Summary: Aang had always loved watching her from afar. Her movements were fluid, and her eyes sparkled in the light of the setting sun, so much like the water she bent. The only problem? She hated him.
Word Count: 7.3k
Welcome to Day 5 of Kataang Week 2023! Today's prompt is Rivals to Lovers/Secretly Dating. I tried to make the enemies-to-lovers bit as in character as possible but apologies in advance for any OOC-ness. Hope you all enjoy!
"Good work, Katara!"
The waterbender grinned as she shot another blast of water at her sparring opponent, who just narrowly parried it with an ice punch of his own. The two were in the practice hall at Pakku's Waterbending Academy. The outer walls were concrete, but everything within was some form of water. Along the edges of the room ran a long rectangular pool, easily big enough to fit the Unagi. The floors were shiny, slippery ice covered by snow and slush. A large pond rested in the middle, with an ice fountain in its center. The place was a waterbender's greatest dream or worst nightmare, depending on who they were up against.
Katara quickly raised an ice column to block her opponent's incoming icicle attack, before sending razor-thin sheets of the column in his direction, each flying faster than the last to wear him down. He blocked disc after disc after disc, punching through each circle with his ice-encased fist until, just for a moment, he hesitated. Exactly what Katara was waiting for.
Without a moment to spare, she raised a wall of ice in front of him to block her own attack while also creating a barrier of ice behind him. He was trapped. The sparring session was over.
"Nice try, Nutak," Pakku called out as he freed the boy with a stomp of the leg. "That's your fifth win in a row today, Katara." The elderly waterbender nodded his head in approval before turning to the onlookers, all shocked by Nutak's defeat- He was the best waterbender in the academy. Or, at least, he had been. "Seems like some of you should be taking some notes."
Katara stifled a laugh as she and Nutak bowed to each other, the latter far less willingly than the former. She'd have thought Nutak would've gotten used to losing after she beat him the week prior three times consecutively, but apparently not if his repeated requests for a rematch were any indication.
It was only Katara's fourth month at Pakku's Waterbending Academy, but she had quickly risen through the ranks. She became the fastest person in its history to advance from the beginner level to the advanced one, completing it all in just two months. Some, Nutak included, had been adamant that it was all nepotism- the Academy was run by her step-grandfather after all -but she had just publicly proven them wrong. It felt good.
"Alright, back to work everyone. Practice your skill sets for this week. And if I see one more sloppy octopus form, I will be sparring you myself."
A few students' eyes widened as they hurried to the far end of the practice hall. Every bit of distance that they could put between themselves and Pakku's discerning eye would be a blessing from the spirits. Katara stopped by the entrance to grab a quick drink of water from her bottle before settling to waterbend at the pond, the droplets from the fountain in its center creating mesmerizing ripples on the surface.
"Hi there!"
Katara paused her warm-up routine, the orb of water she had been bending still hovering in the air, as she turned to look at the source of the voice. The boy she saw had to have been a year or so younger than her, maybe 14 or 15 to her almost 16. He hadn't yet lost the baby fat in his cheeks but she was barely eye-level with his chin. He had a cheery smile on his face- bright, like the blue ribbons of ink she saw disappearing into the hair on his head and snaking around his arms to become arrows on his hands. She hadn't seen anything like them before. Actually, she hadn't seen him here before at all.
"I'm Aang," he chirped, holding out his hand for her to shake.
She shook it, giving him a small smile. "I'm Katara. Are you new?"
He nodded enthusiastically. "It's my first day here! I saw you bending earlier against that guy- you were really good. I was hoping you'd be able to teach me some things, show me the ropes!"
Katara blushed and gestured for him to join her by the pond. "Thanks. I'd be happy to. What do you want to learn?"
Aang shrugged. "Show me something you've been working on."
"Alright," she smiled. "I just finished learning this move. It's called the water cloak." Katara gathered water from the pond and encased herself in it, creating large, wide tentacles stemming from her arms, almost like wings. "If you do it right-" She lifted herself off the ground by making her tentacles longer. "-you can move around like this." She hopped from side to side. "It's all about getting the pressure of the water right."
Aang nodded slowly. "Gotcha. So, like this?" Aang summoned the snow from behind him, creating a stream of slush that melted as it made contact with his body. It enveloped his torso, then his arms and legs in a smooth coating of water. He looked down at himself approvingly.
