Decisions
"Just ask her out Aang," Teo said as he and Aang made their way across the cafeteria to their lunch table. Each was carrying a tray with food distributed on it. "What harm can it do?" Aang pulled a chair aside as they reached the table, making room for Teo's wheelchair to slide in. "Thanks…and really, what are you afraid of?"
"Rejection," Aang mumbled as he put his head down and plopped into a chair next to his friend.
"You guys have been friends for years though."
"That's why I'm so afraid. If she says no, I don't want this to ruin our friendship, that's the last thing I want."
"In all honesty, I don't think she'll say no," Teo glanced up at Aang with a smile as he began to shovel food into his mouth.
"And why do you say that?" Aang was now resting his head on his hand, his palm pressed up against the side of his face, completely ignoring his food.
"I mean, isn't it obvious? You two hang out all the time. You practically live with each other. And when you're not around, all she talks about is you." Aang's head shot up.
"Really?" he said, half enthused and half surprised. A twinkle of hope began to spread across his face.
"Yeah," Teo said as if it was the most blatant thing in the world. "Its always, Aang -this, and Aang- that. You really have nothing to lose. I think you have a better chance at being struck by lightning than having her reject you." Teo brought his fork up to his mouth, and took another bite. Aang still hadn't touched his food.
"Its just-I don't know. There's always that doubt in the back of my head, no matter what" Aang put his head down.
"Really, she's gonna say yes. You're, in a non weird, just friendship way, the sweetest guy that I know. You're always kind to everyone, I have yet to see you genuinely angry, and- oh shit! Here they come!"
Aang instantaneously sat up straight, not wanting to have to answer to Katara and Sokka as to why he had his head down. A smile spread wide across his face as the two approached the table he and Teo had been sitting at.
"Hey Aang!" Katara said with a bright smile. "Hey Teo!"
"Hey guys," Sokka drawled in an unmotivated, unenthused way. Teo moved his hand in a short wave, greeting the two without talking, his mouth full of food.
"Hi Katara," Aang said sweetly, standing and embracing her in a friendly hug. "You smell nice." Aang blushed as they parted. He then turned to Sokka. "What's wrong with you?" The look on Sokka's face was everything but happy.
"Yue," Sokka sighed. He pulled a chair and sat, along with Katara and Aang, pushing his tray of food aside. "She left last night."
"Did I miss something?" Teo asked wiping his face looking over to a moping Sokka.
"You didn't hear?" Aang whispered, leaning in closer to Teo. "She moved away to go live with her Aunt Luna in some village a good ways away. Sokka'll never get to see her again." Aang backed away from Teo, hoping that with Sokka's head buried in his arms, that he had not seen or heard them whispering.
"She's gone and I'll never get to see her again!" Sokka yelled. Katara patted him on the back, then turned to Aang and Teo mouthing, 'He's been like this all day.'
"I don't blame him," Aang mouthed back. Yue and Sokka had been going out for close to a year, and the news of her leaving only came last week. The two barely had time to say goodbye.
"Blaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!" Sokka sobbed loudly. The entire stock of the cafeteria turned and stared at the table.
"Easy, easy there. Shhhhh!" Katara said in a calming way, slightly sarcastically. "Its gonna be fine." she continued to pat him on the back.
"There's no way at all that you can see her?" questioned Teo.
"N-no" Sokka sniffled. "Not at alllllllll!" Katara shot Teo a playful, mean look.
"Nice going," Sokka was now in a state of near hysteria and insanity.
"T-this was where she sat," Sokka whimpered as he sprawled his body across the area of the table where Yue used to sit. He was drawing many weird looks. "And her chair." he rolled off the table falling next to Yue's chair. He pulled himself to his knees and appeared to be hugging the chair. He brought his head close to the back rest. "It still smells like her too!"
Aang and Katara shot each other equally confused looks. Teo had rolled his wheelchair back, not wanting to get between Sokka and his chair.
"I can still see her sitting in it," Sokka squeaked in a rather high pitch. "Why did she have to leave!" He slammed his fist onto the chair
"Maybe if you eat something you'll feel better." Teo stated
"No…not hungry."
"But you're always hungry." Aang stated. "Come on." Aang stood and bent over next to Sokka, who was now on his back, staring at the ceiling. He placed his hands under Sokka's arm pits, attempting to pull him up. He made no effort however to help Aang, he was just dead weight, and Aang could not lift him.
