Chapter 11 Kind Words

Author's Note: For some reason I've been thinking that I've written chapters out already, but I haven't. I also like to repeat again it's been a long time since I've watched Avatar and therefore some of the characters and such areeee... iffy to me. I apologize in advance for my laziness to not want to google correct spelling and such. Also, English isn't my specialties, so I'm so happy that you all are sticking with me even though my grammar sucks ! I'm going to try really hard to fix them though, I promise! This is a short chapter because (And I say it at the end) it was the opening to my original chapter 11 document in which I now have split into two different chapters.

Disclaimer: I Do not own any of these wonderful characters; just the ones I dream up.


"Twinkle-toes," The earth bender said, "I don't see why we have to leave so suddenly, you said so yourself that you wanted to stay a few more days!"

"I just think we should go, Toph..." Aang replied as he turned a deep shade of red.

"So you guys get to have all the fun while I'm all by myself in a big, empty room!? You hung out without me!"

"Trust me, we weren't hanging out," The avatar responded, "And it certainly was not fun."

"Than what happened?" The earth bender inquired.

Aang continued to ignored Toph's comments as Zuko came out of his office. As he walked toward the court yard he could see both benders loading Appa up. Letting out a small chuckle, he smiled. He admit that it wasn't his intention to send the Avatar home like that, but one way or another it did the job. Hearing the small bickering between the two, he looked around. Normally whenever they fought a voice of reason would come out to stop them. Yet, as he saw the two figures standing alone, he had wondered where his fiance had went.

"Where's Katara..." He thought as he noted that the water bender wasn't outside.

As the Fire Lord walked down the halls, he could see nothing, but red. Heading toward his room, he could see various workers trying to fix the door. They had given him a small bow to show their respect as he slowly dismissed them for the time being. Peeking into the dark area, he could see his betrothed in the corner, her face looking into the table mirror as she brushed her hair quietly.

The Fire bender could see that her eyes no longer held the shine they had before. Instead, they were a dull shade of blue that were clouded with thoughts and worries. He slowly walked up to the girl, his footsteps soft as he realized that she didn't catch his presence yet.

"Tara," He said quietly, "I think Aang and Toph are about to leave."

"I know," She replied as she registered that someone was in the room.

Her face didn't turn away from the mirror. She didn't even look up to see who was speaking to her, but simply assumed that it was Zuko because of his deep voice.

"Aren't you going to see them off?"

"I don't think I can," she answered softly.

The fire lord rolled his eyes. He acknowledged the fact that she was embarrassed, but this was a tad extreme. He was glad that Katara couldn't see him at the moment because he knew his face read. 'You're being stupid.'

"Then again," he thought, "They are close friends..."

He let out a small sigh and then took a moment to think. Kneeling down next to the chair she was currently in, he placed his hand on her knee.

"Are you telling me you're going to let something silly cause this little... tension between you and Aang?"

"It's not that simple, Zuko" Katara replied, "He use to like me! This is probably devastating to him."

"Yes, but you said he use to like you, Tara. Besides, he should understand that we are all adults now. I know you have a mothering side toward him, but you can't always baby him. Katara, you're not his mother."

The water master placed the brush on the table and sigh. She had been debating all morning how she could possibly face her friend and came up with nothing logical. She wanted to just run into town and disappear for a while, but that would be cowardly. Aang had always been truthful to her. She had to be honest with him.

"Besides, who the heck goes knocking on someone's door in the middle of the night?" Zuko complained as he recalled the moment in his mind.

"Well, Aang is a special person, Zuko. Sometimes he doesn't make the wisest decisions. I know I'm not his mother, but-"

"There's no buts Katara."

The fire and water bender looked toward the door to see Aang standing against the frame. He had his arm on the other as he looked away for a moment. Taking a deep breathe in he regained the little composure he had.

"Zuko, can I talk to Katara for a second?"

