June 12th, Ember Island

"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The officiant said, in his strong and steady tone.

"I do."

"And do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do."

"By the authority vested in me by the Fire Nation, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Mai pulled Zuko into a kiss, the first one they shared as a married couple. The guests behind them applauded, happily, breaking into cheers. It seemed to be a scene out of a romantic movie, being adorned by the yellowish light from the sunset of Ember Island, a tiny beach in the archipelago of the Nation.

Standing at the altar, in his rightful spot as the groom's best man, Aang couldn't help but cry.

Most of all, just because he was insanely proud. Two of his best friends were getting married, and having been by their side through almost all of their journey made him feel extremely happy for them. When he'd first met Zuko and Mai, he thought they would've been the type of angsty teenage couple to break up for even the slightest problem, and he couldn't be more glad to be proven wrong. The sight of them in the altar, in wedding attire, kissing as if there wasn't an audience watching them... That was very concrete proof that he had been wrong.

But despite the festivities, even if he didn't want to admit it, the whole wedding was making him reflect too much over his own love life, and that gave him a lot of trouble.

As he clapped along with the rest of the guests, he scanned through the crowd of dear friends and family, glancing over until he saw her face. Katara's blue eyes stood out a little in the crowd, and Aang almost shivered as the words she said to him the previous month echoed in his head.

So… What now? Do we focus on being friends?

The deep shade of her irises seemed clouded for a second. Aang gulped, and her eyes found his gaze, making him freeze.

Yeah, that's… For the better.

Katara would've been lying if she said she hadn't cried during the ceremony.

It was okay that she'd cried, right? It had only been a wedding ceremony- a very beautiful one, she must add-, and it was only natural that she'd get touched by the sweet words.

But no. Although sure, the hormones also didn't help, Katara knew it was something more than this.

Weddings had always gotten her hopeful about her love life, and as a kid, she used to envision herself walking down the aisle every time she and her family were invited to a ceremony. It was a childhood silly fantasy, to wear a pretty dress and jewelry, and swear to spend the rest of her life with the boy who would be her prince charming. Even when she grew up to have a disappointing romantic life, though, the weddings still gave her hope: Hope that she'd be the one standing on that altar, with someone she could truly consider her soulmate.

However, she could consider that the last straw that culminated in crying was that *he* was there. Aang was there, standing proudly at the altar, looking terribly handsome too. He had that gleam in his eye that was impossible to describe, genuine happiness she'd only seen a few times before.

That was almost the death of her.

She'd spent the previous month wondering if she had done the right thing by telling Aang there was no chance of them being together, and she honestly couldn't tell. Katara had a point when she said they should've stayed separated because of the baby, but she knew that wasn't the only thing to it.

That argument was an excuse and she knew it. She tried running from it, but it still chased her.

The first thing she did when she got to the venue of the actual celebration of the wedding- the place where the party was already getting started- was to run to the restroom and try to cover up the evidence of her tears. She was sort of glad Mai and Zuko had picked a wedding venue so close to the beach, though. The building in which the party was happening was a historical beach house, that had been renewed and bought by some party company. It was very well equipped and lots of fancy weddings and vow renewals had happened there.

She sighed as she wiped the mascara off her eyes, trying to recompose herself as quickly as possible, not only because she was a mess, but also because she was now faced with a second matter: The seating charts.

It wasn't really a coincidence that she, Sokka, and Suki- the last few additions to the guest list, since they only met the couple later on- would be seated next to Aang. It was quite logical since they knew close to no one in the party except him, Iroh, Azula, and Ty Lee. And although she was grateful not to have to spend the evening next to a random distant family friend from the bride's or groom's, she knew it would be hard to look into Aang's face again.

"You can do this, Katara." She whispered, trying her best to give herself a pep-talk. "It doesn't have to be weird."

And just like that, she gathered all her courage and walked out of the restroom. By the buffet, on the other side of the room, she saw her brother and his wife, chatting excitedly with Iroh. Sokka looked amazed at the food, and she tried to keep herself from laughing at his eagerness to eat.

Suddenly, as she was passing by the dinner tables, she felt one of the people who sat down tug at her arm. Surprised, when she turned to look who it was, she was met with a familiar pair of grey eyes.

"Hey, Katara." Aang said as he looked at the name tag next to his. "Looks like you're sitting here with us."

