Hello.
I'm Footinmouthed.
This is a stupidy long oneshot.
To those of you waiting on the next chapter of The Darker Side of Nowhere, it's coming!
To those of you who don't know what I'm on about, it's another Zutara story I'm working on.
To those of you who are anxious to just read the damn thing, sorry for the long A/N!
Disclaimer: A:TLA is not mine.
"How do I look?"
"Like a glittering fairy-princess."
Katara scowled at her friend through the mirror. "Toph, you're blind!"
"Then why would you even ask?"
Katara turned to face Toph, smoothing out the wrinkles on her dress. "I'm sorry, Toph, I'm just nervous."
Toph, who was sitting on Katara's bed, smirked. "Why wouldn't you be? You're the youngest ever intern at Azulon Agency , the biggest marketing firm in this little town. I mean, how old are you? Twelve? Thirteen?"
Katara glowered uselessly at her friend, before capitulating. "Nineteen."
Toph's grin widened. "Oh, yeah… I remember your birthday like it happened yesterday. Don't you? Sokka got drunk at the ice skating rink and serenaded Suki through the speakerphones."
"Toph, that was your fifteenth birthday."
"Oh yeah. Best birthday present ever."
"Besides," Katara continued, like that horrific incident hadn't even been mentioned, "I'm not an intern yet. They're gathering all the potential interns and we're doing a project together, and whoever does best will get chosen to work in Azulon Agency for a year."
Toph was picking at her ear. "Sounds exhilarating."
Katara huffed. She found it exciting. "It'll help me pay through college!"
"Whatever, Sweetness. That's why I don't go to college."
She sighed for the umpteenth time while dragging a comb through her hair. "You're only fifteen."
Toph flopped back on to Katara's pillows. "Not for long, I won't be."
Azulon Agency was the only skyscraper in her little town, and since only employees or business associates were allowed in, the large building was a source of mystery for everyone. When Katara was a little girl, she thought they might bundle up money and give it to employees as they walked in just for the heck of it. Maybe there'd be a chocolate fountain and maybe they'd have the world's largest hot air balloon inside.
As Katara stepped into the building, her head almost swam. Her six-year-old self would have been very unimpressed with the building. Her nineteen-year-old self was extremely impressed.
People were running around everywhere, and the clicking and clacking of heels added to the symphony of the low buzz the talking created. The receptionists lined by the wall were constantly snapping their fingers to get assistants to guide clients here and there, and when she glanced upwards, escalators criss-crossing themselves were seen for miles.
She looked at herself, with a light blue dress and white flats, and pulled her cardigan tighter around her. Somehow, she felt inadequate.
As she looked back up, a man caught her attention. He was busy hurrying across the lobby, a gaggle of associates following him, and he was talking rapidly, agitatedly and animatedly at them. As he turned to face her more fully, she caught sight of a glaring red scar.
Despite herself, she inhaled sharply.
She know he couldn't have heard that tiny sound, but for some reason, his eyes glanced up to meet hers. She froze and stared back at him, wide-eyed, unable to do much more. Then, his eyes narrowed into a glare and he kept rushing along.
She blinked. Who was he?
"Excuse me? Miss?"
Katara turned to face a receptionist who was smiling expectantly at her.
"Oh! Oh. Yes. Hello, I'm Katara Luava, I'm here for the intern screening process?"
"Right this way."
As Katara walked through a large set of double-doors on the other side of the entrance, she looked around. Somehow, despite the beauty of the whole building, it would be golden eyes that she would remember best in times to come.
She joined her peers in what looked to be a large meeting room. Everyone looked like they were at least twenty-two, which made Katara nervous.
She sat by a corner, studying her shoes for a while, before a familiar voice rang through the crowd.
"Katara?"
"Suki? Oh, thank god! What are you doing here?"
"I'm interning! Didn't Sokka tell you?"
Katara hugged her friend. "You know how forgetful he is."
Suki laughed at that. "Yes, I do. Come on, let me introduce you to the others."
There was Song, who was sweet enough but seemed a bit ditzy.
There was Jin, who seemed clipped and fake and slightly boy-obsessed.
There was Jet, who had a nice, nice smile. He was twenty-one. That wasn't such a bad age.
Then, there was Haru and Lee, both of whom didn't really pay attention to her. There was a larger group of people that she didn't really pay attention to.
As she got talking to everyone and her nerves abated, a booming voice was heard through the other side of the double-doors. Her heart leapt in her throat. Was this the illustrious Ozai? Head of the firm?
"Because it is your duty, Nephew, we didn't give you a job for no reason! You must help with the screening process. You must fulfil your duties. To do what is asked without question is a true mark of humility."
"I'm too old for your proverbs, Uncle," a new voice grumbled through the door.
"Nonsense!" The doors burst open, and instead of seeing a tall, foreboding man, she saw a shorter, greying, plump man with a wide grin.
"Hello," the man beamed, "my name is Iroh Agni, head of marketing at the firm. You might know me better if I say I am the brother of Ozai Agni." Iroh stood back, surveying all of them, before gesturing to the sullen man next to him.
"This is Zuko, head of financial relations at this firm and…" Iroh's words were drowned out as she looked at the man next to him. That was the guy she saw in the lobby! Once again, his eyes snapped to hers and he glared.
She frowned and looked away. Was she not supposed to look at him at all?
Jin suddenly was heard in her ear. "That's the hottie I was talking about earlier!" she whispered.
To be honest, Katara wasn't paying any attention to Jin when she had talked about the hot men in this firm. Katara nodded distractedly, then focused on Iroh, ignoring the man next to him completely. If Zuko was going to be rude to her, then she was going to be rude to him, too.
"The project today will be marketing for the masses – manipulating a product that we have helped market to suit another target audience. The list of products you have is provided below. Choices are on a first-come first-serve basis. Be decisive, be creative, and be fast. The top five will get chosen to be mentored in our next stage of the program, and out of that, one of you will be chosen to work with us this year. You have one hour."
Katara glanced at her list. Cars? She glanced at the accompanying picture of a Benz. No. Boots? Nah. Ink cartridge. No thanks. Jewellery?
