Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar

Sokka awoke the next morning to the sound of Appa's grunting. He rubbed his eyes and sat up straight to find himself on Appa's head, I must have dozed off. After spending a few seconds looking around, Sokka saw why Appa had woken him; Kyoshi Island could be seen off in the distance. They would probably reach it in a few minutes so he climbed up onto the saddle to wake his two companions, who were resting on opposite sides of the saddle.

Sokka sighed as he gently shook Aang awake. The younger boy's eyes shot open as he sat up a looked around, finally setting his eyes on Sokka.

"Hey, what is it?" Aang asked.

"We're close to Kyoshi Island," Sokka explained, "we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Well that's good," Aang said tiredly causing Sokka to look at him skeptically.

"Did you sleep last night?" he asked.

Aang shook his head and rubbed his eyes, "Not much."

Following Aang's comment, an uncomfortable silence hung between the two for a few moments until Sokka finally decided to speak up, "Listen, you guide Appa; I'll wake up and explain things to Katara, okay?"

Aang nodded as he slowly made his way over to Appa's head while Sokka crawled towards the back of the saddle to wake up his sister.

The young Waterbender woke up when she felt him shake her awake and she regarded him speculatively, "Is something wrong?"

Sokka shook his head as Katara sat up, "No, I just thought you should know that we're almost at Kyoshi Island."

"Kyoshi Island?" Katara tilted her head at him.

"Aang and I thought it would be a good idea to stop there to let Appa rest," Sokka explained.

"Right, so Suki has nothing to do with it?" Katara looked at him knowingly.

"No, she's part of the reason to," Sokka shrugged his shoulders, "I just wasn't going to mention it to you."

"You think she'll join us?" Katara asked him.

"If she is ready then I don't see why not," he answered hopefully.

Katara nodded as she looked away from her brother so look around the rest of Appa's saddle, "Where's Aang?"

"Guiding Appa," Sokka jerked his thumb towards Appa's head.

Katara just sat back while crossing her arms as she grunted to let Sokka know that she heard him.

"Are you still mad at him?" he asked.

"Why should I not be?" Katara answered with another question.

Sokka shook his head, why would he expect things to be better between them. It's not like anything happened overnight, "You can't stay mad at him forever you know?"

Katara just looked away thoughtfully, biting her lip while gazing out into the horizon and it took Sokka a few moments to realize that she wasn't going to acknowledge him. There wouldn't have been time to talk anyway as a few seconds later, Sokka heard Aang shout up from Appa's head.

"We're here," he yelled.

Sokka quickly made his way to the front to the saddle to look and sure enough, Appa was slowly descending onto the island where the whole town had gathered to welcome the group.

The sky bison softly landed next to Avatar Kyoshi's statue as the crowd of people cheered and clapped. Aang gave a small smile and waved at the large group of people as Sokka hopped off the saddle along with Katara. After making sure Appa was comfortable, Aang hopped off of Appa as well to join his companions.

"I have to admit," Sokka said, standing between Aang and Katara, "I kind of missed the hero worship."

Before Aang or Katara could respond, Oyaji pushed his way through the crowd to greet the group.

"Welcome back," he greeted, clasping his hands together, "it's an honor to have you here with us again."

"It's great to be here," Aang smiled.

"So, where's Suki?" Sokka asked the town's leader anxiously.

Oyaji laughed, "Straight to the point I see. Last I saw her she was transferring some paperwork over to the new leader of the Kyoshi Warriors earlier this morning."

"Told you she would be ready soon," Katara smirked at her brother.

"Yeah, yeah," Sokka waved his hands in a shooing motion at her, "you're right, blah blah blah."

She put her hands on her hips and glared daggers at him as he once again started speaking with Oyaji, "So where was she doing that?"

Before Oyaji could answer a figure swiftly broke through the crowd of people still gathered around and through its arms around Sokka. His heart leaped in excitement as he felt a pair of lips against his and he quickly realized who it was.

"Suki!" he exclaimed, breaking away to look at her.

