Coming Together

Progress

Aang held her close and she could feel herself wanting to start sobbing again.

"Please tell me what's wrong."

Her breath hitched in her throat as she pulled away from him, stifling a sob and looking him in the eyes. For a moment she just took him in. The sight of him, his arms around her, pinned against her front door with a look of concern on his face that made her want to confess everything. His eyes were that beautiful silver she loved so much and saw right through her, deep into her soul. Her grip on his robes tightened.

"Aang... what are we?" She asked softly. He was quiet but calm, trying to figure out the meaning behind such a simple question.

"Human? I'm sorry, I don't understand." He said with a look of discomfort on his face.

"No. I mean us. You and I. Am I your companion? Are you my boyfriend? Are we lovers?"

"Why are you asking this?"

"I need to know where we stand."

"Well, we're together. That part's pretty obvious. At least... it was to me." He said softly and she pushed away from him, holding her head in her hands.

"It is to me too, but how is my question." She said, frustrated.

"Do we have to label it? Is that important to you?"

"Is is unimportant to you?"

He sighed and walked over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"Labeling is black and white. It doesn't give room for things to go from one thing to another seamlessly. I just feel that labeling what we have is hard because we don't really fit into any of the categories you've listed. Yes, we are together. We're friends... but not at the same time. I want to be with you... but being called your boyfriend seems a little immature for us. We're not really lovers because, well, we've never..." He cut himself off, blushing at where that sentence was going. She didn't seem amused.

"Katara, I don't know what I have done to make you so upset. Whatever I did, I am so sorry. I don't know where all of this is coming from."

"It's the flower." She said quietly and looked him in the eyes.

"Flower? The one I gave you over a week ago? Why is that bringing all of this up now? Did you not like it? I can buy you something else if you want..." He said, a little hurt.

"No Aang... It's what the flower means..."

It was dead silent. He didn't know what to say. He blushed and rubbed the back of his neck and she just stared him down. He looked away from her and fiddled with his robes. The tension was so thick. He looked at his shoes when he spoke.

"I didn't know you would find out... I'm sorry. I didn't meant to-.... If you don't..." He gulped and felt like he was being destroyed from the inside out. "I didn't-... If you don't feel the same way..." He couldn't finished his sentence. She could almost hear his heart breaking and shook her head furiously.

"No! It's not like that!" She said and took his face in her hands, his eyes meeting hers. She could see that his were filled with tears and she couldn't take it. "Aang... it's the opposite... I love that flower because of what it means... what it means for us..." She said, still afraid to say it. He smiled and pressed her hand to his face.