Disclaimer: I don´t own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters and never will...
Mask
Katara walked down the school hallway. Wherever she looked she saw students laughing and talking. No suprise there, it was the last week of school. Next week the summer holidays finally began. Katara smiled at the thought. Ten weeks of not seeing these hated halls, ten weeks of not seeing those superficial and conceited pricks, and well, ten weeks of not being the favourite victim of the former mentioned pricks.
It was needless to say that she wasn´t really popular at her school. Sadly she wasn´t just overlooked by the popular and rich mass like all the other scholarship students, but was constantly bullied. That might have something to do with yelling at the school queen, Azula, a few weeks ago. Before that she was like every other scholarship students, not seen by everyone else.
But then Azula dumped her soft drink on her best friend, Suki.
Suki´s parents were rich and she didn´t need a scholarship to attend the school. Nontheless she hated the arrogant and obnoxious snobs and both girls soon were the best friends. But apparently it was forbidden by an unwritten school act to befriend the unpopular scholarship students and Azula, who was called by many ´the devil on earth´ reminded Suki personally of this rule, by pouring her drink all over her.
Acting on instinct Katara took her lunch, Spaghetti with bolognese, and threw it at the school queen. It landed right on her expensive, red shirt.
Katara had to snicker at the memory.
She remembered that the whole cafeteria went quiet and all eyes were fixed on Azula, who stared at her shirt as if she still couldn´t believe that Katara had dared to defy her.
Katara knew that from this day on school would be a living hell, but right then she didn´t care. Azula just looked too hilarious to be frightened of.
Already on the next day she started to see what it meant to enrage the school queen.
Everybody tried to trip her up, made fun and laughed of her behind her back, leered at her, threw her things in the trash and so on.
All her old friends, except Suki, turned their back on her, too afraid of Azula and what she would do to them if they remained loyal to Katara.
With other words, Katara hated this school. By this time she was used to all this harassment, but it was still annoying as hell.
Ba Sing Se High was the most expensive and the most influential school you could find. Rich parents sent their little spoiled brats there to give them the best and priciest education they could get. But they didn´t care about that. All they cared about is being the elite.
The only reason Katara was there was her scholarship and her wish to be a doctor. And the only way to fulfill this wish was going to a good college. Students who attended Ba Sing Se High could enroll in every college in the world.
Next year would be the last year she would have to be here. After next year she would finally be free.
"Katara!"
The girl turned around to see Suki running towards her, waving with a flyer in her hand.
"Look! The school´s out party is a masquerade this year! Isn´t it exiting? Imaging all those beautiful dresses and the masks." Suki was the typical high-school girl. Beautiful and exited by typical girlish things, like balls and dress-ups. Nonetheless she was the best friend Katara could wish for.
"I´m not going." Katara continued walking. How could she? She hadn´t even a dress.
Suki was shocked. "What? How can you say that you aren´t going?" Katara turned around to look at her best friend. "Suki, I can´t. We barely have the money to pay for Sokka´s college. I´m incredibly lucky to have this scholarship to even attend this school. How can I have the money to buy the dress?"
Suki´s eyes widened before she gazed at Katara determined. "You are going to this ball and no buts, we have a lot of planning to do."
Katara just shook her head. She still didn´t believe that she was able to go, but there was no stopping Suki when she had taken something into her head.
The next day on tuesday Katara walked into class, everyone was talking about the masquerade. They were far too occupied by that that they didn´t notice Katara entering class. Katara didn´t complain about they rare peace and sat down on her chair.
In this moment Zuko walked into the room.
The class grew quiet when everybody, even Katara, watched him walking to his desk and sitting down. As soon as he was sitting the whole whispering began anew.
"I´m going to ask him to the masquerade." one girl said quietly to her friends.
"You are really believing that he is going to say yes?" asked another one. "I heard he is going to ask me."
"No way! He is going to ask me."
Katara just shook her head at so much stupidity. Zuko was Azula´s older brother and next to her the most popular and richest student at Ba Sing Se High. He was Captain of the football and basketball team, voted for school president anwon easily. It was his last year at school and would go to college next year. Every girl had a crush on him and would give everything to go out with him, but he didn´t even look at them. He had had only one girlfriend, Mai, ever before. He had broken up with her a year ago, but the whole school knew that she wamted him back.
