Sorry this took me a while to post. Busy with family lately.
Three months have passed since the Avatar left the fire nation palace. It had also been over a year since Aang was freed from the iceberg and met Katara and Sokka. It weighed heavily on his mind how far he has come since being freed from his frozen prison. The air bender was able to put a stop to the war after mastering all four elements, but his accomplishment could not do anything to ease the pain he was feeling in his chest.
Getting away from Katara was the only thing he could do to ease his pain and it did, but just barely. Aang still missed her a lot. Since he still missed her, the air bender kept thinking about her which defeated the purpose of why he left to begin with. The pain would linger heavily with her on his mind so Aang decided to keep himself as busy as he could be. Over the three months that he was gone, Aang helped out wherever he could. As the avatar he still had a duty to the world.
He still made sure to keep in contact with Sokka, Suki, and Toph so that they would not have to worry about him. They in fact made plans to meet up eventually at Kyoshi Island to hang out like old times, with the exception of Katara and Zuko. Aang felt bad about making his friends keep secrets from Katara but he knew he just wasn't ready to face her.
For now, Aang was on his way to Omashu. His only friend from the days before he was frozen, Bumi, had told him to come by whenever he felt like. With all that had been going on, the air bender felt that hanging out with his old friend like old times would be what he needed. Appa needed rest after flying for a while so Aang had him land at a nearby earth kingdom village.
"Thanks for the ride buddy. Get some rest while I go into the village and grab some food for us to eat", Aang said as he jumped off the bison's head. Momo jumped on to Appa's head and laid down to rest as well. Aang walked up to the village and looked up to the sign at the village entrance where it read 'Lu Rane Village'.
'Don't think I've been to this village before.', Aang thought to himself. As soon as he walked through, the air bender immediately felt eyes on him. He wasn't surprised, this happened wherever he went. He was used to people being in awe of him since he was the last air bender and Avatar, and now since he ended the war, everyone was in more awe of him. Aang waved and greeted everyone as he walked farther into the village. He happened to look to his right towards an alleyway where he saw a man backhand a teenage girl.
"I'm going to teach you some manners, you little skank!", the man said with his right arm raised up and poised to attack. Aang ran to them and caught the man's arm before he struck the girl.
"WHAT THE-", the man turned to see Aang.
"If your idea of teaching manners is by hurting someone then you're in no position to be teaching at all.", the air bender said. Before the man could say anything else, Aang blasted him away with his air bending. Aang turned to the girl to ask if she was okay and was taken back by her appearance. She looked similar to Katara with her dark skin and blue eyes. She had jet black hair, tied up in a ponytail. Her ears were pierced, and she had a silver nose ring on her right nostril. She wore a blue crop top with black pants. The girl looked to Aang with a look of disbelief.
"You're the avatar…", the girl said.
"Yeah that's me. My name is Aang, what's your name?", the air bender asked. The girl took a breath before she spoke.
"I'm Kano. Thanks for the save.", the girl said. 'That's a nice name', Aang thought to himself.
"It's no problem. What was that guy's problem?".
Kano scoffed, "that jerk was flirting with me and when I didn't reciprocate, he just got really mad. I didn't expect him to hit me though, so he caught me by surprise".
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay. He didn't hurt me too bad", she answered.
"Well I'm glad I was able to be of assistance. I should get going, I need to get some food for me and my friends.". Aang turned to walk away until he felt a hand grip his left arm.
"Wait, let me help you find your way around town. It's the least I can do for you.", Kano said.
"I don't want to be a bother.", Aang replied.
"You won't be a bother. I'd be happy to help the avatar."
"If you're sure I won't be a bother then I'll accept your help".
"Let's go then.", Kano said with a smile. She held on to Aang's left arm and led him out of the alley.
The two of them talked as they went around the village. The air bender was able to learn a lot about Kano. Her family was originally from the south pole and moved to the earth kingdom to for a better life. Once she turned fifteen six months ago, she started exploring the world with her friends and had been living in Lu Rane village for two months. Her friends were earth benders while she was a novice water bender.
