Don't own Avatar The Last Airbender, never have never will.
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It was the first Saturday in long time that she hadn't gotten dragged to some stupid function where her family had made plans with some ambassador to discuss Sozin Corp. It had been even longer since she hadn't had go practice with her private fencing tutor in on a Saturday. She didn't even remember the last time she woke up in her own bed on a Saturday morning. How was Mai Kwan spending her Saturday? Babysitting her accident brat of a brother named Tom Tom because her parents had decided to go on vacation and not take her or Tom Tom with.
Mai was sitting on the floor flipping through the new issue of AP Press trying to block out whatever show Tom Tom was watching on the shiny flat screen tv when the door bell rang. Tom Tom who had been all but glued to the screen upon hearing the doorbell ring turned his head away from PBS and his eyes started to well up with tears. Mai held her breath silently praying that what she thought was about to happen wouldn't. It did. Tom Tom burst into loud, messy tears and it only got worse when the doorbell rang a second time. She rolled her grey eyes and scooped the screaming child up. An annoyed sounding knock banged on the door. "I'm coming!" she yelled and hoped to God it wasn't a salesman. She didn't feel like dealing with cheesy smiles and bad suits at the moment.
When she opened the door it was in fact not a salesman but Azula and Ty Lee dressed like they just walked out of Dante's were standing in her doorway. "What are you guys doing here? I told you I can't do anything this weekend so no I'm not going out to Dante's or shopping."
"Oh calm down Mai, I'm not here to force a social life down your skinny throat. I have some information you might find interesting," Azula said pushing past the taller girl and her rather upset younger brother. "And can you get him to stop that? It's really annoying." Azula was now carelessly tossing her red leather jacket over one of the white suede armchairs in the Kwan's large living room earning a glare from Mai. Most of the time Mai put up with the things Azula said and did but there were times when she felt it wouldn't hurt Azula to be backhanded across the face. Now was one of those times.
"I can't exactly switch him off Azula. And take off your boots, my mom will have an aneurysm if she finds any dirt on the carpet," Mai said as Ty Lee took Tom Tom from her. Ty Lee kicked off her glittery pink ballet flats while Azula just sank into one of the armchairs and swung her stiletto heeled feet over one of the arms. Tom Tom meanwhile had ceased his crying while Ty Lee proceeded to make faces at him on the white couch. "There now that it's quieter we can discuss some important matters at hand," Azula said.
Mai groaned, usually when Azula said that it meant she was planning on terrorizing some of the freshmen from Central or the Districts. Recently that just didn't sound as appealing as it used to. Mai tried to ignore the fact that it was probably because she had noticed Zuko hanging out with kids from those areas. "I don't feel like making Central kids cry today Azula. It's the first weekend where I don't have to do anything so I was planning on keeping it that way."
Mai was about to tell Azula to get out when Azula snapped, "What is it with you lately? You've been more depressing than usual and I get that Zuko getting kicked out upset you, but you've got to get over him Mai. Really he's nothing special."
Mai's grey eyes narrowed at Azula who chuckled, "Ooh did I strike a nerve? Have finally understood what emotions are?"
With that Tom Tom started crying again and Azula shot him a glare and then said "Ty Lee you already know my proposal so why don't you take the little brat upstairs so Mai and I can discuss." Ty Lee quietly did what Azula said and walked down the hall and up the stairs to Mai's room but the last thing she heard was Mai say, "If you want my help with whatever it is you're planning you're going about it all wrong. Now why the hell did you come here Azula."
Tom Tom kept screaming as Ty Lee plunked him down on Mai's charcoal gray bed. "Oh Tommy boy it's okay, 'Zula and Mai are just having a grown-up talk and those are boring so why don't we play with..." Ty Lee trailed off as she looked around the room for something that might interest the two year old but came up blank considering that's exactly what Mai's room was. Blank. Ty Lee had only been in her friend's room a few time since they became friends in first grade and not much had changed. Same stark white walls and carpet, one dresser, a closet in the corner of the room and a black nightstand next to the full size bed. Nothing that would indicate that Mai had an interest in anything what so ever. However Ty Lee knew for a fact that Mai had a stash of fancy knives hidden in a "memory box" under her bed which she had bought off of ebay. Her collection of AP Press also was hidden under the bed.
