The Two Of Us - An ALTA X Reader Fanfiction

Chapter Eight ~ Hide and Seek

(Y/N'S POV)

We must have been in the tub for a while, because next thing I knew, I was being shaken lightly.

"Y/N?" Aang whispered, and I looked up at him curiously, and he put a finger to his lips, pointing towards the door. Listening intently, I heard someone speaking. Toph to be exact.

"I have no idea! I can't feel anyone walking around, there's no movement."

Realization hit me as I looked at Aang.

"They're looking for us." I whispered, and he grinned, nodding.

Carefully, he bended the water up and off of us, and I got off of him, letting him help me out of the tub as lightly as possible onto a pile of clothes.

The talking outside continued, so I assumed Toph hadn't heard us. I was right, and the voices retreated after a minute, fading into the distance.

Aang stepped out of the bath, putting the water back and using his airbending to dry us both quickly. We got dressed as efficiently as possible, and then made our way to the door, where I peered under the door to see a pair of boots.

Standing quickly I pointed to the door and shook my head. Aang nodded, looking around and then pointing to the half-opened window. My heart leapt to my throat. I was terrified of heights, although I had never told him, and we were on the third floor.

The door handle jiggled and I looked back to Aang, nodding. We didn't have time for me to be afraid.

Aang grabbed my waist, pulling me to him, and launched us out the window, using a bit of airbending to unlock the door for the other person on our way out.

We landed on the roof above them, and I was promptly pulled down into a sitting position next to him. We waited for any noise, and heard Zuko below us in the bathroom.

"They aren't here either!" he yelled, and his footsteps retreated as well.

Aang smiled at me, and we moved across the roof quickly, keeping low and staying in the shadows. I wasn't sure why we were hiding, but now it was fun, and it was enough of a reason for me.

We finally made it to a small dent in the roof, and Aang sat down, outstretching his arms as an invitation for me. I obliged more than happily, settling down next to him, leaning against the roof.

"I made this little place while back. It's the perfect hiding spot, no one has ever found it." he boasted, really proud with himself. I smiled for him, impressed.

"It's because it's in plain sight. When people are looking for you, they don't go for the obvious spots, because they're..well..obvious. So if you hide in plain sight, they won't even think to look for you."

He nodded, impressed with my knowledge, and I smiled. I loved making him proud of me.

"Well, we should probably stay here a while." he said, stretching out and looking up to me.

"What are we gonna do while we hide?" I asked innocently, curious as to how he passed his alone time.

A blush spread across his face from ear to ear, and I got an idea of what he does in his alone time.

"Well, we could always talk?" he suggested, glancing away from me purposely. I smiled appreciatively.

"Talking sounds nice."

(AANG'S POV)

Man, this girl had a bad habit of making me red in the face. Especially since I realized she still wasn't wearing pants.

I kept my eyes trained on the sky above us, and we talked about all sorts of things. About halfway through the day we could hear Katara shouting from the courtyard below.

"Okay guys! We give up. Come on out, please?"

I snickered and shook my head, looking at Y/N for her opinion. She shook her head, sticking her tongue out in Katara's direction, and I laughed quietly, then looked up.

"Wanna go somewhere else? I know somewhere that we can get something to eat, and it's a lot more...private." I hesitated on the last part, and Y/N thought it over.

"I think that sounds lovely." she murmured, and I lit up, excited.

***time skip brought to you by near future sexy-times***

We finally arrived, a couple hours before sundown, and I earthbended the doorway of my secret hideout open. She stepped inside, her eyes wide and smile big as she took in my little encove. It wasn't very big, merely a single room, with a few small holes in the ceiling, covered windows to the sky. It let in light, but not a ton, and illuminated the small bed in the corner, my desk, and a bunch of scrolls of both empty and drawn on paper. My ink sat in a pile next to the desk, and I cursed myself for not thinking to pick up this place more often.

Moving across the room, Y/N danced in the sunbeams for a moment before sitting down on the elevated bed.

"It's lovely, Aang." she smiled earnestly at me and I melted at her smile. I swear, this girl could kill me with a look.

"I made it myself about a year ago, when I needed a place to go to just be alone." I explained, smiling at the memory. "It took quite a while, but it works."

Nodding, she responded. "It does. It suits you." She ran a hand across the bedspread, and flopped down, watching me as I moved to sit at my desk and began to paint again.

For the next couple hours, until it got too dark to see, I sat at my desk, painting a landscape I had been working on for a while now. Y/N watched me, a soft smile on her features as she lay there.

When it finally got too dark to see, I put my ink up and turned to Y/N to see her sound asleep on the bed.

Stripping down to my pants, I moved her over gently and slid in the bed next to her, pulling her against me again. I could really get used to sleeping like this, with Y/N resting peacefully in my arms.

I couldn't manage to fall asleep though, and I lay content, simply watching her sleep. Every once in a while her face would contort, as if she were having a dream or nightmare. I held her close, rubbing her back when she seemed scared, and traced small patterns on her skin the rest of the time.

After a few hours I felt an uncomfortable tightening in my pants, and I sighed. Yes, she was absolutely beautiful and of course I wanted her, but I wouldn't do that to her. Not like this. I mean, we hadn't even kissed yet, and it had been what, a single day since I had acted on any of my long term feelings? Just because I have liked her for months now doesn't make it acceptable, right? Not to mention my personal beliefs. The monks raised me to believe in celibacy until marriage. Realistically, it was getting harder and harder to find reasons to continue to fight my feelings for Y/N, and the only thing still stopping me was the ingrained need to preserve as many aspects of my culture as I could.

My head was spinning with all of my thoughts and I squeezed her a little tighter to me, just trying to enjoy her presence without thinking about...that.