Chapter 17: First Date

Aang and Katara walked from the vacation house into town. She felt a little self-conscious because she could feel his eyes on her. She ducked her head to hide her blush.

"What?" he asked.

"You keep looking at me."

"Sorry if I'm staring. I think it's the makeup. I like it, but I'm also trying to see the real you underneath."

"It's too much, isn't it?" she fretted. "I shouldn't have let Suki make me up like this. I should have left my hair down."

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. It's nice to see you like this. I like every version of you."

"I just wanted tonight to be special."

"It's already special. I'm with you." he reassured her sweetly. "Like you said before, all you really had to do was show up."

"And let you kiss me?" She finished flirtaciously, repeating her words from a few days earlier.

"Well, you never have to do that. But if you ever want to, then yeah, I'm thrilled."

"And if I kiss back? Or kiss you first?"

"Even better."

"I'll keep that in mind. You like it, then?" she asked shyly, indicating her outfit.

"'Like' is not the word." He seemed to have acclimated to her elegant appearance and fully recovered his ability to speak articulately. "You are absolutely gorgeous, Katara. Tonight and always." She felt herself blushing, even glowing, with satisfaction.

"You don't look so bad yourself. Where'd you get that suit?"

"Zuko."

"That was nice of him."

"I know. He's covering our dinner too. I'd treat you but I don't have any money."

"That's ok. I asked you on this date, technically, so I should treat. But I don't have money either. Good thing our rich friend is supporting us for the next year."

"Yeah. Saving the world doesn't exactly pay a salary. I mean, I don't need much, but I also don't really want to depend on Zuko forever."

"I wonder what we're going to do about that." She mused. "You know, in the long term."

"I don't know. I don't think I can charge people for saving them."

"I guess I could always be a healer."

"You'd be great at that. I could build stuff with earth bending, I guess."

"You could travel the world teaching people about nonviolence and the lost philosophies of the Air Nomads."

"That might be cool. But, again, I'd do that for free."

She realized it was more an issue of where they'd live than what they'd do, and decided not to spoil the evening with any questions that might cause disagreement. "I guess we have some time to decide."

"It's a good problem to have."

She only had to think back a little to put the discussion in perspective. "No joke. We get to grow up and try to make a living. Who knew that would even be possible a month ago?"

"I just feel so grateful. The war is over, we all survived, and now I'm out on a date with the girl of my dreams."

Was he going to do this all night, say the sweetest, most flattering things with total sincerity? How could she possibly respond to that? He was going to make her even more flustered than he had been when she first came down, all dressed up. She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then gathered her courage to be just as honest.

"I feel lucky too. We finally have the time and space and...mental energy to figure things out. Between us."

"I don't need to figure anything out, but I'm glad you have the time you need."

"Thank you for that. For being patient with me."

"Once I got some good advice and got my head straight, it was easy. I could have waited a lot longer if you'd needed me to."

"Really? How long? Years?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "Although I might have called in your promise of a date if you had shown interest in another guy. I wouldn't have been able to let you just walk away from me without at least trying to stop you."

"What other guy? You're the one with a fan club."

"A fan club?"

"The girls in the zoo in Ba Sing Se? And I saw a notice when I was reading the newspaper in Iroh's shop—there really is an actual club being formed in your honor."

He looked mystified. "That seems pretty pointless. What would they do?"

"Just sit around and talk about how great you are. And how much they want to be in my shoes right now." Katara couldn't help feeling a little smug about that idea, and it probably came out in her voice.

"Well, I'm officially taken. Maybe after we make a few public appearances together they'll give up. Obviously, no other girl could ever compete with you."

"Public appearances?' She did not think she liked the sound of that.

"Just things like Zuko's coronation, that medal ceremony at the Earth King's palace, the parties we're going to have on the victory tour. Avatar stuff."

"I guess you are a public figure. That's kind of weird to think about."

"Yeah," he agreed, looking a little worried. "And it's weird to think that might have an effect on you. And on us. You didn't sign up for that."

"Neither did you."

"Yeah, but you have a choice."

She shrugged. "I've made my choice. I'm pretty sure the good is going to outweigh the bad."

"I'll make sure of that." he promised.

They had arrived at the restaurant. A big maroon-painted arch adorned the doorway, making it look impressive, even intimidating.

"May I help you?" The man in the front said in a snobby voice when he saw the young avatar and his girlfriend. It was as if he assumed they were just kids who had no business there.

"We have a reservation. We're the guests of the Fire Lord." Aang replied.

