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The sunset streaked glorious hues across the golden sky, setting it alight, much like the hearts and minds of the young couple on the balcony, kissing and celebrating a new era of peace.
They broke apart, breathing hard from the amazing kiss they had just shared, and knew it was only the 4th of many more to come.
"Aang-"
"And what if they hate me or throw tomatoes at me or-"
"Aang-"
"-they could try and light me on fire just like they did with my giant float- spirits, they really hated me then- on Avatar Day, or what if-"
"AANG!" Katara finally yelled, firmly grasping his shoulders to convey her point.
The 13-year-old airbender, now frozen in place at the volume of his girlfriend's voice, paused in his rambling of worries about his public appearance that was due to take place in a half hour.
"Aang," the girl said more soothingly this time, "the war is over, more people love you for ending the war than hate you for disappearing, and for goodness' sake, you're just answering questions about the airbenders and their way of life before thanking them for supporting you in this new, post-war era of peace."
Aang took a deep breath, now slightly calmer and less frantic.
"You're right, you're right, I just have to answer some questions and thank them and pray to the spirits that I don't say anything wrong because if I do then they'll all hate me and word will spread around the Earth Kingdom and then the Fire Nation and then the Water Tri-"
The boy paused as he saw the look on his girlfriend's face, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"And I'm doing it again, aren't I?"
The waterbender nodded, enveloping him in an embrace and kissing his cheek.
"Sweetie- I believe in you, our friends believe in you, and all those people waiting for you out there believe in you. All you have to do is believe in yourself, okay?"
Aang nodded, pulling her tighter and taking comfort in her gentle words and touch.
"Aang- they're ready for you," Sokka interrupted, causing the two lovers to reluctantly break apart.
The airbender started to walk towards the stage, giving Katara one last look.
"Just breathe, okay?"
"I can't do it, Aang. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this kind of thing."
Katara looked frustratedly up at her boyfriend, her arms now dropped from their previous meditative position.
The 15-year-old airbender gave her a sympathetic smile, crouching down next to her and repositioning her hands.
"It's all about the technique of breathing, love. If you breathe correctly, you'll be able to meditate. You're too tense- meditating is supposed to be relaxing. Here-"
Aang carefully wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, hugging her and letting his 17-year-old girlfriend lean into him.
"This is relaxing, right?"
The waterbender nodded, melting into his embrace.
"Now, breathe in-"
Katara slowly inhaled, the scent of Aang pervading her senses.
"-and breathe out."
She exhaled, much more relaxed than before.
"Keep doing that- focus on your breathing and nothing else."
The girl did as he said, feeling him slowly peel himself away from her, but not before telling her one last time,
"Just breathe."
Katara froze.
It was the moment she had been waiting for for the past 6 months, the moment she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl, and now that it was here, she was petrified.
It was her wedding day. So far, it had all gone off without a hitch until now- the time had come for her to actually walk down the aisle.
Now, she wasn't hesitant because she didn't want to marry Aang. Of course not!
But when some of the most important, influential people in the world are staring at you, scrutinizing your every move, a great number of them thinking their own daughters are a better match for the man you're about to marry than you, it becomes quite difficult to concentrate on getting down the aisle.
Feeling her father tug on her arm to start walking down the aisle, the waterbender rigidly went, ducking her head to avoid the avid gazes of the wedding guests.
After what felt like an eternity, the 18-year-old finally reached the podium, immediately feeling her love's hands and fingers intertwine with her own.
Katara blanked out as the official, her step-grandfather Pakku, read out the spiritual significance of the ceremony, a passage that at this point, she could probably recite in her sleep.
Forcing herself to pay attention, the girl found herself distracted by strange symbols Aang had been tracing on her hand since she got to the podium.
She focused for a second, feeling what he was tracing while not looking down obviously.
When she figured it out, she smiled- the first real, completely relaxed and unforced smile of the day, and when the time came, recited her vows confidently and happily to the entire congregation, never once tearing her gaze apart from the airbender.
As the ceremony wrapped up and the couple started walking back to the reception, Katara heard Aang whisper in her ear.
"I take it you figured out my message?"
The girl grinned and kissed him.
"'Just breathe.'"
"Aang, I swear to the spirits when this is over that if you come within 10 feet of me with any intentions of sex ever again I will chop that stupid appendage of yours off with an ice blade!"
The 18-year-old airbender gulped, truly hoping that the threat would not ring true, also trying to remain loving and caring towards his pained wife without getting water whipped and yelled at, as a certain brother-in-law of his already had been for saying that childbirth and labor couldn't be that painful.
"I know, love."
He kissed her forehead, wiping away the sweat trickling down her tense face with a cold towel.
"You're doing great, sweetheart. You're almost there!"
"Augh!" Katara cried out, another contracting ripping its way through her body.
"Oh, I wish there was something I could do..." Aang mumbled, peppering kisses all over her forehead and moving his wife's haphazard hair from her face.
"There is," she replied breathlessly, turning her head to face him.
The airbender looked to her to continue.
"Hold my hand?" Katara asked meekly. "Please?"
Aang nodded vehemently, clasping their hands together in a millisecond.
As the waterbender went through another contraction, she squeezed his hand so hard he thought she had crushed the bones into fragments, but Aang squeezed back nonetheless, knowing what she was going through was far worse.
"Master Katara, you're fully dilated. You're going to start pushing, okay?" one of the healers said.
Katara nodded, death-gripping Aang's hand as she prepared to push.
"Just breathe, okay, love? You can do this."
The waterbender nodded, kissing her husband.
"I can do this, I can do this."
Two hours later, after many more obscenities and curses shouted, the entire room held its breath.
Suddenly, the silence of the room was permeated with the sound of a small breath and a loud cry, along with the exhausted exhalation of the new mother.
"You did it, love," Aang said with tears in his eyes, kissing Katara over and over again while the baby was cleaned up by the healers.
"We're parents," she responded softly, hugging her husband.
"Waah!"
The new parents turned their heads briskly as they heard the cries of their newborn baby, Katara righting herself in the bed as Aang carefully took the baby from the healer, cradling it as if it were the only thing in the world that mattered.
"Aang- can I-?" the airbender heard his wife say.
Supporting the baby's head, he handed the hungry baby to his mother, who fed him lovingly, talking and cooing to him all the while.
A few hours later, late at night, the new family of three fell asleep together, smiles on all of their faces, thanking the spirits for what had brought them to that point, all of their breaths in a perfect, synchronized, harmony.