Katara was restless.

It had only been twenty minutes since Aang had excused himself so abruptly from breakfast. It had only been ten since Chief Arnook came looking for Zuko. The rest of them finished their food and dispersed for the time being.

Katara was currently in the stable with Appa. She was petting his nose fondly and trying to distract herself from hunt down Aang. He had asked her from some alone time, and she had promised herself that she'd give it to him. But it was harder than she thought.

He needs space. You know he does, or else you will overwhelm him. You're going to drive him away or drive him crazy. You'll make him think you're crazy…

Well, I might be a little, but I don't want him to know that.

Don't do it.

She wanted to though. She wanted to race down every hall until she found him. To be honest, the only reason she was in the stable right now was because she thought Aang might seek solace there. She hoped they'd casually bump into each other and finally have that talk that they so badly needed to have.

She needed to make sure that he knew that she had changed her mind. She wanted to marry him. Then, she needed to make sure that he still wants to marry her. The look in his eyes when Tenzin had asked made her anxious.

Once they talked, everything would be fine.

Even more honestly, she had come out here driven by the urge to see him again, to hear his voice again, to make him smile and laugh again, and to feel his arms around her again. She craved it like a drug. She felt cheated, like she had only been given enough to restart her addiction. Now, she was going though withdrawal.

When she arrived, he wasn't there. Just Appa. Now, it was her and Appa, all by their lonesome. One content and one restless. Aang was somewhere else right now…

Stop acting like a lunatic!

Katara squeezed her eyes shut and took a long, deep breath. She leaned her forehead against Appa's fur. The giant bison was happily dozing now, happy with the mere thought that Aang was somewhere. It didn't matter where. Katara envied him.

"How do you do it?" She asked him.

Appa just grunted in response.

"How can you be so nonchalant and not care where he is? Don't you want to fly off and find him?"

Again, Appa just grunted and closed his eyes once more. Katara got the feeling that Appa was finding her amusing.

What was there to worry about? Aang existed again, and there was no longer a Koh to steal anyone's faces. He was safe. She just needed to calm down.

But she couldn't. The last time she had left him, he woke up without her. She had been so ignorant and left his side in a fit. After everything she had gone through to bring him back here, he waited for her to leave before he woke up. The irony made her laugh. She waited five, long years for him, and he couldn't hang on for one more hour.

Having him out of her sight was killing her. It had been maybe thirty minutes, and she was a nervous wreck. She knew she was being irrational. It's not like he could just vanish without Appa or his glider… well, he had done it before… twice.

Ugh! Thinking like that was not going to help her. She was beginning to see how traumatized she was from his sudden disappearance all those years ago. She didn't trust him to not vanish into thin air again. It wasn't his fault, but she was still scared.

She didn't have nearly enough time with him earlier. She wanted to comfort him, and she wanted him to comfort her. It didn't seem real or possible that he was there. Maybe it was too good to be true. Maybe it was just another trick the universe was playing on her.

Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought that the universe could take him away at any moment.

Do not run off looking for him! He's fine. You're fine. Give him space!

She knew she was being crazy, and she really needed to get a grip. Everything was fine. There's no need to get so worked up.

Appa snorted beside her as if he could read her mind.

"Hey!" She frowned. "Don't make fun of me. You don't know what I had to do to get him back here. I can be paranoid if I want to!"

If Aang could see her right now, he'd run so far away from the North Pole. He'd think she had lost her mind. Was she on the brink of a panic attack?

What did he think of her now in general? If she were to hunt him down, would he be glad, or would he wish that she would have left him alone for a few more minutes? Wherever he was, he would be in a deep meditation. That's good, he needed it. She could sense how tense he was at breakfast. He'd certainly feel better after some quiet, soothing, mediation. She didn't want to disturb that.

Then, her mind wondered to the whole marriage subject. How would she bring that up? Would she tell him that she carried his necklace in her pocket for five years? Would she tell him that she wore it sometimes when she really missed him? When she did, would they erupt into happiness and laughter and kissed.

No, that was too idealistic. She was actually dreading that conversation. She didn't know what to tell him about her first response… She would have to explain that. She would have to beg Aang for forgiveness. She wished that she could turn back time and redo it all or erase it from both of their minds.

But it happened. She needed to acknowledge it or else it would haunt their relationship forever. It'd be easier to get it out of the way, no matter how hard it was.

She had no idea what she would say. I was scared and confused and selfish and a coward…

But I changed my mind as soon as Appa was in the air. I watched you fly away. I wanted to say yes, but you never came back.

