A/N: So sorry for the wait! I did a more light hearted chapter this time around so I hope that makes up for it. God bless!

After Aang left the presence of the elders, he began to search the village for his fuming companion. Though he knew she would not be happy with his decision to allow Sokka to tag along on their journey, he also knew the longer he let her stew in her anger, the worse it would be for all of them.

It wasn't until he had ventured to the outskirts of the village that he found the airbender, wild curls blowing in the wind and eyes narrowed at the wide expanse of tundra in front of her. The Avatar hesitated a moment, questioning whether he had made the correct decision to seek her out instead of letting her fizzle on her own. In the end, he decided words were not how he was going to approach the situation.

Katara was brought back to reality by a cold object hitting her squarely between the shoulders, the liquid seeping into the fabric of her coat and chilling her bones. Knowing exactly what Aang was trying to do, she crossed her arms over her chest, blowing hot air out of her nose and stiffening her stance.

"Knock it off."

Another snowball hit, this one right on the back of her head.

"Aang," The boy threw his hands up the moment she whirled around, feigning innocence, "You hit me one more time and I will –"

"What?" The boy asked cheekily, "Fight back?"

"Just leave me alone," The airbender turned away from him once again, her light gaze following the icy horizon that lay in front of them.

"Katara," His footsteps were muffled by the snow as he traveled closer to her, a hand reaching out to grab her shoulder in comfort, "I know this isn't what you wanted. But they do have a point, we have no idea how to get to the Northern Tribe from here."

"We just fly north."

Aang chuckled at his companion's dry answer, "I don't think that would necessarily work without a map."

"We can use the stars. You once told me you knew lots about them."

"But the North Pole is a large body of land, Katara," Twisting her around to face him, he placed both hands on her shoulders despite her groans of protest, "Just because we fly north doesn't mean we'd find a city."

"He's annoying."

"I know," The Avatar smiled, remembering the unwanted wake up call from the morning, "But he is skilled at navigation and he's the one with the boat. I doubt the elders would give us a guide who was inadequate. An extra pair of arms are also extremely welcomed.

"I can protect you just fine," His companion's mumbled response had him smiling even wider than before, his thumbs dusting over her collarbones with friendly affection, "We don't need anyone else."

"I know you can," Aang assured her, the smile still resting on his features, "But don't you think our odds would be better against an entire nation with one more person on our side?"

Katara glared at him momentarily before huffing in annoyance.

"Ok," She gave in, shrugging out of his hold and taking a few steps back, "He can come. I'm not happy about it, but I don't have a boat."

The Avatar chuckled, grabbing for her once again and pulling her towards him in a hug. The airbender reluctantly fell against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist despite her frustration with the situation. She had given in easier than either of them had expected.

"It'll be alright," Aang murmured into her hair, "Anyway, who would be on look out while I help you with your airbending if it was just you and me?"

Katara's eyes widened, her head jerking back from his chest to look up at his smiling face, "You're going to teach me?"

"Well you haven't mastered it yet, have you?"

The girl rolled her eyes, "I don't have arrows, do I?"

"Then I'm going to help you master it."

Though the thought of having Aang as a teacher excited her, Katara hesitated a moment. She had never been the best student, her ability to cure coming naturally but her bending being the exact opposite. Most of the nuns she had been taught by gave up on her, telling her that she was better off learning medicinal practices rather than perfecting her airbending. Would Aang do the same?

"Katara," She looked up as the sound of her name rolled off his lips, "I promise to be patient with you. I know you've had trouble in the past."

"Promise?"

"Avatar promise."

"Okay," She agreed after a moment, though still a part of her was apprehensive about allowing him to train her, "I guess we could give it a try."

"Good," She could tell he was excited by the prospect, his silver eyes lighting up at her answer, "It will give us some time away from – "

"Don't say his name."

"Alrighty then."

"But it doesn't really matter now," Letting go of her companion, Katara began to walk in the direction away from the village, Aang dutifully following beside her, "I can't get my tattoos."

"Who said that?"

"Uh, Aang?" Her brows rose, "You do realize there's no one around to give them to me, right?"

"Why can't I do them?"

That stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait," Aang paused beside her, "You were taught how to give tattoos?"

The Avatar chuckled, his head nodding and showing off the pale blue arrow on the top of his head, "I was taught right after I got my own. I would just have to get the needles and ink."

"I don't like the idea of you with sharp objects."

"Well," He shrugged his shoulders, continuing to walk forward, "I'm your only option."

"I guess it could be worse," She relented, matching his pace and knocking her shoulder against his covered bicep, "I could have no options."

Aang gave her a small smile, his eyes focused on the distance in front of them.

"So, are you going to take me penguin sledding?"

"Huh?" Katara gazed up at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well you did ask me if I wanted to go penguin sledding."

That's when he remembered it, their mumbled words before bed. He had nearly forgotten the activity that Gyatso had once told him was second only to flying.

