A/N: Ah, Yes, the flood of inspiration before the inevitable writer's block. This was fun to make;)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of its characters!

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Aang waited for his newfound friends to freak out, but no one did. Instead, Katara simply said, "Well that explains why you aren't home schooled anymore. There was no one to teach you how to bend the other elements."

"Yeah, you can master all the bending disciplines. No big deal," said Sokka, "I'm more interested in your schedule. Do you have four times as much work as the rest of us?"

"Let's see." June handed Aang his schedule, and the three of them headed out to the courtyard.

"I have history with Lo and Li for first period," he read off of the laminated sheet of paper.

"Ugh, those two are the worst," said Katara, "But the good thing is I have them too!" She held up her schedule, "this will be great!"

"Wait a second," Sokka looked at his schedule carefully, "Why do I have history for first period too?" he groaned, "I forgot I failed that class last year."

"Cheer up Sokka," said Aang. He was practically skipping for joy. "At least we'll all be together." As they passed Appa sitting in the courtyard, he scratched the dog's head.

"I'll be back for you as soon as the day's over," he assured, then took another look at the schedule. "It looks like I have waterbending for the first trimester, earthbending for the second, and firebending for the third." It sounded like a lot of work, and Aang wasn't sure he was ready for it. There were so many techniques to master, and so much he didn't know.

"Aang, are you starting on level one or level two waterbending?" He snapped back to reality.

"I uh- I'm starting at level two," he stammered.

"Good, that means we'll have have second period together for the first trimester," said Katara, "I didn't have a friend in waterbending last year. Almost all of my classmates were boys from the really fancy neighborhoods north of here." she took Aang's hand, "I'm so glad you're here."

Is this real, Aang thought as the three of them headed towards the building to the left. He had stumbled upon two people who not only liked him, but didn't even care that he was the avatar. Sokka was sarcastic and smart, and though Katara probably didn't think so, Aang thought he was hilarious. And Katara... everything about her was amazing, from the way she messily tied back her hair to how she touched the blue pendant around her neck when she smiled. Could we ever be more than friends someday? he thought, before shaking the notion away, and it was replaced with another thought. Will everyone here be like Sokka and Katara? Will everyone be ok with me being the avatar? If they were, and Aang smiled at this, if they were, than high school would be a breeze.

"This is certainly... unique," Aang struggled to find words as he and his friends entered the history classroom. It was decorated with pink seashell wallpaper, and instead of paintings of historical figures, the walls were decorated with photos of two old women, the same ones that stood in the front of the room.

"Welcome to history class," they said in unison, "before we get started there are a few students that will be skipping this class in favor of a school tour. Here are your tour guides!" Stepping into the classroom was a boy and a girl. They had the same black hair, and pale skin, so Aang assumed they were siblings.

"That's Zuko," Katara whispered, pointing to the boy. He wore a red letterman jacket, and there was something off about his face, but Aang couldn't figure out what it was in the low light of the classroom. Katara pointed to the girl. She wore a black denim skirt, a red crop top, and a devilish smirk on her face.

"That's Azula. She and Zuko are the children of one of this school's wealthiest benefactors."

"They're the infuriatingly hot rich kids," Sokka translated, "You do not want to cross Azula. She will get you expelled. Plus, she's an amazing firebender. Zuko's a little more of a mystery. They say he lives with his uncle, and-"

"Can Aang come with me please?" It was Zuko. Aang let out an audible gulp.

"See you next period," Katara whispered.

"If you survive," Sokka added.

Aang quietly followed Zuko down the halls and out of the building. When they were at the front courtyard, Zuko stopped and turned to face him.

"Look. I'm not going to be your little tour guide. I know you're the Avatar, but it's not my job to babysit you."

