Mai felt lost, confused, hurt and very much alone. "Whatever," she said, and walked away.
"Well, Zuko, this is going to be more fun than a barrel of flying monkeys," Katara snapped as she disentangled herself from the Firebender. "Why don't you explain to Aang here just what we were doing?"
"Yes. I will do that." Katara did a mental face palm. Zuko was so robotic when he lied, it was obvious. Unfortunately, he was also robotic when he got nervous. "We were just... sparring?"
Aang looked like he'd been hit in the stomach. "Right... sparring..." he spoke, devastation plain in his voice. "...Okay..."
"It's true, Aang! We were practicing for the AP test tomorrow, and then Zuko was telling me about his uncle's special Waterbending move, and then I wanted to learn Firebending, and..." Katara halted, realizing that what she'd just said made no sense at all.
"I told Katara about the lightning redirection technique my uncle created by studying the Waterbenders, and she wanted to try and create a Waterbending move by studying Firebenders. So I tried to teach her a basic punch. Her stance was too soft, so I adjusted it for her, and then you two startled us and we fell over." Zuko explained calmly, doing much better now that he wasn't on the spot.
"...Right..." If Aang still looked like he'd been punched, at least he looked like he was getting his wind back.
Katara steeled herself, then walked over to Aang and whispered, "I'll make it up to you... Just you and me, tomorrow night? I think the Avatar can teach me just as well as Zuko can..." It made her feel sick to do it, and even sicker to think about what the next night would hold for her, but Aang was happy. She should be happy too.
Aang walked away, no longer looking suspicious or punched, and completely unaware that Katara had just used the same technique he'd tried on On Ji.
Zuko and Katara walked away, looking happy together, and completely unaware that Mai was about to seek revenge.
Mai, on the other side of the campus, was also unaware of this last.
--
"Mai! What's wrong? Your aura is, like, black!" Ty Lee backflipped off the bed, looking concerned as her roommate came into the dormitory.
"I told you I don't believe in auras." She sighed, managing to sound both void of emotion and irritated at once- a technique she'd perfected over the years.
"And why are you back so early? Usually you and Zuko-"
"I don't want to talk about what 'me and Zuko' usually do," Mai said, voice sharp and empty.
"Oh no! Mai, this is awful! What happened?!" Ty Lee was, as always, overreacting.
She sighed again and flopped onto the other bed. "I found him breathing down the water witch's neck, that's what."
Ty Lee looked ready to hyperventilate. Mai hoped she would- at least then she'd get some peace and quiet. "Mai! This is totally a disaster! You need to do something!"
"Like what?" Mai asked, sarcasm dripping. "See the guidance counselor?"
"Exactly!" Ty Lee clapped excitedly. Well, she's never been the sharpest knife in the sleeve...
"No." The tone was unforgiving, blank, and impossible to argue with. Just like the speaker.
Ty Lee was bad with tones. "Oh, Mai, you have to! It would make the teachers watch out too, so they could help! And it would totally humiliate Zuko, so he would have to be on his best behavior because he'd hate to go through it a second time!"
This was the closest Ty Lee came to strategy, and Mai had to appreciate all the trouble the acrobat was going to. Besides, she did have a point... sort of. She knew Zuko would be humiliated, and if anyone ever wanted to push his buttons it was with honor issues like this. And right now, she definitely wanted to push his buttons.
So it was settled. In the morning, classes would begin. And in the afternoon, Mai would pay a visit to the school guidance counselor.
--
"Busted..." Sokka whispered as Zuko came into the room again, looking miserable.
"What are you talking about?" he growled at the Water Tribe warrior.
"I saw what happened outside. Aang and Mai. I mean, what are the chances? Very ironic, if you ask me. And then-"
"Well, Sokka, NOBODY ASKED YOU!" Zuko roared back.
A moment of silence. "Sorry bout that," the Firebender began.
"No problem. I get that a lot."
"I can see why. No offense."
Sokka shrugged. "Eh, none taken. Provoking Jerkbenders..." he paused, thinking of Hahn, Jet, and now Zuko. "It's a Sokka thing."
"Yeah... So... I guess screaming at the top of your lungs..."
"Is a Zuko thing."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
--
"How'd your date with Sparky go?" Toph asked as soon as Katara flopped onto her bed.
"Horrible. And it was not a date."
"Uh huh. Whatever you say, Sugar Queen. But it really is too bad Twinkletoes crashed the party."
"Yeah... too bad..." Katara murmured, then caught herself. "No, definitely not. It was great that Aang came. He was getting too close anyway."
"Riiiight...."
Katara turned to face the wall, completely shutting out her roommate in the other bed, "Good night, Toph."
The gesture was lost on the blind Earthbender, though Katara suspected she'd chosen to ignore it. "Night, Sugar Queen," she said sweetly.
Katara sighed. This was going to be a long school year.
--
From the pavilions of each team, a gong sounded. "Good morning, kids!" DJ shouted with a smile. He was on the roof of the main building, and a huge horn seemed to be magnifying the sound of his voice. "Just wanted to share our super schedule with you today!" He paused to take his mouth out of the instrument in time to grin with perfectly timed perk. "So this morning you'll have an hour to get ready, then breakfast. And then the kids who are testing will do that in their respective classrooms. That won't be team restricted, but the class you wind up in will be." He gave a cheery thumbs up to the teens who had gotten up to watch the spectacle.
