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Hey everybody. Sorry I've not updated for a few weeks. I've just been in WASHINGTON and got back this morning! The inauguration was... amazing! Although I was too far away to see him get personally sworn in, I saw him later at the parade to the White House. Go President Obama!

Anyway, sorry about throwing politics in your face. I'm exhausted from a six hour car ride though, so yeah... I'm not sane right now (like I ever was).

So basically this chapter sets up the next chapter. Don't get me wrong, stuff happens. It's the longest chapter I've written so far! So... yeah... enjoy!

"Twinkletoes, get the door!" bellowed Toph from her room.

Aang, who was busy in the kitchen helping Katara prepare a meal for lunch, hurried into the common room to see Sokka already at the door.

"Who is it?" asked Aang.

Sokka shot him an annoyed glance to communicate that he had no idea who was outside the door. He was still angry with Aang and Katara for creating the incident on the street earlier that morning. He slid open the doors to reveal Zuko and Mai standing atop the porch.

"Hello Sokka, Aang," Zuko addressed both of them with a smile. "Mai and I wanted to come and hang out with you guys before we leave tomorrow."

"You're leaving tomorrow? But we still have several more meetings," said Sokka, slightly shocked.

"I know, but we must return to the Fire Nation as soon as possible. My absence at such an unstable time is dangerous. Without my presence, a rebellion could occur," Zuko explained as he stepped through the door with Mai.

"Oh," Sokka scratched the back of his head. He had not thought of the political consequences of Zuko remaining in Ba Sing Se. After one hundred years of war against the rest of the world, the Fire Nation citizens were not likely very happy that Zuko had ended it by restoring the two nations they had conquered. Many could consider the act treasonous and support the restoration of Ozai to the crown, or worse, Azula. Well, maybe not Azula.

"So this is your house? It's quite nice." Zuko commented as he looked around, however Mai remained silent.

"Um, thanks," Sokka laughed uneasily. He had adjusted to, and even come to like having Zuko in the family; however Mai being around was still something to get used to. She rarely had something to say; he'd never even seen her smile... except when she's with Zuko.

"Where are the others?" Zuko asked, snapping Sokka out of his thoughts. Aang answered for him.

"Toph and Suki are in their rooms. I was helping Katara fix lunch before you arrived. Would you like to eat with us?"

"Sure," Zuko nodded.

"I'll help Katara make an extra two bowls," Aang said as he turned to reenter the kitchen.

Everyone had gathered around the table to eat lunch. Zuko was explaining that the search for his mother was going smoothly. Intelligence reports indicated that she had taken up residence in the southeastern Earth Kingdom province of Beiling.

"So, you're going back to the Fire Nation," Toph stated as she crammed a large amount of rice into her mouth.

"We will leave tomorrow with an escort party," Zuko said.

"Why are you leaving on foot? Can't you use an airship?" Suki asked as she passed the near empty bowl of rice to Aang. He was last to be served.

"We will fly back to the Capital, but the Generals recommended that we keep the airships out of Ba Sing Se so we don't upset the citizens. Fire Nation airships might no be a very welcoming sight right after the occupation, so we'll meet them at the rendezvous point."

"I see," said Suki. "And where is that?"

"I don't know," said Zuko as he sat down his chop sticks. "We'll be picked up tomorrow and escorted there."

"You would think that they would let you know where you're going ahead of time," Sokka remarked as he shoveled that last of his rice into his mouth.

"Listen guys," Zuko began. "This might be the last day Mai or I see you in a long time, so we wanted to invite you to a dinner tonight. The Earth King has invited us to dine with him and suggested that we bring guests. I was hoping that you all would join us."

Aang shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the others, except for Katara, gave their approval. She glanced over at Aang, silently telling him to say something.

"Well um, actually Zuko… Katara and I… we uh—we can't because we already had plans," Aang fumbled. He knew that he'd sounded impolite and frowned as he saw Zuko's expression drop slightly. He felt Mai's gaze boring into the side of his face as he shrunk lower into his seat.

"What he means Zuko is that we have already made arrangements for tonight. I'm really sorry but we weren't aware of your plans," Katara stepped in.

Zuko's face lifted again as he gave her a half smile.

"I understand."

Suddenly, an idea came to Aang.

"We could do both!" he exclaimed. Everyone's gaze fell upon him as he continued to explain. "Zuko, when is the dinner?"

Zuko bit his lower lip as he tried to recall a time.

"At dusk," Mai stated for him.

"Alright, we'll go to your dinner and then, Katara-" he turned to address her, beaming. "-you and I can go out afterwords" Aang's grin fell as he realized that he had just revealed their date to the group.

Katara's cheeks now resembled a blooming red rose as an awkward hush fell over the table. It was Toph who characteristically broke the silence.

"Well, is anyone going to make some more rice, or are you all going to leave for the blind girl to do?" she exclaimed animatedly.

The group burst into laughter and the tension from earlier melted away.

Aang combed his short hair flat as he prepared for the dinner with Earth King Kuei in his bedroom. The setting sun cast an orange hue in his bedroom, making his skin glow brightly in the mirror. Aang smiled at himself before slipping on his formal Air Nomad robes and leaving his room. Sokka and Toph were waiting on him in the common room. Toph wore formal Earth Kingdom noblewoman attire while Sokka was wearing a traditional green and black noble's robe. He did not own any formal Watertribe dress, so he and Suki had done some last minute emergency shopping. Toph had unmercifully teased him by saying that he was "assimilating" to Ba Sing Se culture already. Sokka had reminded Toph that he was a Watertribe warrior, not an "over-stuffed, pompous noble".

