What I Learned at SRU
Chapter 53 – Nightmares and Daydreams


- Thursday, January 13th, 2011 -

Storm clouds. Lighting streaking the sky. Thunderclaps.

His leg kicks against the pavement. Again and again. Kick, kick, kick.

The board underneath his other foot rolls forward beneath the red sky.

Krackoooom.

Lightning shattering the ground at his feet. His body hitting the concrete. His legs stuck inside the stone. He claws his way up. He sinks.

Out of the ground now. On his knees. Stairs before him. A doorway. A hallway. Standing now.

Her back faces his. Black underwear. Pale skin. Her shoulder blades tighten. She balls her fists. She turns around.

Toph?

Long hair hanging over the shoulders. Black, thick bangs draped across the face.

Aang reaches out. Pushes hair aside.

No eyes. She has no eyes. A blank face, just a mouth.

She smirks.

Sinking...sliding...She is gone. Somewhere down. Inside the floor.

She is gone.

Screaming, shrieking.

Sokka?

He is sucked into a wall of conglomerate stones, crying for help. Faces of others, embedded in the wall around him.

Aang reaches out. Presses the wall.

He is engulfed by the rocky walls.

He is gone.

A gasp. A cry of fear.

Katara?

They surround her. Masks. Horrible masks. Halloween masks.

They throw green bottles. Bursts of flame. Fire. Flickering, flashing light. Heat.

Aang reaches out. Hands into the fire.

It is too hot. He cannot proceed. Blood-curdling scream.

She is gone.

Sobbing. Grunting.

Jane?

Blood.

Everywhere.

Under her bare feet. Between her toes. Between her fingers. Across her hands.

She grasps at the knife in her stomach. A lioness' face. Olive eyes stare up at him with anguish.

Everywhere.

Blood.

Aang reaches out. Pulls at the knife.

The lioness head on the hilt roars at him, bites his fingers.

She sinks into the ocean of red.

She is gone.

Green. Grass. Trees. Blue skies. Golf course.

Suit. Tie. Combed over hair. Fierce eyes.

Zuko?

He waves. He bends over, golf club in his hands.

Black, shiny hair. Red streaks. Cold, dull eyes. Nose ring.

Mai?

She lifts her finger to her lips.

"Shhh..."

Zuko swings the club. Clok. The ball sails through the air. Flames. It ignites, like a comet.

Light applause.

Golf ball lands. Explosion expands. Everything destroyed. Flash of light. Everything is white.

...f...fff...fffffffFfFfFfFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-!
"GUGH!"

Aang's eyes burst open, his body frozen, chest in pain. He gasped and clutched at his pectoral, his heart pounding like a drum. The room was dark, practically pitch black.

Sokka's rough breathing drizzled across the room. Aang reached his hand onto his nightstand and grabbed his phone, clicking a button to turn its backlight on. [5:12am]

"Ughh..." Aang shut his eyes and rolled onto his side with a great yawn.


After an uneventful – slightly awkward, even – lunch with Toph, Aang found himself at the art building, struggling to get his first pottery project to look like a shape that wasn't...lumpy.

"Graaaughhh..." Aang let his pottery wheel slow to a stop and pounded his palms into the sides of his head with frustration.

"Whoa..." Mai's doubtful voice came from behind.

"Oh, h-hey, Mai..."

"Am I...interrupting something?" she asked dryly.

"No," Aang groaned, leaning back in his chair with exasperation. "I'm just...going crazy over here..."

"Are you sick?"

"Yea," was Aang's pitiable reply.

"You've seemed kind of out of it since you got back from vacation. Still stressed about things with the girlfriend?"

"Don't remind me," winced Aang. "I can't even think straight about that, there's so much other stuff going on right now..."

"Like that building project with Zuko?"

"Heh, yea...There's that, too."

"You sound like you're getting stretched too thin, Aang."

"Ugh...I am."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"I guess not..."

"OK. Here's something I just thought of." Mai walked over to Aang, grabbed his shoulders, and eased him up out of the chair. "Go to your room and relax."

"Whaa...? I can't just...forget about my work...I don't want to let people down."

"Aang." Mai's unamused eyes glared at him. "You're not doing yourself any favors here. Take a rest. Come back to it tomorrow."

"But...but it's due tomorrow..."

"Better to hand it in late and not kill yourself."

Aang absorbed her unrelenting stare until he couldn't defy her any longer.

"All right, OK..."

"Have your friends over. Try to take your mind off school for just a day. I'm serious – it'll help."

"Thanks, Mai..." Aang reached out and gave the skinny goth girl a hug. She gently tapped at his shoulders in her own attempt to reciprocate.

"Take a load off tonight, Aang. I mean it."

"I know. I will."


["I believe in no 'god.' No...invisible man in the sky. But there is something more powerful than each of us - a combination of our efforts, a 'Great Chain' of industry unites us. But it is only when we struggle in our own interest that the Chain pulls society in the right direction. The Chain's too powerful and too mysterious for any government to guide. Any man who tells you different either has his hand in your pocket...or a pistol to your neck."]

"Wow," murmured Katara with a perplexed sigh. "This guy...doesn't sound too happy with life..."

"Heh. Andrew Ryan?" Sokka confirmed. "Yeeaaaa, he's, uh...Well, he's not exactly kind."

"Or religious," Katara was keen to point out.

