Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to anISFPfirebender.

As soon as Katara pivoted, Aang fled in tears to the garden shed outside, where Appa spent his nights when they visited Iroh.

His friends stood in shellshocked silence, disturbed by the scene they had just witnessed. Toph was the first to recover: she muttered something about 'stupid relationship drama' and retreated to her bedroom.

Zuko and Sokka decided to go after the airbender. Approaching quietly, they saw their younger friend, his face buried in the fur of his bison's neck, crying harder than they'd ever seen anyone cry in their lives.

"Hey, buddy?" Sokka asked tentatively.

Suddenly, Aang threw himself onto his adopted brother, sobbing on his shoulder. Sokka patted his back uncertainly, his wide eyes meeting Zuko's over the younger boy's shoulder.

"I love her so much and I hurt her so bad but I didn't mean to at all, and now it's all over and it's my own fault!" Aang blubbered.

"You were just trying to protect her. To protect all of us." Zuko answered, excusing him. He wasn't exactly happy with Aang himself, especially considering Iroh's injury, his own delayed proposal, and the spirit attacks his people had probably suffered, but seeing Katara's fury had taken the wind out of his sails. The Avatar had been scolded plenty, and was suffering enough, it was clear.

"No!" Aang replied vehemently, pulling away from Sokka and showing Zuko his wet face. "I made the wrong choice. It was dumb and selfish and arrogant and strategically inept. I betrayed Katara, I isolated myself from her and all my friends, I tried to do it all alone, but that was always wrong. Iroh got hurt, people got assaulted by spirits, you guys had to search for me for weeks, and I am responsible for all of that. There's nothing I can do to take it back or make it better except apologize, and that's nothing."

"Well, it certainly did result in, um, disaster." Sokka pulled on his wolftail awkwardly.

"What was it like for her, when I was gone?" Aang asked solemnly.

The older boys glanced at each other.

"How bad was it?" Aang pushed. "I need to know."

"She had panic attacks." Sokka admitted. "Insomnia."

"I think every time I saw her, she was either crying or on the brink of tears." Zuko elaborated. "We had to keep her away from the interrogations we did in Republic City because we were afraid she would seriously hurt one of the suspects."

"She snapped at us all the time." Her brother went on, venting some belated exasperation. "Accusing us of not caring about you because we took breaks from the search to eat and sleep."

"She really was afraid you were gone forever." the firebender told his younger friend in all seriousness.

"After a while she was just kind of…..blank." Sokka looked down, his voice soft. "Not really entirely there."

"Yeah," Aang looked down in shame. It was basically what he had imagined Katara would experience. The three were silent for a minute.

"So, what now?" Sokka asked.

"Why are you two looking at me?" Zuko protested, caught by both his friends' expectant gazes.

"You've kind of become a professional apologizer..." Aang pointed out.

"You got Katara to forgive you once…" Sokka trailed off.

"I don't think a field trip would help things now." The firebender shook his head.

"You could try to make her jealous with another girl." Sokka suggested to Aang halfheartedly.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "That could backfire spectacularly. Besides, are we even sure they're officially broken up?"

"It felt pretty final to me." Aang stated glumly.

"Is it possible that this is something that has been brewing for a while?" Zuko wondered. "She said something to me once about how you have a habit of running off and disappearing. I was only there for the time with the Lion Turtle, but apparently there were others. And if the two of you never talked about those times and she never got over it…."

"It's worse than that." Aang explained. "We did talk about it, and she did get over it, because I made her an explicit promise never to do that again."

"Oh. That makes sense. Yeah, I guess that is worse." Zuko acknowledged.

Silence stretched on a bit. The older boys puzzled over what could possibly be done to fix this, or at least to console their inconsolable friend. Aang sniffled, turning back to lean into Appa's soft fur, taking as much comfort from his friend as was possible.

"You gonna sleep out here?" Sokka verified.

"I'm sure not welcome in there," the younger teen pointed to the window of the room he and Katara had shared on their last visit to Ba Sing Se.

