Chapter 7: New Fans and New Problems

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

With the success of their first gig, the Gaang was quickly starting to gain attention as more and more people asked them to come play for them. The gigs they got were still small, but they knew they weren't going to just jump into stardom, and were content with anything they could get. After all, the more practice they got and the more shows they did, the more their reputation would grow.

Not that any of them thought that they would really make it that far. Well, with the exception of Toph, who insisted that they would one day be known around the world and have millions of screaming fans. The others were not so easily convinced, however, but they were content with just playing any shows they could get.

After all, none of them were in this for the fame or the money. If they somehow did make it that far, it certainly would be a nice perk, but they started this band to do what they loved with their friends. If anything actually came from their music and they did end up becoming rock stars, then so much the better.

Though Aang was certainly wary of the thought of becoming a famous band. He had seen what had become of many of the bands that had preceded them, and was not very anxious to end up like they had. Of course he knew that he and his friends were different than any other band, but he also knew that the life of a rock star would be quite alluring, and could cause serious damage if not handled properly. But, knowing that his friends had placed their faith in him to keep them from losing themselves, he decided that he would do everything in his power to make sure that never happened.

Music was way more than just a means to become rich and famous to him. He didn't care for money, nor the things that money could purchase, nor did he care for the fame that so many others seemed to seek. A life of fame was a life of next to no privacy, not to mention how fame often ended up messing with people's lives. If he didn't love music and spending time with his friends as much as he did, he likely never would have joined a band, but here he was today.

Regardless, he knew that he wouldn't allow them to fall apart like so many other bands had. They would be different. The Gaang would be one of the rare few bands that didn't split apart from a bad falling out. No matter what, he wanted to make sure that they all stayed friends, no matter what kind of disagreements they had with each other.

Though, of course, there was one person who he didn't want to just stay friends with. Not that he didn't love being friends with her, but with how amazing she was and how he couldn't go a day without thinking about her, he wanted to be so much more to her than just friends. Even if he knew the odds of her ever liking him back weren't very good.

Still though, he couldn't help but think about what it would be like to be with her. She was truly one of the most beautiful girls he had ever met, inside and out. All he wanted was a chance with her, to see if he could somehow win her heart, but he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to get that chance.

Honestly, he was surprised that she was still single. She was so beautiful, so amazing. She should have a line of young men lining up at her door to shower her with gifts and invitations to go with them to the best restaurants in town, but somehow this wasn't the case. Though he had noticed that she would occasionally have to turn down someone who asked her out. And though he was certainly glad that she turned them down, he also couldn't help but wonder… why did she turn them all down?

Was she just not ready to date yet? Or was there another reason that he just didn't know about? They had become very close over the time they had spent together, and she had told him much about her life and many of her fears and motivations, but she had said nothing about why she wasn't dating anyone. And if he wasn't scared to ask, he would have certainly asked her why, but he couldn't without feeling fear go throughout his body at the thought of her asking him why he was asking.

Because as much as he wanted to know why she was still single, he was not quite ready yet to tell her how he felt. Not only for the reason of not knowing how she felt, but also because he still very much doubted that she felt the same in the first place..

Still though. Was it too much to ask to just know why she seemed to reject every guy that asked her out? Why wouldn't she go out with anyone?

"Aang?"

The familiar sweet voice of his friend and crush made him freeze a little in surprise, having been so lost in his thought that he had forgotten that he was currently in her room, working on more songs as they usually did. Though their popularity had certainly grown since they had begun, they had wanted to make sure that their fan base continued to grow by writing new songs, which seemed to work just fine as their fans loved them.

Finally forcing himself to look up at her, he was not so surprised to see her looking at him with a look of concern etched clearly on her face, and he knew what she was going to ask before she even opened her mouth. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he chuckled a little, though he couldn't keep a hint of nervousness out of it due to what he had just been thinking about moments prior. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night, so I'm a little out of it." This technically wasn't a lie, as he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep last night because he had been unable to sleep thinking about her. Not that he was going to tell her that, of course.

