((AN: New chapter, wherein we get in a bit of characterization and banter along with the fluff. I love writing group moments, and these characters are just perfect for it. x3 Makes it a challenge to see how close to in-character I can get.

I also again thank everyone for their reviews, and the new faves and alerts from others. Y'all are awesome, and your support keeps the creative brain-juices going. ONWARD.

Mike and Bryan own all and sundry here, not me. Boo hiss. x3))


Chapter 6

It didn't seem long before the sun's light trickled in through the window and shone inside the room, banishing the darkness and shadows.

Aang blinked a few times so that his eyes could get used to the light, and erupted in a long yawn as he rubbed them with the heel of his palm.

As he began to come around again, he felt something wrapped around his head. Glancing up, he found one of Momo's ears draped over his face. He laughed and sat up, taking the flying lemur from where he was sleeping. He scratched his beloved pet's head, causing him to let out a contented chitter. "Hey, Momo. How'd you find your way here?"

"He flew in the window earlier," another voice answered for him. "Heh, I guess he missed sleeping on your head a bit too much."

It was then, with a contented smile, Aang remembered that he'd spent the night in Katara's room. He turned and found her sitting at a vanity mirror, already dressed in her green robe and running a brush through her hair. She caught his expression in the mirror and turned to him with a smile of her own. "Good morning, Sleepy."

"Good morning," the Avatar replied with another yawn, stretching as Momo perched himself on the desk and groomed himself. "What time is it?"

"Just a bit after dawn," she answered, putting the brush down. "I told you we could wake up before everyone else."

"I guess so," he answered and continued to stretch his arms out in front of him, lightly popping the tendons that were still dormant. "You sleep well?"

The Waterbender giggled. "I don't think I could ever have a bad night's sleep with you, Aang." Her eyes rolled. "Though, you must have slept well. You snore a bit like a tiger-dillo."

Aang blushed and expressed fake-anger. "Hey, c'mon, I don't snore."

"You do too," Katara argued, smirking.

"Do not."

"Do so."

"Do not!"

"You do too."

"DO NOT!"

"Do too infinity!" Katara finished, grinning widely and crossing her arms.

Aang sputtered and fell back on the bed, acting as if he'd been struck down. "The Avatar curses you and your infinity!" he declared with his finger in the air.

Katara laughed and stood up, sticking his tongue out at him. "Oh, and what's the Avatar gonna do? Smite me?"

At that moment, he stuck his head up and gave her a wicked grin. Raising his arms, he whirled them in the air and brought them back quickly, conjuring a blast of wind that tossed Katara towards him with a surprised shriek.

Catching her, he held her by the shoulders and smirked into her eyes. "No, but I can probably hold and kiss you until you beg for air," he answered.

"Oh, whatever will I do?" she said with utmost sarcasm in her tone, and suppressed a laugh as Aang made good on his word, pulling her towards his lips.

But as he did, she suddenly hissed in pain and shot a hand up to her right shoulder. He let go of her instantly, his face turning fearful. "Katara, are you alright? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you!"

"No, Aang, it's fine," she said, looking back up at him with a reassuring smile and placing a hand on his cheek to calm him down. "I'm fine. I felt like I'd kinda strained a muscle during our dance last night; that's probably what it is."

He let out a sigh of relief and gently took her arms again, allowing her sit down next to him on the bed. "I'm glad. I thought I'd messed up again."

"Aang, you'll probably mess up a million times, but I'd still love you," she admonished with a sincere smile, causing him to blush brightly. "At any rate," she continued, raising her hand and calling some of the water that was in the drinking pitcher at the side of the bed, "It probably just needs a little healing session."

A light clicked on in the Airbender's head, and he lightly took the hand that was encased in the cool liquid. "Allow me?" he smiled.

Katara blinked in surprise, and then let him take the water in his own hand. "Sure. It's good for you to practice anyway, right?"

"It's what I've always been told," he answered with a chuckle, concentrating the water in both of his hands. He watched with a blush on his face as she pulled the edge of her robe and white bindings down to her forearm to bare her shoulder. He took a deep breath and concentrated, causing the water to take on its healing glow as he pressed it to her skin.

