A/N: Again, better late than never? Lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of it's characters.

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It was a warm summer's day in the Earth Kingdom as Katara made her way through the market, collecting fruit and spices along the way. With the war having ended a year ago, she was finally starting to live some semblance of a normal life. As normal a life you could lead while being the Avatar's girlfriend.

The subject of her affection was the reason she found herself pushing through sweating bodies and fighting to find the rare ingredients that she required. Aang had asked her to accompany him to the city when he was summoned there on official Avatar business. He would be in meetings throughout the entire day and since the end of the war meant the beginning of their relationship; Katara couldn't have thought of a better time to plan a surprise for her boyfriend. And since their relationship officially began here in the city she couldn't have come up with a better location either.

A few months back she and Aang had been speaking of the Air Nomads' culture and of their many sacred traditions. They soon came upon the subject of food and that instantly gave Katara the idea to prepare an authentic Air Nomad meal for him. She read several scrolls and found a few recipes that seemed easy enough to collect ingredients for.

Once she purchased all that she needed from the market, she hurried back to their temporary home and began cooking. She crafted vegetable dumplings, sweet buns, rice and one of the Air Nomads' signature Fruit Pies.

Katara became very nervous as the sun started to set and she realized that Aang would be home any moment. She worried that the food she crafted wouldn't taste the same or it would just make him miss his homelands even more as opposed to showing him that his people can and will live on.

"Something smells delicious!"

Aang's booming voice from the front room startled Katara from her thoughts. She hadn't even heard him come in and was forced to rush towards him to keep him from ruining the surprise in the kitchen.

"Wait!"

Aang stopped short. "What?"

"Stay here," She insisted. "Don't come in the kitchen until I tell you."

The Avatar smiled. "Okay."

She rushed back to the kitchen and set their plates before placing the desert in the ice box to chill. Then she removed her apron and fixed her dress before going back in the living area to retrieve her boyfriend.

"Come on," Katara extended her hand.

Aang happily accepted it and let her lead him in the dining area. The entire room was lit up by pretty paper lanterns and a beautiful silk table cloth was draped across the table. The Avatar looked at his girlfriend in shock and awe once he noticed all the familiar dishes laid out before him.

"Happy Anniversary."

"But…. How did you…?" He was stunned.

She shrugged. "I found some old scrolls with recipes on them when we were going through the old air temples. Thought today was a good a day as any to surprise you."

"I'm sorry, Katara," Aang's face sunk. "I've been so busy that I didn't even realize it'd been a year since we…. I mean, I should have known since it was right after the war, but I'm so sorry."

Katara shushed him and squeezed his hand. "Don't be sorry! You deserve this dinner. You saved the world and you've worked so hard in the past year to keep balance in the world."

He smiled at her and cupped her face in his hands. "I will make this up to you."

"Well, you haven't even tried the food yet so there's nothing to make up for yet," She let out a nervous laugh.

"I know it will be perfect," He kissed her softly. "I love you."

"I love you too," She kissed him again before taking a step back. "Now let's eat!"

Aang tore through the food with a gusto that Katara had never seen in him before. There wasn't much talking between them besides the hums of enjoyment from his side of the table and the quiet laughs from her's.

"All of it is absolutely delicious," Aang managed between bites. "Tastes just like it did a hundred years ago."

"I'm glad you like it," She replied as she finished her last dumpling. "Save room for dessert?"

Her boyfriend nodded his head vigorously in response. "We'll eat it on the balcony." Katara cleared their plates and made some fresh tea before grabbing the fruit pie. After loading their treat onto a serving platter with the tea, she met Aang outside where he sat with Momo on his shoulder.

"He heard you say dessert and came flying in," Aang joked.

Katara laughed and placed the tray before them. She snuggled close to him and watched intently as he took the first bite.

Bitter.

That was the only word he could think to describe the taste as he swallowed the first piece. He hoped his displeasure didn't resonate on his face as he tried to smile at Katara. "Delicious!"

"Really?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed. "You did such a good job, thank you so much for this."

Katara smiled widely and Aang's heart fluttered. "You're welcome."

