A/N: Inspired by the deviantart piece 'Kataang - After the Dance'. Should I be working on other things? Absolutely... but this wouldn't leave me alone so here we are ;)

A no snitch ending to the headband along with some canon romance! It's been done before, but it always seemed rushed with none of the tension I wanted to see so, here's my take on how things may have led up to that moment after their dance!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of ATLA or it's characters. If I did, this episode would not have ended with just a kiss on the cheek!

He needed to cool off. Fast. That was all he knew after he pulled the girl in his arms back up to her feet and the sudden eruption of clapping and some shouts from the kids around them filled the air. They took a shy bow, his body still tingling with adrenaline, and he couldn't help glancing over at her, immediately finding a pair of crystal blue eyes gazing back at him, face just as tinged as his probably was. He was well aware of the warmth that had overcome his body after their…dance, but he hoped the heat on his cheeks wasn't as noticeable as it felt as he tried to regain control of his breathing and straightened up. She did so in unison with him, ocean blues still locked with his slate grays, and suddenly the need to say something to her seized his lips. 'That was…' What was he going to say? Amazing? Exhilarating?

He opened wider his mouth, having already been parted to ease the intake of oxygen that was desperately needed by his lungs, to say whatever words had pushed their way up his tightened throat, but he didn't have the chance to. To his dismay, the space between them began to grow. In the blink of an eye, he felt a few hands on his shoulders pulling him back as a small group of the fire academy students began crowding around him, each sputtering out their awe and amazement at the scene he and Katara just displayed. He quickly rolled to the balls of his feet to keep sight of her, but the kids just as quickly blocked any semblance he may have had; her dark brown hair only becoming a hazy wisp that disappeared in the crowd.

"Kuzon, that was AMAZING"

"How did you learn to dance like that?"

"I can't believe what I just saw"

"Man, you colony folk sure know how to move!"

He flashed them a brief, but awkward smile, quietly breathing a distracted, "Thanks guys", before moving back up to the balls of his feet in an attempt to peer over their shoulders. It came out as a quick, and slightly annoyed breath, but he tried to be polite at their obvious excitement. They were not the ones he wanted to be talking to right now, his body language trying to convey that simple truth to them, and the girl in question was almost as elusive to find as the air that was slowly being eaten up within the cave. As much as he tried to ignore them, his sensitive hearing managed to pick up on one short exchange by two of the boys a few heads away from him.

"That was intense. Did you see the girl he was dancing with? I'd roast a few hot flakes with her anytime"

"I've never seen her before. Do you think she's with Kuzon?"

"If she isn't then I'm not going to wait until she is. Come one, let's go see if she's still around!"

Immediately his stomach lurched and a scowl contorted his face as he whipped around to them, all thoughts of finding Katara momentarily paused as all he wanted to do was make very sure that whoever these two boys were, they knew to keep their eyes and whatever else they thought about laying on her to themselves. 'I'll show you where you can roast your hot flakes'

But just as fast as jealousy seared its way through him, his face fell once he locked eyes with them. One nagging thought managed to make itself known over the many things he pondered doing to get the message across as clearly and effectively as possible to the two students, and it stopped him dead in those tracks as he realized there was no message to communicate to them. They were friends. He was ready to tell them off as if Katara was his, that he had some claim on her that no one could refute and their words coming dangerously close to encroaching on that, but… he didn't. Begrudgingly so, heart dropping to his stomach as reality once again slapped him in the face that there was nothing between them and there certainly was no us, he bit his tongue and screwed his eyes shut, opting to look away all together from them than to watch their wide eyes slowly narrow and the two continue in their quest to find the beautiful girl he held in his arms not ten minutes ago. He couldn't say anything. There was nothing he could say except to hope that Katara crushes whatever insignificant chance they think they have at someone like her.

"Wow Kuzon, you are really good at dancing!"

Her voice stuck out to him, enough to bring him out of the downward spiral of his thoughts and feelings, and he blinked his eyes open again to see On-ji smiling back at him, her eyes twinkling with the candlelight around them though he saw a light rosy tint gracing her beaming cheeks. 'It's probably just the light'

"Oh hey On-ji," He allowed his sour feelings from the two boys to slip away as he grinned back at her, though he still stayed vigilant to any sudden movements or the familiar slap of water that would give him all the reason he needed to validate what he originally planned for his daring classmates. Katara was more than capable of taking care of herself, he knew that well and would gladly let her have all the time she needed engraining that into their minds, but there was no way they'd escape without a warning courtesy of the avatar.

