Author Note: This is an idea I've had for awhile, and I'm not sure if it's too good, so no flames ok? I'd really appreciate the reviews, and tell me if I should keep going. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. Simple enough?

The girl shivered suddenly, rubbing her exposed arms in a desperate attempt for warmth, but to no avail.

Maybe dad was right. It's too cold for tank tops…

At the thought of her father the girl's throat constricted.

Has it really been two years since the last time I've seen him…

She glanced around the dimly lit bus to clear her mind, the excitement she felt three and a half hours ago completely drained.

Yi' Won was the biggest boarding school in the world, with students attending from every nation. Its academic records were outstanding; its athletic wins difficult to compete with. And yet, the concept of updating a simple bus somehow eluded them.

At least give it a decent paint job, for Spirit's sake! The dull blue isn't working.

The fourteen year old slowly blew on her freezing hands.

Perhaps her brother was right in grabbing a sweat jacket at the last second… and if it were possible, did it just get colder?

The girl stared at the boy in question sitting beside her on the two person bus seat. He was noisily rummaging through his messenger bag, papers and wrappers falling out only to be stuffed back.

She rolled her icy blue eyes at her brother's ridiculous antics. But that was what made him special; what brought a smile out of her when she was sad, who held her close when she was afraid; her brother was her anchor and even though he was slightly annoying at times and they had their fights, she loved him deeply.

Finally, after a few moments of searching through a sea of un-organization, her brother found what he was looking for: a pencil, which he held like a trophy over his head.

If you could find anything in that bag of his, The girl mused to herself, it should be considered a victory

"Watch and learn, Katara." The girl's older brother announced, poking his younger sibling in the ribs. "This takes skill."

Katara gave her brother a sarcastic grin. "Maybe you should find some, Sokka."

The boy ignored the snide comment, and took a breath as a look of complete concentration took over his face.

Katara held back a giggle at the absurdity of it all.

Why couldn't the Spirits have blessed her with a normal brother who did normal things?

Snapping his clear blue eyes open, he attempted to make the pencil in his hand spin around his tan fingers, but failing miserably as it banged against the glass window beside him and landed in his lap. It stared up at him, as if to mock him.

Sokka grasped the pencil tighter and tried again, groaning as the pencil refused his wishes of an interesting trick.

With one last grunt of anger, Sokka threw the pencil to the ground and watched it roll under the seat and out of view.

He glanced out the grimy window (now with a notable pencil mark). "I didn't really want to do it… It was weird anyway…"

"Weird?" Katara asked, arms folded over her chest. She watched her brother roll up his sleeve and flex his arm, making faces of pride the whole time. "No… weird, is making muscles at myself every time I see my reflection in a window."

She watched in satisfaction as Sokka's face turned from one of shock, then of frustration.

He turned towards her, glaring. "Hey I wa-"

Suddenly, the bus lurched forward, sending the siblings crashing into the seat in front of them.

Screams of terror and of plain confusion aroused in the small bus, mixing with the distant sound of gravel under the tires.

Sokka grabbed Katara's upper arm in one hand and the corner of the seat in the other, as his sister nearly tumbled to the ground from another jolt.

The bus bounced and the two clung to each other, eyes wide in uncertainty.

Katara grinded her teeth as she was jumped up and down in her seat.

Are we crashing? There was so much I still had to do! I can't die on this stupid bus!

The vehicle stopped with an abrupt halt, sending Sokka's dindgy blue hoodie over his head and coating his world in darkness.

Katara buried her face into her brother's arm, shaking slightly.

Sokka placed a protective arm around his quivering sister, trying to control his own panic as well.

"Are we dead yet?" He asked, slowly pushing the hood of his sweat jacket back, afraid of what he may see.

Katara sat up, hands clenched and still trembling.

Unshed tears seemed to keep her from speaking and when she pushed past the lump in her throat; her voice was horse from the screaming that occurred. "I-I don't think so…"

The mechanic sound of the rusty bus doors caused Sokka and Katara to leap an inch out of their skins. It seemed so un-naturally loud after what just happened. The noise echoed in the bus as the riders sat stone still.

"Alright, Yi' Won! Everyone out, and remember your stuff! I ain't delivering if any of you forgot." The crabby bus driver shouted, staring down the teenagers with an eye of an experienced executioner.

Sokka's cheeks flushed a bright red at the mention of last year's incident.

Two weeks… no clean underwear… a man can only endure so much…

Sokka sent a quick thanks to the heavens for a postal system.

After an instant of silence as the riders examined themselves for injuries, there was a mad dash for the door as students grabbed their things and rushed eagerly to escape the screaming metal death trap.

Katara watched them leave, a sigh escaping her lips.

There weren't many people on the bus, but from what she remembered, they were all returning for another year at Yi' Won.

There was a tallish girl with light brown hair near the front. She was clad in a green sporty tank top, a little yellow emblem sewed over the heart of the shirt. She had sat near her friends, all sporting the same shirt, but with not as an impressive looking insignia. They were the Kyoshi Warriors, the school's resident girl Karate team. And the girl, Suki, was their captain.

Katara smiled in recognition as the team left the bus.

The rest of the students Katara didn't really know as well as the Kyoshi Warriors, but they were all familiar. Some kids were from where she herself lived, the rest arrived at different pick ups she didn't care to remember.

But one thing connected every student on the bus. They were all from the South.

Sokka stood shakily, messenger bag slung over his shoulder and duffel tucked under an arm. "I'm not gonna forget my stuff, Katara. Not this time…"

Katara quietly noted her brother's ever growing paranoia as she grabbed her own light blue duffel and scooted into the aisle, ready to leave, but Sokka stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, who's that?" He said in a hushed whisper, head gesturing towards the back of the bus.

Katara turned, her long brown braid whacking her face rather harshly, but she hardly noticed. Her full attention was focused on the small body whose chest rose and fell in an even pattern.

Just barely visible over the tops of the seats was a boy, no more than twelve with shaggy black hair and pale in complexion.

He sported a too big light brown hat that fell over his eyes, a bright orange t-shirt, a yellow sweat jacket, and brown baggy shorts.

Katara raised her eye brow in confusion.

Is he… sleeping?

Indeed, the young boy was sound asleep, a small snore escaping ever so often.

"Is he asleep?" Sokka asked incuriously, echoing his sister's thoughts.

Katara threw her bag at her brother, who caught it, but just barely.

"Hold my stuff. I'm going to wake him up." She commanded, marching down the aisle and towards the sleeping figure.

"Aw… Katara! I want to go before all the good rooms are taken. I don't want a repeat of last year… Katara… Katara, are you even listening to me?"

He threw the bags down on the seat, and joined his sister at the back of the bus.

He casted a wary glance at the bus driver, who had his feet up on the dash board and hand folded over his protruding stomach. A loud nasally snore escaped his large mouth, which was better than what he usually yelled at them. Sokka let out a quick sigh of relief, but was troubled as he saw his sister approach the resting student, a hand reached out to shake his shoulders.

"Katara, let's just go. Leave the kid!" Sokka said, grasping at his sister's arm as he tried fruitlessly to drag her away.

She pulled away and shot a powerful scowl in his direction. "If someone finds out about this, you know what will happen. He'll be bullied mercilessly… not to mention what the driver would say. We have to help him. Besides, I think he's a first year. It's the least we can do."

Sokka set his jaw at his sister's stubbornness. "No, the least we could do is leave, which is exactly what I'm gonna do! If you want to go waste your time with some random, strange kid. Be my guest. I'm hungry, and I'm out of here before we get yelled at."

Katara's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she slammed her fists downward. "Sokka,

y-you are the most self-absorbed, immature, nut brain… I'm embarrassed to be related to you! If you want to run off, go. I don't care."

Sokka backed away from the angry girl, knowing from experience not to stray too close. "Fine, fine… I'll stay. Geez, we gotta work on your anger, Katara."

Katara sighed. "You're unbelievable…"

Her words trailed off when she examined the boy in closer detail. His legs were crossed, hands in fists on his laps.

What an odd sleeping position…

Her lips turned in a motherly smile as she reached over to shake him awake, but was once again pulled back.

"Sokka! What now?" She asked, hands on her hips as she stared her brother down. "What could possibly be wrong now?"

Sokka held another pencil in his grasp and a wary expression on his face. "Katara, you don't know what that thing is."

"It's not a thing, it's a boy… and where did you get that pencil?"

"Shh…." Sokka commanded, placing a thin index finger over his mouth.

He began to poke the child in the stomach with the tip of the pencil, but the kid gave no response other than a low moan.

It was Katara's turn to yank her brother back. "Really Sokka? Really? Poking him?"

"Hey, I just want to make sure your safe. I promised dad tha-"

"It's a little kid! I think I'm well protected. Now, are you done?"

Sokka fell back behind his sister, still staring at the sleeping figure, waiting for a sign that he may attack. "Yea, I'm good… go ahead. Wake him up now."

A moment of silence fell as he rolled the pencil between his forefinger and thumb. "Do you want to use my pencil…"

"No!"

"Ok, Ok… no need to blow up about it…"

Katara squatted near the ground so her eyes were leveled with the boy's head. She placed a hand gently on his cold face. "Hey… wakey, wakey. Come on, it's time to go. Are you ok?"

The boy turned his head, as if trying to shake himself from a terrible nightmare. "Ugh…"

Katara stood and pushed his hat back, silently checking for a fever and repeated her question as the boy's eyes seemed to close tighter. "Are you ok?"

His eyes flickered open and he gasped slightly, eyes locked onto Katara's.

He sat up suddenly, startling Sokka who put up his hands in defense and held his pencil as if a weapon.

The boy rubbed his neck, glancing between the two siblings that stared at him nervously. "What's going on here?"

"You tell us!" Sokka nearly screamed in his face. "What were you doing sleeping on the bus?"

"I… I'm not sure…" the boy answered blearily, rubbing the sleepiness out of his stormy grey eyes. "I guess I was just kinda tired."

He stretched widely, yawning simultaneously. "Man, that ride felt like a hundred years! Uh… how long was I asleep?"

Katara smiled uneasily, helping the boy to his feet. "Awhile, I guess… I haven't seen you around before, first year I presume, otherwise you would've known better than to sleep on the bus. Kids get teased pretty badly around here."

"Eh, getting teased isn't new to me…" He said sadly. His face cleared and a bright smile replaced his grimace, so quickly Katara wasn't sure he ever frowned in the first place. "Thanks for waking me up. Who knows how long I would've slept if you hadn't come."

He reached down to grab his light orange suitcase, which was knocked to the ground during the bus ride.

When he turned back around, he found his hand being shook, and after a second of surprise he returned the gesture with much vigor.

"Well, I'm Katara…"

"Don't tell him your name!"

"… and the paranoid one is my brother, Sokka."

"Don't tell him my name!"

The boy casted an uncertain glance at the teenager standing behind Katara. "Uh…"

Katara nodded in solemn understanding. "It's like I said: paranoid. Anyway, you haven't told us your name."

Katara realized her hand was still clasping the young boy's and she pulled away, blushing slightly.

He took back his own hand more slowly, almost as if in a trance, but he shook his head and he broke free.

"Oh! Sorry. I guess I just spaced out… uh, my name is A… A… Achoo!"

He sneezed loudly, falling back into his seat, his hat somehow still on his head as his bag went flying into Sokka, who cried out in alarm.

The boy immediately jumped to his feet with such speed that Katara took a cautious step back and Sokka yelped in surprise.

"Boy, it's really cold in here!"

Katara fidgeted her hands in impatience. This boy got distracted very easily… but it was kinda cute… in a childish way…

"Yea, it's like an iceberg." Katara answered, watching him zip up his sweat jacket to contain body heat.

The boy nodded slowly. "Well, I'm Aang."

"It's nice to meet yo-"

Sokka pushed past his sister, standing between her and Aang. He clapped his hands in mock joy, his voice thick with sarcasm. "Ooh! Goodie, we're all acquainted!"

His face hardened as he stared down the short, first year student. "Now, if we're all done hugging each other… I think I'm gonna go get my room assignment before you guys start singing Kumbya around a campfire."

Sokka was about to walk down the aisle, but not before shoving a light orange suitcase back into its owner's arms. "I think this bruised my ribs."

He stalked away with his shoulders hunched, picking up his messenger bag and duffel on the way. "Are you comin', Katara?"

Aang gave a huge grin, totally oblivious to Sokka's unexpected hatred. "It was nice to meet you!"

Sokka gave the fakest smile Katara had ever seen. "Likewise."

Katara looked forlornly down at Aang who stood about five inches shorter than herself. "I'm really sorry about him… he's just really over-protective and… hey, Aang?"

Aang's eyes widened, like a child caught daydreaming, which he was, "Huh? Oh, yea, it's alright."

His attention skills defiantly needed much work…

"Do you know anyone who's here? Is anyone waiting to show you around?"

"Um… no… you and your brother are the first people I've met so far." The boy answered, shuffling his feet uncomfortably, silently begging the teenage girl wouldn't dive for more information.

Katara's hand seemed to shoot out by itself, and somehow it found its way to Aang's shoulder. It squeezed, care radiated from the simple touch. It took all of Katara's self control to keep shock off her face. After-all, she barely knew this kid… yet she already felt a strange connection to him. She felt the deep need to help him, she felt as if her world shifted and already Aang was beginning to change her life.

"Why don't you come with Sokka and me. We can show you around. Just follow us, and you'll be fine."

"Wow, you'd do that for me? Thanks! I'd really appreciate it." He agreed, staring deeply into Katara's eyes.

Katara forced herself to look away from the strange boy.

What is wrong with him? And why does he keep looking at me?

"Uh… why are smiling?" she asked worriedly when Aang's constant staring didn't detour.

Does he always smile like that? Maybe that bus ride has left him brain damaged…

Aang shook his head, grey eyes blinking rapidly. "Oh? I was smiling?"

Sokka, who was still waiting for Katara by their bags, groaned and stomped out the door with Aang and his sister in close pursuit.