A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you all are well? Working 3 weeks straight without a day off aint fun let me tell you. I keep telling myself its only two weeks left till the month is finished lol. Anyway, so this chapter is, hm I wouldn't say a filler exactly, but doesnt do too much for the overarching plot, of course there's a few things, but - well, I'll just leave you to read. If anything there's quite a bit of Kataang fluff and a little bit of angsty Aang too. Hope you like it.
Katara's POV:
I spot Dad on the porch even before we reach the driveway. I thought he looked worse for wear before at the funeral, but this is so much worse. His proud posture has slumped. The man who once took pride in his appearance looks like he hasn't changed out of his top for a few days and the slightly haunted expression on his face is chilling.
Sokka and I share a worried glance as we park at the front, finally catching the man's attention who stands from his chair that he must've planted out front for whatever reason.
"Dad doesn't look good." Sokka whispers. I take in a deep breath and turn to face him.
"Then let's try and change that." I state determinedly as I remove my seatbelt. Sokka is already out of the car and making his way to the older man. I bite my lip and school my features, hoping that the nights of restless sleep aren't apparent on my face as I open my car door.
"Hey Dad!" I greet with as much cheerfulness as I can. The older man looks up from his embrace with Sokka and gives me a tired smile.
"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Hakoda greets as he opens up one arm towards me. I waste no time in going in for a hug. The three of us huddled together tightly, as if trying to silently tell one another that it's ok.
Aang's POV:
I watch the small broken family with a sad smile from the backseat of the car. My heart twinges at the sight and I guiltily have to look away, for more reasons than one. An old wound re-opens at seeing a family together. A father with his kids. A household with a house.
I nearly gag at the onslaught of memories and suddenly wish I hadn't come along. I don't belong. I haven't belonged anywhere since I lost my parents. And if they found out who I am, what I stand for, what I should've stopped...they'll discard me without a moment's thought.
A sigh escapes my lips and when I see the family chatting away, I finally open the car door and step out onto the gravel.
All 3 heads swivels towards me, the younger two have seemingly forgotten that I existed. 'Not the first time really.' I cringe and wave awkwardly, unsure if I should take a step closer or not. That is, until Katara is waving me over and with the delicacy of an airbender, I tread towards the trio.
"Well, well you two didn't tell me we'd have company." The older man voices in surprise, but a smile is on his face nonetheless.
"Yeah Katara kind of jumped this on me too." Sokka jokes and a wave of guilt flows through me, until the older boy nudges me with a wink. I smile slightly.
"Dad, this is Aang. He wasn't going anywhere for the holidays so I asked him to join us. I hope that's alright?" The girl queries with a sheepish expression, but my grey orbs are glued to the older man whose eyes seems to widen ever so slightly as he scrutinises me for a moment. I take this time to bow to the councilman.
"It's an honour to meet you, Chief Hakoda." I greet, but I'm jerked up as the taller man rests his hands on my shoulders.
"No need to bow here. It's a pleasure to see you ag...Aang." The man expresses with an open smile, but the way he almost seemed to stumble on my name has me curious. 'It almost sounded like he was going to say again...but that's ridiculous. I've never seen the man in my life. I don't think? But if we're from the same city, then maybe he's seen me around?' I'm almost tempted to ask, but I suck in my lips at the last moment. 'The less he knows the better.' I decide as I give the man one of my so-called charming grins.
"Pleasure is all mine." I reply politely as a pleased expression crosses the man's face.
"Why don't we all go inside? I've got dinner already set on the table." The father suggests as he guides his children into the house.
"Dad, you cooked?!" Sokka gawks, even Katara stares at her dad in shock, prompting the man to hunch his shoulders slightly.
"Well actually K...a family friend has kindly been dropping off some meals." Hakoda admits sheepishly, earning nods from the siblings. I watch as they disappear into the house together and find myself digging my hands into my pockets as I kick at a stray pebble. A second later, Katara re-appears at the entrance with a frown on her face.
"Is something wrong?" She queries in concern and crosses the distance between us. I shrug and turn my head to the side.
"I don't know if I should be here. Maybe you're better off if I left." I mutter, but before I know it I find a pair of hands wrapping themselves around my bicep.
