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Absolute Power	By : whirleeq Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female > Aang/Katara Views: 17984 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
A/N: I didn’t think I was going to have to do this, but I had a review on one of the sites where this story is archived where the reader expressed some confusion about the flashbacks to Aang’s childhood. So from here on, I'll preface them with 'one hundred years ago', or something similar.
I just hate marking a flashback as a flashback – it just seems so cheesy and unprofessional, and I take great pride in my writing. Especially in a story such as this, where I’m taking the basic personality of a much loved character and altering it. In order to do so, I feel the need express what has happened in Aang’s life to cause him to become the way I’m portraying him in my story. Let’s face it; Aang’s had his whole childhood taken from him and replaced with a responsibility that no one should have to shoulder alone. To that extent, Aang’s dreams and the flashbacks are an insight to his character and should be taken as such – little excerpts that help map out who he is in my story. I honestly don’t think anyone would accept it if I suddenly made him act OOC without explaining *why*.
Oh, and one of the reviewers asked if there was going to be smut. The answer to that is – yes; citrus is definitely on the horizon - at least on mediaminer and aff. FFnet people are out of luck, sorry. Don't want to lose the account that I actually pay for. :)
Okay… now that that’s off my chest, on with the story!
~*~
One Hundred and Three Years Ago…
Over the six months following his indoctrination ceremony, young Aang wore a perpetual smile. He had gained the freedom that the other initiates his age would happily give their eye teeth for, and it was incredible. In fact, there was hardly a day when he found an excuse to eschew his air bending lessons in order to visit one or another of the many interesting friends he had made upon his little excursions. Just a few weeks ago he made friends with a young earth bender named Bumi who taught him the joys of the Omashu delivery system, for example. Riding with the younger boy in a stone basket through the miles of tubes and chutes that spanned the large earth nation city may not have been the safest thing he had ever done, but the exhilaration he had felt had made it very worthwhile.
In Aang’s eyes, his young friend Bumi had been elevated to the status of a mad genius after that.
Ever since then, Aang had become somewhat of a thrill seeker; much to the amusement of Gyasto and the consternation of the other monks. Aang didn’t pay the council any mind – the way he figured, it was if it was okay with Gyasto, it should have been okay with the stuffy monks on the council. So Aang ignored the disapproving looks they gave him each day as he left the temple to find some new and exciting way to have fun – the more dangerous the better, and if it involved animals in anyway, that just doubled his enjoyment.
But today he was going to do something different. Today, on Gyasto’s leave and with the monk’s own paltry savings, he was going into town to purchase that one air bending accessory normally denied to those of his age: an air glider.
Oh, he knew that they were considered dangerous – hence the age requirement. But Gyasto had told him that the danger didn’t necessarily stem from the bender’s age, but their ability. Therefore, since Aang’s bending ability was easily twice that of any of his peers, flying an air glider should be as easy for him as riding an air ball.
This was only the third time he had visited the city outside of the temple’s gates, but it was perhaps his most exciting trip. First, because he was by himself – the first two times, Gyasto had insisted on accompanying him for some strange reason, even though the older monk would allow Aang to travel virtually anywhere else in the world by himself. And second, because he had money on him. That was unusual in itself, since the monks prided themselves on their humbleness – thus the only monies they had to spend were from donations to the temple.
Of course, donations were abundant, since the townspeople feared the wrath of the spirits if they didn’t frequently make them – a misconception that the monks did nothing to correct. Everything from money to food to fine silks was donated to the Air Temple. In fact, if one really were to examine the temple coffers, one might find that the high council of monks wasn’t nearly as poor as they professed to be.
