After a moment she resigned herself to collecting her own clothes and cleaning up their mess somewhat. She noticed the paper resting on his desk and scribbled a series of announcements regarding their up and coming ceremony. The first to her father, then her brother, Zuko and Toph. The rest could wait. A smaller ceremony would be easier to organize in comparison to the larger one she knew the Earth Kingdom would insist on. She gave a small whistle out into the valley and before long several lemurs crawled at the walls. She gave out the four messages and instructions before giving each an affectionate pat in thanks. She then moved for the master bathroom, she was fully clothed but the light scent of sex clung to her body. Her soon-to-be husband was occupied behind a bamboo screen, which she had no reservations about pushing aside.
"Katara? Uh, is everything okay?" He asked, a little bashful of his position.

"Yeah, I sent off the lemurs so we will have to head south in a few days. I just wanted to let you know I'm heading to the water chakra pool for a bit." She pressed a kiss to his cheek and offered a cheeky wink as she drew the screen closed.

The Water Chakra was one of seven new additions to the Southern Air Temple. Aang had built them in honour of Guru Pathik, the one who helped him master the Avatar state. The seven Chakras were modeled after what they represented. The Earth Chakra was a small earthy meditation circle with the story of Omashu engraved around the Earth Kingdom's symbol. After Earth came the Water Pool she was headed to. The Water Chakra was a Perma-Freeze fountain and a pool. It was great for bending and a little fun. The fountain used an ancient technique of waterbending that froze the ice in place no matter the weather. It was the technique used by the poles to create their buildings and walls. The third was the Fire Chakra; it was a fire pit with dragon etchings around it. Fourth was the Love Chakra which was a small garden overlooking the valley and the west. Fifth sat the Sound Chakra, It was a courtyard with a statue of the Air Nomad avatar before Yang Chen, Light followed sound and was a garden of cherry blossoms that face east, rising with the sun. The final Chakra was the Chakra of Thought, It was a platform that rested at one of the higher points of the mountain. Around this Chakra Aang had set a series of carvings that told his story, from the point of the iceberg through to the comet.

Katara sat cross-legged at the edge of the pool, hands resting in the lotus position. She had been experimenting on a new form of bending that required strength of mind over body. She gained a feel of her chi and extended that to the water, beginning slowly at first with the simpler moves she taught to Aang and trying to recreate them with only her chi, no movement. So far she was only able to perform the first move she ever learned, pushing and pulling the waves, with any success. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath in and stood, streaming the water around her she pushed it into an octopus form surrounding her with arms of offense and defense. She rested her trial at bending and began to work on traditional water bending. She moved another stream around her doubling her arms and raising herself up. The inner ring moved fluidly and defensively, the outer ring working as offence and defense. In the distance she created a similar form but one without a bender. She shot ice daggers at herself and moved to add them to her defense before firing back. She became one with the water pushing it back and forth between her own form and the unmanned one. Gradually the water sapped her energy and she returned it to the pool. The Perma-freeze fountain never ran on its own, as it was literally a block of ice. Instead it served as a sculpture that could only be interacted with by waterbenders. She resumed her meditative position and concentrated on the pull of the fountain. She urged the water through the pipes and out the spouts allowing it to fill and flow back into the pool. She sat for so long she didn't notice that a certain airbender was approaching her or that the sun had set.

"Katara?" He called, approaching from behind, still a distance away. His voice broke her concentration and the water she had moved through the fountain spat out at her.
"Ugh!" She gasped, standing. "Over here Aang!" She called before swiftly bending the water out of her robes. She turned to meet a clean-shaven man dressed in fresh robes of orange and saffron.
"Were you meditating?" He asked, regarding her with a reverence that only crept in on a rare occasion. She paused for a moment, yes, yes she was.
"I haven't thought of it like that but I guess I was." She returned, leaning on her toes to press a gentle kiss to his lips.

"I didn't place you as the sitting still kind. I cooked already, if you're hungry." He reached up rubbing the back of his neck.

"Say that again?" She blurted.

"I cooked dinner, if you're hungry." He mumbled slightly louder, beginning the ascent back to their room.

