Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
Author's Note: I thought everyone had figured this out by now, but since several people asked, George refers to the Sokka/Suki ship. Also, I have a theory on the next season of Avatar. Nickelodeon is finally showing new episodes of Danny Phantom, five this week. By my calculations, that leaves five more. If they take a week off and do one a week for five weeks, that takes us to right around Labor Day, so they might just segue into new Avatar episodes the week after the holiday, using the same time slot. Just a guess, but if that's the case, we should start seeing Avatar promos in the next week or two. Besides, Paramount has announced that the first volume DVD of Book 3 will be released October 30, so the first 5 episodes have to air by then (thank you, Justcallmewolfy).
Pillow Talk
When evening arrived, Katara oversaw Aang as he finally ate a meal. She'd been bringing him fresh water at intervals throughout the day, and he'd drunk it but taken nothing else until now. Katara knew she probably shouldn't be hovering like this, but she just couldn't help it. Anyway, he didn't seem to mind.
Near sunset, Aang gathered his motley little family off to the side and cleared his throat. Katara stood beside him, holding his hand and silently encouraging him.
"I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but I wanted you all to know how much you mean to me," he began. "You've all been really important in getting us to this point. You've been my teachers, supporters, protectors, and, most importantly, my friends. Thank you for everything you've given me. When I was just a baby, the monks found out I was the Avatar and took me away from my parents. I never really knew what it felt like to be part of a traditional family, but having you guys around gives me some idea. I guess we must look kind of strange to people on the outside, but it gives me hope to know that members of all four nations can work together if they really want to. No matter what happens tomorrow, we'll always have that. I'm grateful for all of you."
Katara moved in to hug him when he was done, proud of him but also anxious and a little sad that they would have to separate tomorrow. Momo, who had been sitting on Aang's shoulder, wrapped his tail around Katara's neck in his own gesture of affection. They were shortly joined by Toph and Sokka, followed quickly by Suki and a little more reluctantly by Iroh and Zuko. Finally, Appa nosed in and gave a broad lick with his huge tongue, centering on Aang and causing everyone to break apart, laughing. Katara and Aang used waterbending to wash everybody off. Then, Katara took Aang by the hand and led him over to her father.
"Dad? I want to ask you something," she said without any introduction at all.
"Yes, Katara, what is it?"
"I know this might seem strange, but…I want to stay with Aang tonight," she requested. Looking over at her boyfriend, she could see that he was surprised but more than willing to support the idea. "You know, in the same tent."
"I see." Hakoda frowned and looked at her narrowly, then Aang. To Aang's credit, he did not immediately pipe up that this was Katara's idea and he had nothing to do with it, though he did contrive to look suitably non-threatening. Sokka had wandered along during this exchange, and though he didn't appear to be very happy, he was waiting for Hakoda to make the decision.
"It's just that we don't want to be apart until we have to be," Katara went on, gazing pleadingly at her father. "Do you understand?" Something in Hakoda's expression changed, and his steady gaze met his daughter's.
"You promise that you will both stay fully clothed all night?" he asked.
"Absolutely," answered Katara and Aang together, nodding vigorously.
"All right, I'll allow it," Hakoda decided. Katara smiled gratefully at him.
"What? That's it?" Sokka exclaimed, breaking his silence. When Hakoda leveled his gaze at his only son, any further protest Sokka might have made was stopped before it began.
"Sokka, if I'd known that my last night with your mother would be the last…" Hakoda sighed and turned to Katara and Aang. "I understand what you're going through."
"Then I'd like to spend the night with Suki," Sokka stated, and though he was clearly trying not to sound like a petulant child, he wasn't quite succeeding. Still, Hakoda smiled indulgently at him.
"It's hard being the oldest, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically. "If you're willing to make the same promise these two did, I have no objection."
"I promise," Sokka said soberly. "Thanks, Dad."
"Yeah, thank you, Dad," Katara added, giving her father a hug while Aang bowed his gratitude. There were a few logistics to work out, but eventually, everyone found their sleeping space. As Katara entered the tent she normally shared with Sokka, she felt unaccountably nervous. It wasn't like she and Aang hadn't slept close to each other before. For some reason, this felt different, and she wasn't sure if it was because she had her father's express permission or because of what they faced tomorrow.
Aang brought a lit lamp in so that they could see each other and set it on the floor. The two of them lay down facing each other, heads propped up on elbows. It was warm enough that they hadn't bothered with sleeping bags. They had removed their shoes outside, and Katara found herself visually tracing the lines of the tattoos on Aang's legs until they disappeared behind him. She then let her gaze move up to the other arrows she could see on his hands and head. She suddenly wished she could see all of them once more, though she remembered them well enough.
