The Gaang's Companion

by Carrot-Bunny

When the Gaang receives a book full of stories about themselves and many other characters in the AtLA universe, they begin their journey into the wide and wacky world of fanfiction. From romance to adventure to humor to even slash(!), join them as they enter the realms of 'The Gaang's Companion', where they find out that fanfiction writers are always interesting if nothing else.

36. One is Silver and the Other is Gold

"Okay, let's see..." Sokka turned over page after page until his hand stopped. "One is Silver and the Other is Gold. Huh, sounds interesting."

"Read the summary," Katara urged him.

"Katara and Yue, BFFs, Head to the mall with Sokka and run in to Suki, who claims to have changed from the snotty brat she was as a child. Will the girls ever trust her again?" Sokka wrinkled his brow. "Yue featured in a story? Well that's a first."

Katara looked bewildered. "Since when have Yue and I ever become, um, 'BFFs'? We didn't talk much back at the North Pole."

Toph shrugged. "And since when have these authors strictly followed the truth anyway?"

"Good point," Sokka agreed before starting the story.

"OKAY GIRLS! TWO MORE LAPS!" Coach Pakku yelled at his all-girl swimming team as practice was nearing an end. Katara gave all she had left into these last two laps, ignoring the screams of her arm and leg muscles.

Almost there! She thought to herself. I got this!

When she reached the edge of the pool, finishing the last lap, Katara pulled herself up and over, onto the edge of the pool, and laid back. Breathing heavily trying to lower her heart rate and strengthen her stamina.

Toph looked thoughtful. "Sugar Queen in a swimming team? Strangely enough, I can actually picture that."

"Meh, we've all seen her swim before - and soak five-thousand-year-old maps in the process," Sokka recalled, giving his sister a look that meant drenching ancient maps wasn't an acceptable action.

Aang grinned. "Oh yeah, I remember that."

"Naturally you would," Toph smirked. "You probably remember her bathing suit most, don't you?"

The Avatar simply blushed.

"Great job, girls. Maybe you'll be ready for this coming season by the time you're my age!" Coach Pakku joked while the last of girls struggled to climb out with aching muscles, a usual routine they had to end practices. "Okay. Practice is over. See you girls next week." And he left.

"Well, looks like nothing's changed with Master Pakku - or 'Coach' Pakku," Sokka grinned.

"As witty as ever," Katara agreed.

Katara felt someone kick her side. When she turned her head she saw her childhood best friend Yue smiling down on her, hands on hips. When Yue stuck her hand out, Katara smiled and let Yue pull her up, moaning as her muscles screamed even more.

Katara raised an amused eyebrow. "Childhood best friend, huh? I quite like that idea."

"Well, as long as I appear somewhere in the story, I don't mind if she's your friend," Sokka decided.

"And what are we going to do about Suki? She was mentioned in the summary," Toph pointed out.

"We'll figure that out later on. For all we know, she could end up paired with Zuko again."

"Not that I'm excited about that though," Zuko put in hastily.

Walking to the girls locker room, Yue patted Katara's shoulder. "A nice hot shower will feel real good!" She said. "You said it." Katara agreed as she opened the locker room door.

Upon reaching her locker, Katara slipped off her royal blue swimsuit, pulled out her pony tail, and unlocked the locker. Opening the door, she pulled out her drawstring bag and hung her practice suit on the door to drip-dry. Then she grabed her Ocean Breeze scented shampoo and walked with Yue to the showers.

As soon as she began washing the chlorine out of her chocolate brown hair, Katara began her usual rant on Coach Pakku. "Gosh. Coach Pakku was really cracking down today."

Yue rolled her eyes. "Yeah. But you can't blame him. He's the best there is! Just look at past results!" Now it was Katara's turn to roll her eyes.

"Oh i'm sure! But it feels like he's got it in for me. Just because he'll be my Grandfather at the end of the summer." She pointed out as the sweet smelling suds ran down her body while she rinsed her hair.

"So you'll be getting 'Granpakku' in here too. Congrats," Sokka grinned at his sister.

"Hey, you won't be any different, you know. And considering you were mentioned in the summary as well, I'd say you'll end up in here too - although I'm not sure whether I should be happy about that."