"Or that," Sokka agreed.

"I'm not so sure I like him," Aang grumbled from behind his sketchpad at his desk.

"Awww, why not?" Toph teased from his bed, one leg crossed over another.

"I mean, I think he has a good idea – that it's important to try to make something of ourselves, but...I dunno, it just rubs me the wrong way."

"Yea, he doesn't exactly believe in 'morals,' ya know?" Sokka pointed out.

"Heh. Sounds like my kinda guy," Jane decided.

"So you're into the thin mustaches, then?" teased Sokka.

"Ew. No. Shut the hell up." She smiled and kicked at Sokka's chair.

"Twinkle-Toes."

"What?"

"What are you doing over there?"

"Drawing."

"I thought you had us up to take a break from work."

"Whh...It's just that I can't really afford to not do my work..."

"Ah, to hell with your work. Come on." Toph was spread out across Aang's bed. She reached out her arms in the direction of Aang. "Smoochie-smooch. Lovey-dove. Whatever. Girlfriend wants to snuggle."

"You never want to snuggle," Aang muttered testily.

"Uhhh...I do now," Toph countered, slightly confused. Everyone else in the room was suddenly silent.

"I'm...just not in the mood, Toph," Aang sighed. "Maybe later."

"OK..." Toph's tone was now irritable to match Aang's.

Ominous groans erupted from the screen, causing Toph to flinch.

"Wh-what the hell is that?" she growled.

"That's a Big Daddy," said Sokka with sadistic glee. "And I'm about to kill him."

"Why would you do that?" Katara ridiculed. "He's so sweet...He's just protecting that Little Sister...Come on, Sokka, you don't have to kill him, do you?"

"If I don't, then I can't get my superpowers."

"You get superpowers in this game?" Jane asked with sudden interest. "Can you get fire?"

"Bleh. Why would I want fire? That's a stupid element," Sokka dismissed.

"You can," Aang answered Jane's question flatly, to which Sokka offered an alternative.

"BUT. I can shoot killer bees from my arms, instead. Ehh? Ehhhh~?"

"Are you shittin' me?"

"Aren't I always, Freckles?"

"But you're going to save the Little Sisters, at least. Right?" Katara pleaded.

"Meh."

"Right?"

"Mehhhh...Little Sisters don't deserve saving."

Katara gasped, appalled.

"You're such a jerk, Brother."

"I sure am, Sister."

"They're not even real, anyway. Who cares?" Aang muttered under his breath, scratching his pencil against his pad.

"What crawled up your ass?" Toph asked quietly as Sokka and Katara bantered with each other while Jane usurped the controller, attempting to figure out how to use the 'superpowers.'

"I've got a lot of junk going on, I can't sleep right...I'm cranky."

"No shit."

Aang furrowed his eyebrows at Toph's hostility – something he was not in the mood for – and set his sketchpad down in his desk's drawer. He headed to his dresser.

"Whoa, I can shoot ice from my fingers?" squealed Jane.

"You can?" now Katara was intrigued.

Aang was pulling out a pair of sweatpants and his Aero hoodie. He retreated to the bathroom to change.

"What are you doing, Twinkles?"

"He's not here, Dead-Eyes," Jane picked, having given the controller back to Sokka.

"Huh? Where did he go?"

"I think I saw him get his running clothes...?" Katara recalled, confused.

"Oh." Sokka nodded in realization as he blew a masked man away with a shotgun. "Yea, he's probably going for a run."

"Say whuh?" Toph was baffled.

"He's been jogging every night," Sokka explained. "Trying to get in shape for Track tryouts."

"That's great," said Katara. "Getting some exercise...But he's sick right now, isn't he? We should probably try to convince him to stay and rest..."

"Let him do whatever he wants," scoffed the blind girl from the bed. "He's bein' a whiny baby today."

"He's not feeling well," Katara firmly explained. "He must be really stressed out..."

"Doesn't mean he has to be a bitch about it."

"Oh. Right. Because you never get at all grouchy with your friends when you're stressed out."

"Shut up, Miss Fussy-Britches, didn't ask for your opinion."

"EERRRRRKKK!" blared Sokka, imitating a horn sound. "Drama Alert. Let's keep the trash out in the dumpsters where it belongs, ladies."

"I wasn't...being dramatic," Katara grumbled defensively.

"You...kinda were," Jane disagreed.

"Toph was the one who was...-" Katara let her sentence fall short as she watched Aang swoop in through the door, drop the clothes he'd been previously wearing on his bedroom floor, and immediately head back out. "Whoa. Aang!" she called, heading out the door. He was already down into the stairwell.

"Let him go," Toph called from the bedroom. "He needs to go have a hissy-fit? Let him."

"He's sick. It's snowing outside. He shouldn't be running."

"Whatever, Sugar-Queen. Let it go. He'll be fine."

"She's right, Sis," came Sokka. "He's been doing this all week."

"Maybe that's the reason he's sick in the first place?"

There was a pause.

"I think she's right, too, Bro," concluded Jane.

"It's not my fault," Sokka defended. "I'm not his nurse."

"We can't just let him wear himself out like this," Katara insisted. Jane patted Katara's arm to jolt her from her concern.

"Kat. He's already gone. Let's worry about it later, huh?"

"...Ugh. All right..."

"Sounded like he just needed some time alone," Toph asserted. "I don't know what his deal is, but...if he just up and left, it's prolly 'cuz he doesn't want to put up with anyone right now."

