Winds:

Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. I do not own any of this; this is purely fan fiction and is made for entertainment only.

Chapter 1:

"Aang . . ."

The voice received a huff in response.

"Aang, wake up. It is time for your first day of school." The voice was persistent.

Aang stirred, groaning when the sunlight hit his face. "Good morning, Gyatso," Aang mumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, Aang," came the peaceful reply. "Your alarm did not go off, so I figured I should wake you myself." Gyatso left with a smile, leaving Aang to get dressed.

Free from his sleepy haze, Aang walked over to his dresser and put on a simple sky blue t-shirt over his undershirt, then slid on a pair of rumpled khakis that had been lying on the floor. He threw a twenty dollar bill, a pencil, his phone, and his school schedule into his pocket before grabbing his shoes and walking up the basement steps.

Aang's bedroom was in the basement of the building, along with Gyatso's room, a small bathroom, and a little living area. The first floor was occupied by Gyatso's bakery, and there was a rooftop eatery on the top.

The basement was accessed through the "Employees Only" door near the restrooms. A flight of stairs led down to the modest living area; a small table, couch, and tv filled the space. Under the stairs was the bathroom, with the two bedrooms next to each other on the adjacent wall. It wasn't much, but it was all Aang had.

Once Aang walked into the restaurant part of the building, he noticed Gyatso had already prepared a healthy breakfast of fruit and nuts for Aang, so he quickly gulped it down.

"Goodbye Gyatso!" Aang smiled to his uncle on the way out of the back door. He grabbed the old skateboard leaning against the wall.

"Wait, Aang!" Gyatso yelled, "You forgot your lunch."

"Thanks," Aang said, sliding the brown paper lump into his drawstring bag, alongside new spiral notebooks. Flashing a tired smile over his shoulder, Aang began to ride to school. He had traveled the route enough time this summer on his way to football practice to be comfortable with it.

Aang had just moved in with his uncle only two weeks before the start of school. Most of his time had been filled with unpacking and football practice at his new school. Aang had been greatly surprised when they had moved him, a mere sophomore, up to varsity. He spent the majority of practices talking to the coaches and trying to improve his skills, so Aang had rarely talked to the upperclassmen players, let alone made any friends.

Just as the sun started to appear fully in the sky, Aang had arrived at school.

"Thank you," Aang said out of politeness as a teacher walking in kept the door open for him.

Aang pulled out his schedule and looked for his locker number. A1234. Easy enough to remember, Aang chuckled. This school was massive to Aang; with three floors, and three wings on each floor. After finally finding his locker, he sat down in front of it and pulled out his phone. 6:50. No wonder it's so empty in here, Aang thought, the buses must not get here until seven.

Bored, Aang decided to sit in his homeroom and play games on his phone. Soon enough, people started arriving in loads. The desolate hallways were now crowded with loud teenagers. After the morning announcements, Aang grabbed a single spiral notebook in one hand and headed to his first hour class, AP world history with Mr. Zei.

Instead of eight 45 minute classes, Republic High had four 90 minute classes, with rotating A and B days. Aang found this rather confusing when he first received his schedule, but figured he'd get used to it.

Sitting down in an empty desk in the back of the room, Aang looked at all his classmates. It appeared to be your typical groups; athletes, hipsters, nerds, punks, and the awkward kids. A few people sat next to him, but paid no attention to him. It wasn't cruelty, merely obviousness on their part. Aang looked closer at his new neighbors.

There were three of them; two boys and a girl. The girl had sat next to Aang, and the two boys next to her. The girl and one of the boys had to be related; they both had caramel colored skin and bright blue eyes. The two boys looked the same age, but the sibling one looked a bit younger than the other. Despite being inside, the older one wore dark aviators over his eyes, with his sweatshirt hood pulled over his head. Aang was pretty sure both boys played football; as their faces looked familiar. He was pretty sure the boy with sunglasses was Zuko, the starting quarterback on varsity.

