This Story is not all inclusive. It just touches on highlights that happened during the year that corresponds with the chapter.

Sokka Kimura walked into the classroom that his father had told him. Hakoda had offered to walk him in, to show him where he needed to go but he had refused. He wanted to prove to himself and his father that he was an adult, that he could do this on his own, and most important that he was no afraid.

However, when he walked into White Lotus Academy he knew that he was in over his head. His father had worked tirelessly to get him into this school, and would have to continue working his factor job, as well as any work on the side at same time to keep him in this expensive, private school. Hakoda claimed that he wanted the best for his son and daughter, and would make sure that they had the best education possible.

Sokka felt a little better when he was out of the confused shuffle of the hall way and into the brightly decorated classroom that was to be his. It was filled with people his own age, all young, bright eyed, and looking just as scared as he was. The teacher's assistant greeted him, showing him where to put his lunch box and back pack. She also motioned him to a large desk, one of many that made up rows in the classroom. It was large enough for two students, meaning that Sokka would be having a desk mate. The thought of it made his heart beat up in his head, fear gripping him.

He located the right desk, with his name attached to it with a brightly colored name tak, and found that his desk mate was already there. "Hi my name is Sokka!" he said to the dark haired boy, much louder than he had wanted to. The boy looked up at him with a distinctly confused look in his eyes. Sokka'e eyes widened when he looked at the boy, "You're a fire bender!"

The boy just blinked, looking at him with big honey colored eyes, "Y-yeah."

"I've never meet a fire bender before!" Sokka leaned in closer to him, "Can you make some?"

The boy grinned, lifting up both of his hands up and cupping them together. In the palms of his hands was generated a small amount of flickering orange flame. Sokka smiled wide, captivated by the dancing heat. "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen before."

"I guess." The boy shrugged, cupping his hands together and putting out the flame, "My entire family are benders, including my little sister."

"You have a sister too!?"

He nodded, "My name is Zuko by the way." Zuko extended his hand, to the dark skinned boy, the one side of his lips curling up. "Zuko Kasai."

Sokka took the hand and shook it happily, "Sokka Kimura."

She was a fire bender, like he was, and she was the most beautiful person that he had ever seen. Sokka looked at her with his large, blue eyes, his jaw dropped a little bit.

"MOM!" Zuko ran to the woman in the door way. She looked like him; the same eyes, the same complexion and hair. She was all curves and giggles and she leaned down, kissing Zuko on the side of the head.

"How was your first day or school, my love?"

"It was great!" He pointed over to Sokka, "I have a new best friend!"

Ursa looked over to the boy that her first born was pointing at, a smile on her face. "Why hello there." She extended her hand to Sokka as he walked over to them both, "My name is Ursa."

Sokka walked to her, taking her hand into his and shaking it, "I-I'm Sokka."

"We have so much in common!" Zuko told her enthusiastically, "He has a little sister, just like I do, both of our dads work a lot, we like sharks and powdered sugar on our French toast!"

Ursa looked at her son with wide eyes, a smile on her face. "I see."

"The only thing is that he doesn't have a mom. I told him that if he ever needed a mom for a little while he could use you, I hope that is ok."

Ursa just looked at her son and his new friend, both with wide eyes and small smiles. She laughed, standing up, "I would be ok with that."

"COOL!" Sokka chirped, his smile widening.

"Do you have someone to pick you up, Sokka?"

He nodded, "My dad is waiting outside for me."

"I shall walk you boys out then." Ursa reached out and offered her hand to Sokka, which he took with a smile. Her other hand held Zuko's as the three of them walked out of the school. Sokka saw his father standing by his old pick up looking very anxious as he wanted for his son.

Sokka pulled away from Ursa and ran to his dad. Zuko looked up at his mother, who just smiled down at him.

"Hey, kiddo!" Hakoda kneeled down and captured his only son into a hug, lifting him off the ground a little bit before sitting him back down, "Did you have a good first day?"

"YEAH!" He motioned Zuko over to them. He let go of his mother's hand and ran over to Sokka and his father. Ursa laughed, following him. "This is my new best friend Zuko." Zuko looked at the older water tribe man and smiled, his gold eyes wide.

