Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender or take credit for it in any if my stories.
Don't know how many of you noticed yet but I started naming my chapters. Also a few chapters ago I said I might change the name of my story, but I like the name. It fits the story rather well. And Thanks for over 5000 views everyone. Anyways enough of my rants ON WITH THE STORY!
Aang woke up after his long night remembering their conversation.
"Are you pregnant?"
"I don't know, it's too early to tell, but when I find out I'll let you know. It's ok Aang just don't worry about it I'm just glad that, if I do turn out pregnant, they are yours."
"Yeah me two."
Aang felt a great deal of joy and grief. He was happy that Katara would have his child. However he felt that it was his fault that she might be pregnant. If only he had taken it slow with her, but instead he decided to take a rather large step in their relationship. Aang tried to sit up and get out of bed without disturbing Katara from her sleep. He guessed that she must have slept the same as him, terrible. Aang reached the foot of the bed and successfully got out of the bed without waking Katara. He grabbed his shirt and left the room in search for Guru Pathik. As the door closed Katara woke up.
"Aang?" She sat up and stared at the door wondering if last night was the reason he left so early. Feeling alone, Katara laid back down and brought the sheets over her head and fell back asleep.
Aang continued his search for Pathik, checking each hall and temple until he found him meditating with a beautiful scenery in front of him. The sun turned the sky shades of orange, blue, purple and red. The clouds around it added lighter shades of each color adding to the beauty. Aang was brought back to earth by Pathik who yet again knew Aang was there without even opening an eye or turning around.
"Hello Aang you are up early, even for you."
"I've got a lot on my mind." Aang said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"I can see that but I feel that there is more to it than just something on your mind." Pathik said as he finally turned to Aang and invited him to come and sit with him. Aang sat down adjacent to Pathik and wondered how to explain this to him. This subject was still new to Aang and he has to get advice for it from someone who probably didn't even understand his predicament.
"Let me guess what this is about." Said Pathik who broke the silence between the two.
"It's something you did with the young waterbender isn't it?" Aang was completely caught off guard by the question since it was dead on the topic.
"Y…yeah." Said a reluctant Aang who knew advice from Pathik was what he needed but still didn't fully want to tell him the story.
"Hmm I see. Aang, how much are you willing to give up for her?"
"What do you mean? I would do anything for Katara."
"You see Aang you have already given up firebending, mastering the Avatar State and the reason you're here right now is probably because you broke your vow of celibacy as a monk because of her as well." Aang sat in shock having no idea what to say in response.
How would he know that? It doesn't make any sense at all. Aang thought since he couldn't move his mouth.
"Aang, you haven't answered my question. How much are you willing to give up for her?" Repeated the Guru. Aang sat in silence and finally found the words he was looking for.
"I told you, I would do anything for Katara. I learned firebending and how to control the Avatar State as well for your information." Aang snapped, stood up and left the Guru to himself. He didn't ask the question he wanted or get the advice he wanted but he did realize something…he and Katara had a long talk ahead of them. Aang decided to wait until they arrived in Gaoling to talk with Katara about everything so they could have more privacy. For now he decided the best thing to do was to leave and get their day started. Aang returned to his and Katara's room to find it empty. He searched in the other rooms to find no one was there. Aang continued his search for them deciding to start with the kitchen. Luckily he found everyone in the kitchen searching for something to eat. They had brought supplies but figured that the air temple would have some exotic foods.
"Hi Aang is everything ok?" Katara asked remembering that he left the room early in the morning. Aang walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah everything's great I was just talking with Guru Pathik about…something, it's not important."
"Yeah that guys weird if you ask me. He doesn't smell like normal old people he smells more like onion and banana."Sokka stated as Suki punched him in the arm.
"Ow what? You were all thinking it."
"Sokka be nice you barely know him and you're already judging him." Suki scolded Sokka for his rather rude comment. Aang simply ignored the comment still thinking about his and Guru Pathik's conversation.
"Are you guys almost ready to go?" Aang asked in a tone dead voice. The Gaang looked at him wondering why he was acting so weird, all except Katara who had one pretty good idea. The group sat in silence for a minute as no one had an idea why they had to leave so soon.
"Um, sure I guess. We have food on Appa and can eat on the way there so yeah I guess we can go. Do you think we should say goodbye to Guru Pathik?" Sokka responds finally breaking the silence. Aang turned around and proceeded to walk towards Appa and waited for the rest of the group. Everyone moved out of the ancient kitchen and headed towards Appa as well. They all hopped on and continued their journey to the South Pole. The saddle was unusually quiet other than the rustling of food and bags. Katara went over to Appa's head and sat down next to Aang.
