archipelago of kisses
(i want you to help me with whatever this is)

It didn't surprise her that he was the one who approached her first out of her friends.

Lately, they just seemed to find their way to each other, either by accident or on purpose- especially after their 'field trip'. That and she had a feeling deep inside her gut that he was affected by the play's end more than he let on.

So here he is, sitting beside her on the edge of the same pier they had hugged each other a few days ago, with a small flame flickering on one of his palms. She turned towards him and found out that he's looking back at her too, the sleeping bags under his eyes illuminated by the dim light.

He opened his mouth to ask-

"I can't sleep."

He closed his lips before opening them again. "Same here."

"Are you okay?" The question came out from her mouth before she could stop it- it was almost like an instinct, an automatic response from her. I really do act like a mother, don't I? She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry- I shouldn't have pried-"

"It's fine." He answered, and she raised one eyebrow in a really? fashion, and he sighed. "Okay, maybe not. And not really. I mean, for your question."

"I know. Who would be okay after seeing that stupid play-"

"They cheered."

"-huh?"

"The audience. When… Azula killed me and The Fire Lord defeated Aang… they were happy."

She noted that he called his father by the man's title now. "Zuko-"

"I know that a lot of people wanted me gone. But to see Fire Nation citizens to clap upon the idea…"

"They…" She stopped. This was harder than comforting Aang, Sokka, and even Toph. What do you say to a guy whose own people cheered over his own death? "Don't let it get into your head too much." Not the words she would usually said for comfort, but it's better than nothing.

"Thanks."

"And it's not going to happen."

"What?"

"Your death. Aang's defeat. We're going to win."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." She forcefully said those words, as if to assure herself and not only her companion. "There are going to be six of us in that final battle, not only just you and Aang." Saying the airbender's name brought back the other events on the theatre, and the nagging guilt she had gutted down came back. "We'll win."

"… Okay." He quietly replied.

She gulped that guilt down her stomach, before pulling her knees up so now her chin rested on top of it, and busied herself by looking at the comforting sight of the moon.

We'll win. She forced that thought into her mind, trying to replace all the doubts like, what if we die?- What if Aang can't stop the Fire Lord after the comet passed? What if it's too late?

"Katara. Hey, Katara-"

A soft nudge to a shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to the boy beside her. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, you just… kind of spaced out, that's all."

"Oh."

"Did something happen?"

Oh, no. She thought in horror. Zuko knows- She could feel her cheeks reddening because of- what? Embarrassment? Mortification?

Wait, she told herself. Calm down, he was probably just being a good friend and worrying for your sake. His question didn't mean he suspected that anything happened between you and Aang- he was just being worried. Worried. Yeah, that's it.

"Not-" She stopped. Maybe she should tell him. The stupid guilt was distracting her, and as a warrior, he'll understand, right? Maybe he can even help her, or something.

(After all, she didn't know who else she should go to talk about her problem- Aang was out of the question, Toph… she feel weird to discuss this things with her, she's twelve- never mind that Aang's twelve too- but she's worried that the earthbending girl will tease her endlessly- Suki is a good choice, now if her brother wasn't hogging her to himself all the time- and Sokka, just… no. She didn't even want to think about it.)

"Something happened at the theatre." She finally said. "Between me and Aang."

She received only a nod as his response, showing that he's listening and urging her to continue.

No backing down now, "We… had a misunderstanding." She gulped. "He thought that you and I… are, you know… involved."

She thought she heard her companion snort, but when she looked at him he was back to normal. She ignored the snort, and continued.

"I know that's just stupid. In fact, the whole play was stupid too- because even if I'm not in a relationship right now, you probably have a girlfriend- not that I know that you have one- somewhere and if she sees that-"

"I had a girlfriend."

"-it's inconsiderate of them to- did you say you had a girlfriend?"

"Yes, I did."

"Had. A girlfriend."

"We… broke up when I left home, for the lack of better word. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't seem like the type who had a girlfriend."

"I don't have the face to have one, do I?"

She silently cursed herself. Tsk, tsk, Katara- haven't you learned already? "No." She looked at him. "When you joined us, you… look like you didn't leave anyone important behind. Well, you did leave your family- but that's another story."

"Did I really look like that?"

"You still look like that until now. Who is she? Your girlfriend."

"Mai. One of Azula's friends."

"Flying daggers?"

"Yeah."