But Aang didn’t know about any of that. He only knew that he had now had money -- something that was supposedly scarce among the monks, and felt a level of excitement he’d never felt before. This time, the town held an entirely new attraction for Aang. His goal was to buy an air glider, but considering that he actually had money on him for once, he couldn’t help but stop at a few different stalls on the way. At one such stall, he picked up a brand new set of marbles for only two copper coins. Another stall had the most delectable tukpaclass=MsoFootnoteReference>style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[1], which, for one copper coin was in Aang’s eyes a bargain. The tukpa served at the temple was never that spicy or thick. And yet one more served vegetarian momosclass=MsoFootnoteReference>style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>[2], which were hands down Aang’s favorite food, costing him another two copper coins.
By the time he got around to looking at air gliders, Aang had only five copper coins left.
There were few stalls that carried them and at the ones that did, the gliders were quite pricey. There was only one under twenty copper coins that even looked substantial enough to support him three feet off of the ground, let alone serve as both a weapon and an alternate means of transportation. He was quickly getting discouraged, and thought that he’d be not only going home empty handed, but having to explain to Gyasto where the money he had given him had actually gone to.
Finally, when he was just about to give up hope, Aang passed a stall that had an air glider out front for six copper coins. It was made of bamboo and a light canvas, was obviously used and had several nicks and scratches, but it was affordable. At least he hoped so; he wasn’t good at bartering, but it cost only one copper coin more than he had; and anyway, he didn’t want to go back empty handed, so he had to at least try.
The proprietor of the shop was a woman in her late twenties. She had light brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and was fairly petite in stature. She was engrossed in knitting what looked to be a tunic for a young child.
Aang approached her and cleared his throat.
“Excuse me, Ma’am? I’m… uh… interested in the bamboo glider.”
Without looking up or pausing in her knitting, the woman responded.
“S’not for sale to a boy your age. I won’t be having your parents hunting me down when you kill yourself on it. Try looking at the jumping ropes on the opposite wall.”
Startled, Aang stepped back as a variety of possible responses went through his head. He considered lying – ‘It’s not for me’, but figured she’d see through that in a heart beat. He considered boasting – ‘That’s okay, I’m a great air bender, so you don’t have to worry about selling it to me!’, But his experience with his friends had taught him that that never went over very well. He even considered turning away and coming back with Gyasto, but quickly discarded that idea since it would mean that he would still have to explain what had happened with the rest of the money.
Finally, having come up with nothing better to say, Aang scuffled his feet and mumbled under his breath, “I… don’t have any parents. I was raised by monks.”
The woman’s hands stilled suddenly; the needles halfway through the motion of looping the yarn. Her hands started to shake somewhat, and she allowed the piece that she was working on fall to her lap, where it began to unravel slightly. Her head jerked upwards and she turned a set of wide, grey eyes on Aang.
Aang began to feel uncomfortable as her wide, grey eyes seemed to devour him. She scanned him from top to bottom; from his distinctive tattoos, to his expressive grey eyes, pausing for a moment on his hands that were too large for his frame, and then shifting down to his slightly narrow feet. When she finally lifted her head and locked her gaze with his, her eyes were filled with a gleam in them that only served to make him even more uncomfortable.
Abruptly, she stood and walked over to him before placing a hand on his cheek.
“Tell me young initiate, what is your name?”
Aang was a little confused by the woman’s strange behavior, but when she touched him it felt... comforting. And so he found himself answering her despite his wariness.
“It’s Aang. Oh, and I’m not an initiate. I’m a full fledged air temple monk! The youngest ever! So you don’t need to worry about selling the glider to me, ma’am. I’ll be just fine.”
A flicker of joy passed through the woman’s eyes at his name, rapidly replaced by anger as he spoke of his early indoctrination.
Thinking the anger was directed at him for trying to talk her into selling him the air glider anyway, Aang took another step backwards and gently placed the air glider against the table, just like he had found it.
“It’s okay… you don’t have to sell it to me if you don’t want to.” Aang said sadly as he turned to walk away. But he didn’t get far before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Wait! I – have something better in the back. Something more suited for you. Stay right there!” She commanded excitedly, before removing her hand from his shoulder and disappearing into the tent behind the stall.
