Ok. Here is chapter five! Sorry for the wait. I really didn't have too much inspiration flowing through my brain, and I was getting kinda depressed when I wrote this story... BUT NO WORRIES! Eventually this story will get happy... hopefully! :) Anyways. I'm sorry if this chapter seems kind of bad. It was just really hard to figure out how to connect my two big plot points... lets hope this will suffice! Enjoy! ... And don't forget to leave a review whether you hated it or loved it!
If this is to end in fire, then we should all burn together. Watch the flames climb high into the night. - I See Fire
What was even happening?
Just a moment ago, he was on top of the world. He had finally received what he had needed for two long years. Forgiveness from her.
And now, he stood watching the walls of his happiness crumble around him. Closing in with stealthy speed.
He blinked in confusion. Why was this woman kissing the man that Katara loved. The man that had provided for Katara when he could not. The man who was engaged to Katara.
Suddenly, understanding crossed his face and replaced his puzzled expression with one of pure revulsion.
Kantu was cheating on Katara with this woman.
He was so disgusted at the selfishness of Kantu for betraying the trust that Katara had so kindly given him. He did not deserve that trust. He deserved something that no monk should be thinking. Yet Aang stood there with every intention of doing it.
He truly wanted to hurt this deceitful man. He wanted this man to pay for his unfaithfulness.
Suddenly he stopped himself. Hurting him would be like hurting her. And he couldn't do that. So he hurriedly turned to leave the room before he could do something he would regret.
As he made his way out of the dim room he couldn't stop thinking about his desires to inflict pain upon Kantu. And he didn't even understand why he was so upset. He should be happy right? Maybe Katara would leave the cheater and come back to him… But he could not finish the thought.
A hesitant yet firm voice pierced his mind. This was not the same voice that had held an absurd amount of confidence. This voice held caution, and something else that Aang could not quite distinguish. But it almost sounded like it was warning him.
"Aang, what the hell are you doing here!?"
Although Aang did not want to look back at the arrogant man, he knew he could not just walk away from his problems. He had learned that the hard way before.
So with a face of stone, he turned around to face the man who was engaged to Katara. Aang did not need a mirror to tell him that his eyes had no gleam in them. Instead they were burning with hate. And all that hate was directed to Kantu. If only looks could kill...
"What do you want?" Aang hissed with an accusing tone. But despite his question, he didn't need nor want an answer from Kantu. He did not deserve his time. And he definitely did not deserve Katara's.
The man hesitated for a moment, obviously taken aback by enraged monk. Aang was not a person who held anger, so seeing it on him now gave him a concealed shiver of fear.
"Can you just… like forget seeing that?" He said it in a questioning manner, knowing he was at the mercy of the Avatar. Aang expected to hear regret or maybe even sorrow in Kantu's voice, but sadly he detected nothing of the sort. Just a question. Like he was asking what they were eating for lunch tomorrow.
And this just fanned the flames of Aang's loathing. Because he could tell this man felt nothing for Katara. He was using her. It was quite appalling to know that the woman he was willing to die for, was planning to spend the rest of her life with this… this excuse for a man. She deserved someone who returned her love with an even deeper passion. Not someone who took flight at the first sign of trouble. Nor someone who couldn't even be faithful to her.
"No. I will not let you do this to Katara." He did nothing to hide the malice that was woven into his speech. He just let it cut through the stagnant air with a sharp slice. "And you will tell her...Or I will." Every word matched the ferocity that shone in his malignant eyes.
And with that, he turned and walked away, leaving Kantu to stutter with a contorted face of shock. He actually expected Aang to give in. He obviously underestimated the love Aang had for Katara.
But he would not underestimate Aang again.
As soon as Aang was out of Kantu's stifling room, he made his way down the hallway with quick determined steps. It didn't take long before he realized that he was headed in the opposite direction of his room. His feet were instead taking him to the door. So he did not resist the movement. He just let them take him away. He let them take him down the hall. And through the front room. And past the balcony. And through the door. Outside into the cold wintry winds.
His first step was met with a soft layer of snow and a shooting spike of cold up his legs. In his quick escape, he had left the house in his night clothes, which consisted of a soft pair of pants and a thin undershirt. No shoes. But he still needed to get away, and keep moving. He wanted to find a place where no one could find him so he could think. He felt like he was drowning in despair.
So he kept walking despite the loss of feeling his toes, and the chill that was easily penetrating his exposed fingertips. Just one step after another was all he could think.
Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left.
He repeated the two words for what seemed like an eternity. And as he walked his face transformed from its outraged expression, to one of defeat. His arms clutched his body, trying to hold both the heat, and the emotions inside of him.
