After hearing the awful news about Jet, Aang spoke to Sneers for about five more minutes. During that time, the door to the bathroom remained firmly closed. After he'd gotten off the phone with Sneers, Aang sat on the couch, absently stroking Momo and listening for the door.

The weeping slowed eventually, becoming hiccups and then long sniffles, but after a time, there were no other movements or noises.

Fifteen minutes crept by. Aang stirred uneasily when he heard water running for about a half-minute before shutting off. Nothing else followed.

Finally, nearly 45 minutes after Katara had locked herself into the bathroom, Aang heard the creak of the door opening.

He looked up expectantly, going over in his mind what to say to her, and pretty much discarding everything. What was there to say? The very last interaction she'd had with her boyfriend had been filled with anger and was slightly chaotic, and now he was gone. Forever.

Aang sat quietly on the couch, waiting for her to come out of the bathroom and say … something. That she was devastated. That she was appalled. That she was leaving. Something.

After 10 more minutes with no reappearing Katara, Aang was alarmed enough to go see for himself what was going on. He was sure Katara was in complete shock, but he was concerned that she might have passed out, or on the opposite end of that scale, was possibly considering harming herself.

When he got to the doorway of the bathroom, he was relieved that none of his dire imaginings had come to fruition. Katara was sitting on the closed seat of the toilet staring into space. The color had returned to her face but there was a blankness to her expression that made Aang shiver. It was as if she'd been emptied of everything – thoughts, personality, vitality – leaving behind just a husk. A husk in a stranger's bathroom, staring at nothing.

He swallowed hard. "Katara –"

"– He hated the Huu Parkway."

She was speaking to the wall. Her voice was as colorless as her face had been when she'd still been at the dining room table.

"He said it was never maintained, and always backed up and people drove on it like it was a drag strip. … But it was the quickest route to my place. My apartment is right off the third exit. Right down the block."

Katara lookd at Aang. Her eyes were glittering and vacant.

"It looks like you were almost right," she said in that same dull voice. "He thought I'd gotten pissed off and left the party without telling him … but he wasn't waiting to call. He left here and was going straight to my apartment to see what was going on. He took the quickest route. And … and ..."

She trailed off with a choked sound and said no more, but there weren't any tears. Silence fell around them like a heavy blanket.

Aang stood there, uncertain what to do. If Katara had been a friend, or even a stranger he'd met on the street that seemed to be in distress, he would have offered words of comfort, and even a gentle touch on the shoulder to give a more personal connection.

But he and Katara were in some odd limbo where they were neither friends nor strangers. The fact that she had been in his bed – innocently, but still – had created something like an artificial intimacy between them that was even more apparent as he stood there gaping like a fish, not sure what move to make next. Added to that was his guilty conscience prodding at him. He'd been all but drooling over Katara earlier in the morning. Obviously he'd had no way of knowing about the tragedy that had been unfolding as they'd made small talk and ate eggs, but he felt as if he had to be very careful when she was in such a vulnerable state.

"You talked to Sneers?"

Aang was a little startled at the sudden sound of her voice after so much silence. It took him a moment to process just what she was asking.

"Yes, just for a little while. He told me what happened."

Katara looked up again.

"Did he say if Jet said anything? I mean … if he had any sort of message for me … or anything like that?" There was a sheen of hope in her eyes. "I mean, he had to have given Sneers his phone to call me in the first place. Jet guarded his phone the way otterpenguins guard their nests. He'd get snappish if I even looked at it when it rang."

In Aang's experience, guys who were that protective of their phones had reasons for being that way that generally were not the reasons of a good and honorable person, but he cautioned himself not to judge, especially considering Jet's ultimate fate. Maybe growing up in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se had made Jet distrustful by nature and more guarded when it came to personal possessions.

"Sneers didn't mention anything like that. But that doesn't mean Jet didn't say anything," he said in a rush, hating to see the hope dim from Katara's eyes.

Katara looked down at her lap, and Aang fell silent.

"What else did Sneers tell you?"

"Not much," Aang said, frowning in an effort to remember every detail. "He said he'd talked to the police and told them that Jet didn't really have any family or next of kin …"

"That's true. Jet's entire neighborhood was firebombed by the Rough Rhinos." Katara's voice was tight with anger. "His parents died in the attack. He was 5. He was pretty much on his own after that, scrounging for food … stealing when he needed … living outside. It wasn't until after the war that he got on his feet."