She glanced at the picture. It was a simple gold necklace with a heart-shaped pendant hanging from it. Yes.
It was unnerving, to say the least, to stand in front of people at least two years older than her (how old was Zuko anyway?) and market her product.
Under Iroh's encouraging smile, she straightened her back and projected her voice to the back of the room.
"Safaya Jewellery is the biggest jewellery brand in our city. It is a luxury brand that only the richest can afford. This necklace, for example, is forty dollars. My proposition is to target similar necklaces to lower income people, which will not only inevitably increase Safaya Jewellery's target audience, but will make the brand seem less cold and unapproachable. In fact – "
Someone cleared their throat, and Katara's eyes fell on Zuko. An eyebrow of his was raised and his lips were pulled downwards into a frown.
She scowled inwardly. He hadn't interrupted anyone else in the middle of their speech, so why her? If he really hated her idea, he could've told her after she was done talking.
Even Iroh looked shocked at Zuko's behaviour.
"Yes?" she asked, trying to keep her voice even.
He leaned forward on his chair, setting his elbows on his knees. "Do you mean to say that you want to lessen the brand value of one of our most revered brands?"
"Well, yes, but – "
"And so, in the process, destroy the name we've been working for decades to create?"
"If you put it that – "
Zuko rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't we move on to the next presentation?"
Katara's jaw dropped. She didn't care who he was, he was being extremely rude. "Excuse me. This is my presentation, and you are impeding on my time, so unless you have something constructive to say, stay quiet and listen."
The room had gone deathly quiet, save Katara's harsh breathing.
Both his eyebrows were lifted now.
After glaring at him for a while longer, she continued. "If we look at the income statistics of this town, we can see that the lower income people can only afford other brands. I understand that Safaya is a luxury brand, but it is time to start catering to those who cannot afford as much. Azulon Agency's primary competitor, Zhao Marketing, is catering to the lower-valued brands. While Azulon Agency has the edge now, I fear that it will be lost to Zhao Marketing, who can attract more brands with its marketing strategy. We should lessen the brand value of some firms to keep on top."
"We are not a peasant's marketing company!"
There he went, interrupting her again. "I never said you were! But it's pretty obvious you know nothing about lower-income demographics, Prince Zuko."
His eyes flashed. "And it's clear that it's all you know," he snarled, eyeing her clothes disdainfully.
As she drew in a large breath to yell at him for being a stupid idiothead, another voice broke through.
"Thank you, Miss Katara, for that… enlightening presentation," Iroh said, a smile playing at his lips.
As Katara trudged back to her seat, she felt the floor dropping below her. Did she just blow her opportunity to impress the CEO's brother by yelling at the CEO's son? What was she thinking?
Still, she thought, he deserved it.
It's true, she didn't come from a rich family. Ever since her mother died and her father left them, she and her brother lived with her grandmother in a cheap apartment. On most days, they struggled to make ends meet.
But to insinuate that she was a peasant…
She glared at the back of his head for the rest of the day, trying to distract herself from the crushing reality that she'd given up her opportunity to land this job, and to pay for college.
She was all packed to go. If not for the fact that she had to wait for Suki to go back with her, she would've been the first one out the door.
There was chattering amongst the potential interns, and Katara was itching to leave. Off to the corner, Iroh and Zuko stood, discussing who the five candidates to go through will be. Zuko was looking increasingly frustrated, and his hands went into his hair, and he gripped it in annoyance.
Good, she thought, I hope Iroh told him off for what he did today.
Finally, Zuko turned to glare at her, before crossing his arms and looking away.
She glared back at him, even if he couldn't see her doing so.
"Thank you for your patience, everyone. We have decided the five finalists. After much deliberation, we have decided that these five have exemplified characteristics of creativity, conviction and bravery. Suki Yosumi, Katara Luava…"
Katara tuned out as Jet, Jin and Haru's names were picked. She got through. She got through. After mouthing the CEO's son off, she got through!
She squealed and hugged Suki.
"Thank you to the rest of you for trying, but we could only offer five places in this round. To the five, congratulations. Each of you will be assigned a mentor with whom you will meet once a week."
When she looked at the list of who got whom, she nearly chucked the sheet across the room.
Next to her name was Zuko's.
As he passed her, he said: "Saturdays at seven. No exceptions. I'll see you in my office."
"But Saturdays are – "
He had already left the room.
Katara collapsed on a chair and sighed. This was going to be a long few weeks.
The next Saturday, she arrived at his office and his assistant let him through.
He didn't even look up at her from his papers. "You're late."
"Wh… It's 7:05! It's five minutes!"
Now, he glanced at her. "This is only a two hour session. Each minute counts."
Grumbling, she sat down.
"Do you even know what we're going to do during these sessions?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. Did he really think she would come unprepared for this?
"Of course I do. We're going to try and implement my Safaya Jewellery idea."
"Exactly. Why we must do so is beyond me."
"Because it's a good idea," she replied stubbornly.
He looked at her properly. "Look. Who's been working at this firm for the past three years?"
Three years? How old is he anyway? "How old are you anyway?"
He looked at her for a moment, as though he didn't expect her to ask him that. "Twenty-four."
"Oh." At the silence that followed, she felt oddly compelled to say something. "I'm nineteen."
He snorted. "That would explain a lot."
"… I really hate you."
"The feeling's mutual. Let's get to work."
The man was a tyrant. It was way past the two-hour deadline (it was already four hours) when Katara really started complaining.
"I'm hungry."
"You should've eaten breakfast before you came, then. Regarding the slogan, I think – "
"Can I go eat lunch?"
"It's only eleven. Now, the slogan – "
"Brunch, then."
He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Fine. Fine. If we go eat brunch, will you please shut up?"
Who was this we he was talking about? Nevertheless, she nodded.
They went to some swanky, upscale restaurant a few blocks away, and a flirty waitress approached them.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Agni, table for one?" she asked, eyeing Katara.
"Two," he corrected.
