Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA... yada... yada... yada...
Chapter 30
Everyone met for breakfast the next morning, then went shopping in the city for a while to find something new to wear to the party. Except for Zuko and Mai, who were busy making the final arrangements for the evenings festivities. Apparently, the children would be attending the party for dinner with their parents, then would be escorted to one of the recreation rooms to be entertained by the palace nannies, while the adults enjoyed drinks and dancing. The gaang shopped for most of the morning then met for lunch that afternoon, before returning to the palace to get ready for the party. Then they waited for Toph until the last minute, but left without her when she still hadn't arrived by the time the celebration started.
The gaang arrived at the banquet hall and joined several other guests lined up in the hallway outside the doors, all patiently waiting to enter. Slowly moving toward the entrance, as each of them handed their invitation to one of the guards for inspection before it was sent inside. Then the man behind the podium would announce each guest when they entered the banquet hall, which was nearly full already. Sokka, Suki and Kya were the first ones in their group to reach the entrance.
" Presenting Gentleman Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, master of swords and weaponry, his wife Lady Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors, master of combat and weaponry, and their daughter, Lady Kya." The announcer said loudly, then everyone applauded and whistled as they stepped through the doors smiling and headed toward their seats at the table with Zuko and Mai. Then it was Aang, Katara and Tenzin's turn.
" Are you ready?" Aang asked Katara nervously, gently squeezing her hand.
" Ready." Katara replied, then inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as Aang handed their slightly amended invitation to the guard. Who recognized them immediately, and bowed respectfully, before quickly taking their invitation to the announcer without even looking at it.
" Presenting Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple, master of all elements and great bridge to the spirit world, and Lady Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, master of waterbending... " The announcer said loudly as the crowd started to applaud, then suddenly stopped when he cleared his throat to politely indicate that he wasn't finished, *heh-hmmm* " And their son, Gentleman Tenzin." He added as Aang and Katara walked through the double doors holding hands then stood there smiling, with Tenzin propped proudly on Aang's hip. Hushed whispers rapidly spread throughout the crowd as everyone stared at the trio dumbfounded. Then, one-by-one, the people in the crowd stood up and began whistling and applauding vigorously as the family entered the banquet hall and went to their table to join their friends.
" That went better than I thought it would." Aang said to Katara quietly, as he pulled her chair out for her and she sat down. Then he placed Tenzin in the seat next to her, and took his own seat between her and Zuko.
" Yeah, it did." Katara replied as he sat down next to her. " Did you see the look on my dad's face?" She asked giggling, then tried to stiffle it with her hand.
" No, I didn't." Aang said furrowing his brow. It hadn't even occurred to him that Hakoda would be there, and now he would have to face him. Then, the man behind the podium interrupted his thoughts with another announcement.
" Presenting Gentleman Haru, and Lady Toph Bei Fong of the Earth Kingdom, masters of earthbending." He said as Toph and Haru stepped through the double doors arm-in-arm and entered the banquet hall, then walked over to the table to join their friends while the crowd whistled and applauded. Sokka threw in a few cat calls, much to Suki's distress, that Toph politely chose to ignore. Thinking that she would have the rest of the night to get even with him.
Everyone chatted happily throughout dinner, then entered the ballroom and mingled a bit afterwards. Katara looked around the crowd searching for her father, then grabbed Aang and Tenzin's hands when she spotted him and started walking toward him. " Dad!" She shouted happily when they approached him, then she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercly.
" Katara!" Hakoda replied pleasantly surprised as he hugged his daughter. Then the two of them pulled apart and he picked up Tenzin and held him close. " I missed you guys so much." He said smiling as he squeezed his grandson tightly. Then he slowly lowered Tenzin to the floor and locked eyes with Aang. " Aang." He said as he offered his hand to him.
" It's good to see you again, Chief Hakoda." Aang replied as he shook his hand. Then they stood awkwardly silent for a minute, before their silence was disrupted.
" Dad!" Sokka shouted happily as he threw his arms around his father and gave him a big bear hug, lifting him off of the floor then quickly putting him back down.
" Sokka!" Hakoda replied happily hugging his son, surprised that he was strong enough to lift him up. Then the two men pulled apart and Hakoda kissed Suki on the cheek, then held his hands out to Kya and Suki place her in his arms. " I missed you guys, too." He said smiling at them as he held his granddaughter proudly against his chest.
