Chapter 10: The Battle of the Bands

Hey guys! So, I'm sad to say that this will be the last chapter of Rock On. I know I'm pretty much rushing the ending and I'm sorry about that, but it's been a major struggle to find inspiration to finish it and recently have actually gotten some and I want to quit while I'm ahead, so to speak. I hope you guys have been enjoying it, and I hope you guys like how it ends. Thank you guys so much for reading and keeping up with my stories, and I hope you all have a great day!

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

A few months later, the band were stronger than ever and were preparing themselves for what could be the most important competition of their lives. Not that they really expected to become famous, but if they were to make it in the music business, winning this competition would be a great step in the right direction.

Not that they weren't already pretty popular. They had grown a quite sizable fanbase over their time performing together at small venues and such, but they wanted more. Well, Toph and Sokka wanted more, anyway. Aang and Katara were just content to be playing music with their friends, and Zuko was glad that he had an excuse to get away from his father and sister.

At any rate, they all had their own reasons for being in the band, but they were all in for whatever came their way. And that meant that they would spend as much time practicing as they could. Not only did the first prize for the competition include a two thousand dollar cash prize, but it also guaranteed a recording contract with Roku Records.

All were excited for the possibility of becoming a real band, but Aang had to admit, he was a bit wary. After seeing how Toph and Sokka had fought so easily over how much attention they would get when they made it into the big leagues, he couldn't help but feel like maybe it wasn't a good idea to go down this path. But, knowing that they had pulled them back from the brink once before, he knew that they could do it again if it came down to it. It was his job, after all. He had been elected as the leader to keep their heads on their shoulders, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

He had to admit, though, he was pretty excited at the idea of becoming a real band. Going around the world, playing for people who loved their music, and best of all, being able to do it all with Katara at his side. That was one thing that he was finding to be true more and more. No matter what happened with their band, he always wanted Katara to be with him wherever he went. As long as she was with him, he felt like he could do anything.

She gave him a courage that he never knew he had before. Before they had started dating, he had been more content with just passing through life and letting whatever would happen happen. But things changed when Katara had dared him to kiss her. Now, there was more to life than just music and hanging out with his friends. He had a girl that he loved that he wanted to give the world to, and would if he could, but he knew she wouldn't want it anyway. She wasn't the kind of girl to want things, she was the kind of girl who was fiercely loyal and had the biggest heart for others he had ever seen. She was everything he had ever wanted in a woman, and he was still amazed that he could call her his.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, Aang looked back at his friends and saw them all talking, making him smile as he noticed they were laughing. They really were more like a family than anything, and he was proud to have such good friends at his side. He couldn't have asked for better friends if he had tried.

Especially ones that seemed to enjoy music as much as he did. He knew that music was pretty popular among kids his age, but there really weren't many people who played music as much as they listened to it, and he was thankful that he had found them when he had moved there. Though he found it funny, as despite the many questions that had gone through his mind when he had first arrived in California, he had never really thought that he would end up in a band. Then again, he hadn't really thought that he would end up with a girl as beautiful and amazing as Katara either, so he just decided that it would be best to be grateful for the good things in life that he had.

It was funny how life worked sometimes. Despite having been partially excited for the new adventure that moving to California would provide, he had been equally upset to leave the only home he had ever known. Colorado was his first home, and he knew that he would always miss it, but he was glad that he had the opportunity to come to California. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have met some of the most… interesting people he had ever met before, and he wouldn't have gotten to meet Katara.

A part of him would always be in Colorado, however, and he was okay with that. Just as he told his friends when they first started the band, they needed to keep themselves grounded in who they really were, not who they could become if the band succeeded. And the part of him that he needed to be grounded in was the person he was in Colorado, and he would never let that change. No matter how rough life could get.

"Hey, Twinkle Toes!"

Looking up quickly, he saw that all of his friends were looking at him, appearing to be waiting for his response before he finally said. "Yeah?"

"Breaks over. We need to get back to practice. Or are you just going to stand around lost in space all day?" Toph asked with a roll of her eyes, making Katara's eyes narrow as she crossed her arms over her chest in clear protectiveness.

"Oh please, like you don't get distracted sometimes," she challenged, being completely unable to keep her cool as she defended the boy she loved. Aang, appreciating the gesture but not wanting there to be a fight, put a hand on her shoulder before she could say anything else and gave her a smile.

