Hey Guys! This story is a little personal for me. I've been thinking about starting fanfiction for a while now and I hope I can get great reviews on this story! I'm going to try and post every 3 days or so but I've never really done anything like this before. This story is a little personal because it's kinda what I've had to battle through my entire life, and I kinda wanted to see if I could make it into a story with Avatar Aang. Much like y'all, I enjoyed the show and love the idea of Kataang, and please give me some feedback! Once again, this is my first time every writing and I'm very nervous about it, but I hope y'all enjoy! I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
When Aang was first born, many of the air nomads were worried about him. Sure, there are some relatively shy children that are born into the air nomad nation, but some were few and far between like Aang. Aang was very different in a lot of ways. He never made eye contact with any of the head airbending masters whenever they talked to him, and he seemed distant from other children. They soon had one of the elder monks take a look at him after he was around 8 years old, after growing concerns about how he would adjust to life since he was the Avatar.
Yes, Aang was the Avatar, but with a flaw that no other Avatar has faced. After he was done talking to the head monk, he determined that there was only one explanation to his relatively weird and awkward behavior around people: and it was autism. Many of the other monks believed he had it when he was young, however they refused to believe it whenever they found out he was going to be the next Avatar.
"This is hopeless!", one of the lead monks were having an argument with Aang's guardian, Gyatso. Gyatso just furrowed his brow and sighed in exasperation. It had been seven long years since they diagnosed Aang with autism, and many of the monks believe he will never be a fully realized Avatar if he continued down this path. However, Gyatso believed in Aang. "He may not be able to communicate well, but he is the youngest airbending master in history. The way I see it, nothing is holding him back and I don't see a problem with this."
The lead monk just looked at Gyatso like he just said the biggest lie he has ever told the council. "It's not just the boy we are worried about," continued the monk with a slight frown on his face," we believe there is an upcoming war that will see destruction to us and our nation! Surely you see that if he is not able to get through this, it will be doom for us all." Gyatso just looked at them in disbelief. He has had visions about the destructions of the air nomads, but he never realized he wasn't the only one. With all of this new information, he finally understood why they were pushing Aang so hard. "Whether that is the case or not, we have to keep Aang's best intentions at heart. Pushing him will only make him fail, and we would not be helping by telling him that there is a war coming that he has to stop," Gyatso said.
"We believe it is time to send him to Republic High, so he can take courses on bending with members of the White Lotus, that way he has more social interaction with people his age, which may help him prolong his development. Whether you agree or not, our decision is final. We will tell the boy that he is going to be the next Avatar later on today," said the lead monk. Gyatso just looked down like he was just defeated in one of the most competitive airball games he has ever played in.
Later on, that day Aang was called to the head monks to which he was going to be told that he was the Avatar. Aang grew nervous and anxious sitting there, like he was fixing to be lectured. The lead monk spoke," Aang, we believe it is best to tell you now, that you are the Avatar. I know you have many questions, but we believe it is in your best interests to tell you, that way you can begin your training, we plan to send you to Republic High, where you will learn the other elements from members of the White Lotus. You will be leaving here tomorrow, and you will be staying with the principal of the school, Headmaster Iroh." Aang had tears in his eyes and refused to look at the lead monks. He understood what was going on, but he had been here for 15 years, and this was the only home he ever knew. Sure, he knew he didn't hang around and played with the other kids and stuff, but he didn't want to leave something he knew and loved. He didn't want to leave his only father figure he ever knew to go to some foreign place with a bunch of people he has never met. He just nodded in understanding and bowed to the masters, and he retreated to his quarters.
He gave a teary and heartfelt goodbye to Gyatso, and promised to facetime and skype him as often as possible. Hopping on his flying bison, Appa, with his lemur, Momo, on his shoulder, he flew off heading to Republic city, looking back to wonder if this will be the last time he will ever see his people again. As Appa headed off into the distance, Gyatso saw a silhouette of a Firenation ship slowly heading towards the Air temple...
