A/N: Lol –nervous laugh- yeahhhh sorry about this. I'm posting much later that I thought I would, and with a short chapter too. Hehe. I was having issues finishing this though. You have no idea how hard it was to decide on what to do with this second chapter. I wrote it three different times. I really liked my angst-y kind of one, but it didn't really fit in as well with the first chapter, so that one was a bust. The other I wrote was a really stupid chapter that I completely hated, so finally, after much deliberation I settled on this. It's really happy, really fluffy, and I think they're really IN-character this time, but it's not really that good. I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing. BTW, another reason why it took me so long to write this was because I was also writing ANOTHER story (a oneshot this time) and it's posted if you want to read it. It's called "War Heroes" (if you guess what it is before you read it I'll give you a cookie!) One other thing: I want YOU guys to challenge ME. Tell me what you want me to write – anything you want me to write (It has to be either a oneshot, or a twoshot though), and I'll write it. Lol. I want to see what kind of chicken you guys can dump on me (just plz no slash and nothing 'M' rated, cuz I'm not ready for that kind of stuff yet. Lol.) Thank you all, you are all my fellow muffins! Together we will destroy the cupcakes and rule the world!!! Mwahaha! – Frisk-a-Roar

Confrontations

.Chapter Two.

(2/2)

"Aang?"

One. Two. Three. Four. That's how far Katara counted. She didn't know why, but the seconds seemed to drag on. Longer and longer each one went by, ticking in her head. Tick, tock, tick, tock—one, two, three, four. She was still barley inches from Aang's face; she could feel the warmth of his breath on her lips. Maybe that's why the seconds were going by so slow, because they weren't seconds at all. She must've been counting his breaths. It'd make sense considering Aang often breathed very deeply.

Or perhaps it was because Aang was staring at her with the strangest expression on his face. His grey-eyes were intent, almost burning into hers with an intensity that actually made her blush, yet there was no kindle of ferocity within them. It was the kind of look that made her want to avert her eyes, not because it frightened or discomforted her, but because it seemed to mean much more than she could comprehend. The rest of his expression however, was empty. That was what frightened her. Had she done something wrong?

And so she counted: One, two, three, four. All the while sudden waves of paranoia and self-consciousness rushed through her. She could feel the blush deepening in her cheeks.

"Aang?" she asked again.

It was then he finally said something. "Did you really mean that, Katara?" His expression hadn't changed at all, but his voice was small, almost doubtful.

She just nodded.

For one more long agonizing moment Aang remained silent. His eyes drifted out of focus a bit while he concentrated on something, and finally, finally, his expression changed as his brow furrowed slightly. Katara counted another two seconds—or breaths, or whatever it was she was counting—in total silence. Then, like a flash of light, Aang's eyes were back on hers and he was grinning—grinning!—a grin so wide it nearly stretched from ear to ear. No, it did stretch from ear to ear. It was the goofy kind of oh-my-spirits-my-life-rocks kind of grin that had Katara laughing so hard she doubled over into Aang's arms.

After a few moments of spastic laughing she was finally sober enough to pull away. She felt so giddy with relief that she felt like she was floating, her head felt light and empty, and everything around her seemed to spin. It was the exact same feeling she had had right after she and Zuko had defeated Azula, and Aang, Sokka, Suki, and Toph had all returned from their conquests. It was the feeling of complete and utter freedom. The next thing she knew she was smiling and pulling the young Avatar before her into a tight hug.

"Oh Aang," she sighed, "don't scare me like that!"

"Scare you like what?" Aang replied. She pulled away to see him looking at her weirdly. "I scared you?"

She knew she wouldn't be able to explain it right, so she shrugged and just smiled wider.

Aang continued looking at her skeptically, but after a few short moments he too shrugged, before letting his legs cross more comfortably under him. Katara could see he still felt discomforted with "frightening" her, but she also knew he wouldn't push her if she didn't want to tell him. That was good. Aang knew her well.

She could also see he was still grinning. Not the same as before, but smaller and more of a smirk.

"So," he said casually, "I . . . well, if, you aren't confused, and with the war being over and all . . . I thought that maybe . . . we could, uh, go bending together sometime?" Aang looked at her with such a hopeful expression that Katara found herself laughing again.

"Aang, we already were!" She gestured with her hand over towards the pond.

He frowned, considering this. "Oh" was all he said.

"If you're asking if I'll go on a date with you, then yes."

Aang blushed, and Katara laughed again at his innocence.

"So does this mean we're . . . together now?"

He finally asked her. It was the question she'd been waiting for him to ask her all day. And all day she'd been planning the reply. Rather than words Katara leaned in (and catching the poor airbender yet again of guard) she kissed him. This kiss wasn't the same as the first. The first had been to ease away the tension Ember Island had inflicted upon both she and Aang. She had kissed him in reassurance, to prove that she no longer dwelled and that the past was behind her. Behind both of them. Now, however, was just for the kiss itself.

And unlike the first, Aang was kissing her back. His hand had somehow drifted to her face, holding it there, while hers held his. She could feel him uncertain beneath her lips though, probably wondering if this was something he was allowed to do, so as if in response she only pulled herself closer.

A year ago, if someone told Katara she'd be leaving her home in the Southern Water Tribe, to aid the Avatar with her brother, and end the hundred year war that had left her tribe—and the rest of the world—literally on the brink of destruction . . . well, she would've laughed herself silly. Not because she was being obstinate or ignorant, but because the sheer impossibility of such a prospect would've seemed, well, impossible. Too fantastic to be real.

A few months ago, if someone told her she would fall in love with the Avatar, savior of the world, she probably would've shook her head and denied it. Because the Avatar didn't belong to a single person; he belonged to the world.

But, if someone told her she would fall in love with Aang, her best friend, she probably would have believed them.

However, no one had told her. No one told her for a year that the optimistic Air Nomad she traveled with was head over heels for her, and that she unknowingly felt the same way. She had once believed that relationship between her and Aang was strictly platonic and nothing more. Like she and Sokka. But now, with all the threads unraveling she knew that was not the case. She did love Aang. She was in love with the Avatar.

Katara felt herself smiling as she pulled away from Aang. His grey eyes met hers instantly and he smiled back at her.

"Everything's really going to be different now, isn't it," he said. "And I don't just mean with the war over."

"Probably," she replied, reaching up to playfully tap his shoulder. "But I think it'll be good for us both."

Aang grinned widely at her, before grabbing the poor almost-forgotten Momo and pulling him into his lap.

The little flying lemur just glanced between the two of them, cocked his head, and flicked his tail as if to say: "Well, it's about time."

About a week later, a messenger hawk arrived with a letter about a small reunion at the Jasmine Dragon . . . .