Bemused, Aang waited; wondering what he’d done or said to change this woman’s mind. Whatever it was, he wanted to make note of it so he could use the same trick in the future.
Finally, after what seemed like several minutes to Aang, but was probably no more than a few moments, the woman came out of the tent - a large air glider in her hand made from the finest rosewood. It was ornamented with a small, yellow gemstone at the top that Aang recognized immediately with a gasp as an air stone. She opened it up, showing that the canvas wings were dyed a fine red. It was a glider that far exceeded in quality the most expensive gliders he had seen so far, and they had started at twenty gold pieces in price and only went up from there.
The woman smiled at his expression and gently placed the glider in his hand.
Aang turned it over in his hands several times, enjoying the smooth feel of the hard rosewood. He lifted it up over his head to test the weight of it, and flipped it over in his hand like a staff. Smiling widely, he opened it up and gently fingered the red canvas. It was absolutely beautiful! But surely he could not afford such a thing.
With a regretful sigh, he closed it back up and handed it back to the woman.
“I… it’s beautiful, but I don’t have enough money.” He muttered under his breath. Aang reached for his pouch and picked up the used bamboo glider he had held before. But there was no enthusiasm on his face as he did so, since now that he had felt the other glider in his hands, the bamboo one seemed awkward, heavy, and unbalanced.
“I can give you five copper pieces for this one, though.” He murmured, not at all excited about his purchase anymore.
:”No. I won’t take your money. Listen, I want you to have the glider – free of charge. Consider it a donation if you must, since I haven’t made any donations to the monks for nearly a decade.”
With a fierce look of determination in her eyes, the woman handed Aang the rosewood glider, even as she pulled the bamboo one out of his hands.
“Now, go… go have fun. And don’t hurt yourself!” She said with a genuine smile.
“Thank you… I won’t.”
Aang turned to leave, but something she had said gave him pause.
“Why haven’t you?”
The woman, who had already returned to her knitting, paused in confusion before pursing her lips in understanding. And then in a soft voice laced with sadness, she answered him.
“Because I’ve already given them far too much.”
That night, when Aang returned to the temple, he was nearly mobbed by Pei and his other friends as they asked to see his new glider. Gleefully, they asked him to demonstrate it, and with a small smile Aang obliged. But as he was flying through the air to the mixed hoots and hollers from his friends below, he couldn’t help but feel even though he had gained such a wonderful glider, something much more precious and wonderful had been taken from him.
~*~
Sokka really wasn’t keen on following Juri into the city. First, because it was raining, and second – well, because Juri kind of scared him. There was something… not quite right about her, and it had been nagging at him for nearly two full days now.
There were times when he felt as if he wasn’t much use in their trio, considering he really wasn’t that great of a warrior – both Zuko and Suki had quickly disavowed him of any notions to the contrary – and he wasn’t a bender. However, he was a great judge of character, and that was something that both Aang and Katara were sorely lacking. If only they would listen to him – after all, didn’t he warn them about Jet?
Still, he supposed he was the best choice to tag along with Juri; simply because he didn’t trust her. Well, he did kind of get the impression that there was no love lost between Juri and his sister, so Katara wouldn’t have gone regardless. Aang, on the other hand is far too trustworthy – and gullible. And so for Aang’s sake, Sokka didn’t complain too much when Katara volunteered him for the job.
That of course didn’t mean that he had to talk to Juri – which seemed to suit her fine as well, and for that, Sokka was grateful. In silence, followed the petite, dark haired girl down a fairly well trodden path through the forest for nearly an hour before the forest abruptly ended into a small port town that was literally built right on the beach.
Juri turned to him briefly and scowled. She pointed to a small wooden structure three buildings up on the left of where she stood.
“That’s where you need to go to get medicine for that… thing. Don’t bother waiting for me when you’re done. I have something far more important to do than baby-sit you.”
And with that, she turned and walked away.
