Chapter 2: Happiness
Sitting by the edge of the river Aang amused himself by watching Katara marvel at the blossoming trees in the clearing where they had made camp. 'If the last thing that Katara remembers is the South Pole, then she wouldn't ever remember seeing the trees' Aang thought to himself. 'That explains why she is acting so funny.' Aang felt a smile creep across his face as he continued to watch his crush.
Pulling on Sokka's sleeve Katara desperately tried to get the older boy's attention.
"Can I touch it" she asked pointing to a tree.
"Uhh... yeah, go ahead" Sokka absently replied. He seemed to be lost in thought.
Aang couldn't help but laugh as he watched his friend cautiously approach the tree. Touching the rough bark she jumped back and let out a small shriek before rushing back to hide behind Sokka.
"It won't bite, you know" Aang said with a smile as he headed over to where the two water tribe siblings stood.
"Well… I didn't know, okay?!" Katara huffed, before splitting into peals of laughter at how silly she must have looked. Slowly coming back out from her hiding spot beside Sokka she noticed Aang was staring at her.
'She looks different with her hair down'. Aang found himself thinking about Katara again. 'It makes her look younger, but still just as beautiful' He found that lately he began to stare at Katara just as much as he thought about her. Luckily for him he never got caught, that is, until now…
"What… why are you staring?"
"Huh? Oh, I was just umm…err"
Luckily for Aang Sokka snapped out of his trace and saved him at the last minute.
"Hey Katara," the warrior said, drawing the girl's attention away from the blushing monk in front of her to her older brother.
"While we were traveling you mastered water bending, do you think you can still do all the moves you learned?"
"I mastered it! Wow! Why didn't you tell me earlier? "
Looking from Aang to Sokka Katara declared she would try. Stepping into the ankle deep water (after stripping to her underclothes) she closed her eyes in concentration.
After giving Sokka a look of thanks Aang jumped in after Katara. "Try the octopus" he suggested.
Katara nodded in response as Aang prepared to shoot ice at her. "Ready" he asked, not wanting to start without a warning in fear of hurting her.
Once again Katara nodded, and successfully blocked the ice using the "octopus". When the move was complete she broke concentration, allowing the water to drench her. Still unaware of her extreme sogginess Katara jumped for joy.
"Did you see me, did you see me!"
"Yeah Katara" Aang said with a smile nearly as big as hers "that was great, looks like you remember"
Plodding through the water she neared Aang and threw her arms around him, wrapping him up in a big, happy hug. She got him soaking wet, but Aang didn't mind at all. In fact, Aang kind of liked this side of Katara. He could really get used to all the hugs. After a bit of pleading with Sokka the three stayed at the river "practicing" for the rest of the day.
Back at camp Katara spent a good portion of the time playing with her "new" friend Appa. During this time Aang decided to confront Sokka.
"She seems… happier" he said, eyes locked on Katara.
"She was always like this before she let the war get to her. In fact, she was a lot like you. You know, the adventurous, annoying, happy- go –lucky kind of person" Sokka replied, also watching the young girl play with Appa. After a moments hesitation he added "no offence"
Later that night as everyone prepared to sleep the boys clued Katara in on some of the things she missed; making sure it was only the good things. Aang wanted to keep her like this as long as possible. He liked seeing her happy.
Tired from a long day Aang allowed himself to hover in the pleasant state you often get right before a long sleep. He let his thoughts wander freely, though it was useless because they all eventually led back to Katara. He thought about the talk he had with Sokka, and he thought about how long Katara's memory would be gone. Finally all of his thinking took it's tole on the young avatar and he began to slip out of consciousness.
The last thing Aang heard before he drifted off was Katara speaking to Sokka.
"I'm real glad we found the Avatar."