She paused for a second, looking around the table to see who else was there. The only other guest who found himself at the table at the moment was a very old and wrinkly man, who didn't even acknowledge that she was there. To be honest, she wasn't sure he was even hearing them. She smiled a little awkwardly before responding. "Oh, right, cool."

Aang stood up and pulled the seat out for her, which made her blush violently. She sat down, taking in the beauty of the room and the fancy ornaments on the table. The silverware and the adornments didn't seem tacky or glittery. Instead, everything in the room was in the tones of grey and black, styled with gold details. It looked divine: Incredibly fancy, yet modern and sophisticated.

"They really outdid themselves with these decorations, right?" Katara commented, looking hopefully at him. The old man, who sat at the opposite side of the table, didn't move.

Smiling proudly, he nodded. "Yeah. And it suits them, after all. They were having trouble finding some arrangements that fit their aesthetic, you know. Mai almost had a heart attack when she found out her mom wanted the flowers to be pink."

Grinning, she added. "I can imagine that. I never took Mai and Zuko as the kind of people to have one of those princess-y weddings we see around so much."

"Yeah, you bet. They are actually the polar opposite of princess-y. You know, they even had an emo phase freshman year of college." Aang added, chuckling. "Being 18-year-old Zuko's roommate back then was a nightmare. He got these long bangs-"

Before Katara could explode in laughter, she sensed two people appear behind them. Jumping, she looked back only to see the bride and groom. They both looked stunning: Mai in her white gown, which was adorned with some golden strands by the hems; And Zuko, in a very uptight tuxedo.

"Talking about my embarrassing teenager hairstyles, Aang?" Zuko tapped the best man's shoulders. "Careful, or I'll be sure to mention the time you went bald-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get the picture." He replied, then pulled his friend in for a hug. Then, hugging Mai as well, he continued. "Congrats on the wedding today! I'm so happy for you guys!"

Standing up and hugging the newlyweds, Katara also congratulated them. "Me too. It was a really beautiful ceremony!"

"Thanks." Zuko smiled back, hooking an arm over his wife's waist and staring down at her as if he was the luckiest man alive.

Mai looked around the room, her earring tingling by the swift motion. As she seemed to remember something, she turned to Katara. "So, We just talked to Ursa, and she sounded pretty excited about your baby, you know."

Zuko nodded, bringing the glass of champagne he had on his hands to his lips.

"Yeah. Aang is practically family, so she's simply overjoyed, it's practically a grandkid."

Katara shuddered a little, remembering the occasion in which she'd met the bride's and groom's parents, earlier that day. Ursa, Zuko's mom, had been extremely happy, so much that she'd hugged Katara so very tight she could've barely kept breathing. It had gone well, except for the growing feeling of guilt she had for the timing. Having a pregnancy announcement at another couple's wedding wasn't the best move.

"I'm really glad!" Katara's smile dropped a little, at the comment. "I'm just really sorry about stealing you guys' thunder today, though."

Standing by her side, Aang's eyes darkened, and he pressed his lips into a thin line. With a guilty expression, he leaned closer to his friends.

"Yeah... The wedding wasn't supposed to be about our baby, and we should've let people know beforehand."

To that, however, Mai only chuckled.

"Are you kidding? It's totally fine." The bride turned over to another one of the tables behind her, spotting the place where her extended family sat with a sour expression. "The more they ask you about your baby, the less they'll ask me when we're having children"

Zuko vehemently nodded. "We got married, like, three hours ago and her uncle already brought this subject up when we passed through their table! Spirits, can't they just take a step at a time?"

Katara felt Aang finally relax by her side, and she did so too.

But before the four of them could keep talking, she felt something pass suddenly between her and Aang. That thing turned out to be a little girl, dressed up in a fluffy dress, wearing a flower crown in her hair. She remembered seeing a child dressed like this during the ceremony. The kid, who Katara recognized as being Kiyi, Zuko's little sister, ran right past them, rushing to her brother and tugging at his pants.

"Zuzu! Uncle Iroh said you still need to talk to..." Kiyi paused with a frown on her face, before continuing. "Lutening Jee."

Zuko frowned, and Aang leaned down to talk to her. "Do you mean Lieutenant Jee?"

"Yeah! That one!" Her eyes gleamed for a second until her face contorted in a weird expression. "Is his name really 'Lieutenant'? That's a really awful name."

Everyone laughed, and Kiyi did too, though she seemed a little confused. But upon the calling, Mai took her husband's hand and sighed, still with a smile on her face.

