Chapter 4: Questions and Answers
Quick responses to reviews:
Lalaandiki: No, don't worry about that. I already made that mistake with Late Night Drinks, so I'm not going to do that again. He just has a different kind of secret that he's trying to keep from her. You'll find out soon.
TheRaccoon13: I agree, the obliviousness to each other's feelings makes it especially entertaining. For me, at least. And yeah, Sokka I've been trying to calm him down so he doesn't act so ridiculous. Trust me, don't read them. They're so not worth it. I've unfortunately let my bad curiosity get the best of me and I've regretted it every time I did. It's best to avoid those kinds of stories. Thanks, it's nice to meet a reader who likes Kataang as much as I do, too.
UGudBroXD: I agree, and I have no tolerance on that. If my friends ever do that to a girl, they're going to be in big trouble.
Ashley Barbosa: She didn't tell Sokka because she didn't want him flipping out on her for moving in with a guy. Hope that clears that up for you. Thanks!
Randomguy1105: Thanks! I'm glad you like them, mate.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
The next morning, the tired waterbender woke up with an aching head, making her groan as she sat up and held a hand to her forehead as if that would help. She didn't know what else to do. Of course she had gotten drunk before, but never had she gotten that drunk before, and now she was paying the price for it.
Normally, she would just sleep off the pain, but not this time. She and her friends had overdone it last night, and she was currently regretting how many shots she had taken. Sure, she had had a lot of fun last night, but this pain was not worth it.
Looking over to her side, she was surprised to find a glass of water on her nightstand and, upon closer inspection, what appeared to be a couple of pills along with a note.
Slowly reaching out for the note, she grabbed it and brought it closer to her, just barely managing to read the words through her killer headache as she looked at it.
"Katara," she read aloud, though not without some difficulty. "You slightly overdid it last night at the bar, but you'll be okay as long as you get some rest. When you wake up, take these pills and drink as much water as you can. The sooner that you rehydrate yourself, the sooner you'll feel better. The pills will help reduce the headache until then. Rest and take it easy. I'll be back in a little bit. Aang."
She couldn't help but smile, remembering what he had done for her the night before. When she and her friends had gotten drunk out of their minds, he had put it on himself to make sure that they got home safely. Though, as she thought about it, she dearly hoped that she hadn't said anything too embarrassing.
He was such a great person, and she had just started to get to know him. If she was already this impressed with him, she could only imagine how much more she would be when she got to know him even more.
Though she found this to be a bit of a problem, as the more she got to see what a wonderful person he was, the more it made her want him. And considering that asking him out and him turning her down would make their living arrangements awkward, she was more than a little hesitant to do so.
But, on the other hand, if he did want to go out with her, she could see herself having a great relationship with him. Maybe they could even have a life together. This was thinking a little too far ahead, she knew, but she couldn't help it. She had never met anyone like Aang before, and seeing how good of a person he was, she couldn't help but think about the possibility of a life with him.
Deciding that it wouldn't do her any good at the moment to keep thinking about it, she reached over to the glass of water and scooped up the pills he had left for her, sitting up in her bed as she tried her best to ignore the killer headache that was going through her head.
Drinking some of the water, and finding that she had to resist drinking it all immediately, she popped the pills into her mouth and drank some water before letting it go down. Once that was finished, she finished off the glass of water with ease and became disappointed as her body told her that it wanted more.
She became surprised, however, to find a jug of water behind where the glass of water had been. Smiling appreciatively at his forethought, she reached for it and shakily managed to pour some water in it, chugging it down just as quickly.
With every glass of water, she started feeling better. That combined with the pills Aang had left for her, and her headache soon started to go away. It wouldn't completely go away, she knew, but it would certainly help.
Before long, she had drained the jug enough to where there was only one cup full left, and decided to just drink straight out of the jug for what was left, letting out a satisfied sigh as she drank every last drop.
Now feeling much better than before, she set the glass back on the nightstand and brought the now empty jug with her out to the living room, looking around to see if he had gotten back yet. Unfortunately, it appeared that he hadn't, as his room was empty and he was nowhere to be seen.
A bark interrupted her thoughts, making her smile as she looked down to see Appa come running up to her.
"Hey, buddy," her smile grew as she crouched down and started petting him, making him pant happily as he enjoyed her attention.
Momo meowed as he came walking up to the two, making her laugh as she started petting his head, too. "Morning, Momo. Don't worry, I didn't forget about you." Momo started purring as he nuzzled against her hand, making Katara smile even more. If living with Aang wasn't already near perfect, then having his pets here certainly sealed the deal. She had always loved animals, and his pets were the sweetest animals she had ever met.
After a few more moments of petting the animals, she forced herself to stop and walked over to the couch, the pets being right behind her as she sat down with them sitting down next to her.
Normally, on Saturday mornings that she hadn't gotten too drunk, she would start the day with some waterbending practice, but not today. She certainly felt better thanks to Aang's efforts, but she still wasn't quite ready for that yet.
Besides, when was the last time she had taken a day to just relax? She spent so much time either working or working on her waterbending, she rarely got to have a day where she could just relax, and she was going to make sure that she had a relaxing day right now.
Reaching over to grab the remote, she turned the tv on and started flipping through the channels, not being surprised to find that there wasn't much on. In fact, she had stopped paying for cable at her old apartment because there simply had been next to nothing good on, and hadn't wanted to waste so much money on it. But, if Aang was paying for it, then she might as well see if she couldn't find something that she liked.
After a little while of channel surfing while mindlessly petting the animals on her sides, her eyes widened in surprise as she finally found something that she liked: The Pro Bending Tournaments.
She had thought about entering these tournaments herself, but up until now, she had decided to stay out of it. After all, it was no easy thing to get into the tournaments, nor was it easy to win them. Sure, she felt confident in her abilities in a waterbender. She had been training her whole life to be one, and had learned under one of the best waterbending masters in the world, but the people in the tournaments were professional benders. Could she really take them on?
Shaking off these thoughts, she decided that it didn't matter. This was her day to relax, not to wonder about what might be in her future. Right now, all she wanted was to have a nice day to relax.
And relax she did, enjoying the company of the animals around her and enjoying watching the people compete as she laid back and let herself let go for the first time in a long time. It was nice. Rare was the time that she truly let herself just sit down all day, but this was certainly going to be one of those times.
Well, at least until Aang got back, anyway. Then she would see if he had anything that he thought would be fun for them to do. As much as she wanted to just sit back and relax all day, she also very much wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, even if it meant that she would have to partially give up her relaxation day.
After a little while of sitting there in silence with nothing but the sounds of the tv going on, she became surprised as she heard her phone start ringing, and by the sound of the ring, she know who it was. Digging into her pocket, she managed to get her phone out and answered it. "Hey, Yue. What's up?"
"Nothing. Just calling to check up on you," her friend admitted quietly, which Katara could only assume was because she was still hungover. "We overdid it last night, didn't we?"
Katara couldn't help but chuckle as she thought back to the night before, her own memory of it being blurry, but she could still remember bits and pieces. "Yeah, I think we did," she agreed. "How did we end up drinking that much, anyway?"
"Hey, don't look at me," came Yue's reply, making Katara laugh a little. "Ty Lee dared us to keep up with her, so it's her fault."
"But you're the one who brought her with," Katara reminded her, listening as she sighed in defeat.
"Yeah, you're probably right," her friend's tired voice reluctantly agreed. "Ty Lee's fun, but she's got a lot more experience drinking than we do."
The young waterbender couldn't help but laugh at this. "Yeah, I think I got that when she did three shots at once. Is she an alcoholic?" she couldn't help but ask curiously.
"No, she just likes to have a good time," Yue informed her. "And apparently to her, getting almost blackout drunk is a good time."
"Yeah, apparently," Katara smirked before a thought came to mind. "So, I'm guessing by how quite you are, you're head's still hurting?"
At this, Yue laughed a little, and Katara could almost see the wince that her friend had from the pain that laughing caused her. "Yeah, you could say that. Sokka tried to give me his hangover cure, but it didn't do anything."
Katara couldn't help but scoff a little. "That's because Sokka gets drunk easily and thinks that food is the answer to everything. What did he give you this time?"
"A pancake sandwich with eggs in the middle," Yue admitted, making Katara laugh a little louder, which in turn made Yue's head hurt even more.
"Could you not be so loud?" Yue groaned, making Katara smile sheepishly as she remembered that even raising her voice above a whisper could hurt her friend.
"Sorry," she apologized with an embarrassed smile, making a thought come to her friend's mind as she noticed something.
"Why don't you sound like you're in pain? I know you drank as much as I did."
The young waterbender smiled as she remembered what her landlord had done for her. "Aang helped me. He told me to drink a lot of water and gave me some headache pills to help me feel better." She laughed a little. "He's the only reason that we both got home alive last night."
"Yeah, that's what Sokka told me," Yue agreed as she thought back to it before her voice turned smug. "But from what Sokka told me, it sounded like he thought that Aang liked you."
"What?!" Katara couldn't help but gasp in surprise, once again making Yue groan as the loud sound hurt her head. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly once more, but she couldn't help but ask. "What do you mean, Sokka thought that Aang likes me?"
"What do you think, Kat?" Yue couldn't help but get a little snippy with her friend. "He talked to Aang when he dropped me off, and he said that he thinks that Aang likes you."