Hakoda just smiled, "Why hello Zuko."

Ursa caught up with Zuko, smiling down at Hakoda. He just looked up at the woman, smiling a little bit. "Oh… hello."

"Hi, you must be Sokka's dad." She extended her hand, "I'm Zuko's mom, Ursa Kasai."

Hakoda blinked in surprise when she said the last time, but took the hand none the less, "Hakoda Kimura." He smiled, nothing that both of the boys were looking up at them.

"I understand that you have a little girl?"

He nodded, "Katara. She is four."

"She is the same age of my Azula." She smiled, "We will have to arrange a play date with the four of them." Her hands were on Zuko's shoulders, a warm smile on her face.

"It would be great." Hakoda just smiled at her again.

Ursa reached into her purse, a fancy designer one like the ones that Hakoda used to see in his wife's fashion magazines. She pulled out a business card holder, opening it and offering one of the small pieces of paper to Hakoda. "Here is my card. We will set something up."

He looked at it for a second before putting it in his work short pocket, "Thanks, and yes we will." He looked down at Sokka, a smile on his face, "Come on, time to get you home."

Sokka looked at Zuko, a some what sad look in his face, "I will see you tomorrow, ok?"

Zuko just nodded, the same sad look in his eyes, "I will bring that toy shark, ok?"

Sokka nodded, smiling wide, "And I will bring that book I was telling you about."

"YEAH!" Zuko launched himself at Sokka, hugging him tight. Sokka just hugged him back, making both Hakoda and Ursa just smile.

"Come on sweetie." Ursa said with a smile when Zuko pulled away, "You two can see one another tomorrow."

Zuko looked up at her with a smile, then back at Sokka. "I will see you!"

Ursa just smiled and pulled Zuko away to the awaiting black car. Zuko just waved as Sokka as they walked away, a large smile on his face. Sokka waved back, simply excited that he had made a friend on the very first day.

"Gran Gran!" Sokka ran to his grandmother, his arms starched out.

Kanna laughed as she took him into her arms, laughing happily. "Oh my big man back from school!" She went to kiss him on the side of the head, making him squirm away from her.

"Gran Gran!" He laughed, getting himself back on the ground.

"How was your first day?" She asked with a smile.

"It was amazing! I have a best friend now and everything!"

"Oh?"

Hakoda walked into the kitchen with a smile, sitting his tool box on the table, "He sure did." He looked to his son, "Go wash up for your after school snack."

Sokka nodded and ran off, calling out for his sister. Kanna smiled at her son, "Seems like a good day."

"I'll say." He removed the business card that Ursa had given him from his pocket, showing it to his mother, "The boy's last name is Kasai."

Kana took the business card as her son told him about the amber eyed boy and his mother. "I wonder if it is the same Kasai."

"How many can their be?"

Kana shrugged, handing it back to him. "Figures. Send him to some fancy private school and he makes friends with the son of one of the richest men in the world."

Hakoda nodded, putting the card on the fridge, securing it with a magnet.

The Kasai mansion was the biggest building that Sokka could ever remember being in. He was sure that he had been in something bigger, but just could not remember it. "Where do you wanna play?" Zuko asked, pulling Sokka out of his dazed state.

"How many places are there to play?" Sokka asked, raising an eye brow as they laid their bags in the front hall way ware Ursa had told them.

"Well there is my room, the play room, the garden, the tree house…"

"YOU HAVE A TREE HOUSE!?"

Zuko just laughed, "We do." He ruffled his short dark hair.

"How about you two go play in the playroom." Ursa told them in a soft voice, sitting her purse in the hall closet. "I think your sister is up there."

Zuko just groaned, rolling his eyes, "I don't want to play with Azula."

"Zuko." Ursa scolded, "Azlua is your sister and you should make more of an effort to get along with her."

He just rolled his eyes, "Fine." Zuko motioned him towards the large stairwell. "Come on." The boys both ran up the stairs and down a long hall way. Sokka wanted to slow down, to look around and take in the decorations that covered the halls. Zuko was intent on getting them to the playroom, and as soon as they were in the room Sokka understood why.

