Chapter 9:

Katara was fast asleep in her bed when suddenly she felt like rays of light were attacking her face. Katara only responded by burying herself under her covers, only to have them yanked from her and thrown on the floor.

"Get up Sweetness! It is 1:30 and we need to whip you into a super, hot sex kitten for Aang!"

Who else could it possibly be with a statement like that but Toph? No one else would possibly be this blatantly loud when someone was obviously enjoying their sleep other than her. Katara rolled over and groaned, trying to cover her head with a pillow. She needed this sleep. The 12 hour days were killing her body, but at least she'd have her own apartment soon.

"GET UP YOU BUM!" Toph barked throwing water on her. Katara yelped at the sudden change in temperature. That water was cold and she didn't want to go on a stupid date with Lame Aang.

"Katara, if you don't get up next I'll cut off some of your hair. You lay there all you want but I'm sure you'll love the asymmetrical look."

Toph was relentless; something Katara both loved and hated Toph for. Katara let out an annoyed sigh and finally rolled herself out of bed. There was drool on face, her curls were in a messy bun, she was wearing an oversized tee shirt with pajama shorts, she had a relentless crick in her neck, and she was extremely cranky. Hardly date material.

"Who even let you in my house?"

"Pst, please Katara I let myself in. You know I was a master lock picker when I was in juvie."

Toph wasn't a criminal for say but she did have a rough past. She ran away from home when she was only 13 and lived on the streets. She did what she needed to do to survive, including stealing anything that could benefit her: cars, food, jewelry, credit cards, even wallets and money. Toph was the only high school freshman who would drive your car one day then help you break into a car dealership the next. She moved in and out of group homes, which Katara didn't know until she got arrested for theft and possession of a stolen vehicle their freshman year of high school. Katara had no idea Toph was homeless, but she knew something was up when she was driving around with a new BMW. By 14 she became a ward of the state and was serving her time with 90 days in a juvenile detention center, 500 hours of community service, and she was then put in the care of a new family and put on 2 years of probation with house arrest. She could go to school and that was about it. Her adoptive parents were two hard working parents who gave Toph the discipline she needed. When it was finally time to graduate high school Toph was an entirely new person, although she still kept her abrasive ways. Toph was still a little rough around edges though. She could out drink any man in a drinking competition and she was a self-proclaimed "party animal". Katara loved her just the same. She was happy her friend had changed for that better.

"I should call your Probation Officer and tell him you illegally broke into my home, harassed me and assaulted me with scissors and strange liquids."

"Please Randy is probably dying to hear from me after all these years."

"Randy?"
"Listen, you get put on probation enough times you really get to know your PO. That's not the point Katara. Don't try to distract me from why I broke in in the first place. Now let's get you in a slutty dress!" Toph pulled Katara out of her bed and over to her closet. The only slutty thing Katara wanted to do today was eat hot wings and pizza in one sitting then not regret it later.

"Again Toph, breaking and entry illegal." Katara put emphasis on illegal.

"Again Sweetness, your legs being unshaven…. DEFINITELY illegal."

"Hey! Don't talk about my legs! I haven't felt like shaving okay?"

Toph opened Katara's closet and began to work magic.

~/~

By the time Toph was done Katara was wearing a skin tight black dress that stopped two inches above her neck with a deep V-neck opening in the front. When she said Toph had helped her get dress it was mostly Toph throwing clothes at her and then kicking her until she got dressed or did what she said. Toph forced her to put on her five inch black stiletto heels because black Ugg boots were just not sexy, according to Toph. Katara had straightened her hair then curled it so she had big, full ringlets of curls bouncing around. Next, she put on foundation and her red matte lipstick. Toph had officially declared Katara extremely fuckable, by male standards anyway.

"Isn't this going to give off the wrong idea? What are you trying to do? Get me laid?" Katara said as she examined herself in the mirror. This dress showed off all her curves and left nothing left to the imagination. She usually never dressed like this.

