Obviously the creators of the show "Avatar the last Airbender" are Kataangers, so it can't be me. Sorry guys, I really wish it was different …

As you might have noticed by now, I love to use song titles to name my chapters. This time the title is from a very enthralling song from Cibo Matto. I played with the idea of making it the title of the last chapter, telling you to check it out and imagine Katara singing this song in the bar, but decided against it. You should still listen to it, it's great; and I still envision Katara swaying to this song, while singing the lyrics. Just go to youtube and search for "sugar water".

But that's not the reason I decided to take this as the title's name. I think it really fits the content of this chapter, but if you think otherwise, let me know.

Sugar Water

Chapter 10

Aang knew his friends were right. He needed to focus on getting Katara back and not on the hurt it caused that she was gone. He turned his back to what was left of his little group and went to a secluded spot where he wouldn't hear the others or would be otherwise distracted. He sunk to his knees and sighed heavily. Then he took the lotus position and started to meditate, trying to rid himself of all feelings.

A few minutes later he went back to his friends, a determined look on his face. Without a word he started his Waterbending training. If Sokka or Toph thought his behaviour to be strange they didn't tell; they were relieved that he was starting to take on his responsibilities as the Avatar again. They wouldn't interrupt him or bring him off his track again with stupid questions.

After a full hour of concentrated Waterbending training, he turned to Toph, "Now it's your turn to teach me, Sifu Toph." He bowed slightly, but said no more.

Wary of how to deal with him, Toph tried to keep in mind the advice Katara had given her once. She knew he was still unstable and she wanted to build him up, not tear him down completely. So for once, she tried to be all nice and understanding.

It was well past midday when they stopped their training. Sokka had made himself useful with catching some fish and preparing dinner. They ate their meal in companionable silence, well for Aang and Toph it was companionable, for Sokka it was plain voracious.

Before they finished their well earned meal, the silence was disrupted by yells and big clouds of sand.

"Hey, stop that, I'm still eating!" was all Sokka had to say about it, while Aang and Toph took on their fighting stances.

When the dust settled the leader of the Sandbenders stepped forward and demanded to know what this group of strangers was doing with property of the Sandbender tribe, indicating towards the glider the group had used to move through the desert quickly.

"I know that voice," Toph whispered to Aang, "this is the guy who took Appa."

"You sure, Toph?"

"I never forget a voice," she assured.

While he just vowed to feel nothing any more, at least until he found Katara again, this was just too much for Aang to take. Releasing his anger on the nearest sand glider, which burst into a million pieces, he demanded to know where Appa was. When he didn't get an answer right away he destroyed the second glider with seemingly no effort.

Seeing the anger on the young boy's face the leader told the group what they wanted to know. But learning that Appa had been muzzled and sold to a group of circus artists to do some fancy tricks in the city of Ba Sing Se did nothing to sooth Aang's anger. If anything it served to make him even angrier. His tattoos started to glow and he lifted from the ground. Seeing this and knowing what that meant, Sokka took Toph's hand and rushed to a safe distance with her.

The Sandbenders weren't dumb either. They had witnessed what the boy just did to their gliders and they realized his anger had just taken on a new level. Deciding that this wasn't worth their efforts or the life of one of their companions; they bended themselves into the sand, just out of view and hurried out of the way unseen.

Realizing his target had eluded him the Avatar slammed his staff into the desert sand angrily, creating a giant mushroom in the process.

Once Aang had calmed down again, they resumed their way to Ba Sing Se with renewed determination. They had to bring the King of the Earth Kingdom the revelation how to bring down the Fire Nation, but most important, they had to find Appa, and the chances were good that they might find him in there.

oOo

They didn't dare to take a break for hours. They were exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but they kept moving forward, further and further away from the dangerous Sandbenders. When the sun was low on the horizon, they saw what looked like a giant mushroom, arise in the distance. But it soon faded to nothing and as they came closer Katara thought she saw a big lake ahead of them, but afraid it might just be some sort of Fata Morgana, she didn't dare to hope.

Soon they reached the shore and Katara could feel the pull of her element, it was real! She leaped off the worn out ostrich-horse and ran straight into the water. Tears of joy streamed down her cheeks as her feet touched the cool wetness. Without thinking she stripped down to her underwear and plunged her whole body into the sea.

