Camp Avatar: Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys! Just to let you know, this story is AU, or alternate universe, so the characters don't have their bending powers and its set in modern times.

Katara is 17, Sokka and Zuko are 18, Toph and Aang are 15.

This story IS GOING TO BE ZUTARAm so haters don't read it!

Enjoy!

OOOOOOOO

The mini bus went over yet another pothole, causing a girl to groan as she was jolted from her hasty nap.

Katara yawned, and stretched. Sitting on a bus for 3 hours wasn't easy on her back, and she was so tired. Her blue eyes struggled to stay open as she listened to her brother and two best friends talking.

"And look, as a graduation present, mom bought me a boomerang!" Her brother Sokka bragged to Aang and Toph, her best friends.

Aang was 15, and was one of the most optimistic people Katara knew. He was already for adventure, and was the peacemaker of their little group. Just two weeks ago, he had shaved his head in protest against eating meat. That little vegetarian was crazy.

Toph was also Aang's age, and was extremely stubborn and feisty. She had been born blind, but instead of shrinking away from the world, she let her amazing senses help her around. She didn't use a cane or a dog; she naturally had refused to let anyone help her.

And then there was Sokka, Katara's brother. He was pig-headed and sarcastic but she loved him very much.

"That's great Sokka!" Aang exclaimed, admiring the shiny boomerang.

"It looks pretty cool." Toph said, smirking.

"Why thank you Toph, I think so……" he stopped, remembering she was blind.

"Why do you feel the need to do that?" She smirked and Katara giggled turning to look out of the window. She then gasped.

"Guys, we're here!" She said, still looking out the window.

The bus was headed to Camp Avatar, the week-long sleep-away camp for teens. There were outdoor activities, bunks, camp fires; basically, everything in a normal sleep-away camp.

Katara had been going to Camp Avatar since she was a freshman in high school and she loved it.

"Woo-hoo! I've never been to this camp before…..I hope it's fun." Aang said.

"And I've never been to sleep-away camp period." Toph said.

"It's awesome your parents let you go this year!" Katara said. Toph's family was extremely strict, and practically didn't let their daughter do anything.

"Who says my parents let me go?" Toph asked slyly.

"Geez Toph. What excuse did you use this time?"

"Let's just say they think I am on my way to Virginia right now."

"I'm not even gonna ask. You got any snacks Katara?"

She sighed, and handed her brother a granola bar. He hungrily bit it, not even bothering to see what it was he was eating. Suddenly, his eyes flew open.

"Ew! This is what chicks eat when they want to go on a diet!" he said, shoving the granola bar back at Katara.

"No its not….these are healthy! Besides, we won't have dinner for a few hours."

"Give that back." Sokka grumbled. Eating gross food was better then not eating at all, for Sokka at least.

"You're such a wuss." Toph poked Sokka in the head.

"Am NOT!"

Katara sighed, closing her eyes. She was so tired….maybe she could sleep for a few minutes before they reached camp.

"Katara, WAKE UP! GET OUT OF THE SEAT!" Sokka shook her awake. She blinked her eyes sleepily and got her luggage from under the seat while her friends did the same. She walked down the aisle and off the bus.

She immediately felt renewed with the fresh lake air that surrounded Camp Avatar. Suddenly aware of her rather disgruntled appearance, she smoothed her braided hair and blue tank top.

"Hey sugarqueen, where do we go now?" Toph asked Katara.

"We have to go to the mess hall. Come on guys!" she called to Sokka and Aang. They followed the dirt path to a biggest building in the whole camp that Katara knew very well.

"Ahh, air conditioning." Sokka threw up his arms as they walked inside the cool building.

Katara walked over to a small table, where a small lady was sitting.

"Oh, hello Katara." The lady said.

"Hi Aunt Wu. How are things?"

"Pretty good. The administration just put me in charge of activities, and I've been busier then ever."

"That's good."

"Did you bring friends? Oh, there's you brother, how nice."

"Yeah. Their names are Toph Bei-Fong and Aang Gyatso."

Aunt Wu checked their names off on a clipboard in her hand then called them over.

"Here are your bunking cards. Meet back here for team assignments and schedules. Have fun!" She said as she handed them little cards.

Katara quickly turned to her friends.

"What bunks do you have?"

Aang read his. "B-2."

"B-2." Sokka said. He then read Toph's.

"G-1".

Katara's face fell as she saw "G-3" on her card; none of them would be together!

