A/N. I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

"Meathead is following them now." Toph said as Katara was looking at the right foot of the blind girl. The blisters had disappeared for the most part, but the skin still looked rather red and raw.

"The vibrations are still fuzzy?" The waterbender asked. After the healing session in the bathhouse, the earthbender had explained that she could still "see", but it was in a shorter range, and it wasn't too clear.

"Yeah, a bit, but I'm getting my range back. Twinkletoes and Zuko have gone to the open space above the temple, and Meathead is also there somewhere." Toph grumbled, clearly irritated at the lack of clarity.

"I felt that Aang slept in your room this night. Have you two talked?"

That remark made Katara look up from the dirty foot in front of her. How had Toph known that Aang hadn't slept in their room the night before? And… yeah, Toph was maybe blind, but she was the most perceptive of all of their friends… She probably knew that there were some problems…

"Promise not… Promise not to tease or be insufferable?" Katara whispered. Yeah… She needed someone's opinion that wasn't Sokka. Her brother was sweet and caring, but he was also too emotional. Toph was direct and brutal. And she needed that.

"Sure. Except if this concerns Twinkletoes bedroom prowess. In that case, no." The blind girl rolled her misty eyes, and Katara just shook her head, not even willing to get into a fight over that kind of talk.

"The day we arrived… That night, we kind of had a fight. It wasn't really a fight, but rather a disagreement… He wanted Sokka and me to go to the North Pole, to hide." She began. Most people would not expect Toph to understand, or even care. But Katara knew better. Underneath all the toughness and sarcasm, hid a kind and compassionate person.

"That's stupid." Was all the earthbender said.

"I said the same thing… But he explained what Azula said to you three during the Invasion… Or rather, he alluded to it. He is afraid something will happen… And I'm afraid that the Fire Nation will use that fear to get him. It is a dead end…" For once… for once, telling someone everything. Not keeping everything bottled up…

"I get where he is coming from Sweetness. That bitch said some really dark stuff… But he has to realize that it was just that. A threat."

Knowing Azula, she was more than capable than just threat.

"What else happened?" Toph asked, and Katara had to resist the urge to smile. The blind girl always knew when there was more.

"Well… As you know, he gave me that necklace, and I didn't answer… I gave it back, saying he should ask again after the war… He thought I meant no, and went to sleep somewhere else… Then, everything that happened yesterday… He just didn't want to talk about it, and rather just ignore it. So yeah, he slept in our room, but… Nothing is resolved." Katara sighed. There was so much more to say…

"So, the guy has to hide in a temple where all his dead friends are lying somewhere, he has all his living friends in mortal danger or in prison, and you are depriving him of sex. Yikes," Toph grinned.

"I'm not… Oh, shut up." Katara grumbled, as she realized that the last part was the blind girl's way to make light of the situation.

"I'm just worried he will shut everyone out… Because there is more." This was actually the thing Katara had wanted Toph opinion about…

"More? Great Spirits…"

"He has been talking about a girl he knew from here. That was why he asked us to check on a specific room in that corridor two days ago. And why he was so angry about the destruction of the school…" Katara felt her heart crack, thinking of the harrowed look in Aang's eyes yesterday evening when they had stood in front of the mosaic.

"Jaelous?" Toph pushed one foot against Katara's shoulder. The waterbender took a toe between her fingers and removed the foot, trying not to shudder.

"No. Because… I think the girl, Jinora… She was related to him. I don't exactly know how, but there is a depiction of her on the mosaic… And she had the exact same eyes. You remember in Ba Sing Se, when I told you Aang has silver-grey eyes? The girl on the mosaic has the exact same eyes. The same smile… Toph, it is as if I'm looking at the female version of Aang." Katara felt bad that she was talking about this with Toph… But she really didn't know what to do.

Aang was already so depressed… And she didn't want to add more to all his worries. But not talking about it would mean shutting themselves off from one another.

