Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
It had been a few months since the Gaang had last settled things in Cranefish Town, and they had once again continued going around the world and helping people. Though the world was not the once war-torn place it had been for a hundred years, the need for the Avatar was as clear as ever, as issues seemed to arise wherever they went. Though Aang had once feared that Katara would come to resent that his duty would keep him from settling down in one place for long, he was now both relieved and reassured that she did not mind the constant traveling. Quite the contrary, actually, as despite the fact that they had been traveling together for some years now, she still seemed to enjoy exploring just as much as when they had first met. Maybe even more than she had before.
Though he also couldn't help but smile as he remembered what she had told him when he had first voiced his doubts of whether she would get tired of the constant traveling or not. Upon hearing his worries, she had given him a warm smile that he now knew was only for him and had taken his hands in hers as she answered him. Aang, I love traveling and exploring the four nations. More than that, I love you. And if being with you means I can never settle down somewhere, then that's a trade I'll gladly make.
His smile growing as he recalled her words to him, he looked over his shoulder and looked at his love, his smile growing wider if such a thing was possible as he admired her from Appa's head. She was currently talking to Sokka, who was boasting about his latest victory against a couple benders who had tried to rob him while he had been taking a walk alone at night in Cranefish Town. He snickered as he saw her roll her eyes at her brother as he continued to compliment himself on his accomplishment. Hearing her love snickering, she looked to him and noticed that he had seen her roll her eyes, taking on a smirk as their eyes bore into each other.
Seeing that she had noticed his snickering, he decided with a mischievous glint in his eye that he would do something to make her laugh as Sokka continued to prattle about his heroics, making a talking face with his hand and mimicking him as he put on a series of goofy faces. His plan worked beautifully, earning a sudden laugh that was quickly hidden behind Katara's hand as she did her best not to alert Sokka who somehow was still bragging about himself, her giggles just barely heard by Aang who smiled as he saw that she had enjoyed his teasing of her brother. One thing that he had learned about Katara was that one guaranteed way to make her laugh was to tease Sokka when he was being… well, Sokka.
Sokka, completely oblivious to Aang making fun of him as his sister held on with all of her strength to keep from bursting out laughing, finally seemed to finish with his bragging and looked at the two, narrowly missing Aang's goofy faces. The young Avatar had quickly taken on a look of innocence as he looked around, making him turn his attention to his sister who had just barely managed to settle herself as she too took on an innocent look. However, after looking closely at them both, Katara couldn't stop the smirk from coming back and she dissolved into more giggles as she watched Aang stick his tongue out at Sokka.
"Hey!" Sokka griped as he looked between the two. "What are you guys doing?"
"What do you mean, Sokka?" Katara asked as innocently as she could, but was unable to wipe the smirk off her face as she glanced back at Aang with a sultry look that made his heart skip a beat before she looked back to her brother. "We weren't doing anything."
Aang grinned as he watched her mess with her brother, sharing another look with her as Sokka looked between them. Though he knew they had done something, he had no idea what, so for the time being he decided to let it go. "Whatever," he sighed with a roll of his eyes as he looked back to Aang who was still grinning back at Katara. "Hey Aang, can you stop having a staring contest with my sister for a second so I can ask you a question?"
The two lovers blushing as they heard this, Katara just rolled her eyes while Aang laughed sheepishly and rubbed his neck. "Sorry, Sokka. What's up?"
"How much longer until we get to Kyoshi Island?" he asked as he looked down below them, seeing nothing but clouds as he did so. "Suki's waiting for me."
Aang gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Sokka, but we've still got a little while to go." Looking back up at the sun and seeing that it was beginning to set, he then continued. "We should find a place to land and settle in for the night."
Sokka sighed and rolled his eyes, making Katara give him a glare that he had rolled his eyes at Aang who was only being reasonable. "Yeah, whatever. Let's find a place to sleep."
Not taking it personally, knowing that Sokka missed Suki and that he'd be eager to see Katara if it was him in Sokka's position, Aang decided not to say anything back and brought them in for a landing. Before long, the group had set up their camp with ease, having done it many times before, and they all said their goodnights. Though Aang and Katara took a bit longer to say goodnight than Sokka on account that their goodnight kiss was unintentionally extended.
