Author's note: I wanted to say thanks to all of those who have read and/or commented on this story! I am sorry for the delay. My laptop was stolen and I am borrowing one until I can get the cash to replace mine. Plus like an idiot I didn't save this chapter in the cloud so I had to rewrite it. But the show and story will go on! I envision it will be probably about 15 chapters long, possibly a little longer. I wanted to just mention this is an erotic thriller/mystery, so there's going to be frank discussions of sexuality and there will be some violence. I will post warnings with every chapter. In this chapter, there will be mentions of sex, nothing too explicit, and of death, but not of main characters. Thank you!

Katara hadn't needed a cold shower, as it turned out.

Stepping into Aang's "main bathroom," as he called it, made her feel like he had stepped into an Earth Monarch's bath house from olden times. There were low benches and marble and an actual separate steam room walled off in shining glass, a sunken bathtub with bronze taps ... and a freaking skylight!

The sheer level of opulence – while at the same time managing to not be vulgar – had the happy effect of distracting her from her residual horniness.

In the shower, Katara soaped up, feeling calm and relaxed, able to completely slough off her earlier panic.

Okay, fine. So, she'd gone home with a man she'd met at a party. And had sex with him.

Deeply satisfying, rather acrobatic sex, in fact.

It wasn't, in the grand scheme of things, that big a deal. She'd never done such a thing before – college hookups, she felt, didn't count, as most of her experiences there had been with guys she'd known beforehand, not virtual strangers.

And anyway, she was a grown woman, and she'd wanted it. Had wanted him. The feeling had been mutual, and they'd had fun, end of story.

Oh, Spirits, did they have fun ...

Her lips bent upward in giddy remembrance a little trick Aang had done with his tongue that had made her scream so loud she was afraid the ceiling might fall in on them.

Katara surfaced from the memories as she did a final rinse and reached for a towel. The rest of the night was not a blur, but she didn't want to let the events unspool in her mind again, or she'd never get out of the shower.

After a leisurely towel-off and a quick gargle of mouthwash, she found herself back in Aang's bedroom slightly damp and ruefully contemplating the rumpled sheets.

Getting dressed again was an adventure. Her panties were not on the floor next to her dress as she'd assumed. After a short hunt, she found them crumpled under the bed. She supposed she'd kicked them there in her exuberance to get them off.

Katara turned them inside-out, utilizing a trick her Gran-Gran had taught her about getting a second wearing out of undies in an emergency. Anyone who notices and has an issue with it is probably not someone worthy of seeing your underwear in the first place, Kanna had said, displaying the wisdom that made her such a popular figure in their village.

Patting her dress in place and deciding she was as ready as she'd ever be, Katara padded barefoot down a long hall, following the delicious scent of food and a wedge of sunlight that led her into the bright living room.

Looking around the apartment for almost the first time – the night prior, she'd been distracted by portraits, then by Aang's conversation, then by Aang's … other things – Katara was stricken by how the entire place looked like a magazine spread. The walls were neutral, but accented in shades of blue, yellow, or coral. The furniture was tasteful and elegant. The whole layout was incredibly clean and well organized without looking like a warehouse or a showroom.

A noise drew her attention, and she looked over at a small breakfast nook where Aang was busily setting plates and silverware on a round, white-marble topped table. When he set down a carafe of orange juice, he looked up at her with a welcoming smile.

"Perfect timing! I was just about to get the muffins out. Everything else is ready."

He beckoned her over, and she blushed anew as he pulled out a chair for her like they were in a fancy restaurant. She settled in and tried not to ogle his ass too much as he bent down in front of the oven.

Katara studied the table, impressed with the spread. There was a fresh-looking fruit salad in a big crystal bowl, a pitcher of water, the orange juice, and butter and jam, a pepper mill and a saltshaker.

She wondered if she was getting special treatment not common to impromptu hookups. The thought touched her and made her a little worried at the same time.

"I think I got the eggs perfect this time," chattered Aang, bringing over a sizzling skillet that smelled heavenly.

He heaped fluffy eggs onto her plate until Katara held up a hand indicating she had plenty. He then brought over the muffins, which wafted steam from the oven.

"Dig in! Oh, wait, let me pour you something to drink." Aang stood. "Juice? Water? Both?"

Katara was silent for a moment because she was now at eye level with Aang's crotch, and those flimsy pants weren't hiding a damn thing.

Katara squirmed a little uneasily. Aang was hot, smart, had an amazing apartment, was phenomenal in bed and could cook? He was a dream, and she knew she had to wake up from it before doing something incredibly stupid.