"KATARA!", Sokka called from downstairs from their 4-bedroom, two story house. Katara just rolled her eyes and just walked down the stairs. There, she saw her brother scarfing down some bacon and eggs. She just rolled her eyes at him, wondering how he can be a total animal when it came to food. She just grabbed a water from the fridge and grabbed her bag, checking to see if her things were still in it. She had her notes, her books, her laptop, and her mother's necklace. She smiled sadly as she put it on and went over to her father and grabbed some breakfast. Her dad always cooked them breakfast on the first day of school, and it became a tradition shortly after her mother died. She ate her breakfast silently, then when Sokka got ready she gave her dad a hug and said goodbye. "Have a great day you two!", her father Hakoda yelled from behind.
On their way to school, Sokka noticed something strange. They always got here early, mostly because he would get to spend extra time with his girlfriend, Suki. When he pulled up to the school, he noticed someone else getting out of Headmaster Iroh's car. He then noticed it was a boy, with jet black hair and an arrow tattoo that came close to between his eyebrows. He was tall, around 6'1, and he looked fit. He had on an orange hoodie and dark blue jeans. "Hey, do you see the kid? You think he's an exchange student or something?", Sokka asked Katara. Katara was too busy scrolling through instagram and snapchat to notice what her brother was talking about, but when she looked up, she was amazed by how handsome he was.
Of course, she knew there were handsome, maybe even sexy even, guys at her school, but she could tell by just one look he was different. Eventually, Aang turned his head, as he could feel like someone had eyes on him, he ended up looking and he ended up making straight eye contact with Katara, and immediately he was lost in a sea of her ocean blue eyes. Usually, he would fray away from such eye contact, but something felt soothing, almost comforting as he kept starring into her eyes. After a moment of starring, he finally snapped out of it, his face turning crimson red, and he put his head down, turned around, and left. Katara lost her train of thought as she just began to turn crimson, too. She got lost in his stormy grey eyes, and by the time Sokka had parked the car, she started to wonder about how such a innocent, handsome boy could look just so...afraid?
Sokka noticed this exchange and decided to tease her about it, "Someone has a crush, smoochie smoochie." Katara just rolled her eyes at him and said, "I haven't even met the guy yet. Plus by the looks of that tattoo, he is probably an airbender, so we probably wouldn't have any classes together anyways." Sokka just shrugged," By the looks of it, he seems like he needs new friends if he if an exchange student. Maybe we can help with that." Katara actually smile at her brother, through all of that tough guy exterior, he was always kind and always wanted to help new people. "I think that's a wonderful idea. I'll go find him right now and talk to him." Before Sokka could say something, she was already out of the car and running towards the Iroh's office. Young love, Sokka thought before he saw his girlfriend Suki running up to his car with a loving smirk on her face.
While Aang was in Iroh's office, he couldn't help but think about the beautiful girl he just saw. She had to be around his age, but she looked more developed than most girl would be, because she had gorgeous curves and beautiful, tan skin. She had long hair, that looked like milk chocolate. She had beautiful eyes, and he could have sworn she smiled while they were staring at each other. Iroh noticed the young Avatar was looking off into the distance, and he had an idea why. "So, I see that you just met one of our prized students, Katara. She is a wonderful young lady, and single, too," Iroh said with a wide grin and a wink at Aang. Aang just turned away with a deep red blush. "Look, I know that this will be difficult for you, so if you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to stop by and ask for some help. You will have first period with Master Pakku, where you will begin your waterbending lessons." Iroh handed Aang his schedule and dismissed him. As Aang was walking out of his office, he decided that it would be best that he kept himself low-profile, not ready to try and meet new people yet. However, a certain blue-eyed waterbender that was coming his way had different plans.
