This is my first Zutara and is probably going to be really crappy but I'll do my best

It was just another day when my life changed nothing special. Well, not at first. I lived at a military base with my brother and dad. It was in Afghanistan, most people have forgotten that we're still waging war there but my family hasn't. This was the real war on terrorism, the search for Osama Bin Laden. My father was a captain in the Navy working side by side with my best friend's dad.

My best friend was Yue. She was also my brother's girlfriend, small world huh? She had blonde almost white hair and was tan as anybody else here. You get the picture. I guess I'm stalling you came here to hear the nitty-gritty stuff right?

So like I said it was a normal day when Bato walked in. He was dressed in all black as usual. He had been injured while in battle not bad enough for them to send him home but bad enough that he got stuck with Reaper duty.

The air was frozen as he surveyed the single room of the on-base school. Everyone was waiting to see who those sorrow filled eyes would land on, well almost everyone. There were some who had already had a visit from an injured soldier. Then there was me, I had gotten the role of the on-base counselor so I was preparing for my next patient. Then I heard the class gasp I looked up and followed Bato's gaze. It fell on the desk in between Yue and me.

Sokka. No please be a mistake. Bato's eyes moved again until they had captured mine. The class was silent as they waited for me to burst out crying many ready to return the favor of a comforting hand.

I stood up eyes dry and said in a voice as devoid of emotion as it would get "We should go pack."

Sokka stood and followed me out the door. As soon as we were back in the privacy of our own tent tears began to fall from his eyes. I reached out and hugged him close, he was all I had left. I knew what would happen next. We would be shipped back to America to live with a woman we had only met at our mother's funeral.

The tears wouldn't come out though I had cried before. It was like this when Mom died I felt to empty to cry even though that's all I wanted to do. I wanted to fall on the floor and cry till I was dehydrated.

But I couldn't. So I remained strong for Sokka instead. Gently rubbing his back as he soaked my shirt through with tears that I wished I could shed.

/

The house was blue. It was two stories tall and blue. I always liked the color blue. My favorite color was white but I liked the color blue just as much.

We were in California at the front stoop of my Gran-gran's house. She lived in some name-less town half way in between Ba Sing Se (L.A.) and Omashu (San Francisco) and an hour's drive away from the beach. It was ok the place I would have loved to come to when Dad was done with his service. Well I guess you could say he was done I mean he wasn't doing anything more. I got my wish, there I was. I would have given anything to be back on that military-base.

"Well let's go," Sokka said with a sigh "We can't stand out here all day."

He knocked on the door and an elderly woman answered it. She looked just as sad as I felt but attempted a smile and a joke. "We gotta stop meeting like this."

I chuckled and put on my best smile. "Hello Gran-gran, nice to see you again."

She saw through it like I always use to see through my peer's best smiles. Funny isn't it how quickly roles change. "Please, please I have some company, your new next door neighbors." Haru was my old next door neighbor, I miss him.

She led us to her living room where a man about her age sat next to a boy that looked to be about Sokka's age with a huge scar on one side of his face. People probably stared a lot; I barely saw it I was used to scars. "Iroh I'd like you to meet my grandchildren Sokka and Katara. Sokka, Katara this is Iroh and his nephew Zuko."

"Nice to meet you." I tried my smile again while shaking their hands. Iroh saw through it as well as Gran-gran did but Zuko, well, I could have sworn I saw a flash of jealousy in those molten eyes.

There you go tell me if you like it if not don't read it. So yeah like I need to know what I should make my background ships. Well what the end result should be, of course one-sided Tokka and Kataang are a given it wouldn't be A:TLA if there wasn't, so VOTE for your ship and I will at least sneak it in there.

Platypuses Love Rock