Author's epistle: And here we are with the grand finale! I'd like to thank everyone who checked out this story, whether you reviewed it, followed it, or just read it and kept it to yourself! It makes me feel really good. Please check out a snippet from my next story down below. I will begin posting it in a couple of weeks. Remember, all stories are complete! I meant to post this yesterday but my cousin graduated college and I got slammed with family stuff. Thank you all again!

Note: This chapter is probably rated M for mature themes.

Katara took a deep breath as she watched Aang take another turn around their room. She was starting to wonder if she'd been over-optimistic about how Aang would take the news of the … situation with Zuko.

When she'd gotten back to Aang's side after her talk with Zuko, he'd greeted her with a bowl of grilled moonpeaches and cream and raised eyebrows. She'd just responded shortly that she'd explain when they got back their room, and Aang had accepted that, happily eating his dessert with one arm slung around her waist.

When the others – save Mai and Zuko, who'd decided to go on a moonlit stroll far up the beach – had left for the rock museum in the town center, Katara had taken a happy and full Aang by the hand and led them to their room.

Aang had been in the process of shedding his "beachwear" when he'd casually asked what Zuko had wanted to talk about. Katara had paused just a moment before launching into the whole story.

Aang's expression underwent quite a few changes, but he said nothing as she spoke. When the whole story was told, Aang still said nothing, opting to pace around their room instead.

After he'd completed his third circuit around the comfortable room, Katara decided to take matters into her own hands. She went up to him and wrapped her arms around his middle.

"Aang, you're making me dizzy. I understand if you're angry about this, but can we at least try to talk about it?"

"Angry?" Aang spun around in her arms, looking astonished. "Katara, of course I'm not angry at you! None of this is your fault."

Katara tightened her arms around his waist. "Then it's Zuko you're angry with?"

Aang glanced away. "I … don't know. I don't think I shouldbe angry with Zuko, either."

She lifted her eyebrows. "What do you mean you don't think you should be angry with Zuko?"

"Well, I have to be practical and fair," said Aang after a second of silence. "You didn't take your top off hoping Zuko would see you. You thought you had privacy. On the other side, Zuko owns this place. He'd been told by his staff that little kids were sneaking back there, and it could become a huge problem. He thought that's what was going on and went to investigate. It's not as if he'd been hoping for just the right moment to see you half-naked."

She saw Aang's bland expression, sighed and tugged him over to the bed. Sitting him down, she decided to not react to his wide eyes and slight blush when she sat facing him, straddling his lap, her arms around his neck.

"Sweetie," Katara murmured, staring deep into his eyes, "this isn't about should. It's not about practical. It's not about fair. You're not in council meetings or doing Avatar duties right now. You're a person, a man, the love of my life, and something happened that you have every right to be upset about. You're entitled to your feelings – whatever they are."

Aang nibbled his bottom lip, something Katara found bizarrely hot, even at a serious moment like this one.

"Am I thrilled? No," he said slowly, with a small frown. "Of course, I don't want other men seeing you without your clothes on. But this was an accident, and it just feels wrong to get so angry about it. And it's not about me so much. How do you feel about it? Are you mad at Zuko?"

"Honestly? Yeah, a little," she admitted. "He could have called out to see who was there or made some kind of noise. Or he could have mentioned this issue about people trespassing, and I wouldn't have gone back there in the first place."

She reflected a moment. "And I'm more than a little upset with myself."

"Katara –"

"No, I'm serious," she interrupted. "We're not at home, and we're definitely not alone. I probably should have taken that into deeper consideration before I did what I did. After all, whenever I'd practice when we were all on the road, I'd make sure that I was far enough away for something like this to not happen. Someone could have come out on the patio and saw me easily. I guess I should be happy that it was only Zuko who got a show."

She buried her face in her hands and felt tears at the corner.

"Sweetie." His voice was a soft murmur near. "This is not your fault. Please don't feel that way."

Katara sniffled and wiped her face on the edge of her dress before leaning her forehead on Aang's shoulder.

"It's not just that, Aang. You and I have talked so much lately about being … well … more intimate than we have been yet. I was hoping that during this vacation, we could do more than just talk about it."

She sniffed again, noting that Aang had gone silent at that. He was still holding her, but she thought he'd gone worryingly silent. Even his breathing seemed to have stopped.

Frightened of what she'd find in his face, but determined to meet this situation head on, Katara lifted her head to look at him. Aang's jaw was set hard, though he didn't exactly look angry. He was staring off at some point in the distance. It was a contemplative look, but it had a slight edge to it that she found somewhat worrying but also somewhat exciting.

