Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

32

Katara bit her lip, stepping away and rubbing one arm with her hand nervously. "It's, umm... Well, it's Jet, really. He's said some really unflattering things about me, and... about you, as well."

Not for the first time, Aang wondered what in the Spirit and Mortal worlds Katara had seen in this guy. "What did he say about you?" he asked, a pointed feeling that he recognized as protectiveness overcoming him.

She snorted in derision. "Stupid stuff. That I'm crazy, that I cheated on him, and that's why we split." Rolling her eyes hard enough that he saw only the whites, she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "I don't care about that stuff. It's just, well- he said I cheated with you."

"Oh," Aang said, blinking. "That's crappy of him."

"Yea," she agreed firmly.

He frowned before reaching for her, his palm sliding into hers. It sent a little thrill up his arm, a tingle of electricity that jolted through his heart. Although he recognized that this moment wasn't the time to comment on it, he was still a little dazed that he got to touch her this way. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that," he said levelly instead.

"It's just Jet being an idiot. He's notorious for it," she sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Aang nodded his understanding. "What's he saying about me?"

"See, that's what I'm actually upset about," she mumbled. "He found out- I'm not sure how, but I'm going to find out- about your prior, uh, living situation, and he's saying that you're using me to get a roof over my head... and that I'm too much of an idiot to notice."

Did his room always have this tinge of red? His heart thudded uncomfortably in his chest. "He said what?"

Her eyes darted warily to his. "He said that-"

"I heard you," he said, waving her off. "I just... I can't believe that there are people that would say things like that."

"Well, he did throw beer on you for no reason, so..."

Aang scoffed. "I know that, but... Geeze, I've never said or even thought something like this before, but I wish I had punched him when I had legitimate reason to."

"I'm so sorry," she said miserably. "It feels like you're paying the price for a mistake I made, and I'm furious with the fact that he's somehow found a way to turn the beginning of a good thing into something about him." She scuffed the pointed two of one shoe on his floor.

He looked down at their hands, fingers still intertwined. "It doesn't have to be about him."

"Doesn't it?" she asked bitterly. "No matter what we do now, there are always going to be people that talk. People that accuse me of cheating, people who say awful things about you because of your homelessness- former homelessness!" She looked quickly at him, as if to make certain that he wasn't upset, before her eyes flitted away again. "And it's just true enough to make people believe it."

The worry in her eyes tore at his heart, and he was rational enough to admit that she was likely correct. It was true that, during his period of homelessness, he hadn't precisely wanted to announce it from the rooftops. But, it wasn't a secret, either, and Aang rather felt that Jet's willingness to spread it around said much more about Jet than it did about himself. The last thing he wanted, however, was for Katara to feel ashamed of him. "Are you worried about it?"

She bit her lip. "Only so far as you're concerned."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she began slowly, "I expected something like this from Jet, more or less. I humiliated him- publicly- and he's never been one to take that sort of thing lying down. It's just that, well... now he's dragged you into it. I never wanted you to get hurt." She looked at him shyly through dark lashes. "I don't want you to think I'm not worth the trouble."

He should have known to trust her; she didn't care about the rumors. Of course she didn't. She cared about him, as a person, a human being with feelings. "I know you are worth the trouble," he said earnestly.

Suki stomped slowly back to the apartment, her conversation with her manager turning over and over in her mind. She hated that job. Truly hated it. It boasted miserable hours, and she was treated like absolute garbage by everyone from the customers to her co-workers. The only reason she had stayed as long as she had was the pay.

Until twenty minutes ago, of course, when she had been bluntly and ruthlessly informed that she was being laid off, along with several other members of the 'crew' who didn't meet the 'company core values'. Or, more accurately, she had caught one of the managers skimming money off the till a week ago, and they were firing her before she could tell anyone.

She sniffed. We'll see about that, she thought ferociously. While not typically motivated to write anything on her own, Suki felt that she now had sufficient purpose to sit down at her computer and write a strongly worded letter to mid-level management about the going's-on at 'Chit Sang's Grocers'.

"That'll show them," she said viciously to herself as she whipped open the door to the apartment building.

Making her way over to the row of mailboxes, she fished around for her key, eyes on her coat pocket, until she ran headlong into something soft but solid, hovering around her mailbox.

It was a young man about her age, around Sokka's height, with dark, soft-looking hair that fell just over his eyes. He was handsome, she thought. She'd seen eyes like his once before, on a leopard at the zoo. But across the right side of his face, an angry red scar narrowed one golden eye like a slit, the skin melted and reformed like candle wax. Whatever had happened to him, it looked as though it had been excruciating.

"Sorry," she mumbled, after she realized she was staring.

He grumbled a vague response, before roughly handing her a flyer.

"What's this?" she asked in surprise, turning it around to look at it.

"A flyer," he said succinctly. He had a gravelly sort of voice, unique and somehow fitting for him, despite the fact that she knew nothing about him.

Although, she did know he was a smart-ass. "Yea, I know it's a flyer," she huffed, not in the mood for sass from strangers. "What's it for, I mean?"

He shrugged, raising one eyebrow as he did so. "Building's changing ownership. Rent's gonna go up... Read the flyer." He shuffled away, leaving her open-mouthed behind him.

"Hey- hey!" she called to him, following him to bar his path away from the mailboxes. "You can't just tell me rent's going to go up, and then walk away."

"I didn't do that," he muttered, tapping the flyer that she still held clutched in one fist. "I gave you a flyer. If you read it, you might get some of your questions answered."

"Or I could talk to you," she snapped. "You seem full of answers. Are you the new owner?"

"No."

"Do you know who is?"

"Yes."

She crossed her arms. "Are you being deliberately obtuse?"

That elicited a small smile, one corner of his lips ticking upward. "No," he said, stifling an undercurrent of amusement.

She scoffed. "Useless," she muttered under her breath, though she wasn't sure whether she meant the man, the conversation, or both.

His ghost of a smile returned. "There's a 'town hall' meeting about it tomorrow, at 7pm," he said, finally obliging her. "My uncle bought this building, and he'll answer any questions you have."

"There now," she said, raising one brow. "Was that so hard?"

Immediately, the smile fell away, replaced with a dour look that seemed as natural to him as breathing. "Yes."

A/N: it's Zuko! He here

Good news for those of you that read the minister,.. all this fluff is making me stressed and I'm starting to get some really solid ideas bouncing around for the next part of the Minister. Hope you're ready for a healthy dose of angst.