Huge thanks to CoyoteLemon for beta-reading this story and always pushing me to be better!

Chapter 1: The Birthday

"Avatar Aang, now that you're 16, when will you begin working to bring back the airbenders?"

"Avatar Aang, who will you bring to the Earth King's ball?"

"Happy birthday Avatar Aang! Why haven't you brought a date to any of the King's past events?"

"Avatar Aang, is there a special someone in your life?"

"Avatar Aang, there is a long list of eligible bachelorettes interested in helping you with 'The Airbender Problem!' Will you choose one? Or more?"

"Did Airbenders marry?"

"Avatar Aang, where do you think you will settle down to start a family?"

"Avatar!"

Aang sheepishly waved and bowed out of the way of the press, even as they all tried to press in on him from every direction. As they closed off his exit path, he snapped his glider open and jumped, calling behind him as he left, "No comments right now. Have a nice day everyone!"

He soared high into the sky, exhaling in relief as the Earth King's palace sped out of sight. He went straight towards the home he and his friends were given the very first time they visited the city nearly four years ago, back during the war, and where they still stayed whenever they visited the city. An airborne escape from reporters and nobles who kept trying to worm their way into his personal life was becoming painfully common. He needed to find his best friend.

If anyone could help him now, it was Katara.

Aang found her in her room. She was sitting at her desk, penning a letter. The late afternoon light filtered in through the window above her bed and made the entire room glow. She had never been fond of the green drapes and rugs that adorned the rest of the house, so a year or two ago she brought back some fabric from the South Pole to fashion her own blue ones for her room.

Aang loved how the room felt so much like Katara; comfortable and inviting and full of the things she loved. There was a drawing of Team Avatar hung on the wall (courtesy of Sokka), and her favorite seaweed lotions sat atop her dresser along with extra beads for her hair. There was a small doll on her nightstand that had been given to her by a little girl she'd healed in the Lower Ring just last week when they first arrived in the city at the Earth King's request. The room even smelled like Katara; like a unique mixture of ocean water and sweet fruits that Aang had never found anywhere else.

He paused for a moment to admire the way she scrunched her nose in concentration as she wrote, then knocked twice on the open door before entering. Momo was curled up on her blankets, but flew off in a huff when Aang flopped exaggeratedly down on her bed. The scent of her poofed up from the blankets like pollen from a flower, and his cheeks flushed slightly before he instinctively schooled them back into submission, subtly bending a distracting chill against his face and neck. He was no stranger to her intoxicating effect at this point.

Three years had passed since the war ended and though nothing had ever happened between them, something about Katara still made his heart flutter every time he was near her. He remembered how he had wanted to kiss her before The Invasion, but chickened out at the last second, offering a tight hug instead before flying off in search of Ozai. He remembered how he had ached over the Ember Island Players portrayal of her and Zuko, and how he had kept it to himself, stewing in silence behind them. He remembered all the moments since then where their hands had brushed or she had kissed his cheek and he had wanted more… but he had no reason to believe she felt anything more for him than she had all those years ago.

They spent so much time together on and off duty, traveling the world as Team Avatar, helping people wherever they were, cooking together, or just sitting together and talking about everything and nothing, that this fluttery feeling was a regular occurrence for him. He could not bear the thought of risking their incredible friendship for his own unreciprocated desires, though, so he swallowed his feelings as best he could.

She glanced over at him, sprawled out on her bed, and grinned widely. "Hey, happy birthday! I was wondering when you'd come by."

Aang rolled to his side and propped himself up on an elbow. "Thanks, Katara. I would've been by sooner, but Kuei had all sorts of meetings planned, and apparently he's throwing a ball in my honor this weekend, so he wanted to go over everything for that, too."

"For your birthday?"

"Yeah…" Aang groaned, running a frustrated hand over his head. He never understood why the other nations treated birthdays with such pomp and circumstance. He would much rather just celebrate surviving another year—and he did understand that this was a feat worth celebrating—quietly, with his closest friends. Without having to discuss his relationship status (or lack thereof) with meddling nobles.

"That will be fun, though," Katara offered, causing him to look up at her. "I mean, I know you don't like being the center of attention for things like that, but… at least we'll get to dance!"

Was Katara blushing? She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and fiddled with it as she smiled at him expectantly. Aang narrowed his eyes at her, even as his heart began to race.

"Yeah," he finally agreed, returning her smile. The fluttermoths danced a storm in his stomach as he thought about feeling her body against his own again. How the rest of the world melted away when they spun together. "We will get to dance."

"It's always fun to dance with you," Katara admitted. "Oh! That reminds me! I got you something." She rummaged in one of her desk drawers for a moment before retrieving a package wrapped in brown parchment. Aang sat up, swinging his long legs over the side of her bed as she handed it to him and oh, she was definitely blushing.

He took the parcel from her with a fumbled attempt at accidentally-on-purpose brushing his fingers against hers on the exchange. She reciprocated by placing her hand over his with a reassuring squeeze as he accepted the carefully wrapped gift. She looked at him nervously and his whole body warmed.

He smiled and slowly tore open the package, eyes going wide when he saw the bright, breezy fabrics of his home spilling out. A twinkle caught his attention and on further examination he noticed that the yellow of the robes was embroidered with an intricate, yet subtle gold swirl along the edges—the symbol of his lost people. It was just enough to set them apart from his normal everyday wear. He held them up to get a better look.

"I noticed your old formal robes were getting a little short," she mumbled, staring blankly at the floor. He examined his new robes with awe. He would definitely wear these to the ball. "You've really grown a lot recently."

"That would explain the aching legs," Aang joked, but her eyes flicked back towards him in concern.

"Are your legs bothering you?" she asked quickly, reaching out to examine them. "I can help ease the pain if you…"

"It's okay, Katara," he laughed. He set the robes back in the brown paper with care and stretched his legs experimentally. "I mean, they are sore, but you really don't need to…"

"Lay down," she ordered, pulling out her water skin. He knew better than to argue.

Aang pulled off his socks, rolled his pants up to his knees and lay back as he was told. He propped himself up on her pillows, pulling one out to hug over his middle as she worked. The water on her hands glowed blue as she moved them soothingly up and down his long legs, and he sighed with relief as the pain melted away.

"You are so good at this," he murmured, closing his eyes.

"You should have come to me sooner!" Katara chastised, but continued her healing anyway. Eventually, after a few blissful minutes, she moved her way slowly up his leg, over his pants, past his knee, and Aang yelped and sat up.

"I'm okay there!" he tried to insist, flushing when his voice cracked. Katara gave him a suspicious look, then returned the blush.

"Hah," she chuckled awkwardly, bending the water out of his pants and back into her water skin. "I guess I got carried away. Sorry if… if I made you uncomfortable... But you know I do this for people at the hospital all the time. You don't have any reason to be embarrassed. It's just me."

Aang's hand flew to the back of his head as he tried to force his grimace into a grin. "Yeah…" he said. "Just you." His eyes shifted and found the package of new robes Katara had commissioned for him.

"Thank you for this," he said sincerely, grabbing the package and sitting up, keeping the pillow in his lap for now. "You know you didn't have to get me anything! But I really, really appreciate it. The embroidery is amazing, and the fabric is just like the monks used to make. I can't wait to wear them!"

Katara smiled and put her hand on his again, before her eyes went wide. She jumped up out of her seat with an "Oh no!" and ran out of the room.

Aang laughed and stood to follow her after a moment, pausing only for a moment to set the new robes in his room as he passed.

When they'd first been given this house during the war, Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph had all opted to sleep together in the living space, still distrustful of the city and Joo Dee and distraught over Appa. They had dragged mattresses and cushions to the raised common room and Katara had slept beside him every night. He had often woken up to her hand in his, or resting softly on his back as though she had been rubbing it while he slept. The memory filled him with warm nostalgia.

After the war, whenever anyone in the group had to be in Ba Sing Se, they would still stay here, but at some point they had eventually gravitated to their own sleeping spaces. That didn't stop Aang and Katara from their frequent late-night talks, though, sometimes in his room or hers, sometimes up on the roof or in the stable he had had specially built for Appa.

As he closed the door to his room and walked out, he was hit first with the mouth-watering scent of egg custard tarts, then the sight of Katara bending over to pull them out of the oven. The way his teenage eyes briefly roved over her body of their own accord caused a wave of guilt to rise, hot in his chest.

Katara was his very best friend; he didn't know how he would have gotten through some of his hardest moments since the iceberg without her. She had been by his side when he found out about his people, after the failed invasion, and as he struggled to master diplomacy and politics the way he'd mastered the four elements. They spent almost all of their free time together, or with the whole group when they could, and he couldn't help but notice her beauty even in the most mundane moments, like this. The way her body had changed over the last three years—filling out in several places that always drew his eye while remaining incredibly strong and muscular—had sent a new heat through him as he'd grown. She had never expressed any interest in him, though, or in taking their relationship further, and he would never do anything to make her uncomfortable, happy to just bask in her presence as often as possible.

