As soon as Aang left the airbenders' cells, he set out in search of Katara. He searched the meeting rooms, the common areas in the museum, the kitchen and their room but to no avail. As he headed out towards the gardens, he was stopped in his tracks by a strong arm snapping out from around a corner and catching him in the chest.

"Oof!" Aang gasped as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Hey Twinkletoes," Toph said monotonously as she stepped out in front of him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Oh, Toph, you sure surprised me," Aang said with a casual laugh.

"How many times have I told you to get your head out of the clouds and be aware of your surroundings?" she smirked.

"I'll try to remember next time, Sifu Toph," he said with a bow.

"See that you do. How did it go with the prisoners? Did you get anything?"

Aang grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, they still don't trust me. They did seem pretty worried to know that the Dai Li were after them, but I didn't get to talk about much else."

"Hm," Toph grunted, the corner of her mouth giving a slight twitch.

Aang shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. He wasn't a great liar at the best of times, and this was Toph he was dealing with. There was no way she didn't know he was lying.

"Walk with me, Aang," she finally said and pulled him outside by the elbow. Under the power of her firm grip, Aang had no choice but to follow. "So how did you like the prison facility?" she asked conversationally as they walked.

"Uh…it's pretty ok I guess. Nice and…prisonny," he said lamely.

Toph chuckled shortly. "Sure. Still, it's pretty new though. The guards still haven't worked out all the kinks in the security yet," she said nonchalantly. She arched her eyebrows hintingly at him before she continued.

"Like say, just hypothetically, if someone wanted to break someone out of the lower cells, there's a sewer pipe that runs right underneath them. All they'd have to do would be climb on in there, wade their way through some sludge and they'd come out right near the cells. After that they'd only have to take out a few guards, pick up the prisoners and hey presto, they'd be on their way."

Aang stopped in his tracks as he realised what she was implying. "Toph, I…what are you…"

"I'm just saying, that's what could happen in this purely hypothetical scenario," she said with a shrug; however, she turned and fixed him with a meaningful look.

Aang swallowed as he caught on to what she was implying. "That's very interesting. Uh…you might want to work on fixing that, but it can probably wait until tomorrow," he said just as ambiguously.

"You're probably right. It's not like anything is going to happen," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, weren't you looking for Katara?"

"Huh? Oh, yes I was." Sometimes Aang wondered how Toph seemed to know everything.

"You'd better get going then."

As Aang turned to leave, Toph grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Watch yourselves. I'll delay the Dai Li as much as I can, but I can't promise anything," she murmured into his ear. She clapped him roughly on the back as she pulled away and gave him a curt nod.

"Thank you so much, Toph. For everything."

"Thanks for what? I didn't say anything," she said aloofly.

Aang smiled and gave her shoulder one last squeeze before he turned on his heel and headed off in search of Katara again, his head spinning with what had just happened.

Aang was glad to finally find Katara sitting under a tree by a creek in the gardens. She was reading a book, her brow creased in concentration. Aang gave a slight smile, immediately feeling more at ease as soon as he saw her.

He plopped himself down on the grass behind her and rested his chin in the crook of her neck, looking over her shoulder as he asked "whatcha reading?"

Katara gave a start at his sudden appearance then smiled. "Oh, Aang, you scared me," she laughed and turned her head to kiss his cheek lightly. "Um…I'm reading about Air Nomads. Did you know sky bison have five stomachs?"

Aang chuckled. "I guess that explains why Appa eats so much. I wonder if Sokka is part sky bison."

Katara giggled and closed the book in her lap, shifting herself around to face him. "How'd it go with Toph? Did you get to see the airbenders?" she asked.

Aang's expression became serious. "That's what I wanted to talk about. You remember our honesty policy?"

Katara gave him a reproachful look. "You haven't broken it already, have you?"

"No, of course not," he insisted, shaking his head. "I just have something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Katara asked uncertainly.

"Ok. I could beat around the bush with this but I'm just going to say it." Aang took a deep breath. "Tonight I'm breaking the airbenders out of prison and I'm taking them to the Eastern Air Temple so please come with me," he said all in one breath, then smiled in relief. "Hey that felt pretty good."

Katara blinked at him a few times. "Um. Come again?"

Aang deflated as apparently his idea required more explanation.

"The Dai Li are coming for them. They're in some sort of trouble, and I can't just abandon them when they need me. They've promised if I help them escape, they'll never break the law again. I just want to help them get a fresh start, I owe them that much. I won't abandon them," he said, looking at her with determination.

Katara bit her lip slightly as she listened to her boyfriend. "You think they're good?" she asked after mulling things over in her mind for a while.

"I know they are. This is all just a big misunderstanding…we have to help them."

The young waterbender sighed and took Aang's hands in her own. "If you think they're good then…I trust you."

"You-you do?" Aang stammered in surprise. If he was honest with himself, he had to say he'd been expecting some sort of resistance from her.

"You sound surprised," she noted, arching an eyebrow. "But I do trust you. Of course I do!" she said and touched his cheek gently. "Besides, the last time I didn't trust you didn't work out so well, did it?" she added, slightly abashed.

"No, it certainly did not."

"So I'm trusting you on this. But you do know we could get in serious trouble for this, right?"