"Those kids who aren't testing for an AP class will have the morning off, but after lunch you'll start regular classes. You'll get your schedules, scrolls, brushes and ink then. So start getting ready and we'll see you in an hour!" He flashed one last smile at his audience and came down from the roof, leaving the teens to their own fate.
--
An hour later, Aang, Katara, Zuko and Toph were waiting outside the AP bending classroom. Haru had showed up too, but he wasn't very confident about making the class.
"Well... this should be... fun?" Zuko said uncertainly. The silence had been awkward and almost tense after the Firebender showed up with Katara at his side.
"Does anyone know what they're testing us on?" Toph questioned. Katara stifled a sigh of relief. Now conversation could start up again and the rest of the teens could stop looking at her like that.
"Basic moves and some sparring with other kids, the way I heard it," Haru replied indifferently. He hadn't seemed to notice the tension.
"Easy enough," Zuko said confidently.
"Glad to hear you feel that way, buddy!" DJ slapped him on the back as he entered the hallway, a smile on his face. "Well, you guys in the first group should probably head in now. The masters are waiting to assess you!" With a grin he opened the rice paper door and swept inside, the kids falling into step behind him.
"Let's see... Kuzon, Zuko, you'll be tested by Sifu Jeong Jeong. Sifu Pakku will be assessing Katara and Kinto. Sifu Bumi is to grade Toph and Haru's abilities- be sure you are very respectful to him, because he will also be your history teacher. That's about all for now. Your masters will decide what they want to see first. Let's get started, kiddos!"
Jeong Jeong turned to his new students. "We will start small. Show me one of your basic forms."
Aang stiffened. He'd just realized that he didn't know any Firebending forms at all. He raised a hand timidly. "Does the Dancing Dragons count?"
--
Katara grinned confidently. She'd just annihilated Kinto in one on one sparring. At first she'd been worried that it might seem like a bias if Pakku accepted her into the class, but now she was sure she'd earned it. "A fair attempt, Pupil Kinto. A few more years and you may be ready to fight a sea sponge."
She felt a little bad about that- she remembered the look that Kinto now wore on the face of Sangkok, another bender she'd beaten- badly- on the road to becoming a Waterbending master. But Kinto had been too cocky to start: he'd needed a loss or two to make him more humble.
"Congratulations, Katara. You've made the class." Pakku smiled at her, then nodded to dismiss both students.
She bowed to her teacher and then headed outside to see how the others had fared.
--
"So, Toph, did you make it?"
"I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world, Sugar Queen! How could I not?"
Katara smiled. Maybe Toph needed a little something to deflate her ego too. "What about you, Haru?"
"I survived," he grinned, then hurried to add, "But just barely."
"I made it too, in case anybody cares," Zuko joined in. Katara felt a blush rising in her cheeks- she'd wanted to see if he had, but didn't dare ask, worried about the attention it might draw.
"Good to hear, Sparky," Toph punched him in the arm and he grinned ruefully at the dull ache.
"What about you, Aang?" Katara turned to her old pupil. He'd been oddly quiet despite the gang's good mood.
"Oh... I... uh..." Aang blamed Zuko for this. He hadn't taught him a single form! The only one he knew, he'd had to learn on his own. Well, with a little help from some dragons. But still. It wasn't his fault at all. To be the Avatar and not make an advanced bending class... The irony! The humiliation!
He forced a smile. "Why do you even ask?" A quick glare kept Zuko from contradicting the half-lie.
It's not even half a lie, he told himself sternly. It's the truth. She doesn't really have to ask...
"That's great, Aang! I knew you could do it!" Despite her congratulations, Katara couldn't help feeling like something was up. Toph was cocky, but Aang? Maybe his Earthbending teacher's rubbed off on him a little. She pushed the worries was nothing wrong with his showing some pride once in a while. He almost never did- this was good, right?
"How about a celebration?" Haru suggested. "It'd be fun, and we have a little while before lunch..."
"Sorry," Zuko and Katara said at the same time. Zuko stepped back and let her go first. "See, I'm also doing AP writing. I have to take that test now."
"And I'm doing AP weaponry. Sifu Piandao's assessment is in a few minutes."
"Fine. You two overachievers have fun together. We're going to rock the house." Everyone else cringed at Toph's Earthbending reference and rightly assumed that they were going to be put in a world of hurt.
Zuko waited until they were around the corner before he took her hand in his.
and there's the chapter! i wanted to include all of the AP testing in one, but this one's already pretty long and that'll give me a headstart on the next one. sorry it's been so long since i updated, but things have been busy and i've been doing my best to post everything whenever i can. the next chapter of politics should be up soon too.
Zuko: z4e still doesn't own me! Or Katara! Or Aang, or Sokka, or Toph, or Su-
Me: Okay, we get the point. You're depressing me.
Zuko: That reminds me, I reserve the right to quit if we don't get enough reviews
Me: Wait, what? Why?
Zuko: Well, you're going to stick me in the same room as MAI and a GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. And we've only got... what, 8?
Me: Zuko, that's a lot. The story's only had three chapters...
Zuko: In which I have been banished to high school, caught by Mai, unable to touch Katara except in the rare instances when you write that I can...
Me: Okay, I'm going to deal with this backstage. If you guys could R&R while we're gone, that'd be great...