Chapter 1: New Hope

Hey guys! I just want to say real quick that I didn't come up with the idea for this story. I saw it somewhere on here months ago and it keeps pestering my mind since that story only made it one chapter in before the author seemingly abandoned it, as they hadn't written on it again for years. If said author would like to take credit for the idea of this story as you read it, then let me know either through PM or as a review and I'll make sure that you receive the credit you deserve for it. Anyway, the beginning of this chapter is going to be a lot like the story I mentioned above, but after that it will become my own. It's going to start off sad, but as the story progresses it will get better. Thanks to those of you who keep up with my stories and I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

It was a quiet November night as the people started going home, not knowing what it was like to not have one. A young lady walked in to the gas station and went to the bathroom, cradling her young one in her arms, scared to death of letting her go. She was the only thing she had left ever since her ex-husband Jet tossed her out on the street. Now he was at home with women and she was the one suffering. It had all started when she had discovered him cheating. Her heart had broken that day, but she didn't have any other means to take care of her future daughter, so she stuck with him. That is, until he found out about the pregnancy and kicked her out a year ago, leaving her to fend for herself. She would have tried to get in contact with her family, but she had no money nor a phone, so she was stuck just barely scraping by and begging for whatever money she could get. Not even the hospital where she had gone for help would let her stay for long. They were nice enough to waive her fees, but she had hoped they might let her stay until she could get back up on her feet. Katara wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head. No point in being sad now, she thought. Kya needs you. Don't let her down. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the sink and unwrapped her so that she could see her face. "Hi honey," she cooed as the baby babbled. "It's alright. We're just going to get you cleaned up, okay?" Little Kya smiled, making Katara's heart melt and started running some warm water for her daughter. "This might tickle, so be careful honey," Katara warned as she took some soap and put it on her child. The serene look on her daughter's face was all she really needed to keep going. As long as she was okay, Katara would be okay. After a few minutes of scrubbing, she rinsed her off gently and dried her off with some paper towels. Satisfied with her work, she wrapped her up again and walked over to the dollar section of the gas station. Picking out some beef jerky with some water bottles, she paid for them and walked out and around to the corner of the building where she had been living behind a dumpster for the last couple of weeks. She hadn't been able to stay in any place for long due to people telling her to go somewhere else, so she was always on the move. Setting her stuff down, she laid her daughter on the makeshift bed of cardboard boxes and wrapped a blanket over her, ensuring that she would stay warm. Katara sat down and opened up her jerky, savoring how good it tasted on her tongue, not knowing when she would be able to eat next. There was no money left, and she wasn't sure if anyone would give her any more money. After finishing it and drinking some water, she laid down next to her Kya and smiled, feeling at peace knowing that her daughter was alive and well. Feeling sleep overcome her, her eyes slowly drifted closed, listening to the sound of cars passing by. Before she could actually fall asleep, her eyes shot open as she heard footsteps coming from down the alley. Feeling her motherly instincts take over, she grabbed Kya and squeezed her tightly, hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice them. The footsteps came closer and closer until she could see black men's boots attached to a pair of jeans. Looking up slightly, she saw a young man in a leather jacket and a dark blue button-up shirt with short, dark brown hair. She remained silent for a moment, hoping he would walk right by. Unfortunately for her, he seemed to feel her presence and looked around until he saw her. Worry came over his face as he walked over and crouched down next to her. "Miss? Is everything alright?" he asked in concern.

Katara was silent for a moment while avoiding his eyes, not really wanting to talk. "Yes, I'm fine," she finally said lowly. "Now you can continue on with your night. Or are you here to make me find a new place to live too?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, no. I'm not here to do that. If you don't mind me asking, why are you here?"

"Because I find this fun," Katara responded sarcastically. "Sorry to break it to you, but not everyone has a home. Now will you please leave me alone?"

The man was silent for a moment as he looked between her and the baby in her arms. "How long have you been here?" he questioned carefully.

Katara sighed and rolled her eyes. "I've been here for two weeks, but if you mean how long I've been homeless, it's been about a year. Thanks for reminding me. Now would you please leave me alone?" she tried her best not to snap at him.

