A/N: Should I have been working of FETL? Probably. Did I write a 6000 word oneshot about angsty kataang instead? Yes. Yes I did. Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. Enjoy!
"It's not your fault, you know."
The airbender looked up at her, eyes still watery as he stared at the stone floor of the Southern Air Temple in shock, rocking back and forth with his knees tucked into his chest.
"How can it not be?" he choked out. His voice wavered with every word. "Katara, if I hadn't left them, if I hadn't been the Avatar, none of this would be happening."
He gulped. "My people are dead, and it's all my fault. I'm to blame. If I had never been born then they would all still be here."
She knelt down next to him, cutting off his destructive thoughts with a fierce hug.
"No, Aang," she said firmly, "Sozin is the reason for all of it. Not you. You're the reason the Air Nomads will be reborn again, not the reason for their downfall."
He turned to look at her. "But-"
Katara shook her head vehemently. "No buts about it. You didn't know. You were just a kid. You still are just a kid. No one expects you to have all the answers, and it's okay that you don't have them. You're the last person anyone, including yourself, should blame."
"But if I hadn't left, Katara…"
"Aang, if you hadn't left that night, all of the Air Nomads would be gone right now. Because of you the Air Nomads, the Air Nomad culture, can and will live on, and peace and balance will be restored to the world."
The boy sniffled and hesitantly returned the hug, finally letting out what felt like a century's worth of pent-up emotions.
Katara held him tightly, rubbing his back soothingly as he cried into the fabric of her shirt. She knew he didn't completely believe a word what she was saying, it was all so fresh- how could he? Nevertheless, she would be there every step of the way, getting him to know it in his mind, body, and soul if it were the last thing she ever did.
"Can y-you stay with me here, Katara?" he asked meekly after a few minutes. "Just for a little while."
She gave him a gentle squeeze in response. "I'll be here as long and as often as you need, whether that's ten minutes or ten hours."
The waterbender sighed. Her heart ached for him. So much pain for such a bright soul. He was the last person that deserved anything like this.
"It isn't your fault, Aang," she murmured. "Never your fault."
"You blame yourself, don't you?" his quiet voice rang one night, a statement more than a question as he looked at the waterbender lying next to him. Three years since they met and he could still read her like a book.
Katara sighed, turning on her side so that her back was no longer facing him, graciously welcoming his arms wrapping around her comfortingly as she melted into his embrace.
"How can I not?" she murmured, absentmindedly playing with the wood-beaded bracelet on her wrist, a gift for their "month-a-versary," as Aang had put it. "My mom, she gave herself up for me, Aang. She sacrificed herself for me. If not for me then-"
Aang shook his head. "Then nothing, Katara. Your mother made a brave and noble sacrifice- she cared about you, she loved you, but in the end, it was her choice."
"Her choice was because of me. It's my fault."
He frowned, brushing a lock of her hair away from her face and pulling her near-shivering body closer.
"She knew what great things you would go on to do, Tara," he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "She's still watching over you from the spirit world. I know I've never met her but I'm sure she would agree with me that you shouldn't be blaming yourself for what happened."
"And, as someone very wise once told me," he shot her a small smile, "It isn't your fault. It never has been, Katara. And I'll be here telling you that for as long as it takes you to believe it."
"Do you believe it about your people, Aang?" Katara mumbled lowly, her intentions not harsh but rather trying to make a point.
The airbender scratched the side of his head sheepishly. "Well, not entirely, no."
Katara opened her mouth to speak but Aang continued. "But, I've come a long way since that first day at the Southern Air Temple, Katara. And I have you to thank for that. I want to be able to do the same for you, sweetie."
Katara closed her eyes, silently asking the spirits how she got so lucky before chuckling quietly despite herself.
"Are we hypocrites?"
Aang laughed gently, touching his forehead to hers. "That we are, my love. But at least we're hypocrites together."
She grinned, pulling him into a long, sweet kiss.
"I love you, Aang," she said softly when they finally broke apart.
