A/N: To address some general review themes: our last chapter will be the height of Aang's irrationality and asshole-ness. We'll be getting some self-reflection here :) Also - one thing I want to clarify, Aang and On Ji are not dating officially. I'm going with the sort of quasi relationship that a lot of people in college have for a few months before making it official, so technically he wasn't cheating. BUT, a line was definitely crossed that shouldn't have been given that he had brought her on the trip. Hooray for relationships with grey areas. I have to say, you guys were super split about Aang's reaction, some were all about it and others thought he was being an ass. Hopefully, I will appease both types of readers today!

Aang never returned to his room that night. Instead, drained of emotions, he hiked to a rocky part of the shore. Finding a rock high enough to be out of the rising surf, he dropped into Lotus position and began to meditate.

Monk Gyatso had warned him that his time at college would challenge him spiritually and emotionally. Other airbenders were few and far between, at least for any long stretch of time, in Ba Sing Se. Of course, he had faced various feelings at the Southern Air Temple, but being distanced from his community was harder than he imagined. He knew what to expect from other people because they were all raised on the same values. In Ba Sing Se people were so different. He loved those differences, he did. But it could be unsettling and often took him away from the ideals he so cherished. With his people, he had been taught to meditate for hours, days, even. He hadn't meditated since the beginning of their journey to Ember Island.

Thoughts of On Ji arose. He breathed in deeply, steadied himself. In the space of meditation, he could see what he had been denying. He couldn't imagine a future with someone who didn't fundamentally understand him. The real him. Not the Avatar. Someone who didn't like the attention his title brought him. The proud monk.

It wasn't that anything was wrong with On Ji. In fact, she was probably one of the nicest and genuine people he'd met so far after leaving the air temple. But with his mind clearing and the fog of the past week left, it was obvious to him that their connection wasn't as deep as he'd been telling himself it was. He didn't even know all that much about her. There was a difference between people that were great to hang out with, and those to actually build something with.

The shame of his conversation with Katara moved through his stomach like an unending smoke. It swirled around his mind, the words he had said, the things he had done. It wasn't Katara's fault that he had kissed her out of nowhere and ran away. It wasn't her fault he never talked to her about his feelings. Nor was it her fault that he had buried his feelings for her so deeply, using On Ji as a shield. Aang knew that he had laid the groundwork for their current predicament by avoiding that conversation and trying to deny his feelings. He looked at it all, faced it, and let it pass.

His thoughts continued to rise and fall away, in and out like the waves just below him. His life had certainly shifted. The semester had brought new people and his role as the Avatar to the forefront. But this, going back to his roots as an Air Nomad, began to shift him back into balance. He knew this needed to be a priority going forward.

By the time the sun came over the horizon, he was back and level with himself again. He knew what he needed to do. When he made it back to the beach house, preparations to leave were already being made. Sokka and Suki were packing up the remaining alcohol that could be salvaged into some padding for the ride. Various servants, presumably the Fire Lord's, busied themselves around the house to turn it down while Zuko directed them. Toph sat with Satoru on the couch, Aang heard something about mechanics. On Ji and Mai were sipping tea at the table. They waved as he walked in. Where was Katara?

Momo chittered away and ran around Aang's shoulders. He scratched him behind the ears. "Maybe you know where Katara is?" Momo seemed to respond in the affirmative and bounded up to the bedrooms of the beach house, where Aang found Katara packing up her things. She looked tired. She felt it. After picking herself off the beach the previous night, she had laid in bed awake nearly the entire night. A murder podcast the only thing that lightened her spirits and helped her fall asleep. For once, she didn't want to see Aang.

He leaned up against the doorframe as Momo ran up to Katara. "Hey, Katara," he said softly.

She didn't look up and sighed. "Hey, Aang." The silence weighed on them both.

Aang moved into the room and began folding some of the clothes laid out on her bed. He knew their routine, and she felt impressed as always. "Look, I'm really sorry for last night. For the last few months, really. I haven't been myself."

She hummed lightly. "Yeah, you haven't." She wouldn't look up, her hands working quickly to put her makeup in its bag. Katara was feeling a little embarrassed. She had, kind of jumped him, the night prior. At the same time, he had fully participated. He had even initiated. She felt equal parts angry and ashamed.

Aang almost grabbed her hands to stop her anxious packing but hesitated. "Katara, please look at me."

She sighed and zipped the bag shut, placing it on the counter. Katara steeled herself before looking up at him. "Well?"

His face had an expression she hadn't really seen before. His mouth pulled into a tight line and he looked askance. "Last night was on me, Katara. I shouldn't have blamed you. You have the right to feel however you want to feel, on whatever timeline you want. I shouldn't have run away, either time. I should have stayed and talked to you and that's why we're in this mess now."

