Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.
45
The girl across him was a fascinating sort of dull, her expression disinterested at best, openly disdainful at the worst. Dark hair hung in neat bangs just above her gold eyes. Eyes that read him like a book.
"Well..." Zuko began, uncertain. Her gaze was disconcerting.
"Well?" she asked.
"Do you have any experience in customer service?"
She fixed him with a direct look. "None."
"And... with coffee?" Now, why had he asked that? What a stupid question.
Amusement sparkled in the gold of her eyes. "I've drank coffee before." She tossed her long black hair and leaned against the back of her folding chair. "I've even had tea."
Zuko looked back down at his notes, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Do you have any special skills that might be advantageous?"
"Well, I finished grade school," she recounted very seriously, "so I can count money."
He blinked, nonplussed.
"And I've been fairly decent at pouring things into other things for most of my young adult life," she continued, her eyes sparkling in a way that made his heart beat heavily in his chest. "Only a few accidents here and there, and I've been able to clean those up all by myself. I get the towels myself and everything."
Zuko frowned. "Now you're making fun of me."
"Just a bit."
"I'm not a huge fan of being made fun of," he admitted, one finger toying idly with the page of his notepad.
The girl laughed. "Who is?" She smiled, and it was as if the sun was coming out. "But, I'll keep that in mind when I start working."
"Who said you have the job?" he asked.
"I do," she said, confidence exuding from her like an aura. "You like me. I can tell."
He stifled a smile, forcing his lips into a scowl that he only half felt. "How so?"
She shrugged. "I just can."
She held his eyes for a moment, direct and penetrating. Looking past the scar, the first and sometimes only thing people see, and seeing only him. No one, not even Iroh, had looked at him like that since he'd returned from deployment. After a moment, he looked down at his hands. "First shift will be in twenty days. Training day, to get every acclimated to working here. Starting at 8 A.M. I'll see you there."
Standing, the girl smiled at him once more, and he stared at her, as if he could memorize it. "I'll see you then."
She strode gracefully from the room, almost gliding, and he finally he allowed himself a smile. Leaning forward, his eyes shifted to the front cover over her application, looking for her name. Mai.
"Hey, Aang," Suki greeted him, jumping over the back of the couch to settle in comfortably for an afternoon of laziness. "Where's Katara?"
On the seat across the couch, Aang shrugged, and she saw a flicker of wariness in his gray eyes. "She's at work," he said.
Suki nodded. "And... how are you? I haven't gotten to see you at all lately. Things have been a little busy for both of us."
"Yea, they have," he answered, seemingly unwilling to elaborate.
"And..." she prompted. "How are you?"
He sighed. "Fine."
Suki turned to face him, crossing her legs and giving him the full force of her attention. "Sokka told me what happened, Aang. If you're struggling, say so. Or if you're not ready to talk about it, just say that. But don't just say you're 'fine'. A little honesty with yourself might go a long way, here."
A little frown quirked the corners of his lips downward. "I am fine... or I will be. We will be."
"And how's Katara?"
"She's fine, too, I think. Still, you know, figuring it all out," he answered heavily.
"And that upsets you?" Suki asked shrewdly.
He almost glared. "Of course not. I understand why she feels that way."
"Then what is there to figure out?" She leaned back, snuggling deeper into the couch cushions. "You know, one of the biggest reasons I was concerned with dating Sokka was because-"
"-Because you were roommates, I know."
"It seems so unimportant when you say it like that," Suki sighed. "But it was everything to me. Such a big deal, and it felt like everything about my life couldn't move forward until I either committed myself to the very thing I was afraid of, or until I confirmed that I couldn't do it. There were days when I avoided Sokka, just because the weight of that decision hung over me. It was suffocating. And yet, I didn't want to be away from him, either. I felt so confused."
Aang gave a grunt of agreement. "I understand. Although, I'm not sure how that pertains to me and Katara."
"It pertains to you because even though there was a big weight hanging over Sokka and I, the days where I spent time with him, where I let myself just be around him, were still the best days. They were the reason I was happy. Such a simple little thing. Spending time with him. And then I realized that I was so afraid that things would never return to normal- either as friends, or as lovers- that I wasn't letting it return to normal at all."
He blinked. "So... you're saying I should just be normal with her?"
Suki nodded encouragingly. "Be the person that she wanted to be around in the first place, and let her be that person for you. Go on a date, go on a hike. Have a training session at the gym. Have sex. Live your life. Try and move forward."
There was a heavy silence. Then, after a moment, he smiled. "You're good at this sort of thing."
She laughed. "It's much easier, giving advice to other people."
A/N: two major things here.
1) snoozles, I hope the best for you. That's little comfort, I know, but I hope you and your family are staying safe. Let me know if I can help somehow.
2) so working on the minister and if you guys would be willing to leave your opinion in the comments- should I post part two in The Minister, or should I create a new story? If you guys would be willing to leave your opinion, that would mean a lot to me. It's doesn't involve the original minister, so it feels like it should be a different story to me, but I don't want to confuse people. Thank you for your time and reviews!!