Sorry I kept you all waiting for some time. I didn't get a low of reviews on the last chapter and that kind of dampened my spirits plus I've been busy with other stuff going on in my life. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!
In Katara's honest opinion, Sokka and Suki's description of Kano from the night before did not do her any justice. She didn't have a decent look at Kano because it was dark and only went by what her brother and friend said when they glimpsed at Aang's latest blind date. Now that Katara was seeing Kano in bright daylight, she had to admit that Kano was quite beautiful. Finally, Katara shook out of her awe of the girl and shook her hand.
"It's…nice to meet you Kano", Katara greeted and looked to the other two girls, "and you two are?"
"I'm Sato", said the girl with short brown hair.
"And I'm Suna", said the red headed girl.
"Aang told us about you girls" Katara told them.
"Probably talked more about Kano than Sato and I", Suna smirked and nudged her friend. Kano's face turned red at what her friend was implying. Sato giggled at her reaction.
"Stop it you guys", Kano whined. Katara watched as Sato and Suna teased Kano a little longer and contemplated. 'No wonder Aang sounded so smitten with her. This girl is gorgeous and I'm…I'm just me.'
She then remembered that she had a job to do, "What would you girls like to order?"
"Just chai for all three of us. We haven't had that in a while during our travels." Sato answered.
Katara nodded her head and wrote it down on her notebook, "Will that be all?"
"Yes"
"Actually, one more thing…," Kano spoke up, "Is Aang here?"
"Aang was called to the royal palace to sign some forms. It's been a while since I've seen him so it is likely taking him a lot of time", Katara replied.
"Oh okay", Kano's shoulders slumped.
"Miss him?" Suna teased again.
"Oh shut up! I just wanted to ask him what I should wear for the celebration at the royal palace. I want to look my best if I'm going as his date." Kano retorted. Katara's eyes went wide.
'He asked her to be his date for the celebration?! When was he going to mention that to the rest of us?' Katara already knew that Aang and Kano knew each other before their blind date the other night, but she didn't expect Aang to ask her to be his date. 'He must really like her…'
"Excuse me while I go and take your order to Iroh", Katara said before turning around and heading towards the kitchen. The curves of her lips slowly went down as she tore out the paper from her notebook and passed it to Iroh.
"You okay?" Suki walked up to her.
"It's her…" Katara muttered. Suki turned towards the table and squinted her eyes.
"Is that Aang's date from last night?" Suki asked.
"Kano. He asked her to be his date for the celebration at the royal palace."
"Oh wow, a second date already. That's another first for him." Suki turned back to Katara and noticed her sad expression again. "Oh…"
Suki attempted words of encouragement to help her friend feel better until Aang stepped into the tea shop. The air bender walked slowly with his shoulders slumped while clenching and unclenching his fist. Katara was delighted to see him and was going to call out to him but was beat to it.
"Aang!"
He turned to his right and saw Kano waving to him. He smiled and hurriedly walked over to her and the girls. Katara grimaced at how happy Aang was to see Kano. His mood shifting entirely when he laid his eyes on her. The three girls each gave him a hug. Sato and Suna commenting on how long it has been since they had seen the air bender.
"You sure look worn out", Kano remarked after examining Aang's face, "we were told that you were signing some papers at the royal palace."
"There were a lot of papers to sign my name on", Aang sighed, "a group of nobles happened to be there as well and decided that they just had to talk to me for hours. It was exhausting."
"Awww poor baby", Kano pressed her left hand on his cheek, "Did those stuffy old men tire you out?"
Aang's face went flush while Sato and Suna smirked at each other, amused at their friend's interaction with the Avatar. Katara clenched her plate with the three cups of chai. Envy flowed through her as she watched Kano put her hands on Aang.
"Um Katara"
She turned to Suki who pointed to the cups of chai on her plate. Katara looked down and saw her fresh cups of tea were now frozen. "Oh no!", she turned around to the window. Luckily Iroh was there with three new cups of chai.
"Good thing I made more than necessary. Try not to freeze these too my dear", Iroh chuckled as he took the frozen cups back.
"I'm so sorry Iroh"
"Everyone makes mistakes. Do not fret so much over it", Iroh replied.
"I'll try not to", Katara replied before turning around and heading back towards Kano's table. Once she reached the table, the water bender placed each cup in front of the girls. "Three fresh chai! Are you sure you wouldn't like anything else to add with the tea?"
