Aang didn't want to wake up.

Not the dying kind, he'd had enough of that. It was mainly because of Katara's promise to talk things through today. Aang ignored the growing light streaming in his tent and dragged an arm over his eyes. He was still wearing his robes from the night before. When he breathed in deep and slow, he became instantly awake, conscious of who he was scenting.

He wasn't supposed to visit her again. He had just checked up on Toph before he decided to confront Katara. Things just escalated so quickly that he needed to get away from everything. Aang knew he could simply fly away on Appa or his put his glider to use and follow wherever the winds want can take him—but he knew that when he did just that, whatever he and Katara have will be irrevocably destroyed. It's not that he wanted to leave her intentionally, he could never do that to her. It's just in his nature to wander, to roam the land and the sky. Whenever he's feeling particularly overwhelmed or beaten, he just wished he could embrace his nomadic roots and just be… free. Not of Katara, definitely not that. But of all that has happened recently.

So, he thought, all alone that night, of two things: what he wanted to do and where he wanted to go, a place near enough where it won't seem like he's running away.

That's when he felt her move and got his answer.

Toph eavesdropping to probably the worst fight he and Katara had since they were twelve wasn't the biggest issue he needed to address when he saw her alive and well. It was the staggering relief when he saw that his best friend—and constant pain in the ass—is still the same annoying earthbender who taught him to face things head on.

And right now, that's what Aang needed to do. He may have damned the world once, but he could never, won't ever, damn what he and Katara have. Even though all he wanted to do right now was to recap everything that happened last night with Toph and understand what the hell just happened between them.

Aang paused at that line of thought. "Between us? Monkey feathers, that's just crazy!" he whispered harshly to himself.

With a huff, he sat upright taking his shirt off of him in one, fluid motion. He quickly searched for a clean set of clothes and meditated for a few moments. Heck, if he had some time he would've reached out to Roku for some cryptic advice about what to do with his situation right now. But disturbing the past Avatar spirit about love problems might just be pushing it too far.

Plus, it's him and Katara. At the end of the day, their love will work it out as it always does and always will.

Aang found her by the riverbank near their camp. She was practicing her octopus form—the tips sharp and hardened by ice—with her back turned to him. With a series of graceful punches, she kept stabbing at an invisible enemy, its heart as the target.

Aang sucked in a breath. She's so good with it now—waterbending. Better than good actually. She was breathtaking. He remembered that petty fight years ago when she got pissed because he was doing too well in waterbending for the first time. He didn't get why she got so bitter about it at first, especially since it was her own raw power, that mighty force, that unearthed him beneath the sea. She was strong then and she didn't know it. Looking at her now, at how far she'd come, he can't help but admire her strength. A master in her own right and he was so proud of her.

Katara flared her hands and her form instantly straightened out looking like a very, very, sharp circle of spikes. She turned her hand and they spun around her like a wheel—fast and deadly.

"Kind of dangerous using that on someone don't you think?" he started nervously.

She froze halfway, slowly letting her form dissolve into water once more. She turned her head a fraction, keeping her reaction well-hidden from him. "We have a lot of enemies. We need to be ready when they strike again." Cold. Her voice still sounded so cold.

There was quite a distance between them and a tension so thick he could feel it in the air. He gulped and walked towards her slowly. "But using that technique… you could hurt somebody. More than hurt actually." She looked so detached and so lost in her deadly dance that it reminded him of when she set out with Zuko to avenge her mother. Katara's not a killer, but Aang knew that her rage ran deep when provoked.

"You would know a lot about that don't you."

Aang furrowed his brows in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She looked down and was bending the splattered water on her feat. "Hurting people. Fighting. Always fighting."

"If I didn't know any better it seems that you're accusing me of something I never wanted to do, Katara." To say that he was hurt was an understatement to what he was feeling at that moment.

Knowing him as well as she did, how can she say that to him, out of all people?

Katara finally turned to fully face him. She has dark smudges under her eyes like she didn't get to sleep all night. Her eyes were a bit red too.

Instinct threatens to take over. To embrace her, to hold her… Spirits, he misses her so much. His arms twitched against his sides but he controlled himself. If Katara walked away again, he's not sure he could take it anymore. For now, at least, he wouldn't force his need to understand if that would keep her where she stands.

"Katara, I-I know it's been difficult between us lately. But please, let me know what I can do to make things right. What do you want me to do?" He was always weak when it came to Katara. Even now, five years later, that boyish affection and devotion he had towards her is still as strong as ever. Now that they were together, keeping their relationship is nearly as important as his duty to maintain balance in the world.

Katara looked him straight in the eye and stood a little bit straighter. She would've looked fearless if it weren't for the slight shaking of her lips. With no hesitation however, she said "I think we should… cool it off for a while."

