"Ah, it's great to be back," Sokka sighed contentedly as he sank into the couch in the upstairs lounge of the Jasmine Dragon, the Companion sitting on the table before him.
Katara took a seat next to her brother. "So, how were Suki and everyone else back at Kyoshi Island?"
"They're great. Suki and Ty Lee send you their regards. Oh, and one more thing." Sokka grinned mischievously at his sister. "Ty Lee says to tell you that you're welcome to make out with Aang in Zuko's throne room any time."
The waterbender raised a confused eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Never mind, it's nothing important. So," Sokka addressed Aang as he emerged from the stairs, "what were you guys up to while I'm gone?"
"Nothing much," Toph shrugged as she came in behind Aang. "We were enjoying the vacation break from two of the most annoying things in the world."
"Oh? And that would be?"
"One's the Companion; the other, I'll leave that to you to figure out," Toph grinned as she chose her spot on the other couch.
"Wonder how Zuko's doing at that meeting right now?" Aang mused.
"Meh, he'll be fine. Earth King Kuei's there with him, remember?" Sokka reminded him. "Besides, it's just some follow-up stuff on the relocation of the colonies. It shouldn't take too long."
Toph propped her feet up on the coffee table, only to have her toes collide with the Companion. "Hey, get this piece of parchment out of my way, won't you?"
Katara took the Companion from the table accordingly. "Actually, it's way more than a piece of parchment, Toph."
"Yeah, it's a whole ton of parchment full of crazy stories about us," Sokka piped up.
"Don't need you to remind me of that, Snoozles. So, what did Suki and Ty Lee think of the book?"
Sokka shrugged casually. "Oh, they found it interesting."
"He said something about me and Aang making out, but I didn't get the whole thing," Katara informed Toph as she browsed through the book. Her hand stopped at a certain page. "Hey, how does this story sound? The title's Avatar High."
"Aang's not very high," Toph pointed out.
"You mean, Aang's not very tall," Sokka corrected her.
"Geez Snoozles, one visit at Suki's and now you're a grammar master? I don't think I'll ever let you go to Kyoshi Island again."
"Why would I need your permission to visit Kyoshi Island?"
"I'll just leave you two in peace," Katara sighed as she moved to sit next to Aang, who she considered was a better audience than two bickering teens.
Katara sat at the dining table, fidgeting with her hair. Before her, her grandmother was laying out the breakfast she'd cooked. She looked up at her granddaughter. "Your hair looks fine, Katara. You can stop trying to tame it now," she said with a hint of a smile on her face.
Katara smiled back as she finally released her long braid and let it fall over her shoulders. "Yes, Gran Gran. I just... I'm a little nervous, that's all."
Gran Gran nodded understandingly. "Of course. The first day is always never easy."
"It would be easier if Sokka would be on time, for once," Katara muttered impatiently as she glanced towards the stairs to see her brother whistling as he made his way down towards the dining room.
"Morning, sis. Up and early, aren't you?" he grinned as he took the seat opposite her at the table.
"As opposed to you. The first day at a new school and you still want to sleep in," she shot back, smirking slightly.
"Oh, we're going to a new school?" Sokka asked.
Katara looked up at him from the book. "Wow Sokka, I didn't know you were listening. I thought you were still busy squabbling with Toph."
"Ha ha, very funny."
"We were, but we decided to save our breath and listen to you read yet another crazy story instead," Toph grinned.
"Uh huh," Katara nodded. "Wise choice."
"Oh come on, I wasn't that late," he protested before shoveling his breakfast into his mouth. "Besides," he mumbled through a mouth full of scrambled egg, "it isn't like this is the first time for us."
She sighed. He was right; ever since their mother died a few years ago, their father had been struggling to provide for the family and care for his children at the same time. Gran Gran was a big help staying with them, but Katara and her brother saw her even more often than they saw their father, for he was always busy at work all through the day and sometimes even late into the night. It was all for maintaining the family's income, or so he told them, but Katara suspected that he was drowning himself in his work so he could hide from the sorrow of losing his wife, something that had never faded as time passed.
"While all that stuff about Mom dying and everything was true," Sokka spoke up, "this whole paragraph feels just a little exaggerated. Of course, that might just be me, but honestly, I'm sure Dad wouldn't try to 'drown himself in his work' to hide from something."
"That's because you have no sensitivity," Katara told him.
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me what you meant when you were talking about me and Aang making out earlier."
Aang's ears perked up. "Katara and I were making out?"
"No, Sokka was talking about you and Katara making out," Toph pointed out. "Geez, I don't even care which of you makes out with whom! Can we just get on with the story already?"
Having put in so many time and effort in his career, it was natural that he should have a higher position in the company he worked for, but that also meant having to relocate a lot. This was the third school in the past six years Katara had been to, and she could only hope that this time, maybe, things would be better.
After finishing breakfast and helping to clear away the table, Gran Gran saw them off at the door. "Have a good day, kids," she said as she fondly kissed them both on the cheek once.
"Aw come on Gran Gran, we're not little kids anymore," Sokka said hastily as he wiped his cheek while glancing up and down the street, but Katara knew that he would be even more upset if her grandmother didn't give him his goodbye kiss like she'd done ever since he started primary school.
"Now isn't that sweet?" Toph sniggered.
"Hey, it's just a display of affection!" Sokka protested. "It means my grandmother loves me!"
"Oh, so you do get goodbye kisses from your Gran Gran, don't you?"
"Alright, break it up," Katara interjected as her brother glowered at the blind earthbender. "Seriously, if you ever want to finish a story, you're going to have to stop interrupting."
Toph turned her sightless eyes towards the waterbender. "You're just saying that because you don't mind goodbye kisses, especially if you're the one giving them to Aang," she said coyly.
