On the morning of Katara's birthday, Aang snuck into her room as soon as he was finished with his morning stretch and meditation. She always slept a little later; he wanted to catch her when she was still asleep, but not to wake her too much before her normal time. He wanted to pick just the right moment. Good, she was still sleeping, only her head peeking out of the blankets. She looked so cute. He knelt by the side of her bed and leaned over. He was a little nervous, but she'd said this was ok on the solstice. He brushed her lips with his, soft as a feather. Three quick kisses, short sideways nips and a little lick at the indentation in the middle of her upper lip. Her eyes finally opened and crossed to see how close he was. She frowned until her eyes adjusted and she recognized him, then smiled lazily.
"Good morning. Happy birthday." He whispered.
Her smile grew big and brilliant. She scooted away from him on the bed and patted the pillow beside her head. "Come here."
Delighted, he stretched himself out beside her, lying on top of the blanket that still covered her. He lay on his side, appreciating seeing her from this angle, how close they were, her hair that somehow looked even more beautiful when it was messed up like it was now. He couldn't resist smoothing it down a little.
"You said last year you tried to wake me with a kiss on your birthday, so…."
"So this year you did that for me instead. Perfect." Her hand appeared from under the covers and covered one of his. She turned on her side to face him, mirroring. "I've already gone from the worst birthday of my life to the best, and I'm not even out of bed yet."
Tentatively, Aang put one hand on her side. Was that her hip or waist? It curved in a way that made him want to touch it more, but he kept it still to be proper. As proper as it was possible to be when lying down in a bed next to a gorgeous girl who probably wasn't wearing very much. Proper or not, it felt so nice lying here with her, starting the day together like this.
"We could just lie here all day," Katara murmured, as if she'd read his mind.
"We could," he agreed.
"But you have a look in your eye like you've planned something."
"I did have a few ideas."
"Like?"
"There's a new restaurant that's serving Water Tribe food in the middle ring. I asked Sokka and Suki and Toph to meet us there for dinner."
"Sounds great!"
"And there are some presents."
"Some! One is more than enough!"
"I seem to remember you gave me fifteen presents for my birthday."
"None of which you still have with you."
"Every kiss from you is sealed in my heart forever," he touched his chest, his tone exaggerating the mushy sentiment in a way that made it both a joke and totally sincere at the same time.
"Oh, I'll gladly accept kisses as presents. But maybe not just sixteen."
"You said I was greedy when I wanted 114."
"That's just because I didn't want to call you old. I thought that might hurt your feelings."
"Being called old doesn't bother me. I know I'm remarkably well-preserved. If owning my true age will earn me a hundred more kisses from you, I'll gladly be a centenarian."
"I'll keep that in mind for your next birthday."
"Enough about my birthday. Today is your day."
"You don't have any meetings?"
"My schedule is clear to do whatever you want today."
"I want water." Katara said emphatically. "Not just the fountains here in town, real water. This city is nothing but stone."
"Lake Laogai is pretty close, and it's big." Aang suggested carefully, "but I know we have some bad history there."
She sighed. "That's ok. We won't go to the underground tunnels. They're gone anyway. We can just stay on the lake surface and the beach. Best to put it behind us and reclaim that place. Think Appa can fly us there?"
"Sure!" A ride on Appa might mean she wanted to kiss and cuddle. And it was a big city; the flight from their house in the upper ring to the lake on the outskirts of town would not be short. "Want me to pack us a lunch and get Appa ready? You can take your time getting out of bed." He started to get up, but her hand held his.
"Stay here for a minute," Katara pleaded. Happy to comply, he lay back down beside her. They scooted a little closer and he tentatively draped one arm around her, over the covers. She nuzzled her forehead under his chin until he snaked his bottom arm under the pillow and around her shoulders.
"It's going to be a great day," she murmured into his neck.
Aang left the bed first, so that she could get dressed and he could start breakfast. When Katara emerged, she was wearing a loose wrap dress he recognized from Ember Island. She used to wear it over her swimsuit. Joining him in the dining room, she found a large arrangement of flowers on the table: yellow tea roses and blue hydrangeas. There was a card attached. Katara picked it up, read it and smiled. She handed it to Aang when she was finished.
The card read: "Dear Katara, Mai and I hope you have a wonderful birthday. I'm sure Aang and the others will have a lot of fun planned for you. Looking forward to seeing you soon at the palace. Many happy returns! Your brother, Zuko"
"I gave Zuko a kiss on the cheek when I said goodbye to him the other day." She explained to him. "We were talking about….everything, his choices, and I was just really proud of him, you know? I was a little worried he might have misunderstood it for a minute, and thought I was coming on to him or something, but here in his card, he's very careful to lay out exactly what our relationship is. He mentions both of our significant others, and signs it 'your brother.' It's kind of funny. I'm glad he didn't take it the wrong way, but maybe I made him uncomfortable, if he feels he has to overcorrect like this. Maybe he's not used to…..people showing him affection."
"Zuko told me about it himself, actually." Aang informed her. "It was like he was afraid I was going to murder him, and thought his best chance for survival was a full confession."
"Mai's the one he should be afraid of!" Katara laughed. "She'd go after me too, I guess. If we had really….done something, that is."
"That's what I said! Especially because-well, I said I wouldn't tell anyone, but I can't keep a secret from you, not today. Zuko told me he and Mai are almost engaged."
She squinted and wrinkled her nose. "What's that mean? I'd think, either you are, or you aren't."
"I wasn't sure about that either." The airbender tilted his head to the side, glad she shared his puzzlement. "He also said it was unspoken, which, again, makes no sense. Doesn't getting engaged require a conversation?"
