Chapter Text
The paw came up off the ground once again.
It was the fourth time that day, accompanied on each occasion by a small, sad yelp. Nothing dramatic. No howls of pain. Just a little whimper and a distinctive look of canine confusion—ears back, head tilted, dark eyes round and wide.
Aang crouched down next to Appa and ruffled the dog’s head in an attempt to cheer him up. The fur there was still slightly damp from their river crossing an hour ago, thin spikes clumped along the neck. Appa sniffed once before gingerly placing his paw back on the ground, testing the weight. He evidently decided that he’d be fine to continue and plodded forward, white fur rustling in the breeze.
He made it only a few metres before stopping to gnaw at the paw once more.
“That bad, huh, buddy?”
Appa’s tail gave a single wag as Aang scooted closer again, this time lifting the paw between his hands. He was gentle, because Aang was always gentle, especially when it came to his pets. He pressed the central pad, to no response. For each digit, Appa sat mostly in silence, although he did grumble once; it was a deep sound that came from low in his chest, half complaint and half inquiry.
“I’m checking. We can’t have you—”
Aang’s words were interrupted by another pitiful yelp that sounded the second he touched a nail.
“Well. Guess we found the culprit.”
He lifted the paw to inspect it further. There were no cuts on any of the pads, no bleeding, nothing that jumped out at him. He couldn’t see any cracks along the nail, nothing to interrupt that hard, black shell. If he squinted, maybe he’d say the base looked a touch inflamed, but it was covered in muddy fur. When Aang’s thumb went to push some of the fluff out of the way, Appa huffed through his nose in obvious complaint. There was no aggression in the action, only discomfort. Aang abandoned his investigation.
He stood and looked around. They’d been up on the cliffs just outside of Republic City for a couple of hours now, trying to plan a new route for an orienteering course. Something challenging that wouldn’t tax the kids too much. Aang had a group of twelve-year-olds coming for a full schedule of activities in just a few days, and the usual course was looking a little too muddy. He wasn’t going to be the one responsible for a child breaking their arm because they got stuck in the sludge.
Not again, at least. He’d learned that lesson the hard way.
In Aang’s defence, he’d told the boy at least five times prior to the incident not to attempt to slide down the rock face. Wei, a boisterous regular whom Aang had never quite managed to fully tame, had insisted that he could surf using one foot on the lid of his lunch box. Aang had turned his back for a moment to help another girl find her balance, only to be immediately interrupted by the sound of Wei’s shrieks.
Now, to be fair to Wei, he’d been very good in the aftermath of the whole ordeal and had managed to convince his parents that Aang was in no way to blame for the fact he’d needed a cast for the following six weeks. Or, more specifically, he’d threatened to break the other arm if they stopped him from attending future sessions. He’d been very serious. He’d been back for activities the week the cast came off.
Still, Aang had learned to avoid mud.
The new path he and Appa were working on was almost done; they’d been mapping the return portion when Appa had started to complain that something wasn’t quite right. Now, they were less than a kilometre away from the car.
Appa ambled slowly forwards once more, proudly making it another hundred metres before slumping to a sit with what was clearly a weary sigh. Aang could see the car now, just downhill from where they were.
“Alright, boy. I know you don’t like this but we’re going to have to do it.” Aang stood beside his dog with his hands on hips for a moment, then took a deep breath, bent his knees, and hauled Appa into his arms. “Fuck me, you’re heavy. What have you been eating? Some of the kids?”
Appa grunted and squirmed in his owner’s arms, wriggling in an attempt to free himself. He hated being carried, something Aang knew all too well. Likely it was linked to the fact that being carried usually ended with being placed in the bathtub, which was fine, except that after the bathtub came the hairdryer, which was, to Appa, most decidedly not fine. Aang wouldn’t know. He’d been bald for as long as he could remember.
After Appa finally stopped wriggling, the walk back to the car wasn’t too bad. Aang was tall and strong, fully capable of carrying a dog a short distance, even one as big as Appa. Besides, it was a lovely day. Nice breeze. If Aang didn’t know better, he might have even said that Appa was beginning to enjoy the luxury of simply floating along, what with his head on Aang’s shoulder and his tongue lolling in the wind.