" We missed you too, Dad." Sokka said smiling. And Suki smiled and nodded, silently agreeing with him.
Then Zuko got everyone's attention and politely asked the children to come to the front of the ballroom, where the nannies would be waiting to lead them to the one of the recreation rooms for stories and games.
Katara took Tenzin's hand then lead him to the front of the ballroom, and Sokka and Suki followed with Kya. Leaving Aang and Hakoda alone.
" Chief Hakoda... I want to apologize... for leaving Katara four years ago. " Aang said nervously. " I was confused, and jealous... and it was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life." He added sincerely.
" What's done, is done, Aang." Hakoda replied. " What's important is that you're here, now." He added. " And please, call me Hakoda." He said smiling softly.
" I want to marry her... officially... with your customs." Aang said. " And have a wedding in the Southern Water Tribe... with your blessing." He added. " Since we're already considered married... sort of... in my culture." He said nervously.
" Sort of? How can you be married sort of?" Hakoda asked him looking confused.
" Well... um... You see... the Air Nomads don't really... have... official marriages." Aang replied akwardly. " We, kind of... chose a partner... to spend the rest of our lives with... then... um... you know... consumate... the partnership... to make it official." He added nervously, averting his eyes.
" I see." Hakoda replied stroking his beard " So, let me get this straight." He added. " You and Katara made it 'official' four years ago... when you consumated your 'partnership' on the beach, and my grandson was conceived... the night before Sozin's Comet, right?" He asked with a serious look on his face. Finding Aang's discomfort with the topic highly amusing, and barely able to contain his laughter.
" Um... right." Aang replied sheepishly.
" Hmmmm... Then, I suppose you're right." Hakoda said. " You do need to have an official Watertribe wedding." He added. " And, you have my blessing." He concluded smiling.
" Seriously? You mean it?" Aang asked as a huge grin spread across his face.
" Seriously... I mean it." Hakoda replied chuckling lightly.
" Now, all I have to do is make a betrothal necklace for her." Aang said. " You wouldn't know where I could find a good stone for it, would you?" He asked Hakoda.
" Well, If I'm not mistaken, there are some beautiful moonstones in a submersed cavern behind one of the glaciers at the South Pole." Hakoda said. " Should be easy pickings for The Avatar." He added smiling.
" Great! Thanks, Hakoda." Aang replied grinning.
" Your welcome." Hakoda said. " And you might as well call me 'Dad', since you're marrying my daughter." He added grinning.
" Okay... Dad." Aang replied smiling.
Katara returned a few seconds later and looked at the two of them suspiciously. " So what have you two been talking about?" She asked cocking an eyebrow.
" Oh, you know... this and that." Aang replied, smiling innocently.
" Yeah... right." Katara said skeptically, looking at Aang unconvinced.
" Oh my... look who's over there." Hakoda said as he pointed blindly across the room. " Well, gotta go. See ya." He added smiling, then quickly headed in the general direction that he pointed to.
" I'll go get us something to drink." Aang said smiling, then quickly turned and headed toward the bar. Leaving Katara standing alone in the middle of the ballroom, rolling her eyes.
" Katara! How are you?" Ty Lee shouted happily as she ran over to Katara and hugged her. " Did you enjoy your vacation?" She asked smiling brightly as she pulled out of the embrace.
" Hello, Ty Lee." Katara said. " Yes, we had a wonderful time." She added smiling.
" I knew that you did when I saw you come in with Aang." Ty Lee replied giggling.
" Um... Yeah... We, kind of, ran in to each other in Ba Sing Se." Katara said awkwardly.
" He came to Kyoshi looking for you, you know... and I told him that you went to the Earth Kingdom on vacation." Ty Lee said. " So, he left and went to find you." She added excitedly.
" Yeah, I know. He told me." Katara replied. " Thanks, Ty Lee." She added smiling.
" You're welcome, Katara.." Ty Lee said smiling brightly. " Here comes Aang... so, I'll just leave you two love birds alone." She added quietly, winking. " See ya later!" She said happily as she dashed over to join Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors on the opposite side of the ballroom.
" See ya!" Katara shouted, then waved as Ty Lee ran away.
" How's Ty Lee?" Aang asked as he handed Katara her drink, then took a drink of his own.
