Chapter 6: Tragedy
Quick responses to reviews:
TR13 Reader: Well, thanks man. That's very kind of you to say. I won't give any more spoilers, so I won't tell you what it'll be. I've never been a fan of spoilers myself so I won't do it to anyone else if I can help it. I'm glad that you like the duality of the "mystery" that Aang and Jin don't quite know yet. And don't worry, I don't think Aang will hold anything against her. Although his path is about to take a dark turn.
Ashley Barbosa: Well, maybe they will. Maybe in this chapter or the next. Maybe just maybe…
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A few days later, Jin found herself thinking about all that had happened since their visit to see Aang in the hospital. Not that too much had changed, she supposed, but she felt it obvious that her whole outlook on her relationship with Zuko had been changed. She couldn't blame Aang for this, as he must have been nearly going insane keeping his thoughts to himself. If she had been in his position, she likely would have done the same.
But ever since he had confided in her about what he had seen when they had been attacked by those wolves, her mind couldn't help but to wonder if she really knew the person she was dating. Despite Zuko being an obvious introvert, he had seemed fairly open about his thoughts and feelings. For the most part, at least. Oftentimes she found it hard to get him out of his shell, especially when she tried to show him affection, but she didn't blame him for that. Everyone was different, and she knew what she had been getting into when she had agreed to meet Zuko for coffee. Though, she had to admit, she wished that he would have been the one to ask her out, and not his foster sister for him.
She understood why he hadn't been the one to do this, having noticed when she first met him that personal relationships and conversation were not exactly his strong suits. He had certainly gotten better since their first date, and she was glad that he had grown to be more open with her, but from what Aang had told her, she couldn't help but wonder if everything he had told her about himself had been a lie.
He and his family certainly didn't seem evil or anything, at least from the short time she had known them all, but after her conversation with Aang, she had realized that he was right. She could sense some kind of darkness from them all, and she wasn't sure if it was because they had a rough past or… something else.
Whatever it was that made her feel this unease, she wasn't sure what to do about it. Of course, she knew that she could always try asking him, but she had a strong feeling that Zuko would just try to deflect it. He had done a fairly good job at hiding it, but Jin knew that there was something that he didn't want to talk about, and knowing this had made her a bit distant to her boyfriend since they had their talk outside of the hospital.
It was clear that Zuko had noticed this, and despite attempts to make her feel reassured, she knew that he could tell that she was having doubts about what he was telling her. Though, if he planned to do anything about it, she had no clue. More than a few times she had tried to put these thoughts aside and just enjoy spending some time with him, but she couldn't get the thought of whatever he was hiding out of her mind whenever she saw him.
And so, it was clear to her that the only way that they were going to get out of this awkward dance was if he told her the truth, whatever it may be. He had yet to do so, unfortunately, and it disappointed her to no end. If she couldn't trust him to tell her the truth, then what kind of future could they have? As much as she liked him, she wouldn't be able to stay in a relationship with someone who she felt that she didn't know who they really were.
"Jin?"
Looking up at the sound of her name, she looked to her right and saw her boyfriend with a worried expression on his face. "Yeah?" she asked, albeit a bit distractedly as she was reminded of her thoughts just moments prior.
"You've been quiet the whole walk," he told her bluntly, knowing that Jin wasn't exactly a fan of beating around the bush, and neither was he. "Is everything okay?"
Smiling weakly, she nodded and tried not to show her discomfort. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been… Thinking…" she admitted quietly.
"Want to share what you're thinking about?" he asked with concern clear in his voice, making her smile a little as she saw this. It was clear that he really did care about her, even if she knew that he was still hiding something from her. She just wished that he cared enough about her to tell her whatever he was keeping from her.
Deciding not to voice these thoughts, she gently squeezed his hand which was holding hers and shook her head. "I'm alright. I just…" she trailed off and sighed, looking away from him as she tried to stop herself from getting angry. She didn't want to be angry with him, but the more she thought about what she didn't know, the more frustrated she became with him.
"Jin, please. Just tell me what's wrong," Zuko nearly begged, having noticed that she appeared to be slipping away from him, and found that he was not willing to let her if he could do anything about it.
