Author's Note: Hey guys. Hope y'all are doing well. Oh, and I now know when I will update Avatar High (which has been on hiatus for a little while). I will update it during Christmas Break, which is in two weeks! Also, I have created an Instagram account specifically for my fanfiction. Instagram account: atla_fanfics. I will be posting updates, edits, and fanarts for my stories there, so if you'd like to follow it, feel free. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter of Blood In Then Snow. Please, please, please R&R (read and review) below!
Disclaimer: I do no own Avatar The Last Airbender.
Aang was shaken awake by a pair of rough hands. He groaned and groggily pushed away the hands. However, the person that stood behind these hands was persistent and only shook him harder. Finally Aang gave in and sat up in bed.
"What is it?" he said sleepily when he saw Sokka standing there, "And why are you up this early? You always sleep late."
"Not today I don't. Remember? My dad and me are taking you fishing today. In order to get back by the evening we gotta leave now."
Aang thought back to the day before and remembered how he, Sokka, and Hakoda had all had some man-to-man time. When Sokka and Hakoda had started talking about fishing and hunting, Aang had zoned out. At some point during that time, he must have absent mindedly agreed to going fishing with them.
"Sokka," Aang protested, "You know I don't eat meat, and that includes fish."
"I know Aang, and although I think it's pretty stupid, I respect that. You are just coming along to spend some more man-to-man time."
Aang groaned and tried to crawl back under the covers, but Sokka pulled the blanket off of him leaving Aang exposed to the cold South Pole air in just a pair of pants.
"C'mon Aang. Just get up already," Sokka nagged.
"Isn't it usually the other way around with me or Katara trying to drag you out of bed?" Aang grumbled.
"Yeah, but not today. Fishing trips are one of the few exceptions to my sleeping patterns."
Aang rolled his eyes as he pulled on his usual one shoulder robe. He tied the sash around his waist then pulled on his puts. He then slipped on the parka he'd been given. As Sokka led him out of the room, Aang asked if he could at least say goodbye to Katara. Sokka sighed.
"Alright," the nonbender grumbled, "But make it quick and meet me and dad outside when you're done."
Aang thanked him before rushing off to Katara's room with speed only an airbender could acquire. When he got to her room, he quietly cracked open her door. As he slipped into her room, he disturbed Momo, who must have decided to bed down in Katara's room the previous night. Momo made irked chirping sounds at Aang, and Aang held his hands up, trying to calm the annoyed lemur.
"Shhh. Momo! I'm sorry, okay? Please be quiet. Katara is sleeping!" Aang whispered to him. But it was too late. Katara had sat up in bed and was sleepily blinking her eyes at him.
"Aang? What are you doing?" she asked him languidly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just coming to see you before I left," Aang said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Before you left? What do you mean?" Katara asked him, now more awake.
"Apparently I unknowingly agreed to a fishing trip with your father and your brother," Aang explained.
"How long will you be gone?"
"Just for the day. We should be back in the evening."
"Oh," Katara said. She let out a small yawn and Aang smiled.
"Why don't you get back to bed?" he said, walking over to her and planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Be careful," Katara mumbled drowsily, "Sometimes the water can get pretty rough."
"I will be. Don't worry. Now get some sleep. I'll see you this evening."
When Aang finally got outside, Sokka was impatiently tapping his foot by the door.
"It's about time," the older boy said. He then motioned for Aang to follow him.
"C'mon, dad's waiting for us down by the ocean with the canoe," Sokka told him. Aang hurried after him, his boots making footprints in the white blanket of snow that permanently covered the ground. Neither of the two boys talked at first, but then Sokka spoke.
"You know I do approve of you and Katara right?"
"Huh?" Aang said confused, "What do you mean?"
"I know sometimes I may seem disapproving of you and my sister dating, but I accept it. Heck, I even admire it. I mean, the way you care for her and protect her, its amazing honestly. I wish I was that good of a boyfriend to Suki. That maybe part of the reason I act the way I do. I guess I am just jealous that a guy three years younger than me knows how to take care of his girlfriend better than I do. I mean, my first girlfriend turned into the moon and I couldn't do anything about it. I know if you were in my place and it were Katara, you would have found a way to save her. I guess I just feel like I'll never be good enough." Sokka had stopped walking at this point and was now staring down at his feet. A stray tear fell down his face at the memory of Yue. It fell into the snow where it froze and turned into just another solidified water molecule.