Katara smiled. "That was the easy part. Like I said, the water pressure is what this move is about. Don't feel discouraged if you can't get it right away! It took me-"
"I'm doing it!"
"Weeks," Katara finished as she craned her neck to look at the boy, who had extended his tentacles such that the top of her head was level with his feet.
"Ooooh, I wonder if I can-"
Her eyes widened as Aang fashioned his tentacles into hog monkey-like arms, even adding a tail to the back of his cloak as he ran around the pond.
"First day, huh?" she muttered, suddenly becoming very aware of all the people looking at them. It wasn't every day you saw an 11-foot tall hog monkey made of water walk around the best waterbender in the academy.
"That was so cool!" Aang said with a smile once he finally came down. "You're an awesome teacher, Katara. What's next?"
She gave him a strained smile. "That depends. How long have you been waterbending?"
He quirked an eyebrow at her, taking a moment to think about the answer to her question.
"Well, I was told I could waterbend about a week ago, before Gyatso and I- Gyatso's my guardian by the way -moved here. Then Gyatso told me to practice waterbending before I came here so I wouldn't make a fool of myself, but just between you and me I've never really been the best at time management, so I would say… what it's like 1:45 right now? About four hours, though two of those were spent touring the school and watching you spar."
Katara just blinked. Was he serious right now? He had to have been lying. There was no way someone who had only been waterbending for two hours could pick up something that had taken her weeks in just five minutes.
"Katara? You okay?"
She gave him a forced smile. "Just peachy. Since you picked that up so quickly, why don't we try something a little harder?"
Katara raised a thick block of ice from the ground and began swirling water above it. "This is called the water drill." She elongated the ring into a cone shape as the water began spinning faster and faster, its pressure climbing. "It can cut through anything if you get it fast enough." Katara moved the drill down into the ice, Aang's eyes widening in amazement as it drilled through the block, creating a flurry of snowflakes around them.
The drilling then slowed. Katara's eyebrows were still furrowed in concentration as she tried to maintain the water's pressure but to no avail. "Agh!" She huffed. "I'm still working on it. I just can't keep the drill going long enough. Pakku's the only one I've seen get through the whole block."
"I wanna try!" Aang said with a grin. He raised an ice block the same size as hers and began drawing water from the pond above it.
Katara stepped back as the spiral above became faster and faster. "Let's see you do this with two hours of practice, Aang," she muttered under her breath.
Aang inhaled and exhaled deeply, preparing himself for the move. With broad, encircling motions of his arms, he gradually increased the velocity of the water and let it grow downwards, the bottom narrowing into a fine, sharp point. With each passing moment, his movements became larger and larger, making the water louder and louder as people walked over to see what was happening.
The boy carefully lowered the drill into the ice with a flick of his wrist. He made sure to maintain his breathing and focus as the water began cutting through the ice lower and lower, deeper and deeper.
Thump!
Katara gawked as the ice cube was perfectly split into halves, whispers filling the room as people began talking about what they had just witnessed.
"Did you see that?"
"He's even better than Katara!"
"I heard she'd been working on that for months. He just got here today!"
She then heard Nutak scoff. "Told you guys a girl couldn't stay on top for very long."
Katara was just about to turn around and give him a piece of her mind when-
"What are you all doing?" Pakku's voice rang out, making a few students in the crowd surrounding Aang and Katara jump. "If you are going to stand around like a couple of koala otters not doing your practice sets, then there is no reason for you to be here. Class dismissed."
"Katara, wait!" Aang yelled as the waterbender stormed off. "Where are you going?"
"None of your business," she hollered back, refusing to let them, especially him, see her cry.
It had taken her months to gain any amount of respect at the Academy. Everyone thought she had only gotten in because of Pakku. It didn't matter how good her octopus form was, that she was weeks away from mastering waterbender, how long she practiced, how hard she worked, because no one seemed to be able to wrap their heads around the fact that she had gotten in on her own merit. As if that weren't enough, she still had to put up with a bunch of sexist pig chickens who thought she would never amount to anything just because of her gender. All the pranks, the snide comments, the whispers every time Pakku corrected her even when he had been correcting them for twice as many mistakes a few minutes earlier, she put up with all of it! And now? For what?
Just when things had started going her way, just when people finally started to believe she was a serious, talented waterbender, Aang had to come in and ruin it all. He just had to show off in front of the whole class. He just had to make up an elaborate lie about how he was such a poor, naive, inexperienced waterbender so that she would help him. He just had to try and join her because apparently all that wasn't enough! He had to rub salt in the wound too. Unbelievable.