The man's eyebrows shot up. "Right this way." He led them to a table in the middle of the room. The other diners were all older, very well dressed. Aang and Katara sat down and picked up their menus.

Their waiter came quickly with water glasses and took their orders. Katara wasn't sure if it was because they wanted to provide extra good service, or because they wanted to rush them through their meal. She felt eyes on her, and when she looked around, the other people in the room either looked away, or glared at her.

"I feel like they're all looking at us." she whispered to Aang.

"Well, I do look kind of dumb wearing a hat indoors. And we are definitely the youngest in the room." he answered reasonably.

"Yeah, and I'm the darkest. Probably the only member of the Water Tribe they've ever seen."

Aang remembered Zuko's words about the prejudice and hate in the hearts of so many of his people. This was the same town where that propaganda play celebrating his demise had received a standing ovation. "Let's not let it get to us if they're ignorant." He took her hand from across the table. He lowered his chin. "Don't worry about them. It's just you and me right now."

She couldn't help smiling, as the other diners faded into the background. "That's right, it is just us. It seems like that never happens. We're always surrounded by the others."

"I think I kind of like having you all to myself," Aang admitted.

"I'm the one who has to share you. With your other two bending teachers, with my brother, with the world."

"Well, not tonight. I'm all yours." He made those eyes at her again, but she resisted their pull this time. Instead of getting flustered, she challenged him.

"Really? Even if the New Ozai Society came in here and took the whole restaurant hostage?"

"We'd save everyone together, and then we'd leave and continue our date elsewhere. And try again for a perfect evening later." He said blithely, as if it were completely simple.

She was doubtful and tempted to push him. Her own taste for adventure meant that she could tolerate quite a lot of those kinds of unpleasant surprises. But there could definitely come a point where even she got frustrated with constant interruptions, with never getting all of his attention for long. How many spoiled evenings would it take before they gave up on having fun together like a normal couple? Would she ever come first, even before his duty as Avatar? But, again, she chose to put their good time above her desire to have these kinds of questions settled. It seemed silly to worry about potential disasters in the middle of such a great evening. She was liable to ruin the date herself, to create her own catastrophe purely by anticipating one.

She squeezed his hand. "Well, tonight is perfect so far. Do you think the universe will let us have one night without anyone attacking us or needing to be saved?"

"If anyone's earned it, we have."

Their food arrived at that moment, and they focused on tasting it. The restaurant's reputation was deserved, it seemed. It was one of those places where portions were somewhat small because the food was arranged in fancy shapes, with plenty of empty space on the plate to make it look extra striking. Nevertheless, Aang's vegetable and noodle dish was delicious, with exactly the right amount of spicy heat, and Katara's fish was flaky and savory.

He put some of his red peppers on her plate. "You've got to try these."

"Mmm," she nodded appreciatively. "Taste that," she pushed her soup bowl toward him. For a couple minutes they concentrated on their meals.

"Maybe we should make a point of getting away from the others every once in a while." Katara suggested. "We each got to have a little field trip with Zuko, but I don't think you and I have done anything like that on our own...not in a long time, anyway."

Aang grinned widely, barely able to contain his excitement. "That would be awesome! A couple's adventure! I'd love to go on a trip with just you and Appa. Or even just getting into a little mischief the others don't know about. Like when you were the painted lady."

"Yeah," she smiled. "It meant a lot to me that you went along with that. At first I was afraid you were going to lecture me like Sokka did."

"Helping that village was the right thing to do. And it was fun. Sneaking around, keeping a secret from Sokka. It seems like the only alone time we had recently was when we practiced water bending."

"I kind of made sure of that, between the eclipse and the comet." she confessed.

"I did wonder if you were avoiding me. I'm glad those times are over."

"Me too."

They finished their plates happily, and split a fruit tart for dessert.

After they left the restaurant, they walked through the streets holding hands. It was not a very big town; they found themselves passing the theater where they'd seen The Boy in the Iceberg, and Katara stopped, surprised by a sign.

"Oh, look!" she pointed. "It's closed!"

Aang smirked. "Good riddance. What a terrible play."

"They must have had to shut it down. The ending they predicted didn't happen."

"If they hadn't closed it themselves, I bet Zuko would have closed it for them."

They kept walking, turning the corner around the side of the theater.

Aang stopped and looked up. "Is that the balcony?" He asked softly.

She followed his eyes. "I think so." The place where they'd had that harrowing conversation, that aborted kiss.

Aang turned to her and stated adamantly, "I'm glad it turned out like this. Waiting to get together until after the war was over."

Katara was surprised. "It's kind of a relief to hear you say that."

