Hola readers, here is a revised edtition of my previous train wrecked chapters...no worries nothing is different it's just rewritten so it's easier to read :)
Aang woke up the next morning fresh and ready for the new day to begin. He got dressed and flew down to see Appa. He was still sleeping so he decided to run into the Jasmine Dragon and snatch a few fruits for him. Walking back out he looked up and see Katara brushing her hair near her window. Aang couldn't help but smile and feel lucky that he had captured the heart of the most beautiful woman in the world. He then went back to the stable and left the fruits there for Appa along with a pile of hay.
"I'll be back later buddy."
Then he walked back in the tea shop and up the stairs to her room and knocked lightly on the door and heard her say "come in."
"Good morning Katara."
"Good morning Aang. How did you sleep?"
"Well not as good as I could have that's for sure." He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Katara leaned her head back on his shoulder and they swayed in place, happy to be in each other's arms. Aang ran his hands through her hair and smelled the scent of lavender. While Aang was lost in thought she turned around and placed her hand lightly on his face. He gazed into her blue eyes knowing full well he could be lost in them forever. She slowly brought her lips closer to his and right at that moment someone walked in on them again.
"Good mor...ok seriously you weren't here all night were you?"
"Sokka, you really have the worst timing ever." Aang regretfully breaks the almost kiss and turn to face him.
"No seriously answer my question."
"No I just came up to tell her good morning."
"You know it's a good thing you were raised by monks. Iroh says breakfast is ready and not to forget about the huge meeting today."
"Come on Aang, I'm hungry." Katara says relieving the tension the in the room.
They headed down stair to the smell on teas and eggs. Aang never would have pegged Iroh as a cook but he seems to love it.
"Did anyone ever find the Earth King?" He asked curiously.
"Yes, he should be here by the time the meeting starts, some of the members of the Order went to search for him after we finished our battle here." Iroh replies.
"And Dad and Chief Arnook should be arriving sometime then also. Then the meeting will take place." said Sokka.
"Where are Zuko and Mai?" Katara asked.
"You don't want to know." Replied Toph and the group all shared a small laugh.
"So Iroh, you still going to teach Zuko and I to create lightening?" Aang asked excited.
"Sure that is if Zuko ever wakes up!" they all couldn't contain their laughter this time.
Later that afternoon Toph and Aang created a tall mountain like structure with a flat top. They wanted to be able to practice without setting everything on fire by accident. Appa flew everyone up there then left because he didn't want to be around all the fire bending going on. Zuko and Aang walked towards the front with Iroh while the others stayed near the back.
"Now to create lightening you must balance the positive and negative energy within yourself. To do this you must be free from turmoil and conflict and have a peaceful mindset. Then once the positive and negative energy combine you create lightening. But remember you do not command the lightening you just guide it where you want it to go. Here are the movements."
Iroh demonstrated the circular pattern that we were to imitate. After practicing the movements and getting our chi flowing we attempted to create it. Zuko went first and he let it out with a blaze of glory. Aang got excited to try.
"Nice job Zuko, but remember to hold your feet steady so you don't get blown away. Avatar you're next." Iroh said.
Aang walked up to the edge of the cliff and breathed in and out slowly a couple of times to clear his head. He dropped into the first part of the stance and brought his right hand up into his face. He could feel the energy building up inside of him. He then brought his right hand down and his left hand up. His fingers started crackle but he didn't want to open his eyes because he didn't want to lose his concentration. Then his left hand came down as his right started coming up again. Then he brought them both together in front and he could hear it crackling in his face. He could feel it building inside and if he didn't let it go he could explode. He moved his left foot back to stabilize himself and extended his right hand the lightening burst forth. He opened his eyes to see it puncturing the sky. And felt immediately weakened, but very exhilarated.
"Well done Avatar. Now strengthening will come with time. And soon it will take no more strength to create it as it does to drink tea."
Katara ran up to him and threw her arm around Aang, "That was amazing, how did it feel?"
"Exhilarating, but a little scary at the same time. I had it but it's like it's using me and not the other way around. A very strange feeling."
She kissed his cheek then his lips as Aang pulled her into his arms.
"Hold on I want to try again."
She backs away as he tries again a second time. This time he kept his eyes open. He could see the sparks in between his fingers as he circled them around his body but this time he wanted to see how long he could hold it for. As he brought his hands close together he started to build up resistance. The power building inside of him was all consuming. Aang's hands start to move involuntarily but he commanded them back. His body starts shaking as the lightening around him gets more and more intense. He can hear Iroh shouting something at him but he can't hear what he is saying. He finally decide that he needed to let the energy go and the beauty of power being released was breath taking. Little did he know that he was flying through the air when he started to black out. The energy had lifted him off the make shift mountain and had taken all his strength and he couldn't bend to save himself. And he was falling…fast…
Aang woke up in a bed; his bed by the feel of it. He had the worst headache he can remember having and he could hear people whispering. He started to open his eyes but could only see blurred images.