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked still concerned if what she said had affected him so much that it changed him.
"No not at all." Aang responded quickly trying to avoid the conversation he was about to have.
"Is it about what I said last night?" Katara began guessing since she easily figured out Aang lied to her to avoid talking. Aang sighed deeply and looked over to Katara.
"No it's not that, well maybe it is. I don't know I'll tell you more when we get to-" Aang quickly stopped realizing that he almost ruined the surprise for Toph. "When we get to…our destination." Aang covered for his almost slip up.
"Ok then we'll talk more when we get there." Katara sighed and rested her head on Aang's shoulder and waited for the arrival. The flight went on in silence when Sokka's alert voice brought everyone's attention to him.
"Hey! Has anyone seen Momo?"
"Come to think of it I haven't seen the little guy for awhile now. Aang do you know where he is?" Suki asked showing her concern for their little furry friend.
"Yeah he's right here." Aang said as he opened his shirt reveling Momo who was sleeping.
"Has he been in there the entire time?" Asked Katara.
"Pretty much, he left when we arrived at the temple and then I found him this morning on Appa."
"Oh…well at least he's safe. Actually now that I think of it…where's Hawky?" Sokka asked continuing being worried for all the pets he couldn't see.
"Oh yeah sorry I forgot to mention that I barrowed him to send a message back to the Fire Nation to see if everything's alright." Zuko pitched in on the topic. "He's going to arrive back at The Jasmine Dragon and then my Uncle will send him to the South Pole when he arrives." Zuko finished.
"Alright then as long as somebody knows where he is." Sokka said reassuring himself. The Gaang all waited for a few more hours and landed in the forest briefly to eat lunch. Once done they took off again and continued their way to Gaoling. It was about four hours past mid day before they finally arrived at Gaoling. Everyone was confused on why they where landing here except for Sokka, Katara and Aang. Once they stopped no one moved but Toph who jumped right out of the saddle to embrace the earth. She stood still for a moment then turned around to Aang.
"Twinkle Toes get your butt down here!" Toph exclaimed realizing where she was.
"Toph don't blame him it was my idea."Katara said as she jumped off of Appa to talk with Toph. "I just thought that after your letter that you would want to see your family again." Toph stood quietly knowing that Katara was right and slowly nodded her head.
"We decided that you could stay here while we go to the South Pole since you can't really 'see' in the ice." Katara said putting emphasis on the see part.
"That's sweet of you Katara thanks." Toph smiled and punched Katara in the arm. Katara rubs her arm but continues to smile as Toph is glad that she is here and gets to spend time with her parents.
"They're coming!" Toph yells and then runs off towards her house as her parents run out and they all embrace for a long hug.
"Mom, dad these are my friends. You've already met Aang, Katara and Sokka, but not the rest. This is Suki she's a Kyoshi warrior and Sokka's girlfriend. And these two are Mai and Zuko the new Fire Lord."
"The what?" Toph's father asks.
"He he I guess news doesn't travel as fast as I would like it to. I am Fire Lord Zuko the new ruler of the Fire Nation. Aang defeated my father and we put an end to the war about two weeks ago. I promise you I'm not like him though." Zuko finished and bowed to Toph's parents.
"Very well then, forgive us if we don't trust you but if Toph says you're ok then you are welcome here. I am Lao Bei Fong and this is my wife Poppy Bei Fong." They bow back to Zuko. Lao's eyes quickly change to Aang who is unusually quiet.
"As for you young Avatar I apologize for not letting our Toph train you and forcing you and your friends to leave last time." Aang bowed in response and Lao invited them all in to talk. The Gaang followed him into a grand living room where everyone took seats. They were all happy that the awkward introductions were over and started to catch up on recent events. Toph and Sokka told the Gaang's story of the past months. How they destroyed a drill at Ba Sing Se, stopped a brainwashing plan, Aang being shot by lightning, their journey to the Fire Nation, Katara dressing up to save a village, Combustion man trying to kill them the first time, when Katara and Toph wrote the note, Combustion man trying to kill them a second time, the invasion, Combustion man trying to kill them a third time, Zuko joining their group, breaking Suki and Hakoda out of jail, Aang's fight with Ozai and how he took his bending away and finally that Aang and Katara were a couple. Lao and Poppy's head spun after hearing this story not believing so much happened since Toph left.
"That was quiet a story." Lao finally managed to say.
"Yeah it's all pretty good except I still don't like the last part to much." Sokka said. Katara threw a pillow at Sokka getting his attention. She then turned to Aang and began to make out with him as Sokka watched in horror.
