Come on, Katara. This letter isn't going to write itself.

She stared at the blank scroll, her weights holding it open and smooth. She hadn't even dipped her brush into her inkpot yet. She didn't know what to say. Should she tell Gran Gran about her injury, as Sokka wanted her to? Should she tell her family that at least once a week she was in mortal peril? Or would they rather hear about the bureaucratic meetings and negotiations? Would they want the truth, or would they want to hear that her days were filled with peaceful waterbending lessons and trips to the countryside and balls and feasts at the palace?

She heard Sokka's remark from this morning in her head. Right after I mention the little tidbit that you and Aang are sharing a bedroom.

Yeah, that would be easy to work in as a casual topic. Dear Gran Gran, the weather's great here, my bending is getting stronger, the Earth King gave us a great house, I'm sleeping with the Avatar, and gosh the local produce sure is fresh.

She sighed. She was comfortable with her physical relationship with Aang. She just didn't think everyone needed to know about it. What would probably surprise Sokka was that they'd only been doing – well, what he assumed they'd been doing all along – for about two months. They'd shared a bed since moving into this house shortly after the end of the war, but until recently, all they'd done in it was sleep in each other's arms and engage in some admittedly heated makeout sessions, some of which had edged right up to the line, but never crossed it.

She thought back to their first time. It hadn't been planned, exactly, although they'd both been skating around the topic for weeks. At times the tension was pretty unbearable. She knew they were young but damn, sometimes she wanted him so badly she ached, and she could see an answering ache in his eyes, and feel it in the way he touched her. It was getting harder and harder to stop themselves, and she knew that soon, they'd agree that they weren't going to stop anymore.

They'd been talking about ice-dodging, the Water Tribe's rite of passage into manhood. Aang had asked if there was a similar rite of passage for girls.

"No, not really," she'd said.

"That's weird. There isn't in the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation, either. How come boys get all these rituals about becoming men but girls don't get any for becoming women?"

Katara had laughed. "Well, nature does kind of give us our own special signpost for that, you know. We don't have to make one up."

"Oh, right," Aang had said, chuckling. "Duh."

"So...the Air Nomads had a ritual, too?"

"Sure." He'd tapped the blue arrow on his forehead.

They'd been having this conversation in bed, lying on their sides facing each other. She'd reached out and smoothed her hand over the blue line, around to the back of his head. His eyes had fallen closed at her touch. "This means you're a man?"

"Well, it means I'm a master airbender. But getting your tattoos - it means you're not a kid anymore. You're a full member of the community. You're expected to accept adult responsibilities and teach others what you know. If they hadn't thought I was ready, I would not have gotten these tattoos no matter how advanced my airbending was. I was the youngest to be tattooed in three hundred years." She'd held his gaze, and everything had gone heavy and loaded. "How old are boys when they go ice-dodging, again?"

"Fourteen," she'd murmured.

He'd taken a deep breath, his eyes roaming over her face. "I am thirteen years, nine months, three weeks and four days old."

She'd made the decision in a heartbeat. "That's close enough for me."

"Oh, thank the spirits," he'd groaned, and they'd seized each other. That first time had been - well, a little frantic, and clumsy. They'd lain there afterwards, side by side, looking at each other with similarly chagrined expressions. Finally, he'd said, "We can do better."

"Damn right, we can," she'd agreed. And they had. Then and since.

She remembered feeling so odd all the next day, like the universe had shifted just slightly to one side, or that some film had been lifted from her eyes and she saw things differently. She kept having the odd thought all day. I had sex last night. As usual, he'd been already up and gone before she woke, but she'd seen him at the breakfast table, and then the secret little smile they'd shared amidst all the normality of their everyday lives...something had changed. She was used to him. Used to him being her friend, her student, her teacher, her companion. The boy she loved, the one acknowledged as hers, as she was his. But suddenly she looked at him with the private awareness that he was her lover, and it took some getting used to.