Aang's hands unconsciously tightened into fists. The Rough Rhinos had been a mercenary group of dishonorably discharged Fire Nation soldiers who had waged their own war in the Earth Kingdom. This wasn't the first time he'd heard about the group's destructive ways, and it made him feel incredibly sorry for Jet. It was like he'd never had a real chance at a good life. Orphaned at 5, forced to fend for himself in the poorest area of the Earth Kingdom from that time, and now dead in an accident before the age of 25.

After suffering the loss of almost his entire culture, Aang had become resigned to the idea that life wasn't fair, but knowing about the brief life of Jet Suo, he was beginning to think it was more than that. Life wasn't fair and it seemed to be cruel to those who needed the most kindness and understanding.

"Sneers said he'd be at the hospital for probably another hour," said Aang, pushing aside his dire thoughts of the past to focus on the immediate needs of the present. "The police have talked to him, but they've asked him to stick around in case they have more questions."

"Jet must have said something to him. He was awake for hours before ... " said Katara, almost to herself. "Maybe it's something that he asked Sneers to tell me privately. I need to get to the hospital."

She spoke with determination and sat up straighter. "Where's my phone? I'll call a cab –"

Aang shook his head. "You can't do that. I can –"

Katara's head whipped toward him and her eyes were glacial.

"What do you mean I can't? What are you trying to do? I –"

"– I mean that literally. You can't call a cab here." Aang held up his hands in a placating manner. "It's Sunday morning. The Quadrangle gets blocked off to traffic for the Pasaang Promenade – the street fair. You'd have to walk almost a mile to the Chang-Min Marketplace to get a cab and even then, you'd have to wait in line for people going to the airport. The Promenade doesn't end until 3 o'clock in the afternoon."

Katara's chin wobbled. "Oh. I didn't realize ... Okay, then I'll take a bus. Or a train. Or –"

"– I can drive you," Aang interrupted quietly. "If time's an issue, then it would be easier than walking 10 blocks to the Transit Center and then waiting for a bus running on the Sunday schedule."

She looked up at him, her eyes narrow. "You just said that this area is blocked off to traffic. How would it be any different for you driving somewhere?"

"Because I live here. Residents of the Quadrangle can drive out – we just can't drive back in until the Promenade's over."

There was still a suspicious cast to her features. "I didn't really see any cars or any street parking at all when we got here last night. I even asked Jet if … if he was sure he wouldn't be towed –"

She broke off, hastily wiping her eyes.

"This building has a garage underground," said Aang. "I usually don't drive much at all. I'm not the biggest fan of doing that in the city, but I can't exactly take Appa to the vet on the subway."

Katara was quiet for a long stretch. Then she stood up slowly. Turned toward Aang slowly.

"All right. Could you just drop me off in front of the main entrance of the hospital then? I mean, I appreciate you doing this and I'm not trying to be rude or treat you like an Uber driver or anything, but –"

"– You don't owe me any explanations," said Aang, moving aside so that she could exit the bathroom. "It's fine. And I did offer."

As she moved past him, their eyes briefly met. The anguish Aang saw shading those bright blue eyes made his heart ache.

"Katara, I just want to say … I didn't know Jet, but I'm so, so sorry –"

"– Can we just go already?" she snapped savagely, her face turning a very congested red. "We're wasting time!"

Aang reared back, stung by the sharpness of her voice.

She looked up at Aang and for the first time, he saw the tears. They veiled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks, dripping onto her outfit, leaving dark marks. He hadn't really noticed what she was wearing before, but it was a nice dress in dark blue trimmed with white. It suited her, he thought irrelevantly, then inwardly chastised himself for even thinking about such things at such a time.

He wasn't sure what his face was doing, but his expression caused Katara to drop her eyes briefly, chastened.

"I … I shouldn't have said that. You're trying to be helpful, but I just … I need to get there as soon as possible."

"Please," she added, almost in a whisper.

Aang nodded wordlessly, and she trailed after him down the hallway, stopping only to collect her phone and purse, and slip her shoes on in the entryway, before following him out the door.

Aang had assumed that Katara would jump out of the car as soon as they arrived at Republic City Memorial Hospital. He wasn't even sure that she'd wait for him to make a complete stop before making her escape. The ride over had been tense and wordless, though at least traffic was light. Aang had been able to get Katara there within 8 minutes of leaving his apartment. He assumed by the utter lack of conversation that she'd be a little relieved to get away from him.

