Chapter 3: The Ex

~1 year ago~

Katara and Jet were sitting on the front stairs of the school. Sokka was with some of his friends talking about the girls that were walking past his group.

"Ooo how about her?" Sokka said to the guy standing next to him. He had a weird-looking scar on his eye.

"Nah, man. I'm just going to stick with the girl I got" the guy said.

"Zuko. She is like the finest female that goes here" Sokka said, punching him in the arm.

"Excuse me!" the girl on Sokka's arm yelled.

"Not for me babe. I'm trying to get Zuko to get with another girl because he and Mai are toxic 25/8." Sokka said.

"Mhm. It better be. But why don't you leave Zuko and Mai alone and let them do them?" The girl said.

"Don't worry Suki, I promise you that I will never be that toxic. But when it comes to the meat of any kind don't mess with me." Sokka laughed.

"Mhm sure Sokka." Suki said, rolling her eyes.

Meanwhile, Jet and Katara were all lovey-dovey next to each other and cuddling on the stairs. Both Jet and Katara were laughing while scrolling through Tik Tok.

"Jet?" Katara said looking at him.

"Yea? What's up, baby?" Jet replied, kissing her cheek.

"What are we doing for our anniversary tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I didn't think we were doing anything special and plus I'm going to be busy this week so I won't have any time for it anyway." Jet said nonchalantly. Katara pulled away and got up.

"I can't believe you just said that!" Katara yelled to where only he could hear.

"Katara, why are you acting like this? You are acting pressed for what?" Jet yelled back. Katara grabbed her bag and stomped away from Jet. Jet grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me Jet!" Katara screamed so that the whole courtyard could hear her.

"No! We aren't done talking!" Jet yelled backed.

"Yes, we are! Now let me go. You're hurting me." Katara's eyes began to swell with tears by the new coming bruise that was starting to appear on her right bicep. Right then Sokka ran across the courtyard to Katara and punched Jet in the face.

"You heard my sister! She told you to let go!" Sokka yelled as he looked at his new bruised knuckles.

"You okay si-" Sokka looked in Katara's direction but she was already hugging him.

"*sniffled* Thank you Sokka." Katara hugged her brother lovingly. Katara released Sokka and walked towards Jet's body, still on the ground, and crouched down.

"WE ARE DONE JET!" Katara yelled as loud as she could've and grabbed her stuff and headed towards Sokka's group of friends. Suki, Zuko, and Sokka all began a group hug with Katara. Their group walked into the building and Katara headed to the principal's office and reported Jet. Jet was called down to the office and he was expelled for the remainder of the school year. After that Katara blocked him on all socials and deleted his number. Ever since that day, they haven't seen each other. Until now.

~Present Day~

Katara began crying softly in her hands. Aang put a supportive hand on her back and brought her in for a hug. Both of them moved out from in front of the door and hugged for a good 2 minutes.

"You okay now?" Aang asked, still hugging Katara gently. Katara took a deep breath in Aang's chest. She lifted her head and wiped her remaining tears away.

"Yea, I'm fine now. Aang you gotta promise me something." Katara said looking into his grey clouded eyes.

"Sure, anything Katara. What do you need?" Aang replied looking into her ocean eyes. A little blush started to form in his cheeks. He hoped that Katara didn't notice.

"Promise me that you won't leave me by myself," Katara said while unwrapping herself from Aang's warm embrace.

"I promise," Aang said, picking up their bags from the ground. Katara gave him a smile. Jet wasn't in the room after their hug. So they both headed into Iroh's class together and headed towards their seats. Thankfully, Iroh said that they could sit anywhere they wanted just as long as they could name at least 1 kind of tea. Aang said Jasmine and Katara said Herbal. Iroh nodded and gave them their books and they headed towards the back of the room. The class didn't start for another hour so both of them grabbed their phones from their bags and went on Instagram. Aang asked Katara for all of her socials and she gave them to him. Aang did the same for Katara.

~5 minutes before class started~

Katara and Aang were laughing at each other's pages on Tik Tok while they waited for class to start. "All right class, we will begin in 5 minutes. Please make sure you have your history book and something to write with. Also, if you want some tea don't be afraid to ask." Iroh said in a peaceful voice. Katar and Aang put their phones away and grabbed their supplies. They started talking for the remainder of the class before it started. Then, before the bell rang he walked in. Aang noticed Katara flinch when her Jet casually made his way towards the back of the room where Katara and Aang were sitting. He gave her a suspicious grin and sat in front of her. Katara moved back slightly trying to distance herself from Jet. Aang placed his warm hand on top of Katara's and gave her a "don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you" look in his eyes and Katara understood by squeezing his hand back.

~After class~

Aang and Katara grabbed their stuff and began to walk out saying goodbye to Mr. Iroh. The rest of the day went smoothly and by the end of the third period, it was lunch. Katara and Aang walked towards the lunchroom.

