Zuko released a low growl deep from his throat. It was the sixth time he passed the same obscene jewelry structure and still lost beyond belief.
"Mom!" He sort of shouted to himself, just irritated and ready to leave the crowded store. He stood still in the isle between the women's gloves and the men's sweaters. The clock across from him read 10:08 p.m. The massive swarm of Christmas shoppers around him huddled over messy tables of unfolded clothes, scooted their way in between small spaces around racks and drive isles, and rudely ran into him without even the courtesy of saying sorry. He glared at all of the other shoppers and just constantly scanned the crowd of faces for his mother. She said she would try on a few dresses for Christmas dinner and then be right back and that he should wait right by the big jean wall in the young men's section. And it's been nearly a half an hour and still no sign of his mother.
'She's probably in the shoes' he thought to himself.
As he moved to turn around, a force rammed into him and knocked him back and almost onto his ass had there not been a table of nice watches behind him. The ramming force however fell over backwards onto their ass with a pile of now unfolded shirts scattered all around.
He heard a hiss as he steadied himself and reached for the watches he'd knocked over.
Then the buried person sat up and stared at him wide-eyed.
"I'm so, so, so, SO sorry!" She said before jumping up and bending down, collecting the dropped articles.
He shook his hands and his head as she continued to apologize.
"I am SO, so, so, so, so, so, so sorry Sir. I didn't see you. Are you hurt?" She asked, her hands now stacked with the shirts from the floor.
He sort of laughed it off and shook his head.
"No I'm not hurt. I'm sorry I turned so fast, it was my fault." He reasoned.
She shook her head.
"No, no, no sir. It was my entire fault. My apologies." She argued.
"Call it even?" He held out his hand for a shake.
She smiled a pretty little smile and shook his hand.
"Fine. We're both at fault." She said.
He smiled back and glanced at her name tag.
"So Katara, I'm Zuko. Nice to meet you in such a fantastic way." He offered another dazzling smile.
She returned the smile, full with teeth, and replied, "Nice to meet you Zuko. Do you shop here often?"
"No, I'm here with my mom. I've never actually been to this store."
"Oh, what a shame. We do sell some pretty great stuff. Not to mention the service is fantastic." She said sarcastically.
He laughed.
"Well, maybe I'll just have to come back soon."
She grinned before whispering, "I work again on Thursday." And then she scampered away with the pile of clothes.
He grinned to himself before heading towards the women's section. Maybe shopping with his mom wasn't such a terrible thing.
No time to edit. My apologies for any mistakes.
Happy Zutara Week '12!
I know this one is crummy but the rest will be good, promise.
You know the drill.
No reviews necessary.
Just for your enjoyment.
-Durrr