Together
Katara lay back in the soft green grass of the meadow with a sigh, resting her head on her hands. High above, strewn in a beautifully designed pattern across the night sky, the stars twinkled knowingly. Behind her, several friends lay snoring, tucked away under their blankets. Appa slept near them, and on his big flat tail lay Aang, awake and staring at the nighttime sky.
The waterbender rolled onto her side, sighing. The moon was bright and full overhead, and she couldn't sleep. A breeze wafted by, and she closed her eyes and snuggled further into the grass, hoping it's softness would lull her to unconsciousness.
"Katara…?" the whispered voice was shockingly close, and Katara jumped with surprise.
"Aang?"
The airbender now sat on the ground a few feet away, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry," he muttered, "I didn't mean to scare you."
Katara shifted onto her back and assumed her previous position, staring at the stars. "It's okay," she shrugged.
Aang shifted a little closer, grateful for her company. He tilted his chin up toward the sky, pretending to look at the moon, but his gaze darted discreetly toward Katara. Her eyes reflected all the mixed beauty of the stars with the beauty of her own soul, glittering deep, royal blue in the moonlight. Trying to shake himself out of the trance proved to be useless. Aang was mesmerized, and he gazed unblinkingly at the waterbender. She was unaware at how brightly his silver eyes glowed.
"You know," Katara began, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "I wonder what will happen now that the war is over."
Aang, his mind registering not her words, but only the beautiful, bell-like sound of her voice, blinked twice. Once to mentally slap himself awake, and the second to tune his ears in to the exact frequency required to process the meaning of her words.
Misinterpreting his stare as one of confusion, Katara sat up, clasping her hands and lacing her fingers together in her lap as she mulled over exactly how to elaborate in the best terms. A soft breeze rippled the surface of the grass and the tops of the trees in the field, toying with the waterbender's hair loopies.
"To...to us," she started, glancing briefly up at him before returning her gaze self-consciously to her lap. "I wonder what will happen to all of us..." she paused, brushing a lock of wavy brown hair from her face. "For so long, ending the war was our ultimate goal...our purpose in which we based every decision, no matter how miniscule. But...what now?" She looked up, and the lost look in her eyes seared through Aang and wedged itself in his throat. "What do we do now that war has fled to the dark corners of the world and we are left in peace?"
The Avatar regarded her with an expression that bespoke of both buried wisdom and thoughtfulness. Even as the boy met her uncertainty with a calm confidence, the sparkle in his eye flickered uneasily. "I...I don't know."
Katara looked downward sadly.
"But," Aang's voice drew her eyes upward again. "I know whatever is in store for us in the future...we won't face it alone. Never alone."
The waterbender blinked slowly, truly meeting his gaze for the first time that night. What she saw was the hard glint of strength, softened by a kind look of reassurance glowing in his bright eyes.
"Never alone," she repeated, smiling at the sound of the words.
A/N: How was it? This is something I dreamed up, and it has no real plot or anything, but i thought it was sort of sweet...ish. Tell me what you think.