A/N: Ok Ok… So I am fully aware that I told everyone it wouldn't be until next week… but here's the next chapter! Surprise surprise! (Even to me… haha) Studying for finals was really boring, so I wrote during my study breaks!

Tui and La

With each passing night, the moon fills the night sky a little more until it hangs fully like a giant white saucer, casting the plains in a pale somber glow. Pushing… Pulling… The tides obey its every command and dance to its lovely circadian rhythm.

It's during these times that Katara feels everything around her. The air, the ground, the snow, the smells, the tastes, the sounds… Her skin tingles in the beauty of the full moon's power and it's all she can do to contain her most primal instincts to bend. She can feel the call of the water, hear its plea, and it's a most beautiful calling that she doesn't dare resist.

That is why she had crept out of bed over an hour ago to answer the raging call of the water, numb to the cold chill of the winter air around her. Stripped to her under-wrappings, her hair a full mess around her and her dark tribal skin glistening with beads of water in the moon's enchanting light, she moved the water around her with merely a passing thought. The moon guided her every move as she pulled its energy into her bending. As she danced to the lunar cadence, her thoughts and concerns melded with the water and dissipated around her…

But, with the moon's influence on her bending also comes its effect on her emotions…

Four moons had passed through the violet blue sky of the Southern Water Tribe since her and Aang's fight. Four moons had signaled the four days of awkward small talk, diverted gazes, and her own feeble attempts of contentment. Her veneer of halfhearted smiles and downcast glances did little to convince the Avatar that she was "fine" as she had put it, but his attempts to break her façade and talk about the situation were only met with sudden cheeriness and excuses to promptly end the conversation.

Her heart wrenched with dejection for a promise not fulfilled, resentment for a friend not forgotten, and guilt for a sentiment not expressed. But she wore a fake smile and blamed her emotional expense on the full moon that was now hanging quite forebodingly in the sky above her.

Tomorrow, the lunar cycle would restart and her emotions would be at their trough. Tomorrow, she would feel normal again. Tomorrow, Aang and Sokka would leave to meet the Bei Fong's and she would get some time to sort out her feelings. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough…

Aang awoke to the calling of the moon. Since fully mastering Waterbending three years previously, he'd felt the primal urges more and more with each passing lunar cycle. Tonight, they seemed especially strong as he tossed over in his bedding, wholly noting the absence of the dull fire glow from the fireplace. He shivered in the cool night air as he sent a ball of flames from his palm to resurrect the dying embers.

He groaned when the fireball was met with no firewood left to burn.

Rising to his feet, he grabbed his parka from a nearby chair and slipped it over his head, covering his bare chest and arms in its furry warmth. "I'm just going to get firewood… That's all," he reassured himself as he felt another astral tug at his chi. "No bending, just wood."

He slipped out the door with nary a sound and started promptly towards the wood pile at the edge of the snow bank behind the house. The moon hung like a beacon above him and he cleared his throat loudly as he continued struggling against its will. When he reached the woodpile, he immediately began filling his arms with several logs before turning back towards the house.

He grinned as he reached the front door. "See there moon?" he murmured under his breath, "You don't have as much sway over me as you thought."

Just then the splashing of water sounded from the opposite side of the house. He halted right before reaching for the door covering, peering into the edge of the woods that lined the other side of the house. The moon's white light speckled through the tall fur trees, illuminating the forest floor in dapples of silver glow. Aang cocked his head to the side in thought, tuning his ears to listen for another splash from the woodsy border.

"Huh… must be hearing things…" he reasoned as he rubbed at one of his ears. "I could've sworn I heard…"

He turned towards the house again, but his mouth dropped open at the sound of water again. "What?" he mumbled as he placed the firewood in a pile at the front door. "Is that…?" he didn't finish his thought as he started taking slow cautious steps towards the woods.

He threw an uneasy wary glance at the moon above him before slipping through the first few fur trees. Under the shade of the giant conifers, he peered into the darkness, taking careful steps towards where he thought the sound had originated from, a flame dancing lightly in his outstretched palm.

It was the sound of rustling leaves behind her that caused Katara to pause momentarily, a long stream of water dancing vicariously in between her palms. The break in movement lasted only a split second before the strong scent of breezy spice and sweet sandalwood reached her. Aang… she thought as she resumed her movements, the water swirling in long tendrils around her once more. The sound of his light steps on the forest floor made her suddenly realize how he had gotten the nickname "Twinkle Toes", as she could feel him approaching her. She knew that soon he would break into the clearing where her small stream was and find her waist deep in the cool water with sweat on her brow and frost on her skin.

