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Pema walked through the trees of Air Temple Island with only the light of the full moon to illuminate her path. The lemurs cooed in their sleep as she passed, and the leaves rustled in the light breeze. She tried to be as quiet as possible approaching the meditation pavilion, but she was positive that her pounding heart was heard all the way across the bay. The slim figure sat motionless on the ground. His back towards her showed the line of his arrow on the back of his head. He was at peace.

She had spotted him on her way out of the stables. He was just sitting there. She didn't fight the urge to walk towards him, but now she was wondering what possessed her to disturb his meditation. It had been a month since the equinox. Something had changed that night. Every time Tenzin and she would get to talking he would give her this glazed-over look. He had been walking around the temple lately with a grave expression. The Acolytes all knew it was because of his recent spat with Lin. At times he almost looked sad. She had never disliked Lin, she just didn't approve of how casually she regarded Tenzin, but now when she saw his steely grey eyes cloud over with sadness she blamed Lin.

To make matters worse, Katara had returned from the South Pole this week and paid Pema a visit. Pema had gone to her room for sleep only to find Jin serving Master Katara some tea on her bed. Jin had tried to give her a look of warning, but Pema was too shocked to notice. She bowed out of respect. Katara waved it off and hugged Pema instead.

"Hello, Pema dear. How are you?" she asked.

"I-I'm great, thank you. How have you been?" she asked in return.

"Oh, fine. South Pole is still a work in progress. Join us for tea, would you?" she bowed again to Katara out of habit and sat on the bed as well.

"So what were you talking about before I came in?" Pema asked. Jin shot her that warning look again.

"Oh, well we were actually talking about you, dear." Katara responded while sipping her tea.

"Oh, you were?" Pema said awkwardly. Katara nodded.

"You see, a while back Aang told me the strangest story. He said he went down to the bison caves one night to find an Acolyte ranting to Appa." Pema felt worry strike her heart.

"Yes, apparently she was all torn up about my son's current relationship status."

'I'm going to get stabbed with ice.' She thought.

"He said she was in love with my baby boy." Pema just looked at her hands in her lap.

"But of course, I don't know who this girl is and I was wondering if you had any idea. I've been trying to figure out who has a fancy for him for months now." Katara finished. Pema looked at her with shock and confusion. What was she playing at? She obviously knew it was Pema, so why not say it?

'So you don't die of embarrassment idiot.' She was having issues with forming a sentence. She just open and closed her mouth a couple times.

"I'll take that as a no." Katara said.

"I just thought since you know everyone on this island so well you might know who this girl was. But, oh well." Katara sipped her tea and flashed a strange glance at Pema.

The rest of their time was spent casually talking about trivial things. Her presence was enjoyable as usual, but by the time she left it was clear she didn't come just for some tea. She came purely to let Pema know that she knew about her love for her son. Pema desperately wanted to confess it, but she knew it was pointless. Although Katara acted ignorant for her sake, she knew. After Katara left, Pema took to hitting her head on the wall.

"Oh come on, Pema! It's not that bad!" Jin tried to comfort her.

"Not only do you know, now Katara and Aang know. The whole temple might as well know."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, Pema." She moved from the wall to her bed and buried her head in her pillow.

"They're going to flash me those knowing glances when they walk by and pity me. They're going to say 'Oh, poor Pema never got over Master Tenzin.' They'll think it's cute, laughable even, that a pupil has a fancy for her teacher." She lifted her head to meet Jin's eyes.

"But it's not just a crush and I don't think I'll be able to get over this." Her voice was wavering on tears.

"Sweetie, what are you trying to say?" Jin placed her hand on Pema's shoulder.

"I'm saying I need to do something about it, Jin. I can't watch him spending his life with her if he doesn't know. Maybe if I get it off my chest I can see how foolish I've been and get over it. Maybe I'll be able to stand just watching from a distance if he at least knows."

"What, like tell him?" Jin asked in shock.

"Hun, that's not a good idea. You'll just put yourself in a world of hurt. Plus, you might lose his friendship." She turned on her back and just looked at the ceiling. Neither spoke for some time. Finally, Jin sighed in exhaustion.

"Let's get some sleep, Pem." Pema knew though that if she slept she would only see him; his eyes, his smile, his handsome features and tall figure. She would see and feel his lips on her own, traveling over her body and whispering terms of love. But they were always just dreams.

She had tried to think rationally about the situation all week, but she always came to the same conclusion. She needed to tell him. She would fantasized and practice her speech. She had no idea when the courage to approach him would come, but she hoped it was soon. Now she was hiding behind a tree looking at the very man who curled her toes. She suspected he was deep in meditation when a deep voice carried over the wind.

"Do join me, Pema. It's quite relaxing." The blood in her veins froze, but her feet carried her towards him.

A/N: ok i got something up... i know its short, but im going away for a week and needed to update this story so you didn't give up on me. please please please review they always make me feel better about the story and it helps me be a better writer. thanx to my Beautiful Beta FooFooCuddlyWHAT and i'll try to update as soon as i get back, but thats only if you want me to