"I love you too, Katara," he whispered back. He stroked her cheek lightly with his thumb and looked earnestly into her cerulean eyes.
"It's not your fault, sweetie. Never your fault."
"You can't blame yourself, Aang."
The airbender didn't even turn around to face her. He couldn't. Not now. Not when he had caused this entire mess.
"Katara, how can you even look at me the same anymore?" he rasped. "I'm a monster."
She sat down on the grass next to him, tilting his head towards her. The waterbender gasped softly when she saw his tear-stricken face and the dark circles under his glazed eyes.
"Oh, Aang…" she murmured.
"I-it's all m-my fault," he stammered, the pace of his breath quickening as he spiraled out of control. "If-if I hadn't left, if I h-hadn't run away, th-th-the sky bison would s-still be here! Appa wo-wouldn't be all alone a-a-and-"
Katara pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him as she cradled his head against the crook of her neck. She hummed an old Water Tribe lullaby, one her mother used to sing to her on those dark and overcast nights when nightmare and evil spirits would fill her subconscious.
"How can you still love me? I caused not only the death of my people, but of Appa's entire species too. I don't deserve your love. I don't deserve anything."
Katara bit her lip, ferociously trying to hold back her tears. In all their years together she had never seen him speak so lowly of himself. He had always been a beacon of light and hope, not just for her but for everyone he met. The man in front of her was… broken. The grief-stricken hand he had been dealt was finally catching up to him, and she wasn't sure what she could do to help him.
"Aang," she said, the rawness of her voice finally making him look up at her. "I love you because you're the most amazing person I've ever met. You're the reason I look forward to every day, to spend it with you. You light up every room you're in, and you have the biggest heart of anyone else in the world. You wouldn't hurt a fly, and you strive to make the world a better place with each and every thing you do."
She took his hands tenderly in hers and interlocked their fingers, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
"That's how I know it's not your fault," she whispered softly. "You bring love and light everywhere you go, not death or destruction. You're the reason the war is over, and that the world is healing. You're the reason that the Air Nomads and Sky Bison live on and survived the last hundred years, not the reason they're almost all gone."
Aang's breathing slowed to a calmer pace, a soothing technique Katara had noticed him use occasionally over the years.
"You really think so?" he asked hesitantly.
Katara smiled, tightening her embrace.
"I know so. You deserve everything in the world and then some, sweetie. They're still out there, I know it. We'll find them, love, don't worry. But for now, rest."
The airbender fully relaxed against her, closing his eyes as his heartbeat steadied.
"It's not your fault," she kept saying, her words lulling him to sleep. "Never your fault."
The waterbender numbly stared at the cool, marble floor, eyes glassy and glazed over. The stark contrast of bright crimson against the ivory-toned bathtub would an image forever be etched in her memory, a wound that wouldn't go away. A wound that shouldn't go away. She deserved it, after all. It was all her fault.
A few feet to her right, Aang slipped into the room quietly, not knowing quite what to say. He wordlessly sat down next to her on the ground, hesitantly wrapping a thin blanket around her shoulders. Autumns at Air Temple Island often got chilly, and the thin tunic she had on now wouldn't be enough to shield from the cold, despite how much she argued she was fine with her Water Tribe upbringing.
Her usual arguments anyways. Today was different.
The airbender sighed, leaning his head back against the wall and closing his eyes.
"It wasn't your fault. You know that, right?" he asked gently after a few minutes.
Katara shook her head, first slowly but soon picking up the pace until her movements were frantic and almost erratic. She then abruptly stopped, taking a shaky breath.
"It's all my fault," she murmured, her words eerily calm and gaze not once leaving that one spot on the floor. "If I had done something differently, anything differently, she would still be here."
The airbender opened his mouth to argue but Katara continued.
"She is dead because of me, Aang," she said hoarsely, "Look me in the eyes and honestly tell me you think otherwise."
She turned her head towards him, eyes piercing into his very soul as she blinked back tears, fists shaking violently at her side.