Ty Lee didn't need an explanation as to why this stuff was hidden. Mai had uber strict parents who definitely wouldn't approve of their daughter's fascination with daggers and other pointy things. They had been trying to enlist Mai in cotillion groups and pagents since she could walk and Ty Lee had seen the embarrassing pics and on more than one occasion had threatened to put them up on facebook. But for the first time Ty Lee felt bad for her friend. Mai had such a controlled life, her parents expecting nothing but excellence in school and fencing and Azula who let's face just expected a lot from everyone. She seriously didn't have a time where she could just be free.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when she realized things were quiet, too quiet. Tom Tom had waddled over to the door and was trying to reach the door knob. Thinking that Azula must have finished up by now Ty Lee opened the door and the two walked out of the room and headed back down the stairs. They walked back into the room only to see that neither of the girls had moved from their spots both with serious looks on their faces.
"And if I refuse?" was all Ty Lee heard Mai say. To say the cheerleader was shocked was an understatement. No body ever refused Azula, ever. It just wasn't done.
If Azula was amazed at all by Mai's statement she kept it well hidden. "I wouldn't advise it," was all she said while looking Mai straight in her grey eyes. Mai's face stayed even, "I'm not going to help you this time Azula."
Mai saw Azula's eye twitch for a brief second before the heiress regained her composure. "Alright, if that's the way you want it I won't force you. Come on Ty Lee, lets leave Mai to her lonely day now shall we?" Ty Lee's expression was covered in confusion but she rose from her spot and gave Tom Tom back to his sister. As the two girls were almost out the door Azula spun on her heel and said, "Oh but if you mention any of this to my brother I will make sure you suffer the same fate as him."
"Get out," Mai snarled. Azula smiled, "Just so we're clear Mai." Then she turned back around and walked out the door Ty Lee had opened. Ty Lee looked as if she wanted to say something to Mai but couldn't get the words out before Azula barked, "Let's go Ty Lee."
Ty Lee gave Mai an apologetic glance before following Azula out the door. Mai looked at Tom Tom who just stared back at her with wide eyes. Mai sighed, "And I thought this was going to be a relaxing day."
She put Tom Tom back down in front of the tv where his life seemed to continue on undisturbed. Mai sat down on the couch and scrolled through the few contacts looking for Zuko's number. It didn't take long, Mai didn't like talking to many people so naturally she didn't have a lot of numbers. She stared at Zuko's number for a few seconds, to text or not to text? She looked at her little brother and thought of her family. This was all so complicated now. Truth be told she didn't care about the other kids' fates, mainly just Zuko's. So what if that made her a horrible person, at least she was honest. But she couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt which made her groan in disgust. She lay down on the soft couch cushion and momentarily considered throwing the decorative knife on glossy side table into the wall across from her but it wouldn't be worth the lecture she would get from her parents later. Staring blankly up at the equally blank white ceiling Mai knew only one thought for sure; she had just realized how much she hated Azula.
~~Monday~~
"And once again I've managed to kick your sorry butt Sokka," Suki said to an angry looking Sokka who was lying flat on his back. She offered him a friendly smile and a hand which he took. Then a sly smile crossed his face, "Oh I don't think so. Not yet anyway." He pulled her down, something Suki later scolded herself for not anticipating. She fell laying on her stomach next to Sokka who was smiling that goofy smile of his.
Suki couldn't help but laugh a little, "That was a jerk-move!"
Sokka grinned even wider, "I know, but it was totally worth it." Suki rolled over onto her back and stared up the ceiling. "I guess we better get going soon. It's getting late," she said even though leaving was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
A new curfew had been set in the city due to "youngsters becoming rebellious." Suki had a feeling that youngsters meant the kids at Element Private who were deciding to break the social rules. It wasn't just her little group anymore, other students had started doing the unthinkable whether it be big or small. For example there were rumors going around that Hahn had been trying to ask out Jin for a couple weeks now but that was only a rumor. What was true was that Raun Jian of all people had stopped a fight where a few kids from Ember had a Terra girl, Meng, cornered. That was something that never happened. So the city decided in order to make sure these actions didn't carry out any further an eight o'clock curfew had been installed.
"I dunno, we could stay a little while longer I think," Sokka said placing his hands behind his head. Suki looked at her companion's carefree smile and wondered out loud, "Why are you like that?"
