A/N: This chap is longer than the other two. I fit a lot into this one, including another flashback! (You can be expecting more of those as we go along…) Anyways hope you enjoy!

Two to Find You

It wasn't long before Aang realized that he had walked the entire length of the village… twice… and still hadn't seen Katara… Or Sokka for that matter…

He let out a long sigh as he sat down in the snow near the edge of the village, his back to the sun. With a frustrated groan, he lay back in the snow, peering up into the cloudless sky. His mind raced with unanswered questions, 'Where is she? What am I going to say to her when I see her? Why did I wait this long to come back?'

He closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face as his thoughts went to the night before the invasion over six years ago…

The moon was full. Its light speckled through the trees, casting the bay in a cool pale glow. The ocean horizon spanned out in front of him and an outline of a camp dotted the forest floor behind him, his comrades preparing for the battle ahead.

The air was warm, as is the nature of the Fire Nation territory. Heat seemed to radiate from the very ground he sat on, a reminder of what was to come…

And Aang thought... His mind raced with images and scripts of what he knew must happen tomorrow. He didn't feel nervous. He didn't feel scared. He didn't really feel anything but… confused.

With the weight of the world on his shoulders and the lives of thousands in his hands, all he could think about was her. Her smile, her hair, her eyes, her hands, her lips… His mind flooded with images of her laughing, crying, yelling, talking… He couldn't stop the barrage of thoughts berating his mind. Nor did he want to…

Tomorrow held untold answers to unasked questions. Questions laced with cerulean ocean eyes, warm tan skin, and soft mahogany hair…. But there was one question in particular that raced through his mind in torrid circles…

"What if I don't come back?" he asked himself out loud, pulling his legs to his chest and resting his chin on his knees. "What if I don't come back and she never knows the truth?"

He closed his eyes, willing unshed tears to cease and the lump in his throat to dissolve. Telling her wasn't the problem, it wasn't a matter of if… but a matter of when… For he knew he should be focusing on things other than his feelings for a girl not expressed.

Behind him, the rustle of leaves and crackling of branches broke the silence. Without opening his eyes he knew who was approaching. He knew her smell, the way her footsteps sounded, and the sigh in her breath…

"Hey Katara," he responded softly as she sat down beside him.

"How'd you know it was me?" she asked, her voice melting the confusion inside him.

He smiled at her, appreciative for her company, "I always know it's you…" he said simply.

She smiled back, and he had to quickly avert his attention to the full moon above them to keep his heart from racing out of his chest. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked once he had regained his composure.

She, too, diverted her attention to the wide white moon above them, "I never can during a full moon."

Aang simply nodded understandingly. The lull of silence that followed was soothing, and the he felt calmed and comforted by her presence beside him. She always seemed to know just what to do to change his mood. He was startled when she finally broke the silence…

"Aang… I want you to promise me something…" she whispered in a hesitant way that made Aang want to promise the world to her.

He moved his eyes to the ocean horizon in front of them, "What's that Katara?"

She sighed, closing her eyes as she spoke, "I want you to promise me that… that you'll come back."

His heart wrenched with emotion as he looked over at her, surprised by her sudden childlike expression. It was almost as if she was pleading with him… Pleading for his life…

His eyes softened as he replied, "Katara, you know I can't promise that. Neither of us can know for sure what will happen tomorrow."

Even he was surprised at his response. It wasn't like Aang to display such grounding reality in a situation as this…

She nodded understandingly, "I know…" she said softly.

He reached out to her before he knew what he was doing, pulling her against his chest and soothing her hair with his hands. She gasp at his sudden gesture, but quickly melted into his embrace as he spoke softly, "Katara… I can't promise you that I'll be okay after tomorrow… But I can promise you this…"

She pulled out of his arms, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. His twelve year old voice sounded older and not his own as he spoke, "No matter what happens tomorrow, I will always be with you."

She managed a weak smile, wiping at tears in her eyes. He smiled on instinct and her eyes lit up with an emotion that Aang couldn't read. Suddenly, he felt words bubbling up inside of him that he couldn't control. He couldn't tell her, what would she say? How would she respond? But he wanted to tell her… Now might be his only chance. He wanted to tell her while the tension in the air was just right, but his hesitancy got the best of him. He panicked…

Acting on pure reflex alone, he placed a hand on her shoulder and reached up and kissed her.

He could still remember that her lips had tasted like ocean breeze.

"LOOKOUT!!"

Aang was completely lost in his thoughts when suddenly he found himself collided in a ball of snow. He jolted back from his memories.

A few feet away a young girl jumped from the penguin she had been sledding on and ran over to untangle Aang from the young boy who had sledded into him. "Tantu!" she scolded as she helped the boy to his feet. "You could have been hurt. I'm so sorry sir. Are you alright?" she directed her question to Aang as he stumbled to his feet.

