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Crime In The Nations

Katara's Journal

Entry 5: Flee Reality

Author's Note: Surprise! New chapter! Hopefully I published it earlier than usual. I got hit with tons of inspiration all at once and I am so proud of the way I completed and wrote the last chapter. My other two stories are going to be updated soon. Book 4: Keeping Peace will be updated first, though. Anyways, I have no new updates. Just enjoy :)

-kataangforeverrr13

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender nor any of its characters/ideas. Please do not sue me.

Sunday, January 12th

Wait, why the hell is Sokka with them? Before I could ask any further questions, Suki buds in, "Wait, what's going on? Were you all running? And who is that?"

I whisper into Suki's ear to clear up one of her confused questions, "That's Zuko." She lets out a soft 'oh'.

Aang was the first who reacted. He quickly pushed everyone into the apartment and shut the door. He went up to me and gave me a hug, "Katara, I think we are in danger. We were in public talking a bit too loudly about you know what… and someone overheard what we were saying and has been chasing us all around the city."

"Yeah! And he is probably not far behind." Sokka said, as he finally caught his breath. He then realized Suki didn't look surprised at all about what was going on. "Wait a damn minute… Suki already knows everything doesn't she?" He questioned.

Suki bit her lip, "I don't know what you are talking about!"

Sokka pointed at her, "Yes you do! You always do that lip-biting thing when you know something or when you are lying! I thought you guys said that Suki didn't know!"

Toph threw her hands up in the air, "I swear we didn't say anything about this to her! It must have been Katara."

I crossed my arms as I was being dragged into this mess, "Well excuse me if I didn't have the right to tell someone! I need space to train anyway and frankly, Suki should have known all along."

Sokka gaped and pulled me into the other side of the room, "And I am your brother! You should have told me that you were going straight into a dangerous mission!"

"Well I am sorry but I just wanted to protect you!" I yelled back.

"I'm the one supposed to be doing the protecting! You don't get it… you're still my little sister. If something happened to you that I had no clue of, I don't know what I would do." He said with tears in his eyes.

"Oh Sokka… you really do have a heart." I laughed as I choked on my own tears. I have been feeling really bad lately for not letting my own brother in on this. We've always been close so I understood his pain. He just felt betrayed and ashamed.

In the background, you could hear Aang whispering emotionally, "He really does have a heart, doesn't he?" Toph then proceeded to punch his arm so forcefully that he lost his balance. Zuko, nevertheless, seemed uninterested and touched at the same time.

As Sokka and I regained our posture, there was a loud knock at the door. Suki reacted first and ran up to her door's peephole to check who it was. She breathed loudly enough for the rest of us to hear it, "It's a buff Fire Nation man with an intimidating face."

A flash of fright appeared on Zuko's face, "It's the guy who was chasing us."

Toph held her face with her hands, "Guys, we need to go now…"

The man began to knock on the door more forcefully as if he were going to break in.

"Now!" Toph repeated.

We understood her message loud and clear. He was trying to break the door down. I led the way into the hallway. At the end, there was a small window that led to a cliff. I bended the water from a nearby vase into my hand. I then threw the liquid at the window, breaking it open.

"Sorry about that Suki, anyways… we need to jump." Everyone looked at each other.

It was quite a long jump to the cliff. I stood onto the ledge of the window and nodded at them. As I was about to jump, there was a loud crash.

The man got in.

I gathered up all my courage and jumped as far as I could. I tried not to look down considering we were on the fifth floor. I felt my legs touch the ground. I made it.

Eventually, the others followed suit. Sokka, Zuko, Toph, Suki, and finally Aang. They did it as quickly as possible but not without the man noticing. He tried to jump over the cliff's ledge. However, he didn't make it in time as Zuko threw a fireball fist at him, making him tumble down the drop.

"Damn, that must have hurt like hell." Sokka joked with terrible timing.

"He's probably going to catch up, so we should go." Aang said with a worried look on his face.

"I agree, let's head back to my apartment. It's on the other side of town." I stated as I picked up my phone. We needed a taxi because there is no way we were walking all the way over there.

After being dropped off by the Taxi driver, we walked inside Sokka and I's apartment. We all sat down in the living room, completely exhausted.

"What are we going to do now?" Suki was the first to break the silence.

"I'm not sure but we'll have to lay low, most importantly." Zuko answered as we all hummed our agreement.

"Something was awfully strange about that encounter though. Almost like he knew exactly what he was after." Toph asked with a suspicious tone.

Sokka added, "Or more like he knew exactly who he was after…"

That man was after some specific? Who was he after? I decided to speak aloud my questions, "What were you guys talking about that captured that dude's attention anyways?"

"Well… at first we were talking about how Toph happened to have more brute force than Sokka."

