Hii! I wanna start with an apology for not posting in such a long time. I've genuinely hit a writer's block and I could barely write any words for this fic anymore.Thankfully I've been able to finally move on from that. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't really good, but after this one things are about to get more interesting.
—What do you mean you're not coming anymore?!
The earthbender yelled, slamming her hands on the wood table, clenching her jaw. Aang flinched at the loud sound, but tried to keep his expression serious.
—I've already decided, Toph. I need to stay here to finish my training.
She looked like she was fuming. It was just the two of them in the dining room, just as he planned, even if Aang didn't know her for more than a day, he felt like he knows her for a lifetime, and was already expecting a similar reaction, maybe even worse.
—I travelled across the world just to get you to Basingse and you want to stay here?!
She screamed at him again then sighed exhausted, putting her hands on her temples.
—Why would you want to stay here? I can barely see a thing and it is so cold! Ugh, there is disgusting snow everywhere.
The girl continued, groaning in frustration, when she felt his calm heartbeat and she knew like he was not gonna change his mind. She sighed and put an almost disgusted smile on her face.
—Fine, I would stay here until you decide you want to come with me. No complaining.
She said putting her hand in front of him.
—I wasn't going to say anything. I'm actually glad you decided to remain here.
He said with a small smile, wondering if the long black bangs didn't annoy or get in the way. She frowned a bit confused.
—Why?
—I don't know, I feel.. connected to you. This might sound really weird, but I think my avatar senses are telling me that you should hang around and maybe even be my earthbending master one day.
Toph Beifong didn't say anything. Even if she found the whole avatar spirit thing annoying, she knew for a fact that she shouldn't doubt him. She remembered the orders from the Earth Kingdom so clearly "Bring the avatar in safely", but since when she was following the rules? She will do things her way. And if her way meant agreeing to some weird "avatar instincts" she will just do that. Her expression relaxed. She seemed like she was gonna agree with him and the airbender smiled.
—Fine.
The chief of the police said finally.
—I need to go now, thank you for understanding!
Aang said as he went outside, stepping on the cold snow with his shoes, going excited to the spot where he and his masters trained before.
His heart begin to race and a smile raised on his face when he saw the brunette girl, with a few scrolls in her hands, she was wearing her warm fur jacket and her hair up in a braid. Her blue eyes shined in excitement when she was him coming. They both waved at each other and Aang stopped in front of her, one meter distance between them.
—How did it go with Toph?
She said, with a bit of worry in her voice. Katara knew the young woman for a day, but already felt familiar to her temper.
—Actually, pretty well, she said she'll stay here until I decide I want to go.
He said casually, with a small smile, slightly confused at the way her mouth dropped. Katara took a deep breath, then sighed.
—Is there anything wrong?
—No. It's fine, let's get to our training.
She shut him off before he could say anything else and the tanned girl begin explaining a move she already learned. Honestly, she couldn't say that she didn't like what Toph was representing: a strong and stubborn woman that doesn't listen to anyone.. but she seemed.. Chaotic. And Katara didn't like that. She liked seeing man being humbled but hated how she picked on her brother and father for no good reason.
—I'm finally doing it!
Aang said cheerfully, taking her out from her thoughts. She smiled warmly to him, she hasn't seem him be so happy since the night they spent together, when he told her some of his adventures from the Temples.
—Good, now try this.
She got closer to him, doing a pushing movement with her arms, soon the Airbender followed her, doing it successfully. Before she could praise him some clapping was heard. Katara frowned, annoyed that their training was interrupted. She kept her hands stiff, prepared for anything.
The two men made their presence known and finally stepped in, the water tribe girl gave Aang the scrolls she had in her hands and went in front of him, in a protective manner.
—It's impressive how quickly he learned.
The shorter man said, playing with his white beard, while the other one gave him an unsure look.
—I guess so.
She said pretty coldly, still upset at the way they treated her. They might have said nothing, but they laughed along Pakku and she could feel the mockery in their eyes so she found then just as guilty as he was.
—Can we watch?
The tallest one, Ikya, maybe a bit older than her father said. Katara gave Aang an hesitant look, not sure if she should allow them or no, but the airbender nodded and she sighed.
—Alright.
