Yes, yes. This is an AU. In the United States somewhere. Anyways, hopefully it turns out okay. Please review. Oh, and I don't own Avatar or the United States. I know, shocker! Oh, and even though this first chapter seems very Zutara, this is Kataang fic. I repeat, Kataang! This first chapter and some of the other chapters have sexual references, however, I strongly disagree with anyone that thinks this should be rated 'M'. However, if you are under the age of twelve, I suggest that you do not read this. Thanks!
Perfect Chemistry
"Five, six, seven, eight!" I yelled as I was launched into the air.
After our cheer squad finished the drill, we walked over to our bags.
"Great practice, captain Katara," coach Oyagi smiled at me.
"Thanks, coach," I smiled back at continued walking to my bag. I looked over at the football field where their practice was just about to finish. "See you later, Suki!"
I traveled over to the sidelines of the football field and sat down. The football players had just finished practice and my boyfriend Zuko was walking over to me.
"Hey," I grinned up at him. Zuko and I had been dating for one year now. He was one of the hottest guys in Roku High and the captain of the football team.
"Hey," he replied, and bent down to pick me up wedding style. I giggled as he carried me off the field.
"So, how's my favorite woman?" he set me down under our favorite tree. He sat down next to me and wrapped an arm around my waist.
"Tired," I yawned and buried my face into his chest.
"Then we should probably get you home," he mumbled into my hair.
"Mhm. Sokka won't be home."
0.o
"You're wonderful," I acknowledged into his chest.
"You're sexy," he pulled our naked bodies closer together. I giggled, still slightly drunk with passion. It had happened- again.
We stayed like that for a few minutes, when suddenly he pulled his right arm roughly from my waist. He looked with wide eyes at his wrist watch and quickly scrambled out of bed.
"Zuko? Are you okay?" I asked hesitantly as I watched him frantically pull his clothes on. "It's only ten fifteen. Don't you want to stay longer?"
He buckled the belt hanging loosely on his pants and walked over to me- myself still nude, sitting up on the bed.
He kissed me softly. "Sorry, love. I was supposed to be somewhere at ten; I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that he pulled his shirt over his head and ran out the door.
I sighed and laid back into my soft mattress, sheets still askew and crumpled. I wondered what was so important that Zuko had to put an end to our love making. I sighed again. I knew it was wrong- what we were doing. I'm only seventeen; a junior in high school. He was only eighteen, as a senior. But it seems to me that we got so consumed by passion, that our moral values were always left behind.
I remember out first time. It was over the summer at my beach house on the California coast. The mood was so perfect. Dark room, beautiful sunset, dimly lit candles, perfect hot tub temperature, the way my legs wrapped ever so perfectly around his waist… and oh, was he wonderful. But, sometimes I wished for more from our relationship. Every once in a while, I got the feeling that our relationship was more physical than anything else.
I sighed for a third time. I decided not to think about. As far as I was concerned, Zuko was perfect. He just liked to express his love to me in a more vigorous manner. And with that fleeting thought, I rolled to my side and fell asleep, not bothering to dress myself.
0.o
I brushed the hair out of my face as I sat down for my AP History class. I quickly flipped to the page that was written on the board. Mrs. Blackford walked over to the front of the classroom, pulling a boy along by the arm.
"Everyone, this is Aang. He was transferred into this class," she said uninterestedly. "Sit there," she shoved him towards the seat in front of me. He caught himself and gracefully walked to the desk. Aang caught everyone's eye. His skin was pale and flawless, his dark brown hair softly flowing from his head.
I smiled with heavily lidded eyes. "Hey," I said.
"Hey." He smiled a little, his mouth still closed.
I didn't know Aang very well. He was pretty popular though. He wasn't the leader of anything, nor the captain. But, he was nice and friendly; actually, he was my brother's best friend. I've overheard multiple people saying that if he did in fact run for any position, he would win in a landslide. And I wouldn't be surprised at all. Everyone knew Aang. And for the most part, everyone liked him. However, for some reason, he never went to any social events, and he always ate with the same group for lunch- although he would be welcomed almost everywhere.
It's strange, though. I remember freshman year, when he was in my English class. He always had this huge smile on his face. It was probably the happiest, brightest grin I had ever seen. He hadn't fully smiled like that since Thanksgiving of freshman year. No one knows what happened- he's never told anyone. Of course, I think his small smile is lovely too. But, honestly, what am I thinking? I am in a great relationship with Zuko.
