I don't own any of the characters from Avatar: The Last Airbender. With that said: Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Sokka, are you crying?"

He turned to her, eyes glistening.

"Wa-what?! Noo, it's a trick of the light! Manly men don't cryyyyahahahay! Oh, this is gotta be the best moment of my life, apart from the day I beat GranGran at that eating contest! Aang, my pal, my buddy, my brother from another mother has finally, officially become a man!"

"Toph's graduating, too, ya know", Katara reminded him while searching her bag for a tissue.

"What about the day we first met?" Suki mumbled as Sokka dramatically blew his nose.

The semester had once again come to an end. As usual, a crowd was spread across the juicy green lawn not far from the school where, like every year, the graduation ceremony was to take place. The air was filled with excited chattering and laughter, graduates beamed with all their might, parents watching their children with pride in their eyes. Teachers and volunteers created steady traffic between the lawn and the ancient towers of Momo High looming in the background. Buffets were organized, stage equipment transported and tested for yet another set of boring motivation speeches that have been memorized and held since the beginnings of educated society.

"Look, there they are!" Everyone followed Suki's outstretched finger, pointing to a pair clad in cobalt blue graduation robes and caps. One was busy pretending to not care while the other didn't even bother hiding their excitement.

Katara couldn't contain herself anymore. Breaking into a run, she made her way towards the expecting duo and soon after scooped them up into a bone crushing hug.

"I can't believe you finally did it! I'm so proud of you two, do you know that?"

"Sweetness." A cough. " Can't-can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry." The older girl let go of them, sincere happiness dancing in her ocean eyes as she looked from one to the other, grinning.

"Thanks so much for coming, Katara! It means a lot to us!"

"Pfft. Speak for yourself. All it does is make a big deal out of this thing. It really isn't."

"Of course we'd come to your GRADUATION, Aang! How could we not? This is your big day!"

Toph snorted.

Aang gave her a bump with his elbow." Oh, cut it out, will ya? We're leaving school, Toph! Finally, we get to do whatever we want!"

"Namely pay taxes and die."

"Sokka!", Katara exclaimed," You're having a bad influence on her!"

Finally, he and Suki caught up to the group. Ignoring his sister's assault, he walked straight up to Aang with a very serious expression on his face. Then, laying a hand on the bald boy's shoulder, he cleared his throat, staring meaningfully into Aang's eyes.

"Aang." Gripping Aang's hand with his other one, he gave him what he called a 'manly hug'. "Welcome to the manly world of manliness, my student. You have done well in your training."

A curt pause settled over the group.

Then, every-one broke into a heartful fit of laughter.

Sokka stared at the others with a look of pure betrayal in his eyes."What's so funny? This ceremony is of the uttermost importance! "

Extracting himself from Sokka, the graduate giggled good naturedly.

"Sokka, don't take this the wrong way, but this is kinda...silly."

"What he said, Meat Moron!" , came from Aang's right.

"Hey, call me that again!"

"Meat Moron!" As they bickered with Aang trying to intervene, Suki took the opportunity to look around. A girl around their age came up to her with flyers for a concert in the holidays. She took a copy, thanked her, and continued to study her surroundings.

"Hey Katara?" The dark-skinned girl stopped mid eye roll in her brother's direction, then turned to her friend.

"Hm?" Suki hesitated. "Is that...?"

"Hey buddy!" The girls looked at Sokka, then at each other, then watched him make his way over to a different group. No, it couldn't be...

He stopped in front of the guy Suki had pointed out, and as his 'buddy' turned around, confused, there was no mistaking it. The scar almost seemed to gleam in the midday sun, accentuating the distortion of his features.

"Uh, Sokka, right?"

Sokka put his hand on his hips.

"Yup, that's right, my man. So, what's up? Don't tell me you've stayed behind two grades and are graduating yourself today."

"Uh, no. A friend of my sister's is." He motioned to a girl clothed similarly to Aang and Toph who was showing three older girls something with her smart phone. One of them giggled, another smirked and the last one just looked unimpressed.

"I see. Say, you got a minute?" The scarred guy looked back at the four, then, shrugging his shoulders, nodded.

"Cool! Come over, meet my friends, then!" As he was literally dragged towards the group, he caught their not so friendly gazes and froze. Sokka didn't pay his change of demeanor any mind (or didn't even notice it in his enthusiasm)

"Folks,", he announced," I want you to meet Zuko!" Everyone stared at him blankly. When he didn't seem to understand, Aang gently told him that they knew Zuko already. Sokka sighed. "Look, he's different now! He's been away for two years, hasn't he? And his absence involved some real quality time with Uncle Iroh, THE Uncle Iroh, you know, like the most chilled geezer in the entire universe? Isn't that right, Zuko?"

Zuko's gaze travelled over his surroundings like that of a caged animal looking for a chance to escape.

"Uh, sure, I guess."

"Dude, beginning every sentence with 'Uh...' doesn't make you sound very cool. ", Sokka whispered to him in a tone that Aang who stood the furthest from him could clearly understand every word. Zuko blushed, fully aware of that.

"How did you even come across that jerk again?" Katara asked, eyebrow twitching.

"Oh, I met him in crime school the other day, he came to class the first time last Tuesday. Of course, I didn't trust him at first if you're wondering whether or not I'm dumb, duh." She merely crossed her arms at that. "But then I talked to him, and, you know, he didn't seem so bad."

Making sure no-one was about to interrupt him again, he continued. "I missed my bus 'cause Piandao felt like rambling for another twenty hours." He rolled his eyes. "But anyway, this honorable dude here offered to give me a lift with his enormous van that he actually OWNES, can you believe that? All the way home, and he lives at the other side of town!"

While the others' eyes widened, Toph merely raised an eyebrow.

"Get to the point, Sokka."

"Okay, so listen up: When I spotted my pal over there, I had this idea..."

Whatever astonishment the mention of Zuko's act of honor might have caused was instantly replaced by expressions varying from frustration to anxiety.

"Sweety, are you sure that-"

"Hear me out, hear me out. I had this idea..."

He looked from Zuko to the friends. "That since this is a huge thing, and we" He gestured to himself and the group of friends. "are all finally out of hell" he vaguely tossed his head into the school's direction. "And HE turned out to not be as bad as we all thought AND happens to have a gorgeous VW T1 lady just waiting for an opportunity to shine..." He slapped Zuko on the back which caused the scarred boy to cringe in response.

"BUUUJAAAAH! We're goin' to hit the road with all we got, yall!"

A/N: Hope you liked it, more to come soon! Be as honorable as Zuko and leave a short review! XD