Aang laughed lightly as he brushed the snow from his parka, "I'm fine! I'm fine!"

The young girl smiled as she turned her attention to the boy now identified as Tantu. Somehow she reminded Aang of Katara, though she seemed to be somewhere in the field of ten years old. "My name is Kya and this is my friend Tantu." Her eyes suddenly got very wide and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "Oh wow! You're…. you're the Avatar!"

"Huh?" Aang suddenly realized that his hood was draped over his shoulders and had apparently gotten knocked off during the collision. "Oh… yeah," he resigned as he pulled the hood back up over his head. "But you can call me Aang."

"The Avatar, huh?" the boy narrowed his eyes at Aang, seemingly sizing him up. "So show us some cool Avatar tricks then."

"Tantu!" Kya elbowed her friend in the side. "Knock it off!"

She looked back at Aang apologetically, "Sorry about my friend. He's kind of the skeptical type…"

Aang smiled in reminisce, "I know the type, no need to apologize." He paused, with a mischievous look in his eye, "Hey Tantu… Watch this!"

Tantu's eyes lit up with the hope of seeing an amazing display of bending the four elements. Aang reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of marbles and began spinning them in circles in between his palms. "Huh?! Huh?! Pretty cool, huh?"

Tantu rolled his eyes and plopped back down in the snow while Kya giggled and clapped her hands lightly.

Aang smiled triumphantly, "At least someone appreciates my greatness."

"So… Avatar Aang, what exactly are you doing here in the Southern Water Tribe?" Tantu asked through skeptical eyes.

Aang rubbed at his neck nervously and stuffed the marbles back into his pocket, "Oh… Actually I'm uh… I'm looking for a friend of mine…"

"Oh! You must mean Master Katara!!" Kya interrupted before Aang could finish.

"Uh… Yeah," Aang wrinkled his brow. "How'd you…"

Kya smiled dreamily and suddenly grabbed Aang by the arm. "Come on, Tantu and I can take you to her!"

Before Aang had the chance to object, Kya was pulling him through town excitedly, Tantu following close behind with an annoyed look on his face. She pulled him past a small tent and turned up a hill close by. "I think her class gets done sometime soon," she said over her shoulder.

"Class? I didn't know Katara was taking a class…" Aang asked, more to himself because Kya was too busy giggling to hear him. 'Why does it seem like everyone around here knows something that I don't?' Aang thought as they neared the top of the hill.

Before he could finish his thought, Aang found himself looking at what seemed to be a class of students learning waterbending. A group of ten young boys and girls stood in a grid, each pulling a weave of water in an intricate pattern around them. He was entranced with their rhythm and as Kya finally let go of his arm, he stood motionless watching their elaborate dance-like movements. He smiled as the children moved the stream of water between them seamlessly.

In the distance he could see a young woman walking in between the students, analyzing their style and critiquing their movements. "Alana, spread your feet further apart. Remember students, a strong foundation keeps us firm." She moved gracefully between the children, her mahogany hair pulled into a long braid that trailed down her back except for the few strands that fell around her face and blew slightly in the breeze.

Kya looked to Aang with wide hopeful eyes, but Aang was too busy watching the young woman to know it. Suddenly, his knees went weak and he thought his heart had literally stopped when he realized who the woman was.

"Katara?" Aang realized barely above a whisper.

Kya squealed in delight and grabbed Tantu's arm, "Isn't this so romantic?!"

Tantu laughed nervously as Aang began walking slowly towards the class.

"Good work today my pupils." Katara smiled as the students let the water slowly sink into the snow. "Tomorrow we will work on some more specialized movements."

In unison the students bowed to Katara as she returned the gesture. The children then began talking amongst themselves, laughing and yelling as they ran past Aang back towards the village.

But Aang didn't notice them…

'It's her... It's Katara... She's here…' Aang's mind was racing with what to say when he finally reached her. She looked so… different. He never dreamed that Katara could ever be more beautiful than how he remembered her when they were kids. But he was astonished at what six years had done for Katara's figure and her poise. 'She's a Master now… and she looks so…'

Words seemed to fall short as Aang tried to come up with a way to describe her.

He had been so focused on how he had changed that he never stopped to think about how Katara must have grown up too. He just ignorantly assumed she would look exactly as she had when he had last seen her at the Fire Nation Palace six years ago. In his dreams she was still young and innocent and the same Katara that he had grown to love.

And here she was standing before him… a woman.

He drew a deep shaky breath before he approached her. She had her back turned to him, and was leaning down talking with a student. Even from where he stood, the breeze caught her familiar scent, only causing his heart to beat even more furiously and his head to spin uncontrollably. He seemed to be in a dream sequence as he opened his mouth hesitantly…

"Ka… Katara?"

