A/N. I need to think how I will organize the next few chapters! So it may be that the next chapter is Aang again.
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender!
Aang didn't know about this… They had got out of the cave just ten minutes ago, and happened upon a laundry and the lines of clothes that were drying above natural steam springs. As they were sitting behind the rock, he was listening to the others argue about the correct way to do this. They had already rejected the idea of going up to the sleeping man next to the lines of clothes to pay for some clothes. How could they explain that?
And of course, he knew they couldn't just walk into town the way they were looking, but to steal clothes? How was that any better?
"These clothes belong to somebody," He weakly protested, knowing it was no use. Of course, they would have to take clothes from the lines. That was the only possibility. So, yeah… He had to accept it.
"I call the silk robe!" He heard Katara's voice call out next to him, and Aang saw how the waterbender rushed past him, going to the lines as quietly as possible. She plucked several garments from the lines. Katara had always been against stealing, except if they really needed to, like that time she had taken the waterbending scroll. So… Why not? Why shouldn't they take some garments?
"Alright, I call the suit! Tough luck Sokka!" He laughed, jumping over the rock they were hiding behind. Aang made his way to the line, pulling a grey shirt with long sleeves from the line. Next to it, hung a black and gold sleeveless suit. Also taking that, because it seemed to go together, he grabbed the thing that looked like a silken belt and the knee-high boots that stood underneath the line. It was not his usual style, but it seemed that they would fit him, and if they didn't, he could always alter them a bit.
"Yeah, take the cool stuff, and leave me with the grey drabs," Aang heard Sokka mutter not far from him. The water tribe boy was clearly looking at each item before choosing them, as if he was in a shop. The airbender tried not to laugh at Sokka's vanity, seeing how his friend choose several garments. And at the same time, he saw how Katara was helping Toph take some clothes from the line. Of course, the blind girl would not be capable of choosing things that would fit her…
"If you want it, take it." Aang offered Sokka, who just shook his head.
"Was only kidding Air Head, there is enough for everyone. And to be honest, I don't think they would fit me." Sokka laughed. And indeed, Aang remarked, for the first time, that he was actually… taller.
"Oh… yeah… Didn't think of that." The airbender smiled.
After taking what they needed, and some extra clothes to be sure that they would have enough to make presentable Fire Nation disguises, they returned to the bay and cave where they had left Appa. The sea had retreated, so that they now walked over a beach towards the alcove, instead of splashing through it as they had done earlier.
They arrived at the cave, where Appa and Momo were clearly profiting from the warm sun. The bison was resting at the entrance, while the lemur was flying around him, teasing his bigger friend by poking him.
"You two change there, Aang and I will do that here!" Sokka waved his hand to a rather large rock. Aang saw how Katara and Toph retreated behind it.
"Don't even think about it!" He heard the water tribe boy laugh behind him.
"What?" He turned around, seeing how Sokka was looking at him with a lopsided grin.
"Oh you know perfectly well what I mean. No peaking!"
Spirits! No, he would never… What did Sokka think he would do? Creep behind the rock?
"I… I… I never…"
"I know I'm just teasing you, that's all." his friend laughed while pulling the armour of the firebender's uniform off.
Aang shrugged out of the robe and began to peel the bandages off. It felt weird, as if he was trying to remove skin. It felt as if his body had become accustomed to the linen bandages. He began by removing those around his arms. Underneath, he saw only a very small pink scar of something that, knowing Katara's healing abilities, had probably been a severe burn. Then, he began to get rid of the one around his left shoulder. He had not even looked underneath it, but over his shoulder ran a long, slim scar. Aang remembered that he had been wounded there when he had been thrown against the cave wall by an attack by Zuko.
He looked at the bandages that covered his stomach, and by extension, his back. Sighing, he began to remove them. At long last, he felt the last of the linen fall off him, and he could finally stretch.
"Well, your back has looked better. But Katara did a nice job." Sokka spoke behind him. Aang turned around, seeing how the water tribe boy was staring at the airbender's back. No, not staring… He averted his gaze.