When they finally did separate, they bid each other goodnight as Katara went to her own sleeping bag while Aang watched her go. Next to her was Sokka who as usual had already fallen asleep, making Aang both amazed and curious how he could do that so easily. Aang felt a sudden desire to go curl up with Katara, but he knew that Sokka would not be happy if he found that they had fallen asleep together, even though they had been dating for years and that Aang could be trusted.
Deciding to ignore this desire, he instead looked to Katara to make sure that she was asleep as well before sneaking as quietly as he could away from the Watertribe siblings, hoping to find a nice, quiet place where his work would not disturb them.
Almost every night and any time he found himself with some alone time, Aang had been working on his secret project, a gift that he had been wanting to give to Katara for years, but had only just recently begun working on it. After all, he had once in the past told Katara that he would give her this gift when he was older and more ready for all it entailed, and now he knew it was the time to make what he had wanted to give her for years.
Finally reaching a secluded spot that was far away enough to not wake them up, he reached into his robes and produced a beautiful Water Tribe necklace, one that he had been working on for some months now. It hadn't been easy, as he wanted everything to be just perfect for when he presented it to Katara, but if in the end she liked it, then all of the effort put into it would be well worth it. He was very close to completing it. In fact, if he put enough time into it tonight, he could very well finish it that night. Once it was finished, all that would be left would be the matter of when he would ask her to marry him. Though part of him was nervous, as there was still a chance she might say no, he was more excited than anything. He knew that she loved him, and that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him as she had said herself over the years. All that was left was to seal the deal with a question and a necklace of his own making.
Satisfied with this thought, Aang spent a little while longer working on it, putting the finishing touches on it and then looking it over. It was truly beautiful. Thanks to Hakoda, whom he had prior gone and asked for his blessing to ask Katara to marry him, he had been able to make the necklace similar to the Water Tribe fashion, but but made it his own with roughly-etched air symbols and a longer band to allow Katara to wear both so that she wouldn't have to sacrifice taking off her mother's to be able to put on his.
Smiling at his craftsmanship, finally having completed it after months of hard work, he held it up to the glow of the moonlight and admired it for a few moments. Now that it was complete, and he had gained Hakoda's blessing, all that was left was to ask Katara to marry him. Even if he knew that this would be the hardest part, given that he often became a stuttering mess at important moments like this.
Deciding to shake these thoughts off, he admired the necklace for a few more moments before deciding that he had been up late enough. He would get some sleep and then tomorrow he would start planning when and where he would propose to her, and although he was nervous, he was far more excited to let his nerves get to him. For years he had wanted to ask her to be his forever girl, and now he was finally going to.
Feeling excited as he thought of this, he finally put the necklace in his pocket and made his way back to their campsite, being relieved to see that the Water Tribe siblings were still fast asleep. Making his way back over to Appa, he stopped for a second to look at his love and smiled when he saw her smiling in her sleep. He hoped that she was having a good dream, and a good part of him still felt a desire to go lay down with her, but he knew that time would come soon enough. Of course, he and Katara had slept next to each other before, but they had only done so when Sokka wasn't in the immediate area or if they had been separated. Though Sokka wasn't controlling and understood that they loved each other, he still had made it clear that he would prefer if they kept their distance until they were married. Katara, of course, had objected, knowing that they would spend the rest of their lives together anyway and that they should be able to cuddle or fall asleep together. Aang understood where Sokka was coming from, however, and had talked Katara into it just until the two were married to make Sokka happy. She had been reluctant, but nevertheless she had agreed, and the two had been respectful of Sokka's wishes, though they would still cuddle and fall asleep together when they had the chance to.
Deciding to shake these thoughts off, he took one more look at Katara, smiling as he realized that in the near future he would be asking for her to marry him, and decided to go lay down against Appa's tail. Soon, he would ask her to marry him, and he hoped dearly that she would say yes. But he knew there was only one way to find out. Finally getting tired, he laid his head against Appa's tail and curled up, smiling as he found himself excited to figure out when he would ask the love of his life to marry him.
