Chapter 37: At Last

I do Not Own Avatar

Previously on Avatar: The Journey Begins...

"Well, the closest village from here is a small town call Guan-Yin. It's on the southern tip of the firenation and about a half a days journey from here." Sokka replied as he observed his map of the firenation.

"Alright, then let's go to Guan-Yin." Aang said as he walked over to Appa, and took off his headband that was hiding the rest of his arrow.

...

"So your name is Katara right? Well Katara, I would like to let you know that you are now my new girlfriend..Don't worry..You don't have to thank me." Hei Bie obnoxiously told the surprised girl. This news made Katara furious.

"In your dreams, Big-head." The young girl stated before storming of with a loud huff.

...

And now...

"Sokka, it's time to get up. We have to go to school." The young Avatar said as he shoved Sokka's shoulder in an attempt to wake his friend.

"Five more minutes.." The sleepy warrior mumbled as he turned away from the Avatar. Aang frowned and placed his hand on his forehead before looking up and smiling mischievously.

"Sokka! A Platapus-Bear is eating your seal jerky!" The young Avatar lied only to frown once again whenever his sleepy friend didn't move.

"No Platapus-Bears in.. Firenation.. Only.. Earthkingdom." Sokka mumbled before grabbing his sheathed boomerang and hugging it like a teady-bear. This happened every single morning, and frankly it was becoming a very annoying habit to wake the lazy warrior.

"Step aside Twinkletoes." Toph ordered as she cracked her knuckles. She then slammed her foot in the ground which caused a screaming Sokka to catapult 10 feet into the air and land on a shrub a few feet outside of the cave.

"That works." Aang stated simply as they watched Sokka storm past them.

"Stupid Bush, Stupid morning, Stupid school, stupid Earthbending.." The warrior griped as he walked over to Appa and began getting dressed. After about fiveteen minutes the small group of friends were approaching the small school of Guan-Yin.

"Hey, isn't this where you and OnJi went to school?" Sokka asked as they entered the building.

"Yep." Was Aang simple reply."Remember to call me Kuzon." He added as they entered into their newly assigned classroom.

"OnJi, it's good to see you have returned..Oh.. Hello Kuzon..I trust you have learned respect during your absence...Who are the rest of these students?" Lady Kenja greeted her students who bowed respectfully to her.

"Hello, Instructor Kenja. Yes, I have learned the respectful etiquette of the firenation...I apologize for my disrespectful behavior towards you years ago... This is Sheng, Chang, Suki, Sonyi, Taya, and my friend Morine." Aang finished intoducing as he pointed to Toph and then Sokka.

"Very well, Nice to meet you all. Please go sit down in whatever empty seats you can find...besides the two in the very back left side of the class. For some reason, my two star students are not here today." Kenja stated before the group scattered and sat down in whatever empty seats they could find. Aang decided to sit in the middle of the back row of the class so that way he could scan the area easier. He sighed as he scanned all of the faces that were in the class.

'Still no sign of Katara.. My love, where are you?" Aang thought as he rested his face in his hands in an act of frustration. Just then two people were heard rushing into the room. Aang didn't even bother looking up. 'Probably just some irresponsible teens who forgot school was today.' The discouraged Airbender thought to himself as he continued staring at his wooden desk.

"Sorry we are late, Lady Kenja." He heard a male voice apologize.

"Where we're you two? It is unlike my two star pupils to be tardy.." The stern teacher asked with a surprisingly nice tone.

"Some personal matters came up this morning that caused us to be late, I can assure you that it will not happen again, Lady Kenja." An angelic female answered. The sound of this heavenly voice immediately captured the powerful bender's attention.

'It couldn't be...IT IS!' The young Avatar thought to himself as he looked up in shock. The young airbender's heart skipped a beat when seeing the beautiful blue-eyed angel standing at the front of the classroom. After weeks of searching, Katara, the love of his life, was finally standing before him looking as beautiful as ever. Even in the school uniform, her beauty shined through like the morning sun in a darkened room. Words couldn't even describe the excitement and overwhelming joy the young Airbender had of finally finding the woman he loves. Sokka, Suki, Toph, Sheng, Sonyi, and Chang all had the same amount of joy lighting up their faces as they noticed their long lost friend standing before them. The only person who wasn't pleased was OnJi. She simply sat there with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face when seeing the gorgeous watertribe girl.

