Chapter 11

A/N: By the way, Katara's mom is alive in this. This is mainly to add a new dynamic to their relationship. Honestly I'm not a huge fan of this chapter but it is what it is. Next chapter will start the combat I promise. While you wait for the chapter, you should check out my other story 'The Avatar's Waterbender', (Yes, that was a shameless plug). Anyways let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters!

————————————————————————

After their talk Aang and Katara made their way down to the practice field to meet their friends. When they arrived Katara made her way up into the stands to sit with Mai and Suki, but not before leaving Aang with a quick peck on the cheek.

"Glad you're here, I already have a feeling we'll need a healer!" Suki said with a laugh.

————————————————————————

"Hey, Toph, are you competing too?" Aang asked as he walked to the center of the field.

"Nope, I'm just here to beat you lily livers to a pulp!" Toph replied, pounding her fist into her open palm with an evil smirk on her face.

"Yeah, Toph now that I think about it, why aren't you competing. You love fighting and you love victory even more." Sokka asked.

"Well for one, if I was competing then the competition wouldn't even be entertaining. Not to mention if I was to compete, I'm sure my parents would show up, and that's the last thing I want." Toph said, looking down at the ground.

"Trust me, I know what you mean." Zuko said, scowling into the distance.

"Okay, enough with the feelings. I'm ready to punch some people!" Toph said, cracking her knuckles while chuckling.

————————————————————————

A couple of days passed with the same schedule everyday. Aang would wake up extra early to go for a run and take a shower. He would walk with the group to eat breakfast, suffer through his classes, go to the gym after class to do regular workouts, head to the practice field to practice his bending, eat dinner with his friends, and then in the dead of night he would sneak out of his room to practice bending the other elements to keep from getting rusty. He was pushing his body to new levels and it showed.

Aang walked into his room after finishing up in the gym and the practice field. He was sore, his body ached, and his muscles were stiff and tense. He opened the door to find nobody there. He closed the door, grabbed a pair of shorts and underwear and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the shower. He grabbed his razor and quickly cleaned up the stubble starting to form on his face. After he was done, he stepped under the now warm water. He let the steam and warm water relieve his tension. He drifted off into a form of mediation and didn't even notice when the door to the dorm opened.

There was a knock on the door followed by a sweet voice, "Aang, are you in there?"

"Yeah, sweetie, it's me. I'll be out in a second. He responded.

He quickly ran some soap through his hair, washed his body, and rinsed all of the soap away. He turned off the shower, stepped out, and grabbed a towel. He dried his body but decided to let his hair air dry. He threw on the underwear and shorts. Hung up his towel and stepped out of the room. He glanced over to see Katara sitting on his bed and walked over to her. She stood up and met him halfway, pulling him into a hug and kissing him softly on the lips. Aang returned the kiss and they remained this way for several minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Aang walked them back over to his bed and sat, back against the wall, with her lying against his chest.

"I feel like I've barely seen you lately." Katara said softly, playing with their intertwined fingers.

He gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head before whispering, "I know and I'm sorry, I've just been really caught up in my training. The banquet is tomorrow though."

"Yeah, about that. My parents are coming for my brother and... I want you to meet them. If you're okay with that of course!" She told him, turning around to face him with a hopeful glance.

He just smiled, chuckled, and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I'd love to meet your parents, Kat!"

"Then I should probably also mention a few things. My dad is the Chief of The Southern Water Tribe, which means im technically..." She told him, drawing off.

"WAIT YOU'RE A PRINCESS!" He exclaimed with a huge grin on his face that made her giggle.

"Technically speaking, yes, but the South doesn't really do the whole royalty thing. Not like Zuko anyway." Katara told him.

"What do you mean like Zuko?" He asked.

"Wait you don't know," She started "Zuko's dad is the Firelord."

"WAIT WHAT?" He exclaimed again.

She couldn't help but laugh and say, "You would think the Avatar would be more aware of the current World Leaders."

"Fair enough." He responded, causing them both to burst into a fit of laughter. "I had no idea I was surrounded by so many political figures."

She gave him a dumbfounded look before saying, "Sweetie... You're a political figure."

"Oh yeah." He said, causing them to both laugh again. Finally they settled down and it got quiet again.

She hugged him tighter and took a deep breath before continuing. "There's also something else I should tell you. It's not a big deal, it's just that my parents don't exactly... know about you." She told him, biting down on her lip to prepare for his reaction.

