Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Katara woke up with a smile on her face, but quickly dropped as she remembered what day it was. It was Valentine's day, and she didn't have a Valentine to speak of. Not that she couldn't, as many guys asked her to be their valentine, but there was only one person she wanted to be hers. Her best friend, Aang. Just the thought of his goofy smile made her heart flutter. Though they had been best friends, she had a crush on him as far back as second grade, and she had been waiting for him all these years. But she didn't know how he felt about her, and, being scared of a possible rejection, had thus far decided not to say anything.
Aang had always asked her why she had never accepted anyone's invitations to be their valentine, but she had always made up some lame excuse, usually saying that she didn't need a guy. And of course she didn't, but she would never tell him the real reason why she never had a valentine. Not unless he magically told her that he felt the same.
Sighing a little, she let out a yawn and stretched, preparing to get herself to just get through the day as quickly as possible. Even if things weren't going to pan out as she would like it to, she knew that she would still have a good day with her friends. With that comforting thought in her mind, she got up and started getting ready for the day. Before long, she was fully dressed and had even, against her better judgement, decided to put some lip gloss on in the hopes that Aang might notice.
Shaking her head at herself, she took one last look in the mirror when she was interrupted from her thoughts by none other than her annoying brother. "Katara! Come on!" Sokka yelled from the bottom of the stairway. "We need to pick up Yue and Aang!"
Katara rolled her eyes. She and her brother were never two peas in a pod, but it was moments like this that reminded her just how true that was. "Hold on a second, Sokka! School doesn't start for thirty minutes!" she yelled back.
Sokka ran up the stairs and knocked on her door. "Come on, Katara! I promised Yue that I would spend some time with her before school!" he argued. With a heavy sigh accompanied by a roll of her eyes, she grabbed her backpack and opened the door.
"Fine. Let's just get out of here," she grumbled, already feeling as if this was going to be the worst day ever. Sokka grinned excitedly and practically ran down the stairs to start up the car. Katara, however, was taking her time. She was in no hurry, and if there was one thing she knew she didn't want to see today, it was her brother getting all sappy with her best friend.
Finally getting in the car, Katara took her seat and buckled up, knowing just how much of a reckless driver her brother could be, especially when it came to his girlfriend. And, much to her annoyance, proved to be the right decision as he drove quickly around the block to Aang's house, stopping in the middle of the street.
"Get in!" Sokka ordered as he rolled the windows down. Aang nodded and quickly got into the car in the back where Katara was sitting, trying not to show her grumpiness as she looked out the window.
"Hey, Kat," he greeted her with a smile as he sat down. Katara was silent for a moment and was about to respond when Sokka floored the car and started driving. The unfortunate thing about where Yue lived was that it was on the other side of town, so she knew her brother would be going as fast as possible.
"Hey," she finally responded with a sigh of annoyance as her brother raced through the streets. Aang noticed her unhappy demeanor and scooted a little closer, making her heart beat a little faster against her will.
"What's wrong, Katara?" he questioned her seriously, trying to look into her eyes, but she just kept looking out the window, refusing to allow him to see how unhappy she was. "Come on, Katara. It's Valentine's day! Didn't someone ask you to be their valentine?"
Katara winced and sighed again. "Yeah… but I didn't want to be with any of them," she admitted.
Aang raised a brow at her. "Why not? I thought you liked that guy in third period… Jet?" he asked himself more than her.
"No, I don't. He's cute, but he's a jerk. Besides," she sighed again and pressed her face against the glass. "There's kind of someone else I was hoping would ask me…" she trailed off sadly, not wanting to let him see the sad look in her eyes.
Without another word, Aang took her by the shoulders and turned her to look at him, catching her completely by surprise. Very rarely had she seen him be so assertive, as he was usually a "go with the flow" kind of guy, but she had to admit, him doing that was a bit of a turn on for her.
