A/N. Well, there will be no updates for several days, at least until Monday I think. But for know, enjoy! Oh, the Air Nomad language is based on several languages around Tibet… So if I made errors, or offend anyone, I apologize.
I Don't own Avatar the last Airbender;
Fake Jo Dee dropped them off by the door, waving and wishing them a good night. Aang didn't miss the fact that she left, only when they all went inside the house. Well, this was a prison. A large one, with open spaces and the liberty to walk around in the city, but a prison, nonetheless. Long Feng had promised that they would be watched every moment of the day and night.
"I'm going to sleep. We'll deal with all this crap in the morning," Toph muttered before going to her bedroom. When the door fell close behind her, Katara also stood up, saying something about washing up before going to bed. Then, he was alone with Sokka.
"So, this is going to be fun." The older boy muttered darkly, staring out of a window.
"Yeah…" Aang went to the bench beside the water tribe boy, and sat down, with his head in his hands. This night had given him a headache.
"They are already watching us." Sokka pointed outside, and Aang looked. Following to where he pointed, the airbender saw two men in dark robes standing on the corner of the street.
"Dai Li. The cultural agents of Ba Sing Se." Aang explained. He had already known about them. A century ago, they had been a sort of mixture of police and guards for monuments in the city.
"Well, whatever they are… They are watching us… I'm going to write a letter to Suki." The water tribe sighed, before smiling shyly. Aang smiled, happy for him.
"So… you and Suki?" He asked while poking the boy in his ribs.
"Yeah… We kissed… It was good." Sokka grinned at the memory.
"Are you together?" the airbender asked, while standing up.
"Don't know… We agreed to write to each other! Ba Sing Se has good mail service! But yeah, knowing about Long Feng… I'll keep it as short as possible, without too much information. Goodnight Aang." Sokka also stood up, gathered his writing supplies before retreated inside his room. Now, the airbender was standing in the common room, alone. He heard the faucet in the bathroom turn off and the quiet footsteps go from there to Katara's room.
He exhaled, slowly. He had come to the city with several objectives. Find Appa, talk to the Earth King, and talk to Katara. Now, two of the three were under way, or were impossible thanks to the Cultural Minister.
That left just one thing to do.
He waited several minutes, for the airbender didn't want to barge in, uninvited, at an… inopportune moment.
While waiting, he heard Sokka sing that vulgar song he always sang. Toph shouted at him to shut up, but he didn't. It was good to hear the normal things of life, the bickering, the laughing… It had been a long time they had had a good time, or even a moment for themselves. Thinking about it, it had actually been before the desert… In that canyon, where Toph had begun teaching him earthbending. The place where he had figured out several things…
Aang walked to the door of the waterbender's room, and, listening closely for Sokka or Toph to emerge from their rooms, knocked.
Silence.
He knocked again, quietly.
"Aang?" A whispered answer came from the other side of the door. He smiled. Only she would recognize them by their knocking. Or lack of knocking.
"Yeah, it's me… Can I come in?" He murmured against the wood. Sokka was still chanting his song.
And then Haida let her lover inside her room…
Aang cringed at that musical verse. It was too close to home that one.
The door opened little, just enough for him to wiggle himself he had managed that, and closed the door behind him, his breath stopped in his throat.
She stood there. Her dress was gone, to be replaced by the nightshirt she had bought in Goaling, but had never used, because of the fact they had camped nearly ever night since then… It had been in the bag she had rescued from the sandbenders… It came, maybe, mid tights. And below it were her legs. He tried to avoid looking at them, even though he really wanted to.
"Hey…" Katara whispered, sitting down on her bed. He himself walked over the desk and sat down on the chair.
"Hey…"
Silence.
What was he supposed to say now? I love you, I want you in my life, from now until the day I die, I want to hold you…
"So… Long day…" He croaked. Small talk. Perfect choice.
"Yeah… But we learned much." She spoke, quietly. The waterbender shifted uncomfortably on the bed, pressing her legs together.