"Um … yes. I mean … both, thanks." She swallowed hard and murmured under her breath, "I'm suddenly really thirsty …"

He poured for them both, and much to her relief, finally sat down. They both tucked into the food, and Katara's eyes widened in pleasure. It was as scrumptious as it looked. The eggs practically melted on her tongue. The brownberry muffins had just the right hint of sweetness and were decadent with butter melted in its nooks and crannies. The fruit salad was crisp, and the orange juice tasted freshly squeezed.

"These may be the best scrambled eggs in existence."

Katara was trying not to just shovel her breakfast into her face, but the food was just so damn good.

"My brother says bacon grease is the way to make eggs taste great, but I know that's not what's going on here."

"Ha, no." Aang leaned forward as if about to impart a well-guarded secret. "Heavy cream and cream cheese. I mix those in the last two minutes. Makes everything fluffy and light and not too runny."

Katara's eyebrows lifted. "Is that an Air Nomad recipe?"

"Nope! I invented that myself back in college where I had my fair share of scrambled-egg dinners," said Aang. "This is the best batch I've made in a few months. I guess I was inspired."

He smiled at her and speared some fruit. "Cooking puts me in a good mood, and when I'm in a good mood already, well …"

Katara smiled back tightly. Aang was almost, well, gazing at her, and it wasn't that she felt uncomfortable, per se, it was just that she wasn't used to being regarded with such adoring intensity. Jet had not been like that, nor anyone else with whom she'd been intimate.

Aang was different, but it was also … scaring her? Exciting her? A little of both? Neither? She wasn't quite sure.

"Can I ask a sort of tacky question?" she asked suddenly, wanting to get out of her head a little. "If you don't want to answer, I'll understand, but I'm just curious about something …"

Aang swallowed, gesturing toward himself with a fork.

"Ask away," he said when his mouth was clear. "I'm an open book."

"Well, I was just wondering. You graduated from Jenn Tech about two years ago, so that makes you … 24 years old?"

"Yep! I'll be 25 in September," Aang affirmed.

"And you said you work at a financial auditing company?"

He nodded. "My job involves a lot of numbers. Not just numbers, but mostly."

"Does it pay well?"

"It's not bad," said Aang, raising his shoulders. "Actually, I just got a promotion. I'm a Minder now. But my salary is still pretty modest for middle-management, comparatively speaking."

"Minder?" Katara's nose wrinkled. "It almost sounds like you're a baby-sitter."

He chuckled quietly. "Not exactly. Sometimes, my company sends a team of auditors to a client's business to go over their books. The Minder is the person who leads the team … so the off-site boss, more or less. I do have to settle disputes when they come up, but luckily, the people I work with are pretty mature."

Katara could see Aang in charge in the workplace. He certainly had no issues with taking control in bed.

Clamping down on that image, Katara persisted, "I'm just wondering how a 24-year-old on a modest salary can afford to rent this gorgeous loft apartment and have all this amazing furniture."

"Seriously?" Aang's eyes widened. "I thought you were going to, I don't know, ask me my detailed thoughts about bidets or something."

Katara giggled in spite of herself. "Um … no. I mean, we didn't even have those in the South Pole. We kept it simple. Besides, those would have frozen solid, just like everything else."

They both laughed at that, and she admired the strong line of Aang's throat as he drank his juice.

"But that's not a 'tacky' question at all," said Aang, wiping his mouth. "Why would you think it would be?"

"Well, some people don't like talking about personal finances," she murmured, pushing fruit around her plate. "And it's really none of my business. Just being nosy."

"It's fine! First off, I don't rent this place," he said. "I own it."

Katara gawked. "You own it? But … it seems so pricey?"

"It wasn't cheap," said Aang with a rueful half-grin. "I was able to swing it, though, using the settlement the Fire Nation was ordered to pay each survivor of the Air Temple massacre. Minors got paid extra if they lost a parent or guardian. I lost my mother and my father, so I got a pretty sizable lump sum."

Katara all but gasped, her fork clattering loudly on her plate.

"Spirits, I didn't realize –"

"It's fine." His smile was a little thready. "I didn't think about the money for a long time. It just sat in the Central Bank of Omashu for years and years. I guess I … kind of figured that if I never thought about it, I wouldn't have to consider how I got it."

Katara was quiet for several long moments, feeling like the lowest form of life. During the tour of his living room the night before, she'd seen a white-framed photograph of a handsome, bald man and a woman with her dark hair in a long braid, both in Air Nomad regalia. Both looked to have been in their mid-20s and were smiling beatifically for the camera. There had also been a photo framed in white of an old, bald man with a drooping mustache and incredibly kind eyes.

