New story. Just something my brain decided to spend time on. I'm kind of tired of the Zuko/Katara stuff out there, so here's my take on the canon romance. Those kids belong together.

Obviously, I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, and besides, suing me would prove relatively fruitless, as I am poor.

Enjoy!

Foreign Affairs

Chapter One: The Waiting Game

Katara

- 000 -

Sometimes, being the responsible one could be such a pain in the neck. Literally.

I took a moment to stretch, counting the ice bricks I'd formed as I craned my neck back and forth, trying to release the tension in the muscles. That should about do it. Sokka certainly had enough for whatever cockamamie project he was up to. Something to do with making the outer walls sturdier during the summer months, when the temperatures at the South Pole reached a balmy ten below freezing. Oh, the heat...

I shouldn't complain, though. My brother had really taken to the project, drawing up blueprints, and then crafting giant walls to protect the village. The Southern Water Tribe Village wasn't looking so much like a village any more, which in large part had to do with Sokka's ingenuity and hard work. He'd developed so many useful skills in the years since we'd achieved peace, skills we probably could have used back in the day. Oh well. We were kids then.

"Katara!" Speak of the devil. His grin was ear to ear as he ran up to me, following the beaten snow path from the centre of the city. He needed a shave, I noticed, or maybe that was his attempt to copy our father's look.

"Hey there, Mister Architect." I waved my hand over the bricks. "I've finished your order."

"Yowzah! These babies will do the trick all right." He proceeded to dance around them, scrutinizing each one with exaggerated expressions.

I sighed. It was amazing. My brother had managed to grow up without actually growing up. I guess it was the same with Aang, not that I'd seen him recently enough to be sure...

I ignored the pang that thought caused. I'd gotten good at setting my feelings aside to deal with more practical things. And there were always more than enough tasks to keep my mind occupied. Restoring the Southern Water Tribe to its former glory was enough of a project to last two lifetimes, let alone my one.

"Did you hear what I said, Katara?" Sokka's voice snapped me back to reality.

"What? Uh, no, sorry."

"I said, Suki got her monthly intelligence report from the Earth Kingdom."

My stomach did a flip. "Oh? Anything... interesting?" Anything from Aang?

Sokka held up a brick distractedly. "I got the idea for this wall from the one at Ba Sing Se. Did I tell you that?"

"Yeah, Sokka. But I didn't hear you the first five dozen times, so it's good you mentioned it."

He snorted. "Funny girl. I think I'm starting to rub off on you."

"Gods, I hope not." I twisted my foot into the crunchy snow. "So, about that report..."

"Huh? Oh, I didn't actually ask Suki what was in it."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you didn't."

He grinned in that goofy way that made me feel a wave of sisterly affection.

"She wants to talk to you anyway, so you might as well go see her. Girly wedding talk, I think. She said something about ice flowers, but the rest was kind of over my head." He swatted his hand back and forth in a dismissive notion. He'd been extra macho lately, ever since I'd caught him writing sappy love poetry last week.

I smiled and shook my head at him. "How you managed to get that girl to marry you is beyond me."

He called out as I walked away. "That's because your mind is too simple to comprehend my mysterious ways."

Yeah, that must be it.

I followed the winding path into the heart of the place I grew up in. Our little village, previously inhabited only by women, children, and the elderly, had grown into something I'd only ever dreamed about as a girl. I passed the schoolhouse, a sturdy ice building I'd help erect. The children inside were reciting something, but I couldn't make out the words.

This winter had been good to the Southern Water Tribe. Many successful births had increased the population to almost three hundred. Of course it helped that several dozen men and women from the Northern Water Tribe had traveled the great distance to augment our diminished numbers, including some of the waterbenders I'd worked with when I'd first apprenticed at the North Pole.

Over the years, much to my delight, four children had been born here with the potential to waterbend. I'd taken them under my wing, trying to instill in them the beliefs and convictions that my elders had taught me, as well as preparing them for the elemental power they would soon be able to harness. Of course, it wasn't easy. I was a young woman, and certainly no Pakku. I was a waterbending master, and a capable adult by my tribe's standards, and yet...

Being a capable adult was boring as hell.

As I'd aged, I'd noticed other changes too. Changes that both flattered and unnerved me. Men in the village started to take notice of me. I was twenty-two, well past our tribe's marrying age, and I was one of few woman my age not to settle down. I know it was my duty to replenish the Southern waterbenders, and that several men would be happy to help me out in that area, but... None of them were my type, I guess. None of them could zip around on a ball of air. None of them could make me laugh when all I felt was misery of the acutest kind. None of them were Aang.

I bit down on that thought harshly. I was not the kind of girl to get all mopey over the opposite sex.

Aang was halfway around the world, doing his duty to the world. Being the Avatar meant he had to travel a lot, sometimes escorting Fire Lord Zuko as he tried to rebuild his nation's reputation, sometimes alone. He'd been in the Earth Kingdom for the last few years. I missed him, of course. We were friends, more than that, maybe. The little girl part of me missed his sweet kisses and childish declarations of love. But we weren't children anymore. He could have come for me at any time. But he didn't. I was just going to have to live with that.

He was doing important work in the Imperial City. He probably didn't have time to think about that girl from the water tribe he loved as a boy. I'd certainly tried not to think too much about him, biding my time, working to replenish my culture.

The thing is, and it hurt me to think it, I just don't know how much longer I could keep waiting.

Aang

- 000 -

"The Almighty Avatar waits for no man!"

Applause. The curtains closed and the audience rose. My shoulders heaved with the weight of my sigh.

A demure little 'e-hem' from beside me made me turn my head. Ah, I'd almost forgotten... My date.

