Chapter 8: Comfort
AN: More fun fluff! Finally together :) Going to switch my uploading schedule to try to do 3 chapters a week as my timeline to finish this story is coming much sooner than I thought (I will explain once I finish, hopefully). Thanks again to everyone who even takes the time to read the story, it means the world to me! As always, I apologize for any mistakes, English is my second language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
The sunset of Ba Sing Se was glimmering onto the balcony of the Jasmine Dragon. The sight was an amazing one to see, but two particular individuals were paying no attention to it as they were wrapped up in each other. Aang and Katara's eyes were both closed, enjoying the passion and sensations that were brought out from each other in the current kiss that they were sharing. Finally, the kiss came to an end, and both individuals held onto each other, gasping for air while they opened their eyes. The two pressed their foreheads against each other, desperately wanting to keep the proximity between them as close as they possibly could. All both individuals could see was the furious blush that had enveloped both of their faces. Finally, the silence and beauty of the moment was broken.
"Wow . . ." Aang gasped, still breathing for air. "That was just . . . wow . . ." Katara let out a giggle as she poked a finger into Aang's chest.
"If you would have told me that I could take an airbender's breath away, I would have told you that you're going insane." Katara responded, taking a deep breath as Aang slowly created some distance between them. Even with the new space created between them, their eyes were still locked. Katara found her own breath disappear as she stared into the stormy gray eyes of the Avatar, finding a pure look of adoration, love, and awe as they sparkled in the dimming sunlight. Over their adventures she noticed that he would rarely hold such emotions, but whenever he chose to show thim, they were for her eyes only.
"Katara . . . that was . . . you are . . . amazing." He dreamily stated. The airbender seemed to recognize this too, as he quickly shook his head to try to come back to his senses. "Wait!" He exclaimed, worry taking over his tone. "Please tell me this is real and I'm not dreaming."
Katara could only chuckle in response. "Tell me if this happens in your dreams!" With that, she wrapped her arms back around Aang's neck, and slowly leaned in with her eyes closed. Their lips connected ever so gently, and she was astounded by just how soft his lips were. When he finally responded to the kiss, both of them opening their mouths every so slightly to deepen it, she could feel the passion and adoration from his actions alone. The kiss that they shared wasn't one of attraction and lust, it was full of emotions and love. Again, the two slowly broke apart, smiles plastered on their faces.
Pure joy was shown on the Avatar's face, but a small amount of anxiety slowly began to creep over his expression. There was one last question that needed to be answered. "So . . ." Aang slowly began, the trepidation evident in his voice. "Does this mean that we can be toge-?"
"YES!" Katara almost shouted, excitement and joy ringing across her tone of sincerity. The laughter that rang in response from Aang showed just how much that both of them had been waiting for this exact moment. The laughter rang across the balcony along with a yelp of surprise from Katara when Aang picked her up and twirled her around in his arms. For the first time since the two had met, pure joy and elation were the only feelings present, and nothing could possibly stop that.
As Aang slowly released Katara back to the ground, the two took the moment to stare into each other's eyes again. Stormy gray met ocean blue, and the feelings of excitement, comfort, and adoration were shared between them. Katara slowly brought Aang in for an embrace, the two holding each other tightly, both of them never wanting the closeness between them to separate. After a minute, that separation eventually came, and Aang took Katara's hand and led her to sit down beside him. A comfortable silence came across them as they took in the sunset together, Katara leaning her head on his shoulder as they cuddled together.
"Katara . . ." Aang began, his voice so tender and sincere as he was still trying to gather all of his emotions. The pause lingered, to the point where Katara wasn't sure if she was supposed to respond. Just as she was about to do so, Aang continued. "If you would give me the honor, I would love to officially take you as my companion." During this last part of the sentence, he gently removed his shoulder from under her head so he could look into her eyes, showing the importance in his message.
A quizzical look formed across her face as she stared back into him, drinking in the warmth from his loving expression. "Companion?" she asked, tilting her head. This brought a genuine smile to form across the airbender's face.
"In our air nomad culture, we often frowned upon the terms of "boyfriend and girlfriend."" he began to explain, his face lighting up as he remembered his past life. "We recognized the social hierarchy that existed in relationships in the other three nations, as they often viewed the man as superior to the woman. In our culture, we believe our other half to be our equal. We only gave our heart to one person, to show the significance of the relationship that we would be entering. If both partners took each other's heart, they would be viewed as companions and equals for life."
