Alright guys, I've got my first ever one-shot and it's going to be an AU of what happened after Aang disappeared. I was inspired to write this because I just couldn't understand why Katara was confused until I realized that she wasn't. She was scared. As you read you'll see what I mean and why she was scared. But anyways, hopefully you guys enjoy.

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

"Then, when you figure out a way for me to beat the firelord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" Aang stormed off.

"Aang, don't walk away from this!" Katara felt a hand on her shoulder stopping her from following him. She looked behind her to see Zuko. "Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself."

She looked back at where Aang stormed off and sighed. "You're right. Today's been a long day. Why don't we all just go get some sleep?" They all agreed and went to their rooms. Katara walked into hers and looked into the mirror. Maybe he wouldn't be like this if I hadn't told him I was confused, she wondered.

"Well, it's always disheartening to hear from the ones we love that they don't know how they feel about us," a voice from behind her said.

She gasped and turned around quickly, reaching for her water skin but realized it was still downstairs from practice earlier. She backed up and tried to look menacing. "Who are you and what do you want?!" she growled.

The stranger just laughed. He looked odd for a human. He appeared to have sun warrior ancestry, if the color of his skin and his accent were any indication. He wore long dark orange and blood red robes and had red markings on his face with a hood covering his head. He looked at her with a knowing smile. "Miss Katara, ever the warrior. Even without being able to bend, you never back down, do you?"

She became confused. "How do you know my name?"

He bowed to her. "I assure you, I am no threat. I've come to speak to you on an important matter."

Her fierce gaze slackened, but not by much. "How do I know you're not the enemy?" she questioned.

"Well, maybe I can start by properly introducing myself. I am known by many names, but you may call me Tàiyáng." He bowed to her again.

She gasped. "The sun spirit!"

He smirked. "In the flesh."

She became even more confused. "Wait, aren't you supposed to be on the Fire nation's side?"

He chuckled. "Many people think that, but I assure you, it is not true. Just because someone draws power from me does not mean that I support them. I consider all who depend on the warmth I give as my children. Not just some nation who decided to use me as one of their emblems."

She looked into his eyes to see any deceit, but was surprised to find none. "Okay," she started, "how do I know that you're telling the truth about being the sun spirit?"

He laughed. "If you would like a demonstration, all you had to do was ask." He closed his eyes and bent some fire in his hand and spread it throughout his body. Slowly he turned into a pure flame, not one trace of his human body left. The fire remarkably did not spread, and after a few moments turned back into his human form. He had a satisfying look at the awe on her face. "I do not know about you, but I've never met a firebender who can transform into a flame and transform back into a human."

After getting over her shock, she shook her head wildly and nodded. "Okay, I believe you. So you needed to talk to me about something important?"

He nodded. "Yes. It is not 'end of the world' important, but it is important. It's about the Avatar."

She got angry at him. "It's Aang. He might be the Avatar, but he is Aang before anything else."

He gave her another knowing smile. "Of course, my apologies. Anyways, it's about Aang."

She looked at him curiously. "What about him? Is everything alright?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Relax miss Katara, there is no danger except for what lies ahead for him. I wanted to talk about what has been bothering him."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. He wants to not have to take the Firelord's life, but I just can't see any other possible way."

He shook his head. "Although that is a problem for him, I'm talking about something else. I have been watching your group with great interest for quite some time. I have seen your adventures and your certain discussions…" he trailed off looking pointedly at her.

She looked down. "You saw that?" .

He nodded. "I did, and let me tell you, you did not go about it the right way at all. All he wanted was to pour out his heart to you, and you snapped his heart in half for nothing."

She looked angrily at him. "Well, what else am I supposed to do?! I'm confused!"

He just sighed. "Miss Katara, I know that you are smarter than this. Do you truly believe you are confused?"

A puzzled look crossed her face. "What do you mean?"

He was silent for a moment. "I had hoped that you would have figured it out by now, but I suppose I'll have to help you. Why do you think that you are confused, Katara?"

She frowned. "Because I'm not sure if I love him or not. I know I care for him as more than a friend or brother, but I don't know if I love him."

"Why wouldn't you?" He asked seriously. "He is a kind and gentle young man who has done nothing but treat you with respect and care. He carries the burden of the world on his shoulders, yet his main drive for saving it is you."

She gasped. "It is?"

He nodded solemnly. "It has been ever since you freed him from his icy prison. He would rather die than fail you." She noticeably winced at his words. "You don't seem to like the thought of him dying. May I ask why that is?"

She looked down. "He's my best friend…"

He shook his head at her. "That is not the only reason, Miss Katara. Why else do you not like the thought?"

