This story takes place between "Sozin's Comet: Part 4 Avatar Aang" and "The Promise".

Please review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chapter 1

This kiss they were sharing seemed to last forever. His lips were on hers. Aang felt the happiest he had felt in so many years. He was kissing the girl of his dreams. It had started as a boyhood crush, then evolving into passionate love.

Katara felt good. She had thought she hurt Aang the day of the play on Ember Island. She tried to convey all her feelings to him in that one kiss.

They had both figured out what they had meant to each other... until...

"Hey guys- AH!"

"Nothing! We're not doing anything out here!" Aang said, embarassed and blushing.

"Haven't you heard of knocking, Sokka?!" Katara yelled angrily.

"First of all, you're supposed to knock before you go INSIDE, not before you go OUTSIDE! And second, as my sister, you really shouldn't be kissing anyone in front of me! It's your sisterly duty to avoid giving me the OOGIES!"

"'Oogies'?! Aargh! You are SO immature sometimes! What about you and Suki?!"

Katara and Sokka started a screaming match. None of the words could be made out. Aang watched and sighed.

"Uh, Sokka? Sokka!" Aang said, trying to grab his attention.

"Time out. Yeah, Aang?" Sokka said, Katara still angrily staring.

"What'd you come out here to tell us?" Aang asked.

"Oh! Right! We're about to head out." Sokka responded.

"But the Earth king's celebration doesn't start for a couple more hours!"

"I know. We wanted to take Appa out for a ride first!" Sokka turned towards Appa. "Oh, and by the way, I think you two should head inside and get the others."

"Why don't you get them, Sokka?" Katara asked.

"Just go grab them while I wait out here. Besides, don't you think they should know that you guys are more than just best friends?"

Aang and Katara both turned red and headed inside to get the others. Toph started to giggle as they walked in.

"What's so funny?" Zuko asked.

"SUGAR QUEEN FINALLY MADE HER MOVE! Their heartbeats have been driving me crazy since I decided to join."

Everyone started staring at the new couple. Zuko smirked, Mai just stared blankly, Suki was beaming, and Iroh chuckled. The pair turned redder than before.

Suki decided to break the silence.

"Sooooo, what have you two been up to?"

"Stuff," Katara said, still blushing.

"Romantic stuff?" Zuko smirked at her.

"How did you.." Aang started but realized by the looks on all his friends' faces that they knew. "You caught us, and we wanted it to be a surprise but..."

"Not much of a surprise. Everyone knew that you liked Katara," Zuko continued.

"Really?" Aang and Katara said in unison.

"Well who cares? We have each other now," Katara said.

Sokka entered the room. "Who said you could be together?"

"It isn't your decision, Sokka," Katara snapped back. "Aang is my boyfriend, get over it."

Aang started to blush. He wasn't used to the term 'boyfriend'. The others giggled as they watched the argument unfold.

"Wait, but weren't you fine with it a few minutes ago?" Aang questioned.

"Yeah... but then I thought about it, no one ever said you two could be together."

Katara started turning red with anger and looked like she was about to burst. "SOKKKAAA!"

"I thought you had a girl, Aang?" Sokka asked, completely ignoring his angry sister.

Katara's anger shifted from her brother to her boyfriend.

"What, who?!" Katara snapped.

"Yeah, who?" Aang asked, confused.

"That girl from to Aunt Wu's village," Sokka said.

"MENG?! NONONONONO you have no idea what you're talking about," Aang said.

"Who's Meng?" Toph asked. Zuko nodded, hoping for an answer.

"This girl who lived in a fortuneteller's village and had a huge crush on Aang," Sokka said as he looked towards Aang. "I thought you liked her back."

"Why would you think that?" Aang asked Sokka.

"You asked me for advice about her."

"Ohhhhhhh, I was talking about Katara," Aang said.

Sokka facepalmed and the others laughed at him.

"You know what, I approve, I wouldn't trust my sister with anyone else other than the Avatar. If I can't trust him then who can I trust?"

Katara smiled and hugged her brother. "There are rules though," he continued.

Her smile dropped from her face and she let go of her brother. "Like what?" Katara asked with an annoyed tone.