Another moment of silence passed by before he reached out and squeezed her arm softly, taking her by surprise. "How would you like to stay at my place? We could get you an actual room and some food and water so neither you nor your baby is out here in the cold."

She was taken by surprise. This was the last thing she would have expected to happen, but she knew what she would have to do if she agreed to it, and she wasn't that desperate. "No thank you," she said curtly. "I think I'll stay out here if you don't mind."

"Miss, with all due respect, I can't just stand by and watch you and your daughter live out here in the cold," the man refused politely. "I know you don't know me well, but I promise, I'm not a bad guy. We'll get you a nice warm room to sleep in, I'll get you whatever you need for your baby and then we'll work on getting you a job and whatever else you might need until you're ready to go out on your own. I can't and won't just let you guys continue to stay out here. Especially when it's about to snow outside."

Katara scoffed, "It's not about to-" A flake of snow landed on her nose as she spoke, silencing her into submission. The cold finally got to her and she knew that if she wanted her daughter to be alright, they would need to find proper shelter. With a long sigh, she slowly nodded. "Okay… we'll go with you."

The man smiled and offered a hand to her. "Come on. We'll go get you some nice clothes and a shower so you can sleep peacefully."

Katara reluctantly took it while holding Kya with her arm, not daring to let go. Her breath caught in her throat as she came face to face with the stranger. Hello gorgeous… she thought a little dreamily before quickly snapping out of it. Bad Kat! You're not exactly looking for a date anyway, so remember that! Shaking her head at herself, she cleared her throat. "Thank you, sir."

He smiled warmly at her, unconsciously making her smile a little back as he shook her hand. "I suppose I should tell you my name. I'm Aang, Aang White."

"Katara Aqua," Katara responded somewhat politely, still not really trusting this man. "Now, I'm guessing you have a car to get us to your place?"

"Of course," Aang laughed, making Katara smile against her will. His laugh was infectious, and it took everything in her not to laugh with him. "If you'll just follow me?" Katara followed him as he walked back the way he came out to a parking lot where there were no other cars than an expensive-looking Rolls Royce. She became surprised when he clicked a button on his keys and it unlocked.

Katara looked at him in amazement. "What, are you rich or something?"

He laughed again and shrugged. "Money-wise, yes. But I don't consider having money makes someone rich."

"Then what do you think makes someone rich?" Katara wondered as Aang opened the door for her. She blushed, not used to having a gentleman do anything like that for her, but she sat down and looked at him as he smiled at her.

"Family," he told her honestly. "One needs family to be truly rich in life. Money can't buy you happiness, and it can't bring back your loved ones," he sighed a little. Seeing the look on her face, he shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Let's just get going. We'll have you home and cleaned up before you know it." Shutting the door softly, he walked over to the other side and started it up, exiting the parking lot and driving away.

"So," Katara started as she checked on her daughter, "What do you do for a living? It must be something along the lines of owning a business if you have a Rolls Royce."

He smiled a little as he glanced at her. "I do own a business, but it's not my job. My parents owned a jewelry company that did pretty well before it was passed down to me. Now I let someone else run it while I take my share of the profits."

"What's the company called?" Katara wondered.

"White's Jewelry," Aang said as he took a turn.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You own White's Jewelry?" He nodded. "Wow. Your company is one of the most respected jewelry companies in the world."

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Aang agreed. "I made sure that whoever's running it would actually do good by the company and its employees, so it should be in tip-top shape. Otherwise I'll look until I find someone who knows how to properly run a business."

Katara couldn't help but admire him a little. Here he was, a man who owned one of the most profitable businesses in the world and was still very humble. Men like him were rare to find in the world today. "Well no wonder you own a Rolls Royce, then," she laughed.

Aang smiled. "Yeah, but I wasn't the one who picked this out," he told her honestly, catching her by surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously.

"This was my parents car before they died," he explained as he entered a neighborhood full of rich-looking houses. "I'm not the flashy kind of guy, but I keep their car and their house so I can feel like they're with me."

