A/N: I really have no clue where this came from. Just some random blurb from my mind, I guess. It takes place during Sokka and Zuko's adventure during The Boiling Rock. No harmful spoilers. This is the revised version, just to let you all know!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. God owns all!

Aang?

Aang?

No, really. You're kidding me, right?

I don't like him that way!

Well—he's a good friend, and the savior for the world, and, I mean—who wouldn't like him?

No, no, no. I told you before! Not that way. How could you even think that? We've known each other for a while—okay, a long while, but why would you think that I've developed—feelings—for him? He's a great guy, don't get me wrong. He's sweet and nice and funny, too. And he's got this uncanny ability to bounce back from the most terrible—well, I guess you already know that. But I don't like him. He's my friend. In a—brotherly sort of way. Like Sokka.

Okay…maybe not so much like Sokka. But you get my point! He's like the younger brother I never had. Kind of. I would do the same things for Toph…now, at least. She's like my little sister.

Well, heh heh…she wasn't when she first joined our group—but that's beyond the point. I'm getting off track here. Where was I?

Oh yes! Right…wait, what?! Of course he likes me—I mean, I hope he would like me. I treat him like a friend. Toph, on the other hand…

Never mind, let's not go there again. But I don't think I'm that over-the-top…I think.

What do you mean by that?

Again…why would he have those types of feelings for me? I mean—seriously. Let's look at this logically. Almighty Avatar, bender of all four elements—versus Southern Water Tribe peasant who just happened to get lucky one day. Not my kind of match. If I were him, I wouldn't like me either. Of course not. Finished. Done. Decided. Seriously, this is the end of the conversation.

Sure, sure. What he did at the invasion was…well, he thought he was going to die! He thought he would never see any of us ever again. Of course he would have been confused—maybe done some things he might…regret. But he couldn't have been serious. It was just an impulse, spur-of-the-moment thing. He probably would have apologized, but it's…embarrassing. I don't blame him for not approaching me about it again. I probably wouldn't have either.

I thought this was the end of the conversation…

Yes, I admit, since we came to the Western Air Temple, he's been so…well, not Aang. Sure, he has a little bit of his old charm, but he just isn't as carefree as he was before the invasion. Seriously, this conversation needs to end here…

Oh, I know, and then Zuko came…ugh! This is the part where I choke and gag until I suffocate for even thinking his name…but, anyway, yeah. After—he—came, Aang's been more focused…a little more happy, I guess. But of course there wouldn't be a connection. The arrival of that—despicable enemy of ours wouldn't make him happier…would it?

Well, it doesn't matter. The only good thing is that now he has a firebending teacher—hopefully a decision that won't backfire on us all, literally.

At least Appa seems to trust him…because, if he did anything to upset the bison, Appa could crush him like a butterbeetle. Ah…nice image. I wish Appa could smash and destroy all of our worries as easy as that.

Seriously, wow. This talking to myself is hard to stop.

But I have to admit, laying on this mat…underneath this unfamiliar blanket…in the middle of an unfamiliar courtyard in the Western Air Temple, hundreds of miles from home…in the darkness of a moonless night…well…okay, I'm depressing myself. The important thing is that we're all surrounded by friends, and, for the time being, we are safe from the Fire Nation. Hopefully. Maybe.

I am undoubtedly going to jinx us all. I just better keep thinking to myself that we are never safe. No place, no time. Never safe. If I get comfortable and drop my guard, something will get us, I'm certain.

Keep the walls up, Katara.

Just keep them up. Strong like…Ba Sing Se.

Or maybe not so much…

I woke with a start and sat up. Someone was talking.

My eyes focused gradually, and I blinked against the harsh light of morning filtering in between the great pillars that supported the ceiling—or rather, was it the floor?—of the upside-down Air Temple.

"…wonder where they went. Did you hear anything?"

Aang's voice. Definitely.

"No," came the reply. I could've sworn that somewhere in that masking tone of indifference was a hint of worry. "I never woke up last night. They must've snuck really quietly. Because I'm a pretty light sleeper."

"I can't argue with that."

