Yup! Second chapter already! Told you it was going to be added pretty quickly.
Katara's Point of view!
I own nothing!

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Feeble Attempts

That same day, we were all setting up. I had healed both Sokka and Toph's minor wounds, but I hadn't gotten to Aang just yet. I was putting it off, even though I knew I shouldn't.

It was only when Sokka flat out told me to get around to it did I finally attempt.

I slowly made my way up a flight of stairs to where he was staying. Millions of thoughts and scenarios were running through my mind, just in case he wanted to make conversation.

"No, no, no…" is what I would mumble when I made possible outcomes seem too awkward for myself. This happened quite often, and then I would shake my head and go over it again. It was strange how many things had gone through my head as I walked up that rather short bit of stairs. It made me wonder if either I was just walking really slowly, or if time seemed to stand still for me every once in a while. After what Aang said to me, either seemed incredibly probable.

What if he tries to tell me again? I don't know if I can handle that! All of this is just so confusing… were the thoughts that crossed my mind most frequently. I truly didn't know how I was supposed to react or how he expected me to. I was in no shape to answer when he first told me, and I'm still in that same situation now.

But when I finally made my way up to his room, he was sleeping. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I approached him. I healed all of his wounds as quickly as I could, not wanting to even really look at him much longer, due to the fact that questions kept flooding back.

Before I decided to leave him be, I let my hand drift over and lay on his heart for a moment. It was beating rather fast, and his breathing was also rather irregular for a person who was sleeping.

This made me grin a bit. He was faking it. I don't know if he was doing it for my sake, or for some other reason, but it made me thankful either way.

I made my way back towards the door and I stopped in the doorway. I looked back at him and frowned, then continued my way out.

"So…" The sound of Toph's voice made me stop in my tracks right at the top of the stairs and turn towards her. She was propped up against the stone wall, one foot flat on the ground while the other was against the stone wall, her arms crossed.

"Did you talk to him?" she asked slowly, even though it was apparent she already knew the answer.

"Who?" I said slowly and casually, as if I didn't know what she was talking about.

"…Aang?" one of her eyebrows rose in confusion as she asked, making her look more annoyed than she already did.

"What would I talk to him about?"

She approached me and I felt every muscle in my body stiffen as I looked down at the girl that almost seemed to be towering over me.

"You know what I'm talking-"

"Sorry, but I don't." I cut her off as I started to back away from her.

"Yes you do! You're lying to yourself!"

I started walking away at a quicker pace than I was used to. The moment I reached the bottom of the steps, I heard Toph yell after me; "You're hopeless, Sugar Queen; absolutely hopeless!"

And that was the last I had heard from Toph for the rest of the evening, so the rest of the day was rather quiet until we actually decided to sit down and eat something.

Of course, saying dinner was loud would be a lie. We had never been quieter than we were then.

The four of us sat in silence, basically only poking at the food I had prepared for us. Sokka and Toph were sitting next to each other, as were Aang and I, even though we were a considerable distance apart in comparison.

We barely even made a sound, let alone speak to each other. Through almost the entire meal, Toph was holding her bowl and drumming her fingers along the outside in a mix of what seemed to be annoyance and anticipation. After eating a few bites, Sokka would shift his eyes between Aang and I, then continue with his meal, and then it would repeat all over again.

One thing in particular that I noticed was that Aang and I would rarely ever move, and on the rare occasion that we did, it would make the other jump in surprise. It was as if even the tiniest twitch in our bodies would have a violent reaction in the other, making it apparent that we were both keeping an eye on each other just outside our line of vision. During these little jumps, Toph would grumble or Sokka would sit up a little straighter. Apparently, it happened more often than I realized.

I sighed and Aang sighed at the same time, although it probably wasn't intentional. I quickly turned towards him, and he did the same, and our eyes met probably the first time since our ride to the temple on Appa. Just as quickly as it had happened, I turned away and covered my face with my hands, trying to hide whatever blush that would inevitably come.

Then I heard Toph's bowl hit the ground with a bit of a clanging sound, which caused us other three to jump a good few feet in the air. She stood up quickly, looking positively angry.

"You people are CRAZY!" she yelled out. "Seriously, what is with you!?" and at this she hit her foot against the ground angrily, which caused a small pillar of rock to come up right next to Sokka, which he dodged just in time. Then she just simply stormed out of the room.

I took this as my chance to leave as well. I got up quickly and practically ran out of the room as well, going in the opposite direction Toph had. After only a few moments, I heard someone's footsteps behind me, which caused me to turn around on the spot. My brother stopped right behind me, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Katara, you really need to go and talk to Aang."

"Talk to Aang? About what?! You and Toph both tell me that I need to, but I don't see what I need to talk to him about!"

"You know what you need to talk to him about! Stop kidding yourself!" He said quickly, crossing his arms.

"Why are you so worried about it? Shouldn't you be more worried about our failure during the invasion?"

"Of course I'm worried about that, but that's irreversible! And, besides, this whole situation between you and Aang is messing with all of us. We haven't had a dinner that silent since the night Aang went unconscious."

I quieted down quickly after that and just stared at Sokka, both angry at him and myself for some reason. I needed to get away from everything just to give myself some time to think.

Turning on the spot, I continued the way I was heading before Sokka stopped me. I wasn't surprised to have to suddenly stop again due to the fact that he grabbed my arm.

"Where are you going?" He asked slowly, he voice noticeably softer than it was just a bit ago.

"I'm going to go feed Appa…" and before he could answer, I jerked my arm away from him, making my way towards where Appa was sleeping at a run, looking back only to see my brother shaking his head and then go back in to the room.

Continuing to where the large beast was currently resting, I found myself thinking everything over again. As I approached Appa, I found myself smiling at him, bringing my hand to rest lightly on his nose.

"Hey, buddy. Long time no chat."