So, this is a draft of one of the chapters I have planned for A Whim of Fate. The original idea I had for the fic is now replaced with a better one, and due to that, I'll be rewriting this fic. The new version will be different; you will follow the journey of the Gaang as teenagers and young adults while flashback chapters will demonstrate how they became the people they are in the future. The fic will still retain the character's identity; they'll remain in character, though, there will be moments in the fic where they lose their temper or act differently due to the situation, as you will see here. All in all, I hope you all enjoy it regardless.

Aang - 17 / Katara - 18 / Zuko - 21

Preventing Suffering:

She paced around the room with her arms crossed, the incessant ticking of the clock frustrating her as she awaited his return. By the bed, beneath the sheets, laid her current boyfriend, worried. She'd been like this for two hours already; if not pacing then tapping her foot unknowingly as she sat, if not that then biting her nails in impatience and nervousness. Zuko wanted to close the distance between them and hold her, comfort her, in similar ways that she'd comforted him when his duties became too heavy to bear. Fragments of memories of her running her fingers through his hair soothingly, rubbing his back, and the feel of her warm body pressed against his as she embraced him, assaulted him. Shame; she was always present when he needed her, but now, when she seemed stressed out, he found he couldn't do a thing to ease her tension. He'd tried of course, but she wouldn't budge.

She wasn't in a mood to be soothed. She was itching for a release; waiting… for someone.

Zuko had no clue what she was so worried about. He had asked her on multiple occasions, only to be shut down every time with her either lying or claiming he needn't worry about it; he had enough troubles as the FireLord already and she didn't want to add onto that. She denied him when all he wanted to do was to help her. Now, however, someone else was helping her… someone she was working closely with despite the recent friction and fights and bitterness between them. The last two people he thought would ever come close to hating each other, were also now the last two people he'd thought would work together after said friction. It reminded him of that day, when they searched for her mother's killer together, seeking revenge. She still hated him at that point, yet, they worked together regardless. However, the person she had the shits with now shared her disdain, so their predicament was somewhat different. Yet, apparently, due to the situation, they were able to keep themselves from hollering at each other as they worked closely for the last few weeks.

The door swung open, and Katara immediately stopped pacing as she faced the man who'd caused the intrusion: her once best friend.

No words were spoken as Zuko observed them from his bed. They simply stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds, seemingly communicating without speech. Then, a single nod from Aang, one which she matched, had her walking over to Zuko to kiss him goodnight.

"Where are you two going?" he asked, confused as to why they'd be leaving the Palace at three in the morning.

"We have something we need to do," she simply answered, leaning down to give him a small peck on the lips as Aang watched on, still hanging by the open door, uninterested with the love fest at best.

"At this time?" He asked, now more confused. She nodded as she pecked him again before turning around to retrieve a black cloak from her closet. "What's the agenda?" Zuko asked, first to Katara, who didn't respond, then to Aang as his amber eyes landed on the now 17 year old Avatar.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," the teenager answered, refusing to meet the FireLord's gaze as he stared at the floor, his arms crossed, eyes foggy and lips pursed.

"It's just Avatar business," Katara answered, trailing back into the room with her cloak draped over her shoulders as she offered Aang an identical dark-metallic twin.

"And why are you needed?"

"Zuko, just drop it," she stated somewhat harshly. He cringed at her tone, but softened when she sighed and offered him a sad smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you… it's just… it's something we have to do." Realising he likely wasn't going to get any more information out of either of them, Zuko sighed as well as he nodded, offering his girlfriend a similar smile when she was halfway out the door. "We should be back before the meetings start. So, don't stay up for us. Get some rest."

Closing the door to her room, Katara sighed and inhaled deeply as she met the Avatar's gaze. She thought that recent events and the mutual disdain between them would make this immensely difficult for her; working with him. However, the severity of the situation made it all the more easier; she channeled the anger she held for the Avatar towards the people they were now planning to confront, and vice versa.

"How long's the flight?" she asked, voice low and impatient.

"About three and half hours," he answered, voice low and utterly dangerous.

'So, he's playing the moody, prick Avatar' today? Good,' she thought to herself, glad that Aang was choosing to display his angsty and dangerous side during the appropriate situation for once. She settled into the saddle after he helped her up, her eyes unfocused as she stared at her hands, clenching them.

She glanced over towards Appa's head when they took off to analyse him, he was clutching onto Appa's reins rather tightly, knuckles growing paler. 'Good.' She thought again, 'I have no compassion left in me for this. And it seems, neither does he.'

Katara chose to remain silent as sat on the saddle, refusing to climb over to Appa's head to talk to him. She felt guilty and shameful in that instance; why had things gotten to the point where they were actively trying to avoid each other - this mission was an anomaly though. For as long as she could remember, Aang was always her best friend first, and the Avatar second. Lately, however, he'd been acting more as a distant acquaintance rather than her best friend. To be fair, it wasn't like she was actively trying to mend their friendship either. 'I could still try to reach out to him. Just cause he's being unreasonable doesn't mean I have to as wel-' Katara shook her head to clear her thoughts; now was not the time to worry about their fragile friendship. They had more pressing issues to attend to.