"No way. I...we would love to have you here. Come on, I'll give you the grand tour!" The waterbender convinces encouragingly. I swallow down the lump in my throat. 'Yeah, if you knew the truth, you'd want nothing to do with me.' I voice silently, but the warm hold of her hands around my arm, pulls me deeper and I realise I'm falling. Hard and fast.
Not only that, but I'm setting myself up for more hurt. As if I haven't had enough of that. 'The closer I get to this girl, the more I risk breaking that promise I made to myself all those years ago.' But when I look up to see that innocent, motherly oceanic gaze, I know I can't back down. So with a small exhale, I plaster a smile on my face and nod.
Seconds later, I find myself being dragged into the house and subconsciously the upturned corners of my lips ease into something more genuine. Seeing the excitement in her face, even if it's more reserved from what it was when I first met her, has my heart constricting. A sensation I've always associated with for being something bad, but strangely this time it seems to have a whole new meaning. 'Or maybe I'm just accustomed to the constant feeling of doom, even when there's nothing to be fearful about. Or is there?'
"So this is the living room! Dining room..." The girl points to various areas of the house before dragging me into the kitchen. "...and this is the kitchen." She ends with as I spot her dad holding a piping tray. His eyes stray to where Katara's hands are still wrapped around my arm and when he quirks an eyebrow, I immediately pull away from the girl in embarrassment, but she seems none the wiser as she rushes to help her dad.
"I've got it Dad!" The waterbender voices as she tries to take the tray from him.
"That's alright sweetheart. Why don't you go and fetch the mats and plates?" Hakoda ushers gently. A sweeping look of disappointment crosses the girl's face. I purse my lips and carefully broach the two.
"I can help." I offer with a hand towards the tray, earning an amused expression from the man.
"I think you're a bit young to handle hot trays." The councilman expresses with a smile. I grin at the challenge and without further ado, I airbend the tray out of his hands and settle it on the table in the dining table with a triumphant look. "Now that's not something you see everyday." Hakoda praises with a smile, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Aang is full of surprises." Katara chips in with a warm smile. I raise a hand to rub my neck at the sudden attention.
"Heh yeah..." I trail off. 'Not all are pleasant.' I think ruefully before being swept to the dining table.
"Come on Sokka, food is on the table!" His dad hollers up the stairs.
"I'll be right down! Just trying to get this laptop to switch on." Sokka yells back while Katara starts setting the plates. I go over to the girl.
"Where's the cutlery?" I ask sheepishly, earning a surprised glance from the waterbender.
"Don't worry about it, I've got it. You're the guest, remember." Katara waves off, but I frown.
"I still want to help." I insist just as the girl furrows her eyebrows.
"Check the second drawer to the right in the kitchen." Hakoda cuts in.
"Dad!" The girl protests, eliciting a shrug from the man.
"The boy wants to help. So why not?" The man answers smoothly. I smile and start making my way back, only to be stopped by a hand on my shoulder.
"I can do it." Katara says, giving my shoulder a squeeze before disappearing into the kitchen. I blink twice and flicker my eyes to her father who just shrugs his shoulders in equal confusion.
Katara re-appears with the cutlery just as Sokka bounds down the stairs. I watch as he drags his chair and sits down while Hakoda takes a seat at the head of the table. I reach out a hand towards the closest chair, but my hand freezes before I touch it when I realise something.
My eyes sweep over the table. Sokka next to his Dad, Katara is putting food on everyone's plates, but seems to be favouring the chair opposite Sokka by the way she hovers around it. The chair I was about to sit on is situated between Hakoda and Katara. 'This must be...' My thoughts trail off as I drop my arm to my side.
Somehow the son and father haven't noticed my dilemma as they remain locked in conversation. I glance to the waterbender who quickly shifts her gaze to the plate in her hand. I gulp. 'Bad idea, bad idea.' I lean back with crossed arms and opt to stand. Katara seems to notice my decision as she lowers the plate in her hands slightly.
"You can sit." She whispers softly. I bite the inside of my cheek.
"I can grab another chair?" I suggest and a wave of confliction contorts her features. Finally the other two members of the household catch the awkward drift as Hakoda opens his mouth.
"Aang you can sit d...oh." He cuts himself off as he stares guiltily at the empty chair. It takes Sokka a second or two to get it, but when he does he releases a long 'oh.'
Moments later he's up on his feet and disappears into some other room. He re-appears with an old looking chair and sets it beside his one.
"I can sit on this one. You take mine." The students states, but I'm already shaking my head and putting a hand on the backrest of the old chair.
