A/N: Alright, sorry for leaving you all with a cliff-hanger like that, but I also promised the next chapter quickly; so here we go.
Also, again, you all don't know how awesome it is to read some of the reviews I get, love you all.
Truth be told
Aang's POV
I walk behind Chief Hakoda with Sokka following behind me; if I didn't know better, I'd think I was in serious trouble, but I knew the risks when I kissed her in the center of the dance floor. We walked outside into one of the courtyards adjacent to the hall with the feast; when he stopped and turned to me.
"Aang" he began before he was interrupted by Sokka.
"I knew it was you!" He exclaimed, glaring at me as Hakoda sighed
"Sokka, silence" He said firmly before turning back to me. "That was a very… bold move you pulled on the dance floor Aang."
"Chief Hakoda, allow me to explain before you start hating me" I said, somewhat uneasy, though my uneasiness went away a little when I saw the look he had in his eyes when I said 'hate me.'
I took a deep breathe, looked to Sokka who was still glaring at me, then back to Hakoda. "Chief, I am going to be completely honest with you; I love your daughter. I know I am young, but this is something I have felt for a while; so strongly I have even spoken to past Avatars about it"
"Aang, Stop" Hakoda said, holding up his hand "As you know, both Sokka and I are very protective of Katara, especially due to losing Kya. I know you would never do anything to hurt her; but that still does not dissuade our tendencies."
"Of course, Chief Hakoda. I am sorry I made the demonstration like that, please understand why I did it" I pause as he nods for me to continue, with Sokka remaining shockingly quiet "Zuko had decided to give us that dance because he knew about the two of us, and he wanted to… informally show the rest of the world, I protested but when he called us out, what was I supposed to do?"
"So, let me get this straight" Sokka chimed in "The whole purpose of the dance between the two of you was to let everyone know you were… 'Together'?" Sokka asked, I could feel his restraint at shuddering at the thought of anyone with his sister.
"That's the gist of it" I admit "And the kiss was my way of reinforcing it. I knew it was risky, and I knew both of you would probably have a problem with it; but I was willing to risk it to show everyone that I was… happily with someone else"
"Let me ask you this, young Avatar" Hakoda said "What do you see in the future, when your avatar duties take you away from her, when you are forced to leave for long periods of time?"
I scratch the back of my neck and sigh "If I had my way, they would never force us apart."
"What of all your ogle-eyed fan girls?" Sokka snipped
"What of them? None of them could ever hope to take me from her; as long as she wanted to stay together, and you two didn't… um, stop it." I mutter the last part, feeling my throat knot up.
"So, if Katara wanted to end it, you'd accept it?" Hakoda asked and I nodded "What if we didn't accept the two of you"
I snicker a little then fight back to regain composure considering the environment "Then I think, you'd have to deal with a very upset Katara, And" I pause "No disrespect, Chief Hakoda, and Sokka, but if you two honestly hated the idea, and I had to choose between respecting your decision and hurting Katara, or Staying with Katara and disrespecting you…" I sigh "I couldn't hurt Katara like that, Chief Hakoda"
Hakoda eyed me, slowly lowering himself to my height and making me look him in the eyes; and he had the eyes of a war veteran, which made them piercing and hard to return the gaze, but I tried my hardest too. Neither him, nor Sokka spoke for a moment, which shocked me at how seriously the carefree Sokka was taking the situation, I was beginning to worry until he finally spoke.
"Well, you answered those questions as I would have; and I cannot imagine a better man for her than you." Hakoda said, smiling
"Wait, you agree to them being together!?" Sokka questioned
"Yes, and you don't?" he asked, looking back to Sokka
"I don't know!"
"It is obvious Katara returns his feelings, and I know Aang would never hurt her" Hakoda stated
"Well there was that one time with the fire"
"Sokka" Hakoda glared, and I just looked to the ground remembering the horrible accident
I hear Sokka groan "Fine, I'll admit, I'd probably try to kill anyone else" Sokka admits, defeated
"Am I that bad, Sokka?" I mutter
"No, you are not, Aang. Like dad said, it is a brotherly/fatherly complex to look out for the women in the family." Sokka says as I nod
"Alright, enough of the questioning, let's get back to the party" Hakoda says, putting a hand on both of our shoulders, as we walk back inside.
I feel much better with how the talk went, and my eye lite up when I saw Katara, Suki and Toph talking at the table, all three girls laughing until Suki sees us and points and Katara instantly blushes. I smile, knowing whatever they were talking about, was probably about us.
Katara's POV
"Oh Spirits" I mutter as I watch the three of them walk away, Aang shoots me one last glance and I smile and nod as my dad and Sokka lead him to a courtyard; leaving me with Toph and Suki.