"Like what?" Sokka asked turning his head to look at her.
"How can you be so relaxed about stuff. It's like you just float or something. How do you do it?" Suki asked. A couple months ago she never would have asked that question but she and Sokka had grown pretty close since then. She even considered him her best friend along with Jet.
"Lots of swimming lessons," Sokka replied resulting in Suki giving him a playful punch to the abs. "I'm serious!" she said while trying to hold back a few laughs. Sokka let out something that sounded like a cross between a laugh and a sigh. "I don't know, I guess I just figured that there's too much serious and not fun stuff going on here so why not try and crack a few jokes or just roll with things."
"Well sometimes just rolling with things isn't the best idea right? I mean someone's got to take a stand sometimes," Suki said.
"Whoa, heavy much Suki? What's up?" Sokka asked while sitting up. Suki remained on the ground, "I'm sorry, it's just the new curfew's been bothering me lately. All the stupid rules this place has has been bothering me. I'm sick of it, I should be able to hang out with the people I want to hang out with. It shouldn't be up to the city or the Raiders on who that is. I mean, all Yue even did was just help a kid try to figure out how to get home is that so bad?" Suki regretted her last sentence when she saw Sokka's face drop. "Sokka I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories," she said rolling onto her side.
"No, it's okay I was real angry too but then I thought at least she went down fighting for something important. I still hate that she died that way but I guess I'm okay with it now. Y'know it had been about a week since I had thought about her? Does that make me a horrible person? I mean she hasn't even been dead for a half a year yet and I'm already not thinking about her," Sokka said. It was the most serious thing he had said to her since their conversation about their moms a couple months ago.
Suki sat up and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, "No it doesn't make you a horrible person. Anyone who knows you Sokka knows how much Yue meant to you and that should be all they need to know. It doesn't matter how long you grieved for her, what matters is what you feel."
"Yeah, and what if I've decided I like someone now? What about that?" Sokka asked, his tone wasn't angry, just curious. Suki was a bit taken aback by his question though, "No, that doesn't make you horrible either. Yue wouldn't have wanted you to be sad forever Sokka. She's probably even happy you've found someone else." Suki was trying to figure out who it could be, "Do you mind if I ask who it is?"
Finally Sokka smiled a half smile, "You know her real well" Suki tried to think of the girls she knew, there were the girls on her volleyball team but they were all from Terra and she didn't think Sokka knew any of them. There was Smellerbee and Jun but those both seemed ridiculous. Lastly there was Toph who could be possible she guessed but that didn't seem right either. "Um Toph?"
Sokka burst out laughing, "You know Suki for an honors student you can be kind of dumb sometimes." He choked out inbetween laughs.
"Come on! Be serious! Who is she?" she demanded while grinning. Finally Sokka stopped laughing, "Well um, you see, she's kind of um, you."
Suki was speechless. Of course she liked Sokka, a lot in fact but it couldn't possibly be her. It would never work, they'd only be able to see each other at school and who knows how long that would even last considering how ridiculous the city was being now. She spoke very calmly, "Sokka I said seriously."
"I wasserious. I like you Suki," he said and Suki just realized how close his face actually was to hers. "It'd be dangerous," was all she said leaning her forehead against his. "I'm not scared are you?" he said softly. Lots of things were running through Suki's head, all the consequences that could happen, how they would make it work, how sad she would be if it didn't work. Then Suki thought something, she didn't care. She leaned in and captured Sokka's lips. It was a small kiss and when Suki pulled away she said, "Nope. Not scared at all."
"Good," Sokka leaned in to kiss her again only to stumble. Suki had stood up, "Oh no. You have to work for your next one Sokka Kuruk." She had taken a battle stance they had learned earlier next week. Sokka groaned, "You are really going to tire me out aren't you?" He stood up and also took his stance. Suki just smirked, "You'll just have to keep up then."
~~The Next Morning~~
"So let me get this straight, you two," Sokka pointed at Zuko and Jet from his spot on the padded floor looking a bit confused, "are suggesting that we," he gestured to all the others in the room, "join this gang but it's not really a gang but we're going to stand up against other gangs?"
Jet looked around to all the confused looking faces in the combat room but said with confidence, "Yeah pretty much." Sokka looked at Zuko and the scarred boy who gave a single nod.
