*phew*

The third is actually my thing already- though it was tooo large thanks for those

thanks again, i just swaped the 3rd pic with the old one

no matter which poll you make, kataang will win it all.

He turns around, looks, and it kind of dawns on him that Katara is still standing there. He looks at her, an expression of a little sadness on his face... sadness because he's definitely making a sacrifice in taking such risks in fighting the unknown and finally facing his destiny. Sadness because he's leaving them, perhaps forever.



He's not blushing, and he's not mentally and emotionally consumed with his romance with Katara. But he sees her standing there and with sadness he realizes this is "Goodbye." A goodbye with Katara, who he loves . It's now or never for him.

Katara's standing there too, her eyebrows raised just like his. She supports her elbow with one hand, the other hand cradling her face. He's her best friend and we've seen her reciprocate Aang's feelings and even be insecure about him (With all the weight of the war and the invasion on her shoulders, it's now or never for her too.

But what they have to say is hard. What they have to say isn't easy; it's awkward and they don't really know how the other feels. For as much as they love each other as best friends and as more than friends, they're also both insecure about it. And so, like two young friends in that state, they both look away.



They're both young and shy and it's all very natural and realistic. Both of them look down and away, and Katara looks especially shy with her head tilted, resting on her hand like that as she clutches her elbow.

But they both summon the courage. They turn to each other and speak at the same time. "Aang, I-." "Katara, I-."



Taken back, Aang smiles. "You go first."

That's when the music switches. And it's not just any music. It's incredibly specific. It's the Oma/Shu leitmotif. It's the music they ONLY play in Aang/Katara romantic scenes: when Katara tells the story of Oma and Shu, when they're about to kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers, when Aang is about to confess in "The Earth King," in Aang's daydream in 3.09 the minute he starts to confess his love... and again here.

OBVIOUS MUCH?!






"We've been through so many things together," she tells him.



Yep, she's still got the "look of love" as she's saying this.

How about what she's saying? Her feelings for Aang ooze out of her tone and facial expression, and her words are exactly what she wants to say in this moment, in this calm before the storm. She's essentially telling him why she likes him so. It's an expression that they're best friends and more than that.

Indeed, season 3 Aang and Katara have been essentially acting like a couple already. They've been like a couple in all but kisses and words. Take, for example, "The Beach:"



That moment in "The Beach" epitomizes Katara's statement. They've fought and lived side-by-side, arm in arm, and they care for each other so much. Asdebacul said regarding them Finally Becoming a Couple: "Really, NOT MUCH NEEDS TO CHANGE. They just get to make out now!"

Of course, Katara doesn't stop there. She both wants him to take courage in the face of danger and for him to know how she feels.

She continues: "And I've seen you grow up so much."



Still got that look of love. And note the head tilt.

Then we've switched to watching Aang's reaction. He's beaming and when she says "You're not that goofy little kid I met in the iceberg, anymore..." he blushes and then he looks to the side, still bushing and eyes now squinted.



She once saw him as equivalent to a lemur... just a nice, goofy kid. Now he's matured greatly and she's Noticed him. Now she sees him as the guy she loves. And now she tells him this, standing on the cusp of Destiny, looking into the face of everything they've worked for ever since she found "that goofy kid in the iceberg."

And Aang understands. Somehow at that statement, he knows how she feels.

Her tone of voice is romantic as she goes on: "I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you." Note once again that the tone of this whole conversation is strongly influenced by the looming weight of the battle and war and destiny. Right then she leans in towards him.



Look at that body language, a clear sign here of romantic interest, especially given everything else we've seen and heard so far. She holds her hands and leans in to him smiling and tilts her head, her hair falling a little in his direction.

Aang looks up at her and asks, "Everything's going to be different after today, isn't it?" Though before they had been pretty oblivious to how the other felt, in that moment, they know. They have such a deep and powerful (supernatural, even, as we learned in "The Guru") connection and somehow more doesn't need to be said right then. Their relationship has just changed. Just as Jim & Pam had such an understated Coupling Event because they didn't really need to say things explicitly, so too Aang & Katara become a couple in such an understated way.

Katara confirms it and does another romantic gesture: she plays with her hair.



It's a real world gesture in America and the animators put it in there to emphasize the romance again. Katara ends with her hand cupping her face, so that her hair falls around it.


And still with the romantic tone, she says, "Yes, it is."

And with that, the nature of their relationship has been changed forever.

Point: Aang and Katara are now a couple. And they became a couple in a very beautiful, understated way as a culmination in this whole long, well-developed story of Aang/Katara.

A Moment of Love, Part II: The Kiss

That's when the harsh reality comes crashing down again. We look at Aang's face, and he's having a moment of aangst. "What if... what if I don't come back?" He closes his eyes, furrows his eyebrows, and then pops his eyes open.

Aang finally has what he's wanted for a long time. Maybe... maybe he won't get to enjoy things "being different." He won't if he doesn't live to see the day.

Katara looks at him, knowing he's brave enough and strong enough to vanquish his foes.



She reassures him: "Aang, don't say that. Of course you'll--." And as she says it, Aang has a bit of a pained expression on his face. Hardly giddy with love and what just happened, the weight of the world lies on his shoulders.



Note his facial expression. It's sad.

