Chapter 1 Where it All Started
Zuko had lived in the suburbs his whole life. He knew almost everyone is his cul-de-sac starting with Mr. and Mrs. Ying at one end of the street and ending with Ty Lee and her family on the other side. All of the houses had always been occupied except the house directly to the right of his own. For the longest time there was a for sale sign in the front yard of the house, until today. After Zuko walked home from his elementary school this for sale sign in front of the house was replaced with a sold sign.
Zuko walked in his house, carefully avoiding his father who was probably sitting in the den with his daily bottle of liquor, and made his way to the kitchen where his mother and uncle were sitting at the table drinking tea.
"Hey Mom, hey uncle," Zuko greeted the adults in front of him, "Why is there a sold sign in front of the house next door? Did someone finally buy the house?"
"Hi Zuko, yes actually that's what your uncle and I were just discussing." replied a cheerful Ursa.
"Yes nephew I am pleased to inform you that you will be making new friends," Iroh stated, "I know the man who is buying the house quite well, he is a very good customer at the tea shop. His name is Hakoda and he has two children about your age. His son, Sokka, is 11 years old like you and his daughter, Katara, is 10 years old."
"Oh, that's wonderful Iroh! Zuko and I will be sure to greet them when they come. When are they moving in?"
Before anyone could answer her question, a moving truck pulled up outside along with a mid-sized car.
"Maybe they are moving in now, a friday afternoon is a good time to start unpacking and moving furniture." Iroh stated.
Iroh, Ursa, and Zuko walked to the front door and out onto the large porch. A tall, tan, muscular man with blue eyes and medium length hair got out of the driver's seat of the car. In the front seat, eating what looked like some kind of meat sandwhich, was a boy that looked his age with tan skin, blue eyes, and brown hair that was somewhat pulled back into a hair tye. Getting out of the backseat of the car was a pretty, little girl that looked a little younger than Zuko. She too had tan skin and blue eyes, but her brown hair was pulled back in a type of braid with two pieces of hair clipped into the braid by beads. She was carrying a box and walking to the tall man who was most likely her father.
"Hakoda! It's so nice to see you, and you as well Katara." Iroh said cheerily as he made his way down the steps towards them.
"It's nice to see you too Mr. Iroh." Katara said with a toothy smile.
"Ursa, Zuko come and meet your our new neighbors!" Iroh said calling them to where he was.
Ursa descended down the stairs of the porch with Zuko right behind her. When they reached Iroh Hakoda put out his hand to shake Ursa's and introducing themselves.
"I'm Hakoda it's nice to meet you, and this is my daughter Katara, she's 10. My son Sokka is 11 and he's the one sitting in he car eating." Hakoda introduced as moved to the side so they could see Katara easier.
"Hello Hakoda, I'm Ursa and this is my son Zuko, he's 11 as well. My husband Ozai is inside along with my Daughter Azula who is 9. Welcome to the neighborhood." Ursa replied with a bright smile. "Zuko, why don't you show Katara your room and the backyard."
"Okay, it's this way." Zuko gestured towards his house and started to walk in that direction. Katara muttered an okay and walked with him up the porch into the house. They walked through the hallway and made their way to the stairs that led to the bedrooms. Upstairs were several large rooms and the room at the very end was Zuko's. It was painted a dark red color with a large bed that had silkey blankets on top. There was a new TV mounted on the wall and an XBOX connected to it, with a piled of games next to it.
"Well, this is my room it's not that exciting though." Zuko said uninterested in his room but more interested in the girl in front of him.
"Wow, your room is so big! And you have the coolest stuff, Sokka has an XBOX but he doesn't let me play with it or go in his room really." Katara replied.
"Well you can play with mine if you want, but don't tell Azula i don't let her use it. She always is trying to break my stuff."
"Oh", she said with a smile, "Thanks! And don't worry I won't, do you wanna go in your backyard? I love being outside in the warm weather."
"Sure, me too! But first let's go into the kitchen and get some bread."
"Bread? Why are we getting bread?" She asked a little confused.
"You'll see, come on." They both made their way out of his room, back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Zuko grabbed a piece bread for Katara and himself before leading her out the back slide door. They walked out and down the back porch and on the small path in front of them.
"Oh my gosh you have a pond! And there's ducks swimming around!" Katara exclaimed.
"That's why we got the bread, so we could feed the ducks, I don't know if you like ponds but..."
"I love it back here! The ducks are so cute!" Katara cut him off before he could finish. She ran to the edge of the pond and little ducklings came up to her quacking. She bent down and started petting the baby duck.
"They really like you, they usually only come to me or my mom, not even uncle."
"I love animals maybe they can just tell." She responded.
Ursa, Iroh, and Hakoda came out into the backyard about an hour later to find Zuko and Katara sitting by the pond laughing and smiling.
"That's the first time I've seen her laugh like that since her mother died almost a year ago." Hakoda stated to them.
"I'm so sorry to hear that Hakoda, I didn't know." Iroh said comfortingly. Just then Zuko and Katara caught sight of the three adults and came rushing towards them.
"Mom can Katara stay for dinner and hangout for a while after?" Zuko asked extremely excited and determined. Ursa hadn't seen her son happy like this in a while because of Ozai.
"It's fine with me as long as it's okay with her father, Zuko." Ursa said happily.
"Dad, can I? Can I pleaseee?!" Katara begged.
"Alright it is a Friday, but not too late because you have to help unpack your things."
"Yay! Okay, thanks Dad!" Katara exclaimed.
Katara and Zuko ran back inside of the house excited that they would be able to hang out together longer. Hakoda and Ursa stood outside laughing and talking about their children while Iroh went inside to make more tea.
Okay so this is my first fanfic ever so let me know what you guys think of it. Like it? Hate it? This is a definite Zutara story all the way, but it's a modern take on their lives. I also wanted to make this a story where they've been friends for a while and already have a friendship going before they're teenagers. This story will pick up in the next couple of chapters so be patient with me because it will be worth the wait!