"Uh, yeah! You grew up in a society without marriage, and you understand it better than a guy with two married parents. Although they must have been a bad example…"
"I guess so. I understand that important things need to be spoken." Aang realized this was actually a decent opening to the conversation he'd been hoping to start for a while. He took her hand, gathering his courage.
But rather than taking the hint that her boyfriend wanted to switch the topic to their own relationship, Katara kept her focus on their gossip about their firebending friend. "Maybe I should have said right out to Zuko, 'This is just a friendly kiss on the cheek. I do not want to mess up your relationship or mine.' "
"He knew that." The Avatar assured her, feeling the thread of the discussion move away from where he'd been getting ready to take it. But he did want his girlfriend to know that their friend had understood her intention. "He said he thought you meant it as a brother-sister thing."
"I did." She nodded, relieved, then gave him a flirty smile. "I don't give Sokka kisses on the cheek, and when I kissed you on the cheek, it wasn't sisterly, but that one truly was."
"I believe you. I think it's nice that two people I care about, care about each other. And that it's hilarious that you both wanted to confess such a non-event to me."
"Doesn't that build trust? If I'm honest with you about small matters, you know I'll tell you the truth when there are real stakes?"
"I suppose so. I should be grateful." Aang kissed her on the cheek, which made both of them giggle.
"Was that brotherly?" Katara asked playfully.
"No," he answered, kissing her other cheek. "I thought about doing that sometimes. Before the comet. Just a peck right there." He stroked her cheekbone with a fingertip. "To see what happened. You'd done it to me first, after all, so you couldn't have been too offended, even if you didn't like me the same way. I could have passed it off as a friendly gesture if it flopped."
"Why didn't you?"
"Never had the guts. Or never thought of it in the right moment. It was one of those things I would think about at night, like that was when I should have tried it! But it probably wouldn't have changed much, would it?"
"I guess not." She shrugged, smiling ruefully.
"That's ok. But I did miss out. I had no idea how soft your cheek was." He lightly rubbed his cheek against hers. He could feel her eyelashes flutter closed as she savored their closeness, her hands touching his sides for balance. "I would have given anything just for a moment like this. Even if that was all that happened." He whispered.
"I'm sure I would have enjoyed it." She murmured, continuing to brush his cheek with hers, before turning her head to sweep her jawbone against his lips.
Aang realized that if he didn't put a stop to it, they would end up kissing for hours here in the dining room, and he had plans for the day. "Can we continue this conversation once we're on Appa's back?" He proposed. "I want to be sure we have plenty of time at the lake, and make it back for our dinner reservation."
"You're not usually the schedule master. That's Sokka's job." She teased.
"Well, Sokka's not here. Good thing too. He'd be all 'oogie, oogie, oogie' right now."
"I know." She rolled her eyes. "Even though he's back with Suki now, and they're so much worse than we are."
"True. Here." He extricated himself reluctantly from her loose embrace and put a plate down on the table. "Eat this while I pack the saddle." He gave her one more kiss on the temple as she sat down, and bustled away to gather snacks and supplies.
On Lake Laogai, they surfed, and raced each other all the way around the circumference, and practiced waterbending forms. Katara played with the octopus form, wondering if she could invent a variation with even more water tentacles. When she got frustrated with that, she asked Aang to stand with her, back to back, and see if they could each raise the octopus, and if the simulated creatures would be combined because they were so close together. That worked: they created a sixteen-tentacled water monster, but it didn't last because she was so delighted with their accomplishment that she turned around and hugged him, making the water crash back down as they lost concentration. Then they decided to see how high they could get the water to carry them up in a column. The answer was high enough to see over the city walls, but they couldn't measure it more precisely than that. Appa saw them balanced up in the air and flew to them, breaking the water column and catching them in his saddle.
Finally, exhausted in a way they hadn't been since arriving in the city, the couple sat in the shallow water, side by side, looking out at the lake, shimmering in the midday sun. Aang bent the rocky ground beneath the water to make low chairs so they could recline, mostly submerged in the warm lake, their fingers and toes already wrinkled. They were quiet there a long time, just feeling the water lapping at their legs, and the sun on their faces. The airbender glanced at his girlfriend, and caught his breath at the beauty of her brown skin against her white bathing suit, her wet hair curling around her ears and swaying slightly in the breeze.
The stillness of the day and the setting made Aang remember what had happened over a year earlier, not far beneath the place where they were sitting. It was a troubling memory, one he worried might pain her even more than it did him. They'd never really talked about it, and maybe she would need to at some point. Though he didn't want to stir up sad feelings on her day, he supposed now was as good a time as any.
"Do you think about him often?" Aang asked softly.
"Who?"
"Jet."
"Oh. No." Katara brought her knees up and hugged them. "I feel bad when I do, so I don't."
"Why do you feel bad?" Her boyfriend wondered. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I treated him so badly when we met him again in the city. I didn't trust him, and it turned out he really was trying to help us. And then…." She trailed off.
"He lied to us before." Aang reminded her. "It made sense for you not to trust him. And it turned out he was being controlled by the Dai Li. Not that that was his fault, of course."
"I don't like thinking about Jet because I could have saved him and didn't. It just didn't even occur to me to use the spirit water on him. You were….farther gone than he was when I used it on you, and I was willing to waste that rare healing magic on what I was afraid was a lost cause because I simply could not give up on the tiny chance it would bring you back." Katara took a deep, shaky breath to recover from remembering that harrowing moment. "But I walked away from Jet while he was still breathing, just because I didn't-because he didn't matter to me the way you do. That wasn't fair to him. His life had value, maybe not as much value to the world as yours, but as a healer that's not my call to make." She stated adamantly, even vehemently. "I should always use every tool at my disposal to help anyone I can, and that day I fell short of my responsibility."
