Yay for Chapter Four! I struggled with this chapter so it kind of turned out as snapshots of their first date gone amiss...but I think that good snapshots are better than a complete story that's boring. I'm terrible at writing conversation that isn't fluff motivated. Bleh. Oh well.
THANKS REVIEWERS!!!!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN AANG'S HUMOR, KATARA'S TEMPER, OR THE AWESOMENESS OF AVATAR!!
12 days later…
Sickness
I woke to the muffled noise of Aang saying my name. "Katara?" he inquired, rapping at my door lightly. I stayed buried in the covers until the world wasn't fuzzy anymore. I heard the door creak open and felt the bed move as Aang sat next to me. His warm hand traced my spine, sharpening my senses. "Wake up, sleepyhead." He murmured into my ear. I swatted at the loving hand on my back
"Mmm…go away," I ordered grumpily, immediately regretting it. Couldn't I go two minutes with out losing my temper?
"Did I do something wrong?" Aang asked, hurt and confused. I rolled over to face him, though my eyes were barely open.
"Just tired." I mumbled. "Not mad. Love you!" I lifted my arms to suggest a hug. "Kiss?" I asked when he began to bend down over me. He smiled, granting my request. His arms fell on either side of me, supporting his weight. His smell began to fill the air. It instantly perked up my mood and I sat up, glad to be with him
"I figured we should probably have a real date since we've been together for almost two weeks. You know that fountain in the courtyard?" I nodded, familiar with the place. "Meet me there an hour before sundown," he bent to kiss my neck, "'kay?" I nodded again, flustered by his hot breath on my neck.
He continued to kiss my neck. I felt my body shudder unbidden with pleasure. "Stop!" I said, as some sense came rushing back, "It'll leave a mark!" He kissed me once more and then changed position so he could lie next to me, stroking my arm.
"Hmm…you're intoxicating you know." I told him. I felt lightheaded just having him around and I felt like I might just explode from containing my love for him any moment. His pleasant scent—like summer rain—invaded my nose as a welcome outsider.
He laughed—how could he always sound so happy over the littlest things? "You're one to talk!" His nose returned to nuzzle my neck. "Just your presence changes my entire outlook." Aang carefully pulled the top of my robe down to expose my shoulders and planted a wet kiss on the top of my left collarbone. "Will it show if I do that there?" he asked, with a bit of boyish mischief twinkling in his eye.
"No…I don't think so, but why do want to anyway?" I asked. I mean, I wasn't complaining, but sucking on a person's neck can't be the greatest thing in the world.
"I…I like the cute little sounds you make." He stuttered, "It…well, it...nevermind." He blushed and buried his head into my shoulder, apparently embarrassed by the thought of what he was going to say. I put a hand under his chin, lifting his face to mine.
"Go ahead then. It does feel nice," I admitted with a little guilt. I wasn't exactly sure what the expression on his face was, but it resembled a shudder…almost like a swoon. I chuckled. "Go ahead." I reassured him. Aang settled his weight over my hips, straddling me. His lips made their way to just under my ear. His warm breath was almost as satisfying as the contact of his lips. My hand subconsciously grasped the back of his head, holding his face to my shoulder. Aang left a wet trail as his lips traveled to my collarbone. The fingers of his hands softly caressed my neck and shoulder.
The delicate capillaries broke under my skin. Just the gentle suction of his kisses was enough to leave the mark. It wasn't like he was eating my neck or anything. It was just nice. Like Aang. In the past couple weeks, he'd been nothing but gentle and sweet and maybe a little curious. His grasp was always lose and cautious around my waist, save for those excited, effervescent hugs that he wouldn't let me out of for what seemed like forever. He'd brought me flowers every other day and was perfectly content to just sit and watch me go about my business or listen to my rants. Aang was, however, daring and confident in his pursuits. He never did anything that was completely out of line, but liked to test my limits with odd fetishes. He liked to pin me to the wall or floor and kiss me until we were both exhausted, and he liked to brush my hair. He loved it when I fell asleep in his arms. We could be doing the most awkward thing in the world, but it wouldn't matter because I was with Aang. I think that's what I loved most about being with him. I was completely uninhibited.
