Aang

"Katara!"

"Aang!"

"Uncle!"

"Zuko!"

I throw my arms around Aang as Iroh does the same to Zuko. My arms wrap around his neck, since he's too short for me to reach his waist. It's a bit of a shame. I've always preferred tall men. "I've missed you Aang. Ba Sin Se has felt lonely with out everyone there."

"I've missed you too Katara." He says with that childlike grin on his face. "You'll never believe what we've been doing!" He's practically jumping up and down with excitement now.

"You mean other than setting up a school system that isn't so full of propaganda?" Why would he do something so against the plan and not even bother to tell me about it? It's almost as though he was avoiding me on purpose. But, I suppose what really happened is, he just didn't think about what he was doing. He always has been a bit compulsive.

"Yeah, that job turned out to be really boring. I totally lost interest after the first week, and just left it all up to Zuko. I give him some avatar advice once in a while, but he knows what he's doing." 'Wait a moment. Does that mean he hasn't been working in two whole weeks? He could have just come back to Ba Sin Se if he was done!' "I'm still teaching them all about dancing, but as far as the reading, writing, and arithmetic parts of learning are concerned, that's Zuko's job. But anyway, I've been doing a lot of planning for the party."

"The party, but shouldn't that be left up to the servants?"

"Well normally yes, but I really wanted to pitch in. The other day, I was practicing my fire bending, and one of the fireballs hit this rock, and it made lots of different colored sparks. I sent it to the science people here to figure out what happened. I think they'll be able to use it to make a really awesome finish to this party on Friday." He was talking so fast I could hardly understand him. I wish I knew where he got all this energy from. "I've also been helping everyone decorate! Come on! You've got to see how everything looks now!"

He grabs my hand and starts pulling me toward the palace. "Wait a minute Aang. I haven't even gotten a chance to say hi to Zuko yet."

"Don't worry about that. You'll be staying here all week. There's plenty of time to talk to him later, besides, he and Iroh are still busy talking."

"Well, yes, but it would be rude to just run off without saying anything."

"Don't worry about that Katara. Just wait until you see the palace. It looks awesome!"

He was right. The palace had been decorated with flags from all four nations. Everywhere you looked you could see something from the Water Tribes, Fire Nation, and Earth Nations. He even managed to get some things from the Air Temples. Each nation was equally represented. The party didn't officially start until tomorrow, and would last the whole week. The servants were still putting up some finishing touches.

I had stopped to look at some of the detail work in one of the paintings of the Northern Water Tribe, when Aang started pulling me by the arm again. "Come on Katara, you can look at that later, you have got to see what we've done with the throne room! That's where all the dancing is going to be done!"

"Aang." I said annoyed, while pulling my arm back, and finally getting his attention.

"Yes, Katara?"

"Listen, I like what you've done with the decorations, but right now I just want to rest. I've been out at sea for the past two days, and I didn't sleep well last night. All I want to see now is where I'll be staying in my visit here, so I can unpack and maybe take a nap."

"Oh. Ok. I understand. Just go down that hall until you reach a set of stairs. Go up one flight, and it's the second door on the left."

"Thanks Aang."

"No problem. See you later."

In reality, I don't feel tired at all. I grew up next to the ocean. The rocking of the ship was like home, and I had slept like a baby the whole night. I just couldn't stand to be shown any more of this Palace. I do need to rest, but that's because of sensory overload, not lack of sleep.

When I walked into my room, I noticed my belongings had already been brought up. That's right, the whole bag was already there, sitting on my bed. I decided I probably should unpack, even though I just felt like lying down and shutting my eyes for a while.

'This room is much nicer than the one I had in Ba Sin Se.' I think to myself as I dump the contents of my bag onto my bed. It's not like anything I have is breakable. 'In fact, it reminds me of my home in the Southern Water Tribe.' Unlike in Ba Sin Se where everything was in the style of the Earth Kingdom, here everything had been styled to look not like the Fire Nation, but the Water Tribes. The walls were painted a navy blue with white waves along the bottom. The bed had a fur blanket, and there was a seal pelt on the floor. There were pictures of the snow-covered regions where I grew up on the walls, and there was even a painting of my family hanging over my bed. It was so sweet I almost started crying. 'How in the world did they get all this done in four days? Surely they hadn't started decorating it before they even got my letter. Well, I should probably start putting this stuff away. Procrastinating won't help me much'

I had just finished putting my clothes away, and started trying to find a place to put my other belongings, when I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I said with out looking up from what I was doing. It was probably Aang deciding that there was something else I had to see. The door opened, and someone walked in.

"Hello Katara." That voice didn't belong to Aang. I spun around to find myself looking at none other than Zuko.

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Hurray! Chapter 4 is done! I know this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. Sorry about that, but this seemed like the perfect place to stop. I love cliffhangers.

I didn't particularly enjoy writing this chapter. I'm sure every author has his or her off days, and this was one of mine. I hope it didn't show in my work.

The story is turning out a bit differently than I had intended, but a few tweaks here and there, and it should all work out.

Thank you to all my reviewers. I can't tell you how much you all mean to me. It sounds sappy, but it's true. I'm not planning on making this a very long story, but there will still be several more chapters.

And yes, the sparky rock does mean fireworks.