A/N: I know, I know – I'm back only a few days later! I had a spare moment, so thought to get this out to you guys before I go AWOL for who knows when. I actually really like this chapter and I hope you do too! There's a few tidbits of info for you to find…I'm making you guys wait a while to have the full picture I know, which I apologise for, but I can't deny it isnt fun XD
I just want to say thank you to everyone for being so amazing with your reviews. When I get back home from work to see all your lovely words, it really puts a smile on my face after such long shifts and dealing with difficult customers, so the biggest thank you in the world. It means a lot! Guest – I know I can't reply to you personally, but know that I appreciate your words a lot.
Now, onto the chapter! ;)
Monday Afternoon:
Aang's POV:
I shift the strap of my bag further up my shoulder as I exit the lecture hall and into the fresh air, happy to be done for the day. When I walk past the small alleyway between the two buildings, an arm suddenly emerges and pulls me in.
"Hey!" I shout, already conjuring the air around me until I recognise my assailant. "Zuko?!" I gape before shaking my head. "What on earth are you doing?" I voice in disbelief.
"Are you...doing anything?" The man struggles to say. I furrow my eyebrows.
"No?" I say unsurely, prompting the firebender to nod.
"Good. I want to talk." Zuko mutters and starts leading me out of the dingy alleyway. I purse my lips and try to catch up with him.
"If this is about the money..." I start, but he quickly cuts me off.
"It isn't." Is all he says and I snap my jaws closed, wondering what in spirits name does he want to talk about. He leads me into one of the quieter cafés on campus and goes to order a black coffee. Amber eyes slide across to mine as he jerks his head towards one of the menus. I purse my lips before shrugging my shoulders and go to order a hot chocolate. The man remains awkwardly silent as we wait for our drinks and it's only when we're sitting down at a table in the very far corner does he speak.
"So, this friend business..." He starts and my eyes start twinkling at the prospect of having reached him. He stops to stare at me with a frown. "I didn't say yes." He mutters, prompting me to grin.
"You didn't say no either." I point out in a half-singing tone. A few incoherent grumbles escape his mouth as he shakes his head.
"I don't do friends." He cuts across and my eyebrows furrow in confusion as I wait for him to tell me the reason why he sought me out. "But, if I were…I'd need to know more about you." He continues in a mumble and I can already feel my eyes sparkling once more. For a moment I ignore the uncomfortable request and just bask in the joy that he's actually considering my offer. I wrap my hands around my mug in thought.
"I won't lie, I thought you wouldn't take my offer up." I confess and watch as the firebender crosses his arms in discomfort.
"If the offer is off the table, I can just..." He starts, but I quickly interrupt him with wide eyes.
"No, no! I just...you didn't seem the type to keep people close." I explain, only realising that I'm reflecting my own emotions a second later and I nearly slap my forehead in annoyance at myself.
"You'd be correct. I don't." Zuko admits as he uncrosses his arms to rest them on the table.
"So, what changed?" I query with a tilted head.
"Nothing!" He bites back and I quickly lift my placating hands out in front of me.
"Ok, Ok, but why?" I say lightly, hoping to smooth out the sudden sourness in the air. His shoulders slump as he turns his head to stare out the window.
"They say that uni is the time to try new things, right?" He expresses, his voice sounding a million miles away.
"Yes?" I hum back unsurely.
"So I guess letting someone in is a new thing." He voices lowly. I blink at that reasoning and can't help but feel touched at the thought.
"Well, I'm honoured." I say softly as an odd expression crosses his features.
"But I need to know more about you before I can decide that." He states, as if that was the condition he told himself to do this. I cross my arms and lean back.
"That goes two ways." I throw out offhandedly, surprising the boy. He furrows his eyebrows at me before sighing.
"Right. Azula is my younger sister which you already know. My Dad runs a big accounting company. You know what degree I'm doing. And that's it." Zuko finishes with a shrug. I try not to gape at him, but when he rests his expectant eyes on me, I find it increasingly hard not to stare at him.
"I think we're going to need to work on your social skills." I joke, but I suck my lips in when I find myself on the receiving end of a glare. "I mean, you told me stuff about your life, but not really about you. For example, is that why you're doing business - to take over your Dad's company?" I rush to explain. The older boy hunches his shoulders slightly.
