So first, an author's note.

The last time that I worked on this story, as I have in my bio, I was a twelve-year-old girl trying to make my way through eighth grade. There is nothing wrong with that, except that I may have been a little childish and naïve. Here I am again, eight years later and back on this website. I am going to rewrite this story slightly differently.

I am going to assume that since it has been eight years since I've written this, it has been eight years since the majority of you have read this. I am hoping to re-write with a more mature perspective on the ideas that I had come up with. When I originally wrote this story it was based around the love, or lack thereof, between Aang and Katara. Though I will be continuing this, I will also be expanding to other topics that gives the story more grounds.

I will include now a disclaimer that I do not own any of the characters presented in this story or any of the story details from the Nickelodeon TV series. I am also aware that Netflix will be releasing some sort of story from the original authors. Though my writing is my own, I do not own any rights to the Avatar: The Last Airbender.

With that, this story will take place after the TV series with a disregard for Legend of Kora. I apologize if you think this will be leading to a result of the Legend of Kora, it will not. In fact, I am not really sure where this will go, so, please leave comments about what you like versus what you dislike. I would love feedback.

Now let's begin…

Chapter 1

It has been three months since the end of the war. Aang took away the Fire Lord Ozai's bending; Aang knew the right choice was to take the bending and not his life. Since then, Ozai has been released to Fire Lord Zuko, who now rules the Fire Nation. Aang also convinced Zuko of the immorality of keeping Ozai in a cage the rest of his life. Zuko placed him in farming town, where he could be closely monitored but not trapped to rot.

Sakka and Suki adore one another, as expected. However, three months have passed and Suki needed to return home, where she belonged. Sakka had a difficult time letting her go, but he refused to abandon me. Our father went home to the Southern Water Tribe to be with Gran Gran and the rest of our people.

We returned back to Ba Sing Se with myself, Sakka, Aang, Toph, Momo, and Appa. Though we all came back together, I can tell that no one expects to stay long. Sakka spends his days writing to Suki and going into the city with Momo. He stays active and always practices with his sword. Toph is living her dream, independent of her parents. She continuously annoys me, intentionally I believe, by leaving her things around the house and refusing to shower on a daily basis. However, the three of us are living fairly harmonious with one another.

Aang has kept primarily to himself, spending most of his day in meditation. He trains by himself anymore and only speaks with us during mealtimes or in passing. He takes care of Appa and Momo, I'm assuming because they do not expect him to explain his behavior to them. I do not think that we have had a full conversation since the day following the victory. He is planning on leaving. We can tell by his fidgeting that he is waiting for something to give him the cue. I believe that he is trying to understand what his place in the world is now. As much as I would like to get through to talk to him, I am always brushed off.

As for me, I spend my days around the house. I clean up after Toph, keep an eye on Aang to make sure he does not disappear, and keep everyone fed. I did not expect to be doing this now, but it will do until everyone decides where we are going. I do not want to stay in Ba Sing Se or the Earth Kingdom, but I also feel out of place going home. Since we left on this exploration with Aang, I do not feel like Sakka and I belong anywhere anymore. Toph does not have anywhere to return to, because she will not return home. All I can do is hope that Aang does not choose to abandon us, because he is part of our family.

"Toph, can you please pick up your dirty clothing? You cannot use your lack of sight as an excuse for leaving dirty clothes all around the house. At a minimum just keep to tornado contained to your room!"

"Yes, mom," she replied with an exaggerated, sarcastic tone.

"Where did Sakka go? Did he take Momo with him? Did they let you know where to find them if they get in trouble?"

"No, mom," she said again with the same sarcasm. This was a response that has become familiar to me in the past three months.

Carrying a basket of clothes, I walked and set them on the front porch to be picked up by the cleaners. I then walked to the back porch to check on Aang who had been sitting there since seven, always beginning his meditation when the sun rose. He still sat with his back to the door that I was standing in, his face towards the city around us. His back was straight and elongated, his posture sturdy, but still relaxed. In the past three months he has seemed more mature than he did before facing Ozai. The childlike laughter that was once so familiar to me became a distant memory. He could sense me standing here in the doorway, but failed to acknowledge my presence. I cleared my throat, hoping for, at minimum, a hello.

"What do you want Katara?" He remained in his position. He still spoke with a boyish voice, but instead of lighthearted and happy, he sounded miserable and annoyed.

"I just want to talk; we haven't spoken in a long time Aang."

"We 'talk' every day. Can't this wait until I am finished?"

"Finished what, Aang!?" My temper was already short at the situation, and his preexisting attitude did not help. "Finished meditating? That's all you do anymore! If we wait to talk any longer I'm afraid we won't have the opportunity to!"

"Katara, you are already aware that I do not take well to being interrupted during meditation." He maintained his composure.

There were a few moments of sitting in silence. "Yes, Aang. I am very aware. And while your meditation is important to you, I thought that your friends would be as well." I slammed the door shut and stomped back into the living room in a rage of fury. I crossed my arms, coming face-to-face with Toph who was waiting right inside with a small smirk on her face.

"Wow, you really handled that like a fifteen-year-old girl on your period. What were you expecting? Him to jump up in happiness and give you a kiss because he 'loves you so much.'" He gave herself a little laugh, she has a tendency to think that she is funnier than she actually is. "He has grown up a lot since facing Ozai. Heck, I'm thirteen and have grown up a lot after that day. You think that you would have grown up too. Maybe if you treat him more like an adult rather than being an over-bearing mom, you'd get through a little bit better."

"Toph, I don't need your—"

"Hello everybody!" Sakka yelled, making a dramatic entrance through the front door with Momo on his shoulder. "You guys will never guess what I bought today! A new bag! Look at it! It has so many pockets on the inside!" He exclaimed, gladly opening the bag and showing off all of the "exciting" features. "You guys should really be more happy for me; it was a very tough decision to make. I just wish I could show it to Suki, I think she would really like it."