"Well, that's our cue to leave. We'll try to talk to you guys again when we finish greeting all the distant relatives!" Both her and Zuko waved, smiling, and directed themselves towards the table by their right.

Kiyi, who still stood there, next to them, glanced over the buffet with curiosity. Katara couldn't blame her, since the food there seemed very appealing when she'd walked past the table, and she found it funny how the little girl's eyes gleamed at the sight of it. The little girl quickly turned around, looking up at Aang.

"Can you help me sneak some fire flakes? My mom said I shouldn't have too many, but they tasted really good." The look on her face would've been the definition of 'puppy dog eyes'.

"Sure, kiddo. It's a party occasion, I guess." Aang chuckled at her request and glanced over to Katara. "Hey, do you mind if I go for a second?"

She shrugged. "Oh, of course not."

Nodding, but not taking his eyes off her for a moment still, he took Kiyi's hand in his and they both navigated through the room to get to the buffet. When they finally reached the table where all the food was, the little girl stood on her tiptoes to look at the dishes. Aang picked her up, raising her so that she could see them better.

At that sight, Katara's heart started to beat tremendously faster.

She'd never seen Aang interact with children before, and it was honestly so cute that she couldn't handle herself. Having just evidenced the purest, most adorable moment, she felt giddy.

But then she could clearly envision him with their baby, and the way Aang would act around their kid.

The room suddenly felt too small, and she walked towards the porch of the building where the party was taking place as if the seas of Ember Island outside called her.

Dusk waited for her at the beach, tranquilizing her through its beautiful colors. The waves appeared in the distance, the salty wind brushing through her hair and face. Although Ember Island could never be considered a cold place, even more so by someone who had been raised in the South Pole, the fresh breeze and air were helping keep her cool.

Katara took in a deep breath, trying to focus on the sound of the waves crashing, but the muffled party noises from inside kept distracting her. She barely even noticed someone had joined her at the porch until they spoke.

"What could a beautiful young woman be doing here all alone and in the cold when a party is happening inside?" Uncle Iroh stood by the exit door, with a preoccupied expression on his face.

"Oh, hey Iroh. I was just getting some fresh air." Katara shrugged it off as he stepped closer to her. "And appreciating the view, I guess."

"Oh, I see." He nodded. "Do you mind if I join you then?"

She motioned for him to stand next to her, scooching to the side. Iroh took a deep breath, and

"Hm... You seem to be having a lot on your mind right now, huh?"

"I..."

"Would that struggle be, by any chance, related to your relationship with Aang?" Iroh asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Katara was shocked. The man was really, really wise. "How did you know...?"

Finally bursting in laughter, the old man patted her shoulder.

"Haha! I bet you thought I was a mind reader, huh? I was just looking over your table. You seemed puzzled talking to him." Then, his smile faded a little, and his wrinkles adopted a much more serious expression. "But I don't see why... The two of you seemed very well the day of the baby shower."

She looked down, fidgeting with her hands over the porch. "We... Aren't together anymore."

Iroh seemed to ponder over the information for a second, and the silence settled between them. The sun was almost gone from the sky, which now had acquired purple and pink tones.

"And yet, you seem like you wished you were." He turned to her, his golden wise eyes studying Katara's expression. "Aang is really smitten. So what's holding the two of you back?"

"There's just... too much at stake." Katara now avoided his gaze, forcing herself to fix her eyes in the sunset.

"You worry the romance between you and him might affect your child?" At that comment, she almost winced. Right on spot, she thought, and nodded in response. Then, Uncle Iroh asked, his voice acquiring a soft and calm tone. "Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice, Katara?"

When she finally had the courage to meet his eyes, she said. "Go ahead."

Iroh settled his hands on the front of his belly and took a deep breath.

"It's very noble of you two to be putting romance aside for the sake of your child. It's a selfless act, and in some cases, it would be better for the baby if their parents don't get together. But I don't think that's the case." Iroh's dark golden eyes started to shimmer in the light of the sunset. "I know that both you and Aang are caring, responsible people. And I also know for a fact that you care for each other very deeply. Doesn't it cause more harm than good to stay apart?"

"I..." Katara was left stunned, as she bit her lips. "Maybe, but I... I can't be sure if it'll work out."

At that, Iroh set a hand on her shoulder, his face fondly staring at hers, with a spark of hope in his eye. "Destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But love... Isn't it worth a try?"

Then the old man left, walking back to the wedding celebrations before she could even think of a response.

