Hello and thanks for clicking on this! I am pretty new to all this but I thought it might be fun because I rewatched Avatar and remembered how much I loved Zutara. This takes place like six years after Sozin's Comet so everyone is an adult. Yes, I know Katara and Aang got married and had three kids but we're just gonna ignore that for the sake of this story. I'm not really sure what to rate this so I'm just gonna say T for now and see where it goes. This is a third person story but mostly from Katara's perspective. Hope you enjoy!

"Alright well that's going to be all for today. Run on home everyone!"

"Thank you Master Katara" a chorus of children said as they ran to their parents who waited for them with open arms. Katara smiled as she saw her students each be swept into the loving embrace of their mothers or their fathers.

It had been six years since the great war had ended. Things were really peaceful now, but it certainly wasn't as instantaneous as they all thought it would be. There were a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up. It was about six months before the gaang was able to finally leave the fire nation, excluding Zuko that is. There had been so much damage done during the battles during Sozin's comet, people that lived in or near the capital were in desperate need of healing and resources, there was crowd control, and the obvious fire nation citizens that were set on remaining loyal to Ozai, regardless of his failure. Katara had thought the war had been stressful, but this brought on a whole new level of stress. She did not envy Zuko's new responsibility as Fire Lord.

After six months, everyone sort of left simultaneously. Suki left for Kyoshi to go train the new warriors, there had been quite a lot of new recruits after their impressive abilities were showcased during the war. Toph stayed in the Fire Nation for awhile, but ultimately decided to go back to the Earth Kingdom and see if she could teach people metalbending. She said it was because her abilities are so amazing and awesome she shouldn't just keep them to herself, but Katara knew it was because she really took pride in teaching Aang about earthbending and she wanted to continue her legacy. Sokka left home for the Southern Watertribe. As much as he wanted to go with Suki, he knew that his place was in his tribe. They had a lot of rebuilding to do as the damages of war really took a tull on their village.

Katara and Aang were the last to leave, partly because they both felt guilty about leaving Zuko behind. He was clearly in over his head. He was only sixteen and yet the responsibility of rebuilding a nation that had been fueled by terror, hatred, propaganda, and war for a century sat solely on his shoulders. He insisted that he would be alright, Iroh would be there to help, but Katara didn't really buy that. She could always tell when he was lying through his teeth, she didn't need to be Toph to tell that he needed as much help as he could get. However, eventually, they too left together. Aang would have a lot of work to do as the Avatar and that meant a lot of travel and Katara would follow him.

They kissed after the fighting was finally over and it seemed like everything was right. For the first year of traveling, it was fantastic and everything she hoped it would be. It was difficult, but she could really see how much Aang touched the lives of everyone who met him. No matter where they went, people would look at him with sparkles in their eyes, like they had seen a god. He really was the world's savior. Their days were filled with helping people post-war and their nights were filled with soft innocent kisses and cuddling. But like many relationships, theirs began to fall apart. It's not that Katara didn't like the kisses and attention she received from Aang, there was something that just began to feel off. She had a hard time placing what it was, but eventually Katara realized what was bothering her. Aang was only thirteen and she was only fifteen and they were practically living together. Sure, they had a lot of back and forth throughout the duration of the war, but that doesn't exactly count as a foundation of a relationship. They just, sort of jumped into everything really quickly. When they began dating, he was only twelve, still just a child.

Katara tried to reason with herself that it was nothing, but still she couldn't help but think about his age. He was so young, he hadn't really even hit puberty yet. As they grew older, she began to see him more a child, and that made her pull away when he would reach for her hand, go to bed early, or turn her head when he tried to kiss her.

It was a cold day and they were visiting her family in the Southern Watertribe when she finally decided to end it. It was the night before they were going to leave for the Omashu to do some "Avatar" work. Katara had hinted at it, but apparently not enough for Aang to get the picture.

"What do you mean you're staying?" Aang asked, his face twisting with emotions displaying his hurt and confusion.

"Aang...I just," Katara looked down and let out a sigh. "I just think its for the best if we, you know...stop this."

"Stop what? Katara, what are you saying?"

"I don't know if I can do this anymore. I just think we started really fast and-"

"We can slow things down if that what's you need," Aang said quickly. He grabbed her hands. "Katara, don't. Please."

"I'm really sorry, Aang. I just think it's for the best if we break it off."

"But I love you, Katara," Aang said, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I know," Katara said with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks as well. "I think it's for the best."

Katara left before Aang could say anything else and when she woke the next morning, he had already left. When she asked Sokka about it, he had said that Aang just told them it was important that he got moving and to tell her he said he wished her well.

Since then, there was a whole new generation of waterbenders that had been born into their village on top of the benders that moved from the Northern tribe in hopes for a quieter life. That being said, there was a whole wide range of children without any real bending teaching so Katara made it her job to teach waterbending. She taught kids from as young as five to adults as old as her gran-gran. It was a lot of work, but Katara felt great joy in seeing someone's face light up whenever they finally nailed a new technique. She felt like she was reviving something that was almost lost.

Katara was now twenty years old. She and her brother still lived with their father, but that was customary in the watertribe. Usually, the children didn't move out until they were to be married so Katara traveling with the Avatar for a year at only fifteen was strange.

She threw her bag onto the floor of her hut and greeted her family that sat in the living area of their home.

"How was class?" asked Hakoda. He had shown very little signs of aging and remained the respectable leader of the tribe.

"Same old, same old," Katara smiled. Hakoda and Sokka both smiled as a way to say "well that's good."

"Anyways, we got a letter from the royal jerkbender today," said Sokka waving a scroll that was rolled up with a royal fire nation seal still in tact. "I thought I should actually wait for you before I opened it since I'm sure you would've just yelled at me if I opened it."

"Really?" Katara asked taking the scroll out of Sokka's hands.

"Hey, I wanted to open it," Sokka complained.

"Oh c'mon you're twenty one, shut up," Katara rolled her eyes ashe tore the scroll open anyways. Zuko wrote to her every now and again, but she hadn't heard anything in the past few months.

She really enjoyed talking to Zuko. Ever since the war, she felt like she was the mother in the group. She washed everyone's clothes, cooked for everyone, took care of everyone when they were sick, and even talked to them like they were her children. That's probably a major reason as to why her relationship with Aang didn't work out well, she thought to herself. But with Zuko, it was just different. She never felt she had to do that with him. She talked to him freely and didn't worry she would hurt him or that he would judge her. He always gave the best advice and, upon hearing about her and Aang's breakup, was surprisingly good at consoling. However, his letters would always arrive rather sporadically. He was running a nation after all and he didn't always have time to write his peasant friend who lived miles away.

Sokka grumbled something as Katara unrolled the scroll and read aloud:

"Hello friends of my nephew! It has been far too long. I know that I am probably not who you thought you would be hearing from so I hope you are not disappointed but as you know, my nephew is very busy. Anyways, there has been a festival in the capital every year since the war to celebrating the ending of the century long fight as I am sure you are aware. People from all nations come and visit and it is a time where everyone forgets the tensions of the past. I was hoping that you two would be able to make an appearance this year. Master Toph, Suki and Avatar Aang have already agreed to join us and having you two here would be just like old times I am sure. Plus, between old friends, my nephew could use the comfort of a few friends. I can tell Zuko is stressed and is always so somber, even if he is too stubborn to admit it. You could all use a little vacation. Anyways, I hope to hear from you soon. I wish you well.

-Iroh"

Katara had to admit, part of her was a little disappointed it wasn't from Zuko, but she could never be upset hearing from Iroh. Plus, this invitation seem really intriguing.

"So, what do you think?" asked Hakoda.

"Hell yeah it what i say!" exclaimed Sokka enthusiastically. He clapped his hands together and had a huge grin on his face. "It has been far too long since I've been able to eat some fire nation junk food! Plus, I can take Suki somewhere new."

Katara wanted to meet Sokka with enthusiasm. She missed her friends all so much and it would really be just like old times. Katara also noted Iroh's description of Zuko and she worried. It wasn't really a surprise that he was stressed, but she wondered why he was so sad. Things with Aang were still awkward, however. He had visited the south pole but Katara never really went anywhere alone with him. He had asked her if they could talk a few times, but she always fell back on the excuse of being too busy with her pupils. Not only that, but there was the more obvious issue for just leaving for the fire nation. "I don't know, Sokka. You're busy with tribal duties with dad and I have my waterbending school…"

Sokka slumped in his chair and muttered about how she was no fun. Hakoda chuckled and looked at Katara "I think Iroh is right, you could all use a little vacation. Sokka, don't worry about the tribe, we've got it covered here we'll be able to manage. Katara, I think your students could use some time off. Plus, Pakku is here, he could always take over for you."

"Well...I mean when you put it that way…"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Sokka said as he leaped out of his chair and grabbed his sister. "Get packin' little sister! We're going to the Fire Nation.