"Well I never thought I'd hear you say that." She followed him a few steps behind.
"And I never thought you would try meditating." He returned quietly, not for her ears, which of course, caught every word he said. She quickly bent a small water whip that caught him on the left buttock. "Hey!" He exclaimed, jumping a little as he turned to face her.
"Hey yourself." She said in a questioning tone with a look of mock innocence.
"Oh you are asking for it tonight." He turned fully and moved to tackle her but she had already elevated herself with water and bent two streams around her body.

"Sorry love, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the fountain." She grinned evilly.

"Come down here Katara," He called up to her; she was towering over him by at least 10 feet.
"I'm rather liking up here at the moment Aang." Her grin stretching a little further.

"Fine then." He called. "I'll just have to come up as well." He bent the earth to carry him up to her height until his eyes were level with hers. This, he learned the hard way, was a large mistake. Katara took the opportunity to place a stream of water around the column turning it to mud and causing it to lose stability. Aang compensated by jumping to a water stream, like hers. He bent up an octopus form around himself. If she wanted to play, he was going to play too. Katara shook her head, being his waterbending master she had anticipated this move and was a little disappointed that Aang was predictable. She flung a series of ice daggers his way to occupy the eight arms before unleashing one strong water whip. Aang dodged the daggers with ease and forced control over the whip before it could strike. She then moved her attention to his ice column, melting it from under him. This move took the avatar by surprise and he lost control for a brief moment before using the avatar state to soften his fall. The water distorted the glow so Katara didn't notice the cheat until it was too late. He wrested the remaining water from her control, easing her to the ground before placing it back in the pool. He exhaled sharply moving his arms in a circular salute, releasing the avatar state before turning to her.

"Avatar state is cheating." She accused

"Was not, purely self defense." He retorted.

"Yeah, yeah." She stepped towards him placing a passionate kiss on lips. "So, you can cook huh?"

"Believe it or not, but as a vegetarian I figured you wouldn't be interested so I didn't mention it. I am actually a great cook."

"Well then, time to go home?" She asked.

"As long as you don't try and drench me again it is." He grinned gently against her lips.

"Nah I'm out for the day. Lets go see how great of a cook you are." She laced her fingers with his and the couple began the ascent towards their home.

The meal Aang had prepared was something of wonder, especially considering it was 100% vegetarian. It was a colourful ensemble, the rice had been glazed yellow and served with an orange sauce. Katara laughed at the dramatic Air Nomad colours but was left speechless when the first bite passed her lips.

"It's sweet!" She exclaimed when the ability to verbalize returned to her.
"Yeah, the sauce is a mix of fruits and vegetables so it takes on a sweet taste." He grinned at her surprise.
"Is their anything you can't do?" She asked.

"Metalbend, Toph's a little resistant to lose her title as the only metal bender in existence." He chuckled lightly while Katara resisted the urge to fling the last bite of her rice at him.

"If you say so." She stood to collect the plates before a tattooed hand stopped her.

"I'll do it." He stated simply. Aang gathered the dishes and moved them towards the sink. She laughed gently and moved for their bedroom. "If you say so Aang, I'm going to wash up, properly this time." She disappeared into the bathroom.

When she was dried and dressed in sleeping clothes she made her way back to their bedroom. Aang had not yet turned in so Katara left him to what ever he was doing. She crawled into the bed and wrapped herself in the covers. Although it was summer in the south, it was still cold enough at night that blankets were a slight must. Sleep had just placed its hooks in her when she felt a gentle pressure on her lips, pulling her back to consciousness. Katara opened her eyes to her boyfriend who was sporting a cheeky grin. He climbed into the bed beside her and continued their kiss. She broke away gently and moved over to his side, wrapping her arms across his chest and nuzzling into him.

"Hoshi ni taiyō kara no ai." He whispered into her hair.

"Hmm?" She questioned, her face still buried in his chest.
"The monks used to have away of expressing a deeper kind of love, they would say 'hoshi ni taiyō kara no ai' or more simply, 'Taiyō to hoshi'. From what I can remember it translates loosely to a love from the sun to the stars."

