Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Chapter Two
Later on someone knocked on her door, disturbing the sleeping girl from her darkness of slumber. Katara's eyes fluttered open and she sat up slowly, yawning. She felt a little disorientated, and she looked at the clock, squinting a little from the dim light. Coming home, Katara had not thought to turn on her bedroom light because there was no energy in her body. She fell asleep at 3:30; now it was a little after seven at night.
The knocking continued and Katara called, tiredly, "Who is it?" The door opened and the light came on, making the girl blink and rub her eyes in order to get them adjusted to the brightness. It was Hakoda, looking through her doorway.
He said, "It's time for dinner." Then he noticed that her eyes were red a little bit and knew that she was crying. He came into the room, closed the door and sat at the foot of her bed. "Is there something wrong, Katara?" His voice was full of concern.
Katara shook her head then wiped her eyes, hoping there weren't any tears remaining. "No, dad. I was just thinking about mom. I'm fine." Hakoda could tell that her mother's death still bothered her, even after all these years. He opened his arms and Katara went into them willingly, wanting some comfort in her father’s presence. As much as missed her mother, Katara was glad that Hakoda was still around and prayed he will be for years to come. She breathed in his scent and started to feel more relaxed, knowing that her father is still there for her.
They sat like that for a couple of minutes until Hakoda spoke. "You were in a rush when we got home. I didn't get the chance to ask you about school. Did you like it?" Katara nodded, still in her loving father’s arms. "Will you tell me about it?" Hakoda then asked. Katara released herself from her father's hold and started going into the details about how school went. She talked about her classes, teachers and her new friends.
Katara decided to speak about Aang at the end. "Aang was the first friend I made today. He was… different from the others. He's free spirited and kind and caring. He has a sense of humor and is great to be around. You should meet him; he might come over some time because we’re neighbors. He was that kid I ran to when we were about to go home. Aang’s a great friend. I'm really glad I met him," she finished. Hakoda listened to what his daughter said and smiled, seemingly happy for her.
"Well," he said, "I'm glad you had a nice day, Katara. Now come along. It's time to eat." They exited out of the room and went downstairs. Sokka was sitting on the couch watching TV when he heard their footsteps. He turned off MTV and went to the kitchen. He looked impatient and Katara knew why; food was like the reason for his existence and without it, he would act like he was dying no matter how often he ate. It still surprised her that her brother could eat so much without gaining weight.
"Took you guys long enough," he complained. Katara rolled her eyes. Sokka was always hungry, and it was like his stomach was a bottomless pit. Still, she didn’t waste her breath with her own sort of complaining. The family of three took plates and started loading them. They have chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and tea, juice and Kool-Aid. They ate in silence until someone knocked on the front door. Sokka got up as his father was about to. "I got it," he said. Katara looked at her father, a questioning gaze on her face. Hakoda just shrugged, but Katara thought she knew who would be here, something involving girls, anyway. Sure enough, when Sokka came back, Suki and Toph were at his side. Hakoda shot his son a questioning look.
"I invited them for dinner. You know, getting to know people," Sokka shrugged, going into the kitchen to grab a couple more plates for the girls.
His sister rolled her eyes. "Sokka, you've known Suki since kindergarten." She looked at Toph. "Hey Toph."
Toph nodded, looking a little bored. "Hey."
Hakoda cleared his throat, gesturing to the few empty chairs. "Sit down. You're welcome to dine with us. There's plenty for everyone." Suki and Toph sat down and dug in. Conversations were being exchanged across the table and everything seemed livelier now; Katara couldn’t remember the last time she had spent time with her friends, laughing and joking. From the small smile on Toph’s face to Sokka’s and Suki’s beaming expressions, she thought things were happy and going nicely for her and her family.
Just then the doorbell rang and the talking died down; Sokka looked puzzled and shrugged when everyone looked at him, showing is own confusion. He didn’t invite anyone else. Katara got up and went to the door, feeling a curious tug in her body like something was pulling her. When she opened the door, Katara was surprised to see Aang standing there. He looked tired and strained, which made her worry for him. Aang swallowed. "Hey Katara, how's it going?" he asked quietly.