Katara begin explaining Aang all of the things she knew and he also told and showed her the movement that he learned with Pakku. They were receiving curious looks from the elders, Ikya seemed to want to open his mouth, to explain them what they were doing wrong, to give them indications, to teach them, but he kept quiet.
After half an hour of training, they both stopped, feeling quite proud of their progress. "who knew we two make such a good team" Katara thought and smiled at him while the avatar was wiping the few drops of sweat off his face. Tukkuk, the older one, coughed, making both of the benders to look at him.
—Master Pakku is our superior, we can't betray him.
Then Ikya continued, much more confident than earlier.
—So we decided, the only fair thing is to give you the other scrolls.
Katara and Aang looked at each other, smiling, not believing what was happening and took them. The waterbender bowed first, then she was followed by the airbender.
—Thank you so much for trusting us!
The next couple of days, the two trained alone, learning various moves and helping each other, they were going slow, but like Aang said "I've made so much more progress in these days than I did in the whole time I spent training with Pakku". That whole thing gave Katara a confidence burst. She was not even a master, but yet was called a better teacher! "Take that, Pakku!" she thought happily.
Thankfully for both of them, the master shamefully admited that he spread the rumors, which helped with her reputation even if some people were a little bit resilient, they all seemed to forget about it or at least they didn't mention it anymore.
Katara went back to her room, preparing for the dinner, where she'll have to witness another one of Pakku's failure to get Kanna to like him again.
Now that she was in her room and the tanned girl looked in the mirror, her face was reddish because of the cold weather, which she was used to and her hair was in a long braid. Katara took her winter coat off, looking at the necklace, that stayed comfortably close to her neck. She softly touched it with her fingers, feeling a bitter ache in her heart. The waterbender went near a drawer, opening it staring at the familiar necklace that stayed untouched there, and took her mother's one down replacing it with the other.
—Ugh, what is this?!
The raven haired girl groaned moving her hand over a hard and cold surface.
—It's a crafted water tribe weapon. All the men over 14 years used it.
Sokka explained then got offended when she rolled her eyes.
—Boring. Don't you have anything more interesting to do?
Toph said, staring at the wall she couldn't see, while Sokka was cleaning the dust off some of the weapons.
—If you don't like it, you can go.
He said a bit coldish, already done with her.
—Nah.
She responded simply, enjoying how annoyed she was making him be. He started mumbling something and continued doing his chore. Toph, bored, sat down on a cushion, brushing her arms, she was already covered in some thick layers and she wasn't wearing her armour anymore, there was no need for it. Her plan was to wait for the avatar to finish his training and then to take him to Basingse, as long as she brought the Avatar safely, the king won't be able to say anything.
—Aren't you annoyed that twinkle toes spends most of his time flirting with your sister?
She said, wanting to get another reaction from him. Sokka rolled his eyes, stopping from cleaning, to turn back to her.
—Don't remind me, just the thought of them kissing grosses me out, like.. like.. OOGIES!
Toph laughed, cracking her knuckles. Sokka finally finished his cleaning and stepped closer to the earthbender, putting his hand in front of her.
—I have no idea what you're doing with your arm in front of me.
She said calmly, then frowned, raising her tone.
—You better not be flipping me off-
Sokka started laughing at her assumption.
—Sorry, I keep forgetting you're blind, I offered my hand to help you get up.
Toph nodded and stood up alone with a small smirk on her face, knowing damned well that she annoyed the Water Tribe man. She loved acting silly towards him more than with others, she didn't understand exactly why.
The two finally went together to the dinner table, where their friends were chatting, Aang was trying to cheer the waterbender up, to make his friend less nervous. And it was working; Katara's face relaxed into a smile. Even if she was trying to suppress her discomfort, the things at the table were always filled with tension. Her grandmother was still ignoring the master that she got in a fight with. The young adult started to feel bad, as much as she hated Pakku, she somehow hated more seeing him looking like a sad puppy.
—Kanna, please talk to me..
He said once again and the elder woman sighed exhausted.
—You want me to talk to you? Fine. But train my granddaughter and the avatar.
Aang choked on his food, starting to cough and Katara that was also surprised, but immediately slapped his back a few times, making sure he'll be ok. After he calmed down she sighed relived, both of them looking shocked to the elders. Everybody was quiet, the tension was thick. None of them knew what he would say.