Mai was one of the best friends of Azula therefore one of Katara´s main tormenters. Zuko usually ignored both Katara and his sister´s group of friends and hung with his own group. As much Katara hated crushing on somebody she could never have, she could understand why all the girls swooned over him. Zuko was hot, as in really hot.
With honey golden eyes and black hair that fell him always in the eyes he could be a model. He was tall and muscular, but not that it made him big, he was more slender. Nonetheless Katara knew of his six his left eye was a burn mark from which nobody knew how it had happened. And nobody dared to ask. The scar didn´t make him ugly, just gave him something mysterious, something that Katara would love to discover.
Katara sighed. She shouldn´t deceive herself. He probaly didn´t even know her name or that she existed. She was just a scholarship student and not even outstanding pretty, like many of the other girls, who spent all their money for beauty products.
He would never notice her.
After school Katara went to Suki´s house. Her friend her at the front door. "Come on! Come on! I want to show you something."
Suki dragged her up to the attic. When she opened the door Katara stopped, too shocked to go any further.
"What the hell is that?" Katara gazed around in astonishment. Around her dresses over dresses, ancient gowns and costumes piled around her.
Suki laughed. "My grandmother loved to collect all kinds of ancient stuff, dresses were her favourite pieces. She traveled around the world just to get one dress she wanted to have.
Two years ago she died ans left us with her collection. We didn´t want to throw it away, may it be out of laziness or out of honour to my late grandmother, we brought everything up here."
Suki moved further into the room. "And now we are going to find the perfect costume for you."
And the search began. When dawn approached Katara lost counting how many different dresses she had tried on and how many different dresses she put aside. The girls were slowly giving up.
"Damn it! Why isn´t here a fucking dress that fits you completley?" Suki pushed against a cupboard, moving it to the side. Katara didn´t know what should astonish her more: the unusal swearing of Suki or the beautiful red gown that had appeared behind the cupboard.
"Suki!" Suki didn´t turn around and just waved her hand while she continued to dig through a pile of clothes. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Language." Suki neary dissappeared under that pile while Katara could hear her soft murmuring. "Where is it? I thought we put it here."
"Suki!" Katara was standing in the meanwhile in front of the red gown. "What?" came the muffled reply from under the clothes. "Look! What´s that for a dress?" Suki fought her way from under the stack. Her eyes went wide when she caught sight of the dress and the matching mask Katara had found next to the gown.
"I have never seen it before, but I´ve a feeling we have finally found your dress. Come on! Try it on!" Suki´s enthusiasm wasn´t subdued by the hours of searching.
When Katara came back in Suki squealed in excitment and clapped her hands. "It´s perfect! Put the mask on, too!" Katara did as she was told and gazed at herself in the mirror at the wall.
The gown was a dark red that fit against her body perfectly. The sleeves were wide and the cloth was held back by some ropes that were tied behind her back. The mask covred the upper side of her face and was of a cream color with red swirls around her eyes and cheeks.
She looked like a beautiful spirit.
The next days went by in a rush. Azula and her worshippers were much too excited about the masquerade to torment her in the last week before summer break. Katara was thankful for that. The last thing she need was protecting herself from some dumb shit and forgetting her excitement for the upcoming vacation.
Nobody expected Katara, or any of the scholarship students, to go to the masquerade was for the elite and those who didn´t have the money weren´t part of the highest social was what all the students of Ba Sing Se High thought and it only increased Katara´s anticipation for the ball.
She was currently at Suki´s house, waiting for her to be ready. She had put the red gown and the mask on. The red swirls from her mask continued on the lower side of her face to make the mask complete.
Her hair fell loosely around her.
Suki wore a green kimono and had painted her face white, exept the red above her eyes. On her head she had put a golden metal fans on her hips completet the outfit.
Suki had told Katara that she resembled one of the Kyoshi Warriors, an ancient group of women that were bound to protect their village.