Her face softened and she shook her head. "I pretended like it never happened. I should have said something." She snorted. "I really didn't expect you to kiss me. That play was awful."

Aang laughed, remembering the student production that barely seemed to be off-book. "Okay, okay, it was bad… but I liked sitting next to you." Blushing, Katara looked away. How could he make her feel totally different with just a few words?

"Hey!" yelled Sokka from below. "What the hell are you doing up there? We have a schedule for a reason! Get moving!"

They smiled at each other. Momo jumped back and forth between them affectionately, feeling the tension in the room disappear. Aang began putting her clothes in her bag. "Look. On Ji and I… it's not going anywhere. I'm going to end it when we get back to the city." Katara looked up at him in surprise as she stopped zipping her bag up. "If you want this… I'm yours. And we'll do it however you need."

Katara opened her mouth to reply but Aang pushed his hand over her lips. "Don't answer now!" He laughed at her wide eyes. "Just...think about it. And if not, we'll be okay."

It had been a few hours of flying. Everyone was tired, if not a little hungover. Aang patted Appa's head. He was carrying a lot of people. Toph had declared that Satoru would be coming back with them, and Aang wasn't one to argue with his earthbending sifu. On Ji knew something was up when Aang got back to the beach house in the morning, but nonetheless, she thought she would join him on Appa's head. They shared some pleasant conversations as the hours went by. Things were still easy with On Ji, and he prayed that she wouldn't be too upset.

"What the hell is that?"

Everyone looked at Sokka, then out to where his gaze was. The horizon was filled with plumes of black smoke to their left. It was far, but it was the Earth Kingdom mainland.

Aang looked at Sokka, his eyes confirming what he already guessed, then at Katara, who just nodded lightly. They needed to help if they could. He gripped the reins, turning to On Ji. "Get in the back of the saddle until we know what's going on." She was surprised by his serious tone but obliged without protest. "Appa, yip yip."

At Appa's quickened pace, the source of the fire started to emerge. Suki was the first to recover from her shock. "Zuko, what is going on here?"

Zuko was just as surprised as the rest of them, unfortunately, as fireballs were launched into Earth Kingdom towns miles ahead of them from Fire Nation boats. It was painfully obvious that the fields were burning. "I… I don't know. Mai?"

She shook her head, eyes narrowed as she watched the carnage. "Are they headed to Omashu?"

"I don't think so," Suki said, surveying the land. "We're further north, right Aang?"

He turned back towards the group in affirmation, eyes filled with dread. "I took us around a storm earlier."

On Ji was upset, annoying Mai next to her. "How could they do this?"

Satoru leaned over the edge of the saddle, trying to get a better look at the machines sitting atop the forward boats. "I think… these are the machines we designed… Toph, the Mechanist and I sold those designs to Earthen Industries."

Toph's eyes widened. "My father probably made them and sold them to the highest bidder."

Sokka whipped around to Satoru's face. "If you made them, then you know how to break them." He pulled out a scroll for Satoru to draw on, a plan already forming in his head.

Aang breathed a slow, steady breath. He didn't know why the Fire Nation ships were attacking the Earth Kingdom, but he knew it was his duty to get to the bottom of it. He wasn't a fully realized Avatar, but attacks between nations? Probably fell under his purview whether he was ready or not. No time like the present, he thought bitterly. He waited until the ships were clearly in view, careful to keep Appa out of range. The roar of the fires and faint yelling started reaching their ears. "Katara? I need you to take Appa." He trusted her the most.

Katara joined him on Appa's head and took the reins from his hand. "What are we doing?"

He crouched next to her, a mischievous look in his eye she didn't like. "Get On Ji and Satoru out of harm's way, let Sokka and whoever disable the machines, but you need to help the villagers." Aang tried to push the sound of people below yelling and running out of his mind. "You need to put the fires out."

Katara nodded, already looking down for a plan of action. "Wait, but what about you?"

Aang didn't say anything but reached out to pinch her cheek lightly. She scrunched her brows, turning a light pink as his touch. Instead of answering he stood, smiled, and let himself fall backward off of Appa.

When Aang opened his glider, he soared straight towards the biggest ship. He took his time though, making sure to survey everything he could. His sudden appearance on the main deck shocked the firebenders, who immediately threw fire fists in his direction. Thanks to his training with Zuko, it was easy to bat them away. He heard their surprise and mutterings about an air nomad who could firebend. It couldn't be the Avatar? Wasn't he still in college?