"Don't worry; we'll see each other at breakfast and campfire!" She said, trying make the best of the situation.

"Alright, the camp has 6 bunkhouses; 3 are the guy's and 3 are the girl's. "B" means boys, and "G" means girls."

Sokka and Aang headed over to the boy's side of the camp and Toph and Katara departed for their bunkhouses. Bidding goodbye to Toph, Katara continued up the path to the last house, dragging her luggage on the ground behind her. The hot summer sun beat down on her back, making her long for a cool swim in the lake.

She finally reached the house marked '3' and opened the door. She stepped inside, inhaling the sweet scent of pine.

Her bunk house had only three beds, since the camp only had about 20 people in it at a time. It ran every week of the summer, and only took a small number of people each week. That's why Katara loved it; every year she bonded with the whole camp and everyone was like a family.

She plunked her luggage down on a bed and sat down. She was obviously the first of her roommates to arrive. She unpacked her clothes into the trundle under her bunk and laid down on the bed hoping for a quick nap.

OOOOOO

Zuko leaned his head against the window of his uncle's car, looking out onto Camp Avatar. To him it was a prison – a place where he would be held captive for a while week while counselors forced him to do crafts and swim in a dirty lake. He sighed.

"Zuko, are you alright?" his uncle, Iroh, asked.

"I'm FINE. You've been asking me that all afternoon!" Zuko snapped. After all, it was his uncle's fault he was attending this stupid camp.

Iroh had volunteered to work in the kitchens, since baking was one of his god-given talents, and so dragged Zuko along to the camp with him, insisting the whole time that the experience was going to be "fun". Zuko knew he needed to get out more but it just felt so much better to do things on your own with no one to rely on except yourself. His jujitsu had taught him that.

Iroh's car pulled up to the mess hall and parked. Zuko got out of the car and grabbed his bags. Iroh then pulled him into the mess hall to log in. Some lady named Aunt Wu gave him a little card and explained the bunking situation before sending Iroh off to the kitchens to get dinner started.

Zuko trudged up the path to the boy's bunks. What was his bunk? He looked down to see "B-3", and walked to the last of the bunks. He opened the door to find his other two roommates sitting on beds. They looked up as he walked in.

Zuko felt uneasy as these two boys stared at him. He glanced their way.

"Hey." He muttered. A boy about his age with shaggy brown hair stood up and addressed Zuko.

"Hey. I'm Jet, and this is Haru. We're your new roommates." Jet grinned, and Zuko noticed a toothpick hanging out of the corner of his mouth. He almost smirked and commented about that silly thing, but stopped himself.

Haru waved his hand, and went back to fixing his hair in his hand-held mirror. Zuko raised his eyebrows towards Jet.

Jet smirked back letting him know what he thought of Haru's 'interesting' behavior.

As soon as Zuko unpacked his clothes a bell rang.

"Come on, we have to go to the mess hall for team instructions." Jet informed Zuko. He nodded, and followed the boy out the door.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Katara woke up as a girl walked in the door. She had short brown hair and huge eyes.

"Oh, hi! I'm Suki." She introduced herself. Katara grinned; this girl seemed really nice.

"I'm Katara! Is this your first time at camp?" she asked.

"Yes. I didn't have martial arts camp this summer so I decided to come here for a week." Suki said.

"You do martial arts? What kind?"

"Mostly Gatka, but I do some Kendo also. I love traditional weaponry."

"Ooh, I've never heard of those forms before! That sounds really cool."

"Yeah, it is. What do you do?" Suki asked as she unpacked her clothes.

"I swim competitively. I've been doing it since I was six!" Katara grinned at how easy her roommate was to talk to.

"That's awesome. So, what do we do at this camp?" Suki asked.

Katara was just about to answer as another girl walked in the door. She was wearing light pink, and had a braid going down her back.

"Hello. My name is Song." The girl said.

"Hi!" Katara and Suki said.

Song was quiet, but nice. The girls continued to talk as Song unpacked.

"We totally have to have a party!" Suki exclaimed.

"The girls of bunk 3 RULE!" Katara giggled.

Song smiled. "That sounds like fun." She said quietly.

"Do we ever get to see guys?" Suki asked. Katara laughed.

"Of course! At the end of the week, there's a big dance in the mess hall and we all get together."

"Yes!" Suki said. Before the girls could say anymore a bell rang.

"What was that?" Song asked.

