Chapter 9: You Are More Special Than You Think
Azula stood in front of her Uncle's home with her friends, Mai and Ty Lee. She waited, annoyed but patiently, for Zuko to come out. Her limo driver honked the horn twice already. She guessed he was still asleep and didn't hear it.
"What's taking him so long?" Ty Lee asked, looking at her nails.
"I don't know," says Azula, turning to the house and walking up to the door. She knocked on it twice and Iroh opened the door soon after.
"Azula! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Iroh snickered.
"Cut the crap, Uncle. Where's Zuko?" Azula rolled her eyes.
"He is already at school, I dropped him off." Iroh said, putting a hand on his belly.
Azula's eye twitched, "Thank you, Uncle."
Azula turned away and walked back to her friends as Iroh closed the door.
"Zuzu seems to already be at school," Azula walked to her limo and got in the back with her friends following behind her.
Zuko sat in Katara's passenger seat, listening to the radio.
"What time are we going to work today?" Katara asked, playing with the radio.
"My Uncle said to come right after school. He said he has a surprise for us or something." Zuko said. He crossed his arms and reclined his chair back a little.
"Hmm…I wonder what his surprise is." Katara said, turning into the school. Katara parked her car in the back of the parking lot of the school. She got out of the car and popped open the trunk so Zuko could get out his guitar. Zuko took it out and closed the trunk.
"Where is a good place to ditch class?" Katara asked, locking her car. She turned and started walking with Zuko towards the school. Zuko thought for a moment.
"Probably either behind the bleachers, behind the cafeteria, or in your car," Zuko commented, "Security usually looks behind the bleachers because that's where most of the kids usually go to smoke. Not much know about the Cafeteria."
Katara nodded and smiled, "We'll do the cafeteria. Let's go get our schedules." Zuko nodded and they both walked into the school. They walked to the office together and waited patiently as other students got their schedules before them. Once their turn, they gave the secretary their names. The secretary hummed their names as she searched through papers looking for their schedules.
"Katara Jun." The secretary handed Katara her schedule.
"And Zuko Yami." She handed Zuko his schedule and waved them off. Once they got out of the office, they compared their schedules.
"We have six classes together." Zuko said, looking at her.
"Lunch too?" Katara asked.
Zuko nodded, "We have first period, which is Drama. Second, which is Music Instrumental. Third, U.S. Government. Fourth, Economics. Fifth, Art. And last, sixth, which is English 4. Lunch is during fifth, but for seventh you have a free period. I, on the other hand, have Chemistry."
"What's a free period?" Katara asked, looking over Zuko's shoulder at her schedule.
"It's where you don't have a class. You could study in the library, or you could go home if you wanted," Zuko frowned, "You can do whatever."
"So I can leave after sixth hour?" Katara asked. Zuko nodded.
"Hmm…I'll pick us up some subs before I come back and pick you up." Katara smiled at him.
"You don't have to come back if you don't want to. I could always ride with my sister." Zuko said, handing her her schedule.
"I don't want you riding with you sister," Katara hugged him, "I don't trust her."
"We haven't even met and you don't trust me?"
Katara pulled away from Zuko and turned to look at Azula.
"Well, that's fine. I don't trust you either." Azula laughed. Mai and Ty Lee were standing behind her. Mai was playing with a Kunai and Ty Lee was playing with her nails.
Zuko turned to Azula, "Katara, this is my sister…Azula."
Katara stared at Azula and Azula glared at her, "Nice to meet you…Katara."
Azula extended her hand. Katara looked down at it than shook it, "Ditto."
Azula turned to Zuko, "Come on Zuko, we need you to carry our books to class."
Zuko sighed, "Azula-"
Katara walked up to Azula, "Oh, how about I help instead?" Katara took Azula's books from her hands and dropped them on Azula's feet. Azula stepped back before the books landed on her feet and snorted at Katara.
"Pick them up," Azula told Katara.
"No." Katara crossed her arms. Zuko looked in between the two and bit his lip.
"I said, pick. Them. Up." Azula formed her hands into fists.
"And, I said, no." Katara said.
Azula swung a punch at Katara. She bent backwards and dodged it.
"You stupid girl!" Azula said.
Katara got into a fighting stance, "Bring it on, Bitch!"
They both glared at each other. Katara's eye's focusing on Azula's weak spots in her stance. Azula stepped back and put her hands up. Mai and Ty Lee go behind Katara and get into a fighting stance as well. Kids started to crowd around and chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Zuko was shoved to the back of all the kids.
"Well, you play fair." Katara said, looking back at Ty Lee and Mai. Ty Lee was first to move. She lunged at Katara, Katara swiftly twirled around her and pushed Ty Lee further back. Mai was next to move. She threw her Kunai at Katara's shoulder - Katara kicked it away and took Ty Lee's arm as she threw a punch at Katara and threw Ty Lee on Mai. They both got thrown back into the lockers.
Katara turned to Azula who quickly started to throw punch after punch at Katara. Katara blocked and dodged each one before quickly jabbing Azula in the shoulder and throat. Azula backed up, holding her throat and coughing.
