What the Spirits Have Joined

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.

~A~

Part I

~A~

Katara peeked around the corner of the hall of Zuko's family villa on Ember Island at the steps that led up to the front door, and the silent figure of Aang. He was just sitting there looking out at the fantastic view. Even from behind it was easy to see the tension in the lines of his shoulders though, and she looked down guiltily, knowing that while not all of his upset was because of her, some of it certainly was.

I told him I was confused... but I didn't explain what I meant, and he probably thought I meant about my feelings, but that wasn't it at all. On top of that I ran away... and that just made things worse.

With a sigh and a deliberate push of her own clamoring and worried emotions to the back of her mind, Katara stepped out from behind her hiding spot and forced herself to move towards the silhouetted figure of the young avatar. Her fear that pushing him away had made him decide he no longer wanted anything to do with her in that fashion was like a living thing, swelling up from her chest to suffocate her, but she couldn't allow that to stop her.

She had to do this. She had to face him and tell him everything, and then let him decide. If he turned her away then that was soon enough to grieve for what her stupidity had cost her.

"Aang?" she said quietly and a little cautiously, not wanting to startle him.

She didn't miss him stiffening as he heard her voice and she wanted to turn and run, but she wouldn't let herself. Not again – not from him.

"Yeah?"

"Could I... talk to you?" she asked tentatively, the uncertainty in her voice causing him to turn and look up at her in sudden concern.

He'd never heard her sound quite like that, and immediately dread flared in him. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she had to say, but there wasn't any point in running because that wouldn't really change anything. His heart bled just a little more as he watched her – he loved her so much and her rejection was killing him from the inside out. He'd never known anything could hurt so badly. "Um... I guess so."

When he acquiesced - though she could hear his reluctance clearly and her heart sank - she sat down next to him and folded her hands in her lap to keep from reaching out and touching him like she so desperately wanted to do. The urge was so strong that it literally ached to fight it. "I wanted to apologize... you know, for what happened at that stupid, awful play the other night," she added when he looked at her quizzically. But when he went to say something in return she held up a pleading hand. "Just... just let me finish, okay? If I stop I might not be able to, because I'm terrified right now." When he nodded, though his anxiety only deepened at her words, she continued. "When I said that I was confused, I didn't mean about my feelings, just about the timing. There's just so much going on right now and I'm frightened and worried and overwhelmed with it all. But that was no excuse to leave you like that, with cryptic words and then running off like I did."

"Katara, I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have pressured you. I know you're scared – so am I. So I apologize for dumping more stuff on you, especially something so unimportant," Aang replied, looking away with an expression of self-recrimination darkening his features even more than they had already been.

"No!" she exclaimed, remorse almost suffocating her in its crushing grasp. "No, Aang, your feelings aren't unimportant – don't ever think that!" Katara felt overborne with her own shame for having made him think that the way he felt about her was unimportant, and a single tear ran down each cheek. "I'm so sorry I made you feel that way. I feel so bad that you were so courageous as to face yourself and me with your feelings, and I... I was a coward. I tried to run from them and from you, but I just... can't anymore," she explained, slumping wearily. "I... I'm in love with you, Aang. I have been for a long time – probably longer than I even realized. After all, I was willing to leave everything I'd ever known and everyone I loved back home to follow you into the unknown within a day of meeting you, so I probably started falling from the moment we met," she sighed quietly with a bright blush as she looked down at her tightly clenched fingers, and Aang had the feeling that this was probably the first time she'd admitted it aloud - even to herself. "I understand if you've decided you don't feel the same anymore though, because of... the things I did. I just... I had to explain. I had to apologize."

The airbender could hear the fright in her voice now, though she tried to hide it, and he couldn't let her continue to feel it even if some people would have drawn things out as a little bit of payback for her earlier seeming-rejection. He wasn't like that though, especially as she hadn't been doing it to deliberately hurt him, and all he was feeling now was joy knowing that she actually did return his affections. So he reached out and boldly pulled her to him and planted his lips on hers, opening his mouth just a little and licking across her lower lip with the tip of his tongue.

Katara was stunned when she was abruptly pulled practically into Aang's lap, but she didn't demur, completely delighted about where she had just ended up although she was a little confused, as well. But he didn't leave her that way for long, and as his tongue sizzled across her lower lip she opened on a hiss of surprised pleasure, allowing him to slowly slip his tongue inside to tangle lovingly with hers as the intimacy of the sudden affection made her eyes fall closed in bliss.

He's really good at this, she thought hazily before her mind decided to shut down, allowing her to simply move with the flow of energy and emotion between them and forget about everything else. She moaned breathily into the kiss and Aang answered with his own sounds of pleasure and emotion.