But now that you're here again, I can finally tell you that I want to marry you, if you'll have me. I want to just be with you and love you as much as I want. I can't wait to start my life with you and be Tenzin's parents with you. Maybe even have more babies with you if you want. We could have as many as you want, and we can go on adventures on Appa… and just be together. Always.

That's what I want more than anything. I've waited five years. If you want to, I think we should.

Yes! That mixed with the necklace confession would surely make him feel better.

Katara groaned to herself. This wasn't going to be easy. Maybe she should have written it down or something.

Katara turned away from the bison only to be hit in the face with a snowball. Tenzin's laugh filled the stable. She'd hadn't even heard him enter. Katara waterbended the snow off of her in shock. Then, she smirked at Tenzin. "I know you did not just do that!"

He giggled. "I really got you!"

"Oh, boy," she shook her head and grinned at him as she assumed a fighting stance. "You should know better than to pick a fight with a master waterbender." Her hands raised above her head, and dozens of snowballs pelted the little boy. "You better run, air-boy!" She mocked him.

With a shrieked, Tenzin took off running. He left little air tornadoes in his wake, and Katara followed him tossing snowballs in his direction. She didn't want to hit him, she just wanted to have a little fun. Meanwhile, Tenzin was screaming his head off like someone was trying to murder him. He had been on the wrong side of his mother's wraith before, and he knew a whopping might be in his near future.

His screams drew the attention of a few healers, but they quickly realized it was all fun and games.

"Hold still!" Katara laughed and tried her best to hit him. He was fast, and he dodged all of her attacks with ease.

"Never!"

At last, Katara rolled her arms skillfully back and dropped a massive wall of snow in Tenzin's path. He didn't have time to stop or slow down, so he crashed right into it. He popped out the other side still covered in snow.

Katara melted the snow. "Ha!" she laughed. "See? That's why you should never pick a snowball fightwith a waterbender. Even Zuko had to learn that lesson."

"I'm all wet!" Tenzin complained with a shiver.

"My poor baby!" She mocked him but waved her hand to make every drop of water spring off of him. She ruffled his hair and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

Tenzin let out a long sigh. "I wish Daddy was here to play with us."

At the thought of Aang, her heart sped up. "Me too."

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know, but don't bother him yet, Sweetie. I think he needs some time to himself."

"Well, he told me earlier that he wanted to watch me airbend after breakfast, and he was going to take us to see that big wall."

"I know, Tenzin, and you will. We'll have plenty of time to do those things later. It's only been a few hours since he woke up. You're going to have to be patient with him."

Disappointment filled Tenzin's eyes for a few seconds, then they lit up again. "I made a new trick. Ursa thought it was funny, but I still wanted o to show it to Daddy. Wanna see it?"

Katara grinned. "Yes."

"Okay, you should stand back," he took a few steps away from her and spread out his arms. His expression was serious. He sucked in all the air he could, and then he held it in. His cheeks were turning red, and his eyes were wide with effort. He began to grunt and seek, but he did not release the air.

Katara was standing a good distance away, but she began to feel anxious at how long he was holding his breath. He was going to pass out if he didn't stop. She stepped forward to tell him.

Then, he released all the air in a massive explosion. He shot off the ground and into the air hundreds of feet up. Katara was forced back and had to shield herself from the blowing snow. It felt like a blizzard.

Tenzin did a flip in the air before fluttering back down lightly. On the ground again, he giggled breathlessly. "Did you see it, Momma?"

Katara blew a few strands of her tousled hair out of her face and said, "I don't see how I could have missed it."

"It was cool, right?"

"Yes, sweetie, but be careful next time. You might crash into something and don't hold your breath for that long. You'll get sick."

"But it was cool, right?" He insisted.

Katara rolled her eyes and scoped him up in her arms. He planted a kiss on his cheek. "Yes, it was so cool!"

Tenzin squirmed in her arms until she let him go. "Do you think Daddy will like it?"

"I'm sure he'll love it."

"Has it been long enough yet? Can we go find him yet?"

Katara wanted nothing more that to go find him. It had been quiet a while… but was it long enough? She knew she should keep waiting, but even Tenzin wanted to find him. How could she refuse?

"Sure," she smiled at her son. "Let's go find him."

"Yay!" Tenzin cheered and speed off in the direction of the healing house.

"Hey! Slow down. Come back here!"

Tenzin frowned and doubled back to her.

"If he still needs time when we find him, then we are going to have to let him have more time. Do you understand?" She told him in a stern voice.

