,,You forgot to take your staff with you?" I asked amused, giggling at the fact that he actually forgot something for once.

,,Yeah I did." Aang grumbled as he chewed on his apple, letting out his frustration on the poor fruit.

,, Well at least you don't forget anything related to me." I told him as I continued to lazily gnaw on the carrot in my right hand.

,, Nope, because everything related to you has highest priority, my love." He said and I smiled not only in contentment but also because it also provided the perfect opportunity to ask another question I couldn't wait to ask.

,,So, you might remember then that you owe me some information?" My curiosity took over and I crooked my head to the right slightly.

,, Do you promise not to laugh at me when I'll tell you?" He asked cautiously and I couldn't help but wonder why he was so tensed up about whatever he kept from me. For now. We told each other many embarrassing things ever since we have known each other and never did he or I make fun of whatever we discussed.

,,Have I ever laughed at you because of the things you told me about yourself?" I seriously asked and raised a brow to emphasize my point. For a few seconds there was silence in the kitchen, save for the sound of the last part of my carrot disappearing in my mouth.

,, No of course not." He admitted, his cheeks blushing slightly with the realization that he actually already knew the answer.

,,So tell me then." I almost demanded and clapped my hands excitedly like I was a little girl again. A little girl that got excited when her grandmother told her she was going to tell her stories about the Avatar.

,,Tonight." He said and smiled, very well knowing that I never liked to wait for anything.

,, Oh c'mon, why not now? You'll soon have to go and the next time I see you is half past twelve!" I pouted and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

,,Because right now I still have the day ahead of me and if I tell you now, I won't be able to concentrate on the topics discussed in the palace." He said and I furrowed my brows in bewilderment.

,,That doesn't quite make sense, dear."

,,Well y'know, if I told you now then I would later be occupied with thinking about your reaction and then I would have an argument in my head whether I should have told you earlier or whether I should have never mentioned it, depending on your reaction." He explained and I expressed my understanding with a nod.

,, I'm quite the distraction for you, right?" I couldn't help but tease with a cheeky smirk and I heard my boyfriend groan.

,,You don't have to tell me." He said and I giggled with my hand in front of my mouth. Aang then got up from the kitchen table and was about to airbend the dishes into the sink when I stopped him.

,,I'll take care of the dishes for today. You have to be on time, Sweetie." I told him and lifted myself from my chair as well. He quickly went over to me and grabbed me by the waist before he lifted me from the ground. As our faces were on one level, he pressed his lips to mine and I closed my eyes, sighing into the kiss as he consumed me with his lips. But before I could enjoy myself too much, he quickly lowered me again and we parted audibly.

,, I wish I could thank you with more than just ONE kiss, but for the time being it has to be sufficient." My boyfriend half-joked as I saw the reluctance in his eyes to let go. I, of course, felt the same.

,,C'mon I'll accompany you to Appa at least." I teased to lift his mood and it worked.

,,How generous of you." He chuckled and I giggled at my own gesture.

,, I know."…

Two minutes later we were walking out of the front door.

,,So are you gonna be sewing that fancy dress of yours today again?" My boyfriend asked with a grin as he squeezed my hand with his.

,,Of course. And by the way, I only have fancy clothes." I said as I looked up into his platinum eyes.

,,How true." He sighed and smiled at me, the playful sparkle in his eyes making me feel excited for everything the day might hold at the ready for me. One look at his eyes made me confident to face the future. One look was enough to know that I had his support in my every decision. One look was enough to make me feel more joyful. It was fascinating.

When we reached Appa's barn, the sky bison was of course asleep. Lying on his back, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and all his limbs stretched out, he really looked to be in peaceful slumber. All too bad that this slumber was going to be disrupted really soon.

,,Of course." Aang groaned with a grin and rolled his eyes, knowing the habits of a sky bison like no other. He used his airbending to jump onto Appa's abdomen and tousled his thick fur there.

,,C'mon buddy, wake up. I need you for a ride today." Aang said, the only response being a sleepy mumble from the ten-tonner. Appa then turned his head from Aang away and tried to fall asleep again, telling the teenager that he didn't wish to be disturbed any more.

,,It will not even take longer than five minutes for you and then you can go back to sleep, so please buddy, get up.." He tried to appease the bison, but without success.

,,Appa!" Aang now tried it with the harsher way, raising his voice to emphasize his point.

,,If you're not going to get your big butt off of the ground in the next two minutes, you're a really bad animal guide." He tried to make it sound intimidating but he never could be really upset with his life-long friend. Aang was just too attached to Appa for such a thing.

Said one just grumbled loudly in annoyance before rolling onto his abdomen, making Aang jump off of the bison.

,, Honestly, one could think you have problems with your back considering how much you move." The airbender said and he knew exactly that he had lost. If Appa didn't want to move, he wouldn't, even if it meant no hay for a week – not that we would ever consider letting poor Appa starve for a week.

The only thing that would make the sky bison move is a lit torch close to his fur, but this was most certainly not an option. I loved the bison as much as Aang did, he a was a part of our Gaang and as a part of our family we would never let anything or anyone harm him. Despite his tendency to be very, very lazy at some points.

Aang turned his back to the bison and slowly made his way out of the barn, his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

,,Great, then I'll have to walk again. If I just hadn't forgotten my staff." I heard him mumbling to himself before he stepped outside. With one last glance at the sleepy bison, I followed my boyfriend outside and put a hand on his shoulder to sooth him.

,,It's not like it will take much longer for you without Appa." I said to him and he smiled mildly at me.

,,I know. It's just that it's not even seven in the morning and you know how much I LOVE to stand up early." He sighed lightly and I giggled.

,, Appa and you are very much alike, if you ask me." I smirked at him and his eyes brightened up as he laughed heartily.

,,Yeah, you could definitely say that." He chuckled before he bent down to give me a peck on the lips.

,,Now, let's make this quick and painless: I'll see you for lunch today, right?" He asked and I knew this meant goodbye for the next few hours. And not once felt I comfortable knowing that I wouldn't see my beloved for some time. Even if it only were a few hours.

,,If you don't want to see my bad side, you better show up for lunch! " I joked to ignore my own sorrow and poked his chest lightly, his warmth going through my fingertips straight to my veins.

,, Oh, I love your bad side just as much as the good side." He responded with a toothy grin before he kissed me again.

,,Now, I gotta go before I enjoy this too much and do nothing for the rest day – like Appa." He chuckled at his own joke, winked at me and the next second I saw him jumping over the wall, his airbending as impressive as ever.

Then I heard the shocked scream of a woman and Aang's ,,Sorry 'bout that!" from the other side of the wall and I rolled my eyes. This young man startled everybody at some point. He just couldn't be ordinary for one second.

I stayed on the same spot for another few seconds, still smiling and gazing at the spot where my boyfriend disappeared mere seconds ago. I'll see you again soon, my love. Very soon.

I made my way back up to the house and thought about how I would spend my time alone, the first thing springing to my mind of course being the dress I wanted to finish in two days or so. I felt excited when I thought about how Aang would react to see me in that dress, his anticipation giving me a good imagination of how much he would love it to see the fabric on me, assuring me that it was a good idea to work on it.

I closed the door and went into the living room, my unfinished project still lying on the armchair, exactly where I placed it yesterday. I sat down on the soft fabric after I had picked up the needle in one and the dress in the other hand. I looked out of the window in front of me, the sight on the Upper Ring from here never ceasing to impress me, especially when the sky was as clear as it was today.

For a second I thought about adding some ornaments on the dress which were related to the Air Nation, but then I remembered that the top I currently wore already had typical forms and symbols of the Air Nomads engraved on it, and there were even more clothes with similar decorations in the closet upstairs. No, I needed something more original than that.

But I still couldn't help but smile as my gaze followed the smooth and curved lines and lingered on the Air Nation Symbol, which was proudly displayed in the centre of my belly. The overall cerulean colour of the top making it radiate cheerfulness.

I was proud to be a part of the Air Nation, which of course wouldn't be possible without my boyfriend. The free-spirited nature and their compassion for every single living being were two of many examples why their culture was so appealing to me. There was no need for money, the nomads were a self-sustaining people with a kindness that allowed them to share the goods with every brother and sister of their culture.

The peace and equality each and every member of the Air Nomads enjoyed was fascinating. Those people were happier than in the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation and poverty close to non-existing.

Of course there was still a political hierarchy, with my boyfriend being at the top of that hierarchy as the last true Nomad, but besides that everyone had the same rights and responsibilities. Air Nomads were selfless people, they didn't crave to live better than their brothers and they weren't jealous.. Well, if it wasn't about conquering a woman's heart, that is.

I giggled lightly and temporarily stopped sewing until I was focused again and continued then. Oh, how well I can remember the look of jealousy Aang gave Zuko when he came with Iroh down to the Crystal Catacombs to save me almost three years ago. It was the moment we hugged, I saw him glancing at the prince of the Fire Nation as to say ,,Stay away from my girl." He was obviously jealous that Zuko had some time alone with me - although both of us were imprisoned. And as my boyfriend once told me, back then he thought Zuko had an interest in me, which made the situation only worse for him obviously. But he never should have felt jealous in the first place: I have always been his, without a single doubt in the world. It just took me a while to realize it and to confess it to him..

I smiled again, finding it rather cute that even then he made sure every male around him stayed away from me. And I thank him for his persistence to fight for me, I honestly couldn't say what I had done if he gave up on me…

Time passed by quickly and before I knew it, I heard my beloved calling out my name, my heartbeat speeding up at the sound of his voice. I quickly lay down my work and got up from the armchair, turning to the direction of the balcony. My boyfriend quickly closed the distance between us and kissed me, but unless yesterday, it was more a peck than a passionate reunion. Was something wrong with him?
His eyes were full of concern when I gazed into them after the kiss, the platinum eyes murkier than usual.

,,We gotta go." He simply said and I frowned in confusion.

,,Why? Where?" I asked, his lack of words leaving me in the dark.

,, To the Taihua Mountains. There seems to be a coup against the federal government and I volunteered to take care of the situation, which is why I'm already here although it's just 10 a.m. Anyway, the Earth King also sends some platoons to make sure that the old order will get restored." He explained as he took my hand and guided me to one of the guest rooms, where our camping equipment like tents or sleeping bags were stored.

,, Who is staging the coup?" I curiously asked, trying to get a picture of the situation in my head as I opened the closet.

,,As far as we know.. Fire benders still loyal to the old regime of the Phoenix King."

That news were nothing new to me. Every once and a while people were rebelling against the New Order, but it was most definitely new that Wrathfires (people who like their old ,,leader" fueled their bending with wrath and hate) tried to overthrow an Earth Kingdom government and not their own.

,,How many?" I continued to question Aang, as he and I put the camping equipment on the guest bed for now.

,, Around a thousand if we trust the Earth King's intel." My boyfriend said and the tone of his voice told me that this wouldn't be taken as lightly as the usual dozen of Wrathfires that pillaged villages.

,,Shit!" I exclaimed and my boyfriend chuckled slightly amused at my reaction.

,,That's exactly what I thought when I heard it the first time." He grinned at me lightly.

,,But there never were more than a hundred!" I said, still a bit shocked at the news. This definitely caught me more off-guard than expected.

,,Yep, I know." Aang said as he pulled the tarpaulin out of the closet and threw it onto the bed as well.

,, Now is the time to check if I got rusty over the last three years.." He half-joked and I placed my hand on his shoulder confidently.

,, Most definitely not. You beat me in a sparring match on Saturday, with JUST waterbending. If there will be violence, you'll be unstoppable. " I reassured him and he pecked my lips in response.

,, I'll agree with you. But only 'cause I've got you by my side. As a team, WE're unstoppable." He beamed at me and I beamed right back at him.

,,That's the spirit, my love!" …

Fifteen minutes later we had loaded everything we needed onto Appa's saddle and even the bison himself was finally in the mood for some flying. ,,Here we go: Yip yip!" Aang said and Appa immediately took off into the sky. The bison hummed deeply, enjoying the feeling of being up in the air again.

,,I know buddy, I know.." My boyfriend just said and petted the thick and soft fur of Appa's head. Then he had a cheeky grin on his face and I knew what would come next: Something provoking.

,,And this morning I thought you forgot how to fly.." He teased and the bison grumbled, expressing his annoyance.

I observed the entire interaction from Aang's lap, holding the reins and snuggling myself into his chest, but now I found it fitting to add something to the conversation.

,, Don't feel bad Appa.. I love you just like you are you big cuddly sky bison." I said and affectionately went through the fur that resembled a brown airbender arrow. Appa hummed, obviously enjoying my actions.

,,Don't let her flattering get through to you buddy. She just wants to tease me." My lovely boyfriend said and I giggled.

,, I don't need to flatter him, 'cause he already loves me, right Appa?" The bison hummed again in agreement.

,,Yeah, but you love me more, right buddy?" I could see Appa looking up towards us for a second before he just grumbled. I laughed heartily and looked up into my beloved's eyes.

,,Seems like he likes me more than you." I teased, knowing exactly that nobody would ever be able to replace Aang as Appa's buddy. The two of them could literally feel if the other was serious or just playing a game. They had reached a level of connection that Aang might have with me, but still, Appa was his oldest friend of them all and they went through literally everything together. And when the need was the greatest, they were always supporting each other. It was magical, and I admired them for their bond.

,,Oh shut up, you." He grinned and leant down to kiss me. I lifted my head to meet him and his hands came down to my face and cupped it. He was aggressive and it made me sigh, my lips parting for him so that he could give me even more of his raw passion. My hands let go of the reins and snaked their way up to his neck, where they stayed and pulled him down a bit more.

I smirked when I felt his erection through his clothes, as hard and as warm as ever and I once again basked in the feeling of making him feel this good. It made me feel powerful, manipulating him like that.

His excitement fueled my passion for him and soon I made him retreat into his mouth. Then, in one swift movement I retreated again and bit down on his lower lip softly, making him moan in satisfaction. I repeated my action and he moaned again. Then I halted my offensive and knew precisely what he would do.

Giving me a taste of my own medicine, he bit down on my lower lip softly, knowing exactly that it was one of many ways to make me melt for him. I purred into his lips as the pleasant shiver ran down my spine and I felt him smirking. I loved it to let him take control as much as he loved it when I took it. The way he behaved when he took the reins was wild and stormy, just like the strong air currents he bent to his will.

,,Y'know, I hate you for shutting me up." I broke myself free for a second to tease him and just as anticipated, he attacked me even more ferocious now.

,,I hate you more." He growled as he bit down on my lip even firmer and I mewed for him. Even if I could suppress the sounds that came out of my throat when he kissed me so excellently, I wouldn't suppress them. I knew how much he loved to hear them.

,,Why do you have to sound so good when I'm kissing you?" He sighed against my lips seconds later and I lashed my tongue against his in response.

,,Because we're meant for each other." I sighed right back and tightened my grip on his neck a bit.

,,How right you are." He growled and I smiled against him as he spoke out the truth. My tongue gave his an affectionate brush as I continued to taste his mouth. He tasted raw but also had a certain sweetness, which summed up his character pretty good. Sweet and charming, gentle, romantic, compassionate. Yeah, that was him.

But also raw. Raw charisma, raw masculinity and raw sex appeal. Damn, he made my knees go weak...

,,That was refreshing." Aang said when we had parted and filled our lungs with oxygen again.

,,You tell me.." I sighed happily, my body still affected by the intense snogging session.

,,Ah.." he contently sighed and wrapped his arms around my belly.

,,I love you Katara." His words made me forget all my problems for the moment as I leant back against his hard chest.

,,I love you too Aang." I returned the favour and he pecked my lips again, a feeling I couldn't get enough of.

Then Appa hummed and I chuckled softly.

,, We love you too." Aang said and petted his fur again. ,,Yep, we're family, big guy." I added and I suddenly remembered something at the mentioning of family.

,,Did you bring some paper with us?" I asked my boyfriend and looked up into his eyes.

,,Of course, I guess you want to write the invitations for the reunion party next week?" I nodded and smiled slightly, his ability to read my mind never failing to make me fall for him more every time he did that.

,,It's in the small blue bag. I figured out that we would write a message to the Earth King anyway when we're finished with this mission." He said and pointed to a small bag relatively close to us in the front of the saddle. I tried to reach it without having to get up, but my arm was just too short. Sensing what was going on, Aang chuckled and with one swift move of his long arm he handed me the fabric container.

,, It's super cute when you're too short to reach something." He said, teasing and complimenting me at the same time and tousled my hair slightly.

,, Yeah, you find anything about me cute." I silently complained and knowing him, he probably found the tone of my complaining voice cute as well. He snickered as he continued to focus his gaze on the breath-taking surrounding masses of air. My beloved rested his chin on top of my head as I opened the bag and found several paper scrolls. Being as curious as ever, I opened one and a very official looking document appeared on the inside.

,,What's that?" I asked in curiosity and showed it to my boyfriend who yawned at the sight of it.

,,The usual form-thingy the governor of a federal district has to sign. This time his signature is a guarantee for the Earth King that everything has been restored to the way it was before the coup and that the political structure is still active. Such kind of things, it's really not that interesting." He explained and for some odd reason I felt impressed by his knowledge about politics, although I knew he was attending diplomatic meetings for more than two years now.

,, How long do you think this will take?" I asked, hoping that it wouldn't take until the planned party next Friday. I missed our friends and I didn't want to feel disappointed now that the plans slowly began to become real.

,,Hard to say.. But it shouldn't be more than a week at maximum. Especially with Earth Kingdom troops as support." He said, lost in thoughts. Knowing him, he was probably thinking about what kind of challenge would await us there.

,,Fuck!" He suddenly swore and it startled me a bit, his rare usage of swear words always making me feel alerted when he does swear.

I saw him grabbing the reins and pulling them, Appa taking an 180° turn in an instant.

,,Wrong direction!" He exclaimed and face palmed himself.

,,I don't know how much time we must have lost by now.." He grumbled and I giggled lightly.

,, Don't exaggerate. That maybe cost us twenty minutes.. Although I know what you mean." I said and I felt him relaxing behind me.

,,I would be surprised if you didn't know." He sighed and pressed me closer against him with one hand.

,,How did you know we were heading into the wrong direction?" I asked him, not entirely sure what caused the realization.

,,The sun. For a second I closed my eyes and enjoyed it's rays on my face, then I looked up and saw that we were flying not in the same direction as the sun's course. The Taihua mountains are in the west of Ba Sing Se, not in the east." He explained and I nodded merely in understanding.

,,Didn't you want to write a letter?" My boyfriend asked with a chuckle and I giggled lightly at his teasing tone.

,,Someone distracted me." I said and slapped his thigh with my right hand as the other was already looking for a new role of paper and some ink to write on.

,,No, you started a conversation, because you couldn't keep your curious, cute little nose out of other people's belongings." Aang teased and kissed the crown of my head tenderly. I purred at the sweet contact and how warm it made me feel.

A few seconds passed by as I just smiled and even closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying his closeness and his radiant love for me.

,,No sleepy time, you got a job to do." He tickled my side for a second and I squeaked in surprise. When I looked at him the next moment, he grinned from ear to ear, obviously enjoying himself and my reaction.

,,Fuck you!" I just mumbled and as I was about to begin my letter, my lovely boyfriend cupped my face and smashed his lips to mine, sending my body on fire for a few seconds before he retreated and concentrated on steering Appa again.

,, Spirits, I love it when you swear.." He sighed and left me to my letter with a very broad smile on my face, my mind feeling giddy and my body tingling. I sighed in pure satisfaction and couldn't wonder if it was possible to love him even more than I already did, because the last kiss really made me fall even harder for him than I already had…

Writing with ink was really simple for a waterbender. I just had to control the liquid and bend it into different letters and order them correctly. At the beginning my writing was really messy, but after a bit of practice I quickly got the hang of it and now I didn't need a quill any more. It really was useful.

When I was done with a letter for Sokka and Suki and a letter for Toph( she would hopefully find someone who could read it for her), I let the ink dry for a few minutes before I rolled up the paper and stored it in the bag again. I looked up at Aang again and gave him a pleading look to return the bag to the saddle, which he of course did, but not without a light snicker.

,,You're so damn cute." My boyfriend sighed and tousled my hair a bit again. He let go of the reins and wrapped both his arms around my waist and belly before he leant back, pulling me with him. I quickly found myself lying on top of him, his chin resting on top of my head again.

,,You wanna cuddle?" I asked with a giggle.

,,You're not tensed up so much that you don't want to cuddle with a coup awaiting us?" I cheekily asked and he chuckled in response.

,,No. I know, it sucks and all.. But I've learnt not to plague myself all the time with what I already know. It's true art to not forget something horrible but not to let it consume you at the same time. And I'm trying to walk that narrow path." He said and kissed my head sweetly. For a few second, the sky was even more beautiful than it already was and the sun shone even brighter than usual.

,,You've grown so much since I've met you.." I sighed, being so proud of the young man he had grown into the last three or so years.

,,I know, I love my own tallness as well." He sighed dreamily, basking in his own arrogance and I snorted.

,, And you've also become very arrogant like many teenager boys do in your age." I couldn't help but smile at the game we played again, curious how it would end this time.

,,C'mon, we had this argument many times now. I love attracting you, you love it when I show off." He groaned lightly and played with my hair strands, careful not to dishevel them.

,,And?" I cheekily asked, the grin on my face widening by the second.

,,You're a very stubborn woman, Katara of the Southern Watertribe." He sighed and kissed my cheek nonetheless.

