VI

Part 2

"The Mean Goose Tea House," Aang read from the signboard. "Weird name for a tea house," he added, looking up skeptically at the round gates of a walled compound that looked more like a military stronghold than a supposedly swanky party venue. Momo blinked in silent agreement from his perch on Aang's shoulder.

"Oh, the place is named for Old Phong's favorite pet when he first built this place," Hiro explained. "He was really sad when that goose died. He even held a dinner in its honor right here in this tea house."

"He must've really loved it," Aang commented, touched at the idea of someone hosting a dinner in memory of his animal-friend.

Kenji grinned. "Sure, and we really loved the honey-roasted goose he served up that night."

"Hey, why are the gates still closed?" Jin cut in.

"That's because we're early, dummy. They probably haven't finished putting up all the lights yet. We'll just have to wait until they open," Hiro said, leaning up against the gate.

"I can go check," Aang offered, but was kept from following Momo over the wall by Kenji's hand on his shoulder.

"There's an easier way to do this." Kenji eyed the gates, then lifted his fist and proceeded to pound merry hell out of the thick planks. "Open up! Is this any way to treat the guest of honor?"

The gates swung open, revealing a scowling old man in an apron. "I know that voice. Kenji, you troublemaking—A-Avatar Aang!" he gasped when he spotted Aang. "Please, please, come in. I was about to open the gates anyway. Right this way."

He stepped aside, and Aang walked into another world. Decorative rocks and trees bordered a crescent-shaped pond, with pagodas marking each end. In the center was a wide, wooden bridge with wings extending on either side. The bridge led to a brightly-lit pavilion with red pillars and walls of wooden latticework, wherein a large ring of low tables and scarlet cushions had been set up. White paper lanterns hung from the edges of the pavilion roof and from tree branches. Rows of lanterns were also strung up over the bridge and the pond, casting a soft light upon the lotus blossoms. Aang slowly made his way across the bridge, his mouth hanging open as his gaze roamed the place, and laughed in surprise when he spied the sign tacked beside the pavilion's doorway: Welcome, Avatar and Companions.

"Boy, you guys sure know how make someone feel appreciated," he said, and the old man, who had been trailing behind him with no small amount of trepidation, sighed with relief.

"I'm so glad you approve, Avatar Aang," said the old man, who could only be the proprietor. "You are a bit early, but that's all right because now you get to see the whole show."

"Show?"

Kenji nodded cheerfully. "Yeah, when all the peacocks parade over that bridge in all their glory. The dinner won't officially start until Grandma says so, and until she does, people are going to primp and preen and make snide comments about other people's outfits. We're lucky we're early. We get to have ring-side seats to the show," he announced, pointing to the nearest pagoda, which provided both a good view of the bridge and a convenient hiding place.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Kenji, ain't you forgetting something? Aang is the show. He's got to be out here so people can meet him."

"What people? There's no one here but us."

"Not anymore," Phong said, an expression of professional welcome blooming on his face as the first guests began arriving. The old man made a gestured, and a few musicians stepped out and took their positions in a corner. Light ruan music soon floated upon the breeze.

"Gah, it's Mrs. Mok and Team Rabbit," Kenji said, recoiling at the sight of the matron dressed in a gown an eye-scorching shade of mauve and what looked like the entire contents of her jewelry box piled upon her head. She was flanked by two extremely buck-toothed girls. "I ain't hanging around here to watch them. Come on, Aang. You can make your grand re-entrance later."

He and the others escaped to the pagoda while Aang wavered, wondering if he shouldn't follow Phong's lead and greet the guests. However, something in Mrs. Mok's eyes, a kind of predatory glint as she scanned the place, made his new-found instincts scream in alarm, and before she or her similarly acquisitive-looking daughters could catch sight of him, he had sprinted toward the safety of the pagoda with the speed of a master airbender, beating Kenji and Hiro to it.

More guests began arriving. Aang watched from the darkened pagoda as flocks of glittering, elegantly garbed people lingered at the bridge and milled around the pond, making sure that they stood at the most flattering angle to the lights. Men, women and children in silk and brocade and every kind of jewelry imaginable—it was a wonder the bridge didn't collapse beneath the weight. The music was soon drowned out by the sound of conversation, laughter and a more or less steady stream of commentary, and Aang caught the occasional "but she wore that last time" and "he was probably drunk when he cut that stone" drifting over the breeze.

Even his new friends joined in. "Ugh, that must have been some lousy bending to make those beads," Jin said, pointing at a choker around a girl's throat while Hiro and Kenji snorted in agreement.

Aang barely noticed the exchange around him as he leaned against the rail, his eyes searching the crowd for any sign of his companions. When minutes passed without even a glimpse of a familiar pair of ice-blue eyes, he sighed and stared down at the water, the misery he'd almost forgotten in the chaos of getting dressed up creeping over him again. What was wrong with him? He wasn't acting like himself at all. He liked happy celebrations and he liked being with people, and now here was an occasion for both and he was lurking around in the dark and thinking gloomy thoughts. He should be out there right now; he was the Avatar and this party was supposed to be in his honor, and those people out there were probably looking for him and…

Where was she? Where were Katara and Sokka? Weren't they supposed to be here by now?

