A/N. So, I'm leaving for work for three weeks. I have my laptop with me, so will still be able to post, but can't guarantee how frequent they will be. But for now, enjoy!

Next chapter is someone we never had a POV of before!

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.

Even as the sun was setting, the temperature stayed high. Tui and La, how did anyone survive in this kind of warmth? Katara sat down on one of the low chairs close to the courtyard, a headache pounding in the back of her head. How had this all happened in just twenty-four hours?

The play had made her angry, what happened after, in her bedroom, had made her happy, happier than she had been for ages… Then, this morning, she had been fearful, but full of resolve to make sure Aang wouldn't fight the Fire Lord… At least, not at the most dangerous moment.

But now? Now, her heart felt just… numb. Numb by the rollercoaster of emotions it had gone through ever since lunch. First it had been fear once more, when Zuko and Aang had explained what Ozai was planning. Then, fear had been replaced by anger when the airbender actually had suggested to buy some time, by sacrificing himself! Spirits, how foolish was that! Luckily, she had been able to explain that doing that had no effect whatsoever on the end result of Ozai's plans.

Then, as she had looked up in the grey eyes, Katara had seen an expression of revelation and relief flood into his eyes. That had made her hopeful, so very hopeful… He had found a long-lost way to win the war, without needing to put himself in danger, and making it alright.

But no. He was going to talk to the previous avatars…

It wasn't a bad idea… At least, they would be able to help him if Aang managed to contact them. Because that was a problem. He had never actually been the one trying to get in contact. It had always been the previous Avatars coming to him. Roku, when he needed to explain that the comet was coming. Then, Kyoshi when he was going to be boiled alive in oil. But other than that? No… He had never been able to just go talk to them.

The waterbender groaned, letting herself slide deeper into the chair. She hated how it felt comfortable, nice and soft. She would gladly exchange this seemingly comfortable life for one far less cosy and be able to live like she wanted. A small cottage, somewhere far away, with her friends close and Aang even closer. That was all she would ask for.

But it was not to be… No, six days from now, not counting the evening that was darkening around her, the world was going to change forever… And Katara feared that it was going to take a turn for the worse, and that… That Aang wouldn't be there to change anything.

If Aang fought the Fire Lord, he was going to die… Of that, her mind was certain, even if her heart protested the thought. How could she even think that? Why would the spirits even allow Aang to survive the slaughter of the Air Nomads, and bring him to this point… If they were going to let him fail at the last moment? Were the spirits that cruel?

"I thought you would be pestering Zuko or Air Head about the whole idea of fighting Ozai." A male voice spoke behind her. Turning her head towards the sound, she saw the darkening shape of her brother stand next to her.

"Done that already… At least with Aang. Zuko's turn will come." She sighed, waving a hand towards the other chair. Sokka exhaled loudly as he let himself fall into it.

"I do not have a clue what to do. As Zuko said during lunch… The only moment that cunt will be vulnerable will be when he travels from the Caldara to Wulong. We didn't even reach the palace when the Black Sun was in full swing, and they had abandoned it… I can't imagine the security now that they know we can actually attack it." Her brother spoke, seemingly to himself, because Katara had already made that conclusion long ago. She nodded, as there was nothing to say.

"How was Aang's training this afternoon?" Katara asked instead. When the airbender had gone back to firebending training with Zuko after their talk about the old Avatars, she herself had gone inside to read in the book about Kyoshi, hoping it would give her some clue how Aang could contact Roku, or any other Avatar… To no avail.

"Good actually. Zuko taught him defensive manoeuvres… And a way to make redirect lightning." Sokka explained. Katara felt his eyes on her, even if she couldn't exactly see them.

"Redirect lightning?" Her stomach did a strange turn, as if a long-hidden fear came creeping up, "Do you mean… Zuko was shooting lightning at him?"

Surely, that would not have happened… right?

"No, no! I don't actually think that he can bend lightning, but he did show a technique that apparently was invented by Iroh. Even Ozai doesn't know how to do that. And Zuko said that he would need it because his father can bend ligh…" Her brother stopped in his tracks, but it was no use. She had understood. Ozai could do what Azula had done. And if Zuko was to be believed, his father was ten times the bender that the princess was.

"Ozai can bend lightning. Of course." The waterbender sighed, letting her head rest against the chair, looking up into the sky where the first stars were appearing.

"Has Aang ever told you what stars mean to him?" She asked suddenly.

"Eh… No." Sokka sounded startled by the change of topic, "What do they mean?"

In the Water Tribes, stars were legends and ancestors, duelling and fighting in the heavens. But to Aang, it was something else entirely.

