Hey guys! Sorry I keep getting distracted from Forbidden Love, but I came up with this idea a while back and just recently remembered it. It's essentially what I believe could have happened if Aang had been given a nudge in the right direction in the early part of season three, pretty much after "The Painted Lady" but before "Sokka's Master". Anyway, I don't want to give out more information so as to not give it away, so without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy!

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

The group had been continuing on their path through the Fire Nation, only stopping to rest and eat every so often. Sokka wouldn't allow anything else. After all, they had to keep up with his master schedule, even if his annoyingly selfless sister had thrown them off by a few days trying to help that fishing village. Luckily for them, more so for him since no one cared about his master schedule but him, Sokka had figured out a way to speed things up without cutting out any breaks. The only problem was that in order for his plan to work, they would have to stay somewhere for a day and get as much rest as they could. Or, more like Appa needed to get as much rest as he could. He would be required to fly for a total of eighteen hours before they reached where they needed to be to get back on track with his schedule.

He also wasn't too happy that he would have to come up with a new schedule. After they had left the village, he had been studying it when Katara had attempted to talk to him. Being too engrossed in trying to figure out how to get them back on track, not one word that came from her lips made its way from his ear to his brain, annoying her to no end. What he hadn't planned on was that his sister could be just as conniving as him when she wanted to be, enlisting Toph's help in her dastardly plan. The next time they landed, she had Toph distract him by holding him down with Earth while Katara ripped his Master Schedule to shreds in front of him, watching hours of his life go down the drain as he watched Aang blow the scraps far away on a gust of wind where Sokka would never be able to find it. Aang had later apologized, making the excuse of wanting to help him learn to pay attention to his teammates, but Sokka knew exactly why he had done it.

It had been pretty obvious since the beginning that Aang liked his sister. And he knew that his sister liked him too, making him disgusted at the thought of his best friend and little sister dating. But, as much as he didn't want to admit it, if he had to pick anyone for Katara to be with, it would be Aang. Aang was completely respectful of her wishes. He never failed to make her laugh and was her shoulder to cry on if she ever needed it. His sister would never admit it, but Sokka had once been that shoulder, but the more he saw them grow up and get closer, he knew that one day he would have to let his sister go. It wouldn't be long before they would end up together, and Sokka would have to be less protective of her. He would never not be protective of her, but he took comfort in knowing that Aang would take good care of her.

Ever since the whole Jet debacle, it was pretty obvious that Katara was more hesitant when doing the complex dance that was love, but he could tell that if Aang just confessed how he felt about her, she wouldn't hesitate. And, as much as he didn't want to see his sister kissing his best friend, he couldn't stand the tension between them. They both played their cards well. After all, they were best friends, so they acted normal, but deep beneath their facades, Sokka could see what was truly going on in their minds and hearts. Aang was happy being able to spend any time with her that he could, but he was also nervous. Before the whole showdown in Ba Sing Se, he had confessed to the Guru he loved her. Sokka shuddered at the thought. What was a word for such a feeling? A feeling in which the disgust of thinking of his sister getting all lovey-dovey with his best friend made him want to puke. Oogies! He shuddered as he thought about it, his eyes widening as he realized how much he liked that. Oogies! That's it! I'll say Oogies whenever I see them like that! He decided with a wide smile before he resumed his focus. Getting back on track, Sokka resumed his previous thoughts. Aang obviously wanted to tell Katara how he felt, but he was likely nervous. Sokka understood that well. When he had met Yue, he was nervous to tell her how he felt, too. Fortunately for him, he didn't really need to. Yue could read him like a book.

A long sigh escaped his mouth as he leaned back against the small house that they had "rented". Of course they could have stayed at an inn, but that would have cost more money than it was really worth. Besides, this house was abandoned long ago. Although it was somewhat creepy, Sokka knew it was their best bet for keeping a low profile for the short time that they would be there. He missed Yue. A lot. But he knew that there was no chance of them happening now. He didn't understand much about the Spirit World and how it worked, but he knew enough to know that a spirit couldn't date and then marry a human, even if said spirit was previously human.

