((AN: And, new chapter. x3 Just a lil' bit of fluff, some humor, and some dialogue, nothing too big. I like to try balancing out the action and inaction from time to time, and hopefully it's working. We're back to the leisurely parts of the story. :3 Though I admit, writing things for Omashu has been pretty trying for me. It's hard to make anything done in a city of rock seem exciting. :B

When describing the mountains, though, I remembered a visit to Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, Nevada, I took as a kid. There's nothing that says barren mountains and desert can't be beautiful to look at, but of course, all a matter of perspective.

I mostly liked writing the part with Bumi speaking to Katara; it seemed about time she needed the "don't hurt him" speech from the only person alive who knew Aang the best. x3 It gave me the opportunity to dive a bit into his past, too. He's old enough to have seen the last time Sozin's Comet passed. It makes one curious what his reaction would have been to the annihilation of the Airbenders and Aang, and a part of why he acts the way he does.

And here I thought he wouldn't be too exciting to write for, except for his goofiness, but characters often end up surprising you. x3

On another note, as of what I have written after this chapter in buffer, this story has gone on to 300 pages...making it the longest out of ALL my stories to date. Even my original novel, not finished yet, is only about 180-some pages. Now that's impressive. o.o So happy 300 pages to The Comet's Wake. x3 And we'll see a lot more, trust me.

Enjoy. And remember, these are all Mike and Bryan's ideas. AND DOESN'T THE NEW COMIC LOOK FRIGGIN' AWESOME? January can't come quick enough.))

Chapter 35

"I just can't take you anywhere with me, can I?" Aang teased, earning him a quiet snort from Katara as he bent the water from the bathing pool onto his hands and pressed it to the bare skin of her left side, activating the Healing Touch.

After such a trying day, the friends needed a quiet couple of hours into the night to relax; and the Waterbender had nearly forgotten that she was bruised, thanks to helping interrupt a fight of flying rocks. A second night in the bath house had sounded like heaven on earth, while their clothes were getting washed and sewn.

She winced and gave him her best wide-eyed pout. "You're so right, Aang. I'm far too much trouble," the back of her hand fell upon her forehead in a false swoon. "I shouldn't have even come; I don't deserve to be here."

"Oh, don't buy it, Aang," Sokka scoffed from nearby, looking up from where Suki was also tending to his own bruises. "She used to pull the innocent routine on me all the time."

"He knows I'm joking, Sokka," Katara's face turned quickly from innocent to smug. "And yet you still fall for it."

"Only sometimes," her brother corrected quickly.

"Liar," Toph accused from where she sat on the edge, her feet dangling in the pool.

A fact which Sokka noticed as he sputtered indignantly. "How dare you! You can't even tell!"

She yawned and fell backwards. "No, but I just know you too well, O Master of Truth."

The others laughed as Sokka rolled his eyes and spared a wince when Suki poked a sore spot on his left wrist. "Please tell me I can use a sword with this arm," the warrior sighed.

"Nothing's permanent here, silly," Suki snorted, observing the little cuff-marks on his arms and legs that the two of them had gotten from their time stuck in the ground. "You can use a sword with that arm."

"Oh, good, 'cause I couldn't before," he joked, coaxing out a laugh and a quick slap on his shoulder from his girlfriend.

Katara and Aang traded short smiles; while the fact annoyed the couple that the five of them had decided to relax in the same bath house to recouperate, they still knew that after such a trying fight, it was a good feeling to have all of them together and in one piece.

Besides, Katara remembered, they were planning a part of the next day just for themselves. The Waterbender wanted to laugh at herself when she started thinking about it, wondering when she had become a girl so in love with someone that she was counting the moments to the next delightful, almost forbidden opportunity…hiding in a dark place, holding each other, and sharing a long session of kissing.

Aang was thinking the same thing, and she knew it from the look he had when they locked eyes again. To him it often felt too wonderful to be real…kissing her, holding her when they could sleep together, running his fingers through her hair and over her soft dark skin…everything was a dream that he wanted to feel again and again.

