#despite the silly goofy tone I am looking forward to getting help but also it’ll be scary bc a lot of the treatment is exposure therapy | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

koala-otter · 4 years

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a little gaang modern AU

more (zukka!) prompts coming but for now have some modern AU silliness featuring the gaang as a bunch of goofy young adults on a road trip

might write another part to this but also might not :) (so lmk if you like it)

that’s all i have please enjoy

2k words

Aang rings the doorbell of the small, white house only for the door to swing open as soon as he pulls his hand back. Katara stands in front of him with a dazzling smile, immediately grabbing his arm to pull him into the foyer.

“I watched you walk up,” she explains. She lets him go and starts up the stairs to her room. “I just have to finish packing, and I’ll be right down. Two seconds.” At the top of the stairs, she turns and calls back down to Aang, “Sokka’s in the living room!”

Aang smiles as he watches her go and tugs on the straps of his backpack on his shoulders. He hears someone walking toward him, but where he expects to see Sokka, Hakoda appears in the archway leading to the kitchen and dining room.

“Aang,” Hakoda says warmly, coming forward to clasp the young man’s arm. “It’s good to see you.”

“You, too, Chief Hakoda,” Aang replies, grinning broadly.

Hakoda stands back and looks down at the empty space next to Aang. “No Appa?” he asks of the dog normally at Aang’s heels.

“Appa hates long car rides, so Gyatso offered to take care of him for the week,” Aang explains. “Now that he’s getting older, we just want to do what’s most comfortable for him.”

“Makes sense,” Hakoda says with a sympathetic smile. “How is your grandfather?”

Aang shrugs, but keeps the smile on his face. “He’s managing. I keep asking him to lower his hours at the bakery, but he won’t let up.”

Just then, Sokka walks in bearing a duffel bag over his shoulder. “Hey, Dad, have you seen—Aang!” Sokka rushes over to rub his bald head, even though Aang has grown taller than him in the last year.

“Hi, Sokka.” Aang laughs good-naturedly as he pulls away. “Are we ready to go?”

“Almost.” Sokka turns back to his father and asks, “Have you seen my keys? I can’t find them anywhere.”

“Are they not on the hooks?” Hakoda asks, gesturing to where they’re mounted on the wall.

“My car keys,” Sokka clarifies.

Hakoda’s face betrays his complete ignorance of their location. “Maybe you should ask—”

“They’re in the pocket of your blue hoodie.”

The three men look up to find Katara coming down the stairs, a large tote bag tucked under her arm, and her wavy hair loose and bouncing around her shoulders. She points out the hoodie in question, tossed on a bench under where the family hangs up their jackets, while she steps into a pair of white sneakers.

“You left them after we got back from dinner last night,” she explains as Sokka fishes through the sweatshirt.

He holds the keys up triumphantly. “Finally, men, our journey begins!” he cries. He lowers his arm, tossing the keys in the air and catching them, and then flinging the hoodie over his other shoulder. “All right, let’s go.”

They each take turns hugging Hakoda and promising him to drive safely, and then pile into Sokka’s car, a fifteen-year-old SUV, sporting big tires and a fairly high ride height, handed down to him by his father.

“Aang, you sit in front,” Sokka says as he pulls open the driver’s door and climbs up into the car.

“Why does Aang get to sit in the front?” Katara asks even though she’s already seated behind them.

“Because Zuko’s actually going to sit in front,” Sokka replies matter-of-factly, checking his mirrors, “and I don’t wanna fight with you when I have to tell you to get in the back.”

Katara scoffs. “We wouldn’t have to fight.” She grabs the backs of their seats and leans toward Aang. “Aang, trade seats with me.”

“Okay,” Aang says readily. He unbuckles his seatbelt.

Sokka puts his arm out across Aang’s chest to keep him where he is. “Aang, don’t move,” he says. “Katara, he’s 6’3”, you’re going to make him sit in the back where there’s no leg room?”

“You’re about to make him sit in the back where there’s no leg room!” Katara exclaims.

“Uh, guys,” Aang says uneasily, “it’s really no big deal.” The fight is typical of the dynamic he’s been managing since they were all kids.

“See?” Sokka says, finally pulling the car out of the driveway and out onto the road. “Aang says it’s no big deal.”

Aang hears Katara retreat to the backseat with a little huff of breath.

“Don’t worry, Katara,” he says, craning his neck to look back at her. “I’ll be in the back with you soon.”

Katara smiles back at him despite herself.

It doesn’t take long for them to arrive at Zuko’s house, and as soon as they do, Sokka gives two short blasts on the horn. Almost immediately, three figures emerge from the house. Zuko and Suki wave goodbye to Iroh and begin walking toward the car, while Sokka jumps out and runs over to help grab their bags.

“Hey, Iroh!” Sokka calls out to the older man. He kisses Zuko’s cheek and grabs his boyfriend’s black leather backpack.

“How wonderful to see you again,” Iroh says kindly. His expression turns analytic as he scans the space between Sokka and the car. “Where is your sister? I thought she was going with you.” It’s no secret that Katara is a favorite of his.

Katara rolls down her window and thrusts her upper body through the new hole in the door. “Hi, Uncle Iroh!” she calls.

He waves at her enthusiastically. “Have a fun trip,” he tells her. “You must be very excited; you are practically glowing, like an early summer moon flower.”

Aang cannot help smiling and agreeing as he watches Katara brighten.

“Thank you,” she says sweetly. “You look wonderful, too! I hope Zuko’s help at the shop is giving you the chance to get more rest.”

“He didn’t say I was glowing,” Suki hisses to Zuko. After going over to Zuko’s to wait for their ride, she’s just spent an hour bonding with Iroh herself.

