Pass It On

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Disclaimer: I do not own "Avatar: The Last Airbender" or anything in it. If I did, it would probably stink.

Note(s): Another Alternate Universe story brought to you by me! (The other one is pretty much done at this point so I don't feel as guilty about starting this one. Haha!) This is a High School AU, yes, but definitely not your typical one! It contains a lot of different pairings. (Too many to list.) Prominent in this story are Aang/Katara, Zuko/Katara, Zuko/Mai, Sokka/Suki, and Jet/Zuko. (Giving you the heads up now so I don't hear any complaints!) The story focuses on the kids and how they handle a full year of high school. They fall in and out of love, hit or miss at sporting events, deal with parental issues, and other surprises you'll just have to read to find out! Please review! (I like them. They make me feel special!)

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Pass It On

By Kyatto

Chapter One: The Fearsome Foursome

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Ba Sing Se High School was definitely not your typical educational institution. For one thing, unlike a lot of schools, it started at grade seven instead of grade nine. And for another, it was one of the most pretentious private academies in the nation. It only accepted the best of the best, and those who made it in pretty much fit the bill. However, like most high schools, it fit majority of the standards. There were plenty of cliques, and a visible distinction between the grades and social classes. Every group had something unique, and everyone one of them had a story to tell. One of them tends to stand out among all the rest.

For a first year freshman, Aang had a tendency to draw attention to himself. Not many twelve-year olds had the ability to draw attention to themselves. Especially not from upperclassmen. However, he was not your average preteen. He had been accepted in on a sports scholarship. Track, to be specific. Out of all the runners, even the seniors, he was one of the fastest athletes the school had ever had. He was nimble and lithe, and for what he lacked in height he made up for in athleticism. Despite the strict dress code, the school let him get away with his blue arrow-shaped tattoos, as it was considered part of his religion and heritage. With one of them being on top of his bald head, it was pretty hard not to notice. Needless to say, Aang sometimes stuck out like a sore thumb. Not that it was a bad thing.

He lived at a small Buddhist monastery. His primary caretaker was a monk named Gyatso. The two of them were very close. It was Gyatso who encouraged Aang to complete his education at the high school, rather at the temple's small academy. He was always concerned about the boy's well-being and felt the better education he got, the more opportunities that would be in store for his future. With his content and wholesome life, Aang had no lack of confidence, and quickly caught the eye of just about everyone in the school. After the first few weeks, Headmaster Kuei wanted to make him an icon. An "avatar" of a sort. He became the president of the first year class, and represented it in the brochures and interviews for the school.

Despite his busy life, Aang was still just like any other kid. He had his friends. One of them was someone he fancied a great deal. A third year student named Katara. Her father had been an alumni and as such she and her brother, Sokka, got in without much issue. Quickly, she began to make a name for herself, becoming one of the stars of the swim and diving teams. The aquatics center was one of Katara's favorite places to be. Sokka often joked about her being a dolphin in a past life, because of how much she loved the water. Her thin and ample form made swimming easy for her. Needless to say, she definitely got attention from the male student body. Not to say that she was "popular", far from it, but she did have her admirers. One of them happened to be a charismatic fifth year, Jet, of whom she was currently dating.

One of the things that drew attention to her was that her family, and a few of the others, came from a different region. Unlike the majority of pale students, her skin was fairly dark. Katara also hard waist-length wavy brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Another reason why her family got an easy in into the school- racial diversity, something the institution prided on as well. There were a few others like her. Yue, a fifth year debate team captain who used to date her brother, and Hahn who was the captain of the senior wrestling team. With her unique looks, and athletic abilities, she had come close to being considered and elite in her class. She also had a very kind and caring nature. Whenever the school would have a charity event, she would be the first to volunteer. Often she was seen handing out fliers for the latest food drive, or car wash. A fact that sometimes got on her brother's nerves.