"Yea, why does it bother you so much, anyway?" Jane dismissed Katara's concern. "Give him some space."

"I am, OK?" Katara snipped. "I get the point, guys! All right? It's done. Officially 'let go' now. Don't have to drill it in so deep."

"Sometimes we do, actually," Toph disagreed. "It's pretty thick up there, and-"
"Seriously, ladies," Sokka grunted. "Tryin' to play a game here. Damnit, Aang, why'd you leave me alone with these females?"


- Friday, January 14th, 2011 -

Mist. Damp, cool mist, clinging to his skin. His footsteps echo across the hall.

Black hair flows in the wind. Bitter, icy eyes of white. Pale skin. Devil's smirk.

"All right, Toph. Your days of tyranny are over. I can't let you keep controlling my life – I'm here to end this. And this time, I brought pants."

Zippers. Buckles. Chains. His pants are secure.

"So it seems." A creepy giggle. "But...are you prepared for your..Calculus test?"

"Wh-...? C-Calculus test? I forgot all about the Calculus test!"

X*n
d/dx (sin(x))=cos(x)
"Waaaughhh!"
"Heeheeeheehaaa!"
u(dv/dt)
-sin(x)

"GLLGGH-!"

Aang sputtered out coughs as he flinched himself awake from the sea of numbers and letters he'd been drowning in.

[5:47am]

Dangit! He had a test today! What a mean professor, assigning a test on the first week! He couldn't fail. He had a scholarship he needed to maintain.

Aang stumbled out of his bed and grabbed his phone, flipping it open and using its screen as a makeshift flashlight while he scooped up his Calculus textbook, a pencil, and a notepad. Drearily scurrying from the room, he was careful to close the door quietly so as not to disturb the slumbering Sokka.


Aang pulled out the bottle of ibuprofen from the pocket in his backpack and popped out a couple. He wiped sweat from his forehead – man, his head felt so warm today – stuck the pills in his mouth, and bent over the water fountain, swallowing some of the tinny water down. He scraped the odd flavor from his tongue with a groan. This building's fountain always tasted bad. Couldn't they honor his grandfather's name better with a fountain that tasted not like metal?

He reminded himself that he had to continue to detach himself from these things. He didn't want professors or students thinking he had it easy because of his connections to the school, after all.

He surveyed the tight hall that wrapped in a half circle around the end of the Gyatso Center. The building had three floors of classrooms on one end, and on its smaller end, three floors of offices for professors. Aang found the room he was looking for in a corner of the first floor: {Dr. Jeong}

Aang noticed a banner of sorts – like a scroll – hanging on the wooden door before him.

{If a fish lives his whole life in a river, does he know the river'sdestiny?No. Only that it runs on and on, out of his control. He may follow where it flows, but he cannot see the end. He cannot imagine the ocean.}

"...Ooookay," Aang muttered under his breath. He took a moment to contemplate what this meant, but his illness-hazed mind had difficulty.

He rapped on the door three times with the tips of his knuckles.

"Enter," bellowed the cold, hardened voice Aang was learning to endure in the classroom.

Aang gulped, took a breath, and went in. The office was fairly stark and dimly lit. The frizzled, white hair of the mathematician could be seen as he worked at his desk with a red pen in hand. He twisted his neck, noticing Aang's presence, and sighed to himself. Papers shuffled, and Aang's test – the very one he'd taken earlier that afternoon, was thrust upon him.

Red marks speckled its pages, a large {D} scribbled – and circled – by his name.

"There you are. Now leave."

"Um..." Aang coughed, disheartened by his expected grade. "Pr-Professor Jeong, I was-"
"Doctor."

Aang bit his lip. One of those teachers...Just his luck.

"Doctor Jeong...I...I was wondering if perhaps I could...get some help understanding what we went over this week."
This first week. In which you shoved us under an avalanche of number and letters and cosine and urgghghhh...

"You wish to understand the discipline of Calculus?"

"Of course."

"To master any discipline, you must first master discipline itself. But you have interest in this, so I have no interest in you."

Ouch. What the heck? You've only seen me, like...three times.

"W-wait a minute, how would you know? It's only been a week, and-"
"Your posture. Your attitude in class. The results you've produced thus far. All of it. I can tell – you have no desire to learn this material. Now...Get out."

Aang frowned in frustration at the back of his teacher's head.

"Please," he persisted. "I have to learn."

"Are you deaf?" Jeong exploded, whipping his pen against the table and whirling in his chair. "How can I teach you if you refuse to listen?"

What does that even mean? You're not saying anything!

Jeong lectured onward.

"Attend class. Study the assigned readings. Perform the exercises. That is how every other student succeeds in my class, and if you wish to succeed, that is what you will do, as well. Now...Get out."

Aang huffed through his nostrils – er, nostril. Singular. Since one of them was too plugged. Argh. He spun around, closing the door behind him. He glared at his poor grade as he headed for the exit, rubbed at his tired eyes, then crumpled the test into a ball and chucked it into the wastebin by the door.

So much for that. It would seem he was on his own.


- Saturday, January 15th, 2011 -

Toph's hands dug into Aang's skin, grabbing at his muscles like a barbarian clutches meat before swallowing it.