What if something happened to them? What if they'd been ambushed by those Fire Nation soldiers coming back for him? Or what if Zuko had found them? He shouldn't have let himself get separated from them. What if they needed his help and he wasn't there? Fear made his chest contract and his fingers close around his glider staff tightly, and he was about to vault out of there and fly to his friends' aid when something flashed bright gold at his chest.

He blinked down at the topaz, wondering if he'd just imagined the fleeting warmth he'd felt at the spot where the pendant rested. The stone lay innocently still, glittering against the darkness. He closed a hand around the pendant, taking an odd sort of comfort from its solidity.

"Hey, Aang, aren't those your friends?"

His head shot up as his heart began to race. Sure enough, the crowd on the bridge had parted to make way for the four new figures that had just entered the gates. Despite the absence of the distinctive blue water-tribe warrior robe he usually wore, Sokka was immediately recognizable, but Aang would have registered the changes in the older boy's usual appearance a bit more if he hadn't seen her at that exact same moment.

She was walking with her arm linked through her brother's and smiling at the crowd, turning once to glance back at Li Mei as though for reassurance. Aang felt every air molecule drain from his lungs and he stood rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but stare. She was dressed in a high-collared gown the color of a clear, moonlit sky, with a silver starburst embroidered on her left shoulder and a few tiny stars scattered across her chest. The gown left her arms and her right leg bare, the latter owing to a slit that reached just above mid-thigh. The gown molded itself to every dip and curve of her body as though it had always belonged there, and every movement made the blue and silver silk shimmer until she seemed to be surrounded in a nimbus of silvery light. At the corner of the slit was another starburst, with more tiny stars scattered around it. Her hair was gathered up in a loose bun at the back of her head but instead of her usual braid, the tresses were allowed to hang loose, flowing down her back like a dark river although two strands of hair still looped from her forehead to the bun. The silver tiara with its twinkling blue stone was set onto her head, bringing out the clear blue of her eyes. Thin, filigree loops of silver banded her left upper arm and her right thigh, drawing Aang's gaze to the smooth, shapely limbs they adorned. A pair of blue slippers and length of silvery gauze that served as a wrap completed the vision of almost ethereal beauty.

For one long moment, Aang couldn't think. Every brain cell was too busy imprinting the vision that was Katara as she moved toward the center of the bridge with her brother at her side. Of Katara looking as though she belonged to the heavens instead of on earth. She looked stunning, otherworldly—unreachable, and Aang's mouth went dry at the mere thought of going up to this exquisite creature and talking to her. He wouldn't be able to do it; he'd go completely tongue-tied. But…this was Katara, right? His best friend, the same girl who'd woken him from his hundred-year-sleep, who'd gone penguin-sledding with him, who'd fought with him and fought for him, who'd held him and comforted him, who'd always been there for him. This was Katara, not some celestial being descended from a palace in the sky. Just Katara.

Only…she had never been "just Katara" to him. And never will be.

He took a step away from the rail, his heart pounding with such force he thought he might black out. Oblivious to his turmoil, Kenji let out a low wolf-whistle as he, Hiro and Jin stared at the new arrivals. "Wow," Kenji muttered. "Are all water-tribe girls like her?"

"No," Aang said, barely aware of the words slipping out of his mouth. "No, she's one of a kind."

Something in his voice must have alerted the other boy. Fortunately Hiro distracted Kenji with an elbow to the ribs before he could ask some awkward questions. "Hey Kenji, why don't you try asking her if she'd take you with her on her travels?" Hiro said jokingly.

"Yeah!" Jin piped up. "Just make sure you stop yakking long enough for her to shoot you down."

"Shut up, you two," Kenji snapped before turning to Aang. "Sorry, Aang, they didn't mean—hey, where'd you go?"

But the young Avatar had disappeared.

o – o – o – o – o

He crouched on the rooftop with his staff propped against his knee, feeling grateful that Grandma Sorab had chosen dark-colored clothing for him. He had picked a particularly shadowy spot atop the pavilion, right beneath some convenient tree branches, where he could watch the spectacle and, maybe, recover some of his composure.

This was proving to be difficult, however, when his eyes had done nothing but drink in the sight of Katara since the moment she arrived.

She, Sokka and Li Mei had drifted off toward one of the wings of the bridge, and Aang could see her head turning this way and that, her eyes intently scanning the crowd. She said something to Sokka and Li Mei, to which they answered with a shake of their heads. It was obvious that she was looking for him. And obvious too, from the questioning glances from the crowd, that the guest of honor had already delayed his grand re-entrance longer than was seemly.

He really ought to go down there and present himself…

What in all the worlds was he going to say to her?

How about a simple "hi" to start with? Then maybe he could tell her how pretty she looked. That was how these things usually worked, right? And then maybe something about the weather—

But she wasn't pretty. She was the most enchanting creature he had ever seen, and just the thought of her made his knees lock and his hands go clammy and his tongue stick to the roof of his mouth—

Okay, okay. He had to keep calm. He'd faced down firebenders and spirit-monsters and an entire fleet of Fire Nation navy ships. Going down there to where his companions were and talking to Katara shouldn't be so hard. After all, he'd done it every single day for nearly a year.

