As she scampered away from the young man in the forest, Katara's heart beat fast. She wondered to herself just who he was. She wasn't even able to get his name! He was so nice though, and funny. She giggled to herself as she remembered the boy's awkward motions and expressions. Katara was going to have to get Toph to go with her to that tea shop sometime.
Not after long, Katara found the stream in the forest, just as the boy had said. She quickly plucked the aloe and hurried off home to help Sokka. He had been sparring with Aang, and as always, he had been totally beaten and had sustained a few wounds. She didn't know why Sokka wouldn't just give up after so many times of failing.
As Katara slipped into the quaint house she and the gang were staying at, everyone was mostly in a relaxed mood-Toph picked her toenails, Aang played with Momo, Sokka ate some unhealthy dessert. The reason the gang had come to Ba Sing Se was for Aang to continue learning earthbending from Toph. She seemingly only liked to bend with the ground found in the Earth Kingdom, whatever that meant. She, in her stubbornness, demanded that everyone stay in Ba Sing Se until Aang was proficient at earthbending. Aang didn't seem to mind though. After all, he loved Ba Sing Se. It was the place that sheltered them, welcomed them.
"Hey Katara! Where've you been?", Aang jumped up from the couch.
"Getting some aloe leaves for Sokka's wound. Looks like he doesn't seem to care very much though.", Katara remarked snidely.
Sokka looked up, frosting splattered on his face from the cake he was chomping.
"What!? I'm such a caring brother; you couldn't find another one like me anywhere.", Sokka said indignantly.
"Uh-huh.", Katara giggled. "Just lift up your sleeve for me, my 'infinitely caring brother'."
Sokka rolled his eyes, but complied. Katara carefully smeared the pulp from the aloe leaves on his gash, and wrapped it tightly with a bandage.
"Ah, that's better." Sokka sighed in relief.
"So how has the earthbending been coming along?" inquired Katara, turning to face Aang. Though, she knew that Aang was doing everything but practicing. She wished Aang took his bending more seriously. They came miles just to ensure he could learn earthbending properly, but all he did was goof around.
"Umm..it's going great! Toph just showed me this new move. Let's show her, Toph." Aang remarked nervously. Aang sprang up and he and Toph sprinted towards the wide garden full of open space outside their house.
He planted his feet firmly on the ground, while Toph stood a few feet in front of him. Katara couldn't wait to see this. Aang lifted his foot off the ground and balled his hands into fists. With a deep breath, Aang stomped his foot in front of him and pumped his right fist towards the sky. Suddenly, a sliver of rough rock emerged from the earth. Only it came up several yards away from Toph, hitting an invisible enemy.
"I wonder where that rock was going...", Aang blushed and nervously laughed.
He tried again, hopeful, and this time the sliver of rock came up from behind Toph and smacked her butt. Toph flew forward with a scream and landed atop Aang.
"Nice going, Twinkletoes!", Toph groaned.
They both got up and brushed the dirt off their pants. Toph shot an evil glare at Aang, who merely put his arm at the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.
"Great work, you two. We only came all the way to Ba Sing Se just to help you guys train. Please take things more seriously. You're the Avatar, Aang.", Katara sighed, exasperated.
"I'm sorry, Katara. Toph and I will work a lot harder from now on, I promise.", Aang repented, clasping his hands over his head.
Sokka looked over from inside the house and snorted. "Yeah, you've said that the other fifty times you've failed."
Katara glared at Sokka, then smiled at Aang. "It's all right, Aang. I just don't want our time to be wasted, you know? The faster we teach you earthbending, the faster you'll master it.", Katara said.
"Yeah, and the faster we'll be able to go do fun stuff! We've been here for a week now and we still haven't done anything." Toph complained.
Katara laughed, and then a content silence fell over everyone. They were all so happy they could just be having fun bickering like this. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was painted a brilliant orange. In the faltering light, everything seemed to glow. Ba Sing Se was such a majestic, amazing place. All the elaborate, intricate delivery pipes seemed to pulse like the veins of a living creature, transporting goods and letters to all the people living in the city. The city was divided into different areas, the rich towards the heart of the city and the poor along the outskirts. Patches of greenery embellished the town and water tumbled and cascaded along small, crystal clear streams. Everyone basked in the beauty for a moment, taking in their surroundings. Their house was elevated so that if they looked off the garden balcony, they could see the entire city. Katara looked off into the distance and the shopping district caught her attention. She peered closely and noticed near the center a small shop with a little flag of a picture of a teacup hanging in front of the store. That must be his tea shop, Katara thought to herself. A small smile discreetly found its way on her face and Aang looked at her, clearly puzzled.
