Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to Yago, a great internet friend from the Kataang Discord and an awesome writer. Check out his canon-compatible missing moment one-shot series Little Moments of Peace, under the name BoomerAang18.

On a clear, warm spring day, Aang and his friends traveled on Appa's back to the Jang Hui River. Zuko had arranged for boats and balloons to send food, supplies, medicine, experts, and laborers for the clean up project; the shipments had arrived a couple of days before the sky bison landed. Though the teens' visit the previous year, especially "the Painted Lady's" sabotage of the nearby factory, had done much to cleanse the area of its problems, there was still a lot of work left to accomplish there.

It quickly became clear that Katara's talents were most needed in the infirmary. Though she had cured many illnesses on their first visit, the population had been exposed to so many toxins for so long that their bodies were ticking time bombs. Tumors and rashes and inexplicable symptoms had developed; Katara needed all of her new medical knowledge to make accurate diagnoses and rid the patients of the poisons they had been unable to avoid ingesting or absorbing.

Aang and Toph spent long, exhausting days cleaning the water of the river, separating the natural silt from the contamination that had seeped into the riverbed. They dug dozens of sunken motors out of the floor of a tributary stream, and Toph was even able to pull trace amounts of mercury, lead, and other metals out of the water itself.

Sokka was probably happiest of the group, working with the Mechanist to design a new purpose for the abandoned, half-destroyed factory building. They made a plan for turning half of the structure into a hospital; the other half would be dedicated to manufacturing the medicines from the herbs that only grew near the river. The novice engineer and his teacher were especially excited when they figured out a way to use the river's current to power the machinery that would bottle the herbal remedies.

They had been working that way for three days when Dock approached Katara and told her about a tradition the townspeople had decided to revive. He explained that before the factory came, the village had held yearly rituals to thank the patron spirit of their river. A girl from the village would dress up as the Painted Lady, and there were flowers and candles, and a banquet. They had stopped performing the ceremony when the factory was built, because it had seemed that the spirit had abandoned them. But now, they wanted to observe the rite again, for the first time in a decade. And they were inviting Katara to play the lead role. The feast was just a couple of days away, on the final night of their visit.

The week of clean up work was nearly over; the labor had been hard but satisfying. Though the waterway might never return to its untouched, natural state, Zuko had made a firm commitment to continue the work; life on the Jang Hui River would only improve. Aang and Katara were also considering making annual return visits to check on the health of the people and the local ecosystem.

The sun was setting on the final day the Avatar and his friends would spend in the village. There was a little while before the ritual, and Aang wanted to see his girlfriend before the celebration began.

"Where's Katara?" He asked each of his friends. Suki was the only one who had any idea. She said that after she'd helped the waterbender with her Painted Lady makeup, the girl had walked toward the end of the pier. Aang found her there, sitting with her feet dangling into the water, her hat with its veil sitting at her side. He joined her and sat there too. Something forlorn about the way she looked off into the distance called to him, and he longed to soothe whatever worry pinched the skin between her eyes.

He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. He looked at their hands intertwined, loving the way their different skin colors looked together. He traced the back of her fingers with his other hand, their wrists resting on his thigh. He swallowed, gathering his courage.

"At the dance party, you said you're scared, and ever since then, I've been thinking about all the reasons you might have to feel that way and what I could do to help you feel safer. I know dating the Avatar can't be easy; even with the war over, there are still always going to be dangers I'll have to face, and that you'll be subject to, just because of being with me. But I'm stronger now than I was when we met; I've mastered all of the elements, and I know I can protect you from any threat. I hope you know I'd do anything to keep you safe."

She shook her head. "I know all that. I'm not scared for myself at all. I'm stronger now, too; I can take care of myself."

"Then, are you worried that my Avatar duties will come between us?" Aang wondered. "That I'll have to travel too much, or that I won't have time for you?" Or for our family, he wanted to add, but he didn't want to presume they would have children. It was entirely her choice and they hadn't discussed it.

"Not really. I want to travel with you. You do a good job of making time for me. You make me a priority." Katara answered blithely.

"Then what..." He couldn't finish the thought.

Katara saw the guileless confusion in his eyes, and knew he might feel hurt if she couldn't explain herself. To him, her fear represented a lack of trust. She thought of the box of worries she kept shut in her heart, and decided to take one out and show him. She took a deep breath.