Katara was making her way through the empty hall when she finally saw him standing there. She noticed the confused and scared look on his face, and she decided it was probably the best time for her to make friends with him. "Hey!", Katara yelled, which made Aang jump out of surprise, hitting his head on the ceiling due to his airbending. Well, at least I know he is an airbender, Katara thought as she quickly went down to help her, hopefully, new friend. He was still startled by this, and kept his head down and didn't say anything as they both proceeded to pick up all of his papers. Doesn't talk much, that's weird, he seems so friendly, Katara thought as she went to hand him his papers. "Are you okay?", Katara asked as she noticed the boy frantically nodding. He continued to shuffle his feet nervously and never made eye contact like earlier. Hm, maybe he is shy? Katara continued, "Well, my name is Katara! What's yours?" She could tell that he was panicking, suddenly started to rub his hands together and tap and other small things she noticed. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he said, "M-mm-my na-naa-nam-name is Aa-Aang," he stuttered out after what seemed like he was dying on the inside. He felt bad for the way he is acting, when in reality all he wanted to do was smile at this girl and tell her his name without feeling like the world was collapsing on top of him. I really wish I could just be myself and be confident to her, she probably thinks I'm a freak now, Aang thought to himself.
She just starred at him because she could see how hard he was trying to talk to her. As if she understood, she just smiled brightly and asked, "Well, I can tell you're new here, and since school doesn't start for another half hour, I was wondering if I could give you a tour," she finished excitingly. Aang looked at her, knowing he needed a tour anyways, and decided to take her up on that offer. He didn't know why, but he felt comfortable around Katara. "Su-sure," Aang said as he kept looking at the ground. She gave a wide smile and grabbed him by the hand and started running off. As she was dragging him off, she asked, "Can I see your schedule, that way I can show you where your classes will be." Not thinking at first, Aang handed her his schedule until he realized something, he had waterbending as a course this semester, and he was a airbender.
Upon realizing his mistake, Katara realized it too, as she gave him a skeptical look. She looked back at him in excitement and said, "We both have waterbending together, that's great! I can't wait to spar with you," and then she realized that he was an airbender, then she started to put it together. "oh my, you're the Avatar, aren't you?" Upon hearing that question. Aang began to freak out and have a mini-panic attack. She grabbed his face and forced him to look at her and she said, "Aang, it's okay. Breathe slowly and breathe with me, in and out, in and out, in and out..." after around 8 minutes, Aang had finally calmed down, but he still didn't want to look at Katara. Katara just looked down and said, "Why didn't you tell me you were the Avatar?" He looked up at her and he could see how sad she was that he didn't tell her. His heart ached seeing her so upset and he finally sputtered out, "I-It's because I-I ne-nev-never wanted to b-be." Aang said with tears brimming in his eyes. When she saw this, she gave him a fierce hug, and took him out of the hallway and into the library, where they could be alone since there is no one in the library in the mornings this early, including teachers.
She sat him down on a chair and rubbed his back as he sobbed. After a few minutes of silence, she finally asked,"Why would you not want to be the Avatar? It's such a huge honor and many people would love to be in your shoes," she finished as she looked down at her new-found friend saddly. He took a moment to catch his breathing and he said, "It-it's because I-I have som-some-something wrong wi-with m-m-me." As she looked down at him, she grabbed him gently by his chin to look at her, even if he tried his best to look away, and she said, "What are you talking about? There is absolutely nothing wrong with you Aang." After a few momets, Aang finally broke down and said, "I-I ha-a-have au-aut-auti-autism, li-like rea-reall-really ba-bad." He knew he could have worded it better, but that was his only way of spitting it out.