"You are forgiven. Please go take your seats." The Teacher ordered before Ning and Katara bowed and walked towards the back of the class. Aang smiled widely when watching his love walk down the isle to her seat. Katara also saw the young man with the headband on his head smiling at her and couldn't help but smile back at him. 'He is really cute." She thought as she took her seat a few people away from the disguised Avatar.

'There she is! There she is!' Aang thought to himself as he watched her open up her history textbook. 'I wonder why she doesn't recognize me or any of us? Maybe she is on a mission, and doesn't want to blow her cover." He continued thinking as he stared at the beautiful waterbender. The next hour and a half felt like an eternity for all of the group, but finally the bells rang for school to be over. To the gaang's annoyance, everyone rushed out of the school rooms and collided with other classmates from other classrooms. During this chaos, even Aang lost sight of Katara since everyone looked exactly the same.

"Where is she? I know she was here a few minutes ago." Aang asked excitedly as the gang of friends raced through the entrance doors and into the school courtyard.

"There she is!" Toph exclaimed as she ran over to a water-fountain where Katara was sitting and reading some papers.

"KATARA!" Aang yelled as he dashed over and tackled the surprised girl in a huge hug. Everyone else also huddled around her while squeezing her tightly.

"We've been so worried about you! Why did you leave? What were you thinking? You are in big trouble, Missy!" Sokka scolded as he fought through Toph and Suki and everyone else in order to hug his sister, but as soon as he grabbed her, a huge smile broke out on his face. "I'm so happy I've finally found you!" Her brother exclaimed as he squeezed her harder in his arms.

"Please..please let go of me." Katara asked nicely, but to her aggravation no one moved a muscle. She was trapped in a big group hug with people she had never remembered meeting in her life. The young girl then started feeling a mix of confusion, frustration, and fear. "GET OFF OF ME!" She ordered while pushing the surprised group of people off of her.

"Now who in Avatar's name are you guys, and how do you know me?" She asked while slowly backing away from the group in order to retrieve some of her personal space.

"Come on, Katara. You can't tell me that you can't recognize me! It's me Sokka." Her brother stated while walking closer to the girl. Katara's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'm sorry, but I do not know you.. Any of you." She stated much to everyones horror. However, her brother did not believe that statement and walked up to her while placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, listen Katara. I know you are probably very upset about what happened with Aang and OnJi, but you are going a little too far." Sokka began to say before Toph spoke up.

"Actually Sokka.. She is telling the truth.. For some reason, she doesn't remember us. From the vibrations that I'm picking up... It's like this is the first time she has ever met..any of us." This statement caused everyone to gasp and intently stare at the watertribe girl..

"Wait..Katara you don't even remember me?" Aang asked as he also walked close to the young girl. However, this time Katara didn't back away from him. Something about that young man with the headband made her feel safe and secure..it was almost like she had known him all her life.

"No, I'm afraid I don't.. I'm sorry.. About two weeks ago, I lost my memory.. I can't remember anything from my past.." Katara replied as she grabbed her arm in insecurity.

"What do you mean that you can't remember anything?" Sokka asked as he tried to hide the panic in his voice.

"I just can't... All I remember is a bright white light and then waking up in my friend Mingmei's house.." Katara answered much to the gaang's dismay. Everybody's eyes widened at the realization that their dear friend had in fact lost her memory. Everyone except OnJi who was overjoyed by this dreadful news.

'This could actually work to my advantage.' The evil minded girl thought to herself as she observed the scene that was playing out before her.

"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Suki asked with concern. Katara just looked at the ground and sighed a heavy and saddened sigh.

"I don't know... I doubt that there is anything you can do.. Regaining my memory is just going to take time... It would be nice if I knew all of your names though." The watertribe girl said as she finally looked up while scanning the people who were facing her.

