DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I love this series so yeah; I don't own any characters or places.

Chapter 7: New Arrivals

During the feast, they suddenly heard a huge bang outside of the great hall. Chief Arnook, Hahn, and all the other people that were in the hall ran outside to see what was the commotion.

"C'mon Aang let's go see what's wrong" Katara yelled over the noise of all the people outside. When they got outside, they saw a huge Fire Nation air balloon surrounded by people. They pushed through the crowd and they saw two people emerge from the air balloon.

"Zuko! Mai!" yelled Katara and Aang together. They ran towards them and hugged them.

"Hey Aang, hey Katara! I'd like you to meet someone" another figure emerged from the air balloon. "This is my mother, Ursa" the figure emerged from the air balloon and stood behind Zuko and put her hand on his shoulder. She was a tall, thin woman with long, black hair. Her clothes were Fire Nation robes but were a little tattered.

"Hello Avatar, it is a pleasure to be in your presence" Ursa said, bowing slightly to Aang.

"Nice to meet you Princess Ursa, this is my girlfriend Katara. We've heard a lot about you," replied Aang, who bowed back in respect. He turned his attention back to Zuko and Mai. "How have you been? How long have you been looking for your mother?" Katara asked.

"Oh yeah we've been all right, we had been searching for my mother for a few months". Mai nudged Zuko and coughed. "Oh and Mai and I are engaged!" he said as he grabbed Mai by the shoulder and pressed her against his side. This took Katara by surprise and she squealed and hugged Mai and Zuko tightly. Zuko was now eighteen years old and Mai was seventeen. They hadn't seen them for a year and when they last saw them, they had just gotten back together after the war had ended. Aang's stomach growled and he remembered that he hadn't eaten any of the salad that was waiting for him inside.

"Shall we go inside? It's quite cold for Katara out here" Aang said as he nudged Katara and she heard his stomach growl and got the message quickly. She shivered and they started to walk back inside the great hall.

Chief Arnook welcomed the Princess and Fire Lord and his fiancée happily. Hahn was quieter than he was before and he seemed to be in discomfort to have the Fire Nation in his homeland. Last time Fire Nation was in the Northern Water Tribe, they attacked the city and destroyed many of their buildings and even killed the Moon Spirit, this caused Arnook's daughter Yue to sacrifice herself and become the new Moon Spirit. This was a disadvantage for Hahn as he was supposed to be Yue's fiancée and he only wanted to marry her because her father was the Chief. Sokka had grown to dislike, even hate him. Sokka had loved Yue before Suki and it always makes him remember her when he looks at a full moon.

"So where were you hiding for so long Princess Ursa?" Katara asked as she took some more salad from the bowl on the table. Ursa hadn't been called "Princess Ursa" for so long that at first she didn't realise that Katara was talking to her. "Er, Princess Ursa?" Katara softly nudged Ursa on the arm and asked her the question again. This startled Ursa at being called a "Princess".

"Oh sorry, I haven't been addressed to by being called a Princess in such a long time, please call me Ursa" she said and gave Katara a very heart warming smile. "I had been living underground with the help of some Earthbenders. There were many people living underground with me, some refugees, Airbenders, some –"

"Airbenders! Where are they Ursa, please tell me" this had gotten Aang's attention and he literally flew over to Ursa and was begging to her.

"Er… um, I'm not sure Avatar, I'm pretty sure the city is underneath one of the Air Temples. I'd be able to help you find the underground city for you" she looked really unsure if she was saying the right thing. "May I ask you why you want to know where the Airbenders are?"

"He believes he may be the last Airbender, we want to find them and prove himself wrong," Katara said, pausing to get her breath.

"But you're not the last Airbender, there are hundreds, even thousands living underground. They didn't even know that the Avatar was reincarnated into their nation and that the war was going to happen."

"Aang hasn't seen his people for a hundred years, he needs them, and they need to see the Avatar."

"Will you come with us and try to find my people, please Ursa?" Aang asked, with a puppy dog look on his face. Ursa had to give in; the only problem was Zuko and Mai.

"Well, Zuko do you want to help your friends? It will lead us to spend more time together. I really want to help the Avatar and his girlfriend. Do you want to go?" she asked Zuko eagerly. Zuko looked at Mai, who nodded and smiled back and nodded to his mother happily.

"Then it's all settled! We'll leave in a few days to the Northern Air Temple." After the huge feast, Katara yawned and signalled to Aang that it was time to go to bed. With the new arrivals of Zuko, Mai and Ursa, there was only one room in the palace for Katara and Aang, which meant that they had to share a bed to Aang's great pleasure. Katara left Aang at the table to go and get ready to bed, with Aang following behind her. He followed her until she closed the door in his face. Soon after though, she opened the door and let him into their bedroom. They both crawled into bed and Katara took out some of her Waterbending scrolls and they both studied them quietly. After an hour, Katara yawned again and packed away the Waterbending scrolls. She kissed Aang on the lips; he pushed against her lips with some force. Aang thought that she was going to reject his forcing kiss, but she accepted it with some force of her own. Aang wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Aang's heart was beating so fast that he could feel it in his ears. 'No! Not yet Aang, wait!' yelled a voice in Aang's mind. Aang leaned out of the kiss and saw a disappointed look on Katara's face.

"What's wrong Aang, don't you want me?" she looked at him with a puppy-dog look on her face.

"Yes Katara, I do want you, I really do. It's just that, I want us to get married first" 'finally I said it, it wasn't that hard. I practically just proposed, right?' this caught Katara by surprise. She leaned further away. Aang had to make his case believable. "Katara, I… it's just that I'm only fourteen, and your not even sixteen yet. Let's just wait, please Katara." Katara had looked away from him, obviously thinking to herself. "Katara, look at me please" Katara looked at him with her puppy-dog eyes "I love you Katara, very much. I believe that we should be married first before our relationship gets intimate. Katara if you love me enough, will you wait for me?" now he had puppy dog eyes as he looked at Katara.

"Oh… okay Aang, for you I'll wait." She leaned in and kissed Aang and held his face in her hands. When they stopped kissing, she blew out the candle and they slept peacefully through the night.