"Each star shows the good deeds of someone. He told me in the Earth Kingdom, after Azula chased us around… Those three." She pointed to a row of bright stars on the western side of the sky, "Are the deeds of Yangchen, the Air Nomad Avatar before Kuruk."

Glancing sideways towards Sokka, she saw her brother look into the sky, with a frown on his face. The light coming from the house lit up his face just enough to be able to see the expression in his eyes.

Sadness.

"Knowing the idiot, he probably thinks there are no stars representing his deeds… Right?" Her brother asked.

"He said that months ago yes… I have a different opinion about that." Katara sighed, looking back into the sky. Right above them, a bright sky had made its appearance.

"That one." She pointed to it.

"Sacrificing himself for the village." Sokka smiled.

"Stopping a volcano, without worrying about himself." She shook her head, grinning at the memory of what Sokka had said at Makapu village.

"Coming back to Ba Sing Se to save you." Her brother spoke, the soft undertone clear.

"He has a flair of the dramatic, hasn't he?" Sokka continued, "I mean, he sees someone in need, he just has to throw himself in front of that person."

"An Air Nomad thing I believe… When I was a prisoner of Azula, she was sure Aang would come back for me, even if not for me. She thought that he was weak for caring about people. She said his people had been known for always trying to protect everyone." She sighed. And that was just the problem. Aang would never just… Choose his battles. He would run into them if there was a small chance of saving someone… anyone. He would save the worst of the worst, if it meant that they would be able to live and perhaps repent their crimes.

And as much as she loved him for this trait, in this instance she wished he would be selfish… Just for a day. It was impossible, and Katara knew it. But still, it was good to have some hope.

"We'll manage… Somehow. It always works out in the end for us." Her brother tried to sound wise, but Katara just snorted at that.

"Yeah, but most of the time it is thanks to the fact that the people in front of us are dumber than we are. Zuko, for example." She glanced at Sokka, trying to suppress a grin, but failing miserably, "I mean, seriously, that guy had the dumbest plans. Dragging himself through the North Pole, kidnapping Aang, and ending up in the tundra? Tui and La, I would give anything for Zuko resembling his father."

A cough sounded from her left, from where the terrasse led to the courtyard. In the entranceway to the said courtyard, Katara could make out a single figure, standing in the darkness, his back rigid and his chin pointed upwards. Yay. Zuko.

"To be honest, I don't, sorry." The firebender spoke quietly, clearly uncomfortable. The young man walked over to them, then looked bashful. It occurred to Katara that the prince was probably not used to siblings just talking to each other, and thought he was interrupting a private discussion.

"Sit down." She waved to the last empty chair, impatiently. She had some questions, as it happened. As the firebender sat down, Katara herself sat up.

"What is your father like?" She asked. She had to know. If Aang was going to fight that man in a few days, she needed to know what to expect. Was he a coward, hiding behind his troops? Or was an aggressive bastard? Who was Ozai?

"Why do you want to know?" Zuko's voice sounded disgusted.

"Because our friend is going to fight him, and we would prefer not to have any surprises." Sokka interrupted suddenly, and not for the first time, Katara felt a sense of relief, realizing that she wasn't the only one caring about Aang. Of course, she knew that everyone here did care for Aang… But sometimes, she felt like that care had to take a backseat behind duty. But not for her.

"Well… I heard stories about Sozin. That he was a great firebender, and actually a pretty decent Fire Lord, administratively speaking. Of course, a horrible human being, but still, not the worst Fire Lord ever. Ozai has none of his good qualities, but all the bad ones. He is Sozin without a brain. He can only see the small picture, what something will give him in the short term." Zuko spoke, but the angry undertone suggested to Katara that the firebender wanted to say much more, but didn't dare for some reason.

She knew that Zuko had told Aang some things about his father and his family life during their excursion to the Sun Warriors, but the airbender had been tight lipped about it, not betraying the trust the firebender had shown him. Katara herself had actually been too occupied with ignoring Zuko until a few days ago to care about his family life. But she did remember a thing Aang had said.

Guys… I think his father has done that to him…

And hearing how Zuko was talking about his own father, she wouldn't even be surprised. It sounded like something humiliating for a firebender… To get burned. It sounded like something only a weak man or woman would do to their own child.

"So, he is an idiot. A dangerous one to be exact." Sokka spoke first, before she herself could say anything.

"Yeah… He is a… an… idiot." The way the firebender said the last word was so laughably shy that Katara didn't know if she should comfort him or laugh at him. Tui and La, what had Ozai done to Zuko to make the prince be so hesitant to call his father an idiot.