But what if she—

Enough! He was the Avatar, wasn't he?

Yeah. And she was the girl the Avatar was head over heels in love with.

He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, forcing himself to relax. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that Momo had been reunited with their companions and was now sitting comfortably on Sokka's shoulder. Katara's eyes still searched the crowd, and the troubled look on her face sent a pang of remorse through Aang. He was making her worry about him when he should be getting his butt down there and—

Katara murmured something to Momo, and with unerring instinct the lemur turned and stared straight at him.

Aang jerked aside and clung to the tree trunk, breathing in harsh, shallow gasps. Then reason returned, and he groaned in embarrassment at his situation. Worse, he had gotten the topaz pendant caught on a twig. If he broke this necklace…He shuddered, unwilling to even think about it. Gently untangling the pendant, he felt again that subtle comforting rush and that brief flare of warmth. He sighed. Maybe he could start by getting out of this tree and work up from there.

He landed lightly on the ground, then nearly leaped straight back up again. Something had moved beside him, something that made a queer snorting noise—

"Oh, there you are," a familiar voice said sourly. What Aang had thought was an odd-looking bush turned around and looked at him with Grandfather Wang's beady, green eyes.

Aang recovered himself. "Uh, so are you. What're you doing way over here, Grandfather Wang? Shouldn't you be out there entertaining the guests?" he asked, fully aware of his own hypocrisy.

The old man screwed up his face. "Can't stand parties. Too much talk, too little sense. What about you? Ain't you supposed to be the guest of honor in this little shindig? What're you prowling around in the dark and dropping out of trees for?"

"Well, I, uh—"

"No matter. You're here now." Grandfather Wang stuck a hand in his hair and pulled out a bronze pipe, a roll of dried leaves and a box of matches. He stuffed the leaves in the pipe and lit up, exhaling with obvious satisfaction as Aang tactfully airbended the eye-watering smoke away from him. "So," the old man began. "Tell me what you think of my work."

Aang followed the direction of his gaze to where Katara and Sokka stood chatting with Li Mei. "She's beautiful," he answered on a sigh, still in too much of a daze to realize that Grandfather Wang was referring to Sokka, not Katara.

The old man gave him another sharp stare, then blew out a stream of smoke and turned back toward the bridge. "Ain't she, though?" he said, his voice taking on a crafty tone that Aang missed completely. "I keep telling her she ought to wear her hair down more often, but it does get in the way when she works. But I agree. It's about time a suitable young male appreciated her for her womanly attributes and not just for her promise as a goldsmith."

"Huh?" The words and their meaning trickled into Aang's awareness, causing a moment of confusion as his brain made the necessary connections. He focused on Li Mei, ready to make some sort of polite rejoinder, and instead found himself staring at the young firebender in silent bafflement. She was dressed in pink and her black hair wasn't twisted up and held in place by a pair of sticks anymore but left to hang straight down her back, the black tresses framing her pale face. Aang narrowed his eyes, an odd sense of déjà vu stealing over him. Really weird. He felt as though he'd seen her before, or someone who looked very much like her, but as far as he knew, he'd only met her just this morning and had felt nothing toward her then, except maybe surprised pleasure when she turned out to be a firebender.

So why did she seem so familiar to him now?

"She keeps a piece of rose quartz in her pocket all the time," Grandfather Wang went on as though he hadn't just dropped a boulder across Aang's stream of consciousness. "Says it's to remind her of someone dear to her. Poor thing, really. So young and she's already lost so much. Wish there was somebody who could make her happy. There's only so much a grumpy old man can do, you know."

"I'm sure there'll be someone," Aang said a tad hurriedly. "Uh, about this rose quartz. You wouldn't happen to have any extra ones lying around, would you? If you do, I've got—" he narrowed his eyes as he mentally counted the money he had in his pockets, "—one copper piece that says I can have it."

"One copper piece?"

"Okay, two copper pieces. Good deal, huh?"

Grandfather Wang stared at him as though he'd just announced his intention to beat himself over the head with his own staff. Then a fox-like expression slid over his face and his lips stretched in a smoke-wreathed smile. "Listen, Aang, keep your money and buy some bird seed with it. I think I've got a cabochon-cut rose quartz I can give you. Guaranteed to win you all the love and romance you've been dreaming of. I know, because I bended it myself."

Aang brightened. "Really? You will?"

"Sure!" Grandfather Wang waved his pipe magnanimously. "For you, boy, it ain't a prob—"

"There you are!"

The row of bushes that had concealed them from the rest of the multicolored multitude was suddenly ripped apart. A pair of hands grabbed both Aang and Grandfather Wang by their collars and yanked them out until they were standing sheepishly front of Soe, who looked mad enough to drag them both by their ears, Avatar and senior male or not. "Do you know how long we've been waiting for you two?" she scolded. "Grandma Sorab is already here, but she can't start the dinner without her fiancé at her side and with the guest of honor missing."

Aang winced. "Sorry. We were just—"

"Just shut up and go with the flow," Grandfather Wang hissed at him.

