What better day to post new a new chapter than on my birthday? I am also posting a new chapter for my YueAang story "Fake Love". Be sure to read that if you haven't already.

Also thank you to everyone for giving this story over 140,000 views. Makes me really happy to see how much ya'll enjoy reading this story.

Aang groggily opened his eyes as he woken from his slumber. The bright blue sky above him darkened and the sight of the moon greeted him. Exhaustion had taken over and forced him to slumber within the forest. He couldn't sleep much the other night thanks to the shock of Katara's drunk confession. While the others had slept into the morning, the air bender decided to get in some early training before he finally made the decision to meet Mai at her hotel.

The memories of the day came back to him. His talk with Mai and his confrontation with Katara had taken a toll on him, mentally and physically. He grabbed hold of his staff and jumped on the branch of the closest tree, climbing all the way to the top. He looked at the moon's position saw that it wasn't all the way up. The night had only just begun so he didn't sleep too long at least.

He set his gaze on the moon and the thought of Yue. It wasn't that long ago when she had come to him and implored him to mend his friendship with Katara.

"Yue!" Aang called out, "Did everything go the way you hoped? Is this what you wanted?!"

He got no answer in return.

'Typical spirit. Can never be bothered to answer when you need them to.'

He opened his glider and took off into the night sky. Thoughts of Katara plagued his mind as he mentally replayed what happened at the bridge. Aang wished the situation ended on a lighter note, but what was done couldn't be reversed. He had to stand by his decision, even if he wasn't sure if it was the right choice for him in the end. It took him almost an hour to finally arrive at Iroh's house. Aang's stomach growled, just like with sleep, he didn't eat very much earlier. The appetite just wasn't there in the morning.

Just as he air bender's feet touched the ground on Iroh's backyard, he sensed an object coming from behind him. He ducked down and saw what looked to be Sokka's boomerang as it went around and zoomed past him.

"What the—" Aang turned around, only to be tackled to the ground by someone bigger than him. He looked up to find an enraged Sokka right on top of him.

The water tribe boy clenched his fist on to Aang's robe and pulled up, "YOU MADE MY SISTER CRY!"

Sokka cocked back his fist, preparing to strike the air bender until Suki came up from behind and pulled him off.

"Stop it Sokka!" Suki cried out.

"Not until I make him pay!" Sokka tried to push her off, but his girlfriend kept a strong hold on him. Aang sat up and rubbed his lower back.

"First you draw on my face and then you make Katara cry! What's wrong with you?!"

Aang felt a mixture of anger and annoyance at what was transpiring before him. He didn't need this right now, "That mustache was an improvement if you ask me!"

"Do not antagonize him Aang!" Suki ordered as she stood between him and Sokka.

"I'll make an improvement on your face when I get my hands on you air boy! First, I'm gonna make you apologize to Katara!" Sokka threatened.

"I'd love to see you try. Toss that boomerang one more time and I'll shove it up your—"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Suki yelled out. She turned back to Sokka, "Walk it out Sokka!"

"But Suki—"

"But nothing! GO!" She pointed to the side door. Sokka made one last scowl towards Aang before he finally walked out the door.

"ZUKO!" Suki called out. Aang saw that both he and Toph already standing outside as well.

"Go with Sokka and make sure he cools off", Suki ordered.

The fire bender didn't think twice and did as he was told, following Sokka out. Only the three of them left in the backyard.

Suki turned back to Aang and placed her hands on his shoulder, "Are you alright? Sokka didn't hurt you too bad, did he?"

"It's gonna take Sokka a lot more than tackling me to the ground to actually hurt me", Aang chuckled.

"Then what about what happened with sugar queen?" Toph asked as she walked over to him and the Kyoshi warrior.

"That's…complicated", Aang replied.

"Of course it is," Toph sighed.

"Is Katara okay?" Aang was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"You mean after you left her crying on a bridge?" Toph questioned.

"Toph!" Suki scolded.

"Okay fine", Toph held her hands up in surrender.

"Katara…well she's taking your rejection pretty hard Aang", Suki said.

"I should probably go in and check on her now", Toph suggested and walked back into the house.

Suki turned back to Aang, "When Katara came back with Appa and Momo, she was just so…upset and kept crying when she explained what happened. She's been in her room all day and hasn't come out."

"I-I didn't want her to cry", Aang mumbled.

"I know you didn't", Suki wrapped her arms around him.

