"We're doing this!" Sokka announced a few mornings later as he walked into the dining room with an armful of groceries and a poster in the other.
Katara plucked it from his hands, eyes narrowed. "The Ember Island Bending Competition? Sokka, you aren't even a bender."
He rolled his eyes and snatched it back. "I know that, Katara. But I am a gambler. And I'd put a lot of money on Miss Greatest Earthbender in the World over there."
"What makes you think I'd even enter, Snoozles?" Toph blew her hair out of her face in preparation for the fruit he handed her.
"Because I have it on good authority that The Boulder will be competing."
Toph slammed her hands down on the table with a grin on her face. "The Boulder's here? How do I sign up?"
Sokka pumped a fist in the air. He looked at Aang next. "How about the Avatar? I'd put money on the master of all elements too."
Each of his sifus laughed simultaneously, Katara the only one looking a little apologetic. "Sorry Aang, you may be an airbending master but you certainly haven't mastered water yet."
"Ditto on earth, buddy," Toph said, popping a piece of fruit in her mouth.
Aang's hands found his waist, and his mouth opened in mock offense. "If that's how you really feel Sifu Katara, maybe I should join the contest and show you who's mastered the elements."
She knew he was goading her, but it was also working. "You're on, Pupil Aang."
"Is using all the elements cheating?" Suki wondered aloud, but On Ji shook her head.
"Avatar Kuruk competed once when he was alive with all the elements and won," She explained.
Aang grinned at Katara. "It's settled then."
The first night of drinking had put a temporary pause on Aang and Katara's conflict, if it could even be called that. Relieved of their discomfort around each other by the forced closeness of drinking games, both had put Katara's statement before the trip in separate, unreachable boxes.
Instead, the tension was manifesting in competitions of all kinds. Both of them were nursing small headaches from the night before. Aang narrowly beat Katara in a drinking game in which both stood on stools on one foot, and took shots at the same time. He'd won only by shooting a small blast of air her way to throw her off balance, a move she had retaliated against with a water whip to the chest that had sent him falling off his stool as well.
A heated game of beach volleyball had ended in the two just sparring it out with the ocean water, Katara winning with her superior skill in the element. Aang had edged Katara out in a game of charades with his acting abilities. An innocent request for baked goods from Sokka had resulted in a high-stakes cook-off. Katara won mainly because of Aang's difficulty finding the right ingredients for his Air Nomad recipe. They were tied.
All heads turned to Zuko, the final bender among them. "Absolutely not," Zuko stated, shaking his head and leaving the table. "You're all insane."
"Party pooper!" Suki called after him, but he just waved her off.
Once word got out that the young Avatar-in-training had signed up for the competition, sign-ups and betting went wild. Everyone wanted a chance to say they beat the Avatar in a fight, or to watch their friends get beat up by him.
Knowing his new friends would love it, Zuko requested the royal box. With the guest list growing, he eventually had to put his foot down, but it looked like it would be a fun group. Sokka had insisted on inviting his little, and once Mai found out from On Ji that Ty Lee was on the island there was no way she wouldn't be joining as well. Mai and Suki had become fast friends during their time on the island together, finding themselves exchanging glances whenever one of the boys said something dumb, which was quite frequent. Mai had also found herself liking Toph's dry sense of humor and pragmatism as well, though the pair hadn't spoken quite as much on account of both enjoying silence. When Zuko had put a cap on guests, Mai helped Suki add just one more person to the list: Satoru.
Satoru was a family friend of Teo's who went to Ba Sing Se University but hung with a very different crowd. Satoru interned for Teo's father each summer in person and during the semester remotely. When Suki had met him on the beach the day prior, she knew that he and a certain metalbender would get along well.
Because this was to be an all-day affair, the royal box had been filled with all sorts of food, drink, and even games in case anyone got bored. As the crowd lightly filled in, so did the competitors. All the benders competing had to attend the opening ceremony, but the rest of the time they could do what they wished.
"Welcome, everyone, to the 503rd annual Ember Island Bending Competition!" The crowd at this point was mostly made up of family and friends, with the real crowds coming at the end of the night for the top benders. "I have some exciting news for today's matches folks. As many of you are aware, our esteemed Avatar Aang will be joining the contest! He will be the first to do so since Avatar Kuruk. Let's give him a hand!"
