Chapter 4
Slowly lifting his heavy eyelids Aang allowed the bright moonlight pour in. He shifted in the saddle, his eyes falling on a sleeping Toph and Sokka… But where was
"Hey"
Aang shot strait up in the air in the air when he heard the whisper behind him. Turning around so he realized he had scared Katara with his jump too.
"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. Oh man, I'm so sorry!"
"No, it's okay. Katara, really, don't worry about it" Aang said, trying to calm the worried girl down.
Seeing that he was okay Katara's eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement. Aang found himself lost in her beauty yet again.
As the moon and stars spilled over the flying beast she spoke again.
"Can I fly him?" she asked pointing to the reins laid ever so carefully on the bison's head. Aang nodded and took her hand. He led her around their sleeping friends and onto Appa's head. Taking the reins in hand Katara began to get the hang of steering.
'Man, she's so beautiful… Wait! I can't say that about my best friend! Oh forget it. She's gorgeous and you know it.' Aang battled like this in head for quite a while. Only when he heard the sound of Katara's voice did he snap out of his trance.
"Aang… Aang! We're going down! How do I stop him?!"
Now that she mentioned it, the young monk noticed the giant bison was slowly sloping downward, despite Katara's desperate struggles to straiten their course.
"Oh, you're pulling back instead of up. It throws him off a little." Aang explained, analyzing the situation. "Look, you just shift your weight upward and… it's kind of hard to explain. Here"
He moved closer to where she was sitting and put his arms around hers, adjusting her position. As he moved her arms to the correct form Appa began to even out. Aang knew that this was the part where he let go of Katara, put he couldn't bring himself to release her from his grip.
"See, you just have to…" Aang trailed off as he felt himself leaning in.
Sokka woke to a very strange sensation, almost as if he was falling. When he opened his eyes, however, the sensation was gone and Appa was moving in a strait line. He instinctively looked toward Appa's head, where he saw something he didn't expect.
Now, Sokka isn't the type of person who stops to think about what he is saying, so he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.
"What are you two doing!"
Replaying it in his mind Sokka realized that came out ruder and angrier than he intended.
Aang and Katara, who at the moment were extremely close to each other immediately backed off at the sound of Sokka's voice. Clearly embarrassed a blush spread across both of their faces as they began making their way back to the saddle.
"Umm… we weren't doing anything! 'Cause I mean if that's what you were thinking, we definitely weren't doing it" Aang stumbled around on his words almost as much as he did his own two feet. Katara, who was the obviously more put-together of the two quickly curled up in a corner of the saddle next to Toph.
"I'm really tired Sokka. We'll talk in the morning, okay?"
Getting the hint Aang layed down on Katara's other side, and the two immediately fell asleep, comforted by each other's presence.
"I'm not mad." Sokka replied, though both kids were already asleep. He realized that because the two were asleep it was now his job to take over steering Appa. "I just… wasn't thinking, and… she's my little sister. Oh man, this is so confusing."
Turning so he was on his back he faced the stars above.
"It's complicated, Huh Yue? I mean, I do want them to get together, but it's weird. He's like my little brother. I know, I know. I guess I saw this coming from the start. Yeah, I shouldn't worry about it. I mean, whatever happens, happens, right? Thanks Yue, you always know what to say."
The moon shone particularly bright that night. Its gentle light cradled the travelers protectively, some would even say lovingly. As Sokka drifted off to sleep he could swear he heard some one, something whisper into the darkness.
"I will always be with you"