"OW! AH! TOPH-!" Aang yelped through the pain, his body tight and tense as Toph's not-so-delicate fingers pinched at his nerves without relent. "I THINK...THIS IS...BRUISING ME."

Toph stopped, her palms planted on his back. She frowned at his remark and pushed him away with irritation.

"Sorry," she snipped with sarcasm. "I forgot you have baby skin."

Aang winced, rolling his head slowly around his neck in an attempt to stretch his aching body.

"Th-thanks for trying, Toph..." Aang scooted out from the couch a bit, cross-legged on the carpet of the 2nd floor Aero lounge room.

"Whatever..." Toph grumbled, leaning back on the couch's spine.

"So, Aang," said Katara from beside Toph, "I remember you said you were having trouble in your math class...Did you end up asking the professor about it?"

Aang sniffled, reaching for the box of tissues he'd set down in the room. He sneezed mighty - 'Bless you's' - and moaned like a zombie.

"I tried...He's a stubborn old man, he won't help me. Just said, like...'Go read your books, pay attention in class,' bleh...Nothing useful..."

"I'm sorry," Katara sympathized. "I know what it's like. The one professor I have in English, he's...ugh. I swear, he's sexist."

"Who?" Sokka wondered, his curiosity piqued as he played his video game on the TV screen before them.

"Pakku," Katara said with some disgust, arms folded over her lap. "I raise my hand in class, and he never responds to me. Honestly, it seems like he never responds to

any of the girls."

"Whaaaat? Shit is whack," Jane scoffed. "That's bull, for real. You should, like...complain about that. Or something."

"I'mgoing to, if he keeps doing it..."

["Now, would ya koindly head to Royan's office and kill the sunnuva bitch?"]
"Heheh, with pleasure, my Irish friend...With pleasure," Sokka squealed at the television.
["It's toyme to finish this..."]
"Hells yes, it is..."

"Wow, are you already at the end, you MeatHead?" Toph wondered, picking wax from her ear.

"I dunno, sure seems like I'm close..."

"How much have you been playing this?" Katara wondered with some skepticism. "Have you been staying on top of your classes?"

"Ohhh, hush. It's not your concern. I'm doing fine. Better than Aang is, from the sound of it."

Aang whimpered, slapping his hands on his forehead before opening his messenger bag and pulling out his Calculus book.

"Er...No offense," Sokka timidly added.

"Aang, don't worry so much," encouraged Katara, stretching out her leg and jabbing his back with her socked toe while Aang flipped through the pages. "It's just one class. Everyone has their weaknesses in school."

"Yea, like...-" Sokka scratched at the stubble on his neck. "-...I'm taking Public Speaking right now. I suck at it. So bad. Like, hardcore bad."

"Heh, yea, and I can't do art for crap," Toph jeered at herself with a smile.

Aang ignored their comments, hunching over his book and scanning its text with dreary eyes.

"Aang, you were up since, like...five in the morning studying that book," Sokka sighed. "Put it down."

"What?" Katara spat, eyes wide. "Aang, how much sleepdid you get last night?" she demanded, struggling to keep her concern shrouded.

"A couple hours," said Aang with almost irritated nonchalance. "I had to finish my art project before bed, and then I forgot about my test."

"You know," Katara advised with courtesy, "There is such a thing as over-studying..."

Aang shut his eyes tightly for a moment, grinding his teeth together, then slammed his book shut, tossing it to the floor. He sprung to his feet and glared at Katara with rabid, bloodshot eyes. He jabbed a finger accusingly at his friend.

"You don't get it, do you? I'm sick, I'm getting sloppy in all of my art, and I don't understand any of my Calculus." His left eyelid twitched involuntarily, index still pointing. "Not even the basics!" Katara smiled sheepishly at his escalating attitude, slowly reached out her arm, and lowered his hand.

"Dude, it's all right," Sokka dismissed his roommate's doubts. "You don't need to understand Calculus. No one understands Calculus. I mean, come on, you deal with...imaginary numbers. Numbers that don't exist. Because that's useful. So you'll take a hit on your GPA. So what? Make up for it with your other classes..."

"O-OK, well, I still have to work on everything else," Aang insisted, scratching at his scalp in frustration. "I'd better spend the whole day working..." He gathered his discarded book, slung his bag over his shoulder, nodded to the group, and stalked off down the hall, shutting his bedroom door behind him.

Katara and Sokka exchanged perplexed, nervous glances, while Jane gawked as Sokka's on-screen character was slain due to his lack of attention. Toph was picking her nose with her pinky.

"I don't get what his problem is," Toph grumbled. "All of a sudden, it's like he's got so much to worry about? As if. I think his brain is a little bit twinkled-out 'cuz he's not getting enough sleep."

"He does have a lot going on," Katara politely inserted some defense, her mind having trouble keeping at bay a wary foreboding about Toph's future with Aang. "Mmmmaybe you should try and help him relax...?"

"I was trying," Toph snapped. "I've been trying. All week."

"Oh. Right," Katara squeaked, not wanting to start another argument, though not agreeing with Toph's weak explanation.

"Hoho, lookit that!" Sokka cheered, clutching his controller tight. Jane, who was sitting beside him, observed the screen.

"Ryan Industries?" she read aloud. Large gears were spinning wildly beside the overhead sign, steam pouring all around.

"Steampunk~" Katara sang.

"I hear that," Sokka concurred.

"You were flat at the end there," Toph critiqued.

