Katara stared at the computer screen, rubbing her temples. Friday, finally. All week she'd been slaving over work, and now it was time to go home. Once the computer screen was black, she stood from her chair and pushed it into the desk neatly. Looking down, Katara patted down the creases in her dress shirt and fixed her hair, before grabbing her belongings and leaving the small office. She waved goodbye to some people who were still in the kitchen, and they said their goodbyes for the weekend.
She reached her Satomobile, exhausted for a reason she scarcely knew why. Her phone began to ring uncontrollably, and she sat in her car, answering it.
"Hello?" She tried her perkiest tone. A voice mimicked hers. Sokka. She rolled her eyes, leaning back into her chair. "What do you want?"
"So, Suki and I are throwing a little get together at home tonight. You in?" He sounded childishly excited, per usual. She loved that about her brother. Katara sighed, scratching the top of her head. She racked her brain for ideas why she couldn't come, but came up with none. "Uh..." she muttered to herself.
"If you say no Suki is going to be really upset. She hasn't seen you for months! I haven't seen you for months!"
"I know, I know." Groaned Katara. She switched her phone to the other ear. "I've been so caught up with work and everything, I thought you of all people knew how much of an issue it is."
"Yeah, I know. But you're not working right now, so you have no excuses. See you in a few hours!" He hung up.
Katara dropped her phone into her bag, hitting her hand against the steering wheel lamely. She started up the Satomobile and drove home.
Climbing the steps up to her small modern Bungalow she fished her hand in the mailbox, pulling it out with nothing but bills. Unlocking the door, Katara kicked her heels off and hung her jacket on the hook in the corner. She dropped the mail on the coffee table before walking to the back of the house and stripping off all of her clothes. It was 5 by now, and she was hungry. What did Sokka even mean by get together? Was he going to invite dad or all of his and Suki's friends? She decided to put a little make up on, and take her hair out of the braid it had been in all day. Her hair was wavy and down just past her waist.
She changed into a blue crew neck sweatshirt bearing the water tribe symbol, and a pair of black skinny jeans. Katara decided to stop by a convenience store on the way to Sokka's place and buy a few bottles of soda and a bag of chips. From her home, she brought a bottle of some wine. She wasn't sure what to expect when she got there, so she was just making sure that she was prepared.
Arriving at his place at a time she thought was fine, Katara got out of her car with the paper bag under her arm. She stuffed her keys in her pocket and basically hopped onto the porch in what seemed like anticipation. Katara was nervous to see what Sokka and Suki named a get together. Knocking on the door, she took a step back, looking in the window to check and see if her teeth were pearly white. They were fine.
Sokka answered the door, and music poured out with him. It wasn't obnoxious music, it was the kind she liked, the same genre Suki enjoyed as well. Suki always won in a battle with Sokka at who got to listen to their music. Sokka enjoyed bands with most guitar solo and irritating shouting that seemed to pass as singing. He had terrible taste, in Katara's opinion.
"So you did show up," Sokka flashed a grin, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. "What?" She muttered. "Didn't want to see your favorite person?"
"As if!" He snorted, moving his body to let her pass. She kicked off her shoes, and handed Sokka the bag. "Hey, you got my favorite! Sea salt and vinegar. Thanks, Kat."
"Mmm," she replied, sticking her head into the dining room to see if anyone was there. Quickly, she pulled it back to the mudroom. There were 3 unfamiliar faces. "Whose in there?" She whispered to Sokka. He shrugged quickly, not answering her. Sokka walked by her and into the kitchen.
"Katara's here!" He announced for her, and she winced, stalking into the dining room.
"Katara, hey!" Suki was holding a wine glass, smiling while she chattered happily to a girl. She recognized her, Ty Lee. Both girls gave Katara a small wave, before pouring her a glass of wine.
"Did you have dinner, Katara? Sokka is cooking something up."
"No I didn't, thanks." She answered, immediately taking a sip of the wine. It was sweet, she liked it. She looked arouned at the two others, both men.
"Oh, you don't know them. Right." Suki waved her hand in the air, taking a seat. Ty Lee sat beside her. Katara sat at the end of the large dining table, placing her glass down in front of her.
"That one's Jet, and the other's Aang. I think Zuko and Mai are going to show up, fashionably late as usual. Guys, this is Katara. Just because she's single doesn't mean I will let you have her!" Ty Lee was laughing at what Suki had said, and Katara grinned over at her.
They both nodded in her direction, taking a seat as well. Suki leaned over to Katara. "Sokka forced them over, because I was going to invite all my girls over for wine. I'm glad you could come! I missed you."
