A/N: Didn't expect to post this chapter up today to be honest, but it's such a short chapter that it didn't take long to edit. So, I know a lot of you wanted a bigger outburst from Katara when she met Kyla, which, as I explained, wasn't quite the direction I wanted to take, but instead I had this planned out which gives you guys the chance to see in Katara's head for a bit and how she's feeling.
Now, this is a really momentous moment because on my last chapter, because of you wonderful wonderful people I have reached over a 100 reviews! Guys, that is mental! I've been dreaming of reaching a 100 reviews in one of my stories since I joined this site 5 years ago and I am BEYOND GRATEFUL that you guys achieved this dream for me, words can't describe how thankful I am, how humbled I am that you enjoy this little story so much (well not really little, but you know). I started out as someone who didn't enjoy English at school, to writing some silly ideas on this site and now I have you guys complimenting me on my writing skills, it's just wow. THANK YOU! Now for the chapter…
At City Hall:
Aang's POV:
I sigh inwardly for the tenth time this evening when another enthusiastic pair of nobles come and greet me. I force a smile to my face, shake hands and make small talk until the next group of people approach me. 'This is going to be a long night. I can't believe I used to really enjoy people's attention; my ego must have been huge! I mean don't get me wrong, I still love talking to people, but more to the ones who are down to earth, not so much the nobles. At least I've got the speech over and done with, nothing dramatic but it still ended with a loud applause so I suppose I must have said something right.' Just as I'm about to take another deep breath I sense a familiar presence coming beside me. A glance to my right reveals my suspicion to be correct.
"What's up Kyla?" I say casually as I take in the healer whose wearing a silky blue beaded dress. She crosses her arms.
"Zuko told me to come and save you and judging by the amount of sighing you're doing I think he's right." Kyla says with a smirk. I mimic her and cross my arms.
"For your information I was sighing inwardly; definitely not audible to anyone." I retort.
"You don't need to hear it to know you're doing it; you just have that face on." Just as I open my mouth to argue, Kyla continues on. "Anyway, do you need saving?" I roll my eyes at her wording but when I take in the next pair of nobles walking towards me, Xiu and his brother, I nod my head vigorously.
"Yes, save me please." I plead and the Healer can't help but laugh at my facial expression. She takes my hand and we semi-sprint to the back door leading out to the back garden.
Katara's POV:
My eyes follow Aang and Kyla walking quickly to one of the exits and I can't help but zone in on their hands which causes my heart to drop to my stomach and I quickly look away.
"So Sweetness, how are you finding the celebration so far? Not as great as you probably imagined I bet." Toph asks as she comes by my table next to the wall and pulls out a chair for herself. I hug my arms to my chest.
"I don't think it's that bad. It's nice to be appreciated by so many people, I didn't realise I would be missed that much. Though it would've been more enjoyable if we were altogether; I mean you all have been off shaking hands with practically everyone." I state, trying hard not to let any trace of bitterness to leak into my voice.
"Someone sounds jealous." Toph states smugly as she takes a sip of the punch she has in her hand. I bite my lip and move my arms until they're crossed over my chest.
"Jealous? What would I be jealous of?" I say with aloofness, but my heart starts beating fast.
"Oh don't play dumb Sugarqueen. You know what I mean. You've been focusing all night on Aang and how comfortable he is with Kyla." The blind Earthbender comments as she taps the rim of her glass. I purse my lips at her.
"I'm still getting used to being around him. Unlike you and everyone else, I haven't seen him in the whole 3 & a half years. Excuse me if I'm trying to figure out where Kyla stands with him." I rush out in a huff, mindful of sticking as close to the truth as possible to avoid Toph calling me out in a lie. I watch as the Master Earthbender frowns and lets go of her glass.
"Looks like you haven't forgotten about my lie detecting abilities." Toph says with a slight scowl and I feel a sense of satisfaction running through me at having bested the Earthbender. "But why would you be keeping an eye on Kyla and what she means to Aang?" I feel like smacking my forehead at Toph's question when I find myself speechless.
"I just want him to be safe." I state with a shrug, but as the words fly out of my mouth I know that I've said the wrong thing.
"Right, and what need is there for that? Kyla has been the one to keep him safe. To keep him alive in the last couple of years." I feel hurt hitting deep into my chest but I swallow past it and try to appear nonchalant. "Unless...you're jealous that Kyla means more to Aang than just a friend." I nearly choke on my own saliva at hearing the heavy implication.
"Aang can be with whoever he wants. That's got nothing to do with me." I snap but when the smug look reappears on Toph's face I know I've just stepped right into the trap that she laid out for me, 'Spirits, I let my feelings make me forget about avoiding lying to her and she knows how emotional I am.'
"You're lying Sweetness." Toph rolls out with a slight grin.
"Darn it Toph, that wasn't nice." I sigh out.
"Hey I'm not above using trickery to get what I want, you know that. So what, you have feelings for Aang then?" I bite the inside of my cheek hard and turn my head away from her. I'm surprised when I feel a hand touching my forearm. "Katara?" At Toph's probe I throw my hands up.
"I don't know Toph!" I exclaim but the raised eyebrows from the blind Earthbender makes me lower my eyes down to the table. "Maybe." I admit. But when I raise my eyes to see Toph's still raised eyebrows I find myself caving in. "Ok! I am, I care about him so much and have so much love for him. I always have been and being away from him that long killed me. I became so bitter that he didn't ever bother to come and visit at the South Pole and I started irrationally blaming him for everything like Gran Gran's death. Heck I even started blaming him for not putting an end to the war that took my mum away from me. I never believed it of course, it was just the only thing that kept driving me to get up in the morning." I confess, 'something which I haven't even told Sokka, no matter how much he pressed me for answers on my cold attitude which eventually led to a slight rift in our sibling relationship.'
