A/N: Rereading the last few chapters to see where we left off and wOW I really gave y'all a tense cliffhanger huh. Sorry about this being so late, but in my defense, y'all got the whole KW 2020 at the beginning of the month. Without further ado, the last chapter of the V-Day Ball.

Chapter 23: The Valentine's Dance Part 3

Last Time:

"ON THE COUNT OF 3, EVERYONE WILL TAKE OFF THEIR MASKS AND REVEAL THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES."

I felt dozens of gazes fall on me as I tucked my head in. Everyone wanted to know just exactly who the Avatar, the most popular guy in school, had brought to the dance.

"OKAY. 3..."

I snuck my fingers under the elastic bands of my glittery mask.

"2..."

Dozens of eyes were on me, staring into my very soul.

"1..."

I slid the mask up just a mere millimeter.

"0!"

It was off.

The room was silent.

Until...

It erupted.

In mere seconds, whispers and gasps flooded the room as the whole year registered who had been in the glittering blue mask.

"Goth girl? That skank?... Spirits I've heard she's had 3 babies by 3 different guys... he can do SO much better than her... is she blackmailing him?... is she some kind of charity case for him?" went some of the milder gossip, the murmurs building up louder and louder until the queen bee of the school herself rose to speak, silencing the room once more.

Azula's amber eyes glittered dangerously as she walked up to the blushing couple, her gaze piercing their very being.

She scanned their expressions for the slightest hesitation or speckle of fear, calculating, contemplating.

"So," her voice drawled, deceivingly languid.

"You're his flavor of the week, are you?"

She scoffed, her eyes as cold as her ruby dress was fiery.

"Oh, please. As if the Avatar, the most powerful man in the world would want you, peasant," she spat, as some of the candles in the room noticeably took a blue tinge to them.

"Don't flatter yourself. You'll be the only one let down in the end."

And she sauntered off, leaving all to gawk as the whispers returned tenfold.

"Well," Katara said as the two arrived at her house and got out of Aang's car, eyes widening into space as Aang chuckled knowingly.

"That sure was something, wasn't it?" Aang laughed, pulling her close to his warm body as a cool breeze swept by.

"Tell me about it."

Katara began to giggle as well.

"It was quite anticlimactic. Azula said a few words, everyone gossiped for the last, like, 10 minutes, and then it was time to go home."

Aang shook his head, grinning.

"Give them the weekend. Spirits knows this school loves its gossip. I have a feeling that we'll deal with the full blow-out on Monday."

Katara sighed.

"You're probably right. The bigger the gossip, the longer they hold onto it. And this, is pretty damn big gossip if you ask me."

The two maintained their embrace in silence on the driveway, enjoying the comfort the other's presence naturally brought.

"So- what about your reputation?" Katara asked quietly. "I mean after this and Azula basically denouncing, well, us," she gestured to their interlocked hands. "It's probably going to go down the drain."

The airbender shrugged.

"So what? As far as I'm concerned, I'll still have Zuko, and probably Mai and Ty Lee too. They might follow Azula, but they know how to push her limits and defy them."

"Besides," Aang grinned, leaning in to touch their noses together, "Even if I lose them, I still have my Forever Girl."

Katara smiled widely, reaching up on her toes in preparation.

The couple sighed, melting into each other as they kissed, the warmth of each other being enough to withstand the frigid February night.

"KATARA?!" they heard a familiar voice yell as the waterbender's blood ran cold.

The two abruptly broke apart, turning their heads to see an irate Sokka pull up on the driveway and start marching up to Aang, staring him down as he poked a finger into his chest.

"YOU! As if it's not fucking bad enough that you're trying seduce my baby sister, but you have the AUDACITY to define it as an actual relationship when spirits knows you're just going break her heart like all the other ones!" Sokka yelled.

"Does she know about them? All the other sad broken hearts who you promised you'd be loyal to before dumping their asses and cheating with another girl? THEY'RE ALL JUST GAMES TO YOU, AND DAMMIT I'M NOT GOING TO LET MY BABY SISTER BE YOUR NEXT VICTIM!"

Sokka shoved Aang to the ground, about to punch him when

"SOKKA!"

Katara drew up all the water from a nearby cloud and froze him, staring at him with a sadistic gaze that almost made her unrecognizable to him.

She shook her head, laughing darkly.

"How dare you," she whispered, her cold blue eyes looking into his very soul.

"How dare you try to act like the hero... how dare you try an act like a big brother now- of all times now, when after TWO DAMN YEARS I'm finally happy again!"

"HOW DARE YOU try to act like it's your job to protect me when all you've done is hurt me over and over and over again."

A sob ripped its way through Katara's throat as Aang sprung back up from the ground, rubbing his head.

"HOW DARE YOU ACT LIKE YOU HAVE ANY SAY IN MY LIFE WHEN YOU'RE THE REASON I'VE GOTTEN TO THIS DAMN POINT OF WANTING TO KILL MYSELF!"

With a single movement, every droplet of water in a ten-foot radius was frozen. Every blade of grass, every delicate flower, even all of the budding leaves of the apple tree in their front yard that they had spent their childhoods playing and swinging on, carefree, were solid ice, glimmering in the moonlight.

Katara broke down to the ground, as did the water from her control, melting into a torrent of water, as Aang wrapped his arms around her tightly, holding her as she trembled and shivered.

"C'mon, sweetie," he murmured, darting a glance to the soaked yet still Sokka. "Let's get you inside."

With Aang's support, the two carefully walked up the stairs to the door, through the halls, and collapsed onto Katara's plush bed.

Wiping away her tears, Katara whispered but one thing, so quiet Aang almost didn't hear it.

"Stay with me?"

Aang kissed her forehead gently, pulling her close.

"Of course."

A/N: THE FEELS. THE FEELS. Ermagerd. Talk about an emotionally exhausting chapter to write.