I'm not too fond of this chapter, but oh well! Sorry it took me so long to get a chapter up (well, longer than usual for me). My weekends are pretty hectic, I'm going crazy with three jobs. I hope you all like this, I promise, the next chapter is so much better. I wrote some snippets today at work. So far I love it! And I'm going to try for a plot here, but nothing too crazy. But it'll pop up in the next five chapters (hopefully, I really like dragging things out, as you can tell).
Also, I nearly had a heart attack watching the new Legend of Korra that aired this past Saturday. Aang as an adult is freaking gorgeous. I don't think I can handle a season finale already, though. Oh well :/
I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Bryan & Mike do!
ALSO, THE PROMISE PART 2 COMES OUT JUNE 12th! Aka, tomorrow! Thank god.
I wake up the next morning, and everything is dark. The sky is a dark red, with tints of orange, yellow, and black lining the eerily flattening clouds. A loud, bloodcurdling scream rings outside my room, and I quickly jump out of my bed, running out the door. The scream comes again, sending shivers down my spine, making me run even faster down the dark hallway. I reach the end of it, and the screaming stops. I stop dead in my tracks, only to see Sokka and Suki kneeled down holding each other, crying. Sokka quickly bounds up, tackling me to the ground
"Katara! Get out of here! Get out!" He screams to my face. My eyes burn and tears slowly build up in my eyes. I feel a pair of hands on me as Zuko lifts me up, taking me back to my room. I thrash and kick, sending myself out of his clutches and falling, hitting the cold marble floor hard. I run, dodging Sokka's attempt to grab me again. What I see on the floor in front of me makes me keel over, covering my face with my hands. I scream loudly, tears pouring out of my eyes. I drop my hands and look again, my body shaking. There, on the floor in front of me, was Aang. His eyes were closed and I couldn't see him breathing. The center of his chest was red and severely sliced open. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Katara…it was Azula. She shot him with lightning…he's gone." Sokka says. I place my hands back on my face, staying silent.
"Katara…?" I hear Sokka again.
This time, I respond to him. Only, instead of using words, I scream.
"Katara? Katara!" I hear, my body shaking up and down. "Wake up! Please!"
My eyes shoot open. I am met with a familiar pair of wide grey eyes, and blue arrow. I let out a sob and throw my arms around him, clutching him with all my might. My face was wet, obvious that I was crying in my sleep.
"Shh…it's okay. I'm here." Aang coos, brushing my hair with his hands soothingly.
"I t-thought…I lost you!" I let out, sobs interrupting my sentence.
"I'm here, everything is okay. Just a bad dream." He quietly whispers.
"How did you know?" I ask. I release my grip around his neck and lay back down onto my pillow, looking up into his eyes. I sniffle a few times. He sighs and smiles at me.
"I was walking to the garden to meditate when I heard you in here. I decided to investigate, and when I walked in, you started screaming. That's when I had to wake you up." He says.
He grabs my hand and squeezes it. I smile up at him and give a sleepy sigh, realizing that I was very exhausted.
"Are you okay?" He asks, his eyes not leaving mine.
"I think so…" My lip quivers and a few tears come down my face again. "Aang…it was such a horrible nightmare!" I roll over and bury my face in my pillow. He gently runs his hand up and down my back.
"It was only a dream. I'm here, you're here, and everything is going to be all right." He says. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you Katara. Not even in your dreams."
I let out another sob. "But it wasn't that! It was my entire fault! I let something happen to you!" I yell, my voice coming out muffled from my face being buried in my pillow.
"Shh…just go to sleep Katara. I'll stay with you. I promise." He says, standing up.
I sigh and look up from my tear-stained pillow. I give him a weak smile and he bends down and kisses me sweetly on the cheek.
"Go to sleep." He whispers into my ear.
