Waking Wind

Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA

A/N: Lol... I couldn't help it... I really couldn't, I'm just really not built for angst D: anyway, I also wanted to practice a bit of pre-teen/teen Aang and Katara... if you haven't already guessed, this is a sequel to my angst story "Whispering Wind" hurray for angst relief XD. You should read that before you read this though, so you know why Katara is such a wreck in this story. I sincerely hope you enjoy it!

"Katara..." The wind called, "Katara..."

"No... please stop..." Katara shut her eyes tight, trying to hide from the memory, the pain... it was too much.

"Katara...?" The whisper was a lot louder now, questioning. "Katara, wake up!" The master waterbender gasped as she sat up in bed, effectively smashing her forehead against the person trying to wake her up. "Ouch!" A familiar voice gasped. Katara's eyes widened and she jerked her attention to the voice, her eyes watering when she saw Aang.

"Y-You're... you're alive... you...how can this be?" She asked, her voice quivering. After he had rubbed his head and looked over, Aang's eyes widened in shock at the sight of Katara crying and rushed over to her side immediately.

"W-What are you talking about? Please don't cry! I don't know what to do when you cry!" The young airbender pleaded, awkwardly pulling her into a hug, feeling her sink into him.

"Was it really just a dream? A horrible, horrible dream?" She asked softly, shuddering as another sob racked her body.

"You're asking if I'm alive, well clearly I am... I'm here, Katara... it was just a dream... so please, please stop crying..." Aang begged, his embrace tightening on her. Katara buried her face in his shirt and concentrated in the feeling of Aang comforting her, holding her.

He was alive!

Could all of that really have just been a bad dream? Aang fell back onto the bed, unable to hold Katara up in the angle he had previously sat on the bed in with all her weight being pushed on him, it didn't matter anyway. Aang sighed in relief when Katara's wracking distress seemed to die down significantly. He rubbed her back and just lay there silently, content to just be there with her.

When Katara had calmed down enough, she told him of her dream. She told him how real it felt, how he had died because of a wound during the fight that just got worse and worse... how she couldn't accept his death, how she wished she had insisted she check to see if he was alright when he started showing signs of being ill. "But... Katara," he began after he had lay there with her and listened quietly, "you did insist, you looked over me and you caught my injury on time! You sealed it... I'm fine, I'm not going anywhere," he repeated, feeling her nod in agreement against him. She did not let him go however so he knew she was still feeling lost. "Look, if it'll make you feel better, would you like to check again?" he asked.

Katara smiled softly and nodded again, pulling away from him to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry, Aang... I don't mean to be such a bother," she said quietly.

Aang shook his head briskly, giving her one of his rare, serious looks. "I'm completely okay with it, its okay, alright?" he insisted and pulled away from her. Katara stood up from bed, thankful she had chosen to go to sleep in her sleeping gown the night before, otherwise, it might have been a bit awkward for them, especially if anyone happened to walk in unannounced. Aang knew the drill, he removed his shirt and crawled on the bed again, laying flat on his stomach.

"This might tingle a little..." Katara warned, summoning the water from her pouch nearby to cover over her hands. She knelt by the bed and studied his back closely... besides the scar that still remained, though it had already started healing as much as it could, she didn't see anything amiss. Katara wanted to make sure though, so she placed her hands on his back, trailing her fingers down the length of his tattoo. She felt him shiver under her touch but chose to ignore that, wanting to concentrate on her task.

Aang felt his eyes shutting on their own accord as he relaxed on the bed, enjoying the simple feeling of her hands caressing him, though he knew she wasn't doing this simply out of affection, he didn't care either way, it still felt darn good. Katara continued to search his back, checking for signs of damage, a crack, a scrape, anything that could tear open and make him bleed to death... but she found nothing so far. She smiled softly when her hands trailed to his sides, causing him to gasp and try to contain a giggle. "Sorry," she apologized, watching his shake his head in dismissal and sigh in content.

Once she was sure he was in tip-top shape she sat back on her haunches and let out a breath of relief. Aang smiled at her, sitting up and turning to give her his attention. "See? I told you nothing was wrong." Aang was taken aback when Katara suddenly hugged him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face on his shoulder. Aang, held her, a little less awkwardly than before and rubbed her back once more.

"I... I would have been completely lost if I lost you again..." she whispered, blushing in embarrassment. She felt Aang sigh more than heard him and once again felt his hold on her tighten in response to her words.

"I'm not leaving anytime soon," he told her, nuzzling his cheek against her hair. Katara felt the blush return but for different reasons. "That is of course unless those stuffy politicians need my "counsel" in restoring the world again... then I'll have to leave – but only temporarily!" Aang added hastily when he felt her tense.

"If that's the case..." her muffled voice said and she pulled away to look at him, "then I'm coming with you from now on," she said stubbornly.

"Ah... well..." Aang rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't think you'd like that, its terribly boring..." Katara simply raised an eyebrow at him. "Besides, you really should take some time to visit your family after being apart from them for so long..." Aang added.

"Are you saying you don't want me around you?" Katara asked. Though she was still recovering from the horrible dream, she felt she was back to normal enough to tease him.

"What? No! No, that's n-not what I'm saying!" Aang protested defensibly, "I-I just meant that I-" but Katara's laugh halted his words and he understood then that she was just pulling his leg, so he sighed in relief for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Aang, you should know by now that when I make my mind over something, there's no way anyone can change it. I'm coming with you and that's that, got it?" Katara insisted with a warm smile. Aang's own smile grew toothy, a blush very evident on his cheeks.

"I'd like that, Katara." The horrible dream was behind her now. Now she was ready to stay by his side. Now she was ready to start living.

End A/N: Well there ya have it, more mindless fluff lol I think I'm getting pretty darn good at this fandom XD please let me know what you thought of this!