I don't own A:TLA but I do wish I did. It would be nice. I do own this plot though and any random characters I add in.

Aang drifted out of the ceremonial hall, his feet dragging on the ground. Behind him, Mai trailed hesitantly. He began to walk towards the ice where Katara and Sokka had first found him, wanting to relive some of the best memories. He felt a breath of air rushing over his bare scalp and snapped open his glider.

"My Lord! Avatar! Aang!" Mai called to him as he drifted into the starry night sky, leaving him alone with only the echo of her voice. With a gentle sigh, Aang propelled himself away from her haunted gold eyes and into the arms of his memories. Flying over the village, now town, Aang saw the single light on in the house that the newly wedded Katara and Zuko were staying in. With another sigh, this time heavier, he created a gust that blew him all the way to the shore.

Aang was surprised to see that the remains of his ice sphere were still there. He sat on the crafted ice bench that he had fashioned in the ruins the last time he was there, memories flowing unbidden through his mind.

Flashback to a month before the wedding

"Aang. What are you talking about?"She looked at him strangely. "You can't love me! It's what I've been trying to tell you. My father has organised a marriage for me. I'm to marry a fire nation man to show that they aren't evil anymore."

"Your father wouldn't force you to marry anyone you didn't love. I know Sokka would get angry if that happened as well." His gray eyes met her blue ones and in them was a question she didn't want to answer.

"That's the problem Aang. I do love him now. I have grown to love him unconditionally." Her voice was soft and guilty. She looked at him with regret, avoiding looking at his crestfallen face.

Aang growled under his breath before turning to kiss her softly. "Well just remember that I will always love you no matter what. Maybe we can be friends?" He smiled hopefully and stood up, holding out his hand for her to take. "Let me show you one last thing before our paths separate." She took his hand gratefully and stood up from the bench of ice. As she watched, he blew the whistle for Aapa and they waited in each others arms as the great sky bison landed with a thud before them. Aang leaped up and onto his life friend, pulling Katara with him. He sat beside her and gently took the reins, drifting into the sky.

"I do love you Aang. But I love him more. And you have duties that you have to attend to." She smiled at him. "I'm sure you can find someone to love other than unremarkable me."

"Katara. Let us just have one night where nothing else exists but us. Tomorrow it will be forgotten and lost in the depths of memories. No repercussions. Let me love you wholly and let yourself feel the same." His pleading ran straight to a part of her heart that she had blocked out when she decided to marry Zuko. The part that loved Aang.

"There will be no results, but I see your point. Let's throw away our futures at this moment and embrace the present and past." She smiled at him and led him away from Aapa's reins, slowly kissing him and pushing him into Aapa's back, against the saddle. "I love you Aang." She groaned into his mouth before breaking away and removing their clothes.

"I love you too. Forever and always." He murmured as they fell into each others embrace. A kind of blissful oblivion.

End Flashback

Aang let out a strangled wail at his memory of that time together, collapsing on the ground in a hopeless wreck.

'Aang!' He turned around at the sound of his voice to see Mai running along the ice towards him. Her long black hair streamed out behind her in two long braids, her golden eyes flashing in the rising starlight. 'We were all worried about you Avatar.' She knew better by now to think that Aang wanted her company and attention. The only person he wanted love from was Katara, and she had been reft from his grasp. Despite that, she laid one hand on his shoulder in a gesture if compassion and he leaned into that small amount of human emotion.

'You don't understand. She was everything to me.' He let out another bereft wail and laid his head on her shoulder.

"I do understand Aang. Zuko put us together so that he and Katara could live happily. After all, we were inconveniences. You were a danger to their relationship because of your love for Katara and I was a danger becuse of my love for Zuko. Let's try and make this work even though I am certain it won't. After all, we can wait for them to realise that they don't really love each other. Then we can swoop in and take back our loved ones. I promise I won't love you or expect you to love me." Her voice rose in volume as she neared the end of her speech, waiting until the end to deliver the climatic finish. Aang stared at her for a second before nodding his agreement.

"I agree with your terms Mai. For the mutual cause of our loved ones." Aang sighed and watched her lead him back to town, remembering the single light that had been on the night before in Zuko and Katara's house. "Katara my love, someday we will be together." He murmured under his breath.

Hihi. Again, it WILL be Kataang eventually. Manipulative!Mai I think. And probably a bit of Manipulative!Zuko Katara and Aang are going to be the innocents caught in web of lies and deceit.