Hello, ATLA fandom! It's me, katierosefun! *waves shyly* This is the very, very, VERY first time I'm ever writing an ATLA story so...*clears throat awkwardly* Um...I hope I'll be welcomed to the fandom...?

Right - random, awkward introduction pushed aside, I'll just go straight to the deep, gritty facts of this story - ready? *flashes big grin*

This story will be a ZUTARA. For those of you who don't know, (though I don't know why you wouldn't...) Zutara is the name of the ship of Zuko x Katara. Though I adore Kataang (Katara x Aang) as much as the next fangirl, there's just something so secretive and beautiful and dangerous about Zutara that I LOVE. (Does anyone else feel the danger in that couple? Just me? Okay.)

This story is also a modern day AU, and even though I know that there's a lot of modern day AU fics with Zutara, I promise that I'm not trying to copy anyone's story line. Trust me. I haven't even read any ATLA or LOK fanfictions except for one, and that was a drabble about crazy, sinister, badass Azula.

With that being said, please enjoy!

Chapter One.

Katara Lee had never been so excited in her entire life. She couldn't stop smiling, for one thing, and the constant, energetic tremble in her legs kept reminding her of what was to come in the next three hours. At this very moment, Katara was sitting across her friends aboard a train and they were all waiting eagerly to make their arrival to Saint John University.

Saint John University had actually been Katara's first school that she wanted to go when she applied in high school – it had actually been everyone's first choice. And, by everyone, Katara meant her friends – Aang and Toph. Of course, Aang and Toph got into Saint John University through a scholarship – and an early one, at that. In truth, Aang and Toph happened to be a year younger than Katara, but it didn't really matter. The two students were bright and intelligent, (although they often tried to hide it,) and Katara knew that they would do just fine.

Now, Katara was watching Aang and Toph debate over physical education, which Aang hated and Toph (naturally) loved.

"It's stupid!" Aang said pointedly, crossing his fair-skinned arms. "The only things I've seen during that class are kids getting the seven bells knocked out of them and a bunch of big, dumb jocks laughing over pervy, creepy jokes."

"Dude, remember that I'm one of those big jocks." Toph shot back, giving the boy a small shove. Katara couldn't help but to smile at them – Aang was a sweet, sensitive boy with wide, innocent grey eyes and a cheerful smile on his face. He often reminded Katara of a younger brother, or perhaps a little puppy. Once upon a time, Aang had asked Katara out on a movie date, and Katara had agreed to it. However, after a few months of dating, the two came to realize that they were better as friends rather than a couple.

Toph, on the other hand, was a girl with dark, short hair that was held back by her usual, green hairband (with white puff-balls…which seemed rather ironic to Katara, in her opinion,) and constantly wore a mischievous, smug smirk on her lips. Like Aang, her eyes were a startlingly grey color, only, unlike Aang, her eyes were grey because she was blind.

Of course, Katara came to learn that she was never, ever, ever to underestimate Toph because of her disability. In fact, her blindness only made her a subject of envy for nearly everyone who met her – Toph was one of those girls who could beat up anyone within two seconds. She was constantly able to make her way around and, while Aang was sweet-hearted and kind, Toph was anything but that. To keep it short, Katara could only describe the younger girl as a loud, extremely intelligent tom-boy.

However, though Katara shared her differences with both Toph and Aang, she loved them both all the same – they weren't just her friends, they were her siblings, though Katara was never allowed to say that out loud. (For one, Aang would automatically get overly-gushy about the subject, and Toph would begin sighing loudly about how Katara had been watching one too many chick-flicks. But, Katara knew that the two secretly liked the comment. Still, Katara chose to avoid telling her friends these kinds of things.)

"Yeah, but you're a girl!" Aang was now protesting, rubbing at the spots where Toph's fists came in contact with his arms. As Toph gave him a rather annoyed, angry sneer, Aang hastily added, "Not that that's a bad thing! I'm not being sexist! Girls are great! I mean, not like that but –"

Toph blew out a breath, causing her bangs to flutter above her forehead. "Aang?" She asked in an exaggerated, overly-sweetened voice.

"Er…yes?"

"Shut up."

"…got it. Totally shutting up. You know, shutting up is –"

"Now, if you don't mind."

Aang gave a sheepish smile at Toph and flicked an equally apologetic smile at Katara, who was simply shaking her head at his less-than-clever comebacks.

"Anyways," Katara quickly said before anymore debates could occur between the two, "what classes are you guys looking forward to?"