"It'll be fine, Sugar queen, if your dad really loves you, he can see how happy you two are and it'll be all good!" Toph Exclaims
"That may be one of the nicest things you have ever said to me"
"Eh, I have my slip ups"
All three of us laugh a bit then Suki chimes in
"Don't worry; I know your dad is going to be fine with you two"
"What about Sokka" I mutter
"Well, if your dad says yes, why would Sokka fight it?" Suki reasons as I shrug
"This is speculation! What if they are telling him we can't be together?!"
"Would it stop you?" Toph asks
I pause and look down "No, probably not, but I couldn't live knowing my family hated me"
"Hate is a very strong word" Suki said "they are probably initiating him into the water tribe"
I cock an eyebrow and look at her quizzically
She raises an index finger "They'll make him eat Sea prunes!"
"Yeah right! Twinkletoes would never eat Sea prunes!" Toph laughed
"Actually, he tried them once… pretty sure he almost threw up though" I admitted, laughing a little "There was a time when he used Sokka's Seal Jerky as firewood"
"Oh wow, I can't imagine that going over well" Suki mutters rolling her eyes
"Well, he didn't find out about it until we were flying away; though he did almost cry" I mentioned, laughing
"You're kidding?! Over seal jerky?" Suki rolled her eyes
"I can see it" Toph snickered
"Alright Katara, what are Aang's dirty little secrets" Suki whispers, nudging me
"SUKI!" I exclaim, looking shocked
"Come on, I would tell you Sokka's but you are his brother so you probably know more than me"
"How about, you both tell me both of them; I'd love to have dirt on both of them" Toph mentioned with a mischievous grin
"No!" I laughed, looking away, blushing
"I could go ask him about your secrets" Suki snipped
"He wouldn't say anything" I reason
"Mhmm, well he is a monk, Honor code and all" Suki shrugged
"You are a Kyoshi Warrior! You have one of those too!" I stated
"True, but this is girl talk, no honor code to girl talk" she grins and I roll my eyes
"Katara, Suki" Toph said, as we both looked at her "Tell me if I am rolling my eyes… kinda hard to tell"
We laugh and watch her try to roll her eyes before she gives up and points to Suki "I Notionally roll my eyes at you." She crosses her arms.
"So, you two sleeping together again tonight?"
"SUKI!"
"What?!"
"Oh spirits" I mutter
"What?!" Toph asks again, jaw dropped, with Suki almost falling out of her chair
"I'm surprised your feet didn't notice!" Suki says between laughs
"You two did not!"
"NO!" I almost yelled, extremely embarrassed
"No, they are still innocent" Suki admits, recovering her breathe
"If you do tonight, find out if he is ticklish!" Toph says, deciding to jump in on the torment
"Toph!" I groan
"Oh and does he snore?" Suki asks, still laughing a little
"No!" I mutter "They need to get back here so you two will stop!"
"Speak of the devil" Suki whispers, pointing to Aang as he, my father and Sokka walk up, I immediately blush and look away
As they walk up, I can feel both my father and Sokka's eyes on me, and I knew I was next for whatever they wanted, as I went to stand, the voice of my father stopped me.
"Katara, sit." He said and though I was somewhat surprised, I sat back down
"I thought you would want to talk to me…" I mutter
"No need for it" He said "Aang did a pretty good job speaking for both of you"
My eyes shot up and found Aang's, who was looking slightly down, blushing.
"I've only one request, Katara"
"Of course, dad"
"Keep displays of affection to a minimum around me, the occasional kiss or hand holding is alright, but you are still my daughter"
"And I am your brother!" Sokka groaned, I felt my cheeks flush but I nodded
"So.. You two are okay with this… us?"
My dad looked at Aang, and then looked back at me, smiling "I am" and without warning, I jumped up and hugged my dad
"And I'll… tolerate it" Sokka chimed in and I just smiled, rolled my eyes and pulled him in to the hug as well
We broke the hug and my dad turned to Aang "Aang, would you mind if I had a dance with my daughter"
"Be my guest, Chief Hakoda" Aang smiled and nodded, looking at me, with what I can only describe as happiness.
My dad and I walked out onto the dance floor and begun to dance, though it was nothing like the dance Aang and I did, it was still fun.
"So, you really like Aang, huh?"
I looked down and smiled "Yes, I really do."
"You see this as more of a long term commitment?"
"As long as possible, yes. I don't want to be with anyone else; and no, I don't care to look"
"Fair enough" he answered "I think he is a fine young man, and I wouldn't want anyone else to be with my only daughter."
"It's not like we're disappearing and you're never going to see me again" I mutter
"True, but being with the Avatar, the potential is always there"
I shrug and nod. Silence falls over us and my eyes drift back to the table, where I can see Sokka interrogating Aang with Suki yelling at Sokka. I shook my head and laughed a little
"Something funny?" he asked
"Just Sokka" I said, nodding my head over towards our table
"Ah, yes. Well he won't be a problem unless you give him a reason to be, it seems Suki has a decent amount of control on him; though I'd never get any sleep if I tried to figure out why or how"
I laugh and nod "It is a weird relationship, but they make it work."