"Why are you smiling?" Aang asked.
"Oh, umm, no reason.", Katara said quickly, wiping the smile off her face.
She had to be more careful. The gang were new to Ba Sing Se and if her friends found out she met someone, it could raise flags. They carried the Avatar, master of all four elements, and that made their group a huge target to many enemies. Enemies like Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation.
Katara knew how irresponsible it was to make a new 'friend' but she couldn't help it. His amber eyes had entranced her. Those eyes that shone like the breathtaking sunset were all she could picture in her mind. She was terribly drawn to the way his eyes seem to drift away from hers mysteriously, yet pierced her when they met hers for even a second.
Katara shook the thought off and stepped away from the garden. Her romantic musings needed to be quelled, she told herself. Katara had to admit that she fell way too easily for any guy who paid her attention. She always had to remind herself of Jet, who she'd fallen for so easily, but had turned out terrible and had tried to kill so many innocent people.
But she quickly and inevitably fell back into the lull of her thoughts, imagining the face of the boy she'd met, how his black hair shone from the light filtered through the trees in the woods. How could such a kind, beautiful person ever turn out like Jet?
Katara shook her head, literally. This clearly wasn't the time to be thinking about falling in love. Right now, the fate of the world was at stake in Aang's hands, and she needed to help guide him to be ready for Sozin's Comet.
She decided that getting some sleep would be the best way to unwind and rid herself of her childish thoughts. Katara went and bid her goodnight to everyone, and receded into the room that she and Toph shared.
She changed into a comfortable nightgown and settled into her bed, allowing the quiet of the night to seep into her skin and calm her troubled mind. Katara still found herself haunted by thoughts of the nameless boy, but she willed herself to sleep, and sleep she did, until she was rudely awakened by one very excited blind girl.
"Wake up! Wake up! Sugar Queen, I just heard the best news all week!" Toph practically screamed at her.
Katara rolled over, clearly irritated. "Yeesh, what time is it? Can't this wait until morning?"
"No, it can't wait! I just heard there's a dance in the center of the shopping district tomorrow night. We should go, just the two of us. It should spice up our trip some." Toph winked.
Katara wasn't listening to Toph, too tired to think. But the words 'shopping district' somehow registered in her ears, and her eyes widened.
"Toph, what about the shopping district?" Katara suddenly interjected, wide awake.
"Woah, Sugar Queen, what's gotten into you all of a sudden.", Toph smirked, being able to feel Katara's rapidly beating heart through her feet."All I said was that there's gonna be a dance in the shopping district tomorrow."
"Oh. I see." Katara couldn't stop the blush that started to creep on her face. She berated herself internally for her weakness.
Toph was only egged on more by Katara's flushed face. "What's so special about the shopping district, huh? You hate shopping?" Toph smirked.
"No... I just, I don't know. Forget it." Katara shifted uncomfortably from where she sat on the bed.
"I can tell you're lying to me, Katara. Spill it." Toph demanded. Katara felt cornered and cursed to herself. She couldn't let Toph find out about the boy in the forest.
"I...uh. Please Toph, just leave it, okay?" Katara decided to plead, too desperate to get out of the tense situation.
"Sugar Queen, you know me. I'm not letting you sleep until you tell me what's going on. And I want to know every. Single. Detail." Toph persisted, torturing Katara.
After some bickering, Katara decided to give in. It couldn't hurt too much to tell Toph, could it? Sure, she'd get some devilish teasing, but it would end up okay. Katara made her promise by her heart not to tell anyone about her secret, but she still was worried Toph would tell the whole world. Well, at least now she has someone to reveal her fangirling about the boy to.
"So, do you want to go to the dance tomorrow? You might get a chance to see him! Although, Twinkletoes would be disappointed." Toph laughed.
To Toph's delight, Katara hesitantly remarked, "I guess we could go, but not for too long. And if I want to leave, then we leave. Got it?"
"Yup! Let's go sleep now; tomorrow night had better come super fast." Toph could barely control her excitement.
Actually, neither could Katara, but she kept it mostly within herself. She could barely sleep again without imagining the boy, romantically taking her hand and asking her to dance. Katara willed her thoughts to quiet down; she wanted just to sleep peacefully. She needed to keep her eyes on Aang, and his training, but she guessed a little fun couldn't hurt. It was only one night. Katara sighed and drifted into a deep sleep, anxious for the coming day.