Well, at least I got to return the healing session favor from yesterday, he thought as he kept his concentration on her bruised side. The reddish-purple spot was no bigger than two of his fists put together, but from what he'd gotten out of feeling her energy, it was a surprise the blow hadn't knocked her off her feet. He moved his hands around and willed the power to seal what it could, occasionally drifting one water-clad palm to her back to softly massage over her spine, up and down again, making her sigh with quiet content and at the same time making her sorely wish that the others weren't in the same pool with them.

"Feeling better?" he asked after a moment.

She nodded, eyes closed. "Much. Oooh…" she grimaced. "Still a little tender though."

"It would be, you took it hard," Aang hummed softly, narrowing his eyes as if peering closer. "None of your ribs are cracked though, I think; it just knocked the wind out of you."

"Yeah, I'm still trying to get that wind back," Katara wheezed when the healing energy reached another tender spot, hissing through her teeth. "You can see how far the damage is, though?"

He lingered further with both hands on the bruise. "Yeah, I can see pretty far into the energy flow. No cracked ribs at all, just some jarring. Nothing that won't heal up fast after a few days."

She smiled. "You've improved at that. I'm impressed."

"C'mon, I have a good teacher," he chuckled. "This is all you."

"Right, and those are my hands on my back, too."

"They're yours if you want them," Aang laughed, blushing. "Anyway, like I said, nothing's broken…but just to be safe, I'd rather you take a break from bending for a couple of days."

"Aw…" she groaned. "You sure about that?"

"Better safe than sorry," he replied.

She sighed; her Waterbending was so second-nature now that she hardly thought of a moment of having to do without it. Still, she trusted him, and so let herself form a half-smile. "I suppose I can do that."

"It'll go by fast. You'll see," he chuckled, continuing to move his hands slowly and soothingly over her wound. He leaned over to place a quick teasing kiss on the other side of her neck, just below her ear. A short chirp of a giggle escaped from her, and she felt her face warming up.

"Hey, I hope you have those hands where I can see 'em," Sokka called with his best "authority" voice, causing Aang to jerk a little bit and Katara to grumble.

"Oh, don't fret all over yourself, Boomerang Butt," Toph's hand waved dismissively. "His hands look fine where they are to me."

"Well thank you Toph, that's good to…" he paused and took in the Blind Bandit's smug grin, remembering the obvious once again. "Why?" he wheezed out, face scrunched in annoyance. "Why must you do that?"

"Gee, I wonder," Toph snorted, getting everyone to laugh again.

In the midst of the mirth, Aang leaned over Katara's ear again and whispered. "At least we'll have tomorrow."

The Water Tribe girl smiled, and then even the pain of her bruise felt completely lifted.

"What are we planning on tomorrow, anyway?" Suki asked, as if unwittingly reading the minds of the younger ones. "It's our last day in Omashu, right?"

"Yep," Aang confirmed, looking up briefly towards her. "We can get a tour of the city. Aaaand, getting an express ride on a mail chute still stands," he grinned, teeth showing.

"No thanks," she and Sokka replied in unison.

"I'm still going," Toph's hand raised. "I need a good thrill ride."

"Like beating the winners of the tournament wasn't enough of a thrill?" Katara quirked an eyebrow toward her. "You don't quit, do you?"

"Now you're gettin' it, Sweetness," the Earthbender smirked, and then sat up again, the look on her face rather serious as she focused unblinkingly ahead into space. "Though I do have to admit, fighting the Dai Li really showed me just how much I have to learn yet. I suppose after our little tour tomorrow, I can take the old man up on learning some of his moves."

Aang smiled. "Trust me, Toph, you'll benefit a lot from what Bumi has to teach."

"Never doubted it," she said. "Anyway, what'll you guys be doing after that?"

"Er…" Sokka scratched the side of his head, looking up and trying to look like he didn't hear the question.