I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when Mrs. Blackford's chalk screeched on the board. "Well, we've spent the first two weeks of school covering the basics of the Civil War. As we continue through this semester, you and your partner will complete a one hundred point project focused on the Civil War. Choose your partner wisely."
I looked around the room for somewhere to be my partner. Suki was already with Sokka. Toph was asking Haru. Everyone else in the class probably couldn't even spell their own name. I sighed and placed my head in my hand. I thought I would be stuck with Azula again. She was the nastiest girl in the entire school, and unfortunately, she was also Zuko's sister. For some reason, she hated me. I never quite figured out why, though. We never spoke to one another, but when I was at their house, she would just glare at me and I could have sworn she had fangs.
My thoughts were interrupted as Aang turned around in his chair. "Do you have a partner?"
I smiled and shook my head. "Nope. Do you?"
"Not yet. Would you like to be my partner?" he asked sweetly.
"Sure, I'd love to. Do you want to exchange phone numbers?" I asked.
"Great."
0.o
I straddled his waist with my legs and bent down to kiss his mouth. He moaned into my lips.
"Zuko?" I mumbled, not breaking the kiss.
"Yeah?" his lips still on mine.
"You know that guy, Aang?"
He broke the kiss, and pushed my bare abdomen slightly away. "Yeah, why? Do you like him?"
"Zuko! I barely know him! Besides," I planted my lips on his in a passionate kiss, and said nothing more.
"He's a freak," he muttered.
I paused. But shrugged and continued. "I think he's nice. He's my partner in history class."
He broke the kiss for a second time and looked me in the eyes. What was that I saw? Jealousy? "Yeah, well don't get too close."
I had never seen this side of Zuko. I knew that he was a little of the overprotective and jealous type, but he never acted that way when it involved me. At this point, I was curious about why he didn't like Aang. "Why don't you like him?"
"He's just weird. I don't want you to get all, you know…"
"Yes?" I said, urging him to continue. I accidently bucked my hips.
He groaned and moved his hands to my thighs. "Forget it; just don't change. You're perfect the way you are."
I sighed. "Zuko?"
He flipped us over. "Yes?" he replied, still kneading my thighs. His mouth traveled down from my lips. I groaned and almost lost my train of thought- No, I wouldn't let that happen. I pushed him off of me with my hands.
"Zuko, how do you see me?" I questioned him, pulling my knees to my chest.
"An amazing girl with an incredibly hot body," he answered, inching closer to me.
I rolled my eyes. "I have a brain Zuko."
"I never denied that." He was now stroking my calf.
"Zuko!" I exclaimed, frustrated. "We have sex every night. At school, our conversations are muttered into each other's mouth! I mean, I think that the physical part of every relationship is important too, but," I cupped his face with my hand. "Can't we at least try to communicate more?" I pleaded. "You know, with words?" I added sarcastically.
He took my hand from the side of his face and kissed it. "Of course, Kat." He loosely gripped both of my calves, and slid them down so that they were both pressed against the bed. He did the same to my back, so that I was lying flat on the sheets. "Now, where were we?"
0.o
The next day in history class, Aang and I worked on the project.
"So, we could either do a poster board, or a power point. Which one do you want to do?" he asked me.
"We could probably get more information in if we do a power point," I thought out loud.
"Power point it is. There's only five minutes left of class, so we should probably meet after school today to get a start on the beginning of the Civil War, since we've already talked about that in class," he noted, searching through his backpack for a pencil.
"Okay. I have cheerleading practice until five. So, does that work for you?"
"Sure. I don't have a car, so we can walk if that's okay with you," he took out a pencil.
I nodded. "So, you're place, or mine?"
His eyes grew wide and his smile disappeared, but only for a second. "My house is sort of far away from school. It would probably be better if we did it at your house," he looked away from my gaze. "I mean, if that's alright with you," he added quickly.
"Yeah, it's fine," I smiled a little.
"Great! I'll meet you on the field at five," he said as he ascended from his chair and walked out of the room as the bell rang.
0.o
At lunch that same day, I sat with our group under the tree. It was a combination of basically every type of person; people I did, and didn't, like. There was Haru, Zuko, Ty Lee, and Azula. And there was Mai. She and Azula were the two people I absolutely loathed. Azula- well…
But then, there was Mai. If I were to place every person into a stereotype, Mai would easily fit into the "Goth" group. She didn't speak much. She didn't move much. Heck, she barely did anything! To be honest, I was always a little bit afraid of Mai. She always carried a pocket knife, and when she looked at me, it was like daggers were piercing my very head. I'm guessing the reason she's always hated me, is because she's always had a huge crush on Zuko. She was a senior as well, and she had known Zuko much longer than I had.