The siblings were arguing, most likely about something petty, and the older boy hid his phone under the desk as he texted. Aang was about to introduce himself when the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class," the teacher announced, "I am Mr. Zei, and welcome to AP world history! This year, we will be studying. . ."

Aang zoned out as Zei talked about topics way over the students' heads, content with staring out the window. As they were on the third floor, Aang had a clear view of the turf where football practiced. Only seven hours until practice, Aang mused, and then you'll be back on the turf, at home.

"Mister…." Zei checked his clipboard. "Windland. Mister Windland, do you have your summer work?"

"Summer work?" Aang asked, confused.

"I trust you received your summer work when you transferred schools, indeed?" Zei asked earnestly.

Aang shook his head no.

Zei frowned. "Oh, I see. Talk to me after class and I'll have you contact guidance. For now, look off of Miss Garcia, please." Pakku motioned to the girl next to Aang.

Aang turned at looked at the girl. They briefly made eye contact; his stormy grey meeting her ocean blue. Aang blushed slightly, and glanced down at her paper.

From the brief look Aang got at her, his only thought was wow. This had to be the prettiest girl Aang had ever seen. True, he had gone to an all-boys school his whole life, but still. He snuck another peek at her.

Her wavy bronze hair shined in the sunlight emanating from the window behind Aang. Caramel skin flashed beautifully with her white blouse. Her breathtaking blue eyes and glowing smile made it impossible to look away. Her smooth pink lips and tight jeans could drive any guy wild.

Feeling a bit modest, Aang looked back down at her paper. He wanted to say hello, but the words lodged themselves in his throat.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hi," he whispered back, surprised.

"I'm Katara," she introduced, flashing him a small smile.

"I'm Aang." He smiled in return. He would be content with stealing glances for now.

- A -

To say practice sucked would be an understatement. It freaking sucked. They had to do extra push-ups and run extra sprints because a junior was smart-mouthing a coach. Then it started raining. Then some big defender had slipped in the mud and ran into Aang's legs, knocking him down. So now Aang was walking back to the locker room, exhausted, helmet weighing down his arm, soaked with sweat and rain, streaked in mud, with his leg throbbing.

As a matter of fact, the whole day had sucked, really. His chemistry teacher seemed like a jerk, he didn't sit with anyone at lunch because he didn't recognize anyone, and when everyone played basketball in gym, Aang had to talk to guidance about his summer work for AP world.

So exhausted and downcast, Aang plopped down on the beach and began unlacing his cleats. He took off the rest of his equipment, leaving his compression shirt on, and slid his pants back on. They instantly became wet as well.

Great.

He piled his equipment back into his locker, not really caring what went where. Tiredly, Aang grabbed his skateboard out of his backpack before slinging it on. He trudged down and out of the hallway, passing a few soccer girls. He held open the door for one of them before riding out into the pouring rain.

- A -

"Oh god, you smell awful," Katara complained.

"If you don't like it, get out of my truck and walk home," Sokka snapped at his sister. He ran his hand over the top of his mohawk, which only came a centimeter or two off his scalp.

"Someone's crabby today," Katara pointed out. She adjusted her backpack in between her legs and tried to buckle up.

"Jet was complaining to Kuruk about something, probably his playing time, and Coach made us all do extra sprints and push-ups," Sokka seethed. "Don't go to his defense," he snapped as Katara opened her mouth.

Katara decided to let go of the matter and pulled the seat belt, hoping for more success. "Sokka, your pickup's a piece of crap," she noted.

"Yeah," came the grumpy reply. The seatbelt finally pulled out and Katara clicked it in place. She pressed a button to turn the radio on. It was awkwardly quiet. Taking a closer look at her brother, he really did look like a mess. He still had on his compression shirt from football practice, he was covered in mud, and the top of his hair was soaked and tangled. Slight bags rested under his eyes. He slowly lifted his hand up the key and turned on the ignition fully.

Katara rested her head against the cool glass and stared out the window. Barely visible in the rain, there was a kid skateboarding on the sidewalk. He looked exhausted, unhappy, and vaguely familiar.

"Sokka, who's that?" Katara asked.