Aang nodded solemnly. "I do. But I can't just leave them. We'll figure something out. We always do, right?" he asked with a hopeful smile.

Katara nodded with what she hoped was a look that exhibited optimism. "Right."

She could see in his eyes that he was absolutely determined to help his new friends regardless of the price he might have to pay. In a way, that was one of the things she loved about him, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him go without her.

"So you're sure you'll help me?" Aang asked. "I don't know when we're going to be able to come back and it might be dangerous. I mean, not that you're any stranger to danger or that I think you can't handle it but I still worry," he gushed only to be interrupted by a silencing finger Katara held up against his lips.

"Just stop before you hurt yourself. Yes, I am absolutely sure. There's no way I'm staying if you're going—wherever you go, I go. The airbenders are your people, so of course I want to help them too. And besides, I'm going to have to be there to save you when you get into trouble," she said with a slight smirk.

Aang gave a small laugh and nodded. "That's very true."

Katara gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm with you, Aang. All the way," she said determinedly.

Aang exhaled in relief. "I'm glad. I love you so much," he sighed and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

"I love you too. That's why I'm doing this."

She tipped her head upwards and looked into his grey eyes for a moment before she eased her lips onto his, her arms making their way around his neck. She swept her tongue across his bottom lip, an invitation that the airbender obligingly accepted.

The sense that everything was about to change lurked around the base of Katara's spine and crawled over her skin. After tonight, nothing would be the same. But right here and right now, she just wanted to be in this moment with Aang. Sitting in his strong embrace, feeling the caress of his hands over her body and listening to his soft moans of pleasure was all she wanted to do or think about right now.

They continued the kiss fervently, both in a way feeling the imminence of coming change. Katara leaned forwards in his lap until his back was against the tree trunk behind him, her knees on either side of his waist. Aang couldn't help but smile into her lips as he kissed her back just as ardently and placed his hands firmly on her hips.

There was certainly no lack of passion in their relationship, but this felt different. There was a hint of urgency that pervaded the kiss; it was as though they were worried they would lose each other, and in a sense this was true. They would never be exactly the same Aang and Katara again, and they were increasingly aware of this fact.

Their faces were flushed and they were panting when they finally separated. Katara lowered her eyes and twisted the fabric of Aang's orange sash in her hands.

"Everything is going to change, isn't it?" she finally asked quietly.

Aang touched a thumb to her cheek. "Not everything. Not the way I feel about you. That will never change," he assured her.

She managed a slight smile. "At least I know I can always depend on that."

"You can," Aang insisted. "Everything will be ok. We always find a way, don't we?"

Katara gazed into his eyes and trusted what she saw there, then shook off her apprehension and took on a bright smile. "Yeah. We do."

"It's just our next adventure."

She nodded affirmatively. "Right. So what's the plan?"

Later that night, Aang pulled on some loose black pants and a dark green long-sleeved shirt that had a black cowl that went around his neck. His bright yellow and orange robes were much too recognisable for this kind of mission. As he bent over to tie the laces of his boots, he glanced over to a similarly dressed Katara, who was filling her skins with water.

"You're sure you want to do this?" he asked, even though she'd made it more than clear that she was.

She looked at him and met his eyes. "Absolutely," she said with a determined nod.

Aang responded with a resolved nod and crossed over to her, taking her arms loosely in his hands and looking into her eyes. "You remember the plan?"

"Yes. I'll distract the guards while you go in and bust the airbenders out. Then you'll meet me and Appa at the outskirts of the city and we'll high-tail it out of here…easy enough, right?"

"Let's just hope nothing goes wrong," Aang replied somewhat nervously.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be Mr. Optimism?" She teased with a positive grin. "Don't be nervous. You always freak out like this and it always turns out fine, doesn't it?" she asked gently.

Aang gave a short laugh. "Like when I went for days without sleeping before the invasion?"

"Exactly. We don't want a repeat of that." She smiled softly at him and gave him a gentle kiss.

"We should go. It's nearly time," Aang said.

Katara nodded and followed Aang out, giving the room one last look before she closed the door behind them. They padded softly down the hallway, and Aang was a few steps ahead before he noticed that Katara had stopped. She was paused outside of Sokka's room, biting her lip slightly as she stared at the door.

Aang sighed and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "He's going to be ok, Katara."

She nodded slowly, swallowing at a lump in her throat. "Yeah, I know. He can take care of himself…I think. I'll still miss him," she said quietly.

"I'll miss him too, and everyone else. But we'll be back soon, don't worry," he assured.

Katara gave her head a slight shake to push away her hesitation and gave him a determined look. "You're right. We have to help your friends. Come on, let's go."

Within minutes, they were creeping silently through the night heading towards the city's prison facility. It was a cool, crisp night and the air was buzzing with electricity. The pair ducked into an alleyway near the prison, keeping to the shadows as they walked down it.

Finally they came to a metal pipe that protruded from the ground. It had a wheel on top of it, which Aang wrenched open with a slight grunt. Katara peered down into the dark pipe and grimaced at the smell that hit her nose.

"Ladies first," Aang said with a grin.

"Ha. I don't think so."

Aang sighed and clambered into the pipe, positioned himself on the rim and held his breath as he slipped into the darkness.