She collapsed onto her bed once she finally ran home and reached her periwinkle-walled room. Katara grabbed her penguin otter stuffed pillow and hugged it close to her chest.
"Of all the infuriating, lying, manipulative, pretty-eyed jerks…"
"Awwww yeahhhh, pin the tail on the ostrich horse!"
Aang shook his head and chuckled as Toph rapidly spinned Sokka around in circles for the party game, the elaborate streamers on his hat reading 'Birthday Boy' flying in the air like the blades on a fan. He quietly slipped away from the loud buzz of the party, letting the laughter of Toph, Sokka, Suki, Zuko, and all the other party-goers die down as he walked towards the balcony.
It was Sokka's 17th birthday, just a few months after Aang had arrived in town and met who Sokka affectionately dubbed 'The Gaang', and Toph had ensured that the only thing stopping it from being a public noise hazard was the fact that the event would be held at her family's remote cabin in the mountains. 'Cabin' was a modest term for the three-story vacation home, which was equipped with the largest living room and most elaborate balconies Aang had ever seen. The balcony extending from the main room overlooked a beautiful lake which reflected the light from sunrises and sunsets off its sparkling water, becoming almost blinding to look at. It was upon this balcony that Aang's greatest dilemma stood, absentmindedly swaying to the muffled music coming from inside.
Aang had always loved watching her from afar. Her movements were fluid, and her eyes sparkled in the light of the setting sun, so much like the water she bent. Her hair cascaded in waves down her back, only held up by a few jeweled hair clips. Her navy top was cropped right above the curve of her waist, and her black flared leggings tightly hugged her long legs.
Aang wanted nothing more than to tell her just how many dreams she haunted him in, how long he had spent getting distracted in the cerulean pools of her eyes.
The only problem?
Katara hated him.
Somehow, within the first 10 minutes of meeting the waterbender, he had managed to rub her completely the wrong way, and she loathed him for it. Making friends with her friends certainly didn't seem to help, only worsening Katara's opinion of him, but in his defense, he hadn't known she and Sokka had been related until the first time he had gone to their house, months after meeting the warrior.
Granted, he supposed he should've been thankful that she was never outrightly mean to him, instead choosing to just ignore his presence altogether, but he hated that she hated him. He hated that someone as amazing as her, who was so constantly described by their friends as compassionate, brave, determined, and having a heart of gold, despised him with such fury. He hated that no matter what he tried to do to make it right, it somehow always made it worse.
That time he had tried to apologize to her at the Academy a few days after they met? He was interrupted by Nutak and his cronies swarming him who then decided to loudly badmouth her right before she was out of earshot, making her think he was somehow part of that. When he was invited to Sokka's house and went up to her bedroom door to talk to her? She came out just as he was about to knock, resulting in him knocking on her forehead instead. The list went on and on. He couldn't seem to do anything right around her.
"I can hear you sighing from here, you know."
Aang jumped as the waterbender's voice broke him out of his thoughts, her back still turned towards him.
"I can leave if you want."
Katara pursed her lips, pausing to think for a moment.
"No, it's alright." She looked back at him and jerked her head to the side, motioning for him to join her on the balcony railing. "It'd be cruel if I didn't let you see this sunset."
Aang beamed and leaned against the cool marble next to her. His eyes widened as he took in the view before them. The sky was streaked in vibrant hues of orange, purple, and pink. The mountainside seemed to almost be glowing as the sun's rays hit it, and the water below bore a perfect reflection of the sun lowering beneath the horizon. It truly was a sight to behold.
"I'm sorry," Aang whispered after a few minutes, head still turned towards the sky as she turned to him, afraid to meet her gaze.
"For?" Her tone sounded rhetorical, which was to be expected, he supposed.
Aang shrugged. "Whatever I did to make you hate me so much. I mean I know I've messed up a lot since then-"
She scoffed. "The waterbending trick at lunch a few days ago comes to mind," she replied, referencing a mishap that ended in her new shirt being covered in chocolate milk.
He frowned. "Yeah. I'm sorry for that. All of it. I just wish I knew what the first thing I did was."
Katara rolled her eyes, giving him a biting glare. "Don't act like you don't know."
