Chapter 8

It was morning and Katara and Aang were just outside Xin Se's outer wall, watching as their war balloon was being prepped for their journey. The furnace was on and the envelope was beginning to inflate and rise from the hot air. Hastily sewed on patches were visible against the bright red fabric of the balloon.

"Are we sure this thing's gonna fly?" Katara asked with an uneasy grimace.

"It doesn't look that bad," Aang said. "Sure, the gondola's a little dented, and there's smoke coming out of the furnace, and there are a lot of patches sewed onto the balloon… but… I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah, easy for you to say, Mr. 'I laugh at gravity.'"

Sokka walked up between them and wrapped his arms around both their shoulders. He said, "Don't worry guys, I practically designed these war balloons myself. They'll get ya to the Eastern Air Temple in one piece. You got my personal guarantee!"

Katara pushed Sokka's arm off of her. "You 'designed' these war balloons, huh?"

"Okay, maybe I didn't design them, but I did help make them possible! Here, both of you, step inside and I'll show you how they work."

"They just use hot air, right?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, Sokka's an expert on hot air," Katara said.

"Hah hah hah," Sokka laughed sarcastically.

The three of them proceeded to walk into the balloon's gondola. Sokka used his boomerang to bang on the main furnace and said, "So, this is the furnace. Fuel burns in here to make the hot air. Avoid touching it with your hand, it can be pretty hot. Aang, you can just blast it with firebending to keep the fire going."

"Got it."

"This lever over here controls the lid on top of the balloon. You pull it to let the hot air out, which makes the balloon sink. When you want to go up, you keep it closed."

Katara opened her mouth about to make another hot air joke when Sokka seemingly read her mind and interrupted her. "Don't! Just… don't."

Katara closed her mouth and smirked in response.

"The last thing I want to show you guys is this lever. It controls the rudder, just move it left or right; whichever direction you want to turn. That's it! Pretty simple, huh?"

Aang walked around the furnace to the other side of the gondola, then back. "Not a lot of room on this thing. How fast are these balloons anyway?"

"Pretty fast actually! My best guess is that they're somewhere between sixty and ninety percent of an Appa," Sokka responded.

"How long would it take Appa to get to the Eastern Air Temple?" Katara asked.

"Probably a full day," Aang said.

Katara pulled out the map and looked at it. She traced her finger along the path they would take. "Looks like we'll probably need to camp somewhere around here tonight, south of Chameleon Bay. We should reach the temple tomorrow."

"Well if it isn't the Fancy Fliers!" Toph announced as she approached. "Ready for your big trip?" She stepped into the gondola and felt it with her feet. Her face contorted with uneasiness as she analyzed it. "Y'know what, I'm glad I'm not going. This bucket feels like a death trap. Good luck."

"What are you two going to do while we're away?" Aang asked.

Toph grabbed Sokka's arm and squeezed it. "I'm gonna help Sokka find his space sword!"

"I figure if anyone can find space metal, it's Toph," Sokka added. "Mind if we borrow Momo? He might be useful in surveying the wreckage."

"Sure," Aang said. "I don't think he likes being away from Appa, anyway."

Iroh, Pakku, and Bumi approached the group. Katara, Aang, Toph, and Sokka stepped out of the gondola to greet them. Pakku said, "Katara, this is going to seem familiar, but I have something for you."

"What is it?"

Pakku reached into a bag and pulled out a glass amulet. "Another amulet with water from the spirit oasis."

"This is amazing! I can't begin to tell you how important the last one was. Where did you get this?"

"Before I left the North Pole, one of the water sages asked me to take it with me. I wasn't sure why, until a few weeks ago when you taught me how to heal. I was looking forward to maybe one day getting to use it, but now, I feel like I should give it to you. I understand you used it once to save the Avatar's life."

"I hope we don't need it again," Aang muttered.

"You sure you don't want to hold onto it? You turned out to be a natural-born healer, after all," Katara said to Pakku.

He laughed. "Yeah, you might beat me every time we spar now, but I'm not far behind you when it comes to healing. Who knew I'd be so good at it? Only took me eighty-six years to learn." He put it in her hand and closed her fingers around it. "You take it."

"Any more water bending scrolls for me?" Aang asked.

"Why would you need them? You have Katara. And you're already a master."

Iroh approached Aang. "I hope you have a safe trip," he said. " I had wanted to take you on a trip myself, to meet my old masters. They're the ones that taught me the true way of fire. You know everything you need to know for what lies ahead, but maybe after this war is over I can introduce you to them."