After a minute or so of that he finally pulled back, both of them panting and trying to regain their breath. Katara couldn't help but feel pleased – and honored - that she could make the last airbender on earth lose his breath. It wasn't easy to make someone who had mastered the flow of air to their bodies and everywhere else lose control of themselves and their element, after all. They stared at each other for several long seconds, and then Aang grinned elatedly at her.

"What?" she asked after a moment, her eyes narrowing in amused but still tentative wariness at the suddenly mischievous look on his face.

His grin widened even further and he leapt to his feet and held out his hand for her, coming to a sudden decision and feeling excited and lighter than he had since the day he'd been told he was the avatar as he did. "Come on! I want to talk to you about something, but the others would only interrupt if we stayed here much longer. Plus there's something I want you to see!"

Katara couldn't help responding to his bright smile with one of her own, and she took his hand with complete trust just as she had that night in the cave when he'd asked her to dance. "Okay," was all she said as he pulled her up and then began tugging her along behind him enthusiastically, and she couldn't help but to laugh. He always made her feel so free and happy and light when he was like this, and she really adored him for it.

He led her around to the back of the large house and then down a small path into the lush, tropical vegetation that was so prevalent in the Fire Nation. But after a few minutes he left it, leading her into the jungle and away from any foot traffic that might come through.

Katara couldn't help but be curious about where he was taking her, but she held her peace – she trusted Aang absolutely and knew that wherever that was it was someplace she'd want to be.

She couldn't have been more right.

"Oh, spirits, Aang... how did you find this?" she whispered as he finally came to a stop. She let her hand fall from his in the wonder of what was before her, and he moved to stand next to her and look at their surroundings as well, a soft smile on his face.

"Well, you know I've been thinking, trying to figure out how to defeat Ozai without... killing him," he finally said. "Yesterday I just needed a little time away from all the training and stuff, and so I kind of wandered around for a while. But then... well, it was like this place called out to me. And so I just followed the feel of it and ended up here."

'Here' was an oasis. It was like nothing Katara had ever seen, but it felt like the spirit oasis in the North Pole. There was just something about it that told you to show respect because you were in a very spiritual place. It was the last thing she would have expected to find in the Fire Nation of all places, but there it was.

Tropical trees and shrubs of all kinds grew around the pool of water at the center of the glade, and the water itself was completely pure and like glass – you could see the bottom clearly and even though it was still, there was no muck or any kind of pollutant marring its crystal clear depths. That might have been because of the small flame burning in the air right above the center of the pond though, which clearly gave away the spiritual nature of the area. Hanging vines covered most of the rock that surrounded this tiny little piece of perfection, and the flowers and fruits on the trees let out a subtle yet perfect scent that permeated the whole area.

"Is... is it okay for us to be here?" she asked in a hushed, awed voice, glancing at Aang uncertainly.

He smiled at her. "If the spirits didn't want us here we wouldn't have even been allowed this close," he replied. Then his smile turned soft and gentle, a wise light in his eyes that suddenly made him look much, much older than he really was. "Besides... you have the favor of a spirit, remember?"

Katara looked at him askance and then blinked. And then she frowned. "What do you mean?"

Aang eyed her dubiously for a moment thinking she was teasing him, but when it became apparent that she really didn't know what he was talking about, it was his turn to be surprised.

"Remember the Painted Lady?" he asked. When her eyes widened, he nodded. "Yeah. You told me she appeared to you and thanked you. In a way, she's like your patron spirit now. She's watching over you, and that touch of her in you is easily noted by the other spirits."

"Oh," Katara breathed, thinking about that. "I... I didn't know that. I didn't do what I did to earn favor with the spirits, though. I did it because it was the right thing to do. Those people and the river needed help, so I helped them, that's all."

A beautiful smile full of wonder and adoration lit his features, and the young waterbender simply melted. He pulled her into him and kissed her, then let go and took her hand again, leading her slowly towards the pool of water glimmering under the fire that floated above it. "The spirits know that, Katara – and that's why she thanked you. If you had done it merely for favor, you'd never have seen her."

Katara followed him just like she always would, though she was still nervous about being somewhere so touched by the spiritual as this place was.

When they got close to the pool Aang sank down to his knees and motioned for her to join him. When she was settled he inhaled deeply and then slowly let it all out.

He smiled a little when he saw his forever girl looking at him expectantly, and turned to face her. Taking both her hands in his, he opened his heart and started speaking.