"Mmf," Katara grunted as the healing effects reached her strained muscle, and relaxed her tension as it started taking hold and easing her pain. "Wow…that feels wonderful. I forgot what it was like to get healed."

Aang smiled and continued moving his hands across her shoulder with the water still following him, getting a feel for her chi path. "Let me know where it hurts."

"Right there's fine," Katara said once he reached a spot between her shoulder and the base of her neck. As her pain ebbed and a warm-yet-cool feeling of satisfaction replaced it, she let out another quiet hum of content and looked back up at him. "You've gotten good at this pretty quickly."

"Well, I had a great teacher, remember?" he grinned, mischievously letting his fingers brush slowly over her skin under the water.

A tingle went up her spine. "Aang!" she laughed, and her reaction caused him to chuckle a little as well. She let him keep up the healing for practice, her pain all but gone now and leaving her just enjoying the sensation.

But before the moment could go on, there was a knock at the door. "Katara?" Sokka's distinguishable voice called from behind it. "You awake?"

Aang tensed up and let go of the water, eyes widening. "Uh-oh," he whispered.

"Shh! The window, go out the window!" she hissed back in warning before raising her voice to answer her brother. "Yeah, but don't come in, I'm not decent!"

"There's a change," Sokka could be heard muttering. "Just making sure you were awake; breakfast'll be ready soon."

"Sounds good, I'll be down in a minute," Katara promised. As she heard his footsteps leaving from behind the door, she let out a sigh of relief and turned back into the room. Aang and Momo were both absent, and the window was still open into the warm morning air.

I guess he escaped, the Waterbender thought as she replaced her shoulder straps and robe. She twirled her arm a few times to test that it was in fact better, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Good job, Aang," she murmured as she went to lean her arms on the windowsill, looking down at the beach.

"Thanks!"

Katara jumped and flipped her head around; she wasn't expecting to be answered. Her gaze went downward. There below her was the Avatar, hanging onto the outside of the sill by one hand. The other was holding on to a sphere of air that somehow held his weight above the ground. He was giving her another child-like grin, his appearance only accentuated with his lemur curled on his head like a hat.

She blinked and nearly doubled over in laughter. "You're still a bit crazy, you know."

"Crazy like an Airbender," he answered smugly and flexed his hand, allowing a combination of his strength and his bending to launch him back up to her ledge. He landed with a surprising amount of silence and regarded her with a tilt of his head. Momo had flown off. "Anyway, I hope that the water helped."

"It did; I feel much better," Katara reassured and walked up to him, taking his cheeks in her hands and looking into his eyes. "We'll have to try for a longer practice session later though," she murmured.

Aang blushed brightly; he was always happy to be on the receiving end of her teasing, whether she knew she was doing it or not. "You enjoyed it too much," he joked, and leaned in for the kiss that he had threatened to give her before; but instead turning it into a gentle peck. "But it still sounds good anyway," he murmured back when he broke away.

She gave him a warm smile and kissed him back, before turning and heading for the door. "Come on; we don't wanna keep Grumpy-Pants and our other friends waiting."

"Nah, we don't want that," Aang muttered with a shake of his head as he leaped inside and followed her out of the room to the smell of breakfast downstairs.


After breakfast, everyone decided to enjoy their last full day on Ember Island together on the beach, taking advantage of the pleasant atmosphere to get down plans on where to go next. There was mostly small talk on it though, as Aang didn't want to waste much time on catching up with the training he'd been neglecting.

Katara watched from her perch on Appa's large, furry head. The bison had joined the rest of the kids for their vacation, lazing about and enjoying the sun as the behemoth he was. But he certainly did seem to enjoy company, and always let Katara lay against him when she wanted. Just like Aang, the bison had taken an immediate liking to the Waterbender when they first met.

As she relaxed, she watched as the monk in question dodged several attacks blindfolded on a makeshift arena of rock. Toph was on one end, dealing out jutting rocks and trenches for him to avoid. Zuko was on the other side, flinging fire whips and comet-like jabs that he had to either block or parry. Katara smiled, reminded of the dual-training she and Toph used to deal to him; though this time it probably wouldn't be interrupted with a fight between the trainers as it did with the Earthbender and herself.

