The first 16 chapters belong to Avatarfan792, and I take no credit for them. Here is a link to where the story was originally posted: s/14303822/1/The-Aftermath
Chapter 15: Permission
AN: I've been pretty sick this week, so I apologize if the quality of my writing is worse than usual. This is the last chapter of politics before we get into the climax of the second arc of this story! Thank you again to everyone who takes the time to read, it means the world to me!
I apologize for any grammatical errors, English is my second language.
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender
The gentle shift of Aang slowly pulling his arm around her is what woke Katara up in the morning. As she looked outside and saw that the sun was already past its initial sunrise, she was surprised when she glanced back over her shoulder to see Aang soundly asleep. Sighing contently at the newfound warmth that came with his presence, she allowed herself to tightly snuggle back in against him. Katara always hated the thought of her friends being in pain, but she was thankful that Aang being sick a few weeks ago had led them to sleep in each other's arms every night. As far as she knew, she could stay in her current position forever.
It was a strange thought to her . . . over a month ago she felt conflicted about her feelings for Aang because of the war, and now she couldn't imagine her life without him. Granted in hindsight, her "confusion" was more of her fear of losing him again, but she knew that when she kissed him at the Jasmine Dragon, she made an unspoken promise between them that she wouldn't take him for granted or let him go again. Not wanting to wake Aang up, she stayed perfectly content in her position as she absentmindedly traced the arrow back and forth on his arm, giving her body something to do as she was lost in her thoughts.
Life had a funny way of playing tricks on Katara. Whenever she seemed to be comfortable with her current position in life, something would come along and screw it up. These past couple weeks of being with Aang had probably been the best in her life, and she had no doubts in her mind of ever leaving him again. Now life gets in the way once again . . . She couldn't believe that the Water Tribes had tried to trick her into accepting her dream job of being a waterbending teacher only if she broke up with Aang. Katara thought she really had made a difference in their thinking, but once again they were using her and her feelings as a pawn for their own gain.
Then, to hear that Aang was being blackmailed by politicians and General Gun Ji? They had both come to respect the General as a friend, and this is how he treats them in return? As upset as she was about her current predicament with the Water Tribes, Katara couldn't help but feel sorry for the situation Aang was being put in. The nations were depending on him to lead them to peace. If the politicians threaten to stop the peace treaty from being signed today . . . they would all go back to insulting the Avatar and claiming he is a failure.
The waterbender's thoughts became interrupted as she felt someone gently stirring behind her. Still content with where she was at, she didn't choose to turn around and face him, yet. But, when she felt a soft and gentle kiss placed on the back of her shoulder, she couldn't help but turn around and meet his sparkling gaze. Cupping his face into her hands and giving him a tender kiss on the forehead, she allowed herself to melt into his gaze of adoration that he bore for her eyes only. "Good morning, Aang." Katara hummed as she lay her head back against his shoulder so he could support her.
"Good morning, my love." The airbender replied back with a gentle tone that was full of affection. Gazing into her ocean blue eyes, he let out a content sigh as he nuzzled his head affectionately into her hair, the scent of the ocean breeze bringing comfort to him. "Sleep well?"
Katara gave a short nod in response. "I did. When I woke up this morning however I got to thinking . . . we're both in quite the predicament, aren't we?" She glanced down to meet the airbender's eyes to try to gain some sort of response from him. Thankfully, he didn't seem to show any signs that he was fretting about their predicaments at the moment.
Finally, he answered with a soft sigh. "I guess we are . . . honestly Katara, I'm just . . . tired." He moved his other arm around her and softly began to massage her back as he continued. "I don't expect any sort of appreciation for the things that we did to end the war. While some view it as my destiny, others view that it was my job to do so. But honestly . . . I'm starting to lose sight of myself. I'm not even sure if I can tell the difference between Aang and the Avatar anymore."