"Yeah." He confirms. I bite the inside of my cheek, realising this is going to be a lot more awkward than I anticipated.
"Well, what's the company called?" I inquire, prompting the firebender to blow a strand of hair from his eyes.
"Ozai's Accounting." He answers, his tone curt. I tilt my head in recognition.
"Oh yeah I've heard of that! It's always taking on clients for other big businesses. That's so cool!" I gush in excitement, earning me a bewildered expression from the firebender.
"I guess." He mutters.
"So Ozai is your Dad's name?" I deduce.
"Yep." Zuko replies, his answer still short. I tap my fingers against the wooden table.
"Well, what do you like doing in your free time?" I ask, in another attempt to get the older boy to open up. He looks at me bizarrely.
"What free time?" He mutters under his breath, making me frown.
"You know, stuff you do when you're not studying?" I ask unsurely.
"I help my dad with his work." The firebender answers with a shrug, making my eyes bulge.
"I mean, something that's not work related." I clarify, but I already have a sinking feeling about what he's going to say. The older student shifts on his chair before dropping his gaze to the table.
"I guess I sometimes go to the park." He mumbles as if it were some buried secret, but inside I'm sighing in relief.
"That's nice. You go for the trees?" I ask in mild interest, but the firebender closes up immediately.
"That's none of your business!" He snaps and I reel back in shock.
"S-sorry." I stutter, prompting the man to widen his eyes briefly before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"No, don't be. It..." He pauses briefly to take in a deep breath, as if deliberating on his next words. "My Mum left when I was younger and the park used to be our favourite place to go. I suppose I like reminiscing..." He trails off as his eyes dart to my expression. "What's wrong with your face?" He asks bluntly with a quirked eyebrow, making me laugh.
"I just…you opened up." I say with a smile. Embarrassment radiates from his features as he scrunches his nose up.
"Isn't that the point?" He mumbles, but the corner of his lips twitch slightly. I chuckle and nod my head.
"It is and that's a sweet thing to do in your free time. I'm sorry about your Mum." I voice quietly. The older student looks torn between being annoyed or being aloof. In the end, his shoulders just sag.
"I don't even know why she left. Just one day, she was...gone." He whispers as if stuck in his own head. My eyes soften and I stretch out my leg to bump my foot with his underneath the table, prompting the firebender to snap his head up.
"I'm sure she would've wanted to stay if she could." I utter sincerely. He scrutinises me for several moments before sighing.
"Yeah, I think so too." He utters before shaking his head and pinning me with those amber irises of his. "Your turn." He voices plainly. I bite my lip, realising that I'm definitely going to be worse than Zuko on the opening up department.
"Nothing much to say. I'm an only child that grew up in a town not far from here. I love science and took up engineering as soon as the university approved my application." I say with a shrug, only for the firebender to quirk his eyebrow.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who needs lessons in the social department." The older boy voices dryly. I shoot him a sheepish expression. "There isn't much to say." I lie as I rub the back of my neck.
"Well, what about what do your parents do for a living?" He probes. My fingers twitch around the mug.
"You know, most airbenders don't ever meet their parents. They grow up in local orphanages until they're old enough to go their own way." I mutter, reciting words I've heard Pasang repeat a million times during my time in the orphanage. I nearly wince at the thought of him, but I catch myself on the last minute.
"Is that what happened to you?" He asks with intense eyes. I gulp, knowing that it would feel wrong to lie about this. Disrespectful even. I glance to the window.
"I grew up in an orphanage for a bit." I voice quietly.
"But you weren't always there?" He presses and I have to tighten my grip around my mug to distract myself from all these thoughts of the past.
"No." I whisper, keeping my gaze firmly fixed on the glass.
"Then what happened?" The firebender's questioning is relentless, I presume because he doesn't quite know what social boundaries are.
"I don't want to talk about it." I finally opt to say. There's a pause before the older student picks up another angle.
