Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or it's characters.

86

Katara sashayed her hips to the beat of the music as she scrubbed a dirty pot, swirling the bubbles around to make a little whirlpool.

"Hey," Aang called from behind her as he shuffled out of his room. He still had pillow marks on his face. "Where'd you go? I woke up and you were gone."

"I couldn't nap," she explained. "It's, like, six P.M. I won't sleep til two in the morning if I nap now, and I have an early class tomorrow." She leaned in as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Ew," she complained. "You have sleepy breath."

He blew air at her, open-mouthed, and she fanned in front of her nose with one soapy hand. "Gross."

Pulling the dish towel that hung on the oven handle, Aang began drying a plate.

"I thought you were going to sleep through the night," she muttered, nudging him with her hip.

"I thought I was, too," he grumbled. "Kuzon called."

She frowned. "Oh. What did he want?"

"My... 'official' answer."

Only the sound of a towel squeaking across clean plates filled the room for a while. But she couldn't hold it in. "Aang, are you sure? I mean, are you really sure?" She set the pot down. "I'm so honored, and beyond happy that you want to stay with me. I think a long distance relationship would have been really hard. But, I want you to be fulfilled in your life, too. Loving me may not be enough."

He turned to her sharply. "Loving you will always be enough."

"Don't you think that's a little unrealistic?"

"No," he said quickly. A crooked little grin stretched across his face at the wry look she gave him. "Okay, maybe it is. It was hard, saying no. If circumstances had been different... But they're not. Yes, this was a good opportunity. It won't be the only one."

She set the pot on the drying rack. "That's an optimistic mindset."

"Optimism is my middle name," he quipped as he turned to put a plate away. "I won't regret this, Katara."

"But-"

"I know I won't." His back was still turned, hands resting on the counter, as if he was steadying himself, his head bowed. "You're right; you're not my whole life, but you're such a significant piece of it, I can't regret not taking that job. It's true that I want it. I can openly admit that. But, I want you more. No matter what happens with us, I'll have no regrets saying no." His hands curled into fists. "There are things I want for us, Katara. And I-" he exhaled nervously, his head tilting back towards the ceiling, as if in prayer- "I sincerely hope that you don't freak out when I tell you this, but I'm going to marry you. One day. When we're ready."

He'd never said that out loud. He'd promised that he was serious, that he had plans for them, that he knew where their relationship was going. But to hear it out loud...

It was thrilling. In fact, she wished he was on one knee right now. The thought had never been so solid, so corporeal, but it had been in her brain for months, without her even realizing it. She was going to marry him.

"Okay," she whispered, biting her lip tp keep her smile in check.

Aang turned to her, his cheeks bright pink. "Okay? It's okay that I said that?"

She nodded, and a grin spread over his face. He was the happiest she'd ever seen him, and Spirits, he was beautiful. He ran to her, picking her up and squeezing her with all his strength, his hands splayed out across her back and his arms tight bands of iron around her. "You're crushing me," she groaned, but her answering grin spread cross her cheeks.

"Sorry," he said, still smiling as he set her down. "Its just... I'm so happy right now."

"Me, too," she laughed, rubbing at her bruised ribs. "No need to shatter my rib cage, though."

His pink flush burned brighter. "And, you know... if the circumstances made it possible for us- both of us- to move to the Fire National Capital, Kuzon said he'd always be willing to hire me." He faltered a bit. "Provided that business is good, and all that."

"I understand," she said, laughing. "Okay, then. Maybe in a couple years, when I graduate..."

Aang nodded. "We can talk about it again?"

"Yea."

"See, Katara?" he laughed, going back to drying dishes and nudging her gently with his shoulder. "Everything will work out fine, as long as we're together. No regrets."

"No regrets," she repeated, leaning forward to kiss him.

The front door slammed, making both of them jump, shattering the lightheartedness that had filled the air between them. Katara turned around wildly to see the source of the noise. It was Sokka, and he was fuming as he stalked past the kitchen.

"Sokka?" Aang called. "Is everything alright?"

"Where's Suki?" Katara asked.

But he didn't answer them. He didn't even stop for them as he made a beeline for his room, the door shutting behind with a snap.

Suki's fingers drummed nervously on the steering wheel as she pulled into her parking spot. She put the car in park, and rested her forehead against her hands. "Fuck," she said emphatically.

There was no way around this. Song had said that she'd have to pay the piper, and this was it. Suki was sure of it. There was no way Sokka was going to let it go this time, and she was ready to admit to herself that he shouldn't have to. She still stood behind her point, but it was past time to let him make his.

She hated fighting with him. Hated it more than anything.

The elevator ride seemed interminable, and her foot tapped all the way up until the doors opened on the third floor with a 'ding!'. Aang and Katara were snuggled together on the couch when she walked in, and Katara sat up immediately, a knowing look in her deep blue eyes.

"He's in his room," Katara said, answering Suki's unspoken question. "Do you want us to leave? We can go grab dinner."

Suki nodded mutely. Fuck. She wasn't even arguing yet, and she was already about to cry. "I think that's a good idea," she said softly. "This is... it's going to be bad."

Katara immediately went to her, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Aang joined with a quick, one-armed squeeze a moment later, and they pulled away. "He loves you," Katara said firmly, her hands on her shoulders as she looked directly into Suki's eyes. "No matter what happens next, remember that he loves you."

"Okay, just hear me out," Toph began.

Kuzon sighed through the phone. "Toph, I already answered this question-"

"No, seriously, just hear me out. If, hypothetically, I wanted to work at your gym, could you find space for me?"

"Toph, I'm not going to employ someone with literally no background in exercise, or health, or... or anything."