After a few moments of silence, she finally stopped in her tracks and turned to face him, putting her hands on her hips as she finally let it out. "Zuko, I know that you're hiding something. I don't know what it is, or why you won't tell me what it is, but I know."
"What… What do you mean?" Zuko pretended to not understand, feeling horrible as he saw her face take on a look of sadness.
"I'm not dumb, Zuko!" Jin sighed as she looked away from him, choosing to keep her eyes on the sidewalk below them. "I know that you're not telling me something. Ever since I brought up what Aang told me at the hospital, you've been acting weird."
Zuko winced as he heard this, knowing that he had been caught. Truthfully, he had wanted to tell her right then who they were, but fear had kept him from doing so. Sure, their relationship had been progressing very well since they had first gone out, but he had been unsure if Jin was ready to learn the truth of who they all really were. He did not want to scare her off, especially knowing that he had already fallen in love with her. Not that he was going to tell any of his family members this, of course, if nothing else other than to save himself from being teased mercilessly.
Watching as Jin walked up to him and took his hands in hers, he felt his heart nearly break as she looked up at him brokenly, a look of pleading on her lovely face while she stared into his eyes. "Zuko, please," she began in a weak whisper as tears began to gather in her eyes. "Just tell me. I need to know."
"I… I can't, Jin," he brokenly told her, knowing that he was losing her, but fearing that telling her about who he was would make him lose her forever. "I want to. I really want to, but I can't. It's not the right time."
"If it's not the right time now, when will it ever be, Zuko?" she shook her head at him, feeling the tears finally begin traveling down her face as she looked down at her feet. Taking a deep breath, she wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at him, a sad but determined look on her face as she met his eyes. "If you can't be honest with me, then there's no point in us being together," she told him firmly, making Zuko's eyes widen as he realized what was happening, freezing in place as she let go of his hands and began walking away. "Goodbye, Zuko."
Being in complete shock for a few moments at what had just happened, Zuko could only stand there as she quickly walked away, snapping back to his senses as he realized that she was walking away. "Jin, wait!" he called out to her, but stopped as he saw that she just kept walking, making his heart break as he watched her disappear out of sight.
Growling in frustration at his family's secret, even if it was the only reason he had been able to meet Jin in the first place, he shook off the heavy pain in his heart and decided that now was the time for action. He was going to tell her who he was, but first he had to be sure that Katara knew what he was going to do. If Jin rejected him still after he told her who they were, they would have to move again, and he knew Katara would have to tell Aang who she was before they did.
With a new determination powering his movement, he sniffed around the air and picked up his foster sister's trail, finding that it was leading back to their neighborhood. Once he warned Katara what he was about to do, he was going to come up with a plan to tell Jin the truth, no matter what the outcome was. Either way, he would lose her. If he didn't try now, he would never know if she would accept him or not. With this in mind, he began to follow the trail, knowing that it was time for them to know who they really were.
Katara smiled as she found herself laying down on the couch in Aang's home with him asleep next to her, not minding that his face was currently using her chest as a comfy pillow. It had not started out this way, but she supposed that everyone often sought warmth while they slept, and she figured that her breasts must have been as soft as pillows for him to lay on it so long. He had been like this for the last couple hours or so.
Normally, she would want to talk to him during the time they spent together, but she knew how tired he was from his injury. It was no easy thing to go to school with a broken arm, and she couldn't blame him for falling asleep as they cuddled together. Besides, she certainly didn't mind him using them as a cushion. She would do anything for him, and if he agreed to join their pack, then everything she had would be his. Including his newfound pillow set.
Smiling down at him as she watched him sleep peacefully, she softly dragged her fingers through his hair, making him subconsciously smile as he enjoyed her touch. It amused her that he seemed to enjoy this so much, but she knew that she couldn't tease him too much about it. He had done the same to her just yesterday, and it had taken everything in her not to pant happily like she would if she had been in her wolf form.
There was something so endearing about the way he looked when he slept. She knew that Aang was already a mostly care-free young man, but she had never seen him as peaceful as he was now. It made her glad to see that he trusted her enough to allow himself to fall asleep around her. After all, being asleep was when one was the most vulnerable, and he had never had any trouble doing this around her thus far.
