Please R&R.

Chapter 22

Katara knocked on the door and slightly opened it. She saw her brother standing out on the balcony, looking upon the moon. Just a few days ago, he started distancing himself from Suki and started reverse-cycling. He would stay up all night, trying to connect with Yue, but to no avail.

"You're still having trouble reaching out to her?" Katara asked, putting a hand on Sokka's shoulder.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I've been speaking my heart out and she still won't even show a sign." He threw his hands up in the air. "Gah!"

Katara stepped back from her brother's sudden outburst. "Well, if we stay on course, then tomorrow night we'll be at the Northern Water Tribe. Maybe you'll be able to contact her at the Spirit Oasis," she tried reasoning with her brother.

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed again. "How's Aang?"

Katara stared at the ground, hiding her face. "He... he doesn't seem to remember us, he doesn't even seem to remember anything at all. We tried filling him in on what's going on, but it put him into a state of shock. We haven't told him anything else besides the basics, like our names and how we know him. When I tried healing him, I felt that his spirit is shattered into hundreds of pieces. I tried it again earlier today and it's gotten even worse."

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked, concerned for his sister.

Katara looked back up at Sokka, tears staining her face. "No... no, I'm not."

He caught Katara in his arms. "Katara... I'm sorry. I know this has been difficult for you, and I should've been there to help."

"Sokka... it's okay. This is both of our faults. We should've been there for each other. Stop enclosing yourself and come visit us. We need you, and you need us."

"Okay... let's go."

Katara led Sokka to the area where everyone hung out. Mai, Suki, and Zuko were chatting by the counter. He stared at Suki for a few seconds and quickly looked away. Katara saw a look of longing on his face when looking at her. Sokka then switched his gaze over to Aang and Toph, both of them relaxing on the couch.

They both sat at the table in silence, Katara had been peering over Sokka's shoulder the entire time. He turned around and noticed that Aang had just been lying on the ground, staring at the ceiling.

"You really miss him, don't you?" Sokka broke the silence.

"Yeah... I really, really do," she answered, not taking her eyes off of Aang.

Sokka took a sip of water then set his cup back onto the table. "So he doesn't remember you at all?"

Katara shook her head. "No, not even the slightest bit. It hurts to watch your boyfriend slowly become more and more distant from you. But all I can do right now is be strong for him and trust that the spirits will guide him back toward me."

Sokka could feel the double-meaning in her words and looked over at Suki. At that moment, she had been laughing along with Mai. Zuko was red-faced and the blush creeped down to his neck. He probably said something really stupid and embarrassing. Suki noticed Sokka at the corner of her eye and turned to look at him. Their eyes locked onto each other's gazes before they blushed and looked away.

Katara watched the two distant lovers and their awkward interaction. She felt happy but also longed for what they had at the moment. "At least Sokka remembers who Suki is." She turned to look at Aang, who had been trying to catch the attention of Toph. "Aang doesn't even know that I exist."

Secretly, Toph was listening in on their entire discussion. She had noticed Aang's concern when Katara entered the room with tear-stained cheeks. In reality, Twinkletoes had a huge crush on her. But Katara had been too oblivious to notice the signs. She had always been oblivious to Aang's signs. They were both oblivious to romantic gestures.

Aang had been watching her ever since his memory was wiped. His crush on her grew at a rapid pace. Despite seeing her wear really terrible bed-heads and watching her embarrass herself, she had still been the most stunning and gorgeous girl he had ever seen. She might've considered herself to be the average person, but he didn't think so. He considered her to be the embodiment of beauty. Aang was too shy to approach her and thought that he didn't even have the chance to be with her.

Katara had also kept a close eye on Aang. Sometimes he'd fall asleep on the couch and Katara couldn't help but smile and stare at him. She still loved Aang, and she didn't blame him for the space that was put between them. She'd often find herself admiring Aang's body. Although he was only 13 years old, he had a lot of muscle put on. Katara had admired him before, but it got more frequent as of late. She took Aang for granted and now she could only stare and ache to touch and get close to him. Katara wished she would've taken more time appreciating him before it was too late.

The Gaang quickly sat at the table as the Fire Nation chefs delivered the food. Most of the food was meat, but there was a salad and a plate of spicy fire noodles. Katara watched as Aang hogged both the salad and noodles. "At least he still retains his vegan-ness," she giggled to herself. Aang noticed her giggling and blushed.

"Sokka, you still have your hawk, right?" Katara asked as Sokka put an entire komodo sausage in his mouth.

He gulped down the entire sausage quickly. "Hawky? I don't know where he is," Sokka explained awkwardly.

"You lost your hawk again?!" Katara asked, extremely annoyed.

"I didn't lose him, okay! I tried sending a letter to dad and Hawky hasn't returned!" he explained.