Katara gasped as Aang finished his explanation. She was overwhelmed by the sincerity of his words. He was right, the other nations and especially in the Water Tribe, women were considered less than men. As they had journeyed together, Aang certainly had figured out that she was not a fan of this trait shown in the world, but for him to truly be expressing to her that he saw her, some random Southern Water Tribe girl that he had met as equal as him, the Avatar, made her heart almost jump out of her chest. "Aang . . ." she began, her voice in complete wonder, "I don't even know what to say. . ."
The airbender only smiled in return, taking her hands in his as he continued to stare lovingly into her eyes. "Katara, ever since I laid my eyes on you in the South Pole, my soul was telling me that you were the one. That only became clearer as I watched you grow into an incredible woman, and you helped me find my own inner peace in the process. There were so many times that I wanted to give up in the war, but you always gave me hope. I promised myself that I would fulfill my destiny so that you could live in a world of peace. As your companion, I promise you Katara, I will do everything I possibly can to continue to show how much you mean to me, because you've become my world."
The waterbender's eyes filled with tears, and she slowly let them slide down her cheek as she brought him in for a hug. As she felt the comfort of Aang holding her close, she finally felt free to share her true feelings with him. "Aang, when I first met you, you were a symbol of hope to the world, and to me as well. I couldn't believe that the state of the world could fall on such a young person's shoulders! But as we traveled together . . . I discovered you were so much more than the Avatar. You being Aang made you the best person in the world to have by my side. It's still hard for me to take in all of the patience, empathy, and compassion that you showed towards not only everyone but me everyday. Then when you fell at Ba Sing Se . . . I found out that I can't live without you. You complete me in every way Aang, and you make me beyond happy. I would be honored to even hold the title of you as my companion."
Tears were flowing down both of their faces as they held their tight embrace, overwhelmed by the feelings of love shared between them. As they slowly separated from their hug and they found themselves once again lost in each other's eyes, the distance once again closed as their lips met again for a kiss. This one was gentle, yet pure, signifying what they truly meant to each other. Katara grabbed Aang's hand, and exclaimed to him that she wanted to tell the others. They walked hand in hand together back to the Jasmine Dragon, the sun starting to set now, to share their good news.
Katara's brother was the first one to notice their entrance. "What took you guys so long?" Sokka asked, his eyes narrowing skeptically.
"I'm glad you asked, Sokka" Katara merrily replied. "Aang and I actually have a special announcement we wanted to make." She quickly glanced over to her companion, and continued to talk when he nodded to her to show her that he was okay with it. "We're officially together!" Her voice radiated with excitement and joy, almost as if she wanted to let the whole world know the news.
The room fell silent for just a few moments before Toph broke the silence. "FINALLY!" she shouted, her voice filled with relief. "It was torture to have to watch you two together, both your heart beats were always through the roof whenever you talked to each other."
A booming yet gentle voice from Iroh came in next. "That's excellent news to hear. What a special way to end our gathering together. I wish you both the best, Master Katara and Avatar Aang."
Suki ran up and gave Katara a hug exclaiming her excitement, and even Zuko had come over to place his hand on Aang's shoulder, a smile spread across his face. The group began to chatter amongst themselves about how finally these two were coming together when someone loudly cleared their throat. The room fell silent as Sokka stepped forward, closing the distance immediately with the new couple.
"So . . . both of you together, huh?" He questioned, his tone and expression serious. Before Aang or Katara could respond, his face lit up and a smile formed from ear to ear. "I knew it! I told you both before when we were traveling together that you both were in loooovvee." He ended his sentence with a teasing tone before bringing the two in for a hug.
The group was offered to stay at the Jasmine Dragon for however long they had wanted, and people had begun to make their preparations for bed. Aang however, went back outside to take a moment to meditate. He figured he would be outside longer than people would be sticking around, so he chose to say goodnight to everyone, but not before finding out what room Katara (and hopefully he) would be staying in.
Just as he started to settle into his meditative state, he heard footsteps coming from behind. Normally, he would be slightly irritated if someone came to interrupt his meditation, but tonight he had so much joy that he was not at all bothered when he heard a familiar voice.
