The storm set in shortly after they left Appa to his housing. Katara was water bending the rain off of herself and Aang was following suit. He smiled running ahead and jumped in a puddle, defeating the purpose. He laughed slightly. "I want to get wet on my terms!" He joked. At that moment he felt something cold and wet smack into the back of his head. He looked back at Katara, but as he did, a snowball hit him right in the face. Katara's laughter burst out of her and Aang returned the favor, laughing and bending the rain into snow, throwing a snowball which caught her right in the forehead. "It's on baldy." She teased, throwing another one. Aang dodged out of the way and threw one back, but Katara was ready, bending an ice shield out of the water to stop it. She returned fire and Aang copied it, pulling water out of a puddle. He dodged out of the way of a flurry of rain Katara aimed at him. Flipping through the air and landing in front of Katara. He dropped the shield, getting close to her, and without another moment they kissed, arms sliding around the other to hold tight. It was long, lingering and sweet. That was until a voice ruined the moment.
"What's going on here?" Sokka asked, breaking the silence. Aang and Katara broke the kiss laughing, both turning to Sokka. "Fire!" They yelled together, throwing snowballs at a shocked Sokka, as he turned to run away.
Inside a few minutes later, Aang and Katara were chuckling. She was leaning into Aang, as they were seated on the floor as Sokka brooded across the room in front of the fire, being still wet.
"Getting hit with snowball fights, next thing I know I'm going to have another leech stuck to my head or something, should have just thrown my boomerang out the window and walked away. "You know Sokka, we could just dry you off if you'd come a little closer to us. "No…no, that's okay, I'll warm up the non magic way." He said shaking his head. Aang chuckled and kissed Katara gently as she leaned into his chest. "Well that was nice." He said to her. She chuckled and closed her eyes, nodding. He stroked her hair gently. "Well before you guys start throwing unnatural snow at me again, I'm going to bed." Sokka announced. "And please, keep the roar down to a minimum." He said, walking away. Momo quickly curled up in front of the fire that Sokka had abandoned. Katara had become still in his arms, her breathing slow. She had fallen asleep. Aang leaned his head against hers and smiled. He could get used to this.
Katara awoke in a daze. It was later, she knew that. The fire was but embers now, and the house dark. She was still on Aang's chest, but now they were laying down, a gentle snore escaping him. She turned slowly, to not disturb him and looked to his face.. He looked so peaceful. She didn't want to move, but they wouldn't hear the end of it if Sokka found them like this. No bad dreams too, that was something she could get used to. With a heavy sigh she pulled away, his arms catching her and his eyes slipping open.
"You okay Katara?" He asked in a whisper. She nodded to him. "Yeah, but we should go to bed. Not together…I mean…" She blushed, stammering over herself. Aang chuckled "I know what you mean." He said, letting her sit up and following suit, though his arms still around her. "Just one more minute." He said, leaning into the nook of her neck, taking a deep breath. She leaned her head against his, closing his eyes. It would be nice to spend the night in each other's arms, but she wasn't ready for that. Not yet. He reluctantly let go of her and they shared a long, lingering kiss. "Good night Aang." She said smiling. "Good night Katara." He replied, both standing, looking at each other for a long moment before stepping away to their own private quarters.
A messenger hawk rested for the night in a cliff outside a forest. It had been flying through the storm. The seal of the fire lord addressing it, showing it's true urgency. The best hawk was being used to deliver it, but still it couldn't keep going through the storm. As lightning struck the ground below, the hawk laid closed it's eyes, falling asleep, the message to be delivered another day, and in another place, not far from it's location, but far enough to make a difference.
"Good morning everyone!" Aang said, riding out of his room on an Air Scooter before making it dissipate, realizing that no one was in the kitchen. "Hmm…" He looked around and found a note from Sokka.
Going to get supplies for the trip, won't be too long.
Aang shrugged it off, that was normal, and from the lack of a note from Katara, he assumed that she was still asleep. He headed back to his room, focusing on what the next step would be. In Katara's room, it revealed she wasn't asleep. She was curled up on the bed, sitting up with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes closed tightly as tears fought there way out. "Go away…nightmares just go away." She muttered, burying her head into her knees. Aang's mood was the complete opposite as he closed the door, pulling his project from his robe. He used a small stick, twisting a screw into place, his eyes focused. He let out a breath and watched as it made a full revolution. He cheered, it was working. Now for the hard part.
Sokka returned to the house, baskets full of various foods, meat, fruits, vegetable, a club that he found he liked, and a broken basket which had cost him two silver pieces. That was unpleasant. He was a bit confused, where was everyone. "Am I the only one doing anything around here?" He asked loudly and exasperated, pulling out an apple and taking a bite. "At least the foods good." He said, turning and tripping over the carpet pulling all the new stuff over onto himself. "Great, just great." He said, wondering what to expect next.
Aang heard a crash and looked up quickly, stowing his project away in his robe. He blew the door open and jumped on air scooter, flying towards the noise and sweeping past Katara. He hopped off and saw Sokka laying on the floor, buried under food eating an apple. "Oh hey guys. At least this time I'm buried in things I can eat." He said, taking another bite of the apple. Aang and Katara started laughing at him as she picked up a basket off of him. "Well that's true at least." Aang and her started unburying him, placing the food in baskets until he was unburied. "At least I didn't get mocked by a little meal this time." He said stretching and standing up. "So are we ready to go?" He asked, throwing the apple core out the window. "Yeah, let's pack up, we want to hit Chin Village before nightfall. "I'll meet you guys out there, I have something I forgot to pack." Aang said. Katara gave him a surprised look, but said nothing. In his room, Aang was searching frantically. "Okay, where is that scroll…" Aang said, muttering to himself. He found it after a few moments, rolling it up and putting it with his things. He pulled out his project and looked at again, smiling to himself. It would be done by the time they reached the South Pole.
"Aang, are you ready?" Katara asked walking into the doorway. Aang jumped, shoving the project into his robes. "Uh yeah, I'm ready." He said turning in place. "Hehheh." He muttered nervously, picking up his satchel. He hopped across the room, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Let's go, before Sokka buries himself again." He said with a grin. Katara giggled. "That's probably a good idea." Together, they headed out to Appa, hoping to find a non buried Sokka.