Lately though, she had been acting different. She still wasn't being nice to me or anything. Actually, she still never spoke to me. But, she didn't glare evilly anymore. She looked at me like she looked at the grass- uncaring, uninterested. Sometimes, I could have sworn I saw her smirk whenever she did actually glance at me. I thought that finally she had gotten over her little Zuko-craze. Thank the spirits. I could now sleep without worrying that I'd wake up with a dagger in my head.
"So, Zuzu. When are you going to tell Daddy that you broke the window on the convertible?" Azula grinned over at my boyfriend.
"Shut up Azula," he snarled.
"Oh, Zuko," I interrupted this possible fight. "I almost forgot to tell you. Aang and I are going to my house tonight to work on the project."
His eyes flashed again. He let out a breath and seemed to be thinking. Then he smiled gently. "Alright, have fun," he pressed his lips against mine. Then broke the kiss and whispered into my ear, "Just not too much fun." I nodded as he got up to go to his next class. I saw him look and smirk at Mai quickly for a short second, but thought it was merely a passing glance. Mai quickly hid her face in her book as he left, and I continued to eat my lunch.
"You what?!" I heard Toph yell from a nearby table.
"You heard right. I'm the one who stole the twenty pound ham from the butcher's shop," Sokka stated proudly.
"Good job, Snoozles!" Toph hit my brother with a congratulatory punch in the arm. He winced and touched his arm. The rest of the group laughed. Their group was also juniors and seniors. Everyone was welcome to sit at their table, but the regulars were Toph, Sokka, Suki, Teo, and Aang. There they all were- laughing. All except for Aang, who was just smiling his small, lovely smile.
The laughing quieted down.
"Aw, come on Aang! We've tried everything to get you to laugh!" Sokka placed a hand on his shoulder.
Suki nodded. "Yeah, you haven't even told us what's gotten into since freshman year."
"Really guys, I'm fine," he stated in a relaxed manner. "There's nothing to worry about. I guess I'm just not as happy as I was earlier in my life." With that, he excused himself and went to walk to class.
I looked down at my lunch. I remember when my mother was killed. I was empty. All emotions that were once present in me, simply vanished. And then my dad went off to war in Iraq. He hasn't come back yet. When he left, I thought I would die. It left my brother and I all alone. But something happened to both of us.
For me, it was swimming. Not very many people knew I swam. The only people who knew were Gran Gran, Pakku- my grandfather, and Sokka. Even Zuko didn't know. For some reason, the water was like my safe haven. I could cry, but my tears seemed to simply disappear in the water. Nothing could judge me or hurt me. It's why I love living in California. There's always water somewhere. You never have to look far. Of course, I live more inland, and not on the coast; but, I can go to my beach house whenever I wanted.
For Sokka, it was much different. It wasn't an activity- it was a person. My mother had died in sixth grade, and my dad had gone to war in seventh. When our dad left, it was the hardest time in Sokka's life. At school, he always sat by himself. He dropped out of all sports. His grades plummeted. And then, half way through seventh grade, Aang moved into town. He wasn't in any of my classes. But he was in all of Sokka's. Although I've never told anyone, I think Aang is the reason my brother is still alive. They're like brothers. I don't know what it was, but Aang had a magnetic personality, and I suppose Aang naturally gravitated towards the people who needed a friend. Sokka was saved that day when Aang moved to town. And even though I don't think I'll ever say it out loud, I believe that when Aang saved Sokka, he saved me too.
The bell rang, and I was off to my last class of the day.
0.o
Cheer practice had just ended and my right ankle was hurting. I was pretty sure that I had landed on it wrong when I had jumped down from the standing pyramid. My house wasn't too far away however, so it wouldn't be too difficult to walk home. Now I just had to find Aang.
It wasn't that hard either. He walked up to me and took my bag.
"I can get that," I told him.
He merely smiled at me and replied, "Its fine. Are you ready to go?"
I smiled back and nodded. "Thanks."
We began walking. I was trying my best not to show pain, while also trying to think of a conversation started.
Aang beat me to it. "So, how do you like cheerleading?" he asked me.
"I really like it. I've been doing it since I was five. What about you? Do you play any sports?"
"Sort of. I like to go sky diving. My uncle owns a company, so I can go skydiving whenever I want," he replied. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay? You're limping," he looked at me with worried eyes.
"Oh, I'm fine. I just hurt my ankle a little," I told him truthfully.
He frowned slightly and proceeded to drape my arm over his shoulder. He then placed his arm under mine and secured his hand at my waist. "I'd carry you, but I don't think your boyfriend would appreciate it too much," he stated warmly.
I blushed at his words and at our proximity. I wondered how I had never noticed the muscles rippling under his skin, or the warmth in this touch, or- I really had to stop thinking like this!
Soon, we reached my house.
0.o
Five hours later, the first section of our power point was complete, and it was rather dark outside. Within those five hours, I learned that Aang was a gentleman in all ways. He was very polite and gentle. He was also very intelligent and creative. Aang had a sense of humor, as anyone would have to have to be Sokka's friends. I did imagine, however, that at one point in his life, Aang had an even larger sense of humor than he does today.
It was dark outside, but Aang insisted on walking home.
"Katara, I'm fine. My house is only a couple of miles away."
"A couple of miles? Aang, I can't let you walk that far at this hour. Besides, it looks like it's about to rain. Sokka should be home in a few minutes. We can give you a ride," I begged him.
He sighed and placed his shoes back on the ground. "Alright," he smiled.
Sokka came in ten minutes later with dinner in his arms. "Hey, bud! What brings you here? You never come to my place."
"That's because you're almost never home until eleven," Aang rolled his eyes and smiled. "Anyways, Katara and I are partners for a history project."
"And we need to go give him a ride back to his house," I interjected.
"No problem," Sokka grabbed his keys. "Or, do you want to spend the night?"
I had never known Sokka to have such great ideas. Aang however, looked less enthusiastic.
"I don't know Sokka," he said hesitantly.
"Come on, Aang. It'll be great! We can watch scary movies and eat popcorn and play video games!" Sokka exclaimed.
I slapped myself. Sokka could be such a kid sometimes. Aang nervously rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, I guess that would be okay. Is it alright with you, Katara?" he turned to look at me.
"Sure, it'd be fine," I smiled at him.
"Awesome! I'll go get the popcorn and snicker doodles!" Sokka raced to the kitchen. I giggled and lead Aang to the family room.
"So, what movie do you want to watch?" I asked him, as I opened the movie drawer.
"Anything is fine with me. Whatever you want to watch," he leaned back on the couch.
I looked over the movies. "I don't know what to watch. I haven't seen any of these in such a long time." My eyes passed over "Saw III" and I shuddered. "I hate scary movies."
Sokka came into the room with enough food to feed an army. "Let the horror begin!"
"Maybe we shouldn't watch a scary movie, Sokka. I don't think Katara really wants to watch any horror films tonight," Aang reasoned.
"Ah, Katara will be fine," he plopped himself on the couch to the left of Aang. "We shall watch," he stroked his fake beard, "the Omen!" he announced. He stood up and inserted the DVD into the television. I groaned and sat down to the right of Aang as the previews began.
We finally got to the main menu. Sokka pressed play and I braced myself for the movie. How I hated scary movies. I never really knew why I hated them so much… I guess it's because, for so long, my life was like a scary movie in and of itself. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes.
0.o
A half an hour later, I was curled up on the couch trying to think happy thoughts.
I felt something on my back. I looked up to see that Aang was looking at me, with his palm pressed against the middle of my back. "Um, Katara? Are you alright?"
My head bobbed up and down shakily. "Mhm."
"You definitely don't seem okay," he replied, frowning.
"No, really. I'm just really terrified of scary movies," I placed my chin on my knees.
"You don't have to watch it if you don't want to," I felt his hand move to my shoulder that was farthest from him. I smiled.
My eyes looked the screen and I saw another person die. I lunged to Aang and gripped the fabric on his shirt as I buried my face into his chest. I felt him tense up, and I blushed, realizing what I had done. None the less, he hesitantly placed his arm around my shoulder and offered me some popcorn.
There was that warm feeling again. I had talked to this boy for a total of less than seven hours in my entire life, and I had already felt a connection. But, no! I couldn't! I could not do that to Zuko.
I sighed. "Get a grip, Katara!" my conscience echoed in my head until I peacefully drifted off to sleep in Aang's arms.
0.o
Well, I hope you guys liked it. Took me forever! Please review! More to come. Over and out.