Aang was moved by the emotion Katara displayed as she recalled nearly losing him, and by her strong sense of her ethical duty as a healer. But she seemed to be carrying a disproportionate amount of guilt, and he wanted to take that burden from her if he could. He touched her elbow, and she let go of her knees with that hand, joining it with his under the water.
"Long Feng killed Jet, not you. Just because you might have had the ability to save him, doesn't mean his death is your fault." He tried to match her conviction in his voice. "It must have been meant to happen that way. I'm sorry Jet had to die, but I can't fault you for withholding the spirit water when it was what kept me in this world. Maybe that was part of Jet's sacrifice, even if he didn't know it. He gave up both his life and his chance to be healed, so that we could get Appa back and so I could eventually end the war. He would have been happy to make that trade. He was resigned to it, glad to go down like a warrior. That was why he sent you away with a smile, rather than begging you to save him. It was one of the bravest things I've ever seen." Aang felt grateful to the lost freedom fighter in a new way; he'd never connected Jet's death with Katara's healing him before.
"Were you jealous of him? When we first met him?" She wondered.
He had been, but hindsight, and, yes, triumph, made him view the angst and frustration of that time with a strange nostalgia. Aang could appreciate the appeal the charismatic young leader must have had for a naïve girl like Katara had been a year and a half ago. It had been completely natural for her to notice Jet and overlook her goofy, bald little friend. The memory didn't bother him at all; it was just another part of the beautiful story that ended in this moment.
"He was so charming. And older, and taller." He shot his girlfriend a sad, crooked smile of understanding. "It made sense that you would be attracted to him. He took you up into his treehouse on those vines. It must have been pretty romantic."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You know nothing happened between me and Jet."
"Really?" He was surprised. "I thought- Toph said-"
"I know. I guess my heart was racing because it was true I did had a crush on him, for a couple days, and then my feelings were even stronger seeing him again because I was still so angry about the way he manipulated us. I should have given him a second chance, but I realized that too late. He was on the right side, in the end." She sighed. "That was one of the reasons why, when Zuko started talking about his mom in the Crystal Catacombs, I…softened toward him. I gave him the second chance I regretted not giving Jet, and then it hurt even more when he….did what he did. I felt doubly foolish."
"That's why you dug in hard and refused to give him a third chance when he showed up at the Western Air Temple." Aang realized.
"I was just so sick of being taken advantage of. It made me swing too far to the other side and turn cynical."
"That's understandable. But it did make me sad to see it. More for your sake than for Zuko's."
"It messed with my head, that I could be taken in like that. Twice! I felt like I couldn't trust my instincts about people, my feelings of attraction."
"These untrustworthy guys, pushing you back and forth." Aang shook his head, a wry, regretful half smile on his face. "No wonder you were so confused." It had never occurred to him that that moment on the theater balcony might not have only been about him; this more complete explanation was a bit of a comfort.
She tilted her head to the side. It seemed he may have misunderstood her, or made the wrong connection between her words today and in the past. "But, Aang, you were never confusing like that. You were my rock, my constant. If I ever felt conflicted about you, it was only because of the situation."
"I thought of you that way too." He was moved to hear that he'd somehow helped her through their adventures the same way she had helped him. "I couldn't have done any of it without you."
"We've always been there for each other." She squeezed his fingers, still linked with hers under the water. "That's why I'm glad you were my first kiss. In the cave. I probably would have let Jet kiss me if he'd tried, but I'm glad he didn't because I would have felt so sullied by it after he used us to try to flood that village. With you it was sweet and special."
"You know you're the only person I've ever kissed. I wasn't even interested in girls—or boys-before I got frozen, and then after you woke me up, you were the only one I could see. That moment in the cave was special." Though it seemed they didn't think of kisses in exactly the same way, it meant a lot to him to know that she'd chosen him for what was evidently an honor, especially since she had been the one to suggest it. What mattered to Aang wasn't whether that brief kiss in the cave had been her first, second, or fiftieth, but that it had been their first, together, and that had made it perfect. That difference probably wasn't really worth quibbling over. But something else she'd said bothered him, and he wanted to address it, even if it was a little awkward. "But you know, kissing someone, even the wrong person, or…doing more, doesn't ever make anyone dirty. If you had kissed Jet, I wouldn't have minded, not in the long run. There's nothing you could do that would make me think you were sullied."
"Is that the way the Air Nomads thought of it?" Katara wondered.
"I guess so." It seemed to him like a self-evident truth, and there was only one place he could have learned such an attitude.
"That sounds a little different from what Gran Gran told me. She always said a girl should save herself and keep pure so that when the right man came along, she would be….whole."
Aang frowned. That perspective was so alien he barely even understood it. "How could you ever be less than whole?" He wondered, mystified. "Every girl, or boy, for that matter, is always a complete person, regardless of any experiences they have or don't have. There's nothing bad or wrong or shameful about kissing, or even sex, nothing that ever marks you or makes you impure."
She nodded thoughtfully. "I think I like your way of looking at it. It's more accepting. More forgiving. I agree that these things are natural, and that it's not right for guys and girls to be held to different standards. It just….. feels a little odd to me that you seem to be arguing that it would have been ok for me to kiss, or do more than that, with Jet, before you and I got together."
She was right that it was an odd stance for him to take. He backtracked a little and tried to explain. "Well, I guess all I'm saying is that I wouldn't have thought less of you for it, and I question the basis for anyone thinking that way. I had assumed you and Jet did kiss, and I didn't care. If something happened with another guy now, that would be different, because we've agreed to be exclusive, but I'm not worried about that."
"Good. You shouldn't be. You've spoiled me for all other guys."
