What I did on my Summer Vacation
Chapter 10
Sleepy Beauty
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The normal person would enter their house on a blistering hot day. They would then sit down, most likely turn on the television, grab a cool glass of orange juice from the fridge and crank the AC. Or maybe even go down to the local pool and spend the day either in the water or under an umbrella. Most normal people would find this quite the perfect thing to do on a hot blistering day.
However, on this blistering day you could find a not-so-normal group of girls sitting out on a patio enjoys the suns rays while watching 3 boys play a simple game of basketball. Katara, Suki, Yue and Toph were all outside, Toph listening to music, Yue reading a book while Suki seemed to be dozing and Katara was watching the boys with interest her blue eyes following the orange ball.
Zuko and Sokka had challenged Aang to the game during breakfast and so it was the two boys against the basketball star of the school. Aang could easily take on Zuko and Sokka but he knew their egos were a bit fragile so he let them get a few points in. Katara thought this was all good but she was more considered with that fact that her boyfriend was only wearing shorts.
"Mind if I join you?" a voice asked as the glass door leading onto the patio slid open. Ty Lee was in a bathing suit, sunglasses holding her bangs off her face.
"No problem, pull up a chair." Katara pointed to the stack before returning her attention to the shirtless boys.
"Thanks, Azula, Jet and Mai won't let me near," she sat down, "for obvious reasons."
Katara laughed and offered Ty Lee some of her suntan lotion. While Ty Lee smeared it across her body Katara's interest in the boys shifted to Ty Lee, "Ty Lee…"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Kiss Zuko…it was out of nowhere, you've never said anything about him, you've always gone out with other boys."
Ty Lee took a while to answer as she rubbed the lotion on her skin (or else she gets the hose again), "I guess it was about 3 weeks before the Battle of the Bands. Azula's father had let us go to his summer home for the weekend. So there we were sitting on the beach, a bonfire lighting up the sky while Zuko was being the usual drama queen he is and going on about how he was angry and just kept going on and on…
-
"You think I care?" Zuko yelled at Ty Lee as he paced in front of the fire.
"I think you do."
"You don't know me, so why don't you just mind your own business!" he glared at her before turning away angrily.
"I know you." She said quietly.
"No, you don't," he turned back to her looking frustrated, "You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world Where everything's great all the time."
"Zuko, leave her alone." Mai intervened before Ty Lee could bite back.
Zuko kept going now mocking the girl, "'I'm so pretty, look at me. I can walk on my hands, whoo!'" he does a handstand before falling back to the ground and yelling at her, "Prep freak!"
Ty Lee began to cry while her so-called best friend, Azula, laughed. After the cackle Ty Lee looked at Zuko, her puppy eyes determined, "Yes, I'm a prep freak. Go ahead and laugh all you want," she looked at Azula, "You wanna know why I joined the cheerleading squad?"
"Here we go."
"Do you have any idea what my home life was like, growing up with six sisters who look exactly like me? It was like, I didn't even have my own name! I joined the squad because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. At least, I'm different now. Prep freak is a compliment!
-
"After I said that Zuko looked at me, but he wasn't angry anymore, he looked at me and mouthed 'I'm sorry'." She blushed, "so…I think that's where it happened, I know totally cheesy." She gives her special Miss Universe smile.
"Wow…so…"
"How does Zuko feel about it?" Ty Lee says reading Katara's mind.
"Yes."
"I'm not sure myself," Ty Lee looks at Zuko as he shoots for the basket, the swish of the net followed by his cry of triumph, "We've talked about it…I mean it's not like he's happy about it, he really misses Mai. It is my fault and I'm going to help them get back together in anyway." Zuko looks up to the patio and gives a small wave which Ty Lee returns.
"Ty Lee…you are one prep freak." Katara says, staring at her.
"Thanks."
"Dinner, come now children or else it'll get cold." Joo Dee ushered them to the table where a piping hot dinner sat in the middle.
"Zu-zu do you want some tomato soup?" Azula asked holding the ladle suspended over a bowl.
"Uh…sure." He said reaching for the bowl.
"There you go."
"Azula, there's a lump in it…"
"Oh stop being such a pussy."
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Now I'd like to tell you the current situation.
Exhibit A: Zuko is wearing his favorite shirt; it is a very pale shirt.