"No time for that! Go meet your guests!" With a none-too-gentle push, Soe sent them out into the circle of lights at the edge of the pond, and the hapless pair had no choice but to make for the bridge where the crowd waited for them. Aang smiled and waved at the guests, aware that he probably looked more embarrassed and nervous than anything and praying that he wouldn't freeze up at the worst possible moment. When he finally reached the bridge and the last of his options, he raised his head and looked straight into a pair of shocked, ice-blue eyes.

Warmth swept through him as every fiber of his being reached out to her, and he smiled. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka. Sorry I'm late."

o – o – o – o – o

Aang was late. She couldn't believe it. And here she'd thought the four of them would be the last ones to arrive. When they'd entered the gates of the strangely-named tea house to find what must have been half of Tai Shen already inside, Katara had been sure of it, and the only thing that kept her from shriveling in mortification was the prospect of seeing Aang again very soon.

Except that "very soon" turned out to be "twenty minutes and counting."

She gazed around at the well-dressed, sparkling crowd, feeling intensely grateful that the three of them hadn't insisted on coming to this fancy party dressed in their usual clothing. She watched in amusement as Sokka's bearing soon took on a definite swagger as he found himself the center of attention of a flock of admiring girls, but in spite of this, he didn't abandoned her side the minute they arrived as Katara had been expecting him to, choosing instead to take her arm and escort her toward the bridge. His unspoken encouragement touched her, reminding her that there were other sides to her brother besides the sarcastic idiot he often appeared to be. But perhaps she shouldn't be too surprised. Her brother had won the heart of a princess, after all.

And Aang wasn't around yet.

Li Mei steered them toward one of the wings of the bridge, assuring them that this spot had the best lighting. Katara had no complaints, as the position afforded her a good view of the place, and she continuously scanned the crowd for a glimpse of her friend. At one point, she noticed a group of boys being shooed out of a pagoda. Sokka pointed them out as the kids Aang had been playing with earlier, and when she caught their eye she smiled and gave a friendly wave. She considered asking if them if they'd seen Aang, but decided against it when she noted the besotted looks on the boys' faces. Flattering, true, but she needed a straight answer and she doubted she'd be getting it from them.

And still no sign of Aang.

"Katara, will you stop fidgeting? Aang's going to be here," Sokka muttered as he aimed a smile at a group of girls.

"I'm not fidgeting, I'm just—Sokka, what if something happened to him?"

"Nothing's happened to him or we'd have heard the explosions already. Come on, Katara. This is the closest thing we can get to being celebrities, so relax and enjoy the moment."

"Old Phong says Aang's already here," Li Mei informed them when she rejoined them. "He arrived with Kenji and the others before anyone else did."

Katara was officially stumped. "If he's already here, then where is he?"

They heard a familiar chittering noise, then Momo appeared and dropped upon Sokka's shoulder. "Momo, where have you been?" Sokka demanded. "Take it easy on the clothes, okay? This happens to be real silk—hey, is it just me or did you gain weight in the last eight hours?"

Katara absently reached up to scratch Momo's head, her eyes still scanning the crowd. "Momo, you wouldn't happen to know where Aang is, would you?"

Momo blinked once, then stared up at a corner of the pavilion's roof that was half-concealed by tree branches. Katara, Sokka and Li Mei all stared at the spot, but other than a faint rustling caused by the breeze, saw nothing unusual. Katara sighed, unable to keep a worm of worry from twisting up her insides. "Where can he be?"

Li Mei laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "He'll be here soon, Katara. Maybe he just stepped outside for a moment. Or maybe he's just feeling shy."

"Aang shy?" Katara and Sokka chorused. "Are you kidding?" Sokka added with a bark of laughter. "Aang once jumped onstage and danced in the middle of a fire festival. There isn't a shy bone in that kid's body, let me tell you."

Katara looked away as Sokka regaled Li Mei with some of Aang's more outrageous stunts. Her memory of that incident at the fire festival was a little different from her brother's. Sure, Aang had been all but bouncing up and down trying to get the juggler to pick him as a volunteer so he could watch some real firebending up close, heedless of the fact that they were smack dab in the middle of an entire town of hostile firebenders. But Sokka wasn't the one who'd been tied to a chair then forced to watch helplessly as a dragon-shaped stream of fire dove straight at her. She wasn't a firebender enjoying a performance; she was a water-tribe girl who had seen her village burned down and her mother killed by the same flames that were racing toward her at that moment. She'd closed her eyes and whimpered, then suddenly Aang was there, his festival mask falling away as the twister spinning from his outstretched hands tore the dragon-flame apart and turned it into a shower of confetti.

And then he'd danced, while the crowd booed their displeasure. And Katara agreed with Sokka: what Aang had done was reckless and dumb, but she couldn't help thinking that he'd done it for her. It didn't matter that Aang had just been his usual impulsive, heroic self and that he would have done the same for anyone. That time, that moment, he had done it for her, and that image of Aang standing between her and fiery death had scored itself in deep, bold lines into her memory.

Now if only the real Aang would show up, everything would be just peachy.

"Grandma Sorab's here," Katara heard Li Mei whisper, snapping her out of her reverie. Sure enough, the town's matriarch, looking impressive in an ivory gown and more jade beads around her throat, hands and her triple-loop of hair, was cutting through the crowd like a battleship among a fleet of canoes. She caught sight of the trio standing on the bridge and headed toward them, her features spreading into a smile of genuine delight.

