Flashback

When I was 7 years old me and my family just moved to the city of New Dawn. I was supposed to start school here.

On a Sunday, my parents took me out to the nearby park to play and make some friends.

I was a bit shy at first, and I didn't interact with the rest of the kids. That changed when I was sitting on the bench and a girl with blue eyes approached me.

"Hello, I'm Katara. What's your name?" The girl asked with a cute smile?

"I'm Aang. Nice to meet you" I replied cheerful. Maybe she can be my friend.

"Do you want to play with me and my brother?" Katara asked pointing to a boy running around with a football.

I smile brightly at this.

"I would love to ". She grabbed my hand and we run after her brother.

" Hey, Sokka. This is Aang. Can he play with us?" Katara asked the boy.

"Hey Aang, I'm Sokka. Of course, he can play." Sokka passed me the ball and the rest of the day went like a breeze with us playing every game possible from football to hide and seek or tag.

"It was nice meeting you Aang, see you" My new friends wawed at me and I returned it. I ran back to my parents and told them that I made some new friends. They were very happy for me.

From that day, me, Sokka and Katara became best of friends and spend almost every day playing at the park. I even had dinner at their house one time. Me and Katara were really close and we discovered we had a lot in common like reading, watching movies and sports. Whenever we were together we were basically attached to each other.

When I was 11, one day, Katara didn't show up at school and I got worried. She never missed a day of school since we met. On top of that Sokka looked really sad so I asked him if they are alright.

What he told me made my heart stop.

"Mom died in a car accident a few days ago. She was hit by a drunk driver. Katara is locked in her room crying. She stopped eating and sleeping." Sokka said but he didn't even look at me.

I had tears threatening to fall from my eyes at the news. Kya was so sweet. She always hugged me when she saw me or I went to their house. She called me Bumblebee because I liked the color yellow and I was energetic all the time. I can't even think how Sokka and Katara feel.

I hugged my friend and I felt him sob on my shoulder.

"Could you come with me and try to talk with Katara? She doesn't allow me or dad inside her room."

"Of course I will. But, what about you? You're my friend too."

"I'm fine, healing slowly but Katara has it worse and she closed herself."

"Of course I'll come. I can come after school ends, I just need to tell my parents, is it okay?"

I felt him nod and I continued hugging him.

After school, I went home and told my parents what happens and that I will go to see them. She just hugged me and told me that I could stay as long as I want.

I arrived at my friend's house and I knocked on the door.

Hakoda opened and he looked at me with a sad smile.

" Welcome Aang, thank you for coming"

" It's not a problem, I'll do anything for Katara. I'm sorry for what happened." I said hugging him and I heard another quiet 'thank you ' from him. I saw Gran Gran smiling at me and I returned it.

I went up the stair towards Katara's room when I heard sobs coming from the inside.

I lightly knocked on the door.

"Katara sweetie, It's me Aang, can you please open the door," I asked with a sweet voice

I heard the bed shifting and then a click at the door.

When it opened, instead of the beautiful, sweet, and cheerful Katara, I was greeted by puffy-eyed Katara who didn't even look at me.

Without much thinking, I threw myself at her in a hug and I she started crying again. I closed the door back and I dragged her in bed.

"It's alright Kat, I'm here, I'll always be here," I told her quietly and I saw her look up and I clearly saw the red eyes and the tear-marks on her cheeks.

"She's gone Aang, she's gone and it's my fault." She said burying her face in my chest.

"It's not your fault Kat, don't say that, you know it's not true."

"It is Aang. I asked her to buy me some sweets from the store and she died when she came back. It's my fault." She continued crying.

"It's not your fault, penguin. The drunk driver is at fault and he will pay for it. It's not your fault Kat, believe me. Your mother wouldn't want you to blame yourself for this." I rocked her back and forth while stroking her hair to calm her down.

" Shhh, it's an alright penguin. I'm here, your brother and your father and Gran-Gran are still here and they are worried about you. You stopped eating and sleeping. You need to promise me you won't blame yourself anymore and start caring for yourself again."

She didn't say anything.

"Promise me penguin. Do it for yourself and for your family...and for me. I can't stand to see you sad, it breaks me."

She looked me in the eyes and smiled at me. " I promise Aang, thank you for being here for me. I don't know what I'll would do without you"

" I will always be here for you and the feeling is mutual."

She rested her head on my shoulder and fell asleep.

I held her there until a knock on the door got my attention.

" Hey guys, it's Sokka. Dinner is ready".

And that night, for the first time in days, Katara ate dinner.

After finishing my plate, I got ready to leave when Kat hugged me from behind.

" Can you stay with me tonight please?" she asked and I couldn't refuse her even if I wanted to.

" Of course I will"

I fell asleep with Katara hugging me tight and a warm unknown feeling in my chest.

The funeral was held at the local cemetery and a few close friends and family attended. I never left Katara's side and I held her in a hug for the whole ceremony.

From that day, slowly, Katara got better until she regained her cheerfulness and loving self back. And I was with her the whole time.

1 year later, I was home with my uncle Gyatso because my parents were on a date at the cinema. The silence was broken when he received a call. I saw his face fell and he a few tears escaped his eyes.

He closed the phone and turned towards me.

" Aang, come here please." He hugged me when I reached him.

" Aang, son. Promise me, you will talk with me and you will let me and your friends help you."

" What's wrong uncle. Why do I have to let you or my friends help me? I don't have trouble at school." I asked.

My uncle took a breath and looked me in the eye with a sad look.

