CHAPTER 10: A stranger's dance

"In the eyes of a stranger, you might find yourself."

After Katara had shared details of what had happened to Aang, the stranger had sat down next to him by the pond and taken hold of his hand.

This had made Katara feel a bit annoyed.

Why did she need to hold his hand?

And what was that awful smell that came off of her? It was as if she was wearing a strange heavy perfume that tickled Katara's nostrils in a very unpleasant way. Like dirt and herbs that made her nauseous.

"He IS an Air Nomad!" the girl had said in what sounded like an affirmation to herself, causing Katara to roll her eyes at her. Hopefully, no one had noticed.

As she watched the strange girl sitting there with Aang's hand in hers, Katara finally let her gaze inspect her a bit more.

She had never seen anyone that looked like her.

Her black hair shimmered in the sunlight that filtered through the tree that towered over them, and she wore very unusual and exotic clothes that barely covered her body. If she bent just a bit more over Aang, Katara was sure that they would all be able to see her breasts.

Her skin was an odd caramel color, and she wore thin tattoos of eccentric patterns over her chest, shoulders and the parts of her back that they were able to see. She also had all sorts of necklaces around her neck with different stones and symbols that Katara did not recognize from anywhere.

She wondered where Toph and Zuko had picked her up. And why.

As the strange girl called Nii closed her eyes and waved a hand over Aang's chest in a peculiar movement, Katara sucked in a sharp breath as if she had been holding her breath for a while now without her noticing.

It was probably because of this girl's disgusting smell.

Katara closed her eyes too.

She did not know why she felt angry with her.

She bit the inside of her lip, before she opened her eyes to look over at Zuko. He was eyeing the girl with this weird and curious expression on his face, and she noticed the same look on her brother's face. It made her uncomfortable.

She fidgeted a little in her seat.

"Um, you guys…" Nii breathed as she opened her eyes to look around at them. "Clearly, this is a very dear friend to all of you and I know that this must be super confusing and emotional for you, but… I'm not quite used to working with someone like him, and all of your emotions, breathing and fidgeting… It's kind of disturbing me a little. Would it be okay if we just moved a bit away, so I can focus better?"

Another wave of anger coiled up like a snake from the base of Katara's spine and spread like a wildfire into her stomach and chest. She tightened her knuckles absentmindedly.

"I don't trust you enough to let you just go off with him without us," she spat without thinking it through, causing Nii to clasp her lips together in a straight line and pull her hand away from Aang's chest.

Katara felt a heat quickly spread over her face, and she let her eyes fall down to Aang again, trying to hide her blushing cheeks behind her hair loops. She did not dare to look at Zuko but she felt his eyes on her back.

"Uh, heh, Katara?" Sokka tried in a strained tone that revealed a hint of nervousness. "Maybe we should give her a chance? After all, she did come all the way up here to help us. To help Aang."

"Hm," Katara heard herself say, but she kept her eyes on Aang's face in her lap, while her mind raced.

What if this girl was not to be trusted? What if she wanted to hurt him? What had Toph and Zuko really told her to make her come? What if she could not help him? What if she knew that he was the Avatar and had some evil plan with him? What if she did some weird voodoo magic on him? What if…

"You can come with me, if you'd like?" she heard Nii say, causing Katara to lift her eyes up to lock with her dark ones. "Maybe I'll be able to tell your energies apart if you're just not as close to him as you are right now."

This caused another blush to paint Katara's cheeks, and suddenly quite self aware she straightened her back a little. She wondered what Zuko felt like seeing her like this with Aang.

She sighed and forced out a smile.

"Yeah, okay. Sure, let's do that."

The group soon helped each other lift Aang into one of the smaller rooms inside the Air Temple. Despite its modest size, the atmosphere in the room was one of tranquility largely because of the large windows that lined one side of the room, allowing soft sunlight to filter in and illuminate the space with a warm, golden glow. It was clear that the walls once were adorned with delicate tapestries depicting swirling air currents and serene landscapes.

There was not any furniture left in the room, so they cautiously laid him down on a sleeping pad, and soon Katara, Nii and Aang were alone in the room together.

At first Katara tried to avoid eye contact with Nii.

She had a bad taste in her mouth, and she clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she fought against a rising tide of guilt.

Maybe this girl was actually just here to try and help Aang.

"Nii, I'm s…" Katara started as she opened her eyes to look at Nii, but she quickly let her words die out, as she watched her take his hand again and lifted it up to her cheek.

Katara furrowed her brows as she watched the strange girl.

With deliberate movements, Nii began to softly chant words in a language that Katara had never heard before as Aang lay beside her, his form so very still and frail.

Closing her eyes, Nii put down his hand before she moved hers above him as if weaving a tapestry of ancient spirit incantations in the air, her voice reverberating through the room like whispers of unseen spirits.

The rhythm of her chants carried a sort of primal energy that seemed to resonate with all four elements. As if it were a song that did not come from her mouth but just flowed through her from the Spirit World itself.

Katara watched the couple in front of her with her mouth slightly open, and she was surprised to see that it was not long before Aang's chest started moving, and his breaths started coming out in shallow gasps.

Time seemed to stand still as the girl worked over him, lost in some sort of timeless dance of energy between them.

Nii's breathing also changed now, into something deeper and hoarser, as did the rhythm of her chants, and Aang's body seemed to move with her rhythm, his breathing also steadier and deeper.

His eyes were still closed, but the muscles on his face rapidly started moving as if going through different emotions. It was as if Nii channeled a stream of energy into his body, or maybe she was channeling his?

Like a river responding to the ebb and flow of the tide, his body started to sway and undulate in harmony with her dancing hands. Shortly, his chest began to rise and fall, slowly and deliberately, reminding Katara of the rhythmic sway of seaweed beneath the ocean's surface. A mesmerizing cadence that spoke of a sort of surrender.

Katara widened her eyes, as Nii started incorporating a series of bizarre almost animallike sounds to her tapestry of chants, a series of clicks and purr-like trills reminiscent of the natural sounds of a foreign forest at dawn.

And now, Aang's legs started moving too, his chest opening and closing, while his hips too seemed to move up and down.

Katara sucked in a hard breath, as she felt a knot tightening around her heart which swiftly developed into a stone in her stomach, and she bit her lip.

She felt like she should not be there.

This seance suddenly felt very raw and very private.

The Water bender immediately rose to her feet and quickly made her way out of the room.

PS. I hope I didn't do Katara too dirty in this chapter. I just thought that she would be jealous that another girl should help Aang, now that she is normally the one healing/helping him. I love Katara :-) Anyways, I hope you enjoy and leave a review/fav/follow!