"So, Twinkle-Toes... I hear you're doing the 'kissing' scene this afternoon?"
That was the third time Toph decided to spontaneously bring up the subject, knowing it was an easy way of getting the boy to flinch out of his concentration on the football field. Granted, Aang was able to hold his own with Earthbending by now, but just hearing the word 'kiss' got his hands trembling nervously... and he almost couldn't dodge the fist-sized boulders the little girl would throw at him.
"Haha... sorry, LoverBoy, was that too much?" The little Earthbender smirked playfully as the boy tried to regain himself steadily on the ground.
"Huh?" The boy laughed nervously, adjusting his football padding on the shoulders. "Oh, no. I was... just warming up!"
And immediately, he sent a couple of fist-sized boulders over to Toph's direction to see how her reflexes had improved in the air. Her cloudy eyes flinched surprise, but Toph quickly regained her sternness and caught the two boulders precisely with her hands.
"Sheesh, you could've warned me about those," the little girl remarked in a mockingly disappointed tone, before returning the boulders over to Aang's side, along with a small kick of pebbles. "So what about you and Miss Water Nymph? Any idea how she feels about the kiss?"
Toph grinned uncontrollably, feeling Aang's nervousness to his very toenails.
Before the young airbender could answer her question, he raised a wall of Earth, blocking the two mounts of rock and the pebbles from hitting his body, then skillfully pushed his hands downward to melt the wall back towards to ground. But just as he did so, he felt his own legs sink into the ground... all the way to his knees! Aang yelped, realizing he placed a little too much force into the bending, while Toph laughed her head in disbelief.
"Not too early to start showing off, eh, kid?"
It was Coach Bumi's voice that arrived from the distance, laughing and snorting amusingly as the airbender struggled to get his own legs out of the ground. "You have to be in tune with the ground, boy, not be in love with it!"
Bumi snorted again, while Aang looked up at his squinty-eyed teacher and blushed an embarrassingly red color. The little girl couldn't help but feel the redness in the boy's cheeks, in spite of laughing a little as well. Toph approached wearily to help the boy out.
But Coach Bumi placed a quick hand at Toph's direction as he crouched to Aang's level, knowing full well that she could "see" a stopping gesture in all of its muscular might. "Don't you worry, he can get himself out of this one..."
Toph frowned, but nodded in agreement, and Aang couldn't do anything except keep his hands planted on the ground, gritting his teeth as he tried to get himself out. Nothing was working. It was like the ground... or someone in tune with the ground... was keeping him from going anywhere.
"Consider this a pop quiz on jin. Can you recite the seventh one for me?"
"Um..." Aang struggled with his hands over the ground, looking up at Coach Bumi in his maniacal eyes, trying to remember those notes he'd barely skimmed through a week before. "Is it 'to wait and listen for the opponent's strike?'"
Toph slapped a palm over her forehead, and Aang knew he wasn't even close.
"Try again." Coach Bumi smiled and thinned his lazy eye, and Aang could feel himself sinking further into the ground. He yelped, quickly keeping his hands steady over the Earth as the rest of his body didn't seem to hold itself. The ground was slowly engulfing his waist, now.
"Um... uh..." Aang was devastated, unsure if Coach Bumi was known for letting poor students suffocate in the Earth, if it was an alternative to giving them homework. He wouldn't be that cruel of a teacher, right? Not like Mr.Pakku's quizzes, or the unbearable writing assignments of Mr. Jeong Jeong... and Coach Bumi had to be less sadistic than Zhao... he had to be.
And suddenly, it came to him with a glance at the little girl who stood by him, seeing how stern she was keeping herself as she felt her friend sink. It wasn't cruelty that came from her eyes... but rather a deep, calming glance... believing that Aang could get himself out.
It reminded him of the way he felt about a certain girl with lovely hairloops, knowing that if he trusted her... and if he trusted his heart long enough...
