Chapter two, as promised!
Oh, btw, in case you weren't sure, there is no bending in this fic. I think it just defeats the whole purpose of Modern AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar


Queen of the Slopes
Chapter Two:
First Encounter

Bee-Bee-Bee-Bee-Beep! Beep! Beep! Be--WHAM!!

Katara hit the snooze button, hard. The beeping instantly died. Man, she hated it— it had to be the most annoying sound out there. Satisfied for the moment, she settled back down into the heat of her covers, wondering what on earth possessed her to set the alarm at 8:00 in the morning on a Saturday...

Saturday.

And all of a sudden, Katara felt wide awake.

Saturday: today was the day she would meet this guy! Today was the day she would beat this guy, whoever he was. Whipping herself out of bed, Katara pulled her clothes out of the various drawers in her dresser and traveled down the stairs to take a shower.

All the while that Katara was in the shower, she kept up a steady stream of self encouragement in her mind: her own way of getting pumped. And it must've worked, because her records and medals proved it. She dressed, grabbing her snow jacket as she shoved on her snow pants over her sweats, and was just about to head out the door when she remembered she needed the keys to the car. And that meant sneaking past her older brother.

Sighing heavily, Katara trod back up the stairs. It was stupid, really, that Sokka claimed that the old blue truck was his own car. Sure, dad had helped him get it and told Sokka it was his own for the keeping, but it was also the only car they had. It should be the family car, not just her big brother's.

Carefully turning the doorknob, Katara opened her brother's door as quietly as she could. Tip-toeing her way over the mounds of clothes, she carefully reached up into the top bunk of his bed and underneath the covers, where she knew he kept the keys. A situation like this required stealth. Katara wasn't fooled by her brother's snores coming from the bottom bunk—Sokka had somehow developed a sixth sense when it came to car keys; maybe it was because she was always trying to steal them.

Katara slipped on a rung, rattling the metal bedframe with a resounding CLANG! Sokka woke up with a start, rubbing his eyes. Hurriedly grabbing the car keys, Katara raced out of her brother's room. Then again... She thought as she heard Sokka yell her name before jumping out of his bed, racing after her, Maybe the reason that Sokka always knew was because stealth wasn't exactly her forte.

She could hear her brother stumbling down the stairs after her, and she knew he was faster than her...if she could only get out the door and into the car! But no such luck, Sokka caught her around her stomach just as she was racing down their front porch steps.

"Gotcha!" He cried out triumphantly, snatching the keys from her hand. "Now just what are you doing with these?" He asked. Katara turned around to see her brother wearing nothing but basketball shorts (and one sock). In January.

"Sokka, it's freezing! And it's none of your business, just give me the keys!"

"It's my business if you're taking my car somewhere. Ah-ha!" He said, pointing at her snow-pants and jacket. "Snowboarding!"

Rolling her eyes at his success, Katara frowned. "Yeah, yeah, just brilliant Sokka. Can I go now?"

"Nuh-uh." He said in what he must've thought was a dignified manner, holding the keys up and out of her reach. "You're not taking my baby anywhere. You'll get it all banged up."

"I am not that bad a driver!" She pouted. "You don't have to drive me everywhere!"

"Just let me take a shower and we can go. I'll be out in no time." He continued, walking back into the house as if he had just noticed the temperature.

"Why do you want to take a shower?"

He stuck his head out of the front door again. "You know me. I'll be hanging in the lodge with the chicks all day."

"I thought you said that you already had a 'babe' for a girlfriend?" Katara asked, smirking.

"That I do!" Sokka said cheerily, poking his head out the doorway and giving her a big smile, thumbs-up and a wink before he went to the shower.

Stomping up the front porch steps again, Katara called out: "You'd better hurry up in there!"

"Don't worry, Katara." He called over his shoulder. " I always brush my teeth while showering."

She met that comment with a blank silence.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, with Sokka all showered, his teeth well-brushed, his hair combed, and dressed in clothes actually fit for winter, they headed down the road in the old blue truck. Katara popped a CD into the player and listened, letting nothing else distract her. She was all set; she was ready to go. All she needed now was to be cool, calm, collected.