"You…sneaky little…whore." Azula coughed.
Katara smiled and shrugged, "I'm only here for the boy's entertainment."
Azula jumped on top of Katara. They both fell to the floor, throwing punches and kneeing each other. Katara got off of Azula and grabbed her by the hair, she lifted her up from her hair. Katara wiped some blood from her lip and smirked at Azula as she pulled her hair out.
Azula screamed loudly and held her new bald spot, "You cunt!"
Katara picked the hairs off of her hand, "You know, you have a horrible vocabulary for a fifteen year old." Katara wiped more blood off as she left Azula there crying and screaming.
Zuko got threw the crowd and walked to Katara, "Holy shit!"
Katara smiled at him.
"You're bleeding," Zuko said, putting a hand on her cheek. The crowd dispersed and laughed while walking away.
"I'm fine," Katara smiled. Zuko took Katara's hand, "Come on. We're going to the nurse."
Katara whinned the whole way to the nurse, telling Zuko she was fine, it was just a scratch, etc, etc, etc…
Zuko opened the door to the nurses office and let Katara walk in first before him.
"Ah! Zuko! It's been a while," The nurse walked out from behind the curtain.
She was tall with long black hair, put up in a bun with two long curly strands framing her face, with bright green eyes. She wore red scrubs, had a lot of plastic bracelets on, and she wore black crocs.
"Hey, Mrs. Sato," Zuko said, pushing Katara towards Mrs. Sato.
Katara looked up at Mrs. Sato, "H-Hi."
Mrs. Sato looked down at Katara's lip, "I'm guessing Azula?"
"Yup," Zuko said, leaning his guitar case against the wall, "But, Katara kicked her ass!"
"No Teachers stopped them?" Mrs. Sato said as she walked to a cabinet and got out some cotton balls and some alcohol.
"Nope," Zuko looked at Katara, "She kicked Azula's, Mai's and Ty Lee's ass. It was fucking awesome."
"Watch your language, Zuko," Mrs. Sato said, walking to a bed.
"What's your name?" Mrs. Sato asked, pulling Katara to the bed with the supplies on it.
"Katara Jun," Katara said, laying down on the bed.
Mrs. Sato brought a small chair next to the bed and set the supplies on her lap when she sat down. She patted some alcohol onto the cotton ball, "This might sting."
"I beat Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee…I think I could handle a- HOLY MOTHER OF FUCKING GOD!" Katara turned away from Mrs. Sato and held in her scream.
Mrs. Sato laughed, "Zuko, you choose a brave one."
Katara blushed and laid back down, "Will this hurt again?"
"Yes." Mrs. Sato smiled and dabbed more alcohol onto a new cotton ball.
"Fuck…"
Katara and Zuko walked out of the Nurses office.
"So, shall we go to the back of the cafeteria?" Zuko asked.
"Hey! What are you doing out of class?" A large security guard walked over to them.
"Uhh…We just got out of the Nurse's office. I ran into a pole and got a bloody lip." Katara said, pointing to her lip.
"Now that you're done. Get to class." The security guard said, crossing his arms.
"Okay!" Zuko took Katara's arm and pulled her in the direction of their room.
So, the teens didn't get to skip first period…or second, third, fourth, or fifth. When they got to fifth period, they were surprised to see Azula and Ty Lee sitting in the front. Azula had her hair in a side ponytail to hide the new bald spot, a black and blue throat, and a black eye. Ty Lee had a long cut on her arm, it wasn't that deep, it looked like she might have got it when her and Mai fell into the lockers. Katara waved at them as she passed by them with Zuko walking in front of her.
Ty Lee stuck her tongue out at Katara and Azula looked down. Zuko and Katara took two open seats at an open table in the back. Katara looked up as a hand landed on her table.
"I heard what you did to Azula," the girl had long black hair put into a high ponytail, with two thick braids framing her face. She wore a dark green shirt with a panda skateboarding on it, purple and green skullcandy headphones around her neck with jeans and neon orange converse. She had pale skin with pale green eyes.
"Thanks, I'm Katara," Katara held her hand out.
"I'm Toph," Toph didn't shake her hand, "I'm blind, just to let you know…since you're holding your hand out."
"How did you know?" Katara looked at her hand.
"My other senses are simply to amazing for words," Toph shrugged, "Hey Zuko, haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah, I've been busy working at the tea shop all summer," Zuko said. Toph took a seat in front of Katara and Zuko's table.
"Enough money for the car yet?" Toph asked.
"Almost, just a few hundred more." Zuko said, taking out a sketchpad.
"Nice," Toph nodded, smirking. A teenager about 16 walked into the class and ran to Toph.
"Hey baby!" He sat down next to her and kissed her on the cheek.
The boy had spiky dark brown hair, white skin, beautiful gray eyes with an orange shirt with a blue arrow winding around it, black jeans, and orange crocs. He had a tattoo on his wrist that said 'Just Breathe,' and a tattoo on the back of his neck that said 'Appa and Momo' in cursive. He looked very interesting.
"Katara, this is Aang," Toph said, smiling at him.