"That's been my plan all along." He grinned rakishly at her. "Speaking of spoiling you, there are some things at the house I want to give you."
"My birthday presents? You got me way too many, didn't you?"
"Maybe. I don't really have a sense of what's appropriate for birthday gifts. It's my first time giving any. You'll have to let me know if it's too much."
"So I could be really greedy and tell you that your gigantic pile of packages isn't enough, and you should do better next year, and you wouldn't know the difference?"
"I really wouldn't. I'd just keep giving you more and more every year, until you told me to stop. But luckily for me, I don't think you're greedy like that."
"Not unless you're going to give me the same thing I gave you," she said suggestively.
"An ice sculpture?" He played dumb.
"No, silly." She leaned over and kissed him.
The idea of her ravenous for his kisses made him just as eager to appease her, and if she was, in fact, insatiable, all the better. "You can have as many kisses as you want, but I wasn't considering them as part of your present. I had a bit more time to prepare for your birthday than you did for mine. And, you know, I wasn't counting, but I'm sure we hit sixteen on the way over here. If you've had enough waterbending for the day, you could open your gifts before dinner."
"I think I have. Thanks for taking me here. This place doesn't belong to the Dai Li anymore."
Aang didn't have a lot of experience buying presents for people. The previous year had been too hectic for celebrations like this, and the only gifts he'd given or received at the air temple were pies. He'd hounded Sokka for ideas and made him go shopping with him, but the older boy had just spent the time looking at bags and weapons he wanted for himself. Aang had ended up spending most of his Earth Rumble money to get Katara one of everything he had noticed her appreciating or enjoying recently— a hair clip, a new dress, her favorite candied fruits,-and a few things that he imagined she would find useful or nice to have-a new, larger water pouch made of oiled canvas instead of leather, a big book on anatomy from the university bookstore. And there was one thing he'd made himself: a little stone sculpture of the symbol for water, modeled off the ice sculpture she'd made him. It was only about the size of her hand, so it would be small enough to pack and bring with them on their travels. She seemed overwhelmed by the abundance of presents, and he was afraid he'd overdone it. He remembered how she'd described birthdays in her village as occasionally meager affairs. He had probably given her more presents than she'd ever gotten in her life. It was kind of ironic for a nonmaterialistic former monk, but at the same time, that was exactly why—he was still figuring out how to participate in another culture's customs, so he overcompensated for not knowing exactly how her tradition worked, erring on the side of excess rather than too little.
As Katara opened each gift, she exclaimed over it and thanked him. Aang saved one for last. He didn't know what it was. He'd just opened the package from the South Pole and seen the envelope and small rectangular box inside, and left them sealed, so that she could be the one to open it. She began with the envelope, turning around in his arms and leaning back into him, inviting him to read over her shoulder. He recognized his own handwriting on the first paper, and blushed when he realized what her father had done.
Dear Hakoda,
When we celebrated the winter solstice in Senlin Village, I told Katara how the Air Nomads used to mark everyone's birthdays on the solstices. She made me an ice sculpture, and Sokka and Toph gave me a flint boomerang, and we had a great vegetarian feast with the whole village. Then she told me how your family celebrated birthdays when she was growing up in the South. We really learned a lot about each other's cultures and childhoods.
Now Katara's birthday is coming up, and I want to do something nice for her, but I think what she wants most of all, I can't give her. She told me how special her mother used to make her feel on her birthday. Of course I know how much she misses her mother all of the time, but I think it might be a little bit harder on her birthday, a day that should be special, not sad. So I thought, if you could send her any kind of keepsake, or anything that could remind Katara of her mom, or even if you could just write down a story and send it in a letter, that might help her have a great birthday. We're planning to be in Ba Sing Se on that day, so I hope you can send me a letter or package there, and I'll give it to her with your love.
I heard Zuko invited you to the palace for the anniversary celebration, so I hope you can make it and we can see you there. I know Katara misses you.
Say hi to Karik for me and tell him to keep practicing!
Sincerely,
Aang
When she finished reading, Katara looked over her shoulder at him, touched at how well he knew her. "Oh, Aang." He saw her eyes shining with feeling for just an instant before she turned eagerly to the other letter.
Dear Katara,
Happy birthday! It's only your second birthday away from home, and I just hope it's better than the first.
I'm enclosing Aang's letter to me so that he can show it to you first, because I thought it might make you smile to know what a thoughtful boyfriend you have.
These gloves were a present I had made for your mother when you were a baby. She was struggling with a new baby and a toddler, and I was away hunting too often. I saved the finest baby turtle seal pelt and handed it over to an expert leatherworker in Akulivik Town so that I could give Kya a little piece of luxury even in our poor village. Of course, when I presented the gloves to her, your mother made it a point to tell me that what she really wanted was for me to spend more time with her and you children at home. I'm so grateful now that I did listen to her, and have more memories to cherish because of it. She only wore the gloves for special occasions; they were too thin for outdoor work in the winter. That's why they're still in pretty good condition. I imagine they'll fit you by now, and you can protect your healing hands from the cold. Not that Ba Sing Se is all that cold!
Katara, you remind me so much of your mother. When I first saw you again after all of those years, it took my breath away, you looked so much like her. Though it was a dangerous and stressful time, I treasure the weeks we spent together on the ship during the war. I was impressed and moved to see the way you love and care for your friends with the same fierce devotion your mother had. You are her legacy, and I know she would be proud of everything you've accomplished.
I miss you and hope to see you again soon. I do have plans to sail back to the Fire Nation for the celebrations at the end of the summer, so I hope I'll see you there, along with your brother and Aang, of course. Enjoy yourself in the big city and have a wonderful birthday.
