Chapter 1:
The Girl From the South
~3 years later…~
It was a hot summer morning, still early enough for the rest of the world to be asleep. There was a knock on his door.
"Aang, wake up, you're gonna be late". He didn't respond. His door creaked open and his mother walked in, shaking his shoulder. "Aang, sweetie, lets go-". Still no response.
She had tried nice, now she called for backup.
"Bodhi! Come wake your brother up-". The words lingered in the air, and then were followed by the thunderous steps of the now nine year old drew nearer.
Aang opened his eyes, pushing his long, black hair behind him. As he yawned, Bodhi entered. He jumped in the bed on top of Aang's stomach and grabbed his brother's hair. Aang was forcibly exhaled on the impact.
He tried to sit up but his brother had him pinned to the bed. Aang reached his hand toward Bodhi's face and pushed him off of him, and off of the bed.
"What was that for?!" Bodhi screamed.
"Oh, give it a rest" Aang said groggily, wiping his eyes as he got out of bed.
He shuffled his way to the bathroom and into the shower. After showering, he got out, covered up, and walked back to his room, met with Bodhi, who hasn't left his room.
"Dude, get lost" he said to his brother.
"Make me!" Bodhi retorted. Aang rolled his eyes.
"Alright, whatever. Stay if you want but I'm getting dressed so don't say I didn't warn you".
Bodhi ran out of the room. Aang put on a pair of cargo shorts, and a band tee. His 16th birthday had recently passed, and he was given a leather jacket as well as a brand new amplifier.
Over the past three years, he had acquired and went through a lot of new equipment, until he finally was able to get the mid-level electric guitar he wanted, a black Jackson Rhodes.
He plugged into his new amp, and put on a Nomads album and began to play along. Headbanging along to the drums as he flawlessly played the first few songs. They were relatively simple. Then the fourth song came on, the hardest one on this record. He was ready. He played through the main song almost perfectly, messing up only on the tough rhythm parts.
The solo drew nearer, but he was unstoppable. He adjusted his hands for the solo, and began playing what he knew while improvising the rest. He knew it wasn't being played right, but he was so into it that nothing could ruin the moment.
The solo flew past as quickly as it had come, and then mid breakdown his brother opened the door and began screaming. There was absolutely no rhyme or reason for it, he just did.
Aang tried his best to not let it stop him, but between it actually messing him up and Nylah, his now three year old sister pleading with Bodhi to stop, he had to do something.
He stopped playing and stared daggers at Bodhi. He was livid. Bodhi stopped on the dime and walked out.
"One of these days, I swear-" Aang muttered under his breath. He then walked Nylah out of the room, grabbing his new jacket on his way out.
"Alright mom, I'll see you later" he said as he walked outside. He was in a good mood, it was orientation for his 11th year of school, even though he thought the idea was stupid. He was happy with his classes but more importantly, he got to see his best friend, Suki more often because of school,
Aang had met Suki on the bus two years ago in their 9th year and they hit it off immediately. That year and the next they had almost every class together, and he hoped this year would be the same. Suki was born earlier in the year, so she was seventeen and could drive him this year.
He walked out to her car as she was pulling up and got in. She drove off.
"Wassup fucker?" she greeted him.
"Not much loser, how 'bout you?" he shot back with a laugh.
"Same old, you?" He showed her the leather jacket. "Nice… hey, did you hear? We're getting new students this year".
"More stupid freshmen? Happens every year".
She laughed. "Now you clown, I mean two new transfer students… our age".
"Naw, I didn't hear. Anyone know who?" Aang asked.
"Some kids from the south- wayyyy down south apparently". Aang nodded.
They pulled into the parking lot and got out. The two swapped schedules and were disappointed to see they only had three classes together.
They hugged and went their separate ways. Aang made his way to the first class, where he recognized most everyone there, except for one.
There was a girl who was completely unfamiliar in the room, even though Aang didn't have anyone but Suki, he knew most and most knew him. She was a tall, tanned girl with long, dark hair, with two strands that looped from the front of her head to the back. She wore black boots that went up almost to her knees, and a leather jacket that covered the cropped band shirt she wore.
He recognized the band name, Arctic Wolves. When they were asked to be seated, he sat next to the unfamiliar girl.
The teacher, an older man, walked in.
"Man of course my history teacher's this guy" he said out loud, without realizing he said it. He thought he was just thinking it to himself. The girl next to him giggled a little. His teacher did not.
"Something you want to share with the class, mister?"
Cooly, he replied.
"No sir, you…" he lingered. "You clearly already heard it".
The class erupted with laughter.
"Well, maybe you want to share something about yourself since clearly YOU'RE the centre of attention." His teacher hissed.