Aang blinked. Again, and again. Their surroundings were suddenly so quiet. The waters undisturbed, the air around them was suffocating, and the heat of the sun felt like a burn. In his mind, he was standing on the edge of a steep cliff staring down at the dark abyss. It was echoing those simple words until it was the only thought in his head. Aang may be over a hundred years late in this generation, but he knew that "cooling it off" is just another way to say it's over.

"You're breaking up with me?" It was such a ridiculous thing to say. Never, not in their five years together, did he imagine that he and Katara will reach this point. As childish and naive as it sounds, Aang always believed that it would be Katara beside him forever, until the day he died even.

Baby, you're my forever girl.

He may have said that during a hallucination but it was true. Even before then, before he became a full-fledged Avatar and was just a runaway airbender saved by two Southern Water Tribe siblings, he felt a bond snapping into place when he first set his sights on Katara. Like a tether finally finding its other end. He gripped it tight every day, never wanting to let go.

So why did she?

"No, Aang. I've been thinking about it for a while and-"

What? "For a while? How long? When were you planning to tell me? And what do you mean no? It's basically the same thing, Katara!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did Katara prepare for this moment? Was she expecting it to happen?

"Calm down, Aang, please let me explain." There it is. That wariness.

"Is this because of what happened in Ba Sing Se? Was it something I did before that?" He was shouting. Aang could literally feel the onslaught of pain running down his body. It's as if that invisible enemy she was fighting was him all along and he's just now feeling the stabbing, agonizing pain. The dark abyss in his mind was creeping closer now, tempting him to jump and let go.

Is this what true heartbreak feels like?

"Aang, it's complicated." She sounded so calm. Did she practice saying this to him last night? Were her tears already spent?

"Really? That's all you have to say?" Aang laughed bitterly. He paced around the river bank clearing, needing to move. Katara was just staring at him like he should've understood everything by now. What is she thinking? What didn't he understand?

"Give me something, Katara!" he shouted desperately.

Katara's eyes were glistening with unshed tears when she said, "I need some time away. Away from the fighting. From all of this."

"Even from me?"

Katara came closer and took his right hand in hers. She gently brushed her thumb on the back of his hand and the tenderness of it all hurt so much. He didn't realize he was crying until she lifted her other hand and wiped his tears away.

Aang's losing it, but he needed to say the impossible words before he caves in. "You don't love me anymore?"

He didn't realize he was shaking all over until she stepped closer and held his held his face in her hands. He loved it when she did this, only now, he would forever remember the gesture as a painful memory of what's happening here right now. He would remember his heart being broken, being hurt beyond measure, and the cascade of tears streaming down her face.

"I love you, Aang. I still do," he tried stepping back but she held on. He kept averting his gaze, looking everywhere except those beautiful, blue eyes.

"Aang, listen." No, no, no. He didn't want to hear it. What more can she say? What more can she do? She stubbornly forced his eyes on her and when he did, he couldn't help but let out a small whimper. Spirits, she's so beautiful.

"What happened in Ba Sing Se, it got me thinking. Is this all we're going to do for the rest of our lives? Will there never be peace for us?"

Ah. "You're leaving me." Just say it.

Katara released his face and went for his hands again. She didn't reply to what he said nor did she deny it. They both just stared at their joined hands, mixed tears splattering down the ground.

She sucked in a breath and said, "I've accepted the offer to become the official Water Tribe ambassador for the Fire Nation. I'll be leaving at dawn to help Zuko broker an important deal with the Southern Water Tribe."

Aang slowly lifted his head to stare at her with wide, incredulous eyes. Before he knew it, he jumped down the abyss. He's free falling fast and hard and there was no end, no bottom to absorb the impact. Aang pulled back his hands and slowly backed a step. Then another, and another, until he could no longer smell her, until she was far enough to touch, and kiss, and to do things he would rather be doing than breaking up. She let him go.

Aang stared up at the sky and saw thunderclouds gathering on the horizon. The abyss is eating him up and he let it. "Whatever I say won't make you stay, right? You've made up your mind." And when she did, she would never take it back or be sorry for it.

"I know I should've said something earlier, but I didn't know how, Aang. But it's something I have to do. As selfish as it sounds, I need to know for myself if this is the life I want." She said with a strong resolve.

Rain started drizzling down. Aang didn't reply until it was a downpour, both of them drenched and unmoving. Even though she had broken his heart and maybe his soul, he could never deny her what she wanted. Even if it involved leaving him for the sake of herself.

"You're the one I want, Katara. More than anything else." Aang turned around and dragged his feet towards the forest.

"Go, Katara. Do what you have to do." He couldn't hear what he said over the heavy rainfall. Too lost in his grief, Aang left her under the brutal assault of the rain.

