(A/N)- *peeks* We still here?

I am alive! And mostly well. Computer problems meant that I couldn't write for a bit, but they're all fixed now. Have a chapter, this one's pretty fun.

Disclaimer: Nope, I still don't own Avatar. Darn.

Date Night

It was afternoon nearing sunset, but the woods had been filled with warm golden light the whole day. It reminded Angka of a bright yellow fireplace—which she supposed was appropriate given how close they were to a Fire Nation colony city. Sokki had wanted to steer clear of it of course, especially after she'd seen the wanted posters hung up on the trail kiosk, but Angka's eyes had kept darting back to one of the other signs pinned to the board. As Katar encouraged and nudged Appa to follow him further off the path so they could set up camp, her gaze strayed back to the gilded paint and fancy calligraphy, the twisting gold and red dragon emblazoned across the top of the paper.

An advertisement for a Fire Festival. Angka had been to a couple before the war, as one of her temple's regular day trips. She had been very young but she remembered the event with a certain fondness. The lights and sparklers, the fried treats and gooey candies. It was something that had seemed almost magical. A place to put aside your differences and worries and have fun together.

Glancing aside at Katar, her heart twisting a little bit inside her, she made up her mind, and took the flyer down from the board.

Sneaking back into their hiding spot just off the path, far enough in so they wouldn't be seen from the road but not so far that they would lose it entirely, Angka felt nervous flutters dancing through her chest. She grabbed Momo up from the ground and began giving him scratches behind the ears for a distraction for her hands. The lemur protested a bit initially but then relaxed, chirring in contentment and leaning into the scritches.

She waited until Katar announced that he was going to go find some firewood and dismissed himself, waited until he was out of hearing range, before stirring and approaching Sokki. She let Momo scurry out of her arms and hop back to the ground as she walked up behind the other girl.

"Hey, uh... Sokki?" she called. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Sokki didn't look up from rummaging in their packs for the last of their food. "What is it, Angka?" she asked.

Angka steeled herself with a deep breath, the flutters winding up again. "You... you know that... I care about your brother, right?" she began.

Sokki lifted her head, suddenly paying attention. "Yeah?" she prompted, a vague confusion and concern on her face.

"I care about him a lot," Angka emphasized, wishing her face wouldn't heat up like she could feel it starting to.

The other girl's confusion only grew. "Of course," she said, standing, brushing off her skirt.

Angka forced her words out in a hurry, already feeling her nerves failing her. "And you know that I'd never do anything to hurt him or put him in danger, right?"

"Where exactly are you going with this?"

Her foot curled and she dug a toe into the dirt. She forced herself to raise her face, taking out the flyer and showing it to Sokki. "There's this Fire Festival cultural event taking place tonight. There'll be exhibits, jugglers, benders, musicians, lots of food. I was..." She swallowed and peeked up hopefully at Sokki. "...kind of hoping we could go."

Sokki took a moment to scrutinize the flyer, reading over it with pinched brows. She straightened back up. "Sooooo you're asking my permission to..." The pinched-eyed bewildered expression was pinned on Angka now. "...take my brother on a date?" she asked, perplexed and in slight disbelief.

Angka felt her cheeks coloring instantly. "N-no!" she leapt to stay. "I just—I think it could be good for him!" Her hands wrung around a corner of her collar piece as she babbled. "He's been feeling so down lately since the Abby and I just thought something like this might cheer him up, you know? Plus it'd be a good opportunity for me to study some real firebending up close!" she added, the afterthought excuse coming to her as she was speaking.

"You mean you want to walk into a Fire Nation town," Sokki emphasized, "with my brother, to hang out and watch firebenders when they're all fired-up with their, you know... fire?"

"And eat some fried quailturkey legs, if they have them!" Angka said with undimmed excitement. Despite the extremely skeptical tone in Sokki's voice and the severe, suspicious frown, Angka thought the other girl might be cracking. Mentioning the food had probably helped. "I have to learn firebending at some point and this could be my only chance to watch a master up close," she also pointed out. "And it could be fun!"

Sokki leaned back her head, crossed her arms, screwed her face up and stayed that way for a long moment... and then gave a wheezing exhale through her nose.

"All right, fine, but I'm coming along to chaperone," she decided.

"But it's not a da—" Angka started to protest, mortified that Sokki was still drawing that conclusion.

"Ah-ba-ba! Just own it," Sokki interrupted, cutting off her argument before she could make it. "It'll be simpler that way."

"It really isn't like that..." Angka mumbled, cheeks burning, staring at her feet.

"Sure it isn't," Sokki huffed.