Suki knocked on the door of Katara's room, got no answer but the sound of crying, and let herself in. The waterbender was lying on her stomach on the bed, sobbing angry tears into her pillow. The older girl put her tray of chamomile tea and cookies down on the bedside table and sat down on the bed, placing her gentle hand on her friend's shoulder.

"You ok, honey?" She asked softly.

"No," Katara answered miserably, sitting up. Suki held out a handkerchief and she wiped her face, blowing her nose loudly. "I'm sorry you all had to watch that whole scene," Katara shook her head, mortified.

"It was horrifying." Suki stated frankly. "We couldn't exactly leave." She picked up the teapot and poured two cups. She picked up one herself, and Katara followed her example, more from gratitude and habit than desire to partake.

"I can't believe that while I was making myself ready for…..our big date, he was breaking his promise and deliberately choosing to leave me out of a fight." Katara mused despondently, staring into her teacup. "And the whole time we were looking for him, he was responsible for everything we were going through."

"I can't believe it either." The older girl shook her head. "It sounds almost like something Sokka would have done before we got together. But there's no point dwelling on it right now." She briskly refilled Katara's cup. "You're just going to make yourself upset again. Now it would be best if you could calm down so you can get some rest. Things might look better in the morning."

Suki picked a brush up off the dresser and sat behind Katara on the bed. She started pulling the younger girl's hair out of its clips and ties, and combing it. The waterbender closed her eyes, soothed by the feel of fingers in her tresses. It reminded her of her mother and grandmother.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" She whispered guiltily. Surely the whole group thought she was overreacting and mistreating her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?). Aang was the center of their team; she had figured rejecting him would mean losing all of them automatically. She hated herself for hurting Aang like this. She could tell how much pain she had inflicted, and that caused half her tears. True, he had hurt her first, probably unforgivably, but that didn't keep her from aching even more, knowing how his heart must be broken.

"I know what it feels like to break up with a guy you love for reasons no one else understands or agrees with." Suki reminded her softly. "I know you must be hurting too."

Katara turned and leaned her head on Suki's shoulder. "I'm sorry I wasn't nicer to you on Kyoshi Island. And here in Ba Sing Se."

"I understood that your primary loyalty was your brother." Suki answered reasonably.

"But you're my sister too, and I was so cold to you."

"You were polite. Barely." They shared a half smile. "It's ok, it didn't bother me too much. I had my mom and sisters. The rest of your family has chosen Aang right now. But I'm here." She stroked Katara's hair with her fingers again.

"How did you get over it? Your break up?" Katara wondered.

"Time and space made it bearable. But I didn't ever really get over him; that was why we got back together eventually." Suki explained. "And this seems worse than what Sokka and I went through. More foundational."

"It is."

There was another knock on the door. The girls looked at each other.

"It's me." They recognized Zuko's gruff voice before he cracked open the door tentatively. Seeing that Katara was fully clothed and not alone, he relaxed a little. "Are you ok?"

She shot him a withering look. It was a stupid question. Of course she wasn't ok. She hadn't been ok since Aang's disappearance. Finding him safe should have alleviated her anxiety, but the revelation of how and why he had disappeared had shaken her understanding of their relationship in such a basic way that she looked completely unmoored.

He cleared his throat. "Aang needs to know if this is a break up, or just a big fight."

She sighed. "It's a fight that's so big and so…..fundamental, that I can't imagine how we'll ever get over it. I'm not sure what's the difference between that and a break up."

That made some sense to Zuko. But he wanted to give Aang a more definitive answer. "Um, are you going to start looking to date someone else?" It was an even more stupid question, one that was much too soon for her to answer, even if she did consider the relationship over, but it was the only way he could think to figure out what she was thinking concerning the relationship's status.

"I can't even think about that." She sounded incredibly tired.

Another evasion. "Well, if it makes a difference, I'm sure he can't either." He answered.

She shook her head, as if to say it didn't matter.

"He's really sorry. I don't think he would make the same mistake again." He ventured, tentatively making an argument for her to forgive Aang.