I blinked once again, and my eyes cleared to see Toph sitting several yards in front of me, leisurely picking at her toes. Aang lay on his stomach a few feet from her, resting his chin on his hands, propped up on his elbows. His tired eyes held a slight sparkle of concern.

The earthbender turned her cloudy eyes toward me when I pushed the blanket to my feet and got to my knees, starting to fold my bedroll.

"Good, Sugar Queen, you're up. Sokka and Zuko are missing."

I stopped, mid-roll, glancing up with surprise. "What?"

"They just got up and left," Aang looked up at me, yawning. "During the night, too."

I stood up, glancing around. Appa lay nearby, basking in the sun. "Why? To where? They left in the balloon?"

"Don't know, don't know, and yeah," Toph nodded, leaning back on her arms lazily. "It's gone."

"They must have left some note…" I took a few steps toward Appa, scanning the area. A few feet from the bison lay Momo, curled up on the ground. Peering closer, I saw that something was tucked under his foreleg. "…like that."

Gesturing toward the other two to follow me, I moved off.

I didn't have to look back to hear the breath of air as Aang stood and moved after me, or Toph's sturdy gait as she fell into step with him. Emerging from the shade, I stopped beside Momo. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw The Duke drop an armful of hay in front of Appa, who gobbled it up hungrily.

Stooping, I tugged the piece of parchment from under the lemur's arm and held it up.

The little guy snored on, unaware.

The handwriting was sloppy, and the calligraphy was a bit blurred. Looked like Sokka's work. Someone who had been raised in a palace wouldn't have penmanship like this, I had to admit.

I held the paper at another angle to see if I could decipher it.

Toph, at my shoulder, blinked curiously. "What does it say?"

I cocked it at another angle, sticking out my tongue and focusing on the writing. Then I read it aloud.

"'Need Meat—gone fishing.

Back in a few days.

Sokka and Zuko."

Aang, probably thinking that was the extent of the note, rubbed his eyes. He yawned again and retreated slowly back to his bedroll. Turning slightly to keep the airbender within my peripheral vision, I blinked, concentrating on the remainder of the note. "One more thing," I halted the Avatar with a word, ready to read the next few symbols, of which had improved greatly. It was clear that Zuko wrote the next few instructions. Aang stopped with a sigh. Noting this, I continued.

"'Aang, practice your firebending while I'm gone.

Do 20 sets of Fire Fists and 10 hot-squats every time you hear a badger-frog croak.

Zuko.'"

I rolled up the note and tucked it in my belt for possible future reference.

Aang nodded the affirmative sleepily and collapsed on his mat, closing his eyes without any further fuss.

In the distance, a few birds twittered, and in some far corner of the Temple, a badger-frog let out a loud ribbit.

I glanced toward the airbender.

Aang had heard it, and he got up grudgingly, grumbling under his breath. "No one else has homework…"

I shook my head, smiling. Exchanging an amused glance with Toph, the earthbender and I turned and walked out onto the balcony, while behind us, Aang did his practices with a sullen:

"One hot-squat. Two hot-squats. Three hot-squats…"

I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, overlooking the deep, misty-bottomed abyss, and I looked out, staring at the opposite cliff side. Toph crossed her arms and scuffed at the ground with her feet, coming to stand beside me.

An eagle-vulture cried from its nest further up the canyon.

"So, Sweetness," the earthbender began hesitantly, straightening up, after a long silence. "You think they really left in the middle of the night to go fishing?"

"Oh, well, you know Sokka," I attempted a light-hearted reply, with a smile. "Gotta have meat exactly when he needs his meat."

The metalbender snorted skeptically.

I fidgeted with my hands in the long, tense quiet that followed, trying desperately to think of a suitable reply. Finally giving up, I sighed admittedly. "No…I really don't think they're fishing."

Toph scratched her ear, an attempt at feigning disinterest. "Then what are they up to?"

I shrugged. "Don't ask me…I haven't the faintest idea."

"Should we go after them?"

Glancing up at her, I studied the earthbender's blank expression. I smiled teasingly. "Do I detect concern in your voice, Toph?"