"He's waking up!" Toph exclaimed
"Aang…Aang…can you hear me?" The worry in her voice was apparent but she sounded slightly relieved.
"Go tell Iroh he's awake." Toph barked and someone left the room.
Aang could hear something getting put in water then a wet rag it placed on his head. He shivered at its coolness and raised his hand up to it. Katara grabs it and kisses it and pulls it to her chest holding tightly. He starts to smile as the picture becomes clearer. He sees Katara's face full of worry he takes his hand away from hers and puts it on her face. She smiles at him. Just then the door reopens and Zuko and Iroh are coming towards Aang.
"Aang, my boy, how do you feel?" Iroh asks.
"Weak." He replied, and it sounded like it.
"As you should be. You cannot command lightening the longer you keep its energy inside you the more it takes out of you. Please promise me you won't do that again."
"I promise…what happened? I remember releasing it and flying throw the air but nothing afterward."
"Well", Katara started to explain, "When you held it inside of you your body started to vibrate. Iroh was yelling at you to release it but you didn't. You started floating off the ground and we were all shocked. Then when you released it you shot off in the opposite direction. We called Appa but he wasn't fast enough to keep you from hitting the ground. I water bended some cushion for you but I don't think it helped at all."
"Is anything broken?"
"No just a sprained arm and leg and a few bruises and scratches."
"What! You can't heal that?" Aang was shocked she had left him broken like this.
"Hey I was waiting until you woke up so you could see what a horrible mistake you made."
Katara's face got hard but he could see small tears forming in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I just had to experiment."
"Well next time young Avatar, don't experiment with something that you can't control…it just may cost your life." Iroh stated as he left the room.
"Can I have something to drink?" With all the talking Aang realized how badly his mouth was chapped. Sokka brought him a glass of water which was gone in a second.
"Have you learned your lesson?" Katara asked in a motherly voice.
"Yes ma'am." Aang answered with a small smile.
"Would you like me to heal you now?" In the same motherly tone.
"Yes..."
"Well hurry it up the meeting starts in a couple hours and then we have a huge party to go to and he needs to be showered and dressed." Sokka stated.
"Sokka when did you get all fatherly?" asked Suki.
"Well someone needs to be in charge since the person that is usually in charge is stuck to his bed in a daze."
Suki tilted her head up and kissed Sokka then they left the room together.
"Well I'm going to go, later twinkle-toes." Toph exited.
Katara and Aang were alone. He could feel Katara working on his leg. It felt good to be healed.
Even though she didn't want to learn healing at first in the north pole Katara was glad she did; for times like these that even the most wise of people can make stupid mistakes.
"Thank you Katara." Aang said sheepishly.
"Why did you do it?" She asked harshly, to his surprise.
"What's the matter?" He knew it was a stupid question but he had to ask.
"Why do something like that. Iroh said earlier you can't command it, then you kiss me and tell me you love me and then you go and try to get yourself blown up. I mean seriously Aang, what went through your head! I don't think I can lose you, not after everything we went through. It's just too much for me to know that you beat down the fire lord only to blow yourself up with lightening."
It wasn't until then when her voice choked that he saw she was trying not to cry. Aang sat up much to his hurt arm's dismay and reached for her.
"Katara, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I promise I'll never put you through something like this again." He held her. Her head under the crook of his neck and his good arm rubbed the outside of her arm. She cried and he could feel her cold tears running down his bare chest. Aang felt guilty for putting her in this situation. He needed to be more careful. She didn't want to lose him any more than he wanted to lose her. After a few minutes her crying subsided and she finished healing his leg. When she started working on his arm he pulled her in for a kiss. It was a little salty considering she had been crying recently, but she responded in kind then got back to healing his arm. They sat there in silence not needing to speak, their actions spoke for themselves. They knew they loved each other and that was all that mattered. When she finished she left to go get herself ready for the evening and left Aang alone on his bed.
He got up and went to the wash closet heated the water and soaked. What was I thinking? I almost lost everything. I almost lost Katara. You would think that with everything I have been through I would show more common sense. But I am only 15 I guess it's in my nature a little bit…stupid. But still, that was reckless even for me. If I'm going to make Katara happy I need to be in better control of myself in all aspects. He made himself this promise. And he made himself another promise, one that he realized while holding his crying beloved in his arms. He would ask Katara's dad for her hand.