What I Learned at SRU
Chapter 25 - Appearances
- Saturday, October 30th, 2010 - FestivALL
"It's just pre-show jitters! Calm the fuck down, everyone!"
"Toph's right, we just need to keep it together here, girls," Katara advised in a rush, flapping her wrists in a panic as she attempted to convince herself to practice what she preached.
"We're on in five! Less than five!" Suki snapped, straightening the tie Jane had opted to wear around her neck overtop her black skull-printed shirt - extra tomboy points for the tie, she'd decided, and Aang had volunteered his painted tie from Homecoming for the cause.
"Does my hair look all right?" Katara fretted aloud.
"Hell if I know," Toph grunted, looping her electric guitar over her shoulder. She rubbed her thumb over its surface against a worn sticker of The Beatles logo. Even if she couldn't see it, she wanted others to.
"Looks fine, Kat," Jane assured impatiently, nodding some semblance of gratitude to Suki when her tie was back in order.
"You look great, stop worrying," insisted Suki. "Let's knock 'em dead, ladies."
"My cabbages! Again! Arrrgghhhh!"
The audience exploded into laughter as the comedy skit closed and the lights dimmed, the student who had shouted collapsed across the floor amidst the recently formed mess on the stage. Curtains swept across the set as the elderly hosts of the show, dressed in nice suits, shambled across the stage.
"That act made me hungry," announced the plump Professor Kurosawa, patting his stomach.
"Hungry for music?" wondered President Bumi with dramatic flair.
"Uhhhmm...That doesn't quite make sense, my friend," Iroh noted with a gentle shrug.
"In the show business-" Bumi proclaimed, waving an index finger, "-you've gotta find segueways where they don't exist."
"I think you are just getting lazy," Iroh observed, scratching his white beard.
"Speaking of lazy, what are all of you people doing?" Bumi demanded with a devious grin, spreading his arms out to the crowd. "We need to get you off your feet. Time to rock on!"
Iroh began easing his partner off the stage as the curtains pulled back.
"You are just embarrassing yourself," he chuckled, begging the question as to whether the in-betweeners were pre-canned or impromptu. Most of the student body could easily seeing it be the latter if Bumi was managing the show - as he was, this year.
The stage now was host to the girl band that had been formed weeks prior for this event.
The boys sitting in the front and center, a few rows from the edge of the stage, could barely contain their excitement - even Johnny's face looked near bursting with anticipation.
"They're finally gonna do it," Sokka squealed in a whisper, bouncing in his seat, biting his bottom lip with exuberance.
The drum set's snare had a gold headdress printed on it - what looked like some type of Japanese artifact. She wore a forest-green shirt that had a wide-cut collar, revealing her shoulders while still covering her arms. Her hair tied into a topknot, Suki twirled her drumsticks in her hand and spoke into the mic before her.
"We are the Kyoshi Warriors." It sounded more like a sly threat than anything else.
Toph, dressed in tight, bleached jeans and a plain black T-shirt, spoke next, guitar clutched confidently in her hands.
"We are Musical-Samurai-Ninja-Girls, and we're here to cut your faces off with our AWESOME!"
And with that, Toph slammed her hands across her guitar, playing the opening riffs. As she alone played her notes, Katara prepared to start singing, holding her microphone to her face and exerting effort to remember to not keep it too close. She had opted to let her bushy hair hang down for this performance - Suki had advised that it would look best. She wore her mother's choker necklace with pride, adorned in her red t-shirt with the happy penguin and a flowing blue skirt that fell past her knees. Toph didn't approve of this design choice when she'd heard about it, but Katara had advised that Toph wasn't one to make fasion decisions by default, to which Toph had shrugged and uttered "Meh."
In the moments leading up to the song's first verse, Katara found herself cracking a grin as some hoops and hollers came out from those silly boys she adored in the seats in front of her.
"~What would you think if I sang out of tune?~Would you stand up and walk out on me?~"
There were a handful of off-hand cheers from different parts of the audience as they recognized the song and seemed delighted to hear it represented. Katara went on, feeling a bit more confident with the reaction - her singing wasn't superb by any means, but it was still pleasant to the ear and certainly got the job done.
