A/N: It has been a long time. No need to tell me. Instead of updating with a new chapter, I am revamping the story altogether. Don't like it? Tough. I can tell you one thing; I was not about to attempt to improve that poorly thought out pathetic excuse for a story. No sir. The gloves are off, my hands are poised to type and I'm ready to begin this tale anew.

South of the Same

Summary: Call it whatever you want, high school jitters are the worst and Katara is chock full of 'em. With an unfamiliar path in front of her, what or who could Katara find along the way? Zutara AU Revamping in the Process

Chapter 1: Blueberry Tangerine

Chapter Summary: The brief opening of the story begins with a harmless game of soccer. Katara sweats over her upcoming high school-filled future and her brother is of no help at all. Katara receives an invitation and is eager to see what will come of it.

All standard disclaimers apply

"Katara over here, over here!" Aang called running down the fence line.

The grass was torn up under Katara's feet. Even though this was a completely unofficial game she still had the adrenaline rush of a real game and played like it. It was two against one. Aang and Katara were on a team and Sokka was his own goalie. His lean body did little to cover the space between the two baby trees they were using as a goal. Poor guy.

"Katara, pass it!" Aang called once more. Katara's cerulean eyes locked with her brothers. He thought she was going to shoot. To his obvious surprise Katara faked a shot and heeled it over to Aang. She didn't like being predictable.

Just when she thought that the game was won, Aang, distracted by his gleeful laughter, reared his leg back too far and made too strong of a kick for his body to sustain balance. Then with a loud thud, he fell. Sokka ducked the shot and it flew into the alley causing a bang and a cat of some sort to screech. Katara gasped and ran to Aang's side.

Aang was spread eagled on the grass his bald head gleaming in the sunlight. His eyes were slightly out of focus and his fingers twitched. Katara kneeled down beside him and waved her small, tan hand in front of his face. "Aang?" she called softly, obviously concerned. "Aang, are you alright?"

Slowly Aang blinked and sat up rubbing his bald head. "Ugh," he moaned. "What happened?"

"You fell." Katara said. She smiled kindly and extended a hand, "Nice shot though." Aang grinned and used her hand as leverage to stand. Sokka was laughing hysterically still ducked down in the goal.

"Did you see him fall!?" he said between fits of laughter. "That was hysterical!"

Katara crossed her arms and looked at her brother sternly. "It was not funny, Sokka. Aang could have seriously gotten hurt!"

Sokka uncurled his fingers from the grass and stood wiping the sweat from his brow. "Yeah yeah, whatever you say 'Tara." He said dismissively and went to fetch the ball from the alley.

Katara rolled her eyes and grabbed Aangs blue-arrowed-hat from the ground and brushed off the grass and dirt. "Here you go, Aang. Maybe next time we should play something a little safer."

Aang nodded and slipped the hat over his large round head. "Yeah, but it was fun while it lasted!" he was always so optimistic. Katara loved that about Aang, he saw the Brightside in everything.

"Let's go get some lemonade before your Aunt Momo comes." Katara said cheerfully. Aang gave her a huge childish grin and practically sprinted his way through the back door and into the kitchen.

Katara followed after him but at a slow walk. She had been 'baby-sitting' Aang for over a year now. With his Aunt and Uncles difficult work schedules neither one of them could properly look after Aang. Sundays were the only days Katara didn't have him over. Besides, leaving him alone would just bore him. Not that Katara minded. Aang was actually one of her closest friends and they paid good money for her to just hang out with him.

Aang was sitting at the cluttered kitchen table sipping on her Gran-Gran's infamous lemonade. The neighborhood kids would always come around hoping that the kind old lady would offer them a glass. Gran-Gran was drying the dishes and humming a flat tune. Katara smiled and grabbed a glass and poured.

"I found this boy just starved for some lemonade." Gran-Gran said turning to face Katara and Aang who were now both seated at table. The thing that made Gran-Gran special was that she was stern but sweet. It was an odd combination but it just who the old woman was.

"Everyone is starved for your lemonade, Gran-Gran." Katara smiled and ran her fingers down the grooves of her braid. Gran-Gran shrugged off the compliment and said, "I'm going to pick up a few last minute things for your school year. I'll be back in a little while."

Katara nodded and gulped down the rest of her drink watching her grandmother leave. Katara picked up her empty glass along with Aangs and began refilling them. She knew Aang would want seconds.

"So are you excited about high school, Katara?" Aang asked innocently.

"I guess so." Katara said carefully. She plopped in a few fresh ice cubes to keep the refreshing chill. "I mean, I don't think much is going to change."

She passed Aang his lemonade and sat down across from him. "Thanks," Aang said taking an appreciative sip of his drink, "But what do you mean? I thought that everything changed when you got to high school."

Katara shrugged. "There are going to be the same rank teachers, boring classes, gossipy cliques and perverted guys. Nothing interesting."

"Isn't high school supposed to be the 'highlight of your life'?" Aang asked only half kidding.

"Not the way Sokka talks about it." Katara said with a small smile. Just at that moment Sokka came in sweaty and grass strained and dropped the newly fetched soccer ball to the floor carelessly. He ignored the extra glass on the countertop and began drinking straight from the pitcher greedily. Most of the liquid was running down his face rather than going into this mouth.

Katara groaned in disgust and Aang began laughing. "You're repulsive." She said as he set down the now empty pitcher. He belched rather loudly and gave her a cocky look before exiting the room dribbling the ball between his feet. Katara rolled her eyes, boys.

Just as Katara turned to Aang again the doorbell rang. Aang stopped laughing and his face fell, "That must be Aunt Momo."

"Must be," Katara said standing. "On Monday we could play a video game or something." She said this in hopes that Aang's mood would lift. It did. Making Aang happy was never a challenge.