The fire lord got up and fixed his robes. Taking a look toward his fiance he gave her a small pat on the head before walking away. He wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay or go. Her expression was blank and for the first time in their friendship he didn't know what to do. He did know, however, know that this was not a battle that he could fight for Katara and he already thought the whole thing was pointless. For a moment he was glad that this wasn't about him. Instead, it was about two old friends fixing a long, overdue misunderstanding. As his footsteps began to grow softer, the smell of cinnamon disappeared from the air.

"Katara, what are you doing in here?" Aang said softly as he stepped into the room.

"I'm just getting ready," She said quietly as she picked the brush back up, "Everyone keeps saying that I have to look the part of Fire Lady. I don't want to disappoint them."

"If you brush your hair anymore it's going to fall out!" Aang said as he tried to get the girl to smile, "You wouldn't want to look like me... not just anyone can pull off this look!"

Katara didn't say anything, but she did finally smile. As the Avatar saw the small curve on her lips he let out a small sigh of relief. He knew that he was acting childish and didn't mean to pass out, but he was simply surprised. It had been a while since he had seen Katara. He declared that he didn't love her anymore, but he still had a small crush on her. After all, she was the first girl he saw when he woke up from his long slumber.

However, he couldn't hold that against her. They had traveled for so long with one another and if she was going to like him, she would have already. After the months of waiting turned into 2 years, Aang finally told himself that it was never going to happen. Maybe he was just a bit jealous. A part of him wanted the Air nation and water tribe to fight with one another. Maybe then it could have been him.

"Do you really like him...?" The air bender asked quietly, "I mean you must if you two did..."

His voice slightly dropped toward the end of the sentence.

"Aang," She said softly as her body turned to face him, "Before I knew that I was going to marry Zuko, I was really scared. My dad came in and told me that I had to do this for the good of both our nations,"

"So you don't like him?" The teen commented quickly.

"Well, that's the thing. I do like Zuko... I really do. We say that we love one another, but it seems more complicated to me than simple words. All of it seems rushed, like we're in an ocean and someone is pushing up forward instead of letting us float along."

"Why not slow down then, Katara?"

"I don't know..."

The air bender looked at his friend as he tried to think of something to say. He had wanted to come in and ask if she loved Zuko, but the moment he heard that she did love him he forgot everything else that came to mind.

"What am I doing," he thought to himself, "The air monks would scowl me for being childish..."

Aang took Katara's hand and gave her a soft smile. He always had the most innocent grin on his face and growing up had only made that smile bigger.

"The air monks use to tell us that feelings are things that comes from the emotions of our own hearts," The air bender said softly, "But, people are affected by their past and the darkness of the unknown. When we traveled together and we had to save the world, Tara, I didn't know how anything would end. We could have died. I could have died. Everything seemed rushed to me. I slept for a hundred years and within a few seconds I had a mission to complete. You were the first person I saw when I woke up and I will never forget how blue your eyes were. Your smile was always so beautiful and bright, it burned an image into my eyes and ever since we came here to visit you and Zuko, your smile hasn't changed one bit. It may seem rushed to you, Katara, but time is only a number. It doesn't mean that you aren't feeling genuine love for him..."

The water bender looked at her friend. He was staring at her with a serious look on his face. It wasn't common for Aang to take a step back from his regular 'fun guy' act, but when he thinks about something important, he becomes as mature as Zuko is.

His words had hit her like a knife. She had been over thinking everything from the moment she stepped into the Fire Nation. Uncle Iroh had told her to not worry. Zuko had told her to not worry. Now Aang was telling her to not worry.

"Don't you feel like sometimes things could be different?"

"I was just thinking that," he replied suddenly, "I was thinking that if we were enemies, than perhaps it would be me. Maybe I would be by your side instead of Zuko right now and you'll be Mrs Aang Air bender!"

She could tell that he was back to his chilled manners, but a part of her knew that he wasn't joking.

"I'm sorry, Aang..." Katara said.

"You don't need to apologize, Tara. Why would you?" The air bender said, "I know sometimes I may act young... but living in the air temple has taught me to be more understanding."

