Okay, here is the next chapter. I know that the last one was kind of boring, so here is all of the drama and kaflama and confusion and hate that I promised. Trust me, it will be enough to make up for the last chapter and fulfill the needs in this chapter! So sit back and enjoy!
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The three companions finally reached the other side of the forest.
"Great, we're finally here," Sokka said. He was excitedly eyeing the walkway to Omashu. He didn't care for the earth bending, he cared that he was out of that stupid forest.
"Geez, Sokka. We only walked for an hour." Katara looked at her brother. Sokka looked like he had walked for days.
"Well, if you had watched where you were going, instead of running into branches and tripping over your own feet, you would have had a decent walk," Aang said, laughing. Sokka rolled his eyes and sat down on a nearby rock. Katara turned to Aang, who was in deep thought. "Are you ready?" she asked him, knowing what was on his mind. Aang took a deep breath and nodded. As ready as I'll ever be.
"Okay, what are we going to do about Appa?" Sokka asked, wanting to change the subject. The three turned and stared at the giant bison. Aang shrugged.
"I guess we have to leave him here. We'll just visit him every day," Aang suggested.
"Are you sure that you want to leave Appa alone?" Katara asked him. "It would be easy for the Fire Nation to know where we are if we leave him here."
"Katara's right. It is dangerous to leave him here. Can't he just fly in?" Sokka said. Aang just shrugged.
"We'll see. But for now, let's go!" With one last look at his huge pet, Aang led the way to Omashu.
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"Aang! How have you been since the last time I saw you?" King Bumi exclaimed. He gave Aang a strong hug.
"I've been great! How have you been?" Aang asked him.
"It's been great," Bumi said, mimicking his friend. "And how have you two been?" he asked Katara and Sokka. Sokka shrugged. Katara rolled her eyes at his enthusiasm.
"Oh, we're fine," she answered.
"Good. So Aang, I understand you have come here to learn earth bending." Aang nodded, knowing what he was going to say next. "It won't be easy; earth bending is different from air and water." He stopped to laugh at Aang, who was mouthing the words along with him.
"You will first need to get in touch with the earth," the king continued. Aw man, not that crap again, Aang thought, remembering the time he had tried to learn fire bending. "And when you feel 'earthy' enough," King Bumi stopped to chuckle at his horrible pun. The three rolled their eyes. "I will train you."
Aang had to take a deep breath. I didn't expect him to be so straightforward. But then again, Master Pakku was the same way. "Okay. When can I start getting 'earthy'?" he asked.
"Now, if you feel like you're ready." Bumi motioned to a door. "That leads to a special outdoor garden. You will stay there until you feel a connection with the earth. When you do, we will begin our training."
Aang nodded. "We can start tomorrow. I want to rest and explore the city," he said. Bumi nodded. "Here are a few coins for each of you," he said, giving each of them ten coins. "Go have some fun." The three teens ran off.
"Stay clear of the slides!" he yelled at their backs.
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"So where do you guys want to start?" Aang asked. They were in the market. Sokka was eyeing the food, Katara was looking at the dresses, and Aang was staring at the hats.
"Well, since we don't really know our way around, let's stay together. "Plus," she noticed what the two boys were looking at "everything each of us want is in the same area." Katara suggested.
"Sounds good to me," Aang said. They turned to where Sokka was standing, waiting to hear his opinion, but they didn't find him there. He was already paying for a few croissants. They sighed.
"Well, come on, Aang. Come with me," she offered her hand, and Aang gladly took it.
The two were at a stall; Katara was going through a few dresses. She liked each one better than the last, and couldn't decide which two she wanted to get. But Aang was looking elsewhere. I hope I'm not seeing things. A little ways away from the small market, a figure that looked exactly like Haru was in line with a bunch of other war recruits.
"Which two are the best?" Katara asked, holding up three dresses. "Aang, what are you looking at?" Aang just pointed to the line. Katara followed his finger, gasping when she realized who he was pointing at. She put down the dresses that she was holding.
"Oh, my, goodness! Is that Haru?" she questioned. Sokka made his way over to them, almost choking when he saw Haru, too.