The next morning, Katara was the first one to wake up, which had been a rarity over the years up until the last few months. Sokka was always the last to wake up, as usual, but it was Aang that usually was up before everyone else in the group. She had noticed that he had been sleeping in later than usual lately. Though she didn't know why this was, she was glad to see that Aang was taking the time to get some rest instead of getting up at the crack of dawn like he usually did. There was something very endearing about the way he slept. When he was asleep, he had such a peaceful look on his face that she wished he always had. She knew that his duties as the Avatar kept him from having that peaceful look often, but she was glad that at least he was truly at peace in his sleep.
Deciding not to wake him, even if she wouldn't mind getting a good morning kiss from him, she instead got up and decided to start making breakfast. Although Sokka could easily sleep until noon, they would need to get moving soon if they wanted to get to Kyoshi Island before sundown, and she knew her brother well enough to know that the best way to wake him up would be food.
Grabbing some spark rocks from Appa's saddle since she didn't want to wake Aang up, even if his firebending would be far easier to make a fire, she made her way over and made a makeshift fire pit. Before long, she had some meat cooking on a fire, and judging by how good it smelled, it wouldn't be long before Sokka would be up.
She was right, as just as the meat was almost fully cooked, Sokka sat up suddenly and yawned, sniffing around until his eyes landed on what his nose had picked up on. Feeling his stomach voice its hunger, he shook himself awake and got up, walking quickly over to the makeshift fire and sitting down before looking at his sister. "That smells really good. Can we eat yet?"
Scoffing, Katara rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied. "Well, good morning to you, too. Just give it another few minutes, Sokka. Uncooked meat isn't going to do you any favors."
Though he wasn't happy about this, as his stomach had made it clear that it wanted food now, he knew that she was right and decided not to think about it. Turning his attention elsewhere, he looked over to Appa and noticed that both he and Aang were still asleep. Raising a brow, he looked back to Katara and asked. "Aang's still sleeping? He's almost always up before me."
"Well, if food didn't wake you up, I'm sure he would be," Katara answered him with a smirk, but Sokka just rolled his eyes and looked back at Aang.
"He's been sleeping in a lot, lately," he continued as he decided to ignore her comment. "Are you sure everything's okay with him?"
Becoming surprised at the concern in her brother's voice, even if she knew that Aang was Sokka's best friend and likely even thought of him as a brother, she smiled at her brother before shrugging and turning the meat. "I'm sure he's fine. He's not twelve anymore, Sokka," she reminded him. "He's sixteen. I'm sure he just likes sleeping in now that he's older."
"That's right," Sokka said with realization as he looked back at Aang, a smirk coming to his face as he looked back at his sister. "You know, Aang is technically a man in our tribe now."
Taking on a look of confusion, she looked at him like he had grown another head and finally replied. "Yeah? I've known that for a while now."
"So, he's technically old enough to ask you an important question," he continued, and this time Katara got what he was implying as her face flushed, taking on a small smile as she tried not to show her flushed face by focusing intently on the fire before them.
"Yes, he is," she muttered quietly, her embarrassment that she had blushed so heavily so easily quite evident at the mention of it. Sokka decided not to continue teasing her, even if he wouldn't mind seeing her get more embarrassed at how much one simple statement had caused her to blush as she had. He knew that she had wanted to marry Aang for some time now, and some time ago Aang had talked about the topic of proposing to Katara to him. Though he had known that he didn't technically need Sokka's blessing, he had still wanted to know that Sokka would approve of the two of them being married. Sokka had been touched that Aang cared so much that he wanted a blessing from him as well, and although he still got disgusted at the thought of any Oogie-worthy moments that his sister and his best friend had, he knew that Aang and Katara were perfect for each other. So, much to Aang's relief, Sokka had given him his blessing as well.