Appa let out a rumbling groan from under where Katara sat, and she reached out to stroke the fur on his arrow-etched brow. "Enjoying the show too, huh?" she smiled. "Sometimes I wonder what's going on in your head about all the adventures we went through. You and Momo. You both have been there with us right in the middle of most of the fights, and never once backed away. I don't think I've seen a smarter pair of animals."

The sky bison let out another loud grumble of content in reply. Katara simply giggled. "Well, we're still grateful for it, even if Toph and Sokka don't often show it. So…do you have any complaints, Appa? About me and Aang?"

At the prompt, Appa let out a bit of a tonal roar, fearsome and yet still gentle in a way. His tail lightly pounded the ground behind him. Katara smirked. "I guess that's a no. Glad to have your approval." The Water Tribe girl shook her head at her mannerisms and gave him another scratch. "Look at me; I'm talking to a bison. I guess Aang does have a bit of influence on me."

She continued to watch Aang's training sessions for a while, before her eyes wandered to the others in the group. Mai and Suki were playing with a Pai Sho board on a rock, and Sokka was nearby sharpening his boomerang.

Katara grimaced, looking toward him. The plan to get Hama is definitely a Southern Water Tribe issue. Sokka's gonna need to hear it, or else I'LL hear it from him.

With only minimal complaint from the bison, Katara slid down off of Appa to the ground and approached her brother. "Hey, Meathead, got a second?"

"Eh, I've got a few to spare," Sokka shrugged and glanced back at her with a fake-hurt expression. "And you shouldn't be calling me that; you know I'm going to be Chief when Dad's gone."

"And I'll still be calling you that, big brother," the Waterbender grinned. "Anyway, Aang and I had a plan earlier about where we should head next. I figured I'd get your opinion."

He watched her curiously as he set his boomerang back into the sheath on his back. "Alright, shoot it at me."

Katara nodded and sat on a rock opposite him. "You remember Hama, right?"

Sokka's eyebrow shot up. "The creepy old Bloodbender? What about her?"

"I know you're gonna think we're crazy for considering this," Katara started with her hands up. "But, hear me out anyway. I want to find her and bring her back home with us."

Sokka's jaw dropped. "Katara, you can't be serious!"

"Sokka…"

"That woman is a raving loon! She was taking travelers and innocent people from that village into a prison in the mountain! And she took control of me and Aang, remember? I almost skewered him with my sword!"

Katara winced, remembering the close call that she in fact stopped. "Sokka, just…"

"NO, Katara! You know all of this, you've seen it!" He stood up to look her in the eye. "What makes you think that I'm going to allow you to bring such an insane waterbender back to our home, where she'd have the power all around her to-"

"She is from our TRIBE, Sokka!" Katara practically roared.

The young warrior was suddenly forced to be silent; surprised at the tone that she'd given him. Her voice only got that way when she was dead serious about something. The others heard it too, all looking up as they heard her scream.

Teeth clenched, Katara rounded back on him. "I know what she had done. I KNOW, and a part of me still doesn't want to forgive her for it, either. But can't you remember the story she told us? She was taken from her home. OUR home. Put in a prison in the Fire Nation and even after escaping, was forced to live here. Her family probably thought her for dead, and she was desperate to get back at the Fire Nation if she couldn't return. Tell me, what would you have done if it were you?"

"I…" Sokka started. But looking at Katara, into the usually-gentle blue eyes that were glittering with anger and determination in front of him, he didn't have the energy to argue…try though he did. "Just because I probably would have been the same…"

"And so would I, Sokka. And remember, if it weren't for Mom, I would have been in the same situation…or worse. I'd have been killed, like she was." Her voice was starting to quiver. "You can't be forgetting that."

"Hey, I'll NEVER forget it!" he shot back. "But…Katara, be reasonable…what makes you think that she won't turn on us again?"

