"Ahh, some flickers of the sharp-tongued Azula, again. It's so good to see, that she's still there" Yeah lol, I missed her lol. I couldn't leave her passive and timid for too long. Sassy Azula is still there, she's just buried under insecurities. "She had really needed to get these compliments from him and she will need a lot more, to start to love herself again." Indeed, the girl needs some love and reassurance. She is viewing herself harsher than need be. "You can have countless friends, but if things gets really worse one could be enough, if this one ia a real one, a true one." I firmly agree with this. In my experience, one person and one simple gesture can make a world of difference. Unfortunately, Azula doesn't have as much support as some people would.
"But Zuko has found the solid part of it. Iroh shows him, that he is there for him." But yeah, Zuko has found some silver-lining in Iroh. He's got a tricky path ahead, but he doesn't have to walk it all by himself. "His father had tought him, that all he seems to be capable is to produce failures." Frankly having some success in rehab might just be what it takes to show him that he's not a complete failure. But all the same, heroine has become a terribly unsafe, safety net for him.
"Azula is right now learning this devastating lesson from Ozai and both will only have a chance to break out of these destructive circles, if these lessons could be replaced by positive results and the feelings of trust and support from friends and family." Exactly, the two of them are kind of on the same page in a sense. They both need care and a friend. "I will see, if you will use Teo and Iroh as stones for a bridge over their troubled waters or if these stones are also be useful for you to throw them at the siblings to hurt them even more. Or both of it at time." I have a plan for this, but won't give it away. :P "A great chapter. I like the balance between the downs and ups for both siblings which you have created in here. Keep on having fun with your stories." Thanks, I'm trying to have them kind of parallel each other. Frankly I'm having fun with Katara too, more than I thought I would.

Teo entered his house with a sense of confidence. He had done it, he had asked his first girl out! And it went well! He couldn't wait to share his success with Haru and Long-Shot. And his father while he was at it. It took him a moment to realize that he had forgotten to ask her for her number. He slapped his hand against his forehead, oh well, he would see her in school and could ask her then. He wondered if they would be wearing matching costumes. He never had the chance to do that before. He rifled through his comic books and picked out his favorite. No wonder everyone thought he was such a dork; he was thinking about matching costumes and looking to comic books for inspiration. He couldn't actually imagine that Azula would want to dress as a superhero.

He put the comics aside and gave Haru a call.

.oOo.

Suki was going to be absent again, apparently the baby was giving her an extra tough morning. Katara sent her a get well soon text, riddled with baby emojis, and made her way to the bus stop. The air was getting rather chilly and Katara found herself burrowing further and further into her coat.

The bus was already full by the time it reached her stop, but by this time everyone had pretty much picked a seat and stuck with it. At least that's how it had been for the past month and a half. It would seem that, that morning was going to be a hassle. Jet was occupying her usual spot at the front of the bus with his legs spread as far apart as he possibly could get them.

Katara groaned, she really didn't want to have to sit at the back of the bus where most of the brawling and pencil throwing occurred. But she supposed it was better than finding a spot next to Jet. She shimmied her way towards the back, hoping to find herself a seat in the middle of the bus. They were all occupied. At last she came across a possible spot, one that was only occupied by a single textbook. She was going to have to take a risk. "Is Usha not here today?"

Kori rolled her eyes and plucked an single earbud out. She slightly and with a degree of sass, moved her head forward, a 'hurry up, out with it' gesture. Katara repeated herself. "No, Usha is not here today. Why does it matter to you?"

"I was wondering if I could sit here."

"Um…ew. No." Kori scoffed. "I don't want to get your STD's."

Katara's face flushed and she stomped back towards the front of the bus.

"We can leave whenever you are ready to take a seat." The bus driver tapped impatient fingers on the steering wheel.

Katara approached her somewhat timidly. "Umm…Mrs. Quinn, I can't sit next to Jet."

"I don't see any other spots available."

Katara bit her lip, she knew that her protests had been effectively dismissed.

Jet patted the spot between his lap, "come on over, Kat, what's the problem?"

Katara took a deep breath. "Make room."

"Already have, babe." He smirked. "If that isn't good enough, I'm sure I can fit you on my lap." He winked. "We have a few things that we need to discuss, remember?"

She hated bothering her mother like that, but she gave her a call as the bus pulled away. Frankly, she couldn't believe that Jet had effectively driven her off of the bus like that. Now she was going to be late and the subject of more mockery. "Uggg, what a lame day!" And it hadn't even really begun. She sat forlornly on the bench at the street corner. "Come on mom, pick up, please."

She hadn't thought this one through. Now she was ditching school! She stared at her phone and bit her cheek. She really didn't want to have to pester Suki, she skipped school for a reason and she didn't want to bother Sokka either—not that he was an option; by the time he got there school would be half over. Aang was too young to drive and Toph, not only was she too young, but she was still in the hospital. Frankly, she wasn't even sure what was going on with the girl anymore, she hadn't been keeping in touch with anyone.

No, it looked like she would be walking.

She wanted to scream.

She stood up, accepting defeat. A glance at her clock said that she had only fifteen minutes to complete what was at least a twenty-five minute walk. She should have just tolerated Jet for a few minutes. She was a good seven minutes into her despairing walk when it started to drizzle, she had a feeling that it would be pouring by the time she'd be greeted by black and purple banners of Wan High. Eight minutes in and she had stepped in a puddle, soaking her socks through and through. She was absolutely miserable. She came to the stoplight and checked for traffic. She noticed the window of the car next to her rolling down.

"Can I please have a ride?"

"Just don't get my seats wet."

She climbed inside as the light turned green. Azula didn't wait for her to buckle in before practically flooring the car. Katara yelped in surprise, Azula didn't strike her as a reckless driver. Hastily she clicked the seatbelt tight. "Don't you want to know why I was walking."

"No."

"Are you at least going to tell me why you're giving me a ride?" Frankly, the girl had been presented with the perfect opportunity to drive through a puddle and drench her.

"No."

Katara stole another glance at her clock, and considered that Azula was probably driving so fast because she was running late. They had only seven minutes before the bell rang and Katara had a striking feeling that Azula would get them there in three. She gripped the seat tensely, she had never been in a vehicle moving this fast.

Azula pulled into her parking spot. Before Katara can offer a word of thanks, Azula grumbled, "get out of my car."

Katara didn't hesitate. She scrambled to gather her backpack and lunch sack. She tried to linger behind so she wouldn't have to be next to Azula but she was in just as big of a hurry and so she ended up shuffling awkwardly next to the woman for the entire trip to their lockers. Azula worked much faster than she, picking out what was probably a bag of everything she needed for her first few classes. Katara took note of that; she'd organize her locker after class so she could just take the books she needed and be on her way.

.oOo.

She thought about the start of her day as June droned on about equations that made little sense. Now that she has had some time to settle it truly set in how odd the morning had been. Just what had Jet been playing at? She was going to have to talk to her mother, father, and Sokka. Suki too. She didn't want to find out what would happen if he got her alone. She shuddered and forced her mind in a less chilling direction.

Azula.

She risked a peek at her. She was somewhat deep in her notes and took no notice. Her face was as dour yet dismal as ever.

Katara allowed herself to wonder if Azula was reaching out for a friend in her own subtle way. She has been pretty lonely lately, these days she only seemed to talk to Teo, if even. Katara had a feeling it was starting to take its toll.

She also wondered if she should really care. One small gesture didn't quite make up for helping to spread the skank rumors and the plethora of other nasty names. It certainly didn't make up for years of making her feel bad for liking mermaid backpacks and the 'wrong' kind of music and TV.

Katara wanted to give her a chance, but even when offering help, Azula was dreadfully unpleasant to be around. She wanted to give her a chance, but she decided that the other girl was going to have to put in more effort than that to earn a friendship. She got herself into the mess she was in, now she could work to get herself out of it, just like everyone else.

She tried to dwell on that more, but her decision had been made. The focus is back to Jet. What if he did get her alone? What would he do? And what would she do when he did…whatever it was he wanted to do. She clawed at her hairline in frustration.

"I can see that you're very interested in learning about polynomials. Why don't you come up to the front and solve a little equation for us?" June asked.

It took her a moment to realize that June was addressing her.

A really horrible day, indeed.

.oOo.

She was sitting alone again, texting her family and Suki with a purpose. So much purpose that it almost slipped her mind that she was alone.

Alone and just ready for Jet.

She looked around frantically. She had to find someone to sit with. Her mind lands on Mai, but she was already seated at a full table of goth and scene kids. She bit her lip again, unfortunately, Azula was an option. Talking to Teo might not be so bad.

Jet caught her eye and she frantically made her way over to Teo's table. Mercifully he was the only one there at the moment.

"Can I join you?"

"Sure, if you don't mind your reputation making a sudden nosedive."

"Can't get any lower than it is."

Her phone buzzed and she let out a sigh of relief, maybe Sokka had finally gotten back to her. Instead, 'wow, you're getting some nerd action too' splayed across her screen. She glared across the lunchroom to where she had been sitting, where Jet smugly waving. Oh, she really hoped that he stayed there.