"~Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song~And I'll try not to sing out of key~"
She wore a brief look of embarrassment - because she genuinely was trying to not sing out of key - that Aang noticed and grinned. He knew how stressed this whole gig had been making her, so he was glad to see her taking chances and going outside of her comfort zone.
Suki joined in on drums and Jane initiated the bass. As she leaned over her bass, containing any enthusiasm she had to maintain a dull appearance, she tossed her head, cocking thick bangs to the side. She had painted a pair of red stripes on each cheek and appreciated the synergy of Aang's tie against the stylized skull on her shirt.
"~Oh I get by with a little help from my friends~I get high with a little help from my friends~I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends~"
The energy in the auditorium rose as they finished the first verse, a number of young males expressing calls of infatuation, and Toph, snarky smile and all, sang with Katara.
"~Do you need anybody?~"
"~I need somebody to love~"
"You're nice, and don't get me wrong, Kat: you're the prettiest girl I've ever danced with. But I don't think that sorta thing would work out between us."
"~Could it be anybody?~"
"~I want somebody to love~"
"If you need to hide behind...behind secrets, and lies, and-and constantly be trying to make yourself look good, then...I can't be with you."
"~What do I do when my love is away?~"
"~Does it worry you to be alone?~"
Why did you have to leave me all alone, Grandma? You were the only person I had left on my side...
"~How do I feel by the end of the day?~"
"~Are you sad because you're on your own?~"
"World's probably different now, huh, Cousin It? Little more lonely?"
"~No, I get by with a little help from my friends~"
"That's my girlfriend!"
"~Get high with a little help from my friends~"
"And your sister! And my girlfriend!"
The two girls in question were singing the chorus in unison, Toph harmonizing.
"~Gonna to try with a little help from my friends~"
"Don't get too excited, there, John-Boy!" Sokka slapped his wide-eyed but silent neighbor on the back.
"..."
"~Do you need anybody?~" "It's just hard getting over someone like that, Suki..."
"~I need somebody to love~"
"I know, Sokka. I'm not asking you to get over it - I'm asking you to give me a chance."
"~Could it be anybody?~"
"~I want somebody to love~"
"NOM-NOM-NOM."
"Haha! Why are you 'nom-ing' on me?"
"'Cuz I'm feeling hopelessly romantic today, Twinkles. Shut up and let me NOM you."
"~Would you believe in a love at first sight?~"
"~Yes, I'm certain that it happens all the time~"
Aang intently stared at the mysterious girl with the eyes like snow in her black dress as her fingers glided across the piano keys like a figure skater across an ice rink.
"~What do you see when you turn out the light?~"
"~I can't tell you, but I know it's mine~"
Jane's shoulders tingled from his cold hands touching her bare, freckled arms. Pressed over top Johnny's body, she gave him a timid smile between thick locks of orange, satisfied with the security his strong silence offered.
"~I get by with a little help from my friends~"
"For on this day, we shall walk into Mordor."
"~I get high with a little help from my friends~"
"And my axe!"
"~I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends~"
"For a Fearsome Fivesome, I'm not sure group hugs are very...fearsome."
"C'mon, Jane," Katara insisted. "Being part of the group means being part of group hugs..."
"~Do you need anybody?~"
All music stopped, and Jane, wiping orange bangs from her eyes, groaned into the microphone with a loud, dramatic flair.
"~I neEeEed someone to loOoOove~"
Jane's face turned bright red while she sang as some hollers and a couple of cat calls rang out - specifically, from Johnny, but she noiced there were others.
"~Could it be anybody?~"
The girls ramped up the key in a long series of winding "ohs" to build up to the finale, many of the members of the crowd joining in or cheering.
"~OhhhhhOhhhhhOhhhh~"
Suki slammed with passion against the drums, Jane bobbed along as she ravaged her bass strings, Toph swayed to and fro with her guitar, and Katara bounced along as she shouted in song.