"Oh. Okay," Katara offered him a weak smile, clearly not fully believing him, but being able to tell that he really didn't want to talk about it more. Grabbing the piece of paper she had set down, she brought it over to him and scooted a little closer, making Aang blush as he felt her shoulder rub against his. "So, we've got the lyrics down, we just need to work out the music."

"I think you mean Toph needs to work out the music," Aang corrected her with a smile as he brought up his own paper, currently filled out with all the music that was needed on the guitars. "I've already got the part for the guitars covered. Toph just needs to get her part done."

Katara couldn't help but smile appreciatively at him for this. They usually did this together, but Aang had taken the liberty to do this one on his own, which would give them some more free time. "Aww. Thanks, Aang," she told him before leaning over and planting a kiss on his cheek, making him blush deeper than before as she pulled away.

Knowing that his face was on fire, he laughed nervously and pretended that his face itched, hoping that she wouldn't see what her kiss had done to him. "No problem. I had some free time during English and I figured that I'd just get it over with."

"How did you come up with the music without a guitar?" Katara couldn't help but ask curiously, being amazed that he was able to do so without even having his instrument with him.

"I've played the guitar for so long, I just know what each chord sounds like," Aang shrugged simply as he looked down in embarrassment. "I can kind of just play them all in my head like I would when I'm practicing."

She couldn't help but be amazed from hearing this, but she supposed that she should have known. After all, Aang had told her that he had been playing music for most of his life, so something like this shouldn't be surprising to hear. Especially with how smart and talented he was.

"Well, thank you, Aang," she smiled again at him, making him smile back as they looked into each other's eyes. Although Katara was more than content to just keep looking into his eyes, her smile grew as an idea came to mind. "Hey, now that we have some extra free time, let's go somewhere."

"Okay," Aang agreed immediately, needing no further convincing as he sat up in interest of what she had in mind. "Where do you want to go?"

"It's been a while since I've been to the mall," Katara began thoughtfully as she pondered over where they should go. "Maybe we could go and look around?"

Although Aang would go nearly anywhere if it meant he could go with Katara, he wasn't so excited about going to the mall. Not that he had anything personal against malls, but they just generally weren't his thing. Most of the malls he had seen didn't usually take his interest. They usually didn't have a music store or a snowboarding store, with the exception of a rare few. The rest were usually clothes stores or vitamin shops; neither of which he had much interest in.

Not only that, but he saw malls as a big place for people to go and waste their money. So many times he had seen people of modest means spend hundreds of dollars simply because there were too many things available for purchase, making Aang not so fond of malls. He had heard several stories of people who went bankrupt because they couldn't control their shopping addictions, and most of the stories he had heard had taken place in a mall.

"I don't know…" he finally spoke aloud reluctantly, not wanting to deny Katara anything, but also not very much liking the thought of going to a mall. "Mall's aren't really my thing."

"Oh, come on, Aang," Katara nearly pleaded with him as she looked at him with her big, blue eyes shining in hope. "I haven't been there in so long, and I know you'll love it. Please?"

With the combination of her beautiful sapphire eyes that shone with excitement, the hopeful look on her face, and how much he would hate seeing a disappointed look on her face, he knew that he wasn't going to be able to tell her 'no'.

"Okay, let's go," he finally agreed, becoming immediately rewarded as a wide smile spread across her face and her arms were thrown around his neck as she hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered gleefully as she pressed her face into his shoulder, not noticing in the slightest as his face lit up once again as he hugged her back, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms.

Not that this was a rare occurrence. On the contrary, actually, they seemed to hug each other quite often, but he just chalked it up to Katara being an affectionate person. She hugged all of her family and friends, with the exception of those she knew who weren't overly fond of hugs like Zuko, but even he would allow a hug every once in a while. It was just who she was.