Katara had heard some time ago that white was the color of mourning in Air Nomad society, so the white frames were an indication that the people in the photos were dead.

Aang had confirmed that the couple in the photograph were his parents. The old man was called Monk Gyatso, Aang said, and had been his favorite teacher at the Southern Air Temple.

The pictures were all that had been salvaged of those his family, and occupied a place of honor, bracketing his diploma from the Joint Nations Institute of Technolgy, which proclaimed that Aang Lhamu had graduated with highest honors, earning a degree in Accounting and Finance.

She surfaced from her musings to see Aang regarding her curiously.

"Didn't the Water Tribes receive reparations from the Fire Nation? I'd heard that there was a lot of damage in the North and South Poles."

"We … yes. Not direct payments," Katara said quietly. "The Fire Nation government fixed the infrastructure it destroyed, and there was a fund to provide money for college for young people from the villages, but that was about it."

"That sounds really skimpy," said Aang with a frown. "What about the people who lost loved ones? Husbands who lost wives? Wives who lost husbands? Kids who lost parents? Wasn't anything extra done for them?"

Katara stared at her plate for a moment before raising her eyes to his.

"... No. There wasn't anything extra done for us."

It took him less than no time to understand, and the sorrow reflected in his eyes made Katara's own sting with tears.

"Katara, I'm so sorry."

His voice was gentle, and he reached across the table to cover one of her hands with one of his.

"How old were you?"

Katara took a deep breath. Exhaled.

"I was eight. Sokka, my brother, was a year older."

She found herself looking at her plate again. "Our mother was a teacher. When the Fire Nation navy bombarded our village, she was in her classroom hut with her students. She managed to get all her students to safety, but … she didn't make it."

Aang gently squeezed her hand, but was quiet.

"The Southern Water Tribe wasn't neutral in the war," said Katara, still studying her plate. "We didn't have the resources to build fortifications, or walls, like the Northern Water Tribe did … but we knew that sooner or later, the war would come to us. After the raid, my father – the chief of our village – rallied the men to fight, but it took nearly four years to train them and stockpile enough weapons. Sokka was upset to be left at home, but at least one warrior of age had to stay behind and protect the villages."

Aang's brow creased. "Thirteen is of age?"

"We grow up fast in the Southern Water Tribe." She glanced up at him, smiling faintly.

Her hand was still atop hers, and it made her glow inside. But it was something of an awkward position, and with reluctance, she slid her hand out from under his.

"Well, this is a beautiful place," she said in an overly chipper voice, hoping she had played it well enough to convey that she didn't want to talk about that portion of her life anymore. "I'm glad you snapped it up. It's very … you."

"Thanks." His eyes still looked serious, but he flashed a small smile. "I wasn't looking to buy anything at all. I lived in the Marmot District right out of college, in an apartment I really liked. I had a friend who lived in this neighborhood, and one day when I was visiting him, I passed by this place. The door was open and I just sort of glanced over to see what was going on and … I heard wind chimes."

His face lit up at the memory. "It reminded me of home. Not Whisper's Corner – the Southern Air Temple. There were wind chimes everywhere. You could hear them wherever you were, and you could even tell which chambers you were in or the time of day based on the melodies. When I heard these wind chimes, they just drew me in. I was half through the door when I ran into this middle-aged guy with a broom. It was his place. He owned it as a rental property and he was getting it ready after his last tenants moved out. When I asked him about the chimes, he didn't even know what I was talking about it at first. Then he said they must have been left by his previous tenant. I don't even know why I said it, but I told him I might be interested, and asked for a tour."

Aang palmed his glass of juice. "It was a little eerie, to be honest. The minute I stepped through the door, I knew I had to live here. I think I scared the hell out of the guy when I asked him if he'd be willing to sell the place to me rather than rent it. But as it turned out, he wanted to move to Ba Sing Se to be closer to his family, and he was a little tired of being a landlord. Three months later, I was a homeowner. Overall, it's been great and I really love it here. Oh, and the furniture was basically picked out for me by a good friend who has an eye for stuff like that."

Katara flushed, feeling a sudden spike of jealousy.

"She has good taste."

"Yeah … he does." He was grinning knowingly at her behind his glass. "Teo's a whiz at this sort knowing what should go where. I always said he should have been a decorator instead of an engineer."

Katara's blush didn't abate. She felt like an idiot for assuming that Aang's "good friend" was a woman. Despite their having slept together, she realized that she couldn't really assume much about Aang, at all.

