Occurs five years post-series and contains spoilers.
Just one glance at the prints in the snow and she knew, she just knew, that they were his. With an aching heart, Katara threw her hood over her head and followed them.
Night was approaching, and even though Katara knew these lands better than she knew basic waterbending, she also knew that, especially during this time of year, the white, innocent snow of the daytime can turn into grey, unforgiving ice at night. And Aang had just stormed out of her hut and into the cold snow.
The thing was, she didn't really blame him. She really could understand why he was so angry and upset with her, enough to throw logic away and put himself in danger carelessly.
At least he wore a parka and a hat, she thought sullenly, feeling the strain in her calves as she trekked through the snow, following the faint prints like they were a beacon. Even though they were easily getting swallowed by the lightly falling snow, Katara was able to shift the flakes away long enough to keep the prints before her as clear as possible. She could still follow.
"I just...I just don't get why you have to be so stubborn about this," the memory of Aang's voice rose up so clear from her memory. "I don't understand why it's so hard to just accept it for what it is and go with it."
"Because, Aang," she answered, her voice hard. "Because you're getting way too ahead of yourself. Things like this should only be done when we're adults."
Aang's eyes were just as hard as her voice. "You make it sound like we're little tiny kids, in a little childish world, and that we haven't done any of the things that we have done."
"I'm not saying that," she answered, her body filling with frustration.
"What are you saying, then?" he snapped.
"I'm saying we should just think things through more! I think we should just...we shouldn't be hasty about this kind of thing. We're talking about the rest of our lives."
Aang shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, hard. He swallowed, and she could see how hard it was for him to control his anger. He lost. His eyes snapped open. "Listen, Katara. I'm putting everything in this, a hundred percent, here. I always have, from the start! So I think the real problem is with you, and whether or not you're serious about it at all."
She opened her mouth to reply, but he turned on his heel and stormed out. She called after him, but he was already out the door and gone.
Katara's cheeks burned a little from both anger and humiliation. She was embarrassed, because he was right. She was angry, because she hated that he was right.
The thing was, she had always thought she was serious, the most serious of all. She had put her heart into it, put everything she was into it. She shared so much, bared her soul, her heart, her body, everything in these five years that they had shared together, really shared together without the looming cloud of war, and she had thought she was all in.
She was, wasn't she?
Aren't I?
She looked up, her eyes falling on a patch of blue and white, barely visible in the dying light. There he sat, cross-legged, his back to her. The snow around him was gone, pushed away by his bending, revealing clear ice underneath, circling him. His back was rail-straight, but she knew he wasn't meditating: his shoulders shook a little.
Slowly, she walked over to him, kneeling in the patch of ice directly behind him. She placed a gloved hand on his shoulder. Instantly, he stiffened, but he didn't pull away. She took it as a sign, and she threw her arms around him, pulling him close, so that his back pressed against her front. He relaxed a little, but didn't turn to look at her, nor did he offer a word.
"Aang," she murmured, closing her eyes. She leaned in and pressed her face to the side of his neck, the skin partially buried under his scarf. "I'm sorry. You were right."
Aang lowered his head. "I don't like being right in this, Katara," he admitted, his voice soft.
"No, wait, that's not what I meant," she added hastily, squeezing him a little. She opened her eyes. "I mean, I wasn't thinking seriously about it, but that doesn't mean I wasn't putting my all into it."
Aang turned his head and met her gaze sideways. He looked sad. "But it's the same thing."
"No, it's not. I wasn't thinking about it because it was always there. I didn't have to think about it, so I never did. I took it for granted."
"I know."
Katara winced. "Hey, Aang, I'm trying to apologise, here."
Aang's lips twitched, just a bit, but he said nothing else.
She decided to go on. "I always thought that when I was 16 it would happen, but for some reason it never came up. And then, when you were 16, I thought that it was also a good time, but again, it never came up. So I just...sort of stopped thinking about it, and thought, okay, we're still too young."
Aang sighed. "I was waiting for you."
"Why?"
"Because, Katara," and here he looked right into her eyes. "You know how I feel. I just wanted to know for sure how you felt. So I was waiting for you. And now that you tell me you still want to wait...it hurts. Alot."
Katara pulled him close, and this time, he relaxed. This time, he reached up and wrapped his arms around hers, hugging her back. "I don't," she murmured.
"Oh, yes you do," he answered, his voice a little hard again. "You said so, yourself."
"I was waiting for you," she replied.
"Yeah, and when I brought it up, you brushed it away."
Katara sighed, her hold on him loosening a little in her frustration. Aang took it as a hint and pulled away, getting to his feet. Katara bit her lip, but stayed where she was, letting her arms drop. Already it was almost too dark to see him save a faint outline.
Aang pulled one of his gloves off, waving his hand through the air slowly. A burst of fire came to life in his hand, giving off a faint orange glow. He turned back to her, and she could see, thanks to the fire, that his face was a little damp.
"You brushed it away, when I was asking. From what you said, shouldn't that mean that you would want to? And if you did, why blow me off like that?" His voice was angry, and she took it calmly although her hands fisted up on her knees. "If I had known that I could have asked last year, or two years before that...I would have! But I had no idea if we were on the same page! And I still don't! Do you know how hard that is?"
Katara looked right into his eyes. "Do you honestly think that I have any idea if we're in the same boat?"
Aang's shoulders lowered a little. "Aren't we?"
"Do you love me?"
"Yes, of course, you know that.
Katara nodded. "Yes, and I love you. Do you know that?"
Aang hesitated. "Yes."
"Then we're on the same page, in the same boat."
Aang knelt down in front of her so suddenly that a faint puff of snow accompanied him. "Then marry me, Katara," he murmured.
Katara looked into his face, lit so nicely by the orange glow of the fire in his palm, and saw how confused he was, how sad and desperate he was. She also saw the fear. And then, all at once, she understood. You've lost everyone you've ever loved from your past, she thought, reaching up and placing a hand on his cheek. And therefore you're forever going to be waiting for those that you love now to leave you...
Now she understood.
Wordlessly, she leaned forward and kissed him, keeping her gloved hand on his cheek. He paused for a moment before kissing back tentatively, as if he was unsure of what was going on. He closed his hand, and the fire went out, bring the darkness into play. But it didn't matter. They reached for one another, arms sliding around each other tightly, their kisses deeper and fuller. The cold was forgotten. All that mattered was this.
It was her answer.