"You bet your ass I am" he muttered quietly as he stood up. "Hi, names Aang and I-" he hesitated. Other than his family and Suki, nobody knew about his guitar playing. The girl looked at him subtly. "... and I play guitar." he said with a new confidence.
He sat back down and waited for the teacher to dismiss them. He let the class go five minutes early.
The girl tapped his shoulder and he turned around.
"Ong- was it?" she asked him.
"Aa-ng" he corrected.
"Right, sorry. So you really play guitar?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah what about it?" he asked with a slight hint of insecurity.
"Nothing, that's pretty cool is all." He laughed.
"Yeah, I guess so… you new 'round here?" he inquired.
"Yes, what gave it away?" she chuckled.
"Your shirt," he replied. "Where ya from?"
"A little village way down south, you probably never heard of it. Me and my brother moved here after our-" she touched the necklace she was wearing. "Anyways, i'm sorry-".
The bell rang, interrupting her.
"Shit, gotta run.. Hopefully I'll catch you in another class" he said as he ran off, leaving her stranded.
His second class he knew he had with Suki. When they saw each other, they started making their way towards one another, though Suki did so at a jog.
They hugged again, but this time, Aang noticed a slight tugging on his hair. They'd let each other go, and find seats next to the other. The teacher walked in and talked about the class for a while. Aang actually paid attention, as he was intrigued by the class, but he couldn't help but notice Suki shyly looking at him. It was unlike her.
After they were dismissed, Aang walked over to Suki.
"You okay there Su?"
"I'm fine, why?"
He smiled. "No reason, just asking.. C'mon, lets go then." he said while offering her a hand to help her out of her seat, despite knowing she could easily get up on her own.
She blushed a bit while taking it and getting up. "See ya in a bit, loser".
"Later 'Kiki'" he said while rolling his eyes with a smirk. He walked off laughing while she left, trying to hide her embarrassment.
The next six seemed to drag on for hours. Neither Suki nor his new friend were in any of those classes, and it didn't help to find that they were nowhere to be found for those portions of the day.
He muddled his way to his seventh class when he finally ran into Suki again.
"How's the rest of your classes?" he asked.
"Lonely" she muttered quietly. "They're pretty good, looks like it's gonna be a good year. How 'bout you?"
"Meh, they're slow but I like 'em." he told her.
The two smiled at each other for a moment before finally walking into the room and taking seats next to one another again. They ignored the teacher and talked the whole time he explained the class to them.
When they were dismissed, they walked to the next class together, enjoying each others company.
They made it to the last room and walked inside. Aang was met with the familiar face of the unfamiliar face he had met in his first class. She walked up to Aang and Suki.
"We meet again Ong." she said jokingly. "Who's she?" the girl asked Aang.
"Oh, this is Suki," he introduced her. "And Suki, this is-" he remembered the girl never told him her name. "Come to think of it, you never said your name before". The three of them laughed.
"Well to be fair, you kinda left in a hurry," she said. "Anyway, my name is Katara." she told the two, extending her hand for them to shake. Both shook her hand.
"And over there is my brother, Sokka," Katara told them.
The older boy made his way over. He had a mildly intimidating presence, but was very friendly.
"So, you're that kid Kat was talking about earlier? Nice to meet ya!" he said. "And who's that~" he said referring to Suki, "your girlfriend?" he joked.
Suki and Aang both got red in the face. "Pfft, nooo," Suki said trying to play it off.
"Shut up Sokka," Katara said. All four of them laughed.
They made their ways inside and found seats near one another. They spent the whole time talking and laughing, once again ignoring the teacher who's talking fell on deaf ears.
They were dismissed and they all walked to the parking lot together, and said goodbye to one another, shaking hands again before departing.
Katara got in Sokka's car and Aang into Suki's. Suki drove off after Sokka's car pulled away.
"Everything alright Su?" Aang asked. She hesitated.
"...Yea, why?" she replied.
"I dunno, you kinda made a face when you heard I talked to Katara earlier-" he said to her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked, trying to play it off.
"I dunno… you looked- jealous?"
She pulled the car over in a mildly dangerous area, but nobody was around for miles. Suki's face was visibly red, embarrassed, as though she were harboring some huge secret.
Then she opened her mouth.
"Aang- I've been meaning to tell you-"
There was a loud crunching sound.
The car was forced forward, it went tumbling down the side of the hill they were stopped upon.
There was a moment of panicked screams.
And then it went dark...
A\N Holy crap guys this is a long one ahahaha, but im super pumped to share it with you guys. not much to say here except another thanks for all the support on both of my stories 3. Will they be okay? What happened to Aang and Suki, find out next time... Chapter 2 coming soon