Aang waved somewhat awkwardly. He was raised as a monk, after all.
"We also have the future Fire Lord in attendance, Prince Zuko!"
Zuko casually waved from the box, annoyed that he was being brought into the spotlight at all. To properly represent the family he had dressed to the nines with his topknot in place and was already uncomfortable.
"And ladies and gentlemen, Avatar Aang is not the only celebrity to be competing in the competition today. Princess Azula will also be competing, so open your wallets!"
Zuko choked on his fire flakes and looked at Mai with eyes wide. She only shrugged - she didn't know Azula would be there either. Ty Lee leaned to the edge of the box, cheering for Azula to win. Sokka gasped and ran to the front of the box. "I can't believe this! Zuko, how could you not tell me your sister was competing? This is going to mess up all my bets!" Zuko merely grumbled.
He ran out of the box at full speed towards the betting booth before Zuko could answer, but Suki wasn't going to let it go. "You really didn't know your sister would be here?"
Zuko looked almost pained by Azula's appearance. "We aren't exactly close."
"Azula is up first, you guys!" called Ty Lee, turning their attention to the match. It didn't last long. The earthbender she was facing had to be taken off the field with his burns towards the medical tent.
"Look who I found!" Sokka strolled in with his arms around the shoulders of Aang and Teo, who smiled at his excitement. Satoru awkwardly followed behind.
Suki immediately noticed his discomfort. "Satoru! It's so good to see you. Come sit over here!" He took his place in one of the seats near Suki, grateful for her intervention. Together they introduced him to everyone there.
Aang settled in next to On Ji as Momo hopped from his perch on Suki's chair to his shoulders. "It was so cool to see you like that Aang," On Ji said, scratching Momo behind the ears. "Everyone all excited to see the Avatar."
He really didn't like the attention. Once his status as the Avatar had been announced, even his friends at the air temple had trouble seeing him as just Aang. He knew it wasn't their fault, and he didn't blame them. They had to reconcile the new role their friend held with the boy they'd grown up with.
When he had met Katara in the South Pole it was like he could breathe again. Because they were students together, and because of her down-to-earth nature, he finally had a friend who saw all of him without awkwardness or the fakeness others had given him. Even better, he'd found a brother in Sokka who seemed to lack the socially appropriate reverence for all important political figures. With Toph's social standing and standoffishness, Suki's leadership of the Kyoshi Warriors, and Zuko literally being a prince, his group of friends was one where their status didn't matter.
Sokka stood up with a start, his snacks falling all by his feet. "THAT'S MY SISTER! Katara is next, guys." Sokka cheered obnoxiously and ignored Suki's laughter. "GO KATARA! KILL HIM!'"
The day went by quickly with the various Team Avatar competitors filtering in and out of the box for their matches, Suki talking up Toph to Satoru, Mai whispering to Ty Lee, and Sokka screaming. Zuko was miserably sipping on tea in the back. He knew it was only a matter of time before -
"Zuzu! Fancy seeing you here." His sister stood at the door of the royal box, decked in her usual red and black armor. He groaned inwardly.
"'Zula!" Ty Lee leaped from her spot next to Mai to hug Azula. "You looked great out there! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
She picked at her nails, allowing Ty Lee to kiss her on the cheek. "Yes, well, it was last minute. Lo and Li said I should enter for practice so we took a balloon over." She smirked for a second. "And it is pretty fun reminding peasant benders of their place."
Aang stood and bowed to Azula. "It's nice to finally meet you, Princess Azula. I'm Avatar Aang."
"I'm not an idiot like my brother, Avatar. I know who you are. I'm sure it will be me and you at the end tonight, anyway. Don't worry," she said, leaning towards him. "I'll go easy on you."
Aang laughed nervously and scooted back towards Sokka. He leaned in close to whisper in Sokka's ear. "Is it just me, or is she kind of...scary?"
Sokka's eyes were trained on the match in front of him, The Boulder versus a waterbender. "Who?"
