World War II Avatar-Part VII

The next morning, we all woke up to the rising sun, with no troubles to worry about. "Aang, get up! You have to see what I found!" Katara exclaimed, shaking me gently.

I slowly got up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and stretching. I heard her giggle a little, and she took my hand and led me downstairs and out the door. I guess she was up early, because she was already dressed. I followed her into the dense foreset behind our house and to a pond, glittering in the sunlight. It was beautiful, especially with all the flowers around it and the slight breeze making them sway. "This…this is the pond you carried me across last night…" I realized.

"Yes, but isn't beautiful?"

I nodded and dipped a finger in the water. Considering it was almost winter, it wasn't that cold. "It's too cold to go swimming, but I can practice my bending here. It's nice and secluded, and no one will find me," she said.

"Or… I could heat it up," I suggested.

She smiled at me and said, "that'd be nice, as long as no one else is around. You wouldn't want to get caught again."

"Of course. So should we get some breakfast and then come back?"

"Sure. Lets not tell anyone about the pond. It'll be our secret. Ok?"

I smiled and nodded, taking her hand in mine and walking back to the house. We grabbed a bowl of rice and an apple each, and walked back to the pond. No one questioned where we were going, so we got out of there quickly. They probably knew we were up to something, as our hands were locked together for the walk. When we got to the river, we sat down under a tree and ate in silence, enjoying the sounds of nature awaken. When we finished, I waded in the cool water and concentrated. The water was soon steaming, nice and warm. "Katara, the water's ready!" I said happily and waded out into deeper water.

I would have to keep reheating it, but for now it was good. Katara waded in after me, soon chasing me underwater. Since we were both waterbenders, we could form a bubble around our heads for air supply, making it so we could stay underwater longer. She must have chased me through the whole pond, because when we swam up for a break, we were on the other side. I swam over to her and playfully splashed, getting splashed back soon after. Splash after splash moved into the shallow waters, where we could now use bending more easily to create huge waves that crashed down on each other. We were having so much fun that we were oblivious to anyone around us until we heard a twig snap. "Who's there?" I called out.

"It's just me, Zuko. What are you guys doing?"

"Playing in the pond. Want to join?" I asked.

Zuko gave a weird look and shook his head. "We 're going into town. Come on," he replied.

"Alright. We'll be right there. Let us change and we'll meet you all at the boat." When he agreed, Katara and I slipped on our clothes after bending the water off of both of us and walked to the boat after putting our empty bowls from breakfast away. The boat sped towards the town, mist spraying in our faces, not a care in the world right now. When we pulled into the docks, no guards were there like usual. We searched the houses to find that one we never saw was there, and stocked full of food. It was not in tact at all, but there were huge amounts of food just laying around, even some juice which was very rare to find. We took the food out of the house and back to our boat. For the first time ever, we didn't see any guards when we went to the abandoned town. The boat ride was quiet, and I noticed Toph holding onto Sokka's arm. Aww, they're cute together! I thought, smiling. When we got back, we brought the food inside and put it away, each having a cup of juice too. It was sweet, and tasted of many fruits. We were very lucky to come across it. Zuko started making dinner, cooking some meat over the fire. "Hey Zuko, could you make something else, too? I don't eat meat," I said.

Sokka gasped. "You don't? How is that possible?" he piped up.

"It's against my culture. I'm an Air Nomad. We protect animals," I replied.

"Do you like bread and veggies then?" Zuko asked.

"That's good," I said.

Soon, dinner was ready and we all ate quickly, wanting to get back to whatever we had been doing before going into town. Katara and I went back to the pond, hand in hand. The sun was just setting and it glittered off the water beautifully, like in the morning. "Wow," I breathed.

I heated up the water as I did before, stripped myself down to my underwear, and walked in. Katara stripped herself too, and got in after me. We splashed and practiced our bending for a while, learning new tricks from each other, and some tips. I showed off, bending all the elements to form her name, floating in the air. She blushed and smiled, and I formed both our names, and then combined. Kataang it read. I liked the sound of that. "Aang, should we head back soon?"

"Nah, we don't have to. Besides, it's a nice night."

"Sure is," she replied.

We stared up at the moon, which was perfectly full. Stars were shining brightly around it, and we came closer to each other. "Katara, you're so beautiful and kind. I love you," I confessed to her.

"Aang, I love you too. You're so brave and friendly," she responded.

We leaned closer until our lips met, and we embraced each other under the stars. The kiss was passionate, lasting until we had to breathe. When we pulled back for air, our bodies stayed close, and we walked back to the house, arms around each other's shoulders. Everyone was now asleep, so we crept up to Katara's room and got under the covers. "Goodnight, Aang. I love you," she told me.

I kissed her and said, "goodnight Katara, I love you too."

That night was defiantly one to remember.