We start out with Aang and Katara talking and then some general desciptions of the wedding planning, etc over the next few months.

Katara was more than ready to talk to Aang by the time the men finished. In fact, she and Suki had taken up outside to enjoy the warm night air. They were waiting when the three men exited the building.

When Hakoda announced he was leaving, Aang turned to give him a grip at the elbow handshake, but the man pulled him into his chest for a hardy hug. Hakoda did the same thing with Sokka, despite the fact that the young Water Tribesman was full to the brim with oogies, not only from his sister and future brother in law, but now his father as well. Sokka was convinced he would loose weight by the time this whole affair was over.

He took his leave of Aang and Katara, with his arm draped casually over Suki. He flashed Aang a thumbs up for good luck as they left.

Then Aang and Katara were left there under the starry sky and the gentle canopy of trees surrounding the inn. Alone and awkward.

Aang was far taller than his beloved, but her rigid, crossed-arms posture made him feel like he was two inches tall. He wanted to tell her that he didn't care how mad at him she was, that he loved her, would always love her and was extremely happy to marry her despite their differences, despite how much they set each other off. That was a part of what set them apart; wasn't it?

But Aang had never been very good with words; he didn' t even use them to propose. So he just kind of stood there, scuffing the ground nervously and rubbing the back of his neck. He looked like a nervous teenager, which he was. But he was also a man about to get married, and he didn't even know how to pour his out aching heart to his future wife.

And Katara just stood there, regarding him with her crossed arms and defiant posture, though her face seemed to have softened a little in the moonlight. "Well?" she said at last.

Aang looked up at her, his eyes big and begging for forgiveness. "Well, what?"

Katara let out a breath. "How did it go?"

Aang smiled at her in the dark. "Your Dad's a good guy...and I'm going to go through with it."

Katara's eyes narrowed. "The whole ceremony?"

"Yeah, and I'll be nice about it Katara, I promise."

Aang thought Katara would be pleased. Instead she hung her head in her hands as she began to pace. "Once again, what changed Aang?" she groaned. "This afternoon, our traditions were freaking you out and now...you're Ok with them?"

Aang sat down on the bench she had been pacing in front of and patted the area next to him. "Sit down with me, Sweetie, please?"

Katara huffed a little, but did as she was asked.

Aang wasn't good with words, but he thought he'd try them nonetheless. "Your Dad explained the meaning behind the practices, and we are going to alter the blanket ceremony a little so that I can be more comfortable. I'm sorry I got so nervous..but my people didn't consider sex to be a public affair. It was a sacred act between two people and the business of those people only. So when Sokka told me about everything...I kind of freaked out. I'm sorry."

Katara let out a breath, and her shoulders slumped. Realization seemed to sweep over her. "I'm sorry I was so angry earlier, Aang. It's just that...this is really important to Dad."

"Is it really important to you? I know these are your people's ways, but Sokka's not going to have a traditional Southern Water Tribe Marriage. Are you just trying to please your father?"

Katara sighed and leaned back against the bench. She looked up at the sky. Yue was bight and gleaming in the midnight stretch above her. She wondered if Aang had heard anything about the part of the ceremony where the Tribe gathered at the water's edge to "sing up the moon" towards the end of the wedding day. She had been ten the last time she'd attended a traditional Southern Water Tribe wedding. She remembered the drums, the dancing bride, the warriors dressed as spirit animals as they rounded the ritual fires. She hadn't attended the blanket ceremony; that was only for immediate family members and the holy elders, but Katara had helped apply the bride's paint before she was led into the consummation hut. It had all held a magical quality for her. Then the men left, and the focus became on survival, not tradition.

"No, Aang, I'm not just trying to please Dad. The blanket ceremony is really the only part that makes everyone nervous. And yes, it makes me nervous too, but it is considered holy, and the most serious part of the wedding." She gave him a little smile.

He returned it.

Katara continued. "The rest of the wedding is really quite beautiful; there's a lot of dancing, and music, and spirituality involved. You'll fit right in, you really will."