"I don't care," Katara brushed aside the comment.

The sound of an old radio screeched from the television as the man to whom this fictional business was named after taunted Sokka's character.

["You can taste it, can't you? Andrew Ryan."]

"Oh-man-oh-man-oh-man, this has gotta be, like, the end and stuff..." Sokka said with excitement.

"Well, hurry it up, then," Jane egged him on impatiently.

"I'm hurryin', Ginger. Keep your skinny Irish ass in your seat, will ya?"


- Sunday, January 16th, 2011 -

Circle. Circle. Circle. Circle.
Arrow. Arrow. Arrow. Arrow.

Aang's pencil seemed to be running on auto pilot, scribbling out circles and arrows – elements of the college's logo – ad nauseum.

"Aang," Katara said apologetically, "It's nine in the evening. You really should get some sleep."

"But I forgot my pants and my math test!" Aang explained, mad with concentration on his repetitious drawing.

"Was I like this when I was hopped up on energy drinks?" Sokka whispered to his sister from his desk.

"Actually, you were worse," Katara conceded quietly. "But it was only for a few hours...This has been days."

"Uhh..." Jane popped into the doorway, confused. Her boots and vest were on – she was ready to head out. "We leavin' yet?"

"I'm...just trying to get Aang to get some sleep," Katara muttered weakly with a shrug.

Toph leaned out from behind Jane, also dressed to walk out in the snow.

"Hey, Sweetness, I know you need to be our Mommy and everything, but Twinkles is gonna pass out when he's ready to." She wandered her way into the room, bumping her boot against the corner of Aang's bed as she stumbled through.

"Right," agreed Sokka. "He'll fall asleep when he's...sleepy. I mean, it's just a matter of-"
"AGH SOKKA!" Aang screamed, seemingly out of nowhere, chucking his notepad down onto his desk and jamming his finger at Sokka's chest.

"Aaaugh!...What?"

"You've gotta practice your root beer chugging. Right now."

"Huh?"

Aang began to rattle off his explanation with flapping arm gestures while Sokka frowned dully.

"In my dream we were at the AerOlympics and it was time for the Soccer event and you couldn't keep up because you got sick from the Root Beer event because you couldn't hold it down and you threw up ALL OVER the gym and we lost the whole thing because of you!"

"But that was just a dream!" Sokka defended vehemently. "I'm a great chugger!"

"Then drink that beer!" Aang cried out, grabbing a brown bottle out of Sokka's mini fridge and shoving it in his face. "Drink it fast!"

"'Ey, gimme me one o' those," Toph requested from behind, to which Sokka nodded at Katara, enabling his sister to retrieve one for Toph, as well.

Sokka stared at the bottle that had been placed in his hand, then at Aang. He pointed to the bottle, then to himself. Aang nodded swiftly. Sokka begrudgingly retrieved his keychain and used his bottle-opener to pop the cap off the IBC root beer bottle. He glared again at Aang, his brows furrowed. Aang, teeth clenched nervously, bobbed his head up and down once more, and Sokka began to drink.

Aang sighed with relief and turned to see Katara passing the other opened bottle to Toph.

"TOPH DON'T DRINK THAT!" Aang shrieked, causing Toph's eyes to bulge wide with shock, and she choked on her first sip of root beer. Her fingers grasping the glass tight, she coughed a few times before responding to Aang's demand.

"Why? Is it fuckin' poison, or something?" she grumbled, wiping her lips with her sleeve.

"In my dream we were all in the car riding downtown in the ice and you had to go to the bathroom and you kept bugging Sokka about it and he was driving and so he was all distracted and then a truck came and you wet yourself and it messed him up and he slipped on ice and we the truck and were killed. We died because of your tiny bladder!"

Toph raised her brow, utterly perplexed, and took another swig of IBC.

"The hell...?"

"Psssh," Jane laughed through her teeth. "Tiny bladder..."

"I don't have a tiny bladder!" cried Toph with embarrassed indignation.

"You have to go to the bathroom, like, every hour," Jane picked.

"Th-that's just 'cuz I don't see the point in holding it in forever and a day..."

"Oh, yea, sure," Jane laid the matter to rest, unconvinced.

"JANE you need to start dressing like a girl more because in my dream we were in the parking lot of the grocery store and one of those gang guys mistook you for some dude and attacked us and you had to go to the hospital because you were stabbed."

"Umm..." Jane's humor went flat and she glared at Aang's exasperation. She pushed some of her hair aside, behind her ear, to reveal her skull earring. "That...better?"

"It's a start!" Aang puffed out with relief.

"Now just grow some boobs, and you'll be all set," Sokka joked from his desk. Jane's face flared with insecurity and she kicked his shin, which he absorbed without protecting himself or complaining.

"Actually, you look like you've been puttin' on a bit of weight, Freckles," Sokka added, trying to study her form through her padded clothing. "You look better than you used to." This was both demeaning and complimenting to her at once, and she dismissed the conundrum by rolling her eyes and stalking off to the doorway. Katara smiled at Sokka, as if to express some gratitude for his own brand of flattery.

"Anyway...Listen, I'm fuckin' bushed," Jane grumbled."I'm headin' out."

"Yea, me, too," said Toph.

Toph reached out an arm, to which Aang flinched and pulled away, but Katara eased them together, regardless. Toph hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. His teeth were gnashing together nervously, but he kissed her on the head.

