Chapter 1: The New Girl

Katara took a deep breath as she read the sign of the building in front of her. White Lotus Studios, it said in giant gold, green and white letters. It was her first day as an intern for the writer's department. She started walking to the entrance and tried to ignore her nerves which were slowly eating her up inside.

Once she closed the double doors behind her, she was met by a large room with couches on every wall and an information desk on one corner. The walls were a shade of calming yellow and on them hung several framed posters of the studio's most famous movies and television shows. Chewing her gum and reading a fashion magazine, a girl with a small ponytail sat behind the desk. Katara headed over to her and cleared her throat. The girl looked up and put her magazine away.

"May I help you?" she asked, popping her gum.

"Uh, yeah… H-Hi… umm…" Katara stuttered. Her nerves were winning.

The Ponytail girl chuckled and set her hands on the computer keyboard beside her.

"Let me guess. You're an intern aren't you?" she asked, ready to type.

"Yeah… Katara Mizu…" Katara replied, holding out her hand.

The girl shook it and smiled back.

"Call me Song. Here's your first piece of advice: don't look too nervous. Confidence goes a long way, sweetie. So, is there anyone who "

"Actually, I talked to someone earlier. Her name was… uhhh… Ty something…"

"Oh, you mean Ty Lee?"

"My ears are burning!" a cheerful high-pitched voice called from the double doors beside the information desk.

Another girl stood there with a bright smile on her face. She was wearing a swishy knee-length hot pink skirt, a plain white tank top and a baby pink cardigan. Glittery pink ballet flats and matching set of glass earrings and a long necklace topped her look. Her light brown hair was fixed in a long braid near the top of her head.

"Hi!" she greeted, skipping over to Katara, who didn't know whether to welcome or to be scared of the Ty Lee's enthusiasm. "You must be Katara. It's so exciting to meet you! We don't really get a lot of interns in the writing department. If you'll follow me, we'll get started."

With that, Ty Lee headed back to the double doors from which she came. Katara waved goodbye to Song and follow Ty Lee. After going through the doors and taking several turns along the corridors, they arrived at a television set. Since there was a current filming, it was filled with people buzzing about and getting their jobs done. Katara gasped as she realized what she was watching – the taping of her favorite soap opera, As The Fire Burns. She gasped again when she saw a beautiful lady getting her make-up done. She was wearing a long red gown and five-inch heels. Diamonds adorned her neck and her ears. Her slick black hair was coiffed perfectly and her nails were as sharp as needles. It was Azula Agni, who had received the most awards for Best Actress in a Soap Opera.

"Don't get too excited." Ty Lee said, nudging her. "She's not that friendly in person."

"Wha-" Katara replied, snapping out of her trance. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. Just stay out of her way and she'll leave you alone."

"Okay, thanks for the advice."

"No problem. By the way, all the rooms we passed earlier were the marketing, advertising and other business offices. We'll pass by several sets before we arrive where you'll be working."

Katara nodded, took one last look at Azula and followed Ty Lee deeper into the studio. After several minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the writers' department… or at least that was what it was supposed to look like.

Katara expected a boring grey office with cubicles but instead, she stood there looking at a large entertainment room. There were several flat-screen TVs with video games and DVDs placed beside each one, a mini-diner on one corner and even a court for indoor sports and games.

"This is my office?" she asked in amazement.

"Technically, yes." Ty Lee replied. "Actually, your cubicle is inside those double doors beside the court but this room is where you guys are supposed to get 'inspiration' or something. I don't know with the boss but he just says that he wants you to have a conducive environment."

"Cool." Katara couldn't help grinning. Suddenly, her nerves disappeared and she felt relaxed.

"Let's go and meet the other people you'll be working with."

The pair entered the double doors and saw a room with cubicles and computers. There were people typing at almost every cubicle.

"Hi, everybody!" Ty Lee said, getting everyone's attention. "This is our new intern, Katara. She'll be working here with us and hopefully, she'll get a permanent job here."

Katara gave everybody a smile and they all waved back. Ty Lee led her to a an empty cubicle and let her sit down.

"So, this cubicle is yours. You're free to design it however you want. Point is, you just have to submit your requirements by the end of each week. Since you're an intern, the boss wants to see how good you are exactly so your job is to just write a short plot for each of the themes given to you. There will be a new list every week and there's no strict format yet so just do what you want. Are there any questions?"

"Actually, yes. Is there a dress code here?"