So it was to his great surprise and slight unease when after pulling up to the hospital's main entrance and putting his car in park, Katara made no move to exit. She sat as she'd done the entire ride over, staring out of the window and pressed up against the door.

Aang waited a few minutes before murmuring, feeling somewhat silly, "Um, Katara? We're here."

Katara remained motionless, and Aang squirmed nervously. Maybe he hadn't spoken loudly enough? He discreetly cleared his throat and tried again, noticing in his rear-view mirror that another car had pulled up behind him.

"Katara?"

"... I don't think I can do this."

There was panic in her voice and her lips were trembling.

"All the way over here, I kept thinking 'This can't be real. I just talked to him yesterday. Last night. He can't be gone. But when I walk through those doors, it'll be real, and I just … I don't know if I can do this. I know it sounds stupid ..."

"No it doesn't." Aang pointedly ignored the car in back of him when the driver sounded the horn. Let the jerk wait. "I understand exactly how you feel."

Her forehead wrinkled. "Really?"

"About three years after the end of the war, I went to see what was left of the Southern Air Temple – where I grew up," said Aang. "On a conscious level, I knew that it had been completely destroyed by the Fire Nation Air Force and the majority of the people who'd lived there had been destroyed along with it, but I felt like as long as I didn't see it, none of that was real. I did go, though, because I needed closure.

"It was hard. Really hard." Aang turned in his seat to look at her. "That said, there are survivors of the Air Nomad massacre who haven't been back to any of the Air Temples, and there's nothing wrong with that, either. If you don't want to go in there, you don't have to. It's understandable if you don't think you're … ready yet."

Katara's eyes never left his face as he spoke, and he felt a little exposed. He didn't want to make this about him or his circumstances, and he'd wondered if he'd overstepped.

"You're right. I don't have to do this now. But … I think I do need closure." Katara took a deep breath. "Would you go in there with me?"

Aang was speechless for a moment and gaped at her uncomprehendingly.

"Me? I mean, I'd be happy to, but are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You do understand. So many people just say stuff like that when something horrible like this happens, but you actually do get it," she said softly. "I think I need to be around people who get it. At least right now."

Aang was prevented from answering by another blast of the horn from the impatient douche behind him. Gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to give the person a very un-Air Nomad-like gesture, he shifted back into drive and headed for the parking lot.

Aang thought that people exaggerated the "weird" smell of hospitals, but he rethought that as the automatic doors of the main entrance to Republic City Memorial Hospital drew back with a a hiss. He and Katara walked through, ignoring the woman yawning at the front desk and the few people milling around on the ground floor, some looking dazed, others looking grim.

The scent of stale coffee mixed with the sharp, synthetic-lemon smell of disinfectant, creating an aroma that was actually kind of vomit-inducing, at least to Aang. Possibly to Katara, too, because she sagged against his shoulder as they walked over highly polished floors, further into the recesses of the hospital. She held a hand over her mouth and nose and groaned.

He was just looking over to ask if she were all right when her knees gave way.

Aang caught her around the waist before she slid to the floor. Alarmed, he held onto her tightly while helping her regain her balance, the arm hooked around her waist joined by another one that rested on her shoulder.

"I tripped," she said, her cheeks turning pink. "You can let me go now. I can walk. I was just clumsy."

Aang hastily complied, and his face warmed. He hoped Katara didn't think he was perving over her at a time like this. He really had thought she was about to faint!

Aang considered explaining, but figured that would make things worse.

"Thanks," she said, interrupting the jumble of worried thoughts zipping through his brain.

Aang looked at her in surprise. "Huh?"

"For not letting me fall," she clarified. "See? It was a good idea that you came along with me."

Aang wasn't sure how to answer that, and the heat migrated from his face down to his neck. His hand shot up to the back of his neck, and he rubbed as if trying to scrub away the blush.

"I –"

"– Katara! Over here!"

She and Aang turned at the same time toward the voice.

A tall, powerfully built young man stood in the middle of the hallway waving frantically. A few of the people shuffling around the floor looked over at the commotion, but that didn't seem to phase the big man.

"Sneers!" Katara's hands were clasped tightly in front of her, almost as if in supplication.

In an aside, she said to Aang in a low voice, "that's Sneers," almost as if hadn't realized that Aang was only two inches away from her and could hear fine. Aang just nodded.

