"Hey I think that's them! Look, Toph, that's Appa right?" Sokka elbowed her excitedly and pointed towards the growing form in the sky, colors of the slowly setting sun behind them.
"I mean sure, looks just like every other time I've seen him come in for a landing," the earthbender tossed out with amused sarcasm.
"Yes! I knew it!" He started to wave up at the shape in the sky before realizing. "Hey!" Toph snickered as Suki just shook her head at her boyfriend's tendency to forget their friend could not in fact see everything.
They were in Gaoling. It had been nearly 3 years since the war ended, and they had largely continued to travel in groups, albiet with much more leisurely stops now that they didn't have the ominous and looming deadline that had darkened their first few months together. Toph had finally conceded that Aang had mastered all the earthbending she could teach him. She wanted to check in on her family in Gaoling, though she didn't think she could deal with them for long. Suki, of course, wanted to see her fellow warriors and friends on Kyoshi Island. And Aang wanted to swing by and see Bumi ("It's not very often you get to wish someone a happy 117th birthday!") And so the plan was that they'd split up. They'd travel to Kyoshi first, and spend a couple days then leave Suki & Sokka to spend a couple more. Meanwhile Aang and Katara would drop Toph off in Gaoling on their way to Omashu for the final week of spring. Gaoling being a short boatride from Kyoshi, they agreed to just meet up there a week after splitting ways.
Appa swooped down and landed with a soft thump on the grounds outside the Bei Fong estate. "Hi guys!" Aang called out before jumping down. Katara, who had been sitting next to him, slipped to the ground on the far side. As she walked around to meet the others and give her own greetings, Toph cocked her head to the side, sensing something new.
As Katara stepped into the circle and prepared to start doling out hugs for her friends (though they'd only been apart for a week), Toph spoke up. "Hold up. What's that, Sweetness?" she asked, her eyes narrowed but twinkling as she jabbed a finger towards the earth she sensed on Katara's arm.
"This?" said Katara, holding up her wrist for the others to see. "Oh, just a bracelet Aang gave me.. when he asked me to marry him." A giddy grin lit across her face, and Aang caught her up by the waist and gave her twirl.
"She said yes, so.. you're in the presence of the luckiest guy ever," Aang beamed.
Katara held her wrist back out for the others to inspect. "He made it himself. It's stones he picked up on our travels and charms that he carved himself." The stones were all in various colors of their two nations, and bent into smooth round beads. The bracelet had a small charm bearing the water symbol, a small charm bearing the air symbol, and in between them both hung a larger charm decorated with a symbol that combined both the waves of the water tribe and the swirls of the air nomads. Dangling down from this charm (coincidentally, right about the location that an airbending master's arrow would show on their hand) was a light blue tassel.
Toph ran her fingers over it, inspecting the work. Finally she gave a nod. With a punch to his arm she declared, "Nice job, Twinkletoes." Suki mainly squealed and doled out hugs.
Finally Katara turned to her brother. Sokka looked up and said, "I have so many feels! I'm so happy for you guys. I'm a little bummed too though. I mean, I figured this would happen, but I always thought I'd be there for it. You know, like I was there when you met, and for your first kiss on the balcony.."
Aang and Katara looked at each other. Aang just replied, "Mmm-hmm."
Toph's jaw dropped open. "Liar, liar, Dancy Pants on fire!" she cried with a cackle.
"Welllll," Aang started, "I mean it was the first kiss on that balcony."
"There were other balconies before that?!" Sokka cried.
"Just one! And really I don't like to count that one." Aang looked down.
Katara put a hand on Aang's arm. "Yes, Sokka, there was a bit of a balcony scene at the awful Ember Island play. It was so brief though, and we quickly got to our bigger and better balcony." She giggled.
Sokka frowned, but recalled how he was a bit busy that night with a hot date of his own...and writing better jokes for Actor Sokka. "Okay. That makes sense. I was distracted then. And I suppose one other kiss isn't bad." He noted Aang and Katara looking anywhere but each other, and narrowed his eyes. "You said 'just one', right?"
"Just one other balcony," Aang said, flashing what he hoped was his brightest smile. "You didn't ask about kisses."
Katara smiled. "Really, the one before that was a good one."
Sokka looked flabbergasted. "There's another one? When?! I was watching you two!"
