DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN ATLA OR ITS CHARACTERS, ONLY THE ONE'S I MADE UP.

Chapter Three: Pollen, Toph, Sports and Disabilities (PTSD)

"And lastly, this is the cafeteria, where we eat lunch and sometimes early dinner. Any questions?"

Aang gawked at the sight before him. This was the most complex eating room he'd ever seen. Back home, they'd all sit together in a makeshift circle and eat as a community, as one. But here, everyone just seemed to be their own person, mind their own business and just not care about the person next to them.

He'd already seen the most important parts of the school which included the courtyard, fields, classrooms and laboratories, even bathrooms. Katara was pretty good at showing him around. It was like she'd been here all her life. He mentally smacked his head, of course she did, it's her school.

Tourism wasn't the only thing she was good at. Katara was a master at flipping her hair. Every stroke, swipe, fling, was so perfect it made her look like a spirit – the one's he'd studied back home. It always distracted him from whatever he was doing. He liked it but hated it at the same time. Liked the way it made him feel. Hated the way he made it so obvious that he liked it.

Katara noticed his demeanor and nudged his shoulders. "What? You got something against cafeterias?" she joked.

He shook his head, snapping out from the hair-trance. "No. It's just that, back home, it wasn't this complicated. I don't hate it. But I don't love it either." He explained, a wary look in his uncommon coloured eyes.

That was something Katara couldn't try explain. Why were his eyes grey? People either had blue eyes from the Water Tribes, green eyes from the Earth Kingdom or golden eyes from the Fire Nation. Maybe he was of mixed ethnicities? That was probably it. But she had never seen or heard of interracial marriages or people. Where they even real?

The way a dull colour like grey sparkled in his eyes, it made her feel good. Not good in a good way but good in a different way. Not one she could quite pinpoint.

She decided to clear her curiosity. "It wasn't like this where you're from?" she asked and he shook his head, still looking around and observing the vending machines. She cleared her throat and continued. "So…where are you from, exactly?"

"The Air Nation, Southern Temple." He replied not taking his eyes of a jerky packet he held. He yucked and tried to put the bag back in but failed.

Katara gasped. No wonder his features are so…different. She thought.

She giggled and took the packet from him. "You can't put things back in the vending machine after you've taken it out. I'll take it." She said and tore the bag open, offering him some meat but he politely rejected it.

"Thanks but I don't eat meat." He smiled.

Her eyes widened slightly but she nodded understandingly. They continued outside the cafeteria, she was now chewing a piece of the jerky. She swallowed and glanced at him.

"So…you're from the Air Nation? I've never seen any Air Nomads before. People thought they were extinct after, you know…" she trailed, not wanting to go into a most likely touchy subject.

He frowned slightly. "Yeah, it was a terrible time for my people…" he sighed but lightened up almost immediately. "But not everyone got affected by it. Take me for example! I was in the Earth Kingdom the time of the plague."

She nodded and smiled sadly. It still made her a little sad to think that an entire culture almost got wiped out because of a disease that the Fire Nation spread. The Fire Nation and it's crazy scientists had accidentally conjured up some incurable disease as they were trying to come up for a cure for an already existing disease. The initial carrier of the disease was then sent out of the Fire Nation and to the Air Nation, so he wouldn't spread the disease. The Fire Nation claimed that they thought it wasn't deadly and the man was an ambassador. It was low of the Fire Nation and to this day, the whole world still doesn't approve of what they did. Because of them millions of nomads and a few other nationalities got killed by the virus. Including her mother.

Since then, no one had seen Air Nomads the way they used to before – knowing their nomadic lifestyle. Everyone assumed they were all dead and were too scared to travel to an air temple to verify.

But before her was a living breathing Air Nomad. And he wasn't sick.

Opposing her assumption, Aang abruptly sneezed and she took an alarming step backwards.

She smiled nervously but didn't move from where she stood. Better safe than never. She thought.

"Sorry." He whispered, taking out a napkin from his orange backpack and wiping his nose. "Pollen."

She nodded cautiously, still keeping her guard up. He noticed her attitude change and panicked. "It's the pollen, I swear! I'm not sick!" he tried convincing her. She was still wary, even taking a step back and he sighed, turning away. "This is why I don't have any friends." He whispered, walking away dejectedly.

"Wait, Aang!" she called out, following him.

"It's okay. Thanks for the tour." He said, clutching his backpack and rushing away.

She groaned and threw the jerky packet on the floor. "Ugh, I'm such an idiot!" she scolded herself.

"I don't know why I got stuck with you while Aang got the nicer one!" Toph grumbled as Sokka held her hand, leading her across the field.

