Chapter 11: A New Friend
Quick responses to reviews:
TheRaccoon13: Cool. I'm glad that you don't think they're too bad. I try to be descriptive with it, but I don't ever really feel like I'm putting enough detail in when I do them. And I agree, I love it when Katara is so committed to him like that.
Natec183: Yeah, sorry about that. I kind of rushed the ending there a bit, but other than that, I took my time with the rest, so sorry if it felt rushed.
Stegz: Aye, Ozai be in trouble alright. He better watch his back, matey!
Kataangforever: Ha, don't worry. There'll be more Kataang fluff, but I'm not going to break their necks.
Ashley Barbosa: I would say that at least for now, no, as I never really intended for their to be a smutty scene in this story, but I might change my mind in the next chapter or two.
Hhaileyynicholee: Awesome! I'm glad that you're still enjoying it. I will say that your theory may be correct. It may not be correct as well, as I'm not keen on revealing too much of the story, but you'll just have to see. I will tell you that yes, Aang was holding a betrothal necklace in his hand. Now, as for your "something lemony" question, I wasn't planning on it, but I might. I'll see if it fits when I'm writing, but as of right now, I do not intend to. Sorry if you were hoping for one, but I might, depending on how things go writing the next chapters.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It had been a few weeks since they had last seen Azula, which they were all thankful for to say the least. They already had enough trouble dealing with their fellow pirates, let alone a crazy Fire Nation princess who was hell bent on capturing Aang and Zuko to drag them back to her father.
Not that Katara was going to let her take Aang, of course. As long as she drew breath, Azula wouldn't lay a finger on him if she could help it. Not that he couldn't help himself, of course, but when Azula returned to try again, and they all knew she would, Katara would not allow herself to be so easily distracted as she had been when they first fought the crazy princess.
She had never had to fight royalty before, but she didn't necessarily mind it. She was already on the wanted list of three nations, and the only reason she wasn't an official enemy of the Air Nomads was because they didn't have any enemies. Like Aang had told her, they forgave and forgot every wrong that had been done against them, and did not have any need for enemies.
Still though, she wasn't quite used to having anyone actively hunting for her. At least, not like this, anyway. There had been the occasional Earth Kingdom military ship that had tried to hunt her down, but she had managed to elude them time and time again, making it no problem at all. This was different, though. Azula was a woman on a mission, and she could tell that she wouldn't give up as easily as the Earth Kingdom military had.
It didn't matter though. Whatever Azula threw at them, they would be ready for it. Even if they had to take the crazy princess down to get her off their backs. She knew that Zuko didn't want them to kill her, but if it came down to either having her die or Aang die, she would much rather that the former die than the latter.
Aang meant the world to her. The more time that they spent together, the more she knew that she couldn't live without him, and the more that she knew that she would do whatever it took to make sure that he was alive and at her side. Even if it meant that she would make the former Fire Nation Prince angry with her. No matter what, she had to keep Aang alive.
"Captain?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, she looked to her right and was surprised to see none other than the subject of her thoughts standing a few feet away from her. Clearing her throat, she replied. "Yes?"
"Are you alright?" he couldn't help but ask with concern clear on his face. "You looked a little out of it there."
Smiling at his concern for her, she nodded and walked up to give him a kiss. "I'm fine," she assured him as she pecked his lips again. "I was just thinking."
"Thinking about what?" Aang asked curiously.
"I was just thinking about when we'll have to deal with Azula again," she decided to tell him, knowing that it wasn't the full truth, but that it wasn't a lie, either. Normally, she would always want to be completely honest with him, but she knew that he wouldn't be very happy if she had already made the decision that she would end Azula if it came down to it. Especially if she did so for Aang's sake.
Fortunately for her, he didn't seem to catch on that she was hiding something, and nodded in agreement as he thought about it. "Aye, I've been thinking about that, too. But I actually had a bit of a request to ask."
Katara's eyes lit up in curiosity as she heard this, finding that she was interested to hear about this request he would ask. He didn't normally make requests, which she was more than tolerant of, of course, but it was still a bit surprising.
Realizing that she had been silent, she forced herself to snap out of it and gave him a smile. "What did you have in mind?" she asked curiously, finding herself interested to see what he had in mind.
"I have a friend that lives on a island nearby," he began explaining, hoping that she would like what he thought would be a good idea for everyone. "It's really remote and would be a nice place for us to take a day off and relax."
"Relax?" Katara couldn't help but ask, watching as he laughed and nodded. "I don't remember the last time I had a whole day to relax."
"Well, it sounds like you need it then," he grinned as he walked up to her and looked down into her eyes. "I promise you'll like it. We can walk around and enjoy the nature of the island, hang out on the beach." He smiled as he remembered something that would seal the deal, knowing that this was a favorite of hers. "And we can go swimming."
A day off had already sounded good to Katara, even though she knew that there was work to be done and that they would do well to keep putting distance between them and Azula, but if the fact that this island would be hard for Azula to track them down on wasn't enough, then the mention of swimming for leisure certainly helped her make up her mind.
"Alright, let's do it," she agreed with a smile, making his smile grow.
"Really?" he couldn't help but ask hopefully, watching as she nodded, her smile never faltering. Feeling delighted at this, he wrapped his arms around her and twirled her around, making her laugh in delight as he repeatedly kissed her on the lips.
"Aang, put me down," she barely managed to get out through her laughter, making him laugh again as he did as he was told and set her back down. Though Katara didn't really know why she had told him to put her back down. She had actually quite liked having him spin her around like that.
Deciding that it didn't matter for the moment, she gave him another smile. "It'll be nice having a day off. I don't remember the last time I just got to relax at the beach."
"Did someone say we're going to the beach?" Sokka asked hopefully as he came walking up the stairs, watching as they nodded and his smile grew. "Sweet! I need a day off."
"Yeah, I think we all do," Aang agreed as he gave an appreciative smile to Katara. "Alright, let's go. The sooner we get to Kyoshi Island, the sooner we can all have some fun."
"Right. Sokka, go tell everyone that we're taking the day off," she ordered, watching him nod and run back downstairs.
"It's about time, Sugar Queen," Toph's voice came from behind them, making them jump in surprise as they turned around quickly. "I think you're forgetting that all work and no play make s a very unhappy Toph."
"Can't have that, can we?" Katara lowered her voice to a sarcastic whisper as she glanced at Aang, making the two lovers snicker as Toph rolled her eyes and blew her bangs out of her eyes.
"You know I can hear you, right?"
At this, Katara shrugged simply, unable to keep the smirk off of her face as she looked at her friend. "Oh, I know alright," her smirk never faltered before turning back to the wheel and looking to Aang. "I don't know where this place is, so you're going to have to tell me where to go."
"Don't worry. It's not too far from here," he promised with a smile as he moved closer to her, making her smile as she enjoyed feeling him close to her side. As much as she was looking forward to spending a day on the beach, as long as Aang was with her, she would be just fine. Feeling content with this, she called for sails and got moving, knowing that the sooner they got to their destination, the sooner they could all lay back and relax. Something she hadn't done in a long time.
A couple hours later, the pirate crew found themselves anchored by a good sized island which Katara could only assume was the Kyoshi Island Aang had mentioned. It was beautiful, at least compared to most of the islands she had seen. It was a bit strange though, as she had seen many islands, but not many of them had so many trees on them as this one did.
Not that it mattered of course. She was looking forward to exploring the island, but it was the beach that she was particularly looking forward to. It had been a long time since she had been able to swim for fun. Actually, this would technically be the first time she had ever swam for fun. After all, she couldn't have swam in the South Pole without freezing, and ever since the death of her parents, she had pretty much been too depressed and driven to complete her mission. But, now she was going to get the chance to do so. Not that she hadn't ever swam before, as she had when she was forced to, but she had never swam for fun before. And she had to say, she was rather looking forward to it.
As the pirates started to debark from their ship, a thought couldn't help but pop up in Katara's mind as she looked around the island, noticing what appeared to be a village that wasn't too far away. "Um, Aang?"
"Yeah?"
"Are we allowed to be here?" she couldn't help but ask a bit nervously, not wanting to have to fight anyone on their day off. "Most villages don't like pirates."
Just as Aang opened his mouth to answer while they were walking through the woods, a blur of green came into view, making them all gasp as they were suddenly surrounded by a sea of green.
"Who are you?" the leader of the group of warriors spoke up as she approached them with her fans up. "What are you doing here?"
"You don't recognize me, Suki?" Aang couldn't help but ask with a laugh as he moved closer, making her gasp as she saw him.
"Aang!" a smile grew on her face as she walked up to give him a hug, making Katara feel a green monster grow in her as she saw this. This was ridiculous, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She did not like seeing another girl hug Aang like that.
Once the hug finally ended, Suki looked back to her warriors and put her weapons away. "If Aang is with these pirates, then I know we can trust them. Put your weapons down, girls." The other warriors did as they were told and put their fans away, all of them gathering behind their leader as Suki looked back to Aang.
"So, what brings you to Kyoshi Island, Aang?"
"Well, me and my crew mates decided that we needed a day to relax, and I thought that it might be fun if we came here," he explained as he gestured back to them. "If that's okay with you, that is."
"Of course, Aang," Suki smiled at him, once again making Katara feel irrationally jealous as she tried not to ball up her fists in anger. "You know that you're welcome here anytime. But where's your crew? Why are you with a new one?"
At this, Aang's face took on a sad look, making Katara frown as she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, for which he gave her a grateful smile. "It's a long story, but I have a new crew now. This is my captain, Katara," he told her as he gestured to the girl who's hand was still on his shoulder. Not liking this, Katara took her hand off of his shoulder and coughed into her hand pointedly. "My girlfriend, Katara."
The young captain could swear she heard several disappointed sighs from the back of the crowd, and she also couldn't help but notice a bit of a disappointed look on Suki's face, but it was gone so quickly that she wondered if she had imagined it.
"It's nice to meet you, Katara," Suki stuck her hand out to her, which Katara shook before letting go. "Though I have to say, it's kind of weird seeing that you're not a captain anymore, Aang."
"It was for me at first, too," he agreed with a chuckle before looking at Katara. "But now that I've been on this crew, I'm glad I'm not. Katara's a much better Captain than I was."
Smiling appreciatively at him for this, she was about to give him a kiss but stopped herself, remembering that they had company. Instead, she turned back to Suki and gave her a smile. "Well, thank you for letting us come here. Don't worry, we won't break anything." She paused and looked back at Sokka. "Right, Sokka?"
Scoffing a little, he rolled his eyes and glanced away with his arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah, yeah, yeah…" he muttered, making her smirk before looking back to Suki.
"So, Aang told me that you have a nice beach here?"
"Yes, we do. It's on the other side of the island, so you'll have to walk for a bit," she smiled apologetically.
"Why don't you come with us?" Aang offered, making Katara look at him as if he was crazy. "I'm sure you and your warriors could use a day off, too."
Although Suki looked a bit hesitant at first, she thought about it for a few moments and nodded, a smile coming onto her face as she said. "You know what? You're right. It's been a while since we've had a day to relax." Turning to her warriors, she then said. "Girls, go get changed into some swim gear. We're taking a day off from training."
The girls cheered at this, making Suki smile as she turned back to Aang. "Alright, we're going to go get ready, but we'll meet you guys at the beach."
"Okay. We'll see you soon!" he waved to her as they started walking away, turning to look at Katara and seeing that she had been digging her fingernails into her hands as she had watched them, a clearly unhappy look on her face. "Um, Sweetie? Is something wrong?" he couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Why would something be wrong? Everything's just perfect," she tried to put on a smile, but ended up just gritting the words through her teeth. Laughing a little, Aang took one of her hands and dragged her away from the rest of the crew, stopping once he was sure that he had put enough distance between them before turning back to her.
"Okay, now why don't you tell me what's going on?" he began as he took her hands in his and started gently rubbing the marks she had left, making her both amazed and surprised at the thoughtful and sweet gesture.
Biting her lip nervously, knowing that her jealousy was irrational and stupid but knowing that she couldn't help it, she let out a sigh and slumped in defeat. "I'm fine, Aang. Really."
"No you're not," he argued gently, taking her face in his hand and forcing her to look up at him. "I know you well enough by now to know that you're not. What's wrong?" Katara looked back down to the ground as an idea came to mind. "Kat, you weren't… jealous, were you?"
"What?!" her head snapped back up as she looked at him, trying to put on an indignant look on her face, but being completely unable to hide the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks as she did so. "That's crazy! Of course I'm not-" The look that Aang gave her after that stopped her words, making her sigh as she looked back down to the ground. "Okay… maybe I was a little… jealous."
"Kat, you have no reason to be jealous," Aang couldn't help but laugh a little as he found himself surprised that she was actually getting jealous. "Suki's my friend. I don't like her that way. I like you."
Feeling a small smile creeping up on her face, she couldn't help but feel reassured by his words. "I know. I'm sorry that I got jealous," she sighed, making him chuckle as he leaned down and gave her a kiss, making her smile grow as she kissed him back.
When he finally pulled away from the kiss, he gave her another smile. "It's okay. Just know that there's no reason for you to get jealous. I like you, Katara, and only you. Okay?"
Her smile only growing, she then replied. "Okay." Before giving him another kiss and looking back to the crew who all appeared to be busy talking to each other. "Well, should we go have some fun at the beach?"
"Absolutely," he agreed before giving her one more kiss and taking her hand, making her smile as he led the way to the beach. She knew that she had been ridiculous in being jealous, but in a way, she was glad that she had gotten jealous. After all, her jealousy had proven to her that Aang liked her a great deal. Feeling content with that thought, she allowed him to lead the way, finding that she was quite excited for this day at the beach.
Not long later, the crew found themselves on the beach, doing everything from casually drinking to swimming in the lake. Aang had been surprised, as he would have thought that Katara would be the first person in, but it had not been the case. Something that he intended to find out why it was not so.
"Kat?" Katara looked up from her spot sitting on the beach where she had been staring at the water. "Why aren't you swimming?" he asked with concern clear on his face.
"I… changed my mind," she told him nervously, watching as a look of doubt crossed onto his handsome features, and she knew that she couldn't keep it from him as she sighed. "Okay, okay. I want to go swimming, but… there's so many people around here."
"Oh… I get it," Aang chuckled a little. "You don't have to get changed out here, Kat. We can find a place for you to change."
"No, it's not that," she sighed again as she looked around, feeling ridiculous for being nervous about this, but she couldn't quite help it. No one but her brother had ever seen her in her underclothes, let alone her boyfriend, and she didn't quite know how to explain it.
Luckily for her, she didn't have to, as Aang's eyes lit up in understanding before he gave her a smile. "Kat, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I know that you're going to be just as beautiful no matter what."
Seeing that he was serious, she felt reassured from his confidence and, needing no more convincing, finally allowed herself to pull off her corset, revealing her to be in a pair of white sarashi bindings and a pair of sarashi shorts.
Smiling as he drank in her beauty, he took a step closer to her and gave her a kiss. "See? You're as beautiful as ever. Now come on, I haven't swam for fun in a long time!" Taking her hand, Aang started pulling her out to the water, making her laugh as he practically dragged her out to the waves where several of their crewmates had already started having fun.
As they waded out until they were waist-deep, a mischievous smile came onto Aang's face as he turned to look at his unsuspecting girlfriend, using some deft waterbending to splash her, making her gasp as the cold water went down her back.
Turning around to give him a glare, she was not so surprised to find that he just laughed her glare off, and was surprised to find that she actually liked that he would just laugh off her glare. Nothing really scared him, and he had one of the best senses of humor she had ever seen, which was just one of the many reasons she loved him.
Grinning mischievously back at him, she too splashed him with some deft waterbending, making him laugh again as he put a hand over his eyes and splashed her back. What they didn't notice, however, was that after seeing the Captain and Quartermaster start splashing each other, the crew who were in the water decided to copy them, breaking out into several splash-fights throughout the area.
Managing to fight his way through his girlfriend's splashes, he got just close enough to pick her up, making her laugh as he brought her up so that she couldn't keep splashing him, making them smile as they looked into each other's eyes.
They likely would have kept staring at each other, but they were interrupted by a sudden loud cheer, making their eyes widen in surprise as they turned and saw the Kyoshi islanders come charging down the beach and into the water.
Both of them laughing as even more splash fights started with this, the two lovers shared a grin and decided to join in the fun, feeling more relaxed than they had been in a long time.
A few hours later, the pirates and the villagers were relaxing on the beach as if they had been doing this their whole lives, feeling completely at ease with one another. It was truly a sight to behold. Any other pirate crew would likely be trying to rob them, but not this one.
Robbing these people was the last thing on Katara's mind. She was so relaxed and pleased with how well the day had been so far, she wondered how she had gone several years without taking a day off like this. Fortunately for her, she had an amazing boyfriend who knew when it was time to work and when it was time to let loose. And at the moment, she was quite happy to have let loose.
The sound of Aang's familiar laughter snapped Katara out of her thoughts, making her smile as she watched him play with some of the children from the village. He was so kind, caring, and compassionate. And clearly he was great with kids, too, if the way he was making them laugh and have fun was any indication. He would make a great father someday.
Blushing at the thought, she wasn't sure whether to be nervous about the thought of being a parent, or excited at the thought of having a family with Aang. She still had yet to tell him how she truly felt about him, but she couldn't help but think about their possible future. Getting married, having kids, growing old together wherever they decided to settle down. It all sounded rather appealing to her.
She knew this was probably rushing things a bit, but she knew that she was already too far into their relationship to start over now. Aang was everything to her, and she dearly hoped that he would love her as she loved him.
But, seeing him having fun while he entertained the village children, she smiled and decided that she could wait for him to fall in love with her. As long as she got to be with him, that was all that mattered to her.
"You're a lucky girl, you know."
Katara's eyes widened as her head snapped up to see Suki standing in front of her; her warrior makeup removed along with her warrior outfit, leaving her in only her undergarments. She was very beautiful, but Katara felt no reason to be jealous anymore. Aang liked her and only her, which she was very grateful for.
"Thanks," she decided to reply as she patted the spot next to her, allowing Suki to sit down next to her. "I think so, too. So, how did you meet Aang?"
"He helped save my village when some pirates tried to take everything we had," Suki explained as she stretched out her legs, crossing one of them over the other with her hands supporting her. "We didn't think any pirates would ever help us, but Aang and his crew proved us wrong that day. They managed to drive them out without killing any of them."
Laughing as she heard the amazement in Suki's voice, Katara nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like Aang. There's a reason why he's the most feared pirate in the world."
"No offense, but it's kind of weird to see him with a new crew," Suki admitted.
"None taken," Katara replied easily, understanding that it must have been a bit of a trip for her to see her old friend without his crew. "I know Aang didn't really want to talk about it, but if you want, I can tell you what happened to his crew."
"If you don't mind."
"Of course not," the young captain smiled as she looked back out to the sea, her smile dropping as she thought back to what Aang had told her. "When Aang joined us, all he said about his crew was that they were dead and we found him in the water, so I'm guessing that his ship got sunk. I don't know how though."