Aang touched his lower back with his fingertips and felt the soft scar tissue. It seemed that the scar was a kind of star-shaped, with in the middle a spot that felt sore and painful. Probably the place where the lightning had hit…
"Yeah…" Katara had been right. That kind of scar would have messed up his tattoo there. But he tried not to think about it. He had been right before. It didn't matter. Hiding his tattoos or losing some parts didn't matter. What did matter was the fact he had earned them, and that he was an airbending master.
He pulled the blue trousers down and began to put on the new clothes. The grey shirt fitted rather well, but the trousers were too short. That didn't matter, because when he pulled on the boots, it did hide that small detail. After that, Aang put on the sleeveless suit, which was buttoned up to his chine, forcing him to keep his face up, and pointing his chin forward. For some reason, he suspected that this was voluntarily done… Lastly, he had snatched some arm band to hide the arrows on his hands. Putting them on, he realized he had forgotten about the tattoo on his forehead.
Aang pulled the silken belt from his suit and tied it around his head. He had seen people do that in the Fire Nation, to keep their hair out of their eyes when they worked. Of course, his hair wasn't long enough to justify it like that, but at least, he wouldn't look weird.
"See, normal Fire National!" He showed to Sokka, who had also finished his disguise. The Water tribe boy looked rather… normal. He didn't look out of place in Fire Nation clothes, and the only small detail that could give him away was the colour of his eyes, but about that, they couldn't change a thing.
Before Aang could comment on Sokka attire, Toph appeared from behind the rock, grumbling.
"I don't need help getting dressed. I just didn't know that she would force me to wear shoes!" The blind earthbender came towards them, still muttering angrily. She sat down next to Aang, and showed hi her feet, which had been put in red leather sandals.
"How in the name of the Spirits am I supposed to wear this? Even my parents allowed me thin soles so that I could feel a bit around if needed!" She spoke.
"I know Toph…" He tried to say, but before he could finish, he saw how she hopped on one leg and put her left foot right through the sandal.
"Ah… You see, a new style! I call it blind earthbender shoes of the season." She spoke happily, while giving the other sandal the same treatment.
"Where is Katara?" Sokka asked while he kicked the sole that had landed on him away.
"She needed to do something about her hair apparently." Toph explained, sitting down and waving her hand around her head, "Apparently, there was a lot to change."
Yeah… Katara's hairstyle was very easily recognizable as Water Tribe. She had told him once that the beads that held her hair loopies were very specifically from her village. Each village had had their own style, and once, Aang had taken the time to look at the small symbols carved into them. It made him smile. The last time he had seen Katara with her hair down… Well, it had been while doing some waterbending training. And he had liked it. Very much…
"How do I look…" He heard a nervous voice call from the rock.
He turned around, and nearly had a fit.
Spirits… She was beautiful… The first thing Aang saw was Katara, standing shyly next to the rock. She had changed from the cloak and shirt to something… so nice… She was wearing a long silken skirt, with a fiery pattern on the seams. Furthermore, her midriff was bare, with her… well her torso covered by a red top. His mind nearly went blank with the image he had of her in the barn with him, but for some reason, in his memory she was wearing these clothes. Spirits…
"Please close your mouth Air Head…" He heard Sokka mutter beside him, with a disapproving click of his tongue, but Aang didn't care. How could he… This was the dream. Katara's hair was flowing down her back, and he realized how long the last time they had trained had been in reality. Her hair had grown visibly, and was now nearly at the small of her back… It was… so beautiful…
"Y-you… You look good."
Good? GOOD? Seriously? Of all the things he could have said, good was not the one!"
"Thanks… you do too." He heard Katara answer, from far away. It was much more than good…
"Oh Tui and La, yeah, we all look fine!" Sokka laughed. The sound made Aang snap back to reality. In all the fiery glory, he saw one thing that felt out of place… And oh spirits, he hated to have to bring it up…
"Katara… Your mother's necklace." He pointed at the choker around her neck.
"Oh… yeah. It is pretty obviously water tribe, isn't it?' She answered, while moving her hand to unclasp it.
"I know Katara… But it isn't for long, I promise." He said, but the fact that they had been talking abou the necklace made him think of another thing. Oh spirits… The pouch was still in the pocket of the blue trousers. Trousers that Sokka was now pilling up in a suspiciously bonfire kind of way!