"Calm the hell down, Aang," Toph mumbled in his ear. "Seriously."

"Y-yea...OK...OK..." Aang nodded, clearly eager to break their hug apart.

"G'night, Babe. Love ya."

"Night..."

Toph gave pause, and her eyes glazed over with some disappointment, but she shrugged it off and wandered to Jane's side, who took her arm.

"Aang, Bro, get some sleep," Jane advised. "Peace out, guys."

"Latah-Gatorz!" said Toph. As they both vanished down the hallway, Aang began to freak out again.

"Katara!" he continued, tugging at his own hair. "You need to start wearing your hair up 'cause in my dream your hair got got in a bus door and it drove off with you stuck to it and-"
"Aang." She stopped him. "Come on. Sleep," Katara urged pleadingly. "For me?"

Aang blinked at her furiously for a moment.

"A man chooses, a slave obeys," he grunted feverishly. He went back to his art. "A man chooses, a slave obeys...A man chooses, a slave obeys..."

"Oh, dear," Sokka murmured dubiously as Aang continued to repeat the line, over and over.

"Aang." Katara closed her eyes, and for a brief moment she feared tears of worry would leak out as she bit her lip. She opened them again, puffed out a sigh, and stared at her friend with a troubled concern. She placed her hand on his cheek in an effort to ensure she had his attention. "I know you're really stressed out right now...but you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling."

Aang blinked at her, wide eyed, recognizing the truth behind her firm words. He took a deep breath and attempted to collect himself.

"You're right...I'm...I'm losing my mind..." He pulled himself away from her hand's touch and began to pace left and right in a short interval, rotating his hands around each other and tapping the tips of his fingers in a frantic tick. "B-but...It's like, every time I think about how stressed I am, I just get more stressed. I'm like a big, growing snowball of nerves!"

"Of course you are," Sokka nonchalantly agreed from the couch, as if Aang's mental state was a logical reaction. "It's a new semester, you're expected to help the class president on a super important project, you're sucking at your math class, you're depressed about your family, and...Oh! Right. And you need to break up with your girlfriend. And you'd better do it tactfully, too, or she may never talk with any of us ever again."

"Sokka," hissed Katara."You're not helping..."

"What? It's true. That's the deal, he knows it..."

Katara smacked her brother on the back of the head with a highly disapproving scowl.

"Aang, don't listen to this idiot over here, you don't have to do anything but what you think is right."

"Gah..." Aang growled. "I don't even want to try thinking about that stuff right now...I need...need to finish this stuff for Zuko..." Aang sat himself back down in his chair. Katara, refusing to leave him in this state, took the drawing pad and chucked it in his desk's drawer. She pulled his weak body from its seat and dropped him in bed. He yawned and rubbed at his eyes.

"Worry about it later, Aang. Now...Sleep."

Aang yawned out a protest that couldn't be made out, and closed his eyes.

"Jesus," Sokka sighed. "I've never seen him like this..."

Katara picked up Aang's phone and began tinkering with it.

"Uhh...Sis? What are you doing?"

"Turning off his alarm."

Sokka rolled his eyes and shook his head at his sister's compulsion, going back to his own schoolwork.


- Monday, January 17th, 2011 -

[From: Zuko Kurosawa]
[Subject: RE: Project Unite]

[Hello,]

[You haven't returned my calls or my last e-mail, and I never heard back from you this past weekend. Is everything all right? We're really going to need to start getting these design details together to get this up by the time the President wants it. Please let me know what's going on.]

[Respectfully Yours,]
[Zuko Kurosawa]
[Student President, Saint Roku University]

"Uuughhhhhrrrggghh..." Aang pounded his head against the table in a practically empty Appa's. He got up from the booth and began pacing around an empty table, biting his lips and performing the habitual finger-tapping routine he had the night before. His hair was sticking out in various directions, his skin looked clammy and a bit pale, bags of skin hung under his eyes...Katara, carrying their two trays of lunch food, cringed at the sight of him.

"Wow, Aang, you don't look so good..." She approached him cautiously. "You sure you can't just lie down for a little nap?"

"I told you," Aang insisted, rubbing at the sand in his eyes, "I can't go back to sleep..."

Katara recalled what Sokka had told her – that about an hour after she had left, Aang had woken back up and had gone back to trying to work again, which he had done into the morning.

"Aang, staying up all night can't be good for you," Katara pressed her concern as she set the food down beside Aang's laptop. Aang took a deep breath and turned away from her.

"Actually, staying up all night has given me some time to think, and I've realized some big things, Katara."

"Huh? What big things?"

"I see everything so clearly now...What really matters – why I'm really doing this." He nodded to himself in affirmation before turned back to his friend. "I'm doing it to make things right between Toph and I, but more than that...I'm doing it for you, Katara."

He stared her down, his gray eyes burning with desire. Katara blinked at him sheepishly.

"Aang...What are you saying?" she asked with a solemn, knowing expression. He drew close to her.

"I'm saying...I love you."

Diving forth, lips connecting together.

Reciprocation. Arms wrapped around. They break apart.

"What are we doing?" she whispers with childish delight.

He bellows out words with power and authority. Winds blow. Sunset. Music.

He leans her back. Luscious hair caught in his fingers. Sparkling eyes.

"What our hearts have been telling us to do for a long, long time. Baby, you're my Forever Girl."