Aang didn't know where he was nor did he care. The sun had long set when he woke up. He was lying down on a field near the edge of a cliff. Days might have passed, but one thing's for sure: Katara's long gone.

There was no last kiss or even a last embrace. He just up and left her in the rain like a coward.

Aang sat up on his knees and stared at the vast ocean beyond. The cool sea breeze whipped through him and ruffled his robes. There's still so much to see in the world, and for the longest time, he dreamed to explore it with Katara. It was all he ever wanted for himself as Aang and not as the Avatar. Being a monk, it's not in his nature to desire such things, he was taught not to.

But he desired Katara in every way. Accepting his destiny as the Avatar became easier knowing that he had the power to protect the one thing he desired the most—a future with her.

The cliff beyond him morphed into the dark cliff in his mind. The ocean became an endless darkness and he couldn't see the stars above. He remembered free falling and realized he never found the bottom. Aang stood up and neared the precarious edge of the cliff, peered down, and saw the jagged rocks below. Sitting on a flat slab of rock was a woman with blue eyes staring softly at him.

"You came back." Aang cried out. He instantly moved forward and collided face-first onto a rock.

He fell on his back and grunted in pain. Blinking out of the daze, he saw the night sky and the stars once more. The darkness cleared out and he was once again back on the field. Aang stared at the erected earth in front of him and bent it back down, scrambling to get to the edge of the cliff.

Rock handles sprang out beneath his feet and seized his ankles. With a growl, he bent it away again and nearly gripped the edge when he felt cold metal wrap around his ankles and slowly dragged him away.

"LET ME GO!" Aang roared. He tried crawling but soon found a small body tackling him down on his back.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Katara's still down there he must—

"What the hell are you doing, you bald idiot! Stop fighting me!" the stranger said in an all-too-familiar voice.

She flipped him over and had both of his arms and ankles pinned down by some sort of metal restraints. He fought it back and squirmed fiercely, but she melded the metal into the earth, effectively confining him. She straddled him and pulled back a fist to punch a patch of earth near his head. The impact sent tremors around the field and finally made him pause in his struggle.

"Stop moving or the next one goes straight between your eyes, Twinkle Toes." Toph?

Aang shook his head and pleaded, "You don't understand! Katara's there at the bottom of the cliff! I saw her! We have to—"

"Katara's gone, Aang! She left yesterday!" She shouted back with the same ferocity.

Aang growled. "How would you know? Maybe she came back! Please, Toph, let me go!"

Toph didn't back down. "She's won't because she's not coming back for a while."

"HOW WOULD YOU KNOW!" Just after he said that last word a loud slap ringed throughout the field. It echoed through the night and on his stinging cheek. Aang blinked away the shock and stared at Toph with unbelieving eyes. Her clothes were a bit dirty and most of her hair was out of its usual bun. Her disgruntled look made him worry and it cleared his mind a bit to focus on what's going on.

She gripped the collar of his robes and yanked him forward. "Are you with me, Twinkle Toes? Because if not, I really am gonna have fun trying to knock some sense back into you, and frankly I'm not in the mood to hold them back." Toph threatened menacingly.

For a long while, the crashing waves below were the only sound around the area. Aang didn't know what to say and his body just sagged under Toph's firm grip. He didn't want to know what happened when Katara left, what she said to the group. But he must, if only to remember that she was here all along.

"What did she say to you?" Aang rasped.

Toph studied him for a long moment. She clicked her tongue and let him go. She pushed herself off of him and sat near his side, bracing her arms behind her like she did a lifetime ago in her tent.

"Not much, just that she's going to Zuko's to find herself or something like that." Toph casually said.

Lying there on the hard, unforgiving earth and getting slapped on the face must have numbed him completely because he replied with ease, "What about breaking up with me, did she say anything about that?"

Toph snorted and Aang whipped his head to her. "You really find this stupid, huh? How typical of you, Toph."

"Hey, don't throw your anger at me, meathead. I wasn't the one who left you here on, technically, dirt." She avoided Aang's enraged gaze and stared up the direction of the night sky. How dare she make fun of him? Seriously, what did he expect from––

"I was out looking for you since yesterday, you know. Hence, the dirty, smelly earthbender." She wrinkled her nose at that. "I wasn't able to ask Katara about that stuff because the moment she said what she's gonna do I instantly realized you might just do something very stupid and I was right." Faster than an eel hound, she punched his shoulder with such great force his arm shook.

"Stop with the punching, Toph!"

"And why would I do that?" She punched him again and he felt his unstable hold on his Avatar state flare to life.

"Cut it out!"