"Fine."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, yeah. Come on already," he took her hand and dragged her behind him. They sped through the healing house and every hall that connected it to the dining hall. Katara struggled to keep up her son's pace and was reminded of when Yue led her Spirit World. She was filled with dreadful memories and had to push them aside. She hadn't though of the PTSD she would go through. Maybe talking with Aang would make her feel better.

Her small hurricane of a son was getting impatient with her slowness. "Daddy!" he shouted as he ran. "Where are you?"

Katara shushed him and insisted that he slow down. The more they looked and the less they found Aang, the more worried she became. Where was he? Why couldn't they find him? He shouldn't be this hard to find. She was beginning to panic. Had he gone to the city? No, why would he do that? He wanted to be alone, not among strangers.

"Aang!" Katara's own voice rang out as she scanned every corner and into every doorway.

No, no, no…

This was just like she feared. Her paranoia was coming true. He was gone after she let him out of her sight.

When her and Tenzin made a complete circle, they slowed to a halt. "Where is he?" Tenzin asked her.

Katara was still trying to catch her breath and slow her heart. She couldn't reply to his question, not when her own thoughts were running wild.

"Hey," Suki's voice filled the air behind them. "You guys looking for Aang?"

Katara looked at her with frantic eyes. "Yes! Where is he?" Her voice was high pitched.

"Whoa, Katara. Calm down. He's at the prison."

"The prison?" That didn't make her feel any calmer. "Why?"

"I assume it has something to do with Azula. She tried to escape this morning."

Katara's heart skipped a beat. She tries to escape the same morning the Avatar wakes up. This didn't sound good. "Why didn't he tell me?"

Suki looked at Katara in wonder. Her expression was amused. "I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that's where he is. They're all over there. I sent to find Toph, so she could be there too."

Her words soothed Katara's nerves a bit, but she could still feel herself trembling. She took a deep breath. He was with the others. There's no need to panic. It was fine.

"What's happening there?"

"I think they want Aang to take away her bending."

"What?" Katara shrieked. Her panic was back. "He just woke up. Is he even strong enough to do that?"

"Katara, Aang won't do anything he doesn't want to do. He knows his limits."

"I-I think I'm gonna take Appa over there now. I need to know what's going on." She didn't wait for a reply. He grabbed Tenzin's hand and took off.

Sh burst through the stable doors and climbed onto Appa as fast as he could. She situated herself onto his head with Tenzin seated in front of her. She tried not to think about her ride on Hei Bai with Aang. It felt a lot like this.

"Yip yip," she cried in an attempted to push away the unwanted visions. Appa flapped his tail and rose into the air.

The prison was on the other side of the town. It would have been a several minutes long walk. As soon as they were in the air, she looked down and saw Toph feeling her was along an icy canal. Despite her anxiousness to get there, Katara couldn't let her friend try to navigate the snow-covered streets on her own.

So, Katara hastily brough Appa down. "Toph!" She shouted still on Appa. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, Katara!" Toph yelled into the air. She had no idea where the girl was, but she recognized the voice. "I'm headed to the prison. I heard they're taking care of Azula."

"Toph! Are you not wearing shoes?" Katara asked her sternly.

"Oh, right. I usually do, but I didn't think I could find the prison with them on." Toph shrugged.

With an aggrieved sigh, Katara rubbed her forehead. "I'm on Appa. We're going to the prison too, but you really should have worn shoes."

"I can't see with them on," she protested like a child.

"You can't see anything anyways. There's no dirt!" Katara sighed again. "We don't have time to go back, so I guess you're in luck," Katara told her as she steered Appa to get close to the canal. Luckily, Toph was on the highest canal in the city. Appa could easily fit underneath it. "Here, jump over the side."

Toph did as she was told and took a leap of faith. She crashed onto the Appa's saddle, and Tenzin helped her sit upright. "Are you okay, Auntie Toph?"

"I'm fine, Twinkle Toes, Jr. There's just a meeting that I don't want to miss."

Katara rolled her eyes at the girl's stubbornness. "Don't make me have to save your feet."

Toph grunted in response and rubbed her frozen toes.

After many minutes, Chief Arnook, Zuko, Sokka, and Aang arrived at the prison. Several waterbenders guarded the entrance. They were standing alert and looking more tense than usual.

Aang was the first to enter the chamber, and he was struck with wonder. Like everything else in the North Pole, the prison was immaculate. The prison itself was settled into a large rock, but the floor was a hefty layer of snow. Undoubtedly, there was earth down there, to stop prisoners from escaping. Each cell had thick ice walls with thick bars for windows. It would take even a skilled firebender many minutes to melt their way out. Not to mention the cold would hinder their skills as well.