"I don't!" he protested. "Really. I've been trying to figure it out for ages, trying to think back as to what I could've done that first day to get you to hate me this much, but I can't think of anything! All I remember is you teaching me some cool waterbending tricks, Master Pakku getting mad that people were watching us instead of practicing, and then you storming off."
Katara grit her teeth. Could he get any more infuriating?
"They weren't just some 'cool waterbending tricks.' They were master-level forms that I had been working on for months to do. And in you come, lying about how long you've been waterbending to gain my sympathy, and learning them both perfectly in a matter of minutes. That's if you were learning them at all! I bet that wasn't even your first time doing those moves! You just wanted to make me look stupid."
"What? I didn't lie to you about anything."
She glared at him, body fully facing him, and looked him dead in the eyes. "You really expect me to believe someone who had been waterbending for a couple of hours-" She poked him in the chest. "-would be able to learn master-level forms in a matter of minutes? You had to have been lying. You're still lying. How else do you explain getting the hang of the water drill so fast? It's been months since then and I still haven't figured it out."
Realization dawned on Aang, making him sigh and purse his lips. "You really want to know?"
"Yes! Seriously, I would love to hear a remotely reasonable explanation for why you felt the need to lie to someone you just met and were trying to be friends with!"
Aang winced. "It's because I can do this." He formed a small tornado in his right hand, making Katara's eyes go wide as she stepped back.
"I wasn't lying," he said softly as he let the tornado dissipate in the air. "But when you've mastered the elements a thousand lifetimes over, I guess relearning them comes pretty quick. I figured out that drill because it's just like making a tornado with airbending."
He turned back to look at the lake below them. "You've seen me waterbend. I can do tricks, but you know I don't have anywhere close to the level of control or discipline that you do. Because I haven't been waterbending that long. Not in this life anyways."
Katara was silent, trying to wrap her head around the information she had just been given.
"You're the Avatar?" she whispered.
He nodded slowly. "Not exactly something I like to broadcast. People treat me differently when they find out. That's why I've only ever used waterbending in public."
"To make people think you're just a waterbender," she finished the thought. The two stood together in silence for a bit, the music of the party still playing faintly in the background.
"I never meant to make you look dumb or show you up."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why did you walk up to me?" Katara turned her head towards him. "Of all the other waterbenders there, why me?"
"I saw your fight with Nutak," Aang said with a hopeful smile. "Your movements were so fluid. It was like you were one with the water. It was incredible. I wanted to learn how to waterbend like that." A light pink then rose to his cheeks. "And I also thought you were really pretty."
Katara gasped softly at the admission, hoping the light of the sunset would be able to mask the magenta on her face. She was silent for a few moments. Then:
"Ouch. Thought in the past tense."
Aang's eyes widened. How had he managed to mess it up again? "No, no, no, that's not what I-" He stopped when he saw the crooked smile on her face, obviously playful.
"Did you just make a joke to me?" he asked, quite taken aback. But Katara said nothing, electing to instead take a sip from her glass of apple cider, a small smile dancing on her lips.
A few moments of comfortable silence passed before Aang frowned.
"I meant what I said earlier, you know. About not wanting to be treated differently because I'm the Avatar. I don't want you to feel obligated to be nice to me. I mean, I'd love for us to get along, but I don't want you to feel forced into it. I'm still me. Good old clumsy Aang who knocks on the foreheads of girls he's trying to apologize to."
Katara gave him a short laugh before she turned to Aang with a sigh.
"Look, Aang, I won't lie to you." Aang felt knots form in his stomach, expecting the worst. "Your apology… It explains a lot, and I appreciate it." She paused, frowning. "But a lot has happened since then. I know a lot of it was accidents or not your intention, but what you did that day had a lot of consequences for me personally. It hurt. I don't know if we can be 'friends.' Not right now at least."
Aang felt his heart drop and he gave her a sad smile. "I understand."
"That being said…" He looked at her curiously. "I think I took out a lot of anger on you that was misguided, and I'm sorry for that. The thing that made me hate you, while I still think what you did was a little obnoxious, even if unintentionally-" Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "-was really just a misunderstanding."
The two stood in silence for a bit, processing the last few minutes of conversation.
"So?" Aang finally murmured. "What does that make us? Acquaintances? Waterbending buddies? Friendsn't?"
Katara raised an eyebrow. "'Friendsn't?'"
"Like we're almost friends but not really," Aang replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
She laughed. "Sure then. Friendsn't. If you're okay with that, of course."
