Mischief

Avatar Aang was quite sure that this was the greatest fun that he was having during the Gaang's travels in the Fire Nation. In fact, he reasoned, he must have a penchant for vandalism somewhere deep down inside. Forget his joy though, there was no telling how huge the repercussions were going to be for this stunt… he could almost imagine the stern disapproval on the faces of the Air Nomad elders already, who had witnessed his crime all the way from the Spirit World. Though it was quite worth it, now that he looked back at the night's events.

Finding out Katara was this mysterious and generous Painted Lady was his first surprise, the second, finding out that she wanted to destroy that factory causing all this pollution. Actually now that he thought about it, his unbidden glee while viewing the factory collapse into a watery grave in a mass of bright, destructive explosions was a surprise, too. He liked irony. Now normally, he expected this of himself. He had always had a side of him, not the Air Nomad traditional and peaceful side, which loved mischief. Lobbing fruit tarts at the elders, causing trouble with Kuzon, joking with Sokka, and so on. It was the reason he got into so many dangerous situations, he guessed. As far back as he could remember he had loved jokes.

But as he and Katara walked back to the tent, still giddy and energized from causing destruction (for the greater good, he reminded himself), he realized that the largest surprise was that Katara loved mischief too! She looked as light-hearted as he was, despite her half-hearted attempts to shush him. In fact, they were still giggling as they turned near the rock to their camp, where they met an unexpected sight: Sokka and Toph! He suddenly realized how foolhardy they were, and immediately went over in his mind what his troublemaking had caused: it had interfered with their travel schedule, caused the Fire Nation to probably retaliate on the town, and worst of all, he had shirked his Avatar's responsibility in a time when it was sorely needed and uncompromisable!

Suddenly, Avatar Aang suddenly thought of finding out Katara's mischievous and impulsive nature away from everyone, just the two of them alone, happy as little children by their impulsive deed, and his incorrigible mind thought that just this once…he didn't regret it at all.