Katara, wearing skinny jeans, a light blue peasant blouse and cork wedges, couldn't help feeling that she was underdressed next to Ty Lee.

"No. Everyone just dresses pretty casually around here. Just make sure you don't reveal too much skin."

"Sure… casually…" Katara said, still staring at Ty Lee's outfit.

"Hey, don't think that you're underdressed because of me." Ty Lee giggled, sensing Katara's discomfort. "I just like looking fabulous! Well, that's all for now, I guess. Ciao! Good luck!"

Skipping away to her private office in the corner, she left Katara alone… or so she thought.

"Don't know how to react, huh?" a girl in green said, leaning on the wall that separated her cubicle from hers. "Don't worry. We all know Ty can be a little bit… overwhelming. I'm Toph by the way."

"Hey…" Katara said, shaking her hand. "Have you been working here for a long time?"

"Meh… Two years. Not that long. But hey, I'll show you around later if you want."

"Cool. That'd be great."

Toph nodded and went back to her cubicle. Katara finally got a chance to read the first list of themes which was posted on the corkboard on one of her walls. After brainstorming for a few minutes, she decided to go to the bathroom. Heading out of the writer's department, she took a few turns to the left and a few to the right and before she knew it, she was lost. She would have called someone but who would she call? Her mother?

This is just pathetic, she thought. Great. I managed to get lost on my very first day. This sucks! Now how am I going to get back to-

Suddenly, a deep voice interrupted her reverie.

"You're new here, huh?" a man said, leaning on the wall behind her.

He was wearing a leather jacket, a red shirt, black jeans and dark red sneakers. His shaggy black hair fell on his face, partly covering his golden eyes. On the left side of his face was a red flame-shaped scar. Seeing the scar would have repelled most people but Katara found him oddly handsome with it.

When she realized what she was thinking, she immediately reddened and looked away. Seeing this, the guy walked closer and smirked.

"You didn't answer my question…" he reiterated. His husky voice was slowly becoming music to her ears and he knew it.

"Uhh… Y-Yeah… Is it that obvious?" Katara replied, barely able to look at the man straight in the eyes.

"A little bit, considering you're in the Actors and Actresses' Department. Since I know everyone here and I've never met you before, you must be new."

"Oh yeah? Maybe you just never noticed me before…"

"I doubt that…" the man continued, his golden eyes boring into her ocean blue ones. "I know I would have certainly remembered you…"

Katara giggled involuntarily. She tried to pull herself together but it was really hard considering there was a really sexy guy standing in front of her and hitting on her.

"I-I'm actually an intern from the Writers' Department…" she replied.

"Ahhh…." he said, making a gesture for her to follow him down the corridor. "Smart girl, eh? I like that."

After a few turns, they were back in front of the Writers' Department. Katara sighed with relief as she saw the familiar sign beside the double doors.

"Thank you so much. Would you mind telling me where the bathroom is?" she asked again.

"There's a bathroom inside the Writer's Department. If I remember correctly, it's on one of the corners of the entertainment room."

"Thank you again." Katara replied, silently smacking herself for not spotting the bathroom earlier. "I would have been lost for hours if you hadn't come around…"

"Hey, consider me your knight in shining armor…"

Suddenly, his phone beeped and he read the text. Rolling his eyes at what he read, he put his phone back in his pocket and faced Katara again.

"I have to go. I'm sorry." he said. "But hey, we work in the same place so I'll see you around?"

"S-Sure…"

"Great… Don't miss me too much, okay?"

He gave her a wink before he ran off to another section of the studio. Once she was alone, Katara finally walked to the bathroom. Facing the mirror, she put her hair up in a high ponytail and stared at herself in the mirror.

Focus, Katara. Your main priority right now is to get a job here as a writer, not to get dates.

After clearing her mind for work, she headed back. As she sat in her cubicle, she couldn't help wondering why that guy looked so familiar.

I know I've seen him before… but where? He just looks so familiar. I think I also know his name… It's on the tip of my tongue… Who is he?

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I'm back! So, this is my new fic. It's obviously Zutara. I'll write and post my entries of Zutara Week 2011 later on. I've just had this plot in my head for so long so I just had to write it already.

BTW, Katara's mom (Kya) is alive, Toph isn't blind and Ty Lee doesn't worship Azula in this fic.

So what do you think? Does it look interesting? Are there any points where I can improve on?

Feel free to comment, suggest, react violently and stuff… (But I would appreciate it if people don't bash me if they don't like the shippings in this fic.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters in it.

So yeah, hope you liked it! R&R please! :)