It was late.

Aang woke, startled into groggy alertness. It took him a moment to remember where they were: the peninsula south of Gao Ling, on the beach. The fire was diminished to smoldering coals, the stars overhead bright against the black of the night sky.

They were flying South from Ba Sing Se - back to the Southern Water Tribe - and had stopped here for the night to camp. The wind blowing off of the ocean was cool and smelled like seaweed. Aang sat up and looked around. Sokka and Suki slept on the other side of the fire. Toph was inside her tent of earth - he could hear her snoring.

Katara was missing.

That was what woke him. Katara had been curled up next to him and must have gotten up.

Aang had only just adjusted to sleeping with Katara. It was an honest accident the first time. They both dozed off in the common area of the house while going through a stack of neglected correspondence. It was after everyone else had gone to bed and no one seemed to catch on the next day. After that, they just kept doing it, accidentally-on-purpose falling asleep on the couch together. Aang was an early riser, (he was usually already milling about in the kitchen by the time everyone else woke up, anyway) so from the outside, nothing terribly out of the ordinary appeared to be happening. It was a week before they finally made their way to Katara's room together. They were shy and giggling the first night, then neither of those things the next. No one had addressed any of this out loud. He wasn't sure how much Sokka actually knew and how much he only suspected.

Aang stood and looked around, spotting Katara's footprints in the sand and following them.

She sat a few yards away, looking out over the ocean. Her shoulders tensed as he approached but she didn't acknowledge him. He sat down next to her, taking in the view.

"You okay?" he asked.

She nodded silently, hugging herself.

It was cool here, this close to the water. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and wondered if he had done something wrong.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, having no idea what 'it' was but knowing Katara would not volunteer more information without prompting.

"No," she said, and her voice was so quiet he wasn't sure she'd spoken for a moment, "I just need to be alone, if you don't mind."

"Oh." He ran his hand nervously over his head, "Can I…can I bring you anything or…I mean, it's pretty chilly over here."

She sighed and shook her head, "I'm okay."

"Okay," he echoed. Neither of them sounded convinced. He stood and when she didn't say anything further, he walked away.

Maybe she regretted that they'd started sleeping together? He wasn't totally clear on current Water Tribe social conventions where this sort of thing was concerned, though he guessed her father would not approve. Admittedly, he'd also avoided asking, somewhat selfishly, afraid of derailing this new arrangement. Maybe she was nervous about visiting home tomorrow?

He returned to his spot by the fire, bending it gently back to life. He waited up for her for a while but eventually dozed off again. When he woke at dawn she was curled up within arm's reach of him.

Katara was obviously tired the following day but everything else seemed normal. She was affectionate and in high spirits. She and Sokka were both delighted to be home, where Pakku and the other transplanted waterbenders had done a remarkable amount of work on reconstruction since the end of the war. Katara assisted whenever she could but it had been months since their last visit. The whole group of them were given an excited tour of the new buildings by Hakoda, who seemed happier and more relaxed than Aang had ever seen him. The South Pole was, comparatively, a cheerful hive of activity now. It felt renewed.

That afternoon, shortly after lunch, Katara pulled him aside.

"My dad told me he has a bed set up for me at his place," she said.

"Ah," he replied in understanding.

She grinned mischievously, "You're blushing," she teased, pinching his arm.

His laugh was soft and embarrassed and he looked away, trying to act casual and failing, "Yeah, well." She slid her arms around his waist and he returned her embrace so she could lean into him.

"I suppose they'll set you up in the new diplomat guest house they built," she said, her voice quiet to avoid being overheard. She kissed him lightly. "I wish I could stay with you," she whispered. A little rush of excitement ran through him and he kissed her again.

"Me, too," he whispered back, relieved that he hadn't totally misread her the night before.

She smiled up at him. "I don't care what Sokka thinks but I'm not exactly ready to have this conversation with my dad."

He squeezed her tighter. "I can't say I blame you." She buried her face in his neck, her cold nose against his skin.

"I heard you two are meeting later. What for?"

"Uh," his face reddened further and he was glad she couldn't see, "Zuko has a message for him. Some proposal about cross cultural military training?" This wasn't strictly a lie - Zuko had sent the message - but he'd originally asked Sokka to deliver it. He suspected Sokka knew why he'd volunteered to do it, instead, but had not pressed him for details.

The betrothal necklace felt heavy in this pocket. For what seemed like the hundredth time, he wondered whether Hakoda would give his blessing. It had been Aang's intention to ask as soon as he came of age, but the timing never seemed right. He spent more than a year second guessing himself and stumbling through rehearsed conversations before finally working up the courage.