Aang took her hands in his. He studied them for a minute. He loved those hands, hands that healed, that nutured, that encouraged. He wanted to treasure them always. He kissed them like he had earlier. "I'm not worried about that. I just want to make sure we're doing this for the right reasons. I want it to be what you want, not just what Hakoda wants."

"It is. Our people almost died Aang. They were almost like yours," Katara said at last. "We became so afraid that many of us forgot who we were. I'm hoping we can remember again, and that you can be part of it. But I don't want you to hate every moment of our wedding."

"I won't, " Aang said as he lavished her hands with kisses. "Your Dad is going to let me wear shorts under the cloak, and no one is going to be watching us when we do make love. Your Dad said that we will be wrapped in the white blanket and left alone to enjoy our first night."

Katara let out a breath. "I was wondering about that. What a relief!" Then she processed the rest of what he said and cocked an eyebrow at him. "What about me? What do I get to wear under the cloak?!"

Aang grinned at her. "I tried Sweetie, but Hakoda won't allow it! You get to be fully traditional."

Katara's mouth formed an irritated little "O," and she smacked her fiancee' playfully, though it was really her Dad she was angry with.

# # # # #

"There's a big part of me that really can't believe you're going through with this," Sokka told him the next day. A big part of Sokka continued to disbelieve, despite the months of planning that followed.

Of course, Aang, being the Avatar, couldn't stay confined to the South Pole. He had a lot of meetings and other worldwide duties to attend to, but whenever he was around he took part in many family dinners in which men and women divided for dessert. The women centered their conversations around the dresses and bridesmaids and cake, while the men turned their attention to sex, food, and well...more sex. Hakoda, Bato and men that Aang had never interacted with before lavished Aang with tips, advice and carnal knowledge that made Aang blush. There had been more than one occasion when some random friend of Hakoda's had dropped in, their coat crusted with snow and ice from a hunt or walk home; they'd stopped by just to share some position or sexual technique with the "young virgin" so that Katara would be sure to scream with pleasure.

He bore it all with silence, short forced laughs, and a gritted smile. Every time he felt panicky or uncomfortable he thought of Katara and Hakoda and how happy it made them both to include him in their voyeristic customs.

Sokka was more open about his discomfort. He hung his head in his hands, left the room stating he "had to pee" or suddenly became really hungry during such incidents.

A couple of the men called him out on it. "You're no fun Sokka! Come on, give your future brother some advice. We know you deflowered that Earth Kingdom warrior of yours, and yet you're stingy with your knowledge? You owe Aang your wisdom!"

Sokka felt that what he really owed Aang was an apology for his rowdy Tribe and family.

Their view on animals also took Aang some getting used to. Skins were used to make everything. There was some artic cotton growing on the outskirts of the tundra, but it was considered precious and used for only a few things. The infamous white blanket being one of them.

But skins were a staple in the water tribe. They covered the floors, served as blankets, the sails of the ships and the coverings of the drums. Almost everything was made from them and some members of the Tribe were almost always hunting to keep up with demand for clothing and meat.

One day Aang went out to find Hakoda. He was a few hundred yards from his hut sitting next to the bloody carcas of a newly slaughtered Elk. Bato and another Water Tribesman were also present.

Aang felt a reflexive lunge of bile into his throat. He never understood why people loved meat so much they killed a beautiful animal in order to get it. He respected life too much to even contemplate the idea, though he had decided he would never openly judge his in laws for doing it. He turned to leave when he heard the men begin to sing.

It struck him as odd, so he stopped to listen. Then he realized, it wasn't just any song.

It was a prayer.

The melody was a little sad, he thought, but it was also really beautiful. When he turned around he saw all three men kneeling, their hands held aloft to a Greater Power. As Aang listened to the words, he understood they were praying for the animal's soul. They were also thanking it.

In spite of himself, Aang smiled. He realized they respected life also. They just had a different way of doing it.

Despite the discomfort, the insanity, the misunderstandings, and the embarressment, the months did pass. Aang and Katara's wedding day grew closer and closer. Before he knew it the fateful day was less than three weeks away.