For the Moment
Author's Note: I know I said this was going to be a OneShot—but hell, let's just go ahead and make it a TwoShot. Why not, anyway?
I started writing this chapter before I wrote the first chapter of "For the Moment." I liked the way it fit, and with a few edits, here it is!
As you know, many KatAangers just write about Aang having a crush on Katara, and even though that is really what's sort of going on, I can't help but think that Katara likes Aang too...
I think I'll leave an author's note at the end of this fic as well...brace yourselves!
Once, when she was younger, Katara remembers her mother and her friends speaking in high notes, underneath the thin walls of an igloo, their faces wild with exciting gossip. They sat cross legged around a silver platter, overflowing with cups of herbal tea and small cakes. The platter looked, as it often did when juicy news was about, as if it would burst with these petite delights. Some cups had to be placed onto the icy snow.
"She's getting married? Impossible! She's but a child!" Her mother, Kira, had a voice that was higher than those around, and it rose and fell gracefully among the others. They were speaking of a young woman in the Tribe, named Sen, who had mistakingly fallen for an Earth Kingdom sailor.
"Watch, she'll regret it," another woman cried slowly. "Soon she'll have so many children she won't know what to do with them—and that blasted sailor will leave her, too!"
Such a shame, Katara thought helplessly as she listened. She sat erect next to her mother, hiding her gaze from the older women by looking at her crossed, booted feet.
Instead of feeling sorry for the shameful marriage and the disgrace that it would bring upon the tribe, Katara felt desperately remorseful for the poor, confused girl that was only a few years older than herself. The thought of such a young person experiencing marriage scared Katara as if it was she who was destined to be wed.
Kira smiled thoughtfully now, and turned to the woman closest to her. She handed the elderly lady a small cup of steaming tea. The vapor rose graciously about the igloo, and some of the woman were silenced by the enchanting smell. "But you know, I don't blame that sailor," Katara's mother continued. "Sen is such a gorgeous young girl—and that chest! She has blossomed before her time."
The elder lady sitting next to Kira was, in fact, Sen's own mother. She smiled at Kira's kind words, perhaps finding refuge in the fact that though her daughter was stupid, she was at least beautiful.
The woman's voice shook when she spook. Her wrinkled face seemed distorted by age as well as worry. "Thank you, Kira...but nothing can change the fact that she is leaving me for that...that...man. It hurts my heart to see how easily manipulated she is."
"You must stop her before she goes," Kira replied evenly. "Talk some sense into that girl; let her know what a big mistake she is making!"
A wave of nods and agreements spread throughout the igloo.
"Bless your heart," Sen's mother answered. "I must talk to her. Kira, you're daughter is extremely lucky to have a mother like yourself."
Katara, who was not used to being the center of attention, suddenly received a large dose of praise. She looked up shyly from her spot, and observed as each woman approved of who she was and the mother she had.
"She's cute, too," one of the woman stated quietly. "Such a splendid, innocent face. She's tall for her age...am I right? Is she taller than Sokka?"
Some answered yes, others answered no.
"She's blessed," said Sen's mother in a decisive manner. She now turned her body to face the young girl. "Listen, dearest, don't you go and make the same mistake my empty-headed Sen is making! Listen to your mother, and heed her words, and marry from the Tribes. Only Water Tribe men are good for Water Tribe woman, you hear? Don't you ever fall in love with some dazed, foolish man and forget everything you've ever been taught!"
"Katara's a good girl," Kira answered slowly, as if to contradict whatever theory Sen's mother was developing. "She wouldn't do that. Would you, Katara?"
The girl, shaken by this whirl pool of praise and attention, shook her head obediently. "Of course not, Mama! Of course I wouldn't."
No surprisngly, the older woman smiled at Katara approvingly, as if welcoming her as acceptable, tolerable.
"We know where all of our men are from, who their fathers where, how they were raised," Kira continued. She finished her cup of tea, and went on to refill it. She held the pot firmly and thoughtfully. "We love our men, and they love us so!"
"How will we know if this Earth Kingdom sailor is a proper match for Sen?" asked another woman. She blinked furiously. "We do not know him!"
"That's right," others called. Many nodded their heads considerately.