'She's like Katara was when I met her. Maybe I can help her improve her water bending', the air bender thought to himself.
"If you want, I can teach you some water bending.", Aang suggested.
"Really?! I'd be honored if you could teach me.", Kano said elated. She had led him to a food stall that she frequented herself. The air bender picked out some fruits, vegetables, and hay for Appa. He paid the full price despite the merchant being willing to let him have the food for free but Aang insisted on paying.
"I won't be able to stick around for long so I'll teach you what I can.", the air bender said. Kano nearly tackled him to the ground when wrapped her arms around him. Unbeknownst to her, the air bender was blushing.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!", Kano couldn't help but be grateful. First, the avatar saves her in the alley and now he's going to help her become a better water bender. She just couldn't believe her luck. Finally, she let go of him when she realized how long she had been hugging him.
"Sorry about that.", she said. Aang just shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't worry about it.", Aang smiled, "Now that I got the food it's time to get back to my friends. Would you like to meet them?".
"I would love to meet them.". Kano had heard the stories about the avatar and his friends, so she was more than happy to meet them. They walked out of the village to where Appa and Momo were resting. The two mammals looked up to see their friend with a girl they had never seen before.
"Hey guys, I brought food and a new friend.", Aang said. Momo flew up to him and landed on his shoulders, sniffing for the food.
"Calm down buddy.", he grabbed the flying lemur and held him in front of Kano, "Kano, meet Momo. Momo meet Kano.".
"Awwww, he so adorable.", Kano said, petting his head. Momo grabbed her hand, sniffed it and started to lick, tickling Kano. Then Appa came over to them and grunted, Aang patted his nose.
"And this is my flying bison, Appa.", he said. Kano walked up to the bison and greeted him.
"It's nice to meet you Appa.", Kano said, patting his nose like Aang did. Appa in return stuck out his tongue and licked her. The water bender couldn't help but laugh.
"Well that's one way to greet somebody.", she said. Aang chuckled in response. He brought the hay to Appa and gave Momo some berries. The air bender then turned to his new friend.
"Would you like some stew?", he asked.
"As long as you don't mind.", Kano responded.
"I'd be happy to have dinner with you.", Aang said with a wide smile. Kano blushed in return, the avatar said he was happy to have dinner with her of all people. The two benders ate together and talked for a while. Kano wanted to ask Aang why he was traveling without his other friends that she heard of but thought it was better not to. She had only just met him and didn't want to pry into his personal life. Aang had suggested that they start water bending training in the morning and make use of the time he had before it was time to go to Omashu. Kano couldn't agree more seeing as she was excited.
Over the next three days Aang taught Kano most of what he had learned from Pakku and Katara. She had trouble getting the hang of the water whip and the octopus form but was able to master it thanks to his teachings. Kano's friends come over to watch them and get to know Aang as well. The girl's names were Sakshi and Suna. Sakshi was a tall, tan skinned girl with short brown hair. Suna had long red hair with pale skin and was the shortest of the three girls. The two of them were master earth benders and happen to be huge fans of Toph. They had asked Aang everything about his earth bending master, which he answered to the best of his abilities when he wasn't training Kano. It was Aang's last night before he and his mammal friends left for Omashu in the morning and so he decided to have one last dinner with his new water bending friend.
"Thanks again for the lessons.", Kano said as they both sat by a campfire, eating vegetable stew that Aang cooked up.
"It's no problem. It was a nice experience being a teacher instead of a student for once.", Aang responded.
"Are you sure that you can't stick around longer?", she asked.
"I would like to keep your training going but it's time for me to go and see Bumi. I haven't seen him since the war ended and I promised I would go see him to hang out like old times.".
"It must be great to still have one friend still around from the time before you froze."
"It is. I was happy to see him again after so long and was especially glad he was still the same old Bumi that I knew. Being old and king of Omashu didn't change him at all."
"That's good to hear. I will miss our training sessions though, I feel like there is still much for me to learn.", Kano said. Aang put his bowl of stew to a side and stood up.