Exhibit B: Azula offered him soup, with no strings attached. One would normally say just a kind sisterly act but we all know Azula is not the poster child for perfect sister.
Exhibit C: The soup is a deep, red tomato.
Exhibit D: Azula still needs to repay Zuko for that little quip about her getting a life.
This should be interesting.
-
Zuko slowly lowered his spoon to the bowl, the eyes of Azula, Mai and Jet on him. The spoon encountered the previously mentioned lump. Zuko pressed hard and…
POP!
A balloon cleverly disguised in the soup exploded, sending a wave of red soup towards the table. Everyone was covered in the soup save for Mai, Azula and Jet who hid under the table. Zuko wiped the tomato from his eyes, his face completely covered by the fruit. Toph was the first to speak, "What the hell just happened?" as she spoke a piece of tomato rolled down her nose and with a wet 'plop' fell on her plate.
"Uh…"
"I do believe, you just got pranked." Azula said and putting her napkin down, "I'm finished and am going to bed. Goodnight."
-
After Katara and Toph had cleaned off most of the soup they went to their room, Azula was sleeping in her bed, chest slowly rising and falling.
"She looks human when she's asleep." Katara said getting under her covers. Toph nodded before grabbing her Ipod and tuning out the rest of the world.
Katara took this as a goodnight and put her head to the pillow and was asleep within minutes.
"Katara…hey Katara." Azula's voice whispered the clock on the wall read 3:00 am. Katara didn't answer and neither did Toph. Her two roomies were completely out of it. Azula threw her covers off, and came out of bed still in her camp clothes. She stuck her head out of the room and saw Mai and Jet waiting outside her room.
"Come in." she whispered and the three crept into the room.
"Great Katara picks the top bunk."
"Shut up, it'll be worth it in the end."
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The Next Morning
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Katara yawned and stretched as day's first ray shined through the tall canopies of the forest. Birds twittered from their nests and the grass sparkled with last night's dew. Katara got out of the bed rubbing her eyes, letting the dirt squeeze between her toes. When she looked for the clock and encountered a forest something clicked in her mind.
She was in a forest.
She was in her bed.
She was positive it was Azula.
She was sure that she was lost.
"Maybe if I just go back to bed I'll wake up back in my room."
-
"Hey Aang have you seen Sweetness?"
Aang looked up from his book, "No, why?"
"I haven't seen her all morning and it's not like her to miss breakfast."
"Yeah, you're right."
"I'm gonna go look for her with Bandit." Toph turned around and began walking to the door.
Aang jumped over the couch and followed her, "Do you go anywhere without that horse?"
"Nope!"
"Right."
-
"Katara?"
"Go away. I'm sleeping in."
Katara was still lying in her bed, covers twisted and hair messy. It was odd enough finding her just sitting in the middle of the forest path but the fact that she was in her bed made it even more unreal. Aang had dismounted from Appa and hung his head over Katara's; she moaned and moved her head to hide her face from Aang's.
"Sleeping in?"
"Yes." Her response was slightly muffled by the pillow.
"Well I guess I'll just have to carry you back." He lifted her out of the bed and carried her to Appa. Mounting the horse he and Toph rode back to the camp, Katara sharing with Aang.
After a few minutes of riding her opened her eyes, "Where are we?"
"Riding back to camp." Aang said looking at her, "nice to see you awake Sleeping Beauty."
"Wasn't I asleep in the forest?"
"Yes but I, your handsome Prince, came to find you."
"What am I?" Toph asked sounding mockingly affronted.
"My trusty page."
"Whatever Sir Aang." Toph rode ahead, leaving Aang with Katara sitting in front of him.
She tilted her head back and looked at him, "Well I do believe my Prince deserves a kiss for his work." Aang grinned and leant down to kiss his Princess.
"Funny, some how this touching couple's moment was all my fault." Azula interrupted while she trotted by on Lightning.
"I'm going to get you back Azula, just you wait."
"I'm shivering in my boots."
Mad props to Orzhov for coming up with most of the pranks!
Mmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaad props!
And of course if anybody can guess the line's origin, 'It puts the lotion on it's skin or else it get the hose again' I'll give them a sneak peek into any one of my upcoming fics and a definite say in the pairing.