This had been long before Aang had talked to Hakoda, however, back when they were helping Zuko find his lost mother. Because of this, Sokka had little to no idea when exactly Aang was planning on proposing to Katara, but he wasn't stupid. Although Aang certainly slept in later than he used to when he was younger, lately Aang had been sleeping in almost as late as he had, so Sokka could only surmise that Aang had been working on something late at night while they had gone to sleep. He had his suspicions about what this could be, but unfortunately Toph was not around, so he could not ask her to use her special sight to confirm his suspicions.
At any rate, he knew that it was only a matter of time until Aang popped the question, and so until then he decided that he would have his fun in teasing them both. Though he knew that it wouldn't be too long until then, as he knew that the two loved each other too much to be able to keep such a thing a secret for too long.
Just as the meat was finished cooking, Aang finally seemed to wake up and looked around, seeing that Sokka and Katara were talking over the fire. He couldn't deny that the meat smelled good, but just the thought of eating meat made him lose his appetite, so he ignored the smell and got up. Momo swooped in and chittered a greeting to him as he landed on his shoulder, making him laugh as he pet him on the head. "Morning, Momo."
Making his way over to his friends, he sat down across from Katara and looked at them both. "Morning, guys."
"Goodmorning, Aang," Katara greeted him with a smile, leaning over the fire to give him a quick kiss on the lips, making him smile goofily as she pulled away. Sokka stuck his tongue out in disgust and rolled his eyes, but otherwise didn't comment. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a couple of moon peaches and gave them to him. "Here, have some breakfast."
Aang smiled and took them. "Thanks, Katara." Feeling his hunger grow as he looked at the moon peaches, he waited politely until Katara and Sokka had gotten their food distributed properly and dug in when they did. Momo chittered at Aang as he devoured a moon peach, who looked at him as Momo pointed at his belly. "Oh, right. Sorry, Momo." Taking the other moon peach, he sliced it in half with some air bending and gave the other half to Momo.
Appa groaned loudly, and Aang laughed as he stood up. "I know, buddy. Hold on." Going up to the saddle, Aang dug around for a few seconds before producing a watermelon. Jumping down, he tossed it to Appa who opened his mouth and ate it quickly, letting out a content noise as Aang laughed. "You're welcome, buddy," he told him as he pet his nose for a few moments before he sat back down at the fire.
"So, when are we heading out?" Sokka asked in between bites of his meat, clearly not letting something like table manners prevent him from asking what was on his mind.
"Soon," Katara promised him as she finished her meal and used a cloth to wipe her face clean before looking back at him. "I know you're excited to see Suki, but I think Aang and I should… take a little walk before we set out."
Sokka rolled his eyes as he heard this. He knew full well what that meant. Whenever Katara and Aang decided that they wanted some alone time to do what Sokka would complain about if they did it in front of him, they always addressed it under the guise of an everyday occurrence that if Sokka didn't know them well enough, he would be able to write it off as just them wanting to go for a walk. Unfortunately for him, he'd been traveling with them long enough to know that they wouldn't merely be going for a walk. It had started shortly after the end of the war when they had been helping with the Harmony Restoration Movement, but they no longer tried to run away from him. He understood that they wanted some alone time, so he had made a deal that as long as they didn't make it overtly obvious, they could sneak off and have their alone time without him attempting to track them down.
True to form, Aang perked up from hearing this, trying his best not to show his excitement from this as he looked at Katara with a smile. "I think that's a great idea." Katara grinned as the two looked at each other, and Sokka just sighed and shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead," he grimaced as he stood up and dusted the crumbs off of him. "While you guys are out… walking I'm going to get us ready to go. Don't take too long," he told them over his shoulder as he moved to go gather their things.
Rolling her eyes, Katara stood up and walked over to Aang and took his hand, helping him up and holding onto it as she led the way into the nearby woods. "Come on, Sweetie." Aang certainly wasn't going to argue, as he loved taking their… walks.
Leading the way, Katara made sure that she had put enough distance between them and her brother before finding a nice, quiet place for them to do what they had really come there to do. It didn't take long for the two lovers to find a suitable tree to lean up against, and before she even knew it, Aang had her pinned against the tree as he kissed her deeply. Letting out a sigh of contentment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back as she pulled him closer, his arms going around her waist as he did the same. Though she had to admit, she still quite liked it when he took charge, and made sure to reflect that in how she kissed him back.
