After breakfast the next morning, the group had moved their brainstorming session into an informal lounge. There, they sat on a long couch and a few loveseats. They had been talking for over an hour and were not successful in finding a solution that was good enough to present to Hakoda.
"You could come live with us in the Fire Nation as a Southern Water Tribe Representative," Mai proposed from her seat beside Zuko.
Katara perked up at the offer. "I like that plan more than running away for forever or living in the desert."
"What about Arek?" Sokka asked. Arek was the current representative of the tribe that was stationed in the Fire Nation.
"There could be two of us?" Katara shrugged and looked to Zuko for conformation.
Zuko took a moment to seriously think about this, but he already knew the answer. "What will the other nations think? There's an unspoken rule about only having one." There was currently only one represented from each nation living near the leaders of every nation. This was in case Firelord Zuko, King Kuei, Chief Arnook, or Chief Hakoda called an emergency meeting that the other leader couldn't make it to in time. Their nation would be present regardless.
The group collectively sighed at the disappointing news. Katara hunched back into the couch that she shared with Sokka and Suki.
Annoyed at their lack of progress, Suki finally voiced what everyone else was thinking. "Who cares if Nuka has to be a bachelor for forever? He's twenty-six and unmarried. There's obviously something wrong with him already." Her observation produced a weak laugh from the others. If it were any other occasion, they would have had more witty comments about Nuka's "problems," but a dark cloud with deadline was hanging over their heads.
"Maybe that's why he left the North Pole," Mai muttered.
"I could find out why he left," Zuko offered, happy to try to help in anyway.
"You can," Katara told him looking too pleased with his offer. Over the years, they had gotten closer as friends, and Katara knew that he genuinely wanted to help her.
"It won't make a difference," Sokka said in a dark tone. "We won't get a response in time."
Katara glowered at her brother's negative response. She turned to Zuko with a small smile and said, "You can do it if you want to, Zuko."
With a quick kiss on Mai's cheek, Zuko left to send a messenger hawk to his representative in the North Pole.
Silence filled the air around the others. They were getting used to long breaks where no one talked. Everyone was deep in thought.
Aang was sitting by himself in the middle of a loveseat. His legs were crossed before him as if he was preparing to meditate. He hadn't spoken a single word all day and wished that he was in fact about to mediate. That way, he would tune out the depressing thoughts about Katara marrying Nuka.
Throughout the day, Katara and Aang's eyes would meet, and one of them would quickly too away. It was almost as if they were asking each other for permission to say something... something that they all knew would solve the problem at hand.
It did make him feel better to know that his friends disliked Nuka as much as he did. They had actually spent a good amount of time talking about how uncomfortable Nuka made them feel. Aang didn't dare to tell them about his short conversation with Nuka from the night before.
He couldn't believe that he had told Nuka he wanted to marry Katara. At the time, it felt like the right thing to say to get under Nuka's skin, but now it felt like the wrong move. Aang secretly wished he hadn't told Nuka so that he could tell him that they were actually engaged, had been engaged for a while.
That would be the last time he let jealousy cause him to be impulsive.
A servant brought them lunch, and the group knew that they were running out of time. The sacrifice was going to take place in a few hours, and they needed some time to get ready before presenting their solution to Hakoda. Yet, they had made no progress.
"We have a lot of back up plans, but we have no actual plan," Sokka told them trying to state the obvious and sending a message to his sister. He wanted to bring up his "perfect" plan, but Katara made him promise not to. In her mind, there was no way Aang was going to agree to pretend to marry her. She needed to find the answer on her own.
Katara snuck another glance at Aang and noticed that he what he had been doing all day- staring at the floor. She wasn't sure if it was her situation or the sacrifice that had made him mute, but she felt like he was also going through a hard time. If what Sokka had said about him still loving her was true, then this wasn't easy for him to hear.
After another silence enveloped them, Aang finally spoke up. He said, "You could come with me to the Northern Air Temple and become an Air Acolyte."
Everyone's eyes turned to him, and some of their mouths dropped open. The young Avatar hadn't said a word or even moved all day, except to eat and take bathroom breaks. Now that he did speak, he was offering to let her go with him.
He looked around the room and saw their surprised expressions. He cocked his head to one side and asked, "What?"
"Nothing," Sokka said quickly shaking off his own surprise. He didn't want Aang to feel uncomfortable and take back his offer. No, this was the perfect time for Sokka to set up his "perfect" solution. "What do you think, Katara?"