I nod and turn on my side, watching him walk away from my bed and grab two candles, setting them down directly across from where I was facing. He sits with his legs crossed, and firebends flames onto the candles. He then sets his hands in his lap, and closes his eyes. I watch in awe as he meditates, the candlelight bringing out his defined features of his face. I bite my lip, realizing he looks very attractive in this particular lighting. With every inhale he takes, the flame on the candle shrinks, and when he exhales, it expands. My eyes widen as I take in every detail of Aang I am now noticing. I realize that he was, in fact, not wearing a shirt. I feel my face heat up as I stare at his chest, cuts and bruises from his fight with Fire Lord Ozai still very prominent. I cringe at the sight, realizing I haven't done a proper healing session on him. I sigh a little and sit up, reaching for my water pouch on the nightstand next to my bed. I place my feet quietly on the floor, trying not to disturb him. I, of course, go unnoticed. Of course he heard you Katara… he's an earthbender. One of his eyes open, his eyebrow going up with it.
"I'm healing you." I calmly say, making my way over to him. He puts his hands up in defiance.
"No, no, Katara. I'm fine. Trust me. Just get some sleep." He says. I ignore him and take a seat next to him, bending the water out of my pouch onto my hands.
"Well, I can't ignore your cuts and bruises." I say, holding my now glowing hands up. "Relax your muscles." He smiles a little and closes his eyes, taking deep breaths. The candlelight around us moves in harmony with his breathing, making this feel almost surreal. I press my hands on his chest where the injuries are located and furrow my eyebrows. I feel his chi and the flow of his energy in his body. I take a deep breath and move my hands to more cuts, letting the cool water touch it, glow, and seep into his skin. After a few moments, the once red cuts are now small scratches, and the purple bruises hardly visible. I smile at my work and lean back, admiring the extremely relaxed expression on Aang's face. He opens his eyes and pouts.
"Done already?" He whines. I let out a small laugh and stand up, setting my water pouch back on my nightstand.
"Yes, good thing there weren't as many as I expected." I say, sitting back down in front of him. His face falls, and I gently touch him on the shoulder.
"Aang…is everything okay?" I ask.
"Yeah…everything is fine." He says, his face in deep concentration. "Actually, Katara?"
"Yes?" I say, a confused and worried look washing across my face.
"Can you take a look at the scar on my back?" He says, eying me nervously. I take a deep breath, knowing that healing the scar will bring back memories. Memories that consist of me hopelessly trying to mend Aang back to health while he was on death's door. I shake off the thought and try to force a smile onto my lips.
"Of course I can." I say. I retrieve my water skin once more and walk around Aang, kneeling behind him. I bend the water onto my hands and place them on his scar, focusing all my energy from my hands to the water, then onto Aang. The water glows and takes shape over his scar, and I hear him sigh in relief.
"Thanks Katara…" He says, as I am still moving the water around his back. After a while, I recoil my hands, letting the water fall onto the floor. He turns his head over his shoulder and smiles at me.
"You should get some sleep now…" He whispers, bringing a hand to my face. I lean towards him and give him a light kiss on the cheek.
"Don't stay up too long, Aang." I whisper, standing up. I go back to my bed and snuggle under my covers.
"Katara…?" Aang whispers. It was almost such a low sound, I felt like I was imagining it.
"Yes?" I murmur back.
"I love you." He says, his voice evidently shaking. I smile into my pillow and turn around in my bed, facing him. The candlelight was swaying, his breath creating a breeze. His eyes were wide and full of anticipation.
"I…love you too." I whisper back, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear, getting a better look at him. He blows out the candle and stands up, his footsteps gently touching the ground, making no sounds. He leans down and kisses me on the forehead, his lips lingering there for a little while. I sigh deeply as my eyes slowly close, as if his kiss was lulling me to sleep.
"Goodnight." He says softly against my hair. I am too tired to say anything, so I just respond with a weak smile and nod, hoping he sees it.
"If you have another bad dream, I'll be here. I promise." He whispers, his voice barely audible now. I hear his footsteps fade and my door opening and closing.
I fall into a peaceful sleep, half of me wishing for a dreamless night, and the other half wishing for another nightmare so Aang will be here, just like he promised.