Now, it was normal to her. Normal enough that it was hard to remember how it had been before. They were comfortable now, and that was somehow the best part. Shaping their lives together, wearing grooves in each other's existences that only they fit. Knowing how each other slept and ate and dreamt and touched and desired and hoped and loved, learning better with each passing day how to be "us." She knew they were young for the kind of partnership they were building. Young for the kinds of things they'd said to each other, for the kinds of things they were asking of each other. But then, they always had been, and it had never mattered before, so it didn't now. They'd been too young to fight a war, and yet they had. Too young to go questing all over the world, but so they had. Too young to die...but he had. Too young to kill...but she would have, for him. Too young to fall in love, but they both had.

Frankly, she didn't care one little bit what anyone else thought they were too young for.

She took a deep breath and picked up her brush, but she didn't get far. She'd only written "Dear" before she was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps on the stairs and then a knock at her door. "Come in!" she said, getting up. Urgency like this always made her stomach clench. What's happened to him this time?

Their housekeeper, Bai, yanked open the door. "Master Katara, come quickly!"

"Is it the Avatar?"

"There's an urgent summons," Bai said.

Katara followed her downstairs as quickly as she could on her still-healing leg in its pressure bandage, her heart pounding. In the foyer were a couple of local officers in uniforms of the Ba Sing Se constabulary, both of them soaking wet. "Master Katara?" one of them said.

"Yes? What is it? Has something happened?"

"We need your help right away."

"Is it the Avatar?" she repeated. It was a question she often found herself asking people.

The officer looked puzzled. "What? No. We were told he was out of the city with the Earth King. Please, there's no time to waste. We'll brief you en route."

Katara just nodded and hobbled after them. They had a carriage, thankfully. She climbed in and the ostrich-horse pulling them took off running. "What's going on?"

"A bridge has collapsed near the middle ring. Several transports have fallen into the water and the current is very strong. One is a bus carrying several dozen children."

"You need a Waterbender," Katara said.

"Yes, quite urgently. The soil beneath the water is unstable and constantly shifting, Earthbenders can't move it sufficiently to save the people trapped."

Katara nodded. "I may need assistance. I'm recovering from a leg injury and I'm not at my best."

The officers looked down at her leg. "I'm sorry, we weren't aware..."

"It's all right." She gritted her teeth at the admission that she might not be equal to this task, but she had to be realistic if lives were at stake. She suddenly noticed what direction they were heading. "Officer...was it the Yang-Lo Bridge that collapsed?"

"I'm afraid so."

Katara's heart sank. The Yang-Lo Bridge spanned the Chimin Reservoir, which was fed by several fast-moving rivers. It was alternately deep and shallow, with unpredictable currents and whirlpools that came and went with little warning. It was a treacherous, angry body of water that would fight her, and if people were caught in it...it was a bad situation. "The Chimin is very dangerous," she said.

"It's worse than that. The bridge collapse damaged one of the dams. The entire reservoir has become turbulent."

She nodded. "How fast can you get word to the Earth King's party?"

They looked at each other. "We can't do that, Master."

"Excuse me?"

"The Earth King has given orders that his party is not to be disturbed today."

Katara controlled her temper, with effort. "You are both Earthbenders, right?" They nodded. "Then you know how important it is to have your whole body in the correct form, supporting and enabling the flow of chi to bend correctly. With my leg hurt, it's not too likely that I'll be able to control the reservoir myself. I need the Avatar's help. Unless you know of another Waterbender nearby."

"But...the Earth King..."

"I don't care what the Earth King said!" she exploded. "No matter what he told you, he does not have authority over the Avatar, nor over Firelord Zuko, for that matter."

"We'll dispatch an express messenger once we reach the reservoir," the higher-ranking officer said, giving in.

"Good." The carriage pulled up near the reservoir. The scene was chaos. Earthbenders were everywhere, trying to rebuild the damaged dam, but the water was flowing too fast. Carriages and trains and several boats were caught in the swirling whirlpools in the reservoir, which boiled and frothed with rapids and currents. Katara got out of the carriage and stood at the bank. "Great spirits," she murmured.

"The bus, those children!" a woman was screaming, pointing. Katara could see the bus stuck against a rock outcropping, but it was sliding and shifting and water was pouring in.

You can do this, gimpy leg or not.

She hobbled to the edge, planted herself as best she could, reached out and swirled the water away from the bus, then pushed it underneath, lifting the whole vehicle. It wobbled alarmingly. She cursed and steadied it, her hands shaking - this kind of delicate control of such raging water was very difficult. With a heave and a twist, she shoved the water, carrying the bus to the opposite bank of the reservoir and dumping it on dry land. It wasn't the softest of landings, but the children would suffer no more than bruises.

The crowd cheered. She barely heard them. Her leg was throbbing and her chi felt all sorts of fragmented. Her confidence was shaken; normally water felt obedient to her, an element she knew and understood, but this water, on this day...it was hard. She focused on the next carriage, floating on its side, not yet submerged but swirling and tilting, its occupants crying out for help. She whipped her arm forward and back, seizing the carriage in a long grasp of water and carrying it to the shore. The motion required her to shift all her weight through her bad leg and it nearly collapsed.

"I can't do that again," she gasped.

"If you can calm the waters, direct them, the Earthbenders may be able to be more effective," the officer said.

She nodded. "I'll try." She extended her hands toward the water, closing her eyes, feeling its power, its anger, its...hate. This water hated. Katara didn't have time to wonder why that was, she just had to do what she could to calm it. She extended her bending sense further, sensing the whirlpools, smoothing them, easing the roaring currents, urging the flow in new directions. She could sense the Earthbenders working on repairing the dam, lifting the ground under the water to rescue the vehicles and people, but it wouldn't be enough. She couldn't hold this water. She'd never felt anything like this. It was fighting her. Water usually obeyed her, loved her, embraced her. What was different here?

"The Avatar!" someone yelled.

Katara opened her eyes and looked up, breathing a sigh of relief as she saw Aang approaching on his glider. "Your message got there fast," she said to the officers nearby.

"It could not have gotten there this fast," one of them said.

Aang landed at her side. He wasted no time, seizing her around the waist and lifting her clear. "Get back," he said, all business. "Get everyone back." He leapt onto the water, skimming the surface on a cushion of air. She saw his eyes and tattoos glow briefly, then the water lifted him high in the air and he spun it out of the reservoir, leaving it dry and empty. The whole contents of the reservoir swirled above his head, obeying his commands, and then with a thrust of his arms it was sent retreating behind the three intact dams. He landed in the empty reservoir and Airbended the remaining trains and marooned vehicles onto shore, then leapt into the air and landed on the crumbled dam. He didn't try to fix it, he just raised a new earthen dam in front of it. He released the reservoir waters and they flowed back into their basin, calm now and tamed again.

Katara had fallen to the ground, her bad leg no longer steady enough to hold her, and watched him work. She looked around at the awe on the faces of the onlookers; most of them had never seen such bending in their lives.

Yeah, I think I'll keep him, she thought, smiling a little. She was used to seeing him perform such feats, but it still made her shiver. She wasn't immune to the awe of the Avatar just because she also saw him trip over things and knew all his four different kinds of snores.

Aang leapt off the dam and landed on the shore. He was at her side in a flash, kneeling with a look of concern on his face. "What did you do to yourself?" he said, touching her leg.

She winced. "Too much bending."

A high-ranking magistrate came forward. "Avatar Aang, thank you for..."

"Why didn't you summon me right away?" Aang snapped, cutting the man off. "Master Katara is injured and should not have been bending this much."

"We were told you were unavailable, Avatar."

"You were what?" Aang exclaimed.

"How did you get here so fast?" Katara asked, grasping his arm. "I had them send a message, but it couldn't have gotten to you that quickly."

"I didn't get a message. I sensed a great deal of bending going on, mostly Earthbending. Then I sensed you Waterbending. I knew something had to be wrong." He shook his head, his jaw tight, and shot another angry look at the magistrate. "You should have come to me first."

The magistrate cleared his throat and looked uneasy. "Lady Avatar asked us to alert you, but the Earth King left orders that his party was not to be disturbed today."

Aang's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, really?"

"I tried to tell them," Katara said, irritated at being called 'Lady Avatar,' as she often was. She much preferred 'Master Katara.' She didn't object to being associated with Aang, but it hadn't taken her very long to realize that she would have to work hard to maintain her own identity.

Aang sighed, sitting on the ground and pulling her leg into his lap to remove her pressure bandage. "Looks like the Earth King and I are going to have to have a little conversation." She hissed in a pained breath as he carefully eased the deflated bandage off her leg. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she said, through clenched teeth. She leaned forward and bent some water onto her leg, then placed her hands on it. "It's just strained. Ooh, that's better." She sighed and relaxed a little, leaning into Aang's shoulder.

He shook his head. "Can't I leave you alone for one morning?"

She smiled. "I'm incorrigible, I guess."

"Hey, guys," said a familiar voice. They looked up to see Toph approaching, followed by a dozen young men and women, undoubtedly her Earthbending master class. They were all covered in dirt and looked exhausted. "We heard the big commotion and came to see if we could help. Right, class?"

"Yes, Sifu Toph!" they chorused.

"Looks like you two have things under control."

"Aang does. I'm barely mobile," Katara said, clenching her jaw in frustration.

"Relax, sweetness. A broken bone seriously messes up your bending, you know that. You shouldn't have even tried. It sucks that I missed all the fun, though. Was there kick-ass, glowy Avatar action?"

"There sure was," Katara said, grinning. Aang just blushed.

"Damn, I love watching that. Oh well. So, crisis over?"

"For now," Aang said. "But that dam's going to need repair, and the bridge will have to be rebuilt. Wanna tackle that?"

Toph rubbed her hands together. "Sounds like a fun way to pass an afternoon. Right, class?"

"Yes, Sifu Toph!" they said again, although they all looked like they'd rather settle in for a nice, long nap.

"You take care of our girl, Twinkle Toes. Don't let her do any more bending," Toph said, shaking her finger.

"Don't worry about that," Aang said. "Thanks, Toph."

Katara looked around. The emergency responders were helping the victims out of their ruined vehicles, wrapping up cuts and lacerations. People were milling around, giving them space but gawking. "I should help. I could do some healing."

"Katara..."

"Aang, that won't hurt my leg. Healing isn't physical like bending is. I can do it. That is, if you help me walk."

He sighed, a resigned look on his face. "If we get into a big argument about this, I'm going to lose, aren't I?"

"Absolutely."

"Fine, then let's skip to the part where I lose and help you walk around, then. I could do without the argument if it's all the same to you."

She reached out and tapped the end of his nose. "Sometimes, you're pretty smart."

For the next hour, Katara hobbled around, hanging heavily on Aang's arm, and healed up bruises and cuts and a few sprains. Everyone was very appreciative, and everyone goggled at Aang. Most people got that way when they found themselves in close proximity to the Avatar. It was a mixture of reverence, hero-worship and a little nervousness, like they were just a tiny bit worried that he might suddenly erupt into a maelstrom of bending fury and blow everyone off the map.

The worst injury she healed was the broken arm of a girl about her own age. She sat at the girl's side and worked on her for several minutes before she realized she was nearly out of water. "Aang, could you get me some more water?" she asked, holding out the bowl to him.

"Okay." He walked off to fulfill her request while she kept up the healing. The girl she was working on, who'd kept her gaze respectfully averted the whole time, now looked at Katara with wide eyes.

"You call him 'Aang?'" she said, sounding amazed.

"Sure," Katara said, chuckling. "That's his name. What else should I call him?"