Katara just looked at him, completely blown away by what she just heard. She had a surprise look on her face, however it quickly changed and she said, "So? Who said you couldn't be the Avatar and have autism. I know it's a tough battle, and I could never understand what you are going through everyday, but I want you to know that I don't care about you having autism, and it doesn't effect you in any way. You can do great things and be the greatest avatar ever!" Aang looked at her completely dumbfounded. He hasn't known this girl for even 2 hours yet and she believes that he will be the greatest Avatar to ever live? Even people from the air temples doubted him, such as the head monks, and the only person who believed in him was monk Gyatso. Slowly, Aang did something he hasn't done in a long time: he smiled. For Katara, seeing this incredible boy smile was everything to her, and her heart melted because of it. He quickly realized he was staring at her and started to blush, and he surprised her, and even himself for that matter, by hugging her. She gladly accepted the hug and she heard him whisper, "Thankyou." She instantly smiled and spoke, "If you ever need someone to remind you that you are enough, come to me. I'll gladly help. And I guess we should finish this tour since it seems like we have the exact same schedule," she finished with a huge grin on her face. Aang just shyly nodded and they left the library. After that moment, Katara made a promise to herself to help get that loving, happy boy out of his shell and show the world and himself how amazing he truly is.
After a while, Katara finished showing him where everything was and where his classes are. Everything was pretty simple, since all he basically had to do was follow her around everyday. She knew he was still uncomfortable with her, as he continued to just nod and only respond whenever she would ask him direct or personal questions, such as which temple he was from and who he was staying with. She also started to notice that he still stuttered while he talked, but not as much as before. He was slowly becoming comfortable around her, and all she could do was smile and scream internally about how happy she is!
After the tour, she decided that she wanted to ask him if he wanted to meet her friends, "Hey, I know we just met and all and you probably don't want to be put in an uncomfortable situation, but I was wondering if you wanted to meet my friends. They are all great and nice! Well, except Toph, but she shows her love for her friends in a different way," she laughed nervously as she started to remember the first time she met toph back in fourth grade. Aang wanted to say no, but he couldn't. He saw that sparkle in her eye that just lights up whenever she looks at him, and he didn't want to be the reason she lost it. So, Aang made a decision, "I gu-guess we can. Bu-but I-I'm just worried that I-I wont b-be able to ta-talk," and as Aang stuttered out the words, katara just gave a soft smile and replied, "They won't be rude or anything! And don't worry if you aren't able to talk, I will be there to back you up if you need it." she winked at him with a bright smile and Aang blushed and looked down and nodded. She grabbed her phone and texted everyone in advance that she was bringing Aang, and told them to explain to Toph not to press his buttons or pressure him into something he isn't ready to talk about yet.
Upon seeing this message, Sokka just rolled his eyes and replied: can't wait to meet your boyfriend ;). He looked up and said, "Hey guys, Katara is bringing over this new exchange student that just came from one of the air temples. She said not to be rude and told me to tell you, Toph, not to poke fun or ask him anything uncomfortable." Everyone groaned, especially Toph, who replied smartly, "If Sugarqueen feels the need to play house with this guy, I'm not interested. But I'll keep my mouth shut until I feel the need to say something." She had a smirk on her face when she felt Katara and Aang approaching their table outside.
Aang had told Katara before they got to the table that he wasn't ready for people to know he is the Avatar yet, and she completely understood why. She knew that it was a sore topic and that he was basically kicked out of his own home, which was basically his only home. She hoped that this could be his new family though. As they approached the table, she saw Toph's smirked and immediately frowned. What is she up to? Katara thought as they approached the table. As soon as they were there, Katara was the first one to break the awkward stares and she spoke.
"Hey everyone, this is Aang! He just moved here and I assumed since he doesn't know anyone here, he could just hang with us for a while, if that's okay with y'all?" She asked and wondered if they would reject the offer. As Aang looked around, he noticed all of the people that are in this small group. There was one boy, who he assumed was Katara's brother, after seeing how protective he looked when he was watching him and Katara walk up and he could see his eyebrows burrow and the way he looked at Aang made his skin crawl and made him uncomfortable. Beside him was a girl with light brown hair, dressed in a red tank top with a black jacket, and light blue jeans with some vans on. She was holding Sokka's hand, which he presumed they were together. And finally, at the end of the table he saw a girl with her hair in her face, who had cloudy eyes, much like his, but darker, maybe blank even. She had a huge smirk on her face as she stared blankly at Aang.
