I do not own any part of Avatar: Fanfiction only.

Thanks for the lovely reviews!

Before the Council

Aang watched Katara's retreating back for a few moments in a soft pink glow of dumbfounded euphoria. He knew that she was headed straight for the center of the village where her father would be sitting in council . . . oh, spirits, I've got to stop her!

Aang lept up to Appa's saddle, grabbed his staff and snapped out the gliding wings. If Katara confronted Chief Hakoda in front of the council, it could be disastrous. Hakoda would likely also be offended that Aang did not ask permission before his proposal. Where was Sokka when you needed him? Enjoying the company of his wife on Kyoshi, no doubt! There was no chance he could stop Katara before she reached the Council Hall if he followed the same path. Aang gritted his teeth together and squinted through the needles of ice the wind had started to hurl. At least the mounting storm provided additional thrust to his bending. She was going to beat him . . . Ice was collecting on the delicate silk and bamboo struts of the glider—he didn't dare take a hand away from the glider to bend the ice to divert her path.

Concentrating hard, he took a deep slow breath . . . and sent a jet of flame directly through Katara's wave of ice. Iroh and Zuko weren't the only fire benders that could dance with dragons and breathe fire! As though from a very great distance, Aang could hear the gasps (and could that be applause?) from the villagers below. Katara tumbled from the 8-foot high crest of ice into what was now a slushy puddle that spanned the entire width of the street. Aang's breath caught as he saw her slam into the icy water—the force of her fall splashed water high up the wall of the shops lining the streets and left several bystanders drenched. Katara's head snapped and found his glider at once. Catching his eye, even from this height he could see her glittering eyes narrow. Spirits, she's mad . . . he was going to pay for that, probably sooner than later.

Finally arriving at the council hall, Aang could see that the council doors were shut, but a very angry Katara was likely close on his heels. Taking another deep breath, he sent a gust of wind to blast open the doors of the council, allowing him to glide directly into the hall. Amidst gasps of surprise and shouts of protest, Aang dropped to his feet and spun the glider to snap it closed behind his back. Crystals of ice spun off in all directions from the frozen glider and clattered amongst the councilmen. The force of his flight still propelling him forward, he gracefully dropped to a low crouch with head bowed and bent a low sheet of ice before him. As he slid, he could hear exclamations of surprise as council members and tribesmen jumped out of his way—he was not going to be deterred by manners and decorum today. The force of his momentum allowed him to glide swiftly up the long aisle to the Hakoda's dais and stop neatly before him.

When Aang reached the front of the council hall, he waited silently, trying to calm his mind and his breath. Aang himself had built the council hall with Pakku as a gift to the Southern Water tribe after Pakku's wedding to Kanna. It was a marvel of bending, with a vaulted ceiling that rose several stories into the sky and was supported by struts of the black stone that laid buried under the ice of the South Pole. He had drawn sand from beneath the snow outside the village and bent it with flame into the only glass windows in all of the South. The result was a dramatic riot of swirling colors that filtered through the crisp air. Fireplaces set at intervals around along the longest walls added to the shimmering light and made the council hall the warmest place in the village. The light fell softly on the Avatar's long neck and wrapped over his head, dancing over his tattoo as he struggled to bring his breathing under control.

After a few long moments of stunned silence, one of Hakoda's aids pointedly cleared his throat and announced, "I believe the Avatar wishes to be recognized by the council." A snort of derision far down the aisle behind him and the squelching of wet fur boots indicated Katara had arrived.

Aang rose solemnly, careful to keep his head bowed, with hands clasped palm to palm before his chest in the traditional air bender form for respect. Bringing his left foot up to the right, he sharply stamped the ice at his feet, sending a blast of heated air back to Katara that should substantially dry her sopping clothes and hair. Aang couldn't completely suppress the smile that tried to break out as the gust was met with a grunt of mingled annoyance and surprise.

"Chief Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe, honored council, people of the Southern Water Tribe . . . I thank you for hearing me in council today."

Aang could just hear Pakku mutter in a mixture of disapproval and amusement, "As if we had a choice!"

"I have come to formally pledge my troth to Sifu Katara, daughter of Chief Hakoda, and humbly ask his permission for us to wed."

"Humbly?" Pakku muttered.

Aang could hear Hakoda lean forward in his chair with interest. "It is always an honored day when the Avatar brings his wisdom to the Southern Water Tribe." Another huff from Pakku. "While it would be truly an honor to welcome the young Avatar into our family and tribe, Katara has turned down over 200 offers for her hand. Perhaps she does not wish to wed . . . "

Katara gasped behind Aang. "Now wait just . . ."

"The council does not acknowledge Sifu Katara!" Pakku exclaimed, red-faced. Apparently his flexibility with council decorum had been thoroughly exhausted. "She will wait to speak until she is acknowledged by the council or be escorted from the council hall!"

Now it was Katara's turn to huff. Although he could not see her, in his mind's eye, he could see her with arms crossed and belligerently glaring at her father, her sifu, and the rest of the council elders through slitted eyes, vibrating with anger and suppressed power. They should all count themselves lucky that the moon was waning and not full. This was perhaps not going as well as he had hoped.

Hakoda continued, "Why do you believe that she would have any intention of marrying you?"