Eventually, they made it back to the car. Aang placed Appa on the ground, opened the door and, lo and behold, the dog jumped easily into his spot, ready for his seatbelt to be connected.
Aang’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure you needed me to carry you.”
Appa tilted his head, the picture of innocence. Aang didn’t believe it for a second.
A day later, Aang and Appa pushed through the doors of the Harmony Park Veterinary Practice for the first time in well over a month. This was something of a record for Aang, who was quite certain that he’d developed a reputation amongst the staff there for being the most paranoid pet owner in their client list. He took Appa and Momo for checks far more often than was probably required. They both had platinum health plans and oh, he used them.
It wasn’t that he thought there was anything medically wrong with either of his boys, it was more that he wanted to make sure everything was okay, especially with Appa. The three of them were always doing something, whether that was trekking through the hills or swimming in the lake or crawling through a cave. Well, Momo less so than the other two, but still. Better safe than sorry.
They approached the main desk where Hisa, the older receptionist who had been working at the clinic for years, gave them both a warm smile. Her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose as she peered down at Appa. She pushed them up with an arthritic finger.
“Well, Aang! Fancy meeting you here.” There was a twinkle in her eye as she appraised him. Teasing, as she did every time.
“I have a reason this time, I swear.”
“Is that so?” Hisa walked from behind the desk to bend next to Appa. She couldn’t crouch anymore, not really, but that was okay. Appa nuzzled into her hand gently. “What reason has your silly owner cooked up this time, boy?”
Aang watched as Appa lapped up every last drop of attention.
“He’s been limping, out on the trail. I thought I’d bring him in, get it checked out.”
As if on cue, Appa lifted his paw, looking oh-so-sorry for himself.
“Oh, you poor sweetheart. Well,” she said, straightening to look up at Aang. Her back remained somewhat hunched; she probably should’ve retired years ago, but she loved her job far too much to step away. “You know the drill. Pop him on the scales in the waiting room and she’ll call for him soon.”
“She?” Aang asked, the word drawing his attention.
Technically, the clinic had a whole host of vets who could (and frequently did) care for Appa, but it was Dr. Pakku who saw them the most. The old man had absolutely no people skills and was frequently infuriating with several of his opinions, but he was an excellent vet. Aang simply had to bite his tongue every time the other man said something asinine.
“Mmhm. We have a new vet, Dr. Katara. Lovely girl, honestly. Comes from somewhere in the south, I think, one of those freezing cold places. Even has experience with polar animals, I hear.” Hisa scanned the room quickly to make sure nobody else was listening, then dropped to a near-whisper. “To tell the truth, Aang, Pakku kicked up a bit of a fuss over her joining, but the other partners overruled him. Some nonsense about her being too young.”
Aang had to roll his eyes at that. The real reason was almost certainly less to do with the other vet’s age, and more to do with her being a woman. Pakku had never been shy about his horrid opinions, even to his clients.
“Well, I’m sure she’s great.” He leaned to peek around the corner, craning his neck for an angle into the waiting room. Not too busy today. They probably wouldn’t be waiting long. “I’ll take Appa inside. We’ll see you in a bit, Hisa.”
Hisa nodded and returned to her seat, watching them as they made their way into the room.
After weighing Appa—“She’s going to make me put you on a diet, boy,”—the two of them sat near the door, the only visitors on the entire row of chairs. The only other patients in the room were a cat who wanted absolutely nothing to do with Appa, and a tiny dog wearing a comically large cone. Appa barked once in greeting. The other dog nearly vibrated out of its skin, shaking so very anxiously.
Before the poor thing could faint with nerves, the door leading to the examination rooms opened, and Aang looked up.
Somewhere in the background, a phone rang and went ignored. The air conditioning hummed above, steady in its irritation, and utterly irrelevant. The lights continued to shine, merciless as ever. Those things all happened, and yet nothing happened at all. Time stopped, or slowed, or curved—that was how it felt to Aang, at least.