“You don’t write your thesis and buy three pots of tea at the shop every day,” Zuko whispers back with a shrug. In a louder voice, he says, “We should hurry. We don’t want to be stuck in traffic.”

“Zuko, where are your manners?” Iroh stops him. “You haven’t asked your friends if they’d like any tea.”

“But, Uncle, we’re about to leave,” Zuko says in a slightly exasperated tone.

“So? It’s no excuse not to offer them a refreshment. You’re in for a long drive.”

Zuko turns to his friends with a sigh. “Would anyone like a cup of tea?” he asks, clearly conscious of his uncle watching expectantly from behind him.

“I’d love one,” Aang says, popping his own head out of the car, “but Toph just texted me asking if we were on the road yet, and I really don’t wanna see what she’ll do to me if I tell her no.” He waves his phone in the air. “Sorry, Iroh!”

Iroh raises his hand in the air as a greeting. “It is no problem,” he says with a smile. “You mustn’t keep her waiting.”

“We’ll come by the shop as soon as we get back,” Aang promises, gesturing between himself and Katara.

“Well, you heard him, team,” Sokka says, leading the charge back to the car. “Let’s not keep Toph waiting.”

Aang gets out of his seat so Zuko can sit next to Sokka, and Katara moves into the middle so Suki and Aang can sit on either side of her. They all wave goodbye to Iroh as the car pulls out of the driveway and heads for the highway.

“How far is it to Toph’s house anyway?” Suki asks after a while.

“Well, I wouldn’t really call it a house,” Aang says thoughtfully. “It’s more like an estate.”

“It’s the old Beifong summer home,” Katara clarifies, “built over a hundred years ago with their mining fortune. ‘Estate’ might not even cover it—it’s not quite a palace?” She looks to Aang for confirmation. “But it’s as close as you’ll get to one today.”

“And the real question,” Sokka adds, removing his hand from Zuko’s thigh to raise it in the air, his index finger extended to emphasize his point, “isn’t how far it is, but where it is.”

He puts his hand back, and Zuko smiles contentedly.

“Wait, what?” Suki asks. “Did you just say we don’t know where we’re going?”

Sokka shrugs and glances in his mirror before moving his eyes back to the road. “Don’t worry, I put together the directions,” he says. “Zuko?”

Zuko pulls something out of the glove compartment and unfolds it to reveal a laminated map of the western Earth Kingdom. Roughly-drawn red arrows point to blue circles sketched on top of mountain ranges and lakes, and a looping dotted line has been thrown in, too, seemingly to throw the viewer off any sort of trail. Suki tries to study the markings. Katara sighs when she sees them. Aang takes one look and chooses instead to stare out the window.

“The Beifong summer home sits in a valley between two mountains an hour outside of Gaoling,” Zuko explains. He points to the map. “Here.”

He waits for Suki’s nod before continuing.

“And we’re all the way over here,” he says, pointing again. “So, we have to go through—huh.” He studies the map. “Oh, we have to go through here. But wait, that’s not right. The Serpent’s Pass? Oh, no, what I meant was here. Or, hold on.” He stares at the map and its markings again, and the only sound in the car is the rush of the wind coming in through the windows.

“Sokka, this is impossible to read!”

Sokka gasps. “You called it ‘meticulous’ before,” he says with an accusing tone.

“Yeah, before I actually tried to use it.” Zuko shakes the map. “How the hell are we going to get there with this?”

Suki leans in close to Katara to whisper, “Boy, am I glad it’s not me up there.”

Katara stifles a laugh into her hand.

“Look, I made the map, so I can read it,” Sokka says with finality in his tone. “It’ll take us right to the Beifongs’ front door.”

“But Sokka, you’re driving,” Zuko almost complains.

“So? I can look over if I need to.” Sokka starts craning his neck to view the map on Zuko’s lap. “I can even keep one eye on the road while I—”

“Sokka,” Katara says sharply.

“All right, all right,” Sokka says, focusing back on the stretch of road in front of them. “Sheesh.”

“Come on, guys,” Aang says cheerfully, “I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

“I asked if you were prepared this morning, and you said you were,” Zuko continues arguing.

“I was! I made the map!” Sokka cries indignantly.

Zuko shakes the map once more. “How is this prepared?”

Sokka sighs in aggravation. “Look, if you’re so worried, Wan Shi Tong it.”

“What?”

“I said, just look it up!”

“Are you crazy? The Beifong summer home is not going to be on Wan Shi Tong maps,” Zuko says almost condescendingly.

A loud beep sounds from the backseat, followed by an automated, wise-sounding voice monotoning, “Starting route to the Beifong Summer Villa.”

Everyone but Sokka whirls around to look at Aang.

“Hey, look at that,” he says. He holds his phone up with a grin. “They have it.”

Katara laughs out loud as Zuko begrudgingly looks up the address on his own phone. Everyone settles into companionable silence, allowing the sounds of the wind and the automated voice giving directions to replace any conversation. After a while, Suki even begins to drift off, her temple pressed against the glass of her half-open window. Aang watches the trees and the other cars on the highway pass by them, until he feels a tug on his arm.

He looks down to find Katara looping her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder. She tilts her head up when she feels his eyes on her.

“Is this okay?” she asks.

Aang nods. “Yeah, of course.”

“Good.” She smiles lightly and lets her head drop back down to his shoulder. “It’s a good thing you’re here,” she says quietly to him, amusement in her tone.

A light blush rises in Aang’s cheeks, and he cannot help grinning. When Katara’s this close, he can smell the jasmine of her perfume.

“Yeah, good thing,” he agrees.

The smile stays on his face as he looks back out the window.

#my writing #atla #atla fanfiction #atla fanfic #fanfiction #the gaang #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #suki #toph #zukka #kataang #kataangtag

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