"Aang?" Katara's nervous voice shattered his daydream, pulling him back to reality. "I was...just saying how you should take a nap?" Aang gawked at her, face burning bright with embarrassment as he realized he had his arms around her. "What are you doing?" she demanded with some doubt, her fingers digging into his shoulders. "You OK? You kinda...passed out on me there..."

"Oh!" Aang yanked his arms off of her back and pushed himself away, back onto two solid feet. "I was, uhh...daydreaming, I guess."

"Ah. What did you daydream about?"

"Yuhhh...Living underwater...?"

"Oh..." Katara stared at him blankly as she processed this. "Sounds neat," she concluded with a shrug. "Maybe because of all that BioShock that Sokka's been playing?"

"Uhhh-! Y-yea, actually! Exactly! Yes. I was a...a Big Daddy. And...everything."

"Heehee. I get it." She pointed between the two of them. "You had your arms out because you were protecting me."

"Huh?"

"I was a Little Sister, right? In your daydream?"

"Oh. Heh...Ha. Haha. Yea, that was-...Uh-huh!" Aang nodded nervously, finding Katara's logic relieving. Sure, that made enough sense.

"Hee. That's cute, Aang," Katara chimed, patting him on the shoulder. "You'd save me if psychotic crazy hobos came," she said with a tone that was humored but also endeared.

"Ha. Haha! Hahhhh. Yea." Aang swallowed the lump in his throat as he sat down, sweat trickling across his forehead.

What. The heck. Just happened? He'd just been blatantly daydreaming romantic nonsense about Katara. What was that about? Where was that coming from? Toph was his girl, not Katara. It was probably just some hormonal thing. Like the one dream he'd had about Jane and the flower field. At least this one hadn't been as awkward as that one. Agh. All these naughty thoughts...Really, this was...kind of expected, in a way. Right? He was...a growing young man, constantly hanging out with all of these cute girls. His subconscious was going to consider things he never would act on...Yea. He was totally out of it, anyway. Starting to lose track of what was real and what wasn't.

By the time he'd brought himself out of these ideas, his screensaver had turned on, rotating a slideshow of his own artwork. With a pair of curly fries getting mashed between his teeth, he stared at a drawing of the Lemur-Bat, Momo – his personal mascot. The monkey-creature blinked at him with a creepy stare of bright green eyes. It spoke to him in a tiny, scratchy voice.

"You, my friend, are just a few plums short of a fruit pie."

"Eaugh?" Aang whimpered at the image, running his finger across the touchpad to turn off the screensaver.

"What is it?" wondered Katara.

Aang rapidly shook his head, as if to shake off his hallucinations.

"Did you...just hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Er...nothin'. I'm gonna fill my drink."

Aang swallowed his fries and jumped up from the booth, meandering around the restaurant, circling each table he passed by, empty cup in hand. Toph returned from the bathroom with Jane, who was mocking her about the 'small bladder' bit from earlier. Sokka arrived at their seat as well, having just retrieved his mail from the campus post office. Aang was pressing each soda dispenser button for a half second at a time, moving his cup under each spout – but he kept missing, his cup always one off. He returned to their booth with an empty cup and tipped it up to drink nothing from it. After realizing this, he went back to the front again to attempt the task again.

"Aang...We're all starting to worry about you..." said Katara.

"You've been awake too long," said Sokka.

"And you're acting downright weird," said Toph.

"It's creepin' us the hell out," said Jane.

"You've got to take care of yourself," said Appa. "You can't go on like this."

Wait. Said Appa?

Aang rubbed his face and stared at the bison with the arrow on his head, his bright, silly smile embossed into the sign for the restaurant on the wall beside him. Aang whimpered in spite of himself and wandered back to his seat in a daze, his cup still empty.

Jane sighed and nudged Toph into the booth beside her boyfriend, took Aang's cup, and went to put water in it for her confused friend, who was chewing at his curly fries again. Despite her inability to see what was happening, Toph's intuition could clearly read the tension and distress emanating from Aang, and she frowned with worry, leaning against him and wrapping an arm around his back, slipping her hand under his shirt onto his waist. His body was trembling, and she scratched at his belly in an attempt to comfort him.

"Janey-Jane's right, Aang. You're...really creepin' me out, too..."

"I'm...sorry...?"

"OK, listen," said Katara, tapping her finger on the table. "Why don't you go see a counselor today?"

"Huh?" Geez, he really was out of it.

"A counselor," Katara patiently repeated. "I'm going to call the office and see if they can get you an appointment today...I feel like this is kind of an emergency."

Toph kissed Aang's cheek and breathed out a sigh onto his neck.

"We'll get you better soon, Sicky..."


"That is right, Aang. I recognize the name. Professor Leekpai was a personal friend of mine during his time here."

"Yea, I...hear a lot of people respected him."

"He was a good man. I am terribly sorry about what happened."

"N-no, it's fine, I...don't really want to talk about that."

"I understand. What do you wish to talk about, Aang?"

"I feel like I can't be the person I want to be."

"Oh? And what do do you want to be?"

"I just...I-I wanna be a good person. And...do good things...and...-"

"Yes, yes..." The counselor's voice was soothing and gentle. He was an elderly man of middle-eastern ethnicity and had a bushy beard. "You are seeking balance. You wish to bring peace to those around you."

