Zuko honestly didn't know why he ever listened to Azula.

Don't be silly, Zuzu. This belongs to me.

Don't be silly, Zuzu. Of course, I care about you.

Don't be silly, Zuzu. We'll be right back.

Zuko scoffed out loud, earning an irritated look from a mother walking by with her kid. He narrowed his eyes and growled at the kid, who only giggled and kept walking right along on his mother's hand.

Zuko sat back and crossed his arms and flipped his stupid hair out of his stupid eyes. Even with the great material his father had given him to work with, it was hard to be threatening while sitting on the stairs of the Ember Island Spa.

Zuko had been abandoned, deserted, rejected, just so those stupid girls could lay in mud or something equally as pointless. What were they doing in there for that long anyway? And why couldn't he come with them?

Nothing was worse than being the loser who had nothing better to do than wait around a spa like a delinquent. What would people think of him? That he had no will power to stand up to a bunch of girls? That he had no friends? That he was just some pervert hanging around to harass women?

Zuko couldn't keep the angry blush off of his cheeks. Great, now his entire face was red. As if people needed any more reason to stare at him like idiots. He snarled and turned his head. Now, he was just some freak show, his face on display for the entire world, as easy to spot as a bright, red balloon floating against a background of dreary, grey clouds.

The world was an awful place.

Zuko looked at the ground surrounding him. He was irritated to see that he had not broken the puzzle game Azula had given him to mess with while they had their dreadful "girl time" when he had thrown it against the wall. He gave it a kick and watched it fly away into the crowd.

Almost immediately, he regretted it; he had really wanted to figure out how Azula had done it so easily.

Also next to him on the stair sat Ty Lee's half-eaten candy apple that she had asked him to hold for her. He didn't know why he bothered protecting it from the flies and scorpion-bees, the duty was just as annoying as everything else in the world, but every time something swooped down on him he would flail his arms violently and move the apple to his other side.

It was disgusting, the caramel smelling sickly sweet and oozing down the sides, pooling in the craters Ty Lee's teeth had left and around the bottom, wasting away on the plate. Just looking at it gave him a stomach ache.

But Zuko would have eaten a thousand candy apples to get rid of the sight making its way through the crowd, flipping his hair around enough to give himself neck problems, walking around like a jerk who couldn't find a shirt and couldn't find a girlfriend of his own. The idiot from the party.

Before he knew what he was doing, Zuko had wrapped his hand around the stick in Ty Lee's apple, pulled his arm backwards, and flung the apple.

It spun through the air and finally bounced off of the jerk's head with a satisfying clunk, leaving a good amount of gooey caramel in his precious hair.

The noise that left the prince was more an angry huff than a laugh, but, judging by the smirk pulling at his lips, he was in his best mood all day.

The scowl returned when Zuko heard the Ty Lee behind him.

"What a wonderful spa! I had a great time, didn't you guys?"

"What took you so long?" Zuko spun around to face them, stomping up the stairs with his fists balled up at his sides.

"Hello to you too, Zuzu," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "How was your afternoon?"

"Horrible!" he spat back at his sister. How dare she leave him standing around like an idiot then have the nerve to ask him about his day?

"Yeah. Me too," Mai drawled, taking Zuko's hand in her own and turning him around to walk down the stairs. "Spas are boring." Mai looked at Zuko from the corner of her eye; he was practically steaming. "Wanna go make out until you feel better?"

Zuko blushed and knit his brow together, his eyes darting from side to side, like he was trying to figure out how to solve a difficult problem.

"Fine!"

"Whatever."

Mai sighed and wrapped her arm around his waist. Zuko fell easily into the habit and his arm found its way around Mai's shoulders.