Avatar: The true story Ch 7: Solum, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Ch 7: Solum

"Sol… Solum?" The young man sighed. His piercing blue eye facing her while the hair floated in the wind. Katara then noticed his other eye, white, with a scar beginning in his forehead to the chin with the eye in the middle. Memories of that horrible day started to come to her. His hand trying to stop the blood oozing on his face and Sokka's bloody dagger trying to hit his flesh once more while Katara cried half naked on the ground. She returned to herself and gave another step back, though this time she placed herself in a fighting stance. "Wh-what are you doing here!? What do you want with m-me!?" She tried to fight against it but her whole body was shaking. He didn't respond. "Answer me S-Solum!"

He sighed again and looked down. "So you found another guy?"

She was taken back by that question but she should be expecting it, afterall he was Solum, the guy who said that loved her a few years back. "Y-Yeah, I'm with Aang now!"

His hands turned to fist as soon he heard that name. "And, you're… you're happy with him?"

"Yes, very much! He, at least, didn't try to ra… to do what you did the first night alone we had!"

"So you…?"

"None of your business!"

"Hm… A-and you l-love him?"

"Yes!"

"Why him and not me?" He asked looking at the ground.

"You know very well why! And he was there when you weren't!"

"I wasn't there because your brother banished me!"

"SOKKA BANISHED YOU BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO RAPE ME! YOU TRIED TO RAPE ME WHILE SAYING THAT YOU WOULD KILL ME RIGHT AFTER, AND YOU STILL THINK THAT HAVE ANY RIGHT TO DEFEND YOURSELF!?"

"It was for your own good!"

"How can you say that!? How can that be good for me!?"

"Because of this world Katara! Because of this Shitty world! You heard what it did to Hama! You know what it did to your mother! And what it did to MY mother!"

"What it did to your mother?" For the first time she wasn't shouting. "It wasn't her who threw you and your father out of home?"

"No. That was a lie that my father told me! My mother loved me! But that… son of a bitch killed her!" Katara's eyes opened wide. For the first time in two years she was feeling sympathy for this man. "He constantly beated her and me. One day he lost control and she simply couldn't resist and… died." He stood silent for a second looking at the ground before looking again at Katara more determined than ever. "That's why I want to take you out of this world, Katara. To protect you from this shit. Imagine that Aang turns out to be like him, how would you feel?"

She thought for some seconds in that question but her answer was obvious. "The same way I felt with you. Sad, angry, betrayed."

"I never betrayed you!"

"You did when you tried to rape me!"

Some moments of silence before he could continue. "Then answer me. Why do you think he wants you? He's the Avatar, he can get any woman he wants. Why would he choose you?"

"I ask myself the very same question every day." She immediately responded. "I even gave him reasons to leave me, but he never did. He continues to tell me that I'm perfect in my way. He continues to give me reasons to love me. He continues to turn my bad treets to good ones. He continues to accept who I am and not who he wants me to be." They heard a loud crack but it was ignored.

"And you believe him!? He just wants pussy! You're the prettier girl of your group, of course he would tell you that! He wants your body! When the war is over, when he finally can see other women he will leave you as soon as he can!"

"You don't know that! And that excuse is just horrible! We never had sex! Not just because of me but also because he feels like we're not ready! He doesn't try to force me! You did that!? No, you jumped all the way to rape! If you want to criticise someone, criticise yourself first!"

"Then give me ONE reason for him to choose you, a simple water tribe peasant and not a Earth Kingdom noblewoman or something!"

"I can give you ten." They heard, looking at the voice, they saw Aang walking at them.

…

Aang was ready to jump and hug the love of his life but a voice was heard.

"Hey Katara."

She took a little time but in the end greated back. "Oh, hey Dazo, is your throat better." He didn't respond. "Dazo?"

"It was never bad." He responded later.

"So why did you never talk?" He didn't respond again and Katara grunted annoyed. "Dazo!"

"Because I was afraid that you would recognize it."

"What… What do you mean?"

"What I mean is…" He took a deep breath and took out his hood. "We met some years ago." He took out his mask and Katara became terrified, she took a step back and then asked.

"Sol… Solum?"

"Wait WHAT!? Sol guy? What the…?"

Katara immediately placed herself in a fighting stance. "Wh-What are you doing here!? What do you want with m-me!?" Katara was trembling, Aang never saw her so scared like right now. Seeing that he didn't respond she demanded. "Answer me S-Solum!"