"An idiot who is going down in a few days. That, I can guarantee." She said at least. Aang had promised he would end the war. During their promises last night. And if she did know anything, it was that Aang always fulfilled his promises, even if they sounded insane. He would do anything to make that a reality.

Everything except sacrificing himself. Katara had made him promise that he wouldn't do that. She couldn't live with the idea of having to live in a peaceful world, knowing that it had been Aang's life who had bought her that freedom. Never.

"He has to." Zuko sighed, and Katara stood up, not wishing to repeat the same discussion twice.

"I'm going to check up on Aang." She explained, turning her back to her brother and the firebender. She didn't hear exactly what the whispering behind her was about, but it wasn't important. Walking into the courtyard, she glanced inside the barn where Appa lay, happily snoring, without a care in the world. Smiling at the display of the bison, on his back, his tongue sticking out, she shook her head. If only they could all be like that… Looking over Appa, she saw that Aang wasn't inside the barn, but that didn't surprise her in the least.

If he was trying to contact the Avatars, he would have searched for a dark, quiet place, to meditate and hopefully be able to speak to any of them. Closing the door of the barn behind her, Katara crossed the yard, with its great golden dragon mosaic snarling at her. Had the dragons at the Sun Warrior Island looked like that?

Arriving at the doors, she cast a glance behind her. If there wasn't so much to worry about, she would find this place beautiful. She knew that every luxury in this villa had been paid with the blood of people from the Earth Kingdom, with the liberty of the Water Tribes, and with the lives of the Air Nomads… But still, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of this instance. Looking up to the sky, she saw that the stars were coming out in full.

I promise you Aang, there will be stars for you… Even if you think you are not worthy of that.

Entering the house, Katara smiled as she saw Suki and Toph talk lowly with each other sitting at the table; The KYoshi Warrior saw her, smiled and glanced upwards, towards the stairs. The waterbender smiled back, nodded and walked up to the first floor. He wouldn't be in their bedroom, but perhaps he was somewhere else? When she had explored the villa during their first days here, she had discovered a long balcony that had been filled with trash, dust and decay. They had cleaned it up when Zuko and Aang had been training, because otherwise, there wasn't that much to do.

She remembered that Suki had told her the day before that she had put some of the lounge chairs there that she had discovered in a small bedroom that had seemed to be used as storage. The waterbender walked through the dark corridor towards the wooden door leading to the balcony. As she approached it, she heard the loud sigh coming from the other side.

"Iha kuma riha!"

Why isn't this working!

Katara couldn't help but smile sadly. Only Aang would begin to talk to himself angrily for not being able to talk to dead people. She rasped her knuckles against the wooden panels of the door, making it clear she was behind it. Toph may be able to sense something through wood now, but she doubted that the airbender was able to.

"Aang? It's me." She whispered, knowing he could hear her. Behind the door, the waterbender heard the shuffling sounds of something standing up. The soft chittering made her think that Momo was also there. After a few seconds, the door opened, and she could make out Aang's silhouette in the darkness.

"Any luck?" Katara asked, even though she knew that it wasn't the case. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been swearing in his own language. Entering the balcony, she smiled seeing the lemur sitting on one of the chairs, very silently watching her, which was unusual for Momo. Sitting down next to the animal, she began to stroke her hand over the big ears of the lemur, making him purr softly.

"No…" The airbender sighed, falling down on the chair next to her. Glancing at him, what she saw worried her. Underneath his eyes were dark patches beginning to form, which hadn't been there during dinner. Frowning, Katara put a hand underneath the airbender's chin and made him lift his face to meet her eyes.

"Don't worry, you'll manage. Roku probably knows you need him." She reassured herself as much as him, but Aang didn't need to know that. He didn't need to know how much she worried about him. Letting her thumb slide over his jawline, the waterbender couldn't help but smile at him. Even in this instance, even in this moment of pure terror and fear for his life and the lives of millions, she couldn't help but forget it all the moment those gentle grey eyes found her own.

"It may be nice to have him answer when I ask… instead of being the one who needs to drop everything when he says he needs to show me something…" The airbender complained, but she heard the soft laughter behind the complaint. Aang never really protested, he made it a joke.

Letting the lemur's ear go from her other hand, she put it on the airbender's knee, showing him she was there for him... Even if she couldn't really help him with all this.

"Is it too late to give the Avatar job to someone else? I'm sure Zuko would give anything to give his father a trashing." Aang laughed but the sombre tone was enough for Katara to know what he actually meant.

Please, let it be anyone else… But not me.

"I think the Avatar Spirit knew what it did when it chose you." She answered instead, "A man who loves peace at a time of unimaginable loss and sadness… I don't know anyone better for that job."