"Don't be such a wimp, Twinkle Toes. Spirits, no wonder Katara-" Toph didn't get to finish her sentence. He knew his eyes were lighting up sporadically, the Avatar state waiting to be released. Aang tried to control it, but those unspoken words have done its damage.

She quickly sprang to her feet and to his sheer surprise, removed his metal bonds and returned to its arm-ring form on her bicep. Aang quickly lifted himself up and curled his lips back with a deep snarl. The next thing he knew, a large boulder was hurled towards his direction and he quickly sliced it in two with hard air. In his panic, he didn't see Toph appear between the fissure as she bent the earth beneath his feet, catapulting him.

Aang steadied himself mid-air and landed a good few feet away. Without thinking he raised his arms and called on the nearby sea to crush the raised earth. The water rose over the expanse of the field and Aang didn't hesitate to bring down the rushing wave. Toph just stood there, a slightly panicked look on her face. He then realized that she didn't know what's coming since the attack is coming from above.

He tried to call back the massive wave, but he couldn't get a hold of himself and his power, not when absolute fear for Toph once again overruled his control. "TOPH! ABOVE YOU!"

The wave came crashing down with unrelenting force and the field was suddenly awash in seawater. Aang bent the sea breeze and propelled himself to the last spot he saw his friend.

The moment he landed on it, the earth quickly sunk beneath his feet and trapped his whole body from the neck down. Just near his head, Toph rose from the ground and simply brushed off visible dirt from her already dirty shirt.

"I gotta say, you're such a show-off. Didn't even notice I went under, geez. Once we're done here, we're back to training your ass off, Twinkle Toes." That infuriating smirk appeared and he realized he got bested by his sifu once again.

"Damn... And here I was thinking I taught you so well already. You really are my worst student. Imagine if people saw my very firststudent neck-deep in muck?" Toph placed a delicate hand on her forehead and fanned her face, "Oh, the disgrace!"

Aang wasn't so sure of what's happening anymore, but sinking down Toph with him in the middle of her fake sermon and seeing her dumbfounded expression was worth the trouble later on. There are now two heads sticking out on the field and to any stranger, it would really be a strange sight.

"Ugh! Couldn't you even think of something else? Seriously, this is beyond disappointing." She kept blowing her bangs away from her face and shouted in anger when they stayed put.

"This doesn't mean you won, okay! We're going to have a rematch after I get us out." Toph continued.

"Why can't I be the one to get us out?"

"Well, can you?"

"Is that a serious question?"

"Why did you answer my question with another question?"

"Well, why did you start punching me in the first place?"

"You're punchable."

"Wow. And Sokka is not punchable?"

"Who says he's not?"

Aang almost cracked on that one, but instead, let out an exasperating breath. He went quiet and tried not to fall into their banter again. Has it always been this easy with Toph? Could he simply set aside this pain for a moment and… move on like he didn't lose the love of his life?

Toph noticed he got quiet again and said, "I don't have any words of wisdom to share with you, and I don't have the right to say that you should–"

"Then don't." Toph ignored his sharp tone and glared at him.

"But, I won't tolerate you doing something stupid like jumping off a cliff. That, my friend, is just plain dumb."

"I told you, I thought I saw…" Aang paused with a gulp. "I thought I saw her down there."

"Say it." Toph's harsh tone made Aang turn his head towards her along with a questioning look.

"Say what?"

"Her name." Aang pursed his lips and suddenly felt smothered by her words and the earth he was trapped in.

"Why do you care?" He couldn't help the bitter tone that escaped his mouth.

"Because she has a damn name and it shouldn't scare you." Toph slammed back.

Easy with Toph? Never. But he remembered her most important lesson that motivated him to go to Katara that morning.

You've got to face it head on.

He did and was met with the loss of a friend, a lover, and a dream. She was all that and more. In those years of loving no one but her, Aang found a purpose beyond his destiny as the Avatar. But what now? What now...

"Katara…" It was barely a whisper but he heard a crude sound of approval from the earthbender. With a sudden jolt, Toph broke free and jumped up like it's the easiest thing to do in the world. She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped an impatient foot.

"Are you going to stay there all day or what? It's embarrassing."

Aang knew his life's about to get a whole lot worse. Without Katara, he was lost. For how long? He didn't know. But for now, in the comfort of the secluded field, the ocean beyond, and a star-flecked sky, he wouldn't give Toph the satisfaction of beating him again. He would focus on wiping that arrogant smirk off her face. Just for now, he would let himself feel.

A/N: I think every chapter will have that specific song to give it more meaning. For chapter 3, it's Tangled Up by Parade of Lights which is just phenomenal. Huuuge thanks to those who followed and added this story in their favorites, please stay with me until the end! To the readers, thank you for keeping the Taang spark alive!

Will be updating this story once or twice a month! *crosses fingers*