~By with a little help from my friends~
"Wow, Sokka. You guys seem like you're becoming a pretty tightly knit little group, huh?"
~By with a little help from my friends~
"What can I say, Suki? I'm just so amazing that people flock to me."
~By with a little help from my friends~
"~I get by with a little help from my friends, with a little help from my-"
The last word of the song was slow, spiraling down the built-up energy into a mellow conclusion as Jane and Toph combined with Katara to create the ending chords.
"~Frieeeeends~"
Before the last note and its accompanying instrumental accents were finished, the crowd erupted into enthusiastic applause, leaving the girls relieved and proud of their accomplishment.
- Sunday, October 31st, 2010 - Halloween
"Y-yea, you guys...It was great. Especially you."
"Oh, ha..." Katara felt her face burn and she shrugged, fidgeting her fingers behind her back nervously. "Thanks. Yea. We, uh...We tried. Lotta practice."
The student fan nodded emphatically, wondering, "So are you guys gonna keep doing more performances?"
"We, uh...Yea," Katara threw the idea out there, earnestly unsure. "I-I guess we probably will at some point."
"Oh, that is so. Cool. 'Cuz you rocked."
"Heh..." Katara's eyes wandered away as her brother approached, hobbling around on Toph's walking stick like a cane to support his leg.
"Like, really rocked."
Mmmkay. This guy's making me a little uneasy. Brother bail-out to the rescue!
"Thanks, I'm glad you liked it," she expressed with a nod and a wave. "That's my brother," she thumbed over to his direction, "so I've gotta go."
"OK! Catch you later!"
"Yep!" Katara scooted over to the limping young man through the busy crowd of students. She immediately noticed that he had makeup on his face that portrayed wrinkles and facial scruff where neither was actually present, and his hair was disheveled - which was rather unnatural for him. He wore a T-shirt that read, {It's not Lupus!}
"Hey, Bro," she cheerfully greeted, slapping him on the shoulder. He grumpily tossed her off and stared at her wth narrowed eyes.
"What do you want?" he demanded with a deep, nasally tone.
"Uhh..." Katara let her arm drop and raised a brow at him.
"Stop standing around and make yourself useful. Go get Wilson for me."
"What?" Katara spat out, growing quickly irritable.
"Man owes me a coffee..." Sokka groaned to himself in rumination before cocking a brow at his sister, eyeing her up and down. "And what are you supposed to be, anyway?" he grumbled in disgust.
Katara surveyed her own outfit - a tuxedo-printed T-shirt, black slacks, and yellow slippers shaped like webbed feet. She straightened the cap on her head - it was shaped like a penguin's head, with the brim being the bill.
"I'm a penguin. And just because you're dressed like House doesn't mean you have to ac-"
"Cameron," Sokka intruded, lifting a palm. "This is all terribly fascinating, but..." He tapped the stick against the floor of the cafeteria. "I have business to attend to. When those results come in from the girl with the brain trauma, leave them on my desk. And tell Wilson I'm looking for him. Lazy bastard."
The age-old eyeroll in spite of her older brother's shenanigans emerged as Katara watched him shamble away, off to the refreshment table.
"Christ, what a psycho," came the familiar tone of Jane - she was clearly trying to come across as her usual, unamused self, but Katara could tell it was a facade.
"That's my brother for ya," Katara acknowledged, folding her hands over her chest as she turned to meet her friend.
"See ya finally shook off that bogey," Jane muttered, scratching her head and fiddling with the band in her hair. Two antennae - accented by poofy yellow balls - emerged from her hair. She was dressed in her bumblebee pajamas and bee-shaped slippers, complete with a pair of wings Katara had borrowed from an old fairy costume when she was younger.
"Yea - I'm not used to..getting all this kind of attention," Katara sighed with a timid smirk, conveying that she didn't seem to mind getting a bit of romantic attention from potential bachelors. "The rest of you can all say you're taken, and that's that."
"Heh. Doesn't stop some guys..." Jane flashed a toothy grin with a twinkle in her eye as she munched on a handful of candy corn. "Soak in the love, Kat. You're too much of a wuss to actually go anywhere with any of those guys, anyway."