She was formulating an appropriate apology when Aang put his glass down and fixed her with an unwavering stare.

"So … um … I think we should probably talk about last night."

Katara was startled but was conscious of a sense of relief. They'd been dancing around the Komodo rhino in the room, and she appreciated the opening Aang was giving her.

"Yes. You're right." Her voice was firm. "We should."

They stared quietly across the table at each other. Aang did a slight head dip that seemed to indicate she should go first.

"Um." Katara cleared her throat. "We had sex."

Aang's eyebrows shot up to where his hairline would have been - if he had hair.

"Yeah … we sure did."

Katara unconsciously licked her lips, thinking of Aang's fingers circling her nipples ... of his mouth on hers ... of how he'd so easily licked her to a shuddering climax ... of his big, beautiful hands holding her hips as he moved her up and down his thick shaft en route to another toe-curling orgasm –

"It was … good." Katara swallowed hard, clamping down on the images parading in her brain. "Really good."

A slow smile stretched his lips as if he, too, were remembering various moments of pleasure from the night before.

"It sure was."

There was more silence as the two were lost in sensual thought for a time.

Then Katara sighed, gathering her courage, hardening herself for what was to come. What she knew she had to do.

"Listen, I'm not going to waste time telling you that I don't usually hop into bed with guys I barely know. Even if it is true, I'm an adult, and as long as we're both consenting, what I've done before and with whom isn't be any of your business."

She immediately regretted the sharpness of her words when she saw Aang cringe slightly.

"Of course it isn't," he said in a careful voice. "I would never judge … I mean, I hope you don't think I was judging you or anything?"

"No, I just … that's not important." She quickly shook her head. "I just wanted to get it on the record that I slept with you because I wanted to, not because I came back here expecting you to put the moves on me."

He looked aghast. "Katara, I swear by the Spirits, I did not ask you here thinking that I was going to get you in bed! I -"

"No, wait - I didn't mean …"

"– I honestly just didn't want you to be out in the rain alone and –"

She held up a hand and he slid into silence.

"Aang … I get that. This is coming out wrong. I – just give me a minute."

Katara took refuge in her water glass, her mind working furiously.

"I wanted to have sex with you," she said at last. "I enjoyed having sex with you. I went into it with my eyes open, so to speak. But …" The word hung in the air for a moment. "I need you to understand that it won't happen again. It can't."

She winced when she saw a flash of pain cross the grey eyes.

"Oh."

A wealth of disappointment was packed in that single syllable.

Katara let out a long breath. "Aang, I had fun. That said – and I know this is going to sound ridiculous given last night – hookups stopped being interesting to me after college, and I'm not really a fuckbuddies type of person."

Katara paused before saying, "And I don't really have the time for a new relationship right now. You mentioned recently being promoted at your job. I'm up for a promotion, too. And I may go back to school to get a business degree. I have things I want to accomplish that are going to take up my time in the foreseeable future ... and dating really isn't going to fit."

She sat back after the impromptu speech, feeling drained suddenly. At 26 – almost 27 – and unmarried, she knew people back home already considered her to be on the border of becoming "dried up seal jerky," which was one of the more polite ways her people referenced a childless woman of a certain age.

She was aware she was throwing away the chance to get closer to a sweet guy, but if she'd learned anything from the Jet situation, it was that sometimes, the hard decision had to be made. She should have jettisoned Jet when he'd started acting "off." Instead, she had let things go and let him have the upper hand in dumping her.

Katara feared that trying to hold on to a man like Aang would prove difficult. He was younger than she was – only by two years, but still – and Air Nomads had a certain reputation as pretty freewheeling when it came to sex and relationships. It was none of her business, but she was sure she wasn't the first woman Aang had done the "tongue trick" on just hours after meeting her. She wasn't sure their views of commitment were even compatible, and she didn't want to get hurt finding out the hard way that they weren't.

"I'm sorry if you feel I wasted your time," she said in a low voice. "It was probably irresponsible for me to not let you know I wasn't looking for anything serious – or at all – before we … you know."

Aang pushed his plate aside and fixed her with a warm, open gaze.

"Katara, you didn't waste my time. Last night was amazing … easily the best sex I've ever had." His cheeks tinted pink. "And I'm not a fuckbuddies type of person, either. I know people think Air Nomads hook up whenever and with whoever. While we don't have a lot of the hang-ups about casual sex that some cultures do … that's never really been my thing."

She didn't respond, hoping she didn't look guilty for having thought exactly that.

