Drama class has started for me, and with it, the start of preparations for the Spring Play! w00t! This time of year always makes me think of the first professionally-done play I ever saw: A Midnight Summer's Dream. It reminded me of how hormonal teens can get, and how wonderfully the words 'love' and 'youth' mix together.
SO, I was wandering over my most recent stories and found that a lot had been rather dark and depressing. While I'm glad I dived into different territory, it's getting to be far too much for me. This is to brighten up you day, complete with playful youths both madly in love. =)

Inspried by: Avatar
Also Inspired by: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Disclaimer: I don't own either of the above mentioned.

So Easy to Tease

In the first few months of their relationship, Katara quickly found out that Aang was incredibly easy to tease.

The way he dealt with politics as a 14-year-old was hilarious to her. Half the time he was attentive to whatever they would say (meaning whatever Katara would say). The other half he was bored and nodding off in his chair. More than once Katara had to stamp his foot in order to wake him up, his eyes half-lidded, drool sometimes sliding down his lower lip.

The waterbender reminded Aang of it often.

How he was always curteous when it came to customary foods, excepting ones that had meat. Which meant it was only polite to try everything else. Knowing how much he hated sea prunes, Katara would sometimes put sea prunes on the menu, listing underneath it as "the Avatar's favorite dish." His face squinted in disgust alone would make her giggle throughout the rest of the day.

The little antics were funny. He would constantly change his mind, promising to attend this party, then that meeting, and of course this village's celebration, all in one night. Suddenly he'd be smashed up against the wall with twelve things he needed to make time for. And he would always beg for Katara to help him out, rushing through eleven of them before finally crashing at the latest party. Dead asleep the next morning, curled up in a ball.

Sometimes, Katara would dump water on him to wake him up. And laugh later.

Her favorite way to tease him however, was when it came to herself specifically. She knew he liked her, so she would tease Aang. Because it would always make her laugh, and he made it so easy.

"Aang?" Katara called out one late-Spring early-Summer afternoon, warm and sunny and bright. She was bored, and since she was already stripped down to her undergarments, waterbending in the big waterhole she lay next to seemed like a good idea. Teasing Aang isn't a bad idea either... she thought with a smirk.

The airbender came and knelt down next to her, criss-crossing his legs.

"Hey Katara. Something wrong?"He questioned.

Without hesitating Katara yanked him into a kiss, dragging her fingers over his neck and up the backside of his head. Aang was taken completely off-guard, sitting dumbfounded for a second as she moved her lips against his, nibbling his lower lip slightly. Regaining his senses, Aang began to kiss her back, rather enthusiastically she noticed. It was then that Katara broke off from the kiss.

Aang blinked. Slowly Katara stood up, walking towards the river. She felt a hand grab her wrist.

"Wait, hold up. What was that about?!" Aang asked, half-laughing.

"Oh, nothing..." Katara replied sweetly, smiling at him. He stared back at her confusedly.

"Katara, can't I at least get the rest of that kiss?" Whimpered Aang, putting on his puppy-dog- eyes for her. It didn't work.

"Nope." The waterbender replied simply, still smiling.

"Whaddaya mean, no?" Aang whined.

"I mean, 'no'. You'll have to catch me." Katara smirked.

Before she could say anything else, she felt a water whip swiftly and fluidly wrap itself around her leg, with Aang controlling it. Pulling it towards himself, Katara was whipped around to face him. Briefly he looked down at her chocolate-brown legs, blushing slightly. Snapping his eyes back up to hers, the airbender smiled.

"So, you were saying?" Aang asked, grinning and puckering up his lips.

Raising one eyebrow over the other, Katara bended water into her own hand and splashed it right into his face.

Curling the water back into her hand, she let fly a waterwhip at him. Aang ducked and rolled underneath it, straight between her legs and behind her. Placing a hand between her shoulder blades, Aang stayed behind her as she tried to get at him.

Finally, she summoned the water from the river and splashed it behind her, before freezing it and pulling him around to face her. Melting the ice, Aang tried pulling her close again with the same trick he used last: curling a whip around her leg. This time she was ready. Forming a large wave behind her, Katara sent it hurtling down upon Aang and sending him into the waterhole. Smiling deviously, Katara waited for Aang to burst out of the water, laughing with his usual big grin.

But no arrow-topped face burst through the water. Katara waited for a few seconds…

"Aang?" Katara called out over the water. No answer.

"Aang?" Katara tried again, growing more and more nervous. Her heart cringed. "This is a trick, right?" She cried out over the water. She was becoming more scared as the seconds ticked by, her eyes widening fearfully with every moment wasted. "Aang?...Aang!?" Nothing stirred.

