Chapter One: You Found Me

I dragged my foot forward until it came into contact with the small stone in my path, and it bounced a few yards away. This was my favorite thing to do as a traveled; it kept my mind off things that I would rather not think about. Don't dwell on it, Haru, I told myself, just think about something else. I came upon another rock and tried to kick it without breaking my stride but I missed, my boot only grazing its top, and the stone merely flipped over.

I had been travelling for several days by then. Just walking, sleeping, eating, and walking some more. I was on the road to Ba-Sing-Sei, the Earth Kingdom capitol, but other than that I wasn't sure where I was going. I would figure it out when I got there.

I avoided other people when I could, only venturing to markets on my path when I needed to work for some extra food. I gathered most of my other meals from fishing, picking berries, whatever I could find. It had been a long walk and I was getting very tired, but my last temporary employer said I was near my destination.

Gradually I started to hear voices approaching behind me. Usually whenever a group of people drew near me, I would make camp for the day or stop to gather food, waiting for them to pass. I did not do so just yet, however; I decided to listen for a moment.

"But Soooookkaaaa…." I heard a young boy groan, "I don't waaant to walk. Remember the last time we walked? We walked right into a Fire Nation camp!"

"Oh stop complaining, Aang," replied an older boy's voice. "Zuko and his men are miles away from us, remember? We lost them all the way back at the North Pole. I bet they don't even know that we're heading to Ba-Sing-Sei. We even saw Zhao, remember, heading in the complete opposite direction!" I heard his voice crack with glee at the last statement.

The boy apparently wasn't listening, though. "Hey, Katara, you remember that day when we were walking? And Sokka's instincts helped us carry our packs?" the boy said, giggling. I drew in a sharp breath. Did he say…Katara? Oh, it would be so nice to see her again… Then I let logic creep into my mind, although it was disappointing— There must be tons of Katara's in the world. It's probably not her.

I started listening more closely and walked slower now, however.

I heard a girl's voice giggle. "Yeah, do you think it's time to ask again? Hey, Sokka's instincts…"

This time I stopped dead in my tracks. I would know that voice anywhere. The realization also sparked another memory, of the two boys— their voices and names matched up with my recollections. This was no coincidence….

I took off my pack, heart pounding, and pretended that I needed to adjust the strap. Soon they had rounded the small bend in the road that had previously separated us.

"Hey look, a traveler!" I heard Aang say to his friends. Then his footsteps came more quickly as he ran toward me. "Hi there, do you know if there's a market around here?" he called.

I looked up, but not at Aang. My gaze locked onto Katara's and my heart skipped a beat. She immediately cried out, "Haru!" and ran right for me.

She grabbed my neck in a tight hug and I smiled sheepishly. "Hi Katara," I said, pulling away and grinning.

"Oh Haru it's so good to see you again!" she cried, beaming.

"Hi there, Haru!" said Aang, flashing me a grin as his pet lemur hopped onto his head.

"Yeah, nice to see you," said Sokka, also smiling. "Where you headed to?"

I greeted the two boys and then replied, "Ba-Sing-Sei."

"Really? So are we!" Aang said. "I'm gonna learn Earthbending from the Master in the city!"

I nodded, remembering that this was the Avatar. He needed to master all four elements, unlike me; I was only an Earthbender.

"Come with us, Haru, we'll walk together until we reach the city," Katara suggested.

"Great idea," I said, smiling and lifting my pack onto my shoulder.

The giant bison behind them grunted and Katara turned to face it. "Aww, Appa wants to fly, don'chu boy?" she cooed, rubbing the animal's heavy fur. "What do you say, Sokka? Give our guest a ride on Appa?"

Sokka looked up at the sky, frowning thoughtfully. "Well, there are some clouds out now…" he said thoughtfully. Then he announced authoritatively, "Let's go, we'll be safe with them as cover."

Aang cheered, leapt about ten feet in the air, and landed on Appa's saddle.

As I climbed up with the others, Katara muttered to me, "Don't get the impression that Sokka's the real brains of our group— he just likes to act bossy. He didn't care that 'the clouds are covering us' —" she adopted a lower voice, mimicking Sokka's for the last phrase, "or whatever… He was just getting sick of walking."

I hoisted myself onto the bison and grinned. "Okay, Katara, whatever you say." Typical sibling rivalry, I thought with a smile, remembering my own— No, Haru. Don't think about that right now.

I had hardly sat down when Aang proclaimed, "Yip yip!" I was about to ask what he was saying when Appa threw himself into the air and we were flying! I gasped and clutched onto the saddle, looking down at the earth from the sky. The treetops were indistinguishable blotches of dark green, and huge lakes turned to shining puddles. There were clearings here and there, and I could even see ant-like lines of travelers on the roads.

