The AU
by fuzzy-ninja
(original concept by Irrel)
Disclaimer: Avatar? Not mine. Not in a million years.
A/N: Ah, from Chapter 8, I had mentioned that there were three "easter eggs", hidden in the story. They are:
1. The little girl named Grace (it was me).
2. Coach "The Boulder" Johnson (named after a coach from my high school/inside joke).
3. "143", which proved to be quite confusing for the readers. Ahem. 1I, 4love/like, 3you/him. I was actually a bit suprised that no one had ever seen this before.
I suggest listening to "Porcelain" by Moby while reading this. Not for the lyrics, but for the music.
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Chapter 10: Love Like Winter
It was 17and the first snowfall of the season.
It was 75 inside and there was a house full of children, clamoring to its owner to let them go out and have fun.
"Well, I suppose so." the old balding man said with a wink to his "son"'s group of eleven school-friends.
As per tradition, a good majority of children in the neighborhood always visited Gyatso, an elderly man who was head of a Buddhist temple in a nearby town. The parents all knew him as a kindly old man who would always offer to watch the children in exchange for friendly chit-chat and an occasional Pai-Sho game.
"Today," he smiled, "is a grand day, children. Fresh snow has fallen in our are. Do you know what this means?"
"Hot chocolate?!" Sokka squeaked out, dreamily thinking of the mix his grandmother would make, along with the little marshmellows.
"Snowball fights!" Jet said triumphantly. He figured that an old man like Gyatso must've kicked some ass back in the day.
"Making snowmen! And snowwomen! And babies!" Ty Lee excitedly continued rambling off her list of snow creations to no one but herself.
"Wearing the latest in winter fashions?" Azula said questioningly to Mai, who nodded, and then said, "The celebration of death. That's what winter is about."
"He wasn't asking about what the meaning of winter was about, you wierdo," Sokka interrupted, "He was asking about the meaning of snow." Mai and Azula replied with a deathly glare at the boy.
"Children, by the time you finish arguing, the snow will have already melted! Now, who will join me outside for a breath of fresh air?" Gyatso said, with a twinkle in his eye. Something is obviously up; what? Snow nymphs bringing about the best of us. A reminder of the promise of spring.
"Me! Me!" The children all ran to the door, grabbing coats, hats, scarves, boots, and flew out the door to a fluffy, white wonderland.
Aang, Haru, Jet, and Sokka split into teams and began building snow forts and snow-based weaponry for the war that was surely about to begin.
Azula commanded Mai and Ty Lee to build her a snow castle, snow throne, and snow people as subjects to rule over. Katara and Suki were too, commanded to do so, but they snorted at said task and went over to the boys to play with them instead. Meng, however, was too happy to oblige.
"Hmm... one, two, three, four... seven... ten... I am missing two children." Gyatso said to himself at the door of his home.
"We're here." a girl's voice called out from inside.
"Ah," Gyatso walked back in, "the young Miss Toph and Mister Zuko. I'm rather suprised. You children do not like to play in the snow?"
"I can't see it, so what does it really matter?" Toph said naturally.
"It's cold." Zuko said with a frown.
"Tch. That will not do at all." Gyatso took Zuko's coat, boots, and gloves, walked up to him, and said, "Now now. We are not young forever. Go out with your friends. You will be so busy playing, that you will forget the cold. "
Knowing that his excuse was lame enough as is, Zuko complied with the old man, dressed, and walked out the door.
"You will be alright alone, Miss Toph?" Gyatso called out as, he too, headed out the door.
"Yes sir. I brought a book-on-tape thing. It's Dr. Suess. I'll be busy listening to him." Toph waved around a cassette walkman and headphones.
Gyatso just smiled.
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"I hate the snow. I hate the cold. Hate it. Hate. It." Zuko said loudly to everyone.
Nobody said anything.
Nobody was really paying attention. All save for the snow nymphs; concocting a plan. The promise of spring all begins with the rememberance of winter.
"I'm going to make snow illegal." He finally stated.
"That's silly." A voice behind him made him jump.
"No it's not, Katara. Who needs the snow? What good does it do? It's cold. And wet."
"You know," Katara began, "my ancestors were Inuits. They lived in a place where it snowed all the time."
"Yeah, well that's just dumb. They should have moved."
"It's not dumb. Just listen. My people used to make houses out of snow."
"...So?"
"So... I'm saying that snow can be useful."
"Your ancestors lived in snow houses. That makes no sense. Who wants to do that? They must have been aliens."
"It kept them warm and alive."
"That's crazy talk."
"Is not."
"They were probably freezing all the time and they went crazy from the cold. It makes sense, seeing as how you're crazy too."
Katara crossed her arms and sighed. 'There is just no getting anywhere with this boy.'
"Face it, Katara," Zuko began with a smirk, noticing her frustration with him, "There is nothing you can say or do that will ever make me like the snow."
This gave Katara an idea.
She walked up to the ten year old boy and stood on her tip-toes in order to reach his height. Putting her gloved hands to his face, Katara gently rubbed the tip of her nose to his.
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A/N: a) Dr. Suss is the shit. End of story.
b) Who was it that originally came up with the "snow-should-be-illegal" bit? Credit goes to you.
R + R, plzntnx. Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing so far. XD