"Just leave him Aang," Katara suggested. "He'll realize that he really is hungry within a few minutes, and then jump to his feet and rush to eat his lunch before the bell. Isn't that right?" She looked down at Sokka.
"Humph!" Sokka grumbled. Aang, Teo and Katara sniggered.
"Get off the ground snoozles."
Sokka opened his eyes, looking directly up seeing Toph.
"Hey Toph," Aang, Katara and Teo said in unison.
"Hey," Toph said happily. She walked past Sokka and gave him a gentle kick to the side. "Get up!"
"I still don't know how you do that." Aang said, referring to the fact that she is blind and knew that it was Sokka.
"Seriously, who else would be laying on the floor in the middle of the cafeteria." Toph stated.
"Good point." Aang replied sticking his index finger into the air.
The group laughed, except for Sokka.
"So, why is Sokka on the ground anyway, did he get beat up again?" Sokka stuck his tongue out at Toph.
"Heh heh," Aang chuckled. "No, its Yue, she left last night."
"Stop reminding me!" Sokka shouted. Toph kicked him again. "Ouch!"
"Well that sucks." Toph said, half sympathetically. "Looks like its time to find ya a new girl, I heard Mang's looking for a date to the Back To School Dance." She smirked.
Katara's face began to turn red, her hand cupped over her mouth. She was trying to avoid laughing. Mang was such a nice girl, but a little bit odd.
"What!" Sokka leapt to his feet. "Uh uh, no way!"
"She's so nice though." Aang pointed out.
"Yeah, she's always really friendly to me." Teo added. "Every morning she goes out of her way to hold the door for me. She's cute, I actually feel really bad for her. People don't really give her a chance."
"Its not for the reason you think." Sokka argued. " I don't want another girl, I want Yue. We both agreed to move on and that we would just be friends because long distance relationships are too hard, but…I cant move on that quickly. Its just too soon."
"Aww, that's probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say Sokka." Aang smiled.
"I'm not buying it." Toph said crossing her arms. "Just give him a few days, or hours for that matter. He'll be after another girl in no time. Or if you wanna go with a guy, I heard Haru's avail-"
"No!' Sokka yelled. He had just sat down, but shot right back up.
"I'm just sayin" Toph said coolly as she placed her left leg on the table. "You two would look good together."
"No-no we wouldn't!" Sokka's voice cracked into an oddly high octave.
"Calm down, calm down, just sit, I'm only teasing. You should really be used to it by now." Sokka sat, slamming his head on the table, nearly doing a face plant right into his food filled tray.
"Speaking of the back to school dance, who are you going to ask Aang" Teo hinted, nudging Aang in the side. He turned to look at Teo, dumbfounded, unsure as to why he was doing this.
"I don't know Teo, but a-as soon as I do I will tell you." Aang said this trying to keep his voice from breaking from nervousness.
He then gritted his teeth and spoke softly so only Teo could hear.
"What- are- you- doing." Aang hissed. "Shut up please."
"I'm still unsure as to who I'm going to ask as well. But usually the guy is supposed to ask the girl, so I'm going to wait." Katara smiled saying this.
"Take the hint!" Teo said as he coughed, making it so you couldn't really understand exactly what he said. Katara wasn't paying attention and didn't notice the message he had directed towards Aang.
"Stop it-please." Aang said again in a low voice gritting his teeth.
Teo backed off and continued to finish his food.
"I'm not even sure if I can go." Toph said sadly. "My parents control me so much and barley let me out of the house."
"I'm sure they'll let you go for this though." Katara suggested.
"You'd be surprised." Toph sighed. "For once I just want to have a normal life and be able to go out after school and see you guys. In school is the only chance I really get to be with my friends."
"I'm sure we can figure something out." Aang assured her. "I'm great with people, maybe I can talk to them?"
"Its worth a shot." Teo added. "What harm can it do?" Teo put much emphasis on these words, alluding to the conversation he and Aang had earlier. Aang shot him another look. Katara looked on confused.
"Well I don't know," Toph said. "They're strange when it comes to other people. I have the idea that they think I'm a loner with no friends. They'd probably think all my friends are trying to harm me at any moment if they knew I had any." Toph sighed again.
"Well you let us know what you decide after talking to them, okay?" Katara questioned. "We would all really like for you to be there."