Shaking his head at himself, he decided to go back to his planning. It was obvious that Aang and Katara were waiting for each other to say something, likely thinking that if they said something, the other would reject them, so it would be his duty to get things rolling for them. And though he didn't want his sister dating anyone, he knew that that was not going to happen, and decided that it would be best if he helped Aang get her before someone else could. But how could he nudge Aang in the right direction?

Certainly if Aang gathered the courage, then he would walk up to Katara to confess how he felt, but Sokka knew that would take some major convincing. After all, it wasn't exactly easy for guys to just tell the girl that they love how they feel for them. Especially when the confession could potentially ruin the friendship if the other person doesn't feel the same. Maybe if Sokka could just show him that he had nothing to worry about, maybe Aang would get over his nerves and tell her.

But how would he tell her? Sokka didn't necessarily like the idea of a straightforward confession. Not only would it be extremely awkward to watch, it would also be extremely awkward for Aang to try to get off his chest. Besides, Aang was an airbender. If he got nervous, he might chicken out and "avoid and evade" as was his instinct from his years of airbending training. But, maybe if Aang could do it subtly, then maybe just maybe Aang could do it in a discreet way where Katara could catch the hint. Maybe something smooth, maybe something so slick that Katara would be able to catch the hint without Aang having to scream out "I Love you!" to her.

Yeah, that would be perfect. Subtly was a specialty of Sokka's. An image of him falling into the water in the North Pole as he talked to Yue came to mind, reminding him that he was truly not very subtle. Still though, Aang could be subtle if he wanted to, and this was the best way Sokka could figure Aang letting Katara know how he felt without getting too nervous about telling her.

Satisfied with the start of his plan, he stood up from his position on the wall and looked around the house for Aang. Though to his surprise, Aang was nowhere to be found.

"Aang! Stop!" Katara shrieked from outside the house. Sokka gasped and ran out the door, ready to pummel Aang to a crisp, but he was surprised to find Aang tickling Katara.

"Why, Katara?" he asked with his signature grin as he continued tickling her stomach, making tears flow freely down her face as they laid next to each other on the ground. She attempted to move his hands, but he was too quick, moving his hands from one position on her belly to another to another each time she attempted to stop him.

"P-please s-s-stop A-aang!" she begged through her laughter, unable to hide the delight shining in her eyes. Fortunately for her, Aang couldn't tell the difference, and he continued tickling her without mercy.

"Why should I?" he questioned with a laugh as his tickles started making her feel lightheaded from lack of oxygen. "You did it to me."

She would have responded with a witty comeback, but she didn't have enough oxygen in her system to think one up off the top of her head. Fortunately for her, Aang saw that the tickling was preventing her from getting precious oxygen, and finally decided to let up from his relentless tickling.

"Thank you," she sighed in relief and sat up, taking deep breaths to catch up from the oxygen that she had lost in their tickle fight. They both laughed again as they saw the tear streaks down each other's face, Aang subconsciously reaching out to wipe hers away, making them both blush as he realized what he had done.

"No problem," he smiled sheepishly as he diligently avoided her eyes, doing everything in his power not to betray how nervous he was currently feeling. Katara's blush rivaled his, spreading from her lovely cheeks down to her collar bone.

Utter silence filled the space between the two, leaving Sokka to roll his eyes at how hopeless they were. It would take some serious work if he was going to get them to confess their feelings to each other if they both got nervous over him wiping her tears away. Shaking his head at them, he decided to finally speak up. "Well, it looks like you two had fun," he called to them with a smug smirk plastered on his face.

They both snapped to attention and looked at him wide-eyed, realizing that he had likely seen the whole scene. "H-hey, Sokka," Aang waved nervously, feeling his skin crawl as his embarrassment was only getting worse. "Did you need something?"

Sokka couldn't hide the malicious grin that found its way onto his face. "Oh, I don't need anything. Though it sounds like you guys need a… breather," he joked, waiting for them to laugh. There was complete silence, a nearby cricket chirping as it jumped onto his shoulder, essentially mocking him for his bad joke. "Eh, what do you know?" he rhetorically asked it as he flicked it off his shoulder. Aang got a little upset with Sokka, but after seeing that the cricket was okay, shrugged and looked back to his friend.

