Chapter 38: The Dance Party

I do Not own Avatar... :'(

Previously on Avatar: The Journey Begins...

...

"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.

...

"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.

...

And Now...

Katara finished looking over her usual dancing outfit for the fifteenth time in the last five minutes. The party was going to start in a half an hour, and she wanted to make sure that she looked perfect. Normally Katara never have thought so much about her appearance; however, tonight was different. Tonight Aang or "Kuzon" was going to be there. Just the thought of seeing him sent an army of butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"Katara are you almost done.. If we wait any longer to leave then we will be late." Ning asked through the wooden door.

"Okay, I'm coming." The waterbender replied as she glanced at herself one last time. Then with an uneasy yet excited sigh she opened the door and walked out into the main room where Ning was now waiting.

"What took you so long?" Her friend asked as they both left the house.

"I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to.. Do with my hair.. That's all.." Katara answered with a slight blush. The firenation warrior looked at her curiously but decided against asking anymore questions. Within about fifteen minutes, the two bestfriends finally arrived at the party. As they had expected, all of the usual attendees were there either dancing or hanging out talking.

"Katara! Ning! You guys made it!" Ronin greeted while walking up to the two warriors and giving them both a sideways hug.

"When have we ever missed a dance party?" Katara asked with a smirk. This statement made their silly and random friend stop and think for a second.

"Yeah, you have a good point. Anyway, I'm expecting to see the Dancing Princess and her Pauper do a dancing special for us tonight. Especially since we have Kuzon and OnJi here with us!" Ronin stated with a wink at the surprised watertribe girl and firenation boy. Before they could even reply to his comment, Ronin spun around and ran off to go greet some more of his friends who had just arrived.

"Maybe he will forget about our 'Special' tonight." Katara remarked as the two friends began walking over to the rock tables.

"We can only hope." Ning stated with a sideways smile. During the time the two warriors were walking over to the tables, Katara was scanning the crowds of teenagers.

"I wonder where Kuzon is?" Right as those words left Katara's mouth a girl was heard squealing in delight.

"LOOK EVERYONE KUZON IS HERE!" The girl exclaimed as many other lovestruck girls squealed and swarmed the entrance of the cave.

"Well, I think that just answered your question." Ning remarked with a laugh as they watched everyone swarm the disguised Avatar and his friends.

"Yeah, I think so." The watertribe girl agreed with a sideways smile. 'I guess I'm not the only girl who likes the well-known Kuzon.' Katara thought to herself as she began pouring a cup of watermelon juice.

...

"Excuse me.. Thank you.. I'm glad to be here.. It's good to see you too... Oh hey Uhhh... It's my pleasure.. Sure I'll show you guys some more dances.." The smothered Avatar answered the many questions from adoring firenation school girls and envious firenation boys as he attempted to fight through the overwhelming crowd. 'Spirits, if I wanted to attract this much attention I wouldn't be disguised right now.." The young Airnomad silently commented to himself as he continued forcing his way through the congregation of teenagers eager to talk with him. This type of attention generally didn't bother him; however, this time he was trying to find the love of his life so it was beginning to become very frustrating. Thankfully his aggravation was soon relieved when the flock of people finally gave the overwhelmed Avatar his space. It was then that he saw his gorgeous angel standing peacefully across the cave. Aang's heart rushed when seeing his soulmate adorned in a silky red firenation dress with brown pants underneath. Her hair falling flawlessly down her shoulders and back. She was truly a sight to behold. The disguised Airnomad instantly began walking quickly towards where his lover stood. He saw her notice him coming her way and sending him a welcoming smile. He was captivated by her smile and deep blue eyes. Everything else and everyone else seemed to vanish as he focused on rushing over to his lover.

"HEY KUZON!" Ronan greeted excitedly while stepping in front of the distracted airnomad. This action surprised the Aang and nearly made him trip and fall over the excited firenation boy. Thankfully he was able to stop and still maintain his balance by using a subtle and unnoticeable airbending move.