Feeling her heart beating quickly, she couldn't help but feel equal parts hopeful and doubtful. Sure, a few people had told her that they thought that he liked her, but people were wrong a lot. Besides, as she had decided last night that she couldn't base her hope off of other people's opinions. If she was going to risk making things awkward between them, she was going to need solid evidence that he thought of her as more than friends.
"Cool," she finally replied, but Yue could tell that her friend didn't sound excited, making her sigh loudly over the phone.
"You're really overthinking this, Kat," she chided her as Katara resumed petting the animals on her side. "Just ask him out."
"Easier said than done, Yue," Katara objected with a roll of her eyes. "Look, I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I'm just going to have to try to figure it out on my own." The sound of the door unlocking took her completely by surprise, making her eyes widen as she knew that Aang had made it back. "I have to go, Yue! Drink lots of water and get Sokka to give you some headache pills."
"But-" Yue tried to object, but Katara had already hit the 'end' button, doing some last minute grooming of her hair with a nearby brush before throwing it to the side as Aang came walking into the room.
"Hey, Kat," he smiled at her as he walked in, making her smile as she saw that he had picked up on her nickname. "Are you feeling any better yet?"
"Yeah, I am," she smiled appreciatively at him. "Thank you for getting me and Yue home last night and for helping with my hangover."
Aang smiled back at her. "It's no problem. I couldn't just leave you guys there. And don't worry, I flew over to the bar and got your car back, so you don't have to get it."
It was still a bit surprising to hear Aang talking about flying as if it were the most normal thing in the world, though she supposed that it probably was to him. From what she had heard, airbenders were in the air as much as possible, and she had no doubt that Aang was no exception.
"Thanks," she got up and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, making her smile as she saw a blush cover his cheeks from this. "So, do you have any plans for today?"
"For once, not really," he laughed as he walked over to the couch and sat down, watching as she sat down next to him as they both started mindlessly petting the animal closest to them. "I had a little… appointment today that I went to, but now the rest of my day is free." A curious look crossed over his handsome features. "Why?"
Katara blushed a little as she heard his question, and forced herself to stop before replying. "Oh, I was just curious. I don't really have anything else to do today, and you're fun to hang out with, so I thought maybe you might know something fun to do."
Aang smiled, enjoying hearing that she thought he was fun, and thought of something that they could do. "Well, if you want to get out of the house for a bit, there's a nice animal park nearby that we can go to," he suggested, making Appa bark excitedly and Momo meow as their tails wagged.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun," she smiled, making him smile back at her for a few moments before they both realized that they were staring and laughed nervously. "So, should we get going?"
Aang's face took on a puzzled look for a moment. "Don't you want to get some new clothes on first?" he asked curiously, making Katara blush in embarrassment as she realized that she was still wearing her dress from the night before.
"Right," she chuckled nervously and put a finger up as she got off of the couch. "Give me a minute and we can go."
"Of course. I'll be right here," he gave her a reassuring smile, making her smile grow as she saw that he was serious and nodded before quickly running into her room and closing the door behind her.
This was it. This was the perfect chance for her to see if he saw her as anything more than friends. She would just need to throw some hints at him. Maybe flirt a little and see how he responded to it. If he responded to her flirting in the right way, then she would ask him out. If not, then she would just have to wait for another opportunity.
But, if she was going to do this, she was going to have to find something to wear that would impress him. Something that would hopefully make his jaw drop and give her the information she wanted. If she could just find something that would make her stand out and see his reaction to it, then maybe just maybe she would be able to figure this out.
And so it was with this determination in her mind that she walked over to her closet and opened it up, looking through her outfits that she kept on the ready. After much consideration, she decided to go with her favorite pair of blue jeans and a white tank top. Considering that it was the middle of Summer, she knew that it was going to be warm out, and she wanted to stay cool while she looked good. Besides, she always felt good in her jeans, and she liked how she looked with the combination.
With that decided, she quickly changed out of her dress and put on her outfit, smiling in the mirror as she checked herself over. Being satisfied with her appearance, she made sure she had her phone and her wallet with her and splashed on some of her favorite perfume before walking out of the room, making her way to the living room where Aang was still waiting for her.
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah, I am if you… are…" he trailed off as he looked at her, his jaw slightly dropping as he looked upon her beauty.
Unable to hold back a smile as she saw him looking almost dumbfounded, she couldn't help but blush a little ss she said. "Um… Aang?"
It took him a few moments, but when her sweet voice finally snapped him out of his trance, he too blushed and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just… surprised. I haven't seen you wear anything like that yet."
Katara's smile turned into a smirk, seeing that maybe just maybe her friends had been right. "Well, come on. We don't have all day," she told him, despite knowing that they did in fact have all day.