"Katara, I don't know who you're waiting for," he started, making her even more sad. He had no clue how she felt about him. "But whoever it is, if you want them, you need to go after them."
Katara rolled her eyes and let out another sigh. "It's not that easy, Aang. If I did, it would make my life very complicated."
Aang raised a brow. "How would it make it more complicated? Wouldn't it make it easier if the guy you liked knew how you felt?"
Giving him another sad look, she shook her head and returned to looking out the window, just wanting this stupid day to be over with. "You won't understand, Aang," she muttered. "Can we just drop it, please?"
A moment of silence passed between them before Aang finally decided to give in. "Okay," he sighed in resignation. "I'll leave it alone. For now." Katara rolled her eyes and continued looking out the windows as Aang decided to take the conversation in a different direction. "So, are you at least going to the concert tonight?" he asked hopefully.
Katara actually turned back to look at him in disbelief. "You mean the concert that's going to be filled with happy couples who'll only rub it in my face? No thanks," she replied sourly.
She should have known that Aang wasn't going to let this go so easily. After all, she and Aang had much in common, and this was just one of many. "Come on, Kat. It'll be fun."
"Easy for you to say," she shot back, feeling bitterness start to consume her. "You probably have a valentine you're going with." The thought alone made her want to puke, but she forced it down and continued her moping.
So it became a surprise, however, when he disagreed. "Actually, I don't."
Her eyes widened in surprise and turned to look at him. "You don't?" she asked incredulously, not expecting this at all. "How?"
He simply shrugged, though she couldn't help but wonder if she had just imagined the small blush that had found its way onto his face before he looked away. "I don't know… I guess you could say I was waiting for someone, too."
"What are you waiting for?" Katara wondered, though secretly trying not to let her hopes get up. "You know that all the guys ask the girls."
Laughing nervously, he tugged on the collar of his orange button-up shirt and ran a hand through his wavy jet black hair. "I know, but I just… have been a little nervous," he admitted. "I don't think that she likes me the way I like her."
Katara became sad again. So he liked someone else. Sighing a little, she resumed looking out the window. "Well, just tell her already. I'm sure she's just waiting for her handsome, funny, goofy, adorable-" she cut herself off as she found that her word vomit was only getting worse as she spoke. Taking a deep breath, she finished. "Prince Charming. I'm sure she's just waiting for her Prince Charming to ask her to be yours."
What she hadn't seen was that Aang had been blushing heavily at her unwitting confession as he laughed nervously. "Right. Thanks," he murmured shyly. There was silence for a moment, as he wondered how to approach her. "Hey, Katara?"
Sighing a little, she turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Yeah, Aang?"
"Well, I…" Katara didn't want to get her hopes up, but it seemed like he was going to say something. Was he going to ask her? Was he really going to ask her to be his valentine?
"What is it, Aang?" she asked with a hopeful smile, her hopes skyrocketing against her will as he appeared to be nervous.
"I-" he started, but was promptly cut off as Sokka made a quick turn into a driveway, cutting him off as Yue came walking up to the car. Katara glared at her brother through the rearview mirror, but he simply shrugged with an innocent smile, making her roll her eyes with a huff as she crossed her arms indignantly over her chest.
"Hey guys!" Yue greeted them cheerily as she climbed in and gave Sokka a kiss on the lips, much to Katara's disgust as she looked away.
"Happy valentine's day," he whispered as he pulled out a box of chocolates and handed it to her.
"Awww," she smiled and opened them, and was not so surprised to see a few of them gone. She gave him a questioning look and he smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry," he apologized with sad eyes. "I got hungry." Fortunately for him, his girlfriend was very patient and kind, not to mention that she understood him very well.
"It's fine, Sokka," she assured him with a smile as she took one and popped it into her mouth. "I'd rather share than eat all of these myself, anyway." Sokka smiled in adoration at his girlfriend. He was the luckiest guy in the world to have gotten such an amazing and beautiful girl to be his.
