After fighting Ozai, his only thought was to get to Katara. He knew the others thought he was stupid, that he was just a child, but he wasn't. He knew that her 'confusion' had started the minute Zuko had joined them. He just had to figure out a way to show her that while Zuko might be a powerful bender, too, he was the better person, that Zuko was too dark for her. He would take all that was light, and good, and beautiful about Katara and twist it until everything that Aang loved about her was gone. He groaned. He had to find a way to stop that, had to find a way to keep them apart.

"We need to get to the Fire Nation!" he told Sokka. "We have to show them that Ozai is no longer in power, and help Katara!"

Iroh stepped in. "Perhaps one of these airships could be of use?"

Sokka looked around, and noticed that the only one they hadn't destroyed was the Firelord's own. "It'll do." He nodded to Iroh, who joined him in recruiting some of the prisoners to help them pilot it.

"Don't worry, Twinkletoes," Toph said reassuringly. "Sparky and Sugarqueen can handle Azula, and the comet's passed. I'm sure they have it under control. They're probably curled up in the palace somewhere, getting drunk and having a great time."

Aang groaned. "That's what I'm afraid of."

Katara leaned over the prone body of the future Firelord, her hand surrounded by an unearthly blue glow. Azula was safely locked away in prison, the servants were dismissed and the guards were members of the White Lotus, revealed by the tiles they'd pulled out of their sleeves when they'd rushed to his side after he'd collapsed when the comet had left the sky. They'd helped her get him to his childhood room and promised to guard the door with their lives, and she'd spent the past hour trying to repair the damage to his chest.

She was just…

So…

Sleepy…

She awoke to a soft hand stroking her hair, and looked up into smiling golden eyes. The door burst open, and Aang swept into the room, tattoos and eyes aglow, wind roaring around him. When Katara stood up and exposed the gaping wound on Zuko's chest, the items that had been tossed around fell suddenly and the wind died. The glow ceased.

"Zuko! Are you okay?" he asked, true concern in his voice.

"He saved my life," Katara said, coldly. "Maybe if you'd learn to control yourself instead of thinking the worst of people, you'd have discovered that before you came in here to attack him. I thought you didn't believe in violence?" Her voice was scathing, and she could see Aang shrivel under her assault.

"Katara," Zuko said, but it was enough. She stopped, noting the tears in Aang's eyes.

"It's happening already," the boy said softly. "All the sweetness, all the goodness, is being replaced with darkness and anger, just from being around him."

Katara heard Zuko's indrawn breath, knew he would stand to defend his honor any moment, and drew herself up. "No, Aang," she said softly. "Everything I am, I have always been, or I have become because I had to be because you wouldn't. If you didn't see it before, it's because YOU chose not to. It's not Zuko's fault, and by blaming him for something he had no part in, you question his honor, just like Ozai."

Aang looked taken aback, but only for a moment. Understanding seemed to come quickly, because he looked at Zuko and bowed. "I apologize," he said. "I never meant to call your honor into question. I have been under too much strain recently and I think it's made me go a little crazy. I understand if you can't forgive me, either of you, but I hope you will."

Katara looked at Zuko, and saw an exasperated smile on his face. She reached out and hugged the younger boy. "Of course we do, silly," she said affectionately. "It's been a hard time for all of us, but it's over now. Now, let me take a look at that chest, and no arguing, your royal princiness!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said jokingly. They smiled at one another, and Aang just nodded.

"Hey, Katara, I was wondering if you'd come with me later to check on the prisoners – some of them might need healing."

"Of course," Katara said, distractedly. "Let me take one more pass at that before breakfast and I think he'll be ready to get out of bed. Aang, would you let Sokka and the others know we'll be there soon?"

Aang left the room, seething. She wanted to blame HIM! It was okay, though, because he was pretty sure that he had a plan, and she'd just agreed to at least part of it. He headed towards the prisons, where Iroh's loyal guards had already been rounding up all those that Azula had banished in her days of madness, weeding out those who would be fit to serve the Fire Nation under Zuko's rule, and those who would, unfortunately, need to stay in prison to either await Zuko's judgment or transportation back to their homeland – like the Dai Li.