"Azula, Sokka." Sokka looked behind him briefly before doing a double-take. He screamed lightly and fell off the chair when he made eye contact with Azula. "Oh, spirits." He turned back to Aang and nodded vigorously. "Yes."
Azula just took in the spectacle with a look of disdain on her face. "Is he always like that?"
Ty Lee smiled and handed her a fire gummy. "Oh who cares, he's nice to look at." Sokka grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. Azula shrugged after giving him another look, not disagreeing. Suki just rolled her eyes.
"Suki!" She looked up from the drink she'd been nursing for the voice, but didn't find it.
"Hey, Suki!" It came from the stands below the box. It was Chan. "Come join us down here!" Suki looked up at the still blushing Sokka and at a fully distracted Toph listening to an animated Satoru. Aang looked at her, an eyebrow raised, but she ignored him. Why not?
She walked past Azula and her reunited fire nation friends and made her way down to where Chan had been. He smiled at her in greeting. "Suki, you're just in time! I didn't know you'd be on the island. Look what I just got us." She peered at the bag he held out. It was filled with a small amount of light pink powder.
"Is that what I think it is, Chan?"
"Yep! It's zank." Zank was made from a Fire Nation plant called zankan cherry. Its leaves were soaked in oil and then dried into light pink bricks. Those bricks were broken up into small amounts and sold all around the world for a steep profit. Suki had always wanted to try it but was afraid of its rumored addictiveness. And anyway, the Dai Li had been cracking down on the Zank market in Ba Sing Se. "Don't worry though, my guy is good."
Suki considered for a moment before letting a small smile come onto her face. They were supposed to have fun. Trying it one time wouldn't be a huge deal. "Are we going to do it right here?"
Chan's friend laughed. "No, of course not. We're about to take it to a club next door. They're chill about this sort of thing, and we can dance on the beach while we wait for the semi-finals."
When the zank hit the back of Suki's sinuses, a wave of euphoria hit her head all at once. It made her dizzy and the hand holding the rolled-up paper grabbed Chan's muscled arm to steady herself. He cheered and high-fived her. "I had no idea you were this cool, Suki."
She laughed. She knew it was in jest, even if it sounded mean. "Thanks?" Everything around her was moving fast and it felt like so was she. She looked down at her arms and giggled. She'd just done zank.
Chan whooped as he took his much larger line, and threw his arm around her clumsily. "Let's hit the beach!"
Suki felt so totally energized in a way that she never had before. The taste of zank that dripped from her sinuses down her throat was disgusting, but she couldn't get over how wonderful her head felt. It was like a hit of nicotine but even better. Zank zank zank. Her brain matched the thoughts to the thudding of her blood in her head. She danced like she never had before. Everything was so clear but she felt amazing. She danced with Chan, she danced with his friend, and she danced with people she'd never met. And she was dancing incredibly! Her feet moved fast and she wasn't getting tired.
There was just one problem: she found herself missing Sokka. She tried to push the thoughts of him out of her mind, but he kept inching his way back, even managing to sneak past the zanks repeating in her mind. She could practically hear him calling her name. Suuuuuki! She focused on her dance with Chan, the music thudding in her chest.
"Suki! Where are you?" She froze for a second, that wasn't in her head. Turning around, she saw Sokka calling for her on the beach.
Suki set off in a sprint towards him and jumped into his arms. "Sokka! I missed you."
He stumbled backward but managed to stay upright, wrapping his arms around her waist. "What are you doing here, Suki? You just left the box without saying anything."
She suddenly felt a little bashful. "Oh, sorry. I was just meeting up with some friends. We just came to dance out here for a little while." Suki's grimace turned into a grin. "I missed you. I'm glad you found me."
"Hey, Suki, what are you doing over there?" Chan called, and a few of his friends started chanting her name.
Sokka's eyes narrowed. "These guys are your friends? I didn't know you partied with the FFs."
She knew what he was implying, and rolled her eyes. The FFs were notorious for being rich assholes that partied harder than most of the fraternities at Ba Sing Se University. They were known for being adventurous with drugs, and not the safest group for girls to be around. And he was right, but Chan, at least, wasn't like that as far as she knew. "You know I don't usually party with them. It was just a few friends, they aren't really like the rest of them. Besides, it's Ember Island Weekend!"