"It was more than a mistake." She corrected him.

Zuko couldn't argue with that. He thought he could appreciate how betrayed Katara felt. Aang's choice troubled and dismayed him as well; it represented a lack of confidence in all of his friends, a refusal to allow them to take care of him. He could only imagine how much more upsetting it would be if it was a violation of an explicit promise from the person he loved the most. That idea made him think of Mai, an association that hurt so much he pushed it down.

Instead, he refocused on the important question. This problem was a lot bigger than a teenage heartbreak, and she had to see that. "Look, this stuff with the spirit world isn't over. He needs us, and the world needs him." He shifted his weight uncertainly, knowing it might not be fair to pressure her this way. "You can't just…..abandon him right now."

She closed her eyes and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I know. I'm not going anywhere." She answered softly. She didn't know if being around Aang would make things harder or easier. Her feelings on the matter were irrelevant. Whether or not she stayed, her heart would still be in this condition: shredded to a pulp. Her responsibility to her best friend, and even more than that, her duty to the Avatar, transcended the way her boyfriend had hurt her.

"Can you at least get along with him while we all work together to figure out this thing with the spirit world?" Zuko asked.

She nodded absently.

"Do you…..need anything?" He wanted to do something to comfort her somehow, but wasn't sure what he had to offer.

"Nothing you can give me." She confirmed his sense of inadequacy.

Nevertheless, there was one thing he needed to say to her. "Thanks for healing Uncle," he told her earnestly. "He wouldn't have survived without your skill. I can't tell you how much he means to me."

She smiled for the first time since Mother Maggot's attack, a little, frail pull of her lips to one side and softening of her eyes. "I'm glad I was there, and that I had the spirit water. He's a great man, and he was only helping us."

"Do you think you can finally sleep now?" Suki asked gently, referring to Katara's weeks of insomnia. "He's safe. Even if he's heartbroken, he's alive and unhurt and not in immediate danger."

"Maybe." She turned away and lay down on the bed, her back to the other two.

Zuko and Suki looked at each other, and she shrugged.

"All right." The firebender walked to the door. "I hope you can get some rest."

In the morning, while the others ate a breakfast of fruit and komodo rhino sausage, Katara came downstairs and approached Aang. The others quieted and watched.

"I'm still mad at you, and I don't know whether I'll ever get over it. But I want you to know that I'm going to stick around. For whatever happens with the rest of this spirit world drama. We're still friends, and we always will be." She put forward her hand for him to shake.

He stared down at it for a long moment, then looked back up at her, eyes filled with confusion, horror, and betrayal.

She dropped her hand, remembering the scene from The Boy in the Iceberg that had bothered him so much: she'd just unthinkingly recreated it. There was probably nothing she could have done to hurt him more. That this realization hurt her too was a sign that though she'd thought her own heart dead, there was still more pain it could endure. She didn't know if this was a good thing or not.

"Well, friends hug." Her brittle voice rang with false heartiness, as she tried and failed to recover. She pulled him into an awkward embrace, while his arms stayed frozen at his sides. She tried to look into his eyes as she pulled away, but they were unfocused, directed at something over her shoulder. His body was stiff as he turned around and walked outside, back to Appa, with all the dignity he could muster. Sokka followed.

Katara was still watching his retreating back when Toph stepped in front of her. Before she knew what was happening, she felt a sting on her cheek, and realized the earthbender had slapped her. She touched her face in shock, easing her burning skin.

"That was the meanest thing anyone has ever done to him." Toph declared indignantly. "I always knew you weren't the ray of sunshine he thinks you are, but I never thought you could be so spiteful."

Zuko stepped between the two girls and put out his arms to separate them. He felt responsible: Katara had only done what he had asked of her. He hadn't expected it to go so wrong.

"What am I supposed to do, pretend everything is fine when it's not?" Katara asked, still reeling from the unexpected attack.

"I don't think she was purposely trying to be hurtful-" Zuko tried to justify the waterbender to the angry girl who was on the verge of assaulting them both.