But he knew, deep down, that what he'd told Guru Pathik all those years ago was still true. He loved Katara. He was in love with her, however much he tried to hide it.

The singular, intense love and devotion he felt for her had made the Earth King's more recent talking points at this week's meetings even more uncomfortable. Apparently the sages of the Earth Kingdom, along with the Council of Five, had decided that since he was now of age, he should work to try and restore his lost culture… biologically. This was not something Aang had any interest in doing outside of a loving, mutual relationship, though, and he honestly couldn't see himself with anyone other than Katara, as unrealistic as that was. He had never even felt attraction to anyone other than her. The Earth Sages had talked about the long list of women who were interested in helping this "very noble" cause, even bringing several of them in to speak at the meeting. He had tried to picture himself with these girls, but despite his age and their objective beauty, he felt absolutely no desire or interest at all. In fact, he felt dirty for even trying to think this way, when Katara unknowingly held his heart.

Aang tried to argue that it was none of the Earth Kingdom's business when—or even if—he chose to have children, and definitely not with whom. But there was no convincing them. King Kuei had gone on and on about the fate of the world, about needing teachers for the next avatar should (Spirits forbid) anything happen to Aang, and declared that if he didn't find himself in a relationship before the upcoming Avatar's Birthday Ball, he would start setting Aang up with these eligible women himself. A terrible pit formed in Aang's stomach at the thought, replacing the pleasant fluttermoths from earlier.

Katara set the tarts down on the counter and the clatter of the pans brought Aang out of his thoughts. He looked at her with a mixture of amazement and anticipation. He was sure she had made these special for his birthday. She knew they were his favorite.

He pointed at the tray of tarts and asked eagerly, "Is that… egg custard?"

Katara grinned widely, hands on her hips. "Of course it is! It's your birthday, isn't it?"

Aang did a little happy dance and Katara laughed, coming around the counter to join him before pulling him into one of her famous hugs.

It seemed everyone in the world had been hugged by Katara at least once. Everyone she had met, anyway. Even Toph, who loathed physical affection for any reason, said that Katara's hugs could melt away the hardest exteriors. When Katara hugged Aang, he felt like the luckiest man in the world, even though he knew she would offer this same hug to anyone, because that was the type of person she was; always caring and quick to give of herself. Her arms were warm around his back and her face was pressed into his shoulder now, the warm puffs of her breath on his skin sending his mind reeling.

She pulled back too soon, but placed her hands on his shoulders. He had surpassed her in height the previous year and she had to look up to catch the glint in his eyes as he darted them to the egg custard tarts and back to her, cocking a mischievous half smile.

"You can't eat them yet," she scolded, seeing where this was going. "They just came out of the oven! Besides," she added as she released him and moved to set the table, "we need to wait for the others to get home so we can celebrate you properly."

"Where is everyone, anyway?" he asked, grabbing some chopsticks and teacups and helping her with the table as she put a pot of water on the stove. "Sokka left after the lunch meeting since Kuei and his advisors just wanted me for the afternoon sessions. And I haven't seen Toph or Suki since breakfast."

"Oh, they should be back soon," Katara said distractedly as she pulled some food out of the ice chest. "Sokka wanted to go shopping after he got back. Suki was teaching a self-defense class to some kids in the lower ring and Toph had some business meetings to go to for her dad but they all got back after lunch and went to the market together."

Aang made some rice and began to slice up some fruit and vegetables to go with dinner as Katara started frying up some dumplings she had wrapped earlier. They moved around the kitchen together fluidly in a well-practiced manner as they prepared the meal, almost a dance in its own right.

There hadn't been a kitchen in this house when the Earth Kingdom first gifted it to them; all their food had been delivered. But after the war (and as repairs to the house were being made), Katara had mentioned how nice it would be to have a real kitchen there for when they visited, and Aang made sure it happened. He spent as much time in there as she did, too, baking and trying his best to recreate Air Nomad dishes of old.

By the time the food was ready, the sun was starting to set, casting a pink glow on everything as a crisp, late-autumn breeze blew in through the windows. Sokka, Suki, and Toph walked in the door just as the final dishes reached the table.