"Right. Yes. Exactly," Aang concluded, still speaking with rapid words. "What do I do, Mister Pathik?"

Counselor Pathik nodded sagely, running his long fingers across his facial hair.

"You must gain balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world."

"OK. OK, sure. Yea. Sounds good. Let's...let's do that..."

"You are having difficulty sleeping because you are being pulled in so many directions. Perhaps if we focus on each problem, one at a time, it will enable your weary mind to contain it all and let itself be at peace."

"Yea! Yea-yea. So, like, there's my artwork, which I'm really stinking at, and my math class, which I don't understand at all, and then there's-"
"Haha, steady, steady, now...One at a time, Aang."

Pathik reviewed the sheet that Aang had filled out, surveying his responses to the questions.

"It seems that you are bearing the heavy weights of shame on your shoulders. Look at all the guilt which burdens you so. What do you blame yourself for?"

The wreckage of a bus at the bottom of the steep hill.
A girl needed to cheat because her boyfriend could not make her happy.

"I...I ran away from my family," Aang groaned. "If I'd...been cooperating that, they would've left earlier, and...not been rushing, and...maybe they'd still be alive...Or-or my girlfriend. She was so...depressed...because I wasn't a good boyfriend, that...she had to cheat with someone else to feel better..."

"Accept the reality that these things happened. But do not let them cloud and poison your energy. If you are to be a positive influence on the world, you need to forgive yourself."

"OK..." Aang's face contorted with doubt at this idea, but he took a deep breath to mull over this notion. "Shhhuuure. Yea. I can...work on that."

"And clearly, you feel pain right now. This pain eats away at your joy, it blocks you from relaxing."

"Oh, uhh...I guess so."

"What is causing your pain, Aang? Not what is worrisome or difficult, but...what is painful to you right now?"

"Well..." Aang wiped some snot from his nose with the tissue in his hand and collected his thoughts. "Not having a real family...I try to not let it bother me, but...this week, it's just on my mind a lot."

"I see. What else?"

"Toph...M-my girlfriend. She...cheated on me...I feel like it's my fault, like...I wasn't good enough..."

"But you must forgive your own faults, Aang, and recognize that this was a choice she made."

"Yea...But...that just makes it hurt worse. She chose to...betray my trust..."

"Mm..."

"And now it's like...she's choosing how I am supposed to act. Who I am supposed to be. She's holding onto me, expecting me to...I don't know...'man up.' Or something. Like she doesn't love me for who I am, just...as me. I always thought she did..."

"Indeed. It can be quite traumatic, facing these truths."

"I just...don't know what to make of...everything..."

"You have indeed felt a great loss. But love is a form of energy, and it swirls all around us. Gyatso's love for you has not left this world – it is still inside your heart, and is reborn in the form of new love. Let the pain flow away."

"New love?"

"Any kind of love, Aang. The love Gyatso once felt for you, you now feel toward your friends."

"Oh...Right. I guess I was still thinking about Toph."

"I see. Well...Let us talk about her, then."


- Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 -

"Yea, he's sleeping like a baby today..."

["That's great, Tophie. Maybe tomorrow he'll be feeling all better?"]

"Tch. Yea, I hope so...He's been so fuckin' out of it lately."

["Aw. Yea, poor guy. I read his Facebook yesterday, he...didn't sound so good."]

"That's an understatement."

["So, like...what about you guys?"]

"What, you mean...us?"

["Yea...I'm guessing you still haven't...figured things out?"]

"Ugh. No, Meng. OK? Geez, I told you...Don't worry about it. It's...our business. I don't get what needs to be 'figured out,' anyway, we just need to go back to where we were and...go from there."

["Oh...W-well, I didn't mean...-"] Meng trailed off, suddenly aware of the minefield she was forcing her way into.

"And ya know what? Why does everyone keep saying that? We need to 'figure out' stuff. Or 'work on' stuff. I fucked up, and...it's better now, and...we just need to start being a couple again, is what we need."

Meng was silent, recollecting the things she had seen on Aang's Facebook, issues Toph had described over the phone, and things she'd heard from Aang directly, as well.

"Ya know?" Toph huffed, seeking affirmation.

["Mm,"] Meng gave a neutral hum of understanding. ["Things will work out,"] Meng attempted to assure, suddenly irate with her cousin and trying to mask it. ["Just...Give it some time, I guess..."]

"Yea. Twinkle-Toes will be back and at 'em soon enough and I'm sure he'll finally be in the mood to actually do stuff."

["Sure."]

"But...Yea. So, you were saying...? About the YouTube channel?"

["Oh, right. Yea, your videos are definitely getting some views lately, Cuz. It's great."]

"Gimme digits, woman. What are we talkin', here?"

["Yea, yea. Sooooo~! The Carol of the Bells one? You got eight-hundred views in the past few weeks."]

"Ah. Is that...good?"

["Yea, for someone just starting out! Sure. And your other videos...Probably about fifty to a hundred views on each every week."]

Toph whistled out her impression.

"Nice. Any comments?"

["Ermm...Yea, a few. B-but I don't really have time to...-"]

"Sure. Okies. I should letcha go then, Meng."

["'Kay."]

"Have a good night, then."

["Night, Toph."]


A/N: Lot of direct references to the show here. A bit from "The Guru" and "The Deserter" but mostly from "Nightmares and Daydreams." Also some bits from BioShock, a most wonderful game.