Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Katara Kuruk loved being at the beach almost more than she loved soccer, and that was saying something because Katara had been playing soccer since she could walk. But the beach was Katara’s happy place, a place that reminded her of her childhood home in the Southern Water Tribe before her father had moved them to the Earth Kingdom several years ago. Sometimes, she felt as if she were one with the waves, as if Tui and La were urging her into the ocean, to pull from its energy to gain her own.

Her brother, Sokka, made fun of her when she talked like that, but Katara didn’t care. Who was he to talk about her relationship with the ocean?

It had taken nearly five hours for the school group to get to the beach, and part of Katara never wanted to leave. They’d left early—six in the morning—so they could get there by eleven, and they would be staying until right before dinner, picking something up on the way back home. It was a fun day trip for anyone who wanted to sign up before school started, and Katara was never one to turn down the beach.

“Katara!” One of the girls from the soccer team called her name, and Katara looked up from the apple she had been taking a bite out of. “Up for a game?”

Katara grinned and set her apple down. “You know me.”

Playing soccer on the beach wasn’t exactly pleasant. Sand got everywhere—everywhere—and it was much less solid to play on than the dirt-packed grass she was used to. But it was fun and exhilarating, and there was nothing Katara loved more than soccer.

“Over here!”

“You call that a kick!”

“Shoot, Kat, shoot!”

The last shout was aimed at Katara, and she did exactly what was asked of her. She kicked the ball, her feet going out from under her so she ended up sliding after it on her knees. But still, the ball made it into the goal. She and her team cheered while the other team booed good-naturedly.

“She shoots, she scores!” Jet, Katara’s boyfriend of nearly a year, yelled as he ran onto the makeshift soccer field. He picked Katara up and threw her over his shoulder.

“Jet!” Katara hit his back, urging him to put her down. He didn’t listen.

“Nice kick, Kat, nice kick,” he said.

“Put me down,” Katara demanded. Jet laughed but did as he was told. Somehow, the ball had wound up in his hands, spinning it easily on one of his fingers. He grinned at her, his teeth blindingly white.

“Hey,” he said, leaning down for a kiss. Katara tilted her face up, allowing his mouth to catch hers. His lips were slightly chapped, and he tasted slightly sour, like he’d just eaten some of his favored vinegar chips. Katara let him angle her head for a moment, deepening the kiss, before she broke away and smiled.

“Hi,” she said. “Okay, you’re really getting good.”

“You too,” Jet said.

“I mean, when we first started going out, you couldn’t kiss at all,” Katara continued.

Jet laughed. “I meant at soccer.”

Katara paused in her teasing. “Oh. Really?”

“Absolutely,” Jet said earnestly. “You’re probably better than half the guys on my team…. Probably more than half.”

Katara beamed, watching as Jet’s face twisted in confusion.

“Wait, what do you mean I couldn’t kiss at all?” he asked.

“Don’t worry,” Katara said fondly. “I’ve taught you well.”

“Katara! Another game?”

Katara didn’t know who shouted it, but she wasn’t one to turn down a game of soccer. She pushed Jet away teasingly and turned back to the makeshift soccer field.

“Let’s go!”

“Okay, but seriously, don’t you think you’d get more play time at some place like BSS?” Song asked Katara. The two girls were leading the soccer team to the field, and Song was once again questioning Katara’s choices. Katara shrugged, spinning the soccer ball in her hand.

“Maybe, but it’s always been about being a Warrior for me,” Katara said, referring to Southern Water Tribe College’s mascot. Both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes were known for having the best soccer teams, so they were more difficult to get playing time. But that had never deterred Katara. The Southern Water Tribe was her heritage. “I’m gonna wear that Water Tribe blue!” She let out a whoop, and the girls behind her echoed it. Katara smirked and shot Song a look, who rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

Katara turned to the field and ducked as a ball flew at her face. She straightened back up, eyes wide as she took in the sight of her soccer field.

“What is the lacrosse team doing on our field?” Katara demanded.

“They cut our team!” Jin yelled, running up, a clipboard in hand. Jin was another girl on the team, and she nearly doubled over, heaving breaths, hands on her knees.

“What?” Katara was outraged.

Jin continued to suck in breaths, but she held the clipboard up: “Not enough girls signed up.”

“No way,” Katara said, grabbing the clipboard. She chanced a glance behind her at the eight other girls who’d been on the team with her for years. Then, she looked at the clipboard and saw the same names signed up. How was eleven people not enough for a team?

“So, they just cut us?” Song asked.

“They can’t do that!” Another girl from the back called.