"Wow," She mumbled. "'A love from the sun to the stars' hey? I like the sound of that." She placed a gentle kiss against his chest before sleep claimed her fully.

Days passed in a flurry and the four lemurs Katara sent out returned with the usual messages. 'Congratulations, see you there, blah blah blah.' The only message that really warranted a reply was one from her father regarding the attire for the couple. Katara had not considered this fully and only had two rough, colourless sketches to send. She also included a private note for the dressmakers, one not to be seen by her father lest his eyes be burned. She sent her father thanks in return and included the specific instructions for the water tribe tailors. "Make them simple, Air nomad colours, gold, saffron and orange but also make them easy to remove. I don't want an army to be undressing me on my wedding night." She tried to amend the last line but no matter how she stated it the tailors would know exactly why she wanted them 'easy to remove'.

With the final correspondence in flight Katara and Aang made their journey to the Southern Water Tribe. They were greeted with the usual energy whenever the avatar arrived in a city but with the wedding of a century so close, the lovers were quickly whisked away and separated for final fittings and details. As their big day got closer and closer the couple grew more fidgety and spent less time together. The couple grew notably more stressed. When ever Aang passed through the hall torches would flicker and when Katara passed, the walls would stream and the floors would melt slightly. Only one person could calm her when she got stressed and he was currently under house arrest and at the opposite end of the palace to her. Since the rebuilding of the Southern Water Tribe the layout had changed drastically. The North had insisted on a palace and a court as well as the usual residential buildings. The south had always had a chief but a palace seemed a little arbitrary. Nonetheless they humoured the north and placed it anyway. Katara paced the unfamiliar halls until she no longer knew where she was. She would have panicked but a strange thought occurred to her, Toph's seismic sense allowed her to feel vibrations through the earth because it was her element, Katara wondered if she could replicate the move on ice as it was her element. She slowly kneeled and closed her eyes, placing her hands on the ice in front of her. She didn't know how or what she did but she managed to recreate the move just enough to gain her bearings. She stood and came face to face with a presence she hadn't noticed as the move was focusing on structure. "Aang!" She gasped.

"Did you just try and Toph the ice?" He asked. Eyeing her critically.

"Yeah. It was weird but I think it actually worked."

"Huh, why didn't I think of that? I've been wandering these halls for about ten minutes because I took a wrong turn." She laughed at his comment. The two could almost feel their stresses evaporating. "As long as those shoes stay on. I don't want any cold feet around here." He joked, his laugh matching hers.

'Deal." She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Katara!" A voice echoed through the halls. One of her fitters probably.

"Ugh," She groaned. "Thank god this thing is tomorrow. I don't know how much more poking and prodding I can take." She kissed him gently before yelling back, "Coming!" Aang caught her hand in his as she turned.
"Hey, relax. Just think, after tomorrow we will be sunning it up on Ember Island. One day of chaos, one night of chaos, one more day of chaos then tomorrow night it's just you and me. We can do this." He placed a kiss on her forehead. The voice called for her again. "Don't kill anyone. Just one more day love." She brought her eyes to his for a brief moment. "Taiyō to hoshi', Aang." She whispered before returning to yet another dress fitting.

The wedding blurred past quicker than both Aang and Katara thought possible. The lovers stood in the hall, she dressed in and orange and red dress that flowed down her like a waterfall, he in traditional robes of saffron and orange. The red was not Katara's first choice but it worked nicer with her darker skin and her Gran Gran insisted. "Red is the colour of passion, my little Waterbender." The two said the usual piece, kissed and moved to the early afternoon ceremony. The had planned it this way so that when they sneak away, as per tradition, there would be plenty of time for them to get to Ember Island. The highlight of the couple's morning should have been their wedding or the delicious food that the Southern Water Tribe had prepared but it was the expressions carried by two of their friends. Sokka kept sending the couple dirty looks and Zuko refused to meet their eyes. Katara and Aang laughed gently to themselves and took to the dance floor for a small moment before deciding it was time to run. Katara said her goodbyes to her family and Aang thanked them for everything. Bison whistle in hand, Aang bent the air around them and carried them 50 feet in the air, just as Appa caught them and they disappeared into the clouds.