"You have a toy store in your house?!"

Zuko just laughed, shaking his head, "No this is our play room!" He looked around the room, searching for what was supposed to be it's other inhabitant. "She must not be in here."

"Your sister?" Sokka's attention was on a large stuffed elephant that was as tall as he was.

"Yeah." Zuko shrugged, "She must be in her room or something." Sokka was still busy looking around the room at all the wonderful things that could be seen. "Wanna play with legos?"

"Um… sure." Sokka noticed for the first time a large table whose top was covered with block texture. "That is cool!"

"I know! Azula and I love to play with this. She likes to destroy all my things though." He went over to the table, opening one of the drawers beneath it and pulling out a box of multi-colored blocks. "We should make a big city!

"Ok!" The boys set to work, laughing and talking about their task at hand as well as school, discussing others in their class as well as their teacher. Before long they had a large city scape, built with many blocks in all colors. They were both ecstatic as they named the streets and buildings, making up stories as they continued to build into their city.

Zuko excused himself, saying that he had to use the bathroom. Sokka was left in the big room, which he started to explore in his friends absence. On the room there was a large playhouse painted red, black and gold. He walked over to it, noticing that there was some movement on inside. He opened the door, which was just big enough for him to walk though. When he stepped though the door he saw a little girl huddled in the corner, looking up at him with big gold eyes.

"You're Azula, aren't you?" She said nothing, but just looked up at him with the same shimmering eyes. Sokka just smiled at her, thinking that she looked like a very small version of her mother. "I'm Sokka. I'm your bothers new best friend."

"I know." She squeaked, her lightly clenched fists over her mouth, "Mommy told me you were coming."

"Why are you hiding in here?" He asked, sitting in front of her. She blushed, shrugging as she looked away. "You're really tiny." He grinned. "Even more so that my little sister Katara."

"You have a sister?" She asked quietly.

He nodded, "Yeah, she is the same age as you and everything."

Azula just nodded, taking her hands away from her mouth, "You think I'm tiny?"

Sokka nodded with a smile, "I do. I like tiny though."

"You do?" She blushed a bit.

Sokka grinned, "Tiny is nice! I like to put tiny things in my pockets!"

Azula just smiled at this, her eyes lighting up. "I would like to go in your pocket." They both just giggled at this, Azula looking as Sokka with wide eyes and flushed cheeks.

"What are you two doing in there?" Zuko asked, sticking his head in the window of the small house.

"Get out!" Azula snapped at her brother, "You know you are not allowed in here."

Sokka was taken by surprise as the small girl's sudden abruptness, "Why is he not aloud in here?"

"She says that no boys are allowed."

"And they're not!" She growled.

"Then why is Sokka allowed in here?"

"He's special." She chirped, standing up.

Sokka just smiled at her, thinking how totally adorable the little girl was. He really did want to put her in his pocket.

"What about me? I'm special, I'm your brother!"

"MY STUPID BROTHER!" She yelled, hitting in his in head so that he would get out of her little window. He yelped in pain, pulling his head away. Sokka could not help but laugh as Azula closed the shutters angrily. She huffed in annoyance, sitting back down in front of Sokka with a smile. "Hi."

"Come on Sokka, lets go outside." Zuko said in an annoyed tone.

Sokka looked at the door and then looked at Azula, "Wanna come outside with us?"

Azula nodded, "Ok sure."

Sokka stood up and extended his hand to Azula, which she took with a smile. They walked hand in hand out of the house, drawing a groan from Zuko. "You guys are gross." He rolled his eyes as they all started to walk outside.

"Is this your house?" Zuko asked, looking though the window of Hakoda's old truck.

"Y-yeah." Sokka stuttered, nervous about his friend's reaction to his meager home.

"I like it." Zuko grinned, looking back at his friend.

"It's got a big back yard too! We can go out there and play."

"Awesome!"

Sokka looked at his father, smiling lightly. Hakoda just smiled back, knowing that the boy has been nervous about having Zuko over. All of those fears dissipated as soon as Zuko was inside. The boy seemed less concerned about how small his home was, and just happy that he was spending time at a friend's house. Gran Gran had fixed them an after school snack of gram crackers and juice.

