So, I am not sure if any of you really watch Legend of Korra, but my god, the last episode made me tearbend. Hardcore.
Anyways, this week is kind of hectic for me, but I will do my best to post as much as I can. Enjoy! :)
Also, if any of you are interested, I found a download online that contained all the music from ATLA. It's beautiful, and what I listened to when I wrote this chapter.
"There is no way I am sleeping on the ground…" Mai says, holding her sleeping bag up with two fingers. "Ugh!" She lets it drop to the floor.
"You could sleep in Appa's saddle. I'm sure he won't mind." Aang says, laying his staff on the ground. Appa happily groaned. Mai just responds with her usual sigh.
"As long as I'm not in the dirt, I'm fine."
"What's wrong with laying in dirt?" Toph says, bending up her Earth tent. "It's nice, and cool, and refreshing!"
"Being covered in mud doesn't sound like any fun…or refreshing to me." Mai says, crossing her arms. "Plus, then I'd look like you."
Toph chuckles. "You'll need to elaborate on that one, Gloomy."
Mai's eye twitches. "Gloomy?"
Toph shrugs. "Eh, it's the best I could come up with on a whim. Don't worry, I'll think of something brilliant by morning." Toph stretches and yawns, crawling into her tent. "Goodnight!" She grumbles.
Mai looks over at Zuko and scowls. He simply shrugs.
"Take it as a compliment. If Toph gives you a nickname, it means you're officially part of the group." He says, giving her a tiny smile. I could have sworn Mai gave him a small smile back.
"I'll sleep up there on Appa's saddle with you." Zuko says, petting the bison. Appa sighs and lies down on his tummy. Zuko crawls up the bison onto the saddle, and extends an arm to help Mai up as well.
"Goodnight everyone." He says.
"Goodnight." The rest of us say in unison.
Sokka yawns loudly, rubbing his eyes. He kneels down and crawls over his sleeping bag and slides in.
"Well…goodnight everyone…make sure we wake up bright and…early. Want to be right on…schedule…" He says, his sentence turning into a low mumble towards the end due to his growing drowsiness.
I scoff at him, only to have him open one eye and glare at me.
"Katara? Aang?" He says, closing his open eye.
"What?" I say, already annoyed at what he is going to say next.
"No funny business. I'll know." He grumbles.
Aang laughs. "Don't worry Sokka, I won't be funny. You have an Avatar's promise." He says.
"You know, I'm beginning to think you over use that whole 'Avatar's promise' phrase." Sokka says, air-quoting with his two fingers. "Also, that's not what I meant when I said funny business."
Aang's seemingly innocent smile drops. "Wait, what did you mean…?" He asks, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. I look at him and raise an eyebrow. He gives me a cheeky smile back.
"You know what I meant! No…shenanigans! With my sister!" Sokka says, his voice getting slightly louder.
Suki, who was lying on a blanket next to him, sighs, "Sokka, let's just get some sleep."
"Shenanigans…? But Katara and I are always up to no good." Aang says, flashing a mischievous grin. I roll my eyes, knowing he is doing this just to get Sokka all wound up. Nonetheless, I try to stifle my laughter.
Sokka sits up in his sleeping bag, and crosses his arms. "Up to no good? What are you implying? Is that supposed to be funny?
Aang was about to respond when I interrupted him with a loud laugh.
"I think it's hilarious." I say. Sokka's eyes narrow at me. Suki laughs as well, and, knowing her mistake, quickly covers her mouth. Sokka turns to her, pouting.
"Oh Sokka, leave them be." Suki says, patting his shoulder. "Stop teasing them. They are just friends."
Sokka just scoffs. "Yeah, right." He says, rolling his eyes. "Good friends who kiss."
"How on Earth do you know that? Have you been spying on them?" Suki says, crossing her arms in disappointment, glaring at him menacingly. I cross my arms as well and tap my foot. Aang nervously fiddles with a piece of fabric from his air nomad robe.
"I'm sure you were just imagining it." Suki says, sighing and lying over on her side. "Just go to sleep, Sokka."
"I didn't imagine anything!" Sokka growls, his voice now somewhat loud. An angry grumble echoes from Toph's Earth tent.
"Shut up and go to bed, Snoozles! Or maybe I need to give you a new nickname?" She yells, slamming her hands down on the ground.
Sokka slinks down in his sleeping bag. I begin to walk away when Sokka speaks up once again.