"So…what do you want to do?" Aang broke the silence.
"I don't know. To be honest, I don't feel much like doing…what we would normally be doing alone. I just want to be with you."
"I know what you mean," Aang replied, but Katara caught the slight omission, as well as the slight twinge of disappointment before he rapidly squelched it.
"But you don't feel the same way?" she prompted. There was another twinge, this time of guilt, and even in the lamplight, she could see his cheeks coloring.
"It's not my fault you're so beautiful!" Aang exclaimed by way of explanation. Katara had to smile a little at this.
"Are you sure it's not just because you're a guy?" she suggested.
"Maybe that, too," he acknowledged, giving a one-shoulder shrug that looked funny sideways. "I can't do anything about that, either."
"I'm glad! It would just be too strange if you suddenly turned into a girl," Katara asserted. They both laughed, and any tension that had existed was broken.
They were silent for a while, just gazing at one another. Aang's hand crept up to wrap around an object he seemed to be keeping under his shirt, near his heart. As though reaching a decision, he removed his hand from there and stretched it out toward her, brushing across her face and scooting a little closer to finger one of the beads that held her hair loops.
"Um, do you think you could you do a little favor for me?" he asked softly.
"Anything, Aang. What is it?" Ordinarily, Katara would not have been so ready to promise something without knowing what it was, but she trusted Aang enough to believe that he wouldn't ask anything outrageous.
"Take your hair down."
It was a simple request, even if it would cost her a few extra minutes in the morning, so Katara acquiesced. She sat up, first detaching the loops from the roll of hair at the nape of her neck, and then pulling off the beads and tucking them carefully into a small pouch she normally kept in her sash. Her next step was to remove the tie that bound the end of her braid and place this in the pouch also. She undid the braid and released the bun-like roll, finally allowing the locks to fall free.
Aang had watched her silently through this entire procedure, and Katara felt slightly odd. It was so rare for her to have her hair down like this, and she wondered if Aang had ever watched her so closely before, when she hadn't noticed. She lay down again, shaking her hair a little so that it came to rest mostly behind her and wouldn't get in her face. Aang reached out once more to touch it, starting at her temple and running his hand through as far as he could reach. Katara closed her eyes, realizing that he'd never done this before and that it was very soothing.
"Thank you," Aang murmured. "I love your hair."
"That seems strange," Katara couldn't help giggling, opening her eyes to regard him. "I mean, you know, because you don't have any hair." Aang smiled good-naturedly.
"Well, female airbenders didn't shave their heads," he reminded her. "I guess I associate women with long hair. I suppose they must have shaved it all off to get their tattoos, but after that, they let it grow again."
Now that he mentioned it, Katara recalled that the statue of Yangchen and some of the pictures in the library at the Eastern Air Temple did show women with very long hair, and she felt rather silly for forgetting that. Thinking about his tattoos again, Katara ran her fingers along the point of the arrow on his head, following the lines back over the top of his scalp as far as she could reach. Meanwhile, Aang had begun almost massaging her scalp, working his fingers through her thick hair, and she closed her eyes again and relaxed, withdrawing her arm.
"If you keep doing that, I'm going to fall asleep," Katara remarked. She felt Aang's hand slip down a little to cup her jaw, and she opened her eyes to find his gray gaze looking straight into them.
"I'm not sure I want to sleep," he admitted. "I don't want to miss any of these last few hours we have together." Katara covered his hand with her own.
"We both need to rest, though," she pointed out gently. "You especially."
"I know," he sighed. With that, he moved in to kiss her, and she readily accepted, maintaining the kiss as long as she could. At the outer limits of her awareness, she noticed that their free arms were winding about each other, drawing them closer together. When they broke apart, Katara pulled back a little ways to look at Aang's face.
"I wish I could take this burden away from you," she said sadly.
"You gave me a whole day without it," he reminded her, no doubt referring to his birthday. "And I get an extra moment every time I look in your eyes." Katara's throat constricted, and she buried her face in his neck.
"It's okay," Aang assured her, rubbing her back and tangling his fingers in the long locks that now draped over her. "This is what I was born to do."
"Sometimes I'm sorry that I ever encouraged you to fulfill your destiny," she sighed. His hand moved up to caress her ear.