"I don't blame you, not one bit," he whispered, reaching out a hand to cup the waterbender's cheek but she turned away, eyes squeezing tightly shut as she gritted her teeth.
"Stop lying. You know it and I know it, Aang. It's my fault."
Katara tucked her knees into her chest, mindlessly staring at the floor again as she whispered to herself repeatedly in a near-catatonic state.
"It's all my fault. It's my fault our baby is dead. All my fault."
Aang wrapped his arms around her, struggling to hold back tears himself as he pressed kisses to her temple.
"You heard the doctors, sweetie. These kinds of things just happen sometimes. There was nothing you could've done. It's not your fault."
"Sometimes, yes. But not always. I-i-if I h-had eaten something different, or s-stopped working at th-th-the hospital, reduced m-my stress somehow, asked o-one of the acolytes to take c-care of Bumi and Kya, anything-"
"It still would've happened and we would still be here, sweetie," Aang interjected softly. "It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. And it's not fair that our baby is gone before she ever got to truly live, it really isn't, but we can't blame ourselves for what was inevitable, as twisted as it sounds."
"How do you know it wasn't my fault, Aang? How can you have such blind faith? How can you still look at me like that? How can you still love me? I'm a monster. I'm a failure as a wife, as a mother. I've failed you, I've failed our baby, I've failed Bumi, I've failed Kya-"
"No," Aang interrupted, barely choking out the words, "You are none of those things, Katara, none of them. You're an amazing wife, an amazing mother. You're the same wonderful person I met and fell in love with almost 15 years ago and you always have been. How do I know it wasn't your fault? Because you're a healer, a protector. You do everything you can to help people, you always have, even if it's at your own expense. You wouldn't, you couldn't, possibly do anything to hurt our baby, knowingly or unknowingly. You haven't failed me at all, Katara. You're the reason I'm still here alive and sane and not curled up in a ball somewhere still holding on to the threads of the past. I love you, Katara. Nothing could ever change that. Nothing."
"B-b-but-" she began.
Aang shook his head. "No buts about it. You're an amazing mother. You're the reason any of our babies were ever here in the first place. You're caring and loving and have done everything in your power to make their lives better than ours ever were. Through all of this, you've somehow still managed to stay strong for them, being there for them every moment of the way as they grieve this loss too. "
He pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
"But you don't need to be strong with me, Katara," he said softly, his voice muffled by her hair. "Let it all out."
That was it. It was as if a switch had been flipped in the waterbender's mind. Katara finally gave in to his embrace, releasing the torrent of emotions she had been bottling up at long last.
Aang rubbed small circles on her back as she began sobbing uncontrollably into his chest. He clutched her tightly, wanting to shield her from all of the evil things in the world and more. She deserved no less.
"It's not your fault, Katara," he would tell her for the next few hours, days, and weeks following. "Never your fault."
She watched him silently from the doorway as he bustled about in the kitchen. He grabbed a few spices from the cupboards up top that she always needed help to reach and put a saucepan on the stove. It would've seemed normal to any outsider, but Katara knew better.
When Aang cooked there was always such life in his movements. It always seemed like a dance to her- each motion made purposefully and in rhythm with the birds that would chirp outside in the late afternoon, all perched on that one branch of the cherry tree right outside the kitchen window.
This time was different.
His movements were stoic, almost robotic. There was no energy, no vigor. They were being done out of muscle memory, but his heart wasn't in it like it usually was. But really, who could blame him?
"He could," Katara thought. "He shouldn't be, but he is."
Sighing, she walked up to him and snaked her arms around Aang's waist, pressing a gentle, fluttering kiss to his sinewy back and then laying the side of her head against his scar.
She frowned as she heard his heartbeat. The waterbender had come to recognize it by how calm and steady it usually was, grounding her and serving as a reminder that he was here, alive with her, and not going anywhere. Right now it was unsettled and nervous, a stark contrast to his seemingly calm demeanor.
"Don't blame yourself, sweetie," she said. "No one could have seen it coming."
"I should have," he rasped, "It's all my fault, Katara."