Without another thought, Katara ran and dove into the watery depths.

Though her dive was smooth, Katara felt all the cold dark dreariness when she plunged the water. Icy bitterness in a watery grave. She almost came back up immediately for air, almost gasped underwater, but a sight held her back: one glimpse of Aang. A few bubbles escaped his lips as he drifted down, down, down...

Using waterbending to propel herself, Katara shot like an arrow towards the unconscious airbender. Grabbing him underneath his arms and around his chest, she held onto his unmoving flesh, his eyes closed as if her were dreaming. Katara felt that urge to breathe. Desperately, she hurled them both up to the air, riverwater spewing them onto the sandy shore.

Coughing and sputtering, Katara looked up, stomach feeling as though it had been punched and sand sticking to half of her body. Turning to face the tattooed boy next to her, she found that he wasn't breathing.

At all.

Instantly Katara flipped him over so his head faced up. Weaving her hands into a waterbending form, she tried to feel and summon the water that was sure to be inside his chest and lungs.

She felt no water in his chest, no water flowing out of his mouth with her fingers, none. Katara was getting desperate. Why isn't there water? Why isn't he breathing?! Anxiously, Katara shook him roughly, hoping to shake him out of his reverie. No such luck. She almost slapped him, growing increasingly desperate. C'mon, Breathe! Breathe!!

Aang didn't respond.

There was only one solution that she could think of, yet it didn't even seem possible. If even her waterbending skills wouldn't help, there was no way that it would work. But it was her best chance, his best chance.

Leaning over the airbender's body, Katara didn't stop to blush and think about their position, a few inches of air separating them. Bending her head down, Katara inhaled and—gently taking his face into her hands—breathed into the airbender's mouth.

Breaking contact with his lips, Katara heaved a shuddering breath and repeated the process, this time lingering over his lips, wanting, willing him to breathe and hold her and kiss her again.

Suddenly, Katara felt the familiar touch as tattooed hands wove their fingers through her soaking wet and sandy hair. They pulled her head closer to his, intensifying the feeling of their lips pressed against each other. The sun on her back was incredible, creating more passion, more heat between them. Eagerly Katara kissed back, amazed that it had actually worked...

Finally deciding that he really needed to breathe (and so did she, for that matter) Katara broke off from his lips. She was panting, literally panting, as her heart pounded deep within her. The small distance between their two bodies was more prominent. Katara looked down at the airbender. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Katara?"

Immediately she focused on his eyes. He chuckled.

"I finally got that kiss."

The waterbender frowned, looking down at him questioningly. "What...?"

The Avatar laughed out loud. "You are so....easy to tease!"

Katara's eyes widened in shock. "But you...you weren't breathing...I couldn't bend the water out of your chest, so you couldn't have swallowed water...so...you were...." Slowly, realization dawned upon her. Infuriated, Katara made to slap him across the face, but the airbender grabbed her wrist just in time.

"You moron!!" Katara shrieked, rage boiling over. "You were faking it this whole time?!" Aang merely shrugged and smiled. This didn't help her mood.

"I was worried sick!! Do you have any idea how scared I was?! I thought you were dying!!" Katara bellowed down at him, struggling to get free and slap him silly.

"Katara, calm down..." Aang told her nervously as her hands threatened to slap him again, writhing underneath his grasp. She didn't calm down.

"And then I find out you've been faking it, just so you could get one stupid kiss!?!? What kind of sick—"

She was once again cut off by a kiss.

Katara struggled at first, especially at the thought that he was actually enjoying this, the idiot. Yet eventually she softened, allowing herself to melt into his lips. The grip on her hands relaxed, then freed themselves entirely.

Immediately Katara slapped his cheek. His left cheek smarting red, Aang grinned stupidly anyways.

"It was worth it." He told her, completely satisfied.

Katara shook her head from side to side, amazed. "You never give up, do you?" She asked him, grinning in spite of herself. Shrugging, the airbender got up and (after helping her up as well) walked away again, back to whatever he had been doing before. Katara looked at him, his back still covered in sand, and smiled in wonder at the idea.

Apparently, he wasn't so easy to tease after all.

Like it? Hate it? Please comment!

What is it with me and water-related fanfic themes? Idk. Just works best for me I guess, and it helps that I love the water too.
If you doubt that either Katara or Aang would tease, think again. We've already seen Aang as playful and mischievous, and Katara's got her own realm of "sly" too. Plus, I can't help but always think of that "almost-kiss" in The Headband. They were both grinning in the second afterwards. They like to tease and have fun in their relationship, and I wanted this to bring that side out. Not to mention they're 14 and 16. Come on...everyone teases their friends at that age. ;D