A/N: I still might add more vignettes later if I get bored.
Jet
Katara was embarrassed. She had trusted Jet. She had believed in him. As little as she now wanted to admit it to herself, Katara had even been attracted to Jet. The rogue had seemed so cool and poised in the face of danger, and had a sense of righteousness that could rival even the most honorable man. Of course, Jet was not an honorable man, and whatever righteousness and good intentions he may or may not have had at some point had mutated into pure vengeance. Jet had been so suave, and his silver-tongue so quick with lies that Katara fell right into his ploy. To herself, Katara briefly wondered how many other innocent girls Jet lured into his trap with a piece of straw clenched in his smirk.
The spirits had definitely granted Jet with a beautiful face, but forgot the heart to go with. Katara had always thought herself above shallow dalliances, and sought a person more for their mind than physique, but in the end, she wasn't above it at all. She was just a naïve girl from the Water Tribe. There were many times Katara doubted her worth and contribution towards the mission with the avatar, but none more so than today. Perhaps she was not made out for the vast world, and never should have left her humble beginnings at the Water Tribe.
"So, do you want to talk about?" Aang stretched out his words, and cautiously approached Katara from behind. The young girl had originally been sent out to find firewood once they set up camp. She had been so lost in her musings, the sun had already began to sink below the horizon.
"Not really," Katara muttered, eyes downcast to avoid Aang's face. She was waiting for Aang to make some kind of joke to try to lessen the tension, which is why Katara started in shock when she felt Aang's arms wrap around her. The airbender's fingers threaded through the thick knot in her hair, bringing to head down to rest upon his shoulder. Before Katara could contain her emotions, her entire body began shuddering in response to the act of tenderness Aang showed her.
"How could I be so stupid?" Katara sobbed. "How could I have trusted someone like that?"
"You're not stupid, Katara," Aang murmured, his hand not wound in her hand began rubbing soothing circles on her back. "You are a kind, trusting person. That doesn't make you stupid. That makes you a good person."
Just for a moment, Katara felt her heart flutter in her chest. The two stood in their embrace for a few minutes longer, allowing Katara time to compose herself. Pulling away from the avatar, rubbing her face clean, Katara shot Aang a reassuring smile to let him know that she was okay.
"Thanks, Aang. Can I keep you? You always know what to say."
Aang shot her a wink, before gathering firewood, which was Katara's initial task before she became distracted. "Try and keep me away."
The Storm
Sitting in the damp cave, listening to the rain pound down outside, Aang had completely spilled his heart to Katara. Katara knew Aang had a lot of mixed feelings when it came to his destiny. In the past, he had given small hints, such as mentioning how he never wanted to be the avatar, but the young waterbender never imagined it ran this far. Aang was lost.
The guilt of not noticing earlier weighed heavily on Katara. She was supposed to be Aang's best friend. She often turned to the airbender for guidance, but how many times did she return the platitudes? It did not take a genius to realize that to accept the responsibility of the avatar so young would be a burden, never mind the fact that Aang woke up in a whole new world, where everything he knew and loved was gone. All of this time, she had thought Aang had been coping, but watching the avatar break down in front of her showed Katara just how wrong she truly was.
"The fisherman was right! I did turn my back on the world!" Aang was growing more and more frustrated with himself. If he had hair, Katara would bet that he would currently be pulling at its ends.
"You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders," Katara tried to soothe the wounds of the hurting boy.
"You don't know that."
"I know it was meant to be," Katara responded fiercely, confident in her convictions. "The world needs you now. You give people hope."
Aang smiled up at Katara, a flicker of light breaking through the avatar's storm. The look shared between the two of them was so heavy, that Katara almost forgot to breathe. The words Katara didn't speak were still floating around in her mind, growing in weight as her emotions swelled within in.
Katara had wanted to say, "You give me hope. Can I keep you? Please? For just a bit longer, can we keep you?" Yet, those words would not come out. It felt as if Katara spoke one more syllable, something would break, and Katara was too afraid to find out what that something was.
In the end, Katara did not have a choice. The fisherman's wife came rushing into the cave, begging for the lives of her husband and Sokka. Suddenly, all the thoughts swirling around Katara's mind spilled out of her head like a cloud releasing rain. The young waterbender forgot about everything she had wanted to say to the avatar, and focused on saving her brother.