"You see that table in the back? That's where we will be sitting. I have to grab my lunch. Meet me there." Katara told Aang. Aang nodded and made his way towards the table Katara pointed to. When Aang arrived there were Sokka and 4 other people Aang didn't know. They all looked at him.

"What the hell are you doing here mysterious boy?" Sokka questioned in an angry tone. Aang didn't know what to say. "Um, hello? I'm talking to you." Sokka said. Katara had her lunch and saw that Aang wasn't sitting.

"Aang? Why aren't you sitting down?" Katara said while taking her seat to a girl wearing green and who had her hair up in a bun.

"Um...I don't think I'm welcomed here." Aang said looking at Sokka and then looking at his Vans.

"You do belong here. Don't mind them." Katara said which made Aang feel a little bit better. He sat in between Katara and the guy with a scar on his face. "It might be better if I introduce you to everyone." Katara started. "So, you already know Sokka, the girl next to him is Suki, his girlfriend, then we have Mai, then Zuko, and my best friend Toph."

"Nice to meet you all," Aang said with a gentle smile. Everyone except Sokka waved and smiled. But the girl in green didn't wave in his direction.

"She's blind," Katara whispered to Aang. Aang nodded and began eating the salad that he brought from home. Everyone was having their own conversations. Sometimes after a while Aang would look at Katara and Katara would look back and they would share a smile and go back to what they were doing. All during lunch, Sokka glared at Aang while he would look at Katara.

All throughout lunch, Katara and Aang were texting each other because Katara knew if they were talking out loud Sokka would but in and they didn't want that.

*In Messages*

Aang: I don't understand why your brother doesn't like me. I've been nice to him the entire day.

Katara: Don't worry bout it. My brother just doesn't understand that I'm a big girl now and that I can talk to whoever I want. Anyways, how is your lunch? *smiley face*

Aang: It's good. But your brother keeps glaring at me every time I smile at you. What the heck are you eating? It looks weird lol

Katara: it's not weird. It's my favorite. It's sushi and it's the bomb so I don't want to hear about it. I'm not excited to go to the gym

Aang: why not

Katara: because my dad is the one teaching it and I already know that he is going to embarrass me

Aang: oof. But I mean it can't be that bad.

Katara: Oh but it can. Last year when he taught gym all he would ever do is call on me even though he knows I am embarrassed like there are 14 other people in the class, why he gotta choose me

Aang: I wouldn't know. I was homeschooled and my grandfather was kind of the best so I don't know what to tell you, Kat.

*End Messages*

Katara started to blush after Aang called her Kat. Katara didn't know how to feel after that. Katara though Aang was very sweet and nice and kinda cute. Right before Katara could reply Toph tapped her shoulder.

"Yea Toph" Katara whispered, a little startled.

"I may be blind but I can tell when you're blushing," Toph said with a tiny giggle.

"W-what are you talking about? I-i'm not blushing" Katara said turning her head away from Toph knowing that she can't see her.

"I also know when you're lying," Toph said. Katara sighed in defeat and whispered to Toph what she and Aang were talking about.

"Twinkletoes," Toph said loudly. Aang looked confused.

"Who is Twinkletoes?" Aang questioned.

"It's you, dummy," Toph answered.

"Um...Why are you calling me Twinkle Toes? Why not just Aang?"

"Because where is the fun in that. Anyways, Twinkle Toes, a little birdie, told me that you have gym next period. Is that true?" Toph said.

"Yea, I got gym next. Why?" Aang asked.

"Because I'm going to destroy in any games that we play and don't say anything about me being blind I will still destroy you," Toph says while flexing.

"Okay bet. See you in gym." Aang said.

Lunch was almost over and Katara, Aang, and Toph threw their stuff away and started to head towards the gym. Aang and Toph were talking about sports and Katara were just listening in. Every once in a while Aang would shoot Katara a glance to make sure she was okay and she smiled to assure him that she was. Katara was happy that Aang and her best friend were getting along.

They all arrived at the gym and Aang stood at the entrance in shock. The gym was like an indoor football field and there was so much space. They all walked in together and they were laughing at random things. More people started to arrive and then he walked in. Jet. As soon as Katara saw him, she pulled out her phone just to avoid eye contact. Aang noticed and gave her a little bump on her shoulder making a weird face which made her laugh.

"Hello. I am your gym teacher Hakoda. Today we will be playing dodgeball seeing as it is the first day of school so I already made your teams. We have a small class so this won't be a problem. Alright, so the teams are Katara, Jet, Toph, and Mako. The other team is Aang, Tenzin, Kya, and Bolin. At Republic High, we play dodgeball a little differently. So can Katara and Jet please come up and demonstrate for the class."

Katara's face froze. "Me a-and J-j-jet