Chapter Text
Katara gazes out the nearby window as Sokka grabs their drinks at the counter. The sun is nearing the horizon and illuminating the world in gold. Sokka hands her drink to her and she peacefully takes a sip from the strawberry refresher. Relishing in its delightful fruitiness.
She and Sokka went for a walk around town after he was done with work for the day. Now they have to get home before it gets too dark. So the two siblings begin their peaceful walk back to their neighborhood.
Katara fiddles with her hair, pulling it over her shoulder and twirling the ends of her curls with her fingers, already a good ways into her drink. The cool evening breeze brushes the skin between her crop top and jeans, causing her to shiver. She pulls her jacket over her torso to help keep her heat in.
Meanwhile Sokka has barely taken three sips of his, as he's too busy recounting his experiences helping out an old lady mow her lawn.
"And then she asked me to help her change a light in her kitchen that went out." he pauses to take a sip. "But I had to tell her that I couldn't because I had another client to get to. So I'm going back tomorrow, first thing in the morning to help her out."
Katara shoots a finger in front of Sokka to pause him. He opens his mouth to complain, when Katara interrupts him, looking down the alleyway on the other side of the street.
"Who's that?" Sokka follows her gaze to a boy slumped in an alley between two stores. From far away Katara can make out the boy's yellow and orange patched hoodie, as well as a beanie and some fluffy mess on his lap. Curiously, she walks over, ignoring Sokka's warnings against it.
Once she's closer, she realizes the fluffy mess is actually a dog. A white dog with a brown spot on its forehead that oddly looks like an arrow. It stares up at her from its spot on the boy's lap but doesn't make any move to show aggression, or even the slightest interest in her.
She takes the opportunity to look at the boy. His beanie is orangish-yellow with a blue arrow going down the middle of it, a few tufts of black hair peak out from underneath. His hoodie has three blue swirls in the middle, and Katara swears she can see a hint of the same blue under his sleeves.
The boy looks so peaceful as he sleeps, he can't be any older than fifteen, and it takes Sokka's looming shadow to break Katara's gaze from his face. "Why do you think he's sleeping here?" She asks her brother, who just shrugs.
"Why don't you ask him? Surely it can't be that comfortable to sleep here."
Gently, Katara shakes the boy's shoulder. He wakes up with a stir, slowly blinking his eyes open to reveal gray that stares into Katara's. Staring into his eyes, Katara feels a pull towards him. After a brief second, the boy realizes where he is.
"Wanna go skateboarding with me?"
"Uh- I… don't know how to," Katara ventures, her eyebrows creasing.
"That's a shame," Nudging his dog off his lap, the boy stands up and brushes the dust off his pants. He's almost the same height as Sokka, probably around 5'9, she notes. Then his face brightens as he gets an idea, "I could teach you, if you want."
"Hold up, alley-boy," Sokka intercedes, "You're not teaching my sister anything. Who are you and why are you sleeping in an alleyway?"
"I'm A- ah- AAACHOO!" He lets out the loudest sneeze Katara has ever heard. He might as well shoot into the sky with how much force he exerts with it.
"I'm Aang!" The boy grins lopsidedly and gestures to the fluffy white dog next to him, "And this is my dog, Appa. He's a Himalayan Sheepdog." The dog wags its tail lazily.
Sokka narrows his eyes at him, "Ok, Aang. I'm Sokka and this is my little sister Katara. But you still haven't answered my question. Why are you sleeping here?"
"Well," Aang looks around him, "I was exploring the neighborhood, but I guess I fell asleep and lost track of time?"
Katara raises her eyebrow, "Exploring? Are you new here?"
"Yeah," the corner of his mouth quirks up, "I just moved in with my new foster family."
Katara and Sokka share a sidelong glance, "Speaking of which, I should probably get back soon. They might be wondering where I am."
Aang grabs his skateboard that is at his feet, tucks it under his arm and looks up and down the alley again. He purses his lips and rubs the back of his neck.
