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"Katara. Katara… Um. Katara?" He lifted the comforter off of her slowly. It was a chilly morning and her body reacted to the robbed warmth, shivering from the shoulders down. She hugged her shoulders and moaned, holding her hand out to him with the palm flat, intending to push him away.
"Hey, I don't mind spending the morning with you," he said. He caught her arm in midair and returned it to her side. "But I have qualifying exams, and your roommate's already left. You gotta wake up so I know you're okay."
She seemed to register this; she unfolded like a damp cash bill, loose strands of hair matted to her forehead and left cheek. Her eyes fluttered but they stayed shut after the display, and he suddenly felt nervous, unsure how she would react to him here. Even in this disoriented, slightly hostile state, he still found her beautiful. Her lips pouted out like dumplings, thick and inviting. Her brows, tweezed and perfected the night before by Suki, stayed perked and inquisitive even in sleep. And her smell… Aang wondered if it was possible for sweat to smell so sweet. Perhaps it was pheromones. He would be lying to say that a platonic night had been simple. But he had pushed through and kept his hands – and other body parts that had occasionally peeked and resettled – to himself.
Katara moaned again now, stretched an arm over her head and then, in a swift and expert movement, pulled the covers back up over her face.
"No…" He smacked his forehead. This was going nowhere. "Okay," he said in defeat. "Okay. You win. I have to leave now. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Aang pushed his arms through the sleeves of his gray blazer and zipped it up. He patted his back pockets out of habit to check for the two essentials – a wallet and a small plastic bison whistle. He pulled the latter out, ready to call to Appa to make it in time for the exam.
When he turned the lock on Katara's door and pulled it open, a dream catcher equipped with feathers and bells jingled and clashed against the door, and Katara sprung up unexpectedly, the springs of the mattress squeaking with the shift. Aang looked over his shoulder to find her staring intently at him with wide eyes.
"You're up," he said cheerfully. He pulled on his earlobe with his free hand, a nervous tick he had yet to outgrow. Aang found he could not meet her face; she perhaps felt vulnerable, waking up without time to prepare herself. He smiled sheepishly at his shoes. "I'm glad you're okay," he said. "I was just about to go."
But if the waterbender felt any apprehension about their morning together, she didn't make it especially obvious. She turned and got out of bed as if she didn't hear him, stumbling a little and holding her head. Aang wondered if she knew she was in her pajama's – a thin tank and blue booty shorts, both that highlighted her assets, so to speak. She pushed her feet in a pair of fuzzy slippers and met his eyes by force.
"Sorry, what?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Did you" – she turned to look at her bed, as if searching for proof – "did you sleep here last night?"
"Yes!" he blurted. "I mean, no, but yes." True, he was an airbender, and in every other situation, he was quick to think on his feet, but he was finding that girls – specifically this girl – had a dampening effect on him. He cursed the upbringing that hadn't prepared him well. "You were really… um, tipsy. And you got into a fight at Rough Rhino's, so I brought you home."
When her eyes widened at his explanation, he added with haste, "But nothing happened. I promise. I didn't drink at all. I was just worried that… you know, something would have happened to you if I just left you alone."
"Where's my roommate?" she wanted to know, still skeptical. "Who let you in here?"
"Suki did, the girl from Kyoshi. But she left around three am to go to the library and finish studying. She said you were snoring too loud for her to sleep anyway." He smiled with the side of his mouth. "I mean, you kind of were. And she let me use her bed. I swear." He bowed with his hands pressed together. "Monk's honor, Katara. It was hard" – she laughed here – "but I'm not… I'm not that kind of guy."
He saw the gears turn in her head, deciding if she should believe him; her eyes glazed over as she dropped her arms, a light blush making its way across both cheeks. She grinned at him. "Thanks," she said, and he couldn't help but notice that she was a little embarrassed. She pulled a robe on, much to his displeasure, and reached forward to hug him. He was stunned, but he returned the gesture quickly enough and hoped it didn't seem too eager.
"That was really nice of you." She held her temple with her fingers and hummed under her breath. "Jeez," she whined. "I'm gonna go grab a coffee." She looked up at him with one eye closed. When he didn't answer, she added quietly, "Did you… um, want to join me?"
"I wish I could," he said, shrugging though his heart was pounding. "But I'm already ten minutes late to the qualifying exams. It looks bad. The new kid skipping on his first week here… so I gotta go. Next time, Katara."