Sokka slowed down the truck and peered out the window. "Windland. He's the only underclassman on varsity."

"He plays on varsity?" Katara asked, surprised. The kid was a bit on the scrawny side, and probably around Katara's height.

"Yes," came the annoyed reply. "The coaches call him 'Speed Demon' or something like that."

"What's his first name?"

"I don't know Katara. He doesn't talk at all during practice." Sokka rolled his eyes.

"I think that's Aang," she stated.

"Who?"

"Aang," Katara repeated, "He's new. We sat next to him in AP world today. Wow, it's raining pretty bad out now."

"Yeah," came the sarcastic reply.

Katara rolled down the window. "Hey Aang!" she called. The kid looked up, searching for the source of his name.

"Katara, what are you doing?!" Sokka hissed.

"Asking him if he wants a ride."

"Do I get a say in this? It's my car, and I'm driving after all," Sokka retorted.

"No. . . Come on Sokka, it's pouring out, and he needs a ride home," Katara dismissed her brother and rolled down the window. "Aang! Do you need a ride home?"

Aang rolled over, looking surprised. "What?" he shouted over the rain.

"Do you need a ride home?" Katara repeated.

Aang seemed to contemplate it for a moment. "I'm fine, but thank you," he answered half-heartedly.

"Get in the truck," Sokka grumbled, "It's raining out, and walking home is going to be miserable. Just let us take you home."

"Alright," Aang relented, "Thank you." As Aang bent down to pick up his skateboard, Sokka shot his sister a "you're welcome" glare.

Katara scooted over to the middle seat of the truck, and let Aang take shotgun.

"This is Sokka, my brother," Katara introduced. Sokka flicked one hand up in a lazy wave, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"Yeah, I've seen you around a few times at football," Aang said politely. The tanned skin, bright blue eyes, and pitchy voice were hard to forget.

The car was quiet for a few seconds. "So, you're new here right?" Katara asked Aang, making idle banter.

"Yeah," Aang replied, "I used to live in Manhattan."

"Oh, cool." Katara smiled, "What was it like there?"

"Strange," Aang joked, "Uh, it was okay, loud, busy, the typical city I guess."

"Why'd you move here?" Katara wondered.

"Hey Aang, where do you live?" Sokka interjected.

"Just drop me off at the South Wind Bakery," Aang explained, "At the corner of Main and Temple Street."

Sokka nodded. "Temple Street?" Katara asked. "We live near there. If you go down Temple Street, there's the Tribe Lakes neighborhood. We live in there."

Aang grinned. "Oh, sweet. Maybe I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah," Katara agreed.

"So, you play soccer?" Aang asked, motioning to Katara's practice penny.

"Yeah," Katara said. "I'm a defensive midfielder. You play football right, on varsity?"

"Cool. " Aang smiled modestly. "And yeah, I'm a halfback."

"Aang, we're here," Sokka announced.

"Thank you." Aang waved goodbye and ran through the rain to the bakery door.

"Bye!" Katara yelled after him. She saw him wave once more through the glass before disappearing from her sight. Katara couldn't help it as the corners of her mouth twitched up.

- A -

Aang couldn't stop smiling. He wasn't entirely sure why, but it was from Katara, in some way. He was touched she had given him a ride home; the fact she had noticed him just made him feel good inside.

So when Gyatso asked the soaking-wet Aang how his day had been, Aang's only reply had been a "Great!" and an accompanying smile.

Aang then walked away and unlocked the door leading down to the basement. He flung his backpack on the couch, blasted on the radio, and flopped down on his bed, a big goofy smile on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about Katara, the girl who had brightened his day.

So, here goes.

- Dapper

A quick explanation, because I did want to explain myself here:

Katara and Sokka's surname is "Garcia" - a translation of Garcia is "bear". Kuruk (the Northern Water Tribe Avatar) also means bear. The tribes' polar bear dogs fit in as well.

Also, Aang's shoes are a pair of grey Vans. I didn't know how to describe them without saying the brand, so I left it out and put it here.