"So... is Yue in the swimming team as well?" Aang asked. "And is she using the same shower as Katara? The story kinda gave me that impression."

Toph shrugged. "It's not very clear about that, is it? Let's just continue, yeah?"

"Yes, I know! And i'm so excited! But we have this conversation every week!" Yue said a little louder than she planned. Katara bit her lip. "Aw. I'm sorry. Me too. Blue moon at my house?" She proposed as she made her already mesmerising baby blue eyes as large as she could.

Yue looked over at her friend after rinsing her own hair out and froze. Then quickly grabbed a towel and ran. "No! Not the puppy dog eyes!" She shrieked. Katara grabbed a towel for her self and chased after Yue with her long since mastered "Puppy dog" look in her eye.

"Funny. I thought Aang was the one with the 'puppy dog' eyes," Sokka said as he gave the Avatar a wary look.

Zuko chuckled. "I don't think I can picture Katara with 'puppy dog' eyes."

"Me neither. Usually she looks like this." Sokka put on an exaggerated scowl and then broke out laughing.

"Very funny," Katara muttered.

"It's okay Sugar Queen, I know you look fine," Toph reassured her.

"Why thank you To- wait, you can't even see me at all!"

"Yup," the earthbender grinned.

"Come on! You know you want to!" She said as she pinned Yue to her locker with her towel. Holding her still, she gazed into Yue's eyes. "You will come home with me and eat Blue Moon Ice Cream while we party all night.." Yue laughed and said. "Fine, Creeper. But only cause there'll be Blue Moon Ice Cream!"

"Wonder what 'Blue Moon' ice cream tastes like?" Sokka mused.

"In the Fire Nation, we usually get flavors like strawberry and pineapple - you know, fruit flavors," Zuko said. "But I've never heard of 'Blue Moon' flavor before."

"Maybe they get moon rocks, paint them blue and mash them up to make ice cream," Toph suggested jokingly.

Aang frowned. "That doesn't sound very nice."

"Who cares? The only dessert I'll eat is Iroh's red bean buns anyway," the blind girl declared.

Katara let Yue go and smiled. "Yeah I know." She said. "I also know that's the only way to get you over any more. You've only been over two times since summer started!" Katara announced. She opened her locker and pulled out her drawstring bag, pulled out her clothes and put her shampoo back in one swift movement.

Yue walked over from two lockers over, already half dressed in jean shorts and a white sports bra. "I know. But it's still a little awkward since your brother and I broke up."

Sokka gaped. "Yue and I broke up?!"

"Hey, maybe she's the one who ends up with Zuko!" Toph speculated.

"Oh no. Oh, no no no. Why do you keep stealing my girlfriends?!" Sokka demanded as he pointed an accusing finger at the Fire Lord.

"Sokka, the story doesn't even say that," Katara reasoned. "Besides, we all know already that we're not likely to do what we do in these stories in real life."

"And I already have a girlfriend," Zuko added.

Sokka looked grumpy. "Fine," he said finally before getting back to the book.

Katara turned to her, also half dressed in black and white sport shorts and a black sports bra.

"I thought you guy's were bud's now? Whatever. Let's just forget it. Tonight, we party!" Both girls squealed and enveloped in a tight hug. Then they turned back to their lockers and slipped on their shirts.

Katara, a tight baby blue tank top that said "Can't catch my waves" in dark blue lettering and "Four Nations High Swimming team" on the back.

Yue, a white baby tee that said "I rise with the moon" in black letters with a full moon rising over a ocean horizon above.

Toph raised an eyebrow. "What's with the clothing descriptions?"

"Yeah. It's almost like the author's trying to present their personalities on their shirts," Aang added.

"But that's like stereotyping," Katara pointed out. "I'm not all about swimming and water, and I'm sure Yue doesn't rave about the moon all the time either."

"Well, considering her life was given to her by the moon spirit, it does play an important role in her life," Sokka analyzed.

Toph shrugged. "Whatever. But you people better not start putting sentences on your clothes too."

"You can't even see them anyway," Katara told her.

"Oh yeah, there is that."

