While brainstorming for this chapter, I just started writing down everything and it ended up becoming a new chapter lol. Think of this as a small Christmas gift from me.
Squinting her eyes open, Katara's vision was blurred. Instantly Katara felt a rush of pain surging in her head. She sat up on her bed and rubbed her throbbing forehead. Not only was she dealing with a headache but also a wave a nausea. The last thing she could remember from the other night was being in the carriage with Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Zuko. Toph had the bright idea of swiping alcohol from the party and suggested to everyone that they drink. Katara had hesitated, mostly because they were all underage except Zuko. Due to the mounting peer pressure and not wanting to be called a party pooper, she found herself giving in. She remembered the bitter first taste she sipped.
'How could anyone enjoy drinking this?' She thought at the time. The more her and the others drank however, the less the bitter taste affected her.
Now here she was regretting that choice. She still could not remember what happened after the first couple of sips. She groggily threw the covers off her and stood up from her bed. Katara walked into the restroom and gazed at her reflection. Her hair was all over the place and her face looked haggard. She looked to be in a very rough shape. She certainly felt like it. She barely had any energy, so she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and fixed her hair into a ponytail. She would fix it later when she didn't feel like total ostrich-horse crap. For now, she was hungry and made her way towards the kitchen.
Walking into the kitchen she found Suki and Zuko already sitting at the dining table. They seemed to be feeling just as bad as she was. The fire bender was the first to notice her presence.
"Uncle is already brewing up some tea for us."
Katara nodded her head and took a seat next to Suki. The Kyoshi warrior had rested her head on the table and turned to look at Katara.
"Guess we're all feeling the consequences of our actions."
"No kidding", Katara snorted, "My head feels like it's splitting open."
"I can't even remember anything. My mind just feels…blank trying to remember", Zuko mumbled. Toph was the fourth to arrive to the table and had not even bothered to fix her hair and instead let it hang all over the place.
"Can't believe you all let me drink like that", she said as she pulled out a chair and plopped down. She now sat across from Katara and next to Zuko.
"Toph it was literally your idea!" Katara retorted.
"Not so loud please", Suki hissed.
"I don't care if it was my idea. I'm the youngest here and you all should at least know better than me", Toph replied.
Before Katara could argue further with her stubborn friend, Iroh strolled in with a tea kettle and five cups. He poured the four of them each a cup.
"From personal experience, I would recommend ginger tea as the ultimate hangover cure" Iroh said and passed them their drinks. They all sipped into their cups eagerly. The warm liquid already making them feel somewhat better.
"I'm sorry if we woke you up last night Iroh", Katara said. She felt guilty knowing that she and the others might have disturbed his sleep because of their shenanigans.
"Oh please", Zuko scoffed, "Uncle is a notoriously deep sleeper. I couldn't count how many times I've tried to wake him when we were still searching for the Avatar."
"Don't fret my dear. As my loving nephew puts it", Iroh narrowed his eyes at Zuko, "It takes more than loud teenagers to wake me up."
Finally, the last member of the drinking group made his way to the table. Sokka wearily sat down at the head chair. Everyone but Toph watched him with wide eyes. Katara, Suki, and Zuko started pointing and laughing at him while Iroh turned the other way as he tried to stifle his own laughter.
"What?" Sokka wondered and felt annoyed with them for laughing at him after he had just woken up.
"I wanna know why everyone is laughing at Snoozles too! Don't leave the blind girl out" Toph said.
"You might want to look at a mirror Sokka", Zuko suggested with a grin. The water tribe boy went to the restroom in the hallway while the fire bender whispered in Toph's ear. A smirk grew on Toph's face as she learned why they were all laughing at Sokka.
"WHAT THE?!" Sokka hollered from the restroom and ran back to the others, fuming. He pointed to the swirly mustache painting on his face and the "Idiot" symbol on your forehead. "Which one of you did this?!"
"Man, times like this I really wish I wasn't blind", Toph remarked.
"This isn't funny Toph" Sokka gritted his teeth.
"You're right", Katara giggled, "It's hilarious."
"I would have to say that it is a…unique look" Iroh chuckled.
"I demand to know who did this to me!" Sokka exclaimed. After their laughter subsided, no one raised their hand to take the blame.
