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Gravity "So, uh, Katara," Sokka said, fumbling with his spear. "How are things going with you and Aang?"

She blinked and looked up at him from where she was kneeling, making a fire. "Uhm, they're going fine," she said slowly, confused.

"That's good," Sokka said, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, yeah, why wouldn't they be good, huh? Yeah." He fell quiet for a moment, feeling Katara's sharp gaze on him.

"Is something wrong?" she asked finally. "You look kind of...off."

"What?!" Sokka said, voice cracking. "Nothing's wrong, jeez! Can't a guy ask a question without you trying to psychoanalyze him?!"

She frowned. "Calm down, Sokka," she said. "I'm just concerned. What could be wrong with Aang and me, anyway? Nothing has happened," she said. "We're still friends."

Sokka coughed. "Riiight," he said, nodding. "Friends, yeah. Nothing more than friends, right?"

Katara laughed. "Of course," she said. "Nothing more. Aang's more like a little brother than a boyfriend to me. It would just be...weird."

/Weird, yeah right/. "Yeah," Sokka said, laughing. And it was such a phony laugh that Katara stood up. "Anyway, yeah, I, uh, gotta go."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Katara said, eyes narrowing with concern. "Maybe you should lie down or something." She looked around. "This seems like a good place to sleep for the night, right? It doesn't seem like there's anything dangerous around."

"Yeah," Sokka said, distracted. "So where is Aang, anyway?"

"Oh, he went off in the direction," Katara said, waving her hand toward the forest. "He said he was going to 'scout the area.'" She rolled her eyes. "He's just getting more wood for the fire."

Sokka looked towards the direction she'd pointed for a moment before nodded. "Right. Well, I'll just go, uh, help him. Be right back!" He left before she could protest.


*
Okay. Okay, calm down, Sokka thought. You're a warrior. You don't know fear. Besides, it's not like you're going to tell him...anything. You're just going to talk. That's all, right? Right. He nodded.

It was tough having a crush on the Avatar. The very young, very male Avatar. Sokka sighed. /It's just not right/, he thought mournfully. When he'd first realized that he felt a bit more intensely about Aang, he passed it off as strong protective feelings, like a big brother or something. /Yeah, that totally made sense, too/, he thought, looking around the moonlit forest. It was when those feelings surpassed what he'd felt for Yue -who the thought of brought feelings of guilt, not love- that Sokka started feeling concerned.

His thoughts were interrupted by laughter up ahead. "Aang?" he called out, pace quickening to a jog. "What are you doing?"

"Sokka! Come here and look at this!"

Sokka started running and abruptly the trees disappeared and he was in a clearing. In front of him was one monstrously huge tree. Its limbs were long and thin, like fingers, though they were covered in healthy leaves.

Aang sat near the top, waving down at Sokka. "Watch this!" he yelled, grabbing a vine -the tree was covered with them, Sokka noticed- and swing down, laughing hysterically. He let go and flipped in the air, landing beside Sokka with a grin.

"Look! You should try it," Aang said, gesturing wildly at the tree. "It's really fun!"

Sokka looked up at the tree, eyebrow raised. "I dunno, Aang. You've got air bending on your side, but if I fall, I'll just go splat."

"I'll go with you!" Aang said. He put a hand on the tree and looked up into the branches. "We'll climb up together and you can hang on to me when we swing down."

"H-hang on to you?" Sokka repeated, eyes widening. "Ah, I dunno, Aang..."

Aang shrugged. "Aw, okay. If you really don't want to," he said easily enough, but Sokka could see the disappointment on his face.

He heaved a great sigh. "Okay, fine," he said. "But if I die, I'm haunting you."

Aang grinned. "Fair enough!" he said, laughing. "Now, come on!" Together they climbed up the great tree; Aang took daring leaps from branch to branch while Sokka took the climb much more straightforwardly.

When they made it to the top, Sokka gulped, looking down. "Wow, it's really high," he said, looking over at Aang, who was looking down too. /I wonder if the other air benders were this fearless/, he thought. Somehow, he didn't think so. It was just Aang.

"Okay, let's get this over with," Sokka said.

"Great!" Aang said, grabbing a vine. He tugged it a few times. "Okay, this one looks nice and strong." He grinned widely. "Grab hold of me!"

Oh man. "Okay..." Sokka said. He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around Aang's waist.

"You'll have to hold on tighter then that," Aang said, grabbing Sokka's forearms and wrapping them tighter around himself. "Okay, you ready?"

Sokka was feeling lightheaded and he wasn't sure if it was the close proximity with Aang or the sudden fear that he was about to die. /Probably both/. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said and was horrified to hear his voice crack. He cleared his throat. "I mean, I'm ready," he repeated in a much deeper voice.

Aang laughed and leaned forward. "Okay, let's go!" He fell forward and the fast descent began.

Cold air smacked against Sokka's face as they hurtled toward the ground. The trees flew by in a blur and Sokka closed his eyes.

"Isn't it great?!" Aang yelled.

"Don't talk; concentrate on keeping us alive!" he yelled back, face buried against Aang's shoulder. He heard Aang laughed and realized that he had a crush on someone who was completely insane.

Finally, he felt the upswing of the vine that signaled that the 'ride' was almost over. He gave a sigh of relief. /I'm never listening to Aang again/, he swore. They landed on the ground, Aang still holding onto the vine and Sokka holding onto Aang.

"Wasn't it fun?" Aang said, looking over his shoulder at Sokka, and took in his expression. "Sokka, are you okay?" he asked, eyes wide.

/He's insane/. Slowly, Sokka leaned down and kissed Aang. One hand traveled up and touched his chin, at once holding him in place and simply holding him. Aang's lips were thin but soft and it was too much and not enough all at the same time. Sokka didn't really even know what to do, only that he wanted more. Because, this, this and more was what he wanted.

Suddenly, what he was doing and who he was doing it to caught up with him and Sokka pulled away from Aang.

"Aang.." he said, trailing off when he realized that he didn't know what to say. Come on, you always have something to say. Think! "I..."

"It's okay, Sokka," Aang said, a wide grin on his face, though his cheeks were red. Belatedly, Sokka could feel his cheeks start to flush. "If you hadn't done it, I would have."

"I'm so sorry, really I...what?" What?!

"C'mon, we'd better get back before Katara starts to worry," Aang said, tugging on Sokka's sleeve.

"Uhm...okay?" Sokka said dumbly, not really knowing what to say. Wait, what? What did he just say?!

Aang laughed. "Race you there?" he said, and Sokka touched his shoulder.

"Hold on," he said, leaning down and ghosting his lips over Aang's before darting ahead. "Race you!"

"Hey, no fair!" Aang yelled, face red again. "You cheated!" Sokka laughed wildly as he ran through the trees.

Yeah, he's insane. But I like him, so what does that make me?

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