,,Princess or Lady Katara of the Southern Watertribe, if you were so kind." I teased and he kissed my lips, passion running through both our arteries.

,,Oh yes, I wooed a princess." He more stroked his own ego with that phrase than anything else and I giggled.

,, And I wooed the Avatar. That's even harder." I felt him shaking his head slightly and he laughed at that statement.

,,No, you didn't even have to do anything to make me fall for you. You're just way too beautiful to be resistible." He rhapsodized and my cheeks flushed at his statement.

,,Stop showering me with compliments, you're making me blush." I said and he beamed at my last statement.

,,Awww, you're sooo cute when you're blushing." Aang said completely enamoured and kissed both of my cheeks twice, my heart a bloody mess, a result of all the affection he poured over my heart like the redness that covered my most important muscle.

I closed my eyes, needing a moment to calm myself from the emotional turmoil my boyfriend loved to put me through every day. At least it was a pleasant emotional turmoil. A very pleasant one, but that didn't weaken it's intensity. And Avatar Aang was a very intense person with a very big heart.

,,Aang?" I asked tenderly and my boyfriend only hummed to announce that he was listening.

,,Do you sometimes ask yourself why you feel yourself so attracted to me?" I heard him sigh and for a second I thought he might find the question boring, but the moment he spoke my thoughts got immediately proven wrong.

,,'Course I do. I ask myself why precisely did I fall for the person you are with your characteristics and your appearance. I ask myself why I can't help but find everything you do interesting and I ask myself why you turn me on so freaking much." He said and at the last part I giggled. After all, he was just a male teenager, Avatar or not.

,,Well, for the last part I can give you an answer: You're a teenage boy, with a cock and you want to experiment with it. And I just happen to be the perfect partner for your experiments, so it's only natural that your dick is happy to see me." I explained with a dirty smirk and I felt him breathing in sharply. ,,Katara!" He exclaimed a bit shocked and I laughed at his reaction. ,, You're always so tense when I'm playing this card. Loosen up, we're only talking about Sex!" I giggled and slapped his side lightly.

For a few moments it was silent on Appa's head, if one did exclude the noise of the wind, and I enjoyed this silence fully, knowing that I silenced my cocky boyfriend.

,, Which term do you prefer more? Making love or having sex?" My boyfriend asked all out of the sudden and I grinned proudly, noticing that he took my advice seriously.

,, I like both but I think that making love is a softer expression for having sex. I think that is what you would say to the faint-hearted people who can't handle the rougher terms – so basically you." I said with a smirk at the end.

,,Ey!" Aang made in an offended tone before he poked my nose.

,,I'm not faint-hearted."

,,Right. I just wanted to tease." I said and continued my thought of train.

,, Well, having sex on the other hand.. I think it fits more for the activities we are doing behind closed doors. Rough, passionate, wild. And despite all the roughness, we express our love to the fullest during it. We don't just fuck like many people, we do it not only out of raw lust, no, we crave to love one another, we NEED to show each other how much I mean to you and how much you mean to me. That's the difference for me." I explained and I felt him being in deep consideration about what I just said.

,,I think I can agree on that. And not only because you're my girlfriend." He snickered before he became sombre again.

,, I think there has never been a more philosophical answer to Sex." Aang said in all seriousness and a question popped into my head.

,,Did the great thinkers of the Air Nomads concern themselves with something as earthy as Sex?" I asked, my curiosity this time picking a really special question to ask.

,, I was maybe a bit too young to know about this, hehe." Aang responded and sheepishly scratched his head with one hand.

,,Oh right.." I said in the same sheepishness, until I burst into giggles at one specific yet very random thought.

,, Ah, I miss the fourteen year old Aang, who didn't know how to undress a woman." I grinned from ear to ear as I remembered all too well how inexperienced he was at that point in his life.

,,But you were just as inexperienced to handle my shaft." He argued back and I had to agree with him on that.

,,Sometimes I wonder how this thing of yours fits into me.." I said more to myself than to him, but my lovely boyfriend of course responded to that statement.

,, You're made for me. You'll be able to accommodate me even when we're adults." I literally felt the smug expression on his face just as much as I felt his erection pressed against my lower back.

,,And besides, a woman shouldn't think during sex. That is really disrespectful, m'lady." he teased me and I giggled for the hundredth time today.

,,Oh, shut your air hole!" I said in amusement. But before I could enjoy my amusement I felt him turning my body so that both our chests were pressed against the other. As I gazed into his eyes I saw the shininess of his platinum eyes and to my delight they weren't obscured by sorrow. It sent excitement through my veins, knowing that I could make him forget all the worries he had.

,,You're such a bad girl Katara. And I freakin' love you for it." He whispered before his lips collided with mine as we lost ourselves in the storms of our passion once again..

After a lot more cuddling, talking and kissing and three hours later we arrived at the capital of the Taihua Mountain district, which got it's name from the surrounding mountains. Located in a valley and divided in two by a river, the home of maybe fifty thousand people was easily recognizable from above. It's walls were maybe ten metres high and in the distance outside of the town smoke could be seen, emitted by some manufactories.

As we came closer to the ground, I could the Phoenix King's sigil on the town hall's roof, standing tall and menacing over any other building in the city. Also there were a lot dots of red in the town's streets, indicating that there were indeed many soldiers occupying the place and patrolling in the streets, in case the locals would rise up.

,,Those Wrathfires.." I muttered, angered by their actions and I heard Aang agree with me with an annoyed hum. I let my eyes search for any signs of destruction by them, but to my surprise, there was no smoke, no fire and no ruins to see.

We landed on a hill, maybe one and a half miles away from the town's outskirts, surrounded by forests in front of us and the mountains behind us. Aang and I jumped down from Appa, my lovely boyfriend catching me in his strong arms when I jumped, before he bent the tent down from the saddle. Appa hummed in gratitude, thankful that we began to lift the weight of him.

,, You can lay down and sleep if you want to. We're not going anywhere for now." Aang said with a slight smile on his face and Appa immediately lay down on his abdomen, covering his eyes with his front legs and lowering his mighty head to the ground in the process. He mumbled in relief and contentment, being obviously exhausted from the long journey.

The tent was quickly prepared for the night and the tarpaulin put on top of it.

,,You know that it probably won't rain tonight?" My boyfriend asked me and I giggled.

,,Yes, I do." I shortly responded and Aang laughed heartily.

,, I'm not questioning it any more. Remember when we were at the Great Divide and you and Sokka argued about using the tarpaulin?" I laughed as well as I remembered the argument with my older brother at the canyon.

,,That was truly the worst part of our journey, travelling the Great Divide." I told my boyfriend who raised his brows.

,,Really? Back then you said it was beautiful." I rolled my eyes at him although his statement amused me.

,,Well, just because something is beautiful doesn't mean that it can't be bad." Aang chuckled at my explanation, his eyes brightening whilst doing so.

,,Well, you certainly are beautiful and you can't be bad.. At least not to me." He smirked and suddenly grabbed my waist and spun me through the air for a few second. I squealed in delight and surprise and when he let me down I clung onto his broad shoulders, my head a bit giddy from all the spinning.

,,I love you Aang." I couldn't help but say and he wrapped me in a tight hug.

,,I love you too Katara." He whispered back and affectionately stroked my back with his hand. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the silence around us, the only noises coming from birds or the trees creaking in the wind.

,,Do you hear that?" Aang asked me and I sighed into the embrace.

,,Yes, it's all so quiet up here.." I said.

,,No, that's not what I mean. I can.. Oh, wait a sec." He said, his tone concerned, before he let go of me, walked a bit back and stomped his feet into the ground, the way Toph sometimes does it.

,,Yep, earthbenders are approaching. Let's see what they're doing here." He said, took my hand and guided me to the northern slope of the hill, where we could look down into the forest that separated us from the town of Taihua. And now that my boyfriend mentioned it, I could hear it too: The familiar sounds of rocks crushing whatever was in their way was getting louder by the second.

After a minute or so I could also see them, all of them riding a wave of earth in a similar manner I loved to do it with water. There were maybe ten of them, all wearing the green uniform of the Earth Kingdom.

,,You really have sharp senses." I praised my boyfriend, who squeezed my hand in response.

,,Thanks." He gave me a short smile before he turned his gaze to the newcomers. ,

,Halt!" I heard one man calling to his comrades and in a matter of seconds, they all dismounted their self-made vehicle and stopped for a moment, probably discussing something very briefly. Then they continued the last fifty metres of their ascent on foot, all marching in step.

,,Are you two Avatar Aang and Master Katara?" The man in front asked us when the small unit of earthbenders had reached our small campsite. I realized that they probably had discussed who we are.

,,Yes we are." Aang confidently said and the obvious leader of the platoon nodded shortly, his helmet covering his face for a second as he did so.

,, A pleasure to meet you both. My name is Colonel Kohai, and I'm the leader of the scouting platoon. And these are obviously my man." The Colonel introduced himself to us and shook both our hands firmly.

The colonel was an average sized man with black hair and beard, green eyes and the typical appearance of a muscular earthbender. On his green uniform was a badge, formed like a golden arrow, proudly displayed on his chest. His green helmet had a golden tip and the strap of his belt was coloured the same way, making him stand out to his other man.

,,Seems like you already built up your camp." The colonel stated as he took in the surroundings, before he fixated his eyes on Aang again.

,, Were you told where we are or is this a coincidence?" He asked and my boyfriend chuckled.

,, Well, you see.. I thought it was a good strategic location, hidden in the mountain's shadow and the forest to cover, but no, the Earth King didn't tell me the location for your camp. He probably just trusted us to find a way to contact you." He said and smiled lightly at the Earthbender.

,,I see.." He responded, a hand going through his beard in a similar manner to Iroh's.

,,Well, then you certainly have a hand for strategy, young man." He said and Aang scratched his head in sheepishness.

,,Thanks." He returned, but the Colonel had already turned around to his man again.

,, Man!" He commanded loudly, radiating confidence and authority.

,,Yes Colonel!" The other man responded in an instant and I could feel they were giving their leader one hundred percent of their attention.

,,Time to build up camp!" He ordered and with another

,,Yes, Colonel!" the soldiers began erecting earth tents and constructing the temporary camp.

,,Eh, Colonel, are you and your man the army the Earth King promised to support us with the mission?" I asked the platoon manager, who made it his task to watch over his little bunch of man as they were executing his order. He turned around and chuckled.

,,No, that would be a bit too less. Although every man of mine is worth at least ten of these idiots they call soldier today!" He responded loudly, and his man laughed in agreement at the Colonel's words.

,,Me and my man are just the scouting platoon. We were sent by Lieutenant Gheli to make sure that the army wouldn't meet any aggression or traps when we arrive here in the area and especially not on the campsite, which is exactly where you are standing right now, Lady Katara." He bowed politely to me and Aang again but I still had a few questions left.

,, But don't you think that they would spot an entire army if they just march around here to get to the campsite? And how many soldiers are actually going to help in case there will be violence here?" I asked and I heard Aang chuckling beside me.

,,She's a curious one." He whispered to the Colonel and he grinned slightly.

,,Well, first of all, once the main forces reach this area, they'll dig themselves through from underneath, so they'll be near invisible. And the Earth king sent about two thousand soldiers here, which I think is a good number." He answered me and Aang gasped.

,,No way! Two thousand men going through an underground tunnel! That will take a while for sure, right?" My boyfriend asked and Kohai nodded.

,,They should already be directly behind these mountains." He pointed to the mountain range approximately three miles in the north of the town.

,, Digging all the way to these woods below." He pointed to the forest that hid us from the town.

,,And they should be here in the evening. Until then there is not much to do, if we don't get nasty visitors up here." The Colonel ended his explanation. Just as he was about to walk to his man, he turned around once more.

,,Oh, and I don't want to worry you, but I think there will be violence. Until now, there wasn't but that is because nobody attempted to throw them out of here. Those guys are resourceful. That ain't the typical bunch of pillagers that just raids. To me, it looks like a serious organization. They see the advantage of not blindly destroying what comes in their way. But they will murder, they will destroy and they will burn things to the ground once they notice an army approaching. So, use the time wisely if you plan to find a diplomatic solution." The colonel tipped his helmet to say goodbye for the time being and turned around.

,,How do you know this?" I called after him, partially not wanting his words to be true.

,,I served in the military long enough." He called back, shrugging his shoulders like it wasn't something worth mentioning...

After that Aang and I quickly worked on a plan to maybe solve this conflict without violence. We decided to disguise ourselves and change clothes to enter the town, whose entrances were guarded by Wrathfires. We wanted to know what was going on, what this organization wanted and how we could get rid of them. It sounded difficult to execute, and it even was more difficult to really do so.

So after an hour of planning, disguising and a bit more speculating with the scouting platoon, we decided it was time to infiltrate Taihua.

,,So what do you think of the Colonel?" I asked, wanting to know my boyfriend's honest opinion on the man, as we walked down the hill slopes.

,, Because I gotta say, he's far more humorous than most of the earthbenders I know." I said and looked at him.

,,He definitely has his man's admiration. They don't hesitate the slightest whenever he gives orders and he is also a just leader. And yeah, he isn't the tense type of earthbender, which makes it easy to enjoy his company." Aang said, a bit lost in his own thoughts.

,,Agreed." I remarked and pulled his hand to draw him closer to me, my shoulder touching his upper arm.

,,What was that for?" he asked with a chuckle, a smile plastered on his face nonetheless.

,,Just needed some body contact." I bluntly said in a sweet voice, blinking a few times so that he would look at my eyelashes.

,,I noticed, you little addict." He joked and looked at me so very enamoured, it made me feel lighter on my feet.

,,Watch your step or you might walk against the tree if your eyes are focused on me." I giggled and he laughed at my joke.

,, For you I'd walk against a thousand trees." He just countered and although I giggled, I didn't question his honesty.

,,Sweet talker." I stated and bumped against his side again, on purpose of course.

,,Love you too." He said the words I never got tired to hear, and I closed my eyes for the split of a second, before I focused on making the trip in one piece again.

,,Do you think those guys have a leader?" I asked, wanting to know what my beau considered to be probable.

,,I reckon. Rarely a thousand man are able to execute something of this size without a command hierarchy." Aang said and I nodded in agreement.

,,Do you think we know him?" I continued to ask. My boyfriend shook his head.

,, If their leader was an old general in Ozai's army who fled or hid amongst the people, then we won't know him. And since no one of Ozai's known high command broke out of their prison cells, that is the only probable possibility." I continued brooding over who was pulling the strings of the Wrathfires as the two of us steadily came closer to the edge of the forest…

,,Now, one final time, what's the plan?" I asked my boyfriend when we walked down the main road leading towards the town's main gate of Taihua.

,, We go in there, see if we get some information from the locals about the situation and leave again. And if we get detected.. Well, then we can at least try to convince them to just leave." He explained and I nodded. The goal for now was just to get some information, tomorrow would be the day where we would try to officially negotiate without disguise. And it never was a bad idea to get to know your opponent, so we had a good feeling about our strategy.

,,So you have to state your business here, huh?" Aang said, pointed at the queue of people in front of the main gate and looked at me expectantly.

,,We're two travellers who want to travel all the way to the Arctic Sea and on the way there, we want to visit your uncle in Taihua. He lives here." I quickly came up with something and Aang squeezed my hand.

,,Smart woman." He praised me and I smiled at him before I quickly focused on the task ahead.

,,What about names?" He asked me and I didn't even had to think about that.

,,You're Lee and I'm Jin." I smirked knowingly at him and he looked back at me enamoured.

,,Even in disguise we are dating." He commented and I nodded with a smile of my own.

,,Now act normal." Aang whispered to me when we were a hundred metres away from the gate and the guards blocking our way. If it wasn't for the serious situation, I would have said something like ,, Like I know what this means.", but of course I resisted. We stopped at the end of the queue and waited patiently.

I looked at my boyfriend, checking if his disguise needed a last minute correction. His tousled black hair was sitting neatly on his head, covering the arrow underneath. The collar of his jacket covered the arrow on his neck and gloves did the same with his hands. Altogether, he really just looked like an average person, which made me relax a bit. Although I would look right through any disguise he wore, of course.

He noticed my inspecting look and returned it. I wore long brown pants and jacket, both with a few stains of mud and dirt on them and my hair was braided into a simple ponytail. To my disappointment I couldn't wear my mother's necklace, because it would give my nationality away the second someone saw it, but if the success of our plan depended on it, I could live with it.

For the split of a second his eyes were glued to my chest and although I wouldn't say anything about it right now, I made a mental note to tease him about it when the situation wasn't as tense as right now.

Then, pretending like nothing happened, Aang formed the words

,,It's itching." with his mouth and his eyes rolled up and I got what he meant. The hair that covered his normally very bald head was a bit of Appa's fur bundles which we had dyed black. In spring that was obviously no problem, since the bison lost it's winter coat and therefore there was plenty of material to use as hair wig.

,,State your business!" A guard dressed in deep red and black demanded, his comrades immediately blocking the way to the town once the person before us had disappeared through it's gates.

,,We're travellers on the way to the Arctic Sea but my uncle lives here and we wanted to visit him." Aang confidently stated as he looked the guard directly into the yellowish eyes of a firebender, who was obviously not really interested in the story and rather observing the two of us in case there was something suspicious to us and our motives – but of course there was not.

,,Names?" The guard shortly replied in a monotone voice, probably doing the same procedure for the hundredth time for the day.

,,Jin and Lee." My boyfriend said and pointed towards me and himself.

,,And your uncle's name?" The firebender asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

,,Fong." Aang responded as shortly as the guard's questions were, improvising and hoping there was a Fong living in town.

,,That lettuce-selling idiot is your uncle?" He asked with a grumble, his voice filled with anger and with contempt, smoke erupting out of the man's nostrils at the mentioning of Aang's ,,uncle". The man eyed both of us suspiciously for a moment, but I was far too cool to feel intimidated by the guard's look.

,,Let them pass." The firebender ordered after a few moments of silence and raised his hand, his comrades forming an alley so we could enter the city.

,,Enjoy your stay." The guard mumbled, but it sounded like his boss just told him to say that phrase, which I found odd since it were Wrathfires, who were not quite known for their politeness. But at least we were in the town, which was all we asked for, so I focused on the more important things.

,,Any chance that dude was talking about Cabbage Guy?" Aang asked me when we were well out of earshot of the guards at the gate. My eyes widened for a second in realization at his thesis. How did I not come up with that?

,, I don't know, but it definitely is a possibility. You don't know Cabbage Guy's real name by any chance, do you?" I responded and looked at my boyfriend, who just shook his head.

,,But if he is in town, then his name must be Fong." Aang concluded and I nodded slightly.

,,Isn't that the general's name who forced you into the Avatar state once?" I asked, not entirely sure if I had the right picture in my head at that name.

,,Yep, that's him. Took you as bait so I would snap.. what an idiot." I heard him mumbling the last part to himself as he grabbed my hand with his gloved tightly. I could sense that his defensive mechanisms got triggered at the memory but he wisely decided to drop the topic here. The last thing we needed was inattentiveness.

We walked a bit through the town, always super cautious and vigilant in case of a surprise attack. We never knew if someone recognized us and if that was the case then there was always the possibility that some of the Wrathfires would attack us. We didn't know if they had orders to kill us if we showed up.

Speaking of Wrathfires, those ,,soldiers" were patrolling all the main streets and so we decided to snake our way through smaller alleys, minimizing the chances of getting into trouble with those unpleasant people.

Leaflets could be seen lying on some streets and posters on some walls, all in many sizes and forms, but always with the same content: Propaganda.

The most common format of this being the picture of Ozai emitting jets of fire out of his arms and mouth, accompanied by a stroke saying ,,He's coming.. to unite the world!", which only made both our blood boil, despite the knowledge that Ozai was indeed in prison.

,,Nobody in their right mind would honestly believe that shit." I heard my boyfriend swearing in a silent hiss, which told me that he was dead serious and absolutely enraged by those leaflets. He rarely swore.

We continued to inspect the town and it's oppressors for another hour until we decided that we would not get more information out of the propaganda leaflets and headed for a restaurant near the market place. We knew that if there was one way to gather information from people without actively bothering them, it was to eavesdrop. And whilst people were enjoying some food, they tended to lower their guards a bit and speak with fewer reservations. An optimal opportunity for us, of course.

We sat down in the outside section of a restaurant for Earth Kingdom cuisine called ,,The Roaring Boar". As we waited for our order to be taken, I noticed that even on the market place in the centre of the town weren't very many people. And we had a pretty good look at it from our seats.

,,People seem to always be under some roof, but they avoid the streets. Which is quite self-explanatory." I whispered to my boyfriend and he nodded slightly.

,,With a thousand of Wrathfires I wouldn't feel to comfortable as well." He responded in a whisper before looking to the right, directly at the town hall and the Phoenix King's sigil.

,, Do you think their leader is in there?" Aang asked me and a hand went through his ,,hair", which made the corners of my mouth quirk up the slightest. He just wasn't used to the feeling of hair on his bald and shiny head.

,, Probably." I answered, lost in my own thoughts.

,,But don't come up with any stupid ideas like sneaking into their headquarters!" I silently told him and Aang shook his head.

,,Not today." He declared and I hummed in agreement.

A few minutes later a waiter came and we both ordered some jasmine tea and biscuits, rather interested in the conversations of the customers and not the food. Yet, sitting in a restaurant without consuming some food was VERY suspicious, so we ordered something light as part of our act.

