[She doesn't ask the obvious - You've got friends leaving though, right? - she just looks at him for a long moment. Then Katara sighs and jams her spoon in her ice cream to leave one hand free as she comes forward and wrestles off the top of his. It seems to take a lot of concentration to do this one-handed, or at least that will be her excuse for why she doesn't look up at him as she speaks.]

When I was twelve, my dad took all the men in our village and went to fight in the war. He just left Sokka behind to protect us. When we finally saw him again a few months ago, I was just so... angry. I knew why he'd left us, and I knew why it was important - but that didn't matter. He'd still gone.

[She shakes her head.] War sucks, Haruki. There's nothing about war that's easy, if you've got any human feeling in you at all. Waiting or fighting and knowing you've left people behind to wait - it all just really, really sucks.

[Stepping back, she still doesn't quite meet his gaze.] So eat your ice cream, and then go do what you have to. Make sure you don't leave yourself with any stupid regrets.