She frowned, looking worried. “Okay, I guess.” The girl studied him. “Are you alright? What are you doing here?"
Aang rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… back at school, I kinda ran off on you and would like a chance to explain why. Can we go somewhere private?"
Inside the dining room, Hakoda called, "Katara? Who is that at the door?"
Katara called back, "It's Aang." She looked back at him. "Just a second." Stepping away from the door, the girl told her father that she will be right back. Then she left the house with Aang, Katara leading to the pond out back, surrounded by trees, knowing people would not be able to hear them while they talked. The two of them sat on the grass and things were quiet in the night. Aang picked at the grass, frowning in thought, while Katara waited for him to begin patiently.
Finally, he took a deep breath and began. "Look, um…I’m not supposed to tell you this, but I’ve thought about it all day since the lot and decided you deserve to know the truth. I’m training to be a fighter, you see, and I didn’t want you to know because I thought you would think I was weird.”
Katara kept her eyes on him, tilting her head a little in puzzlement. "Why did you think that, Aang?" she asked "That sounds really cool if you ask me; at least you know how to defend yourself if need be."
He sighed, looking away again. "Well, I just thought that if you knew about it, and the secret behind it, you would think that I could be dangerous or something." He hesitated for a second before asking, "Katara, can you keep a secret?" Katara nodded, knowing that he needed her trust right now. "Alright. I got into a fight once before and…" He gulped hard. Katara sensed his hesitation, so she grabbed his hand, feeling the thrill again but ignored it so she could listen to him.
Aang looked back at her and said, "It wasn't pretty. It was probably the most terrifying thing I ever went through. The guys had tried to beat me, but somehow I had managed to fight him off. By accident, I broke his arm." He looked down, feeling ashamed of himself. When Aang was in that fight last year, he almost lost his life. Katara squeezed his hand as she saw tears well up in his eyes.
He gulped hard again, took another deep breath and tried to find his voice. It was too late to turn back now. "He tried to kill me, Katara." Katara gasped. Aang kept his head down as if speaking to himself more than her. "He had a dagger in his hand with a dragon hilt. He tried to slit my throat and stab me in the heart with it. When I grabbed the arm that held the knife, I broke it without thought of it. All I felt was adrenaline, fear pushing into my veins. I’ve never been so scared in my life before. He kept trying to get me, but I won in the end. I didn’t know how I won; all I remember was that in one second he was close to killing me, and the next he was on the ground. He was arrested after that. Then I learned what had happened; and knew there was no changing the past."
Tears streamed down his pale face, like water on smooth rock; Katara felt the urge to wipe them away. "I found out he killed my parents because they were wealthy; they died because of someone else’s greed. If anything happened to them, I would get the money.” Aang’s hand clenched in to fists, almost crushing hers but not minding it at all. “But I didn't care. My mom and dad are gone, their lives taken away. And there's nothing I can do about it. We came here because my uncle Gyatso thought it would be best, to keep me safe. Everything I knew, everyone I cared about, was gone." Katara had tears in her eyes from this; poor Aang had a hard year and it made her heart ache from his loss. Aang was full out crying and she wished she could make the pain go away.
She did the only thing she could. Katara hugged him, and he hugged back, making her right shoulder wet from his salty tears, but hid friend didn’t mind. This reminded Katara of when she confessed about her mom being dead, and she cried along with Aang, both mourning for something from the past, someone, or someone’s, to remain with them. They sat like that for a while. When the crying settled down a little bit, Katara spoke. "I'm so sorry, Aang. I wish I could take away the pain you’re feeling. But know that you’re not alone; I’ll be there for you."
They were still hugging. Aang was silent for a moment as her words were absorbed into his mind. Then he lifted his head so he could look at her. "Thanks, Katara," he murmured.
She wiped his tears from his beautiful gray eyes. Katara loved those eyes; they're so different from the irises she was used to seeing, different from the browns, blues, and greens. She looked back at the house and got an idea. "How about you come in for dinner? Some company might make you feel better."
Aang looked at the house. "I suppose I could go for that. Your dad wouldn’t mind, would he?”
