Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Author's Note: For those who haven't read After the Cave, I make the assumption that Aang and Katara didn't actually kiss in the Cave of Two Lovers. My theory is that at least one of them got distracted by the sudden light and broke off just before making contact. This will be kind of important as the story progresses. Review responses are at the end.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to Mako, the late, great voice of Iroh. It's kind of a serious, philosophical one.

Midnight Conversation

Aang awoke in the night following his first earthbending lesson to the smell of wood smoke. He frowned and sat up, almost immediately regretting the movement. He stifled a groan as his body protested the ways Toph had made it work today. For the first time, he thought he might actually know how it felt to be 112 years old.

There was a faint whistling sound, which was abruptly stopped. Since Aang didn't think it likely he would find a comfortable position without at least stretching out a little, he decided to get up and investigate. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness of the large storeroom they were all sharing, and he allowed them to sweep across his companions. He noted that one large shape seemed to be missing, and Aang grinned as he guessed what was going on.

Gingerly, Aang stood up, stretched, and picked his way cautiously around the sleeping forms of his companions. He quietly opened the door and exited the building, seeing essentially what he had expected. Iroh was sitting there alone, a short distance away, his new teapot off to the side and one steaming cup resting on the ground before him. The old man saw Aang and smiled.

"You're welcome to join me," Iroh invited him. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"I'm not sure if it was you," Aang said truthfully. "But once I was awake, it didn't seem possible for me to get comfortable enough to go back to sleep. One day of earthbending managed to strain muscles I didn't even know I had!"

Iroh laughed softly.

"Earth is different from the other elements," he observed.

"That's what Sokka said."

"He's a clever boy. You're lucky to have him on your side. Would you like some tea? It's relaxing chamomile."

"Okay," Aang agreed, seating himself across the way and accepting a cup. "Would you like me to cool that for you?" When Iroh gave a brief nod of consent, Aang concentrated and stirred first Iroh's, then his own cup with small whirls of air.

"Thank you," Iroh said, taking a sip. "It's perfect."

"Ice works faster, but it's harder to control," Aang explained, sipping at his tea as well. The chamomile did seem to soothe his body and mind, and the pair sat in companionable silence for a while. Aang hoped he would soon grow accustomed to the exertions of earthbending. His teachers had determined that he should spend their time on Kyoshi Island learning the basics of that form, so there wouldn't be any more waterbending lessons until their next stop.

Thinking of that reminded Aang of the last lesson he'd had with Katara. He'd been thinking about kissing her, before being reminded they weren't alone. He had been sure she was feeling something, too. So why had she fled right afterward? He might be dense about some things, but he wasn't stupid. Granted, he had been somewhat grateful for the distance she'd put between them right then. He'd felt uncomfortably warm at that moment, despite the chill caused by the breeze evaporating the water from his skin. Eventually, Katara had returned and finished the lesson, but she seemed hesitant to touch him to correct his technique, something that never bothered her before. So was she feeling uncomfortable because she felt the same way he did, or because she didn't? So much of his life was already difficult; couldn't this one thing be simple?

"Is something on your mind, Aang?" Iroh broke the silence, and Aang belatedly realized that some of his thoughts must have shown on his face.

"I was just thinking about Katara," he blurted before he had a chance to consider.

"Ah, yes. You are fortunate to have her as well. She is a talented waterbender."

I don't have her, thought Aang. Aloud, he said, "Yes, she is."

"Pretty, too, if I'm any judge."

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Aang remembered perfectly the way Katara had looked when he first saw her, after he opened his eyes from his 100-year hibernation. At first, he had thought her a vision. She seemed ethereal, too exquisite to be of the world. His association with her in the elapsed time since had not caused him to revise his initial impression. If anything, he found her even more beautiful now that he knew her.

"Hm. So what makes you look so confused?" Iroh wondered. Aang hesitated, unsure whether to confide in this man he hardly knew or even how to put the issue into words. Ordinarily, he would talk to Katara about things that worried him. In the current circumstances, that was obviously impossible. Sokka was also out, as he had made abundantly clear. Not for the first time since his awakening, Aang missed Gyatso. Perhaps, in his absence, Iroh was the next best thing.

"Well, Katara hasn't said anything, but I think I'm getting close to mastering waterbending," Aang replied, coming at the problem from a different angle.

"So? That's good, isn't it? You still have earth and fire to master."

"Of course it's good. It's just that…I won't be able to spend as much time with her."

"Aang, Katara isn't going anywhere. She will stay with you until your journey's end."

"And after that? I guess what I'm worried about is, what happens when I don't need her anymore?"

"Ah, I see your problem," Iroh said sagely, sipping at his cup again. "You are asking the wrong question."

"What do you mean?"

"I think we both know you'll always need her. So the question you should be asking is, how will you make sure she knows that?"

Aang blinked. The conclusion was so blindingly obvious that he wondered why it hadn't occurred to him before. A moment later, though, he found an obstacle to taking this approach.

"But that would mean…I'd have to tell her…" he trailed off. Part of him wanted desperately to tell Katara how he felt, but another part was just as desperately afraid. That part would rather face an army of firebenders than risk Katara's rejection. A voice in the back of Aang's mind informed him that this was ridiculous, but it didn't change the fact.

"Nothing worthwhile in life comes without risk," Iroh commented, almost as though he'd read Aang's mind. He paused a moment, then added, "We cannot choose when our one great love comes upon us. We can only choose what we do about it."

Aang pondered this. Of course, Iroh was right. If Aang told Katara he loved her, he might lose her, but if he didn't tell her, he definitely would. He might save their friendship, but she would love someone else. Could he live with that?