"It's okay, Katara. She's right, I just was thinking for a little bit there," he whispered to her before giving her a kiss on the cheek, making her frown instantly flip into a smile as he looked at Toph. "Sorry, Toph. Let's just get back to practicing."

"Can't we just be done for the day?" Sokka asked tiredly as he showed them his red fingers from playing his guitar for hours on end. "We've been practicing all day!"

"Hey, you're the one who said we should do this competition, Snoozles," Toph reminded him, making him roll his eyes as she continued. "Besides, if we want to win this thing, we have to be ready."

"What good is all this practice going to do us if we're so exhausted that we can't even play our instruments right?" Zuko challenged. "We've been doing this for eight hours. That's enough for today."

Seeing that a potential fight could break out, Aang quickly got between the two and tried to play the peacemaker. "Okay guys, relax. Toph, Zuko's right. I know we all want to win this competition, but practicing until our fingers fall off isn't going to do any good. We'll practice again first thing tomorrow. Okay?"

Toph sighed and rolled her eyes, laying her drumsticks down before crossing her arms over her chest. "Whatever you say, Twinkles."

With that settled, Aang turned to the rest of his friends and smiled. "Good job today, guys. I know we're going to be great. Go get some good sleep. We only have one week until the competition."

"Finally!" Sokka exclaimed in obvious relief, setting his guitar down and saying goodbye to his friends before making his way up to his room. Zuko left soon after with Toph right behind him, leaving just Aang and Katara in the garage.

"Wow," Aang couldn't help but laugh as he looked at his girlfriend. "I don't think I've ever seen Sokka leave a room so quickly."

"I have," Katara couldn't hold back a smirk as she remembered something from a few years ago. "One time, Sokka's pants fell in front of Suki and he totally freaked out. I didn't think he could run so fast before." She watched as Aang struggled to keep himself from laughing, but he finally couldn't hold it in anymore, making her laugh as well from how contagious his laughter was. She loved everything about him, but she had a special love for his laugh. It was like seeing the sun peek out from behind the clouds on a long, rainy day.

Once they had both managed to settle down, Aang wiped a lone tear from his eye and gave his girlfriend an appreciative smile. "Man, Sokka sure is something else, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," Katara agreed with a laugh, giving him a kiss on the lips before taking his hand. "Come on. I think it's high time we spent some alone time together."

"Whatever you want," was Aang's only reply, making Katara smile before she dragged him out of the garage and to where she had in mind, both feeling happy with their lives and feeling excited for their upcoming competition. It wouldn't be easy, but they were confident that they could win this. They were ready.

A week later it was the night of the competition. The band found themselves backstage setting up for what could possibly be the performance of their lives. After all, if they won this competition, they would win a record deal and would officially start their journey as a real band. Not just one that played for local places, but one that went around the world, had tons of fans, and usually got tons of money for it.

Not that any of this was the reason why they were a band. Well, with the exception of Toph of course, due to her wanting to bask in "The Love". And of course Sokka always wanted to be famous, but that was just Sokka being Sokka. They all shared a deep love of music, and they were glad that they got to play music with each other.

Though Katara had to admit, she was a bit nervous for their upcoming performance. Sure, she had already performed in front of a lot of people, but this was different. The worst thing that could happen when she sang at one of their previous performances is that they could have been told to stop. If she didn't sing well now, she might be the reason that they don't win the competition and really get their career as a band kick started. And the last thing she wanted was to let her friends down. Least of all Aang.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, she noticed her boyfriend come walking up to her with his guitar slung over on his back, making her appreciative that she had gotten such a nice, cool, and attractive guy. "Hey, Kat. What's wrong?" Aang asked worriedly as he finally reached her.

"Nothing's wrong," she attempted to pretend like everything was alright, but Aang gave her a look that she understood well. Letting out a sigh of defeat, she glanced back out at the large crowd and finally said. "I guess I'm just getting some last minute stage fright."

"What are you afraid of, Katara?" Aang couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion as he pondered over this. "You've performed in front of a lot of people. Why now?"

"Well, this is a pretty big deal," she reminded him, making his eyes widen in understanding as she sighed. "If I don't sing well tonight, it could cost us the competition."

At this, Aang walked the rest of the way to her and gave her a hug. "Kat, don't worry about it. You've got one of the best singing voices I've ever heard, and you're going to be the best part of our performance. I know it."

Katara smiled as she heard this, choosing to squeeze him tightly as she enjoyed his embrace. "Thanks, Aang. That means a lot to me." Feeling her heart beating like crazy as she took in his scent, an idea came to mind as she thought of something. "Hey, Aang?"