Snow crunched behind them.

"Hey, you two," Toph called, "Someone needs to take over hanging out with the blind girl."

They turned to see Toph and Sokka approaching, her arm hooked through his.

"Hey, I'm perfectly content to hang out with you," Sokka said, "You're the one who doesn't want to go to an engineering meeting."

Toph rolled her eyes and Katara grinned.

"I'm actually supposed to go check in with Ahnah about her schedule tomorrow," she said, referring to the master Healer who had recently relocated to the South. She kissed Aang on the cheek, "I need to see if she has time to squeeze me in for some training and then I'm shadowing her for a while. Speaking of which, I better go. It's getting late. I'll see you guys at dinner." Katara jogged off, in the direction of the healers' hut.

"I'll keep you company, Toph," Aang said. "We're both staying at the guest house, anyway." He reached out for her. As soon as their fingers made contact, Toph released Sokka. Hands free, he crossed his arms over his chest and scowled.

"Yes," Sokka said pointedly, glaring in Aang's direction, "enjoy your evening at the guest house." He turned and went toward the central building while Aang grimaced at his retreating back. He gave a low groan of embarrassment and Toph let out a bark of laughter.

"Come on, Twinkletoes, what do you expect? You're sleeping with his sister."

Aang bristled a bit at this, "We're not doing anything!"

"Ohh, try again. A little more convincing this time."

His face burned scarlet. "We're not doing what he thinks we're doing," he amended in a mumble.

Toph frowned, "Don't you have some sort of rule about lying?"

"It's okay if my life is in danger," he muttered. She chuckled.

"He keeps trying to get me to rat you two out." For a moment, her hand tightened around his, a flash of affectionate reassurance he wasn't even sure she was aware she'd given. "He'll let up once you're engaged."

He threw his free hand upward in agitation.

"That's the other thing! What if Hakoda won't give his blessing? And what if Katara says no?"

"Neither of those things are going to happen. Come on. Hakoda's going to tell the Avatar he's not good enough for his daughter? And Katara isn't going to say no." This statement was so matter of fact Aang was unable to come up with a rebuttal. Toph shuffled her feet and swiped at her nose.

"I hate coming here," she confided, "It's cold and dark. Let's go find a fire to sit next to."

xXx

It was a couple of months before Aang realized what was going on.

They were at the Southern Air Temple. The planned restoration was not in full swing yet. Fortunately, enough progress had been made that the whole group could stay there without it feeling quite so much like a camping excursion. Again, they had been in Ba Sing Se, this time for an especially tense week of meetings about a military of the United Republic, which left them all fried and exhausted. Aang, in particular, was uncharacteristically touchy, the whole topic having made him much more uncomfortable than he'd anticipated. It was Zuko who made the suggestion they go the temple for a few days, before making the journey back to the Fire Nation. Still standing empty when it wasn't being trooped through by architects and historians and master earthbenders, there was plenty of room for them to spread out and have some privacy, which they were all sorely in need of. It seemed important, Zuko said, to have a tangible reminder of why they were doing this. The fact that it was practically impossible for someone to reach them unannounced was also an obvious selling point.

Again, Aang woke and realized Katara was missing. Her side of the bed was not cold yet. He tugged his pants on and ventured out into the hallway to find her.

They were in a relatively isolated portion of the Temple. In the time before the war, the room he and Katara were now staying in had served as a small dormitory for senior students. It was high up and at the rear of the temple, quiet and well suited to silent contemplation and study but with balconies and walkways open to the air.

When Aang opened the door, he saw Katara sitting on one such balcony, at the end of the hall. As he approached, the view she looked out on opened up to him and he could see her framed in the light of the full moon. He stopped in his tracks, staring, realization hitting him. He sighed sadly before continuing on.

Katara knew he was coming before she heard him, could feel the swirling throb of his pulse. Aang crouched beside her, still slightly behind, and she knew he was trying to give her some space. She'd brought a blanket with her and wrapped it around her waist before she sat down, shielding her from the cool stone floor. She wore just enough clothing to preserve her modesty in case anyone else came by but her arms were bare.

"Hi," he said gently.

"Hi," she responded. She sounded tired. A moment passed in silence. There was the sound of an owlvulture in the distance, its' low, gravelly hoots carried on the wind.

"Come back to bed," he murmured, his fingertips brushing her arm. She sighed.

"I'll be okay out here," she assured him. She glanced over her shoulder at him and smiled weakly, "I even brought a blanket."