"Ehm… Aang… Would you mind stand behind the screen there?" Katara pointed to the corner, where a screen, as tall as him, hid that part of the room from view. "I kinda… was changing some clothes." She explained.
Oh.
Oh!
"Y-yeah! Sorry!" He quickly retreated behind it and turned to face the wall. Just to be sure. After a minute, the airbender heard her voice.
"You can come out now."
When he returned to the other side of the room, he saw the waterbender stand much more relaxed now.
"Sorry about that… I just didn't expect anyone to knock on my door…" Katara took a step towards him.
"Yeah, I thought… we could talk?" He felt a blush creep up on his face, but he didn't care. Aang had already said as much as needed to be said. How much I care about you.
"About…" Katara took another step towards him. Spirits, she was beautiful…
"Well… I… I kinda talked to Sokka." He spoke. The airbender saw the waterbender arc an eyebrow, in her signature move to say You did what now?
"And why would you talk to Sokka?" She spoke coldly.
"Ehm… I-I kind of asked him… how the water tribes saw love." Aang stuttered. When he spoke those words, Katara immediately changed her expression. Gone was the cold questionably look, to be replaced by an anxious one.
"Oh… I thought…" She began, but didn't finish the sentence. She sat down again on the bed, leaning against the wall. Aang walked to the other side of the bed, and sat down, on the edge, while keeping his eyes on her.
"What?"
"Well… The water tribes are very conservative… I thought… that you asked him…" She didn't finish, again. But Aang understood. Katara thought he had asked Sokka for his blessing.
"Oh! No! no, no! I didn't… ask him… I just asked how they saw love. Because… Well, it interested me." He spoke quietly.
"And what did you learn?"
"Sokka didn't really talk about cultural stuff… But rather about your parents. How their relationship changed and grew over the years…" Aang inhaled and exhaled, to try and calm himself. They were as close to the subject as they had ever been. He knew that they kind of turned around it each time they talked about these kinds of things. But now, it was much clearer. She had asked how the Air Nomads saw love, and he had asked about the water tribes… Well, if that didn't apply to them, as a pair, then, he didn't know what would.
"He talked about how their love… changed, but that they always loved each other." He continued, not knowing exactly where this was going… But last night, he had thought long and hard about this, and in each of his scenarios, he didn't manage to convey his feelings. So, why bother preparing if he could speak directly from his heart?
"Yeah, I know. Gran Gran often talked about how sweet they were, and how good it had been to see their love grow." Katara shifted, so that she was sitting in her knees at one side of the bed, facing him. Aang pulled his own legs up the bed.
"Yeah… I think that maybe… The Air Nomads were a bit wrong. Even though I believe that there is one person to love for everyone, and only that person, I think that that love appears only from mutual attraction. And that love changes, and grows from shared experiences, shared moments."
That was it. In his head, he had combined both philosophies. One love, but a love that grows over the years.
"Aang… I… I think you may be right there." Katara smiled and took his hand in her own. His heart made a spin from the fact she was touching him. He scrambled to sit on his knees like she was doing.
"What do you think about it?" He asked. It was, perhaps, a little cowardly from him, to evade what he had come to say… But he was afraid. Afraid of what? Afraid of the timing, fearing that he had misread the signs in a horrible way. Trembling, only by the thought of her saying Oh, I just wanted to learn more about your culture, I kiss all my friends in dark caves.
"I like how the Air Nomads were loyal. Not like how they are described by some people, like this morning. That isn't them. They were like you. Faithful to a fault." The waterbender smiled, gently, before resuming, "I believe that in fact, your way of thinking is quite admirable. Just, don't take over any other aspect of Water Tribe view on this subject." She laughed. During her speech, Katara had moved a bit towards him, still holding his hand. Their knees were touching…
"I was not planning on it! Excuse me, but what is the whole wedding ceremony about anyway?" He laughed.
"Oh, you know about that?" Katara laughed, "The whole I belong to you and serve you business?"
Aang nodded.