"After she said Zuko helped her realize her feelings…I just couldn't accept that."

"It's okay Aang. No one blames you", Suki said, soothingly.

"Sokka does", Aang responded.

"Sokka doesn't think before he acts. Plus, he's always been protective of his sister."

Aang returned the embrace and rested his head on her shoulders.

"Did I do the right thing?"

Suki sighed, "That isn't for me to say. That's up to you Aang. If I knew how Katara was going to tell you about her feelings then maybe I could have stopped her, but what's happened is done."

"It's not like you knew what she was thinking. There's no way you would have been able to stop it" Aang felt Suki go stiff in his arms after he had said that. He pulled his head back and looked at her, "Are you alright?"

She avoided his gaze, looking anywhere else other than his face.

"Suki?"

She let out a deep sigh and looked back to him with eyes full of regret, "Actually…I-I already knew Aang."

Aang's eyes widened at her confession, "What? How long did you know?"

"Since she and Sokka arrived…"

Aang let out a small gasp and pushed himself away from Suki's grasp.

"You knew for the past week and didn't think to tell me?!" Aang exclaimed. His anger rising once more.

Suki winced at his tone and began stuttering, "I-i-i-I…its complicated…"

"What part of that is complicated?! You knew this whole time and could have just told me from the beginning!" Aang yelled, "You knew what she wanted to tell me, and you kept it hidden from me!"

"I was doing what I thought was best for you Aang! After what happened with Mira, you were a mess and Katara could have made it worse if she had told you then! I just told her not to tell you about her feelings until the time was right" Suki defended herself.

"THEN WHAT WAS LAST NIGHT?!" The past day brought nothing but anger for the air bender. First Mai, then Katara, and now Suki had managed to push him to the edge.

"AANG, WE WERE ALL DRUNK! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO DO" Suki said exasperated, "I couldn't have done anything about that."

Aang took another step back and turned away with his hands on his waist, "I can't believe this…Did everyone else know?"

Suki let out a deep sigh, "Katara told us while you were talking with Mai."

Toph, Sokka, Suki, and Ty Lee. They had all known and kept what they had known from him. How could his friends do this to him? It now made sense why Sokka had grilled him about Kano and Katara. He was doing what he could to help his sister out. Toph had already set Aang up on blind dates with numerous girls. She had known about Katara's feelings and didn't do anything to let him know about it. Aang couldn't expect Ty Lee to say anything seeing as he hadn't seen her in over a week and was mostly spending time with the Kyoshi Warrors and Mai.

Suki had forbidden Katara from confessing her feelings to him, but it was only prolonging the inevitable. Aang had trusted her enough to be open with her and from his perspective, she had gone behind his back.

With not much else to say, Aang said nothing as he walked past her and towards the house. Suki turned around and called out to him.

"Aang wait!" She reached out for him, but he swatted her hand away from him.

"No! I don't want to be any where near you or anyone else right now", Aang responded.

"Closing yourself off from us wil—"

"I don't care what you think Suki!" Aang turned back to her with narrowed eyes, "I can't trust someone that will go behind my back like you did!"

"I was only doing it for your sake! Try to see it from my point of view and you can see that I was only trying to help" Suki retorted as frustrated tears forming. Why couldn't Aang just see that she was only trying to help him?

"You obviously don't know what you're doing. Just leave me alone!"

Aang turned away from her again and stormed into the house, leaving the Kyoshi warrior by herself as her tears slid down her cheeks. Her heart wrenched at what he had said. Suki only wanted to look out for him. She had taken her role as Aang's sister seriously and loved him like he was her brother. The idea of Aang hating her over this debacle deeply upsetting her. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Aang didn't slow down his stride as he passed Katara's room. He didn't want to hear her crying again. He knew that he would not be able to bear it. It was better for him to be alone than with any of his friends.

He slammed his bedroom door closed and locked it. His body felt heavy, and his bed looked like paradise at that moment. The air bender dragged his feet and flopped face first on to his bed. His bed providing comfort, but just barely.

The day had been quite frustrating for Aang. Katara's late night drunk confession, the argument with Mai, Katara's sober confession, and finally what happened earlier with his friends. Suki especially. Aang groaned into his pillow. He wanted to sleep the rest of the night away.

Just as Aang shut his eyes, a faint voice called out to him.

"Aang…" The air bender shot up from his bed and opened his window.

