savedtheworld | [Appointments] March 2012-February 2013

[Appointments] March 2012-February 2013

For any interaction that you want to happen with Aang, anytime and anyplace within the luceti world that do not fit into a given post, please use this!

Just give a date and place, and whether this will be via journal or in-person!

New Appointments post can be found here.

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[And... after Tokyo...]

But I told him that he had to stop trying.

[There was some relief from Katara's clarification, but the part about trying to change her mind confused him. He felt like he preferred the relatively simple methord of obliviousness from back home.]

You did? So... you are still friends.

Yes. He's a good friend of mine, and we've been through a lot. I don't want to lose that. And he doesn't either.

[But she was giving him a concerned look. If this really bothered him...]

I can see where you're coming from. You have to hold on to every bond you can in a place like this. And... you two must've known each other along time here.

[That was one thing that hurt him: all the time he wasn't there while Katara was. Knowing that there were people who were was a comfort in one way, but it was also a reminder of how this place had hurt their own bond.]

A little more than a year.

[...]

So... I just thought you should know. Are you okay?

[He looks out over the river.]

I don't know, Katara. I can understand a lot of what you've told me so far. And it's not the worst thing I can imagine. I'm... glad that you're telling me the truth. Because... I always feel a distance from the way things were back home, from even before the war ended. And it's still weird to think that... even if you didn't date him, Masaomi's still someone that you're known longer than me. It makes me feel like I can't even be the best friend I can be, here. And... I don't know what I should be doing.

[And he knows there's more to Masaomi than what he was told so far, as he thinks about it. He remembers that journal exchange from the dreaded error day. Katara's going to be really upset. So-- that is to say, I'm counting on you, man.]

Oh, Aang. [She reaches out to take hold of his shoulder.] Don't think that way. Even if he's been here longer than we've been together, it's not like I've known him longer. We were just... separated in between, that's all. I never stopped thinking about you, the whole time we were here. I missed you so much.

[She bites her lip, a rare moment of visible insecurity.]

If there's a distance, it's just because... I'm not sure how I should act with you. That's all. I don't want to say or do anything that would make things... difficult.

[That and - she's confused. It's been a little more a year for Aang as well - all that time which they shared together, all these memories of her that she doesn't have. And he says he likes her - he loves her - and she believes him. But it's so hard to see him as anything other than a kid, despite the change in his height. She worries that it would be so easy to forget it completely and do something that would lead him on or... make things worse somehow.]

Edited 2012-05-23 06:22 (UTC)

[He looks back at her and starts to smile.]

That, it really means a lot, Katara. Thank you. And I'm sorry I was gone for so long. ...And about those times I don't remember, when I came and left. I'm sorry I left so many times without all of you.

Also, Katara... I've known you for a long time now. I can handle being close, if you'll let me. I... I can tell things about the way you act a lot better than when I was twelve, so I won't really misunderstand things anymore. I don't want things to be difficult. I want them to be easy as they can be for you, so that you can be as happy as I remember.

[That's never going to happen while we're in Luceti, Aang.]

You don't need to be sorry about any of that. I won't lie to you and tell you that it didn't hurt, but it wasn't your fault. And you're here now.

[She removes her hand from his shoulder.]

And I want to be close with you. I just can't bear the thought that that closeness... is hurting you.

[The removal of the hand drives her point in. He takes a step back, but he steadies himself in the ground.]

I can take it, Katara. As long as I'm here, I'm gonna get hurt either way. [Pause. His face softens] But if I can help you, it'll be worth it.

Aang...

["As long as I'm here, I'm gonna get hurt either way."

That's it. Her worst fear. That there was nothing she could do to keep him from being hurt.

She doesn't know what to say.]

Katara. You were there for me every time I messed up and suffered back home. And you've been suffering here for a lot longer. I... I can't feel right if I haven't done what I could to help you. Not as... what I am to you in my time, but as part of our family. ["Sokka and I, we're your family now, Aang''.] I'll understand... if you won't let me close. If your new friends can help you better.

Aang, don't. [She takes a half-step towards him.] Don't think like that. No one can help me better. And I don't need help - at least, not right now. And if I did, of course I'd let you. There's no one I trust more.

[And she raised her hands and put them on both of his shoulders.]

And you are always going to be part of our family. And nothing, nothing is ever going to change that.

[His spirits rise. He feels like maybe he is worthy of the mark of the trusted, after all. And he smiles as he looks directly at her.]

Thank you, Katara. I just needed to make sure. It's hard to tell sometimes, when you're hiding what's hurting you. If [He knows he should say "when" in Luceti, but he does not want to.] you do ever need help with anything, I'm... I'm always here, Katara.

I know. I do know.

[And maybe it's the wrong thing to do, but if she's going to trust him, then she's going to have to believe him when he says he can handle it.

So she hugs him.

It's strange, because... he's taller now.]

[He keeps silent in their shared warmth for the moment, just taking it all in. And then he softly laughs.]

You cheated. By being a year older here. I swear I could see over your head back home.

[That tall, huh? She pulls back a little.]

I'll be seventeen in July.

[It's January back home.]

Wow, seventeen. [He wasn't sure if there was math that could calculate his own birthday.] That's not too far away. I'll have to start planning for a happy birthday.

[She shook her head, smiling wryly.]

If we're together, that will be happy enough for me. We're okay - really?

[It's not the "together" he's accustomed to from back home, it's still enough to make him aware of his own heartbeat.]

Really, Katara. Things are super okay.

All right.

[She doesn't believe him.]

I believe you.

[But she chooses to anyway.]

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[Appointments] March 2012-February 2013

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