"Well yes, I don't mind that at all," Katara stated, while beside her Aang was starting to blush.
She put her arms around Gran Gran and hugged her. "Don't worry Gran Gran, we'll be fine. I promise."
"I know you'll be," Gran Gran replied as she gave her granddaughter a warm smile. "Now run along, the two of you. You don't want to be late for the first day of school!"
"We won't! See you later, Gran Gran!" Katara called as she and her brother took off running towards the bus stop at the end of the street. They arrived just in time to see the yellow bus pull in. Getting into the line, they boarded the bus with the other kids, managing to find seats somewhere at the back. Katara settled down next to the window and watched the scenery pass her by as the bus continued its journey. She took a deep breath. Avatar High, here I come, she thought.
"So... what is Avatar High?" Aang asked.
"Probably the name of the new school Katara and I are going to in the story," Sokka analyzed. "Though why they would pick such a name for a school is beyond me."
"To be honest, a lot of stuff in this book is beyond us," Toph pointed out, and everyone nodded in agreement.
Katara squinted at the page. "Okay, there's a line break coming up. I suppose we'll be in class or something in the next paragraph."
Toph grinned and reclined backwards on the couch. "Sugar Queen in class, huh? Now that's something I'd like to see."
Katara tried to pay attention on the formula the teacher was explaining as he wrote on the whiteboard, but her mind kept slipping away. Well, the lessons aren't any better here, she thought, deciding that Chemistry in a different school was still Chemistry, and by default still boring.
"So 'Chemistry' is a boring lesson," Sokka nodded. "Right, got it."
Then something else caught her eye.
There he went again! The boy sitting two rows in front of her had just turned his head to look back at her for what was probably the fifth time ever since the class started half a hour ago. She'd registered that he had large grey eyes, short black hair and a rather nice smile which he kept flashing at her every time he turned towards her. While she wasn't used to people noticing her, having someone smiling at her made her feel more relaxed. She made up her mind that she would have to talk to him during recess, which was right after that class.
Sokka scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Someone that keeps smiling at Katara... I'd say that's Aang, except he doesn't have hair."
"Maybe he grew it out again," Katara guessed, 'like while he was unconscious for a period of time back after Ba Sing Se fell."
"Well, it makes no difference to me whether he's got hair or not," Toph shrugged. "All I need to know is that he keeps grinning at Katara, which is a dead giveaway."
"Agreed," Sokka nodded, while Aang's blush intensified.
When the bell rang, the students all filed out of the classroom, many of them eager to invade the cafeteria immediately. Katara took her time gathering her books together before looking up to see him walking towards her, the same bright smile on his face. She smiled back. "Hi."
"Hi." The boy seemed unable to say anything else, and his grey eyes darted around the room at random before settling on the necklace she was wearing. "That's very pretty," he said as he gestured to her neck.
She instinctively put a hand to the carved piece of jade held in place by a blue silk band. "Oh, thank you. It was my mother's," she explained while smiling encouragingly up at him.
That seemed to give him more courage, and his smile grew wider. "So... you must have just moved here, huh?"
"Yes, my family just moved in during the weekend. My name's Katara," she said, introducing herself first.
"Hi Katara. I'm Aang."
"Yup, it's Twinkletoes all right," Toph confirmed.
"Though I wonder if he still has his arrow tattoo?" Sokka mused. "He couldn't be wearing a headband to hide it again, could he?"
"Why would I need to hide my arrow?" Aang asked. "It's just a normal school, not a Fire Nation one."
"There's that," Toph agreed. "Not a single mention of a firebender yet; just Sugar Queen, Snoozles, their grandma, and Twinkletoes."
"Nothing about you either," Sokka grinned teasingly at her.
"Yup." Toph frowned slightly. "That's no fun."
Sokka snorted. "Get over it Toph, a story doesn't need you in it to be fun."
"Or you," she shot back.
"And here we go again," Katara sighed, sensing that they were on the brink of another Water Tribe warrior versus blind earthbender squabble. "You two do what you want; I'll just finish up here first."
He grinned shyly at her. "Do you want to eat at the cafeteria together?"
"I'd love to. I'd really like some company, what with this being my first day here and all," she said as they walked out of the classroom and down the hall.
"Don't worry, you'll have lots of new friends soon." Aang stopped at the entrance to the cafeteria, one hand holding open the door that led to the noisy room full of kids having lunch. "And by the way, welcome to Avatar High."
"And that's the end." Katara closed the book and looked up at her friends. "Oh, so you two have decided to give up on your debate after all?"
"I got no problem with doing it, if you're looking forward to it so much," Toph grinned.
"Same here. I can definitely put one over you any day," Sokka said with a confident smirk.
"I'll like to see you try, Snoozles."
"Try what?" asked a voice, and the four turned around to see Zuko coming from the stairs.
"Hey Zuko," Aang greeted him. "How'd the meeting go?"
"It went fine. Great to see you back, Sokka," Zuko said as he nodded at the Water Tribe teen.
"Great to see you two, Zuko. How's your throne room?"
The Fire Lord raised an eyebrow. "Um, it's fine?"
"Oh, good then. Just one thing: next time we're all in the Fire Nation, make sure Aang and Katara don't sneak off together." Sokka leaned backwards on the couch with the same smirk on his face, while his friends traded confused glances.
Well there you go; a modern high school AU fic made as clique as is possible for a bunny. I finally finished my exams - and thanks for all your well wishes, they were a big encouragement for me - but now my email inbox is flooded and I've got a whole ton of message reading to do. To everyone who PMed me these few days, you'll get my reply soon, so hang in there! See you all next chapter!