"What's the orphanage like? If you're 16, you should still be there right?" At Zuko's questions, I find myself silently choking as my lungs fill with water and fire and smoke. Gunshots. Screams. Blood. Lifeless. So much lifelessness. A crunch cuts through my foggy haze and when I look down I find the mug has shattered in my hands, cutting my fingers and palm while the lukewarm drink drizzles the table.
"Monkey feathers." I curse under my breath as I grab a nearby napkin to dab at the table, ignoring the firebender's stare. A moment later I find him taking his own napkin to pick up the broken shards and dropping them onto the tray.
"Bad memories?" He guesses. I flex my hand, flinching as the blood keeps oozing out of the multiple cuts.
"Yeah." I mumble as I clench my hands into a fist.
"I shouldn't have pushed." Zuko utters, his features set in that usual stony way of his and yet his words almost sound like an apology.
"It's fine." I mutter in a sigh.
"I read about an orphanage burning down, I suppose I got curious." He voices as his eyes dart to his untouched drink. I gape at him as anxiety runs through me.
"What are you implying?" I ask in a hushed whisper. The older boy darts his eyes side to side before leaning forward.
"Judging from your reaction, I don't need to imply anything." He rasps quietly. My eyes widen.
"What makes you think you know anything?" I cut sharply. The firebender eyes me for a moment before leaning back on his chair and crossing his arms.
"I don't need to know, you've essentially just told me." Zuko voices offhandedly. I furrow my eyebrows and regard him wearily.
"I don't understand." I say instead, only for the student to snort.
"Come on, you're a child genius, I highly doubt you don't understand." He voices seriously. My uninjured hand snaps out quicker than you can say 'yip yip' as I grasp his wrist.
"What do you know?" I grit out, because if Zuko knows as much as he's suggesting then anyone else can figure it out and if anyone else can figure it out then I'm putting everyone on campus in danger if I'm found. The man looks ready to snarl at me, but instead he just slaps my hand off him.
"What makes you think I know anything? You said it yourself, there's nothing much to say about you, right?" The firebender states, but he regards me carefully. I narrow my eyes at him and lean forward as much as I dare to.
"Stop lying and spill because if you don't then you're potentially putting a lot of people in danger." I utter so seriously that the atmosphere feels like it's dropped several degrees. Zuko gazes at me for several moments before meeting me half way, his forearms resting on the edge of the table as he talks.
"You were there when it burnt down, weren't you? Somehow you escaped the fate of everyone else there, but you still saw it." The firebender discloses and I find myself going rigid. Without realising, I've pushed my chair back, dropped a £20 note on the table and am out of the door before I can even blink. The rat-a-tat-tat sound of rushed footsteps echo behind me, but I keep my gaze firmly glued in front of me. "No one else knows!" He hollers from behind me. My feet come to a sudden halt as I spin round to face him.
"Then how do you?!" I shout back, giving him time to reach me.
"I told you, my Dad runs a big company - he has connections all over the area, so he has tons of files on stuff. I..." He trails off for a moment as his face screws up in thought. "...I heard about the orphanage and when you brought it up, it just made me think. That's all." He mutters with averted eyes. I scrutinise him for a full minute, but my shoulders refuse to sag.
"You can't tell anyone. No one should know of the connection between me and that orphanage. No one." I stress so intensely that it stuns the man.
"But why?" Zuko asks as he stares at me. I clench my hands.
"You don't need to know." I retort sharply, ready to spin on my heels and walk away.
"Aang." I freeze upon hearing my name and gaze at the firebender in surprise. 'That's the first time he's ever said my name.' I think to myself in disbelief. "I need to know." He states, his voice dropping to a mere breath. I close my eyes briefly and shake my head.
"No you don't. You already know too much." I reply firmly and watch as the man walks over to me until he's less than a foot away.
"That's why you need to tell me, I already know more than I should. What's a little more?" Zuko insists, but I shake my head even more vigorously.
"NO!" I shout, feeling my tattoos glowing once more, despite being hidden underneath my sleeves and hat. The firebender blinks as he stares at me.
"Wait, was your hat just glowing?" He questions with wide eyes. I nearly slap my forehead, but instead I school my features and tilt my head to the side in mock confusion.
"I think you're standing in the sun." I voice bluntly. I watch as his gaze flickers briefly to the sky before he massages his forehead.