"I was so desperate and scared." He admitted. "I wanted you to be my lifeline, and yes, a distraction. Like you said, it wasn't the right time. Now, we're...free. This way feels so much healthier. It's a better foundation."

"I think that's true. But I'm also sorry I couldn't give you that lifeline when you needed it."

He shook his head. "When you promised me this date, that was all I really needed. That dumb play just messed with my head and made me afraid that you'd already written me off. That I wasn't even in the running."

She was amazed to hear how accurately Zuko had read Aang's mind. "No, you were always in the running." She assured him. "I was just assuming the race would be longer."

"I know that now. If I'd thought about it more, I might have known it then too. I might have noticed that you never kissed Sokka on the cheek."

She laughed. "I guess not. Just you." She gave him a peck just to the right of the corner of his mouth, then turned away to continue their walk through town.

Another block, and they came to an open square. The sun had gone down and the lanterns were lit, illuminating the plaza. A couple musicians were playing.

"Want to dance?" Aang asked.

"Right here? In the middle of the square?"

"Why not?" He took her in his arms and started stepping to the music. Her feet followed almost automatically. She was sure she was blushing. He held up his arm and turned her under it, making her skirt swirl around her ankles. Their movements were fluid and light, their bodies lithe and acrobatic. They were so good at reading and anticipating each other's steps that it looked as if they'd practiced, though they hadn't.

People were slowing down to watch them. They clapped and pointed. Some little kids started to move to the music, and an older couple joined hands and started trying to imitate their steps.

"What if I throw you?" Aang asked, after the music changed to a faster song.

"Um, ok," she answered, with a little trepidation.

At the next swell of music, he picked her up by the waist and tossed her into the air so that she spiraled like a top, three, no, four revolutions, coming down almost halfway across the square. Somehow, even from that distance, he slowed down her landing so that it felt effortless for her. They traveled back to each other, leaping and flipping, and before the next measure of the song was over, he'd swept her off her feet and thrown her straight up. She spun in the air, horizontal, floating just over his head for an instant, then fell into his arms, facedown, so that her head stopped only inches from the ground. Somehow her body didn't even feel any instinctive fear, her trust in him was so complete. Next, he twirled her above him again, only a turn and a half and not as high this time, so that she came up facing him, and her hands locked around his neck. Then she was back on her toes, and they were stepping in unison without missing a single beat. She felt graceful and dynamic. It was as if he were showing them all how beautiful she was.

Katara could tell the song was ending, and decided to take the lead. At the last moment of the song, she swung Aang around so that she was holding him above the ground in a dip. They both burst into laughter and came up with their faces so close together that before they knew it they were kissing, with no idea which one of them had started it. It was a firm, short kiss, just their smiles pressed together.

Katara opened her eyes and saw his blue arrow. "Your hat!" she cried.

"Oh!" His hand flew to his bare head. He bent down and picked it up, jamming it back on his head. "Oops."

She noticed the crowd murmuring around them. "Maybe we should leave," she suggested nervously.

"How about the beach?"

"Yeah, let's go." She took his hand. They walked quickly, and made a couple turns down alleys. It seemed like no one followed them, thankfully. Soon they were descending the stone stairs to the shore.

She turned away from Aang to get undressed. Her red top worked well enough for swimming. All she had to do was take off her skirt and shoes. When she turned back around, he was still working on the many buttons of his jacket.

"I thought we could do something only you and I can do." Something about watching him reveal his chest little by little as he looked right into her eyes and talked to her made her mouth go dry.

She swallowed, intrigued. "What's that?"

"A water bending wrestling match. I do something like it with Toph sometimes. You try to pin the other bender. Best of five."

"I can imagine how that would work with earth bending. It might not be so easy with water." Katara said doubtfully.

"Good thing we're the best two water benders in the world!" he yelled, tossing off his jacket and racing off into the waves. Katara ran after. For a few minutes they circled each other, shooting jets of water into each others' faces and laughing. Then she decided to take the offensive. She pushed a wave at him, so that he was upright in the water, then followed with ice, freezing him in the wave so that only his face showed. She slid close to taunt him.

"That's one for me," she said, stroking his cheek. Almost immediately, he melted the ice so they both fell down into the water.

They swam in the waves, pushing them toward each other, until she felt herself being lifted out of the water. She was held tight by air currents just above the waves, her arms pinned to her sides, and suddenly she saw Aang floating just above her, hands clasped casually behind his head. "No air bending! Not fair!" she yelled into the wind.