"No kissing, no touching, and none of that mushy garbage in public or in my presence."

Katara smirked and went over to where Aang was sitting and plopped herself in his lap. At this point, Aang was as red as a tomato. His urge to just kiss her was equal to his embarrassment. He wasn't used to public closeness. Sokka just scowled at her.

"Not my fault you didn't kiss a girl 'till you were 16, unless you count Gran Gran?" Katara joked.

"Well, no girls my age lived in the tribe except you, AND I DON'T COUNT GRAN GRAN EITHER," Sokka yelled.

"Your first kiss was just now, I've had two girlfriends and many kisses to you just getting your first of both," he said with a smug grin.

"Well for your information, our first kiss was 4 months ago, so there," she remarked.

Everyone started looking at Katara questioning and Aang and Katara were blushing like mad. They started looking from face to face. Toph was just laughing.

"What were you two doing?" Sokka asked.

"Uh..ummm-uh" Aang started to stammer. "Remember when we got stuck in the Cave of Two Lovers?" Aang managed to get out.

"How could I forget? Those dumb hippies," Sokka said.

"Well, our torch was starting to go out, and since it was the 'Cave of Two Lovers' we thought we could use love to get out so we kissed." Katara finished with a sigh.

"Kissing before dating... interesting," Zuko said.

Katara only scowled while Aang blushed more.

"I want to see them kiss again, just to seal the deal," Suki said.

"Yeah, let's see the lovers make out," Toph said.

Aang looked into Katara's eyes and she looked into his. Their heads leaned forward and within seconds they were kissing. Katara put her arms on his shoulders while Aang wrapped his arms around her waist. Sokka's mouth dropped.

"Where did you learn to kiss like that? You've never kissed a boy before Aang."

"I did ONCE, but Aang and I had time to practice," Katara said.

"How many times have you kissed Aang?" Suki questioned.

"Well, including that one we have kissed, ummmmmmm..." Aang started.

"5 times... I think," Katara finished.

"Do you guys just kiss for fun? That's like 3 times before you actually dated when did this even happen? I would have known about it."

"Well once in the cave, once at the invasion.."

"What?! You were kissing at the invasion? What were you thinking?" Sokka yelled.

"I didn't know if I'd come back. I had to let Katara know how I felt," Aang said.

"That is so romantic," Suki added. Katara smiled at her.

"Well when was the last one?" Sokka said.

"The Ember Island play, that's when we decided to postpone our relationship until after the war," Katara said to Sokka.

"Makes sense," Zuko said.

"Now that you have successfully evaluated my romantic life what are we doing next after this. What is the plan?" Katara asked.

"Well, we still have to go for a ride on Appa, and Aang, Zuko, and I have to stay in Ba Sing Se for the Harmony Restoration meetings, but those don't start for a week and a half."

"You?" Katara asked, pointing to Sokka's chest.

"Dad made me a representative of the Southern Water Tribe since he wants to help with the rebuilding."

"That does make a lot of sense," Mai said.

"Well, I am staying with Aang," Katara said, hugging his arm. Aang smiled and blushed a little.

"I don't feel like living in the palace alone. I'm probably going to stay with Zuko," Mai said.

"I am NOT going home," Toph said. "My parents will probably lock me in my room all day, and keep guards on me 24/7."

"You should at least visit them," Aang said. "The meetings don't start for 2 weeks. We should visit them and explain what happened."

Everyone started agreeing with Aang and Toph finally caved in. Suki decided to stay in the Ba Sing Se too, so the Gaang decided to get a house and live there together. The city offered to pay for any expenses and gave them a free house in the Upper Ring for their services to the Earth Kingdom. Then, they would head to Gao Ling to see the Bei Fongs.

The day of departure had come. Toph was trying to find any reason not to go, but her friends were practically forcing her. Aang and Katara had a lot of time to bond, and get close at the expense of Sokka's sanity.

"Appa, Yip Yip," Aang said.

The sky bison lifted into the air and Aang jumped back to the saddle with the others. He sat next to Katara who leaned on his shoulder.

"Do you two need to act like you're attached to each other?" Sokka asked, annoyed.

"If only we were," Katara replied dreamily. She rubbed her eyes. Everyone was still tired due to the early departure time.