The earthbender glared. "He's your brother. I'd think you'd be a little more worried, Miss-I'm-So-Paranoid-That-I-Won't-Let-Anyone-Out-Of-My-Sight-For-A-Second."

I shrugged off the insult, knowing that pressing the issue would just harbor more bad feelings between us, and that was the very last thing I wanted right now. "I don't know. Sokka knows what he's doing...at least, I'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing."

"If this is even of his doing," remarked Toph nonchalantly.

Realizing what she was getting at with a sudden jolt, I stared. "You think Zuko…did something to him? Like, kidnapped him? Or something?"

Toph's shoulders moved up and down, and her voice was level when she said, "You're the one who's suspicious of Zuko. Not me."

Straightening, I squared my shoulders. "Toph," I began seriously, "Did you see or hear anything that leads you to think that? Because if you did, I'm going to wring his skinny neck someth—"

Suddenly, her hand covered my face, and I closed my lips. "Cut the bad-mouthing, Sugar Queen, there's no evidence as to that. If anything, the outing was Sokka's idea, and Zuko didn't want him to go alone. I heard them talking last night about some Fire Nation prison. I'm just…" she struggled with the word, "I'm worried, okay? I'm entitled to that, just as much as anyone else. One thing I do know—wherever they've gone, they left last night because you wouldn't have let them go. I don't have any objections. As long as they bring back some kind of meat—I'm okay with whatever secrets they want to keep. Anyway, that vegetable soup of yours is getting kind of bland."

With that, she stalked off, leaving me to stare after her with a lost look on my face.

A moment later, I suddenly blinked and called aloud, "Wait? What's wrong with my soup? I do my best to change it up every night!"

She rolled her eyes when I caught up with her, pursuing the argument about the edibility of the stew I worked so hard on each and every evening.

Somewhere nearby, a badger-frog bellowed.

Behind us, there was another moan of annoyance and the rustle of a blanket.

"One hot-squat. Two hot-squats. Three hot-squats. Four hot-squats…"

I stood by the fountain, playing with the water. Swirling it over my head and around, I concentrated. This was an easy enough move, and I had mastered it long ago. I guess I just wanted to freshen up on the basics.

A cough interrupted me, and I paused, the crystal orb hovering in the air, glinting in the mid-morning sunlight. I glanced over my shoulder, and was greeted with the sight of Aang standing a few yards back, leaning against one of the thin, arching pillars connected to the fountain. He bowed.

"Mind if I join you?"

Twisting around, I swirled the water over my shoulders and in front of me, until it was floating chest-high. I smiled. "Not at all."

He stepped forward, took up a stance in front of me, and, waving his arms, took the orb from my control. His face broke into a mischievous smile.

My eyebrow rose, and I crossed my arms, waiting expectantly.

His grin widened, but he said nothing.

Before I had time to react, he slid one foot forward and moved his arms in a wide circle, promptly drenching me.

With an indignant humph and a flick of my wrists, I pulled the water out of my hair and my clothes, twirling it over my head and molding it so I could hold the orb in one hand.

I smirked. "So that's how you want to play, huh?"

Aang bowed politely, a goofy smile now gracing his features.

"Okay," I responded with a grin of my own. "You asked for it."

Just as I was about to send the water whipping forward, in the quiet fountain a few paces away, a badger-frog puffed out a deep roouuut. I paused.

Aang tolled his eyes and sighed, holding up a hand and halting me. "Would you excuse me for a second?"

I crossed my arms and nodded, an amused half-smile forming on my face as I watched him patiently as he counted dully:

"One hot-squat. Two hot-squats. Three hot-squats. Four hot-squats…"

A few hours later, Aang and I found ourselves sitting on the fountain wall, our bare feet soaking in the water. I had stripped down to my wrappings; they allowed me freer movement when bending, especially against an opponent as formidable as Aang now was.

The airbender had taken off his orange and yellow shirt and Fire Nation boots as well, now leaning leisurely back on his arms, boasting his lean, yet muscled upper body in its full glory. His Fire Nation schoolboy breeches clung to him. They were thoroughly wet, but because he really had no other pants to wear since his others were ruined at Ba Sing Se, I knew he wasn't going to bother even thinking about changing, and it didn't seem like he really was all that bothered by the fact. It was quite warm outside, maybe he thought letting them dry on their own would keep him cool for a while.

A sudden, off-topic thought sprouted on my tongue, and before I had even registered it to pass from my mind to my tongue, I spoke.

"I'm almost finished mending your pants."

He glanced up at me with a bemused look, and I knew instantly what he was thinking. That was random.

I smiled. "Your airbending breeches," I clarified. "A few tears, singed a bit on the pant-legs, but overall they aren't that damaged. I just need to finish re-hemming them."

He nodded understandingly, albeit slightly perplexed. "Thanks, Katara. That means a lot to me."

A smile was my only reply. My gaze slid downward, staring into the clear blue water at our unsteady, rippling reflections. He was still a little kid…but he had changed so much over the span of a few months. His mannerisms as well as his physique showed that. Far from the fun-loving, innocent little boy I first met, Aang was now a…more mature fun-loving, innocent, a-little-bit-bigger boy. In all truth, he had grown up. Physically and emotionally. I no longer doubted that he now was close to my height.

And how he was just sitting here, admiring the beautiful view of the temple he had visited so long ago, was another clear sign. The old Aang wouldn't have settled for such a calm, relaxing activity. I reflected back on the day Sokka and I discovered him in the iceberg near our home at the South Pole.

Another uncalled question presented itself in my mind, and it pestered me for several long minutes, before I finally gave into it's plead to be heard.

"Aang?"

The airbender glanced at me, not shifting his position, only turning his head. Another sign of the old, excitable Aang melting away under this new one. "Yeah?"

I folded my hands in my lap, a habit I did whenever I wanted to start an elaborate conversation. Aang must've known this too, because he sat up straighter, turning his body to face me, drawing one leg out of the water and folding it beneath him. I went on after a short pause. "Remember when we first found you…at the South Pole, with Appa?"

His silver-blue eyes looked at me, curiosity shining in them. "Yeah, I remember," he affirmed, and I knew he was wondering where I was leading. "What's up with you today?" he continued when I didn't reply immdiately, "You're very…out-of-the-blue."

Smiling, I shrugged. "Well, I just…have a question," I began hesitantly, suddenly feeling foolish. "I know it's really insignificant and everything…"

Aang blinked. "No question of yours would be insignificant, Katara."

I smiled gratefully, and a few of my inner selves smirked knowingly. I forced them back down with an inward glare and turned my attention back to him. "Thanks. Uh, well, I just wanted to ask…when you first woke up, why was the first thing that came to your mind penguin sledding? Of all things to say when you wake up like that…I would have asked where I was."

The airbender cracked a grin, shrugging. He chuckled, and I stared curiously, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, well, I knew where I was," he began with a laugh, before sobering for a moment as he remembered, "Or, at least, kind of. I knew it obviously was one of the poles."

"Why?" I asked. "There are other places besides the poles that have ice in the winter."

He shrugged. "I can't really explain it…it was the type of cold."

I raised an eyebrow skeptically. "The type of cold, Aang?"

The airbender nodded thoughtfully, his gaze distant, likely trying to put his perceptions into words. "Yeah. It wasn't winter when you found me…it was more like the middle of fall. Yet there was ice and snow."

"But you didn't know then that it was autumn."

"No, I didn't," he admitted. "But I could somehow tell that it wasn't winter. And then, there was your hooded parka."

"Oh," I nodded, beginning to understand.

"There aren't many other blue parkas in the world other than the Northern and Southern Water Tribes…that I knew of, anyway. Why wear blue unless you live somewhere that's blue all of the time?" he said with a wave of his hand.

"That's true," I agreed, then, glancing at him, I waited expectantly for him to continue.

I could have sworn that the tiniest bit of a flush colored Aang's cheeks. "Well, there was also the way you looked at me."

I blinked. "The way I looked at you?"

"Yeah," he continued, "Like you were overjoyed because of something."

I shrugged, looking down to study my fingernails. After a moment, I looked up. "Well, that was because of two things: One, you weren't dead, and two, I hadn't ever seen anyone like you. You were something different. I guess I was…intrigued. I couldn't help but wonder how you got in there." I smiled. "I mean, to our knowledge, airbenders just didn't randomly pop out of icebergs every once in a while."

He laughed, smiling back at me. "I don't know what I was thinking, really. I guess I just assumed that since it was cold, and you were wearing a parka, that it must be one of the poles, and then I remembered that at the South Pole there were penguins, and since there were also people, given the presence of you and Sokka, that there must also be penguin sledding. And I figured that since I was there and I knew of nothing else to do at the time…"

I interrupted with a giggle. "Okay, okay, Mr. Analytical. All that went through your head in a few seconds? Gosh, you really are something, Aang."

After a moment of silence, I noticed that he was staring at me strangely. I peered back, thinking I had said something wrong. "What?"

When he responded, his voice was low. "What do you mean by that?"

I blinked. "Oh…it's just…" I contemplated a way to put my thoughts into words. "Well…" I started slowly, "I meant that you are a…quick thinker, I guess. I guess that's one way you haven't changed."

"Changed?"

I frowned when I saw his sorrowful expression. I immediately tried to make amends. "I didn't mean it that way, Aang. You've changed in so many good ways, just…" I closed my eyes. This wasn't working right. I took a deep breath.

Here was yet another thing that I couldn't believe that I was about to say.

"…you were so ignorant and innocent when we found you. Now…you've lost your ignorance, but your innocence is still mostly there. And sometimes I can't believe that this war hasn't changed you more than you show.

He smiled wanly and turned, studying his feet intently. "You sound like you did at the invasion."

I winced. Nice going, Katara, I reprimanded myself. Painful memories are just what we both need right now.

"So…" I began.

Don't do this…bringing that up is suicide!

Oh, be quiet!

"…you really thought you weren't coming back?"

It's out! Oh my Spirits, what have you done?

Shut up, it's my mouth, I can do what I want! And I want to know this! What's wrong with that?

Aang avoided my gaze, simply nodding. His eyes were full of pain, and I immediately regretted my question. "Yeah…"

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

I can't believe what you're thinking of asking! Stop right now before you do something you regret!

No. Not this time. I've been avoiding it for too long! And you, you 'voice of reason' can't stop me!

Please, don't do this!

I am!

Don't!

Too bad for you!

"So…what we, um, did…on the sub...do you, regret that?"

The airbender looked up with surprise, actually staring into my face. Into my eyes. His jaw was set in that way that he always looked when he was sincere. "No. I don't. Do…do you?"

Moment of truth…you brought this on your own head, if it backfires, don't blame me!

Shut up!

I shifted my gaze back to my hands. "No," I said solemnly, "I don't regret it."

The silence stretched out for several minutes, and we each went back to studying the natural and man-made beauty that came together to make the air temple. Only this time, I wasn't enjoying it.

And I knew he wasn't, either.

Inside, the battle between me, myself, and I was raging, and I wasn't sure which side was winning.

Stop now and you won't risk hurting anything!

But if I don't continue, then things will go on how they always have!

You like it that way, I know you do! Why risk shattering everything you have now on the slim chance that the feelings will be mutual?

I…don't know. I just have to do this!

Why?

Because…because I need to know.

You're just setting yourself up for heartbreak, and you know it!

But what if…?

What if's don't always become reality.

I have to take the chance. If things go wrong, maybe it'll be for the best.

Think about what you are saying!

Aang will understand! He won't hold that against me!

Suddenly, I was torn from my thoughts when I heard Aang groan. I glanced at him with surprise, and heard him muttering. He swung his legs out of the fountain and stood up.

"That noisy frog…" he sighed, glancing apologetically at me.

"One hot-squat. Two hot-squats. Three hot-squats. Four hot-squats…"

I crossed my arms, perplexed, as I watched him perform the assigned exercises. I didn't hear the badger-frog…

Shrugging, all my inner selves decided that I was just too wound up in my internal argument to notice.

Or maybe all of them were wrong.

Who knew?