Aang winced at Coach Bumi, shouting, "Trust! You– you have to trust your abilities and use that trust to overcome the opponent's energy... right?"
And the wacky, white-haired Earthbender grinned in all of his insanity to the boy, promptly stopping the ground from sinking him. "Well done."
Unfortunately, the man did not keep the ground from resurfacing the boy's body, and Aang blinked in utter confusion, still stuck from the waist down in dirt.
"Aren't you gonna help me out, now?"
Coach Bumi laughed with another snort, pushing the ground further with his Earthbending fists. "So you think this jin is sillyness, do you? Nothing but funny things to sing about in your spare time? Come on, put some effort into it! Trust your spiritual muscles!"
And with that, Aang yelped in his mind.
The boy closed his eyes, feeling the vibrations of the ground that surrounded him and his tense hands that seemed to dig into the dirt as well. Being an airbender, he felt more in tune with animals than any other part of the Earth, and so he imagined himself as a hundred little worm-otters... burrowed inside the ground, all working together to push this ridiculous kid out.
Although he remembered the proper Earthbending movements for 'up,' it was quite different when your were summoning that movement for yourself. Aang had to control his body. He had to trust himself as an Earthbender that he could manipulate the ground to his own will.
Gritting his teeth, and his mind imagining the freedom to glide in open air (with a particular girl with hairloops)... the boy placed an rapid amount of force into his hands and his buried feet... and he launched himself using the very soil that was keeping him under. When he finally hit the level ground with his feet, Aang almost staggered, but the next thing he heard was a clapping of the hands by his little Earthbending friend.
"Well..." Coach Bumi smiled with a small clap himself. "...looks like you're not a complete air bubble after all."
At that, Coach bended himself off the ground with his snorting fashion and headed to another pair of football players.
Toph just laughed and punched Aang on the arm, showing how proud she was of her pupil.
"You're picking this up, Twinkle Toes!" the girl commented, crossing her arms in a proud fashion. "Maybe I should keep bugging you about Miss Water Nymph... It'll keep things more interesting."
"Listen," Aang sighed, trying to hold himself steady after an exhausting Earthbending challenge, "Could you please just stop... bringing her up like that? It's not like I ever ask you about Teo, or the stuff that you do together..."
This made Toph blush, almost embarrassingly and the tough-looking football paint under her eyes suddenly seemed to fade with her reddening cheeks.
But Aang didn't care. He pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead, trying not to remember that morning when he saw Katara walking with the shadowy Fire Nation prince. He couldn't get that sweet, familiar laughter out of his mind... and it hurt Aang even more seeing how the girl seemed to be reserving it just for Zuko.
Toph sighed, her mouth closing itself up as she felt the boy's heart rate go slower, as if aching in pain. "Wow. She's really getting to you, isn't she?"
Aang frowned, but he looked towards the uneven ground and just nodded, as if defeated.
"Have you tried talking to her about it?" Toph lightened up, but pounding her foot on the ground to get her point across. "I mean, it took Teo half-a-dynasty to have the guts to ask me out, 'cause we were always just friends. So when he did..."
Toph felt her cheeks flush, and she let out a rare giggle.
"Well, let's just say I wasn't ready for it. Most guys trip over their own feet when they see me... but Teo was cool, and he explained himself. He held my hand the whole time."
One of the girl's small hands went up to her cheek, reminiscing over that special moment with soft, glistening eyes. But then she crossed her arms, looking straight again into Aang's general direction.
"I'll spare you the sweet cheesy melodrama and just say that Teo's the coolest kid I know, after everything he said. It came from the heart." Toph approached Aang with that determined look on her face, and slapped a grip onto his shoulder. "You should do the same, too."
"Toph, I don't know..." Aang wondered hopelessly, feeling his friend's grip dig into his shoulder blade. "How am I supposed to tell her anything, if we don't spend that much time together?"
