((AN: Finally a new chapter of this story for everyone to enjoy. x3 I know, taking me long enough to write 'em, huh? At least there's the other stories to keep everyone occupied too. ^^ Just another Kataang/Sukka kinda-fluff-bomb chapter...the former is more fluff-bomb-like than the latter, heh. It took me a while to write the Sukka part, as my heart's more emotionally invested in Kataang when I write it...but they do have their own subplot, and what kind of writer would I be if I didn't tackle that too? Plus, one has to admit, Suki is perhaps the least-developed of the main characters in the series. We barely know anything about her past. So, 'tis nice to dive into that just a little bit too.
I'm also glad that you guys enjoy this story, even though there's much more canon information about what happened afterwards now. I admit that's part of the reason I'm struggling a bit, as I do try to stick to canon some. x3 But it's still fun to write in this leisurely little non-canon tale, like a stretch of my writing muse's muscles...plus the characters are just so darned fun to write for! So I'll still keep it up if you all still would like me to.
That said, enjoy. ^^
Everything used in this story is the creation of Mike and Bryan, not me, doggone it. x3))
Chapter 36
The sun had begun to set over the rim of the mountains when Aang took Katara out on Appa on a lazy flight; both to stretch the great beast's muscles and to take their time in finding the place that they were going.
Leaning her arms on the back of the saddle, the Waterbender's eyes wandered with appreciation at the beauty of the sunset and the way the light turned the world several shades of orange around her. The shadows cast by the barren, rocky peaks were so dark that it seemed like ink spilled on a painting. Yet, it still didn't make the scene any less enjoyable. Traveling around after the war's end, she'd noticed that it felt like the world itself had breathed a sigh of relief and allowed its true beauty to shine.
"Whatcha thinking about?" Aang asked at one point, turning around from his place on Appa's head to smile at her. "You're really quiet."
She shrugged. "I just feel peaceful, I guess. Plus I'm enjoying the view; never really saw Omashu closely at sunset."
"It's a pretty sight," he agreed. "It looks nicer when some of the mountains have snow on the peaks, in the very middle of winter."
"Does Omashu get snow?"
"Yeah, but it melts too quickly," Aang sighed, eyes rolling up in remembrance. "I remember I always liked it better at the Southern Air Temple in the winter, throwing snowballs at my friends," he laughed. "Plenty of snow in the Patola Range."
"Speaking of friends," she smirked, "Bumi talked to me."
"Oh?" he blinked. "What'd he say?"
"He just gave me the same warning my dad must've given you, I think." Her grin turned warm and sincere. "To never break your heart."
The Airbender glanced away and laughed, briefly blushing. "Bumi did? Wow."
She laughed with him and sidled to the front of the saddle, close enough to him to reach out and touch his arm. "He probably feels an urge to protect you. I tell you, Aang, you make some funny friends. But downright good ones. They all care about you."
Aang had nothing to say to that, but to have another warm smile cross his face at the thought. He gave her hand a small squeeze before again directing the reins.
The flight didn't take too long at all, considering the place they had in mind was within fair walking distance and a mountain climb from Omashu's gates. Once Katara spotted the ornately-carved design over the entrance to a cavern on a familiar plateau, she blushed. She couldn't see the boy's expression as he directed the bison to land down in front of it, but she knew that he probably had the same silly, giddy, madly-in-love look on his face if only for a few moments.
"Y'know," Katara started as she hopped over the saddle and slid down Appa's tail once he touched the ground, "I was kinda kidding when I said we should visit the Cave of Two Lovers again."
Aang blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I kinda figured. But, I wanted to check it out more again now that we're not worried about scrambling around for our lives," he chuckled with a nervous crack in his voice.
She turned around and hummed innocently, her hands clasped behind her back, as she strolled past him with her eyes to the decorative stone etchings. "That's a good point…we know the way, and you're an Earthbender, so the badger-moles won't get us lost…we can take our time…"
Her head swiveled around, and he gulped when he saw how sneaky her grin looked. "How about telling me the real reason you chose this place for our date?" she suggested.
He laughed nervously, but gave her a grin in return. "You'll see. So then…you wanna have the picnic out here first, or…?"
