A/N Kind of an inbetween chapter, but necessary!

Katara took the note her grandmother had slipped to her after dinner out of her pocket, as she sat down on the bed that stood in one of the buildings that the younger people of the tribe, the unmarried and the old were sharing. The buildings hadn't changed a lot, as the northerners had not worked at all this week. They had hunted, had gathered the necessary supplies, but had not used their bending to actually do something productive, such as making new buildings.

They had said it was because they took their orders from Maruk, who was busy freezing his ass off in one of the tents close to the igloos. Katara doubted it, to be honest, as she had seen some of the northerners go in and out of the tent. But when confronted, the northerners had said Maruk and his brother were imprisoned, not isolated.

Technically, it was true. But Tui and La… She hated them. At first, she had disliked them for their actions against her tribe, but now, Katara hated them with passion. The only reason she hadn't exploded and beat Maruk into a pulp had been the look Gran Gran had shot at her at the beginning of the council.

That look had said everything. Attack a lawful accuser, and you condemn yourself. Calm. We'll solve it this way, and after, you may kick his ass.

The thought she had been forced to explain her and Aang's actions still made her teethe grit, but at least, it had stopped the gossiping. Sure, now, the women were more than curious about other things, but her grandmother had joked, saying such teasing should be done to both people. And they had listened… So, for six days, she had been left in peace, no questions, no remarks. But she hadn't missed the looks, the amusement.

Opening the note, she began to read.

My love,

One day! One! I believe Appa is getting sick of me talking his ears off, and Momo had fled the place I've been staying. Kanna assured me Momo got back safely, so no worry.

Aang had been slipping these notes to her grandmother each day, as he had been forced to spend his week outside of the village. But the tribe's folk had not been too cruel, and he had been permitted to come back once a day to get food. She had used the same system to let him know how she was doing. It wasn't perfect, as their messages always crossed each other, and they could only respond to each other the next day, but it was better than nothing.

I've been thinking about what you wrote yesterday.

Ah, yes… Thinking about that, Katara knew that that would be their real test. Most people seemed to accept the idea of their marriage, and hadn't really objected, only imposing the one week because of some of the villagers. Katara had tried to guess who they were, suspecting some, but ever too sure. But what she had meant by test, was their living arrangements when Aang got back. In the Water Tribes, you were supposed to share a house with your partner after the marriage. So… If they were forced to act as good tribesmen by the others, then she would insist on that custom.

When I get back tomorrow, we might start an igloo? If that is alright? With both our bending, it could be nice! Perhaps something like the one Kanna has?

Katara smiled. She had put the idea on paper yesterday to make sure that they were on the same page about this… But she had already started.

The first day, under the watchful gaze of the northerners, who had not helped or even begun their own work, Katara had started to liquify the ice and snow around her, forcing it into thick rectangular shapes that she lifted and placed on one another. The blocks were the frozen solidly together. The walls had grown in a few hours, and the waterbender had begun to bend the roof over the walls. At first, she had not thought about it, making them flat. But when her grandmother had come to look at what she had been doing, the old woman had just nudged her in the ribs.

"Planning to get buried alive? Freezing your butt off under a pile of snow is rather unpleasant Kat."

After that joke, her grandmother had been clearer. The flat roof would let the snow of Eternal Moon Season pile up, making sure the roof would cave in after a few days. After that, Katara had formed several small domes, just like the igloos, to make sure it was safe.

Some of the women had come to look at what she was doing the next several days. Most had just looked, open-mouthed, at the low building that was emerging from the ice. It wasn't a masterwork, Katara knew that. She wasn't an architect, she could fight and heal, but making a great building of snow and ice hadn't been included in her training. To be fair, she would like to know how to do that, but it wasn't something she missed either.

But this building, she loved it.

Simply because she was making it for two.

Katara had seen one of the northerners come take a look, shake his head and spit into the snow outside the low building. Ass. Custom dictated a home was to be built by the man, for the woman. But she didn't care, Katara would ever let her decision be influenced by customs. And if she was to bear the consequences, so be it.

Of course, we don't have to! Just an idea!

