This chapter picks up a little bit after the last one. I didn't want to combine the two chapters into one because it would end up being longer than the other chapters.

Enjoy!

~

Shame and distrust, that's exactly what Katara felt right after her argument with Aang. The argument took place a few hours ago but neither seemed to notice how much time had passed. The young couple locked themselves in their separate rooms, too afraid to come out and face anyone who may have heard, or even worse, face each other.

Katara was ashamed of the way she lashed out on Aang. She knew that he was struggling with what Roku said to him, so why did she yell at him? Even before their relationship they were always there for each other, comforting the other in times of need. She didn't know what came over her in that moment.

As much as she felt awful for the way she responded to Aang in a way she felt that what she said was necessary. Aang knew that Katara always felt the need to protect him, and Katara knew he understood that. So she didn't understand why he acted like this was out of character for her?

By the afternoon everyone was extremely nosy as to what had happened between the two of them. This type of behavior was very uncommon for them which caused the rest of the house to be confused. Having enough of the tension that lingered throughout the house, Suki stormed into the room.

"Okay team meeting!" Suki shouted while walking into the main sitting area.

"Shouldn't we wait for Aang and Katara? This is a team meeting after all." asked Toph.

Suki shook her head while making her way toward the center of the room. "What is going on between those two? I know I haven't known them for long but this does not seem like them."

Not caring about the situation, Sokka continued to look down at his book. "They were shouting about something. Probably something unimportant." He reached over for his cup of tea on the table to take a sip, his eyes never leaving the book in front of him. "I'm sure they'll work it out." he said calmly.

"So no one cares that they haven't left their rooms at all today?" Suki said while looking in between the two while crossing her arms.

"Sorry, I don't deal with the whole comforting thing." said Toph as she picked dirt out from between her toes.

Suki rolled her eyes then turned to her boyfriend, hoping to be able to force him into helping his sister. "Sokka could you talk to Aang while I talk to Katara?"

"Do I have to? I'm kind of busy right now." Sokka said while looking up at his girlfriend.

Becoming irritated with his attitude, Suki pulled Sokka up off the couch by the ear and said "are you trying to get on my bad side?" Her eyes glaring toward the young boy in front of her.

Sokka finally gave it and said defensively "no, no getting on your bad side today." while smiling and putting his hands up. "I'll go talk to Aang for you." said Sokka before peaking his girlfriend on the cheek and walking towards the avatar's room.

Inside his room, Aang leaned back on his bed deep in thought. Not only was he confused as to whether he should listen to Roku or not, but now he had the issue with Katara. Suddenly there was a knock on the door, breaking him from his thoughts.

Aang sighed slightly before saying "Come in."

He looked over to see Sokka walk into the room who sat right on the foot of his bed. "We need to have a talk."

This caught Aang's attention as he leaned up in a more comfortable position to talk. He stayed quite though, encouraging Sokka to continue.

"Why are you longing around all day in here like a snail sloth? It's kind of depressing." Sokka asked while crossing his arms.

Aang didn't expect to get a lot of advice out of Sokka but he knew he would feel better if he talked to someone. Normally Katara would be that someone but he was in an awkward situation with that one.

Aang looked down at his hands before confessing "Katara and I got in a little argument this morning."

"It's definitely no "little argument" if you guys are avoiding each other this much." accused Sokka.

Finally looking up to meet his eyes, Aang said "it's for her safety Sokka. I never wanted to upset her."

Sokka scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "I'm gonna need you to elaborate more Aang. I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Roku came to me in a dream last night and basically told me to leave anyone that I care about here while I go back to Ba Sing Se in a few days. He mentioned something about a dangerous threat but he didn't tell me anything more." Aang confessed. He paused a second before continuing. "I talked to Katara about what Roku said and told her that she should stay here for her safety."

"So wait, let me get this straight. Your past life basically told you about some deadly threat that's waiting for you and you want to go face it alone? Are you nuts?" Sokka asked with even more confusion.

"It's not like I'll be totally alone. Zuko, Iroh, and Earth King Kuei's forces will be there to help. I don't want Katara there if there's a possibility of her getting hurt." Aang said while slightly raising his voice. He didn't want to argue with Sokka about the matter too but it seemed like he wasn't understanding where Aang was coming from either.

"Aang I appreciate that you're willing to protect my sister as much as you are but you're acting like we all haven't fought against really powerful benders together before." said Sokka with a hint of hurt in his voice. He respected Aang's protective nature of Katara, but he does not understand why he can't go with the young avatar.

"I know how amazing you all are at fighting. I'm not saying that you're not strong enough."

"Then what are you saying?" asked Sokka.

"The only times Roku has reached out to me was for something important. This seems very important and if he told me to leave my friends here shouldn't I listen to him?" asked Aang even more confused than before.