His voice trailed off as she stepped up to him with that look still on her face; the dangerous-playful look that he'd gotten used to seeing when she was teasing him…the one that froze him in place without her having to bend any ice.
"You're being sneaky again," she accused, poking the part of his forehead where the tip of his arrow ended. His heart rate shot up when her finger trailed down his nose. "C'mon, out with it."
Judging by the captivated glitter in his eye when regarding her, she knew that she had him; and had again let herself fall into the Katara that wasn't nearly so stoic and inhibited.
This time though, she wasn't trying to push it away. She wanted to feel the freedom and lightheadedness like from so many times before, because she was all too eager to spend her time alone with him; a moment that always seemed like an eternity to get to again.
Yet, though Aang felt just as addicted, drawn to her eyes and lips and voice and closeness and everything like a moth to the flame, he took the girl's hand in his and calmly cleared his throat, breaking them out of the hazy trance that kept creeping over them so much more often.
"Be patient, Katara," he pleaded, his smile innocent while his eyes hid more than that behind them. "Trust me…I just thought it'd be fun to do a little exploring together. If you don't want to though, we could always stop back at that pond…"
Her smile turned warm, and she laughed quietly, interrupting him. "Relax, Aang…you know I do trust you." She quickly pecked him on the lips and turned back towards the dark entrance. "Anyway, we can have the picnic at that pond when we're done exploring. I actually did want to get a better look at this place."
"I thought you would," he chuckled back as he turned toward Appa and rubbed his nose. The bison questioningly huffed. "Don't worry, buddy, you don't have to come in. You can go find some good fruit to eat, and I'll call for you soon."
His animal guide acquiesced with a slurp to the boy's face and a short grunt, before taking off into the sky.
Watching, Katara hummed curiously. "I hope Appa doesn't feel left out when we go around together. I know he adores you."
Aang took her hand and squeezed it, touched as always by the girl's care for even his animals' well-being. "I think Appa's happy about it. He likes you, and he's happy if both of us are happy. Plus, if I were him, I'd like the opportunity to go off by myself and eat until I explode."
The girl snorted, eyes rolling. "Just like any boy, all about food."
"Appa's about as old as I am; he's a growing boy too," he snorted back, nudging her shoulder.
"Figures," she affectionately poked his arm. "Now let's get to exploring."
They didn't need any torches to light their way into the darkness; but they did have to walk a little ways in before the first of the illuminating crystals came into view. The tunnel was shrouded in blue-white light, not blinding, but soft. They paused every so often in their footsteps when they heard crumbling or scrabbling…but he knew they were safe from wolf-bats, for they'd have all flown out of the mountain by now to hunt out in the night. It was the badger-moles they wondered about; Katara remembered how huge they were the last time she was here, and every little noise shot a peal of energy through her spine and caused her to walk closer to Aang.
But no, there was no trouble from the First Earthbenders, either; it was as if they had known the significance of their home, and tended to stay clear of the only true path through the labyrinth into the center of the tomb…the heart of the mountain. It left the current pair to keep walking inward, carefully with their hands to one side of the tunnel, eyes trained to the steady hue of the path ahead.
And then they came upon the tomb.
They stared inside reverently, mouths agape. Whereas they had only seen the interior through the flickering light of torches before, now they beheld it as had been built and made before: the crystals in the ceiling led to the center of the room and spiraled inward with an intricate design like stars in the sky. The mass of them kept the tomb's chamber, the statues, the markings and etchings…all of it, coated in a mix of misty blues and greens. It was just as they remembered it; but instead of the centerpiece of an intricate trap, it appeared sacred. They could feel an energy of calm from a private sanctum hidden from a rampaging world, just as the lovers from the legend had intended it, and where their families had laid them in sealed earthen coffins to rest in peace together.
"Wow…" Katara marveled as she stepped inside, slowly out of fascination and mild caution still for the creatures that dwelt in the mountain's innards. "I never really saw how big this place was."
Aang whistled appreciatively while scanning the full height of the chamber. "I know, it's immense."
And so they silently walked on through the sanctum, pausing to carefully read the inscriptions and again see the tragic tale of Oma and Shu unfold.
