And this is the chapter where I finally settle in with a plot, and from here on, it gets cooler! Again, I only own an avatar cosplay, not the actual show, or anything else..Sucks.

Chapter 6: Zyaka.

Walking over to a tree, Aang sat down underneath it and crossed his legs. He laid the back of his opened palms on his knees, and took a moment to focus on his breathing. The bad weather from the past few days had finally cleared up, and had been replaced by a slightly windy but comfortable atmosphere. Aang squinted up at the sky and could barely make out a few stormy clouds drifting away from the valley. Looking back down, he straightened his back and closed his eyes. He concentrated on hard on his breathing as he cleared his mind of all thoughts. The melody of the birds chirping above him in the tree faded away as Aang went deeper into his meditation.

Back inside the building, Sokka and Toph knocked on Katara's door. Zyaka had finally allowed Katara to get out of bed for a short while and the two were eager to visit her.
"Just a minute," Katara called while she carefully got out of bed and slipped into her clothes. She made sure her clothes were comfortable, especially by the wound on her back. "Ok, you can come in now," she called to Toph and Sokka. She smiled as the two entered the room, but her face fell when she saw Aang wasn't with them. "Where is he?" she asked as soon as they were over the threshold.
Sokka chuckled darkly, obviously realizing whom the 'he' Katara was referring to was. "I don't know. I haven't seen him today. He was already gone when we woke up."
Katara looked down, away from Toph and Sokka.
"He did seem pretty… upset yesterday when I saw him." Toph said looking sympathetically in what she hoped was Katara's direction. Instead of copying Toph's sympathy, Sokka looked down at his stomach. "Well, whatever. Aang will be fine. I think. But we won't if we don't get some food. I'm starving," he said before turning back to the door.

"What!?" Katara cried out, staring at Sokka in disbelief. "Aang is in complete despair, he goes missing, and all you can think about your stomach!"
Toph raised her eyebrows, but Sokka spoke. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I'm hungry. And Aang will be fine like he always is. I don't know…I'm just hungry!" he said, sighing and looking down at his sister. Katara clenched her teeth. "Fine! You go eat! I'm going to search for Aang! Come on, Toph." Toph looked in Katara's direction, and then turned to Sokka and then back. "Well….actually…I don't know, Katara! I'm hungry too, but Aang is gone and I just can't eat while he's missing. Did you even see him yesterday, Sokka?"
Scowling slightly, Sokka admitted defeat. They had a point, he thought. Aang wasn't the cheerful Airbender they had found in the iceberg anymore. He was completely devastated. Sokka sighed. "Alright, let's go find Aang. But only if we go get food afterwards". Katara smiled, nodding at her brother in agreement as they left the room to search for Aang.

Aang blinked his eyes open and closed a few times. He looked confusedly around the garden, wondering why he had stopped meditating. He rubbed his hands together, and held them against his face for a few seconds. Something changed, but he didn't know what. He carefully stood up and took a step forward. He could see that the good weather had disappeared and the sky was full of big black clouds again. "Huh?" he mumbled, then turning around to find his own body still sitting cross-legged beneath the tree. He frowned. How did he get in the spirit world? He didn't even want to go there. Suddenly he heard a mixture of familiar voices coming from below the hill. He stood up and strode over to see Katara, Sokka and Toph walking up the hill towards his body.
"Aang? Aang? Wake up." Katara said as the little group reached his body. As they stood around him, Sokka carefully poked Aang on his head. He frowned when Aang didn't reply. "Ok. He's fine. He's only meditating." Sokka said, oblivious to what was going on. However, Toph leaned over towards Sokka and punched him in the arm.
"Hey. What did you do that for?" he said while rubbing his upper arm in the pain. Toph just sighed.
"Aang? Wake up!" Katara said to the prone figure in front of her again.

