~A~

Part II

~A~

Cool grasses whispered in the slight breeze flowing through the Fire Nation Palace gardens, and Aang breathed in deeply, tired but content – mostly, anyway. It was all over. The day he'd feared since finding out about the war had come and gone, leaving him the clear victor and Ozai unable to ever firebend again.

The only thing that was marring his contentment was the memory of the angry words between he and Katara the last time he'd spoken to her before disappearing in the night. He regretted the harsh exchange, and he wouldn't be completely content until that little spat was cleared up, because he missed her terribly and couldn't stand that there was anything between them at all, let alone something as silly as words. Words said in anger, no less.

He sighed, wondering how to approach her. She was his wife now, after all, married more thoroughly by the spirits than mere humans could ever do, and he loved her with all of his heart and soul. This separation between them was hurting... though it was a separation that was more conceptual than real; since they were spiritually bonded he could still feel her and knew that she was okay though a bit restless, for some reason.

Suddenly flowing gracefully to his feet with the judicious aid of a little airbending, Aang decided he was going to track Katara down and clear this mess between them up. Sure, when he, Sokka, Suki, and Toph had returned from fighting Ozai and the airship fleet she'd greeted him happily enough, but he'd felt a little uncertainty from her and he couldn't stand even that much discord between them.

But before he could make his way back inside the palace the very person he'd been about to track down practically plowed into him, and Aang barely managed to keep the both of them from falling over.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed breathlessly, her cheeks pinkening when she realized that she'd nearly run the avatar over in her determination to get to him. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run you down... I was just trying to find you and I could feel you out here," she explained a little sheepishly.

"It's okay," he smiled. "I was just going to look for you, too. I guess we were kind of thinking the same thing, huh?"

"It seems that way," she agreed softly, relaxing at his easy manner and smiling a little shyly at him. "Can we... you know, take a walk? I need to talk to you."

"Sure. I was going to ask you the same thing, but you beat me to it," he chuckled as he took her proffered hand and held it gently as they drifted back into the gardens and wandered along the many lamplit paths. "So... what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Oh, um, well... I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for badgering you about Ozai like I did," she began guiltily. "I was wrong, and I'm glad you followed your heart and found a different way to deal with him – that you didn't have to kill him."

"Thanks," he blushed. "I'm happy you've realized that all life-"

Katara broke him off there. "Aang, I'm not glad for Ozai's sake, but for yours. Having to kill him would have hurt you-" she stopped and when he did the same and turned to look at her, she put her hand over his heart, "-here. And that kind of hurt can't really be healed – it leaves terrible scars and changes a person in many ways. I never, ever want anything to change you in such a way, so I'm glad it didn't come to that."

Aang's heart softened at her words. She still didn't necessarily see life and death as he did apparently - though he hoped one day she would – but she hadn't been raised as a peaceful air nomad monk. She'd been raised in a world that was at war, a world where defending your people meant killing. And while she'd never had to do so herself, she'd been faced directly with the effects of that war with the murder of her mother. Death had come to someone she'd loved, and then the war had in effect taken her father away, as well.

But she was beginning to understand, he knew, and he wasn't willing to push it. She'd learn in her own time and he was content with that.

Still, the evidence that she loved him in her willingness to accept his decision because it was best for him melted his heart, and he tightened his fingers around her hand, gently squeezing. "I won't change, Katara. You like me this way and I do, too. So I'll stay this way for both of us." He paused, then said, "I wanted to say I'm sorry, too – you know, for getting so angry with you... well, with all of you, but mostly you," he added. "I-"

This time it was a delicate finger that stopped him as the lithe teen girl pressed one to his lips. "Shh," she whispered. "You don't owe any of us an apology. We were pushing you to do something that goes against the very beliefs that make you who you are. That was selfish, and I'm the one who's sorry."

After a moment spent looking at her he just sighed, and as her hand dropped away from his face he smiled ruefully. "Okay... I guess we should just forget about this subject, huh? I don't think we'll ever agree on that point, but there's no real need to keep talking about it. So why don't we move on to something better?" He looked around and then his smile changed, becoming a little inviting. "You know... we're alone out here in a beautiful, peaceful garden. No Sokka, no Toph, no one to bother us..." he trailed off and cast her a glance from beneath thick lashes. "Can I kiss you?"

