Author's note: Just a little idea that I sort of ran away with. Hopefully this will be two or maybe three chapters long, if I get good responses. One of my first fics so go easy on me :). I'm just trying to write entertaining stuff that hopefully people enjoy. Thanks!

Boredom and Indecency

Ch 1

The extravagant ballroom hummed with conversation and light laughter, punctuated by the clicking of many fancy shoes. The color red seemed to saturate every surface available. The walls were hung with crimson drapes and red, gold-gilded tablecloths covered the dozens of round tables at the edge of the large dance floor. It was evident by the guest's dresses and robes, which were every shade of red imaginable, that there were very few exceptions to this subconscious fashion custom of the Fire Nation. The candles and torches flickering all around the room added to the saturated color's immersion into Aang's senses as he tried very hard to pay attention to the Fire Nation official he was listening to.

Dressed in a more Summer appropriate version of his formal Air Nomad robes, he attempted to nod and smile or look concerned in all the right places as the shrewd, thin man droned on about something. Something, Aang inwardly groaned, that the Avatar found rather insignificant compared to the land disputes he himself had been dealing with just last week in the Fire Nation colonies of the Earth Kingdom. None the less, as the man talked, the official fiddled with his expensive looking sash, which Aang was sure meant something important, and shot his frail-looking wife annoyed glances through his narrowed eyes as she sighed rather loudly every ten seconds.

Aang sympathized with her completely as he continued trying not to let his unfocused gaze escape her husband's face for longer than etiquette allowed. Just then, another important looking lord or governor or rich upperclassman, Aang couldn't tell, joined their group and Aang took the opportunity to chance a sweeping glance around the room to try and locate his friends.

He quickly spotted Sokka and Toph near the overflowing buffet table, their different colored garb standing out amongst the crowd. They appeared to be having a heated discussion about some sort of meat leg that Sokka waved around with exuberance. Smirking at the glances they were getting from nearby guests, Aang continued to search for the person he was really interested in finding.

He eventually discovered Katara sitting alone with Suki at a table on the far side of the room. She appeared to be gazing off in no direction in particular and impatiently kicking out her foot that was draped over her opposite leg. He smiled at her beautifully bored face which quickly turned to beautifully aggravated as Sokka and Toph approached. The gentlemen Aang was talking with reeled him back into the conversation, but he never let them have his complete undivided attention after that. His loving gaze strayed back to her now and then as he pined to be away from where he was. And he wondered what had kept him this far away from her for so long already. But just then, as he glanced at her again, Aang noticed something that caused a strange sensation to stir in his stomach, just as it caused him to forget everything else in the room but her.

_._._._

"Huuuh..." Katara sighed, her chin resting heavily on her hand, elbow braced against the red cloth of the table she was sitting at.

"Tell me about it," Suki said, equally as bored, from Katara's right. The Kyoshi warrior's arms were crossed over her chest, slightly crumpling the delicate emerald silk fabric of her dress. Her head was thrown back as she stared unseeingly at the ornately decorated gold ceiling.

Their evening had been moving surprisingly slowly. They were surrounded by numerous officials and important guests at another one of Fire Lord Zuko's balls. They attended balls like this every so often now that the war was over. Ones in the Fire Nation, in Ba Sing Se and even the North Pole. As much as she liked these joyous affairs and chances to celebrate the peace that they had all worked so hard to achieve, Katara found herself in a rather strange and listless mood this particular night. The heat of the summer evening was getting to her and Suki and Sokka were behaving somewhat snippety toward each other for some reason that Katara did not want to know about. No one was in much of a mood to mingle or much less dance. She was relieved that Sokka and Toph had taken off toward the buffet table and left for a little while.

"I'm telling you, you should have tried that other kind. It's way better than that gummy excuse for a food."

"Sokka! I will eat whatever I want. Now shut it!" Katara groaned as Toph and Sokka came within ear shot of their table again.

"Will you two please stop with the yelling?"

"Come on guys," Sokka mumbled through a mouth full of half-chewed animal product, clearly intimidated by Suki's tone. "Lighten up," he took another enormous bite. Toph blew her bangs away from her face. Suki stared at him. Katara sighed again.

"Where is-" she began. That was as far as she got before she was promptly cut off by Toph.

"Katara!" The earthbender snapped with force, slamming her tiny fist on the table. "Seriously. You keep asking where he is like every five minutes!" Katara was suddenly sitting much straighter in her chair and it skidded back slightly from her sudden movement. Her previously vacant face was now crumpled in agitation as well as embarrassment and her voice peaked at a note much higher than she intended.

"I do not!" Toph's response was an unseeing glare, apparent through the black hairs hanging over her eyes, characteristically loose from her otherwise elegant hairstyle. Her brother and his girlfriend also gave her annoyingly knowing expressions. Katara slumped back into her chair again, fists still clenched and a faint blush still painted on her tan cheeks.