"Yeah, most women hate that part, but it is a part of the ceremony, so no choice. Some men take it quite literally, and think they get a possession, instead of a wife, due to those words." She explained,
"When Air Nomads chose to wed, the only promise they gave was My heart belongs to you. It sounds quite bad like that, but it is a bit more poetical in my language." Aang looked and their knees, before taking her other hand in his.
"How do you say it? We kind of… neglected our lessons these last few days." Her voice was so soft, so gentle…
"Mero mana, timro ho, mero premakura." He said the words softly, recalling the distant memories from the temples when a couple came to be wed.
"It translates to something akin to My heart belongs to you, my eternal love, my everything." He explained, still looking at their knees. He didn't dare to look up in her eyes. If there was only pure interest, it would kill him. Shatter his heart. If that was all there would be, he didn't want to break the spell by confirming it now. Let that be in the future.
"Aang…" Her voice… it lit the room, vibrating through his body. How could anyone not love her?
"Aang, look at me." Katara removed one of her hands from his finger, put it under his chin, forcing it up. He looked in her blues eyes.
Interest? Hah! If that was what he saw, he was that bear from the party.
In those orbs swirled emotions, he wasn't even able to place. Understanding, care, support. Love?
"Aang, that is beautiful." She smiled, and the last few remnants of the wall he had built around his heart just turned to dust. At that moment, there was only one thing that mattered. Her.
He loved her. With all his heart and soul.
"Katara…" He couldn't even manage to explain what he felt. It was so much more that could ever be explained.
"Aang…" She moved her hand from his chin to his cheek. His eyes moved from hers, and fixed on her lips.
He began to lean towards her. The airbender couldn't help it, it was like a force of nature made him move.
She also leaned in. His heart swelled to unhealthy proportions when he saw that.
And then, a sound from outside the window broke the spell.
Katara immediately moved away, and Aang jumped up. They both ran to the window, the see the earth move for just a bit, before coming still, and looking like nothing had happened.
"Dai Li." Katara exhaled softly.
"They were listening?" Aang closed his eyes. Long Feng was surely clever enough to decipher their talk. Shit.
"Not even privacy!" Katara seethed, turning to the door. She walked out, still only wearing her nightshirt. She took a right, towards Toph's room. The waterbender rasped her fingers on the door, and then , did the same to Sokka's door.
"What Sugar Queen! Return to your room and for the love of the Spirits, I could feel your heartbeat through the floors!" Came the answer from one room, while at the other, the water tribe boy emerged, with a quill and paper in his hand.
"What? I was writing a po… a letter!" Sokka's cheeks went red, and Aang could see how he quickly hid the paper behind his back.
As Katara entered the earthbender's room, Aang saw how Sokka looked at him questionably.
"Air Head? What were you doing in my sister's room?" Turning to the open door to Toph's room, he made a face "While she was wearing that?"
'Ehm… Talking." The airbender smiled weakly, knowing his lie was easy to see through. But luckily for him, he had a secret weapon.
"So, writing poetry to Suki now?" He asked innocently, walking over to where the boy was standing, still keeping the paper behind his back.
"Oh shut up you, as if you wouldn't do the same if you had a girl."
Katara emerged with a very grumpy Toph.
"First of all, why wouldn't you wear clothes! And if so, just lock the door!" Apparently, Katara had walked in at a… intimate moment.
"My room Sugar Queen! Not as if you are wearing that much!" Toph answered angrily. "A girl has her needs, certainly after a stressful day!"
Katara threw her hand up in the air, and then, grabbed her brother by the arm and pulled him towards the common room.
"She just had luck. Her own personal caretaker walked into the room." The earthbender grumbled, softly enough so that only Aang could hear. Feeling his face heat up, he quickly joined the two water tribe siblings.
"Alright, what is i-" Sokka began, but Katara put a hand on his mouth, and with the other, put a finger to her lips.
Silence.
The waterbender took the quill and paper from her brother, under silent protests. Aang saw her make a face when she saw what he had written on the paper, shake her head, and turn the paper. She began to write.