"I doubt yours will be the same"
"I know it won't" I admit
"As long as you are happy, I am" He finishes and leads me off the dance floor back towards the table, and to both our great surprise, Aang stands and walks over to us
"Chief Hakoda, may I ask your daughter for a dance?" Aang asks, smiling and my father only nods and releases my hand. "Katara, would you dance with me" Aang asks, extending his hand
All I can do is blush and nod as I take his hand and he leads us out onto the dance floor; and now, at this point I think I will kill Zuko, cause the second we start dancing, the song changes to another slow, romantic song.
"I swear, Zuko has this planned out" I mutter, blushing and looking down
Aang just smiles and wraps his arms around my waist, slowly swaying to the music. "Then I should thank him first" he answers
"When did you get so romantic and proper" I ask
Aang shrugs "I just wanted you to myself again; I've been hounded by Sokka, Suki and Toph. Zuko and Mai are busy with the Sages or something, so I haven't even seen them yet." He sighs "I just want to be with you; I want to forget I am the Avatar, forget about everyone else, at least just for a minute" Aang admits and my eyes widen
I quickly look to see if Sokka or my dad are watching, and when I see they aren't I quickly kiss Aang on the lips before pulling back "Then let's forget"
He laughs softly before sighing "I am honestly, a little shocked I haven't been crowded by generals or fan girls" he mutters and I grin
"Well, I think your little display earlier got the message pretty clear across, and as for the Generals… I would venture to bet that is why Zuko is absent" I answer, smiling remembering his boldness
"It is a possibility" He says grinning "I'll have to thank Zuko after all"
I smile and rest my forehead on his as we sway to the music "For now, let's just dance" I whisper smiling and he just grins, swaying with me. As we circle, from over Aang should I can see Suki smiling at us, a Sokka freaking out. I just rolled my eyes and laugh softly.
We danced for several songs before I hear Aang whisper
"Want to go to the courtyard?"
I nod and smile as he leads us to the courtyard, significantly less people out here, but still enough to where we weren't completely alone. The music could still be heard enough to dance too, and on top of it all, there was a bright moon looking down on us.
As soon as we got outside I felt a pair of lips on mine and my heart felt heavy as I smiled, returning the kiss and this time, we don't break as quickly as the other two this evening. Our arms snake around each other as we feel the warm of the embrace, and my heart couldn't be beating faster… or maybe it was his heart I felt.
He broke away, leaving me wanting more, but he brushed his lips to mine and smiled "I've been wanting a real kiss all night" he muttered
"Perfect timing" I whisper back, smiling
"I love you" Aang whispers, looking me in the eyes with his, smiling widely
I feel my heart jump as I blushed "I love you too" I answer, kissing him again.
We fall into a comfortable silence, slowly dancing to the music from inside, just basking in the moonlight and each others presence. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against his, smiling and sighing, losing myself in thought. That was, until he spoke.
"Thinking of anything in specific" he mutters, smiling as I open my eyes
"Just how much things have changed; I never imagined that me, a water tribe 'peasant' would find the Avatar; that I'd be helping in saving the world… that I'd fall in love with the avatar" I admit
He pecks me on the lips and smile "Technically, your dad is Chief, so you are a Southern Water Tribe Princess" he teases "And you didn't help save the world, it was only because of you I had the strength to defeat Ozai, and you did stop Azula." He states matter-of-factually "And as for the last part…" he pauses, slowly pulling us closer and brushing his lips to mine "Let's just say, I'm happy you fell for me, I'll always be there to catch you"
I laugh and scoff playfully "That was so cheesy" I smiled
"But you liked it"
I looked over his shoulder, smiled and nodded "Maybe I did"
I heard him sigh "We really have come a long way in so short a time" he mutters
"I can hardly believe it has only been a year, and in that time my whole life changed" I whispered back, noticing his demeanor, I quickly added "For the better" and he smiled
"I used to wish I could go back in time, not run away… but with the way things are now, I wouldn't want to change anything."
"I'm glad" I whisper, smiling and fighting a yawn that was slowly creeping up on me.
Aang must have noticed my fighting against my yawn as he pulled in closer and whispered against my ear, his breathe tickling my ear and neck "Tired?"
I nod a little before blushing and looking down "Think I could… sleep with you again?" I mutter, embarrassed only to feel a quick peck on the lips
"Nothing would make me happier" he pulls away, smiling "Should we say good night to everyone?"
I shake my head "No, they'd probably get the wrong idea, plus I bet they'd want us to stay until this thing was over" I groaned
"Supposed to be a firework show when it's over, but…"
"But?" I asked
"Well, my window is facing the direction Zuko said the Fireworks would be held at" he muttered and I grinned
"Then a perfect reason for us to go watch from the comfort of your room"
"Why is it always my room?"