"Hey! NO! Don't do that! I said I don't want to see any of that!" Sokka exclaimed and threw the pillow back at them causing them to stop.
"Aww come on Sokka you know you basically asked for that after what you said." Katara said grinning at Sokka.
"No I did-" Sokka is cut off as Suki rushes in and starts kissing him.
"Ok ok I get it you all love each other just please stop doing that while were here." Lao comments on the sudden rise in passion. A servant comes in and informs everyone that dinner is ready.
"Wow time flies when you tell stories." Sokka says as they all leave for the dining room table and take their seats to begin eating. They finish and continue their small talk as Aang motions for Katara to follow him and leave.
"We'll be back soon and thank you for the wonderful meal Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fong." Katara says as she follows Aang out the door. They walk up to the hill that overlooked Gaoling the first time they were there and sat down.
"So what's really going on Aang you were barely sociable tonight and that's more like Mai or Zuko not you." Katara asked trying to pry the info she wanted out of him.
"Earlier today you asked if I was like that because of what you said last night. Maybe it is because of that. We're both so young and we might have a child already. I just don't know if I would be a good dad. You know most dads actually have some age distance between their children, but me?" Aang stopped and let Katara take in what he had said and wait a response.
"Aang I know you'll be a great dad. You have the heart of a thirteen year old but the wisdom of a forty year old. Don't worry so much about it, ok? It's all going to be alright." Katara moves in and wraps her arms around Aang and holds him as he stares down on the peaceful city.
"Katara theirs another thing that I have to tell you." Aang starts talking and Katara loosens her grip on him and waits to hear what he has to say.
"This morning I went and talked with Guru Pathik and he said some things that…well…are unfortunately true." Aang paused for a moment. He knew he had to tell her but he found it harder and harder to tell her with each passing second.
"What did he tell you Aang?" Katara asked wanting to hear what info the Guru said to him that could of put him in this kind of state.
"He asked me how much I was going to give up for you. Then he told me what I had already given up for you." Katara could see that this was really hard for Aang to tell her.
"What have you given up for me Aang?"
"Well you already know that I gave up firebending for you."
"Yeah but you eventually learned it and can control it." Katara said trying to reassure Aang.
"That's just a little thing compared to the other two. I've also given up my vow of celibacy as a monk when you and I…well…you know." Aang said as he turned away. Katara turned his face back to hers.
"Aang that was both of our decisions not our sacrifice. We both chose to take our love to the next step and we did." Katara leaned in and started to kiss Aang when he broke away.
"There's one more thing and probably the biggest of all. When we all split up back in Ba Sing Se and I went to go master the Avatar State with Guru Pathik. I had a little trouble opening the final chakra. It was blocked by earthly attachments and I had to let them go. I had to let you go. I couldn't do that so I refused and left back to Ba Sing Se and went to save you. But when I tried to let you go in order to save us from Azula, the Dai Li and Zuko she shot me and my seventh chakra got locked. It wasn't until a complete accident when I was fighting Ozai that it opened up again."
"Aang I don't know what to say. I'm honored that you didn't want to let me go but…you put the entire world at risk when you decided to hold onto me instead of mastering the Avatar State." Katara sat in shock wishing that she didn't hear what she just heard.
"I'm sorry Katara but I just couldn't let you go, I still can't let you go." Aang pulled his knees close to his chest as a tear rolled down his cheek. Katara put her arms around Aang and held him close to her.
"It's ok Aang I'm glad you told me this, but let's move on from the past and think of what's going on now." The couple sat in silence for a long time before deciding to go back to the Bei Fong residence. They arrived to see everyone asleep but one servant.
"Hello young Avatar I was told to wait to show you your room. Please follow me." The servant led Aang and Katara down to their rooms.
"Here we are your room is first Avatar and your room is right across from his miss. Good night." The servant leaves the two to their quarters. Aang moves to his door and pauses as he's about to open it.
"Katara…do you still want to stay with me?" Aang asks without turning around. Katara walks up behind him and turns him around.
"Of course I do Aang." She gives him a hug and they enter the room. Katara, feeling more comfortable with Aang, decides to sleep without her dress on and only her bindings. Aang is surprised at first since the only time he saw her in her bindings was when they practiced waterbending. They both crawled into bed and began to sleep the same way as always, cuddling. After four nights of it they started getting use to it. After a minute passed Aang finally spoke up.
"Katara I love you no matter what."
"I love you too Aang, no matter what." With the pleasant thought of each other's love in their minds they fell asleep easy this night.