"Sokka, what are you talking about? Of course you're good enough. Suki loves you for who you are. And we all make mistakes. And trust me, I know how you feel. Sometimes, I feel like I'm not a good enough boyfriend to Katara, no matter how many times she reassures me. But I know I love her and that's what's really important, isn't it?" Aang said walking over and laying a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I suppose so," Sokka said quietly. He then turned his head to Aang.
"And trust me, you are a great boyfriend to Katara. She loves you a lot. You know that right?"
"Yeah. And I love her."
"I know you do," Sokka said, clapping his younger friend on the back, his chipper mood back, "Take good care of my sister, okay?"
"Trust me, I will. I'll always take care of her, in this life, and the next."
Sokka shook his head, a small smile on his face.
"What?" Aang said.
"It's just your devotion to her, it really is incredible."
Aang rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, I love her," the avatar said blushing a little bit.
Sokka just smiled, happy his sister had such a loyal boyfriend to love and care for her.
"C'mon," the Water Tribe warrior then said, "My dad's probably wondering where we are."
When the two boys reached where Hakoda was with the canoe, the sun had finally started to makes an appearance, just peaking over the snow drifts and glaciers.
"Hey you two. Where have you been?" Hakoda said good-naturedly.
"Sorry dad. We were just talking about some stuff," Sokka replied.
"Well, how about we go ahead and push off. The fish won't wait for us!"
"Got it," Sokka said, beginning to help Hakoda untie the canoe.
"Aang, can you grab the fishing gear for me?" Hakoda asked.
"Hm? Oh, yes sir. I got it." Aang picked up the fishing poles, nets, and spears and put them in the canoe. It was a rather large canoe, built for three people. The fishing gear sat on the bottom of it alongside with a basket that must've been brought along to put any fish they caught in.
"Thanks Aang," Hakoda said, looking up from where he was helping Sokka. Sokka then climbed into the canoe as he and his dad finished untying the last knot. Hakoda followed Sokka and pushed off from the dock. Sokka handed Aang a paddle, motioning for him to follow his lead. Aang quickly got the hang of steering the canoe and soon enough, the dock was out of sight. They paddle a while before coming to stop. Hakoda set up the poles and baited them before casting the lines out into the water. He handed one to Sokka and knowing Aang's dislike of killing animals, took the other one himself. He handed Aang the basket, instructing him to hold it there so that when he or Sokka caught something, it could be placed in there. Then, the three sat back and waited.
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
"Good Kaito! Good! You've got the hang of this now," Katara praised as the boy completed a waterbending maneuver. The boy grinned and bowed to Katara. Katara smiled and bowed back to him before moving on to help out another student. She found a girl in the back that seemed a bit distracted. Katara walked over to her.
"Hey, your name is Nukka, right?" Katara asked the girl who nodded in return.
"Okay then. Do you need any help Nukka?"
Nukka shook her head, her eyes focused on another point in the room. Katara followed her eyes and saw what, or more accurately, who, Nukka was looking at. It was another boy in the class, Ikei if Katara remembered correctly from yesterday. Ikei looked over, and seeing Nukka looking at him, he grinned and waved. Nukka quickly looked away blushing. Katara saw this and smiled.
"Ah, I see what's going on here," Katara said to Nukka, who looked down at her feet.
"Nothing is going on," she squeaked.
"Hey, it's okay to like someone," Katara reassured the young girl, "It's completely normal." Katara then looked back at Ikei who was looking over at them, or more accurately, looking at Nukka.
"And it seems to me that he might feel the same way," Katara added smiling softly.
Nukka lifted her head.
"Really?" the girl asked softly.
"Yeah."
"So, what do I do?"
"Well, for now, I'd focus on becoming better friends with him. And it doesn't hurt to throw in some flirting," Katara said chuckling, "However, sometimes boys can be oblivious to the kind of stuff, so when the time is right, if you feel like you need to be the one to make the move, go ahead and do it."
"How will I know when it's the right time?"
"Trust me, you will," Katara said, smiling at the younger girl.
"Okay," the younger girl chirped, looking much happier now, "Thank you Master Katara."
"You're welcome Nukka," Katara said smiling, "Now how about you get to work on some waterbending techniques?