It was Suki who gratefully answered for him. "I think we all have dates in the evening," she turned to spare a grin to the younger couple nearby. "Sokka and I do, that is, but I'm assuming you two do as well."

"What else would they be doing while we're all away?" the warrior grinned and mockingly pantomimed a kiss.

Immediately, he was tossed underwater with a swift, unexplainable lurch of the swells in the pool.

"We might have something planned," Katara cryptically drawled as her hands withdrew from their bending position.

While trying not to blush, Aang laughed and took a hold of her wrist. "Hey, didn't I just say 'no Waterbending'?"

"Oh come on, you had to give me that one."

"…Okay, maybe that one."

"PLEH!" Sokka sputtered, spitting out water as he swam back up to the edge and sent a dripping wet glare toward his sister. "You know, I'm beginning to wonder whether Aang is a bad influence on you. And also, my leg feels numb now; I hope it's not broken."

"It had better not be," Katara glared right back. "It took ages to knit those bones back together before. If I have to fix another broken bone of yours, I'm also fixing your stupidity."

"He walked here by himself," Suki dryly pointed out. "He's fine."

Sokka sighed, blowing the loose, wet strands of hair from his face. "Ganging up on me. What have I done to deserve it but show great leadership and decision-making skills, huh?"

His comrades simply shared their laughter once more and went back to recouperating before heading to bed. It seemed that nowadays, sharing banter was a tradition not taken for granted.

And also, Katara found out that it was a fairly good idea to make Sokka rant, as he wouldn't be paying attention to whenever Aang dipped his head into her neck to kiss her again.

Tomorrow, his lips pressing tenderly on her skin seemed to promise for him.

Bright and early the following morning, the group had a filling breakfast fit for the court of a king, and took to the streets of Omashu for the grand tour. Declining an offer for an ostrich-horse-drawn carriage, they opted for walking together along the livening, dusty streets. Though the city itself had a bizarre architecture as seen from the air, they could easily find and traverse different levels of the mountain as they made their way downward through the plazas. It was interesting to note how it had been built; while many of the homes looked to have come from outside materials, others were made of the very mountain rock itself and perhaps even led to the inner bowels of it in places. Sokka had wondered if, due to that, they'd gotten most of their water from a spring inside.

To Aang, it seemed very little had changed about Omashu in the last hundred years, except for more houses having been added or small businesses brought into the market. It was a thriving, ancient place that had always been fueled by travelers and local merchants and Earthbenders. He figured that Bumi had kept it much the same way all this time, the way they both remembered.

They recognized a few people, too; namely many of the citizens that they had saved after the city's capture. There was always a small crowd drawn in when the Avatar and his friends were walking across the town; all of those smiling faces, and many new ones among them, owed their homes and lives to the brave children as well as to their king. Every corner they turned, they were thanked and offered free food or treasures for sale.

The only one that didn't seem so happy to see them was a certain cabbage merchant, who had practically pounced over his cart to protect it from damage until after they all passed him with quizzical looks.

The tour ended when they stopped just one ledge above to the base of the city, hidden within the giant stone gate…the last time they had been there, just a while before finding Toph for the first time, the buildings were being covered over with metal and Fire Nation soldiers walked the streets at night on patrol. Now again, the city was free, and the people were getting used to the start of an age without fear.

With a whistle from Aang, Appa flew down from the palace in a flourish to gather his human passengers and take them on a sweeping view of the mountainous city, which as predicted was just as magnificent to look upon in daylight. The rising sun shone upon certain angles of the metropolis that wasn't all golden rock, but had bands of gneiss, layered and cut minerals covering a sweeping line of reds and deep browns. It was the city as it has always been, and as it would always be; carved and nestled deeply into the root of the earth.

By lunchtime, the bunch of them went their separate ways to look around. Sokka took Suki on a shopping trip for some needed supplies.

And as was promised, Aang and Toph took off to take a ride on a delivery chute.