It was true. Katara doubted many things, but not that. The Avatar Spirit had known what it did when choosing Aang.

"A warrior could have been better." The airbender answered, still in that sombre tone disguised with a laugh. Her heart broke at the fact that he doubted his own abilities so much that he was not acknowledging his own worth.

Instead of answering that ridiculous notion, Katara shuffled closer to the edge of the chair, bent towards the airbender and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Pulling slightly back, she couldn't help but feel amused at the sight of the soft pink cheeks. It still felt so new and raw, doing these kinds of little gestures that didn't mean anything more than I love you… They had done so much more. But still, sometimes, this felt more intimate than doing… that.

"Why did I deserve that?" Aang asked, barely above a whisper.

"I can't kiss my husband?" Katara retorted, before realizing that they had kind of ignored that fact when talking, except just before lunch.

"Still sounds weird." This time, Aang's laugh wasn't tinted by sadness or fear, but just by pure joy and wonder. Wonder at the fact that they had really done that…

"Saying I love you was strange too, before. You remember how long it took to say it to each other… Even though we knew what it was?" Katara felt the soft prick of tears in the corners of her eyes. Spirits, she didn't want to cry, but she couldn't help it. If you thought about it, in the coming days, their story was going to continue… Or end in tragedy. And she feared that option, so much…

Blinking, hoping that Aang hadn't seen the tears in her eyes, she continued.

"I only said it in the cave, during the dancing… But it had been the case for so long… I don't even know exactly when I realized…"

"In that canyon. When Toph was teaching me earthbending. At least… for me." Aang interjected, making her raise an eyebrow.

"And you didn't say anything? Tsss…" She made the sound mockingly.

When had she realized? Before the desert, that was for certain… Katara had known there was something way before, even before the North Pole. But she had not known what it was, afraid of the strange feelings when she had talked to Aang… But she wouldn't want to change all those months of turning and dancing around each other… Those months had been exciting and new.

Of course, it was still exciting, but Katara knew that they were moving on from the newness of their relationship into something more… Sure. More relaxed. She didn't know how to describe it exactly, but there was something more now.

"I don't regret any of it." Aang's voice pierced her thought, and she realized that he had been thinking of the same things as she had done.

"Nothing?" She asked. There had to be something. She regretted those three lost weeks when he had been in a coma…

"One thing… I would have liked that the thing in the barn would have happened sooner." Even in the darkness, she saw the flash of white teeth forming into a grin. Swatting his shoulder with one of her hands, she couldn't stop herself when she let out a laugh. Spirits… The world was ending, and he was joking about their sex life.

"It could happen once more…" She grinned back, knowing what they had discussed the night before. And why not? It was not like the answer to all their problems was going to magically appear because they were going celibate…

"Mm… Could?"

"Could." She nodded, still smiling, "After you try talking to Roku… Maybe come to the bedroom? I have some ideas. We could take revenge on Sokka."

"Oh… That would be so good…" The grin on his face changed into a rather cheeky one, "I'll try… Once or twice." With that, Katara nodded, standing up. She hesitated, but left Momo on the chair. The lemur didn't seem to cause any distraction, and perhaps it would be good for Aang to have someone to talk to, to vent his annoyance about the past Avatars.

"Twice. Maybe even thrice." She put a hand on his shoulder as she walked past him, towards the door. Releasing it, she took the doorknob, before having a weird feeling. On the one hand, it felt sad and ominous… But after a few seconds, it descended into her stomach, nestling there and growing into something… Not quite good, but it wasn't bad either. It was a feeling. One you had without thinking, but one that you knew meant something.

"Aang?" She didn't know why she spoke, "I love you so much… And I trust you. To always make the right decision." Why did she say that?

Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and quickly went inside.

As the door fell close behind her, Aang felt the sense of dread in his heart worsen. Why did his heart feel like he had seen her for the last time in a long time? He would see her in just a few minutes, perhaps just over an hour… But his heart apparently thought he wouldn't see her for a long time, and was screaming at him to stand up, and go after her, close his arms around her and kiss her senseless and let the world just be for a few hours.

Folding his legs underneath him a lotus pose, the airbender leaned slightly back, letting his eyes dance over the horizon. It looked so peaceful at this moment… You wouldn't guess that a comet would come able to wipe out millions of people…

Had that island always been in the bay? Aang frowned, looking at it. He had never realized that the bay of Ember Island had a small island inside it… Shrugging his shoulders, he closed his eyes, concentrating on the darkness.

Roku… Kyoshi… Anyone? Please answer… I don't know who to turn to now… I need help, and I can't do it alone… I don't have the answers to my problems…

And he continued his prayers for a long time, pleading for help, but was only met by silence.