"Hey, Katara, why are you still asleep?" came the annoyingly perky voice of her roommate, Meng.
Katara surfaced slowly from sleep, where she'd been dreaming something warm and pleasant that dissipated so quickly it was gone by the time her eyes squinted blearily open. "Huh?" she queried, voice slumber-roughened.
Then she bolted upright. Her room was bright with morning, each corner illuminated by sunshine. A golden glow surrounded Meng's darkened silhouette and slashed bars of light across the wall behind her. What time was it? Why hadn't her alarm gone off? She patted her nightstand desperately, trying to find her phone so she could figure out how late she was.
Meng's snort of laughter stilled her hand. Katara growled, low and long, the sound rumbling in her throat and soothing her irritation. When would she learn?
After heaving a disgusted sigh, Katara asked "It's Saturday, isn't it?"
Meng's peals of laughter increased in volume. In honking chortles, Meng taunted "I can't believe you fell for it again! You are so gullible! C'mon, get up anyway. Sokka brought pastries."
Well, that was something worth getting out of bed for, even if it was early on a Saturday. Her brother's girlfriend Suki worked in Republic City's best bakery, Akiko's Kitchen. The couple who owned the shop were of mixed nationality, Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, and their offerings combined the best of both cuisines. Whenever Sokka drove Suki into work he came home with a delicious selection of treats for his housemates. It made rooming with her brother almost bearable.
Katara couldn't wait to see what he'd brought home today. She flung her covers aside and hopped out of bed. Meng backed into the hallway when Katara leaped up, which was a good thing because her room wasn't really big enough for two people to stand in it. On her way out of the room, Katara snatched her robe off its hook. Yawning as she wrapped the robe around her short nightgown, she trailed after Meng.
They followed the delicious smells of yeast and butter and sugar into the surprisingly updated and airy kitchen of their small rental house. The large window over the sink was open and allowed a fresh morning breeze to waft through the room.
As ever, feeling the breeze on her face made her think of Aang. She rubbed her breastbone, where the ache of missing him centered. Since he's brought up their first meeting while chatting last week, the ache of missing him had intensified. She hated being away from her best friend for so long. This was their longest separation.
Texting back and forth and chatting on Discord didn't quite fill the void she'd lived with for over a year now. Text on a screen could never be as wonderful as seeing his face and feeling the pure comfort of his hand in hers. She closed her eyes and pictured his bright smile in response their homey kitchen. He'd love the steamed red bean buns and the fruit pies, too, even if the latter paled in comparison to Gyatso's. Aang's guardian made fruit pies that transcended the form, the apotheosis of fruit pies. Oooh, maybe she could give Gyatso a call later and ask him to ship her some!
Rather than continue to wallow in her sorrows, Katara did what she thought Aang would want. She redirected her mind from the thoughts causing her distress and focused on the food, on Sokka, and on Meng.
"Hey Sokka" she greeted her brother, who was stuffing his face while scribbling formulas onto a napkin. "What are you writing and do you want some real paper?"
Sokka shrugged. "Nah, this is fine. I just figured out the solution to a problem we had in the lab yesterday and I need to write it down before it slips away." He stood, tucking the encoded napkin into his back pocket. "In fact, I'm about to meet Teo and Jin to finish up. You're welcome for the food."
Rolling her eyes, Katara muttered "Give a girl a chance. I only rolled out of bed two minutes ago." The thanks she offered started out grudging, but settled into true gratitude when Sokka smiled and ruffled her hair. Sure, he could be extraordinarily annoying, but she loved him anyway. Even though Suki was probably the person who really deserved their thanks.
She looked a question to Meng, who promptly defended herself. "Don't look at me like that! I thanked him before I went in to wake you up."
Niceties observed, both girls turned their attention to the basket of food. Meng's hand hovered briefly over the mooncakes before diving in and selecting a cream bun. Katara grabbed one of the neglected mooncakes for herself, and thanked the spirits that Akiko and Chen had decided to offer the rich treats year round when they proved so popular during the moon festival.
She closed her eyes and hummed in happiness as she bit into the cake. The slight sweetness of lotus seed paste was quickly overwhelmed by the salty, savory flavor of the egg yolk in the center. Absolutely delicious.
