Chapter Text
Once he'd finished his speech, Aang immediately felt nauseous. Not nauseous enough to throw up, and hopefully not nauseous enough that any of the world leaders in the crowd noticed, but enough to feel a slight bit of discomfort. He wasn't sure exactly what brought it on, whether it be anxiety or something else, but either way, it was quite distracting.
After the crowd finished clapping for him, a group of Earth Benders bent away the chairs, exchanging them for two large tables on either side of the room. Immediately, groups of workers began filing out of doors on either side of the walls Aang hadn't even realized were there, stocking up the tables with as much food as they could. Aang had been so bewildered by this display he hadn't even realized Gyatso had been calling his to get off the stage and come talk to some of the others who were there at the event. Aang felt his face flush once he realized and quickly followed after his mentor.
"Did I..uh..did I do okay...?" Aang asked Gyatso, who was standing with the other Air Nomad representatives from each temple. Aang had met all of them at some point or another, although the only ones he had ever really spent much time with to were, of course, Monk Gyatso, and Sister Lio, who had helped him during his spiritual training at the Eastern Air Temple.
"You did great, Aang," Gyatso said with a smile, pulling his student in for another hug. Aang accepted gladly, burying his face in Gyatso's robes. Even though the other people in the venue were talking among themselves, and music had begun to play at some point, Aang could still feel nearly everyone's eyes on him. He did his best to ignore the feeling, even as he pulled away from his mentors embrace.
"We're so proud of you, Aang," Monk Tsewang said softly. Aang had only met Monk Tsewang a few times, most of those from when he was a little boy, but he remembered that the older man was the head monk of the Northern Air Temple, and that he was blind in his left eye because of some incident that happened when Aang was a baby. He'd always been curious about that, especially about the burn scar Aang had always seen just barely coming out from underneath the older mans eye patch, be he'd never dared to ask.
"Thank you, for everything," Aang smiled at them all. "You being here means the world to me, really," Aang sighed, running a hand over his head and glancing out at the crowd, most of whom quickly looked away before his eyes could meet theirs. "By the way, how long are we staying here? In the South Pole I mean."
"We're all staying for one week, then you and Gyatso will move on to Ba Sing Se for a more proper meeting with some of the other world leaders you'll meet tonight," answered Sister Yin. She was second in command to Sister Yangsto, who was the official head of the Western Air Temple. Sister Yangsto was sick, from what Aang had heard, and wasn't able to make it to the ceremony, so Sister Yin had come in her place. Sister Yin was the youngest out of all four by far. At about thirty two, she was the youngest member of the head monastic councils out of any of the temples. Aang had spent some time with her as a child, in fact he was pretty sure she had babysat him and some of the other kids before she had even gotten her mastery tattoos yet. "In the mean time, we agreed to let you take a break, have some free time, you know?" Sister Yin grinned at him and Aang grinned back.
"Really?!" Aang's face lit up like a child.
"Of course," Sister Lio said with a smile. "You've been working so hard these past years, you deserve a little break."
"Especially since Pasang isn't here to stop us," Sister Yin giggled.
"Yin, that was uncalled for!" Monk Tsewang berated her, hitting her across the arm as he tried to hide his own laughs.
"Aang," Gyatso said after a moment. "It's been lovely to talk to you, but it looks like there's someone else who would like to speak to you, so we will finish catching up later, you go have fun with your..." Gyatso caught himself just before he said the word 'friends'. There was an unspoken rule that anyone Aang knew wasn't allowed to be referred to as a 'friend' of his. After all, as the Avatar, Aang wasn't even allowed to have a romantic partner, let alone any platonic connections besides those made with his mentors and bending sifu's (and even those were on thin ice). Before Gyatso could finish finding the right word, Aang tuned around to find Zuko standing there awkwardly, as he often did, fidgeting with his hairpiece.
"Zuko!" Aang exclaimed, swiftly making his way over to the older boy. Aang opened his arm to hug the Fire Prince, but seeing Zuko wasn't particularly interested, he backed off. "It's so good to see you, I was worried you wouldn't be here." Aang grinned, and Zuko nodded, which Aang had learned over the years was Zuko's way of saying he was happy to see you. Zuko had always been like that- quiet and terrible at communication. For a bit, Aang was worried that Zuko just didn't like him, but after a while he learned that was just how Zuko was.
"It's good to see you too," Zuko replied as the two boys started walking towards one of the food tables. "You did pretty good tonight, I kind of thought you'd end up chickening out but you didn't. Good job," Zuko teased, a slight smirk on his face. Aang pouted playfully, crossing his arms as they walked.
"You're so mean to me," Aang said in mock-hurt. The two boys laughed at each other before Aang changed the subject. "Is your sister here tonight?"
