Okay, finally chapter up. lol. The beginning of this chapter was actually murder, it was soooo hard I had the biggest writers block ever. But I got through it, even though this one is another one of those chapters that I kind of want to fix someday. ahaha, but for now here it is. :P Enjoy.

We gaped at the man for what felt like hours, silence flooding around us. His warning made it clear that this was no longer a small issue that could be taken lightly, if the Shadowbenders were inflicting this much fear on the town and it's people, there was defiantly something seriously wrong. "Well," the man started as he fumbled back to the door. "I'll leave you kids to your business. Help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. Oh! And my name's Shenmi, I'll be in my house back in town if you need anything." With that, Shenmi lightly pulled open the door and went outside, closing it behind him and leaving us alone. We all stood there for awhile, each of us looking at either the boarded windows, or into the lighted hallways leading away from the room.

"So, should we…take a look around? Find out rooms?" Suki asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Aang nodded. "Good idea."

The six of us searched around the bottom half of the house looking for the bedrooms. Unfortunately all we found were a very large kitchen and dinning room. A family room and what looked like a study of sorts. Each of the rooms were large, and well taken care of. It was hard to believe that the house was a part of this run down town. When we were done looking around downstairs we went up the stairs to the second floor of the house. Right off the stairwell was a long hallway going down either way of the house. In total there were six doors going off the hallway, three on the left side, and three on the right. "These must be the bedrooms." Zuko murmured as he started towards one of the doors. We all branched away from each other and went in different rooms.

The one I went to was the second door on the right, inside of it was light, like the rest of the house, but it was cozier. It wasn't as big as my own room in our house in Ba Sing Se, but it was suitable. There was a nice bed on the far side, pushed up against the wall. It had light brown covers and tall wooden posts. On the opposite side of the room was a dresser made from the same matching wood as the bed. And that was about it. A nice room for a short stay at this run down town, I thought. I went back out into the hallway, the others already standing in front of their own doors.

"Alright, did everyone pick a room?" Sokka asked looking around at us before his gaze stopped at me. "And before you answer that, I'd just like to make it clear that its defiantly off limits for girls and boys to share a room." I crossed my arms.

"I picked this room." I said, trying to ignore his comment.

"I picked that one," Aang pointed to a door down the opposite hall, the one at the very end.

"And I'll have this one." Zuko motioned his head to the door that was right across from mine and right beside Sokka's. Sokka nodded then looked at Suki and Toph.

"Did you guys get one?"

"There isn't enough rooms Sokka," she began, her brow furrowed. "Two of us will have to share one." Sokka nodded his head.

"Alright, no problem. Suki, you can come in my room with me. I have a double bed." he said causing me to frown.

"I thought you just said that its defiantly off limits for girls and boys to share a room." I reminded him sharply. His azure eyes turned on me and he was quiet for a minute.

"That only applies to those under sixteen!" he finally snapped back at me. I gave him a smug smile.

"Well, technically, Aang is one hundred and thirteen years old."

"And you're fourteen! Maybe you should stop dating such an old guy, it's creepy!" was his response. I narrowed my eyes.

"Suki wasn't there a chair in your room? I can just sleep there." Toph interrupted our argument. Suki nodded violently.

"Yeah that's a great idea Toph. If you really don't mind?"

"I don't." Toph confirmed as she crossed her arms. "I've slept on worse before." Since I was still looking at Sokka I caught the sudden disappointed shrug he gave before looking down at the ground. That's what he got. For the next hour we did nothing but laze around the house, thinking about our next move. We all sat downstairs in the family room and talked it over. We decided that we would once again split up to search for information.

"Oh I forgot!" Suki shouted suddenly, changing the subject. She walked over to me and threw her arms around me, giving me a large, tight hug. "Happy birthday Katara!" I hugged her back before she let go and backed up to the chair that she was sitting on.

"Yeah, happy birthday." Toph said as well, punching me the in the arm.

"Happy birthday…" Zuko mumbled quietly, smiling slightly.

"Happy birthday." Aang and Sokka said this at the exact same time, causing both of them to look at each other.

"Thank you," I thanked them, then turned to my brother. "See Sokka, I'm not fourteen, I'm fifteen."