"And you'll try not to crash into anything?" Katara had asked beforehand, arms crossed as if she were addressing a couple of troublesome children.

The Airbender had grinned. "Don't worry; the mail system was put on hold yesterday, so there shouldn't be much to get in the way of. I think. Maybe."

"How reassuring," Katara muttered.

"Sure you don't wanna come?" Toph snickered. "Seems you could use a thrill, too."

"The Avatar's my boyfriend; that's thrilling enough," she argued dryly. "Besides, he's kinda forbidding me from having fun for a couple of days."

"Better follow it, young lady," he smirked with a wink.

"Ahaha," her eyes rolled, and she smirked back. "You guys go have fun and scare a few people and such. I can write a letter back to Zuko in the meantime. See you guys when you get back."

"Sure thing, Katara. Toph, c'mon, let's go!" he tugged the Earthbender's wrist, sparing his beloved one last quick smile. As Katara watched the two of them take off for the highest point of the elaborate system of chutes, her head shook with amusement. He's still a kid. But, considering everything, if he could never laugh like that again, I could never live.

Katara finished that letter quickly enough, remembering to include important updates for the Fire Lord; especially the whole issue with the Dai Li. That morning, the imprisoned group of Earthbenders, ten of them in all, were being carted off to Ba Sing Se to face initial sentencing for crimes of treason against the Earth Kingdom capital. Tian had been told that they may impose a sentence on him as well for being affiliated, but he suggested a request that they grant him his self-imposed exile as punishment enough. He hoped never to step foot inside the great wall again.

The Waterbender did try to keep things light-hearted in the note though, knowing that it wouldn't do Zuko much good to worry about his friends. Once she was finished, she waited to mail it, knowing that the others would want to sign it or make any additions if they so wanted.

She was sitting on a chair hunched over a table on a balcony from the palace high above, overlooking a good view of the city and, thankfully, the mail system. It was a quiet sunny day, though the sounds of milling citizens could still be heard drifting up with the mountain wind as it breezed with a whistle over the mountain's many nooks.

Peaceful enough for concentrating, anyway.

As she rolled the scroll up, Momo darted in from somewhere in the sky and landed before her on the table, regarding her with a head tilt and a short trill.

"Hey, Momo," she greeted the little lemur with a scratch behind his ear. "Been enjoying things here so far?"

A quick low-pitched bark was his confirming answer as he curled up on the table for a midday nap. Katara smiled; the creature always seemed to know exactly how to disrupt a far-too-quiet moment. It was in hers (and Aang's) experience that animals not only had a good sense of character, but a fair sense of mood…knowing when to be there to break a sad one, or when to be scarce for a solemn one.

"I thought so," she said while standing up and moving to the balcony's edge to scope things out. "Me too."

She spotted Aang and Toph easily below, balancing precariously on the top edge of the chute. Katara couldn't readily guess how many runs that the fun-loving friends had already, but from the way Toph held her arms over her head while Aang pushed the cart down the edge and took them flying, with gravity's influence and the help of his bending down into unknown twists and turns, the Blind Bandit was enjoying herself more than she had been expecting. She heard their laughter easily echoing along the mountain.

"Heheheh…sounds like someone's having fun."

Only slightly surprised, Katara turned to watch King Bumi come up beside her to peer over and watch the fun with a child-like grin on his century-old features.

"Hey, King Bumi…got a break from the royal duties today?" she said as Momo awoke and flew to perch on her shoulder.

"Eh, I never have much to do," the Earthbender dismissed. "Toph has told me that she will be looking to learn a few things from me later though. Only happy to please," the king laughed.

"I bet," Katara snickered too, turning back out to the city. The earthen box in which the two friends had launched was rocketing past at full speed, nothing in its path to stop it.

Bumi shook his head, humming a laugh. "Oh, that Aang. He'll never change."

Katara hummed back. "Well…he's changed a little," she pointed out, returning her eyes from the chute to the lay of Omashu. "Matured. It came with accepting his destiny, I guess."