When he turned to look at her at last, Katara felt a slight jolt. His face was impassive but there was something glinting in his gray eyes that increased the excitement that she was inexplicably starting to feel.

"You said Zuko told you it was okay for you to use the lagoon?"

"Well, yes," she said, not sure where that was coming from. "Just that I should make sure to keep covered up."

His eyes glinted again. "No."

Katara reared back a little.

"...No?"

"No." Aang gently lifted her from his lap and stood up. "I think I need to see exactly what Zuko saw exactly how he saw it. And you can't be covered up for that."

Katara stared up at him in mild confusion. "Wait. Do you mean … re-enact it somehow?"

"Something like that," said Aang vaguely. "You did say you hoped we could spend time in the lagoon together."

Katara swallowed hard. What if Aang decided Zuko had been lying? Or what if it was discovered that Zuko had been lying somehow, and he'd either stayed longer than he claimed or saw more than that he said? Then what?

"Sweetie, I'm not sure this is a great idea," she said, standing up, too. "Maybe we should just go home. Zuko and Mai will understand. I'll think of something to tell the others –"

"Katara," his voice was gentle. "You trust me, right?"

"Of course," she said without hesitation. "Always, Aang. You know that."

"Then do this for me." He took her hands in his. "Tonight. Now. Please?"

Her brow wrinkled. "But … Zuko didn't see me at night. It was when the sun was going down. It won't be exactly the same set of circumstances."

"I know." A sudden smile lit his face. "We'll have to improvise."

That was all he seemed inclined to say. With a small sigh, Katara acquiesced. It was odd, but she was a little curious as to what Aang had in mind, exactly. And she was more than a little turned on by the knowledge that he was going to be seeing her nearly naked.

Much more than a little turned on, actually.

"All right. I'll see you in a little while," she said, pausing at the door to their room. "And just fair warning – the water is going to probably be pretty cold at this time of night."

"That's okay. We won't be in the water very long," said Aang enigmatically.

Katara puzzled over that as she quietly left the beach house and went toward the path leading to the gully. There were no posted guards. She wondered if after their talk, Zuko had asked his security force to stand down when it seemed less likely that people would be sneaking back there.

It wasn't until Katara was nearly at the gully that she realized what was niggling at her.

Aang had said they would not be in the water very long. But Zuko hadn't been in the water at all!

Katara recalled her plans for herself and Aang that she'd shared with him on the sand dunes earlier that day, and there was a little spring in her step as she walked toward the little gully.

Cold water didn't affect Katara the way she supposed it affected others. Sure, she felt the cold, and despite being a waterbender, she was human, and so she understood temperature could affect her in some very unwelcome ways. But in general, a chilly lake or stream didn't bother her much aside from an initial shiver on entry.

But now, as she created wide circles of water in the little lagoon in back of Zuko's beach house, she found herself trembling. The water shimmered under a three-quarters moon, and her limbs felt warm, yet she was shaking like a leaf.

Katara understood, however, that it wasn't from cold, but from anticipation. And desire.

Her chest wraps were in a tidy pile on the edge of the grass. Katara had opted to wear the strips of cloth that covered her below the waist, but she'd gleefully abandoned her top. She waded neck high in the water, her skin pebbled and the tips of her hair making dark ribbons as they floated on the surface of the water.

There was no sign of Aang.

She wondered if she had it wrong, and Aang really did want to try to re-create the exact same circumstances under which Zuko had seen her. That would mean that she wouldn't see Aang, since she hadn't seen Zuko during the initial … incident. But that didn't make much sense, she thought as she deftly turned the circles into figure-8s. They would have had to do it with more daylight, though the moon was shining brightly enough to light the whole lagoon.

A small breeze wafted over the water, and Katara absently pushed wayward strands that blew into her face. Possibly Aang was just spending some time meditating and processing everything. Maybe he was speaking to one of his past lives about what happened. Probably not Roku, as that would be a bit awkward, with Zuko being his great-grandson and all. Kyoshi, possibly? Or Kuruk. He seemed like he might have some useful advice about such things.

Katara could admit to herself that in Aang's place, she would probably not be nearly as calm. If Aang had inadvertently stumbled across Toph or Suki or Mai half-naked, Katara knew that she would be driving herself nearly insane wondering if Aang might compare her to any of them. And if Toph had flashed her tits at Aang the way she'd done to Zuko, Katara could imagine a battle with the earthbender that would have made their long-ago mud fight look like a tea party. Mai really was a saint.