He sighed "So you found a new guy?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm with Aang now."

It took time again but. "And you're… you're happy with him?" He asked painfully.

"Yes, very much!" She responded immediately, making a heartful smile creep in Aang's face. "He, at least, didn't try to ra…" His smile disappeared. "He what?" Aang didn't want to jump to conclusions but the anger and disgust for this guy started to swell in his veins anyway. "to do what you did the first night alone we had!"

"So you…?" He asked sadly, making Aang blush a little knowing too well what he was asking.

"None of your business!"

"Hm… A-and you l-love him?"

"Yes!"

This made him look at the ground. "Why him and not me?"

"You know very well why! And he was there when you weren't!"

"I wasn't there because your brother banished me!"

"SOKKA BANISHED YOU BECAUSE YOU TRIED TO RAPE ME!" Aang was paralized for a moment. "HE DID WHAT!?" He just couldn't imagine someone doing something so horrible much less to a person like Katara. The rage and disgust by that was uncountable. "How could he?" He asked himself over and over with the horrible image of Katara on the ground, naked, crying while Solum would… He stopped himself before it could go long enough. Then he jumped from the tree breaking a branch which caused a loud crack. He used airbending to land softly not making any more sounds. Just then he continued hearing the discussion.

"You're the prettier one from your group, of course he would tell you that! He wants your body! When this war is over he will as soon as he can!" The rage in Aang's mind just increased and increased. Who was this guy to say that? He tried to rape her. RAPE her! He had no morals to speak about him this way. Katara at least thought the same thing and defended her actual boyfriend.

"Then give me ONE reason for him to choose you, a simple water tribe peasant and not a noble woman or something!"

That was it, Aang was almost boiling now. This guy try to rape the love of his life, then assumes absurd things about him and now he is insulting her. Saying that she isn't worthy of his love because of her… heritage. If someone wasn't worthy in that relationship was Aang. He finally spoke "I can give you ten. And I would simply scratch the surface."

"Aang? What are you doing here?" Katara asked with a lifted brow though he ignored and came closer to Solum.

"You don't have the right to accuse me of anything." He said pointing at his face.

"Aang." Katara called just to be ignored one more time.

"You try to rape her and now you point a finger at me!? You have anything up there!?"

"It was for her own good! You don't know the pain of losing…"

"I LOST MY ENTIRE PEOPLE!" Katara quickly grabbed one of his arms fearing that what happened two years ago would happen again. "THEY WERE ALL MASSACRED, I LOST EVERYTHING I HAD, DO YOU HEAR ME!? EVERYTHING! YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF WHAT I PASSED THROUGH!" Solum started to back off and Katara placed herself between them. She took Aang's face on her hands and with teary eyes pleaded him silently to him not to do something stupid. He looked at those eyes and, with a tear of his own, took a deep breath. "I lost everything I had. But you dont see me here trying to rape my girlfriend do you?"

"That wasn't the point! My idea wasn't to ra… rape her! My idea was to…"

"To kill me!"

"And then kill myself! We would be a happy family in the next life! But she didn't listen she…"

"She what!? She made her choice!?" Solum turned his head to the ground. "I will tell you the same thing I told a girl with a similar problem! A relationship is made by two persons, not one! Not just you, not just her, both! If you have problems respecting her choices then you're no good for a boyfriend."

"And you are!?" Solum shouted, shooting his head up.

"Ask her, not me." This made the scarred young man look at his ex.

"Aang respects me and my choices. He never tried to push me into things I didn't want to do."

"Give him time."

"That's exactly what I'm gonna do! And if he turns out to be like you, I'll do the very same thing I did to you!"

"Ifl me weren't for Sokka you wouldn't be here! Immagine that he's not there when it happens!"

"I'm not the same kid you met, Solum. I'm stronger now."

Solum shots them a glare and raises his hands. "So am I." On the next moment the couple started to feel the very same feeling they felt with Hama. "You know Katara," Solum started, coming closer to her. "you're not the only one that Hamma teached." He quickly froze Aang to the ground and froze Katara's body leaving only her head out. He started to lean his hand to her cheek, but was stopped.

"Don't touch her or I swear that I'll… " Aang said.

"You'll what, kid? You're both my domain now. You can't do nothing." He clenched his hand to a fist and Aang yelled in pain, feeling the ice tight around him.