"Oh, just the bell for assembly in the mess hall." Katara said.

"They're going to assign teams right now."

They girls exited their bunkhouse and went to the mess hall. Katara saw Toph and waved to her.

A stern man stood on one of the tables in the hall.

"Attention boys and girls! Please gather around!" All the teens sat down around him.

"My name is Master Rokku, and I am camp coordinator and director. I have the teams for this year planned out and I expect that everyone will get along with their teammates accordingly."

As he kept talking, Katara was looking around at her camp mates. She saw some guy who kept flipping his hair and then looked to the left of him. A guy about her age was sitting next to him. He had a flame-shaped burn over his eye! She gasped; that looked extremely painful.

Suddenly flame-guy looked over at her and noticed her staring. He glared in her direction causing her to narrow her eyes.

Why was he so touchy?

Zuko noticed a tan girl in blue staring at his scar. He was taken aback by the look on her face; it wasn't one of horror, but curiosity. He glared at her before noticing what he was doing. She looked surprised and quickly turned away.

He then turned his attention to Rokku who was still talking.

"Ok, there are going to be four teams based on the four elements of our planet – water, earth, fire and air."

He sounded like Zuko's jujitsu master.

"On Team Fire there is Katara K., Zuko S., Longshot F., Yue P., and Teo M. Please go to that corner of the hall to wait while I continue announcing the teams."

Katara gasped as she realized the boy with the scar was in her group. She stiffly walked to the corner and plunked down, seething. He sat down across from her, and it was plain to anyone that he did not like his group. The three other group members sat down in silence.

It was unbearable.

As soon as Rokku finished the teams he instructed them to introduce themselves and say something they liked to do.

"I'll go first." Katara volunteered.

"My name is Katara and I love to swim."

A girl with white hair went next.

"My name is Yue and I like to sew."

A boy in a wheelchair spoke.

"Hey! I'm Teo and I love to fly gliders."

The boy with the scar glared at everyone before mumbling something incomprehensible.

"What was that?" Katara asked, eyebrows raised.

The boy glared at her.

"My name is Zuko." Katara rolled her eyes. He was being a pain in the ass.

"And what do you like to do?"

"Anything besides being here." He hissed. Everyone widened their eyes at his bitterness.

"Um, ok. You go next." Katara said, pointing a boy with thick eyebrows.

He quietly introduced himself as Longshot, and said he loved archery.

"Ok, great! Is this everyone's first time here?" Katara asked.

Yue and Teo nodded.

"I live up north in the freezing ice, and so this whole 'summer camp' is new to me!" Yue gently said.

"Obviously, I don't go camping a lot. This thing gets in the way!" Teo chuckled, pointing to his wheelchair.

Katara grinned. "What about you two?" she asked Zuko and Longshot.

Longshot shook his head, indicating he had been here before. Zuko didn't say anything.

"Zuko?" Katara asked. He just glared at her. She couldn't believe anyone could be so pissy!

"Hello? We're trying to get to know each other! The least you could do is PRETEND to be interested." Katara spat, fed up with his attitude.

Zuko's eyes widened. No one ever talked to him like that!

"I don't want to be here and I don't care about your little interests."

Katara gasped.

"Then WHY ARE YOU HERE?" The rest of the group shrunk away from the feuding teens.

"I was forced."

"That's weak. Did your mommy make you go?"

"I don't have a mother." A look of pain crossed his face and Katara realized she had hit a nerve.

"I…I'm sorry.."

"What do you care? You don't even know!" Zuko yelled. Suddenly, Katara and Zuko noticed the whole mess hall was quiet and staring at them. Rokku seethed.

"Katara! Zuko! You have cleaning duty tonight after dinner for your unseemly actions." He said.

Katara felt her face heat up but Zuko didn't even seem to care.

"Thanks a lot!" Katara hissed. He glared in her direction.

"You think this is MY fault?"

"Why, yes, I do."

"OK, dinner is served now. You may sit where you wish." Rokku said before exiting the bulding.

Katara ran over to Toph and Aang.

"I can't believe what just happened!" she said.

Toph laughed.

"Nice Katara; in trouble on the first day!"

"That Zuko seems like a jerk." Aang said.

"Trust me, he is. How I am supposed to be on his team for an entire week???" Katara felt despair at her once sunny week.

Sokka appeared beside the group.

"Katara! What were you doing?" She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's get some food." She went to the buffet. The delicious smell that was wafting from the food laid out made her feel a little better.

