The One That Got Away | Kataang

Chapter 6- Beneath the Surface

The group of friends had been in the sky for about an hour now, and all of them were talking and laughing, well, almost all of them, Aang had preferred to stay on Appa's head by himself, as far as he could from her. Her presence was very hard for him, not to mention Tai's presence, but he couldn't invite everyone except her. Why did he invite Tai as well you might ask? Sokka told him that Tai had no family and all he had was Katara, so he knew that Katara would want him to come.

"Mind if I join you?" he heard from behind him. He turned around and saw Suki smiling at him. "No, come" he said moving aside making her space to sit next to him. Suki sat beside him silent for a few minutes before she talked. "Why aren't you coming to sit with us?" she asked. "it's not that I don't want to, it's just that...you know...seeing her is painful, and as you said, I need time" he answered and looked back on the group of friends who were laughing from something that Sokka said. "And seeing her in his arms, it is just hard. I'm happy that she has him don't get me wrong, but it's still hard" he explained looking down at his legs. "I understand, but I still don't want you to stay alone, it was supposed to be you hanging out with your friends after years apart" she said concerned. What could they do? they can't let Aang stay by himself like this while they're all together having fun. What was the point of inviting Tai and Katara so they wouldn't be alone if that meant that Aang would distance himself because he still wasn't ready to have her around?

"It's okay Suki, I'm fine with this" he tried to sound convincing without success. "Aang, you're not, and me neither. Look what we'll do, I'll be here with you, and as soon as we find somewhere to land, we'll do it so you can be with your friends without having to be around her, how does that sound?" she asked. He appreciated her so much for this, he never thought that he would become this close to her, but he did, Sokka was Lucky to have her. "Thanks Suki" he said and hugged her.

In the corner of her eye, Katara saw Suki hugging Aang. When did those two become so close? She asked herself. Wait! Wasn't Suki sitting near her like seven minutes ago? And if that was so, that meant that Aang was all alone since the moment they took off. How on earth didn't she notice that? Was Aang distancing himself because of her presence? Of course he does, Sokka said Aang needed time away from her. So why did he invite her and Tai? She didn't have to ask, she knew why, and it made her feel even worse, he wanted to spend some time with his friends, but her accepting the offer to come had prevented it. The way that he kept his distance, proved to her that despite what he asked Sokka to tell her, she was still a source of pain to him. Without noticing she was staring at Aang and Suki for a while, deep in her thoughts.

"Katara? Is everything okay?" Asked her brother. "What? Um...yes, yes, I'm fine" she mumbled, still distracted. "You sure?" it was still Sokka. In this instant, they noticed that they were about to land near a lake. When they finally landed, they got off Appa onto the ground. "So, why are we here?" Zuko asked confused. "We thought it would be a good idea to stop for a while, we can't spend all day in the sky now, aren't we?" Suki explained. "Can't argue with that" Toph replied happily being on the ground. She hated flying.

The group started chatting, and without anyone noticing Aang walked away and sat under a tree while playing with Momo. "Hey, why did Twinkle Toes just walk away from us? He's been distant all day! It's like he doesn't want to be around us...oh! Yeah...right" Toph started to get angry until she understood what happened. There was an awkward silence for a moment until Tai broke it. "Look guys, he is your friend, and you should spend some time with him, Katara and I will be okay with that" he said, feeling guilty about the avatar's inconvenience. "Are you sure?" Sokka asked. Both Katara and Tai nodded their heads in agreement.

"Hey, buddy" Zuko said as the group approached Aang. "Hi, sorry for not being with you all day" Aang apologized, still playing with Momo. "It's okay Twinkle Toes, we know how hard it must be for you" Toph replied as she sat beside him under the tree. Suddenly Aang's eyes were full of tears, and none of his friends understood why. "Aang...?" Zuko asked hesitantly. Sokka saw that Aang's eyes locked on something. He looked in that direction and realized what happened. It was Katara and Tai, hugging, it looked like Tai was comforting her, maybe something related to what made her so distracted minutes before they landed. "Do you want me to say something to them?" Sokka asked. "No, they didn't do anything wrong" Aang said, still tearing up. He really did lose her, he never thought that Katara could get comfort from another man but him, there were times that he was the only one with this ability, well not anymore.