So, get this. I had this story all perfectly planned and written up Wednesday afternoon, so I could post a chapter last night. But I left it at work! Oh, and it gets better. I was writing another chapter last night to have at least something to post, and boom. I got food poisoning. It was terrible.
So, I made sure to make this chapter extra long, to make up for not posting anything last night. Also, please let me know if these are getting too romantic. I just can't help it; I love Katara and Aang's relationship!
Enjoy! This is one of my favorite chapters.
The Fire Nation palace slowly fades behind us as we make our way on Appa towards our first destination. We are to reach the edge of the Earth Kingdom, exactly east from the Fire Nation. I look down over Appa's head and see the blur of the ground below me quickly transition into the blue of the ocean. We are going to be travelling over ocean for the entire day, which will take a few long hours. Compared to most of our travels, this is almost nothing. I lean back and sigh, staring up into the cloudless sky. I feel myself frown a little; I love admiring the weird shapes the clouds take sometimes. But cloudless skies meant beautiful starry nights, which instantly brought my mood up. And, even better news; there is a new moon tonight, which means an even clearer view of the stars. I will miss the full moon though, of course. I am just starting to feel relaxed, until Sokka speaks up.
"Alright, so in the first hour, we should be past this point of the ocean. And before the second hour, we should be about here." Sokka says, pointing at random spots on the map. I groan.
"Sokka, no matter what, we will still be over ocean." I say, rolling my eyes.
"That is correct. But we will have to keep track of how much ocean we've passed." He says, pointing a finger up idiotically.
"But how will you know what 'point' we are at if everything looks the same?" I say back, crossing my arms. "You won't know by looking at just the patch of blue on the map."
He lifts up the map close to his face. "Oh uh…wait, that's not…" He says to himself, flipping the map nervously upside down. His shoulders slouch.
"Let's just get there when we get there." He says, crumpling up the map and shoving it in his bag.
"Don't be so down, Sokka! Appa will get us there in no time! He's had sometime to relax, after all." Aang cheerfully says, leaning down by Appa's eye. "Didn't you, buddy?" Appa groans in agreement. I let out a small smile at the sight of their interaction.
The air hitting my face is cold, but the aroma is what keeps me from grabbing a blanket on the saddle. It was the familiar mixture of ocean water, small hints of clean cut grass, linen, and at times, jasmine. I loved the odd combination of smells, as they were unique. I silently chuckle to myself. Maybe the real reason I love the smell so much is because it is the same exact way Aang smelled. I always wondered how he smelled like that until I figured it out the same way I am trying to understand it now. It was when we left General Fong's, after Aang had an episode with his Avatar State; General Fong trying to force it out of him. We were flying to get to Omashu when I realized the comparison between Aang and the air.
"Ugh, Aang! Tell Appa to fly faster! At this rate, we'll never make it to Omashu…" Sokka complained, staring down at his map.
"We'll probably have to stop one night prior to getting there…Appa is getting tired." Aang said back, petting his bison gently by the ear. "Aren't you, buddy?"
Sokka stuck out his tongue and groaned. "Katara, what do you have to say about this?" He said, looking towards me. I ignored him.
"Uh…Katara? Hello?" He said again, waving his hand in front of my face. I pushed it away.
"We'll get there when we get there, Sokka! You're not the one whose been flying for a whole day straight!" I growl at him, patting Appa just below the saddle.
"Oh…Whatever! Wake me when we get to…wherever!" Sokka yelled, turning over on to his side and shutting his eyes. I went back to looking down at the ground from the side of Appa's saddle. The air was chilly, but I didn't mind. I loved the smell, and no matter how cold it was I just couldn't resist it.
"Whatcha doin'?" Aang said, pulling me out of my trance.
"Hmm? What?" I said, turning towards him.
"Nevermind. I'm just bored I guess." He said back, dropping Appa's reins.
I smiled back at him. I stood up and walked over to where Aang was sitting on Appa's head, and sat next to him.
"Have you ever just sat back and smelled the air?" I said.
"Smelled the air?" He said back, looking at me with an arched eyebrow.
