A/N: It's funny, I have time to write, but I don't have time to edit and post. I've written a couple of chapters on the bus because I had quite a lot of uni this week. Managed to snatch some spare time for a break, so here we are! Super short chapter, that doesn't add too much to the story, but there are certainly small elements that I introduced which will crop up later, but anyway hope you like it.
Sunday Afternoon:
Katara's POV:
I rub my eyes as I wait for the kettle to boil, hoping that a fresh cup of tea will shake off the exhaustion I've been feeling for the past week. At the sound of light footsteps, I look up to find an ink-stained Aang entering the kitchen with a large toolbox in one hand.
I blink twice, not having seen him since my desperate attempt to apologise. I clear my throat slightly, earning the boy's attention as he looks up from some piece of paper he was reading. His eyes widen at the sight of me.
"Oh hey." He greets with a distracted nod.
"Hey." I return and watch as he sets his tool box down on the ground. "What have you been up to? Your clothes are all stained with...ink?" I query in bewilderment. My comment prompts the boy to glance down at said clothes before shooting me a sheepish grin.
"Work. Cars are messy things." He jokes as he goes over to the sink to wash his hands. My jaws slacken.
"You work?" I echo in surprise. His grey orbs flicker over to me briefly before returning back to scrubbing off the black stains on his fingers and face.
"Yep. It's nice to keep busy." He answers shortly and then the room is enveloped in awkward silence. A second later the kettle boils. "Mind if you pour me a cup too?" The airbender asks when I start pouring the hot water into a mug.
"Sure." I reply and do likewise while keeping one eye on the boy who seems very focused on his hand washing. I chew my lip, wondering if my apology wasn't enough. It's only when he comes to stand beside me to take his cup do I finally open my mouth.
"Are we...ok?" I ask anxiously, surprising the boy who glances up at me. He scans me for several moments before his eyes soften.
"Yeah we're ok. Sorry, my mind's just preoccupied." The child genius voices with a warm smile, making my heart leap in relief.
"Anything I can help with?" I offer, making the boy beam even more.
"It's alright, but thank you Katara." Aang expresses gratefully before taking a sip from his cup. "How are you doing?" He asks, his tone is coated with so much concern that I almost choke.
"I'm..." The words get stuck in my throat, but I pull at every miniscule bit of strength within me and push past it. "I'll be ok." I finally settle on saying, for some reason not being able to bring myself to lie to the boy. Despite having done so repeatedly with everyone else, including my own family. Aang knits his eyebrows as he peers at me closely.
"You look exhausted, have you been sleeping enough?" He asks worriedly. My heart drops, wishing I had bothered to wash my face some more.
"I'm alright Aang, really." I insist while stretching out a hand to rest on his forearm gently, hoping it would reassure him. His eyes flicker from my face to my hand before slumping his shoulders.
"Alright. I'm still here to talk if you need it." The airbender reminds lightly. My face warms at his thoughtfulness and without thought I wrap him in a hug. But just like last time, he tenses up and I almost curse under my breath for forgetting to limit the physical contact.
"S-sorry." I stutter as I immediately pull back while the child genius rubs the back of his neck.
"No I'm the one that's sorry. I just..." He pauses and averts his eyes. I furrow my eyebrows and go to touch his arm lightly.
"Aang?" I probe, only for him to sigh.
"It's been a while since I've had a hug is all. I'm not...used to it." He mumbles while my eyes widen to the size of saucers. A barrel of questions are on the tip of my tongue, but my horror takes slightly more precedence.
"Spirits that's terrible! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just..." I ramble, but I stop when the airbender shakes his head vigorously.
"No! No you didn't. It was just unexpected. I...like it." He admits with a flush and I feel my own cheeks reddening in turn.
"O-oh ok?" I stumble as I experience heat emitting from my face in waves while the boy slaps his hands over his eyes.
"Monkey feathers! Sorry, I just made things awkward now, haven't I?" Aang groans as he digs the ball of his palms into his eye sockets, which is enough to shake me out of my embarrassment as I rush to pull his hands away.
"Hey no, I just...I'm glad you...like it." I say gently, but still I feel my cheeks tinged with pink as I keep my fingers encircled around his wrists. He shoots me a boyish smile and I find myself rambling. "I've always been affectionate, so I just do it without realising..." I say, eliciting a chuckle from the airbender.
"Katara, you don't need to explain yourself to me." He says lightly before flickering his gaze to his hands and it's only then do I realise that I'm still holding his wrists. I snatch my hands back before you can say 'sea prunes' and clutch my elbow in embarrassment. Fortunately, Aang seems to have a knack for making situations less awkward.
"So how's uni going?" He asks in an attempt to change the subject and I can't help but release a small breath of relief.
"It's going. I love it, but sometimes..." A sigh escapes me. "...sometimes it's hard to focus." I mumble, before shaking my head. "What about you?" I ask, swerving the conversation elsewhere. He shrugs before taking another sip of his tea.
"We started learning about aeroplane engines which is cool, not that different from a car engine to be honest." He answers before flickering his eyes to the wall briefly. "Hey, can I ask you a random question?" Aang utters suddenly. I quirk an eyebrow and put a hand on my hip.
"You already did." I tease, making the child genius grin. "Go on." I add after a moment.
"I guess I wanted to know more about why you chose medicine? Is your Dad a doctor or something?" The airbender asks casually and I immediately snort at the idea of my Dad doing anything science related.
"Dad's definitely the last person to be interested in science." I joke as I reach forward to put a teaspoon of sugar in my mug.
"Oh? What does he do then?" Aang queries lightly. I raise an eyebrow at him.
"You're awfully interested in my Dad; especially for someone who's so mysterious about his own past." I joke, but when his face falls, I immediately regret my choice of words.
"Sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't..." I cut him off right there.
"No, no - I'm just teasing." I reassure while shaking my head vigorously. "He's a member of the council in our town. Makes decisions on the general going ins and outs of the place. Politics were never my thing, so I chose not to pursue it." I explain with a shrug, watching as the boy's eyes widen ever so slightly, but I discard any significance of it and continue answering his initial question. "It was..." I pause as my eyes drop to the ground. "Mum was the one who inspired me actually. I saw what a huge difference she did as a nurse and I wanted to follow in her footsteps." I whisper as my heart clenches painfully.
"That's really admirable." Aang murmurs, as he places his hand on my shoulder. I look up as a half-smile makes its way to my face.
"She was." I mumble. The boy chews his lip for a moment before leaving my side and going over to the fridge. I frown at him as he digs into one of the shelves before pulling out a small pie.
"I was saving this, but maybe we can share this sweet treat together. If you want, that is?" The child genius offers as he places the pie on the worktop in front of me. I blink twice before looking up.
"I can't, that's yours." I protest, but the boy is already grabbing two small plates and a knife.
"Well since it's mine, I get to choose who I give it to." He replies cheekily with a wink. My lips twitch at his logic.
"I guess I can't argue there." I say unsurely and watch as he cuts a slice, puts it on a plate and offers it to me. Immediately, the smell of sweetness hits my nostrils. Taking a bite, my pupils dilate as the delicacy assaults my taste buds.
"Woah, that's delicious!" I praise enthusiastically as I take several more bites, making the airbender laugh.
"Woah slow down there; you don't want to finish it all in one go." He teases and tries to take the plate from my hand. I chuckle, lower the dish and begrudgingly agree to eat at a more reasonable pace.
"Seriously, what is this?" I question eagerly as the boy cuts a small slice for himself.
"It's a traditional Air Nomad dessert, a fruit pie." He answers lightly. I blink twice.
"You made this?" I echo in disbelief, prompting the airbender to duck his head.
"Yeah, it's not as good as..." He trails off with a shake of his head. Suddenly, I'm taken back to what he said outside my door that day. About not being the only one to lose someone. I bite the inside of my cheek and lower my spoon, knowing that I should tread carefully, but not entirely sure how.
"Well, I think this is perfect." I murmur softly and bump my shoulder with his. I watch the way his face softens and the stress lines on his forehead disappear.
"Thanks Katara." He voices gratefully. Again, my heart throbs in affection as a wave of protectiveness washes over me. The urge to shield the boy from every pain and hurt.
"Anytime." I say with a beam as the boy starts packing the pie away.
"You can have the rest of it." He offers, but I'm already shaking my head.
"I couldn't." I decline, but the airbender waves his hand.
"I'm making another one anyway." Aang insists as he pops the dish back into the fridge. I purse my lips.
"Alright. Thank you." I voice in appreciation.
"No problem. I've got something I need to do, but I'll see you around." Aang expresses, excusing himself. I raise my hand in goodbye and watch as he disappears down the corridor. 'That guy is too sweet for words.' I think with a warm heart.
A/N: Basically this was more fluff on my part, I mean when it comes to Aang & Katara it's hard not to incorporate fluff. But for my angst lovers I promise more angst is on the way. Things start picking up and get interesting from the next chapter imo and we're getting closer to hitting the plot.
You know when I first thought to write this story, I legit thought it would be roughly 20 or so chapters, but 20 chapters later and we still haven't hit the beefy part of the story lol. Guess that's a good thing, because I'm not ready to go on another writing break. So, I think I used up my last free time to post, I might have some time next week, but likely not. So the hiatus probably starts from now, unless work stifles me to the point that I need another break. Anyway, keep well everyone! And thanks for being the super super awesome people you are :)
9/5/21