Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than about five books by Sarah Dessen (not the kind that any boy would like to read).
A/N: Okay everyone, or those people that read this, sorry for the wait, but it's that time of year again. Stupid finals, graduation parties, field trips, summer planning, all sorts of crap. So if it takes me a while to update again, don't blame me, blame my teachers. So this is going to be either the last or second to last chapter. Then I'll start a Kataang, which will hopefully get more views and reviews than this did.
Jet walked through the forest, thinking deeply. He was trying to compose what he would say to her later that day. In fact, he was thinking so hard that he didn't even realize when he came to the clearing until Katara ran up to him.
"Hey Katara. Come on, we need to get there or we'll miss it." Jet said before taking Katara's hand and pulling her out of the clearing.
"Miss what, Jet?" Katara was both confused and curious. Like always, he would not tell her where they were going until they got there.
"You'll see." was his response, just like always. Katara had given up trying to find out where he would take her, after failing the first couple of days to bug it out of him. After walking in silence for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, Katara was opening her mouth to say something when Jet stopped. He put a finger to his lips and pointed ahead into a clearing. They waited there for a moment before there was rustling on the other side.
Three wolf pups burst forth from the brush, followed by a mother. Katara stifled a gasp and looked at Jet with amazement. He just sat there and smiled at her, then turned back. As they watched the wolves play in the clearing, Katara knew this was something special. For Jet to show her this was amazing. She now knew that he trusted her completely.
After aroung 20 minutes, the wolf pups began to stumble and yawn, and they and their mother disappeared back into the trees. Before Katara could say anything, Jet led her into the clearing and they sat down together.
"Jet, that was amazing!" Katara said.
"I thought you'd enjoy it. They've been coming here since they were born. I found it once, and just couldn't bring myself to kill them, no matter how dangerous they could grow to be." Jet responded. He then pulled Katara to her feet with a look of determination on his face. He held her hands as he spoke.
"Katara, I know you're going to have to leave soon, but I don't want you to. I've grown to love you, and it would break my heart for you to leave me again." Jet started. "You're beautiful, and amazing, and smart, and there's no one else like you. I know we've only been together for a little while, but I need to ask you this before you leave." With that, Jet knelt down in front of Katara and pulled a necklace out of his pocket. It was an amazing blue color that matched Katara's eyes, and it had a water symbol encircling a picture of a wolf that looked exactly like the one they had just seen. Katara gasped at the beauty of the necklace and her hands covered her mouth. "Katara, will you marry me?" Jet looked up at Katara with despiration on his face when she took a moment to answer. Just as he was about to stand up and admit defeat, Katara finally lowered her hands.
"Yes!" Her surprised whisper was almost not heard, but it was all Jet needed. He jumped up and hugged her, spinning her around in his arms. Katara had a look of pure bliss on her face as he put her down. Jet silently asked her permission before going around behind her to put on the necklace. When he took off her mother's necklace, he wrapped it around her wrist, saying, "You should never have to choose between your mother and I."
As Katara turned around, she saw Jet's eyes glowing with happiness, a mirror of hers. They shared a passionate kiss, ending breathlessly. As Jet held Katara, his hands started to wander in her shirt before she suddenly gripped his wrists. He looked at her with a confused expression.
"Jet, how are we going to tell Sokka?"
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As Katara and Jet walked into the campsite, they saw that Sokka was the only one around. That meant no audience other than him, but also no backup. Great.
"Uhh... Sokka? Can we talk to you for a minute?" Katara asked hesitantly.
"Sure, Katara. What's the matter?" Sokka asked as they sat down and he saw their concerned expressions. "What happened?"
"It's okay, Sokka. Nothing happened. Except that..." Katara stopped and look at Jet, as if for reassurance.
"What?" Sokka was getting suspicious now, and Katara continued before he could get any ideas.
"Well... umm... Jet proposed to me, and I said yes." Katara said evenly. It was now that Sokka realized the new necklace around his sister's neck and their mother's around her wrist.
"WHAT?!" Sokka screamed. It sounded so much like a girl that it took all of Jet's self-control not to laugh out loud.
"I proposed to Katara, and she accepted. We wanted to let you know, because it is our wish that she come to live with me in the treehouses. I can protect her, and she can protect herself. Plus, hasn't Aang pretty much already mastered waterbending?" Jet managed to say before looking down, for Sokka was burning a hole in his face with his glare.
"What gives you the right to just propose to my baby sister? Plus, how do I know you can take care of her?" Sokka said stiffly, having calmed down a bit.
"One, Sokka, I'm not a baby anymore. I'm 16, I could take care of myself if I needed to. Two, you're not dad! We just thought we would do you the favor of telling you!" Katara was on her feet now, glaring down at Sokka with a very annoyed look on her face. At that second, Aang and Toph ran out of the forest panting.
"What's going on? We thought we heard screaming." Aang asked breathlessly.
"Jet proposed to me, and I accepted. We were trying to explain this to Sokka, and how I was going to settle down with Jet in the treehouses, but he exploded and won't listen to anything we're saying." Katara made this last comment looking at Sokka.
"That's great Sugar Queen! Although now we're going to have to learn to cook, I think. Otherwise, we're all going to starve." Toph said as she walked over to Katara and gave her a hug. Katara was so surprised at this motion from her blind friend that she did not realize that Sokka was arguing with Aang until he screamed like a girl again. This time Jet did laugh, but he quickly covered it up with a cough.
"-and she has grown up a lot. I really think you should let her go, Sokka." Aang was saying.
"So what you're saying is that I should just let my baby sister-"
"I'm 16."
"-go off with some guy that I don't trust and that has tried to kill us before-"
"I've changed!"
"-and never hear from her again?" Sokka finished, paying no attention to the interruptions.
"I never said I wouldn't keep in contact with you, but if you keep this up, I might not!" Katara almost screamed. Jet jumped up and grabbed her hand and pulled her off to the side, whispering something in her ear before she nodded and came back considerably calmer. "Sokka, I'm going to go and pack my things. If you try to stop me, I will go anyway. I'll keep in touch with you through a messenger hawk that belongs to Jet. I'll be right back." With that, Katara went into her tent and began to collect her things in a bag. Sokka just stared at her incredulously as she disappeared inside the tent, then hung his head sadly.
"I should have known this would happen." he mumbled. "I've known for a while she would leave, but I never thought it would be like this. And for someone I completely loathe." He was now talking to himself more than anyone else, but he stood up as Katara emerged from the tent. He walked up to her and enveloped her in a giant hug, murmering into her hair, "Katara, let me give you two my blessing, in place of Dad." Katara looked up at him in surprise, and he smiled warmly down at her. "Come on."
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Katara and Jet were leaving the camp one last time. After Sokka had given his blessing and Katara had said good bye to everyone, they were almost ready to leave. Since Katara was leaving, the rest of the gang decided to break camp and head out too. After all, soon Zuko would probably track them into the forest. So as Katara and Jet walked off to the treehouses and Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Momo flew off on Appa, they all knew that Katara had made the right choice.