"My goodness, just look at you!" she exclaimed. "You look dashing, young water-tribe warrior. I see now why all the girls have their eyes on this bridge. My fiancé certainly did well with you."

"Oh, he had help," Sokka drawled.

Grandma Sorab laughed then turned toward the two girls. "Oh my, what can I say? Katara, my dear, you are lovely. Li Mei couldn't have chosen a more perfect model for that gown and the filigree silver set. And Li Mei, your work is improving in leaps and bounds. Congratulations."

The two girls murmured their thanks, and Li Mei added modestly: "It was Grandfather who faceted the tourmaline, Grandma Sorab."

Grandma Sorab sniffed. "Yes, and you are still the better silversmith. Beauty makes no distinctions among its worshippers; only vanity does. Speaking of which, I think it's about time to get this dinner officially started. Where is my fiancé and the other host for this evening? And where is the guest of honor, for that matter?"

Katara and Sokka exchanged glances, only then noticing that Grandfather Wang had vanished, while Li Mei looked abashed. "He was right behind me when we arrived. As for the Avatar, nobody has seen him at all."

"Indeed?" Grandma Sorab lifted an eyebrow, and Katara wondered if she'd only imagined the way the thoughtful hazel gaze had lingered over her. "How strange. Aang has kindly allowed himself to be my model for tonight, but I'm afraid my daughters and granddaughters and I might have caused him some undue distress. He was in a bit of a hurry to leave my care," she said with a touch of rueful humor.

"You mean a bunch of girls had to dress Aang up?" Sokka asked incredulously.

"Why, yes," Grandma Sorab answered. "Despite his restlessness, he was truly wonderful to work with, and I think some of my granddaughters have become quite infatuated with him. I am seriously considering finding some monks and sending my grandson Kenji to train with them."

Katara glanced narrow-eyed at her brother. Sokka's eyes were rolling around in their sockets and his cheeks had inflated and turned bright red. "Laugh, and I'll scuff up your new pants," she warned him in a voice only he could hear.

Meanwhile, Grandma Sorab had dispatched several people to discreetly turn the entire place upside down until the two missing people were found. "Check the bushes," she instructed. "If you smell tobacco smoke, that's probably Wang. As for the young Avatar, watch for the flash of an imperial topaz. I doubt you will have to search for long."

"The Avatar is wearing the imperial topaz, Grandma?" Li Mei said in amazement. "I didn't think you'd already finished with that one. But—oh, how perfect for him."

"Yes, I thought so, too. I've never seen a spirit that burned as brightly as his, and I do believe that boy will be the best-looking Avatar this world has seen."

This time, there was no mistaking the twinkle in her eyes as she stared straight at Katara. Li Mei laughed and shook her head. "Grandma, aren't you supposed to be engaged?"

"I suppose I am." Grandma Sorab sighed. "Still, that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the view."

A rising murmur at the edge of the crowd interrupted the increasingly surreal conversation, to Katara's relief. People were calling greetings to someone she couldn't quite make out, but the gasps of "Avatar Aang!" and "Grandfather Wang!" made the identities of the newcomers very clear. Katara pushed her way toward the center of the bridge, her heart pounding with an emotion she didn't care to name. She caught sight of a familiar bald head and its distinctive arrow-shaped tattoo and sucked in a breath, ready to tear into him for disappearing on them like that.

Then the crowd parted and he stood there, his glider staff held at his side. He looked up, and a pair of gray eyes met hers. "Hey, Katara. Hey, Sokka," he said with a smile. "Sorry I'm late."

And the world continued to move, and time continued to flow. People milled around them and voices spoke over her head—her brother, saying the words she had intended to say, Li Mei and Grandma Sorab, Grandfather Wang shuffling guiltily behind Aang, even Momo—and Aang responded to them in turn. At least, she assumed that he did. His lips moved and she could hear his voice washing over her, but she couldn't understand the words, couldn't even recognize the faces around her. Everyone else had faded into insignificance. Except for him.

Aang was all that she could see. Aang, looking the way he did in a high-collared shirt and loose pants made of charcoal gray silk the exact same shade as his eyes, with a stylized firebird with wings stretched upward embroidered in red and gold thread across the front. The silk hugged his shoulders and chest, and the way it shimmered beneath the light brought out the paleness of his skin and the startling blue of his tattoos. Long sleeves were folded back to the elbow, revealing the tattoos on his arms, and a gray sash was tied at his waist. Lying against his chest, right between the firebird's wings, was a stunning yellow gemstone hanging from a thin silver chain. The shades of red, gold and dark gray heightened his already striking features, somehow calling attention to the curious fusion of contrasting qualities that made up the young Avatar. He looked boyish and innocent, every inch the lighthearted young monk she had always known, but there was something darker and far older in there too—the suggestion of controlled power and the promise of danger. It was…undeniably attractive. He was undeniably attractive, and she found herself wondering, when her mind regained the ability to process rational thought again, how she could have missed noticing how handsome he really was.

