Never ever decide a person’s future for them…it won’t end pretty.

Hesitation

“You’re nervous.”

“Am not.”

“…You’re lying.”

“Toph, how can you tell I’m lying through metal?”

“I can’t. I can only bend it. You just told me.”

Zuko glared at Toph’s amused face, “Hmph,” he grumbled. The smell of the sea and rocking of the boat weren’t exactly helping his nerves, even though he’d never admit that to Toph.

“How exactly are we going to get up there, again?” He asked, knowing full well that the ship couldn’t come anywhere close to a good climbing distance from the temple.

“Aang will fly down with Appa to come get us. Everyone practically knows about this little get-together except Katara.”

“Well, it’s supposed to be a surprise, isn’t it?”

“Yep, pretty much…” Toph said. Zuko didn’t fail to notice the annoyed look on her face, probably as she thought about the reason everyone was gathering.

Zuko honestly didn’t think it sounded quite right. A monk marrying a watertribe girl. Wait, scratch that, a monk marrying? Zuko didn’t know too much about the air nomads, even with the teachings he received in school when he was a boy. However, it seemed monks had very special and harsh rules that they lived by. From the tales he had heard, the air nomads hardly ever came down and visited any of the other nations. They only stayed in each of the temples, which was probably why it was so easy for Fire Lord Sozin to kill them all.

Zuko sighed as the area came closer and felt his heart start speeding up ever so slightly. Maybe he had nervousness mistaken for excitement? Either way, he was very happy to see everyone again.

“Now, I know I can’t see. But I can hear. And I believe I just heard that giant fur ball bellowing in the distance,” Toph said.

Zuko squinted his eyes as the ship came to a stop at their destination and sure enough just barely saw an outlining of Appa on the sky line. He couldn’t help but break into a grin as he saw Aang’s waving hand as he descended toward them.

Aang leapt off of Appa before practically dive bombing into the ship and tackled Zuko with much more force than Zuko was expecting. They fell onto the ship laughing.

Zuko finally got a good look at Aang. His monk clothes were the same, but he was a lot different. He had lost much of the childishness that Zuko remembered but some of it still remained in his grey eyes. His baby face was pretty much gone and he had more of an excited look, as if he were constantly waiting for someone to challenge him in some fun, endearing, dare. He had grown much taller, although he was still shorter than Zuko and he had gained plenty of muscle to fit with his long frame. He had grown into a handsome young man who still seemed to have all the fun of a kid.

“Heh. Looks like I’m catching up to you, Mr. Fire Lord!” Aang said, giving Zuko a hand and hauling him up. His voice had gotten much deeper since Zuko last saw him.

Zuko snorted. “I’ve grown a lot myself. You still have some catching up to do,” He stood at his full height, crossing his arms and smirked seeing that Aang still had to look up at him. The Avatar put on a pouty face, showing that he indeed had not lost all of his childishness.

“Hey twinkletoes! Thanks for completely blowing me off!” Toph called. Aang turned and was shocked, showing that apparently he hadn’t seen her, and raced over to her.

“Toph! I didn’t know you were coming with Zuko!” He said before gathering her taller, but still small frame into his arms for a bear hug.

“Gah! Hey! Who gave you permission to hug me?! You know I hardly hug people unless it’s for a special occasions!” She said, as Aang set her back down.

“Well, I think this is a very special occasion! We haven’t seen each other in four years,” He said, grinning.

“Hmph,” Toph grumbled, “Big deal.”

Aang laughed, “I like what you’ve done with your hair,” He said, playfully pulling on one of the braids.

Toph snatched the braid back and started stroking it, blushing, “R-really?” She stuttered. Zuko smirked, not missing the rosy hue her cheeks took on. Aang didn’t notice, as usual.

“Yeah! And your hair’s finally out of your face so we can actually see your pretty eyes,” He called over his shoulder as he walked back to Appa. Toph’s blush deepened and she muttered something incoherent.

Zuko smirked before taunting, “Looks like miss pretty eyes has an admire-OW!” Zuko winced as Toph punched him hard in the arm.

“Watch it, Flameo,” She growled. Zuko rubbed his sore arm and gave her a sheepish smile.

