Katara watched Aang carefully as the large chef trooped out of the kitchen, a few helpers following in his wake to set large platters of food down along the table. From across the large expanse of finely polished wood, Katara peered at Aang through the twisted bronze branches of the obstinate candelabra set in the center of the table. His eyes were focused upon the food, but something must have alerted him to Katara's eyes upon him, for he quickly looked to face her, only to see her watching him from around the candelabra.
"Uh, sweetie, do you wanna come and sit by me? It feels kinda lonely way down here, all by myself," Aang called, leaning far to the side so that he could view his wife without obstruction.
He smiled at her with a look that took Katara back to when they first met and her brother, Sokka, had accused Aang of being a Fire Nation spy. With a chuckle, Katara stood and wove her way through the chefs, making her way to the seat on Aang's left, where she pulled her seat right up next to his.
"There, not it's not so lonely at the end of this enormous table, is it," Katara asked, leaning against Aang as best she could while still being seated in her own chair.
"Nope, all better now," Aang said, completely ignoring the chef and his compatriots.
The large man in the large, billowing white apron stood like a soldier next to the table and cleared his throat before speaking in a loud voice.
"Avatar Aang, your dinner is served!"
"Wah- oh, thanks Gonju," Aang said, tearing his attention from Katara to thank the cook for his excellent work.
The Avatar had always been a tough man to cater too, as he did not partake of the flesh and was devout in his physical training and fitness. He entrusted his carefully planned, well balanced diet to Gonju, the large, angry looking man in the apron with a large mustache and a bandana. He looked more like a prison butch than a cook, but his culinary genius made him one of the best chefs in the Earth Kingdom.
"I was told tonight was a special night, so there's no meat in any of the dishes, and it's all very light and lean to help you keep in shape. If there's nothing else, I'll be off to clean up my kitchen," Gonju grunted before turning and leaving through the door that lead down into the kitchens.
Joo Dee stood off to the side and was silent and still, rather like a statue, as the Avatar and his bride dished themselves food and made small talk about idle topics. Her buzzing, worrisome thoughts were interrupted by a voice that made her jump.
"Joo Dee, are you hungry," Aang asked, "there's plenty to go around! And there's no way we can eat all of this!"
"No, thank you, Avatar," Joo Dee replied, looking rather afraid as she stiffened, once more becoming lifeless and stationary.
Aang, thinking nothing of Joo Dee's peculiar attitude, once more turned his attentions to his food, as he had worked hard all day, but Katara too became solemn as she watched Aang tear through a plate of tofu.
'Do I really want to know if he's been unfaithful,' Katara wondered, feeling tears in her eyes as she stared, 'am I ready to hear the worst of it?'
But the longer she gazed at Aang, her husband, the man she loved, the less she saw him and the more she saw the boy she pulled from the iceberg. He was still there, beneath the veneer of toned muscle and male testosterone; she could see him in the twinkle of Aang's eye, and the way his lips always seemed to curl at the corners with a mischievous grin. Even his voice, which had once been so young and carefree, still retained a hint of its youthful origin. He was, at heart, still the same boy she had pulled from the iceberg, and some part of Katara knew that he would never do anything to hurt her… and yet he was willing to keep secrets from her. She had to know the truth.
"Uh, Aang, can I ask you a question," Katara said, fiddling with her hair, which was done in Earth Kingdom fashion, with a long, singular braid slung over her shoulder.
Joo Dee took notice of the way Katara messed with the braid, as it was the agreed upon signal, and she leaned against the wall, tapping it with her fingernail as discreetly at she could. No noise was heard, but upon the other side of the wall, Toph felt the taps as the vibrations worked through the stone wall, up her arm and reverberated in her head.
She took a breath, and she gently stomped one of her bare feet and pressed both hands up against the wall, as if she were trying to push it over. Suddenly, her hearing increased exponentially, and she could sense everything in the room opposite of her hideaway, where the Avatar and his wife were enjoying their dinner.
"Yeah, of course Katara," Aang said thickly through a large mouthful before he swallowed it down and thumped his chest.
"Well, Aang, I just wanted to ask-"
Aang felt his heart throb painfully as Katara began her question. Did she know about the discrepancies in his schedule, did she realize what was going on? How would she react?
"are you seeing other people Aang? You don't need to hide it if you are, I've noticed how strange-"
The question caught the Avatar off guard, and before he could stifle it, he let out a loud guffaw of laughter before he slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Katara, are you serious," Aang stammered, looking at his wife with wide, unbelieving eyes, "do you seriously think I'd ever be interested in other women? Sweetie, you're my forever girl!"