With a frown, Sokka eyes followed Juri as she walked. She seemed to be headed towards the port where there was a large fire-nation vessel docked.
“Not like I’d wait for you anyway, with them around.” Sokka mumbled under his breath as he set off in a quick jog towards the animal healer. Strangely, even though he was in a town where there were fire nation soldiers around nearly every corner, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat more at ease now that Juri was gone.
~*~
Katara knelt down to harvest a handful of mushrooms from the forest floor. Koru was by her side, selecting a few of the mushrooms himself, and then placing them in a pouch that they had brought with them.
The two of them were scoping the woods seeking the mushrooms for Aang to eat, since the Avatar was a vegetarian and most of what they had back at camp was fish – that is, until Juri came back from the city, where she had been sent to gather both supplies and information. With her gone, Sokka with her, and Aang back at camp taking care of Appa, Katara found herself alone with Koru for the first time.
Koru had been the one to suggest that they go look for mushrooms. “They’re delicious,” he had said. “And besides, the boy is so worried about his mount that he’s not even bothering to eat. Come with me and do this for him.”
They had been scanning the forest for over an hour now, looking for the few varieties of mushrooms that were edible hidden amongst the many that were not. Koru had taught her how to identify the good mushrooms from the bad ones, but the ones she was currently picking were unlike any they had come across so far. Still, they looked good. There was only one way to find out for sure, and that was to ask Koru. She wasn’t keen on doing so, since he seemed only entirely too happy to share what he knew on the subject. In fact, for the past hour he had droned on and on about the various edible herbs and plants to be found in the forest in an attempt to try to impress her with his vast knowledge of ‘survival skills’. Katana, who never liked a show-off, wasn’t very impressed.
She looked at the mushrooms in her hands and sighed. She could ask Koru if they were good, and then suffer another boring botany lecture, or possibly poison her friend.
She actually had to think about it for a moment.
“Are you sure these are edible?” Katara asked in a resigned tone, holding up the small handful of mushrooms she had picked for inspection.
He paused to look at them for a moment. Something flashed through his eyes that she didn’t quite trust, and she almost pulled her hands back; not entirely sure of what was going through his mind.
“They’re perfect, Katara. All but… this one.” Koru answered her. He pulled her small hands into his larger, calloused ones and pulled out the smallest mushroom in the bunch. “This one is… not mature enough.” He continued, tossing the small mushroom over his shoulder.
Katara had blushed when he grabbed her hands. Despite being somewhat of a show-off, Koru was still quite a handsome boy, and she couldn’t quite control her body’s reactions to him. However, her blush quickly faded when she heard his words. The innuendo did not escape her at all, and she narrowed her eyes at his nerve and swiftly pulled her hands back, placing the mushrooms in a small bag she had with her. Then she purposely walked over to the smaller mushroom that he had discarded and placed it in the bag as well.
“I think it’s just fine, actually. Maybe it’s even better, since it isn’t all ripped and broken at the edges like the others.” She snapped back, her answer confirming that she knew he wasn’t talking about the mushroom, and for that matter, neither was she.
Koru only smiled before gently grabbing her hand and leading her over to a tree that snapped at the base of the trunk, making a natural bench. He sat down and pulled her down next to him, even as he responded to her.
“Ah, but with maturity comes a more satisfying and consistent taste. The smaller ones --” Koru dropped her hand and took the bag from her. He reached in and pulled out the small mushroom he had previously tossed away and held it out in front of him. “— are either too bitter or too sweet. They are never consistent. You see, they are not yet ripe.”
Katara turned her head away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable with the subject.
“Can we go back now please? I think we have enough mush-“ She started to say, only to be cut off mid-sentence by Koru.
“Why do you stay with him?”
Startled, Katara turned and looked at him. Was he trying to taunt her? But no, his brown eyes looked sincere. He… really wanted to know.
Katara turned away almost immediately. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth, chewing on it gently as she considered his question; completely oblivious to Koru’s eyes intently watching the gesture.