-ATLA-

She lost her nerve almost as soon as Katar was back, stammering through her explanation about the Fire Festival and how much fun she remembered having at the last one, trying not to get distracted by how soft and blue his eyes were, how he bit his lip in thought as he listened to her ramble.

"Anyway, I—I thought maybe since we're here we could go down and see it. Together," she finished.

Katar looked nervous... and excited. "You mean... like a date?" he asked, and it could have been her imagination—no it definitely was—but he sounded a little bit hopeful.

Hearing him say it made her heart give a funny leap, her overactive mind already wanting to dance along after the possibly that maybe he did like her Like That, the way she liked him. But that was silly. She was just a girl, not particularly beautiful or pretty, definitely not grown-up enough for him to notice in... that way. He liked her as a friend. That was all.

But she still found her runaway mouth initially replying, "Yeah!" She quickly verbally backtracked. "A... a friend date! With all three of us!" She tried for a bright, casual smile, pinning it on Katar and ignoring how Sokki was facepalming behind her brother.

Katar's expression was thoughtful, but a little concerned. "Are you sure that's a good idea?" He looked over his shoulder, checking with Sokki. "Won't there be Fire Nation soldiers crawling all over the place?"

"I mean obviously I still think it's a bad idea," Sokki told him. "But Angka's right, you've been mopey and could use some fun."

Angka and Katar both gawped at her a moment, not expecting her to take Angka's side at all. Angka quickly recovered though, bouncing a little on her feet. "We'll wear disguises, and if it looks like trouble, we'll leave," she promised.

Katar swiveled back around, eyes softly alight, smiling pulling at his lips. "Okay," he said. "Sure. It does sound like fun."

Appa gave a mournful bellow behind them.

Angka stepped over to pat the bison on his nose. "Sorry buddy. You and Momo are going to have to wait here for us. You're a bit conspicuous."

He blew air in her face with a huff, ruffling her hair, and she laughed and reached up to smooth it down, mind already skipping forward down into the vale below.

-ATLA-

There was a nervous moment right when they entered the little walled city in which Angka second-guessed herself, realizing the three of them were the only ones in the crowd with uncovered faces. But they had found themselves painted ceramic and fabric masks to blend in with soon enough.

They wove in and out of the crowd, red-robed bodies shifting and swirling all around them. Red lanterns lined cables strung along the streets as well, casting a low warm glow over the cobblestones. The smell of smoke and wood and hot, sizzling meats and fried food drifted over the whole plaza. It combined into a musky fragrance that tingled her senses.

Angka was glad the mask hid her blush, and her shy glances towards Katar. He walked beside her, his shoulders a bit tense, sweeping this way and that with his gaze. She wished she could gauge his reaction. Was he nervous? Fascinated?

Her eyes trailed down his arm to his loosely swinging hand, and she wondered, for a moment, if she could hold it.

Spotting something ahead of them, she settled for lightly grabbing his wrist and pulling him along to look.

"Flame dancers! I love these guys!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, slow down!" Sokki puffed behind them.

Katar hummed a bit in interest as they stopped in front of a low platform, where two bare-chested men were twirling wands alight at both ends in tightly-spinning loops.

They watched the dancers for a bit before ambling off, stopping at food pavilions (for something less potent than flaming fire flakes this time), observing puppet shows and art displays. Children ran by with glimmering sparklers. An embroidered dragon head trailed a body of silken scales behind it. Polite applause and 'oooh's of delight echoed around the square.

Angka nibbled on the sweet treat Katar had bought her, a little bit of molded candy on a stick, and felt strangely... safe. Fire Nation soldiers were scattered here and there but no one paid them any heed, and the calm, cheerful atmosphere of the festival made the war and the comet and the Fire Lord seem so, so very far away.

She could almost pretend she was normal.

And, sneeking a peek at Katar, it looked like the tension in his shoulders had relaxed away. He stayed right at her shoulder, walking casually and at ease. Like being by her side was the most comfortable thing in the world.

She bit into another piece and treasured the moment for as long as she could.

(A/N)- Angka plucks up her courage and asks Katar on a Not-Date and Sokki completely cannot with these two lovesick dumbbutts.

Lol, so yeah, I be starting in a little harder with that juicy ship tease than canon. I dunno why but I feel like girl!Aang would be just a little bit more forward with her crush. Not confident that Katar would return her feelings at all, but just a little bit more desperate to pretend, a little bit more willing to make excuses to spend time with him and be next to him. And sue me, the kids deserved a nice night out.

We've got angst ahead so tune in next time for the Drama. XD And leave a review if you liked this one.