'Gotta find Aang. Gotta find Aang.'
That was all that was going through Katara's mind as she raced through the halls of the Fire Nation Palace. It was only a couple minutes after Zuko had been coronated, and Katara had lost sight of Aang. He and Zuko had disappeared back into the palace shortly after Zuko was crowned.
Katara needed to find Aang. And it had to be now. For some reason this felt like the most important thing she'd ever had to do in her life. The rational part of her mind was telling her that there was no rush; she could talk to Aang at any time. But those thoughts weren't resonating in her brain. What was resonating was a feeling of release. All those reasons she told herself why she couldn't be with Aang before were gone. The war was over; Aang had defeated the Fire Lord. The was no reason she shouldn't be with him now. And that's exactly where she wanted to be, needed to be: with Aang.
Room after room. She opened doors, looked inside, closed them disappointed. She had to have covered half the palace by now. But with the opening of each door she had new motivation: the image of Aang standing with Zuko a few minutes ago kept coming up again in her mind. That image meant everything to her; all boundaries between them were gone.
Finally as she opened yet another door, she saw Zuko and Aang standing inside talking. They both turned to face her as she entered the room. She just stood there initially, not wanting to interrupt them, but at the same time all she could do was stare at Aang, wanting to talk to him. She barely noticed as Zuko said, "I'll leave you two alone" and walked out.
There were a few more moments of silence, but then Katara couldn't take it anymore. "Aang!" she cried as ran to him, throwing her arms around him.
"Katara," Aang mumbled as he reciprocated the hug, holding her tight.
Katara distanced herself for a moment to look at him. "Oh Aang, it's all over," she said as she closed the distance again, leaning her head on Aang's chest. She'd never felt this kind of euphoria before. It was just her and Aang now. Nothing else mattered.
"Does this mean you like me Katara?" Aang said lightly, chuckling as he kissed the top of her head.
Katara giggled and moved her head up so that it was a few inches from Aang's. "Of course Aang. I've liked you for a while. But with the war, and you learning the elements..," she paused and sighed, "But none of that matters now. It can just be-"
"Us." Aang finished for Katara. He leaned in a few inches and lightly kissed her, pulling away after a few moments.
"Just us," Katara repeated as she leaned in to kiss Aang again.