Walk The Path

Chapter Sixteen

*Sexual content ahead*

The hot, sunny days began to fade as Aang increased his daily training. In addition to meditating twice a day and practicing tai chi once a day, he strengthened his bending in at least two elements per day. He felt stronger, more agile, and more confident. The aches and pains in his joints were now a distant memory. By the beginning of September, Aang was feeling more like himself than he ever has. He had more time to train when school started because Principal Joo Dee allowed him to attend virtual academic classes and be personally instructed by Pakku, Jeong Jeong, and Bumi at the mansion. Even though he didn't get to see most of his friends or Katara during the week, he did get to spend more time with Zuko who was now a high school graduate with plenty of time to push Aang on his hot squats.

There was a bitter, cold chill in the air as September waned. Aang's 18th birthday was two weeks away but he was more focused on Katara at the moment. Even though they had spent more time with each since his return, their meetings had been fairly tame. The couple were often in his bed, kissing and hands exploring between the two of them, but somehow, they would gradually stop and neither of them would initiate anything more. Everytime Aang got the nerve to tell Katara how he felt, he sensed some hesitation on her part, leaving him to wait for another time. They had exhausted their streaming services for movie nights, and began to grow bored of games to play together.

One school night, Katara came over so they could watch a new-ish scary movie that came out three months ago. Aang wrapped his arm around her shoulder to snuggle close to her as they sat on his bed and watched the movie on his tv. He was amazed how cute she was at every cheap jump scare in the film. During a boring info dump scene, he began to lightly kiss her lips. She returned the kiss with passion. Noting this signal, Aang broke away and started to kiss her jaw and trail kisses down her neck. When he reached her collarbone, he felt her pull away. He regarded her with a puzzled look on his face.

"Do you want me to stop?" Aang asked in a hushed tone. Katara shrank in on herself, feeling shy, "I don't know." This answer hurt him more than he thought it would. Questions ran through his mind, "Does she not find me attractive anymore? Why does she want to stop? Am I doing something wrong?" Aang shook these thoughts away to focus on one, simple question. "Katara," he sighed, "What's going on?" She looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?" He sighed again, slightly annoyed, "You know what I mean. The past few weeks when I kiss you lower than your neck, you pull away. Am I doing something wrong?" Katara looked at him with wide eyes, "No! It's not you." Aang frowned, not wanting to ask but knew he had to, "So...what's changed?"

Katara gathered her strength and exhaled fully before responding, "Well, it's kind of hard to explain I guess. I do want to...do more with you, but whenever we get closer, an image of you in the hospital flashes in my mind. It's like, I see how you were and then I feel just like I did then, full of sadness. It's hard to get rid of that image when it comes up. I'm also unsure of how far you're able to go...physically. So I freeze, I guess. I don't really know if that makes any sense." Aang smiled and caressed her cheek with the palm of his hand, "That makes total sense, Katara. I went through something traumatic, but so did you. That doesn't just go away. We don't have to do anything, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. And as for physical stuff...I'm capable of doing everything we've done before."

Aang's lopsided grin made her blush, like he had done so many times before. This time, however, it felt unique and hopeful. She giggled before shaking her silly feeling away, "Well, that's good to know that you're feeling back to normal. I think this would be easier if Ozai was defeated and this was all behind us. But it's not, and I want to know for sure that when you fight him that this will all remain the same." Now it was Aang's turn to look sad. He knew the words she spoke were true and so painfully correct. There was no guarantee that he would defeat Ozai nor was there a way to predict Aang coming back in one piece. His eyes shiny with tears as he smiled weakly, "That's something I can't promise, Katara. But, I'm training harder than ever, and when the time comes, I will defeat him. I promise. I won't be distracted and I won't hesitate.."