"Aang" The voice called out more clearly. Aang instinctively jumped through his window and followed where the sound of the voice was calling. He dashed away from Iroh's house and headed towards the Jasmine Dragon. The voice constantly called out his name and was becoming louder as he got closer.

The voice led Aang to the balcony in front of the tea shop. The voice that had called him no longer made a sound. He found no one else in the area.

"Hello?" Aang called out, "Is anyone there?"

No one answered him. Annoyance crept within Aang. Just when he got to bed, some random voice had to call him out. Before he could turn around and head back, a bright white light flashed all around him.

"Monkey feathers", Aang muttered as he rubbed his eyes open. As his vision cleared, Aang found himself elsewhere. Instead of in front of the Jasmine Dragon, he stood in a cloudy void.

"Hello Aang…"

He turned around and Aang's eyes widened as he recognized the figure before him.

The return to the house was just a blur to Katara. She could hardly remember Appa flying back and dropping her off. Of course, everyone became worried for her when she stepped into the living room. The moment her brother asked her what was wrong, Katara ran to her bedroom with fresh tears.

Suki and Toph ran after her. Suki immediately took the sobbing water bender into her arms as they entered her bedroom. Toph reluctantly did the same. For a while, all Katara could do was cry. After a while she had calmed down, she finally managed a somewhat coherent explanation of what happened between her and Aang.

Hours passed and she never left her room. Her friends came and went, checking in on her. Nothing would change as she just sat on her bed with her blanket wrapped around her and stared at her wall. It was sometime later that she heard Sokka yelling angrily. Katara couldn't make out what he was saying until she heard another loud voice. Aang's voice could be heard, and she knew why her brother was so angry. Katara then heard Suki yelling this time and then complete silence.

Katara stood up from her bed, the blanket still wrapped around her body, and moved towards the door, but stopped midway. If she saw him then what would she do? She didn't know if it would be good for her to see Aang. Not after he flat out rejected her feelings. Katara could only contemplate on what to do until Toph barged into her room again.

"Toph! What happened?" Katara questioned her.

"Twinkle-toes came back and Snoozles tried to fight him", Toph answered bluntly.

"Oh spirits", Katara muttered as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Is Aang okay?"

"Hmmmmm", Toph grinned as she thought about how Aang had asked her if Katara was okay, "Worried?"

"Just tell me", Katara replied indignantly.

"Well…I guess he's fine, your brother didn't really get a chance to do much against Aang", Toph answered. Katara let out a sigh of relief and sat back down on her bed. She was glad that to hear that Aang was fine even after what happened earlier.

"Do you want to go see him?" Toph asked.

Katara shook her head, "I-I can't…"

"Why not?"

"Do you really need me to say it?" Katara replied with her own question.

"You can't avoid him forever", Toph insisted.

"I don't plan to Toph but…" Katara glanced away from the earth bender, "I just don't think I can handle seeing him right now."

Toph sighed, "Either way you can't stay cooped up in your room. You're gonna have to talk to him again Sweetness."

"I know that Toph! But what am I supposed to do? Put on a fake smile and act like he didn't reject me?"

Toph said nothing in return, so Katara continued.

"And what's worse is that now I'm going to lose him to Kano…She's going to win in the end, and I never stood a chance. It was stupid of me to think that I could take on her after she challenged me", Katara gripped her blanket tighter around her body.

"She challenged you?" Toph asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Last night at the party, she told me that if I loved Aang then I would have to fight her for him and I was a fool to think that I could take her on", Katara explained.

"So what? You're just going to give up on Aang?"

"What would be the point anymore?"

"I'm sorry Katara…I can't accept your feelings."

The water bender could feel her heart ache as she remembered what the air bender said to her on the bridge.

"You and I just aren't meant to be."

Katara squinted her eyes closed in an attempt to stop any fresh tears but failed. They had already escaped her eyes.

"Give up on me and move on Katara. I'm sorry."

"I screwed up-p-p-p-…There isn't a-a-anything I-I-I can do to change his mind. I've lost him forever", Katara stammered with quivered lips. Before she could finally sob again, she felt a rough hand cupping her left cheek. Katara looked up to see her friend standing over her with a blank expression. Believing her friend was trying to comfort her, she closed her eyes again and leaned into Toph's hand.

Slowly Toph pulled her hand back and…

SMACK!

A stinging sensation pulsed against Katara's face as she was jolted to her right side. She slapped her. Toph had slapped Katara.