"So what's for dinner?" Toph asked, changing the subject. "I think Momo and I can take a walk down to the market and pick up some fish and vegetables so that Mr. Rabbit out there doesn't go hungry."

"Did you just call him Mr. Rabbit?" Sakka raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, he doesn't eat meat, so he's a rabbit."

"I don't think that's how it—"

"Yes Toph, that would be fantastic if you could do that," I said, ending a conversation that was obviously going nowhere. With that, Toph gave Sakka a nagging face, sticking her tongue out. "Who's not acting like an adult now?" I teased, taking a seat on the couch that faced out towards the porch. As she walked out, she slammed the front door behind her. Looking out towards the porch, Aang had not moved a muscle. He has master the sitting-like-a-statue ability. I know the world saw him as their hero, saving them from Fire Lord Ozai, but I still saw him as a best friend, and a little kid who loved to have fun. Those two things do not mesh well together.

"Are you going to just sit here and watch him?" Sakka asked, taking the place next to me.

"Yes, because he refuses to talk to me, and I am going to be stubborn about it. As soon as he gets up, I'm taking the opportunity to claim his attention." Sakka rolled his eyes and nodded, but did not comment anymore. He sat with me for approximately and hour, fidgeting around and changing positions multiple times before deciding to get up and keep himself occupied some other way. I, however, sat there for two hours, staring at Aang until Toph walked back in the door.

"Katara, have you seriously not moved since I left?"

"You're insulting me about it, but you're not insulting Aang who has been sitting there since seven this morning. He hasn't even eaten yet today!" I exclaimed. No one has any problem judging me and what I do, but they perfectly respect what the other three of them do without question.

"But he's meditating, and he's a monk. This is a regular occurrence for him. Plus, he can be kind of strange too, so I never question what he does." She shrugged, "And I know he can kick my ass if he wants to, so I don't even consider crossing him if I don't have to."

I took that opportunity to stand and go to the door, I cracked it open just enough to fit my head out. "Aang, Toph is back with dinner. You should come in and eat with the rest of us." I stood in the door, not getting an answer for a few moments. He continued to sit still, like a rock. It had to be at least thirty seconds before he slowly, and slightly, bowed his head. Once his head moved inferiorly a few degrees, we sat in silence again for another ten seconds.

"I will be right in," he quietly answered, relaxing his hands down to his sides. Sometimes I wish I knew what he experienced all of this time. But then again, I would also never want to carry the responsibility and expectations that lie on his shoulders.

I closed the door and moved to the kitchen to lay out plates. I arranged the food that Toph had brought. Through the doorway I could see Aang go outside to feed Appa before we ate and everyone else came into the kitchen to take our places around the table. Aang came in and sat at his normal chair, head down, avoiding eye contact with everyone like he had for the past months. Again, the four of us sat here around the table is silence. The room always felt more tense once Aang was in it with us all. Though Sakka continues to make jokes and try to make us laugh, the atmosphere is still heavy. I missed the days where we all felt so comfortable around one another. I think our lack of time spent on Appa has taken a toll on our ability to deal with one another's annoyances and behaviors. Aang certainly has not helped any of that and has, in fact, just made it worst.

"So what is the plan?" I broke the silence. "We cannot just sit here anymore. None of us are happy in Ba Sing Se. Sure, we have a roof over our head but this is not what we do. We are not happy here."

Everyone sat in silence.

"Anyone? Any ideas?" I spoke again, waiting for some sort of answer.

"You know me, I'll do anything," Toph said. "I'm happy where I am, but I wouldn't mind moving around. We will get bored of the things around here pretty soon. But I don't have anywhere to be, no one is expecting me."

"Katara, you know me. I think I have made it pretty clear that wherever you go, I go." Sakka nodded. "I agree with you. We are going to go crazy staying here, we need to move, it's just a matter of where and why."

"Well, we don't have anywhere that we really need to go. We could always go see Zuko in the Fire Nation. Make sure that everything is going smoothly with his new rule," I offered. No one seemed too thrilled but did not necessarily reject the idea either. "Aang?"

He kept his head down, staring at the plate in front of him. He was eating, I'm happy he is eating.

"I don't know what I'm doing yet," he said in a soft voice. That was it, nothing else. It was pretty obvious his mindset was not to remain with us, considering his usage of the work "I."

The rest of the dinner was quiet. We ate in silence, and Sakka and I intermittently exchanged eye contact. Aang was the first to break the silence by pushing his chair out from the table and rinsing his plate in the sink. Once finished, he turned and walked out the front door. He didn't take Appa so he could not be going too far.

"Katara, this could be a great opportunity to not let your temper get the best of you," Toph said. "Just go talk to him and really see what his problem is." Sakka nodded in agreeance, so I rolled my eyes and followed him out.

I did not call after him, because I wanted to see where he was going first. He walked straight down the street, to a small bridge around the corner. Instead of going over the bridge, he went down to the water and sat by the edge. I moved slowly and quietly as he moved into his position. He did not get into his meditation position, rather, he kept his knees up to his chest, forming a little ball with his body. This is the most childlike I have seen him in a while.

"Aang, I know you probably didn't want me to follow you but I want to know what's going on," I said, walking down slowly and taking a seat in the grass next to him. "What do you mean you don't know what you're doing? Are you not staying with us?"

"I don't know Katara!" He snapped, sending a ripple in the water away from him. This is the first time I have seen his eyes in a long time, the first time they have connected in three months.

Rather than them connecting with mine through the gentleness and kindness that they were, they not show with frustration and rage.