This idea came to me when I was looking at some Kataang fanart and reading some good old Invaderk Kataang. Aang is so much taller than Katara when he's older. Sometimes it's hard to make the comparison between a short little baldy who stands half a head length shorter than Katara and the fanart I see him in xD.

Be prepared for possibly (even compared to the Cactus Juice one) the most bizzare concept for a Kataang fanfiction yet.

Disclaimer of...Stuff: Rrrrrraaaa...(zzzz)

(this disclaimer brought to you by none other than Bosco, the Earth King's Royal Bear)

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Growth Spurt

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There are many things you just have to accept in a relationship.

I understand that perfectly fine. I understand his duty as the Avatar conflicts with our time together and though he can take me with him most times, there are occasions where I have to stay behind. I understand that he doesn't always have time for me and that just balancing his personal life with his work is complicated enough without us being married soon. I understand that the the stress he's under a good majority of the time gets to him, that he won't always be cordial and kind and will lose his temper.

But there's just one thing I won't ever understand in my life: When the heck did Aang get so much taller than me?

I recall only a few years ago being able to lift him into my arms, leaning over him to help him perfect his waterbending stances, and patting him dotingly on the head like a mother to a child. Nowadays, it's he who lifts me into his arms and ruffles my hair affectionately. I really can't place the exact day or month this shift occured, but when it did I was quite flummoxed, esspecially when I thought it'd be a good idea to pick him up and smother him in an overly affectionate bear hug. I ended up capsizing us both into the stream we'd been practicing by.

True, it's a silly thing to get flustered over, but it really shocks me sometimes. I just think about who he was a scant few years ago, a bright-eyed, eccentric, and rather excitable young boy, and who he is now...well, okay, a bright-eyed, eccentric, and rather excitable young man. Despite the almost nonexistant change in his temperance, it's just hard to believe the little kid I met on that faithful day was the same man who wraps me in his arms and rests his chin on my head.

"It's called a growth spurt, Katara," Sokka once quipped when I commented on Aang's rather sudden gain in height. "It's a guy thing. It's not like he grew a third arm or anything; he's still the same goofball dork he was at twelve."

Despite his usual show of innappropriate sarcasm, I know Sokka was right. Even if Aang's gained a few inches...feet...in height, he still remains the same kid he was at heart. And, it's not like I don't like being coddled. It's just hard to think he's still younger than me and still thinks of me as his source of guidance, his mature, sensible teacher.

...hm.

Maybe I should try that bear hug again.