"I thought you prided your gym on inclusivity," Toph wheedled. "Or, was that just words to you?"

She could practically hear Kuzon running his hand across his brow in irritation. "It's not just words to me." There was a long pause. "I guess I could do an internship-"

"An unpaid internship, are you fucking kidding me, Kuzon?" Toph snapped. "How's a girl supposed to live on literally no money?"

"You'll get paid in exp-"

"I know you're not about to say that I'd get paid in experience. I know you're not."

There was a shuffling at the other end of the line. "What would I be getting out of the bargain, exactly?" he asked shrewdly. "Some girl with no degree, who can leave whenever she wants, but is on my payroll?"

"You'd get Aang."

"What are you even talking about? You and Aang are not that close," Kuzon said. "He's not going to change his mind just because you're on board."

"This is a hypothetical situation," she reminded him. "Okay, forget that part. The only thing I'd really want to know is if you'd be willing to hire someone without a degree."

She could hear wind whistling through the phone, making his voice harder to understand. "Yea, I guess I would. I mean, technically, Aang doesn't have a degree. Although, with a job guaranteed, I think Ba Sing Se University would transfer his credits. But for you- if this was a career you really wanted, then, yea, I'd hire you."

"Kuzon, for fuck's sake," she said, grinning now. "I said it was hypothetical."

"Don't," Sokka warned, his voice low, the very moment Suki pushed open the door. "Just don't. I can't right now."

"It's now or later," Suki heaved. "What difference does it make?"

"I'll be calmer."

The tears were already stinging in the corner of her eyes. "And I'll be a mess."

"So, we should do it now, because you want to?" he retorted. "Fuck my feelings; Suki wants to do it now, so let's do it right now."

"Okay," she murmured weakly. "I can come back-"

"It's always like this with you, Suki," Sokka burst out suddenly, standing from his seat on the bed and beginning to pace. "You only care about how you're feeling, and you never give a fucking thought to how I feel. I'm all for you advocating yourself, but at what point in this relationship have I ever pushed you to do something you didn't want to do?"

"Never," Suki admitted. "So, why are you starting now?"

"I am not pushing you towards marriage," he snapped, rounding on her. "But you get the freedom to express the fact that you don't want to marry me; why shouldn't I get to express that I do?" He ran a hand through his hair. "And, why is it a problem that I love you so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with you? At the gardens, today... I saw it, Suki, I saw you walking down the aisle, I saw you telling me 'I do'. And it's killing me to think I'll never have it with you."

His voice broke on the word 'never', and her heart broke with him as he turned away to hide the red rimming his eyes. "Why do you think that because I don't want a marriage, it means that I don't want you?" She asked desperately. "We can be together without being married."

"You're going to excuse yourself into the fucking grave, Suki," Sokka snarled at her.

"Sokka, this isn't about feelings," she cried. "I know how I feel. I love you so much. And I bet thousands and thousands of partners have told their fiances the same thing. And then, six months or six years later, they hate each other."

He scowled at her. "The most heart-breaking thing is, I can't even tell if its marriage you're afraid of, or relationships."

Her returning glare was just as fierce. "As long as we're happy... as long as we love one another, I will stay with you to the end of the line."

"And as soon as you things get hard, you'll run. Or draw a line in the sand, or you'll tell me I can't talk about it, because that's what you do, Suki," he said, his voice made all the more intense in its quietness. "You run from your feelings, and you'll keep running and keep running until you've left everyone behind, and you're alone."

She faltered. "What are you saying?"

"Did you know that Haru basically asked me at the fitting what we're even doing?" Sokka asked darkly. "And, I didn't even know what to tell him. I had to say that I would just hope for the best. And that's all I'm ever doing, Suki, when it comes to moving forward with you. Hoping for the best. Crossing my fingers in my pocket while I'm putting my heart on the line."

"You're right," Suki replied, heat rising in her cheeks. "I don't just dive head first into major, life changing decisions. I think about them, I consider them from all angles. I make the choice that feels right to me."

He glared. "And marrying me doesn't feel right?"

"It frightens me!"

"You frighten me!" he snarled, but pain was in his eyes, clear as day. "I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, and sending you skittering off in another direction. Is this how it's going to be, on and on and on, until one of us bends or breaks? Because, I'm breaking, Suki."

The tears started to fall, one after another. "Don't say that. We can work through this."

"Do you remember what I told you, when you finally kissed me?" he asked, tears spilling over in his eyes, too. "I said that I'm hanging over a cliff, and you're the one that's keeping me there. I've been drawn to you from the moment I met you, but if I get too close, you're gone. It's been this way from day one." He wiped hastily at his eyes. "I don't want to leave you. I don't. But, its like loving you is the thing that drives you away."

She couldn't even respond, couldn't even deny it. It was her nightmare come true; the thing she hated most about herself had hurt someone she loved.

"I need time," Sokka said, his voice breaking. "I love you, Suki. So much. Spirits, I really do. But I can't- I can't keep..."

"Are you breaking up with me?" she asked miserably, wrapping her arms around herself, as if she could hold everything in place, frozen, if she just squeezed tight enough. "I'm sorry- I never wanted to hurt you, and I know this is too little too late, but-"

She jumped in surprise when his arms wrapped around her. "I just need time," he breathed in her ear, and she could hear the ragged desperation in his voice, the pain. "I don't want to break up- ever." He gave a weak little laugh. "But, I don't know what to do. So, I need time. I think we both do."

Suki leaned into him, her cheek against his chest, knowing that this could be the last time he ever held her, and breaking with the thought. But all she said aloud was, "Okay."

A/N: