(Katara's pov)
I love it up here in the clouds. No matter how many dangerous events we all were running from during this past year, every time we fly on Appa it brings a smile to my face. There's just something about being up here with the clouds and the wind all up in your face that brings me so much serotonin.
We have been flying for a couple hours now and are trying to find a place to camp out for the night. The trip to the fire nation capital from Ba Sing Se is beautiful, but a long one.
"How about there? That seems like a nice, quiet place for tonight" asks Sokka as he points to a nice area between two mountains. Selfishly I hope that everyone agrees on landing right here because the sun will be blocked by the mountain in the morning, meaning I can finally get a good nights rest.
Aang looks back at the rest of us to get our approval. When no one speaks up I say "I think here will have to do for tonight. It seems like a good place for us to set up camp. Plus there's enough room for Appa to spread out!" Satisfied with my response, Aang tells Appa to fly down and lands him nicely between the two mountains.
"I'll tell you what! I love Appa and all but we should really invest in some cushions or something. My back is starting to hurt from all this flying!" Sokka complains. "Sokka, normally I would make fun of a stupid comment like that, but I have to agree" Toph says out loud hoping Aang will pick up on the message.
"Okay okay! We'll get some cushions when we get to the capital. Now can we all just unload and set up camp?" Aang fires back while looking down at his feet extremely tired.
Sokka throws down the tents and supplies to Suki and Toph who help set it up. Honestly I'm actually shocked that Toph is so willing to help us set up this time, but I'm not complaining. Zuko and Mai go off to the side to start a fire and set up some logs for us all to sit on.
It seems like they have everything covered, so I walk over to Aang, who is petting Appa and thanking him for today's flight. "He is so cute when he does that voice" I think to myself. Aang has always been very close to Appa and I find it adorable how the two can have full on conversations without Appa even being able to speak.
"Yes, thank you Appa for flying us today" I say as I join their "conversation". Aang just looks over at me and smiles, but it's a little more than a normal, happy smile. His stormy grey eyes have this sparkle in them as he makes eye contact with me. I can't help but swoon over how mesmerizing his eyes are at the moment.
I quickly catch myself staring at him longer than I probably should be and quickly look away blushing. Aang slowly takes my hand in his and says "we should go down to the river right there and grab some water for everyone." I agree and we inform the others that we'll be back in a few.
It seems like a short 10 minute walk from the campsite to the river, so I thought "it shouldn't be that bad. I just want to get back to camp and rest for the night." Almost as if he was reading my mind, Aang twirls open his glider and says "hold on". Before I could even comprehend what he said, he grabs onto my waist and pulls me closer to him. He then jumps up and we soon take off towards the river.
While just enjoying the view I look over to Aang and realize just how close we are. I lightly blush, but soon got a hold of myself in hopes that he didn't see. I was proved wrong when he said "aw Katara, you don't have to be nervous around me anymore". He used my own words from earlier against me. I was about to fire something back at him but the look in his eyes and the smile on his face told me that he was only messing with me.
Gaining some confidence, I pressed my left hand to Aang's right shoulder and leaned in for a kiss on his cheek. Now it was his turn to blush, but I didn't say anything about it because he's just so adorable when he blushes. I love how we both have this affect on each other.
We soon reach the river and work together to fill our water skins up as quickly as we can. While we waterbend the water into the skins we have a casual conversation about the games we use to play as young children. It may seem like a silly little conversation to you, but to me it means a lot more. These moments were Aang and I can be open and honest with each other about our past is what makes our relationship so strong.
As we land back at the camp we realize that everyone is sitting around the campfire. Aang and I join them by sitting next to each other on a log. As we sit down Aang puts his arm around me and pulls me closer to him, making my heart flutter.
"Hey Mr. smooth guy over there! Don't get any ideas anytime soon. I'm watching you" yells Sokka from across the fire as he eyeballs Aang up and down trying to make him uncomfortable. "Sokka, calm down. They're just relaxing, which is something you need to do" defends Suki. I smile and mouth a "thank you" to her and she smiles back.
We all chat some more about our final battles from yesterday while enjoying some dinner quickly cooked up by Mai. Sokka went into great detail about how he destroyed all those battleships, but Toph and Suki weren't letting Sokka take all the credit. Zuko and I casually told everyone about how Azula tried to shoot me down with her lightening, but was blocked by Zuko. Even though it happened yesterday I still hate thinking about it, let alone talking about it. Seeing Zuko on the ground hurt like that after he tried to protect me and seeing Azula chained up like that is something I hope to forget, but know I probably won't anytime soon.
Aang picked up on my nervousness and quickly changed the topic to what Mai was doing during the comet. She went on to tell us how she was stuck inside bored while all the fun action was happening outside.
I leaned into Aang's chest and softly said "thank you, sweetie" while nuzzling into him. He kissed the top of my forehead and responded with "sweetie, huh?" I quickly became very reluctant hoping that he would appreciate the silly little nickname I quickly threw out. In order to avoid any more awkwardness I shyly asked "is that okay that I called you that? I thought it was sorta cute".
Aang pulled away from me a little and I thought my worst nightmare came true. "I pushed him away" I thought. "I got too comfortable too fast and made him uncomfortable". I was proven wrong when he leaned in for a soft, passionate kiss right on my lips. At first I was stunned at his forwardness, but once I realized he wasn't mad I leaned into the kiss more.
This obviously isn't our first kiss, but it still feels just as magical as our kiss earlier today at Iroh's tea shop. His soft hands grab my waist and pull me in closer to him as he deepened the kiss. I smile into the kiss at this action and throw my arms around his neck. Getting to experience this side of Aang is something I never thought would be possible. Getting to show each other just how much we mean to each other is a really special thing that only we get to experience with each other.
I never wanted this kiss to end, but just like earlier my idiot brother had to ruin our little moment. "I thought I told you to not get any ideas Aang" yelled Sokka causing us to pull apart. I groaned and was about to pull open my water skin to water whip him, but Aang grabbed my hand to stop me. He gave me a soft smile calming me down before turning to Sokka.
"I'm sorry Sokka. I know it may be a little weird to see your best friend and your sister kiss right in front of you, so we'll try to be more considerate" Aang calmly responded while looking at a disproving Sokka. I frowned at his comment but Aang leaned down to my ear and whispered "for now" and winked at me. This made me giggle slightly, but I composed myself before Sokka could notice.
Suki whispered something into Sokka's ear before he responded. "Fine! You two can kiss all you want, just don't rub it in my face or any of our faces for that matter!" Zuko quietly agreed to this before turning back to Mai.
"Lighten up on them Captain Boomerang! They're showing their love and affection for each other" Toph said with a smirk. This was a little odd to hear from Toph so I had a feeling that there would be a harsh comment following this.
"Besides, it will give me more material to mess with them with. They make it too easy right, Sugar Queen?" Toph asks me. I knew there was a catch.
Wanting to move on from this topic I asked "so what's next?" Everyone looked at me all confused that is until Sokka spoke up.
"Look I don't want to be giving relationship advice to my little sister, but normally the next step would be to go out on a date of some sort" Sokka says while avoiding my eye contact. Could he really be that stupid?
"I wasn't asking for relationship advice! I'm asking about what our next move is now that the war is over? I don't want to loose you guys now that it's over. You all are my family now" I said tearing up while staring into the campfire. What I said was true. Of course Sokka was my biological family so there is no getting rid of him, but everyone else is my family too. This past year has been so much fun getting to know these wonderful people, and now that our job is done I can't lose them. Not now. Not ever.
"We aren't going anywhere anytime soon Katara. Don't worry sweetie" Aang calmly reassured me while rubbing my arm and holding me closer.
"Yeah you're kinda stuck with me now. I don't want to go back to my actual family if they can't accept me for me. I don't want to lose you guys either" Toph opened up to the group. I know Toph doesn't like to think about how her family treats her now that they know about her earth bending, but it's really sad how they are just shutting out their daughter like this. I want to go over there and hug Toph to comfort her, but I know she doesn't really appreciate hugs so I'll have to talk to her later about it.
"Well as much as I love you guys and would love to continue our adventures around the world, I'm not so sure Mai and I could go with you. Rebuilding the fire nation is my main priority right now and until we come up with a plan I'm not leaving the fire nation" Zuko said while looking at all of us to see our reactions.
We all expected Zuko to say this, but it still hurts a lot to know that a part of our little gaang isn't gonna be with us for a while.
"We understand Zuko and are really proud of how you are stepping into your new role as fire lord. There will always be time for adventures in the future when you get everything situated for your country" Aang reassures Zuko while smiling at him. As the avatar Aang has to be pretty understanding when it comes to these things, but I really forget just how wise he really is. Honestly it's kinda hot, but you didn't hear it from me.
"Well since we have no plan I guess we can just go wherever we want?" Sokka says but it comes out as more of a question than a statement.
An idea pops into my head and I speak up before it's too late. "You know what would be really cool? If we could go back home and visit dad, Gran Gran, and our tribe. We haven't seen them most of them since we left about a year ago and I miss it there."
"Could we? I know we just saw dad but it feels like we haven't really spent any time with him due to us always having to do something due to the war" Sokka says to the rest of the group with pleading eyes.
"I would love to see your dad again and actually have a conversation with him, this time not in a prison" states Suki which causes laughter to erupt from all of us.
"Then it's settled! We're all going to the Southern Water Tribe" Aang announces happily while looking at me. I smile up at him and kiss him softly on the cheek. While I pull away I hear Toph groan.
"Wait isn't it cold there? How am I going to see? I'll have to wear shoes so I don't lose my toes but I can't see with them on" Toph complains.
Sokka puffs out his chest a little before he says "It's alright Toph I'll be your eyes when we get there. Just hold onto me and I'll keep you safe." Toph smiles and thanks Sokka for his kindness, but not before he could slide in "I know how you enjoy that." This makes toph blush as she attempts to hide to red face in her hands. We all bust out laughing at Toph's embarrassment at her little crush towards Sokka.
With that being said we all head off to bed, each couple in a tent except for Toph who just earth bended herself a rock tent.
As soon as I laid down I quickly felt myself drift towards sleep. Right before I was fully asleep Aang wrapped his arm around me and whispered "sleep tight my little princess. You're going home soon" and kissed my head.
That night I fell asleep with a smile on my face as I dreamt about the Southern Water Tribe with the man of my dreams right beside me.
