Author's Note: Well, here we go…my very first Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic. This fanfiction will be a collection of oneshots. They will range from memories, to games, to actual events in the show. There's no telling what I am going to write here.

I think this chapter deserves is own explanation, however. When I first watched Book 3: Fire, Chapter 2: The Headband, and I watched Aang and Katara dance it up, I couldn't help but wonder where they had learned the exact same dance. If Aang knew it, that probably meant it was at least a hundred years old. How Katara knew it was beyond me. After all, it was a fire nation dance, by the looks of the movements. So I created this oneshot to explain just where they learned said dance.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I never will

Time Well Spent

Continuity: After "The Awakening", before "The Headband"

"I'm bored." Aang sighed indignantly.

"Well, find something to do." Toph groaned.

Aang paced the length of the bow of the ship, his hands twisting behind his back. Toph lay on the ground picking her toes quietly, her head in her hand. Sokka was down below, looking over maps with the other Water Tribe members, or some nonsense like that. Katara was looking over the side of the ship, her mind somewhere else.

"Hey, Katara. Wanna dance?" Aang asked. His eyes widened in sudden excitement.

"What?" Katara turned to face her friend, puzzled. "Dance? But…there's no music."

"So? Where's Sokka? He can play the sungi horn, right?"

"I guess…why do you want to dance all of a sudden?" The brunette placed a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side.

"I don't know, I just do." He shrugged.

"I haven't danced in years, Aang. And I doubt we know any of the same dances."

"Well then, I'll teach you one."

"You'll teach me?"

"Yep."

Katara sighed. "Fine. What is this dance?"

Toph spun around to face her friends. "Wait…Katara…you're actually going to dance?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Can't you wait until we hit land?" Toph pleaded.

"Why?" Katara raised an eyebrow.

"Because I want to see this!"

"I say it's a good thing you can't. I'm sure it won't be anything exciting." Katara said.

"Fine, be that way." Toph huffed in her mock-hurt voice. Crossing her arms, she stormed down the stairs to find Sokka.

Aang watched her go, then turned to face Katara, offering his hand. He smiled, and the water bender took it. With a quick pull, they were in the center of the bow, facing each other.

"Now, bow."

"What?"

"Bow."

Shrugging, Katara did as she was told. The two exchanged ceremonious bows, and as they raised she looked him in the eye.

"Now what?"

"Now, we cross wrists. As if we were going to fire bend." Aang held up his hand in the proper position, and Katara mimicked.

"Good, now, spin slowly in a half circle, then we turn around and do it in the other direction." Aang demonstrated once, with Katara watching intently. After she knew what to do, she joined in.

"Okay, now we spin in that direction twice, go back a quarter turn, then grab hands, like so." Again, he demonstrated, and again, she watched. "After that, we pull into each other, leaning as far as we can. But we don't want to fall." He smiled and laughed, and she laughed with him. "Now, do it with me." Katara nodded, and daintily held his hand.

"No, hold it firmly. We don't want you slipping through my fingers." His smile never faded.

The two completed the steps, stumbling at a few parts. Aang instructed Katara to do it a few more times, just until they got the first part right. She listened without complaint. This was rather fun.

"Here's where I kick you." He smirked.

"You do what now?" Katara stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I try and kick you, and you duck and dodge it."

"Aang, this is silly."

"It's part of the dance!" He threw his hands in the air for drama.

"Fine, if you say so." Smiling just a bit, she did as he told.

For the next couple hours, they worked on the movements. They flipped and tumbled, twirled and spun. It was amazing what one could create with a simple Agnikai routine and a few other fighting techniques. Once the training was over, the two were left gasping for breath.

"Well…that was…fun." Aang held his lungs softly, his smile much bigger than before.

"It was. Thanks for teaching me." Katara returned the smile.

"Now I want to teach you the Phoenix Flight and Elephant Strut." He again offered his hand.

"Oh no you don't. I've had enough dancing for one day, thank you very much."

"Aww, come on. You know you want to." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"No, I don't." But no matter how much she protested, Katara couldn't wipe the grin off of her face.

Author's Note: Wow…crappy…of course, that's what you get when you try to write at 11:44 on January 1st