... Immediately. Lol :)


2. Nothing Compares

Katara

I'm starting to think the day is going to become uneventful. Nothing too hectic has happened between the palace-mates since Sokka came back inside with Suki, sopping wet, and told us what had happened to him out in the gardens.

I couldn't help laughing at my poor big brother – he was such a baby. And he was definitely exaggerating. Nonetheless, Aang has been avoiding him all morning.

"Alright, LUNCH IS READY!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs.

Trust Sokka to be the first one to the kitchen, Suki skipping lazily behind him as he goes to pile his plate to the ceiling with food. She and I cross our arms as we watch him hovering over the food table in the hall where we're eating lunch. He grabs a little bit – as much as he can, actually – of everything. Suki and I snicker to each other. We both love Sokka – but who doesn't? Deep down, even Zuko loves the guy.

After a few minutes, everyone else has joined us and we all get our food and sit around the table. Aang is much quieter than usual at first, probably trying not to catch Sokka's attention. But as for Sokka – he seems to have forgotten about the incident in the garden completely. He is much too busy devouring his lunch to care about what happened.

"Muwwy Kissmess ebrwee ung!" he calls through a vast mouthful of seal jerky. "Ka'a'a, iss eel ergy is deligus!"

I'm lucky I'm not halfway through taking a mouthful of Bubbly Jasmine when he says that, or else I would have probably ended up doing what Suki does. The poor girl bursts into laughter and sprays the fizzy drink out of both her nose and mouth, across the table so that everything between her and Sokka – including Sokka – was drenched in it. Everyone in the room starts coughing and gagging on their food, drinks, and laughter. After Sokka finally manages to stop himself from suffocating on an un-chewed piece of meat that he'd swallowed, he looks about at the rest of us and glares. I think he's about to say something, but he probably thinks better of it because he harrumphs and continues eating instead.

As the lunch goes on, people start to chat and Aang and Toph go deep into conversation about earthbending techniques. I notice with a slightly horrible feeling that Zuko seems to be avoiding any conversation whatsoever with his uncle. I wonder what happened there...

"So..." I say. "How has your Christmas been so far?" I ask him.

"Horrible," he mutters.

I stop short for a moment. "Why so?"

"I hate Christmas."

I smirk. "Pft, you sound like Mr. Scrooge!"

He wrinkles his nose for a moment and then smirks. "Humbug."

"Say it with confidence," I demand, waving a fist playfully at him. "Say it!"

"Humbug!" The he pokes his tongue out at me playfully. I blow a raspberry back.

He shakes his head and looks back down at his plate, falling awkwardly silent.

In the background, I hear Aang and Toph talking to each other. I can't make out exactly what they're saying, but I can hear them tittering with laughter and giggles every few seconds, as if they're sharing a good joke. I don't play any attention to the distraction they make and focus on Zuko.

"Why don't you like Christmas?" I ask.

"I didn't say I don't like Christmas."

"Yes you d–"

"I said I hate Christmas."

"Oh..." I nod slowly, understanding. "So... why do you hate Christmas?"

"I just do."

"Any particular reason?"

"Oh, just a few," he laughs bitterly. His voice is full of sarcasm.

"And some examples are...?"

"Mistletoe, Mai attacking me at every moment she gets when she notices I'm standing under it, it's cold, Uncle goes all protective of his special tea that he always gets, and ... never mind."

I raise my eyebrows, "And what? C'mon, tell me."

"It's nothing!" he snaps quickly. Then, a sour look on his face, he looks back down to his food and starts picking at it, as if he's actually hungry, which I can tell he isn't.

I notice Iroh giving us a look. I have no idea what the look means, and I'm not sure whether I should like it or not. But it makes me slightly uncomfortable and I try to ignore him.

I scoot a little closer to Zuko. "C'mon, please, just a little hint."

"No, seriously, it's –"

"ZUKO!!!" Sokka yells over everything else. All heads snap around to him. Toph and Aang burst out laughing so loud that the rest of us have to cover our ears. Zuko and I look over to him to find him, red-faced, glaring at the pages of a random, tattered, weather worn looking and slightly wet book. He looks at Zuko and glares daggers at him.

"Oh fu –"

"What the hell are you thinking about my sister?!"

"What...?" I frown, tilting my head to one side and looking at my brother.

Bright red in the face, Zuko stands up, avoiding eye-contact with my brother and me and everyone else in the room. In a low voice for only me to hear, he mumbles, "Thank you for lunch," and hurries off.


Iroh

I can't help but start laughing. But as Zuko slips out of the room, bright red in the face, I feel so sorry for him. It was one thing for me to find out about what was in that journal. He'd quite evidently attempted to get rid of it. And now that the others had found it, read it and showed Sokka what was in there involving Katara, he was surely mortified beyond comprehension. My nephew is a sensitive boy...

I sigh and down my cup of tea and try to stop myself from laughing. It really isn't funny when the situation is analysed.