"You're asking us that question?" Toph asked incredulously, crossing her arms behind her neck. She turned to Katara with chillingly accurate movements. Again, Katara forgot in times like these that her friend was blind.

Katara managed a shrug and replied, "It's better than talking about physical education and the laws of sexism." At this, she gave Aang a pointed look, to which he replied with another embarrassed smile.

Toph sighed loudly and kicked up her legs on the seat next to Katara, ignoring the indignant, disproving hmph sound that came from the older girl. "I'm looking forward to trying out for the wrestling team." She said, drawing out the phrase with a poke at Aang's arm.

Aang rubbed his arm and, though everyone were well aware that he really wasn't physically injured, he frowned, anyways. However, he didn't make any comments on Toph's remark. "I don't think I'm really excited for any of the classes." He said with a small shrug. "They all sound boring."

Toph snorted. "Aw, is Twinkle Toes suddenly shy now?" She asked lightly. "Come on, Aang, we all know that you're just dying to open those boring textbooks."

"First of all, are you ever going to stop calling me that?" Aang asked with a moan. "We're sixteen now – secondly, you're one to talk – we all know that there's a mini Einstein stuck in your head."

Toph nudged Aang again and lowered her feet from the seat. "First of all," she mimicked, "I'm never going to stop calling you that – you're gonna be Twinkle Toes forever. Secondly, well, duh, I have a mini Einstein, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm a nerd, which you are."

Aang rolled his eyes and didn't bother giving an answer. He glared at Katara as if to say, 'can you believe her?'

Katara could only giggle into her hand. Twinkle Toes would always be Aang's nickname – once upon a year in middle school, Aang wanted to learn how to wrestle. (It was an odd phase Aang was going to at the time…)

With the help of Katara's goofy older brother, Sokka, (who also happened to be in Saint John College,) they managed to find Toph, who turned out to be one of the biggest wrestling champs in the entire middle school, hoping that she might be able to 'help' Aang wrestle.

Toph was also the daughter of the king and queen of another country and, in Katara's opinion, was the most unusual princess in the entire world.

Of course, it wasn't that easy – Toph automatically challenged Aang to a wrestling match and it didn't go well. Though Toph was blind and as clever as someone two years her senior, Aang was light on his feet and quick. In the end, Toph ended up losing to Aang in the match solely because she couldn't 'feel' or 'hear' his footsteps.

Once the four (yes, Sokka ended up becoming close friends with Toph as well,) were friends, Toph gave Aang the nickname 'Twinkle Toes' and frankly, Toph wasn't going to give up that name just yet.

"What about you, Katara? Looking forward to any classes this year?" Aang finally asked, choosing to ignore Toph.

Toph snorted and picked at her nails. "I'll bet she's looking forward to the classes – Miss Perfect is just shaking with anticipation –"

"I am not!" Katara interrupted, flushing at the face. The younger girl let out a bark of laughter and replied, "Yes, you are – I can feel it, remember?"

"Ugh – I wish you would stop doing that sometimes." Katara said, shaking her head, but laughed all the same to let Toph know that she hadn't really hurt any feelings. (Then again, Katara doubted that Toph would be too upset about that, seeing that the girls fought like sisters…but it wouldn't hurt to let her know, right?)

"I'm looking forward to the history classes." Katara said at last, crossing her ankles delicately. "Just learning about our ancestors and the past and –"

"'It's so very fascinating and interesting and I just can't wait to get started' and blah, blah, blah, blah." Toph said with a large, fake smile on her face.

"Hey! Were you trying to imitate me? Because I do not sound like that!" Katara protested, but Toph and Aang lapsed into a small fit of laughter.

"Sorry, Katara – but you've got to admit that was funny." Aang said, a wide smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, you two." Katara simply sighed and flicked both Aang and Toph on the arms. "Come on – how would you guys like it if I tried making impressions of you?"

Toph's face morphed into a sober, serious one and she replied, "I'd just love to see you try."

Katara smirked. "Wrong move!" She said, the corners of her lips twitching into a smile. She pretended to punch something and said in a deep, growly voice, "I'm Toph! I'm super strong and I'm gonna kick your butt if you don't get out of my way!"

Toph blinked. "You're making me sound like a dude." She observed, her face expressionless.

Katara dropped her arms and replied, "The truth hurts, doesn't it?"

Toph's face broke into a smile. "Are you kidding me? I sound freaking awesome!" She beamed.

Katara simply sighed into her hands. Aang shook his head and quickly asked, "Did you guys read the news this morning?"

"Of course I did!" Toph immediately said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She waved one of her hands frantically in front of her face and dropped it limply to her side.

