A/N: Hello, I forget to put A/Ns on the other chapters *face palm*. Really hope you are enjoying the story because I have really been enjoying writing it! If you would like to, leave a review, every review I get makes me so happy. Thank you to everyone who has read the story, it makes me feel real great to know that people actually have read my writing.
Katara tossed and turned, unable to find a comfortable position. Her anger was still raging through her body. 'How could he?' was the only thing repeating in her mind. After several minutes she stood, and moved to the window. She looked out and saw the beach. She remembered their many nights of late night water bending. The chanting switched to 'How could I?'. She continued to stare out the window, 'How could I have been that mean?' She grasped the window sill, her harsh words of rejection, replaying in her mind. She sighed, this was partially her fault. She shouldn't have gotten so angry. Gran Gran always said to never go to bed angry and here she was, trying to do just that. She chuckled at herself. She took a deep breath in and then out. Breathing all the night's events, including her anger, away. She looked back to the bed and crawled in. She shivered, the night was cold, especially for one in the Fire Nation, but that all fell away when she imagined him beside her. She took another deep breath and melted into the imaginary warmth of her best friend. With a final sigh, she drifted into a comfortable rest.
From the airships she could see Aang fighting the Fire Lord. The sky was a dark red, there was so much going on, but even at a distance, her focus stayed on the boy. She, Sokka, Suki, and Toph had decided to with Aang and Zuko went alone to fight his sister, at his own insistence. The airships went down, falling quickly. Katara noticed a bright blue light in the distance flash, only for a moment. She felt as if her heart had been ripped out and her stomach dropped. Something was wrong with Aang. They steered and landed the airship they were on, but not fast enough.
Ozai stood over a cowering Aang, laughing triumphantly. The boy was lying prone on the ground, pained. Katara didn't know what happened but her legs carried her towards the scene. Already with water glowing in her hand for healing. Toph, Suki, and Sokka following closely behind her.
The small group sent out attacks futilely. Toph made the earth rumble beneath his feet and encased them in rock. Sokka threw his boomerang at the now happy Fire Lord. Both he melted with a simple flick of the wrist. Suki ran at him, fans deployed, ready to attack. The man chuckled darkly, disarming her easily. He noticed Katara running to Aang, but did not move, knowing that her healing would do nothing to help him. One airship still stood, and before they could continue to attack him, he propelled himself up towards it. More smoke filled the air as he burned everything below him. Katara rushed towards Aang holding him in her arms, cradling his head and staring deep into his pained eyes.
He smiled weakly at her, "Hi," he said and winced. Suki, Sokka, and Toph came up behind her.
"Katara do something," Sokka said, coming to kneel beside her. She reached out to heal him but Aang grabbed her hands.
"Don't. You already saved me once, I think this is it," he chuckled. "Most people don't get this many reset buttons," everyone stared, slack-jawed. "Please, Aang let me help you," she stammered, reaching again for the water, now spilled on the ground. Again he stopped her. "Could you guys give us a second?" Aang said addressing everyone but Katara. "You can't die, please Aang," she said the desperation showing in her voice. "I'm going to be fine," he said, Toph flinched, she knew that it was a lie. She turned as did the others and walked away. Sokka hovered for a moment beside them, but Suki pulled him away. "Katara, I never got to say how much I love you. Everyday I wanted to say it, but I never did" he paused, "I love you so much," tears rolled down her cheeks and he wiped a few away. "It's you, and it always will be," she weeped gasping for air as he pulled her close to him. She cowered in his chest, trying to find the comfort she so craved. He winced, but continued to hold her.
"Aang please," was all she could say as they held one another. "There is so much I need to say,"
"Its ok. There is nothing that you need to say. I already know everything," he pulled away and smiled, a tear rolling down his cheek. They cupped each other's faces for a minute, gazing into each other's eyes for the last time, "It'll be ok Katara," he pulled back more and glanced at the rest of his friends. Suki and Sokka turned in to one another. Toph, despite having no injuries was on Sokka's back. Refusing to watch. He met her gaze and kissed her lightly on the cheek, like she had done so many times before. His eyes glazed over from pain and his skin turned pale. They clung to each other again, he whispered in to her hair "Goodnight, sweetie," his grasp on her went soft. He was gone.
"No. It's you. I need you," she cried out. She shook him lightly, "Aang please," she whispered. She kissed him, once, twice, three times until Sokka put his hand on her shoulder. "It's over," the flames shining in the wetness on his face.
"We have to go," The group took turns, each saying their respective goodbyes. The last time they would see their friend. Katara turned back once more after everyone else had walked off. She whispered to herself, not taking her eyes off her lost love, "I love you Aang,"
She woke up, tears staining her cheeks. She stopped, processing the dream, and continued to cry for minutes more, alone in her bed. She gasped for air, still thinking of everything Aang had said in her dream. She hugged herself rocking back and forth, finding a little comfort, imagining that Aang was beside her, comforting her. Unable to fully calm her self down, she crossed the hall, looking for him. His body in her arms, would be the only thing to calm her down, knowing that his heart was still beating and that he wasn't in pain.
She didn't find him in his room, instead just an empty bed. She curled up under the sheets, clinging to the pillows, inhaling the scent of him left on them. She calmed down enough to think clearly. She walked downstairs, not wanting to go back to bed until she made sure Aang was safe. In the kitchen she spotted a dark figure. She went in pretending to get a glass of water, thinking it was Aang. When the moon light hit her face, the figure smiled, and a feminine voice greeted her.