"Yeah. I love it. It smells like the ocean. And clean clothes. But sometimes, if you try really hard, you can get whiffs of freshly cut grass and pink jasmine." I said, dreamily smiling.
Aang stretched his neck and began sniffing the air aggressively. He looked at me and shrugged.
"I don't smell anything. It just smells like…air. I don't know. Maybe I'm too used to it?" He said, still trying to sniff something he obviously can't smell. I laughed.
"Well, of course you're used to it!" I said, playfully punching him on the shoulder. He smiled and went back to guiding Appa as I laid back and closed my eyes, falling into a light sleep.
"Guys! We're here! Not so sure where, but… it's by a little river." Aang said, rousing me from sleep.
"We can practice some waterbending tomorrow!" He said, looking down at me. I smiled.
"Sure, Aang. We can start first thing in the morning." I said, stretching my arms up. I hopped off Appa and noticed the sun was still out, just low in the sky.
"I can wash our clothes, so they'll be fresh and clean when we go to Omashu." I said, turning towards Aang and Sokka. They hopped off Appa as well and quickly stripped out of their clothes, leaving only their undergarments. I picked up their discarded clothes off the ground and made my way towards the river, a little farther down from where we were camped. I heard Aang yell something and then a huge splash came afterwards. I grinned and rolled my eyes, kneeling down by the water. I stripped out of my own water tribe garment and washed that first, hanging it to dry on the tree branches behind me. I washed Sokka's next, which as usual, took the longest. After I hang Sokka's clothes up, I lifted up Aang's and I frowned, realizing he had a few holes in his robes. I reached for my thread and needle, and began working on the holes, slowly patching them up. I held it up when it was finished, admiring my work.
The wind blew, letting the fabric brush my face. My eyes go wide and I drop it. It smelled just like the air. My air. The scent that I've grown attached to ever since I left home. And Aang reeked of it. Maybe it was because we were up in the sky for a while today. I sniffed my own arm, hoping for traces of the smell on me.
Nope. I put my arm down. Nothing. I brought up Aang's shirt to my nose and sniffed it. My lips curled into a smile. There were the obvious smells of the ocean and fresh linen, but the usual small tints of jasmine and grass were much more prominent. I set down his shirt and slapped my forehead.
Of course he couldn't smell it earlier today! Because he is the air. I brought my hand to my mouth, and covered it, stifling my laughter. I sigh and finally put his clothes into the water, washing them, and then hanging them to dry. I walk back over to our camp and realized Sokka and Aang were passed out asleep. I rolled my eyes and snuggled into my sleeping bag, quickly falling asleep.
The next morning, Aang and I were up bright and early, practicing his waterbending. He kept getting one of his forms wrong, getting himself frustrated and confused. I walked behind him and grabbed his arms, motioning him into the right stance. I could barely contain my smile when the familiar scent of jasmine and ocean air filled my nostrils.
I snap out of my memory, only to realize I leaned my head on Aang's shoulder. I squirm a little, and Aang looks down, flashing me a tired smile.
"Aang! The sun is almost setting! And I've run out of food!" Sokka says, holding his empty food bag upside down.
I sadly sigh. Even months later, Sokka still hasn't changed one bit. Aang is still smiling, probably thinking the same thing I was.
"Like I said before, we'll be there soon." Aang says, gently petting Appa's head. "Appa hasn't flown this much in ages."
"No kidding." Sokka mumbles, throwing his empty bag down.
"From where we are according to this map, we shouldn't be far from our destination." Zuko says, pointing at the small peninsula at the edge of the Earth Kingdom. "It'll probably be another hour, really."
Sokka groans. "One hour without food."
"I think you can survive, meathead." Toph grumbles, lying flat on her back. Sokka glares at her.
"Meathead. Ha ha. Nice one."
"I thought it was pretty spot on." Mai sighs, giving a slight smile. Sokka pouts his bottom lip, his eyes giving her a bored look. She returned the expression, just as well.
"It's okay Sokka. I still love you, even though you sometimes are a…meathead." Suki says, covering her mouth when she begins laughing.
