Chapter 7: Honesty
By: RebLaw
Disclaimer: I still don't own Avatar, in case there was any confusion.
A/N: I'm sorry for how long this update has taken, and how short it is. I know it's only about 4 pages, but I feel that it's a good update, I'm really happy with everything, and it is probably the second to last chapter. Thank you to everyone who's kept on reading up to this point. I hope to have the next update sometime in January.
Billy Rose – Yeah, she's not very self-aware sometimes, but she's still young, ya'know?
crazyhorse – Azula's nice voice always has an edge to it, at least that's how it sounds to me when I'm writing (that's probably weird, but when I write I try to imagine what it would be like if the character on the TV show said it, it's generally how I work on keeping characters sounding 'in character').
Spleef – Thank you, I always appreciate your comments and feedback.
JessicaDanielle – yeah, I'm sorry, I should update more, but work, and overtime, and family, and friends. I will definitely get this story wrapped up by Valentine's Day 08 even if it kills me.
Momo – I'm still working on it:-D
Rei Hino – Yeah, I haven't forgotten that either, maybe Katara will remember it (but I think Aunt Wu specified that Katara's husband would be a powerful bender, but we can forget that little word can't we?)
Squeaky Phantom – Thank you for your kind review, I'll try to keep updating this story as quickly as I can. I don't think it's got too much more to go.
Gelphaba-Inamorata- I'm glad you like it, and I feel bad about Aang too, poor kid.
zenthois – ROTFLMAO
please update – it's updated now, I hope to update again in a month's time.
-.-.-
"Good morning Katara," Aang said as he sat up. He hasn't slept a wink since he heard Katara telling Azula that she was in love with Jet. Azula had gone back to bed but Katara hadn't slept since then. She sat by the dying embers that were once a fire.
"Are you feeling alright?" Katara asked, noting the dark circles under the boy's eyes.
"Yeah," Aang said reluctantly as he rubbed his eyes. "I just didn't sleep very well."
"Oh," Katara said, looking away, embarrassed. "You didn't hear Azula and me last night, did you?"
"Only a little," Aang admitted.
"I'm very sorry," Katara said, ashamed of her thoughtlessness. "I should've been quieter."
"It's no big deal," Aang said, giving Katara a sad smile.
"What's wrong," she asked, looking into Aang's eyes. It was obvious he was holding something back.
"I'd rather not say," the boy replied looking down at the ground as he sat down next to her.
"It's okay," she said smiling warmly. "I don't trust her either. I can't wait until she's gone."
"She?" Aang asked.
"Azula," Katara said quietly. "You're afraid of waking her up too, that's why you don't want to talk about it. You think she's the best teacher available, even if you don't trust her completely."
Aang raised an eyebrow. He slowly started to realize that Katara looked as exhausted as he was. She sounded almost as if she were frantically trying to convince herself that Azula was necessary for them.
"I understand," the waterbender said cheerfully. "Maybe we should ditch her and find you a different teacher."
"But we're in the middle of nowhere," Aang pointed out. "And how will Sokka find us if we leave? We're supposed to meet him here. Besides, I doubt I can find a more talented teacher than her."
Katara was silent.
"If it's what you want," Aang said after a few minutes of awkward silence.
"No, you're right," Katara said with a sigh. "We can't."
"But if it'll make you happy," Aang protested.
"No it won't," Katara said her voice tight with frustration. "I don't even know what will make me happy anymore."
"It'll be okay," Aang said with a smile giving Katara a hug. It wasn't often he got to be the one comforting Katara. Normally it was the other way around.
"Yes, it will," Katara said feeling a little better. She got up "I'm going to see if I can find some food for breakfast."
Aang sighed as Katara walked off. He wondered why didn't he just come out and say that he loved her.
"I love you," Aang said as soon as he was sure she was out of earshot.
"It might work better if you tell her when she can actually hear you," Azula pointed out surprising Aang.
"I didn't know you were up already," Aang said blushing with a sheepish smile.
"For now this can be our little secret," Azula said with a generous smile. "But I really think you should tell her."
"I should?" Aang asked. "But what if it goes wrong?"
"Please," Azula scoffed, rolling her eyes a little. "You're the Avatar."
Aang considered her words for a minute.
She smiled as she watched the young Avatar lap up everything she gave him. He was so easy to manipulate, it almost wasn't fun. She just had to tell him what he wanted to hear and his defensiveness went down like Ba Sing Se. Quick and easily without getting her hands horribly dirty.
Judging from how she had seen the two interact it was unlikely that Katara had ever thought of the boy as anything other than the goofy younger brother she never had.
"Thank you Azula," Aang said with a grateful smile. "I'm really glad you're my firebending teacher."
"I'm just glad I'm on the winning side," Azula replied politely in a tone that was almost too light. "Now lets get do some firebending."
Aang began doing the warm-up exercises happily. Azula offered polite suggestions to improve his technique.
-.-.-
Katara found her way to the creek. She didn't know where she was going when she walked there. Food wasn't that hard to find, you pretty much just had to go where there were things growing and you could find berries and nuts.
She could still remember the sight of the princess naked and bathing. The whiteness of her skin, how it looked so exotic next to her warm tanned skin. The slim figure of the princess. Her pinkish-red lips.
How did she get her lips so pink? Katara wondered. They looked so soft and smooth. She wondered how they'd feel against her own. Katara blushed when she caught herself thinking that.
She wished she could get Azula out of her mind, out of her dreams, out of her life. But she couldn't, for now helping Aang came first, everything else came second.
Katara sat down on the shore, decided to meditate to get her mind in order. Her people didn't meditate like Aang's did, but it wasn't unheard of. It wasn't like her to be obsessed with something like that. Actually it was, but it wasn't a good habit, unless it was being obsessed with helping people.
Maybe that was what was bothering her about Azula. Maybe subconsciously she wanted to help her. That had to be it. Azula did mention stuff about her dead mother and her evil father, she clearly came from a bad family situation, maybe she just needed someone good she could consider family.
She could be the sister Azula never had to help her. That's what she'd do. Then the weird feelings would go away, she just had to get close to her and be supportive.
Katara stood up and quickly found some berries and made her way back to camp, with peace in her heart.
-.-.-
As Katara returned to camp, Azula gave her most encouraging smile and told Aang that she'd give him some privacy. She decided to explore what was to the East of them, walking briskly.
"Katara I love you!" Aang blurted out as Katara got near to him. Azula smiled as she was barely still in earshot but out of sight.
Katara took the news without missing a beat. "I love you too Aang, you're family."
"That's not what I mean," Aang said, his heart feeling like it was about to fly out of his chest. He ran up to her and kissed her.
Katara's eyes widened with surprise.
"Aang," she said after their mouths parted. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Aang said, in a surprisingly calm voice. "I am too."
Katara furrowed her brow and put her hands on her hips. "What do you mean by that?"
"I just thought when I kissed you, it'd be different," Aang said sheepishly, unable to look Katara in the eye. "Monk Gyatso always told me about how when he first kissed his wife it felt like fireworks were going off."
"For me it felt like my little brother was kissing me," Katara said with a sad smile.
"Maybe you're right," Aang admitted. "Maybe our love for each other is family love."
Katara shrugged. With a smile she said, "Nothing wrong with that."
Aang smiled and gave Katara a hug. It felt good having come clean, being unburdened by all those emotions.
