Chapter 13: I'm Yours
A/N: I'm sorry for getting this up so late but I've had a lot of things to do at home with some competitions and auditions coming up leaving not as much time for writing, amongst other things. I'll try to update this some more along with possibly 3, more likely 1 new story/ies. One you guys already know is Out of A Dream and the other will be Holidays With the Gaang. That being said, enjoy this chapter!
Last Time:
"I'd like to be a couple- that is, if you want to as well? We'd keep it under wraps, of course."
Mouth open in surprise, Aang nodded rapidly, slowly pressing a kiss to her forehead, but allowing his lips to linger slightly longer than necessary.
"Our secret?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Ours."
Neither Aang nor Katara knew how long they stayed in their embrace, the waterbender's face buried in her love's chest with his head resting on hers, the airbender inhaling her scent and stroking her side.
"Katara?" he asked.
"Mmm?" came her reply, slightly muffled.
"Do we have to go back to reality or can we just stay like this forever?"
In response, the boy heard a small chuckle from the girl underneath him as she pulled away to turn her head, the side of her face now on his chest, eyes closed in contentment.
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "I'd like to stay here forever, but I highly doubt we'll be able to. After all, there's school on Monday, and then our parents would get worried, and while these jackets are warm, they probably won't last us forever."
"Ugh," Aang groaned exasperatedly, "Don't remind me."
Katara rolled her eyes. "You asked."
Nonetheless, the two ended up spending the rest of the afternoon cuddled up with each other, although occasionally switching positions in favor of a more comfortable one, talking about anything and everything, completely and utterly at ease in each other's presence.
"Knock knock."
"Aang, are we really doing this?"
"Knock knock."
Katara sighed exasperatedly.
"Fine, who's there?"
"Cows say."
"Cows say who?"
"No, cows say moo!"
And Katara burst into impromptu laughter at Aang's corny joke, the punchline of which he said in all seriousness, as she put her hand on his chest to steady herself, the aftershocks of her eruption being bursts of giggles.
"I swear, Aang. What in the world do you think of in your free time?"
The airbender shrugged and replied matter-of-factly, "Ways to make you smile, ways to make you laugh, ways to make you give me kisses-" He paused and gazed lovingly at his girlfriend, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear before finishing quietly, "You in general, really."
Katara's answering blush was all needed to tell Aang of her flattery at the casual yet genuine comment as she pecked his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him.
The past day and a half since Friday, leading them to a late Sunday afternoon, while seemingly short and quickly passing, had resulted in much more progress in their relationship, mostly physically as the two adapted to having both the physical and emotional support and love of someone else, as well as displays of affection like the occasional kiss on the cheek.
"Katara?"
"Yes, Aang?"
He hesitated and sighed, laying his head back against the tree trunk behind him.
"You know I've 'been' with a lot girls."
The waterbender tensed with the reminder and nodded with a small, bittersweet smile, slightly pulling away from him.
"Yeah, I know."
Aang looked at her meaningfully.
"Can I admit something to you?"
Her eyes softened at his timid question.
"Of course."
The airbender nodded, held her close, and took a deep breath.
"None of it ever happened."
Katara frowned at him. "None of what?"
"With the girls- I never had sex with any of them, despite what people like to think."
The waterbender's eyes widened in shock, thinking for a moment that he was just kidding, but seeing in his eyes that he meant what he said in all seriousness.
"How? How did all the rumors start? How did everyone think that..." she trailed off in surprise.
Aang gave her a wry grin.
"There was the first, who wanted to do it, I said no, she didn't like that, and so the rumor started. Then the next expected the same, didn't get it, didn't want a ruined reputation, and so it continued to the ends of eternity when, in fact, I am still a virgin."
Katara mulled it over for some time, pondering over the new information.
"So why now? Why would you tell me now of all times?"The waterbender gazed into his cloudy gray eyes, seeking the comfort and signs of sincerity they brought.
The boy smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close and facing her, cupping her cheek and kissing her forehead sweetly before whispering softly.
"I figured that we would have to face all of those rumors and lies eventually, and I didn't want it to be holding you back from doing or wanting something from me., or have it come back with a vengeance. I want to make sure that you remember this, Katara. You are the only one I ever have, do, or ever will want, both physically and emotionally. And I know we haven't known each other long- spirits, we just started dating two days ago- but I've fallen head over heels in love with you."
He gauged her reaction to his confession, looking for any sign of distress, hurt, or disgust, but was instead met with a jubilant smile and a tight embrace.
"Oh?" he said, cradling her close to him as her arms found their way wrapped around him.
"Spirits, you don't know how happy you've made me, Aang."
The two broke apart after a few seconds before touching foreheads.
"And in case it wasn't obvious, I'm in love with you too, Aang Jiang. I'm in love with you too and you've made so, so, so happy."
By now, the two had wide grins on their faces as they stayed there in each others arms, foreheads touching before they slowly started inching closer, caught up in the moment.
Three inches... ...Two inches... ...One... ...So close...
And they delicately closed the distance between the two, air and water moving against each other in a synchronous harmony as they lovingly kissed.
When they finally broke apart after a few seconds, the world could've been decimated right there and then and the two would've died happy.
They stayed there, not wanting to tear away for even a single nanosecond as they gave each other a few more softer, shorter kisses, before resolving to cuddle in each other's arms for as long as they could.
"I'm yours," they both thought as they drifted off into a peaceful sleep, only thinking of each other.
A/N: YAY! I'll admit, this was supposed to be a filler chapter with some all-knowing Iroh but I figured that this little tidbit about Aang still being innocent would still fit, because not wanting to start on lies would totally be an 'Aang' thing to do. Next chapter will probably be Monday with Iroh and the rest of that week and the following week with a cliffhanger and the chapter after that will get to some juicy revelations and leading up to the VDB/D/T (Valentine's Day Ball/Dance/Thingie). Stay tuned for more!