I know, I know...I'm sorry to keep you guys waiting...
And now, I present to you: the chapter that started it all. ;)
Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine.
Chapter 7
On the hindsight, Katara shouldn't have been too surprised when Meng showed up instead of Aang. The girl did have stalker tendencies. She thought nastily, immediately felt guilty over the unkind thought.
"I know about the note, Your Highness," said the younger girl said by way of explaining as she walked forward slowly. Katara squared her shoulders, bracing herself for a verbal war with Aang's fiancée. She was quite surprised to note though, that Meng's voice had held no contempt. She merely looked sad and…imploring?
The newcomer's disposition only made Katara feel worse. In reaction, she inadvertently lashed out on Meng.
"I had him first! Don't you EVER forget that he loved me first!" Katara shouted, her blue eyes blazing with emotion.
"Don't you think I already know that? Why do you think I'm talking to you instead of Aang?" Meng asked. "He may be the Avatar, the most powerful being in the world, but you hold an unbelievable power over him. You still do…"
Katara stood frozen in front of the other girl. Meng took this as a sign to continue. "Even after all these years…After all you've-after all that happened…He still loves you…SO much…He tries so hard not to. So I won't get hurt. But I can still see the longing in his eyes…You and I both know that you only have to tell Aang now to leave me and he probably would. If you really set your heart to it, you can undoubtedly have him to yourself again, like you always did."
Something in the other woman's words provoked questions in Katara's mind. "Wh-What happened to him after he left the palace that day? He had mentioned you guys met shortly afterwards..." She didn't need to elaborate for the other girl to understand exactly what she meant.
The Earth Kingdom woman gave a sad smile at her question. "Do want the sugar-coated version or the real gory truth?"
The Firelady swallowed back a lump forming in her throat. She had known she had hurt Aang by choosing Zuko, but she had not fully understood how deeply until then. "Th-the truth. I want to know the truth."
"I only know of what he confided to me...but it wasn't pretty," Meng began. "I think you already know he was devastated by your marriage. So devastated, in fact, that right after he left the Fire Nation he sought out Aunt Wu again. He wanted to yell at her for keeping his hopes up…"
The girl looked up to her, "Did he ever tell you what Aunt Wu read in his fortune all those years ago?"
"No, not really…"
"Aunt Wu didn't see love in his future. That's probably because his destiny to defeat the former Firelord had eclipsed any other aspect of his future...At least until that destiny had been fulfilled. But even then, my old master sought to reassure him that he had the power to shape his own fate, as it were…" She paused, her eyes holding a faraway look as she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.
"I don't think Aang meant to blame Aunt Wu for what happened between you and him…Rather-and forgive me for saying this-he was merely looking for an outlet from all the hurt he felt...Oftentimes, we feel better if we have someone to blame for our misfortune instead of accepting the fact that it was meant to be…or rather, that it wasn't meant to be…"
Again the girl looked her straight in the eyes. "Which is why I came to see you in his place…."
Katara gasped as the young woman slowly got down on her knees in front of her. With her forehead touching the floor, Meng started to speak softly—
"Let him go. Please, I beg of you…Let him go." The whispered plea startled Katara into a frozen state. She had expected Meng to shout at her, to demand that she stay away from her fiancé; to put up a fight…but never to beg.
"My request is not for me, my lady. I'm asking for Aang," Meng continued when Katara merely stared mutely at her. "For his peace of mind…and yours too."
Regaining her composure, the surprised waterbender swiftly yanked the girl to her feet. "Do not bow to me. I despise seeing people bow to me as if I were their goddess."
"But you are, Firelady. To Aang, you are a goddess." Her forlorn smile was a drastic contrast to the fierce determination showing freely in her eyes.
"Why are you doing this?" the older woman hissed.
"I told you," the Earth kingdom woman whispered brokenly. "I only want Aang to be happy. I don't want to see him hurt or confused anymore."
"…What if this is also what Aang wants?" Katara reasoned, holding her chin up haughtily despite the immense guilt threatening to swallow her whole. "What if he wants to be with me too?"
Meng managed a wobbly humourless smile before fully facing the waterbender. "If the situation was not so complicated, I would have stepped aside…for Aang. As someone who loves, I only want him to be happy. Only a blind person can't see that he loves you, then and now. I've already done so before, do you remember? Back when you first visited Makapu? I know it must have seemed to you like a silly crush then, but I truly did feel something for him. Even before I knew he was the Avatar. Even when I found out that he was the Avatar. I knew even then that he was in love with you, so I gave way." Her eyes are now downcast, tears blurring her sight. "But things are more complicated now, Majesty. Not only are you married, you are married to Firelord Zuko. Head of one of the four nations…and one of the Aang's own dear friends…"
Katara merely stared at the woman, trying to refute her honest words.
"I do not mean to force all of the truth in your face, my lady. I have a feeling you are unhappy with the current state of your marriage. Like Aang, you only seek love and understanding. And you will probably find it with him… But the right time has passed"
"...Would you really be happy knowing that so much will be destroyed in your wake?"
By then, the waterbender's tears were also racing down her cheeks. There was simply no denying the truth in Meng's words. In as much as she wants Aang back, some mistakes—her own mistakes—had taken him away from her permanently. For the past few days, she had stubbornly clung to the hope that she can win back the affections of her beloved airbender. Only then did she realize that it was never a race with Aang as the prize; and even if it was, her actions—with their far-reaching consequences—had long since negated her as contestant.
Feeling like her heart was being ripped out of her very chest, Katara squared her shoulders once more. There is only one more thing left to do then…
Trembling with the weight of her decision, she slowly reached for the hand of the future wife of the Avatar and clasped it between both her own. "He truly is lucky to have found you." She managed to say despite her tears.
"I like to think I was lucky that he chose me." Meng answered with a watery smile of her own.
Heaving a couple of deep breaths to steady herself, Katara soldiered on, "Will you do me a favour then?" She stiffened her spine in a vain attempt to maintain control.
"What is it, Your Majesty?" the younger girl seemed to tense again a little.
"Do everything in your power to make him happy," the Firelady answered quietly, tears flowing anew. She had to let go of the other woman's hand to stem her grief.
The younger girl's eyes lit up with immense relief, "You need not ask, milady."
And that's when Katara learned, as she nodded to the other and started hastily walking away…
Some mistakes, no matter how much you want them to, can never be turned right….