She laughed and pulled him into a hug, "I missed you Sokka," she said softly.

"I missed you too," he responded, "more then you know. What took you so long?"

Suki broke away and grinned at him, "Let's go someplace a little more private before we talk about that okay?"

"Okay," Sokka swiftly pecked her on the lips as Katara walked up to them.

Suki broke away from Sokka to turn her attention to her friend, "Katara, it's good to see you too."

Katara smiled as Suki pulled her into a hug as well, "Likewise".

Suki pulled away to see Aang walking up from behind Katara and she nodded at him in acknowledgment, "Aang."

"Hey Suki," he smiled, "how are you doing?"

"Besides being up in my ears in work for the past few months…doing great," Suki smiled.

"Okay, enough of the greetings," Sokka interjected, before turning to Suki anxiously, "can we find someplace to talk more privately?"

Suki nodded and waved goodbye to Aang and Katara as Sokka pulled her away from the group.

"You wouldn't believe how much she missed him."

Katara turned to see Oyaji walking up to her and Aang, "The same could be said for him too," she grinned before adding, "He was starting to drive me crazy."

Oyaju laughed, "They'll work it out. In the mean time, I could have your guest house prepared within a few hours."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Aang said," we are only staying for one night. We could just find some place to camp out."

"Nonsense," Oyaji waved his hands towards him, "You are our guests. It would be disrespectful to not provide you a place to stay."

"I guess if you're sure…" Aang started.

"It's no trouble at all, trust me," Oyaji assured, "would you like me to have your bags stored in the house to?"

"No," Katara interjected, "we'll just leave them on Appa since we are only staying here for a day. I don't think it is worth the effort to unpack everything."

"Very well then, I will let you know when your rooms are ready," Oyaji said before walking away, leaving Aang and Katara alone. The crowd had dissipated sometime during the conversation.

"So…" Aang started, looking at her intently before he was interrupted by a bunch of yelling from behind him.

"Aaangy!"

He turned around to see Koko and her friends waving at him and he waved back, "Hey…Koko."

Katara scowled behind him and she swiftly walked off. Aang turned around confused. Katara had long since stopped being jealous, so what had gotten her worked up now? Aang sighed as he realized that she was still angry with him, and she probably just didn't want to deal with him at the moment, especially when he was surrounded by his group of fan girls.

"Is she mad at you or something," Koko asked, walking up to him as the rest of her friends stayed a good distance away.

"Yeah," Aang murmured, continuing to watch is girlfriend walk away from him.

"What'd you do?"

Aang shook his head, "I just made a mistake and it hurt her when I said some things I didn't mean."

"Well go apologize," Koko said simply.

"I will, I just…"

"Don't know how to?" Koko finished for him.

Aang nodded," We almost never get into an argument. This is like new territory for us and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it."

"Just admit that you were wrong and that you were being an idiot," Koko shrugged.

"I think it's a little more complicated than that," Aang said, watching as Katara escaped his view as she entered one of the many shops in the town.

"Trust me, just talk to her," Koko told him, "what do you have to lose?"

Aang finally turned to look at her and for the first time, he was a bit surprised at how much she had changed from when he had first met her. She was a lot more mature now, that was the most obvious thing and Aang felt that he should just take her advice. She was a girl and she probably knew what she was talking about, "I'll do that, it probably would be a good idea to get her something special to" he finally said thoughtfully, "thanks Koko."

"Anytime," she said, "I'll leave you alone now though. It's good to see you again."

"You to," Aang said as she turned and walked back to her friends.

Aang quickly realized though that while Koko had seemed to mature, the other ones still kept their fan-girlish behavior. He shook his head and smiled as the group of girls chorused, "Bye Aangy!"

Aang waved at them before walking through the town to try to find something to give Katara. He felt that after what he had said, she deserved something nice. Although he knew that it wouldn't make her automatically forgive him, hopefully it would show her how truly sorry he was.

Suki closed the doors behind them as she and Sokka entered the Kyoshi Warrior's dojo. The place was empty; all of the other warriors had left for the day so they had the place to themselves for the moment.