"Don't worry, I got something for you to use to practice.", the air bender jumped over to Appa's saddle and took some scrolls out from his bag. He jumped back to where Kano was sitting and held out the scrolls for her to take.
"Just use these water bending scrolls to keep up with your training.", Aang said. Kano was hesitant.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to use these?"
"Of course. When you're done with them just give them back to me next time we see each other.", Aang assured. Kano stood up and took the scrolls from him.
"Thank you. It means a lot to me even after all you've already done for me."
"Don't mention it. I'm happy to help someone reach their full potential. You're going to be an amazing water bender.", Aang said with a smile.
"Do you really think so?", Kano blushed.
"I know you will be."
Kano jumped up at the air bender and wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight embrace. Aang returned the embrace and was glad she didn't manage to almost tackle him to the ground again like before. Kano then pulled her head back to look at him.
"That really means a lot to me Aang."
"Well I said it because it's true.", Aang replied, smiling. Without thinking, Kano closed her eyes and pressed her lips against him. Just like with June, the air bender was surprised at this until he remembered what the bounty hunter had said to him.
"There are plenty of other girls out there for you Avatar Aang, so I suggest you try not to be too hung up on her"
He didn't think too much about what she had said because he had still been in a daze at the moment and fainted. Now Aang was starting to understand what the bounty hunter had said to him.
'Maybe June was right…', Aang thought to himself. He pressed his lips towards Kano's and returned the kiss then closed his eyes. Remembering what June did to him, he pushed his tongue through Kano's lips and played with her tongue. The water bender was caught off guard by this but welcomed it with a moan and went along with it. The kiss had started to get passionate until an image of Katara popped up in Aang's mind. He opened his eyes and broke the kiss by backing away from Kano. The water bender hadn't moved and looked at Aang with confusion and worry.
"Are you okay?", she asked. Aang didn't respond as he was thinking to himself why he had kissed her back.
'Why did I do that? I know that June said that there are other girls for but that didn't mean I had to go around kissing other girls.', He thought back to when he met Kano and everything that had led up to now, 'Do I even like her like that? Is it because she reminds me of Katara? When I met Katara, she couldn't bend a straight line of water. It wasn't until she went with me to the north pole that she became a master. Even Kano was a novice when I met her and now look at how far she has come. She reminds me so much of Katara so maybe that's why I was so inclined to help her with water bending. The two of them are just so similar. Was I trying to replace Katara with Kano and didn't even realize it?'
After not getting an answer from him, Kano walked up and put her hand on Aang's shoulder, shaking him.
"Aang! What's wrong?", she asked. This time the air bender heard her and looked back at her.
"Nothing is wrong…I'm okay. We just shouldn't have done that.", Aang replied.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault, I kissed you without thinking.", Kano said, feeling dejected. She wanted to crawl into a hole. She felt that she should have known better than to kiss the Avatar of all people. 'After all he's already done for me and I just made it awkward now.', Kano thought to herself.
"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have kissed you back like that. I shouldn't be kissing anyone at all anyway."
"Why not?", Kano asked curiously. Aang wasn't sure if he should tell her everything. They hadn't known each other that long but he didn't know June that well either.
"I just…My mind just isn't in the right place as of now.", he responded.
"Is that also why you're traveling without the rest of your friends?", Kano didn't want to bring up his friends, but she couldn't help herself. She was too curious not to know.
"Yeah, I never really had time to myself since I've met my friends and since the war is over, I need it.", the air bender answered. That wasn't enough for Kano though.
"I can understand needing some alone time but how should that prevent you from kissing me or someone else?", Kano had a feeling there was more to why he was by himself.
"Well…I also just needed to be away from someone in particular", Aang responded, looking away from her.
'So he's avoiding one of his friends…but I still don't understand why he thinks he shouldn't kiss-…Oh.', Kano figured it out. Aang left because he had feelings for one of his friends and for some reason it didn't work out. Who could it have been though? She had heard the stories of the famous team Avatar and knew there was at least three girls in the team. A Kyoshi warrior, an earth bender, and a water bender. From what Kano had heard, the water bender and the avatar were especially close to each other. Maybe she was the one that Aang had feelings for.