She was a descendant of those warriors and Katara had to say that the Kyoshi uniform complimented her friend perfectly.
The masquerade was held in the huge gym of the school. When Suki and Katara arrived most of the students were already there. The music played loud, the students were dancing and showing off their expensive dresses.
But none of them were as beautiful as Katara who shone like an angel, or like a spirit like you would call it.
People stopped and stared to look at her, boys were tripping over their feet to ask her for a dance and everyone asked themselves who exactly the girl was. Nobody could answer that question.
After two hours of dancing and making small talk with those students who made her life a living hell, Katara had enough.
Sure, it was funny to watch all of them try to guess her identy, but all the people arond her overhelmed her. She needed fresh air! Quickly excusing herself from her current dance partner she searched the room for Suki. She find her talking to an older boy with a blue mask, who looked awfully familiar. Deciding not to interfere and to ask her about that boy later she went through the door to the driveway of the gym.
Finally it was quiet. No chattering, no stupid questions, just her. She looked up at the stars taking a deep breath. She couldn´t wait to leave and go to college. Just one year and then she would be gone for good.
Faintly she heard the music from the masquerade, but she didn´t want to go back. Not now, when she had finally found some peace.
"Hey, Beautiful. Why are you standing here outside the party?" Katara startled and turned around to see a guy in a black suit and with a dark green mask. She could tell that he was handsome, but his look gave her the creeps. She didn´t like him. At all.
"Trying to be alone. But I see that hasn´t worked." She turned her back to him and hoped that he would get her obvious hint to leave her alone. No such luck.
"Ah, don´t be like that, Beautiful. I promise I will give you a good time." The guy leaned towards Katara as if he wanted to kiss her. Now she was really disgusted. Who did he think she were? Making out with a complete stranger on a deserted driveway. She would never do such a thing. She considered taking her mask off, nobody of her school would voluntary talk to her, but she decided against it. The guy would just spread rumors that she tried to seduce him to humiliate her even more in school and to get a nod of approval by the so loved school queen, Azula.
So all she did was to shove him away, but that didn´t do any good. He wouldn´t budge an inch and just came even nearer. Katara tried to back away, but froze when she felt the cold brick wall in her back. She tried not to acknowledge that disgusting smirk and stared him straight in the eyes, trying to seem unafraid. "Leave. Me. Alone!"
Thankfully her voice sounded much more self-confident than she really felt. But the guy stayed unaffected and laughed. "Why should I do that? I like it here very much."
Katara recoiled when she felt his hand suddenly under her shirt and tried to scream, but his other hand was already on her mouth, choking her scream succesfully.
"Now, we don´t want to attract attention, do we?"
Her eyes watered as she struggeled against him, but he hold her with his whole body against the wall. She felt his hand leave her mouth and tried to scream again, but he slammed his mouth to hers. Disgusted she moved her head from side to side, but to no avail.
Her tears ran faster down her cheeks when she felt his hand unclasp her bra.
Closing her eyes she tried to block him out, thinking of anything but going to be raped.
Suddenly she felt the weight lifted from and she slid to the ground, unable to stand on her legs heard the sickening sound of flesh striking flesh and opened her eyes to see a second boy beating her assailant to the ground, all the while without speaking one word.
He stopped and Katara saw that the dark green mask had fallen from the guys face. She flinched away, not expecting the face she saw. Behind the mask was Jet, boyfriend of Azula.
His expression was one of shock and before anyone could react Jet had gathered his mask and was sprinting down the road.
Her rescuer turned around and Katara bit back her gasp. His mask was a blue demon, leering with a smirk down at her. On his blue face were a few white patterns and out of his wide open mouth spread big white fangs.
The demon slowly approached her. She couldn´t see anything but black behind the eyes holes and she pressed herself against the wall, afraid that he would continue what Jet had began.
But when he strecked his hand out to her, gazing at her with his unmoving mask, Katara didn´t feel afraid. Just safe and protected. As if nothing could happen to her if this demon...no, spirit was near her.
She took his outstretched hand and let him pull her up, all the while gazing into the dark holes where his eyes should be.
What would she give to know what was behind this mask.
