A/N: Um...hello. Cassidy here again. XD I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've been a bit preoccupied, so starting this new oneshot collection took me a while. In any case, I finally managed to find some time to write this and post it. I feel like my writing's a bit rusty, but hopefully this oneshot is decent. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't ATLA (unfortunately). ^^'

I. Axis

"Has anyone seen Aang?"

Katara's statement was met with several confused glances and a lengthy silence. Truthfully, none of the members seated around the table enjoying a batch of Iroh's finest tea had actually seen the airbender. He'd disappeared sometime after their evening meal and hadn't been spotted since. They'd all assumed he'd gone off to meditate or to take a well-deserved nap, but none of them were quite sure just what the young Avatar was up to.

"He's probably sleeping," Sokka said, blowing on his tea. "I mean, he just defeated the most evil Firelord in history a week ago and we've all been too preoccupied with what to do next to really relax much. I'm sure the kid is just taking a nice long nap."

"But he's not in his room," Katara said, glancing over her shoulder at the sound of something outside. It was just Iroh walking towards the back door. "I haven't seen him in hours."

"I'm sure your boyfriend is just relaxing," Toph piped up, playing with a Pai Sho tile.

"He's not my boyfriend," Katara mumbled, blushing.

"Oh, really?" Sokka asked, teasing her. "Then why were you kissing him and being all mushy?"

A series of snickers and giggles went around the table. Katara sighed and sank down into a chair.

"We're not…I mean, I don't think…I didn't...," she stammered.

"What?" Sokka prodded.

The waterbender seemed at a loss for what to say. She spent a moment nervously fiddling with her hair and tried to think of how to explain herself. All eyes were on her and she fidgeted.

"You should know," Toph said suddenly, cutting Katara off before she even got a word in. "Aang's outside."

The waterbender was out of her seat so fast, it nearly fell over and she was out the door in a flash.

"Thanks, Toph." She called, waving behind them. The blind earthbender just smiled and continued playing with the Pai Sho tile.

Katara found Aang descending the steps of Iroh's teashop towards Appa who stood at the base. Glider in hand and with a small bag slung over his shoulder, the airbender seemed ready to leave and Katara was suddenly nervous and hurried after him.

"Aang, where are you going?" she demanded, hurrying towards him.

The airbender simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nowhere in particular," he said, laughing softly.

"You're not…you're not leaving, are you?"

"No," he said, cheerfully.

"Then, what's in the bag?" Katara wondered.

"Apples," Aang replied, opening it for her to see.

"Oh."

The airbender grinned and tossed it up onto Appa's saddle and airbent himself up.

"Are you coming?" He wondered, flashing her a smile and extending his hand down to her.

Katara cast a glance back at the others inside before smiling up at Aang and allowing herself to be helped up.

"So," she asked, once they were airborne and Appa was flying over the rooftops of Ba Sing Se. "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere," was the airbender's simply reply as he crawled into the saddle and sat beside Katara.

The waterbender looked confused. "Then why'd you come out?"

"Appa just likes flying," he replied, tossing an apple to Katara. "So, I'm just letting him fly."

Katara laughed. "He's probably been feeling cooped up, hasn't he?"

Appa growled in affirmation and Katara giggled. Aang just grinned and flopped down.

"It's also nice to do some stargazing," he said, taking a bite of his apple. Katara lay down beside him and glanced up at the clear night sky. A full moon was sailing low overhead and the inky black sky was flecked with millions of stars, all twinkling brightly. Katara sighed in content and fixed her gaze on the stars as Appa flew on.

"Did the Air Nomads ever name the constellations?" she wondered, taking a bite out of her apple.

Aang nodded. "We used to use the stars to find our way back home from travels. See that one?" He pointed overhead to a large cluster of stars and Katara nodded. "That's the Sky Bison. That's the only one I can remember. My people had names for a lot of them, but I've forgotten."

Katara stared pensively at the sky for a moment, before speaking.

"I used to go stargazing with my parents sometimes, when I was young. Before the war really hit us, we'd do it almost daily and Gran Gran and my mom would tell me stories about how the constellations came to be. Unfortunately, I don't remember them all that well, but those nights were some of the best times of my life. After my mother died…we didn't do it very often." She became somber and Aang gave her an understanding smile and laced his fingers with hers. Katara was aware of her heart going a mile a minute and struggled to calm herself.

"Gyatso and I would name stars sometimes," Aang said, smiling fondly at the memory.

"After people?"

The airbender nodded. "He'd always say everyone had their own star and things like that, so sometimes we'd spend hours naming them. It seems like a lifetime ago."

"It does," Katara agreed.

Appa gave a soft roar and Katara peered over the saddle, surprised to find they were rather far from the teashop in the Upper Ring. The cluster of edifices gave way to grassy, rolling plains and Appa landed in the soft, green grass and flopped down, clearly content. Aang smiled and tossed him the remaining apples to munch on, before he helped Katara down. They found a nice spot to sit, some distance away from the sky bison, and resumed their stargazing.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Katara asked, at length.

"What?"

"Not doing anything," she said simply, turning to gaze at him.