"AANG!" Katara yelled in terror before starting searching for something to free herself, though her body was completely frozen, she hardly could breathe much less move. So, seeing that it was her only option she said. "Stop! Stop Solum, please." The scarred man relaxed his hand and Aang stopped yelling. "Ok, I'll do it, okay?" Katara said tearfully. "Just leave him alone."

"Katara what are you…" Aang started though the pain came again.

"Shut up!"

"I said STOP! Solum, stop!" The man stopped and looked at his love. "I'll do it. I'll… I'll live with you forever in the… in the other life."

A happy smile creeped into Solum's face with a tear. "You mean it?" She looked at Aang and, after a sigh, she nodded slowly. "Oh My Love, you have no idea how much that means to me! I'll finally fulfill my promise to you!" And, with that said he crashed his lips on hers. She felt… strange, to say the least. She remembered this feeling and he was a good kisser but those lips were not Aang's and she felt really weird for it. Speaking of which.

Aang saw that and saw the tears on her face just go faster and he couldn't take it anymore, that was unbearable. He doesn't know why but, for a brief moment, he remembered the classes he had with Jiong-Jiong when he said that the energy that gives power to the fire should be the sun and not the rage, though many of the firebenders of nowadays used mostly the second. And well, rage was the only thing Aang was feeling right now, blood rage. He shouted and a gust of fire came out of his mouth. Solum stopped the kiss when he felt the heat and saw Katara with her open mouth looking at her boyf- EX boyfriend. Soon enough the ice melted and the young Avatar was on his feet breathing heavily. "I SAID DON'T TOUCH HER!"

"Maybe you forgot but I'm…" Before he could finish his sentence, a bolder came flying at his teeth. He managed to dodge but when he did, the ground formed a pillar that hit him on the face. He fell to his rear and quickly hopped back on his feet, or at least tried because a dagger came to his arm cutting it a little. Katara saw that and remembered that night once again. Sokka slicing the air with his dagger trying to hit his former friend. And now Aang is trying to cut Solum once more while he desperately tries or to dodge or to defend himself. A click happened in Katara's mind and she woke up from her trance. "AANG!" He didn't listen, the rage was almost hurtful for her, she never saw him so angry, Katara had to do something or… or Aang would have blood on his hands and he would be forever changed, Katara couldn't change the lovable kid because of one of her mistakes. "AANG!" He again didn't listen. She thought for a second and an idea came to her mind. "HEY, SOLUM! COME HERE!" He looked at her before dodging another coming dagger.

"I'm sorry My Love, but I'm kinda… busy here!"

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" They heard from Aang.

"Solum if you want to get out of here alive come here, NOW!" He was reluctant, but in the end, he did what he was told to. He hidded back Katara's ice armor and she shouted. "FREE ME!"

"WHAT!?"

"FREE ME DAMNIT!"

"WHY!?"

"JUST DO IT!"

He took some time but when another ice dagger hit him in the arm he did what Katara asked. She immediately went to Aang, spitted to the ground after cleaning her lips with the cloth and kissed him deeply, holding his cheeks. In the beginning, it seemed that it didn't have any effect, but soon enough his breath started to calm and his eyes closed while he kissed back. They stayed there some time but Aang opened his eye to see her but, besides seeing her beautiful face he saw Solum with a dagger ready to strike His Angel. Aang quickly threw Katara to the side, making her fall to her rear, and bent the earth in a glove. Aang never gave a so powerful and satisfactory punch in his entire life. Solum was shot to the ground unconscious but Aang wasn't ready to leave that rapist with only that. He jumped at him and turned him around. Aang saw that, apparently, he had made a big cut on Solum's face alongside the big bruise, a cut that went to the tip of his mouth to the left ear, one that was oozing blood a little faster than it should. Though that wasn't enough for Aang, he readied another punch but was shot to the ground by her girlfriend, who had thrown herself at him. He looked at her and he was hugging him crying like never before. He did nothing but hug her back while stomping his foot on the ground one time.

"I-I th-thought that he w-would… th-that he would…"

"Shh, My Angel, it's over... it's over. He won't hurt you anymore, I promise "

They stood like that for some minutes until Katara stopped crying and looked again into his eyes. Some seconds passed and Katara kissed him with all her strength, Aang never received a so passionate kiss in all his life. It was a kiss full of emotions and he could feel them all. It had gratefulness, love, happiness, anger, sadness, fear, It had all the things she was feeling right now. She disbanded the kiss and said. "I'm ready."