"Oh yeah," Aang agreed.
"Of course," Teo agreed as well. The group looked over at Sokka who had his head down.
"Well?" Katara said agitated. She flicked him on the head. Sokka swung his hand in the air, swatting hers away. She rolled her eyes. He obviously didn't want to be bothered anymore.
"That's okay Katara," Toph assured her. "I'm sure he doesn't want me to go so I don't see that he brought Haru as his date." Sokka's head jolted upright. He shot Toph a mean look.
'"You can't even see!" He shouted.
"Ouch," Teo muttered. The rest of the table was silent. They just stared at Sokka. Toph, who the obviously offensive insult was directed at, appeared unscathed.
Sokka rose from his seat and walked off. He had had enough. Toph's continual teasing had finally gotten to him. He approached the doors to the cafeteria, pushed them open with force and walked out, nearly dropping the door face first on a girl that was just entering. Katara, Aang and Teo watched now as he turned and looked at the girl. He immediately turned around, followed her from behind and made his way back to the table. He sat and continued to stare at this girl who had sat at a table across the room. A smile spread across his face.
"Toph was wrong, you didn't even last 10 minutes!" Teo pointed out. Aang and Katara both sat laughing together, amused by Sokka's actions. Sokka was not paying attention to them.
"Wow!" Toph laughed, realizing what had just happened because of Teo's comment. "That right there just made my day. You don't even have to apologize for what you just said." Toph crossed her feet which were still on the table and smiled slyly.
"Oh-sorry," Sokka said shortly, turning to her, then turning back to look at the girl.
"Who is it anyway?" Toph asked.
"I don't know," Aang answered. "I've never seen her before. Have you Katara?"
"I don't think so." Katara looked closer at her. The girl was sitting at a table with about half a dozen other girls, all of which were wearing the same dark green t-shirt accented with black and the outlining of the designs done in gold.
"All of those girls look new," Aang commented. I've only been here two weeks, but I've never seen them. And they're all wearing the exact same shirt."
"That's odd," Teo added. "Can you make out what they say Katara? I cant see from here." "I cant see at all!" Toph threw her hands in the air. The group, except for Sokka, gave a chuckle.
"It looks like it says, 'Warriors of Kyoshi'." Katara read.
"What's that?" Aang asked bewildered.
"Well the picture is of a person doing some kind of fighting move, maybe- they're all part of the same fighting class and that's what they call themselves. I'm pretty sure there's a town called Kyoshi somewhere."
"Oooooooo!" Aang shouted ecstatically. "Maybe they know a different style of Kung-Fu and they can teach me!"
"Don't you already know like, four different styles?" Toph asked rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, Hung Gar, Northern Shaolin, Tai Chi and Ba Gua Zhang, but I can always learn more!" Aang added the last part very enthusiastically.
"Well by the looks of it," Katara started. "If Sokka has his way, you'll be getting to know at least on of them really well in no time. That is if she doesn't reject you." She turned to Sokka, crossing her arms and smiling. Sokka was transfixed though, lost in his own little world, watching her. Katara playfully stuck her tongue out at him. Aang giggled.
"Well well, if it isn't my least favorite people in the world." Everyone looked up, including Sokka. It was Zuko. He was standing with a lunch tray looking down at all of them, his black hair hanging in his face, going down to about the midpoint of his eyes. Nothing though could hide the deep red scar on his face, covering his right eye. The expression on his face was emotionless.
"Nice to see you too Zuko," Katara said sarcastically. "Happy to hear that you're so cheery today"
"Hey!" Zuko yelled. "I've actually been a lot happier since I started hanging with you guys." Zuko walked to the only empty chair left at the table and took a seat.
"There's definitely been improvement," Aang stated.
"You don't look too happy today." Katara pointed out.
"Ugh!" Zuko sighed. "Give me a break." He put his head down into his hands, then ran them through his hair. "It was a rough night last night."
"What happened?" Toph questioned, sounding intrigued.
"Azula-again! Like always!" Zuko slammed his fists on the table. "I can never win. She always gets her way. My dad was bitching at me again last night for-gosh, I don't even remember, I don't even pay attention anymore. So then Azula comes in and demands that somebody drives her to Mai's house. My dad then demands that I take her, and its already like, 9 o clock! I don't argue though, take her to Mai's, she said it was just to pick something up. She winds up being in there for a half hour! I'm at my breaking point, get out of the car and go to the door and knock, to tell her to hurry the hell up. Next thing I know she's in the car, with no license, driving it away. She snuck out the back door, right by me, waiting for me to get out. I couldn't believe it!"