Aang could only follow after her numbly, still being a bit out of it from seeing her in that outfit. Sure, she had been beautiful before, but something about seeing her like that had messed him up a bit. But, knowing that it wouldn't be wise for him to keep acting like he was, he forced himself to snap out of it and gathered his furry friends and followed Katara down to the parking lot.
Fortunately for them, the animal park wasn't far away, and it wasn't very long before they were there. Though Katara had to admit, she was surprised to see that Momo didn't have a leash on him. He apparently didn't need it, as he stayed by his Master's side without any problem. Even though she saw birds and various things that would easily take his attention if he wasn't so dedicated to his Master.
Again, she couldn't help but be impressed by this, as she saw just how much his pets were dedicated to him. Though she noticed that Appa was on a leash, she figured it was likely only because Aang didn't want him "attacking" other people like he had her on the first day she had checked out the apartment.
Though, looking at the large dog in question, she couldn't help but think about how strong Aang must have been. After all, he had only failed to hold his furry friend back once when Katara had been there, and it was only because Appa had taken him by surprise.
So that must have meant that he was rather strong. She found herself disappointed that he too hadn't decided to wear a tank top, or at the very least a t-shirt. She would have liked to see how strong he was. Maybe another time, she decided as they finally made it to the entrance to the animal park.
Making sure that the gate was closed behind them, Aang took the leash off of Appa and let him run freely, seeing that there was no one else for the large dog to "attack".
Once he saw that his two pets were having their fun, he turned to Katara with a smile. "It's a beautiful day out, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is," she agreed with a smile, her mind being on overdrive as she tried to think of how to flirt with him while keeping up regular conversation. Then, just when she was about to give up, she thought of something as she felt the warm heat of the day come down on them. "Aren't you a little warm?"
"Yeah, maybe a little," he chuckled in agreement, making her smile as she saw that he was playing right into her hands.
"Well, if you're warm, it might help to roll up your sleeves," she suggested lightly, hoping that he would take the bait without figuring out what she was up to.
Fortunately for her, he didn't think twice about her suggestion. "Yeah, that would probably be a good idea," he laughed, quickly rolling up his sleeves to reveal his upper forearms, which Katara was rather pleased to find that they were as strong as she thought. Though this was also a bad thing, as now she wanted to see his biceps.
Deciding that she would have to wait for that, she got onto the next part of her plan as she stepped closer to him. "Wow, you're pretty strong," she tried her best to put some flirt in her words as she started gently rubbing his arms.
Aang couldn't help but blush a little as he saw this, his mind slightly registering that she appeared to be flirting with him, but not sure whether to believe it or not. "Uh… thanks."
"Do you workout?" Katara decided to go for a flirty question she had seen in movies before.
The poor airbender couldn't help but be surprised at this, what with her still rubbing his arms and asking him that question, which he recognized from a movie he had seen. That combined with the way that she was looking at him helped the gears to start turning in his head as he wondered if he should start flirting back.
Although he too had never done this before, he decided to put on a flirty smile as he said. "Yeah, I do. What about you? Do you workout?"
Smiling as she saw that he seemed to have picked up on what she was doing and seemed okay with it, she replied. "Yeah, I do."
"Well, you do a great job. You're absolutely beautiful," Aang surprised himself with how smoothly he executed that, making Katara blush as she smiled demurely.
"Thanks." The two just stood there for a few moments, feeling a bit nervous about what they were about to do, but they both knew that it was now or never.
"Katara, do you-"
"Aang, do you-"
Upon seeing that they both had talked at the exact same time, they both laughed off their nervousness as Aang gestured to her. "Go ahead. Ladies first."
Unable to hold back a smile as she saw that he was a gentleman, she cleared her throat and forced away any nervousness she felt. It was time for her to stop with the fear and doubt. Now, she was going to ask him out, no matter what.
"Well, I was just wondering if you might want to go see a movie with me sometime," she began, wincing a little as she heard her voice crack slightly from fear. "There's this great movie I've been wanting to see, and I think it would be fun and-"
"I'd love to," Aang told her simply with a bright smile, unable to hide the happiness from his face as he found himself in disbelief that she had actually asked him out.
Katara couldn't help but blink in surprise, not expecting it to be that easy. "Really?" she couldn't help but ask, making him chuckle as he nodded, her smile growing as her confidence grew. "Great. Well, then maybe we can go see one next Friday?"
"That sounds great," he smiled, making her smile back at him as they stared at each other. They didn't get to do this for long, however, as Appa and Momo came running back to him, which he knew what that meant.
"Looks like these guys are done here. You want to go back to the apartment?"
Feeling rather happy with herself, she nodded her agreement, her smile never faltering as Aang quickly got the leash back onto Appa before leading the way back to the apartment. And as they walked back, both couldn't help but have a bit of a bounce in their step, finding that they were very much looking forward to their date.
