Pillow Talk:

Chapter 3: Upon Waking

It was subtle, the way in which his gentle breaths filled his body as his chest and shoulders rose and fell like the waves. It was a soothing motion, and the beautiful waterbender lying beside him never tired of the even, calming pattern of the Avatar's sleeping form. Truthfully, every little action he performed fascinated her, and she found no small amount of enjoyment in knowing that, even the little things, such as the way he crinkled his nose when threatened with a sneeze, or the untold joy he exhibited when making fruit pies, brought a steady exhilaration to her senses, making her acutely aware of every detail, no matter how minute, of the young man in her arms.

Of course, the charmingly captivating details of Aang's little idiosyncrasies were insignificant when compared to all the ways he exhausted himself in expressing his love for her. The way his voice would so often brake in painful obsession when softly professing her name while in the thralls of passion. The lingering touches and kisses that burned, white hot across her fevered skin, eliciting every nerve, every fiber, every particle of her body to desperate immersion into the unyielding touch of her lover's delicate ministrations. And his eyes, gray storms of desire that burned with a sadness that Katara knew all too well. It was a sadness that knew that even should they spend an eternity in one another's arms, it would never be enough.

And as she lay there, fingers gently gliding over the cobalt tattoo the stretched the length of his lithe but strong arm, she drank in every detail of Aang's gentle features, soon finding herself intoxicated by just his mere presence. Leaning forward, she brushed her lips gently against his, his taste drawing her further into her own desire to touch and caress Aang, to commit every inch of his body to memory, as she had a thousand times before. Gently leaning further into his kiss, she startled only slightly as Aang began responding to her caress, his lips moving in equal fervor, drinking in her closeness as though he could never get enough. Moments passed as the kiss deepened, the two lovers moaning in desire at the early morning passion that consumed them. Fingers glided over bare skin, groping and caressing in a fit of desperate, unmet need that clawed feverously at what little restraint the lovers possessed in light of their early morning duties that did not include their present fit of passion for one another.

The yearning need to be held, to be loved, to be caressed and cared for however, did not distract from the duties that would need to be addressed today, and the last few, lingering kisses were a promise to finish in the evening what was started in the morning. As Aang slowly opened his eyes, a soft smile spreading across his lips as he greeted his lovely waterbender.

"Good morning," he smiled further, his gentle words echoing the love that consumed him to every cell of his body.

"Good morning," Katara returned, her own eyes burning fervently as she graced the Avatar with a sleepy smile.

Moments passed between them, comforted to be lost in each other's presence and too alive with the love that enveloped them both to move from their position in each other's arms. After several heartbeats passed, Aang finally broke the silence. "What were you thinking about?" he asked softly, his fingers moving to gently brush a few wayward strands of tussled hair from her forehead. "I could feel you watching me as I slept."

The color rising to her cheeks caused a self-mocking smirk as she lowered her eyes shyly in a way that she knew Aang adored. "How could you possibly know that?"

Her only response was a smile that sweetly adorned his features as he closed the space between them once again and proffered a lingering kiss that swept the air from both their lungs. After several, long, agonizingly sweet minutes, he pulled away, her lips instinctively followed his, aching from loss of contact with his mouth. He smiled at her expected response before staring once more into her eyes before posing his question once again. "So, what were you thinking about earlier?"

Shrugging mildly as though the answer was not as important as the question, Katara simply smiled briefly before responding with a simple, "You."

A brief laugh escaped the airbender before he tilted his head slightly. "That's rather vague Katara. I'm hoping you'll elaborate on that…seeing as how I'm the subject." He finished, flashing a charming smile that effected Katara much the same as her shyly probing eyes affected him.

"Sometimes I just have to wonder," Katara stated slowly, her words filtering from her lips in a gentle lull that seemed to calm the already peaceful airbender. "I just have to wonder if I deserve you."

Pursing his lips in a thoughtful expression while arching an eyebrow, Aang waited patiently for Katara to continue, while she seemed hesitant to explain further.

"How did you come by that idea exactly?" Aang asked, his features softening at the fear that perhaps he had implanted this doubt into his beautiful waterbender's mind, and his desire to desperately squash that doubt was foremost in his mind.

"It sounds silly I know but it's just that…well, you're the Avatar."

"And?"

Shrugging slightly, Katara continued her lamenting thoughts. "It's just, you're a master bender, you promote peace and compassion everywhere you go, you ended the war, and every king and noble on the planet would drop their entire schedule for a meeting with you.

"But with all that power, all that influence, you could have had your choice of any woman on the planet…and you chose me. I can't deny, it really makes me feel somewhat humbled, and a little unworthy. Sometimes, not always mind you, but just sometimes, I feel like I have live up to that title of being the Avatar's wife, and I'm not sure how to live up to that."

"Why would you ever think you'd have to 'live up to that'?" Aang asked, his hand moving forward to grace the back of his fingers against the silk-smooth skin of her cheek as he burrowed his eyes deeply into her clear blue irises. "If anything, I often wonder if I'm worthy of you."

"That's funny Aang," Katara asked incredulously, her laugh devoid of humor as she moved her own fingers to capture his and twine their fingers together. "You doubt if you deserve me?"

"You have no idea what you do to me," the Avatar responded, his voice husky with need and want as he moved forward, the tip of his nose grazing across her skin lightly and leading a trail for butterfly kisses that soon followed. His attentive kisses soon found their way along her jawbone before moving lower to her throat, and when he spoke again; the crook of her neck muffled his words. "I'm an airbender Katara, and you rob me of my breath." He said, kissing her throat again, his words gravely as he fought them around the constriction of his own voice. "I'm a waterbender, and just thinking of you makes my body sweat and my mouth go dry." A kiss lay tenderly against her jaw. "I'm an earthbender, and you shake the world beneath my feet and make me tremble with just a look." His lips finding the lobe of her ear and suckling the tender skin. "And I'm a firebender, and you send shivers through my body. I have absolute control over the elements, but you make me the weakest I've ever been, and stronger than I ever thought I could be."

His husky words now breaking slightly as he pulled away to kiss her fully on the lips, his mouth lingering as she parted her lips to deepen the kiss. Only when his lungs were starved for breath did he pull away to gaze fully in her eyes. Katara however, ducked her eyes away from his again, a blush marking its way up the curve of her cheeks. "When you talk like that," Katara whispered, her own words coming breathlessly from her enticing lips, "You really make me wonder if I'm worthy to live up to your praise."

Aang smiled as he moved his hand to gently grace her face, his thumb resting against the bridge of her nose while the remaining fingers splayed across the soft texture of her skin; his thumb and forefinger framing that perfectly blue eye that watched him expectantly. "You forget one thing Katara," his words came slow and heavy as he continued. "You said that you didn't know if you were worthy, that I could have chosen anyone in this world as my lover and you were genuinely surprised that I chose you. But there was never a choice Katara. From the moment you woke me from the iceberg and I opened my eyes to be lost in your perfect, endlessly blue eyes, I was consumed by you.

"There was never a choice Katara, because from the very beginning of our journey, from the time our adventure began…all I could ever see, was you."

-End

A/N: Just a story of good fluff. Hope you enjoy. As always, if you're kind enough to read, please be kind enough to review. Thank you.