It didn't mean they were compatible, though. For example: He was a vegetarian who liked to meditate at the crack of dawn on weekends. She … did not subscribe to any of those things.

"You didn't – don't – owe me anything," he went on. "If last night is all we'll have, then I'll treasure it and wish you well. I appreciate you not stringing me along."

"Stringing you along?" she repeated, in half a daze. "What do you mean?"

He smiled shyly. "Well, I'd thought maybe we could, um, go out sometime. Like on an actual date that we planned – no goofy ex-boyfriends or boring parties involved. I had been working up the nerve to ask you if you wanted to go to the Fong Arts Center next weekend to see that exhibit of watercolors by Levinia Ashevak and maybe grab dinner afterwards."

Katara had to concentrate very hard to keep her mouth from falling open. Levinia Ashevak was a Southern Water Tribe artist who'd lived 200 years earlier and whose paintings of South Pole and Arctic landscapes were avowed masterpieces. The last time there had been a showing of her work, she'd been with Jet and he'd sneered at going to see what he called "a bunch of drawings of icebergs and penguins."

But Aang had thought of that as a perfect "first" date. And it was. Absolutely perfect. That was the tragedy of it all.

Katara bit bad a sigh of frustration. It was her luck to meet an amazing guy, and she just didn't feel ready for him or for anything heavy. It was hard to explain, even to herself, but she just … didn't.

They both fell quiet, turning their attention to the now-cold breakfast. Katara found the food now sat like a lump in her stomach and managed only a few more bites. Aang seemed to have lost his appetite, as well.

After a few minutes, Katara announced that she should get back home, feeling the tension that had sprung up between them to be a little stifling. Aang nodded but refused her offer to help him with the dishes before she left. She in turn refused his renewed offer of a ride home and called a cab service, waiting awkwardly in the living room and peering out of the windows while behind her, Aang tidied up the kitchen, scraped dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

When the cab pulled up to the front door, Katara turned to let Aang and was startled to find him standing right at her side, regarding her with a sad smile. It was as if he'd glided to her on air itself.

"So, this is goodbye, huh?"

Katara lifted her chin and gave him a small, brave grin.

"Thanks for last night. With Jet … and everything else. I did have fun meeting you. I'm sorry that the timing didn't work out."

Aang said nothing as he continued to stare down at her. He took a short step forward and before she could register what he was doing, bracketed her face in his hands.

Katara's heart beat wildly, and for an insane, hopeful moment, she thought he would kiss her.

And he did. Leaning forward, he touched his lips gently to her forehead.

Katara didn't know it then, but she would live to be a very, very old woman. After holding her third great-grandchild in her arms, she would pass away peacefully in her sleep, surrounded by her loving family. And her final memory before going from earthly existence to the Great Beyond where the Spirits dwelled would be of a sunny Sunday morning more than a half-century earlier when a tall, gorgeous, bald man with blue-arrow tattoos kissed her forehead with such comforting tenderness that it set all her nerve endings on fire.

But that was to happen decades in the future. In the present, Katara squeezed her eyes shut and tried to swallow her heartbeat.

Aang pulled away after a moment. With his hands still cradling her cheeks and chin, he stared down at her as if trying to commit her face to memory.

"I'm glad we crossed paths, Katara Palluq of the Southern Water Tribe." His voice was soft and his eyes shone like washed stars. "Even if it was just for a little while."

He released her and stepped back. She swallowed twice and could not meet his gaze as she moved toward the doorway, knowing that if she looked into those lovely eyes again, she'd probably not be able to leave.

"Goodbye, Aang," she said almost desperately, and all but fled.

TheLastSoulbender: Thank you for reading! I actually don't hate Jet, but I think he's a decent ex-bf cliché for Modern AUs. I definitely don't think he's a horrible person, and I was pretty bummed when he died in the show, not because I wanted him with Katara or anything but because his antics with Zuko were entertaining!

Ashley Barbosa: Oh, we could all use an Aang in our lives, I totally agree! I am so glad you enjoyed the first chapter. I wanted to set the mood. It's sort of a modern erotic thriller? I'm excited to write it and I hope you will continue to read it! Thank you for reading!

Grandkhagan: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this and other chapters!

JJsmith103: I am super stoked about the story, and have other ideas, so I'll def be updating on a regular basis so I can let the other ideas in my brain run free. Thank you for reading!

Guest: I wanted to start off with a bang, so to speak, lol! Thank you for reading!

TheQuietReader23: Yes, I wanted to do something a little different to draw people in, and it will only be a wilder ride from here. Thank you for reading!