Aftermath
Aang clung to Katara as though his life depended on it. Perhaps it did; she was his anchor, his center. What would he do if she weren't around to bring him back to himself? He dimly sensed other people around, but for the moment, his world consisted only of the two of them.
"I'm sorry, Katara," he whispered hoarsely, between sobs. "I'm so sorry." The tears dried up quickly due the lack of water in his body, but he couldn't stop crying. His eyes became sore and his throat dry and raw. Aang felt Katara lower to her knees, pulling him gently with her.
"Shhh," she comforted, rubbing his back consolingly and pressing her cheek to his head. "It's okay."
"No, it's not," he replied in a stronger voice. The sobs were finally beginning to subside. Somehow, after being in the Avatar state, he was able to see clearly how he'd been behaving for the last day, to objectively view the events that had led up to his losing control. "I told you that wouldn't happen again, and I let it! And the way I treated you – all of you. I know you were only trying to help."
"I understand. Appa's the only companion who's been with you all along, the connection to your childhood. Of course it would be hard for you to be without him." Katara's hand stopped moving on his back, hesitated, then began stroking his temple. Aang took a long, shuddering breath and allowed himself to relax at her touch. She was so forgiving that he almost started crying again. He didn't deserve her.
"What happened?" Toph was asking from some distance away. "I couldn't feel Aang for a minute."
"He went into something called the Avatar state," Sokka replied. "It allows him to draw from the abilities of all past Avatars."
"All of them?"
"Yeah. He rose up into a kind of whirlwind. He can be dangerous when he's like that."
"Does he do that often?"
"No, not often." Sokka's tone was tight.
"I scared everyone," Aang murmured so only Katara could hear him.
"Not everyone," Katara answered him, and Aang felt a hot drop land on his head. He looked up to see the girl wiping her eye and understood that it had been a tear. Katara apologized, "Sorry. I'm just worried about you."
Under other circumstances, Aang might have found this funny. After all, here he was, crying like a baby in front of her, and she was apologizing for one tear. Then he realized that she was trying to be strong for him. He remembered how, when everyone else was backing away from his fury, Katara stood her ground. Not only that, but she had actually approached and touched him. Aang felt a surge of love for the girl that swelled to immense proportions. It filled his head and chest to bursting and tightened his throat. Just when he felt he might explode from sheer emotion, the feeling subsided enough to only fill the empty nooks and crannies inside him. There was still a gap where Appa should have been, but the pain was bearable now. Aang sat amazed at the healing power of love. He was grateful to Katara, even if she didn't know the impact she had on him. Now, it was his turn to be strong for her. He drew his hands down her arms to take her hands. Then he stood up, pulling her after.
"Don't worry," she assured him. "I'm sure we'll find Appa."
"Yeah," said Sokka cautiously, approaching again with Toph now that the danger seemed to be past. "How hard can it be to find a giant, stolen sky bison?"
Aang appreciated their optimism and did his best to share it.
"Let's go to Ba Sing Se," he said.
Author's note: For those of you following Avatar in Training, don't worry, I'm still working on that. This idea just came to me after watching the movie and wouldn't let go.