Aang knew immediately what she was talking about."Are you sure?" She just nodded "Okay Take your time."

She took a deep breath, got off him, seated up and started telling the cursed story.

"I was maybe ten when he came. It was two years after mom's death. He and his father came from the north pole because his mother had them "Throw out". Me, Sokka and Solum became fast friends, he is Sokka's age so being the only kids around helped us create a friendship bond. The years passed and me and Solum started to see each other more often and then we kissed and decided to be together."

"How did Sokka react?"

"Very good really. He gained that paranoia after Solum." He nodded to her to continue and she did. "He said that the only time he was truly himself it was near me and I… liked how he spoke to me. He was a gentleman, very sweet and gentle and he was kind of cute so… things worked out well. Until the men went to war, his father went too, Solum was never the same, sure he was never so happy, but he turned to be rude and sometimes just mean. Then, like one month later he started to say that he was too good for this world and that he wanted to kill himself, I did all to stop him but that just made it worse because he started to say that I was to good for this world and that we should kill ourselves together and live happily in the other life as a family. I said no, of course, I said that Sokka and the village needed me and that I wouldn't just leave them. And he simply never gave up he continued to say that. One night he asked for a date, and I… I accepted. I went to his house and it was pretty normal in the first half of the time. We would change some jokes, looks and… " She looked at Solum and found him cuffed to the ground with earth. She looked at Aang and he nodded.

"And…?"

"And… and… where was I?"

"The date."

"Ah yeah, of course. We would change some jokes, looks and… kisses." When she said that she suddenly felt the taste of Solum's lips so, with another spit to the ground, she continued. " Well, it was going good until we started to speak about something that I don't remember. When we finished talking he said that he… loved me. I was a little sad, like I said, he was a good, cute guy but I couldn't simply lie so I said that I wasn't ready to say it back, that I liked him but wasn't ready to LOVE someone. He… He got pissed, like really pissed. He said that I just didn't love him because of my brother and this world. He said that he had made everything right and that I should love him back. I tried to calm him down and explain that things weren't like that but he just got worse. In the end he froze the door, in the beginning I was surprised because he never told me that he was a waterbender but then I started to panic when he cuffed me in the ground. "Aang saw a tear fall from her blank eye. She was living this once again. "He started to undress me and grope me and…"

"KATARA!" She woke up and Aang was shaking her and calling for her. When he noticed this he stopped shaking and cleaned the tear. "Katara, you don't need to give me the details. I understand if it's too painful." She looked deep in his eyes and found the same sympathy that he usually had towards the people who would need it, but she became greedy in that moment, the usual sympathy wasn't enough. He was hers she and she needed what was rightfully hers and only hers. So she kissed him in a strange need. Of course, he didn't complain, but felt that she was more taking than giving and felt a little weird by that act.

She disbanded the kiss and continued immediately. "While he was doing that he was saying something about a child that we would do and about living happily forever in the other life. I couldn't hear very well, I was yelling and crying all the time. That was my salvation because Sokka heard, broke the ice on the door and when he saw me and Solum, My Spirits, I never saw Sokka fight so well in my entire life. You see that scar on Solum's eye?" Aang nodded. "Was Sokka who made it with a dagger." For a moment Aang looked terrified but after a few seconds of deep thought Aang returned to his concentrated face. "The last thing I remember was Solum on the ground and Sokka on top punching his face furiously. I had to stop him before Solum was killed." She took a shaky breath and cleaned a tear. "Well the rest is obvious, Solum was banished forever and I had a giant shouting session with my brother. He said that I was not allowed to have another boyfriend ever." She looked at Aang and he was chuckling what made her roll her eyes. "I was miserable until… until…" She looked at Aang as if she just discovered something and he looked. "Until we found you."

"Really?"

"Yes, the day we found you was the first day I exited the village. In one year I never exited the village afraid that this guy would be there waiting for me. The day that I finally decided to get out of that place we found you."

"Well I'm glad you did get out then." Aang responded with a little smirk.

"Me too." They stood silent but Aang was dying inside, he had to make a question though he was afraid that it would be too soon. Katara noticed his troubled expression and, skishing his hand she said. "What's up Aang?"

In turn, he took a deep breath and asked. "How can you trust me?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, you passed through all this crap and you still love me, you still trust me. If I were you I don't know if I had the courage to be with another guy."