The airbender grinned ear to ear and nodded eagerly. "I'd really like that. Thank you, Katara."
She shot a small smile back at him when they heard Sokka yell from inside.
"Katara! Aang! Where are you guys? Come and dance!"
The two gave each other a look.
"Do friendsn'ts dance together?" Aang asked hopefully as they headed back through the doorway inside.
Katara gave him a look. "Don't push it."
"Not pushing it!"
Katara laughed again and paused them right before they joined the others.
"Oh, and Aang?"
"Yeah?"
"I won't tell anyone about the whole-" she moved her finger in the shape of a tornado. "You know. I think keeping secrets is something that friendsn'ts do."
Aang let out a soft, relieved sigh and smiled.
"Thank you, Katara."
"Alright, why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants to the golf course?"
Suki, Aang, Zuko, Toph, and Katara all stared expectantly at Sokka (or in Toph's case, his general direction).
"In case he got a hole in one!"
The four benders groaned as Suki patted the grinning warrior's shoulder sympathetically. "You tried, honey."
The Gaang were all seated around a table in the mall food court a few weeks after Sokka's birthday party. Aang, Katara, and Toph were each sipping on their milkshakes while Sokka 'shared' a large bag of fries with Suki and Zuko. The six had tired out their feet from a long day of shopping and sightseeing around the town and had finally resorted to a joke-telling competition, much to Zuko's chagrin.
"Oh, come on!" Sokka protested. "That was funny! You all have no sense of humor."
"Doesn't look like you do either, Sokka," Zuko remarked dryly. He let his head rest on his flat palm, elbow propped up on the table as he absentmindedly picked a seasoned curly fry out of the bag. "Someone please come up with something better than that."
"I have one!"
The group all turned to Aang, who had a cheerful smile on his face.
"Why can't your nose be a third of a yard long?"
They all looked at each other and shrugged.
"Because then it'd be a foot!"
There was silence for a moment before giggling was heard. The five looked in shock at Katara, who was covering her mouth with her hand, trying in vain to quiet herself. Aang looked at her with amusement, if not a little surprise. He felt a fluttering in his stomach, his heart beating a little faster, at the way her eyes were lit up with joy.
"That wasn't even funny!" Sokka fumed. "How could you, Katara? Traitor!"
"Sorry," the waterbender barely managed to get out as she laughed uncontrollably. "It was so bad it was good."
Toph gave Suki a knowing look (how she did that without being able to see would forever confuse the Kyoshi warrior). "Yeah right, Sugar Queen. Sounds to me like you have the hots for Twinkletoes."
Aang and Katara blushed profusely, refusing to meet each other's eyes.
"Toph!" Sokka glared at the earthbender. "First, ew. Please never mention my sister and the word "hots" in the same conversation ever again," he shuddered. "Second, this is the first time all six of us have managed to meet without any scheduling conflicts or one of these two making up a bullshit excuse about why they can't come. Can't we just enjoy it?"
"Hey! Those excuses weren't bullsh-"
"We are enjoying it, Meathead. I am very much enjoying pointing out how Sweetness and Twinkletoes abso-fucking-lutely have the hots for each other." Toph smiled smugly and sat back in her seat as Suki tried to keep her boyfriend in his.
"What did I just say about Katara and "hots" being in the same-"
Ring ring ring!
Toph and Sokka momentarily paused their argument as all eyes fell on Aang, whose phone was ringing.
"Hello?" He shot a glare at Toph and Sokka, who had resumed their argument in a whisper-yell. "Oh. No, it's okay, I can get a friend to drop me off. Yeah. Alright. Thanks, Gyatso. Mhm. Love you too. Bye."
Aang ended the call and turned to Sokka. "Sorry to ask, but is there any chance I can hitch a ride with you on the way back too? Gyatso got caught up with some Council of Elders thing."
"Aww man," Sokka pouted. "I was planning on going back to Suki's place afterwards, but if you need it then-"
"I can drive you!"
Zuko, Suki, Sokka, and most of all Aang looked at Katara, shocked. The waterbender simply shrugged. "Aang's house is in the opposite direction of Suki's. It wouldn't be practical to go to both. But he's on the way to ours so I can just drop him off on my way home."
"Called it," Toph muttered under her breath.
Aang stuttered. "Uh, y-yeah, of course. As long as you're okay with it." He looked at Sokka, who was scrutinizing Katara's nonchalant face. "That work with you, Sokka?"