"You and her?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." She remembered a pale girl with long black hair who didn't care about her own brother's safety. A girl who threw pointy things at them, a girl who probably hurt a lot of the Kyoshi Warriors if Suki was telling the truth. She remembered that she didn't like the girl.

But the boy beside her had been trying so hard to become her friend, so she tried to be nice. "She must be really sad, you know- you leaving her like that."

"Mai and sadness never mix well. She was pissed when I met her again."

"Why?"

"I broke up with her in a letter. And she didn't understand why I have to leave my country. Why I have to betray my people."

"You never talked with her about your decision?"

"No. We… didn't talk much about anything."

"You-"She shut her mouth, catching the meaning hidden in his words. Oh. Oh. Of course. Well, that's what boyfriends and girlfriends do with each other, right? She couldn't imagine Zuko kissing that gloomy girl- okay; she couldn't imagine him kissing anyone, period. He's Zuko. He's the grumpy guy, the guy who dances with dragons and takes everyone for field trips and the guy who jumps across zeppelins like it was nothing. And he's dating someone. Dated someone. Whatever.

"So… What happened between you and Aang?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?" She smiled.

"I'm trying to prevent awkward questions. And awkward answers. Sokka's were bad enough."

"And you don't think that I might answer your awkward question with an awkward answer?"

"You're not in a relationship."

She felt her face fell. "No. I'm not."

"If you don't want to answer-"

"He kissed me. Aang kissed me. I was confused; I broke us off- Okay. I said it."

"Aang kissed you?"

"Yes. He did. We kissed- no, he kissed me- I stepped back- and well, yeah."

"And…"

"And, and, I don't know! I'm confused, okay! I want to be angry but I can't help feeling guilty and he looked so heartbroken and- you're not helping at all by just sitting there with your mouth open!"

She glared at him. He closed his mouth. She still glared. He sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just… okay, never mind. So… he kissed you. And you're angry, guilty, and confused." He sighed again. "I can't help you with this."

"Zuko."

"Yeah?"

"I just told you the thing that I will never tell Toph, Suki, and even Sokka because I believe that you can help me. And you had a girlfriend. Shouldn't you be more experienced in all of this?"

"If you want someone experienced, why not Suki?"

"Sokka."

"Oh."

"I know you're bad with words, but please. Just say something."

"I thought you knew that Aang like you."

Of all the things she expected to come out from his mouth, his last sentence wasn't one of them. "What?"

"Well- you two kissed on the day of Black Sun-"

She made a mental note to find the person who dared to tell Zuko about that kiss. Then again, it might be Aang who told him- but now she had to deal with another misunderstanding. "He's the one who kissed me! And just because we kissed doesn't mean that I love him!"

She saw what she hoped was understanding in his eyes. "That's why you're angry, aren't you? Because he kissed you."

"I already said that I'm confused. It's just, Aang might think that kissing solves the confusion, but-"

"It doesn't help with anything, right?"

"Yeah. And the way he looked at me- like I just killed a helpless animal or something- I don't know. I want to be angry, but he made it so hard."

"Kissing." He said softly, looking away. "I don't know what Aang was thinking when he kissed you, but what I know is it doesn't solve anything. It doesn't help you decide anything."

"You seem to know a lot."

"I was confused too. And when she tried to make it all better by kissing me, the confusion didn't go away. It grew worse and worse and in the end, I had to make the choice on my own, and now my ex-girlfriend hates me because she doesn't understand me. Because she didn't listen to my doubts and kissed me instead."

Katara wondered if Aang thought the same way too. If he thought that after he kissed her everything will just magically come together and they will love each other until happily ever after. She wondered if he actually heard her when she said she was confused.

"You're okay?" She heard him ask again.

"No."

"Don't let what happened between you and Aang cloud your decision. If you love him, you should tell him back. Before it's too late. And I don't think that he wanted to make you angry or anything. He just did what he thought was the best."

That's why, she wanted to tell him. Aang does things he thinks are the best. And earlier, she had said that she's confused and he still did what he thought was the best.

"I- I don't know. But thanks." She genuinely smiled at him. "What you said, I don't know if it will help, yet, but I'll try talking this with Aang." She sighed. "Talking, not kissing."

"Don't make the same mistake that I did."

"Hopefully not. Come on," She stood and held one of her hands to him. "Are you planning to stay out all night? It's getting cold."

He took her hand and got up. And as they walked back to his summer house, she couldn't help but feel a little lighter.

I don't own Avatar. Reviews will be very appreciated.