After a long, awkward silence he finally said, "Oh..."

"Are you mad?" She asked him looking up to gauge his face.

He shook his head, not making eye contact and said, "No, I'm not mad. I can't say I'm not a bit upset. I mean I talk about you to Gyatso so much, he has to remind me to talk about myself sometimes." He said with a light chuckle. He looked her in the eyes, and gave her a soft smile before saying, "but I trust you. It'll be okay, I promise."

She looked into his eyes full of complete adoration and love and felt all of her worries fade away. She leaned up to lightly press her lips to his before pulling back to rest her forehead on his. "I love you."

"I love you too." He whispered, before he yawned.

"You're tired, I'll let you rest." Katara told him as she started to stand up.

Aang caught her hand, and whispered, "Stay..."

She nodded and layed back down next to him, she settled her head into the crook of his neck and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her tight. He pulled up the blanket and they both drifted off to sleep.

————————————————————————

Three hours later it was time for dinner and Toph walked into the room to get the couple. When she walked in she noticed that both their heartbeats were slow, and calm, almost like they were asleep... together. At this realization she busted up laughing. Startling the couple awake and jumping up.

"Come on love birds, it's dinner time." She told the blushing couple.

Aang whispered something in Katara's ear and she walked past Toph and out of the room. Aang walked over to his backpack and pulled something out of it. He walked over to Toph, and slid a ten dollar bill into her hand and said, "You felt nothing."

"Pleasure doing business with you." She told the boy, they both laughed and left the room.

————————————————————————

"Aang, buddy, glad you could take the time out of your psychopathic training schedule to at least eat with us!" Sokka said, a sly smirk on his face. Everyone laughs at this including Aang. He knew they were right, but he just wanted to be ready for anything.

"Yeah, yeah, I've been pushing it too hard, I get it. Can we just talk about the plan for tomorrow." Aang said, taking a bite from his salad.

"Tomorrow isn't really a big deal, it kinda just serves as a starting point for people to get prepared for the festival. As far as the festival, I figured we could all just hang out for the night together. The banquet is the important part, that's where they announce all of the fighters and do the rites of passage." Sokka explained, pausing between sentences to take a bite from his burger, much to the annoyance of everyone else.

"Rites of passage?" Aang asked after Sokka finally finished his sentence explanation.

"Yeah, it was adopted and based off a tradition in the Northern Water Tribe, where they would paint a symbol on the forehead of their warriors before battle. In our case, they give you the symbol of your respective homeland." Sokka said, without breaking a sweat. Everyone just stared at him, jaws open.

"How do you know all that but you still manage to fail history?" Zuko asked after a minute.

"Hey, just because I don't apply myself, that doesn't make me stupid." He told them. Nobody could argue with that.

"Anyways...Dad and Mom are getting in right before the ceremony. They said they found a hotel close to the school where they are going to stay. We can introduce you after the ceremony." Katara said, placing her hand on top of Aang's. He just nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah, my dad is coming too, so that will be fun." Zuko said with a scowl.

"...And that's why I'm not competing," Toph said, laughing. Mai squeezed Zuko's hand and told him that everything will be fine.

Everyone finished their meals, and stood to head back to their dorms. As Aang stood up, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Zuko standing there, with a solemn look on his face. Aang knew something was serious. He nodded and turned around to look at Katara.

"Hey, sweetie, you can head back to the room. I'll stop by to say goodnight in a little bit, okay?" He said, with a big grin on his face.

Katara was sceptical, but she trusted him, "Okay, don't be too late I'm tired, Love you." She told him with a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you too." He called after her while she walked away.

Finally he turned around to face Zuko, "Okay, whats up?"

————————————————————————

Aang walked into the girls room once again dripping in sweat. As he entered her room he looked to see all the girls staring at him.

"You owe me a dollar." Toph told Suki as she started to laugh.

"You're rich, why am I paying you?" Suki asked.

"Because I was right, he was working out again." She told the annoyed girl. Suki let out a dramatic sigh before shoving the dollar in the blind girl's hand. After the laughing calmed down the girls went about their business while Aang walked over to where Katara sat on her bed.

"Im tired." Katara told her boyfriend, sticking out her bottom lip in a fake pout.

"Then go to bed." Aang said bluntly.

"Wooooow!" Katara said.