"I see." She became quiet for a while, before she turned to Katara. "I'm sorry, Miss, but we have a strict dress code and that," she gestured at Katara's black jeans and simple blue camisole, "will not suffice."
Katara flushed. She didn't think she looked so informal. Truth be told, she couldn't afford anything more formal than this. She opened her mouth to tell Zuko she wasn't actually that hungry when she saw him shrugging off his blazer and handing it to her.
He turned to the waitress. "Okay now?"
The waitress looked like she had swallowed something sour. "Yes, sir, please follow me."
Katara shrugged on the blazer, and even if she did look tiny in it, she supposed she looked more formal.
Across from her, Zuko seemed to act in an odd bout of chivalry by waiting for her to order her food before he ordered his. Maybe he was trying to act chivalrous in front of the no-name waitress?
The thought tasted bitter in her mouth.
She settled for the cheapest thing on the menu, feeling immeasurably guilty for making him spend so much on her.
They brought her a tiny garden salad and Zuko some intricate looking pasta.
"Thank you for your blazer."
"I just gave it to you so we could hurry up and eat."
Somehow, it didn't seem entirely appropriate to call him a jackass in such an upscale place.
She struggled to eat slowly and pace herself, but before she could blink, the food was gone. Zuko didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't care. He kept silent and kept eating.
The silence was painful between them, so she tried her hand at small talk.
"Were you born here?"
"Yes."
"Do you have any siblings?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"One."
"Boy or girl?"
"Girl."
"Younger or older?"
"Younger."
For La's sake… "Are you going to keep answering monosyllabically?"
"Yes."
She almost throttled him, until she caught the slight upward tilt of his lip. It smoothened back into an apathetic expression soon enough, but it was a curious sight.
"I have an older brother. His name's Sokka. He's doing math in university. Nobody really expects it of him because he really goofs off sometimes but he's really smart when it comes to these things."
There was no response from him, and she looked up from her bread. He was looking at her with an odd, calculating expression.
"You're… really young, aren't you?"
She shifted in her seat. "Not really. I'm older than eighteen-year-olds."
This time, a corner of his lips really did pull up into a smirk. "Touché." Was he being nice to her? When did this happen?
They settled into another bout of silence.
"Iroh seems really nice."
"He's my uncle."
"Doesn't mean he can't be nice!"
"I wasn't commenting on that. I was giving you different information about my uncle."
"Oh. I know you're his nephew, you know?"
He frowned at her.
"I heard you through the door before you came in to the screening process."
He snorted. "Wow."
Katara flushed. All in all, she surmised, this lunch is going fantastically.
At least he didn't get angry at her when she forgot the blazer in the restaurant.
She still hated his guts.
He was arrogant and thought he was god's gift to man.
She knew better.
But still, she supposed he was kind of nice.
Like when Jin made a comment about the tattered state of her shoes, Zuko said, "I'm quite thankful she adheres to the dress code we provided."
And Jin blushed.
Still didn't excuse him for being an ass overall.
It was during the next week's lunch that he kind of thawed.
"Azula."
She looked up. "What?"
"My sister's name is Azula. She's twenty-one and she works in the firm as well. She's been naturally good at business so she got in without any questions asked. I really had to work for this job."
She blinked. "Okay."
"I just didn't want you to think that the only reason I got this was because my father – "
"I didn't."
He was giving her one of those odd looks again.
"I could've joined the family business, too, you know?"
He rolled his eyes. How obnoxious. "Could you, now?"
"Yeah." She grinned suddenly. "My grandma owns a noodle shop!"
He snorted with laughter.
Despite the fact that he thought he was so much more superior than her and her Safaya Jewellery idea was stupid, she found conversation flowing much easier between them.
She supposed he was kind of okay.
"I'm hungry."
"Katara. This is the second week you've been doing this. Why don't you eat breakfast before you come?"
"I do! You just take ages with this thing."
He would always argue that he took a reasonable amount of time, but he'd finally capitulate and let her drag him to lunch. This time, she decided to drag him to her grandmother's noodle shop.
They'd formed an odd type of rapport that was too fragile to be called friendship, but enough to allow the other to tease the hell out of them when necessary.
He looked so out of place there, with his suit and shoes and tie, and she found it really funny, the way he said "table for two" to a random passer-by he thought would be their waiter.
Halfway through their conversation, her grandmother came out to greet Katara.
"You didn't tell me you brought a young man with you!"
"Oh, sorry, Gran-Gran. This is Zuko."
He stood up and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am."
She howled with laughter and Zuko flushed with embarrassment. Others turned to stare at the commotion. "Why so formal? Gran-Gran will do! Let me get you some more noodles, dear." As she passed Katara, she added: "He's a keeper."
Even before she could protest, her grandmother disappeared behind the kitchen doors.
Katara flushed and tried to sink lower into her seat. "Sorry about her. She's just excited because I've never had a boyfriend, so she'll assume things…" she laughed nervously.
He peeked up at her halfway through chewing on his noodles. "You've never had a boyfriend?" He sounded surprised.
She shook her head. "Didn't have the time. What about you?"
He looked immensely uncomfortable. "Yes." He didn't elaborate, so she prodded him with her foot.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Who was she? What happened?"
He sighed. "Her name is Mai. She and I just had different interests."
She rolled her eyes. "What a diplomatic answer."
He stayed quiet for a while, before he asked her: "So you've never been kissed before?"
She shook her head, embarrassed. "Well, yes, but it sucked, so I'd like to say no."
There was little conversation throughout the rest of the meal, but Zuko seemed to keep looking at her every now and then.
She just sank lower in her seat.
Now, this was friendship. Yes, he was rude and irritating.
But he started smiling at her jokes and didn't comment on how late she was (even if she wasn't later than two minutes).
He made jokes, too, and wouldn't complain as much about lunch.
She was kind of growing to like him as a friend.
"Zuko, we're friends, right?"
He looked at her oddly. "Do we have to be?"
"Idiot," she murmured, but they were both grinning.
And then, there was a series of incidents which she would later on call "the build up".