"I see that," he leaned forward, bowing his head. Aang closed his eyes and let himself feel how tired he was - truly tired, down to his bones - before drawing a deep breath and letting it out through his nose.

"You've been doing this every full moon," he said, "And I didn't know it until we started sleeping together. And even then I didn't realize why until just now. Because I am an idiot."

She laughed a little, despite herself, reaching over and patting him on the head in distracted reassurance, "I still love you."

He smiled sadly and sat back on his heels, elbows on his knees. He cocked his head to look at the sky with her. Katara closed her eyes, her face tipped slightly upward, bathed in blue-white moonlight.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She tugged the blanket up around her shoulders and tucked her chin into her chest with a shrug. Tears dripped off of the end of her nose. Aang reached out but stopped himself, running his fingers across his scalp, instead.

Silence yawned into the space around them. The mountains around them were beautiful, the spires of stone and greenery vanishing down into fog that was silver in the moonlight. Sometimes, when they were here and it was late at night, Katara could imagine that the temple was still full of people, his people. Although she had never known them, she thought the place still felt like them. It was as if generations of their effort and presence had soaked into the walls. When she tried to describe this quality to people who had never been to the temple, words always failed her. It came across as haunting and sad. It was sad, but it was also inspiring, in a solemn sort of way. It felt like a testament to them, this vibration of noble tranquility that pervaded the halls even after more than one hundred years, even though they were so often empty.

A few heartbeats passed with no words before Aang broke the silence.

"Katara, please, talk to me."

She flicked her tears away and scooted around to face him fully. Hoping to keep the unsteadiness out of her voice, she took a shaky breath and blew it out.

"What was it like when you took Ozai's bending away?" she asked. She expected some confusion about this line of questioning but Aang answered without hesitation.

"Terrifying, at first," he said. He looked up toward the stars before his eyes met hers again, "Mostly I was just relieved it was over."

She nodded, "Did you feel powerful?"

"I mean…" he cleared his throat, "Yeah, I guess. Yeah."

"Did…" she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, avoiding his eyes, "Did you enjoy it?"

His lips parted as if he were about to speak but instead he drew in a deep breath, letting himself linger in the flash of fear and understanding at what she was asking. He remembered Hama laughing as Katara wept and how helpless and angry he'd felt that night. They had never really discussed it after that, not in any meaningful way. For the most part, they avoided the topic of bloodbending entirely. He swallowed.

"No," he answered, and it sounded like an apology.

She nodded without looking at him and he wished he knew what to say.

"Hey," he said gently, ducking his head to try to catch her eye, "Katara. You know you can tell me anything."

She drew in on herself, away from him, and cleared her throat.

"Do you remember when Zuko and I went to find the man who killed my mother?" she asked, the question wobbling a little as it came out.

Aang nodded, feeling apprehension creep into his chest.

"We found this ship with this man - not the man we were looking for, just some other Fire Nation soldier. I never told you, but I used bloodbending on him to get him to talk." Her eyes darted up toward his and then away, "I felt so…so righteous and focused that night. It was like I could finally unleash this lifetime of anger and I could do it in a way that was so personal and humiliating. Like he deserved it." She pressed her lips together and sighed before looking up at him again. There was sadness in his eyes.

"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" he asked. As she ran her fingers nervously through her hair, she realized her hands were shaking. She shrugged and the gesture felt contrived. Her chin trembled a little, and she bit the inside of her lip in stubborn defiance to stop it.

"You were proud of me that day," she explained, her voice low and hesitant, "I was worried you would be disappointed in me. That you might - " she licked her lips, " - that it might change how you felt about me."

Aang considered this in silence. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. Folding his legs, he seated himself on the floor and took a deep breath.

"I knew I was saving this for the right moment," he mused, looking down at the object cradled in his cupped hands, "I just wasn't sure what it was going to be." He uncurled his fingers to hold it out to her, palms up.

Katara took it. It was a lidded stone box, small and delicate. She held her breath as she opened it, lifting the lid with her fingertips to see the betrothal necklace inside. Aang laid his hands on her knees and she looked into his eyes again.

"I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he said, "For everything. For nights like this."

She nodded, letting the tears spill out and run down her cheeks. She put the lid back on the box and leaned forward to slide her arms around his neck. "Okay," she whispered, "Yes."

He nodded too, pulling her into his lap. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning heavily against him. They sat there in silence for a while. Katara could feel the steady beat of Aang's pulse and it was like waves. For the first time, her bloodbending didn't make her feel like an invader in someone else's body.

"I'm so tired," she murmured.

"I know," he whispered back.