Pakku frowned, his old blue eyes were in different places, was he going to let go of his traditions? It didn't make any sense! And it was disrespectful to the tribe.. But then he remembered, all the other waterbenders from his sister tribe were taken away, Katara was the only waterbender, also his whole purpose of coming here was to train the avatar, that refuses to train with him anymore. He had to. He had to step on his own pride and do it. He felt like he had nobody on his side and maybe like that, Kanna would love him again.
—I'll do it.
Aang almost choked again, but Katara put her finger in front of his face, stopping him, while her mouth opened widely. He blushed, but then tried to focused on the actual news. The girl's eyes seemed to sparkle and even if she hated that old man, that would mean that she finally has a chance to learn proper waterbending from a master! But soon enough her smile faded away. She wasn't sure if she should accept it.
The avatar got closer to her face, softly breathing on her chestnut skin.
—Are you sure you wanna do it?
He asked with concern, but feeling him so close to her made her mouth go dry and made her stomach drop, heart pounding, red face. She completely forgot about that she actually had to answer his question.
—Katara?
He asked again, in a confused tone and she blinked quickly and let an "oh" out loud, getting a few looks, as she finally remembered and then blushed, starting to talk silently only to him so that no one else would hear her.
—I know he wasn't the best person and for sure, he sucks. But we can't miss our chance to learn waterbending from a master! It's been my dream since I discovered I am a Waterbender!
Aang took a break, backed away gently looking at her face and sighed. He disliked his master so much, but he wanted her to be happy. It won't be that hard pretending to like him, right?
—Alright then.
He said, then looked at the master that was waiting for a response from them.
—An apology first.
Kanna spoke before Katara could and the young waterbender's heart filled with more admiration than she already felt for her grandmother. Who would have known Grangran was such a badass?
The man looked like he was about to take back his proposal, but then sighed, closed his eyes, forcing himself to step on his pride and finally spoke.
—I am sorry. Would you like to be my students?
He said really hesitant and when Kanna tried to spoke over him to tell him to be more convincing, Katara, impatiently said.
—Yes, me and Aang would like to be your students.
The airbender, even if not so happy with her decision, smiled towards the waterbender that had that spark back in her eyes she had before she was refused the first time. He could feel her excitement and it made it hard for him to feel upset.
Toph leaned closer to Sokka, whispering "They're so dramatic" and the water tribe man tried to keep his chuckle to himself. Yes, his family was dramatic, but he loved them.
Two weeks have passed and both of their waterbending progress was going great. Aang didn't feel the block he felt in the past and every time he felt frustrated, Katara would kindly explain to him that he should come and motivated him. Katara seemed more free, this was like a dream that came true to her. They barely talked though outside of training as she was busy with helping one woman that had trouble giving birth.
After a rough training session, Katara groaned frustrated, drinking some water she had at her.
—I can't believe this! How can he be so.. so.. UGHH.
She rolled her eyes desperately, leaning against her tent's exterior, while Aang was looking at her in an empathic way.
—We are at the same level of waterbending! Why does he have to give me the "easy" forms of bending! He knows I'm capable of more!
The waterbender said again and saw the unsure look in avatar's eyes. He was trying to find a good answer, but he didn't know what to say, the airbender hated the clear discrimination between him and her.
—I know you're the avatar and stuff.. But it is just not fair.
She said the last line more sad then upset, and Aang gently touched her shoulder making her look up to him with teary eyes.
—I may be the avatar, but I tot sure don't feel like it. You don't have to lie yourself, Katara. It's clear that you're a much better waterbender than me, the only person that is incapable of seeing this is Master Poophead.
Katara let a giggle leave her soft lips and glanced affectionately at the airbender that seemed annoyed by the situation too.
—I don't understand it Aang..
She said, sighing, not moving her eyes away from his pale face, his grey eyes seemed clouded as he was clearly unpleased with the situation.
—Me neither, he is so-
—No, no, not that!
She fluttered her hands in front of him, stopping him from insulting the master, making him turn his glance to her.
—I don't understand you.. I've been cruel to you since you came here, but you were always nice to me. I know you're a generally nice person, but.. I don't deserve it.