Or maybe just secure in her love for Zuko and his for her? Katara wondered at her jealousy and was uneasy. She didn't look at other men and wonder how Aang compared. There was no comparison, and not just because Aang was the Avatar, but because Aang had her heart. He'd given her no indication that he felt any differently. Possibly it was just all the galas and banquets and parties that she'd attended on Aang's arm over the years where she had to pretend not to see hoity-toity Earth Kingdom girls judge her outfit or her hair. Or hold her head up amid not-so-quiet talk that "surely the Avatar could do better than a Water Tribe girl. Don't they smear whale blubber everywhere and comb their hair with fish bones?"

Aang always said that she was his perfect woman, but Katara knew that had Aang seen another woman naked, even as an accident, she would be wondering if he were revising the idea of what constituted "perfect."

Another warm breeze washed over her, bringing with it the clean smell of the sea nearby and the earthy scent of the grass and trees. Katara smoothed her hair again, wondering how it had suddenly gotten so windy. It had been fairly calm when she'd gotten to the little gully just a short time earlier.

The thought had barely formed in her head when she realized that the breeze was wrapping around her, molding to her body almost, causing her hair to flutter and her skin to tingle.

She smiled when it hit her that this was no ordinary wind.

Turning, she saw him just at the edge of the water.

Aang was past the little footpath, past the trees, clearly visible. He was staring at her in a way that made her throb in places that were hidden by the water, and his fingers were making swirling motions in the air as he directed the gentle breeze toward her. His chest was bare, and his tattoos seemed to shimmer under the moonlight. He wore only the red shorts that hid nothing.

Her eyes widened when she got a better look at him. They were especially not hiding anything now.

Katara, aware of her undressed state, fought her first impulse to cover herself. Staring at Aang, she stood tall, her shoulders and chest clearing the water. Aang's eyes widened, and the breeze dropped suddenly. The way he was looking at her made her nipples tighten. She wondered how she looked through his eyes – rivulets of water flowing over her shoulders … flowing over full, upthrust breasts and large, dark nipples.

Aang drew closer, transfixed. His eyes glued to her, he cleared his throat, started to say something, and then cleared his throat again.

"Zuko must really love Mai," he finally said in a somewhat hoarse voice, his eyes raking her with a heated gaze.

That was not what Katara had been expecting him to say, to say the least. A shocked laugh burst out of her before she could stop it.

"Aang!"

She put her hands on her hips and tried to look stern, but she knew quite well that the movement had made her breasts bounce invitingly, and she bit back a smile when Aang licked his lips.

"I'm joking. Well, not about Zuko loving Mai." He took another step closer. "But … well … I wouldn't have been able to walk away seeing you like this."

"Good. Because I wouldn't have wanted you to."

She smiled when his face lit up. He'd caught the inflection on the word "you," just as she'd hoped he would.

"I've been out here watching you for a while. I almost didn't want to disturb you," said Aang, sounding almost bashful and eyeing her with intense admiration. "I love watching you bend. You're amazing at it. It's like … you dance with the water."

Katara flushed with pleasure. She knew she had the title of master waterbender, but Aang was the Avatar, after all, and for a time, he'd been as proficient a waterbender as she was. It was high praise, coming from him.

Aang's gaze dropped briefly, and she saw him swallow hard.

"Can I join you?"

Aang looked delectable in the moonlight. Katara stared at him and felt something watering other than her mouth.

"Actually, I think I'd rather join you."

She took, long gliding steps toward the water's edge, squeezing water out of her hair as she did so. Aang silently watched her emerge from the lagoon, his eyes hopping from her face to her chest like a pai sho tile.

Katara stood before him, letting him have a long look at her barely clothed form. She didn't feel very self-conscious. This was the man of her dreams, after all. She'd fantasized about Aang looking at her the way he was now - with longing and naked lust.

"They're … they're so pretty," he murmured, his eyes dipping below her neck again.

She giggled at how awed he sounded, but regretted it when she saw him go bright red.

"Sorry, was that stupid to say?" Aang looked worried. "Or rude?"

"No, Sweetie. I'm happy that you think they are." She didn't mention that she was particularly pleased since she knew she didn't have huge ones like the painted fantasy women in the scrolls Sokka used to keep under his bed when they first moved to Cranefish Town. She'd been momentarily concerned that Aang might prefer bigger bosoms, but to her knowledge, Aang had never seen said scrolls. And anyway, he certainly seemed taken by what he was seeing.