Though, she couldn't deny that there had been a bit of trouble in Aang's eyes at times when they spent time together. She knew that he wasn't dumb, and that he likely was figuring out that she and her family were not normal like everyone else in the town. It had been pretty obvious that he had wanted to talk to someone other than her when he had asked her to get him water, especially when she found that Zuko had followed her.
Zuko hadn't told her why he had followed her, only that Aang had asked him to make sure she didn't get lost, but she knew this had been a lie. What excuse Aang had used to ask Zuko to follow her, she didn't know, but she assumed that he had done so for a reason. To be able to talk to Jin alone.
At first, she had worried that he was beginning to develop feelings for Jin, but then quickly dismissed it. Despite being friendly to each other, Jin and Aang had never been anything more than kind to each other, and she knew that Aang wanted to be with her. Which, needless to say, she was quite happy about.
But this raised the question, then, why had Aang asked her to get water and Zuko to follow her? It was obvious that Aang could tell that there was something different about her and her family, but unfortunately for her, she had no idea just how much he really knew. Something had happened in those woods that had shaken him up quite a bit, and despite the many times she had tried, he would just give her some excuse about how the whole experience had been so traumatic for him.
Although she could absolutely understand this, she could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't telling her the truth, and that worried her. Did he know who they were? Or, was he at least beginning to suspect it? She had many questions about what was going through his mind, but had yet to get any satisfying answers. If he did know something, he didn't seem to want to tell her.
Though this had been frustrating, as she didn't want anything to divide them, she had been fortunate that Aang had seemed to not let whatever he knew get to him. At least, when it came to her, anyway. Other than a few moments where Aang seemed to get a little distant, he was usually just as happy to see her as she was to see him.
It still frustrated her a bit to not be able to read his mind on this, but she knew that she would deal with whatever came. She and Aang had grown quite close over the short time they had been together, and she knew that it wouldn't be long before she would have to take a risk and tell him who they were. Though she couldn't help but wonder when she did finally tell him who they were, if he would already know.
Being lost in her thoughts for a few moments, she didn't even notice as Aang yawned lightly, his eyes fluttering open to find that his head was not where it had been when he had fallen asleep. Looking up, he saw that Katara appeared to be deep in thought and blushed as he realized where his head was currently laying.
Laughing nervously, he tried to decide whether he should move or if he should stay where he was. He certainly wouldn't mind staying where he was, but he also didn't want to make Katara angry if she didn't want him to be there.
Deciding that it would be best for him to just move, he slowly tried to move off of his girlfriend's breasts, but found that her arms had locked him in place. Clearly, if she had minded him being there, she certainly wouldn't be keeping him in place.
"Aang?"
Looking up, he saw that Katara had been snapped out of her thoughts by his movement and smiled sheepishly, a small blush lighting up his cheeks as he rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry, I didn't know that I was here and I tried to move," he explained, hoping that she wouldn't be too mad at him.
He became relieved as she gave him a smile. "Don't worry about it, Aang," she assured him as she planted a kiss on his head. "I don't mind having you here."
"Really?" he couldn't help but ask in surprise, not believing his eyes as she nodded. "Oh. Well, thanks. It's, uh… pretty comfortable here."
Katara giggled and gave him another smile. "I'm glad you like it." Before anything else could be said, the sound of the door opening was soon followed by the voice of his father.
"Aang! I'm back!" Gyatso called as he shut the door behind him.
"In here, dad!" Aang called back, waiting a few moments before Gyatso came into view, seeing the two cuddling on the couch.
"Oh, I didn't know you had company, Aang," Gyatso chuckled, seeing that his son appeared to be rather comfortable where he was. Setting his stuff down, he walked over and stuck his hand out to the girl currently holding his son. "I'm guessing that you are Katara. I'm Aang's father, Gyatso."
"It's nice to meet you, Gyatso," Katara greeted him with a smile, not feeling any of the awkwardness Aang felt from having his head on her breasts while she shook his father's hand. He knew that his father would end up teasing him about this later, but he knew that he wouldn't be mad at him or anything.
"And it's nice to finally meet you, Miss Katara," Gyatso smiled as he let go of her hand. "Aang has told me so much about you."
Unable to hold back a grin, she looked down at her boyfriend and raised a brow at him. "He has, has he?" she asked in a clearly teasing tone, making Aang's blush only grow deeper, making Gyatso laugh as he enjoyed his son's embarrassment.
"Well, maybe just a little," Gyatso decided to have mercy on his son, for the moment being at least. Deciding to move on from this, he asked. "Well, are you guys hungry? I was thinking about going to pick up some pizza from that pizzeria in town."
At the mention of food, Aang's stomach rumbled, making him smile sheepishly as Gyatso laughed. "I'll take that as a 'yes'," Gyatso chuckled before turning to Katara. "Do you have any special requests, Katara?"
"No, sir. I'm not picky," she told him with an appreciative smile, being glad that he seemed to be liking her so far.
"Okay, I'll just get our usual then," Gyatso smiled as he walked over to the counter and grabbed his keys before remembering something. "Aang, do we have any soda here?"
Thinking about it for a few moments, Aang shook his head. "I don't think so, dad."
"Very well. I will stop and pick some up before I pick up our pizza," Gyatso nodded, making sure he had everything before beginning to walk out. Just as he was about to exit the living room, he felt his heart telling him to turn around and said with a smile. "I'll be back soon. I'm very proud of you, Aang. I love you, son."
Not being sure where this had come from, Aang decided not to think about it and smiled back at his father. "Thanks, dad. I love you, too." With that, Gyatso gave him and Katara another smile and walked out the door, leaving the two alone.
After a few moments of silence, Katara felt compelled to break the silence that had fallen on them and looked down at her boyfriend. "You have a great dad, Aang."
"Yeah," Aang smiled, although he felt a pang in his heart that he couldn't explain as he heard this. "He really is a great dad."
After another few moments of silence, they became surprised to hear a knock on the door, both of them sharing a look as they wondered who it could be. It was unlikely that it was his dad, as they had both seen him grab his keys before he had left. Not wanting to get up from his comfortable position, but knowing that he couldn't leave whoever was waiting for him hanging, he reluctantly got up and made his way to the door with Katara right behind him.
Hearing another rap against the door, he peeked through the door and saw that it was Zuko. Being surprised by this, he opened up the door and found that it really was Zuko, making both of them be surprised as they saw a panicked look on his face.
"Hi, Aang," Zuko attempted to greet him in a non-panicked way, but knew that his voice likely sounded as worried as his face looked. "Do you mind if I borrow Katara for a few minutes?"
Blinking in surprise at this, Aang looked at Katara who appeared to be just as confused as him before turning and shrugging. "Um, go ahead, I guess. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Zuko lied through his teeth, even if he knew that his acting skills weren't up to par at the moment. "I just need to talk to her about something."
Despite wanting to know why Zuko looked like he was about to pass out from worry, Aang looked to Katara and asked. "Should I tell my dad you won't be back for pizza?"
"It won't take that long. She'll be right back," Zuko promised him, this time looking sure in his answer. Aang couldn't help but wonder what was going on, but decided that it wouldn't do him any good to hold things off.
"Okay," he replied as he looked back at Katara. "Do you need a jacket or anything?"
"I should be fine," she assured him with a smile, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a long kiss goodbye. Smiling as he felt her lips on his, he kissed her back for a few moments while Zuko's patience began to dwindle, knowing he wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
Once they finally split apart, Katara gave him another peck and whispered. "I'll be back soon. If your dad gets back before I do, don't wait for me." Nodding his agreement, he watched as she finally took her arms from around his neck and looked to Zuko, giving him a nod. Finally being satisfied with this, he motioned for her to follow and led the way, not noticing as Aang watched them go into the nearby woods.
Although he knew that he really shouldn't, he couldn't help but wonder about what Zuko wanted to talk about. From the look on his face, it was clear that Zuko was worrying about something. What he was worried about, Aang had no clue, but he knew that he wanted to.
Biting his lip as he thought about it and nervously looking around, he made up his mind and grabbed his coat, throwing it on over his shoulders and putting his shoes on before following the trail of flattened leaves they had left behind.
If they were talking about something, he imagined that they wouldn't go too far into the woods, meaning that he wouldn't have too long of a trek to catch up with them. After a little while of looking around and feeling like he had gone the wrong way, he became relieved when he heard their voices.