Katara facepalmed and groaned. "How are we supposed to contact the Northern Water Tribe now?"

"I'm not sure..." he replied. Sokka started stroking his chin.

Zuko cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Umm... did you forget I'm the Firelord?"

Everyone glanced at each other before Toph spoke up. "Well, we actually did, Sparky. Anyways, what's your point?"

Zuko facepalmed and started explaining. "The ship we are using is the Firelord's royal sloop. It's exclusive to the Fire Nation Royal Family and the most elite of the elite. These things aren't meant for war. They're mostly used as protected escort instead of fighting which is why this ship is so speedy."

"How do you know these things?" Sokka asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, they too were puzzled on Zuko's knowledge.

Before Zuko could respond, Mai did it for him. "Back when Azulon and Ozai were ruling us, we had to learn everything about the Fire Nation, the armies, the navies, the extinct air force, literally everything. They even made us learn about every commander, general, and admiral. Since Zuko was the Firelord's son, they probably imprinted the facts into his brain."

"Hold on, hold on! The original question is why you're telling us this. We don't need to know about the history of the Fire Nation," Suki interrupted.

"Well, during the war-"

"Zuko! We just established that we didn't need to know the history!" Sokka disrupted.

"Okay, okay! These ships carry messenger hawks. There, you happy?" Zuko responded angrily.

"Y'know, you could've just said that from the start," Katara chimed in.

Zuko just frowned and started dying on the inside.

Mai snapped her fingers at one of the guards. "Hey, can you get me a messenger hawk, some paper, and a brush?"

"Yes, right away, Fire Lady Mai." The guard immediately froze after realizing what he said.

"You two are married?" Aang piped up.

Mai turned toward Aang. "No, we aren't." She then turned to the guard. "Just get me that stuff."

"Yes, apologies, Mai." He bowed and left the room.

Everyone sat in silence before Aang spoke up.

"So, why are we visiting the Northern Water Tribe?"

"We're just visiting the chief, that's all," Katara said quickly.

He had a skeptical look on his face before innocently nodding. "Okay."

Mai had written the letter and sent it on its way toward the Northern Water Tribe, to address the issue at hand. Team Avatar hung out in the common area, while Aang had left to go out onto the deck. Katara trailed after him.

When she got outside, Aang had been hugging Appa's fur and petting Momo. They were the only things that Aang had some memory of. She stood out on the balcony and made sure not to draw any attention to her. Katara didn't want him to find out that she had been spying on him.

"What'cha doing, Sugar Queen?"

Katara immediately turned around to see Toph leaning on the doorway with her arms crossed. She felt a blush creep up her face. "I-it's nothing."

"I don't even know why I asked that. I know you're spying on Twinkletoes, and I know you've been keeping an eye on him for the past few days," Toph said matter-of-factly.

"Quiet down! He's going to hear you!" Katara shushed her. The blush still on her face.

"Why don't you try going down there and kissing him? Maybe it'll bring back his memory?"

"TOPH!" If she hadn't been blushing before, she definitely had to be blushing now.

Toph started to laugh. "Relax, Sweetness. I'm only partially joking."

Katara just rolled her eyes. She just wanted this embarrassment to stop.

"Okay, okay," Toph said, wiping a tear from her eye. "But for real though, Aang hasn't taken his eyes off of you. He still has a crush on you."

"That's not funny to joke about." Katara crossed her arms and turned her head.

"I'm not joking, alright? I know what his body does whenever he sees you. Even when you two were dating, his heart would skip a beat by just seeing you. Heck, I bet he's talking or thinking about you right now."

They both walked back onto the balcony and watched Aang pet his furry companions. He was completely unaware of their spying.

"It's weird you guys. I feel like I know these people, but I don't remember a single thing about them. Y'know, at first I wasn't sure whether to trust them or not... but... well... the Water Tribe girl, Katara... I feel drawn to her in a way. I know that I can trust her. If she wasn't here, I'd probably run away with you two." Toph nudged and smiled at Katara. Her face started to grow hot once again. "She's really pretty too, but I'm too scared to approach her. Katara probably wouldn't even like me back anyways. She's too good for me... she could probably have any guy she wants to be honest."

Katara frowned. "I do like you back, you big dummy."

"You guys think I should go for it?" Aang asked.

Appa responded with a roar and Momo screeched.

Toph nudged Katara again. "See, I was telling the truth."

"Let's just get out of here. We've already invaded too much of his privacy," Katara said, leaning over to Toph... except she wasn't there. She looked around and saw Toph standing in the doorway. "If you close that door, I'm going to kill you." Toph smirked and slammed the door really hard. Katara ran over to the door and tried opening it.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Open!" she thought. It was no use, Toph had locked the door.

"Katara?"