"Damnnnnnn!" Toph butted in.
"That's not even the worst part. Then I had to walk home, because she was obviously not coming back for me. I got home, she was already there, and who does my dad yell at? Me! Not her, the one that took the car without a drivers license, or even a permit for that matter, me! He said that I should have been more responsible with the car. So he took my license and burned it!"
"That sucks." Toph said
"I'll say." Aang added.
"Man that's awful." Teo cringed.
"Its not even her I'm really mad at." Zuko continued. "I'm mean, yeah I'm pissed at her, but its mainly my douche bag father. I am so, so close to moving out."
"Why not move in with your uncle?" Katara asked.
"Well that's who I'm thinking about moving in with." Zuko took a bite of his food. He chewed, and continued. "I'd have to leave though if I did. He lives too far away."
"Where does he live," Aang started. "His tea shop is just around the corner, he cant live that far."
"He drives a half hour to work everyday."
"That's not too far." Teo pointed out. "He could just drive you to school on his way to work."
"Well, since he lives in a different town, the school wont allow that, it's the way things work, something with taxes I think. So if I moved there and continued to come here and anyone found out, he could get in trouble for cheating the system."
"Well, I guess you don't want that."
"Yeah. And I don't want to leave this school."
"Ya know what?" Sokka finally joined the conversation. "Last year you were so mean to everyone, I could have cared less if you left, but now, I'd really hate to see you go."
Aang, Katara and Teo all nodded their heads, agreeing with Sokka. Toph gave Zuko a hard punch to the shoulder.
"Ow!" Zuko hollered, but said no more, knowing that was Toph's way of saying she wanted him to stay too.
"We'll figure something out," Aang assured Zuko.
"Yeah," Toph agreed. "We're not gonna let you go that easily." A small smile spread across Zuko's face.
"Thanks."
Out of no where came a strange noise. Everyone turned to see Sokka now eating his food, shoving multiple things at once into his mouth. He looked up from his tray, realizing that he was being stared at. He swallowed loudly.
"What?" He asked in a high pitch. "I'm starving, and lunch is over in two minutes." Aang, Teo and Katara laughed, remembering what Sokka had said earlier about not being hungry, and Katara's prediction which had now come true.
Aang stood and picked up his tray, its full contents still on it, and threw it in the trash.
"You're not eating anything?" Katara questioned.
"Nah, I'll be fine," Aang replied.
"Are you sure, I could buy you something to bring to class if you would like."
"Really, I'm fine." Aang looked into her eyes and smiled.
"No wonder you're so skinny," Sokka said as he rose, throwing out his empty tray which just a moment ago was full. Teo backed his wheelchair away from the table and tossed his tray as well, Katara, Toph and Zuko followed suit. The group then made their way to the cafeteria doors
"So I was thinking," Zuko started. "I'm working at uncles tea shop this afternoon if you guys wanna come down after school for a cup of tea and a snack."
Everyone looked at Zuko, puzzled. They were not used to such a kind and inviting offer coming from him.
"What, I cant do something nice," He said with a stern look.
"Well I probably cant come." Toph said breaking the moment of awkward silence. "My parents will probably think the tea is poisoned, or that the building will collapse on me when I walk into it."
"Sorry to say, I cant come either," Teo frowned. "I have to go to my weekly therapy." He looked down at his lifeless legs in his wheelchair.
"What about you guys?" Zuko asked Aang, Katara and Sokka.
"Ill go." Aang shrugged.
"Me too." Katara added.
"Sokka?" Zuko asked.
"Uh, I think I'm just gonna go home. I have…stuff to do."
"Work on ways to get that girl you were staring at?" Zuko questioned.
"Erm.." Sokka mumbled uneasily.
"Its okay, I understand."
The bell that signaled the end of lunch rang loudly. Everyone began to file out of the cafeteria.
"So," Zuko said as he walked. "I'll meet you two at The Tea Wemo at 2:30." He looked to Aang and Katara. They nodded, but then giggled.
"Your uncle really needs to change the name of that place."
"I know," Zuko replied flatly.