His Case

Katara raised an eyebrow at the nervous Aang who was next to her, both aside the small fire. It was the only light across the black beach, the moon barely a sliver tonight and the stars clouded over; it was dark and beautiful and it paired well with the nearby crashing waves. Some sparks would hop from the salty wood, which turned the fire an odd greenish, and illuminated their faces and sparsely-dressed bodies.

"What is it Aang?" she asked as she moved to lean into his side, not afraid to move a hand around his waist.

The airbender opened and closed his mouth in rapid succession, only managing to get out a few noises that sounded like they came out from Momo and not him. Whatever was getting to him obviously was distressing him enough to the point where he couldn't even form functional words.

"Aang," Katara said his name confidently as her arm around him tightened, "You know you can tell me anything."

This had his light eyes darting from the fire and then to her before he lowered his head and moved it to sit atop Katara's own.

"Do you bloodbend on me?"

The question came out of nowhere and Katara's spine straightened without warning, causing their heads to knock and for Aang to groan out. But Katara's mind was elsewhere, so far that she didn't acknowledge any pain from their knocked heads.

"What did you just ask?" she asked in a hushed voice.

The tattooed teenager winced at her quiet tone before he ducked his head in his shoulders in what seemed like shame.

"Explain Aang; what made you think that!" Katara said in desperation as her hands formed into fists at her sides. She didn't know if she felt a sudden chill because of the conversation or because she wasn't leaning into his warm frame anymore.

"Well...it's just..."

He looked at her serious blue eyes before taking a deep breath and finishing.

"...you make my heart pump like crazy every time I'm with you."

Katara tilted her head to the side as her confusion only seemed to grow. Finally, after she had looked into his eyes long enough to realize he was entirely serious, she asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Here," he said as he grabbed her hand, "Feel it."

When he placed her hand onto his warm skin, right over his heart, Katara's eyes widened in shock.

"Your heart is beating fast."

"I know. You make it do that."

"Like, really really fast."

He groaned and nodded, letting go of her hand to lay limp at his side, before saying, "It hurts a little sometimes."

Katara couldn't contain the grin that spread on her face before she burst out into laughter, her light voice easily overpowering the waves and crackle of the fire. When she caught her breath she said, "So, let me get this straight. You think I'm using bloodbending to make you heart do that?"

"Well, it just won't stop and it's annoying!" Aang said in frustration. "It's always done that around you, but now it seems like it's doing it even more, which is ridiculous because we're together and it couldn't be better and-"

"Aang," Katara cut off his potential rant fast, "I'm doing nothing."

"You're definitely doing something! You're making my heart go crazy! Make it stop!"

Katara laughed at his pouting expression. She couldn't tell if he was being serious, or if this was all a big joke, but the waterbender decided she really didn't care as she pulled their bodies back together.

AN: If you caught on to the double meaning to the title, good job :D If not, the definition of the word 'case' can mean a problem or situation, but also love. YAY for ambiguous English! I feel a little like a jerk for taking the serious subject of bloodbending into this but… it just had potential for me. What'd you guys think?