"Dear Agni, for whom we give thanks; the gift of life; the gift of sight; the gift of -"

The clapping of boots against the metal echoed from further down the corridor, signs of the approaching danger they knew they'd face one day closing in. Still, they remained true to their prayers.

"The gift of speech; the gift of -"

The battling of the metal flooring against two pairs of solid boots reverberating amplified as they drew nearer. Suddenly, their words of worship seemed to be their only salvation. The nuns completed their prayers as the two benders entered the room, dropping their bag onto the table as they took a seat. Upon the table laid various plates, glasses, knives and forks; preparations for breakfast. The wooden table itself was covered by a red and golden patterned cloth, and the nuns were dressed in their respective Fire Nation red, brown and yellow robes. The head nun, an older woman who agreed to do much of the talking, was wearing special glasses that likely cost more than the decorations within the entire room. The blinds were draped to the side, thus allowing the faint morning light to enter; a few candles sat on the side tables, illuminating the empty shadows.

The nuns preferred the light; Fire Nation light, that is.

As he settled, the nuns watched the Avatar retrieve an item from his cloak: a small roll of paper that could be confused as a pencil or pen, with a soft exterior and a natural plant that grew within the outskirts of many Earth Kingdom villages crushed in the exterior. The nuns watched as the Avatar handed a clone of the item to his companion, whom they identified as Lady Katara, the FireLord's current suitor. They understood that the particular roll calmed individuals down, allowing them to achieve a mellow status; often taken by soldiers after the heat of battle. Nowadays however, people began abusing them for pleasure instead of actual medical emergencies or needs. Though, neither of the nuns knew that Aang and Katara were simply smoking the herb so the temptation to flip the table and burn the entire place down immediately wouldn't consume them.

Holding out his index finger, the Avatar created a small flame and ignited the roll for himself, and afterwards, his companion, the both of them huffing out a fleeting cloud as they sighed and relaxed slightly.

"You wanted to speak to us Avatar Aang?" The head nun asked, opting to start the conversation herself so the two benders could leave faster than they arrived.

"Yes."

"All of us?"

"Indeed."

"At… six thirty in the morning?"

The Avatar nodded with his dipped, for now, unwilling to meet the nuns' eyes. "Yep," he answered.

Glancing at Lady Katara, the woman felt disgust consume her as she commented, "We don't smoke in here, it's a place of worship."

"Well, I fucking do," the Avatar answered immediately for Katara and himsel, it seemed, his voice low and dangerous.

The head nun gave a side glance to Lady Katara, unintimated by their hostile nature as she commented again, "Nor do we use vulgar language."

"Nor do we abuse the innocent," Katara added, taking another puff of her roll and exhaling the cloud as she faced the nun head on, intimidating as she leaned forward on her seat. "But you do." She told the nuns, "You fucking do." Katara often restrained herself from speaking so freely in social settings, only around her friends did she allow herself to drop the filter. This instance, however - as explained before - was the exception.

Aang nodded, taking a drag of his own roll while the head nun leaned back. Her eyes, gazing through her glasses, fell on the Avatar for a moment until they panned back to the waterbender.

"May I ask what this meeting is about?"

"The Peace Restoration Foundation is the largest single source of funding for this charitable institution." Opening the bag, Katara retrieved a folder of files and placed it on the table. Each nun glanced at it fearfully before they dipped their heads again when the Avatar continued explaining. "Devoted to the care of the war-caused orphaned boys and girls of the Fire Nation. Yeah?" The Avatar stated, his dark-grey eyes now finally challenging the head nun's own; the remaining 4 nuns sitting by the table all had their heads already dipped in fear of the two benders' wrath.

"For which we are grateful," the head nun stated somewhat smugly, dipping her eyes as she suddenly took interest in the intricacies of her empty plate while the Avatar and Lady Katara stared her down.

"I have a temper," Katara stated, gesturing towards the folder with the hand holding her roll as she continued accusingly. "Similar to the one described in that report. Yet, unlike you," she leaned back and took another drag of her roll before speaking. "I wait until I'm matched in size to release it."

"Whose report?" The head nun asked, alarmed yet feigning indifference.

"The testimony of children," Katara answered, taking yet another drag to calm herself down as the nuns' act of disinterest and lack of remorse was fueling the fire deep within her.

Blinking twice, the head nun reached out for and grabbed the report as she asked calmly, flipping over the pages without actually reading anything as she awaited an answer. "Who have they spoken to?"

"You'd have them only speak to Agni's spirit," Katara declared dangerously, to which the head nun replied to, with yet again a smug attitude.