I remembered my manners just in time.

"How did you find the play, Miss Kimiko?"

"Oh, it was captivating! It portrayed you in such a brave and favourable light, as it should. Did you find it agreeable, my lord?"

I winced at the honorific. The upper crust had this nasty habit of being unbearably stuffy. It took some getting used to... More time than the two years I'd spent here, apparently, because it still bugged the heck out of me.

Kimiko smiled primly, which is the only way I'd seen her do anything. To be fair, I'd never met the girl before tonight. She was another in the long line of proffered companionship from the Ba Sing Se Royal Court's Society Administrator. Apparently upper class tradition claims it would be unheard of to let the Avatar go unescorted to any social event. Not that this play, reenacting my defeat of Fire Lord Ozai, was anything to get excited about. The casting wasn't very accurate; the "Avatar" had too much chest hair, and the woman playing Katara wasn't nearly pretty enough.

Ah, Katara... But it was hard to muse over that particular problem with my overly made-up date staring me straight in the face, waiting patiently for my response.

"The play? It was... um, interesting." Her calm mask twitched at my dishonesty. Apparently, even after twenty years of social interaction, my ability to lie had not improved.

"Shall we depart?" She asked. I nodded, and the rest of the night was a blur of niceties and protocol, leading up to her home, an ornate, yellow-roofed building in the Inner Ring. She leant in, as they all did, for a chaste goodnight kiss.

I stepped back. A hurt look crossed her face.

"Did you not enjoy yourself, my lord?" Her eyes got watery. I began to panic.

"Oh no."

"You didn't?" Her voice raised an octave, and salt water streamed down her pink cheeks.

"I, ah, no! I didn't mean... Uh, yes! I did! It's just, I- I-" Before I could attempt an explanation, she ran, sobbing, into the house.

I mentally kicked myself. Great, just great. Another society high-flier to gossip and stick her nose up at me. My list of allies in the Inner Ring was getting a little thin. Some diplomat I turned out to be.

Diplomat, yeah, what a laugh. The only reason I was here in Ba Sing Se was to act as a peacemaker as King Kuei made the transition back onto the throne. After traveling the world for several years, his pet bear Bosco at his side, the previously naive ruler had transformed into a man who finally understood his people and how to rule the Earth Nation effectively. In his absence, the Order of the White Locus had established a democratic council, and they were having some problems letting go of their power. It wasn't my ideal use of the Avatar status, but my presence alone seemed to be keeping hostilities at bay.

So, I played along. I tried to participate in, or at the very least stay awake during, strategy meetings, royal events, re-coronation plans, plays, parties... But it was all a far cry from the old days, where my work had felt vital, important, urgent. This... This felt like a terrible joke I was playing on myself.

As I passed the elaborate statues, the embellished walls, one fussy gold and green edifice after another, I felt my spirits drop. As if in response, my hand quivered against the staff I was holding. Without thinking, I snapped it open, gold fabric stretching across the wooden poles. The new glider was a present from King Kuei, and some adjustments had been made. This was an impressive piece of handiwork, with an expansive wingspan to match my new height and weight. It made it easier to fly, but I couldn't help but miss my old orange one. It reminded me of better times. Not better as in the war, of course, but those were times filled with friendship and togetherness. Sokka, Toph, Katara.

I took off into the air effortlessly, mentally counting the months since I'd seen her. No, not months. Two years. How had the time passed so quickly? The last time had been an official visit to the South Pole, with Earth Kingdom ambassadors at my heels. She had seemed glad to see me, but distant. Her hug had been warm, but maybe the winters there were colder than I remember, because her embrace had lacked the heat I'd been missing. With government officials dogging my every step, there had been no time to steal her away. Things weren't going at all as I'd planned. I was a man now, in mind and body. And she was a woman. I recalled the letter Suki had sent along with her last monthly report from the South Pole. There was one line that caught me off guard.

Katara is patient, but there are men here who would make her less so.

Men. I wasn't good at reading between the lines, but I'm guessing that Suki was trying to subtly inform me that Katara had suitors. Suitors! Not that she wasn't deserving of them, that wasn't it at all. I remember being blown away by the beauty she'd grown into. As a girl, Katara was always pretty, but now... She had developed curves and a feminine air that did very un-monk-like things to me. I smacked my head against the centre pole of the glider. How could I have let this happen? I remember how clear it had all been when I was a boy. I'd had it all mapped out. Katara and I were going to be together after the war ended. Period. But then, I got older, and the list of responsibilities just never seemed to get any less... responsible. I'd visited the South Pole every few weeks at first, and then every few months, but time seemed to get shorter as you got taller. I'd been overwhelmed, wanting to help everyone at once. Help the Earth Nation rebuild their cities, help Zuko search for his mother, help the air temples regain their former glory. And now... Suitors. My absence was certainly helping them.

It's not like I could just leave for the South Pole tonight, like I wanted, not with the re-coronation approaching so quickly. Tensions were high in the Imperial City. It was more than that, though. Katara had grown up. Maybe she'd grown out of her feelings for me. A lot can change in a few years. What if I arrived, only to find her wearing a engagement necklace of her very own?

I cursed, something I did very rarely. Toph had educated me in the ways of bad language, determined to keep her identity despite reconnecting with her upper class family. She was in the city, visiting with her parents and trying to teach some of the city's residents Metalbending. Maybe she would know what to do... I changed directions and flew toward her residence.

Love is hard when you're young. Avatar Roku said that to me once. I'd replied naively, "You don't have to tell me."

He told me that it gets better.

He just didn't say when.

Thoughts? Concerns? Rampant criticisms? Let me know!

-Kitzophrenic