Aang had lost her in the crowd. After taking Kiyi to the buffet, he had turned around and hadn't seen Katara again.

And he hadn't worried a lot about it, since she could've just gone to the restroom or been engulfed in a boring conversation with one of Mai's boring family members. But then he saw her and Iroh, talking on the porch.

They both seemed very serious, which was a further worry. When Iroh was involved in a heartfelt serious conversation, it was bound to hit anyone very hard. Iroh was like the wisest of wise old men when it came to feelings and anyone knew that.

So he was determined to cross the entire room, go through the barricade of people who started to gather in the middle of the dance floor- because Mai had chosen the worst moment possible to do the bouquet-throwing tradition- and get to her there.

Before he could walk half of the way, Iroh was already leaving the porch, going back to the party. A very stunned Katara was left there by herself, and Aang tried to walk a little faster. He stepped on a few peoples' shoes on the way, mumbling a few apologies to a group of girls who he almost bumped into.

The wedding officiant started talking from the little stage about something he didn't comprehend since he wasn't really paying attention, and he only barely noticed when Mai stepped on the same stage, bouquet in her hands. The guests around him stared and listened closely, and some of them even recorded the whole thing, their cellphones up in the air. Aang was sure he butchered some of those recordings by passing in front of the camera.

At the same time, Katara finally stepped out of the porch, the light of the sunset slightly hugging her figure. She mindlessly walked to the back of the room, her eyes lost.

And then time just seemed to slow down.

As Mai threw her bouquet from the other corner of the room, from up the stage, the crowd of people wanting to catch it looked in awe. Their eyes traveled, following the fast trajectory of the flower arrangement, that seemed to be going farther than it should've. It made an exaggerated landing, right on Katara's forehead, making a loud sound.

Every single one of the guests seemed to gasp, synchronized. Aang simply ran to her, as the other just stood paralyzed.

"Ouch!" Katara rubbed her forehead, surprised. When she realized the number of people looking at her, she tried to tranquilize them, with a fading smile. "Oh, don't worry. I'm fine."

A few relieved laughs echoed in the room, and Kiyi, who had seemed very interested in catching the pretty flowers at the beginning of the night, sprinted through the legs of the guests to grab the bouquet from the floor.

The little girl jumped in excitement, with the flower arrangement in the air, yelling. "I caught it! I caught it!"

That seemed to disperse the guests enough so that Aang could get to Katara easily. He approached her, grabbing her arm. Tugging a strand of hair that had gotten out of place when the bouquet landed on her head, he looked at her, preoccupied.

"Oh, spirits, Katara, are you okay?" He looked at her forehead, which was starting to get reddened by the impact, and set his hand on her waist.

"Y-Yeah, It's fine, really." She almost took a step back, suddenly blushing. "It's not like it even hurt, you know." Then, touching her forehead, she winced slightly.

Aang raised an eyebrow, and she chuckled. Shaking his head, with a serious demeanor, he grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get you some ice in the kitchen somewhere."

His heart pounded in his chest, as they made their way to the lavish kitchen of the building, walking through the back of the room and passing through the server's door. Some cooks were preparing dishes to serve at the party, and Aang decided to go ask one of them for ice. When he came back with a cold compress and a cloth, Katara was trying to look at her reflection in one of the freezers at the corner of the room. She stood in a little hallway, a spot where all the freezers were positioned, and it was empty since the cooks and caterers weren't circulating around.

"That's probably going to bruise, huh?" She mumbled, rubbing the reddened forehead. When Aang handed her the ice, she thanked him. But then her expression fell, as she saw his serious demeanor. "Hey, are you okay?"

He took a deep breath, looking at her eyes. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"Uh, yeah." She raised an eyebrow.

"Then I'm fine." He leaned back on one of the giant freezers. "Guess I just got worried."

"You don't have to worry anymore, I'm fine, promise." She was about to put a hand on his shoulder, but he scooted away.

"Still, I was worried. You were just hit in the head by a flying bouquet, that, by the way, weighed a lot, because it was really fancy and probably had, like, ten different kinds of flower."

Katara took a step back, surprised by how upset he seemed to be. "Alright, alright, no need to get worked up."

"Of course I need to get worked up!" He threw his hands up in the air. "You'd get worked up too if the woman you loved- who also happened to be almost five months pregnant, I may add- was also hit hard in the head by some flying flowers! You could be concussed or something!"

Silence settled over them as they both took in the words that were just said. Katara leaned on the kitchen counter, looking down, as he took a deep breath and leaned against the freezer on the opposite side of the little hallway.