"Gosh, I don't know. I don't know if I could even say anything to him."

"He's really not scary, you know. You can talk to him. He likes being treated like a regular person."

"But he isn't!" the girl said, like the very idea was blasphemous.

"In some ways. In other ways he's just like anyone else."

"But he's your...I guess he's your boyfriend, right?"

Katara nodded, although she didn't like the word. It seemed so inadequate a term for what Aang was to her. "Yes, he is."

The girl looked past Katara to where Aang had gotten stuck talking to one of the magistrates. She was getting that telltale dreamy look on her face. Women were drawn to Aang like flies to honey. Part of it was the Avatar, but most of it was just him. He had natural charisma, and a guileless cheerfulness that won people over quickly. She'd seen it happen a million times. "He's gorgeous."

"Well, I think so," Katara said, most of her attention on the girl's arm bones. She was very slender and her bones were delicate, which required a different touch.

"I guess even the Avatar seems regular after awhile, huh?" the girl said, smiling.

Katara was out of water. She lifted her hands away for a moment, meeting the girl's eyes. "I guess I am pretty used to him. But just between you and me? I still think he's amazing."

Aang walked up at that moment. "Here you go," he said, handing her the full bowl.

"Thanks. Almost done here." Aang sat down on the girl's other side and watched Katara work. Katara saw the girl glance at him, then muster her courage.

"Master Katara's a good healer, huh?" she said.

Aang seemed pleasantly surprised she'd addressed him directly. "She's the best," he said, smiling. "You'll be good as new."

"Umm...Avatar Aang?"

"Just Aang is fine."

"I wanted to tell you thanks."

"You're welcome. I wish I'd gotten here sooner."

"No, not for this today. For stopping the war." The girl's eyes misted over. "My dad and my brother were both in the Earth Kingdom army. I just know they would have died by now if it had gone on. We lived in the Eastern provinces, and the war was everywhere, and it never ended. It was all anybody could remember. We couldn't ever think about what it might be like if the war ended, because everyone knew it would never, ever end. But then word came through that the Avatar had returned, and suddenly it was okay to think about it. It was okay to hope. So thank you. For coming back, and for stopping it."

Katara watched Aang's face while the girl said these things. She could see his conflict beneath the surface of his skin. He'd learned to accept these kinds of thanks graciously, but it troubled him that if he hadn't vanished, there might never have been a war in the first place. "That means a lot to me," he said. "Thank you. But for my return? You can thank Master Katara. She was the one who freed me." He smiled at her. "In more ways than one," he said, quietly.

"You're done," Katara said, lifting her hands from the girl's arm. "But keep it in a sling for a few days and go easy for a week or so, okay?"

"Thank you," the girl said.

Aang came around and helped Katara to her feet. "What's your name?" Katara asked, suddenly wanting to know.

"It's Yi. Huang Yi."

"It was nice to meet you, Yi," Katara said.

"It was my honor to meet both of you," Yi said.

Katara slipped her arm around Aang's neck and they made their way back through the first aid area. "I think I'm done," she murmured. He stopped, bent and picked her up. "Aang, I can walk."

"Well, you're not going to." They made much faster progress with him carrying her. He headed for the carriage that had brought her here. The two officers who'd fetched her appeared there as they approached. "I'm taking Master Katara home," Aang said, a tone of reproach still in his voice.

"Thank you for your help," one of them said. "Both of you."

Aang just glared at them as he helped Katara into the carriage, climbing in after her. "Oh, are you coming with me?" she said, surprised. "I thought you'd head back to your thingie."

"I'm going to make sure you get home safely."

"I'll be fine, I can get there on my..."

"Katara, humor me, okay?"

She smiled. "All right." She patted the carriage seat next to her and Aang moved across to sit at her side. She tucked herself close to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and she felt him relax a little. Katara rested her hand on his leg and sighed as the carriage started moving. "You're pretty good company, anyway."