A/N. Again, bit of a filler chapter, but I really don't see how I could make them not fillers, because the episodes also were that. Fillers, to prepare for the invasion and what happens after that. Next chapter will be Aang and still be in Sokka's Master. I will skip The Beach however, sorry!
Oh, I reference a chapter (15) of BoS later in this chapter, but I recap it a bit!
I don't own Avatar the last airbender
"So, let me get this straight. You two blow up a factory, and don't invite me?" Toph huffed, sitting on Appa's saddle. Katara, who was still trying to wash off the last markings that she had put in her arms, sighed.
"Yes, but don't worry, next time we blow one up, we'll make sure to invite you." The waterbender said, while looking back towards the village. It was good to see that they had, finally, stood up against the oppressors. And cleaning the river had actually been rather… easy? She and Toph had separated the mud and filth from the clean water, and Aang had just deposited it on the river side. That man, Dock, or Shoe, or whatever he was called, had said they would clean it up later. But now, it seemed like the village had a real chance at survival. Thanks to them.
That evening, just before they would fly, she had been visited by the real Painted Lady. At first, Katara had been afraid that the spirit would by angry with her, for impersonating her. But she had thanked her! Her! Not Aang, or any of the others. The spirit had thanked her, for trying to help the village. And it felt good. Good to see that she had done something helpful. Now, in the dead of the night, they were flying far away from this island, and Katara couldn't really blame the others. They had spent way too much time here.
"Next time? Oh, spirits no! You don't get another factory to blow up! You or Aang!" Sokka grumbled, but with a proud smile. He had been against it, but she had convinced him to help them with protecting the villagers. For as much as her brother was a realist, underneath all the grumbling and complaining, he was a big softy.
"Then we'll just have to explode other things! I propose Sokka's schedule!" Aang, sitting on Appa's head, laughed. Yeah, that would be better. Her brother's planning had been rather compromised with all these things that had happened, and a good thing too! He had wanted to fusion their eating breaks with… Nature call breaks! It was horrible, and she had rejected that idea immediately!
"What is wrong with being organized?" Sokka objected.
"Nothing! But if you want to have a bit of fun, let's just burn that stupid schedule!" Aang responded, searching through his pocket and… showing them the schedule. And a very evil grin.
"Where did you get that?" Her brother screeched.
"Oh… You know. Your bag was open… And it was sticking out." The airbender grabbed a small lantern they had put on the edge of Appa's saddle.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh… I would." Aang opened the lantern and took the candle from the glass container.
"Air Head, if you burn that thing, I'll… I'll"
"You'll do what?" Katara interjected, grinning at seeing how Aang was holding the candle to one of the corners of the parchment, still smiling wickedly. The schedule began to smoke a little, and Sokka seemed to look around for things he could do.
"I'll throw one of your books overboard!" Sokka seemed to like that idea and scrambled towards the airbender's chest.
He wouldn't dare! Her brother knew, as they all did, that those were the few possessions that Aang owned!
"No Sokka! Don't you dare look inside!" Aang spoke up, and Katara heard the panic in his voice. Why? He should know her brother would never do that. But still, the airbender bend himself off Appa's head and into the saddle, nearly jumping towards Sokka.
Her brother managed to open the chest and began to look inside before Aang jumped on him. Spirits, why was he acting like that? Katara knew that there was nothing embarrassing inside. Sure, she had not looked for several days inside… Well, actually not since taking off from the ship to join Aang in the Fire Nation… Could he have put something inside since then that he would prefer people not to know?
No… Aang was never secretive and was always open about his thoughts. Why was he acting like this?
"Oh spirits… This is going to be good!" Toph muttered beside her, grinning from ear to ear. What was her problem? Did she know something that Katara didn't? The blind girl nestled herself firmly against the edge of the saddle, looking like she was readying herself for the show of the century.
"Argh! Aang, stop it! I will not throw something overboard, I was just kidd…" Katara heard how her brother's voice stopped, and at the same moment, Aang groaned.
"Air Head… What, in the name of Tui and La… is this?" And Sokka held a book up.
Her book. Air People Ideas of Lovemaking.
Oh… No.
Everything but that. Aang could have had dirty drawings in his chest, he could have had embarrassing poems or handwritten dirty stories… But no. He had to have her book inside his chest. Why? It didn't make sense! Her book was inside her own bag, buried deep underneath her dirty laundry! She had put it there just in case of such a situation! She had not wanted anyone to know about it! Sokka had not known, and she hadn't talked about it yet with Aang!
She had wanted to, Katara really had! But after their night in that hut… She had supposed it wasn't necessary, because it had been wonderful! So good! But what in the name of the Spirits was the airbender doing with her book? He would never have looked through her bag, Aang just didn't do things like that!
The only person who knew she had that book was… Toph.
Maybe she had put it in the chest as some kind of practical joke? Yes, that had to be it! But why had Aang been so defensive of his chest… He would have had to know…
"I don't know!" Aang suddenly interrupted her thoughts. He was sitting at the edge of the saddle, and was clearly cornered by her brother, who was beet red and undoubtedly trying very hard not to explode.
Katara should intervene, but she felt a hand on her arm, and, turning around, she saw Toph shake her head.
"Wait a minute. Maybe he has a good excuse, and Sokka will not know it is yours!" The blind girl whispered, and for once, she didn't sound teasing or something of the same kind.
"Air Head… Since when do you have this?" Her brother spoke through gritted teeth, and Katara saw how the airbender tried not to flinch at the angry tone.
Please don't look at me. Spirits Aang, if you look at me now, he will understand!
"I… I always had it! Yes! It was a gift from the other novices when I turned sixteen!" Aang chuckled nervously, keeping his eyes on the chest area of Sokka. That was a good lie! Katara had seen the small ink stain on the back of the book, which told her that it was most positively her book. Alright. So Aang had got his hands on her book… Well, that was something they should probably discuss… Later. Without Sokka! Now, the most important thing was getting her brother to believe Aang's story.
"You mean to tell me you had this since the moment we found you?"
"Y-Yes…"
Katara could nearly see the thought progress behind his ice blue eyes. She could nearly see him think, "Well, if Aang had this since day one… That would not be that bad…"
Sokka was maybe stubborn, and could be a bit of a killjoy, but he would always come around… But Katara doubted that would happen twice on one day. No, they had already used his patience up for today… So, if at any given moment, he would think that she knew what the book was, then they would be screwed… And not in a good way…
"What is it? You forget, blind girl here!" Toph spoke up, waving her hands in front of her face. Sokka turned around, and she saw the blush on his face.
"Nothing! Nothing important, at least! Right Aang?" Sokka spoke up, trying to sound nonchalant, but Katara heard the clear threat in her brother's voice.
Agree, or I'll make your life miserable.
"Y-Yeah! Right! Nothing important!" And the airbender grabbed the book from Sokka hands and quickly put it back in his chest. Chuckling nervously, he quickly made his way back to Appa's head, trying to hide the furious blush on his pale cheeks.
Sokka also got to the front of the saddle, rather obviously putting him between Aang and her… Well, that had gone… well? No. Not well. Maybe she had gone through the eye of the needle and escaped scrutiny, but as much as she loved her brother… Katara knew. She knew that he would watch Aang from now on.
He had seemed supportive of their… Relationship. They had still not talked about that, each time they wanted to do so… Well, things got out of hand, and they ended up with rather less clothes than necessary. But Katara knew very well that Sokka would support a relationship, and not this weird in between. And certainly not an in between with things he would rather not talk about.
"You gave him my book!" The waterbender whispered angrily, making sure her brother didn't hear her. But there was nothing to worry about, because Sokka was apparently drilling his gaze towards the back of the airbender.
"I did. So, was it any good?" Toph grinned.
"I… I don't know! We haven't done anything!" That was a lie. A very big lie. But one that Toph wouldn't be able to detect, thanks to the wooden saddle!
"You do know I will be keeping an 'eye' on you two now, don't you? So the minute you do anything… I'll be there to tease. Like, a lot!" Toph still grinned, but Katara felt the drop in altitude. Spirits, be merciful, and let them land quickly somewhere so that the discussion would change into something more productive than "Did they fuck?".
And indeed, Appa was going to land! Thank the spirits! The moment Katara felt the bison touch the ground, she jumped off, looking around. They had come to a rocky valley, and at the sides were lush forests. The small rocky outcrop they were on had apparently once been used as shelter, for there was a roof built over it. Old, but not in a horrible state. Actually, it was quite a good spot to camp, at least until the sun had risen, because they would have to hide Appa away when people would come out.