"You didn't say that ahead of time, so I'll take the point, but no more air bending from here on out." He flipped them in the air, so that she was looking down on him, then the air released them both and they fell tumbling into the water. He swam down and she pursued him, both surrounding their heads with air bubbles. Suddenly he disappeared from in front of her and she felt an impact from behind. Aang had his arm around her waist from behind, pushing them both deeper toward the ocean floor. She managed to flip herself around and grab his wrist, but she couldn't reverse their momentum. She tried to look at his face, but it was distorted by the water and their bubbles. The amount of air in her bubble was not infinite; she'd be scared if anyone but Aang were holding her under the water like this. They turned in circles going deeper into the water, until finally they could go no deeper. When they hit the floor, Aang was on the bottom. The impact pushed their bubbles together so that they merged for an instant, then pulled away again. She felt the rock move under Aang, helping him come out from under her, and before she knew it, she was on her back, with stone bracelets fastening her to the ocean floor.

She pushed against them furiously and made eye contact with Aang, who just smiled and held up his fingers: two on one hand and one on the other. He was ahead. Then the rock bracelets dissolved while Katara watched a rock projectile shoot Aang toward the surface. She mustered a current to push herself after him.

"No earth bending!" She yelled when she got to the surface, but Aang only laughed. It enraged her, and she swirled her arms over her head to create a giant whirlpool, then pulled the water up into the air until it built into a minor hurricane. She rose in the eye of the storm, balancing on a stream shooting straight up onto her feet, while Aang swirled in rapid circles around her, caught in the storm.

"Your point!" He yelled. Instantly, she released her hold on the water. It, and they, crashed down, and a massive wave brought them to the shore. They both crawled onto the beach, gasping for air. After a minute, they looked at each other and grinned. Katara got to her feet as quickly as possible, and crouched in a water bending posture, arms guarded. Aang stood with his hands on his knees, still catching his breath. She was surprised he wasn't in a defensive stance, and hesitated.

"Tied. No more bending," he called. "Just us." Then he ran toward her. Katara only had time to take a couple steps forward, crouch low and brace for impact. She got under him and flipped him over her shoulders. While he was still down, he swept out her legs and brought her to the sand with him.

From there, they rolled around on the sand, battling for dominance. They had never had so much physical contact, especially not when they were only wearing their bathing suits, but now all their inhibitions were gone in the exhilarating fervor of competition. She knew they wouldn't hurt each other, so her only concern was the hit her pride would take if she allowed him to pin her. He seemed to be everywhere, and he was strong, but so was she. She tried to lock her arms around Aang's shoulders from behind, and then he tried to keep her legs still by wrapping his around them. When she almost got herself standing upright again, he tackled her, hugging her around her thighs, and she crashed back down. Somehow she rolled out from under him, and surprised him by pushing him down instead.

She slammed his wrists to the sand, straddling his waist, and panted for breath. Her point, her match. Their eyes met as they realized the intimacy of the position they were in. They held contact, understanding how vulnerable and open they were to each other at that moment, and neither backed down, but both accepted it in a matter-of-fact way that somehow kept it from being embarrassing. Finally, at the moment before that look would have become a dare, Katara remembered that she was on top, so she had to be the one to move away first. She tore her eyes away and rolled to the side. She pulled her knees up and sat beside him, both facing the waves. From lying on his back, Aang pulled up just enough to lean back on his elbows.

"Fun, right?" He broke the silence and lightened the tone again.

"You've clearly had more practice than me. And you cheated!"

"You still won."

"You let me win."

"You pinned me three times!"

"You could have fought me off if you tried."

"Katara, I couldn't even win a point off you without using air or earth bending."

Katara narrowed her eyes at him and considered. She was much more competitive than he was, and he knew it. He had no need to win or dominate anyone, and he genuinely approached these kinds of friendly competitions hoping only to have a good time, and perhaps to enjoy some spectacular bending from both participants. If he had held back, it had only been to make it more fun for her. She shouldn't let her pride get in the way of that.

"Fine. Next time, only waterbending."

"Next time?"

"On our next date."

Aang grinned. "I just wanted to be sure. You only promised me one date."

"Oh, I think I'm going to need several more dates."

"Several?"

"To figure out how I feel about you." She kept her voice light, coy, and flirtatious, to keep from triggering any lingering insecurities he might have.

"Did you figure anything out tonight?" He had a hopeful smile, but there was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. He wanted reassurance, and it made sense, after what she'd put him through.

