avatarsnowy:

a-irbender:

Katara healing Aang- requested by element-of-change

I think one of the things i like best about kataang is how level their footing is. A lot of shows sort of try to make the footing level but someone (usually the girl) falls short. But these two literally could not have gone on without one another.

In a sense, Aang saved Katara. And I think she is very aware of that. Even before he met her he was saving her because the Avatar gave Katara hope, and when they met he gave her the opportunity to travel and chase her dreams and become a Waterbending master and bring the war to an end.

That actually could have been sort of iffy, couldn’t it? Him taking her off on an adventure but her being completely dependent on him for everything — for giving her access to the world, to a Bending master. But that’s not how they operate at all. 

For onething, Katara’s still independent, makes her own choices, and fights her own battles. One of the reasons I love her fight with Pakku so much is her line, “I’m not doing this for you,” spoken to Aang. Because that’s how that fight could read! That she’s fighting Pakku because Aang needs a teacher. But no. As important as Aang is, Katara still isn’t afraid to focus on and fight for herself.

And more than that, Aang needs Katara just as much as she needs him. Can you imagine what would have happened if she hadn’t been with him when he went to the Southern Air Temple? Or if she hadn’t been there to pull him out of the Avatar State when he lost Appa? Or if she hadn’t been there to heal him when Azula shot him down? Or if, god forbid, she had never found him at all?

They pull strength and hope from each other, and each needs the other. Even without the context of romance, that need and that strength is there. That is their relationship. Katara and Aang pick each other up. It’s just what they do.