Aang quickly turned around, walking rapidly to the clothes, and put his hand in the pocket. There it was… He pulled it out of the trousers as discreetly as possible, which meant, not discreetly at all. He saw how Sokka was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"What is that? I have seen it everywhere!" the water tribe boy sighed, waving at the pouch.
Wait, everywhere? Aang had found it in his chest, and he had supposed that someone had put it there when his clothes had been removed at some point. But if it had lain around… Anyone could have looked inside it. And taken it. He hadn't even thought of that. He put some force in his fingers around the pouch, feeling a hard object through the fabric. Well, at least, it was still there.
"Oh… nothing." He whispered. Spirits, this could be awkward. Quickly glancing back, he saw how Katara was removing Toph's headdress.
"Alright, it is important, but I'll explain later, okay?" He whispered quietly to the boy in front of him, who nodded. When Aang had taken a step back, Sokka pulled out flint and steel from a bag and began to set fire to the clothes. He was right, it could attract unwanted attention to them.
It was only an hour later, when the clothes had burned enough not to be recognizable, that they set out to the town. The airbender tried very hard not the stare at Katara but failed miserably. She walked in front of them with Sokka, apparently arguing about who would hold the money purse. In the meantime, he himself walked next to Toph, and had a very hard time concentrating on their own conversation.
"Cut the crap Twinkletoes. You are not even listening." The blind girl chuckled. Spirits, of course, she could feel what he was trying so hard to avoid.
"I'm trying." He protested, feeling hopeless. Of course, he hadn't been, not really.
"No, you're trying to imagine what she looks like underneath those new clothes." Toph pointed out, while grinning. He decided to choose his next words carefully. He didn't need to imagine… Or at least, not really. The barn had been very dark, and he had actually not seen that much…
"I'm not imaging anything." It wasn't a lie. But it wasn't the truth either.
"I'm not even trying to feel if you are lying, what you think is your business. But let me tell you my dear Twinkles, your blood pressure is out of control' The blind girl smiled sweetly, but with that sarcastic and teasing little edge.
He didn't respond, because they had just walked past the town's gate. Aang had thought that the town walls would have been repaired and fortified anew because of the war, but he saw that they were in even a more dire state than a hundred years ago. That actually surprised him. Maybe… Just maybe, things wouldn't have changed that much?
Kuzon had lived here, just outside of the town. Aang had liked to visit this place, and knew most of the streets they passed. There was the alley where Kuzon had shown him the small turtle duck he had found near the river. Just a few moments later, he observed the old statue of Fire Lord Harza, who had founded this town. If his history lessons from the temple had taught him well, Aang believed that that was Sozin's grandfather, or great uncle, he didn't recall. Kuzon and him had used it to hide from the guard when they had dropped a water bucket on the poor man.
"There is a small market on the square, maybe we should buy some things to complete our… attires." Katara showed them the money bag, which she had clearly got under her control.
"Yes!" Aang answered happily. He wouldn't buy anything, but the square had always looked lively and interesting. So while the others walked around the market, he himself went to the fountain. Each time he had come here, musicians had sat on the fountain's edge, to prepare for their performance in the evenings. And they had been good! Of course, those people were a long time dead, but maybe their children or grandchildren would have taken up the trait!
But… Where was the fountain? He could have sworn it had stood in the middle of the square… But now, there was just a small water pump. That had not been here… And there were no musicians, no singers. Where were the jugglers, and the entertainers?
"Excuse me, but when do the musicians arrive?" He asked the woman standing at the stall next to the water pump. He asked his question in the Fire Nation language. He knew most people spoke the common language here, but he rather liked to train it again a bit. He had not spoken it in too long.
"What?"
The woman looked at him like he was crazy. What was so weird? He spoke three languages, the common one, the Air Nomad tongue and the Fire Nation language. Why was she looking at him like he had just produced a green platypus bear?
"I wanted to know where the musicians are, please?" He repeated his question in the common language, and the woman looked at him like he had really gone crazy.
"What are you talking about young man?" She looked at him suspiciously. Oh… That was not good.