Katara blinked, a little surprised but not at all averse to what he was suggesting. She smiled softly at him. "Yes," she answered breathlessly, and then she waited for him to pull her into his body before twining her arms around his neck as his lips met hers and his arms settled low on her hips.

As his taste exploded on her tongue she realized she'd really missed it, and with a small moan she engaged him fully. How long they stood there entwined like that neither was ever certain, but when they finally broke apart Katara knew she'd never forget that kiss. She smiled at him, admiring the dazed look in his eyes that she was pretty sure matched her own.

"But you know... you don't really have to ask," she said once she'd caught her breath, and Aang blinked, wondering what she was talking about as he battled the blood away from some rather dangerous areas and back towards his brain.

It took a few, but then he remembered his question and flushed. "Do you... really mean that?"

"Of course! I am your wife, after all," she stated, looking at him with a soft, diffident smile. "That's kinda what married couples do, you know."

At that Aang blushed twenty shades of red and was forced to clear his throat, to her amusement. "Um, yeah, I know." Needing to get some more air to his brain to combat the Katara-induced haze currently filling it, he decided to change the subject just slightly. "Are we going to keep it a secret or tell everyone?"

"Huh?" she hummed, a bit confused at the abrupt conversational change.

"You know, about... about being married by the spirits. I kinda feel like we should at least tell your family and the rest of the group."

"Oh," Katara blushed hotly. She thought about it for a few moments and then nodded, the blush fading. "We should. I want everyone to know that you and all your avatar magnificence are mine," she said lightly as though she were teasing. But she really wasn't, and he knew it.

He grinned, rubbing his neck and blushing deeply for a few moments. "I'm not the one who's magnificent," he said earnestly. "You are. You're the most amazing person I've ever known, and I want every guy out there to know you're mine. You could have had anyone you wanted, but you chose me. I'll never forget how lucky I am to have you no matter how old I get, I promise you that."

Blush deepening, Katara reflected distantly that they'd both been doing an awful lot of that lately, but pushed the thought aside and grabbed his hand. "Okay, that's enough of that. Let's go find my father and the rest of the group so we can tell them about us."

Aang's grin widened slowly as he looked at her, and then he turned and led her back into the palace excitedly.

~A~

The room was filled with a stunned silence as Aang finished speaking, Katara standing next to him and holding tightly to his hand.

Surprisingly, it was Zuko to break the quiet first.

"So let me get this straight – you were married by a spirit?"

"Yeah. A fire spirit," Katara answered him with a small smile at the young monk at her side.

The new Firelord gaped at them in shocked amazement. "You guys... there is only one fire spirit," he choked. "You... you were married by Agni himself..." he trailed off with awe, not even noticing the gasps from everyone else. "That's just... wow. I don't even know what to say."

Aang's eyes widened. "A-Agni?" he stammered, looking just as surprised now as the rest of the room.

"Wait, wait, wait," Sokka exclaimed, and everyone looked at him and his seemingly speechless father. "Married? What was this spirit thinking? You guys are too young for this!"

Katara glared at her brother, but before she could say anything Aang stepped in. "No, we're not. The spirits look inside, Sokka. He judged our hearts and minds and if we weren't ready the bonding wouldn't have happened."

The water tribe teen sputtered, seemingly unable to find the words he was looking for, but he stopped when his father's hand fell on his shoulder. With a sigh he stepped back, deciding to let him deal with what was happening. His duty to protect his sister was over; it was their father's place now – or maybe Aang's... and he had to admit there wasn't anyone better suited to protecting her than the most powerful person on the planet, when it came right down to it.

Katara met her father's gaze steadily, standing proudly next to Aang, who was also meeting Hakoda's assessing gaze unflinchingly. For long moments the three just stared at each other, the rest of the group watching with bated breaths to see what was going to happen.

"Well," her father finally sighed, "I suppose there's not much for me to say. I may be your father, but I know better than to go against the spirits. And from what Bato told me, you two and Sokka completed the ice dodging, so that makes you adults in the water tribe anyway – even though you, Aang, are still a little young by our standards." He frowned thoughtfully and then asked, "What age did your people consider adult?"

