A/N: Well… this will probably be the only update this weekend because I have a test on Monday in my High Acuity class. I know… It's sad. But you can't complain too much… This is the fifth update in five days:)
Hands
Katara had always noticed Aang's hands.
When they were kids, his hands were small, no bigger than her own. They were soft and carefree, like an Airbender's should be, but firm and calloused from molding the Earth. When he used them to shape her element, they were smooth and graceful, like he was conducting an orchestra of water, and the warmth they always held foretold of his eventual craft of Firebending. He always moved his hands with purpose, bending the elements with just the flick of a wrist. The arrows tattooed on them were a strong symbol of his lost heritage, and when they were younger she often traced them with her eyes, fantasizing about their mysterious origins.
So as the awkward silence accompanied their small table in the tavern, Aang found himself lost in his own thoughts and Katara found herself once again looking at Aang's hands.
She realized his hands were still there and still his… but they had changed, along with the rest of him. They were larger and she could only imagine that if she were to hold one, hers would feel childlike in comparison. They seemed heavy, like he used them to lift the weight of the world, and yet lighter at the same time, as if he had grown into them at some point along the way. She knew they were stronger just by looking at them, and, of course, the tattoos were still there, and still blue, but they seemed to fit him better as if he had grown into those as well.
And at this exact moment, Aang's hands were fidgeting. His fingers made a dull thump as he nervously drummed them against the table top. They almost seemed to have a mind of their own, a separate entity.
Katara felt herself smiling at his child-like gesture and she even giggled a little at the situation.
The sound of her laughter brought him back from his memories. Aang stopped his fingers midair and raised his eyes to meet hers with confusion in his brow, "Katara?" he chuckled nervously, "What's so funny?"
She sighed with a smile in her eyes, "It's your hands…"
Aang looked at her funny and then down at his hands, "My hands?" He held them out in front of him, inspecting his palms and then the backs of them, "What's wrong with my hands?"
She shook her head, still wearing a content smile of appreciation that Aang couldn't quite interpret, "Nothing. I just missed them… that's all."
Aang paused, meeting her gaze with a confused glint in his eyes before letting himself smile back at her. He felt his face warming up, and tried concentrating on not allowing the heat to reach his cheeks.
He sighed, "Katara… I… I didn't mean to offend you earlier…" he started explaining awkwardly, his fingers tapping against each other nervously. "I mean, when you sent your letter you wouldn't tell me whose wedding it was… then I saw Toph in the market… and I don't know, I guess I just let my imagination get the best of me."
Katara nodded understandingly, "Aang, I wasn't offended. Just… surprised I guess."
"Surprised? Why?" he asked as he slowly began to feel more at ease.
A thoughtful look grazed over Katara's eyes, but she just smiled warmly, brushing her thoughts aside. "Aang, why don't we get out of here? I can give you a tour of the village. There's so much to see that wasn't here the last time you were here."
Aang nodded, defeated, "Yeah Katara, that would be nice." He smiled at her and she returned the gesture, but this time with a certain sadness in her eyes that hadn't been there before.
Aang followed Katara through the streets and canals of the Southern Water Tribe with an awe of wonder. Master Pakku and his students had come through on the promise to help their sister tribe, and had definitely rebuilt the village back from the ashes of warfare and pillage.
A huge ice sculpture of a building sat bull's eye in the center of the village. Katara pointed it out as the Capital Office, where official business concerning the tribe was conducted on a daily basis. Aang felt himself smile proudly when she mentioned that Sokka attended meetings there regularly as Chief Delegate Warrior of the tribe, a position he had naturally stepped into after his eighteenth birthday three years ago.
During development, different districts had been designed to encourage further expansion when needed, including a large market and trading post. Of course several taverns, shops, and restaurants had popped up and Katara eagerly pointed out the library and school that she had helped institute. It had been easy for her to accept a position as a Waterbending Instructor after the first semester, though she was humble when not admitting that she had also been honored as one of the most prestigious benders at the Academy.
On the outer ring of the village sat the ice huts and tents that dotted the perimeter of the entire city, housing the citizens. Behind them, vast expanses of snow and ice extended to the horizon, offering plenty of room to continue development in the future.
Aang smiled serenely, appreciate that he had been a part of the force that helped make all this a reality, as they made their way through the market. Suddenly, he realized that he had been so relieved to hear that Katara was not getting married that he hadn't even commented on Sokka's engagement yet. Further more… he hadn't even asked who it was he was marrying!
"So… Sokka's getting married, huh?" he mused as they sat down at the frozen water fountain that Aang had stopped at earlier.
Katara nodded, averting her eyes to the water that lay beneath the sheet of ice over the fountain, "Yeah."
Aang chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Wow… I guess I never really thought that he would be the first one in our group to get married…" he commented with a laugh.
"Well… Actually…" Katara trailed off, swirling her fingers along the ice and causing the water underneath to follow her movements. "Technically, he isn't the first one…"
Aang furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"
Katara sighed, "Aang, I've already broken one promise to my brother today." She tore her eyes from her bending, focusing them on Aang, "Can't you just wait and ask him yourself at dinner tonight?"
"Dinner?" Aang asked with a frown. Suddenly, he remembered a certain flying bison and one very irritable lemur that he had promised supper to over three hours ago. "Katara, do you know somewhere that we could get Appa something to eat? I brought enough letchi nuts for Momo, but it's hard to pack enough food to satisfy Appa…"
Katara's eyes lit up at the sound of their furry friends' names, "Of course. There's a tundra prairie right behind our house that I'm sure Appa could stay in, and I know where we can get some hay to make a bed."
Aang smiled graciously, "You never cease to surprise me, you know that?"