"Wow, if they're your masters, they must be amazing!"

"Let's just say that they are… unique. I once hoped to take Zuko to meet them one day, when he was ready, but sadly it was not meant to be." Iroh sighed.

"Don't worry Iroh. When we get back, we'll finally be able to put an end to all this," Katara said.

Aang looked away. He didn't say anything but hated having so much pressure on him. And he was increasingly more and more pessimistic about being able to unlock the Avatar State again. He was already convinced that this trip would not help him. Still, he owed it to everyone to at least try.

"Well, I think we're ready to go," Aang said.

"Looks like a storm's coming," Bumi said, pointing at some encroaching clouds.

"It won't be a problem, we'll be flying above those clouds soon enough. You ready Katara?"

"Hold up!" Sokka shouted. "We gotta do something really important first."

"What?"

"Group hug!"

Sokka grabbed Katara, Aang, and Toph and they all hugged. "Get in here, Iroh and Bumi! You're part of this group now." Katara said. "And you too, Pakku!"

"Pakku's technically our new grandpa, after all!" Sokka said. "He's Grandpakku!"

Pakku groaned and said, "Please don't call me that." The three old masters joined them in the group hug.

Katara and Aang entered the war balloon, closed the gondola door, and untied the anchor. Aang opened the furnace door and blasted some more fire into it. The balloon began to ascend, and the two of them waved goodbye to the group.

Soon the balloon was far enough into the sky where neither Aang nor Katara were discernible from the ground. And with that, they were off on their trip.

"Well, there they go. I wonder how long they'll be gone," Sokka said.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll take their time with all the smooching they're gonna get up to," Toph said and made a mock kissing face.

"Ugh, gross! Stop that, you're giving me the oogies."

A few hours passed and Aang and Katara were soaring over the clouds, flying southeast. Katara held on to the rudder control and made a small adjustment while looking at a compass. Meanwhile, Aang was blasting fire into the furnace. After a few final blasts, he closed the furnace hatch. "That oughta do it for a while," he said. "You know, riding this balloon is kinda fun."

"I don't know about that. With Appa, the ride is so smooth. But this thing is so... rickety. Every time a breeze hits, the whole gondola rocks. And don't get me started on the turbulence when we passed through those storm clouds earlier."

"Yeah, it's great!"

"You airbenders are way too comfortable in the sky." She smirked at him.

"Well, if waterbenders could breathe water, you'd probably feel the same way in the ocean."

"That sounds like that daydream you had once. Remember? Something about living underwater?"

Aang looked confused. His eyes looked up at an angle as he tried to remember.

"You don't remember?" Katara continued. "You told me about it near that cliff."

Aang shrugged. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"It was right before the invasion when you couldn't sleep. You dozed off while we were talking. I remember it so clearly…"

Aang suddenly remembered what she was referring to. The daydream had never actually happened, it was just a lie to cover up his actual daydream about kissing her and confessing his feelings. Aang suddenly looked embarrassed and laughed nervously while rubbing the back of his head. "Oh… hah hah, yeah, I remember now. Living underwater. How could I forget?"

Katara felt confused about why Aang seemed so nervous all of a sudden. She shrugged it off and walked to their supplies to look for a snack.

Hours had now passed and they were both sitting on the floor of the gondola with their backs against its wall. They had played a few games of Pai Sho, which Aang had been teaching her to play for a few weeks now, but they were now keeping themselves entertained by just talking.

"So… what do you think is going to happen with the guru?" Katara asked.

"I'm not sure. Last time he taught me all about chakras, and how I need to open them to let the 'pure cosmic energy' flow."

"Is that why you can't enter the Avatar State? The 'cosmic energy' doesn't 'flow?'"

"I guess."

"You know, I always hated seeing you in the Avatar State. But if the guru can help you control it… maybe we'll actually be able to end this war. I hope so."

Aang hesitated to respond for a moment; his feelings toward the Avatar State were complicated, and he wasn't sure what to reply with. He settled on asking a question that was on a different topic. "Hey Katara, I've been wondering, what do you want?"

"Huh?"

"Like... what do you want? If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"

Katara furrowed her brow as she concentrated on the question, realizing she didn't have an answer lined up. "I don't know. I haven't thought of that before. I guess what I want more than anything is for this war to be over. For the Fire Nation to be stopped. For… my mom to be back."

Aang felt pain in his heart as he heard her response, wishing it were possible to fulfill all that for her; but, there are limits even to the Avatar's power. "I promise Katara, I'm going to do everything I can to end this war. I can't bring your mom back, but I can stop the Fire Nation."

