3 Years Ago
Aang White had always dreamed of flying in the military as a kid so when he was accepted into the University of Wisconsin's aviation program, Aang thought he couldn't have been more excited. But when he graduated and completed AFROTC, he was proven wrong. Standing at attention in the banquet hall after his commissioning ceremony, Aang stiffened up as he began to salute his father Gyatso, as he heard him begin.
"Son, I know you've always wanted to do this since you were a wee little boy and I know your mother would be proud of you for following in the family tradition. I do hope you know that I didn't want to pressure you into anything that you don't want to do," Gyatso told him as he saluted the newly commissioned Second Lieutenant Aang White.
"I know that you didn't care what I did in life as long as I tried dad, but this is what I wanted to do with my life," Aang replied while returning the salute to his father.
"I'm proud of you son," Gyatso whispered into Aang's ear as he embraced him into a bear hug.
Present Day
As he was driving, Aang thought about his current predicament and how he should go about handling it. He'd been hearing rumors about his girlfriend's behavior, but had hoped they weren't true, because then he would need to confront her, something he wasn't looking forward to doing.
His girlfriend On-Ji had supposedly been harassing the gate guards when she would visit him on base, up until he moved off base two months ago. But today, it came to a front when one of the tech sergeants manning the base gate had contacted him with a video of On-Ji bitching to him and his men about he'd have them court-martialed for not letting her through. Aang wasn't sure why they didn't reach out to him sooner.
Seeing that he was getting close to his cabin, Aang began to give himself a small pep talk as he had to deal with On-Ji when she had her small and insignificant outbursts.
"Come on Aang, you can do this! Just make it quick and painless and everybody is happy.
Well, she probably won't be happy, that's for sure," he chuckled.
Aang turned his Toyota Tacoma into the driveway of his little cabin on the edge of snowy Fairbanks, Alaska to see that his girlfriend On-Ji had beat him home from whatever she did that day. Aang never knew what her daily schedule was like, but he eventually stopped asking when she would get snappy at him anytime he brought it up. That was also around the time that he had noticed small withdrawals from his account that he didn't make. "On-Ji, honey, I'm home," Aang called as he opened the door and walked into his house
"Hi, babe. How did work go today?" On-Ji called from upstairs.
"It wasn't horrible today, I had a briefing and sadly no flights though there will be one patrol flight for me tomorrow. What were you up to today?"
"Nothing new, just worked at the salon for a few hours then came back here waiting for you to come home."
"That's great honey, you want to watch some Great Food Truck Race? We have an episode to watch."
"Yeah sure," O-Ji replies walking downstairs to sit on the couch with Aang.
"Coming up next on the Great Food Truck Race…"
Aang turned to face On-Ji, "I have something to ask you honey,"
"Okay. What's up?"
"Is it true that you harassed the gate guards when you came to visit while I still lived on base?" Aang asked as he turned up the stairs to face On-Ji. He noticed that she looked a tad worried.
"I-I don't know what you are talking about babe," On-Ji stammered out.
"I was hoping that you wouldn't lie to me about that because now you have forced my hand," Aang said firmly, with a touch of disappointment in his voice.
"Wha-what do you mean honey?" She asked worriedly.
"What I mean is," He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face before continuing. "I know about the withdrawals you've made from my account without telling me, hoping I wouldn't notice," Aang had slightly raised his voice in anger which scared On-Ji as she had never seen him this way.
"Ummmm,"
"I would have forgiven it had it been once or twice, because maybe you were short on the money, but you did it enough to convince me you never actually had feelings for me and just wanted me for my title and money. So I'm going to ask you once to get your stuff and leave,"Aang said as he looked her directly into her eyes. Though she wouldn't make eye contact with him.
"But-" She started.
"No ifs, ands, or buts this time. I'm tired of you going behind my back and undermining my trust, thinking I won't do anything in response."
"I'm sorry, Aang!" On-Ji wailed, rattling the windows of the cabin.
"Don't be, I'm done with this, with us," Aang finished solemnly while looking at her straight in the eye, informing her how sure he was of this decision.
On-Ji was still crying as she gathered her belongings at Aang's house and proceeded to leave, hitting his mailbox on her way out. Aang slouched against his bed frame and let out a sigh of relief. "That wasn't quite as hard as I thought it would be, Momo," Aang said to his cat. He had rescued Momo a couple of months back when he found him in an alley and decided to take him in."