" Chipper, as usual." She replied, laughing softly then taking a drink.
" I figured as much." He said chuckling, then downed his drink and placed his empty glass on the table beside them. " Wanna dance?" He asked holding his hand out to her and grinning.
" Sure." She replied smiling, as she took his hand and he lead her to the dance floor.
Toph was dancing with Haru, while feeling around for Sokka's vibrations through the dance floor. Silently planning her revenge. Finally, she honed in on his location and subtly stomped her foot on the dance floor. And the floor beneath Sokka shot up and launched him toward the refreshment table, then quickly returned to it's original position when he landed face first in the cake. Toph snickered as Sokka slowly pulled his face out of the cake, then smiled as he wiped some of the icing off with two of his fingers and ate it. Everyone burst into laughter, then eventually resumed what they were doing as the laughter faded.
" That was great!" Aang shouted. " Classic Toph." He said snickering as he turned toward Katara, obviously a little drunk.
" Yeah." Katara replied snickering as she slapped her thigh repeatedly, apparently more drunk than Aang was.
Then both of them laughed hysterically while they hung on to each other for balance, until their laughter subsided and they were standing nose to nose on the dance floor. Aang stared deeply into Katara's eyes for a few seconds, then kissed her passionately. Eagerly plunging his tongue into her mouth to deepen the kiss while he ran his hands up and down her back, then eventually down to her butt where they finally came to rest. Katara moaned into his mouth when he grabbed her butt and pulled her hard against his growing erection, then started to grind it against her as he kissed her more aggressively.
They were completely out of control when Zuko walked up to them and cleared his throat loudly to get their attention, *heh-hmmm* " You guys might want to take this to your room, where you won't have an audience." He whispered grinning, then walked away laughing.
Aang and Katara suddenly realized that everyone was staring, some people with disgust, and others grinning and giving them the 'thumbs-up'.
" Don't move, yet." Aang whispered to Katara as he buried his face in her neck. " Just stand here for a few minutes, while I calm... down." He added quietly.
" Okay." She whispered without moving, knowing exactly what needed to calm down.
They stood on the dance floor locked in an embrace for several minutes until Aang's 'problem' went away, and everyone lost interest. Then, quietly walked off the dance floor and out of the ballroom, and went directly to their suite.
" I can't believe we did that in public." Katara said blushing, once they were inside their suite.
" I can." Aang replied, grinning mischieviously as he pulled her body firmly against his. Then kissed her slowly and sensually, while he unfastened her gown and slowly backed her into their bedroom and over to the bed. Sliding her gown off of her shoulders and down her body, as he followed behind it trailing hot, open mouthed kisses along her newly exposed flesh.
Katara closed her eyes and moaned softly as he slowly kissed his way back to up to her neck, then over to her mouth. Running his tongue slowly between her lips, before he devoured them with a ravenous kiss and plunged it inside. Their tongues battled for dominance as the kiss deepened and he slowly removed her chest bindings, then started working on the lower ones. Fnally breaking the kiss, they gasped for air as she pulled his shirt and tunic over his head and dropped them on the floor, then they resumed the kiss with renewed passion. He removed her lower bindings and tossed them aside, while she untied his sash and his pants dropped to the floor around his ankles. Then she slipped her hand into his underwear and slowly stroked his erection, eliciting a groan from deep within his throat and pushing him way past the point of losing control. Breaking the kiss, his hand snapped up and firmly grabbed her wrist to stop her hand from moving, while he slid his underwear over his throbbing erection then past his hips and down his thighs until they dropped to the floor. Then, he released her wrist and pushed her down on the bed, then slid on top of her with his hands resting on the bed next to her shoulders, supporting his weight on both of his arms. He hovered over her and gazed at her lustfully, then lowered his body and kissed her aggressively as he plunged his swollen member deep into her warm, moist center, and began rhythmically thusting in and out of her. Their moans of pleasure becoming more frequent, and louder as the rhythm went faster and his thrusts were harder, and went deeper. Culminating with an explosion of intense pleasure as Katara's walls throbbed around Aang's rock-hard member when she climaxed, pulling him over the edge of ecstasy with her. And his eyes and tattoos glowed incandescently, as he threw his head back and pumped his seed deep inside her with his final few thrusts. Then slowly faded as he collapsed against her chest and they drifted off to sleep smiling.