Katara looked down at her neck, grabbing her necklace gently as she traced over the symbol with her thumb. "I know what you mean," she murmured as he looked at her curiously. Before they could continue with their conversation, Aang pulled into his driveway, making Katara's jaw drop. He had the largest house in the neighborhood. It was the most beautiful house she had ever seen. It was painted a nice marble white with black trim around it with plenty of windows, indicating it had plenty of rooms for guests. A large fountain held a pathway that led through a small sitting area to a huge wooden door. The pathway was lit up with unique looking lamps, each one in the shape of a different symbol. "Hello?" Snapping out of her daze, she quickly looked over to see Aang holding the door for her again. "Is everything alright?"

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I've just never seen a more beautiful house before," she admitted.

He just laughed and held out a hand for her. "It's quite alright, Miss Katara. I know it takes some time to get used to, but I'm sure you will. Now how about we go inside so we can get you some food and water and some sleep?" She nodded with a small smile and took his hand, ignoring the tingling feeling she got whenever she felt contact between them. Following him slowly, they made their way up to the door where Aang quickly unlocked it with a key. Katara couldn't help but gasp as he opened the door, taking it all in at once. The inside of the house was just as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than the outside. It was huge, easily making it the biggest entrance she had ever seen. "Come on in," Aang invited with a smile. Stepping inside, Katara looked around until her eyes fell on what she assumed was the living room. There were a few leather couches and a leather recliner sitting in front of a large table that took up half of the room. A seventy inch tv hung on the wall with a fireplace below it, crackling with a still burning fire.

"Wow," she breathed. "This place is amazing."

Aang just shrugged as he took off his jacket and put it on his coat hanger. "If you say so. I'd prefer to have a house that doesn't feel so empty, but you take what you can get I guess." Katara looked at him as if he was crazy, but he just smiled, making her smile back for a second until she remembered herself.

"So, you live here by yourself?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

"I do," Aang agreed as he lead his way to the kitchen. As they walked in, a woman came from another room with a pie in her hands.

"Mr. White!" she greeted pleasantly. "I see you're back in time for-" she cut herself off when she noticed Katara. "Who is this?" she asked with a little jealousy.

"Ty Lee, this is Miss Aqua," Aang gestured to her with a smile. "She's in need of a place to stay until she can get back up on her feet, so until then she'll be staying here. You don't mind cooking for one- I mean two more, do you?"

"Of course not!" she lied through her teeth. "It would be a pleasure!"

Aang smiled and looked to Katara. "Great! Would you like anything right now? Ty Lee's the best chef in the city, so she can make you whatever you would like."

Katara raised an eyebrow. "Anything?" she asked in disbelief. He nodded with his smile intact. "Um, do you happen to know how to make sea prunes by chance?"

"Of course I do!" Ty Lee said cheerily, doing her best not to be angry with Katara. "I'll have them right up for you!" Walking away quickly, Aang rubbed his head in confusion.

"Well that was odd," Aang thought aloud.

"What was odd?" Katara asked.

Aang shrugged and walked over to the table, pulling out a chair for her which she sat down with a blush. "She's usually cheery, but there was something… fake about her demeanor. I wonder why that was?" he asked himself as he sat down across from her. Katara laughed a little, making him raise an eyebrow. "What?"

She just smiled and waved him off. "It's nothing. If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm not sure you ever will." Still confused, he was about to go more into it as Ty Lee came in and dropped off a steaming plate of sea prunes.

"Here you go!" she said happily, her little fit appearing to have gone with the wind. "I hope it tastes just as you want it!"

Katara smiled and nodded to her. "Thank you, I appreciate it." Ty Lee smiled and walked away until she looked back from around the corner and glared at her, making her nervous. What did I do to her? It's not like I'm his girlfriend or anything, she thought worriedly. Shaking her head, she turned back to see Aang digging into the pie that Ty Lee had left out. Katara couldn't help but giggle at his expression when he took out a piece and it crumbled before his eyes into mush onto his plate. "Best chef in the city, huh?" she teased as she set Kya down in her lap.