Sokka looked like he was about to throw up. He shook his head to snap out of it. "Aang, shouldn't you be steering Appa?"

"Yeah, okay," Aang said as he got up. This prompted a small pout from Katara who then proceeded to follow him to Appa's head.

"You don't need to follow him."

"No, but I want to," she said before lying on Aang's shoulder again, this time while sitting on Appa's head.

"Leave them alone Sokka, after all they went through, they deserve each other" Suki said to him. Aang and Katara snuggled while she enjoyed the warmth of his body.

"But.. bu-"

"Sokka... BACK! OFF!"

Sokka had a scared look on his face and decided to ignore Aang and Katara (at least for the next 5 minutes).

"Love you," she whispered into his ear.

He replied with a soft, gentle kiss.

"I love being able to do that," he said with cheer in his voice.

"Me too," she whispered before kissing him back.

Before long they were making out on Appa's head. Sokka started hearing the sounds of their fun.

"Don't make me come back there. You two behave."

"Okay, DAD," replied a sarcastic Katara.

Appa landed in the courtyard of the Bei Fong Estate. They were greeted by many guards and servants who led them to the main hall. There the Bei Fong's were waiting. When they saw Toph they ran and hugged her.

"Are you alright?" Lao Bei Fong said.

"I'm fine, dad."

"Where is the Avatar? He shall pay for kidnapping you," he said peering over to Appa.

"He didn't kidnap me, I ran away."

His gaze returned to Toph, surprised and confused.

"Why would you do that?" her mother asked.

"You told me you were going to take away my freedom when it was already extremely restricted. I have had a chance to explore the world and be happy."

"Well I am glad you have had a chance to enjoy yourself, but now you will stay here with us," her mother replied.

"No, I am not staying here for long. I have a new life now, better than my old one. I have a new family and home. I am just here to visit and explain."

There were tears in her parents' eyes.

"We understand now, Toph," her father said. Toph felt him lying but chose to ignore it. She wanted to believe that her parents had changed.

"Well, make yourself comfortable before you leave," her mother said to her. She smiled at the Gaang and ordered a servant to show them their rooms. Meanwhile, Toph recapped their adventures with her parents.

"So how is your relationship with the Avatar?" Poppy Bei Fong asked. (Her mother)

"Great, he and I are great friends. Everyone in our group is really close."

"Have you ever thought about being more than just friends with him?" She asked Toph.

"Twinkletoes?" she said trying not to laugh, "No, we aren't like that, we are just good friends."

"Well, I still haven't completely forgiven him, he should marry you as compensation," Poppy said.

"Mom, me and Aang are not going to have a romantic relationship, he is with Katara."

"Who is this 'Katara' girl? How could he choose her over you? What connections does she have that the Bei Fong's don't? What is her bloodli-"

Toph cut her mother off before asking more insulting questions. "Whoa mom, stop, don't insult my friends like that. Aang and Katara are deeply in love there isn't anything you can do to change that."

"Okay, we respect your choices. Goodnight, Toph."

Aang was called to a meeting with Toph's parents privately. Toph suspected it had something to do with what they were talking about last night.

"Good morning," Aang said politely as he walked in.

"Good morning Avatar, did you sleep well?"

Toph's mother asked.

"Yes, so what would you like to talk to me about?"

"Our daughter. She is the next in line to carry along the Bei Fong family. She needs to marry a noble and great man to honor her family. We thought what better man than the Avatar, one of her best friends."

"You want me to marry TOPH?" Aang said confused.

"Yes and..."

Aang cut her off. "I love somebody else, I am sorry but.."

Lao looked annoyed and cut him off. "Yes the Water Tribe girl, she doesn't have the bloodline or honor in her family Toph has. You should honor yourself and us by marrying Toph, not some Water Tribe peasant," Lao said cooly.

"How dare you? She means everything to me. I am not going to throw that away. Are you saying she is not honorable enough?"

"She is not honorable enough Avatar. Honor yourself and…"

"For your information, she's the daughter of the Southern Water Tribe chief. Not only that, but she's also beautiful, smart, and she's a powerful bender."

