A/N: As vash3055 pointed out: No, there will NOT be an avatar. In this AU, I have no need for "spirit mumbo-jumbo" (as Toph calls it), so there won't be any. Aang is merely an airbender, but that's reason enough for Z- ...I mean... someone to come after him. You'll see. ;P

Alaska was the best place to practice her waterbending. She never wanted to leave snowy Alaska; Juneau was lovely, despite popular belief. The skies were blue-grey, the ocean was crisply icy, and the animal life was entertaining to say the least.

Her name was Katara. She was a waterbender that learned everything she knew from her grandfather, Pakku. He was one of the last masters in the water element, but he made a very strict teacher… at first. Underneath his tough exterior was a much warmer man melted from his icy demeanor by Kana, otherwise known as: "Gran-gran!" Katara hollered as she entered her home. "Is it true we're moving?!"

Sokka, her elder brother, told her all about their father's new post. He was in the army, so Katara's family moved around a lot. Ever since her mother died, her father had been working double time to take care of his children financially. It stressed Sokka out; he looked at things rather pessimistically, and saw each new move as more work. He wasn't lazy, but Sokka wasn't too accustomed to change. Katara tried to see things positively, and thought of each move as something beneficial, but this time she sided with her brother: she did not want to move away from Juneau. She loved all the water, snow, and ice around her that she could bend. Plus, Gran-gran and Pakku were here, her only other family besides her father and brother…

"Yes, Katara, I'm afraid that it's true," Kana admitted with a sigh.

"But…" the waterbender murmured, her resolve fading. "Can't we stay with you?"

"You wouldn't ant your father to be all alone, would you?"

"No, but –"

"Then you have to move, Katara. It'll be for the best, you'll see. You'll meet new people, and who knows? Maybe find a boy…" the old woman teased gently, trying to get her granddaughter to smile.

It worked. Katara smiled, her teeth hiding behind her lips but her eyes glittering all the same. "You always know how to lay my doubts to rest, Gran-gran." She embraced the gentle old woman and exhaled loudly when she let go. "Although I can't make any promises about a boy."

Gran-gran chuckled. "We'll see, my dear, we'll see."

Later that night, following a meal of pickled fish, Katara lay in her bed with a pencil eraser in her mouth and a journal in her lap. She made faces down at the blank page, not sure what to write. A knock struck her door, startling her. "Come in," she said after a second.

"Hey Katara, it's me," Sokka stated as he entered.

"I figured as much," she muttered in reply. She set her book and writing utensil off to the side. "What's up?"

Her brother came in and sat backwards in Katara's desk chair. His brown hair was out of it's usual ponytail (although he preferred to call it a 'warrior's wolftail', which was much more cultural and manly-sounding). His hair matched Katara's; it was the same shade, same thickness, and same the texture like all of their family. They all had the same beautiful blue eyes and tan Inuit skin as well.

"Packing, that's what's up. Dad has to be moved a bit sooner, apparently." Sokka delivered the message as calmly as possible, his expression sullen.

"How soon is 'soon'?" Katara asked nervously as she swallowed hard. Did she have no time left to say her goodbyes? Where they leaving in the morning, or the day after tomorrow?

"At the end of the week instead of the end of the month," Sokka sighed. He crossed his arms and laid his chin on them. "I really don't want to go," he confessed. "I like it here. Plus, I have Yue; how can I leave her? I love her, Katara. I'm only sixteen, but I know it's true. Do you have any idea how it feels? I'm almost afraid… Because I know it's impossible to keep up a proper long-distance relationship, so I'm afraid that she'll have some other guy come along and sweep her off her feet. A real stuck-up jerk who doesn't love her like I do, you know?"

Katara patted her brother's arm. "I miss the joking Sokka." She earned a short laugh from him. "Don't worry about it, okay? Everything will be all right. You'll see, Sokka, something will happen that we've never expected. I can't imagine your feelings at the moment, but I can feel that much. Think of it as… one last adventure before Dad retires." She winked for added effect.

Sokka straightened up a bit. "Yeah… Yeah, okay! An adventure. Something… thrilling."

"That's right. Now get out of here, you big lug! I have writing to do." She grinned as she pushed playfully on his chest.

Sokka chuckled and pushed her hand away. "Sure, sis. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Sokka," she hummed idly. She turned on some music on a low volume. "Now then…" she thought aloud to herself as she tapped her pencil against the page. "What's a good opening line for a haiku?"

