Story [Avatar: The Last Airbender] Just a Cold (Aang/Katara one-shot)

This is another one-shot that I wrote last year and posted elsewhere. Just putting it up on here, as well.

Disclaimer: Avatar: TLA is not mine. Aang bending in his sleep, and Aang's reaction to colds, was first seen in the official Avatar comics. I'm just expanding on it.

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Katara was sleeping peacefully against Aang when a great shuddering jolted her awake. She found herself on the edge of the bed, clutching the sheets to keep from falling off and looking around wildly. Aang was sitting up, and her first thought was to wonder if he was bending in his sleep again. He didn't do it very often, but it was always an adventure when he did.

But Aang was awake, sniffling and rubbing a hand across his eyes. As Katara got her bearings, she realized that the small room was a mess. The flowers and decorations placed on the table across from the bed were all over the floor, a glass vase broken.

Aang took another breath, and Katara recognized what the hitching noise meant. She threw herself over on top of Aang, holding him to the bed just as he sneezed. The force of it shoved him into her and knocked her back into the headboard, but at least Aang didn't go slamming into the thatched roof.

"Katara! Are you okay?" Aang reached out and pulled her back up. She knew as soon as his hot, sweaty hands touched hers that he was sick. His eyes were shining with fever and his nose was stuffy--she could hear it in his voice.

A sick Aang could be even more harrowing than an Aang bending in his sleep. The first time she had experienced him with a cold had been just after she and Sokka met him, when his sneezing had created such huge gusts of wind that it threw up a "here I am" flag to nearby Fire Nation patrols.

The second time had been after the war, when he'd started sneezing during a meeting with some very important political parties. Ink, papers, and anything not attached to the ground had been stirred, destroyed, or blown into walls or ceilings.

There had been a few other instances while in the South Pole, and it was always easier to handle at home, in a familiar setting. This time, though, they were passing through a small Earth Kingdom village. Some of the locals had been kind enough--eager might have been a better way of putting it--to offer hospitality to the Avatar and his lady.

"Aang, you're burning up." Katara's cool fingers brushed his forehead.

Aang looked across the room at the mess he'd made, and his face fell. "Oh, no."

Katara pushed him back onto the bed as he tried to get up to clean. "I'll get it, Aang. Don't move."

"Katara, I can?" Another hitch in his voice was all the warning Katara had before another exploding sneeze that sent her nightdress billowing around her.

Katara hurriedly bended the water from the broken vase up off the floor, transferring it into one of her water pouches. She cleaned up the broken glass, flowers, and knick-knacks and scanned the room for anything else that could be in danger from Aang's cold. She moved everything that could be damaged into a far corner of the room and then crawled back into bed beside Aang, resting one hand on his cheek.

"Sorry," he mumbled, turning his face into her hand and sighing.

"I'm sorry you don't feel well. If you're aching, I can help with my healing, but you know I can't cure colds. I'll see if there's anything I can use to make a paste for you."

"Ugh."

"It usually helps, doesn't it?" Katara asked pointedly.

"Yes, but it usually stinks."

"Well, you're not going to be able to travel until you're better."

"Katara, I have to. I'm expected in Gaoling tomorrow and I have to be in Ba Sing Se the next day and-" He paused, his face scrunching up.

Katara held him tightly as he sneezed again, her body tensing against his, fists clutching the sheets and anchoring them in place. "I'm going to see about that paste now," she said.

"It's the middle of the night, Katara," Aang mumbled into her neck. "And it's just a cold."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep with you sneezing, and neither are you." There was a gentle knock on their bed

 

Awww! I love seeing Aang and Katara as a married couple. Aang never changes, does he?

PS that last line is hilarious! Yes, no firebending in your sleep, please!

 

I love it! Nice mix of humor and sweetness The idea of caring for an airbender with a cold . . . oh my!

 

Very cute! Aang with a cold means trouble. LOL