"Oh hi." Aang responded while still staring at the smiling waterbender who was now only a few feet away from him.

"I'm sure you don't remember me. My names Ronin. I took over taking care of preparations for our weekly dance party. I'm really glad that the best firenation dancer, our Dancing Sifu, is here with us tonight. I hope that we will be as entertaining to you as you are to us." Ronin stated with a traditional bow.

"It's an honor to be here. I am sure that I will be entertained." The Airnomad replied while glancing back at his lover who was now speaking with Toph and Sokka. Ronin instantly noticed who Aang was looking at, and a huge smile flashes across his face.

"She is beautiful isn't she?" The young Firenation boy commented while also staring at the watertribe girl. A blush immediately burst on to the Avatar's face.

"Who?" He asked trying to play it off only to see that Ronin wasn't fooled.

"Katara.. You know.. the girl you can't keep your eyes off of.. Don't worry you aren't the only guy who would love to have a chance with her, but you are the only guy who might have a chance with her." The firenation boy stated while looking at his still blushing friend.

"What do you mean?" Aang asked clearly intrigued by the young man's statement.

"I mean that she is not dating anyone right now, and hasn't shown interest in anyone... Even Ning! He spends all day everyday with her, but they are just best friends. With you it's different.. I've never seen her look at a guy the way she looks at you. She literally lights up whenever I just say your name! So all I'm saying is you might be the only lucky guy who can make it out of the stupid 'friend zone' that all the rest of us are trapped in." Ronin explained, causing a big smile to flash across Aang's face. "Well, I'll let you go talk with Katara. I have some other people I need to go greet. Talk to you later Dancing Sifu." With those last words Ronin ran off to go visit with some more friends. Leaving Aang to rush over to the love of his life.

"So you can't remember ever coming to this place before with like a gang of friends disguised as firenation civilians?" Sokka asked causing Katara to shake her head 'no'.

"No Morine..I'm afraid I don't remember anything. The first time I came here it all looked vaguely familiar, but I don't remember why." Katara replied while grabbing her arm and looking at him with confusion plastered across her face.

"That's it, You come and sit down little Lady. We are going to be starting class Remember 101, and I am going to be your teacher Professor Morine." Her older brother stated while pushing her down on to a seat and taking a deep breath. However, before he could say anything Toph intervened.

"Snoozles.. You are scaring, Katara. Why don't you just chill out and have some fun before filling Katara with a whole 16 years of information." Toph ordered causing Sokka to frown.

"I agree.. Tonight is a night of having fun and pretty much re-living the past." Aang said as he approached the gang of friends. Katara's heartbeat picked up dramatically at just the presence of the handsome young man.

"Fine.." Sokka reluctantly agreed to his friend's wishes before walking over towards the table of food. As soon as Sokka was busy filling up his plate with many different types of food, The watertribe girl turned her attention to Aang who was smiling at her.

"Hey Kuzon, I'm glad you decided to come." Katara greeted as she instinctively stood up from the table and gave the Airbender a sweet heartfelt hug. Aang smiled and returned the hug.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." The powerful bender replied, causing Katara to blush slightly.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something, but I was wondering.. May I have this dance Lady Katara?" A random young man asked the beautiful waterbender. Katara glanced at Aang before silently nodding her head 'yes' and following the random firenation boy out into the dancefloor.

...

On the Other Side of the Cave

Sheng sat there watching the relaxed Earthbending prodigy silently sip on her third glass of watermelon juice.

'Come on, Sheng, just ask her to dance already! You are a tough guy who has fought in the war, helped saved peoples lives, and is now helping the AVATAR. Why are you so scared to just ask her to dance? Just go up to her and say...Toph would you like to dance with me? You can do this...' The lovestruck firebender thought to himself as he strolled confidently up to the Blind Bandit. However, as soon as he was next to her all of his confidence turned to complete and utter nervousness and anxiety.