Maybe because you've never really looked before, whispered the same persistent voice that had been hounding her all day. Well, she was looking now, and it felt as though she had only opened her eyes for the first time tonight.

Oh no, not this, she thought as she watched him walk across the bridge toward her, laughing sheepishly at some comment Sokka made. The sight of his smile made strange things happen to her insides, and her arms came up to hug herself, wrapping the silver veil around her tightly as though it could hold back the bewildering tide of emotions. This can't be happening. Not to him, not to me, not now…

Then he was beside her, close enough for her to catch the faint hint of sandalwood mingling with the familiar wind-and-musk scent that was so uniquely Aang. It was all she could do not to lean over and breathe him in. She must have made a sound, because he halted and turned toward her, his eyes focusing on a point just above her shoulder. "Hi, Katara. You and Li Mei look great."

The words felt like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head, snapping her out of her trance-like state. I and Li Mei? She glanced over said shoulder at Li Mei, who was smiling sweetly at him. I and Li Mei? She forced herself to get over the slight to her vanity and give him some sort of response. "Uh, thanks, Aang," she muttered. "So do you."

"Thanks. Grandma Sorab and the others did all the work." He gave her a quick, nervous grin, then nodded toward the pavilion doors, beside which Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang were already waiting. "We better go in. Grandma Sorab says the hosts are supposed to usher the guests of honor in first and sit them down before anyone else can follow."

Before she could reply, the two of them were shoved forward by a firm hand to their backs. "Will you two stop pussyfooting around and get moving? People are starving to death out here," Sokka said as he marched them toward Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang. "Here they are," he announced to the amused older couple. "Now let's get this dinner started."

The awkwardness vanished, and they were once again Aang, Katara and Sokka, three companions on yet another one of their bizarre adventures. "Sokka! A little bit of class, please!" Katara hissed at her brother, all the while feeling the urge to hug him instead out of sheer gratitude. Aang laughed as well, relief and his usual eagerness shining on his face. Then Grandma Sorab opened the doors with the grumbling assistance of her loving fiancé, and the dinner had officially begun.

o – o – o – o – o

Katara fidgeted, trying to find the most comfortable position to sit in. The cushion was wide and fluffy, but sitting on it while wearing a slinky gown with a slit halfway to her throat was proving to be challenging. Finally, she folded her legs underneath her and propped herself on one hand, knowing that she would have to shift positions again soon if she wanted to be able to stand up on her own power again.

Aang, who was sitting to her right, noticed her squirming and leaned over to whisper: "Katara, are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's just this gown. It's so hard to get comfortable in it. Why do fancy dresses have to be so complicated?" She rearranged her legs and shifted her weight again. "There. That's better," she said with a sigh before turning to Aang.

He was staring wide-eyed down at her legs. Specifically, at her thigh, where the silver filigree circle sparkled against her skin. He hastily averted his gaze, his cheeks turning an interesting shade of red. "I, uh, those silver bands are pretty," he stammered. "They look really nice on you."

"Um, thanks," Katara said as her own cheeks grew warm, although a decidedly less-than-virtuous part of her was purring with satisfaction. At least he was noticing her now, not just her and Li Mei, as though they were identical parts of a set. "This is mostly Li Mei's work, though," she said in an effort to give credit where credit was due. "She said this color combination looked better on people with winter complexions, whatever that meant, and—"

And he wasn't listening to her, she realized. Somewhat put out, she followed the direction of his gaze toward the opposite side of the room where Grandma Sorab sat with Grandfather Wang and Li Mei. The other girl was watching some old man who was giving a speech about the great fortune of Tai Shen for having the Avatar and his companions grace them with their presence. As though feeling the weight of their stares, Li Mei turned and smiled at Aang and Katara, and Katara couldn't help noticing how Aang smiled back at her. She turned away before the other girl could notice her frown. Okay, she was probably just imagining things. Or maybe she was hungry. That's right. So hungry she was imagining things.

"Finally!" Sokka grunted from Aang's other side as Uncle Whosit finished his speech. "Now maybe they'll serve the food."

"And now, a few words from our guest of honor himself!"

The crowd broke into wild applause. The trio looked blank, then as one Katara and Sokka swiveled their heads toward Aang, who shrank away from the siblings' vaguely accusing stares. "What?" he protested. "What did I do?"

Sokka actually growled. "Unless you want me chewing on your leg, Aang, you'll keep it short."

"But what am I supposed to say?" Aang hissed back as he eyed the cheering crowd.

"Just a couple of sentences. No, just one sentence. No, just one word—"

"Just talk about how happy you are to be here and congratulate Grandfather Wang and Grandma Sorab on their upcoming wedding," Katara instructed. "Relax, Aang. You can do it."

He looked at her, and she gave him an encouraging nod. For a brief moment their gazes locked, and when his hand moved between them, seeking hers out, she curled her fingers around his without a thought. Her breath caught as something within her seemed to flow out to him, but then he let go and faced the audience, leaving her to wonder if she was the only one who felt it. At a pointed look from Li Mei, he picked up the small cup of wine set in front of him and raised it, prompting everyone else to raise their own cups. "Uh, thanks for inviting us here tonight. It's really an honor," he said with nervous formality. "And, uh, congratulations to Grandma Sorab and Grandfather Wang. By the way, thanks for letting us use the honeymoon house for a while."