"We're fine" Kano replied, "Thank you Katara"
"You're welcome", Katara glanced at Aang, "Are you okay? I can't imagine signing a lot of papers and talking to nobles being any fun for you."
"I'm fine. Although, I nearly fell asleep standing with the nobles blabbering away", Aang chuckled.
"Maybe you should get some rest" Kano suggested, pulling her hand back from his cheek.
Aang shook his head and smiled, "Don't worry I'll be fine. I still want to introduce Toph to Sato and Suna. She is very…eager to teach her new students"
"He isn't wrong", an uncharacteristically sweet voice said. Sato and Suna squealed in delight when they saw Toph walking up to their table. "I'll be done working in an hour, so I'll be ready to start teaching my lovely new students"
Aang, put off by the tone of Toph's voice, glanced towards Katara. The water bender simply smiled and rolled her eyes.
After Aang finished catching up with the other girls, Toph had informed them that she had finished up and would change into her usual clothes. The four of them stood outside waiting on her until she arrived. Sato and Suna ran over to Toph as finally made it to them.
"We're so excited to learn from you!" Sato said, excited.
"We're ready!" Suna piped up, feeling just as excited.
Toph placed her hands on her hips and grinned, "I'll be the judge of that", once the grin was gone, "BACKS STRAIGHT!"
The girls stiffened from Toph's unexpected yelling. From behind her, Toph bent a metal wire towards Sato and Suna and wrapped them together. She pulled at the wire, bring them towards herself.
"Congratulations lily livers", Toph cackled, "Welcome to Toph Beifong's Metal bending academy! I expect excellency from my students, so you two better be ready for what's coming."
"Uhhhh", Suna tried to think of something to say.
"Is the wire necessary?" Sato asked.
"NO MORE QUESTIONS!" Toph walked towards the back of the tea shop where the training grounds were and dragged the girls with her. The girls cried out to Aang, fearing what Toph was going to put them through.
"Aang help us!" Suna exclaimed.
"We are so not ready!" Sato yelled out.
Their cries for help did nothing for Aang as he just gave them a sympathetic smile and waved them off, "Good luck you two!"
"AAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNGG! KANOOOOOOOOOO" the earth benders called out until they were gone. Toph's roaring laughter could be heard from where Aang and Kano stood.
"Um, will they be okay?" Kano questioned, worried for her friends.
"Oh they'll be fine", Aang assured with crossed arms, "How good is your healing?"
"Decent at most. I can't really cure major injuries", Kano answered.
"That should be enough for them. Speaking from experience…Sato and Suna will be feeling pretty sore when Toph is done with them today."
"Is it that bad?"
Aang recalled all of his training under Toph's tutelage. He was thankful for Toph and loved her like a sister, but training under her tutelage was quite traumatizing in the beginning. Sometimes he would need help just moving after training with his earth bending master. Luckily, Katara was there to heal his sore muscles and helped him move.
"Just be ready to heal some sore muscles and maybe help them walk back into your hotel room." Aang advised her.
"Well okay then", Kano replied and then remembered what she wanted to speak with him about, "By the way Aang since I'm going with you for the party tomorrow, I wanted to ask what I should wear. As your date, I want to look my best."
"Oh well you don't need to worry about wearing any too fancy", Aang smiled softly.
"Great! If you're not too busy then would you like to go dress shopping with me? I'd love to have your company since Sato and Suna will be busy with Toph"
Aang still felt fatigue from his trip at the royal palace but didn't see the harm in spending time with Kano once more. "I'd be happy to join you. Let me just tell my friends so they know."
She agreed and decided to stay outside while Aang went back into the tea shop. He spotted Suki and immediately walked up to her.
"Hey Suki"
The Kyoshi warrior turned around and faced Aang with a smile, "what's up Aang?"
"I'm going shopping with Kano and wanted to let you or anyone else know just in case."
"Eager to spend time with your new girlfriend?" Suki smirked.
"S-she isn't my girlfriend", Aang blushed.
"Bet you wouldn't mind if she was though", Suki giggled. Aang turned around and walked out of the entrance with steam coming out of his ears.
"Bye Suki!"
"Have fun!"