Seeing his best friend struggle, Sokka put his hand on his shoulder to comfort him before saying "Aang I trust you with my life. We all do. We risked our lives to fight with you to end the war. What makes you think we're going to stop now?"

Aang finally started to see that both Sokka and Katara felt the same way when it came towards fighting with him. He realized that as much as he cared for their safety they also cared about his. He knew that keeping them here would be more harmful than bringing them with him. Aang understood that this meant he would have to work extra hard to protect his friends, but it was a price he was willing to pay if they were too.

Across the hall another discussion was going on between the three girls. Toph joined the conversation after sensing everyone's heartbeats going all over the place. She was mainly there for the entertainment and definitely not the comforting factor.

"I don't understand why he thinks I'm so weak. He's always told me how strong I am and never made me doubt myself like this before." confessed a crying Katara while sitting next to Suki.

"I'm sure that's not what he thinks. You know how much he cares for you. He doesn't want to see you get hurt Katara." comforted Suki from beside her.

"Am I getting all worked up over nothing? Should I just let him go without me? Without any of us?" asked Katara.

"Well you are being a little dramatic if I do say so myself." chimed in Toph from across the room.

The two girls glared at the earth bender before realizing she couldn't see.

"Toph, I know you're new to this but could you try to be a little more sensitive?" said Suki with a hint of agitation in her voice.

Before Toph could respond Katara said "no she's right. I am being a little over dramatic. Aang is his own person and he can do whatever he wants. I'm not about to turn into some clingy girlfriend."

Katara cared so much for Aang but she wasn't going to let this argument go on any longer. If Aang wanted to do this by himself and possibly get hurt in the process she wanted their last days while he was there to be positive.

"And on that note I think I need to go talk to him. Thank you for this guys. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you being here for me." Katara said with a smile before opening the door to the hallway.

With one quick movement Katara ran to Aang's door and knocked gently before opening it slowly. She was surprised to see her brother sitting with him. Sokka wasn't normally the comforting type so she would've killed to see how he was in this situation.

Deciding not to tease her brother, Katara looked to Aang before asking "could we talk?" She offered a slight smile, hoping he would return the gesture. Her wish came true when he smiled back at her while getting up to walk towards her.

The two walked side by side down the hall not saying a word. Right before they reached the door to go outside Aang slid his hand into Katara's in a comforting way, hoping to show her that he was anything but angry with her.

Katara blushed at the unexpected contact but did not pull away. She liked this side of Aang. Not the arguing side but the caring, affectionate side. He wasn't over the top with his affection due to their relationship just beginning, but he definitely knew when the right time was to show a little more.

As the two walked away from the house hand in hand, they came to the edge of a cliff. Almost being able to read each other's mind, the two stopped at the same time and just admired the beautiful sky that glimmered against the white snow.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes before Aang spoke up. "I'm sorry Katara. I never should've expected you to be okay with staying here and I shouldn't have flipped out on you for more or less just caring about me." Aang felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. He was uncertain of if Katara would even accept his apology but he was glad that she knew that he was truly sorry.

Katara turned to him before saying "I should be the one apologizing. I flipped out on you all because you didn't want me to get hurt. I understand that you want to protect me but aren't we suppose to protect each other? Isn't that what's suppose to happen in a relationship? We should support and protect one another, not fight and argue."

Aang smiled as she said this. He was glad that she felt the same way that he did and was even more at peace knowing that he did not cause her too much pain.

"You're right. We are suppose to support and protect each other, which is why I'm not going to force you to stay here. You can decide whether you want to come to Ba Sing Se with me or stay here." said Aang. Deep down he still had a bad feeling about bringing Katara and all of his friends with him, but he knew that they would be hurt if he didn't bring them. He cared for them and would do anything for them, even if that meant risking his life for their's if they were put in a dangerous situation.

Overcome with joy, Katara's face grew the biggest smile as her eyes lit up. That's what he missed. Her smile that was brighter than all of the stars in the sky. Her ocean blue eyes regaining that little sparkle in the center that occurs when she is filled with love and happiness. That was just one of the million things about her that he fell in love with. He would do whatever it took to keep that same sparkle and brightness on her face forever.

"So does this mean we're all good now?" Katara asked just to make sure.

Aang lifted his hand to cup Katara's cheek while using the other to wrap around her waist. Katara threw her arms around his neck as he pulled her just close enough to lay their foreheads together.

"Of course! I could never stay mad at you." Aang said truthfully before leaning in for a soft, gentle kiss. Katara smiled against his lips, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. The tender kiss came easy to them. Every time they kissed it seemed somewhat natural for them. They seem to fit together like they were destined to be with one another.

Destiny is an amusing thing. Every event that occurs is a direct affect of destiny. Even after arguing, the young couple's relationship seems to be even stronger than before. You often tend to get into the biggest fights with the ones you care most about, but that's only because those relationships are worth fighting for.