Chapter 14: Admittances
A/N: Next chapter is up and hopefully more will come on Saturdays now that I've (finally) made a map of sorts of where this story is going. Not to worry, we're nowhere close to the end, and there will be much more juiciness when Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Katara are forced to face the hauntings of their mutual past.
Last Time:
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.
At last, the fateful Monday marking the end of their 'separation' had arrived, and with it, the reappearance of Aang and Katara's stoic facades as they walked into the school, betraying no emotion and yet stifling joyous smiles at each other when their gazes interlocked briefly in the halls.
Aang slid suavely into his seat mere seconds before the bell rang, taking hold of his waterbending girlfriend's hand and stroking it with the back of his thumb, making her smile slightly.
"For someone who wanted to keep this 'under wraps', you aren't very subtle," she whispered softly.
The airbender lightly squeezed her hand, grinning and replying, "If no one can see, then no one will know," as he slid their clasped hands in the space between their chairs, thanking the spirits silently that they wrote with opposite hands, Katara with her left and Aang with his right, allowing them to stay connected while Iroh asked the class to jot some things down about upcoming events.
"Besides," he whispered, "I don't think you mind," making the waterbender blush with his accurate statement.
"Katara, Aang, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Iroh suddenly asked, looking at them expectantly and making the two lovers go red as they furiously shook their heads.
"Well, then I suggest you stay quiet and listen. The calming health benefits of tea could help you one day, you know!"
Discreetly scoffing slightly, much to Katara's amusement, Aang shook his head as the two benders returned to their work.
After a 15-minute lecture and a worksheet, Iroh broke the classroom's air of quiet with an announcement.
"Now, class, for the remainder of the period, you will have some free time."
Excited exclamations and mutters rang though the students.
"You can use it to work on your homework-"
Groans ensued.
"But to decide what your homework will be, a poll must be taken. For this, I implore you all to be honest, for nothing good comes out of lies. Heads down!"
Dutifully, the class obeyed.
"Now, as you all know, the past week was to be one of separation, to demonstrate the idea of 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' and to see just how much having a confidante had affected your lives."
Iroh paused.
"However, I know for a fact-" his eyes darted to where he could see two pairs of his pupils, Katara and Aang as well as, unexpectedly, Longmire and Samantha, known to their peers as Longshot and Smellerbee, holding hands, a phenomenon that had not been present the week before last during class. "-that not all of you followed directions. If you are one of these people, please raise your hands. Be honest, now."
Both new couples, knowing it was futile to lie since Iroh would see right through them, raised their hands, albeit feebly, and were joined by another pair as well, although they had already been a couple, the one constantly kissing in the halls.
The aging firebender nodded approvingly.
"Alright. Heads up!"
Once more the class obeyed.
"Now, if you raised your hand, you know who you are, your homework tonight is to write in your journal why you saw your partners. I do not mean this in an accusatory way, but rather am proud that my experiment yielded some results."
At this, half of the class's eyes widened. They were supposed to break the rules?
Iroh chuckled at the dumbfounded expressions.
"The people who saw each other have proved to me just how much this experiment has affected to you, to the point where your confidante is needed in your day to day life. Those who did not follow the rules will receive extra credit. Not enough to significantly put you ahead of your peers, but enough to express your deeper taking away from the lesson. For the people who did not raise their hand, your homework tonight is to write in your journals how the separation made you feel and to reflect on your week."
The students were speechless.
"Now, that is enough of my rambling! You have until the end of class as free time."
Aang narrowed his eyebrows at the waterbender as he drew her close to him.
"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at his frown.
He looked up at her.
"It's not fair."
"What's not fair?"
"This," he gestured to his sweatshirt that she had borrowed.
"You're not supposed to look better in my clothes than me," he huffed with a pout.
Giggling at his childishness, Katara cuddled up against her shirtless boyfriend.
"That's 'cause you don't need clothes to look sexy."
She traced his muscular chest, drawing random patterns while smiling up at him.
The airbender seemed to consider this teasingly before embracing her.
"True, very true."
Shaking her head at his antics, the two lay with each other in a comfortable silence.
After finishing their homework early that Friday, the two had settled into the airbender's bed for an early night while cuddling and sharing soft kisses, eager for what the weekend would bring before having to face the numerous tests on Monday.
"Aang?"
"Yes, sweetie?" he responded, bringing a small smile and blush to Katara's face.
Another revelation that Katara had discovered during the past week: Aang was quite an affectionate person, and loved calling her pet names like "Sweetie" and "Penguin".
"Do you remember what you said on Sunday? About starting this off by being completely honest to each other?"
Eyebrows furrowed, Aang nodded.
"Well..."
The airbender easily sensed her hesitation and knew that she would need a little coaxing to open up, so he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her nose, looking her in the eye while tucking a lock of her loose hair behind her ear.
"You can tell me anything, Sweetheart. Anything."
Katara nodded and shifted away from him, rolling up his sweater that she had borrowed.
She pointed to the small, faded, barely visible marks, cringing when she heard his tense breath intake.
After a few seconds of agonizing silence, the girl asked, "Aang? Sweetie, please say something."
Shaken out of his reverie, the airbender looked at his girlfriend, horror and dumbfoundedness evident in his expression.
"I-I just-" All of a sudden, he had pulled her in and hung on to the waterbender for dear life.
"I'm such a horrible boyfriend, I should've done something, I-"
Snapping away from him, Katara put her hand on his cheek and soothed his worries.
"What? Spirits, Sweetheart you did do something. You saved me."
"What do you mean?" he whispered, as if anything more would break both of them.
"Before you, before this," she gestured to the two of them, "I had almost no reason for living, Aang. I was ready to just be done with this life."
Aang looked on silently.
"But you, you gave me a reason to live. For this, for us, for our future, Aang. And I showed you this now to be done with any and all secrets, so that we could start anew."
She held her bated breath, gauging his reaction until, "You're sure I haven't caused any of these? That I've only helped? Be honest with me."
Katara cringed internally as she remembered that fated day that she admitted her feelings for him.
"Only once, but you've more than made up for it, Sweetie."
More silence.
"When?"
"When...?"
"When did I cause these?"
The waterbender swallowed.
"The day I told you I loved you. After lunch," she spoke softly.
Aang looked at her with utter sorrow in his eyes, no doubt recalling the same moment she was and whispered, "I'm sorry."
She kissed him in response, "There's nothing to be sorry for, but either way, you're forgiven, a thousand times over."
The airbender took her in his arms and cradled her in his lap, looking into her cerulean depths as he said, "Tell me everything."
And so she did.
She told him her story from the beginning, holding back nothing, with all of her utterly raw emotions, bottled in for nearly a decade, cascading out of her like a waterfall. She told him of her pain, of the happy moments which gave her faith, of the ocean and of the betrayals.
And when they both were in tears at the end at all of the pain and hurt, the moon watching over them as they held onto each other for dear life, they unknowingly began anew, now knowing with every bit of their heart, mind, and soul that they were safe with each other.
"Katara?" Aang asked, an inch away from sleep after an exhausting night.
"Yeah, Aang?" she replied, her voice still raw after collapsing as a crying mess in Aang's arms some time earlier.
"I love you, Sweetie. So much."
She smiled and held him tighter.
"I love you too, Aang. I love you too."
A/N: *sobbing hysterically* It's so beautiful! Also, this (admittedly) sounds like the end of a story but I promise it's not! This was originally going to be longer but I wanted to get it to you guys in a reasonable time frame. Just as a quick poll, would you rather I update less often and less regularly with longer chapters or every weekend guaranteed with 1000 but 2000 words?