Sup guys. So, this is going to be one of the shorter stories that I write whilst also doing RCHS. As much as I love writing RCHS, its long winded and I need to be able to write something else to keep my sanity intact.

I've had this idea for a while after reading many fics with a similar premise. However, my main inspiration comes from TheLastSoulBender's stories: SYTFAD and UIBYO (go read them). I've tried to write this a few times (I had three chapters made already) but I never felt right, and I would end up deleting it.

This Fic is going to have Aang having a lot of fun whilst he deals with Katara's relationship in a mature fashion. Yes, this story will have Zutara (ew) but I am keeping it to a bare minimum, it is only for the sake of the story that I am willing to write it at all. I am Kataang endgame, as is this story.

DISCLAIMER: there will be parts of this story that allude to underage relationships, and I am not entertaining the idea of writing those sorts of scenes. I will only write detailed lemon between characters above the age of 16 (the age of consent in the UK). We all know that people can lose their 'innocence' before it is legal but let me make it very clear: there will be no scenes like that in my stories, only brief descriptions.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this new story, it's not going to be super long (nowhere over 60,000 words is my guess) but it should be entertaining, nonetheless. RCHS update within the next 7 days.

Eyeing and Sadness

Katara eyed him hungrily from her seat.

She knew she shouldn't have been, not with her boyfriend right next to her, but he was doing the same thing to one of the girls on his arms. Normally, the Waterbender would have been angry, but how could she be? She was doing the same exact thing.

He was everything that the occasional bits of gossip that reached her in the palace had made him out to be. No longer was he the round-faced and short little boy that she had travelled the world with for a year. He hovered around the room with an air of grace, like some foreign mystique. The two girls on his arms hung on his every word, even the one who a few years ago would have rather died then show emotion allowed a small, sultry smile.

Katara had seen him just over half a year before, it's not like he completely removed himself from her life after the war. However, despite being her best friend, she had never felt so far removed from him. And what's more, Katara blamed herself. She had all but pushed him away, throwing his feelings for her back in his face, not that she knew it at the time, or rather, she refused to acknowledge her own feelings.

And, though she hated herself for it, a part of her couldn't help but feel betrayed. When did he suddenly start giving his attention to other girls? Why did he look so free whilst she felt like she was suffocating in the stuffy palace? She had many more questions, but she shoved them away. She had no right to ask those, not after she had denied him and chose his someone else.

It's not like she couldn't empathise with the girls that followed him around, their hearts in their eyes. He was devilishly handsome, despite only being a few days past sixteen. His childhood chub had melted away, revealing a sculpted jawline. He towered over most of the dignitaries and aristocrats that he talked to. He had somehow managed to maintain his lithe, flexible form despite the muscles that stretched his skin with every movement. He was attractive physically, and even more so spiritually. He was kind and gentle, and unmoving when he needed to be. He was compassionate and understanding and had a resolve as strong as titanium. He was unbendable. He was the Avatar. He was Aang. But he wasn't hers.

And, as Katara now understood, she had pushed that all away because she let her fears get the better of her. So, she clung to the first thing she could find: Zuko. The Fire Lord. For a while, Katara was happy. But then the arguments began, and the distance, and old feelings made themselves known once more. Katara realised that at some point in the last three years, the spark between herself and Zuko had fizzled out, because that was all their relationship was built on; a spark. A physical attraction supported by a weak friendship. And whilst they had become better friends, Katara could not say that she was in love with Zuko.

To think she had thrown away what Aang had offered her made her entire being swarm with guilt and longing. He couldn't offer her a palace, or the finest clothes in the nation, he couldn't even offer her a stable home, a bed to return to after a long day. But he could offer himself, and he did. There was no doubt in Katara's mind that if Aang had to pick between his duty as the Avatar and her, he would choose her in a heartbeat. That was something that Zuko couldn't, or wouldn't, offer her. She didn't blame him for working hard as the Fire Lord, for giving up his own life to lead his people, but she was often swept aside, and Zuko's attachment to his role had become irreconcilable to Katara.

She was at the end of her rope, and she could feel her romantic relationship with Zuko drawing to a close, but it wasn't going to be easy. The more she thought about it, the more she realised that she was in love with Aang, and had always been in love with him, but did that mean he would just take her back? She doubted it. And as she pondered over her dilemma, and the options she had to deal with it, the Avatar drew closer.

Katara could barely hear Mai's indifferent greeting to a blushing Zuko as she hung off of Aang's right arm. Ty Lee held on the other, greeting the Fire Lord and his girlfriend with her usual cheeriness. Normally, Katara would have been jealous of the two girls, that was an emotion she had been feeling at any function she had recently attended that Aang did as well, but the green monster evaded her as she stared love-sick at Aang.