At the end of class, Katara walked out of the large igloo that the waterbending classes were held in and frowned, looking up at the dark clouds covering the clouds.
"Looks like a storm's coming," a voice remarked from behind her.
Katara turned, startled, and saw Yakone standing behind her, his dark eyes boring into her. She felt the same uneasy feeling she had gotten when she had first seen him yesterday creeping up under her skin.
"Yeah. What about it?" she said cautiously. Yakone smirked at her.
"Just wondering if you dad, brother, and boyfriend will make it back okay," he said in a way that showed he did not care one bit if they got back safely or not.
"They'll be fine," Katara said, trying to convince herself as well as Yakone. She knew storms in the South Pole could get pretty rough. Especially around the time of a full moon, and the first full moon was tonight.
"Are you sure they'll be fine? I mean, they aren't the strongest bunch of people. Your brother and dad are non-benders," Yakone stated, his smirk growing when he saw he was getting her riled up.
"Don't you dare talk about my father and brother like that!" Katara yelled, "They're stronger than you and both, unlike you, played a part in ending this war! My dad led all the Southern Water Tribe warriors against the Fire Nation and helped invade the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun! And my brother helped take down an entire airship fleet during Sozin's Comet! Also, they have Aang with them, and he is the avatar! So I'd say they are pretty prepared to take on a storm."
"So what if they have the avatar with them, I've always thought he was kind of weak anyways. Pfft, the guy couldn't even take the Firelord's life, even after the Fire Nation killed off his entire nation. He's an idiot for not killing the guy when he got the chance," Yakone said rolling his eyes.
At this point, Katara practically had steam billowing out her ears.
"How dare you…" she said trembling, "Do you have any idea how much you owe to him?! He ended a century old war! And he wasn't weak for not killing the Firelord. It just goes to show how much smarter he is than you to find a better way to end the war, a way that didn't involve more killing. And personally, I think that not killing Ozai is even braver than killing him. Aang risked everything in that one move to take away Ozai's bending! Killing was the easy way out! Also, have you not seen the work he's done since the war ended? He helped the world avoid another war between the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, established a city for people of all nations to live together in harmony in, and so much more! If you really think what you said is true, than you're the idiot Yakone!"
"Whatever," Yakone said, and began to walk away. Katara narrowed her eyes.
"Don't you walk away from me like that! I wasn't finished with you yet!" Katara yelled after him.
"Katara!"
"What?!" Katara turned, still furious. When she saw it was Pakku though, she calmed down a little.
"Oh, Master Pakku, it's you."
"Katara," Pakku said, his forehead creased with worry, "You need to come see this."
B-L-O-O-D-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
"Um, Sokka? Chief- I mean, um, Hakoda? Should we start heading back now? The water seems to be getting pretty rough," Aang said. They had been out fishing all day, and had caught a lot. But, about an hour ago, the fish had stopped biting. Sokka and Hakoda were determined to catch a few more though, so they'd stayed out on the water in hopes of getting a fish to bite.
"We'll be fine Aang, just give us ten more minutes," Sokka said, focusing on the task he had at hand. Aang sighed and looked up at the sky. It was getting pretty dark out, and not the kind of dark that meant night was coming. It was the type of dark that signified the approach of a bad storm. Storms like the one Sokka had gotten caught in with that old fisherman back when they were traveling to the North Pole to learn waterbending, before the end of the war. Storms like the one that Aang had gotten caught in with Appa when he had run away from the Southern Air Temple. The one that ended with him being frozen in an iceberg for 100 years. Aang then looked down at the water, which was dark and churning. The waves were growing bigger and bigger with every minute and pieces of broken ice crashed against each other roughly.
"Sokka…"
"What Aang?"
"I really do think we should go ahead and start back to the village."
"Why?"
"Because! Look at the water Sokka! And look at the sky!"
Right when Aang said this, a big wave slapped against the side of the canoe, almost knocking Sokka and Hakoda overboard. Aang quickly grabbed both of them by the back of their parkas, saving them from completely losing their balance and falling into the freezing dark water. Their fishing poles however, were not so lucky. They fell into the water and were quickly seized by the angry ocean water, the waves carrying them away.
"Awe man! Not my fishing pole!" Sokka said. Hakoda however was now focused on the situation of the storm as he had finally noticed it. His brow furrowed.