They'd taken a few steps toward Sneers when a blur suddenly rushed from behind him and streaked across the floor. A blur that seemed headed straight for Katara.

She gave a little gasp of shock, but Aang's instincts kicked in and he jumped in front of Katara in time to intercept the blur.

The blur abruptly materialized into a person the moment Aang had stepped forward – a panting, red-faced person. Aang glared down at this unexpected visitor, while taking their measure. The person was slight of figure with untidy hair almost covering dark eyes. Two diagonal slashes of red paint adorned either cheek, and thin lips were drawn back into a snarl.

The figure ignored Aang and went in on Katara right away.

"You bitch! You have the nerve to show your face here?"

The voice was high-pitched, enraged and carried across the entire lower level. Behind him, Aang heard Katara's breath hitch. The small person – a woman, Aang assumed, judging by the timber of the voice – pressed closer, causing Aang to move forward, blocking her out.

"Get out! Jet's dead, so what do you want with him now? Go away!"

In his periphery, Aang could see others starting to approach them. One person was a mid-sized portly man in a hospital security uniform and the other was a tallish young man wearing a conical cap made of straw. Sneers was moving toward them, too.

Before any of these new folks converged, Katara stepped around Aang to face the furious person head-on. Her hands were jammed on her hips and she bristled with anger.

"Smellerbee, I'm not going to go through this with you. Not today of all days." Katara gritted out between clenched teeth. "You know why I'm here. Jet and I were together. You've had half a year to get used to it. If you still have issues, that's your problem –"

"– My problem is that he wasted his time on you. And now he's wasted his life!"

The person – Smellerbee – advanced dangerously toward Katara. Katara stood her ground, and tensed her shoulders, as if preparing to strike a blow before Smellerbee could get that far.

"I told him that you'd break his stride, but he wouldn't listen!" Smellerbee stopped short and jabbed a finger in the air. "You always thought you were above him and acted so high and mighty. He tried to change everything about himself to make you happy, but it was never good enough! And now he's gone! Are you happy now?"

"Smellerbee! Stop it!" barked Sneers, who'd arrived a few steps ahead of the others. "There's no need for any of this! It's the last thing Jet would have wanted."

"Longshot, it's time you guys went home, said Sneers, turning to the lean man in the straw hat who was now there with the security guard. "If this is the best you could do, you should've just left."

"Exactly. You're going to calm down or leave, Miss," said the security guard in a low voice. "I understand what's happened to your friend and I'm sorry, but we can't have this kind of behavior in here."

Smellerbee's eyes were glittering pinpoints in her face and Aang thought uneasily that the woman looked like a vine-cobra coiled and about to strike.

Glaring at Katara and shaking off the gentle hand Longshot placed on her arm, Smellerbee spat, "You're the one who should be dead, you … you fucking water whore! Not Jet! And not even the stupid ashmaker girl he was with. You. You're the one who should be on a slab somewhere –"

Longshot, who'd not said a word throughout the start of Smellerbee's tirade, now clamped his hand firmly on her shoulder. She immediately stopped talking and lowered her head. Fat tears dripped from the end of Smellerbee's nose and fell at her feet.

Sneers and Longshot exchanged silent looks, and Aang saw Longshot nod quickly. No one spoke as Smellerbee, guided by Longshot, silently walked over the polished floors to the exit. Just before the doors hissed closed behind them, Aang could see Longshot put his arms around Smellerbee, whose shoulders were heaving with sobs.

The security guard sighed and turned wearily to Sneers.

"She's gonna have to stay out this time, sorry buddy. I looked the other way when she came in here and started wailing and carrying on, but enough's enough." He looked quickly at Katara. "My supervisor hears about this and it'll be my ass for not letting the cops handle it."

"Don't worry," Sneers murmured. "She's been questioned and there's no need for her to come back. Longshot's going to take her home."

The guard shrugged and ambled off. Aang briefly watched him go before being drawn back to Katara's side when he saw her expression, which was a mixture of confusion and apprehension.

"Sneers," said Katara quietly, looking up at the big man. "What was Smellerbee talking about? What girl?"

Thanks for the reviews of the past chapter. Interesting a lot of people didn't see that coming. Wonder what people will have to say about the way this story unfolds. I appreciate you all! Btw, racists suck and need to be hung up by their thumbs. See you next week!