Secret

He had been attracted in the beginning, sure, but it wasn't until they had gone through some life and death situations when he realized just how much he liked her. And he kept it to himself, his secret. After all, he couldn't tell the "mother" of the group his feelings, right? What if he got rejected? Events and weeks went by. He almost spilled his secret at Aunt Wu's village. He sure didn't succeed there.

A real chance he got with her was in the Cave of Two Lovers. They had kissed for their continued survival, but…that was the best chance he got!

And so it went on. Each day, his feelings intensified, and the secret was harder to keep. He suspected Toph, maybe even Sokka realized this. But they kept his secret, so it was hidden, not out in the world.

It was while unlocking his Water Chakra that Aang fully realized his feelings for Katara. His small feelings had blossomed into love, love of an ancient race transformed, true love, which made him choose her over the safety of the world. When he had to let her go, no feeling in the world could describe his pain. He never got a chance to tell her.

In the last stages of his journey, his secret became bigger and bigger. He knew exactly what he thought of her, and did all he could to get her attention. It just became larger and larger for every minute they spent together, every time he saw her. And it burst out of him on the Day of Black Sun. He was afraid he would die, and the secret with him. So there, a kiss-and the too-large secret was no more. Katara must have been overwhelmed. First oblivious to Aang's intentions, then suddenly have a pressure so great thrust upon her on a second. In this way, the secret was mutually repressed, until the Fire Lord was defeated, when they had time to see: the secret is real. It is alive. It's not mine anymore.

And on that balcony under the sunset, they looked at each other, and without any words said, they knew. They both had the same secret.

A/N: Thanks for reading. If you've read everything so far, you can tell that I enjoy canon. These prompts work well with what we already have, and I just like to make connections. Hope I've captured this prompt well. If I've haven't, or you have questions or anything else, do review.