For example, right now! If it were anyone except Aang sucking on my neck, I would've kept quiet, silently enjoying it, but I let everything go. I whimpered and sighed on impulse. Of course, that was probably half because he said that was why he wanted to in the fist place. Aang lifted his head to get a good view of his little, red masterpiece. "How's that?" he asked with a smirk, running his finger over it. He plucked a lock of hair out from my ponytail and began twirling it around his fingers
"Only completely wonderful, Aang." I laughed.
"Ah, Katara," he sighed. "I love you so much. It's unbelievable how perfect you are for me. It's like we're perfectly in sync. I love every part of you. Your temper, your cute little whimpers, your beautiful blue eyes, your kisses. Everything." He returned the piece of hair to my ponytail.
"Aw, I love you too!" I squeezed his middle "I love it when you hold me like this. I love kissing you, especially. You make me so happy." He kissed the top of my head, and got up from the bed.
"So…the fountain and hour before sundown, right?" He asked.
"I can't wait for our date." I grinned.
"Me either, Katara. I love you." He knelt down for my response.
"I love you, t—" I barely got the words out before he planted a huge kiss on my lips.
Aang hadn't told me what we were doing, so I found myself bending the water in the fountain in my normal—but new—clothes. I doubted he'd be taking me to some fancy restaurant for our first date. That would be out of character for Aang. I was anticipating riding a wild animal and bending in a pond somewhere outside the city—it was a full moon after all. I loved bending when the moon was full…it came so easily. I hardly even had to pay attention to the water for it to follow my hands. I'd kept Aang up later than necessary many nights in the past months, just to have some one to bend with. He never complained, though he'd always be exhausted the whole next day. I was sure he'd kept that in mind while planning our evening. I was also sure that we'd seek out some shadow-concealed location to kiss in at some point in the night.
I sighed, remembering the places we had hidden in during the past two weeks. We'd been kissing in the hall one day and jumped into a linen closet when we heard Sokka coming. We sought out dark corners of the garden that surrounded our apartment. I smoothed my dress with one hand, remembering how muddy and wrinkled I'd gotten after on one particular occasion when Aang had tackled me to the ground. He'd had fun explaining that to Sokka. According to him, we were taking a walk in town and he had to push me out of the way of a carriage. What's more pathetic than his excuse? Sokka actually bought it. Or chose to ignore what he knew was the truth.
Was it normal for Aang and me to be so comfortable with each other after only two weeks? I doubted it, but I simply chalked it up to built up sexual tension over the past six months. I actually wondered if Aang even knew about things more intimate than kissing, considering that he's grown up expecting to become a celibate monk his whole life. I was convinced that if he did understand that kind of stuff, it wouldn't be long until he was trying to further our physical relationship—he'd already tested me last week when we were dancing in the gazebo. If he didn't…I would have to ask Sokka to talk to him in four or five months. Well…maybe not Sokka unless Aang was willing to get yelled at every three seconds. Maybe Zuko's uncle would be a better man for the job. Maybe I should just leave it be until we get to that point.
The water I had been absentmindedly bending quickly shifted, suddenly out of my control. I watched it swiftly morph into a little heart. The water dropped back into the fountain as I looked up and watched the bender's hand relax. "Nice trick," I commented.
"I spent an hour practicing it yesterday," Aang laughed, sitting down on the side of the marble fountain next to me. His fingers intertwined with mine. "Glad you liked it." I leaned toward him, expecting a kiss in greeting, which was soon given.
"So…What are we doing today?" I asked, as our mouths separate, smilingly dreamily.
"I thought maybe we'd get some dinner and then go swimming somewhere," he shrugged. A thought must have struck him because the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. "Full moon tonight. Did you know?"
"Of course. I'm the one that deprived you of sleep, remember?"
"Oh! Yeah. Right," he responded, as if I was just reminding him. "I didn't mind, you know."
"Obviously, since you stayed up with me all night on the full moon for seven months straight."