Sokka relaxed after a few moments and shrugged. "Sure. I'm not going to complain about getting more quality time with my girlfriend. Suki and I will go back to hers, Katara will drop you to yours and go home, and Zuko and Toph will have their fancy limo chauffeur service thing pick them up."
The six all nodded, confirming the plan. A voice then came on the mall loudspeaker, informing them that the mall would be closing in five minutes. The group pushed in their chairs and began walking outside to the parking lot. They split into pairs as Toph and Zuko waved goodbye from the benches in front of the entrance.
"Come on, Aang. I think I parked over here."
The airbender opened the door and sat on the passenger side, the faint smell of her cherry air freshener filling his nose. He grinned when he saw the pair of stuffed otter penguins hanging from the front-view mirror and poked one, letting it swing in the air.
Katara chuckled as she watched his eyes follow the movement of the animal figures. She then started the car, put on her playlist, and pulled out of the parking lot, looking to her side every so often to see Aang still entranced by the penguins.
"Glad to see my car decorations bring you joy," she said as she turned onto the street.
"Can you blame me? They're adorable." He gave them a small burst of airbending to make them spin in circles. "Thanks for driving me again."
Katara shot him a warm smile. "My pleasure."
Aang snorted. "'My pleasure'? First, you were quieter than normal today. Next, you laughed at my horrible joke. I didn't even laugh at that joke the first time Gyatso told it! Then you offered to drive me. Now 'my pleasure.' Are you feeling alright? Coming down with a fever perhaps?"
"I'm just being nice to you, as friendsn'ts are." She looked over her shoulder as she merged lanes onto the highway. "Is that really so hard to believe?"
"Being nice is one thing. But this? It feels like we're, dare I say, becoming friends? Not that I'm complaining!"
Katara kept her eyes on the road, silent for a moment. He leaned forward in his seat, trying to read her expression.
"No 'you wish'? No 'don't push it, Aang'? No 'I wouldn't go that far'? Have I really made Katara Mizu, master of snappy comebacks, completely speechless?"
Katara laughed at the way his voice increased in pitch, trying to imitate her. She shrugged. "What do you want me to say, Aang? Maybe we are becoming friends. Is that such an outlandish thing?"
The airbender put his hands in the air in surrender. "Not at all. I just…" She gave him a curious look. "I just didn't think we'd get here. That's all. It's nice."
"I will confess," Katara said after they had driven in comfortable silence for a few miles. "That I did have some ulterior motives wanting to drive you." He tilted his head at her. "I wanted to apologize."
"Apologize? For what?"
"I've been thinking about that day a lot lately- the day we met," she began softly. "It was part of the reason why I was so quiet today. I shouldn't have judged you so harshly right off the bat. I shouldn't have thought the worst of you or held a grudge so long over a simple misunderstanding." She gave him a crooked smile. "It's something I'm working on. What is it you always say- something about forgiveness being like a two-headed rat viper? But the point is that you didn't deserve for me to treat you like I did, and I'm sorry for that. I hope you can forgive me."
Aang beamed. "Forgiven."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Just like that?"
He nodded. "Just like that. Can't put the fault on you entirely, Katara. I know how Nutak and the other, forgive my language, dumbasses at the Academy are like. And knocking on your forehead and spilling that chocolate milk on you probably didn't help things, even if they were accidents. I hope you can forgive me for those too."
She smiled and repeated what he had said earlier as they pulled up to his driveway. "Forgiven. Friends?" Katara held out her arm for him to shake.
Aang looked down at the hand and then back up at her before tackling her into a hug, which she cautiously but happily returned.
"Friends."
He then got out of the car and waved to her from his front door as she turned back onto the street. "See you at school tomorrow, Tara!"
She gave him a confused look.
"What? Friends give each other nicknames!"
The waterbender laughed and shook her head.
"Whatever you say, airhead!"
"Ack!" Katara squealed when Aang picked her up in a bear hug from behind. "I was wondering when you'd get here," she laughed as he lowered her back down.
"Sorry," he scratched the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Kinda forgot I was meeting you until I got your text."
The waterbender raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Weren't you the one who suggested this? Something about having something you just had to tell me in person?"
"I do! And maybe it'll let me make it up to you." He gave her polar bear puppy eyes. "Please?"