Momo let out a soft meow and rubbed against the palm of Aang's outstretched hand, purring as he did so. Aang called Iroh, the owner of The Jasmine Dragon, to let him know that he would like to order his new vegetable tempura. He told him would be there in roughly 20 minutes. After he hung up the phone, Aang brushed off the dust on his ABUs and changed into his civilian clothes.
Aang walked out the door and climbed his truck parked in the driveway. He buckled his seatbelt, and put it into drive, and drove off.
While pulling into the parking lot of the Jasmine Dragon, Aang saw that Zuko had already arrived for his shift to help his uncle on busy nights. As he walked in, Zuko stepped up to greet him before noticing it was Aang. "I see you traded in one uniform for another, Zuko," Aang joked with a teasing smile on his face.
"Haha, very funny, Aang. You want your normal seat?" Zuko responded while giving Aang a handshake and a pat on the back
"Yeah, I already called Iroh with my order."
"Let me guess, fried rice?" Zuko said knowingly.
"Nope, I got his new vegetable tempura tonight, Hot man," Aang teased with an innocent look on his face.
"I thought I had asked you to stop calling me that...especially in public," Zuko said with fake firmness.
"You had, but the name stuck. I can't help it," Aang responded with a grin forming on his face.
"Gentlemen! If you are done joking around, Zuko needs to get back to work and Aang needs to come eat before his food gets cold," Iroh piped in. He broke apart the two friends, shooed off Zuko, and led Aang to his normal stool at the front of the restaurant.
"Here you go my friend," Iroh said, handing Aang his food.
"Thanks, Iroh, I can't wait to try it!"
"And I can't wait for someone to try it. You'll be the first person to order it since it just came out this week."
Iroh saw Aang's grin in response to what he had just said but also noticed it become neutral just as fast as it came.
"Aang, are you ok?"
"What? Am I ok? Yeah, I guess. I just broke up with my girlfriend, so I'm feeling a little rougher than normal" He said dismissively.
"She didn't cheat did she?"
"Thankfully no, she didn't, but she had been going behind my back and abusing my title for her gain. It still hurt, but probably not as much as cheating on me would have."
"I bet that you would feel slightly better if you ate some of my food," Iroh offered, grinning.
"You know what, it probably would make me feel better," He said as he got his first bite and moaned in delight, then complimented. "You weren't kidding Iroh, I feel better already, and it tastes fabulous!" Aang said while eating his food.
"I'm glad that I was able to offer my services to a fellow pilot and a friend." I'll leave you to your food and go tend to other customers. Just wave me or Zuko down if you need something," Iroh said as he got up to greet some of his regulars that Aang serves with.
Aang sat by himself for the rest of his meal, eating in silence, which wasn't something out of the ordinary for him. He sat there pondering whether or not he made the right choice of breaking up with On-Ji. It hurt because of the time invested in the relationship and the good moments but was most likely to be the best choice in the long run for him and his career.
After finishing his meal, Aang threw twenty dollars onto the bar for his food and tip and decided he'd visit his favorite local bar to ease some of his pain.
Aang's favorite bar in town, The Command Post, was a favorite among sergeants and junior officers as it was relatively cheap and had good brews. Since he still had a flight tomorrow and needed to be sober to drive home safely, he couldn't drink as much as he wanted to. Walking up to the bar, he greeted the cute bartender, "Hey Jin, can I have a Miller Light?"
"Sure thing, coming right up, Aang," Jin responded, walking down the bar and grabbing the Miller Light, and handing it to him.
"Thanks, Jin. Your customer service is wonderful as always."
Aang sat at the bar nursing his beer, and listening to the conversations of those around him. Moments later, a coffee-skinned stranger still in ABUs sat down next to him, initiating a conversation in a sweet and soothing voice.
"This seat taken?"
"Nope, it's all yours," Aang responded in a monotone voice.
"Someone pee in your cheerios this morning? She countered with sass.
"Huh? No, I'm just not in a good mood tonight, my day wasn't the best. That's kind of the reason why I'm here."
"Well, I had a piss poor day as well and you don't see it bringing me down. Though I am here for the same reason that you're here."
"What, relationship problems?" Aang mentally cursed himself for revealing that information to a total stranger, though he didn't feel worried for some reason.
"Actually yeah, I just broke up with my boyfriend before I got stationed here."
"Before we get too far into this conversion, I'd like to know your name. I'm Aang White. I'm a First Lieutenant 354th Fighter Wing,"
"I'm Katara Aqua, also with the 354th Fighter Wing, but I just got stationed here this week," she responded full of excitement.
"Well, Katara it's nice to meet you," he said as he put his hand out to shake hers.