Smiling at the note, Katara shook her head. However much time they spend together, Aang stayed the bumbling mess, even in writing. Of course they were going to. How else did he suppose they were to… implement… The idea she had whispered to him the day of the council?

She had already dragged her own bags, and Aang's chest, that he had left with Gran Gran, to the new house. It was bare and empty, except for the pile of bags in the corner… But it was theirs if Aang wanted it.

"Kat?" Her grandmother's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she lifted her head to see the old woman stand close by, with a smile on the weathered face. She too could have stayed her, but she had refused, saying her igloo was good enough for her old bones.

"Hey Gran." She smiled, shifting to the left to create some space for the old woman to sit. As she sat down, Katara noticed a small box in the wrinkled hands.

"He is rather impatient to get back." The old hand padded her own fingers, and Katara didn't need to look to know the teasing smile, "And so are you, I can see that in your eyes. So, here." She handed her the box.

Katara took it, glanced inside, and grimaced, quickly slapping it shut.

"Oh, you recognize it, I gather?" Gran Gran sounded rather amused, "Pray, tell me, how would such a good and innocent Water Tribe girl learn about it? Read about it in a certain book?"

"Please stop talking." Katara groaned. She wasn't yet over the fact that Maruk had showed the whole tribe, including her family, their book.

"About what dear? I was just making sure you know what I'm giving you, nothing else." The sheer enjoyment was clear.

"I know." She whispered, shoving the box under the low bed. She knew all too well what disgusting tea those leaves would make… But also that she wouldn't get pregnant thanks to it. So… Gran Gran suspected what she was planning?

"Oh, don't look at me with those curious eyes. Eternal Moon Season? A house to yourself with the airbender? No, I didn't miss the fact that that boy's belonging also went inside. Of course you are going to need it." Gran Gran waved anything she could have answered away, still talking.

"I didn't plough through the snow outside to just give you that, but also, to tell you that Koda came back just now."

Her father had spent his days at the mouth of the bay, keeping watch for the ship with the returning soldiers. Each evening, he came back, shaking his head at the group of women and children that grew in size each evening, only to be disappointed.

"Already?" Katara felt the sliver of hope awaken in her heart. It was still early for him to come back.

"Apparently, the young airbender and he spotted black snow. Not much, but enough for one ship." Gran Gran smiled, "Tui and La, that must be the first time I consider black snow good news. Wonders haven't left the world just yet it seems."

One ship… That would mean the warriors. Bato, Gilak, all the others… Even Alqoak, whom she didn't like on a personal level, but she could imagine his mother would be happy to see her son again. And it would make the place like home like it had not been for years…

"Is Dad sure?" She asked. It could also be wishful thinking, or a Fire Nation ship that had not obeyed Zuko's orders to return to home port. It could mean a thousand things…

"The young airbender lend his beast to Koda, and then went to look for the ship. He would return if he had bad news, otherwise, he would stay on the ship."

Katara bit the inside of her cheek. It was true then. If Aang had spotted anything that would raise his suspicions, he would have been back. On his glider, he was faster than Appa. And if he wasn't back… That could only mean one thing.

Standing up, she looked into the room. Some twenty or so women had made this their temporary home, awaiting the return of sons or brothers so they could start planning their houses. As Katara hadn't waited, she could have moved out of this shelter… But she had not wanted to sleep a night alone in the dark, cold house. She too had wanted to wait, understanding for the first time what the women had meant when they had decided to wait…

A house wasn't a home without the people they loved.

And, if Aang and her father were correct, tomorrow would be a busy day, making building and so on.

"I took the liberty of instructing Koda to keep his mouth shut. Better not to give them hope, only to have them dashed." Gran Gran sighed, "To be sure, I gave him something to do."

That was cryptic… The waterbender, still standing, turned her head to face her grandmother, who had a soft smile on her face.

"Ehm… What exactly?" Katara asked, knowing that look. That was Gran Gran's Oh my sweet little otter penguin look. And she used it on only two occasions. The first, and the one Katara preferred, was when her grandmother did something sweet for them. The second, however, was when the old woman was in a teasing mood.