"You do seem more mature," The water master answered softly, "I wonder when I became so childish."

"You're not childish! You're just confused and everyone gets like that sometimes. You just have to grow out of it. If you love Zuko than I'm happy for you."

"I think I do..." The girl said softly, "Isn't it strange?"

"Not at all," Aang said with a smile, "if you two are strange than me and Toph are strange too."

"Are you two a thing?" Katara asked as her eyes perked up.

"We're not a thing," The air bender replied, "But who knows... things works in unexpected ways."

The avatar gave her a small smile as she could hear the hint of bragging in his voice. The water bender stood up, her gown bunching up around her as she turned to hug her old friend. Aang never really had a distinct smell, but he always had a warm hug for her.

"I missed you Aang," She whispered, "I'm so glad that you guys came to visit."

The air master had took the chance to return her gesture. It hurt him a little bit on the inside, but he didn't want to show her that. He didn't want to show her that he was in pain because he could tell that she was really happy. Eventually the pain will disappear because the more time they spend together the more he realized that their love was nothing more than a sibling's affection.

"I'm rooting for you, Tara."

The two of them stood still as they could hear Toph's yelling in the distance. They were growing closer as Zuko's voice mixed in with her cries.

"You guys are always having fun without me!" The earth bender screamed.

"They're not having fun, they're talking!" Zuko yelled back.

"How do you know, lord hot head? What if they're making out right now?"

The quarrel had stopped and everything grew quiet as the water and air bender heard loud steps rapidly close in on them. As Aang and Katara looked up from their hug they could see the Fire Lord staring back at them. He didn't have an angry expression on his face, but he didn't have a happy one either.

"What are you two doing?" He asked skeptically.

"We're... Hugging," Katara answered slowly.

She looked at the fire bender in front of her and saw Toph trudging behind. As the earth princess let out a small smirk she hit Zuko on the back.

"Obviously they weren't making out," She said, "I can see them from the ground."

"If you can see 'from the ground,'" Zuko asked, "Why do you keep asking us what happened last night?! Can't you see for yourself?"

"I was too far away to see that," She responded, "Besides, I wasn't focusing on anything last night."

The two bender continued to argued as though it was second nature to them. As Aang and Katara pulled away and laughed they couldn't help, but turn to one another.

"It seems like we're traveling again," She said softly.

"Yeah, but everything seems more pleasant."

"Maybe because Zuko isn't trying to capture you," The water bender commented.

"And no one is trying to kill us," Aang added.

As the two walked toward the bickering pair Aang jumped on Toph and Katara grabbed Zuko's arm.

"Let's have a meal before we leave," The avatar said loudly.

"Why can't you guys just be normal, quiet benders who fears me?" Zuko yelled in frustration.

"Because we seen you sleep already," Toph said, "You're not scary."

"YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE!"

"BUT I CAN FEEL!" She screamed, "And Sokka told us that you talk in your sleep and say stupid things like 'I'm the great fire prince!'"

"I DO NOT!"

"DO TO"

"DO NOT"

"KATARA!" The both of them yelled simultaneously.

Their stare was on her as she took a step back. Thinking for a moment, she couldn't remember what had happened 4 years ago, but she did remember what happened a few nights ago. Zuko had slipped into bed and woken her up, but after a few moments had passed she heard his light to get back into a comfy position she could feel Zuko moving beside her. As her eyes grew heavier she drifted into her own dream land, but was suddenly interrupted by a certain fire bender.

"Uh... I would love to side with you, Zuko, but sometimes you do-"

"Nevermind!" He screamed, "Let's just go get food."


Author's Note: This chapter is actually suppose to be longer, but I split it in half because I'm not done editing the second part yet. There's a lot to describe and put in because DUM DUM DUM! Chapter 12 will be about General Tai and what his evil self is up to. Until then I wanted to leave you all with something to read because I am working again! It's the end of the week and therefore have less time to write. Thank you so much for reading loves 3. and I'll see you again in 3-4 days max! Possibly 2.