Katara answered, "On the sub. When the two of us were alone up top. He was worried he wouldn't come back, and he leaned in and kissed me. Then he turned around and flew off to fight. It rattled my head a lot.. I liked it, but pairing it with the thought of him not coming back was rough. Still, a great kiss. You'd have been proud of him meeting that head-on, Toph." This earned Aang another punch on the arm from the earthbender, and a scowl from his future brother-in-law.
"You know how to make an impression on that first kiss, huh Aang?" Suki chuckled. Again, the two grew quiet.
"Oh my spirits, that wasn't your first kiss either!" Toph crowed.
"There's just one more. And it was so fast. You don't want to hear about that."
"When was that, Katara?" Sokka asked, his arms folded over his chest, fixing his sister with a stare.
"You remember the Cave of Two Lovers, right?"
"Where I got stuck with those hippies? That was way back before we even got Toph!" Sokka groaned.
"Well, you got stuck with hippies and had badgermoles to help you out. Aang and I had to figure out our own way. We found a room where it told the legend of the two lovers, and I suggested maybe we kiss-"
"You were responsible for this one?!"
Katara ignored her brother's interjection and carried on. "-and Aang said he'd rather kiss me than die."
Toph and Suki both cracked up laughing at this. "He did not!" Suki cried.
"Guarantee your past lives were all there laughing at you."
Aang groaned. "Do I never get to live that one down?"
Katara giggled. "Not if I can help it. Anyway, eventually our light was going out, so we did kiss. Just a peck, but when we opened our eyes, there were glowing crystals all over the ceiling of this tunnel. It led us to outside."
Sokka had his skeptic face firmly in place. "I'm supposed to believe that you guys kissed and it made magic crystals light up a love cave?"
Katara, taking in the now-twilight sky, retorted, "I can prove it." With that she put one hand up on Aang's cheek, making sure her bracelet was on clear display as she kissed him happily.
"Yep, still better than dying," Aang grinned, as Sokka and Suki looked on in surprise at the now-glowing symbols on the charms. "I inlaid the carvings with crystals from that cave. It's why I had to wait until we went to Omashu again to finish up the bracelet and propose."
Sokka after recovering for a bit said, "So you're saying that if you guys are lovey after dark, I'll be able to tell because her wrist will glow?"
Katara responded, "What I am saying is that with us engaged, if you want to avoid oogies you should maybe not try and see my wrist after dark."
Sokka pouted about his sister growing up too fast. Aang tried to be comforting. "Don't worry, Sokka. This just means we're engaged. We're not getting married tomorrow or anything, and you'll definitely be there. Honestly, you were there for most of the lead up too."
"What do you mean? You guys just explained how I somehow missed you locking lips three times. What other lead up are you talking about?"
Aang shuffled his feet. "Nothing extreme. Just.. I mean, I don't know what all the nation's courting rituals are now, but I knew what they were a hundred years ago. We learned the basic customs of all the nations. I figured it was my best shot at flirting with her. You heard my attempt when left to my own devices entirely."
Katara hadn't even heard this. "Like what, Sweetie?"
"Well, in the fire nation it was customary to do a courting dance. It was absolutely surreal to find out they didn't dance anymore."
"But.. but you said that dance party was for those fire nation kids! You danced with everyone!" Sokka said, shocked.
"No, I danced by myself, then I danced an Earth Kingdom ballroom dance with a group of others. The dance I gave to Katara was the only one-partner dance I did. I did think the dance party would help them, but I'd be lying if I said dancing with Katara didn't cross my mind when planning it," he stated with a smile at his new fiancee.
"And that dance very nearly got you more than a kiss on the cheek," Katara said, bumping her shoulder against Aang's arm. Across the way, Sokka gagged. Ignoring him, she asked, "What else?"
"Well, in the earth kingdom, you would give a trinket made of stone to show your feelings."
"You gave her things all the time! How was I supposed to notice you finding some pebble you thought was cool?" Sokka scoffed.
"It wasn't a pebble. It was a jasper, and I gave it to her because it was cloud-shaped. The fortune teller told me that just like we shaped the clouds, we shape our own destiny. And it was just a really nice feeling pairing with Katara to combine our elements to create something new in the clouds." Aang smiled at Katara, who beamed back at him.