Love,
Dad
P. S. Aang, sorry if the leather offends your vegetarian sensibilities.
Katara wiped her eyes and opened the box. There were two gloves of thin, supple gray leather. She stroked one hesitantly with a finger, then eagerly slipped the first one on. "They do fit." She showed Aang how the fingers were precisely the correct length. The leather was so fine and flexible, her fingers' movement wasn't restricted at all. He was sure she'd be able to bend through them. Maybe even heal. "They're so soft."
Not as soft as her hands, he thought. "You like them."
"I love them!" She hugged him. "Thank you for writing my dad. You were exactly right about what I wanted most of all. Even though I would never have thought to ask for something like this, you figured out a way to give me back my mom, or at least to remind me of her. And the other presents are great too, of course." She gestured to the pile of packages. "Especially that little sculpture. It'll make everywhere we go feel like home."
Aang was so glad he'd had the inspiration to write to her father for help, that he didn't mind her dismissal of the stuff he'd spent so many afternoons shopping for. "You're so very welcome." He said softly, emphatically, trying to convey the most expansive meaning possible. Everything he had was as good as hers. She was more than welcome to all of his possessions, to any thought or effort of his that could add in any small way to her happiness.
Maybe she understood at least part of his intention. She took his face in her gloved hands and kissed him. He closed his eyes and savored the taste of her lips. The leather against his cheek felt nicer than he expected, but still he preferred her bare fingers. He pulled away just enough to look her in the eye as he slid one glove off her hand, and kissed her knuckles, then her palm. She responded by cupping his chin and bringing him in for an even deeper kiss.
Before they could get too carried away, Aang felt he needed to play schedule master again. It was an annoying role; he probably didn't appreciate Sokka enough for doing it. "We have about an hour before the dinner reservation." He wondered if she'd want to model her new dress, or read the new book, or maybe just curl up with him on the couch.
"Do you think that's enough time to fly to the Lower Ring?" Katara asked, surprising him. "I'd like to check on one of my patients. She's due any minute, and I've been thinking about her all day."
"Sure," he agreed. Anything she wanted to do today, he'd say yes, of course. But he had a feeling this errand might throw his plan off kilter.
Finding the small house from the air was difficult in the crowded Lower Ring. They made a couple of passes over the neighborhood, earning curious glances from the people below, before Katara found a landmark that helped them pinpoint the right street: the red roof of a vendor her patient had mentioned.
As soon as Nuwa, the expectant mother, let them into her small house, Aang could tell something was off. The woman kept stopping in the middle of talking to Katara, closing her eyes and breathing hard. Katara asked Nuwa to give them a minute and pulled Aang outside.
"Is she in labor?" Aang asked.
Katara nodded.
"Would you like me to fly to the hospital and get one of the other midwives?" He offered. He knew she wouldn't leave the woman alone, and it was the only way he could imagine salvaging the birthday celebration at the restaurant. As it was, they were likely to be late.
"No, I want to stay with Nuwa. She doesn't have anybody else, and she trusts me. Can you fly to the restaurant and tell the others I can't make it? And maybe bring me back some food. It's her first baby; this might take all night."
His plan was ruined, but she didn't seem upset about it, and he supposed that was the important thing. "This is how you want to spend your birthday?" He confirmed.
"Yes. This is how I want to spend my birthday." Her voice was firm and decided.
She was so amazing. So selfless. Just when he thought he couldn't possibly fall any deeper in love with her, yep, there it was. A spot even farther down, where he suddenly found himself sprawling again, head over heels.
He grabbed her shoulder, gave her a hard, fervent kiss, and flew off, before the words could tumble out of his mouth.
When Aang landed at the restaurant without Katara, the others were surprised.
"She's standing us up?" Toph asked, a bit miffed, after Aang explained.
"She's delivering a baby on her birthday?" Suki seemed amazed.
"Kind of appropriate I guess." Sokka shrugged.
"Rain check tomorrow?" Toph asked.
"Yeah, probably." Aang answered.
"Well, we're here and I'm hungry, so I want to eat, with or without my sister." Sokka ruled. They were seated at a table. The smells of the food around them made Aang remember Gran Gran's igloo in the south, which made him wish Katara could be there even more. He resolved to make sure she got to enjoy a nice meal here before they moved on to the Fire Nation, where authentic Water Tribe food would be even harder to find.
"I'm going to order a meal and fly it back to her. What do you think she'd like?" Aang handed Sokka a menu, and he selected some dishes. The airbender sat with his friends while he waited for the bagged meal, and they raised a glass to his girlfriend in her absence. He told them about their trip to the lake and her presents, including the gloves from Hakoda.
"I told you she didn't need that many presents." Sokka rolled his eyes at his younger friend's exuberant generosity. "She would have been happy with half of that stuff. You went overboard. Again."
"Yeah, just because you made me worried." The airbender reminded him, in a voice of joking accusation.
"Why would you be worried?" Suki wondered.
Aang looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow. It was only fair to make him be the one to explain it.
Sokka looked down into his drink. "I…..was in a bad headspace, and I misinterpreted something between those two, and told him Katara was going to dump him any day. "
"What?" Toph exclaimed. "And you believed him? That was dumb, Twinkletoes. You two are solid."
"Look, she sees it too," Sokka said, as if that should exonerate him.
Toph punched his shoulder, then addressed her airbending friend again. "You should have asked me, not this idiot. I would have told you how Sugar Queen's heart races every time you're together." Aang was sure his face was red with pleased bashfulness.
The server brought plates of seafood for the three who were staying, and a bag for Aang to take with him. He said good night to his friends and flew back to the Lower Ring.