Bringing his attention to the girl in front of him, the motion of her hand sweeping her bangs to the side catching his eye and bringing him back to reality, her words came to the forefront of his mind again. "Thanks! I just hope you had fun here tonight—" He motioned around him, breathing a silent breath of relief realizing the students who were crowded around him had given him some more moving room and were now talking more amongst themselves than paying him attention "—the whole point of this dance party was to give everyone a fun break away from school and all the strict rules you homeland kids have to follow"

She looked at him appreciative for a moment, "Well, it worked. It was a blast and I don't think anyone will forget it for a while," but then her smile widened, and a girly giggle escaped her lips as she put a hand over her mouth to make it not so obvious, "but you make it sound like we don't know how to have any fun around here."

He raised an eyebrow at her giggle, but then his eyes went wide and his hands instinctively went up in front of him as he quickly stuttered out a, "N-no, that's not what I meant!"

His defensive reaction only made her laugh and she grabbed his hands into her own, pulling them down as she took a step closer to him. The action surprised him, keeping his eyes wide, but he quickly slipped his hands away when it was clear she wasn't going to first. She looked disappointed at first but managed to retain her former smile. "It's okay, Kuzon! It sounds like the colonies are a lot more relaxed than here and there's nothing wrong with that. I was just going to say that… well…" She trailed off nervously and this perked his curiosity as he unintentionally leaned in closer, her words dying off and he was already finding his attention being pulled elsewhere at the sound of a familiar voice.

"What is it On-ji?" He prompted her in hopes that she would say whatever was sitting on her tongue just a bit faster. He didn't want to be rude, but a quick glance to his right confirmed his suspicion that a few undeserving boys had found his water bending master and he most definitely did not like the way they were so close to her, their eyes loosely holding to her face as she spoke, but taunting him with a glance away now and then. He faintly registered the fire nation girl shift in front of him as she alternated uncomfortably between her feet, her fingers absentmindedly twiddling.

"I…uh… was wondering with that dance you showed us… well… you probably have better things to do… so if not it's okay…but maybe if you want to…"

The rest of her words fell onto his deaf ears once he caught sight of Katara and one of the young men moving back towards the clearing where he had just danced with her, the boy with a prideful look on his face that Aang all too quickly wanted to wipe off as they centered themselves and the band began another upbeat tempo. His body had since cooled off from their heated routine, but the sight of someone else in his spot now only made the warmth return and his hands ball into tight fists, a few pleasant images running through his mind of where he wanted them to be, but a quiet voice brought his gaze forward as he only caught the last bit of her long winded question.

"—so I guess what I'm trying to ask is… would you want to Kuzon?"

He should've asked her to repeat the full question again before speaking, it would've been the sensible thing to do instead of blindly agreeing to whatever it was she uttered, but knowing that someone besides himself had his arms around the small of Katara's waist and the dangerous prospect of where those hands were currently resting was enough to thoroughly through sensibility to the wind and say whatever it took to—politely—get him out of this conversation and over to the dance floor. Trying to keep the glower off his face and voice as he looked at her, he forced a smile. "Uh, sure On-ji. That sounds great—" Had he been paying attention, he would've seen her eyes light up like a freshly lit candle and a grin break across her face with a fierceness that could rival his own, but alas he was already turning in the direction of the water tribe girl and only paused long enough to excuse himself "—I'm sorry, but I really have to go check on something real quick. It was nice talking to you!"

It was hard to say it without it going through gritted teeth by the end, but somehow he managed and without losing any more time, he was quickly squeezing between kids, faintly hearing her call after him about something though the words were inaudible. He almost wished the trepidation that held the students back had returned in that moment because it seemed nearly everyone had forgotten about it and were leaving very little moving room for him to slip by as they stomped their feet and moved their bodies to the predictable beats of the drums and the plucks of the pipas. It came as more than a mild annoyance when he lost sight of the bronze skinned girl he had been watching and was forced to duck under a few arms here and there before catching a familiar sight in front of him.

Meanwhile, Katara was not entirely enjoying herself either. After finishing their bows and witnessing Aang be drowned into a group of red uniforms, she took that as her opportunity to cool off and put more distance between them by heading over to get a drink of water from their makeshift refreshment area. Her head was spinning and she could hardly blame it on all the twists and flips they did during their routine, the way that half-lidded look from him managed to ease her nerves as they encircled one another, the confidence he held in every move he made and every touch that came from the brief contact with him, and that moment they nearly...