"One year difference, big whoop." Sokka said sticking his tongue out at me, immaturely.

"Too bad we're in the middle of a crisis right now; we could have done something fun for a party or at least gotten you presents." Suki said with a shrug. I shook my head and smiled.

"It's alright." I looked at Aang. "But maybe since it's my birthday…we could…do something special?" I suggested. Before he could answer Sokka bolted up from the couch where he was sitting and stared down at me. I rolled my eyes. "You know…like take a walk or something…" Aang hesitated and looked at Sokka; I knew that he was making sure it was permitted. Sokka slowly returned to his seat and nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds great." Aang chimed as he looked at me.

"What about looking around for information on the Shadowbenders?" Zuko asked, his golden eyes shifting over to me.

"We can just kill two birds with one stone," Aang said before I could answer. "Me and Katara can go for a walk and look for information, and sight see while we go."

Later in the day, when all of us were a little more settled in the house, Aang and I indeed left for our walk. We started out just walking beside one another until we escaped the view of the house, then our hands linked together like magnets. Trying to find someone in the town for information was a lot harder then I thought it would be. Almost every house that we went to was completely empty, and the ones that weren't the people inside would shoo us away, refuse to talk, or just hide behind their boarded windows, curious eyes peeking out through the cracks in the wood. This plan was turning into a hit and miss situation. Even Shenmi was nowhere to be found, it was almost as if he had disappeared. We didn't attempt to search for long, there was no point in doing so really, and since it was my birthday, we did have other matters to attend to.

Aang and I walked cluelessly along a path that ascended itself into the forest. I had no idea where it led, and I was almost positive he didn't either, but nonetheless I followed him as he lead me, hand in hand, deeper into the deserted forest. My heart began to pound in my chest. Why was he taking me down here, alone? Farther and farther away from Sokka and the others until finally… "Aang, what are you…" before I could finish, Aang jerked himself quickly to the side, tugging me in front of him so that we were now face to face. His grip moved from my hand to my waist and he roughly pushed me backwards.

I felt my back come in contact with something hard, most likely a tree I figured. The roughness of the push caused the collide to hurt quiet a bit actually, but as soon as his lips hungrily met mine the pain washed away. I allowed my lips to naturally part as he added pressure to the tender kiss, and his tongue quickly invaded my mouth. I moaned as his hands circled over my hips, and I reached up in between us with my own hands, grabbing onto the front of his tunic and pulling him even closer. His groin was now so immensely close to mine I could feel the hardness pressed against me and I began to shake. I experimentally bucked my hips into him, causing our body's to grind together in just the right areas. This time he was the one who moaned and his hands clutched my waist tighter, pulling me into him, causing the action to repeat and the tension to build. This was driving me crazy, he was driving me crazy. My sanity was beginning to slip and I could feel it. His mouth finally pulled away from mine, giving me a chance to breathe, and his lips traveled to my neck where he nipped at my skin. My breathing began to get quick and it was extremely hard to catch my breath. I could feel every muscle in my body tensing up and my abdomen began to tingle. I knew Aang was beginning to feel the same way because I could feel him trembling. But despite this, he continued to slightly thrust into me, guiding my hips along with the rhythm of his own. My moans where now more vocal and my pitch was rising.

"Aang…" I whispered, pleading for him to do something more, remove clothing, touch me, anything along those lines. But instead, his eyes bolted open and he stopped everything. I looked at him as he pulled away, slightly annoyed. Was he actually going to leave me, just when I had almost reached my peak? He could not do that, it wasn't fair. He looked into my eyes and smiled, trying to catch his own breath.

"Before you say anything," he started before leaning into me and placing another light kiss on my lips. "Happy birthday."

"So, that was my present?" I asked, pushing some loose hair out of my face. His smile grew a little and he nodded.

"Like it?" I smiled back and nodded.

"Could have been more, but I'm not complaining. I'm guessing I'm lucky to have gotten that much, aren't I?"

"Very lucky." he agreed. I sighed. Well it was more then we had ever done, I just wish we could have done a little bit more. But like I said, I wasn't complaining.

"I can't believe you stopped yourself." I told him as I slid my back down the tree until I was sitting on the forest floor. Aang sat down as well, beside me.

