Chapter 16: Discovered

A/N: It's been 4 months. Again. I'm sorry. I'll do better! Again, life has gotten in the way and I've lost a bit of the passion I had to write. I had math competitions lined up back to back along with trying to keep up with homework, etc, as well as a national competition this weekend. I know it's not the best excuse but it is the utter truth. Now, thanks to my delayed flight back home, I finally have some time to write. I'll probably start updating more regularly now that summer is coming so stay tuned. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

Last Time:

The waterbender launched herself at him, attacking him with a kiss, mumbling I love you's against his lips.

"Now this is bli-"

Suddenly, there was a gasp, causing the two to pull apart in horror as they recognized the tone.

"Hmm. That's strange..."

Suki frowned in confusion at the comment by the blind earthbender, her sightless eyes gazing distantly in the general direction of where the school outcasts sat.

"What is it, Toph?"

"She just got up and went towards the staircase near where Twinkletoes was headed..."

Toph nodded towards the doorway of the cafeteria as she picked at her food, neither girl having to clarify who 'she' was.

Despite what had occurred between them two years ago, it would be lying to say that Sokka, Suki, and Toph hadn't been keeping tabs on Katara, in a non-creepy way, caring for and watching out for her in their own slightly warped, regretful way.

Although the three couldn't bring themselves to apologize and go back to the way they had been in middle school, they had been trying their best to help her while keeping their reputations intact.

"Suspicious?" asked Suki, biting her lip in concern as she turned to Toph.

The younger girl nodded, motioning to the door.

"Let's go."

Quietly and subtly, the two Earth Kingdom girls sneaked out of the cafeteria, making up an excuse about having to go to the bathroom, and followed Toph's seismic sense up the staircase.

"Are those.." Suki grabbed Toph's arms, signaling for her to be still as they approached the top of the stairs.

"Are those voices?"

Both girls listened hard to see if they could hear what the voices were saying.

Alas, despite Toph's enhanced hearing, all they heard was mumbling.

Toph waved her hand to try and get the older girl to follow her, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Slowly and carefully, the two crept to the top of the stairs.

Suddenly, about a dozen feet from the top, Toph's eyes widened as Suki tried to get her to tell what she had seen, but the blind earthbender just motioned her towards the door.

Silently opening the door as not to alert anyone of their presence, Suki gasped at the sight before her.

Recognizing the gasp as Suki's, Katara and Aang startledly broke away from their kiss in horror, eyes locked on the martial artist in the doorway.

"Aang- Katara- you two- kiss- how?!" Suki stammered out, looking to Katara for answers, Toph now next to her in the doorway.

The two master benders just stared on at the two Earth Kingdom girls, still trying to recover from the shock of being discovered.

Recovering from her surprise, Katara's eyes hardened and narrowed at her former best friends, anguish and pain bursting through her dam of an indifferent facade and swirling through her head.

Shaking her head in anger at their nerve, Katara spoke lowly, "You two haven't been a part of my life for the past two years, and now- now that it interests you, you think that you can just get all the answers you want from me? No! You have no right! You had no right then and you have no right now!"

Her voice began to raise with every following word.

"You three abandoned me for the sake of your fucking reputations! You have mocked me and teased me and laughed at me every day for two years. Two years."

Katara let out a bitter laugh, laced with pain.

"I spent so long thinking that you abandoned me because I wasn't good enough."

She shook her head and stared at Suki and Toph brokenly.

"Now I know I was wrong; that it's the other way around."

At this point, something inside Katara cracked, and all the emotions she had ever suppressed, all the ones she had ever had to hold back, came out all at once, no self control left in her body.

Her breath quickened and her body started shaking, tears threatening to fall down her agonized face, still gazing sadly at Suki and Toph.

Seeing his girlfriend's pain, Aang tucked Katara into his chest and held her as she gripped on to him as if he were her tether to the world and she was floating away.

Toph and Suki just gazed on helplessly at the scene, not knowing what to say in the aftermath. After all, what could they say? Every word Katara said to them rang true in their own hearts, even if they didn't want to admit it. They had done all those things, and they had been horrible to her. She was right; they didn't deserve her friendship.

Meanwhile, Katara was still in Aang's arms, taking comfort in the feeling of his warm chest and arms cradling her.

"They have no right, Aang, no right," Katara whispered into Aang's chest, her tears wetting his bare torso.

Pulling her close to him, Aang peppered kisses all over the waterbender's face and hair, trying his best to comfort her before turning to the offending individuals.

"Toph, Suki, I think you should go."

"But-" they protested.

"Now," he repeated more forcefully.

Glancing at each other reluctantly and then glancing back to Katara, the two left the room quietly, not wanting to invoke Aang's rarely seen anger.

Aang, making sure that they weren't eavesdropping at the door, then turned back to the waterbender, concern in his eyes.

"Hey," he said gently to the fragile girl, pulling her close to him and cupping her cheek lovingly immediately reading her to tell what kind of comfort she needed.

Smiling slightly at his love, the airbender kissed his girlfriend's forehead and just held her for what seemed like an eternity, a silence of understanding between them.

The touching moment, however, was quickly brought to an end when the bell abruptly rang, signaling the changing of classes.

Groaning as he did, Aang slowly got up and helped his girlfriend to her feet, wiping away her still slightly wet tears.

"Come on," he said gently, and the two stood up, ready to brave the rest of the day with an iron resolve.

A/N: And that's a wrap on the chapter. Now, normally, I would've written more, but a. that was an emotional rollercoaster between the hurt Katara was feeling and her fluff w/ Aang, and b. I don't have my story outline with me so I have no clue what is supposed to happen next. Review!