She decided to break the silence, blushing, looking at him hopefully.

"If you must know if I have a concussion or not, I think I can teach you how the procedure goes." He intensely stared at her, gulping, then hesitantly nodded. "Alright, so the concussed patient doesn't know their name, the time or date, and what just happened."

"So...What's your name?" He asked, almost in a whisper.

"Katara."

"Uh... What day is today? And what time is it?" He spoke a little louder, standing up straight.

"Today is June 12th, and it's about 6 PM since it was just sunset, I guess."

"Oh, okay." He looked down, fiddling with his fingers. "So... What's that thing that doctors do to check if someone is concussed, by looking at their eyes or something?"

Katara couldn't help but chuckle. "You have to make sure the patient's eyes can track the movement of your fingers."

Aang stepped closer to the counter where she had sat, and they both blushed at the proximity. He put a finger up in the air, and Katara fixated her gaze on it, without any difficulty. The man moved his finger around, and her eyes followed it.

When he came to the conclusion that everything was, in fact, alright, Aang let out a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding, and he settled his hand on the kitchen counter, near her body.

And then something came to her mind. Maybe it was the fact that she'd just been hit in the head, or maybe it was the quick pep-talk she'd just heard from Iroh on the porch, but Katara decided to just go with it.

"Can I confess something?" She said, in a hesitant manner, and he quickly turned his head around to face her, only to realize his nose was too close to hers.

"Uh, sure."

"You know, I told you we couldn't be together because it could be bad for our baby." She looked down, fiddling with a necklace she wore. "And I mean, it could, maybe. But that's not the main reason why I said we shouldn't be involved. It was just what I kept telling myself."

"Katara..." He whispered.

"The truth is, I'm just a coward." She forced herself to raise her head again, staring deep into his eyes. "I'm scared of breaking my heart! Because I just love you too, way too much, and it's scary and..."

Katara only realized how close Aang was standing when the tip of his nose brushed against hers, and she was turned silent for a second.

"...But you know what?" She continued, speaking only above a whisper. "Maybe we should take a leap of faith. That is if you're still up for it-"

Aang's hand raised to her cheeks, cupping her face gently. In his eyes, there was a spark she hadn't seen in a very long time.

And when he finally closed the space between them, she felt like she was coming home again.

Katara was inundated with a flood of joy, peace, and relief, as she finally sensed that the missing piece of her was found. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, and Aang felt her melt within his embrace. His lips tingled in contact with hers, and the sounds of the kitchen and the party faded behind them.

When they parted, foreheads touching in the fondest of acts, Aang asked, in a thick voice.

"So.. what now? We... Try again and take things slow?" He leaned back a bit and put a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Yes." Katara wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in for another quick kiss. Then she took a deep breath and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Spirits, Aang. I'm so sorry I led you on for so long."

His chest vibrated slightly when he chuckled. "What a mess we got into, huh."

"Yeah..." Katara leaned back again, to face him. "I'm just really, really sorry about the way things got between us. I was just so... confused about everything, and all is changing, so it just got overwhelming."

Aang wrapped his arms around her torso, in a tight hug. "Yeah, I get what you mean."

Then, hopping in the kitchen counter beside her, he let her lean her head over his shoulder, and he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"You know, I wish things were simpler sometimes." Katara commented, in a low voice. "That we'd have the chance to follow the right order of things and just take everything slowly."

To that, at first, he only hummed, until an idea came to his mind.

"You know what, I think we can." Aang stood up, suddenly with a goofy smile on his face, and made his way out of the room. Katara was left confused, sitting alone in the little kitchen hallway for a few seconds, until he walked back in, and leaned against one of the freezers. "Hello, there, stranger. It's very nice to meet you, I'm Aang. Can I buy you a cup of coffee sometime? Or, decaf, that works too."

Aang winked, and she tried to keep herself from laughing. "What are you doing?"

"I'm flirting with you, beautiful woman that I just met. So, wanna grab some decaf? It's my favorite." He spoke again, with a crooked smile.

"Well, I got hit in the head but you're the one that seems concussed." Katara played along, with a grin on her lips. "Who in their sane mind prefers decaf over regular coffee?"

He shrugged, leaning over the counter and raising his eyebrows. "Let's pretend I do."

"Huh, I see..." Aang helped her out of the counter, and she wrapped her arm on his. "I guess decaf works for me. You?"

"Of course."