A/N: Yes, yes. More song-fic-ing here. Come on. It's Homecoming. What did you expect? =P Not to mention I got stalled writing this chapter as I was writing another song-based scene from a far-off chapter. For whatever reason. Anyway. Hope you enjoy the chapter for all that's in it. You may notice that in scenes that include music or literature, I will handle some in plain text to signify that they are physically present in the background of the scene, whereas I will bold them to indicate more an effect that they overplaying a scene, such as a 'musical' montage, etc. Last chapter used the latter technique, this one uses the prior.
What I Learned at SRU
Chapter 21 - Amazing
- Saturday, October 16th, 2010 -
"Wow, Sokka, you're lookin' pretty snazzy tonight!"
Sokka grinned and straightened his tie with smug pride, bragging with eyes closed.
"Why, thank you, Toph. Ya know, I was gonna go with a bow tie at first but then I-..." His eyes popped open, an index finger already up in the air. He glared at the pale, unfocused pupils of the blind girl across the table who had a smile of devil's teeth to greet his gaze. "God, I hate it when you do that," he grumbled in disgust, his finger drooping as a fit of giggles erupted at his expense.
"It's like...It's funny 'cuz she's blind, right?" Haru observed with a half chuckle, seemingly confused by whether or not it was OK to laugh about such a thing.
"Yes," Katara answered, smiling at his own bafflement.
"She's a real troublemaker," Aang picked, grabbing her by the shoulder and pressing her into his own.
"Nobody forget it!" Toph threatened. "Where's the waiter, anyway? I demand more tea."
"You'll get your tea," Jane insisted. "You spoiled brat," she added facetiously.
"I can't help it that I'm rich and thus inherently better than you," Toph arrogantly joked with a perfectly serious demeanor. Jane nailed her in the arm and Toph nailed her neighbor right back.
"Wow," Suki murmured with a mouth half-full from the other side of the table. "This steak turned out better than I expected..."
"Eh," Sokka shrugged. "It's pretty good, but I've had better."
"Oh, really? Aren't we picky?" said Suki with a bemused glance. "Then I guess you're going to have to show me some time this 'better' steak you've had."
"Sounds like a plan." Sokka nodded, taking a moment to admire Suki's oriental white kimono, her hair tangled into a top knot by two wooden sticks.
The cafeteria was packed with well-groomed students, banners, balloons, and flowers. Some mellow jazz filtered throughout the place, but the space set aside for the dance floor was as of yet still unoccupied, as students were consuming their meals and proper music had not yet started.
"Twinkle-Toes, did you eat my cheesecake?" Toph demanded, tapping her spoon against a crumb-riddled dessert plate irritably.
"N-no, of course not!" Aang defended. "You can have mine if you want, though..."
"Toph!" Katara scolded. "You ate your cheesecake while Aang was getting you food!"
"Ohhhhh, right," Toph acknowledged with a sneaky innocence, hand on her cheek.
"See, Johnny?" Jane pointed out, nudging her partner as he chewed on garlic mashed potatoes. "She's a monster. Right?"
His face puffed out, Johnny nodded quickly as he continued to gnash on his food. Toph, spoon still in hand, found her tea cup on its saucer and rattled its inside.
"Hey!" she bellowed. "Can we get a waiter around here? I could use some more tea."
A portly gentleman with a white beard approached from another table.
"My, we have a lively one at this table, hm?" he noticed with a slow, careful tone.
"I'm sorry, Professor Kurosawa," Katara apologized with a nervous smile. "Our friend can get a little, uh...rambunctious."
"I see!" said the elderly man in the coat-tailed suit with a wink. "It's all right. One of life's blessings is its unpredictability."
Toph lifted her tea cup up in the air with both hands and offered a sugary, pleading expression to nowhere in particular.
"Lemon Balm tea. Pretty please, Sir?"
The Professor, who was standing behind her, chuckled heartily.
He sifted through his dining cart and retrieved the proper type of tea. Aang carefully took Toph's cup from her hand and passed behind him to the man, who proceeded to fill it with hot water and an appropriate tea bag.