Katara wanted to water whip her brother so hard, but she was too busy blushing. She balled her fists into her lap. "Um, my dad said he would come after me if I ran away."
Sokka rushed to counter her opposition. "The Northern Air Temple is on a mountain, so you would know he was coming. You could sneak away before he got there?"
Katara raised her eyebrows at her brother's suggestion. "Sneaking off with the Avatar? It's like I'm sixteen all over again." Her voice had a hint of a tease in it. She was finally starting to sound like herself again.
Her comment made Aang turn red, and he felt his heart flutter at what she was implying. It left him speechless.
Luckily for him, Mai was thinking rationally. "Would that start another war? Between the Air Acolytes and the Southern Water Tribe?"
Zuko grimaced at the idea of another war, especially between two of his favorite allies. It would be a tough decision to pick a side. "No more wars," he grunted.
"I agree with Zuko," Aang said trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. The last thing they needed was another war.
"What if there was another way for Katara and Aang to live at the Northern Air Temple..." Sokka trailed off. Suki and Katara shot daggers at him with their eyes. They knew exactly where this was going.
Completely oblivious, or acting oblivious, Aang asked, "What do you mean?"
"You could get betrothed," Sokka told him as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
Aang froze with his eyes wide and a blush on his cheeks. It was as if his worst nightmare had come to life. He had to find a way to tell them that he had suggested the same thing to Nuka before Nuka told them himself.
Meanwhile, Katara had had enough of her older brother meddling in her actual love life. She bended a giant wave at him that carried him off the couch. It crushed him into the wall and froze him to it. "Sokka!" She hissed at him.
"Katara," Aang called out to her lightly, but she didn't hear him. She was too busy thinking of ways to get payback on her older brother.
"Suki, I really hope you're done having kids," she threatened. Suki stayed silent as she watched her husband get what he deserved. She was also tired of watching Sokka make slight comments towards Katara. Aang and her situation was heartbreaking to Suki, even if she didn't know all of the details. No one deserved to have their feelings used as bait.
"Katara," Aang called a little louder. He had to stop her from doing something she'd regret. That and he really needed to talk to her.
Katara stopped her attack on Sokka and met Aang's pleading eyes. "What?" She asked in an irritated look.
It was a question that everyone in the room wanted to know the answer to. They wanted Aang pine after her during the war. For three years after that, they watched the two lovebirds become one. Then for three more years, they watched them grow apart and avoid mentioning the other's name. They wanted to see a happy ending, despite everything that was up against them.
In a shy voice, he nervously asked, "Can I talk to you in another room?"
Katara nodded and led him out of the room. If she was walking behind him, she would have noticed when he unfroze Sokka, who fell to the floor with a hard thunk!
Once they were in the hallway and the door was shut, Katara met his grey eyes. They looked like the sky before a storm. Being absolutely serious, she told him, "Aang, you don't have to do this."
He didn't bother to listen to her objection. He had the next words planned for almost seven years.
With a tender look on his face, he began, "Katara, I have loved you since the day you freed me from the iceberg seven years ago. The moment I opened my eyes and looked into yours, I knew that we were meant to be together. When we were in Aunt Wu's village, I eavesdropped on your reading. You can't get more powerful than the Avatar," he laughed at his own smugness. It felt cliché to say, and he couldn't image what Katara must of thought of it.
When she smiled back at him, he felt all the confidence he needed to continue. "Katara, I know I've made some pretty horrible mistakes, but I swear that I will make them up to you."
Katara interrupted him with a light smile on her lips, a single tear of happiness ran down her cheek. "An Avatar's promise?"
Aang let out a small laugh at her joke. "Yes, an Avatar's promise. I know that this is rushed and I didn't have any time to convince you to forgive and trust me, but this feels like the world is telling us it's time for us to be together again. We don't have to rush. We can go slow, but I want to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you and only you."
Katara blushed at his confession and looked away from him. Her gaze landed on her feet. "You don't have to do this, Aang," she told him again. She would hate for him to feel pressured into this. She needed saving but not like this.
He smiled at her shyness. "I know. You don't have to say yes."
Her eyes snapped up to meet his amused ones. She quickly gushed, "Well, of course I'd say yes, but I don't want you to feel-"
Aang interrupted her by holding a hand up to her. "You'd say yes?" His eyebrows were raised, and he had an amused look on his face. It was almost like he was enjoying her embarrassment.