Sokka

That pervert! That pervert! Who does he think he is, fantasizing about my baby sister like that?! Jeez, way to spoil my Christmas and make me so angry! I'm so furious, I think I'm gonna –


Suki

Oh gosh... here goes Sokka, doing his overprotective act over Katara. Did he consider what he writes in his journal about me? In all honesty, it's a lot worse than this... and the ones he writes aren't fantasies – they're realities.

Well, cross my fingers, maybe this will all turn out ok. Oh, why did it have to be on Christmas that this cat came out of the bag...?


Toph

This is the funniest moment ever. I love it!

But poor Zuko. I could feel his heartbeat when he got up and left from over here. He's absolutely mortified. This will certainly be a Christmas to remember for him... I'll have to watch his back for him for the next little while, just to make sure Sokka doesn't hurt him... I mean, sure it's just Sokka – but we shouldn't underestimate the kid.

I have a feeling this is going to be a very good Christmas.


Aang

That journal is filled with some of the dirtiest thoughts ever... ok, so there are some pretty sweet ones in there too, but seriously, Zuko needs to get his mind out of the gutter.

Alright, so I'll admit that it is among the funniest things ever.

Still, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to start reading them out loud to Toph at the table within earshot of Sokka...

I think I just ruined Zuko's Christmas. Oops...


Zuko

I storm into my room and slam the door shut behind me with a loud, resounding slam. I can't believe this – I thought that the Christmas after my Mum left was bad, but this is definitely a new winner for the worst-Christmas-EVER prize...

I throw myself down on my bed, burying my face in my pillows. I can't even be bothered going and getting my journal off of them. All of my secrets out on the table, nearly literally, is just what I needed... not. There's no point denying anything.

Sokka's gonna kill me.

Katara's gonna hate me.

I'm never going to be able to look at either of them ever again... not to mention the others.

The bed starts to shake and my pillow is starting to feel wet. I notice then that I'm crying. A choked sob rises from my chest and I bite down on my lip as hard as I can to stop another one. I manage to contain myself and the tears fall silently.

Can I crawl under a rock and die now?

I hate Christmas...


Katara

After reading a little bit of the journal, I had to wonder how I was supposed to feel.

Abused – there were some pretty dirty thoughts in there.

Loved – there were probably ten time as many sweet little thoughts and scenarios written in there.

Happy – that guy really cares about me a lot.

Angry – oh my gosh, he wrote that dirty stuff about me?!

Angry... again – they read that out?! Why would they do that?! Poor Zuko! He must be so embarrassed!!! Urgh!

Afraid (for Zuko) – my brother just read all of that. Oh gosh... if there isn't some sort of miracle, Zuko is going to be a dead man.

I slip away from the others, telling them to grow up and stop reading the journal. Half way to my room, I reconsider and double back, passing through the dining room and snatching the journal out of my brother's hands and taking it with me in the opposite direction of my room – to Zuko's room.

I can't tell if my heart is speeding up for slowing down as I finally reach his door. With a deep breath, I knock and wait for an answer. He doesn't reply, but I'm absolutely positive that he's in there. I knock again.

"Go away," I hear someone mumble from the other side of the door. It's Zuko. I consider listening to him for a moment and leaving him be, but I decide that this has to be dealt with now. Gently, quietly, I open the door and slip into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. From the way he doesn't move or look up or go all tense, I can tell he doesn't know that I've come in. I silently walk over and sit on the foot of his bed.

Shocked, he jumps up and hastily wipes the tears out of his eyes.

"What do you want?" he demands, a little coldly, sitting up in his bed and bringing his knees up to his chest. He doesn't look at me. He looks everywhere but at me. And his cheeks are tainted red.

"I just wanted to give this back to you," I say, holding his journal out for him to take. He glances at it and I notice him turn a shade redder before he quickly looks away.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you want to give that back to me?" he asks.

"Because it's yours."

There is an awkward silence between us for a few moments.

"How much did you read?"

"I didn't read any for myself. But I heard Aang read out a few things... I took it off them before they could do any more damage than they already had."

"Yea, I bet they had a good laugh over all that..." he snorts sarcastically.

"Except my brother..."

"Yea, he's gonna kill me."

"Mmm..."

He looks at me hesitantly. There's something he wants to say – I can tell. But he's not so sure if he should say it.

"What?" I ask, hoping he'll reply.

"Nothing!" He looks away quickly. "Just..." He shrugs. "You must think I'm so perverted after reading any of that stuff in there."

The journal is still in my hands and I rest it on my lap and open it at a few random pages, skimming over them calmly, trying not to laugh now and then.

"No."

He looks at me and scowls. "What?" he asks blankly.

I close the journal and smirk at him, letting it drop to the ground as I lean forward and kiss him on the lips. I close my eyes and put one hand to the side of his face. When I pull away, we look at each other and he raises his eyebrow at me.