She stood straight, her composure starting to regain itself. "For one thing, she won't have the ability. The full moon isn't close yet," Katara pointed out. "And for another, the Southern Tribe is stronger, and there are warriors who would keep her in check if she did act out. But thinking on what we'd do in her situation, I think she would be more than grateful to be given the chance to see her home again. I mean…some of the elders might even remember her. She might have family still, or descendants of family. Don't you think that maybe we could try to give her a chance at setting eyes on the snow and the sea again? What if it were me, Sokka?"

His eyes softened. Though he wanted desperately to argue, Katara always knew how to pull something straight from out of his heart. He again felt the urge that rose when she was masquerading as the Painted Lady…the want to help her achieve what she believed in.

"You're my sister…if it were you, I would have tried to save you," he answered, quietly but honestly.

She nodded, a smile on her face once again. "And I'd have tried to save you. The Southern Water Tribe is a family that sticks together, no matter what. You told that to your class of warriors before, and now I want to see us act on it. Just one chance. And if she's changed too much…" she stopped, letting the possibility and the consequences hang in the air.

Sokka sighed. He knew that he was beaten; the feelings of the heart had beaten the sense of logic, once again. "Alright, Katara," he assented. "When we leave in the morning, we'll look for Hama…and then we'll leave for the South Pole."

"Thank you," she replied after a pause, wrapping her arms around her brother in a hug.

He returned it and smiled. "I just hope that what you're seeing as a result of all of this comes true. I did feel for Hama, but what she'd become was too unsettling."

"I know," Katara answered as she broke away. "But at least it ought to be worth a try, for her."

Sokka smiled, but then quirked an eyebrow. "On a different subject, I noticed Aang wearing a Water Tribe armlet earlier. Where'd he get that?"

"Oh, that," Katara gave him an innocent grin. "I bought it and gave it to him. I thought it a good thing to do, since he's been like a part of the family ever since we found him in the iceberg." She had a warm look in her eyes. "So now, Aang as a piece of the Water Tribe to be with him forever."

Her brother hummed and nodded. "That's a good idea. And Bato did make him an honorary member, that one time, so it works. But of course, all things considered, I think even without the armlet he'll have something from the Water Tribe with him forever."

"What's that?" Katara smiled. "Memories?"

"That," he shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, "And you."

The Waterbender blushed and laughed. "Glad that you approve of us now, Sokka."

"I always did, just took me a while to realize," the warrior laughed. "Just make sure you two take care of each other as well as you always did."

"It's too hard for us not to," Katara replied in a thoughtful whisper.

"And no making out."

"Sokka! Ugh," his sister groaned, blushing.

"My word is law, sis."

"In Sokka-land, in which we don't live," she bit back, but also giving him a humorous grin.

As the siblings finally parted from their conversation to go back to their own things, the eyes of the others were still upon them with a million questions. Mai and Suki went back to their game somewhat uneasily.

Zuko and Toph however were regarding Aang with some conviction. "Okay…" the Firebender began, "Did I miss something here? Is Katara okay?"

The Avatar broke from his concerned trance to look at Toph (who stood as stoic and near-expressionless as always), and then back towards the Fire Lord. "Kinda. Katara and I have already planned out where we're going to go next, and there's a bit of a story behind it."

Zuko sighed. "Well, you guys can tell me at dinner. Right now, you oughta get back to training."

"Yeah, Twinkletoes, eyes closed and feet apart," Toph ordered.

Rolling his eyes, Aang replaced the blindfold. "Yes, Sifu Toph, and Sifu Hotman."

The only pause was an exasperated groan from the Fire Lord, before the flames and the rocks started flying again.


At sunset that night, around a warm campfire, Aang kept to his word and told the story of Hama to those who didn't know it. The story was accompanied by versions from Toph and Katara, with varying responses from the others after it was finished.

"I think I would have left her in prison after that, to be honest," Suki said as she leaned against Sokka, his arm wrapping around her. "But all things considered, I do hope she can be redeemed."

Zuko shook his head. "It still makes me sick, what my father and the Fire Nation did to cause people to suffer. From me for the Southern Tribe, you have my condolences, Katara."