"So, what's going on, Sokka?" he tried to start a conversation, wanting to talk about anything other than what had just happened.

It was rather tempting for Sokka to tease them more about it, but he decided to have mercy on them. For the time being, at least. His mercy had limits after all. Especially over something that clearly had his best friend and sister in great discomfort. "Oh, that remind me. Do you mind if I have a talk with you?"

Aang raised a brow as he stood up. "Um… sure, I guess," he shrugged before turning back to Katara. "I guess I'll be going with him now."

Katara nodded, a small smile on her face that she tried to hide by pretending to inspect her shoes. "Okay. I'll be out here if you get bored again."

"I'll be back. Avatar's promise," he folded his hands and bowed to her, making her giggle a little.

"You sure like making those Avatar promises, don't you?" she asked playfully, secretly excited that he would definitely be coming back out to spend more time with her.

He shrugged and rubbed his neck sheepishly. "I just say it when I really mean something. So I'll be back in a little bit," he promised with a smile.

"Okay. Bye Aang," she smiled back at him before Sokka ushered Aang inside. She became annoyed when Sokka didn't give them anymore time and grabbed Aang by the collar, dragging him inside the house. Aang, to his credit, had no clue what was happening as Sokka quickly dragged him up to his own designated room, leaving him wondering how Sokka could have trashed the room so quickly despite being there for only a few hours.

"So, Aang," Sokka started as he moved over to the wall he had been sitting against and sat down, gesturing for Aang to sit with him. "Thanks for coming."

Aang gave him a confused look. "Um… you're welcome?" he asked more than answered.

Sokka fake laughed and put his arm around him. "Okay, so here's the deal. I need to talk to you about something, and Katara can't be around while we talk, so that's why we're here."

Some of Aang's confusion cleared up temporarily, only to be replaced with more as he wondered what Sokka was wanting to talk about. "Okay. What did you want to talk about?" he asked curiously as he leaned his head against the wall as well.

"I know you like my sister," Sokka said bluntly, taking Aang completely by surprise as he played with his air marbles. The air marbles stopped in midair and dropped straight to the ground. He couldn't help but laugh at Aang's expression. It was one of knowing that you had been caught. Busted, Sokka though with a smirk.

Aang gulped loudly and laughed nervously. "I… I don't know what you mean. She's my best friend. We're just friends," he tried to sound convincing, but failed miserably.

Sokka rolled his eyes at his friend's attempt to lie. "Come on, Aang. I've known you for enough time by now to know that you're crazy about my sister." Puke threatened to rise up his throat, but he forced it back down.

"Is it that obvious?" Aang asked dejectedly as he thumped his head against the wall.

"It is," Sokka agreed with a laugh. "To everyone but her, that is."

Aang let out a little sigh of relief. "Well… that's good. At least she doesn't know yet." He looked over at Sokka, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. "Okay. What did you want to talk about, then?"

"As we both know, you have feelings for my sister," Sokka told him in a matter of fact way. Aang reluctantly nodded. "So why don't you tell her how you feel?"

A bewildered expression crossed over Aang's features. "Why do you care if she knows how I feel?" he wondered, eyes squinting at him in suspicion of his motives.

"Normally I wouldn't, but this is becoming too much," Sokka admitted with a sigh as he shook his head. "You two have been walking on eggshells around each other, and I'm tired of having to walk on the eggshells with you guys. The only way I can see it getting fixed is if you tell her how you feel."

Aang sighed and slumped further against the wall. "But what if she doesn't feel the same, Sokka? I don't want to ruin our friendship."

Sokka smirked a little, knowing how happy what he was about to say would make Aang. "But Aang, she does like you."

"What?" Aang's eyes snapped to his friend, completely surprised at this piece of information. "How do you know? Did she tell you?"

"Well… no," Sokka admitted, making Aang's demeanor instantly drop as he resumed leaning against the wall. "But she doesn't need to. I can tell just like I can tell that you like her."

Hope began to fill Aang again as he fiddled with his fingers, not wanting to get his hopes up too much, but also feeling excited that Sokka seemed sure about this. "You really think so?"

Sokka laughed a little and patted him on the back. "I know so, buddy. You should have seen her at that dance party when you were dancing with that one girl. What was her name…" he trailed off thoughtfully.