Aang simply nodded and Katara sighed.

"Something wrong?" Aang wondered.

Katara just smiled. "No, just content. That's all."

Aang nodded. "Me too, but I doubt things will always be like this."

"What do you mean?"

The airbender shrugged. "There's still a lot that needs to be done."

"You don't have to do it alone, you know?" Katara said, keeping her gaze fixed on the stars above. "I can't speak for the others, but you've still got me and Sokka."

Aang sat upright and glanced at the waterbender. "You'd stay? But what about your family?"

"What about them?" Katara wondered, sitting upright and meeting his gaze.

"Won't you miss them?"

Katara giggled. "It's not like I'll never see them again. Besides, after everything we've done, I'm not so sure I can go back to the South Pole and be content just doing chores. And I couldn't just leave you guys."

Aang smiled.

"In any case," the waterbender continued, feeling somewhat reckless. "After what happened…I'm not so sure I want to leave."

Aang knew she was referring to the kiss and was suddenly grateful that the night hid the telltale blush on his face.

"Does that mean…are we…?" Aang stammered.

Katara nervously fiddled with a lock of her hair. "I guess so," she said shyly, smiling at him.

Aang grinned, thinking that he must have looked like an idiot at the moment. He felt too elated to really care, though.

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, sitting among the waving grass and watching the stars twinkle erratically above them. Katara was pensive, however, recalling something her grandmother had told her months ago, when she and Sokka first decided to help Aang.

"Now your destinies are intertwined with his."

Katara realized there was more truth in that now, than ever before. She wasn't so sure intertwined was the correct word to be used though. Revolve seemed like a better choice, she mused, chuckling to herself. It seemed lately, that she couldn't envision a future without Aang and the others, try as she might. She was fiercely glad things turned out the way she did, but it left her wondering.

"Aang?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it selfish of me?" Katara wondered. "To be happy, I mean, that you're here with us now instead of having been with the other airbenders?"

"To be honest," Aang admitted. "I'm glad I am. If you had asked me the day you found me, whether or not I wanted to go back and change things, I'd have probably said yes in a heartbeat. But now, I'm not so sure. I'd like to think I could, but a part of me just doesn't want to."

"Why not?"

"You said it yourself once: there's a reason everything happened the way it did; it was meant to be this way. Besides, if going back means forgetting you guys and losing such wonderful friends, then I'm not so sure I'd want to go, even if I really miss Gyatso and the others."

He gave her a sad smile and Katara laced her fingers with his and squeezed his hands in reassurance.

"Why'd you ask?" the airbender wondered.

Katara shrugged, absently playing with a few blades of grass. "It just felt odd to me," she explained. "I felt selfish, being so happy because you're here with us now. When we started travelling together, if there had been some way for you to go back and change things, I'd have probably urged you to go. But, if something like that happened now, I'm not sure I could."

"Well, I don't think you have to worry, because I'm not sure if I would," he replied, laughing softly.

Katara smiled gratefully and turned her attention to Appa. The giant bison had long since finished his snack and had taken to playing in the grassy plains of the Outer Ring. Somewhere in the distance, a herd of fox antelope moved closer to them to graze and Appa gave a soft roar and came to sit beside the airbender and the waterbender. They spent some time watching the herd in silence. It was only Katara's stifled yawn that alerted Aang of the time.

"I guess we better head back." He said, at last.

"I guess so," Katara said somewhat reluctantly, clambering on to Appa.

The flight back passed mostly in silence. Katara was pensive and Aang was simply watching as the rooftops of Ba Sing Se drifted past them. Katara seemed rather preoccupied with something and Aang was tempted to ask her what she was pondering, but the waterbender beat him to it.

"It's funny how quickly everything changed," she mused. "A few months ago, my future looked pretty bleak, being stuck in the South Pole, but now I feel like there's endless possibilities. There's so much we can do."

The airbender noted, somewhat amused, that she had said we.

"We?" He echoed, raising an eyebrow, questioningly.

Katara blushed. "Well…yeah," she laughed. "You didn't think…?"

She trailed off.

"What?" the Avatar prodded, gently.

"You didn't think I'd just leave you, did you?" She asked suddenly, with a confidence she didn't know she possessed.

"I don't really know," the airbender admitted. "I hadn't really thought that far ahead."

Truthfully, he had assumed that there was some unspoken agreement between them. After all, Katara had kissed him, so he'd assumed she'd intended to stick around, but having her confirm it was infinitely better than simply assuming.

"Well, I'm staying," Katara declared, feeling somewhat emboldened.

"I'm glad," the airbender replied, smiling softly.

Katara smiled back and unconsciously sighed in content again. It was comforting to know that wherever their future lead, they would be together. She wasn't quite sure just when she'd fallen so in love that her very future hinged on Aang's but it was true all the same. Somehow, she simply couldn't imagine a future that didn't include him (and the others) and, though she didn't know it yet, the young airbender couldn't either. There were guaranteed to be ups and downs; of that much Aang and Katara were certain. But together, it seemed as if they could face anything. As long as they had each other, perhaps they really could.

I hope it wasn't too bad. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading!

~ Cassidy Alice