She rolled her eyes and nodded for him to continue. "Go on."
"So, Toph finally told me what her birthday plans were…"
Katara groaned. "Let me guess. We're sailing across the ocean and then taking a lion turtle across the continent to the top of a volcano, where there will be a newly built mansion with copious amounts of cactus juice and all the pizza we can eat."
Toph's parents had always made an elaborate affair out of the blind earthbender's birthdays, hosting extravagant balls every year to celebrate. Toph hated every second of them, but in recent years, her parents had allowed her some more freedom in choosing what to do, so long as she used their entire budget for her and promised to be responsible. This had, of course, led to Toph hosting the biggest, wildest parties that she and Sokka could concoct. Her invites were highly coveted.
"Well, you're not too far off actually. Especially about the pizza and cactus."
"It's Toph," they finished simultaneously, bursting into laughter.
"Her parents apparently have a cabin near a volcanic caldera on the other side of the country. Toph's going to fly us all out there in their private jet for the weekend. She's going down there later this week to earthbend a nice shore so that we can have a beach party."
Katara gave an approving nod. "I see she exercised restraint. I'm impressed."
The airbender chuckled nervously. "There is one more thing. A stipulation, if you will."
"Oh?"
"Everyone has to bring a date. No exceptions. No just going as friends. She's very determined to be the only single person there."
"Oh." Katara forced a smile on her face as she felt her heart race. "Who are you going to ask?"
Aang blushed. "Well, there is this one girl I wanted to ask." The waterbender's eyes widened slightly. She felt her stomach drop. "She's determined and smart and funny and sweet and beautiful. She's an amazing person. I've actually been wanting to ask her out for a while, but I've been kind of scared to."
Katara's gaze softened and she put her hand on his shoulder, trying to ignore the feeling of jealousy rising in her chest. "I'm sure you have nothing to be scared of, Aang. You're a great guy! Any girl would be lucky to have you. You should ask her out."
The airbender rubbed his lips together, barely stifling a grin as he gently put his hand on her hip, pulling her closer to him as she gasped. "Did I ever tell you that Toph taught me how to tell when a person is jealous using seismic sense?"
Heat rose to Katara's cheeks as she avoided his piercing gaze. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"You wanna know why I'm so scared of asking the girl I like out?"
Katara tilted her head and nodded, acutely aware of how close their bodies were to one another. She could smell the faint incense on his clothes- jasmine and honeysuckle and some other scent she couldn't quite put her finger on.
"It's because," Aang said as he took her hand in his. "A few months ago, she hated me. For showing her up in a waterbending class."
She frowned, heart threatening to beat out of her chest. "If this is a joke, it's not funny, Aang."
He pulled her closer, touching their foreheads gently together as her hands rested against his chest.
"I'm not laughing," he murmured, the stormy gray of his eyes entrancing her. "Are you?"
With that, Katara flung her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, which he happily returned. His arm wrapped around her waist, the other cupping her cheek, as he held her to his body, not seeming to be able to get enough of her.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," she whispered.
"Oh, I think I have some idea," he chuckled. He leaned down and drew her into another kiss, short and sweet, but filled with even more adoration than the last.
"So?" he said softly, their fingers intertwined between them. "Will you be my date to Toph's party?"
"You already know my answer to that."
He gave her a crooked grin. "I know, but I want to hear you say it."
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I will be your date to Toph's party. On the condition that we avoid Sokka. I don't think we need to go back to a Mizu sibling hating you."
Aang gulped. "Sokka wouldn't actually hate me for dating you… would he?"
"You're dating his one and only innocent, naive, baby sister. We'll build up to it, sweetie."
The airbender raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile on his face. "Sweetie?"
Katara's cheeks were red hot, suddenly feeling very self-conscious as she stared at her shoes. "Sorry. Too much too soon?"
Aang shook his head and tilted her chin back up to face him. "Not at all," he said before pausing, "Sweetie."
She giggled as he leaned down to her again. "Definitely don't let Sokka hear you call me that." He enveloped her in another kiss that made her heart melt and knees tremble. Aang made her so happy, and he didn't even know it. Katara wanted to stay in this moment forever.
How had she ever been able to hate him?
Aang had always loved watching Katara.
