Disclaimer: …There's no need to explain this, is there?

Dedication: This one I'm dedicating to myself: for building up the motivation to actually update – and so soon, too! (I honestly feel like standing on a soap box with a massive trophy and one of those huge checks while people in the crowd throw flowers at my feet. But that would be mucho narcissistic, wouldn't it? I suppose I'll have to content myself with this.)

A/N:

I know! Surprise, surprise! Another update! (I would say, "Bow down minions!" in a totally kidding and playful sort of way… but I don't think I have the right to what with my updating track record.)

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Toph was disappointed. But definitely not surprised. After all, if Aang was some omnipotent, all-knowing Avatar, not only would he be completely unbearable to live with, but she and Sokka would be out of a job.

Everyone in the group played a role.

Sokka was the mind. Their very own "idea guy:" always creative, always amusing. He opened up the possibilities for them and gave them a good reason to hope for success.

Katara was the mother. She'd nurtured them and held them together. She'd coddled them and nagged them and healed them and punished them until they were blue in the face. But her "parenting" skills were always of use. Always necessary.

Zuko was the man. He was intimately acquainted with both the good and evil in people – and in himself. He'd played so many roles in his lifetime, but in all of them, he was no more, no less, than a human. He'd made mistakes and apologies. He'd been both betrayer and betrayed. He was redeemable. He was/is a representation of the whole of humanity.

Toph easily admitted to herself that she was the maturity and muscle in the group. Someone being lazy? She'll knock them flat on their ass with a handy-dandy earthbending move. Someone feeling sorry for themselves? She'll draw them aside and let her thoughts loose on them like a handful of knives. Knives that would hurt, sure, but they needed it to mature and get over themselves.

Aang had been the mission. The impetus. The force that brought them together and gave them a direction in which to move. He was their star pupil. And even after defeating Ozai, his role remained the same. There was still so much that he did not understand. So much for him to learn.

Like now for example.

"Twinkletoes…" she drawled. "I know I'm not like other girls. In fact, I'm better than other girls. But even I would be insulted if someone called me fat. I would know it's not true. And the spirits know I wouldn't show that the comment had hurt me… but it would. You understand?"

Aang gave her a blank look.

Toph sighed. "Never tell a woman that she's fat. Never mention 'fat' in the same sentence with a woman's name…"

"But Katara's a girl!" the Avatar protested.

"Wrong," the earthbender replied. "Katara is a young woman. Woman. She's old enough to marry and start having kids. She's already acted as a mother to you and the rest of us when we were out saving the world." A pause. "You, Aang, are still a boy. You have matured a lot, I grant you, but not enough."

Then, deciding that the boy needed some time to think her words over, Toph turned and walked away.

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Katara was enjoying the feel of the sand against her skin and the noise of the waves crashing against the beach. Closing her eyes to the sunlight, she lied down and breathed deeply, trying to figure out what she wanted.

No. That was a lie. She needed to choose who she wanted.

Was it just her imagination, or were all her potential love interests weird, messed-up, or unsuitable?

Haru was… awkward. He was not confident. I mean, that mustache he showed up with before the eclipse invasion… he was trying too hard to be a man. To impress her.

Jet was jaded. Nothing the Fire Nation did would ever satisfy him. There was no room in his heart for forgiveness or growth. Mentally, he was stuck as the vengeful little boy whose parents had been killed.

And Aang… he was a little brother. The son-figure. Someone she could guide and shape and depend on to need her.

But Zuko was different. He was just as broken as she was. Like her, he was still finding his way. There were pieces of them missing. From the fate of their mothers. The abandonment of their fathers. Their relationships with their siblings. Their own separate periods of exile. For him, his exile was literal. Hers began the moment she was forced to grow up in a tribe consisting of old geezers and babies.

Katara knew that they completed each other. She wanted it to be so. She wanted it because she cared for him. Loved him.

Whoa, there! The waterbender thought, halting that thought process. Love? Me and Zuko? Could it possibly be…? With a sigh, she concluded that it probably already was. Now she just felt like banging her head against a wall. The likelihood of her and Zuko happening was… well… some really tiny number that might never come to fruition.

"Hey, Katara," an all too familiar voice greeted.

And boy, did she know who it was. Yes, it was the same person who turned her cheeks red and her brain to mush. The individual who haunted her thoughts and caused her so much concern. The man whose voice soothed and riled her, tender as a caress against her skin yet he made her hot enough to burn.

Zuko… Katara sighed to herself. How could I have misunderstood my own emotions drastically…?

As the firebender sat down beside her on the sand, his toned arm brushed against hers lightly, eliciting a flood of heat and emotion in the young woman to his side.

Katara could feel the warmth rising in her chest and spreading, reddening her cheeks. Slowly and to her great shock and surprise, she could feel the heat traveling lower. Lower than the fluttering, nauseous mess that her stomach had become. Low enough to make her blush turn even redder.

Turning to face his companion, Zuko attempted small talk… "So. The Painted Lady, huh? How did that work out for you?"

And failed.

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Toph was in the happy position to witness the two. And boy, was she enjoying herself! Zuko had been nervous on the walk over… And even with the sand distorting the signals she got off the two, the earthbender could still feel the pounding of Katara's heart and the tell-tale signs of some major lust going on…

If you asked her (not that anyone did, mind you), Toph would say it was about damn time!

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A/N:

Aren't I a good little fanfic writer? I got two chapters out in two days! Two!

Now… let's use an analogy for the situation, shall we? Say I was a dog who just did a trick on command… you guys gonna' throw me a bone already? Hm? Reviews, anyone?