Prompt: Strength and Weakness

Rating: PG13

Authors Note: Age is up to your mind, but I would say, they're not older than 16/18 here.

"He has no weakness. He's the Avatar! Now leave me alone."
It was obvious the young boy would not answer any more questions to him.
The man nodded, not without muttering some words only meant for himself, and threw two copper pieces on the ground. Then he vanished in the crowd, and neither the boy nor his friend ever saw him again.

Zuko surrendered to Mai: "Okay, okay. You won. Orange IS an awful color."
Mai, as usual, refused to show even the smallest smile, as long as she was not truly alone with him: "And that's why I don't want to see it in our bedroom. No. Orange. Fabric. Anywhere."
Someone laughed. It was Sokka who had followed the argument between the two lovers within the last few minutes, and, as he had predicted, Zuko had lost, as always.
"No orange? What about Aang's dress?" he asked, still smiling.
The Firelord took a seat, sighing in defeat and his wife shook her head: "The Avatar's dress is not hanging in my bedroom all day. So it's different." The look in her eyes marked the end of that argument.
Time passed. Zuko was still pondering about some different shades of "orange", since he wanted to replace the depressing ruby of his fathers former bedroom. Sokka felt as if he had done something wrong again: just an hour ago, he had an argument about Toph and her new boyfriend, a man who was nearly twice as old as her. For him, it simply did not feel right; yes, she was now a few years older than the day he had met her first.
And for Mai the day seemed to be as dull as every other day she could not have Zuko for herself. Especially now, she wanted to spend some hours with him, alone, without Sokka or Toph around. 'At least Aang and Katara are not in the Palace ...'

-=o=-

It had been his decision. The Avatar had decided to spend the entire week with his girlfriend, and, with exception of a message hawk, which brought a scroll with a distress call of a nearby village, the attempt had been successful. He never had seen her that happy, and he could not remember when he felt that free and peaceful the last time: even now, years after the war, the world was still not in peace with itself.

The sun had set already and the first stars were visible on the sky. It was this time both lovers enjoyed most. Simply gazing into the stars, sensing the beauty of the world and the universe itself. For her, it was just an amazing sight, for him, it was the window to the truth, to the power that was housed by his young body.
Hours passed without being noticed by the two lovers. His hand held hers, slowly rubbing with his thumb over her soft skin, resulting in a happy sigh of her.
"I thought about something ..." Aang began, breaking the peaceful silence. She answered with not more than a questioning look at him.
"I though about you, and how much I need you, Katara. How much I rely on you." Her hand squeezed his slightly in joy, but she did not say a word.
"What do you think? Am I too much attached to you?" His voice was calm, as if he was speaking more to himself than to her.
"No, not in my eyes." Her hand freed itself from his soft grip and found its way to his face, tracing his ear. "I don't think you're too much attached. You're in love, you gave me your heart. But it came with a price, since I gave you my heart as well. We're attached to each other by our love." Katara kissed Aang on his parting lips, silencing him and the question he was about to ask.

'Don't ask yourself too many questions, don't torture yourself.'

Her kiss ended far too soon. The heart pounded in his chest, as always when he shared a kiss with his true love. But it had not been enough to silence his mind, not this time. He was still looking for an answer.
"Someone could use our love against us ... " Aang whispered, wondering if his own mind would deliver him the answer he was craving for.
"Who? The war is over, and all people see you as the one, who ended it."
The young Airbender closed his eyes, remembering an incident a few months ago. He never had told her, and he did not feel as if this beautiful night was the right time to tell her: "No ... not all ..."
"You're not telling me everything. I know you too well." Katara smiled at him, but the look in her eyes told him how worried she was.

"I am sure you remember the day when I had to go on a mission for Zuko a while ago? It was a mission in one of those former colonies which refused to disband." Aang stopped, trying to recover the images in his memory. "Never saw so many despaired people, not even while the war was still going. Some of these people were old, born in the colonies. They have spend their entire life there, and now, they have to move. For them, I pretty much took anything they had. Katara, they're victims, I failed."
She waited, allowing Aang to finish.
"There was a man, a former general. He told me, that he lost anything, and that he wished I would have died a hundred years ago. That was all he said to me, but it wasn't the last thing I saw of him. The night later, I felt uneasy, as if I was in danger. I couldn't sleep. And then, when I was about to fall asleep, someone entered my room."
"It was him, I guess?"
Aang shook his head: "No. It was the innkeeper. He left a scroll, with just a few words. It said 'We know your weakness.' Not more, not less. But I know what those words mean. They're pointing at you, since I couldn't be the Avatar anymore without you. These people hate me, for what I did to them, and since I saw them, I can understand them."
Neither he nor Katara had the urge to say a word, it was silent, just broken by a few distant crickets. The night turned old, although it was far too early for the first daylight.
"You didn't fail." Katara finally broke the silence, trying to ease Aang's racing mind. "You did your best, and you ended the suffering for most people. Don't be afraid because a few can't see what you did with ending the world. One day, they will be thankful as well." Her hand caressed his face, her lips lingered above his mouth.
"I hope so." He pulled her closer and received her waiting kiss.

-=o=-

She sensed him: a tall man, nearly 7 feet and 2 inches tall, right behind her. She knew who he was, and she was surprised he was still alive. The last time the group had met him, had been at the Western Airtemple. There, Combustion Man had blown himself into oblivion, at least that was, was everyone thought. Somehow, he had survived.
"No way ..." From one second to another, Toph was in fighting stance, and not too early: Combustion Man used his unique bending to release a huge blast against the young Earthbender.
It was close, too close. The girl could barely evade his strike. Hearing him taking another deep breath, Toph prepared herself to be blasted against the wall; it was impossible to deflect his attacks with walls of stone, they usually got shattered with one strike. And it did not help much he just needed a brief moment to prepare another strike.
Combustion Man looked at the girl in front of him. For him, there was no use to fight her, since the Avatar was not around, or he would have been with her.
"Where is the Avatar?" he growled with a deep voice he nearly never used, not expecting any answer. He wasn't surprised, when the Earthbender attacked him once more.

-=( To be continued on Saturday "In my Arms" )=-