"Hi..Toph." Sheng said softly. He mentally kicked himself for allowing his tone to become so shy and lovestruck.

"Hey Sheng. What's up?" Toph greeted before casually taking another drink of her watermelon juice.

"Oh, nothing..Great party huh?" Sheng responded with an uneasy laugh as he sat across from the girl.

"Eh, yeah I guess." Toph stated while leaning back against the stone chair.

"Heh.. Yeah.. I was wanting to ask you something.." Sheng told the blind girl while looking intently at the world's greatest earthbender.

"Well, spit it out." Toph ordered now growing a little impatient.

"Uhh..umm... W-would you like.. To.. Dance with me?" Sheng asked, his voice near a whisper. This question took the blind girl by surprise. No one had ever asked her to dance before.

"Umm.. Sure I don't see why not, but you had better not step on my feet." Toph responded while trying to act like she could care less. However, the bright blush that appeared on the Earthbender's face gave away her true emotions.

"I promise I will not step on your feet." Sheng laughed while grabbing the eager Earthbender's hand and leading her out on to the dance floor.

...

"Are you finally finished dancing?" Ning asked as Katara sat down next to him.

"Yeah.. For now.." The watertribe girl replied with a small smile. Ever since that one young man had asked her to dance, Katara had been getting asked to dance by nearly every guy in the cave. Even Ronin asked her to dance with him for one song.

"Well, at least now you can get a break." Ning stated before taking a sip of his drink. Katara silently nodded in agreement as she scanned over the group.

"Hey, where is Kuzon?" She asked her friend who gave her skeptical look.

"He's dancing with one of his 'fan girl's who won't leave him alone." The Firenation Warrior answered nonchalantly.

"Oh.." Was all Katara said as she began drawing invisible circles on the table. Pretty soon the song ended which caused majority of the crowd of dancers to return to their seats for a break. As Katara had hoped, Aang was finished dancing and decided to sit down at their table.

"Did you have fun?" Chang asked while nudging Aang's arm in a playful way. The Airbender casually shrugging his shoulders.

"She was a pretty good dancer." Aang commented before turning and smiling at the waterbender who was sitting in front of him. "Are you having a good time?" He asked the love of his life while smiling sweetly at her.

"Yes, I am. How about you?" The beautiful waterbender replied while trying not to blush at the attention she was receiving from the handsome young man.

"It's been fun, but there is one thing that could make this night even better." Aang answered while beginning to lean across in an attempt to grab Katara's hand.

"What might that be?" The watertribe girl inquired with a flirtatious tone while leaning closer and reaching out to allow him to grab her hand. Before Aang could reply, Ronin jumped up on the earth platform and began speaking.

"Hey everyone! I hope you guys are having a flaming time tonight. As many of you may know, this is the time that we have a couple come a perform a dance for us. Originally I was going to have Katara and Ning come and perform for our Dancing Sifu, Kuzon.. But then I got to thinking why don't we have Katara and Kuzon dance together! What do you say Kuzon?" Ronin informed everyone while turning to face the two surprised teens. A big smile instantly flashed across the Avatar's face as he stood up from his seat.

"Ronin, you took the words straight out of my mouth. Katara, Will you dance with me?" Aang asked as he extended his hand towards the waterbender.

"I would love too." Katara answered while smiling and taking his hand as he led her out to the center of the dancefloor.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you The Dancing Princess and The Dancing Sifu!" Ronin took the pleasure in introducing the couple as they prepared to dance.

"What are we going to dance?" Katara whispered as soon as they were in the middle of the dancefloor.

