***So here it is, my first fan fiction. I absolutely in love with the TV series! So here's my "mature" take on what happens after the TV show has ended. I hope you enjoy it. I will upload chapters as much as I can so be patient.***

It had been over 6 months now since he left. The war was finally over and the world was beginning to see peace. Zuko was crowned Firelord of the Fire Nation and Aang was known to all as the savior of the world. The two of them had left just a few months after the war had ended to make their appearances around the other countries and spread the peace. Katara had stayed behind with Sokka and their father, along with other friends, to keep rebels in check and to fix and rebuild the Western Air Temple. Katara never had the chance to share with Aang her feelings, and she wasn't sure how to. Just a little while after Zuko's coronation, the group flew to Ba Sing Se to follow up on the events that were happening there, and to celebrate with Iroh when he got his tea shop back. Katara surprised not just Aang but herself as well when she took the initiative and kissed Aang. No words were spoken; they just held each other until they were interrupted by Toph, who later informed Aang and Katara that she was doing them a favor by stopping them so that Sokka didn't see them first. And that night, Zuko announced the pending departure of him and Aang to go around to the other nations. Katara was assured that it wouldn't be more than a month or so, but it had been more than 6 months now. Katara was battling with her feelings and didn't know how to collect her feelings and lay them out when she finally saw Aang again, whenever that would be. She thought a lot about what had happened over the past couple of years since she met him and she was overwhelmed with different kinds of feelings as she reminisced. She thought back to the time when she had first met him, how she had this feeling of bonding with him right away. Even so shortly after they met, when he was being taken away by Zuko from her village, she felt emptiness, like part of her was taken from her. She also thought back to the time when they were in the Cave of Two Lovers. She felt something spark between them that was perhaps more than friendship, but along with it came doubt. Aang didn't react to her suggestion of kissing in a way that was appealing, so she thought he didn't have those sort of feelings for her. And then there was the time she almost lost him for good. She shuddered at the memory of Aang fighting Azula at Ba Sing Se. She didn't like to think on that part so much…

Then the memory of Aang kissing her on the day of black sun... Confusion was her first feeling, right after the skipping of her heart beat. Even now, her feelings were in a complete mess and she wasn't sure what to do. Whenever she thought she would try to sort them out, she would just get distracted simply by the memory of their kiss in Ba Sing Se right after the end of the war. She felt butterflies in her stomach each time and a tingling though out her body.

Katara was actually in the middle of one of those lost in thought moments when she was startled by Sokka.

"Katara! What are you doing out here?" Sokka asked his sister, who was leaning over the rail of the balcony outside her room. "Didn't you hear us calling you?"

"Ah, sorry Sokka, guess I didn't" Katara looked up at him like there wasn't a single thing bothering her. "
So, what's up?"

"Zuko's ships were spotted up at the northern lookout. They'll be here in just a couple of hours!" Sokka explained excitedly "We're gonna go down and meet them at the dock. Get ready cause we're leaving in just a few minutes."

Katara just stared at him slightly wide eyes. It took her a moment to register what he had just said.

Aang was back. Since Katara had met Aang, she hadn't spent more than a couple of days without him. Once was when he met with the Guru and the other was during the battle that ended the war. It had been 6 months since she saw him and he was only a couple of hours away. Her excitement was unbearable. She was about to express that excitement, but then she suddenly felt fear and she backed away. She hadn't prepared herself for this yet. She was still confused about her mixed feelings. She wanted to see him so bad, but what would she say to him?

"No, I think I'll stay here. I'm not feeling too well"

Sokka looked at her strangely. "Uh…. Ok…" He rolled his eyes "Whatever you say, I thought for sure you would miss him or something"

"I do, I'm just not feeling well, ok?" Katara replied with frustration"

"Ok ok! Sheesh. Well I hope you feel better soon, we're having a celebration feast tonight!" Sokka said with a huge grin on his face.

After Sokka left, Katara sighed and looked back out at the garden below from her balcony. Why am I so afraid to see him all of a sudden after I've so badly wanted to see him over the past 6 months, she wondered. She suddenly felt anxious again. Didn't matter whether or not she was ready to see him, because she was going to see him soon either way. But everyone else would be there too, so it would be easier for her to act natural.

Aang was so excited that he couldn't sit still. At one point, he grabbed his glider and was about to fly off, but Zuko stopped him.

"Aang, don't worry, we will be there soon. You'll get to see Katara soon enough" Zuko said as he took Aang's glider from him.

"Yeah I know, I'm just so excited! I can't wait to see her… err um I mean them."

Zuko laughed at him "Yeah yeah, I know you're only excited about seeing Katara." Aang blushed in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head while giving his Fire Lord friend a goofy smile.

It seemed like it took an eternity for the ship to finally get to the dock and Aang was at the front of the line to get off. As he and Zuko made their way off the ship, Aang spotted his friends flailing their arms around to get his attention and he smiled. But his smile slowly went away when he noticed Katara wasn't with them.

"Aang buddy! I've missed you!" Sokka shouted as he threw his arms around the Avatar.

"Sokka!" Aang hugged back, but he pulled away almost instantly. "Where's Katara?"

"Nice to see you too Twinkle Toes!" Toph said sarcastically"

"Oh sorry, Toph. I just noticed that she wasn't here and I… well, wanted everyone to be here…"

Sokka snorted "She said she wasn't feeling well or something so she didn't want to come."

Aang suddenly felt his stomach knot up. What was wrong with Katara? His first thought wasn't that she was physically sick or not feeling well, but that she didn't want to see him for some reason. He had to be away from her for 6 months and now he could finally see her and she wasn't here.

Aang took his glider out and spread out the wings. "I'll meet you guys back at the palace" And before anyone could say anything or stop him, he took off.