Across the table from her, Meng shoved half of her pastry into her mouth and made obscene noises as she chewed it. An odd look came into her eyes, a gleam of remembered mischief, and she sat straighter and waved for Katara's attention.
Covering her mouth, Meng mumbled around a mouthful of bread "Oooh, oooh, I just remembered something I wanted to show you!" Swallowing audibly, she added "You still like guys, right? Your awful ex didn't make you swear them off forever?"
Katara thought briefly of Jet, the awful ex in question. She shuddered, delicately and briefly, then nodded firmly. "Still into male-type-people," she clarified, "simply choosing to admire from afar for now."
Meng grinned brightly "Well, that's for the best because this one is so out of reach. In Ba Sing Se or something. Here, let me bring up the video and we can admire from afar together." Fiddling with her phone Meng explained further, "A friend sent me this Tik Tok and this guy is literally the hottest man on the planet. Maybe on any planet. Spirits, you have to see him."
Katara nibbled on more of her breakfast while Meng continued to tap at her phone. Finally the other girl stood and motioned Katara to her side. She held the phone so they could both see it.
Tik Tok was open and displayed the results of Meng's search for "handstand challenge." The top result on the left caught her eye. In it, a young man appeared in profile, balanced easily on his hands, toes pointed nonchalantly skyward. He wore baggy sweatpants and nothing else and he was utterly beautiful, with sleek, clearly defined muscles and long, long legs. Everything she could see of him was delicious.
So it was no surprise when Meng selected that video and let it play. On her phone, the man lifted a hand from the ground, touching it to one knee as he bent it and brought his pointed toes together. Her vision swam as he deftly spun on his remaining hand, swinging his legs into a near split as he did. Ooh, bendy.
"I don't know how he does it," Meng murmured wonderingly.
Katara stared in awe, but then squinted and leaned closer to the screen as she caught a flash of blue. He had come to rest in a one-armed handstand, his other arm extended gracefully to the side, legs maintaining their near-split. He had sky blue tattoos marking the chi path along his arm. Instantly she knew the extent and pattern of the inked design. And she knew, too, what the pale blue lines meant.
She whispered "He's airbending. His tattoos are the mark of a master airbender." She remembered Aang's joy and pride when he'd received his. It broke her heart that airbenders were now so rare people didn't even recognize the marks of his mastery.
Katara continued to stare, unblinking, while he held the pose for a small eternity. As she admired his gratuitous physical beauty she fell headlong into the most impetuous crush she'd ever experienced. The physical signs were unmistakable—her hitching inhale and convulsive gulp against a suddenly dry mouth. Her heart sped fast as the wings of a hummingmoth. Something about the lithe lines of his body woke up every cell in hers. Forget the dry mouth; any moment she thought she might begin to drool.
On screen, the man effortlessly pushed off the ground and landed on one foot. He moved almost too quickly for her to follow as he lay back from that position into a pose that she thought might be impossible without the airbending. Regardless of what bending he used to help out, what his body could do was astounding. The he eased upward briefly before sliding into a deep showy bow, turning slightly toward the camera.
When he straightened from his bow and aimed a devastating grin at the camera Katara sat down hard.
Katara could do nothing but stare at the final frame as the shape of the world trembled and reformed. This alluring vision? The most beautiful man she'd ever seen in her entire life? The guy who she found more viscerally appealing than any other person she'd ever seen? The person who'd just completely rewritten the rules of attraction for her, was Aang, her oldest friend. Her mind struggled to contain this duality. Her best friend. The boy who went penguin sledding with her, who held her tight and cried with her when mom got sick, who knew all her petty thoughts and worst instincts and loved her for them rather than in spite of them, was somehow also this gorgeous creature who encompassed everything she found most attractive in a man. When had that happened? Had he been so beautiful all along? How had she failed to notice? And, most importantly, how could she go back to not noticing?
She surfaced from her shocked silence to find Meng finishing a question whose beginning she'd missed.
"Don't you agree?" Meng asked.