"Yeah?" he replied curiously, clearly having no clue as to what was about to happen.

"If I tell you something that might sound a little crazy, you promise that you won't get all weirded out on me?" she asked nervously, making him laugh as he pulled away from the hug and gave her a warm smile.

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

Taking a deep breath, Katara looked down at her feet, trying to work up her courage to go through with this before eventually deciding that she had come too far to go back on it now. Letting out the breath that she had been holding, she then said. "It's just that, I know we haven't been together for very long, but you mean a lot to me."

Aang smiled as he heard this. "You mean a lot to me too, Katara. I'm so glad that I got to meet you. I don't know where I'd be right now without you." His words practically made her heart melt, once again finding that she was amazed that she had gotten such an amazing boyfriend.

Feeling reassured by his words, she finally let her fear go and decided to just get on with it. "Aang, this might sound crazy, but… I think I love you." The look on his face would have made her laugh if this situation wasn't so serious for her, but after a few moments of him just standing still in shock, she couldn't help but ask nervously. "Um… Aang?"

Finally snapping out of his shock, a wide smile crossed onto his face, making her instantly relieved. "You love me?" She nodded, making his smile only grow as he picked her up and twirled around, her delighted laughter filling up the room as he did so.

Once he had finally realized that he had likely been spinning her too long, he set her down and sank his lips into hers, making her sigh in contentment as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. When the two eventually found themselves out of breath, they pulled apart but stayed nose to nose as Aang smiled down at her. "I love you too, Katara." Katara's smile grew as she kissed him again, but this time the two were interrupted as their three friends came walking into the room.

"Oh, gross!" Sokka exclaimed in disgust as he averted his eyes, clearly not liking the sight of his sister kissing his best friend.

Katara, despite blushing from being caught kissing, couldn't help but get annoyed with her brother and was about to yell at him when Aang put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. That was all it took for her to calm down, and instead she turned to her brother and simply said. "Sorry, Sokka. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

Sokka, being completely surprised that she had actually apologized, gave her a weird look but didn't say anything as Toph then said. "Well, whatever happened, wrap it up, Sugar Queen. We're on next."

Taking a deep breath, Katara finally let her jitters go and looked at Aang, feeling reassured by his confidence in her and from knowing that he loved her back. She could do this. She was ready. Looking back to her friends, she nodded and smiled. "Alright. Let's rock this place."

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Toph agreed loudly, making them cheer in agreement before they all made their way to the stage, getting their instruments ready as they prepared for one of the most important performances of their lives.

A little while later, the band found themselves backstage after their performance, all of them excited for how well their performance had seemed to have gone. The crowd had gone absolutely wild after they had finished, and Toph had finally gotten "The Love" that she had been so desperately craving for so long. Needless to say, they were all in quite a good mood at the moment.

"See?" Aang smiled as he walked up to her and held her close. "I told you that you would do great!" Katara just smiled and gave him a kiss, keeping it short since their friends were around them before finally replying.

"I know, I know. You were right." She smiled lovingly at him as she looked into his eyes. "I love you, Aang."

Aang's smile only grew as he heard her say this once again, being amazed that a girl like her could possibly love a guy like him. "I love you too, Katara."

"Hold on a minute!" Sokka nearly shouted as his eyes bugged out, this time having heard the two's confessions of love for each other. "Did you two just say that you love each other?!"

"Sokka, get over it!" Katara sighed as she rolled her eyes, making Aang laugh as he saw that she clearly wasn't going to put up with her brother's ability to annoy her at the moment. "Aang and I love each other. You don't have to like it, but just don't say anything. Okay?" Sokka opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but his mouth quickly closed as he decided against it, earning an appreciative smile from his sister. "Thanks, Sokka."

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, clearly still not being very happy about it, but understanding that there wasn't much he could do about it. Then again, he really couldn't have picked someone better for his little sister than Aang, and although he was hesitant at the thought of having a possible future brother-in-law, he was glad that she had finally found someone who could make her happy.

Deciding to ignore his disgust at seeing his sister get lovey-dovey with his best friend, his eyes widened as he heard a voice come over the speakers. "And with that, the Battle of the Bands is officially over! Will all the contestants please come up on stage?" Sharing a look, the band quickly made their way out onto the stage and took their place as they waited to hear whether their months of practice had all been worth it.

