Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

43

Zuko leaned disinterestedly back in his chair, flicking casually through his phone screen as Suki took her seat. She frowned. She had been expecting to do this interview with the older man- his uncle, Iroh.

"Where's your uncle?" she asked.

"Not here," came his vague reply.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, can we get started, then? Places to be, and all that."

Zuko put his phone down, his one eyebrow raised high. "You're not off to a great start."

"How so?"

"That wasn't very polite. How do I know that you're not going to be like that to our customers?" he demanded.

She laughed derisively. "How do I know that you're not going to be like that to our customers?"

A small begrudging smile crossed his lips briefly before fading back to his customary scowl. "Fine. Where did you work before this?"

"'Chit Sang's Grocers'," she answered promptly.

"And your reason for leaving?"

"Personal."

He frowned. "That's not really an answer."

"It wasn't a pertinent question. But since you're so worried about it, I was laid off."

"And why were you laid off?"

Suki crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know; I'm not corporate. Personally, I think it was because I caught the manager skimming money from the till and called him out on it, but I'm sure that if you called Chit Sang's, they'd say it was because I didn't meet the company core values."

He wrote down a little note on the pad of paper before him.

Suki leaned forward to peer at it. It looked like a frowning face. "You're taking notes?"

"Gotta make sure we hire the best. Wouldn't want to have shoddy customer service for our second-rate tea shop."

Suki snorted. "See, this is why you're 'customer service' statement was bullshit. You're probably going to be terrible at customer service."

"Well, I'll be the manager, so I won't have to deal with them," he said wryly.

"Have you ever worked in any customer service job, ever?" she asked. "Managers only deal with the worst of them. How do I know that you're going to take care of me if I get in a bind with a customer? Good managers go to bat for their employees."

Zuko glared at her. "Who's interviewing who, here?"

"We're interviewing each other. I want to make sure this job is a good fit."

"And how many other jobs in your own building do you have lined up?" he asked mockingly.

She laughed. "None, obviously. But I still won't take this one if I think you're going to be an ass or the job is going to suck."

"This job is going to suck. It's a customer service job."

There was a beat of silence "This might be the strangest and most candid interview I have ever participated in," Suki declared.

"Can you make tea?" he continued as if he hadn't heard her.

"Can I put a tea bag in hot water?" she asked sarcastically. "Yes, I can make tea."

"What about espresso?"

"How hard can it be?"

Zuko frowned again. "I actually have no idea."

"Perfect," she said. "Then we'll figure it out together. When's the cafe supposed to be finished?"

He looked down at his notes. "Three weeks. The first Monday of next month."

Suki stood from her chair. "Great. I'll see you then," she announced, before flouncing from the room.

Katara lounged casually in one of the folding chairs that had been set up outside the office, and she looked up when Suki came out. "How'd it go?" she asked.

"Fine, I think," Suki said. "They don't have the cream of the crop for interviewers, so... as long as you're nice, you'll almost certainly get hired."

Katara gave her a look of amusement. "Were you nice?"

"Not really."

"Were you hired?"

Suki grinned. "Of course."

Aang lay disconsolately on the couch, his face pressed against a pillow and a blanket tangled up between his legs. The TV played some show about animals, but Aang scarcely paid any attention. His mind was elsewhere, miles away, with Katara. Wherever she was.

He'd barely gotten a wink of sleep, and had woken early for a training session with Sokka. Sokka, noticing Aang's less than enthusiastic attitude, had cut the session short and driven them home in silence. They'd gone their separate ways as soon as they stepped through the door, but Aang knew his time was running out. He could hear Sokka rummaging in his room, getting ready for the day.

But he couldn't bring himself to move.

Moments later, Sokka sat down heavily on the coffee table, peering at Aang with a perplexed look on his face. "What is going on with you?" Sokka asked, shaking Aang by the shoulder.

"Nothing," Aang muttered. "Just a rough night."

Sokka gave him a direct look. "How so?"

"I don't really want to talk about it."

"Ordinarily, that would be a satisfactory answer for me," Sokka began. "But, you're definitely not yourself today. And I saw Katara this morning before she left for class, and she's definitely not herself, either. What's going on?"

Aang lifted his head to glare at Sokka. "It's between us."

"Katara's my sister, and my roommate. I want to know. It doesn't have to be specific- I just want to know if I need to check up on her."

Sighing, Aang rested his head back on the pillow. "Maybe."

"What happened?"

"Toph outed me is what happened," Aang muttered. "She told Katara about the 'dating' thing, and then she told Katara about the girl I was dating before her."

Sokka blinked. "Why does that matter?"

"She didn't know about her."

"I actually don't know anything about her either," Sokka said. "I was under the impression that you hadn't dated anyone seriously, like, ever."

Aang pressed his face into the pillow. "Well, I haven't, but not for lack of trying. My ex would say that we didn't date seriously."

"Last time we talked about this, you told me it was 'the monk life' for you, and then you started dating my sister," Sokka recounted. "Mixed signals here, bud."

"It was going to be the monk life for me, because the last girl I dated- only for four or five months, mind you- we moved in together, and long story short, she panicked and bailed and screwed me over," Aang explained dejectedly. "Then I met Katara. And, I haven't said this to her and I think you might be my best friend at this point so I'm not saying this to anyone but you- even though it's weird because Katara is your sister-"

"Just spit it out," Sokka said.

"I think I love her," Aang breathed.

"Oh, shit."

"And I know it hasn't been very long, and that probably seems super weird or maybe even creepy, but it's just how I feel," Aang said. "But last night, when Katara found out about Toph and then my last girlfriend, she told me that she thinks I haven't healed from my last break up and that I need time to figure out what I want or what I need or whatever."

Sokka stared at him for a moment, before sighing. "Maybe that's a little creepy, but... if that's how you feel, then I guess that's how you feel. I'm happy for you, I guess. Or I was, until you told me the rest of it. Unfortunately, Katara is almost always right about these kind things. What are you going to do?"

Aang rolled over to stare at the ceiling. "Heal, I guess."

A/N: i have actually words on paper for the next part of the Minister. I'm super nervous about it because I feel like sequels are never as good as the OG but I'm trying my best. So excited/nervous to share with you all what I have.