"Why did we land here? I thought we would go all the way to Farha Island tonight!" Her brother protested, but Aang smiled.
"Nope! Look up!" The airbender pointed up towards the sky, and there, Katara saw it. Every now and then, it looked like a star was falling in the sky. Falling stars! At the South Pole, each time they saw that, her Gran Gran would have made sure Sokka and she would make a wish. Katara remembered when she was small, Gran would ask her for what they had wished. Sokka had always wished to be a great warrior, or to have his favourite meal the next day.
Katara herself remembered what she had asked of the stars. It had always been a small wish, for she hadn't wanted to ask for something big. So, she would have asked for new beads for her hair loopies, or for kelp cakes…
And the following day, there would have been a tray of kelp cakes on the table… And the evening, they would eat Sokka's favourite meal… Now that she was older, Katara knew that her grandmother would probably have stayed up the whole night, and make these wishes would come true… While she and Sokka slept.
"In this part of the world, these kinds of falling stars are the beginning of something so great to see that I had to stop!" Aang nearly jumped up and down in excitement, "Come on Katara, you have to see this… Oh, and you too Sokka! And To… eh… Yeah… This will perhaps not be so fun for you… Sorry."
The airbender jumped on the roof that had been built over the outcrop and Katara saw a tattooed hand extend from said roof to help them up. First Toph, who apparently did want to be there at least, then Sokka, and lastly, she saw two grey eyes look at her with a soft look.
"Come on Katara… Just like that time we watched the stars in the Earth Kingdom…" She heard him whisper.
That night… Had been revelation on his own… It had been just after Azula and the others had chased them over the span of several days, and Sokka and Toph had slept the minute they were safe… But she and Aang had talked about their beliefs on love… Those had been innocent times, when they were still dancing around each other… They had interrupted their talks to talk about the stars, and what they meant for each culture.
She had told him about the legend of the Three Brothers, chasing the Polar bear dog through the sky to avenge their fourth brother, and the airbender had told her that for him, the stars were the good deeds of people showed to them by the spirits…
She took his hand and let herself be pulled to the roof. Toph and Sokka were already sitting on the wooden structure, and her brother was smiling, looking at the stars, while Toph seemed indifferent to the whole spectacle in front of them.
Katara sat down next to her brother, smiling at him.
"Remember what Gran Gran would say on a night like this?" She asked softly.
"Come little ones, you have to see how the spirits are dancing!" Sokka answered, smiling at the sky.
The waterbender felt the roof on her right move a bit, and saw how Aang had laid himself flat down, starring into the sky. The brilliance of the stars above them reflected in his eyes, which he didn't take off the dark expanse above them.
"What is the Water Tribe belief about falling stars?" He asked suddenly, with his hands behind his head.
"That the falling stars are the spirits asking the people beneath if they can do something for them." Katara answered, lying down next to him. Maybe Sokka and Toph would be too distracted, and wouldn't see how she stretched out her fingers to touch Aang's hand… At least, Toph couldn't feel it on this wooden roof.
"And the Air Nomads?" Her brother unexpectedly asked, and that surprised Katara. Her brother had never been the kind of person to ask Aang about his people… No, that had been her job. She had done that every time they talked about cultures and traditions.
"We… We thought it meant the fact that the spirits were angry with someone, taking their great deeds out of the sky…" Aang didn't elaborate, and Sokka didn't ask what it was about, but Katara was sure he had not understood the sentence.
As they were looking up into the sky, with its tens and hundreds of falling stars, Katara felt the hand of the airbender gently push against her fingers. They couldn't openly show their affection at the moment… With their relationship not being something specific, and with Sokka having found her book… But that didn't mean that there was no love there. And they would show it to each other in small, meaningful ways…
The stars began to become brighter, and the falling stars seemed to burn even brighter. After a while, Katara realized they did! Those weren't just some stars, this was a meteor shower! Once, she had heard her grandmother talk about those… But the waterbender had never seen one with her own eyes…
"This is amazing…" She spoke up. If it were really the spirits asking them if they wanted something… Well, this display would sure mean they could ask for something really big…
"Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are…"
Leave it to her brother to state something gloomy…
"Pff, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times." Toph didn't seem that impressed, but Katara couldn't exactly blame her… Of course it was nothing special for her…
"Ehm… guys… Why does it feel like I'm getting warmer?" Aang asked, and she heard the worry in his voice. IT was not a very warm night… Actually, it had been a bit chilly, and Katara had been looking forward to spent that night close to Aang, who always was quite warm, as if he did not feel the cold.