"I figured out a lot of stuff I already knew. Like that it's nice to get away from the others for a while, just the two of us. That you're a great dancer. That I never feel more alive and more powerful than when I'm water bending with you. I figured out that I want to kiss you right now." He leaned in, and their lips met. She tilted her head to the side and opened her mouth to him. For the first time, their tongues touched, sending a thrill down her spine, and causing her hands to reach out for him. When she touched the bare skin of his sides, she felt a sharp intake of breath from him, which she took as a warning. She pulled her hands and lips away, and rested her forehead against his as they caught their breath.

"Wow," he whispered.

"Yeah," she agreed, pulling back to smile at him.

After a moment just grinning at each other, Aang stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and let him pull her up. They gathered their clothes and shoes, and Aang blew the water and sand off them. Katara pulled the water out of her hair. The flowers were gone, but the style was mostly intact, just a little poofier, with some tendrils escaping. Katara put her skirt back on, and Aang shrugged on his jacket, but left it open. Their hands came together as they started walking toward the house.

"I promised you the best date in the history of the world. Did I deliver?" he asked, his voice hopeful.

"I guess I wouldn't know. You've been around a bit longer than I have. It was certainly the best date in my history. First too. That's something you can't say, Mr. Avatar. Surely one of your past lives had an even better date than this at some point."

"It doesn't work that way. Past lives don't count in this kind of thing."

"Well, that's reassuring. I don't have to try to live up to some lover you had a thousand years ago. Some beautiful queen or exotic nature spirit."

"Of course not. That's ridiculous. A thousand years ago I wasn't me. I don't have any of those memories, and I don't want them. But even if I did, I'm sure you'd measure up." He paused and looked at her quizzically. "You haven't really been worried about that, have you?"

"I haven't lost sleep over it, but I've thought about it," she admitted.

"Katara, you could never let me down or disappoint me. And to be honest, I wasn't really worried I'd disappoint you tonight either."

"What? After I tried so hard to make you nervous, going on about how you'd raised my expectations?"

"I can tell flirting when I see it." They had arrived at the door to her room, and he turned to face her. "But more than that, I just knew that—unless we got interrupted by a vengeful spirit or a team of assassins or something, this evening—any evening with you-would be amazing. Because neither of us could possibly be disappointed if you're feeling even a fraction of what I am. And lately you've been giving me some really good reasons to hope that you are."

The implication that he was content to be the less beloved, that he assumed her feelings were weaker, made her ache a little because it seemed a consequence of her indecision. At some point she'd have to disabuse him of that notion. But for now, she decided to poke gentle fun at the idea and stick with the coy and playful tone she'd set. "I just might be. Feeling a fraction of what you are." She narrowed her eyes at him, assessing. "Half."

"Whoa, that much?" His eyes lit up and he put his hands on his head, playing at being dumbfounded by his luck.

"Maybe even a little more than that. Can I give you another reason to hope?" She stepped forward and put her hands on his waist.

"Oh, please." Aang took her face in his hands and kissed her again, opening his mouth almost immediately, nearly overwhelming her. He was eager and unpracticed; she put her hand on his chest and pulled away a bit to slow him down, but without breaking contact. He seemed to understand, and backed off a little, then she gradually let him in again, as she discovered the way she liked it, and showed him. Though his inexpert lips and tongue sometimes pressed hers a bit too hard, she couldn't help feeling gratified by his earnest enthusiasm. He followed her signals well, and started to give some of his own, which were basically just "more." They had just finished negotiating depth and pace, and were starting to really settle in, when there was a sound in the hall. Aang turned away from her to see what it was. Suki was closing a door. She made a face to say, "You caught me and I caught you," then gestured shh.

"Sokka's room?" he verified.

"Yep. Goodnight, Aang. I had a great time."

"Me too."

"I could tell."

He shrugged. "Hey, you showed up, and you let me kiss you. You even kissed back."

"So you're thrilled?"

"Beyond thrilled. I think this is the happiest I've ever been. And I'm a pretty happy guy."

"You are." It seemed like they couldn't stop smiling at each other. Inexplicably, Katara found herself asking for even more from the boy who'd already given her so much. "Promise me one thing?"

"Anything."

"Tonight was only our best date yet."

"I promise."

They might just stand there grinning at each other like idiots all night if she didn't put a stop to it, she realized. "We do have to say goodnight." she whispered.

"Goodnight, Katara."

She kissed him on the cheek and closed her door behind her.

Author's Note: What did you think? Did you enjoy that date as much as Aang and Katara did? (Is that even possible?) Leave me a review if you liked it!

I've run out of mostly-complete chapters, so my posting is going to slow down, but I promise I'm not giving up on this fic. I have BIG PLANS! Please follow and subscribe so that you can get an email update when I post a new chapter!

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