Aang looked confused at her, he could sense the regret in her voice, but it made him confused. He saw nothing wrong in her behaviour. The more he thought about it, it was starting to get funny and he started laughing.
Katara turned to him, frowning confused and almost mad, because she just opened up to him and he was laughing in her face?!
—I'm sorry, Katara. But what you said it's hilarious, no one has been nicer than you.
He took a break, looking away from her, hands relaxing down his body.
—I couldn't leave the Southern Air Temple for ages because of the Fire Nation. So, when I arrived in the Water tribe, I was completely taken by surprise by how cold.. joke intended; people are here.
Even if she could empathize with him, she felt a strong need to interrupt him and to defend her tribe. Even if the Water Tribes weren't perfect, they were still her home.
—They weren't always cold; the people of the Water Tribes are.. or I guess were very welcoming, but now we are scared.. We lost so many people due so the Fire Nation, they came in our villages and killed our waterbenders and with them my mother too..
She sighed again, her voice breaking softly, he could sense the pain in her voice. The airbender started to feel grateful that he didn't lose anyone he personally knew because of the Fire Nation. Even if he didn't have parents, he knew he would feel torn apart when Gyatso would pass away. And even then, having someone taken away from you for no good reason probably hurt a lot more than he could understand.
—I'm so sorry for your loss, Katara, I didn't know you lost someone from your family.
She started tearing up and the avatar looked hesitant to her, feeling a strong urge to hug her, but he wasn't sure if they were close enough to do so without asking.
—Can I..?
He asked almost out of breath, but she wiped her tears off. Katara didn't want to talk more about the death of her mother, she spent enough nights crying about it, now she had to get a hold of herself and change the subject.
—That didn't answer my question.
She said looking to him with a bit of curiosity, whatever he was gonna say, it would hopefully make her feel better. Aang felt his cheeks glow red all of the sudden and he felt a nod in his throat. He didn't know exactly why either; He was raised to be an understanding person so being there for her was not something unusual. Although it would be a lie to say he didn't like her, that didn't mean he was expecting something from her by being nice.
He took a deep breath and decided to stop overthinking and to follow his mind and heart that were telling him to be speak with sincerity. He cleared his throat as he tried to order his thoughts.
—I really like you.
He said it simply, but sudden panic got to him and he widen his eyes, almost not believing what he just said. "How did I say it so easily?" he felt like yelling in a pillow, what if she would hate him? What if she already knew and now she's going to be really uncomfortable around him? He forced himself to stay firm, to not show the anxiety he was feelings.
Katara looked a little surprised, not that the information was foreign to her, because she already felt like he liked her, plus her brother constantly keeps teasing her about it, it was just.. She didn't know, it felt strange hearing him say that, his words made her feel joy, but she was trying to hide it away. She started feeling a tingling feeling at the end of her finger tips and felt her face heating up a little bit.
—I like you too.
She responded in a surprisingly calm tone. Aang looked confused at her and finally let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding, less worried. It wasn't explicit in what way she liked him but.. she likes him! And as long as she wasn't uncomfortable in his presence, he was more than happy, even if she meant it in a platonic way.
It was silent, none of them dared say a word, finally the airbender decided to try out his luck one last time with a risky question.
—D-do.. Do you wanna go out with me?
BOOM
ending this chapter on this question.
Next chapter we will finally discover what's Katara's "secret". I did a little bit of foreshadowing, but oh well .
Would she say yes? Would she say no?
Kataangerx: Aww, thank you. Also, for everybody reading these recension, you should follow her kataang account on Instagram ( Kataanger04 ).
Ashley Barbosa: Thank you for your support! Yess! I'm glad you liked them.
and finally, my favorite reader (I love you all, but they have a special place because they're one of my biggest motivations to continue)
TheQuietReader23: I literally hate him so much too, if I didn't need him to train them, I would kill him off lmao or something, I just can't stand him. And even his apology was pathetic, but oh well, at least they're training and it got to kataang confession.I KNOW, that hurt to write, but we know for a fact that Katara can be really cruel when she's mad. And I can genuinely say that the end felt so satisfying, at least to me.For some reason, Toph is more of a comedic relief than Sokka, but oh well. Tell me what you think, should I make him more funny too?
Again, thank you for the long reviews, they are such good motivation for me to continue3!