"To tell you the truth, neither can I really. But the image of Sokka waiting for us back at the house, fully equipped with his boomerang, helped loads, believe me." I laughed at this and snuggled into him.

When we walked back to the house, we stayed quiet, enjoying the oncoming night air. Learning more about the Shadowbenders was a complete fail. Getting a little further in our relationship, success. "We're home!" I called when we got into the house. Aang shut the door behind us and quickly locked about seven locks that were bolted on the door. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed them before.

"Kitchen!" Toph's voice called from somewhere in the house. Aang and I walked through the main hallway and came out in the large clean kitchen. Zuko, Suki, and Toph where all sitting on the table, Toph and Suki playing Pai Sho, and Zuko was reading The Book of Shadows. Sokka was standing at the cooler, the door to it wide open as he searched for something to eat or drink.

"How was your walk?" Suki asked us as we sat down, her eyes not moving from the game board in front of her.

"It was nice. We didn't find anything out though." I answered. She nodded. I watched their game for a minute before I felt Aang's hand brush against mine. I looked at him, only to see his large childlike grin staring me in the face.

"So what do you say, best birthday ever?" he asked in a hushed tone. I pursed my lips.

"Hmmm…pretty close." From behind me I could hear the cooler door shutting, I had guessed Sokka had finally found what he was looking for. Aang raised an eyebrow, so I decided to explain. "I mean, my eighth birthday was pretty great. All of my family together…my mom. My dad took us all on this picnic in the middle of nowhere, but it was so…beautiful. The way the sun was in just the right spot to warm up the area. And the way the celestial lights made the snow change color. Me and Sokka…we went penguin sledding." I smiled at Aang suggestively as the memoires of he and I penguin sledding the first time we met filled my mind. Then my thoughts went back to my mother and I hesitated. "It was three days before they came…before the…killed her. When I think about it now, I realize it was my last birthday with her. That's why it was my best, because I got to share it with my mother." I watched as Aang's silver eyes slowly dropped down to look at Toph and Suki's game.

"Well…" he murmured. "I defiantly can't compete with that."

"Not true." I whispered, not wanting anybody else to hear. He looked back up at me, our eyes met. "There is…one way you can make it my best birthday…"

"Katara…" As soon as my name left his lips, my heart skipped. I knew it was intended to be a "would you give it a rest we're not doing anything until we're older" scolding, but the tone of his voice said otherwise, it was almost…seductive. The option that maybe he was finally giving into me popped into my heard and I began to internally freak out with excitement. But before anything more could be said or done, a loud crash that came from behind me caused everyone to look up from what they were doing, and what we saw filled all of us with shrill horror.

Suki let out a loud, bloodcurdling scream as both Zuko and Aang sprung up from the table and rushed over to Sokka who was sprawled out of the floor, shaking tremendously and foaming from the mouth. "What happened?" Aang asked as he kneeled by Sokka's head and tried to keep it in his lap, but Sokka was wriggling too much, it almost looked like he was in sever pain. Finally, when I got a hold of myself I slid out of my seat and onto the floor to my brother, Suki did the same.

"I don't know…he just dropped." Zuko said, his head trashing back and forth trying to find the source of what had happened.

"It looks like he's been poisoned…" I mumbled, looking down at him, trying to think of something to do before it was too late. Suki began to whimper as she looked at him.

"Sokka…" she cried. Toph who hadn't moved from her seat looked underlie mortified. She closed her eyes tightly and covered her ears with her hands, clearly not wanting to hear the desperate cries. Aang looked at Zuko.

"Did he drink or eat anything?" he asked. Zuko shook his head.

"Just that." he said pointing at a bottle that had shattered all over the floor from when he had fallen. I looked down, and all around me was blue metallic liquid, mixed with a deep red substance. That's when I noticed the pain in my legs, and I realized I was bleeding.

"WELL SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING!" Suki yelled, tears falling down her face. Ignoring the pain in my and how scared I actually was I turned to Aang.