"Oh, love…"
She gently pulled him away from the stove, quickly putting out the flame with a flick of her wrist, and then hopped up on the counter in front of him so that she could be at his eye level.
"Sweetie," she cupped his cheek with her hand and wiped the stray tears on his face away gently with her thumb, "It's not your fault. He caught us by surprise. It's because of you we're home safe and sound and here to tell the tale."
"If I had paid more attention, Katara, if I had listened to him, none of this would be happening."
He nodded his head guiltily towards the bruises on her arms- thick, bright red marks running across the sides of her body from ropes being tied too tight, a sharp contrast to her otherwise mocha-colored skin.
"Those are there because of me. I'm the reason it all happened to you."
The waterbender shook her head furiously, gazing intently into the stormy eyes that refused to meet her own. Oh, the pain and hurt they held.
"Yakone's attack on me and the kids had nothing to do with you, Aang. He-"
"Nothing?" he interrupted dryly. "Really? So you're saying if you hadn't married me, if you hadn't married the Avatar, this all would still be happening?"
Katara's sapphire eyes glittered dangerously and narrowed.
"Are you saying you wish you hadn't married me?" she asked pointedly.
Aang sighed. "You know that's not what I meant, Katara."
"Oh, I know. That's why I said it."
Aang looked at her questioningly.
"You need to put it in perspective, Aang. If you weren't the Avatar, yeah, maybe Yakone and his band of misfits wouldn't have kidnapped me, Bumi, and Kya, but we also wouldn't be in this position at all."
Aang raised an eyebrow at her. "So you agree with me? It's all my fault."
"No, quite the opposite actually. Aang, without you being the Avatar, the Air Nomads would have completely died out a hundred and then some years ago. The Avatar would have been reborn into the Water Tribes, and also been subsequently killed during the raids, and then again in the Earth Kingdom and wiped out with Sozin's Comet. Without you being the Avatar, the Fire Nation would have the Avatar born into their nation, raised them on the propaganda we saw when we went undercover there, and would probably be ruling the world with an iron fist about now."
Aang's eyes widened and he chuckled a little at how quickly the subject matter of conversation had escalated, spurring a short laugh from Katara as well.
"It feels good to laugh after what happened today," the airbender admitted. "Thank you for that, sweetie."
Katara smiled and touched their foreheads together, pecking his nose.
"It does, doesn't it? Now, where was I going with this? Right."
She looked at him intently, raising his hand resting on the countertop and interlacing their fingers as if they were waltzing in the Earth King's ballroom.
She spoke tenderly, "Because of you, Aang, the war is over. Because of you, the world is in an era of peace and prosperity, and people are achieving things they didn't think were even possible until a few years ago. Because of you, Yakone will be put away for good and won't be able to hurt anyone ever again. Because of you, I got to meet the sweetest, most selfless man in the world and fall in love with him, marry him, and have his children. I wouldn't- oh!"
Aang pulled Katara into a hug, startling her as she tentatively returned it. She rested her head on top of his, her long, wavy locks cascading down around them like a waterfall protecting a hidden cave.
"As I was saying," she murmured, fingers absentmindedly tracing around the faded pink tissue of his scar, "I wouldn't give any of that up for anything, sweetie. Is it all sunshine and rainbows every minute of every day? Of course not. But that doesn't mean it's not the best thing that's ever happened to me."
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his arrow.
"I love you, Aang. Avatar duties and all. No one blames you for anything that happened today, and no one should, including yourself. I know you won't realize that instantly, but I want to be here for you every step of the way until you do."
The airbender pulled her closer to him, taking great comfort in the feeling of her arms and scent surrounding him. She felt safe. Home was where the heart was, and his home was right here, with her.
"I love you so much, Katara."
She smiled at him, closing her eyes contentedly as she felt his heartbeat slow to a familiar pace.
"It's not your fault, Aang," Katara whispered in time with their natural rhythm. "Never your fault."
"She's gone."
"I know," he said softly, "Sokka just told me."
