DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, although I do want a Flying Bison for Christmas.
Chapter 13: Katara's present
'What should I get Katara for her birthday?' Aang asked himself as he walked around in circles in his room. 'I can't buy a present for her, she'll know I took money' he had just flown out of the hall where Katara, Toph and Teo were talking about Katara's birthday and he had completely forgotten about her birthday. His mind had been full of thoughts and ideas about finding the Airbenders. 'what kind of a boyfriend am I? don't even remember my own girlfriend's birthday' he thought to himself. Then an idea popped into his head and he looked under his bed, took a small leather pouch and opened up his glider and flew out into the open.
Aang flew and flew until he arrived at a small garden with a lake that was behind the Air Temple. He landed next to the lake, he Waterbended some water and mixed it with some dirt, which made clay. He molded the clay until he made a nice clay stone-like object. He Firebended at the stone until it was hard and was indestructible. He then noticed that it was a yucky brown colour, but that's why he brought along the leather pouch. He opened the pouch and poured out it's contents; some blue powder. He Waterbended some more water and mixed it up with the powder, which turned the water and powder into a blue paint-like substance. Aang dipped the stone into the paint and it instantly started turning less brown and more blue. The sun started to fall unto the horizon. Katara would be waiting for him, possibly worried sick. He decided to leave the stone in the paint so that it would soak up the colour. 'no one even knows that the garden exists, I'll leave it here' thought Aang as he opened up his glider, took one last glance at Katara's present and took off.
When he got back to his room, Katara was looking out one of his windows. Aang landed on the windowsill opposite Katara. He walked over to her, she didn't hear him for he walks ever so quietly. 'no wonder Toph calls me Twinkle Toes' thought Aang as he walked up to her, until he was just inches away from her head. He could smell the sea salt mixed with wildflowers scent in her hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she jumped in shock. She noticed that it was just Aang and she continued to look at the sunset with him.
"where were you Aang when you left us?" she asked after a few moments of non-awkward silence.
"oh I was… er…" he couldn't think of something to say. "I went to the Sanctuary to meditate". He looked over at Katara to see if his story was believable. Turned out it was as Katara turned around, still in Aang's arms and looked up to him with her crystal blue eyes. She stood up on her tippy toes and grabbed his face to kiss him. she was kissing him with passion and energy, she wanted more, and so did Aang, but there was a little voice screaming in the back of his head, telling him to stop and to remember his beliefs. It worked and he pulled away from her. When he turned away from her, he saw the disappointment and sadness in her face mixed with shock. Aang just looked at the ground, for he knew that if he looked at her sad, puppy dog eyes, he would just melt.
"I'm sorry Katara, it's just –"
"I know Aang, I got carried away. I'm sorry, I disrespected your belief" Katara interrupted him. Aang just stood there with his mouth open, he was gobsmacked. He loved Katara so much. He kissed her on the lips and they soon decided to go bed.
The next morning, Katara had planned to go searching for the Airbenders with Zuko, Mai and Ursa. Aang told Katara that he was going to go meditate in the Air Sanctuary again and that he didn't want interruptions. Instead he went back to the lake to check on the stone. When he got there, the stone was a beautiful sparkling blue, very much like Katara's eyes. He then had to decide how to carve the symbols on it. He decided to make a knife out of water and carve the symbols with the water. He worked super hard to carve the symbols since it was Katara's birthday the very next day. He decided to carve the Water Tribe and the Air Nomad symbols on the stone, one on either side of the stone. When he finally finished he was very satisfied with it, in fact it was beautiful. Also like it was carved by the Spirits, especially like it was carved by Yue, the Moon Spirit. Now he only had to make the necklace part of it. He found some silk plants in the garden and he dyed the silk a light blue. He weaved the silk to make a lovely strap of blue silk. He attached the stone to the strap and finally, it was finished.
He looked at the betrothal necklace that he had just made, it was perfect. He put it into a leather bag and sealed it shut. Aang then flew up to his room so that he could find a place to hide it until the next day. He searched and searched but there was nowhere to hide it. Aang finally decided to hide the necklace in his Air Nomad clothes. He decided to wait in his room for Katara, who would be back soon for it was nearly dark. When she came back they had a quiet dinner of roast vegetables and they went to bed early, for they both had a long day of hard work. The next morning, it was Katara's sixteenth birthday.