Katara opened the front door and gave the mousy woman standing there a sweet smile. "Hi Aunt Momo."

Aunt Momo blinked her large, tennis ball green eyes in response. Aang sidestepped around his aunt and gave Katara a cheery wave before hopping into the old Volvo. Aunt Momo nodded and handed Katara a twenty. Katara called 'bye' and shut the door. The woman paid good, very good.

Katara had told Aang her opinion about high school truthfully, but she didn't tell him that despite her opinion she was nervous. Of what, she wasn't sure. In Jr. High she had been elected class president, gotten above average grades, was friendly with everyone, and participated in every fundraiser possible. Katara knew high school would be a transition but she had come so used to how she was in younger grades. She only hoped her identity wouldn't be completely lost. The only person she could talk about this with was Sokka, unfortunately. It would be best to put a conversation with him off until later.

After a refreshing shower Katara went online. She wanted everything taken care of before she went to speak with Sokka. As soon as she opened her e-mail she saw a forwarded invitation to all the Springfield High students. It read:

Dear all Springfield High students,

Chad Anderson, junior, is cordially inviting all students to one massive end of the summer pool party (yes, even you freshmen)

Food and beverages will be served

The times are from noon to five on August 27th, the day before school starts

The address is 6769 Wall Street

Be there

Katara stared at the screen. How unexpected. As soon as she printed out the paper she walked directly into Sokkas room, not caring if she knocked or not. Sokka immediately flipped off Americas Next Top Model and looked flustered as Katara blinked at him in surprise. "I-uh-haven't you ever heard of knocking? I was watching the game! Jesus."

Katara smiled slyly. "My apologies Miss. Banks."

Sokka opened his mouth to reply but snapped it closed. "Was there something you needed?" he asked this obviously irritated.

"Yes actually," Katara said holding out the printed paper. "Who is Chad Anderson?"

Sokka swung his legs off his bed and shook out his hair. "So you got an invite for tomorrow, huh?" his sister nodded. "Chad is a guy I play football with. Nice guy, rich, good player. You want a ride there?"

Katara nodded. "Thanks."

"…are any of your friends going?" Sokka looked uncomfortable. He probably just didn't want her to be his tagalong the whole time. Katara nodded, "There is no way Suki would pass this up but Song isn't going to go, we know that." She thought about her friends scarred up legs and frowned fingering the thick strap of her mothers' necklace.

"Is Yue going?" Katara asked. She was rather fond of her brothers' girlfriend though fully aware of Sukis' crush on Sokka.

Sokka nodded and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, I think so."

Katara sat next to him and set the paper aside looking rather solemn. Sokka looked confused until Katara started talking. "What is high school going to be like?"

Sokka shrugged rather glad of the change of topic. "Probably no different for you." He said. Katara looked hopeful. "You'll get shoved into lockers, turned down for dates and be your typical loser self."

Katara looked outraged and Sokka looked absolutely serene. That is, until Katara rammed her knuckles straight into his male pride. With that she snatched up her paper and stalked from the room ignoring the thump that was her brother falling to the floor in fettle position.

Slamming her door behind her Katara kicked her wood bedpost. Was he ever capable of taking things seriously? Maybe she overreacted just a little but was it too much to ask that she had a civil conversation with her brother about her concerns? She flipped through her CD's. Though Blondie was tempting she chose The Donnas and the angry rock girl music drowned out her disappointment in Sokka.

Her walls were a soothing indigo with wood floors. She put a snowy white throw-rug down to give it more character. The rest of the rooms' accessories were cozy. Her animal skin blanket with fur trim was practically the theme. She loved her room, it was her own space.

She sat down at her square vanity showered in beauty products and pictures of her and her friends. The vanity belonged to her grandmother from way back when and she loved it. But as she stared at herself in the mirror the music, the sanctuary of her room, and the beloved vanity all disappeared. Her fingers toyed with her necklace again and she took it off to a reveal an ugly scar.

Every time she saw the angry red ring around her neck she winced, and now was no exception. She remembered how she had gotten it all those years ago but wished she had amnesia of it. She picked up a silver handled brush and ran it down her smooth waves of hair forbidding herself to reminisce.

Her cobalt eyes caught sight of a picture of her and her father about three years ago, when she was Aangs age. He had been gone since then with a letter every few months or so. He was fighting in the war which she knew she should be proud of, but still she felt despair at his absence considering he was the only parents she now had left. Everyone told her that she was the spitting image of her lovely mother, body and soul, but Katara had one thing that connected her to her father. Her laugh. It was light and cute and the kind of laugh that made everyone around laugh too. Katara held pride in that genetic.

Maybe her mother, or even her father, felt as uneasy as she did about taking this next step of her life, she never got the chance to find out. Katara never objected to change but there was still that feeling tugging away at her insides that something wasn't right. She had to keep reminding herself that there wasn't much to expect from high school other than work, drama, and stress. Then another part of herself, a part of herself she couldn't control, felt that maybe that was only half of it. Perhaps the pool party would calm her nerves.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Katara murmured and tied the precious necklace around her neck once more.

A/N: I take pride on this revamped first chapter. I couldn't say this last time. I honestly can't tell you that I am the best at proofreading and I wouldn't mind assistance. Hint. Many of the changes are immense, I know, but I also know you won't be disappointed, my readers. The second chapter is yet to be altered so don't both looking ahead until you see the new title.

Yes, the chapters are indeed receiving titles now. They're nothing that portrays any meaning. They are just to inform the readers of a new chapter. Mostly I am going to use things around me. 'Blueberry Tangerine' is the flavored water I was drinking while writing this chapter.

Coming up: The pool party and more high school jitters