She'd find herself staring at him when she didn't mean to be, and he would hold the door open for her and touch her lower back to lead her out of rooms, and she would laugh and move closer when they'd had one too many after their meetings, and he would tuck her hair behind her ear when it irritated him that he couldn't see her face.
But really, sometimes he would revert to being cold and callous so she had no idea what all of this meant.
It was on the fourth week of preparing their Safaya Jewellery proposal that things started.
"You're such a stubborn, pig-headed, egotistical, arrogant… hothead!"
"Says you!" he yelled back stubbornly.
She stomped her foot. It was childish but effective. "Jewellery is not for girls who are insecure about how they look!"
"How would you know? You wear jewellery and you're insecure about how you look!"
She faltered, crossing her arms over her chest self-consciously and glaring at him. "That's… that's different."
"Is it?" he growled. "Because you seem to have got it in your head that you aren't pretty, which is stupid and ridiculous of you."
She spluttered. "Stupid and ridiculous! Says the man who wore a suit to meet my grandmother! If anything, you're insecure about how you look!"
He gave her a cocky smirk, still seething with anger. "I know I'm gorgeous."
She screamed with frustration.
"It's you who's insecure about this! You don't think you're pretty."
She laughed sarcastically. "And I suppose you do, do you?"
"Yes!"
The room quietened down.
"Wh – what?"
He rubbed the back of his neck. "N-nothing. What were we fighting about again?"
Her anger suddenly dissipated. "I can't remember. Zuko, what did you say?"
He opened his mouth to respond, when a figure came barrelling through the door. She was tall, gorgeous and expressionless. And showing a bit too much leg for Katara's tastes.
"Mai." Zuko's tone was surprised.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company." Mai shot Katara a kind of look that she didn't quite understand.
"Mai, this is Katara, Katara, this is… Mai…" Zuko shifted uncomfortably.
"How nice," Mai replied, not even looking at Katara. Then, she smirked. "Now, when you said you had company, you meant clientele company, didn't you? Not what you and I did and called keeping each other company?"
How brash was this girl anyway?
Zuko stood up and ushered Mai out the door. He slammed the door behind him, and turned to her warily.
"We're not together."
"You told me."
"I don't know why she came in here."
"Neither do I."
"When she said company…"
"Zuko. I don't care." She did care, but she wasn't about to let him know that she did.
"Right…"
She was a bit cold and clipped towards him the rest of the day.
As she left, she struggled with the feelings of what it is that made her feel uncomfortable that Zuko might be with anyone.
He appeared at her door that night.
"Zuko?" She pulled down her shorts, trying to make it longer. "What are you doing here?"
His eyes were fixed on her left shoulder. "I, um… you forgot your… poking device." He held up a bobby pin.
Despite herself, she had to laugh. "Thanks." She opened the door wider to let him in.
He stepped inside, and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"You know, this might be the first time I've seen you wear jeans," she said.
"Huh? Oh." He gave her a lopsided grin. "I'm not all CEO's son all the time, you know?"
She grinned. "I do."
Katara suddenly remembered herself. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Water is fine."
She nodded and led him into the kitchen.
"So," she began as she poured him some water, "how come you're here?"
"To give you your…" he gestured at the bobby pin laying on the counter, "thing…"
She raised her eyebrows at him, and then bent down to get a yogurt for herself from the fridge.
His eyes were wide when she got back up, and she pulled her shorts down some more. "What?"
He shook his head. "I wanted to know if you were okay. You seemed kind of off after Mai came in today."
"I was not. I didn't care. I just think you can do better than her, is all."
He blinked. "I'm not with her."
"Right."
"I mean it, Katara, I don't like her that way. We dated for two months and that was it. I grew… bored of her."
"That's a horrible thing to say!" Secretly, she was pleased.
"Yeah, well," he shrugged.
"How old is she anyway?"
"My age."
She fiddled with the bobby pin, looking down. Just as she was about to ask how young is too young for him, a gust of wind blew in and she shivered.
"Are you cold?"
"Only a bit," she admitted.
"Don't you have a heater?"
"Can't afford one. You were right." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "The day of the screening process? I'm not that rich. All I do know is stuff about… peasants."
He seemed to pale. "Agni, Katara, I didn't mean – "
"It's okay, really. I just forget sometimes that people see me as poorer than them."
He clenched his jaw. "They shouldn't."
She gave him a one-shoulder shrug, rubbing her arm. Then, she brightened up suddenly. "Wait!"
She ran into her bedroom, then ran out, with her blanket wrapped around her and trailing behind her.
He actually spit out his water with laughter when he saw her. "What are you doing?"
"Let's watch a movie," she grinned.
"A movie?"
"Yeah, you know, plays on the television, moving pictures, now has colour, that thing?"
He glanced out the window and she hastily backtracked. "Unless you have somewhere else to be, I mean, I just figured, it was late at night, you probably didn't have much to do and I just thought – "
"Yeah, alright." He gave her a lopsided grin. "Which one?"
She looked up at him cheekily. "Ember Island Players!"
She ignored him when he muttered something along the lines of "kill me now", grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the sofa.
When the movie started playing and she saw him rubbing his hands together, she flung her blanket over him as well before thinking, he huddled closer to her so that they both fit under the blanket.
And although she should've been focusing on the movie, all she could think about was the rough texture of his jean leg against her bare thigh.
"Katara!"
She woke up with a start, jerking her head upwards and accidentally banging into Zuko's chin. As he groaned in pain, she noticed two things: one, she was practically lying on top of Zuko, with both her legs thrown over his and her head on his shoulder, with both his arms wrapped around her. They must have fallen asleep halfway through the movie. Second, there was a very angry brother of hers standing over them.
"Sokka!" She pushed Zuko away as he rubbed at his sore jaw.
"What the hell is going on?"
She blushed. "This is Zuko, you know, the guy who's mentoring me? We're just… watching a movie." She glanced at the television, which was turned off. Undoubtedly by Zuko.
"Sokka. It's nice to meet you." Zuko stood up and extended his arm out for a handshake. Sokka ignored it completely.
"Him, Katara? Him?" Sokka gestured at the man angrily. "Isn't he twenty-five?"
