look him in the eye.

"Katara? Is something wrong?" Aang murmured as soft as he could, but still she jumped at the sound of his voice. He narrowed his eyes in worry; Katara never was this jumpy around him, even after they had become more then just friends.

"Well... uhm..." Katara shifted on her feet and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, a nervous gesture. The hand fell and fisted the crimson cloth over her stomach, her eyes darting away when he finally caught her gaze. Her face turned twisted, as if pained, and the hand over her stomach clenched harder into the material she was wearing.

"Katara... does your stomach hurt?" Aang tried with a small smile. He hoped that he could get a clue of what was wrong by her movements, but he as still unsure when he spoke.

The girl immediately relaxed at the silly comment and shook her head while her lips parted to let loose a small smile. Taking those few daring steps forward, Katara sat down beside Aang on the bed that he was given. She had a ghost smile on now, her fingers leaving her stomach to clench her upper arm. Still she had that air of anxiety around her. He tried to touch her arm in comfort, but she quickly jerked away from his hands.

On the half of her face that was lit he could see a twitch of her eyebrow, a wince at what had just happened. Delicate, long fingers fell from their attachment of her arm to the red silk sheets that were beneath them. His light skin covered hers as he brought his hand to rest over hers, and he leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on her lips. He wanted to know what was wrong, and he soon found his answer right before his eyes as Katara denied his kiss. She turned her head and his pursed lips landed against her cheek, lying there for moments before he understood what just happened.

"Katara..." Aang spoke hesitantly.

"Aang, I..." Katara's turned eyes glanced at his for a moment, and he saw through them emotions that he couldn't place. "I can't." Was it regret? Whispering, she continued, "This isn't working." She suddenly stood up and decided it was time to look him straight in the eye. But her wavering determination was shown with her trembling eyes and shaking hands. Once more she caught her fingers in her clothing, trying to remove the quavering with pressure. Her next words nearly caught in her throat, but she spit them out with effort, "I'm leaving tonight." It sounded like a finality, a conclusion to their conversation. A conclusion to them. But, she knew it wasn't the end. She winced before he said anything, her feet rocked her backwards before he stood.

"What are you saying, Katara? You're not making any sense," aang said, visilby upset by her words.

She clenched her jaw, he could see the struggle was was having and he didn't understand any of it. Why would she want to leave him so suddenly? Where had the nights before gone? She had just wrapped her arms around his waist and slept the last night. This was strange and unwanted.

"I'm leaving you. Tonight." He tried to tell himself that she was kidding, that she was just joking around with him to see how much he cared about her. He shook his head, he had to disbelieve to keep from crying.

Aang's gaze hardened, but still the hurt swirled about inside. She nearly fell back at his gaze, so intensly pained it was. It was all she could think about even as he grabbed her by her upper arm, jerking her forward at him, so she would look at him. She may have been facing him, but her gaze never landed.

"Why are you doing this? You told me that you--!" The Avatar froze in realization. She kept her gaze averted, but he could see the tensing of her whole body as his thoughts slapped him in the face with the current fact.

She had never once said those words to him. Never.

"You're right, I never said it. I can't," she seemed to choke on the words. "I won't say them because I don't feel that way about you." She wrenched away from him at the last of her words, the red material of her shirt giving away under Aang's hard grasp. The skin revealed looked bruised, his tight grip marking her.

"Why can't you love me? I love you so much and now I realize you don't even understand that love!" he was nearly yelling now, his grey eyes glowing silver in the moonlit room. He had lunged forward again, but this time his topped a few inches from her face, beneath them their feet touched. Her toes were cold beneath his.

Katara did not shrink from his wrath but stood silent and still beneath his burning gaze. She had to look up to him now, he had grown more in the year and a half since the defeat of Ozai. "You'll never be more then a younger brother to me," she whispered. Aang nearly gasped at the pain that jabbed in his head, a reminder of the Ember Island Players from so long ago. "I'm sorry for leading you on for so long, but its not going to work for either of us." All unease from earlier seemed to have dissipated from her voice, she now stood strongly beneath him and spoke her mind.

Aang didn't like what was on her mind.

The Avatar stepped two paces back, leaving her cooled feet behind as he walked upon the warmer tile. He stared at her with large, frightened pools that had dulled. He loosely held the piece of ripped cloth in his hand and he looked at it before clenching his fist in anger or sadness. He seemed so small in his hurt, a child left to pick up his first broken heart. His eyes didn't flare anymore; he shivered and sank back onto his bed. He gazed at her with those eyes ever so wide with distress. Her aqua orbs stared back without so much as a twitch of unease and regret.

"Goodbye, Aang," Katara's detached voice reverberated at her in the silence of the room.

She spun around on her heel, and without a glance back she headed towards the door to the Avatar's room. He face was as emotionless as her voice, trying not to betray the emotions that churned within her heart. She allowed no tears to wet her cheeks. She felt frozen inside, and knew what she had done would affect both of them throughout the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, Aang's blood boiled as he nearly ripped his fingers through the sheets of his guest bed. His head burned with the new rage, the lonely feeling only a bit dampening on his new raged fire. He had to do something, his mind had cried, he couldn't just let her leave. He couldn't let her go. He stood up with his new intention, his new long legs carrying him faster then the shorter waterbender.

Katara heard him coming and turned her head around, blue-silver eyes narrowed.

"I'm leaving Aang."