"So... you're not mad at me for the stuff I wrote in there about you?"

"Nope."

"You don't hate me?"

"Would I have just kissed you if I hated you?"

"Point taken. You don't think I'm a pervert?"

I think for a moment. "Alright, I do think you're a pervert." His face falls for a moment. "But you're not nearly as bad as me."

His eyes shoot up to me. "Do explain," he requests with a smirk.

I grin. "What you've written and drawn in this little journal of yours is nothing compared to what's in mine."

"... Can I see it?"

"No."

"Aw..."

I kiss him again, "Get over it."

He smirks, "Only if you do that again."


Iroh

I walk towards my nephew's room. It probably best if I talk to him. He is surely quite upset right now. But as I get closer to the door, I can hear voices inside the room – his and a girls.

"Katara...?" I murmur, pressing my ear against the door.

"No, c'mon, tell me what dirty stuff you have in your journal about me!"

"Never!"

"Come on, please?"

There is a silence for a moment and then the sound of a kiss coming to an end as the two kissers break apart and I have to shove my fist in my mouth to stop myself from gasping out loud or yelling with pleasure.

"That's not fair," Zuko complains.

"What's not?" Katara asks.

There's that silence again and the sound of the kiss ending. I tiptoe away as quickly as I can and then burst out laughing when I'm sure I'm out of earshot.

Surely this Christmas will turn out being the best one my nephew has ever had.


Toph

"Alright Aang, we have to be quick because I don't know when Sugar Queen is gonna get back. I don't know which book it is exactly, but I know it's somewhere on this shelf," I say as we stand in Katara's room.

"Uuum... this one?" he asks, tapping one at the very end.

I shake my head, "Too thick."

"What about this one?"

"Too thin."

"This one?"

"Needs to be a little bigger than that one too."

"About this size?"

"Yes. What book's that?"

"It doesn't have a title on the cover."

"Open it and read some."

"It's a journal!" he says.

"Read some to me man," I smirk.

He starts reading. I'm speechless for a moment – I thought Zuko's was dirty, but it's nothing in comparison to Katara's! I start laughing and Aang can't help but stop reading. It's just too much for a Monk.

"Oh gosh..." I know he's bright red in the face without having to see him. "I didn't realize Katara could be so dirty."

"Get use to it, Twinkletoes."

He nods sheepishly.


Sokka

I huff as I walk towards my room. As I come close to Zuko's door, it opens and Katara slips out with a blush on her cheeks. I stop dead in my tracks and when she sees me she freezes too.

"What were you doing in there?!" I demand.

Katara plants her hands firmly on her hips and gives me an icy glare.

"Why do you need to know?"

"Because I'm your brother!"

"That's exactly why I shouldn't tell you!"

"Katara, did you read some of the things that jerk has in his journal about you?!"

"Yes," she says blankly.

I give her a deadpan stare. "Then why were you in there doing... whatever you were doing?"

She smirks at me very smugly and leans over to whisper in my ear. "Because what he has in his journal is nothing in comparison to what I have in mine."

I think my stomach ate itself.

Katara skipped away and I let my feet walk me to my room.

"Oh gosh..."


Iroh

It's nearly dinner time. I knock on my nephew's bedroom door.

"Come in," I hear him say.

I walk in. He looks alright and doesn't seem to be in the bad mood I had half been expecting. But then again, Katara had been in here earlier...

"Are you alright, my Nephew?" I ask, trying to keep the smirk off my face.

"Of course."

"Has Sokka said anything to you?"

"Um... I think he was going to. But Katara seems to have managed to stop him. I think."

I smile, "Good, good."

I sit down at the foot of his bed.

"So... Miss Katara was in here earlier." I stated it – he had to know that I knew what had happened.

He goes slightly red in the face but keeps his cool. "Yes, she was."

I start chuckling. I can't help it.

Zuko sighs and lies on his back.

"Well, you can't say you didn't enjoy this Christmas, Nephew. It surely must have been precious to you."

"Uncle! Whoa, hold up there. Now, we didn't go that far!" he says quickly, sitting bolt upright.

I hear Toph and Aang start laughing about something outside in the halls.

"Sure you didn't," I nudge him playfully.

"KATARA! WHAT THE HELL IS IN YOUR JOURNAL?!?!" Sokka yells at the top of his lungs.

I chuckle. Zuko smacks a hand to his forehead.

"That's just precious."

"I hate Christmas."

We listen as Toph cackles loudly and Aang giggles to himself and as Sokka and Katara battle it out with words. My nephew just lies there, shaking his head, and hoping that everything turns out alright.

The people who live around me are precious. I love them all. And this is one hell of a Christmas.

"No, I really, really, hate Christmas," he mutters into his pillow.

"You just keep telling yourself that, Nephew."

"Mmm..."


Hahaha, that was fun to write. :) Hope you all liked it. Please review. Merry Christmas. ;)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody :D