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Aang and Katara rode Appa alone, crossing yet another Fire Nation colony off a list that only seemed to grow. What began as a straightforward, righteous mission—to decolonize the Earth Kingdom—had unraveled into a tangle of old wounds and resentments, impossible to sort cleanly. They’d spent the last scraps of their childhood sweeping up after the mistakes of people long dead. There was no longer a shadow of world-ending danger trailing their every step, not like a few summers back, but they understood now: peace was a myth. Someone, somewhere would always need them, rarely in a convenient location, and usually right this moment.
This time, they were headed towards one of the Hu Xin provinces, mentally preparing themselves to squash a violent rebellion led by a faction of the New Ozai Society. The trip took three long days of flying from the South Pole, where their bi-annual visit to see Kanna and Hakoda was cut short.
The Hu Xin protests had dragged on for months, sparked by Fire Lord Zuko’s reparations policy: generous tax breaks for native Earth Kingdom citizens, paid for by the Fire Nation. Only recently had they turned violent, with riots growing fiercer each week. Zuko claimed he and the Earth King had it under control, but Aang had seen unrest like this go bad before. He wasn’t willing to risk it. Besides, he was ready to leave the South Pole—and suspected Katara was, too.
Their visits to Katara’s hometown grew more fraught the longer she and Aang remained unmarried. The village had expected a wedding the moment Katara turned sixteen—especially since she and Aang had already been together for over a year by then. Katara heard the rumors: that Aang was sleeping around to restore the Air Nation, that she was stringing him along for the status, or—most scandalous of all in their conservative community—that they were already sleeping together.
The truth was simpler. Neither saw a need to marry until they planned to have children. Aang was too busy with the fallout of Harmony Restoration to be a present father, and Katara was busy training the next generation of healers. The rumors couldn’t have been further from the truth, even the last one—much to Aang’s disappointment.
The Air Nomads had always held a liberal view of sex. Reproduction was essential, but pleasure wasn’t discouraged either, and marriage was a foreign concept. The idea of “premarital” sex seemed absurd to Aang. He’d secretly hoped they would have crossed that line long ago, but he rarely voiced it, careful never to pressure her. Katara, for her part, was clear: premarital sex was unthinkable in her culture. No matter how much she wanted him, shame and guilt always got in the way. Aang could still remember the first time they talked about it.
"So, why don't we just get married then?" Aang had asked Katara shortly after her 16th birthday.
"Your people don't get married," she reminded him.
"I'd do it for you."
"I just feel guilty that you're adapting to my culture, but I can't do anything to adapt to yours," she frowned.
“Katara, when we have kids, I’ll teach them all about the Air Nomad way,” he promised. “They’ll have the best of both worlds.” He knew it wasn’t really true. Their cultures couldn’t have been more different. But he also knew what had been lost, and was willing to let go of the past if it meant building something new together.
It didn’t hurt that marriage meant they could finally have sex. He felt he should be more embarrassed that this was such a big motivator, but he couldn’t help it. He might be the Avatar, but he was also just a teenage boy in love with the most beautiful girl in the world.
"Just because my family is pressuring you doesn't mean you have to give in," Katara reasoned.
"Katara, I love your family," Aang held her hands, looked into her deep blue eyes. "I don't see the point in delaying it. Especially because of all the fun things we'll get to do," he wiggled his eyebrows.
Katara scoffed and pulled away. "Is that all this is about?"
"What? No, of course not," he assured her. "I want to marry you because I love you, and because it means a lot to you."
"But it doesn't mean anything to you?"
Aang ran his hands down his face. "No, that's not what I meant at all. Of course the idea of spending the rest of my life with you is the best thing I can think of. I just meant, I know how much marriage matters to you."
"I want it to mean a lot to you too, Aang," Katara said firmly. "I don't think you understand why it's so important to me and my culture, and I don't think I can marry you until you do."
Aang sighed, frustrated.
"Look," Katara reasoned, "I know sex isn't as big of a deal to your people. I really want to meet you half way. You've sacrificed so much for me."
Aang looked back up at her. "I just don't want you to compromise your morals or anything."
"They're not even my morals," she sighed. "I don't know. I'm really confused."
"It doesn't matter," Aang comforted her. "You're ready when you're ready, whenever that is."
She looked up into his light gray eyes and felt her heart skip a beat at his unconditional patience. His unwavering commitment to putting her first, even when it didn't feel fair. "I love you. Thank you for being so patient with me."
"Always," he leaned down to give her a short kiss. "So, when you said it's not that you don't want to... can you elaborate on that?" his dopey smile returned.
Katara laughed. "Don't push your luck."
_______________________
This conversation had been playing in his head a lot recently. It was clear they weren't going to get married for a while, and enough time had passed since then. The world was changing around them faster than they could keep up. Traditions of old were being replaced with what made sense for the modern day. Cultures were shifting, merging, taking the best ideas from each and leaving the archaic ones to die. Maybe, with all that had changed, Katara's ideals had changed too.
With three days in the sky and nothing to do but be in each others' company, Aang decided now was a good of time as any to reopen this conversation. He patted Appa on the head, putting the Bison on cruise control, and lept into the saddle where Katara was finishing a romance novel.
"How's your book?" He inquired, settling down next to his love.
"It's pretty trashy. One of my friends back home gave it to me for our trip, but the whole thing is built on angst."
"Pfft, like they know angst."
"That's what I'm saying. I guess when you have the weight of the world on your shoulders for years, it's hard to relate to non-problems like theirs." Katara threw her book aside. "I'd much rather spend time with you anyway."
Aang smiled and cupped her face, using his thumb to trace the corner of her lips down to her chin before leaning in for a kiss. They had somewhat of a routine now. A few minutes into their makeout session, he would slowly lay her down and kiss along her jawline, to her ear, nibbling on it for a bit before making his way down to her neck and leaving a mark. He would run his strong hand down her sides, over her clothes, and linger on her chest before returning to cup her face. This would last around 7 minutes, like clockwork, before Aang had to take a break.
Katara moaned in contentment as Aang pulled away. "You always pull back just when it starts getting really good.
He gave her his signature crooked smile. "Sorry, I have to calm down."
"Like, you need to catch your breath, or your arm gets tired?"
Aang laughed at her naivety. He couldn't believe she didn't figure out the real reason, after all these years he thought it was fairly obvious. "No, Katara."
"Don't laugh! Why are you laughing?" She gazed at him, intensely curious.
"Um, my dick gets really hard and it starts to hurt," he answered honestly. "Sorry, I know you don't like to talk about that stuff."
"Just from kissing?"
“Of course!” he blurted, surprised she wasn’t already painfully aware of her effect on him. “Have you seriously never noticed? When we’re making out and you feel something—did you think I’d grown a third leg or something?” He laughed, the words tumbling out before he could stop himself.
"I knew you got hard," she answered indignantly. "I could feel it, of course."
This admission made his cock twitch. They had never talked about it so brazenly before. He was incredibly excited she seemed open to discussion. "Do you like how it feels?"
"Of course I do," she felt her face turning red. "It's really hot. But I didn't know it was hurting you."
"Well, I wouldn't say hurt," he clarified. "It's just kind of frustrating having it rub up against my pants like that and not being able to get any relief. So I need to take a few minutes to, uh, soften up."
Katara winced that he had been having this issue and hadn't felt comfortable enough to talk about it with her. She, of course, also got turned on by their makeout sessions, and loved when his knee happened to be in just the right spot. She never felt anything other than pure pleasure from the friction. She assumed it had been the same for him. "I'm really sorry you didn't feel like you could tell me that. That's my fault. I've been so closed off about sex."
Aang immediately rushed to comfort her. "Katara, it's not a big deal at all. It doesn't feel bad," he lied a little. It felt like torture at times not being able to get the release he so desparately needed, sometimes needing to wait hours before he could sneak off and relieve himself. "It feels incredible to get so turned on like that by you."
"Are you sure that's all there is to it? Would you tell me if you wanted more?"
"Of course I want more," he blurted out. "But I'm happy with whatever you want."
Katara sat in silence for a few seconds. "What do you want? If I was down for anything. What would we be doing instead of kissing?"
It almost felt like a trap. Surely she knew. "We'd be having sex," he admitted. "We probably would have been having sex for a long time now."
A tear fell from her eyes as she blinked.
Aang rubbed it from her cheek with his thumb. "What's this? I'm sorry to upset you."
"I feel so guilty. For depriving you of something you've wanted for years. For wanting to have sex with you before we're married. I feel like it's my responsibility to do the right thing, but I don't know what the right thing is." Two more tears fell down her cheek, not getting far before the air bender wiped them away.
"The right thing is whatever you want. Not what your people want, not what I want. It's that simple. What do you want, Katara?"
She took a deep breath. "I want you. I want us to go to the next level."
Aang smiled and felt a wave of excitement shoot down his spine. "You're sure?"
Katara shook her head. "No. I'm not. I never thought I would break tradition like this. It's unheard of in the south," she grimaced. "But I want our wedding to be really special, when our work with the colonies are done, and we're ready to start a family. I'd rather have that."
"You know," Aang started. "There's plenty of stuff that isn't sex that feels almost as good as sex. Some would argue even better."
Katara raised an eyebrow. She had absolutely zero sex education due to how repressed her culture was. She had heard about her friends' sex lives briefly, but never in great detail. "Like what?"
"Hands and mouths, for starters," Aang felt extremely excited to present these novel ideas to her. "Like, maybe to ease into things, I can finger you, and you can give me a handjob, or something." He cringed as those words left his mouth. They sounded so blunt and crude. Not very romantic.
Katara didn't seem to mind the lack of romance, more confused than anything. "I dont really know what that means. I've heard the terms before. I guess I can put two and two together. But I don't really know what to do."
"Oh, that's fine, I can show you," he gave her the biggest, cockiest smile of his life, somehow surpassing his expression when he eavesdropped on Katara's Aunt Wu prediction.
She couldn't help but laugh, his goofiness putting her totally at ease. "You're ridiculous." She felt emboldened by his idea. Technically, this wasn't sex, so she could totally give herself to whatever pleasure was coming around the corner, guilt-free. The idea of this deeply excited her and she was ready. "I think I'd like you to show me how to give you a handjob."
Aang's heart thudded out of his chest. It was happening. Years of waiting, yearning, sneaking off to take care of himself, all coming to an end in this very moment. Any blood that had left his cock in-between their makeout session and now quickly rushed back, making it twitch and ache in excitement. "I would love that!" he exclaimed rather loudly. He couldn't contain himself. He reached into his pants to give his member a few tugs.
Katara looked at him curiously, feeling warmth between her legs from watching him touch himself. It was so vulnerable, intimate, sitting next to him as he started touching a part of his body only the two of them were allowed to explore. Impatience got the better of her. She wanted to see it. "Aren't you gonna take it out?"
Aang laughed at her bluntness. "Yeah, give me a second. I need to make sure it's ready."
"What do you mean ready?"
"There's stages of hardness. Sometimes I'm completely soft, other times I'm completely hard, but there are times I'm at some stage of both. I'm probably 100% hard right now, but I want to make sure."
"Would it be so bad if you weren't?" Katara laughed.
"First impressions are important," he gleamed. "The harder it is, the bigger it is."
"Bigger is better?"
"Of course!" Aang exclaimed. Jeez, this girl really was repressed. He supposed it didn't matter too much, as his would be the only one she'd ever see, and he would make sure she got pleasure regardless. Coming to this conclusion, he finally pulled his waistband down and revealed his member, standing proudly.
"Oh wow," Katara took a second to take in the sight, her pupils dilating as she leaned a bit closer in to get a better look. "It's... pretty."
Aang recoiled. "Pretty?" He never imagined Katara using the word pretty to describe his manhood. Big, huge, sexy? All words he would have gladly accepted. He wasn't sure how to feel about this.
"Yeah, I really like looking at it."
Okay. He liked pretty. She wasn't wrong, either. It was rather smooth and had a nice pink gradient going up the shaft, the head being the star of the show with its wide girth and vibrant hue. He was cut, as all air nomads were, which accentuated its features that Katara found pretty. He was clean shaven, as he was on the rest of his body. Another habit instilled in him by the monks.
"You have big balls," she laughed teasingly, "I guess it makes sense considering how brave you are."
"I was hoping you'd say something else was big," Aang retorted.
Katara laughed again, feeling so open and invigorated by their new intimacy. "I didn't realize that was so important to you."
"Of course it is! I'm a man! I guess you wouldn't get it."
"No, I don't, and it doesn't matter to me at all. But you are big, for the record. Not that I have anything to compare it to."
"Thanks," his eyelids got heavy. "You wanna touch it?"
"I do," she smiled. "But I don't know what to do. Can you show me how you touch yourself?"
"I would love to do that," Aang leaned down to give her a short kiss before sitting back up and firmly gripping his member. He gave it a few strokes before spitting in his hand and continuing his motions. He felt shivers running down his spines, watching his lover watch him so intensely. This felt so much better than beating off alone.
"Does that help with friction?" Katara inquired.
"Yeah, it needs some kind of lubricant so it doesn't chafe or anything."
"Okay, that makes sense. Kind of like how when I touch myself, I get wet, and that makes it feel better."
Aang's breath hitched. He didn't know she did that. It was no secret that every guy he knew pleasured themselves, but he was completely unaware that Katara of all people, completely repressed from all sexual things Katara, was pleasuring herself behind his back. He felt his pleasure amplify at the idea. "You masturbate?"
"Yeah." She blushed. "Usually after you fall asleep. Not very often. Just after a long day, or a heated makeout session, it feels nice to get that release."
"Fuck, that's so hot," he moaned. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"I thought you knew," she answered honestly. "Just like I know that you do when you sneak off."
"That obvious?" he blushed.
"Um, yeah. Asking me to 'give you 5 minutes' as you mysteriously disappear off to the bathroom or into the woods after we've been kissing isn't exactly subtle."
He gave an embarrassed smile. He supposed she was right. He never did try too hard to hide it, secretly hoping she'd follow him, leaving the ball in her court. It always pained him when she didn't, but that didn't matter now. That was all in the past. "I can't wait to give you that release from now on."
She felt a rush of heat and a shortness of breath. She didn't realize him dirty talking her like that would have such an effect on her. Wow, she did want that. "Aang, after I get you off, do you think you could get me off, too?"
"Yes!" he practically screamed. "I would absolutely LOVE to do that!"
She laughed again, loving that he could still be his goofy self—even now, as they explored something so intimate and new. They were still them. It wasn’t so scary after all. That sense of safety made her want him even more. “I’m ready to touch you now,” she said, a little shy.
"All yours," he removed his grasp from his penis, still standing proudly as ever, practically begging for the touch of his lover, twitching in anticipation.
"It's like it has a mind of its own," Katara commented as she leaned over for a closer look. "Are you doing that on purpose?" She was referring to the twitching.
"No, it's like a muscle, that happens when I'm really excited or when something feels really good."
"You're really excited?"
"I can't possibly think of a more exciting moment in my entire life."
She smiled, loving this new dynamic they had going on. She had no idea why she waited so long for this. She finally reached over and firmly grasped it.
He full-body shivered, a moan escaping his lips that he could not supress if he tried. He didn't expect her hand to feel so soft and warm and good. She hadn't even started moving it yet. This alone was enough to make him squirm, he worried how long he could last. A few micro-moans escaped his throat as he exhaled.
She couldn't believe the power she had over him, how turned on he was, how much the cock in her hand was begging her for release. It was so incredibly sexy watching his brow furrow and hearing the brand new sounds he was making, feeling his heartbeat in her grip. "That feel good?" she asked, knowing the answer.
He looked at her, deadpan. He knew she knew. Once again, he couldn't stop the moans spilling out of his throat as she started stroking, slowly, taking special care to go all the way up to the top. She stopped for a second and ran her thumb over his tip.
"I really like this part. It's so pretty."
He was beside himself. He couldn't believe he took offense to that word a few moments ago. He couldn't think of a better compliment in the world now. "That's the most sensitive part," he said shakily. "Be careful there."
"Why? Does it hurt if I touch it too much?"
"No, the opposite. I'd like to last more than 30 seconds, please."
She grinned harder than she had the entire trip. She held the keys to his release and could make him explode any time she wanted. And to think, she was nervous she wouldn't know what to do. Who knew it would be this simple? She made her way back down the shaft, not wanting this to be over yet.
Aang breathed a sigh of relief. He had come really close to pouring over the edge when she was working on his head, but felt like he bought himself a few more minutes by redirecting her back down. That is, until she remembered.
"Oh, sorry, this is probably too much friction. Here." She pulled her hand back and spit in it before once again gripping his member.
His next moan was closer to a yell. The visual from that paired with the new, delectable sensation was enough to bring him right back to the edge. He quickly grabbed her wrist and removed her from his member, then swiftly pinched the top of his shaft, right under his tip, focusing deeply.
"What happened?" she looked concerned.
"One sec, sorry." he continued focusing for a while. "I was about to finish. Sorry, that's so embarrassing. You barely touched me."
She smiled and rubbed his arm. "You've been pent up for years. Don't apologize. You'll last longer the longer we do this."
Her reassurance melted his heart. In a way, he was glad they waited this long. He felt so comfortable around her. He really believed her that she didn't mind. He felt totally free to let himself go. "Okay, you can touch it again, but I'm probably gonna cum really quickly."
"That's really hot," she said, blushing. She wasn't lying. The idea of him wanting her this deeply that even a light touch would send him over the edge was intoxicating. She reached back over and instantly went back to his tip, stroking gently with her grip and rubbing her thumb over the side.
He couldn't control himself this time, within seconds he closed his eyes and toppled over the edge, moaning louder than he ever had in his entire life, his release splashing everywhere, chaotically. He shuddered, waves of pure euphoria traveling down his entire body. He had no control over anything, completely overtaken by bliss, riding her strokes through a seemingly never-ending orgasm. He finally came down and opened his eyes, looking over to meet her gaze, gently touching her wrist to remove her from his member.
She was completely taken by this image of him, storing mental screenshots for the next time she touched herself. She had never, in her entire life, been more turned on by anything than her lover unraveling under her touch. "I love you. So much." She felt the words slip out of her mouth so naturally, as they had a hundred times before. They felt stronger this time, like their love had grown even further somehow.
"I love you more," he breathed, earnestly believing it. It was simply impossible for anyone to love anyone more than he loved Katara. It felt so good to come apart in her grasp after years of fantasy. If this felt this good, he couldn't imagine the euphoria that would come from her mouth, or from entering her, or from making her come undone. The thought alone made him put his head back and breathe deeply.
He was so excited to explore everything.