"So the Avatar must do," the old ruler sighed. "Still, there's this spirit about him, of youth and innocence and happiness. He'll probably have it when he's old, too. Certainly had it when I met him," he laughed.

Katara debated telling Bumi about Aang not being able to live as long as he had thought…but decided against it. There was nothing to be gained but just worrying him.

Watching him though, Katara felt curious. She thought back on Aang's nightmare…his sadness for leaving all of his old friends behind, but for the Earthbender, without even one goodbye. She'd have liked to meet all of them; for surely, any friend of Aang's would have been a friend of hers, too.

"What was Aang like when you met him?" she inquired. "If you don't mind me asking, Your Highness."

"Eh, he was such a goody-goody," the king flipped his hand dismissively and cackled. "Always too worried he'd get in trouble if he ever wandered too far away from where the Nomads were staying when he visited. 'Course, I managed to get him outta his shell a little bit by showing him what kind of fun there was to be had in Omashu. Not just chute-riding, but little pranks here and there, riding the animals, tossing mud balls at tourists." He snorted. "Ahhh, fun times. Wish I could be down there now, but last time he had me ride that thing, I ended up with a bit of a backache. Peh."

Katara glanced up, surprised. "Backache? You? Bumi, you're the strongest Earthbender in the world, and you beat Toph up…without a single cracking bone, for goodness' sake."

"Eh, that's true," he looked at the girl with crooked eyes. "But that doesn't mean that I'm immune to old age whenever it rears its ugly little head. Every world's greatest Earthbender needs their rest every now and again," he grunted.

She couldn't argue that…though, knowing Bumi, he'd hide those effects of old-age weakness from Aang to spare his feelings. She felt a welling of concern for the Airbender, knowing and remembering that he had to someday watch the king die.

The silence stretched on a little, but the laughter they heard from the chute-riders below eased the atmosphere and made it happy again.

"To tell you the truth, Master Katara," Bumi started again, his eyes looking up to the horizon. "Aang was the best friend I ever had…well, one of the only friends I ever had. You'll find it's quite hard to find people to see eye-to-eye with when you like to think out of the box as much as I do," he snickered…but it was a short laugh, his eyes focused still on the distant line where the land met the sky, with a faraway shimmer that held memories and thoughts of a time long, long ago.

"I can imagine," she offered. "Before I met Aang, I could only see eye-to-eye with my brother and grandmother, maybe a few of the children in my village. He's taught me so much. Showed me real freedom."

He continued with a light nod. "Indeed, he has that effect on everyone…he taught me a few things too, and this was all even before I knew he was the Avatar. He told me about it the very last time I saw him…said he wasn't so sure he wanted it, and you know what I said? I said to him, 'You'll be great. I mean, c'mon, the world can only get better, right?'

"I never thought that the day he said goodbye…and left on that sky bison with a promise that he'll see me later…that 'later' would mean a hundred years later." His eyes closed. "One of the reasons I fought to become the king of this city was that I could have a part in making the world a good place, even after the news had come to me that the Avatar was lost."

Katara frowned, watching the old man sadly as he seemed to meditate on his memories for a few seconds. She turned her own gaze to where his had been, to the top of the mountains and the blurred line between blue sky and golden rock. "You were there to hear about the start of the war. And the Air Nomads…"

"Yes," he solemnly confirmed for her. "It struck me like an arrow through the heart. I even remembered the passing of Sozin's Comet that day, when the sky turned red and everything felt so quiet and ominous. To the Earth Kingdom it was just another once-in-a-lifetime heavenly phenomenon to watch pass, and we thought no more of it.

"But to the Fire Nation, it was the start of their path of conquest. And to the Air Nomads, it was the start of their very doom. Every Airbender, every Air Nomad, and Aang, my friend, gone from the world forever. I am not ashamed to admit, young Waterbender, that I wept for them. And things only got worse.