"I've got my eyes and ears on you two…" He says, pointing his fingers from his eyes to Aang and me. I roll my eyes and wave him off.
"Yeah, yeah whatever Sokka." I say, grabbing Aang's hand and turning away.
"I'm serious!" Sokka yells back, now rolling on to his side.
"I'm sure you are. Goodnight!" I say back, now making our way towards Appa's tail.
Aang chuckles and flops down on it, running his hands through Appa's fur. I giggle and lay down next to him, gazing up at the clear night sky. The stars are extra vibrant tonight, just as I predicted earlier today, filling up every dark patch in the sky. It is absolutely beautiful. I sigh in content.
"Hmm?" Aang mumbles, obvious that he's getting sleepy.
"Nothing. There are so many stars out tonight." I say, my eyes catching a shooting star.
"You should see what it looks like in the air temples. If you think this is beautiful…you won't believe your eyes there." Aang says, putting his hands behind his head. I lay on my side, turning to face him.
"Can we go?" I ask, my eyes wide.
He turns and beams at me. "Of course we can. Name any temple, and I'll take you there." He says.
I ponder for a second, remaining silent for a few moments.
"I want to see the Eastern Air Temple…I've never seen that one." I say, my gaze never leaving his. He smiles back at me and pats Appa's tail.
"That's Appa's home. I'm sure he'd love to give us a ride there." Aang says. I smile and pat Appa as well. Suddenly, Aang's smile drops.
"What's wrong?" I ask, concerned.
He shrugs. "It's nothing." He says, his face still looking solemn. He brings his arms down to his chest. I grab his hand.
"You can tell me." I say. He looks over at me and gives me a tiny smile.
"Well, it's just that…Appa is the last of the sky bison. After him, there's nothing else. Same with Momo. Sometimes, I forget that we really are the last descendants of the Air nomads." Aang says, his voice sad. I move forward and kiss him gently on the cheek.
"You know, Aang. We've been traveling for almost a year. I don't want to get your hopes up or anything by saying this but…you never know. There could be a small herd of bison hiding somewhere, along with lemurs. We've never really set out to search for them. Now that the war is over…who knows? Maybe sometime after Ba Sing Se, we can set out to make finding a herd of sky bison our new priority." I say, my hand going to his cheek. I give him a small smile.
"You really think that's possible?" Aang asks, his fallen face slowly starting to light up again. I grin.
"Of course it is! I know this sounds cheesy but…I can feel it. Even if I end up being wrong and there really are none left…at least we know that the last sky bison, Appa, led the greatest life a sky bison can ever have, only because he had you, Aang. I've never seen an animal happier." I say, giving him a reassuring smile. He smiles back, his eyes watery.
"Thank you, Katara. I guess I just forget that I really am the last of my people…it's still so hard to believe." He says, his voice getting quiet.
"You may be the last airbender right now at this moment…but I know it's definitely not forever." I say.
My eyes go wide and my lips purse in realization of what I just said. Aang blushes, shyly looking back up at the sky. I begin stumbling over my words.
"I, uh…I mean, when you're older and yeah…" I stutter, feeling my cheeks burning up. "But, I mean, you know, whatever." I keep mumbling. Just shut up Katara. Shut up.
Aang laughs nervously, reaching for my hand. "Thank you Katara…I feel better now." He says, entwining his fingers with mine. I am still slightly embarrassed over the subject that was brought up moments ago. I let out a smile and sigh. We both lay on our backs, hand in hand, looking up at the stars.
We remain quiet for a few moments, when Aang lets out a quiet laugh.
"What's so funny?" I ask, confused. He just squeezes my hand.
"Nothing…this is just…so different. I'm still not used to this idea of us being kinda, well…together. Last time we were camping like this, I was still trying to figure out if you even had any feeling for me." He says.
I sigh. "I wish I didn't make it so hard for you. Please tell me you could tell I felt the same way, right?" I say, giving him a worried look. He just chuckles.
"Do you want me to lie or be honest?" He says. I pout at him.
"I just could never tell…you are so different to read. And you gave a lot of mixed signals." He says. I slightly shift my body, upset with myself.
"Maybe that's why I was so shocked when you asked to kiss me in that cave…and when right before the invasion, you kissed me back instead of running away." He continues, still looking up at the sky.
"You really thought I was going to run away?" I say, ashamed.
