Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

63

Katara froze. "You love me?"

She felt his entire body stiffen against her. "I... I mean... Yea, I love you," he concluded. "I love you."

Rolling away from him, Katara pulled the sheet up, her vulnerability in the moment manifesting herself in a desire to be covered. He loved her. The thought was thrilling, amazing... something she had wanted before she even knew that she wanted it. When he had rang their doorbell at her welcoming party months before, warmth in his eyes and filling out his shirt in a way that bordered on sinful, she had felt it. That was it; the feeling in the woods. She wanted to sing, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted to restart what they had just finished.

But they had just finished. And Katara was no stranger to people who thought lust and love were the same thing. She had never figured Aang for one of those people, but here they were, still coming down from their shared high, and only now did he feel comfortable saying that to her. "You love me," she repeated, her voice wavering slightly.

He gave her a perplexed look. "Yes."

"Right after sex, you said you love me."

"I loved you before the sex," he said.

"Right."

"I did."

"I believe you," she answered slowly.

He frowned. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm just nervous- you know- about whether it's me that you love, or... that you loved the sex," she sighed.

There was a little spasm across his cheek, a little vein pulsing at his temple, and she didn't know if he was upset, or trying to conceal a laugh. "I did love the sex. But, I love you more."

She gave him a pointed look. "Of course. No one has ever gotten those two things confused before."

"I loved the sex because I love you," he said firmly. "Or, well... the sex was even more lovable because I love you." He shook his head, and one hand went to his temple. "This is a disaster. Obviously, I picked a bad time to tell you this."

"Before sex would have been a great time," she agreed.

He chuckled wryly. "What you were describing- that moment in the forest. I felt it, too. I felt it then, and now, and a hundred times before. I've known I love you for weeks."

She held her breath, gesturing for him to continue.

"I know what love feels like," he murmured, looking down at his hands. "I know, because I've never felt this before. It just feels... right. Balanced. You push, I pull, you breathe in, I breathe out. You're stable when I'm a wreck, I'm lighthearted when you're moody. We're not opposites, but we're not the same. Occupying the same space at the same time, filling in the gaps and making one whole." His gray eyes found hers, and he reached for her hand to take it in his. "So, yea, I love you. The best time to tell you might have been twenty minutes ago, but the second best time is right now."

She smiled at him. "Well, when you put it that way... I love you, too."

"Where are the girls, again?" Sokka asked as he sat heavily down in their booth.

"They both have class," Aang reminded him between bites of a veggie burger. "And then Katara said she's going to the gym after."

"So, we have all afternoon to ourselves," Sokka sighed. "What are we going to do with all this time?"

"I don't know. Go shopping?"

Sokka stared at him. "'Go shopping'?"

"I had something specific in mind," Aang said, abashed. "I didn't want to just wander around the mall."

"What did you have in mind?"

"My gym bag is falling apart," he explained. "And my boss says that its kind of unprofessional to show up for a session with a client toting a bag that looks like I found it outside a dumpster. His words, not mine," he added at the sight of Sokka's raised brows.

As he took a large bite of his burger, Sokka shrugged. "Alright. We'll go after this."

"What about this one?" Sokka suggested, holding up the sixth gym bag he'd found in the overpriced store.

Aang shook his head. "I don't know... it barely has any pockets."

"I did not peg you for someone this difficult to please when it comes to gym accessories," Sokka grumbled.

"Have you seen these price tags? I'm not going to drop this kind of money on something that I don't absolutely love."

"Fine," Sokka said. "I'll wait outside. Take your time."

"Okay, see you in a bit."

"See you."

Twenty minutes later, Sokka was still sitting on the bench that lined the stores, his elbow resting on his knee and his chin resting in his hand. He huffed a bored sigh. Across the way, a bubbly young woman was giggling with delight as she exited a jewelry store, arm in arm with her boyfriend, brand new diamond earrings catching the fluorescent lights and throwing them back a thousand times more brilliant. Intrigued, Sokka sat up, an idea forming in his mind. Diamond earrings weren't really in the budget for this month, but the thought of seeing Suki smile when he gave them to her brought on a warm feeling. He wanted to see her smile like that in real life.

He made his way over to the store, trodding quietly across the lushly carpeted floors as he passed display after display of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets.

"Can I help you find anything?" came a solicitous voice. An older woman, her hair neatly done in an immaculate bun, smiled at him from behind a counter.

Sokka waved awkwardly to her, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing. "Hi," he greeted back after a moment. "I don't really know if I'm looking for anything in particular, I'm just... looking."

"Is it for someone special?"

He smiled. "Someone very special."

"Well," she said slowly, "let's find out just how special. Come this way."

A/N: what he doin