She smiled. “Not at all; Suki and Toph are here too.”
He gave a little smile. “Okay, I’ll stay for a while. Do you have any vegetables or fruit?"
Katara hummed thoughtfully. "I think we do. Why?"
He shrugged. "I don't eat meat.”
His friend laughed. "Good to know. Come on; I’m sure we can find something to suit your stomach." She stood up and offered him her hand. He grabbed her hand and stood, following her to the front door where they entered. The people sitting at the table looked at them but didn’t say anything as the duo went into the kitchen. Katara started bringing out fruit and vegetables, along with a knife to cut them; seeing the blade, Aang jumped a little. Katara saw him movement, also noticing his paler skin, and placed the knife on the counter.
She walked over to him and said, "Why don't you sit down? I've got it covered." He gave a little smile and sat down at an empty chair, his eyes dark with the past; she could tell that it bothered him even after a little over a year. About 7 minutes later, there was a salad and some cut up fruit on the table for Aang, who smiled gratefully at the girl who made it for him. Katara sat down next to him and ate the rest of her food. Everybody continued their conversing while finishing their meal.
After dinner was over, Suki and Sokka went upstairs to do whatever couples do as Toph, Katara and Aang went into the living room to watch, or listen, to the TV. Hakoda went to his study on the opposite side of the ground floor. Katara was just flipping through the channels when her favorite show came on; American Idol. Toph looked bored at first, but when a girl sang 'Believe' by Britt Nicole, she started singing the song. Surprisingly, she has a great voice. Aang and Katara didn't know which to listen to; both were very good. After the song was done, they clapped and Toph blushed.
"Wow, Toph. I didn't know you could sing," Katara said.
Aang nodded, but then remembered that Toph's blind and said, "Neither did I. You're really good."
"Thanks, guys," Toph said, looking modest but slightly pleased by the praise. "I rarely sing though because I didn't want people to think I'm a sissy for singing songs from Britt and other pre-teen music." She shrugged and laid on the back cushions of the couch. They remained silent for the rest of the show.
Aang looked at his watch and jumped to his feet, looking shocked. "Holy Spirits! Gyatso; I forgot about him." He looked at the girls. "I need to get home."
Katara stood up. "Okay. Do you want a ride or something? Or is your house not far?"
He shook his head. "No. I'll be okay. My house is about twenty minutes from here. Thanks, though." Aang turned to leave, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head and met Katara's warm gaze, and he was reminded of his feelings for her. His heart thundered in his chest as Aang stared at her. Then, unexpectedly, she hugged him, tight. He was shocked for a moment, cheeks turning red, and then he hugged her back, feeling her warmth seep into his body, oddly making him feel whole.
"I'm sorry about your parents," he heard her whisper, voice full of kindness. "But if you ever need anything, anything at all, you let us know." She pulled back so she could see his gray eyes, and Aang felt himself falling more in love with her. Then she said something that he didn't expect and will never forget. "We're your family now."
Aang smiled, feeling his heart swell. "Thanks, Katara. That means a lot to me." He walked out of the house and jogged down the road; then he stopped and waved back, seeing Katara watching him leave. He saw her wave back, and his face split in a huge grin. She watched him disappear before going back into the house.
Toph sat on the couch, her bare feet touching the floor and a smirk on her face. She said, "You should have felt your guys' heartbeats. They were faster than a hummingbird's." Her tone was smug, like she knew why this was so.
Katara walked past her. "I don't know what you're talking about. It was just a hug," she said, knowing she was lying.
Toph rolled her pale green eyes. "Pah-lease. You like each other. I can tell. And you can't lie to me. I can sense when people are lying."
Katara rolled her eyes as well and scoffed. "Whatever Toph. We don't like each other like that. We're just friends. Besides, I only met him earlier today and-"
She was cut off by Toph. "And you guys went to the yard out back, had a conversation about whatever, you hugged him when he started crying like a baby, then you cried yourself and everything went on from there." Toph smirked and crossed her arms and Katara's mouth dropped. Oh, how she hated the fact that her blind friend was so intuitive. Her extra senses made lying impossible. Just then, Sokka and Suki came downstairs. They were a little bit of a mess. Obviously they had been making out. Katara looked at the ceiling, shaking her head.