"Yeah, sorry. Works so crazy lately, I can barely catch a break. Being manager, as well as payroll and having no assistant manager is really wearing me out. Construction companies are the worst, I would definitely not recommend working with one if you want a social life." Her humor was brittle, almost as brittle as her personality. Katara didn't mind being antisocial, as long as she was being paid for it. For the most part, she had as much of a social life as her other co-workers. Suki patted her wrist sympathetically, but she really didn't understand. 4 Days a week she worked as a trainer for a teenage karate class, which is where she met her lifelong friends Mai and Ty Lee. Mai joined as a joke with another, Azula. At the time Suki was the youngest black belt at the age of 16, and the three girls, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee joined. Suki was fast friends with Ty Lee because of her gymnast training, and took a liking to Mai because of her strange infatuation with sharp objects. Thus, beginning a strong -strange- bond between the three girls. Azula, on the other hand, did not at all like Suki. For the rest of her teenage years, she seemed to torment Suki for 'stealing' the only friends she ever knew, which was not true at all. Once they grew to adulthood, Sokka and Suki moved out to Republic City. Not long after, Katara, and it seems the rest of their friends moved as well.
The doorbell rang, and Suki got up to go answer it. Instead of just three as Katara suspected, there were four people walking through to the dining room, seating themselves around the table.
"I need to go grab Sokka, I'm sure he'll be really excited to see you, Toph." Toph, was a very small girl, with clouded grey eyes and strangely styled black hair. She was wearing a pair of fading flared jeans and a casual green tank top. She sat down, after holding onto Zuko.
"Yeah, she arrived at the same time as us, a taxi dropped her off. Great timing, actually." Zuko shrugged, watching Mai pour herself a glass of wine and sit herself next to Ty Lee. They immediately began to talk of nonsense. Katara felt herself being excluded from all talk. What really seemed to grab her attention was the bald one with tattoos all over himself. He was thin, tall, and she had no idea what his name was. Although she didn't know his name, she was attracted to him. Tattoo's had always been a big turn on to her, and she had no idea why.
After some more awkward introductions and a second glass of wine, the food was served and everyone chatted away happily to each other. Katara wasn't really talking, more observing. What really threw her off was how she realized that Toph was blind, and how she suddenly felt like an idiot. Why didn't Katara realize it from the get go?
"So..." The brown haired one turned to Katara. He smelled like cigarettes, and she wanted to gag. Altogether, he was good looking and she didn't turn down conversation with him. They had small talk, enough to keep her occupied for a short amount of time. As quickly as the spark ignited, it went out again, and she was bored of speaking to him. He was good looking, so she got his number.
Once they finished eating, Suki moved everyone outside to their amazing back yard. It was beautiful, and had a fire pit as well. They lit a large fire and everyone sat around it. Katara decided to avoid sitting beside the brown haired one who called himself Jet, and this time beside the bald one. He seemed mysterious, and he had her attention. He wasn't even talking to her, and she could barely keep herself from looking at him.
He realized she was looking at her, and gave her a small smile. She quickly turned her head away, adjusting her hair for no reason.
"Hi," she heard him say, and she peaked back over at him. He was looking at her, smiling still. Damn, was his smile good looking. "Hi," she responded quietly, it sounded like a question.
"Katara right? You're Sokka's sister. I'm Aang."
"I know," but she didn't. She forgot his name right when Suki told her, and she was ashamed. Aang nodded, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. Katara wanted to continue conversation with him, but she didn't know how. Time to make aimless conversation, she thought anxiously.
"How do you and my brother know each other?" She wondered, but didn't really care. Aang's voice was enticing, and he smelled nice. He rubbed the stubble on his chin with his index finger. "We met at Toph's art show. Suki dragged him along and I was patrolling outside the estate. He was pretty drunk, and I had to help him inside."
Katara burst out laughing, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, that just sounds exactly like my brother. What a terrible way to meet someone!"
Aang was laughing too, and Katara wanted to melt. In a good way.
"I like your laugh," they both commented at the same time, breaking into more laughter a moment later. After they finished laughing, Katara continued the conversation further.
"So you're like, security right?"
"Yeah, I was hired by Toph's mother. I'm security for art shows only, but I'm also studying to become a history teacher. I'm in my final year of university."
"Wow! That's amazing. Are you like, working at any schools right now?"
"Yeah," he was blushing. "Right now I'm only working there as a teacher in training, I guess you could say. I teach a few lessons, and I'm only there for about 5 months before I graduate."
"Congratulations." Katara grinned like an idiot, taking a drink of some soda, now. He thanked her, also taking a drink.
After Zuko and Mai left, Ty Lee decided it was also time to leave. Jet left with her for some reason, which everyone knew despite it being unspoken. Aang offered to drive Toph home, which Toph agreed too. That left Katara alone once again, with her brother and his wife. Before Aang left, he sat beside her on the couch.
"Can I see you again?" He asked very suddenly, and Katara almost choked on her drink.
"Uh, yeah, yes. Of course." She sputtered, pulling out her cellphone. He added his number in, and got up. "It was nice to meet you, Katara."
"Yeah," she nodded. Toph and Aang left. Katara sat back into the green sofa, covering her face with a pillow. When would they see each other again? She didn't know, but she was eager to find out.