Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender

Author's Note: Cool, 40 reviews already! I love you guys! A couple of people wanted to see the zoo scene, so this is kind of a combination of suggestions.

Tale of Artemis Rae and Kairuthefrog

As promised, Aang took his friends to the new zoo site the following morning and gave them a tour. He was glad that he had spent a lot of time the day before returning the domestic animals he had accidentally included in the collection to their proper owners. This saved him the embarrassment of admitting that little error.

"Not bad," was Toph's only comment. That was as complimentary as she ever got, though, so he accepted it gratefully. She was quite a contrast as an instructor to Katara, who was always positive and encouraging, but he'd gotten used to it.

Katara, on the other hand, praised him effusively, and Aang basked in the glow of it, despite being well aware that she was, just possibly, a little biased. Katara also exclaimed over the unfamiliar animals and asked Aang to tell her what he knew about them.

After they'd seen everything, Sokka went off to find something to eat. A few food vendors had already had the foresight to set up their carts in the area. Oddly enough, the cabbage man they'd encountered before was one of these, though he picked up everything and moved every time he caught sight of the Avatar and his friends. While Sokka was gone, the zookeeper approached Aang.

"Avatar, I'm glad you're here," he greeted him. Aang briefly introduced the girls, and the zookeeper nodded. "I think the walls for the rabbiroos could be a little taller. I'm afraid they might be able to jump out."

"No problem," Aang replied, following the man over to the rabbiroos. He handed off his glider staff to Katara and took a moment to listen to the earth. Then, he raised the walls of the enclosure. When he was finished, he surveyed his work critically.

"Well, now no one can see them," he observed. So, he built a ramp that wound up the side and a walkway circling most of the way around the top, including a barrier for safety, of course. Satisfied, he turned to the girls. Toph gave a quick nod of approval, but it was Katara that caught Aang's attention. Her eyes were wide and mouth slightly open as she stared at him, and she seemed to be a little flushed. Aang hoped she wasn't getting a fever.

Katara thrust the glider staff at Toph and strode purposefully over to Aang. Grasping him firmly by the shoulders, she pulled him into a forceful kiss. Aang's eyes widened in surprise before closing to enjoy the unexpected moment. He wrapped his arms around Katara, and she pressed close to him. When she broke away, Aang swayed unsteadily for a moment, trying to get his eyes to focus.

"What – what was that for?" he gasped. This whole thing was still a little new, but he'd never felt her so…hungry.

"I've just gained a new appreciation for earthbending," she replied, color rising to her cheeks. Aang had no idea what she meant by that, but he wasn't about to complain. He was just considering moving in again when his mouth was suddenly stuffed full of something sweet and flaky. He let go of Katara and stumbled backward.

"Try this; it's great," Sokka told him, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Ease off, Sokka," Toph instructed, pulling the Water Tribe boy backward. "She started it." Aang tore the large chunk and chewed and swallowed the piece that was still in his mouth.

"This is good. What is it?" he remarked, taking another bite.

"They call it an elephant ear," Sokka answered. Aang choked. Sokka hit him sharply on the back, setting off a coughing fit, and he hastily added, "There are no actual animals involved. It's just fried dough with some sugar and cinnamon. It's just shaped like an elephant's ear, I guess."

"Think you've done enough damage yet?" Katara said, voice dripping with sarcasm as she rushed to Aang's side. Sokka rounded on her.

"Do you really think it's appropriate for the Avatar to be part of such a display in public?" he challenged her.

"Oh, I see," Katara retorted acidly. "It's perfectly all right for you to play tonsil hockey with Suki, but I can't even kiss my boyfriend?"

Boyfriend, Aang thought, recovering a normal breathing pattern. Such a nice word.

"First of all, that wasn't in public," Sokka began, turning red but retaining most of his composure. He counted off his points on his fingers. "It was just you, Toph, and the refugee family. Secondly, I'm older than you. Finally, I don't know when I'm going to see Suki again. It was a goodbye thing. You and Aang see each other every day."

As Katara began sputtering, Aang could see there was a full-blown fight on the way and acted quickly to head it off. He pulled Katara aside just as Toph stepped between the siblings. She tossed Aang's staff back to him and stood ready in case the other two got out of line.

"Time out, guys," she growled at them. "Talk about making a scene."

"Yeah," Aang pleaded. "Let's just settle down. Maybe it's time to go home."

Amid some grumbling, everyone agreed, and Katara and Sokka had made up with each other before they even got back to their house. This left Aang with only one question.

"What's tonsil hockey?"

Author's note: Thanks, Kairuthefrog; that was a great idea, although I'm not confident I quite did it justice. It is interesting that Katara has been noticeably absent lately when Aang has been earthbending. And I made sure there was kissing just for kataang93, you voyeur you. I'm not sure on the proper spelling of rabbiroos, so I made a guess. I just had to include elephant ears, since they're my favorite carnival food.

Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129

Review responses: In addition to those already mentioned, thank you to stuckatschool, Supergirrl, avatarkataang, Jesus.Lives, PetertheChameleon, Shiantor, and Tech-Man.

MormonMaiden: You scared your dog? The mention of the cabbage man was for you, and I'll give some thought to the Suki idea.

SnakeEyes16: Of course I look forward to your reviews! I get like that when people are faithful in reviewing. I hope this one warmed your cockles.

Val-Creative: No, it wasn't your imagination. I did sneak a little Tokka hint in there, though still basically one-sided.

Jett Greves: I'm glad I could help. I may have to check out your story.