All credits for this chapter go to my wonderful editor, Aneladam, who came up with the second half of it. Thanks so much. Don't know what'd I'd do with this story without you. :D
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, but hopefully I'll get some nice A:TLA merchandise for Christmas. XP
Ch8
Day Three – You're like a great storm.
After Katara and Aang woke up the next morning, they walked downstairs. Katara watched Aang's feet the whole way down, counting how many times he almost fell and broke his neck.
9...10...He was able to walk down by himself now, just with a lot of trouble, almost tripping so many times. She guessed the stairways made him get dizzy. Katara didn't like him going up and down the stairs by himself, for fear of what may happen and her not being there. She sighed.
Sokka was at school that day (Friday), but Katara and Aang had decided to stay home. They needed the rest. This past week had been close to hell for them, minus their two days of fun. Aang went into the laundry room and let Appa out of his small kennel, and then they took him out to use the bathroom (er..the grass?). It was now late fall, and starting to become very cold outside in the mornings and evenings.
The two had some breakfast, and then sat down on the couch under a large blanket, pressing up next to eachother to create body heat. Aang grabbed the TV remote and began flipping through the channels and stopped at Nickelodeon. Katara stifled a laugh. Of all times, and out of all the channels, he picks this. Smooth.
They watched some cartoons, Katara's head resting on Aang's bony shoulder. 'This is nice,' Katara thought, 'I just hope we get to have a lot more of this...'
After a half an hour or so later, they began hearing the soft beating of rain on the rooftop. Katara smied. She loved the rain, and she knew Aang loved it, also. This was the perfect morning, and she was going to make sure nothing messed it up.
-
Katara and Aang skipped lunch that day. Neither were hungry, and both were too caught up in the moment, not to mention the cartoons, to want to get up or move the slightest bit. After a while, though, the two fell asleep - Aang ended up in a rather awkward position on top of Katara, and Katara held a sleepy smile on her face. They wre fast asleep, and didnt even hear when Sokka rushed in, screaming at Aang to get off of Katara.
Katara peeked her eyes open at this, but Aang remained asleep. "Shott opp, Sukka..." she said quietly, drifting back to sleep. Sokka sighed and walked to the kitchen, dropping Aang's and Katara's loads of homework on the counter.
Soon, Katara and Aang began working on their homework. After a few subjects, Katara found herself more and more distracted. It was his eyes. Those beautiful, strange, unique, stormy grey eyes. She couldn't help it when she stopped working on her math and stared into them. They were like a storm out at sea on a cloudy day. Terrifyingly beautiful.
She sat like this for the longest time, just looking into his eyes. Katara couldn't bare to think of ever losing him. She hadn't known him for all that long, but he had soon become her purpose in life, her…everything. He meant the world to her, and to have him leave…The girl couldn't even say it. It would tear her apart.
But is it more than that? She thought. Do I love him…like…like that?
Aang had found himself in a similar situation many times before, just staring at Katara or off into space, with her on his mind. The thought of dying didn't really bother him. It was the thought of how much it would affect Katara that did. It almost hurt to know how much pain she'd be in if he lost this battle.
The boy looked up to find Katara staring at him longingly. They stared at each other for a second or two, and then burst out laughing. The irony of the same thought crossing their minds; or at least similar thoughts; at the same time just felt hilarious.
Sokka burst into the room, a look of skepticism etched upon his face.
"…What's so funny?" he asked, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"Oh…It's nothing," Katara said, still trying to escape the giggles.
Sokka sighed skeptically, and walked out of the room. Skeptically.
After almost an hour or so, Katara and Aang had both finished up their homework.
"Want somethin' to eat?" Katara asked, slipping her books into her backpack.
"Yes please," Aang replied, doing the same.
The two walked into the kitchen. Katara opened the fridge and peered inside. Knowing he was a vegetarian, she skipped the lunch meat and went to the other items. "Let's see. We have leftover rice and vegetables from last night, fruit salad, normal salad, waffles, or I could make you a sandwich. What would you like?"
"Hm…Rice please."
"Alright. Just a sec," Katara replied, pulling the plastic container that held the food out of the fridge.
Katara stuck Aang's food in the microwave, and while it heated up she made herself a waffle coated with chocolate syrup and strawberries. Aang's food finished heating up and the two ate.