Sitting in the driver's seat, Sokka didn't even bother telling his little sister that she was getting worked up for probably nothing. She was obsessed with snowboarding; still, he figured it was healthier than being obsessed with boys anyway, a stage she had gone through with Jet. When all else failed, and her relationship with Jet was a prime example, it was her hobby that she could always rely on. So other than tapping on the steering wheel to some of the tunes, Sokka stayed quiet for his sister's sake throughout the half-hour trip.

They arrived at the base of the mountain about 9:15, and were parked at the ski lodge further up the mountain about 9:25. The siblings both hopped out of the truck, and grabbing their gear they headed up to the ski lodge.

"If all you plan on doing here..." Katara began as they hiked up the steps to the huge log-cabin. "Is hang out at the lodge," she continued, finally making it to the top of the steep climb and stopping. "Why did you bring your board?"

"Never know," Sokka replied, playing it cool. "I might need to impress someone."

"Ha!" Katara said, sitting down to latch one boot into her board. "The poor girls would probably get run over by you with your boarding skills." Katara told him.

"Shut up." He said, smirking. "Go whip those guys for me today, okay?"

Putting on her gloves, Katara stood up and grinned at her older brother. "Naturally." The two hugged, and the Kuruk siblings went their separate ways: Sokka inside the lodge, Katara to the ski-lift up the mountain.

Siding smoothly down the lane on her snowboard to the loading department, Katara came to a stop: there was a long line ahead of her; unusual for this time of year, as it wasn't technically the tourist season for Mt. Bear Ski Slope. Maybe an end-of-the-semester retreat? At any rate, Katara knew they would have to double- or triple-up with people on the lifts, so she would be stuck with someone on the long ride up. She desperately hoped they wouldn't bother her; not today.

Slowly the line moved to the point where Katara was next in line to jump on the lift. Looking to the left, it seemed that there was only one person she would pair up with on the ride: a boy, about her age, with a faded orange snowboard jacket and brown snowpants, complete with orange goggles. He grinned easily at her as the people in front of them jumped on. Surprised, Katara merely gave him a brief smile before pushing off to catch the lift. The boy followed suit.

The lift curved around the railing, and being on the outside edge of the rotation, Katara made extra sure she wasn't going to miss her ride. Grabbing the pole that connected the seat to the ski-lift line, Katara easily swung herself up onto the chair. The boy next to her got on, and with a slight swing of the chair they were off.

Pointedly looking off to her right to discourage any conversation, she tried to focus on her purpose: Toph said that they would meet on the top of the hill at noon. It was about nine thirty-five, and with the large crowd today she estimated that she could manage getting in four whole runs down the entire mountain, with enough time to inform Sokka she was about to race and get up the mountain again. Apparently though, she wasn't going to be able to concentrate as easily as she thought.

Pulling up his goggles off of his face and placing them on top of his earflap-beanie, the boy looked over at Katara and grinned again, showing off all of his teeth. Glancing at him for a moment, Katara was able to notice his pale skin and grey eyes before turning away again. But he wouldn't let their exchange end there.

"So..." The boy began, and Katara frowned off toward the distance. She hated small-talk with guys; it was nearly always the same. "You don't look much like a Betty."

Turning around again, Katara raised one eyebrow in disbelief. "Was that supposed to be a pick-up line?" She asked him, clearly unimpressed, "Or is this your idea of small-talk?"

"Errmmm...second choice?" He said sheepishly, shrugging in complete honesty.

Eyeing him, Katara replied, "Good answer, but I'm just not in the mood..." She told him, giving something along the lines of an apologetic grin before turning away again. He stayed silent, except for a few uncomfortable shifts in his seat. Katara settled back down to focus, but found herself distracted by his movement.

"Would you cut that out?" Katara called over to him, and instantly the motion coming from her left stopped. She tried again to focus on just snowboarding, but something began to bother her: conscience.

Rolling her eyes, Katara turned around to apologize. "Sorry, but I need to focus..." She paused, noticing his stare and his smile. It was rather unnerving. Blinking, Katara turned away again, until she felt herself being bugged by something he had said earlier. Finally, she asked him about it:

"What do you mean, 'I don't look like a Betty'?" She asked him, genuinely confused.

"Oh, you know..." The boy replied, trailing off. "Girls who can't really board it. Just sit around and, well...giggle."

Smirking, Katara knew what he meant. She'd never heard the term 'Betty' before though: it was a pretty amusing slang. "A 'Betty'?" She repeated.

"Yeah." He said. Katara glanced over at him: there was that sheepish grin again. She smiled in spite of herself.