Sokka cleared his throat, looking a little embarrassed. "I'm… going to take Suki home. See ya." He grabbed her hand left in a rush. Once they were gone, Toph laughed so hard she clutched her sides. Katara didn't see what was so funny.
She breathed a heavy sigh and looked at her watch. It was 10:02 at night. She went over to Toph and said, "It's time for you go home, Toph. It's late. Your parents might be worried."
Toph laughed again. 'She sure does laugh a lot' thought Katara. The blind girl wiped her eye from a tear. "My parents wouldn't care about where I was," Toph said. "I could be gone for a week and they wouldn't even notice. And yes. I have done that before," she added that last part as Katara was about to asked the obvious question.
Katara clamped her mouth shut. She sat down and said, "Well, I'm not sure if you can sleep over. I could ask my dad if you want me to."
Toph nodded and Katara went into the dining room where her dad was reading a magazine. She convinced Hakoda to let Toph stay for the night. Katara kissed him on the cheek and said goodnight to him. She was tired and it was a long day. Katara went to one of the closets and grabbed a pillow and blanket for Toph. The 15 year old fell asleep instantly.
Katara walked up to her room and change into blue silk pajamas. She crawled into bed and went under the covers. She couldn't sleep though. She thought about Aang and his confession about his parents. She has never seen anyone so hurt and fragile before, like glass waiting to break at any moment. She rolled on her side and, as sleep consumed her, she thought about Aang, her mom and the sad memories that flooded her mind without a break. The last thing she remembered was holding Aang close to her body.
***
School has been going on for three weeks now. They went by really fast, almost on fast forward, speeding by without much notice until a certain point was observed. The day was almost over. School ends in a couple hours. The gang was outside enjoying the warmth of the sun. It's Wednesday, and the weekend was closing in and the group talked about what they could do for it.
"I don't have anything planned out. My parents are going out for their anniversary. Going on some getaway, I guess," Toph said with a shrug at the end.
The others didn't have anything planned, either, except Sokka and Suki. They're going over to Suki's place when her parents leave for a getaway of their own, letting the teenage couple have fun of their own. Lexi and Mat have a date on Saturday and are going to a birthday party on Sunday. That left Aang, Katara, Toph, Haru and Teo.
Sokka looked over at his sister, who is sitting next to Aang, and asked, "Hey, Katara?"
She looked over at him, putting her conversation on hold with Toph. "What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Doesn't Dad have a business convention this weekend?" When she nodded, he said to her, "Why don't you have a party or something while he's out?"
Her eyes went wide and she looked like she was choking on the air. Her friends were silent, looking from sibling to the other before each other. Only Suki looked embarrassed. Katara has never had a party while her dad was out. It wasn’t in her nature to be a rule-breaker. And when Sokka throws a party, she never attends them because she knew they would get out of hand. One time when he threw a party, without Hakoda's permission because he went out of town, some boy brought in alcohol, without anyone knowing, got drunk and destroyed the stereo system by falling on it.
Sokka took the blame when his father came home early to find a mess and Katara told him what happened because she was spying on what was going on. Sokka was in deep trouble and got grounded for two months without seeing Suki. That drove him nuts like you wouldn't believe. He didn't get to play games or whatever for those two months except go to school. Yeah, tough; but obviously he didn't learn his lesson and went on with parties when their father was out.
His sister rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Sokka, that's a really bad idea. Remember what happened last time you threw a party? Dad blew it when he found out about the drunk breaking the stereo system, and you couldn't do anything except go to school and I had to practically babysit you to keep you from talking to Suki. No thank you." Sometime during her little rant, she had crossed her arms and glared at her brother.
Everything went quiet. All of a sudden, Toph busted out laughing, and the others joined in, even Katara was laughing. The only ones not laughing are Sokka and Suki. They remember that party all too well. After the laughing ceased, and all eyes were wiped, Katara said, "So no. I'm NOT having a party that can and will go out of control."
