Chapter 10: Avoidance

A/N: 10th CHAPTER! The date at the end of last chapter was 1/13/2019. The beginning of this is 1/14/2019. Also, a new one-shot called "We're... Conserving Water?" will be posted sometime soon!

Last Time:

Katara drifted off to sleep in Aang's arms.

Subconsciously smiling at how peaceful she looked in her sleep, Aang took a moment to appreciate just how beautiful Katara was when she was free from the world and its inevitable stresses.

"Wait, what?"The airbender turned his head away, bashful."Beautiful? Where did that come from? I don't..." He gulped, risking a quick glance at the sleeping girl in front of him, a smile adorning her lips, slightly parted, and her hair out of their normal loops, splayed across the soft pillow under her head."Well, it's kind of hard to not call her adorable with a smile like that."

Aang shook his head and grinned to himself, softly stroking her hair."Maybe,"he decided,"having a crush on my best friend doesn't have to be a bad thing."

Aang considered himself a fairly decisive person.

While his decisions didn't always end the best way, he usually had some idea of what to do.

This time, however, was different.

"Seriously," Aang thought, "Someone needs to create a guide of what to do when you're in love with your best friend."

This became the airbender's dilemma. Even if he had only been friends with her less than a week, he couldn't help it. He had fallen hard and fast almost as if it was that 'love at first sight' thing his parents always went on about. Like a lightning bolt, suddenly his every waking thought had concerned Katara when their friendship started the prior Wednesday.

"Should I ask Katara to come to my basketball game in two weeks? Will going to Zuko's house later tonight affect the project? Will Katara mind? Will Katara like what I'm wearing? Katara, Katara, Katara."

This said dilemma only increased with the fact that the person he was worrying about was in the next room over, in his bed, and that they were going to spend 7 hours a day with each other, not including the project, due to the fact that they had all of their classes with each other, even AP Calculus.

"Ugh," Aang groaned. "I thought meditation was supposed to help things."

The boy sat contemplating for the next couple minutes, meditation given up, deep in thought, before resolving to think about it later as he got up to wake up the sleeping girl in his room.

Walking lightly as not to wake her prematurely, the airbender crept over to his bed and paused for a second, sweeping her hair out of her sleeping, peaceful face gently.

"Katara," he whispered. He stroked her cheek with his thumb softly.

"Katara," Aang said once more, louder and shaking her slightly.

"Mmm," the waterbender groaned as she rolled over to face the wall. "Five more minutes."

The boy shook his head and rolled his eyes, chuckling softly, as he hugged her from behind to try and convince her to wake up.

"Come on, 'Tara. We have to get to school. We have a test in English, remember?"

The girl opened one eye, raising her eyebrow, before closing it. "Is that supposed to convince me? If so, I promise you that it's not working."

The airbender pursed his lips, unsure of what to do, before remembering what he had gotten the day before in preparation for her visit.

He leaned into her ear and whispered softly, "Katara..." before subtly moving his hands to her sides and...

Katara's eyes jolted open as she let out a shriek, jumping off the bed just to land back on it, Aang's fingers running up and down her sides, tickling her furiously.

As she descended into bouts of laughter, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she squirmed, the airbender just grinned at her, his eyes filled with mirth as if saying, "I warned you."

"Stop! Stop! I yield!" she shouted, a few last aftershocks of giggles escaping her as she lied back on the mattress, arms crossed, a pout on her lips but her eyes filled with joy.

Aang laid on his pillow, facing her, and said, "Are you awake now?"

She glared at him. "Unfair. I demand a rematch," as she sat up and glanced at the clock, before going into the private bathroom to brush her teeth.

The airbender shrugged, his grin cocky, "I'll still win, much like this morning."

"Wi- nah-!" he heard from the bathroom, correctly inferring immediately that she was still in the process of brushing her teeth. The truncated words elicited a round of laughter from him as he also realized just how much he seemed to do that since his friendship with the blue-eyed girl had begun.

"No," he thought, smiling and shaking his head, "While dilemma-inducing, having a crush on my best friend really doesn't have to be a bad thing."

(A/N: All-knowing Iroh time!)

"Now class, settle down," the aging firebender said as his first period Psychology class sat in their seats next to their partner.

"I trust everyone has been following the project and noting things in their journals this past week?"

The class of 30 nodded simultaneously.

"Good, good. Now, who has found this project stress-relieving and enjoyable?"

Katara and Aang both kept their hands down, knowing better than to reveal themselves.

Iroh furrowed his eyebrows.

"Alright then. Heads down everyone!"

A nearly completely in unison thump resounded.

"By a show of hands now, and don't be scared, no one knows what you're doing now but me, I'll ask you again, who has found this project enjoyable and as a reliever of stress?"

"Hmm..." Iroh mused over the new hands he saw, but in particular the pair now raising their hands shyly, Aang and Katara.

If he had to be honest with himself, Iroh had put the two together on purpose, for he had never seen two people so perfect for each other, yet so hateful and aggressive towards each other, so with the revelation of the two now raising their hands, the old firebender couldn't help but chuckle.

Now, might one argue that he was playing matchmaker? Yes, yes they could.

But would Iroh deny that he was? No, no he wouldn't.

Which is why when he heard one of his students say, "Can you believe Iroh thought we would enjoy this?!" and Aang's scoffing response of, "How could I? I mean, Iroh can be all-knowing and optimistic at times, but this is just pushing it!" both he and Katara internally rolled their eyes at the blatant lie.