When Aang came back into Nuwa's house, he found her kneeling in front of the bed, with Katara's hands massaging some glowing water on her lower back. His girlfriend looked up and smiled at him.
"Feed me?" She asked.
He plopped the pieces of food into her mouth as she continued concentrating on relieving the laboring woman's pain with her healing water. She especially appreciated the sea prunes and salmon.
"A drink?" Nuwa asked, between contractions.
Katara only had to look at Aang and he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water with a straw. He held it for Nuwa while she sipped. Then he was sent back out of the room again, as the laboring woman's moans grew louder, and she started raving incoherently about taking her clothes off.
To keep busy, and to distract himself from the increasingly disturbing sounds coming from the bedroom, Aang cleaned the house. He'd gotten very good at cleaning, as part of his secret project to become the best boyfriend ever. There was a weekly housekeeper at the house they all shared, but Aang had taken charge of the dishes and laundry, so that Katara could relax when she was home from the hospital and university. All he had to do all day was go to meetings and maintain his training and take care of Appa. He figured his days were a lot less strenuous and stressful than hers, saving lives at the hospital. And with his bending, he could sweep and mop so quickly, it was really no trouble. Toph had even given him a new nickname: Mr. Clean.
When the kitchen and bathroom were cleaned to his satisfaction and he'd taken out the trash, Aang decided to fill the pantry so that Nuwa wouldn't have to leave the baby to get food in the next few days. He knocked on the door to see if the women wanted anything in particular from the store. They yelled so many things through the door that he made a list, then found the only grocery in the neighborhood still open, just before it closed, and filled a bag with fruit and bread and milk and healthy snacks.
When he came back into the house, things were quiet. Almost eerily so. For a second he was afraid something had gone horribly wrong. Then he heard a laugh—it wasn't Katara, so it must have been Nuwa. It was followed immediately by a short, startled cry like a small animal. He was so relieved he dropped the bags.
"Aang, is that you?" Katara called from behind the closed door.
"Yeah, I'm just putting this food away," He bent to pick up the fruit, hoping he hadn't bruised it. He unpacked the bags, wondering what he should do now; how much longer they would stay.
The bedroom door opened and Katara stood in the doorway. "This place looks great," she looked around at the clean, stocked kitchen.
"Glad to help."
"Come here."
He followed her into the bedroom and saw Nuwa sitting up in bed holding a bundle of blankets with a round shock of hair at one end.
"Would you like to hold him, Avatar Aang?" The new mother offered. "It would be a wonderful story to tell him someday, that the Avatar was present at his birth and held him. A special blessing."
He glanced at Katara nervously and she nodded encouragement. He moved close to the bed and held out his arms in imitation of the way Nuwa was holding hers. She placed the little head in the crook of his elbow and the bundle of blankets along his tattooed forearm. The baby was astonishingly light and soft. A tiny hand escaped the blankets and when he put his finger in the palm, it closed around it. "Welcome to the world, little hatchling," he said softly to the baby. It was a common Air Nomad endearment for children, one he supposed no one had heard in decades.
Aang could feel Katara looking at him, but was almost afraid to return her gaze, he felt so much. It was so easy to imagine this room with the women switched—the plain-faced stranger hovering in the background, and Katara the one in the bed, exhausted but glowing with pride. He couldn't quite wrap his head around his role in this scene, or the one he was picturing dimly in his longed-for future. What did a father do, anyway? His closest experience of a father had been Gyatso, and that had been more of a mentorship, or spiritual friendship, partly facilitated by the older man's relationship with Roku. He'd seen Sokka and Katara with their father; he'd witnessed Toph's strained interactions with hers; he knew Ozai's abuse from the inside. He felt uncomfortable holding the baby, in a way he couldn't put his finger on. Like he was borrowing something that didn't belong to him, and he might easily break it. Would it feel any different if it were his own child?
The baby started crying, and he looked up at the women in near panic. "What do I do?"
Katara laughed and came close, holding out her arms to take the baby from him. Her eyes were on the child now, but Aang's were on her as he passed it off. She shifted the baby to hold it upright on her shoulder, and started rocking her body, bouncing on her toes, making soothing sounds. She looked so competent and natural with it. Soon it seemed to be asleep, and she placed it in a cradle that had been prepared for it. Katara gave Nuwa a few instructions for the night, the most important of which was simply to rest, and promised to visit the next day.
Katara exclaimed in surprise when they walked out the door and she saw that night had fallen. "I didn't realize how late it is! Or how tired I am! I was cooped up in that room for so long—can we walk a bit before we fly home?"
"Of course." He took her hand, his glider staff in the other. The streets weren't quite deserted, but the crowds had disappeared and all the carts and shops were closed.
"Thank you for coming along, and sticking around." Katara said. "I know she'll appreciate the way you got all that food for her."
"You did the real work. Or, she did, I guess." He had another memory he wanted to share with her. "It reminded me of the refugee family, the baby you delivered in the Serpent's Pass. Baby Hope. You helped me so much then when I was in such a dark place."
"It was hard to see you like that, so cold and emotionless." She recalled. "I think it was the only time you ever turned down a hug!"
"I'm sorry if that hurt you. You were there for me during that time and I don't think I ever thanked you."
"You did. What you said meant a lot to me." She could still remember his words: "How I feel about Appa-and how I feel about you," punctuated with that pause that let her know how much courage it took for him to say it.
"Maybe it was weird to compare you to Appa." He looked at his feet sheepishly.
"I didn't mind that. I knew it was a compliment."
He stopped walking and turned to her, taking a deep breath. He screwed up his nerve. "What I meant was—"
"I know what you meant." She cut him off, smiling brightly.
"You do?"