"Just do what comes naturally. Our hearts will guide our footsteps." The romantic Avatar answered while taking her hands in his. This statement caused a blush to form on the young girls face. "And whatever happens.. Just remember.. It's just You and me right now." Aang added slyly causing the watertribe girl's blush to deepen. With those words, the music began in a fast upbeat rhythm much like the first time they danced together. Aang let go of her hands as they bowed to each other to begin the dance. Katara and Aang both began spinning around before both of them instantly did a sideways flip landing just a few feet away from each other. Katara then did a back handspring and began once again spinning around while Aang did a huge backflip and landed on one leg with balance and gracefulness. These intricate movements between the two teenagers caused many of the people watching to utter many words of awe and amazement. This only fueled Aang to do more. He felt that his time was coming up soon as the music began to slow down. The young Airbender took advantage of this time and grabbed Katara's hand while twirling her around him. He then grabbed her waist and picked her up while spinning her around. He then placed her down and rolled her all the way away from him before spinning her back into him with her back facing him. Aang then spun her around to face him in one fluent motion. Just as the song came to an end, the Avatar cleverly swooped Katara down to where he was holding her like he did in his daydream all those years ago. The crowd was heard cheering frantically at the two dancers as they fought to catch their breath. To Katara, she didn't even hardly hear the whistle-filled applauses that they were receiving. She was too caught up in Aang's deep shining tranquil grey eyes. Just being in his arms made Katara want to jump up and capture his lips as her own. She sadly fought back the urge as Aang finally stood her up on her feet again.

"You are a very good dancer Kuzon. Thank you for asking me to dance with you." The Watertribe girl complimented as they walked back over to where the group of friends were sitting.

"Thank you. It was my pleasure to dance with you. Honestly, that is all I have wanted to do this whole night." Aang responded with a smile as the two teenagers sat down with their friends. Katara sat next to Chang who seemed lost in deep thought while Aang sat next to Sokka. Toph and Sheng were off at their own table laughing and talking while OnJi was getting some watermelon juice.

"Have you two even danced at all tonight?" Katara asked her brother and his girlfriend after a short silence between the group.

"Actually, we haven't...I've been waiting for Sokka to get finished eating..." Suki mumbled while watching her boyfriend finish up his third plate of Komodo Chicken.

"Okay..Okay.. I'm done. Let's go dance." The not-very-romantic Sokka told his girlfriend as he stood up and walked out into the dancefloor with Suki following behind him. As soon as they left, OnJi came walking up to the group.

"Kuzon, can I please just dance one song with you? Just for old times sake?" OnJi pleaded while giving Aang the best puppy dog face she could make. Aang sighed and gave her a stern and serious look.

"No OnJi..I don't think that would be a good idea." The Avatar replied causing the Firenation girl to look at the floor in disappointment.

"Oh come on Kuzon. Just go dance with her. It can't hurt anything." Katara stated while oblivious to the reasons why Aang was reluctant to dance with the evil girl again. At those orders from his lover, The Avatar reluctantly agreed and also walked off onto the dance floor leaving Chang and Katara alone at the table. The watertribe girl could tell instantly that Chang's focus was entirely on Sonyi who was talking with a group of firenation girls on the other side of the cave.

"You should ask her to dance." The perceptive waterbender suggested with a sweet smile.

"Huh?" Chang replied with a blush rising to his face. This made Katara giggle slightly before explaining further.

"You should go over there and ask Sonyi to dance with you. It's obvious that you like her.. And honestly I think she likes you too." Katara informed with a quizzical smile. This made Chang only let out a disappointed sigh before looking at his 'intended'.

"I can't... Even if she did like me.. It would never work.." The male waterbender stated with a frown as he stared at the table.

"Sure it would.. True love never fails you.. If you love her enough then it will work. I may not remember much, but I do know that love has no boundaries. It can break through the toughest circumstances and can prevail over any obstacle that is in it's way.. Just go ask her to dance. I know she wants you too." The wise Watertribe girl told the young man while giving him a reassuring smile. Those words seemed to encourage the young male waterbender.

