Chapter 7: Crash Course


"You and me, Ramon." Zuko said, staring down the Latino gangster while holding a loaded gun in his hand. "Right here, right now. Let's settle this."

Ramon smirked and positioned his finger in his own pistol. The hot desert air surrounded the two. A ball of tumbleweed rolled across them, almost serving as a go signal for their duel to begin. The two circled for a few moments before Ramon took a shot.

Bang!

Zuko dodged, did a somersault on the ground and fired his gun at Ramon. The gangster clutched his chest, filling his hand with blood. He shot Zuko another smirk before falling to the ground dead. Zuko stood up, blew the smoke away from his gun. Zuko glared at the corpse before walking away without turning back.

"CUT!" screamed a man's voice. A few seconds later, two people surrounded Zuko, bringing him a towel and a bottle of water.

"That's a wrap, people!" the director screamed again before telling the cameraman to stop rolling.

"Zuko, that was great!" he said, approaching the star. "Awesome job today. But hey, don't forget, we have another taping to go tomorrow. Last one. Man, this is going to be big! This movie's going to win so many awards that I'll have to build another house just to have a place to display them!"

Zuko nodded before walking away from the set. He went back to his dressing room and lay down on the couch. It wasn't enough that he was exhausted from the taping. He also lacked sleep. Even though he got home fairly early the previous night, he was awake until two o'clock in the morning thinking about Katara. He took pride in the fact that he got her to be civil with him. It meant that he finally broke that wall that she put up to block him. Even if it was just a teeny tiny crack on the top of that concrete wall, it was still something. On the car ride home the previous night, he immediately called his uncle to talk to him about officially hiring Katara. His uncle said that he did see great potential in her and that she was sure to be on the payroll within the week. Now, Zuko just had to wait for the right time to strike the wall again.

Because of his exhaustion, he started to nod off. He was already snoring when loud knocks on his door woke him up.

"Who is it?" Zuko asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"It's Jet." his friend replied from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

Jet entered, pulled a nearby chair next to the couch and sat down.

"What's up?" Zuko asked

"Nothing. Just bored. I came in early."

"Really? How is that possible?"

"I thought my call time was now. As it turns out, it's still in the afternoon. I was too lazy to drive back home so here I am. How about you?"

"Just finished taping. Really, really, really tired."

"Seriously? Tapings usually don't make you this tired."

"Well, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

"Oh really?" Jet said, raising his eyebrow and elbowing his friend. "Who's the lady and was she hot?"

"It's not what you think." Zuko said, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was really not in the mood to be taunted by his friend right now. "Yes, there was a lady and she is very hot."

"So how come it's not what I think it is?"

"Nothing happened. We just had a couple of beers and that was it."

"So in short, it was a sex-less date?"

"According to her, it wasn't even a date."

"Were you two alone?"

"Yes."

"Did you talk about personal stuff?"

"Sort of."

"Did you hit on her?"

"Of course."

"Did you buy her stuff or pay for stuff?"

"You have no idea."

"Then it's a date! Why did she say it wasn't?"

"Because she sort of doesn't like me… Not yet, anyway."

"Wow. Met your match huh?"

"Believe me, I think she's more hard-headed than I am."

"Interesting… Who is this girl anyway?"

"Katara, that girl we met before in Jenamite."

"Oh, that hot Water Tribe girl? Uhh… Katara, was it?"

"Yeah… her…"

Zuko smiled at the mention of Katara's name. It was amazing how he was so attracted to her last night even if she was just wearing sweats. He was even more attracted to her when she wore her glasses. That was one of the things he liked most about her. She was actually smart – and not just I-know-useless-trivia type of smart.

"So… this is pretty awkward…" Jet said, loosening the collar of his shirt with his finger.

"What is?"

"Now that you and Mai broke up-"

"You heard? Already?"

"Yup. All over the internet, pal. Now is that real or was that just some paparazzi hype?"

"It's a little of both. I broke up with her yesterday and she almost bludgeoned me with a vase but I bet the tabloids are making this a totally big deal about this."

"Ouch…"

"So, what were you saying? Now that me and Mai broke up…?"