"I'm your best friend." She gave him a kiss, which he returned automatically. "Your best human friend, anyway." She joked, kissing him again, longer this time, while inside he was screaming, no, that's not all! He was going to say it as soon as the kiss ended, but she spoke first. "Would you like to sleep in my room tonight?"
That question distracted Aang completely from his thwarted declaration. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. He had emotional whiplash: she called him a friend, then offered him her bed?
"I mean, just sleep." Katara clarified. "We agreed to go slow, but this was allowed. There's just never been an opportunity, and Sokka's at Suki's room at the palace tonight..."
He found his voice. "Sure." Even that would be incredible. The only other times they'd slept in each others' arms at night, he'd been either comatose or insensible with grief. This was more significant, chosen not for survival or comfort, but purely for pleasure and closeness.
They continued walking, hand in hand. Aang debated internally about whether it was too late to reclaim that moment, but realized it was already gone. If he pushed, it might start a fight and ruin her birthday. He comforted himself that it was probably better if the first time he said that to her, it didn't have anything to do with a comparison to his ten-ton bison, or a reference to the past. When she felt like her legs had been stretched enough, and began to realize her fatigue, she asked to fly the rest of the way home. They mounted his glider in a way that was increasingly practiced, even routine, and took off into the night sky.
When they arrived at the house, Aang slipped into his room to get ready for bed, take off his shoes, brush his teeth and wash his face. Then he went to her room and sat on foot of the bed. Katara was in the adjoining bathroom. She came back in wearing a thin white nightdress that ended just above her knee. He'd seen her in less at the lake just this afternoon, but this was something no one else saw.
"Is it ok if I take my shirt off?" He asked. He always slept shirtless, unless he was camping somewhere cold.
"Yeah. Do you care which side?" She gestured awkwardly to the bed. It seemed very big.
"No, you can pick. It's your bed."
She chose the side closer to the bathroom, and he took the one by the door. It was the way he would have arranged it, putting himself between her and any outside threats. Of course they were safe here, but he couldn't stop his brain from thinking that way out of habit. He lay on his back and she cuddled up to his side. He put an arm around her shoulders and her head settled next to his on the pillow.
Aang kissed Katara's forehead. "Good night, sweetie. Happy birthday."
"Thank you for a great birthday. Good night." She kissed his cheek and closed her eyes.
Was that all she wanted from him, to be best friends who kissed? He had no question that he would take from her anything she was willing to give him, and find a way to be content. She could set nearly any terms for their relationship and he would accept them. He'd hoped her feelings for him would grow over time, and it had seemed like that was happening, but he might have thought that by now, she would be ready to hear those words. He ached to give her more than she seemed to want.
Was it possible that she really didn't know how he felt about her? If she could misunderstand him this way, he must be doing something wrong. His feeling for her was the most important thing in his life. He thought it illuminated his every action. It was fine if she didn't want to make plans for the future. It was ok if she didn't want to be serious, if she wanted to take things slowly, or if she didn't love him back. But if she didn't know, that bothered him.
But then, upon further reflection, Aang realized that wasn't quite right. It didn't matter whether or not she knew how deeply he cared for her, as long as she was happy. Indeed, if there was a chance that knowledge of his love might make her feel pressured, or uncomfortable, then he should keep it to himself. And she'd been giving him some mixed signals lately. But she had really seemed to be happy on this day, her birthday. From beginning to end. Happy in his company, in his gifts, happy with simple pleasures like food and waterbending, happy to provide service to Nuwa and her baby. And he was happy too. How could he not be? The most wonderful girl in the world had invited him to share her bed, and he was holding her as she drifted off to sleep. She had committed to dating him exclusively, and her brother had assured him that he had no reason to feel insecure in her attachment to him. When he took his ego, his selfish desire, out of the picture, her contentment, even joy, was what he saw, and that was enough.
But he was still left with an excess of feeling, too much for one person to hold inside. He waited until he was positive that she was asleep, and whispered into her hair, "I love you, Katara." Just saying it aloud released some built up pressure inside. Then he was able to sleep too, a little.
They rested fitfully, too busy trying new ways to fit their bodies together; they hadn't spent much time horizontal before. One of them would get cozy and drift off to sleep, and then the other would realize the position wasn't that comfortable at all, try to endure it anyway, then eventually give up and move, waking the other, and the cycle would begin again. In the second half of the night, they seemed to move progressively farther apart, as their tired bodies unconsciously chose sleep over closeness, so that when Aang woke at dawn, as he usually did, they weren't touching at all.
He just lay there looking at her. So close, he could see details of her face and focus on them, in a way that would be creepy if she were awake. Like the shape of her eyebrows, the slope of her nose, the tiny, clear hairs on her cheek. She was so beautiful. But was it actually more creepy to watch her when she was asleep? Maybe, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away. Aang hadn't allowed himself to linger like this in the mornings on the little sleeping pallet they'd shared in the Southern Air Temple. He'd always left the bedroll as soon as he'd woken up, moving slowly and carefully so as not to disturb her. He remembered feeling embarrassed by his nightly emotional outbursts, and having an urge to hide, even from her. Maybe he'd also instinctively known that waking up together was even more intimate than falling asleep together, and he hadn't been sure they were there yet. During those painful few nights, Katara had simply supported him, offered the comfort of her arms without word or discussion, but this time she had invited him to her bed when there had been no emergency of any kind, it seemed as a birthday treat for herself, or perhaps to thank him for his presents. It was a totally different situation, and he felt he had reason to believe she might want him to stick around this time.
