AN:

Alright people. So after a whole year of nonstop fanfiction reading, I've decided to write something of my own. That's an euphemism actually. Truth is my head just wouldn't leave me alone until I put something into paper (or in this case, black tiny pixels) so I needed to ease the massive headache in my... head (I did really have a headache).
For starters, I have no idea how long this will be as it is my first time writing anything fanfiction-related, I'll just post this chapter for now and see if anyone likes it.
But really my main reason to want to write this piece is because of the lack of Kataang fanfics lately. I know the hype for it isn't as big as it was all those years ago, obviously, but I think the Avatar fandom is still very much alive what with all the comics and etc. So I thought, 'well if there are no more Kataang fanfictions anymore I guess I gotta go all DIY on this shit'. And of course, this is an AU, so characters are slightly OOC to fit in.
So there it is. An extremely long AN that probably bored some people out of their minds by now, but I deemed it necessary.
Just one last thing. This may have some minor cussing; and the rating might change from T to M in later chapters. Ok, I'm done now. Oh wait, we need ages, right?

Aang: 17 Katara: 16 Sokka: 18

'in quotes' = speech

'italic' = thoughts

Other characters' ages will be dealt with if they appear.

Commander: On to the story soldier!
Cadet: Sir, right away, sir!

I don't own ATLA, it belongs to Bryke. I don't own deadmau5's 'Seeya' either.

Artwork: By molokolo. Check his Deviantart!

All I Had

Ch.1

"And you can move my body, but please keep my mind asleep"
deadmau5 - Seeya

Sweat dripped from the boy's head as he entered the last quarter of his morning jog. He brought a hand up to his forehead to brush the shaggy hair off his eyes. It had gotten sticky sometime along his running and it was becoming gradually more difficult for him to see anything in front of his feet.
'Should probably cut it short soon,' he thought as his sneakers slammed against the hard cement sidewalk.

*BEEP*

The clock on his wrist drew his attention out of his thoughts.

Time: 32:13 / Distance: 2,64mi / Average rhythm: 4,97mi/per hour

'Damnit. Gotta work on that time,' was his last thought as he passed the pine tree that signaled his informal finish line. He doubled over his stomach and put his hand on his knees in exhaustion after tapping the screen of the clock for it to stop recording his training. The sun had been unrelenting that particular afternoon. This had been routine for the seventeen-year-old for the last few weeks as he struggled to adapt to the new city he suddenly found himself in. 'Since that horrific night,' he reminded himself bitterly. He had always been an easygoing, fun-loving and goofy kind of boy, but that part of him went to the backstage since the tragedy, and a new (and unknown to him until then) partly gloomy part of him had manifested itself on the boy's head.

He lifted his eyes after a few seconds recomposing himself and frantically looked for a bench to sit on. He spotted one on a parting on the cement walk that went deep into the park. It was surrounded by the tall pine trees on all sides and it all but looked like a clearing to him. It was an incredibly seclude and quiet place. After a few minutes lying in the uncomfortable dark wood in a state of semi-sleep, he heard a pair of voices from the distance, getting louder with time.
'stop...babying...can take care of myself!' he managed to hear a full sentence when they were close enough. It was a feminine and soothing voice.

'At least it would be if she wasn't as angry as she sounds,' he thought, chuckling.

'I'm just trying to look out for you, sis. You know that guy was a jerk.' A second, male voice presented itself. 'Anyway, I'm gonna hang out with the guys and you can do.. whatever it is you do on your weird afternoon walks,'
'Do me the honors, dear brother' the girl sneered, faking an exaggerated bow at her brother.
'Just be on your way woman,' he deadpanned. The girl only snickered a bit in response.

After that brief exchange, Aang heard light footsteps coming his way and opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of a blue eyed girl about his age looking at him from above.
'Sorry to disrupt your slumber dude, but can you move a bit so I can sit? This heat is too much for me to handle,' she said.
Unfortunately, he was not prepared for her to be so close to him and he automatically lifted his head in shock. He ended up hitting her chin and she fell to the floor in pain.
'Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! You caught me on surprise there,' he quickly apologized, his vision blurred and his head dizzy from the impact. He got on his feet and went over to the girl, offering his hand to help her up.
'It's okay, I guess that wasn't the best way to wake you up,' she replied, taking his hand. He pushed her to her feet with a little bit more force than necessary and they ended up stumbling backwards.
'Geez, I am just not making things easy am I?' the dark haired boy scolded himself aloud. He internally cringed at his ability to mess things up.
'I'm used to doing that myself, don't worry,' she said, flashing him a smile that he was sure could light up the world if the sun wasn't already so bright.
'Uh..yeah, I guess my superpower is allowing myself to mess up in every possible situation,' he sarcastically explained after regaining his speech, shaking his head.
'I see,' she replied, laughing. His eyes softened a bit at the sound of her laughter. It was so sweet it reminded him of fluffy puppies. He shook his head again, clearing his mind of the weird thought. 'So, you came here for deserved rest, let's not keep you waiting anymore,' he said, gesturing to the bench with his head.
She thanked him and they both sat down. She broke the silence after a few awkward seconds.

