It's EQUALLY weird because EIB could've just as easily established Katara DID love Aang but did not want to commit to anything too serious until the War was over; if THAT had been where we'd left things prior to the four-parter, I'd be a LOT happier with the ending on that front.

I completely agree. They shot themselves in the foot in terms of character relationship development, and it's so frustrating because they didn't NEED to.