Everything seemed to go a bit fuzzy except her.
The woman who walked through the door was gorgeous. Tall, with brown skin and darker hair, tied back in a long, thick braid. Her eyes were the most incredible shade of blue, full of hidden depths Aang was certain he could get lost in forever. Despite the harsh fluorescent lighting he’d never once seen anyone look good in, she seemed to glow, a lustre to her skin that stole his breath. Printed along her blue scrubs were tiny paw prints, adorable in their design, and around her neck hung a stethoscope.
She peered down at the chart in her hands, swept her gaze across the room, then called out, “Appa?”
Her voice was clear and professional, but still warm. Lovely. A lovely voice for a lovely face.
After no response came, she tried again. “Appa?”
Appa stood now, clearly ready to go with the human calling his name. He tugged on his lead slightly, wondering why his owner was apparently refusing to move. It was this pull that snapped Aang out of his stupor.
“That’s me! I—Us. Him. I’m—” He stood, gesturing vaguely at himself and then his dog, who was of no help whatsoever, immediately sniffing the woman’s shoes. “He’s Appa. I’m… I’m Aang. His owner.”
He rubbed a hand nervously across his scalp, wondering why his brain had chosen this exact moment to vacate his head. He could feel a blush spreading. It was probably halfway down his neck right now, tinting the skin pink.
“Hi, Aang.” Her eyes met his, blue on grey, and with that contact went the last of any form of higher cognitive function. All ability to reason, any power he had to stay focused on why he was here, gone in a puff of smoke. “I’m Dr. Katara. I’ll be your vet today.”
She smiled at him, polite and friendly. Aang felt his own mouth fall open a tad, allowing an audible intake of breath.
“I—Yes. Hisa told us. We’re looking forward to having you, right, Appa?” Aang nudged his dog slightly with his leg to get him to stop sniffing. “I mean—I mean, not having you like having y—We just—” He panicked at his words doing the thing they so often did when he was nervous, where they leapt out of his body before he could swallow them. “Dr. Pakku was good, but I’m sure you’re great, too! Better! I mean—I’m not comparing. You’re probably totally different vets. Different styles, you know? Of vetting.”
The words decreased significantly in volume before finally drifting off into silence.
For a moment, Aang considered turning around and walking straight out of the clinic to register Appa elsewhere. Forget this whole sorry mess had ever happened. The paw would survive one more day of irritation.
Then Dr. Katara giggled, her eyes crinkling at the corners, her shoulders lifting with the shape of her laughter.
“Very different styles of vetting, yes,” she agreed. It was generous, Aang thought, to go along with his rambling rather than leave him floundering. He appreciated it more than she could possibly know. Her hands pressed against her knees as she bent over Appa slightly and said, “Let’s get that paw looked at, shall we?”
With a spin, she made her way down the corridor, leaving her patient and his owner to follow.
The consultation room smelled of antiseptic and dog biscuits, a familiar scent by this point. Appa hopped up onto the table without being asked, having done so what felt like a hundred times before.
“You’re a good boy, aren’t you?” The vet moved to touch his back carefully, the delicate touch of a woman who knew how to treat an animal with respect. “And so big!”
“Tell me about it. He made me carry him nearly a kilometre to the car yesterday.” Aang was relieved to find he’d recovered enough to make it through a sentence without stuttering.
Katara’s eyes swept over Aang then as though she were appraising him. He felt the burn of her attention, a phantom touch over the breadth of his shoulders and the curl of his biceps.
It felt incredible. He needed her to do it again immediately.
Instead, she returned her focus to Appa, her expression thoughtful. “Couldn’t walk on the paw?”
“He could, sort of, I just didn’t want it to hurt him. He’s been holding it up on and off for a day or two now. Sometimes he squeaks if he puts too much weight on it.”
“I see,” Katara said softly, her hand moving towards Appa’s front left paw. She picked it up gently, pressing into the pads to test his reaction. The only move Appa made was to lick one of her wrists.