"Twenty-four," Zuko corrected, eyes flashing.
"You stay out of this!"
Katara rubbed at her temples. "Spirits, Sokka… nothing happened. We just fell asleep."
Sokka appeared to have not heard her. "You're too young for this kind of thing, Katara, especially with someone as old as him."
Zuko's fists had clenched, and Katara intervened quickly. "Nothing happened, Sokka, so stop making an ass of all of us. Zuko and I are just business partners."
After much persuading and a promise from Zuko that he would be leaving imminently, Sokka trudged back upstairs.
As Zuko pulled on his jacket, he completely ignored her.
"Zuko." Katara tugged on his elbow. "I'm sorry about my brother."
"It's fine."
"I should have warned you about him."
His tone was hard and cold. "Why would you? We're not even friends. We're just business partners."
"What… what? I didn't mean it like that."
"Is it my age?"
"No!"
"Because it's only a five-year difference. It doesn't matter that much, does it?"
She shook her head vehemently. "Of course it doesn't!"
"Then what is it, Katara?"
"It's nothing. We're friends. Really."
"Right. Friends. I'll see you next week, Katara." Zuko slammed the door behind him.
She stood, bare feet, in her living room, thinking through the conversation. Then, it hit her like a freight train.
She ran out, freezing, and caught Zuko just as he was about to get into his car. Before he could open his mouth to say anything, she stood on her tippy toes and pressed soft kiss to her cheek. And before he could react, she ran back inside, blushing and grinning like a schoolgirl.
She thought about him all week, through university. Her friend Aang noticed something odd with her.
"Are you okay, Katara?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah."
He grinned. "You like someone, don't you?"
"What… how…"
"I have a girlfriend, remember? I was exactly like that when I first realized I liked Toph."
Aang was seventeen, but he was smart enough to skip a few grades, and now he was studying alongside her. Katara set Toph and Aang up a year ago, and although their relationship was somewhat rocky in the beginning, they really became an inseparable pair.
"So, who is it?"
She couldn't hide anything from Aang. "His name is Zuko. He's my mentor in the internship program. He's really smart and sarcastic and somewhat overprotective, but he's a really sweet guy."
Aang smiled knowingly. "Does he know all this?"
"What? No!"
The professor glared at her and she lowered her volume. "No. I can't tell him."
"Why not? Some risks are worth taking. Telling someone you like them is always a risk worth taking because you have everything to gain and nothing to lose."
She twirled her pencil. "I guess you're right, Aang. How did you get to be so wise?"
He smiled cheekily at her. "I don't know, maybe I was a monk in my past life!"
Katara laughed, disinclined to even consider that possibility.
As the week continued, Katara found herself more and more anxious to tell Zuko how she felt about him. And on Friday evening, she figured she couldn't wait until Saturday, so she rushed up to the Azulon Agency building and up the elevator to the top floor, where Zuko's office was.
As she hurried along the corridor, adrenaline filled her nerves. She was going to tell her mentor that she liked him. And there was a good chance he liked her too. It was all so surreal… it was probably going to be a really romantic moment.
She waved to his receptionist and barged through the doors, about to call her name, when she stopped suddenly.
Sitting across from Zuko, with her eyelashes fluttering and her top too low, was Jin.
"Am I – am I interrupting something?" Katara's eyes were wide.
"Katara! No. Jin and I were just finishing up here."
"I'll see you next week, Zuko," Jin giggled, touching his bicep before leaving.
Zuko was staring at her with an unreadable expression. "Katara?"
She backed up suddenly, needing space between them. The idea that Zuko was mentoring someone other than her filled her up with a jealousy she was ashamed to admit.
"Zuko. Um. Hi. I just wanted to say I won't be coming in tomorrow. I've uh… I've got family stuff."
"Katara…" He stepped forwards and she backed up a bit more.
"So I'll see you next week, then. So yeah."
"I'm just mentoring Jin. You and Jin. Nobody else."
She didn't know why he thought this would matter to her. She swallowed, studying his carpet. "Okay."
He paused in the middle of the room, before running his hands through his hair. "Why did you come here, Katara?"
"To tell you I couldn't – "
"That's not why you came here. You could've called me up to tell me that. Why did you come here?" He stepped forward again and she stepped back, her back hitting the door behind her. She desperately fumbled for the handle.
"Because… because…"
Zuko's hand covered the handle.
She looked up at him with wide eyes, and there was a burning look in his eyes.
"You know," he began conversationally, his voice too close to her ear for comfort, "I thought you came over here to talk about the kiss you gave me last week."
She laughed nervously. "Oh. Oh, that? Oh, that was nothing, just something stupid I did when I was being spontaneous."
"Spontaneous, huh?" his voice rumbled in her ear, as his other hand came to the other side of her to block her in.
"Y-yeah."
"Spontaneity is good."
"Um…" She studied the pattern of his tie.
"In fact…" he leaned even closer and Katara tried valiantly to press herself through the door, "I might try and practice that spontaneity as well."
And with that, he tilted her chin upwards and kissed her, hard.
There wasn't much said after the kissing, but there were quite a few wandering hands. As they broke away from their umpteenth kiss, panting, Katara giggled. "That was the best kiss I've ever had."
He gave her a lopsided smile. "You've only had two."
"And this one was the better one. Well?"
"Well what?"
She gave him a pointed look, and he sighed, grinning. "You're the best kiss I've ever had as well."
"That's good." She buried her hands in his hair and kissed his neck.
"About Jin…"
She pulled away, feeling odd. He continued. "I'm just mentoring her. It's nothing more than that. You know that, right?"
She didn't, and for some reason she couldn't swallow her jealousy, but she said, "okay."
And they resumed kissing.
"I have a surprise for you."
"Do you?" she asked lazily, as he stroked her hair.
"Yeah." He reached around her, to the other side of her bed, where his jacket lay. He pulled out a little box and handed it to her.
Inside was a little necklace with a heart shaped pendant inside. Attached to it was a little tag that read $5.
"The prototype." He grinned lazily at her. "It's really not a bad idea, you know?"
