Chapter 33: Party Gone Wrong

Azula's POV

A few minutes after sunset, we were already walking to Chan's house. I had put on my best outfit – or at least the best one I packed. I wore a red halter with a gold collar and red mid-thigh-length wrap skirt. Since we were on the beach, I wore my flats instead of heels. My hair was in its usual half-topknot to create a "fun and flirty" look.

"So what did you tell Uncle so he'd let us out?" Ty Lee asked, checking her top for dirt. She wore a butt-length maroon tube top with ruffles down the middle with tight black knee-length leggings and wooden wedges.

"I told him we were going to look for seashells and fireflies." I replied. "That way, we can return home even after two hours or so."

"I'm still not sure about this." said Suki, slinging her heavy bag on her shoulder. "Besides, where do you expect us to leave our clothes? Why couldn't we just go there in the clothes we were wearing when we left the house?"

"Uncle would never have allowed us if he saw us in our clothes know. He'd know something was up. Plus, we have to look totally hot for this party." I replied. "Don't worry, Suki. You look awesome anyway."

Suki tried to put on a smile as she readjusted her green floral one-strap top and her beige cargo shorts. She literally marched alongside us as she tried not to get sand in her lace-up gladiator sandals.

"I don't really understand why you had to wear those sandals, Suki." added Katara. "They're so high-maintenance."

"True… But I do look awesome in them." replied Suki

It was pretty obvious why my brother was so attracted to Katara. She was very pretty even without trying. Now, she wore a simple light blue sleeveless sundress and flip-flops with bejeweled straps but hell, she looked like a million bucks.

"What if we get caught?" she asked.

To tell the truth, I actually didn't know what to say if ever we did get caught…

"Ummm… We'll cross the bridge when we get there." I said

Zuko's POV

When the girls were halfway to Chan's house, we followed suit. Instead of changing into fancy outfits like they did, we dressed comfortably – in shirts, cargo shorts and sneakers.

"So you told your uncle that we would go with the girls to hunt for seashells?" Sokka asked

"Did he believe it?"

"Well, we're here now, aren't we?"

"True. Wait, what's the plan once we get there? Do we just like… make a dramatic entrance and kick down the door or something?"

"No." Jet said. "The concept is to get them out as quickly as possible. No riots or whatever."

"Aww, man." Toph complained. "I got all excited for nothing."

"Okay, what happens if Chan gets mad? Or wants to start a fight?" Sokka said again.

"Easy. We just ignore him until we go out."

"Somehow, I don't think that plan's going to work." I added. "Get real, guys. Chan's a dumb jock. The only way he knows how to settle something is to punch the hell out of it."

"Okay, fine." Jet said. "New plan. No punching until absolutely necessary."

"I like this plan better." Haru said. "There's a better chance that I can save my manicure."

Iroh's POV

Kana, Lo, Li and I watched as the teenagers walked along the beach.

"Hunting for seashells? Pfft…" scoffed Kana. "We made better lies back when we were young. What's this generation coming to?"

"Are you sure they'll be alright?" Lo asked

"I know that boy, Chan. He's not one to be trusted." Li added

"Don't worry about them." I replied, chuckling softly. "Let them have their fun while they're young."

Ahh, to be young and foolish…

Azula's POV

Not long after, we arrived in front of Chan's house. We heard cheering and loud hip-hop music from inside the fairly-sized house.

I rang the doorbell and patiently waited until Chan answered the door.

"Hey. You made it." he said, letting us in.

I tried not to wince as the smell of alcohol and cheese pizza filled the air. My friends quickly found a clean – well, clean enough – place to sit and left me alone, standing there.

"Hey, come on guys!" I said. "It's mingling time!"

"Excuse me but in case you've forgotten, Suki and I are taken." Ty Lee said, inching away from the pizza stain on the couch's armrest.

"Okay, then. Katara, be my wingman." I said, pulling Katara to Chan's direction.

Katara tried to struggle free but I held on firmly to her arm.

"Hey, Chan." I said, elbowing Katara and trying to make her look confident. "Cool party."

"Thanks. Want some beer?"

He held out a bottle of the foul-smelling liquid. I smiled awkwardly but pushed the bottle away.

"No, thanks. Umm… I'm ready for a tour of the house…"

He slung his arm around my shoulders and led me to the corridor.

Peeking behind me, I saw Chan's friend – Ruon-Jian was it? – try to mingle with Katara.

Pfft, good luck with that.

Zuko's POV

We arrived in front of Chan's house not long after the girls did. Luckily, he left the door open so we were able to get in without making a scene.

Discreetly, we scanned the area for the girls and saw them lounging on a couch by the corner. Well, actually, only Suki and Ty Lee were there. Damn. Where the hell were Katara and my sister?