A bit of sadness passed rapidly across the young man's face but he didn't allow it to linger and answered the question easily enough. "We didn't have a set age, really. We were considered adult when we mastered the first thirty-five levels of airbending. Most didn't ever master the final level, but when you earned your tattoos you were expected to accept adult responsibilities." He smiled. "Most nomads reached their mastery around the age of fourteen."

Iroh looked curious. "When did you reach your mastery, Aang?"

The boy blushed and fidgeted a little at that question. "Well... I was ten when I... mastered the thirty-sixth level of airbending," he finally confessed a little self-consciously.

Everyone in the room gaped at him except Katara.

"Ten?" was the general chorus as they all stared at him with wide-eyes.

"Yeah. So I've basically been considered an adult by my people's standards since then."

"Forgive me if I'm missing something here," Iroh began, "but when you mastered your element that made you an adult? I'm not sure I understand why the Nomads looked at things that way," he said carefully.

Both Aang and Katara moved further into the room and sat down next to each other.

"Well, it's not quite that easy," Aang admitted. "I was simplifying a little. It didn't matter if you mastered airbending alone – if you weren't considered capable of accepting adult responsibilities then you wouldn't get your tattoos no matter how good at airbending you were. I suppose we had both as qualifications for adult status and you had to reach both. So my tattoos mean that I was judged ready for all that receiving them required by the other monks and my guardian."

Privately Katara couldn't deny that when she'd first met Aang, if she had known then of the way his people decided such an important matter she would have questioned their judgment, because he'd acted just like a kid. But... over the course of the year that she'd known him she'd learned that Aang was a kid at heart and always would be – but that when it counted he was as mature as anyone could expect, and that was all that could be asked of any being. Just by knowing him she already knew so much about the air nomads – such as that they'd been fun-filled, mischievous, and incurably playful pranksters that had loved life and relished in the lighter side of it. He was the most charming person she'd ever known, and his childlike side was a part of that - a part she loved as much as she loved all the rest of him.

She couldn't find any fault with who he was, and she didn't really much care if anyone else did – as far as she was concerned, that was their problem.

Hakoda had fallen silent after expressing his surprise at Aang's disclosure of the age he'd reached 'adult' status by his people's standards, closely watching his daughter's and the young monk's body language as Iroh questioned them. It was very clear that even if he didn't approve she would stand by the airbender, and even more clear that whatever it was that the fire spirit Agni had done had definitely strongly affected both of them. They were highly aware of each other and seemed to know exactly what the other was feeling and even thinking in the moment, as Katara showed no surprise about anything the boy was saying at all. His eyes saddened for a moment at the realization of his loss of his daughter, but it was inevitable, really. When he'd left the south pole she'd still been a child, but it was clear that she was no longer, and neither was the Avatar.

Of course, after what they'd been through in the last year that really shouldn't be so surprising.

When the room fell silent again he cleared his throat and everyone looked at him curiously. "Then I welcome you to the family, Aang." He smiled a little as the young couple grinned, their joy quite vivid and heartwarming to see. "I see no point in trying to keep you two apart, and if the look on my daughter's face is anything to go by you make her happier than I've ever seen her. I won't be the one to try to stand in the way of that." He chuckled. "I don't think it would do any good if I did, anyway."

Katara looked at her father with determination but also a bit of regret. "No, it wouldn't. I will never leave Aang for anyone. I'm sorry, dad, but if you tried to keep me from him..." she trailed off and shook her head, her expression clearing. "Well, never mind that. It doesn't matter, since you're not going to," she finished, glancing at the boy at her side, knowing he was looking at her. Her features softened with deep affection at the wonder on his face.

"I never wanted to come between you and your family, Katara," he began in a tone filled with emotion as well as awe that she would have chosen him over them if forced to, "but I can't deny that knowing that you would... choose me... I can't even tell you how that makes me feel." He looked at Hakoda and Sokka a little sadly. "And yet I can't help but feel kind of guilty, too – because it seems I did come between you, after all-"

"No, you didn't, Aang. You are part of my family – asking me to choose between you and them would be like Sokka asking me to choose between him and my dad. That's just silly," she said firmly.