"Did I hear the word 'haiku'?" Sokka sing-songed, his head popping back into the room. "I could –"

"No." Katara said sternly. "I don't want you and your rapping haikus interfering with my grade in writing class."

"Aw… you really know how to deflate a guy's ego, Katara." He said with a mimed prick with an imaginary needle to his ego-inflated balloon-head.

"Go to bed, Sokka," the waterbender said with a swirl of her pencil. "Stop bugging me."

"Fine, fine, I'm going…" he said defensively. He turned to her with a smile before he officially left. "Just don't forget to use the five-seven-five syllable scheme. Don't make the mistake I do sometimes by adding six syllables on the last line."

"I'll make a mental sticky note of that."

"A bright lime green sticky note so you don't forget," Sokka added with a chuckle. Then he disappeared into the hallway. He shut Katara's door behind him.

Shaking her head, Katara yawned and tried to think, but ended up falling asleep with the pencil still in her hand, the collective weight of the multiple news today plus school and outside chores causing her to collapse from exhaustion.

* * *

Now, Katara was not a popular girl. She wasn't unpopular, either. She was your average chipper spirit whom was there for people who needed her and a mother figure for her brother since Gran-gran can't do it all and be with them wherever they go.

She was also easily tempered and less easygoing than her older brother. While packing the last of her personals after having thrown out a boatload of things ("I'm tired of hauling around all this stuff! I don't need it anymore, and don't pull that 'keepsake' crap on me, because the only keepsake I need is mother's necklace!"), she grew steadily frustrated. The suitcase was too small and some of her clothes were too full of down feathers and such to be salvaged. The waterbender sighed and removed the biggest of her winter coats. "It's not going to be needed where we're going, anyhow," she muttered to herself as she tossed it in the garbage bag she was given for things headed for Good Will. Sokka was more about efficiency than she was, even with his little shopping problem (unlike most boys, Sokka liked to shop for new things).

"Ready, Katara?" Sokka asked as he walked into her room.

She wiped sweat from her brow. "I guess so." She sighed exasperatedly. "Did you say goodbye to Yue?"

Sokka sniffed, and on further inspection his sister could tell that he'd been crying. "Yeah. She was real heartbroken, but she said, 'It's for the best.'" He paused. "I broke up with her, Katara. I want her to be happy, and I think having someone else in my stead while I'm gone will do exactly that."

Katara's facial expression fell into the category of 'Aww, you poor thing!' as she moved in to hug the sixteen-year-old. "You were right to do that, Sokka. It was very mature of you."

"Mhm," Sokka mumbled weakly. He held his sister for a second the way a son would hold his mother for comfort before releasing her. "Well, uh, we better get this in the moving van." He motioned to her dresser.

Katara nodded, her take-charge attitude kicking in. "Right. Help me carry it, will you?"

"How are you kids doing?" Hakoda inquired. He looked his kids over. "Need some help with that dresser?"

"No, we can handle it, Dad," Sokka said automatically. Lately he'd been feeling the need to prove to his father his strength; it's that competitive feeling teenaged boys get as they begin to come of age and compare themselves to their fathers. So far, Hakoda's part in the U.S. Navy was whooping Sokka's competitive nature's arse.

It took many trips to and from the house to load the moving van until it was full. Then, with one last look at Gran-gran and Pakku standing side by side, Katara put on her headphones and looked out the front windshield at the road ahead.

* * *

"Wake up, you two; we just passed over the boarder from Canada into the U.S.," Hakoda told his children.

Katara stretched, her arms reaching over her head and behind her back, over one shoulder and then the other. "How much longer?"

Sokka rubbed his eyes and wiped a line of drool from his chin. "So what state are we in?"

"Washington," Hakoda replied to his son. "And we won't be in Colorado for some time, my little ice Popsicle," he added to answer his daughter's question. He referred to her as an icicle to poke fun at one of her favorite things to make when waterbending: ice pops.

Hakoda wasn't the type to get overly affectionate; he more or less gave a hug or two and a few pats on the head or playful smacks on the back like his son does from time to time, and the only nicknames he usually gave were to people he's befriended (whereas Sokka gave them to just about anyone he encountered, especially if he didn't know their name). Hakoda joked when the moment called for it, but can be extremely serious and became the soldier he was. He was a straightforward kind of guy, and an idea man. His son was the same way. They were a lot alike; it seemed the genes in the family passed down by gender, because Katara was a spitting image of her mother and Sokka was a chip off the old block.