Both girls whipped the hair up into messy buns on top of their heads and took care of their before Katara cinched up her bag, she pulled her mothers necklace out of a small pocket and tied the choker around her neck. When she hung he bag on both shoulders and turned to Yue. "Ready!" She announced.

"Me too. I've always loved that necklace." She said with a small smile. "My mom looked so beautiful." Katara said. Yue walked over and gave her a side hug. "And you look just like her!"

Katara blinked. "How would Yue know what Mom looked like?"

"Same way she became your childhood friend, or how she broke up with me," Sokka answered.

Toph smirked. "You don't want Suki to catch you saying that, Snoozles."

"Speaking of Suki," Aang piped up, "wasn't she described as a 'snotty brat' in the summary?"

"Nonsense!" Sokka's eyes scanned the summary only to confirm Aang's words. "What?! That's totally ridiculous!"

"Considering what kind of book we're reading now, 'ridiculous' would be an understatement," Zuko muttered.

Katara hugged her back. "Aw geez! BTW, my brothers picking us up!"

Katara picked up her bag and her flip flops and ran out of the locker room. Yue stood in shock for a moment and thought through what just happened. Then picked up her bag and and shoes and ran after her. "KAT!"

"I'm called 'Kat'?" Katara asked disbelievingly.

"Hey, I wouldn't mind calling you that," Sokka grinned, much to the annoyance of his sister.

Toph shrugged. "Meh, I'll stick with Sugar Queen."

Zuko grinned. "And Aang'll continue calling her - what was it again? Forever Girl?"

"Something like that," Aang mumbled through his blush.

When Katara reached the lobby of the YMCA, where they have swimming practice in the summer, she found her brother Sokka sitting on a chair, playing Temple Run on his phone. "Hey Sokka." She said as she walked over.

"Hey, you ready yet?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the game.

Aang scratched the back of his bald head. "I thought 'phones' were for, erm, 'keeping in touch', I think?"

Sokka shrugged. "So they're multi-purpose, big surprise. Like Appa - we use him for flying, carrying our stuff, and the occasional camp-out location."

"Or how your gilder doubles as a nutcracker," Toph added.

Aang frowned. "I'd appreciate it if you think of my gilder as having one use only, thank you."

"Suit yourself, Twinkletoes."

Katara sighed. "Yeah, there's just one thing you need to know." Sokka put his phone away and look behind Katara then to his sister. "Shoot." Katara had heard a door open behind her and now the familiar sound of flip flops creeping behind her, but continued.

Well, um, Yue i- AAUUGGHH!" She was suddenly attacked from behind by Yue and collapsed at the ticklish feeling at her sides. "That's what you get for dropping a bomb." Yue cackled from above, but giving in to a smile. Katara laid there laughing. " Fine! Just help me up!" Yue gave her a hand and soon she was back on her feet.

Sokka glanced at his sister. "You know, I'm almost used to the whole thing about you and Yue being best buds. Still kinda weird, though."

"I think it's nice," Katara remarked. "I don't really have a female best friend to hang out with - except you of course, Toph," she added as she smiled at the blind earthbender.

Zuko looked interestedly at the two girls. "You guys hung out together? What did you do?"

Toph shrugged. "Just basic girls' day out stuff - manicures, kicking masseurs into walls, throwing snooty ladies into rivers - the usual, that's all."

The Fire Lord's eyes widened. "Wow."

When she finally calmed down Katara turned to her big brother. "So, yeah. Yue's coming over and we are partying all night!" Sokka look's at both girls then shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, but first I gotta go to the mall and get a new game." He said was he walked towards the door.

Katara and Yue looked at each other expecting a different reaction. Sokka jingled his keys and stood in the open front door. "Come on! I'll buy you Orange Julious'!" The girls shrugged and caught up with him. After racing across the parking lot, they all piled into Sokka's steamy Chevy Pick-Up truck, Katara sitting in the middle, and they headed for the mall, windows wide open.

Sokka stared at the book in disbelief. "'Expecting a different reaction'? What do they expect me to do, jump up and tap dance in glee?"

"Well, considering you broke up with Yue, they were probably expecting a less casual response," Toph pointed out.

"Oh, right." The Water Tribe teen frowned. "I don't like breaking up with Yue."