"Can I …" Aang glanced up at her. "Can I touch them?"

In answer, Katara took his hands and placed them on her breasts. Aang made a sound that went straight between her legs, and she closed her eyes to better enjoy the sensations. Aang wasn't pawing mindlessly over her flesh, but was gently exploring her, squeezing gently at times, and caressing softly in other spots. She mewled in delight when he thumbed her nipples until they were stiff and hot. If she didn't know Aang better, she would have thought he'd had definite experience with a pair of boobs, but it occurred to her that just as she'd had fantasies, Aang likely had some of his own –

She could smell surf and sand on his skin, and she wanted to just sink into the sensations of being under moonlight with Aang's gentle, nimble fingers driving her insane.

After a moment of exploration, Aang drew her into his arms. Their lips met in hurried, passionately sloppy kisses, and then his mouth was at her ear, his voice hot and breathless as he praised her beautiful, perfect tits, and the gorgeous chocolaty nipples that he said he wanted to suck on until she moaned.

His whispered words gave way to low rumbling groans, and he squeezed her tight, working his mouth over her nipples, pulling at them with his lips, licking them slowly and then so rapidly that she gasped at the sensation, blowing on them and diving in again to hold them carefully between his teeth and scrape them gently.

"Please, Aang … yes … please …"

Katara was mildly surprised at the needy tone in her voice, and ruefully acknowledged that Aang must have seen one or more of those scrolls to have gained such a vocabulary. She bit back a yell when he peppered her neck with kisses and then bent lower. She ran her hands over his broad shoulders, circling the area where his arm tattoos began. His dick was nearly punching a hole in her thigh, and she wondered if it might be time to get him to take the damn things off. For what she had in mind, they weren't needed.

"Aang, I … want to … see you," she managed. "I want to see all … of you …"

Aang stopped his ministrations and looked up her, eyebrows raised.

"Are you sure? We don't have to do that. This is about you."

"No. This is about us." Katara leaned in to kiss him gently on the chin. "I want to make you feel good, too."

Aang grinned and hooked his fingers into the waistband of his shorts, but then stiffened and brought his head up sharply.

"What's that?"

Katara, confused by Aang's comment, stared at him.

"What's what –?"

And then, like a wave crashing to shore, she heard it.

Footsteps. Running footsteps, muffled slightly by the grass.

Then came a voice that froze the blood in her veins.

"Aw, c'mon, Suki, it's nice and private back here, and there's this nice little pool –"

Before she could draw breath to scream, Sokka burst into the clearing. The universe was kind to her and hid the moon behind a cloud at the moment, casting the little meadow in shadow, so she was not able to fully see what she suspected: that her brother didn't have a single thing on.

As soon as Sokka saw them, he yelped and jumped behind a convenient bush. Behind him, Suki, fully clothed, thank the Spirits, skidded to a halt, the indulgent smile on her face sliding off her face like butter on a hot cabbage muffin.

"Wait, what? Katara? Aang?! What are you doing … wait – no!"

"Sokka, get out of here!"

Katara trying to tamp down on her rising fury, crossed her arms tightly over her breasts while Aang shifted from one foot to the other, aware that there was no hiding what he had going in his shorts.

"No! Why should we leave? You two shouldn't be – ugh, I don't want to think about it!"

"Then don't! We were here first –"

"– Doing what? Wait, don't answer that –"

"I wasn't going to! Why aren't you at the rock museum with the others?!"

"They ran out of tickets." That came from Suki, who sounded chagrined. "Um … sorry. We didn't realize anyone knew about this place. We can come back later."

Katara grimaced and glanced at Aang. He shook his head slightly and shrugged. Katara understood – the mood had been ruined. Damn Sokka!

"Never mind. We're leaving. Be careful of those rocks down there. They're sharp."

Katara squinted in the darkness. She didn't think Suki could see Aang or his shorts from where she was standing, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"Aang, let's go back to our room," she said tightly. "I think we could use a little portable privacy, if you'll do the honors?"

She gestured at the ground. Aang, trying to rally from his embarrassment, understood. He pushed his hands out, palms up, and a wall of earth rose and spread down the entire pathway, shielding them from Sokka and Suki's gaze.

Satisfied – though only partially – Katara grabbed her chest bindings and took Aang by the hand as they walked quickly away on the other side of the temporary wall he'd created, ignoring Sokka's fake retching and Suki's gentle scolding of him. Katara grasped her bindings in her hand and wondered if she should wrap up but figured that they were close enough to the house where it didn't matter if she were bare-chested. The beach was deserted, and the others were far away.