"Damn straight." Toph interrupted showing off her arms for everyone to see.

Aang continued, "We were all at the gym, coincidentally. We found each other there. We filled Sokka in with all the details of our plan, but that's about it."

"Oh and we were talking about the Avatar." Zuko recalled.

"That makes much more sense!" I said as I realized what was going on. I bolted off to my room. I took out a big ass journal filled with my earlier research on the Avatar. It contained documents, newspapers, history logs, and quotes from actual people. I never truly uncovered this mystery but it was all unwrapping in my head, right at that moment.

The rest of the group followed me into my room with clear confusion on their faces. I didn't mind it, however, as I took out a whiteboard and erasable markers. I drew out a quick and sloppy diagram. I wrote down the connections:

-The Avatar was born 100 years ago in the air temples. Most likely in the southern region.

-He was estimated to be around 10-16 years old when the world last heard of him.

-People knew him for having his airbending master tattoos at a very young age.

-If he were alive today, he would be 119-125.

I wrote all of this information down on my board as it became clear to me. I spoke my thoughts to the rest who were befuddled, "I did this about 3 years ago. I never finished it though. Okay so, what if the man who was chasing us recognized one of us? What if he overheard the word Avatar and acknowledged it? What if he had the right idea?"

-It's one of us.

"Katara… you're worrying us. Where are you getting at?" Suki asked, lost.

-21 year old man.

-Bald

-Airbending tattoos,

-And a mysterious past.

I dropped my markers and stopped breathing. I could hear that Aang did too.

"I know who the Avatar is." I murmured breathlessly.

"Who is it!" Sokka asked.

"Tell us!" Toph exclaimed.

Everyone, except for Aang, seemed really excited which was the opposite of what I was feeling. I look up at them and direct my gaze directly at someone. I whisper in almost disbelief and determination, "It's you. It's Aang."

Everyone gasped in unison. Aang looked surprised but not really, all together. He looked ashamed mostly.

"Really? Is it true?" Zuko put in.

Aang sighed knowing that it wasn't worth all the lying, "Unfortunately… it is."

Everyone else gasped again. I stood there frozen, not wanting to believe this. On one hand, my long awaited mystery had finally been solved. But on the other hand, my long awaited mystery turned out to be my boyfriend. It's the lying and hiding the truth that hurt me most. I thought I knew him better and it made me feel unworthy.

"Well then, that's perfect!" Sokka clapped his hands together. No one else shared my same feelings regarding this uncovered truth. Everyone began to chatter about what to do next with the Avatar on our side. I, however, got up quietly and I unconsciously strode to my bathroom. I didn't even bother turning on the light switch. Before I knew it, I began to sob hysterically. I don't know why I felt so much pain.

It was all mostly anger, betrayal, worthlessness, and feelings of unfaithfulness. God, I told that man everything. From what happened to my mother, from my deep episodes of depression, to the fact that I had an obsession with finding out who the murderer of my mother is. But I was left knowing barely anything about him.

My body continued to wrack uncontrollably as I let it all out. What was even sadder was that at this moment, I would crawl into the arms of my boyfriend and confide in him. But I couldn't do that right now. How could I ever trust him again?

I don't know for how long I stayed there, crying. It must have been minutes because the noise outside finally dimmed down. I continued letting out my feelings until I heard a small peck on the door. I immediately knew who it was but I didn't want to let him in. He knocked softly again and this time, he spoke.

"Katara, it's me. Please let me in."

I wasn't going to budge at first until he whispered again, "Please." This time, I could hear his voice crack almost as if he were on the verge of tears himself. I felt sympathy and decided to hear him out. I extended my arm and unlocked the door, my blurred vision making the already pitch black room harder to see in.

In a few seconds, he opened it and walked inside, closing the door behind him. The room was completely dark but he still managed to find a spot next to me and sat down.

He raggedly breathed in, "Listen, I know I lied. And I regret it so much. I promise I was going to tell you eventually. In fact, I was going to ask you to be my waterbending master. But a lot happened out of nowhere and I got caught up in it all. What I'm trying to say is… I'm sorry. I am so sorry, Katara."

I didn't say anything at first. I still felt hurt as much as I didn't want to. "I get it… but understand my side too. I opened up to you. I don't open up." I whimpered again as I hugged my legs. I cleared my throat, "You could have told me before. This can't work if you don't trust me enough to keep a secret like that."

"I was trying to protect you from all the drama being involved in this life causes-"

I interrupted him in a burst of anger, "That's just it! I don't need protection. Why would you do that to me? Take away my choice and act like oh, 'it was the right thing to do'? Well no, it doesn't work like that! I am a sucker for solving mysteries but imagine having to deal with the fact that one of the mysteries you've been obsessed with your entire life is actually just the person closest to you! So no! I don't understand why you would do that to me. Why Aang? Why!" Tears streamed down my face like ever before.

