Author's Note: Just one more and an epilogue! I like the idea that Zuko comes in and steps into a leadership role within the Gaang, and that somehow, Aang would have talked to him about Katara. Sidenote: I'm not anti-Zutara, I just think that Katara and Zuko had a beautiful friendship, more so than a potential relationship. Anywhoo, read, review, let me hear your thoughts. Did you love it? Do I use the word 'although' too much (yes)? Thank you for being here! ATLA owned by MDD and BK.

After: The Ember Island Players

After short deliberation, Aang concluded that the trouble with learning Firebending on a humid tropical island is that it is unbearably hot. He lay in the shade of a palm tree, stripped down to his trousers. Zuko stood beside him, arms crossed. He had just run Aang through an advanced set of Firebending moves, and, despite being happy with Aang's progress, Zuko felt that something was lacking.

"I'm going to have to do that again, aren't I?" Aang complained from the ground.

"I haven't decided, yet," Zuko answered. "It's not that you're doing it wrong… you're just not doing it right. You're missing something."

"That's helpful," Aang muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"I was just saying maybe we should go cool off," Aang lied quickly. "It's too hot."

"Hey guys!" Katara called from behind Zuko.

She approached them gracefully, carrying a tray filled with cups in her hands. The cups were beaded with condensation; slices of pineapple and mango hung artfully over each rim. Katara had been passing some of their time in Zuko's family's beach house by learning how to recreate the tropical drinks from the nearby market. The drinks were sold at an exorbitant price, but Katara had taken one sip and sworn she could recreate it at a fraction of the cost. She hadn't quite hit the mark yet, but Aang felt a cool drink would not be amiss. He Airbent himself up and ran to her.

"Let me help you with that," he said, reaching for the tray.

"That's okay," she answered quickly, shifting away from him before he could reach her. "I've got it."

Aang halted, surprised.

"What is this?" Zuko asked her. "We're doing a lesson right now, Katara. We don't have time for this."

"You don't have time for water?" Katara teased, handing him a drink.

Zuko rolled his eyes, but accepted it. She held out a cup to Aang, who then took a sip. It was delicious.

"Hey, this is great! What did you put in it?" Aang swirled his cup's contents around.

She didn't make eye contact. "Just some stuff we had in the house," she said evasively.

A little pang of rejection stung him.

"Trade secret?" Zuko drawled sarcastically.

"Feel free to give it back and pay a silver piece for the same thing in town," she fired back.

One corner of Zuko's lips twitched in the hint of a smile.

Aang watched this interaction, his face falling slightly. She was speaking to Zuko, even teasing him. Why wasn't she speaking to Aang? He knew he had been an idiot last night at the play, but the opportunity to fix things hadn't arisen. A small part of him had hoped that they would put it behind them.

"Katara, do you want to stay and watch this set Zuko's about to make me do?" he asked, hoping she would accept and they could move forward.

"I haven't decided if you're going to redo the set, yet," Zuko cut in.

"You're going to, you're just dragging it out," Aang answered impatiently, without looking at him.

"No, sorry," Katara replied, cheeks flushing. "I've got to get these drinks to the others before they get warm. I'll see you guys later, though." She turned on her heel and headed towards the beach, where Sokka and Suki could be heard sparring.

Zuko raised his one eyebrow. "What was that about? She always watches your sets."

Frustrated, Aang sat heavily back in the dirt. "She's avoiding me."

"That doesn't sound like her… why?"

"It's nothing," Aang grumbled.

Zuko gave him a skeptical look. "'Nothing' happened, so now she's avoiding you? That makes sense."

"It's embarrassing," Aang said, flicking a pebble away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Are you going to be able to finish the lesson if it's bothering you?"

There was an awkward pause. "No."

Zuko sat down gracefully beside him. "Then talk. You're right, you need to redo that set. My uncle always told me that emotional stability was a necessary building block in the bending disciplines. So, get it off your chest, and then we can get back to the lesson."

"Gosh, I'm glad that's all decided," Aang snapped.

"Just talk."

"There's not… there's nothing to talk about! Something awkward happened, and then I was an idiot. That's all."

"Then you should go apologize," Zuko said promptly.

Aang glared at him. "Thanks, I didn't think of that. I can shout, 'I'm sorry for kissing you' while she's running away from me, pretending she's too busy to talk to me."

"You kissed her?" Zuko exclaimed. "And she's upset about it? That's… surprising. I always got the impression she would be happy about that."

Irritation coursed through Aang. He had hoped for the same thing. "Well, she wasn't. She said she was confused."

"She was confused that you kissed her?" Zuko looked at him, perplexed.

"No, she said she was confused that- ugh, let me just… I'll just tell you the whole thing." Aang sighed. "It was at that stupid play last night. That moment where you two were in prison together in Ba Sing Se and you said-"

"We didn't actually-" Zuko broke in.

"Ok, not actually you and her- do you want me to tell this to you or not? The two actors playing you and Katara said that you had feelings for each other, and then your actor said that you thought she was the Avatar's girl, and her actor said that I was like a brother to her. Stop making that face, you're making this worse." Aang's head dropped into his hands and groaned. "She followed me out onto the balcony during the intermission and I asked her about it. Like an idiot."

"What did she say?"