Sokka slowly stood up and gave him a pat on the back and said, "Hey Aang, lemme introduce you to everyone. My name is Sokka, and you should remember me easily from my dashing looks and charm," he said as everyone rolled their eyes except Aang, "that girl right there is Suki, my girlfriend, and the girl with the kickass attitude is Toph, and she would kill anyone of us in a fight. Don't let her being blind fool you, she is as tough as they come. Well, for a girl anyways." Suki shot him a glare to shut him up and looked at the boy and saw how scared he was. She smiled lightly at him and said, "Hi, I'm Suki, and I'm sorry about my boyfriend, he's a bit of a meathead." She replied with a wink and a smirk that made Aang nod.
Toph, on the other hand, wasn't having any of this silence stuff he was doing, so she decided to be upfront as she always is. Eh, what could a few questions hurt? Toph thought. "So twinkle toes, why are you so quiet? I can feel your pulse quickening every time someone looks at you or even talks to you. What gives? Are we not good enough for ya?" Toph rudely poked and 'eyeballed' the tall, shy teenager.
As soon as she saw the look on Aang's face, she immediately regretted bringing him here. She should have known Toph would have been rude either way, and she wasn't about to let Toph tear into this boy for no reason. "Toph, leave him alone, he's just a little shy about meeting new people. Give him a break he just moved here." Before Toph could retort to Katara's comment, she sensed someone coming to their table. "Azula..," Toph gritted through her teeth. Aang was confused until he felt someone come up from behind him and kick his feet out from under him. When he looked up, he saw a girl and a guy with a scar on his face, which really frightened him. Toph immediately got up and got in a fighting stance, but before she was about to fight, Azula only put a hand up to halt her before she said something that shook everyone to their core.
"I just came around to tell some ama-, I mean terrible news. Apparantly there was an attack on the Air temples, and all of the existing air nomads were wiped out, everyone EXCEPT this worthless peasant," Azula spat at Aang. Upon hearing this, Aang froze, not knowing how to react. He was in shock and everyone was staring at him excepting him to say something, anything really. Before anyone could react, Azula spat more venom at Aang and said, "I can't imagine what you are going through, being the last airbender and all, but I also know that you're the Avatar, and I don't know how you survived, but you should know that this is YOUR fault." Azula smiled wickedly as she and the guy with the scar walked away, rejoining an emo girl and a preppy girl with a long ponytail. Before anyone could say anything, Aang grabbed is notebook and ran off. Katara looked towards his direction and was about to go after him until a firm hand stopped her. She looked down to see Sokka give her a knowing look to explain Aang. "Look, I know you want to go and make sure he is okay, but what's wrong with him, and I have a good feeling what's wrong so I hope you will just tell me so I don't have to find out another way." Katara looked at Sokka and sighed. She knew she had to tell them so they could understand Aang and not try and corner him with questions. Katara looked at everyone and said, "He is the Avatar, and he has autism. That's why he had such a hard time speaking, Toph. It wasn't because he thought he was better than us or he was just being rude, he physically couldn't talk." Toph shared a sad look along with Sokka and Suki, who were more shocked than sad now knowing that he is the Avatar.
Before they could say anything, Katara turned around and went to look for Aang, who had disappeared down the halls. She slowly went down the halls until she heard a muffled cry coming from Iroh's office. She slowly walked towards the office door and knocked. "Aang? Are you in there? I'm coming in," When she entered the room, she saw the broken boy hiding beside Iroh's desk, handing his head between his knees and crying. As she approached him, she started to see his tatoos slowly glow, and his eyes shot forward with anger in them...
Katara just looked at the sweet, innocent boy that her heart was broken for, not from pity, but understanding. She knew better than anyone else how hard it is to lose someone, because she lost her mom when she was little. She still blames herself, and she knows that Aang doesn't need to live with that kind of regret on his conscious. As he continued to glow, she slowly made her way towards him, grabbing his hand. When he felt someone grab his hand, his eyes shot down towards the beautiful waterbender he just met. She could see the tears rolling down his glowing blue eyes and how much pain was in them. All she could do was cup his cheek and envelope him in a giant hug, refusing to let go of him. Aang flinched at the sudden contact, but soon just leaned into her embrace, hantly is tattoos dimming and his eye's balling, he finally brike down.