"Well I say hells yeah bitches!" Toph yelled and sprang to her feet with her fists clenched. "Gettin' to smash some stupid Raiders heads in sounds like fun." Toph couldn't have looked more excited than in that moment just like how Aang couldn't have looked more uneasy about the whole idea. "I don't know guys this sounds more like something we should let the police handle don't you think?" he asked.
"Oh aren't they doing a wonderful job? No offense Sokka," Toph said getting a shrug from Sokka, "The police can only handle what's in their jurisdiction Twinkletoes so that means the District cops deal only with District issues and the same goes with Terra and Central but the Ember "cops" cough cough the Raider bastards get the last say in any crime punishment. Someone has gotta kick those guys where the sun don't shine so why not us?"
"Because we'll probably get our butts kicked," Haru said.
"Not to mention probably shot," Suki added which earned a vigorous nod from Aang.
"Or dead," Katara said as she stared off into space.
"So we've got a little bit of work to do. Think about it though; we all mostly know how to fight already or at least throw a decent punch. We 've already started something at this place so why not follow through?" Toph said.
"The Raiders don't just fight hand-to-hand, they use guns and knives too. Last time I checked we don't have guns of those nor do most of us want one," Katara said and most of the Terra kids looked away. Except for Toph who blurted back, "That's where you're wrong Sugar Queen; all of us Terra kids here either have one or know how to get one. My pops has a gun collection in his study."
"We have, well had, a shotgun in the barn. Mainly it's just to scare off stupid kids making crop circles," Haru said sheepishly to the ground.
Katara looked at Jet with worried eyes. "I've never seen 'em but I know the 'ol man's got a pair in the basement." Sneers grunted in confirmation.
Suki spoke softly, "My dad bought one after my mom disappeared. It's never been fired though."
"And you guys could just sneak your dad's gun. There problem solved," Toph said.
"NO! Not problem solved," Aang said standing now. "Listen to you, you sound just like the Raiders. Guns don't make the situation better they actually just make it worse. We haven't been learning combat just to throw it all away by resorting to knives and guns."
"I agree with Aang, if we're truly against the Raiders then we don't stoop to their level. We take it back to old school fighting," Zuko finally chimed in making Aang's worried face brighten a little. "If we're going to do this we have to be smart though. We'll have to quicken our agility, be more aware of our surroundings, and know when to back down." Zuko glanced at Jet when he spoke the last part.
Aang shook his head repeatedly, "I still don't think it's a good idea."
"Look it's an in or out thing. We're not gonna make you do anything you don't wanna do Yangchen. But I know that you want peace just as much the rest of us here. I'm tired of living in segregation. Kids shouldn't be scared of doing something as simple as riding the freaking subway. I'm not saying we go looking for the Raiders but if we see those bastards trying to own this place that's when we take them down. Look at what we've already started, enough kids find out about this we could seriously do some damage and show them that they're not superior," Jet said.
A silence fell over them until a certain short girl asked, "Well that was all inspirational and stuff but we're gonna need a bad-ass name. Did you and Sparky think that far ahead Toothpick?"
That's when everyone found their voice; "The Warriors!" Sokka shouted. "Um no, I was thinking the Rumblers," Toph said. "Oh yeah that's a good way to intimidate the enemy. Let's sound like we just danced off the set of West Side Story while snapping our fingers," Sokka said sarcastically while rolling his eyes. This lead to Toph walking straight up to Sokka so she could look him in the eyes and say, "And your idea was just so much better."
"Oh will you two calm down! It's just a stupid name for God's sake. Anyway, how about the Benders? Since we're going around bending the rules? Huh? Huh?" Haru said trying to sound convincing.
"I've got one," Jet said evenly. All heads turned around to him. Toph placed a hand on her hip and said, "Oh yeah well let's hear it. It can't be as bad as the warriors." Sokka narrowed his eyes at her and grumbled something about annoying freshmen.
The corner of Jet's mouth curled up into a half smile, "The Freedom Fighters."
Whew, wow that took forever! I had writers block I don't know how many times with this one and I'm still not totally satisfied with it. Again my deepest apologies for the wait buut now that it's summer again (yay!) I'm thinking I'll update more regularly especially since I'm getting my own computer soon! ^_^
As always reviews are the bebst way to encourage my muse to write more!