The waterbender frowned as she saw the conflict in her companion. Adjusting her gaze so they were both directly staring at each other, she finally chose to answer. "I think I can help with that," she empathetically whispered. "The Avatar is the most powerful person in the world, one who commands the respect of others just by their presence, and they have to use their power and prior knowledge to bring balance to the world, but do so because they are the authority. Now Aang on the other hand . . ." Katara brought her hand back down to cup his cheek, softly stroking it as she finished her sentiment. "Is the most selfless, caring, empathetic person I know. Aang is a person who earns the respect of others because all he does is share the love and joy that comes with his personality. Aang is the one who stops to play with a group of children even though he is busy. He's the one that goes out of his way to make dinner for his friends because he recognizes that they are too tired. Aang chooses peace when the entire world expects him to choose violence. That is who Aang is."
Aang could only stare back in awe at his soul mate before him. Katara's face was beaming at him as he continued to gaze at her with all of the affection and love that he could muster. Leaning his forehead against hers, he softly leaned down and gave her a soft and simple kiss. Though the action wasn't anything special, the feelings that were conveyed through those actions radiated the pure adoration he had for Katara. "Wow . . . you didn't know how much I needed to hear that."
His companion only beamed at him in response. "Don't you ever forget it, Aang. You are one of a kind. Don't ever let the world change that." Nodding back in appreciation, Aang responded by gently running his fingers through her hair, smiling at the purring response that Katara gave in return. "I love you, Aang." The waterbender contentedly whispered.
"I love you too, Katara. Don't you ever forget it." The two stayed there in silence, enjoying the loving affection that was being shared between them. Eventually, Aang spoke back up. "I think that's what we have to focus on, regarding our predicaments. You and my friends are too special to me. I would never give you up for the world, even if they are trying to blackmail me to do that. I have you, and that's all I'll ever need."
Katara nodded, collecting her thoughts before she continued. "I agree. It is my dream to be able to teach waterbending, but at the end of the day I wouldn't put that over you or my friends. Besides, traveling with you has opened up a whole world of opportunities for me to help others that I never even could have imagined . . . and I can only assume that there will be more." The waterbender smiled before lightly kissing Aang on the cheek. "Besides, we saved the world by doing things our own way, so that's what we will continue to do. As long as we're together, no one can get in our way."
The Gaang got to enjoy a nice breakfast together as they prepared for hopefully the last day of peace meetings. Aang and Katara decided to cook together, and they found that they worked just as well together in the kitchen as they did on the battlefield. They decided that they would keep up the "threats" they had received from their friends until the peace meeting was over. This was because if the peace treaty was signed today, the friend group would technically have no reason to stick together any longer. So, any time together was highly treasured, and this meal was no different.
Eventually, the group set off towards the Palace of Ba Sing Se. Aang took off ahead of the group as he knew the conversation that he was about to have would not be an easy one. As he entered the palace doors, he wasn't at all surprised to see General Gun Ji and the same group of politicians he spoke to last night waiting for him. "Ah, Avatar Aang, it is so good to see you! Come, and let us discuss as we head into a new time of prosperity!" The General called back to him, beckoning him forward with his hand. The General had his jolly mirth of tone back, like nothing even happened the night before.
Hesitantly, Aang made his way towards the group of politicians. They all made a bow to him, and out of necessity, Aang returned the bow. "Avatar Aang . . ." General Gun Ji started, "our group all wanted to take the opportunity to apologize for the way we came off last night. In our eagerness to have you join the militia, we failed to recognize your own feelings about the situation. We hope you can forgive us."
The Avatar studied the faces all looking at him, trying to see if their tone and apologies were genuine. Knowing that it only makes him look bad if he were to make a scene, he begrudgingly nodded his head before speaking. "Apology accepted. Now, if I may ask, is everything good between us? We all have the same goal of peace, right?"
There was a shared look of apprehension between the politicians before one of the Earth Kingdom politicians spoke up. "Of course, Avatar Aang. We both shared that same goal in the first place. Despite our apologies, we still would like you to join the militia. After some discussion last night, we decided to compromise our offer. You may bring Master Katara with you on your journey to join the militia, but your other friends need to stay, I'm afraid."