"She said that she never said that, her actor said that."

Zuko gestured as if to say, 'obviously'.

Aang ignored him. "I've kissed her before. On the day of the eclipse. And then we barely spoke about it! So many things happened between the kiss and the next time we could talk about it, and then I never knew how to bring it up. I want to be with her, but when I asked her about it last night, she just told me that she didn't know. That she was feeling confused."

"And then you kissed her again," Zuko supplied.

"There was a little more conversation in there, but yea, pretty much." Aang's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "She got really mad! She left me on the balcony and we haven't talked about it since."

Zuko nodded his understanding. "She's probably just mad that you kissed her right after she said she was confused about it. That was not a good idea. There's a lot going on in the world right now. If she's not ready, she's not ready. Maybe it doesn't feel like the best time to start a relationship for her."

"Then when is the best time?"

"I don't know. That's up to both of you," Zuko said, shrugging.

Aang flung himself backwards into the dirt, bending the ground to soften his landing. "That doesn't help at all." He put his hands behind his head. "I think the worst part is that I never considered her having feelings for you until the play put that thought into my head."

"She doesn't have feelings for me," Zuko said confidently.

"How do you-"

"I just know. She cares about you, Aang. I know she does." He held up a hand when Aang started to argue. "Look, Katara is my friend now, finally. I'm not going to start ignoring her or pretending I don't like her so you don't get jealous. I care about her as a friend, but I don't have feelings for her, and she doesn't for me, either, so get that idea out of your mind." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "In Ba Sing Se, she understood how confused I was about my role in this war, and I didn't even say that out loud- but that might have been because I didn't understand it myself at the time. Anyway, she understood my confusion then, and I think I understand hers now. She's afraid. She cares about you, but you're in a complicated position."

"What do you mean?" Aang interjected, sitting up.

Zuko etched circles in the dirt. "No matter what happens next, everything is going to change. If you defeat my father, you'll be a fully realized Avatar with responsibilities and rolls and rules. She has no idea how she'll fit in to your life after this. And if you don't defeat my father, well… can't you see how she might be afraid of what comes after that? I know Katara healed you with that spirit water in Ba Sing Se, but I can't imagine you were doing too well after my sister shot you. That means she's seen and felt firsthand what it will be like if you lose… or die."

Aang propped his elbows up on a bent knee. He'd never thought about it that way. "And I tried to force her to make a decision last night." He groaned. "I really am such an idiot."

"Well, the good news is that if you defeat my father, and you love her as much as you say you do, you can spend all your time after the war making it up to her."

Aang chewed the inside of his lip. "But what if she doesn't want that? What if she's confused because she doesn't love me back? She's kindhearted, Zuko. She's probably worried about letting me down easy."

Zuko shook his head. "If she doesn't want it, she doesn't want it, but… Katara is kindhearted, until it comes to you. She threatened to kill me if I did anything to you after I joined you guys in the Western Air Temple. You don't say things like that about people you don't love."

Aang's eyes widened in surprise, but doubt still gnawed at him. "She's just protective-"

"I nearly burned Toph's feet off, and I brought her brother to a maximum security Fire Nation prison. She didn't come in issuing death threats after that."

Aang's eyes narrowed. "I thought Toph's feet was an accident."

"Of course it was!" Zuko snapped, exasperated. "That's not the point. My point is that she cares about you. She's just afraid of what comes next. So do the right thing, and apologize. You won't feel better exactly, but it'll be a start. Then just give her time. She'll figure out how she feels, and you'll be there for her when she does." He stood and dusted himself off. "Now, are you ready to redo this set?"

A few hours later, Aang found Katara scrubbing pots and pans in the kitchen of the massive beach house. Wordlessly, he went to the sink and grabbed a towel and a pot from the heavily-laden drying rack. They worked together quietly for a few minutes, while Aang worked up the courage to say what he was in his heart.

Finally, he said to her, softly, "I'm sorry about last night."

She paused: waiting, listening.

He continued. "I know you're confused. I understand why now. I should have given you the time you needed." He focused intently on his hands as he finished drying the pot, so that he didn't have to see the look on her face as she turned to him. "You mean so much to me, Katara. I care about you more than anyone in the world. If you need time, it's yours. And when you're ready, if you decide that you want this… that you want me, then I'll be there, waiting."

Gently, he slid another pan from the rack and started drying it, avoiding her eyes. His heart was pounding, but in the back of his mind, he had to admit Zuko had been right. He didn't precisely feel better, but he certainly felt relieved. He set the dried pan on the countertop nearby, looking for a home for it, when he felt Katara's soft hand on his.

"Thank you," she whispered. She pulled him close, their foreheads touching, and he saw her eyes close.

When they pulled away, Aang rubbed the back of his head nervously, conscious of the awkward atmosphere that followed his apology. "I can leave you alone if you want…" he said slowly.

Katara smiled shyly. "And leave me here with all these dishes?" She bent the soapy sink water at him, splashing his robes. "I don't think so."

He laughed and twisted his hand in front of him, pulling the water from his wet clothes. "Okay, I'll help, but an Airbender never uses a dish towel." He placed his fists against each other in front of his chest, forcing air toward the nearly full drying rack.

"Aang, wait!"

The clatter of spilled dishes could be heard from the other side of the house.