"And there's that feminine side you were so in touch with," Toph said. "What's the water tribe tradition you did?"
Aang rolled his eyes at Toph's ribbing before answering. "Making her a necklace."
"What?" Sokka said. "You didn't make her a necklace. Technically, Granpakku made her necklace."
Katara wrinkled her nose at that thought. "Ugh, don't you try to ruin my necklace for me. You know that to me this is an heirloom passed down in love from the amazing women in our family. Besides, Aang did make me a necklace."
"I only see a bracelet," Sokka shot back.
"Yeah, it's gorgeous, isn't it?" Katara grinned up at Aang and planted a quick smooch on his cheek. "He's gotten a lot better since he 'tangled up' your fishing line to make me that first bit of jewelry."
"Aw, thanks Katara. I tried telling Sokka I could save the world AND make jewelry," Aang said with a small chuckle.
Sokka was aghast.. "Wait.. you knew what necklaces meant at that point?"
"Well, I knew what they meant to the Northern Water Tribe a hundred years ago, but yes," Aang answered.
"And you made one for Katara? Then?"
"Yep. I mean, it was obviously like a pretend one. Still... she accepted it," he said with a wink at Katara.
She grinned back at him. "And she'd accept again, in a heartbeat, now that she knows what it means.. though I like your bracelet better." Aang swelled with pride, while Sokka muttered about oogies and Toph made loud retching sounds.
"Okay, you said you hit all of the nations' courtship traditions. What was the Air Nomad tradition?" Suki asked, curious.
"Well.. you invite someone to travel with you. Of course, you can travel with friends too, so it's a little less clear-cut. But an invite to travel just the two of you is the best way to really get to know someone and have fun along the way!"
"Ah, so that's what this last little jaunt to Bumi really was?" Sokka asked.
Katara laughed heartily as Aang started saying "Welllll..."
Katara interrupted. "Sokka, Aang asked me to travel with him the day after we found him." Aang started blushing.
"Aang, you were TWELVE!" Sokka exclaimed, looking at him incredulously.
Aang shrugged and flashed a grin. "Maybe, but I waited a hundred years to meet her, I didn't want to let the chance slip by. Besides, it could have turned out that we were just cut out to be good friends, and that would have been worth it too."
Katara leaned in to touch her forehead to his. "I love being your best friend, but I'm so glad we turned out to be more." Aang was practically floating at this point and he scooped her up and twirled her around before settling for a kiss on top her head.
Suki spoke up again. "What about the southern water tribe traditions?"
Aang looked down before answering solemnly. "Unfortunately, that's the only one I couldn't do. Those involve - or used to involve at least, I'm not sure what they are now - the two families meeting to agree on approval to court. And well.. I just couldn't do that. Katara belongs to no one, and who she belongs with is no one's decision but her own."
Suki smiled approvingly while Toph nodded and said, "Wow, I might have to start calling Twinkletoes 'Smooth Moves' instead."
Katara flung herself into Aang's arms, knocking him off balance. He managed to slow their descent with airbending while raising a bit of earth up to meet them. Katara, positioned on his lap, wrapped her arm around Aang's shoulders and gave him a look that made it clear who she felt she belonged with. Sokka just sighed and shook his head. "I guess that's fair. Goodness knows Katara would have just done whatever she wanted anyway."
At this, Toph smirked. "Seems like what Sweetness wants to do is Aang." Suki cracked up, Katara's cheeks pinked but she just waggled her eyebrows at the airbender, causing Aang to blush madly.
Sokka, scandalized, protested loudly. "Oh, ew, GROSS. No! GAH! Not enough brain bleach in all the nations..."
A/N: Yeah so it's the loosest tie in to that prompt, as they weren't apart from each other and met back up with the others after just a week. I have no regrets. LOL
As for ages, in my head it's 16 for Aang/17 for Katara - aka, full "adult" marrying age in Avatar universe. Imagine them older if it makes you feel better. In my mind, Aang's Plan A was absolutely to propose to her at midnight on his 16th birthday so that he would be officially taken every minute that he could be, but he just couldn't find a time to get the crystal to finish the bracelet until Bumi's birthday 3ish months later. (Yes, yes I do imagine too much into things. LOL)
If you check out the thumbnail, you can get a quick & dirty photoshop mockup of the bracelet to help you envision.