So I tried to not take too long to update this story, but I'm also in the midst of job hunting and getting really frustrated over it. So I thought I'd take a break and update this.
(I don't own Avatar)
He took a look around him as he tried to stand. For some reason, he felt groggy and couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing. Taking a deep breath, Aang finally got to his feet and began walking around. It was like he was home, but at the same time he wasn't. The home he was in was eerily familiar, but he couldn't understand why. It's not like he had been to this place before.
Right?
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that this place was one he recognized. He couldn't figure out why it felt so normal to be here, and yet he didn't find anything that stood out to him. Shaking his head, he walked to the bathroom, only to see it was a closet instead..
"Okay, this is not normal..."
He closed his eyes for a few moments before trying to calm his mind. Yes, it was frightening and confusing, but freaking out wasn't going to help him in this situation. Walking back to the room, he cursed as he tripped on the edge of a bed. He frowned, before his eyes widened when he saw Toph sleeping on the same bed he just kicked.
"What's going on? Toph didn't spend the night!"
Running to what he thought was a closet, he realized ended up being the bathroom and he desperately wanted to slam his head against the wall. Everything was so different, so much taller. He was so used to seeing everything from a higher perspective, but he realized he had somehow shrunk in the middle of the night. He looked down at his hands, only to gasp when he saw that they were brown, and not his usual pale skin.
He vaguely noted his voice was higher than his usual deep voice, and this sent him into a spiral of confusion that he couldn't contain. Running to look at himself in the mirror, he felt himself almost faint.
There, in the reflection was Katara.
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Gasping, he shot out of bed and ran towards the bathroom. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he noticed that he was back in his home, and not in the girl's body. He looked down at his hands, running them over his face before laughing like crazy. He failed to notice Sokka knock on the bathroom door, until he heard his voice over his happy laughter.
"Quit thinking about women and hurry up! We're gonna be late!"
Thankful his brother wasn't around to see his blush, he decided that his brother had a good point, and he should get dressed and ready for school.
He couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. After all, why would he dream about being Katara?
Shaking his head, he didn't want to think about the situation at hand. All he wanted to do was get ready for school and attempt to talk with Katara once again.
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Katara sighed heavily as she watched the juniors' gym class. She had a spare at the same time as Toph's gym class and after relentlessly begging her to watch, Katara agreed. Though she couldn't understand why Toph would want her to watch their gym class. She couldn't figure out if it was to show her up, or if she just wanted company.
"Shouldn't you be participating in gym instead of hanging around here with me?"
Toph shrugged, "Mr. Pakku won't mind. He seems to think I cheat at most of the sports anyways. Though I don't understand how you can cheat when everyone can use their bending."
"Probably because you're a master Earthbender. I mean, you can even bend metal, something no other earthbender can do." Katara muttered as she worked on her math.
"Is that jealousy I hear Katara?"
She snorted, "Why would I be jealous of you being able to earthbend? I'm not an earthbender nor am I the-"
Toph raised an eyebrow when she heard Katara stop mid-sentence. Shaking her head, she turned her gaze back to the boys in her class playing water soccer.
"Whatever you say Sugar Queen."
Giving her a small glare, Katara turned her gaze to the sound of laughter and saw Aang gliding across the field, ice forming under his feet. He was able to control the flow of ice so naturally it made her boil in rage. She understood that he was the Avatar and had to master all the elements, but why did he have to make it look so easy?
She was staring at him for so long that she failed to notice him staring back at her with wide eyes. When she blinked, she could feel her face heat up before grabbing her books and leaving the table.
Curse the Avatar for being such a showoff. What gave him the right?
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Aang ran towards Toph, who just smiled while sitting on the bench. He turned to look at Katara, who didn't give any sort of glance back to them and he felt like someone punched him in the stomach.
"What was that?"
Toph shrugged, "I don't know, but whatever it was, you must've done something to piss off Sugar Queen."
He shook his head, "But I didn't do anything! I was just playing ice soccer with the class!"
