Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Author's Note: All right, this might be controversial, but it's an idea that's been at the back of my mind for a long time. Basically, my husband made a rather lewd comment at this point in Nightmares & Daydreams, and while I thought he was being bad, the concept took hold. I couldn't help thinking, what would have happened if Katara really had meant something else? Here's one possibility.

Steam

"Prepare to de-stressify," said Katara, her arms wrapped around Aang's bare torso. He had no idea what she meant by that, and he was too jittery to even really enjoy her closeness. She led him down into a cavern on the island where hot springs bubbled up, heated by the magma below. She undressed in a fairly businesslike fashion, until she was in her underclothes. Aang just blinked at her, uncomprehending, and awaited instructions.

"Sit down," Katara ordered, and he did so. She seemed oddly nervous, which was not helping Aang's anxious state. She circled around behind him and began massaging the muscles of his shoulders and back, obviously avoiding the wounded area in the middle. Slowly, he loosened up, sighing and closing his eyes. The steam he inhaled seemed to be healing him from the inside while Katara's efforts were working his stress away from the outside.

Katara shifted her hands to his upper arms, and Aang felt Katara draw closer behind him. He could just feel her breast bindings, and her hair brushed his back. A new but faintly familiar sensation touched his right shoulder and when he felt it a second time, he recognized it as Katara's lips on his skin. She seemed to be kissing her way towards his neck.

"K – Katara?" he stammered.

"Shhh," she admonished, continuing to move her lips by intervals to the point where his shoulder met his neck and bringing one hand around to rest on his chest. Aang was wondering if he was dreaming again, but he couldn't remember ever experiencing anything this detailed in his dreams, either asleep or awake. His body's response to her also felt incredibly real, almost to the point of pain.

When she reached his neck, Aang could stand it no longer. He twisted his head to kiss her full on the mouth, turning his body while they were locked so that he was facing her. When he withdrew, breathing hard, he was surprised to find that one of his arms had wrapped around her waist while the other hand was braced on the floor. He looked into her eyes, seeing excitement, surprise, and just a hint of fear. That last emotion brought him back to himself some, and he released her. Of all the legitimate reasons she could be afraid of him, he didn't want this to be one of them.

"Katara, what are you doing?" he demanded. He was confused. Why had she started this, especially if she didn't expect him to respond?

"I – I'm trying to relax you," she explained haltingly. Aang gaped at her in disbelief. When he internalized what she had said, he felt that his blood was replaced by ice water, and his desire began fading away.

"That's why you're doing this? Because I'm tense?" He turned away abruptly, fighting the tears in his eyes. Going from the euphoria of thinking she might actually return his feelings to the bitter knowledge that she had only approached him out of some misplaced sense of duty was too much for him to take, especially when he was so tired. "I thought – I thought it meant…" He couldn't finish. He felt used and empty.

"Aang, I'm sorry." Katara placed a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

"Just leave me alone," he pleaded, scuttling farther away. She kept her distance, but she clearly wasn't leaving. He just wanted to be left to cry in peace.

"Aang, you're right. I've done this all wrong. I – I was too scared to do it the right way."

"Scared?" Aang repeated numbly. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"The truth is, I love you," Katara explained, speaking rapidly. Aang was startled enough that he turned to face her. "I guess this was my stupid way of trying to tell you without telling you. That way, I had an excuse if you didn't…feel the same way. I'm so sorry. I feel so –"

"Katara, you don't need excuses," Aang interrupted, standing up and approaching her. They stood uncertainly for a moment, and then he leaned in to kiss her. The kiss began slowly before deepening into a tender expression of love as they wrapped their arms around each other. By the time they parted to catch their breath, his passion had returned. He leaned his forehead against hers and rubbed his hands up and down her arms. She was trembling.

"I love you," he whispered. "And because I love you, I can't let you do this. You're not ready, and frankly, I don't think I am, either." Katara nodded, pulling her head back a little as she breathed a sigh.

"You still have a problem, though," she reminded him.

"Well, I don't feel so nervous knowing you love me," he said, smiling. She flashed him a grin in return. "That gives me something much nicer to focus on than the battle."