Aang just shrugged with a laugh. "I said she was the best chef, not the best baker," he responded with a grin. She just laughed and dug into her sea prunes, her eyes widening at how good they tasted.

"These are amazing!" she exclaimed with a mouthful, much to her embarrassment.

"I'm glad you like them. I told you she's the best chef in the city," he chuckled as he ate some of his mush. They ate their meals in a slightly awkward silence, but not entirely awkward. The kind of awkward of two people who don't know each other but will as time passes. "So," he started as he wiped his chin clean, "If I may ask, how did you become homeless? It pains me to see such a pretty young lady out on the streets with a kid so young."

Katara blushed a little from his compliment, but became sad at remembering how it had all started. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not go into detail. Let's just say that my ex-husband kicked me out when he found out I was pregnant."

Aang's eyes widened in surprise, then settled on something she never thought she would see in his eyes: Anger. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and looked up at her, but not with pity as she expected him to. His eyes were filled with compassion and understanding with a hint of the anger that had filled his beautiful gray orbs. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Miss Aqua. If it helps at all, whoever he was made a huge mistake. You and your daughter are very beautiful, so he had no idea what he was missing out on. May I ask what her name is?"

She smiled a little and looked down to her daughter. "Her name is Kya. Named after my mother who died at an early point in my life."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Aang covered her hand with his, making her blush again. "I understand what you feel though. My parents died when I was around ten years old. They're the reason that I chose to do my job."

"Oh yeah, I didn't think to ask what your job actually was," she said. "Why do you have a job if you're rich anyway?"

He just shrugged as he cleaned up his little mess. "It gives me something to do and a sense of fulfillment." He paused and looked down at his plate sadly. "And it helps me help others who were in my situation before it went bad."

She raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"My parents were killed when I was younger," he explained with a faraway look in his eyes. "Maybe if I had been older and more able, then maybe I could have saved them. But I wasn't, and now they're dead."

Katara put her hand on his, causing him to blush in return. "It wasn't your fault, Aang. How could you do anything when you were ten years old? No one would blame you for not being able to do anything, least of all your parents," she told him gently, trying to ease the pain searing in his eyes.

He looked at her gratefully. "Thank you, Katara. Since I couldn't be there to help them then, I've vowed to dedicate my life helping others so no one else would have to go through what I had to go through. And I found the perfect way to do that: By becoming a detective."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "You're a detective?" He nodded. "If you're a detective, then what were you doing walking down an alley?"

"I was following up on a lead that someone gave me," he explained. "There was an anonymous tip that someone was smuggling weapons in that area, but the only thing I found was you. Unless you were the one smuggling weapons," he joked.

Katara just laughed, making him smile. He loved the sound of her laugh. "No, no. I barely had enough money to get myself food, let alone weapons."

Aang smiled sadly. "Well, you don't have to worry about it now. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to. I'm the only one who lives here anyway, so it'll be nice having someone to talk to."

She smiled fakely, knowing what she would have to do. "Well, thank you. I'll be sure to show you just how grateful I am later."

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused. Before she could answer, Ty Lee came back in with her coat on.

"Alright, I gotta go Mr. White! I'll see you tomorrow!" she said cheerily while walking up to him and giving him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Miss Jackson!" he called as she walked out the door.

Katara looked confused. "Is she your girlfriend or something?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't know what that was about. Though now that I think about it, it does seem like she has a bit of a crush on me."

"Oh really now?" Katara chuckled. "You just now noticed that? How long has she been working here?"

"About two years," he admitted as he took a sip of water. "She came to the city to become a famous chef but fell on hard times, so now she's working here until she can achieve that dream."

Katara smiled a little. "Well that was nice of you to hire her. Though I must admit, she is an excellent cook. I haven't had sea prunes that tasted that good in years since I last saw my gran-gran."

He smiled in return. "Well, as I said, whatever you want from her, just let her know and she'll make it for you. She's full of energy and doesn't like to wait around much, so she'll be ready at any moment. Her shift starts in the morning at nine and is supposed to go until five, but she likes to stay later to earn some more money."