But, Aang had noticed that she seemed to want to hug him a little more than all the others. He just figured it was because they were really close friends. One might even call them best friends, considering the way that they spent all their time together and knew so much about each other, but he wasn't sure if she considered themselves to be best friends or not.

At any rate, it didn't matter why she seemed to hug him more than the others. Anytime that he could get the chance to have the most beautiful girl he had ever seen wrapped up in his arms, he would take. Even if he would have to deal with his own nervousness as he realized that he was holding one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen.

When she finally pulled away from the hug, she gave him a warm smile and took his hand. "Come on. Let's get going."

"Wait, shouldn't we ask them if they want to come with us?" Aang couldn't help but ask. Not that he didn't want to be alone with her, because he really did, but he also wouldn't want his friends to feel left out if they went to the mall without them.

"Not this time," Katara shrugged simply, not wanting to let him know that she wanted some alone time with him and to not have their friends around. She loved her friends, but this was a rare opportunity to get some alone time with Aang, and she was going to take it. "We'll bring them back some cookies or something. Come on, let's go!"

With that, she started dragging him out of the room, making him laugh as he could see how excited she was to get going. It appeared that agreeing to go to the mall had been well worth it after all. As long as he was with her, that was all that mattered. And to think, for once he was actually looking forward to going to the mall. Funny how things change, it seemed.

A few hours later, Aang and Katara found themselves sitting in the food court, laughing as they enjoyed some pizza. Katara had dragged him practically to every store in the mall, and though she had many chances to, Katara had not bought one thing, impressing Aang at her restraint. Most people wouldn't hesitate to spend all of their money, but Katara was certainly like no other girl in the world.

Fortunately for him, Katara had been more than willing to get a vegetarian pizza, making him appreciate her all the more for her selflessness. He never wanted to be selfish himself, but eating meat was just something that he could not do, and he was grateful that he had found a friend who was okay with that part of him.

Not that the pizza was the most important part of their day. During the time they had spent running around the mall, he had gotten to know her even better than he had before. Never would he have imagined that Katara, the black belt in Karate and master of many martial arts forms, would melt over a plushy of a strangely marked bison. He had never seen a picture of a bison like that, and after having seen a tag on the side of it that read "Appa, from the hit show Avatar: The Last Airbender", he had then figured out that it was from a kids show.

Despite this, Katara had wanted it a great deal and, knowing that it would certainly make her happy, he had purchased it and given it to her. The light that had shone in her eyes as he handed it to her had been more than worth the money he spent on it, even if the price of it was way more than it was actually worth.

But, seeing how even now that she was hugging the soft bison as they talked and ate, he decided that it was well worth it. He would give all of his money and even his guitar if it meant that he could see her smile, so buying an overpriced stuffed animal was a good deal in the long run. Though he found it funny, as despite his strong reluctance to go to the mall, he had been having a great time there. He still wasn't a fan of going to the many shops that were there, but he felt it safe to say that he would pretty much go anywhere with Katara if she wanted him to come along.

Even if that meant that he would have to go to a butcher which, considering that Sokka liked fresh meat, he figured that wasn't likely out of the question for her to go to.

"What do you mean 'you fell down a hill on purpose'?" Katara couldn't help but laugh as she asked this question, making Aang smile sheepishly as he shrugged a little.

"My friend back in Colorado dared me to do it," he explained, making Katara laugh only more as his smile grew. He loved hearing her laugh. "What? A dare's a dare."

"But why did your friend dare you to fall down a hill?" Katara challenged with a grin, mischief twinkling in her eyes as he saw that she was going to milk teasing him with this. "And why did you agree to it?"

"I don't know," Aang chuckled as he thought back to it. "To be completely fair, we were both twelve years old and bored on winter break; we were trying to think of things to do."

At this, Katara shook her head, still clearly amused as her grin turned into a subtle smirk. "And you couldn't think of anything better than throwing yourselves down a hill?"

