Katara stirs sleepily, luxuriating in the warmth pouring off the lean body pressed up against her back. A strong arm drapes across her hip, holding her close. She blinks her eyes open slowly and is surprised at the light filling their bedroom. A warm golden glow touches everything, gilding and softening the edges of furniture and bedding alike. But Aang usually awakes before full light and steals away to meditate. Why is he still in bed?
Suddenly wide awake, she rolls over to face her boyfriend. He is awake, watching her intently. The morning light spills over him, too. She never gets to see him like this, in bed with morning limning his elegant features and the clean lines of his body. She likes this view of her sexy, kind, wonderful boyfriend. No! She corrects herself with a smile. Her fiancé. She had finally asked Aang to marry her last night. And he had said yes. She grins, her joy irrepressible.
"Hi" she whispers, voice husky with sleep.
Aang's levels his sultriest gaze at her and quirks one eyebrow. "Hey."
Deciding he must never know how hot she finds that look, she allows the happiness filling her to bubble over in a giggle. She winks broadly and purses her lips in an air kiss. They flirt back and forth with come-hither looks and suggestive leers until both are convulsed with laughter. She wants to freeze this moment and live in it forever.
Abruptly, she remembers the concern that initially led to her quick awakening. Her smile fades a bit as she asks "why are you still in bed?"
The sparkle in his eyes dims. But he holds her gaze and asks "Are you sure? About marrying me? Marriage always involves compromise, but it seems like ours will force you to always be the one who gives something up. I know you miss your home, but there's no way I can relocate to the South Pole. A few years of peace hasn't healed the wounds left by a hundred years of war. I have to do what I can to support continued peace. Not only because I'm the Avatar, but because I'm the last Air Nomad. I have to be a reminder of why we work to keep the peace."
Katara strokes the side of his face, then cradles his jaw in her hand. "Sweetie. You're my home now. Wherever you are is where I want to be. I know being in love with the Avatar is not an easy path, but I'm strong." She presses closer to him, resting her forehead against his. Their breaths mingle as she adds "There are things I won't change or give up and we both know about those. Anything else is more than compensated because I get to be with you. Were you really lying here worrying that I'd made an ill-considered mistake in asking you to marry me?"
He huffs a small laugh then nods. He pauses, then admits "I was also enjoying having you in my arms and watching the sunlight wash over your hair."
Katara smiles and squirms closer to him. She presses her face into the curve of his neck, closes her eyes and breathes him in. She is beginning to feel sleep stealing back over her when Aang speaks again.
"This is nice, but we should get up soon. We need to plan a wedding and invite our family."
Katara traces the line of his neck with her lips. She kisses him behind his ear, delighting in the hitch in his breath it causes. "Do we need to do that right now?" she murmurs, then gently nips at his exposed throat and traces her fingers along the path of his tattoo up his spine to the back of his neck.
Aang groans and tilts his head down toward hers. Just before their lips meet, he whispers "Later."
And, indeed, it is much later in the day that they rise and dress. They begin to speak of wedding plans while they drink Air Nomad-style tea, which is thick with butter and barley powder and makes a satisfying breakfast. Aang no longer grimaces when she sprinkles dried fish over hers.
"I read as much as I could find about Air Nomad weddings. I want to write you a poem and have your poem to me tattooed on my wrist. I want to make your tea and for you to make soup for me. I wonder if the gliders the people at the northern Air Temple make could be used in the wedding dance?"
Aang's smile fades and his face goes still. Katara falls silent. She has read a lot about Air Nomad culture and weddings, but Aang had lived it. She will let him tell her about wedding rituals as he understands them. As he wants them. It matters more that everything seems true and meaningful to her love than that they follow a description written by an Earth Kingdom scholar two centuries ago.
"Katara, love, you're not an Air Nomad. I don't want you to be. If there were thousands and thousands of Air Nomad women, I'd still only want you. We should have a traditional Water Tribe wedding. We'll go to the South Pole and-"
Katara stops his litany with a single finger laid upon his lips. She smiles softly and shakes her head "How about we do what we always do? A bit of Water Tribe, a bit of Air Nomad?"
Aang replies "Some you, some me. All us."
A/N Kataang Week inspired me to add to this story. I'm working on a third chapter, too. That should be the end. But I thought I'd reached the end of the story a year ago, so who knows?