"I thought Air Nomads didn't know their family." Toph spoke softly, a gentle tone now. Katara realized that the earthbender was not kidding around now… No, now, she was dead serious.

"Well, Aang talked about being born in the Eastern Air Temple, and that his mother lived there, so I guess he knew her. I never heard him talk about his father, only about Gyatso… But of course, he is bound to have had cousins, maybe even siblings…" That was what Katara was afraid of. She feared that Jinora had been Aang's sister… Spirits, if that was the case, how could they be here? How could they stay at a place where his family had suffered?

"You don't know that… Maybe the girl just looks like Aang. That is possible, isn't it?" Toph asked gently.

"The other people on the mosaic all have ember eyes, brown eyes or dark grey eyes… But she is the only one having his eyes Toph… No, I think there are things he isn't telling us… because it is too painful to think about."

He had seemed a mess yesterday evening, going from serious to smiling and sad. Aang hadn't noticed, but she had seen him smiling with her brother at the fountain after dinner. She hadn't heard what they had talked about, but it had looked… fun. And she had smiled to herself, seeing that her brother could make the airbender smile even in the worst situation. But when he had joined her at the mosaic, before going to sleep… All that happiness had gone, to be replaced by unspeakable sadness as he looked at the mosaic.

And he had seemed to be exhausted, because the moment his head had hit the pile of blankets she had used as a pillow, she had heard the soft and steady breathing of a sleeping person. Katara however, had taken more than an hour to fall asleep…

And it had been good to feel Aang next to her. To know he was alive, and well. Even if all the problems and worries were weighing him down, at least, he was not dead or wounded… Or imprisoned. No, there was still hope…

"So, why tell me this, and not directly ask him?" Toph asked as she put her feet down on the ground, experimentally putting some weight on them to see if it still hurt.

"I need your advice… You are the most direct person I know… What should I do?" Katara hated asking for anyone's assistance. And certainly, if that someone was Toph…

"So, we are hiding from the Fire Lord, whose daughter wants to capture you so she can use you as bait for Twinkletoes. Twinkletoes is afraid for you, and has the added burden that he asked you to marry him, and you have not answered. Not really at least. And to top everything off, we have to hide away at the site of the murder of his people, and potentially, of his family. Did I miss something?" Toph's blind eyes fixed on her own blue eyes, and not for the first time, Katara had the impression that if she wanted, the blind girl knew exactly where to look.

"No… That's it I think."

"Sugar Queen… Just talk to the guy. Explain your reasons, get him to talk about what he is feeling. Just… Just talk. You two are good at that. And actually, it works. Instead of fighting with each other, or ignoring the problems, you talk. So, do that. And then, for Spirit's sake, suck him off or something. The guy seems like he could use the relaxation."

Katara groaned. It had begun so, so well. But of course, Toph had to ruin her perfectly well-structured reasoning by some sort of sexual joke. Just. Perfect.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll ignore the second part, however." Katara grumbled as she straightened. Her back hurt slightly, because those sleeping niches were really not that comfortable. Even her sleeping bag on the forest ground had been softer.

"Not a fan?" Toph grinned as she also stood up, before the girl winced and sat down again.

"I told you, you shouldn't try to put too much weight on it before it is fully healed!" Katara took a step towards the earthbender.

"Calling me fat now?" Toph grinned through gritted teeth. The waterbender couldn't help but smile. Even if she was hurt, the blind girl managed to make it a joke.

"I don't believe anyone would call you that Toph. Maybe you should ask Haru?" Katara asked, sitting down next to the blind girl, slightly poking a rib against the girl's left arm.

"Oh no, not you too. Twinkletoes tried before the Invasion! What is it with you two? Now that you are together, everyone needs a fuck buddy?" Toph rolled her eyes.

"No, I just think he likes you. I have seen him look at you." It was true! She had seen Haru cast quick glances toward them when she had been treating Toph's feet yesterday afternoon. And for some reason, she thought they would make a good pair. Haru was still stubborn and brave but lacked Toph's bluntness.