"Well...My name is Aang, but I think it would be best if you just call me.. Kuzon for right now or at least until you regain your memory. This is Sokka, but call him Morine.. This is Toph, but call her Taya.. The rest of the people in the group are Suki, Sheng, Sonyi, Chang, and OnJi.. You can just call them by their names.." Aang took the initiative to introduce the gaang with a forced smile. It broke his heart to see that Katara had forgotten everything, but he was determined to help his love remember at all cost. 'As soon as I have time to meditate, I am going to go to the Spirit World and talk with some spirits..hopefully they can give me some answers on how to retrieve Katara's memory.' Aang thought to himself as he stared intently at the ground.

"Thank you.. It's really nice to meet all of you.. Especially you Aa-Kuzon." Katara's voice stated, causing Aang to snap out of his deep contemplation. As he looked up, he saw Katara smiling brightly at him, and couldn't help but smile back. Even though she had absolutely no memories of him, He could still feel the unbreakable connection between their two hearts and souls. The feeling was comforting for both of the young benders.

Katara stood there silently lost in her own thoughts as she continued to smile at this strange young man. Just being in his presence caused her stomach to flutter and her heart beat to sky rocket. It was almost as if there was a connection between them...a connection that, for the life of her, she couldn't remember. Her mind began to continue wandering as she began taking into consideration his toned body, that was even visible through the school uniforms, and his sweet smile that instantly made her feel safe and comfortable.

'He seems so sweet, so.. Flaming, and so.. Familiar. I'm really glad that he is staying around here.' The young watertribe girl thought to herself before hearing another person approach them. 'Oh great...' She thought to herself when realizing that it was the person she couldn't stand to even be around for more than a few minutes.

"Hey OnJi..Kuzon.. I see you guys have met Katara." Hei Bie said as he scanned over at the crowd.

"Yeah, We have all met eachother. What does our meeting eachother have to do with you?" The waterbender asked coldly while crossing her arms. The arrogant boy brushed off the obvious remark and just smiled while leaning closer to the Katara.

"Well, the reason is simple.. OnJi is my ex girlfriend, and Kuzon is the one who took her... I want to make sure that doesn't happen again." Hei Bie informed while sending Aang the evil eye.

"What? No I didn't! OnJi and I aren't dating, and we never have been dating.." The disguised Avatar responded with a shocked expression on his face.

"Shut Up Kuzon.. Or should I say LUUUZON.. I just came to let you know that Katara is MY new girlfriend now.. So don't even get ANY ideas on trying to take her." The Cocky and overly Confident firebender clarified while placing his arm across Katara's shoulders in an act of possession. Aang felt his whole body begin to boil with rage when hearing what that proud boy just said. His face began turning bright red as he watched that jerk sliver his snake-like arm around HIS girlfriend's shoulders. 'HE BETTER LET GO OF HER BEFORE I SHOW HIM WHO HE IS REALLY DEALING WITH!' Aang screamed in his head, but before he could say anything Katara spoke up.

"WHAT?" She screamed causing even Aang to snap out of his rage and look at her. "I am NOT your girlfriend, you overconfident meat-head! I will NEVER be your girlfriend so you can just Keep DREAMING!" The Watertribe girl corrected angrily as she pushed his arm off of her and attempted to walk off; however, before she could, Hei Bie grabbed her arm and pulled her into him.

"You may not be at the moment, but you will be. No one rejects, Hei Bie." The proud and cocky young man growled while tightening his grip on the girl and causing her to yelp in pain. Before Hei Bie knew what was happening, He felt someone punch in the stomach with such force that it made him fall to the ground. During that time that he was falling, he made sure to hold on to Katara's arm and fling her about five feet away from him. The young waterbender could be heard groaning in pain as she hit and slid against the stone floor. This action only infuriated the protective Avatar even more.

"Leave her ALONE!" Aang yelled while standing over Hei Bie in a battle stance. The arrogant young man glared at the disguised Avatar before swinging around and attempting to kick Aang's feet out from under him. This attempt failed when Aang simply jumped up avoiding the attack. Hei Bie then punched a fist full of fire at his opponent but couldn't ever strike Airbender was way to quick for the bully to keep up with. After a few seconds of dodging the amateur's attempted attacks, Aang spun around behind him and kicked the kid in the back causing him to fall of the ground. This only embarrassed and infuriated the firebender even more. Hei Bie jumped up with a growl and sent a small sheet of fire towards the Airbender. Aang simply used his own firebending to counteract the attack and ran up blasting Hei Bie with a fire ball so powerful that it knocked the young man off his feet and caused him to slide across the courtyard before finally stopping. Within a second, Aang was standing over the defeated enemy with his fist reared back ready to blast fire into that arrogant firebender's face. However, instead of burning him, Aang just stood powerfully and victoriously over him.

