Summary: I know why you've changed. I know you don't see the light anymore. But you have to come out of the darkness. You have to just keep breathing, and know I'm always here for you.

I was inspired by a prompt I saw somewhere that had nothing to do with Avatar at all. I really wanted to do something sad in the way of oneshots for once. I got in a mood, and my writing always turns out better when I'm moody.

Then I started listening to my writing band, Automatic Loveletter, and that's how I got the title.

Prompt: I know why you've changed.

Just Keep Breathing

I could see him so clearly, and yet when I looked at him, I didn't know what I was considering. He had always been adorable, even as a child when we had met, but five years can change as much of a person's appearance as it can one's personality.

And he had changed, in both looks and character. He was not a child any more, no matter how badly I wanted that carefree little boy of twelve back. Where war had not changed him, peace had. So bright and childlike had he been that the fighting of diplomats over petty things had darkened his view of the world.

It made no sense to me, even as he tried to explain it to me. It wasn't logical that times when war and death were upon us that he should be the optimist, and when peace and prosperity were at the door, he became inconsolably bleak. I tried to talk to him, to get him to come back to me, but he turned his back, his shoulders hunched and depressing.

He was the Avatar. He was supposed to be, by nature, a cheerful person. At the very least, he was supposed to be contented. But these days, all he was was morose. I tried my very best to drag him out of his bad humor, but the more I tried, the more he ignored me.

One day, it got particularly bad. He usually talked to me if I really needed something, but when I came to his room that morning to tell him that the peace talks needed his attending, he ignored me as if I was asking him what was wrong. He turned his back on me sullenly, and his rejection made me want to cry.

I sat down next to him, his back facing me, and sighed. We were supposed to be in a relationship, he and I, but even though we had been dating for years now, we hadn't at the same time.

We had started off very strong – our relationship had been well balanced and full of life and energy. But as the peace talks began, he started to become distant and the happiness of the boy he was started melting away. Within months of the war ending, he had changed so much that I hardly recognized him.

Silently, I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. Tears slid, unbidden, down my face as he flinched away. No matter what, he had never shied away from my touch.

Sniffing, I spoke to him. "I know why you've changed. I know that you don't see the light anymore. But I love you, Aang, and I'll always be here for you. I know it hurts that there's so much selfishness in the world, but you can't let that make you lose hope. You have to soldier on. You have to just stop every once and a while, and just keep breathing. I know this is might seem like just an overemotional speech about hope by the preachy crybaby, but it's not. This is me, the girl you have always claimed to love, telling you that I know it's tough, but you have to trust that I know that you can trust me. If everything else in your world falls apart, I won't. I love you, and that is not going to change."

I felt the muscles in his back ease a little, and he turned just enough for my hand to fall against where I knew his tattoo traced up his spine. I could feel the tension built up in his back, and without thinking about it, I started rubbing his back with my thumb. He snuggled into my touch like a kitten enjoying being petted. For the first time in years, Aang was finally responding to me in a way I had long missed.

Feeling bold, I quickly spun into his lap, folding my legs underneath me. I put my hands on either of his shoulders and rubbed them gently. Though his face still looked haunted, it was less prominent in his features. Tenderly, he set his smooth head in the hollow of my throat.

I kissed the crown of his head and felt his toned arms slip around my waist. He pulled me closer, and I felt the bridges and walls he had built over the years start to crumble. We were closer, physically and mentally, than we had been in a very long time.

"Katara," he muttered against my collarbone. I knew he could feel the tears falling from my eyes on his mostly shaved head. He didn't shave it every day like he used to due to his always surly mood, and thin dust of his black hair could be seen over his arrow. I touched it gingerly, careful to not set him off and back into his miserable stupor.

Warily, I put my other hand under his chin and nudged his head upward, making him meet my gaze. I looked up and down his face a few times, from his eyes to his lips and back. Slowly and without ceremony, I moved towards him and kissed him for the first time in years.

It was slow and affectionate, and I pulled away and looked at him, smiling at him warmly.

"I've missed you," I said plainly. I hopped up from his lap and held out my hand for him to take.

A tentative smiled formed on his lips, and I almost started crying again at the sight. I had missed his expressive smirk, and I knew that he was almost the same person he had been when I met him. I knew that, in time, he would go back to being the exact same boy I had met all those years ago.

Aang took my hand and used it to help himself off the bed. He looked at me for a brief second before pulling me into his chest and holding me tightly in his arms.

"Thank you," he whispered, his teeth grazing my earlobe, and I shuddered, arching my neck so that my lips touched his ear.

"Anytime," I said throatily, and I lightly bit his earlobe.

I was annoyed when there was a knock at the door and my brother walked in. He took in my posture against Aang and the way he was holding me.

Sokka smiled knowingly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Good to have you back, Aang, buddy. But keep your hands off my sister."

He turned back out of the room and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Where were we?" I asked, and wrapped my arms around my boyfriend's neck. I kissed his lips, and felt him smile.

"I've missed you," he whispered against my mouth.

I pulled away from him and put his hands on my hips. "There's no need to miss me. I'm right here. And I always will be right here."

END

I like angsty Aang. He makes good stories.

So, cock-block Sokka wins at life. He likes to go around destroying intimate moments between, well everyone. Fun times.

Review. Even if you hated it. I want feedback! :D