Why did she stay with Aang? She’d be much, much safer back at home, that was definitely true… and she would have never lost her mother’s necklace. Of course, if she was back at home, she would never have furthered her skills as a water bender, never rode upon the back of a giant air bison, and she would never have known what it felt like to motivate a group of earth benders into fighting for their own freedom. But most of all, she never would have found hope that the world could actually be saved.
“He gives me hope.” She answered softly, quietly, knowing that the answer was not only true for her but most everyone who had come in contact with the young Avatar.
Koru sighed.
“Katara… he puts you in danger. He’s the Avatar. It’s true that the outcome of the entire world rides on his shoulders, but right now he’s just a boy. He’s not even ready to fight, let alone protect someone else. In fact, I bet you protect him more than anything.”
Katara remained silent, listening to Koru’s words. Well, it was definitely true that Aang could be a bit impetuous… and it was also true that she often bailed him out of trouble… but isn’t that what best friends do?
“So what if I do? He needs me.” She answered quietly.
Koru shook his head.
“No, Katara… in fact, I think that your presence around him does more harm than good.”
Katara’s head swiftly turned and she narrowed her eyes.
“What do you mean by that?”
Koru sighed. He pulled Katara’s hands into his own and spoke patiently, his dark brown eyes locked on her clear blue ones.
“Can’t you see that he has a crush on you?”
Katara blushed and opened her mouth to protest, but Koru just held up his hand.
“No, let me continue. He does and you know it. That is dangerous to both you and him. It is dangerous to you, because if the fire nation realizes his affection for you, they will use you to get to him. It is dangerous to him, because as long as you are around, he’s blindsided by his feeling for you and not doing what he needs to be doing, which is training. He’s a very emotionally driven boy, that much is obvious, and I bet he spends most of his time trying to impress you, rather than learning how to wage a war on a whole nation.”
Katara turned her head away and said nothing. Those thoughts had gone through her head before, but she had rationalized them away with ‘Aang needs me’. Now, because of Koru’s words, all her doubts were resurfacing.
“It’s just… something for you to think about, Katara.” Koru continued, smiling, gently turning her head with his hands so that she was looking at him again.
And then his eyes darkened slightly as they looked at her lips – or more specifically, her bottom lip which was swollen slightly from her chewing on it.
“I only want you to be safe.” He said in a breathy voice. He started to lean forward slowly, dipping his head so that it was level with hers.
Katara felt her heart begin to race. She… she knew what he was about to do. She felt frightened, confused, and a little excited at the same time. She didn’t know whether to run or to stay. Her emotions were already in an upheaval, what with the conversation they just hand and what Juri had said to her the other --
“Juri!” Katara said suddenly when his lips were less than an inch apart from hers, hoping that her very name would jolt him out of what he was about to do. But to her mixed dismay and excitement, Koru merely chuckled lightly.
“Ah, Juri. Juri is just a friend, and well capable of fending for herself. But you, Katara… you are like a precious jewel that needs to be cared for and cherished.”
And then his lips came crashing down onto hers.
Her eyes flew open wide with shock. For some reason, she felt like a caged bird. She felt him open his mouth against hers, and her hands flew up against his chest while she considered whether or not to push him away. He took it as an encouraging sign and wrapped his arms around her as his tongue darted out, trying to gain entrance into her mouth.
Katara up until this point was nearly blindsided with shock. She did not know what to do or expect. This was her first real kiss, and she felt… nothing. Katara knew that wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Frantically, her eyes darted all around, looking for an avenue of escape.
And that’s when she saw him. Her eyes locked on a pair of wide grey ones, filled with both shock and hurt and staring down on the two of them from the branches of a nearby tree.
She gasped.
Koru took that as an invitation, deepening the kiss slightly and pulling her against him.
Meanwhile, her brain was sending her body signals to move, to push him away, to get out of there and rectify this situation right now, but all she could do was stare at Aang as the young avatar jumped from branch to branch until he reached the top of the tree. And in his haste to get away, the young avatar used his glider to launch into the air.