"Who says he was looking at me?" Toph grumbled, clearly not amused.

"Who else?" Katara grinned at the fact she had managed to make the blind girl uncomfortable.

"You? I don't know if you noticed Sweetness, but guys generally have the hots for you." That made Toph laugh, but the waterbender just shook her head.

"Not Haru, he's just a friend. No, I think he likes you." Katara said.

"Ah, just like Aang was just a friend?"

She sighed. No, Aang had never really been a friend… Or rather, just a friend. He was her best friend, the one person she would trust with anything… But he had never been just her friend.

Toph laughed, and stood up once more, trying to find a spot on her feet that wasn't as painful. Apparently, she opted for her toes. Katara had to stifle laughter, seeing the blind girl walk away as careful as a dancer.

As soon as Toph disappeared into the corridor where the others had their bedrooms, Katara stood up once more. She walked past Appa and Momo, who were lying in the sun at the corner of the terrasse, and then, onto the bridge that led to the guest quarters. She had been planning to check out the bathhouse behind that building. She had already been there, but had seen other passageways going deeper into the temple. To reach the bathhouse, there were two options. One was through the guest quarters, and the other was a passage that had a sheer drop of several hundred feet at the left side. So, Katara opted for the safe one through the building.

As she walked past her own room, she remembered the rather awkward moment that morning. Zuko had come to wake Aang up, and had been surprised at the fact that Aang opened the door only wearing his trousers. Katara had made sure that she had been fully dressed before the airbender had opened the door, but it had still been awkward to have that prince stare at them as if the idea of a man and a woman sleeping in the same room was completely foreign to him.

Spirits, he was not only stupid and evil, but also clumsy and embarrassing.

She walked past the door behind which the firebender slept. Katara hesitated a moment, but didn't enter. She had seen enough yesterday when she had entered to… make sure he would know that she wouldn't allow any step backwards.

Not one.

The corridor ended with a wide arched open entrance, leading to a terrasse lined with benches and with water pooling in the middle. Katara thought it was a kind of waiting area for the bathhouse, and had wanted to ask Aang, but with everything that had happened… It had slipped her mind.

At the other side of the terrasse was the entrance to the bathhouse, but at the right, there was a small corridor leading into the side of the canyon. Sighing, she decided to go there, for it was the only place she was sure she could enter without airbending.

She had not thought of taking something like a torch but was relieved when she realized it was just another corridor, with holes into the side of it to allow air and light to enter the tunnel. Looking into the passageway, the waterbender realized that it probably led to the building at the other side, behind the bathhouse. Had the Air Nomads… Build corridor from one building to the next? Aang had said that some were only accessible by airbending… But maybe these passages had been built for elderly nuns? Or small children, who had not yet sufficient prowess to make the jumps or flights from one building to the next.

Or for people who couldn't airbend? Katara had read that the Western Air Temple had followed a policy of isolation after the death of Avatar Yangchen, only to be reopened for outsiders around the time of Avatar Roku… And this temple seemed to be one of the most accessible, seen that there were stairs carved into the side of the canyon…

Had the Fire Nation attacked this place using these corridors? Still, Katara had not seen any traces of the battle, or even a few bones… It looked like this place had been deserted. But of course, there were the bodies in the river, but Aang hadn't seen pendants or something to recognize them as the nuns. So, presumably, that had been the people living around the temple.

So, where were the nuns? The novices?

Katara arrived at the other side of the corridor, which ended on another terrasse. Looking to the left, the waterbender realized that indeed, she was at the other building now. This was the first time she had been this deep inside the temple, and it was… Well, breathtaking. Faded murals and floors inlaid with colourful mosaics were everywhere, and it seemed just so… Well, she would have loved to visit these places in their glory days.