"Onji?" Aang supplied helpfully.

He snapped his fingers with a triumphant smile. "Onji! Now I remember!" He looked at Aang disappointingly. "You know, you could've helped me out here."

Aang sighed and rolled his eyes a little before he motioned for him to continue.

"Anyway, you should have seen her face when you were dancing with On Ji!" Sokka laughed, remembering the envy and sadness that was written all over her face. "She was not very happy when I said that you two looked good together."

"Really?" Aang asked hopefully with a small smile.

"Really," Sokka agreed with a smirk as he crossed his arms and thought about it. "She was not happy when I said that."

Aang smiled widely, but once again didn't dare to let his hopes get up too much. "Okay… so what do I do then? How can I tell her how I feel without freezing up? I already tried telling her twice, and each time I got interrupted before I could," he groaned slightly.

Sokka thought about it and realized what the problem was. "I know. Do you know what was common between each time that you tried to tell her?"

"What?"

"You tried to tell her directly," Sokka told him, proud for having figured it out. "What you need to do is be sneaky about it. You need to hint it to her without actually telling her."

Aang thought it over and nodded in agreement. "Okay… that could work. But how do I do that?" he wondered with a tilted head.

Sokka smiled smugly and stood up, gesturing for Aang to do the same. "Lucky for you, you've got the love master at your service," he said smugly. "What can I do you for?"

Aang looked confused. "You were the one who said you had a plan."

"Oh yeah," Sokka blinked. "I guess I must have been thinking about when we were at the fortune teller's village. I thought you liked Meng."

Aang's eyes widened. "You thought that I liked Meng?" Sokka nodded. Aang shook his head quickly. "No offense to her or anything, but I just never thought of her that way."

"Well I knew that you liked my sister, but I thought that you liked Meng more," Sokka shrugged before he got back to the point. "Anyway, so here's the plan. We're going to have you act aloof again."

"Sokka, I'm just not an 'aloof' guy. I tried that with Katara, and that didn't do anything," Aang sighed in annoyance.

"This is different," Sokka insisted as he looked at his friend. "We'll do it differently this time. What did you do when you acted aloof?"

Aang thought about it for a moment. "I didn't really do anything, I guess. I kind of just made normal conversation."

"Well there you go!" Sokka exclaimed before quieting himself, remembering that Toph was in the adjacent room. "What you need to do is actually send her hints while acting aloof. Tell her she looks pretty, compliment her, show her you're interested without actually telling her."

"You really think this will work?" Aang asked cautiously.

Sokka grinned and patted him on the back. "Of course I do, buddy. Now go out there and get your aloof on!" he cheered as he pushed him out the door. Aang's nerves started to get the best of him, but he shook it off and made his way downstairs, surprised to see Katara already inside. He couldn't help but stare at her as she played with some water she had gotten from the nearby lake. Even if he had the honor of seeing her beautiful form everyday, it never failed to amaze him how effortlessly beautiful she was. Taking one last deep breath, he gathered all the confidence he could muster and walked up to her.

"Hey, Katara," he greeted her indifferently as he took some of the water in the Earth cups he had made for them and drank it.

She smiled at him as she stopped playing with the water. "Hi, Aang. What did you and Sokka talk about?" she asked curiously.

Aang laughed a little nervously before he resumed his "aloofness". "Oh, you know. We just talked about… guy stuff," he shrugged with a little yawn. She laughed a little, making him smile before he let it drop again. "So…" he started a little awkwardly, wondering where he should start as he leaned back against the counter in the kitchen of the decrepit house, feeling it shift a little against his weight. "You look really pretty today," he said smoothly, taking him by surprise at how well he executed that.

Katara blushed and looked away. "Thanks," she murmured shyly, fiddling with her hair a little.

He smiled as he noticed this, feeling his confidence start to build up. "I mean it," he told her as he looked over at her through his eye lashes with a charming smile. "You look beautiful. But then again, you look beautiful all the time," he winked, making him wonder where he was coming up with this stuff.

If it was possible, Katara's blush went even deeper, but she smiled to herself. "Thanks, Aang."