A grin came onto Aang's face as he opened up his arms for her, "I'm just kidding. Come here."

Katara all but jumped into his arms when he said this. She wrapped her arms around her torso as he stroked her hair, laying a soft kiss on the top of her head. He stood up and laid her down, pulling the blanket up over her. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

She just nodded her head, already beginning to doze off. "I love you."

"I love you too." She sleepily told him, laying her head back down. He kissed her forehead before waving goodbye to the other girls and heading to his own room. After a quick shower, he too fell asleep.

The next day went by like any other, the kickoff of the festival was pretty uneventful. It was really just a glorified pep rally in order to excite people for the upcoming event. The day came and went and before they knew it it was time for the real festival. School was excused for the day, so the group took the time to sleep in. Even Aang slept in, something he was very accustomed to doing, but frankly in desperate need of. As of late, he had been pushing his body to the very max and didn't know if he could handle much more. So he did what his friends had been nagging him to do for the past week, nothing. The group decided not to wake Aang and would leave when he was ready. At around 2:30pm, a shirtless Aang stumbled into the girls room, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning sleeping beauty, where's your clothes?" Zuko asked, giggling at his friend's apparent lack of awareness.

"Huh?" Aang asked before looking down to see his lack of a shirt. He looked up at the ceiling  and sighed, "Shit."

Just then a light blue, zip up hoodie hit him in the face. The culprit, none other than his own girlfriend. He quickly mouthed a silent 'thank you' before putting it on, only zipping it up halfway and throwing himself sideways onto the couch. He closed his eyes, before peeking one open to look Katara in the eyes and saying, "I like this jacket, I'm keeping it."

"Yeah, whatever, you've slept all day and we want to go to the festival. SO GET UP!" She yelled.

Aang shot up and immediately was out the door. Everyone was staring at Katara, mouths hanging open. "Sometimes it's fun to watch the most powerful person in the world squirm." Katara said with a shrug. At this everyone started laughing and it only died down when Aang reentered the room, dressed in a pair of grey and blue boardshorts, the blue hoodie, and his white converse.

"Glad to see you dressed up." Mai said with an indifferent smirk.

Aang rubbed the back of his neck, blushing."I've kinda been too busy to do any laundry."

Katara approached him and placed a kiss on his cheek, before grabbing his hand. "You can do laundry later. Lets go have fun." She dragged him out of the room, everyone else close behind.

————————————————————————

Everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves at the festival. Even Mai was smiling. Sokka had just spent the better part of an hour trying to win a stuffed, polar bear dog for Suki. All he had to do was pop a single balloon with the dart but after having spent 40 dollars and his sanity, he was about to give up before Toph stepped in and popped it in one throw. She took the stuffed animal and handed it to Suki, who was trying to suppress her laughter for her boyfriend's sake.

"YOU'RE BLIND!" Sokka yelled.

"Yeah and I'm still better than you so suck it." Toph shot back, smirking.

The group walked off again. Toph bragging about her victory, Mai and Zuko making fun of people, Suki consoling Sokka, and Aang and Katara reveling in the peace. Of course that didn't last long. As the group began to walk away from the food cart that Sokka had all but begged to stop at. Aang heard a voice call out to him.

"Yo, Airhead!"

Aang knew all too well who that voice belonged to. Apparently so did everyone else because before he knew it his feet were discreetly locked into place using  a bit of Earthbending, from none other than the blind earthbender herself. She shot him a don't-do-anything-stupid-look, and released him. He turned to face the boy.

"What do you want Jet?" The annoyed Aang asked.

"It's not what I want, it's what our sweet little waterbender here wants. Come on Kat, why don't you and I get out of here and get to know each other a little better." He said, with a repulsive wink.

Aang started towards him when Sokka grabbed him by the shoulder, "He's trying to get a reaction out of you. Don't let him. If you touch him, you're out of the tournament. With any luck, you'll get at him in the tournament. If not, I'll kick his ass myself. Okay?"

Aang knew Sokka was right, so reluctantly Aang took a deep breath and marched off. His friends close behind all followed, looking worried. After a few minutes of breathing and reassurance from Katara that she was fine, Aang recovered and went on with the rest of his night. After the incident, the group spent the rest of the night just walking around and talking. Around 10 the group decided it would be best to head back and get some rest for the next two days ahead. They returned to their dorms and said goodnights before falling asleep.