"I told you so!" Aang turned around and opened his eyes to see a smiling Sokka, staring right back at him. Aang tilted his head in confusion, signifying for Sokka to continue. "I knew that she loved you, I'm happy you two found your way to each other." Aang smiled back, and was surprised to see Sokka offering a hug to him. Overwhelmed by the positive feelings of the day, Aang happily accepted, meeting his embrace. These emotions of happiness were quickly replaced by a yelp of shock when Sokka grabbed him by the robes and pushed him against the railing of the balcony.
"I'll let you know, Aang. . ." his voice suddenly became serious and turned into a low growl, "Avatar or not, I will not hesitate to kick your butt if you even think about hurting my sister. Am I clear?" Aang's eyes widened as his face turned red, and he threw his hands up into the air.
"Believe me Sokka, I would never do anything to purposely hurt Katara. She means the world to me, and I told her myself that I am going to do everything within my power to make her happy." He watched as the warrior's face suddenly turned into a grin, clearly content that he had the power to scare Aang.
"Then, my dear friend, you have my blessing. Welcome to the family officially, buddy." With that, he brought Aang back into a hug and actually embraced him, before turning around and walking back into the teashop, clearly happy with himself. Aang tried to focus on meditating, but after that interaction was placed on top of the prior events of the day, there was no possible way for him to calm his mind.
After another fifteen minutes of trying, he eventually gave up, and he made his own way back to the teashop. When he entered, he saw Iroh wiping down tables with a pile of dishes next to the sink, still needing to be cleaned. He smiled as Iroh looked up and met his gaze, before returning to his work.
"Finding it hard to meditate, Avatar Aang?" Iroh softly questioned as he continued to scrub the table.
Aang let out a soft sigh of defeat in response. "Yeah, just a lot on my mind tonight I guess." Following the end of the sentence he gave his signature laugh followed by a grin. "Besides, it gives me the opportunity to help clean up and let our wonderful host for the evening get some rest."
Iroh's eyes sparkled in response as he looked up and met the Avatar's gaze. "Avatar Aang, that surely is not necessary, although your request is appreciated. I wasn't able to learn much about your nation, but I can assure you that you represent the Air Nomads well."
Aang beamed as Iroh finished his words. He indeed had grown up, even at the young age of 12. Now that he had found at least some inner peace within himself, his goal was to spread the culture of his people as much as he could. He could not let his nation be forgotten. "Please Iroh, call me Aang." He walked forward and gently took the rag that was now sitting on the table, and began to clean it himself. "We as Air Nomads usually never paid anything monetary for staying at someone's place when we traveled. Instead, we would pay with an act of service, to show our humble grace towards our host. So, it would be my honor to clean up tonight and help out around the shop in any way I can."
Iroh only shook his head with a smile as he finally relented into Aang helping him finish this task. "What a fine man you are, Aang. I believe you also chose wisely in your companion with Master Katara. Together, I see the world full of prosperity and peace in the future." Aang smiled in response and gave his thanks. He clearly looked up to the wise firebender, and was hoping that he could get in a couple more conversations with him before the group left Ba Sing Se. Tonight though, it was his duty to clean up for him, and allow Iroh to get some much deserved rest.
Aang spent the next half hour cleaning up the shop and putting things away neatly. He was happy to express a part of his culture again, and as he walked up the stairs towards the living area, he couldn't help but think of how perfect this day had turned out to be. Now, he could spend the rest of the night with Katara and celebrate their new relationship together. He stopped dead in his tracks however at the door of Katara's room when he heard the sound of crying coming from the other side of the door.
Confused, he decided he would try to find out what was going on. After softly knocking on the door, he opened it and poked his head in. The sight before him made all of his joy from before wash away into concern as he saw the waterbender sobbing on her bed. Stepping forward into the room, he decided to announce his presence. "Katara?" His voice was soft and full of empathy as he questioned why she was crying.
Katara immediately jerked her head up towards the airbender, eyes bloodshot, and she immediately hissed back. "Get away from me!" This immediately made Aang's heart drop into his stomach as all of his previous thoughts of self-doubt crept into his mind. What did I do? We were supposed to be celebrating together!
Taking a deep breath, he was determined to find out what he did wrong so he could make it right. He took a step forward towards the bed, and tried to gently find out what was wrong. "Katara . . ." he started, his voice soothing and empathetic. "What's wrong?"
Her face faltered slightly as she felt a sense of comfort, before she shook it off and went back into her resolve. "Aang, I told you to get away from me!" she hissed back, her tone not faltering from before. She saw the pain take over Aang's expression and felt bad, but she was too upset to comfort him.
"Is it . . . something I did?" Aang softly responded, his voice full of concern and self-doubt. "If it's about what happened between us earlier, I can wait! We don't have to rush into thin-"
"Aang it's not you, it's me!" Please, leave before I hurt you, I'm a monster!" With that, Katara returned to sobbing and broke the eye contact between them, leaving Aang hurt and confused by her statement. It was then that he looked out the window and saw the full moon, and immediately things clicked inside his head. This is our first full moon together since she learned bloodbending.
He immediately ignored her previous pleas, and ran forward and threw his arms around her before she could even react. At first, her body tensed up as if she were to fight against his hug, but she quickly gave in and allowed her to sob into his shoulder. Aang's heart broke for her as he softly rubbed her back, desperately wishing that he could take on some of her pain that she was feeling right now. "You're not a monster . . ." he whispered into her ear. "The only reason you did those actions was to protect Sokka and I. You did it to save my life."
His embrace was firm but at the same time he held her so gently against him. He continued to soothe Katara until the sobs slowly disappeared, and her breathing slowly became even. "Aang . . . before we begin a relationship together, you have to know one thing. I fully understand if you don't want to be with me ever again after I tell you." Her voice was so weak and scared, which made Aang worried as this was the exact opposite of her character.
"I'm listening, and I'm here for you. I promise I won't judge you." He softly soothed. His voice was so compassionate and empathetic, and Katara could immediately feel herself become at ease as he continued to comfort her.
"When Zuko and I went to find the leader of the Southern Raiders . . . it was a full moon that night." She started, her voice shaking. "When we found the leader of the ship, I was so angry, and I used bloodbending on him. Once we found out that he wasn't the person we were looking for, I continued the bloodbending until he gave us the information of where my mother's killer was. I used those powers on an innocent person, Aang. What's even worse is that I enjoyed it." With that final sentence, she began to sob again, afraid to hear what Aang could possibly think of her.
Aang, however, just let the silence ring between them as he fully grabbed her into his arms and placed her into his lap. He held her tightly against him and softly rocked her back and forth, rubbing her back and whispering soothing words into her ear. He leaned his forehead against hers to show her that he was there for her, and that wouldn't change. Katara finally began to catch her breath again, and he used two fingers to lift her chin so her eyes could meet his eyes.
Katara was surprised to find that his eyes were gentle, and were full of compassion and empathy. He wiped away some of the tears that were running down her cheeks before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Katara, you were angry at that moment and you felt lost in your own emotions and misery. I know that you didn't truly enjoy having that type of power because you're acting the way you are now. You feel nothing but guilt and remorse for your actions, and it shows that you're still an amazing person. I always felt the same way when I came out of the avatar state, especially after facing those sandbenders in the desert. That's why I purposefully stopped showing emotion, because I was so afraid of myself that I would do something to hurt someone again. I'm not worried about you at all Katara, and though you can't forgive your mother's killer, you must forgive yourself."
A small moment of silence was shared between them as Katara took in Aang's wisdom. She then gave her response by throwing her arms around Aang and bringing him into an embrace. "Thank you, Aang. I don't know what I would do without you. I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier, it's just everytime the full moon comes I become scared."
Aang nodded in understanding before speaking. "It's okay to feel scared, Katara. It will become easier with time. Just know that I will never think less of you for being the person you are. You are an amazing, beautiful person Katara. Both inside and out. Don't ever let anyone or yourself convince you otherwise." With that, he got up and started to make his way towards the door, when he felt his arm grabbed.
"Stay with me tonight?" she pleaded. "I won't be able to sleep without you, these last few days apart from you at night have already been hard enough." Aang happily complied as he took her hand and climbed into bed with her, Their bodies wrapped into each other as she nestled her head onto his chest and looked into his eyes. Once again, all she could see was the look of pure adoration and love, the look he only gave for her. "Aang?"
"Hmmm?" came his response, as he was already falling asleep.
"Will you be there to help me for future full moons?" A smile crept across his face as he looked at her, his eyes full of understanding.
"Every full moon for the rest of our lives."
Katara could only smile in response before letting sleep come over her. Only in the arms of her companion could she feel so loved and protected, and her mind rested peacefully, as if there was never something to worry about in the first place.