The sudden thought to leave struck her, but the moon's undying pull stayed her feet in the water. She knew there was no sense in resisting the lunar calling. The urge to bend outweighed her will to run, so she continued to move about her element as she heard him, smelled him, and felt him enter the clearing…

She closed her eyes as she visualized his every movement behind her, her senses heightened to his smell and sound.

He paused, his feet making soft crinkles in the pine needles and snow. She could hear a small burst of air enter his lungs as he gasped, though she wasn't sure why he was so surprised to see her. Didn't he know what the full moon did to Waterbenders?

"Katara?"

His voice was smooth and deep, the upward inflection of her name sending chills down her spine. Her heart skipped a beat at the quality of his tone, and she bit her lip to keep from whimpering.

When she didn't answer, he moved a few steps toward her. She could hear him shaking. Was he nervous?

"Katara what are you doing out here? You'll freeze!" he said as he approached her, she heard the rustle of clothing and could only assume that he had pulled off his parka to make her wear it.

She swallowed the hesitancy in her voice and answered, "Aang, I'm fine. I just wanted to come out and do some bending." She glanced up at the moon as she spoke, feeling it pushing her to something… though she didn't really understand what.

"Here, put this on…" he answered softly as she finally turned around to face him, several feet separating her from the bank of the stream where he was standing. "I don't want you to get sick a week before your brother's wedding."

Katara again suppressed a stagger in her stance as her eyes met with Aang's shirtless physique. The moon bathed his pale skin in a cool glimmer and his bright blue tattoos seemed to glow in response. The light from above cast shadows across his face, enhancing the lines in his cheeks and jaw. "Aang… I'm f-fine," she stammered.

"You're shivering Katara. I can see it from here."

Katara glanced back to the water as the stream she had been bending melded with the surface, "I just want to stay a little longer. It's… the moon." She turned her attention to the sky, Aang doing the same; she couldn't help but notice how silvery grey his eyes looked in its light. "I just… I can't leave yet. I can't really explain it but…"

"It won't let you…" Aang finished for her as their met eyes. "The moon, I mean… it won't let you leave." He smiled warmly as he dropped his parka at his feet at the bank of the stream, "I know. I feel it too."

Katara smiled genuinely at him for the first time in four days. Aang felt his heart flutter warmly in his chest at the light that had finally found its way back into her eyes, "Do you mind if I join you?" as asked, though he seemed to already know the answer as he began pulling off his shoes.

"Of course not," she answered, somewhat surprised by her sincerity. After four days of avoiding him, she suddenly felt how much she had missed his presence. "It's a little chilly at first, but you get used to it…" she giggled softly when she noticed the tiny chill bumps that had budded all over Aang's body as he stepped into the water.

"Chilly… right…" Aang shivered involuntarily as he entered the water, the surface edging just below his hip bones. "I can fix that…" he grinned widely as he slowly bent heat into the water around them.

Katara laughed lightly as the water around them warmed, "Aang! That's amazing!" She lowered into the warmth of the water so that only her head was above the surface as steam began billowing around them lightly.

Aang lowered into the water as well, feeling the chill loosen from his muscles and the shivers die from his skin, "Better?"

She smiled and nodded softly, "Better…"

Their eyes met briefly before Katara diverted her gaze to the surface of the water in between them, the reflection of the moon above them drifting along the ripples of steam and water. The movement of the white moon along the dark water was entrancing, almost hypnotizing as she suddenly felt a pull towards it…

Aang must have felt the trance as well, because he suddenly cleared his throat and rose out of the water, "So where you working on any particular move or just anything?"

Katara shook her head of her thoughts and stood up as well. The cool breeze suddenly felt harsh on her damp skin, "Oh… uh… no I was just kind of doing whatever moved me. You know… just listening to the water."

"Listening to the water…" Aang repeated absentmindedly as he pulled a stream of water from the surface, guiding it between his hands in a ribbon around him.

Katara smiled as she watched him. "You've gotten really good, Aang. You must have found an amazing Sifu to help you finish your mastery of Waterbending."

Aang paused, the water stream dancing nimbly at his fingers, awaiting his next command, "Yeah. She's pretty amazing," he answered with a sly grin. "Some say she's the best in the Southern Tribe."