Katara joined them, the blue eyed girl very talkative at the table in the little kitchen. She talked about anything and everything that came to mind. Asking Zuko all the questions that she could think of. Zuko answered them all eagerly, but it just annoyed Sokka more and more that Katara would not leave him alone.

"Come on, lets go outside." Sokka said to his friend, getting up from the table.

"You wanna come?" Zuko asked the blue eyed little girl. "We're gonna play pirates."

Katara shook her head, "I don't like to play pirates."

"Ohh…" Zuko frowned a bit.

"Come on!" Sokka grabbed Zuko's hand and pulled him out side and into the big back yard.

"Don't you wanna go out and play with Sokka and Zuko?" Kana asked Katara.

Katara just shook her head, "I hate playing pirates." She turned on his heels and went to her bedroom, pulling on her little blue skirt. Hakoda was walking into the kitchen, getting ready for work, and was a bit confused to see his daughter walking to her room.

"I wonder what her deal is."

Kana shrugged, "Zuko asked her to go play outside with them." She smiled over at her son, cleaning up from the kid's snack. "He seems very sweet."

Hakoda nodded in agreement, "Very much so. You should see his sister with Sokka, she seems to be quite taken with him."

Kana laughed, "We shall have to have her over as well then. It's nice to have the kids getting to know others."

"Tell me about it, here I was worried that he was not going to fit in at all." He smiled out the kitchen window as Sokka and Zuko were in the wood boat that Hakoda had built for his children, each or them barking orders at imaginary members of their pirate crew.

Sokka liked Lu Ten from the second he meet him. He was 16 and more fun than anyone other teenager he had ever been around. It was likely because Lu Ten reminded him of an older version of his friend.

"You ready?" Lu Ten asked him, a wide smile on his face. He was kneeling down in front of Sokka by the pool, the smell of iced tea and food on the grill heavy in the air.

"Yeeeaaaahhhhh." Sokka said though clenched teeth, "DO IT!"

Lu Ten laughed as he stood up quickly, wrapping his arms around Sokka's ribcake and locking his fingers at his back. He lifted the young boy up, Sokka laughing like mad as the teenager spun them around one, twice, three times. It was then that he leg go of Sokka, propelling him in the air and then into the clear blue water of the pool.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT ANYMORE!" His Aunt Ursa snapped at him, "YOU ARE GONNA CRACK THEIR SKULLS OPEN!"

Hakoda, who was sitting on a nearby patio chair, just laughed seeing the smile that was on both Lu Ten and Sokka's face. "He's fine Ursa."

"Really aunty. They're tough, they can handle it."

"Yeah mom!" Zuko had his arms resting on the side of the pool, looking up at his mother with his swimming goggles perched atop his head. "Lu Ten would not let anything happen to us."

"I know." She sighed, "Don't you dare do that to either of the girls though!"

"I won't I promise." Lu Ten smiled at her, that large charming smile that he was so known for.

Katara was in the pool, her small body floating atop an inflatable ring. She had on a yellow swimsuit and a large pair of sunglasses, sipping on a juice box. Hakoda smiled every time he looked at her. Being a water bender afforded her a certain amount of confidence in the water. She had been a strong swimming since she was just a few years old.

Azula was another story. She had always been afraid of the water and had never even been interested in swimming till this day, until Sokka had been going it in the large pool at her Uncle and Cousin's house. She walked out of the beach house, a purple swimsuit covering her tiny body, an oversized pair of swim goggles on her head and large water wings on her arms. She looked at the water quite confidently, standing at the edge of the pool with her clenched fists on her hips.

"You can do it Azula!" Sokka called out to her.

"YEAH!" Zuko added, "It's easy." He dunked his head under water, his hands waving above his head as he did so.

Azula nodded, knowing that if her stupid brother could do it so could she. Lu Ten came and sat by her on the edge of the pool, looking at her. "Want me to help?" She looked at him and nodded. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, his arms holding her firmly to him. He slid into the pool, pulling her with him.

