Ok, first off thank you so so much to all of the wonderful reviewers. I love you all so much! And some extra love goes to ExcessiveDiversions for the amazing long review that made me squeal with glee. Thank you so much for the compliments on the awkward Zuko moments! That's what really makes a Zutara fic, in my opinion.

And next I'm really sorry for the disappointment that this chapter is sure to bring because it's ridiculously short. But I really wanted to get something up for you guys because I'm knee deep in research right now, and also I think that where I ended it just felt right. So definitely expect a longer chapter sometime next weekend!

And now, enjoy!

Master waterbender, hah! As if I'd let those two fight, somebody would get killed!

Why did people not understand the concept of Mai being one of his best friends? Sure, she wasn't any fun when they dated, but some people just weren't meant to be together like that.

Not that telling Mai was going to go well. In fact, he was pretty sure that she wouldn't speak to him for a very long time.

He sighed, and walked into the tent, only to find Mai sitting just to the right of the entrance.

"Mai, may I walk you back to your room?" Zuko asked, offering her his arm. Mai stood and took it without speaking.

"Where were you?" she asked, not sounding very interested for the answer. Oh, if only she knew how interesting the answer really was.

"I was on the beach, thinking," he said. It wasn't a lie, he was thinking. His thoughts about Katara that would probably get him killed by multiple people…but still, thoughts nonetheless.

"And," she prompted him. Why had he found her gravelly voice attractive once upon a time? There was no excitement in it, no life.

Zuko tried not to think about what he was about to do, "And I don't think we're right for each other." Mai stopped walking, slipped her arm from around his, and turned to face him. She was glaring at him. Getting Mai to show emotion was never good.

Maybe he had said that too calmly.

"I think I'll just wait for him here. Thanks for telling us, Toph. I know it must be hard for you, seeing Aang hurt. You really do like him, don't you?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going back to the party. Don't say anything too stupid," Toph said, and stomped off to the tent.

Katara sat on the beach to wait for Aang to find her. While she waited she tried to think of how to tell Aang.

Katara ran her fingers over the smooth, glossy stone of her betrothal necklace. She had left it on her pile of clothes to go swimming, since she didn't want the black silk to get wet and be ruined. Should she put it on or not?

Katara didn't want to be ashamed of being engaged to Zuko, but she also didn't want Aang to make a tornado or something crazy like that. At that thought she decided to slip the necklace into an inner pocket until after they had finished talking.

As soon as she placed the necklace in her pocket, Aang yelled her name from the sky. She breathed a sigh of relief. She definitely owed Toph.

Aang landed beside her and sat down.

"What's wrong, Katara? Is it the fight we had? Because I'm really sorry," Aang said, his big gray eyes on her. Katara took a steadying breath and looked into them.

Katara felt her eyes glistening with tears. Aang really was a fantastic guy, and an amazing friend. It was too bad they couldn't make it work, because once upon a time she had loved him. It had been so easy back then. There wasn't any pretending, and it was simple as breathing.

But now there was Zuko. And he was passionate in everything he did, and when he did love someone it was with his whole heart. In a way, Zuko's love was purer than Aang's. Aang tried to love everyone, because of the teachings of the monks. Aang's was an all encompassing love. Zuko reserved himself, he didn't blindly trust, and love didn't come easily for him. And yet, he loved her so much that he would risk his whole nation's disapproval by marrying her. Being with Zuko would be hard, she'd have to learn so much, and she would have to become Fire Lady. She would be completely separated from her family.

And yet, a feeling rose in Katara that told her this was what she really needed. She was not a homemaker, she was not a chief of a small village, she was not supposed to marry the Avatar or a jerk from the Water Tribe. She was supposed to become something greater, have an adventure, be loved by Zuko, and help lead the nation she had once hated more than anything. She would stand by Zuko's side no matter what, and help him rebuild the country that his father and grandfather and great grandfather before him twisted and broke. Katara would become something great of her own accord, people would no longer see her as 'the Avatar's girl', and they wouldn't see her as some little waterbender to be trifled with, they would see her as a magnificent figure of restoration, hope, and peace.

And if she were to be honest with herself, that was what she really wanted out of her life.

So she dived into one of the hardest conversations of her life head on.

"Aang, I love you. I always will, but not in the way that you want me to," Katara looked him in the eye while she said this.

His hand went slack, and she slipped her hand out of his loosened grasp on her. Katara looked over to see him in shock. Mouth lawling open and eyes bugging out.

Maybe she'd said that too calmly.