With a new found urgency for something to soothe her dry mouth, she grasped the first liquid in view and messily filled up a cup with it, bringing it to her lips as she forcefully closed her eyes. The cool sensation of it helped to ebb the heat that seemed to consume her, but it only lasted momentarily to ease the thoughts that begged for her attention. 'It was just a dance—no, just our normal warm up routine is all, don't make it into anything else'

That's right, it wasn't even a dance, she reminded herself stubbornly as the echo of Aang's whisper resonated in her mind. And it was true, that's what he told her to do and then for anything new to simply mimic him, but... She took another big gulp of the drink in her hand, feeling the heat on her cheeks begin to burn a bit more when she remembered the way their motions quickly deviated from their normal ones and the way she was able to respond to him so easily, like they had done all of that stuff a million times over and neither one would skip a beat. Another scene glared her down as she tried to brush it off as quickly as it came, when he gave her that subtle nod and leaned in, and she leaned in too without a second thought, wordlessly understanding what he wanted her to do yet not even questioning it until their faces were but inches from one another where it would've been so easy to just... Air. Maybe air was what she needed right now, not the drink that was so persistent in evading her mouth that she ended up brushing a trail of it off the corner of her mouth with slight annoyance, setting the cup back onto the hard surface with a bit more force than she would've normally used.

'It's not like we were going to kiss or anything... It's not like I wanted to kiss him' Though that was what she truly wanted to believe, the mention of it still made her pause with her hand still gripped around the cup, eyes widened at the sudden realization that they actually had come so close to kissing each other and that while she would deny that nothing had crossed her mind in that moment except how perfectly they had timed it (the reason she smiled and she figured he did as well), she's wasn't sure if she would've stopped there had no one else been around. With a shake of her head, finally releasing her vice grip and pulling both of her hands up to knock some sense back into her brain, she dismissed the thought. 'He's your friend Katara! Why are you thinking about kissing him? Maybe it was a good moment... and yeah he was so close his nose almost touched mine... and I mean who could resist that freaking adorable grin, I—' She couldn't do this, this was forbidden territory and a rabbit hole she'd only let herself go down once before when he kissed her in the cave of two lovers and the real prospect that maybe, just maybe she hadn't gotten the taste of his lips off hers since that one, and almost got another round of it too if no one else had been there, was too dangerous a path to follow.

At that thought, she visibly started. Clenching her jaw in an effort to steel away the truth that maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he had come a bit closer, she turned on her heel and made way for somewhere, anywhere where she could get fresh air and clear the thoughts that were beginning to play tricks with her heart as its rhythm fluctuated nearly as face as the tempo of the music did. Taking a quick glance around to find the easiest way out of there, her eyes found a particularly familiar patch of rough hair on top of a headband and the few strides she had made in the direction of the cave entrance were immediately halted at the sight of him talking with another girl.

She had to bite her lip seeing the way he smiled at his fire nation friend and ignore the way it made her chest feel tighter, the same constriction she had come to hate whenever they first visited Kyoshi Island and the younger girls couldn't get enough of her best friend, or all the glances and stares she'd seen raking him over whenever they walked around the rings of Ba Sing Se.

'...I really need to get some air...' She refused to even consider the idea that maybe it was because she was... nope. That word wasn't even allowed into her thoughts, she decided, and mustered the strength, surprised just how much it took, to tear her eyes away from that scene and fixate them back to the dark of the night. Her chest was tight because she needed to get a few unadulterated breathes in, that's all. It had nothing to do with Aang and his little friend.

"Well, well, well, looks like we found the real showstopper of the night"

Not so surprisingly her second attempt at a quiet refuge was squandered before she could even take a few more steps, the rather sultry statement nearly assaulting her ears and she had to consciously turn her head to see who it's owner was in fear that she would quite literally snap her neck with the force in which she looked at him. She didn't recognize his voice and certainly not his face once she caught sight of him, but the tone in which he addressed her and the look that he gave her was enough for her to grimace in response.

His gaze was eerily similar to Aang's, half-lidded and with a twinkle of something a bit hotter than the reflection of the hazy warm glow from the candlelight, but unlike the way the air bender's eyes made her feel calm and secure, having the ability to make her lose track of everything around them if she simply allowed herself to get lost in their metallic depths, this unknown boy's brown eyes only made her shoulders tense and left her stomach a bit worse for the wear. She did not like the look in them at all.

He took an unwelcomed step closer to her, somehow taking her silence as an excuse to continue, seeming to be unfazed by the effect his words had on her—probably thinking they had the opposite effect than they actually were having—and Katara instinctively took a step back. He positioned himself directly in front of her, blocking her original path out, and stood taller than most of the other students there leaving her to believe he was one of the upperclassmen of the school as only a few of them showed up. Either way, his height nearly matched hers and it did nothing to help her avoid his intense gaze as he began speaking to her once more.