"It's nice to meet you too, Aang," she replied, shaking his hand.
"So, did your boyfriend issues bring you here tonight Katara?"
"Did your girlfriend issues bring you here tonight Aang?" Aang narrowed his eyes at the tought of his now ex-girlfriend and how she used him.
"Touche, but if you actually want to know, yeah, she is the reason I'm here tonight."
"How so?" Katara questioned on anting to know more about this person she'd just met
"Oh, you know, just being used for my title and her probably never actually having any feelings for me."
"That sounds like it had the potential to be a rough breakup."
"Yeah, it was. Though, I don't have any other relationships to compare it to," while Aang would feel embarrassed admitting that to someone his own age, for some reason he didn't feel that way with Katara, though that could be the alcohol.
"You've only had one girlfriend? Aren't you like in your mid twenties since you're a First Lieutenant?" Katara realized the weight behind those words as that would mean his one and only relationship wasn't a prime example of what love could be.
"Yeah, I've been quite the boy scout who focused on his schooling and eventually on work. How about you? Have you dated many people Miss Katara?"
"I've had more romantic experience than you, not that it's very hard, but I've probably have less than the average person our age. Please don't call me 'Miss Katara' it makes me feel old," Katara giggles after her joking response
"How many boyfriends have you had then?"
"I've had three if you want to know."
"Were they good to you?" Aang asked with curiosity.
"The first two were pretty good to me, but I saw that we would go different places in life so I broke up with them."
"What about the last one? The third one?"
"Well, he's the reason I'm here currently."
"What did your boyfriend do?" Aang asked with a caring look.
"I had a few days of home leave before getting stationed here, so I figured that I'd surprise him with a visit before shipping I walked into his apartment, I saw him making out with another girl. The worst part is, I'm pretty sure they had been seeing each other before I even left for college and the Air Force," she said as her smile fell.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, whoever he is, sounds like a douchebag and it's a good thing you two are done dating."
"Here's to shitty relationships!" Katara and Aang clinked their bottles together and took a drink.
After finishing his sip Aang turned to face Katara and asked "You said you just got here?"
"Yeah, I had just got here today and heard this was one of the better bars around from airmen on base."
"That it is, that it is. I found this place when another lieutenant in aircraft maintenance had brought me here when I first was stationed here. His aircrew are the ones who work on my plane when I have issues."
"Sounds like he gave you a good introduction to the base."
"He did, he seems to be a good leader for his men. I don't think you've said yet, but what is your MOS?"
Katara, who was eying him speculatively, choked on her drink. "I'm a fighter pilot too."
Blushing a little from Katara's gaze Aang continued, "That's really cool! Have you seen your plane yet?"
"No, today was just getting familiar with the base layout and meeting people whose asses I may need to kiss in the future."
"That's important to know," Aang responded by making a kissy face as a joke about being a kiss ass.
Feeling a buzz, Aang pulled out his phone to see that Zuko had texted him
Zuko: Aang you got plans tonight?
Aang: I'm at a bar rn so I'm a little occupied.
Zuko: You shouldn't be drinking alone after what happened today Aang
Aang: Oh, but I'm not Zuko, I'm drinking with a pretty girl you're taking me away from so good night and see you tomorrow.
"Sorry about that, I had a friend who was checking in on me after my whole breakup situation."
"What did you tell him?"
"That I'm drinking with a pretty young lady that's in our unit."
Katara blushed profusely, for she knew that for it being a compliment from someone she had just met, it felt sincere. "D-do you really mean that Aang?"
"Of course I do! I'm a pretty honest and straight-up person, so I speak my mind whenever. Would you care for another drink?"
"I'm good thanks though, I don't really feel like being here much longer."
"Going back to your dorm?"
"I was thinking more about your place," she said shyly, a pink hue covering her cheeks.
Aang's eyes widened at her forwarness, "Were you know? Just follow my truck to my cabin."
Getting up from his chair and paying Jin for his drink, Katara got up and walked out behind him getting a few drunken calls of "Atta boy," which made Aang's face scrunch in disgust from them thinking he was going to do that with someone he just met. He felt ashamed to be in their presence.
"I'll see you in a bit, just follow my truck,"
"I'll be sure to do that"
Driving home, Aang's heartbeat even with the little bit of alcohol was going through the roof at the thought ofKatara, a girl he barely knew, wanting to come over to his house. Not to mention how nice it was to be around her. It was something he didn't understand, but just accepted subconsciously.
Pulling into his driveway, Aang parked by his door and waited for Katara to get out of her car.
"Welcome to my humble abode."