"You're kidding me, right?" Toph's blush practically disappeared. "Correct me if I'm wrong, LoverBoy, but you're always trying to cheer her up, and aren't you, like, the leads in the frickin' SCHOOL PLAY?"
Aang felt horrible, raising his eyes towards Toph's assertive stare with her tough eye makeup.
"The moments are there, Twinkle Toes. You just gotta use them!"
"I know," Aang pushed himself away, feeling like his ultimate trust in Katara was dwindling with every second he remembered her with Zuko. It wasn't a pleasant feeling at all.
"I just feel like... like I can't talk to her anymore." Aang wiped some of the dirt off his knees as a way of keeping himself busy. "Like all of a sudden... I found something amazing about On Ji, and we had so much in common, that it made talking to, to you know who... so much harder!"
Toph shook her head in disappointment as Aang held his head together with his hands. "But the feelings are still there, right?"
Aang nodded, feeling a bit of a migraine from thinking too much about the idea of Katara being with someone else. He couldn't get those vivid blue eyes out of his mind.
The girl did not laugh, nor even snicker as she watched the boy's sad, silver eyes make the ultimate confession without words. It was what she'd remembered sensing in Teo's skin, how in the passing of a few moments, he'd made the darkness of Toph's world feel less heavy... and more meaningful to go through.
"Okay, kid, we're gonna do something about this." Toph punched her fist to a palm, as if devising a plan. "Now, you know the kissing scene you have?"
"Yeah..." Aang said almost in a shameful tone, feeling his cheeks warm up as he scratched his head through his football helmet, nervously. "I'm still not sure how she feels about tha--"
"Not important," Toph cut him off, continuing to devise her plan. "I want you to look me in the eye, and promise me you're not gonna back out of it today."
The young airbender raised a brow, his cheeks blushing, feeling like he'd missed an entire chunk of conversation. "I don't understand."
"Trust me; if there's anything I understand about girls, it's kissing. You're gonna have to show Miss Sweetness that you mean business... that you're not some wimpy kid with a ridiculous little crush." Toph frowned at him reassuringly. "What you have is solid, my friend, and you're gonna have to prove it to her with that kiss."
"But, Toph..." Aang could feel the sweat forming under his helmet, trickling down his neck, "...what if I mess it up? What if I bite her lip and she never speaks to me again!?"
And the little girl couldn't hold it in any longer. It started with a little snort, quaint and innocent... but then she started to laugh, so hard that her knees gave in and she was rolling herself onto the dirt, pouring her heart out with the girly voice of her laughter. All of a sudden Aang felt too uncomfortable to be in his own skin.
Unfortunately for him, the school gong then rang over their heads, and all the kids in the Earthbending field had to leave to the locker rooms immediately. Toph just sat herself up from the ground after the laughter, and Aang didn't know if he was more ashamed or appalled by her reaction.
"You're one of a kind, Twinkle Toes, you know that?" was all she said, before Earthbending the ground below Aang's feet into a rumble. It seemed to be the only thing to get him going to towards the locker rooms.
"Aang, are you going to this?"
On Ji made herself into the small crowd outside the Praying Mantis theater. She was clutching a small flyer in her hand, and the young airbender immediately recalled the blue swirls that decorated the corners of the paper.
It was the flyer that had been posted along the walls of the school that entire week.
Needless to say, the fact that Azula was posing fiercely with her arms crossed would've gotten anyone's attention about the flyer... but the insignia of the Air Benders appeared almost hidden at each corner of the paper. Carefully, the boy re-read the flyer with his glinting silver eyes.
Her highness of the Fire Nation, Princess Azula,
invites all proud airbenders of Praying Mantis High School
to a special welcoming dinner and ceremony
this Friday at 6 o'clock outside the Earthbending Fields.
"That's tomorrow, just about an hour after rehearsal starts," On Ji said, somewhat excited, but apprehensive about the possibilities. Aang glanced at On Ji oddly at that first and together, they looked down and read the last line in the passage.