"Agni be their witness -"

"There is Agni," Aang interrupted, seemingly growing frustrated with the nuns as his voice was much louder now, all the more dangerous. "And there is the Avatar." The head nun glanced up at Aang, her head still dipped yet eyes gazing at the teenager with wonder and fear. "Mrs. Allura… I currently reside in the Capitol; I'm much, much closer to this village than Agni."

"And we have heard," Katara continued, "terrible things."

"In this institution, we have children of the worst kind," the head nun declared, opting to defend herself and her fellow nuns as she challenged the two frustrated and angry benders. "They lie and sin as easily as breathe -"

"You had a child half-Water Tribe," Katara interjected, her voice now alarmingly louder. "And you made her wash in a different dorm, with different soap… with disgusting polluted water."

The head nun sighed as she turned to the Avatar, gazing into his eyes momentarily before she dropped them back onto the report as she stated, "Avatar Aang, your own sins are… profound."

"My sins…" Aang sighed, baffled. "My sins, against the beating of children… with bricks? My sins…" Slowly, the Avatar brought the roll to his lips and inhaled, holding the cloud within his mouth before he leaned forward and released it onto the head nun. Katara watched, surprised yet impressed; he could be quite intimidating when he really wanted to be, he even had her reeling for a moment there. "My sins… against the six year old girl who hanged herself in fear of your temper."

The head nun, despite her fear, did not give in… just yet. "I do not see-"

"You do not see?" Aang warned lowly, standing up completely to snatch the head nun's glasses as he smashed them on the table with his fist, thus causing the glass to shatter across the table and onto plates. The nuns flinched while Katara barely reacted; she'd seen this side of him before, it was rare, but it was within him. And she understood he wouldn't feel guilty for acting this way with these nuns anyways - she didn't want him to either, for if she too was one comment away from losing her own temper. "Now, put them on," Aang ordered, his fists pressed against the table, holding him up as he hovered over them intimidatingly. The head nun didn't respond, choosing to rather stare at the Avatar as she attempted to ease her nerves. "Put them on your face, or it'll be your eyes that are broken next." The Avatar's eyes never left the head nun's as he warned her, voice low yet still dangerous, "Please don't mistake my pacifist beliefs to imagine that I won't do it. Or that I am afraid… of your prayers or your candles."

The head nun's eyes scattered, opting to jump from Katara, to her shattered glasses, to the Avatar, and back to her shattered glasses in a matter of seconds. Finally, with a shaking hand, she opted to rather follow the Avatar's orders while he was still in the mood to be merciful. Her hands still shaking, Mrs. Allura wore her glasses, blinking many items as the destroyed glass obscured her vision.

"You see the world different; broken," Katara observed, leaning forward in her seat as she regarded the head nun. "Like those poor, beaten children will."

"Now look at me." The head nun did not budge, still shaking as the Avatar's low voice once again commanded her. "Look at me." When the head nun again opted to refuse and challenge the Avatar, all that filled the silence was the heavy exhaling and inhaling originating from Aang before his voice boomed across the room and down the hall. "Fucking look at me!" The head nun, as well as the others, flinched at his tone and the authority it held - they'd heard tales of how the Avatar losing his temper was not a sight one would wish upon another, yet experiencing it first hand was nothing short of utterly terrifying. The woman's eyes hesitantly darted towards the Avatar's, meeting his deadly gaze as he yet again spoke slowly yet dangerously. "You're done; funding withdrawn."

Without another word, he took the file, shoved it back into his bag, and took off, the clapping of his heels reverberating down the corridor while Lady Katara sat up slowly and declared, "All children are to be taken into our own institutions by the end of the day."

Suddenly, in challenge, the head nun lost her own temper as she stood up and faced the waterbender while her back was turned to her. "You have no right to -"

Silence, their distant friend, introduced himself for a while as the head nun's warning was cut short by a threatening icicle, held by Lady Katara, being pressed against her throat. "If I come for you," Katara began threateningly, "and I still might decide to come for you; tonight, tomorrow, a week from now… I will wear high heels so you can hear my approach on the metal tiles and have time to pray for forgiveness."

The sharp icicle was pressed harder against the head nun's throat, now drawing a small streak of blood as it leaked down her neck. Katara, terrifyingly, glared at the woman as she warned her once again, "Make sure to listen for my footsteps."

Then, without another word, those same footsteps served as a reminder of what her death would sound like as Katara turned her back and began walking down the corridor to meet the Avatar. She didn't know if she would return later - maybe that would be going too far. However, she was glad that she and Aang could put aside their mutual differences and bitterness so they could conclude this horrible chapter in the childrens' lives.

Yet, now she might have to deal with another three and a half hour ride on Appa back to the Palace. She sighed deeply once settled in the saddle, laying on her back, facing away from the Avatar - who was now also seated in the saddle - so she could possibly catch some sleep. She wanted to make amends, but he was just as much in the wrong as her, if not more. And although their complicated history did make things worse, she hoped that one day they could overcome this. If today was any example; their minds always seemed to flow together when they agreed on and felt strongly about something mutual. Hopefully, in the near future, that 'something' would be mending their friendship.