"Aang's right Sokka," the chieftan said, "We need to get back, fast." Sokka immediately sobered at the sight of his dad's worry, and he grabbed a paddle. Hakoda grabbed the other one, then looked at Aang.
"Son, I want you to bend away any of the bigger waves that might tip the canoe, okay?" he said to the avatar.
Aang nodded.
"Yes sir, I can do that."
"Good. Sokka, start paddling."
The pony-tailed warrior nodded, and got to work. He and Hakoda maneuvered the canoe through the ice flow as best as they could while Aang sought to keep any and all dangerous waves heading for the three of them. The water grew more and more rough as they tried to get back to the village. A sudden wave that Aang couldn't stop as he was in the process of bending back a different one that had been approaching the front end of the canoe. It hit the canoe with a thud and water splashed into the bottom. Aang almost toppled over into the water, but regained his balance with the help of some airbending.
"Aang!" Hakoda shouted over the wind.
"Yeah?"
"Here," Hakoda tossed Aang a rope, "Tie this to the boat then tie it around your waist so if you fall, you won't be swept away!"
"Got it!" Aang said, catching the rope and bending down to tie it to the canoe as Sokka and Hakoda tied themselves in as well. He then started to tie the other end to himself. However, as he did this, a dark shadow fell over the canoe. Aang looked up just in time to see a massive swell of dark swirling water crashing down over them…
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
Katara gasped as she approached the dock. The turbulent water rose up in huge waves all around the small wooden boating dock. She turned to Pakku with fear in her cerulean blue eyes.
"Pakku! They're still out there!"
"I know," Pakku said worrisomely. Katara looked back out on the billowing whitecaps.
"What do we do?" she whispered fearfully.
"We can do nothing but wait and hope they make it back safely," Pakku answered, laying a hand on his granddaughter shoulder.
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
Aang felt the freezing cold water close in all around him. As he was swept along he felt the rope that he had not finished tying around his waist loosen and come undone. The rough water held him tightly in its grasp, tossing him and turning him like a rag doll. All Aang could do was hold his breath as he was carried mercilessly through the cold, dark water. Suddenly, his head broke through the surface, and Aang was able to gulp in some air. He looked around, searching for the canoe among the rough waters, but saw no sign of it. Aang could only hope that Sokka and Hakoda were okay.
Aang's thoughts were not able to last long as the current dragged him back down under.
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
As the wave crashed down on them, Hakoda and Sokka looked at each other in fear. The freezing water surged over them and they barely had time to grab a breath before it did. They felt the water try and pull them out of the canoe, but the ropes they had tied around themselves and the canoes held, and kept them from being swept away. When the wave had crashed and left them spitting out ocean water and shivering, Sokka noticed Aang was no longer in the boat. Panic rushed through his veins.
"Dad!"
"What is it Sokka?" Hakoda said, trying to stop shivering.
"Aang's gone!"
Hakoda's eyes widened as he realized the absence of the third boy.
"Oh no…"
"He must have not been able to tie the rope around him in time!" Sokka said anxiously.
"Do you see him anywhere in the water?"
"No."
The two looked desperately around, trying to spot any sign of the avatar in the rough waters. That's when Sokka saw it. A piece of red among dark blue. Aang's sash.
"Dad…" Sokka said, reaching into the water and pulled the soaked piece of cloth out, "It's Aang's sash…"
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
"There they are!" Katara shouted, seeing the canoe a couple hundred yards away from the dock.
"Let's get them in safely!" Pakku said. Both got into a waterbending stance, and taking a deep breath, started to create a push pull movement that would create a wave to bring the canoe in. When it began to work and the canoe got closer, Katara could make out the faces of her father in brother. She frowned, worry creeping up under her skin. Where was Aang?
Finally, the canoe reached the dock, and Pakku ran over to help the two back onto solid ground. Katara stood there, dread taking over her body as her brother came over to her, a devastated look in his eyes. He pulled out a piece of soaked red cloth and handed it to her. Katara closed her eyes tightly when she recognized what it was.
"No…" she said brokenly.
"I'm sorry Katara, we couldn't see him anywhere."
"How could you let this happen?!" Katara screamed at her brother, causing him to flinch.
"Katara, there wasn't anything we could do. There was a huge wave and it overtook us. Aang- he- he was knocked out of the boat."
"No…no no no. He can't be gone! We have to go back out there and find him!"