" Aang your parents were killed by a robber at the cinema"

I froze completely. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe anymore and my vision was blurry. How could this be possible, it's a nightmare, right? It's not real, it's not real. Unfortunately, my uncle telling me it will be alright and he will take care of me confirmed that it was indeed reality.

I didn't hear him. All I could think about was how I will never hear my mother's sweet and loving voice singing along the radio or my father's bad jokes that somehow made me laugh.

I couldn't even cry. I was in shock, around me was darkness and a terrifying silence filled me. The only sound was my heart beating.

An all of a sudden, light blinded me and the darkness became a white room and I was sitting in a bed.

I looked to my left and saw my uncle talking with a doctor and on my right, Katara holding my hand, sleeping.

I tried to get up without waking her but the moment I changed positions, she was sitting straight looking at me.

" You're awake. Oh, thank the spirits." She hugged me and I returned the hug.

"Aang, your ok." My uncle said taking a seat on my left.

"What happened? " My head was killing me.

Gyatso put his arm on my shoulder.

" Do you remember anything? You fell and hit your head."

I did. I remembered everything. My parents are gone. They are dead. I'm alone. I started crying and I felt myself fall back into darkness.

" Aang, I'm here Aang, I'm right here." I heard that sweet voice telling me.

She hugged me so tightly.

"I'm right here, Bumblebee. With you, I'm never leaving you. You were there for me, now it's my turn. You aren't alone. Gyatso is here for you. Me, Sokka, dad, and Gran-Gran are here. You are not alone. We love you, don't do what I did, don't close yourself, don't hurt yourself, your parents wouldn't want that"

I cried the whole night in her embrace. She stood awake the whole time consoling me and whispering loving words in my ears.

I knew she was right. My parents would not want me to hurt myself. I still had a family that loves me.

They helped me. Uncle Gyatso moved with me and took custody of me. My friends visited daily. I loved them so much, especially Katara who would spend the night with me, making sure that I don't cry myself to sleep. She made sure that I knew that I am not alone and I'll never be alone.

It was around that time that I realize what I truly felt for her.

Since her mother died and I started spending more time with her, I kept feeling something warm in my chest whenever I was with her, whenever she try a new outfit or a new perfume, when she complimented me, or when we would cuddle.

I always wanted to be by her side, I don't want her sad, I did everything so she would keep smiling and laughing.

I was with her when her mother died and she was right by my side for the whole recovery after my parent's incident.

I love her. I love her more than I love anything. I am so lost without her and I need her more than anyone. I love her.

But I can't tell her. She doesn't feel the same way. I know it and I can't risk our friendship like that.

These thoughts are going in a box locked in my heart. If she doesn't feel the same way I will lose her friendship and I can't do that.

As long as I have her as a close friend I am content.

The present

After all that. After everything, we went through together. We shared everything: memories, feelings, secrets. The only thing I kept from her was my love for her.

Guess what happened when I told her that secret too.

She rejected me, as I expected. I knew that she doesn't own me anything, especially her love and I will never be mad at her for not returning those feelings.

But she hurt me. She hurt me deeply. She threw 10 years of friendship, 10 years I spent by her side helping her deal with everything life threw on her way. She three every day we spent playing at the park, every day we spent helping each other deal with our parent's loss, every moment between us, every secret we shared with each other. Everything is gone because she trusted a guy she didn't even know that we'll over me. She treated me like an I meant nothing. She accused me of bitterness and jealously, she told me I wasn't a good friend because I warned her about him, about what he is after. And the photo and that text. How could she, how could she do that after everything?

I missed her so much. Every day I missed her and no matter how much I tried I still loved her. But the hurt was still there. Still fresh like an open cut.

So tell me, how should I feel when I meet her 6 months later. Months in which we didn't talk at all.

I looked at her blue eyes and that ocean that lives in them. It was calm, no waves. Her expression was so loving, grateful even like she missed me.

" Aang ". Her voice was soft. Like it used to be when we were still moping with the loss of our parents when we hugged and cried together.

I don't know what to do

My brain tells me to hug her, to tell her how much I miss her and that I'm sorry I left.

But my heart is broken. She tells me I should scream at her and tell her to leave me alone, that I don't want her in my life again, I don't need her anymore.

Lies. Those were lies. No matter how much I deny it, I still need her, I still love her.

But I won't allow myself to feel for her again. These feelings are buried deep in my soul, never to be brought back again.

She doesn't deserve them, my trust, my love, my friendship. She lost them, she made her choice, and in the process, she lost me.

I stood there frozen. I love her and I hate her. I love how loving she looks at me. I hate how easy she threw me away.

Tears. She has tears falling down her cheeks. Her lip was trembling.

Oh, how much I wanted to hug her, to hold her in my arms, to stroke her hair and kiss her forehead, to tell her anything will be alright and I'm not mad.

But I can't, not anymore. Even if both of us wanted to, what we had will be hard to recover.

The trust, the friendship, the love, the time we missed with each other is gone and it will take a lot to get everything back.

For now, though, she will want to talk about everything and I'm not ready. I'm not ready.

Before she could say anything, I turned around and I got lost in the crowd of people, sprinting towards the hotel room.

I was crying, everything I hold inside was pouring out.

I know this won't be the last time we see each other, but for now, I can't be alone with her.

Notes: A little filling chapter focused on Aang, the next one will be focused on how Katara felt, and then we will have the reunion and the meeting between the old gang and the new one. I hope I will be done with it Friday, if not then definitely Saturday.