Hello FutharkAtlantean, DualIdentity, Warrior679, Astropuppy, and Somariel. Thanks for favoriting the story and/or adding it to your alerts; sorry it's taken me so long to make it useful. ^^;;

Hugs to Saharra Shadow, whom I am quickly developing a crush on, and who has also added me as one of her favorite authors. ^_^ Vm

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Without further whinge-ing:


One new whinge - no changes here. It's actually in the right place at the right time - go fig! ^^;


Aang sat in lotus, facing about half a company of non-bending soldiers. He chanted, softly and rhythmically, while gently bending the incense on the air to suffuse the chamber with a light, relaxing scent.

Aang focused on opening his Seventh Chakra, zooming out his awareness so that he could take in the entire room before him. With his eyes closed and depending only on his sixth sense, he could barely make out the essences of the troops before him who had volunteered to meditate with the Avatar this morning. As he studied them, he could begin to pick out ten whose Chakras were tinged blue, green or red – the sign of people who had the potential to bend, but had never developed their ability. Atrophied through lack of use, it would require years of dedicated training for any of them to gain even marginal bending – and none of the soldiers before him today would ever become particularly powerful.

Still, Aang made a mental note of who had this untapped potential and would hold them back at the end of the meditation to let them know. Already, there were a good score who were now joining him in the evenings to learn how to gain access to their bending. With the exercises he was working out, they should be able to continue their development on their own once they went back to their homes for a short leave before being sent in to protect the colonies.

Still, the one thing he had hoped to find was still stubbornly missing from his search – the faint tinge of yellow that would signify someone with untapped airbending ability. "Well; you've only been searching a month, the available pool is very limited, and airbenders probably would not wind up working as soldiers, anyway."

A soft pop sounded from just behind Aang. He knew that the candle had just ignited the very small pocket of powder that had been worked into it at hourly intervals and that it was time to bring the meditation to a close. He gently allowed his consciousness to return to his body, feeling himself almost waking up in slow motion. He altered his chant and brought it to an end and started giving quiet instructions to his audience.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Focus for a few moments on feeling your body again – don't try to move until you've reoriented yourselves. Then stand slowly and carefully. Enjoy a nice stretch, and you're good to go! Thanks for meditating with me everybody!"

The group gave a soft chorus of "No – thank you."s as they followed Aang's instructions and filed out to their next assignments. Aang walked around the room, collecting the ten soldiers who might choose to become benders. He noticed from the corner of his vision a light blue dress and dark tan skin just around the edge of the entrance. He smirked, letting her take her time in approaching him as he went about playing counselor to his newest bending students.

After a few minutes, seven of the ten soldiers had jumped at the chance to train with the Avatar, two more were excited about learning bending, and one soldier had respectfully declined. Katara peeked her head around the corner after the last soldier had left, looking happy but slightly distracted. Aang walked up and pulled her into a light hug, tilting his head down to lay a light kiss on her forehead.

"What's bothering ya, Katty?"

Katara leaned her head forward onto Aang's shoulder, stuck again momentarily at the solid strength in Aang's muscles. She grinned and squeezed Aang. "Is it that obvious?"

Aang giggled "Only when you're thinking about fifteen different things at once. What's up? Hey! Wanna go penguin sledding this afternoon? I haven't been in ages! It'll be fun!"

Katara laughed, "Some things will never change." then sobered quickly, "I hope I don't change that."

Aang moved his hands to Katara's shoulders and gently held her away from him, searching her face. "Okay. Now I know something's wrong. Spill!"

Katara bit her lip, smiling nervously. "I... It's... We need to talk. It might take a while – when do you have time?"

Aang considered, "I'm headed to the Earth Camp to check in and make sure Toph hasn't splattered any of the benders with her 'training'. Then I needed to swing by the Fire Camp to give some more lessons on Sun power. Sokka's having some trouble with a couple of the criminals the Fire Council sent for rehabilitation, so I was going to fly out to the bivouac to check in there. Then I wanted to get a quick bite before evening mediation with my new bending students. I should be clear from about sundown on. How does that work for your schedule?"

Katara shook her head. She had students to train, a city to help construct, several hours in the middle of the day with nothing planned, and finally a couple meetings with the Northern waterbenders and Healers that promised to last well into the night. "I'll have to move one meeting up and leave the other for another day." Katara set a smile on her face to hide her anxiety, not wanting to send Aang off worried. "I'll make it work. I'll see you tonight, all right, Aang?"

Aang grinned, problem solved. "Sure! No problem, Katty!" He leaned down to capture Katara's lips, but Katara slid her face away just a bit, kissing back as Aang's lips found her cheek.

"Then I'll see you then, Aang!" and Katara turned and left a blinking, confused Aang behind her.


Aang swooped in for a landing outside Katara's one-room igloo, off on the edge of the water-third of the bender's compound. He flicked his glider back into a staff and gently tapped it on the wall, knocking lightly.

"Is that you, Aang? Come in!"

Aang leaned his staff against the wall and with a deep breath, entered Katara's room. Katara was standing in front of a ice-crafted dresser – not much more than a bar in a tall box – hanging up what Aang had come to think of as her 'work clothes': the blue-on-blue patterned blouse and pants that allowed her her full range of motion and offered her students a clear visual aid to follow her bending forms.

