Chapter 2
Pearls and Skulls, Mercedes and Motorcycles

Zuko pushed the button to open the front gate, and pulled in the front drive. There were a couple of black cars. He didn't question it entirely his dad usually had people over a couple times a week and dismissed the issue as business. When he got out of his car, he saw his uncles older car off to the side, Uncle came to visit occasionally. He tossed his keys to an assistant, "…just put it in the garage please….and I know how many miles are on it so don't be cruising around…" Zuko said with a smile.
"Yes, sir." The assistant said back, with a large smile.

Zuko opened the house door, and walked in hanging his coat up, slipped his shoes off and proceeded to the kitchen to find him self some dinner. That's when he saw what was going on. His dad was sitting at the kitchen table his head in his hands and lawyers going through documents trying to see what they could do about this problem. Then Zuko saw his uncle sitting at the end of the island, on a bar stool.

"Hello Zuko." He said calmly. Tea cup in his hand steam coming from the full cup
"Uncle, what is going on here?" he asked.
"Your father allegedly has put money from the company in a personal account."
"What?" he said disbelieve on his face, he looked over to his father who was looking at a document and said something to the lawyer next to him. "I can't believe you would do such a thing? You already make enough money to keep us in the lifestyle which we are a custom to…but that wasn't enough for you? You needed more…!" he said turning toward his dad.
"Zuko, we will discuss this later." He said very low.
"Sure." Zuko said and walked up the stairs and grabbed some clothes and his laptop all his college applications and some other things he would need and walked back down to the kitchen, "Uncle? May I please move in with you?" he asked very calmly.

"Yes, you may." He said very slowly. Iroh went back to his car and Zuko followed him in his Audi. Iroh had an extra room in his small house it was just enough for him and he liked it, and so did Zuko. He did like having money and it was a nice thing to have everything that you could ever want but most of the things that he had, he never had asked for them. Like the car, the laptop. The gaming equipment and other toys that Ozai had showered him with, it didn't change his opinion about his father one way.

Zuko set up his computer on the desk in the guest room and checked his email, sent some emails. Then turned the computer off, when and showered and then went to bed. The day had been so great up until now. Why did he have to do this? Why? In some ways he had always expected something like this to turn up. Zuko rolled over in the bed and tried to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Katara didn't have to work but jet did, about 20 minutes before he got off work, she walked over to the mall and waited for him in the food court.
"Hey, let's go." He said with a smile when he had finally reached the table where she was sitting. She had a drink from one of the fruity mix'em up stands one of her friends worked at she waved at her goodbye and then left with jet.

"Hey, let me have a drink" he said and grabbed the cup
Katara just laughed, while his slurped the drink through the straw, "oh nice strawberry. I like strawberry." He said looking down at her.

"Yeah me too that's why I ordered it." She said with a laugh. Grabbing back her cup and finishing the drink, then throwing it away in a neighbor's trash can.

"Can we hang out at your house for a while before I have to go home?" jet asked
"Probably we'll have to see if Sokka is still home…he doesn't like you at all." She said
they walked a bit farther and saw no car in the driveway. Katara got her keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door, opened it tossed her keys in the basket next to the door and went and jumped on the couch. Jet did the same thing only on top of her, Katara giggled.

They started kissing and that lead to touching, "Jet…?" Katara asked breathing heavy.
"What?" he said
"Do you think were going to far?" she asked him he had taken off her shirt leaving only the white thin strapped tank top.
"No…why do you?" he asked back
"Yeah…Sokka could be home any time." Katara explained. "…besides Jet I told you that I'm not ready." She said grabbing her shirt and putting it back on. "I think you should leave now. I'll call you later." She said Jet left the house angry, "yeah whatever." He said

About 5 minutes after Jet had left Sokka's car pulled in the driveway. She was glad she told Jet to leave when she did, because they would have still been on the couch. That would not have been very good.

"Hey where were you?" she asked
"Oh I was just straighten some things out with the insurance company."
"That's right. Its cuz your old now…" Katara said and laughed…did you have to fill out much paper work?" she asked
"some, not that much." He said
"…was there any problem getting the check?" Katara asked
"…at first they did want to but then the looked at the file, and then they said they will send the last 3 month's checks and then one at the beginning of the month…" Sokka explained "so that will help out a lot."
"What's for dinner?" she asked him
"I don't know…what do you want?"

They continued to talk about what they wanted and went in the kitchen and found something decent and had there dinner. Then went in the living room and watched there evening shows. Katara went to wash the day off of her and went to bed. 'I told him that I wasn't ready but he kept going.' She thought

Then Katara thought about her dad, and then her mom and wondered how she could have changed things, going over all the details in her head. But nothing that she could have done would have changed the outcome.

Her alarm clock read 2:45 am. Then she heard something like a rock on her window. She went to it and found Jet standing out side.
"Hey, let me up!" he said
"Sokka will kill you if he finds you up here with me!" she said
"So is that a no…?" he asked
"Jet…I have to work the morning shift tomorrow. I need to go to sleep. Meet me at the food court when I'm done working." She said
"Okay, see you then" he said in a sad voice and walked back to his house.

Katara shut the window and let the curtain fall back over it, Sokka came in her room, "…something the matter?" he asked
"No, it was just some weird animal outside." She lied. Kinda.
"Oh okay…" he said still half a sleep.
Katara got back in her bed and finally fell asleep. But her dreams were filled with the same thing that they were always filled with and the out come was always the same. There was nothing she could do.