"Oh, Katara is here!" She heard a child voice call out, and, turning to the right, she saw The Duke stand in the door opening of the building. Behind the child, she saw two silhouettes inside the building.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The waterbender asked smiling at the child.

"We were looking around! There is not much else to do here. Did you know this place has a giant game room?" The Duke turned back and ran into the building, and Katara followed, not understanding what he had meant.

As soon as she passed the arch of the door, Katara realized what this place was. The Giant Pai Sho board… The circular room could have fitted her whole village, buildings, tents and watchtower included, inside it. Easily…

The floor was, however, made out of green and white slabs of marble cut into squares, to form the board. Looking around the room, she saw Haru and Teo stand in the middle, looking up. Katara, following their gazes, also lifted her head to the ceiling.

The whole ceiling was a dome… Like an igloo, but a hundred times larger… And without any structural support. How… How was this standing? Sokka would probably have an answer to it. But as she looked at the ceiling, Katara saw that most of the dome had been painted in vivid scenes, but that most had faded away. She would have to ask Aang if he remembered what had been there.

"Aang's people were… Something else." Haru spoke quietly, but Katara heard it easily, for the sound travelled around in this place. She had to bite her tongue to correct him. Aang's people are something else.

"My dad said you visited the Northern Air Temple." Katara joined Haru and Teo, as The Duke was still running around in circles around them.

"Yeah, Chief Hakoda and my father had gone to join Teo and his people, and we joined them… A week before coming to the Black Cliffs?" That last part was directed at Teo.

"Around that, yes. I was just telling Haru that this temple is different from the anything I have ever seen. I thought Air Nomads liked to build high in the mountains…" The young man in the wheelchair nodded.

"I think that the male Temples were high in the mountains, but the female Temples were built differently for some reason. Aang told me once that the Eastern Air Temple is easy to access, but just very isolated, with few people even knowing where it is…" Katara explained. She had observed the same as Teo. The Northern and Southern Air Temples seemed more isolated, standing on high mountain peaks, whereas the Eastern and Western Temples were built against hills or inside canyons.

"So… This temple was only for women? Aang said there are places we are not allowed into, but… They lived separately?" Haru asked, and Katara had to smile at the interest the earthbender was showing. She would tell Aang that, later tonight. He would love that people were actually taking an interest in his culture.

"They did. Two temples for nuns and girls, and the other two temples for the monks and the boys. Aang is from the Southern one, on the islands between Kyoshi Island and the South Pole." The waterbender explained. He had told her plenty of things other than just these general things… But those, those she kept for herself. Because Katara knew he had told her things about Gyatso and other people… Because it was her.

Teo nodded, apparently already knowing this. That didn't surprise Katara, because the young man lived in the Northern Air Temple, and had probably had time to learn about the people who had lived there before him. He turned his wheelchair around, joining The Duke on the other side of the cavernous room.

"So… How is Toph?" Haru asked, sounding rather embarrassed.

See? Ha! Katara knew she had been right! Of course, Haru had a crush on the blind girl! He seemed rather flustered as she looked in his pale green eyes.

"One or two healing sessions, and she will be alright. Maybe a walk around the temple gardens would be good for her." Katara had to hide a smile. Yeah, yeah, Toph had said she wasn't interested… But who knew what would happen during these weeks? A little happiness… That was already a luxury in these times.

"Is it a nice place?" The earthbender asked, and she could hear the earnest curiosity in his voice. Oh yeah, he had a crush.

"Oh yes, I saw it this morning! I was thinking about going there later w… when Aang is back from training." Katara had nearly said with Aang, but she managed to hold her tongue. No offence against Haru, and she knew she could trust him with their secret… But could she trust him if Zuko was burning half his face off? Could she trust her friend then?

So, she had to lie. Even though she hated doing exactly that. And she hated it very much because she and Aang had promised each other not to hide their relationship, to be open about it… But circumstances prevented them from doing just that…

"Oh… That's nice! Would… would you like… To… ehm… well, you know…" Haru stammered, and Katara looked at the young man, confused. The earthbender's face was quite red, and she looked like he had just swallowed something that stayed stuck in his throat.