His voice seemed shaky and unsure, even to himself and he cleared his throat and drew another deep calming breath before he tried again.

"Katara?"

Katara stopped what she was doing almost instantly at the sound of his voice, so deep and smooth, but with a hauntingly familiar quality to it. Her legs felt weak underneath her as she turned to face him.

"Master Katara!" The child she had been talking to gave Aang a look of disappointment for being interrupted, but Aang didn't see it.

The silence between them was numbing and he was too busy trying to think of something to say…

"Katara… I… um… I got your letter," he finally said lamely. The words seemed to come out of nowhere, and he was sure that later he wouldn't remember saying them.

Katara just continued to look at him blankly, as if she had seen a ghost. Suddenly, her creamy tanned face turned a sickly pale color. Aang opened his mouth to ask if she was feeling alright, but before he could get any words out Katara went limp and fell to the snow.

"Katara!" he ran to her side, lifting her head out of the snow. "Are you okay?!"

She slowly opened her eyes with a confused look on her face as she brought her hand to her forehead. "What… what happened?" she asked hoarsely, deep cerulean eyes meeting stormy ocean grey.

"I think you fainted," Aang answered numbly, unaware of anything else but her beautiful blue eyes.

Katara's eyes suddenly seemed to register on him and she slowly brought a hand to his face, almost assuring herself that he was really there and she wasn't just dreaming. "Aang? Is that…you… is it really you?"

Her touch was electrifying, and Aang felt like he could melt into her. The sound of her voice speaking his name made his head spin and he suddenly hadn't realized how incredibly much he had missed her. He closed his eyes as she lowered his hood to reveal the infamous blue tattoo on his forehead. "It's me Katara…" he answered as he opened his eyes again.

Katara's eyes slowly welled with tears and everything seemed to move in slow motion as he suddenly had the overwhelming urge to pull her into his arms. He held her against his chest, her scent of lavender and moonlillies over taking him.

"I can't believe it's you…" she whispered through the tears. "I can't believe you came."

Aang smiled into her shoulder, "Of course I came," he reasoned softly. "I couldn't miss my best friend's wedding!" He laughed lightly, trying to sound cheerful but failing miserably.

Katara didn't seem to notice as she pulled out of the embrace, her bright blue eyes still brimming with unshed tears. "I missed you so much Aang…" she said hoarsely. "It's been so long…"

Aang smiled as he slowly stood up and offered her his hand. "I missed you too."

She gave him a look that Aang had trouble reading before she took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and when she opened them again she seemed calmer. "So I guess you want to see Sokka now?"

Aang thought the question a little strange, and for the time being had completely forgotten about his desire to see Sokka. "Well… yeah… but I mean… I thought maybe we could talk for a while first."

She smiled at him, which again caused him to feel dizzy and weak-kneed. "I'd like that, Aang."

He quickly regained his composure, finding new confidence. He grinned, "Has Master Katara had lunch yet?"

Katara rolled her eyes playfully, "Why no Avatar Aang… I sure haven't!"

"Master Katara!" Aang turned to see Kya running towards them, pulling Tantu behind her much in the same way she had dragged Aang here. She blushed slightly as she approached them and Tantu pulled his arm out her grasp. "I uh… I just wanted to…" she trailed off.

Katara smiled warmly at the young girl and placed her hand on her shoulder, "Aang, this is one of best students, Kya."

Aang smiled and gave the little girl a wink, "Yes… Kya and I have already met."

Kya's blush deepened at Aang's gesture as Katara laughed and continued, "Then I'm sure you've met Tantu. The two are literally inseparable."

Aang nodded, "Tantu and I have met as well. Though his greeting was a little more… rough and tumble."

Tantu laughed nervously as Katara gave Aang a brief questioning look, "Well… Anyways, Kya and Tantu are in my advanced class. In fact," Katara paused as if she was debating on whether or not to finish her sentence, "Tantu kind of reminds me of you when we were kids."

Aang smiled as he remembered thinking that Kya had reminded him of Katara when he first saw her. "Is that so?"

Katara laughed, "I swear he's got an Airbender's carefree spirit…"

Aang chuckled, "Well… Kya and Tantu helped me find you. I've been walking all over town looking for you for the past hour."

Kya beamed with pride as Katara answered, "In that case… I would say that they we probably owe them."

Aang nodded his head in thought.

"We're pretty hungry!" Tantu piped up, earning a sideways glare from Kya.

Aang and Katara laughed as Aang answered, "Well then… what do you two say to lunch with me and Katara?" He gave Katara a look of questioning as he asked them and she nodded her approval.

"Lunch it is!" Katara led the way off the training grounds, Aang by her side, and Kya and Tantu following closely behind.

A/N: Reviews are appreciated! I try my best to reply to everyone:)