Sometimes, Zuko hated his sister. Well, he disliked his family most of the time, but it wasn't often that his animosity turned into outright hatred. Today was one of these days.
He leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to look intimidating so no one would dare to approach him. It wasn't working very well so far, seeing as he'd already had to snap at two drunken girls who, one a little more obviously than the other, had begged him to take them to his room. As if he would be dumb enough to do that. He was far too sober to even consider an offer like that.
Zuko knew he shouldn't drink anything tonight. He had to keep all his senses together. It was all Azula's fault. Just because she wanted a huge party for her sixteenth birthday and their father was gone for the weekend, she had decided to spend a ridiculous amount of money on snacks and alcohol and invite what felt like the entire student body of their school.
Of course, Zuko had ended up being the one who had to make sure that the house and its furniture remained intact by the end of the night. So far, somebody had broken an antique vase their grandfather had acquired during his time of travels and one of the tapestries in the sitting room held a stain that looked suspiciously like beer. It was going better than he'd expected.
Zuko didn't really get why so many people had shown up. Except for her two best friends Mai and Ty Lee, Azula didn't really hang out with anyone. Most of the other students found her intimidating. Still, the promise of a night of too-loud music and free alcohol apparently outdid all leftover fear. Zuko concluded once again that people were idiots and that he would never allow his sister to do something like this again.
When would the night finally be over? He took a sip of his drink (non-alcoholic, this night sucked) and tried to drown out the noise that seemed to be coming from everywhere around him. It didn't work.
"Zuko!" He opened his eyes and reached out a hand to steady his stumbling sister.
"How much have you had to drink?" he asked accusingly.
"Oh, come one, you're not my Dad, let me have some fun! It's my birthday!"
That's no reason to either die of alcohol poisoning or make a fool out of yourself in front of the entire school. "Maybe you should take a little break," Zuko suggested as gently as he could and pried the half-filled glass from her fingers.
"No!" We're just getting started! You have to come and play with us!"
Before he could ask who she meant by 'us' or what she wanted to play, Azula staggered off towards the smaller sitting room that had miraculously not been occupied by too many enthusiastic party kids yet. With a sigh, he set down his glass and followed her. Better check what they were up to.
Inside, there were about fifteen people sitting in a circle, glasses in front of everyone, and empty bottle in the middle. Azula just sat down next to Mai, waving Zuko over to the empty spot next to her. "Zuko's gonna play truth or dare with us, right, Zuko?"
Zuko really didn't want to play truth or dare with a group of kids from his school. Maybe the loud music was already affecting his ability to think negatively because he made the mistake of sitting down.
"Hey, bro, this is gonna be so much fun!" Across from him, Jet, a guy from his grade he hated for some unknown reason, grinned at him. "So you're gonna spin the bottle, ask the person truth or dare and if they don't want to play, they have to take a shot. Got it?" Zuko nodded shortly. He didn't like it when someone thought he was dumb. It wasn't that complicated after all. It also was a spectacularly bad idea.
He let his gaze wander over the people present while Jet and some other guy argued about who was going to start. Of course he knew Azula and her friends, but he recognised a few of the others as well because they had classes together or because people in school just knew them. Be it Sokka, the loud and annoying football player; his girlfriend Suki he never missed to parade around proudly; that Aang kid who seemed determined to make everyone happy at all times and mostly failed miserably; and of course Jet, who seemed to have won the argument and started spinning the bottle.
It all went downhill from there. Half an hour later, Zuko had admitted that he was fourteen years old when he first kissed a girl (conveniently leaving out that it had been Mai because Azula would probably have his head for messing with her friends) and his throat was burning from the mix of spices he'd had to swallow for a dare. He could be worse off though. Jet had already had to make out with two girls and even a guy out of there little group, although he didn't seem to mind that much.
It was Azula's turn now. She grabbed the bottle and spun it shakily. Of course, it had to land on Zuko. Could his life get any worse?
"Truth or dare, Zuzu?" Yeah, as if he was going to let his sister expose one of his embarrassing childhood stories.
"Dare," he said. She started to smile and he knew he'd just made a huge mistake.
"I dare you to… kiss whoever's turn it is next." Well, that was not too bad. At least it was just a kiss that would be over quickly. Zuko gave the bottle a rather violet smack that made it tumble. Please, he prayed silently, let it not be Jet.
After what felt like ages, the bottle finally stopped – in front of Suki. Zuko took a relieved breath and was about to get up when he saw Sokka put an arm around Suki's shoulders protectively. Great, he had awoken the jealous boyfriend without even doing anything.
"Don't you dare try to steal my girl!" Yeah, no, as if he would.
"Don't worry, I think I'll pass," Zuko replied and reached for a shot glass. Better not anger a drunken man, he'd heard many stories like these over the years that'd ended badly.
"Oh, so you're saying you wouldn't wat to kiss her? Is she not good enough for you?"
"No, really, it's just – "
"I won't stand anyone insulting my girlfriend like this!"
Yeah, so, the night turned out to be even shittier than he'd feared.
Zuko was standing in the kitchen again, this time holding a bag of ice to his face and swearing under his breath. Stupid teenage boys who couldn't keep their hormones under control. He hated all of them with a deep passion.
He felt his eyes slowly swell shut. He didn't know if it was a positive or a negative thing that Sokka's punch had hit the good side of his face. He was never going to one of these parties again, even if Azula begged him to.
"Zuko?" A timid voice asked from the opened kitchen door. He lifted the ice from his face, but put if back in place without comment when he spotted one of the girls from the game. It was one he hadn't bothered learning the name of. She had dark skin, brown hair that was tied in the back and light blue eyes. Zuko suddenly remembered that she was the girl Aang hung out with all the time.
He heard her footsteps come closer slowly. "I am sorry for what my brother did to you. He always gets a tad protective when he's drunk but this time he definitely went too far. I'll make him apologize to you as soon as he has sobered up."
"That will not be necessary," Zuko replied without looking at the girl.
"I think it is. His behaviour is inexcusable."
"Why are you even here then? Just go back to your little friends or whatever and leave me alone. I don't need your pity."
"I'm not here to pity you. I'm here to help."
Zuko finally put the ice down and squinted at her. The girl was standing right in front of him.
"This looks really bad," she continued and reached out to touch his face. Zuko flinched, turning away from her outstretched hand.
"It's alright, I've had worse. It will be gone in a few days." It wasn't alright, it fucking hurt, but he wanted to get rid of her so he could wallow in self-pity and curse his sister some more.
"You don't understand. I can help you." She went over to the sink and Zuko wondered for a second what the hell she was going to do until he finally got it. The water seemed to follow her hands, coating her fingers, making it look like the water was part of her, just another layer of skin.
"Let me help you," she whispered. Zuko stood as still as he could when her hand reached for his face and he felt the water's cool touch on his bruised skin. He didn't breathe for what felt like an eternity.
Only after her hand had fallen back to her side and she had taken a step back did he bring up his own hand to his cheek. The pain was gone and he could open his eye properly again.
When he wanted to focus on the girl again, in order to thank her or whatever you did after someone heeled your wounds, she was gone, leaving behind nothing but a patch of water on the dark kitchen tiles.