"Well, as you know, Koda had the bed he and your mother used stored away." That, Katara knew. Her father had refused to sleep in the big two-person bed from the day her mother had been killed…

"Yes…"

"And seeing you have nothing in that house that you build, I told him to assemble it in there. At least it will not rot away with the rest of his stuff. And it will make my own igloo a little roomier." The twinkling in the ice blue eyes seemed to say something else entirely, but Katara chose to ignore that.

"Thanks." She answered, feeling a mix between embarrassment and gratitude. Having a bed hadn't actually been something she had thought of, and if she had, she would have had no idea how to get one… She had guessed that they would just make some sort of place to sleep with blankets and sleeping bags… But the idea of having a bed was actually nice.

It would be their only furniture, to be sure, but to have that bed… That was something Katara could appreciate.

"Of course, Koda was grumbling and talking about… something like oogies? I didn't really catch it, but to be honest, he seemed to be happy to have something to do while waiting."

Katara rolled her eyes, finally understanding where Sokka had learned that horrible expression. Of course her dad wasn't any better.

"Well… Thank you, again." She smiled tentatively towards her grandmother, who grinned back a knowing smile, "Come, let's get to the water, if that ship comes, better to be sure."

Katara pulled her grandmother up, and they both marched out of the building. As soon as they stepped outside, a cold wind whipped past them, howling over the tundra. Darkness had begun to settle, and there were no stars, as the clouds were hiding them. As they made their way through the snow, with Katara pulling it aside to make a path for Gran Gran, she began to overthink once more.

Would Aang mind sleeping and… Well, doing other things… In a bed that had belonged to her parents, and to the parents of her mother before? It was tradition to have furniture in you home that had belonged to other people… But that wasn't important to her. What mattered to Katara was the fact that she had gotten that bed. And, to be quite honest… She would like to sleep in it for the rest of her life.

They had kind of talked about what to do after the war. Aang, as Avatar, would have to travel around quite a bit, but that didn't mean he didn't need a home. All Air Nomads had a permanent home, he had told her often enough… But where? That had been something they hadn't exactly discussed.

Shaking her head to expel the thoughts that really didn't matter at this moment, the waterbender looked up from the path she had created. Just in front of her, instead of rocks underneath the snow, there was suddenly ice.

"Can't go further Gran. The ship will break the ice, and to be honest, I don't feel like getting frostbite while swimming." She smiled at the small joke, remembering how often her grandmother had warned them about frostbite.

"Oh, I have seen the airbender with fire in his hands. I would guess you wouldn't have too much difficulty warming up." The old woman balanced back and forth on her feet, as she always did when amused. Katara answered the teasing with a roll of her eyes. Once was a little funny. Twice was beginning to get irritating. None stop? Tui and La, Toph and her grandmother would be the best of friends, Katara suspected.

"What do the other say about him bending fire?" She asked curiously instead, as she peered into the gathering darkness that spread over the sea in front of them. There was nothing she could see, but then again, Katara doubted she was seeing more than a mile or two.

"They haven't seen him do it. And a good thing too. I doubt they would take kindly to have a firebender in the village… Even if it was the airbender." Gran Gran sighed, "Even I took a step backwards the first time I saw him do that, and I know we have nothing to fear. It is just so… well, hating firebending is a part of us now."

"I know." Katara nodded, understanding perfectly, "I hated the first few times he did bend fire. It was… Weird. Seeing him do something I associated with evil. But I got used to it. And the world will too…"

"Will they?" Gran Gran asked, sounding as old as she looked. Katara frowned, mostly because the whole teasing part of the conversation was gone with those two words.

"A hundred years is a long time Kat. And most people will hate the Fire Nation forever, no matter who rules or how many times your airbender will tell them that there is peace. Most people, here included, will never trust the Fire Nation."

And she could understand that too. She had hated the Fire Nation, with a passion. Perhaps she still did. But she hated the ideas and ambitions of people like Sozin or Ozai, not everyone from the Fire Nation. On Ji, Orsu and Zuko were proof of that. But how long would it take for the Fire Nation to heal from the century of bloodshed?