"I guess your right... Thanks Katara." Chang replied with a smile before standing up and walking over to where Sonyi stood talking. Katara watched with a smile as Chang took Sonyi's hand and led her out into the dancefloor.

"Man, there definitely is a whole bunch of people getting together tonight." Ning remarked as he walked over and sat next to his friend.

"Yeah, I agree." Katara replied with a smile as she watched everyone dancing to the music.

"Do you think OnJi and Kuzon will get together?" Her friend asked which caused Katara to turn and look at him in confusion.

"I..don't know.. Why do you ask that?" The waterbender answered uneasily as she studied her friend. Ning simply shrugged his shoulders casually as he clearly didn't notice his friend's uneasiness towards the subject.

"They just look good together that's all.. They look like a couple." Ning remarked while watching the two teenagers dance. Katara then turned and watched the two dancing together, and her heart instantly felt heavy. Just seeing them together made a whole bunch of unwanted emotions rush into her soul. Feelings of betrayal, heartbreak, obligation, depression, anger, and brokeness came flooding through her giving the poor girl a huge headache.

"I guess so.." Katara managed to respond before rubbing her temples. "I'm going to go outside. All of the noise and commotion is giving me a big headache." She finished before standing up and exiting the cave.

'Why am I feeling all of these emotions?' The confused watertribe girl thought to herself while heading over towards the coast that wasn't too far from the cave. She then sat down near the edge of the water and ran her fingers through the cool blue water.

...

"Hey Ning, where is Katara?" Aang asked once returning to his seat after the song was over.

"Oh, She went outside. She said something about her head hurting her or something. She's okay though." Ning stated nonchalantly as he yawned in exhaustion. This statement did not make Aang feel good. He immediately stood up and began to exit the cave.

"Aan-Kuzon where are you going?" Sokka called out after his friend as he too began walking out the cave.

"Katara has a head ache, and I'm going to find her. Just tell everyone to head to the campsite. I will meet you all there when I am finished talking with Katara." Aang replied before walking off to find his soulmate. Sokka merely sighed and entered back into the party to tell his friends that it was time to leave. Suki, Sheng, Toph, and Sonyi reluctantly obeyed and began exiting the cave. OnJi and Chang on the otherhand refused to leave, but no one really felt like arguing with them.

"Fine, but don't be out too late. We do have school in the morning." Suki told the two firenation warriors in a motherly tone before the rest of the gang left the cave.

"Alright, now is our time. Come on lets go find them." OnJi ordered as Chang reluctantly followed the evil minded girl outside.

...

"Katara..Are you okay?" Aang asked as he raced up to the young girl who was still running her fingers through the ocean water.

"Oh, Hey Kuzon.. I'm okay. I just.. Had a headache and needed a break... That's all." Katara told him as she stood up and turned to face the concerned Airbender.

"I was just checking to make sure.. Are you sure that is all?" Aang asked as he walked closer to the young girl. Katara then stared back at the water and sighed.

"I just don't know what to do... I have all of these different emotions that I can't make out.. Raging inside of me.. I feel trapped and scared.. I can't remember anything from my past.. I can't even discern these feelings that are always inside of me..." The waterbender told Aang as she continued watching the waves lap on the shore. The Avatar instantly felt a rush of compassion and sympathy overwhelm his heart. Before Katara knew what was happening, Aang was holding her in a heartfelt embrace.

"It's all going to be okay, Katara. I will help you remember.. I promise I will not leave your side. We will do this together." Aang told his girlfriend as she rested her head in his chest.

"Thank you Aang." Katara said as she looked up into his deep grey eyes. She didn't even understand why she called him Aang instead of the name he told her to call him. Frankly, she didn't care. All the knew was that was what felt right to call him at that point in time. Aang smiled at Katara as he began slowly caressing her cheek. The young airnomad couldn't hold himself back any longer as he carefully began leaning closer to the watertribe girl in an attempt to kiss her; however, before he could a voice interrupted their almost special moment.