"Neither of us could have stopped this from happening," Aang replied. "It's probably because of you that I'm as ready as I am." Katara wasn't sure she should have the credit for that, but she wasn't in the mood to argue.
"I suppose we should try to sleep," she said instead, pulling her head back but leaving her body in close contact with his.
"Yeah, I guess," he agreed. Katara tried to make herself comfortable, resting her head on her lower arm while keeping her other around Aang, but she couldn't quite figure out where to put her head so they weren't breathing right into each other's faces. Besides, she usually slept with her knees bent. If she did that, where would Aang put his legs? Knees didn't bend backward. She noticed that Aang appeared to be having similar difficulties.
"This doesn't seem to be working," he observed finally.
"You're right," responded Katara, moving back and sitting up. "How do people do this?" She thought about the times they had spent together, and the idea hit her. She turned around and gathered all her hair up, sort of wrapping it so it would all be on one side and out of her face. She lay down essentially on top of it, close to Aang but with her back to him. Taking the cue, he curled up behind her, one arm around her waist while he stretched the other one out to support his head. Katara folded her hands under her cheek and sighed contentedly.
"This is nice," he declared, nuzzling in her hair to find her neck and plant a soft kiss there.
"Mmm," she mumbled agreement. His warmth behind her was reassuring, and Katara felt herself fading already. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he whispered. Katara was scarcely aware of him putting out the light before she drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, in Suki's tent, she and Sokka wasted no time in taking advantage of their privacy. Suki took off her makeup, headdress, and body armor before entering the tent, and they quickly shed their boots and weapons. Sokka just had time to think that the door to the tent looked like there was some kind of meeting between war leaders going on before Suki tackled him. Their mouths met with just about as much enthusiasm as the day they'd greeted each other after months of separation. The couple's tongues engaged in a long battle for dominance, and then Suki reached for Sokka's tunic. He swiftly caught her wrist and stopped her.
"I promised Dad we'd keep our clothes on," he explained, also taking the opportunity to come up for air.
"Oh," answered Suki, sitting back on her knees. "I guess I can respect that. Besides, there's a lot we can do clothed." As if to prove this, she pushed his shoulders until he was on his back and straddled him. With excruciating slowness, Suki bent her upper body forward almost flat against him and began sucking at his neck. As nice as that all was, Sokka took it as a sort of challenge and, when she broke contact for a moment, flipped her so that he was on top. This launched them into what might best be termed an impromptu wrestling match, with each of them trying to stay on top the longest. Naturally, there was a great deal of groping whatever body parts presented themselves along the way, and the whole thing left them stifling giggles so they wouldn't disturb anyone else. They'd made sure to move the tent a good distance from the main camp, but you never could tell.
When they paused a moment to catch their breath, Sokka was again on top. He smiled down triumphantly at Suki, and something about that vision held him. He felt the smile fade from his face, and she grew more serious, too, gazing at him with curiosity.
"Marry me," Sokka blurted suddenly. Suki's expression went from curious and confused to incredulous.
"What?" she managed, while she flipped Sokka onto his back again. He didn't resist or attempt to reverse that; he just met her eyes earnestly.
"Marry me," he repeated. Yes, he knew this was not a very flowery or well thought out proposal, but he wasn't going to back down now. Somehow, when Suki was smiling at him, Sokka had simply decided that he wanted to wake up to that face every day for the rest of his life. He'd already made the mistake once of not telling someone how he felt about her; he didn't intend to do it again.
"You mean, now?"
"Well, no, not now," he assured her. Sokka was pretty sure she was stalling now, but he had sort of sprung this on her, so she deserved at least a clarification. "I mean, after all this is over." He gestured vaguely around the tent, trying to indicate the company surrounding them and the battle to be fought tomorrow. "You know, eventually."
"I see. Eventually." Suki still seemed to be in a state of shock. She rolled off of Sokka and sat down. He sat up, too, across from her.
"Look, I know this probably seems really sudden," Sokka tried to explain. "But I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I guess I'm asking you now because…I'm worried about what might happen tomorrow. I might lose you anyway, but I want to know that I told you what you mean to me. I'm just looking for a yes or no here. I can take either one." He was beginning to get really nervous that Suki hadn't answered yet.
"Oh, Sokka, I…I love you, too," she said tearfully, a state in which Sokka couldn't ever remember seeing her. "Are you sure?" At this, Sokka couldn't help but grin. Was that what was bothering her?
"Yes, I'm sure," he stated firmly, going over to her and taking her hands in his. "I've thought about it more than you might think. So, will you?"
