NightStar: Yes Appa is a matchmaker. Wait until Momo enters the show.
Avatargirl92008: Yes, Aang will have a spine. I too detest that. He is not a marshmallow, why do people insist on portraying him that way?
Shinobi Bender: Yes, Sokka and the rest of the gang will be very involved. They all want them to be happy plus I'm writting a real confrontation between Zuko and Aang. Lot of unsaid things there.
Arizony: I'm a big fan of Liselle and I loved her take on EIP.
my trancey inspiration: I normally hate the Katara cheats ones too. Mostly because they tend to be very one sided. I wanted to explore what would drive Katara to do that. Katara has shown in the past a tendency to hurt Aang without thinking. EIP and SR are the ones I thought of when I began this fic.
Enjoy.
He yawned heavily, his head dropping onto his chest. Aang knew he was exhausted. Yesterday's events had drained him in ways he had not expected. The tumult of feelings would have normally made him slip into Avatar mode. But thanks to more sessions with Guru Pathik after Katara and Zuko's initial deception, he had learned to calm his raging responses.
He was nodding off again so he just propped his sagging head on his hand. He needed to cover more ground and it wouldn't happen if he stopped every time he felt tired. He had kept that schedule before but with Katara along it was an unnecessary risk. He forced himself to breathe deeply letting the air and sun flow through him. Feeling more refreshed he finally caved and twisted in the saddle to address her.
She was half draped on the saddle horn, her gaze settled in the direction they had come from. In the direction of the fire nation. 'Why come if you didn't want to leave? Why fly with me?' He shooed aside the pointless questions and settled back in his seat. He leaned down and petted his only true companion.
"Please, Appa. Hurry." Aang whispered. His bison grunted disapprovingly and Aang was forced to bribery, "I'll give you extra hay…" Appa seemed to have actually slowed down. "Melons and anything else you want. Ok buddy. Deal?"
Appa grunted in a much more mollified tone. Relieved Aang leaned back, glad to be moving closer to Katara's tribe. Shaking his head only worked for so long before he finally gave in to sleep. When next he woke he saw that the sky had disappeared and been replaced with the crystal walls of the underground Ba Sing Se. "Of all the dream places to end up, I had to chose this one." Aang muttered.
"I choose the place. I called you here, Aang." the man responded.
"You just can't leave me be, can you?" he asked spotting Avatar Roku. The older avatar walked over to Aang and sat him down. He handed him a rock crystal and broke off one for himself. Defeated Aang prepared for a long lecture but was stopped by Roku smashing his stone back into the ground.
"What was that for?" Aang shouted staring at Roku. He had never been violent before and Aang would do anything to wake himself if need be. He could not bend here and Roku had the advantage.
"Aang like this rock you too have been ripped out of your home and smashed into an era that you did not recognize. The rock crystals are more plant than rock. They are tended to and cared for by a select group of people. They are valuable and very rare. Only truly gifted benders can pull these from the ground without shattering them." Roku pulled the shattered remains from the ground and laid them out.
Not understanding what he was trying to explain Aang knelt and picked up one of the larger pieces rotating it in his hand. Unconcerned Roku took the crystal from his hand and gently opened a pocket of earth reinserting the piece.
"Even shattered, these pieces once put back into their earth will soon grow much stronger. That is why its valuable. If it breaks it is stronger but someone must care for it." Roku pushed a pulse of power into the hole and the crystal shot up stopping several feet from the ceiling.
"I'm the crystal." Aang supplied marveling at the stature of the newborn rock. "Yes, now you must let those that love you tend and care for you. Only then will the shards that were lost be replaced. You must forgive." Roku said gripping his shoulders.
Although Aang was still a child's age, he had a man's mentality. Visions of her sharing, what he could have sworn was his love exclusively, with whom he had considered a brother were too much and he stumbled forward into the rock. The formation curved upwards and Aang put his hand on it. It hummed merrily something it had not done when it was still a small piece in his hand.
Roku's grip was still on his shoulder warming the coldness that had snaked through him. After everything he had learned this week Aang could not fight the sobs that racked him anymore. Roku embraced the boy and Aang curled his arms around himself grateful for the release.
His eyes opened in surprise, the red cloak of Roku had vanished and replaced with a dark blue. The shape that he had been hugging did not match with what he knew of Roku.
In fact his mind instantly conjured one of many scandalous memories of Katara and him. He'd pressed her roughly against one of the temple's cold walls. She moaned his name in such a way that if he had not been raised in said temple, he would have had his way with her then and there.
He scrambled backwards all the way off Appa. Thankfully they had landed and all he received was a hit to his pride as Katara looked over the saddle to stare into his stunned face and burst out laughing. "Thanks, Buddy." he growled at the uncaring animal.
If he hadn't known better he could have sworn that Appa had winked at him. "No melons." Aang said.
Offended Appa lifted himself from the ground launching a very surprised Katara into the air. Aang reacted without thinking pushing from the ground. She reached out to him and he wrapped his arms around her. They plummeted to the ground and he barely managed to form a bubble of air to soften their fall.
Katara landed on him and both lay immobile for a moment. He could count every different shade of blue in her wide eyes. He could feel every curve of her body and it all fit too well against his. Her hands were flat on his chest and he was sure she could feel the thumping of his treasonous heart. 'Was it his imagination that her breathing had gotten shallow? And had her face been that close when they landed? Her lips were inches from his and his mind had completely walked out on him.
He closed his eyes ready to throw caution to the wind and remind her of why she had loved him first. Her eyes closed and his would have to but just as they began to slide shut he saw it. At her throat was a black band complete with a sun symbol. He moved his head to the side and her kiss landed on his cheek.
Annoyed at himself for such a quick relapse he didn't even hide his anger. He grabbed her wrists one handed and used the other to air lift them up. "Your necklace suits you." he said and dropped her hands.
He didn't wait for her response and he made for the trees to collect some firewood and his judgment.
"At this rate I won't last more than a few days." He looked skyward and noticed the faint animal in the settling darkness. It circled closer and he saw to his delight that it was Hawky. Sokka's pet landed on his outstretched arm and Aang carefully pulled the note tied to the paper.
It was from Mai.