Now, it might seem like a fairy-tale-perfect family, but there were still secrets. Like how their mother died; Sokka and Katara were never told. And Pakku hadn't always been with Kana; he was a high school sweetheart that came back after Kana's husband left her. There were teeny things here and there like that. It made Katara feel small compared to everyone, as though she couldn't assist a single family member of hers.

"If you want, you can go back to sleep," their father said. "We have a ways to go yet."

"I'm not tired anymore," both of them said in unison, Sokka's reply said as more of a shrug, while Katara's was stated stubbornly. The unison caused Hakoda to burst into laughter. The two siblings exchanged weird looks before submitting to laughter themselves.

"How about a potty break?" he asked.

Sokka's stomach growled. "And a food one, too. I have a hankering for gas station Slim Jims."

Katara rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and meat? I swear, you always get beef jerky or a Slim Jim when we stop for snacks on trips."

"What? Meat is tasty," Sokka said in his defense. "Besides, you're not much of a vegetarian yourself, little miss fish-lover."

"Fish technically isn't meat, you know; Jesus ate fish but no other animals," Katara retorted as she crossed her arms.

Sokka threw his hands up in the air. "Oh, right… How could I forget the Bible references?" He shook his head. "Dad, where's the nearest gas station?"

"There's one coming up in ten minutes," Hakoda replied, deciding not to comment on their tiny spat.

After five-going-one-six dreary hours in the car with it smelling of Slim Jims and cheddar/sour cream potato chips, mountains grew to enormous sizes and the moving van pulled into a neighborhood.

"Are we finally here?" Katara bubbled.

"We are," their father replied.

"Hey Dad, you never explained why we're in Colorado and not near somewhere with water, seeing as how you're in the navy and all." Sokka remarked as they parked in a driveway – their new driveway.

"Well," Hakoda said slowly, "Maybe I'm not in the navy anymore…"

Katara frowned and cocked her head. "Huh?"

Hakoda forced a smile. "I got promoted, I guess you could say. I'm standing in a different position in the U.S. military with this move."

Sokka's jaw dropped. "Wow, Dad! That's awesome! Are there more benefits?"

"I said it was a promotion, didn't I?" he winked. "So, yeah; a lot more. We'll be living a lot better now, kids, and that I can promise you. The only problem is…"

"Problem?" Sokka echoed.

"What problem, Dad?" Katara questioned.

"…I won't be able to see you kids as often." He told them sadly.

"No!" Katara cried, her eyes watering. She blinked her tears away. "But you're all we have, Dad!"

"What if something happens to you?" Sokka added. "I don't think I can stand to lose another parent."

"Shh," Hakoda hushed as he brought his children to his chest. "There's nothing to worry about. I still get holidays off for about a week, although I have to work on Easter. Don't worry, this is a good thing."

Sokka grunted and glanced out the window at their new home, so dark… so empty. "That's what everyone keeps telling me, but so far I don't see the silver lining."

Changing the subject, Hakoda gestured to the load behind them. "Let's get our bedding and unpack in the morning."

Katara silently agreed and hopped out of the car door.

Suddenly, she wanted to leave. She wanted to run back all the way to Alaska where she belonged. Not caring if any neighbor saw her (she doubted they would, anyway; it's pretty late in the night), the young waterbender picked up some lingering snow off the ground and spun it high above her head. It rained beads of ice, perfectly smooth, and then the bits of hail melted all over the grass. Katara knew why they had to move, and she understands why her father will have to see them less, and yet with all her comprehension she still felt like it wasn't fair. She felt angry and sad, and a slightly hurt. Sokka was dealing with the same feelings in his own way, but with less anger. Katara knew her brother had to leave Yue, but it's not the same. With so much of her element missing from all around her, Katara felt utterly lost, as though a piece of herself was left at Juneau.

With one last whip of water that broke a branch from a nearby tree in half, Katara stormed over to their moving van and took out her blankets and pillows. She returned minutes later to carry (with Sokka's help) her mattress, which she proceeded to lay out on the floor of the bedroom she chose for herself.

Lying down on the thrown-together bed, Katara sighed and murmured incoherent things to herself. One of the murmurings resembled, 'I can't wait until Thanksgiving break when we visit Gran-gran again.'

Opposite her in one room over, Sokka was tossing and turning, unable to find a comfortable position to sleep in. So far, he failed lying on his back, his left side, his right side, and on his stomach. But there wasn't much left to try… So he went with a diagonal pose on his back with his legs propped up by his pillow and his head lying on the mattress.

And that was how he fell asleep, pictures of scenery and Yue flying through his head.

Katara never quite went to sleep, however. Not entirely.

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