When Katara finished it, she felt the same little welling in her heart like she had felt the first time. Aang was next to her, his expression pensive and soft, as she must have looked at the moment.
"It's sad," she murmured and broke the gloomy quiet, the perfect kind of quiet only found underground. "Oma and Shu were in love, but they never had the chance to go past this little place together."
"It's not too sad when you think about it," Aang hummed. "It was her love for him that helped to unify a city. And they ended up here together anyway." He glanced over and met her eyes. "Still, I know what you mean. Most ancient love stories I always heard about were tragic. Maybe one of them died…maybe one fell in love and the other didn't…spirits could disguise themselves and fall in love with humans, but couldn't stay with them once they were found out; stuff like that."
Katara flashed back to old stories told to her as a child; she used to like happily-ever-after stories, because love seemed so easy to take and to keep…and she'd learned far too quickly that it was completely the opposite. These days, the children were all a little older and a little smarter. Real love wasn't easy at all; it's what made the tragic ones all the more real, and the real ones all the more tragic.
They'd both known that. A part of the Waterbender wouldn't forgive herself for the uncertainty she'd once put Aang through.
He noticed the way she stared off into space, and took her hand in his. "…You okay?" he whispered tentatively, concerned.
"Hm? Yeah," she sighed, squeezing his fingers. "I just had a funny, stupid thought."
"Tell me."
She bit her lip and looked at him, as if not merely at, but into, at his soul. "As far as love stories go, do you think ours could be tragic?"
He blinked once, and then let out a chuckle. "What could make you think that?"
A little annoyed that his reaction was to laugh, she scowled. "I'm serious." Her look softened when his did. "There were so many times I could've lost you, or you could've lost me…times you were driven away from me…then there's the whole thing about outliving you…"
"I thought we agreed not to dwell on that," he interrupted, insistence in his tone. He hadn't let go of her hand, and in fact took both of hers within his grasp. "None of that other stuff happened either. You don't have to think like that, Katara."
She sighed, her eyes closed in abashment of herself for bringing it up. "I know I don't. It's stupid, like I said. It's just something that I wondered about for a few seconds, that's all."
Aang tried hard not to think about pursuing the matter; only on a way to chase the dark thoughts out of her mind for the time being. The way his fingers brushed over hers, and the way she squeezed back, he knew that she would have given anything to get out of dwelling as well.
He smiled and reached up to touch the side of her face. "Gyatso used to have a saying for when people thought too much. 'If you read the end of a story before hearing the rest, it won't be worth reading at all.' I think you and I will have a story with a happy ending. But only if we don't keep trying to think about the ending."
Katara wanted to grimace, but found herself smiling. It was funny and mysterious sometimes, the affect he had on her like that. "The fun is in the journey, not the destination, right?" she said, echoing the words of the traveling singers from their last fateful walk into the mountain.
"Exactly," Aang laughed, ever as always impressed by how quickly Katara could link words of wisdom. "Besides, the way you make me feel, how could it be tragic?"
She blushed and shook her head. "You're cheesy sometimes, Aang."
He snickered and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I gotta work on that."
"Don't," she insisted, pulling him into a hug. "It's very sweet. And besides…I feel the same."
Aang returned her hold on him completely, pulling her tight and breathing in her warmth and the scent of her hair. "I know."
They stayed together like that for a while, comforting the other, before letting go and allowing their eyes to wander to the brilliance of the crystals above them. Katara was the first to notice that they were standing at the feet of the smooth stone sculpture of the legendary couple, with the artfully etched characters spelling out "Love is brightest in the dark" in one long vertical scroll stretching to the ground between them.
"If I could go back in time," Aang smirked suddenly, "I'd change what I said back then about not wanting to kiss you. Wasn't my brightest moment at all."
Katara sputtered and giggled. "I know. I shouldn't be laughing, but…"
"Laugh away," he grinned. "I was a silly awkward kid."
"You still are a silly awkward kid most of the time," Katara pointed out with a joking pout. "But now tell me; what would you do instead if you could go back and change it?"
Aang stood straight and stroked his chin, pretending to be in deep thought for all of three seconds. Then, without warning, he swerved and grabbed the squealing Waterbender around the waist, turning around and dipping her low with his hands on her back just as he'd done in a certain daydream. His lips were pressed to hers before she could even comprehend his rather theatrical display…and she was returning his kiss before she could only think further, one arm around his neck and the other hand gripping his shoulder.
When they parted, still in that position, he had a thoroughly satisfied and sly grin when looking down on her bright red and surprised face.
They both broke out into laughter at once, and brought themselves rightfully on their feet again, holding their sides.
"That…" she began through her laughter, feeling all too warm in her cheeks, "That…tha-hat was…really, Aang?"
He was now blushing himself, breathing out the last of his giggles. "Heee…N-heh, no, probably not. I'd have still been too nervous. And I'd have probably just scared you."
"Probably," she admitted, wiping away a tear of mirth. "But still, I understand now how it was. We were both pretty awkward."
"Yeah," he sighed, giving her his adoring, sparkling wide eyes. "Hope you know, I did like the idea of kissing you, but, I thought you'd be grossed out or something."
"I don't think I would've been…I mean, I suggested it in the first place," she shrugged and smiled awkwardly, looking back and finding the situation all the more funny the more they remembered it. Her head shrunk a little into her shoulders in a sheepish fashion. "I'm still sorry I yelled at you after that though."
He scoffed, smiling warmly. "You know I already forgave you right after. It was a stressful moment."
"I know. Still. Sometimes I hate my temper."
"Sometimes I hate my bad timing like that," he offered, shrugging with a smirk.
She giggled. "Your bad timing's cute most of the time though."
"And you don't make everything explode when you lose your temper."
"…Um, Aang…iceberg."
"…Oh, right. Well then hey, I kinda owe my life to that temper, don't I?"
She blinked. "Wow, yeah."
They laughed again, quietly this time, and the echoing was melodic as it bounced and traveled along the great chamber. Katara found herself drawn again into his arms, holding him as they just stood peacefully comfortable in a shared grasp and leaned against the wall.
"I'm really not bothered by your temper," Aang informed her as he brushed his fingers through her hair, and the combination of his assuring voice and the slow combing soothed her. "It's part of who you are. You're brave and fierce in a fight, and still one of the most caring people I know. And I love you for all of that."
Hearing him say so, Katara's heart welled until she felt it taking over her nerves and seemingly pouring out into her limbs. "I love you too," she breathed back. "That's why I still would rather not use my temper on you."
"We'll probably have a few fights," he shrugged. "That doesn't mean I change my opinion."
She smiled. "Put a bit of thought into the possibilities of all of this, huh?"
"Yeah," he chuckled sheepishly. "Every time I meditate, my thoughts sometimes go to us. And it all comes back the same. Nothing could make me want to stop loving you, even the arguments."
Katara's breath came in soft and long, and she tightened her embrace on him. "I don't even want to think of stopping what we have now," she admitted.
"Neither do I," he whispered back, inching closer to her…so close, feeling the warmth of her face, the heart racing, the eyelids drooping…
She gulped unconsciously, anxious and unable to calm herself. What is it that feels different about this? Is it this cave, maybe?
"Well…" she began, quietly, half-timid, but earnest, and adding a little humor into her tone. "Will you kiss me now?"
He breathed a short laugh, and slid his hand behind her neck. "Thought you'd never ask again."
Her heart hammered in her ears the instant his lips came upon hers. She had to separate for a millisecond of breath before falling back fully into his kiss, gripped by his insistent, protective hold and feeling nothing else but his touch, his mouth, hearing nothing but their rushing blood, their sighs, and the subtle scrape of rock.
Aang felt hypnotized, though his eyes were closed. She had him tugged as close to her as they could possibly get, her tongue carefully stroking over his, and there was this energy about the two of them that he'd certainly noticed before.
But, he could hardly remember when it was this strong…if it ever was. The night after their date at the Eastern Air Temple had come quite close to it. The Avatar and the Waterbender were awash in it, like water streaming into an empty room and fast covering it foot by foot.
Like water. Like the healing session, the last time it felt like this.