It is time for our smallest community of benders to finally be appreciated and recognized.
The young airbender was too bewildered himself. He couldn't understand how Azula – Princess Azula, of all people – would all of a sudden want to acknowledge the culture of the Air Nomads as if they were equals to the Fire Nation. Something just didn't seem right.
"I was thinking about it... but it sounds like some sort of trick to me," Aang furrowed his eyebrows in concern, looking out to see if he spotted Katara within the crowd of kids. What made him flinch suddenly was the way that Hide and Ty Lee both looked intriguingly at On Ji's general direction.
"That's what I thought, too," On Ji breathed her shoulders into a slump, feeling somewhat better that Aang had felt the same way about this poster. But something else was lingering in her mind, just as the doors to the theater had opened and the kids started walking in. "I was just wondering... what better chance will we have to meet the other airbenders all at once?"
Aang's eyes widened.
As much as he wanted to say 'no' to On Ji's suggestion, it did made sense. The other airbenders in the school would probably be jumping at an opportunity like this, to be able to meet the few kids who shared the same abilities and background within the school. Aang felt his blood rushing with the idea, too... but what terrified him was the thought that Azula had something dreadful planned for them.
"On Ji..." Aang kept his eyes peered for any fierce glances from Hide. "I have this feeling she's gonna do something to us."
And the girl's eyebrows furrowed under her dark chocolate bangs of hair, letting her chin rest on the books she carried as they made their way down to the stage for rehearsal.
"Aang, what about the others?" she said, barely audible like a whisper. "...and the Airbenders' pride? Won't we be humiliating ourselves if we don't show up at all?"
Aang struggled to keep himself focused on On Ji's words, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the piercing glances that came from Hide and Ty Lee from the back of the theater. Something was definitely not right, and he could sense it from the blood draining from his skin.
"You're right," Aang agreed softly, recalling how Monk Gyatso told him that an Airbender made himself known to the world as not being afraid of anything. "I'll should go see what the deal is. But I want you to stay here."
"What?" On Ji raised a reluctant brow. "Aang, no. I'm not going to miss out on this if you're--"
But On Ji stopped.as she noticed her friend's attention shifting over to Katara's scrambling into the theater, clutching a pile of campaign flyers with her hands. The young man who followed her into the theater was none other than Azula's brother himself... also holding a pile of similar flyers, but with a face that showed fearlessness.
It made Aang almost forget how to breathe, watching how Zuko started passing out Katara's presidential campaign flyers among the sitting crowd of rehearsal students, saying "vote for unison and change" in his soft, raspy voice. Aang's eyes lingered at the pretty waterbender's smile, as she ran towards the stage to get ready for OmaShu rehearsal.
"Whoa, you're on time?" Sokka teased as he watched his sister run down the aisle. "Ladies and Gentlemen...the future Class President finally made it to OmaShu rehearsal on ti--"
But Sokka couldn't finish his sentence... since Katara shoved one of her campaign flyers into his mouth to shut him up amusingly. Suki couldn't help but laugh as Sokka's face turned a slight shade of blue as he spit pieces of the Vote for Katara flyer to the ground, and then flinched as he noticed Zuko from the back of the stage. Sokka's eyes looked anything but pleased.
"Hey Aang!" Katara greeted sweetly, passing a few of her flyers to the small group onstage. Kuzon was the first to react at the girl's picture, blinking in amazement that this girl was the same one standing in front of them.
"Wow... um, you look really good," Haru said as he noticed Katara's radiantly-flowing hair in her poster image. The waterbender was smiling proudly but with such selflessness... On Ji bit her lower lip as she saw Aang's gazing look towards the pretty waterbender.
"Okay, so going into business," Haru folded the poster in his hand, and turned over to On Ji for support. "Today, we're doing the famous kissing scene. Don't worry... it's not as dreadful as it sounds."