"What are you blabbering about? It is not warmer!" Sokka said. Katara moved her hand to the airbender's arm, and felt he was burning up… What?
And suddenly, Katara felt it too. As is the sun was beginning to shine on her face. As if something hot was moved towards her. Looking up, she understood. One of the meteorites didn't seem to burn up… It seemed to fall directly towards them!
"Toph, you've never seen something like this before!" Sokka screeched, apparently having seen the same thing as she had done. The great ball of fire flew several hundred yards above them, and the soaring warmth seemed to burn Katara's face.
Spirits… If a meteorite can do this… What would the comet be like?
Aang felt it first…
Spirits…
Of course, Aang had felt the great fiery ball first… His firebending had played up.
The meteorite vanished behind the tree line, and a few seconds later, they heard a great crash. It had actually landed! Near them!
"Come on, let's check it out!" Her brother shouted, jumping down from the roof and nearly running to Appa. While Katara also jumped down, she had to smile at Sokka's curiosity. It was so like him to actually been interested in the fiery ball of death that had just nearly hit them.
A few minutes later, from Appa's saddle, Katara could see the orange glow in the horizon. Something was on fire… Flying towards it, it was actually a great crater, ringed by fire. The meteor had crash landed here, and the impact had created this… And in the distance, the waterbender could see the dark shaped of houses… There were people living there!
"There is a town!" She shouted, while the others were getting off the bison, "I'll go get some water!" Katara took Appa's reins and directed him towards the small stream she had seen before. From the corner of her eye, she managed to see Aang and Toph run towards the fire, while Sokka stood at the sidelines, seemingly not really sure what to do.
Appa flew over the water, apparently knowing what she wanted, for he slowed down long enough for her to bend a great bubble of water out of the river. Flying back to the crater, Katara could see how Toph or Aang had created a crated, separating the town from the fire, and how one of them was busy throwing rocks on the fire. Her brother was holding Momo back. That was a good idea of him! The lemur could hurt himself… And honestly, Katara didn't see what Sokka could do here…
She bent a part of the water of the flames that were closing in on the trees at the other side of the crater. If those caught fire… Well, the wood was probably very dry, for it hadn't rained in several days…
The other part, she threw towards Aang, whom she saw was standing closest to her. He would probably know what to do with it while she made sure Appa was safe, for he hated fire. It had been something they had remarked since finding him in Ba Sing Se, and they tried to make sure he wouldn't be too close to flames in general…
As she landed near Sokka, a great rush of wind made her hair go into her face. In the time she moved her hair away, she felt something cold hit her arm. And again… and again. Opening her eyes, Katara nearly laughed.
Aang had frozen the place…
Jumping of Appa, she grinned to the airbender, who was leisurely making his way over the ice on the crater, smiling from ear to ear and looking at his creation.
"Heh, guess what. Air, water and lowering the temperature of the water makes a perfect ice-skating ring!" He laughed, while Katara heard Toph grumble something about how they really hated her and her seeing ability.
What made her pause, however, was the reaction she heard coming from Sokka.
"Sure, fancy bending. Ya. Fucking. Hoo."
Answers :
Kalaong : Exaclty, Katara hates the Fire nation regime, but not all it's people! And I may have a small joke planned for the Painted Lady playmate thing!
Catch22thr : Aang needs to practice, as does Katara! But will they have the chance? Lol!
Gabriela N. Gonzalez : Yeah, I really like how I can put extra scenes into this, which I would have loved to see in the show!
Rak : Yeah, Katara doesn't regret helping these people, and wants to continue even if the others would hate it! And Aang being worried about these things seems in character!
Jjsmith103 : I had just finished reading the chapter back when I saw you review last time! Exactly, I wanted to show that they really think about one thing, and one thing only, without really forgetting what their mission is! But let's be honest, there is no way tey wouldn't try to sneak off at any given moment lol!