The tents were set up and Zuko was setting up the fire when Aang came over to him.

"Hey Aang, what's up?" he said.

"I just wanted to talk to you…about Katara." Aang responded.

Zuko stopped tending the fire and sat back next to Aang.

"You like her, don't you?"

"Well um…of course I like her." Zuko responded nervously.

"You know what I'm talking about Zuko."

Zuko scratched the back of his head for a moment, thinking.

"That's what I thought. How long has it been?" Aang asked, slight sadness in his voice.

"I guess…well…I've had some weird feelings for her since Ba Sing Se. But I guess I really knew I liked her a little while after I joined your group."

Aang was silent, and Zuko poked a stick in the dirt for couple of minutes until he spoke up.

"I know you've liked her for a long time before me though Aang."

Aang looked over to Zuko and blushed. Zuko smiled and patted him on the back.

"She feels the same way about you Aang, don't worry."

"You really think so?" Aang asked, his spirits rising.

"It's definitely obvious."

Aang was beaming, and airbended a gust of wind that blew him off the log he was sitting on and on his feet. He walked towards Katara's tent, then turned.

"Thanks Zuko."

Zuko smiled and went back to the fire, sighing.

"They were meant for each other." he told himself. "Me and Katara just weren't meant to be."

~~ Aang opened the blue flap that led into the tent and saw that the girls of the group were in a conversation shortly before he arrived, but they were silent, all three of them giving him odd stares.

"I think we'll leave you two alone." Toph said, rising up and pulling Suki out of the tent.

Aang took Suki's place across from Katara and rubbed his arm nervously, not knowing what to say.

"Did you want to tell me something Aang?" Katara asked.

"Yes…I…um…Zuko told me…um…Ba Sing Se…and um…"

Katara raised an eyebrow and lightly touched the avatar's hand.

"It's okay Aang, just tell me."

Aang took a deep breath and spoke.

"Katara, ever since I first saw you when I opened my eyes at the North Pole, I've loved you. I've been trying to find an easy way to tell you my feelings, but I couldn't until now. You risked your life and went into the Spirit World to get me out of there, and I can't thank you enough for it. I just hope that you feel the same way about me and I didn't just make an idiot out of myself."

There was a couple of seconds of awkward silence and Aang sighed and stood up to leave.

"Aang wait." Katara said.

Aang turned back and sat down again.

"Aang, I do like you. A lot. For me its been since that fortune teller told me that I would marry a powerful bender, and when you saved the village from that volcano, I could see that that was you. Aang…I love you too."

Aang was stunned into silence, and simply stared into Katara's eyes. She rolled them, and leaned towards the younger boy.

"Here, maybe this will convince you."

She pressed her lips against his, and he almost instantly wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her towards him. They fell backwards and onto the ground, the whole time still locking lips. They broke after about a minute, both gasping for air. They suddenly heard a quiet giggling behind them and they looked back to see Suki and Toph peeking through the tent flaps. Aang's face went beet red, and Katara pulled some water out of a nearby jug, forming it into a whip and thrashing it at them. The girls yelped and stepped back. Katara laughed and stood up, helping Aang to his feet as well.

"Well, shall we go meet the crowd?" Katara asked, holding out her hand.

"Definitely." Aang replied, taking it.

They kissed one more time before stepping outside the tent to the prying eyes of the rest of the group. Sokka was the first to rush up to them.

"You and Aang? How long has this been-" Sokka was cut off by Suki, who put her hand over his mouth and dragged him away.

With the path free, the new couple went and sat next to the fire. Toph looked in the direction of Aang and gave him a thumbs up.

Suki and Sokka soon returned to the fire, Sokka sporting a large bruise in the center of his forehead.

"So, let's see the lovebirds kiss!" Suki exclaimed.

Sokka and Zuko both flinched a bit, and Katara and Aang looked into each other's eyes. Aang was still a bit shy, so Katara did the work for the both of them, bringing them together for a third kiss. Once they separated, Suki broke into applause.

"I take it they kissed?" Toph asked.

"So Aang," Zuko said loudly as if he was trying to change the subject. "Tomorrow we'll be starting your firebending training. Are you prepared?"