"Avatar Aang, I know this is sudden, but Firelord Zuko promised that Azula would not be a hustle. Since they arrived with her, she has fought and insulted my guards and almost killed one of your friends. She must be dealt with or removed from the North Pole immediately." Aang cringed at the Chief's words.

He didn't know what to say. He didn't know the full extent to Azula's crimes. He only knew what Sokka had told him. He looked to Zuko for help.

"Chief Arnook, with all due respect, Azula is our problem. We have begun the process to have her tried in the Fire Nation. Please, don't concern yourself with her," Zuko told the man carefully. Just a few more hours, and they could be on the Fire Nation ship that docked a few days ago.

"I shouldn't, but I must. As long as she is here, she is a threat to my people. I can't just ignore what happens in her cell. I can't wait for her to be successful and kill a handful of my people," The Chief sighed and frowned.

"You're right," Zuko admitted. "I have a Fire Navy ship in the harbor. I was just waiting until Avatar Aang was awake before we left."

"Well," Chief Arnook glanced at Aang. "I can see that he is now awake."

Zuko was about to reply when there was a sudden gush of wind at the entrance of the prison. An animal grunted and was followed by two female voices bickering. Every in the chamber listened carefully.

"Hey! Wait! Don't do anything yet!" Toph's voice exploded into the chambers. She appeared inside, without any shoes on. Katara was following closely behing. Toph tripped and reached back for Katara. As she did, her hand accidentally smacked Katara's neck.

"Ow! Toph, quit it!" Katara swatted away her hand with a scowl. She took hold of Toph's shoulders and steered her in the right direction. Tenzin held onto the bottom of Katara's coat with a shy look on his face.

"Thanks," Toph said before walking towards the others. She stumbled ungracefully towards then and walked right into Sokka.

"Hey!" He exclaimed and stopped the girl from trampling him.

"Oh, its just you, Sokka. Can you help me? I'm having some sight issues."

Sokka sighed and turned her towards Zuko. "This is Zuko." He lifted her arm and it smacked him in the face.

"Watch it!" Zuko grunted at her.

"Here's Aang." He turned her shoulders a bit. Toph reached up to touch his face, but he was too far away.

"I'm here, Toph," Aang answered quickly, hoping to avoid getting his eyes poked out.

Sokka turned her one more time towards the Chief. "There's Chief Arnook."

"Hello, Chief. Nice to see you again," she said quietly, feeling suddenly embarrassed for interrupting. She didn't even try to touch him.

Meanwhile, Katara and Tenzin walked silently across the chamber to stand beside Aang. She took his hand and crushed it into hers. He gave her a curious look, but they both remained silent.

"As we were discussing," Chief Arnook tried to get them back on track. "Firelord Zuko, what is your plan?"

Zuko gave Aang a sympathetic look. "My original plan was to have Aang take her bending before we left to eliminate her as a threat, but now I see that there is also a flaw with that plan. She is a skilled fighter."

"Avatar Aang, do you have any thoughts?"

Aang could feel everyone's eyes look at him. "Um, I'm not sure. You see, I only used energybending as a last resort when I fought Firelord Ozai. Even then, I was almost overpowered by his energy. I almost lost the battle. I'm afraid, given my current state, Azula's energy may defeat mine."

"Aang, I never knew that," Zuko could feel his panic rising. He didn't have another plan.

"What is your back up plan, Firelord?" Chief Arnook was not satisfied with either comment.

Zuko was frustrated with the nosy, old man. "Uncle and I discussed this. We had extra guards sent on the ship so we would have many eyes on her at all times. If we kept her in the metal garments, she would not be able to firebend. We'd be on the open water for a few days. Could we borrow some of your benders to accompany us?"

"Absolutely. I'll do anything to get her out of my city." Chief Arnook replied with spite in his voice. He didn't even bother to hide his distaste of her.

Sokka, the Chief, and Zuko launched into making plans for their departure.

Aang took Katara and Tenzin aside. He could fell her radiating with agitation. "Hey, what's wrong?"

He eyes were pained, and they flickered with doubt. "Nothing. It's nothing."

He frowned at her lie. "Katara, you seem like there's a lot on your mind."

"It's fine," she sighed. "It's stupid and doesn't really matter. I'm fine now."

"Are you made at me or something?" He couldn't imagine why, but it seemed like she was.

She didn't respond at first. A thousand things went through her mind. In her silence, a thousand things ran through his mind. His heart was slowly shattering again. Was this the end? Already? He wasn't expecting it to happen so fast.

Finally, she said, "Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" Her voice was strained, and her eyes were full of hurt.

Her question took him by surprise. "Oh, um, I'm sorry," he was baffled. "We left in a hurry… and I didn't really have time to… I didn't think it was a big deal. We didn't go very far…" He tried to comfort her, but he couldn't find the words. He had no idea that shed actually care so much. He didn't even think to tell her.

"No, I'm sorry. It's not that big of a deal. I'm not mad at you or anything. You didn't do anything wrong…" she trailed off and felt silly. "I'm sorry… its just… this is really hard for me because I went through a lot to get you back here, and you disappeared without warning. It's scary, you know?"

The more she talked, the more puzzled he became.

She gave him a sad look. "It's completely my problem, and I overreached. I'm still a little paranoid," she pleaded with him to understand. "The last five years have been hard on me, and the last few days have been even harder. It may take some time for some things to go back to normal for me… so, keep that in mind, okay?"

He stared at her with knotted brows. He was mystified and mildly frustrated, but he did understand. He knew that the Spirt World could be cruel, and he felt a little guilty for not thinking about it. He couldn't imagine the pain she felt.

But still, it wasn't like he had left the city or anything. He was only gone for a few minutes, and he wasn't alone. He had been with Sokka and Zuko the entire time. He didn't need a babysitter anyways. He was the Avatar. People needed him now more than ever. She couldn't expect to monitor his every move like a child. She couldn't always be informed about every little thing he did. It just wasn't reasonable, and she never needed it before.

He could feel his headache returning. His heart gnawed at him, and he felt claustrophobic. He hated that she thought of him as helpless. What did she want from him? Who did she think he was? Who was she? Did the know each other at all anymore? Were they destined to fall apart again?

He shook his head to clear his mind and shoved all of his feelings down. He tried to smile at her but couldn't, so he just closed his eyes and nodded at the ground. "Yeah, okay. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, to his annoyance, she burst into a fit of quiet giggles.

He frowned at her, "What?"

"Sorry," she muttered as she covered her mouth to conceal a smile. "You just- you looked so cranky for a second. Tenzin makes the exact same face."

He just stared at her because he wasn't sure how to react. She was comparing his troubled thoughts to a five-year-olds tantrums… He was humiliated and delighted at the same time.

"Oh, Aang, I'm sorry," she sighed as she got her giggles under control. "I didn't mean to upset you. Its not a big deal. In fact, I wasn't going to say anything about it at all. I guess it's probably better that you know how I feel about all of this now. Please, don't be upset." Katara stepped towards him and put her arms around him, her head resting on her shoulder.

The gesture was so sudden, and it took him by surprise. His heart began to race, and his arms went around her instinctively. His eyes closed and his breath was labored. He was trying to not scream or let the panic flood his thoughts.

"I care about you, that's all," she whispered. "You know that, right?"

Did he? Well, yes. It was obvious. Yet, he still had doubts about who she cared about. Who did she think he was? Did she have an over exaggerated version of him in her mind? When would it hit her that he wasn't the same?

Would she still want and care about him then?

How much longer did they have?

Every inch of him ached, and he held her tighter. It hurt how much he loved her, but he knew it wouldn't last. "I know, Katara."

"Good," she sighed. She leaned back and gave him a smile. "Now, I was hoping that we could talk, um, about a few things."

Before he could reply, Zuko interrupted them. "Aang, Katara…" His tone was unhappy, and his face was full of worry and embarrassment. He stood a few feet away from them. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt."

"No, its fine. Don't worry about it," Aang and Katara said simultaneously. They blushed at their in-sync thoughts.

Zuko still felt awkward, like he had intruded on a private conversation. "Um, well since almost everyone is here, I think it would be a good time to talk about the whole Azula conversations. More importantly, how we're going to leave here."

"Oh," Aang blinked, thrown off a little. He expected that they would leave, but he didn't think it would be so soon. He had only been awake for a few hours, and everyone still wanted to talk to him. "That sounds like a good idea. We'll be there in a second."

Katara felt uneasy at the mention of leaving the North Pole with Azula. She had almost forgotten Zuko's entire plan. It made her stomach knot with worry. She shot Zuko a look that explained her uneasiness. He met her gaze but didn't seem to understand.

Meanwhile, Aang saw their exchange and didn't understand it either. He figured it was because Zuko had interrupted their talk. He didn't know what to do. Should he talk with Zuko or Katara first? Who could explain everything to him better?

"Yeah, lets get this over with," Katara huffed.

For a second, Aang thought she was mad at him again, but she flashed him a small smile.