"Wh-what?" Katara squeaked in indignation. "I could-...If I wanted to, I could totally go out with a guy."
"Geez, geez, simmer down, Sugar-Queen," Jane patronized, shaking her head at her friend. Katara's facetious scowl grew.
"Stealing nicknames, are we, Freckle-Face?" she teased back.
"Take 'em where I can get 'em. What can I say? Toph and Sokka are the best at it. Anyways, I'm just joshin' ya, Kat. Take it as a sign that people liked us, huh?"
"I just...I don't get it. I didn't sing all that great. Makes me feel like it's just my looks they care about."
"Pff. No shit? Ya don't say..." Jane casually stuffed a mini KitKat bar into her mouth.
"It makes me feel like the only reason any guy is gonna care about me-" Katara flung her arms out. "-is because they think I'm pretty - and that's it." She swung them up in aggrevation before letting them drop to her hips.
"Then you need to act like there's more to you than a pretty face," Jane theorized with a gruff shrug, unwrapping another KitKat bar from her pocket.
"I thought I did that already," grumbled Katara, staring at Jane's antennae. One was a bit lopsided.
"You lack self-esteem, Katara. People find you more attractive when you're confident in yourself and all that bullshit. The only people who like fakers are...-" Jane shook her head, huffing through her nose as Jet's face attacked her mind. "-...are fakers themselves. Ya know?"
"Mm," Katara hummed thoughtfully, eyes fixated on Jane's head piece as she chowed down on the chocolate wafer she'd just opened. Katara reached out two careful hands and delicately adjusted Jane's wirey accessory. She paused her movement, staring at her friend with an irked but entertained glare.
"Might help if you weren't trying to fix everything all the damn time," the red-head observed, finishing their snack. "Puts people on edge."
"Sorry," sighed Katara, cocking her head to the side compliantly, a slight frown of embarrassment working its way across her face.
"You're acting all tense, Kat. What's the-?"
"SNEAK ATTACK!" shrieked Toph, flailing her arms around as she dashed from behind. The butter knives in her hands clattered against Katara and Jane's backs harmlessly, and she tripped over their ankles - the two girls managed to catch her fall, each one grabbing an arm. She laughed maniacally as she was set back on her feet while Aang casually strolled up to them, hand in one pocket while another held a half-eaten caramel apple.
"Taters sure knows how to party, doesn't she?" he chuckled. He was wearing jeans borrowed from Sokka - so they were a bit baggy on him - with white sweatbands on his wrists and a pale yellow shirt that read {Plumtree}.
"Sweetie," Katara condescended with humor, brushing Toph's shoulder off. "Sneak attacks don't work when you announce them."
Jane jabbed Toph in the side and she flinched in response, swatting her butter knife around. Toph wore a thin, striped scarf of black and white that was wrapped around her neck and dangled behind her. She wore a tight black shirt with exposed shoulders and black sweatpants to match. Her bangs were stiffened to the side, a large streak of dark red dyed into their strands.
"What's with the kitchen utensils?" Jane mumbled. "I thought you're supposed to be a ninja."
"I'm Knives Chau, remember?" Toph growled, stamping her foot. "Kniiiiives." She waved her harmless weapons above her head, her brows lifted high to express a blunt 'duuuuuhh.'
"I have no idea who the fuck that is," Jane sighed, scratching her ear. "Whatevs."
"It's a comic book character," Katara explained, running her hand through Toph's thick ponytail to ensure it was still neatly brushed, as she'd left it. Toph had a bad habit of dirtying her hair up at a rapid rate, after all. "Looks like your outfit was simple enough," she noted, giving Aang a nod. Aang returned the gesture with a nonchalant smile.
"Scott Pilgrim versus the Halloween Party."
"Kniiiiiiiivesssss," hissed Toph, her demeanor peppered with undirected threat, scraping her butter knives together. "I'm Chinese. Watch the fuck out! I'm-a keeeel yoouuuu."
"I'm glad you're not my fake-high-school-girlfriend," Aang laughed at her idiocy.