"He's telling the truth," a voice said as a section of the wall slid open to reveal Toph.
"Toph!? When did you get here? I thought you weren't going to be in Ba Sing Se for a while," Aang exclaimed, standing to give his old friend and earthbending teacher a hug.
"It's good to see you, Twinkletoes," Toph said, giving Aang a gruff hug and a slugging him in the gut when they broke apart.
The blow made Aang double over, gasping for breath as Toph went and took a seat in Aang's spot, carefully feeling around for food that would sate her appetite.
"So, Aang, you were telling the truth about Katara being the only woman for you, so how about you explain your strange behavior," Toph prompted as Aang's disbelieving gaze flickered between Katara and herself.
"Strange behavior," Aang said quietly, "what do you mean, Toph… and why does this feel like an interrogation instead of a nice, peaceful dinner with my wife and a spontaneous visit from you?"
Both were silent, and while Toph had never looked anyone in the eye due to her blindness, Katara was suddenly interested in in the cloth napkins by her seat, while Aang did his best to maintain the look of dissatisfaction he aimed at the waterbender.
"Aang, I've just been worried. I asked Toph to help me figure out what you've been up too. I can understand if you're upset, but please understand, if there's an issue, I want to make it better," Katara said quietly, still not looking at her husband as he crossed his arms and rubbed a hand over his face.
All the while, Toph worked on eating the second plate of food Aang had barely touched so that he could talk to his wife, and she frowned as she realized there was no meat, which was an integral part of her diet.
"Things are great between us," Aang said suddenly, holding his fingers to his temple, "I honestly think this is the best I've felt in a long time, Katara! My role as the Avatar is balanced quite well with my home life and I've managed to find hobbies to entertain me in my free time. I haven't felt this complacent since right after we defeated Ozai!"
Aang wasn't yelling, even though his voice was raised. He seemed desperate to explain himself to Katara, who looked at him through shrewd, suspicious eyes.
"Give it up, Sugar Queen," Toph said through a mouthful of chewy tofu that tasted a bit too bland for her liking, "Aang isn't cheating, that's been established already… no, I think he's been up to something else. Why did you run from us today when we saw you at the arena Aang?"
"You-but-how did you know it was me," Aang asked, staring at Toph as she delicately dabbed at her mouth with a napkin.
"Please, I can feel the shape of your body through the earth, Twinkletoes. At first I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but sensing you now, I am."
"Wait, that was Aang we chased from the warehouse," Katara asked loudly, staring at Toph as well.
"Yep," Toph said, pushing away the plate of tofu and looking completely at ease in the intense atmosphere, "and I bet Aang will explain why he was there if you ask him…bearing in mind that I can sense if he's lying."
"Well, seeing as you guys are making such a big deal out of this, I suppose it's time I come clean," Aang said, taking a seat at the table next the Katara and tilting his head back so that he stared at the ceiling.
"After Ozai was thrown in jail, we worked to restore peace. But honestly, I'd never felt less at peace than I had during the aftermath. People treated me like I'd done all this incredible stuff, they respected me, feared me… It felt so unreal that I couldn't stand it. Bending was my only escape, and I couldn't really bend all the time, so I tried to just practice. It helped, but barely. Every day I woke up early, and I trained harder and harder until I ended up destroying our garden with earthbending."
"I remember that," Katara said quickly, "but Aang, I would've sparred with you!"
"I didn't want to bother you," Aang muttered, "you were so enveloped with your daily explorations of the city and fulfilling the role of my wife that I didn't feel right coming to you for help. I didn't know where to go or what to do with myself, and so, under the cover of the night, I managed to enter into all kinds of underground bending competitions. I had to wear a disguise and I always came back the next day extremely exhausted, and covered in bruises."
"So I suppose that's why you suddenly stopped wearing sleeveless robes, even when it was hot," Katara thought aloud, placing another piece of the puzzle.
"Yup, but then I realized that I couldn't keep it up forever, and so I actually decided to shed my disguises, and I called out any benders who wanted to take me on. It turns out there's a criminal underbelly in this city the likes of which you guys can't even fathom. Anyway, I set up matches with them and I used a bunch of gold to set up an arena. Word spread, and soon it was known all over the lower rings that Avatar Aang was willing to pay any bender who could best him in a bending match, provided they followed the rules."
"Wait, you paid people to beat you up," Toph asked, picking her nose and raising an eyebrow.
"I haven't paid anyone anything because I haven't lost yet," Aang said, a strange fire in his eyes as he turned to survey his wife's unreadable expression, "and it's not just for thrills, I think… I think I've really started something, you guys."