"Come on!" He grabbed her hand, pulling them off towards the right, the girl giggling at his newfound enthusiasm.

After looking for nearly an hour, the two airbenders were able to find a group of otter penguins huddled tightly together in the snow.

"What now?" Katara asked, her arms reaching out to grab one of the animals in her hold. The otter penguin saw her from the corner of his eye though and quickly waddled away, causing her to fall face first into the snow.

Chuckling, Aang tried to grab for one as well, "I don't know, Gyatso never told me how to catch them."

His hands outstretched, the Avatar grabbed for a rather large otter penguin. He was successful in grasping the tail, but the animal was stronger than he appeared and he was able to pull Aang chest first into the icy slush, dragging him for a few feet before the boy gave up and let go of its body.

"Well, this could be a problem," Katara airbended herself to her feet, swiping at the flakes that stuck to her coat. Aang did the same as well.

"No, we'll figure something out."

A few minutes later, it was decided they would act as a team rather than individuals. Together they finally were able to grab hold of one of the slippery animals, both hopping on quickly and pushing themselves down the hill.

Though Katara had never truly enjoyed flying, she couldn't deny the enjoyment she got out of sledding. The rush they experienced was like no other. The biting chill of the wind nipped at their cheeks, their skin turning rosy as they continued down the slope. The wind became so much, Katara found herself burying her face in the back of Aang's coat at times, her eyes watering to the point where it made it hard to see. The entire way down, their laughter remained a constant. Both forgot about everything that had happened in the past weeks and allowed themselves to finally feel free.

Freedom was short lived though.

As they neared the bottom, the otter penguin launched off of a particularly large mound of snow, both airbenders being tossed roughly in the air as the penguin continued its descent. Thinking quick on their feet, both used airbending to mask their fall but ended up tumbling anyway.

With the world spinning, Aang lay on his back staring up at the clouds trying to figure out which way was up and which way was down. He was still trying to regain his senses when a light weight fell on his chest.

"Oh!" Katara and Aang lay nose-to-nose, both spinning still from their small tumble down the hill. With their chests so close together, they could feel each labored breath the other took. Silver eyes wide, the girl quickly pushed off of him and fell back into the snow, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," He answered honestly, sitting up with his head in his hands, "At least you didn't land on your back."

"Are you hurt?"

"Only my pride," Katara rolled her eyes at his answer, making the boy chuckle deeply, "I think I'll manage though."

"I'm surprised Monk Gyatso was able to do that," The girl spoke disbelievingly, shaking her head as she eyed the otter penguin waddling away at the bottom of the hill, "We weren't even able to stay on."

Aang smiled at the memory of his teacher, "Gyatso was definitely one of a kind."

Katara nodded, remembering her companion's old mentor fondly, "It's unfortunate with everything that happened, he wasn't able to fight those firebenders off."

The Avatar's face hardened at her words, "If only I could have been prepared."

"Well," Katara stood, wiping the snow off of herself and extending a hand out for Aang to take, "You will be now."

The boy nodded, but she could see that he was still thinking of the events that had passed. Both cold and numb, they began their walk up the hill.

"I never got to ask you," The Avatar spoke, glancing over at the female airbender and changing the subject, "How do you feel being here? It's not making you feel weird, is it?"

She remembered their conversation from a few days before, her doubts and fears regarding the Southern Water Tribe being brought forth while they were on the back of Appa. Glancing down at her boots, Katara heaved a sigh.

"I don't know," She answered honestly, "Being around these people is different from what I'm used to. I thought things were going to remind me of the father my mother used to tell me about, but so far, I don't think my brain has even made the connection with this tribe. Right now, they're complete strangers."

Aang nodded gratefully, "I'm glad. I had worried you were hiding your feelings from me."

"I don't want to be an emotional burden."

"Hey," He stopped the airbender, resting a hand on her shoulder and turning her towards him, "Remember what I said? It's okay. We've both been through a lot, but we're going to get through it together."

With their penguin sledding adventure still fresh in her mind, the sounds of their laughter mingling and their flushed faces being so close together, Katara couldn't deny that maybe in time, they would be able to heal a few of their wounds. It had only been a few weeks since the comet and already they had found the strength to laugh again, to carry on with their lives.

"Should we head back to the village?"

Katara nodded, "I probably need to apologize to the elders for acting so rudely this morning."

"They really were just looking out for us," Aang ran a hand over his head, tiny pin pricks nipping at his palm, "I should probably shave."

"Uh uh," Katara gave him a sideways glance, a wry smile on her features, "Remember what we talked about last night? You're growing your hair out."

Aang groaned, "I don't like covering my arrows."

"I don't like to fly," The girl commented, bumping against his shoulder, "But I just did."

"That's called falling, Katara."

"This coming from the boy who laughs at gravity?"

Aang laughed, "Okay, I won't shave."

"Good," Katara smiled up at him, light eyes shining in the evening sunlight, "Because I wasn't going to let you anyways."