"Yes, I will," Suki agreed finally, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him soundly.
"Great! We can tell Dad and everyone."
"Yes, we can. Tomorrow," she suggested, in a tone that brooked no argument, not to mention that she followed this up with another very pleasant assault on Sokka's person.
"Tomorrow," he agreed, when she finally allowed him enough breath to speak. However, he shifted their positions once again, deciding that it was his turn to take the lead. After all, as Suki had so astutely pointed out, there was a lot you could do with your clothes on, and the night was still young.
Aang suddenly found himself standing on a grassy hill in bright sunlight. He was very confused and disoriented, since the last thing he remembered was lying in a dark tent with Katara in his arms. Looking around, he saw her walking towards him, hair braided as usual.
"Is the battle over?" he asked her. "What happened? Am I dead?" Katara smiled and shook her head.
"I think this is a dream," she told him. Aang frowned and surveyed the scene once more, recognizing that they were at the Eastern Air Temple, not the Spirit World.
"Then…I'm just dreaming you?"
"No, I'm really here. We seem to be in the same dream."
Aang gaped at her, open mouthed. He'd been through a lot of things as the Avatar, but he thought this was possibly the most mind-blowing experience yet.
"How…how is that possible?" he exclaimed.
"I think it's the meditation we shared earlier," Katara explained, furrowing her brow in thought. "It must have made our link more complete."
"Wow," was all Aang could say. Katara put her hand in his, and it felt so warm and real that it was incredible. Aang felt like he should have been blushing, but his dream self wasn't capable of that. Somehow, sharing a dream with Katara seemed far more intimate than anything he could imagine – and he had imagined quite a lot in recent months.
"Oh, look! There's my waterfall!" Katara cried out, pointing down the hill to where the cascade of water dropped to the pool below.
"Your waterfall?" Aang asked, laughing a little at her territoriality. Katara was already tugging him closer to it when she answered him.
"Well, I suppose this whole place is technically yours, but I love it so much!"
"In that case, by the power vested in me as the last airbender, I give it to you," he replied, bowing to her in a mixture of solemnity and good humor as they stopped at the top of the ridge, where they could look almost straight down at the dizzying view of the waterfall. "Maybe we can shower together under it sometime." Well, now he was sure he was dreaming. There was no way he would have said something like that if he were conscious. He might have thought it, but he never would have actually said it. Fortunately, Katara didn't seem to think anything of it, perhaps a side effect of the dream state.
"I look forward to it," was all she said. Then she sighed, looking around her. "This place is so beautiful. I wish I could have seen it when it was still active and full of life." Aang hesitated, considering the possibilities. If this was a dream, maybe he could make that happen.
"Maybe I can help with that," he replied. He concentrated, fixing a vision in his mind and recreating it in front of him. He knew that it had worked when Katara gave a gasp of delight. Aang couldn't help but smile, too, at seeing things the way they had once been. Bison, lemurs, and gliders filled the air, livestock grazed not far from where they were standing, and crops waved in the breeze. The changes to the temple itself were more subtle, but it appeared to gleam, and flickers of movement could be seen in some of the windows.
"Oh my gosh, Aang, it's amazing!" Katara breathed, turning in a circle to take it all in. "This is what it was like 100 years ago?"
"More like 106 years ago. I imagined what it looked like when I came here to choose a bison. We did that when we were seven." Aang pointed up to a platform where a group of little bison were flocking around their mother.
"Oh, let's go up there!" Since it was a dream, no sooner were these words spoken than they were standing on the platform behind a group of young boys and a woman bearing the marks of a master airbender. The woman, whose name Aang couldn't recall, was handing out apples to the boys, and the baby bison came down to investigate.
"Once we fed them, they bonded to us," Aang explained.
"Hey, Aang, that's you, before you got your tattoos!" Katara pointed down, but of course, Aang already knew where he was supposed to be. "You were so cute!" Looking at his younger self was quite odd, and he was a little embarrassed that he had actually included that in the vision. Still, Katara seemed to enjoy it, and seeing her delighted expression, he knew it hadn't been a mistake. Turning back to the scene, he watched himself giving an apple to Appa and getting licked affectionately for the first of many times. In some ways, he wished he could warn the child he'd once been of what was to come, but these were only memories, and he couldn't change anything. Besides, even if he had the opportunity, Aang didn't think he'd want to rob that boy of the five years of happiness and blissful ignorance that still lay ahead of him.