"Why are you talking so fast, Suki? You're going a mile a minute." Sokka let her slide back down to a standing position, and pulled back to regard her curiously.
She faltered for a moment, nearly giggling but wanting to tell him the truth. His gaze hardened. "What did they give you?"
Suki smiled nervously. "Zank?"
Sokka looked angry and looked back towards the FFs. "Sokka, come on. You know me, they didn't force me to do anything and couldn't. I wanted to try it, we were just having fun."
He nodded, any anger subsiding quickly. Instead, a sly grin snuck on his face. "Well, how is it?"
Suki kissed Sokka on the cheek. "On a scale from nothing to cactus juice? Definitely around cactus juice. Different, though." She got a look in her eye that Sokka knew to be wary of. "I have an idea. I'll be back in a sec."
Suki bounded back towards the FFs and hugged a few of them, letting them wrap their arms suggestively around her strong frame. Sokka felt a flare of jealousy roll through his stomach, and he curled a hand into a fist to use the extra energy. She ran back to Sokka and grabbed his hand to pull him back towards the arena. He laughed but her pace was making his stomach cramp from all the food he'd eaten earlier. "Suki slow down, please! Why are you making us run?"
She held a small bag with pink powder between her fingers and waved it in the air. "Didn't want to be around when they realized it was missing."
Sokka's hand hit his forehead. "So you went back to pickpocket?"
Her mouth opened at the accusation. "I'm an elite warrior trained in the art of stealth… Of course, I know how to pickpocket!" she finished, innocently.
"You are an amazing woman. Let's go back to the box and tell Toph."
They walked, hand in hand, back up the stairs to their friends just as the final match-ups were being announced for the quarter-finals. Toph jeered just as they passed the threshold. "Wipe the floor with him, Sweetness, yes!"
Katara was fighting against The Boulder for her quarter-final match. It was obvious her sparring with Toph had paid off, as she was easily able to knock him backward. Suki's head was starting to hurt a little, and the effects of the Zank were mostly wearing off. She poured herself a cup of green tea to soothe her head.
The match was called in Katara's favor, and next up was Azula versus a waterbender Aang and Katara knew well from being students together. Katara slumped down next to Aang on the bench, On Ji occupied with Ty Lee by the table of food, which was now being swapped out for dinner food.
"I am so tired." Katara groaned.
"Already coming up with reasons not to fight me in the final round? I see what you're doing, Katara. I'd be pretty afraid to fight me too." Aang laughed good-naturedly as she punched his arm.
Azula let out a grunt as she sent a huge wave of fire toward her opponent, destroying the funnel of water he had been standing on, and sending him crashing to the floor. Katara and Aang exchanged a nervous glance. "Maybe we won't have to worry about fighting each other, because it looks like I'm set to face Azula in the semi-finals." She nodded up towards the board where Azula's name was being put forward.
"Oh come on, Katara, you're going to do great. You even practiced with Zuko the other day." She felt a rush of nerves at his ardent belief in her.
She opened her mouth to reply, but On Ji slipped into Aang's lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "What about Zuko?"
Katara looked out back towards the arena where Toph was warming back up, unable to look at On Ji in his lap.
"Oh, I was just telling Katara that she shouldn't worry about her match against Azula." He nudged her arm, shifting On Ji in his lap. "And besides Katara, you should really be worried about me. I'm the one who has to go up against Sifu Toph if I win my next match."
She snorted as Toph sent an opponent flying into the crowd, getting a penalty called. Toph's hands shot into the air, yelling something at the referee about her blindness. "You're right. It could be way worse. Now go! Your match is up next."
"Good luck, cutie." On Ji planted a kiss on his temple as he shifted her onto the bench to get up.
He smiled big.
Cutie? Katara could have gagged at the oogies. His smile at the nickname made her feel sick. She slowed her breathing and willed the green monster to go away.
"You're going to do great next round Katara, you're such an amazing waterbender. I just know it!" On Ji said encouragingly.
She really was so genuinely nice. It made Katara's stomach tighten. She forced out a smile. "Thanks, I hope so."