"Are you avoiding your water bending friend? Her name was Katara, right?", she asked. Aang was at first surprised by the question but figured that people must have noticed how close he and Katara had been.
"Yeah, she's the one.", Aang looked at Kano with a sad smile, "I just needed to get away from her.".
"Is it because you love her?".
"Yes."
"Does she know?"
"Yeah, she knew. She chose someone else though.", he answered.
"Oh, sorry to hear that".
"Don't be. I should be the one that's sorry. I kissed you back even though I still love Katara. You reminded me of her, and I think that's why I kissed you back like that. A friend also told me that there were other girls out there for me and I shouldn't be so hung up on her. I was replacing her with you and that's not right. It wouldn't have been fair for you.", said Aang.
"Well if we're being honest, it's not like I wouldn't like being with you.", said Kano. Maybe she could help him get over Katara. Aang just shook his head and gave her a serious look.
"Kano ever since we met just days ago, you have only seen me as the Avatar. Whatever feelings you think you have for me is just admiration. Yes, I saved you from that creep and taught you as much as I could on water bending but you don't see me as Aang, just as the Avatar. There's more to me than just that.".
Kano wanted to argue with him, but she knew he was right. She had only known him for a few days, and she did admire him. Not just for saving her and giving her water bending lessons but because he was indeed the Avatar. What girl wouldn't want to be with the Avatar? Sure, he's famous but that didn't mean she really knew who he was at his core.
"So where does this leave us then?", Kano finally asked.
"We can still be friends Kano.", the air bender answered smiling. The water bender was grateful for that at least.
"I'd like that very much and I promise that I will do my best to just see you as Aang, not the Avatar."
"Thanks.".
"Can I still hug you at least? As friends of course!", Kano asked nervously. Aang just chuckled.
"Sure", he stepped forward to Kano and wrapped his arms around her and she did the same. Although she hugged him a lot tighter and was practically squeezing the air out of him.
"Kano…too tight.", Aang muttered.
"Oh sorry", Kano loosened her grip, "By the way, where did you learn to kiss like that? I wasn't expecting that at all.", she asked giggling. Aang's face reddened.
"The friend that told me not to be too hung up on Katara did that to me to help me get over her. I didn't even know that was a thing to do when you're kissing someone.", he admitted.
"You don't have to do that to every girl you kiss for the first time. Usually you have to be pretty far in a relationship to start doing that."
"Seriously?!", Aang was flabbergasted. Kano laughed at his reaction.
The rest of the night they continued talking until it was time to sleep.
Morning came and Aang was packing his things on to Appa's saddle when Kano came back to the camp with Sato and Suna. The three of them wanted to make sure to say goodbye to him before he left. The air bender jumped down after putting away the last of his luggage.
"It was nice to meet you all", he said.
"It was. Hopefully it won't be too long before we see each other again.", Kano replied. She was sad to see him go.
"I'm sure we'll see each other soon", Aang said. He then looked to both Sato and Suna, "I promise to talk to Toph about making you guys her new metal bending students."
The girls squealed with glee and thanked him profusely. Aang and Kano just laughed at how excited they were.
"I'll be sure to master the moves from the scrolls you gave me as soon as I can.", Kano said.
"Take your time Kano. I'm already a master water bender so I'm not in a rush to take them back. Just make sure to show me your water bending next time we meet.".
"I will", Kano replied. With that, they hugged one last time. Aang gave Sato and Suna a hug too before jumping onto Appa's head.
"We'll see each other soon", Aang assured them, "Alright Appa, YIP YIP!". The bison grunted and took off. The air bender looked back down at the girls and waved them goodbye. The girls waved back until they could no longer see them.
Momo jumped onto Aang's shoulder as they flew off towards Omashu.
"Alright you two. It's time to go see our good old friend Bumi".
That's the end of this chapter. If you liked it then please leave a review. Would like to hear what ya'll think. I'm going to work on Yandere Katara and hope to post that at the end of the week if not earlier.