"So now that we are here," Suki said, turning around to face Sokka, "Ask away."

"Well," Sokka started, "I guess the thing I am wondering the most is what has been taking you so long? Six months seems like a long time for handing over leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors."

"It took longer than I expected it to," Suki told him, before adding sadly "Unfortunately, the person who I had in mind to take over backed out at the last minute. Her mother became very sick and she left temporarily to take care of her. After her mother passed away, she didn't want to take the leadership position anymore so Oyaji and I had to look for another suitable replacement. It turned out to be harder than I thought it would be."

"Oh," Sokka paused for a few moments before speaking to her again, "What was so hard about picking someone out of the group though. It's not like there are a lot of you."

"Being the leader is a little more than just being a good fighter," she explained, "You have to be able to command well and keep yourself under control in combat situations. I wanted to make sure that the right person filled in my place. It just took a lot of time to be sure about it, that's all."

"That's it?" Sokka looked at her skeptically.

"Yes Sokka," she laughed a little, "and for the record, there was never another guy either."

"Wha-what are you talking about, I never m-mentioned another guy," Sokka stuttered, surprised by Suki's comment.

"Not now you didn't," Suki grinned, "but in that nice little note you sent me, you spent a good amount of time complaining about that."

"Oh…you got that?" Sokka asked.

"Sure did," Suki answered, walking over to a small shelf that had a small piece of paper on it, "This is actually it right here."

Sokka watched as she grabbed it and opened it up.

"I actually found it a little funny," she told him, "I'm not quite sure what you were thinking when you wrote it but it was…amusing to say the least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, "I worked really hard on that."

"Well," Suki explained, "this sounds something more like a complaint letter than something that you would send to your girlfriend."

"It doesn't sound like a complaint letter," Sokka argued, crossing his arms, "I put my heart into that thing…figuratively speaking."

Suki laughed at him, "You must be talking about a different letter then because there's no way it's this one," She waved the paper out in front of her.

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes, "read one complaint in that letter."

"Ok then, this is the first few sentences" Suki smiled before reading, "What could possibly be taking you so long? How can handing over the Kyoshi Warriors possibly take six months? Are you taking your sweet time or something? This is getting ridiculous."

"Oh, well," Sokka felt himself blush, "That was just the beginning. I just needed to get the message across that's all."

"You know, I would believe that if you didn't follow up with this," Suki said before reading the next few lines, "Is there another guy or something because I am really starting to wonder? It's driving me insane, thinking that you are off with someone else. There better not be another guy or else..."

"Well I…" Sokka started but Suki quickly interrupted him.

"The rest of the letter goes on in pretty much the same way to," she said, "it's just complaint questions one after another."

"Okay now that is not true," Sokka said defensively, pointing a finger at her "I told you I missed you."

"You did?"

"Yeah," Sokka nodded, "look towards the bottom."

Suki raised her eyebrows at him before looking back at the page, squinting her eyes a little, "Oh yeah, you squeezed it in at the very bottom of the page."

"It is still there though," Sokka smiled at her triumphantly.

"Yeah, as an afterthought," she giggled, slowly walking back over to him after setting the letter back on the shelf.

"Okay, I admit it," he sighed, "writing letters is not one of my strong points."

"You can say that again," she smirked, "you didn't think about getting some help?"

"Well actually, Aang helped me," he told her, "He is the one that said to put my heart on the paper."

Suki gazed at him for a few moments, "Your heart told you to complain to me throughout the whole letter?"

"What can I say," he shrugged, "I was releasing pent up emotions."

"Well if you want my advice," Suki placed her hands on his shoulders, "don't write the letter next time."

"Oh, come on it wasn't that bad," Sokka stated.

"Seeing you in person is a lot better though," Suki smiled, leaning closer to him, "and I get to do this."

Sokka raised his eyebrows but lowered them when he felt her lips against his as he wrapped his arms around her, "Well how about we spend the next few minutes releasing some other pent up emotions right now?" he muttered.