"Don't you EVER grab, hurt, or come near my Katara again! If you do, I will not hold back the punishment that you rightfully deserve." The Avatar threatened before the crowd of onlookers separated revealing Lady Kenja and the Head Master walking up.

"What is the meaning of-?.. Hei Bie..." The Headmaster began before looking up and glaring at the disguised hero of the world. "Once again you are picking fights Kuzon.. You were warned the last time about the consequences of causing trouble on school property..Come with me." The Headmaster continued before hearing someone yell 'No!'. Everyone's attention instantly fell on the young girl who was slowly and barely picking herself off the ground.

"Headmaster, sir. Kuzon did not start that fight. He was protecting me. Hei Bie was.. Hurting me. He is the one who was picking fights." Katara spoke up while acting completely vulnerable and terrified. This new Fragile appearance caused all of the gaang to stare at her in shock, even Aang was surprised. However, this only fueled his anger towards Hei Bie even more. He completely terrified the love of his life to the extent that she looked like a one day old baby moose-lion cub without it's Mother.

"Hei Bie, I am ashamed of you. You are to be severely punished for your actions against my Star Pupil. Follow me. We must inform your parents at once." The Headmaster's voice interrupted Aang's thoughts.

"She's lying Headmaster! I was just minding my own business when Kuzon attacked me!" Hei Bie lied as he slowly stood up. At this lie, Aang spun around in rage. He was about to scream at the untruthful jerk before the Headmaster spoke up.

"Nonesense! My star pupil would never lie about such matters. Katara is one of the most loyal and respectful students in Guan-Yin Academy. Now come with me or your punishment will be much worse." The Headmaster remarked in a stern tone. Hei Bie growled as he turned and glared at Aang and then Katara. He then walked through the crowd of kids and followed The Headmaster inside.

'Finally he gets what was coming to him.. He will not be causing any more trouble after that.' Aang continued being lost in his thoughts as he watched the young man walk into the building. Just as he turned around to run over to Katara, another young firenation student came sprinting over to her.

"Katara!" The young man yelled as he raced up to the waterbender before Aang could. "Are you okay? What happened?" He asked her while attempting to comfort her only to see a smug smile plastered on her face.

"I'm fine, Ning. I was acting all scared so that way Kuzon didn't get into trouble for standing up for me." Katara stated much to everyone's surprise.

"You mean.. You were faking the whole fragile completely helpless little girl look?" Sonyi asked clearly taken back by the waterbender's superior acting skills.

"Yep, It was all an act to keep Kuzon out of trouble." She confirmed while smiling proudly.

"Dang Sugar Queen..err.. I mean Katara. You are a really good actor. I even believed that you were terrified, and that's saying something." Toph spoke up as they approached the young girl.

"Well, I was a little scared when he grabbed me and threw me, but that was it." Katara responded before turning her attention back to Aang who looked just as, if not more, surprised as the rest of his friends. "Thank you for standing up for me and freeing me from that obnoxious jerk." The watertribe girl thanked as she walked up and gave him a big heartfelt hug. The feeling of the warmth of her body caused Aang to sigh a relieved and peaceful sigh. It was such a calm and tranquil feeling that he never wanted to end.

"You are very welcome, Katara." The young Airnomad replied as he smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around his lover's waist.

"Hey, I remember you!" Ning interrupted their precious moment with a big smile. This statement caused both Aang and Katara to look at the young warrior. "Your Kuzon right?" He asked while approaching the two teenagers.

"Uhhh..yeah." Aang answered as he fought back a pout when Katara pulled away from his arms and stepped back a few steps.

"Katara, this is the guy who started the first secret dance party!" Ning exclaimed while pointing at Aang in excitement.

"Really?" Katara asked as she looked over at Aang with a fascinated look in her eyes. "Then you HAVE to come with me and Ning to the dance party tonight." She added with a huge cheerful smile.

"I don't know if we should do that." Chang spoke up causing everyone to stare at him in confusion. "We have other things we need to be focusing on.. Like how in the world we are going to get Katara's memory back." He explained further while approaching the girl. As soon as the watertribe girl heard his voice, her stomach dropped. She felt feelings of obligation, pressure, stress, anxiety, and fear come flowing into her.

'Why do I feel like this?' Katara asked herself before seeing another girl come walking up and elbowing him in the stomach.

"Oh Chang, Lighten up. We can have some fun. It would be good to go to that dance party." The firenation girl told Chang while giving him a stern look that was soon disguised by a pretty smile. For some reason, hearing that firenation girl's voice caused Katara's her body to swarm with feelings of hatred, anger, rage, betrayal, and hurt. However, Those feelings soon disappeared when she heard the rest of the group agree with her statement.

"Then will you go, Kuzon? Please?" Katara asked as she turned and faced the Avatar. Aang simply smiled and nodded his head 'yes'.

"I would love to." He added to his unspoken answer causing Katara to light up like the sun.

"Oh Thank you Aa-Kuzon!" The excited watertribe girl stated as she jumped up and hugged the Avatar which caused him to let out a cheerful laugh.

"That's great that you are coming Kuzon. Everyone will be pretty excited to see the best dancer in the firenation back again. The party starts tonight at dusk in the same cave as the original dance party." Ning informed with a friendly smile before turning his attention to his friend and partner. "Katara, we need to go ahead and head back to the house. I have some things that I need to show you...things involving last night." He told his friend before turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Oh Okay... Let me just get my papers, and I will be ready to go." Katara stated before turning her attention to Aang. "I'll see you tonight." She said before giving him another quick hug, then grabbing her schoolwork, and racing to where Ning was waiting by the entrance of the Schoolyard.

"See you tonight!" Aang yelled back while waving at her. He then sighed a lovestruck sigh and turned back to his friends. "Well, guys.. We have a big task ahead of us, but at least we will start it off with a night of fun." He stated with a his priceless signature grin. Everyone else agreed with their leader's statement.

"Oh yes, tonight will be wonderful indeed." OnJi mused to herself before turning and looking at Chang. "I need to talk to you for a second." She told him before walking over to the fountain.

"What is it?" The male waterbender asked clearly uninterested in what she was wanting to discuss with him.

"I have a plan.." OnJi started with a heartless deceitful smile.

"Oh spirits no..." Chang groaned inwardly as he let out a sigh."What have you thought up this time?" He asked indignantly as he crossed his arms.

...

"So what did you find out?" Katara asked as soon as they were out of earshot from their new friends.

"I found out that the Governor's Son is Hideo. He is currently visiting in the Earthkingdom town of Goaling. Supposedly he is visiting his fiancee. I have already sent him a letter explaining the situation. I told him to bide his time there in Goaling until I send for him. Now we just have to get more information on Shino's plans." Ning informed as they continued walking down the pathway."I also think we should spend the day training and preparing battle strategies. We are bound to run into trouble eventually... It would be best if we are prepared." The Firenation warrior added thoughtfully. Katara smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I agree.. It is critical for us to continue training. If we have our strategies down then we will be unbeatable. Hopefully this rebellion will end before another war breaks out." Katara remarked with a slight frown.

"Yeah, I know... I can't help but wonder where the Avatar is.. He should be involved in all of this, but instead he has been missing for weeks." Ning wondered while looking his friend who shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm sure the Avatar will show up when we need him. For now we just need to train and then have fun.. Don't forget, We also need to practice the dance that we came across a few days ago." The waterbender reminded with a big smile. This statement made her friend laugh.

"Of course, dancing princess." Ning agreed while calling her by the stage name their friend, Ronin, had given to her last week. Everyone always admired Katara's ability to dance so gracefully so the stage name really fit her.

'Tonight is going to be so much fun. Hopefully Kuzon will ask me to dance.' Katara thought to herself as they approached Mingmei's house.

...

Yay! They have finally found Katara! ^_^ I wonder what OnJi has up her sleeve now? Ugh..she is a pest! -_- i HAD to add a fight scene with Aang and Hei Bie. This time Aang really fought him for the RIGHT girl ^_^ Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter! Please REVIEW! You guys are awesome! :D