Katara's heart just broke as she just held him there until she heard a click of the door that was closed. In came Iroh to see the two in the embrace, also realizing what had happened, he soon went down to join Aang and give him a tight hug. "No boy your age should have went through this, and definitely didn't desereve to be told like the way you were told. I had no idea how my niece and nephew figured out, but they had no reason to use that as ammo to put you in the ground," Iroh stated with his jaw tight and a disappointed look on his face. Katara just looked at Iroh with surprise when he said that his niece and nephew told Aang. "Mr. Iroh, Azula and Zuko told Aang." Katara stated as she was confused by who he meant. "I know. they are my niece and nephew." Katara was shocked that such a king man had two evil relatives.
As soon as they were about to continue the conversation, Aang heard the bell ring and immediately jumped up and threw his hood on, covering half his face and just left to go to his first block class. Before Katara could chase after him, Iroh placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, right now he is in a very fragile state, but I can see that you mean a lot to him. He has a hard time opening up, even to his father-figure Gyatso, "Iroh continued with a soft frown on his face, "I understand you feel the need to comfort him, and honestly that is what he needs right now. He needs friends to help get him through this." Katara looked at him with doubt and said, "How could such a wonderful person look so broken? He just looks like he never has that spark some teenagers do, but sometimes when I'm talking to him he has the goofy smile and a mischievous look in his eye." Iroh smiled knowing what the girl was trying to say. "Ah, so I see you think of this young airbender as more than a friend, no?" Iroh asked with a knowing smirk on his face.
Katara's face just turned blood red and said, "He probably doesn't feel the same anyways. Plus, he's going through a lot right now and the last thing that's probably on his mind is me. He probably doesn't feel the same anyways." Katara put her head down and Iroh laughed and looked at her like she was crazy. "Trust me young one, he thinks the same way of you, I can promise that. Now go be his friend and be there for him" Katara just smiled and gave Iroh a hug, and ran out the door to find Aang. When she saw him through the sea of people, he was frantically trying to get around people, but to no avail. She just looked at him softly and grabbed his hand. "it's this way, come on let's head to class," Katara saw his expression soften, and he just slowly nodded and followed her. On their way to class, she was talking about how Toph didn't mean to be rude earlier, however he was having a hard time hearing her due to the fact he was still focused on their hands being together. He felt like he had a volt of electricity shot through him, but in a soothing way. He felt like he was safe with her.
When Katara finished, she saw him staring at her with a little, goofy smile and she just blushed. "Why are you smiling?" Katara asked with a bit of a smirk on her face, realizing Iroh may have been right. Aang, realizing he was starring, looked down and said, "I-I wa-was sm-smi-smiling? I-I'm so-sorry," Aang finished, looking down as if he just ruined his chances with her, with a hug frown on his face. Katara seemed to notice this and panicked, "No! Do-Don't apologize I promise it's fine. I think your smile is very cute." She finished before she realized what she said, blushing, and wondered if she just scared him off. Aang seemed surprised and said, "Yo-You Th-thin-think I'm c-cu-cute?" Katara just looked at him, blushing and said, "Well, yeah, you're very handsome and you seem so sweet. Who wouldn't think that?" Aang blushed and found some new confidence that was hiding in him all along, shocking her and even himself by saying, "We-well I th-think you're ver-very bea-beautiful." Katara was shocked that he even said that, but she smiled brightly and asked, "You think I'm beautiful?" Aang looked at her with his stormy grey eyes and said, "O-Of Co-Course. Yo-You are ver-very beau-beautiful." Katara smiled and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. Usually she would be considered tall for a female, but she was only 5'9, to which Aang stood at 6'2. When she did this, Aang just blushed and gave a wryly smile at her. She grabbed his hand and took him to the Master Pakku's class.