I sharpened my senses and tried to pick up some important bits, but it just shouldn't work for me. Sometimes I got the feeling that I heard a person starting a conversation about the occupation, but then just stopped in mid-sentence abruptly. The fear that some Wrathfire just picked up the wrong words was too big, but on the other hand the topic was interesting for everyone, so I just kept going with my task.

,,C'mon don't be shy.." I said in a mental prayer, hoping that I finally could learn something relevant for our little mission. I grabbed a biscuit and chewed a bit on it, partially in frustration that I was so bad at eavesdropping - especially when there were quite a few voices speaking at the same time.

,,Found anything out yet?" I asked my boyfriend impatiently, pretending to be more interested in the biscuit in my hand than in the question.

,, Yep." He responded in the same manner as me and I raised my brow slightly.

,,Really? 'Cause I so far have nothing relevant." I asked and he chuckled slightly.

,, I have quite a few more tricks I can use." Aang said with a wink and I knew he somehow used the elements to expand his senses.

,,And how do you do that?" I asked cautiously, my eyes wandering across the place to reassure me that nobody got wind of the topic we currently discussed.

,,The human voice is nothing but sound waves. Sound waves usually get transmitted by air and by focusing on the air around me, I can hear noises that are out of reach for others." he explained silently and I almost gasped in amazement.

,,You never told me you could do that!" I reproachfully pointed my finger at my boyfriend the next second, my demeanour changing within a second .

,,Hehe, sorry. Airbending stuff is just so natural to me, I sometimes forget that I'm the only one who can relate to that.." Aang sheepishly admitted in silence and scratched the back of his head, looking at me in an apologetic way I couldn't withstand.

,,Even if you just did something that required an apology, I would have blindly accepted, you don't have to look at me like you did." I said amused at his behaviour.

,,Now tell me!" I demanded with a slight smile, keeping my phrases short so it would be more difficult to decipher our topic.

,,Well first of all.. They're here since yesterday, approximately arrived at lunchtime. The woman in the red dress said it two minutes ago." He tried to sound like we were talking about the weather and shortly nodded towards the windows of the restaurant, where a woman in a red dress could be seen inside, chatting with another woman.

,,And that drunk guy over here.." My boyfriend shortly nodded to an old man with a long white beard and a big mug in his hand, ,, said that he saw the governor fleeing into the forest towards the east. I don't know how serious an intoxicated old man can be taken, but it makes sense considering that the Earth King just received his call for help this morning so.. that means the governor has fled to the next major town yesterday and sent a hawk to Ba Sing Se in the middle of the night. I doubt that he randomly had a hawk with him when he fled, so he must have gone to some place that has a public mail service, which limits the locations he could currently be at.." My boyfriend speculated and I nodded in agreement, still finding it amazing that he was able to overhear conversations I didn't even notice.

Sensing that there were still a few facts to come, I grabbed another biscuit and lazily gnawed on it whilst I gave my attention to the young monk in front of me.

,, And the woman at the counter told a customer that she couldn't change money since the ,,Snake" just collected all of it as tax not even an hour ago. " Aang told me and rested his chin on his hand, elbow on the table.

,,Any chance that this ,,Snake" could be a mocking name for the overall leader of this, or at least for one of the platoon leaders?" He asked me and I shrugged my shoulders.

,, I don't know for sure but I'd say the first one seems more fitting. People always give an oppressor a mocking name, not a soldier. In most cases anyway." I shared my thoughts with him before taking a sip of my jasmine tea.

,,Anything about their motives?" I then asked and the airbender shook his head.

,,I got the feeling only the high command here knows about it. But if you think about it, that is some clever planning: Never tell everybody everything or otherwise it's easy for the enemy to decipher the overall plan." Aang said and pointed his finger at me in a teaching manner.

,,You''re so much better at this than I am.." I sighed and felt a little bad for being such a little help for him right now.

,,Now, c'mon don't sell yourself short Jin. Without you, we weren't in town right now." He said and took a bite from his biscuit.

,,Well, that part was easy.." I said, but he wouldn't let me finish my sentence.

,,Maybe it was easy for you, but that's because you're an awesome woman." He winked at me and it made me blush lightly.

,,Stop doing this.. We have more important things right now." I scolded him in a whisper, but a smile formed on my face nonetheless.

,, I don't know what's so bad about a simple praise." Aang said and shrugged his shoulders, a playful gleam in his handsome eyes…

When we were finished with our cups and plates, Aang insisted on a little detour to the market, because he remembered that Appa needed some food for the evening as well and we couldn't let poor Appa starve.

The selection of stands was limited, but one of them was very familiar. Standing behind a cart filled with cabbages was indeed the one and only Cabbage Guy himself, which also confirmed quite a few of our theories.

,,C'mon, let's go to Cabb.. I mean Fong and buy some cabbages. By doing so, we support him and even more importantly, I want to apologize for all the times we destroyed his cabbages.." Aang said to me and I felt a sudden pang of guilt inside of me, that I never even were aware of until now.

,, I guess you're right.." I murmured, lost in the memories of our group destroying Fong's cabbage cart a good dozen times throughout our journey to save the world. The next second Aang took my hand, leading me to the older man, who probably hated us as much as he hated Ozai.

,,Finally, some customers." Cabb.. I mean Fong sighed lightly before he fixed his gaze on the two of us.

,,How can I help you?"

,,I'd like to buy ten cabbages please." Aang politely said and the Cabb.. I mean Fong chuckled as he enthusiastically packed the order into a basket.

,,You seem to be quite the cabbage enjoyer, ey?" He chuckled and I had to smile. It wasn't everyday that two person ordered ten at once probably and considering how much the man loved his lettuce, he was most certainly really happy that he met a man that loved cabbages as much as he did – or at least he thought so, not aware that the cabbages would be consumed not by us, but by a ten-tonner.

,,That would make ten copper pieces then." The cabbage merchant extended his open hand and Aang gave him the required money. I saw Fong counting the pieces in his hand before he took a golden coin between his thumb and index finger.

,,I think you just paid me a little too much young man, I can't take that." He said with a genuine smile and handed the gold piece to Aang again.

,,Well.. actually there is something else that I'd like from you. Your forgiveness." My boyfriend said as he scratched the back of his head, his cheeks blushing lightly and I couldn't help but find it cute.

Fong furrowed his brows in bewilderment so the young monk elaborated.

,, Well, you see, I'm not a simple traveller and she isn't either. I'm.. well.." He stuttered at the end but quickly went really close to the cabbage merchant and took of his right glove for a second before he quickly put it back on his hand, so that only Fong had a chance to see the shining blue arrow on the back of his hand.

As my boyfriend took my hand again, there was silence. Then the face of the older man turned ripe tomato red, his hands clenched to fists.

,, How dare you destroying my cabbages for countless times before running away and never coming back to pay for them! And now, after three years, when you come back with one fucking gold piece you think I forgive you so easily? You should give me a hundred of them, and even then I'd never forgive you! Do you know that I nearly starved because you literally destroyed my income for the year? You're the worst Avatar in history and nothing but a child toying with the status you have!" He loudly exclaimed in nothing but fury and I really felt bad for my boyfriend taking all the blame for the mistakes, WE as a group back then committed.

Then there was silence again, but this time the air was filled with sparks so charged they made a lightning bolt look weak. I felt my hand quivering slightly, not really having a good feeling about the ending of this conversation. A look at ,,the worst Avatar in history" confirmed that he as well did not expect such a reaction from the merchant. But it wasn't the only thing that shocked the both of us so much: Did we really almost make Cabb.. I mean Fong starve the year we destroyed his cabbages? I and my beau had never thought about the man from this perspective, and if it wasn't for the initial shock at this realization, then my boyfriend would have given him more as compensation than one gold piece.

,,Or you know what? I can forgive you. When you have paid the price for your crimes!" He suddenly said, a spark of evil satisfaction on his face as he probably thought about my boyfriend behind bars or something.

However, Fong effectively put an end to my thoughts when he grabbed Aang by the ear and dragged him across the marketplace.

,,Wait, where are you going with him?" I called after the man as I followed a nomad and a cabbage merchant.

,,To the place where everyone has to face justice." He sounded almost happy at his proclamation and I could already guess which place he meant.

,,Do you even consider the consequences of your actions right now?" I asked the old man enraged, my temper getting the better of me. How could anyone in their right mind hand the Avatar over to his enemies? Without the Avatar there would be far more problems than damaged cabbages, didn't the old man realize that?

,,Yes, and I know that I will get my rightful compensations for the destroyed cabbages!" His pace quickened and I saw my boyfriend looking into my eyes, begging me for help.

But what should I do, no matter what, I'd cause a scene and attract unwanted attention, so for the moment it was best to convince Fong somehow. And I wouldn't lose my faith in this particular thought until I was proven wrong.

,,I'll pay you double, for all the damage I caused through all the years if you let me go now, buddy!" Aang tried to buy himself free and for a second the cabbage merchant stopped, giving me a moment to catch up with the two of them.

,,Nice try." Fong almost laughed at the consideration before his smile widened in a way that sent very unpleasant shivers down the length of my spine.

,,No money could buy me the satisfaction to see you in chains. And besides, I'll still get my money, just watch."

I blocked the old man's way and stretched my arms from my body, trying to make myself as wide as possible.

,, What is your damn problem with him? He saved the world and YOUR tiny cabbage world as well, old man! Is it the stubbornness that comes when you're getting old or are you just completely deranged?" I let my anger and temper take over my mouth and I even felt a certain satisfaction whilst doing so. There weren't many situations where I thought that impolite words were as appropriate as now, and me being me, I couldn't resist.

But my words didn't seem to impress him as he just roughly shoved me out of his way, almost like I was just a nasty blow of wind slowing him for a second on his march to literal hell.

The next second I looked at my beloved again and my eyes told him that I just couldn't stand this man any more. Aang just made a nervous smile as he tried to walk in a way his ear wouldn't be worn out and I sighed loudly, slowly beginning to understand that this wouldn't have a happy ending so easily. Maybe losing hope in a crazy codger like him wasn't that unjustified, considering how narrow-minded he was. Cabbages, is that all he's thinking about? I bet he sleeps on a cushion, filled with lettuce, a blanket over his old body with cabbages embroidered on it and before I forget it, he cuddles himself into sleep with a green vegetable as well.

So whilst my boyfriend was in the iron custody of Cabbage Guy, I continued to convince the old codger to let go of my boyfriend, convincing more being a synonym for throwing random insults at him in this case, but still to no success. And the dreaded town hall was already close. Too close for both my and Aang's liking.

When the old man had reached the town hall's main entrance, he opened the doors, or at least tried to. After almost slamming against the wall and a few desperate shakes on the door handles, he pounded the hand, that wasn't occupied with holding my boyfriend's ear in a death grip, against the oak doors in such aggression I had never expected of the merchant. Which meant something, since he didn't behave like the most peaceful feller in the last few minutes.

,,Open the fucking door!" Fong roared as his fist continued to slam into the hard wood, his hand already getting red from his rage campaign.

As the old man continued to slam his fist against the closed doors, I wondered why it was closed in the first place. Wasn't a town hall a place of administration where all the official's worked? And if it was also the centre of justice for the town, according to the wise man making the doors shake thanks to his calm knocks, why couldn't one simply attend such a legal proceeding? No, there had to be a specific reason. An important reason. Maybe our speculation was right after all.

I got woken from my mental train of thought as I heard the doors swinging open audibly and I caught a glimpse of a man in armour, wrathfire-red hue of course, and more importantly of the main hall of the building inside, fifteen or twenty people looking at either me, my boyfriend or the crazy old man who was responsible for all this mayhem from a very long oval table in the centre of the big hall, a chandelier hanging over their heads.

,,The fuck you're doing here cabbage guy!? Don't you know what the meaning of a closed door is?!" The well-equipped guard shouted at Fong and I almost smirked at the realization that literally everybody called him like that.

,,I demand a litigation, right now!" Cabbage Guy demanded childishly.

,,Is it because someone stole a cabbage from you, Cabbage Guy? You already bothered my man yesterday with that and I'm tired of your old mouth never shutting up!" The man yelled at the old man, hate and contempt in his eyes, before he shot a fire blast at the merchant.

I gasped in shock but as soon as the feeling came, it vanished when my boyfriend made the blast evaporate with his own firebending and I heard gasps from the inside of the town hall.

,,You dare using your bending against the authority here in the city, boy?!" The guard snarled as his fists clenched and a smirk slowly spread across his beardless face, obviously liking the prospect of punishing a teenager and I felt like I couldn't feel more disgusted by a man's words.

But before he could even attack, the man was already sunken into the earth so deep, that only his head was above ground level.

,,Yes I do." Aang stated confidently before he went a few steps towards the now imprisoned guard. It took me a second to realize that Cabbage Guy didn't have my boyfriend's ear pinched between his fingers any more, as the old man had covered his face for protection when the Wrathfire attacked him – and he used his hands for that, obviously.

As Aang towered over him, he focused his gaze on the man he just humiliated. I could see a hardness in his eyes that he never directed at me, a seriousness that would make me shiver as well if I was in the guard's situation and despite the obvious dislike for the man, I saw that Aang still looked at the man as an equal and not as scum like so many other people would do and I admired him for his acknowledgement and respect of life.

The way he stood there, shoulders broad and his facial expressions hard and yet relaxed, didn't make things easier for me to stop rhapsodizing over his actions and I couldn't help but feel a pleasant shiver running down my back. Even in moments like that, he was and looked so fucking cool, I loved this badass side of him. What a man.

The heroic young man in front of me turned towards me and crooked his head slightly.

,,C'mon Katara, I think we both have a task to fulfil." He said in the same cool voice that left me with only one thought: Yeah boi.

I quickly walked the few steps to him and suddenly I felt just as confident and relaxed as he did, his close presence alone being enough to explain my change of mood.

Then, one final time my boyfriend turned around to face Cabbage Guy and I heard him searching something in the pocket of his jacket. He then bent ten gold pieces out of it and made it soar to the old man.

,, If one cabbage costs a copper piece, ten golden one's are more than I actually owe you for the damage I caused." He explained and Fong just stood there, his jaw closing and opening like a fish's mouth, still processing what just happened in the last minute or so. I had the feeling that although knowing who Aang was, that the merchant never really thought about the power my boyfriend wielded like it was nothing to him. As I said, he wasn't aware of the consequences and his behaviour right now was just another proof to my accusations. A woman is always right.

The last thing I saw of the man was how he took the coins in his hands, his gaze distant and his mouth open. One could almost assume that he saw a spirit. And technically he has. He tried to sentence one to jail probably and despite all his acts of meanness, this spirit just spared him from several nasty burns. My boyfriend surely had a gentle and compassionate spirit.

I turned away from the old man and towards the great hall. I saw Aang bending the doors shut in a swift but smooth movement of his hand as he locked eyes with me briefly, asking for permission to proceed with what actually wasn't planned for today. But now there was no way out of this situation so quickly: They knew who we were after his little demonstration of earth and firebending.

I returned his gaze, telling him that confrontation was the best solution right now, and we both began walking towards the oval table, our steps echoing in a silent hall. My thoughts travelled to the question if it really was a well-thought plan to buy something from a merchant that hates us and if it was even dumber to directly reveal our identities to the old man, but I quickly put them in the back of my mind, saving these thoughts for more appropriate moments. Diplomacy was it for now.

My eyes took in the battlefield of the unleashing duel of words that was about to come, coloured glass on huge windows to my left, a door leading to another backroom or chamber at the northern end of the hall and on the right were staircases leading to higher levels of the building. The staircases were guarded by a good dozen Wrathfire guards, two of them between each pillar that held the weight of a corridor above, a stone railing visible from my perspective. When my gaze turned more upwards, I saw the shiny armour of even more Wrathfire guards. I highly assumed that those were really tough firebenders, the roaring flames of red and black on their chests at least making it seem like that. And I wasn't to eager to find out, really. Although I was an advanced waterbender and would probably be able to take on multiple of them, I had only limited access to water. As a part of my disguise there had been no way to carry the typical water pouches of a waterbender without raising suspicions, so I absolutely relied on the aqua I could gain from thin air. Which was quite disappointing if I had to utilize it for a fight. But since we were here to negotiate, even if it was unplanned, I completely trusted our diplomatic skills. Especially my boyfriend's.

I noticed fifteen or twenty people intensely staring at me or Aang with wide eyes, with all kinds of emotions behind their eyes. Some with anger, others with surprise. But none were too pleasant, as expected.

,,So.. The Avatar and Lady Katara want to join our meeting, it seems." A man with a golden insignia of the Fire Nation embroidered on his right arm said, his tone provocative and his face giving us an unpleasant smirk as we stopped a good three metres away from the other men, keeping our distance to them. My glance quickly travelled across the other members of the high command, my eyes mostly meeting those of men past their prime, and it seemed like the man who just ,,welcomed" us was the overall leader here, since he was the only one with the golden flame on his arm.

,,Like you just saw.. it wasn't quite voluntarily." Aang returned with a mild smile and gestured to the doors, where moments ago the Cabbage Guy was.

,,I knew that it was only a matter of time before you would find your way to this humble city, I wonder if your other friends are here as well? I was hoping to meet all of you." The man asked and his yellowish eyes travelled between the two of us.

,,No? How unfortunate." He answered his own question and gave us a look of disappointment, that he most certainly just used as an act.

,,But where are my manners? I am Governor Zho, ruler of Taihua and lord protector of it's lands." He introduced himself and I almost snorted at his claim to be the ruler of this city.

,, Those are my commanding officers and advisors and these are the men that should convince you to not attack any of us." He went on and gestured towards the people he introduced.

,,No need to worry. We're here to talk." I said and my eyes locked with the usurper's.

,,But what do you want to talk about?" Zho asked me, the smirk returning on his face, and I began to realize that he was playing games with us, trying to manipulate us with them. Honest and honourable diplomacy would only lead us to defeat in this case, since our opponent seemed to be very evasive with his answers. So I decided to adapt. To a certain degree at least.

,,Maybe about the fact that you overthrew the government here and occupy Earth Kingdom territory?" I asked him, my eyes narrowing slightly at the question.

,, Oh spirits, occupation! You honestly can't call this occupation. The only thing that changed for the people in this town is the sigil on their town hall and that there are other soldiers patrolling their streets. Did we plunder or raid what they own? Did we kill innocents? Did we rape the woman? Did we commit any of these war crimes?" The ,,governor" asked and his men answered with one unified ,,No, Governor!".

He then shrugged his shoulders and eyed us again.

,,If you are searching for thugs that would do all the things we won't, go to an Earth Kingdom village. As far as I know, their own soldiers raid and occupy their own country from time to time." His smirk grew and I assumed that it gave him massive satisfaction to talk about the evil in the nations he considered to be inferior.

,,But the real governor fled, so you forced him to leave his town." Aang responded, his deep voice echoed through the hall, filled with authority and yet so calm.

,,He didn't flee. He left town and ran away. When we arrived in front of the city gates yesterday, we demanded immediate surrender or we offered to burn the city to the ground after we had conquered it. This man was wise to hand the city to us, sparring thousands of lives, including his own, and stopped mass destruction." Zho had a triumphant sparkle in his eyes and I sensed Aang tensing beside me for a second, so I assumed that he didn't know about this until now.

,,And yet you manipulated this town into surrender. You have no right to just claim it, the order of the Earth Kingdom and it's provinces is regulated by the royal constitution. And you are not considered Taihua's legitimated ruler but a usurper." Aang declared and his tone left no space for further discussion.

,,You disappoint me, Avatar Aang. A man of your status should have the dignity to be polite. Especially in a diplomatic situation." He smirked again, the movement of his mouth triggering nothing but disgust towards this man inside of me. He was deceitful with his words, always trying to hit a nerve or to unbalance his opponent.

,,It's not really polite to blackmail either." I responded sassily and the usurper chuckled at my words. ,, A woman that can say more than one sentence in a diplomatic conversation. I'm amazed." Zho stated, confirming the truth to my insinuation in the process, and clapped his hands once, again provoking us in an effort to unsettle us.

,,You killed people." My boyfriend suddenly stated in the deadly calm voice I so rarely heard, but when I did, I knew that someone had crossed his line. And nobody wanted to cross it, not in a hundred years. His voice was just cutting through flesh and bone alike when he spoke like this.

,,How do you know?" The usurper asked with raised brows, probably just admitting it in order to continue his game, whose goal I still couldn't grasp at the moment.

The fake-governor went with a hand through the black beard that already had strands of grey running through them, as he observed us closely.

,, You denied killing innocents. But not killing in general." Aang pointed out in the same cold voice he used before.

,,Major Utapo, how many rebels were killed yesterday when I held my government statement on the market place?" Zho asked like he talked about the weather and if I thought that I couldn't hate this man more, I was dead wrong.

,, Ten, Governor." The man that obviously was Major Utapo responded shortly. The usurper crooked his head slightly, his weary black hair moving with his head.

,,See? Aren't even that many." He provoked and I felt my blood boiling inside my body. He was talking about living beings.

,,You're talking about this like their deaths are just numbers on some paper. You don't even are a good oppressor, you don't care about the people as long as you rule. You don't even seem to realize that you just ended the life of ten humans and made a hundred more fall into despair because they lost a part of their family." I accused him, my voice clearly enraged, and Zho just shrugged his shoulders.

,,They threw their dirty rocks at me." He pretended to feel insulted by the rock attack.