As she was about to continue her conversation with Toph, Sokka interrupted. "But you'll be throwing it. You can invite a few people. Think of it as a hangout-time-with-friends sort of thing." When Katara didn't respond, he sighed. "Come one Katara. Have some fun once in a while and stop being a stick in the mud. You need to loosen up once in a while." Katara seemed to think about that. She doesn't like it when people call her a stick in the mud. Everyone was watching her. Finally, she sighed.
"Fine," she grumbled.
Sokka smiled, pleased he got under her skin. "Good, glad we got that covered." Katara rolled her eyes at her brother. Conversations went back on, going back to what they would do. Most of them had nothing going on and were planning on going out together anyway; still, it wouldn’t hurt to think of a few things to do. Katara was already thinking about who to invite. She's inviting Aang (no surprise there), Toph, Haru, Teo, a few girls, Alexandra, Madeline, and Sarah, and a few boys, Tom, Mark and Lee. Katara hoped that everything will go smoothly, that there will be no drunk people, no mishaps, and NO property being destroyed in the house; they needed to be responsible. There was no room for foolishness. For some reason, Katara's eyes went to Aang. She smiled. Already they were best friends, faster than she thought possible.
Aang felt someone gaze at him and he turned in her direction. He smiled back at her, assuring that everything will be okay, telling her silently that he will be there to help her. She nodded, grateful to have him around. They went back to their conversations. Katara's been having this weird feeling ever since she met Aang and she couldn't understand what it was.
There was something about him, something special. But these feelings that she gets when she's around him are hard to understand, but she likes them. Katara might even like him, as more than a friend…
School was back in session half an hour later and the gang had to go to their classes. They weren't happy about it, but they knew the rules.
Katara was still thinking about the whole party thing and couldn't get it out of her mind, so she started to get to work on her flyers for the party that's on Saturday. She's one of the best artists in the school and thinking of a design wasn't very hard for her. She made it brightly colored and decorated with music notes and drawn ribbons. After class, she went to a printer and made the copies for the people she wanted to invite. It would be at 7:00 p.m. at her house.
After the copies were made, she and Aang passed them out to Katara's friends. They decided that they would cover more ground if they split up. Katara was looking for her friends when she saw someone at the end of the hall. Her eyes widen as she gasped, almost dropping her papers. It was Jet! She didn't want him to see her; who knows what he would do if he caught sight of her. Again, dread filled her stomach, but she tried to remain calm. Katara backed away, real slow.
She almost made it to the next hall when he saw her, dark eyes glittering when they met her blue ones. He grinned at her, but not the warm, fluttery feeling kind; more like a cruel madman's grin, and Katara got a creepy chill run down her back; there was almost something malicious about the guy, something she learned of while going to school. Jet went over to her and got in her way as Katara was about to leave. How he got to her so fast, Katara had no idea.
Jet spotted the paper in her hands, protecting them from his sight, and he said, "What are those?"
Katara looked her flyers, then back at him. "It's none of your business." She sounded a lot calmer than she felt. Being around Jet didn't make her feel warm and safe like being around Aang did. He made her feel really uncomfortable.
Jet said, "Let me see." Instead of waiting for a reply, Jet grabbed one and Katara got multiple paper cuts on her fingers and she dropped the flyers. Jet looked over the piece of paper in his hands and his creepy grin went a little wider. "A party. I think me and my gang will come." He dropped the piece of paper and left a crying, bleeding Katara standing there. What she wasn't aware of was Aang standing behind the wall to the next hall. He came out and picked up the papers. He looked really concerned for the girl and glared in the direction Jet had gone in, although he was way out of sight. Aang looked back to Katara and saw the blood on her hands. She was in pain, and felt like an idiot for letting it happen to her.
He said gently, "Come on, Katara. We'll get your hands better." He led her to the nurses office, where the nurse, Mrs. Pam was waiting, reading her book. She has short blond hair, hazel eyes, and skin the color of cream. She's wearing a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. Mrs. Pam looked up when she hears the door open and is immediately on her feet when she sees the blood on Katara's lovely hands. The teenagers walked over to her and Mrs. Pam can see that the girl had been crying.