"You already made that clear, thanks," his sister replied.

After parking near the mall entrance, and they walked into the air-conditioned food court, Katara closed her eyes and breathed in the delicious smells of Fresh Pretzels from Auntie Anne's, Iced Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts, and Orange Chicken from Panda Express.

"Er... I guess those are names of food stalls or something?" Aang said tentatively.

Sokka looked thoughtful. "Strange; usually food stalls don't have names. Oh well, it's all part of another crazy world anyway."

After soaking the sights and smells, she turned to Sokka. "Okay, i'm ready!" She said with a smile. Sokka arched an eyebrow. "For what?" Katara batted her eyes, hoping to get out of going into the game store. "For the Orange Julious' you promised Yue and I!" Katara got real close and hugged her brothers arm, batting her eyes even faster.

Sokka tried to shield his eyes from his sisters surprising cuteness. "FINE! Fine! Here's ten bucks! Go splurge a little!" At that Katara released and grabbed the money.

Sokka snorted. "Since when have I ever given in to Katara like that?"

"Since when has she ever batted her eyelashes at you like that?" Toph responded.

"This is weird," Aang concluded.

Sokka stepped in front of them and walked backwards to the game store. "I'm going to GameStop. I'll be back in a bit. Later." Then he turned around and walked off.

Katara turned to Yue and said in her best British accent "Finally! Now, Let's go 'Splurge'!" Yue laughed as Katara used quotation gestures and looked a lot like her brother in the process. "Yes, lets!" Arm in arm, they strutted all the way to the Orange Julious counter.

Sokka humphed. "Well, whatever 'British' accent they think I have, I don't have it. And I don't use 'quotation gestures' either."

"Yeah well, what they meant was Katara looks like you when she's trying to be silly," Toph grinned.

"Oh yes, you're the epitome of silly," Katara added while chuckling slightly.

The Water Tribe teen shot them a look. "Right. Look at me, Sokka, your Exhibit No. 1 for silliness, complete with some weird accent and strange gestures."

"Actually, you do have your Wang Fire accent," Aang recalled.

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "'Wang Fire'?"

Sokka grinned. "Yup, I had this mustache and beard and other stuff..."

The Fire Lord shook his head in disbelief. "You guys certainly got up to all sorts of weird stuff before I joined you."

When they had bought their mediums and a pretzel to share, they sat down a a nearby table. When all of the sudden Sozin's Comet crashed head on with the mall, killing everyone.

There was a silence. Then Aang summed up everyone's thoughts neatly: "...What?"

Nah! I'm just kidding! Making sure ya'll are still awake! Now back to the story!

Sokka nodded wisely. "Uh huh, just kidding. Right."

Okay, so. Yue and Katara are sitting at their table, when suddenly. "Oh great! Don't look." Katara warned Yue. Her eye's widened as she checked her hair and clothes thinking a cute boy was nearby. "What?!" Yue asked, panicked.

Sokka snorted. "She's prepping herself in case a cute boy walked by? She just passed one a few paragraphs ago!"

"Yeah, except she just happened to have broken up with said 'cute boy'," Toph pointed out.

The boomerang-wielding boy scowled. "I hate this story."

"Oh don't worry. It's nothing like that. Suki just walked in. Be prepared." Katara said in an effort to calm her friend. Yue "dropped" her napkin and glanced at the door as she picked it up. Sure enough. There she was.

Suki. One of the queens of their high school, except during the summer like now. Then she's a queen of everywhere.

"In other words, she's supposed to be like one of those snooty ladies Toph and I threw into the river on our girls' day out before," Katara summed up.

Toph frowned thoughtfully. "Well, it's not like I'm her biggest fan, but I don't think she's like that."

"Of course she isn't!" Sokka exclaimed. "This whole story's plain wrong! First Yue and I broke up, then Suki becomes a stuck-up brat -"

"Funny how you always end up the wronged party in these things," Toph remarked.

"Oh yay! Here she come's! Act natural!" Yue hissed. Both girls struck a "natural" pose, only to look at each other and share a natural laugh together. "Hi Katara! Yue!" Suki chirped without a hint of spitefulness. "Oh, uh. Hi! Suki." Katara said, a little unsure what to do and a little curious as to why she was without her usual posse.