"Hey! There's the birthday boy!" Sokka exclaimed, engulfing Aang in a giant hug and draping his arm over his shoulder after. "You know, I thought they'd never let you out of those meetings. I'm glad you were able to escape eventually."

Aang's mind went uneasily back to the topic of the afternoon meetings, and he laughed awkwardly. "Ha… yeah, me too… You have no idea."

Toph punched Aang in the opposite arm from where Sokka was still leaning on him and handed him a bottle of wine she had no doubt pilfered while they were out. "Happy birthday, Twinkletoes!" she said, taking her seat at the table and throwing her feet up before Katara angrily pushed them back down to the ground. She blew her bangs out of her face, annoyed. "Let's eat!"

Everyone hurriedly took their own places around the table, and Aang lost himself in the joyful clatter of noise that was his friends. His family. They were all animatedly talking about their days, telling stories, laughing at Sokka's jokes… He knew he would always miss the family he had grown up with at the Southern Air Temple, and his heart ached with the memory of the autumnal equinox festivals where they would celebrate everyone aging another year, but this new family was comfort and love reborn and re-shaped. He only hoped he was able to give them some of that back in return.

"So," Sokka started after they'd finished dinner. Suki was passing around a plate of fruit, but Sokka leaned over the table conspiratorially, as if there were eavesdroppers sitting in their house with them. "Did Aang tell you the Earth King is setting him up?"

"What?!" Katara asked sharply, turning and narrowing her eyes at Aang. She had just brought out the egg custard tarts for dessert and stood rooted like a statue as she waited for Aang to respond.

"HA! I can't wait to see how this pans out," Toph laughed, banging the table in amusement.

"Wow, really?" Suki asked. "Are you okay with that, Aang?"

Aang was scrambling to figure out how Sokka could possibly know about this, when he hadn't been in the meetings that afternoon. He held a mango slice an inch away from his mouth, his chopsticks comically frozen in space as his mind buzzed. Finally, he set the fruit back down on his plate and cleared his throat.

"Uh, yeah," he mumbled, frowning. "I mean, no , I'm not okay with it, but yeah, he said he was going to anyway if I didn't 'find myself in a relationship.'" Aang puffed himself up in his best imitation of Kuei at the end, and Sokka laughed as he exaggeratedly dried a fake tear.

"How can they do this?" Katara asked, enraged. "Don't they understand that it's your life, Aang?! They don't have any say in when you get into a relationship. Why are they pushing this anyway? Why now?!"

"Oh, little sister." Sokka scooted his chair closer to her, putting his arm on her shoulder now, somewhat patronizingly, while Suki shot him a confused glare. "The Earth King's advisors were all a titter over this. I heard them on my way out of the lunch meeting when I snuck back to snag another pao bun. Our little Avatar is of age now! And that means he can start making all sorts of airbender babies so the world won't be out of balance anymore or whatever."

Aang didn't think he could get any redder, but Sokka went on. "I'm sure by this time next year we'll have an airbender baby boom! Aang will get to sleep with all the pretty ladies, and…"

"Enough! Sokka, you know that isn't what I want." Aang slammed his fist on the table. His voice was harder than he'd meant it to be, but this was ridiculous. His friends knew him better than that (although, he hoped they didn't know what—or who, rather—he did want in this case. As he had gotten older it had been harder and harder to keep his feelings under the surface). "I don't want to be paired off with someone I don't even know, and I definitely will not be bringing airbenders back under those circumstances."

"Wow… I can't believe they just want to stud you out like that," Toph said, clearly too shocked to even poke fun at her friend.

"It's like they don't even see you as a person," Suki added. "I'm so sorry, Aang." She reached across the table to put a reassuring hand on his arm, and he smiled, unclenching his fist. Katara reached over to thread her fingers through his other hand under the table, too, sending pleasant shivers through him. He squeezed her hand back in thanks.

"We won't let them do this, Aang," she said earnestly. He knew she meant it by the way her hand didn't stray far from his the rest of the night, even as the playful atmosphere returned and the wine was poured and drunk and the egg custard tarts were eaten. Gifts were brought out and they all stayed up late into the night just being together, enjoying this rare bit of peace. If only he knew how he could get out of the Earth King's demands. But, he mused, he had once beaten a comet-powered Firelord by using a type of bending that until that morning he hadn't even known existed. Anything was possible.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I might upload chapter 2 on the last day of kataang week (Monday), but then I will probably update on an every-other-week schedule until school starts again and I have more time to write, haha. See you in a bit!