"Stab him if you have to, but don't twist the knife." Toph ranted, trying to push Zuko to the side so she could get in Katara's face again.

"You better calm down, or I'll scorch your feet again." He lost his patience with the earthbender, whose face was screwed up with fury.

"Fuck you." Toph spat. She turned around and followed in the direction Aang and Sokka had gone.

"I've been demoted to brother," Aang said glumly when he sensed Sokka approaching from behind.

"That was low of her, man. I'm sorry. That had to hurt." Sokka tried to empathize, but Aang seemed numb now.

"She's right and it's smart of her. She didn't feel safe to date me during the war, and when I disappeared on her, I took away any illusion of safety she had. It makes sense that she has to go back to just friendship. It's too dangerous to…..be with me."

"That's - kind of an exaggeration. It's no more dangerous for her to be your girlfriend than it is for any of us to be your friend. No love is ever safe." Aang didn't respond, so Sokka sat down by his side and went on, musing about breakups in general. "People always act like an amicable breakup is so much better than a rancorous one, but speaking from experience, I'm not sure it's necessarily any less painful. And I don't know if it's better or worse if the person is always around. It didn't work for me, but in theory, it might be easier to get over someone if you don't have to see them all the time."

"I'm never going to get over her." He answered dully. "So it doesn't make any difference."

Toph was approaching. "I'm so mad at her!" she fumed. "I was going to fight her, but Zuko got in the way. The asshole threatened to burn my feet."

"She's right, you know." Aang told her. "She has every reason to be mad at me. I wish she hadn't taken it this far, and that she'd get over it, but I was completely wrong to go off alone like that. If I'd taken the rest of you with me, I wouldn't have gotten stuck and needed to be rescued, and Iroh wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Maybe." Toph had to admit the truth in that hypothetical. "But still, you don't deserve this."

Aang shrugged. He thought he probably did, but also knew that it didn't matter. He had certainly never deserved her love.

"Want me to smash that hand of hers between a couple of big rocks?" Toph offered, punching her palm with her fist.

"No." He answered dully.

"Slapping her was going a bit too far," Sokka admonished the girl.

"You did what?" Aang sputtered at Toph.

"I was defending you." She justified herself. "Offering you a handshake was just cruel. She was purposely trying to make you feel even worse."

"No, she wasn't," He sighed. "She was trying to say we're still friends. It was kindly meant. And even if she were being mean, I'd take it as just punishment. I'd never want the two of you to fight each other, especially not over me."

"I guess I won't bother next time." The earthbender crossed her arms, taking Aang's correction as ingratitude.

Zuko joined them. "I'm sorry for threatening to burn your feet, Toph." He said to the earthbender. "I was desperate to keep you and Katara from hurting each other, and it was just the first thing that came to mind."

Sokka elbowed the girl.

"It's ok, and sorry I said to fuck off." She mumbled.

"I owe you for pulling Uncle and me over the bridge," Zuko went on. When he had remembered that, in the previous night's drama, he had forgotten to express his gratitude to Toph, he'd felt even worse about using the girl's disability against her. "Thanks for helping save his life."

"He's an old friend of mine." Toph smiled, and her voice softened. "I wouldn't leave him behind. Or you."

"Look, I think you need to give Katara some space." Zuko turned back to Aang, correcting for his previous misjudgement.

"How much space? For how long?" he asked despondently.

Zuko scratched his chin thoughtfully. "How long was it between the comet and when you two got together?"

Aang searched his memory and answered. "I guess about a week?"

"All right." Zuko said, as decisively as he could manage, "so you have to wait at least a week. And in the meantime, I need you to hold out hope that once she's had some time to cool down and recover from this, she'll be ready to talk, and you two will be able to work it out."

Aang gulped and nodded, wiping his red eyes and sniffling.

"I was getting ready to visit Uncle in the hospital. Would you like to come along?"

Author's Note: I know. It's painful. They can get through it. We can get through it.

Next chapter: Iroh provides some much-needed wisdom