'Soooo..I don't think I've seen you around here before, are you new in town?' she asked, resting her left arm on top of the bench.
He turned to her, wondering how to best introduce himself to her. It wasn't until now that he noticed what she looked like, the dizziness of the previous head-banging wearing off. She was the perfect definition of beauty to him. Pools of blue filled her eyes, and her chocolate hair had been pulled back in a french braid. She wore a black regatta that stopped at her navel, showing just a bit of her stomach, blue leggings that went to her ankles, and she had wrapped a white jacket to her waist, the back of it covering her rear.

He had to stop himself from looking any further to her body so that she wouldn't be weirded out and instead focused on those safe havens she had for eyes.
'Y-yeah, I actually just moved here a month ago,' he stammered, still marveling at how freaking pretty she was. His mind was going nuts and his body reacted in a way he didn't necessarily thought adequate for the situation and he scolded himself again, this time for not being able to control himself.
'Oh, nice. So I think you're going to attend Lyra High, right? I mean, it's the only high school in town, of course you're going there' she winced at her obviousness. 'I'm Katara by the way.' she said, always with that characteristic sweet voice tone.
'Aang, pleasure to meet you,' he said, extending his handing and shaking hers. 'And yeah, I'm on my junior year now.'
'Oh..it's my sophomore year now..' she replied, dropping her head, secretly disappointed by not having her classes with him. Aang then noticed that their previous misfortunate encounter had actually managed a small cut on her chin, which started to drip a little bit of blood.
'Hey, uh.. you got uhm...something.. on your chin.' he said, his cheeks coloring slightly in shame by having caused it to her.
'Really?' she raised her arm and tried to wipe it away with the back of her hand, but only managed to stain her hands with red fluid. She gasped as she realized what that 'something' was.

'Oughtta fing a way to properly apologize' he thought as he searched his pocket for the handkerchief he always brought in his training. 'Here, let me help you,' he said finding the rag somewhere in the deeps of his pocket.
He raised his left hand to her cheek to hold her face still while his right one peppered her chin in a boldness he didn't know he possessed.
Her cheeks bloomed in color at his touch, but he, by some holy miracle, managed to focus on his task, even though her full pink lips were begging him to kiss her.
He cleared her chin of all the offending liquid and then handed her the cloth for her to clean her hand, turning his head from her and suddenly finding the tree trunks very interesting to look at. She finished wiping the blood and returned his handkerchief, whispering a shy "thank you".

Deciding to change the subject to clear the thick awkward air between then, he turned his attention to the jacket around her waist. 'So, why are you wearing that thing? Isn't it a bit too hot?'
'Oh, that? It's just this time of the day there are some jerks that keep hovering over the girls passing by. I mean, I understand that sometimes it's hard for you guys not to look' 'more like Dark Souls hard' he thought, cringing. ',but it's becoming ridiculous of them. One of those guys even tried to slap my ass today. If it wasn't for my brother, he would have managed it. He can be a little...invasive sometime but I know he's just trying to protect me, most times I'm just messing with him. I'm telling you though, don't get involved with those guys, they're assholes.'
'Well, less competition for me' he selfishly added in his mind.

She pulled her phone from her back pocket and checked the time.
'Oh gosh, my brother's gonna kill me! I was supposed to meet him at the cafe 10 minutes ago!' she cried out.
She made to get up, but before doing so, she turned to him.
'So, I guess I'll see you monday. Let me take your number so we can talk until then,'
she said.
'She wants my number. Oh gosh, she wants my number.' he repeated in his mind as he told her his phone number.
She then gave him a swift 'see ya' and a shy smile before turning on her heels and swiftly making her way back to the street.

He watched her go with a goofy crooked smile plastered on his face. Her hair cascaded on her back and whipped a bit to the sides when the wind struck her. He followed the movement of her round hips as she walked further and further away from him.
And as she turned into just a tiny speck in the distance, he was struck with the thought that she was the best thing that happened to him in a long, long time.

He made his way back home with a faraway look on his eyes.

AN:
So. I see you read this far. Or you skipped the whole thing to see if there were hidden treasures at the end. Sorry to disappoint you. If you did read it though, please don't forget to review. I know most writers say this, but you guys have no idea how much it helps. Negative or positive, your opinions tell me what I'm doing right and wrong, and it helps the story get better, too. Was it good? Bad? Horiffically terrible? Jus tell me and I'll see what I can do.
Also, grammar. I only re-read this a couple of times, but give me a heads up if you find any mistakes by PMing me. I don't know how beta reading works that well, but if anyone wants to volunteer I'm up for it. Just send me a message and we'll work it out.
If you want to know, I don't have a schedule for this story as I'm not very good at promises. And I'm a perfectionist, too, so I try to pay attention to the minor details. So please keep in mind that if do decide to continue this fic updates are gonna be a little slow.
One more thing. I made a tribute to Lyralocke in this story as well. She was a very adored Kataang writer a few years ago. Unfortunately, she passed away in 2010. Her work, though, is still on her profile, so check it out, especially 'Parlor Tricks'. Rest in Peace, Lyra.

So after another terribly long AN, I'll see you guys later.

Kael :)