Aang approached Sokka who smiled up at him from his seat on the floor. He had obviously forgiven Aang for embarrassing him earlier that day.

"Are the girls ready yet?" asked Aang.

"No, but you know girls. Always fussing over how they look," Sokka sighed as he looked over the new hilt of his sword. The old hilt had been damaged from the plummet off of the airship, so Sokka had crafted a new one from scratch.

"Not me!" piped up Toph while cleaning her ear with her pinky finger.

"Well, normal girls," smirked Sokka before receiving a punch to the gut.

I'm sure they will be out soon. I showed them how to properly dress for the occasion," Toph said casually.

As if on queue, the two girls emerged from the hallway.

Aang blushed as Katara came into view. She sported a similar outfit to the one she used in the groups failed attempt to meet the Earth King months before. Her hair was pulled back into a traditional Earth Kingdom design, wrapped around a fan atop her head. The off-green dress she wore was, in fact, slightly too large for her, but she didn't seem to care as she made her way over to Aang.

"You might want to close your mouth before you swallow the fly buzzing around your face, dear," Suki smirked as she watched Sokka gape at her. She must admit, she did think she looked rather beautiful.

Suki wore a long, dark-green and yellow gown, adorn with gold lace around the hems of her shoulders. Her hair was pulled back to the crown of her head and pinned with a small, gold bracket. A large arboreal flower was placed to the right of her head, its stem buried into her hair. Makeup covered her cheeks in a deep red with green shadow above her dark blue eyes.

Sokka was dumbstruck, unable to speak. She smiled and glided forward.

"Well, if everyone is done exchanging googlely eyes, we can go," Toph complained as they laughed.

The sun had long left the sky when the door to the house had reopened to the common room. Aang and Katara burst through the room and into the hallway to change before the other three could even hobble their way inside.

"How can they even think about going out again? I'm stuffed and exhausted," Toph moaned as she fell onto the sofa.

Sokka and Suki seated themselves beside her.

"It's their first date, Toph," said Suki as she leaned back into the cushion. "Wow Sokka, you were right. This is useful."

Sokka smiled and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. Toph blew the banes out of her face and frowned.

"Yeah, I still don't see what the big deal is," she said.

About that time, Aang burst into the living room. He was dressed casually, wearing his brown pants and a loose fitting green shirt over a tunic.

Suki shuttered at the scene. Aang had no sense in clothing. Sokka had tried to take Aang shopping for outfits; however he ended up shopping alone. Aang had hurriedly bought three outfits, without trying them on, and flew out of the store on his glider, thus ending their attempts to dress Aang.

Aang happily floated over to the three teenagers lounging on the couch and plopped down beside Toph's head, his silly grin never leaving his face.

"Well, aren't you dull tonight," Toph remarked sarcastically. Aang continued to smile at her the looked up at Sokka and Suki.

"I'm so nervous, I'm shaking all over," Aang stated as he looked to the entrance of the hallway expectantly.

"You'll be fine. You're just going out to dinner with my sister, who you've lived with for over a year now," Sokka said, smirking as he mentioned how long they had known one another.

"You're right, I shouldn't be so nervous," Aang said as he wrung his hands together, before smacking his forehead. "Aw, but what if I mess up or say something stupid or embarrass her or spill my food on her or-"

Aang's ramble was cut short by a hand coming down on the side of his face so hard, it knocked him to the floor.

"Would you just shut up! Everything will go fine. You're getting worried over nothing," Toph scolded Aang harshly as he rubbed his stinging cheek. "Now sit up and wait on her to come."

Aang didn't have to wait, for Katara walked into the room just as he got to his feet. Aang felt as though his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful.

Katara had let her hair flow freely down her back. She had taken strands of hair above her temples and braided them, pulling them back to meet at the back in place of her normal hair loops. She wore a simple sleeveless light-green dress that fell to her feet with two small gold bracelets on each of her wrists.

She smiled as she approached Aang.

"Are you ready?" she asked Aang shyly, then scowled at her snickering brother over his shoulder.

"Yes," Aang smiled back at her as he took her arm.

"Than we shall leave, Lord Aang," she grinned playfully as they strolled to the front door.

"As you wish, Lady Katara."

Toph sat her feet onto the ground to watch them as they left.

"Did you see his face when she came in? I thought he was going to pass out on the floor!" Sokka laughed, but Suki silenced him with a quick jab to the ribs.

"Shh, they can still hear you," she hissed.

From outside on the porch, Katara's voice carried inside to the group as they left.

"Oh my Aang, why is your face red?"

So, did you like? As any girl reading this can tell, I don't know a thing about makeup, so I probably used the wrong vocabulary. My bad! I'm expecting about three more chapters in this story, then I will begin writing another Kataang fic (and a Teen Titan one, gotta love that show). I'm either going to do an Action/Drama one or a Trajedy (If you prefer me to do one of these genres or have any other ideas, PM about them). I've already gotten some feedback from Hqudsi45, and liked the idea(s) a lot! As always, feel free to review!