,,Let me guess. Those man were part of the city watch. Men that have sworn an oath to protect their city from people like you." Aang more stated than asked and the usurper nodded in confirmation.

,,Yes, very good young man. Most of their comrades laid down their weapons when we arrived, but a few seemed to favour death instead." Zho explained in the unconcerned tone he used throughout the entire conversation. And I despised him for it. So very much.

,,Where are the men of the city watch that surrendered?" I asked, fearing they might be imprisoned.

,, In dark cells, away from the ugly material they bend." He responded, the hate and contempt for this people flaring up in his voice again, the yellow slits of his eyes emphasizing his despise.

I thought a moment about why the usurper told us literally everything we asked him and I found it very suspicious. If your enemy told you as much as he did right now, he was either lying or the information was not very secret.

,, What is the reason you are here? What are you seeking here? You make yourself a servant of a man whose reign ended years ago. You commit yourself to a man who has no power. He can't give you what evil people like you crave. You will gain nothing by doing so and in the end you could even die. And as much as I despise you, I do not wish your death. Because unlike you, I respect life where it thrives." I pressured the usurper and at the last part I saw Aang shooting me an affectionate glance for the split of a second, my eyes immediately responding for the smallest of moments.

,,And that is where our opinions differ, Lady Katara: I serve the only true leader the world still has. He may be in chains, but he won't be forever. And when he returns I'll be so much more than a governor, when he sees what I did to support him in times of his darkest days.

And even if I die here, my deeds will outlive me. That's why I only can win here." The smug expression on his face disgusted me and I felt myself shuddering mentally because of it.

,,That is why we ALL will win." Zho added with a gesture to his men and the grin widened.

,,It sounds like you are playing a game and your only goal is to get the best placing. All you think about is yourself. If you would care about others then you would realize that you're on the losing side here." Aang said and eyed the usurper with a stern look.

,, Yes, I like to play games. And this one is my favourite. It's called power and your goal is to gain as much as you can during your life. And when you play this game, there is no wrong. There is no unfair. There is no such thing as honour. You either win or lose. There is no middleground."

The ,,governor" sounded fascinated by his own perception as he explained it all to us. And although I hated this man, I couldn't help but understand him: Falseness, fairness, honour. All of these terms were formed and defined by men, good men, trying to prevent that a single human being can gather all the power for himself. But for a ruthless and cold-hearted person as Zho these terms were nothing but an obstacle. Although I would never agree with such an evil philosophy of life, I could understand why he thought it was.

,,You were once a victim of the things you do yourself now." It clicked inside my head as I spoke those words out, calm and cool. I heard the man hissing and even his high command looked like they were nervous.

,,Yes I was. And these men are helping me so that not a single citizen of the Fire Nation will ever have to worry about such things again." Zho snarled, his eyes burning with an evil flame that clearly told me I hit a nerve inside of him.

,, With your actions, you only cause more problems for the nation you speak of so highly. What do you think the world will think about the Fire Nation when they hear a thousand firebenders occupy an Earth Kingdom province again, after they just redeemed themselves?! You make YOUR people suffer from unfairness and falseness. Don't you see that?" Aang tried to explain the usurper, but he met deaf ears.

,, History is written by the victor's hand kid, just like how people perceive the world. With Ozai as the world's leader, I don't have to worry about the well-being of my nation ever again. " Zho responded, his emotions clearly changing his argumentative style, and my boyfriend narrowed his eyes.

,,You dare call me a kid?" He asked, his voice cutting through the room, sending shivers down my spine. His voice radiated such authority, such strength and hardness that for a second I really had to convince myself it was my beau who asked the question. His voice was never hard, even from all the times I listened to him discussing with unpleasant diplomats, I never heard his voice shifting to the tone that was intimidating.

But on the other hand, I wasn't aware of anyone ever having the balls to call him a kid or crossing his line in any other way. Even when he was twelve, he had such wisdom and matureness. And not to speak of how he developed in the last years..

If the people sitting around the oval table were nervous before, then they were scared to death now. I saw their eyes looking anywhere but near Aang and even Zho gulped audibly at my boyfriend's harsh tone.

,,Yes, I did Avatar Aang." He almost whispered like a little boy apologizing to his dad for stealing some sweets and I almost felt bad for feeling incredibly satisfied at the sight of this evil usurper getting demolished by the young monk.

,,I can only advice you to not repeat your actions, governor." He said and his words felt even harsher at his usage of the Zho's ,,title". This was a demonstration of power.

,,At the beginning of this conversation you asked us what we wanted to talk about. We want you to leave this town, with all your people and go back to the Fire Nation, where you'll face your deserved punishment. " He almost commanded and I nearly thought those Wrathfires would be beginning to cry at any second.

A few moments passed, not even Zho dared to speak or knew what to say, and it seemed like the man that was playing with us minutes ago was now object of the game he had started himself.

,,Alright." , Zho said, his voice provocative like it was before I pointed the truth out to him, ,,Any suggestions from you, my generals?"

,,Maybe the Avatar could give us a go at his girlfriend, then I'd definitely be willing to go." One of the younger man said and his comrades chuckled in a disgusting way that made my skin peel of, my hate for these men increasing exponentially now, their ugly stares of lust behind their eyes making me feel like I had to throw up. I could see it in their eyes, how they would love to do it with a woman that despised them, that would defend herself to keep this degrading pain from her. I hated them with every bit of my being and I felt like I was at a point where my negative feelings were at the absolute maximum.

And yet my feelings were nothing to what was unleashing beside me.

,,Touch her even the slightest, and you lose the limb that touches her." A voice of a thousand person echoed through the room, the expression of everybody except me turning to an expression of uttermost horror. Aang's arrow on top of his head was glowing bright blue, the hair wig simply unable to block the intensity of his glow and his eyes were beaming suns of silver as he uttered those words before the light faded away as quickly as it came. He looked like an impregnable fortress, his aura literally radiating all the power he possessed, his gaze cutting through what I thought were their very souls, the warning clearer than any crystal in the world. And every time I thought I knew every facade of him, life taught me otherwise.

,,I know you want to fight. Your leader tried to provoke me with every single word of his to make me lose my cool so he had a reason to attack me. So why don't we solve this matter the Fire Nation way? I challenge any man in this room to an Agni Kai. If he wins, you won't see the two of us ever again. But if he loses, you will retreat from this town at the first signs of dawn, ending your occupation effectively with it."

I couldn't help but feel amazed at the fact that Aang just took control in the room in a matter of seconds. Zho might be their chosen leader, but my boyfriend was just too frightening to not make everybody kneel to him. I knew he hated to play this card, but being the wise Avatar he was, he sometimes had to put the world's concerns over his own. And this was the perfect example of my beau going out of his comfort zone, which he did with near perfection.

There was it again. Silence. It took a minute for anyone to open their mouth again, and of course it was the usurper to do so.

,,You are in no position to command us. You're not even an adult." He hissed in an effort to rescue his control over the situation, but it only made things worse for him.

,,Who is in command then?" Aang asked with a smirk that resembled Zho's pretty good and I almost grinned, finding it quite ironic that he handled the situation just like the usurper himself right now.

,,Me, of course." The man said but his voice was telling something different. And I knew that Aang knew it as well. All I had to do now was to wait how he would use this opportunity. I found it far too satisfying, watching my boyfriend teach these Wrathfires a lesson, to interrupt and it all slowly turned into an exciting theatrical play, watching how the good defeated the evil. Where are the fire flakes when you need them?

,,Judging by the fact that you don't seem to perceive me as an adult, it should be no problem then to face me in an Agni Kai. What is a child compared to you, oh governor?" Aang suggested sassily and I already knew no matter how Zho reacted now, he had lost before he made the move.

,,Oh, that is so below my dignity. I don't have to prove myself to a child with a big mouth." He said derogatorily and raised his right arm, the soldiers on the right side of the hall beginning to march towards the two of us.

,, Are you threatening us now?" I asked, my voice clearly displaying my outrage. Maybe I had declared victory a bit too early..

,,No, I'm merely making sure the two of you won't be able to bother this high council any more." Zho answered with a chuckle and the guards formed a wall between the generals and the two of us. A wall of soldiers that slowly began to make us retreat towards the front doors.

I looked to my boyfriend in hope of finding a plan in his eyes for the current situation and I did – although the sudden glimmer in his eyes was unreadable for me at first.

But suddenly Aang used his airbending to jump over the guards in one impressive somersault, ran to the oval table, bound the hands and feet of the usurper together with some quick usage of earthbending and before Zho or anybody else could do or say anything, Aang lifted him up and brought the usurper in a position so that my boyfriend could carry him over his shoulder.

Blasts of fire soon tried to hit me and my beau on Zho's command, but the nimble airbender dodged all of them even with the person he was carrying with a firm grip and I quickly made my way out of the town hall with a sprint, knowing there was a fountain on the market place outside where I could arm myself. The truce that everybody had agreed upon was now broken, and both sides knew it, so it was futile for me to stay in the nest of my enemies – especially when I didn't have much ammo to defend myself.

Not five seconds later that I had escaped the hall of hell, Aang reappeared with Zho still on his shoulder and I knew it wouldn't take long before the guards from the inside of the town hall would follow us in an attempt to rescue their ,,leader". And not to speak of all the other Wrathfires on the streets.

I quickly armed myself by surrounding my arms with water before I ran after my boyfriend with the usurper in his big hands. He didn't need to tell me that his plan was to escape now, all I had to do was to make it out of this place in one piece. There were still a few questions on why he risked getting killed and so on, but that had to wait obviously. Now was not the time to question the moves that were already made.

,,Kill the Avatar!" The helpless Zho called when we approached the first few Wrathfires patrolling at the exit of the market place. When they only looked confused, Zho mumbled in annoyance.

,,The man who's carrying me!" He yelled and the guards threw their spears at Aang, who just blew a gust of wind that deflected the attack effectively.

But then one of the Wrathfires grabbed a horn attached to his belt and blew it, and I could already guess what this meant: More trouble.

The metal sound loudly echoed through the town's streets as the two, or actually three, of us made their way towards the city gates. We dodged the few people that came into our way as Wrathfires gradually began appearing from other streets.

Fire blasts, spears and arrows tried to harm us, but I blocked them all with the water I had gathered around my arms. Sometimes I froze some parts to stop an arrow, sometimes I bashed the liquid against the chest of somebody and sometimes I used it as a shield against the fire. And every time the latter happened, a bit of my weapon got vaporized, limiting me even more than I was before.

After two minutes of constant running and defending my water reserves were halved and I had taken two or three light burns in the process on my arms and my torso, but otherwise I was fine. The constant sprinting was the factor that really exhausted me.

I dared a quick look behind me and saw probably three dozen of armoured Wrathfires running twenty metres behind us, which motivated me to run even faster than I already did with my short little legs. It was probably one of the few moments where I really hated being a woman with limited height and physical strength compared to men. If I had legs as long as my boyfriend, then this situation would be far easier. I had the feeling that I was slowing him down and that he only went as fast as I went, even in a situation as dangerous and critically as this. I knew exactly that if he wanted, he would be faster than the impressive storms he wielded.

,,Fuck." I swore when the front gates came into view and I saw that they were completely blocked by a wall made of Wrathfires, spear man in the front, firebenders behind and archers on the walls. There was no damn way we would make it out of here alive if we ran into this blockade, not with Aang carrying a person and my limited bending material.

,,This way!" My boyfriend called out to me, still out of range for any soldier to hit us, and turned into a side alley and I followed him without the slightest hesitation.

,,Where are you going?" I asked or more yelled at him so he would understand me, my voice louder than the usurper's desperate cries for help on Aang's shoulder.

,,Wall!" He quickly responded as we snaked through the alleys and roads, the big outer wall of Taihua coming closer each second and some bewildered pedestrians looking at us with big eyes – which was quite understandable.

I didn't know how he imagined escaping this town in a dead end, but I followed him nonetheless. If I didn't know the plan, he at least did. Of that I was sure.

We more or less had lost many of our pursuers on our way to the wall when we arrived at our destination and it had spared my bending water, which was the good part. The bad part was that I still didn't see the way out of this town. And if we didn't escape out of Taihua in the next twenty seconds, the few men still chasing after us would catch us.

,,And how are we going to get outta here? Head-on through the wall?!" I asked again, the latter being more of a joke than serious consideration but the more it shocked me of course when my boyfriend just collided with the wall, the stone and bricks bending to his will, and Zho on his shoulders screamed in fear at Aang's execution of this escape.

After ten second there was a six feet high and five feet wide hole in the wall of Taihua and I gladly and quickly followed my boyfriend, mentally face-palming myself for temporarily forgetting he was an earthbender in the heat of the escape.

The second I was safe outside the town he sealed the hole with a kick of his foot to the ground, stone rising up and blocking the improvised tunnel again.

,,C'mon, we have to get out of range before the archers can spot us!" Aang said to me and I sped up again, my brain literally yelling to every muscle in my body to mobilize everything for one final and long run, despite the burning and aching feeling especially in my calves.

,,They are.." Zho tried to make his followers aware of our position when we sprinted through the shallow moat on the south side of the town, but I quickly sealed his mouth with some ice and I sighed audibly when the usurper finally was unable to make any sounds for the rest of the trip back to camp. I also rearmed myself with the moat's water and I smiled at the feeling of finally having a decent defence again. It wasn't that likely that I had to use it, but I rather had too much water than too less water around me. Save is save.

I turned around every few metres to make sure that we really made it out of town without any pursuers and I didn't let the sigh of relief pass my lips before we had disappeared behind the thicket of the forest.

,,Why did you do this?" I asked my boyfriend when we came to a halt behind a row of bushes, invisible for anybody looking towards us from the south.

,,You gotta be a little more precise with that question, sweetheart." Aang chuckled lightly, his breathing still laboured from all the exertion he had put his body through the last few minutes.

,,The usurper." I wasn't really able to elaborate further thanks to the low level of oxygen inside my lungs, but I knew that he knew what I meant.

,,It's a dirty trick called blackmailing." Aang said and I crooked my head slightly.

,,You? Blackmailing?" I asked, finding it rather fascinating that he probably wanted to end the occupation the same way it started: With a blackmail.

,,Well, I don't really intend to hurt him, except his pride maybe, but I thought that maybe they would be willing to leave if we gave them good old Zho back. What do you say buddy?" Aang asked the last part to the man still positioned over his shoulder, legs and arms hanging down from there in defeat and bound by rock.

,,Mph." Zho made through the icy gag, but to me he really looked relieved. Was he actually thinking that MY boyfriend would kill him? Maybe in his next life.

,,Oh c'mon, you disappoint me, Governor. I didn't even kill your mighty leader in jail, so why should I kill you? You gotta do a lot more to make an air nomad wanting to kill you." Aang half joked and the usurper just looked like this was the last place he wanted to be in this moment – which was probably close to the reality.

,, But what makes you think that the Wrathfires will capitulate when they get him back? They could just go on like nothing ever happened." I asked, again trying to point out any potential flaws in his strategy. I was just as much his helping hand as he was mine when it came to planning.

,, He seems to be the only real leader with some decent character traits for the job 'cause none of the other officers even considered to open their mouths. If they can't speak or don't have to guts to do it, they can't rule for sure. And now without our honoured guest they won't have a clue how to proceed, how to manage a city with fifty thousand people inside. Fifty thousand people hating their oppressors.

If we give him back to them, they will surrender because they know that if they don't, sooner or later I could come back and kidnap him again, which means chaos for them. And then I could take his firebending away.. It's kinda mean, but hey, I don't hurt anybody just because I don't like them." Aang gave Zho on his shoulder a provoking glare. ,,So if you should meet your friends again, tell them the next time I won't be that merciful with their leader – but only if you plan to backstab me. So be co-operative, right pal?" Aang made another nasty remark that was met with a stare of pure hate in Zho's eyes.

,,I knew we would get along." My boyfriend chuckled and began walking again.

,,C'mon sweetie, I want to introduce our friend to the Colonel." Aang said and I quickly followed, dropping my watery defence around my arms and taking his free hand in the process...

,,But what are we going to do with a thousand Wrathfires driven out of the city? Somebody has to bring them back to the Fire Nation." I asked after some time, still going through the risky and very improvised operation that was not very typical for Aang's usual planning strategy.

,, Some Earth Kingdom troops will surely take care of them." Aang shrugged the shoulder that wasn't occupied with carrying Zho. Said one looked at us with interest and I wondered if he came to the conclusion that there soon would be two thousand earthbenders at ,,his" gates, ready to attack – which both me and Aang of course tried to prevent at any cost.

,, That's so unlike you." I pointed out to him and lightly squeezed his warm and bigger hand, ,, You rarely like leaving the details to coincidences. Actually, you're entire plan was not that well-planned if I remember correctly." I half-joked and I saw a smile flashing across his face.

,,Well, it was enough to outsmart him." Aang grinned at Zho who tried to break out of his earthy hand cuffs in frustration, but of course he failed.

,,Nah, c'mon, don't take it too personal. It's not that you're the first one getting outsmarted by a teenager." He provoked again and I couldn't help but ask myself what happened to my boyfriend.

Ever since we had entered the town hall thanks to Cabbage Guy(what happened to him anyway?), Aang had behaved so.. differently. In a really good way. But I suppose that's what it takes to be a good Avatar: Knowing how to adapt to every kind of critical situation. And obviously today he seemed to embrace the firebender inside of him completely, which resulted in some really interesting lines and comments of him.

,,You're quite cocky today, aren't you?" I grinned at him, not really caring that there was still a stranger slung over the shoulder of my beau, and ran my thumb over the back of his hand.

Aang looked at me with amusement.

,, Your bad influences." His eyes sparkled playfully and I grinned.

,, I wouldn't call them ,,bad"." I said and he chuckled.

,,Well in any way your influences allowed me to take a risk. And how it paid off." My boyfriend gestured towards Zho with his head. The person in question stared back, his head red and his eyes screaming out the hate he felt in this moment.

,,Don't worry my friend, soon you won't have to listen to our teasing any more. The Colonel will take good care of you.." Aang said as we still went up the forest hills towards our camp.

,, Oh, you don't even know who the Colonel is! He is a really nice man we met shortly before going into Taihua. And he's an earthbender so you two should get along splendidly." My beau joked the last part and I couldn't help but wonder what might happen if he pushed his luck too far…

,,Colonel Kohai!" I called when we were atop of the hill where our camp was set. The Earth Kingdom's loyal soldier quickly made his way to greet us, his green uniform and golden belt shining in the sun of the late afternoon.

,,Lady Katara, Avatar Aang." He respectfully bowed to us shortly before eyeing the usurper on Aang's shoulder sceptically.

,,You seem to have found some interesting company." He stated and his green eyes hardened.

,,Who is he?"

,,Well.." The young monk began and put down the man in question, who immediately attempted to crawl away with his bound limbs but quickly got stopped by the Colonel, who trapped the entirety of his arms and legs in compressed earth.

,,Thanks." My boyfriend quickly thanked Kohai who simply shrugged it off with a gesture of his hand.

,,What I wanted to say is that this man was pulling the strings behind this occupation. His name is Zho." Aang explained and I nodded affirmatively.

,,Men!" The platoon leader called, and the men in question, who had already begun to gather around us in curiosity, answered with their ,,Yes, Colonel!"

,, Make our new guest a nice earth cell so he can get used to the feeling of prison." Kohai said and his men chuckled in agreement before releasing Zho from his boundary, only to grab his arms instead. They dragged him off a few metres down the hill, where in a matter of seconds, a cube of two metres height and width was erected. The still gagged Zho was more or less thrown into it, before the last side got closed with nothing but a small ,,window" so he wouldn't suffocate.

,,And now let's see how long it takes before he shits himself in fear!" Kohai laughed at his own joke and his men burst out in laughter as well. Even I couldn't suppress a slight grin at the imagination of this evil man having to live in his own faeces. Poor old Zho.

,,Now, return to your game of cards, I have a few things to discuss with the Avatar and the Waterbender." The colonel said and I was both be and amused at his words. They were playing cards in their free time?

Kohai gestured us to follow him and we did, his cape subtly flying behind him in the soft breeze.

,,Do you mind if I leave you two alone for a second? I just want to say hello to my sky bison." Aang asked with a sheepish smile that I knew much better than his recent and very cheeky behaviour.

,,Of course, I'm not your boss." The leader of the scouts chuckled and Aang bowed to the earthbender nonetheless before quickly heading to his beloved and life-long friend. My gaze followed him briefly, and I had to smile when I saw that Appa was awake again, obviously aware of the monk's presence.

,,So, I was under the impression that you were trying to negotiate with those people. You might understand then that I was more than bewildered to see the Avatar coming back with one of them. How did it come to this?" Despite the serious question he had a grin on his face and I once again realized that he was probably one of the most relaxed military men I've ever seen in my young life.

,,Well, you see, we made it into town without a hitch and managed to gather some knowledge about the occupation and so on and we wanted to use this knowledge tomorrow when we officially negotiated. We wanted to know who we were facing. But as you can see by the light burns and the smell of smoke on my clothes, things didn't stay that peacefully." I made a pause to let the Colonel process the information. When he gave me a short nod, I continued.

,, So at one point we decided to leave, but Aang remembered that he didn't have any food for Appa, his sky bison, so he convinced me to go to the market place with him." I explained and Kohai face palmed himself.

,,That wasn't the brightest of moves, Lady Katara." He stated and now it was my turn to nod my head.

,,Yes, but the crucial mistake was not going to the market place, but buying lettuce from an old acquaintance. It's not like we went to the market and shouted our names there." I chuckled lightly and a small smile flashed across the Colonel's face.