Gradually, the images faded, and Aang sensed that the dream was nearing an end. Not wanting to let it go, he hugged Katara close. To his surprise, she kissed him, and it felt just as real as with their bodies and even more profound. They remained like that as the world dissolved into darkness.
--
Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16
Author's Note: Some of you might be surprised at Sokka's proposal. It seemed to me that he'd be the kind of person who'd just blurt something like that out, whereas someone like Aang would be more inclined to plan everything out carefully. I drew some aspects of that scene from a proposal I actually got and my brother's to his wife.
I'm guessing at Aang's age when he got Appa. He looked to be about 7 or 8 in the flashback. Besides, 5 years seemed like a good amount for him and Appa to have been bonded before they ran away. This was a nice, long chapter full of fluff, so I hope it will kind of balance the intensity of the scenes to come. Yes, there will be character deaths. We're getting to things that I've had planned virtually since the beginning, so I'm hoping to post slightly more often than once a week. I have a feeling that once I get into this battle, it will be hard for me to stop writing, so I may just plunge through. On the other hand, the action scenes may require a lot of revising, so that could slow me down. We'll just have to wait and see.
Review responses:
Thank you to skittlesandcombos and Giggleman for reviewing Chapter 37.
Aangs fangirl1214: Well, I definitely am a hopeless romantic, so I guess that comes out in my writing. I do try my best to make everything I write essentially fit into the universe the show has created.
TTAvatarfan: I'm using this story a lot to develop my theories on where characters are coming from. It's been a great platform for that. Well, here we are at last, ready to launch into the finale!
La Vixen de Amor: Wow, that was a long review, and you really need to do something about those voices in your head, or apparitions in your living room, or whatever they may be. Anyway, now maybe you know how I feel, trying to put all this together in my head as I prepare the grand finale. My fingers definitely can't keep up with my mind.
Chocolatecoveredespressobean: Thanks. We'll just have to see the path he ends up choosing in the series. I really want to see Song show up again!
kimfoo: I don't do much in the way of meditation, but I'm familiar with the techniques.
Justcallmewolfy: Well, here's a lot more Kataang for you to enjoy. I think it's more that I stretched the Zuko/Song out over so much time that it feels rushed. Anyway, I couldn't see any other way to get it in there, and I need it to set up the end.
SnakeEyes16: Thanks for the suggestion on the speech. How was it? It was really hard to get everything in there and still have it sound like Aang. Sometimes meditation works for me, and sometimes it doesn't.
Kimbalynn616: I'm glad you liked it, I enjoy fleshing out the character's histories when I get the opportunity. I hope the fluff didn't disappoint. I know I didn't do as much George as some would have liked, but I really wanted to spend a lot of time on Kataang.
Snows Of Yester-Year: Yeah, me too. Hope you enjoyed all the Kataang here. Even though there wasn't serious making out, I think it's the most I've packed into one chapter since #25 (the birthday chapter).
AirGirl Phantom: Always glad to hear that my work is enthralling! I do tend to emphasize the intellectual aspects of Sokka, partly as a response to the numerous authors to portray him solely as a buffoon. I don't suppose you took the time to read the author notes along the way, but my husband could basically be Sokka (meat and sarcasm guy), so I have a personal bias. I find that changing the points of view not only allows the opportunity to delve deeply into various characters but also helps to provide a "television" sort of feel, the idea of a continuous story made up of separate scenes.
libowiekitty: My husband thought I should say something to you like, "I ended the story already?", but I knew you were just referring to the end of the chapter. Personally, I think I like the ending of this one even better.
kataangfan22: I just love Iroh and speculating about him. I can't think of any other responses to really give you, so thanks!
LiveInThaskyE: I know I will be feeling a mixture of sadness and relief when this is finally done. It has absorbed a lot of my thoughts and time, so it will be nice to have energy to put into other things. On the other hand, it's been a part of my life for about seven months now, over a year if you count Avatar in Training, so it will be hard to let go.
MyOtherName: Yes, I enjoy developing the characters, and I'm glad you liked it. There are a lot of hints given to Iroh's past but little actual information, and it's fun to fill in the blanks.
Billeh: That's your prerogative, of course. I find Zuko an interesting and complex character, difficult to capture but fun to explore and develop.
redskin122004: Looks like you're leaving today, so it may be a while before you read this. Anyway, good luck, thanks a lot, and I'm glad I've helped you appreciate Zuko's character a little.
Sunkissed Guacamole: Well, my timing as it pertains to your schedule was unintentional, but I'm glad it worked out for you.