Hakoda crouched down and put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Don't feel bad, Aang. Every child grows up and leaves home to marry or otherwise live their lives. I would never try to keep my children from doing that. Katara chose you, and I trust her. That she loves you is enough for me." Then he glanced at his son, who was looking at the young Avatar with affection, as well. "And from the look on Sokka's face, he trusts you, too. What more could a father ask?" he finished as his hand dropped back to his side and he stood up again.

Aang gently disengaged his hand from Katara's to stand and put one fist against the other palm, bowing deeply and with great respect to his new father-in-law. "I can never thank you enough then, Chief Hakoda, for allowing me the greatest gift in the world – your daughter. I vow to you as the Avatar – and as Aang - that she will always be cherished and protected to the best of my abilities."

Hakoda didn't miss that the young man didn't promise that Katara would always be safe, and he understood why that was. While most fathers would be upset by that seeming-omission, he wasn't. His daughter was a warrior no less than his son was, and she'd spent the last year fighting in the great war at this same young man's side. Aang respected her and knew that she could protect herself, but was telling him that he would protect her as well as he was able, too.

That was all he could ask.

He bowed in return. "Then my heart will rest at ease," he said, smiling at his newest family member and his daughter with equal pleasure as Aang sank back down next to Katara again. It was hard not to take a liking to the young Avatar even on short acquaintance – he was one of the most genuine, charismatic, and likeable people Hakoda had ever met, and he was proud to claim him as family.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised this has happened," Suki finally piped up, shaking her head with a small, rueful smile when everyone looked at her.

Sokka stared at her like she was crazy. "What do you mean?"

She laughed, returning his stare fondly. "I've known what was happening between them since the Serpent's Pass, Sokka. I can't believe you didn't. Heck, I suspected even back when you guys first came to Kyoshi Island, if the truth were to be told. Aang was pretty transparent-" she giggled when he turned a nice shade of red, "-though Katara was a lot harder to read. But even then she was devoted to him. I'm happy that everything resolved itself in your favor, you guys," she finished affectionately with a ready smile at the two sitting so close together.

"I guess it's a good thing I didn't put any money on Haru then," the so-far silent Toph finally piped up, not bothered one whit as everyone turned to stare at her with consternation. "What?"

"Toph!" Katara exclaimed with annoyance, frowning at the girl though of course she couldn't see it. "What is it with you and Haru? I'm going to start thinking you have a thing for him if you don't quit harping on him!"

The younger girl simply laughed and brushed that off. "I was just kidding, Sweetness, lighten up. I'm happy for you guys, seriously. I've always known how Aang felt about you, and I'm actually glad you didn't have a thing for Haru," she admitted as all those in the room murmured their agreement.

Katara just eyed her skeptically for a few moments and then sighed, letting it go as Aang took her hand and squeezed it gently. She knew what he meant, and she stayed quiet and let him speak for the both of them.

"Thanks, Toph, Suki – all of you. You don't know what that means to me, that you guys support me and Katara being together." He grinned affectionately at those in the room with them, reflecting on the odd vagaries of fate. It had taken one family from him, Monk Gyatso most especially, but then turned around and replaced it with a family that had found him one by one. (Well, except for Sokka and Katara, who'd found him together.) And while he would always miss his guardian, he also wouldn't give up the new family he'd found for anything... and most especially not Katara.

As the conversation in the room picked back up and a comfortable lassitude filled Aang's body he smiled and glanced at Katara from the corners of his eyes, not surprised to find her returning the sideways look with one of her own. Her smile was the same as his, and he bumped shoulders affectionately with her and let his smile widen into a grin. Things couldn't have turned out any better, as far as he was concerned, and as he let his eyes wander for a moment around the room again he allowed a mellow feeling of contentment to well up within him without trying to stop it.

He and Katara and all those in this room deserved this time of peace and happiness, and even though he knew it wouldn't last as the world caught its collective breath and then began clamoring for attention, he couldn't help but be content, anyway.

As long as he had the people currently surrounding he and his favorite waterbender, he could do what needed to be done.

For that matter, as long as he had Katara he could do anything and everything that the world required of him.

She smiled over at Aang and leaned her head on his shoulder as their bond sparked between them, saying quietly, "I agree – as long as we have each other, we can do everything."

And they did.

Fin