She sighed. "Because, he already died once, and it tore me to pieces. The only thing that kept him alive was the Spirit water. If it hadn't been for that, he would have been gone forever…" she trailed off sadly.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "You have experienced grief before this, have you not?"

She nodded. "Yeah, my mother. She was killed during a fire nation raid. When she died to save me, I was broken. I didn't eat much for weeks. I could barely sleep. She was the person I loved most in the world."

"Well," he started, "what were your 'symptoms' when the-" she gave him a dirty look, "-Aang… what were you feeling when he died?"

She took a moment to think about it. "They were basically the same thing. When I saw him fall, it felt like I was falling too. My whole world came crashing down. I didn't even know what I was doing when I went to catch him. I was basically acting on instinct. When I finally came back to myself, I was on Appa and looking at his dead body. To see his usually joyful and peaceful face marred by pain and suffering, well… let's just say the only reason I didn't hit something was because everyone around me was important to me. Then, when he was out for those weeks, it was basically the same thing, except somehow worse. I wouldn't eat, I wouldn't sleep, I spent hours trying to heal him and I would rarely leave his side."

He laughed. "Yes, that seems about right. Now, how about on the day of the invasion. Do you happen to remember what he was saying before he kissed you?"

She blushed at the memory. "Yeah… he was talking about how… he might not make it back. I tried telling him to not think like that, but then he cut me off with a kiss."

He nodded. "Now, how about the play? Did anything in it affect you in a bad way?'

She thought about it. "Well, there were several things that affected me in a bad way. Watching my actress portray me as a cry baby, watching the stupid Jet pick me up scene, watching the…" she paused and shuddered, "'Zuko and me' scene. I don't understand where they got that from. He's like a brother to me and nothing more. A brother that I just recently forgave for betraying us and costing Aang his life."

The sun spirit stroked his chin in thought. "You seem to be especially angry with him for his betrayal. Why is that?"

She looked down angrily. "Because I trusted him. I thought he had changed and was sorry for what he did, and because I let my guard down when he told me he had lost his mother, too. And because maybe if he hadn't betrayed us, maybe Aang wouldn't have…" she choked. "Maybe he wouldn't have died. I might have forgiven him for that, but I won't ever forget about it. That memory will burn in my mind forever."

He smiled. "Indeed. Now, back to the topic at hand. What else in the play bothered you?"

She thought more into it. "Well, besides my actress saying that Aang was like a brother to me…" she paused. "The part where Aang was shot down. It brought me back into that moment, and I felt all the pain that had come from it come back with a vengeance."

He wiped a tear that fell from her eye. "It is alright. He is alive and well. That is what matters."

She looked up at him sadly. "Yeah, he is right now, but what about when he fights the Firelord? What if he…" He gave her a hug. After a couple minutes, she pulled back and wiped her tears away. "I already lost him once, I can't lose him again."

He gave her a reassuring look. "Aang will do his duty. Whether he lives or dies, he will see it through. Now, with all that I have asked you, what do they all have in common?"

She was silent for a couple of minutes, and then gasped. "They all involved Aang dying. I'm scared to death of losing him again."

He nodded. "And why are you so scared to lose him? He is your friend, but you are more worried about losing him than your own brother. He may have a better chance of not making it, but you will all be there to help him. There is almost just as much risk to your own kin as there is to him. What makes it so much scarier for him to die than your own family?" he asked sagely. She thought about it and gasped. He smiled. "I see you finally understand."

She nodded slowly. "I'm not confused. I'm scared. Scared to love someone who has a very good chance of not coming back."

He nodded again. "Indeed. I understand where your fear is coming from, Miss Katara, but consider something. If he dies, he will never know how you truly feel."

"You're right." She paused. "It's too late to talk to him now. I'll talk to him in the morning."

Knowing what had already happened, he just went along with it. "Yes, that would be best."

She looked at him pleadingly. "Can you see the future?" He nodded. "Can you tell me-"

"-if he's going to survive?" She nodded. "I'm afraid not, Miss Katara. Telling someone of their future would change its course, possibly having the opposite effect of what you would want. I'm afraid that's a risk that we Spirits cannot take. One way or the other."

She nodded sadly. "I understand." She looked up at him. "Thank you."

He gave her a puzzled look. "What for?"

She smiled at him. "For helping me see that I do love him and that I'm not actually confused. Even if I'm more scared now because I've let myself realize that I love him, I'm glad to know that if he survives we can have a life together."

He chuckled. "It was my pleasure, Miss Katara. Now get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow." He started vanishing into a flame. "I will see you again, before this war is over." And with that he flew off into the night sky.