"Nothing, just joking. Thank you." He quickly left, rejoining his friends, who were coming from one of the market stalls. He saw that Sokka had bought a small Fire Nation pin, that he had put in his top knot. Toph had put on a new headdress, while Katara had hung a new necklace around her neck.
"Oh, there you are!" The waterbender sounded relieved.
"Told you Sweetness, no worry." Toph spoke up, but she gazed in his direction with a curious look on her face, "Why is your heart doing that?"
"No reason." He answered. Aang knew full well what his heart was doing. Beating fast, because he was afraid. Afraid that the Fire Nation may have changed. Very much… Why weren't there musicians? And dancers? And singers? This square had been so lively before…
"So, Aang, please enlighten us about Fire Nation way of living…" Sokka interrupted his thoughts. Oh… yeah… of course!
"Well, here, you greet someone by calling them Hotman!" He turned around, and began to walk to the other side of the square, where the market made place for actual shops. If he remembered correctly, there were good restaurants there.
He passed he man, who was eating a sort of meat on a stick.
"Greetings, my good Hotman!" He called, nodding politely and walking past the man, who looked rather… Confused? Why? That greeting had been very normal, as had been slang like Stay Flamin'…
"Ehm… Aang? I believe your way of speaking is a bit… old fashioned…" Katara spoke softly to him.
Oh… That again. When he had just woken up from the iceberg, he remembered how the water tribe siblings had looked at him when he talked. Like he was their grandfather. And it was only after Sokka had said that Aang still spoke the common language like they had done it a hundred years ago, that he had understood. That his way of speaking was just archaic…
"Ah… Yeah, that could be it. The woman in the square looked at me like I was crazy when I spoke in their language."
"You speak what now?" Katara looked at him incredulously.
"Ehm… Fire Nation language… It was mandatory at the Temple… Didn't I tell you about it?" He felt like an idiot. Of course, that was not an everyday occurrence to be able to speak it.
"And that woman found it strange? Why?" Katara didn't react to him being able to speak the language, and Aang felt grateful about that.
"Maybe she can't speak it? At least, that was the impression I got…" That was weird. Why would a Fire National not speak their own language?
"Are you two coming inside or not?" Sokka spoke suddenly. Apparently, Toph and he had entered a restaurant for lunch and were now waiting for them.
Aang turned around and looked at the restaurant. It looked… like a meat kind of place. As did the others actually. There had been a good Air Nomad restaurant further along the square he remembered, that had been run by an Air Nomad who had settled here. That was actually the reason Gyatso and he had come here the first time he had met Kuzon.
But he supposed that that particular restaurant was long gone. Now, all restaurants in this row of the square looked like they had one thing on the menu.
"Yeah… You guys go ahead, I'll go look for something at the market if you don't mind…" He protested. Aang didn't even want to set foot inside this particular establishment. It looked like they cut the meat in front of you before preparing it. No thanks…
As the other entered, Katara turned around.
"Will you watch out? Please? It seems safe enough, and our disguises are working… but you never know…" She spoke softly.
"I'll watch out… Tara." He had only used that particular name once. In the barn. And looking at Katara, he saw that she blushed a bit, before nodding.
If he wasn't mistaken… She had thought of the same moment as he had done. And maybe, even if there were no musicians, they could go do something tonight? Like take a walk or something?
He was thinking about that while walking the square. The airbender didn't want to make it look like he was only thinking about… that. Because he wasn't! He wanted her, he wanted to talk to her and finally figure out what they meant for each other. Because, at the moment, they had not explained their feelings once. Only declarations and hushed dancing around the subject… No, he wanted everything. He wanted to say everything that he felt for her, or at least try at formulate it into words.
"Hey you! You don't belong here!"
Monkeyfeathers!
Answers :
Kaloang : Yeah, I am having fun writing that part! And yeah, I may be changing some things to better fit it, because with aged up characters, that particular scene would be difficult to pull off, the Headmaster is not an idiot!
Gabriela N. Gonzalez : Thanks for understanding ! Yeah, that is why I absolutely want to have Katara's POV for the party, that will be so interesting to write!
CoyoteLemon : Well, next chapter may not really be… Lots of propaganda, but I will end on a happier note I think!
Rak : I wanted her to have some more fun than she had for the last few weeks!