Katara internally cursed herself. In her nervousness, she releveled her true feelings. "I-," she stuttered while opening and closing her mouth. She didn't know what say.
"Katara," he said sweetly as his hands reached out to grab hers. "Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
"We don't have a lot of time," Suki reminded Mai and Katara as they rushed off to Katara's room in the palace. They had a little over an hour to get ready for the sacrifice and feast.
After excitedly announcing their engagement and accepting congratulations, Mai and Suki pulled Katara away from the men. They claimed that they had to get ready, but the girls really wanted to gossip.
"What happened after you guys left?" Suki asked in a giddy voice as the girls climbed the staircase.
"He asked me to marry him."
"That's all?" Suki asked disappointed. She really wanted to know the details. After all, she loved love. "What did he say?"
Katara rolled her eyes at her sister in laws questions. She was still stunned from the entire thing. "I told him that he didn't have to propose, but he proposed anyways. It was really, really sweet."
Suki gushed, but Mai wasn't as excited. She was the only other one to know what really happened between Aang and Katara. In a cautious tone, Mai asked, "Wasn't that kind of quick? You just reunited after not seeing each other for three years."
Katara shrugged. She had thought the same thing, but Aang's words calmed her fears. "He said we could take things slow. We don't have to get married right away."
"Didn't he say that he wasn't ready to get married when he left?" Mai asked unable to let it go. She didn't want her friend to make a decision out of haste that she would regret later.
"Yes," Katara nodded as a wave of uneasiness washed over her. Her head began to hurt because of the whirlwind week she had been having. Last week at this time, her life was completely different. She was a shell of her old self, and she couldn't stand someone mentioning the Avatar around her. She wanted to erupt into tears or cause an avalanche.
"Maybe things have changed in the last three years," Suki added when she saw fear return to Katara's eyes.
Their conversation was interrupted by a small army of maids entering the room. They had to rush to get the royal women ready.
After being poked and pulled in every direction, the three women were finally ready.
Mai looked stunning as usual in a deep red dress with sleeves that reached her fingertips. There was a gold flame embordered on her chest. The skirt was full and thicker than usual for Mai. It would help keep her warm in the cold temperatures. Her black hair was braided down her back, and her crown sat on the top of her head. Her makeup was dark, and her lips were blood red.
Suki was wearing a sleek emerald green dress with gold shoulder pads. The shape complimented her baby bump. There was a delicate gold pattern shinning on her waist. Her short hair was pulled completely back into a low bun. Her eye make up was red like the Kyoshi warriors, but it wasn't as dramatic. Her lips were also painted red.
Katara's dress with midnight blue with see-through, flowy sleeves. Across the top of her breasts and on her waisted were white and blue flower details. The skirt was similar to Mai's in its fullness, but it had a long slit up one of her legs. Her hair was completely down with curls, and her hair loopies met in tiny braid in the back of her head. Her make up with natural with hints of white glitter.
Together, the three girls descended from the stairs and exited the back of the palace. They were instructed to walk around to the front to not disturb the hole they would be pouring the blood into. Once they were outside, they were greeted by their men.
Once again, Sokka and Zuko matched their wives. Aang was wearing a different version of his formal robes. It was tighter than the robes he wore to the last feast, and it showed off his tones body well.
Katara felt butterflies waking up in her stomach when he offered her his arm. She graciously accepted it. Together, they walked around the palace and began to look for her father. They were both nervous, but they were ready to get the Nuka nightmare over with. Then, they could finally work on healing together.
When they spotted Hakoda, he was by the palace's steps talking to Nuka. Nuka's face was smiling, and he was laughing at something Hakoda had said. As they got closer, they could hear Hakoda utter the words. "Congratulations."
"Dad!" Katara yelled in horror.
Her shrill caught her father's attention, and he turned around to face his defiant daughter. When he saw her holding onto the Avatar's arm, he raised his eyebrows at them. A confused and worry look took over his entire face. "Katara? Avatar Aang?"
In a lower voice, she told him, "Dad, I have a solution that doesn't require me marrying Nuka."
Hakoda's eyes went wide, and his face grew paler. His confused look melted into a stern glare. "It's too late. You were supposed to tell me before the sacrifice."
"This is before the sacrifice..." Katara trailed off. Her mind was being to worry as she processed what he was saying... they were too late? For what?
"I was just telling Nuka that the arranged marriage was approved."
All of the air inside of Katara disappeared.
Good thing she was standing next to air bender.