Katara stood there staring blankly out at the garden in the palace's side court yard. She couldn't think, she didn't even bother trying. She just stood there and let the wind flow through her long wavy hair. She wore it down when she wasn't off doing errands or doing repairs at the temple or cities. She was starting to like leaving her hair down. Especially since she noticed that she turned more heads when her hair was down. She wondered if Aang liked her hair better when it was down. And there it was again, the memory of their last kiss. She remembered his hands holding her and sweeping through her hair. The softness of his lips against hers was almost completely lost to her now, it had been 6 months ago since she felt them. Even though she thought of that memory almost every day since it happened, she was beginning to forget the feel of his lips. Her eyes started to water and she closed her eyes. It's the wind blowing in my eyes that's making them water, she told herself.

"Katara!"

Her eyes shot opened to the sound of her name coming from the very voice she missed so much from behind her. She didn't hear him come in. When did she become so spacey, she wondered. But that thought didn't linger in her mind long, she was more focused on gathering her courage to turn around and look at him.

Aang noticed her jump when he said her name "Are you ok? Sokka said you didn't come because you weren't feeling well. So I was… um, a bit worried for you, so… so I flew up here ahead of everyone on my glider to see if you were ok." He lied a little.

"I'm ok actually, just tired from all the work we've been doing" she replied. She finally started to turn and face him and at the same time he was walking up closer to her. She put on her best "I'm perfectly fine" smile and then met his eyes. Her smile vanished and her smiling face was replaced with a shocked one. It wasn't that he looked any different, but it was that she was actually looking up into his gray eyes that she wanted to see for so many months. He now stood just a little taller than her and his muscles seemed to be a bit larger. He was still a bit thin, just more filled out with muscles now, and his face was less round and more defined. But he was still the same Aang that she remembered, the same 13 year old boy… no wait! He was 14 now! And now almost 15, right before she turned 16.

She continued to stare into his eyes just a little longer, and he smiled at her. "Katara, I've missed you so much, you have no idea…"

She blushed and averted her eyes. It took her a moment, but she finally said "Yeah, I do have an idea… cause I really missed you too."

Aang, now only standing just a few inches away from her, reached out and took her hand. She shivered slightly at his touch, as if she expected his fingers to burn her flesh.

"Katara…" He said in a soft voice, "What's wrong? Why are you acting so strange?"

"I don't know" She said. "I'm not sure what it is I'm feeling right now. I'm confused…"

"What!" Aang asked shocked, taking her other hand and now holding both her hands. "You're still confused? Even after everything that happened. Even after… "He paused for a short moment, and his voice soften"… our last kiss?"

"No… I mean, yes… uh, geez I don't know" She squeezed her eyes shut as she fought back tears. "This feels different somehow. Like," She paused for a moment, trying to think. "I'm so overwhelmed and I'm scared."

"Katara, what is it? What are you afraid of?" Aang held her hands tighter, then loosened his grip slightly, afraid he would hurt her hands. "Please, talk to me. Talk it out. Please Katara, I don't want you to push me away again. I don't think I could handle it…again…" He started fighting back his own tears. He brought her hands up higher and leaned them on his chest as he stared down at her. "I don't want to push you away, or scare you away, but Katara… I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you…"

The closer they got, the more she felt like she was shivering. It wasn't that she didn't want to be that close to him, it just made her nervous. She steadied herself. "It's not what you think, Aang. Actually, I don't know what I'd do if I suddenly didn't have you anymore either... Or if I lost you." Her voice was trembling." But… I did lose you." She felt her eyes water more, so she paused for a moment to calm down, then continued. "I did lose you, when you fell in Ba Sing Se from Azula's lightning. You were gone, and I felt like a part of me was torn away. It was such a scary feeling." Her breathing hitched.

"Katara… I'm here now though, because of you." Aang said.

"I know, it was because I was able to save you with the water from the Spirit Oasis. But even then, you still didn't wake up for a couple of weeks. I was so scared the whole time that you weren't ever going to wake up again. I had a constant fear of never seeing your eye open ever again. I stayed by your side constantly. I even slept in your room, just in case you woke up in the middle of the night. I wanted to be there the moment you were awake… But when you woke up, I wasn't there by your side. When I saw you on deck on the ship, I thought I was dreaming. I was so relieved you were ok… But you left. "Katara's voice suddenly got slightly deeper and more depressed. "You were angry and I tried so hard to stay by your side and help you, but you just took off. After all the pain I went through, thinking I lost you, and you suddenly left out of anger out into that dangerous storm."

There was anger in her voice, but at this point, Katara was crying. Aang let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her. He slowly let out a breath he had been holding in. He was on the verge of tears still, but not because he was sad or because he had been rejected (which was what he was afraid of). He couldn't help but feel relieved. So he dared the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Katara, are you in love with me?"

Her crying slowly stopped and she pulled away a little bit, still in his arms and her hands on his chest. She was afraid to look up at him, so she stared at the ground and let her mind go crazy at the realization of Aang's question.

He was no longer the little goofy kid she saved from the iceberg. Through their journey, they both went through so many different things together. Her love for him as a friend became deeper to the point that he was more like family to her. But when he had lost his life, she thought she would lose hers as well from the overpowering sadness of not having Aang with her anymore. Her memories returned her to the view she had of him, staring up at his back turned toward her, after he had fought off a volcano and saved the village where they had met the fortune teller. She remembered looking up at him with a realization then, realizing what it was the fortune teller Aunt Wu had told her, and it was coming back to her now. She couldn't live without him anymore. She looked up at him, her eyes still full of tears, and she saw love and hope in his eyes, pleading for her as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"Yes"