"You read my mind," she grinned, and the kiss that followed led to another, and another, and another.

"Here it is. I hope you find it comfortable."

"Thank you Oyaji," Katara said, turning to the old man to bow in thanks.

"No thank you," Oyaji bowed back, "let me know if there is anything you or your friends need."

"I will," Katara nodded before turning back to look around the guest house that had been prepared for her and her companions.

Oyaji smiled, seeing that she was satisfied and quietly walked out of the house as Katara continued to look around. It wasn't big, it didn't need to be, but it suited their needs for the night. There were some cushions spread across the room and there were a few doors leading to some bedrooms and one small bathroom.

Katara walked around the room and opened a few of the doors to see what the bedrooms were like. Most of them just had simple, single beds but one of them had a bed for two and the first thought that came to Katara's mind as she stood in the doorway of the room was that that is the bed that she and Aang would be using.

Aang…

Her thoughts drifted to her boyfriend, her soul mate, and she felt a mixture of feelings flow through her. She didn't want to be mad at him but she couldn't help it. He had lied to her, practically cast her off as useless, and though she knew deep down that he hadn't meant it, she couldn't get past what he said.

After all, as far as she knew, there was some truth to it. Just as she had told her brother the night before, he was the Avatar and most likely, he would be able to handle situations on his own now. It made her feel like dead weight, that she was just a burden for him to carry around. She hated feeling like that. She liked to think that she had some sort of purpose in their group whether it is to protect him or to simply just be there to assist him, but he was the Avatar, the most powerful being in the world. He didn't need protection…right? The problem was Katara had always felt the need to protect him, but now she thought that she had just been kidding herself. She felt that she had just been making up her own duty to make herself feel useful and judging by what Aang had said, she knew that that was exactly the case.

A little part of her mind however, tried to tell her different. It tried to tell her that she was more than that to Aang, more than a burden, and the conflicting emotions confused her. She didn't know what to believe. Was she just kidding herself by believing her destiny was to protect him, or was her destiny really just as she thought it was? She wanted to believe the latter but Aang's words forced her into believing otherwise.

Katara sighed and walked over to sit on the bed, holding her head in her hands. She wanted nothing more right now then for him to come in and take everything back. She wanted to hear him tell her that she was needed and that she was not as useless as she felt at the moment. More than anything however, she wanted to feel him hold her like he would do so many times at night. It was then that Katara made her decision, if he didn't come to her by the end of the day, then she would confront him.

If there was one thing she was absolutely sure of, it was that she didn't want to go to bed angry at him again.

"Sokka?"

"Hmm."

"One thing bothers me."

"What is it?" Sokka looked at her. For the past few minutes they had just been resting against the wall. Suki had had her head on his shoulder and they had just been holding each other, glad to be together again. Sokka had pulled away a little however to look at his girlfriend but they were still sitting shoulder to shoulder.

"Well I just find it weird that you would come here right after sending me a letter," Suki told him, "What was the point in sending it when you were coming the next day anyway."

Sokka sighed, knowing that he would have to explain the incident in Omashu to her, "We weren't originally going to come to Kyoshi Island. I didn't even know that we were going to leave the South Pole at the time I sent the letter but Aang got a message from Omashu that told us to come right away."

"Why what happened?" Suki raised her eyebrows at him.

"We don't really know yet. All that the message said was that someone had attacked Omashu and then stole one of Zuko's airships," Sokka paused before adding, "Zuko was injured as well."

"Does anyone know who the attacker is?"

Sokka shook his head, "All they know was that one of the attackers was a Waterbender. He is the one that had hurt Zuko."

Suki remained quiet for a few moments as she shifted to make herself more comfortable, "So you guys stopped by here just to rest for a day then?"

"Well that and…well…," Sokka blushed slightly and looked her in the eye, "I was hoping that you would come with us…if you're ready."

"Well I had just finished all of the paper work for the leadership transfer this morning," Suki started, "I was hoping I would get at least a three days rest but I guess I could leave with you guys tomorrow."