Afterwards, they went out into the backyard to play on the trampoline and water some of the plants while Sokka ran to the supermarket to pick up some groceries.
They jumped on the trampoline for a while, then got off and stood in the shade of some large trees. "Aang," Katara said, panting, a smile on her face. "I'm going to go feed Appa real quick. I'll be right back, 'kay?" "'Kay," Aang nodded, also panting quietly. The girl walked inside.
The sun blared down on Aang's skin as he stood near one of the trees. He could feel himself getting sunburned, even under the shade. It was unusually hot that day, to Aang's distaste. He felt lightheaded.
Moments later, Katara came back outside to find Aang lying in the grass, shaking. "Aang!" she shouted.
Katara ran inside, grabbed the phone, dialed Sokka's cell phone number and then ran back outside.
"Sokka, come home now! Something's wrong with Aang!"
"What do you mean?" came Sokka's voice from the other line.
"Something's wrong! We were jumping on the trampoline, and then I went in to feed Appa, and when I came back, he was just lying in the grass shaking like crazy, and he won't stop," tears began to build up in her eyes. "Sokka please come home, please!"
Sokka heard the worry in his sister's voice. "Okay! I'm coming. Just try to stay calm and whatever you do, don't move him. Call the hospital. I'll be there in a few minutes." He hung up.
Katara dialed the hospital's number. They had written it on a piece of paper and taped it to all of the phones in case there was an emergency. After Katara told her what was happening, the nurse that picked up told them they would send an ambulance to pick them up. Katara thanked the lady and hung up. By that time, Sokka had arrived and was kneeling next to Aang, who had stopped shaking, but remained still, breathing hard and crying.
After loading Aang up and having Katara once again sit with him and having Sokka drive behind, they reached the hospital. Aang sat on a hospital bed, his skin washed of color. Katara wanted to cry every time she looked at him. He seemed like a ghost. (No offense to people with leukemia, cancer, etc. None at all.)
A doctor examined Aang, and told them he would need another chemo session right away. Aang looked to Katara, with fear etched into his stormy eyes. Katara's heart melted. She knew how much he hated this. She stood, bent over next to him, and whispered into his ear.
"Don't worry. After this, I'll take you to one of my most favorite places in the world. You're going to love it. Trust me."
Aang smiled, excited. If Katara loved it that much, it must be great. He nodded.
The session was the most painful and violent he had ever had. Not only did he have to go through the radiation process, but he also had to get multiple IVs, which hurt like hell. But through the whole thing, he kept a tiny but weak smile on his face. He couldn't wait for it to be over and to be able to go to wherever it was Katara had told him about.
After it was over, they drove home and got Appa, then blindfolded Aang and sat him in the backseat of the car next to Katara. "No peaking!" she said. "I won't!" Aang promised. He couldn't see anything, but he could feel the thump thump thumping when they went over rocks and bumps and the difference between the paved highway and the rocky dirt roads leading to somewhere he hadn't been before.
Around half an hour passed before they finally stopped.
"Okay," Katara said, "Here we are!" She untied Aang's blindfold slowly, then flung it onto the ground, spreading her arms out in front of her. "Spirit Oasis Lake!"
Aang gasped at the sight. Behind them sat a beautiful, lush, green forest of pine and aspen trees. They were standing, though, at the shore of the most amazing lake Aang had ever seen. The water was unbelievably clear, and you could see fish swimming back and forth, mainly large coy. There was no one else for as far as they could see, not even fishers. The sun reflected on the lake water beautifully, mixing the colors like water-paints. He smiled.
"You like it?" Katara asked, also smiling.
He looked into her eyes. They reflected the sun just like the lake.
Aang nodded. "I…I think I'm in love…"
Katara hugged him, glad he loved the lake so much.
Little did she know that he wasn't just talking about nature.
Nice little ending there, right? Haha.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. But now that it's winter break, you can expect faster updates. :D
I probably won't be able to update around:
*Christmas – Because, it's well, Christmas
*New year's/New year's eve – My uncle is getting married
Other than that, I should be updating unless something comes up.
Again, I have no experience whatsoever with leukemia, nor do I know anyone who has it, therefore I am no expert. Neither is my editor, Aneladam, who gets credit for this chappie, or at least as far as I know.
-Kazuki Nalyn Pippenpaddelotsocopolis-