Before either of them knew it, their position shifted. No longer were their sides against the wall; but it was Katara's back pressed against the flat surface, his deceptively light grip holding her wrists, his lips still taking in everything of her own. She inhaled sharply through her nose, and Aang broke away just a short hair's breadth from her tingling skin. Her eyelids were too heavy to want to keep open, but she still noticed his playful grin and the way his dark silver eyes caught a whitish hue from the crystals, staring intently to her.
She allowed herself a small laugh. Robbed of air, her voice was low and short of a whimper. "I think if you'd kissed me like that back then…I wouldn't know what to think…"
He shortly smiled. "What do you think now?"
Did his voice get JUST a bit deeper, or was that just me?
Her fingers wriggled freely, where he still had her arms pinned to the wall on either side of her. She breathed, and thoughtfully popped her lips. "I think I don't want you to stop."
Aang chirped a light giggle, but when he returned his lips to hers, the kiss there was but a short peck. Suddenly, he'd had another idea. He shifted a little closer, kissing the left side of her warm face…then up to the side of her head, amongst her hair…then down to her ear…all with a trail of immense warmth in the wake of his affection. He centered his lips onto her neck, to a little spot just beneath her ear, and blew on it. She shuddered and laughed, clenching her fingers, and that's where he concentrated a little cycle of gentle nuzzles and nipping that had her barely able to stand.
"Aang," she squeaked (though definitely not in protest), "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," he sang teasingly and nipped again over her throat, thoroughly attentive with the spots he had found out were the most sensitive.
It seemed at that moment like a reasonable enough answer.
She sighed blissfully and did what came so rarely to her: letting go of herself, trusting him completely to hold her up, hardly aware of any little cracks in her voice made as a result of his attention, the heat of his breath and the feel of his lips suckling delicately on her. And yet Aang was hardly aware of himself…how could he be, when the love of his life was there with him in that sanctuary, where it was so dark and they were so alone, and so warm?
She was vaguely aware of him letting go of her left wrist, still holding the other one fast to the wall, so that his hand was free to caress her side, up her back, down again to her waist and just resting above her hip. Biting her lip against her own voice, Katara laid her own hand onto the back of his neck and stroked the stripe of his tattoo with her fingers, up to his head and down again into the collar of his vest and back. They stayed like that, pressing ever closer, hands wandering further.
He shivered, though he felt all too warm. His fingers scrunched on her ocean-blue fabric and his kissing resumed. And yet through the tumultuous wave of this unnamed energy they were in, he still managed to hear a warning voice out to him in his head somewhere. Be careful.
The very instant he stopped his kissing just to breathe out on her neck, she tugged a little on his collar, indicating her want of his attention. He looked up into her deep azure eyes, seeing the same fog clouding her vision, and the light returned to her, too.
"I-I think that's…enough, right now," she sighed. "I think you might've left a mark back there."
He glanced over to where he'd been kissing her; sure enough, just at an angle on her neck where it wouldn't be noticed unless one really looked, was a little circle of light red.
Finally fully aware of himself, and where his hands were, the Airbender let her go and hesitantly inched away while smiling shyly. "Guess I did. Sorry," he whispered.
She chuckled, rubbing the spot with her palm thoughtfully. "It's okay; nobody'll notice, and it can be healed. I guess we got…carried away again."
"Yeah," he said, licking his lips and noticing how very warm his face was. Still, he faced Katara with his familiar innocent smile and squeezed her hands. "What do you say we get out of here now, and go have that picnic?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me," she acquiesced, clearing her throat quickly as the two of them walked out hand-in-hand with not another word on the matter spoken. They bade one last respectful look to the tomb where the legendary couple rested, and found their way down the familiar luminescent tunnel from which they came.
No words spoken, but fleeting glances at one another combined with their still-pounding hearts and quirky smiles made the both of them wonder if the tales of a curse, or a spell, on the cave really wasn't so far-fetched.
Meanwhile, far away from where his sister and best friend were occupying themselves, Sokka had a light grip on Suki's hand as they wandered back uphill upon the darkening streets of Omashu. The warm, fiery glow from the houses and businesses still open were all that lit their path, and the murmuring of the crowds had trickled to a mere inkling of faraway voices as they all settled for the night.
