Hey guys, here's the second chapter. Sorry it took so long to update. I just had to figure out where this chapter was gonna go. Hope you enjoy it!

(I don't own avatar)

"So, I heard you got put with Aang for an assignment."

Her pencil snapped with tension before she twirled on her chair to look at Toph.

"How'd you find out?"

"I hear about what happens at school, even if I'm not there." She took a moment to pause before sitting up on her bed. "Besides, were you even going to tell me about it?"

She mentally cursed. Of course Toph would know everything. She is a Beifong after all, one of the highest status' in the school. She still couldn't understand why someone of her stature would be friends with her. But the last time she asked resulted in her being stuck to the wall for an hour until she apologized for asking such a ridiculous question.

"Well... It's hard to say. I was seriously debating it because I wasn't sure how'd you react to it. I figured you wouldn't care so I didn't think to tell you."

She scoffed, "At least you're being honest Sugar Queen. So did anything else happen to you at school?"

She could feel the pencil sink into the palm of her hand from holding it so tightly. She sighed,

"Azula picked on me again."

Despite being a waterbender, Katara was still able to sense Toph's rage from her side of the room. Toph knew the history between the two, and every time her name was mentioned, it would send Toph into a spiral of rage.

"Let me guess, you didn't do a thing about it."

She looked at the floor in shame, "What did you expect me to do? I can't waterbend and even then, Azula is stronger than me. I'd totally be crushed."

Toph growled in anger before getting off the bed and grabbing Katara by her shirt.

"Listen here, Sugar Queen. You are not weak. Yes, you don't know how to waterbend. But I promise you, we will find you a teacher. I know Mr. Pakku won't teach you as he feels only men should know it. But we will find someone else. I worry about you Katara. I don't want another incident to happen to you."

She smiled before grabbing Toph into a hug. Even if she was rough around the edges, she still knew how to cheer her up.

"I swear, if you keep crying, I will pin you to the wall again."

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Aang groaned for the umpteenth time that evening. The girl he got paired up with kept appearing in his head, preventing him from doing any sort of work. He had never seen someone hate him so much, and he wish he could understand where she came from. Was there something he had that she didn't?

"Ugh! I'm so confused!"

The knock on his door caused him to raise an eyebrow before Sokka came in, Toph not too far behind him.

"Uh.. Hey Toph. I didn't know you were coming over."

"As usual, Sokka didn't tell you I was coming over. He's such an idiot sometimes."

"Hey! You know I'm standing right here!"

"Whatever." Toph waved her hand in the air before sitting on Aang's bed.

"So, I heard you got paired up with Katara. Sounds like a rather interesting pair, don't you think Sokka?"

He shrugged, "Maybe she'll have other friends besides you Toph."

She scoffed, "Katara doesn't trust everyone. She only trusts a few people and even then, you have to show her you can be trusted."

Aang sat on his chair quiet, contemplating how to ask her. If what his brother said was true, Toph would know what to do/say to get her to open up.

"Toph... I need your help."

"What's on your mind, Twinkletoes?"

He sighed, "It's just... I tried talking to her in class today, and it was so awkward. She hardly said anything about herself. And when I asked some people in the halls, they couldn't tell me much about her. This project we're supposed to work on together just seems much more complicated because she won't tell me anything about herself."

Earthbending a small rock in the air, Toph laid back on his bed, trying to give some thought into her response.

"It's like I said, Twinkletoes, she's not one who trusts easy. You have to prove to her that you can be trusted. I know that's difficult to do seeing as we have those stupid laws at school. But the only way you're going to get through to her is to break some of those laws. I know you're the avatar, and you have to show people that they need to listen blah blah blah.. But until you show her you're different, Katara is just gonna think you're like every other rich kid there."

He rested his hand on his palm before sighing once again, "This is giving me a headache."

"Look Aang, I know this project isn't gonna be easy, but have you ever thought that that's what Mr. Iroh wanted?"

He blinked before looking at his brother, "What do you mean Sokka?"

"It's as simple as it sounds. You know how Mr. Iroh is. He wants all of us to get along with each other. So maybe the reason he paired you with Katara was to get you to see just how hard it is for the lower-class. I've spoken with Katara a couple times, she seems like such a cool girl. I wish I could be closer with her like Toph, but sadly, I have to think about my image at school. Unlike Toph, who doesn't care what people think about her, I'm a non-bender. If I chose to pick a fight with someone, I wouldn't be able to defend myself since majority of the school can bend. Since weapons are forbidden from the school, I can't use my boomerang."

"I think what Snoozles is trying to get at, is you're the avatar. You have to try and find balance with her. You have to see what makes her tick, what makes her happy. I know it won't be easy, but think of it as an exciting challenge. Who knows? This might help with your spiritual training. Like Mr. Iroh says, to understand oneself, one must understand another."

He nodded before twirling around in his chair. Giving them a small smile, he spoke, "Thanks guys."

"That's what we're here for buddy."

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Katara sighed before taking a look out the window. She knew she'd have to eventually talk with Aang and get to know him on a much better term, but a part of her was still at war. He was the Avatar. He was the strongest person in the school, in the world even, and yet he was younger than her. A part of her was curious to know more about him. Like how he was able to master all four elements. She had a lot of questions she wanted to know about him, and yet, she couldn't find it in herself to ask him in class today.

"Maybe I feel intimidated? After all, I don't have many friends and I don't really associate with people at school. Toph is more solitary, which is why I feel connected with her. She doesn't constantly badger me with questions about how I feel or interrogate me. She knows when to be quiet, and when to give advice. With Aang... Who knows what kind of a person he is?"

Shaking her head, she sighed before looking at the paper in front of her. She had asked Mr. Iroh to give her a set of questions that she could possibly ask Aang that weren't too informal. But when she read some of these out loud, she cringed at the thought of asking him.

"I mean, I know he has to be nice to everyone at the school, but why does he talk with Azula and Zuko?"

Glaring at the paper, she banged her fists on her desk before grabbing her hair in frustration.

"Why do I even care about this? Why do I feel like I should care about what the Avatar does? It's not like we're friends or anything... It's not like I want to be friends with him..."

"Do I?"

The question itself made her pause her train of thoughts. Just because he hung out with bad people, doesn't mean he's a bad person himself. Mr. Iroh had been teaching them about the inner mind and how one acts around new people. He even told her that how she was acting was completely normal for a girl her age.

"Ugh! This is so confusing. I need to get some sleep."

With that, Katara stood up from her desk and got ready for bed. Perhaps tomorrow would be a new day for the young waterbender.