After Aang left the building, Suki's smile fell. She remembered her last conversation with Sokka regarding Aang and Katara. Her mind raced, thinking of what would happen if Aang became closer to Kano while Katara stood in the side lines. While Katara agreed that she would not confess her feelings to the air bender just yet, it would only be a matter of time until she did. Suki wondered how Aang would handle the news after the emotional turmoil he had gone through. Would he accept Katara's feelings or not? If things worked out and Aang accepted Katara's love for him then it was possible that everything would be great. But what if he didn't accept it then what? It was uncertain what would happen especially since Kano came back into his life.
Suki shook her head and sighed. No matter what happened next, all she knew was that she was going to be there for both Aang and Katara.
"Has anyone seen Aang?" Katara wondered after finishing her shift at the Jasmine Dragon. She walked to the living room where Sokka and Suki sat cuddling together on the couch. Toph was still in the middle of training her new students. Her yelling could still be heard from inside the house.
"He's out shopping with Kano", Suki answered.
"Oh"
"You okay?" Sokka asked.
"It's nothing really, I just wanted to see if he would want to do some water bending practice with me", Katara replied. Just then the sounds of knocking hit the front door. Katara walked up and opened to find someone she didn't expect to see.
"Gran-Gran!"
Kanna stepped in and wrapped her arms around her granddaughter, "It's so good to see you my dear."
"I can't believe you're here Gran-Gran!" Sokka exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around his sister and grandmother.
"Well of course I would come for my beautiful grandchildren." Kanna put an arm around him.
"She says that, but I pretty much had to drag her with me", a male voice came up from behind Kanna.
"I am an old woman son. I don't like moving more than my body needs to." Kanna retorted. The water tribe siblings looked up to see their father.
"Dad!" The two ran over to him and engulfed him in a hug.
"I have missed you two so much", Hakoda said. The siblings pulled their father and grandmother into the house. Suki immediately came by Sokka's side and bowed her head towards Kanna.
"Gran-Gran, this is my girlfriend Suki", Sokka introduced her.
"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am. Sokka has told me so much about you", Suki said as she rose her head. Kanna smiled and placed a hand on the Kyoshi warrior's cheek.
"My my you are quite the beauty. No wonder Sokka tells me so much about you in his letters."
Suki blushed, "Thank you"
"I've heard good things about you from Hakoda as well my dear. Sokka is lucky to you have you by his side…very lucky indeed."
"I know I agree" Hakoda chuckled. They all sat down in the living room area. Since they were invited to the celebration at the royal palace, Hakoda and Kanna were staying at a royal hotel that was mainly used for guests of the Ba Sing Se royal family. The water tribe chief informed them of what had been going on back in the South Pole and how happy the men were to be reunited with their families after being gone for so long. Kanna herself had a question that she wanted to ask her granddaughter since she agreed to leave the village for Ba Sing Se.
"Katara my dear, there has been something on my mind for a while now." Kanna put her hand on Katara's.
"What is it Gran-Gran?" Katara asked as she gave her grandmother's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Your intimate relationship with that fire lord Zuko…."
Meanwhile,
"ACHOO!"
"Agni bless you, my lord"
"Thank you Captain Ryu. Something must be in the air" Zuko responded and wiped his nose with a tissue. He, along with his guards and advisors, were sailing on the royal ship to Ba Sing Se. They were close enough to arrive within the earth kingdom ports the next day.
"Or maybe someone is talking about you my lord" Ryu suggested.
'I hope that it's Mai…', Zuko thought to himself with a small smile on his face.
Back at Ba Sing Se,
Katara didn't expect that from her grandmother and neither did Sokka or Suki, who looked on with wide eyes. Hakoda pretty much expected it since his mother made it clear to him that she wanted to know about the relationship between her granddaughter and the young fire lord. He himself was quite surprised about it when he was informed about it from a letter Sokka had sent them.
"I was surprised when your father told you were in a romantic relationship with the same boy who threw me around like a stick doll and terrorized our village looking for the avatar" Kanna said. Her blunt words made the teenagers in the room wince.
"W-w-well…I—..um", Katara stuttered. She wasn't sure what answer she could give her grandmother that would be satisfactory.
"I told her that Zuko changed for the better, but she wanted to hear from you since you made the decision to be with him", Hakoda spoke up. Before Katara could formulate a response, Sokka piped up.
"Katara and Zuko broke up actually!"
Both Kanna and Hakoda's eyes widened in surprise. Without thinking, the mother and son let out a long sigh of relief.
