****Gosh, it has been awhile, hasn't it? Well, fear not! I am not dead, though the horrid writer's block that has claimed me has made me feel like it! I haven't had any ideas for Destiny's Words or Wailing Sparrow and this information depresses me. :'( However, I am still going to manage to finish these stories. Do not fret; these pieces WILL be finished.

Ok, I was going through my iPod today, and came across this absolutely beautiful song and I automatically thought of Aang. So, I guess this is an Aang POV, with implied Zutara... sort of. Hope you enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor claim to own, Avatar: The Last Airbender or the song "To Make Her Love Me" by Rascal Flatts. All rights go to their rightful owners.

-ooooo-

To Make Her Love Me

The night was humid, the sticky moisture clinging desperately to the young airbending monk who was currently seated upon his flying biason's head. The two of them soared through the darkened skies, reaching extreme speeds, just so that Aang could attempt to clear his thoughts of all things Katara. He just couldn't deal with the pain.

Thoughts of his love brought with them a foreign stinging at the back of his grey eyes, which were currently stormy, resembling overcast skies preparing for a rambunctious storm. The usually calm and rational monk wanted nothing more than to hit something at that moment, attack something with his bare hands, ripping it apart from its core. Aang grasped the reigns of Appa's saddle with a vice- like grip, the pressure exerted on the leather handling devices enough to cause physical pain to his knuckles. He didn't notice; he was searching his memories, attempting to unearth when exactly Katara, the only girl he had ever felt so strongly for, had decided that he just wasn't good enough for her. He couldn't recall any time when their relationship had been anything less than perfect.

However, the more the naïve airbender remained locked inside his memories, the less hazy the truth became. As his memories replayed themselves across the backs of his eyelids, Aang saw things that he had been blinded by when Katara was his girlfriend. When he would kiss her, she seemed reluctant to kiss him back, simply placing a light peck against the two raised pieces of sensitive flesh on his face. He had brushed her rejection off with excuses as simple as she just wasn't in the mood to kiss him at that moment or sometimes even excuses that were as elaborate as playing Uncle Iroh in a game of Pai Sho; he just couldn't bring himself to admit that she might not love him anymore, or if she had ever loved him in the first place.

He remembered the celebration Zuko threw in the Fire Nation for the anniversary of the first year of the end of the war. Aang had told Katara how beautiful she looked in her ruby colored dress, the hem brushing the floor; she had responded with a small smile and a kiss to the cheek. When Zuko had approached her, and told her just how beautiful she looked, she had blushed, averting her gaze to a podium off to her right, where a marble bust of the new and improved Fire Lord was stationed; Aang had passed her odd reaction to the fire bender off as she was simply hot due to Zuko's close proximity.

The night Aang told her just how much he loved her, she had looked away, stuttering a lie about how she felt the same; her hands had been trembling, and tears threatened to spill over onto the tops of her cheeks. He had thought that these reactions were a result of just how happy she was; he hadn't registered the sadness swimming in her eyes, a sadness she was obviously trying to withhold, to conquer.

Aang slapped a tattooed hand against his forehead, stifling the sobs wracking his body, fighting to remain in control as he delved deeper into the memories, noticing the little things that gave the truth away, the little things he hadn't noticed initially.

The day of Katara's nineteenth birthday he had given her extravagant robes from the Earth Kingdom, made of the finest silk, embroidered panda lilies adorning the ivory colored ensemble; she had smiled slightly, told him how much she loved it and hugged him. Her eyes had been devoid of any kind of happiness, though; he had thought that she was merely tired from the long week of flying to the Fire Nation. Aang recommended that she lay down, and he felt slightly guilty for having her travel all this way after she had just gotten home from another expedition to the Earth Kingdom, but Fire Lord Zuko had announced his engagement to Lady Mai, after all; they wouldn't be very good friends had they not come to help him celebrate.

The tension in Aang's chest tightened; he quivered, fighting the pain, fighting the tears. He couldn't tell whether or not his chest was hollow or weighted down.

"Please Agni," he whispered, almost brokenly, his voice lacking the usual cheerful air that was so becoming of the young monk, "please… make her love me. I've seen what you can do; how hard could this simple request be? Please… make her love me."

He received no response; no bright light gathering in the sky, no caressing whirlwind whipping around his head, carrying his soft words up to the heavens… nothing. Aang bowed his head in defeat, listening half- heartedly to the buzzing in his ears that was a result of the deafening silence.

His eyes closed, and, with clammy palms, he placed his head into the valley created by his two hands. He wept.

His tears streaked down his palms, stroking his skin in an almost affectionate way, as if his very own tears were weeping with him, feeling his pain, and trying to find a way to comfort him. And as Aang sat in the skies, Appa making grunting noises of compassion, assuring his master that he was there for him, the night had evolved into dawn, tar colored skies brightening into the peaceful oranges and yellows of morning. The stars and the moon disappeared; the sun rose, and brought with him hope for a new day, a new beginning.

The tears halted, if only momentarily, and Aang, exhausted, looked up, relishing the warmth the morning offered.

-ooooo-

****Well, I hope this makes up for my lack of updating. The last weeks of school were hectic, and writer's block had claimed me as his victim. :( But, now it is officially SUMMER! :D Yay! I know the ending was kind of abrupt, but if I had continued, this piece would have clashed with another of these short snippets. ;)

Thanks guys! Oh, and if you have the time, mind dropping me a review? Please...

~Moonlit- Silhouette