"No problem," he grinned before he tried to think of what else to say. Then an idea came to mind, and, without thinking, he moved to stand next to her, making them both nervous at their proximity to each other. "You want to know what the first thing I thought when you rescued me from that iceberg was?"

Katara's eyebrows scrunched in curiosity. "What was it?"

Smirking a little, he dusted off his fire nation clothes and pretended to not care. "That you were too beautiful to be real. I honestly thought for a second that I had died," he admitted, causing a wide smile to grow on Katara's face, but confusion mixed in her emotions as well. Aang had never said these things before. Why was he saying it now? Did that mean… She didn't dare to get her hopes up too much, so she just decided to continue with their conversation.

"Well thanks. Glad to know that you think I'm gorgeous," she said playfully, making him laugh a little as he eased more and more into his confidence. He became bolder, going as far as to gently put his hand against hers.

"Oops," he said in a fake surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's fine, Aang," Katara assured him with a soft smile, her hand tingling from where his soft yet warm hand had come in contact with hers. They both sat there in silence, wondering what to say next to keep the conversation going. Then, with his confidence at an all time high, he decided to just go for it as he started leaning towards her. "Aang?" she asked shakily, wondering if he was doing what she thought he was doing. She stood there in absolute silence as she waited to see what he would do. His face came closer and closer, until there were only inches keeping them apart, making Katara look at him in disbelief. Was he going to do it? Was he really going to kiss her? She wanted to lean in the rest of the way, but she didn't want to in case he wasn't, so she just stood there and waited for him to do what he was going to do.

She was somewhat disappointed when he started leaning away from her lips and moved towards her ear, sending shivers down her spine as she felt his hot breath on her.

"Just so you know," he started, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. "I think you're the most beautiful and amazing girl in the world. And any guy would be lucky to be yours." He started to move before he leaned back in. "Especially if that guy was me," he whispered, catching her by surprise. Smiling, he winked at her and started walking out of the room.

Katara stood there, frozen in complete shock for a moment. Did he just say what she thought he said? Did he just say that… he wanted to be hers? She snapped back to reality as she realized he was walking out of the room. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked playfully as she walked up to him and grabbed him by his shoulder. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, giving her the most innocent smile he could muster.

"Somewhere," he smirked, staring deeply into her eyes as she moved even closer. "Why?" he asked fake curiously.

She smirked as well and grabbed him by his collar. "Because, I have something I want to tell you, too." Aang waited patiently for her to say something, trying not to show how both nervous and excited he was as she leaned into his ear. "I would love it if you were mine," she whispered, making his heart leap for joy before she pulled away and kissed him, backing him into the wall as he finally got to taste her lips properly. This was nothing like the little peck they had shared in the Cave of Two Lovers. This was a real kiss. One that neither of them would ever forget.

Toph snickered as she 'watched' the two love birds kiss. "So, you helped Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen finally tell each other how they feel, huh?"

Sokka nodded but then groaned in disgust as he saw mistakenly watched Katara push Aang up against the wall more forcefully when he tried to take control. "Yeah, unfortunately."

Toph laughed and punched him in the arm, making him wince as he rubbed it. "If you didn't want to see them kissing, why did you help them?" she wondered.

He was silent for a few moments before he shrugged. "Because I knew that Aang would make her happy, and that they weren't going to get together if someone didn't give them a push in the right direction," he admitted with a sigh.

"Well now you're going to have to see them be all mushy," Toph laughed at him.

"Yeah," he sighed again but then smiled as he saw how happy Katara was. "But it's worth it if she's happy." He glared at her, but then remembered that she couldn't see it. "Do me a favor and tell her I didn't say that."

Toph snorted and picked her nose. "Wouldn't dream of it, Snoozles." Sokka sighed in relief and watched them. Even though he knew he would be saying his new catchphrase a lot more, he also knew it was worth it if his sister was happy. After losing their mother, Katara had been distant and somewhat cranky, but ever since Aang came into her life, all that had changed. She was now happy, and if that meant that he would have to see his best friend and little sister make out every once in a while, then he would just deal with it. Laughing a little, he shook his head at the situation he found himself in. It amazed him how all it took for Aang to get the courage to tell her how he felt was a little nudge in the right direction.