Katara rolled her eyes at their little love fest. "Can we just get to school now, Sokka? I don't want to have to watch you guys all day," she slightly complained.
Sokka glared at her, but she just gave him an innocent smile and he sighed in annoyance. "Fine." Without another word, he backed the car out of the driveway and started making his way towards their school. While Sokka and Yue talked, a question popped into Katara's mind as she turned to look at her friend.
"Why do you want me to go to the concert?" she asked, wondering what he was thinking. Maybe he thought that he could set her up with someone. The thought made her sigh, but she shook it off and looked at him as he chose his words carefully.
"Look, I can't say why I want you to come right now," he started a little nervously. "But if you come, I promise, you'll see why."
Katara was hesitant. What if he really was just trying to set her up with someone? No, he wouldn't do that. He knew her well enough by now to know that she would never allow it. He must've wanted her there for another reason, but what?
"Fine," she sighed in resignation, making Aang smile widely in triumph. "But if I get bored, I'm not sticking around," she warned him.
He simply smiled and nodded. "Of course. But I promise, you won't be bored. One way or another," he whispered the last part to himself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing!" he exclaimed a little hastily. Katara didn't believe him, but fortunately for him, they had finally arrived at the school. Sokka parked and stepped out of the car to open the door for Yue. Yue smiled and took the hand he offered her as Aang and Katara climbed out as well.
"You two have fun!" he yelled over his shoulder as he dragged Yue away.
"Where are you going?" Katara asked with her hands on her hips.
Sokka stopped and smiled sheepishly over his shoulder. "Um… we're going to… make out?" He finally decided on telling the truth. Katara groaned and rolled her eyes before she started walking towards the school entrance with Aang at her side. Though was she just imagining it, or… did Aang seem to be walking closer to her than usual? She shivered a little as his hand softly brushed against hers, but she acted like nothing happened and continued their walk. Unfortunately for her, she and Aang had different first periods and would have to be separated.
"I'll see you later, Kat!" he smiled and gave her a hug, making her smile and hug him back with a happy sigh. Though she couldn't help but wonder… What did he have planned for later? And why did he seem nervous about it?
Before she could ask him, he pulled away from the hug and gave her a smile before walking into the classroom, leaving her alone to her thoughts. Shaking them off, she decided that the only way she would find out was if she just got through the day and went to the stupid concert. With one last sigh, she shook her head at herself and walked to her class.
The day had gone rather slowly for Katara, as she couldn't stop thinking about what Aang had in store for the concert after school. She knew he wasn't telling her all the details for a reason, but what exactly that reason was, she had no clue. Knowing that there was nothing she could do, she anxiously watched as the clock came within a minute before the final bell would ring.
Tick tock, tick tock…
That was all she could hear in her mind as she watched it go down. Fortunately for her, it wasn't long before the bell finally rang, signalling the end of the longest day of school she had ever had. However, now that the school day was finally over, she was becoming nervous. Why exactly did Aang want her to come to the concert so badly? Was it simply from a friend trying to cheer another friend up, or… something else? She let out a sigh of frustration. It wasn't doing her any good to keep thinking about it, so she decided to postpone her thinking until she was actually at the concert. This proved to be a wise idea, as Aang was waiting for her at Sokka's car.
"Hey, Kat," he greeted her with his usual goofy smile that made her heart skip a beat, making her inwardly groan at how easy it was for him to mess her up.
"Hey, Aang," she replied with a smile, trying not to show how nervous she was as her previous thoughts returned to her. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but Aang had seemed really insistent that she went to the concert with him. Did that mean…
She was interrupted out of her thoughts as Aang opened the door for her. "Come on. The concert's in an hour and I want to eat something before we go."
Katara actually laughed a little at this. "Why? There's going to be plenty of food there."
"Yeah…" he admitted reluctantly. "But you know that I'm a vegetarian. And I can almost guarantee there's not going to be many options for me."