And although she laughed and teased him about how he didn't warm up to the idea in the beginning, she was actually very touched at the sweet, heartfelt gesture.
"Tell me about your mother."
It was later in that week, and they were in her house, cuddling on her sofa.
"She died in a boating accident. And yours?"
"The apartment was set on fire and she flung me and my sister out to save us. She didn't make it. It's how I got my..." He gestured to his scar.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I'm sorry about your mother, too."
"What about your father, Zuko?"
"Well. He's cold and distant. Prefers my sister. If I don't listen to everything he says, I'm kicked out of the firm."
She wrapped an arm around his middle. "That's harsh."
He kissed the top of her head. "I don't usually mind. I agree with most of his ideas anyway." Then, after a moment's hesitation, he added: "What about yours?"
"My father left when I was six, after my mom died. He said it was too painful for him to stay. He tried contacting us earlier but neither my brother nor I want to talk to him."
"He doesn't deserve you."
"I know. Your father doesn't deserve you either."
Zuko stayed silent.
"It's true," she insisted. "One day you'll realize his approval doesn't matter that much, and when you stand up to his whimsical demands, you'll realize that you're much happier."
She loved this stage of their relationship, where they were learning anything and everything about each other, if she could even call it a relationship. As she dozed off on his shoulder, she started wondering whether or not he was her boyfriend.
"Zuko?"
"What? And you're gripping too hard."
"Oh. Sorry." She eased up on the impromptu shoulder massage she was giving him in his office. "Zuko, what are we?"
"Humans?"
She pinched him.
"Ow. Okay. What do you mean, 'what are we'?"
"I mean, are we friends, or are we… dating… or…?"
"We're dating. If that's okay with you, of course."
"That's fine."
"I'd like to keep it quiet for a while, though."
"Really? How come?"
He turned to face her, tugging her on to his lap. "Because I don't want the nosey friends and paparazzi irritating you just yet. I don't want to share you just yet."
She giggled. "How selfish of you."
"I can afford to be selfish. I'm that gorgeous," he replied arrogantly.
And although she was sorely tempted to kick him, she just wrapped her arms around his neck, murmured, "yes, you are", and kissed him.
It was, in all honesty, painful to not tell anyone. She wanted to tell Gran-Gran about her boyfriend, and she wanted to tell Aang and Suki and Toph. She even wanted to tell Sokka.
But Zuko had a fair point, and it seemed like he really didn't want to, so she didn't.
She still asked him about it.
"When can we tell people?"
"Give it a bit of time, Katara. Is that okay?"
"I guess."
And then he started acting oddly. He suddenly wasn't free after sessions with Jin on Fridays, and his Wednesdays were suddenly booked.
She didn't know any better, because this was her first relationship. Maybe this was how guys acted, though, so maybe she shouldn't complain.
Still, it would've been nice to have someone to talk to, if only to ask for advice.
"Zuko?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you coming over this Tuesday?"
"I can't," his voice rang through the phone.
"Oh." She hoped her disappointment wasn't heard by him.
"I want to, Katara, it's just that my father needs me for… business stuff."
"That's okay."
"Katara?"
"Yeah?"
"I… I just… You mean a lot to me. And I know I've been distant recently but I need you to know I really care about you."
"I know." And she did. She trusted him fully.
It had been a week since she had last seen Zuko. Today was the day all the five finalists came together for a celebratory dinner before the proposals were shown next week.
She dressed up in the fanciest clothes she could find, and she went with Suki to the Azulon Agencies building.
The dining room was all jazzed up with lights and decorations and simmering candles. Her eyes were locked on Zuko, though, who looked spectacularly stunning that night.
His eyes were locked on hers.
"Hey," she said when she reached him.
"Hey," he replied, just as softly. "You look gorgeous tonight."
She blushed, suddenly bashful. "Thank you. You do too. I've missed you."
He grinned unabashedly at that. "Of course you would have, I'm that incredible," he responded. The look in his eyes softened as well. "I've missed you too. More than you know." Then, his face fell. "Katara, there's something you should know – "
"Zuko."
Zuko turned around abruptly. "F-Father. Father, this is Katara, one of the interns that I am mentoring."
Ozai completely ignored her. "Zuko, have you spoken to Miss Jin's father yet? He runs Ba Sing Se enterprises, and we would like to get them as a client."
Zuko glanced at Katara, defeated. "Yes, Father."
And he just walked away.
Katara was left standing alone for a while, flabbergasted with the way Zuko acted around his father. Quite frankly, it was spineless and ridiculous of him to do so. And Ozai himself… well, Ozai was extremely rude, but she expected nothing less of him.
While she sat and thought about Zuko's dual personality (one when he was around her and one when he was around his father), someone approached her.
"Now, what's a lovely lady like you doing all by yourself?"
Katara whirled to look at the stranger, then smiled politely. "Jet."
"Katara," he replied with a tilt of his head. He led her to the refreshments table, where he poured her some drink or another. From the corner of her eye, she could see Zuko talking to Jin and her father.
Her stance hardened, and she turned back to Jet. "So, Jet, how have you been?" She stepped closer to him and looked at him through her lashes.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Zuko notice them, looking startled.
"I've been good, thank you, and you?"
"I-I've been well."
Jet stepped closer to her, and Katara stepped back. He was getting too close for comfort.
"You know, Katara," Jet said, "I think it's amazing how you got this opportunity so young. Some might say too young, but I would disagree."
He stepped forwards, and she stepped back.
"T-Thank you."
"I don't think you're too young," he continued softly. He reached up to brush her hair out of her face, when another voice rang out.
"Katara."
"Zuko." Katara smiled sweetly. "Jet was just telling me the funniest story here…"
If Jet was confused, he didn't show it. Especially not as Katara put her hand on his arm.
Zuko's eyes flashed. "Katara, can I speak to you privately for a moment?"
"Of course," she responded in an equally hard tone. As she turned to say goodbye to Jet, Zuko took her by the wrist and dragged her away.
"What the hell was that?"
"What?"
He gestured angrily around him. "That. The flirting. I don't know if you remember, but you have a boyfriend."