Then in a fit of rage, Katara threw her blanket to the side, quickly jumping from the bed and stood over Toph.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Katara demanded.

"Well, someone has to knock some sense into you Sugar Queen", Toph answered, undeterred by Katara's anger. "Is one rejection all it will take to make you give up on Aang?"

"What do you expect me to do you bloody MUDSLUG?!"

"Not to give up on Aang!"

"THERE IS NOTHING I CAN DO! Aang told me himself to give up on him and move on", Katara responded.

Toph grabbed hold of Katara's top shirt and pulled her body towards hers, "So what if he did?! Since when have you ever let what anyone said stop you from doing what you wanted?"

"Let go of me Toph", Katara said through gritted teeth.

"NO! Now shut up and listen to me" Toph shook the water bender, "When Master Pakku initially refused to teach you water bending, did you give up? NO! You fought him. I know you Katara. You always fought for what you believed in. You never gave up on anything before so why should that change now?"

"This is differe—"

"No it isn't! I don't care what Aang said, if you love him as much as you say you do then don't give up!"

"Toph…", Katara said softly, "Why are you being so stubborn over this? What does it matter to you whether or not Aang and I are together?"

The blind girl sighed, let go of her and dropped down on Katara's bed. She patted to her left side, silently suggesting Katara to sit down next to her. For a moment, Toph said nothing as she stared straight ahead with her sightless eyes and sighed.

"Did I ever tell you about how my parents got married?"

"No, you never seem eager to talk about them all that much", Katara answered.

"Because I normally don't want to. With how they both treated me like a weak fragile girl, can you blame me?" Toph chuckled.

Katara hummed in agreement.

"Before I met all of you, the only idea I had about love or romance was from my parents after seeing how they react with one another", Toph explained.

"Okay…", Katara nodded, not understanding where the earth bender was going with this.

"They had an arranged marriage. My mother came from a noble family that wasn't as rich my dad's. My mother's family approached the Beifongs and offered my mother's hand in marriage to my dad. The first time they met was on their wedding day."

Katara of course knew of the concept of arranged marriages. The concept was more common in the North pole than it was on the south pole from what she had seen. Before the fire nation soldiers invaded the tribe and killed her mother, she along with her family had gone over to few weddings that were mostly marriages based on love. Her parent's marriage was that of love instead of arranged and her gran-gran left the North Pole to avoid her arranged marriage with Pakku. Even Yue was betrothed to someone named Hahn whom, according to Sokka, was a real jerk.

"Honestly", Toph continued, "if my dad wasn't a member of the Beifong family, then I'm willing to bet my mother would have never entertained the idea of marrying him."

"I'll be honest myself, when I met your parents…I sort of thought your mom was way too pretty for your dad", Katara commented.

"You wouldn't be the first to say that. From what I've heard, my dad is below average in looks compared to my mother", Toph chuckled.

"I wouldn't say that…exactly."

"It's okay Sweetness. You don't have to lie and it's beside the point I'm trying to make. When I learned how to see through earth bending, I noticed how a person's heart rate would go up. I once heard that when you love someone, your heart beats faster whenever you would see them.

"One day, I decided to read my parent's heart rate when they were around each other and there…was nothing. Just two steady heart beats."

"So, they don't love each other?" Katara wondered.

"I don't think they ever did. Their heart beats only sped up whenever they would see me, so I knew they at least love me, but…each other?" Toph shook her head, "not at all...They never did and for the longest time all I knew about love was from them since they were married and all. Because of them I never really believed in romance or true love…until I met you and Aang."

"Really?" Katara raised an eyebrow, "how did we change that?"

"Anytime Twinkle-Toes was either looking at you or talking to you, I could feel his heart skip a beat. It was unlike anything I felt before", Toph replied.

The water bender smiled as she recalled the way Aang would always look so happy to talk to her. Somehow, he had always made her feel like the most important person in the world. She had missed seeing him bright up whenever he saw her,

"Then, there was you", Toph held a smug grin and pressed her elbow against Katara's ribs, "You weren't any different around him."

Katara crossed her arms and looked away, hiding the creeping blush on her face, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"There's point in lying to me Sweetness", Toph chuckled.

"I still don't see how Aang and I effected your perspective on love", Katara turned back to her.