"Pretty sure we were all too drunk to draw something that well", Zuko pointed out.
"All of us…except Twinkle Toes" Toph said. The realization dawned on all of them that it couldn't have been anyone else but the air bender. Everyone but Sokka had begun to laugh again.
"Why that little no good-", he muttered to himself as he walked back to the restroom to wash his face clean of the ink.
After the rest of them calmed down, Suki was the first to notice Aang's absence from the group. "Speaking of Aang, anyone know where he is? He's usually the first person awake."
"Aang actually left an hour before all of you woke up. He only said that he needed to take care of something. He wasn't really specific about it", Iroh explained.
"I wonder what he could possibly need to take care of so early in the morning", Katara inquired. For some unknown reason, she had a bad feeling.
"Actually, it's already noon", Zuko replied and sipped his tea.
Katara and Suki's eyes widened in shock.
"We slept that late?" Suki gasped.
"'Monkey's fist' really knocked us out there for a while" Toph said as she blew strands of her hair away from her face.
"Does anyone even remember what happened last night?" Katara asked.
"It's all slowly coming back to me right now. At least what I can remember hearing" Toph replied.
"Me too. I kind of remember pulling Aang's arm" Zuko recalled.
Suki squinted her eyes as she recollected the past few hours, "I think we were all fighting over Aang and pulling him apart. I hope we didn't hurt him."
Sokka had finally come back with his face clean of any black ink. Iroh passed him a cup of ginger tea as the water tribe boy took his seat again. "I think it's safe to assume Aang was the one that dropped us all off at our bedrooms. Considering he was the only that was sober and the only person that would unnecessarily draw on my face."
"You're lucky that's all that he did after that stunt you pulled last night at the party", Suki countered in Aang's defense. Sokka didn't respond and just seethed in silence.
"I think I was the first one Aang dropped off. I remember being carried by him" Toph changed the subject.
"It's coming back to me now. You and Sokka were the first to sleep. After he dropped you off, he came back and dragged Sokka to his room" Katara stated. She felt grateful for the ginger tea as it soothed her migraine.
"Now that I think about it, I don't think he bothered to put me into my bed. I woke up on the floor!" Sokka sneered. Now he knew why his back hurt so much.
"After that he helped me walk back to my room", Zuko went on and cringed when he remembered crying in Aang's arms, "I got emotional over Mai and Aang tried to make me feel better."
The others looked to him with sympathy. His last conversation with Mai did not go the way that he had hoped for and instilled a new fear into him. A fear of losing the girl he loved forever. Iroh placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder and squeezed. Zuko put his hand over his uncle's and assured him that he was fine. Content with that, Iroh strolled back to his tea shop.
"Aang dropped me off at my bedroom too. Nothing out of the ordinary happened", Suki said and took a long sip of her tea.
"I was the last one Aang carried to bed. After we came into my room, I had to throw up, so I ran to the latrine. He…he held my hair back for me" Katara said as the events of last night unfolded in her mind. She took a long sip of her tea until the final memory of the night popped up in her mind.
She remembered pulling Aang down to her bed and jumping on top of his body. Pinning him down to keep him from moving. The drunken words that flowed from her lips. Words that she could not take back.
"Aang…I love you."
Then with the last memory uncovered, and she remembered pressing her lips against his. She kissed him. She had drunkenly confessed her love to him and kissed him. To make matters worse, she had slept before he could say anything. The teacup she held in her hands dropped down to the table, spilling what was left of it. Suki and Sokka both jumped to her side.
"Katara what's wrong?" Sokka asked, worried.
Suki placed her hand on Katara's shoulder, "Is everything alright? Do you feel sick again?"
Katara only gazed down at the table with a thousand-yard stare. She placed her hands on her head. She had promised Suki that she wouldn't tell Aang of her feelings for him and now that promise was broken.
The Kyoshi warrior placed her finger under Katara's chin and turned her head towards her. "Tell us what's wrong."
"I-I-I'm…I'm sorry Suki", Katara lamented.
"What for?" Suki asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Last night…I didn't hold back. I told him…I told Aang I love him…a-and I kissed him."
Suki along with Sokka, Zuko, and Toph gasped.
"What did Aang say?" Sokka asked.