The crowd appeared to be applauding for all of them, but Katara couldn't help but notice that they seemed to cheer a little bit louder when they had stepped out on the stage, making her wonder if they could actually win this thing. It was still a long shot, but they had come this far. Maybe today would be the day that their career as a musical group really started.

"Thank you all for coming," a man spoke as he moved up to the front of the stage and looked out to the crowd, who the band recognized to be none other than the very man who owned the record company they were hoping to win a record deal with. "My name is Roku, and I am proud to say that we have had quite the competition tonight." The crowd cheered in agreement with this for a few moments before it settled down and he resumed speaking. "But only one can be the winner of this competition. In this sealed envelope is the name of the band who will win a record deal, but before we reveal who has won, I would like to thank all of the bands for coming out tonight and performing for us. It was not an easy decision, but I feel confident that my judges have made the right one."

The group waited with bated breath as he slowly opened up the envelope, making them all come together as he read what was on the piece of paper. After a moment, he closed the envelope and put it in his suit pocket. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to announce that the winners of "Battle of the Bands" and a record deal are…" The whole crowd went silent as everyone waited to hear what he would say, it being so quiet that they could hear a pin drop as the group of friends felt their hope rise.

"The Gaang!"

It didn't take long for the crowd to roar in approval, the band all looking at each other in disbelief as they couldn't quite believe their ears. They had won! Aang and Katara hugged as Zuko and Sokka shared a manly hug while Toph just soaked in The Love, all of them feeling accomplished now that they had won. And they knew that this was just the beginning. And they were all looking forward to what their future as a band would bring them.

A year later…

Katara took a deep breath as she looked out on the massive crowd in front of her, hiding behind the stage curtains as she saw what looked to be a million screaming fans chanting out their name. Over the last year, they had spent much time writing and recording their own songs, but all of their preparation for becoming a real band was now over. Now, it was time for them to begin their first ever world tour.

"Kat?"

Smiling as she heard the voice she loved so much, she turned around to find that none other than her boyfriend was standing behind her. Or rather, her fiance was standing behind her. Aang had proposed to her a few months ago, and they were due to be wed as soon as their tour was over. "Yeah?" she asked curiously as she looked at him.

"Are you getting nervous again?" he asked with a clear joking tone, making her laugh as she realized that he was reminding her of the night that they had won the Battle of the Bands.

"A little bit," she admitted, but smiled as she took his hand in hers and admired the ring that was currently on her hand. "But I'm ready. You showed me that I have nothing to be nervous about."

"I did, didn't I?" he grinned with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, making her roll her eyes but smile as she lightly slapped his shoulder. He chuckled as he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry, I won't brag about it too much." He peeked through the curtain and saw the crowd that was still waiting for them. "Wow, I can see why you're a little nervous. There's a lot of people out there."

"Yeah, there is," she agreed as she gave him a kiss. "But I know that we can get through this as long as we stick together. Right?"

"Right. No matter what, it'll always be me and you," Aang agreed easily, the two sharing one more kiss as their friends came walking up to them with their instruments at the ready.

"Ugh, can you guys go one day without kissing in front of me?" Sokka complained as he slung his guitar over his shoulder, making Katara roll her eyes as she put her hands on her hips in defiance, making him put his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it! We've been over this! Sorry!"

Smirking as she saw this, she looked at all of her friends and soaked in the moment. "Can you guys believe it? We're finally having our first concert as an official band."

"You bet, Sugar Queen!" Toph grinned as she cracked her knuckles. "And we're going to rock the roof off the house tonight!"

"Yeah!" Sokka agreed, to which Zuko just nodded in agreement, though his nod said more than words ever could.

"Then let's do this, guys!" Aang cheered, earning cheers from his friends as they started taking their places on the stage. As Katara stood behind her microphone, she noticed Aang move a little closer to her and give her a smile. "Are you ready?"

Feeling her smile grow as she found herself looking forward to what the future would bring, her eyes narrowed in determination as she nodded. "I'm ready." Aang nodded and squeezed her hand before watching as the curtains came up, revealing the massive stadium of fans that had been waiting all night for them. And as Katara saw that they really had made it, she was glad for everything that had happened. Not only had she and her friends found a way to make their dreams a reality, but she had a future husband who meant everything to her, and she was grateful for all that she had in her life. And she knew without a doubt that they would make the most of their music. The time for practicing in her father's garage with dreams of the big time were now over. It was time for them to do what they had all wanted to do for a long time. It was time for them to finally Rock On.