"Wow Sugarqueen. You've been holding this in for a while." I sigh at Toph's statement.
"Yeah I have." I admit softly.
"But what do you mean you've always had those feelings for Aang? You were with Zuko for a year." At Toph's question I put my head in my hands and try to stop the shaking thoughts that whizz through my mind because I know if I think about them I'll sob extensively in guilt. "Katara?" One probe is all it takes.
"I was never with Zuko." Silence. Toph pushes her glass away.
"What?" Toph's sharp tone makes me shrink into myself and I lift my head up from my hands.
"Zuko and I were never together; we've always just been friends." I clarify as Toph's frown deepens.
"But why would you guys say you were?" The blind Earthbender asks puzzled as I lean my forearms on the table.
"It was a difficult time. The war had recently ended, not all Fire Nation citizens were happy with that. The Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe wanted quick retribution. I noticed Aang at the time was becoming more distant and no matter how hard I tried he wouldn't tell me what was wrong. Then the newly formed council came quite heavy on him, saying he needed to find someone suitable to marry at a certain time point and have kids in the near future. Of course he looked to me and I wasn't ready for such a commitment. So I ended up pushing him away and spent more time with Zuko. Zuko and I agreed to pretend to be together to stop Aang and the council forcing their way in. We decided we'd 'break up' after a year or so just to give everyone time to figure things out. I didn't realise that it would lead to Aang disappearing for all this time and I certainly never imagined that the thing that was bothering him was assassination attempts. I'd never have left him if that was the case." I plead, as if trying to convince myself. I jump when I hear a bang and see Toph standing with her fist on the table.
"I knew you drove him away. We all knew that. But for Spirits sake Katara this is so much worse! This could've been so easily avoided if you just talked to him!" The blind Earthbender shouts out and I find myself standing up in response.
"I did talk to him! He wouldn't open up to me and instead pressured me to do something I wasn't sure about!" I retaliate but drop my voice when I notice some people are starting to stare. I drop back into my seat and put a hand to my forehead. "Look Toph, I don't need you to tell me how much I've messed up because I know. For Spirits sake I know so well and it's been tearing me up inside. I can only imagine that this is tearing Zuko up as well. Why else do you think he's been so keen to stick by Aang for all this time? He was trying to make up for what we did." I clench my jaws tightly together but that doesn't stop the tears from slowly leaking out. "I left him when he needed someone so badly. I should've been there." I choke out and my throat becomes clogged up with guilt and grief. "And because of me he can't open up to me at all now. I've ruined everything!" A small sob escapes from me as I try to clamp the pain down. A few seconds later I feel an arm across my shoulders, but I refuse to meet Toph's gaze.
"I'm not going to tell you what you did was alright because it wasn't. It was so wrong, but I can see that you know that." The Master Earthbender sighs heavily. "You have to tell him." My head shoots up when I hear this.
"How can I tell him that all of his pain could've been avoided if I was just honest with him? He'd hate me for sure or at least it would hurt him a lot." I whisper softly.
"He needs to know. Besides Aang could never hate you, you're too special to him." Toph emphasises.
"I don't know if that's still the case anymore." I mumble. I hear another sigh from the Earthbender as she goes and takes a seat again.
"You know I've always been jealous of what the two of you have." I blink twice at hearing this and I have to try hard to not laugh at Toph's bizarre comment.
"You, jealous?! You're pulling my leg now." But when my eyes meet her pale ones I see the obvious discomfort in them and my smile drops. "You're serious, aren't you?" I say with a touch of surprise.
"I never realised it before, but it's only during these last few days that I'm noticing that I've always been a bit...hurt by how close you two were...are. You guys connected so easily together and I felt out of place." I frown and I feel my motherly instincts taking over. I move my chair closer to hers and slip an arm around her.
"I'm sorry Toph. I never meant to make you feel like that. You're so important to me and everyone. We have our fights but you're the most loyal friend I could have ever asked for." I saw with an honest expression. Toph opens her mouth but quickly closes it again and I can see that she's holding something back.
"Yeah, well thanks for that. Have you told your brother about you and Zuko?" The Earthbender says casually as she changes the conversation. I furrow my eyebrows at this but decide to let it drop for now.
"I haven't, but I get the feeling he knows. He can be quite observant when he wants to be. I suppose that might also be the reason for our relationship going into tatters for a while." I say with regret.
"That's Snoozles for you. What about you go and see Aang now?" I blink and look at Toph strangely.
"He went out with Kyla and honestly I don't want to force him to do anything."
"Kyla just came back in. I heard she had to leave early for a shift at the hospital. Aang is all yours to talk to now. And I don't think you'd be forcing him into anything; I can feel how much he missed you." At Toph's flamboyant words I bite my lip and get up from my seat. I turn round to see Toph giving me a half smile as encouragement and I make my way to the door that leads to the gardens.
A/N: Yep, super short, think even shorter than the last time, sorry it's a bit of a cliff-hanger, but this was the best way to end the chapter. Anyway, I want to say another HUGE thank you and please keep supporting me guys, without you this wouldn't be here. Hopefully will update in the next few days, depending how long the chapter is, haven't looked yet!
23/9/19