Aang broke eye contact with Katara and turned to Zuko.

"I've been ready for a while now. I know I'll be more careful, and I'll make sure Katara's nowhere near us when I'm practicing."

Katara laughed.

"You'll do fine Aang." She kissed him on the cheek and rose from the log, heading towards her tent.

"I'm going to get some things for dinner. I'll be back."

She blew Aang a kiss, which Aang responded to by turning scarlet again.

"See, I told you that she liked you." Zuko said.

"I guess you were right Zuko. I owe you one."

"Don't mention it."

"Guys, wait. Something's coming this way." Toph said.

"Very funny Toph." Sokka said, sounding both bored and annoyed at the same time.

"No really! From the woods in the west!"

Suki stood up and gasped.

"There's smoke rising up over the trees. What now?"

Aang rose from his spot and crossed over to Appa's saddle, retrieving his glider and spinning it open.

"Toph, can you tell what's coming?" he asked.

Toph knelt down and put her hand on the ground.

"It feels like an entire army!"

Sokka got up and walked over to Aang.

"We should probably pack up Appa and get ready to go."

"You're right." Aang said. "You and Zuko pack up Appa. I'm going to check out what we're up against."

He lifted off the ground and flew into the sky. Shortly after he left, Katara emerged with a pot full of ingredients. When she noticed the concerned look on everyone's faces, she put it down.

"What's going on? Where's Aang?"

"Something's coming Katara. A big something." Suki said, putting her hand on Katara's shoulder.

"And Aang went to see it didn't he?" she said, sounding more and more distressed.

"Don't worry Katara, Aang can handle himself." Sokka said.

"We just got him back from the Spirit World! We can't…I can't lose him again."

She started to tear up, and Sokka pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay Katara. Trust me."

~~ As Aang neared the source of the smoke, the smell of burning wood reached his nose and got more and more intense. Finally, he saw what was causing it. It was an army of hundreds of Fire Nation soldiers, along with dozens of tanks. Off in the distance, was a fleet of Fire Nation blimps. Aang's jaw dropped, and he quickly turned his glider and headed back to the campsite.

~~ When he landed, Zuko and Sokka were finishing packing Appa.

"This is bad guys. It's an army. Soldiers, tanks, blimps, the whole deal. We can't possibly face all of them."

"Why is there an army in the middle of nowhere?" Suki asked.

They all turned to Zuko, who shrugged.

"Why are you all looking at me? I don't know everything about the Fire Nation."

"It doesn't matter. You guys get out of here and I'll hold them off for a while." Aang said.

Katara walked up to him and grabbed his arm as he turned to leave again.

"No Aang. I'm putting my foot down. You're coming with us. I'm not going to let you get hurt again."

"He won't," Zuko said. "Because I'll be with him."

Aang smiled and nodded at the prince, and Katara started tearing up again. Aang pulled her into a hug and kissed her.

"We'll be fine, and we'll catch up soon."

Sokka had helped Toph and Suki up and was waiting for his sister. Katara hugged Zuko, then Aang once more, then grabbed Sokka's hand and climbed into the saddle.

"I love you Aang." she said.

"I love you too Katara. Stay safe." Aang replied.

"Where are we going to meet?" Sokka asked.

"The Western Air Temple's not far away. It's marked on the map. Head there and we'll meet up as soon as we can."

Sokka nodded, then gave the familiar cry of "yip yip", making Appa roar and take off. The two unlikely allies turned to the woods where the sound of cracking trees and roaring flames got closer.

"We can do this Zuko. We'll hold them off for a couple of minutes to buy the others some time, then we'll get out of here."

Zuko said nothing, but nodded in agreement. They braced themselves for the fight, just as the trees just in front of them collapsed.

Author's Note: Ha ha it's a cliffhanger! Yeah I know that's kind of a jerk move from me considering that I said the story was over, but after writing this and reading some…um… "fan" mail, I realized that the story can't be over yet. So yeah, I got a chapter or two left in me. Hell, I might even finish off the series in a way I see fit. I never really liked the cartoon's ending. Kind of anti-climactic. I also realized that I didn't like the Zutara ending shortly after I wrote it so I changed it. So yeah, the story's not over yet. Come back soon for part 3!