Chapter Text
Katara felt awkward knocking on Aangs door.
There once was a time where she would simply walk in without hesitation. If anyone were to come into the hall and see her, they'd have some questions for sure.
When Noone answered at her gentle raps she brought her knuckles down harder against the wood, slight irritation fueling her knock.
"Agni, I can't really be this bad at knocking on a door" She mumbled to herself.
That seemed to do the trick as, a few seconds after her stronger raps, the door was pulled open and Katara met Aang's sleepy eyes.
"Hey, sorry to wake you." She apologized, shuffling her feet and rubbing the back of her neck.
Aang smiled at her, that look was still there however. A clotting expression of a deep wound trying to mend itself.
"I just woke up before you knocked, it's alright." He replied, the familiar freshly roused tone in his voice.
Katara sighed and continued rubbing her neck.
"I thought maybe you'd like to get some breakfast?"
She winced ever so slightly at the glimmer of near excitement that lightened his expression.
"Uh…sure!" He perked up. He was still in his sleeping clothes. Also fire nation like the rest of them.
"Meet me down there? I just want to get dressed first." His voice was far too chipper all of a sudden.
Katara nodded and gave him as pitiful a smile as she could. He, of course, didn't appear to notice this. He simply smiled wide at her and closed the door as she turned to walk back down the hall.
…..
When Katara came to their usual table in the mess hall, tray of oatmeal and toast in hand, Toph was already there eating by herself.
"Good morning sweetness." The girl said, smiling over her shoulder as Katara approached her from behind.
"Good morning Toph. Where's Sokka and Suki?" Katara inquired, sitting across from the earthbender.
"In their room, being the acting inspiration for me leaving to get breakfast." Toph answered bitterly.
Katara studied the blind girl closely.
"Do you mean you can…" Katara asked, her heart picking up speed.
"Mhm. Sometimes it's kind of hot but not when I'm trying to sleep."
"Ya that's fair." Katara said carefully, eyes still trained on her friend's face. She ignored the disgust that tried to cloud her mind at the mention of her brother's sex life.
Toph took a long sip from her tea.
She hummed softly and tipped the cup away from her mouth, her lips curving upward in a wry smile over the rim.
"I can also detect that wild heartbeat Sweetness." She remarked, slyly.
Fidgeting in her seat, Katara stirred her oatmeal and tried to think of what to say.
"Hey Toph!"
Oh thank the spirits.
Aang plopped down next to Katara with his own tray of oatmeal and toast, smiling widely at the chuckling earthbender.
"Good morning Twinkle toes."
Katara started eating, thankful for Aang's distraction. However her curiosity would be pecking at the back of her mind all day.
There's no way Toph could know who she's been sensing in Zuko's bed. He was a very attractive man with an attractive title. He always seemed to have an abundance of girls drooling over him.
However, Aang's room had become a solo dwelling the last few days, and last night Katara's room was empty. Toph was not picking up any nefarious frequencies in that room, not anymore.
If Toph were to be intrigued, and smart enough, it wouldn't take much to put the pieces together. And Katara knew Toph was a curious and smart little shit disturber. It was only a matter of time before the powerful earthbender caught on.
"What's on the agenda for today?" Toph asked, continuing to sip at her steaming cup.
"I'm not sure. I don't have any meetings today. What do you think, Katara?" Katara looked at Aang, who was munching on his toast and giving her a hopeful look.
"I…Uh…" Katara remembered Zuko's instructions.
She had hoped to once again hide away in her room and wait patiently for Zuko to come find her so she could pamper him properly.
However he was right, regardless of her own personal world of new found love and sex, she had to maintain her usual role in the group. At Least for now.
When they felt comfortable telling everyone she could lock herself in his room for a whole day and enjoy him all she wanted. She could sit on her bed and stare out the window in a dreamy, impatient haze while he was in meetings, and she could relax her nerves when Toph looked at her in that certain way.
"I know you usually spar with Toph after breakfast but I was wondering if I could take this one." Katara finally answered her table mates, who were looking at her expectantly.
"Sure, sounds good to me!" Aang agreed excitedly. Toph merely grumbled behind her cup of tea.
"Well you are a couple, it only makes sense." Toph answered. Katara couldn't detect any sarcasm or skepticism. It was mostly a disheartened, almost irritated tone.
"Well, then I'm going to practice my bending in peace, I'll let you guys have the large courtyard." Toph said, not doing much to mask her disappointment as she stood with her tray.
Katara gave her a sympathetic expression. She was just about done with the confusing mess of feelings and secrets.
Aang was clearly getting too far in his own head at Kataras' invitations to spend time together.
Toph, regardless of whatever knowledge she held about the entire situation, was obviously hiding her own feelings toward Aang.
And Katara simply wanted nothing more than to lie in her bed and let the buzz of her love-drunk mind claim her until Zuko met her to take over.
As Toph departed from them, Katara looked to Aang, who, like her, was finishing his oatmeal and appeared lost in thought.
"I hope you're doing OK." She said, tentatively placing her hand on his forearm.
He let his spoon rest in the mostly empty bowl and met her gaze, letting out a sigh.
"Why are you so interested in spending time with me today Katara?" He questioned, his brow furrowed, otherwise that hopeful expression still on his face.
It was Katara's turn to sigh as she looked back down at her food, which was looking less and less appetizing as it cooled and her attention diverged completely.
"I'm not trying to make this harder for you Aang." She could sense the slump of his shoulders in response, the optimism draining from him almost immediately as he lowered his eyes back to his abandoned meal.
"I don't like this either." Katara knew even before Aaang scoffed that it wasn't the best thing for her to say.
"But even you said we should just keep all of this to ourselves for right now." She continued.
"So this is just for appearance?" Aang asked bitterly.
Katara didn't know what to say at that point. It was all getting too complicated. She looked at him, studying the contempt in his features.
"Yes…but no…Aang, you're still my best friend. We talked about this. I still want to hang out with you. Have meals together randomly. Spar. All of that." She paused briefly, going over the next few words in her head first.
"Maybe right now it's just hard. That's all I mean. It's hard for us to be near each other, spending time together. Keeping up with the appearance that we are still a couple." Aang nodded, the anger fading from his face, his shoulders, that had tensed during the conversation, now relaxing.
"Zuko suggested I spend the day with you." She added. And then it was back just as quickly as it had left. The hurt, the jealousy, the anger, flickering back into his eyes.
"I'm trying really hard to keep my feelings about all of this in control, Katara. And it isn't easy." His voice was becoming aggravated like it had the night they split up.
"I pretend that I'm fine. I pretend I'm happy for you. I pretend that just hearing his name doesn't make me…" He practically seethed and his tattoos, once again, glowed briefly as he clenched his fists on the table and scrunched his eyes closed.
Katara looked around at the dissipating crowd enjoying their breakfast around them. Her own nervousness at Aangs directed rage at her mingled with the cautiousness of his dancing on the edge of the Avatar state right there in the middle of the mess hall of the fire nation palace.
"Aang, please. I understand completely. I'm really sorry. We can't do this here." She rose from the table and began walking away.
"Come on. Let's go to the courtyard." She said quietly, a twinge of concern in her gut at what he might unleash on her while out there.