Finally, her limbs freed up, and she shoved Koru away so hard that he fell off of the makeshift bench and onto the ground with a loud thump.
“NO! I… I have to go…” She said, already running after Aang, not even bothering to explain to Koru why she was taking off. Her heart was racing, her stomach hurt, and her head was dizzy.
‘You knew how Aang felt about you, and you let Koru kiss you. What a great friend you are.’ That thought echoed through her head like a mantra as she ran, trying desperately to follow him with her eyes.
She ran as fast as she could in an attempt to catch up with him, weaving her way through the trees, her eyes on the sky and not the ground. When she started to lose sight of him, she ran faster – and ended up snagging her ankle on a tree root. With a scream, she fell face forward upon the pine needle covered forest floor.
Her tears began to fall in earnest – not because of her ankle, which was already starting to swell, but because of Aang and, by the spirits, what he must be thinking right now. ‘Betrayal.’ Her mind supplied, and she buried her face into her hands. She was crying so hard that she didn’t even see that Aang had turned his glider around and had landed in a nearby tree.
~*~
Aang didn’t know what to think when he stumbled across them. He hadn’t been spying on them – not intentionally at any rate. It’s just that he couldn’t find that many good plants for Appa to eat along the forest floor, since it was mostly covered in pine needles, rocks, and the occasional odd looking mushroom. There was, however, a variety of edible vines that grew around the branches of the pines themselves. So he had jumped from tree to tree to collect the stuff. When he came across Katara and Koru and overheard a bit of what they were talking about… he couldn’t help himself. He settled in the branches of a nearby tree and listened.
It hurt to hear Koru’s words, and they made him dislike the other boy all the more. What did he know, anyway? Katara was his strength, not his weakness. And there’s no way he’d allow her to be used against him. No way would anyone ever get close enough to her to take her away from him. The thought made him burn inside and the vine he was absently holding started to smoke.
He was about to jump down to them and make his presence known, when…
No. He couldn’t even think about it. Wouldn’t think about it. Wasn’t even sure how he really felt about it, other than it made him sick. He felt trapped, couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe – and then Katara’s eyes met his, and she knew – knew what she was letting that other boy do.
He ran; couldn’t help it. He had to escape, it was too painful, too consuming. The fire inside him raged – the fire that he had never before been able to reach, and he absently singed the wood of his beautiful, rosewood glider.
Koru was going to pay. Except that he wasn’t, because Aang couldn’t do anything, anything at all… he was the avatar and as such, resolved conflicts – not started them. Abruptly, he felt really, really sad. A few idle tears fell from his eyes as he flew. He just needed to get away, needed to go back, needed –
And then he heard Katara’s scream.
Automatically, he turned around, looking through the tops of the trees for her, his mind awash with terrible possibilities. What if he had misread the situation entirely? What if she wasn’t letting Koru kiss her… what if he was forcing her? What if he was now hurting her?
Frantically, he looked all around for her, finally finding her curled into a ball, lying on the forest floor, apparently injured. He swallowed the sudden lump that appeared in his throat and landed in the branches of one of the nearby trees. Aang jumped the rest of the way down to the ground, using a little airbending to cushion his fall, and ran to Katara’s side.
“Katara? Katara… are you alright? Katara, I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, I –“
Katara sat up as soon as she realized Aang was there. Confused, she looked at him for a moment, her eyes red from crying. He was apologizing to her? Whatever for? She was the one who should be apologizing.
With a soft cry, she pitched forward and threw her arms around him.
“No, Aang, I’m sorry… I… I don’t know what happened back there, I shouldn’t have let—“
“Shh... you’re hurt.” Aang interrupted. He just… he didn’t want to think about it, what he had seen. He was too confused, too emotional, and too afraid that he’d lose control.