"I'm not so sure that's why she wants to stay later," Katara laughed.

"I guess not," Aang agreed. "Still, whatever her reason is, it's not like I can't afford it." He snapped his fingers. "Before I forget, I should mention that I also have a cleaning lady named Suki who comes in three days a week. Normally I would just do everything myself, but it helps people find work and it gives me more time to work on my cases, so it all works out."

She nodded while she took a sip of water. "Okay, that's fine. It'll be nice not having to clean, though maybe I should…" she trailed off in thought.

He waved her off. "Don't worry about it. Suki will be just fine on her own. You can do whatever you like while you're here, I just ask that you try to keep things orderly in here and do your best not to break anything."

"Of course I can handle that," she promised as she looked down at her daughter. "You'll hardly even notice we're here." Kya started crying a little, much to her embarrassment. "Okay, you'll hardly even notice me anyway."

"It's alright, Miss Katara," he grinned as he placed a soft hand on Kya, making her quiet down much to Katara's amazement. "I know what it's like to take care of children. I have no problem with having a baby in the house. If nothing else, it'll make this house seem less quiet."

Katara looked at him curiously. "Have you had children before? You look too young to have had a full grown adult by now."

"No, but I've volunteered at my church in the youth center," Aang laughed. "I'm sure one kid is bad, but dealing with ten of them? That's a whole different kind of nightmare." Katara couldn't help but giggle at the scared look on his face, making him smile as he listened to her melodic laugh.

"I'm sure it was," she said between giggles. "Though at least for you it was only an hour or so. I've had to deal with her crying and having to clean her everyday since the day she was born." She looked down to Kya with a smile. "Not that I mind it though. It's absolutely worth it when I see the little smile on her face."

He smiled and held her hand, making her look up to him quickly with yet another blush. "Well now you don't have to do it alone. I'll be here to help you and we'll look for a babysitter to watch her while we find you a job."

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he assured her with a squeeze of her hand. "As I said, we'll get you whatever you need to take care of you both and get you back up on your feet. Tomorrow I'll let you sleep in and then we'll go shopping and get you some new clothes along with whatever baby stuff you might need. Then the next day we'll take her shopping and get her new clothes. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah," she smiled warmly at him. "That would be great. Thank you so much for helping me. I don't know anyone else who would be so kind."

"It's no problem at all," he assured her with another squeeze of her hand. They just stared into each others' eyes silently, enjoying each others' presence until Katara let out a long yawn. "Looks like someone's tired," he teased. Standing up, he offered a hand to her. "Come on, I'll get you guys a room to stay in." Katara was hesitant at first, slightly dreading what she knew she had to do, but she knew there was no avoiding it. Taking a deep breath, she took his hand and grabbed Kya, making sure to clean up her mess a bit. "Don't worry about the dishes. Ty Lee will take care of that tomorrow." She nodded and followed him up a large stairwell that led to two long hallways on opposite sides, each filled with plenty of rooms. Walking to the right, Aang lead her to the room at the end of the hall and opened the door, revealing a large bedroom with a huge bed. One that was far bigger than a King size. Looking around, she saw a beautiful wooden dresser and a fifty inch tv sitting on top of it accompanied by a dvd player and a cable box.

"Rich people watch cable?" Katara asked in disbelief.

Aang chuckled as he walked in. "I can't speak for others, but I know that I do. Though I probably shouldn't, as there's never really anything on."

Katara couldn't help the laugh that escaped from her lips. "Yeah, you're right. I remember before I became homeless that I would flip through hundreds of channels and never find anything."

"That sounds about right," Aang agreed with a smile. "It doesn't really matter for me, anyway. I don't use the tv much, but maybe it'll come in handy for Kya. Lord knows the only reason I could distract the kids at the youth center was with a kids show."

She smirked. "Yeah, that's the only way that my parents could distract my brother and I when we were children."

"Have you tried getting in contact with them?" Aang wondered.