"Zuko, what's wrong?" Katara asked in annoyance as she put her hands on her hips, clearly not being happy that she had been taken away from her boyfriend. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I actually did see one once, but that's not the point," he sighed as he looked around them, sniffing something familiar, but being too worried to realize that his friend was nearby. "Jin broke up with me."
Katara's eyes widened as she heard this, a look of shock coming onto her face. "What?! Why?!" her voice conveyed just as much surprise as her face.
"She said that she knew I was keeping something from her," Zuko explained tiredly, making Aang raise a brow as he wondered if Jin had actually believed what he had told her or not. "I tried to tell her that it wasn't the right time, but she said that she didn't want to be with me if I wouldn't be honest with her."
"I'm sorry, Zuko," Katara put a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing that he must have been in a lot of pain. "What are you going to do?"
At this, Zuko raised his eyes from the ground that he had been staring at and met her gaze. "We've been keeping this secret for too long. All of us. It's time that Jin and Aang know who we are." Aang's eyes widened as he heard this, doing his best to cover up the startled gasp that escaped his lips as he laid back against a tree.
Katara, despite feeling horrible for what had happened to Zuko, couldn't help but take on a look of panic as well. "Zuko, no. I don't think Aang's ready for that yet. I want to make sure that he won't leave before we tell him."
"You can't make sure he won't, Katara," Zuko reminded her, making her frown as she crossed her arms and looked away. "Even if you dated him for years, there's always going to be a chance that he's going to reject us. Just like there's a chance that Jin will reject us."
"But, maybe if I have some more time, I can have more of a chance to make sure Aang decides to join us," Katara argued, making Aang take on a look of complete surprise. She wanted him to join them? What did that even mean?
"I know, and I understand that," Zuko tried to level with her. "But the longer I wait to tell Jin the truth, the less chance that she'll be willing to join us. If I don't tell her now, I might not ever get a chance with her again."
Understanding where Zuko was coming from, but also knowing that she really was not ready to tell Aang who they were, she opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted as she heard the sound of a branch snapping, making them both turn to look in the direction the sound had come from. "What was that?" Zuko asked as he sniffed around, but found that his worry was still making him unable to recognize the scent wafting from nearby.
Katara took a sniff around and her eyes widened, recognizing the breath of fresh air that was her boyfriend as she looked around. But, after a few moments of searching, she did not see anything move and decided that he must have come to check on them, but decided against it.
"Come on, Zuko. We've already been gone too long," Katara hissed to him, just in case Aang was still around.
"We're not done talking about this," Zuko argued, knowing that he couldn't give up on this lest he lose Jin. "I need to tell her who we are."
"Zuko, just let me talk to her," Katara sighed angrily as she found herself becoming worried that Aang had overheard their conversation. "I'll smooth things out between you guys and it'll be like nothing ever happened. I'm the one who set you guys up on a date in the first place. She'll listen to me." Deciding that this was likely the best he was going to get, he finally let out a sigh and nodded his agreement, making her smile. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm supposed to be back for pizza by now."
Not waiting for him to respond, she began her walk back the way she came, making him shake his head at her. "She better talk Jin into forgiving me," he muttered to himself, deciding that it would be best for him to clear out before anyone else saw them.
While he went home for the night, Katara ran at regular human speed in case Aang was still outside and made it back to his front yard, being surprised to find that his front door was wide open. Feeling dread begin to come over her that he had overheard their conversation, she walked up to the door and knocked on it. "Aang? Are you in there?"
Hearing nothing, she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. If Aang had heard their conversation, then she supposed that it would be now or never to tell him. "Aang?" she called again as she walked into the living room, seeing her boyfriend was frozen in shock as he stared at something across from him. "Aang, what's wro- Oh, no," she gasped, her eyes finding what his had found upon walking in.
Directly across from them lay a horribly disfigured corpse on the couch, covered with claw and bite marks that were much larger than that of a regular wolf's. Tears came to her eyes as she realized who the corpse was, seeing an empty pizza box and a couple two liters of soda that had been knocked to the ground. The table they had previously been on had claw marks on it as well.
Not knowing what to do, Katara watched as Aang fell to his knees and began to cry, finally rushing in and taking him in her arms. There, just a couple feet in front of them, lay Aang's dead father's corpse. A visual that Aang knew he would never be able to get out of his head.