"My name's Hau and this is my friend Osamu—" She followed his motion over to another boy who seemed a bit more hesitant in approaching her, the other boy being of similar height and fashion, a shy wave being the only type of confirmation she got from him before the first boy continued, "—we saw you dancing earlier with our friend Kuzon and we wanted to say that you are a really great dancer!"

The compliment was sweet, and had it been any other time, maybe in another universe or somewhere far away she would've accepted it without hesitation and possibly even blushed that the memory of her and Aang dancing was brought to the forefront of her thoughts once more with a rush, but something about his earlier tone—one that he wisely dropped when continuing with his introductions—and the weird look he was still giving her made her a bit leery of his words.

'I really need to lighten up, they're just paying me a little attention' The thought brought a sigh to her lips, but she exhaled it through her nose in a forced breath. Maybe, if anything, this distraction could help her unnerving thoughts about her arrow headed friend stay at bay.

With that hope in mind, she finally cracked a somewhat genuine, though mostly forced, smile at Hau and replied with as much sincerity as she could muster in the moment, "Oh, uh, thank you," and seeing their gaze so expectant towards her, she cleared her throat self-consciously, tagging on, "I don't know if I would consider myself a great dancer per say, I mean Aan—Kuzon is very easy to follow so naturally I...um..."

She found herself trailing off at the near slip up of mentioning Aang as nearly saying his name made her take a subconscious glance to where he had been the last time she spotted him, and whatever her next words were, they effectively died in her throat at the sight of a smiling girl leaning in closely to him with... Katara squinted her eyes just slightly as her gaze landed on their clasped hands. As quickly as she took notice of them, she focused back on Hau and his friend, desperately trying to ignore the way that seeing their hands intertwined made her stomach churn uncomfortably, and seeing how intent they were in each other made her breathless all of a sudden. Only vaguely did she register that Hau's mouth was still moving, no doubt forming words that were likely being directed towards her though her ears had all too graciously tuned them out completely in hot demand for the loud thump of her heart.

'Relax, they're just holding hands—HANDS KATARA—quit making this a bigger deal than it is!' The part of her brain that was still functioning reasonably knew this was true, and she knew this was true, but it didn't stop her brows from knitting together with the frustration she suddenly found herself feeling at the thought that he seemed to be doing much better than she was at the moment. 'He's not even looking this way... I thought—after we danced—that look that he gave me... he was going to say something, right?... maybe he didn't feel that—' She cut her thought off before finishing it, once again trailing into territory that she had no business thinking in, and was almost thankful for the two boys in front of her as a means of distraction. Forcefully reeling herself back to reality with a few blinks, it was then that she fully noticed Hau had closed the distance almost entirely between the two of them, placing one hand behind her on the table while his eyes held that same gleam in them but newly gave her a look as though he were waiting for an answer.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked him with a bit of apology though it mostly fell flat, trying to side-step his position on her in an effort to create more distance between them again. Forgetting her previous thoughts momentarily, she narrowed her eyes when the boy inched back towards her, his eyebrows lifting innocently, and instantly regretted asking him to repeat himself once she heard the question fly out of his mouth...

"I was just asking if you would like to dance with me?"

She drew in a quick breath, closing her eyes for a second to gauge how she felt before focusing on the firebender. 'Honestly, no. I'm tired, I'm hot and sweaty, and the last place I want to be right now is in this stupid cave' That's what she wanted to say, and nearly said it in those same words too when she opened her mouth to reply, but her eyes once again found themselves upon a certain bender and the pretty girl talking to him, the sight once again making her feel more uncomfortable than she'd like to admit and so the words flowed out of her mouth with her exhaled breath. "Okay, let's go"

The surprised look only lasted a moment on his face before a wide smile broke out across it and he wasted no time in taking her hand to lead them to the least crowded area on the dance floor, which happened to be right in the middle where her and Aang had been, and Katara offered him a friendly smile in return seeing the excitement the simple acceptance brought to him; the fingers that tiptoed their way to the middle of her exposed back, however, were a bit harder to ignore.

A/N: For anyone who has read some of my other fics, you've probably noticed this is a different writing style so far and I'm purposefully trying it out so let me know if it works or not! This will only be a few chapters long so stay tuned! Next chapter is done for the most part, just fine tuning it is all ;)

As always, please leave a review as they are always a highlight for me to read! :)