A/N: So, I mentioned something about working on a story that surronded my songfic, right? Well...here's the first chapter. It doesn't explain much more than the songfic, but yet again...here it is! I'll be sure to post chapter 2 soon. It's told from Katara's perspective so this should be interesting.

Note- Once as story gets on, I'm going to need to take a break from writing such sad things. A few random oneshot plot bunnies have been hopping around my head for the past week. Augh. I'll be back with that as time goes on.

Chapter Song- All That I've Got- The Used ( Perhaps I'll make a playlist for all these songs eventually)

Disclaimer- I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, characters or any of the other awesomely epic components of the show. The rambling is all mine, though I don't think anyone would WANT to steal that.

Chapter One- Dealing

It was official. I was home sick.

"Katara!" Gran- Gran shouted.

I spun around and squinted into the sun reflecting off the snow as I searched for her face. She was leaning outside the second story window of our new home built by "Gran Pakku".

"Mhm?"

"Please come scrape the stove of this morning's breakfast! And I think Oki threw up in there somewhere." she shouted.

I glanced down at my newly acquired baby dolphin-cat. She stared up at me with those huge innocent eyes…I didn't buy it for a second. "Perfect," I muttered to her.

I pulled my feet out of the snow and entered through the stone doors of our new cottage. The silence was deafening. I could hear the ocean outside lapping against the icy shore. Nothing was comforting about this ice monstrosity. At all.

Yes. I was definitely home sick. These houses, this place, even my family made me sick to my stomach.

The house only reminded me how much had changed. My family had been driving me crazy. Suki and Sokka were spending some time on Kyoshi Island, leaving me alone with my dad, Gran-Gran and Pakku. Worst of all, my relatives from a neighboring village were visiting. The kids were all boys, all younger, and infuriatingly annoying.

The Southern Water tribe was rebuilt into a cultured and developing society. It was nice to see, but it looked nothing like the home of my childhood. Instead, it looked like an icy Earth kingdom city. Stone was imported to help stabilize the structures so our houses were no longer pure ice. Gardens of lichens and other hardy plants decorated the town. New plants had even been discovered. Towards the north, a tree called the pine-oak was founded. They grew like weeds, growing up to a foot in a day. These trees had finally spread to our village and covered great expanses of land in between villages. They were gorgeous, majestic, and even provided us with food, but I held no intrinsic value to them. The trees were too new for me to associate them with home.

"Home is where the heart is?" I said bitterly as I scrubbed the stove clean. "Home is about two thousand feet above ground, flying high in the sky. Home is where the heart is?" I threw my cleaning rag to the icy floor. "LIES!" I shouted, listening to the outburst carry throughout the house. Foot steps came clunking down the stairs.

Oops.

"Katara?" I heard my dad's voice inquire.

I resisted the urge to run out of the house and hide in a snow bank. I'd rather freeze than listen to another one of his "coping with the situation at hand" talks.

"Hmm?" was all I answered.

His figure appeared in the entry way from the stairwell. "You seemed pretty angry. Anything you would like to talk about?"

Not with you, I thought spitefully. I turned around to look at his face. It was full of genuine concern. All my rage dissipated briefly. I suddenly felt horrible for pushing him away recently. Here was this man who gave up everything to keep whatever was left of his family safe. I let out a resigned sigh.

"No, Dad. Just the same old deal. I'm just frustrated with these chores. Blubbered seal jerky isn't so easy to scrape of stoves. Especially in sub-thermal temperatures."

"So you're calling it a liar?"

"…wouldn't you?'

He rolled his eyes and sat down on a skin covered chair. He folded his hands in lap and examined my face. His position reminded me of the time when Sokka was pretending to be a psychiatrist in the Fire nation. I stifled a laugh; this was not a time to be giggling about Sokka's shenanigans. That was a happy time, even if it was a few nights before a possibly deadly invasion. I wouldn't have called this particular time "happy". My dad's cough interrupted my daydream and I snapped back to reality.

"You don't have to lie to keep your pride, Katara. I know you're upset, honey, but what Aan-"

"I never even mentioned that. He has nothing to do with my problems now." He shot me a look that suggested other wise.

"Katara, the more you shrug it off, the worse you'll feel. Opening up helps you heal. I felt tons better after talking to Gran- Gran."

"Dad," I complained. There was no reason for him to dwell on his lost love. He had done so much for us already.

"I mean it. We should just talk about it. You will be surprised how much better you will feel."

Now my patience was wearing thin. I felt a tantrum coming on. Probably because of the time I spent with those brats. If there was a competition of "Greatest Tantrum Thrower", they would win the bronze, silver, and gold.

"No. I won't feel better. It'll just be opening up old wounds and that's not something I need. Not now, not ever. Just leave me alone and let me "cope" with this in my own way. I thought I was doing a fine job, personally."

My voice regained some of the life it used to have in it. Unfortunately, it only reappeared so I could yell and whine at my father. It made me no better than one of the cousins I resented. Absolutely perfect.

My dad's eyes grew wider as he cringed away from me. Where had I seen that before? I tried to think of where I had seen it, completely wrapped in the memories of my seemingly distant past. Oh! It was like the face Sokka had when I freaked out on him before we found…I turned around to make sure I didn't split the wall in half. No damage done.

"Well, if that's what you want," he timidly replied.

"Yes."

"Well…"

"Well, what?" I said fiercely.

"Nothing, I'll leave you alone. Try not to reprimand the scale- ball in the corner over there."

"Sure, fine whatever," I spat. Geez, what was my problem? I couldn't seem to leave the guy alone.

Once as my dad exited the house, I leaned tiredly against the counter. It couldn't have been later than ten o'clock, and I already wanted to go back to bed. I finished cleaning the stove and swiftly cleaned the corner with a flick of waterbending. I glanced around the room, checking to see if there was anything else to do. Lunch was thawing on the counter and the rest of the house was organized. I knew that for a fact for I was the one who did it. Though everything was as perfect as I could make it, something didn't feel right. I circled the bottom of the house, checking for some discrepancy, but found nothing. Fed up, I headed out of the house and into the raw winter air. I headed up a small snow bank and was greeted by the infinite ocean. I sighed and breathed in the salty ocean air.

Just when all seemed semi- okay, it happened; the wind blew. Not just a small breeze, but a huge, bone-chilling gust. It tore through me, exposing the insecure, broken child beneath. Memories of him flashed before me. My throat to closed, choking me.

Oh, maybe that's what was wrong; the fact that Aang was gone. Not dead, but he mind as well have been. It'd been three months since I'd last heard from him and more than likely my last. The emptiness killed me slowly. How was I ever supposed to get over this? Any movement of the air was like a taunting mockery of him.

Living on the coast certainly wasn't helping the situation, either. Wind was quite common here.

"I need to get out of here," I whispered to myself as I curled up in a ball on the frigid snow beneath me.