"I'm glad about that, but it's not exactly what I was talking about." She gave a significant look downward, and he felt acutely embarrassed that she had noticed his arousal. Instinctively, he started to back away from her, but she prevented him. "I started this, and I should finish it."

"Katara, you don't have to—" he protested, hearing that sound of duty in her words again, but she stopped him by placing a finger across his lips.

"I know. I want to."

Aang didn't know what she was planning, but he nodded slowly. Her face had grown serious and determined, and he knew it was next to impossible to talk her out of doing something when she got that look. Besides, confessing that this was a problem he'd had to deal with numerous times before was not something he felt comfortable doing right now.

"Just lie down and close your eyes," Katara instructed. He hesitated but did as she asked. When he felt her undoing his pants, however, he grasped one of her wrists and opened his eyes.

"Katara?"

"Please, let me do this," she requested. "Just trust me." Then, she kissed him sensuously, and there was simply no resisting that. He allowed her to expose his privates, although he probably would have blushed at what she was seeing if so much of his blood hadn't been occupied elsewhere.

As soon as she touched him, all other thoughts fled. What followed was a little awkward but accomplished its objective. As the tremors of his release subsided, they were replaced by utter relaxation of a sort Aang could not remember ever experiencing before. Eyes closed, he was scarcely aware of Katara cleaning him off and covering him up before he drifted off to sleep.

--

"What can they be doing in there?" Sokka wondered aloud, eyes wandering toward the cave into which Aang and Katara had disappeared.

"Do you really want to know?" Toph challenged tantalizingly, and Sokka considered carefully. Toph's smirk suggested that he really didn't, not to mention that people generally didn't pose that question unless they were about to reveal something unpleasant to hear. His natural curiosity warred with his desire to remain in the dark about certain aspects of his sister's life.

"No, I don't think so," he replied slowly. Toph shrugged.

"Suit yourself," she said, but she seemed a little disappointed, which convinced Sokka that he'd made the right decision. Anything that would have given Toph pleasure to impart was probably not information Sokka wanted to have. A few minutes later, Katara emerged alone.

"He's asleep," she answered their unvoiced questions. "I'm not sure for how long, but he's going to be thirsty when he wakes up. Have some fresh water ready."

"How did you do it?" Sokka blurted out, honestly wondering what could have made Aang forget all of his anxiety in such a relatively short time.

"Classic relaxation techniques," she responded airily. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go for a swim." Her face was red, but Sokka assumed that was because of all the steam she'd recently been exposed to. As he watched her walk towards the shore, however, he couldn't help but wonder.

Please, let it be the steam.

--

Author's Note: I think one of the reasons this took me so long to actually put into writing was that I was trying to decide exactly how much should happen and how. I also struggled with keeping it T rated. Of course, the rest of their relationship in the third season would have to be re-written after this, but there would still be a definite excuse for some lingering awkwardness.:)

Review responses:

TTAvatarfan: Well, I hope you do. Aang is very interesting to write, and he was the first character that really spoke to me when I began doing Avatar fanfiction.

arizony: You were the first of several who wanted to see a continuation of that last story. My husband says no, it's complete as it stands, but I'll have to think about it.

SilverKyo: Wow, you practically wrote an entire chapter there! I think I should point out that the final scene in Ba Sing Se was actually two months after the battle, so there's plenty of time for them to work things out; we apparently just didn't get to see it. I will consider a continuation.

mangafangirl: My husband really thinks I should leave it at that, with Aang just feeling forlorn even though he won, but as I indicated in other replies above, I may write a sequel.

nutshak: If you thought that last one was different, I can hardly imagine how you would describe this.

Katsumara: Did you not read my author notes to the previous chapter? Aang has always seemed to believe the best way to protect Katara (or others) was to go directly after whatever was threatening them – see Bato, of the Water Tribe or The Drill for examples. I wasn't portraying him as jealous so much as simply rejected.

DuHSPaZZiNGFeL: Thank you. I suppose one of the reasons I have a lot of readers is because I look at things differently than most, so my work tends to stand out as unique.

shiro-wolfman-k: You seem to disagree somewhat with Katsumara, but I think you and I are right. Thank you for reviewing in English. I know that's more difficult for you.

Amira Elizabeth: As always, that means a lot from you. Thank you for checking this collection out.