"Mine too," Mai agreed. "I've certainly begun to understand what exactly I was growing up to be a part of. This whole monstrosity."

Katara sighed and hung her head slightly. "Thank you, guys." She had a small smile form on her lips. "I just…hope that it's the right thing."

"There's a big gray area between right and wrong," Zuko hummed. "I know that, trust me. Sometimes you just have to see what your heart wants, and hope for the best."

Aang nodded in agreement and wrapped an arm over Katara's shoulders. "And you have us to help make it work. I promise that I'll do what I can, at least."

"One-hundred-percent agreed," Sokka nodded with a smile.

The Waterbender hardly knew what to say. She closed her eyes with a contented smile and let a few tears trickle down her cheeks. Aang, seeing the emotion, pulled her close and held his head against hers. The group sat in comfortable and confirmed silence for a while, simply basking in the warmth of the fire and the cool of the night.

"So, I guess we have a plan?" Toph confirmed after a moment between slurps of her noodles. "Zuko and Mai are going back to the palace, and Aang, Katara, Sokka, and I going off to find Hama, then to the South Pole."

"Well, me too," Suki chuckled. "I would like to see where Sokka lives. I never did much get out of the Earth Kingdom on my travels."

"I warn you, we'd better find some warm clothes for you," the warrior laughed. "It's beautiful down there, but if I haven't forgotten, it's freezing."

Katara looked up from her comfortable position and grinned. "The only thing you've forgotten is how to fish properly."

"Hey!" he shot back, amidst laughter from the others.

Suki nodded. "Don't worry; remember that Kyoshi isn't all that far away from the South Pole. If it's only a bit colder there, I'll be fine."

"Ah, that reminds me, Toph," Katara said with a bit of an apologetic tone, "You probably won't be able to see much down there. It's all snow and ice. Your feet will freeze."

"She's right," Aang piped in. "Plenty of ice, snow, and penguins to ride, but no earth."

Toph groaned. "Right, I keep forgetting my limitations. Well…I don't care. You guys can fill me in on what's going on. I'm not in a big hurry to get back to my parents. I said I'd travel the world, and darnit, I will."

"Okay, so we'll stay at the South Pole for a week, maybe…" Sokka hummed. "Then after that head around back up to the Earth Kingdom. It'll be just like our first journey to the North Pole…we'll stop at all the same places and see how everyone's doing, from Kyoshi Island to the Northern Air Temple."

"Sounds like a good idea," Aang agreed. "Can't forget to visit the Eastern Air Temple either. I'd like everyone to meet Pathik."

"All the Air Temples should be on the list," Toph said with a raised hand. "The Western Air Temple was impressive enough for my feet to get a glimpse of; I'd like to know what the others are like."

"Okay…Southern Temple, then Kyoshi," Aang corrected for Sokka after that.

"So long as we can have a trip without getting sidetracked, then it's a done deal," Katara nodded.

Zuko chuckled. "I'm still envious of you guys and all your travels. I swear I'll have to get the world in one piece quickly so I can join you."

"You did join us a bit late," Sokka grinned, eliciting more laughter.

The seven friends ate and joked together for much of sunset, watching it paint glorious colors on the horizon over the sea. They saw as the first stars start to appear and the moon take on the duties of ruling the night sky, and couldn't help but fall into reverent silence as the ocean's rhythmic pounding made up most of the sounds in the wind.

But it wasn't long before another, more unnatural sound cut through to their hearing.

"…Guys, am I going crazy, or am I hearing a war balloon engine coming?" Toph inquired, raising her head upward.

The others stood up to look around, trying to find where she'd heard it. Once they finally spotted the small red craft with the unmistakable Fire Nation insignia on its flank high up in the clouds, they stood together and regarded it with curiosity.

Aang flipped his glider open. "I'm going to see who it is," he said as he kicked off the ground and summoned a blast of air into the wings.

The others watched as the Avatar performed a feat of acrobatics around the war balloon. The craft only made a slow descent downward, regarding him with neutrality.

Finally, he returned and landed with swift grace onto the sand before his friends, beaming. "You guys…it's Iroh."