"Well, back then it was the only way to spend time with you. Bending time was Katara time," he smiled and I recognized that dreamy, I-don't-know-how-I survived-without-you, I-love-you-too-much-for-words in his eyes. I half-grimaced at the cheesiness of his words. If any other boy had been that sappy, I think it would've been annoying, but I loved Aang and that made all the difference. His sappy, sweet, adorable attitude toward me was just part of who he was.
"You're lucky I love you so much. If anyone else had said that to me, I think I would've been sick," I laughed and scooted closer to him. Despite how comfortable we were with each other, he still blushed, as if I'd never sat so close to him before. As if he wasn't straddling me and sucking on my neck just earlier that morning.
"We should probably get going if we want to eat before the sun sets," he said, turning to watch the sky. He stood and held out his hand to the side for me to take. I kissed him once before threading my fingers through his and being lead out of the courtyard.
Halfway through our date, as we left the restaurant, Aang's arm came around to grab my waist. We had a good time. It was nice to just sit across the table from each other and talk. We'd gotten so caught up in the novelty of kissing during the past couple weeks that I had almost forgotten how much I loved talking to him. It felt so right to be with him there like that. The only difference between before we'd started dating and now was his hand resting on mine and the long silences where we just gazed at each other.
"So where are we going?" I wondered out loud. I slipped my arm around Aang's middle like his arm was around mine.
"There's a smaller lake outside of the inner wall. I thought we'd go there instead of Lake Laogai. I don't know about you but I don't really want to relive that." He explained. The smiles that had been on our faces all night slipped slightly as we remembered Jet's death and the creepy Dai-Li agents.
"That's probably a good idea," I chuckled, trying to shrug off the sudden dismal mood. If we started talking about Lake Laogai…we'd inevitably start talking about the crystal catacombs under Ba-Sing-Se and I didn't really want to ruin our date thinking about what almost happened.
"So…are you having a good time? I'm sure I'm a terrible date," he asked after a few moments of walking in silence.
"Are you kidding me? I'm having a great time, Aang," Even after these past weeks of spending every free moment with him, he was still concerned that this was a pity date.
"Really?" His gaze softened, and we stopped walking. He moved his arm away from my waist. I took each of his hands in mine and smiled at him.
"I promise, Aang. You're not a terrible date. I love spending time with you," I moved closer and threw my arms around his neck. "I love you," I whispered in his ear.
"I love you too," he responded. He caught my cheek as I pulled away and kissed it. It felt like role reversal. Usually I was the one kissing his cheek. As we separated he took my hand and we kept walking.
As we reached the pond that was just outside of the inner wall, I felt my stomach gurgle. That's odd, I thought. I'd eaten a lot at dinner. We'd even had dessert. I stopped suddenly as the gurgling turned into queasiness.
"Are you okay, Katara?" Aang asked as I sat down. He knelt next to me and placed a hand on my back. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. I just…feel strange," I dug my hand into the grass trying to keep my balance. I felt dizzy. Aang watched my face worriedly.
"You look a little pale," he bit his bottom lip nervously. "Why don't you lie down? Here, you can use my lap as a pillow." He sat cross legged in front of me as I crawled over to rest my head in his lap.
"I'm sure I'll be fine in a minute." I took deep breaths but I still felt as if my dinner was bubbling up in my stomach. It occurred to me that the fish I had was probably bad. That meant I'd probably throw up and ruin our date because Aang would have to take me home. I felt Aang's hand in my hair. Well, at least he was enjoying this.
"Should we head home? You don't look very well," he wondered, concerned. I sighed and sat up, though I was still a little lightheaded.
"I don't want to ruin our date, but we probably should. I think the fish I had at dinner was bad. It won't be long before I'll probably th—"I finished my thought with the action--lucky for him, not in his lap.
Aang, being the sweet boy that he is, carried me the whole way back to our apartment. I was amazed that Aang wasn't completely disgusted by the whole thing. He'd even held my hair back for me. Luckily I hadn't thrown up anymore since we left the pond. "Sokka! Open the door!" Aang yelled as we approached the door.
"What happened?" He demanded as the door flew open. "What's wrong?"
"She got sick." Aang explained as he brought me inside and put me down on a comfortable chair.
"I'm fine!" I said. "I just had some bad fish. It's nothing. I'll be fine in a day."