"Whoa, the food's never been this good!" Sokka was practically drooling at the smells.

"Hope they have a salad bar." Aang said. "No way! They do!" He hurried over to another section of the buffet, heaping greens on his plate. Sokka found his way over to the soda machine and was fiddling with it to get his dollar in.

"Katara what food is there?" Toph asked.

"Oh, over here there's ribs, macaroni, green beans, mashed potatoes, fries, gravy, barbeque sauce…"

"Whoa, nice." Toph said, serving herself the macaroni.

Katara dug into the ribs and potatoes, remembering not to eat too much.

She sat down at a table and waited for her friends. But she noticed Zuko sitting alone at another table on the opposite side of the hall. He was quickly eating, and she felt a pang of sympathy roll over her.

She would want someone eating with her, especially on her first day of camp.

Come on Katara, he was a real asshole! Why do you even care? Her conscience reprimanded her.

He just looks so lonely……

Well, after everyone heard you two fighting I'm sure no one wants to sit with him.

Katara mentally slapped herself. She felt bad for fighting.

"Hey sugarqueen, move over." Toph plunked her tray on the table, Aang and Sokka close behind her. She and her friends ate and talked about their groups before dinner was over. As everyone exited the dining hall to go to their bunks, Katara and Zuko sat and waited for Rokku to instruct them on their punishment.

He entered, and handed rags and buckets to the two teens, instructing them to clean the tables and floor.

Zuko wrinkled his nose. This cafeteria was gross, and he was not looking forward to cleaning it.

Katara got right to work scrubbing the tables. There was hard macaroni plastered on one of them, and she was working furiously to get it off, painfully aware of the thick silence that rested between her and Zuko.

"Hey, can I have a clean rag?" Katara asked shyly. Zuko handed her a rag without looking at her and continued scrubbing his table obstinately.

Then Iroh walked out of the kitchen, taking off his apron. He spotted his nephew and some girl scrubbing tables and approached the girl.

"What are you doing?" He politely asked.

"We have to clean this whole place." Katara grimaced as she addressed the old man.

"But why? A pretty young woman such as you should not be scrubbing tables!"

She blushed and giggled.

"Thanks, but I got in trouble with this guy over here."

"Oh, I see. Is there some way I can help?" he asked. Zuko didn't even notice his uncle as he started scrubbing the floor.

"You could help this guy with his temper." Katara said, glaring at Zuko's back.

"What has my nephew done?"

Katara gasped. "HE'S your NEPHEW?"

Suddenly, Zuko turned around and noticed his uncle.

"Uncle! What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Just leaving the kitchens. We're done for the night. What have you done to get yourself and this young lady in trouble?"

"She's NOT a lady." Zuko growled, very much aware that he sounded like a spoiled brat.

"Then what am I?" Katara felt her anger rising.

"Someone who manages to infuriate me." Zuko spat as he turned around.

Katara gasped and threw her rag at his head, hitting him with a wet smack. He whipped around.

"Hey!" Iroh stepped between the two teens who looked ready to kill each other.

"Miss, you can leave. I would like to have a word with Zuko about respect." Katara practically ran out of the building. Zuko glared at her retreating back.

"Zuko, what has gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"I don't know what happened when you got in trouble, but I advise against it happening again. You must learn to control your emotions!"

"She started it." Why do I sound like a whiny brat?

"Zuko, listen. Try to respect other people, and you might find some new acquaintances in unexpected places." Iroh reprimanded him.

Zuko sighed. His uncle couldn't see that Zuko would rather die then make relationships with anyone.

"I'm going to bed." Zuko curtly turned on his heel and headed out the door. Iroh shook his head. His nephew was headed down the wrong path.

OOOOOO

Katara ran until she reached her bunkhouse. She wrenched open the door and stepped inside. Suki and Song were talking on Suki's bed, but when Katara came in they beckoned her over.

"What happened?" Suki inquired.

Katara told them the whole story.

"Whoa, who knew this guy was such a jerk?" Suki said.

"You should try to give him a second chance." Song said.

"I know I should, but it's so hard! He probably thinks I'm an idiot anyway." Katara sighed.

"Now that I think about it, it was stupid of me to get in a fight. The reason for our fight was retarded!"

"We'd better get to bed." Suki said.

"You can apologize tomorrow."

Katara climbed into her bed and closed her eyes, trying to shut out the day's events.

OOOOO

So, what do you think? PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!