"Sounds like you've had a lot of experience with these 'Betty's." She said in a teasing tone.

Rubbing the back of his head, the boy grinned. "You could say that..." Glancing down at her board, he commented, "Flameo board."

Looking down at her snowboard, Katara couldn't find anything special about it, except that it was a deep school-blue—her favorite color— with a white crescent moon at the top. Looking down at his board, she noticed the velvety-brown color, with a white arrow running right down the middle. It matched his beanie, that same white arrow running down the length.

"Ehh, not so special." She commented, shuffling a bit of powdered snow off of the board. "'Flamey-o'?" She commented dryly, picking up that weird slang of his again.

"Yeah, you know, 'Flameo'?" He said, and Katara merely raised an eyebrow. This didn't phase him. "Hmmm...you're a real joey when it comes to slang, aren'tcha?"

Katara laughed. "Judging from what you think is 'slang', I think it's better I don't know at all." She told him, smiling. He returned her smile with one of his grins. Her smile slowly faded, and she looked away again, flicking her eyes back to him over and over. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" She asked him.

Sheepish grin returning to his face, the boy said, "I dunno, I guess I just like to smile a lot. Something wrong?"

Katara hastened to make herself clear: "No, you've got a nice smile or...whatever..." She said slowly, mentally kicking herself. "It's just...I don't know, weird."

"Oh." He said, his grin fading. "So, you look like you've been saucing it up for a while now."

She shook her head at the slang; apparently, this guy just couldn't drop it. "Yeah. You?"

"Only my second run on this mountain, I came up here just yesterday." He told her, adding, "But I'm no caddy at shredding it up."

"Oh, really?" Katara asked him, noticing that the top drop-off for the chairlift was approaching fast. "Race you down Muzzle Trail."

"Okay." He consented, adding on at the end, "But you'd better not turn out to be just another one of them Betty's!"

"Please." Katara smirked, sliding off her seat and down onto the main area. The guy followed her easily. Both made their way to the top of Muzzle Trail: it was one of the funner courses, with a bit more variety that just drops and flat-zones.

"You ready?" The boy asked her, putting on his goggles. Simply turning over to look at him, Katara grinned, immediately flipping her board vertical to the slope and sliding down the hill.

Looking back, Katara briefly saw his surprise before he copied her movement. Chuckling quietly to herself, she decided to have a little fun with him: a jump presented itself in her path, perfect for a good 720-degree flip. Readying herself for the jump, Katara powered into it and flew far up, making her predicted two-spin flip. Landing with catlike skill, she turned around to see how her companion would handle it. Following her motion, he crouched down in preparation before flying off the jump, mimicking her 720-degree, waving to her with one hand as he spun, the grin on his face unmistakable. His landing was flawless.

Mildly impressed, Katara came across another jump. This time as she came off of it, she decided to do a switch flip, turning opposite the way she normally would. She landed with 720 again, riding fakie now. Slowing down a little to see what he would do, she watched as he pulled it off again, the exact way she did it, except waving like an idiot the entire time.

Determined to play a move he couldn't copy, Katara went off her third jump with a forward flip—a somersault in mid-air. Immediately after landing the trick, she turned her head to see how he would handle it. He pulled it off with apparent ease, coming clean in his landing. This guy knew how to board.

"That one was tricky!" The boy called out after her.

A turn was approaching fast. Smirking as she turned her head briefly, Katara called out behind her, "Then you're gonna love this next one!"

The curve presented itself in her way, and daringly she went off of it, doing a 900-degree flip sideways, alonside the face of the mountain. Barely skimming the side as she came down, Katara landed, powdered snow trailing from where she grazed the snow with her board.

"Top that!" She called out daringly.

The boy said nothing, but came into his jump, airborne. He managed the 900-degree spin easily, the marks of his board touching the snow reaching higher than her's! Coming down, he skidded alongside the moutain with ease, as if her were on a rail. Giving her a thumbs-up, he called out to her "What's next?"

Katara wasn't sure what exactly she would do next, but she would make him pay.

And so it went on, all the way down the Muzzle Trail hill: she would do a move, he would copy it with ease, sometimes waving at her while in the air, always with a grin plastered over his face. It was starting to really annoy her, how easily he could follow her. He even seemed to be getting more air on his jumps than she was! And with every time she completed a trick, she would barely slow down to watch. After a while, he began to gain on her.

