Four Nations Boarding School

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sorry for the short chapter but I'm tired and wanted to get a chapter out tonight! Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its characters!

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After walking across the school with Katara leading the way, they arrived at their first period class. As they walked into the room they noticed that Toph was already there. Aang saw that there weren't many open seats at the two person desks. Toph immediately sensed their footsteps and turned in their direction.

"Hey Sugar Queen, nice of you to join us! Oh yeah, you too Twinkle Toes." Toph said, pulling out the chair next to her. Katara looked over to Aang, who nodded as a way to tell her it was okay. She shot him a smile and sat down next to the blind Earthbender. Aang looked around and spotted an open table near the window. He walked over and sat down in the chair. He was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to sit with Katara, but figured that Toph needed her more on account of her blindness. Soon everyone was in class and the bell rang. Looking around Aang noticed that everyone was in pairs except for him. Just great, Aang thought to himself, perks of being the new kid I guess.

It wasn't until the man stood up that Aang noticed that their teacher was already in the room. The man was quite a sight to look at, he had very messy hair, and his eyebrows were nearly completely gone, but what really threw Aang off were the man's three wooden fingers.

"Hello class, my name is Mr. Mechanist and this is your science class. For this class everyone must be in pairs but according to my roster there is an uneven amount of students in this class so there will need to be one group of three." At that Aang and Katara both perked up. "Now, who here does not have a partner?"

Standing up Aang said, "Um, that would be me sir." Mr. Mechanist glanced over to see the boy standing.

"Spirits, you're an Airbender!" The older man practically yelled. At that everyone in the class turned around to look at Aang, and many began to start whispering to their partner about him.

Feeling very uncomfortable, Aang turned back to Mr. Mechanist and said, "Yes sir, I am, my name is Aang."

"Well you'll have to excuse me Aang but I've never met an Airbender before, so I was just a bit surprised to see one in my class. Anyways, would anyone be willing to take Aang into their group?" The man asked.

With a hand shooting up at Airbender speed, Katara blurted out, "WE WILL! We'll take him!"
"We will?" Toph asked, turning to her friend.

"Yes, we will. Aang's our friend!" Katara told her quite sternly.

"Very well, Aang you may join Katara and Toph. Just pull up a chair." Mr. Mechanist told the Airbender. With that Aang stood up and carried his chair over to the desk.

Once Aang sat down Mr. Mechanist began his speech about the importance of science. Halfway through Katara noticed a  folded up piece of paper floating down in front of her face and landing in her hands. She looked over to see Aang facing forward with a sly grin on her face and couldn't help but blush. Feeling Katara's heart rate speed up Toph just rolled her eyes and went back to tuning out the teacher's speech. Katara unfolded the piece of paper and blushed even harder when she read what was on it .

Thanks for taking me in. IOU! -Aang

Pulling a pen out of her back pack she wrote her own message on it and slid it over towards Aang who grabbed it without ever turning away from the front of the room. He opened it up and read it.

I'm sure you'll find some way to repay me! -Katara

He looked over to see the beautiful Waterbender smirking but refusing to make eye contact and he blushed. An idea popped into his mind and he began to form a plan. He finished the note and just handed it to her. Katara opened the note to find a question written on it. A question that really confused her.

Are you busy tonight? -Aang

She was shocked to say the least. Did Aang just ask her on a date? Just as she was about to ask him to elaborate the bell rang and everybody including Aang rushed out. Katara stood up and walked out the door with Toph, not saying a word.

Aang's next two classes passed by pretty uneventfully as he was dreading his waterbending lesson. That was until he remembered that Katara would be there too. Still he was nervous that his secret would somehow be exposed during the lesson and he would lose the life he has here.He pushed those thoughts away and focused on Katara, but that only made him worry more. She had never answered his question and he began to worry that he had messed up.
Just then the bell rang for students to move to their fourth period.

Aang walked into the waterbending classroom and was taken aback by the beauty of it. The room was huge and made entirely of ice, it had rows of benches carved out of driftwood and a large basin of water in the front. As Aang walked in he saw Katara and began to walk towards her when he heard an unfamiliar voice call out, "Ah, you must be Aang, my name is Master Pakku, Principal Iroh told me that you would be joining us." The man was tall and had white hair and facial hair of the same color.

Unsure of how much Master Pakku knew, Aang spoke up and asked him, "Um, do you think we could speak outside real quick?"

Confused, Master Pakku stood up and the two walked towards the door, leaving the class and Katara wondering what they were talking about. The two men now out of the room walked to a position that was just out of ear range of the class and Aang began, "How much do you know about me?"

"Well if you're wondering if I know you're the Avatar, then the answer is yes." Master Pakku told the Airbender in a very blunt tone.

"Okay, so you do know. Let me explain. I came to this school because my mentor thought it was best for me to be able to have a bit of a normal childhood. Nobody knows that I'm the Avatar. Principal Iroh and I made a deal that I will take one bending class per quarter, we also agreed that I could hide it until the second quarter. So I was just hoping that we could keep this between us?" Aang told the man, virtually pleading with him.

After taking a moment to soak in the information Master Pakku spoke, "Very well, we can keep this a secret. However you will still be required to practice the techniques and will still be treated just as any other student. I will not make you bend until you are ready tough, although I do expect you to practice on your own time,"

Aang nodded his head in agreement and thanked the man who nodded in return. They both walked back to the classroom so that Master Pakku could begin his lesson. Aang walked over and sat next to Katara who had been saving him a seat.

"What was that about?" Katara asked him, whispering.

"I'll tell you later." Aang whispered back. He used the time he had bought and began to think of things to tell Katara.

To Be Continued...