Back from the dead again, if only briefly. I'm…not really sure about the future for this series. Even on this last chapter, my motivation has been inconsistent. One day, I want to write but I can't think of anything. The next day, I have an idea, but I don't want to write. Some days I've just had no interest at all. I love you guys, but it's hard for me to keep finding the motivation to write. I guess that's why I do not own ATLA. I wouldn't last a whole season. I'm going to keep trying to write for you guys, if there are even any of you left…but don't expect updates to be frequent. I'm not saying that this is the end, but I'm not saying that it isn't. We'll see.


Katara was sitting on her bed late one night, reading. She was sure everyone in the Fire Nation Royal Palace was fast asleep at this hour, but to her surprise, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said, looking up at the opening door. Not entirely surprising to her, the Avatar was standing behind it. He looked…disturbed.

"Oh…hey, Aang. You can't sleep, either?" she asked, sitting up.

Aang shook his head. "No…I'm not tired at all."

"Is something wrong?" Katara inquired, putting down the scroll she'd been reading.

"I've got a lot on my mind," he replied, putting his arms on either side of the doorframe.

"Come here," she said with a warm smile. "Tell me what's going on in that head of yours." She scooted over to make room on the bed for him.

He took his place next to her and sighed. "I know the war is over and everything, but…now that I look back on it, all the damage it caused, I can't help but think it's my fault."

"Your fault?" She blinked. "Aang, that's ridiculous. You didn't do all that damage or kill all those people."

He shook his head again. "No, but I ran away and wasn't there to stop the war from starting. I couldn't stop the Azula from taking Ba Sing Se. I let the Fire Nation take pretty much complete control of the Earth Kingdom. Somehow we tipped Azula off about the Invasion and I couldn't end the war right then and there. I let things get so out of hand…and caused so many people so much pain…it's almost like the fact that I finally did end it doesn't matter. Like I was just cleaning up the mess I made."

"Do you really think that all those things were your fault?" Katara asked, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Did you just sit on your hands the whole time and allow all that to happen?"

"Of course I didn't," Aang replied. "But at the end of the day, I didn't do what I had to do. I didn't accomplish the mission. I failed, d-don't you see that? I'm a f-failure, Katara." Tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice grew louder and halting. "I-it's almost like…like I killed all those people."

Katara's heart ached with empathy for him. She brought him in for a hug and felt her shoulder growing damp from his tears. "No, Aang, don't talk like that. You're not a failure, you're a hero. Think about all the hope you brought people, about all the lives you saved."

"Th-think about all the people I abandoned…all the lives I let the Fire Nation take."

"It's not your fault," she assured him. "The Fire Nation Army was ruthless. Think of how much more destruction and bloodshed they would cause if you weren't here to stop them. You saved the world…you should be happy."

"It's hard to be happy when there are so many people that died because you weren't there to save them," he said, having calmed slightly. "You don't understand."

Actually, she completely understood. The poor boy had the weight of the world on his shoulders, a burden no child should have to bear. Sure, the war had ended, but at what cost? As far as he was concerned, it could have all been prevented. But Katara knew better than to dwell on the past. "That's exactly it. You weren't there. There was nothing you could have done." She rubbed his back in an attempt to console him. "You can't change the past. You need to accept that and move on."

He sighed heavily, wiping his tears away. "I-I can't. It's my fault that there are families out there that are broken. There are kids out there who haven't seen their fathers for years and never will. An entire nation of people—my people—is gone…and it's all my fault."

"Aang, don't—"

"And you, Katara! Your dad left your tribe for two and a half years! Don't you hate me?"

She girl pulled away to look him straight in the eye. "You know I don't hate you."

He looked away. "You should."

Silence ensued, letting Aang's words sink in. He was so distraught… Katara had no idea what she could do or say to make him understand that he wasn't to blame for the century of chaos the Fire Nation forced upon the world.

"I'm sorry I bothered you," Aang said after a while. "I shouldn't have forced all my problems onto you like this, so late at night. I can leave, if you—"

"No, it's okay." Katara put her hand back on his shoulder. "I want to help you. Tell me what I can do."

"I wish I could…" His gaze lowered.