She smiled at him. "I know you can. Even before I met you, I always believed you could save the world."

He smiled back and looked at her eyes. "Not without your help."

"And you'll always have it, Aang"

Aang could feel his heartbeat greatly intensify as he began to mentally prepare to confess his feelings, but his thoughts were interrupted as he heard her ask him the same question back. "What about you, Aang? What do you want?"

You, he thought. Something now told him this wasn't the right time to bring up his feelings. Maybe it was because she had mentioned her mother, or maybe it was a sudden moment of clarity where he realized his desires were minuscule compared to the importance of saving the world. He decided to postpone his confession.

"Uhhhh…" he said as he thought of a suitable response. " I wish I could bring the Air Nomads back. And I guess I want the same thing you do, for this war to be over. Although… the most fun I've had in my life has been traveling with you."

Aang realized that sounded wrong, and quickly added, "And the others. You know, the whole gang." After a moment of feeling embarrassed, he kept talking. "I hope that even if we do manage to end this war, we can all still keep being together."

"Of course we will," Katara responded. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Remember what I told you at the Southern Air Temple? We're your family now. We'll always be together."

She stood up and looked over the gondola wall, checking their altitude. "We're a little low. Do your thing, Avatar."

Aang jumped up and added some more fire to the furnace.

. . .

Toph was relaxing in the group tent, listening to the rain outside. It was hitting the fabric overhead hard, and the constant tapping of the fat raindrops was nice to listen to. Occasionally distant thunder would roll and rumble for long stretches of time.

The entrance flap of the tent flung open, and the sound of rain became crisp as it was no longer muffled by the fabric. Sokka walked in, soaking wet.

"Ready to go find my space sword?" He asked with a big smile on his face, completely indifferent to how soaked he was.

"Uh… it's raining."

"I know! That's why we need to go. I don't want it to rust!"

"Space metal doesn't rust."

"Really? Are you sure about that?"

"To be perfectly honest… no. But either way, I'm not going out in this weather."

"Oh come on!"

"I hate walking in mud."

Sokka exhaled loudly, frustrated. "Fine. We'll look tomorrow."

"Did you really want to be out holding a long piece of metal in a thunderstorm? Is Katara the only reason you've managed to stay alive this long?"

"No, she's not the only reason!"

Toph snickered at how annoyed Sokka was, and decided she'd add fuel to the fire. "Hey, do me a favor. Go get me a snack, will ya?"

"Why should I?"

"Two reasons. One, you're already soaked. Two, a snack for helping you find your sword tomorrow is a pretty sweet deal."

"Fine, what do you want?"

"Surprise me!"

. . .

It was now late at night and Aand and Katara had set up camp. It was a nice, grassy area surrounded by rolling hills. The war balloon was parked nearby with its deflated, bright red envelope resting on the ground.

Aang and Katara had rolled out their sleeping bags and were lying a few feet apart. The campfire had died down by now, but it would continue to smolder with the occasional popping sound coming from inside the thermally active logs. The pops could be heard amongst the sounds of nearby crickets and the occasional rustling of grass whenever a breeze would hit.

The night sky was fairly bright from a mostly full moon, but many stars were still visible despite the moon's illumination. There was no sign of rain in their location and they wanted to keep the camping time short, so they didn't bother putting up their tents. The two of them had been lying in their sleeping bags for a while now; not sleeping, but staring up at the stars and talking.

"Did you see that shooting star?" Katara asked quietly; just above a whisper. There was no reason to speak in a low volume, but something about camping outside at night like this encouraged it.

"Monkey feathers, I missed it," Aang replied. "Did you make a wish?"

"Yeah."

"What was it?"

She laughed quietly. "I can't tell you that. It won't come true."

Aang fell quiet for a while as he wondered what she could have wished for. He realized that there were too many possibilities and that it was impossible to ever know, so he let the thought slip away.

"Hey, Katara?"

"Yes?"

"Today was a lot of fun."

"Yeah it was," she responded. After a pause, she added, "Was this the first time we've traveled alone?"

"I'm not sure. I think so."

"Hmm…" She concentrated on trying to remember if there had been any other times. "We did travel alone in that cave for a while."

"Which cave? We've been in lots of caves."

"The secret tunnel one. You know, with the, um, two lovers?"

"Oh… yeah. I remember."

As Aang stared up at the night sky, the twinkling stars reminded him of the thousands of glowing crystals that had guided their way through that cave. He remembered how they stood facing each other, holding each other's hands, as they leaned in to kiss while the torchlight faded away.

