Day 10: Spin the Bottle

Rated K

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender

Thirteen-year-old Katara couldn't help but smile. Her crush was here. At her brother's birthday party that their parents allowed them to host while they were out. Lucky for her, Sokka had invited him much to her excitement. Originally her brother had argued with their parents about why Katara had to be there, but they would not allow him alone in the house with his friends.

Suki, Toph, Zuko, Aang, Sokka and her all sat in the circle on the floor of their parent's finished basement. Katara embarrassingly sucked her teeth in when she realized her large smile was displaying her braces. Suki and Toph giggled at her obvious display of affection for the boy across the room with a scar on the left side of his face. He was a freshman in high school along with Sokka and Suki and was known to have girls crush on him, much to Zuko's oblivious nature. Katara had known him since her and Sokka were little kids and she still hadn't gotten over how she felt about him since then.

They were playing spin the bottle and Katara was having no luck getting Zuko selected when it was her turn. She had kissed Suki twice, Toph once, and unfortunately her brother (which was on the cheek). She was grateful the bottle hadn't landed on Aang. She was aware of his feelings for her and she didn't want to ruin their friendship by leading him on.

After Toph and Sokka had locked lips and it was Katara's turn, she prayed to the spirits that they would give her this one chance. Just this once.

Everything went in slow motion and Katara's breathing picked up. Her eyes widened when they finally-finally-landed on Zuko.

He gave her a forced smile, much to her disappointment but she chose to ignore it, and crawled to the middle, eyes closed, to meet him for a kiss. Katara's heart raced rapidly against her chest and she inhaled deeply as their lips came closer. Just when he met her halfway, only inches apart, the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here!" Sokka announced, jumping up and just then, Zuko turned his head.

"Sweet. I haven't eaten all day." Zuko claimed.

When Zuko turned his head, Katara's puckered lips landed in his hair and she gasped from surprise, mouth opening, and strands of his hair caught in her braces and plucked from his head as he jumped up to follow Sokka up the stairs to meet the pizza guy. Katara spit out the strands, gagging in both disgust and embarrassment.

She couldn't face Zuko the rest of the evening. Discomfiture halting any enjoyment she could have had out of the rest of the evening. They had eaten pizza and played a few games on the console but Katara felt defeated. Not only did she miss out on her kiss, but she also made a complete dork of herself in front of her crush and friends. If there was such a thing as a teenage crisis, this was it.

Everyone else gathered to leave. Hugging the siblings' goodbye and wishing Sokka a happy birthday. Katara gave a small smile but couldn't seem to hold it together. Zuko was the last one to leave, and Sokka gestured to walk him out. Katara sighed, slumping on the couch, arms wrapped around the knees bent to her chest, and flicked the button on the remote to the tv, trying to distract herself from the night's events.

"You go ahead, I gotta talk to your sister a bit." Zuko whispered to his friend.

Sokka shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Whatever. See you upstairs."

Katara was startled when Zuko suddenly appeared in front of her. She dropped the remote, fumbling to catch it again, only for it to land on the floor. Zuko slowly reached down to retrieve it, eyes locked on Katara's, and handed her the remote. "I still owe you a kiss, don't I?" He smiled warmly.

Katara's throat went dry and she whimpered as Zuko's lips pressed against hers.