The Avatar shot up from his position of slumber, presently on the back of his furry bison, Appa. He put a hand to his bald head and closed his eyes. He was used to prophetic dreams tormenting his nights, but the vision that had just spilled into his sleep was one that would not shake from his mind easily.
He turned his head to the Water Tribe girl commanding the beast, his large horns creating an oddly-angled fence around her. The Avatar looked at her again, seeing this time that she was crying, for what reason Aang had no clue.
He lightly stepped over the two sleeping figures of Toph and Sokka and took a seat by the weeping Katara.
"You cry out a lot when you sleep," she whispered before Aang could say a word.
He hung his head in shame; even if he had no control of what went on in his dreams, seeing her cry made him feel like the lowliest person on Earth.
"What happened?" Katara asked after a short pause.
Aang looked directly into her deep blue eyes, glossy from crying. He closed his own eyes, remembering the dream:
Katara's head bobbed up and down with the waves that nearly engulfed her, watching helplessly as fire rained down from the bloody-red sky above her. The balls of fire singed her skin, making her cry out in pain. From all around her, large stone figures jutted out from the water, each one bearing the symbol of one of the Four Nations, and each one red with blood. The four figures cracked and groaned from their own wait, and began to plunge piece-by-piece in the water. Katara held a hand up, as if to make an attempt to save her own life; right before the pieces of the figures began to fall into the surging waves, surely to crush the girl below, Katara began to hover, encased by a ball of air. The pieces of stone, as they fell into the sea, bounced off of the ball of air as if they were no more than pieces of paper. But, as the last of the Fire Nation figure fell at full force on Katara, the ball of air dissolved, leaving her at the mercy of the stone.
Katara put a hand on Aang's as slow tears began to streak down his cheeks.
"It was about you," he said through the tears.
"Me?" Katara asked in concern.
"Yes."
"Would you mind going into greater detail?" she asked in turn.
The Avatar took a breath to brace himself.
"You were being hurt; hurt by fire and stone. But you stayed protected."
"How?"
"By air…" the Avatar stated slowly.
Katara took in a breath; it wasn't a gasp, but an intake of realization. She knew that the air was more than what it appeared to be; it was Aang, protecting her from the Fire and Stone.
"But then, the air just vanished…"
Katara looked up, only to see Aang on the verge of tears once more.
"…and the Fire and Stone finally destroyed you."
"Oh, Aang," she whispered.
The Avatar blinked, releasing a couple tears from their chambers. He took Katara closer; the girl had not yet seen Aang so full of anguish.
"I don't ever want that to happen," he whispered into the silky ripples of her shirt.
"It won't…" she whispered back as the two embraced.
Both of them back away a bit, looking intently at the other. It was Katara that finally unlocked the feelings that had been bottled up so long; she slowly moved in, giving the Avatar a kiss that sent ripples of goose bumps down his entire body; and he kissed her back.