Katara couldn't help but return his flirtatious smile as she raised her eyebrows at him, "Is that so?"

Aang just answered with a shrug as he went back to twirling his water ribbon in streams around him.

Katara chuckled lightly, "Aang, you aren't telling me that I'm the only Sifu you've had for Waterbending… Surely you picked up another Master after I came home."

Aang shook his head, "Nope. You were the only one I wanted teaching me Waterbending," he answered simply. "Plus, I knew that I'd see you again and we could pick up where we left off…"

Neither of them really knew how it happened, but somehow the stream of water Aang had been bending had become a combined effort as they diverted the flow in circles between them, Aang at one pole of the circle, Katara at the opposite pole, and consequently the moon in the center of it.

Katara looked at him with curious eyes over the pale reflection, "Then how'd you get so good at it without a Master all these years?"

Aang shrugged his shoulders again and smiled his signature grin, "I don't know. I guess I learned more from you than I thought." He chuckled as a thought occurred to him, "Really… in a way… even though you weren't physically there, you're still the reason I mastered it."

Katara squinted her eyes at him in thought, "What do you mean?"

"After you came home, I started Waterbending a lot…" he paused and smiled. "A whole lot… Like every night."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"It made me feel closer to you," he said with a warm smile. "It made it seem like you weren't so far away."

Katara returned his smile with a balmy blush as they continued to move the stream of water between them. "Kind of seems like old times, huh?" she said suddenly. "I mean… waterbending together and all…"

Aang paused, meeting her gaze and smiling. "Yeah…" he chuckled a little as the realization hit him, "I guess it kind of does."

The silence that followed was unlike that which had accompanied them for the past four days. It was mutual, and not forced… Words weren't really needed when they were bending together like this… they never had been. Katara was glad that it seemed that at least that aspect of their relationship hadn't changed.

After several quiet moments, the only sound being the soft lapping of water against the stream's bank, Aang finally broke the silence. It seemed he had been struggling with what to say, because she could feel the hesitancy in his words as he spoke, "Katara… I know you probably don't want to talk about it…" Katara suppressed a sigh as he continued, "but I really am sorry about… everything… about leaving you for so long… about not keeping my promise… about your Gran Gran…"

Katara felt her heart sink at the mention of her grandmother, she swallowed hard and continued to move the stream of water between them, "Aang, please… don't…" She could feel her heart beating more furiously and her breathing deepening as she diverted her eyes to the moon's reflection again.

"I should have been here with you when she died. I should have been here and I wasn't." Aang continued apologetically, the ripple of the moon on the water's surface soothing his words as he spoke.

Katara shook her head softly as she diverted her gaze back to his eyes, "Aang, you were capturing Azula and the Dei Lei. Really… I'm okay, it's no big deal. That was a long time ago…"

"I saw the letter Katara," he interrupted suddenly.

Katara couldn't help it when the stream of water crashed to the surface, making a stark splash that seemed to resonate throughout the forest around them. The moon's reflection rippled violently across the surface of the water as she stared at him wide-eyed. "What?"

The guilt and shame was written plainly across his face as he answered. "When I gave you those flowers… While I was in your office, I saw the letter. I didn't mean to… I mean, there was a paper crumpled up on the floor and I just bent over to pick it up…" the look on Katara's face was hard to meet, so he deflected his gaze to his hands, "I saw my name on it in your handwriting… I only meant to read the first few lines… I'm sorry…"

Katara remained silent as she contemplated her feelings over the invasion of her privacy. What right did he have to read that letter? How stupid she had been to just leave it lying around, she should have been more careful… But despite her frustrations, she believed him when he said it was an accident.

She sighed as she redirected her focus towards him, "Aang… It's okay. I wrote that when I was really upset. I didn't send it because I came to my senses and realized how childish and selfish I was being…"

Aang shook his head intensely, "No Katara. You're the most unselfish person I've ever met. And you were right… I should have been here with you when it happened. I was the one being selfish!"

Katara laughed disbelievingly, "You? Selfish? Aang, that's ridiculous. You rescued the world from tyranny and warfare and you gave up your life to maintain peace between Nations! How could that possibly be selfish?!" She could feel the moon's presence fueling her words as she spoke, and she drew a deep breath to calm herself.