"Bring me whoever is in charge," Aang demanded, surprised by the steadiness in his own voice. The soldiers all froze, but luckily for Aang, the commander had already come out onto the deck after seeing the commotion.

"I'm Admiral Chan, what's going on here?" Admiral Chan stood tall, proud even. It only bothered Aang more.

He stared straight at him, his staff in front of him, hoping to look any measure of intimidating despite barely being 21. "I'm the Avatar. You need to turn your ships around immediately."

"The Avatar? Well, oh mighty Avatar," he said sarcastically, his soldiers snickering. "We're on order from Fire Lord Ozai to share our greatness with the world. Who are you to stand in the way of greatness?"

He clenched his jaw. "Please. Turn back now, you're hurting people. I don't want to fight you."

Admiral Chan looked determined, a little excited even. "A fight? Works for me." He pushed a column of fire towards Aang, who sidestepped it easily, and seeing Appa overhead, made a jump for it.

Katara had screamed for a moment as Aang fell, catching her breath with a curse when she saw his glider snap open. "That idiot!" She knew why he'd done it: she wouldn't have let him go alone. It annoyed her to no end when he pulled things like this. She'd have to think about it later, spotting a high cliffside where she could drop off On Ji and Satoru.

The two non-benders - non-fighters, for Suki's sake - had a perfect view of everything unfolding below them. They watched as Katara brought Appa down briefly to drop everyone on the shore before pulling back up. She stood on Appa's saddle, pulling huge swaths of water up into the air to rain back down on the fields and homes, going back and forth again and again. Hot steam began to cloud their view of the towns.

By now, the lead ships with the mecha-tanks had landed, so Sokka and Toph went from tank to tank, taking them down from the inside out with his plans and her metalbending. The other three guarded them, pushing back firebenders left and right.

On Ji sucked in a breath. She and Satoru just had to sit and watch their friends take on a small army. Satoru nudged On Ji, pointing towards the flash of orange that was Aang's glider. He closed it just as Appa swooped underneath him, Katara holding her arm up to meet his.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Aang?" Katara said, swatting his arm as he hit the saddle with a thud.

Normally this would have made Aang laugh, but his expression was dark. "I'm sorry. It didn't go well. We need to stop these ships."

Aang and Katara landed on the beach, sending Appa back into the sky. He pulled an earthen tent around their friends, momentarily stopping their clash with firebending soldiers. They filled everyone in on his confrontation with Admiral Chan.

"Should we just evacuate the towns? Make sure everyone is safe?" Katara asked, surveying the group. Though she had gotten most of the fires out, the cries of the townspeople were still loud and present. The trebuchets were still launching.

Sokka shook his head. "I don't think so. We don't have much time and these towns are huge."

Zuko was distraught, not wanting to fight his own countrymen. He didn't know why they were invading, and he was literally the Fire Prince. "If what Chan said was true, my father wouldn't want them to stop at these villages anyway. They'd just be running."

"Okay, so what do we do, then, Sparky?" Toph picked at her nails, full of oil from the machines.

"We can't fight them all, we're outnumbered and it's about to get worse," Suki said, flinching as the walls around them shook.

Sokka tapped his chin. "Maybe we don't have to. What if we build a wall?"

Everyone looked at him blankly.

"It wouldn't hold them off forever, but maybe enough to give us time to get help. The Earth King, maybe?"

Zuko groaned in frustration. "We aren't carpenters, Sokka!"

Sokka shook his hands. "No, of course not, but you are benders. Zuko, it takes a while to melt ice with firebending, right?"

Zuko nodded doubtfully. "You want them to build an ice wall in the next 10 minutes?"

He shrugged. "Anyone else got a better idea?"

As soon as they pulled the earthen tent back down, it was back on. Surrounded by soldiers, they had to fight their way out. Though newer additions to the Gaang, Mai and Zuko fell in with them easily, all only aiming to incapacitate their opponents, either due to nonviolent ideologies or fear of hurting their own people.

Frustrated with their progress towards shore as the rest of the ships were ever approaching, Aang blew back a swath of soldiers to clear the way with one big sweep of his staff. From above, both On Ji and Satoru gasped as Aang and Toph were able to send them back from them with large earth columns, allowing them to run towards the shoreline. They watched as Katara and Aang pushed and pulled the water, sending some of the ships slowly moving back out towards the sea.

It wasn't fast enough, though. As Aang and Katara brought up sheets of ice, trying to build on them, the ships sent flaming rocks, making them shatter. Suki held a war fan in front of her face to avoid the falling shards.

"This isn't working, Aang!" Katara cried, shielding her eyes from another broken ice wall. He looked around, trying to survey the situation.