"Oh Kat you desperately need to get some. You haven't been with anyone since Jet so I know you're dying from a dry spell. Besides it isn't the dress that's doing most of the work. Your tits and ass are HUGE Katara."

"TOPH!" Katara could only turn red in the face. She was so uncomfortable, but what could she expect from the bluntest girl that ever walked this earth. This was not the conversation she wanted to have when she was about to go on the most undesirable date she could ever think of. Yes, it was true she hadn't been with anyone else since she broke up with Jet, but Toph didn't need to make it seem like her libido was the Sahara Desert or something. She had perfectly healthy physical attractions. There was that guy at the store and the mailman and Zuko and the guy from High School Musical and her odd lesbian crush on Sarah Michelle Gellar. Of course they were people who she only had physical attraction too and were totally unobtainable, but she could dream couldn't she!

Katara's phone started vibrating, much to her disappointment. Aang sent her text telling her he was five minutes away.

"You gave him my address too!" Katara yelled surprised and slightly outraged

Toph shrugged and said, "He has to know where to pick up from doesn't he?"

Katara only glared. Toph really had this whole thing planned out. It was like she was offering Katara up to Lame Aang like a lamb to the slaughter. Speak of the devil, right on time. Exactly five minutes later Aang told her he was outside.

"I guess I'll be off to the worst date in the history of all dates."

"Take your hot self-down there and make that man fall in love with you. Seriously, just go have fun Katara. You don't get to do that too often. You need fun way more than you need a pen-"

Before she could even hear the end of that weird statement Katara cut her off, "Bye Toph."

~/~

Katara made her way outside, only imagining what Toph was going to be doing in her house all alone while she was out. Her money was on eating all of her food and drinking several of her dad's beers. She'd deal with that when she came back from this horribly fated date. When Katara got outside all she saw was a guy who was 6"5' and bald. He had a brown goatee and grey eyes. The man had muscles which Katara could clearly see through his tight, yellow sweater. The dude was ripped with broad shoulders, buff arms, a full chest, and he probably had a nice six pack under there too and he had tattoos of three swirls in a triangle pattern on his neck. He leaned up against a burnt sienna orange Hummer jeep. Katara thought she was going to bust her ass in her shoes staring so hard. She stood on her front porch completely astonished by who she was looking at.

Oh, no he was looking at her and smiling. He was walking up to her. What?

"Hello, Katara. It's nice to see you."

Oh my God! This hot guy was Aang…

"LAME AANG!"

Holy shit! This super attractive man was Lame Aang who used to be the same lanky, little kid that followed her around in high school. She couldn't believe it. Toph wasn't lying, he was completely hot.

Aang scratched the back of his head and smirked, "Well ouch. I wasn't THAT lame and annoying in high school was I?"

"No, no you just look A LOT better. You actually have muscles now. I mean, you, you changed…surprisingly." Katara was completely flustered and nervous and utterly embarrassed that she said that out loud. Great job, Katara.

"Well, you haven't changed a bit. You look absolutely beautiful Katara."

Katara was smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Her cheeks were already hurting from smiling so hard. Could he tell this was her first date in a while? They hadn't even left her front porch and she was already falling all over herself.

"Sooo, you ready to go?" Aang asked as Katara was completely zoned out. Aang walked Katara to the car and opened the door for her. Once they were on the road Katara didn't know what to say. Obviously so many things had changed from high school, but where was she supposed to start?

"So what did you do after high school? I know you got into quite a few colleges." Aang said staring at the road.

"I got a degree in counseling. I want to be a child therapist, but right now I'm stuck cleaning houses until the right job comes along."

"That's awesome Katara. Helping kids is a great thing to want to do. You always were so motherly in high school. Always having a long winded speech for everyone. I remember when you lectured Hahn for 10 minutes because he bumped into you and didn't say excuse me." Aang said chuckling.

"Hey! I am not still motherly!" Katara said that and immediately thought of Maya. She could lie to him all she wanted, but she couldn't lie to herself.

