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Aang had always found Katara beautiful. And while he loved everything about her—from the gentle cascade of ebony hair down her back, the lovely shade her skin got when tinted by a blush, and the way her smile knocked him breathless—if he had to choose just one part, he’d have to pick her eyes.
He loved how they stood out against her brown skin, and how they sparkled under the moonlight when they’d take late-night walks on full moons. He adored the way they gleamed with competitiveness when they would spar, and how they burned with fiery indignation every time she saw something wrong in the world.
He melted every time he saw the love that shone in them when their gazes met, merely reflecting that he had for her. For the past decades, he cherished how they lit up every time he returned from a long trip, and how they sparked with need right before closing as their lips touched. He considered it one of the greatest luxuries to be able to wake up to them each morning, because he was just as lucky to have them in his life as he was to be to be alive, after all. It was a strange thing how those were intertwined, but perhaps that was the very reason Aang loved that part of her the most.
He had first flirted with death a hundred and fifty years ago, when he ran away in the middle of a storm. Things got out of control, and he and Appa got pulled down by thrashing waves. He remembered the feeling of drowning, he remembered glowing, a surge of power he had never felt before, and then cold. The next thing he knew was light, arms around him, and bright ocean eyes looking at him with concerned curiosity, hair loopies swaying gently with the antarctic breeze. The sight of her looking so breathtakingly beautiful to him that day filled his lovestruck 12 year old dreams for months, and it was a scene he still remembered just like it was yesterday.
The next time he was on the brink was in Ba Sing Se, when he got shot down by Azula’s lightning. There was a blinding flash, hot, electric pain, then everything went dark. He fell into nothingness–there was no air, no sound, no light, no feeling. It was a suffocating experience, and he was seconds away from just giving in when an azure glow suddenly shone, pulling him towards it. Suddenly, he could breathe again, and he let out a soft groan. He felt the cold wind on his face, and pain all over, seemingly stemming from a searing sensation at his back. His eyes were heavy, but he forced them to open as much as he could. He could barely make out anything, but it was impossible to miss the familiar blue eyes that greeted him, teary, overjoyed, and utterly relieved. His mouth curved into a weak smile for her, and she pulled him to her. The warmth that radiated from her body eased any other worry he had for the meantime, and he had allowed himself to give in to the heaviness, knowing this dark was merely temporary.
Now, however, was different. There were no surprise attacks or bad weather—his health had deteriorated slowly but steadily over the past months. He was at death’s door yet again, but he knew that when he gave in to the dark this time, there was no chance he’d somehow find himself waking up to Katara’s face like he’d done before. This time, he was going for good.
As he lay on the bed, he couldn’t help but think how fitting it was for him to be leaving the world the same way he had reentered it—in her arms. He smiled up at her, and she smiled back, tears starting to roll down her wrinkled cheeks. He lifted a bony hand to her face, and she held it there, leaning into his palm as his thumb gently wiped away at the wetness streaked her face. His vision slowly started to dim, and after all those times of being his welcome back to the world, her ocean eyes were the last thing he saw as he drew a final shuddering breath.
And then everything went dark one final time.
…..
In the Southern Water Tribe, a baby cried her first. The midwife handed her over to the proud father, who soothed her as he brought her over to his wife. After finally calming down, the newborn opened her eyes, looking back at her parents with the most striking shade of blue they had ever seen.