"Hey, Kuzon.. Oh I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Chang apologized as he began backing away and looking at the ground. Katara immediately jumped out of the Avatar's embrace with a huge blush on her beautiful face.

"You weren't interrupting anything." The watertribe girl stated as she smiled and laughed uneasily. Aang ignored Katara's embarrassed remark and decided to get straight to the point.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" The Avatar asked while studying his friend. Chang then looked up and shook his head 'yes'.

"Appa's hungry, and Sokka is already in bed and will not feed him.. I don't know what to feed him.. Or how to feed him so I was hoping you could come take care of it." Chang informed causing Aang to sigh and look over at Katara.

"Well, I guess I have to go... I'll see you tomorrow." The young Airnomad told his lover as he gave her one last heartfelt hug and walked off with Chang.

"See you tomorrow." Katara responded with a wave before letting out a lovestruck sigh. As soon as Chang and Aang were out of sight, Katara turned back to look at the sea shore.

"You think he loves you don't you?" A voice asked from behind the surprised waterbender. Katara instantly jumped around with a gasp only to see OnJi standing before her with a solemn look on her face.

"Oh.. Hi OnJi... I don't know if he loves me... It seems like he does.. I honestly would be fine if he just liked me at this point..I mean.. I really like him so I hope he likes me..." The watertribe girl rambled a long reply while grabbing her arm in insecurity and letting out an uneasy laugh.

"I was afraid you would say that..Katara... I hate to tell you this.. I really do, but I think you deserve a warning.. Kuzon isn't who you think he is.. He doesn't know what he wants.. Or who he wants.. I, along with many other girls, had to figure that out the hard way.." OnJi started as she walked closer to the curious waterbender.

"What do you mean?" The curious Watertribe girl asked while staring intently at the depressed looking firenation girl.

"I mean he is just a boy.. Before he met you.. Kuzon was constantly showering me with attention. He was teaching me firebending, dancing with me... He even kissed me.. I thought he loved me, and that we would be together... But as soon as he saw you.. Everything changed.. He treats me like I am absolutely nothing to him.. Just like how you saw him act when I asked him to simply dance with me tonight... Katara, I'm just trying to save you from heartache... Please take it from a girl who is hurting and has been hurt.. The best thing you can do is stay away from Kuzon.. You will only end up heartbroken... Like me and many other girls who were before me..." OnJi lied as she placed a comforting hand on the saddened Waterbender's shoulder.

"Oh.. I'm so sorry OnJi. I didn't realize that happened to you... It's just Kuzon never struck me as that kind of guy.. I guess I just misjudged... Thankyou for warning me.. You're a true friend." Katara stated as she tried to hide her sadness and disappointment. OnJi then pulled Katara into a hug while smiling mincingly behind the girl's back.

"I'm so sorry too Katara... And I know what you mean.. It took me by surprise too... But thank you for understanding..And Katara please don't bring up this conversation to anyone... If Kuzon's friends find out they will confront Kuzon, and I don't want anymore problems..." OnJi remarked before pulling away from the hug and beginning to walk away. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Okay?" The deceitful Girl finished as she waved and kept walking towards her campsite.

"Yeah..I'll... See you tomorrow." Katara responded back as cheerfully as she could before turning around and sitting down on the ground with a sad depressed sigh. 'Could what she said really be true? I have never had a man look at me like that.. Oh Spirits please tell me that is not the truth..' The young girl thought to herself as she continued staring out at the crystal clear ocean.

...

So there you have a nice KATAANG filled chapter! We had a whole bunch of little relationship things going on between Toph and Sheng, Chang and Sonyi, Aang and Katara, and Suki and Sokka. I figured it was a nice break chapter.. Well until the end. Are you guys about ready to KILL OnJi for all the trouble she is trying to cause? Well at least Katara isn't completely believing what OnJi is saying. Oh I wonder what happens next? I think you guys will like the next chapter.