"As there shouldn't be," Sokka said as he walked up to his car with Yue's hand in his. "Now come on. The sooner we get home, the sooner I can grab a snack." Katara rolled her eyes at her brother as they all climbed in and took off for their homes. As they drove, a question popped into Katara's mind.
"Hey, Aang?"
"Yeah?" he smiled at her.
"You have your license and a car," she told him bluntly. "Why do you ride with us?" She saw a flash of hurt fill his eyes, and she quickly corrected herself. "Not that I mind, because I love having you here," she assured him, making the pain go away for a moment. "But if I had a car, I definitely wouldn't be driving with Sokka."
"Hey!" Sokka complained as he made a turn.
Aang snickered a little and shrugged. "I don't know. I like hanging out with you- uh, I-I mean you guys," he hastily corrected himself with an embarrassed smile as he avoided her eyes.
She smiled a little at this, wondering if maybe…
Before she could question him further, Sokka stopped in front of his house. "Okay, you're home! Get out," he ordered flatly. Aang just laughed and nodded.
"Yes sir," he sarcastically saluted before looking over at Katara. "I'll see you later, Kat." Then something popped into his mind. "Oh! I got something for you!" He dug around in his pocket and produced a ring, making Katara's heart beat like crazy. He wasn't…
"It's a mood ring," he explained with a smile, making her settle down a little, though her heart was still going rather fast. "If you could wear this today, I would really appreciate it."
Katara looked at the ring and smiled. "Okay," she finally agreed. Without another word, he got out of the car and made his way inside, though not without stopping to wave at her. Katara smiled as she watched him walk inside. Maybe just maybe today would work out in her favor after all…
An hour later, Sokka, Katara, and Yue pulled up to the concert. Already there were many kids from their school inside. Though Katara couldn't help but be annoyed by all the hearts and little cupids plastered all over the place. If Aang wasn't going to ask her out, then she wasn't going to be happy about any of this. Letting out a long sigh, she made her way through the crowd and was relieved to find a familiar face; the one she had been looking for. "Aang! Over here!" she called to him as she made her way through the crowd. Aang stopped talking to a friend of his, which Katara's jealousy spiked as she noticed it was a girl, and smiled widely at her, making her jealousy go down just a touch.
"Katara!" he greeted her with a hug, making her smile as she hugged him back, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. The hug didn't last long however, as he pulled away, making her miss the warmth he gave her.
"So, I'm here," she sighed, already regretting agreeing to come as she looked at all the couples around her. "Why did I have to come here?"
Aang laughed a little nervously. "Um… you'll see." He checked his watch. "Oh! Sorry, I've got to run. I'll see you in a bit," he promised before running off, leaving Katara looking very unhappy. With another sigh, she looked through the crowd and was disgusted to see Jet walk up to her.
"Hey," he winked at her. "What brings you here?"
Katara rolled her eyes and looked away from him. "I'm waiting for my date to come back," she lied smoothly, not wanting to deal with him right now.
Jet just rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean the goof? Well it looks like he ran away from you. But I can keep you company."
"No thanks," Katara said disgustedly as she tried not to puke. "I'll just go find my friends, thank you very much." Not giving him the chance to respond, she walked through the crowd as quickly as she could, being surprised to find Yue alone in the center. "Yue?"
Yue turned and smiled at her. "Hey, Kat. Are you ready for the concert?"
Katara looked confused as she looked around, expecting to see her brother to be with his girlfriend, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Sokka? And who's playing tonight?" she wondered, realizing she had never bothered to ask.
Unable to hide a large smile, Yue shrugged. "Oh… you'll see," she replied airily with a smirk before returning her attention to the stage. Katara wanted to ask more, but before she could, music started playing on the stage. Lights came on, and she was surprised to see some of her friends up there along with her brother. Sokka, Zuko, Toph and…
"Aang?" she gasped in surprise. So that was why he wanted her there so badly. She didn't know Aang was a singer, but judging by how he was at the front with a guitar in his hands, she could only assume he was the lead singer.
