Katara turned her obnoxious alarm clock off and checked the time, seven am. She got up slowly and turned on her light. She had a very small room with blue walls and a grey carpeted floor. She tried hard to keep it tidy, but there was very little storage space and things usually ended up being kicked into the corner when she couldn't squeeze another thing inside the closet.

She threw a bathrobe around her shoulders and tiptoed into the living room. Sokka snored on the couch, drooling all over Gran Gran's nice quilt. Katara walked past him into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She frowned at the nearly empty space, Sokka was eating more and more, she couldn't keep the fridge full for even a day! She grabbed the milk, closed the fridge, and prepared herself a bowl of cereal. She sat at the kitchen table and watched the tv while eating. They were covering a strange phenomenon on the news, apparently the avatar statues lit up for the first time in a century the other day.

A fire sage spoke on the tv, "The light in the statues can only mean one thing, the avatar has returned!" Katara put down her spoon and stared at the tv. The avatar has returned? "It was believed previously that the avatar cycle ended with the death of the last one, but if there's a chance he never died … the avatar would be the last airbender." The last airbender? But that couldn't be. Aang was an airbender, so he couldn't be the last one.

Aang emerged from Sokka's room yawning. "Good morning, Katara!"

Katara stared at Aang. "Aang, I was just wondering, since you're an airbender and all, do you know the avatar?"

Aang's smile disappeared suddenly. He bit his lip. "No, sorry. Never met him."

Katara looked down, disappointed. "Oh, okay." Katara took her bowl to the sink and left the kitchen. "Help yourself to some breakfast before Sokka eats what's left."

"Uh, thanks."

Katara walked into her bedroom and closed the door. She laid out her school uniform and got dressed. Aang looked through the fridge, completely baffled by what he saw. Where were the fruits? The breads and pies? Why was everything wrapped up in plastic? All the eggs were inside a strange cardboard container. He took out the eggs and put them on the counter, then he faced the stove. How was he supposed to use this? What were all of these strange dials and buttons? What happened to simple, straightforward kitchen appliances? He turned all the dials the way he thought they should be and searched the cabinet for a skillet. He scrambled three eggs and prepared to put it on the stove. Why did he smell something burning? He turned around to see the stove caught on fire. "F-FIRE!"

Sokka woke up with a start, "Firebenders?! Where?! Run Katara!"

Katara came out of her room. "What are you screaming about?" She gasped when she the fire and ran into the kitchen. She raised her arms and the sink suddenly turned on, water flew from the sink and doused the fire.

Aang stared at Katara. "You're a waterbender!"

Steam rose around them as Sokka ran into the kitchen. "What?! What did you see, you little punk? What did you see?"

"Nothing! She took out the fire with waterbending, that's it!"

Katara yelled at them. "Quiet! Someone will hear you!"

Gran Gran ran from her room. "What is going on here?!"

"I knew it was a bad idea letting this kid stay here! He saw her waterbending."

"Why is that such a big deal? It's not like waterbending is illegal, right?" They all looked at Aang strangely. "Right?"

Gran Gran sat down. "Young man, my granddaughter is the last waterbender of our tribe. Every other waterbender was taken years ago by the fire nation."

"The fire nation? Why would they take waterbenders?"

Katara stepped in. "Because water douses fire, our element is the most dangerous against there's. They've eliminated everyone they see as a threat."

"So you have to hide your bending?"

Katara nodded her head. "You can't tell anyone. Promise me you won't."

Aang crisscrossed his heart. "I promise to keep your secret."

Sokka yelled. "A promise? That's it! We can't let him just go when he knows about Katara!"

"Well what are we supposed to do? Keep him prisoner?"

Gran gran interrupted. "Yes." They all looked at Gran Gran. "He'll stay with us for a while. Katara will keep an eye on him during the day at school and we'll lock the doors when he comes home at night. Until we can be sure to trust him."

Sokka stammered. "But soccer is starting, I can't be worrying about a kid when I'm in charge of the team!"

"Then don't worry about it, Katara will handle it. You can handle this, can't you, Katara?"

"Yes, but … I don't think it's right to …"

"It's okay. I think it'll be fun!" Aang laughed, "When does school start?"

School was not fun. Katara gently shook Aang. "Aang? Wake up Ang. We'll be late for Professor Zhoa's class."

"Huh?" Aang opened his eyes.

"Good morning, sleepy head."

"Do we really have to go to more classes? Don't you think we've had enough for one day?"

"It's only fourth period. Come on! It's not that bad." Katara yanked Aang from his seat and proceeded to drag him out of the classroom. "Now come on! If we don't make it in time Professor Zhoa will definitely not be pleased!" The two of them began running down the hallways. They rushed in the door just as the bell rung. Katara pulled Aang to the back of the room and into an empty seat.

"Wolf?" Katara looked up at Professor Zhoa. "Y-yes, sir?"

"That was very close timing, make sure you get here as quickly as possible from now on."

"Yes, sir."

Professor Zhoa tilted his head to the right a little to look at Aang, who sat staring at the fire nation flag at the front. "And who are you? Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Katara elbowed Aang. "Huh, oh, I'm uh …. Kuzon er… Kuzon Fire."

Zhoa lifted an eyebrow. "Kuzon … Fire?" Some of the firebenders at the front of the class began snickering. "And are you shadowing in our class today, Mr. Fire?"

Katara spoke up, "Actually he's a transfer student, from Konga."

Zhoa began to walk between the aisle of desks towards Katara. "Was I speaking to you, Wolf?"

Katara bowed her head, sweat rolling down the side of her face. "Uh, no, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

Zhoa looked at Aang. "As a firenation citizen you do realize you don't have to sit back here with these scum, don't you? Come to the front of the class, miss Wolf will help you with your things." Katara quickly stood and took Aang's bag.

"No that's alright, I think I'll stay back here thanks."

Everyone stared at Aang. The kids began to whisper. Zhoa stared down at Aang, something dark and threatening in his eyes. "It is required that firenation students be kept separate from the foreigners. Certainly that was explained to you at your orientation? And that you are asked to wear the fire nation emblem, to distinguish yourself from them?"

Aang began to feel the pressure in the room. Something definitely wasn't right. Why would firenation be kept separate from everyone else? What kind of a school rule was that? "Oh yeah, well, I haven't really had any kind of orientation yet. I only got here yesterday."

Zhoa squinted. "I see. I think you'll find we do things a quite a bit differently than they do in Kongo. I will personally see to it that you are properly informed on school rules and expectations. Now if everyone will move down a seat, I believe Mr. Fire should be seated in the front where he belongs."

Immediately, every non-firenation student picked up there things and moved down, setting a clear gap between them and those wearing firenation emblems on their shirts. Katara stood with Aang's bag, waiting for him to pick a seat so that she could return to her own. He sat where everyone expected him to, at the very front and center. Katara set his things on the back of his chair for him and went back to the back of the room.

Aang didn't like this. He did not like it at all.