"No, no. This is great thank you." I reassure politely and quickly sit down. The tense silence that settled on the room slowly dissipates as Sokka starts talking about stuff he learnt in last week's lecture. I release a sigh of relief and poke at the seaweed concoction on my plate. A quick scan of everyone else and they seem to be digging in happily, even Katara has finally sat down. I take a cautious bite and nearly gag at the taste. 'What is this?!' I think to myself as I try to come up with a nice excuse not to eat.
"So Aang, any reason why you aren't spending the holidays with the family or do Air Nomads not celebrate Christmas?" Hakoda suddenly asks, cutting through my mental list of excuses. I roll my lip between my teeth as Sokka butts in.
"Aang wanted to see what a traditional Watertribe Christmas looks like, right buddy?" The ponytailed man says while nudging my side. I give him a small smile as I nod my head.
"Yeah. And we do celebrate, it's just not a huge day or anything." I mumble with my eyes fixed on the plate in front of me.
"Ah gotcha ya. Well it's usually a big occasion here, but..." He pauses to sigh before shaking his head. "Anyway, tell me a bit about yourself. And how did you first meet my two children?" Hakoda queries as he leans forward in interest. I scratch the back of my neck as I decide how selective to be.
"Well, I grew up in this city and I do aerodynamic engineering at uni which is how I met Sokka, we share a lot of lectures together. And I met Katara because we live on the same floor." The man gazes at me curiously.
"Aren't you a little young to be at uni?" He points out, but before I can reply Sokka cuts in again.
"He's a child genius Dad." The ponytailed man explains as he takes another bite of his meal. Hakoda scrutinises me for several moments before nodding.
"Well, I'm impressed. I bet your parents are proud." He throws out casually. My grip around the fork tightens as my heart rate takes a nosedive.
"Hey Dad, this dish of sea prunes is really good!" Katara voices randomly, dragging her father's attention away from me. I release a silent exhale as I go back to picking at the...sea prunes.
"They are good, aren't they? Tastes nearly like..." He releases another sigh before shaking his head. "So, how's uni been?" Hakoda asks his daughter and fortunately the rest of the meal goes by without a hitch.
4 hours later:
"And this is where you'll be sleeping. We haven't had any guests for a while so things might be a little dusty." The waterbender voices apologetically, but I just shake my head.
"This is perfect, thank you." I reassure with a smile as I plop my bag on the floor, half expecting the girl to leave, but she doesn't. Instead, she leans against the doorframe and crosses her arms.
"I'm sorry about my Dad." She starts after a brief moment of silence.
"Don't be. Your Dad's great by the way, really funny." I comment, hoping to swerve the conversation elsewhere, but I must've been more see-through than I realised.
"Aang..." Katara starts as she pushes herself off the doorframe. I turn around and squat on the floor to open my bag.
"I'm fine." I wave off, but the waterbender walks around me and crouches in front.
"I know you're not." She murmurs as she stretches an arm to rest her hand on my shoulder.
"Well, that makes two of us." I say with pointed eyes, making the girl falter as she draws back from me.
"I don't know what you mean." Katara mutters with averted eyes. I open my mouth only to close it a second later.
"Hey, let's just get some sleep." I voice gently.
"Yeah ok." She mumbles while clutching her elbow. I watch as she gets to her feet and offers me a hand. I take it and she pulls me up.
"Thanks." I breathe out. The waterbender gives my hand a light squeeze before withdrawing and exiting the room.
"Goodnight." She throws back and is gone before I can even reply. I shake the dazed expression from my face and change into a set of pyjamas.
My head touches the pillow, but my mind is far from sleep. Instead, all I can think about is the memorial in a couple of days. I toss onto my side before rolling onto the other side as guilt gnaws at my insides. It's a couple of hours before I finally slip into an uneasy sleep.
Katara's POV:
I rub my arms up and down, hoping to rid my skin of the goose-bumps from my latest nightmare. I rub my eyes as I leave my room to hunt for some water. But when I pass by the guest room, a small whine catches my attention. I blink and my feet comes to an abrupt halt as I strain my ears for the sound. A moment later sounds of tossing and turning echo from the ajar door. I bite my lip as I tip toe to the door and push it open further.
There on the mattress is the sleeping boy, but from the way that his eyes are screwed shut, his slumber is anything but peaceful. 'I wonder what has his sleep so disturbed?' I voice silently as I enter the room fully.
