31_days | [June 30th] [Avatar: The Last Airbender] [Wishes]

Title: Wishes
Day/Theme: June 30th - "A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now."
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Character/Pairing: Aang/Katara
Rating: PG
Note: This is the final piece of three companion stories. The first is from the 26th ("The past is another land.") and the second is from yesterday, the 29th, ("For once, I didn't disengage.").

“A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now.”

The actual ceremony itself had been brief, surprisingly so when Aang thought about it as the final blow against him, forever dividing him from Katara. She and her new husband had agreed to have their wedding in the Earth Kingdom, as the South Pole was plummeted in the season-long night of the North’s summer. She had been decorated with various summer flowers, dressed in a bright white which offset the tan of her skin. He didn’t want to bear the burden of painful memories anymore, but there he was, making more of them.

When it was finally clear that he would not be missed if he left the festivities, Aang left with Appa, souring up into the skies without looking back. He flew low, allowing the warmed breeze tangle with his saffron robes, which he had dug out specifically for the occasion of the wedding. They were a quiet reminder of his place in the world as a peaceful, aloof monk; a place which would not, could not, ever include Katara. Rain clouds moved in from the West, the direction Aang was flying as he headed back to the Fire Nation, and released cleansing rain over him. He promised himself that he would find a way to heal and move forward, as Katara had, and rinse him of the dark pains which burdened his heart. It was only when the lump formed in his throat that he realized that rain alone was not what made his face so wet.

So he just cried through the rain, praying things could get better; wishing things had been different.

~*~

Katara noticed Aang’s absence moments after he left, and her eyes scanned the crown for the telltale color of his robes, finding nothing to indicate the airbender was still present. Her husband squeezed her hand kindly, and she brought her attention back to the only man she could give it to now. She missed Appa’s fading silhouette as it disappeared into the horizon, where the sun sunk slowly toward the earth. The day had been perfect, she was happy, so why did her chest tighten when she thought that Aang had left? As the guests slowly left and she and her husband settled in for the night in the Bei Fong’s guest house, Katara slipped outside to look up at the moon; to pray for the strength to uphold her choice. There was no turning back now, and she knew it.

The moon, however, was covered by heavy rainclouds, which opened up a pouring torrent over her a moment after she slipped outside. Her heart twisted and she didn’t have the strength to bend the drops away to keep herself dry. Slowly, she sunk to her knees and buried her face in her hands, momentarily despairing in her situation. It was for the best. She had made her choice, and now she lived with it. She was free of the emotions she had felt when with Aang, which had bound her in pain all those years he was gone, and she had freed him from any promises he had made to her. Still, she felt chained and despondent, and as the rain washed over her, she shook with sobs, hoping they would be enough to finally let go. Nothing, not even the rain, could comfort her or make her feel worse than she already did.

So she just cried through the rain, belatedly praying things could be different; wishing things had just been better.