AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

© Starlight
starlightinlove (at) yahoo . com
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Standard disclaimers apply.
Warnings from Chapter 1 apply.

Original Published on June 27, 2009.

AN: I've got tons to do like study and write a paper and study and look for books and study. But since I am ever the model student, here I am writing a new chapter instead. Haha Aang goes to dinner at Zuko's place, despite his (Aang's) protests. Reply to reviews are at the bottom AN. :)

"Speech."
'Thoughts.'


Chapter 7: The Butler



"Aang get out of the car," Zuko ordered for the nth time in the last ten minutes. He was standing in front of the backseat car door (on the passenger side), glaring at Aang who had refused to have dinner at his place. He wanted to hit Shikamaru who was standing beside him when the lazy ass boy dared to snicker at his predicament.

"Do you require my assistance, young master?" Shu asked from behind them. Zuko was tempted to say yes, he definitely required his assistance but decided against it. He knew Aang would not appreciate Shu's idea of assistance, but it would be really funny to watch his chauffer carry the genius over his shoulder like a sack of wheat as said boy was kicking and screaming to be let down. He stopped himself from smiling. Aang would give him hell again if he smiled.

"No, it's fine Shu."

"I'd say it's not fine when your date refuses to go with you," Shikamaru offered helpfully. Shu started to move forward, intent on helping his young charge.

Zuko glared at his friend. "I said it's fine, Shu."

The chauffer stopped mid-step and went back to his original position behind Zuko. The heir turned his attention back to Aang.

"Aang..."

"I am not getting out of this car unless it's parked in front of my house."

"Stop being so stubborn!" Zuko almost shouted, but checked himself in time. It wouldn't do to lose his composure.

"Well, stop being such a dictator," Aang said angrily. He really didn't appreciate Zuko being this bossy. It's a good thing he wasn't like this when it comes to the team or else Aang would've quit and his life would've gone right back to hell, just like in all his other schools.

"Aang, I won't ask again. Get out of the car."

"That's not even asking!" he said as he stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest in defiance of Zuko's order.

"Fine. Shu, get a small table that will fit in the back. Shika, go inside and tell cook the four of us are having dinner in the car," Zuko said (barely holding on to his temper) before he slid back into the backseat beside Aang.

"You can't be serious!" Zuko ignored him in favor of closing the car door.

"Shika, Shu-san, come back. I'm getting out of the car," Aang said, testily. Zuko is really irritating when he's bossy. He stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut on Zuko. Shu turned around and merely raised an eyebrow while Shikamaru bit back his laugh. It was fun watching these two.

Aang stomped his way to Shikamaru's side as Zuko gracefully stepped out of the car again and smiled at Aang. "Well, now that that's settled, let's go in and relax for a while."

Aang wanted to punch Zuko again, just to get that damn satisfied and sultry smile off his face. He sighed instead, before following Zuko to the front door. He was having dinner at Zuko's place whether he liked it or not, it seems. It would be better for all of them if he stopped being angry and just enjoyed.

The front door was massive. It was rectangular piece of darkly stained wood that had intricate carvings on it from top to bottom, covering every inch of its ten feet length. Or at least Aang thought it was about ten feet. He could be wrong though.

'It's probably twenty feet,' Aang mused to himself. He followed the pattern of the carving with his eyes. It was wonderful. He never thought that a door could be beautiful. Doors like these certainly didn't exist in all the places he's been to. He was so intent on staring at the patterns that he almost jumped when the double doors opened.

Zuko wanted to laugh at the startled boy. "Relax. No one's gonna eat you."

Aang turned to glare at Zuko. "I wasn't thinking that someone was going to eat me."

"If you say so." Aang felt like Zuko was patronizing him, but someone else spoke before he could retort.

"Welcome home, young master Zuko," the butler greeted as they stepped into the foyer. Aang had never met anyone who had a butler before. Then again, he didn't think he'd ever met anyone with a chauffer either. Zukos's butler was really old, though not as old as his grandpa Bumi. He didn't think there's anyone alive that was as old as his grandpa. The butler looked kind and smart, and he seemed like a gentle kind of person.