"Hold his head!" I ordered. Aang did not hesitate and did as he was told. He clutched onto Sokka's head, trying to hold him still. I hovered my hand over his mouth, praying that he would at least stop shaking. A loud gurgling noise began to rise from the back of Sokka's throat, and then he went completely limp. We all sat there for a minute just staring. After a few seconds of nothing happening, I began to really panic and I brought my hand up in a clawing motion. "Come on Sokka…come on…" I pleaded, a single tear running down my cheek. His head leaned back a little more as a sphere of blue liquid levitated out of his mouth. I bent it back to the floor to join the rest of the liquid, glass and blood. The next minute was completely silent. In my mind all I could think was that I needed him to be okay, he had to be okay. Then, all of a sudden Sokka took a deep breath in and his eyes slowly batted open. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Ugghh…" Sokka groaned.

"I don't get it, how does she keep finding us?" Suki asked as we all sat in the family room. We had found out that the drink Sokka had drank was the drink the woman had given Aang in Shengshu, which also led us to believe that Azula was the woman in disguise trying to kill Aang. It all made perfect sense. Zuko who was sitting on the ground, his back pressed up against the wall shrugged.

"I don't know, but we're going to have to be more careful, because I'll bet you anything she'll just keep pulling stunts like this until she gets to Aang." he said, looking over at the Airbender who was sitting with Toph and I on the couch. Aang looked down sadly, and I noticed this.

"Aang…" I mumbled, furrowing my eyebrows. He looked at me.

"Katara, can I talk to you for a minute?" he didn't wait for a response; instead he just got up and left for the stairs. I looked at the others who were all looking at me, mainly Sokka who still looked a little sick.

"I'll be right back." I told them before getting up and rushing after him. I knew where he was going, his bed room, I just wanted to know what this was about. I got to his room and went inside, it was large. There was about two dressers, a chair, a large bookshelf, a table, a door leading into his own private bathroom, and in the middle of everything a large bed where he was sitting, waiting for me, though he wasn't looking at me, instead he was staring off, looking at something that I could not see. I gulped, went over to him and say down. There was a pause.

"What did you want to tell me?" I asked after a minute. Aang swallowed and continued to stair off into the distance.

"Sokka's going to be fine Katara," he said in a hushed tone. I nodded slowly, looking at him curiously.

"I know he is." I agreed. There was another pause, and this time the silence began to pulse in my head. "Is that…all?" Aang looked down, still refusing to look at me and sighed.

"Not really…" he mumbled, no expression in his tone. My heart dropped slightly, knowing that there was indeed something wrong. Aang would never speak to me this way, not this coldly. It was strange.

"Oh…?" was all I could say in response as I waited patiently. Aang closed his eyes and swallowed again, another not so good sign in my opinion.

"Katara…I don't think we should be together anymore…"

If I hadn't seen the words come out of his mouth myself, I would not have believed he had said it. I was in pure shock. "You...you what? Where is this...why...why not? Sokka said something to you, didn't he?" I snapped, wanting to know the truth of why he was saying this. I was half exspecting him to say just kidding at any moment.

Aang put his hand on mine and shook his head. "Sokka...didn't say anything..."

I yanked my hand away from him in annoyence and narrowed my eyebrows. "Then where is this coming from?"

Aang looked down at his lone hand, his expression a bit hurt before he answered me. "Azula 's been after us this whole time; she's trying to get to me. And already she's kidnapped Toph, tried to kill Appa and Momo, and now this, poisened Sokka. I'm scared to think of what she'd do to you if she found out we were together. I don't want to think of it. I mean look, you're already hurt." Aang looked down at my bandaged legs. The broken glass had cut quite deep into both of them, and as a result I had to try my best to heal them, but for some reason the magic didn't work as well as it usualy did and Suki had to bandage them for a day or two so that I would not scratch at them.

"Then don't think about it!" I hissed. "This is just a scratch, I'm fine. And I can handle Azula, I've done it before, I can do it again."

This time Aang narrowed his eyebrows. "You can't do it again, Katara. You won't know what she'll look like! This is the only way we can make sure you'll be safe!"

"But I don't want to not be with you!" I sobbed as I lightly put my hand on his soft cheek. Aang sighed and reached up with his own, taking mine away.

"Please Katara, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you...you're all I have."

I looked at him and in his eyes I saw the same sadness that I felt right now. I knew that this was hard for him and he didn't really want to do it...and I knew that he was right. I bowed my head in defeat. "I understand..." I said sadly.

He forced a sad smile. "I knew you would..."