She laid down on her bed. I finally understand, she thought with a smile.

The next morning…

Katara woke up slowly. It was early morning, but she didn't really mind. She had to have a talk with a certain Airbender. She got up and put on some clothes. She brushed out her hair and looked in the mirror. She couldn't wait to talk to Aang. She was still scared to death of losing him, but if there was the possibility of him dying, she wanted to spend every second she could with him. She walked over to his room and knocked. There was no answer. She knocked again. Still nothing. She cracked open the door slightly. "Aang? Are you awake?" She peeked in to see that he was not there. She opened it the rest of the way and walked around. She went to the balcony and saw his staff leaning up against the wall and a trail of footprints leading down the beach. Well, he wouldn't leave without his staff, so I'll just follow his footprints, she thought. She went downstairs and followed his trail. When she reached the end of it, she was surprised to see that it stopped as it went into the water. She started panicking. Where did he go? She ran back to the house. She knocked on everybody's doors and made them get up. Once they were all there, she said, "Guys! Aang's gone!"

Sokka grumbled. "Okay, and? He probably just went for a walk or something, calm down."

She shook her head. "No, he left his glider in his room and he left a trail of footprints that led to the water. What if he was captured?" she asked worriedly.

Toph grumbled this time. "SugarQueen, if he was captured, wouldn't there be at least one extra set of footprints?"

Katara thumped her head. "Why didn't I think of that? Well, where did he go? He just vanished!"

Zuko finally grumbled. "Katara, if he doesn't come back in a couple of hours, we'll check it out. Now let us get some sleep!" They all went back to their rooms, making Katara groan. She went back outside to the trail to try to figure out what happened. Then an idea popped into her head. "Sun Spirit, please help me!"

"Well, you could have just said my name. I have one of those you know." a voice behind her joked.

She turned around and looked at him. "Please, can you tell me where Aang is? I'm really worried."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss Katara, I'm afraid I cannot. All I can say is that he definitely is not here right now."

Her worry started to skyrocket. "Did he get captured? Is he alright? Please, can you at least tell me if he's alright?"

He laughed at her nervousness. "He is alright." he assured her. "He is on a necessary journey and is preparing for the Firelord."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Well, what do we do? We were all supposed to help him with the Firelord, but now we don't even know where he is! What if he gets hurt again? What if he…" she choked.

He looked at her sadly. "Our lives are precious, Miss Katara. We have little control over what happens. All we can do is trust that fate will guide us as best as it can."

She snorted. "Easy for you to say, you're an immortal Spirit!"

He chuckled. "I am not immortal in this world, young lady. Right now, I am at as much risk as any human in the world."

She looked down. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just very worried."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's to be expected, after all the young man you love has vanished. But you can't afford to think about that right now. The Firelord's plan is coming into effect soon. You must prepare for it. Go find General Iroh. He will be of help to you."

She nodded. "Okay, I'll tell my friends. Is there any way I can ask you to protect Aang?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we Spirits are not allowed to interfere with other Spirits business, even if it's a half-spirit, half-human. It's against our ancient laws."

"Okay, I guess I understand. Can you at least tell us where to start looking for General Iroh?"

He nodded. "Look to the Earth Kingdom, and find the one called 'June'. She will help you find him."

"Thank you, Tàiyáng." she said gratefully.

He smiled. "You are welcome. Now, go prepare. These next couple of days will be the hardest of your life, but if you have faith, you will pull through. Good luck, Miss Katara." He vanished into a flame and flew away. She watched him go and got to work. She got everybody up and explained the situation. They packed and were on Appa within the hour. They went and found Iroh. Iroh helped them create a plan to save the world. Katara and Zuko went on Appa to stop Azula. As they flew, they saw the comet coming quickly. Katara looked at Zuko. "Zuko, don't worry. We can take Azula."

Zuko responded. "It's not her I'm worried about. I'm worried about Aang. What if he doesn't have the guts to take out my father? What if he loses?"

Katara shook her head. "Aang won't lose. He's going to come back." She paused. "He has to."

Zuko looked at her questioningly. "You love him, don't you?"

She sighed and nodded. "I do. I was going to tell him the morning he disappeared, and now I might not ever get to tell him."

He laughed and shook his head. "I thought you just said that he's going to come back."

She looked down sadly. "I have to believe he will. But there's still that part of me that doubts it. This is the biggest fight of his life and your father's insane. What if he doesn't come back? What if I never get to tell him…" she trailed off.

Zuko awkwardly patted her on the back. "It'll be alright, Katara. It's like you said: He will come back. Because there's no way he's leaving you." She smiled a little and he laughed. "You know he's just as crazy for you as you are for him, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah, the Sun Spirit told me I was his drive for saving the world."

