A/N:(re-write: 6/30/07) I want to thank all of my reviewers, you make me very happy. Here's chapter seven!
Book One – The Journey Begins
Chapter Seven - I Love You
"Get on! Get on!" Aang yelled as he quickly airbended himself onto Jada. He then grabbed Katara's hand and helped her onto Jada; wrapping his arms around her waist and hoisting her up onto the large mare. Sokka scrambled to get onto Shiloh in a hurried manner; once he did, the two horses took off down the dirt road. Katara wrapped her arms around Aang's stomach and looked over her shoulder; eyes full of worry.
"Quick! They're coming!" Katara yelled. The evil Fire nation officials, on their horses, came charging towards them; fast too. Aang's grip tightened on Jada's mane as she picked up her speed.
Sokka, on Shiloh, was far ahead of Aang and Katara. Aang quickly tapped his heels into Jada's side I hopes of gaining speed but she didn't speed up, instead she slowed down. She panted heavily, worn out from running and having to carry two people on her back. Aang's eyes widened as he saw Sokka slowly disappear before him down the dirt road.
"Aang!" Katara yelled nervously as she tightened her grip around his waist. She closed her eyes in fear; she could hear the Fire nation officials' horses get closer and closer to Jada. The quick, heavy thudding noises the hooves on the cold dirt road made only got louder.
"C'mon, Jada!" Aang yelled, getting a little impatient and he had to admit; he was getting scared. The feeling of fear quickly filling his heart, not only fearing for his life but the girl now clinging to him. Jada finally picked up her speed and ran faster, but not fast enough. Soon, the officials caught up with Jada. Aang's eyes widened as he noticed another horse with a fire nation symbol on it, next to him. His horse looked more menacing and evil, its eyes dark with determination. It chuffed loudly as it quickly fell into a quick gallop next to Jada.
Suddenly, the man roped Jada; she neighed with fright as the rope basically strangled her. Aang gasped and literally out of instinct jerked Jada to the left and straight into the forest, causing the other man to fall off of his horse. Jada quickly dodged trees, bushes, fallen logs, and whatnot as she galloped through the forest; Aang's sudden decisions threw her off somewhat.
"We lost Sokka!" Katara yelled over the rushing wind blowing against them as her grip around Aang only grew stronger. She buried her nose and lips into the back of Aang's shoulder as she scrunched up in fear. She shut her eyes and braced herself for the worse; if Fire nation officials were still following.
"Don't worry, we'll find him," Aang replied their surroundings now getting a bit calmer.
Katara nervously looked over her shoulder and noticed nothing but trees and a dust trail that Jada had left. Suddenly, Jada skid to a sharp stop. Aang gasped and looked over Jada's head, noticing nothing but forest. Jada panted heavily and looked around as Katara panted slightly from the rush and loosened her grip from around Aang. Aang then looked around, letting his shoulders droop slightly.
"Where are we?" Aang asked softly; he rubbed the back of his head.
"I-I don't know," Katara breathed as she gently rested her hands on Aang's sides, "Are you okay?" Katara asked softly, her voice coated with comfort and care.
Aang nodded as he bested a small smile before Shiloh slowly walked up… But where's Sokka? Aang's eyes widened at the fact that Sokka wasn't on Shiloh.
"Uh…that can't be good," Katara said softly as she got off of Jada and walked over to Shiloh. She carefully got onto him.
"Sokka?" her voice asked, her voice echoing into the forest beyond.
"Humph…mmf…" Sokka mumbled. Katara turned around to see Sokka in a bush; she giggled aloud at the funny sight. He spit a few leaves out of his mouth and stood up and with this, Aang beamed.
"We thought you were lost," Aang said.
"No, Shiloh decided to 'drop me off' here," Sokka mumbled as he brushed his knees slightly.
"We can't keep these horses or else we'll run into those Fire nation guys again," Aang said softly. He then glanced at Katara with an apologetic look. Katara instantly frowned.
"Goodbye, Shiloh," Katara said softly as she got off of him. Aang slowly stepped away from Jada.
"So, we just leave them here?" Aang asked sadly. Sokka shrugged before shaking his head slightly.
"What else are we supposed to do?" Sokka said as he started to walk away from the horses. Aang frowned and pet Jada's back. He then took the thick rope from around her neck before following Sokka and Katara. They slowly emerged out of the forest about an hour later and discovered a beach, obviously the other side of the island. Sokka sighed loudly and plopped down on the soft sand. Aang and Katara followed. They made themselves comfortable on the soft sand and chatted; wondering where'd they go next.
- - -
The sun set not too long ago and Sokka had fallen asleep by the campfire he had made earlier that day. Aang had fallen asleep also, a few feet away from Sokka. He was warmly cuddled into the soft sand of the beach. Katara sighed and stared at Aang who blissfully slept the night away.
She shivered slightly as the cool ocean breeze brushed against her. She looked around for a moment before slowly crawling over to Aang, who calmly lay on his back, hands behind his head. Katara sweetly cuddled next to him for warmth; snuggling close to his chest slightly. She hoped not to wake him as she gently nuzzled her nose into Aang's side. She smiled a blissful smile before taking a deep breath of Aang's gentle, familiar scent; she then fell asleep.
---Dream---
Katara had a strange dream. She was in the middle of a beautiful field; abundant flowers were everywhere. The field wasfull of pretty blues, purples, pinks, yellows; all colors. The beautiful bright blue sky shone brilliantly and the sun made the clouds boast their natural puffy beauty. Katara smiled with all the joy in the world when she suddenly noticed Aang standing happily a few feet away from her. Katara's smile only grew as she walked over to him. She gently took both of his hands in hers and stared deeply into his eyes; he smiled big with much enthusiasm. Katara suddenly had the courage, in her dream, to calmly say, "I love you." Katara smiled, feeling her face get hot as she smiled a bashful, cheerful smile… but she was soon confused with Aang's expression.
His eyes widened with somewhat disgust. He slowly let go of Katara's hands and quickly vanished right before her. Katara frowned when suddenly, the lush grass underneath her turned brown and died. The flowers quickly shriveled up and turned to long stalks of brown and black thorns. The beautiful blue and yellow shining skies turned to a dull black and thunder crashed from above. Katara fell to her knees as tears spilled from her eyes. She desperately looked around in search for Aang as it harshly began to rain.
"Aang!" she yelled as the rain penetrated her whole body. Her element and her best friend had turned against her… and there was nothing she could do about it…
---End of dream---
Katara suddenly sat up, tears staining her cheeks; old and new. She panted and placed a shaky hand on her sweaty forehead. She then nervously looked down at Aang; he peacefully slept with a little, boyish smile on his face. Katara shook her head and stood, immediately running down the beach.
She ran for a few minutes until she came up to a cliff. She sighed and looked out to the beautiful ocean. The dream…nightmare plagued her very essence as she gently fell to her knees. Tears gently spilled down her cheeks; she now having mixed feeling about whether she should confess her love to Aang.
"It was so easy, it was all so easy!" Katara suddenly yelled in between sobs, "I told him how I felt so easily…then how come I'm having such a hard time telling him now?" Katara said softly to no one. I love him so much, but now I'm scared he doesn't feel the same. That nightmarecompletely tore me to pieces… Katara thought as a lone tear slipped down her cheek. She slowly sat down on the drop-off cross-legged. She slumped in her sitting position and heaved a soft sigh. I wish he were with me right now… Katara thought, looking towards the little speck of light coming from the campfire down the beach. No sooner had she thought that than Aang calmly sat down next to her. Katara's eyes widened… that was fast, she thought as she quickly began to get rid of the evidence of tears.
"Hey," Aang said softly, "what's the matter?" Aang gently asked.
Katara sighed and quickly wiped away a tear that escaped her eye.
"I-it's nothing-I…well," Katara stuttered softly, "I just had a bad dream…Is all."
Aang stared at her, his eyes full of concern and tender loving care towards her. He gently re-adjusted himself so he was facing her slightly.
"I'm sorry…I-I doubt you want to talk about it," Aang said softly ash gently averted his gaze to the ocean below.
"No, I don't really want-" Katara stopped herself. Katara, you're going to have to tell him you love him at some point, you can't keep this all bottled up inside you, Katara thought. Katara sighed and pushed the thought away. "-want to talk about it…" Katara finished her statement with a small sigh. She then gently hung her head, feeling a twinge of regret in her heart.
"I understand," Aang smiled sweetly.
Katara looked at him and smiled small smile…Suddenly feeling that twinge of regret sky rocket into confidence. She nibbled her lip before taking a calm, deep breath.
"But, there's something I've truly been meaning to tell you…" Katara suddenly said; she suddenly felt her heart skip beats and her stomach twisted and turned.
Aang quickly looked at her, a bewildered look on his face.
"Anything," Aang smiled.
Shoot Katara thought nervously. Why did I say that? I-I don't think I'm ready for this…I-I'm too nervous…
Katara took a slow, deep breath. Okay, this is for real, Katara, you can do this… Katara smiled. She suddenly remembered what happened in her dream. She frowned at the thought of Aang leaving her alone like that. How awful it was to see her love look disgusted and vanish right before her… Okay, maybe this isn't for real…Oh, I can't do this… Katara thought stubbornly.
"Was it what you were going to tell me the other day?" Aang asked calmly to break the sudden silence between the two, interrupting Katara's thoughts. Okay, now you can't back away from that sweet face, Katara thought, suddenly getting the courage to tell him. She smiled softly and tilted her head slightly to look at her hands.
"Um…Yeah. Yes it is," Katara said. Maybe this isn't a bad idea. What if he feels the same? I'm getting so worked up for nothing…She slowly faced Aang, ready to confess her love for the first time in her life. She stuttered, attempting to find the right words.
"Since…since the day I found you in the iceberg, I knew we'd get along great," Katara started, feeling somewhat confident in the way she explained this. She continued, "Life is a lot more fun and adventurous now that you've been in my life," Katara said softly as she stared into Aang's eyes nervously.
"I know, isn't it great?" Aang smiled as he gazed out to the ocean, not knowing the direction Katara was going with this.
"Yeah," Katara smiled, feeling fully confident and comforted by Aang's soft and sweet voice. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we've been through a lot together, whether it be good or bad."
"Yeah," Aang said with a charming smile, encouraging her to go on. Katara stopped for a moment and fiddled her fingers, feeling her heart rate accelerate with excitement and nervousness. She heaved a soft, somewhat shaky sigh.
"You're my best friend, Aang, and it didn't take me long to figure that out," Katara smiled.
"You're my best friend, too, Katara," Aang said happily.
"But it's taken me since right now to realize that I…I-I…" Katara stopped and looked at Aang nervously. Aang slowly averted his gaze from the ocean to Katara. He stared deeply into her eyes; he had suddenly got the hint at where Katara was going with all of this. His eyes widened somewhat as he could basically feel his heart stop. Katara took a slow, deep breath and let it out. She then looked at Aang lovingly and smiled a caring, gentle smile.
"I… I love you."
A/N: Cliffie! x) Hey admit it…you love it. Okay, don't kill me. I'll update as soon as I can. Please R&R! No flames.
- Katara -
Mohalo ;)