“Hey! Are you two coming? Everyone else has been dying to see you!” Aang called from Appa’s head, already getting ready to go.

Zuko and Toph jumped on to Appa as the bison took off for the Western Air Temple.

“Ugh. I still can’t believe you actually got me to fly on one of those things again!”

“Heh. I think you’re getting better!”

“Are you blind? I almost crashed into the same wall about ten times!”

Teo laughed as he wheeled beside a nerve-wracked Katara, “Oh, come on Katara. You’ve been living with air people for pretty much four years, plus you’ve been on Appa a lot. Are you still afraid of the air?”

Katara grinned as she dragged her glider along side her, “Nah, it’s not that I’m afraid of it, it just depends on what I’m using to fly in it. And this…” She said motioning to the glider, “…is a death trap waiting to happen.”

Teo snorted, “Whatever you say Katara…” They smiled at each other as they continued to walk through the Western Air temple.

Katara still couldn’t believe how beautiful this place came to look. She remembered the days when this Air Temple was used to hide in after they had barely managed to escape the Fire Nation. It was old and worn. Full of cracks, weeds, insects and more. Now the Western Air Temple looked as lively as when the monks lived there over a century ago.

Teo’s group flooded and thrived throughout the temple. Everywhere there were shouts of kids playing, adults speaking in groups and always someone flying on a glider. She smiled at the success her and Aang had made. Speaking of Aang…

Katara blinked and looked around. She realized she hadn’t seen her boyfriend since late morning.

“Hey Teo…have you seen Aang? I just realized I haven’t seen him all day,” She said, looking up at the late afternoon sun.

“Aang? Huh. I haven’t seen him all day either. Well, he’ll turn up eventually. Why don’t you just hang out here? He should be back soon,” Teo said, giving her a knowing smile that suddenly made her believe Aang was up to something.

Katara narrowed her eyes suspiciously, “Alright Teo, spill.”

Teo gave her a fake grin, “I don’t know what you’re talking about Katara.”

“Don’t try that Teo! I know you-“

“Katara! Sis! Is that really you?!”

Katara whirled around to see her nineteen-year-old brother next to Suki, whose tummy was showing the bulge of a new child, and her father.

“S-Sokka?!” Katara ran to her brother and embraced him.

“What are you guys doing here?! I haven’t seen you guys since the wedding,” She said, embracing Suki and her dad.

“We got a letter from Aang about some surprise and he told us to get over here. So, here we are. But where’s Aang?” Sokka asked, looking around.

“A surprise? That’s news to me…” She said, frowning, “Aang didn’t even tell me that you guys were coming. He didn’t even tell me that he sent a letter. What did it say?”

“It was pretty vague,” Suki said, shrugging, “Just that Aang wanted us to come to the Western Air Temple to visit and that he had a special announcement for all of us.”

“Dad, did you get anything from your letter?”

“Oh, I saw a few interesting things in my letter,” Hakoda said, smiling, leaving Katara to wonder if she was the only one who didn’t know what was going on.

“Hey Katara!” Aang called from somewhere behind.

Katara turned around, “Hey Aang! Would you mind telling me what’s…?” Katara stopped short as she saw the people behind Aang.

“Toph!” Katara all but shrieked as she ran up to her good friend and embraced her.

“Geez, Sugar Queen, I’m blind. Don’t make me deaf too!” Toph said, embracing her back.

“Aang, what in the world is going on here?!” She asked, letting go of Toph and turning to her boyfriend, “What’s with the sudden reunion?”

Aang smiled, glad that Katara had such a big and beautiful smile on her face, “I just wanted a little reunion with everyone…and I knew it would make you happy to see everyone again,” Aang glanced at Hakoda, “Well, actually there is a reason…but we can discuss that during dinner.”

“Yeah. In the meantime how about we show everyone around the temple? You can see how much we’ve restored it!” Katara said, smiling.

“Hey Sugar Queen, aren’t you totally ignoring someone?” Toph asked, raising an eyebrow.

“What? Who?!”

“Hi Katara. Glad to see you missed me so much,” Zuko said, amusement running through his voice.