Zuko looked flabbergasted. "When did you talk to the Sun Spirit?!"

Katara looked over the edge. "Maybe some other time, Zuko. We've got company."

He followed her gaze to see Azula about to be coronated. "You're right, we've got a coronation to crash." Appa landed on the ground. Zuko stood up. "Sorry, but you're not gonna be Firelord today." He jumped off Appa. "I am."

Azula laughed. "You're hilarious."

Katara jumped off Appa and yelled angrily, "And you're going down! You'll pay for taking Aang's life!"

The Fire Sage attempted to crown Azula anyway, but Azula stopped him. "Wait, you want to be Firelord? FIne, let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai!"

Zuko met her gaze evenly. "You're on."

Katara looked at Zuko in surprise. "What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both, so she's trying to separate us."

"I know," he said, "But I can take her this time."

"But even you admitted to your uncle that you would need help facing Azula."

He looked back at Azula. "There's something off about her. I can't explain it, but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt." Katara nodded and stepped back. Zuko and Azula got into their respective positions for the Agni Kai.

Azula smirked evilly at him. "I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother." she said sarcastically.

He got into his stance. "No you're not."

Azula smiled again and they fought. After a very even fighting match, Zuko finally found in opening and made her stumble forward and fall. She got back up slowly in pain. Zuko taunted her. "No lightning today? What's the matter?" He got into lightning redirection stance. "Afraid I'll redirect it?"

Azula sneered at him. "Oh, I'll show you lightning!" She started the motions for the lightning and looked from Zuko to Katara. Zuko didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. "Katara! Watch out!"

The lightning shot towards her and she didn't move, too shocked to think straight. As the bolt almost hit her, a flash of red stood in front of her and redirected it into the sky. She looked to see…

"Tàiyáng?!"

Zuko gasped. "The Sun Spirit?!"

Tàiyáng turned around and bowed. "In the flesh."

Azula smiled widely. "Yes! The prophecy was true!"

Katara looked at him in confusion. "What does she mean?"

He looked at her sadly. "I made a promise long ago to be here for the Fire Nation on the day it needed me most. That day would be today." Katara gasped and Zuko looked scared. "I am sorry my child." Tàiyáng made some intricate moves and summoned a storm cloud. He took it's will and made it his own. He raised his hands upward, and threw them down, making bolts of lightning hurtle to the ground. Katara closed her eyes, expecting the worst. After a few moments, she realized nothing had happened and she opened an eye. She gasped to see Azula surrounded by bolts of lightning, trapping her into a sort of cage.

Tàiyáng shook his head at her. "I am sorry my child." he repeated. "You and your father and forefathers have caused too much sorrow and strife. The world must be put back to balance for the Fire Nation to truly thrive." Azula tried absorbing the lightning, but was shocked in the process. "I would not do that if I were you. That has a three chance defensive system imbued into it. Two more times and it will implode. I would not recommend taking your chances."

Azula looked at him angrily. "Why are you doing this, Sun Spirit?! You're supposed to be helping the Fire Nation, not hurting it!"

He shook his head at her again. "I am helping it. For there to be peace and balance in this world, there must be four nations to balance each other out. If your father had his way, there would only be one, and your nation would slowly deteriorate into nothingness. It would mean the end of your nation. I am sorry, my child."

Katara went over to him and looked at him gratefully. "Thank you, Tàiyáng. But can I ask, why did you do all this? Why did you help me figure out that I wasn't confused? Why did you help me get some small amount of peace when I was worried about Aang?"

Tàiyáng sighed. "Because I was once in love, as well. I fell in love with a beautiful mortal named Huixing. She was the most amazing human I had ever met, and I was madly in love with her. But Spirits are not supposed to have relationships with humans, so I could not do anything. One day though, she summoned me and told me that she loved me. I was about to tell her I felt the same, when Koh found out. He killed her on the spot and ran away. I chased him down and made him suffer, but I could not kill him because we were in our home world. I begged my fellow Spirits to let me turn her into a Spirit and they granted me my wish. She became the Spirit of a certain comet…" he trailed off.

Katara gasped. "Sozin's Comet?"

He laughed. "Well, before they renamed it that, it was known as Huixing. Now, it is her very soul manifested into the comet. The reason why I decided to help you is because you were in a position very similar to what I was in, and I could not bare to see someone else make the same mistake I had made."

She teared up from the story and looked down. "But, I may have made the same mistake. I might not ever get to tell him how I feel." Two bursts of light shot up into the sky. She looked at them and knew who it was instantly. "That's him isn't it?! Is he okay?! Is he hurt?! Is he…?" she trailed off with tears in her eyes.

