Through thick and thin, he'd be there

written by balseirocharmed

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last airbender. I plan to make this a one shot. Please review. No flames.

It was reaching nighttime in the woods, where three children, two boys and a girl, and two animals, a flying bison and a flying lemur walked, searching for a site to set up camp for the night.

Sokka, one of the boys in the group, put his hands in the air, and sighed loudly.

His sister, the girl in the group, Katara stared at him, as did the other boy in the group, Aang.

Understanding of people, Aang asked "What's wrong, Sokka?"

"Why don't we just fly? I am so tired of walking" he grabbed at his feet, "Any minute now, and I think my feet will give out." To show his point, he let his feet give out, and fell to the floor with a thump.

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, but before she could throw an insult his way, Aang spoke.

"Sokka," he paused, "I told you already, Appa is worn out from all the flying."

Appa roared in agreement.

"See?" Aang said, directing his hands at Appa.

Getting back on his feet, Sokka sighed in defeat, "Fine. Not like I can argue with a magical giant beast." Appa roared in amusement.

They continued on walking. Katara paused in her footsteps, holding the boys back with her hands.

She whispered, "Did you hear that?"

Sokka looked at his sister, "I didn't hear anything."

Simultaneously, Aang and Katara hushed Sokka.

"I heard it, too." Aang whispered back.

"What-" Sokka was shushed by a rough dark hand to his mouth. He let out a small yelp but it went unheard by the strong hand around his mouth. He tried to bite it, but it did no damage, all it left him with was a bad taste of dirt in his mouth.

Katara turned to the right, where her brother once stood. "Sokka?" she whispered, seeing her brother no longer there. "Sokka?" she whisper a bit louder, getting worried.

Only the sounds of crickets answered her

.

"Sokka? Now is not the time to play these games! Sokka!" she yelled.

Aang grabbed her wrists, and sadly whispered "He's gone."

"And, so is that sound." Katara replied.

"We'll look for him when the sun is up." he said, "But, for now we must get some rest."

Katara nodded, sadly. She looked around, "Here is good."

Aang nodded, "Yeah." he sat down, and leaned against Appa.

Appa roared, sadly. Aang knelt down, and petted Appa. "Yeah, I miss him, too." he whispered.

Katara let herself fall to her feet. Tears that she tried her hardest not to let fall, escaped one by one. Lines of salty tears fell down her elegant face, leaving her once beautiful tan colored face, tearstained. He almost hated to admit it, but the tears, though were a sad thing to witness, illuminated her face, and with the moon shining on her, her face glowed even more than all those other nights before.

Light sobs escaped her. He could hardly stand to watch her in the state that she was in, but he knew that now was not the time to leave her alone, to deal with this alone, that would only be pure torture to the poor girl. He rested a cool hand on her shuddering shoulder, reassuringly.

"Don't worry, we'll find him. I promise." he whispered, wiping fresh falling tears from her already tearstained face.

She turned on her side, to face him. Her eyes were red from crying. She smiled at him, not her usual bright smile, but a sad small smile. She nodded her head a tad, barely moving it.

"Thank you." she whispered so softly, that he almost didn't hear.

A brow raised, "For what?"

"For being there." she answered.

Aang grinned at her. Drawing her in for a hug, he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her close to him.

He whispered softly near her ear, "No need to thank me, Katara."

She had warmed into the hug, but she shook her head. Pulling back, she whispered "No, no. I must thank you. You gave me something, I never had before." She paused, to take a deep breath.

"Oh?" he asked, "And what could that be?"

"Hope." she whispered.

He smiled, and hugged her again. "Well then, I'm glad I gave you hope but you really don't need to thank me, I do these things because…" he trailed off.

She pulled back, curious. With curiosity gleaming in her eyes, she exclaimed "Because of what, Aang?"

Aang blushed. He didn't know how to answer her question without admitting his true feelings.

She tapped him lightly when he didn't respond, bringing him back to the reality before him. "Aang?" she whispered.

He shook his head, trying to recollect himself. He sighed "Never mind, it's not important."

Her mouth formed into the shape of an 'O'. She pushed him lightly, "Come on, Aang. Please tell me."

He sighed again but smile. "Oh, alright. How do I say this?" he asked more to himself than to her.

She looked at him, patiently waiting for him to continue.

"I do these things because you mean everything to me, Katara. I do what I do because I want to, I don't expect you to thank me, and nor do I want to be thanked. I do these things in view of the fact that…" He paused, taking a deep breath, he finished "I love you, Katara."

She gasped, surprised.