Kuzon snorted a laugh, and On Ji and Katara couldn't help but blush, hoping that nobody else in the theatre were watching them. Aang was just looking at his shoes, pushing himself to brew some more courage.
"Aang?" Haru called out, and the young boy looked up immediately. "Now I really need you to focus. This is supposed to be the last time that Shu kisses Oma... right before he gets killed in the war... so it needs to be passionate. Real. Do you understand?"
The boy felt his vocal chords practically swell up as Haru explained thoroughly with his gesturing arms. Aang made a small glance to Katara then, with his heart almost floating out if his system as she smiled over to him for support. Her blush hadn't left her cheeks.
"Yeah... I think so..." Aang managed to say to Haru, looking at the director with full intent of what he needed to do.
"Okay, so we're gonna take this slow. And On Ji? Kuzon?" The two understudies looked over at the young earthbender promptly. "I want you to practice, too, since it's good to be prepared."
Kuzon did not laugh, then. Rather, his cheeks turned a slight pink, and On Ji giggled.
"Katara, we're gonna take it from your line, starting on page 47..." Haru quickly flipped through his script attached to his clipboard. "...these walls shall hide our love from the sharpest of spears, my darling Shu, and the crystals of the Earth will guide us."
Katara nodded, closing her eyes and refreshing her memory with lines from that scene. The young airbender tried not to acknowledge the teasing looks of disgust that came from Sokka in the audience, nor the intriguing gaze that seemed to pass from the shadowy form of Zuko. Apparently, the young Prince had nothing better to do than watch a cheesy theatre rehearsal.
But Aang focused solely on the beautiful girl in front of him, her eyes closed as she held a small blush in her cheeks. She recited her line to Haru, and her voice – at least to the airbender – sounded ethereal and beautiful, and Aang felt like his own Shu lines were suddenly merging into what he was feeling at that very moment.
He didn't need to close his eyes when he spoke them.
"I hold our love with the strength of this mountain that keeps our villages apart, but in my heart there lies a fear that this war shall never end. Shall we someday be free to walk the woods, and let our lips praise the sunlight?"
Katara grinned, opening her eyes and letting Aang see them glimmer innocently. She then her next line, feeling her toes curl up in girlish nervousness. "There is a stronger power beyond this mountain, brave Shu, that gave us the will of the Earth and the shelter to our hearts. I believe the Spirits are on our side, and they ask us to believe that love will survive this war."
Aang brought his lips into a smile, feeling them tremble. "It is true that war cannot tear us apart, fair Oma, and tomorrow... as I fight the Western terrain... I will remember what I am trying to protect."
The boy found himself moving closer to her as they stood onstage, and it was so surreal, the way they just seemed to look at each other so comfortably. Katara was the one who looked elsewhere ,then, unable to handle the warmth of her blushing cheeks, and she spotted Zuko in the audience.
Even from that fair distance, Katara could note a small, supportive smile from Zuko's shadow, and the girl knew she should not be embarrassed over something so genuine. Something so pure.
"Awesome!" came Haru's excited voice from behind them, "That's really good, guys. So now, Aang, I want you to put your right arm gently around Katara's waist... but make sure you cheat out – keep your frame turned at an angle towards the audience."
The boy's heart was jumping at these directions, but Aang keep a cool stance and just nodded. He tilted his head slightly to look up at Katara as he got himself closer to her, and the girl couldn't help but giggle as the nervous boy wrapped an arm around her delicate frame.
Kuzon did the same to On Ji, but it all seemed a little more awkward between them... which Hide did not hesitate to acknowledge by sudden cat-calling from the audience. Haru spent a good five minutes just asking those Fire Nation troublemakers to keep quiet as they rehearsed... and Aang had the joy of holding onto Katara quietly during that time... discovering the scent of strawberry blossoms from her hair.
"Okay, where were we?" Haru mumbled as he returned to the stage, flipping through his notes on the clipboard. "Oh, right! Katara... since Aang's a little bit shorter than you, I think it'll be really cute if you lifted his chin a little with your hand. Let's try it with your left hand."
The waterbender giggled as she did so, knowing she must've looked ridiculous to the people out in the audience watching her... especially Zuko... but nonetheless, Katara was determined to finish this scene perfectly. She looked down at Aang's shimmering silver eyes that didn't ever seem to blink as he looked up at her, and Katara felt that nervousness shed from her system. It was strange how those rare, innocent eyes sparked so much comfort to her.
Gracefully, she placed her delicate fingers under the boy's jaw, and Aang could not remember the last time he felt this happy... and terrified, all at once. He could almost feel Katara's heart beating along the hand that securely held her at the waist, his eyes entranced by her close presence. His entire world was shrinking into a beautiful pair of glimmering blue eyes that seemed to invite him into a clear, open sky.
"WooHoo!" Kuzon teased from a corner, and On Ji quickly took an interest in seeing the few wooden boulder props that were scattered around the stage.
Haru turned over to them, wondering why they weren't physically as close as his other two actors. The stern glance from the director quickly made Kuzon swing an arm around On Ji's waist without thinking twice, and the little girl yelped as he jerked her closer to his frame. Surprisingly enough, On Ji smiled and laughed in response... but Hide, far in the audience, was casting a menacing glare towards the sweet little airbender.
"Alright, now here's the moment we've all been waiting for. The moment that's going to sell the tickets..." Haru began to say, in a teasing voice walking slowly along the stage. "...and no tongues allowed."
That instantly brought a brighter shade of red to On Ji and Katara, and Aang himself could not help but laugh into a nervous wreck. The bits of muttering and whispering in the audience did not seem to help the situation, either. Haru continued to explain the kiss.
"So ladies... Oma is about to bid farewell to her true love as he gets ready for battle, and I want to show how devoted she is to him," Haru used hand gestures to elaborate his seriousness about the scene. "She's going to initiate the kiss slowly, bringing Shu's face closer. And guys, you'll be moving the girl's waist closer to your body at the same time... it'll show that inner mischief of Shu, how he really wants Oma to kiss him. He's that kind of a guy."
Kuzon snorted, and Aang looked to the ground bashfully with laughter. On Ji and Katara exchanged odd glances, giggling yet trying to keep themselves as professional as possible. As the two pairs of lovers kept themselves close, awkwardly, Haru closed his eyes to visualize the kiss in slow motion, and soon began to speak again.
"Okay, Katara... tilt you head a bit to the side, so the audience could still see your face when it gets closer to the kiss. Oma's the central player here... we all need to see the love and support you carry for Aan– I mean, Shu. So when you kiss him, I want you to press your lips lightly onto Aang's, keep them there... and Aang will then swoop his other arm around your waist tightly to 'seal the deal'."
Haru's excitement for this scene could not be more clear, with those beaming brown eyes and the elaborate waving of his arms.
"Sound good?" he asked the pair, and Katara nodded after a moment's breath, followed by Aang's grin of determination. Haru turned his head. "On Ji, Kuzon... did you get all of that, over there?"
Kuzon seemed too nervous to realize his head was frantically nodding, but On Ji calmed him down with a small hand to his jawline.
"Okay... so let's try it out," Haru moved calmly over to the front of the stage to face his actors. "I'm gonna count to three, so just take a breath... close your eyes, and try not to think about those butterflies in your stomach."
On Ji was the only one who giggled, as everyone else seemed too preoccupied by the little hints of laughter coming from the people in the audience. Katara could clearly hear Sokka's high-pitched laughing, and she was too nervous to even look at Zuko's quiet demeanor. The young boy who's face she held was looking up at her serenely, and Katara was determined to plant the perfect kiss... however much it was killing her nerves to think about it.
"Ready?" Haru lifted both his arms up, as if he were conducting an orchestra. "One... tilt your head a little more, On Ji... Two... Aang, keep your hand on her waist firm, pull her closer..."