In good news, the firebenders seemed to have left the village alone. In bad news, they were now attacking them. And though they were arguably one of the best fighting forces in the world, the addition of troops from the rest of the ships would be overwhelming if they landed. He started breathing heavily. There wasn't room or time for Appa to rescue them. Not only would the villages be destroyed by the Fire Nation, but his friends would too.

Aang's panicked thoughts would be the beginning of the end, because as his back turned to look around, Sokka was knocked back. Katara turned to rescue him and was hit with a fire fist to the back. She hit the ground hard but flipped over with a water whip. Toph sent the attacking fire bender flying, but he grabbed Katara at the last second, sending them both into the air. And worse, Admiral Chan's lead ship hit the beach, right in the middle of them all. They were separated.

Aang blew a firebender back that had just nailed Suki in the shoulder, only to narrowly avoid a plume of fire from another. He heard Zuko curse to his left, Katara cry out on the other side of the ship. Admiral Chan walked out casually on the bow, a big smile on his face, before enveloping the huts by the docks in flames.

Aang had been in the Avatar State before, of course. He tried to avoid it as much as possible, afraid of losing control or hurting people. But seeing that fire, hearing his friends hurt, and feeling his back against the metaphorical wall, he let it wash over him.

Katara knew what was happening almost immediately when the wind picked up, even though she couldn't see him. In the Avatar State, the elements pulled to Aang like magnetism and swirled around him. She fought her way through the wind, trying to get to him. "Aang!" she yelled uselessly over the noise of the earth rumbling and wind whipping around them.

With a stomp, he sent firebenders on land up to their noses into the earth, earning an appreciative nod from his earthbending Sifu. Aang rose into the air and turned on Admiral Chan. "Turn back, now." His voices echoed throughout the valley of the town.

Though the chorus of Aang's past lives' voices made him falter, Admiral Chan balled his fists at his sides. "I'm not turning back." He sent a stream of fire towards Aang, but they just incorporated into his floating sphere with a quick wave of his hands.

"Katara!" Sokka screamed over the wind. He had frantically waved down Appa, and luckily for everyone, he was an observant bison. Appa's groan carried over the distance as the group piled on. She waved him off, hoping he'd join the rest. She needed to get to Aang.

He'd never been able to control the Avatar State before and Katara couldn't let him do something he would regret. Suki and Zuko hauled Sokka onto Appa's back and they started towards the safe cliff. She tried to fight the wind towards Aang but suddenly found herself waist-deep in the earth. It was a good thing too: with a spin, Aang unleashed more wind than Katara had ever felt in her life. It sent her face toward the grass in front of her and her arms barely managed to stop her from breaking her nose on the ground. The burst of air he had summoned sent a chill over her skin and took the air straight from her lungs. Trees dipped precariously toward their own roots. The ships groaned and were pushed back towards the sea. Chan hit the metal of his ship from the bow, his body cracking against it.

Katara managed to turn her head up towards Aang and called for him. "Aang, you can't lose control! Stop!" As the wind ceased, she felt her earthen prison crumble around her. She pulled her way up from the ground.

She could see him assuming the first stance she'd helped him learn under Pakku as he pulled a tsunami out from under the ships. Her heart sank. Aang was going to drown everyone in the town with the size of the wave. She suddenly found it in herself to scream, to scream for him to stop and realize what he was doing. As the wave loomed dangerously close to them, reaching well over his head even as he floated, he turned around and threw his arms over his head. The wave shot upwards as though having hit an invisible wall hundreds of feet high. He turned again toward the seawater and brought his hands up. It froze from the bottom up to the spiky tops above their heads, encasing the village in a half snowglobe. And then he dropped out of the sky.

He was lucky that Katara was there to catch him, as always, so he didn't hit his head. She had frantically run towards his falling body and now cradled his head against her chest. Aang opened his eyes lightly, still faint from the effort, and smirked at Katara. "And you thought I was going to kill you."

The next time he opened his eyes, they would be most of the way back to Ba Sing Se, Suki at the reins. He curled up the warmth near him and groaned softly. A hand caressed his head lightly. "You're awake! Now you can tell me where it hurts."

Aang's head felt like it was splitting into two, but the hands almost made it bearable. He blearily opened his eyes and managed a smile when Katara's spinning face entered his vision. He vaguely saw her move to her side and almost immediately felt relief. As the water flowed over his forehead, Aang's senses returned to him. His head was in Katara's lap, she leaned back on the saddle's edge near the front, presumably to talk to Suki while she steered. He immediately felt heat tint his cheeks at his position.