“Zuko!” Katara called. Leaping into Zuko’s arms and embracing him. Zuko stood there awkwardly, his arms spread as far away from her as possible. He glanced around from face to face wondering if it was okay to hug her. But Aang wasn’t the jealous type. Why was Zuko even thinking about this? He gently wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I didn’t expect to see you here!” She said, removing herself from the embrace. She glanced around her friends and family, “Actually, I didn’t expect to see anyone here,” She then turned back to Zuko, “But you…I didn’t know Fire Lords were allowed vacations,” She said grinning.

“Please, home was pretty boring. I needed a break from being the ruler of a nation.”

“Well, anyway, we still have a while before dinner. How about we give everyone a grand tour of the new Air Temple?” Aang asked, airbending himself ahead of the group.

Later that evening, the old gang sat in the same dinner area that they did when they hid in the Western Air Temple before the battle with Ozai. The only difference was that they were surrounded by the talk of many other people.

“It’s going to take me a while to get used to all of these people here,” Suki said, “It was so quiet when it was only us.”

“Heh. Yeah, and there weren’t constantly these gliders all over the place,” Toph said. Everyone listened to the yips and joyous yells of the kids soaring through the evening sky.

“So, Suki, how does it feel to have a baby in you?” Katara asked.

“Well, I can’t feel much now. Seeing as how it’s barely the beginning of spring, I can’t feel anything. But I just know it’s there,” Suki said, absent-mindedly placing a hand on her stomach and rubbing it.

“Good point. You did barely just tell us when you found out,” Aang said, chewing on a carrot.

“Speaking of babies,” Toph mumbled before turning to Aang, “Twinkletoes, don’t you have an announcement to make?”

Aang paled slightly as all eyes turned to him, his carrot sticking out of his mouth and then falling to the floor, and gave Toph a couldn’t-you-wait-a-while look. Toph just sat there, her eyes devoid of emotion.

“Um…er…well…I…” Aang blushed slightly and looked down, glancing between Katara and her father.

“Aang…?” Katara asked, looking at the obviously uncomfortable Avatar.

With a deep breath, Aang stood up and faced his old friends. They all looked back with curiosity and he, not understanding why, suddenly felt stage fright. Even though these were all his friends that he’d known for a long while now.

“Um…everyone…I’m sure you all know that Katara and I have been in a relationship ever since the day the war ended,” All eyes turned to Katara and it was her turn to blush slightly.

“Tell me what else is new,” Toph grumbled. If anyone had heard her, they pretended they didn’t.

“I…I love her very much,” Aang said, glancing at her and smiling slightly, “And I believe that being with her these four years makes me know that I’m ready to take our relationship to the next level,” Aang took another deep breath, “So, I’m here to tell everyone today that Katara and I are getting married!” Aang said, smiling.

The group sat in awed silence for a second. Aang suddenly realized that the whole area was silent and turned awkwardly to see the entire area of people had over heard him. Aang laughed hesitantly and smiled sheepishly. Suddenly it seemed like the whole Western Air Temple erupted in applause.

“Way to go, Aang! That’s great!”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to get the guts to say it, buddy!”

Zuko inched closer to Toph, “Are we the only ones who knew that Aang was proposing to Katara?” Zuko asked.

Toph shrugged, “Apparently. And he made a grave mistake.”

“What? What mistake?”

Toph smirked, “He didn’t exactly propose. He sort of skipped that part. And one of the few things you learn about Sugar Queen is she will never sit quietly and let someone decide something for her, especially her future.”

Zuko glanced at Katara and saw that her face was shocked and could tell when she slowly became angry as her face contorted.

“When is the wedding going to be?” Suki asked excitedly.

“Hakoda said we have the date set for the summer solstice-“

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Katara shouted standing up.

Toph smiled, “Now sit and watch the sparks fly,” she whispered to Zuko.

“Doesn’t anyone care that I don’t get a say in this?!” Katara shouted, turning and glaring at Aang and Hakoda.

“Katara, you know our traditions-“

“Screw the damn traditions! Dad, I told you many times before that I will not just be handed over,” At that she turned her angry eyes to Aang, before turning back to her father, “Without a proper marriage proposal! Aang hasn’t even talked, about it, hinted at it, anything at it!”

“Katara…you love me, don’t you?” Aang asked hesitantly. Katara turned back to face Aang, her eyes softening a bit before looking down.

“Aang…I…” She quieted and just succumbed to nodding her head.

“Then…there shouldn’t be a problem, right?” He asked moving closer and placing his hands on her shoulders. She kept looking down, confusion on her face.

“Katara…we love each other. So there’s no reason to hesitate. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” He said smiling.

“Here’s the necklace I wanted to show you,” Aang said pulling out a bright yellow necklace with the Air symbol on it. Katara’s eyes widened as she stared at the beautiful topaz yellow necklace. He gently put the cloth strips in his finger and began to move it towards Katara with the intention of putting it around her neck.

“Listen, I…” She began, backing away from him, “I need some time to…to think. I think I’m going to retire for the evening,” She turned to face the others and awkwardly bowed to them as if she didn’t know them, “It…it’s really great to see everyone again,” She said before practically fleeing back to her room.

The party sat in an awkward silence for a few moments.

“Well, that went well. Great job, Twinkletoes,” Toph said sarcastically before laying back on a rock.

Aang turned to glare at her, “You know, if you hadn’t brought it up, I would’ve had more time to think of what to say.”

“It doesn’t matter. Katara would have gotten angry no matter how you stated it. Katara doesn’t let people decide things for her, Aang,” Zuko said, “You should have known that from the start.”

Aang sighed, “I’m gonna go and talk to her,” He said, taking a few steps in the direction that she had left but Hakoda stood and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Leave her be for tonight, Aang,” Hakoda said, “She just needs time to think. I’m sure she’ll be better in the morning.”

“Yeah…” Aang said, rubbing his temple and sitting back down.

“So…” Toph said, sitting back up, “How about we get some more food?”

“This will be your room, Zuko,” Aang said stopping in front of a door.

Zuko smiled, “Same room as before.”

“Yep. Just like old times. Well, good night. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Aang said before turning to leave.

“Hey,” Zuko said, catching his shoulder, “Don’t worry Aang. Things will work out between you and her,” He said.

Aang turned and smiled, “They always do,” he said, before leaving to his room just two doors down.

Zuko opened the door and suddenly realized he wasn’t alone when he saw the silhouette of someone sitting on his bed.

“Zuko?” Katara’s voice called.

“Katara? What are you doing…? Am I in the wrong room?”

Katara giggled, “No…Aang and I have had the same rooms since we lived here. You’re in the right one.”

“Oh,” Zuko said, lighting a few candles before setting his stuff down and closing the door.

“What are you doing in here?” He asked, sitting next to her.

“I…well…honestly I’m kind of hiding from Aang. I had a feeling he might try to find me in my room so I just picked another room to stay in until he turned in. I just don’t really want to talk to him right now.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, both in their own thoughts.

“You must think that I didn’t handle myself very well in there…” She said uncomfortably, hugging her knees and resting her head on top of her arms.

Zuko chuckled, “No, I actually wouldn’t expect it any other way. I’m surprised Aang would do that. He should know you by now.”

Katara smiled a little, “It’s just so…shocking. He…he doesn’t even hint at it and the next thing I know, he says I’m marrying him! Everything’s just so…”

“…Fast, I know,” Zuko said.

“And my father’s siding with him because of the stupid Water Tribe tradition where the boyfriend talks to the girl’s father. And if the father approves, she’s as good as married,” Katara growled, glaring at the floor, “It’s not fair! And I already told my dad I would never marry unless the person proposed to me! I’m not going by that tradition! Never!”

She looked away, her voice quieting, “And I never thought for one second that I would have to explain that to Aang. I thought he loved me enough to talk to me about marriage and not my dad,” She said, sighing.

Zuko looked at her, “I guess we’re both having marriage troubles.”

Katara turned back to him, “What? Are you having problems with Mai?”

Zuko sighed, “Well…yes, now that I think about it. The members of our Council have been pressuring me to marry a few weeks after my twentieth birthday and Mai…recently…has been talking about marriage and…making…love,” He said awkwardly.