"Hey, girls!" Haru said

The girls didn't even look up. I guess they thought we were more of the creeps who keep hitting on them. Suki put her hand up and started to shoo us away.

"How many times do we have to tell you boys? We're ta-"

Then, she looked up. Her glare softened when she saw us there.

"Oh my god, what the hell took you guys so long?" Suki said. "Do you know how many beer-breathed guys have been hitting on us? It's disgusting!"

"Wait!" Sokka said. "You knew we were coming?"

"No, but we hoped you would."

"Totally!" added Ty Lee. "Plus, Azula went with Chan and Katara's over there with Chan's friend who has better hair than I do!"

"What!" Jet and I simultaneously said

I looked around and saw Katara leaning uncomfortably on a doorway and a funny-looking guy trying to flirt with her.

Without hesitation, I marched up to them.

"H-How about skateboarding? Do you like that?" the guy slurred. "Because, like, one time, my friend just totally wiped out on this half-pipe and we were all like, whoa… but then he was all like… wicked, dudes."

My god, this guy was going slower than a snail-sloth on a lazy summer day.

"Hey, Katara, I need to talk to you for a minute." I said, gently pulling her away.

"Hey, wait! I was just about to tell her about-"

"Umm, maybe next time, Ruon-Jian." Katara replied, clinging to me more tightly than expected.

Once we arrived at a considerable distance from him, I looked at Katara. She was still holding on to me. Hmm…

"Are you okay?" I asked her, squeezing her hand. "He didn't… try anything, did he?"

"No..." she replied, still not letting go. "He was just incredibly boring and I almost died."

"Are you sure? You look so nervous…"

"I… I just don't like this crowd, that's all…"

"Don't worry… We'll be out of here soon. The whole gang's here."

I pointed to where the rest of our friends were and she smiled up at me. Wow, I think it's the first time we've talked like this ever since we umm… broke up.

"Zuko?" she said, looking up at me with her big ocean blue doe eyes

"Yeah?"

"Umm… thank you. I-I mean, if you hadn't come along, who knows what he could have tried later on…"

"Hey, I'm here for you, remember?"

She nodded and then realized that her grip was a little too tight. She let go and started to walk back to the group.

"Hey, Tara?" I said

"Yeah?"

"Umm, promise me one thing."

"What is it?"

"Promise me you won't hang around with people like him anymore…"

She gave a small smile before she replied.

"I promise…"

With that, she walked back to the rest and sat on the couch beside Ty Lee. I followed suit.

"Hey, guys, did you see where Chan went with my sister?" I said

They pointed to a corridor on the far end of the room and I ran as fast as I could. Sweat started to drip down the side of my head as I grew more worried about my sister.

I came across glass double-doors that led to a balcony. I was about to burst in when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking behind me, I saw that it was Jet.

"Look, I know you're mad at me but please let me help you. Despite what everyone thinks of me, I still care about Azula."

Well, it was true. I was still kind of mad at him… but hey, who am I to fight love?

I nodded at him and gave a small smile. Just when we were about to burst through the doors, we heard a shriek from inside.

"Chan! Get off me!"

Jet and I exchanged alarming looks and practically broke the doors down. We saw Azula trying to break free of Chan's grip on both of her wrists. He had her back up against a wall while he was pressing himself too closely to her.

And it was all I needed to see…

"Get the hell off my sister!" I yelled

I grabbed his arms and tore them away from my sister's wrists while Jet ushered a crying Azula away from Chan.

"Go." he told her. "Go to the rest of the gang. We'll catch up with you later."

She ran back to the living room as fast as she could. As soon as she was gone, Jet delivered a jaw-breaking blow to Chan's cheek.

"What the hell, man? You guys weren't even invited!" Chan complained, gripping his cheek, which was starting to bruise.

"Lay off my sister, okay!" I demanded, giving Chan a threatening push, which sent him thumping back to the wall.

We were about to turn away and leave when Sokka appeared behind us and started jeering at Chan.

"Yeah!" he said. "You just got owned, bitch!"

Big mistake.

Chan quickly got up and grabbed him by the collar. Before we could go and help him, he stopped us.

"No, guys." he said. "I have a score to settle with him."

"What?" Chan said. "What score? You're lucky I never picked on you in school, you little shrimp!"

"Yes, you did!"

Sokka awkwardly pulled his Wolf-Batman mask out of his pocket and put it on.

"My god, that was you!" Chan roared angrily. "I'm going to beat you down so hard that you won't even have time to notice the pain until you're dead! And you know what the best part is? You can't do anything about it, Little Man!"

I looked alarmingly at Jet and we silently pleaded Sokka to let us help. He still refused. My god, this guy is crazy…

"Any last wordS?" threatened Chan

"You know what the funny thing is about people who are shorter than you?" Sokka said, chuckling softly.