The guards were only too happy to allow him to see the prisoners and escape for a little break, giving Aang ample opportunity to speak to the men in the prison. When he proposed his deal, his conscience twinged at him, but he stifled it. He could clear the chakra, and he knew he could. He would seek out Guru Pathik later. This was more important. He was saving Katara from having her soul eaten by darkness. They agreed, as he knew they would, and he smiled. It would be fine. Katara would be safe, the world would be safe.

When Katara joined him for the tour of the prison, it was easy. He knew one of the men was injured. While she attempted to heal him, the others overwhelmed her, pinning her down and convincing her that prolonged contact with Zuko would darken her soul. After she stopped resisting, they were able to finish their work. Aang was able to make sure that it worked, and given the words that would trigger the programming. He didn't want to set it off too soon. When they were done, Aang set them free. He reminded himself not to stand too near Toph when questioned about it, because she'd be able to tell he was lying. If it weren't for the fact that he suspected Toph was impervious to Dai Li tricks because of her sightlessness, he would have brought her along, as well.

He carried Katara out of the cell and down to the palace, letting the guards on the way down know that the Dai Li had over powered him and hurt Katara as they escaped. As she recovered, he noticed that no one questioned him, and he felt grateful for that, grateful that his deceit was not discovered. When Katara awoke, she looked over Zuko's wound, just as she always had, and it seemed her continued normal behavior reassured the others, for the suspicious looks that had passed between them all stopped. Everyone was relieved that the Dai Li hadn't had a chance, in their escape attempt, to perform any of their freaky mind tricks on either of them. Katara was still Katara, bickering with Zuko, mothering Aang and Sokka and Toph, joking with Suki – it was like old times. Everyone was happy.

On the day of Zuko's coronation, Katara headed to Zuko's room to help him get ready – his bandaged needed changing and she knew he'd need help with all that 'stuffy formal crap' the Sages were going to make him wear. She watched from behind a curtain as Mai came out and claimed her boyfriend, not seeing the eyes that watched her, saw her face crumple when lips met. She didn't know that Aang was following her, fury lancing his little body as he realized that her heart was never truly going to belong to him.

And now her soul is going to be consumed by darkness, unless I stop it completely, he realized. I have the ability to make her suffering go away. I can save her. Neither of them realized Zuko wanted no part of what Mai was offering, that it was fear of what she'd do in reprisal that kept him in her arms until he could find a solution, that he intended to speak to Katara at the earliest opportunity to explain the situation – and that he'd never get the chance.

Aang stopped her in the hall. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all."

"Even the hardiest blossom will wither without proper care," she replied automatically. Her eyes emptied. For a brief moment, they turned full black. And then she hugged him. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life, Aang. I don't know what I would have done without you!" When she stepped away, her pupils were larger than normal, but the irises had returned. They would remain that way.

After his coronation, Zuko sought her out, attempting to explain why Mai had returned, but Katara cut him off. "It doesn't matter, Firelord," she said cheerfully. "You have Mai, and I have Aang, and it really should be that way, don't you think?"

"But what about us?" he asked, his voice tortured.

"Oh, don't be silly!" she chided. "There could never have been an us. It was too dark. We would never have had anything together, you know that. You and Mai are much better suited."

The smile on her face as she said it was so creepy that he felt a chill run down his spine. "Whatever," he said, slamming the door behind him.

In the years that followed, Aang's excuses for Katara's absence, that she was at home with the children, rang hollow to him. They fought a powerful Bloodbender, something none of them had experience fighting but her, and still she was 'at home with the children'. It wasn't until Aang's death, many years later, that Katara seemed to step out of a long, hazy dream. Her heartbreak over seeing Mai and Zuko seemed as fresh as the day it had happened, almost three quarters of a century before, though people seemed to think it was due to missing her dearest husband, and she let them – she even agreed with them. It was better that way, she decided. Better to let them think she missed Aang than to let them know the truth. That one day, she'd walked out of Zuko's room instead of confronting him about Mai, her heart in tatters, and somehow ended up dating Aang, and she still had no idea how it had happened.

A/N: This creepy little thing is brought to you by me, inspiration provided by the crazy little freaks at capstara, dedicated to all of them, with my love.