Sokka says something else, but I tune it out, looking over the horizon.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Aang says quietly, looking over towards me.
I smile contently. "This smell…it never changed."
"You know, I kept trying to see if I could smell anything ever since you mentioned it to me…I still can't." He says, his nostrils flaring. "Maybe my nose is broken."
I laugh a little and sit up, kissing him on the cheek, letting my face linger by his just for a few split seconds so I can discretely smell him.
Or, not so discrete.
"Did you just…smell me?" Aang says, his voice somewhat playful.
I ignore the comment. "You know why you can't smell it? The jasmine, the freshly cut grass and fresh linen-y ocean?" I say, giving him a cheeky smile.
"Those are very distinct…smells." He teases.
I roll my eyes. "Yeah, well, it's your scent, dummy."
"My scent? I have a scent?" He says, sounding somewhat surprised, yet intrigued. He sniffs his sleeve. "Nope, nothing."
"That's because it's yours. I couldn't tell you what I smelled like…because I'm used to it. You're used to that aroma. I wasn't at first, but now I think I'm getting accustomed to it." I say, a teasing smile forming on my lips.
"Not that I'd really find it to be a burden. It's one of my favorite fragrances." I finish.
His lips form into a sheepish grin. "I'm your favorite…fragrance? This pleases me." He says, his cheeks turning red.
"Yeah…it's the jasmine that gets me though. It's so strange combined with the other aromas." I say.
"You smell like jasmine too, you know?" He says, his voice getting quiet.
"Me? What? Do I smell like anything else?" I anxiously say, sniffing some strands of my hair. He chuckles and then ponders for a second.
"Yeah…you do. You smell like…summer rain and the beach. And like cherry blossom, along with jasmine. But more of cherry blossom." He says, reaching for my hand. I laugh nervously.
"Oh. Cherry blossom?" I say, wanting to hear more.
"Mmm yeah…cherry blossom. I love that smell. It's my favorite, actually. We used to have cherry blossom trees all over the Southern Air Temple. I always meditated underneath one. Just so I had something nice to smell while I was sitting for hours." He says, leaning his head back on Appa's fur. I do the same.
"But, the way the cherry blossom and your other scents combine together make it all the better." He whispers into my ear, his breath tickling me.
"Well, I'm flattered." I say, trying to hide my blush by looking up at the sky. He sighs.
"So…I smell like the air huh? That makes sense. I am an airbender, you know." He says.
"You don't say?" I joke, nudging him with my shoulder. "Now you're going to start telling me you're the Avatar." He laughs for a bit and then gets quiet.
"Katara…since we are talking about smells." He says, sitting up and turning around quickly to glance at everyone else sitting in the saddle. He flops back down next to me.
"How would we describe their…scents?" He asks, his face glowing with a mischievous smile. I chuckle a little before pondering his question.
"Hmm. Well, I'd have to say Sokka…well, I don't really know. Guess I've been around him far too long." I say, furrowing my eyebrows.
"Kinda like snow. And…some sort of food." Aang says, chuckling.
"Yeah, always some kind of food." I say, laughing as well. I peer over at Suki. "Suki kind of smells like vanilla." Aang nods in agreement. Our eyes move over to Zuko and Mai.
"Hmm…I've never really gotten close enough to Mai to sniff her." Aang says, squinting his eyes. I laugh.
"And that probably wouldn't be a good idea." I say.
"Zuko smells like smoke." Aang says, turning around.
I nod. "It's a little strong sometimes too." I always hated the way Zuko smelled. I knew it was self-explanatory, him being a firebender and all. But, I was never be able to get used to it.
"Toph…?" Aang begins to say, looking down at me. I begin to laugh, knowing my answer.
"Smells like dirt." Aang and I both say, at the same time. We burst out laughing, clutching our stomachs.
"Shh!" Sokka says, annoyed that we've woken him from his slumber. I slap my hand over my mouth, and over Aang's as well. Our laughs slowly die down, just to small giggles. I lean over and kiss his lips, still chuckling. I lean on his shoulder, and we sit together, watching the sun slowly slip under the horizon.