Her brother, Sokka, was the captain of the fifth year wrestling team. He often gotten into quarrels with the senior captain, Hahn, due to the fact he was evenly matched in skill. This tended to draw attention to him by the female populace of the student body. Not only was he a decent wrestler, but he was also high ranking when it came to their Tae Kwan Do squad. (Ba Sing Se High was famous for its nearly unlimited choices of athletics and extracurricular activities.) He was laid back and fairly sarcastic. It took a great deal to move him. Katara would come to him with the latest tragedy and unless it was particularly traumatic, he tended to shrug it off. The aura of aloofness also attracted his fair share of girls. His friend, Toph, was no exception.

Toph Bei Fong was another star first year. She set the standard for those who got in on disability. Despite being blind, she was at the top of her class, and a star athlete on many of the teams she ha d joined. The school liked to brag about their lead field hockey player being blind, and still able to leave the other team in the dust. She was brash, brutally honest, and sarcastic in her own right. Despite being blind, she didn't let that fact get to her. Even though she looked strong on the outside, she had her own issues. Her parents liked to shelter her, which was one of the reasons they insisted she attend Ba Sing Se High. They were one of the wealthiest families in the city and paid the school extra to make sure she got exactly what they wanted for her. That meant private classes with Professor Yu, and extra supervision when it came to her extracurriculars. All the attention bothered her. Toph wanted nothing more than to be treated like anyone else. She wanted to get down and get dirty like the best of them, without someone waiting on her night and day to check for scrapes and bruises. That was one of the things that drew her friends, Aang, Sokka, and Katara to her.

The four of them, named "The Fearsome Foursome" by several of the school's faculty, were inseparable when they weren't in class. They were seen together outside the school before the first bell, in the halls between classes, and they always had the same lunch table. Some said it was fate that they all shared the same lunch period. One afternoon during the last week of the first month of school, when they all got their meals, they sat at their usual table by the window. It became their ritual to discuss their day together over food. That day it was some sort of cabbage loaf (the male cafeteria worker was crazy about that particular vegetable), which meant the conversation had the possibility to turn interesting.

"Thank goodness I found it," Katara sighed as she sat down in her seat, adjusting her necklace. "The last thing I want is for it to get lost or stolen."

The necklace was an heirloom from her mother. When she and her brother were young, their home had been robbed. Their father had stayed at work late, and their mother tried to fight them off. She hid them in a closet and took a shovel to them. Unfortunately, one of the robbers had a gun…and she couldn't get out of the way in time. It had been a rough time for the whole family. The necklace was all she had left to remember mother by. She never took it off.

"You really should get the clasp fixed," Sokka told her, poking at his food with a chopstick a few times before taking a bite. "The darn thing keeps falling off."

"I could fix it for you," Aang offered with a small smile.

"That's very sweet of you, Aang," Katara smiled back at him. "But it'll be fine, really."

"Dumb old Yu keeps making me go over the basics," Toph grumbled, kicking at the floor. "He can't seem to believe that just because I'm blind, doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"Teachers are like that," Sokka informed her. "They have this mentality that everyone under eighteen has the IQ of a gnat."

"You're just saying that because your science teacher didn't like your idea for a hydrogen-powered submarine," Katara smirked.

"What? I think it's a perfectly good idea!"

"How practical of you, Snoozles," said Toph. "Did you think of it while you were napping?"

"Well…yeah. But it's still a great idea!" Sokka insisted, looking flustered.

"Better luck next time, Sokka," Aang shrugged. "Hey…Any of you coming to the meet Friday? We're up against Omashu Academy."

"Of course," Katara nodded. "I owe you for being my main cheerleader last week."

"We already know you're going to leave them in the dust anyway, Twinkle Toes," Toph smiled. "You always do."

"Thanks," Aang beamed.

Before they could add anything else, Sokka got a dreamy look in his eyes and sighed.

"What's wrong with Sokka?" Toph made a face.

The others turned to look. A sixth year girl with short brown hair and an elegant face, wearing a dance team uniform, walked by with some of her friends. It was Suki, the lead dancer in the "Kyoshi Squad", the school's dance team. She was also in the Tae Kwon Do class, which was probably how Sokka knew her. Sokka had a knack for falling for the strong girls, whether it was physically or their personality. Recently, he had taken an interest in her, after she knocked him flat on his back during a match. She had been on his mind ever since.

"Oh, it's Suki," Katara groaned. She was tired of hearing about her every day when they went home. "Hey Sokka, whatever happened to Yue?"

