Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

58

Their campsite was seeped in sunshine, beaming down in great shafts like spotlights. To the left of their tent ran a sturdy little creek, burbling away as it hurried down the steep hill that lined the creek's far bank. The sound of running water left Katara almost euphoric, and she sat with her feet in the pebbled creek bed, listening to the sounds of the forest.

When Aang sat down next to her, pulling off his shoes and rolling up his pants so that he could join her, she turned to him with a smile. "This is amazing," she said dreamily. "It's so peaceful, so quiet. There's no one around... it feels like a secret just for the two of us."

"That was kind of the idea," he teased lightly, but she could see that he was pleased.

"Have you spent a lot of time here since you first heard of it?"

He was pensive for a moment, leaning back on his hands as he stared into the water, not quite sad, but not quite thoughtful, either. "Less time than I would have liked. It gets hard, you know," he added. "Between classes and clients... getting kicked out of my house." He rolled his eyes skyward. "I love to be here, though, so I come as often as I can."

She smiled at him, sliding one of her arms under his and leaning her head against his shoulder. "What do you do here, when you come alone?"

"Listen. Sit still and not think about anything, or think about everything. I leave my phone in the car." He gave her a sheepish grin. "I guess that's probably kind of dangerous, since no one ever really knows where I am when I'm here."

"We don't have service, anyway," she said. "But you're right. It is a bit dangerous."

He nodded, then gave her a wicked little grin. "Certified bad boy, right here."

"I knew there was something about you that I couldn't put my finger on."

"It was the tattoos that gave me away, wasn't it?"

"Oh, absolutely," Katara said, laughing. She leaned forward to press a kiss to his cheek, and her heart gave a little flip when he turned his head to catch her lips with his, a serious kind of kiss that left her head spinning. When he leaned her backward, laying her down amongst the dirt and rocks, she gave a sigh of relief, as if an ache that she hadn't even been aware of was being soothed.

"As much as I'd love to continue this little interlude," he breathed against her lips, "there are things I want to show you."

"Well, I don't know why you felt the need to get me excited like this, but sure. We can table this for another time."

He laughed as he stood, brushing himself off, and held a hand out to her. "Come on."

They trailed over fallen logs, coated top to bottom with soft green moss, and they hiked over boulders the size of Aang's car. Katara made wry comments about Aang's athleticism, secretly obsessed with the way he moved so easily, but she laughed nonetheless when he slipped on a rock and tumbled into the creek. He spent the rest of the hike without a shirt, so she felt like the situation was a win-win for her.

"This feels a little unfair," he complained when he caught her eyeing him with uninhibited interest. "Maybe you should take off yours as well."

"I'm not the one who fell into water because I was showing off. You can always put your shirt back on."

He gave her an injured look. "I'd rather be ogled than pull a wet shirt onto dry skin."

She winked at him. "Sounds like you've made your choice." She looked around. The surroundings were changing, noticeable after a couple hours of hiking. They were on a rocky hillside, level with the tops of the trees that dotted their campsite. "How far have we gone? And where are we going, again?"

"We've gone about four miles."

"That's not as far as I thought," she pouted.

"Well, half of that was straight up a steep incline."

"That's true. So where are we going?"

He smiled fondly at her. "I don't want to ruin the surprise. You'll see," he promised as he continued his climb up the hillside.

"You know," she called up to him. "A less trusting person than I might believe that this is where you murder me."

He threw his head back, and the hillside echoed with the rumble of his laughter. "You think I'd go to all this effort just to kill you? You loudly announced to the entire apartment that if Sokka didn't clean up his toenail clippings in the bathroom, you'd die on the spot. I could have just let that happen, instead of driving you out four hours and then hiking another four hours."

"We have two more hours of this hike?" she exclaimed.

"It will be worth it. I promise."

It was. She could trace the path of the waterfall from the top of the hill (although at this point, she wasn't sure that it wasn't a mountain), and it cascaded down between the rocks before it leapt, heedless of the dizzying height, into a cool, clear pool a hundred feet below. Mist coated her face and slicked her hair down, but she didn't care. They stood in awe for a few minutes before she turned to him, her hand pointing almost imperiously to the pool below. "Take me there."

Cool gray eyes met blue. "Alright."

The water was cold, and her teeth would be chattering if it weren't for him, for the way he was wrapped around her, his hands in her hair as he pressed open mouthed kisses against the dark column of her neck. Her hair floated across the top of the water, surrounding them, sticking to them as they moved as one. It didn't take long to reach her peak, and he followed soon after, letting out a low groan as she nipped gently at his shoulder. When they stilled, his head rested gently against her shoulder as she pressed kisses against his temple.

And later, they lay huddled among the tall trees, shrouded in blankets and arms wrapped around one another as the stars wheeled overhead. The fire leant him a fierce look, his eyes hooded in darkness, but she knew he was looking at her when she smiled up at him. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

A/N: a little more Kataang to come