Memory Lane: A Kataang Short Story

Memory Lane

Aang stands outside Katara's room in the Fire Nation Royal Palace. He and Zuko have been working tirelessly on the plans for Republic City the past few weeks, but he was able to take an evening off for his and Katara's three-year anniversary. He's dressed in a yellow silk blouse, dark red pants and a long red cape, holding a bouquet of fire lilies. He rubs his clean-shaven chin, wondering if Katara would let him grow a beard.

The door opens and Katara steps into the hallway. She's wearing a long satin dress that transitions from sky blue at the top to deep blue at the bottom. Her hair rests on her shoulders in brunette curls, and a smile lights up her face that takes Aang's breath away. "What do you think?" she asks, twirling in place so that her dress sparkles in the evening sun.

"Katara, you look amazing," Aang replies, putting his hand on her cheek and kissing her. Then he gestures to the bouquet. "These are for you."

Katara picks out a fire lily and ties it into her hair. She puts the rest of the flowers in a vase in her room. Aang holds out an arm, she takes it, and the two of them make their way out of the palace.

Appa is waiting for them just outside the palace's entrance. He growls affectionately as they approach. Aang picks up Katara and leaps onto Appa's saddle. She giggles as he sets her down. She notices a large basket in the back of the saddle. "Ooh, are we having a picnic? Where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there," he answers. "Oh, don't give me that look. It's called a surprise for a reason," he laughs as he kisses her.

Appa takes off, and they're only flying for a few minutes before they land on an island just outside the Fire Nation. It's a small grassy island speckled with trees, and its most prominent feature is a herd of sheep grazing at its center.

"It's quiet. I like it," Katara says.

"Do you remember it?"

"Umm..."

"It's the island we stayed at right before we invaded the Fire Nation. You know, when I got so stressed that I couldn't sleep for three days straight, so you guys made that bed for me out of sheep wool?"

"Oh yeah! But those weren't exactly good memories. Why did you want to come back here?"

"I mean, Ozai isn't a threat anymore. Besides, not all my memories were bad." He takes her hand and leads her to the edge of a cliff overlooking miles of ocean. "You see, I had a lot of hallucinations the day before the invasion, and one was that we kissed."

"Is that so?" Katara asks, grinning.

"Yep. I gave you a very romantic speech, and I thought you might like to hear it. I was standing right here, looking out at the water, and you were standing behind me. It went something like, 'All this time, I've been trying to find my purpose in fighting the war.'" He makes sweeping hand gestures as he talks. "'And now I know why I'm doing it. I'm doing it to save the world. But more than that. I'm doing it for the people I love. I'm doing it for you, Katara.'" He turns around dramatically and looks her dead in the eyes. "And then you said, 'Aang, what are you saying?'"

Katara scoffs. "My voice is not that high."

"And I said, 'I'm saying, I love you.' And then I did this." He leans forward and kisses her.

She laughs. With foreheads touching, she asks, "Did I kiss you back?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then," she says, kissing him back. "You really had this whole conversation during your hallucination?"

"Oh, it gets better. So we finish up our kiss, and you have the biggest smile on your face. You ask me, 'What are we doing?' And I say, 'What our hearts have been telling us to do for a long, long time.'" He throws his arms up to the sky. "'Baby,'" he exclaims, grabbing Katara's waist and swinging her downward. She shrieks in delight. "'You're my forever girl.'" He leans down and gives her a prolonged kiss.

When they're done, Katara stands back up and looks at Aang quizzically. "Forever girl, huh."

"Listen, I was only 112 years old. Besides, it's true. Ever since we met, I've never been able to picture myself with anyone but you."

"Oh, stop it, Aang, you're gonna make me tearbend."

They both burst out laughing.

"You know," Aang says, "that play is single-handedly the worst thing I have ever seen."

"I know! It's not like I was in love with every boy we passed."

"If you were, I would've been throwing some hands." He cracks his knuckles.

Katara laughs. "Well, no one is messing with the Avatar's girl now."

Aang smiles. "That's right. Besides, no one else can do this." He earthbends a large circle of rock from the ground, then raises six cylindrical stone pedestals around it. He uses airbending to lift candles from the picnic basket onto the pedestals, and lights them with firebending. He flies over to Appa, grabs a blanket from the basket, then flies to the middle of the stone circle and spreads the blanket on the ground. He stands up and throws his arms in the air, a huge grin on his face.

Katara claps. "Bravo. Beautiful performance. You only forgot one thing: the food." She takes water from the sea below and creates a small wave under her feet, carries herself over to Appa, grabs the picnic basket, rides the wave over to Aang, hops onto the blanket, and dissolves the wave into mist.

Aang blushes. "Gosh, I love it when you do that."

They sit down on the blanket and feast on dumplings and sea prunes, reminiscing about their adventures together before they started dating.

"Remember when I accidentally got enrolled in a school in the Fire Nation?" Aang asks.

"How could I forget? You got in trouble for fighting with another student and Sokka and I had to pretend to be your parents."

"To be fair, the other guy started it. And I didn't even touch him."

"And then you decided to host a dance party for the entire school in the cave we were staying in. No one knew how to dance, so you started dancing with that one girl, and Sokka said you looked cute together, and I— well, it doesn't matter, but—"

"Hold up. Were you jealous?" Aang laughs in disbelief.

"Well, I... maybe a little."

Aang grins from ear to ear. "So you did have a crush on me! I knew it!"

Katara shrugs. "Let's just say I was relieved when you asked me to dance afterwards."

"It was the highlight of my night." He stands and offers his hand to her. "Miss Katara Watertribe, would you care for a dance?"

"Right now? Oh, I don't know, it's been so long," she says as she runs her fingers through her hair.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! I even have music!" He reaches inside the basket and pulls out a small stereo. He sets it down, presses a button, and upbeat music starts to play. He reaches out his hand again. Katara gives him a small smile as she takes it and he pulls her up. They move everything onto the grass and stand in the middle of the stone circle. They bow, extend their left arms toward each other, and take slow, counterclockwise steps. Maintaining eye contact, they switch arms and move in the opposite direction. After that, they begin twirling around each other, taking turns kicking and ducking, flipping and rolling as if in a graceful duel. Aang leaps high in the air as Katara cartwheels under him. A trail of water slowly forms in the air behind Katara and traces her twists and turns. Aang turns the water to ice and starts riding the trail, closing the distance between them. Once Katara is in reach, he picks her up and spins her around. Then, he slows to a stop and sets her down, both breathing heavily.

Katara strokes Aang's cheek and smiles. "I love you."

He smiles back. "I love you more."

They lean in, close their eyes, and their lips meet.