"What can I say?" Aang grinned back at her, amusement in his eyes as well as he thought back to that day and remembered how his friend had taunted him into doing it. "I've never been one to back down from a dare before."

An idea came to mind as Katara heard this, and though it sounded like a good idea at the moment, she decided that it would have to wait until a later time. Even if she certainly wouldn't mind trying it at the moment, it would be too risky, and she wasn't willing to play her odds just yet. Not until she was more confident with seeing how things were going with Aang.

Instead, she just laughed and gave him a smile, finding that she truly did learn something new everyday. "Well, I would never have guessed that you were a daredevil."

"Only for my friends," he laughed as he took a bite of his pizza, minding his manners before he continued. "Besides, what fun would life be if we didn't take any risks?"

Katara couldn't help but blink in surprise as she heard this. It was a simple question, and yet she found it to be incredibly true. Not that people should take bad risks, but the good ones. The ones where no one gets hurt and it's all for fun and games. And, as she had wanted to for some time now, taking a risk to see if someone felt the same.

Though she knew that this one could be bad if it was used in the wrong way, there was nothing wrong with doing this if both people involved weren't with anyone, and so it would be an acceptable risk. Despite this, she still couldn't help but be nervous about the thought of asking him out and having him reject her. It seemed like they were getting along well, and he had even gone as far as to buy her a stuffed animal that she had really wanted, but what if that was just him being friendly?

But, after looking at him and seeing him look at her with a look she didn't recognize, she decided that some risks had to be taken. The worst thing that could happen is that things become a little awkward between them, and though that certainly wouldn't be ideal, she felt that it was worth the risk. No matter what, she knew that they would be friends no matter what happened.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to stop being nervous and put a smile on her face, knowing that it was time for her to take a risk. "Hey, Aang. Would you-"

"Oh. my. gosh!"

The sound of someone else's voice interrupted her, making both of their eyes widen as they turned to see a small group of girls come walking up to them. There wasn't anything inherently different about them. In fact, Katara recognized some of them as people she had seen at their school, and yet there seemed to be something different about how they were looking at them.

"It's you! You guys are a part of 'The Gaang', right?" one of the girls asked them, making Aang and Katara share a look of surprise before Aang decided to answer.

"Uh… yeah, we are," he confirmed, eliciting excited squeals from the girls in front of them as they heard this.

"Oh, we just love your music!" the girl who appeared to be the leader of the group exclaimed, making the two musicians share another look of surprise, which quickly turned into smiles.

"Well, thanks," Katara decided to speak this time. "It's a lot of fun doing it."

"So, Aang," the girl appeared to not have heard Katara at all, making Katara's eyebrow raise as she wondered if she had just been ignored. "You're amazing with the guitar. And your voice?" The girls around her giggled, making Aang blush a little as he rubbed his neck.

"Thanks, but my voice is nothing compared to Katara's," he replied, making Katara smile as she looked at him, but her smile did not stay for long as the girl had more things to say.

"Aww, you're so nice, Aang!" the girl giggled, putting her hand out for him as she smiled. "My name's Meng."

Aang took her hand and shook it firmly, not noticing the way that the girl whose hand he was shaking was attempting to flirt with him. "Nice to meet you, Meng."

"And I'm Katara," the young musician felt the need to make her presence known as well. It was clear that this girl and her friends were really only here to talk to Aang, and she wasn't going to let them do it without a fight. "So, where did you guys hear us play?"

"Oh. We were at the Jasmine Dragon the first night that you guys played there," Meng told her, though her eyes never left Aang as she spoke, making Katara's blood begin to boil as she saw that this girl wouldn't be easy to get rid of. "So, Aang. What made you want to play music in the first place?"

At this, Aang's eyes lit up as it did everytime someone asked him this question. "Well, it's actually a funny story. I-"

"He would love to tell you about it, but unfortunately we have to get going," Katara broke in, making Aang's eyes widen in surprise as his head snapped to her.