"They have suffered too Gran Gran… Many there hated the war too." She objected softly, as in the distance, she thought she saw a small light. But it was still too far away to be sure. Perhaps it was just the reflection of the moon on the water, before the moon disappeared behind clouds.

"Sure, most people aren't evil, even in the Fire Nation. But someone from the Earth Kingdom whose father was killed, their brothers and sisters taken to prisons or worse, and whose children were burned alive… People like that will never accept the Fire Nation." Her grandmother had a point… And suddenly, she was hoping Zuko had just lend a ship, and not a crew.

The light flickered once more, and straining her eyes, Katara thought that in the dark, a shadow was moving. She tried to hear over the howling wind, but it wasn't any use.

"Oh, you are both here." Her father's voice sounded from behind them, panting. Glancing over her shoulder, Katara saw the redness in his face from the cold whipping around them, and she quickly stepped aside so he could huddle between them.

"Something?" He asked as he pressed against her left side.

"I think there is a ship." She pointed her chin towards the dark shadow.

"Aang went looking for it… He would come here if there was anything wrong." For some reason, her father's words made her stomach turn. What if there was something wrong, and Aang couldn't come back? Katara could feel her heart begin to beat faster as the familiar fear began to creep up.

What if? What if someone had managed to hurt him? What if the ship wasn't the warriors? The waterbender tried to push down the feelings, but she didn't manage it completely. Aang was more than competent. He would look, and if there was something that made him doubt, he would come find them. But what if…

"There!" Her father suddenly pointed, but it was rather unnecessary, as the loud bellowing of steam escaping the engines was suddenly everywhere. The cracking of snow behind them made her look around, to see a large group come from the village. It wasn't everybody… But nearly. She doubted that the people who had learned their loved ones weren't returning would come out and greet the warriors…

Lights were lit on the deck of the ship, which looked a lot like the one they had… borrowed… during the last days of spring.

"They are searching for the village." Her father understood, "Eh… Oh! Katara, can you bend away the ice, and make some sort of place for the ship to dock?"

Katara rolled her eyes, already stepping forward before he had finished his sentence. Putting her feet far apart, she bend fluidly so one finger touched the ground before bringing it up towards her right. As she moved, the waterbender could hear the ice crackling and moving, as her bending created a long channel in the ice, melting it away. Feeling the waves hit the metal ship, she pulled the waves towards her, making the ship turn toward the opening she had made.

"Like that?" She raised an eyebrow as she couldn't help but see the astonished looks on the faces of the group behind them.

"Yeah, something like that." Her father sounded rather proud, which made her smile, before turning towards the ship.

The ship's engines roared as it began to slide towards the shore. She thought she could see people on the deck, but the lights were flickering and didn't permit her to recognize any of the case, until a small animal jumped from the ship and raced towards them, gliding through the darkness. As Momo hit her squarely against the chest, she laughed as the lemur scrambled inside her parka as he had done when they were at the North Pole.

"I would think it is alright." Katara grinned, feeling the horrible feeling of fear disappear. Momo would never act like this if something was amiss.

The ship came to a shuddering halt close to them, and almost immediately, a ramp was thrown down from the deck, hitting the ground in front of them with a rather hard thud. A few tense moments followed as no one appeared at the top of the ramp, but at long last, a voice shouted down.

"I told you we were in the right direction."

"Still a map wonder I see." Her grandmother said sarcastically as they all recognized Bato's voice, who had always been notorious for getting lost.

At the top appeared some men, some almost running down to get to the crowd, as others seemed more apprehensive. Katara bit her lip as she saw several men race past them, not even bothering to say hallo as they saw their families. Taking a few steps backwards, she made space so the others could also get to their loved ones. She watched as the first men embraced their mothers, sisters and wives, but also realized why some were hanging back. Those men, who came down the ramp rather gingerly, were those whose children had been young when they left…

And they were afraid.

Some women pushed through the crowd, children between six and eight in tow, and Katara looked on as the other men finally made their way down, looking for their wives and children.