He took a step towards the window she was standing in front of. The waterbender stared blankly at the blizzard outside, strangely fitting considering the storm of emotions she was feeling inside.
Aang came up behind her wordlessly and turned her around to face him, enveloping her in his arms, much to her chagrin.
Katara shrugged him away, walking off in the opposite direction so that her back was facing him. "I'm fine, Aang. You don't need to worry about me. Right now let's just focus on the task at hand. Th-th-there's funeral preparations to be made, a-a-and we have to sort out the will, and then there's-"
Aang cut her off. "Katara."
She whipped around to look at him, angry fire masking the pain in her eyes.
"What? W-would you rather have me crying? Sobbing that Gran-Gran is gone and isn't coming back? Or some other useless thing that completely ignores the fact that there's stuff to be done and would leave it all for someone else? Is that what you want, Aang?"
"What I want," he sighed, "is for you to be honest with yourself, Katara. Ignoring the pain and hurt you feel right now isn't going to make it go away. It'll just come back time and time again. You know that."
"And so what if I do?" she snapped. "It's not like it changes anything. It doesn't change the fact that there's stuff I need to do. It doesn't change the fact that Sokka and Dad can't afford for me to be a crying mess right now. I-it doesn't change the fact that it's my fault she's gone."
Katara faltered. Her bottom lip was quivering.
"It doesn't change the fact that I didn't visit enough. It doesn't change the fact that I probably could have healed and saved her but wasn't around enough to even realize she needed it."
Her knees gave out, and she collapsed to the floor, shoulders shuddering violently as tears began to form in her eyes.
"It doesn't change the fact that she didn't know how much I loved her, and that her last thoughts probably involved her thinking what a horrible granddaughter I am- was and why I didn't come more often."
Aang looked on helplessly. He had no idea Katara had such guilt over what had happened. He just assumed she was only holding in her grief, not this.
"She needed me and I wasn't here for her, Aang," she whispered hoarsely. "How could I do that to her? She raised me. She made me who I am. And I just…"
Katara sniffled, wrapping her arms around herself as the tears came flooding out.
"I'm a horrible person, Aang. It's all my fault."
"Oh, sweetie..." Aang knelt next to her and swept her up in his arms.
"She knew how much you loved her, Katara. All the letters you sent, she treasured them. It's not your fault you didn't know, she didn't tell you. She didn't want to worry you. You were an amazing granddaughter to Kanna. You're the reason she and Pakku were reunited. You did everything you could to spend as much time with her as possible- you managed to convince her to leave the Southern Water Tribe for Air Temple island! It was her choice to come back and stay here."
"I should've gone back with her," Katara murmured.
"Love, you did everything you could. She knew that. I know that. Sokka and your dad know that. The last thing she would want is you beating yourself up about it."
"Katara, look at me." He tenderly tilted her head up so that she could meet his gaze. "Wherever she is, she's happy and with Pakku. She lived a long and fulfilling life, which was made even better by you. When I asked for her blessing to propose, boy did that woman give me an earful!"
A small smile crept onto the waterbender's face as she let out a short chuckle.
"She just wanted the best for you. She loved you so much, Katara, and she knew with all her heart that you loved her too."
"You really think so?" she whispered meekly.
"I know so, sweetie."
Katara shakily sighed and turned towards him, leaning the side of her head on his chest. She held onto Aang's arms around her as if her life depended on it, using him to ground her from all the thoughts swirling in her head as she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.
"It's not your fault, Tara," the airbender whispered as he held her. "Never your fault."
"It's my fault. I drove him away."
Katara frowned, putting her hand on his shoulder and gently squeezing it. "No you didn't, Aang. It was his choice."
Aang groaned, slumping down onto the neatly-made bed (a rare occurrence, especially for his son of all people), and held his head in his hands. He took out the wrinkled piece of parchment from his back pocket and reread the letter again and again, hoping that somehow, by some miracle, the inked words would change, and his son would be back home where he belonged.
But deep down, the airbender knew in his heart that wasn't going to happen.