"Katara…" Hakoda said, coming over to lay a hand on his daughter's shoulder. Katara flinched away from him.
"No. Don't touch me. How could you let this happen dad! Aang, he's, he's gone!"
The girl began to sob as her dad wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm so sorry Katara. I'm so, so sorry."
But as he dad hugged her, Katara opened her eyes and through her tears, saw a flash of a face in the ocean. Her eyes widened.
"Aang!" Katara pulled out of her father's tight hold and rushed to the edge of the dock.
"Katara, I think your imagining things," Sokka said soflty, walking over to his sister. But when Katara saw the head sticking out above the water a second time, there was no mistaking it. It was Aang, trying desperately to keep his head above the water.
"Spirits, it is him," Sokka whispered, seeing the boy out in the waves.
"I'm going to go get him," Katara said, determinedly.
"Wait, what?!" Sokka said. But before he could stop her, Katara had bent a board of ice and was using her waterbending to surf across the water towards Aang.
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
Aang was had completely lost feeling in his lower extremities and was beginning to lose the feeling in his upper ones as well. He knew once that happened though, if he wasn't rescued yet, he would be a goner. His breathing had slowed considerably, and he was violently shivering. When he heard someone shouting his name, he thought he was hallucinating.
"Aang!"
There it was again. Aang struggled to turn his head towards the sound and what he saw filled him with happiness. It was Katara, rushing over to him on a board of ice. As she approached him, Aang knew he was not hallucinating. It was really her. Katara used waterbending to extend her board of ice, then pulled Aang out of the water onto it.
"Katara," he managed to say through the violent shivering and chills.
"Shhh. I'm going to get you back to shore Aang. It's going to be okay," Katara said as she situated him on the ice board so that he was held close to her with one arm and she was able to use the other one to waterbend them back to shore. However, just as they began to reach the dock, a huge wave came out of nowhere and slammed into both of them. Cold water enveloped the two, and Aang could no longer feel his arms. Darkness edged into his vision and he felt Katara's hold on him tighten and they popped up for air. A pair of strong arms then pulled both of them out of the water and on to solid ground. The last thing Aang saw before blacking out was Katara's eyes staring worriedly into his own.
B-L-O-O-D-|-I-N-|-T-H-E-|-S-N-O-W
Warmth. It surrounded Aang's body, a striking difference from the intense cold he'd felt earlier. He slowly opened his eyes and took in the room around him. He was on a cot with a large amount of blankets piled on top of him. A fire flickered in the corner of the room. His eyes looked over to the other side of the room and landed on a familiar face.
"Katara."
Katara looked up, and seeing he was awake, rushed over to Aang.
"You're awake!" she said, tackling the blanketed boy in a hug. Aang hugged her back as tight as he could through all the blankets.
"Yeah," he said, running his hands through her hair, "I'm awake." When Katara finally pulled away to look at him, Aang tried to get out from under the blankets. He stopped however when Katara put a hand to his chest.
"Katara?" he said quizzically.
"Uh, you might not want to get out from under the blankets right now. Your sorta, um, well, you're not clothed. At all," Katara said, a heavy blush spreading across her face.
"Oh," Aang said, his face reddening as well. He looked to be thinking for a minute then spoke.
"You didn't…"
"No," Katara said, knowing what he was about to ask and her face growing even more warm, "One of our male doctors did."
"Oh. Okay," Aang said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. Then he noticed that she was rather lacking in a lot of clothing as well. All Katara wore was a robe, and Aang was pretty sure there was nothing under it either.
"Um, Katara?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you… um…"
Just when Katara thought her face couldn't get anymore red, it did.
"Yeah… when that wave overtook us, well, yeah. The doctors wanted to prevent hypothermia so they made me, um, undress."
"Oh," Aang said, his face also growing warmer then he thought it could.
At that moment a healer came into the room. Her face brightened when she saw Aang was awake.
"Ah! You're awake! That is good! I'll fetch the doctor immediately," the lady said, a smile on her face. She then rushed out of the room. Katara gave Aang a small smile.
"How about I go fetch you some clothes?" she said.
"That'd be good," Aang said, chuckling embarrassedly. Katara planted a quick, but loving kiss on his lips before leaving the room, leaving Aang to wonder how he'd gotten so lucky to have Katara as his girlfriend.