"It was watching how you two interacted with one another that did it. The way you and him worked together…it was like you two were always in sync with one another. It's like…it's like you two were made for each other. I could see that the bond you and Aang shared was more than that of just friends ya know? That connection you have with one another…wasn't anything like I've seen before. And I figured that was what love was or at least what it supposed to be", Toph explained.

Katara could not think of any words to say in response. It never occurred to her how the bond she held with the air bender was seen by the others.

"What I couldn't see from my parents, I saw from the both of you", Toph continued, "I figured and rooted for you two to finally be official after the war ended…but that never happened."

"Yeah…", Katara muttered. There was nothing she regretted more than letting her fear get the best of her.

"Listen, I like Zuko. He's fun to mess with. But you two were never a good match for each other if I'm being honest. Sure, you get steam when you mix water and fire, but steam isn't something that can last forever…you get what I'm saying?"

Katara nodded her head, "Yeah, I understand what you're saying."

The earth bender rose to her feet and stood in front of her, grabbing her hands. Katara saw a look of sincerity from Toph's sightless eyes that she had not once seen before.

"Katara, what you and Aang have is special and I understand that it might feel hopeless after what happened today…but it is something worth fighting for. If there is anyone that will make Aang happy…it's you and you only."

Katara gripped Toph's hands as she stood up from the bed.

"You really think so?"

"I know it", Toph confirmed with a soft smile.

Katara returned the smile and pull the younger girl into a tight embrace, "Thank you Toph."

"No problem, Sugar Queen", Toph wrapped her arms around the water bender and patted her back, "And don't worry about doing it alone. I'll help you find your way back into Twinkle-Toe's heart."

"And so will I", a different voice said. The girls disconnected from one another to find Suki standing in the doorway.

Katara noted the faint red in Suki's eyes as she stepped into the bedroom.

"Suki what happened?" Katara asked with a concerned tone. The Kyoshi warrior wiped her eyes before answering.

"I told Aang how I knew about your feelings and…he got angry and yelled at me. He doesn't seem to trust me anymore."

"Twinkle-toes is just yelling at everyone tonight, isn't he?" Toph commented.

"He knows that you knew everything too so don't expect him to be happy with you either", Suki warned.

"Pfft", Toph crossed her arms, "I'd like to see him try. He yells at me, and I'll remind him that I'm still his Sifu."

Katara rolled her eyes and turned back to Suki, "I'm so sorry Suki. Everything that's happened is all my fault."

"Don't blame yourself", Suki reassured and placed her hand on the water bender's shoulder, "We can't mope around forever anyway. All that matters is how we handle this situation now."

"I guess", Katara shrugged, "but what can we even do? Trying to change Aang's mind is one thing, but Kano isn't going to sit back and let it happen."

The three of them thought to themselves for a moment until Toph spoke up.

"Hear me out, we—"

Suki interrupted her, "If your idea is to kidnap Kano and keep her in a secluded area for a set amount of time then that is a hard no from me."

"Ugh", Toph groaned, "How about—"

"We are also saying no to threatening her with blackmail or violence", Suki added.

"Oh come on!"

"I'm with Suki on this", Katara said, "I don't want to resort to mean-spirit tactics even its for Aang."

"All's fair in love and war you know?" Toph insisted.

"This isn't war Toph", Suki sighed.

"And I would still like to be in good terms with Kano after we settle our challenge", Katara added.

"Ughhhhhh fine", Toph groaned louder.

Before the three of them could brainstorm any ideas, a loud noise permeated from outside the bedroom. They all ran out together to the living room area only to find Zuko and Sokka wrestling on the floor.

"LET GO ZUKO!" Sokka yelled as he struggled under Zuko's weight, "He's just sitting there! Let me give him a taste of his own medicine!"

"For the last time Sokka! I'm not letting you draw on Aang's face!" Zuko replied as he pulled Sokka's arms behind.

"What is going on?!" Katara yelled out to the two of them.

Zuko looked up to the three girls and explained, "Sokka just wants to get payback at Aang for the mustache."

"How?" Toph inquired, "I doubt Snoozles can manage to keep Twinkle-Toes in one place."

"That's the thing! I won't need to since he's just sitting in front of the tea shop, but Zuko here won't let me near him", Sokka answered.

"What do you mean he's just sitting there?" Suki asked.

"His tattoos and eyes are glowing, so we assume he's in the spirit world", Zuko responded as he let go of Sokka and rose to his feet.

Katara's eyes widened in surprise.

"He's what?!"

Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! Be sure to let me know what you thought and have a good day.