I was bending by the fountain trying to clear my head. I felt like I was going to explode if I had to look at his face for one more minute. It seemed like my mind had been on the brink of explosion since the invasion.

How could they all accept him so easily? I understood now that he wasn't going to betray us like he had in Ba Sing Se, but seriously? They were just allowing him into our group, laughing at his stupid jokes and trusting him to spar with Sokka.

Then they all treated me like I was the bad guy for not being nice. Well, excuse me for being cautious.

Bending out my frustration was almost helping until Aang came along and shattered it.

"Zuko's making tea. Do you want some?"

It was a perfectly innocent question asked by a perfectly innocent person, but my response was venomous and blunt anyway.

"I don't like him."

Aang rolled his eyes. People were doing that lately whenever I talked about Zuko.

"I know you don't, but do you want some tea? He said his uncle taught him how to make really good tea while they were living as refugees in Ba Sing Se. Apparently, they even owned a tea shop in the Upper Ring." He paused, leaning against the doorframe. "He asked what your favourite kind was."

"Whatever. I don't want any."

Aang sighed and came to sit with me.

"Katara, I know that Zuko's hurt you, but he's really making an effort to be your friend and you keep turning him down."

I ran a hand through my hair, which I had pulled over my shoulder.

"I know, I know. I'm being unreasonable and I should accept him because he's changed and he's good now, but I can't. It's like every time I look at him, he's just a reminder of what happened in Ba Sing Se. I can't bear to see you die every time I see him."

I looked down and realized that his hands were on mine and that only made me feel worse because how could anyone kill Aang? Azula really was a monster.

"Oh, Aang," I threw my arms around his neck and spoke into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"Look, Katara, I'm not asking you to marry him; I just need you to stop trying to make him cry." –somehow, Aang managed to make me laugh- "I care about both of you so much and I think everyone would be happier if you just try to be nice." He turned his head and whispered into my hair, "Can you do that for me?"

"I'll try –but only because you're my favourite."

We sat like that for a while, Aang making slow, smooth circles on my back before being rudely interrupted.

"Um –ew." Sokka took a ripping bite out of his jerky, ignoring our glares. "I know you're the Avatar and all, but could you get off my little sister?" He made little shooing gestures with his hands.

Sokka yelped as he took a water whip to the rear end.

So I ended up sitting next to Aang in a big circle as Zuko passed out his tea. I tried not to make a sarcastic comment about his stupid joke, if only for Aang's sake.

"It's a lot funnier when Uncle tells it."

"Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing."

Ah, well –sarcastic nice is better than a death threat.

I couldn't stop Aang from drinking his tea, but I made sure to leave mine untouched, turning cold on the temple floor until Zuko was forced to dump it out to clean his cup.