"Oh, do I?" she asked acidly. "Because it seems like you're the one who's forgotten it. You haven't seen me all week. You've been acting dodgy. You ditch me for Jin just because your father said so!"
He opened his mouth, and shut it, looking severely angry. Then, he slumped a bit. "You're right. You're right. I'm sorry."
She continued to glare at him.
"How about I come over for a movie tomorrow?"
"No. I want you to tell me what's going on, and why you've been so dodgy recently."
"Not here, Katara. Please. I'll tell you tomorrow. I promise."
And she thawed. Despite herself, she thawed. "Okay. Tomorrow."
She walked away from him, even if she wasn't angry at him anymore.
"I'll be an hour or so late."
"That's fine. I've got a great book I'm going to read."
He laughed. "Have a good time, and I'll see you soon."
She realized, just before he came over, that she still had his blazer. But as she ripped through her closet, she realized she must have left it in the restaurant he took her to during their first mentoring session.
She decided she would rush over and grab it from the restaurant before getting back, so that she could finally give it to him.
She rushed inside the restaurant, and nobody seemed to notice. She spotted the blazer hanging by the coat stand near the kichen.
As she stepped around a few tables to head there, she saw a familiar face.
She quickly ducked behind a pillar before Jin could spot her.
After a second, she peeped out to see who she was eating with.
And her stomach fell.
There was no mistaking the glaring, red scar.
She tried to even out her breathing. What the hell was he doing here? Having dinner at this restaurant? With Jin?
It couldn't have been what she thought it was, so, despite herself, she stayed behind the pillar, listening in on this conversation.
"… so glad we're having dinner together, Zuko!"
"Yeah."
"I'm also so glad our fathers are such good friends, aren't you, Zuko?"
"Sure."
She giggled loudly and obnoxiously. "I love this restaurant." She sighed dreamily. "It's so… upscale. How do you ever manage to go to places that don't cost this much, Zuko?"
He looked at her. "I don't. I hate it."
Katara swallowed. Did he really hate it? Why did she drag him to her grandmother's noodle shop?
"Oh, Zuko," Jin sighed, and placed her hand on his.
Zuko didn't move his hand away, and Katara felt her heart jump to her throat.
Meanwhile, Jin leaned forwards. "Just between you and me… how do you manage to spend time with Katara? She seems a bit… dull and drab. Dresses shabbily too," she giggled.
Zuko swallowed, and was on the verge of answering, when Jin cut in again.
"You two wouldn't make any sense. You and me, though… You and I would make sense, don't you think?" Jin leaned forwards to touch his hair. And he wasn't moving away.
Katara couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Zuko's coat and stepped out from behind the pillar.
Zuko blanched. "Katara."
She couldn't look at him. "This…" she handed it to him, "this is yours. And this," she reached up and ripped her necklace off her neck, flinging it at him, "is yours too." She ignored an embarrassed Jin completely.
He stood up hastily, moving to grab her elbow.
She jerked her arm away. "Don't touch me," she hissed, and despite herself, she felt her eyes fill with tears.
"Katara, please." Zuko looked desperate, burying his hands in his hair.
"You were cheating on me. What was it? Was it because I was too young? Or maybe because I'm dull and drab?"
"No, Katara – "
"Or maybe," she interrupted, swallowing the choking tears down, "it's because you hate going to places that poor people go to. You weren't lying when you called me a peasant, were you? That's really how you see me, isn't it?"
"No!"
Suddenly, her eyes widened. "That's why you didn't want anyone to know about us. Because you were already seeing her." She felt sick. "I'm the other woman, aren't I?"
"Please, please, just listen – "
"I'm done," she said, dully, letting the tears slide down her cheeks and on to her chin. "I don't want this internship. I don't want the money to pay for college because I'm too poor to afford college any other way. I don't want to see you ever again, Zuko."
"Katara," Zuko whispered, pained.
"Go to hell," she spat, and left him.
It was when she reached home and ripped up their proposal was it that she really allowed herself to break.
"Katara," came a voice through the door. "Katara."
"Go away, Sokka."
"Katara, please." This was Toph's voice. "Let us in."
And she did, dragging the door open slowly. Immediately, she was squished by a million arms trying to hug life back in to her.
"Why didn't you tell us, Katara? About the relationship?" Aang asked.
"He didn't… he didn't let me," she whispered.
"That bastard. You should've told me, Katara, I knew he was no good from the beginning, that disgusting, spoiled piece of scum – "
"Stop it," she ordered Sokka, eyes wide and watery. "Stop."
"But Katara," Suki responded, "it's true, isn't it?"
"No, it's not!"
This was what she hated. Despite everything, despite the way he cheated on her and kept her out of the loop, she still couldn't bear to hear anything bad said about him.
Because, in spite of herself, she had fallen in love with him.
And in retaliation, he broke her.
It was the day before the big proposal of ideas, and Katara didn't want to go. She didn't want the internship anyway, so why would she go?
Suki had successfully dragged her out to the park, and she and Katara sat by the pond to feed the turtle-ducks.
All of a sudden, Suki stood up, claiming she was going to buy some water and telling Katara she was going to be back.
A figure sat next to her.
"Hi."
"Z-Zuko!" Katara scrambled off the bench and stood up. Zuko followed suit, looking panicked.
"Wait!" He sighed, and rubbed at his eyes. He looked exhausted. "I just… I needed to explain a few things to you."
"I don't want to hear it."
"Maybe, but you deserve to hear it anyway." When she said nothing, he continued. "What you saw with me and Jin… that was the first time I had gone out with her. I wanted to tell her I have – had – a girlfriend, but she just wouldn't stop talking. The days I blew you off were spent with her, her father and my father. It was never just the two of us alone. I promise."
"Why didn't you tell me, then?" she asked tiredly.
At this, he looked away. "My dad never would have approved of us."
She bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from crying. "So that's why you didn't want anyone to know about us? Because your father wouldn't have approved?"
He didn't respond.
"And my grandmother's noodle shop. Did you hate that?"