She looked disappointed, but it passed. "Oh, right, right… You better get out of here." She pushed him through the doorframe; he felt content with her hands on his back, and he laughed. "Tell Suki I said good luck," she called after him. When he left, Katara sat on the edge of her mattress for a moment, and then turned her head to check the window. She saw him blow the whistle he had been holding earlier, and out of nowhere, an enormous, fuzzy bison swooped down in front of him. Aang released a blast of air between his feet and spiraled up to the reigns. Katara watched with her mouth open. So that was the bison that had totaled Zuko's car! She shook her head in disbelief, happy through the throbbing in her head. She texted Sokka a good morning and, when he didn't reply right away, she realized she had never got Aang's number.
She remembered the fight, and after fixing a coffee in the suite's kitchen, she considered calling Zuko to check on him. But there was no point, no redeeming factor that would erase their words. She knew it was over and was surprised to find relief instead of heartbreak. Frankly, she didn't care if he was okay or not, and this surprised her.
And the airbender. Did she really believe a college-aged boy had stayed the night in some righteous big brother protective act? Please. But there was no proof he had done otherwise. And Suki wouldn't have left them alone if she didn't trust him, if she hadn't conversed with him at length and knew he was in the clear. Plus, she was dressed. And she had dressed herself if she was wearing her favorite tank and shorts.
No, Aang was okay.
In truth, she was lucky he had come to her rescue. Sokka had disappeared early despite his warnings. And Zuko. She didn't feel like thinking about him now, but the display last night was beyond what she could have ever expected from both him and hs sister. She'd ask Aang for a recap the next time she saw him, because she couldn't remember specifics. Maybe it was true, what everyone said about drinking. You hear the truth and you react to it honestly.
Mai arrived late to work the next morning. In her haste, she had forgotten her security belt, and in effect, the small blades the belt was designed to hold, as well as her ticket book and ID card. When she realized what she had forgotten, all she could do was roll her eyes and shake her head at her absentmindedness.
The head security official, a tightly wound woman named Len Hoa, lent Mai a replacement belt as well as a dirty look. "Don't let this happen again," she said. "I'm letting you off easy because you've never been late to work before. Make it the last time, too, or I'll replace you. There are thousands of clowns waiting for a gig like this." Mai doubted this was true, but she handled it as she handled everything, with quiet reserve and annoyance that was mistaken for respect and shame.
The night before was not a complete blur, but it was, in many ways, a disappointment. She had bought Zuko a sculpture of a turtle-duck, animals that they had tortured and played with throughout their youth. Seeing him with the curvy tan girl had emptied her spirits, though, and she had tossed the gift on the pile in the corner without any words of farewell. All she could mutter to the boy of her dreams was a salty, quiet, "Happy birthday," to which he replied, after a fast and tipsy double-take, "Uh, thanks. Mai, right?"
"Right." But she hadn't been in the mood to continue conversation, completely deflated from the sight of Zuko with another girl – something she had never expected and wasn't sure how to react to.
Instead, she walked home in the cold and retired to her parent's library, skimming through the volumes of government documents and psychology texts from her parents' college days.
Her father was a city official who had recently been demoted; her mother had studied psychiatric drugs extensively but never graduated, staying at home instead to first give birth to Mai and then, years later, her little brother. Mai now had suspicions that her mother bartered in opium and acetaminophens. Her father often drowned his sorrows and failures in strong tonic from the alcohol cabinet. But this night, they were away on holiday to visit relatives up north, and no one stopped Mai from filling glass after glass of Ging's Gin. Loopy and depressed, she had fallen asleep on her father's leather library chair and woken up at 10 am, three hours later than usual, the drool on her chin sticking her to a book.
Now, in her work uniform, Mai slumped over the desk and yawned with her entire mouth. Ty Lee was late to the gym this morning too, and Mai suddenly realized that she had probably went home with the "sock" guy. The thought concerned her. She had seen Azula on her way out with a boy trailing behind her, carrying her gift to her brother. This stung even more; her friends could get boys to do whatever they wanted. She couldn't even get the attention of some awkward, mediocre firebender she had known for most of her life. "What a joke," she muttered now, and tapped her fingers angrily against the counter top.
To her surprise, when the power doors of the gym swished open for the first time since her arrival, it wasn't Ty Lee and it wasn't her anal supervisor. It was Zuko.