"He's still on the other side of the dance floor then?" she mumbled quietly. Toph's only response was to roll her milky, green eyes. Suki stifled a slight giggle.

As soon as they had arrived at Zuko's palace and entered the ballroom, Aang had been pounced upon and swept away more quickly and enthusiastically than usual by a group of important looking noblemen. His hand had practically been ripped from Katara's and he barely had time to throw her an achingly sweet, apologetic look before being lost in the fine ball gowns and robes of the milling guests.

She hadn't seen him since.

A few agitated taps of her foot later, after her outburst, and after making sure that her friends weren't paying too close attention to her anymore, Katara strained to peer through the crowded dance floor to the other side, her eyes wide in eager anticipation.

Elevated at the High table, Zuko and Mai sat chatting softly to each other, thoroughly absorbed in their own world. The throngs of people conversing below them were clearly blocking the young man she was looking for from view though.

She slumped back into her chair. Katara had to admit she was somewhat used to situations like this at this point. Being in love with the Avatar was something that she had always known would be challenging and would require her to be selfless, on occasion, when it came to his attention. Why should tonight be an exception? It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to her that he had been forced to become preoccupied with business by others concerned with worldly affairs within the otherwise carefree festivities.

However, sometimes the circumstances aggravated her more than others and she wanted his undivided attention more that she cared to admit to anyone and even herself. Katara blew a tiny strand of hair from between her ice-colored eyes, the palm of her hand once again supporting her chin. She stared at the opposite wall. She tried to make herself believe that all she needed was his carefree and playful mood to make her smile right now.

As her restless mind began to wonder she found herself daydreaming, smirking at the memory of the embarrassing event that had taken place earlier that evening. Her small smirk turned into a happy smile when she realized Aang could still make her do so even when he wasn't present. Just the mere thought of the memory caused butterflies to rise in her stomach as well, something which Katara tried to suppress adamantly.

A few hours prior, Katara had just finished putting on her dress for the ball and was making her way down the hall to the bathroom. The house they stayed in whenever they visited the Fire Nation was very close to the palace, not a stone's-throw from the house Mai had shared with her family before moving into the palace with Zuko. It was elegant, but tiny. Aang wouldn't allow Zuko to provide him with a monstrosity of a mansion that could very well have held twenty people for their small group of friends. This house suited them just fine, but there was only one bathroom.

One bathroom that was entirely occupied when Katara swung the door open, not even thinking, as she absentmindedly hummed to herself. When she looked into the room she immediately ceased the carefree tune. She had walked in on Aang just as he was about to get into the bath. Just before. That perfect time between getting undressed and stepping into the tub.

"Um, hi Katara..." Aang said shyly and somewhat mischievously. His back was to her as he faced the tub and she tried desperately to slow the leaping of her heart as she took in every part of Aang's back. From the top of his shaven head all the way down to the back of his heels. She immediately slammed her eyes shut. She was entirely sure that her whole face was turning the color or stewed sea prunes.

"Oh my gosh Aang. I'm so sorry!" She continued to keep her eyes shut tight, gripping the door knob as if she needed it to try to remain standing.

"It's okay," she heard the rustle of a towel. "You can look now." She opened one eye and saw that he had wrapped a towel around his slim waist. If it was possible, her blush increased further as she realized she had trouble looking at him directly because all she could see in her mind's eye was an azure blue line traveling down his muscled back and splitting as it ran over his-

"Um, Katara? Do you mind if I get my bath before we have to leave for the ball?" Katara marveled at his ability to stand there and speak to her with hardly any hint of embarrassment in his voice. The innocent, wide-eyed expression on his face made her laugh in spite of herself.

"Oh, yeah sure," she responded, her voice breaking a bit, still looking down. "I'm really sorry, Aang."

"Well at least you'll never forget to knock again," a hint of nervousness finally becoming apparent in his forced laugh that followed. Katara nodded, rubbing the back of her hand on her forehead.

"Um, right," Katara's brow furrowed, not quite processing his attempt to downplay the tension of the situation, but making her way out of the door and closing it behind her as quick as she could. Neither of them saw the other's face-palm or heard the release of ragged breath that each of them had been holding since she had opened the door.

_._._._

"Argh." Katara was suddenly forced back to the present.

"What?" Suki didn't even bother looking at her. Surprised that she had heard her, Katara started.

"Um, nothing," although she cast a cautious glance around her to make sure that no one could see what she was about to do next.

"Bleeding monkey feathers," she gritted through her teeth. The dress she had on had a ridiculously high slit in the side of the skirt that reached almost to the very top of her thigh. It was a bit out of her comfort zone to wear something exposing so much of her bare leg, but she had to admit she had been feeling rather reckless when she bought it. But, now in a room surrounded by strange and even some very familiar people, she felt a bit self-conscious.

Her previous exclamation was triggered by the sudden itch tickling her just above that high slit. Confident that everyone in the room was too distracted to see her indecent flash of flesh, she lifted the slit of the blue skirt still higher to scratch briefly at the skin there. She blushed in spite of herself, even though she was fairly confident no one had noticed her movement.

However, just as that thought crossed her mind she stopped dead when her eyes locked with someone staring straight at her. A someone who had just seen more of her leg than anyone ever had. A someone with familiar grey eyes that held an unfamiliar expression. She stopped breathing as, with another jolt, Katara processed exactly who the eyes belonged to. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she failed to suppress the immediate rush of blood to her- she gulped- cheeks.

As if the sea of people had been bent out of the way, Aang was now suddenly visible in the crowd. And she was clearly visible to him. As their wide eyes stared at each other she knew he was remembering that incident this afternoon in the bathroom, and once again embarrassment appeared to be the furthest thing from his mind. But she could see it had been replaced with a different emotion. The tension from the afternoon was reborn anew and the image of him standing there again flashed across her mind. Details she didn't even realize that she had seen emerged as she noticed his normally sparkling eyes now held a darker depth, a sight that both scared and excited her at the same time. His expression was mixed with a look shock and something else... mischief? she wondered. Still the dominant emotion that came through was one she had never seen him wear before.

Their relationship had been progressing rather slowly and they had agreed to take it one day at a time. They each cared deeply for one another. A mutual friendship that had blossomed into something more long ago. But recently, Katara had been having trouble controlling other sorts of thoughts from entering her mind. As time had passed over the last few years, Katara had not been oblivious to the changes in Aang. It was true that he had always been in great physical shape, even when he was twelve, due to the natural physical prowess needed to become a master in all four bending arts. But the loving, though still tame feelings, that had defined their relationship for some time were changing as the days passed by. She knew they both could sense it. They were not children anymore.

"Oh my..."

He took a sudden step towards her and, as if in answer, she was certain her heart truly skipped a beat.

"Are you okay Katara?" Toph inquired from the other side of the table. Tearing her eyes away from Aang's she shook her head slightly to clear her suddenly foggy mind, her loose brown hair fluttering around her bare shoulders.

"Uh," she cleared her throat, looking down, "uh, yeah." She desperately hoped that in the dim light they couldn't see the blush on her cheeks. Sokka glanced at her curiously and then proceeded to slyly try and discern where she had just been looking. Katara chanced a sideways glance out of the corner of her eye. Aang was still most definitely still looking at her, his stare boring into her, but his step toward her was halted when a tall, shrewd-looking official placed a hand on his chest, irritated at the Avatar's lack of interest in what he had to say. What is he thinking? she thought. Her breathing began to quicken and she looked away. His face had become a bit more composed but his eyes were clearly communicating something at her before he turned to the official to excuse himself. Taken aback by the sudden shift in the mood and the rush of emotion in herself she kept her head down, hair covering her scalding cheeks. She tried her hardest to return her face to an impassive expression, all the while very much aware of Aang's unshakable gaze and her wild guesses as to what his intention behind his attempt to get to her had been.

"Katara?" she could sense Toph's eyes on her and Sokka's openmouthed, questioning gaze as he tried to figure out the situation that his clueless-ness failed to provide an answer for. When Suki spoke Katara could hear the smirk in her voice.

"Uh, Katara, I've got to use the restroom, want to come?" Pleased at Suki's attempt to change the subject, she nodded, still staring at her knees and praying that Toph wouldn't ask her about this later. Suki grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the table.

"What is going on between you two and why are you torturing him like that?" she half laughed as she whirled around to face Katara once they were out of ear shot of the others.

"What do you mean, I didn't do anything on p--," she rushed out nervously. "Wait. you saw what I did?"

"I was about to tell you that Aang was looking at you before you decided to expose half your-"

"Shhh!" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh Sprits this stupid dress! Stupid Katara for forgetting to knock," she pounded her fist against her temple.

"What?"

"Nothing," Katara answered quickly. Her stern gaze almost causing Suki to take a step back.

"Will you tell me what's going on? You guys have been weird towards each other for weeks and you've both been acting really strange all night." Now it was Katara's turn to sound confused.

"What?" Suki shrugged her shoulders and her eyebrows went in the same direction. She seemed to think Katara was referring to the latter part of her statement and that Katara was well aware of the fact that she and Aang had been acting differently towards each other for a while. Katara's brain was reeling to think of what others might have seen between them that she obviously had not realized was noticeable.

"I caught Aang talking to himself in his room before we left this afternoon. Something about you and frustration and self-control. I couldn't make sense of what he was going on about."

"Oh Spirits," Katara breathed again.

"I think your evening's about to get much more interesting..." she trailed off. Not noticing Suki's gaze shift, Katara groaned and rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. Suki side stepped into the crowd and away from Katara.

"Suki, where are you-"

"Don't worry I won't tell the others a thing. See ya," she heard Suki mumble as she disappeared.

"Hi." Katara jumped.

Anyone likey?