"I think someone should stay with you tonight," I opened my mouth to protest. It wasn't like Sokka would be sensible and suggest that Aang stay with me, which I wouldn't have minded. "Can I trust you not to take advantage of her if I let you stay with her tonight, Aang?"
I felt my eyebrows rise in surprise. That was so unlike Sokka to actually be okay with something like that. Maybe he just knew that our date had been ruined, or maybe he actually considered that I wouldn't appreciate him looking after me.
"Of course! I'd never take advantage of her," Aang's expression was serious and anxious. Sokka disappeared into our kitchen and emerged with a metal bowl.
"I'm not that incapacitated, Sokka," I rolled my eyes, as he handed me the bowl. "I wouldn't let him even if he did try." I winced at my words. I stole a glance at Aang's face and saw that what I'd said didn't even faze him. Good, we were on the same page. I felt the bubbling begin in my stomach again. I tightened my grasp on the bowl.
"You should probably get some rest, Katara." Aang smiled at me sweetly and sympathetically. "C'mon."
I held up a finger telling him to wait. "Just one second." I closed my eyes and breathed as I felt my mouth water, anticipating my vomit. Aang and Sokka sat on either side of me, both expecting the worst. They both and soothing hands on my back and Aang pulled my hair out of my face. I pulled the bowl up to my face and waited.
"Aang! Seriously?" I asked. He was insisting that he help me get changed into my night clothes. I didn't even think he was doing it so he could see me in my underwear. He honestly believed I needed help.
"You just said a second ago that you were still dizzy! If I go out in the hall to wait, you might fall and get hurt!" He pleaded. "If you get hurt, Sokka will kill me!" Ah. So that's why he's so persistent.
"I don't think he'd be too happy about this either, Aang," I laughed. If Sokka had a say in all of this Aang would be out in the hall. "You can stay in here as long as you keep your eyes closed while I change."
"Fine," he agreed, still not totally satisfied. Maybe he did have ulterior motives. He sat down on my bed and put his hands in front of his face. Holding onto the side of the bed for balance, I carefully paced over to the dresser where my nightdress was. I quickly stripped off my cloths and pulled it over my head—I felt another round of sickness coming.
"Okay," I announced. Aang opened his eyes. "See? I'm—uh-oh." I lunged to grab the metal bowl. I knelt on the ground, emptying the contents on my stomach. How was there even anything left in there? Aang sat next to me and comforted me. He handed me a glass of water when I was finished. "Thanks," I smiled.
"No problem."
"You know that you don't have to be here. I won't be offended if you don't want to stay with me tonight," I lowered my head. I hated being sick in front of him. It must have been so gross to watch me be sick.
"You're sick, Katara. It's not your fault. I really don't mind," he smiled, and leaned in to kiss my forehead, despite the stench of vomit that I knew must've been everywhere. "Now, you should probably get some sleep." He stood and offered me a hand.
"Are you going to stay…or?" I asked pulling back the covers of my bed.
"I'd like to and plus, Sokka said I should," I sat down on the bed. I hadn't realized how exhausted I was. I collapsed back into the pillow. I felt the bed move as Aang joined me. "Do you mind if I…?"
"No, that's fine," I responded lazily. I rolled over so that I could rest my head on Aang's chest. I yawned.
"Goodnight, Katara. I love you." I felt Aang's hand in my hair again.
""Night. Love you too."
As I was drifting off to sleep, I vaguely registered the door opening and Sokka asking, "How is she?"
"Sleeping," Aang responded and began stroking my side affectionately.
"That's good…Hey!" Sokka exclaimed in an annoyed tone. "What's that on Katara's shoulder, Aang?"
Three cheers for role reversal! Yes, Katara, this is what its like to be taken care of. I love it when Aang has to make Katara feel better...he's sucha sweetie. Ha.
Next chapter: Aang's 13th birthday and a realization that makes for a good present.
Guysss....I'd appreciate reviews...I hardly got any for the last chapter and it was the best one so far...or so I think. If you want me to keep writing and not lose motivation...you should review. k thnx.
I'm posting a seperate oneshot before I do this next chapter...so check my profile in a couple days!