"W-were you two ashamed of me for being with Zuko?" Katara whimpered, tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She loved her father and gran-gran so much and hated the idea of them being ashamed of her.
"No sweetie! We could never be ashamed of you", Hakoda waved his hand, "We were just…worried for you."
"What for? Zuko would never hurt me" Katara responded.
"It was more of how the people in our village would think of you that we were worried about. The war is over, but the terror of the fire nation is still fresh in the minds of many in the South Pole", Kanna confirmed.
"If your relationship eventually led to marriage then you would have our support, but that is likely not going to be the case now" Hakoda went on.
"It sure isn't", Katara wiped her eyes, "To be honest, Zuko realized we weren't right for one another. We wanted different things that the other couldn't provide and so we ended it."
"I will admit that I had some…concerns about you and him", Kanna confessed, "From what I remember, you were so drawn to Aang that I suspected your friendship with him would blossom to something more."
Sokka snorted, "you and everyone else." Suki pushed her elbow against his side and shushed him.
"Speaking of Aang, where is he? I was told he was here as well" Hakoda wondered. With seemingly perfect timing, Aang opened the front door and walked with Kano behind as they both laughed over a joke she had told him.
"Man, this kid has impeccable timing", Sokka remarked. Aang turned away from Kano and looked at the others.
"Chief Hakoda, it's good to see you again", Aang smiled softly and shook Hakoda's hand. Before he could greet Kanna, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into her arms. The gesture surprised him, but Aang welcomed it and returned the hug. Kanna pulled back with him still in her arms.
"I will never forget what you did for my village when you allowed the fire nation to take you away."
"It was kind of my fault for leading them to your village in the first place", Aang shrugged.
"That is of no matter to me" Kanna shook her head and let go of him. She looked away from him and glanced at the girl who had arrived with him. Kanna's eyes widened and walked up to Kano.
"You…are you Nia's child?"
Kano was surprised at the question and responded with her own, "You know my mother?"
"Of course! Her mother was a dear friend of mine. I've practically watched Nia grow up in our village" Kanna softly smiled as she reminisced.
"Your mother was like a sister to me growing up. We would always drive our moms wild with our antics", Hakoda spoke up, "You look exactly like her when she was your age. Well minus the piercings and all."
As they talked, Suki came in between Sokka and Katara. "Spirits, what are the chances that Aang meets someone that has familial ties with your family", she whispered in their ears.
"This kid meets a lot of people when we're not around", Sokka replied.
"It's definitely a crazy coincidence", Katara muttered. Sokka and Suki listened on the main conversation while Katara watched Aang, who was just smiling and listening in on the conversation as well. She begun comparing herself to Kano in her mind. 'Can I even compete with her?'
"My parents weren't exactly fans of my piercings at first but luckily they got over it", Kano giggled.
"I remember how sad I was to see your mother leave the South Pole shortly after she got married. How are your parents dear?" Kanna asked.
"They're fine. They are staying in Yu Dao where I grew up" Kano answered, "Now that I think about it, my mother did tell me about her childhood in the South Pole. Now that the war is over, my parents are thinking of coming back to visit. They miss the village a lot."
"That's great news!" Hakoda glanced at his mother with a grin, "Who knew we would reconnect with Nia's daughter like this?"
"Benefits of knowing Aang", Kano remarked and smiled towards Aang who was blushing and rubbed the back of his neck.
"No kidding", Sokka responded, "I can't help but imagine how different our lives could have been like if your family stayed in the South Pole. It would have been nice to have someone else around our age, right Katara?"
Katara shook her head and registered her brother's words. "Oh yeah…it definitely would have been nice to have someone else around my age other than my annoying brother."
"Hey!"
They all laughed at Sokka's response. They all sat down once again in the living room and caught up one another on what happened. Aang told Hakoda and Kanna how he had met Kano in Lu Rane village. Eventually it was time for Kanna and Hakoda to head back to the royal hotel. Before they left, Kanna requested to speak with Katara in private so the two went to her room. After making herself comfortable on her granddaughter's bed, Kanna started their private conversation.
"So how long have you been in love with Aang?", Kanna asked.
"How did yo—", Katara stopped herself and sighed. Leave it to her gran-gran to figure things like this out.
"If it makes you feel better, your father could never hide anything from me either", Kanna grinned. It did make Katara feel a little better hearing that.