"I love you, Katara," he said. The words came out of him with no thought or anxiety or mental preparation of any kind. It was just a pure expression from his heart with no filtration by his mind.

Katara felt a tickle in her stomach. She had never heard those words before, but they were beautiful. She turned her head in his direction to look at him, although he was barely visible in the dim light.

"Aang…" she whispered. "I lov—"

That tickle had turned into a knot and she stopped herself. "No... I'm sorry. This isn't the right time," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Let's not talk about this now."

Aang sat up in his bedroll and used his firebending to reignite the campfire so that they had more light. "No, I want to talk about it."

"Aang, please."

"You said now's not the right time. Well, when is the right time?"

Katara didn't answer and Aang's frustration grew as no response came from her. "It's me, isn't it?" he asked. "You just don't see me in that way, do you?"

"I didn't say that," Katara replied. Her voice was rapidly becoming tense and angry.

"Then what."

"I already told you, it's not the right time!" She said as she sat up. "Have you forgotten there's a war going on? It's not even a war anymore, it's a genocide! We have more important things we need to focus on. This war has already claimed the lives of millions, including people I love! My mother is dead. My father is rotting in a prison somewhere. And any one of us could die any day now. You could die any day! For crying out loud, you've already died once! And I had to watch it happen!

"What if this spirit water isn't enough next time?" She angrily brandished the amulet Pakku had given her. "It was barely enough to bring you back last time, and what if next time you're hurt even worse? So excuse me for not wanting to fall in love in a world where my boyfriend could be killed on any given day!"

She stormed away out of the glow of the campfire and sat on a nearby fallen tree trunk, facing away from the camp. She placed her head on her hands and silently wept.

Aang sat there on his bedroll, feeling deeply ashamed. Katara was crying. She was in pain. And it was his fault.

What have I done? He thought. How could I do this to her?

"I'm so stupid," he whispered to himself and hung his head low. Silent tears ran down his cheeks. I'm such a failure. I keep failing at everything I do. I'm never going to beat the Firelord. I'm never going to end this war. I'm never going to be with Katara. She deserves better than me—

Aang stopped himself as he realized he was spiraling into self-pity. After these last several weeks, it had become so easy for him to lose himself in it. But now, for the first time, he realized something very important: when you indulge in self-pity, you make things about you. But right now, Katara was the one who was hurting, and things needed to be about her.

He got up and walked over to her just in time to hear her sniffle a few times. Standing behind her, he asked, "Can I sit down?" She didn't answer. He sat down but made sure to give her lots of space.

"It was such a weird feeling. When I got frozen, that is." Aang spoke quietly. "One moment, I was struggling to breathe and I was panicking underwater. I didn't know what to do. Next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes and I saw your face.

"Our entire friendship started with you saving me. You saved me so many times. You saved me from Azula's lightning. You saved me in the desert—you saved everyone that day, really. Katara, I'm so sorry for getting upset. You're right about everything. There are more important things to focus on right now. This isn't the right time. I'm sorry."

Katara wiped her eyes a few times, and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Do you ever miss anyone from your past?" she finally asked.

"Lots of people. Monk Gyatso. Kuzon. I had so many other friends, too."

"I'm sorry they're all gone."

"Me too. But I did get to meet you."

Katara felt those words touch a special place in her heart as she remembered he had said them shortly after they first met. And with that, the significance of those words suddenly became clear to her: Aang had lost his friends, his family, and his home, but meeting her had somehow been enough to console him through an unimaginable loss. He loved me since the first day we met...

"You had a lot of friends a hundred years ago, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Exploring the world and visiting places was a big part of being an Air Nomad. It was great. Every place I went to, I met someone new."

She wrung her hands. "You must have met so many girls, too. I'm surprised there wasn't anyone… you know, 'special.'"

"I had lots of friends who were girls. I guess I just never... fell in love with any of them."

"...How come?"

Aang hesitated for a second.

"None of them were you."

Katara felt a million butterflies flutter in her stomach at his words. She looked at Aang as he sat there, staring at the ground in front of them. The moon was behind him, and it cast a glowing outline along the contours of his face. Without stopping to think, she placed her hand on his face and kissed him on the lips.

She pulled away. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did that. This must be really confusing after everything I said. I-I'm sorry."

Aang was confused. He debated kissing her again, but after seeing the confusion in her own eyes, he decided against it.

"It's okay," he said. "I'm sorry too. I started all this." He stood up. "Let's just go to sleep. We have some more flying to do tomorrow."

She stood up and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back.