Aang winced and said, "Let me correct myself – did you guys hear the news this morning?"

"That's better," Toph agreed and continued, "but yes, I did – isn't Prince Zuko and his sister Azula coming to Saint John?"

"They are." Katara replied, pretending to be interested in her nails. She felt a strange, burning sensation in her cheeks and with a start, realized that she was blushing. Well, how couldn't she? Katara knew who Prince Zuko was – she had had a small (alright, that was an exaggeration,) crush on the prince ever since she was thirteen years old when she first started to pay attention to boys.

Then again, nearly ninety-nine point nine percent of the middle school's (and high school's) girls had a bit of a crush or liking towards Prince Zuko. The point-one percent only contained tomboys like Toph and girls who were already taken, like Suki, who happened to be Sokka's girlfriend.

Aang and Toph, thankfully, did not pay attention to Katara's sudden shyness.

"What do you think they'll be like? Do you think we'll meet them?" Aang asked excitedly. Toph made a bored, exasperated ppsh sound and asked, "Why would you care? Hello, talking to a princess right here, you know!"

Aang smiled. "Well, yes, Toph, but you know what I mean. King Ozai is one of the most powerful kings in the world." He said and added, "Though, he's not exactly the nicest one…"

Toph snorted and picked at her nails again. "Oh, trust me, I know – when my parents used to have meetings with King Ozai, he would act like he's 'all that' and stuff. Basic royalty posh."

"You're part of a royal family." Katara pointed out.

Toph grinned. "Yeah, but I'm not part of the petite fours group, now, am I?" She asked proudly. "Nope, I'd choose the commoner life over being a princess any day." Toph turned to Aang and Katara and added, "And by the way, being a commoner isn't a bad thing, so you guys better not be looking at me weird."

"No, we're not," Katara replied, "but did you ever meet Prince Zuko and Princess Azula?"

Toph snorted. "Nah – I think they were stuck with my parents all day or something. King Ozai just loves dragging them around, I think. I heard from my parents that he isn't very fond of Zuko, though, but then again, I think a baby can figure that out."

Aang and Katara both nodded knowingly – it wasn't a lie. Whenever King Ozai and Prince Zuko were together on the television or radio, the king always seemed to be rather…cold towards Zuko. Of course, no one knew why, but there had been rumors that Zuko wasn't actually Ozai's real son – something about a scandal with Zuko's mother and a friend or something like that.

However, it didn't really make much of a difference – Zuko was still technically part of the royal family, whether Ozai liked it or not.

"Who knows – maybe Zuko and Azula will turn out to be nice people." Aang offered in his usual, sweet manner.

Toph snorted again. "Yeah, and I'll eat my socks when that day comes – trust me, I don't think anything that comes out of Ozai or from that family will ever be nice." She said. "What do you think, Katara?"

Katara blinked and looked up. "Um…I think Aang might be right," she shrugged, "they might turn out to be nice, normal people."

Toph sighed. "Ugh – you guys are so nice it makes me want to barf sometimes." She said and sat up. "But let's get on, shall we? Talking about the news is boring – d'you guys wanna play a game of Truth or Dare instead?"

xXx

After two and a half hours' worth of Toph belching the alphabet and Aang going into a long, detailed story about his pet dog, Appa, the train finally came to a stop. Immediately, everyone rose to their feet in a burst of excitement.

"We're here, we're here!" Katara cried, looking out the window. Sure enough, Saint John University's large, towering building loomed over the train impressively. Students and teachers and tour guides were milling around the school's grounds, Sokka one of them.

"Guys, Sokka's here! He's waiting for us!" Katara shrieked, dragging Aang to the window and poking Toph.

"Wow!" Aang grinned and waved at Katara's older brother, who waved back cheerfully.

"Come on, come on!" Toph yelled energetically, already grabbing for her bags. "You two are so goddamn slow – stop waving like idiots and let's just walk out already!"

Katara and Aang exchanged beams but followed Toph, taking a hold of their own luggage. The three were immediately swept into a crowd of other students, all excited to take their first steps on the school's grounds. Katara found Aang's hand in the midst of people and squeezed it with a friendly smile.

Aang grinned back and finally, the group of friends found their way to Sokka.

"What took you guys so long?" Sokka asked loudly, swinging the three into a warm hug. "Do you know how long I've been sitting out here?"

"It's not like we can control the speed of the train!" Katara replied, laughing. "Besides, you knew that we would coming at this time."

"Yada, yada, yada," Sokka rolled his eyes, giving Katara an affectionate noogie on the head, causing her to squirm out of his group. "You guys all know that it's great to see you."

"Uh, duh," Toph said pointedly, "since we're like, your only friends ever."

"That's not true – Sokka has other friends!" Aang protested, nudging Toph on the shoulder.

"Nah – it's just me and Suki." Sokka said cheerfully, his smile never once leaving his face. "But that's about to change, since you guys are all here!"

"It's 'Suki and me', not 'me and Suki'," Katara corrected gently but was cut off by another noogie on the head.

"Shut up, little sister! You're not in class yet!" Sokka yelled cheerfully and swung his arms over the small group. "Come on, nerds, I'm gonna have to show you where you guys will be sleeping!"

xXx

After Katara, Toph and Aang registered themselves and got their room keys, Sokka led the group to the boys' dormitories. "There's a rule in Saint John's University," he said, turning around to face them all. "Girls and boys aren't allowed to linger in the dorms after nine o'clock."

"Why?" Katara asked, surprised. "I mean, I know that we have a curfew, but what if you're just out with some friends?"

Sokka smirked and clasped his hands together. "According to all of the teachers, they're scared of having girls and guys hanging out with…friends with benefits, if you know what I mean."

It took a few minutes for Katara, Aang and Toph to piece together what Sokka meant. "Oh, my God, Sokka, do the students actually get caught?" Katara asked, feeling her face heat up.

Sokka shrugged. "I think a few students got caught a couple of years back, but they didn't get into too much trouble – they were using protection and everything." He replied easily, sticking his hands in his pockets. "But still, I wouldn't risk it."

Katara nodded knowingly and the group walked down the halls in silence until they came to a stop in front of one of the doors. "Aang, this is your dorm room!" Sokka said cheerfully. "You've got the keys, right?"

Aang nodded and after a few seconds of digging in his pockets, he finally yanked out a small, thin, plastic card. Sokka took it and said, "You'll be getting a roommate – most of the time, you'll end up being besties with your roommate, but other times… " The older boy didn't bother finishing his sentence and swiped the card with a flourish.

"Well, here we go, Aang, this'll be your room – oh." Sokka abruptly silenced himself as he swung open the door.

Katara, Aang and Sokka all blanched at the person standing inside the room. Toph poked Katara, confused. "Why are you guys so quiet now?" She asked huffily. "There's someone in the room, I can tell, but I mean…what is it? Is the guy disgusting?"

Toph turned to the person in the room, who was calmly unloading his bag on one of the beds. "Sorry," she said carelessly and poked Katara harder in the ribcage. "Well? Who's the unlucky guy?"

"Unlucky?" A deep, somewhat annoyed voice came from the figure inside the room and Katara felt as though someone had kicked her in the stomach.

Toph frowned and she, too, blanched. "Er…" She murmured and whispered, "Is that…? I mean, we were just…"

"It's Prince Zuko." Aang mumbled, staring at the dark-haired, young man in the room.

The prince blinked and held up his clothes. "That's right," he said slowly, as though they were all simpletons. He turned to Aang and asked, "Are you my roommate?"

Aang nodded wordlessly.

If Zuko sensed any tension, he didn't show it. Instead, he snapped his fingers towards the bed with his suitcase placed over it. "I already claimed that bed." He said coolly. "And I know that the students will have to get to the dining hall in a few hours, so you might want to unpack quickly."

A/N: *wrings hands nervously* So...what did you guys think? Great? So-so? Burn-it-in-the-weird-creepy-flame-thingies-on-the-Fire-Nation-throne-and-throw-it-into-the-abyss? *smiles sheepishly* Well, I tried.

Aang: Trying's good - you did your best, didn't you?

Me: Yeah, I suppose...

Toph: YOU DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH! YOU HAVE TO BE FOCUSED AND READY AND -

Katara: *claps hands over Toph's mouth* Calm down, you're scaring everyone.

Toph: *smiles evilly* I AM THE EVIL MELON LORD MWAHAHAHAHAHA -

Sokka: O.O That's enough sugar for you.

Me: *snorts* You're one to talk!

Sokka: Okay, the one time I took your chocolate bar -

Me: IT WASN'T ONCE! IT WAS THREE TIMES! DO YOU KNOW HOW ANGRY I GET WITHOUT CHOCOLATE?! THEREFORE, SINCE YOU ANGERED ME, YOU MUST DO THE REVIEW NOTICE!

Sokka: Ugh. No. Fine. Ugh. Please review, give constructive criticism if you have any, and no flames. Flames are bad. Like, Fire Lord bad.

Zuko: Hey!

Sokka: No offense. XD

Me: Bye, everyone!