Katara tilts her head, "Are you lost?"
"Um, maybe a little," He admits.
"Oh, great. Mysterious alley boy with a dog is lost." Sokka throws his hands in the air, and Katara rolls her eyes at him.
"Where do you live, Aang? We can probably get you back home."
Aang beams a smile at her, "That would be great! I live at 0183 Alpine Brook."
"Hey, that's right next to our street! Why don't you tag along and we can make a stop at your house?" Katara offers.
"Woah woah woah," Sokka pulls her a little ways away from Aang and whispers, "Are you sure that's a good idea? We don't know anything about this kid. He could be bad news."
Her face deadpans, "Sokka, we know that he's lost and he needs our help. He's new around here and I'm not going to stand around while a poor boy can't find his way home."
She looks back at Aang, whose laugh reaches her ear as Appa licks his face. "Besides," she smiles, "His home is on the way to ours. Who are we to say no to him?"
This convinces Sokka and he lets go of her shoulder. "Fine," he sighs and walks back over to Aang.
"Alright, Alley-boy, lets get you home."
Aang shows a dazzling smile, and Katara can't help but smile back at him.
The walk back to their subdivision is… awkward to say the least. But that's mostly because Sokka can't seem to stop giving Aang skeptical looks every two seconds. Katara elbows him in the side to get him to stop being rude, but this only seems to encourage him more.
"So," Sokka inquires, "You're a foster kid, huh?"
If looks can kill, the police won't be able to recover Sokka's body. But Aang doesn't seem to be bothered by the intrusive question.
"Yup," He affirms, "Have been since I was twelve."
Katara's breath catches in her throat, "What happened to your parents?" She knows that's exactly the type of question she is trying to avoid, but her concern for Aang quickly over shadows that.
"They died when I was four." He says, matter-of-factly, like it's the most normal thing to happen to a four year old, "I don't know how, since I was too little at the time and Grandpa Gyatso never told me. But it's fine. I don't remember them anyways so it's no big deal."
The three fell into a uncomfortably sad silence. The only noise being the sound of their shoes on the concrete.
"We lost our mom when I was eight," Katara finally says, "She died of cancer."
Aang smiles sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear that, Katara. That must have hard for both of you."
"It is."
As they continue walking, the conversation between the three relaxes into something more comfortable. None of them want to talk about such heavy topics, so they speak of coffee shops, and what they do for fun around the neighborhood. And soon enough they arrive at Aang's house. But the boy just stands in front of the path leading up to the front door. His face is carefully neutral to not give away anything he's thinking.
"I guess this is it." He says, and Katara can hear a hint of sadness in his voice. He turns, looking at the siblings with slight longing. She can tell he doesn't want to say goodbye so soon, but the sun is far past the horizon and they all need to get home.
Katara finds her voice. "D- do you have a phone?"
Aang only nods and she gets questioning looks from both the boys. She holds out her hand to ask for it. "May I?"
Aang realizes what she's asking and pulls out his phone, opening it for her. He watches expectantly as she taps at his phone screen.
"Here." She passes it back and he looks down at the messages app. "Our numbers. You're free to text us whenever."
He tries his best to hold back a smile, but he can feel that he's not that successful at it. And if there were anymore light on the dark street, the two siblings would see a blush crawl up his face.
Katara fiddles with the edge of her jacket, astonished by her boldness. "Well… see you around Aang."
Aang is snapped out of his mild daze and looks up at Katara, "Oh- uh, yeah. See you around." He watches as they turn to walk back down the street.
"I hope you settle in well, Aang." Katara smiles over her shoulder.
"See ya, kid."
Aang waves them goodbye and they wave back, "It was really nice meeting you two."
10:30 pm
Hi!!!!😁>
<Hi, Aang
<sup alley boy
Haha 😆>
Are you ever gonna drop that> nickname lol
<nope
<go to bed
<its late
Sorry 😅 ill shut up>
<Good night, Aang
12:00 am
Good night 😌💤>