Aang sighed. "I know I spend a lot of time with Tenzin, but this? I didn't think… well I don't know what I thought but I didn't think he hated me this much. Maybe… maybe that was just what I kept telling myself for my own peace of mind."
"Aang," Katara said gently, "nowhere in that letter did Bumi say he hated you. He doesn't. He knows how much you love him, and he loves you too."
He turned to look at her pleadingly. "Doesn't he? 'Hope I make you proud. Love, Bumi." That's what he said. If he doesn't already know how proud of him we are…"
Aang turned away from her, refusing to meet the waterbender's concerned gaze.
"If he doesn't know that then obviously we, I, have done something wrong."
Katara sat down next to him, leaning against his side and wrapping her arms around his torso.
"He's out there all alone," Aang whispered, "a-a-and we're not there to help him, to protect him. He could die. H-h-h-he could die thinking we're not proud of him, that h-h-he isn't enough in our eyes w-w-when he couldn't be further from the truth."
"You're scared, sweetie. I am too, believe me. But Bumi's going to be okay. He'll be home in a few months from training camp safe and sound, and we can send him all the letters in the world in the meantime."
"How do you know that? What if he gets hurt, or worse, killed?"
Aang scooted away from her, hugging his sides with his arms and bringing his legs to his chest. He slowly rocked himself back and forth and rested his head on his knees.
"He's out there because of me," he choked, voice slightly muffled by his position. "Because he doesn't know how proud of him I already am, h-how much I love him. Because I couldn't spend enough time with him. It's all my fault."
Katara huffed and turned him around to face her. "Enough of that now. Aang none of this is your fault. The kids and I know you have a duty to the world, we know that you can't spend as much time at home as any of us would like, but we don't care! Is it perfect or ideal? Of course not, but that's life."
She paused for a moment, thinking about how exactly to word her question.
"Did you ever consider that it's not because of that at all?" Katara asked. "That maybe it's just a natural consequence of our upbringing?"
Aang gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"
"We grew up in a war-torn world, Aang. We never got a true childhood, and we grew up fighting not just battles but wars that weren't ours. So when we had kids, it only makes sense that we'd over-compensate for what we never got. You know Bumi- he's always wanted to be independent, and seem older than he actually was. We knew what that was like, and tried to steer him away from that, and yeah, maybe we messed up a little there, but the point was, this has been a long time coming. He's doing this for himself, not because of us. It isn't anyone's fault, Aang, least of all yours."
Katara leaned in so that their foreheads were touching and looked into his eyes, gently stroking the side of his face with her thumb.
"Bumi knows you love him. The kids and I all know you love us, and we understand you can't be home all the time, but that's okay. As long as we have you anyways, we'll deal with it."
"I just hope Bumi will be okay, Tara," Aang murmured. "The United Forces are no joke, it's a dangerous world out there, despite what we've done to change that."
Katara gave him a small smile. "He will be okay. You know how I know? Cause we raised him. He grew up with some of the best fighters in the world teaching him how to defend himself and survive in a precarious situation. If anyone can do it, it's Bumi, love."
She closed her eyes and sighed, taking his hands in hers and tenderly rubbing circles over the backs of them.
"Everything is going to be okay, Aang. It's not your fault. Never your fault."
"The Avatar is dead."
That was what they had announced earlier that day. Katara shuddered at the memory, her old, aching joints rejoicing as she finally sat down on their- no, now only her bed. Today, the world finally came to know what had been haunting her for the last month Avatar Aang, ender of the Hundred Year War, bringer of peace to the world, founder of the United Republic, was dead.
Her husband, the love of her life, the father of her children, was gone, and he wasn't coming back. And there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing anymore anyways.
She should've seen the signs at their anniversary party that night. She was a healer after all. She could've used some of the spirit water Kya had brought her last time from the North Pole and used it to save him.
But she didn't, and now he was dead. It was all her fault.
Katara shivered as she lay down, her mattress's old springs, little bouncy metal things Sokka had invented, creaking and whining as she spread out her weight on the bed.
