Pain. It is all I can feel.
I crack my eyes open, only to see the soft flicker of the candlelight beside me. I am in some sort of...cave? But where? And how in the world did I get here? I hate this feeling of confusion. What exactly happened to get me in this state of...discomfort?
Beside the small flickering candle is of course, him, sitting in his usual meditating trance. His eyes are shut tight, his eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. I smile at the sight; he's always so peaceful and calm...even when things like this happen. I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around him.
I try to lift by body up from my makeshift bed. But instead, a strange sound of pain comes from the back of my throat, making Aang's eyes snap open.
In less than a second, he is by my side, gently pushing me back down onto my bed. His hands are soothingly warm against my bare skin, making goose bumps jump across my body. My instincts wanted nothing more than for me to ignore his silent pleadings for me to rest, and they do just that.
I reach up and grab his face in my shaking hands, bringing him towards me. He tenses up and brings his own hands to mine upon his face and gently grabs them, bringing them down. Initially, I am upset at this gesture, but my annoyed feelings don't last long. He places his lips softly on mine, moving them slowly, too slow for my liking at the moment.
"Go back to sleep, Katara." He whispers, his lips moving against mine as he speaks.
"I've had enough sleep." I say back, closing his mouth with my own, begging for more. He chuckles and to my despair, pulls away. I begin to pout at that, but my lips turn into a small smile when he catches my cheek in a swift peck of his lips.
"You still need to heal." He mumbles, gently brushing his fingers across my left shoulder. His fingertips travel down my side, except I stop feeling the sensation of his touch when I realize he was tracing over a rather large bandage across my waist.
"Okay, fill me in." I mutter, squinting my eyes in pain. He sighs and leans back, his fingers nervously fiddling in his lap.
"Well...the Serpent sort of, smacked you…into an unconscious state. The left side of your body is pretty banged up. And you suffered some mild form of hypothermia from being flung into the freezing cold water." He says, his eyes still looking down. "After the Serpent struck you, I sort of called upon the Avatar state and well... You know the rest."
To his surprise, I start laughing. "Well, I'm flattered!" I say, my voice ringing with giggles. My expression swiftly changes. "Where is Sokka? And everyone else? And Toph! Is she okay?" My voice rises in urgency. He gives me a small smile.
"Yes, they are all fine. They are just outside, talking about what we are going to do once we get to Ba Sing Se. Toph is a little bruised, but you know her. Strong as a saber tooth moose-lion. Speaking of Ba Sing Se, we are only a few hours away. We are near the edge of the pass now."
"Wow. Exactly how long have I been out?" I ask, my eyelids drooping slowly in sleepiness. Aang notices this and chuckles, leaning down to give me a kiss on my forehead.
"I'd say you've been out for a few hours. After I, well, 'frightened' the Serpent away, we took flight on Appa a little ways down the pass, looking for a cave like this one here. The storm outside is still pretty bad, but a lot better than before." He says, grabbing for my hand.
A cold draft sends chills down my spine, and I shiver. Aang looks at me with raised eyebrows and chuckles. He reaches for the blanket that was thrown off me a few moments ago and covers us both. He wraps his arms around me, not too tight to put pressure on my left side, but enough to make me feel secure. I sigh and lean my head on his upper chest. We lie like that for a little bit, the sound of his low and deep breathing putting me to sleep. That is, until someone interrupts.
"Alright, I think it's time to - oh! Aang! What in the monkey feathers do you think you're doing?" Sokka yelps, his high-pitched voice echoing in our once peaceful little cave. Instead of jumping out from under the covers with me like I expected he would, Aang just slowly sits up, his expression bored.
"Warming up Katara. She was cold." He innocently says. Sokka's face scrunches up in frustration, obviously flustered by the scenario.
"So what-I mean, that's nice and all, and you're very sweet, but...but!" I keep my eyes closed, trying my best not to yell out at my brother.
"Shh! Sokka! She's sleeping." Aang whispers, lightly touching my cheek with his hands. Sokka lowers his voice to incoherent mutters, which I can hardly make out.
"In the same bed with my...Who does he think he is? Stupid Avatar...stupid sister, stupid love." Sokka stutters to himself. I try my best to hold in my laughter at my brother's ridiculousness.
"So... What were you originally coming in here to say?" Aang asks, with a hint of impatience, obvious that he liked the moment he and I were sharing.
"Um...oh! We are thinking we should head on out. Katara obviously looks like she is in good hands...or arms..." Sokka says, his voice changing into a low mumble at the end.
"And?" Aang says. I can imagine him rolling his eyes at Sokka.
"Toph is getting fidgety from doing nothing for so long, and Zuko and Mai are getting a little too cozy for my likings, and Suki is getting handsy, which that I don't mind actually…" Sokka trails off. I shudder in the concept of anyone getting hansdy with my brother.
"Anyways, I'm thinking its time we all, literally and not so literally, get some rooms." Sokka blurts out. I crack open one eye and stare at him. He bends down and smiles at me.
"And how are you doing?" He asks, his eyebrows smugly going up. I wave him away.
"I was doing fantastic until you got here." I growl. Aang lets out a feathery laugh.
Sokka sticks out his tongue. "I don't want to know what was going on before I got here."