,,No, I didn't think you would do that." He said but then gestured with his hand for me to go on.

,, This old ,,friend" of ours was a cabbage merchant we had met many times when we travelled the world to face the Fire Lord, and every time our paths intertwined, we destroyed his cabbages – not deliberately, of course." ,I chuckled with slight nervousness in my voice before continuing, ,,So he quickly began to develop a certain hate for us and today, when Aang bought some cabbages from the merchant, he decided to reveal himself to him so he could apologize and pay the necessary compensations like the honourable person he is. And obviously it backfired: The merchant was furious with him and me, but more with Aang, so he grabbed him by the ear and dragged him to the town hall, thinking that the people in there would spend their time listening to an old cabbage merchant. I couldn't prevent his plans without causing a scene, so I tried to convince him with words, which obviously didn't end in a success." I ended my explanation and my eyes wandered over the beautiful scenery in front of my eyes, moving with the curves of the mountains, the valley and the river.

,,That still doesn't answer how the usurper found it's way into your friend's custody." Kohai observed with an indirect appeal for me to tell the rest of the story.

,,May I?" A new voice introduced itself to the conversation and the next second I felt the warm and big hands of my beau on my shoulders, my initial startled expression changing into a relaxed one at the feeling of his warmth touching my skin through brown fabric.

,, Don't sneak up on me like that. You know that I hate that." I said without looking at the young man behind me, telling him that I was fine with his suggestion in the process. Aang snickered shortly at my response and I knew exactly that it gave massive joy to him when he was able to startle me like that. Airbenders partially walk on air and thus, their steps are near soundless. And ONE particular airbender made use of this ability without mercy.

I listened to his voice, deep and full, the way it seemed to stroke every word that came out of his mouth and I felt my insides tingling just from the sound of it. My cheeks changed to a light pink hue as I again realized how obsessed I was with every part of his being, how much attention I paid to his every move, how just his voice was able to make me shiver lightly – though it would make any woman in their right mind feel this way.

I wanted to close my eyes, listen to his voice and nothing else, but it would be VERY inappropriate to do so, so I tried to remain concentrated on what my boyfriend was actually talking about and not just how gorgeous he spoke the words, made every syllable vibrate deeply and wipe my mind in the process. It was sweeter and richer than honey listening to him.

,,But why did he tell you everything you asked him about?" The Colonel just asked Aang in confusion and I felt him shrugging his shoulders.

,,I guess we'll never know for sure, but as odd as it might sound I think he told us the truth to confuse us because it's the last thing either of us both would have expected, even with the info we got from observing the locals." Aang said and I mentally nodded: The lizard played his game really good, even if it wasn't enough in the end.

,,And that's just it: How do you know that what he told you is the truth?" Kohai asked and my boyfriend chuckled.

,,If you're so keen just ask him yourself. If what he tells you varies from my point of view, we can discuss that matter again. But until then, I stand behind my conclusions."

The platoon leader shrugged his shoulders lightly. ,,Well, I guess it can't hurt. There ain't a thing to do right now anyway." He said and walked towards Zho's cell, leaving me with the realization that the soldiers were playing cards because there really wasn't a thing to do until the main forces arrived in a few hours.

,,Don't get killed!" Aang called after him with a toothy smile and the Colonel just shook his head, probably smiling.

,,C'mon let's go back to Appa." My boyfriend said and one of his hands travelled down my arm to take my hand in his own. I looked at him, the love radiating from his platinum eyes, and I beamed right back at him. He lifted my mood like nothing else.

,,Hi Appa." I said a minute later, stroking the bison's big and brown furry arrow with both my hands. Appa hummed in contentment and gave me a gentle prod with his massive head. I giggled lightly at his affectionate behaviour and withdrew my hands from his head.

,,I missed you too, big guy."

Appa then lay down on his stomach again and eyed us curiously.

,, What is your plan for the rest of the day then? I don't think there is anything to do except waiting counts." I asked my beloved and he just shrugged before airbending himself on Appa's head before lying down there.

,,Don't know. We can talk if you want." He suggested and I climbed on the bison's head before lying down beside him.

,,Seems like a good idea." I responded and took my boyfriend's hand, earning me a loving look from him.

,, Have you sent the letters to our friends already?" Aang asked me as his thumb caressed the back of my hand.

,,No I've completely forgotten about that." I groaned and was about to stand up when he held me back.

,,No need to get up, I'll do it. Just tell me where you stored them." Aang said and I giggled lightly.

,,They're still in that bag of yours with all the paper. The better question would have been if they have a messenger hawk here." I responded and Aang scratched the back of his head for a second.

,,Hehe, you're right." He said and I shook my head lightly in my lying position.

,, I'm always right. Now get up and dispatch my letters." I said the last part in a commanding tone because I knew he loved it when I changed my demeanour in a matter of seconds, going from sweet all the way to almost bossy.

,,Yes, my love." He imitated the soldiers when they answered their superior and jumped down from Appa's head, leaving me giggling with a hand in front of my mouth to minimize the sound.

I looked up at the cerulean blue sky and it reminded me of this morning when I was thinking about the ornaments and decorations I wanted to sew into the dress Aang would die to see me in. I guess he has to wait a few more days until he can see the results. Naturally there was no way that I would find the time, let alone motivation to sew whilst there were much more important tasks to do. Although right now Aang and I both had ,,free time". The camp was set and everything for the night prepared.

,,Anything else that I could do for you, my lady?" My insufferable boyfriend asked me not even two minutes later as he already took a seat beside me on Appa's head and lazily put an arm around my shoulder, making a smile appear on my face with his gesture.

,,No, you're lady is very happy with your motivation to serve her." I played along and he kissed me on the cheek, my smile widening instantaneously.

,,I live to make you the happiest woman in the world, y'know that?" He asked me with a playful smile, but his eyes conveyed all the love he felt for me, platinum discs meeting my cerulean and my heart melted.

,,Yes, and I love you for it." I responded, my heart craving a kiss on the lips from this wonderful young man.

A second later my craving turned into reality when he sealed his lips with mine tenderly, his tongue gently brushing my lips and I smiled into the kiss, loving the way he always made me feel so special and like I floated above the clouds.

,,You stared at me, by the way." I told him after we had parted, remembering that I wanted to bring this comment since we were standing in front of the gates of Taihua.

,, No, I never stare." He gave me his signature goofy grin but his eyes betrayed him: The sly gleam told me everything I needed to know.

,,And what were you doing when you and I made a last minute check for any mistakes in our disguise?" I couldn't help but grin at him with a mixture of appreciation and playfulness as he chuckled lightly.

,, Well, c'mon. That wasn't even one second I looked at you inappropriately, you can't call this staring." He defended himself and gave my shoulder a light prod in a playful manner and I laughed at his bold answer. I blamed love for the fact that I found it absolutely charming when he bluntly admitted how much he was obsessed with me, how much he was in love with me.

,, Speaking of our actions in Taihua.. When we eavesdropped, you mentioned that the real Governor fled the city to write the letter. Do you think we should search the area for him so he can return to his former position?" I changed the topic to a more serious one but I smiled at my boyfriend nonetheless.

,, Definitely. But it makes no sense to get him back right now, we still don't know if there will be violence or not – even with our plan it's hard to assess the Wrathfires willingness to co-operate. In the worst case the man dies before Taihua has returned to it's old state." Aang stated and took my hand, our fingers intertwining like they were destined to be linked with their counterparts.

,,You do believe that the real Governor surrenders the city and everything, right?" I asked curiously.

,, As much as I would like it if something could prove me wrong on this, but yes I do believe Zho. I think it's not that unrealistic that higher society people save their life even if it means trouble for many others. I know, it was actually wise from him to surrender if we consider the alternative, but I don't think this was an act of selflessness. He just cared about saving his own butt." Aang shrugged his shoulder and I thought about his words for a moment before humming in agreement.

Silence followed as I replayed some events of the day in my head and I assumed Aang was doing the same thing. But one thing really stood out from the rest of memories: The one of my boyfriend acting so confident and cool in front of the Wrathfires. The way his voice echoed through the room, the way his body language radiated his might and power, his ability to adapt to his opponent and the way he had walked into the room almost like he owned the place, I felt myself shivering looking at it from retro perspective.

,,When we entered the town hall thanks to Cabbage Guy.." I began and looked at Aang, my tone telling him how intrigued I was.

,,Yes?" He asked me with a smirk, his eyes sparkling with huge interest and I got the feeling he knew what I wanted to say.

,, You were so, so..", I blushed, trying to find a fitting expression for all the things I wanted to tell him with one word, ,, Good." I just said and my blush only intensified as I realized how futile my attempt was.

Aang was grinning like a madman and the hand around my shoulder wandered up to my head, where he began to rake his hand through my hair. ,, You're so cute when you blush." He said and I closed my eyes, not in embarrassed but because I really liked the sound of his voice whenever he complimented me. I probably liked it a bit too much, but I didn't care as long as it didn't distract me from other things. But for now my whole concentration was focused on him.

I felt his lips gracing my cheek and I purred like a kitten, my toes curling thanks to his spoiling ministrations.

,, Now tell me what you actually wanted to tell me.. Although I really liked the way you pronounced the word ,,good"." He said with a slight but dirty undertone and I opened my eyes to give him a stern look for a second before I let my eyes soften again.

,,I actually wanted to tell you that I was wondering where this well.. mighty and authoritarian appearance came from." I explained and Aang shrugged his shoulders with a grimace like he himself really didn't know.

,, I guess it's just routine. Y'know, when I negotiate with more friendly people I am more relaxed, but it's still diplomacy and you can't afford it to make a weak impression. So I think today I just acted like I felt was necessary. I'm the Avatar after all, it's my job to do everything in my power to shape the world to the best to my ability in the best possible way. And confidence or authority are key skills if you want to persuade someone, even if it sounds harsh in some situations." Aang explained and I again felt amazed at how serious he took his role in this world.

,,You are crazy." I chuckled and smiled at him, the hand in my hair stopping temporarily.

,,And I've got a girlfriend." He retorted with a goofy grin, alluding to the thesis Zuko brought up on Saturday.

,,And you're an insufferable prick." I added with a sigh, which made him only pull me closer against him in one swift movement.

,,And still you want to spend the rest of your life with me." He commented and I giggled.

,,Yes." I responded and we both laughed, thinking about how love manipulated our perception and feelings so easily.

,, I won't disappoint you. I'd protect you from any harm with my life, you know that, right?" He stated dead-seriously.

,, You just proved me an hour ago or so." I silently responded and my head found it's way onto my beloved's shoulder, a disgusting memory creeping it's way into my head again.

,,I know that this isn't right, but I fucking hate this guy." Aang hissed with gritted teeth and his usual soft hands stiffened in anger.

,,Let me tell you that I'd never ever.." ,,I know you wouldn't." I interrupted and wrapped an arm around his broad chest like I feared that if I didn't hold him he might vanish.

,, I hope this bastard suffers for the rest of his life for what he said to you." He snarled, his frequent use of swear words and the dangerous vibration of his words telling me how enraged he was. And if I wasn't the person he protected, I would be horrified as heck seeing him like this.

,, Please forget this low-life scum. I hate degrading people, but this man.. is just.." He cut himself off before he could begin a tirade of insults.

One of my hands stroked his chest in an attempt to sooth him. Although it was me who had to deal with that horrible memory, my boyfriend seemed to suffer more from it than I did – which meant quite a lot. Now I had to be his strength, the person that brought him back, the one that calmed the storm that raged inside his chest, the one he could always call his best friend.

,, You can hate him, but don't let the fury consume you. It's one of the reasons why I love you: Because you don't shut your heart, even not to the most spiteful people in this world." I calmly whispered and he seemed to relax a bit at my words. ,,Katara, this man said that he wanted to rape you. If I was Kyoshi, I would have crushed his head with a rock and mutilated his corpse the second those words left his mouth."

His words would have shocked everybody, but not me. I was his most sensitive topic, the amount of emotions that he had for me being enough to almost making him forget his Air Nomad codex. And I knew that.

I also knew that he was only able to resist doing the things he just said because he was an extremely disciplined and peaceful man and because I wouldn't want him to do such things.

,, I know you would. But you're not Kyoshi, you're Aang. And the Aang I know showed everybody back there how far he'd go to protect me without resorting to useless violence. Think about what would have happened if you hurt this evil man. Maybe Taihua would be nothing but rubble and ashes by now. Your control over your feelings is not only admirable, it also saved thousands of lives." I looked up into eyes as dark as a thunderstorm, but the longer I talked, the more they brightened up again.

,,It is still anything but acceptable what he said." Aang stated, the harshness in his voice already fading away.

,, That is true. And I will never forgive this man for what he said and implied he would do." I stated and kissed his cheek briefly.

,,And neither will I." Aang sighed and wrapped both of his arms around my back in a protecting manner. I instantly felt safe and secure in his embrace and I smiled at him.

,,As long as I have you, I know that nothing will ever happen to me." I confidently said, his eyes reciprocating my statement.

,, As long as you have me, nothing will ever happen to you." Aang emphasized his point with platinum and serene eyes as I kissed his lips this time, my love for him thrumming in every vein of my body and spreading to his through the connection of our lips…

,,Why do I have to stay outside the tent when you're changing? It's not like I don't want to get rid of my disguise as well. Speaking of it, this hair is itching.." My boyfriend's hand went up to his head to itch the problematic spot, making me giggle in the process.

,,Because YOU tend to get some evil ideas when we're changing in the same room." I responded coyly and watched the disappointment on his face growing by the second.

,, I promise that I won't be naughty." He desperately tried to change my mind with puppy dog eyes, but I giggled even louder at his last statement and gave Aang a look which told him that he promised the impossible.

,,Every time you said that, it ended in a broken promise.. Though we both know that neither of us complains about it." I said with a mischievous smile and Aang just gestured his outrage with his arms.

,,So what's the problem with me changing at the same time as you then?" He asked, the determination to convince me dominating his tone.

,, Well, maybe I don't want a dozen soldiers listening to the sounds of our spectacular acts of love?" I innocently smiled at my beloved and he just groaned.

,, This is so frustrating. If you say it like that I honestly believe this is the worst part of the occupation here." My boyfriend complained and very deliberately avoided certain words.

I had a seductive smile on my face when I went on my tiptoes and leaned into his ear.

,, I can still suck you off, if you want me to." His face lit up ten shades and I couldn't help but burst out into laughter immediately after I saw his face turning into a lantern. I found it extremely hilarious how easy his mood could change. A pity I was just teasing. And Aang of course knew that I was just playing with his emotions the second I burst into laughter.

,, You are such a tease! How dare you play with a man's emotions like that?!" He exclaimed and pointed a finger towards me, his eyes nothing but a desert of disappointment.

,,Now go in that tent and change your clothes! I can't stand your presence, young woman." He managed to joke even with all the disappointment that must be flooding his brain and I quickly went into said tent, but I knew he heard my giggle nonetheless.

Yeah, sometimes I was a cold-hearted bitch – but only to tease my beau.

A few minutes later I came out of the tent, my mother's necklace proudly hanging around my neck again.

,,Time to get changed, big boy." I teased and patted my boyfriend's shoulder, who had waited outside the entire time.

,,Y'know, I could have just watched you changing before I did it for myself." He smirked at me and I giggled.

,,It took you three minutes or so to come up with that? And still, my answer would have been no." I gave him a playful look and he chuckled.

,,Well, desperation doesn't look good on me." He truthfully answered before he kissed me on the cheek and went in the tent himself.

I listened to the sound of my boyfriend yanking down his clothes and redressing himself in the Air Nomad robe that looked soooo good on his defined muscles. He sighed at one point and I assumed that Aang just got rid of his fake-hair, which made me feel relief as well. His hair only covered the shiny blue arrow on top of his head that I liked so much and it just felt.. wrong seeing him with hair. I guess that I also partially didn't like it because my boyfriend didn't like hair either.

My thoughts travelled to the question if Aang would have a beard in the future or if he would shave it like the rest of his hair and I giggled at the imagination of my boyfriend with a full-beard, his cheeks and chin hidden by bundles of stubby hair. I knew from him that the monks used to have facial hair when they reached a certain age, but I never asked him if he wanted to grow one. Well, there is no time better to find out than the present.

,,Sweetie." , I asked when he came out of our tent with his orange and yellow clothes that were so typical for a culture on the verge of extinction, ,, Do you want to have a beard when you're older?"

My boyfriend crooked his head slightly and looked at me with a small and amused grin.

,, What were you thinking about exactly?" I blushed lightly and I couldn't quite explain why, which made the situation even more worth to blush.

,,I just heard your sigh when you got rid of the hair and it automatically made me ask myself if you would dislike facial hair as much as the one on your head." I truthfully told him and he chuckled.

,,Imagining how good I'll be looking in a few years?" His eyes gleamed teasingly and I smiled instantly, without being able to stop myself.

,, Well no.. yes? Just answer the question goddammit!" I poked his chest with my index finger and he grabbed my arm to pull me closer to him.

,, I don't know. But when the time comes I'll just observe your reaction to different styles and I'll take the one that makes you shiver the most." He had a triumphant smirk on his face and I felt my body heating up under his gaze.

,, I just asked you if you want to grow yourself a beard when you're older, nothing else!" I pouted and looked away, his platinum eyes so attractive they made my knees go weak.

Aang cupped my face gently and his thumbs stroked the skin of my heated cheeks, the contact pumping endorphin straight into my veins.

,,As red as a cherry tomato and as warm as your lips." Aang sighed and I closed my eyes, a flood of emotions washing over me at his words. I wanted to scold him for teasing me and at the same time I wanted him to go on. I wanted to show no reaction to his actions and I also wanted to kiss him, the tingling sensation in my stomach growing to be unbearable.

,,C'mon, look at me Sweetheart. You look so beautiful." His words were like a charm I couldn't resist and like a command I couldn't disobey. I felt like he was the puppeteer and I was his puppet, him happily deciding how I had to act, with no possibility to disagree. And I shivered at the thought that I wanted to be his puppet like he was mine. I loved to control him like he loved to control me, it was a constant giving and taking between the two of us.

I looked up into his flashing discs and my heart melted in a second.

,, Am I making you feel uncomfortable? I can stop if you want, but you're so adorable when I tease you.." His voice was soft and filled with affection with a hint of concern that made me smile widely.

,, No, it's just.. You make me feel so much in one second, it's overwhelming sometimes." I said with an enamoured tone and Aang wrapped his arms over my shoulders, pulling me in a tight embrace.

,,I know exactly what you mean." He whispered and his hands rubbed my back affectionately.

,,Love you." I mumbled as I buried my head in his chest, listening to the heart that beat for me and for me only.

,,Love you too." He breathed, every syllable ringing in my ears and making my veins thrum in happiness…

The tunnel appeared at dusk, three metres high and at least five wide, hidden for any spectator from the north by the thicket of woods. My boyfriend and I looked down the hilly forest we had climbed a few hours previous as a very long queue of soldiers slowly but surely made their way out of the underground and up to us, on top of the hill.

Colonel Kohai and his men were standing a few metres more down the hill's slope, awaiting their comrades arrival as an act of respect and because it was expected of them. Military traditions.

In front of the enormous human queue were men sitting on ostrich horses, their long and emerald green robes falling down from their shoulders and I assumed that this had to be some kind of high ranked officers.

It certainly had something to watch two thousand men marching in step perfectly, their limbs all swinging and swaying the same way, their focus directed to the exact same spot and all wearing the same clothes if one didn't differenciate between the individual rank of the soldiers.

Time passed in silence, the only noises coming from the footsteps of an approaching armada. When the generals on their ostrich horses were close to the scouting platoon, Kohai and his man bowed and remained like that, waiting for their commando to get up again.

,, Lieutenant Gheli." Kohai respectfully said and the man in question gestured him to stop the bowing.

,,Colonel Kohai." Gheli said, his old voice sounding soft and yet demanding authority at the same time.

The lieutenant was an old man, shorter than Kohai but probably still bigger than me. His grey beard streamed with the shallow wind and his almost white hair nearly came down to his collarbone. His eyes were a cocoa brown and on his right cheek was a long and thin scar, shimmering red in the dusk, and I assumed that he probably got it in combat.

,,I take it that everything went exactly how we discussed?" Gheli asked and his tone demanded obedience.

,, Yes, Sir. Nobody saw my platoon coming and neither did we attract any attention during our time here." Colonel Kohai answered and Gheli nodded.

,,Good. I'd suggest that you and your men help the others getting the supplies up here. Some idiots always tend to mess things up and we can't afford losing this revolt because those dunderheads are to incompetent for the army." The man with the many badges on his green and golden robe said and it almost looked like Kohai had to suppress a chuckle. What did he say before we went into town? Every of his men is worth ten of the regular forces? Something like that.

The men of the scouting platoon bowed again before surfing down the earthy slopes with the help of their earthbending, where in the distance the supply line could be seen.

,,And you other colonel's go and tell your platoons where and how to set up camp. You know the plan and make sure that these other idiots don't ruin everything with their incompetence!"

The large queue dispersed into several smaller ones and colonel's began shouting instructions, directing from the back of their ostrich horses. As soldiers went up the final part of the hill, the lieutenant made his way up to Aang and me, his facial expression stern.

,,Avatar Aang, Lady Katara." , he said and bowed to us briefly and we returned the favour.