"Ha really. You know, I'm surprised you aren't married and being an actual mother or something already. It seems like everyone in our class got married early. Remember Onji? She has two kids and just got engaged a month ago. It's insane."

Katara was more surprised that Aang didn't have a girlfriend. After all these years, was he waiting to see her again? This was crazy.

"Um so, what are doing today? Are we going to eat or something?" Katara was curious as to where they were going. They had been on the road for quite some time. Now she was feeling anxious.

"You really think I'd take my old high school crush out to do something any other guy can take her to do? We're going air gliding."

"Air gliding? As in hang gliding 2000 feet above the ground? And how exactly did you arrange this? Don't you have to be trained to do that?"

"Toph didn't tell you? I designed the Air Glider Delta. It basically revolutionized hang gliding, of course I didn't know that at the time. I made a glider that was more light weight and durable so anyone could pick it up and use it. Because of my innovations anyone now can soar like a hawk. Can't believe Toph didn't mention that to you."

"Holy Shit! YOU created that. No, Toph conveniently left that out. That's, that's amazing Aang. You must be so proud of that accomplishment."

"It isn't about bragging to me. I've always been fascinated with the wind and the air. I liked the way the breeze blew through my hair and I just wanted to be, I don't know, one with the element I guess. I know I looked crazy in high school always going on and on about flying without a plane or helicopter, but when I got to college I realized it wasn't for me. I dropped out of college and made a prototype glider at home. I used it to see if flight can be achieved just with the human body and a little wind and it was. When I started designing more of the things I had no idea it was going to be such a success."

Not only was he attractive, he was a genius. No trained engineer could push the human limits of flight like Aang did just from his home. He was certainly impressive and he probably had enough money by now to retire at 23 and be set for life. Why couldn't Katara design some awesome new invention? Aang made it seem so easy.

She couldn't believe she was about to go Air Gliding with the man who invented it. This was absolutely unbelievable right now. She needed to remind herself to thank Toph later for this once in a life time opportunity.

"Well we're here." The car came to a stop. Aang unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, and held open the door for Katara. They were outside in a large open, green field. The sun was shining with no clouds in sight and there was a slight breeze blowing. It was beautiful, but if Katara knew she would've had to walk up a hill she would've worn more comfortable shoes and a longer dress. Aang was so kind as to carry her on his back so she wouldn't mess up her shoes. And oh did he have such a nice back.

Once at the top of the hill Katara saw a wooden box sitting out. Aang put her down and open the box, pulling out two, long poles. He handed Katara one and she looked at it confused.

"Um Aang this is just a long, wooden pole. What am I supposed to do with this?"

Aang only laughed. He obviously knew something she didn't.

"Let me demonstrate." Aang swung the stick above his head in a circle a few times and suddenly wings of the glider flared out. The glider wings were a bright orange color and amazing.

Katara was smiling from ear to ear, "Oh my God this is amazing!"

"We aren't even in the air yet Katara. This is nothing. "Aang picked out more stuff from the box. "I need you to put this on over your dress. I don't want you hurt."

It was a yellow full body suit that zipped in the front. In addition to the suit there was a helmet and a full harness to attach her to the glider. Once she was all hooked in she couldn't help but be nervous about this whole thing. She was going to be far off the ground, with no protection. What if she fell? What if she hit a tree? What if the glider broke?

Aang could sense her worried demeanor because he spoke up quickly, "There's a parachute built into your suit. Just unhook yourself from the glider and it'll automatically activate. Don't worry Katara. I'll be right here next to you the whole time. Just run and jump. That's it."

Aang's smile gave her so much more reassurance. He grabbed her hand and gave it a soft kiss.

"Ready? I promise I won't let your hand go."

Katara nodded yes and they both ran together.

"JUMP!" Aang yelled at her in an encouraging tone. Before she knew it her feet was off the ground and she was flying.