"Huh?" Sokka blinked out of his daze. "Oh? Yue? I don't know…She's more into Hahn. I don't get why. The guy's a jerk."

"So now it's Suki then," Toph did her best to keep the small hint of jealousy out of her tone.

"Well…yeah. Why not? She's the best," he smiled, the dreamy look back in his eyes.

Suki caught him looking at her, smirked, and wave. He grinned sheepishly and ducked his head behind his hand, making it look like he was whispering something to Aang.

"Smooth, Sokka," Katara commented. "Real smooth."

Just then, she saw Jet walk by and she caught his eye. He was with his group of friends. When he saw her, he grinned and winked. Her cheeks flushed pink and she fidgeting with her hair. For some reason, he just had that effect on her. She was completely infatuated with him.

"Ahem," Aang cleared his throat, biting his lip. He didn't like Jet at all. Especially when he made Katara get that way. "Sokka's free to like who he wants to. At least she's not a user." He was clearly referring to Jet.

"Do you even know what that means?" Sokka laughed.

"Of course I do!"

Katara smiled after she took a bite of food and patted him on the arm. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said when he saw the look of concern on her face. "I'm fine."

"Just making sure," she shrugged. "You've been moody lately."

"Yeah, Aang," Toph agreed. "Even I can see it."

'Because you're dating that thug Jet, when I clearly like you and treat you better' he wanted to say, but didn't. Instead Aang grinned. "Just stuff going on at home. Don't worry about it."

They ate and joked around for a few more minutes until the bell rang.

"Well, off to the field I go," Toph announced, dumping the leftover contents of her tray into the trash.

"I'll walk you," Sokka offered. "It's on my way to History."

"Tech Lab for me," Katara said. "Want to come with me, Aang? Your locker's right by it."

"Yeah," Aang nodded. "I need to grab my stuff for Biology."

Sokka and Toph went off in one direction, while Aang and Katara went off in another.

"Aang…." Katara said quietly when they were in the hall. "I know something's bugging you. You can tell me."

"I told you, Katara," Aang replied. "It's nothing."

"You get all weird whenever Jet is around," she pointed out.

"You're imagining things."

"I don't think so," she shook her head. "Come on. Tell me."

"Maybe it's because I don't like him, okay?" Aang snapped, and then looked away.

"Why?" She frowned.

"He's a jerk," he grumbled. "A big jerk. Not to mention he's a thug. He steals from the school treasury."

"That's what Sokka said too," Katara sighed, a sad look in her eyes. "But I trust him. I asked him about it, you know? He said he was framed."

"He's lying," Aang still wasn't looking at her. They were nearing his locker.

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"Just promise me you'll be careful around him?" He told her when they reached his locker and he fumbled with the lock.

"Alright," she nodded. "Take care. I'll see you after class."

"See you."

Katara sighed and shook her head as she walked off. Just the other day Sokka told her that Jet had been seen messing around in the Student Council's office. When she called Jet to ask him about it, he told her an elaborate and well-detailed story about how someone had framed him for revenge. Being his girlfriend, she wanted to believe him. There was just something about Jet she was attracted to. They met during the first week of school, when they did a car wash to raise money for the local soup kitchen. He was there along with his usual gang of friends. They got to talking, and he told her how he liked to help people. Most of his friends were a variety of misfits who were attracted to his strong and charismatic nature. She admired him for all the good it seemed like his was doing. However, after all this she had been hearing, among other stories she overheard whispered in the halls, she wasn't sure. She wanted to believe him, feeling that there was good in all people.

What snapped her out of her daze was a loud bang. Katara blinked twice and stopped in her tracks for a moment. An older student, with baggy clothes and shaggy dark hair that looked like it was styled to cover something on his face, had just smashed his fist into a locker. He left a decent-sized dent, form the look of it. She frowned, looking worried. The boy was obviously upset, from the way his shoulders were heaving as he panted. Katara debated going up to him and ask him if he was alright, but the warning bell had sounded. So instead, she shrugged and quickly made her way to class.

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Note(s): That was the first chapter! More to come. Hope you all like it!