Katara sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Do you really think you could have stopped the Fire Nation Army?" she questioned. "I mean, an entire nation couldn't stop them, let alone one kid. You know what they would have done to you if you hadn't run away, don't you?"

"It would have been noble to stand and fight," Aang said coldly, clenching his fists. "I ran from my duties as Avatar like a coward. I let the Air Nomads down."

"No, you didn't. You would have died with the rest of them," Katara replied, shaking her head. "Look, maybe things didn't happen the way you wanted them to, but you have to understand that none of this is your fault."

"But—"

"Shh." She cut him off. "Listen to me. What you did was amazing. You defeated the most terrible man on the planet and saved millions of lives, Aang. You should be proud of yourself. I know I'm proud of you. We all are."

He swallowed hard, taking in what she had told him. Unsure of what to say, he nodded a little and resumed studying the pattern on the bedsheets.

"You know, the fact that you're even thinking about this…even if you are wrong…it really shows how compassionate you are," Katara said, squeezing Aang's shoulder and pulling him closer. "And I really love that about you."

Aang blushed, surprised by that comment. "Yeah?" Where was Katara going with this?

"Yeah." She had both her arms around him now. "And it gets me thinking…how could someone like you be responsible for so much destruction, so much pain? I know you feel like you abandoned everyone, but it wasn't like that at all. You may not have known what was coming, but you saved yourself. And when you came back, you saved us. The whole world thinks you're a hero. I think you're a hero. And you should, too…because you are."

Tears again threatened to spill from the young Avatar's eyes, but he bravely tried to fight them. Katara was right. She hit the nail on the head, again, like she always did. He would never turn his back on people that needed him. He couldn't…he just wasn't that kind of person. And in the end, he'd made everything all right. Or, at least, as close to all right as things could get for the time being.

Feeling Aang's shoulders shake made Katara almost want to cry herself, but she needed to be strong for him. He was physically and mentally exhausted—his battle with Ozai was yesterday, and the peace treaty had been signed today—and the horrors of war had left a terrible imprint on him. No twelve-year-old should ever have to go through what he did, but he took it in stride. He did the world proud…he did Katara proud. The least she could do was give him a strong shoulder to cry on.

And, after a choked sob, cry he did, but only for a little while. It was mostly out of relief, like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Katara simply rubbed his back and whispered, "It's okay…it's okay." She knew he needed this, and a small smile crossed her face. It amazed her that this sweet boy crying in her arms held such power. That he could be so strong during a battle to the death, but so sensitive and fragile around her. It was touching, really, that only Katara could see this side of Aang, the side of him that shivered when he was cold and cried when he hurt. It was kind of intimate, really, that he acted like this around her, and her only.

After a few minutes, Aang was able to calm himself, even smile a little. He felt like he should say something, but he wasn't sure how to put his thoughts into words. "I…"

Smiling back at him, she put her finger on his lips. "Shh. Don't." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on his forehead, right on the center of the arrow tattoo there.

His breath hitched, and he was pretty sure his face was on fire. Katara removed her finger from his lips, and immediately he said, "I love you."

His reward was a kiss on the lips. This was different from the shy little peck they shared on the airship, or any of Aang's previous displays of affection. There was more tenderness, more love this time.

It was more deliberate, more passionate. It was longer, much longer. By the time it was over, the young couple was panting for air.

"I love you, too," Katara breathed. "So, so much."

Aang rested his head on her shoulder, nuzzling his nose against the soft fabric of her new nightgown. "No war can change that," he said. "Thank you for making me feel better. I really needed that."

"No problem," she replied with a yawn. "That's what I'm here for."

"Are you tired?" he asked her, sitting up. "I can go back to my—"

She grabbed his hand. "No, stay. I like having someone to cuddle with."

He lay back down. "Okay."

"Just promise me something," she requested, bringing one of her hands down to hold one of his.

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure, what?"

"Promise me you won't be so hard on yourself," Katara said, firmly but gently. "Promise me you'll stop blaming this whole war on yourself. I hate to see you so upset over something that isn't your fault…you deserve so much more credit than you give yourself."

He nuzzled deeper into the crook of her neck. "I promise."