Katara couldn’t help but chortle a little and Zuko frowned, “Funny?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I just thought that talking about making love would be something that the guy brought up first. And in your relationship…Mai seems too…”

“What, dull?” He asked, “She can have her…emotional moments. Anyway, I didn’t leave on the best foot with her,” He said, sighing.

“It’s like they don’t care about how I feel…” Katara said.

“I mean, is it too much to ask for some space?” Zuko asked.

“I mean…”

“Ugh…”

“Can’t someone listen for once?” They said simultaneously. They turned and looked at each other and couldn’t help but smile.

Katara giggled, “Looks like we both need some space,” She said smiling.

Zuko smiled back, “Yeah,” he said before they sat in a comfortable silence.

“Can I ask you something?” Zuko asked.

“Sure,” Katara said, “What is it?”

“How are you feeling about this whole marriage thing?”

Katara looked down, “I…” She began, “I really don’t know.”

She turned to face Zuko, “You know…I…I had been thinking lately about this whole relationship with him and it just…it hasn’t been much different since we were friends. We just hang out and have fun…and whenever he tries to kiss me…” Katara suddenly sighed, “I’m sorry. This sounds like something I should be ranting about to Suki, not you.”

Zuko smiled, “Well, if you feel more comfortable talking to her about it then that’s fine. But I don’t mind. Something told me you needed someone to talk to,” He said, looking at her.

Katara looked at him and couldn’t help but smile back, “You know, you’re still the great friend that I remember who took a bolt of lightning for me.”

Zuko chuckled, “I had to. I’d never live with myself if I knew I let you get struck.”

She reached out and placed her hand on top of his, “I still can’t thank you enough.”

He looked down at her hand and back up in her eyes and realized how tired she was.

“I think it’s about time we went to bed. You’ve had kind of a rough evening and you probably have many thoughts to sort out,” Zuko said, sliding his hand out from under hers.

She smiled and stood up, “Yes, but, thanks to talking to you, I’ve sorted a lot of them out.”

Zuko stood as well and gave her a gentle smile, “Well, I’m glad.”

She looked down and, wanting to comfort her, he stepped forward and embraced her. She let her head rest against his chest.

“It’s going to be okay,” He whispered, “Everything will work out. Aang needs to learn not to trouble you so much.”

She smiled, “Thanks a bunch,” She said, stepping back and walking out the door with Zuko following and stopping at the doorway.

“Katara, if you ever need someone to talk to, you know I’m here,” Zuko said.

Katara turned to face him, “I think you’ll be the first one I come to,” She said smiling, “Good night, Zuko.”

“Good night, Katara,” He responded, before closing the door.

Mai walked through the corridors of the darkened palace that lead to Azula’s cell. Ozai hadn’t changed, and since Zuko wasn’t there he didn’t even acknowledge Mai’s presence whenever she came in. His status hadn’t changed besides the fact that he hadn’t been eating too much lately.

She didn’t quite understand why Zuko did this week after week. They were the ones who had tried to destroy the world. Now they were getting what they deserved and he still cared for their health.

Mai rubbed her temples. And then there was the whole talk of marriage that didn’t work out when she tried to bring it up. She didn’t understand why he didn’t want to marry her. The Council was threatening him to, she was perfectly qualified to be Fire Lady and he loved her for crying out loud!...Or did he? Mai’s eyes took on an angry glint as she remembered all those times she had said that she loved him and she never recalled him saying he loved her too.

Making it to Azula’s chamber, she knocked on the door and the guard let her in. She stepped inside and watched Azula sitting on the floor.

“How is she?” Mai asked, before hearing the door slam shut and lock behind her. She whirled around to see the guard stand with his arm against the door. Mai grabbed three shurikens from within her sleeve and held them out menacingly.

“Ask her yourself,” The guard said.

Mai slowly turned around to face the insane girl. But she did not look insane at all. She sat up straight, her legs crossed on the floor, and that intimidating smirk on her face that always secretly sent chills down Mai’s spine. And the chills returned once again as Azula spoke.

“Hello, traitor.”

Oh no! What will become of Mai?