"I think one of the reasons I'm scared is because of your tendency to fly away in a crisis." She told him frankly. "You tried to leave Sokka and me behind in Senlin Village and travel alone to visit Roku at the Fire Sage temple. You flew away when Appa was stolen in the desert, and when you woke up on the ship, and you disappeared completely just before the comet….." She noticed his mouth dropping open at her list of his transgressions, and rushed to make sure he knew how deeply she empathized with his difficulties. "I know those were terrible moments for you. You were caught up in your own pain, and of course it was destiny for you to go to the lion turtle, but for me, not knowing where you were, or whether I'd ever see you again, or how I could help you-the only thing that was worse than that was when Azula struck you down, and then you were unconscious on the ship for so long."

Aang's eyes were wide with horror at himself, at what he'd done to her so carelessly. "I'm so sorry. That is a habit of mine, I can see that now. It goes back to when I ran away from the Air Temple. I wasn't even thinking about what it would be like for you, when I flew off those times. It was childish and irresponsible and self-centered, and the fact that I was-"

"You were in severe emotional distress. I forgave you for it." Katara pulled their joined hands into her own lap. His self-reproach let her know that her message had been received, and that was all she needed to hear. "And we weren't together then, not like we are now. You were trying to take on the world by yourself, and I hope you know you don't have to do that anymore. I want to be with you and help you through those moments when you want to run away, whether that means talking you through it on the ground, or taking off with you."

He shifted his seated position to face her more squarely, reaching to hold her other hand as well. What she was describing, it was everything he never knew he always wanted. To never feel the lonely despair that had driven him away from the Air Temple and after Appa. She was offering to save him from that isolation. He would never need to go off alone like that, because his best friend wanted to be with him through it all. He nodded, his eyes filling with tears, encouraging her as she went on.

"And I want to face danger with you." She squeezed his hands earnestly. "If you're in a fight, I want to be fighting alongside you, and healing you afterward if you need it. You know I'm pretty good at that."

"You're the best! I won't ever run away or leave you behind again, I promise." Aang swore. "We're a team. Like we were here. Taking down that polluting factory together."

Katara felt something inside her start to melt. She was finally ready to bring out the single biggest fear from that bursting box, the one that had kept her from admitting to herself what he meant to her for so long. "I mean, I feel the same way you said you did earlier, at the dance party. I'm scared of being with you, but I'm even more scared of being without you. Ultimately, I make the same calculation." She looked down, then straight ahead at the horizon. "One of the things that made me so confused before the comet, what I'm still worried about more than anything, is..."

"That I'll die." The airbender finished, bluntly.

"Yes."

"I made it worse when I kissed you during the invasion, didn't I? Asking 'what if I don't make it?'?"

"Maybe. But once the war was over, everything felt so much safer, and that's how I finally had the courage to give in to my feelings for you." She explained. "And what I've found lately is, that my fear of losing you is manageable for me as long as we're together. It's probably a false sense of control that it gives me, but it makes it possible for me to handle it. It's when you disappear and confront enemies I can't see, that I can only imagine, that's when I just spiral and my anxiety takes hold of me."

"I get that. I think I'd feel the same way if we were separated, or if you were in trouble and I couldn't get to you." Aang remembered the urgency he'd felt leaving Guru Pathik behind, when he'd had that vision of her in chains.

"I mean, I understand that there might be times when we have to split up strategically, but I need to be part of that decision." She stipulated. "I can only accept it when I know there are no other options."

"Of course. I promise never to do that to you." He vowed solemnly. "That wouldn't be very fair and equal of me, to make a decision like that without even consulting you. It would be...paternalistic."

Katara was endlessly pleased and relieved that he understood. "Right. And you're not like that. You respect me as an equal partner."

"That's the only kind of partner I'd ever want. You could never be anything less." They grinned at each other in the last light of twilight. The sun was almost completely gone from the horizon. "It's probably almost time for that ceremony."

"Yes, we should go."

They stood. She put on her large cone-shaped hat with its veil and picked up her basket with items for the ritual.

"Do you feel better?" Aang asked.

"I do." Something in her chest felt lighter and looser, as if she'd let go of something she'd been carrying for so long she'd forgotten how heavy it was. "You're so thoughtful."

"I don't ever want to cause you pain."

"I know. I'm sure you won't."

He had to kiss her. He took the bottom edges of the diaphanous veil between his fingertips and lifted it up, over the top of the hat, revealing her face. The motion brought her closer as his hands naturally fell to her waist; she tilted her head back so that his crown fit under the rim of the hat. His kiss on her lips felt as soft and fleeting as the wind rippling the river, sealing his promise.

Aang couldn't have known that his gesture was one performed in every traditional Water Tribe wedding: the groom pulling back the veil to kiss his bride, often for the first time. But Katara knew, and it made her heart soar and ache at the same time.