"Hey Katara," Suki got closer to the girl, and noticed her tear stained face. She pulled her in for a hug. Katara was slightly calmer, but still overwhelmed and clutched her. "What's wrong?" she asked looking at the girl in her arms. She pulled back just a bit, face full of concern, which seemed to cause more harm than good. Katara couldn't take the sight of her friend so concerned, and let the tears roll down her face. Suki pulled them back together and patted her head lightly. After several minutes, Katara stopped and pulled away. Suki noticed the cup, forgotten on the table. She grabbed in, "We can talk about it, only if you want?" Katara nodded. "Sit down, I'll get you some water," Katara sat on one of the stools by the counter. Suki sat across from her and slid the glass to her. "Drink this, it will help," Katara took the glass, gulping desperately at the water, until it was empty. Suki waited for her to finish and then nodded, letting her know that this was a safe space to share her sadness.
Katara started by explaining what happened that night and then continued onto the nightmare she had. All Suki could do was nod at her friend's interesting night. After finishing hearing about the events, Suki looked at the counter and then back up at the girl in front of her. "So, how exactly do you feel about... him?" she asked cautiously. Katara sighed. "I don't know. My reaction to his kiss was anger and frustration. But then I had that dream. And... I'm just so confused," she put her head in her hands and sighed again. Suki smiled, and Katara lifted her gaze to the older girl. "Was it this complicated with you and Sokka?" Suki chuckled.
"I'm not really sure. We were separated for long periods of time, and then we broke out of The Boiling Rock together. After that, it just felt right. We had a little thing on Kyoshi Island when you guys were there, but it didn't go much farther than a little kiss," she trailed off.
"So...?"
"So... After being away from each other, and still holding onto those feelings, what was there to lose? We were both in a good place, and took the time to figure it out together," she smiled. "I'm sorry if that didn't help," Katara nodded, lost in thought.
"No, I think it did. So you didn't feel like you needed to wait until the end of the war?"
"Oh spirits no. At that point, we kinda thought that this war was never going to end. It's just letting reasons turn into excuses not to,"
"I kinda told Aang that we should wait until after the war. Is that ok?" "I don't know. We are approaching the end of it. Just because it worked for Sokka and me, doesn't mean it will work for others,"
"Yeah, you're right," she chuckled to herself and started to get up to go, but Suki pulled her back down over the table. "Here's my last piece of advice: take the time to figure out your feelings, and if that takes until the end of the war, then that is how long it takes. But tell him that. He deserves to know that you need time," the girls smiled at one another before getting up and hugging it all out. A light knock came from the door frame to the living room. They broke the hug, to find Sokka leaning against it, hair down, wearing her undershorts.
"You guys ok?" he asked, Suki went up to him and hugged him around the middle. He was confused but hugged her back. Katara nodded.
"Just some late night girl talk," Katara responded. The couple eyed each other, said their goodnight to Katara and walked up the stairs and to their room. Katara now filled with the great advice of her brother's girlfriend, went to find Aang.
She walked to the beach, the full moon glistening in the water. That must have been why her nightmare was so vivid. Her dreams, senses, and of course water bending were always stronger on clear, full moon nights like this. She sat near the shoreline, staring up at the moon. She put her hands beside her and felt a small hole. She looked, and it was a foot print. It was quite deep, and they continued for a long way down the beach. Katara followed them, thinking they were Aang's, hoping to find him at the end. The footprints ended at the mouth of a small cave. There she saw, Aang meditating and Momo pouncing on Cave Crawlers. Momo looked up at her and ran towards her. She softly petted the lemur and noticed that Aang was muttering something. She got closer and heard that he was saying her name. Over and over again, with religious intent. She backed away. She put down Momo and walked out. This seemed to be private and she didn't want to intrude further. She looked back at him, his eyes still shut, but his eyebrows were creased in concern, and sweat rolled down his temple. She walked away from the cave, close enough if he needed help, but far enough that she wouldn't be bothering him.
She stared at the water near the cave, when a gasp broke her reverence. She heard Aang sigh and then get up. She saw him in the mouth of the cave, frustrated with whatever he had experienced in the meditation. She was going to approach him, try to talk to him about what had happened and what they should do moving forward, but it didn't feel right. He looked bothered, and she didn't want him to think that she was spying on him, so she hid in some bushes near the cave before he started the trek back. She watched his back until there was a large enough distance between them. She slowly crawled out from behind the bushes, and followed, making sure to maintain that distance. When she got to the house and saw him go in, she stopped. She wanted to stay in her element, at least for a little while longer.
She took off her shoes and long dress. She went into the water until it came up to her knees. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could see Aang's dead body, but with a long exhale, her focus was completely on the water around her. She started with gentle postures, moving slowly and deliberately. As the sun rose, she progressed to more complicated ones, until she was doing high level postures and skills. She dropped the water around her, and felt a grumble in her stomach. She looked up, the sun was fully in the sky and everyone in the house seemed to be up. She put her close back on and found them all waiting for her before they began eating. She sat next to Aang and satisfied her famished stomach. After the talk with both Suki and Aang, as well as the water bending practice, Katara felt as if months of pressure had been lifted off of her. The beach day was an exciting prospect. Spending all day in the water, having fun before the big day of Sozin's Comet which still lingered in the back of everyone's mind.
The door to her room was open, which was interesting. Inside she spotted the window open and her bed made. She smiled to herself, thinking that only one person could have done this. She changed in to her bathing clothes and rushed downstairs to thank Aang for his consideration, but he was in the middle of sparring. She sat down next to Toph and watched the boys fight. Aang seemed to notice her and shot a handsome smile towards her. She blushed and looked down. Toph nudged her, and smiled evilly. "Somebody's got a crush," she teased, Katara frowned and sent a precise water whip her way. She smiled after it hit its mark and watched the rest of the match. Admiring Aang's movements and muscles as he did them.