"Katara-" he squeezed her hands a little, a bit of apprehension showing through for a moment before he forced himself to continue, "-I know I'm kinda young, being just thirteen, but I know what I want. I've had to grow up a lot sooner than the other avatars, and with their wisdom to draw on and their past experiences, I'm one hundred percent sure of my feelings for you and what they are. I'm always going to love you, whether I'm here or have passed on into the spirit world. But I know what I'm facing soon, and... if I go, I want to take your answer with me into the next world so I have it to hold on to until you get there." He paused, nervously taking note of her wide eyes shimmering with tears of worry and fear and something else, and then forced himself to continue before he ran out of breath permanently. "I know... you might not be ready like me, especially as you've been so confused, but I... I'd regret it if I didn't do this, so... will you marry me?"

Eyes widening in shock the young waterbender stared at her monk, so stunned she couldn't even find her voice for several eternal-seeming seconds. But when she did...

"Aang..." she whispered, letting go of one of his hands to reach out and tentatively touch his cheek with gentle fingers, her heart melting at the obvious love and reverence in his eyes. Tears welled and ran over, washing down her cheeks and taking so much of the worry and fear and confusion away with them, leaving her with no distractions to take her focus away from her feelings for the young airbender in front of her. There was only her, and only him, and she knew what her answer was and always would be in a blinding moment of clarity that came from the deepest recesses of her soul.

There was only one answer she could or would ever give him...

"Yes," she whispered shakily, a shy smile washing across her face at the exuberant shout that came from his throat at her answer. She didn't have a chance to say anything more as he practically leapt into her and proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of her.

How long that kiss went on neither of the participants would ever know, but finally they were pulled apart by the feeling of something welling up around them – something so pure it was holy, and the two sat back in their previous spots with wide eyes and awed expressions at what was surrounding them.

"Aang, where are we?" Katara whispered, now very confused.

He glanced at her and blinked several times, still trying to take in what his eyes were telling him. It wasn't that he didn't recognize the place, because he'd been there several times... but the problem was that Katara was there with him. That shouldn't have been possible – or at least not in such an easy manner. Then again, she had been touched by a spirit's power...

"We're in the spirit world," he finally replied, looking away from her as that feeling of purity increased. "But I don't know why..."

"You are here because you spoke vows of binding within my purview, young avatar," a rich, crackling voice said, and both young people turned their heads and stared at what was sitting where the pool of water had been. "You asked her to bind herself to you permanently and she agreed."

How did we not notice him?

'Him' was a flame shaped vaguely like a human, and the only reason the young airbender could really say 'him' was because of his voice, which definitely sounded male. Otherwise there wasn't really any way to tell, but it would have been far too awkward to be thinking 'it' rather than he or she, so he went with the male vernacular.

Recovering from his shock quickly, Aang stood and bowed deeply and with a great deal of respect, inwardly pleased and proud when Katara did the same without question.

The spirit spoke again, motioning for them to re-seat themselves. Both did so, folding their knees under them and listening intently to him, though it was a little difficult at times to make out the words with the way his voice sounded like some great, crackling fire.

"When you do such things in places that are special to the spirits, you are inviting our interference."

Aang swallowed hard and looked at Katara, then back to the fire spirit. "Um... interference?" That doesn't sound good, he thought worriedly.

The spirit seemed amused. "In a manner of speaking. Your vows, or promises, if you prefer, will be sealed and blessed by me. If you accept this, you will be bound each to the other until time ends and all realms fade away. Is this something that you would wish?" he asked, looking not at Aang, but at Katara.

"Well, it's not just on me, Aang's a part of this, too," she replied carefully, glancing at him from the corner of her eyes and blushing, not sure yet what to think of this whole thing.

"I have already seen the depths of devotion held in the Avatar's heart for you, and it is more than sufficient to last as long as the bond. Now you must look inside yourself and decide if yours is a love to match his."

Katara's eyes went far away as she did as instructed, thinking about Aang and her feelings for him. She could feel his eyes on her, sense the desperate hope and longing and fear he was experiencing while waiting for her answer, and she looked deep, digging into places in her heart she'd never even noticed before. Some of what was there shamed her, and some of what was there made her happy, but most of all, everywhere she looked there was Aang. He was everywhere inside her, from her darkest to her lightest places, and it was then that she truly knew what her fate was. And she was happy about it, ecstatic that she was going to be so permanently joined to the young monk that had somehow coaxed her heart right out from under her without her even noticing.

She looked up, her eyes regaining their focus on the here and now, but before she could even speak the spirit did for her. "Then since you both wish it I will bind you to each other, hearts and souls."

Aang smiled brilliantly at her when he realized what the spirit was saying, and to Katara he'd never looked so joyous. It was like every burden he was carrying, every terrible thing he'd been through since finding out he was the avatar was simply gone, and in that moment the bright purity of his soul was there in his eyes and shining from his very flesh with radiant euphoria. This was the true Aang, boundless love just pouring from him with all his pain and doubts and insecurities simply gone as if they'd never existed... and he was the most beautiful thing the little waterbender had ever seen.

