Playing the Fool
Katara wasn't stupid; a tad oblivious at times, but not stupid.
She didn't realize that Aang had fallen for her when he'd opened his eyes, but she eventually took from his continuous staring through the months that he felt something for her that he didn't feel towards Sokka, or later towards Toph and Zuko when they joined their little escapade.
His grey eyes would watch, and Katara discovered. Eventually he knew that she knew that he knew and - it got interesting. It was now some sort of twisted game without any rules or order.
Aang was afraid to scare her off; Katara didn't know just how deep his feelings went, let alone hers. So they kept dancing around each other, trying to hold down blushes when their hands brushed or when they stayed awake at night to simply listen to the other talk or breathe.
Katara loved how he would do idioidic things to impress her; it was just like Kiyoshi Island. The way he would jump off cliffs or write her name in the clouds, it made her laugh and blush.
But then suddenly the war was over and they seemed to be in a limbo, not knowing what to do with each other now that they knew the other's feelings. There was nothing to distract them from the grins that meant more, nothing to distract them from the flirting they would unconsciously do (which infuriated Sokka nonstop it seemed).
Aang was still scared, Katara was still unsure; they both had no idea what to do. The war of the world had ended, the one going on beneath their ribs had just begun.
And the waterbender seemed to realize that Aang had always been the one persuing, the one trying to catch her attention and interest. She realized that maybe it was time for her to repay the favor, and do something to make him really look at her. Something to make him laugh or love so much he'd cry.
Yet she was stuck, Katara spent weeks trying to figure something out that would get them closer then holding hands and kissing cheeks.
Not that she didn't mind their innocent, light love that they'd both instigated that sunset at the tea shop. But they were teenagers - they could at least peck each other on the lips from time to time; but Aang hadn't made a move since that night of immediate celebration. He seemed to have fully relaxed, thinking that they had all the time in the world now that there wasn't an entire nation our for their hides. He was still polite, still carefree in the way he smiled and ran his fingers through her hair calmly.
And yet in this luxurious relaxation Katara felt so desperate. She watched him grow, his face beginning to change and his voice cracking and finally lowering into something that caught girls attentions. What would she do if he simply went away; he was the Avatar and the last airbender and deserved the best. Katara wasn't so egotistical to think she was the best.
But she was greedy and she was stubborn in her resolve to keep him.
Katara finally decided to just jump, to free fall.
She grabbed his collar and pulled their bodies together under the full moon, not caring if she was bruising their lips by crashing them together. She didn't care about courting rules that Sokka had apparently briefed him about, didn't care that they were covered in water and only clad in their undergarments; all Katara knew was that she wanted Aang to physically feel what she'd been holding in.
When he kissed her back and moved his hands to cover her back, she felt a shiver of excitement and victory.
Sure, her method wasn't the graceful, proper and poised as they'd been with each other until now, but she didn't care. Aang didn't seem to either.