————————————————————————

"Katara let's go, we're going to be late to pick up your family!" Suki screamed from the hallway, as Katara came bolting out of her room. Aang was walking into the hallway, coming back from the gym when the duo sprinted past him.

"Bye, sweetie. I'll see you later." Katara yelled, looking back over her shoulder at her boyfriend before disappearing out the doors. Aang just laughed and headed to get cleaned up.

————————————————————————

"Katara!" Both adults yelled at the sight of the girl. Immediately she was sprinting into their open arms giving each of them a hug.

"It's good to see you Suki." Hakoda said, wrapping the girl into a hug.

"It's good to see you too Hakoda, and you Kya." Suki said as she moved on to hug the woman.

"So where are the rest of your friends?" Kya asked.

"Most of them are getting ready for the ceremony, and Mai is supervising them." Katara said with a smirk.

"Yep that sounds about right." Hakoda said, thinking about Mai's monotone attitude.

They all laughed as they grabbed their bags. The group made it to the hotel, where they dropped off their bags before hopping into the car and heading to the school. When they finally arrived there was half an hour until the ceremony began and the contestants had already been called back to prepare. The group walked in and looked around until they found the table that Toph and Mai were occupying. They took their seats and exchanged greetings and made small talk until the annoncer began.

"Hello everyone and welcome to The Four Nations Warrior Banquet. We welcome all of our visitors, let's begin shall we!" The announcer called out from the stage, using the microphone.

"We'll begin with the Earth Kingdom." The announcer proceeded to name each contestant from the Earth Kingdom, including Jet, and paint the mark of the kingdom on their foreheads.

"Now for the Fire Nation, from the Capital City, Princess Azula!" Azula walked out with a smug grin on her face that made Katara sneer. "Followed by her brother, also from the Capital City, Prince Zuko!" Zuko came out and bowed, he was presented his mark and reluctantly went to stand next to his sister. The announcer called the names of several more fire nation warriors before moving on.

"How about the Water Tribes!" The man now called upon several warriors from the water tribe, "finally, coming from the Southern Water Tribe, son of the chief, Sokka!" At this the girls and parents began to yell, cheering on the young warrior. He was presented his mark and went to stand in line.

"Finally, for the first time in Tournament History, it's time to welcome the Air Nomads!"

"There's an Air Nomad in this tournament, I thought they were supposed to be pacifists?" Hakoda asked, visibly confused.

Katara looked to see Suki giggling at the event unfolding in front of her. "It's complicated." Katara told her dad.

"Introducing, The airbender hailing from the Southern Air Temple, Aang!"

At this Katara stood from her seat and began to cheer for her boyfriend who was receiving his marks.

"You know him?" Kya asked her daughter.

"Oh yeah, Sugar Queen knows him alright." Toph said with a devilish smirk.

Her parents now looked over to the blushing waterbender. "He's kinda... my boyfriend." Katara said with a weak smile. Her parents were shocked to say the least but it was her father who spoke up.

"Your boyfriend? Why haven't we heard anything about this, how do you know I approve of him? He's an Air Nomad, how is he supposed to protect you?" He asked.

Katara was beginning to become a bit angry at her dad's response, "First of all, I don't need protection. Second of all, even if I did, Aang is more than capable."

"We'll see about that." Hakoda said, glaring up at the Airbender who was now walking off the stage.

Kya shot her daughter a Don't-worry-I've-got-this glance to calm her down.

Finally the banquet was over and people began to exit as the three boys found their group. Katara found Aang and whispered something in his ear, which made him tense up. She led him over to her parents and introduced them. Kya was extremely kind and liked the boy right off the bat due to his manners, and upbeat attitude. Hakoda however did not.

"I'll be honest with you, as of right now, you don't have my blessing. If you want it, you'll have to work for it. I will be paying close attention to you in this Tournament. Do you understand me?" Hakoda asked the Airbender, as everyone watched the awkward interaction.

Aang gulped, but understood what he had to do. "Yes Sir."

"Good, I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow." Hakoda said as he addressed the group. Kya laid a hand on Aang's shoulder and gave him a nod, which he returned. Finally Kya said her goodbyes and followed after her husband. The group headed back to their rooms to prepare for the day ahead.

One thought raced through Aang's head as he fell asleep, I have to win this, for Katara.

To Be Continued...