"Suki, if you're not ready to leave yet I understand, we could probably find some time to pick you up later," Sokka told her.

"No," she shook her head, "it's fine, really. I'm sure I'll get plenty of rest on the way there. It's not like we are going to get to Omashu in a day right?"

"Right," Sokka nodded, "It takes a few days to get there at least."

"I thought so," Suki rested her head back on his shoulder.

The two of them remained silent for a few minutes until Sokka spoke up again, "So…you'll come?"

Suki smiled and pulled away from him again, "Of course, you think I am going to stay behind while you go on some wild goose chase?"

He let out a short laugh, "I suppose not."

"I will just need to pack my bags tonight," she told him.

"I'll help if you want me to," he stood up and helped her up as well.

"That'd be nice," she smiled, before stopping them when Sokka began to pull her away, "Can I ask you one more thing though?"

Sokka turned around to look at her, "Sure."

"It's about Aang and Katara."

"What about them?" he asked, though he already knew what she was going to bring up.

"Is there something wrong with them?" Suki questioned, "They seemed a little…distant from each other."

"Yeah," Sokka sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "they got in an argument when we left and now Katara is mad at him."

"How'd that happen?" Suki looked at him curiously, "I didn't think they argued that much."

"They don't, but Aang tried to leave us behind at the South Pole yesterday because he thought it would be too dangerous for us…"

"Typical Aang," Suki interrupted.

"Typical Aang," Sokka agreed nodding, "Anyway, as you could imagine, that didn't particularly please Katara all that much. They got in this big argument. Katara was screaming and eventually Aang started yelling and next thing I knew, Aang had yelled at Katara about how he didn't need her and well…you could probably guess how she felt about that."

"She has to know that that is not true though," Suki stated, slightly shocked.

"She should," Sokka agreed once again, "but they always had relied on each other and I think hearing Aang say that affected her more than I had initially thought. Apparently Aang had made promises to her and he didn't follow through with them and now Katara just doubts some of the things he had told her. She feels a little bit like a burden to him right now."

"So this was a pretty big argument," Suki surmised.

Sokka nodded and crossed his arms, "I understand why she feels the way she does. Aang is a fully realized Avatar now. He needed all of us during the war but now he is stronger and it's hard not to feel like her and I are just tagging along for the fun of it. The one thing that Katara is forgetting though is that Aang needs someone to hold on to. He lost his whole race, his entire culture, and without Katara I don't really think he would be as effective as he is. I know that she knows that to. She told me a few weeks ago that Aang told her that she had replaced the Air Nomads to him. She just needs to remember that."

"Well I hope they work it out soon," Suki said.

"That is actually another reason I suggested to Aang that we come here,"" Sokka replied, "I am hoping that they will find some place to be alone and work it out."

"So you're essentially engineering a scenario to allow them to make up," Suki smiled, "I didn't think you cared that much Sokka."

"Hey," Sokka said defensively, "I may complain about them acting all mushy in front of me but I like to know my sister is happy. If Aang is the one that brings her that happiness then I will do what I can to help."

Suki smiled wider at him and kissed his cheek, "That's sweet, let's just hope they took the chance you gave them."

"Pray to the spirits they do," Sokka told her, "because if they don't, riding on Appa is going to be really awkward."

"You sound like you have some experience with that," Suki laughed.

"Yesterday was almost unbearable," Sokka shrugged, "but enough about them. Let's go get you packed up."

Suki gave him a small smile and nodded as she took his hand to lead him towards her own home.

Aang walked through the forest later that day in search for Katara. It was nearly night time; the sun was almost completely down and the moon was high in the sky. It made it a little difficult for Aang to see where he was going but he was able to manage it. After all, he knew where he would be able to find Katara.

After his talk with Koko earlier, he had spent the next several hours looking for a present to give to his precious soul mate. He had eventually found something that satisfied him and he had quickly made his way to their guest house to apologize to her, but to his disappointment she wasn't there. However, he knew her, probably better than anyone, and it didn't take him long to figure out where she would be.