I crouch by the bed and am just about to shake his shoulder when he suddenly springs forward as beads of sweat run down his forehead. He drops his head as he clutches the back of his neck.
"Aang?" I whisper quietly, jerking the boy out of the remnants of his nightmare as his eyes snap to mine and immediately his hands drop down to bury themselves in the duvet.
"K-Katara? What are you doing here?" His voices wavers. I move from my slightly crouched position and take a seat on the edge of the bed.
"I was going to fetch some water when I heard you tossing. Are you ok? That looked like a really intense nightmare." I explain with furrowed eyebrows.
"I'm fine. You can go back to sleep." The airbender mutters without even sparing me a glance. My frown deepens.
"Talking about it might help." I suggest lightly, but he's already shaking his head.
"No. I'm fine now." He insists, but I'm not blind. I can tell the difference between someone who's fine and someone who's pretending to be. I release a low sigh as I squint at the boy in the dark. It's only then do I realise the beanie is still on his head.
"You go to sleep with your hat?" I voice surprised, which turns out to be more random than I initially realised as the boy's jaw drops. He shakes himself out of it and shrugs.
"It's comfortable." Is all he says and I'm starting to become more and more curious on what the child genius looks like without his beanie. 'Come to think of it, I've never even seen him without his fingerless gloves.' I notice, but I shake my head when I realise that's completely irrelevant at this moment of time. I chew my lip for a second as I deliberate on my following words.
"Don't tell Sokka or Dad this, but I get nightmares too." I voice quietly, shocking the boy as he furrows his eyebrows.
"About...?" He trails off, but I know what he was going to say.
"Yeah." I breathe out with an averted gaze. "And I understand what you're going through if you're getting nightmares about your parents too." I finish off as I return my gaze to the airbender. He parts his lips before jerking his head away from me.
"I just need some sleep." Aang mutters, making my heart drop in disappointment. 'I really thought I could help, but I guess I came short on that too.' I rise to my feet.
"Ok. I'll...see you in the morning." I express quietly as I make my way to the door. A sharp inhale makes me pause however and when I feel a hand on my wrist I turn back to look at the child genius.
"Is that why you're up? Because you had a nightmare?" Aang asks with wide innocent eyes. 'Shoot. I was trying to get him to open up, not the other way around.'
"I said I was getting some water." I deflect, but I should know better than to deflect with someone so smart.
"And I know that people aren't this wide awake at 3am in the morning if they're just getting some water." The airbender points out seriously as he pushes himself off the bed to stand in front of me. I swallow and take a step back, allowing for his hand to drop back to his sides. I notice the lack of orange gloves on them and instead they're adorned with markings? I squint my eyes further, but in the dark it's hard to make out anything or if anything is really there. The boy catches me staring and immediately hides them behind his back.
"Is that marks on your hands?" I query with a tilted head.
"You didn't answer my question." He evades smoothly, making me frown. I cross my arms in a huff.
"Ok, I had a nightmare! It doesn't matter, you obviously get them too, so no big fuss right?" I wave off, trying to make it seem unimportant when it's anything but. My answer seems to have stunned the airbender into silence as he stares at me with slack jaws.
"Of course it's important! They're disturbing your sleep." Aang argues as I massage my forehead.
"If it was so important than why did you just brush me off?" I retort sourly as my throat tightens. The boy's face falls as he takes a step towards me, both arms stretched out towards me, but they never make contact. A comfort that doesn't follow through. An empty promise of always being there. I shake my head hard while my eyes burn, as I try to push out my mother's written message of always being there. Because it's not true. 'If it was, she'd be here.'
"Katara." The airbender breathes out as he drops his arms to his sides.
"I'm fine. It's fine." I wave off as I rub my moist eyes. "You're right. Let's just get some sleep." I add after a moment's thought. I watch as the boy stares at his hands, almost guiltily as if they had betrayed him. I shake my head. 'That's ridiculous.'
"Do...do you want to sleep here tonight?" He asks quietly. My eyes bulge at the request and at the continued silence he quickly rushes to clarify. "I mean you can have the bed and I'll take the floor!" He babbles, making me laugh as I rest a hand on his arm.
"I think I'll be ok." I reassure with a smile, and I watch in amusement as the child genius wilts. "Unless...you want the company?" I tease and if it wasn't so dark I would bet to the spirits that his face is red.
