The next morning was awkward to say the least. Aang and Katara could barely look at one another, let alone Suki or Sokka. Everyone gathered their things, and without a word jumped on Appa for another day's journey.

"I have to pee."

Startled by the break in silence Katara glanced over at Suki and nodded before asking Aang to take Appa down. Aang guided Appa to a narrow valley between tall wooded hills and after looking around declared it a good place to rest for the evening.

Katara immediately began gathering firewood while Sokka and Suki wondered off to "hunt". After a few minutes Aang wondered over and began helping her. "Katara, I'm really sorry about last night…"

"How can you say that?"

Aang looked at her in shock. "I…I didn't mean to put you in that position. I got carried away…"

"Carried away? You got carried away? Listen, Aang, you didn't put me in any position I didn't want to be in. You should know me better than that. I can protect myself!"

She dug in her pocket and withdrew s small purple flower. "See this? This is going to help Sokka sleep tonight and the second he's out I want you out in that forest and I want you naked. Understood?"

Aang's mouth hung open as she walked away. Did she just say what he thought she said?

_

Later that evening as the group sat around the fire, Aang pushed food around in his bowl, completely unable to eat anything. Suki looked up from her dinner and raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay, Aang?"

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine why?"

"You've been tapping both of your feet for the last 20 minutes and you haven't touched your food."

'Oh, uh, sorry about that, but I'm completely fine. Just not hungry."

Katara smirked into her bowl. "Suki? Is Sokka, okay?"

Suki glanced over just in time to see Sokka face plant into his bowl of rice. He jerked up and shook some of the rice off. "Whaaa? What happened?"

"Sokka, you're exhausted. Let's get you cleaned up and into bed." Suki looked toward Katara with a knowing expression, but she just innocently shrugged her shoulders in response.

Katara waited another 20 minutes after first hearing Sokka's echoing snores before she snuck off into the forest. She climbed up hill for a few minutes before she started stripping her clothes. It took Aang about 5 seconds to find her. He came up behind her just as she let her robe fall the ground and he stared at the way her skin glowed in the moonlight. He walked slowly up to her, stripping his own clothes are he went, knowing full well she could hear him.

When he neared her he bent his head and laid kisses from just behind her ear, down her neck and onto her shoulder. His hands stroked up her sides, then up her arms, just grazing her breasts. She shivered at his touch and turned. She took in the sight of his naked body, and saw exactly how much he wanted her. She traced the lines of his abs, down to the lines on his hips and then slowly ran a finger up the length of him. He gasped. "Katara, I…"

She silenced him with a kiss, moving her hand down so that she gripped him firmly. He groaned into her mouth and lowered her to the ground gently. The night air was chilly against their passion heated skin, but neither seemed to notice. Katara tried to control her trembling, but as much as she wanted Aang, she was still nervous.

Her body was more beautiful than he could have imagined. She was toned from waterbending and had developed gorgeous curves. He trailed his fingers over her breasts, keeping his touches light, and slow. He bent his head and gently sucked her nipple causing her to cry out. He chuckled and caught her mouth in another deep kiss.

Katara slid her hands down to his narrow hips, pulling him closer to her, opening herself to him. There was no hesitation in either of them. Aang slowly inched himself inside her, continuing to kiss her the entire time. He felt her tense, and knew he was causing her pain, but when he stopped she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in deeper.

Aang didn't need any more encouragement. He moved slowly as first, enjoying every new sensation, but within minutes the animalistic need to mark her as his took over and his thrusts took on a new urgency. He could feel something changing inside of her too, could feel her clenching him even tighter. Moments later she screamed as every muscle in her body tensed and pleasure unlike anything she had experience before shot through her body. Aang kissed her quickly to contain most of her scream before following her quickly over the edge.

They both lay there, panting heavily for several minutes before Aang slowly rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. Katara was surprised by the soreness he left behind and settled against him stiffly.

"Are you okay?" Aang whispered into her hair.

Katara smiled and nuzzled his neck. "I'm more than okay. I'm….perfect. I just want to stay here, with you, like this, forever."

"Me too."

_

Jing Hua stood, leaning over several maps spread out over a large table wondering how much longer it would take before he could make a real move against the Avatar. In the past 3 months since they first started kidnapping the bending women 4 out of the 9 had been impregnated, and he had no doubt the others would soon follow. While he had no real interest in the women, other than the offspring they produced, his men certainly were, and they served as great motivators. He had plans to capture another 3 before the end of the spring season, but the breeding compound was simply a back project. It would take time before enough benders were bred to completely wipe out nonbenders, but until then, the nonbenders would make excellent slaves.

The one things standing in his way was the Avatar. There was no point in killing him, that would simply result in a time consuming search for the new Avatar, so the ultimate goal must be to control him. Jing Hua knew well that with fear, came power and control. And what was the Avatar most afraid of? If the rumors were true and his relationship with the waterbending peasant was as strong as some claimed, then losing her would surely be his greatest fear.

He slowly stroked a single finger of the city of Ba Sing Se and began to plan his next move.

A/N: I hope you are enjoying reading so far! As of now I have up to chapter 6 done, but I'm trying to space it out a bit because I'm not sure I'll always be able to write this quickly. Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!