"We do?" he asked in utter confusion, noticing as Katara then gave him a meaningful look and he realized that she wanted out of there. Not wanting to do anything to make her unhappy, he cleared his throat and nodded to Meng. "I mean, we do. I forgot we have to go help a friend."

"Oh, okay," Meng sighed in disappointment, but didn't hesitate to shoot Katara a mini glare for taking him away from their conversation. "Well, bye Aang. Maybe I'll see you around."

"We go to the same school, so you probably will," Aang agreed, having had absolutely no clue that Meng had been flirting with him. Meng gave him a smile, shot another quick glare at Katara and then walked away as Aang waved and said. "It was nice meeting you!"

Katara, who had been not happy at all seeing those girls flirt with Aang, couldn't keep the look of displeasure off her face as Aang then turned to her. "Um, Kat? Everything alright?"

Hearing the concern in his voice, she let out a long sigh and nodded, putting on a smile so he wouldn't worry too much for her. "Yeah, I'm fine. Something about those girls just rubbed me the wrong way," she admitted, earning a laugh from Aang as he stood up.

"Well, let's go somewhere then, since we apparently have somewhere to be," he joked, making her laugh and nod as she stood up as well, making sure that she had her large bison with her while Aang threw away their garbage. With that taken care of, the two made their way outside of the mall, and Katara saw her favorite park right ahead of them.

With a new excitement in her heart, she grabbed Aang's hand and said. "Come on. Let's go to the park before we go home." Before Aang could utter a word back, she started dragging him out to the park, making him laugh along the way until they finally reached their destination. Fortunately for them, the sun had gone down and everyone had left, meaning that they had the place all to themselves.

"Wow," Aang couldn't help but breathe as he looked up at the sky, seeing the stars in the night sky more clearly with few lights in the park area. "It's beautiful."

"I know," Katara agreed with a smile as she admired the stars with him. "I used to come here all of the time when I was a kid."

"You're lucky then. I wish I could have spent more time looking up at the stars when I was a kid," Aang said wistfully as he sat down on a nearby bench, inviting her to sit down with him as he did so. "I spent so long looking at music sheets and snow hills that I never really remembered to enjoy what else the world has to offer."

"Do you regret it?" Katara asked curiously, watching as Aang raised a brow in confusion at her. "I mean all of your time practicing with your music."

At this, Aang shook his head firmly, making Katara smile as she saw how much he really meant it. "Not at all. I love music, I just need to remember sometimes that there's more to life than music."

"Yeah, there really is," Katara agreed as she looked at him, feeling her heart beating wildly as she watched him continue to be amazed by the night sky. Remembering what had happened not too long ago, she couldn't help but feel that irrational jealousy from earlier when those girls had tried to flirt with him. She wouldn't be able to keep going on like this if girls were going to be flirting with him. After all, the more popular their band got, the more girls would want to go out with him. If she was going to have to put up with that in her life, she was going to make sure that she tried before anyone else could. Even if that meant she would have to do something a little risky. Or rather, a lot.

Forcing herself to bottle up her fear, she took a deep breath and drew on her courage, knowing that it was now or never. "Hey, Aang?"

"Yeah?" he replied distractedly, still clearly being entranced by the twinkling stars that were currently captivating him.

"Did you mean it?"

At this, he finally tore his eyes from the sky and looked at her, clear confusion on his face as he wondered what she was talking about. "Did I mean what?"

"That you never back down from a dare?" she pressed, making him laugh as he finally caught onto what she was asking.

"Well, as long as no one gets hurt from it, then yeah," he nodded in affirmation, a curious look on his face as he wondered what she was getting at. "Why?"

Taking one last deep breath, she forced herself to stop thinking about how badly this could turn out, how quickly this night could turn sour, but she instead chose to focus on what she really wanted. Which was him.

Feeling all of her courage swell up in her, she tore her eyes from the ground and looked him dead in the eye. "I dare you to kiss me."