Suddenly there was a white furry animal on Aang's face. "Momo!" Katara reprimanded and grabbed the lemur under his arms. "We don't walk on peoples' faces!"

Straining to sit up and bolstered by a helpful steady hand on his back, Aang got into a sitting position and grabbed Momo from Katara's hands. "You were just excited to see me, weren't you Momo?"

Sokka sat up from his place at the back of the saddle, where his arms were laid out making his body form a T, and grinned. "Afternoon, Aang! What took you so long?"

"How long have I been out?" Katara started to heal from the back of his head. She had been healing him every available moment, but very little was wrong. She hoped she could provide some comfort.

"A day and a half now." She answered. "We just passed by the Serpent's Pass an hour ago or so."

On Ji moved to grasp one of his hands. "I'm glad you woke up." He felt Katara's hand on his back stiffened ever so slightly.

The last day had been a blessing, in some ways, to Katara. Though she didn't want him to be in a coma, being the only healer gave her a reason to be near him, to touch him, and to look at him. She knew he'd wake up, he always did, and though she was still worried, she needed the time alone with him. She had been able to imagine what that might look like to be his, to watch him sleep and really think about her feelings for him and what that meant. She had curled up next to him in bed the night before after Sokka and Zuko carried him there. Making sure he was alive a convenient excuse to lay her head on his chest. She had trailed her fingers over his features, felt the prickle of his hair growing in along his scalp and chin, looked at each of his hands, memorized his smell.

Now that he was awake, he wasn't only hers anymore.

Aang smiled at On Ji. "Thanks." His face dropped for a second. "Do you think this will get me out of Fire Nation Extremism?" He looked around as On Ji pulled her hand away; only Toph, Zuko, and Satoru were in the saddle. "Where's Mai?"

"We dropped her back in Omashu," Zuko said, looking far less relaxed than he had with her around. "She's going to warn her family."

He grimaced. In his haze, he'd forgotten the whole reason he was unconscious in the first place. The Fire Nation was openly attacking Earth Kingdom land. He might have bought them a few days, but they would probably try again. "Have we heard from the Earth King?"

Sokka shook his head. "I sent a hawk from Omashu, and Bumi is going to warn the other Earth Kingdom towns. I think when we get back it will be best if we go straight to him, hopefully, he'll have already sent some troops."

"You need to rest, Aang." Katara started pulling him back down to lay down. "We've still got a few hours left before we make it to the Upper Ring and I can feel how muddled your head is."

"She's right," Sokka said. "We have everything covered right now."

Ignoring his brief protest, Katara managed to get his head onto the saddle next to her. He wished that he could put his head back in her lap, but knew it would be unkind to On Ji, and potentially make Katara uncomfortable. He curled into the edge of the saddle, where Katara had stretched a blanket out to block the sun, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

A/N: Review replies below!

Grandkhagan: Done ;)

Kataang Lover: I'm so glad that this feels like college to you! I agree, Aang needs to end things with her ASAP!

Hilmintonhamhigh: Thank you for the review!

Guest: She definitely had a right to be confused, and I hope that I've given her enough space to soon make her decision.

Carla: I can't believe I made it to the subreddit! Joyus news! Thank you soo much for the suggestions, and I didn't take it like you were telling me what to write! Reviews like this usually give me so many ideas and have really made the story more enjoyable for me (and hopefully all of you). I hope I was able to express that they both had a part in what unfolded in their talk this chapter.

Unoriginalpoet: He definitely shouldn't have left her there! As an author I'm glad it was a frustrating chapter for you because angst but as a reader I'm very sorry lol.

Ashley Barbosa: Yes! They need to talk more! Ironic to me in the show that they were so good at talking about everything but their relationship and feelings for another, so I thought that, combined with air bender flightiness, and alcohol might result in this kind of reaction. Very short lived though, as you could tell :)

Bosco's hat: My b! I actually combined two chapters and messed up all the order. Thank you for this crazy long review, my jaw dropped when I saw it. His reaction is definitely made more extreme by his panic! We know him as so sweet and thoughtful and loyal normally, but I would like to think he'd just be so drawn to Katara and cross some of his own lines when a little drunk. The way you described Aang and Suki as a parallel was so well explained, it gave me a little spark of inspiration!

Whataboutsecondbreakfas4: Your review got me started again on a chapter that had been sitting there a while! I love Satoru too, and I felt a little bad giving EVERYONE a romantic interest and not Toph since I don't have anything huge planned for her. I tried to base the amount of alcohol/drugs on my own experiences at fraternity formals, so I'm glad it resonated with you as well. But yeah, damn. I couldn't do that anymore. Thank you so much for the compliments, they brought me so much joy!