"I'm not sure that I like flying so much," I said, cringing at the long drop below.

Aang just smiled. "You'll get used to it! For now, just don't look down."

I was happy to take his advice and scooted closer to the middle of the saddle.

We plunged through a layer of clouds, and then Appa slowed to a more comfortable pace. I relaxed my fists, clenched out of fear, as Katara turned to me. "So Haru," she said, now that there was no roar of wind in our ears, "why are you going to Ba-Sing-Sei? What about the fight for your village?"

I felt a cold feeling sweep through me but I think I managed to keep my face impassive. "I… I'm going to learn advanced Earthbender technique here. I've surpassed even my father's abilities; he says he has nothing more to teach me."

Katara beamed. "That's great, Haru! Oh, doesn't that mean you'll be working at the same place as Aang?"

"I guess it is," I said, a slight ray of hope shining through, the cold feeling lessening slightly. I guess I won't have to be just another homeless kid after all. At least I know where I'm going now.

There were only a few more hours until the sun started to go down. Katara had to poke a dozing Sokka and say, "Oh leader, sir, will you command the pilot to land this ship? It's getting dark."

Sokka jerked awake. "Ehh…what?" He blinked, the information taking a moment to register. "Oh, yeah." Then he adopted a supposedly stronger voice, ordering, "Aang, bring the ship back to port," and within the next five seconds was snoring.

Katara looked at me and giggled. I would have grinned back but I was desperately clenching the edge of the saddle again, for Appa was diving down to earth at another uncomfortably fast speed.

"You don't like flying much, do you?" asked Katara after we landed.

"Not exactly," I replied, following Aang to our campsite. "I feel a lot more comfortable on the ground." I sat down and bended few rocks into a circle to make a place for the campfire.

"I guess it must have something to do with being an Earthbender, huh?" she said, dropping a few sticks into the circle.

"Yeah, probably."

We got the fire started just as Aang came back. He dumped nuts and berries that he had collected into a basket, and Sokka proudly arrived with a dead rabbit a few minutes later. That evening I enjoyed one of the heartiest meals I had had during my entire journey so far— without even counting the food, I enjoyed the smiles, laughter, and even a sibling fight. It was just nice to be with people again.

In no time at all Aang had fallen asleep with the lemur curled up on his head. Then Sokka and Katara had a squabble over who got the comfier sleeping bag for the night, but besides that everyone was peacefully snoring in a matter of minutes.

However I still lay on my back, unable to fall asleep. I was used to the silence of solitude at night— not the stirring of a lemur, a teenage boy's snores, or a giant bison's occasional grunting. I sighed, looking at the stars, and wondered… should I have told them? No, it's better this way. I turned over onto my side and let sleep cloud my thoughts.

"Haru! Hurry!"

I turned around with a worried look on my face. All I could see in the gray, cold, night was my mother, her face dimly lit by a lantern. "But Mom, what about you?" I asked frantically, my voice cracking.

"Just go, Haru! Don't look back!" She pointed ahead of me forcefully. I knew I had to obey.

I took a few steps back, a feeling of dread taking over me. Finally I turned and ran as hard as I could. I couldn't see anything now; the dark around me blurred as I choked back tears. I could hear, above my own footsteps and the pounding of my heart, gruff voices in the distance.

Then— a sudden flash of light and a scream.

With a gasp I woke up. It was before dawn; the sky was a deep purple and there was dew on the grass around me.

I put a hand to my face, still breathing hard. There were wet streaks running down my cheeks. I quickly rubbed them away and turned over, but I couldn't get back to sleep.

Author's Note:
Okay, so here is the first chapter of my Katara-Haru fanfiction. Yes, it will be romance, but mild and not over-fluffy. It's also pretty angsty, and I'll try to put some action in. Constructive criticism very much appreciated, and I hope this is an improvement since my last fanfiction (Sweet Flame --- now deleted because of its extreme horribleness).

If you have a problem with Karu then that's okay, flames are welcome! I know there aren't many obsessive Karu fans out there so I hope you'll read just for the fun of it.I really decided to write this because I was horrified when I realized there was not one full Karu fanfiction on FFnet; the pairing has so much potential! I'm not a crazy shipper or anything, in fact I like pretty much all Het ships --- Karu, Kataang, Zutara, whatever.

Thanks SO much to the amazing Elle, a.k.a Hotspur, who had influenced my writing, helped my plotline,encouraged me to post,and is generally awesome! And of course she also thought up the story title, I think without realizing exactly how perfect it was!

And another thanks to RabidFangirl67, my fellow Karu shipper, who also Beta-ed!