The nurse asked in a concerned voice, "What happened to her?" Aang and the nurse walked Katara over to a bed and Katara sat down. Aang explained the situation to the kind nurse, her face forming in a disapproval frown. After he was done, the older woman nodded. She said the she will be back with band aids and she left to go to her came back in 30 seconds and hands them the band aids. "If you need anything, let me know," she said and gave Katara's shoulder a squeeze before leaving the teens alone.
Aang got up from the bed, walked over to the sink, grabbed paper towels and got them wet. It looked like Katara couldn't move so he brought her the damp towels and started wiping her hands clean. Every time she winced, he would wince as well, almost as if feeling her pain; it hurt him seeing the girl in pain and was almost afraid that she would make him stop. But she let him clean her hands of the blood.
When he was done, Aang dried her hands with clean paper towels after throwing away the dirty ones. After that, he placed the band aids on her cuts and Katara sighed, feeling relieved. She didn't know if the relief was by his touch or the clean hands. She settled for both. Aang's hands were soft and she loved the feeling of them. They sat in silence, not an awkward one, but a calming one. Aang kept his eyes on her as Katara looked at her bandaged hands. She has about three on each of her fingers.
Finally, Aang said, "I shouldn't have let that happen to you." Katara looked at him, surprised. She saw that he felt guilty about what happened, letting Jet hurt her like that and scaring her out of her skin; but he had no reason to feel the way he did. It could have happened to anyone. Katara wrapped her arms around him. He hugged back, breathing in her scent of ocean mist.
Katara whispered, "It's not your fault. Jet took me by surprise. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened." She looked him in the eyes, but she didn't let go. Katara could still see that Aang had guilt in his eyes. She gave him a smile to show that she was fine, then she released him, Aang feeling a little disappointed. Now there is an awkward silence. Neither of them knew what to say now. "Jet said he and his gang will come," Katara finally said.
Aang jaw clenched and replied in a strained, angry voice, "If he ever comes at you again, I'll make sure he never does again." Katara can hear the anger in his voice and it surprised her a little bit. She always saw the sweet kind side of Aang. Katara never thought he had a bad side. Now she sees it, but it doesn't really bother her that much. She's actually glad that there are other people that are willing to help her in any way they can. Still, she didn’t want Aang to say any of that.
She hugged him and said, "Don’t talk like that. I appreciate the fact that you want to protect me, but thinking something like that can’t be good for you. Please don’t say that stuff." He hugged her again, breathing her in like oxygen.
"Okay; I’ sorry. I’ll keep those thoughts hidden," he murmured before releasing her. He was back to his good side, which Katara was grateful for; she didn’t like his dark side, even if it was just a glimpse. Then he said, "We should head to our classes. I'll get us some passes." He stood up and walked away to them, leaving her alone for a few moments. After about a minute, Aang came back and gave Katara her pass. He helped her off the bed and they said their goodbyes to the nurse.
Aang was about to go down the other hall when a thought hit him. He bit his lip as he looked back at Katara. He didn't want to leave her, thinking that jerk could be out in the halls somewhere. He walked briskly to her side and she glanced at him, somewhat startled. Aang shrugged. "I want to make sure you get to class safely." There was a blush on his face when he said it and Katara thought he looked cuter that way. She smiled and nodded gratefully.
They walked in silence; the hall was empty except for the two and the sound of their shoes hitting the floor echoed. Aang got Katara to her class a few minutes later. Katara was about to go into the classroom, but turned around and hugged Aang she hugs him anymore, Aang might faint from his heart swelling with love for this girl.
She whispered, "Thank you, Aang." She released him and, to Aang's surprise and delight, she kissed him on the cheek. They blushed and he got a goofy grin on his face.
"Anytime," he managed before walking away from her, hands in his pockets. He looked back at her and waved over his shoulder. She waved back as she watched him until he disappeared in the next hall. Katara was still blushing when she thought 'I’m not sure how it happened or how it was possible, but I think I'm in love.' And she walked into the room, dazed. She was dazed for the rest of the day, feeling giddy at what her heart was telling her as the truth sank in.
