Hey, guys. It's been a while, I know, but behold! The final part of The Date!
Disclaimer: Uh, what don't I own again?
Well, Aang was now officially all out of ideas.
With Katara in the kitchen all afternoon, there was no way for Aang to get any food ready without her noticing. And how were they supposed to have a picnic without any food?
The sky had begun to turn orange and pink, signaling the approach of sunset. Aang was running out of time and, as aforementioned, all out of ideas.
The young Avatar sat on the balcony outside his room of the Fire Nation Palace, desperately trying to come up with another backup plan.
Unfortunately, he was only able to piece a small string of ideas together before his thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around and faced a gorgeous Katara clad in a beautiful blue and silver dress and, as Aang preferred, no makeup.
"Hi," she chirped. "Are you ready?"
No. He exhaled sharply. "Uh…yeah, yeah. Let's go!" He faked a smile.
"Are you sure?" she asked, sensing his hesitation. "We could always go later, if you want."
"No, no," he said quickly. "I-I'm just a little nervous. I've never gone on a date before, that's all." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
Well, that was true. But Aang had a lot more to be nervous about.
Katara smiled and blushed. "That's okay. I guess it's a first for both of us, then."
Well, that helped put him a bit more at ease, but Aang was still unsure of what his plans for the evening were.
"Oh. Well, um…do you want to get started?" he asked, extending his hand to Katara.
She took it with an eager grin. "Absolutely."
As they walked through the city, Aang grew more and more nervous, desperately trying to think of something.
The sun soon sank completely below the horizon, plunging the city into the darkness of night.
After a while, Katara asked, "So where are we going?"
Aang cringed, unsure of how to answer. "Uh…"
Suddenly, a darkly-dressed man appeared in front of the couple. "Hello, there," he said in a sinister voice.
"Um…hi," Katara said hesitantly. "Can we…help you?"
The man pulled out a dagger. "Yes. Yes, you can…" he replied with a sneer. "You can help me…by giving me some money."
Aang's eyes widened. "You're mugging us…? Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Don't you know who we are?" Katara asked. "We don't want any trouble…but don't think we can't give you any."
"Oh, believe me," the man replied, "I'm more trouble than you think!" He tossed the dagger aside and assumed a Waterbending stance.
"We're both Waterbending Masters," Katara said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Absolutely." The man smirked evilly and extended his right hand, flicking his wrist.
Aang cried out in alarm as he felt his blood run cold. He froze momentarily, before being twisted and contorted in ways the human body should never be manipulated. "Aauugh! What's…happening?!" he grunted. "Ka—ta—ra!"
But Katara was too petrified to move. "Y-you're a Bloodbender!" she said in terror.
As he continued manipulating Aang's body, the man laughed evilly. "Indeed! You should have just given me your money! I'll make you pay one way or another!"
"Pay?! Pay for…what?!" Aang uttered between animalistic shrieks of pain.
Katara quivered in fear as she attempted to assume her Waterbending stance and overpower the evil man's Bloodbending with her own. But it was no use. Aang continued to twist and turn and scream in pain. Tears streamed down the young Waterbender's face.
"Pay for ABANDONING US!" the man yelled. "Don't you see, Avatar?! If you had been here a hundred years ago, this whole war would never have happened! A hundred years of war does a lot to a nation…to MY NATION! After my mother was taken away from me, the Southern Water Ttibe was reduced to RUINS! I ran…I knew I could never go back. And it's all because of some JERK, IRRESPONSIBLE, SNOTNOSE, DUMB[expletive] KID! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE NEEDED YOU? WHEN I NEEDED YOU?!"
The man slowly spread his arms apart and screamed in anger. This caused Aang's body to feel as if he was being stretched—pulled apart limb from limb. His agonizing scream mixed with that of the troubled man.
"IT WASN'T HIS FAULT!" Katara shouted in rage. She balled her hands into fists and violently thrust them forward.
Suddenly, the man completely lost all control of Aang, sending the Airbender facedown on the ground.
Katara won over control of the man and began to raise him into the air. "You should be ashamed of yourself!" Her hands began to pulsate, constricting the man's trachea. He began to choke. "He saved the world from an evil, evil man, and this is how you thank him! People like you disgust me. You don't deserve the life he saved for you." Tears still running down her face, she threw the man down, allowing him to breathe again. "But taking it away makes me no better than you are."
With that, the man picked himself up and glared at Katara, before walking away and disappearing into the shadows.