"What?"

"They always have an easier access to your groin!"

With that, Sokka kicked Chan's privates as hard as he could and Chan quickly crumbled down, clutching his lower area and groaning on the ground. Sokka fell down from his grip and quickly ran back to Jet and I. We exchanged high-fives and went back to the living room.

"I'll get you for this! You're all dead!" Chan yelled from the balcony

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. I decided to chip in my share of mocking.

"Party's over, Chan! Thanks for the invite!"

Azula's POV

Later that night, we were back at the beach in front of the house. We sat around a fire and started to relax after the… traumatic experience.

"I'm really sorry, Uncle." I said shamefully as Uncle handed me a cup of tea. "I didn't know what I was thinking. I-"

"There will be time to explain later, Azula." he replied with a smile. "For now, just relax."

As I blew on my tea to cool it, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I faced the person and saw Jet. Damn… this wasn't going to be good.

"Hey, umm…." he said. "Can I talk to you?"

I figured I should at least give him a chance to explain. After all, he saved me from Chan.

I nodded and walked with him a little farther from the group so we can get some private time together.

"What the hell were you thinking, Azula?" he said angrily, facing the dark ocean.

"Wha-"

"Azula, he could have done very bad things to you! Do you know that? Why were you being so stupid?"

I started getting angry as well. It wasn't as if he was the smartest guy in the world.

"Maybe you should have asked yourself that question when you were conniving with Mai!"

"I know! I regret it now, okay?"

"Well, it's already done so there's nothing anyone can do about it!"

"Look, what do you want me to say? I already said sorry! I practically saved you from ruining your life and you're still mad at me!"

"It can't make up for the fact that you broke my freakin' heart!"

"You act like I'm such a bad guy for what I did! It's not like you were Little Miss Angel!"

"Oh yeah? Did I ever do anything as bad?"

"Yes! You did worse!"

"Name one time!"

"You ran over Aang!"

I gasped. My god…. How did he know?

"I… I…."

I was at a loss for words. It's true…. I've been such a hypocrite all this time…

"How did I know?" he said, looking at me sadly now. "Mai told me. Then, I asked your driver, Zhao if it was true and he said yes."

"I didn't mean it at the time… I was a different person! You have to understand!"

"I do, Azula! I really do!"

He walked over to me and held my hands gently.

"I really do understand. It's okay. I wouldn't have loved you if I didn't."

"Oh, Jet-"

Tears started to form in my eyes and I started to choke on my words.

"I… I just hope you can understand that when I started that plan with Mai, I was a different person too…" he said, looking straight into my eyes.

"I'm so sorry… It's just… Y-You were my first and I was so in love with you and it's not fair because I've tried so hard to get mad at you but I can't because I still have feelings for you-"

"So why can't we be together again?"

I thought about it for a moment and smiled up at him. Who said we couldn't?

"Look… let's make a deal." I said. "I'll admit it to Aang and apologize. You never ever ever pull that shit again and then we can be together. I just don't want us making the same mistakes… And… I want us to start loving each other again."

Jet smiled mischievously and kissed the back of my hands.

"I never stopped loving you…"

It was getting later and almost everyone was already sleeping in the house. Aang and I were the only ones left at the bonfire.

"Hey, Aang…" I said from my seat directly across Aang's.

"Yes?" he said, still staring straight into the fire, which was the only thing he had been doing the whole night.

"I have to tell you something. It's something bad and you'll probably hate me so much for it…"

"I'm sure I won't. Go… What is it?"

"Umm… remember that time when you got run over and you got amnesia?"

"What about it?"

"I…. Umm… It was me in that car. It was my fault you got run over."

"Oh… that? I knew that months ago."

"What? How?"

"I recognized you from inside the car seconds before I got hit. You had that evil smirk on your face."

"Does anyone else know?"

"No."

"Why haven't you told them?"

"I just… I don't think they should know. It'll cause more trouble."

"Y-You're not mad?"

"No. I told you I wouldn't be."

"No, you told me you wouldn't hate me. Why aren't you mad at me?"

"I'm a monk. That's what they teach us in the Air Temples…. Besides, I think getting amnesia was one of the best things that has happened to me…"

I raised my eyebrow at his statement. I had a feeling this had something to do with Toph…

"Can I ask you something else?" I added, feeling nosey

"Go ahead…."

"Do the monks in your Air Temples teach you to always forgive and forget?"

"Yes, that's why I forgave you."

I drew in a big breath and asked him a question that, I think, gave him an epiphany.

"Then why haven't you forgiven Toph?"

Author's Note:

Whew! That was long! :D

Lol, so yeah, I hate Chan and Ruon-Jian (who still reminds me of Bieber)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any of the characters in it.

Hope you like it! R&R please! :D