He quietly laughs. "A little…but when you didn't I was pretty pleased." He says, a grin breaking across his face. His smile slowly fades as quickly as it came though.
"When I flew back to you guys after I found out the Fire Nation palace was empty, I was terrified. I ran away after kissing you so I didn't have to witness your reaction. So when you didn't bring it up I was so relieved." He says, moving his thumb over mine for a few moments, us sitting in silence. He stops moving his thumb, our hands now just clasped firmly together, unmoving.
"But, the fear went away when that kiss was never even brought up. Until Ember Island, of course…but it doesn't matter anymore, really." He says, finally turning his head towards me. He gives me a tiny smirk, his face very close to mine. He stretches his head even closer and places his lips on my face, just below my jawline. His kiss is short, but they linger there for a few moments, teasing me. I gently pull away, meeting his eyes with my own.
"I'm surprised you didn't notice all the other times I made it obvious I had feelings for you." I say, making his eyebrows go up in that usual adorable way.
"What other times…?" He says, now looking clearly confused. I couldn't help but grin.
"I guess no one can call me the oblivious one anymore…" I say, my voice sounding too pleased.
"I was rather selfish, actually. The thought of you with other girls made me sick and extremely aggravated. And can you even count the number of times I hugged you? Also, were you really too immersed in your firebending practices to not even notice me staring at you practically the entire time? And don't get me started on how many times I've kissed you. You may be surprised actually…" I say, my voice suddenly getting quiet. Aang's eyes go wide. I sigh. I am not exactly ready to share my sly secret with Aang. But, I guess he should know, since it involves him. He is still looking at me, anxiously waiting for an explanation.
"After you…after the ordeal at Ba Sing Se, I was watching over you pretty much all day and night. It was late and I was curious so I…kissed you. Just once, though. I guess I just really missed you." I say, afraid to look up at him and see him reaction. His laughter was loud, and I quickly clapped my hand over his mouth, not wanting Sokka to wake up. Or, even worse, Toph. I scowl at him, trying not to smile. I remove my hand once I am sure he stopped laughing.
"You kissed me? And I wasn't awake? Monkey feathers! That's not fair!" He says.
"It's plenty fair! You were unconscious for weeks! I was somewhat hoping the kiss would magically wake you up!" I say.
"I'm honestly surprised it didn't…" He says, grinning ear to ear. My cheeks were burning up, so I hid my face in his chest, embarrassed.
"I can't believe I told you this…" I mumble into his robe. His fingers touch just below my chin as he lifts my face up to his. He still had that goofy smile plastered onto his face, his eyes twinkling with happiness. His smile slowly fades and his eyes close, his face gravitating towards mine. I feel my breath catch as his lips hoover over mine for a few split seconds, baiting me. I close my eyes and move my face towards his, closing the gap between us with our lips.
I feel him smiling into the kiss, as his hands that were holding mine slip from their grasps and snake around my body, pulling me closer to him. Appa's tail twitched under our movements, and I couldn't help but let out a giggle, which is very short due to Aang's lips still firmly attached to mine. I bring my hands up to his neck, pulling him closer and deeper into the kiss. Our lips part, and he shyly lets his tongue poke around, expertly twisting in a way that no one his age should know how to do. I let him take charge of this kiss, occasionally doing some exploring of my own. I begin to find it hard to breathe, so I slowly pull away, Aang moving his lips from mine only briefly to quickly be placed on my jawline. I leaned my head back slightly, keeping my eyes closed and letting him continue to kiss me. His lips travel everywhere; from my neck, back up to my jaw, right below my ear, then swiftly to my cheek, and occasionally to quickly peck my lips.
After a while, he pulls away, slightly out of breath, he cheeks a bright crimson from both exasperation and what I'm assuming is embarrassment, since he's giving me a sheepish smile. I chuckle and give him a quick little kiss on the cheek.
For the rest of the night we lie together, staring up at the stars, trying to make out certain constellations, giggling and exchanging quick kisses. I begin drifting asleep, my eyes becoming heavier and heavier. It is when I realize that Aang is sound asleep that I decide to let my own sleep overtake me in the end.
I have a dreamless night, and when the sunrise wakes me up the next morning, I come to realize my head wasn't lying on Appa's familiar itchy fur, but on Aang's warm chest, his calm and synchronized breathing lulling me back to sleep.