"I would have, but I had little to no money and no idea what their phone numbers were," she explained. "They don't live in this city, so if I want to find them I'm going to have to hire someone to track them down."

"Don't worry about that. I'll be paying for whatever you might need," he told her. Kya started crying again while Katara sighed sadly. "It's okay, we'll just put something on for her." Walking over to the dresser, he grabbed the remote and turned the tv on, flipping through until he found a cartoon. Kya heard the noises from the show and became fixated on it, instantly quieting her cries. "See?" he grinned. "Works like a charm. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just grab some of my things and go to another room."

Katara's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you're giving me your room?" He nodded as he started taking clothes out of his dresser. "You don't have to do that. We can just stay in another room."

He looked over his shoulder and shook his head. "No, you're the one with a baby. Besides that, you've been out on the streets for a year. You deserve to have a nice room to stay in."

"I'm sure that your other rooms are nice too," she argued.

"They are," he admitted as he grabbed a bag to put his clothes in. "But this one is the best, and you need the most comfort you can get right now. I'll have no arguments on this," he said firmly as he noticed she was about to object again.

She was silent for a moment until she let out a sigh of defeat. "Alright… I just feel bad for kicking you out."

"You're not kicking me out," he assured her as he walked into his bathroom. "I'll be a few rooms down and I will be just fine in a guest room. I appreciate your concern though!"

Katara still didn't look sure, but considering what she was about to do, she figured it would be more than fair to let her have the room. He finally walked out with his bag and noticed her dirty clothes. "How about we get you a robe to wear so you can shower and get out of those dirty clothes?" She nodded and followed him to the bathroom and was once again amazed at just how expensive everything appeared. The bathroom was bigger than her own room when she had lived with Jet. "As you can see here," he gestured to a few hooks on the wall, "I have several robes here for you to use. I never used any of them, so go ahead and take your pick. There's shampoo, conditioner and body wash in there, so use as much as you need. If you need me, I'll be in the third room on the left of the hallway. Have a good night, Miss Katara," he told her with a smile before closing the door behind him.

She smiled a little at his politeness but dropped as she remembered what she had to do. Taking a deep breath, she took off her clothes and stepped into the shower, relishing the warm water running down her skin. It had been so long since she had a shower, she had forgotten how good it felt. As she looked around the shower, she saw expensive brands of hygiene products and smiled. If nothing else, at least she would get to enjoy living like a rich person while she stayed there. Quickly cleaning herself, she rinsed off and stepped out of the shower. I forgot to ask for a towel, she realized. Looking around, she noticed a small cabinet and opened it to find a large stack of towels, much to her relief. She dried herself off and walked over to the robes, choosing the blue one in the center. Katara looked in the mirror at her disheveled hair, frowning at it as she tried to fix it. She looked down and noticed a comb on the counter and used it to quickly brush out her hair. Using some mouthwash, she quickly sloshed it around in her mouth and spit it out to ensure that she had decent breath. Once she was satisfied with her appearance, she walked out and cradled Kya in her arms, kissing her softly on the head. "I'll be back soon, honey. I've got some business to take care of." Putting her down on the pillows of the bed, she walked quietly out the door and closed it behind her softly, not wanting to disturb her. Aang's door was closed, but she knew that he would still be awake. Taking a deep breath, she walked quietly over to his room and stood in front of it, not knowing how to proceed. Deciding on knocking, she gently knocked on it so that it wouldn't be too loud.

"Come in!" his voice rang from the other side of the door. Taking one last deep breath, she opened it slowly to reveal a shirtless Aang brushing his teeth in the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and saw her there. Turning around, she couldn't help but drool a little as her gaze traveled down his body. He was very well-built and very muscular with not one inch of fat on him. Well, at least he's attractive. I think I'll enjoy this, she thought hopefully. "Is everything alright, Miss Katara?"

She nodded as she walked closer, standing just outside of the bathroom. "I'm fine. I just came here to talk…"

Aang became confused, but shrugged and returned to brushing his teeth. Spitting out the toothpaste, he rinsed his sink out and put his toothbrush back. "Okay. What did you want to talk about?" He turned around to look at her.