"Just a hint of mint," Toph advised, twisting her head around.
"Please," Aang added in her stead.
The drink prepared, Professor Kurosawa handed it to Aang, who gently gave it over to his over-eager girlfriend who was rubbing her palms together.
"Thank you," Aang concluded. The man nodded and surveyed their table.
"How is everyone this evening?" his creaky voice inquired. A flurry of positive comments poured from the group. "And the food?" Another volley of enthusiasm. "Good, good. Let me take your empty plates..." The students helped pass along their dirty dishes, which he stacked in the bottom rung of his cart. "Enjoy yourselves," the pudgy man advised with vigor as he rolled his cart away. After stopping by a few more tables, he at last come upon a table near the front of the cafeteria where a familiar set of students sat. The sharp-dressed, neatly combed young man Iroh knew well immediately rose from his seat, his expression bursting with relief, and attacked the professor with a tight hug.
"Good evening, Nephew! You look dashing as always, I see."
"Hi, Uncle. Haha, you're looking handsome, yourself."
"At my age, that takes some work! Ah, hello, ladies!" Iroh waved to the half-empty table of girls "My, my, you are all looking so ravishing tonight." They offered warm smiles and greeted back - save one.
"Hello, Uncle," Azula growled, her fierce eyes fixated on cutting her steak. Her dark hair was brushed thoroughly, running down her back, not a strand out of place. Her lips were glossy and marked the color of blood, her maroon dress was slender and formal, with nothing extravagant. She was dressed more for business than partying.
Mai, sitting beside the girl, shot a quick dagger glare.
"Azula," she advised with a tone that cut like a rusty knife, "Maybe you should eat your food."
"Why do you say that?" Azula grumbled back as Zuko and Iroh caught up with one another.
"You get pretty pissy when you're hungry," Mai observed, arms casually linked across his stomach as she leaned back in her chair. Azula glanced at her untouched plate and her stomach gurgled, as it had been since they'd sat down with their food.
"Mai's right," Ty-Lee agreed cheerfully, seeming to miss the pointed edge of Mai's remark. "You can be pretty grumpy when you don't eat."
"Fine." Azula viciously stabbed her fork into her steak and began to slice a chunk off as Zuko sat back down, receiving a pat on the shoulder from his uncle.
"Is Zuko taking care of himself?" Iroh checked with Mai, clamping his fat hand gently onto her shoulder for a brief moment.
"He's trying," Mai warmly replied. "You know how he is..."
"Is he taking care of you?"
Mai slyly glanced at Zuko and shrugged her head to the side with a smirk.
"He's been doing better than I expected..."
"And what of my niece?" Iroh wondered, glancing at the angry, teeth-grinding girl. She swallowed, her brows furrowed with dissatisfaction.
"This steak is overdone," she huffed, pounding the side of her fist into her sternum.
"Glad to see that you are as well as ever," Iroh coyly noted. "And Ty-Lee?"
"Peachy keen, Mr. Iroh!" the ever-cheerful girl chirped as the man scooped up some dirty dishes.
"Wonderful," he replied. "Does anyone need their coffee refilled?"
After topping everyone's cups off, Iroh noticed Azula's undrinken cup.
"Ah, is the coffee not to your liking, Niece?"
"No. No, it isn't," Azula quipped.
"It's missing your favorite ingredient, isn't it?"
"That's...That doesn't matter," Azula insisted.
Iroh grabbed the jar of honey on his cart and lifted it over Azula's coffee.
"Don't meddle with my coffee, Uncle," Azula pouted - but she didn't rise to stop him as he poured some honey into the cup and stirred it with care.
"There we are." Iroh rubbed Azula's shoulder, disregarding her bad mood. "That should be better."
Azula returned no gratitude but merely sat in her seat with bitter resolve until Iroh bid them farewell. Only after he was out of sight did she pay her coffee any heed.
"What's your problem, Azula?" Zuko demanded, fussing his hands about. "Why did you even come here if you're just going to-...? To act all-...?"
"Like a bitch," Mai finished coldly, staring as Azula finally sipped her coffee.