Katara look to Yue for help, only to find her staring uncomfortably at Suki through her eyebrows, her guard obviously up.

The only reason she could be mad at Suki is when she tried to steal Sokka from her last year. But they broke up right before school ended last year and they have been pretty good friends since when Sokka picked us up, singing and laughing all the way here. I guess there could be that one time in third grade at summer camp when- but that was a long time ago.

Sokka looked completely baffled. "Suki tried to steal me from Yue?"

"Well, that's probably what would have happened in real life if Yue was still around," Katara reasoned. "Except if she really was still around, you probably wouldn't have left the North Pole at all."

"Which wouldn't be entirely a bad thing," Toph piped up.

Aang scratched the back of his head again. "It's strange: I never thought how things would be like if they'd happened differently. Like what Katara said about Yue still being around, or what if Azula hadn't shot me with lightning, or -"

"Yeah well, just because the book's giving us weird ideas doesn't mean we have to worry our heads off about it," Sokka cut in. "Let's just take it easy and finish this story, yeah?"

Suddenly Katara was ripped from her thoughts by Suki when she sat down next to her and began to speak.

"So! Katara. Yue. This summer I've spent a lot of time thinking about our past and I realized how nasty I've been to you guys. And after a long, long talk with my parents, I realized that I should change my behavior which I did, and I want to make it up to you guys! I really did have fun before we grew up and things got complicated. what do you say? Sleepover at my house?" Suki pleaded, looking genuinely sorry.

"... This is weird," Aang said finally.

Toph sighed. "We know, Twinkletoes; you already said that not too long ago."

"No, really," the Avatar insisted. "If the story didn't say so, I would never have guessed that those girls were Katara, Yue and Suki. It just isn't like them at all."

"Not to mention how in the name of the Moon and Ocean did I break up with Yue," Sokka added.

"Sort of like Ember Island Players all over again, isn't it?" Zuko suggested, and everyone agreed.

Katara looked over to Yue who shook her head, Taking a deep breath, Katara answered for the both of them. "Well, Suki. You do look truly sorry. I accept. And so does Yue!" Katara nodded her yelled quietly as to not attract attention from the other mall users. "Katara!"

Toph's eyebrows went up. "What was that last sentence again, Snoozles?"

Sokka shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm not entirely sure either. Guess there was a bit of confusion back there when the author was writing this."

The earthbender nodded. "Yeah, guess so."

Katara just waved her off. "But! I did promise Yue I would spend time with her tonight so tomorrow will have to do." Suki smiled. "Oh Yes! That's fine. I'm just glad you're coming!"

Suddenly they heard two male voices. "Dude, I'm so excited for this game!" "I know! I could even tell my sister about it! Hey Katara!"Sokka ran up to the girls, with some bald kid running up behind him.

"Katara, this game is so amazing! And you'll never believe who I ran into! My old buddy Aang! Say's Suki is here with him. Which I see she is.." Sokka said as he wink at Suki. Seeing her brother, Suki jumped up and stood by him. "Aang! You'll never guess who's coming to sleep over tomorrow!"

"And... the end," Sokka announced as he closed the book and sighed in relief. "Boy, that was quite a piece of work, wasn't it?"

"You said it, Snoozles," Toph agreed. "I mean, how did Twinkletoes suddenly appear in there? And since when was he your old buddy? And why is he with Suki?"

"Maybe he just managed to convince her not to feed him to the Unagi?" Katara suggested jokingly.

Aang sighed. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind if the Unagi really was here. At least I'll be able to recognize him."

Zuko chuckled drily. "You mean that beast from Kyoshi Island? Yeah, it would be hard to miss a water-spraying carnivore."

"Unless if he sprayed water just because he was lonely," Sokka mused.

The Fire Lord looked towards the Water Tribe teen. "Come again?"

"Oh, nothing. Say, who wants another story?"

Sorry for the slight delay, folks; our school's having an inter-class choir competition and we're all practicing like crazy! Anyway, thanks to Redshoes07 for suggesting her story, reviews are very welcome, and see you all again soon!