"Just don't get too comfortable!" someone hooted, causing the audience to laugh uproariously. Aang's expression grew frozen while Katara and Sokka groaned into their hands.

"Shut up and let him speak, Ton!" another voice yelled. "You're lettin' your envy get the better of you." This was again met with raucous laughter, this time at the first speaker's expense.

"Um, anyway, thanks," Aang continued when the laughter died down. "And, uh, I guess now we could, we could—" From across the room, Li Mei mouthed something, and Aang nodded. "I guess we could have a toast. Here's to, uh, to good food." With every eye in the room watching him, Aang brought his cup to his lips, steeled himself, and knocked it back. And promptly fell over backward, coughing and gagging while everyone cheered and followed suit.

"Aang!" Katara pulled him upright as his color gradually returned to normal. "Are you okay?"

Watery gray eyes blinked once or twice before focusing on her. "I think so," he wheezed. "I feel like Zuko went to work on the inside my stomach, but other than that..."

Katara smiled, but Sokka poked her on the arm before she could speak. "Katara, drink up! This is a toast, remember?"

"Oh, right." She picked up her cup and without thinking swallowed the contents in one gulp, and ended up doubling over and gasping for breath as the fiery fumes squeezed tears out of the corners of her own eyes. "Okay," she panted. "I think we've had enough wine for tonight."

"No chance of that," Aang said in a low voice as several girls came in bearing trays, while a few more went about the tables refilling their cups. Soon, the tables were laden with steaming bowls of crabmeat soup and platters of roasted meats and fish covered with golden sauces, prawns grilled in butter, stir-fried vegetables laid out in woven bamboo frames, rice mixed with bits of chopped egg and onion stalks, spring rolls and dumplings. Katara hid a smile when she noticed that the girls hovered around Sokka a little longer than necessary, cooing flirtatiously. Her amusement vanished, however, when she found that they were doing the same thing to Aang, who was rubbing the back of his head and smiling in embarrassment at the unaccustomed treatment. When the girls with the jars of wine came over to refill their cups, both Katara and Aang tried to refuse as politely as they could. The girls were insistent, though, and Katara had been about to cave in, figuring that they could just pour the wine into a nearby potted plant as soon as they left, when Li Mei appeared.

She tapped the girls on their shoulders. "It's all right. I've got a special brew for the Avatar and his companions." She produced a clay flask from the folds of her sleeve, and Katara blanched. It was going to be even harder to refuse Li Mei, and she had the gown on to prove it.

The girls left and Li Mei knelt between Aang and Katara, the flask held out expectantly. She giggled when she caught the expressions on their faces. "Oh no, it's all right. It's just water," she explained as she poured the clear liquid into their cups. "I didn't think you'd enjoy the wine much. It's a little, well, potent. Sokka? Would you like some water too?"

"Are you kidding?" Sokka cried expansively as he downed his second cup of wine. Or was it his third? "This wine's great! This food's great! Everything's great, and you want me to drink water?"

Katara and Aang both stared at him as they worked out the logic of what he'd said. Li Mei giggled again and Sokka gave her a wide, slightly alcoholic grin. Aang took a cautious sip from his cup, then gulped down all the contents. "Now that's good water."

"Anything for the comfort of the Avatar and his companions," Li Mei said with a smile. "In case you're wondering, Aang, I asked the chef to make some special dishes for you. I didn't think a monk would eat meat. Uh, not yours, though, Sokka. We know a warrior needs his meat," she added hastily when Sokka spluttered.

"Wow, you really thought of everything, Li Mei," Aang said as he helped himself.

Li Mei flushed with pleasure. "Thank you. Well, eat up. The entertainment will start soon."

"Wuh enguhaymuh?" Aang mumbled around a mouthful of dumpling.

To Katara's surprise, Li Mei actually blushed. "Oh, some singing and dancing and maybe a demonstration of earthbending, Tai Shen-style. I have to go. Enjoy yourselves."

She laid a hand on Katara's and Aang's shoulders as she stood up, and Katara thought her hand lingered on Aang just a few seconds longer. Aang watched her go, his gray eyes staring intently at the figure in pink as she wove through the crowd, her black hair swinging gently at her back. Finally, Katara couldn't take it any longer. "Aang, your food's getting cold," she reminded him, nudging him a little, and frowned a bit more when he stiffened in surprise.

"Huh? What? Oh, right." He bent down to his food, but Katara, who was watching him from the corner of her eye, didn't miss how distracted he seemed to be. Annoyed at how silly she was being, she sighed and picked up her chopsticks to start in on the food, which turned out to be as delicious as they appeared to be.

"Katara, you and Li Mei talked, right?" Aang suddenly asked.

Her appetite fled. "A bit, yeah."

"Did she mention anything about—oh, never mind."

Katara found herself gripping her chopsticks. "About what?" she asked casually as she forced her hand to relax.

He shook his head dismissively. "Nothing. It was just a dumb idea. Grandfather Wang's worried about her, you know."

"About Li Mei?" Okay, now she sounded stupid. But darn it, she really didn't want to talk about Li Mei anymore. "Is something wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure. He said he wished there was someone who could make her happy." He paused as his eyes were drawn once again toward the young goldsmith. "I was just wondering if she had a reason to be unhappy."

Katara stared at him, taking in his obvious concern, then looked away as the food she had eaten turned to lead in her gut. There was a faint rattling noise, and with a start she realized that her hand was shaking, causing the chopsticks to tap erratically against her bowl. She made a startled little sound and dropped the chopsticks, which clattered off the table and onto the floor between her and Aang. Blushing with embarrassment, she reached down to pick them up, only to find, as her fingers closed around a warm hand, that Aang had beaten her to it.

She looked up, and her eyes met his across a distance that suddenly felt both too close for comfort and too far away. He looked just as shocked as she was, but as they continued to stare at each other, his gray eyes softened, filling with an emotion that left her breathless, and the crazy thought occurred to her that if she leaned over just a bit more, she could touch her lips to his—

"Hey, Katara! You gonna eat that?"

Aang was suddenly pushed aside and Sokka's flushed, happy face loomed into Katara's vision. Her brother eyed her blearily, cocking his head this way and that, then let out a bellowing laugh. "Hah! Knew it! The wine'sh good shtuff, huh? We oughta bring some with ush when we leave."

"I—I wasn't drinking any wine!" she denied hotly.

"Yeah? Then why'sh your face all red?" Before she could reply, Sokka blinked down at Aang, who was struggling to push the older boy's elbow off his ribcage. "Hey, you too! Waitaminute. You're too young to be drinking, Aang. Then again, you're too young to be traipshing around the world fighting firebenders, so who caresh, right? C'mon, how about a toasht?"

Aang finally airlifted Sokka off him, although the older boy barely noticed it. "Sokka, maybe you should take it easy on the wine."

Sokka shook his head. "Nuh-uh. C'mon, guysh, what's the point of being in a party thish great if you're not going to enjoy every moment of it? Everyone'sh pretty much plashtered, anyway."

A quick glance around the room confirmed Sokka's observation. "Not everyone, Sokka," Aang countered. "Look, Li Mei's not drunk."

Katara gritted her teeth. Li Mei again?

"Neither are Kenji and Hiro and—okay, looks like Jin's had it," the young Avatar conceded.

"They will be later," Sokka predicted. "Those three aren't drunk yet because they're part of the entertainment. I heard from the guy beshide me. They'll be doing the bending demonshtration. A couple of earthbendersh and a firebender. Thish oughta be interesting."

Aang seemed to perk up, which annoyed Katara even further. "Really? Li Mei's going to do some firebending?"

"Yup. Now about that toasht. You call it, Aang."

Aang picked up his cup of water and, reluctantly, Katara did the same. She didn't miss the way he had avoided her gaze since Sokka had butted in between them, and neither did she miss the way he kept looking over at Li Mei with anticipation. Is it going to be like this from now on? she wondered, staring miserably into her own cup. Will I be reading things into his every move and making up meanings when there really is nothing there?

"Oookay, how about to firebenders who aren't being a pain in the neck for once?"

"Yeah, I'll drink to that!"

Katara raised her cup to her lips and willed herself not to choke as the water slid down her throat, wishing that she really was drinking wine. At least then she would've been able to explain the tears that were stinging her eyes.

(To Be Continued…)


Author's Notes, aka And Now the Bad News:

Er, I promised a two-parter, didn't I? Um, I'm really, really sorry. I was watching the word-count, and it was turning out even longer than I thought. So now, it's a three-parter. Besides, I wanted to put something up quick so I could make Scorpiored112's deadline. I have a sinking feeling that I didn't, so Scorpiored112, if you're reading this and it's September, I am sooo sorry! (And I hope you had a nice vacation.)

Once again, thank you so very much for the inspiring and constructive reviews. You guys are so darned nice. Thanks in particular to darktank, frozenheat, Liselle129 (thanks for the comment about the descriptions. I shortened some parts and cut out some of the descriptive lines. Hope that helps some, although I'll probably be going through it with a pair of scissors again soon), .Lady.Meister. (thanks for the tip. I deliberately withheld the description of Aang's and Katara's outfits in the first part because it seemed better to see them from a his-and-hers perspective, hope that worked, though), me-obviously (well, here's half of the party at least, sorry for the wait), N1cindyfan, XxSilverMoonFrostxX (more fluff to come, the night's not over yet), Niana Kuonji (you were right about Aang ), BN, TeleIce, daydream11, Gizmo, Stormy Thoughts- Firey Pen, and kairuthefrog.

Oh, and special thanks to Melospiza for telling me what the heck those bird-things were called. Geez, an ostrich-horse. Now why didn't I think of that? I already put in the changes in the past chapters, so thanks again!

This part and the next was something like a blast from the past for me. I remember what it was like to have a crush massive enough to register on the Richter scale, although I was more of the shy-stalker type, the one who would secretly videotape the object of my affections, then run screaming in the opposite direction if said object so much as looked at me. (Gah, I feel old.) I hope I still got the characters' basic personalities down, although I know this part is shaping up to be a major deviation from the canon personalities.

Once again, I'm really sorry about the extension of this chapter, and thank you so much for still reading this fic.