The two warriors had finished their dinner date, and were simply taking their time heading back up to the palace.
"So, where do you think Aang and Katara are right now?" Suki hummed.
Her boyfriend snorted. "If I had to put money on a guess, it'd be at that cave. I swear that after we left that place last time there was something between them that I couldn't put my finger on. Now I know I was right."
"Your instincts again, huh?" she quirked an eyebrow.
"Hey, don't badmouth the instincts," Sokka warned with a mockingly serious tone. "They saved our lives a lot."
The Kyoshi Warrior laughed. "I can recall your sister telling me otherwise."
He rolled his eyes, defeated, but squeezed her fingers tenderly nonetheless. "You two talk a lot then, huh?"
"Oh yeah," she smirked. "Just girl talk. Nothing you'd be interested in, I'm sure."
"Makeup and hair and all that girly crud?" The swordsman grimaced.
The look on her face turned rather wicked. "And new and very effective fighting techniques, yeah. Girly crud like that."
He winced. "I did it again, didn't I? Bad brain!" he knuckled the side of his skull, "Bad, stupid brain, makin' words come out all wrong."
His display of humility was still quite rough around the edges, Suki thought, but it was still endearing. At least he had tried. She laughed again. "It's okay. But yeah...Katara, she's like a little sister to me too, now. All of you guys." Her eyes turned upward in thought, pinpointing whatever bright stars she could. "Who'd have thought that the same people that I once threatened to throw to the Unagi would become like a family to me?"
Sokka hummed back, but it was then that something seemed to strike his curiosity, and any words after that were lost.
All throughout their journeys, he and the others had told Suki so many things about themselves...but what had she told them about her life, other than the long days training with the other warriors and living it all out on Kyoshi Island? This was the girl he wanted to marry; the girl he knew so intimately. But yet, there was still more to know, and while he had tended to fall over for cute girls almost instantly before, Suki became the one that he felt obligated to share in her life.
The first had been Yue.
He gulped and shuddered to a stop, which brought Suki to pause as well. She turned back to him, studying the boy with her steady gaze. "Sokka, what's up?"
As if noticing himself, he shook his head out of the spell it was in and smiled reassuringly to her. "Nothing. I was just wondering about something."
Suki faced him and pulled them both to rest against a wall overlooking another section of the city, away from the street. "You know you can ask me anything, right?"
"I know," he sighed. "I just never know if the question might be sensitive for you or anything."
She tilted her head and crossed her arms. "Sokka, look who you're talking to. There's nothing I can't handle."
He had to grin; she certainly shared his bold spirit, if nothing else. He sat on the wall, pulling her with him. "It's what you just said, about seeing us like a family. It made me realize that you don't really talk about your own. Just makes me want to ask about what your life was like a bit more...like, before the Kyoshi Warriors. Of course," he held his hands up, "If it's nothing you wanna talk about..."
She interrupted him by lightly taking his hands in hers. "I don't mind, Sokka. Really though..." Suki sighed. "There isn't anything to talk about. I...don't think I had a real family. I mean, I consider the girls as much to me, and Oyaji's been looking out for me my whole life. But, I can barely remember anything before that. So in a way...I'm envious of you and Katara, and even Toph. You guys do have families, and I can see how much they care for you, and you for them."
There was a little well of sadness for her in his heart right then. He wished that he knew what did happen to her family...why she couldn't remember. But, he knew, it was futile to make sense of a broken past.
"Well, you know what?" he said, pulling her into his arms and kissing her briefly on the lips. "Just think of us as your real family now too."
"Like I said, you numb-skull," she hummed a laugh and nestled her head into his shoulder, "I already do. So don't worry about it."
He would always worry about it, of course; at least a little bit. But it satisfied him to know that his girl would always be strong enough. Sokka knew that he couldn't wait until the day he proposed.
Until then, though, there were other ways to show how devoted he felt toward her. With a sly grin, he turned his head to whisper a short suggestion into Suki's ear. When she sat up and blinked at him, her face a bright shade of red, the warrior girl didn't know whether to smack him or drag him off to the privacy of a palace room.
She ended up doing both.