,, The Earth King already told me in a letter that you would be assisting us in this matter. But be warned: Just because you two have ended a war doesn't give you any special rights here. You might be better fighters than everybody in this army, but you're not part of my staff." He explained with a warning undertone and Aang smiled mildly in response.

,,Then it's a good thing we're not here to fight." He optimistically said and I agreed mentally.

,, Well, then what do you keep in that earth cell? Your sky bison perhaps?" It was crystal clear to me that Lieutenant Gheli was much more like the typical earthbender that lived in the Earth Kingdom and shaped it's stereotype. He was blunt, a bit uncomfortable and not a bit hesitant. I could see why he was in charge of the army. And he also had sharp eyes apparently, or otherwise he wouldn't have expressed interest in that two times two big earth block on the hill slope.

,,I guess you'll be confused, but in there is the man that calls himself ruler of Taihua. His name is Zho and he is a Wrathfire." I shortly explained and Gheli raised his eyebrow.

,, You've taken a hostage?" He asked, his voice demanding an honest answer.

,, Well, kind of." Aang admitted with a sheepish chuckle and scratched the back of his head directly on the blue arrow, which shimmered beautifully in the dusk, almost giving it a violet hue.

,,Not kind of, yes you did take a hostage!" The lieutenant almost yelled and we both were caught off-guard. It didn't happen often that someone raised his voice when speaking to us. Not that I found it disrespectful, I just wasn't used to it – by strangers at least. A certain metalbender loved to raise her voice and I was very familiar with Toph Beifong yelling at my boyfriend during training sessions. Ah, brings back good memories..

,, That's exactly why Ba Sing Se fell in spring of the liberation year.." The cheeks of the old man reddened in what I believed was anger, his scar two shades more intense than the healthy skin there as he mumbled these words under his breath, leaving me confused and bewildered.

,,Anyway.. you say that your hostage is the usurper?" , Gheli went on like there hadn't been any outburst at all, ,, Does he talk?"

,,Yes, he does. And even the truth." I answered and the lieutenant looked at me with an unbelieving glare in his eyes.

,, How do you know? Have you looked into his soul or what?" Gheli scratched his beard lightly as his gaze was fixed on me.

,, First of all his answers all answer some crucial questions that are important to this entire mission. Secondly, he told us the same information he told Colonel Kohai when he interrogated Zho. Your man told us so after he questioned the usurper. And last but not least, some of his statements match the info we got by eavesdropping on the locals of Taihua today."

Gheli stroked his beard.

,, We still have to consider that Zho might be lying after all, but what you tell me makes sense, so there has to be at least something that can be called the truth behind his words." He said and gave me a nod of approval.

,, So, coming back to my original question, I'd like to question him myself as well. Then I'll ask my colonel and you about the answers he gave you and if all of us know the same thing, we're one step closer to understand this situation in it's entirety." The lieutenant said and demounted his ostrich horse. Gheli ordered a soldier to take it away to the other animals before he bowed to us politely in farewell and made his way to Zho's temporary home, his green and golden cape curving with the shallow wind.

,, I'm glad he asks Zho the story about how he got captured rather than asking us. I'm tired of going over these events in my head again and again." I said and Aang sighed beside me.

,,Yeah, he can make himself useful for once." The young monk said and massaged his forehead with his hand for a second. This day clearly has taken it's toll on everybody.

,, I think right now would be a good time to prepare dinner." I decided and smiled at my boyfriend, knowing that a good meal would give him the energy he needed until the end of this eventful day. I was already walking towards the very visible Appa when Aang took hold of my wrist and spun me back right in front of him.

,,Baby, you're my forever girl." He smiled widely at me, his usual platinum eyes having a light orange and pink hue in them thanks to the approaching dusk, making my head spin harder than my body just had thanks to him. He sealed his lips quickly with mine before I could come up with an answer and his action made my toes curl pleasantly. I actually wanted to indulge in this kiss much more by snaking my hands around his neck or clinging my nails into his shoulders, but I had to resist. Making out amidst two thousand potential viewers was MAYBE a bit too much for my taste.

When our lips parted and I looked back into his mesmerizing orbs of silver, I could see the expression for what I felt in my stomach right now. Sparkling, tingling and so very flourishing love.

,,You're welcome." I almost whispered, not having the control over my voice to raise it much more. He put an arm around my shoulder and together we walked back to our camp, passing earth tents and a few small campfires, most of them still not lightened. Some chests and crates filled with supplies could also be seen at some locations on the hill and as I shot a curious look downwards the slopes, the campsite was already growing in size. But that was predictable. Two thousand men needed quite some space.

Our camp spot had quite a bit of free room around it, thanks to Aang's enormous animal guide. Although Appa was harmless, his sheer size and the fact that almost nobody had seen a living sky bison in a hundred years unsettled people and thanks to that, they tended to make a big detour around him – which brought some advantages with it.

Appa was just lazily and idly observing everything that happened around him, his body comfortably lying on his abdomen. He merely looked at us as a greeting and I had to smile, knowing exactly that Appa was enjoying his current position far too much to move anywhere.

I leant against one of the ten-tonner's six soft and cosy white legs as Aang ignited a fire inside of an improvised stone circle – of course in safe distance to Appa's precious fur.

I watched the fire crackling happily and after a few moments of silent observation I joined my boyfriend, who had already set a big ceramic pot over the fire. With a swift and elegant movement of his hands the water of a barrel we used as storage for cooking water made it's way into the kettle and the monk turned towards me with a grin.

,, Are you just gonna watch me or do you want to join me? But I can understand if you just want to watch, I know I'm amazing."

I shook my head with a grin plastered on my face.

,,You arrogant prat." I said and went into the tent to quickly gather a sack of rice and a few vegetables in a smaller bag. When I came back I almost tossed the sack at my boyfriend, who caught it in his strong hands.

,,Are you threatening me now, my lady?" He had a challenging spark in his eyes, the additional sparks of the campfire making his eyes blaze intensely. ,, No, I was merely warning you." I retorted in a cool manner and Aang snickered.

,, Nice one, sweetie." He admitted and then emptied the sack of rice over the pot, the rice falling down like grainy snowflakes. I opened the bag and took out a carrot and held it over the vaporizing water, waiting for the monk to cut the vegetable into small pieces with his waterbending like he so often did in the past.

,,Don't say it." I warned him with a stern glare as I saw the mischievous and unabashed gleam in his eyes.

,, I don't mind cheesy compliments and your teasing, but THIS stupid line is so cheap, it wasn't even funny the first time you said it." My voice was serious and yet I had to smile: ,,You like handling big things, don't ya?" May be a very cheap and so unfunny line, but because it lacked of so much quality it was funny. Does this make sense? Or is this just my dad's bad sense of humour?

,,Why not, it's the truth," Aang defended himself and I couldn't believe we really were playing games because of a fucking carrot. But that's so my relationship with Avatar Aang. The most normal and routine thing ends in something unexpected and I can't help but love it whenever a situation like this occurred.

,, Yes, and it gets boring when you bring that ,,joke" for the thousandth time!" I giggled, my hand still outstretched over the pot, the steam tickling my skin lightly.

,, So it will get boring for you if I say too many ,,I love you's"?" His brows were raised and his smirk more than apparent. And I had to admit that he got me with that.

,, No, of course not." I mumbled under my breath, partially frustrated that he found such a good counter for my argument. His eyes sparkled with excitement and he eyed me playfully.

,, You like handling big things, don't ya?" He asked me with a face as happy as a kid that got the candy and I rolled my eyes.

,,Will you just cut this carrot or do we have to go on until the rice is overcooked?" Aang snickered in response to my annoyed tone.

,,Sorry 'bout that."

,, Don't say you're sorry when you're not." I clicked my tongue before saying these words, pretending to scold him and he just chuckled softly as he finally did his job…

The lieutenant came to us when we ate our dinner and as we had hoped, the info he had given to us, to Kohai and to Gheli were identical. But as the army leader repeated again and again, there still was the chance that he was lying.

After the necessary communication was done, the lieutenant disappeared into the crowd of soldiers again, many of his men already sitting at campfires and grilling some meat.

Lost in my thoughts, I poked my bowl of rice a bit with the chopsticks, thinking about the conversation we had with Gheli. And one thing bothered me about this man: The few words he had muttered under his breath when Aang and I first talked to him.

,,Did you hear what he muttered when we talked to him the first time?" I asked my boyfriend, who devoured his rice, as usual, with gusto.

,, Yeah. That's exactly why Ba Sing Se fell in spring of the liberation year, that's what he said." The young monk beside me was in deep thought and stared into the flames like hoping to find his answers there.

,, He said that as a response when you didn't clearly say we had captured Zho, right?" I tried to provide him with some helpful info and he nodded.

,,Yup." He briefly confirmed and silence soon emerged again, the flames stroking the wood underneath and making it crackle in a relaxing way. Why was it so cosy to sit at a fire, leaning against the fluffy fur of a sky bison and feeling the cooler evening air around oneself?

,,To me it sounds like he's blaming you for the temporary fall of Ba Sing Se." I calmly told my beau and looked into his eyes, trying to soothe him with my eye contact. Even after almost exactly three years after his downfall in Ba Sing Se, this topic naturally wasn't the most pleasant one to talk about.

,,Well, it's definitely not a lie to say that." Aang smiled weakly at me and I rubbed his shoulder with my free hand.

,,But it's not only your fault. It is mine, and my brother's, Toph's, Zuko's and so many other's fault. You know that you don't have to take the blame for everything alone." I told him and he smiled weakly in response.

,,Yeah, I know that because of you sweetie." His eyes expressed the gratitude he had for me and I smiled back at him.

,, That was kinda cute." I admitted in a sweet voice and Aang chuckled.

,,Not kinda, it was cute!" He imitated the lieutenant and I had to roll my eyes.

,,This man seems to believe that just because you're an airbender you're hesitant and evasive. And THAT'S why he blames you for the loss at Ba Sing Se. I want to see him when he enters the Avatar state in full control for the first time! Everybody would be overwhelmed by that feeling and you just needed a few seconds to get used to it. Yes, those few seconds were absolutely fatal, but goddammit, everybody simply criticizes you like they would have done it better when the truth is that there is no one who could have done it better than you! And you were twelve, twelve Aang! Gheli wasn't even there when you died, but I was. I saw you falling down and it was me who caught you, it was me who brought you back and.." I didn't even notice that my temper had gotten the better of me until my boyfriend had wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him.

,, Calm down, Sweetheart. We both know Gheli is an old man who obviously likes stereotypes and we also know that he exaggerates – although he has a valid point." He stroked my shoulder with his hand softly and I felt my body relaxing under his every touch.

,,He still has no right to criticize you like that." I commented and Aang chuckled.

,, If you say so, my lady." I remained silent after that and continued eating my rice, the chopsticks clicking, and my boyfriend did the same, one of his arms still around my shoulder. His bowl was in his lap and his right hand picked up the rice, but his focus was entirely on me. His eyes observed me, like he wanted to memorize every little detail about me and I felt flattered, knowing how interesting I was to him.

Here and there I returned his gaze and looked at him enamoured, the love distinct in both our faces. I found it fascinating how his eyes were surveying my form like my every move was more thrilling than the best book in the world, and I felt warmth spreading inside of me – which was not related to the campfire.

The rest of dinner was uneventful, although my thoughts already drifted towards the ,,embarrassing" story my beau promised to tell me this evening when we would be cuddled into our sleeping bags. And whenever my thoughts drifted to this certain topic, I slyly looked at him, making him grin in a mixture of amusement but also embarrassment.

After Aang's appetite was finally satisfied, we cleaned the dishes or more the bowls and our cooking pot before taking a small stroll through the camp, curious how two thousand soldiers were organized with such limited space. Some people bowed to us, others greeted us politely and some did both. Many acted around us like we were some kind of saint, and I would have loved it to make every single one of them realize that we were just two teenagers and not immortal or holy or perfect in any way, but whenever I tried to convince people of that, I miraculously managed to convince them even more of the opposite. So I just let them think about any of our ,,heroic" group members whatever their minds desired.

We were just on our way back to our camp when a messenger shouted our names. My beau and I turned around and I could see the sweat on his forehead, so I assumed he was in a haste.

,, Lieutenant Gheli wishes to speak to you. He says it is urgent." The messenger bowed and before we could ask any questions, he was already on his way back to the army's headquarters.

It wasn't hard to find the way to said place, because the Lieutenant's quarters was the biggest men-made object in the entire campsite. His earth tent was two metres tall and at least ten long, making it look more like a small conference hall than some personal quarters. I looked up and saw the Earth Kingdom's sigil proudly curving with the shallow wind, the campfires and torches at the entrance covering it in half-shade.

I pushed aside a thick curtain of deep green and we entered the tent. My predictions were confirmed when I saw a big stone table in the middle of the room with some stone chairs around it. A map of Taihua and it's surroundings was displayed as a relief on the table's surface and there were enough torches in the room to illuminate it completely.

At the end of the hall was another curtain of green, which probably lead to the personal quarters of the lieutenant. The man in question was standing with his back to us, surveying the map and going with his hand through his hair. We approached him and Gheli turned around to us with a concerned gaze that meant no good.

,, A few minutes ago the patrol unit came to me in this very tent with a stranger in tow. This stranger swore on her eye sight that she was a good friend of both of you. So I ordered you here to make sure that we aren't dealing with a spy of the Wrathfires. Thus, my question is: Do you know this young woman?"

Like on a command six men soldiers and one young woman came into the hall from the other end of the room, two slightly in front of her, one to her left and one to her right and two behind her.

,,Hey Twinkle Toes, hey Sugar Queen." Toph Beifong said without the slightest bit of worry in her voice, her face plastered with a grin and I knew that she knew we were surprised to see her here. How did she get here in the name of the spirits anyway?

,,Yes, we're really great friends." Aang said with a chuckle, the surprise quickly replaced by delight in his voice.

,,She was my earthbending teacher." He added and the soldiers stepped away from Toph at his words. They bowed to Gheli before stepping out of the tent, probably returning to their previous tasks.

,,I am still you're earthbending teacher you dunderhead." Toph shook her head, walked towards us and grabbed one of mine and one of my beau's arms before dragging us outside the tent, not even saying a word to the lieutenant and I couldn't help but grin, knowing that Toph Beifong ,,didn't give fuck" about politeness to put it in her words.

She dragged us to the sky bison and I assumed she could sense him amidst all the other living beings with her earthbending.

,,I can't believe I'm saying that but I actually missed you guys." Toph said and I had to laugh lightly at her comment.

,,We missed you too Toph."

,,When was the last time I had to suffer from all the kitsch you two like to suffocate everybody with?" She asked with a smirk, her grip tight on my arm as she strolled with us through camp.

,, That must have been three months ago or so." Aang provided an answer and the earthbending master sighed audibly.

,, Three good months without the need to throw up for me." She said and I shook my head. This was so Toph Beifong: Blunt, a bit uncomfortable and tending to exaggerate but so very pleasant with her strength and confidence at the same time. Her honesty and boldness were admirable.

,,Just wait 'til you find a boyfriend. I'll make sure to remember you every day how disgusting it is to kiss someone." I told her and Toph just laughed like I had told a very funny joke.

,,Good one, Sugar Queen. The greatest earthbender of all time can't afford wasting time with snogging and shagging like you two do." She had a wide grin on her face and I saw Aang slightly blushing at her mentioning of our bedroom activities.

,, I swear, if you two DARE to be loud this night, I'm so gonna leave again. Do you know how disturbing it is to FEEL two people making the earth shake each time they slam their bodies together?" She warned us and Aang chuckled, obviously having regained his confidence as his blush was gone as well.

,, Little Toph too young for Sex?" He teased and I knew the second those words left his mouth that he was a dead man.

I didn't have to wait too long as Toph slapped my boyfriend on the cheek roughly, much, much harder than I did when I played with him. But mine were little slaps of affection, this was a classic Toph Beifong slap – which was the opposite of affectionate.

,, Fuck you, Twinkle Toes." She stated and growled dangerously as she dragged us even harder now thanks to my boyfriend's stupid one-liner. Cheers Aang.

When both I and my stupid boyfriend survived the way to our belongings, Toph released us and went to Appa, who instantly recognized her and gave her a lick with his massive tongue.

,,Some things never change, do they?" She smiled at Appa and the sky bison roared in confirmation. The earthbender then focused her attention on me and Aang again.

,,So how comes it that you have to solve other people's problems again?" The blind fourteen-year-old rested her arms on her hips and looked at us, demanding an answer.

,,It's a long story." I said and Toph just gestured with her hands that it didn't matter.

,, Hey, I've got time. Let's just sit down at the campfire with some food and tell some stories like we used to when the war was still going on. I'm starving." The metalbender suggested and just went to our bags where she pulled out a loaf of bread, not even asking if she could have some. The answer was always yes for a friend, but even if it was not, she would have just done it anyway.

The three of us sat down on the grass, leaning against Appa's cosy fur and enjoying the fire's warmth. Toph began gnawing on the loaf without even ripping it into smaller chunks.

,,I'm waiting." She said with a full mouth and Aang began telling her the lengthy tale…

,,Why are you two looking at me like I want to say something?!" Toph asked after Aang and I had finished telling her everything she wanted to know and I looked at her in bemusement.

,,You can't tell how we're looking at you." I responded and Toph groaned.

,,Just because I'm blind it doesn't mean that I can't sense it when someone turns it's head." , She cooly countered, ,,And don't change the topic, Sugar Queen." She added.

,,Well, we thought that you might have some questions." Aang kindly explained and Toph chuckled lightly.

,,Seems to me that you've explained this truly fascinating tale to some very dumb people if they have questions after that. It's not that hard to follow: You volunteered to save the world, met some colonel, then you disguised, you went into town, eavesdropped on the locals, more or less disrespected Cabbage Guy, had an exciting argument with some idiots, kidnapped the biggest idiot and ended up here again." She quickly repeated all the info and I honestly was amazed at her ability to memorize things. Or maybe I just was dumb and she had an average memory, who knows.

,,And damn, Twinkle Toes, you finally showed some balls today. If I was your girlfriend, I'd kick you in the balls right now." She ,,praised" my boyfriend, who laughed sheepishly in response.

,, It's a good thing that you aren't my girlfriend then." He confessed and Toph laughed.

,, Don't worry, I wouldn't want to have a girl as my boyfriend." The blind earthbender stated as she continued her work on the loaf and Aang just gestured his outrage with his hands.

,, Oh, I missed upsetting you." She laughed into her food and I had to giggle in agreement.

,, I'm not a girl any more! I maybe was when I was twelve, but not in the present." He retorted and Toph laughed loudly.

,,So you admit that you were a girl when I met you? That's so sweet of you." She further provoked and I just watched where this conversation was heading.

My boyfriend gave the earthbender an annoyed glare and Toph stopped chewing on the bread for a second.

,,C'mon say it. I know you want to." She teased and Aang shook his head in determination. ,,I don't swear."

Toph sighed in annoyance and turned her head to me.

,,Katara, does he swear when you suck him off?" She had an evil grin on her face as she asked that question and I just made a ,,hmph.", and gave her a ,,not cool" look as I felt my face heating up. Good thing she was blind for once.

Aang naturally didn't want to answer that question as well, his silent mumbling the only noise beside the audibly chewing of the most annoying earthbender of all time and the fire's crackling.

,,It's so much fun teasing couples." Toph sighed happily and I just rolled my eyes, making a mental vow to annoy her the same way she did annoy us, once she had found a boyfriend. Oh, I already looked forward to this day.

,,Where do you pick up all the info about this kind of stuff anyway?" Aang suddenly asked and Toph sighed again.

,,I'm BLIND, not stupid." She simply answered and I shrugged my shoulders, finding her answer rather self-explanatory.

,, I never said that you were stupid." My boyfriend defended himself and Toph punched his arm.

,,I know, Twinkle Toes. And now relax man, I am only making jokes. It's not my fault if you feel involved."

Although I knew she was making jokes, even if they weren't very funny sometimes, I mentally sighed in relief. This metalbender just made everything feel much more serious than it actually was on some occasions.

,, Speaking of jokes, how comes it that we are honoured by your presence?" Aang half-joked and the young woman beside him laughed heartily in response.

,,Nice one." , she commented before getting serious again,

,, Well, I was actually not so far away from here this morning. I had heard rumours of some really strong earthbenders near Taihua, and as you know me, I couldn't resist but to face them in a sparring match, so I travelled to this region. But then this afternoon a messenger hawk arrived when I had stopped for a short break. And knowing that only my friends actually send a blind girl letters, I made my way to a small village where I asked one of the villagers to read the letter out loud to me. And after I knew where you were, well, the rest really is self-explanatory." She summed up the events of her day.

,, And I'm looking forward to this reunion party next week, if we are done with the business that awaits us here." She added with a smile and I had to smile as well: It was nice when she showed emotions like excitement once in a while.

,, With your help everything will be a lot easier." Aang said with determination and clapped on Toph's shoulder.

,, Yup, that's nothing but the truth." She responded with her signature grin and suddenly I felt like I just had an epiphany.

,,That's it!" I exclaimed, feeling relived to finally have a possible answer to an old question.

,,What's what?" Aang asked me with a chuckle and I grabbed his hand excitedly.

,,Toph can tell when someone is lying! If she interrogates Zho, we'll know for sure if his words are the truth!" I explained and my boyfriend gave me a quick peck on the lips.

,,You smart, smart woman Katara." He beamed at me and got up from the grass, pulling me up with him in the process.