As the last leg of the course came up—a series of sharp curves in the trail before the final jump—Katara crouched nose down, gaining speed. She would pull a move that he simply couldn't top. Barely turning her head, she noticed that he was mimicking her speeding pose, and worse, he was gaining on her! Determination rising in her, Katara sped down the track, using every turn to her advantage as she traveled on the inside ring. In spite of herself, she turned around—apparently, her companion was taking a different route than her; he was falling behind! Instead of turning on the inside as Katara was, he worked his hardest to go on the outer side of the ring, catching air on every slanted curve of the mountain. Katara smirked; just as he decided to stop mimicking her, he chose the one move that would allow her to win the race!

Curving as the final jump approached fast, Katara remembered this one well. There was a curve in the track at the bottom of the jump: she wouldn't be able to jump her usual height, or she would likely go off the track. It was a trick jump; most boarders had to learn through experience how to handle it. Katara had to as well, but this guy said it was only his second time on the mountain. And with all his airborne jumps, this last one would be his downfall.

Finally, the jump presented itself. Smirking, Katara decided to do something a bit more unique. Crouching low, she timed her takeoff perfectly. Quickly bundling her body into a forward-flip, she added a 360 twist, turning upside-down. It added flair, without using too much air-time. She landed near the end on the track, but she had stayed on the course. Turning her board quickly so as to stay on the course, she smirked as she turned her head, expecting him to soar over the track, missing it completely.

She thought wrong.

Coming off of the final curve on the outer ring again, her "friend" speeded toward the jump at a completely different angle. It was one she hadn't ever thought of doing; it was suicidal! There was a perfectly-placed pine tree blocking his way; he'd smack right into it! Katara instinctively put her gloved hands to her mouth, shocked that he would dare it, waiting for him to change course, anything, but he only pressed on faster.

Poised for attack, he jumped. Katara almost couldn't watch. The guy may have had some air on his side, but there was no way he'd be able to clear that tree! Katara looked on, horrified, waiting for the sound of some sickening crunch of a body.

She was right; he didn't clear it.

He flew right past it. The guy cut clear pass the tree, all the while copying her move. Curling in a ball, he managed to do a 540 degree flip, a complete one-and-a-half twist, landing his fakie perfectly on the track. He couldn't have! It was impossible! He was insane, he was...tied neck-and-neck with her!

She couldn't believe it! No way was he going to beat her, not now! Crouching low, both Katara and the boy sped down toward the ski lift, drawing the eyes of most every kid on the bunny trail runningparallel to the main course.

Just as they were about to crash into the line for the chair lift, both instantaneously turned, skidding to a sudden stop, spraying a few people with shredded snow in the process.

A tie.

Pulling off his goggles and lifting them onto his head again, the boy smiled at her, gazing in newfound respect. "Whoa, you got moves! You weren't kidding; you ain't no Betty, for sure!"

Feeling as though she would rather like to slap that grin off his face, Katara turned her board away from him and made her way down to the lodge. She knew that it was a tie. But, if she hadn't gotten a good head-start on him...he would've beaten her. And she knew it.

He called out something after her, but she didn't look back. Seeing Toph come out of the lodge to greet her, Katara slid smoothly over to her best friend, her face giving nothing away.

"Hey Sugar Queen!" Toph called out, bundled up in a green ski-jacket with mufflers. Katara nodded in reply but said nothing, stopping in front of her freshman friend. Toph glanced over Katara's shoulder at the boy, who was currently sliding his way down to them. Turning back to face Katara, Toph said, "So you've already met him?"

Pulling off her goggles, Katara stared at Toph. "Who?"

Frowning, Toph looked at her inquisitively. "Hotshot Snowboarder. The Transfer. Last name's 'Yasto', or 'Yahtzee', something like that..." Looking over her friend's shoulder again, Toph folded her arms across her chest, nodding as she looked at something behind Katara. Confused, Katara turned around, coming face-to-face with that guy. Suddenly, she understood what Toph was talking about.

He was the guy who had just beat her. That same guy who had stolen the spotlight from her. That same guy who she was supposed to whip on the course today at noon.

"Hi." He said, smiling easily at her. "The name's Aang. Aang Gyatso."


Like it? Hate it? Please review!

Next update should be within two weeks at most, next Monday at least. I was kinda hoping to focus on a one-shot right now...