Aang gazed back at them as he pondered their new offer. If they would have made this offer yesterday, he certainly would have taken it in a heartbeat. But, he still wasn't very trusting that their intentions were in the right place. "I am honored that you would make this compromise, but this is a conversation that I would need to have with Master Katara in the first place. I have no right to make a decision for her. However, the two of us had our own conversation last night, and we think it would be best to settle for a little bit after the peace treaty is signed. To help with the rebuilding and restoration of our homes."
The politician's faces rose with joy and hope at the first part of Aang's statement, but ended up frowning and scowling when he finished. One of the firebenders then uttered out in disbelief, "Avatar Aang. With all due respect, don't you recognize that you have a duty to the world? If you abandon the world, the Nations will begin to fight with each other again. Is that what you want?"
A scowl came across the Avatar's face. "I can not give 100% of my time and energy to the world, I also need to have focus on myself. I lost just as much to this war as any of you did, and I would like to be able to rebuild my nation so when I do go, the world can claim that there are four nations! If I just leave the Air Temples to rot, then the world will never be able to appreciate their true culture and beauty. Besides, I'm not abandoning the world, I'm just stepping aside until I'm needed again. I am firm with this decision, and nothing will change that."
General Gun Ji gave a defeated sigh in return. "Very well, Avatar Aang. We must respect your decision. But we hope that in return, that you will respect ours when the peace meeting is occurring." With that, the politicians stood up together and entered the chamber where the meeting would be taking place. Letting out a sigh of his own, Aang knew that this upcoming meeting wasn't going to be a fun one. In fact, it was going to be a battle.
Entering the chamber himself, he went and took his seat to represent the Air Nomads. Katara was already there, and she gave him a questioning look, silently asking how did it go? Closing his eyes, Aang bowed his head and slowly shook it in response. The waterbender reached out and grabbed his arm, giving it a couple of strokes before King Kuei stood up to start the meeting.
"Welcome, once again representatives of all Nations, as we gather here in search of peace and prosperity for the future. We hope that today will be a short meeting, and will forever be written down in the history books as the day our World officially achieved freedom and peace. We will shortly get into the vote to pass the peace treaty, but before we do so, does anyone have any last objections?"
Immediately, all six of the politicians that Aang had just spoken with stood up, crying out their pleas to be heard. Gritting his teeth and shaking his head, he chided himself. He should have known better. Eventually, it was decided that the politicians from the Fire Nation could voice their concerns first.
"My fellow representatives. We at the Fire Nation are deeply concerned that all of these efforts of the peace treaty have been led by Avatar Aang. While our three nations have the benefit of having a large group to balance out our opinions to form a common goal between the people, the Avatar is the only person to represent the Air Nomads. We believe that he is using this peace treaty to give his Nation an unfavorable advantage, and using his status as the Avatar to convince the rest of the Nations to sign it."
The room immediately rose into an uproar at the accusation. Several representatives turned to the person sitting next to them and began to argue as to whether this was true or not. Even though the Avatar saved the world, they wouldn't dare let their own Nations get treated unequally. Katara put her hand under the railing and gently squeezed Aang's own hand. She figured that all of these politicians were most likely going to be accusing him. King Kuei then stood up to address the crowd. "That is quite an accusation, do you have any evidence to prove it?"
The two Fire Nation politicians only smiled in response. "Why yes, of course! In fact, we had a conversation with him just before this meeting, and he told us that after the peace treaty is signed that he is going to step away from his duties as the Avatar and go restore the Air Temples. While we understand that restoring his Nation is a priority for the entire world, we couldn't help but think that he is selfishly thinking of himself before the world's needs."
Then, the two politicians from the Earth Kingdom stood up and began to voice their own grievances. "Not to mention, but the Avatar has still not taken any accountability for his actions during the war. While his team made their way through the Earth Kingdom, multiple towns were destroyed because he brought Fire Nation attention to the towns he visited. We are able to excuse that, but General Fong himself told us that the Avatar destroyed his military base! We are weary to trust someone who is willing to recklessly cause so much damage."