The rest of school that day flew by as if it were mere seconds and before long, the two benders found themselves at Katara's house once more to do their homework and project. The partners sat down on the springy mattress as they set to work, absentmindedly mumbling to themselves on occasion about the evils of Pi and assonance.

"Katara?" Aang asked as he found himself subconsciously staring at her bare arm.

"Mmm?" she responded, still focused on her Science homework.

"What are these?" The airbender tentatively stroked the little marks that he saw on her arms, gauging her reaction as she ever so slightly flinched.

"Uh-um- Why do you want to know?" the girl stammered, biting her lip nervously.

Aang's eyebrows furrowed. "Just wondering." He leaned in closer. "So, what are they?"

Katara weighed the options in her head, not sure whether she should tell him or not. After all, they might have been friends, but even so, who knew what would happen if it started to threaten his precious reputation? Shaking her head with a pleading look in her eyes, she said, "Can you please just drop it?"

"But-" Aang argued.

"I said drop it!" she exclaimed, fists clenched, almost instantly regretting the harshness of her words and the way they had come out.

They both cringed at the sharp tone as the airbender removed his hand from her arm, not wanting to anger her further, and returned to his work.

The two were in silence for the rest of that night, and it would be lying to say that when they went to sleep in separate beds that night, they didn't miss the comfort of the other's arms around them.

For the next few days, it seemed like the two were walking on eggshells around each other, Aang not wanting to have to face the sharp tone from the other night, and Katara not wanting to use the harsh tone she had earlier that week.

Although they had resumed talking to each other for the project, it wasn't as free and unfiltered as it had been before, which left them both wondering if they would ever get back to how they had been before.

So, swallowing up her pride and letting the guilt consume her, Katara wrote an apology to the airbender in the form of a letter and slipped it between the vents of his locker, making sure to remember to arrive early so that she could do so.

Satisfied with her work, she made her way to first period, doing a few random doodles to pass the time before everyone else arrived.

Aang opened his locker that Friday morning expecting to find his usual stuff; his jacket, textbooks, book-books, etc. What he was not expecting to find was a small white piece of paper, with 'Aang' written on the front in thin, swift characters.

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he unfolded the note, his eyes reading and scanning over it.

"Aang-

To be blunt, I'm sorry for snapping at you. I hate how distant we've become in just a few days and truth be told, I miss your friendship."

The airbender grinned as he saw how the "r friendship" seemed to be written differently that the prior words, as if they had been an afterthought and there seemed to be a faded period, probably erased, after the "you".

"I had no excuse to yell like I did, and I hope that you can forgive me. Although I have to say that I still might not be able to tell you what you saw on my arm, I promise I will, eventually. And thank you for being such a supportive friend, even if for only a week and a half.

Your (hopefully still) friend,

Katara"

Aang smiled at the note, rereading it once more to take in how adorable Katara's handwriting was with loopy 'l's and cursive used only on his and her name.

Keeping it in his pocket, the airbender got his things and made his way to class.

When he got to first period, Aang took care to make sure he sat next to Katara, reputation be damned, and gave her a quick genuine smile as he put his things into the desk, watching her cheeks flush magenta out of the corner of his eye.

Throughout the 57 minute class, the airbender made sure to let her know that he had gotten her note and forgiven her, squeezing her hand under the desks when she got stuck on one of the more difficult problems on the worksheet they had gotten.

About halfway through the class as they watched a video on the different parts of the human brain and how they worked, Aang suddenly realized that Katara seemed to be making repetitive patterns on his hand. He took a moment to focus on their interlocked hands and realized she was spelling something.

"F," he thought, "o... r... g... i... v... e... n... ?..."

The airbender grinned and wrote back with his thumb on the back of her hand, "Y... e... s..." entangling their fingers as well.

Katara let out an audible breath of relief, eliciting a soft chuckle from Aang, and leaned her head on his shoulder, taking full advantage of the fact that it was dark and that they were in the last row of the room. The boy, in return, gently rested his head on hers, their hands never breaking apart from each other.

Finally, the end of the video came and with it, the lights as the two secret friends broke apart from each other, all eyes on Iroh, who said he had a special announcement for the last 5 minutes of class.

"Now, as you all know, this project was meant to help you all cope with the stress of being an adolescent, as well as having to deal with so many responsibilities as a high school student. Over the course of this, you were meant to bond with your partner and forge new friendships."

The students all looked at each other with confusion.

"This is why, starting on Monday, you may not talk to your partner until this class the following Monday. An entire week. You will continue your talks for today and the weekend, but starting on Monday, it stops."

Murmurs and gasps rippled through the class, and Aang and Katara glanced at each other nervously.

"This is meant to hopefully show you just how much this project has helped. They say 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' and hopefully this week-long separation will help you all be more grateful for the comfort and support your partner has provided."

The airbender and the waterbender gulped.

Rrrrriiiiiiinnnnnggggg!

The bell rung, the class was dismissed, and neither Aang nor Katara could find it in themselves to rip apart their still interlocked fingers, not wanting to have to let go.

A/N: DRAMA! I'll admit, I fiddled around with this chapter a bit but I'm happy with the way this unfolded. I promise, Kataang's official start is coming very, very soon. Probably in the next 1 - 3 chapters. I also apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but to apologize, I'm going to try something new at the end of every chapter: chapter questions.

This chapter's question: Which A:TLA character do you think you're most like and why?