"Wh-what Mai means," began Ty-Lee, working to pacify the situation, "is that it's...kind of weird that you wanted to see us when you're...w-well, you...are acting...kind of mean."
"Like a bitch," Azula repeated Mai's comment coolly. "I understand. I suppose you make a good point."
"We...we do?" Ty-Lee squeaked awkwardly, baffled.
Azula slurped at her coffee again and continued her reasoning with a patronizing tone that flowed like water.
"Oh, of course, Ty-Lee. I've been acting perfectly ornery this evening. I'm very concerned about the future, you see."
"Oh?" Ty-Lee muttered back, exchanging her nervous glance with an unamused one on Mai.
"While I'm trying to learn how to run a business and clean up the mess our father left us, my brother is insisting on investing his time in petty class politics and textbooks and...and banquets."
"Here it comes," Zuko sighed, shaking his head and starting to eat his garlic string beans.
"Mother is gone and father is...for all intents and purposes, also gone," Azula frigidly informed no one in particular, slicing another piece of steak off. "It stands to reason that one might put their desires on hold to bother concerning themselves with family matters."
"Our father's business is not a family matter to me, Azula," Zuko defied with as calm a voice as he could muster.
"I gathered as much, Brother," spat Azula quickly. "If you insist on partying, and wasting time on mathematics and the arts, and gallavanting about as Class President, far be it from me, your sister, to stop you."
"Far be it," Zuko agreed complacently, continuing to eat his food without incident.
"Incorrigible. You truly are, ZuZu."
"Only for you, Sister."
Azula slammed her fist onto the table, clattering plates and spilling coffee from the edges Mai's nearby cup.
"Precisely," she hissed, rising to her feet with unexpected grace on her high-heels. "Only for me. Fine, then. I'll be outside if any of you decide I'm worth cheering up." As much as one could stomp in heels, Azula marched her way out of the cafeteria, paying no one any heed on her way out.
"You gonna go after her?" Mai dryly inquired.
"Why should I?" he countered irritably, finally letting his frustration ooze out. "I'm not going to let GodZula ruin our Homecoming." Ty-Lee burst into giggles as Zuko finished, "I knew this would happen, by the way. I knew it."
"GodZula! Wooo," Ty-Lee breathed out. "That's a good one, Zuko."
"You were right," groaned Mai. "You were. Guess it's my own fault for putting faith in that crazy girl..."
"Azula's our friend," Ty-Lee proclaimed. "We can't just give up on her because she's having a bad day."
"Ty-Lee," Zuko snapped, "My sister is not having a bad day, she is always like this."
"Yea," Ty-Lee agreed placidly. "That's true..."
Zuko dabbed t his face with his cloth napkin. "I don't even understand why she came if she feels this way."
"Maybe she's feeling lonely," Mai theorized. "She's just too proud to admit it."
"Ohhhh, maybe!"
"Possibly."
"Zuko." Mai wriggled her bony fingers between her boyfriend's and squeezed. "Go talk to your sister."
"Mai," Zuko whined back, "I want to enjoy my Homecoming. Don't you?"
"Just give her one more chance," Mai requested quietly as Ty-Lee scarfed down sweet peas. "For me."
Zuko was rapidly won over by her sly, convining smile and ran his hand across his slicked hair.
"Fine," he gruffly gave in. "One chance." Mai leaned over and kissed him slowly on the cheek, eliciting a bashful smirk - and an "Ahhhwwwww!" from Ty-Lee - before Zuko headed off after his ever-angry sibling.
By the time he got outside, his phone had gone off.
[From: Mai]
[I know how she can be, Zu. But we're all she has left. We can't give up on her. She's slipping these days.]
[Sent: 8:34pm]
By the time Zuko had finished reading the message, he had found the dark-haired young woman leaning against a tree between the side of the Avatar and the The Ring. As he approached, he swore he could hear a sniffle and a deep, quivering sigh.
"Azula?"
An immediate cough belted out from his sister's throat.
"What do you want?" she snapped, lips dripping with ferocity.
"Hey, settle down, Azula," grunted Zuko as he leaned against the tree beside her, facing off in a different direction. "I'm not here to cause trouble."
"Mai sent you," Azula rapidly deduced.
"Er, sh-she did, but...I'm here because she's right - I'm your brother. I'm supposed to...ya know...be...here for you. That sort of thing."
"My, my, how touching."
"You want me to leave? 'Cuz I'll go."
"Oh, stop," Azula grumbled, flicking a dismissive wrist. "You're so touchy, ZuZu."
"Whatever. Azula, hear me out. You came here to have fun. Didn't you?"
Azula's eyes wandered away from his stern stare and she nudged her shoulder up in admittance.
"I suppose..."
"Mai and Ty-Lee are your best friends. You haven't seen them in months. Don't you miss them?"
Azula sighed and rubbed her temples with her thumb and middle finger.
"Don't you miss Father?"
"No," Zuko instantly quipped matter-of-factly. "But Mai and Ty-Lee still treat you with respect."
"That's because they know I deserve it," Azula informed with a prissy pride.
"Christ." Zuko smacked his face with his palm.
"I was...I was joking, Brother!"
"It's hard to tell, Azula."
"Do you honestly think I'm that vain?"
"Sometimes. Yea."
"Hmph. Maybe sometimes I am."
"Azula, I get it."
"What? What do you get?"
Zuko slapped Azula on the arm, and she flinched in surprise.
"I get that you feel like I'm ignoring you."
Azula snorted through her nostrils.
"It's not you, Sister," Zuko went on. "It's Father. His crimes. His business. I want no part of it."
"Zuko, it's childish to walk away. It's our responsibility."
"No, it's your responsibility because you took it. I didn't. It's not our job to fix Father's mistakes."
Zuko could practically hear Azula's teeth grinding in defiance but no words countered his own, so he continued.
"I'm finishing what I started at this school, just like you did. If you aren't going to support me, then fine. I'm still going to finish it."
"This isn't just about Father, this is about me, too, Zuko. You can't stand me."
Zuko laughed, a bit stronger than he had intended.
"You're not wrong there, Azula."
"You see? We've never gotten along. And Mother thought I was a monster, and-"
"She didn't." Zuko pressed a firm hand onto Azula's arm, easing her to jump off the mental track of self-destruction. To his surprise, she obeyed. "You're crazy, Azula," Zuko acknowledged. "I can't stand you most days. But I try to."
Azula pounded her fist into the tree's bark, shaking Zuko's hand off.
"I try to because you're my Sister, and I love you. And Iroh loves you."
"That smelly old man has never loved me..."
"You know that's not true."
Another slammed fist against the tree.
"It sounds like all his patronizing talk is rubbing off on you, ZuZu. The world was infuriating enough with one lecturing Kurosawa. I don't want to hear another word on the subject right now."
Zuko paused and stared into her blizzarding eyes for a moment in the moonlight with his own embering irises.
"Not another word, then, Sister," he conceded, wrapping his arms around her. She resisted at first but eventually gave in, barely patting him on the back in return.
"Are we children again?" she complained. "Honestly..."
"You done with your temper tantrum now?"
"Hmph."
"All right, then. Let's head back inside."
"Ohhhhh God, soooo good!" Toph squealed, ferociously sniffing at Aang's neck like a dog, grabbing at his shoulders haphazardly.
Aang snickered, tickled by the air being snorted onto his neck, and squirmed to push her off.
"What are you wearing?" Toph demanded, resting her head soundly on his arm after one last, long inhalation.
"Axe," Sokka replied boldly. "My idea. All me."
"It was his idea," Aang chuckled. "Looks like it was a good one, right?"
"Sokka," Toph called. "I approve. From now on, you get to choose his deodorant."
"We'll make a man of him for you yet," Sokka advised to Toph, giving Aang a wink. Toph giggled, nuzzling his shoulder with her cheek, but Aang's mood dipped a bit at their exchange.
"Right," he mumbled quietly. "'Cuz I'm not man enough, apparently..."
"Hey," Toph quipped gently, slapping Aang on the waist. "I like my little punching bag, ya know," she informed below the conversation occurring across the table.
"Yea, that's just great - I'm like a little lost puppy dog." A fussy cloud of sarcasm hung over him as he glanced off to the dance floor across the way.
"C'mon, Twink-...Aang." Toph tugged at his shirt, sitting back up straight, her face pointed in his direction with a raised brow. "You know it's not like that."
Aang slurped some of his vegetable soup, seemingly unsure how to respond as the rest of table exploded into laughter at something Katara had said - likely in spite of her brother.
"You're like...-" Aang sighed, scratching his head. "-...a wild tiger. And I'm a stupid, cuddly panda bear."
"So what?" Toph probed before filling her mouth with a slice of steak. "Mmuffhin wawng wiffat."
"I apparently need my roommate to decide what I'm supposed to smell like to make you happy," pouted Aang, gorging on a piece of cheesecake.
"Nooooo," Toph insisted, furiously scratching Aang's stomach as he savored his dessert. "Stop. You smell great all the time. It's just nice that you tried to smell nicer for me tonight. I mean...shit. Doesn't it mean something that I went through everything to pretty up like this for ya?"
Aang took a moment to admire Toph's braids, the way they trickled over her collarbones, playing lazily on the edges of bosoms accented by her tight dress.
"W-well, yea, of course it does," Aang confessed in a mumble. "You look...great."
"I can't see what you look like but you smell great," Toph snickered. "Stop making a fuss. Only person who's opinion should matter is mine. And I say you're golden." She patted him on the knee affectionately as the song being played through the speakers changed.
["~Oh her eyes, her eyes~Make the stars look like they're not shining~"]
"Oh! Ohhhhh! Come on! Come on! Let's go!" Toph stood eagerly, grasping at Aang's arm and tugging impatiently.
["~Her hair, her hair~Falls perfectly without her trying~"]
Aang's face lit up as the lyrics urged him to stare once again at those braids...
"I said let's go!"
"Wh-what?"
"We gotta dance!"
"Oh. OK! Uh, sure!"
["~She's so beautiful~And I tell her every day~"]
"You like this song, Toph?" Katara muttered, baffled. "Seems kinda...outside of...your taste...zone."
"Whatever," Toph huffed. "I'm allowed an exception for my boyfriend, right?"
"I like being an exception," Aang complied as he rose to his feet and kissed Toph's forehead.
["~Yeah I know, I know~When I compliment her she wont believe me~And its so, its so~Sad to think she don't see what I see~"]
"Your shoes, Toph," Katara advised, extending them out to her friend. "Here."
"Nah," Toph latched her fingers between Aang's. "It's hard enough, I won't be able to do shit with those things on."
Since Katara couldn't express her embarrassed amusement at her barefooted friend to her face, she did so to Aang instead, who shrugged, eyes aglow, and waved her off.
["~But every time she asks me 'Do I look okay?'~I say~"]
"You want to dance?" wondered Haru, extending his hand, drawing her attention from behind.
"Sure," Katara agreed, accepting his offer with her gloved hand. Katara grazed her opposing hand along Jane's shoulder in encouragement before she headed off, following her friends to the dance floor.
["~When I see your face~There's not a thing that I would change~"]
Since Sokka and Suki had already been cutting a rug two songs ago, this left only two people at the table.
"So..." Jane muttered, shrugging her bare shoulders. "Good food, right?"
Johnny nodded vigorously, his plate completely clean.
["~'Cause you're amazing~Just the way you are~"]
"Haven't eaten this nice in a long time," Jane reflected, scratching her arm and letting her hand cling to it afterward. Her arms and shoulders were bare and cold. She could feel her cheeks heating up as Johnny's gandering eyes scanned her uncomfortable face with a subtle pleasure.
["~And when you smile~The whole world stops and stares for awhile~"]
A small, bashful smile involuntarily formed on Jane's face.
"What?" she mumbled, taken aback but amused all the same.
["~'Cause, girl, you're amazing~Just the way you are~"]
Johnny, dressed in his pale, tan, oversized hand-me-down tux, gripped Jane's dotted shoulders and leaned forward to deliver a slow kiss on her lips.
"Beautiful," he said simply, quietly, un-equivocally in regards to the freckled girl.
["~Her nails, her nails~I could kiss them all day if she'd let me~"]
Smirtch-smitch-smatch-smotch.
"Haha!" Suki managed to push Sokka off, ending his random barrage of kisses on her face.
"I am not letting you kiss me all day," she declared, referencing the background music he was playing off of.
["~Her laugh, her laugh~She hates but I think its so sexy~"]
Katara and Haru, just beside them, were swaying in a tamed, friendly manner, two hands linked, the others on her hip and his shoulder.
"You having a good time, Kat?"
["~She's so beautiful~And I tell her every day~"]
Katara nodded with noble confidence.
"I am, Haru. You?"
"Hey," he shrugged, taking it all in. "Crazy group, good food, I get to dance with a pretty girl...Can't ask for more in an evening, Dude. Am I right?"
["~Oh you know, you know, you know, I'd never ask you to change~"]
Katara grinned and shrugged back.
"I guess not."
["~If perfect's what you're searching for, then just stay the same~"]
"Thanks for asking me to come, Kat."
"Thanks for coming, Haru - and tolerating my insane friends, haha."
["~So don't even bother asking if you look okay~You know I'll say~"]
Toph and Aang rocked to and fro in rhythm with a gentle pace, Toph following Aang's lead, her hands on his shoulders while his hugged her hips. The dance floor was cold underneath her feet, but she didn't care. She sang along with the music, running her hand up Aang's neck, sliding her palm up to his jaw with a tenderness she reserved only for him.
"~When I see your face~"
She ran her palm across his entire face, fingers dancing on his forehead.
"~There's not a thing that I would change~"
She pulled her hand back to his neck and slid it back and forth.
"~'Cause you're amazing~"
She grinned as she she continued to sing, smacking his shoulder gently, bobbing her head down.
"~Just the way you are~"
Aang absorbed the image of her lowered face, cheeks pink, long bangs flopping over her milky eyes.
"~And when you smile~"
Toph pinched Aang's lips, twisting them upwards, causing his reaction to be an amused, self-generated smile. They both giggled.
"~The whole world stops and stares for awhile~"
She flicked her hair from her face to beam a wide smile up at Aang, and he rubbed his thumb on her jawline in return.
"~'Cause, kid, you're amazing~Just the way you are~"
Standing on her bare tip-toes, Toph stole a kiss between lyrics. Aang pulled her in slightly, but Toph detached the lip-lock just enough to continue singing.
"~The way you are~"
As the pair swerved from side to side, Toph prodded Aang's chest with her fingertips to emphasize the words she was singing.
"~The way you are~Twink, you're amazing~Just the way you are~"
Having letting her sing through the chorus, Aang plunged in for another, longer kiss as the tone of the song winded down.
["~When I see your face~There's not a thing that I would change~"]
Jane and Johnny, still at their seats at the table, broke off a kiss that had lasted much longer than Jane was accustomed to. Rather than separating, they remained with arms locked around each other's backs.
["~Cause you're amazing~Just the way you are~"]
Jane buried her face in the musty tan shoulder of Johnny's suit and took a deep breath, soaking in this moment of security, of feeling wanted and desired as Johnny wouldn't let go.
["~And when you smile~The whole world stops and stares for awhile~"]
"I...J-Johnny..." Jane awkwardly fumbled, fidgeting her chin into a more comfortable position. "Ya know...You know that I...-?"
["~Cause girl you're amazing~"]
"I love you, too, JayBee."
["~Just the way you are~"]
A/N: There's some sap for ya. ;P Song lyrics are from Bruno Mars. Homecoming isn't over yet - too much for one chapter. I originally did not want Johnny "Longshot" to ever speak but forgot that he DOES speak on the show, just...once. xD So I decided that it would be fitting if he sticks to the silent treatment but DOES speak once in a while, but only briefly and only to Jane. More general cuteness and Homecoming silliness to come - ya know, in a way that helps us learn more about the characters, I hope. ;)