More outraging cries. More murmurs. More judgment. Then, the two Water Tribe politicians stood up. "The Water Tribes also share our grievances with the Avatar and his team. When they came to the North Pole, they tried to force a change in our culture of not teaching female waterbenders. They seemed to think that because they were a part of the Avatar's team, that made them special too. We are hesitant to trust the Avatar in leading a peace treaty when he has shown such a clear lack of respect for the different cultures of the Nations."
Once again, the room exploded. Aang could feel a lot of glares being pressed into his soul. This time, he reached his hand under the railing to meet Katara's to seek comfort. Finally, King Kuei stood back up to gain the room's attention. "I think it is fair that we allow the Avatar to respond to the accusations before we take our vote. Avatar Aang, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Aang took a deep breath as he stood back up and faced the room. "I will admit, all of these things are true. Though, I have my reasons. First, to address the Earth Kingdom. I am deeply sorry that my team and I were not able to come back to some of the towns that were raided because of our presence. Unfortunately, we needed to get away for our own safety, and I wish that we could have come back and helped, but we didn't want to bring back the Fire Nation's attention to any town that had been raided before. To address the claim about General Fong's military base, that is also true. However, it was done while I was in the Avatar State at a time that I could not control it. I'm sure that General Fong himself wouldn't be proud of the reason as to why I entered the Avatar State in the First place.
"To address the concerns of the Water Tribes, I also must admit that we went against the normal cultural standards found in the Northern Water Tribe. I believe that this was for a noble cause, as Master Katara has grown to become what I believe the greatest waterbender out there. If we never took the chance to try to learn at the North Pole, neither of us would have been able to reach our potential, and I genuinely believe that we would have failed in our efforts to save the world."
"Lastly, to address not only the Fire Nation, but every representative in this room. I cherish the help that I am able to provide to the rest of the world with my abilities. However, I am not able to give every second of my life to the world. We all suffered our tragedies in the war. My own tragedy is the loss of my Nation. I would like to have the opportunity to make my Nation back to a somewhat prosperous state before it is my time to leave the world. That way, the world can continue to live on as four Nations."
The room fell silent as the politicians pondered the Avatar's statement. Aang could tell that not everyone that was just shooting him glares were totally convinced. Sighing to himself, he chose to sit back down, knowing that there wasn't anymore that he could do. King Kuei then stood up, and once again addressed the room. "Thank you, Avatar Aang for your response. It is time for us to now vote for the Peace Treaty. All in favor, please raise your hands." A short pause followed, and unfortunately, Aang knew that the amount of hands that were up in the room was easily not the majority. The damage had been done. "And all against?" The Earth King inquired. The room was filled with hands being raised in the air.
"Very well then," The Earth King continued. "Since we know that we can't keep all the representatives here together, we will work on redrafting a new Peace Treaty that we will all reconvene on at a future time. As you all know, this means that the war is not officially over. We hope that you all are careful, and you choose to continue in peace until the next round of meetings. You all are dismissed. The meeting is now over."
Aang sat there in shock as he stared at the ground in front of him. Once again, he had failed. The politicians had warned him, yet he foolishly let his own needs come in front of fulfilling his destiny of achieving peace for the world. He felt Katara wrap her arms around him, pulling his face into the crook of her neck in an embrace. Sokka, Suki, Toph, and Zuko also made their way over. "I'm sorry, Aang." The Fire Lord sighed as he shook his head. "From the beginning these rats did everything they could to get in your way, if only they knew you like we do." Looking up, he saw his friends all nodding in agreement, smiling down at them.
Letting out a small smile, Aang addressed his group of friends. "Thank guys, I'm sorry that we weren't able to get the treaty passed. I know a lot of you are looking forward to going home right now. If it's okay, I'm going to go take a little walk and clear my head." They all responded empathetically with a smile and a nod, and the airbender made his way out of the Palace, and into the fresh air of Ba Sing Se. He noticed a balcony that had a nice view of the sunset, and he made his way over there to give him a space to think. He was not expecting however, to see the Southern Water Tribe Chief step out to greet him.
"Avatar Aang, I would like to have a word with you."
"Chief Hakoda!" Aang exclaimed in surprise. "It's good to see you! I apologize for not speaking to you beforehand, but these last few days have been rather . . . busy." The Chief looked down at him and gave a slight nod before speaking.
"I understand, Avatar Aang. I hope that these past few days have shown you that being a leader is certainly not easy. Especially in a political setting." Hakoda then shook his head in disgust before finishing. "But those fools should have known better. I'm sorry that the Peace Treaty didn't work out the way we had hoped it would."
Aang gave a small smile back in appreciation. "Please, you can call me Aang. To be honest, I've come to figure out that a lot of these politicians are mostly in it for themselves, and not the state of the world anyway. They need to realize that they need to be willing to work together if we're ever going to achieve peace."
The Chief had a gleam in his eye as he looked down at the Avatar. "You are very wise, Aang. I know that wisdom will allow you to be an excellent leader for the world." Hakoda then sighed. "However, the peace treaty is not why I am here to speak with you. I am here to talk about you and my daughter."
The airbender let out a small gulp as he looked back at the Chief, a sense of nervousness washing over his face. "Actually, Chief Hakoda, I was aiming to seek you out before you left anyway. Your daughter means a lot to me . . . in fact, she is the whole world to me. I know that it traditionally goes against Water Tribe customs to have an outsider court a member of the Water Tribe, but if you would be okay with it, sir, I would love to have your permission to officially court Katara."
Hakoda gave a long and hard glance back towards the Avatar as he studied his features and form. Once again, he gave a small sigh as he began his statement. "Aang, I think you are a really nice boy. I have no doubt that you would be an excellent match for my daughter. However . . . I hope you understand when I say that I have some concerns about the two of you together. When you had fallen at Ba Sing Se, Katara was a shell of herself. We could barely get her to eat or drink anything, and she refused to sleep unless she was by your side. Knowing that you are the Avatar, the most dangerous position in the world, it concerns me as her father to know that you have such a high risk of being killed again, let alone my own daughter's safety. I want to be able to protect my daughter's heart, and I feel that she would be broken if something happened. I'm sorry, Aang . . . but I don't think I can give you my permission."
The words pierced into Aang as he spoke them, the rejection putting a heavy weight onto his soul. He and Katara had been through so much . . . only for her family to be the ones who finally stopped them? Taking a deep breath, he raised his eyes to once again meet the gaze of the Chief before him. "Chief Hakoda, these are all things that I have considered, and they concern me as well. I would let nothing get in the way of your daughter's safety, but I understand that my own life is at risk every day. However, I know how important her family is to Katara . . . if this is what you truly wish, then I will make no further advancements. However, Katara is my equal. I feel that she should have just as much of a say to whether our relationship exists as I do. If you talk to her and get her to agree with you, I too, will then respect your decision."
Aang didn't bother to look back as he walked away from the Chief. Currently, he was in a world of pain and he didn't want to worry about what the man could possibly be thinking of right now. Once again, just as everything seemed to be going right, the world was turning things around on him again. Climbing to the roof of the Ba Sing Se Palace, he allowed himself the proper time to meditate and clear his own thoughts. Aang felt like crying, but he would not allow himself to. He had to be strong not only for himself, but the world. Not only for himself, but Katara. What would he even tell Katara when he gets home? He shouldn't be the one who has to break the news to her, it should come from her father.
As he opened his eyes again from his meditation, he noticed that the sky was now dark. Making his way back down to the ground, he slowly made his way back to his home. That is, until a frantic individual stopped him. "Avatar Aang, you must help! Dai Li are attacking the Embassies of the Nations!"
Aang then took off, once again being forced back into his duty of saving the world.