Aang sighed, his breath condensing in the cool air and mending with the steam. "I haven't been fair to you Katara," he said quietly. "I… I didn't mean to…" he paused, as if trying to decide what to say next. "I never meant to hurt you," his eyes found their way to hers softly. "I guess deep down I kind of convinced myself that you were better off without me…"

"Aang…" Katara answered disapprovingly as she tried to think of something to respond with.

"But I was selfish Katara… When you told me there was a wedding coming up… I came back," he moved towards her, his body cutting through the moon's reflection in a wake of black and white. "I came back because I wanted to see you. I came back because…" he paused, looking to the moon for strength, "I was afraid that I was loosing you."

"I couldn't bear the thought of you marrying another man," Katara felt her breath hitch in her throat as he cut through the steam around her, his body dangerously close to hers. "I was wrong to stay gone for so long… I'm sorry."

"Aang, I… You can't….Please…" she suddenly couldn't think straight with him being so close. His spicy sweet scent was overtaking her and she could feel the heat radiating from him through the water. The moon's effect on her senses heightened to dangerous levels with his close proximity, unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

Her thoughts raced in meaningless and irrational circles as she tried to make sense of the situation. What was he saying? Something about being gone for so long… But then she was breathing in his scent again, causing her skin to tingle under the moon's radiance as she tried to calm the blood thundering in her ears…

And then his hand was on her shoulder. His touch felt like fire on her bare skin and she realized that he was looking at her with those big silver grey eyes. She knew he was saying something, but her mind was so fuzzy with… with Aang, that she couldn't make sense of what he was saying. The steam rising around them only added to the fog in her head and she glanced desperately at the moon hanging over them, silently pleading with it to clear the haze.

"Katara?"

She heard her name leave his lips and she felt totally intoxicated by it. His grip on her shoulder tightened faintly, and it was then that she made the mistake of looking him in the eyes. She didn't notice the confusion in his brow as she slowly lost herself in the silvery grey lines of his irises. All the pain, love, adoration, guilt, growth… everything that was Aang shown brightly behind thick dark lashes. It was a primal urge, and one that she never knew she possessed, but as she saw the moon's light reflecting in his eyes she felt herself being drawn to them...

She was faintly aware of her lips crashing against his before a wave of realization hit her like a ton bricks.

Her immediate thought was to stop. Stop what she was doing, pull away, and run. But the lunar tug held her grounded, and when she finally felt his lips move against hers all rational thoughts floated away.

As his mouth pressed evenly against hers, everything that was Aang… his scent, his touch, his breath… seemed to flood her senses all at once. She could feel herself slipping more and more into his body as he took control of the kiss. Her hands easily found their way around his neck as the fingers that had been gripping her shoulder intertwined into her hair.

He must have felt the same intense reaction, because suddenly his tongue was nipping at the corner of her mouth and he was eagerly wrapping his other arm around her waist and pulling her closer. She could feel his body warming against hers and the water around them emitted more steam into the air in response. The moon's glow showered against the vapors serenely as the six years that had separated her from him dissipated into the night sky with them.

When her lungs finally began to burn for air, she pulled from him reluctantly, flushed and out of breath. His eyes were practically glowing with excitement and he grinned widely as he too drew deep heavy breaths. "Wow Katara," he said breathlessly after he'd finally regained some of his composure, "An Airbender should never be left breathless..."

Katara remained speechless, still in his strong embrace and completely astonished at what she'd just done. What happened? How? What it just a dream?

Had she really just kissed her best friend…the Avatar? Had she really just kissed Aang?

The fog that had clouded her mind only moments before was still waning on the edge of her periphery as she stared back at him in a dream state. "Aang… I…" she lost her voice as his fingers moved to peel some stray hair from her sweaty forehead.

"We should be getting back," he said softly before kissing her forehead with a light brush of his lips. "The sun will be coming up soon."

Katara nodded as she glanced up to the sky with a wayward eye, noting the dim orange glow spreading its way from the east. The moon suddenly didn't seem quite so ominous as it paled against the lightening blanket of blue and violet.

The next few moments happened in a blur, and she suddenly found herself walking through the woods, her parka resting heavily on her shoulders and her fingers interlaced with Aang's tightly. As her house came into view and the paled moon reappeared behind the forest ceiling, one thought hit her in an unexpected realization…

I'm in love. I'm in love with the Avatar…

A/N: I just couldn't resist using the Moon Spirit as a matchmaker in this chapter! I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, so let me know what you think: )