I wrote this the other day and I wasn't entirely sure about it. I liked the idea, but I wasn't sure of how it sounded. This is my first published one shot, but the second one I've written. The first one's still in the process of being written. So hopefully you like it!

A little background info: Basically, it's a year and a half since the end of the war (as it says) and Katara and Aang are on their way to visit Zuko in the Fire Nation.

Disclaimer: I own many things, including a pig hat. However, I don't own any part of Avatar. This is just something I wrote for fun, so hopefully you guys enjoy it!

Katie Paige OUT!

P.S. I got a lot of inspiration from Lyralocke, may she rest in peace. You were a very talented writer, and definately one of my favorites. Thanks for entertaining me during all my extremely bored times. You will be missed.

Getting What You Deserve

She was sick of it. She was sick of the way people stared everywhere they went. She hated the looks on their faces when they saw them hold hands, or the whispers when the kissed. It was stupid and annoying and no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, she simply couldn't. Katara was angry.

"Aang," she said one afternoon as they walked through the Fire Nation town they were staying at. Their hands were intertwined, and Aang looked happy as a clam, an expression Katara had never understood, yet used anyway.

"Mmm?" he hummed in question, looking down at her. He'd grown a good 5 inches taller than her in the past year and a half, and he loved being able to look down at her. It made him feel like a proper couple, not just a childhood fling.

"Why do people hate us?" Katara was looking at a man in a stall who was muttering behind his hand to another man, who simply stared at them.

"Hate us? Why would anyone hate us?" The airbender was completely confused.

Katara sighed heavily. "Haven't you noticed the way people react when they see us? The way the stare and whisper? It's obvious they hate us. I just don't know why."

"Katara, that's ridiculous. I don't know why they'd ever hate us. We saved their butts, remember?"

"Yeah, I guess," she said, not entirely convinced.

They walked in silence a ways, enjoying the sunshine and ignoring the mutters and glances.

"It's me, isn't it?" Katara said, suddenly.

Aang stopped in his tracks. "What?" he nearly screamed, completely dumbfounded. "Katara- What- Why would you- I- Of course not!" he finally finished, breathlessly, mouth agape.

"Everyone's just disappointed that the Avatar chose me, instead of some princess or something." She was looking at her shoes, her voice full of absolute dejection.

"Katara," Aang said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face him. "That is completely ridiculous. No one thinks that, and if they did, you know I wouldn't care. Understand?"

"Sure, sure," the waterbender mumbled distantly, still looking at her shoes.

"You know what?" Aang said, decisively, dropping his hands from her shoulders and looking back the way they came. "That's it."

With that, he marched off down the street, in search of the whispering man's booth. Katara stared in horror as he finally spotted it and approached the man. "Uh, hello there," he said pleasantly, giving the man a little wave. "My name is-"

"The Avatar!" the man yelped, completely star struck. "Please, help yourself to anything! Anything at all!" He motioned to his stall, full of various vases and pots.

"Oh, uh, thanks, but I'm actually here to talk to you." I swear, Katara thought, biting her lip. One more word and the man may just wet himself. "You see, that's my girlfriend, Katara, over there." Katara gave a little embarrassed wave at the man.

"L-L-Lady Katara." The man's entire body shook, including his voice, as he spoke.

"Yup, that's her!" Aang confirmed, a huge grin glued on his face as he saw my embarrassment. "Anyhow, we saw you whispering to your friend earlier when we passed by, and we just wondered what you guys were talking about."

The man looked mortified, obviously not expecting this at all. "We, uh, it was just..." He was clearly completely at a loss for what to say. The man let out a large breath and muttered ashamedly, "We simply stated that Lady Katara is a beautiful young lady. And..." The man was bright red, examining his shoes as Katara had just done.

"And...?" Aang prompted. There was a great amount of eagerness in his voice.

"And... The two of you..." The man didn't seem to want to finish.

"Excuse me, ..." Aang trailed off, obviously waiting for the man's name.

"Sheng," the man supplied.

"Right. Sheng, don't be ashamed of what you said. We'll just think you said something much worse than you actually did..." That kid is an evil genius, Katara thought, smiling.

Uncomfortably, the man named Sheng shifted his weight from foot to foot.
It was clear he was weighing his options. "We were just saying how... how strange it was... that she would... fall in love with the Avatar." The last six words were hurried and barely audible. The man was now a rather nice shade of magenta. "My apologies, Avatar Aang. It was foolish and rude. You two are a beautiful couple. I wish no dishonor." A flood of apologies and compliments cascaded from Poku's mouth.

Aang held up a hand to silence him, a kind smile on his face. "Thank you, Sheng. You are a brave man for your honesty. No apologies needed." With that, Aang drew a pouch of gold from his pocket and handed the entire thing to Sheng.

"I can't take this-" the man started, shaking his head.

"Please, I insist." Sheng looked at the kind face of the tattooed boy and gave him a weak smile.

"Thank you, Avatar Aang. May you have a long, content life," he said, taking the bag of gold. "And may you and Lady Katara be forever happy," he added, quickly.

Thanking him, Aang turned back to see Katara biting her lip. He smiled at her, and she returned it, looking uncomfortable.

"What was that?" she hissed, hitting his arm playfully when they were face to face again. "The poor man nearly had a heart attack!"

Aang smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, you wanted to know what the whispering was... So I found out." He shrugged. Katara sighed and looked him in the eyes.

"So..." she said in a conversational tone. "Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"Definitely," he assured me, not pausing to think. "Just about every word."

"How do you know?"

"Oh, let's just say I picked up a few tricks from Toph..." he said mischievously, looking away from her.

"You're kidding!" Katara exclaimed, eyes wide. "You mean...?"

"His heart was thundering the entire time, so I almost couldn't tell, but I just barely made out the difference between when someone is just nervous, and they're lying."

"You're so bad," the waterbender said, smirking as she hit his arm again. "So... he honestly thinks you don't... you know... deserve me?" She smiled a little sheepishly, pleased.

Aang frowned. "I guess so," he answered, shrugging. "But you know, I can't say I don't agree with him."

"You think you don't deserve me?" Katara asked, raising her eyebrows.

Smiling, Aang told his love, "Oh, I know I don't."

Katara smiled really wide and looked up into the slate-colored eyes of the Avatar. "Well, I accepted the fact that I couldn't possibly deserve you the first day we met."

"Oh, sure," he scoffed, rolling his eyes. His hand snuck around her waist and came to rest comfortably there. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I did!" the girl persisted as they started walking through the market again. "It was one of my first thoughts when we found you in the iceberg. Right after, 'Hey! It's the Avatar!' and 'Is he okay?'"

Aang laughed, and Katara joined in. People in the marketplace were still looking at them, but the two had eyes for no one but each other. And off they walked, through the market in the dying sunlight. Reds and oranges and yellows danced across the stone path in front of them. Soon, daylight would be gone, and with it, any further talk of unworthiness. They'd both just established that neither thought they deserved the other. Of course, this just meant that they most definitely did.