After a little while of kissing, the two knew that they had been gone for a good time and, although they would love to keep doing what they were doing, they also knew that Sokka was antsy to get to Kyoshi. So, it was with great reluctance that they finally split apart, taking a second to catch their breaths as they leaned their foreheads against each other.
"Wow," Aang said a little breathlessly as he enjoyed having her close to him. "This was a really good walk."
Katara laughed breathlessly and nodded her agreement. "Yes, it was," she grinned, giving him another short kiss before Aang allowed her to move away from the tree and she took his hand. "Come on. I'm sure Sokka can't wait to get going."
"I'm sure," Aang chuckled as he squeezed her hand, reaching into his pocket and feeling the necklace he had just finished the night prior, making sure it was still there. "I know if you were at Kyoshi, I'd be eager to get there, too."
Smiling endearingly at him, she kissed his cheek, making him blush as she gave him a warm smile. "Me too," she told him as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Aang."
Feeling his heart expand with joy like it did every time he heard her say that to him, he let out a content sigh and replied. "I love you too, Katara." Suddenly, getting a mischievous idea in his head, he gently got her head off of his shoulder and turned to face her. Immediately she noticed the playful twinkle in his eye, and she knew that he was up to something. "I bet I can beat you back to the camp," he challenged, making her smirk as she looked him in the eye and, although she'd like to spend the time walking back being close to him, she knew that it would be a fun challenge before they were flying again. Besides, she loved how fun and spontaneous Aang could be.
Deciding to oblige his fun challenge, she asked with a smirk and a raised brow. "No bending?"
"No bending," he agreed with a smirk back. "Just running."
"You're on," she told him with a grin before taking off, making him blink in surprise for a moment before laughing and taking off after her.
"Hey, no fair!" he called out to her with a laugh as he tried to catch up. "You got a head start!"
"I'm racing against an airbender!" she called back with a mischievous grin before looking forward once again. "If I'm going to win, I need an advantage! Bending or not!"
Aang just laughed again and shook his head, a grin on his face as his eyes narrowed in determination to catch up to her. Pouring all of his strength into his legs, he used all of his non-bending power to catch up to her, and before long he had managed to do just that.
Looking over at her, he grinned and playfully taunted. "Still think you're going to win?"
She grinned back at him and replied. "We'll see." The two then once again focused on winning, but unfortunately for Katara, she simply didn't have the stamina and endurance that Aang did. Before long, Aang finally managed to get ahead of her as Katara's run began to slow. Though she very much wanted to win, she could tell that she was going to lose as Aang seemed to only be going faster.
Accepting that she was going to lose this competition, she looked at Aang and noticed that something appeared to be slipping out of his pocket. "Aang! Something's-" She tried to warn him, but the object fell out as Aang kept running and fell on the ground. Seeing this, Katara stopped and picked it up as she attempted to catch her breath, only for it to be stolen once more as she looked upon the necklace that he had made for her.
Aang, who had noticed that she was no longer racing, made his way back to her and saw that her mouth was hanging open as she looked at something in her hand. "Katara?" he asked with concern, seeing that she was frozen in shock as he made his way back to her. "What's wrong-" He stopped as he finally got a good look at what was in her hand, his heart hammering as he checked his pocket and knew with certainty that it was no longer there. This certainly was not how he had been planning to reveal the necklace to her, but he supposed it was bound to happen eventually. He had just hoped that he could have planned out how he was going to reveal it to her.
Katara's eyes were pouring with tears of joy as she smiled down at the necklace in her hands once she had gotten out of the shock, wiping them away but still unable to keep the tears from shedding as she looked back up to her love. "Aang, is this…?"
Letting out a sigh of disappointment that she would find out this way, he nodded and took a step closer to her, putting his hand on hers as he took the necklace from her and looked at her. "It is. I wasn't planning on doing it like this, or even today," he laughed a little as he realized that now was the time that he would propose to her. "But now that you know, I guess now's as good a time as ever." Getting down on one knee, he looked up at Katara to see that even more tears were flooding her lovely features as he smiled, being glad that despite the fact that this was not how he had been planning to do it, that it would still make a good story for their children. If she said yes, that is.
Taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, he looked back up at his love and smiled. "Katara, I've been in love with you since the day I met you. You mean… everything to me. If it weren't for you, I don't think I would have had the strength to face Ozai or to become the Avatar that I am today. You've given me a hope and love that I never thought I would have. And I've known for a long time that I don't want to spend a day without you." He paused and laughed a little. "This wasn't exactly how I was expecting to do this, but I shouldn't be surprised. I wasn't expecting to be the Avatar, I wasn't expecting to run away from the Southern Air Temple and get frozen for a hundred years, and I definitely wasn't expecting to get rescued by the most beautiful and amazing woman in the world."
Looking up at her and seeing the joyful tears running down her face, he smiled and presented the necklace to her. "Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, will you-"
"Yes! Yes! Of course I will, Aang!" she nearly squealed with joy as she crashed into him, making him smile widely and let out a deep sigh of relief as she held onto him tightly. He squeezed her back for a few moments before Katara broke from the hug and turned around while attempting to take off her necklace. Feeling his hand stopping her, she gave him a look of confusion when he decided to explain.
"I decided to make this one a little different," he answered her unasked question as he showed her the necklace more closely. "This one's longer than your mother's, that way you can wear both. I don't want you to have to sacrifice just so you can wear mine."
Feeling her heart bursting with joy as even more tears fell down her face that she would be marrying such a wonderful and thoughtful young man, she smiled warmly at him and nodded, allowing him to put it on, his pendant hanging just below her mother's. It was now official: They were getting married. Feeling joy at this thought, Katara threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently making his smile only grow as he kissed her back.
After a little while of kissing, the two finally ran out of breath and leaned their heads against each other, neither being able to keep the wide smiles off of their faces. "I love you so much, Aang," she whispered fervently to him, wanting to kiss him again, but also needing to get some oxygen back into her system before she allowed herself to do that again.
If it was possible, Aang's smile grew even more as he heard this, whispering back to her. "I love you too, Katara." Not being satisfied with being so close to him and not kissing him now that she had gotten a good amount of oxygen back, she kissed him once again, the two kissing each other hungrily as they showed each other just how much they loved each other.
Once the two had yet again run out of oxygen, they reluctantly split apart and re-leaned their foreheads against each other. After a few moments of blissful silence between the two as they enjoyed each other's presence, Aang smirked as he thought of something. "So, how do you think Sokka will take it?" he asked breathlessly.
Katara smirked as well as she remembered her brother. "He'll be surprised, I'm sure, but I don't think that he'll be that surprised. He probably knew that this was going to happen eventually."
Remembering back to when he had talked to Sokka about this very moment, he grinned and nodded his agreement. "Yeah, I think he did," he agreed quietly, the two sharing another long kiss before they finally broke apart and stood up. "It's a good thing Toph's not here right now, or we'd never hear the end of her teasing."
Laughing at this, Katara grinned at him and took his hand in hers. "Yeah, it's probably for the best. Though I'm sure she'll tease us plenty when we see her next."
"Oh, I'm sure," Aang laughed and couldn't stop a grin as he realized that they were really engaged. Finally, after years of dreaming of her agreeing to marry him, his dream had become a reality. They were going to get married. "Come on. I'm sure Sokka's been waiting long enough, and I'm sure he'll want to know what took us so long."
Katara grinned again as she heard this, giving him one more kiss as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, making him smile as he did the same. When they finally separated, they took each other's hand and began walking back, being filled with joy that they were now engaged to be married. Though they weren't looking forward to all of the teasing that was sure to come, the two were too happy to care about that right now. They were getting married soon, and that's what they both had wanted for some time now. And they couldn't wait to spend the rest of their lives with each other as husband and wife and to start their family. With joy and love in their hearts, they made their back to the camp to tell Sokka the good news, and looked forward to what the future would bring.