,,You want me to do your dirty work for you?" Toph asked with a smirk as she got up as well and cracked her knuckles.

,, Seems like there is need for the Sifu." She said in a self-assured manner and the trio of us made it's way to Zho's cell…

,,Well, seems to me that he really tells the truth." ,Toph shrugged her shoulders when she had closed our prisoner's cell again,

,,Except you told me false facts you forgetful baldhead." She added.

,,Since when I am the forgetful kind of person?" Aang asked and Toph shook her head.

,, That question alone shows how forgetful you are.. But do you remember how often you are late for your eartbending lessons?" She asked and my boyfriend just shrugged his shoulders.

,, That's only because I tend to forget things when I'm spending time with my girlfriend." He defended himself and I glanced at him lovingly, finding it rather sweet that he ignored the world when his eyes were on mine.

,,So break up with her! Training is more important than love, you idiot!" Toph ,,suggested" and my temper got the better of me thanks to her provocation.

,,Are you crazy?!" I vocalized my outrage and Toph just rolled her blind eyes.

,, Just kidding.. You folks are so stiff and tense whenever I make jokes. Relax, really, for the thousandth time of the day.." She sighed and now it was my time to roll my eyes.

,, You and your teasing." I said and Aang nodded.

,,No kidding." He dryly added and I actually had to smirk thanks to his counter. My boyfriend had a much better humour than Miss Toughness if I thought about it..

,,So what does it mean for us now that Zho wasn't lying?" The young monk asked and took my hand before he lead me back to our camp again.

,, His info wasn't useless, so.." I said, thinking about where the hitch of his suspicious play was.

,,Maybe he hoped that we would be satisfied with the amount of answers he gave." Toph helped and we all thought about her statement a few seconds.

,, I think that would be very stupid for a man who certainly is a snake." My boyfriend stated and for the second time of the day, it clicked inside my head.

,,That's why the locals called him snake!" I expressed my thoughts and Aang face-palmed himself.

,,How didn't we come up this earlier? How stupid are we sometimes?" He said out aloud and Toph snickered.

,,Pretty stupid, if you ask me." She said and if looks could kill, the world's only metalbender would be dead now.

,,Thanks for your support Toph." I sarcastically stated and the young woman beside me smiled.

,,You're welcome Katara." I kept the annoyed muttering that followed in my head as the three of continued our way.

,,Where do you plan to spend the night, by the way?" I asked the girl in green and she shrugged her shoulders.

,,Probably beside your camp or.." , she interrupted herself and paused for a second,

,, Ew, no! Then I'll have to listen and feel all the shenanigans again!" She exclaimed with a look of horror on her face and I sighed.

,, Do you honestly think that we are in the mood for ,,shenanigans" when the situation is as tense as it is right now?" I asked her and now it was Toph's turn to sigh.

,, What a relief." She spoke those words like a weight had been lifted from her broad shoulders and I honestly believed that it must have felt like that for her.

,,You've grown by the way." I told the younger woman as I noticed that her head was almost reaching my nose as she walked beside me.

,, He as well." Toph pointed to my boyfriend who grinned down at me from his almost six feet tower of flesh and bones, relishing in the feeling of being tall. What a prick.

,,You can't just compliment him like that or I'll never hear the end of his constant arrogant remarks about how perfect he thinks he is." I explained and Toph just chuckled.

,,Relax. He might be taller but it doesn't change the fact that he is a sensitive girl." She said and now I was grinning back at my boyfriend, sticking out my tongue teasingly.

,,You're a bad girl." He growled into my ear silently, heating my insides up more than I wanted to admit, before he pretended nothing ever happened and I was thankful that he stopped for once. I wasn't really eager to let Toph witness how I was when the Avatar sent evil notions up into my head that came free with the tingling heat in my lower region. Notions that I quickly buried in the back of my head before they turned into plans.

,,Speaking of things that change.." , Toph changed the topic, ,, That's why we catch up on our respective lives next week, right?"

Both Aang and I nodded in agreement.

,, Have you heard something from the others?"

,,Well, my brother wrote to me roughly a week ago that he and Suki are going on a vacation on Kyoshi Island. But beside that, nope." I told her and Aang looked at me like I forgot something and for a second I really felt stupid that I forgot the one and only Fire Lord.

,, Oh, and we've met Zuko in Ba Sing Se." I quickly added.

,, The melon lord?" Toph asked with a grin.

,,Damn, I can't wait to remind him that he still owes me a field trip." She chuckled and I grinned too.

,, Are you actually serious about that field trip thingy or is that just one of your jokes?" I asked her and she laughed.

,,Of course it's just pure teasing. I would probably die if I had to spend at least an entire day with a person this awkward." Aang snickered loudly at her explanation.

,,I gotta tell him this the next time I see him." He stated and Toph nodded in approval.

,,Good. People need to know their weaknesses." She declared and I smirked wickedly.

,,Wanna know your own weakness?" I asked her with a teasing undertone.

,, Spare me your lies. I don't have such a thing." Toph stated as convinced as I expected her to be of herself.

,, What about Sokka?" My grin was triumphant when I felt her fist punching into my side, the pain secondary to the unique sensation of catching Toph Beifong off-guard.

,,It was only a stupid crush!" She exclaimed with a high-pitched voice and Aang snickered loudly.

,, Yeah, I said the same thing to myself when I first met Katara." He remarked and I smirked at him slyly in response, earning myself a wink from my beloved.

,,But you two know EXACTLY that I had a crush on him. Past tense, guys!" She explained and I raised my brows in interest.

,, You seem to be a bit too much invested for something that lies in the past." I commented and the earthbender sighed in annoyance.

,, That is only because you guys always have to bring it up at every possible opportunity!" She retorted.

,, Have you ever heard of teasing, Toph?" My beau asked with a provoking undertone and the young woman in green clothes only mumbled something unintelligible in response…

I was cuddled into my sleeping bag and lay on my stomach, looking at the young monk beside with big eyes.

,, Now tell meeee." I said like I used to plead with Gran-Gran when I wanted her to tell me stories about the Avatar. Ironically he was the storyteller now, and not the object of the story.

,,Alright, promise is a promise." He chuckled and his silver eyes sparkled lovingly in the light of a small candle.

,,But please don't laugh at me." His eyes pleaded with me and I giggled.

,,C'mon, I never do that. Stop being so afraid of me laughing at you. I only love to tease." I said and I heard him mumbling something like ,,And that's already bad enough.", which made me grin even more.

,, Now, tell your girlfriend a story." I would have clapped my hands excitedly if they weren't inside the sleeping bag.

He surveyed me for a brief moment from his lying position and took a deep breath. ,, I.. ah, well.. drew a picture of you when I was thirteen." He stuttered and even in the dim light of the candle I could see his face flushing deep red.

,, Do you think that you're a bad draughtsman and that's why you feel embarrassed about it?" I tried to help but he just shook his head.

,,No, it's not that. Well, maybe.. partially." He answered hesitantly and I smiled reassuringly at him.

,,Well, what's the problem then? I find it really cute to be honest." I said with honesty, which only made him even more nervous for some reason.

,, It's not a normal picture.." He whispered after a few seconds before silence emerged again. And then, for the second time of the day I felt like someone had turned a level inside my head.

,,You dirty dog!" I exclaimed with half a grin and half a gasp as I felt my face heating up as much as my boyfriend's as it dawned on me why he felt so embarrassed about a picture. What a pervert he was!

,, You drew a picture of me naked for.. y'know?" I crawled to him to whisper these words into his ear and he turned his head away from me. ,,Please don't be mad at me." He pleaded with me and it almost broke my heart to see him this frightened and worried. How did it escalate like this so quickly?

,,I am not mad at you. But why should I be?" I asked cooly despite my hot head and his eyes radiated relief at my statement. What he did was everything but ordinary, but nothing that would enrage me.

,, Because.. I was only thirteen and I was afraid that you might be disgusted by me when I told you how.. Oh Katara, I'm so stupid for thinking you'd be upset." He sighed the last part before his hands emerged from his sleeping bag and pulled me into a tight embrace. My arms quickly found themselves around my boyfriend's shoulders as well as I looked into his eyes.

,,Why do you have to feel bad when you act on your hormones, hm?" I asked and tried to convince him.

,,Because I fear that you might think I'm only interested in the physical aspect of our relationship." He whispered back and I crooked my head slightly.

,, But we hadn't even slept with one another at that time." I said and he chuckled sheepishly.

,, That's true but until now I thought that.. that I dishonoured your body by drawing that picture. I know that doesn't make sense to you." He said and I rubbed his back with my hands.

,, Actually, I get what you mean. When you were thirteen or so you began not only loving my personality but also my body. And even if you probably never thought about it that way, but when you drew that picture, you did it in worship of my body and not just so you could jerk off. You're too much of a monk to just lust after someone. You love me, and love triggers unique desires in everyone. " I tried to sooth him with my words and he kissed my head, a clear indicator that he was feeling better again.

,,You're right. I always thought that I only lusted after you when I.. relieved myself. And that's why I felt bad for drawing it in the first place." He admitted and I giggled.

,,And even with that mindset you did it nonetheless?" I giggled even more and Aang blushed again.

,,Well, that's what bothered me even more: Because I did it despite thinking that it was something bad." His blush intensified with every word and I shook my head.

,,Alright, sometimes you're just a really stupid teenager who feels conflicted for no apparent reason." I said and he rested his chin on my head.

,, Although I gotta say that I'd be very, VERY mad if you drew another woman like that." I warned him and he chuckled.

,, I wouldn't even know a woman that's worth drawing except you." He admitted and I purred for him in appreciation.

,,Where did you hide that picture from me those one and a half years, anyway?" I asked curiously, finding the topic rather fascinating and intriguing after my boyfriend stopped feeling so conflicted over it. I even found it kind of hot but that was of no importance right now.

,,In my old room in the Southern Air Temple where I store all my old clothes." He blushed cutely and I giggled.

,, That's bold of you. What if I went through your stuff?" I asked with a smirk plastered on my face.

,, It's not like I just put it in between two robes. I carefully hid it in the pocket of the robe I wore when we saved the world." He sounded proud of his hiding skills and the apparent allusion, which was the ultimate proof to me that he accepted the fact that he didn't commit a deadly sin. Though it was dirty. VERY dirty.

,,Can you show it to me the next time we're at the temple?" I blabbered without thinking and Aang blushed even harder than he did the last few minutes.

,,You.. want to see it?" He asked incredulously, his pupils dilating in what I assumed was a mixture of surprise and excitement.

,,I just said that you dork." I giggled and my boyfriend nodded his head slowly.

,,But don't expect a masterpiece." He said what every artist said about his own work and I eyed him slyly.

,, It must have been good enough to jerk off to, though." I cheekily countered and the next second I found myself on my back, my boyfriend pinning me between the tent's fabric and his body. His body was still wrapped in the sleeping bag and he looked like a caterpillar, which made me giggle loudly.

,,What's so funny, Miss?" Aang asked me and his already playful grin widened at my actions.

,,You look like a caterpillar." I swore my cheeks were red from all the giggling and my boyfriend came dangerously close to my lips with his face.

,, And you look like the most beautiful woman I've ever met in all my thousand lives." He whispered before he sealed his lips to mine, pulling me into a breathtaking kiss.

Our limbs worked in perfect sync, my arms snaked up to his neck and his cupped my face in worship. Our bodies melded together perfectly and our occasional moans were both an answer and an encouragement at the same time. He stroked my lips with his tongue delicately and I granted him access to the realm of my mouth with the greatest pleasure. When his tongue touched mine tenderly, he elicited a soft purr from me and he groaned, making me feel the thrum of the vibrations his deep voice managed to create.

I squirmed under him lightly, my toes curling at the sensation. He was so good at this and he took my every breath away.

,,More." I begged with a ravenous tone. His kisses were like a drug: The more I got, the more I needed. And he never failed to give me more when I begged.

,, Oh don't use that needy voice, you're driving me crazy, girl." He moaned against my lips and I felt the hard and all too familiar bulge pressed against my thigh, making the heat inside me slowly creep downwards to my core.

,,I thought you weren't in the mood." I stated unintelligibly between some kisses, a hand of mine beginning to rake over the blue arrow on his head.

,,I'm not." He groaned and pressed his weight firmer against me, which was a trick he loved to use to make it clear to me that I was completely at his mercy and I was the obeying one and not the person in charge. And I loved it when he was on top.

His relentless attacks with his tongue clouded my mind and his firm kisses made my eyes spin in their sockets, the world a blurry mess of pictures around me. In my passion I swirled my tongue around his, coaxing a deep growl out of his throat, and I felt his hard member twitching subtly against my thigh. I smirked against his lips, loving the feeling of reducing the most powerful man in the world to a hungry animal. It felt so normal to me, having this power over him, and yet every time his lips touched mine a new sensation spread inside my body, exciting me more than anything else in the world.

,,Mh.." I purred and closed my eyes, relishing in his warmth and the amount of love he poured in his every kiss. I heard him growling in response and he thrust his hips against mine lightly, his demeanour unabashed and with no intent to hide the hunger he developed for me whilst snogging me, even if he wouldn't act on it.

,,Stop doing that." He hoarsely breathed against my lips and I just smirked dirtily, knowing exactly that he had to restrain himself immensely from just yanking down my clothes and ravishing me.

,,Never." I breathed back and I felt his hands travelling up to my hair, where he entangled his digits in and played with the strands, sometimes cheekily tugging at them and making me mew even more.

,, You're a bad, bad girl." He groaned against my lips and his erection throbbed against me, the scalding heat from there making me shiver pleasantly.

,, Spirits, you turn me on." He whispered in a low moan and his words limited my world to a red and hot cloud of burning love, every kiss fueling the hunger inside of me for the young man on top of me.

I pushed his tongue out of my mouth before I fervently bit down on his lower lip, the sharp tug at my hair telling me that I just doubled his fierceness, and he ground his steel hard length over my hip, his hiss a mixture of painful efforts to hold back and the intense pleasure my teeth provided for him.

His grip on me was firm and yet I felt his legs slightly quivering over me as a result of my charms and his small movements stroked the flames inside my gut and especially in my core like nothing else, all his occasional and desperate thrusts making my nether lips ache with the need to feel him inside me again and I realized that the only thing that stopped me was the fact that there were two thousand potential listeners outside of our tent. Two thousand plus one extra sensitive Toph Beifong, that is.

I sucked on his lip and I immediately tasted his blood on my tongue, my eyes darting open in one sudden movement, my nails clawing into his shoulders painfully.

In shock I broke the contact of our lips and Aang looked at me in concern, switching from passionately snogging me to concerning for my well-being in less than a second, making me regret it even more that I accidentally hurt a person so loving and caring.

,, Have I hurt you?" His hands retreated from my hair instantaneously as his platinum eyes bored into mine in search of the truth that he knew lay deep inside.

,, It's actually the other way 'round. Again." I sheepishly admitted and his hand brushed his wet and swollen lower lip instinctively where the wine red liquid melded with the saliva of both our moths.

,, As long as you don't actually hurt me, I'm okay with it." He chuckled and wiped the blood away from his lip with his finger before I quickly healed the small wound. What a prat I sometimes was..

,, I promise that I won't rip your lips apart." I smiled weakly and he gave me a sweet peck on the lips.

,, My little vampire." He chuckled and I giggled, his eyes gleaming with joy at my reaction.

,,What a strange pet name." I stated and he rested his forehead against mine.

,, I think it shows what a bat girl you are." He smiled widely and I pretended to be disgusted.

,,Ew, what a bad joke." I laughed and his hands wandered to my belly, my pupils dilating in fear of what I knew was coming.

,,Do you find it funnier when I tickle you?" He asked me with his signature grin as his hands snaked under the fabric, but only teasingly for now. How far this might go was all up to my words, so I had to decide wisely. He was the devil when it came to tickling attacks.

,,Please don't." I used my cutest kitten purr and gave him the big eyes that almost guaranteed my victory.

,, Why not? Though you almost got me with that purr." He smirked playfully at me and I bat my eyelashes in response.

,,Because I don't want to." I pecked his lips and brushed my tongue against his lips, but he was faster than me and caught my tongue in between his teeth gently. I pretended to be annoyed and made a sound that resembled a mew pretty good. His eyes sparkled with satisfaction and I knew he was enjoying the way I played along.

His hands began moving in slow circles over my belly and I only could make an unintelligible ,, nh!" thanks to my trapped tongue. My beau eyed me with amusement glittering in his discs but thankfully stopped.

,,Nh!" I mewed again, scolding him for teasing me like that.

,, Oh, you're so cute when you purr and mew and I can't decide if I'd rather pet or fuck you when you make those sounds." He moaned lightly when he released my tongue and I felt his shaft throbbing keenly against my thigh, making a gush of heat flood my veins at his words.

,,Aang!" I exclaimed and my breath hitched in surprise thanks to his boldness.

,, Shh! We don't want anyone listening to our conversation, hm?" He had a cheeky smirk on his face and if it wasn't for the fact that he just caught my tongue with his teeth, I would have stuck out my tongue.

,, I'm not that loud." I mumbled and he snickered.

,,For today that might be true." He corrected and I blushed slightly, knowing exactly what he was alluding to.

,,So now that we've regulated the volume of our noises I can ask you: Was I too bold for you?" The prick still on top of me stroked the soft skin of my abdomen lovingly despite his naughty behaviour and I couldn't be mad at him even if I wanted to.

,,No you weren't too bold, you just.." I stopped, unsure how to explain it correctly.

,, Made me very wet?" The wise man helped with a wide and dirty smirk as his words passed my ears and headed straight to my core, my self control suddenly slipping quite a bit.

,,Y..yes." I stuttered, overwhelmed by the impact four words could have on me. I blamed his seductive voice for it, loving the way he whispered all the dirty words into my ear with his deep pitch. Oh, he was amazing at this.

,, Don't forget who drew a picture of WHOM naked!" I hissed, my demeanour changing in a second and Aang just chuckled with a sly grin.

,,Thanks to you I don't feel that bad about it any more." He said and I eyed him with a scolding glance.

,,That doesn't change a thing about the fact that you're a big pervert." One of my hands playfully punched his chest and his hands on my stomach began tickling me again.

,, But you like that, don't you?" He had a huge grin on his face as I giggled and squealed underneath him, trying desperately to escape out of my sleeping bag but most importantly the assaulter himself.

I kicked inside my cave of fabric, tears of laughter running down my cheeks as I desperately tried not to giggle too loud and I felt my cheeks reddening thanks to my hard efforts.

His hands were inside my sleeping bag and under my top as he lay on top of me and I felt like a mouse that couldn't escape the sheer power and mass of a cat's paw. I only exhausted myself before the final blow the more I tried to escape and I wondered what my final blow might be.

,,Please Aang, please stop." I begged, my breathing ragged and my pulse racing.

,,Why should I? You're belly's so soft and warm." My insufferable boyfriend said as his hands tickled me even harder than before. But before I would die because of lack of oxygen I did the one thing that worked better than any magical trick and that was a kiss.

In my desperation and also determination to end my ,,suffering" I managed to touch his lips with mine and he instantly stopped torturing me.

,,You know that works wonders, don't you?" He whispered sweetly with big and shiny eyes after I had released his lips and he continued stroking the flesh of my belly, tenderly and so very careful not to tickle me again.

,,Yesss." I purred, his ministration relaxing my muscles with only his touch. His calloused fingertips travelled up and down my skin and he watched me in pure worship.

,, I know it's still far too early to really consider this, but I really am looking forward to the time when a child is growing inside there." My boyfriend leant down to my ear and whispered these words, making a smile appear on my face.

,, Just because it's still so far away doesn't mean that we can't imagine these things in our heads." I breathed back and I felt his hands stilling on my abdomen.

,, You know that castles in the air are quite dangerous to build?" I giggled, knowing exactly that he was just as intrigued by the imagination of our children as I was. Even if they were still more than half a decade away at least.

,, I eat danger for breakfast, Avatar Aang." I responded cooly and he looked at me with silver flames in his eyes.

,, I love it when you act this cool." He said and I gave him a wry look.

,, I don't act cool. I am cool." I whispered and blew him a kiss, which made him smile in response.

,, Yep, that's what happens when you grow up at the poles." My boyfriend chuckled but I remained serious.

,, But our children won't." I stated and Aang surveyed me for a moment before a wide smile appeared on his face.

,, Where will they grow up then?" His tone radiated happiness and I found it adorable how happy it made him when we talked about our descendants.

,,Somewhere warmer." I stated shortly and Aang chuckled in amusement.

,, C'mon, don't let me hanging like this." His eyes gleamed with excitement and I almost felt bad for letting him hanging this time.

,, The truth is, I myself don't know where exactly.. Of course the Southern Air Temple would be my first decision, it was your home and I love it there as well, the landscape is just breathtaking and the place itself feels cheerful. But then I ask myself if this would be the right place to raise children and all.. Y'know what I mean?" I explained and looked my beau on top of me in the eyes.

,, Hey, it's not a crime not knowing things that are still at least five years ahead of us. But I know what you mean: Maybe we need a new home for a new era in both our lives." Aang told me and I smiled at my beloved.

,, Thanks for your understanding, handsome." I said and pecked his lips in a swift movement.

,, No need to thank me for the things that are natural in a relationship." He sighed happily and I giggled lightly.

,, Then you should thank me for taking it easy that you draw sinful pictures of me." I half-joked and my boyfriend blushed.

,,Ehm.. thanks for that, I guess?" He said hesitantly and one of his hands went up to his head and scratched the arrow on top.