"No! I'm good!" He squeaks. I grin as I step forward and wrap him in a hug.
"That was a really thoughtful offer." I whisper in his ear. Heat radiates off his cheek as I pull back.
"Anytime." He stammers slightly. I beam and give his shoulder a slight squeeze before stepping back.
"We should really get some sleep." I say. The boy nods, but neither of us budges from our spot. Instead, we just gaze at one another. With what emotion, I don't know. Maybe it's mutual understanding of being in similar positions? Or going through similar things? Or maybe it's something else entirely.
"What do you see in your nightmares?" Aang suddenly asks and I freeze up at the question. The boy must've noticed as he rushes to continue. "I mean, do you imagine what happened or..." He trails off, as if even he wasn't sure with where he's going with his questions. I turn my head away. I don't know what it is about the night, but it makes me want to spill everything, as if the darkness could mask my vulnerabilities. Or maybe it's because the airbender is such an easy person to talk to. Either way I find myself repeating back some of my tortured thoughts.
"I can't help but imagine what she felt. Every night it feels like I'm losing her all over again." I admit in a strangled whisper. Aang's lips moves up and down as he deliberates on what to say.
"I know this is useless, but I'm sorry. I promise it will get better." He murmurs softly with a concerned gaze. I swallow and wipe at my damp cheeks and nod.
"Yeah that's what everyone says. Time heals all wounds huh?" I joke dryly, but a haunted expression crosses the airbender's eyes.
"Yeah..." He mutters. I bite my lip and take his hand as I guide him back to the bed.
"There was a waterbending technique I learnt a while back, it was meant to help soothe a person into sleep. I could try it if you want?" I suggest, already whipping out some water from a nearby plant, but the boy is vigorously shaking his head.
"No, no. It's alright." He refuses. I frown.
"I promise it will help." I insist lightly. Aang looks ready to refuse again, but instead he just sighs.
"Alright. What do you want me to do?" The airbender mumbles begrudgingly. I smile in victory and pat my lap.
"Just lean your head so I have better access." I instruct while the boy gapes like a fish before silently leaning backwards. Once the child genius is lying rigidly in place, I bring the water closer to his temples, only for him to flinch. I furrow my eyebrows in concern and bend the water to one hand, freeing the other to rest it on his shoulder.
"Hey relax, I promise I won't hurt you." I vow in conviction. He sags a moment later, but only slightly. I roll my lip between my teeth, wondering what has him so tense, but in the end I decide to return to the technique and bring the water back to his temples. "Close your eyes." I whisper. His eyes flutter to a close as I move the water back and forth, almost in a rocking motion.
It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep, if his shallow breathing and suddenly heavy head is any indication. I continue bending the water for a few moments before slowly easing it off and back into the plant pot. A soft smile graces my face as I look down at him to find a serene expression.
Gently, I ease him off my lap and onto the pillow. As I slip his head onto the plush, his hat crawls up, exposing his forehead and a tuff of what looks like black hair, but it's too dark to be sure. However, that's not what catches my attention. No, it's what appears to be the same mark that I had a glimpse of on his hands. I lean forward to scan it more closely and it looks like the end of an arrow. 'Is that a tattoo? Wait. Is that why he's always wearing the hat and gloves?' I wonder curiously.
I reach forward and lightly brush a hand over the arrow's tip, but the surface is just as smooth as the rest of the skin. 'Definitely a tattoo, but isn't he too young to have one? Unless it's a cultural thing. But why would he hide it if it is?' I bite the inside of my cheek as I gently tug the hat back down and get back to my feet. 'He'll tell me when he's ready.' I convince myself and tip toe out of the room.
A/N: So I actually got that idea of the waterbending technique from when Katara did something similar on Jet, it seemed pretty calming (before he got this terrible memories back ofc) so thought to throw it in here. And back in the first ep, I always found it cool how awed Katara was by Aang's tattoos when she first saw them, the show never really delved into it again, but I wanted to play another homage to that here. Thank you all for being such awesome readers, you've made my difficult summer that much better with all your words and thoughts. Right, so one more chapter to go before we get a flashback! Nearly there guys to get a bunch of your questions answered XD Next chapter has a tad bit of angst too. Hopefully see you in a week or so! Keep well everyone :)
17/8/21