“Okay, this is so not over,” Katara said. She handed the clipboard back to Jin and motioned for her team to follow her to the boys’ soccer field. Katara marched up to the coach, Bumi, and put her hands on her hips. He barely spared them a glance, eyes trained on the field as the boys ran around.

“Hey, girls,” he greeted. “I heard the bad news.”

“‘Bad?’” Katara parroted. “It’s a disaster!”

“Now, colleges won’t get to see us play,” Song added.

“I know,” Bumi said. “If there’s anything I can do to help, say the word.”

“As a matter of fact, there is.” Katara folded her arms and cocked her head. “We wanna try out for the boys’ team.”

“Anything but that,” Bumi said.

Katara’s smirk dropped. “Coach, come on! You know that we’re good enough.”

“I don’t know that that is a thing that I know,” Bumi said.

Katara blinked. “What?”

Bumi shrugged.

Katara fought the urge to growl. “All we’re asking for is one chance!”

“Yeah!” There was a chorus of agreement behind her.

“Girls, we have two weeks before school starts. Then we open against Ba Sing Se Academy. A rivalry game. We have to win,” Bumi said.

Katara frowned, her frustration mounting. “We can help you win!”

“Hey, baby,” Jet said, running up to them. He put his arms around Katara, already sweaty. Normally, Katara would fan herself at the sight of her hot, sweaty boyfriend, but she was too pissed to pay attention to him.

“Hey.” She shrugged him off.

“What’s going on, Coach?” Jet asked Bumi.

“The girls here want to try out for the team,” Bumi said.

“What?” Jet sounded horrified.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katara rounded on her boyfriend, her gaze murderous. Behind her, the team started chattering again.

“Alright, alright! You’re all excellent players!” Bumi called. “But girls aren’t as fast as boys.”

“Right,” Jet agreed.

“What?” Katara said, voice deadly.

“Or as strong. Or as athletic,” Bumi continued. “This isn’t me talking. It’s a scientific fact. Girls can’t beat boys. It’s as simple as that.”

“Okay.” Katara turned to her boyfriend. “Jet, you’re the team captain. What do you think?” Her voice was deceptively sweet, but her tone had something darker lurking beneath. Jet disregarded it completely.

“I think the coach said it all,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. By now, the guys had caught on to the drama brewing. Some of them were inching closer, a couple coming to back up Jet and Bumi.

Katara scoffed. “Yesterday, you told me you were better than half the guys on your team.”

“What?” One of his dude-bro friends asked. Katara ignored anyone but Jet, her gaze trained on him, daring him to make a wrong step.

“I never said that!” Jet lied.

“What are you talking about?” Katara demanded. “Why are you lying?”

“Katara!” Jet yelled. Katara took a step back. Jet glared at her, trying to shut her up. “End of discussion.”

“Yeah, tell her man,” Dude-bro said.

“Fine.” Katara shoved the soccer ball she’d been holding at his chest. “End of relationship.”

“Come on, let’s go,” Song said, wrapping an arm around Katara and leading her away.

“Baby, come on, don’t be like this. I just don’t want to see you get hurt!” Jet called.

Bumi had had enough. “Alright, back to practice!” A shrill whistle blew, and Katara’s stomach churned at the thought that she might never get to hear that whistle be blown at her again.

“Sokka?”

Katara had her headphones in and turned up the volume at the sound of Yue’s voice.

“Sokka!”

Once more, the volume went up.

“Sokka!” This time, there was a manicured hand on Katara’s shoulder, and she spun around to come face to face with Yue’s perfect blue eyes and styled white hair.

“Jeez!” Yue screeched, placing a hand to her chest. “It’s you. You and your brother look scary alike from the back. I think it’s your complete lack of curves.”

“Hi, Yue,” Katara said in a monotone voice. There was no point attempting to interact with her. Still, she couldn’t resist a jab. “It’s so nice to see you, too.”

“I’m looking for Sokka. Where is he?” Yue asked.

“I don’t know,” Katara said. It was true—she didn’t know where her brother was at the moment. But even if she had, she wouldn’t have told Yue.

Yue gave Katara a look, like she knew the younger girl was lying. Katara gave her a dead-eyed stare.

“Just remind your brother how lucky he is to be in my life,” Yue said. “And that if he wants to stay in it, he needs to give me a call. Okay?”

“Okay, does he have your number, 1-800-BEYOTCH?” Katara snorted at her own joke. Yue gave her a tight-lipped smile before turning around and tottering away in her heels. Katara watched her go, nearly tripping over a mailbox as she reached the end of the sidewalk.