"I came to talk about this," she said as she dropped her robe, leaving her naked as the day as she was born before him. His eyes widened in surprise but he quickly shut them and covered them with his hand.

"Um, not to be rude or anything, but what are you doing Miss Katara?" he asked in complete surprise.

She frowned a little. "What? Do you not like how I look?"

He shook his head quickly. "No, it's not that. You're very beautiful, it's just that I don't understand why you're doing this."

Katara became confused. "I thought that this was the whole reason why you invited me here? You take care of me and I provide… services for you," she explained.

"Okay, we obviously need to talk, but would you mind putting your robe back on please?" he asked politely. "Not that you're not beautiful, because you are, but we obviously need to have a talk." Still confused, she put her robe back on and sat down on the bed as he followed her and sat in a chair across from her. "Okay, obviously there's been a mixup here, so let's start where it began. You thought that I brought you here to offer me services in return for me taking care of you and your daughter?" She nodded slowly, still not sure where he was going with this. "No offense or anything, but where on Earth did you get that idea?" he asked in confusion.

"Well why else would you invite me here?" she countered. "I wasn't exactly nice to you, so why else would you offer to help me?"

Aang sighed and placed a hand on her hand, causing her to blush again. Why am I blushing so much when he touches me? she thought irritably. "It doesn't matter if you were nice to me or not," he said as he looked her in the eyes. "I won't turn my back on someone just because they were a bit rude to me, especially when they have a helpless child who needs shelter. Since there's been some confusion on this, let's make this clear right now." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "There are absolutely no conditions or favors needed for you to stay here. I expect nothing in return for helping you get back on your feet, and you shouldn't feel like you owe me anything. And if you feel like you do, let's just call having you as company as payment. Like I said before, it'll be nice having someone else in the house. You owe me nothing at all, let alone… services as you call it."

Katara couldn't believe it. Someone who was actually willing to help her with no favors or anything in return? Especially after she was mean to him? "Are you sure?" she asked unsurely.

"Of course I am," he smiled as he squeezed her hand again. "I have more than enough money to take care of a hundred people, let alone a young mother and her kid. I want nothing in return for helping you, except maybe a friend if we get along well."

She smiled and hugged him tightly, feeling completely relieved. "Thank you," she whispered gratefully. "You don't know how much this means to me."

He smiled and hugged her back, enjoying the fresh smell of shampoo in her hair. "It's no problem at all, Miss Katara."

"Katara," she corrected him as she pulled away.

Aang raised a brow, "I'm sorry?"

"Katara," she repeated with a smile. "No need for formalities. You've proven that you're a good guy, so you've earned the right to just call me Katara."

He smiled again. "Well then Katara, how about you go back to your room and get some sleep? I'm sure it's been a long time since you've gotten proper rest."

She nodded with her smile intact. "You're right. It has been sometime." Standing up, she started walking out of the room until she stopped at the doorway.

"Did you forget something?" Aang asked in confusion.

"Yeah, you could say that," she agreed over her shoulder. Turning around, she walked up to him and kissed his cheek, making him flush deep red. Laughing a little, she gave him one last smile. "Goodnight Mr. White."

He shook his head quickly. "No need for formalities," he teased as she laughed. "You can call me Aang. Goodnight, Katara."

Unable to stop herself, she gave him a much longer kiss on the cheek, effectively setting his face on fire. She pulled back and smiled at him. "Well then, Goodnight Aang." He smiled and watched as she walked out the door, stopping to wave before she closed the door. Once the door was shut, she leaned up against it and let out a long breath, feeling her heart pounding rapidly against her will. She had never thought she would feel like that again, but here she was. Her heart feeling more alive than it ever had before. Sighing slightly, she took one last look at the door and walked back to her room. As she walked to the bed, she saw Kya fast asleep. "Thank God," she sighed in relief. Gently getting on the bed, she grabbed Kya and wrapped her in her arms, falling into happy dreams about the man who had saved her and her daughter from the endless cold of winter.