appa landed on the north pole's surface with a dull grunt and Aang vaulted himself off the animals back to help katara get down.When she landed she gave him a quick smile then started yelling at her brother.
"come on sokka! it is so beautiful here and you insist on sleeping all day. now, i said get up!" she yelled playfully as she splashed some cold arctic water on him.
"AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!" was all sokka could manage to say as he sat up shivering. Aang chuckled and tried some bending also. to his surprise the water followed obediantly as his hands moved. he was shocked he could even make a drop come out of the water because his mind was supposed to be cleared but it was actually far from it. he kept getting flashes of katara's smile and losing concentration. Aang looked back and noticed katara trying to get some of the gear down from appa's back so he went over to help her.
"here," he said distractedly "i'll get this stuff" and with that he shot a small burst of air around the items and lowered them to the ground. sokka had finally joined them and katara quickly drained the water out of his clothes for him.
"is this really how you show that you love your older brother? i mean i do need my sleep sometimes." sokka said sourly. katara and aang looked at him then at each other then burst out laughing.
"do you even-" aang started
"know what time of the day it is?" katara finished, still in hysterics. sokka just shot a death glare in return and turned away.
"well, if you are going to be so sour then i think i would like to try some bending. do you want to come with me aang?" she asked. aang thought he heard a bit of a pleading tone as she asked him to go so he shrugged and finally agreed.
"you don't mind do you sokka? i mean we still need to set up camp and all but we'll help with what you haven't got finished when we get back. okay?" katara asked quietly. seeing his younger sisters hopeful face he gave in and nodded.
" just get back before dark!" sokka called as they turned to leave.
"you sound like mother now sokka!" katara joked "but i promise we'll be back before dark." she smiled at him then grabbed aang and dragged him off to a calmer spot to bend at. aang immediately started the routines but katara stayed further away from the bank and watched him practice. there was a voice in her head telling her to be honest with aang and just tell him everything but the other that was telling her not to was louder. she stood back for a few more moments until aang noticed her.
"come on katara! you were the one who wanted to practice. let's try the water whip together okay?" he yelled happily. she nodded her agreement and walked to his side.
"you'll have to help me because i can't seem to get the movements right." she told him almost sorrowfully. he smiled and helped her through the movements then stood back.
" you do it now. i will be right here if you need help." he said encouragingly. he stood off to her side behind her and watched her carefully.he watched how she stood poised gracefully raising her arms while shifting her weight. he observed her facial movements as she shifted and how they changed from one of relaxation to one of deep focus and concentration. he noticed that mixed in with the concentration was also some exhaustion. looking a little closer he noticed that her body and hands were shaking slightly as if trembling from the cold. he slowly walked toward the young girl and caught her hands. slowly as he lowered her hand s the water went to the bank and katara fell backwards into him. aang only then realized that she had passed out. he carefully pulled katara to the largest most protected tree he could find and laid her down by it. slowly moving his hands aang made a trail of water come from the riverbank to him then rest on katara's head.
"katara...katara please wake up. come on katara get up." aang silently prayed to himself. katara made a small moaning sound and shifted as the water trickled down the side of her face and into her hair but she still remained unconcious. aang sighed and told himself she would be fine as he took hold of the girl's petite hand. Aang stayed this way for a few minutes just staring at katara's peaceful face.suddenly he heard footsteps crashing through the forest.
"sokka..." aang started before he saw who it was.the person just smirked.
"yeah right. once again you are WRONG avatar" zuko sneered "now put aside your gushy love stories and get up. we have unfinished busines to take care of." slowly aang dropped katara's hand at her side and rose. confidently, he strolled toward the teenage prince.
'god he has issues.' aang secretly thought with a grin on his face.
"what are you smiling at!" zuko snapped harshly. aang's grin broadened while zuko just glared in frustration and anger.
"ooooh... nothing that concerns anyone else, most especially you." aang replied in an irritatingly calm voice. "especially you, because it is about you." he added quietly to himself.
"well can we just get a move on this? i don't have all day you know. i have to capture you, get you to my ship, take you to my father, and watch you be disposed of. now, shall we duel?" zuko asked evilly. aang never got a chance to answer because a huge ball of flames was coming towards him. he quickly jumped out of the way just in time. another ball of flame came toward him but this time he was ready. he dodged it and circled his arms around his face. a huge burst of air encircled him and shot toward the other boy. zuko tried to block with a shield of flames but that backfired. the flames and wind collided resulting with the fire being blown back at zuko. aang laughed for a second then straightened as zuko regained balance.
"ha ha avatar, very funny. how appropriate. you get your last laugh when you are with me and the girl...when you get to my father you will never laugh or even smile again, that much i can swear to you." zuko growled maliciously. aang just smiled.
"you see that is where you are wrong prince zuko. you won't get me to your father so none of that can happen. you'll have to catch me first." aang said in a tone that clearly irritated zuko. another flame came at aang but being so small has advantages. aang easily ducked right under it. while the flame passed aang could just see the lakes edge. he focused hard and saw a large wave come up behind zuko. zuko, of course, did not see it. aang smiled as the wave of water hovered over the unsuspecting prince. he smiled even wider when the water went crashing down over his opponents head. the force knocked zuko over and aang sped over to his side where he could easily injure or kill the boy on the ground. he didn't have any intention of doing either though.
zuko had seen aang coming so he pretended he had a wound. aang turned to look at katara and see how she was doing but this wasn't the smartest thing to do. zuko punched aang in the jaw extremely hard. this sent aang flying far enough away that zuko could get up and launch another attack.the fire engulfed aang and caused him to dissapear temporarily. he didn't know how he could get out of this one.
aang was just about to run when something inside him went off. now he was mad. he was mad about leaving katara so that zuko could have his duel. he was mad that he hadn't properly learned any bending skills except air. he was most especially mad that this teenage boy wanted to capture him like an animal and take him to the man who started this war. he was mad at zuko and osai and all the other firebenders for starting the war that he had to finish in order to save the world. he was mad that there was no one who could help him with any of this.
aang moved with the fire to the forest and shot up a tree. he sat there waiting,waiting for the perfect moment to attack. zuko was searching wildly for aang but he didn't see him anywhere. suddenly a shot of water came and snapped zuko while another burst, of air, pushed him over. aang jumped out of the tree and landed right by zuko's head. the look of anger aang had on his face slightly unnerved the fire prince. he tried to shift away from the younger boy but found that aang had pinned him with air to the ground.
katara, in her subconcious mind had heard a lot of comotion. or at least she thought she did. now however she was sure as she began to see a little clearer after waking from her former state of unconciousness. what she saw shocked her somewhat. she saw zuko pinned to the ground and aang standing over him. the look on aang's face though she couldn't see until she shifted and he heard her. even though he was looking at her ,she didn't think that was who the death glare was for.
'or maybe it is for me. did i do something to upset him?' she thought as she glanced up at aang who was now focused on zuko again. 'i could have but what would have made him this mad that i could've done?' she was wondering to herself. then she heard aang's voice..
"i don't care if you hunt me or stalk me, but this is just plain ridiculous. i don't want the burden of protecting everyone and myself. i didn't ask for it. now you insist on getting me to my biggest enemy. you've hurt my friends. your nation killed all of my people. my family. your nation killed my friends families. all of their friends. you've hurt the ones i loved. the ones i love now. i won't stand for any more of this crap.if you kill me then i will just be reincarnated, but if i kill you then you are gone. forever. now leave me and my friends the hell ALONE." aang ragefully yelled. he was preparing to do something that katara couldn't tell what, but he was hesitant about it. just as he was about to strike, he stopped.
"aang! don't do it!" katara yelled. "don't kill him! you know you don't want to. i can tell. this is just hate that is making you do this. please aang... just let him go. just... let him go... please aang. i know he and his nation have hurt you beyond healing, but hurting and killing him... it won't do any good... please just let him leave. let go of the hate aang. just let go. i know you can do it." by the time she finished talking she was almost in tears. her shoulders shook as she laid her head in her hands and slumped to the ground. aang's face softened at the sight of his friends sorrow. however this didn't stop him from hating the fire prince.
"you see what i mean? you only cause devastation. my friend stopped me from killing you, or even injuring you because she values lives. even if they belong to people who don't give a damn about others. you, your nation, your people. they don't care about anything but themselves. you kill without a care. everything is about war and power. i will let you go if you just leave my friends and i alone. but when i say alone i mean you can still follow, but if you must try to fight me, do it when i am alone. do you clearly understand what i am saying?" aang still hated zuko but his anger had somewhat subsided. the prince just glared as he nodded. aang released him and he left.
as soon as zuko was gone aang ran over to katara. when he got there she stood up and smiled at him.
"i knew you could." katara whispered.
"why... how did... you were unconcious but... katara i am so glad you are okay. i wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to you or sokka. i would blame myself forever and a thousand more lives." aang softly said. slowly katara raised her head until she was eye to eye with aang.
"i am just glad that you are fine aang. when i saw you look at me earlier... you were going to kill him, weren't you? don't ever let your anger control you aang. i know it must be hard for you... mastering the elements... saving the world... even dealing with your feelings must be-" she was cut off in mid sentence though as aang leaned in and captured her mouth tenderly. she had gone rigid but slowly she relaxed and started to respond to his kiss.
"hey guys wha- OH MY GOD! what the... you... and you... YOU'RE KISSING MY SISTER!" sokka nearly fainted at what he had seen. slowly aang and katara pulled away from eachother and faced sokka.
" i am sorry sokka but i have only just realized that i am in love with your beautiful sister and so i just had to prove it to her. besides..." he looked at katara " i think she liked it." aang said laughingly. sokka just moaned and passed out. katara giggled and motioned for aang to help her get her unconcious brother back to the camp.
a few hours later aang and katara were talking by the fireside when sokka woke up.
" aang, katara... WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? you," he pointed to aang "you were making out with my sister. YOU WERE MAKING OUT WITH MY SISTER!" sokka was now in hysterics.
" yeah... well, true love doesn't come around very often." aang said as he gave katara a kiss on the cheek and went to bed.
THE END
IF I HAD ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD, I WOULD SPEND IT WITH TWO PEOPLE. I WOULD SPEND MY TIME NOT WORRYING WHAT MY HAIR LOOKED LIKE BUT IF MY BROTHER SOKKA WAS GOING TO KILL HIMSELF ON ACCIDENT. AND WHAT AANG WAS PRACTICING SO I COULD HELP HIM. THAT IS WHAT I SAY NOW. BACK WHEN I FIRST MET AANG I WOULD HAVE SAID DIFFERENT. I REALLY THINK I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU I WAS LOOKING FOR LOVE AND MY FATHER. I HAVE NOW FOUND BOTH AND THEY ARE, ALONG WITH MY BROTHER, THE CLOSEST THINGS IN MY HEART. IF YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I CAME TO FIND MY FATHER, MY TRUEST LOVE AND A WAY TO KEEP MY BROTHER OUT OF TROUBLE, THEN I'LL TELL YOU HOW IT ALL HAPPENED. IT STARTED WITH A DAY THAT DIDN'T LOOK TOO GOOD FOR TRAVELING.