I coyly raise my eyebrows. "Would you like to find out?" I say, looking up at Aang seductively. He beams down at me and I reach a hand out, bringing his face towards mine, slowly.
"Oh, stop it! Just...eh, oh! Just hurry up and pack your things! We're leaving in five minutes!" Sokka yells, slapping his hands over his eyes and storming out of our little cave. I chuckle at my accomplishment in scaring my brother away, and begin pulling my head away from Aang's.
"Mission accomplish-." I start to say, only to be silenced by my surprise when Aang grabs my face and brings it back up towards him. His lips meet mine quickly, but linger there for a few moments.
"Now, it's mission accomplished." He mumbles onto my lips. I shiver at Aang brashness. He laughs and shimmies out of our blanket. He walks over to where he was meditating a few minutes ago and blows out the small candle. I attempt to stand up, my face contorting in pain. Aang swiftly airbends himself to my side and helps me up to my feet.
"No, no Aang. I'm fine..." I mutter, my face getting hot from straining to stand on my own. He ignores me and braces my arm, until I am fully upright. I let out an accomplished sigh, and slowly begin to walk around the cave, trying my best not to look as if I was in any sort of pain. Aang stands in his original spot, eying me carefully.
"I'm fine, really. Let's finish packing before Zuko and Mai really scare off Sokka. Or before Toph hits him with a boulder." I say, snickering at the though. Aang laughs along with me, and bends down to fold our blankets.
After a few minutes, everything is packed away, and I am leaning heavily on the cave wall. Aang comes over towards me and offers his arm for me to grab onto, to sturdy myself as we make our way out of the cave. I wave him off, wanting to do this on my own. After a few steps, I put my hand on the wall once more, out of breath. The sound of all our supplies dropping surprises me, and next thing I know, my feet are lifted up off the ground.
"Aang! Put me down! I can do it myself!" I yelp, tight in his cradling grip.
"Yeah, and by time we get to Appa, it will be next morning." He says, laughing at me. I pout and look away from him, and allow my own stubbornness to do everything myself give up for once. In just mere seconds, I am resting gently on the top of Appa's head, nestled the warm fur. Aang gives me a goofy smile and bounds off, back towards our cave to retrieve our supplies he threw down. I roll my eyes and run my fingers through Appa's little hairs.
"How are you doing Katara?" Suki asks me, leaning over Appa's saddle above me.
"I'm fine. It hurts, but only a little." I lie.
"Well, that's good news! You certainly took a rather big hit. Aang went a little crazy." She says, now looking towards the grinning airbender waltzing out of the cave. "And now he's as happy as can be. What a kid."
I smile at her observation. "That what makes him so great. Sometimes you can forget he is the most powerful bender in the world. And just a goofy, happy monk." I say. Aang airbends himself up next to me, and tugs on Appa's reins.
"Next stop, Ba Sing Se!" He yells out.
I hear Toph groan behind me. "Finally! A bed to sleep in!"
"Yeah, and privacy. For everyone." Sokka mumbles. "How many rooms for all of us, Zuko?"
"Well...there's four. One for my Uncle. One for Mai and me."
"Thank heavens." Sokka interrupts. I can almost feel the heat radiating off Zuko.
"...One for you, Suki and Toph..." Zuko says, his voice cracking with nervousness. I feel Aang chuckle under his breath at the awkwardness over Zuko's next sentence.
"And one for Katara and Aang." He finishes.
"Appa, yip-yip." Aang quietly says, Appa lifting himself up into the dark sky, the clouds still lingering from the storm.
"One for...What!" Sokka screeches bounding over towards Aang and I. "There is no way! No way, I am letting that happen between you two and-." He yells, and I turn around only to see Toph grabbing onto his collar.
"Hush up, Snoozles! I've heard enough of your whining all night!" She says, pulling him back behind her. "I'm taking a nap, and if I hear one-"
"But!"
"One! More peep out of you, you'll pay for it later!" She finishes, angrily looking into the distance, her blank eyes hidden by her messy hair.
The air around us is awkwardly silent, until Aang breaks it.
"So, is it okay with you Sokka? Katara and I sharing a room?"
I look at Aang, pleading that he shuts his air hole.
"Aang, what are you doing?" I whisper through clenched teeth. I look behind me at Sokka, whose face has turned to a deep scarlet.
"How many beds per room, Zuko?" Aang asks, and I see Zuko's expression turn white.
"Uh...one for me and Mai's room... Three for Sokka, Suki and Toph's and..."
I hold my breath.
"One for yours."
"Oh. Okay." Aang says, a scheming smile spreading on his face.
The next thing I hear is the sound of Sokka screaming obscenities at Zuko and especially Aang, to whom he runs towards, his boomerang aggressively drawn.
Sorry that I suck at updating lately. I'm having kind of a hard time to plow through this story. But, I will try to get a pretty good story out of me. This is a little bit of a lame chapter sorry. I tried to put some more interactions with other characters, and not so much Aang and Katara lovey-doveyness. But, come on, who doesn't love that? :)
Will try to get another chapter in by at least Sunday. Also, check out my other story, The Infamous Fall. Taking requests to write POV shots of other scenes in the ATLA series. Also up for any LOK requests :) I heavily ship Korra and General Iroh, just saying. ;)