Clad only in her shift, Aang's eyes were drawn across the dark skin of her neck, shoulders, arms and legs. He shook his head, clearing it as he realized that Katara had said something that he had missed entirely. "Huh?" Aang said intelligently. Still standing in the doorway, he turned and bent up a double handful of snow from the ground outside and started moving it around in a circle to give himself something to focus on other than Katara.

Katara turned, grinning but with a sad look in her eyes. She slipped on a dark blue robe, then crossed the room to stand before Aang. Aang peeked at her from the corner of his eye. "Well. Now I can't keep my eyes off her face. That's better... right?" Aang thought, dragging his focus again to his ball of water.

Aang felt Katara's tug on his improvised fidget and reflexively passed the ball to her control. Katara moved it around her side of the circle, then passed it back to Aang. Wordlessly, they fell into the old training habit. "Wow. It's been years since we did any sort of bending together..." Aang closed his eyes, losing himself into the practice form almost like a meditation.

Katara's mouth quirked, watching the relaxed, contented smile that crept across Aang's face. She decided to let the form play out a bit longer, before broaching the subject she had asked Aang to visit her for. After some time, Aang remembered that Katara has called him here for a reason. He opened his eyes and saw Katara's smirk. "What?"

Katara's voice was gentle and amused. "Nothing, Aang. It's just nice to see you happy again. I don't remember the last time I saw you smile like that."

Aang blushed, still passing the globe back and forth. "It was when you accepted my betrothal necklace. But this is fun, too – now that the balance of the world doesn't hang in the... balance." Aang shrugged lamely.

Katara giggled, sobering shortly. "It's a little about that, Aang. Why I asked you over tonight."

Aang cocked his head, curious. "Huh?" he asked again.

Katara's gaze shifted from Aang's, towards the floor, but she kept the ball moving. "It's the question I asked you when you came in. We've been engaged for six years now – when are we going to get married?"

Aang gulped, and the fidget flew towards the wall. Katara grabbed it and bent it back just short of impact, saving her room from being splashed, then slowly brought it back around to pass it again to Aang.

Aang's cheeks turned bright red. "S-sorry, Katara. I don't-"

Katara grinned. "It's okay. I suppose it might have been a bit sudden. You've been gone more than two years, working in the Central Temple. I've been busy down here. First helping re-settle the surviving prisoners, then re-working the Southern Tradition from the few waterbenders we got back who weren't mad, and finally getting this place ready for what we're both busy with now."

Aang's blush slowly retreated as he noticed the sadness creeping into Katara's smile. Her eyes focused on nothing in particular, she continued.

"Aang, I want you to do something for me."

"Sure, Katara. What's up?"

Katara took a deep breath and blew it out. "I want you to take a few days, and meditate on you and I getting married."

Aang scoffed. "That's no problem, Katara. I've thought up at least a hundred ways we could get married. Like while surfing on giant koi, or gliding around the North Air Temple on gliders, or-"

Katara shook her head. "I don't want you to think about our wedding – I want you to meditate on how we could make it work, how it would impact our lives, how we would raise a family, all that."

Aang tilted his head, frowning. "Do you not want to get married any more, Katara?"

Katara bit her lip. "I- I'm not as sure as I used to be? I've been doing a lot of thinking on it, since the last time you left. I just want you to do some thinking too – then we can talk about it, okay?"

Aang could feel his eyes welling, but he refused to let himself cry. Still, his words came out in a babble, "I'm sorry I had to go, Katara. I didn't want to be gone so long. I love you and-"

Katara shook her head, employing the same restraint on her tears as Aang. "I love you too, Aang. There's nothing in this world or the next that can change that. And I'm not even saying that we're not going to get married – maybe it's just the time apart talking. That's why I want you to meditate on it – so I can see if it's just me, or if it's really what I fear."

Aang swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut as two drops ran down his cheeks. He wanted to turn and run, to bring the igloo down around them, to collapse in a crying heap, and about a dozen other, conflicting actions. Aang took a deep breath and noticed that he and Katara were still following their practice form, the automatic movements unbroken despite their conversation. Keeping his eyes closed, he focused on the form; letting the ebb and flow soothe his emotions until he could think clearly again.

Katara worried her lip as she watched Aang's face as he struggled with his emotions. She felt a tug on the water and almost lost her concentration, then let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and refocused her efforts on her form.

The small globe of water orbited between them, as the Moon continued to rise above the camp.


Phew! That was more difficult than I imagined. . Don't you hate it when you sit down to write something, get out five paragraphs, then realise that the situation wouldn't actually work that way? Blech. Xp Anyway, sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. I'm going to send Zuzu a dream to try and make up for it. =3

Shout out to Kahuna Burger - I am officially accepting your challenge. Once I get a seed crystal for the fic, the rest should follow. I'll let you know. ^_~


Hey, Kahuna Burger - if you're still reading (and you may have changed your Alias by this time) - What was your challenge? ^^;;;;; Send me a PM if you still want whatever fic it was I agreed to write for you. ^^;;;;;;;;;;