Chapter Two: Freshers

"Yes dad, I hear you."

"No you're not Katara!"

The exasperated brunette rolled her eyes. She wasn't actually listening as her father warned her about the kind of company she'd been keeping lately. She folded her arms, tapping her foot impatiently, telling him that she was going to be late.

Hakoda sighed in exasperation. He placed a comforting shoulder in his daughter's shoulder. "Katara, my love, I know that you're mad at me for chasing him away but," he tried to stroke her cheek but she shifted away. He stepped back. "Very soon, you'll thank me. Once you see—

"I'm going to be late." She cut him off, excusing herself out of the house and leaving behind her older brother.

Sokka rushed out of the kitchen calling after her but she'd already taken a cab to school. Sokka cursed and took a pancake in his hands as he waved his father goodbye, running to catch the next cab.

The sixteen year old brunette rolled her eyes as she spotted her brother exiting the cab behind her. She had just gotten to school and hoped she'd lose him before he got here.

"Katara!" He called, walking over to her.

She sighed and faced him. "What Sokka?" she said half quickly, half annoyed.

He relaxed his shoulders, giving her a warm smile. "You can let your guard down with me. I'm your brother."

His words, without struggle, did reassure her of herself. Her conversation with her father had hardened her usually soft heart. It just made her so angry that he thought he could dictate her life just because he was her father. She was her own woman and didn't need someone else to call the shots.

She groaned, sighing heavily. "Sorry. Dad's just so- arrgh!"

"I understand."

She raised a brow questioningly. "Really?"

Sokka nodded and Katara was even more shocked by his answer. "Yeah, dad can be a real stick in the mud sometimes." He smirked then suddenly turned serious. "But seriously sis, he's just looking out for you. He might be doing it in a real nosy way but he really does care. He just doesn't want you getting hurt."

Katara looked away stubbornly but her gaze softened as she changed perspectives. Her dad was annoyingly caring but…she liked that he cared about her. Maybe, just maybe she'd let this one slide.

She smiled. "I know, Sokka." She said reasonably. She perked up, grabbing him by the wrist. "Now let's go. I have a good feeling about this year!"

Sokka initially tried getting out of her strong grip but let her drag him along, a sweet smile plastered on his chocolate brown face. He cared about his little sister a lot. Ever since their mother died and their father on the road for four years, he had taken up the role of protecting their little family. He made sure she always had whatever she needed, even though he did it nonchalantly. He was there to comfort her when she needed it the most. He kept her from danger, she might've been the one doing that actually. But nevertheless, he made it his sole purpose in life to always look after her and he would continue doing so.

But he also knew he limits to being over brotherly. That including when it involved boys. Katara hated it when Sokka interfered in her love life. As much as he hated it, he had to watch from a distance as some loser tried to court his sister. Sometimes when things got out of hand, he had to step in and defend her from selfish jerks – like the asshole that had recently broken her heart, Jet. He felt like barfing every time he heard his name. At first he, like any other unsuspecting person, thought Jet was a good guy. His talk of equality and justice was so moving that he almost approved of him dating his sister. But then, he turned out to be a maniac who would sacrifice innocent people just for his 'cause'. Since then, no matter how nice the guy might be, Sokka would never ever trust him with his sister, ever.

Katara noticed her brother's demeanor and squeezed his hand gently. "Sokka it's okay. That all happened last year, and," she paused, taking both of his hands reassuringly. "I'll be more careful this year. I won't let anyone ever take advantage of me like that again."

How did she know I was thinking that? Sokka wondered.

He nodded, half falsely. He still had a feeling. "Katara," he squeezed her tighter. "He used you. He-He tried to take your innocence! I don't know if I can ever get over that." He admitted.

Katara sighed, feeling tears swell up. "Me neither, Sokka." Then she broke down, hugging him. "I don't think I can either." Her voice broke as she spoke.

He hugged her back whispering, "We'll get through it, sis, together."

She smiled and pulled away. She wiped the cold tears away and chuckled. "Yeah, we can. You know what's funny?"

"What?"

She took a long pause.

"He wasn't even that hot."

Sokka burst into a fit of laughter and she joined him. They both laughed together, in the middle of the hallway, in their prestigious uniforms and imperfect auras, not giving a shit about the stares and whispers coming their way.

"Yeah, and he wasn't—

Sokka wanted to add but was interrupted when someone stumbled and landed on top of him. He groaned annoyed and took a look at the idiot that just pushed him. He met cloudy green eyes that didn't stare back at him but at a random direction. He was about to give the person a snarky remark but was interrupted again.

"Sorry, sorry. My friend can be really clumsy sometimes." A boy apologized, lifting the younger girl that fell on top of Sokka. He bowed and shot Sokka an apologetic look then whispered. "She's blind."

Sokka instantly felt guilty for insulting her mentally and wanted to apologize but was interrupted, again, by his sister.

"It's okay. My brother's an idiot anyway." She smiled at the boy, who smiled back at her. He had short brown hair and pale skin that was a great contrast to her dark skin. He was her height, exactly, and had eccentric grey eyes. Strange, she thought.

He bowed again, in traditional Fire Nation style. "My name is Aang. This is my best friend Toph." He gestured to the shorter blind girl. She was in uniform, just like the rest of them but there was something different about her. Like she wasn't really blind or something; plus she had no shoes on. She had puffy black hair pulled back in a slick bun that looked uncomfortable and pale yellow skin. She was also really pretty. Cool, Katara thought.

Katara could just observe these two students forever. There was just something interesting about them. Especially Aang.

"I'm Katara. This is my older brother, Sokka." She pointed to her brother who was rubbing his throbbing back.

"Nice to meet you." Aang returned the smile. He nudged Toph and the younger girl groaned, faking a smile.

"Nice to meet you too, sugar." She said in a forced sweet voice.

Sugar? Katara inwardly snorted. She saw Aang whisper to her to "be nice."

Aang turned to them. "Um, if it isn't too much trouble for you two, would you uh, mind showing me around? I'm new." He said nervously scratching behind his neck.

Sokka shook his head. "Actually, we're—

"Sure!" Katara interrupted, taking the two of them by hand and leading them further into the school.

A/N:

Well I hope this chapter wasn't a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME FOR EVERYONE... stole that line from Zuko.

But really, hope you enjoyed it. Our characters are being revealed slowly but surely.

Please do review. I'd like to know what you think.

And as for my other project WAR CHILD, I haven't abandoned it. I'm still working on it. That I must perfect. This is just for fun.

Thanks alot, ciao.