"I'm sorry about that," said Katara as they emerged back onto the quiet beach. "I'd hoped we could be alone …"

"Well, there's nothing that says we can't finish what we started back in our room, is there?" Aang said with a smile, wrapping his arm around her waist.

Katara grinned brightly in response, but they both stopped in horror when the door to the beach house suddenly flew open and Mai exited, carrying what looked like a small picnic basket.

Mai stopped, too, when she saw them, her eyes momentarily going wide as she realized who was in front of her.

Katara's jaw dropped. Belatedly, she put her hands up to cover herself. Aang sputtered something that sounded vaguely like words. Both were blushing furiously.

No one spoke.

Then Mai, looking at them coolly from beneath her heavy fringe, faced Katara squarely, studying her for several silent moments.

"Nice rack," she said at last in a deadpan voice, giving a nod of approval before turning to go back the way she came.

Katara and Aang watched her go, exchanging twin looks of disbelief, before something gave way and they fell into each other laughing until tears streamed down their faces.

THE END!

Preview from It Be Like That Sometimes, a Kataang story

"Katara, I'm sorry but this sounds horrible." Suki's eyes were wide. "It almost sounds … I don't know … like it wasn't really consensual."

"No." Katara put up a hand. "That's not true and it's not fair. It was painful, but he didn't force me. It was just obvious he didn't have that much experience."

"And you didn't ask him to stop when it started hurting."

"Not really," admitted Katara. "I just thought that it was always that way the first time. My Gran-Gran had told me often enough that it could be painful for a woman until you got used to it or you had a really patient, loving partner. We were kids and we were rushing. Sokka could have come back at any minute, and …"

She shook her head quickly. "Never mind. The issue is, it's still affecting me, and that's why I was … doing what I was doing. I guess I just want to make sure it doesn't happen again, and I don't know how to do that without being direct."

"Being direct is good." Suki paused. "I won't go into details for obvious reasons, but I had to be pretty direct with Sokka the first few times we … you know."

Katara repressed a shudder. "Yeah, l'm fine with not going deep into that, thanks."

"My point is, after some initial embarrassment, things were fine. I think you're worrying yourself over nothing."

Katara crumbled a lotus cookie into crumbs before glancing up at Suki again.

"Did you have someone – a boyfriend or anything like that – before Sokka?"

Suki hesitated, and then nodded.

"His name was Jinhai. He was 15 and I was 13. We'd sneak down to the shore sometimes trying to catch a glimpse of Unagi. His mother made these delicious dumplings, and sometimes we'd have a picnic at night and stuff ourselves with dumplings and kiss until the bell for curfew rang," She smiled gently at the memory. "He wanted to leave Kyoshi Island so badly. He felt that we shouldn't have been neutral in the war and that the Earth Kingdom needed as many people willing to fight the Fire Nation as possible. I thought he might be right, but Oyaji had just been elected Island Protector, and I didn't think it would be a good idea to openly question my own great-uncle."

Katara was fascinated by the story. She realized that she knew very little about Suki's life, even though she'd known her for years and they were practically sisters-in-law.

"What happened? Did Jinhai go with you and the other Kyoshi Warriors when you decided to fight?"

Suki sighed. Shook her head quietly.

"He and some of the other young men of the village who agreed with him commandeered a boat and left one night. He slipped a note under my door saying goodbye and saying he was going to come back victorious and make me and his family proud of him." Suki bit her bottom lip. "I never saw him or any of the others again. Oyaji thought that they may have gotten lost at sea trying to make the mainland. The boat they took wasn't meant for that kind of journey."

Katara put a hand over Suki's. "I'm so sorry, Suki. I hope you're wrong. I hope Jinhai and his friends did make it. Maybe they decided to stay on the mainland. Anything could have happened."

"You're right." Suki gave a thready smile. "Anything could have. He might be in Ba Sing Se right now eating lotus buns with cream. He loved those."

"Does Sokka know about Jinhai?" Katara paused. "I know he's told you about Princess Yue."

"I mentioned him, yes," said Suki. "We had a long talk about this, hmmm … a while ago. Probably when we were still in Ba Sing Se right after the war ended. It was a good talk. We cleared the air about of lot of things."

Katara considered this. Clearing the air was probably for the best, but there were differences between Suki's situation and her own. She still wasn't sure if she could tell Aang the truth, even as she knew that not telling him would doom them to certain disaster. If only she'd made different choices all those years ago –