"No, Katara, I really enjoyed going there with you…"
"Then why did you say you don't like anything other than upscale places to Jin?"
"I don't know. I wanted to seem cold and callous so that she might break up with me."
She trembled. "That's pathetic."
He looked so ashamed. "I know."
"That you couldn't tell her. And you can't stand up to your father. It's pathetic."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
She turned around to leave, only to hear his voice ringing out. "You're not going to come to Azulon Agencies tomorrow?"
"And see your spineless face again?" She laughed bitterly. "No. I meant what I said earlier. I never want to see you again."
Yet, here she was, the next day, sitting in the backseat of her brother's car, because Iroh had said, "attendance is mandatory", and had somehow guilt tripped her into coming and presenting.
"Katara, honey?" Suki called out. "It'll be okay. I'll be there the whole time."
Katara didn't respond.
As they got out of the car, she pulled her hands into the sleeves of her. She wasn't even dressed for this presentation. She was wearing tights and a hoodie, coupled with ragged sneakers. She hoped it would piss Ozai off.
As she entered, she felt quite a few pair of eyes on her. One was Iroh's, one was Ozai's, one was Jin's and the other was Zuko's.
She ignored all four pairs, and sat hunched up in a corner. She leaned into Suki as she put an arm around her.
As expected, Suki and her presentation on marketing for martial arts companies went spectacularly well. She didn't pay attention to Jet and Haru's presentations. Jin's was an ear piercing agency for cats, or something like that.
At the end of Jin's presentation, there was polite clapping from Ozai and Jin's father, and stunned silence from the rest of the room.
Zuko turned to catch Katara's eye, and she ignored him again.
She trudged to the middle of the room, and looked to the far corner. She didn't want to be here.
"Safaya Jewellery," Katara began dully, "is a multinational corporation whose brand is name known to target the richest. My proposal is to appeal to lower income demographics and – "
"What? Destroy the best brand name Azulon Agency has?"
Katara's eyes snapped towards Ozai, who was looking back challengingly at her. She was reminded so forcefully of Zuko. And yet, he was nothing like Zuko. Zuko's question was phrased in the same way, but it was a question he thought she genuinely didn't consider. Ozai just wanted to bring her down.
And he was doing a damn good job of it.
Then, off to the corner, she saw Sokka giving her a thumbs up, with Gran-Gran smiling encouragingly at her.
And somehow, that invigorated her. She needed this money to pull through college. And if she had to deal with Zuko on a daily basis, then so be it.
"I think we've seen enough of your presentation, girl," Ozai snapped.
And Katara squared her shoulders, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "this is my presentation, and you are impeding on my time, and unless you have something constructive to say, stay quiet and listen."
She continued with her presentation in the midst of a stunned silence.
Ozai was relentless during the question session.
"Why would you lower the brand value, girl?"
"Ozai," Iroh intervened sharply. Ozai ignored him completely. "Do you even understand how long we've taken to build up that brand value? Or are you just too poor to – "
"Don't talk to her like that."
All eyes swivelled to Zuko, who was glaring at his father openly.
"What did you say to me, boy?"
"She did an amazing job with her presentation. It was a damn sight better than Jin's. It was inventive and creative and it's your short-sightedness that stops you from seeing how well she had done."
Katara just stood gaping at him.
"You have no respect, boy. There is no room for somebody whose insolence and disrespect fills him up in this firm. Step down or leave."
Zuko stood up, eyes blazing. "I'd rather leave this firm than play along with your slimy games to date Jin, just to gain her father's favour. Or did you not remember?" Zuko smirked. "You'd said that the simpleton's equally stupid daughter would fall for anything."
From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a flummoxed Jin and her angry father.
"I quit," Zuko spat.
As Zuko stormed out, Ozai began cursing him. "Weak, pathetic boy, no doubt he got it from his mother – "
"Actually," Iroh intervened acidly, "he's a better man than you could ever hope to be."
Iroh left too.
Katara just stood, slack-jawed.
From the corner of her eye, she saw her Gran-Gran waving frantically to the door, and she followed her grandmother's advice and chased Zuko down.
"Zuko!"
He was just exiting the lobby, and she ran up to catch up with him.
"Zuko," she grabbed on to his arm.
He turned to face her.
She looked at him. She was angry at him. So angry. She'd never been this angry in her life. But still, she wanted to fix things with him.
"Zuko, how are you such an idiot?"
"What?"
"You gave up your job at the firm! You were going to be CEO one day! How much of an idiot are you?"
He smiled, suddenly. "Well, you know what they say about men in love being fools."
Her heart stopped. "What?"
He looked at her squarely in the eye. "Katara, I am more sorry than I can ever say. I was wrong to treat you like I did. But here I am, and I've given up everything, because there are things more important to me. And you must believe me when I say it was only always you. Never Mai. Never Jin. Never anybody else. Just you. And I'm sorry I never expressed that to you properly."
The clicking and clacking of heels exiting the meeting room filled her ears. And yet, she couldn't look away from Zuko.
"I know."
"And about your university… I have quite a few ideas to increase the popularity of your grandmother's shop… we could try marketing that. Together. I'll help. If that's okay, of course."
She just stared at him. "Uh-huh," she answered intelligently.
He hesitantly tried cupping her face, and she allowed him to do so. "Can we… can we start again?"
She grinned at the cliché. "I'd love that."
"Hi. I'm Zuko Agni."
"Zuko Agni?" she gaped. "The mental guy who gave up his job for some girl?"
"Not just some girl," he corrected, "the most irritating girl I know."
And he kissed her.
"You know I'm still mad at you, right?"
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"You'll have to spend the rest of your life making it up to me."
He grinned and buried his head in her neck. "Yes, Ma'am."
"You have to cook for me every day."
"Better than the other way around, I suppose."
"And you have to massage my feet."
"I do that anyway."
She poked him. "Hey."
"What?"
"Sometimes... I really just wanna kick you."
"Don't I know it."
Ta-da! The end.
Nothing really to say.
Thanks for sticking through such a long story, and thanks beforehand for reviewing!
Looking forward to seeing you on Darker Side!
Footinmouthed xx