She raised and eyebrow before punching him in the arm, "Well that explains a lot!"
"Ouch Toph! What was that for?"
"You know, for being the Avatar, you're quite stupid."
Before he could retort in anger, she whispered.
"Katara can't waterbend."
Aang blinked before looking in the direction the young girl went. "But I thought she-"
"Oh, she's a water bender, but she hasn't learned how to do it. No one's taught her how. And seeing you do it with ease definitely upset her. She's probably wondering why you were able to do so easily while she has problems with it."
"Why hasn't she asked anyone to train her?"
Toph sighed, "Don't you think she hasn't done that already? Mr. Pakku won't because he believes that only men should know it. And the other water benders treat her like crap because she can't water bend. She's an outcast remember? No one would want to associate with someone like her."
"So is that why you relate to her so well?"
She shrugged, "I guess you can say that. She doesn't pester me like everyone else does. She knows when to talk and when to be silent. The only difference between me and her is I can bend."
Walking away from the young airbender, she raised an eyebrow before stomping the ground, causing him to yelp.
"Hurry up Twinkletoes! You're gonna be late for class!"
Standing up and dusting the dirt off his pants, Aang ran to catch up with Toph. He was trying to figure out some way to help the young water bender. He just hadn't thought of a plan yet.
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Katara sighed before staring out the window. She arrived early for class, giving her time to assess her current situation. She didn't understand why Toph made her watch their gym class. it wasn't just so she'd see Aang waterbend, was it? Even then, what purpose did it serve? Did she want her to ask Aang to be her teacher? She laughed at that thought.
"There's no way the Avatar would want to be my teacher."
Despite having that thought, she couldn't help but feel sad. Why wouldn't he want to train her? Sure, he was the most popular guy in school and he had a reputation to protect, but he wasn't that shallow, was he?
Growling in aggravation, she failed to realize Aang sitting beside her, causing her to jump.
He gave her a confused look, "Are you okay, Katara?"
"I'm fine. I just didn't see you there." She mumbled before grabbing her notes out of her bag.
"Look... I just wanted to apologize for not being an active participant yesterday. I wasn't expecting to be paired up with you and for some reason it pissed me off. But despite that, I can't allow my grades to slip just because I'm working with someone different. So, from this point on, I will answer any questions you have. Within reason of course."
He held the pencil to his mouth, lost in thought before he spoke, "So, you're a waterbender.."
He cursed when he realized he let it slip and he felt her tense up beside him. After all, the look from before still burned in the back of his mind, and he shuddered at the thought.
"No, I'm not a waterbender."
He blinked, "But Toph said-"
"Well, Toph was wrong! And I don't appreciate you talking to her about me. If you're going to work on this project with me, the least you can do is have respect and not talk about me behind my back!"
Slamming the chair into her desk, Katara stormed off, while Aang slouched over and rested his head on the desk.
"What's wrong with me?"
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Katara fumed for the eighteenth time that night as she worked on her biology homework. She scribbled so much, the desk itself threatened to break. She cursed silently before taking a deep breath. She shouldn't have gotten so angry, but it was such a natural response to anyone who asked the question. Even though when he asked it, it wasn't out of spite or anger. It was a curious question he wanted to know the answer to. Maybe it was the earlier scene that caused her to snap at him, but she laid her head on her desk, while silently beating herself up.
A knock on the door startled her from her thoughts and before she could answer, it opened to reveal Aang.
"What are you doing here?"
He shrugged, "Toph invited me over. I couldn't say no."
She narrowed her eyes before turning back to her studies. "What do you want?"
"I want to teach you waterbending."
She dropped her pencil in shock, before whirling around in her chair. Her eyes narrowed in caution, as though she was debating with herself if she could trust him or not. Perhaps it was a mistake or it was her ears playing tricks on her, but she still forced herself to ask,
"What was that?"
With a strong tone in his voice, he replied, "I want to teach you waterbending."