Aang knelt next to Katara and examined her ankle. He winced when he saw it – she had twisted it good; it was already turning purple. Using his teeth, he tore a swatch of fabric off of his red cape and used it to wrap her ankle. He then took her canteen and blew into it; freezing the water inside. After that was done, he ripped another swatch of fabric off of his cape and used it to tie the frozen canteen on her ankle. When he was done, he took her into his arms and stood.
“I’m going to take you back. You’re not walking anywhere else today.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck. Katara muffled a choppy “I’m sorry,” into his neck as she laid her head upon his shoulder. She felt… safe now… home, and wished she could just stay in his arms and forget the whole thing ever happened.
But that proved to be impossible, as an out of breath Koru suddenly caught up to them. His eyes took in Katara’s ankle, Aang, and the way Aang was holding her and his eyes narrowed.
“Avatar, what did you do to her?”
Aang’s eyes hardened and he shot Koru an incredulous look
“What did I do to her? If you didn’t—“
Katara’s soft fingers against his lips abruptly silenced him.
“Aang… I just want to go back and lie down. Can we just go back?”
Aang paused for a minute and looked at her. As he met her pleading, ice blue eyes with his own, his eyes softened and he let go of the anger that had just started bubbling inside.
“Of course, Katara.” He whispered, pulling her just a little bit closer before turning to Koru once more.
“Listen, I don’t want to fight with you right now. Katara hurt her ankle. I’m bringing her back to camp.”
And without even waiting for Koru to answer, he was off, holding her tightly in his arms and running like the wind.
When he reached the cabin, he cautiously laid her on top of the bed, his eyes trained on her ankle. He placed a hand on the canteen, checking to see if the water was still frozen, and smiled at her.
“Feeling any better?”
Katara nodded, not even sure why Aang was doing all of this for her. She felt absolutely horrible, and thought that her injury was well deserved for what she had allowed to happen.
“Aang, I –“
“Shh…”
He immediately hushed her, not wanting to talk about it. The important thing was that he was with her now – not Koru, and that he was taking care of her. Of course, thinking of Koru made Aang think of something the other boy had said, and he frowned; turning away from Katara so she wouldn’t see it.
Katara watched him, feeling somewhat at a loss for words. He turned away, and an awkward silence fell between the two of them. Katara absolutely hated it. Never had the air between them been this thick. Finally, after a few minutes Aang cleared his throat.
“I’m… going to check on Appa and give him his food. I’ll be right back.” He said, getting to his feet and pushing the door open.
After a few minutes he returned, this time with a strange gleam in his eyes as he looked at her. Aang walked over to her bed and sat next to her, looking as if he was about to burst into tears. He opened and closed his mouth several times, as if he couldn’t quite find the words to ask about whatever it was that was plaguing him.
Katara, feeling like her heart was breaking, sat up and pulled him to her.
“Whatever it is, Aang, you can ask me.”
Aang took a deep breath and hugged her tightly back – pulling away slightly to stare into her eyes. And then when he spoke, it all came out fast and in one shaky breath.
“You’re not going to leave me, are you? I heard Koru say… you know I’d never let anyone hurt you… I…. need you, you’re my strength, and I don’t care—“
This time it was Katara who cut him off.
“Shh… Aang, listen to me. I will never, ever leave you, no matter what anyone says. Koru’s a presumptuous idiot who – mmph!!!”
And for the second time that day, a soft pair of lips came crashing down on hers. Only with Aang’s kiss, she felt like she was flying.
~*~
A/N: Awww… how sweet! *cough, gag, cough*
[1] Tukpa: Tibetan vegetarian noodle soup – made with curry, ginger root, flat egg noodles, garlic, fresh ground chili, potatoes, red onions, spinach, pepper and soy.

[2] Momos: Tibetan fried dumplings; made with onion, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, ginger and soy surrounded in a flakey, light pastry than deep fried. Can also be made with lamb, chicken, or beef.
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Absolute Power