Whispers that calm us

It wasn't often he got to just sit and think. In those good days, before he knew he was the Avatar, before the war placed the weight of the world upon his young shoulders, he would often just sit and think about nothing in particular.

However, those days were long gone; easily lost, but not forgotten.

Aang was not the brooding type, but today he felt he had much reason to. Everything he had been working for- the past couple of months- seemed to have dissipated to nothing in mere hours. His progress with the Guru, the Crystal Catacombs, Azula's deadly fingers raised towards him levitating hundreds of feet from the ground, his almost encounter with death. In all fairness, Ba sing se had been a complete disaster and utter failure.

And it was all on him.

So now he lay, doing the one thing he never did; wallowing in negative thoughts. He was currently confined to an uncomfortable mat in one of the many Water Tribe tents. Katara's orders.

"I don't care if he's behind on his training, he needs to rest."

Aang almost smiled as he recalled the following days after the "incident". He had never seen Katara so protective before. Ever. She had towered over Aang almost possessively for hours on end, asking him constantly if he needed anything, if there was too much light in the tent, if the room was spinning at all...

In those first few days, Aang had been weak and tired, but his perception did not falter. Katara was starving herself to take care of him. After all he had put her through, he felt guilty to see her in such a condition at his expense.

Aang groaned as a familiar pang erupted in his chest; heart shuddering. The young Airbender knew well enough Azula's mark was not to blame for his pain.

Katara

Just the thought of her was enough to send him into a fit of tremoring pain and loss. He could quite literally curl into a ball and fade away. But he knew that was not an option. He was the Avatar, last hope for peace, savior of the world-

Aang shook his head violently, sweat dripping from his brow unto a soft lid. He did not feel like thinking about that sort of thing right now. In fact, he would much rather forget about it all. Besides, thinking never helped, it only brought more pain.

You must let her go.

Aang did not even attempt to shove the thought back into the recesses of his mind. He had avoided the topic long enough. It was knawing at him, and his sanity was dwindling because of it.

The Guru had told him that in order to regain balance within himself and master the avatar state, he must clear all the chakras. But Aang had be less than willing to master the final level. It had involved giving up the one thing that had held him together for the past half year. The one person that had seen Aang, instead of the Avatar. Been his friend, confidant, and never been afraid of him...

Aang sighed as Katara's image danced at the corners of his lids; teasing and tormenting him. The young Airbender fought with himself a minute before allowing himself to continue his rebellious thoughts. In the end, he had been forced to give up the girl, and then been struck down with immense pain.

Either way he looked at it, he was always going to lose. His heart trembled weakly.

Just as Aang was about to mentally slap himself for allowing himself to succumb to such self-inflicting pain, the most beautiful noise interrupted him.

Katara stood in the door way of his tent. His heart practically hummed.

"I brought you some water. It's getting kind of hot out." Then, with a grace he could only admire, she strode over to his mat and sat down; kindness gracing her face in all the right ways- making his heart leap pitifully.

Nodding his thanks, he gratefully took the cup from her outstretched hand and sipped casually. Casual was all he would allow himself afterall...

Long, elegant fingers fumbled with blue cloth nervously- almost anxiously. Grey eyes took this all in curiously, but made no move to point it out. Aang was now staring intently at his blankets; taking in every stitch as if it held some unkown riddle to the world.

A soft sigh and a tender touch interrupted his distraction however. Katara stared down at him; piercing his soul to oblivion. "So, how have you been sleeping?" Awkward, and an attempt at nonchalant. Katara once again looked nervous, and her darting eyes only reaffirmed Aang's suspicions.

Slowly, carefully. "I'm sleeping okay. My back isn't bothering me as much since we started the healing sessions." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

Katara turned her head, profile only visible to the young monk. Eyes slightly wider than usual, she pressed on,"Are you sure?"

Aang didn't bother to look at her in fear it might give him away. Instead, he nodded solemnly; eyes locked on the ground. A moment of silence hung in the air; threatening to suffocate the two if none made move to speak. Finally someone did.

"I hear you talk in your sleep every night."

This time Aang's eyes grew wider, then they slowly closed. What had he said? No, more importantly, what did she hear?

Aang wanted to maintain the air of casualnesss he had managed up until that point, but he feared the situation was veering out of his control. A quiet "oh" was all he could muster.

An even longer silence pursued them both, before Aang's eyes slowly drifted to the Waterbender before him. He could feel her gaze burning into his flesh as he gathered the courage to do so. Sucking in a lungful of air, he bravely pursued," What did you hear?"

Katara's gaze did not relinquish. Her trance continued to lock Aang into the conversation that was quickly becoming very uncasual. "The first night, you were just whimpering-" She stopped suddenly, then continued on as if she had never paused. "But about a week ago... you started saying my name." Aang's heart dropped. It was all over-

"So, I'm going to ask you again. How have you been sleeping?"

Aang's mouth had run dry. The air in the room felt heavy and unbearable. What had she heard? Had she really heard anything at all? Aang continued to mull over the possible answers he could give. He wasn't entirely sure of what to say. If she hadn't heard anything particularly devastating, he could get away with a simple lie, and never have to worry about it. But if she had heard something, and she was simply toying with him for answers, then lying would only make it worse. He settled for lying.

"I told you, I've been sleeping great."

She let out a long, exasperated sigh. This is it. She knows about everything, thought Aang. Then, with the patience only an airbender could have, he waited for her to accuse him of lying. What happened instead was truely startling.

Katara, instead of speaking, simply rummaged around in her knapsack for a minute before she pulled out her waterskin. Then, turning to finally look him in the eye, she bent to his level and motioned for him to take his shirt off. He complied, and realising she was just going through another healing excercise, breathed lowly in relief.

She went about the normal routine, being extra careful and gentle as usual. Her soothing hands brought relief and peace to his aching nerves. Soon, Aang found himself drifting off into a contented sort of sleep. Just as he was about to leave the world that plagued his young mind, and was barely aware of his surroundings, he felt Katara's presence stand up and begin towards the tent entrance.

Slumber was taking him away quickly, but he fought it, just to see her leave. As she was about to close the flap however, she turned, and seeing his eyes closed, she must have assumed he was asleep. She looked torn; her brow creased in a way he had never seen before. Then, a sort of calm overcame her features, one that almost made him smile.

Just before she turned to leave she whispered softly, so softly he almost didn't hear it.

"I love you too."

His heart thundered loudly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N:

Okay, so I'm not very sure about this piece. One reason, is because so many people have done post ba sing se stories, and seeing as how I've already done a poem on it, I feel like this topic is kind of tired. But now I promise to bury it and move on to bigger and better ideas.

I had a hard time with the ending, but I like what I decided on.

I wrote this in about two days. Sorry it took so long to update.

I'm currently working on another fic, this time it will be a pre ba sing se. should be lots of laughs!

please review! Thanks for reading!