"Because I love you!" He yelled in exasperation. "And I hate this. I hate my life, I hate my role, I hate myself for abandoning the world when it needed me most. My people are gone, Katara! My parents, my friends, everyone! This world is so unfamiliar and I have had to deal with it alone for a while. So I really am sorry. I am so so sorry." He began to cry into my shoulder.

I embraced him as we both sobbed. It was too much pain for us to handle all alone. It becomes unbearable every once in a while and all you need is someone to relate to. Someone who loves you. Someone to love back.

"I love you too." I whispered into his ear. My cheeks were wet and so were his. I kissed his lips quickly but not without every ounce of love I had. "And it's going to be okay. I promise. I'll help you. You are no longer alone, Aang. You are finally home."

Aang and I finally calmed down. He told me everything. His entire story.

How he left his home at age 12, trying to escape his problems and sorrows. How he got caught up in a storm with his flying bison and woke up a hundred years later with no memory whatsoever. How he took years and years to regain every detail he lost. Once he remembered again, he moved to Republic City hoping for a fresh new start but only found himself right where he started. With the world's burdens resting on his shoulders.

We held each other at the bottom of our bathroom floor. I had never seen him cry so seeing him so vulnerable made me lower my inhibitions and newly built walls of distrust. On the bright side, we confessed our love for each other which was a blessing in its own way.

"Let's talk more later? I think we should get back to everyone before they grow suspicious." I said as I pulled away from our strong embrace. I immediately missed his warmth but pushed through.

"What do we tell them? It has to be believable and not too far of a stretch." He asked quietly.

I answered quickly without hesitation, "Easy. We'll just say that we were making out." With that note, I opened the door and walked towards the group.

Everyone seemed to be talking amongst themselves not even realizing that two of them were missing. They were speaking plans, battle strategies, training ideas, and everything in between.

Sokka was the first who noticed the new presence, "Hey guys… what were you two doing?" He asked suspiciously.

I decided to play with him a little, "None of your business, I'm afraid." Aang and I sat on the one-person couch. Sokka gagged in disgust trying not to think what those possibilities could be.

"So, should we tell Katara the new and improved plan now or are there more details you all added?" Aang asked with an annoyed look.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll just say it. So basically, we are all still going to train. However, we have to teach Aang how to bend earth, water, and fire. And it has to be done before the end of the summer."

I scrunched my eyebrows together, "Why such a short deadline?"

"Because there's a firebending boosting comet by the end of September that the Fire Nation army will use to finally win this unending war." Zuko explained.

"Oh… so we will have to do this on the day of the comet right? So that Aang can have as much time as possible to master 3 elements in not even a full year?!" Everyone nodded.

"Should be easy enough." Sokka sarcastically stated.

p"Well then… When do we start?" Suki asked.

"How does next week sound? So that we can have enough time to prepare. But as his bending masters, we'll need a schedule so that we don't tire him too much." Zuko said while rubbing his chin.

"Guess I'll make the schedule." Sokka said. Soon enough, we went our separate ways. The only ones left were Sokka, Suki, Aang, and I.

"Suki, you know you can't go back home right? With that man knowing where you live." I expressed my concern.

"Yeah, I understand that. Can I stay here in the meantime?" She asked.

"Yeah of course. If it's okay with Sokka." I look towards my brother.

"It's more than okay with me." Sokka gave two thumbs up.

"Thank you, but I hope you all realize that he might easily find all of our homes. So, we should stay alerted just in case."

"Yeah, it's 1am and I'm tired so I'm going bed now." I got up and smirked, "You coming, Aang?"

That made Sokka groan in disgust. As Aang and I made it into my room, we sat on the bed.

"So… you do love me huh?" I asked with a blush on my face as we both got ready to sleep.

"Yeah, I thought it was really obvious." His face began to match mine.

"Well, it was but it's also nice to hear you actually say it, you know?"

He came up behind me and wrapped his strong arms around my waist, "I love you… so much."

I turned myself around to face him, "I love you too." We kissed for a while until I started to get really tired out. Today had been more than mildly crazy and everything that unwrapped was alerting my body and mind to finally get some rest because it was clear that tomorrow would be equally as chaotic.

Before being able to tell him, I yawned. Like really loudly. I smiled sheepishly in embarrassment, "Sorry!"

Aang laughed, "It's okay, I'm tired too. Let's resume this in the morning?"

"Sound good to me." I leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss before getting into my bed.

"Goodnight Katara, I love you." I heard him say before drifting off to sleep.

"G'night. Love you too." I mumbled before falling into a deep slumber.