“She will do great things,” Katara said to no one. She turned back to her house and managed to make it inside, only to be accosted by a frilly blue dress.

“I have a surprise for you!” Gran-Gran said.

“And this is why I don’t bring friends over,” Katara muttered to herself. She took an errant piece of lace out of her mouth and shuddered. “Gran-Gran, can this wait? I’ve had a really bad day.”

“And this is just the thing to perk you up! Look at it!” Gran-Gran ordered.

“I see it.” It was a monstrosity of epic proportions. “What is it for?”

“For my beautiful debutante,” Gran-Gran said.

“And who is she?”

“Katara!”

“Gran-Gran, please, I’ve told you a million times, I don’t want to be a debutante! It’s totally archaic,” Katara said.

“How did I end up with a granddaughter who only wants to kick a muddy ball around all day?” Gran-Gran griped.

“Well, the world has been set right,” Katara said. “They cut my team.”

“What? No soccer?”

“Yeah, no soccer.”

“How sad.”

“Yeah, I can see you’re all torn up about it.” Katara turned to the staircase and began to climb up to the second floor of their house.

“Well, Jet is going to love you in this,” Gran-Gran said, trying to entice Katara once more.

“Yet another reason not to wear it,” Katara said. “I dumped him.”

“What? Why?” Gran-Gran asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Katara called down.

“But he’s so handsome and rugged and chiseled—”

“That’s great, Gran-Gran,” Katara yelled, nearly at the top. “Why don’t you date him?”

“No, I couldn’t.”

Katara snorted, rolling her eyes fondly. She knew her Gran-Gran meant well, but the whole debutante thing was overkill. Katara wanted nothing to do with it, but for some reason, Gran-Gran had her heart set on it.

Katara walked down the hall to her room, pausing when she saw Sokka in his.

“Hey, Sokka,” she said. She went to leave but paused when she saw him throw a bag out the window.

“Hey,” Sokka said, distracted.

Katara walked into his room and threw herself on his bed. “Yue was looking for you. Why do you even date her anyway?”

“She’s hot,” Sokka said, going over to his desk and shoving some more things in a bag. “It’s a guy thing.”

“But she’s so awful.” Katara groaned. Another bag went out the window. “Hey, you know we have a front door you can use?”

“But then Gran-Gran would see me, and that can’t happen,” Sokka said.

“Why?”

“Because Gran-Gran thinks I’m at Dad’s, and Dad thinks I’m here. In two days, they both think I’ll be going away to school. That is the beauty of an estranged family,” Sokka said. Katara frowned. Gran-Gran and their father had gotten into a fight a few months ago, and Hakoda had gone to stay at his friend, Bato’s. Hakoda and Gran-Gran had yet to make up and refused to tell Sokka or Katara what had caused the rift in the first place.

“Where are you going?” Katara asked.

“Caldera for a couple of weeks,” Sokka said nonchalantly.

Katara sat up. “As in the Fire Nation? As in a different continent?”

“That’s the one.”

“Why?”

“My band got a slot in a music festival there.”

“What about school?”

“Ooh, I was hoping you could help me with that,” Sokka said. “Could you pretend to be someone, call BSSA, and tell them I’m sick or something? Something that lasts for two weeks, like Mad Cow Disease.”

“Sokka, you got kicked out of Omashu for skipping,” Katara said. “This is not exactly the way you want to start out.”

“I want to be a musician,” Sokka said. “Last thing I heard, musicians don’t need to know trigonometry. Besides, if you want to chase your dreams, you’ve gotta break the rules.”

A plan was forming in Katara’s mind, but she couldn’t quite grasp it yet.

“Do you know the percentage of bands that make it to the big time?” Katara asked.

“Probably the same as female soccer players,” Sokka said.

And that was it. But she had to play it cool. And her heart nearly dropped out of her chest when Sokka launched himself through the window.

“Sokka!” Katara called.

“Were you talking to your brother?” Gran-Gran appeared in the doorframe. Katara jumped.

“No. Yes, yes! On the phone. He’s at Dad’s,” Katara said.

Gran-Gran nodded, then pulled a ruffley dress out of nowhere. “Picture this—”

“Nope.” Katara shook her head. “Sorry, Gran-Gran. I have a strict no-ruffles policy.”

Gran-Gran frowned but left. Katara waited until she heard her grandmother’s footsteps on the stairs before pulling out her phone, calling her best friend, and telling him her plan.

“You want me to turn you into your brother?” Haru demanded. She could picture the look of horror on his face, but she didn’t care.

“Yep,” Katara said. “I’m going to Ba Sing Se Academy.”