As she turned her head back around, he glared at the back of her neck and she suddenly felt the sensation of his heated finger pads brushing against her bare forearm. Prickles of sweat came across her skin but at the same time she felt a shiver ride up her spine. What was wrong with him?

"Who do you love?" Aang's voice was low, but rang deep with jealousy.

"I love?" Katara echoed back blankly. "I don't love anyone." She seemed genuinely perplexed, but that note of confusion sounded like she was trying to hide something, or at least it was in Aang's point of view. His own imagination overpowered his will to believe her, and so he wove the story in his head delicately. It was the perfect accusation, but ever so untrue.

"Is it Zuko? Are you two going to finally go run away together? I bet you've been planning this since before I defeated Ozai. I bet all along you two were in a love affair since I, ever so young, couldn't cater to your sexual desires," Aang's breath was hot against her ear. Fingers continued to stroke her fore arm each time the heat getting more intense. "I bet you've been doing it all along behind my back. Behind Mai's back."

He suddenly had a grip on her again, both hands clenched painfully against her forearms. She squeaked at the sudden ache and tried to push him off, infuriated at both his words and his actions. As she struggled in front of him, he felt such anger and jealously that he could almost crush her beneath him for the sake of never letting her leave him alive. Didn't she know that he could please her like that? He was as good as any firebender! He bent down and was about to try to kiss her again when she yanked out his hard grasp at last.

"You are insane!" she hissed, cold anger whipped out from Katara's words. "I'm not doing anything with Zuko! We're just friends! Zuko would never do that to Mai, and I would never do that to you! Idiot!" She shoved one of his shoulders harshly and he noticed the hardened look in her blue eyes. "Just because I don't love you doesn't mean I love someone else. I was right, you are just a child!"

She abruptly turned around again and swung open the door in another attempt to leave. She was about to get all the way out this time when Aang pushed a gust of air inwards, shutting the door and pushing the young waterbender back into the room. She landed on the floor with a heavy thump! a flash of pain crawled over her face as she looked up at him.

"Aang!" her tone implied a warning that a mother would give a child.

"You like firebenders?" he was still stuck in his fantasy, trying to find a way to justify his anger towards her. He stalked towards her with gleaming intent in his eye. "I can be one too!" A ball of flame came to life in his palm. He was getting closer each step, what he wanted to do so very clear in his steps. He couldn't escape it now, he had to do something to make his anger true. There had to be something that Katara wasn't telling him.

"Aang, you don't understand," her voice had dropped to a small whisper. Her little voice was reflecting her current state, push up against the door on her knees with that look of fear in her eyes. "I don't love Zuko. Please, I don't love him. I don't love anyone."

Lifting her face from the flare that had been brought close to her chin, Katara winced at the heat that was so close to her face and sought out his eyes. She immediately regretted her decision, his eyes were tormented as they gazed upon her and she could not help but feel a lump in her throat starting to throb. She couldn't fight back against him either way, her words would be twisted and she had not water on her at all. She was helpless to his will while she was threatened, what would she do to keep her face unscarred? Her expression read something that resembled horror and betrayal. Her eyes cried out to him, why would he do this to her?

For a moment his eyes flashed with regret, a burning emotion for what he had done, was doing, or what was going to happen. He, at the look in her eye, immediately clenched his fist and averted his gaze. She nearly sighed with relief, but she knew that it wasn't over yet. Aang would do anything to keep her from going. Threats weren't even out of the line, apparently. She couldn't help but feel curious as to what he would do next to keep her, but when he brought his gaze to meet hers for a long time, she could nearly taste the pain of his broken heart.

He fell to his knees in front of her, looming before her bare-chested with shaggy brown-hair, looking at her so desperately and still she felt nothing. She gazed up at him with expressionless eyes and waited, waited until he could do something to her again, waited for the pain or the lash of words. So blankly she sat in waited, that she knew she was breaking him down inside.

"You can't keep me from--"

"You're not leaving," the Avatar cut in with a hopeless voice. He grabbed her by the arms and dragged her close to his kneeling form. "You can't leave," his voice was a murmur into her brown hair. His arms had encircled her shoulder, forcing her into a one-sided hug. Against him she went limp, arms hug loosely at her sides. A cold air swept across them, and she knew that he knew.

Katara made no sound as he kept her in his space. Her gaze fled past his shoulder, far away into all th awkward, young moments that they had together. Every accidental brush, sweet embraces, chaste kisses. When they spoke it was so loose, they barely skimmed deeper things. They were young and in love, she had hoped that it would last, their moments together. This feeling of loss would be the last feeling that they had while they were 'together'. She had seen this ending for so long, every happy moment cloaked in her dread at this current conclusion. And now, his face pressed ever so sadly into her neck, fingers clenching the material of her clothing, the end had come. She had wished for a clean cut, but always assumed in her planning that something like this, or a variation of it, would really happen.

With an almost scared feeling, Katara broke away from the thirteen-year-old's embrace. She tried to not catch his grey, aching eyes, fixing her own at some point past his head. Suddenly she spotted his hand moving and allowed him one last time to touch her, a parting gift one could say. He brushed her hand, lifting each small finger. It stroked up her arm, her neck. Young soft hands that would never again touch her the way they did now. Fingers drew the circles around her eyes, a small pinch on the cheek, and against her lips. Then they fell and he looked away from her in an awkward embarrassment.

"Goodbye," she announced emptily.

The fingers that had touched her gently clenched into a fist.