Can you imagine kataang breaking up but staying friends with benefits after a while before getting together again
Hey anon! Actually… I kind of can but only under very specific circumstances. Like, one of them (probably Aang) thinks they should break up because he can’t possibly give her everything she needs with his position and all the time he needs to take away from her to fulfill his duty as Avatar. Maybe they fall to those outside influences that say they’re “too young” to have found true love already, or even know what that means (nevermind they risked their lives in a literal war—love is too complicated for them to understand). They still love each other, but Aang thinks she definitely deserves someone “better” (stupid, silly boy doesn’t realize that to her, he’s the best there is) who can actually be there for her all the time. Maybe Katara thinks Aang deserves someone who will convert to his Air Nomad beliefs, like one of the Air Acolytes or something. So they call it quits.
We all know kataang are best friends first, so they keep up correspondence and try to meet up whenever they can, even though it hurts. And every time they see each other after the break up—at every conference or gala or celebration—they fall under that same spell that pulled them together in the first place. They try to resist at first, maybe even try to move on, but nobody else ignites that spark. They can’t even get beyond a first date and an awkward kiss or two with someone else, because even though they’ve broken up, it feels wrong. Nobody else is *them* you know?
Eventually, they stop trying to pretend there isn’t something special between them. Or, at least, they stop trying to fight the physical pull every time they’re in the same room. They keep dancing together, and let themselves get swept up in the moment before they have to be apart again. If neither of them is getting any, anyway, what’s the harm, right? They can stop as soon as the other person finds “the one” (or even just “the right now”) and move on with their lives.
Except they never find anyone else that gives them the same butterflies. That they know in their heart of hearts they can rely on. That they trust as much as they trust each other. And after some time—months, years, who knows—they give up trying and accept that they were always meant to be anyway. Ooooooor maybe Katara gets pregnant with Bumi (oops!) and they decide to just be a real family already.
Thanks for the ask, anon! I was sitting and waiting for my car to be done getting new tires and an oil change, and this was a fun little thing to think about while I waited 😌