"I'm only twelve years old!" Aang exclaimed in frustration. "I shouldn't have to be dealing with these things yet!"

"Nor should you have to save the world, or master all the elements in a few months," Iroh reminded him calmly. "I should not have had to watch my son die before me, or see my nephew burned by his own father and then cast aside. Yet, there it is. Life rarely turns out the way you expect."

Aang sensed the deep sadness that the older man was trying to pass off and felt a little guilty for his momentary indulgence in self-pity. Certainly, he might wish that Katara had released him from the ice two years sooner, so they'd at least be the same age and he would have had more time to realize his destiny, but what good did that do? You had to play with the Pai Sho tiles you were given. Aang finished his tea and set the cup down.

Something else Iroh had said reminded Aang that he would soon have to face firebending again. Thoughts of his last, disastrous attempts at that still haunted him. He heaved a great sigh.

"Is there something else?" Iroh wondered.

"I'm a little worried about firebending," Aang admitted.

"Really? Katara indicated you had already had some instruction."

"Yeah, a little. From Master Jeong Jeong." The mention of Katara in connection with firebending caused Aang to feel a familiar pang of remorse. Apparently, the memory didn't bother her as much as it did him.

"Ah," said Iroh, without a trace of judgment about the army deserter. "He is an excellent teacher. What did you learn?"

"Mostly stance and breathing."

"Show me."

Reluctantly, Aang stood and demonstrated the wide-legged stance and the deep breaths. When Iroh nodded that he had seen enough, Aang sat down again.

"It's a start." Noting Aang's expression, Iroh carefully asked, "Did something happen?"

"I was too impatient," Aang confessed, staring at the ground. "I didn't listen and…lost control." He found that he couldn't say aloud that he had burned Katara. It was also the only time he could remember Sokka being truly angry with him. He'd even pushed Aang down, but Aang didn't really mind. He felt he deserved that, and worse. After a silence of several seconds, he glanced up to find Iroh regarding him thoughtfully.

"But you learned your lesson, yes? You will listen now?" Iroh questioned him probingly. Aang nodded miserably. "Well, then, at our next stop, we will begin some of the basic forms. I will not ask you to actually handle fire for…shall we say, two weeks?"

"I think that will be fine," Aang said gratefully. "Thank you, Iroh. For everything." He stood and stretched, beginning to head toward the beach. Something else occurred to him, though, and he turned back. "Would you have stopped it?"

"What?"

"If you had become Fire Lord, would you have stopped the war?"

Iroh was silent for a moment, bravely meeting the Avatar's gaze.

"I don't know," he admitted at last. "I'd like to tell you that I would have, especially after losing my son and seeing all the suffering it's caused. But these things have a certain momentum, a legacy…I really don't know."

Aang nodded, accepting the answer without remark. He appreciated the honesty.

"I'm going to see if I can work some of these kinks out," he said then and walked toward the shore.

This conversation provided some insights into the old firebender's character, and Aang looked at him with new eyes as he reflected on it. He could now see the depth of the man's love for Zuko, how he had taken the boy under his wing as if to replace the son he had lost. Aang saw the way Iroh watched helplessly as Zuko continually pursued the approval of a father who wasn't worthy of such devotion. Clearly, even those in the Fire Nation had suffered as a result of this century of conflict, and it helped Aang renew his determination to end it.

As he found a likely spot and took up a stance, Aang reflected that both Sokka and Iroh readily identified how much he loved Katara. Was it possible that everyone could see his feelings for Katara except her?

He began moving his body through some of the basic forms, trying to stretch his muscles and relieve the ache. After airbending, he shifted to waterbending movements, going through them deliberately. Waterbending, when done slowly and without using water, could lead into a kind of meditative state. Aang allowed his mind to float as his limbs went through the motions almost automatically. He closed his eyes and felt the sand under his feet, heard the roar of the surf, smelled the salt breeze.

When he had finished the third set of waterbending, something in him shifted. He found himself doing earthbending moves instead, taking forms he shouldn't even have known yet but somehow did. He completed that set by bringing his hands together in a gesture of closing. Without warning, he heard a voice he recognized as Kyoshi's ringing in his head.

"Love is always obvious in the third person," she advised him. "Only when it involves you is it difficult to see. Very difficult, indeed." Then she was gone, and Aang opened his eyes to find that he was no longer alone.

Author's Note: Tai chi, on which waterbending is based, is really used as a form of meditation. This chapter's a little short, but I ended up putting so much into that conversation between Aang and Iroh that I didn't really want to get into anything else. On the plus side, the next chapter is about half-done because there's a lot of stuff I was going to include here, so you might get that one early. 

Review responses:

loviegurlie – Thanks! I know this chapter was a little short on the humor, but there will be quite a bit next time.

frozenheat – Glad you liked it. I thought it was time for Katara to start having physical responses. It kind of sets up the next chapter.

Kairuthefrog – Well, friendship's not exactly what I'm going for, but I think you get that. Glad you're enjoying it!

Avatar180 – Always happy to welcome a new reader. Thank you!

Ari-Griffin – Thanks for being a faithful reviewer. Hope you enjoyed this one, though it was a little more serious.

MyrmidonGuy – High praise, indeed. Thank you so much!

xXxEndangeredSpeciesxXx – Dialogue is what jumps into my head most of the time. I know this was more philosophical than funny, but it will get humorous again soon, I promise!

loaned – Yes, he is.  I adore Sokka, and I feel like he doesn't get a fair shake from most fanfic authors. I guess I'm trying to rectify that.