Katara immediately knelt down next to Aang, who was still lying facedown on the ground. "Aang, come on, get up. Let's go home."
Slowly, he picked himself up. But what he did next took Katara by surprise. He latched onto her in a fierce embrace, before his lip quivered and he began softly crying.
At first, Katara suspected that Aang was crying from his injuries, but when she asked him what hurt, he told her that he was fine.
"No you aren't, you're crying. What hurts?" she asked, confused.
"He was right…" Aang said through his tears. "I…I abandoned the whole world."
Katara frowned. "Don't listen to him. He has no idea what he's talking about…what you had gone through. It wasn't your fault."
"Yes, it was," Aang replied. "I…I chose to run away. I abandoned everybody."
"You didn't know what was going to happen," Katara told him. "If you had stayed, you would have been killed, you know. You wouldn't have stopped the entire Fire Nation by yourself."
Aang looked up at her. "I could have escaped," he said sharply, snapping himself out of his tears. "I could have gotten help from the Earth Kingdom and prevented a century of war! I could have! As far as I'm concerned, it's all my fault."
"You don't know that," Katara said calmly. "Now come on. Let's go home, I don't feel like going out anymore, and you certainly look like you don't."
Aang clenched his fists. "This whole night was a disaster!" he shouted.
And with that, the couple walked home, surrounded by shadows.
When they reached their home, Katara suggested they go to bed, as it was late and they were both in unpleasant spirits.
Aang hesitated. "But…I never got to—" He sighed, disappointed and angry about the way things turned out tonight. "Never mind. Good night." He walked dejectedly to his bedroom, sulking.
Katara watched him, feeling her heart break for him. Poor Aang tried so hard to give her a nice, romantic evening, and everything went completely wrong for them, but mostly him. He hadn't even cared that he'd been Bloodbent, more than the terrible things the awful man said to him.
How could she make it up to him?
"Aang, wait."
The Airbender stopped in his tracks as Katara walked toward him and put her hands on his shoulders.
She turned him around and frowned upon seeing his tear-stained face. She gave him a hug. "I love you…" she said, trying to console him. "So much …"
"E-everything went so wrong…" he stammered brokenly, the tone of his voice enough to make Katara's heart melt. He was on the verge of sobbing again, but he fought the tears, feeling that there was no point in crying anymore.
"I know, sweetie," Katara soothed, rubbing his back. "Maybe we'll try to go out again another time."
"That man ruined everything…" Aang said. He sniffled, exhaling shakily as he tried to calm down.
"Don't listen to him. You did your best," she assured him.
"I just…wish I could do something nice for you," he told her.
"But you're always doing nice things for me," she said. "You're always making me things and giving me stuff and telling me you love me a million times a day." She smiled a little bit at how sweet Aang was.
"I know, but I meant giving you a nice evening out," Aang replied. "You know, because that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do, right?"
"Well, yes, but…sometimes things don't go as planned," Katara said.
"And it sucks."
Though this wasn't exactly offensive language, Katara was a bit surprised by Aang's word choice.
"I know. But…I might be able to cheer you up," she said, releasing him.
"How?" Aang asked, rubbing his eyes.
"C'mon, you can sleep in my room tonight," she offered. "I think having someone to snuggle with will make you feel better." She put a hand on his back and led him to her room.
"O-okay," came his soft reply.
They climbed into bed, rolling over to face each other.
Katara reached out to cup Aang's cheeks, which were still damp with tears. Brushing his cheeks with her thumbs, she smiled faintly. "I love you," she said again, hoping for a response. When he didn't give her one, she decided to kiss him, ever so slightly. She brushed her lips on his for maybe half a second, feeling the heat from his cheeks on her fingertips.
"I love you, too."
Soft, sweet, and beautiful, Aang's reply was music to Katara's ears. She looked at him, her smile broadening. She saw the smallest of smiles on Aang's adorable face, making her heart soar. She rewarded him with another kiss and a massaging rub of his back.
He moaned softly as he responded minimally, simply playing with her hair and occasionally squeezing one of her shoulders.
Katara broke away for air after a minute or so. "Are you feeling any better, Aang?"
"A little, thanks to you," Aang replied, tightening his grip on her.
She smiled and kissed his forehead. "I'm glad. Now, how about some sleep? We've certainly had an eventful day."
"Agreed," Aang replied. "Good night." He shut his eyes.
"Good night," Katara said. "I love you."
Just before his breath evened out, softly and sweetly, he whispered: "I love you, too."