After Katara accepted their offer, she took Aang with her without asking and told Sokka to assist Toph and whispered to him to "apologize!" Now, the tall dark handsome Water Tribe native and the short pale-ish Earth Kingdom citizen were observing the sports field.

Sokka glared at her but stopped as he realized she wouldn't be able to see him. He groaned and held her hand tighter. "My sister has a thing for fresh faces. Don't worry, she'll get tired of him soon and you'll have your friend back."

"That's not a nice way to talk about your own sister…sweet."

Sokka looked at her incredulously then smirked. "Yeah…I'm kinda savage."

"So…if you don't me mind me asking. Why are you doing this? And also, where are we? As far as I can feel, we're under the scorching hot sun right now." Toph said looking upwards.

Sokka then took a gasp of realization and he face palmed. She was fucking blind! He was taking a blind girl on a tour…to show her around! What an idiot he had been.

"Sorry," he said shamefully. "I forgot about…it. We are at the sports field. And I'm doing this to show- tell you around, since you're new." His voice was low and shameful compared to how confident and loud it was seconds ago.

Toph rolled her eyes, somehow. "Don't worry about it. I get it a lot. And also, Aang's new, I'm not. I've been at this school for a year."

Sokka smacked himself again. He felt more stupid for assuming because she was blind that she was new, clueless and helpless. What an idiot!

"Sorry, again. I'm an idiot." He muttered.

Toph smirked, "Yeah, you kinda are."

He glared at her but his gaze instantly softened. "So if you've been here a whole year, why haven't I ever seen you?"

"I could ask you the same thing but I don't see on a regular bro."

He frowned and muttered, "Sorry," again. How many times was he going to apologize for her blindness that was completely out of his hands?

"I attend special classes. My parents initially didn't want me here but had no choice when 'business' brought them to the Fire Nation and they obviously couldn't be without helpless little Toph so I got enrolled last year." She explained, kicking the dirt with her feet.

Sokka smiled at her but realized she wouldn't see it then switched to placing a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think you're helpless."

"Yes, you do."

"What no, I don't!"

"You literally held my hand the whole way and assumed that I was helpless and clueless."

Sokka sighed. "Fine, I took pity on you. Is that such a bad thing?"

She growled. "Yes, yes it is! I'm not some helpless little blind girl. I'm Toph – a woman of my own!" she said and walked away.

Sokka saw she was going the wrong way and tried to stop her but she hit a pole before he could. He winced and helped her up.

She pulled away aggressively. "Let go of me! I don't need your help!"

Sokka groaned in annoyance. "Yes, yes you do. No matter how much you hate it, you're always going to need people's help, Toph!" he yelled but immediately felt bad once he saw her saddened expression. "Toph, I—

She interrupted him, pointing a confident finger in his face. "I challenge you!"

Sokka took a step back, surprised. "What?"

"A game of dodgeball!"

Sokka folded his arms, scoffing. "I'm not going to challenge a girl, much less a blind one."

Suddenly, Toph pulled him by his shirt and whispered. "Well then let's see how well you do against a blind girl."

Sighing, the brunette hid behind the benches inside the gym, watching as his gruff blind best friend actually bested a seeing older boy in a game of dodgeball. She evaded the balls like she were the balls and threw them as if she knew exactly where Sokka stood. Sokka tried his best to dodge but her sense of perception were too good – frightening even.

He wanted to stop them but didn't have the strength nor the resolve to stand up to his younger friend. She'd give him hell if he interrupted her while she was on a roll. Sometimes he'd stop himself and ask, why am I friends with Toph anyway?

They'd met a few years ago while Aang was in the Earth Kingdom for…personal reasons that he'd rather not digress to. He'd help her sneak out of her parents manor at night and together, the two preteens would get up on some mischief. It was fun…until Toph's parents found out about their little and to some extent dangerous adventures. In an instant, Aang was forbidden from nearing their daughter, their compound. He was even run out of the town where they resided – that was how much power her parents possessed.

He hadn't heard from her for about a year while he travelled about from Gaoling to Ba Sing Se, avoiding his home country. As he was about to depart from Ba Sing Se, he received a letter from Toph. Last time he checked, Toph couldn't read or write. He didn't believe at first until he re-read the letter, being convinced by her choice of words.

"Sup Twinkletoes, long time, am I right? How've you been? I've been miserable. But not for long. I'm moving to the Fire Nation with my parents to attend some prissy school. I'll have some sort of freedom there since those geezers will be busy with work stuff so, come visit. Catch you later, airboy!"

That might've been the most emotional and sentimental Toph had ever been to him, if you don't count when they forbade her from seeing him. He wouldn't count that as emotional since she was being her usual blunt self but with a hint of sadness. He swore he saw tears in her eyes that day. He for sure did cry. Toph was the only true friend he'd made since he was nine years old and it pained him that she wasn't allowed to be his friend, even though she wanted to.