It was a one of a kind experience. The wind whipping through her hair, the trees, the sky, and Aang next to her. This was perfect. Adrenaline started rushing through her body and she felt completely weightless, taking in the scenery.

"Whoooooooooa! This is so much fun!"

"Didn't I tell you?!" Aang said as he sent them into a kick spin then into a loopy loop. Katara was feeling so invigorated she even let Aang's hand go and started flying on her own.

"I'll race you to that tree!" Katara proclaimed laughing.

"You're on!" Aang gave a thumbs up. He took off as swift as the wind itself. Nothing could be better than this.

Almost thirty minutes later Aang gestured for them to go down now. When they landed it was in the middle of a large forest. There were trees and flowers and a lake nearby. Katara unhooked herself from the glider, waiting for Aang to land. Aang landed with a huge gust of wind. Can't say he's not good at what he created.

"Sorry. Had to fly back to the car." Aang said unhooking himself and putting down a basket. Aang spread out a blanket from them to sit on and put the basket on top.

"How'd you get there and back so fast when it took 30 minutes to get here?"

"I told you I revolutionized hang gliding. I just happen to know a few more fun tricks." Aang said smiling at her. From the basket Aang took out two wine glasses, a bottle of champagne, salad, and some fruit. Aang poured them both glasses of champagne as Katara slipped out of her suit. The breeze felt good on her bare skin.

"So how'd you like it?" Aang asked eying Katara.

"It was just lovely Aang. Thanks so much for this. I'll never forget this day. I don't regret going out with you for one minute."

"Well good because I really want to go out with you again. Although if you ever come close to beating me in a race of air gliding again we'll have to reevaluate things."

For once Katara felt completely at ease and relaxed. This was nice. She could get used to this.

~/~

Aang dropped her off later that night after a day filled with talking, laughing, and air gliding. He walked her to her door and truthfully Katara just didn't want to leave him yet. She wasn't sure if she was too turned on to not care that she had work in the morning or she just liked talking to Aang that much. Still it was time to say their goodbyes.

"Good Night Aang." Katara said in a low, amorous tone. She had never wanted to jump someone's bones so much in her life. Ask to come in. Ask to come in. This dress is just screaming for you to come in.

"Good Night Katara." Aang said in a pleasant tone. He leaned in and much to Katara's wants and desires he only kissed her on the hand and walked back to the his car.

Katara sighed and fell back on her bed.

"Yea. I should definitely thank Toph forever for this." Katara said to herself.

"You can thank me now."

"AHHHHHHH" Katara screamed. Toph had frightened her. She didn't even know she was still in the house, let alone her room. She decided to see Katara come in in the dark and not say anything? Classic Toph.

Katara flicked on the light and there was Toph with her favorite quart of caramel cookie crumb ice cream and a spoon, eating from the container like it was hers. She was also wearing her blue robe and her favorite fuzzy bunny slippers. Well that ruined her mood.

"Toph! What the hell? You have been waiting for me this whole time!"

"Well I had to make sure you got home and from the looks of it you look very satisfied. So boxers or briefs? Did he rock your world?"

"Toph! Leave!" Katara commanded

"Fine, but you'll be sharing all the details later." Toph said making her way to the door.

"Hey, wait. Give me my ice cream," Katara snatched the quart from her, "And my clothes!"

"Um, later Katara!" Toph quickly retorted running off with the robe and her slippers. Katara groaned at Toph's annoying behavior.

Never mind that, Toph would give her clothes back later. I'm sure Toph would expect all the not so gritty details in person anyway. Even though her hormones were raging, she was more than satisfied with the night she had with Aang. Unfortunately, it would be back to reality tomorrow at the Agni Estate. His Royal Highness would need his golden crown polished again tomorrow.

Author's Note: Sorry guys, Zuko and Maya will be back soon. Don't hate me. Toph was out here playing grand theft auto in real life lol. I feel like it fits her. I LOVE writing scenes with her. What do you guys think? Thanks for reading. ~Brie