"Just because I gave you a ride, doesn't mean that I want to sit with you."

"What if I'm here for Teo? Why would you think that I want to sit by you?" Katara lashed out. She was at her wits end and Azula had the misfortune of being on the receiving end. "I go through so much, every day! I have to listen to Jet and Chan and Usha and Chu-Leng…and…and all of them!" She sputtered. "Have you heard what they call me!? Oh wait, you've said a lot of those things. And you think that I want to sit with you because you weren't a jerk one time!" She was breathing rather rapidly. "The only reason you offered me a ride is because you have no one else to talk to." She knew that she was red in the face.

And Kori let her know that she was causing a scene when she muttered, "nerd fight" to the rest of her team.

Azula spared little acknowledgement to her, instead she fixed Teo with a vicious glare. "Did you tell her she could sit here?"

Katara could see Teo flinch, "she asked nicely."

"Me or her, Teo."

.oOo.

Teo gulped. He had just gotten her number too and now she was storming off to sit at what was once Katara's table. He was torn between following her and staying with Katara, who seemed truly desperate to not be alone. He sighed, it was probably better to just let Azula work herself out of her rage. He could give her a call later, if she didn't decide to block him already.

"What's her problem?" Katara asked.

"Chan and Usha, probably." He answers. "She doesn't tell me much, but they're pretty awful to her."

"Yeah, well she's pretty awful to me and Aang, and everyone else." Katara muttered "I mean she was."

"She wasn't that nice to me either…" Teo confessed. He had a few pretty clear memories of her making a few poor-taste cripple jokes. He would have liked to think that she was just following in Chan and Usha's lead. But the truth was, she had been one of the ringleaders.

"Then why are you talking to her?"

He shrugged. "She took a hit from Chan for me. I guess that, that was enough."

"But she has no problem yelling at you for inviting me over."

"She'll get over it, I think that she's in a mood today." Not that he knew exactly what that meant. But he was starting to get a feel for when she wasn't doing good. He just wished he knew what exactly was brining her so far under.

He had his theories.

"That's some mood." Katara commented.

"She's not comfortable with people watching her eat."

.oOo.

Her mood fell even further. Why did she always feel so guilty for standing up for herself. She wished that Teo wouldn't have said anything at all. He made small talk with her, promising that he'd patch things up with Azula. She hoped that he would, she hated to think that she ruined his first date.

Lunch didn't end soon enough, she took the care to avoid Jet as she left. The rest of her day was spent texting for a ride home and wondering what she was going to do for the next few days. Unfortunately, her parents would still be at work and she could still walk home faster than Sokka could pick her up. Suki was probably asleep again, the girl wasn't answering her texts. She resigned to having to walk home.

She began to wonder if anything good would happen that day.

She dreaded the trip to her locker, lest she run into a very pissed off Azula. But she had to get her things. "This sucks!" She declared to herself. "This really, really sucks." Might as well make a bad day worse; she made her way to her locker despite all the warning bells going off in her head. To her pleasure, Azula was not there.

She did, however, spot Azula on her way out. She was standing by Teo's locker and from the looks of things a rather heated conversation had just died off into something more friendly. Her face was red with anger, but her words were slick and calm—but then, that was Azula's nature. So maybe Teo wasn't out of the water yet.

Katara made a point of slipping by without being noticed, lest she rail the debate up again. She sent Teo a quick text, wishing him luck. After a moment of thinking, she added an apology.

When she looked up, she was too close to stop herself from colliding with TyLee. Yet another apology was due.

"I guess we set a tone for this year." TyLee forced a smile. It took Katara a moment to recall that she had bumped into TyLee on their first day too. "Aren't you supposed to be on the bus?"

"Yeah, but…uh. I ran into…a, uh, problem."

TyLee tilted her head.

"Jet is on my bus."

TyLee visibly flinched. "I take it, you need a ride home?"

"Yeah, that would be great. If you don't mind, I know that we don't exactly…"

TyLee cut her off. "I don't have a problem with you, Katara. Azula did."

"Does your poms team have a problem with me?" Katara asked, it lay somewhere between a joke and a genuine question.

"I haven't been talking to the girls much, but I don't think so." TyLee replied softly.

Come to think of it, TyLee had been very quiet this year. Usually she was the center of attention, a fashion icon and the star of the poms team, among other things. She had been so quiet, the oddity of it had slipped under Katara's radar entirely.

"I think you live sort of close to me." TyLee continued. "I think that I should be able to pick you up and drop you off…"

Katara furrowed her eyebrows. "Did you just offer to give me a ride…every day?"

TyLee nodded. "It isn't much trouble. I've been meaning to talk to you, actually."