She closed her eyes, wishing for the abyss to take her just as it had him. Without Aang, she had no reason to go on. Why would she wake up every morning just to be reminded of the vacant spot beside her? Why would she go out and waterbend like she had all those years ago with her very first pupil. She could barely even go for a flight on her bison Saisei, who like her was grieving the loss of her mate who had passed not too long after Aang.
Katara let the darkness consume her, enshrouding her thoughts, vision, and subconscious until suddenly, it gave way to light.
Something was off. She felt… young, as if she had the boundless energy of her youth once again. Katara looked down at herself and gasped. What should've been old, wrinkly skin bundled up in a parka was now supple and smooth dressed in the kimono she had been wearing the morning after their wedding.
There was another flash of light that blinded her. Katara squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the new scene in front of her. Amongst the light was a shadow, slowly walking up to her with a familiar gait. Her eyes widened when she recognized who it was.
"Aang?"
The airbender stepped out of the light so that she could see him in all his glory, truly a sight for sore eyes and also bedecked in the fabrics he had been wearing the day after their wedding.
"Where am I?" she asked him, a frown on her face.
Aang gave her a sad smile. "Welcome to the spirit world."
"The spirit world? Am I… well, dead?"
He shook his head. "No, not for a while. I brought you here."
Katara tilted her head in curiosity, still struggling to take in her vivid surroundings. "Why?"
He took a step towards her, taking her lithe hands in his larger ones as they now stood mere inches away from one another.
"I couldn't watch you blame yourself, sweetie. It wasn't your fault. So, I pleaded with the spirits to see you one more time, and given all that I've done for the world, they reluctantly agreed."
Katara gave him a somber look, reaching out her hand to tentatively touch his face as if she were afraid doing so would make him disappear.
"I could've done something, anything. It all happened too soon, Aang."
He shook his head, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. "It was a long time coming, Katara. It was because of the iceberg- even the Avatar's powers are limited and that weakened my lifeforce significantly. I never told you because there was nothing you could do about it. I didn't want you to worry."
"But the water from the spirit oasis!" she interjected. "It had magical properties and Kya brought some back for me. I could've-"
Aang gave her a sad smile. "You couldn't have. The reason it worked the first time was that it wasn't a physical problem- I had lost a connection to my past lives and my spirit was about to cross over. This was different, sweetie. My body was failing. The Avatar is superhuman, but he is also just that- human. There was nothing to be done."
"Then I should've done something to make your last days better!" she exploded, her voice raw and full of emotion. "I didn't know that it would be so quick, so soon, I-"
He pressed a short, sweet kiss to her lips, effectively interrupting her. "Exactly. You didn't know. It's not your fault. Katara, you were, you are, the best part of me. I treasure every second I got to spend with you, and how much I love you transcends what I ever thought was possible to feel for another person. So please, for me, stop blaming yourself."
He touched their foreheads together, sighing as he closed his eyes in contentment and their heartbeats synchronized.
"It's not your fault, love," he said softly. "Never your fault."
Katara chuckled, wiping tears she didn't know were forming from her eyes with the back of her hand. "That's what we always say, the pair of hypocrites we are."
Aang grinned. "Damn straight, but that doesn't make it any less true every time."
He looked earnestly into her deep blue eyes, wincing as he thought of how long it would be before they were reunited for good.
"I love you, Katara. Not even death can change that."
"I know, Aang. I love you too."
Katara's eyes widened in alarm as she realized her vision was beginning to fade. Aang's voice and the sound of the spirits around them got quieter and the image of her beloved dimmer and farther away. She reached out to him, trying to hold on for just a little while longer but to no avail. The colors began to mellow and blend into one another as everything became blurry and distorted. What was once a wild and flourishing spirit grove had now almost completely given way to the darkness of her subconscious. Right before it all went black, Katara managed to make out a few last words from Aang:
"It's not your fault, sweetie. Never your fault."
A/N: All the feels! Hope that wasn't too unsatisfying an ending but it did need to have the iconic line! Hope you all enjoyed!