"Yeah, she is," Zuko nodded. "I'm not sure exactly where she is, though. She didn't really want to come. Mai isn't here though, I couldn't convince the Fire Sages to let me bring her with me on the trip since she isn't technically part of the royal family yet," Zuko huffed in frustration.
"I'm sure you'll survive not being attached at the hip to your girlfriend for five minutes, Zuko," Aang snickered. The two reached the food table, but just as they did, Zuko went pale. His golden eyes were wide, fixated on someone behind Aang, who was also seemingly standing near the table. Before Aang could ask what was wrong, Zuko changed the subject.
"I...I have to go, we can talk later," Zuko muttered quickly before hurrying off and melting into the crowd of people. There was a certain tone to his voice, to his stutter that made Aang worry for his friend. Zuko's body language had changed from relaxed to practically ready for a fight within seconds. Aang furrowed his brow but decided to let it go. He sighed quietly, upset that the only other person he knew here had abandoned him, but as he went to reach for something from the table to eat, his hand met someone else's. He instinctively pulled away and looked at the person he'd touched hands with to apologize, but his words were caught in his throat.
It was that girl he'd seen in the crowd from before!
She was even prettier up close, with brilliant blue eyes and smooth, dark skin. Her hair was tied in two braids on either side of her face, and she wore the regalia of a Southern Water Tribe noble. She looked a bit uncomfortable in the clothes, though, as if she wasn't used to them. "S-sorry," Aang finally forced himself to speak, feeling his cheeks grow red.
"It's alright," She replied. Her voice was smooth and gentle, but not submissive. Aang hadn't noticed before, but she had a water pouch wrapped around her hip. She was a bender! "My name is Katara, it's nice to meet you, Avatar Aang," Katara smiled at him, and Aang couldn't help but smile back. Her name felt familiar, but he wasn't sure exactly where from.
"Wait...aren't you Chief Hakoda's daughter?" His eyes widened just a bit. He'd heard about her, namely about her beating the shit out of Master Pakku only a month after Aang had left the North Pole. He remembered being so upset he hadn't been there to see it happen for himself.
"Oh, yeah, that's me," Katara replied awkwardly. Aang hoped he wasn't making her uncomfortable, but he'd been told he did that often with out outgoing he was.
"I've heard about you! You're so cool, I was hoping I would get to see you at some point while I was here!" Aang grinned excitedly, and Katara seemed a bit surprised at how excited he was. A slight smirk of pride planted itself on her face, and Aang watched as her shoulders dropped and she became more at ease talking to him.
"I'm very flattered, Avatar Aang," she replied, still trying to sound professional. "I appreciate your kind words."
"You can just call me Aang if you want," he said, a bit quieter. Katara raised her eyebrows just a bit and nodded.
"Alright, If you say so Ava- Aang," she caught herself at the last minute, and the both of them laughed a bit at her near slip up. "So, how long are you staying in the South Pole?"
"I'm staying here for a week, then I'm moving on to Ba Sing Se," Aang explained, remembering Sister Yin's words from earlier. "Thankfully the elders are letting me take a little break from training while I'm here, so I actually get to enjoy the culture and take some time to learn about the Southern Tribe. It's actually my first time here," he reached over and grabbed an Egg Custard Tart from the table, taking a bite as he looked away from his new-found friend for a moment.
"Well, if you'd like there's an...eh..." she paused for a moment. "there's a 'cultural festival' going on tomorrow night, if you'd like I can accompany you there...? So that you can learn about Southern customs, of course," for a moment, Aang thought she had gone back to speaking in formalities, but he notices a slight twinge of sarcasm in her tone that he could tell were only for his ears. Suddenly, it hit him that she was trying to be inconspicuous about inviting him to hang out so that no one else int eh room would realize. Aang grinned; he liked the way she thought.
"That sounds lovely, Lady Katara," he replied, trying to match her tone and energy without breaking out into laughter. "Will anyone else be at this...cultural festival?"
"Yes, several friends of mine including my older brother Sokka," she pointed across the room at the other table where a man who looked similar to her stood talking to a girl with white hair. "As well as his partner Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe," Aang's eyes widened just a bit. He talked to that girls a few times while he was at the North Pole, but it hadn't crossed his mind that she would be here tonight. "and Lady Toph Beifong, who isn't here tonight but is staying in the South while her parents attend the ceremony," Aang's eyes widened further, but he kept his face calm. Before he could properly reply, a reporter made their way up to him, asking if he would be willing to step out for a moment in order to shoot an interview. Aang agreed, but as he began walking away, he slipped Katara a piece of paper with his phone number on it. "I'll be there," he whispered, and a smile spread across her face.
Katara waved to him, watching him go with slight disappointment in her eyes. She was glad to have met him- not just the version of him he presented for television or stuck up nobles, but the real him. She could tell he was being genuine with her, she felt it. Even if she wasn't sure why just yet, she knew he would be special to her.