The Airbender smiled for a while too.

"Hello Katara" he said softly

XOXOXOXOXO

Aang had been sitting on his own for hours now. His friends were looking for him, he knew because Toph had found him, but the Earthbender was gracious enough to leave him alone for a while longer. In honesty, Aang felt like taking Appa and Momo and flying far away, but he knew he couldn't do that. If not for his friends, then to prove to himself that he was past the stage where he would run and hide from his own emotions.

He supposed his friends were worried for him, but he didn't care. He needed a few hours to deal with this on his own. He had hardly expected Zuko and Katara to announce they were in a relationship when he had woken up that morning, but they did. Aang had managed to remain respectful and polite when they told him, but inside, he was burning. When he saw them lean in to kiss each other, albeit rather clumsily, he had become overwhelmed with a feeling he couldn't yet identify and taken his leave, seeking solace in the stables with his animal guide.

And that's where he had spent the rest of the day, analysing all of his interactions with Katara over the past year. Had he done something wrong? Was it because of that stupid play? Would he ever get over this insurmountable feeling of emptiness? He didn't know the answers. He was still mired in his own thoughts when she entered the stables and sat down opposite him. They were in silence for a while as Katara waited for Aang to say something, but the Avatar didn't feel the need to speak, he knew where he stood with her. He was her 'little brother' and that's what he would always be, at least he thought so. Katara realised that it was up to her to break the silence.

"Are you okay Aang?" she asked pathetically. Deep down, she knew he was not okay because, deep down, she was not okay. Aang didn't move an inch, didn't raise his eyes, didn't move a muscle.

"I'm fine" he answered in stale and monotonous voice. Katara knew he wasn't, and she knew why.

"Aang I know you have… feelings for me, but I'm with Zuko. Can you at least try to be happy for me?" she asked. She knew from the sardonic scoff he emitted that she had hit a nerve.

"Good for you" he said with a bite to his quiet words that neither he nor Katara knew he possessed. "I am happy for you" he continued, "and I'm fine" he added as she opened her mouth in protest.

"I know you're lying Aang. Just tell me how you really feel" she said indignantly. Aang felt enraged at that comment, something he had never felt when speaking to Katara. Who was she to question his feelings right after she broke his heart?

"I said I'm fine!" Aang snapped. Katara recoiled slightly, surprised at the ferocity of his words.

"Aang, I-"

"I gave you an answer! Now leave me alone" he cut her off and promptly turned around, his back facing Katara. The Waterbender reared backwards at his furious words. She knew that she had caused this, that she had denied something that could work so well, but at that moment, all she saw was a jealous little boy.

"How dare you Aang! Just because I chose to be with Zuko doesn't mean you can throw a strop like some toddler!" she screamed.

Aang shot back around and gave her the angriest glare she had ever seen. He suddenly understood that feeling he had when he saw them kiss: betrayal. He had been nothing but good to her. He was a shoulder for her to cry on, he was empathetic when she was angry. He was a ray of sunlight to her on a dark day. He had never pushed her, never expected anything of her and never overstepped his mark with her. And now she was comparing him to a bad-tempered child. He was righteously indignant and maddeningly infuriated because he had been betrayed by the person he trusted the most. The one thing he asked of his friends was loyalty. Not in the sense that they owed him something, like their love in this case, just in the sense that they would be respectful of him and would remain compassionate towards themselves and others.

"How dare me?! How dare you Katara! You act like you know how I feel, but you have no idea!" he started ferociously and Katara cowered slightly, "You have no idea what it's like to have your love thrown back in your face and you have no idea what it's like to be betrayed!" he shouted, his voice a crescendo of pain and anger.

"Betrayed?" she asked weakly in response. Aang's glare only sharpened, to the point where she could no longer meet his eyes. There was too much anguish in them. All because of her.

"Betrayed." Aang confirmed. Katara motioned for him to elaborate, "What about confused? Huh? What about all the hugs and all the kisses?" he prodded violently, Katara only shrivelled further at his verbal attack. Aang's breathing calmed down enough to the point that when he spoke, his voice was no longer angry, just disappointed. All because of her.

"I rarely asked anything of you Katara" he said quietly whilst beginning to shift around again, "and when I did, it was because I knew you could do better. I don't care if you're with Zuko, I don't own you and you don't owe me anything. But," his anger flared up again, but his voice remained quiet, "when you lie to me, whether it's out of pity or spite or to protect yourself, then…" he trailed off.

"Just go" he finished after a few silent beats. Katara looked up at him tearily. This was all because of her, because she was too afraid. Not that she understood that yet.

"Aang" she said quietly, trying to get some of her own feelings across, but the Airbender was having none of it.