"So, you got here without too much trouble?" Bato grinned as he joined them, and Katara was rather thankful to have a reason to look away from the awkward reunions, or the rather… Well, passionate reunions.

"Katara." Bato smiled at her, as she realized… She had not seen the best friend of her father since the invasion… She had not been able to see him at Kirashi, and they had left in a hurry…

"Hey Bato." She smiled as she hugged the man, "I see you are still in one piece. Aang told me you had been imprisoned."

"Bah, imprisoned. A few weeks away from your dad did us all the world of good. The soldiers were even nice enough to flee when Aang got to the prison." Bato laughed as he returned the hug, before turning to her Gran Gran.

"Auntie Kanna!" He bearhugged the old woman, who let out a disgruntled laugh.

"Oh good, you're back." She answered as she padded the warrior's shoulder, but Katara saw the smile. Even though she acted calm, her grandmother loved Bato almost as much as her father, "So, Koda didn't manage to lose you somewhere?"

"Me? Why would you want me to get lost in some desert or jungle? Don't you love me, Auntie?" Bato acted affronted, however, he was probably just teasing her grandmother. Katara looked past the Water Tribe warrior, watching the reunions once again. The men were clearly ashamed, as they had to explain to the children who they were. The waterbender felt tears well up in her eyes as she saw how one of the children, a boy for whom Aang had made an ice figurine, clutched his mother's skirts as he frowned up to the man in front of them… It looked sad. Katara had expected the reunions to be happy affairs, for the most part, but clearly, they were mostly bittersweet.

As her eyes glanced over the crowd, she spotted a small group watching the reunions as intently as she herself had been doing just moments ago. The group, with their darker parkas were most certainly the northerners, but he felt rage bubble up in her heart as she spotted Maruk and his brother with the group.

"They let him out too soon." She growled, and her father heard her and turned around to see what she meant.

"Mm… They have a very loose interpretation of the punishment. I said they could go out on the seventh day. And it is past midnight… Barely." Her father grumbled lowly. The council, and the refusal of the northerners to do any work, had turned her Dad against them. He had appreciated the help at first, she knew, and he had been relieved to know the village had been safe in his absence… But their manners and actions had made him hate them.

A soft wind blew around her, making her hair move. Lifting a hand to pull it back behind her ear, the waterbender noticed that the wind around her was different. Whereas her father's long hair whipped in all direction, the air around her felt kind, warm and gentle.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Aang lean against the railing next to the ramp, still standing on the ship. His face was pointed towards the reunions, but she saw his eyes dart towards her.

"In that case, I'll have a very loose interpretation on my punishment too." She shrugged, and quickly ran up the ramp, without awaiting what anyone would answer. As she arrived next to the airbender, she saw the slight apprehension in his silver eyes.

"Look." She grinned, pointing to the northerners. Aang's face cleared as he seemed to spot Maruk.

"Oh…" He nodded, a slow smile spreading over his lips. Suddenly, his fingers closed around her own hand. She was wearing mittens, but even through the fur-lined garment, she could feel the radiating from his skin.

"I missed you so much…" He sighed, and Katara just felt her own grin widen.

"Come." She whispered, quickly standing on her toes and letting her lips brush against his own. It wasn't a real kiss, but it was clear what she meant, "I have a surprise."

Answers :

TheGentleBreeze : Oh, there will be moments for that… In a few chapters time. First, I want one or two chapters for smut lol.

Handler : Oh, Aang is full of control, I realized that Katara was slightly OOC, but I hope I fixed it with the explanation in this chapter!

The Talent : Because you think this will be the last confrontation? I had to separate them for the story's sake, otherwise I would spent chapters and chapters writing on about the Water Tribe, and I want to get on with the plot lol.

Jjsmith103: Good to see you back! I understand, my own job is asking way more work than before, so my writing has to take a back seat. Exactly, there are always people like this, old or young. And I didn't want to separate them for too long, as my idea of what is going to happen requires them to be at the same place.

McChartney : Jeez, me too… THe archaic way of thinking makes my skin crawl every time I write them lol. And Maruk knowing about the book will be needed for something, you'll see. I will tell you, you will hate him even more after that!