When Katara was upset, she would always either come to him or she would go practice waterbending. And since he was the one she was upset at, Aang knew that she would probably be on the shoreline bending her element. At first he thought it would still be difficult to find her. She could be anywhere on the shore but he felt as though he knew exactly where she was. It was as if he was being pulled to her and he could only guess that it was their bond that allowed him to know her location.

He followed what he was feeling and as he came to the edge of the forest and to the beginning of the beach, he saw that he was right. She was standing on the shoreline, ankle deep in water, slowly maneuvering a stream of water around her. He crouched behind a bush to just admire her for a moment. He loved watching her waterbend. The graceful way she would control the water always had amazed him and as he watched her under the moon's light, she seemed surreal to him.

He reached his hand into his pocket and took out the gift he had gotten her to inspect it as he held it in his palm. It wasn't anything complicated. It was simply a small silver ring that had a purple gem placed securely into it. Part of him wondered if it would be enough for her but at the same time, he remembered that she was never the girl that desired expensive jewelry. He took a deep breath, closed his palm around the small ring, and stepped out from behind the bush to approach her slowly.

"Katara?" he said cautiously once he was only a few feet away from her.

The sound of his voice caused her to instantly drop the water she had been holding and she swiftly turned around to face him. To his surprise, he didn't see any anger in her eyes, nor did he feel any in their connection. He closed his eyes for a moment in relief; maybe this will be easier than I thought.

"I know you may have mixed feeling about me right now," he started, forcing himself to look her in the eyes, "but I just need you to know how sorry I am. I never wanted to hurt you Katara and I have been beating myself up about this ever since yesterday morning. I want you to be happy, that is all I ever wanted but in my desire to keep you safe, I took that happiness from you and I never wanted to do that."

Katara remained quiet for a few moments to process what he had said as he looked away from her. His words seemed heartfelt and she couldn't help but notice that a few tears had gathered in his eyes. Still, she felt that she couldn't let him off the hook that easily, "You promised that we would handle problems together."

"I know," he said quietly.

"And you tried to leave anyway," she crossed her arms.

"I know," he repeated.

"Why Aang?" she questioned, "When I was worried about something bad happening weeks ago, do you know what stopped my worrying? Do you know what I took comfort in?"

Aang looked at her and shook his head.

"The fact that you told me that we would solve the problems together," she told him, keeping her voice at a respectable level, "When we got that letter from Mai, I felt like I didn't have too much to worry about…but then you had to try to leave. You didn't even tell me what you were planning. You tried to sneak off behind my back but you know what makes it all even worse? You told me that our connection was based on trust but you didn't even bother to tell me what you were doing and you lied to me! What is that supposed to make me think? I thought we were supposed to be completely honest with each other and I had been completely open towards you after we bonded. I didn't hold anything back…and it breaks my heart that you tried to," she finished, closing her eyes and looking towards the ground.

Aang's eye's fell at her words. He knew that she was completely right. Despite his desire to be connected with her, he had gone against what their connection was about and that very connection allowed him to feel her heartbreak. A few tears ran down his cheeks and he looked up at her to see that she had produced a few tears as well. He cautiously reached up to brush her tears away with his thumb and he was rewarded by a small smile from her.

"I'm so sorry Katara," Aang told her, cupping her cheek, "I know that I hurt the trust we share but please…don't lose you trust in me completely. I was being an idiot…I don't really know what else to say."

Katara closed her eyes and relaxed into his hand. She felt a lot of things coming from him; adoration, love, but most of all, guilt. "I still trust you Aang," she whispered.

He stoked her cheek for a few moments before pulling it back, causing Katara to open her eyes at the loss of contact. He took one of her hands in his and brought his other hand over to place his gift in her palm, "I promise I will never do anything like that again Katara," he said as he closed her palm around his gift, "and I promise that whatever happens; I want you by my side as long as I am alive. I need you and I don't ever want you to feel worthless again because you're not. You are my whole world."