Katara turned to her brother, "I fell asleep before he could say anything."
For a moment, no one spoke a word. The news hit them all like a ton of bricks. Suki and Toph wondered how Aang was faring with knowing how Katara felt for him since her break up with Zuko. Sokka was personally ecstatic but held his composure after seeing his sister's reaction and was worried about how his girlfriend would react. They all knew it was only a matter of time before Aang would have to find out, but they had not expected it to be this soon.
Katara turned back to Suki. "Please believe me Suki. I didn't mean to tell him…I was drunk, and it all just came out!"
Suki knew that Katara meant what she was saying. The water bender was not the type to break a promise. The blame could only be pointed at the darn "Monkey's Fist" and Suki knew that. At this moment, she could only think of the air bender.
"I believe you Katara", she replied, "I just can't help but wonder how Aang is feeling."
"Don't worry sis, the hard part is finally over. Now that Aang knows that you're in love with him, you two can finally be together", Sokka assured.
"Jeez Snoozles are you really that dense?" Toph said and crossed her arms, "Did you already forget about the other water bender in Aang's life? The one whose name also starts with a K."
"Toph is right", Zuko asserted, "Be that as it may, you can't expect Aang to drop Kano to the side for Katara."
"Listen you two, I like Kano just as much as you guys. She's awesome and I'm always happy to make new friends from the southern water tribe, but let's be real…Aang and Katara are meant to be" Sokka replied.
"Aang was right to draw "Idiot" on your forehead", Suki responded, "We don't even know how he's feeling right now and you're just ready to throw him and Katara together like nothing happened."
"For spirit's sake Suki! You know how Aang feels about my sister. He loves her and she loves him. What more do you need from him?"
Katara abruptly stood up from her chair and looked to her brother with a shocked expression. Aang loved her? And her brother already knew as well as Suki and Toph.
"You knew how Aang felt about me?"
Sokka, realizing his blunder, instantly covered his mouth but it was already too late. Katara looked to Suki and Toph.
"You all knew this whole time?"
Toph and Suki both said nothing and avoided her gaze. In Toph's case, she was just avoiding the water bender's direction. Their hesitation had only managed to further upset Katara.
"You all knew this whole time and made me watch Aang practically throw himself into another girl's arm. And for what?!" Katara spat. Finally, Suki looked back at her with a saddened expression.
"It's not that simple Katara"
She didn't want to hear anymore from anyone. For now there was just one thing on Katara's mind.
"I'm going to look for Aang", Katara rushed back to her room. Her brother wasted no time following her.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Katara, but it wasn't something for all of us to tell you."
"I don't want to hear it Sokka", Katara replied as she rummaged through her closet. If she was going to go out and find Aang then she would need to change out of her night clothes.
"We don't even know where Aang went and Ba Sing Se is huge. We wouldn't even know where to start looking for him."
Katara was not deterred. She already had an idea on how to find the air bender.
"There is someone here who would know where to find him. He's the only one of us all that knows Aang the best."
Sokka immediately knew who she meant in particular.
Appa.
In the Regal Bear Suites, a young woman sat in front of her desk mirror. Tawny eyes reflected as she combed her long raven black hair. She was staying in Ba Sing Se with her friend who was out with other friends. While the young woman loved her friend, she rather liked having the hotel room to herself.
She was content with herself. It was better than staying in the fire nation. At least in her opinion. Her home would only constantly remind her of her first and only love.
She had reconnected with him the day before after what felt like ages. It was a rather cathartic meeting for the both of them. The two of them had said a lot to each other, but there was still so much distance between them. Since their last interaction, he had weighed heavily on her mind.
During her deep contemplation, a knock came at her room door. After one last pull, she placed her comb on the desk and walked up to the door. She tightened her robe as she peeked through the small glass hole. At the other side of the door stood a young man dressed in orange and yellow robes. The blue arrow on his head was hard to miss.
She had not expected his company but would welcome him anyway. She unlocked her door and twisted the knob. The door opening to reveal Aang, who looked at her with a serious expression.
"Hello Aang", she greeted him with a warm smile, "what can I do for you?"
"We need to talk Mai."
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It isn't as long as most of the other chapters but I figured that this would be enough for chapter 23. Merry Christmas!