Aang looked over and waved at Katara. "I'm right here!" he called. Then he looked down at the ground. "Of course. I'm in the spirit world. You can't hear me," he mumbled to no one in particular. He stamped his feet on the ground in anger. "Argh! I want to go back to the normal world!"
Katara took a seat in front of his body. She crossed her legs like Aang had done and stared at his arrows.
"Katara?" Katara looked up to Sokka, a bit startled. "Huh? Oh yeah." she mumbled. "Sitting and staring at him won't help much." Katara said gloomily. "I know. You can go and get some food if you want too. I'll stay with Aang until he wakes up." she offered.
Sokka stared at her for a second, and then smiled. "Finally. We get to eat!" he said cheerfully, punching his fist in the air.
"What about the healer-lady-person-thing? Will she approve?" Toph asked. Katara thought about it for a moment, and then sighed. "I don't actually. My back twinges a little now and again, but I can't leave Aang here alone." she admitted.
"We'll figure something out," Toph said with a sly smile.
"Hey, Toph, come on!" Sokka shouted. He was already at the bottom of the hill, waiting for Toph to join him. Katara smiled to herself as Toph turned around and walked down the hill towards Sokka.

Aang looked over at Katara. She was still sitting in front of his body, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't return to the normal world. Why was he even in the spirit world? He didn't want to be there.
Again, Katara stared at Aang without knowing the problem. "I know these are rough times for you, Aang, but you can't keep moping about it. It's rough for everyone, for Sokka, for Toph. Even I am having a rough time. I know you feel guilty about me getting hurt, but…but…I don't want you to," she said. A small shining tear welled up in her eye.
Aang looked down at his feet. She was right. They where all having a difficult time, but he really was the only one doing nothing about it.
Katara continued, "I don't want you to feel guilty. It was supposed to happen. And…" she paused for a moment, and looked away from Aang, her cheeks turning red. She wasn't sure if she should say it. But before she could even think about it, she spoke. "And because I love you, Aang." she confessed in a whisper. Now, for just a moment, she hoped he really was meditating, and not by any chance listening.
Aang blinked. Did he actually hear Katara say that? Did he? He had been in love with her ever since he got out of the iceberg last year, but he never really believed it would work out between them. Katara gazed at Aang's closed eyes. Aang, still in spirit form, walked over and sat down next to Katara, leaned forward to reach her ears. "I love you too, Katara." he whispered.

He knew she couldn't hear it, but he still told her. Just then though, Katara carefully stretched her hands out and grabbed his fists, which he was firmly holding together with the two arrows pointing at each other. A stream of energy started surging through Aang's body, towards his hands, and then flowed into Katara's hands. She also felt a surge of energy going towards her hands. It was a weird feeling, but not in a bad way. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting the energy flow through her whole body. Aang and Katara's hearts both started beating faster and faster, and everything started fading into darkness. Soon Aang couldn't see anything anymore. He could only feel how his heart was beating rapidly, and how the energy surged through his body.

After a few minutes, the feeling started to ebb away and Aang opened his eyes slowly. He saw Katara sitting front of him, holding his fists. "Huh? Katara?" he mumbled.
Katara quickly opened her own eyes, and realized that Aang had gotten out of his meditating state. "Aang!" she said in surprise. Aang smiled and looked at her hands, still holding his fists. Katara blushed and let go of his hands. The energy that had been surging through their bodies' moments before died away, and Katara returned the smile nervously. "Ummmm."

After a second, Katara's smile faded away, but Aang kept grinning. "Was your meditation okay?" was the only thing she could think of asking him. Aang leaned forward and put his arms around her, and laid his head in her shoulders as a reply. Katara blinked before putting her arms around him as well. Aang leaned back out of the hug, and put his arms on his lap. "Yes. It went well. Couldn't have been better." he said, smiling again.
Katara raised an eyebrow a little, but then…. "Katara? Asked Aang, his cheeks turning red. Katara nodded expectantly, waiting for him to continue.
"I-I" he said, stumbling over his words. "I love you too."
Katara's eyes widened. "What?" she asked, still a bit confused about the past few minutes.
"I love you." Aang confessed, and then leaned back over towards Katara. He wrapped his arms around her, and then looked at her for another moment. They both smiled at each other. It was like the world around them disappeared. It was just the two of them, together in their own world. Katara also wrapped her arms around Aang, and leaned forward to meet his face. Aang gently kissed Katara on her lips. Katara's cheeks turned bright red, but she did not resist. Suddenly, the moment was shattered when somebody came walking up the hill, shouting at to them. "Katara! Where are you!"