"But you're not another guy. You're my guy."

"Katara, I'm being serious."

"Me too. Even Sokka trusts you to sleep with me, even after all that shit."

"I'm not speaking about Sokka, I'm speaking about you. How can you trust me so much?"

She thought for a second. "I'm gonna tell you a secret then. I really didn't trust you in the beginning." He was taken back by that. "Another thing that I never told anyone is that I lied to you. Though it wasn't on purpose. I started to like you more than a friend from the very beginning. "He was even more taken back, he was really about to shout "What the fuck?" though he resisted to sundden urge and continued to hear his girlfriend. "But I was afraid to tell. Not just afraid of a rejection but also afraid that you would turn to be like Solum if you liked me back." She chuckled. "I really hate that decision now."

"But how did you become so sure?" Aang asked, ignoring the comment.

"Cave of two lovers." She immediately responded.

"What about i… oooh, yeah, makes sense."

"You had all the opportunities in the world to do something to me, still, you never did. So or was because you never liked me or because you're just a good guy. Now I know that neither of those are correct."

He chuckled and smiled. "So I'm a bad guy?"

"No." She answered, returning the smile. "You're a great guy."

"I am, amn't I?" He laughed.

"Yeah. And not just that, you appeared in a very terrible moment of my life. My mother had died, my boyfriend tried to… you know. And I was practically locked up in the village, by myself but still. You changed that, you were the light bringer to my dark life. So yeah, I kinda liked you since the beginning."

"So why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Cuz I really just discovered recently, yesterday to be precise. When we spoke about the training Hamma would give." He nodded. "You said that to have all this, the only thing I had to do was save you, you were joking, but it's true. You changed my life, and mostly for the better. I stayed practically all night thinking about that, and reached the conclusion that I started to like from the very beginning, even sooner maybe. The Avatar stories were always my favourites." They both laughed for a little already forgetting about the scarred man, though that would change very soon.

"Ugh. Where am I? Why is my face wet? Wait, is that…? Oh shit, I'm bleeding!" Katara looked at Aang and he did the same to her and after a thoughtful gaze they both sighed, got up and went to the screaming guy.

"Stop screaming, you're gonna give us a headache." Katara ordered before getting on her knees and bending the water from the flowers to heal his scar.

"Katara? You're still here? Oh, thanks to the Spirits, I thought that you had run with that fucker, Aang, but you do really love m…" In that moment he felt a little kick in his ribs just to sign him that another person was there. When he lifted his head to see who it was he saw the person he just talked about with a big smirk.

"Don't get your hopes high, this fucker didn't run away." He said, giving another little kick. Solum grunted and returned to his former position. There wasn't another word said while Katara healed her ex's face. When she finished a second scar stood where the cut was. Aang freed one of his hands that went immediately to his face to feel his new scar.

"You made me scar!"

"Yup. Next time you want to do something stupid, don't do it in front of me." While Aang saying this, Katara, got up and nodded to Aang who did the same and then freed Solym completely. He quickly got in a bloodbending position but he soon encountered himself with an arm on his neck and his back on a tree. "Now let me put this clear. You will go this time, because Katara is a good person, but if I ever find you stalking her there will be consequences. I know your kind and you won't stop until you get what you want. So you will disappear from my - our life forever. Do I make myself clear?" Solum did nothing, he couldn't he was completely paralysed by fear. Those eyes full of hate and disgust looking at his own was just terrifying in whole new level for him. "Do I make myself clear!?" Finally Solum managed to do something but tremble and nodded. "Good. Now fuck off. I don't want to see you again." The man started to run away but stopped midway and turned around with his hands in front of him. " You shouldn't let me go! I can control you, remember!" He commanded them to bow to him but nothing happened.

Aang yawned and chickled. "Check again Solum, the moon is out. We stayed all night here."

Solum looked at the sky and saw the sun rise slowly, he turned around again and shouted to Katara "Katara, I'm gonna carry out my promise! Don't worry My Love you'll have the life you deserve! And not even Aang will stop me, I promise!" before starting to run away for good. Aang and Katara looked at each other and started to walk away to the campsite. No one dared to say a word along the way, that until Aang asked.

"What was that promise?"

"What you're imagining, that he'll finish his work." Saying this she sighed and yawned. "I swear, if the camp is not ready to go the moment we reach, there will be blood." Aang laughed and silently promised that he would protect Kaara for the rest of his life whatever the consequences.