Okay, people! I'm back!

I wrote this earlier today, on a whim, in one sitting, in my oh-so-tidy (NOT) history notebook.

I realize stuff like this has been done before. I just figured I would join the club. Maybe there are better stories of its kind out there, but I like to think that this one is at least KINDA good.

Also, please keep in mind while you read that this is the first time I've ever written a story completely in first person.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thank you very much!

In His Eyes

In his eyes, I saw a multitude of feelings. Emotions bottled up inside him even if he himself was unaware. Whenever he looked at me, I would get a fleeting sense of what he was feeling most predominantly at the time. What was surprising was that sometimes, it was the total opposite of what his current mood appeared to be.

He would look at me with a smile and I would see a flicker of sorrow. He would be upset or angry, tears streaming down his face, and in the midst of that, I would see a the smallest glimmer of hopefullness. Everything was reflected in his shining grey eyes, even if it was not on face or in his words.

I could never separate out the smirling mass of emotion that made its dwelling there. But I glimpsed plently of different things during our time together.

Joy; no matter the situation, matter how bad of a day I was having, he always knew exactly the right thing to say to make me feel better. He had an air about him that made him able to lighten the mood in any room -- or cave, for that matter -- that he walked into. It also made it impossible for me to stay mad at him, whatever he had done. With Aang, I knew that whenever he apologized for something, he genuinely meant it. He didn't just say it to get out of trouble. He seemed to really understand the meaning of the words "I'm sorry." But either way, whether he got a chance to apologize for something or not, I just couldn't stay angry. As strange as it may seem, I would miss him too much.

Pain was another emotion that I saw all too often in his grey eyes. Even when he didn't outwardly show it, it was there, mixed in with all of the smiles, laughs and goofy grins. I couldn't help but understand. After all, I remembered all too well the day that I had lost my mother. I was devastated, and that was an understatement if ever there was one. How Aang must have felt when we found Monk Gyatso's remains in the air temple that day...it was unfathomable. He had lost his entire race, his entire family. The air temple was all he had ever known, and then it was all taken from him, in one way or another, by this war. But he still managed to smile. That alone made me admire him all the more.

I looked up at the stars. They were so clear, way up here in the sky. I felt relaxed, at peace, though my mind was working a mile a minute. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wasn't tired, nor did I particularly want to go to sleep anyway. The stars reminded me of when I was a little girl. My mother and I would lay out late into the night and look at them, just the two of us.

"Do you see that, Katara?" she would ask, pointing out a certain group of stars, "That's Cyril, the ice phoenix. She's a symbol of absolute peace and tranqility." To me they just looked like a bunch of dots. Scanning the skies now, there was no visible sign of Cyril. The constellation was visible only during the early months of winter, now far gone. I hoped that I would see it again after this blasted war was over.

Hope; that was something else that reminded her of the young airbender. There were times when it seemed even Aang had lost hope. I sometimes truly believed that he had. But then he would look at me, and I would see it, very much alive, there in his eyes. It was amazing to me that he could still have hope in the midst of our situation. But then it ocurred to me that it couldn't possibly be any other way. He was the Avatar. Bringing other people hope was his job. And he usually didn't have to try all that hard to do it. It radiated out of him like warmth from a fire in a cold, dark cave. Hope was one of the few things in this world that even the Fire Lord could never burn, even with his harshest flames.

But sometimes, frustration seemed to cover up his hopefullness. Even when he seemed at his happiest, I could see it, sense it, physically feel it. He felt with every fiber of his being that he had failed. He thought that he had to regain his honor, redeem himself after he was defeated at Ba Sing Se. It really scared me sometimes how much he sounded like Zuko. Though I always knew that he didn't mean to. But it's not just Ba Sing Se that frustrates him. He's a kid who's been given a huge responsability that he never even came close to wanting. Everyone expects him to be some kind of super-hero with all the answers, but the truth is, he's just as scared as everyone else involved in this war. Probably even more so.

I looked at him, guiding Appa across this vast expanse of sea, ocean breeze ruffling his short black hair. It was truly amazing how he had matured since we found him in the iceburg. He had gotten a little taller, and his voice had obviously become deeper over the past months. I imagined what he might look like in ten years and blushed, in spite of myself. I could tell even now, that he was going to become quite the handsome young man.

Whoa...what was I thinking? Aang was my friend...right?

And yet, I couldn't help but let the pestering little thought enter my mind...did I like him as more...?

No, no. That could wait.

I turned to my right. Sokka was fast asleep, back against the side of Appa's saddle, snoring loudly, map in hand, probably dreaming about eating Momo... I smiled at my brother. Though at times, he was stubborn, and annoying, and imature, and big-headed, he was still my brother. I knew Aang didn't like it when I fought with Sokka, and the truth was neither did I...

And then I looked to my left. Toph slept rather peacefully, although I knew she didn't like being up so high. She was curled in a ball, her arms wrapped around Momo's sleeping form. I smiled again. I couldn't help it. Here, surrounded by my family, how could I not?

I found it hard to believe that people always took their families for granted. As for me, I did, once. I used to think when I was little that my mom and dad would be around forever, that they would always be there to shoo the bad things away from me. But I thought wrong. I admit to it. When Mom died, I never thought I would be able to get close to anyone again...

I found myself staring, once again, at Aang, sitting wordlessly on the head of his big furry friend. He probably thought that everyone else was alsleep. After all he had been through, he took nothing for granted. Though he was young, he possessed wisdom that would surprise anyone. Most would tend to think that it was because he was the Avatar, that all of the wisdom came from his past lives, the Avatars before him. But me, I thought it was just him. Just Aang. The fact that he was the Avatar just made him be more vocal about it. It wasn't Kyoshi or Roku. It was just...Aang.

I wondered for a moment. What did Aang see when he looked at me? What did my eyes give away? Did he see a determined fighter? A scared little girl? A friend? A sister? Maybe even...?

He turned. We made eye contact. I smiled at him, and time stopped. We weren't moving at all. It was just the two of us. And I saw something new there in his eyes. Yet...familiar. I couldn't decide exactly what it was, but what really surprised me...

I felt something in my own eyes too.

Sure, it sounds strange when I think about it, but really, I felt my eyes saying something that my heart had been saying for the longest time and that my lips had yet to speak. Then time started again. Aang smiled back at me, and turned back toward the horizon, but not before I saw a faint blush creeping up onto his cheeks. I know he sensed it too.

Suddenly overcome with fatigue, I closed my eyes. I felt myself smiling, oddly enough. Just as I dozed off, I heard him. Just for a moment, I heard his laugh, I felt his hand in my own.

And just for a fleeting second, I saw his eyes.

Well...what do you think? I kinda like it better than I did originally. I think it might have veered off subject toward the end, but overall, I'd say I like it better then I did when I wrote it earlier in my notebook.

PLEASE REVIEW! Thankies! ;)