Four Elements High School: Junior Year

Chapter 1: Summer's End

               It was mid-august. Katara walked up the stairs to their apartment. Her long hair was worn in a high ponytail and a bag of takeout from the Flameo's Barbeque joint was in her hands. The heat was stifling, so she was relieved once she got inside their small apartment building.

"Katara?" her grandmother was in the kitchen, "I told you not to get food from that... awful restaurant

"I know, Gran Gran," Katara replied, "But this is for Dad. It's his favorite." Gran Gran shook her head. 

"You'd think your father and your brother would get sick of all the meat we've had in the past three months," she said, more to herself than to anyone else, Just then, the door opened, and Sokka walked in. With him was their dad, Hakoda. He was a muscular man with the same deep bronze skin tone as Sokka and Katara. Sokka's eyes widened as he smelled the food.

"Meat!!!" he exclaimed, running at full speed towards the bag of takeout. Katara held it away from him like he was a toddler and handed it to Hakoda. Their dad looked curiously at the bag.

"Is this..."

"Flameo's," Katara said proudly. His surprise and joy were palpable. 

"Okay, now give me my meat," Sokka said impatiently. They all laughed and Katara felt more at home than she had in a long time. Things really seemed to be turning up for her. Her summer had been almost perfect. Almost. She missed Aang. She really missed him, and she saw the same wistful looked in Sokka's eyes sometimes. She sighed. They really were in love. 

~~~

While it was balmy and sunny near Four Elements High School, it was dreary and overcast at Hira'a College of the arts. Mai walked towards the dorms, with a black umbrella in her hands and a slight smile on her face. The college looked a bit like a prison, with its cold exterior and vaguely Victorian interior. There was definitely a shred of truth to this, as the building used to be an insane asylum. Mai's smile turned into a wider grin. She felt at home already. Walking through the dimly lit hallways, Mai found her room fairly easily, she hesitantly opened the door, and saw a brown haired girl looking back at her. The girl was wearing a green tank top and a red mini-skirt, so it was hard to tell if she affiliated with earth or fire. 

"Hey," she said, "I'm Kori." 

"Mai," she shook her roommate's hand, and Kori led her into their dorm. It definitely wasn't the nicest place. There seemed to be some sort of fungus growing on the walls, and the sink and vanity table looked like they were at least 50 years old. When Mai sat on the mattress, a plume of dust rose up around her, causing her to cough uncontrollably for several minutes. When she came to, Kori was smirking.

"Welcome to Hira'a College of the Arts," she said. 

~~~

Summer would be over soon, so of course Toph was going to take every chance she could to sleep in until noon every day, and today was no different. She stumbled down the stairs in her silk nightgown, and came across her parents eating lunch. 

"Good morning, Toph," her Father said, "sit down." Toph obliged, absentmindedly picking at the plate of food that was set out for her.

"So, Toph," her Mother said, "your Father and I have been thinking..." Toph tensed a bit. It was never a good sign when her parents were thinking. 

"We've been talking to the vice principal of Ba Sing Se High School," her Father said, "they have a wonderful deaf and blind program there, and so we were just thinking," they glanced at each other, "about transferring you there." Toph inhaled sharply, then slowly exhaled.