"Could anyone tell me what is going on?" The blind girl said, but no one answered.
Katara showed them the paper.
Dai Li outside. Don't talk about personal matters. They are listening.
Aang repeated the words, as quietly as possible, to Toph. Sokka took the paper, and the quill, and scribbled something underneath.
How do you know?
Katara wrote We saw them. They were listening to Aang and me talking.
Sokka sighed and wrote under it Great. Now we can't even talk. Wake me up tomorrow from this nightmare. With those words, he took the paper, and walked back to his room, slamming the door behind him.
"So that poor Dai Li agent listened to you two fuck?" Toph whispered.
"No! We… He didn't… Oh, just shut up and go finish what you were starting in your room!" Katara answered. Aang tried to hide his blush but was extraordinary unsuccessful.
"Yeah, yeah, just keep the moaning to a minimum please. Or don't. I don't care. Night!" With that, Toph quickly ran to her room, closing the door and turning the lock.
"That was disturbing to see." Katara sighed.
"I can imagine."
"Do you want to?" She looked at him with a small smile.
"Please, spirits no."
"I thought so." The waterbender walked to the bench where he himself had sat earlier, talking to Sokka.
"There is some paper inside that drawer. And some ink and a quill." She gestured to the closet. Aang walked over to it, and took the stuff. They couldn't talk, but that didn't mean he wanted to stop what had been happening. Not at all.
Giving her one paper, and keeping one for himself, he gave her the quill first.
Sorry about all this.
Not your fault. He wrote back when she passe him the plume.
I want to talk to you. But not like this. I want to shout and to scream. I want to tell you so much… She wrote back. The first part made him frown. Scream and shout? He had really misinterpreted their whole thing just before in that case. But when he saw the last part, Aang looked up, to see the waterbender look at him with a soft look, and a smile.
I want the same. Let's do that when we are sure there are no Dai Li.
And when will that be?
I don't know…
She didn't answer at that. The waterbender put the paper together and put them in the pocket of his trousers.
"Don't let Sokka see those."She whispered. His cheeks warmed up. That was as much confirmation he needed to know what she thought. If Katara thought, it would be better not to show these lines to her brother… Well, that was enough for now.
Aang sighed, and stood up, smiling at the waterbender. Then he turned and began to walk towards his own room. Here was to another sleepless night.
But before the even touched the door of his room, a hand touched his arm. Aang turned around, to see Katara, smiling softly at him. She didn't speak. But just pointed her head to her own room.
His brain went numb. For some reason, he was thinking of what Toph had just said. But he quickly shook off the feeling. Of course, she wouldn't ask him to do those things. Not now.
"What?" He whispered. The airbender had to be sure.
"Come with me." Still smiling, Katara pulled him to her own room. Aang couldn't think. He only felt his heart beat like a maniac, and blood flow to… unwelcome places.
"Katara…" He murmured, but she closed the door behind him.
"Just hold me. Nothing else." The waterbender murmured. He put his arms around her and could feel the stress off the last few days ebb away. If nothing else, at least they had each other. And even if the feelings were left unsaid, he knew. Aang knew what was not being said. So much emotion whirled inside him.
Katara gently walked to the bed, careful not to escape his gentle embrace.
"Sleep here. Please." She spoke softly, before sitting down. Aang sat down next to her, and then, released her and lay down on the bed. She quickly moved beside him, pressing herself against him.
"I know… I know Aang. We'll figure it out… For now, just hold me."
And for the first time in days, Aang finally slept.
Answers :
Gabriela N. Gonzalez : Yeah, I hated Long Feng for every episode he was in! I hope this chapter was more emotional and a bit less serious!
Ashley Barbosa : Yeah, I wanted to show some realities through this fic. Even though I don't go in great detail, describing everything, I still put it in. And about that identity things, no one can see the future lol! But thanks for all the reviews!
CoyoteLemon : And…. NOPE! But this is nearly as good, no?