"But you see, one of the reasons that I am how I am is that I've held on to the happier moments and denied the sadder ones for so long…soon enough the happy moments were all I had. I laughed when I could, just like Aang did, and still does. I am still surprised that he does too, after everything that he must have had to go through after a hundred years."

Katara turned to the old king again, her eyes still averted towards the city. "Yeah; he likes to laugh and joke and tease and make others happy…I hope he never changes. But still; Bumi, you weren't at the Southern Air Temple when he discovered what had happened to the Airbenders. To Gyatso, his mentor…"

"I remember Gyatso," Bumi interrupted with a short chortle. "Silly old fellow."

Katara smirked ironically and closed her eyes, continuing on. "He was in so much pain when he found out. The Avatar State took him over, and he would have bended us all off the mountain if I hadn't brought him back. And still, he cried."

She sighed sadly, and Bumi watched her tell her story with patience, noting her pain in recalling the events. "Even now, he gets this sad look in his eyes when it's mentioned again. Aang finds the light in everything, but…one thing about him has changed from when you knew him before. Now there's a broken boy inside him that will never stop mourning for his world…there always will be."

The old king nodded again with a sigh. "I had figured so. I suppose I don't know him half as well as I should anymore."

She laid a hand on his hunched shoulder, concerned. "If it makes you feel any better, you're still one of his best friends. Aang told me that after losing everyone he knew, you were the only one left; and that when you die, he'll probably be devastated."

A kind smile crossed Bumi's face. "Well, you can tell him that at least he'll be able to say goodbye to me. And hey, c'mon, I've got a ton of good years left. I'll betcha anything I'll still kick his butt on my final day!"

Katara snickered. "I don't doubt it, Your Highness. Anyway, I told him that too. That it's best to live for today."

"It's what I always said," he snickered with a loud snort. "Life's too short to worry. I never do." Suddenly, a loud gurgle sounded, and he grimaced with one eye squinted, the other wide. "…Except for perhaps trying to remember what in the world I ate today that's giving me such a darn stomachache, hoo."

"Ew!" Katara laughed, and the king laughed with her.

When it died down, he regarded her with a short grin. "You know, another thing I never knew about Aang before was his taste in girlfriends. Everytime I look at you with him, I think more and more that he made quite a good choice."

Her eyebrows shot up, and she unsuccessfully hid a small blush. "You knew?"

"How silly do you think I look?" Bumi snickered, one of his eyes twitching a little. "Ah, but yes…it's all over you two; the way he looks at you and the way you are always by his side…the way both of you light up when you're together. He needs someone like you, honestly."

The Waterbender tilted her head curiously. "How would you say that?"

"Well," he stroked the hair on his chin, "You just said that he's somewhat broken on the inside because of all that he had to face. From what I've seen, you have been there for him from the beginning, and I hope you know how important you would be to him."

"Of course I do," she replied softly, turning her face back to the city to see if she could spot him. "Sometimes I wonder how I didn't see that he cared about me so much. And…how close I was to him. I love him…I need him, and he needs me. And so help me, I have no intention of leaving him broken, either."

The king chuckled softly. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear, dear girl."

As Katara turned back to him, his disposition turned solemn once more…his eyes were looking at her as if looking through her. She stood firm nonetheless, ready to listen to the wise ruler, whatever he had to say.

"I'm sure you must know this already about that young Airbender down there…" he started. "But he has an unbreakable spirit and a heart big enough to fit the entire world within it. Whatever he decides to do, he does it with his entire being, and his trust extends further than even I could have thought it did. Having that much trust to give can often mean disaster for his heart, should someone hurt him with it…and since fate took his world away from him, much more so.

"So, Katara…as his oldest friend, I must say this. Do not take his trust, and his love, for granted. Do not ever let him go. Because if you do, you understand that he could break beyond anyone's ability to fix, but your own." He smiled again. "You promise?"

The Waterbender hardly had to think about it. She knew just what her feelings for Aang meant, and that was what she was afraid of once. But not anymore.

