AN:

My Day 1 submission for Kataang Week 2017, a little fluff piece starting at the end of the series.

This is the first fan week I've done, so if you want me to do more please let me know! As always, your comments are so helpful to me. For the specific lyrics associated with this story, see its tumblr version at my blog, GreetTheDawn. The blog Kataang-Week is running this event, so go check them out too for new stories, fan art, and more every day through the end of the month!

Prompt: Smile

Song: Kiss Me - Ed Sheeran

Aang took a long look around his room. It'd been a while since they'd been back to Ba Sing Se. Their house hadn't been touched since they'd fled the city after Azula's coup. It seemed that no one wanted to live there after Toph had enthusiastically punched a hole in the side. Something about sub-standard living conditions for inner-ring citizens. He didn't mind though. It was good enough for the Avatar. Although, after nearly a year of camping in questionable locales, anything that wasn't a jail cell was good enough for the Avatar. And even then, if there was any form of a bed… just maybe.

He glanced in the mirror, and the image that met his gaze gave him mixed emotions. He was dressed in traditional clothing of the Air Nation, the robes of an Airbending Elder. He felt proud to be wearing them, and humbled by the honor. Yet, at the same time, he felt a great sadness seeing those robes adorning a child. Even if that child was well over a hundred years old, and the Avatar.

The fact of the matter was, he was only wearing them because he was the last airbender alive. When he was a kid, even the Avatar wouldn't rank as high as the Council at this age and this stage of his training. He may have mastered the elements, but he still had so much to learn about what being the Avatar in a time of peace meant. He had no idea how to keep that peace.

He frowned and averted his gaze from his own reflection. He took off his robes and laid them out reverently on the bed. His fingers lingered on the prayer beads, and his mind wandered to Monk Gysatso. His old mentor would be proud of what he had accomplished. The other monks would call him ill-prepared for what lay ahead.

A breeze blew in from the open window and brushed across Aang's bare chest. It was a welcome reprieve from the hot summer night. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and took a deep breath. The city looked so bright and calm, sparkling from the celebrations over the Harmony Restoration Movement. Underneath, though, he knew. Everything was changing.

Hopefully, they were changing for the better. One thing already had.

As he turned to the door, his heart started to creep up into his throat. He gritted his teeth, irritated at his own nervousness. Katara had kissed him, for once. He should be nothing but confident.

He took another deep breath and left his room. The house was quiet. It seemed everyone else was tired from their long day, too, and they were at ease. Even Toph's snoring was just barely audible that night.

Katara's room was on the other side of the house. He tiptoed across the bamboo floor, careful not to disturb any of his friends. Her door was open just a crack, and he could just see her silhouette through the translucent paper. She was sitting on her bed, brushing her hair by the candlelight. He placed his hand on the wooden frame. "Katara?" he whispered. "Can I come in?"

"Aang?" she whispered back, and he could hear her breath catch on his name. The sound sent a thrill through his limbs. "Yes, come in."

He slipped into the room and slid the door shut behind him. Katara set her brush on the bedside table and he settled on the mattress beside her. Their knees touched, and they stared at each other with little smiles, both too nervous to say anything. Her hair was down, hanging loose around her face and casting shadows across her features. She was singularly beautiful in a way he could never put to words.

Unable and unwanting to do anything else, Aang reached out and took her hand. Excitement jumped back and forth between them like lightning and he leaned in, cupping her face before pressing his lips to hers. He was tentative, half expecting her to pull away. Part of him feared that her kiss outside the Jasmine Dragon had been nothing more than a product of the moment.

Instead, she leaned into him, and they fell backward onto the bed. He pulled her closer and as she laid her hands upon his chest, he felt her lips pull up into a smile. He broke their kiss, pulling back just enough to see her eyes.

The sparkle he found there transported him back to a year earlier, when he'd opened his eyes into hers from his hundred-year sleep. He realized not for the first time that he wanted to wake up to this face every day forward. Every time he'd looked at his obstacles and troubles since waking up from the iceberg, she'd been beside him every time. It didn't matter what was coming in the days and months ahead. It had never mattered. So long as she was there to see it through at his side.

"Katara," he whispered, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Yeah, Aang?" She placed a quick kiss on his nose.

He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck, overcome by the knowledge that she was his to hold. With his lips near her ear, he whispered, "I love you."

She gave a satisfied sigh, and with a kiss on his cheek whispered back, "I love you, too. I always have."

If he'd never flown, those six words would tell him all he needed to know of the sensation.