Why though? They became close friends due to their similar circumstances. Both of them alone and longing for someone who'd accept them for who they were. Toph wasn't allowed friends and when she did have them, they were only her friends because they ordered to by their snobby parents. Aang was allowed to have friends but everyone stayed away from him because of who he was.

Even though he wasn't present at the Air Temples when the plague broke out, the whole world stigmatized him for being a part of them. People openly avoided him and pointed fingers at him once it was revealed he was an Air Nomad. Kids his age literally ran away from him and it made him feel unwanted, worthless. He'd grown depressed over those years he travelled alone, living with the constant stigma that came with being an Air Nomad. The derogation became so bad that he had to grow out his hair and pose as an Earth Kingdom citizen. He couldn't return home due to the plague and there weren't any transportation services in that direction. The whole world avoided Air Nomads up to the point where they assumed they didn't exist anymore. People stopped seeing them and no one dared visit an Air Temple so it was declared worldwide that the Air Nation was no more.

Sadly, it was partially true. The Air Nomads had reduced drastically and their remains could barely fill one Temple. It was heartbreaking for Aang once he heard the news. He felt guilty for leaving the Temple and wished he'd been there to suffer with his people. There was no point in being a nomad now that the whole world hated them.

The whole world apart from Toph. She was the only that literally said, "Screw that virus. Even if you were sick Aang, I'd still be your friend."

Since then, since those words, Aang held Toph dearly to him and no matter how rude, mean or insensitive she might be, he'd still stick with her. That was why he was friends with her.

He observed her as she waited and listened to Sokka's movement before striking or dodging. She was really something.

Sokka was panting heavily as the disbelief was obvious on his face. He was wondering how he was losing this game.

"What's wrong Sokka? Tired?" Toph laughed.

Sokka groaned, defeated and falling to the ground as the last ball finally hit him. He put up a good fight but Toph had this in the bag since they started.

Toph smirked as she walked over to Sokka. "Sounds like I win."

Sokka looked at her and sat up, gazing at her in wonder. He still couldn't believe she'd best him. He underestimated her greatly. "You win." He whispered and got up, heading for the bleachers where he spotted a certain brunette that was stolen away by his sister. He bent down and poked his head through the space. "Aang?"

Toph jerked her head. "Twinkletoes?"

Aang smiled sheepishly and came out of his hiding spot. "Hey Sokka, Toph."

"How long were you in there?" Sokka asked, taking a large gulp of water after.

Aang sat on the bench. "A few minutes. I only saw the last few minutes of the game."

"Then you saw how I totally destroyed this meathead! Which was pretty cool right?" Toph smirked proudly.

Aang smiled at her. "Yeah, that was pretty cool. Sokka kinda deserved it."

"Excuse me?"

"No offense dude but you were too quick to judge her just because she was a girl and she was blind. You just got your ass handed to you." Aang explained with a neutral expression.

"What? No one would expect a blind girl to be good at dodgeball!" Sokka defended himself.

Aang rolled his eyes playfully the smiled, so he wouldn't get mad at Sokka. "See? You judge her before you even get to know her. You and your sister are just the same." Aang said the last point with a lot of disappointment.

Sokka raised a brow. "Katara? She's not—

Aang cut him off, waving his hand dismissively. "Yes she is. Witnessed it first hand." Bowing slightly, he took Toph's hand the two of them exited the gymnasium.

Sokka groaned. What did his sister do? He sighed and relaxed on the benches, closing his eyes as to gather his lost strength.

It was the first day of senior year – he started it by having an emotional conversation with his sister then to meeting two foreigners, one kind and reasonable, the other gruff and insensitive and finally, had his ass handed to him. So how was the day going to end for him? He hoped it wouldn't include more girls humiliating him.

Just as he was about the exit the gym, he heard his name being called. The voice was soft and familiar – like the one he'd tried to forget for a very long time. He was immediately felt with apprehension and was afraid to confirm who'd called his name. If it was who he suspected, then he did not want to turn around. It was best if he avoided any form of that soft, caring, innocent voice, even though it might not belong to her.

After much hesitation, without turning back, he exited the room.

"Sokka?"

A/N

Hello, Author here. You already know me, you know, when I was writing my other stories. (awkward)

Anyway, I'm pretty good at writing, or at least that what I think, and I write stuff precious people like you would want to read.

I crack myself up sometimes.

NOTE! All canon ships are endgame. Other ships might happen on the side but Maiko, Kataang, Sukka and others are endgame!

Don't say I didn't tell ya.

Hope you liked the chapter. If you did, review, review!!

Thanks.