,,Y'know, I didn't tell you the entire story.." Aang mumbled after some moments he probably spent taking the courage to say that and I watched him blushing even harder.

,, And that part is even more embarrassing than what I already told you." He added but I just smirked at him completely intrigued although I didn't know what he wanted to tell me.

,, I am listening." I stated with a tone that left no room for him to turn back now. But what could top the tale he already told me?

,, I'll make this quick and painless: Zuko walked into my room one time when I relieved myself." He gulped audibly as I made an ,,Ouch." sound and looked at him with an expression between amusement and pity.

,,And he saw the picture." Aang added with a dry undertone.

But then he suddenly chuckled heartily and I burst into laughter as well, an image of a disturbed Zuko appearing in my head.

,, Oh spirits, this was so awkward." My boyfriend said with a painful smile on his face as he was probably thinking about the odds of such a moment.

,, And it was night, there was no way.." , He laughed loudly once before calming down again, ,, I could have known somebody would walk into my room."

,, Did he at least tell you the reason for his.. intrusion?" I asked whilst giggling and Aang just shook his head, the painful smile still on his face.

,, I of course forgot the reason. I was too busy trying to get out of the situation alive." My boyfriend sheepishly chuckled and I smirked at him dirtily with curiosity in my eyes.

,, And what did he say when he saw your thick and long shaft?" I breathed those words against his ear shell before I nibbled on the lobe, coaxing a low moan out of my boyfriend.

,, You know we can't.." His voice cracked whilst saying these words and I retreated from his ear, looking into eyes clouded with lust and feeling the hard member of him that I was talking about mere seconds ago.

,, I know. But now that the moon is up in the sky again, I feel so aliiivvveee." I whispered and Aang almost whimpered.

,,Don't do this to me." He pleaded and I just laughed at his desperate tone.

,, You're doing this to yourself, my love." I said and he shut his eyes in the ,, You're killing me Katara." way, which made me laugh even more.

,,And I still want that answer. Or no, let me guess:" I told him and my voice was filled with curiosity as my beloved opened his eyes again.

,, Zuko, being Zuko, pretended that he saw nothing and escaped the situation as quickly as possible?" I asked and my boyfriend began chuckling pretty loudly.

,, No, he.." Aang took a deep breath to calm down again before continuing, ,, He said: ,, So monks are no eunuchs." "

I couldn't hold back my laughter when he himself lost it as well.

,,Oh this conversation is too good to be real." I declared as laughter shook my body.

,,That was even more zuko-ish of him than what I guessed!"

,,Yeah, and until this day he sometimes threatened me by saying that he would tell you what I just told you." Aang chuckled and I eyed him with a cheeky smirk.

,,You would have never heard the end of it if he told me first." My boyfriend nodded his head lightly.

,, That's why I told you in the first place." He said and I raised my brows.

,, And not just because a boyfriend always has to tell his girlfriend everything that is of importance?" I asked and he cheekily grinned.

,,Well, let's just say I felt uncomfortable telling you right away."

,,Right away?" I pretended to feel outraged and Aang snickered at my tone.

,, You waited eighteen months with it! You're a bad boy, Aang." I scolded him playfully and his eyes darkened significantly.

,, Don't pretend you don't like it when I play all my wicked tricks on you, babe." He hoarsely whispered and the heat of his words hit my core with full strength, a keen tingling spreading in my lower area again.

,, I love that. But now is not the time." I responded in a melodic voice that hinted my disappointment and also proved that I was the one with more self control in our relationship. In contrast to him, my brain controlled my actions most of the time. Men just loved to think with their cock when it came to women.

,, And I love your voice." He gazed back into my eyes, his platinum orbs shining in the dim light of candles, making me smile widely despite I just wanted to tease him, but that thought was part of the past now.

,, Thanks, sweetie." I said and he looked at me amused.

,, No I love you?" He asked innocently and I giggled before kissing him fervently on the lips, loving the dynamic in our relationship so, so very much.

,, I love you, you dork." I said and he poked my nose affectionately.

,, You're so gonna pay back for that, y'know?" He chuckled and I just smirked at him in a challenging manner.

,,I'd love to see you try."

,,Oh, I know exactly how to.." He breathed and smashed his lips against mine before I could say or do anything and I moaned loudly, his weight firmly pressed against my body and I loved the feeling of his tall figure covering my petite one so easily. I felt so feminine underneath him, protected and yet mercilessly assaulted, it was nothing but pure thrill to be with him like that.

,,Could you two lovebirds stop snogging until I fall asleep again? I just woke thanks to CERTAIN noises. Thanks." Toph's voice remembered the two of us from the outside of the tent that she was still just a few metres away from us, and as I opened the eyes I had automatically closed during the kiss, I saw my lover blushing just as hard as I did. Had I been too loud?

Now that my world was bigger than just the lips of the young man on top of me again, I heard her footsteps already fading away again before the earthbender made a very satisfied ,,Ahhhh.".

She then audibly lied down inside her earth tent and laughed silently.

,, I missed annoying them." Toph sighed and I fixed my gaze on my beloved's eyes now, our lips still connected, noses almost touching.

We quickly broke the contact of our lips before we both rubbed our forehead with a hand in embarrassment.

,,How much did she hear?" I asked as quietly as possible with a head probably as red as a ripe tomato and Aang just shook his own head.

,, More than enough if you ask me." He responded as silently as I and my pupils dilated in shock.

,,And if she heard it, who knows who else did!" I hissed and Aang's eyes seemed to rotate in their sockets. ,, Panic!" his facial expression told me and it took a few moments before he had found his composure again.

,, If Toph had.. heard anything but the sounds of our snogging, I'm sure she would have loved to tease us with it." He explained quietly and I nodded in agreement and also relief.

,, Seems plausible." I sighed, praying to the spirits that my boyfriend's hypothesis was right.

,, But let's just not ask her about anything tomorrow." I decided and Aang nodded eagerly.

,, The whole army would know my.. eh.. sin if Toph Beifong of all people knew it. I really don't want to gamble with my luck." He said and I closed my eyes temporarily.

,, Bad enough she heard my moans." I grumbled and I heard my boyfriend chuckling.

,,Like I said, you're not really good at being silent." I felt the smirk on his lips before I saw it and when I opened my eyes to scold him, my beloved just pecked my lips.

,, You know that wasn't meant as offence." He said and I agreed with a nod, his silver crystals as bright as the light of truth.

,, I still feel bad for ruining our snogging.." I mewed quietly and Aang kissed my cheeks in response, turning the mew into a soft purr as my flesh heated up and tingled delicately at his contact.

,, Maybe the universe doesn't want us to be snogging right now, my little dove."

,,But I want to!" I retorted and Aang just chuckled at my response.

,, Have I ever told you that you're incredibly cute when you complain about something like now?" He asked and beamed at me, making it hard for me not to copy his facial expression.

,,Stuff those cheesy complains up your arse!" I countered, more annoyed thanks to the fact that I couldn't snog him than at his compliment.

,, Whoa, evacuate the boat, there's a tsunami coming!" My insufferable beau joked and I just gave him a grumpy look.

,,Why can't we snog?" I asked like a little girl although I was very well aware of why we couldn't. I asked nonetheless, hoping that by some miracle my words would affect my unsatisfied situation.

,, Because we don't want Toph to be even meaner than she already is to us." Aang explained like he would do it to a little child.

,,Then let's wait 'til she is asleep again." I proposed but my beloved just snickered.

,,You really are desperate right now, eh?" He teased and I snorted.

,,Says the one who has a boner since the first kiss in this tent." I remarked and Aang pouted cutely.

,, It's not my fault you're so good at manipulating men." He countered and I had to giggle.

,,You're right. I'm very good at it." I stated and his words put an evil but exciting idea in my head.

I smirked dirtily and leant closer to his ear.

,, I just have to sway my hips and they are addicted to the sight. I just have to give them a horny look and they question if they ever saw a sexier woman in their lives. I just have to lick my lips and they feel pleasure greater than any climax is able to provide. Oh yes, I'm so very good at this."

My tongue darted out and brushed his ear lobe slightly as I watched Aang closing his eyes with a huge smirk on my face. It was so satisfying to praise myself in an exaggerating amount of compliments and see him struggle to keep his composure. The way his face was twisted in the pain of not being able to snog and more gave me joy that was nothing but devilish. But at least now he shared my pain of not being able to continue our activities.

,, You're the.. cruellest woman on this earth." Aang moaned silently with closed lids and I felt his hands clenching to fists inside his sleeping bag.

,,Oh, how I'd bang you now if it wasn't for the situation.." He growled, his cock twitching dangerously against my thigh and I wasn't entirely unaffected by his words and the presence of his girth.

,, But you can't." I smirked evilly at him and my beloved just shook his head in frustration.

,,You're so evil." He whispered, his voice low and filled to the rim with the fire that raged inside of him.

Being the merciful woman I was, I let him calm down from his emotional roller-coaster and listened to his laboured breathing. I had to admit that I found it incredibly complimenting to know that I could make him sweat with just a few words and a seductive voice.

,,Why do you do this to me?" My boyfriend breathed in exhaustion after quite some time and opened his eyes again, the platinum hue slightly duller than it had been before.

,, Because I love you." I giggled in response and Aang laughed once, craning his head upwards to emphasize his point.

,, If that's love, I don't want it." He said, but we both knew that he was a very bad liar. Well, he might trick others, but not the woman that accompanied him on every journey and every adventure, no matter how dangerous and hard it might be sometimes.

,,C'mon, we both know that was the most brazen lie ever." , I chuckled,

,, And the worst as well.." I added and Aang shrugged his shoulder in defeat.

,, Yep, there's nothing I can to against it: I feel attracted to a woman that loves to drain all the energy in my body." He smiled weakly and I whistled silently.

,,That was probably one of your most interpretable statements, my dear." I grinned at him mischievously and Aang raised his brows.

,,Is this turning into a literature lesson?" He asked with a look that told me he wasn't too thrilled about it.

,, 'Cause I don't have the energy to let my brain work this hard right now thanks to you." He groaned and confirmed my assumption.

,,Sometimes I really wonder where you get all the energy to be the person you are, babe." Aang said in an admiring tone and his hands wandered out of his sleeping bag to my hair, where he began tousling the strands there affectionately, making me smile happily at him.

,, I'd love to give you a better answer, but it's just part of my personality. You know that ever since my mother died I was the one responsible for so many things and tasks in our tribe, so it just became a part of myself to be the strong and tenacious one. And why not use that stamina for a thrilling relationship with the most thrilling man on this planet?" I ended my explanation in a flirtatious whisper that made my boyfriend smile widely.

,, Your words are music to my ear, my dove." He whispered and massaged my head lightly with his fingertips.

I closed my eyes to relish in the sensation his fingers made me feel and I purred silently.

,, This feels so cosy.." I sighed and I felt my boyfriend rolling off of me only to be lifted up on his body instead.

One of his arms wrapped itself around my stomach firmly and the other one continued it's ministrations as I rested my head on his chest or more so where it would be if there wasn't the fabric of his sleeping bag hindering the direct contact.

,,You want to feel my hard chest underneath you, don't ya?" Aang chuckled smugly and I rolled my eyes behind closed lids.

,, And here I thought you had no energy reserves left for today." I sighed and pretended to feel annoyed at his behaviour only to receive a kiss on my forehead in response, which was most definitely worth my act.

,,Well, what can I say? Sweet talking comes natural to me." I would have felt that arrogant smirk even if I was a mile away and I just shook my head lightly.

,, Stop talking and focus on the more important things, you moron." I scolded him and I heard him sighing happily.

,,Oh, how I love it when you pretend to be not interested. I've said it a hundred times and I'll say it another hundred times, but it makes everything even more fun once I manage to.. ouch!" He pretended to be in pain when I gave his cheek a playful and very practiced slap.

,,What did I say?" I clicked my tongue in disappointment and Aang remained silent after that, and even if it was out of fear. I had to grin widely at the thought that he knew that I'd never, ever hurt him and yet he acted like every playful slap was a kick in the balls. He loved to play the theatrical one and often to my amusement or entertainment. He really wanted to put a smile on my face, and I loved him for it.

My thoughts travelled to the people that would hurt me, and again I had to think about the son of a bitch who ,,just" said that he would leave Taihua if he could have a go at me. What a disgusting bastard.

,,Can you give that rapist a kick in his impotent balls if things should escalate tomorrow?" I asked in an overly sweet voice and Aang laughed once.

,, If I do that then he can consider himself lucky." My boyfriend growled and his arm around my belly tightened it's grip in a protective manner.

,,You know that when you lay your hands around me I feel perfectly safe?" I admitted with a small smile as one of my own hands gripped his broad arm.

,,As it should be." My beloved remarked before I felt his lips against my ear.

,, Nobody will ever touch you. Not today, not tomorrow and not in twenty years." He whispered and I felt a sudden flood of comforting warmth at his words inside my body.

,, I know.. it's just.. disgusting in every way and that's why this thought comes back into my head." I explained and my boyfriend caressed my abdomen affectionately.

,, I don't want you to think about that twat any more, hm?" Aang said and I couldn't help but giggle lightly.

,,Twat? You rarely swear like that." I remarked and the young monk underneath me snorted.

,, When somebody threatens to touch my everything, I don't care any more if I swear or not." , he growled.

,, C'mon sweetheart, let's talk about something else. It really hurts me just thinking about this man." His tone softened significantly and I agreed with a short nod.

,,Sorry. I sometimes forget how much my problems bother you and vice versa." I said and Aang tousled my hair briefly.

,, No need to apologize." He calmly whispered and I closed my eyes again as my beloved continued to spoil me with his affectionate gestures.

,,Thanks for being the anchor that resists even the harshest storms." I said after some minutes of silence and genuinely smiled at my boyfriend. Said one nuzzled his head closer to mine.

,, I could say the same to you, my love." I felt like I was radiating positive energy at the reminder that I was indeed the love of his life. Every time he said that it felt like it was the first time and it always hit me as hard as it did the first time.

,,My love.." I whispered to myself with an emotional tone as my fingers played with his arm on my stomach and although I knew it must sound stupid to feel this touched because of a fact that I knew since two and a half years, my heart melted nonetheless.

,, It sounds so right when you call me like this.." I breathed and Aang rubbed my belly lovingly.

,,That's because it's your destiny to be my love. And we don't want to deny what's undoubtedly right, hm?" He kissed me on the lips sweetly yet firmly and I drank in the sensational feeling as much as I drank the nectar of his mouth.

,,Have I reminded you today that you're a great kisser?" I asked him with a rhapsodizing tone after his lips broke the contact and he chuckled at my remark.

,, No. But I guess you could do it more often." He said and petted my hair with his fingers lovingly, which made me giggle both in response to his statement and his antics.

,,Okay, then please remind me to remind you more often that you are a great kisser." My laughter was soon joined by my boyfriend's and he kissed the crown of my head.

,,You're funny." Aang said and I cleared my throat, making him chuckle heartily.

,, And compassionate." He smooched my left cheek.

,, And smart." He smooched my right cheek.

,,And cute." He pecked my nose.

,,And beautiful." He kissed my forehead.

,,And hot." He kissed my left ear lobe gently.

,,And sexy." He playfully bit my right ear lobe that made me purr lightly.

,,And before I forget it: Beautiful." I felt his toothy grin without even looking at him and I giggled.

,, Thanks for the cheesiness, master of cheap flirting." I laughed and Aang shrugged his shoulders.

,, Well, you asked for it, my lady." He countered and I smirked.

,,It is part of being a good boyfriend to tell your girlfriend that she is the best in the world." I teased but my beloved sighed and pretended to be disappointed .

,,You really want hundreds of thousand men lying to their women?"

I then felt his hot breath against my ear and it sent shivers down my spine.

,,The only one who can say that is me, because you are the most desirable woman this earth has ever seen." His words were ten times hotter than his breath, making my knees feel giddy and I was thankful to be lying and not standing right now. Avatar Aang was a person who knew how to woo a woman and I always had to remember how efficient his skills were if he wanted them to be.

,,Oh, you liked that, didn't you?" He whispered with a smug voice and I felt my cheeks heating up in a matter of seconds.

,, Of course you liked that. You love hearing compliments from me, especially when I whisper them with a deep voice." His mouth hovered over my ear and I inhaled sharply, loving and hating it at the same time how easily my beloved could make me his defenceless and almost paralysed prey.

My boyfriend raked his hand through my hair in slow motions for a few moments as he relished in the way I let him play his shenanigans before he carefully brushed the strands at the right side of my head away. Aang then pressed his lips firmly against the skin of my neck, exactly where he knew my pulse was.

I had to stifle a moan as the predator feasted on my neck, making my pulse race and turning me on tremendously. I felt my feminine nectar gathering in my most intimate area and it didn't help to feel his arousal firmly poking my bum through the fabric of our sleeping bags.

Even if I wanted to tell him to stop, I couldn't: His relentless attack on my tender skin was pure intoxication for my body and not to speak of the pleasure and lust he made me feel. Lust I couldn't satisfy, sadly.

,,Oh you taste so tender, babe." He breathed against my skin, the air around the moist mark on my neck suddenly cold and I knew he used an airbending trick for it.

Nonetheless, his trick did exactly what he wanted it to do: Making me shiver even more, but this time thanks to the cold.

When he then sucked on my pulse again, the heat of his lips overwhelmed my nervous system, and I couldn't suppress the moan any more that was so overdue. One of my hands came to the back of his head and pressed him firmer against my neck, the fire inside of me urging me to do so.

I crooked my neck to give him better access and I felt his shaft twitching in response and I knew he was more than enjoying my willingness to let him play with my skin.

I felt the hand on my belly travelling up to my mouth, where he gently rested it against to minimize the volume of my moans, which came more frequent the longer he drove me crazy.

,,Aang." I moaned his name, wanting him to know how good he made me feel and also as an encouragement for him to go on. His lips just felt too good to be real and my heart thrummed accordingly to his fast pace and the intensity that took my breath away each and every time he kissed me like that.

,, CAN'T YOU JUST STOP SNOGGING FOR ONE DARN NIGHT?!" A very enraged Toph Beifong hissed with her head in the now slightly opened tent entrance and I nearly squeaked in shock as I opened my eyes and felt Aang retreating from my neck faster than I thought even he could react. I felt hopelessly caught and stared into the blind eyes of the greatest earthbender of all time in fear of what else might be coming out of her mouth next. And yet again I asked myself if she did indeed hear our.. dialogues or not. I prayed to all the spirits that she just heard some noises and no words at all.

,,You both can be lucky that I am blind and that you're not lying on some earth or I'd probably be vomiting all over the tent right now." She stated with a disgusted tone but I didn't care: I just wanted to get a freaking answer what she was able to hear. And without asking in the best case.

,,We thought you were asleep!" Aang defended both me and himself with a groan that perfectly captured how frustrated he was about the fact that he was stopped from snogging my throat.

,,Well, I woke AGAIN to something that sounded very much like a moan from Sugar Queen!" She pointed to the right where she wrongly assumed I was lying and I found it slightly amusing. But only slightly.

,,I'm actually here." I said so she at least have a vague idea where her two annoying friends were, but it only made her groan.

,,I don't care where you are, I just want you to stop making sounds of people that kiss each other!"

,,Am I not allowed to kiss my boyfriend?" I retorted and Toph shook her head vigorously.

,, No, not when I'm trying to catch some sleep."

,,That's not a very good argument!" Aang countered but I had to admit that saying somebody has a bad argument is a bad argument in itself.

,, Well, how would you like it if Sokka and Suki would be snogging all night?" She chose a different approach and convinced me with one sentence. I really can live without the sounds of my brother when he kisses his girlfriend. Well, THEY wouldn't stay with kissing in contrast to me and my beloved.

,,Alright, that's a very good argument, we'll stop. Avatar promise." My boyfriend caved in as well, but I knew he did it more so that Toph would go and not because she had a point, although he knew she did.

,, I hope so baldy, for your own good." She threatened and her tone assured me that it would indeed be a good idea not to snog any more for the reminder of the day.

Toph's head then disappeared from the entrance of our tent and I just wanted to exhale the breath I kept for quite some time when her head reappeared where it just had vanished a few seconds ago, the jump scare causing me to squeak slightly.

,,Oh, and no pillow talk or whatever a couple does at night as well. So far I fortunately didn't have to listen to some smooch dialogue, so it would be NICE if you could live without that one night as well." Her emphasis on ,,Nice" was more like a ,,You better do or I'll kick your butt" ,but still I finally relaxed: She didn't hear any of our discussed topics.

Her head then disappeared for what I hoped was the final time of the evening, but of course she didn't care to close the entrance to the tent, so my boyfriend quickly airbended it shut before his arms snaked into my sleeping bag and around my stomach, where he hugged me tightly.

,,That was the most unsatisfactory feeling I've felt in a while." He chuckled with a voice barely more than a whisper and I nodded eagerly.

Silence followed. Silence that made me aware that this eventful day was truly coming to an end now.

Aang noticed so as well and blew out the two candles that partially illuminated the tent with his airbending before he gave me a sweet and soundless kiss on the head.

,,You squeaked." He breathed with an amused tone and I mewed silently in complaint with a pout on my face, which only earned me another kiss on my head.

,, Oh, that was so cute." He teased me silently and I slapped his arm on my abdomen in response.

,,Fuck you." I swore quietly before I closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep whilst trying to ignore the prick's snickering underneath me.