"Started something," Katara asked with a frown.
"I've begun holding tournaments, teams of benders face each other and fight their way through a bracket of other teams, and when they win the championship they get to try their hand at beating the Avatar. I know for a fact that there are teams made up entirely of criminals who have given up lives of crime for a chance at the grand prize. And it's not just that, crime rates have dropped exponentially, throughout all of Ba Sing Se, according to the meetings I've been attending with the cities leaders."
"It sounds to me like you've resurrected the Earth Rumble, except sort of different," Toph said thoughtfully.
"Kind of, I guess, but this time around it's not about money, there's a serious movement surrounding this tournament. And in all honesty, I haven't felt this peaceful and contented in years. It's like I can feel pride emanating from my past lives! Think, Katara," Aang said suddenly, taking Katara's hand in his and staring into her eyes, "think back to about two years ago. Do you remember how unhappy I was? How I seemed so restless and uneasy?"
Katara didn't need to think hard on it: she remembered those times with sadness as she stared into her husband's deep gray eyes.
Things had finally progressed to the point where Aang's position was less about physically repairing the damage wrought by the Fire Nation, and more about reestablishing balance throughout the world. Every day he woke late, refused to eat the breakfast that Katara had prepared for him and set off for a meeting in the palace, where he would remain in council for hours, leaving Katara to pace around the estate by herself. He would return shortly after dusk, looking especially rundown, and escorted by an assistant that heaved around countless sheaves of parchment and papers for Aang's perusal. Again, he would refuse a hot meal and shut himself in his study, squaring away the paperwork well into the wee hours of the morning. Katara would awaken in the middle of the night and pass by his study, only to find his candles had burnt out and the Avatar had fallen asleep at his desk. Ever the loving wife, Katara would cover Aang with a blanket before whisking away plates of uneaten food brought to Aang by his servants and once more taking her place in a bed made for two, where she would lay awake and try not to think about how the cycle would repeat itself the following day.
The difference between the Aang in front of her now and the man from back then was astounding. Two years ago, Aang wouldn't be sitting down with her to dinner, staring into her eyes with a semi-guilty trickster's grin on his face. No, two years ago he would've looked up at her tiredly from his desk, his hand stiff and sore from writing for hours and a dull, lifeless look in his eyes.
Katara's expression must've told Aang all he needed to know, because he smiled even wider.
"Still think I'm cheating," he asked casually, leaning in for a kiss.
"No," Katara said, pecking her husband upon the lips, "I believe Toph. And don't think you're out of the doghouse! I'm still upset about you lying to me."
The waterbender pouted and stifled a smile as she huffed and turned away from Aang. Not convinced of Katara's ire, Aang stood and placed himself behind his wife's chair before leaning down and giving her a small kiss on the neck.
"I'll do anything to get out of the doghouse," Aang breathed as Katara's face flushed with color.
A quick glance around and Aang knew why his wife was embarrassed; it seemed that his seductive whisper had been heard by everyone, from Toph and Joo Dee, both of whom blushed bright shades of magenta, to the cook, who was peaking through the doorway to the kitchens, dabbing sweat from his forehead as he waited for a less intimate moment to enter.
The Avatar chuckled and took the seat by his wife, his hand in hers as he nodded to the chef, who promptly marched in followed by his apprentices. They cleared away dinner and set down several desserts, including fancy jellos, a variety of homemade custards, and a large, sumptuous chocolate cake that made the table groan as it was set down. As soon as the culinary genius that was Gonju and his associates left, Toph stood and slowly but surely made her way to where Katara and Aang sat together at the long oaken dining table. Once there, she paused, leaving Aang to ponder what she was doing before-
"OW!"
"That's for making me uncomfortable," Toph said, turning around and marching back to her seat while Aang massaged the top of his head, which was now incredibly sore from Toph's attack.
Without so much as a single apology, Toph sat back down and smacked the table. Aang, fearing another unprovoked assault, was suddenly missing from his chair by Katara's side. He peered over the edge of the table at the blind Earthbender before once more taking up residence of the chair.
"I just dropped-uh-"
"Your dignity," Toph asked, grabbing a knife and pulling the cake closer to her as Aang once more took a dive, having only seen Toph reach for the knife.
"Just dropped it again," he said lamely, resuming his seat for the second time.
Silence fell over the dining room, leaving Aang to feel rather tense as his wife and his former earthbending master ate dessert. Sure, he was upset that Katara thought he might have been unfaithful, but with how secretive he'd been he honestly couldn't find fault with her, Katara was remarkably clever after all; it was only a matter of time before she figured out something was wrong. But now what? She hadn't made any comments about it, did she disapprove? It wasn't as if he'd lied about his story, crime truly was down, by quite a bit in fact. He hadn't paid out any money, the arena was built on the gold in the winners' pot, and he truly felt like he was doing something right, he had to have been. After all, Aang was a very morally driven person, both because of his nomadic heritage and his duty as the Avatar. If he had felt he was truly doing something wrong, he wouldn't be able to deal with it, and the guilt would likely keep him awake at night.
That said, nowadays he went to bed shortly after Katara, and he slept straight through till the dawn, when he would wake up and smile as he watched his beautiful wife slumber. He had no more doubts as to whether or not he was doing the right thing, but something told him Katara may have still needed some convincing.
"Hey, so-um- Katara, after dinner, let's all go for a walk! I want to show you guys the arena. Maybe it'll help if you both actually see it functioning and helping to bring people together," Aang suggested, dishing himself a small sliver of cake.
"I don't know Aang," Katara said, "with all the bending going on in there, are you sure it'll be safe?"
"Yeah, one of the rules is that bending has to be limited so that it doesn't fire off into the crowd and injure any spectators or competitors," Aang said quickly, looking rather excited at the notion of explaining the sport, "and there are penalties and zones and all kind of rules about secondary bending skills and tricky moves that could result in serious injury. It's a contact sport, but safety is the prime concern! Seriously, you guys should see it-uh-sorry Toph."
"It's fine," she said, scooting out her chair and reclining so as to rub her swollen belly, "besides, I planned on coming along anyway. I figure I could beat all of those teams and you, I could use the gold."
"I don't know Toph, out on the road you may have me beat, but in the arena, you'd probably end up losing because you don't know all the rules," Aang said thoughtfully, though his tone was slightly condescending.
"Rules are for dorks," Toph said, "I'd smash you all into a zillion tiny pieces, and then I'd take your gold anyway cause you're a loser!"
"This coming from the short, blind metalbender with a god complex and chocolate smeared on her face? Don't make me laugh," Aang scoffed, earning him a face full of jello from a spiteful Toph.
"Guys," Katara squeaked, "now is not the time for a food fight, look, Gonju is giving you both his best death glare!"
And so he was, the stout, mustached man was scowling furiously at Aang as the Avatar held the entire chocolate cake over his head, ready to bring it down on Toph. The short metalbender turned, glared and bared her teeth in a violent grimace, causing Gonju to pale before he turned and fled back down the stairs to the kitchen. Toph smiled triumphantly before she turned to face Aang, who slowly set down the cake.
"Geez, I thought you were scary before," Aang sighed as he poured tea for his wife and his former master, "five years have passed since we ended the war, what do you have to do in that time to perfect a look that can scare off my chef, who was once a convicted felon?"
"Aang, I'm a teacher," Toph said in a sickly sweet voice, "with a single syllable I can inspire hope in the hopeless or I can deter the most narrow-minded blockhead. Maybe you missed the memo, but metalbending is a very difficult skill to master, molding a human is actually easy in comparison."
After their tea, they all changed and gathered their going-out garments: Aang with his fancy silk shawl, a gift from the Fire Lord, Katara with a light coat, modeled in the style of the water tribe, and Toph, surprisingly, latched on her old Earth Rumble Champion belt, which it seemed she had brought with her.
"They might as well know who they're dealing with," Toph muttered before following Katara out the door. Aang smiled and shook his head, taking up the rear and closing the door to his estate with a snap before trailing after Katara and Toph.
Ladies and gents, this fic ain't dead. Not quite yet, anyway. So I wrote this a while ago, and completely neglected to post it after editing because I was crazy busy with other projects (PJ and the LOK) and then I actually took to watching Bleach. Yes, that Bleach. Little did I realize until just now, the surly, mustached chef in this fic shares a name with Gonju from Bleach. And a similar character design for how I imagined him, too. Buff, yet slightly potbellied from all his cooking. Slap a mustache on Bleach's Gonju and BAM, you kinda see where I was going. But moving on, here we also find out exactly what Aang has been up to, and I'm sure I know what you're thinkin... 'That's it? Aang was just probending?' No, silly readers, he was INVENTING THE SPORT! THIS IS MY HEADCANON AND YOU WILL NOT TAKE IT FROM ME! Nah, but I had this vague idea for a fic where Aang invents probending, and this is the offspring of that thought. I know, you guys wanted drama, or perhaps filthy, degenerate smexys. Nope, innocence and childlike naivety, because Avatar is my childhood and I think I may have a slight obsessive problem with it you gais.