"We cannot love men who come out from the blue—pop out of the wind! It's just impossible, and wouldn't do us any good. We must keep our bloodline pure, free of mistakes." The last statement came from her mother.
Katara finished off the last of the creamy tea, and the gossip and arguments over Sen's marriage vanished, like a forgotten memory.
What would Mama say now? Katara asks herself. That episode in her life had happened so long ago. Sen had gotten married by now, and probably had many children. But at least Sen was happy. No matter what the gossiping town ladies said, Sen was happy.
Katara had known Sen to be a very stupid and simple girl—beautiful and kind—but not very bright. She had seen Sen talking to her hubby on occasion, once when he left the Water Tribe ports and other times when he came back from different trade voyages. He wasn't very handsome, but when he was around Sen would go from her very lethargic and lazy state to an excited, tantalizing state. It was fun to watch, and to gossip about.
What hurt the most was remembering Aang was not from the Water Tribes. To make matters even more difficult, he was raised by monks, and it would be impossible to trace his bloodline.
You know how the old saying goes, Katara thinks mockingly to herself. Airbenders make love like clouds make a breeze: quickly, and with debris to clean up.
It was obvious to everyone that knew Aang. Put simply, he was debris. The elders of the Tribe, as Katara could recollect from her childhood, often mocked the Airbenders and their breezy way of life. When they had been (supposedly) eliminated, no one was shocked. They were peaceful people, with very little hatred towards their enemies. The fact that they had been attacked first was very acceptable, and some even poked fun at the lovestruck Airbending monks for not expecting the siege.
Katara sighs when she remembers this, and tries to shake it off. Aang is also a Waterbender, and also the Avatar. She could love him if she really wanted to, because his bloodline is that of the past Avatars. Basically, she could love the Avatar without guilt gnawing on her insides. The Avatar is not like Aang.
What, are they two different people? I must be going mad. Katara looks at him, and recollects his body in the Avatar State, and how much pain he is going through. The Avatar is a deity—immortal. She cannot love something that is immortal. She cannot love something with so much power, so much hatred...so much pain.
The thought hurts her, and she recoils into herself to find the answer. Her mother's words ring clear and definite, "We cannot love men who come out of the blue—pop out of the wind."
If the truth must be told, Aang popped out of an ice burg. Katara thinks this logical, and moves on to the next line. "It's just impossible, and wouldn't do us any good."
What did she mean when she said "us"? Katara is not currently at the Water Tribes, and her love for Aang is not really impossible. It is quite possible indeed, and (had she just admit it) the love is taking place currently. Her mother is gone, and so Aang's love would not hurt her.
Katara nods to herself, and again thinks of her mother's warning. "We must keep our bloodline pure, free of mistakes."
What mistake? Surely Aang's parents loved him enough to leave him with monks. The fact that they left him to be raised with old men means nothing...
Katara thinks this over, and again sighs with displeasure.
There is room in my life for mistakes, the girl thinks coldly. My mother was supposed to live. My father was supposed to stay with us. The Earth Kingdom wasn't supposed to fall. Aang was supposed to be dead with all the other Airbenders a long time ago.
The final thought shakes her delicate frame, and she frowns with dissatisfaction. We were not supposed to meet.
She twirls her fingers through her hair, and looks at that brash and lovely fellow—the biggest mistake she has yet to encounter. It is likely that her heart has room enough for him, and that he will not be a mistake.
Suddenly, without her notice, he returns her stare. His smile is soft and childish. "What is it, Katara?"
That wasn't supposed to happen!
"Nothing!" she exclaims, loud enough to get her brother's head to turn. "Just—"
"Day dreaming?" he answers for her. Without notice, he turns back to the clouds, and watches them with the same acute interest that Katara was just giving to him.
"Yes," Katara says subconsciously. The clouds soon take her gaze as well.
"Yeah," Aang agrees. "Me too."
This simple agreeing gesture by her companion is enough to calm Katara's nerves. She smiles at the clouds. He is not a mistake. He is a coincidence. The fact that he met her was destined to be so. She decides to give her mother's tired words a rest, and goes along with Sen's logic.
For the moment, he is her perfect Avatar...and, though she may find it heartbreaking to do so, she will love him.
I hope you liked this chapter, readers. I don't know if I'll be continuing this, so please let me know what you think!
-ScorpioRed112