She hadn't anticipated him to say that. She never imagined that the Avatar could love a girl like her, who had basically nothing, coming from a small southern water tribe that was all ice and snow. She beamed, but stayed silent, at a lost for words. Before he could wander off the point, Katara lifted a small finger, placing it on his soft pink lips. Shocked by the sudden touch of her soft smooth finger on his lips, words stopped. His eyes moved downward, glancing down at her finger which rested on his lips. His lips formed into a smile against her finger. She looked up into his eyes, smiling and she slowly removed her finger.

Dreamingly, she whispered "Aang, I…" she started but was cut off by the sudden contact of lips touching her own.

Her eyes quickly snapped shut, and she melted into the kiss. Moving her head, meeting his movements. After a few seconds, they parted, gasping for needed air. Her arms stayed laced around his neck, and his around her back, near to her waist, their foreheads touching. Soon sleep overcame both of them. Together, they fell asleep in their comfortable embrace, both with pleasant smiles on their faces.

The next morning, when they awoke, they were surprised to be greeted by two familiar faces, on contrary, two were familiar to Katara, while Aang only knew one face. Katara recognized the adult standing next to the teenage boy, quickly, as Bato. She sat up quickly; Aang did the same.

She smiled at the man in front of her. She exclaimed "Bato!"

"Bato?" Aang whispered to Katara in question.

Katara, too welled up in meeting with an old family friend, either didn't hear Aang or choose to ignore it. She stood to her feet, and laced her arms around Bato, hugging him.

Bato chuckled a loud manly but pleasant laugh, and hugged Katara back.

"Long time no see, Katara." when they pulled apart, Bato took time to look over Katara, and then stated "Katara, you have grown so much"

She smiled.

"The last time, I saw you, you were just a little girl. But now look at you, all grown up!" He then gestured over to Aang. "Who is he?" he asked, politely.

"Oh." Katara said, looking back at Aang. "This is Aang, the avatar and my friend. Aang, this is Bato, a friend of my dad."

Bato shook his hand out to Aang, which Aang gladly accepted.

"Pleased to meet you, Aang." he greeted, with a big smile on his face.

"Likewise." Aang replied.

Sokka, who stood next to Bato, cleared his throat drawing the attention to him.

"Sokka?" Aang exclaimed rather loudly, "Where on earth did you disappear to last night?"

Sokka smiled, sheepishly. Katara put her hands on her sides, and tapped her foot, also waiting for an answer to his sudden disappearance.

Bato, taking the boy off the spotlight, stepped in. "I think I should explain this one, kids"

Aang and Katara's stare, turned to the man, Bato.

Bato cleared his throat, "The reason for his disappearance was my fault. I heard things coming from where you kids were coming from, and I thought you were those fire nation trespassers I was warned about, but after I had brought Sokka," he pointed towards Sokka, who was picking at his teeth with a knife, "to the campsite, I recognized him and everything was good. I even fed him some sea prunes."

"Sea prunes…yuck." Aang repeated, and shuddered in disgust.

Bato ignored Aang's remark, and continued. "Anyways, after that, he told me that you two were here, and wanted to go after you two last night, but I warned him it was far too risky to do at night, so we waiting until daybreak to look for you two."

Katara nodded her head, and whispered "Makes sense." Her hand went to her stomach as it growled in hunger.

Bato looked at her.

She smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry."

He smiled, and shook his head "No need to say sorry. Come, you two must be hungry." he said and stood. Gesturing them to follow. "I have enough food to share. Come."

Aang smiled at the man, "Alright, as long as it won't be a burden."

Bato smiled at the young boy, "A burden? No, no. Any friend of Katara is a friend of mine."

Aang smiled, standing up. "Oh alright, if you insist."

Together as a big group; Appa with Momo sitting on top of his head, and the three kids and the man, made their way to the campsite. Appa waited outside the tent, being too large to fit in. Momo, his size at his advantage, happily jumped in, while Appa only stuck his head in the tent to watch. Aang sat next to Katara, and listened to Katara, who talked to Bato about family, her family, while he tried to enjoy a bowl of sea prunes; tried being the key word. Sokka sat on the other side of Bato, also talking about their family. Aang sighed. It must be nice to have family to share stories with, he thought to himself as Bato started sharing stories about Sokka and Katara's father, Hakoda. Aang soon joined the conversations between the siblings and the family friend. Family…yes, he was part of their family now. He smiled at the thought. They were his family now, and he'd always be there for all of them, through thick and thin, he'd never walk out on his family. No matter what, he'd be there.

Author's note:

Well, what did you think? Please review. No flames.