Aang could only hear Haru's voice like an echo as he kept his gaze on Katara, watching her eyes glimmer closer and closer to him. She looked nervous... they both did... but the boy was not about to let go of his feelings as they were slowly seeping through his entire body. He loved the girl more than anything else in that moment, and Aang closed his eyes, feeling his hand pull Katara's waist further in for the kiss.
Haru then slowly gestured his hands downward, ignoring the snickers from the audience. "...and...Three."
But Katara did not move, as much as she had closed her eyes and pleaded for her lips to stop trembling. She felt a series of tiny breaths escape through her nostrils, and she couldn't bear to look at Haru in the eye as he stared over in her direction, waiting. The young waterbender felt a handful of seconds stretch longer and longer... and in panic, her eyes lingered over to see the other Oma and Shu.
As it turned out, On Ji and Kuzon had successfully followed directions to the very end.
Their lips were pressed closely together, with Kuzon's slightly taller form securing On Ji's slender back in a tight hug. It seemed like they hadn't even thought twice about the emotions behind that kiss... and still, it was the most honest... the most extraordinarily blissful moment Katara had ever seen. Haru glanced over to them, and immediately beamed from the result.
"YES! That's how it's done!" Haru shouted happily, and a few obnoxious cheers and clapping from the audience came afterwards. Hide, however, did not look at all amused.
Aang reopened his eyes at the sound of clapping, wondering what all the commotion was about... and still desiring Katara's lips. He saw her sad face lingering above him still, and it brought Aang's eyes almost glisten with sadness and confusion. His arm, however, remained tightly around Katara... even as he looked over to see On Ji kissing Kuzon so calmly.
It made the boy's heart skip a beat, seeing Oma and Shu in their final moment together, but Aang turned his head back to the lovely girl with entrancing blue eyes. The one who made him believe in the impossible, and was now casting her head down like a failure.
Over in the audience, Zuko silently crossed his arms, frowning as if with sad disappointment.
After only a few seconds, On Ji and Kuzon finally broke their kiss, and their reaction was somewhat calm, yet surprising by the shy glances they exchanged in each others' eyes. On Ji began to laugh, burying her head foolishly into Kuzon's frame, and the boy just exhaled a breath... as if he'd been holding it in for minutes. They both looked at Haru's beaming face with smiles, as if they'd just finished an intense hour-long drill in order to make their coach proud.
"Best understudies ever," he commented, but then turned to a grief-stricken Katara and Aang, lifting an assertive brow. "What happened to you guys? You were both doing so well."
"I... don't know," Katara mumbled quietly, unable to meet her director's eyes, and her head turning out towards the audience to find Zuko's comforting glance. Aang was still holding her, but his grip was loosening a bit... and he was almost afraid to let her go. "I'm sorry, Haru, but... I just wasn't... it was too much for me."
Aang's silver eyes rose, concerned at the fragileness of her voice. Sokka was furrowing his eyebrows down in the front row, and he said something like, "Come on, Sis. It's not like you've never kissed a guy before," which made the pebbles in Aang's stomach get heavier.
Before he had a chance to dismiss it, Jet's iconic smirk came across the airbender's mind, and Aang immediately frowned to get the image out. He felt his grip on Katara get tighter, which made the girl look over to him oddly.
It wasn't that Aang didn't understand how emotional that kiss was supposed to be... but what bothered him was that he was too focused on getting it done, and getting it right for Katara... that he himself pretended like he couldn't feel or grasp such a special moment. It's like he'd forgotten about his own selfless duty as the Avatar-in-Training... and rather than giving his sense of wisdom and peace to those who needed it... Aang had asked selfishly for this moment with Katara to be real. The boy felt so ashamed; he'd forgotten about the element of trust.
Haru was approaching the two of them for more advise, but the young boy curled his toes to speak strongly to the girl he loved, taking a breath before confessing the exact opposite of what he was hoping for.