Suddenly, Aang knew just what the spirit wanted him to say, and he reached over and clasped both of Katara's hands and met her exultant gaze with absolute sincerity in his.

"I vow to remain with Katara in love, faith, and hope until my spirit fades into eternity and my consciousness no longer exists. I do this freely of my own will, and humbly ask that she accept my vow in return of my acceptance of her."

Barely able to draw breath with the intensity of the emotions running through her, Katara held his eyes as she spoke. "I vow to remain with Aang in love, faith, and hope until my spirit fades into eternity and my consciousness no longer exists. I do this freely of my own will, and humbly ask that he accept my vow in return of my acceptance of him."

As the two finished what the spirit had silently directed them to say a pulse went out from them and crossed the spirit world, and the roaring fire that had been the spirit a moment before whirled up around them like a hurricane and then washed over them both in a rushing whoosh. Neither had the time to even begin to think of fearing what was happening, and indeed there was no burning, no pain, just an effervescent feeling of something otherworldly communing with them.

After a few moments of that, both Aang and Katara gasped as they suddenly felt each other in ways they'd never been able to before. It was like being inside each other but still inside their own skin at the same time, a little confusing but more than that, as well. It was an intimate sharing between them of all of who and what they were as the fire welled up within them and forged the link between their souls, sealing it so that no one would ever be able to tear them apart.

It was anyone's guess how long the two young lovers were like that, sitting outside of time and space as their spirits were bound to each other in love and joy, but when they were finally able to notice things around them again they were once more back in the mortal world with the fire dying from around and within them.

"What I have joined together, let no mortal or spirit split asunder," the fire spirit - who'd not even told them his name – roared in a great voice, and then the flames they'd been anointed by finally dissipated back into the single, small flame resting above the water and the sense of great presence was muted once again, leaving them back in the oasis in silence.

For a moment the disconnect between what had happened and the suddenness of being returned to the mortal world left them both wondering whether they'd just imagined all of that, but when their eyes met and their new bond sparked between them they knew it had all been real. Both were still in a little bit of shock, but it wasn't a displeased shock – they were both very ecstatic about what had happened, it would just take some getting used to.

Katara found that she was no longer worried about Aang facing Ozai. Somehow she just knew that he would be fine, and that he would restore the balance to the world and save it. She smiled brilliantly at him, and he returned it.

"I'm glad you brought me here," she said, blushing a little shyly now that they were – relatively – alone again.

"Yeah," the young monk sighed happily, "you're finally mine now. This has been the best day of my life – you have no idea how long I've dreamed about, well... something like this, anyway," he finished a little awkwardly with a sheepish grin.

She blushed deeper but her smile widened. "I agree – this has been the best day of my life, too. But I think we should probably go... if we're gone any longer the others might panic and think we've been captured or something."

"Yeah," Aang agreed, though with some reluctance. But then that slightly mischievous glint appeared in his eyes again and he smirked. "But first..." He stood up and offered her a hand, and when she took it he pulled her straight up and into his arms. His eyes hooded and the expression in them was the same as it had been that night when they'd danced in that Fire Nation cave – it was enough to send her pulse racing and heat her blood. "The spirit forgot one thing... the part where he says 'you may kiss your bride', so I'm going to have to correct that."

With that he leaned into her and kissed her again, and this one was even better than the last. (Aang was a very fast learner when he put his mind to something, and he was definitely putting his mind to kissing her.) Katara was unable and unwilling to fight him for the pleasure, and she instantly melted into the embrace, eagerly returning his affection.

When it was over both were breathing hard and he was looking at her in a way he never really had before, with ardor and wonder and a wistful adoration gleaming in his eyes that took what little breath she had left away. He was perfect, and she cherished him and always would, so she answered his look with one of her own.

He smiled at her so beautifully that her heart just ached with the intensity of the emotions welling within her. "My... wife," he whispered. "My forever girl really is now. I love you so much, Katara."

The teenaged girl blinked as he addressed her as his wife, and then she grinned as she realized that she really was – they'd been married by the spirits themselves, and there was no more profound bond than what they now had. A human marriage ceremony simply couldn't have near the importance or impact of the connection they now shared.

"I like the sound of that," she said quietly as he took her by the hand again and began leading her away. "My... my husband," she tried the words out, and something inside her reverberated with the truth of them. He really was her husband now. "Yeah, I really like the sound of that. And... I love you, too."

Aang looked back at her and beamed.

Things weren't perfect, because nothing ever was, at least not while you were in the mortal world. He still had a battle to win, and there were a million and one other pressures on both of them... but they'd work them out. And the ups and downs every couple faced... well, they'd make it through those, too. Because at the end of the day, no matter what happened around them there would still be them.

And that was all that counted.