As always, his gaze was drawn to her lips. They were full and pink and the twin curves on her top lip were so perfect. Examining her pretty mouth just made him want to kiss it, of course. He'd kissed her awake the previous morning, and she'd responded by asking him to lay down with her. But he'd done that with his feet on the ground, and then after he joined her, all they did was cuddle. Kissing while lying down together under the sheets seemed like a bigger step, one he couldn't take without her consent, no matter what she'd said previously. Since that dumb kiss during the play, Aang had always let Katara take the lead in their physical relationship, and that seemed to be working really well. He never felt impatient; the pace she set kept him just on the edge of what he could handle. It was thrilling. No, waking her with a kiss today would be a bad idea. He probably had morning breath anyway. He considered getting up to brush his teeth, but didn't want to be out of the bed when she woke up.
Katara stirred a little, and Aang instantly closed his eyes to feign sleep. She stretched and her foot ran into his leg. She stopped moving for a second, as if startled, remembering. He heard her hair rustle on the pillow as if she were turning her head to look at him. He focused on breathing slowly. Then he felt something soft against his cheek: she'd kissed him! He consciously reminded himself not to move too quickly as he opened his eyes and smiled and turned his head her way.
"Good morning," she said.
"It's a very good morning." He turned toward her, onto his side. "Sorry if I kept you awake."
"I think that might have gone both ways." She stretched, then settled a little closer to him, still lying on her back. "Maybe this will take some getting used to."
He liked the sound of that. "Do you want to?" He asked hopefully. "Get used to it? Like as a normal thing? Or was this just a special occasion?"
"I'm not sure." Katara said tentatively. "I like it."
"Me too." Emboldened by her words, Aang reached his arm across her, under the covers, until it settled on her stomach, his hand falling into the dip of her waist. He had a memory of her placing his arm exactly there at some point during the night. She laid her arm alongside his, fingers touching his elbow.
"Would you like it to be normal?" She asked.
"I want whatever you want."
Katara understood: that meant he did want it to be normal, but was willing to sleep separately as long as she wanted to. She appreciated how he let her set their boundaries, but sometimes it felt like a big responsibility, one she might have preferred to share. She looked away from his eyes and up to the ceiling so she could think.
Why was she hesitating? What was she afraid of? Was it the intimacy, the feelings of closeness? Those seemed to be inevitable, even if all they did was kiss. And she was discovering that wasn't so scary anyway. Was she afraid of revealing herself to him, or of what she'd see if he showed himself? No, she knew they would accept each other entirely. She wasn't worried that one thing would lead to another; she trusted them both to hold the line wherever they decided to hold it.
She did worry about getting dependent, relying on his presence in bed to be able to relax and fall asleep. She knew they couldn't expect to be able to keep up this arrangement all the time. Sleeping side by side might become impossible in the next place they visited. There was the issue of Sokka, and how much she was willing to argue with him over this. She wasn't ashamed of anything they'd done together, and she'd fight to defend her relationship, but it wasn't anyone's business but theirs. Her brother would naturally assume they were having sex if they were caught in the same bed. Would anyone believe them if they insisted they were only sleeping? Suddenly that rule she'd decided to disregard made a bit of sense.
But he was so cozy and warm, and waking to his smile had been so delicious. She had to admit, she wanted more of that too. And she also had to admit that the novelty of this sleeping arrangement had made it less than restful for either of them last night. It would be good if they became somewhat accustomed to it. A compromise, then.
"What if it's an occasional thing, but not just special occasions?" She proposed. "Maybe weekly?"
Aang grinned. "Great! This is my new favorite way to wake up." He scooted a little closer, using the arm around her waist to pull her into him.
"You don't usually stay in bed this late," she observed.
"Skipping one day of meditation and hot squats is fine," he assured her. Lingering with her like this was more than worth it. He buried his nose in her hair and inhaled its scent.
"You don't have any meetings this morning?" She sounded like she was hoping he could stay where he was.
"No. Are you expected at the hospital?"
"Not til afternoon. I'll check in with Nuwa before I go there."
"You were amazing with her last night." Aang told her. "You took such good care of her and her baby. You always take care of everybody."
"She was a good patient. Her baby is so cute. It would have been a lot harder to attend a birth on an empty stomach, but luckily I had a very handsome flying delivery boy." Katara traced her fingers up his arm to his shoulder.
They rolled together until they were touching cheek to cheek, and held each other that way a while. The silky texture of her hair on his face reminded him of the words he'd whispered there before falling asleep. This was a new moment, a new day. He inhaled and parted his lips.
She turned her head and looked him in the eye, her smile dazzling. "I'm so happy. Everything is perfect right now."
Aang's chest tightened, and he swallowed the words again. "It is." He reached up with his neck so he could kiss Katara softly on the forehead. "This is all I'll ever need."
Author's note:
What do you think? Is Aang the best boyfriend ever? Let me know in a review!
The idea of Katara's regret about Jet leading her to trust Zuko briefly in the Crystal Catacombs is inspired by Writing In Water: The Waterbender's Scroll, the best Avatar fanfic of all time.
Apparently, according to Avatar Extras and word from the creators, Jet and Katara DID kiss, but I choose to deny that, since it's like second-level canon and must have taken place off screen, if it in fact happened. If it were important that Katara kissed Jet, we would have seen it; therefore I feel justified denying it. Isn't it so much better if Aang is her first kiss in the cave, anyway?
Bonus points for anyone who can spot the Bridgerton-inspired moment in this chapter.
I'm taking a short break from this story to post another related one, the Maiko missing moment spinoff I hinted about last week. The one-shot next week will be called "A Contentious Reunion." Please subscribe to me as an author so that you can get a notification for it. I will post on Fridays, as usual! There will be this one-shot, and then four chapters of fighting, fluff, and even a lemon! And then I'll be back to posting When It's All Over on Fridays, and we'll be in the Fire Nation!