Katara looked straight into the king's eyes after only a short pause. "I have known all of that, yes. Almost a year of traveling with him only strengthened my belief in him and in us. I won't ever let him go, Bumi. I would die before I even think about it. You have my word," her head lowered, "That I won't let him break. As his friend and soul mate."

The king laid his hand on the top of her head. "Then the both of you have my blessing."

Katara smiled, finding herself almost ready to laugh; on the one side, her brother and father and family had accepted Aang for her…and she had been accepted by the Airbender's only living friend for him in return. "Thanks."

Bumi chuckled and turned back to the balcony edge. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little envious of the guy. Girls always liked him; but, they always thought I was a little too weird and wacky!" he snorted.

"'Course," Her eyes rolled. "Surely as king, though, you could have had anybody, right?"

"Like concubines? Shucks, no," Bumi cackled as Katara turned away indignantly, blushing. "Really though," he said once the laughing fit died, "One thing Aang and I shared in common was a romantic mind. Sure, I've seen plenty of women come and go…but if I couldn't have a queen who could love me for myself and not for my stature, then so be it, I'm not bothered."

"And whatever happened to 'girls have cooties'?" Katara smirked.

"Well, you do, the lot of you," he laughed again as he turned to leave. "Doesn't mean it's not worth catching. Aang's surely already crawling with 'em."

Katara, left with much to think about, nonetheless smacked a palm to her face and hunched over the balcony. "Aang, thank goodness you aren't as weird as your friends," she muttered.

Then, at that moment, she could hear a loud "LOOK OUT!" followed by the feeling of the earth shaking underfoot, and a cloud of dust being kicked up into the air from somewhere down into the lower portions of the city.

And as the commotion ended with the shrill declaration of "MY CABBAGES!" from the unfortunate target, she laughed and shook her head.

"Almost not as weird."

When everyone reconvened at the palace (and after the letter had finally been sent out to Ba Sing Se), they had a dinner that was mostly light and consisted of appetizers, soups and salads; Sokka wanted Suki and himself to eat at one of the restaurants in Omashu's market for their date later, and Aang and Katara were taking a picnic wherever they were going. Toph and Bumi were absent from the table, having agreed to get in a few quick lessons in the arena. The group swore that as the entire palace shook with unnatural tremors a few times, it was questionable that it had the strength to hold up against the sparring moves of the two most powerful Earthbenders in the world.

Still, Sokka proved that he never missed a beat when keeping to the subject at hand; which was the respective couples' plans for that evening.

"Well Suki, you know, when it comes to the time-honored rituals of dating, we never really went out for dinner," Sokka explained with a noodle hanging from his lip, which he promptly slurped up. "So tonight we get a chance to hit that step."

"'Rituals'?" the Kyoshi Warrior quirked an eyebrow. "You make dating sound like it's so rigid with set rules. And if that's so, I think we've skipped over a few steps," she grinned, causing her boyfriend's face to turn a few bright shades of red. Immediately, he went back to shoveling up his food.

Aang laughed as he poked at the remnants of his salad dish, while Katara's eyes rolled next to him. "Personally, I don't think dating should have rules. You just go out and you have fun together," he shrugged with a smile. "That's always been my idea."

"Agreed," the Waterbender traded a warm glance with the Avatar. "So far I've always liked Aang's ideas."

"Like that's a big surprise," Sokka shook his head and pointed his chopsticks at them, the ends clicking. "Well, so long you two come back in one piece and not entirely messy, then I see no problem."

As Aang's forehead slammed onto the table with a groan at Sokka's attempt at a joke, Katara shot her brother a look. "I would say the same about you two, but we all know how likely that is to happen," she smirked, and it was Suki's turn to hide her eyes with a snort.

At the end of the table, his fuzzy face buried in a bowl of Lychee nuts, Momo as usual had nothing to add to the discussion; if he did have an opinion, it would be to wonder what humans found so flustering about the 'rituals' they spoke of.