"Katara, it's okay," Aang spoke to her rationally, letting the close proximity between them bring a new level of comfort as she kept a hand on his shoulder. "You're doing great, but just remember... Omashu is just a play. The kiss isn't real; you don't have to force yourself to feel anything. You just have to be your character."
The boy paused, taking another breath before finishing. "And don't worry... it's just me."
Aang made a playful grin to her, and Katara's sad eyes now seemed to glimmer in a hopeful way. He knew it must've been awkward for her, having to share an intimate moment onstage with a kid whom she had barely spoken to in days... but Aang wanted to show her that it was alright. That her friendship, her trust was more important to him than anything in that moment.
Haru smiled, admiring the fact that there wasn't any strange awkwardness between the two leads. On Ji and Kuzon glanced at their fellow actors with just as much support, now quite a few feet away from one another.
"Stage kissing isn't that horrible," Haru remarked to Katara, with a slight sense of humor in his voice. "Once you learn to detach yourself from your character, it isn't so bad. Right, On Ji?"
And the young girl with the long brown bangs suddenly widened her eyes, not expecting to hear her name. Speechless and caught off-guard, a new shade of pink formed in her cheeks, and she couldn't help but cover her face with a hand and laugh while simply saying "oh shut up, Haru."
Haru quit with the teasing, and brought himself back to the two leads. "Well, this actually took longer than I thought, so let's just finish the scene as a whole. Now Katara, Aang... I need you both to stay where you are, as if you were still kissing... because this is gonna transition into a war montage."
The director turned around and called out, "where are my warriors?" and Sokka immediately jumped off of his seat excitedly, with Suki still clinging onto his hand.
It seemed that the snickering had ultimately faded away, and as people in the audience gathered themselves up to walk onto the stage, Aang still felt the close presence of Katara right next to him. He realized they were still holding each other close, almost subconsciously, and the girl smiled to him as she brought her other hand around the boy for a hug.
He had always been a sweet kid, and Katara admired the deep black lining around his silver eyes as she gazed down at him. After spending so much time with her campaign plans, exchanging pieces of advice with Zuko, mentally preparing herself for the worst against Azula... the girl immediately remembered why she enjoyed being with this kid. There was a sense of warmth about him she couldn't find in anyone else.
Without even exchanging glances, Katara moved her head closer to the boy's cheek, about to plant a kiss there... but in a sudden, unexpected movement... Aang had turned his face upward, as if to say something to her.
And before they realized what had just happened, their lips touched.
It was not planned. Everyone else (except Zuko) had been too preoccupied at that moment... oblivious to the inner shock and the sparks of surprise that were running through Aang and Katara in the middle of the stage. Their eyes were wide open, with their faces still adjusting to the shock to even do anything about it... but somehow... the strange, foreign sensation didn't seem to be so terrible.
But as quickly as it came, the moment was gone, thanks to the mutual need for air. Too many thoughts, and too many worries about the current scene were running along their minds to even have the slightest amount of words. Katara's cheeks flushed with an immense pink tone, and Aang smiled at her nervously, but feeling a small blush form on his own face.
It was all very clear now... holding his gaze so admirably... the boy was in love. And as he watched Katara smile and laugh away her nervousness in that musical tone, Aang knew that she had felt something in that kiss as well, regardless of the way she looked foolishly at Zuko far into the audience.
And it didn't matter to him what feeling it was, exactly, nor did he care about how long it would take for her to say anything about it. He could wait for her.
He could wait lifetimes for her.
A/N - faithful readers, I love you all! And this chapter took a hell of a lot longer to write than I anticipated, sorry! Don't you love the fact that Kataang's kiss wasn't drenched in symbolism at all? It just... happened? Now that's my kind of romance! Anyway, there'll be more dreadful Azula coming your way next, and of course shipping fluff. It's my antibody. --MM