"To… go there… with me?"

Oh…

Oh!

Tui and La…

Katara had to prevent herself from shaking her head violently from side to side. Oh Spirits… No… So, she stayed put, next to the earthbender, quite tongue-tied.

How was she supposed to answer that?

If she said no, she would hurt Haru's feelings… If she said yes, she would lead him on, and hurt Aang's feelings. Neither option seemed very fun to her… But she hadn't thought the earthbender would ask her! No… She had been convinced it was Toph whom Haru had a crush on…

Better to just hurt him quickly, and move on…

"Sorry Haru… I… I can't." She whispered. That was alright, no? She didn't lead him on with that. It was as direct and kind as she could imagine.

"Oh… Yeah, sure. Another time then?"

Katara had to keep herself from closing her eyes in exasperation. She really did not want to hurt his feelings…

"There are just too many things to do. Sorry." The waterbender tried to smile, as to comfort him, to say that this didn't change the fact she liked him… as a friend. But Spirits, even she knew it had to be one of the most awkward smiles ever.

Quickly turning around and walking back to the terrasse. Spirits, that had to be one of the most awkward moments in her life. Toph had been right. Of course, Haru was nice, and sweet… But he wasn't Aang.

Moving over the terrasse, through the corridor, she arrived at the bathhouse. From there, she quickly ran through the guest quarters, to arrive at the bridge. She heard Appa groan softly, and Katara knew that sound. That sound, the bison made at one specific moment. When he saw Aang after a few hours…

Relief flooded through her. At least, he had survived his first day of firebending. And… And she wanted to talk to him. Like they used to… Stay together after dinner, talk about memories, things the other didn't know about…

She crossed the bridge, seeing Aang, her brother and that firebender stand together, with defeated looks on their faces. Katara walked towards them, and had to smile when she saw Aang's eyes lift towards her. The defeated look disappeared slightly, to be replaced by one with a soft gaze. She knew that one… He looked at her like that every time they had been separated, even for a few hours..

"Hey Sis… Guess what." Sokka spoke through gritted teeth.

"Bad news?" Her brother only spoke like that when there was something that irritated him.

"Yeah, you can say that. Our whole plan hinges on the fact that this idiot." He pointed a thumb to the scarred prince, who flinched slightly at the gesture, "can teach Air Head firebending, right?"

"Yeah…" Where was this going.

"You are going to love this. He can't firebend."

Katara couldn't help it, but she laughed. Hard.

Spirits, how fucked up was this? No… How can someone lose their bending? Oh, just perfect!

"All right, that is funny! What, lost it somewhere, along with your honour? Now you need to capture the Avatar to restore your firebending?" Katara still laughed. Zuko didn't answer, only grunted slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but stopped himself before he actually said it out loud.

"He also has a solution." Aang spoke for the first time.

"And that is? Stand in the campfire tonight? Hope it fuels his bending?" Katara couldn't help it.

"No. To visit the ruins of the Sun Warrior culture. The firebenders who learned it directly from the dragons. It is the closest we will get to actually learn it from the original firebenders." Zuko answered, clearly irritated.

"And there is a catch." Sokka still spoke like he tried very hard not to shout.

"And that is…"

"Only firebenders are allowed inside the ruins." Aang explained, and she saw him look at her.

And then, she understood.

"No. No way!"

Answers :

Kalaong : Oh I didn't know! That is actually super interesting! I really don't have an explanation for how it is made than, because I guess that Air Nomads wouldn't like silk to be honest. I'll think about that! Thanks a lot!

Rak : Oh, and it isn't finished. Because Katara can't just say 'hey, sorry, but I have a boyfriend" Haru just thinks there is much to do, not that she said "no". I have a good chapter planned for the next one, plenty of Kataang, so I hope you like that.