Hand in hand, they walked back to the village, where the people were ready for the ritual, gathered on the docks.

At Katara's appearance, the villagers began singing a song comparing their lady to the flowers that grew on the hills of her river's tributary streams. Each person held a broad leaf and a short candle, and the lights of the tiny flames reflected in the river water. When Katara reached the center of the crowd, Aang let go her hand and took his place among the onlookers. Someone handed him a candle, and he watched, spellbound, as his love embodied a minor goddess.

Four children approached the Painted Lady, and she presented them with a fish, a bowl of rice, a bottle of medicine made from herbs grown on the riverbank, and a jug of cool, clear river water. One of the children offered her a candle, the other three, flowers. Then they moved back and bowed to her. After a bow of farewell, Katara stepped onto the water, bending so that she seemed to float ethereally on its surface. Then the villagers all placed their candles in the water on the leaves, and watched as the lights followed their lady. They stayed there singing until she disappeared around the riverbend.

The ritual complete, it was time for the feast. Zuko's stores provided a more elegant meal than the villagers had ever seen. Katara reappeared before the second courses were served, in her normal clothes, as if she'd never been honored with a special part in their ceremony.

It was almost midnight when the Avatar's friends returned to their camp. Aang wanted to tell Katara how moved he'd felt seeing her venerated, how he wanted to spend his whole life adoring her the same way, but they had already had one big, serious discussion, and they were both tired. After a short, sweet kiss, they said goodnight. She went to her tent, and he went to Appa.

Curled up on his furry friend's leg, Aang emptied his mind for sleep, but visions of his girlfriend in her costume would not leave him. He couldn't see her face behind that veil; he longed to lift it again and kiss her forever. He tried to come closer, but she drifted just out of reach.

"Katara?" He asked, confused at the way she was keeping her distance from him.

"No." The woman spoke, and it wasn't the voice he knew. The sound was echoey and otherworldly, resonating not in his ears but in his soul. He looked around him and noticed that the forest looked different, softer. It turned out that he hadn't slipped into a dream or fantasy: this was the spirit world.

"Are you the real Painted Lady?" He asked.

The spirit nodded, and he bowed.

"I wish to thank you for returning to my river. Your efforts to cleanse my waters are appreciated."

"You're very welcome."

"I also came to warn you, Avatar." The spirit's voice turned grave. "The hungry spirits are becoming restless. The wounds of the war are healing. Without battles and beatings to feed the starving ghosts, they may come to the surface to create the human pain they crave."

"Hei Bai told me something about this months ago. What should I do?" Aang asked, ready for action.

"The Avatar must be bound to the human world. If you remain unbound, you can be taken into the spirit world, and then there will be no one on earth to stop the hungry spirits when they come. Though you are young, the love you share with the waterbender is strong enough to afford you protection."

"What does Katara have to do with this?"

The Painted Lady didn't respond to his question, but went on. "You must guard yourself against isolation. It is when you are alone that you are most vulnerable. And remember that we spirits are… tricksters. Any choice a spirit offers you is a false one, phrased for purposeful manipulation."

"What does that mean? Are you tricking me now?"

"No, Avatar. But someday, another spirit might try. Be warned." She dissolved into the river, leaving only fireflies drifting through the atmosphere, reminiscent of the candles floating on the water earlier that evening.

Back on earth, Aang lay awake pondering the cryptic message, turning the words over and over in his head, trying to understand it and translate it into a more concrete prediction or instruction. What did it mean to be bound to the world, or unbound? His best guess was that the Painted Lady was telling him that Katara would have to sacrifice herself in some way to protect him, and the rest of the world. He couldn't let that happen.

In the morning, Katara woke more refreshed and energetic than she had in months. She greeted her boyfriend with an enthusiastic hug, making him chuckle at her exuberance.

"You slept well?" He asked. There was barely enough breath in his lungs to speak, she was squeezing him so tightly.

"Better than ever!" She smacked her lips on his cheek. Then she pulled back enough to look at his face and caught the tiredness in his eyes. "What about you?" She asked, concerned.

"Bad dreams," he answered shortly, touching his forehead to hers. She was safe and whole in his arms, and that soothed him. "And I missed you," he whispered.

"Want a massage later?" She asked brightly.

"That sounds great."

They parted, ready to work with their friends to pack up camp, so they could fly back to the palace.

Author's Note: Leave a review to tell me what you think, or ask me any questions!

Next chapter: Katara attends a play with a friend