Tales of Ba Sing Se
Aang heard Katara and Toph giggling maniacally as they returned to the house from their trip to the Day Spa. The young boy might be the avatar, but he would never understand how women could enjoy getting all pampered up. It seemed like torture to spend hours on your clothes, hair, and make-up, but it might just be a girl thing. Then again, Sokka's definition of a "boy's thing" included hunting cute, little animals, so Aang wasn't really sure what to believe. Maybe he was just weird.
"How was your trip?" Aang called out, distracted by Momo's antics. Aang would hold a nut out to the little flying lemur, and the moment Momo would stretch his arm out for the treat, Aang would airbend it away. With the girls and Sokka gone all day, Aang was bored. His entertainment could only be found in teasing his little, flying friend. There were only so many times in a day Aang could practice his bending skills.
"It was great," Katara hummed absently, making her way past Aang and Momo. Aang had now added little loops in the nut's trajectory, and was putting all his concentration in keeping the morsel away from the lemur. "Toph even let them clean her feet."
Aang looked up to make a quip at Toph's expense, and found all the air whooshing out of his lungs. For an airbender, it was very disconcerting. Ever since Aang first opened his eyes in the icy tundra of the South Pole, he had thought Katara was beautiful. The avatar had traveled all across the world, and he had yet to meet someone whose beauty and charm compared. Now, seeing Katara before him, made up like a doll, he was speechless.
Katara never wore make-up. When they lived their life on the run, constantly running or battling those fighting against them, make-up becomes a hindrance. Seeing Katara shine under such feminine splendor made Aang suddenly glad Katara favored utility over vanity. Aang did not want any other men seeing Katara as such an alluring subject.
"Uh, Katara!" Aang squeaked, his voice going up at least two octaves. "You look, wow. I mean, you look…"
"Geez, Aang, you could give a girl a complex," Toph chided, whacking Aang in the shoulder as she passed the stuttering and blushing boy.
Aang cleared his throat, steadying himself. "Katara, you look beautiful. You too, Toph."
The airbender felt as if he got through that exchange fairly painlessly, and just as his flush began to leave his face, Katara leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.
Katara smirked as Aang became even redder than an apple. "Can I keep you, Aang? You work wonders on a girl's confidence."
Aang sat there, mouth agape, as Katara and Toph swept out of the room in a flurry of laughter. The boy was in such a state of shock, he did not notice that Momo finally managed to snatch the nut.
Post-A:TLA
It had been four years since Aang took down Fire Lord Ozai, and ended the One-Hundred Year War. That did not mean, however, that the kids lived the rest of their days in peace. The world was in tatters, completely torn apart from decades of warfare. Slowly but surely, the avatar was stitching the world back together, trying to bring back peace and harmony.
The anniversary for the end of the war was fast approaching, and no matter what engaged those of the group of friends, they always made sure to meet up at the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se. Despite how much Aang wished they could have stuck together, everyone had their own duties to fulfill. Zuko had an entire nation to run, Toph started her own earthbending school, and Sokka spent his time jumping between the nations to help create a more unified government. Only Katara and Aang remained together after the end of the world, and while they missed their friends, Aang wouldn't abandon his time with Katara for anything in the entire world.
On the day of the anniversary, Katara noticed Aang was conspicuously nervous. The now older avatar did not even react when Zuko showed up with Mai, their on-again off-again relationship obviously on the upturn. Nor did he react when Toph purposely spilled an entire pot of tea on him, hoping to raise his ire. Sokka's raucous laughter had died when Aang waterbended all of the tea out of his clothes, and continued in his distracted twitching.
The sun began to sink, bathing the tea shop in a myriad of colors. Aang pulled Katara out to the balcony, and she was overwhelmed with the sense of déjà vu. Only four years earlier, did the two stand on this very balcony, merely children, and decided to propel forward with their relationship. If it weren't for Aang's ridiculous growth spurt over the last several years, Katara would swear that she had stepped backwards through time.
Neither said a word as Aang turned to face Katara, his grey eyes sparkling in the fading light. The airbender flashed Katara a grin so shy, it was almost reminiscent of his twelve-year old self. His hand fumbled in his pocket for a moment, before it could escape the fabric. Aang pressed an object into Katara's hand, took a deep breath, and asked, "Can I keep you?"
Resting in Katara's palm was a water tribe betrothal necklace.