While he knew he shouldn't lie to the girl he loved, he couldn't tell her the truth. She had worked so hard to make this day so great for him that he figure one little white lie wouldn't hurt. So, he continued to praise her on her cooking skills throughout the night.

Weeks later when they met back up with Toph and Sokka, she insisted that she make it for the two of them to show off her newly mastered baking skills.

"Listen," Aang started. "You have to do me this favor."

"You mean to tell me that the Avatar is telling me to lie to my one and only sister?"

"This means that the Avatar himself has lied to his girlfriend," Toph pointed out.

"Katara is really proud of herself," he sighed. "I love her so that means I'd rather pretend to love anything she makes as long as it makes her happy."

Sokka patted him on the shoulder. "You're going to have to eat a lot of disgusting fruit pies then, my friend."

And Aang did. The years went by and at least once per year –typically on their anniversary–Katara cooked him a very bitter, bland tasting fruit pie. And every time he ate it like it was the most delicious thing he had ever eaten. He suffered through the dessert countless times just to see her smile.

Still, it's hard to keep a secret and it's exponentially more difficult to keep one when you have children. Once Bumi was old enough to talk, he had his first fruit pie and it was inevitably his last. Kids aren't born knowing the concept of politely pretending to enjoy something for the sake of other's feelings. No, all kids are brutally honest and Bumi was no different.

As soon as he swallowed the first bite, he was immediately spitting it back up complaining of the unpleasant taste. "Ewe! This is yucky!"

"Bumi," Katara warned. "Don't be picky. It's a sweet, you should love it!"

"It's not sweet."

Aang took a bite of his pie, "Bumi that's not nice to say."

It was in that moment that Katara really watched as Aang took another bite of the pie. He didn't realize she was watching as he made an unhappy face and swallowed. She couldn't believe her eyes. He hated the fruit pie that much was obvious. But why did he continue to let her make them every year?!

The rest of the day was spent with Katara giving her husband the cold shoulder. Every word she spoke to him was short and he was left feeling very confused by night fall. Once they got their son to bed, Katara confronted him in their shared room.

"You hate my fruit pies don't you?"

A little taken aback Aang replied with, "I love those fruit pies! What are you talking about?"

"You're lying!" She exclaimed. "You've been lying to me for the past ten years! I saw your face today as you were eating, you didn't think I saw but I did. You don't like the fruit pies."

"Katara," He started. "I haven't been lying to you… I've just been….bending the truth."

She put her hands on his hips and he knew he was in trouble. "Is that supposed to make it better?"

"I don't know," He scratched the back of his neck. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Well now I'm embarrassed for having cooked you all these fruit pies that you can barely stomach. Why didn't you tell me the truth?"

"Do you remember the first night you cooked me a fruit pie from those Air Nomad scrolls?"

She nodded. "It was our first anniversary."

"Exactly," he moved across the room towards her. "That day was a day I'll never forget. I had spent all day in meeting after meeting and when I got home I was greeted with the inviting smell of my homelands. You had cooked all this wonderful food for me and everything was so perfect. You worked so hard and I didn't have the heart to tell you that baking isn't your strong suit."

Katara stubbornly stood her ground as he put his hands on her waist. "You should have just told me the truth. I looked like a fool cooking all these pies."

"You could never look like a fool," he smiled and kissed her neck as he pulled her into his arms. "Every time you have cooked me a fruit pie over the years, I'm always taken back to that day. It's honestly one of my favorite memories between us."

"Really?" Katara placed her arms on his shoulders, finally relaxing in his embrace.

"Uh huh," he hummed. "I love you, Katara. And I'd eat thousands of your terrible fruit pies if I knew it'd make you happy."

"When did you become such a smooth talker?" She teased.

He shrugged and pulled her close as he kissed her deeply. Katara didn't make another fruit pie for as long as they lived. Instead, they started a new tradition in which Aang crafted the very same dessert for her every anniversary. His were much better, but neither of them would ever admit that for the sake of Katara's pride.

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A/N: The story for this prompt just flowed out of my fingertips. I'm really happy with how it turned out. Drop a review and let me know if you feel the same. : )