Suki nodded as she thought about it. "Well, at least I know why he's with a new crew. Though I'm a little surprised that he didn't get a new ship to captain. He's a natural born leader."
"He probably would have," Katara began thoughtfully as she thought back to when she had first met him. "But I knew who he was and I wanted him on my crew, so I made a deal with him. If he would stay on my crew for a while and still wanted to go out on his own, I would let him."
"Good thing for you that he decided not to, huh?" Suki teased a little, making Katara laugh as she nodded in agreement.
"Aye, I'm thankful for that everyday," she smiled as she looked back to her boyfriend to find him with a few of the kids jumping on him. Glancing at the girl next to her, she noticed that she was watching him too and, against her better judgement, decided to ask a question that was on her mind. "So, you like him too, huh?"
A blush colored Suki's cheeks upon hearing this, making her laugh nervously as she glanced at the young captain. "I don't know what you mean." Katara just gave her an 'I don't believe you' look and she sighed as she slumped in defeat. "Okay. I do, but I'm not going to try anything. I promise."
"I'm not worried, Suki," Katara assured her with a smile as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You're pretty and you seem like a nice girl, but Aang told me that he doesn't think of you that way."
"Yeah, I know," Suki sighed again as she looked back to him. "I kinda figured that out the last time I saw him." The sound of laughter interrupted her thoughts, making both of the girls look over to see Sokka having fun in the water not too far away as a smile came onto Suki's face. "You know, your brother's kind of cute."
"How do you know he's my brother?" Katara asked curiously.
At this, Suki laughed, clearly finding this amusing before she replied. "Earlier, I saw you talk to him like a brother would a sister. I don't have a brother, but some of the girls here do, and I've seen that happen enough to know when I see a brother and sister."
"Makes sense," Katara agreed with a chuckle before an idea came to mind. "Hey, Sokka!"
Hearing his name being called, Sokka snapped his head over to them and walked over as he shook some water out of his ears. "What's up, Ka-" his jaw slacked as he looked down at Suki, seeing her without her face paint for the first time.
Laughing as she noticed this, Suki stuck a hand out to him, seeing that Katara was doing her a favor and deciding to use it. "Hi, Sokka. I don't think we've been introduced yet. I'm Suki."
After a few moments of Sokka just staring at her, he finally seemed to get the sense that he looked like an idiot and forced himself to snap out of it, shaking her hand as he smiled down at her. "Hi, Suki. I'm Sokka."
"She already knows that, Sokka," Katara laughed, making him blush as he rubbed his neck sheepishly.
"Right. Sorry about that," he laughed awkwardly as he glanced away in embarrassment, making Suki laugh as she smiled at him.
"It's okay. I don't mind." The two smiled at each other for a few moments, and seeing this, Katara decided to give them some time to talk as she got up and made her way over to Aang who had finally stopped playing with the kids and was sitting on the sand.
"I see you were having fun," she teased as she sat down next to him, making him laugh as he nodded in agreement.
"Aye, I was. Kids sure know how to make you forget about everything that's bothering you," he grinned back at her, making her smile back at him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "So, I see that you introduced Sokka to Suki."
Katara nodded against his shoulder, enjoying the smell of the sea coming from him as she said. "Aye, I thought that they might get along. Plus, it's always nice seeing Sokka get flustered over a girl."
Aang couldn't help but chuckle as he heard this. "I'm sure it is," he agreed as he kissed her head and wrapped an arm around her, making her smile as she enjoyed their time together. She was rather glad that Aang had asked to take the day off and go to the beach. It had turned out to be a near perfect day.
Unfortunately for the two, they didn't get to enjoy this for long, as they both suddenly smelled something. Something dangerously familiar.
"Do you smell that? It smells like-"
"Smoke," Katara finished for him as her eyes widened, knowing that there was no one cooking anything around the area as they both turned around and found that their fears had been confirmed: The village was on fire. "Azula."
