Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or the song 'At the Beginning' from the Anastasia OST.

A/N: I'm updating because of the wonderful amount of reviews I got in only a day. Thanks to everyone! For this chapter, Katara-eight, Zuko-ten.

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Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey…

"Sokka! Sokka, give her back! I'm gonna tell Mama!" An eight-year-old Katara shrieked as her horrible brother ran ahead in circles in the settlement, taking her favorite doll with her.

"You'd have to catch me first!" Sokka snickered as he sped up, looking back.

"Sokka! Give Lena back! You're scaring her!" Katara's voice cracked as her short legs began to tire.

"Well, Lena says she doesn't want to come back! You dress her up in too many frilly dresses and-- OOF!" Sokka had tripped over a bundle of clothes that lay around, and as he stumbled on the ground, the doll flew out of his hands, high in the air, and started to plummet downwards…

…right on someone's campfire, but there was no one tending to it.

"LENA!" She screeched as she struggled to go faster, even though she was exhausted. Sokka just stared as the flares licked at Lena's sealskin body. Katara was staggering by then, but she finally reached the fire. Lena was stuck under the large pot, which contained the still-boiling soup, and she could only watch helplessly as Lena slowly burned away.

Fortunately, the owner of the cooking dinner arrived, an aunt of theirs, and upon seeing the crying Katara pointing underneath the rusty pot, quickly put out the fire and set it aside. Katara's fingers fumbled as she took what was left of her precious rag doll from the smoking wood.

The aunt didn't fail to report Sokka to his parents, and while their father reprimanded him outside, their mother tried to ease the sobbing Katara inside the tent.

"I hate Sokka… he's the worst brother in the world."

"Now, dear, don't say that…"

"Salene's big brother always takes her on his hunting trips, and Nevasa's gives her extra helpings of seasoned blubber, and what does mine do? He destroys Lena! I hate Sokka! He's the worst brother in the world!"

By now her mother had a curt look on her face, her lips pressed into a line and slender eyebrows almost meeting.

"Katara, I'm sure Gran-gran will make you a new doll, and Sokka will be duly punished because of what he did. But you had no right to say those bad things about him. That'll make you just as mean as him, don't you think?"

Katara pouted and crossed her arms, but muttered, "I guess so."

That made her mother smile. "That's my girl. Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow I'll show you how to make a quilt. How does that sound?"

"Okay."

"Good night, Katara."

"Good night, Mama," as drowsiness overcame her being.

As she fell asleep, there were mumblings left on her lips. She sat, grumpy, arms and legs crossed, glaring at nothing.

"Who put a bee in your underwear?"

"I'm not in the mood. I hate Sokka."

"Oh. Well, I hate Azula."

"Your…sister, right?"

"Yeah." He plopped down on the dirt next to her.

"Why's that?"

"Well, she's younger than me, but she's better at EVERYTHING!" He exclaimed in exasperation.

"How can she beat you at everything? That's impossible."

"Not for Azula it isn't." When she didn't speak, he continued. "She never fails to pick on me, even though I'm older than her, but no one listens! The teachers like her better, and even the servants and citizens adore her. Father says she's a genius among geniuses, a prodigy (whatever that means) and that's she's born lucky, while I'm lucky to be born! Can you believe it?

"The only people who paid attention to me was my mama, and Uncle Iroh, but mama's been gone for a long time so… yeah, things couldn't get any worse."

She pondered this for a moment. "Yup, so they just gotta get better."

"You kinda have a point. It's a good one too."

"Thanks."

"No, I'm thanking you. I feel sorta better now."

"Oh. That's good." She seemed distracted.

"So, um, your brother. What did he do?"

She turned to him tearfully.

"HETOOKMYDOLLLENAANDHERANAWAYANDITRIEDTOCATCHHIMBUTHEDROPPEDLENAINTHEFIREANDSHEGOTBURNTANDI'MNEVERGONNASEEHERAGAIN!" The words came out in such a rush he only looked at for an instant, stunned.

He patted her hand to calm her down. "Sounds like he's not much of a brother, huh?"

"Yeah, 'cept he's not actually that. More of a really big pain in the butt."

"Well, if I meet him, I can pummel him for you." He winked. "I'm ten, and he's only nine. Plus," Suddenly, a spark of flame ignited on his fingertip. "I can do this."

"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!" Katara exclaimed. "I'm a waterbender, but no one's really been teaching me so I couldn't do something like that!"

He smirked at her. "Isn't it cool? My Uncle's been teaching me how to firebend for a while now. I'm not as good as Azula is, but he says I'm catching up real fast."

"Ooh, what else can you do?"

"Well, um, I'm not really very good at it yet…"

"Come on, you must be able to do SOMETHING."

"Okay, I'll try."

He stood up and set a battle pose, executing a complicated spinning kick then making bursts of fire erupt in his fist. Katara watched, amazed and transfixed.

He hurled the fireballs to the air and did an elaborate body flip, kicking them just in time as they fell to the earth and making them go to a nearby bush in the forever-fall phase. The bush promptly caught fire that was extinguished just as quickly. It was their own Nirvana, after all, and they could do whatever they please.

He displayed quite a show, which sometimes made her mouth drop in awe, or clap her hands excitedly, or merely gaze at him wonderingly and admiringly.

When he finished, his face was red and he panted as sweat trickled from his brow, and he sat beside her yet again.

"What do you think? I know I won't be as great as Azula, but…"

"You know, you should stop rambling about Azula. It's making both of us upset. And besides…" She handed him a kerchief from her pocket to wipe his sweat with.

"…I bet she'll never be as nice as you are, and that's pretty much all that matters, doesn't it?"

I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you…

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A/N: Btw, I just wanna mention that I have never watched Toph, Jun, Yue, Song, Mai, Azula, Ty Lee, etc. and every other new character in action. Though I'm glad they provided an onslaught of girls because face it, before, Katara was like the ATLA fanfic whore because of all the people they pair her up with. Anyway, just wanna clear that up.

So, yeah, to see the next chapter, you have to

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