"Umm. What?" Katara asked, haze slowly lifting from her thoughts.
Meng huffed slightly, then repeated herself. "I said, well, of course it's bending, and he can bend me any time! He the absolute hottest, don't you agree?"
Katara quickly shook her head. "No! No, we're just friends."
Her roommate's brow crinkled in confusion, which she gave voice in a squawked "What? What do you mean? You know him? What's his real name? Is he seeing anyone?" Sudden accusation narrowed her eyes "A friend, huh? Why are you blushing bright red?"
Katara swallowed convulsively. "It's hot in here, isn't it? Let's open the window." Then she remembered that the window was already open and felt her cheeks heat til she worried they might burst into flame. She also realized that she was still staring at the final frame of the video on Meng's phone, Aang frozen with that sexy smirk. How in La's left gill did Aang have a sexy smirk?
Sexy? They were just friends. She shouldn't be thinking of him as sexy, right? But, objectively, he really was. She had lots of friends who she supposed might be considered sexy. Yue and Haru and Ty Lee were all gorgeous. And yet none of them made her pulse race and her skin heat. But this grown-up Aang definitely did. What did that mean?
She thought about how she and Aang were together. They had shared all their secrets, and he knew her better than anyone, even her family. When they were in the same place, they sat as close together as they could manage. They held hands as often as not. And she had no idea how many times she'd kissed his cheek, but she could almost feel the smooth warmth of his skin against her lips when she thought of him. Those were friendly things, right? Sitting near each other and holding hands and cheek kisses? Those could be things people who were just friends did. Right?
Mind distracted by kisses, she wondered how his lips would feel. If she leaned in to kiss his mouth, would he meet her? Did he find her as appealing as she found him? Would he pull her close and hold her tight?
Katara planted her elbows on the table and dropped her forehead into her hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. I can't want him! This is going to change everything."
Meng cackled and turned her phone off. "Okay, Miss I've-sworn-off-men except for the most beautiful man in five nations, you're going to talk, and you're going to talk now, you floozy."
With every ounce of feeling she had, Katara groaned "Monkeyfeathers."
~o~o~o~
Aang stared at his text message screen, debating. After many moments of hesitation, he decided this conversation needed a more personal touch. He wiped the sweat from his palms and tapped in one of the numbers he knew by heart.
"Hey, Aang. What do you need?" Sokka's voice communicated intense curiosity.
Aang rubbed the back of his neck, glad his friend couldn't see the obvious tell for Aang's nervous state. "Why do you think I need something? I didn't say I need anything."
"Dude. You know I don't talk on the phone. You'd text anything that wasn't urgent or sensitive. So. Tell me what you need." Aang could almost hear Sokka rolling his eyes.
"Okay, you're right. I need a place to stay in Republic City for a few nights." Aang spoke quickly, before he could lose his resolve.
Rather than respond flippantly or dig for further information, Sokka's voice went completely earnest. "You always have a place wherever I am, Aang. I will never forget how you and Gyatso were there for Katara, for our whole family, when we lost mom. Anything you need, you got it."
Aang's eyes burned and he blinked rapidly. With a quick sniff and clearing of his throat, he explained the need. "I'm transferring to URC next semester and there are some things I have to do in person. I'll be there in two weeks."
Sokka actually squealed, his unusual gravity a thing of the past. "That is amazing! What did Katara say? I can't believe she didn't tell me! She must be so happy! Is that why she's been weirder than usual the past few days? But, no, she-"
Aang, tired of waiting for a pause, broke in. "She doesn't know! Please, don't tell her."
There was a long silence during which Aang could almost hear Sokka shaking his head in confusion. An indrawn breath, then nothing. Sokka waited. Aang waited.
Then he caved. "I thought I might surprise her. You know, just show up and tell her in person? So I can get one of her famous Katara hugs? Is that a bad idea? Won't she be happy to see me?" Aang's resolve faltered a bit.
Sokka chuckled. "Idiot," he said fondly, "she'll be ecstatic. Hey, if you're getting in Friday night, you should come to the swim team end-of-season party! I'll send you directions and you can surprise her there. Maybe a party would help with her pissy mood, too."