"Which of those qualities does our daughter not have? The Southern Water Tribe is a joke, our family's honor is much higher than anyone from that region."

Aang was extremely angry, his face was super red, and steam was practically coming out of his ears and nose. "This meeting is over," Aang said, seething with anger.

As he turned around, Lao motioned his guards to block Aang from leaving.

"We gave you a chance, Avatar, to redeem yourself for kidnapping our beloved daughter, by marrying her we would've forgotten our past, but you, instead decided to stick with a Water Tribe peasant."

Aang was fuming and his veins were showing. He earthbended the floor which sent the guards in the room flying into a pond. He walked back outside.

"Aang, what are you doing?" Katara asked him.

As he got closer, everyone started to get nervous based on the angry look on Aang's face.

"What did they say, they did something dumb didn't they? What did they do?" Toph said.

Aang took a couple of seconds to process the 'meeting' that just happened.

"They told me I should marry Toph because of her bloodline. They told me we shouldn't be together because you weren't honorable and by being with you I was dishonoring myself," he told Katara.

Everyone looked at Katara whose face had fallen and then turned to pure rage. She marched right back into the house and into the meeting room. Lao was in a boulder, and his whole body was trapped. The only thing that wasn't covered was his head.

"HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF BEING DISHONORABLE! HOW DARE YOU TELL HIM HE SHOULDN'T LOVE ME! YOU'RE LUCKY THAT TOPH IS HERE OR I WOULD'VE ENDED YOU! RIGHT HERE!"

Katara went back into the courtyard and everyone was prepared to leave. Lao's guards freed him from his rocky prison.

"Guards! Seize the Avatar and his friends! Try not to hurt Toph. They shall be punished!"

Guards started to earthbend and ran towards Appa and the Gaang. They barely escaped and heard Toph's father yelling down on the ground.

Ten minutes later, everyone was still processing what just happened. Mai broke the silence.

"So, where are we heading next?"

"We still have plenty of time," Aang responded.

"Ooh, we haven't been to the Southern Water Tribe in a while," Sokka said.

"Yeah, it would be nice to visit our home and family," Katara responded.

"If you want to visit the South Pole raise your hand."

Everyone rose their hand, except for Toph.

"Hey Toph, what's the matter?" Suki asked.

"There's no earth there, I'll be fully blind when we get there."

"Don't worry, it'll only be a couple of days until we head back," Aang responded.

"Fine."

The Gaang cheered and they started to head down towards the cold South Pole.

"There it is, home," Katara said excitedly.

"I won't be able to see," Toph said a little sad.

"We went over this already. Besides, we'll only be there for three days anyway," she said.

"It looks so much better. Pakku and the other benders did such a good job. It still looks very similar to how we left it, and I'm happy that it's still at it's roots," Katara said.

"Yeah, I'll say," Aang said.

Appa landed in the center of town. Soon they were surrounded by a bunch of citizens, most of whom were children. The kids surrounded Aang, who started telling them stories. Some were a little wary of Zuko, remembering his last visit even with Katara and Sokka telling them he was cool. They met up with Hakoda who looked happy to see his children. Aang went to unpack and Zuko Toph, Mai, and Suki went exploring around the village. Katara hung out Aang for a little bit, and she left to join her Gran Gran and Sokka in their grandparents' hut.

"GRAN GRAN!"

Katara yelled as she ran over and hugged her grandmother. Sokka was already in the room being as he came earlier.

"Hello Katara, you look very well and happy."

"I am very happy with what I have right now," said Katara.

"Sokka told me you have a boyfriend now."

Katara blushed. "He did now, did he?" Katara said, her eyebrows arched as she stared at Sokka. =

"I bet he is a waterbender," she said.

"Yeah, he's a waterbender... but he's also an earthbender, a firebender, and an airbender," Katara said grinning.

"So you ended up with the Avatar? I knew that you two had a special bond, ever since the day you two first met."

"You did?" Katara said as she smiled.

"So are you two going make me a great-Gran Gran anytime soon?"

Katara started blushing really hard and Sokka was laughing.

"Not yet, we've only been together for about two weeks. I don't think we are quite there yet."

Her grandmother laughed and they enjoyed the rest of the day.