"Hey guys! Happy Valentine's Day!" he greeted them with a smile, earning some hollers and whistles from a few of the girls in the crowd, making Katara growl lowly in her throat. "Before we get started into this, I have something I want to do first, if you guys don't mind." The crowd cheered in approval as he scanned the crowd. "There's someone here today that I wanted to ask to be my valentine." An excited wave of girls cheered at this, and Katara's heart sank. He was going to ask some other girl to be his valentine in front of the whole school. Love sucks, she thought bitterly.
After a few more moments of scanning, he finally found who he was looking for as he took a deep breath. "Katara Aqua?" She was so surprised that she temporarily forgot where she was as she looked up at him, watching him smile a little nervously. Grabbing a rose from his pocket, he walked down the stage until he was only a few feet away from her and got down on one knee. "Would you be my valentine?" he asked with a gentle, yet clearly nervous smile.
Katara's eyes widened to the size of plates. Did he just… ask her to be his valentine? She realized that fear was quickly overtaking his face as he saw her shock, so she quickly nodded with a big smile, finally feeling like the day was going as she had wanted it to.
Aang smiled so widely she worried that his face might break. "Great! For you," he offered the rose to her. She smiled widely and took it, sniffing it a little as he made his way back to the front. "This song is for Katara, because she's the most beautiful, amazing girl in the world." He looked to his bandmates. "One, two, three, four!"
Katara finally smiled, really smiled for the first time all day. Aang had asked her to be his valentine! As she listened to the lyrics, she realized that what he was singing was related to what he had wanted her to wear.
She got the blue jeans painted on tight
That everybody wants on a Saturday night
She got the mood ring, she's never the same
She's sun one minute then she's pouring down rain
And she'll do whatever she wants
And when she moves every jaw's gonna drop
And I do but I don't want her to stop
I want, I want, I want
Whatever she's got
Katara looked down in amazement as she realized that she was wearing blue jeans. And the mood ring… Had Aang really set all this up for her? She smiled at the thought and decided to just enjoy the rest of the concert.
A couple hours later, the concert was finally over and Katara was eagerly looking for her valentine. She smiled as she realized that that finally meant it was Aang. Looking through the quickly dispersing crowd, she was relieved to see Aang near the stage talking to his band mates. Checking her breath, she walked up to them, trying not to show how excited she was.
"Hey, Aang," she smiled as she tapped on his shoulder. He turned around and smiled as he saw her, though with an obvious blush, making Katara laugh at how cute he was.
"Hey, Katara. Did you like it?" he asked a little nervously.
Katara laughed and walked closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I loved it," she whispered, her hot breath on Aang's cheek, making him feel like he was going to pass out right there. "So you gave me a mood ring and begged me to come here for this?" she questioned playfully.
"Yeah…"
Then a thought struck her. "How did you know that I would wear blue jeans?" she wondered.
He laughed a little. "You always wear blue jeans. Blue's your favorite color, after all."
She laughed a little as well, smiling up at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She smiled and moved in closer. "Thank you for asking me to be your valentine."
He grinned. "The pleasure is all mine, Kat." Unable to hold herself back anymore, she kissed him, instantly sending her mood ring from blue to purple. The kiss was absolutely amazing. A kiss that was worth waiting all these years for. A kiss to build a life on.
"Will you two stop? It's bad enough I agreed to help with this," Sokka complained as he walked by with his guitar in its case slung over his shoulder. The happy couple didn't bother to split apart, making him groan before he gave up with a sigh and left to find his girlfriend.
After a few more minutes of kissing, they reluctantly pulled apart and smiled at each other, both feeling relieved that they had finally gotten everything off of their chests. "Now that all of that's over… can I buy you dinner?" Aang asked hopefully. Katara smiled and answered him with a kiss before taking his hand and dragging him to his car. Best valentine's day ever, she thought with a happy sigh.