"Mine is next to Toph, and I am utterly shocked she didn't notice us sleeping in the same room last night"
Aang nods his head "Fair enough, yikes I hope Zuko doesn't come looking for me"
I just shrugged and smiled, taking his hand and leading him out of the courtyard, we ducked into the main room where the actual dancing and feasting was taking place and quickly left out of one of the side entrances. The hallways on the interior of the castle were empty minus a servant or two doing some remedial task so we had no issues getting to Aang's room.
The moment Aang shut the door – locking it this time – and turned to me I had pressed my lips against his before he had time to react; though he quickly recovered as he returned the kiss and snaked his arms around me. I felt him glide his tongue across my lower lip, I longingly opened my mouth, allowing access. Our tongues danced and explored, and no matter how many times we kissed like this, it never lost its passion.
Needing air, I broke quickly and bit his lower lip and tugged softly as he laughed and smiled, looking at me, he just pulled me in tight and we hugged, still standing right next to the door.
"You know" I whispered, resting my head on his shoulder "I never thought I could be this happy again"
"I'm glad; I am very very glad" he whispered, holding me tighter "Oh and Katara" he starts, releasing his grip so we can look at each other "Thank you, so much for the necklace. It is almost exactly like Gyatso's"
I blush and smile "I hoped you would like it"
"I love it" he answers, grinning before releasing me and taking me to the bed. Instead of getting under the covers, he sits down and leans his back against the wall, facing the window and me "Com'ere" he mutters, pulling me on top of him, me laughing as I fall.
"Where was this confidence last night?" I ask, smiling and re-situating myself next to him after being pulled onto him
"This isn't confidence, it was boldness." He admitted and I had to laugh at his adorableness
"Aang, nothing you could do could make me hate you, so don't be afraid" I whisper, leaning against him "When are the fireworks going to start"
"Very soon" he muttered, suddenly I felt him nervous and I turned and looked to him
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, it's just… is it bad I am still waiting to wake up?" he sighed "This seems too good to be true"
"What do you mean" I ask
"I am sitting on my bed, next to the girl I love, who also happens to Love me. I've been accepted by her father and grudgingly by her brother"
I smile and kiss him softly "It isn't a dream, I'd die crying if I woke up tomorrow and it was all just a dream" I admit, and a silence falls over us before a question pops in my head.
"What was Sokka questioning you about while me and my dad danced?"
I heard him groan and sigh "He was asking about what I felt about Jet or Haru; like if you decided you didn't want to be with me, would I let you go." He muttered "Stuff like that"
"Why Jet and Haru?"
"Well Haru, not so much, but Jet" he muttered "I didn't like Jet"
I looked down, thinking back to when we first ran into Jet, how I felt like he was a prince charming; so noble and courageous, I liked him enough to ignore Aang and my brother. "I'm sorry" I whisper
"What for?"
"For everything that happened with Jet…"
"No, don't be sorry. You liked him then, it is okay"
I nod but sigh "Aang… I would never want anyone but you; please believe me" I mutter, on the verge of tears for whatever reason, I felt them beginning to form
"Katara…" Aang whispered, cupping my face and pressing his lips to mine. Pulling back he brushed my cheek and I smiled "I believe you; and I'd never want anyone but you"
"What if the perfect girl came along?"
"She already has, she happens to be someone very close to me. In fact, she is currently sitting next to me" Aang smiles
"I am far from perfect" I scoff
"So am I" Aang retorts, chuckling softly as I roll my eyes "But we're… I think, perfect for each other"
I blush for the hundredth time that night and smile "You are horrible!" I laugh, kissing him quickly as he smiles
"Shh, watch" He smiled, pointing towards the window "The fireworks are about to go off"
And as if on cue, a bright shimmer of Orange filled the sky with a loud rumble.
"Air Nomad" Aang mutters as a large blue burst follows suit, then a Red and Green
"The four nations" I muttered, still watching as some smaller bursts lit the sky, my eyes drifted to Aang who was watching, eyes half lidded. I slowly moved in and pressed my lips against his again, kissing as the fireworks lit his room; he seemingly forgot about the fireworks and returned the kiss smiling against my lips.
We pulled away as a loud and thunderous burst shook the palace; a huge display of all four colors combined filled the sky, sending off smaller ricochets that burst seconds after, we both watched in awe.
"Aang, there is no place I would rather be right now"
"There is no one I would rather be with right now" Aang replied, looking back into my eyes
Our lips met again as the fireworks finale came to an end, the light of the moon and each others presence being the only thing we could feel, and it was all we needed as we fell asleep in each others arms once again, each of us smiling blissfully in our sleep.