Aang looked at Katara and put a hand out, "Toph told me what you did to Azula. I'm happy you did it because I was about to beat the shit out of her!" Katara shook his hand.
"No, you weren't!" Toph laughed.
Aang smiled a toothy grin, "Shut up, Toph."
Toph punched Aang on the shoulder and smiled.
"Ouch," Aang rubbed his shoulder and smiled.
"Class!" A large muscular teacher walked in. He had gray spiky hair, but was bald on top, had a gray beard that disappeared under his lip. He had tan skin with a few age spots on him. He wore a green casual button down shirt with black casual pants, a black belt, and black loafers.
"If you have a sketch pad, great. If you don't, get one from the box in the back." Bumi said.
Toph raised her hand.
"Oh! Hello Toph! How are you?"
"Fine Mr. Bumi. Since I am blind, I do not think I can draw. Am I correct?" Toph said, dumbly.
"You're drawing. Don't use your blindness as a way to get out of this."
The class laughed as they got up and got their sketch pads from the back of the class.
"Now! Today we will be drawing something for the holiday season!" Bumi snorted.
"What holiday season?" Ty Lee asked.
"The season of coming back to school! Or you can draw something you liked about the summer!" Bumi smiled.
Katara opened her pad and stared at the first blank sheet. Well, she didn't have anything to be thankful for in the school…except her new friends. And the only thing she had to be thankful for during the summer was meeting Zuko…She smiled as she knew what to draw
The teens were drawing what Mr. Bumi assigned them to draw. Toph was done with hers, Aang was working hard on his (with his tongue sticking out the whole time), Zuko was trying to sneak a peek at Katara's but she kept moving his face away from hers, and Katara working her heart out on this.
"What are you drawing, Katara?" Toph asked.
"You'll see," Katara said, pushing Zuko's face away again.
Toph turned her head toward her and waved her hand in front of her face.
Katara laughed, "Sorry." Katara whispered what she was drawing into Toph's ear.
"Alright. We have fifteen minutes left of class. How about we present what we've drawn?" Bumi said, getting up from his desk and walking to the front of the class.
"Oh! Yes! That would be wonderful Mr. Bumi!" Ty Lee smiled, clasping her hands together.
"Well, since you're so enthusiastic about it, why don't you go first Ty Lee?" Bumi said, a little annoyed.
Ty Lee frowned and got up, she walked to the front of the class with her drawing. Ty Lee held up the picture, it was a Pink Dodge Charger that had two black stripes going across the top of the car. The drawing generally fucked ass, Katara laughed. As did Azula. Ty Lee glared at Azula as she explained why she drew this.
"This is my baby! Her name is TyTy Junior! My daddy bought if for me since I caught him and our maid having sex in the pool." Ty Lee giggled as Bumi face palmed himself.
"That was," Bumi sighed, "wonderful Ty Lee. Anyone else?"
The class went on to tell about their drawing. Some of the kids were excellent drawers, others just made stick figures.
It was Toph's turn. She walked up and showed everyone her drawing. It was a perfect circle.
"My boyfriend taught me how to do this over the summer. I'm thankful for my blindness because I can do this and still be impressive!"
Only a few people laughed, Katara guessed it's the people that actually knew Toph.
Next was Zuko. He drew the sign for the airport. Katara blushed, she knew instantly what it was.
"Uh - the reason I drew this is because I met someone amazing over the summer. She is truly a wondrous sight. She isn't my girlfriend…but I wish she was…" Zuko looked down blushing before looking up at Katara.
Zuko sat down next to Katara as Bumi called her up. Katara stood in front of the class, very nervous. She really didn't know why. She's been in front of crowds before. Why does it bother her now?
Katara held up her drawing. It was a portrait of Zuko.
"Well…ummm…I'm…embarrassed. Uhh, this is Zuko. I met him during the summer," She looked down at her drawing, "He's quite a unique specimen. You don't fine someone like this anywhere. And, well…I'm working at the tea shop with him and his uncle. I'm happy I met him because…"
Katara thought for a moment and looked up at Zuko, "I'm happy I met him because he likes me for my weird corks, my annoying singing, and my messy hair…"
Zuko and Katara stared at each other before Toph said, "Time to FAP!"
The class laughed and Katara walked back to her seat.
Aang got up next. It was a drawing of one of his tattoo's and something else. The first one said 'Appa and Momo,' which was the tattoo on the back of his neck and the other one said 'One Step At A Time. 7-11-12."
"These are the two tattoo's I got in my brother and nephews memory. They died in a plane crash coming to visit me on July Eleventh. Me and my brother were very close. His name was Appa, his sons name was Momo. The Appa and Momo one I have on the back of my neck. The other one I have on my right foot." Aang looked down.
"Aang…you were suppose to draw something happy that happen this summer." Bumi said, a little sad. Bumi knew Aang outside of school, his father and himself are very close. He heard what happened with Appa and visited Aang a lot over the summer to make sure he was okay.
"Oh…was I?" Aang asked, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah," Bumi sighed.
"Oops." Aang laughed and walked back to his seat. Toph gave him a hug.