As soon as the water made contact with Azula's skin she yelped a little bit, which just made Lu Ten laugh. "Don't worry." He assured her, "I have you."

She nodded, clinging to him harder. He shifted her so that she was on his back, her arms still around his neck.

Zuko swam over to them, a smile on his face, "See Azula! It's easy!"

"GO AWAY ZUKO!" She chirped, "You're going to ruin everything!"

Sokka swam on the other side of Lu Ten, drawing Azula's gaze to him. "Not scary at all, right?"

She shook her head holding her cousin tighter, "Not scary."

Lu Ten pulled away from her letting her float behind him. He held her hands into his, pulling her in the water as he encouraged her to kick. Azula just bit her lip nervously, concentrating on her movements as she did as she was told. Ursa smiled out at them, snapping a picture with her camera as her nephew taught her daughter how to swim.

Before long Azula was confident enough to swim alone, her water wings holding her up. The boys would take turns swimming along side her, telling her that she was doing a good job. Azula would just remain concentrated, her little arms and legs kicking furiously under the water.

"Such a brave little girl." Hakoda commented to Ursa, "Not afraid of anything."

"At least not when Sokka is around." Ursa's lips curled up, "I think she can anything as long as he is doing it."

Azula swam by Katara. It was the first time that the two had really been around one another, other than just seeing one another when one of their brothers was dropped off or picked up. Katara just looked at her, then back to her juice box. Azula bumped into the inflatable ring, causing Katara to drop her juice box into the water.

"Hey! You made me drop my juice." Azula looked at her with large eyes, a frown on her face. "Are you gonna say sorry?"

"Katara, be nice to Azula." Hakoda scolded, "We will get you another juice box."

"That was the last apple juice!" Katara cried out.

"We can get more." Zuko tried to tell her.

Katara just looked annoyed at Azula, who still had no intent on saying that she was sorry or anything. Katara waved her hand in Azula's direction. She was trying just to wave her off, to more her away from her. Since Katara was still somewhere unaware of her water bending abilities, she over acted, shoving too hard and creating a decent size wave that swallowed Azula up and threw Katara from her tube.

Lu Ten, who was standing on the edge of the pool with his aunt was in the water in an instant. Even with her water wings on Azula found herself upside down under water, her tiny arms and legs kicking to try and fight for air. He wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled the gasping little girl above water.

"I'm sorry, I'm SORRY!" Katara cried, treading water next to them. It was as Lu Ten drug Azula to the edge of the pool that she started crying, her lungs releasing a tirade of screams and whimpers. Ursa was there to take her wet daughter into her arms, petting the side of her head.

"It's ok baby, mommy has you." Azula just cried in her mother's arms and Hakoda wrapped a towel around the little girl, glaring over at his daughter.

"I'm sorry!" Katara herself was crying now as she got out of the pool, looking over at the adults with her tiny counterpart.

Both Sokka and Zuko were still in the pool, watching as Ursa calmed the little girl. Eventually Azula calmed down, but was still shaking in her mother's arms. Lu Ten had gone back to playing with the boys and Katara in the pool, always aware of the little girl by the edge of the pool.

Azula did not go back in the water that day. In fact she did not go back in the water at all from that day forward, unless Lu Ten and Sokka were there and Katara was not.

"Do you think we will always be friends?" Sokka asked Zuko as they walked away from the soccer field, Ursa a few feet behind them. She could not help but smiled at the two boys, their matching soccer uniforms on with their little bags over their shoulders. She pulled her camera out of her bag, snapping a shot quickly.

"I think so… don't you?"

Sokka shrugged, "I hope so yeah."

"I mean…" He twisted his mouth, not sure what to say.

"I know we will be." Sokka said with much confidence, "I mean why would we not be?"

"Yeah! What could possibly happen that would ruin it?"

"There could be a girl or something."

Zuko groaned, rolling his eyes, "Oh right… girls…"

"Well then we will never let a girl get between us, how does that sound?"

"Deal." Zuko grinned, extending his hand to his friend. Sokka took it, shaking it with much enthusiasm. "Best friends forever!"