Katara laughed lightly, "I surprise you? You're one to talk…" She suddenly stood up with a dumbfounded look on her face and dropped her voice about two octaves, "Uh, Katara… I uh… I got your letter…"
Aang laughed with her at her impression, "You're pretty good at that."
When her laughed died off, she stared at him smiling. They locked eyes for a brief second, both reveling in the sound of each other's laughter.
Aang sighed, "You have no idea how much I missed that smile." The words stumbled out of him without him really meaning for them to, and he blushed slightly when he realized what he had said. "I mean… it's uh… it's just nice to see you… again."
Katara chuckled and motioned for him to stand up, "Come on Aang, Appa and Momo might be tearing each other apart if we don't feed them soon…"
Sokka grumbled, kicking his toes along the ice wall, watching out the window impatiently. It wasn't like her to be gone this long…
Frustrated he crossed his arms across his chest and continued pacing the floor, his dark blue eyes scanning the large ice hut absent mindedly. Whatever reason he had found to worry had escalated until he could vividly picture her mangled body in a canal somewhere. He went to the window again… The sun was setting, which meant it was getting colder. And the wind that howled through the streets and canals foretold of the storm that was approaching. What if she got lost? Why hadn't he insisted on going with her into the market?!
Damn this cursed worry and doubt that had plagued him since Yue's death… Even he knew when he was being irrational and over protective, but he just couldn't help it. He'd lost one love… He refused to be subject to that kind of pain and guilt again.
He caught himself staring at the moon and retreating back to pacing the room, leaving the moonlit window to watch for her return alone.
It was silly… how he always worried that something terrible would happen to her. He knew how much she hated it. It wasn't in her character to be frail and fragile or in any type of situation that would leave her broken and vulnerable. Which is why he had somehow found himself falling for her, of all people… He was actually quite shocked when he had found that she shared his feelings, and even more so when she accepted his proposal, especially since he wasn't a bender.
But their relationship had grown, and so had she… When they were kids he hadn't ever really thought her to be beautiful. She was strong, stubborn, and extremely narrow-minded… but she fought for what she believed in and he admired her for it. It was a rare occasion to show her sensitive side and when she did, he found it to be a marvelous happening. When they parted ways, he knew that he'd miss her jokes and light hearted teasing…
But after spending two years apart, he hadn't thought of her as much more than an old friend. He never dreamed he'd happen upon her that day in the small southern Earth Kingdom colony. He never dared think that a simple treaty between nations would end up opening his eyes to the love of his life… He never thought he would see her as beautiful.
Two years had sharpened her features, the soft round child-like qualities of her younger years replaced with high thin cheek bones and long muscular legs. Somewhere along the way she had turned into a woman and he had been speechless to say the least…
Sokka was lost in his thoughts when the door opened, letting in a cold gust of wind that shook him from his reverie. He smiled when she stepped in the room, dark ebony wisps falling in her face from the storm growing outside. He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
Feeling his tension loosen through the floorboards Toph smiled, "I know I know… Where have I been? What took me so long??"
Sokka just wrapped her up his arms, feeling the ice and snow seep into his clothing from her parka, "I'm glad you're okay…"
Aang glanced warily at the looming clouds that were blackening the sky above them. He shifted his eyes to the deep snow ahead, Katara laying out a bed of straw and Momo picking through loose bits of hay looking for a snack. "You think he'll be okay out here if it storms?" Aang asked nervously, moving his eyes back up to the darkening sky. "Maybe I should make a shelter for him…"
"I'm sure Appa would appreciate that." Katara mused, smoothing out the last bit of straw and blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.
Aang nodded, and as easily as moving his arms up in a parallel line, conjured two blocks of frozen tundra to spring from the ice and create a large tent over the bed of hay. Appa took his cue and settled into his earth tent, curling up comfortably on his makeshift bed.
Katara smiled, "I think he likes it!" she shouted over the howling winds that had began whipping through the mountains and swirling through the large snow-covered prairie.
Aang finished the tent with two more swings, creating a huge four walled shelter to protect Appa from the biting winds and ice while leaving enough room in case he needed to get out at some point during the night. He turned his attention back to Katara, who was shivering slightly from the sudden drop in temperature, "How far is your house from here?"
She pointed to a near by ice hut, "Sokka and I share that one there!" she hollered over the wind.
Aang noticed the shiver in her voice, "Let me see your hands!"
"What?!" The gusts of wind that blew past them carried her voice along with it. She tightened her hood around her face and folded her arms across her chest to conserve any body heat.
Aang knew that anything he tried to shout would be lost to the howling winds, so he pulled his mittens off and grabbed her hands, pulling her mittens off as well.
Katara gave him a questioning look, opening her mouth to ask him what on earth he was doing. He gave her a knowing smile that kept her thoughts to herself as he interlaced his fingers with hers so that their palms were touching.
Despite the harsh winds, she blushed brilliantly at the physical contact. She had been right… her hands felt small and dainty and not her own in his grasp. His hands were strong, soft, and surprisingly warm.
Aang closed his eyes, concentrating on using his Firebending to gently transfer heat from his body to hers. Katara gasp when she felt her hands warming slowly between his fingers. As the heat traveled up her arms and engulfed her whole body she stared wide eyed. When the warmth had finally reached her toes, Aang slowly opened his eyes and smiled.
As the snow started falling, Aang dropped her hands and pointed to the hillside of ice huts Katara had pointed at earlier. She took his cue and began the trudge through the snow bank towards her house, a new warmth in her step and a smile in her eyes.
A/N: Yeah! You finally know who is marrying who! And I am sure I have dozens and dozens of happy-go-lucky Tokka fans right now who are pleased! Hope you guys liked this chapter. I didn't realize it at first… but somehow I managed to start this chapter out with hands and end with hands! So I named it "Hands"! lol
Reviews are appreciated!!