After Ozai: Book Two (Kataang FanFic)

Chapter Thirteen: Suspicions

"Will you just stay still? The last thing I need is for you to yelp and your brother barge in here, pointing and doing his overprotective shtick." Over the past twenty-four to forty-eight hours, Aang had been by Katara's side, bringing her whatever she needed and giving her just someone to talk to. To Katara, the time here at the Western Air Temple had been peaceful and fulfilling, despite the fierce pain that shot through her arms. The attack from Azula had done quite the number on her arms, both broken and peeling from the burns. Like clockwork, Aang would enter her impromptu room and redo her wraps, making sure to keep them constantly medicated and clean, during which time Katara would watch him closely, his gentle fingers brushing gently across her injuries.

"Hey Aang, you mind heading back down once you're done there? Uncle mentioned something about needing to talk to you." Annoyed, Aang turned around and sighed before nodding slowly.
"I'll be down in a second, just give me a minute so I can rewrap Katara." Giving them one last look, Zuko creaked the door shut, his footsteps audibly hitting each step as he went down the nearby staircase. Suspiciously, Katara shot Aang a glare as he kept his eyes away from her own, a trademark look he would do whenever he was hiding something from her.

"What was that all about?" Oblivious, Aang looked up and grinned towards her.

"What? Sorry I'm trying to make sure that these wraps are tight, the less movement, the better." Frowning, Katara scoffed, causing Aang's vision to shoot upward once more.

"What?"

"Are you actually going to sit here and lie to me Aang? You know how I feel whenever you hide things from me." Snickering, Aang looked into her eyes and cocked his head at an angle, kissing her lips gently so that she would hopefully forget it. At first, it actually seemed to work, Katara becoming lost in his lips the moment they made contact with her own, but the thought came back to the forefront. Disconnecting harshly, Katara looked down at him in a demanding manner.

"Aang..."

"Katara, I don't know what they want. Honestly! I've been up here with you for the entirety of the day, and you know that. How would I be able to know what they would want without going down there." Truthfully, his explanation made sense, almost too much sense. Katara squinted her eyes down towards him, something was clearly being hidden from her. Despite this, Katara shrugged it off, she would tiptoe down there once Aang left. Nonchalantly, Katara wrapped her now bandaged arms around Aang's neck and smiled sweetly towards him, causing a fierce blush to arise in his cheeks.

"Katara," he sighed, leaning his forehead on her own. Humming sweetly, Katara laid a small peck between his closed eyes, smiling as she took in the sight of him.

"I'm sure it's nothing, I just like to be kept in the loop. It goes without saying how much I care about you." Aang nodded before placing a similar kiss on her head before breaking their embrace.

"I'll be back here as soon as I can. Honestly, it could just be a question about some herbal Air Nomad tea. He's been trying to get Gyatso's recipe out of me ever since Zuko's coronation." With one last smile, Aang closed the door and left Katara. Once he made sure he was out of both ear and eyeshot, Aang sighed annoyed. He knew very well what this conversation was going to be about, hopefully, it wouldn't go like last time. As soon as he hit the last step, he was instantly cornered by Zuko and Iroh, both of them with their arms crossed.

"So, what did you guys need," Aang asked joyfully.

"I think you know exactly why we called you down here," Zuko stated grimly, motioning for him to sit on a nearby stone bench. Exasperated, Aang sighed as he lumbered his way towards the bench and sat down with a big huff. Soon after, Sokka, Suki, and Toph all joined them, circling him as if they were giving him a surprise intervention.