Aang hadn't really expected to be questioned—perhaps this was how all betrothals went? He considered Hakoda and Pakku friends! He could feel the heat of blood creeping up his neck into his face as he flushed and sweat starting to bead on his brow and crawl down his spine. I'm such an idiot! This is hard enough without doing it in the middle of the council chamber with all the tribe watching! As the minutes stretched on, it was clear that the entire tribe really was present. He could hear the creak of feet on ice and whispers as the rest of the tribe trickled into the hall through the doors he had thrown wide open. Internally, Aang groaned.

"I . . ." Aang's voice caught and he cleared his voice with difficulty. "I can only hope that she would accept my offer. It is true that I have no material wealth, and the only home I can claim are the ancient air temples that have been silent for a century. There is very little stability in my life, as the demands of my position require that I must constantly be on the move, tending to the needs of the four nations. I can only offer Sifu Katara a life spent in service." Aang's head hung lower, and his shoulders dropped a little. Truly, the situation sounded less and less inviting, the more he said—maybe this is why none of the Air Nomad avatars married. "Katara . . ." Aang looked up at Hakoda and met hard blue eyes in a closed face—Hakoda was not convinced. Aang licked suddenly dry lips and took a shuddering breath before continuing. This really wasn't working. He decided to try a different approach. "Sifu Katara has been by my side since we were children, and without her strength, wisdom, and courage, I could never have become the Avatar . . . she deserves as much credit for the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai as I do." The pitch of the murmurs around him changed—he seemed to have their attention now. "I rely on her counsel—"

"So you ask for her hand to formalize an official capacity as counsel to the Avatar?" Hakoda harshly cut across him.

"No, wait, that's not what I meant!" Aang glanced over his shoulder at Katara, where she stood with hands clasped to her heart, but with brows drawn down. Surely she wouldn't doubt him now? He could hear the furs of the assembled tribesmen rustle as murmurs of disapproval rumbled around the hall. Aang reached out and took one of her trembling hands and pulled her close to him. This was already a disaster—what had he been thinking! He might as well throw convention out the window all together.

"What do you mean? Be plain." Sifu Pakku demanded.

Aang slowly reached out with the other hand, catching a tear that had slipped down Katara's cheek with the back of his fingers. Gently grasping the back of her neck, Aang pulled her closer to him. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her, and she dropped her head into his shoulder and pulled him close. He couldn't imagine a proposal going worse—surely Hakoda was going to deny his troth and Aang and Katara would be shamed in front of the entire council.

"I mean that I love her. I have loved her from the first moment I saw her when she freed me from the ice; I have loved her my entire life. She is what I fight for and what brings me back from every battle." Aang regarded the council and Hakoda defiantly. "I will still love her even after you have denied my troth, and hope that she will continue to stay with me, even if I can never be her husband. You can be assured I will always care for her first and that her virtue will always be maintained, so that when the day comes that she chooses to accept a proposal," Aang's voice quavered at voicing his long-held fear aloud, "she can go to her husband with honor." Katara clung to Aang with her face pressed into the fur of his parka to stifle her sobs. This wasn't how this was supposed to happen!

Hakoda had heard enough, and he sat back in his chair. He looked up regarding the vast height of the council hall, slowly taking in the sweep of the struts that reached far above his head into near darkness. He looked around at his tribe, packed cheek by jowl around him, and noticed several of the younger girls sighing and the women wiping away tears.

"This is a very beautiful hall, Avatar Aang. It is a work of art created by a master out of love for our people, and it will stand as an eternal testament throughout the centuries of your deep connection to the people you faithfully serve. When the arctic storms are bad enough to make even homes of ice tremble and crack, we now take refuge in this place, and it has become the place we meet in times of both fear and joy." Turning back to Aang, he continued, "A man that can create something of such delicate beauty and enduring strength through the power of his will and the bare earth will never find difficulty providing for his family. I have never worried that you could provide for Katara's needs, that you would protect her until you last breath, or that there was ever anything but honor between you. I only wanted to be assured that she stayed with the Avatar out of love for Aang, rather than a sense of duty and obligation to the Avatar. What say you Sifu Katara? Do you love the Avatar Aang?"

Katara raised streaming eyes to look at Aang, and his heart seemed to both squeeze tight into a knot in his chest and expand to fill his ribs to bursting. "I have always loved Aang. I know that every proposal offer I have received cut him to the core, and it has greatest fear that I would leave him. All this time, I have only been waiting for him to ask. I would be very grateful if you would grant us permission to marry."

"As your father, I give my blessing to your union. However," Hakoda paused with a wicked smile, and Katara and Aang snapped their eyes to him in surprise at his change of tone, "as the Avatar has seen fit to bring your betrothal to the council itself for approval," Aang squeezed his eyes shut in agony. Such an idiot! "they too must approve his proposal. All those in favor of Avatar Aang's betrothal to Sifu Katara, say aye . . ." To Aang's profound relief, a resounding, "Aye!" echoed through the hall. Clearly, the entire tribe felt entitled to have a vote. ". . . those opposed?" A surprising number of loud, disgruntled "Nay!"s responded, and Aang smugly guessed from the entirely male chorus that most of those were the voices of Katara's other proposed suitors. Aang met Katara's eyes with a wicked smile and thought, Mine!

Sifu Pakku stepped forward to the front of the dais and crossed his arms, but was unable to hide a lopsided smirk. "By clear majority vote, Avatar Aang's proposal before the Council of the Southern Water Tribe is hereby approved." Pakku held out his hands to calm the roar of cheers that went up around the hall. "But be warned, young Avatar, that if you wish to come before the council and propose another resolution, you will need to follow the proper protocol. Be so kind to close the doors on your way out so we can get some real business done!"