He looked at her sadly. "I cannot tell you, Miss Katara. You will have to see for yourself." The orange light started overcoming the blue. She started crying harder. He's not going to make it. The orange light almost completely covered the sky when at the last second, the blue light overcame the orange and sent a big blast of light throughout the world. The light died down and Tàiyáng sighed. "It is done."

Katara looked at him worriedly. "What do you mean? Is he-"

He gave her a pointed look and she stopped. "You will find out soon enough. Now, I must go. I wish you all the best of luck." He turned into a bolt of lightning and zoomed off into the storm above. The storm went away and the skies were clear again, with the comet disappearing behind the horizon.

Katara looked at the place where the lights had come from. "Please be okay, Aang. I need to tell you how sorry I am and how much I love you."

Three hours later…

Katara woke up to the sound of a loud landing. She gasped and ran outside the palace gate to see a warship land. She got her waterskin ready in case it was enemies. If they killed Aang, they will pay. The landing dock let down to reveal… Aang!, she thought giddily. She ran up to him on as quickly as she could. He was still very tired from the fight and did not realize what was happening until Katara tackled him to the ground. She cried and held him close. Not sure where he stood with her, he hugged her back and rubbed circles on her back. She cried until she got it all out. "I'm so happy you're alive."

He laughed. "Yeah, me too." he joked.

She laughed a little and sniffled. She looked at him. "Aang, I-"

"Katara!"

She turned around to see the rest of the Gaang coming from the ship. She smiled widely and ran up to hug Sokka. "You guys made it!"

Sokka grinned proudly. "You bet. The loser lord is finally defeated!" he cheered.

Katara looked behind him to see Suki and Toph dragging his body outside the ship. She turned back to Aang who had gotten up and asked, "Did you, you know?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No, I found another way. I took his bending away."

She looked at him in amazement. "Where did you learn that?"

He shrugged. "Like I told everyone else, a giant Lion-Turtle."

She shook her head and smiled at him. "Only the Avatar would disappear and come back knowing how to take away someone's bending." She looked at him for a second again. "Um, Aang-" but was cut off again.

Zuko came running up to him. "Good job, buddy! You did it without taking his life!"

Aang smiled. "Thanks, Zuko."

Zuko smiled back, but frowned when he remembered all the work that needed to be done. "As much as I'd like to celebrate, there's a lot of work that needs to be done for things to start getting in motion to officially end the war. Since you're the Avatar, you should probably come with me to officiate it."

Aang nodded. "You're right." He turned back to Katara. "We can talk later once everything's settled down, okay?"

She was hesitant. Even if they had won, anyone could die at any moment, but she wanted to tell him alone in a less war-torn place, so she agreed. They went to get started on things and the rest of the Gaang took a well-deserved rest. Over the next few days, Katara kept trying to talk to Aang alone, but she was always turned down due to him having many meetings to attend. Finally after what seemed like forever, Iroh suggested that they all take a break and come visit him in Ba Sing Sei for a little vacation. Katara knew that she had to tell him how she felt while they were there. A few days later, they were at Iroh's tea shop enjoying the bliss of a peaceful world. Iroh was playing his Sungi horn and everyone else was doing different things. Sokka decided to do a painting of the group and received many angry comments for his bad drawings. Katara saw Aang walk out onto the balcony and decided to follow him. It's now or never, she thought. She walked out and blushed as he heard her coming up to him. They smiled at each other, and Katara pulled him into a hug. They smiled as they held each other, thankful that the other was alive and well. They pulled back and looked at the sunset. It was beautiful, but Aang could think of something that was more beautiful. Katara turned towards Aang. He noticed this and turned towards her while they smiled at each other. Katara couldn't hold back any more and leaned in and kissed him. She deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck while his came around her waist. After a few minutes, they pulled apart and smiled at each other. "I love you." they whispered to each other. They kissed again and Aang asked, "So you're not confused anymore?"

She shook her head. "No, and I never was."

He looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"

She laughed at his expression. "I thought I was confused, but really I was just scared. I was scared of losing you when I've already lost you once. That tore me to pieces. I was scared to admit that I could love someone who had a good chance of not coming back. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before you disappeared."

He smiled at her. "It's alright, all that matters is that I know now." He paused. "How did you figure it out?"

She looked out at the setting sun. It seemed to flash a little brighter for a second, and she smiled. "Let's just say… I had a little help." They smiled at each other and kissed each other again.

Sokka came walking out. "Hey, guys- Ah!"

The End.