"Stop calling me young master, Piandao." [1] Aang looked at the Prince, surprised at the almost loving way Zuko talked to his butler. It was a lot different from the way he talked to Shu. He was never rude to Shu, but he wasn't warm to the chauffer either. He was going to turn his attention back onto the butler, but was distracted by the chandelier. It was beautiful too, just like the door. He looked around to see what else was beautiful in this place and barely kept his mouth closed. The foyer was amazing. It wasn't all that big, at least not as big as what he imagined mansions to be like, but it was beautifully done. Directly in front of them was another wooden double door (much smaller than the front door), with staircases winding on each side of it and a balcony on top. There were identical double doors to their left and right, windows as big as the front door with red velvety curtains all around the area, and paintings interspersed in between them. The granite floor was littered with sculptures and vases and all sorts of other artworks. [2]

"Hell, young master Shikamaru." Aang's attention was brought back to his companions when Piandao greeted Shikamaru, ignoring Zuko's reprimand.

"Hey, Piandao," Shikamaru replied with a small wave.

"And who is this young man?" Piandao asked when he saw Aang.

"This is our classmate, Aang," Zuko said. The butler looked back at him with a raised eyebrow. Zuko fought down a blush. Even if Piandao was their butler, he wasn't just a butler to Zuko. He had been the one to raise him and he considered him (Piandao) part of the family. He was the one, aside from uncle Iroh, who understood him (Zuko) best. He didn't know how to answer Piandao's silent question so he simply averted his gaze, choosing to look at the vase to the side instead. He elbowed Shikamaru (again) when he dared to snicker.

"It is nice to meet you, young master Aang. Welcome to young master Zuko's home," Piandao said as he turned his attention back on the newcomer with a smile.

"Aang and Shika will be having dinner here," Zuko told Piandao when he felt safe enough that he was no longer blushing.

"I will inform cook."

"Is my father home?"

"No, but mistress Azula was in the library earlier."

Zuko nodded, before walking forward towards the left staircase. Shikamaru nudged Aang to follow. Piandao gazed at the backs of the young masters. He knew that Aang wasn't just a classmate. In all his years (and it's quite a number of years), no one from the Ozai family brought someone who was just a classmate home. Classmates and even girlfriends were brought to the apartment near the school. The Ozai mansion was for family and close family friends only. He almost doubted that Aang was really a classmate, because he looked too young, but he knew Zuko wouldn't lie to him. Even when the boy did lie, he could smell it a mile away. Who was this boy that makes the young master blush?

Piandao's thoughts were stopped when Shu stepped beside him. "Don't overthink, old man, or you might just keel over and die."

"In your dreams, Shu," he replied without taking his eyes from the three boys. He was mid-way to turning back around to the front door when Shu's hand landed on his shoulder.

"What?" The chauffer merely nodded in the direction of the three boys. Piandao wasn't left wondering what was going on for long, because shouting suddenly erupted from the young master Zuko and his new friend Aang. Piandao turned back around to watch them, and was surprised when Shikamaru actually shouted.

"You lovebirds better stop arguing or I'm telling Piandao what I caught the two of you doing yesterday!" he said as he held them apart to prevent them from hitting each other. In truth, he wasn't really afraid of them fighting if it would result in punching, but their very short history (which began just yesterday) of fighting usually ended up with kissing. And that was not a good idea for Zuko in this house.

Piandao tossed his head back and laughed heartily at the mortified looks on both Zuko's and Aang's faces. Shu would've laughed too, but he didn't think the young master would forgive him as he would the butler. Zuko took the opportunity to grab Shika and Aang's wrist and dragged them the rest of the way up the stairs.

They stopped at the top of the stairs when Piandao spoke again. "Whatever it was you were doing, young master, rest assured that I would find out eventually."

Zuko groaned. It's going to be a hellish next few weeks, that was for sure.


To Be Continued



I didn't get to the dinner part. O.o Sorry if I always make them argue. I can't make Aang just obedient to Zuko's bossiness. That wouldn't be exciting at all. Haha Looks like this fic is going to be longer than I intended (because I only really wanted it to go up to ten chapters), but it's fun. Or at least I'm having fun, I hope you guys are too. :)

[1] Piandao is the old man that taught Sokka how to fight with a sword. :)
[2] I hope I described the foyer well without making all you guys dizzy with all the words. Haha :)

Replies to reviews: Thank you, thank you to those of you who reviewed! To answer some points: [a] Yes, this is the same Shikamaru as in Naruto, though he's getting to be a bit OOC. :) [b] I intentionally made Zuko a bit pushy or bossy, because I think he's hotter that way. Haha Plus, one of our lecturers (who's a psychologist) said that boys who are overly bossy or overly flirty have one major need that they want to fulfill which is the need to be loved. :D [c] And, upon much thought, I agree that bad-ass Aang needs to come back. Haha Though, I haven't yet thought of how to do that.

Anyway, please keep on being awesome by reviewing again. :D