Author's note: Hello there, and thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. This is my first story, that I've posted that is and finished. Your reviews are welcomed open handed, with much appreciation. Do take the time to review my story, whether it is to let me know you liked it or not, and constructive criticism is very much asked for if you have any. I do warn you though, harsh words and meanness will be a little stab in my author confidence, so please do not be harsh if not necessary, which I hope it is not necessary.

Now if you may, continue onto the story and mind you that this is my first one. Review please, take the time out to do something nice, it can't possibly be that long and annoying that you refuse to do it. If you want to do it anonymously, then go ahead, but then replies will be a little hard to complete. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it. Remember, and yes I do know this is repetitive and annoying, REVIEW! Maybe a wonderful virtual treat will come your way.

~By the way...

I do not own any of these characters, none of them, so do not think these are my characters. They are all from the wonderful Avatar show, though sucky pairing ending I must say. That is my disclaimer. Now you may read. Have a feast of words...

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She looks in the mirror for the hundredth time that day.

"You know what you look like, fool, the same way you did ten minutes ago," she says to herself. Realizing she's talking to herself yet again, she turns away from the mirror and heads towards the door and down the stairs. She stops before she's even halfway down.

"So, just don't get your hopes up. I can do that, right? This is just going to be like the other 'dates' we've had, or well haven't had more like. Or maybe he's really changing and it's not just a façade or a lie. Gah! No, don't think about it."

She resumes walking down the stairs and on the last step stops and slaps her head lightly. "Yeah, forget your cell phone and be left at the park alone, why don't you?" She retraces her steps to the house to get her purse, gives one quick last glance at the mirror and starts her trip towards the park before she can consider changing her mind.

As she walks down the streets with her iPod blasting and singing repetitively in her ears the chorus, she laughs lightly at the song and how well it applies to her relationship. My heart beats only for you, my heart is yours. She laughs because of how many nights she's sang along with it as she cries. She tries to think about of anything but the hope that…

"He might actually show up, though, right? After all he did say he had a huge surprise planned. That it was special and he hoped I'd like it. So maybe there is actually some-- NO! Stop it!" Her musings screech to a stop when she realizes the way they're headed. "Thisis why later on I will most likely be hurting, so I can't let my hopes get too high about him showing up, Even if he promised he would and it wasn't anything like his other half- assed promises that we both knew he'd break… Maybe, just maybe…" Katara rambles in her effort to forget; in an effort to convince herself while her steps take her closer to the park. It enters her line of vision and the sight releases another round of "forbidden thoughts".

"Jet said he'd be there, so he'll be there," she says with what must be the flimsiest reassurance ever spoken. "Argh! Stupid thoughts of him just love invading my mind. I will stop thinking about him so much; I have to…for my own good."

She reaches the park after a few hot, slowly-passing minutes. "I knew I forgot something: water," she says with much distaste to the realization. "He better bring me some. Hmm… I wonder what his surprise is all about."

Plopping down on the grass, her mind begins to wonder what he's been up to lately that is such a big deal. Her thoughts go over how it wasn't so long ago that Jet had stood her up, making her wait the whole night for him but fail to keep to his word and so later he begged for forgiveness, even though it was completely unnecessary because they both knew how it always played out. First act: they make plans; he misses them for some important event and forgets to tell her he won't make it. For the next act, he shows up at school with his mischievous smile with a thousand apologies and zero explanations. Katara delivers a wonderful performance giving him crap about how he ditched her and how she won't put up with it; he follows with a light suggestion of her cooling off and disappears for the rest of the day. She realizes in a heartfelt soliloquy during his vanishing act that she can't ever be over with him and that same night he'll conveniently show up, and is readily granted the foreseen forgiveness and all is well with the world once more… Until next time, that is.

It's not such a big deal, really, except for the part where they barely ever hang out like real couples do. Or the one where he doesn't understand it or pretends he doesn't see that it hurts her to feel like he doesn't care enough to invest on some time with her. Or for the fact that she loves him and has no problems proving it while he can't even show that he feels the same way because he's just too damn stubborn to really show it the way she wants him to. Yeah, that's what hurts her the most. But she had to admit, Jet has been acting a lot better, a hundred times better. It finally feels like a relationship with both of them giving and receiving; no longer just her giving and waiting for nothing to be returned. He was finally showing her that he did love her and trying to prove it and she'd noticed how their relationship was progressing, slowly but still it was something.

As she sat back, reminiscing, her purse began to vibrate. She quickly took out her cell and answered happily, very much glad for a distraction to her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kat, its Suki." Her close friend, like always checking up on her whenever plans to go out with Jet were on the menu in Katara's life.

"Oh hey Suki. What's up?"

"Meh. Nothing much really. I'm just trying to cook up some plans for this sunny afternoon; how 'bout you? Doing anything interesting?" she asked, trying to hide the real meaning of the question.

"Eh, just at the park, waiting for Jet."

"Ah Alrighty, well if you get too bored call me so we can make plans. I was thinking of heading to the movies."

"With your lil posse?" Katara joked.

"Yeess," she said with attitude, "with my posse and supposedly Sokka and Haru, they're not too sure yet."

"That's cool. Maybe we'll go; I'll tell Jet."

"Well, I'll text you the details later. Oh and have fun you kids." She said in a teasing voice.

"Yes ma'am, will do. Bye, I'll call you."

"Bye," said Suki.

"Cheerful and happy as ever", Katara though as she shoved the cell phone back into her purse,"she'd make a good couple with Sokka, or maybe Haru."

Katara loved her dear friend, she was her closest friend, and since Katara had grown up around men and well her grandma, she was very glad to have another teen girl friend in her life, especially one who was as great as Suki. She had been watching some kids from a-far playing around; she loved kids, they were so entertaining and happy. Katara began to drift from thought to thought about nothing really, and lay back down, watching the clouds. Sokka and she would do this often when they were small, just sit and watch the clouds while their mom sat with them and pointed out clouds that looked like things, which would then lead to a story made up by Sokka which contribution from Katara, but Sokka always got mad when that happened because she made it into a girly story. She loved to do this now, even when she was older, it helped relax her.

"So pree-tty," she said to herself as a yawn escaped her mouth. Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep but was soon waken by the unbearable heat. If only she was in a pool or under the rain or something. She kept on grumbling about the heat and the water he better bring and looked at her watch as she sat up. Not a little while ago it had almost been 2pm, now it was 2:25, but he said he'd be here at around 1:50, that she had to get here first. "Maybe I got the time wrong, instead of 1:30 it was 2:30 and I was too busy changing eight times to remember. That's so me. Oh well whatever, he'll show up no doubt," she thought trying to reassure herself of that. She lay back down on the grass singing but she couldn't 'drift' off again try as she might because of the doubts going on in the back of her head. She was sure the card and e-mail had said 1:30 and he had confirmed it at school on Friday, he said Saturday at 1:30 be at the park, she remembered clearly.

"So then…" she slowly said trying not to let the disappointment wash over her, "this is what I get for liking him so much, for forgiving him every single damn time. It's not fair," she felt tears building up at the back of her eyes, sadness sweeping in on her. "Because I let my hopes get so high and let him fool me time and time again, that's why I cry. But you know what? No, screw it; this is not going to be like every other time. I am not gonna cry for him. Yeah, that's right," she said, while trying to stop the tears from rolling down, she knew this pain would hurt more when she was alone at night thinking about the way it all turned out, and she'll have to keep on hurting until he decided to show up and apologize and give her some excuse as to why he stood her up.

"He hadn't done it in a long time, he had been so good lately and caring, what went wrong?" She couldn't let this happened again. "But if what he wants is a girl who's gonna believe him and get her hopes up for nothing, some girl who will wait on him like his own personal bell-hop then he's wrong to pick me, he'll have to choose someone else. I am NOT gonna let it happened again," she was telling herself all this out loud to be sure she wouldn't think differently later, "I'm not gonna give him the chance to do it again," she got up off the ground and kicked at nothing in particular but she could imagine who it'd be if she could. "I am through with this; all this crap I put up with. I forgive you every time and give you my love, for what? So that it can just turn around and slap me hard on the face. Not anymore, buddy, not with me!"

She hadn't noticed that as she had been talking a bit loud that someone was heading her way and quickly. Any other time she might have blushed thinking it was Jet finally deciding to show up; instead she got off her back and waited for him with her arms crossed. She realized that it was actually Zuko who was probably gonna tell her the excuse.

"I couldn't care less what load of baloney he's gonna try and feed me this time about why Jet couldn't show up; and how dare he send someone else to give me the message." Suddenly a thought crawled into her head and left some pretty bad droppings. Terrified of it, and amazed by how true it could be. She couldn't believe it, but maybe, just maybe Jet had already given up on her, maybe he didn't want to be together anymore. "Maybe this was it and I've been too blind to see it. He's gonna break up with me or, well, Zuko is gonna tell me he's gonna break up with me." Her heart began to beat and thud so hard, she felt as if her head was going to explode. She couldn't handle it, but she'd have to, at least for now. "Well, if you don't want my love anymore then fine, I'll get over him some day, at least I can try" she thought to herself, saddened by the thought that the end loomed near but yet with a lot of anger steaming out of her while she waited for Zuko to tell her what she knew was coming and should've known long ago.

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I hope you liked it. I know it kind of leaves you hanging there, but if I put it all in the it would be terribly long and I doubt many of you would want to read it. Thanks again, for taking the time to read this. Now if you could just deposit 1 more minute of your life so that you may give me a review, that would be awesome. Tell me your likes and dislikes, your opinions and thoughts, the constructive criticism, what you felt.

Thanks a bunch!

Review please...must you make me say it again?you know you want to, go on, it won't hurt you.

Wait for the next chapter to find out more about what has and will happend to Katara. Until the next part.

~Manola3