Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar, nor do I own this chapter, which was written and originally submitted by .Lady.Meister.

Heartbreaking

Dream Sequence...

He silently watched her prepare breakfast. From behind the thick flaps of the tent curtains, his eyes followed her as she moved about, cleaning up and setting their makeshift "table". In the pot was one of Katara's favorites, beef stew, but in one of the two bowls on the "table" was freshly cut and tossed salad greens, with various vegetables mixed in.

"She's so thoughtful." Aang murmured, smiling because Katara still remembered that her best friend was a vegetarian.

And I'd give up forever to touch you

Cause I know that you feel me somehow

"Hey Aang?" She called his name, slightly startling him. He loved to hear her call his name. Quickly recovering, he answered. "Yeah?" He emerged from his tent, feigning a yawn. Katara looked up from her cleaning and frowned faintly. "You weren't still sleeping, were you?" "No, no, not at all." He quickly reassured her. Her face softened as she smiled. "Good. Could you help me with breakfast a little?"

His face lit up with excitement. "Sure! What do you need help with?" He was happy to do anything when it meant being closer to her. "Here," she said, handing him a large wooden spoon, "stir the stew. I have to go and get some more water."

"Okay." He followed her with his eyes as she walked off to the small river that was conveniently located right beside their camp. Absent-mindedly stirring the stew, he fell into a daze, watching her gracefully move, her hands drifted upward, willing the water to follow. A stream of the sparkling fluid separated from the rest as she moved it about, playing with it a little before sending it into the bucket. He always loved to watch her bend her element. The water, when reflecting the sunlight as it surrounded her slender form gave her the appearance of an angel.

You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be

And I don't wanna go home right now

He had to admit, he was hopeless in love with her, and nothing could make him feel otherwise. But the challenge with that was:

1. He was an air monk, and wasn't supposed to love anyone that way. (Which he thought was totally unfair, seeing he had no choice about the matter in the first place.)

2. He was also the Avatar, and was now currently on the top of the Fire Nation's most wanted list. If Zuko or any of his goonies found out that he felt for Katara that way, they would try to capture her and use her against him, or they might hurt her. Badly.

And I don't want the world to see me

Cause I don't think that they'd understand

Oh gods, he didn't know what he would do if that happened. But there was no harm in telling her right? His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Katara was now on her way back, carefully balancing a bucket of water. Aang quickly looked away and stared into the pot, relieved that he had not been caught, but embarrassed all the same, that he had, yet again, fallen into a daze while staring.

"Is it ready yet?" Katara was now next to him, her eyes expectant. His brain still foggy with thoughts, Aang responded. "Huh? What?" "The stew, is it ready yet?" She asked him again, this time, she had an "are-you-okay" looks on her lightly tanned face. "Oh, uh, I'm not sure." He checked the contents of the pot and took a deep whiff, not really knowing what he was doing.

"Umm, I don't really know what meat stew is supposed to smell like when it's done, but I guess it's ready..." She giggled at the confused look on his face. "It's okay, Aang. I was just messing' with you." Still bewildered, Aang backed away and sat down on a nearby log, leaving Katara to finish cooking. Again, he stared at her with wistful eyes. He scoffed silently at himself. "I'm so stupid." He thought. "I'll never be able to tell her I love her."

End Dream Sequence...

He woke with a start, then winced as pain shot up and down his spine. "Ahh!" His mind was a blur as he tried to remember where he was and why he was there. Suddenly reality hit him smack in the face. He got up and started pacing, despite the pain in his back from sleeping too long in the hard wooden chair. He hadn't really thought much about it before, seeing he was in such a rush to get Katara to a doctor. Katara! He wondered how she was doing. He didn't want to disturb her just yet.

He was also too busy trying to figure out the problem at hand. The question he most wanted to know was who? He closed his eyes and rewound his mind back to when he first reached the clearing. He had briefly looked around before running over to Katara. Wait! What was that? Had he just seen a pair of deadly golden eyes glaring at him through the darkness of the trees? No, It couldn't be. He looked again. The eyes were gone, but he still sensed that he was being watched.

But how? He was puzzled as to how he could have possibly found out about his feelings for Katara. Abruptly, it hit him. He has spies all over. One of them could have seen something, then reported back. Aang cursed himself for not realizing it sooner. It had been Zuko that injured Katara. Why? Because she was loved by the Avatar, #1 target on the Fire Nation's most wanted list. Suddenly, it dawned on him. He stopped pacing, his eyes now wide open. "It's my fault!"

Suddenly he stopped pacing, his eyes now wide open. "It's my fault!"

Stunned, he sat back down. If it hadn't been for him, stupid him, Katara would be fine, instead of hanging on to her life by a thread.

Remorse, regret, anger, and indignation overwhelmed him. His arrows glowed lightly at the thought of Zuko.

An evil smile played across the boy's face as he thought of what he would do if he ever got his hands on that exiled, cowardly, bratty, sorry excuse of a Prince.

Suddenly a thought formed in Aang's mind. Why just think about what he would do? Why not search the coward down and kill him for what he did?

The smile on Aang's face grew to epic proportions as he considered the idea. He hesitated at first, not knowing for sure whether or not he should go.

This wasn't just any search-and-destroy mission. This was the search-and-destroy mission. Zuko was going to pay for what he did, and he would do it with his blood.

His mind now made up, Aang walk out the door of the waiting room and out into the cold night air.

He would do this for her, and he would not fail.