"Yea, it is. I wonder what he is doing here," Aang said, still not quite believing that Haru was in Omashu. Sokka looked at him with a ' you dummy' look on his face.
"Obviously he signed up for the army," Sokka said as the line of recruits were dismissed. Haru noticed them and started walking over.
The trio took a step back.
"Wow! Who knew that I would run into you guys here?" Haru said with a big smile plastered on his face.
"Yea, well, Aang needs to learn earth bending, so we decided that King Bumi was the best person to train him," Katara offered. Haru nodded his head, looking at Aang. Aang just gave him his trademark smile in return and waved his hand. He liked Haru, but he also knew that he and Katara were friendly with each other. I'm not taking any chances, Aang thought.
"Well, I'll see you guys later. I have some war training to get to." Haru walked away, waving.
"Well, that was nice. We should hang out sometime with him," Katara said, turning to her brother and boyfriend. Aang shrugged and Sokka had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. What's his problem?
"You okay, Aang?" she asked him, concerned about his sudden mood change. Aang gave her a grin.
"I'm fine, Katara." He walked off towards the hats. Katara started to follow him, before she felt Sokka grab her arm.
"What?" she said, looking at her brother. Sokka took a deep breath before beginning.
"Look, Katara. I'm saying this as a guy. Be careful around Haru, okay? I know you two are just friends, but Aang sees it differently. He sees Haru as a threat to the relationship."
Katara looked at her brother with disbelief. "I'll be fine, Sokka. I know how Aang is. Trust me, he is not jealous." She went in the direction in which Aang had disappeared. That's what you think, Sokka thought, then following his sister.
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Aang was at a stall paying for a hat. His mind was elsewhere though. That Haru better not do anything to Katara. If he even looks like he is going to touch her he won't have to worry about the Fire Nation killing him; I'll do it myself. Aang didn't notice that Katara was beside him, looking at him with concern. He turned towards her and nearly dropped his new hat from fright.
"Gosh, Katara! Don't scare me like that!" he yelled. Katara looked at him.
"Are you okay, Aang? I saw how you were acting back there." She looked at him for any hint to his mood change.
"I'll tell you later. I don't feel like talking right now," he said, walking back to the palace.
Katara walked after him. Why is he acting this way? I'm getting a little crazy waiting for him to open up! Hopefully Sokka isn't right; it would be awful if he was jealous of Haru. She was oblivious to Sokka's presence beside her.
"I told you so," he whispered.
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I shouldn't be acting this way; I should just tell her what's on my mind. Aang was sitting in his room, once again thinking about Katara and her relationship with Haru. He got and left his room, walking across the hall. After a few knocks, he heard a soft voice say come in. He found Katara beside a large jar, practicing her water bending. She guided the water back into the jar.
"Hi, Aang. What's up?"
"Nothing much. I just want to tell you something," he said. Deep breath; this isn't a big deal. Katara took him to the small couch and sat him down.
"What's on your mind?" she asked. Finally he's telling me something.
"Well, um, I got kind of jealous of Haru today," he said nervously. He cursed the blush that was creeping up his face.
"Why?" Katara asked him, but knowing fully why he was jealous. Damn! I hate it when Sokka's right!
"Well, I know that you two are friends, so I got jealous," he mumbled looking at the floor. Katara took his hand and kissed his cheek.
"You don't ever have to be jealous of a guy that I'm friends with. I won't ever do anything that I know would hurt you." This made Aang look up. Those blue eyes are just beautiful, he thought. Katara blushed under his gaze.
"I know. But sometimes I do," he said.
"Well don't." she said, kissing him. He smiled and kissed her back, letting the kiss deepen. They fell sideways on the couch. He let his tongue slide into her mouth, savoring her warmth. She pushed him closer into her body, letting her hands run up and down his back. He let his hands run up and down her back and legs, letting them rest on her butt. They pulled away form each other, gasping for air and holding each other. Aang gave her tiny kisses on her neck, relishing her shivers from his touch.
She pulled away saying, "Go to bed. You have a long day tomorrow." He groaned but got up anyway, giving her one last kiss before going to his room.
He lay on his bed, still feeling her kiss and her touch. Her last words to him played over in his mind, like a lullaby helping him into sleep. I won't ever do anything that will hurt you.
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Aang was wakened by a few shakes. He opened his eyes to find Katara looking down on him. "Get up, sleepyhead," she whispered into his ear. "You have a long day ahead." Aang sat up.
"Good morning, Katara. What time is it?" Aang said. Judging by the light, it had to be late.
"It's near noon," Katara answered. Aang bolted out of bed.
"Why didn't anyone wake me up? It's late!" Aang said, quickly washing his face and getting dressed. Katara watched with amusement as Aang fretted.
"Calm down. King Bumi said that you should get a little more rest before you connect with the earth. Something about taking a lot of energy." Katara said.
"Well, yea, he is right about the taking a lot of energy part. When I was with Jeoung-Jeoung (sp?), it nearly wore me out with the squatting and breathing and keeping-the-leaf-from-setting-on-fire." Aang turned to Katara, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll have to thank him for letting me sleep in. I feel a lot better." He ran out the room, obviously to search for Bumi.
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Katara was on the sidelines, watching Haru and the others train. They were working hard, practicing one-on-one combat and earth bending techniques. Wow, Haru is pretty good, she thought as she watched him take down his opponent. The leader then told the men to stand in a line, and told them that training was over for the day. Katara laughed as some of them collapsed on the ground. They are exhausted. Haru walked over to her.
"You were great out there," Katara complimented, noticing his bare chest. She felt a blush creep up on her face. It isn't a crime to notice someone else, right? As long as there isn't anything happening romantically between him and me, I have nothing to worry about.
"Thanks. It's hard work training," he said.
"I could understand that. It was work learning water bending." Katara sighed with relief as Haru put a shirt on.
"How did that go?" he asked her. They started to walk towards the garden where Aang and Bumi were 'connecting with the earth'.
"It was pretty good, thanks. And how did things go after I left?" she asked, referring to her little activism trip. Haru smiled. Gorgeous! Then she scolded herself. I should be thinking about Aang's smile, not Haru's.
"It went well. I decided to join the army and my dad supported me 100." He was clearly proud of himself.
"Good for you," Katara said, meaning it. They walked in silence for a bit. Haru noticed that Katara didn't walk close to him. They reached the garden.
"Why are we here?" Haru asked, wondering why she brought him here. Katara pointed to Aang and Bumi, who were covered in dirt. Haru nodded and then laughed.
"I see that Aang is connecting with the earth," Haru said, remembering when he had to do the same thing.
"Yea, he is." She and Haru sat down on a nearby bench. She looked around and spotted Sokka sharpening his coveted boomerang.
"So, how are things going with your brother and Aang?" Haru asked. Katara looked at him. I wonder if I should tell him about me and Aang.
"Sokka's doing great," she said. "And Aang and I are a couple now." She waited for his response. Haru turned to Aang and back again, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.
"Really?" he asked. Katara's face darkened. Why? Is that a problem with you? she asked him silently. Haru noticed her face and was apologetic.
"Oh! I didn't mean it like that! I just thought you two would stay best friends," he said, explaining himself.
Katara softened. "Okay. And I guess a lot of people would think that." The two sat in an awkward silence, watching Aang and the king. They were now meditating. She looked over at her brother. He looks really bored. Sokka was looking at the sky, his boomerang back in its place.
"I have to go. It's dusk and my trainer won't be very happy if I get to the bunk late." Katara ad Haru got up and walked outside the garden.
"Thanks for spending the afternoon with me. I had a great time," Haru said. Katara gave him a hug.
"You're welcome, Haru. Anytime," she said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek.
"Katara?" Katara looked at the person who had called her name. Aang and Sokka had seen her hug and kiss Haru.
"I thought you said that you will never hurt me!" Aang cried, running inside the palace.
"I told you to be careful!" Sokka screamed at her.
"But the kiss didn't mean anything, I swear!" Katara said, crying.
"But Aang doesn't know that." Sokka ran after Aang.
Katara turned to Haru. "Haru, I-
She was cut off because Haru had disappeared. With a heavy heart, Katara went inside the palace, expecting the worse.
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I hope you guys liked that chapter. I hope it was enough drama for you! Review please!