“Sorry!” Aang said, clicking his fingers near Appa to get his attention. “He’s usually better trained than that, I promise.”
It was true. Appa only licked Aang, Zuko, and Toph like this. Nobody else. Just his favourite three people. The fact that Katara had so quickly made the cut amused Aang somewhat.
Yeah, buddy. I’d lick her too.
Wait.
“It’s okay.” Katara continued inspecting the paw, tapping each nail at a time. “He’s just a big bab—Aha!” She peered closer at the paw, then angled it slightly towards Aang, pulling a pointer from the top pocket of her scrubs. “Cracked nail, see? Poor guy must’ve hurt it somehow.”
Sure enough, running down the third nail was a visible crack from tip to base. The surrounding tissue was a touch inflamed. Aang had checked that paw, that nail, out on the trail. He’d known it was that one. He just hadn’t seen the blazingly obvious split.
“How did I miss that?”
“Oh, it’s not always clear, even if you know what you’re looking for.” She placed Appa’s paw back on the table gently, then faced Aang again. “He’s all fluff. Easy to miss.”
Aang still felt a little guilty, even with her placating words.
“Do you know how this happened? Any sort of trauma recently? Any particularly strenuous walks, that sort of thing?”
“Um…” Aang thought back, tried to recount the last week with Appa, everything they’d done together. “Well, I mean, we were on the northern ridges outside the city when I noticed it really starting to annoy him, but I guess it could’ve happened before then, too. Maybe the eastern trails? Oh, and there was that retreat we set up just outside the bay; it was pretty rocky.” Aang paused when he saw the question in Katara’s eyes, the curiosity as to what could possibly have the two of them running all over Republic City like this. “I’m an outdoor educator. Orienteering, rope courses, that sort of thing. Appa’s basically the mascot.”
“An outdoor educator?” Katara reached for a bottle of antiseptic fluid, already dabbing it onto a piece of cotton. “That’s pretty unusual.”
“It’s great,” Aang said with a shrug, already feeling self-conscious. He hated having to explain his job to people with real jobs. It always made him feel like an overgrown child. “I mean, it doesn’t exactly pay a lot, and usually I get home dirty and tired, but I love it. Being outside is great. The kids I teach are even better. The look on a kid’s face when they realise that they can read a map now or climb up a wall—it’s the best. The best thing in the whole world.”
That burning gaze swept over him again, tickling his skin, setting him alight from within. Her expression was warm, a soft smile playing at her lips.
“Well, you make it sound wonderful.” Appa was already letting her finish up with the cleaning process, having not made a sound during the whole ordeal. “But I’m afraid he’ll have to avoid long hikes for the next week. He has some swelling around the base, maybe a minor infection. I’ll give him a short course of antibiotics just in case.”
“I’m guessing no hikes means no SAR work.”
“SAR?”
“Search and rescue. Appa’s my partner. We volunteer together.”
“You volun—really?” The polite professionalism she’d manage to hide behind their entire conversation was finally cracked wide open, genuine and eager curiosity in her eyes now. All pretence of distance was out of the window. “Both of you? I didn’t know dogs could volunteer for that, I thought they were all police. That’s amazing.”
Aang leaned against the wall, one shoulder touching the surface. He was aiming for suave. He might have just looked unsteady.
“Oh, yeah. We’re part of the Republic City & Yue Bay Voluntary Rescue Team. Appa’s certified in Air Scenting and Tracking and Trailing.” The pride leaked through every word. “He’s the best. You should see him, honestly—last month he found this guy who’d hit his head and gotten lost in the backcountry. Took us eight hours, but Appa managed it.”
“Eight hours.”
“Yep. In the rain.”
Aang couldn’t help but ruffle the fur on Appa’s head. He was always proud, but never more so than when they worked together as a team to help save a life.
“And here I thought you were just a handsome face.” It took Aang a moment to realise that Katara was talking to Appa and not to him. It took significantly longer for his heart to understand the same thing, and it hammered against his chest with a rapid rhythm. “Such a brave boy.” She looked up at Aang again and added, somewhat shyly, “You’re very brave, too.”