"Pardon me," chimed an embellished British accent, cutting into their pointless conversation. The group turned to see a young man in a wheel chair. He was wearing a rubber costume piece over his head to make him appear bald, a pair of blatantly circular glasses over his cheerful eyes. "Have any of you seen Doctor House?"
"Teo, do you always dress up as Professor Xevior?" Aang dubiously wondered. "This is the second year in a row, man..."
"Please, please, call me Chahrles," Teo replied, lifting his his palm as he channeled Patrick Stewart. "Have you seen the Doctor?"
"If you're talking about my brother," Katara guessed with a roll of the eyes, "Yes. He headed off down there," she pointed her finger off to the refreshment stand. "I think you guys are taking your costumes a little too seriously."
"I assure you, Ma'am," Teo replied, "this is a matter dire importance. Vengeance must be exerted. The X-Men must be assembled, and with great haste. Farewell, Children of the Atom." And with that, Teo spun his chair round and nimbly rolled away.
"What's that crazy idiot yammerin' about?" Toph asked, relieving an itch on her butt with one of her metal utensils.
"Some rivalry thing," Aang replied. "Ignis House pulled some prank on our dorm this morning. Aero's plotting their revenge."
"What did they do?" Jane probed.
"Something to do with a microwave and a horrible smell," Aang wrote the matter off. "Didn't look into it 'cuz it's the last thing I wanna be involved in."
"I hear that," Jane grumbled. "Frat bullshit."
"Some guys take it really serious," groaned Aang with a lamentable huff, tearing a chunk off of his caramel apple.
"Yea, I remember last year wheeeerrrp!" Jane squelched, her sentence cut short as her neck was tugged by the arm of a man in sunglasses and a tuxedo. He held her hostage, pressing a neon blue watergun to her temple through her thick hair. He held the position for barely a second before letting her go and noogying her head. She snickered at first, but suddenly winced and jerked herself away. "Fuck, Johnny," she snapped, clutching her head. "Careful with the head, Ass. Still tender there..." Her injury from the month prior had not completely healed, and having the skin rubbed by a knuckle had not been pleasant. "Fucked up the wings, too, dude..." Jane squirmed and fussed with the wings attached to her back, and Johnny helped straighten them in a rush.
Jane noticed Johnny's apologetic expression as he backed off, and her irritation melted away.
"Shit, man..." She grumbled with a sly smirk. "If that's your idea of bein' a bodyguard, James Bond, you've got a lot of work to do..."
Johnny straightened his neck tie and kissed the girl on her freckled cheek.
"I hear kissing," Toph lathered her jealousy into the air. "Where's my Scott?"
"That would be you, Aang," Katara coyly reminded, easing Toph to where he stood, still munching on his snack.
"Mmmph," Aang acknowledged. He puckered his lips and accepted a kiss from his girlfriend, his cheek puffed full of apple.
"Mmm, caramel," Toph giggled after their embrace. "Bleh." She smacked her lips and wiped her face with her sleeve. "You're a horrible, lazy boyfriend Scott."
"Just playing the part," teased Aang after he swallowed.
"Play it any louder, Chase, and you might as well be dressed up like Crocodile Dundee and raving about enjoying some Bahh-bee."
"Hi, Sokka," Katara sighed as Sokka approached with his intentional limp, Suki at his side. She was dressed up like a ninja, face mask and all.
"What the fuck is he-?"
"He's just being him, Jane. I've learned to not question it."
"Hmph." Sokka cocked a brow at Katara. "Looks like the patient is doing just fine, I see. No need to thank me."
"I thought Katara was Cameron?" Suki muttered.
"I know it can be terribly difficult, Cuddy, but c'mon. Keep up with the conversation. Also. How much longer 'til we get to start making out?"
Suki slapped him on the back of the head.
"Taking your costume a little too seriously," Jane observed, shaking her head. She exchanged jovial glares with Sokka.
"Thirteen," he quipped, "Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on this one?" He jabbed his makeshift cane at Katara before taking out an orange medicine bottle and popping a pill into his mouth like it was candy.