"Wait, but aren't you supposed to-"

"Say one more word and I will firebend that grin off your face!" Zuko scowled. It was here Aang could see that under his messy black hair was a huge red scar covering the upper right half of his face. Aang wanted to know how he got the scar, but he didn't want to push his luck with Zuko anymore, so he left the firebender in the courtyard and headed in the direction of the bending specific building, and instead of going inside he went behind the glass structure. Through the clear windows he could see a swimming pool where the waterbenders were practicing. It must've been the beginner class. The students practiced the push and pull of the water that Aang had already learned. He didn't know any waterbending besides that. A huge pile of boulders sat in the field behind the building. He assumed this was where the earthbenders practiced, although Aang couldn't see anyone at the present moment. He walked closer to the boulders and used airbending to vault himself to the top. It was serene up there, and a much easier way to get a good look at the campus. There was a stone court for firebending practice, a soccer field, a small lake, and a courtyard, where students would eat lunch. Aang breathed deeply, and started to meditate.

"Are you finished, twinkle toes?" Aang's eyes fluttered open. He didn't see anything at first, until he looked down. Sitting in front of him was a girl who looked about a year younger than him. Her black hair was tied up into two buns on top of her head, and she wore a green tank top and some athletic shorts.

"Who are you?" he asked, "and why did you call me twinkle toes?"

"I'll choose not to answer the first question," the girl said, "As for the second one, I saw your fancy footwork when you climbed up the boulders." she paused for a moment, "Well, I guess I didn't 'see' them, like you do."

"You're blind?" Aang asked, noticing the grey film over her eyes.

"In the technical sense,yes, but I can feel vibrations in the ground with my earthbending." She stomped her foot into the ground, causing one of the boulders to rise into the air. "I'm also technically not supposed to be bending at school at all." the boulder rose higher, and ended up directly over Aang's head. "So don't tell anyone you saw me," the girl finished.

"Fair enough," said Aang, "But in return, can you tell me your name." She sighed.

"Toph," she said, "My name's Toph."

I guess the avatar gets threatened a lot, Aang thought as he arrived at the pool for waterbending, although Zuko and Toph didn't seem mean, just, misunderstood. Well, he corrected himself, Zuko seemed a little mean. Katara waved to him from the edge of the deep end. She had changed from her blue sundress into some more athletic clothes, although she still wore her blue pendant, which Aang thought was a little odd.

"This is so exciting!" she said as he sat down next to her, "I've always been a little jealous of Sokka, since he gets a free period instead of a bending class, but now I won't be alone anymore!"

"Yeah," Aang said, smiling, "Wait, do we ever get a free period."

"Once a week," Katara responded.

"Quiet down everyone," the teacher introduced himself as Master Pakku. Aang, Katara, and the other waterbenders started with a quick warm up of pushing and pulling the water of the pool. Next, they practiced freezing the top layer of the pool. Aang didn't noticed that Katara had left until after this exercise. Where did she go, he thought anxiously as he looked around the cavernous room.

"Aang, what technique are we focusing on today."

"I uh... umm-,"

Master Pakku shook his head, "That's what I thought. Just because you're the avatar doesn't mean you'll receive special treatment."

Aang nodded, "Yes sir."

After the waterbending lesson, Aang found Katara sitting on the front steps. He had only known her for a day, but he could tell that there was something wrong.

"Katara, why did you leave halfway through class?" he asked softly.

"Aang, I don't want to talk about it right now," Katara said, "maybe another time."

"I understand." They walked across the courtyard in silence together, neither of them feeling the need to talk. It was nice. It reminded Aang of home, with Monk Gyatso, where you didn't always need to be doing something. Sometimes, you could just... be, and that was ok.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. He had math and science with the mechanist (no one knew his name, just his title), played the tsungi horn in music, and the rest of the day was devoted to an assembly led by Iroh, the guidance counselor. Oddly enough, Principal Zhao did not speak during the assembly. Apparently he only had the position because of his good relationship with Zuko and Azula's father.

Aang's home too far away for him to live while he went to school, so he was staying with a family friend named Guru Pathik. As he headed down the street with his two new friends beside him, Aang knew that his first day of school could've gone better. But when he looked at Katara and Sokka's warm smiles, he smiled too, because it also could've gone a lot worse.

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Zuko in this chapter is comparable to season one Zuko, so expect him to be angry for a little bit.

Thanks for Reading!