"Well… Can I date her? You can say no if you want but believe me, knowing me, it'll only be a one night thing."

"Dude, it's totally okay with me. Besides, all you need to get her to screw you is a platinum Visa and strong arms to carry her shopping bags. My advice: Your funeral, bro."

"S'alright. I'm sure I've had worse. Besides, it's just one night. Thanks."

"Sure…"

Suddenly, another knock interrupted their conversation. When Zuko opened the door, he was met by camera flashes and another set of paparazzi.

Mr. Agni, how are you taking your break-up? Will this affect your performance in your new movie? Will you be dating soon or are you already dating someone?

With a frustrated groan, he slammed the door in their faces and jammed it with a chair.

"Dude, how do they keep getting past security?" Zuko said.

"I don't know." Jet said, opening a window. "No time to think about that now. We gotta move!"

Just then, the reporters forced the door open. Jet stepped out the window and onto the flower beds outside. Zuko followed him and shut the window from outside before the paparazzi caught up with him. Then, he ran back inside the studio from another entrance and tried to lose the reporters by getting them lost in the maze-like building.


My God… this is what I get for forgetting to set my alarm! Katara scolded herself internally as she ran through the studio halls, carrying a stack of papers in her arms.

She accidentally overslept and as a result, she was late for work. Just her luck, she had a pile of papers on her desk with a note that said "Has to be sent to the actors by 11 AM." Right now, it was already ten minutes to eleven and she was just starting to deliver the scripts. Tucking away strands of hair away from her face, she read the next name on her list of actors.

"Okay, next stop – Azula Agni." she said to herself, running to the set of As The Fire Burns.

Before she turned a corner, she thought she saw two men running followed by a stampede of paparazzi that was quickly catching up with them.

Huh? Was that Zuko and his friend? Katara thought, stopping to breathe for a few seconds. Nah, it can't be. Don't they have bodyguards that protect them from reporters? Oh well…

Shrugging, she continued running to the gradually darkening hallway.

Okay, I can do this. If I can get this done by eleven, maybe I'll be a step closer to that payroll. Oh! There! I can see the lights of the set! I'll just turn another corner and-

BAM!


"Hurry up, Zuko!" Jet panted.

"Can you chill? They're way behind us." Zuko said, stopping and leaning on the wall to catch his breath. "My god, I need more exercise."

"Look, I know they got lost but these reporters have a way of popping up when you least expect them to. Exhibit A: this situation."

Just then, they heard more footsteps a few meters behind them. A reporter spotted them and called everyone else's attention.

"There they are!"

Zuko and Jet exchanged a look of panic and started running again. They reached the end of the corridor which had two paths, one going to the left and the other going to the right.

"This way!" They said, each of them pointing in a different direction.

Unknowingly, they ran separate paths until they couldn't hear the reporters anymore. Zuko stopped running leaned against a wall. He now realized that he was at the set of his sister's soap opera, As The Fire Burns. Just when he caught his breath, he heard footsteps again and turned a corner. He was looking back, trying to check if the paparazzi was back on his heels when-

BAM!


Papers flew everywhere and a big thud was heard as the two collided. Zuko landed on top of Katara and they were both covered in sheets of scripts. They both shook their heads in an attempt to get their minds on right track again.

"Oh my God, I am so-" Katara started to say, holding her forehead in pain

"Hey, watch where you're-" Zuko said, holding himself up on his knees and hands.

They both stopped talking when they realized who they were talking to.

"You!" Katara screamed, her face becoming red again. "What are you doing on top of me?"

"It was an accident! I didn't know you were coming and-"

They were interrupted by flashes, clicks and microphones.

"Smile!" a reported said, focusing his camera on the two.

Zuko and Katara looked each other in panic. Jet was right. The paparazzi did have a talent for popping out when you least expect them to. Unfortunately, they caught Zuko and Katara in a very compromising position and in a few hours they would become the talk of the town.


Author's Note:

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ultimate cliffhanger

So anyway, this ends my Christmas vacation update time I don't know when I'll be able to post a new chapter again but I don't think it'll be too long.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all in advance a Happy Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of the characters in it.

So yeah, hope you liked it! R&R please!