"Is that supposed to be Vicodin?" Suki groaned. "Wait...Sokka, what is that?"
"My happy pills. Seriously, Cuddy, we're romantically involved, you already know these things..."
"Dear, you're getting your seasons mixed up," Suki politely informed her boyfriend, patting him on the head like a child. "Maybe you should just...
"Sokka, where did you get that bottle from?" Katara wondered, swiftly swiping it from his hands. She surveyed it and nodded, biting her lip in irritation. "Did I give you permission to use this?" She glared at her brother, who shrugged.
"I wasn't aware that you, too, shared the addiction...Aren't they magically delicious? Mm. Vicodin."
Fuming, Katara opened the container and dropped a couple of pills into her hand.
"These are Tic-Tacs," she sighed. "Sokka, what did you do with what was in this before?"
Her brother, stubborn as she would expect, didn't break his acting but bobbed his head around complacently.
"They might have found their way into a Ziploc bag under your pillow. The Pill Fairy will stop by tonight and leave you some quarters."
"Why would you put-?" Katara, her teeth clenched, stopped, fingers gripping the bottle tightly. She handed it back to him and twitched her head away. "Nevermind. Just...put everything back when you're done."
"Is Vicodin like a candy?" Toph wondered.
"It's a medicine," Katara explained, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Not candy."
"Hmph. I'm in the mood for candy insanity. We should go trick-or-treating," Toph threw the idea out, spreading her arms wide and nearly whacking Aang in the face - he bent back in shock at her sudden movement.
"I-I don't think that's such a good idea..." Katara spat out, rubbing her palms together methodically.
"Yea, Toph, that shit's for babies," Jane grunted, arms crossed.
"Thirteen's right," Sokka mused, rubbing his chin. "It'll only make the condition worse. Her blood cells will swell like balloons."
"Yea," Aang agreed, bypassing Sokka's out-of-place banter. "I'm not really up for that myself." He exchanged a concerned glance with Katara, the two communicating a personal understanding with their eyes alone. "Sorry, Toph..."
"Ohhhh, come awwwwn," Toph insisted, prodding Aang in the stomach with her 'weapon.' "Don't be such a wimp, guys - let's do something awesome and crazy."
"Toph, I'm just...-" Katara's hands were beginning to tremble and her eyes were narrowing as her tone wavered. "I'm really not in the mood-"
"Wah, wah. Baby. C'mon, it's Halloween," Toph plowed onward through the conversation. "All Hallow's Eve. Gotta go out and paint the town red! Show everyone your true colors and be craz-"
"Toph," Aang quietly intervened, pressing his hand against her shoulder. By this point, Katara had stormed off, her expression bitter and wounded as she'd whirled around, opting to not confront the matter.
"Wh-...?" Toph sputtered in annoyed confusion, shrugging.
"Kat?" Jane called out. "What's-?" She began to pursue the distraught girl, but Sokka whipped out Toph's walking stick, cutting her off at the pass as she nearly knocked herself in the stomach against it. "The hell?" Jane grunted in offense, glaring at Sokka. She shook her head and directed her words at the blind girl. "Toph, why did you do that?"
"Forget it, Thirteen," Sokka dryly advised. "She's gone. Can't save her that this point. Anyone have the time of death?"
"Do they not know about...-?" Suki began, whispering to Sokka.
"Katara has some trouble with Halloween," Aang explained with a sympathetic sigh.
"Why?" Toph wondered, her anger suddenly dissolving into worry. "Why does it seem like this is some secret I'm not in on?"
"Wait...Toph, you don't know?" Jane burst out in shock. "How do you not know?"
He doubled back a few steps down the hall and perked his ears. He hadn't been hearing things - someone was definitely sobbing nearby. He journeyed down the hall of the auditorium's basement to find the source of the crying. It was coming from the Chapel Room. He gave pause, deciding how to act next. He set down his folders, leaning them up against the wall just outside the chapel door. He'd just concluded a meeting with some members of various student organizations. But he had a moment to spare.