Zuko stood aside watching, fascinated by the joyful girl splashing in the water, his jaw slightly slack. He tried to remember if he had ever seen her as happy or relaxed, but couldn't come up with any occasion. Before this adventure, she was always fighting him, concentrated and angry; it was just the way things were. And on the journey they are right now, there hadn't been much to feel happy about. He realized that she looked even more beautiful when she laughed.

"Come in here, the water is fantastic!"

'Oh oh, now she looks at me; she must have caught me staring. Why did I have to stare at her? Stupid! Argh, does she know her underwear go slightly see-through when they get wet?'

Blushing fiercely, Zuko turned away, pretending to busy himself with their supplies which were still attached to the Ostrich-horse's saddle.

"Hey, you can do that later, you know! The sun will go down soon and it will be too cold for bathing."

She had a point. The desert sun and their battle with the Sandbenders made him sweat like a Hog-monkey and now he was itching all over from the dried sweat mingled with desert sand. But could he really go into the water now, when she was in there?! Turning an even darker shade of red he considered taking off his own clothes in front of the girl.

'Get a grip on yourself! You are royalty; you are above this and you have faced worse. – But that was different …'

Letting out a deep sigh Zuko made up his mind. He stripped quickly while trying not to appear embarrassed, but his fears seemed to be for nothing, since Katara didn't notice any of it. Taking a first tentative step into the water he noticed that it wasn't as warm as he expected it to be, but it wasn't too cold either.

"Ah, there you are. Doesn't this feel fantastic after the days in the blistering heat?"

Gulping down a big lump that suddenly appeared in his throat, all he managed to croak out was "Yeah, right." Embarrassed again, he jumped head first into the deeper part of the lake, mostly to escape the situation and to cool his flaming face.

She was right; the water had already washed away all the dirt and sweat, leaving a feeling of freshness that he hadn't felt in days. This truly felt fantastic; he should do this more often. So engrossed in the new sensation, he noticed the evil glint in Katara's eyes too late to defend himself. A big wave came crushing over his head.

"You'll pay for that!" he snarled playfully at her.

"Ha, first you'll have to get me," Katara taunted.

He tried to race after the girl, which proved to be a difficult task; the water was clearly on her side. Every time he thought he had her now, she evaded his grasp, splashing more water into his face every now and then. His previous animosities were forgotten; he felt light-hearted like never before in his life.

Finally he dove beneath the water and got her by one foot. Pulling hard, he pulled Katara under water too, but just shortly. Kicking out with her other foot she hit him square in the stomach. Releasing her immediately, he came up and groaned, "Ow, that wasn't nice. Now you'll get it for real, peasant!"

Biting his lip, he tried to look menacing, but his eyes were still laughing, betraying his real intentions. Letting out a playful squeal, Katara hurried away once again.

"Oh no, the big bad prince of the Fire Nation is after me! Who will come to my rescue now?"

She hadn't paid too much attention to the object of her mockery and yelped in real surprise when he suddenly grabbed her shoulders, kicked out her legs under her and plunged her under the surface of the water. This time around he was very aware of her kicking and he managed to avoid getting kicked again. He held her underneath the water, for at least half a minute, before he let go of her again.

When Katara came up again, she sputtered only half joking this time, "That cries for revenge, be aware mister!" And with that she launched herself at the laughing boy.

It had seemed to be so easy when he had done it to her, so unavoidable to go down, but now that she tried the same trick on him, it didn't work.

'Damn, I'm a master Waterbender, why can't I do this?!'

His stance was solid and he wouldn't bulge one bit, eventually he turned and plunged her down again, not holding her down this time. She dove beneath him kicking him in the hollow of his knee, forcing him to loose his stance for once and then pulled him down to her. Grabbing his shoulders she tried to bring him down even more. He tried to swat her hands away, which was not so easy under water. The melee was short lived as they both had to come up again to catch their breaths. Panting hard, they stared into each others eyes, still holding onto one another.

What will happen next? Guess you just have to keep on reading.

Did you like it, or was it too sappy? Please let me know.

Appa-Appa-Away, as always you did a great job at scratching out my mistakes, thanx.

A big thank you to all my faithful reviewers! It feels so good to see that there are people out there who actually like what I write. But I'm open to criticism too.