“Oh, I—thank you. So are you.”
He had no idea why he’d said that.
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence then, the two of them staring at each other, unsure of how to proceed. Aang rocked backwards onto his heels slightly. Finally, Katara cleared her throat and reached behind her, digging through a cabinet full of pill packets and medicine bottles. She scribbled something onto a form and handed it to him.
“This is the prescription for his antibiotics. Twice daily for a week with his food. I’ll set up an appointment for this time next week if it works for you. To check the healing. If it gets worse, call us and let us know, okay?”
Aang nodded quickly, still not quite recovered.
“And try to stop him from doing that,” she said with a nod towards Appa, who was beginning to gnaw once more on his paw. “If the crack gets worse, he might need to have the nail removed eventually, and I’d like to avoid that if possible.”
“Do you think he’ll need a cone?” Aang winced at the thought. Appa would sulk like there was no tomorrow if a cone came anywhere near him.
Katara smiled. “I think he’ll be fine without one. He looks like he listens to you—tell him to stop and he probably will.”
With that, Appa hopped off the table, having clearly interpreted this as their time to leave. He’d spent long enough being well-behaved in this place; now all he wanted was to go home. Besides, it was at least half an hour past his designated nap time.
Aang pulled the lead a little tauter in his hand, preparing to guide Appa back down the hallway.
“Thanks, Dr. Katara.”
“No problem. It…” She paused as though contemplating her words, before that perfect smile decorated her features again. “It was a pleasure meeting you both. I’ll see you next week.”
What Aang wanted to say in response to this was something witty and brilliant, something that would charm her, something that might make her remember him as more than just the awkward guy with the weird job.
What he actually said was, “See you next week,” which was fine. Considerably better than how he’d started the appointment, at least. It simply wasn’t very memorable.
Aang nodded to Hisa on the way out, paid the consultation fee, and followed the path back to his car. Appa padded alongside him valiantly, making rather larger a meal of the whole paw thing than Aang thought was strictly necessary. Dramatic baby. His dramatic baby, though.
There was only one thing to do as he slid into the driver’s seat: let his friends know that he was a complete and utter trainwreck. He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened up his group chat with Zuko and Toph.
[14:06] Aang: Took Appa to the vet today
[14:06] Aang: The new vet is the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen in my life
[14:07] Zuko: Scale of 1-10, how gorgeous are we talking?
[14:07] Aang: 35
[14:08] Toph: [Voice Message Received: Okay, so, like—how badly did you fuck it up? Like, scale of one to ten again, what are we talking here?]
[14:09] Aang: Probably also 35
[14:09] Aang: I told her she had a different style of vetting
[14:09] Zuko: Vetting?
[14:09] Zuko: What do you mean vetting?
[14:10] Aang: Like being a vet
[14:10] Aang: Doing vet things
[14:10] Aang: And she called appa handsome and I thought she was talking to me
[14:11] Toph: [Voice Message Received: Okay, but when she called him handsome, you didn’t say thanks or something, right? Right? Like, you kept that as an inside thought.]
[14:11] Aang: Yes
[14:11] Aang: I mean yes I kept it as an inside thought
[14:12] Zuko: Thank the spirits.
[14:12] Aang: But she called me brave for my sar stuff and I said thanks so are you
[14:12] Zuko: Oh, Aang.
[14:14] Toph: [Voice Message Received: You’re a fucking disaster, man. I love it. Keep up the good work.]
Aang’s head fell forward onto his steering wheel, eliciting a groan that he felt in his stomach. In the back seat, Appa huffed a small sigh, the sort that suggested he was aware of absolutely everything going through Aang’s mind at that time and was judging all of it.
“It’s fine. This is fine.” Aang didn’t turn around, forehead still pressed against the wheel. “We’ll go back in a week and I’ll be totally normal. Your nail will be fixed. Everything will be perfectly cool. No rambling. No weird comments. Just a normal appointment.”
With that, Aang sat up straight, turned the key in the ignition, and sighed just like Appa.
“Yeah, I’m not so sure, either.”