She always moved with pushes and pulls, and her eyes were always so expressive, a clear indication of how she was feeling. He loved how they filled with joy and adoration when he told a dumb joke or kissed her spontaneously, how they gained a type of ferocity and passion every time she landed a hit on him during a spar or figured out the trick to a new move. Tonight, she wore an off-the-shoulder floral top, her jeans lying low on her hips and hugging every curve as her hair draped in front of her shoulders in elaborate curls.
She was breathtaking.
And she was his.
"One year later, and you still haven't gotten any more subtle about your gawking, sweetie."
Aang grinned as Katara walked over and greeted him with a kiss, carefully angling her body in front of his such that no one inside would be able to see them.
It had been exactly a year since the last time they had stood on this balcony together, the balcony that started it all. It was now Sokka's 18th birthday, and the chaos of the party had successfully allowed the two to sneak away from the rest of their friends and enjoy a moment of alone time. Granted, most of their friends knew already, having seen them at Toph's party a few months ago, but Sokka and Suki didn't, and the couple wanted to keep it that way until they could figure out a way to let Sokka down easy (or Aang got faster at running, whichever came first).
"I think I should be allowed to stare at my beautiful girlfriend," Aang said as he began peppering kisses down the side of her neck. "You look amazing, Tara."
Katara blushed, taking a moment to appreciate the tight orange shirt and skinny jeans that her boyfriend was wearing. "Right back at you, airhead." She gave him a playful pout. "You never wear anything like this for me."
"If I made it obvious that I was dressing for you, it would kinda ruin the whole dating-in-secret thing, no?"
She chuckled. "Fair enough."
A slower song began playing in the background. Aang extended his hand to Katara.
"Dance with me."
The waterbender accepted it as the two began swaying to the music, Aang's hand on Katara's waist while hers rested on his shoulder, their other hands intertwined. They stared into each other's eyes, completely enamored with one another.
Katara sighed, a soft smile gracing her lips. "I missed you. Missed this."
He tilted her head at her, amused. "We went out on a date like three days ago."
"I know. Sometimes it just feels like it'll never be enough. Like I could spend all the time in the world with you and I'd still want more." Her cheeks turned pink. "Is that too sappy?"
Aang laughed and took a small step toward her. "Never." He cupped her cheek and leaned in. "I love you so much, sweetie."
Katara inhaled deeply as he kissed her, one of her hands against his chest to steady herself as the other rested on the nape of his neck, pulling him in closer.
"I love you too, swe-"
"What in the world?"
The two immediately jumped apart when they saw Suki standing in the doorway, mouth agape, potato chip dropped from her hand and forgotten on the floor. Their eyes widened as they saw the gears in her brain turn, putting all the pieces together.
"You two are together? What? When? How? How long have you even been-" She gasped when she realized. "Toph's party. That's why Sokka and I didn't see either of you that night."
The couple blushed shamefully and nodded.
"Katara Kanna Mizu, you have been keeping this a secret from us for months?! And Aang, I expected better from you." They bowed their heads, not knowing what to say. "I can't believe this! Do you know what-"
"What's with the yelling, Suki? I thought you were coming to get Katara and Aang," Zuko said as he walked in, bag of Takis in hand.
"Did you know about this?" the warrior hissed, gesturing to their intertwined hands.
Zuko popped a chip into his mouth. "Didn't everyone?"
"What?!" Suki shot Katara a venomous glare. "Oh, I am so telling Sokka." She stormed back inside, the firebender following her with an apologetic look at the couple.
"Well," Aang said, turning back to Katara. "I suppose we should enjoy the last few minutes of secrecy, hmm?"
Katara chuckled. "I suppose we should." A wistful look filled her expression. "Can you believe a year ago you were asking me why I hated you?" She raised their clasped hands and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "Now I get to tell you why I love you."
He gave her a fond smile and kissed the top of her head. "How times change."
"How times change," she repeated.
"THEY'RE WHAT?!"
Both benders winced at the sheer volume of Sokka's yell.
"It'll probably be better if we go inside, right?"
"Toph does always say that facing your problems is the best way to solve them. Earthbender mindset and all that."
"No, I just meant so that he wouldn't be able to throw you off this balcony, sweetie."
"Oh. Yeah, you're probably right."
Aang paused them right as they were about to exit the balcony. "If I die," he said seriously. "Tell Appa, Momo, and Gyatso that I love them."
Katara laughed as they stepped into the main room, every head instantly turning towards them, including Sokka's very, very red one.
"Heh," Aang laughed nervously and held up their intertwined hands. "Surprise?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!"