"I SAID GO!" he screamed, pointing at the door of the stables. The Waterbender left quickly and, for a while, Aang set there with his head completely clear, thinking of nothing. Then it hit him, and he started crying uncontrollably. He had almost never raised his voice at Katara and just moments before, he had had the worst fight of his life with girl he loved. He felt horrible. It wasn't her fault he ruled, she couldn't decide who she liked, and it wasn't his fault for falling in love with her either.

"You've survived worse" he reasoned to himself, "you lost an entire nation. You won a war that was considered lost. You defeated the most formidable Firebender in the world on the day he was at the peak of his powers" he felt the weight on his chest lift slightly, so he continued. "You've survived worse, Aang. You've been left in the shit and mud before. You've crawled your way out before, and you'll do it again. You are the Avatar. You are Aang of the Southern Air Temple. You are Aang." He felt his tattoos glow, and he heard the voices of a thousand people.

"You have done it before, Aang" the harrowing voices told him, "And you will do it again" they added before his tattoos stopped glowing and the voices disappeared into the light breeze that flowed through the stables.

He could do it.

XOXOXOXOXOX

The next few weeks were a blur. He had apologised to Katara profusely the next morning, and she accepted gratefully, happy to see that Aang had seemingly found a way to work through his feelings. Aang, on the other hand, knew that he had a tough road ahead, but he would take it all in his stride.

They had travelled to Ba Sing Se a week after Zuko's coronation. Aang had to deal with his internal struggle all the while; a constant battle between his pain and his optimism. He was struggling to crawl out of the mud, but he was struggling nonetheless, and that counted for something.

His other friends: Sokka, Suki and Toph all tried to talk to him, but he had turned them away. He wasn't internalizing his feelings because he didn't want to talk about them, he just preferred to use the small voice in his head to decipher the will of his heart.

Much to Aang and Sokka's liking, Katara and Zuko didn't seem to be the type of couple that displayed their affection in public. Part of Aang worried though; Katara was always physical with the people she was close to, always touching or holding, but with Zuko there was nothing more than occasional hand holding. They slept separately of course, and though he didn't want to invade their privacy, his seismic sense told him that they never once went to each other's rooms. In fact, the only time that week they spent in Ba Sing Se that Katara had left her room, she had walked to Aang's door. He felt her about to knock, even though it was the middle of the night, but she eventually doubled back and went to her room. Aang didn't bring it up.

Soon enough, Zuko had to head back to the Fire Nation and Katara went with him. It hurt to see her go, even more so because they had apologised and been acting like normal friends again.

In reality, Aang and Katara didn't really know where they stood with each other, and they wouldn't find out for nearly four years.

XOXOXOXOXOX

"Katara? Hellooo" Aang said whilst waving his hand in front of the Waterbender's face. She snapped out of her daze as the flash of pale skin and blue arrows darted across her eye line. Katara gingerly made eye contact with everyone now at her table. Mai looked at her with her typical blank stare, Ty Lee was positively beaming at her and Zuko was scowling at her, clearly homing in on her staring, despite having done just that moments earlier to Mai.

"Great, another fight to look forward to" she thought to herself sarcastically. Katara turned to face Aang once more and felt her heart flutter at his goofy smile. There wasn't a thing on earth that could stop her from returning it.

"Sorry. How are you Aa-"

"Oh! Toph just arrived" he said, cutting her off – not that she minded all that much. "I'll be one moment" he said cheerily and then leaned into Ty Lee's to kiss her behind the ear whilst Mai stroked his back slowly. Katara didn't know how to react, disgust maybe? She didn't feel much jealousy at that moment, just a strange feeling of longing and confusion at how much Aang had changed. She had seen and heard things before that proved he was no longer an innocent twelve-year-old – more on that later – but she had never seen him do anything like that so publicly, especially not in front of her.

Once Aang had walked away and Ty Lee and Mai had lost themselves in their own quiet conversation, Zuko leaned into Katara's ear.

"Like what you see?" he questioned in an angry ear. Katara sighed at that. It seemed no matter how much they tried; they could never avoid the next argument.

"Don't act like you weren't doing the same to Mai" she retorted in righteous indignation. Zuko flushed in embarrassment but quickly regained his composure.

"We're talking about this later" he said in a grave tone. Katara had heard that many times. Normally, they would return to their chamber, argue for a while, and then fuck. But she was tired of that routine. Sex could only fix so many things, and their relationship was one of the things that was outside of its jurisdiction.

Katara was saved from having to answer the question when Aang returned to the table with an already drunk Toph. He took a swig of his own wine before launching into conversation with Katara, who was only too happy to sit and listen.

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! All the important info is at the top.

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