A/N: Sorry it took so long! School has been super busy for the past few weeks and I have standardized testing starting up. This chapter is short, but mostly because it is setting the tone of the next chapter which is actually a very important one. I have a very minimal amount of homework tomorrow, so expect another update in the late afternoon. For now, please enjoy and review. God bless!

Disclaimer: I don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

For once in her life, Katara hated being right.

The sight that reached lay before her, was one not many would be able to stomach. Somehow though, she looked on with dry eyes as the bison under her released a low groan of remorse. The view was similar to the one they had left behind a number of days ago, except in the place of fire there was only ash, dust, and bones.

It was sickening.

Aang hadn't said a word, his eyes glued to the sky ahead of them, his hands gently easing into the motions of landing Appa. She knew he saw it all though, probably more than she saw. He was seeing every friend he had ever played with, every teacher that had ever lent a helping hand, and every person he had passed daily without saying a word to. They were only now but a skeleton of who they used to be.

Literally.

The once majestic spiraling towers of The Southern Air Temple were now tinged grey from the smoke and fire that had been unleashed upon them. Even the sky looked remorseful as dark storm clouds gathered but refused to release the deluge they surely carried. She figured that was probably how Aang felt right not. Heavy with emotions and tears, but desperately trying to keep them in.

The deluge didn't come when they landed, Aang as stony faced as he had been in the air while Appa firmly placed his feet upon the ground. It broke Katara's heart to hear the giant animal sniffling. Patting his furry side, she murmured a few words of comfort as Aang looked up the mountain a ways. They were a few levels down from the entrance of the temple and the air ball field, but that would only take a few moments on foot to conquer. She figured he was probably trying to prepare himself mentally for the things he was about to see, rather than in which direction they would be traveling.

"Stay here, Appa."

The bison gave a low grumble of protest, but his master paid him no heed. Katara watched on as Aang looked over the cliff's edge to the earth below.

"I don't understand how they were able to get up here."

The young girl heaved a sigh, leaning over the side of the saddle and resting her arms against its rough material, "Aang, I don't think it's safe for us to be here."

"We're fine, Katara. They finished their job."

"But maybe they know that not all the airbenders were here at the time of the attack. They could be waiting for us up there, and we could be walking directly into a trap."

"I don't care. I'm still going up there to see if my people need me."

The girl bit her lip to keep herself from being harsh. His voice was so cold and despondent that it made her want to give in to her own despair, but she couldn't with him like this.

"Aang, I know you saw what I did."

The young man stood rigidly with his back towards her, the line of his jaw tightening as he thought back to exactly what he had seen. He saw the same picture she had, all the bones thrown into careless piles and the undeniable amounts of ash that littered the stones of the courtyard. But he couldn't bring himself to believe that everyone was dead, not his people. Not Gyatso.

"I just need to be sure," His voice was quiet, with a certain amount of coldness that was incredibly uncharacteristic of the airbender, "You can stay here if you want, but I have to go."

Katara seriously thought about it for a moment, a bitterness arising in her stomach in direct response to the attitude Aang was using towards her. But one look at him was all she needed to decide what she was going to do.

He had turned to her now, his colorful array of robes a stark contrast to the dreary atmosphere around him. His face was hard, but she could see right through the false harshness he was trying to convey in response to the emotions that were currently at battle within him.

Sliding down Appa's leg, Katara used subtle airbending to dismount from the giant bison's saddle. Landing firmly on the ground, she gave Aang a gentle smile,
though he did not give one to her in return.

"I'm going with you."

Though his only response was a terse nod, Aang couldn't deny that his spirit lifted a bit at the fact that she would be accompanying him.
The feeling soon was gone after he realized what she was going to walk into with him. A freshly made graveyard littered with the bones of people who he had been chatting with only a few weeks ago.

Soon the two were making their way up the path, the only noise coming from either of them being the sound of their footfalls. As they got closer to their destination though, and as Aang's face began to fall a bit more, Katara closed the gap of separation between them and gently wrapped her tender fingers around his elbow. She felt him relax a bit under her touch, despite his rather abrupt attitude.

"Thank you," Aang murmured quietly, leaning his head to the side so that she could see the small smile that was on his features.
She grinned softly, happy that he was finally returning the smile she had given him earlier.

They walked in silence for a few more moments before Aang finally voiced what he had been wondering since they had arrived at the temple.

"How does this not upset you?" His question was honest,
yet their was a slight tone of disapproval in his words as he glanced to the side at her.

Katara had to fight the urge to lash out and scream at him that she had practically been forced to watch her people burn, but she held her tongue. She had to be gentle with Aang. He was different.

The young man had always been one of a sensitive nature, and Katara had discovered that first hand when she had met him all those years ago. While Appa was sick and Aang was staying at The Western Air Temple temporarily, he would sleep in the bison stables with his giant pet, tending to him during the night while Katara was asleep. Sometimes when she would arrive in the morning, she would see the remains of tears on the young boy's pale cheeks and the wrinkle of concern that seemed to be permanently etched between his brows. He was just a caring person by nature, one who responded to tragedy and illness in a very unique way. He avoided the worst case scenario, yet he also tended to dwell on it as well.

That's why she needed to be careful with her words and temperament. While she was one to suffer in silence, and trudge through whatever life threw at her, Aang was not. He expected everyone to react like him, their silence and lack of hope a symbol of disinterest on their part towards whatever he thought was worth grieving over.

Swallowing her biting response to his question, Katara sighed, "Aang, it does upset me. I had to watch people burn that night, and so did you. But no amount of putting myself in danger and searching the Air Temples is going to change the past. Fire Lord Sozin planned this, he calculated every move. He wanted to murder the Avatar, and he did. That's the end of it. It's not about lack of caring, it's just how I grieve. Through hope for the future, and a bit of logic."

"I don't look at things that way."

"Well you and I are very different people," She reminded him of this gently, squeezing his arm as she watched the crease of his forehead deepen, causing his tattoo to wrinkle, "But that's good. I know you are hurting right now, and I'm just trying to make it easier for you."

By this time, they had reached the entrance of the temple courtyard. Both stood and looked on past the gate with a sadness evident in their matching, stormy eyes.

"You don't have to do this, Aang."

But knowing the burden he carried upon his shoulders, and the amount of guilt that currently circled within the pit of his stomach, Aang shook his head with a reluctant determination, "Yes, I do."