As he peeked his head into the room, he saw the girl crumpled in the center of the aisle - not at the front, but in the middle, between both rows of seats. She was crouched over, head to the floor against her wrists - he couldn't tell what she was wearing, but her feet were...orange.
"M-Ma'am? Are...are you all right?" Zuko asked calmly, remaining in the doorway.
The startled girl jumped, rising to her knees. She whirled her head around, hair strands stuck to her wet face. She was dressed what equated to a rough penguin costume. Zuko recognized her as a member of that group her girlfriend's art buddy was in.
"Y-yea, I'm...I'm fine," the girl stammered, trying to gain her bearings.
"I couldn't...-" Zuko propped a thumb out toward the hall. "We just finished a meeting, couldn't help but notice you. I could hear you down the hall..."
"I'm OK," the girl insisted, nodding hastily and fumbling to stand up on her feet. "Don't-...It-it's no big deal, I'm just...stressed."
Zuko extended his hand and she accepted it, their handshake somewhat loose.
"Kurosawa."
"Zuko. I know," she jumped the gun. "You're the President of the student body. You're Mai's boyfriend."
"Right," Zuko nodded. "Sorry, I...never quite caught your name."
"Katara."
"Ah. Nice to meet you, Katara. I mean...actually meet you."
Katara smirked at his awkwardness and dabbed at her face.
"Uhh...Nice...penguin outfit."
"Th-thanks," Katara whimpered with a embarrassed laugh mixed with remnants of her sobbing, topped off with a sheepish grin.
"You're sure you're all right?" Zuko checked.
"I'm just out of it," Katara sighed, turning back to the giant cross on the wall at the front of the chapel room. She stared at it thoughtfully. "Halloween's always hard for me..."
"Halloween? That's...kind of an odd holiday to get upset over," mumbled Zuko, curious. "Have a bad Trick-or-Treating experience?" he probed in jest.
"Yes, I did," Katara bitterly replied with a tinge of offense. "My mother was killed on Halloween when I was kid..."
"Oh," Zuko murmured, puzzled but trying to cover it with sympathy and regret. "I'm...sorry, I didn't think...-"
"It's OK. I don't exactly tell people the specifics. I was a kid when it happened and...-" She shrugged, shaking her head. "People can be...a little crazy on Halloween. They let themselves go crazy. I-I don't get it, it...makes me angry to think about. She shouldn't have died the way she did. That...just shouldn't happen. So...It makes this holiday a little difficult to deal with."
"I'm not sure I understand what happened, but...I'm sorry to hear about your loss," Zuko offered, keeping his distance and letting her meander to the cross. "For what it's worth...I lost my own mother not too long ago. I know how hard it can be. It can tear a family apart. It can tear a person apart."
Katara nodded in agreement as a shaky sigh slipped out.
"I'm lucky my family is as strong as they are," she commended. "I don't know where I'd be without them."
Zuko smiled, happy to hear that at least she did not share his own fate.
"You'd probably be standing on your own, trying to figure things out by yourself," he guessed.
Katara exchanged glances with him, reading the experience in his eyes.
"Maybe I could stand to do more of that," she pondered aloud with some disdain, brushing her damp hair behind her ears and straightening her penguin cap.
"Well." Zuko smacked his palm against the doorway, his jaw sliding to the side in doubt. "I'll...leave you alone then. Sorry to intrude."
"Not at all," Katara assured, aware of how she was coming across, trying to fix things. "Thanks for checking on me. It was nice of you."
"Just trying to be of service to the student body," Zuko insisted, scooping up his folders. He gave her a nod and headed off. "Have a good night."
"Night."
A/N: Of course, the song the band plays is by The Beatles. Sokka is dressed as Dr. House from the TV show, Aang and Toph are characters from the Scott Pilgrim franchise. Teo's costume is a reference to the X-Men, naturally. In case that wasn't obvious. And just because there won't be any Katara x Zuko shipping doesn't mean I'm going to turn a blind eye to some of what makes their interactions potentially interesting. And thanks to my wife for giving me a few ideas for what Sokka should be doing - or rather, messing up and failing at. xD