"It's just…I loved him before I even realized it. I-It happened over time, and I didn't even realize it until it was too late."
"I'm assuming it's because of your relationship with Zuko" Kanna said.
Katara nodded her head and pressed her fingers against her necklace, "Before I confronted mom's killer and forgave Zuko, I had already known about Aang's feelings for me. Aang had even kissed me before we attempted to invade the fire nation."
"You just weren't sure of your own feelings for him", Kanna responded.
"Thinking back to it, I was pretty scared. Scared that my feelings for him didn't match his for me and instead of confronting it…I just avoided it and jumped to someone else. That someone being Zuko. Honestly the reason I attached myself to Zuko of all people was because he was the only other guy around who I wasn't related to. Maybe if Haru, he's an earth bender and the same age as me, was with us then I could have latched myself on to him."
"You had to know that you would hurt Aang by doing so"
"I did know…and I still went behind his back to be with Zuko. I told him I was confused and that was only half-true. I really was confused about my feelings for him, but I was already secretly with Zuko", Katara lamented as her eyes began glimmering with tears, "I n-never wanted to hurt Aang, but I did. I-I-I broke his heart in the worst way possible! I can never forgive myself for what I did to him."
"Come here dear", Kanna held out her frail arms out. Katara dove in without hesitation and sobbed on her gran-gran's shoulder. Her body trembled in Kanna's arms.
"I was s-s-oo blind that I couldn't see it. It was only after I lost him…did I realize how I felt about him. Z-zuko himself knew it before I did" Katara sniffled.
"Does Aang know how you feel?" Kanna soothed her hand down Katara's back.
Katara shook her head, "Suki said that it was too soon to tell him. He's been dealing with some issues lately."
"Hmm…"
Katara pulled her head from Kanna's shoulders and wiped her eyes. "Aang told me that he didn't love me anymore…Zuko suggested that Aang could have been lying and a part of me thinks so too…but there is a chance he was telling me the truth. Especially now that he's reconnected with Kano"
"The way that Kano looks at Aang is similar to how you look at him. They do seem awfully close with one another."
"A lot closer than I would like", Katara sighed indignantly, "It isn't hard to see why Aang has taken such a liking to her. She's beautiful."
"I agree, but…", Kanna cupped Katara's cheeks, "You are just as beautiful."
"You don't need to say that to make me feel better Gran-Gran", Katara groaned.
"I'm saying it because it is the truth. Do you remember what I told you and Sokka before you left the village?"
Katara did remember and nodded, "That our destinies are intertwined with Aang's."
"Exactly. I had a feeling back then that your bond with Aang would be a special one and I was right. The love you share is real. As long as you set your heart into it then everything will work out."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. True love always finds a way."
"I'm really glad you're here Gran-Gran", Katara smiled and hugged her grandmother once more.
"I am glad as well. It has been too long my child."
After their private conversation, Kanna and Hakoda left for their hotel room to rest. An hour later Toph came back inside the house. Sato and Suna's first day of metal bending training was officially over. Aang and Kano found them both laid out on the ground, groaning in pain. Kano did what she could to soothe the pain her friends were feeling. Eventually Sato got up, but Suna still needed help moving.
Katara watched as both Kano and Sato carried Suna back to their hotel. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the earth bending girls. They had come to Toph to learn how to metal bend and were paying an unexpected painful price.. Katara stood beside Aang as he waved the girls goodbye.
"Did seeing the girls writhing in pain like that bring back any fond memories?" Katara teased.
"It definitely did", Aang chuckled, "between you and me, I'm glad I don't have anything else to learn from Toph."
"I bet you are", Katara giggled, "Toph must have been the strictest out of all your bending masters."
"Her and Zuko are a tie to be honest. Zuko sometimes had me wishing Iroh was my fire bending master instead."
"And how do I rank as your master?" Katara asked.
"You're my favorite master Katara", Aang grinned at her and headed back to the house. Luckily for Katara, he didn't see how much his words made her blush. She wondered if there was more meaning to what he said.
'Best not to overthink it', Katara thought to herself. The wind started to pick up and the breeze was chilling. She looked to where the sun was beginning to set and realized that the day was almost at an end. Feeling cold, Katara headed back inside the house.
If you guys like this chapter then be sure to leave a review. I'll get on to chapter 19 as soon as I can! Have a good weekend!