She smiled at his words, pulling her hand away to open her palm to see what he had placed in it, and she gasped at what she saw. Though the ring that she held was rather simple, it looked beautiful to her and the meaning behind it made it seem even more special. The purple gem seemed to glisten in the moonlight and she felt a few more tears gather in her eyes, though this time, they were tears of joy. His words were completely heartfelt, and she felt a surge of love rush through her that made her heart flutter.

"Aang," she whispered looking up at the boy standing in front of her, "you…you didn't have to get me this."

"I know, but I wanted to," he smiled, "it was the least I could do."

"It's beautiful…I love it" she shared his smile and gazed back down at the ring. She carefully slid it onto her left ring finger as if it was one of the most precious things in the world and she held her hand out to marvel at it.

Aang's smile widened as he saw how much she like it and he felt her swiftly pull him into a tight hug. She kissed his neck a few times before nuzzling her head against him and he happily returned her embrace.

"I forgive you," she whispered and he felt her smile against his skin as she repeated the words, "I forgive you."

Aang breathed out a sigh of relief and he held her tighter, nuzzling his head into her hair. The couple stood there glad to be in each other's arms again. He stroked her back gently while his other hand ran through her hair. She in turn, traced her hand up and down the arrow on his back as she lovingly stroked the back of his head with her other hand, loving the feel of the soft skin there. After a few minutes of this, Katara let out a soft yawn.

Aang pulled away a little and smiled at her, "Do you want to head back to the house?"

"That'd be nice," she nodded and before she could move anywhere, Aang picked her up bridal style, causing her to produce a short gasp, "I can walk you know," she smiled and snuggled herself into his chest, feeling a small rumbling as he laughed a little.

"I know, but that doesn't mean you have to," he kissed her forehead.

She sighed and closed her eyes, letting him carry her back to the house. By the time they got there, she was already half asleep and she barely registered him placing her on the bed and climbing in next to her as he pulled the covers over them tiredly. Neither had slept well the night before and they could both feel the exhaustion creeping over them.

Katara forced her eyes open to gaze at the boy next to her and he met her eyes with his. They seemed to get lost in each other and she instinctively leaned forward to give him a soft kiss. He kissed her back, placing his hands lazily on her hips as she placed hers on his shoulders. They didn't take the kiss any farther, they were too tired. Instead, they just kept the gentle kiss for a few minutes and the only movements they would make was when they felt the need to scoot a little closer to the other.

Eventually, they were close enough that their bodies were pressed together and their legs were tangled up under the bed sheets. Katara broke the kiss and moved her head down to rest it against his chest once more.

"Hold me," she requested gently, giving in to her desires that she had had earlier in the day.

A few moments later, she felt his arms wrap around her tightly as he rested his head on hers after giving her forehead a soft kiss.

"I love you," he whispered into her hair before adding questionably, "Kat?" He was unsure if he should be calling her by her nickname again. He didn't ever since their argument because he felt that she wouldn't appreciate it since she was angry at him. Now that they had made up; he wasn't sure how soon it would be until she was okay with the pet name.

Katara smiled softly against him, "I'm fine with you calling me that again, you know I like it...I love you too."

He smiled and rubbed her back, slowly coaxing her to sleep. He felt her breathing even out to a slow and steady rhythm as her sleeping form snuggled closer to him and it wasn't long before he allowed sleep to overtake him as well.

So I don't know why, but for some reason, this chapter turned out to be the hardest to write...I am not sure if that showed. I think it turned out well though.

Please review. Review make me want to write more which means chapters would be posted a little faster. I hate to be a beggar but I know there are quite a bit of people reading this and the reviews don't have to be long or anything. Longer reviews are always appreciated but simple things like 'Good chapter' will do if you happen to like it. Anonymous reviews are enabled too so you know, you guys that don't have an account can still review. I'm not going to be one of those people that will refuse to update until I have X amount of reviews...I am not like that, but still, having more reviews does make me work a little more so maybe these once a week updates could turn into twice a week on a more consistent basis.:)