Before long, the cold started to freeze even his mind and he struggled to remember his directions. At that point he knew he had to stop. So he raised his crestfallen face to figure out where his frozen feet had taken him. He didn't recognize the area he had ended up in. It was a rather large snow clearing with a fountain in the center. The water that normally flowed in the fountain had frozen over and it was now covered in a light frost. Besides the fountain, everything was dark. The moon only illuminated the center of the clearing.
It highlighted the fountain with a beautiful sheen. The white light made it look like a haven. Some where that evil could never touch. So he walked towards the fountain, hoping it would provide the safety he needed.
Maybe if he sat down, he could figure something out… It's not like things could get worse. So when he arrived at the edge of brick that surrounded the water pool, he sat down in the feathery snow that covered the seat. The water melted a little and seeped into his cotton pants as he sat down. He really regretted the whole "no changing clothes" idea, but he knew if he hadn't moved then, he never would have been freed from the hands that were slowly closing in around his throat.
He slowly turned his body so it faced the middle of the fountain, and he examined the frozen depths of ice in the pool. At first look, he only saw himself. He looked… conquered. His eyelids drooped in an exhausted manner, and the corners of his mouth were turned into a solemn grimace. As he sat, looking at his own reflection, the thoughts and emotions that had been pent up, suddenly broke their hidden barrier and exploded from him.
He let out a bloodcurdling scream that seemed like a mix between a cry, a laugh, and a roar of outrage. Oddly the scream assuaged the sharp stabbing of pain in his gut.
He didn't even know why he was so upset about Kantu cheating.
But even though he told himself that he didn't know, deep down he had an explanation.
When Katara was with Kantu, there was happiness in her eyes. Not the fake kind, but the authentic kind. The kind of happiness that shone in his own eyes when he looked at her. She loved him. And when you love someone, you put your own well-being in their hands.
Last time she had done that, Aang had let her fall.
But Aang had promised himself that he would never let that happen to her again. Even if he wasn't the one holding her in his hands. He was willing to sacrifice his own happiness, as long as she was spared.
He had known that since day one. That is something you accept when you really love someone.
But the more important question was what he should do.
He could tell her what he saw.
Maybe if the wound came from a friend, it wouldn't hurt as much…
But he knew he was just telling himself what he wanted to hear. No matter how the news was received, it would be excruciating. But she still had a right to know the truth.
And if he didn't tell her, than someone else would have to. He could always try telling Sokka or Toph and they could break the news to her… Unlike him, they had never hurt her, so the truth would not open a freshly stitched wound. But it would still leave another mark that she wouldn't be able to heal with her water.
He suddenly felt a wave of hot rage run up his spine once again. Why did the world always have to fight him? It just kept throwing these obstacles at him. He would rather fight the fire lord again than deal with all this… emotion.
He stood abruptly and swung a solid fist at his glassy reflection. The hit sent a sharp pain through his knuckles and a small stream of blood emerged from his middle knuckle where it had made contact. The pain was multiplied ten times by the fact that his hand was practically numb when he hit the frozen water.
He felt a tear swell in his eye, and quickly pushed it down. Although he was in extreme pain, he knew his moment of weakness wasn't brought on by his bloody hand. Everything he touched just kept falling apart. He was standing on a sinking ship that was losing ground fast. And he was without a life raft to save him from the always hungry waters of despair.
With his rage waning, he looked once again at his reflection. But this time he wasn't alone.
In the mirror he saw Katara.
Although the picture that stood behind him was just a hallucination, he still found comfort in seeing her placid face. In his vision, she looked like she was trying to tell him something. But he couldn't quite decipher it, so he pushed his torso farther over the edge of the fountain to get a closer look. He watched her lips move with an unbreakable stare, and after a few minutes of just watching, he began to recognize the patterns in her movements.
He finally figured out what she was saying, and he let out a choke of relief. Her words were exactly what he needed. Her counsel had settled the raging seas of his mind, and left him with a face to match hers. She had thrown him a life raft. And he knew what he had to do.
He was just about to lift his face away from the fountain, when he saw another face start to appear in the hazy picture. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look…
But when he finally recognized who stood behind him, it was too late.
A hostile hand grabbed his skull and thrust it down towards the solid water in one fluid movement.
And as his head met the frigid ice, he heard Katara's words reach him one more time.
"You will never be alone."
And then his world was engulfed in a black blanket of nothingness.
I will seriously never end a chapter without a cliffhanger...
Need more Kataang? Check out my one-shot, Underlying Beauty! :) Thanks for reading!