And out of that sadness, out of that realization that he may not get to enjoy being with Katara Tomorrow, he gives her a kiss Today.

"Not five seconds before, Katara practically tells Aang that he's grown so much and then he just goes and proves HOW MUCH by kissing her."
~angelchan_2004



Look at his face. It's sad. Need I remind you of the very first point I made in this whole section? That this whole thing is about the war? If you took this scene out of context, you might think he's sad about kissing her, or doesn't want to. OBVIOUSLY THAT'S NOT THE CASE.

She's already leaning in a little but he pulls her in as he moves forward, lips parted.



As you can see clearly from that picture!

Then... contact!



She's startled!



She's cut off midsentence, making a "Mmf!" sound, her eyes bugging out as she straightens up.

Then she blinks 3 times rapidly. Obviously, she's startled! Who wouldn't be in this situation?

The moment her brain adjusts to what's happening, she closes her eyes and leans into the kiss.



The animators pointedly show her relaxing and leaning into the kiss. Her whole body relaxes (note her arm and shoulder movement especially) and she tilts her head in and closes her eyes. As soon she realizes what's happening, she joins in the kiss and enjoys it.





Both of their eyes are closed. They savor the moment, enjoy it.

He parts, and she's still leaning in and puckered up, hoping and wishing the moment would go on.



Then she begins to blush. Blushing is most frequently used in the show to convey romantic feelings. So we have yet ANOTHER indicator in this scene of her feelings for him.



As you can see, she's blushing and she's still caught up in the moment of the kiss.

Her mouth still in kiss position, she blinks rapidly three times again (), and opens wide-eyed to look at him. "Huh? You stopped? It's over? The kiss is over?"



Yeah, she liked it all right. And wishes he was still kissing her, and is probably wondering why he stopped (it's because he's leaving, and she'll realize that in a moment, as we'll see). And she's still reeling from the surprise, in a way... you gotta love the realism of this.

Point: Aang kissed her because he realized he might not be alive to do it Tomorrow, the day when he'd be with her and things would be different between them. Need I remind you of Aang's facial expression?

Point #2: Katara was overall pretty startled by the kiss... and when she realized what was happening, she relaxed and leaned in and joined him in the kiss... and then when he broke it off, she was wanting more!
A Moment of Love, Part III: Departure

Aang now had to go. He had his destiny to face. The kiss was a brief moment of joy but even that was done in the shadow of the war. Aang had a bit of a sad face as he leaned in to kiss her, and, as we'll see in a moment, the next facial expression we see him with is the same look of determination and badassery he had earlier as he declared his readiness to face the Fire Lord.

His question right before the kiss, his facial expressions... they all communicate the reason why he kissed her then and there as he did. Because he might not come back Tomorrow when things will be different.

All of this is very much like a scene in a war movie. Imagine a World War II movie with the soldier and the girlfriend or wife. They're about to leave, and he kisses her, knowing it could be the last chance he'll get. She enjoys it but then she looks off in sadness, knowing that he's headed off into danger. If it's a good World War II movie they've been building that up and you know exactly why the woman is sad like that.

And that's the tone being struck here, in this Avatar-verse "war movie" as they stand on the deck of a submarine and she's about to go down the hatch into battle and he's about to fly into the sky into archvillain-duel.

All of this... the reason why he's kissed her so suddenly (he might not do it ever again), and the reason why he withdrew (he's leaving), and both of those reasons combined into one... all of that dawns on Katara, hits her in the gut like a ton of bricks. And so she's still blushing from the kiss but she now looks down in sadness, sad to see him go.



You can easily see why she'd react that way! This isn't the time for smiles! He'd told her he might not come back, he pulled away from the kiss, and now he was wearing that determined, badass facial expression again.



Compare this facial expression with his earlier one. It's the same one, though he looks even MORE determined here, even MORE bad-ass. His left fist is clenched and he's whipped out his staff. His knees are bending, ready to launch himself into the air.

By the way, this facial expression reinforces the wistful look we just saw on Katara's face. The last time we saw his face, he had a sad but resigned look as he moved in for the kiss: the war is all over his face. The next time we see his face, it's now, and the war is all over his face more than before. He seems to have kissed her, pulled back, and looked at her with confidence in his eyes, communicating that he's going to go kick some butt. Why does this reinforce her look of sadness? Because the wistful look seems to have come on her face not just because of his statement that he might not come back and not just because he withdrew from the kiss, but from this look on his face. The war written all over his face gave her wistfulness written all over her face. (Note that it's AFTER she blinks and stares at him that she gets that wistful look).

So, they both love each other and they're all too aware mentally and emotionally about what's happening, and now Aang gives her this look of confidence and then flicks his glider open without breaking his gaze into her eyes, as if to reassure her (no accident we see his confidence right after we glimpse her doubt).

And then off he leaps.

She spins around to watch him go, not quite as wistful and a little more in awe.



The way she spins around, the wind blowing her hair, her head tilted, her arms moving, her eyes wide, her eyebrows arched, her mouth open... it's all very much the feel of a war movie where the girl sees her brave, badass boyfriend go off to war. Only this boyfriend is Superman and he can fly.

She watches him go.



Off to war flies the brave soldier boy. She walks forward and stands on the docks, watching him disappear to fight fire and death and darkness alone.