"Ok whatever. Don't tell me. It's obvious that your offer of friendship was just that, an offer and nothing else." He grumbles under his breath as I feel my eyelid twitching.
"You're being unfair." I fire back, prompting the man to throw his arms up in the air.
"You just told me everyone could be in danger. How can you expect me to brush that off?!" He retorts roughly. This time I do slap my forehead.
"Everything will be fine as long as you don't tell anyone!" I argue hotly.
"That's not how it works! That's just like smelling gas in your kitchen and ignoring it thinking the problem will go away! If there's something bubbling on the surface it won't go away, it will get worse!" Zuko expresses in frustration.
"You don't get it! This isn't something you can just solve. It's...it's bigger than that!" I growl back just as the boy clenches his hands.
"Who's after you?!" He shouts suddenly, making me lean back in shock as my eyes become the size of saucers.
"What makes you think someone is after me?" I ask with narrowed eyes, suspicion lacing my words as the firebender pales. His previous demeanour dissipates in a puff of smoke as embarrassment contorts his features.
"I, er...well, why else would you be so scared?" He fumbles, but my eyes only narrow further.
"You know more than you're letting on." I point out with set jaws. This seems to snap the older student from his self-induced stumbling as he straightens his back.
"What I know is that you survived events that you shouldn't have. You both implied and confirmed it yourself." He states, but my mind is too busying focusing on the plural use of the word 'event.'
"Events? What makes you think that something like this has happened twice?" I demand. The boy's lips part, before he presses them together firmly.
"You said something happened to your parents. The likelihood of them both dying from natural causes is close to zero." He waves off, but I cross my arms and glare at him.
"Who said they died?" I question, throwing the man off. I watch as he clenches his jaw.
"That's a common assumption for someone who lands themselves in an orphanage, or am I wrong?" Zuko voices, his tone taking on an edge. I scrunch my nose up and jerk my head to one side.
"I suppose." I mutter, despite still feeling unconvinced.
"So?" Zuko prompts. My grey orbs flicker over to him as an idea starts to take form in my head. 'Roku said we have no leads. Zuko says his Dad has a lot of connections with the surrounding region. Maybe I can finally find out who's behind all this and put an end to it. No one else has to ever suffer again.' I realise as I drop my arms to my sides.
"Whatever I tell you shouldn't be uttered to a single soul, Ok?" I order, shocking the student as he blinks in surprise before nodding his head in agreement.
"Ever heard of something called the Triple Z society?" I ask quietly, only to be met with a blank expression.
"The triple what? What is that meant to be?" Zuko echoes back in confusion. I hunch my shoulders up.
"A gang. They take resources to make money and use that money to plan bigger projects to get them more money. You said your Dad has connections, if you want to help me then you're better suited at finding more information than I am." I mumble begrudgingly. Zuko stares at me with slack jaws for a full minute before shaking his head.
"Who said I wanted to help?" He splutters while I shrug my shoulders.
"Why else would you be so curious?" I ask casually and watch as the man opens and closes his mouth wordlessly.
"Right. I guess I'll try." He mutters.
"Good and make sure he doesn't know or your sister for that matter. No one should know." I clarify carefully, earning a nod from the firebender. I bite my lip and look away. "Thanks." I mumble and start walking away before the student decides to ask more questions.
"I...I'm sorry for what happened." He grunts out quietly. I turn my head and give him a wobbly smile.
"Let me know if you find anything." I call back and once I've turned a corner, I grab my skateboard from my bag and skate as fast as humanely possible, the wind that whips at my face and the stinging pain in my hand acts as a welcome distraction. 'At least now I'm actually doing something useful. Maybe Zuko will help me get answers and then the guilt might finally go away. Maybe it won't consume me every day of every moment. Maybe...'
My thoughts trail off when an image of Gyatso's pale face flashes in my mind's eye and I find my skateboard swerving into a rock, causing me to fly in the air before skidding roughly on my front across the tarmac until I reach to a stop. Cuts sting my arms and hands, but I'm too busy pressing my face against the rough gravel-like ground. I interlock my hands and rest them against the back of my head as tears pricks at my eyes. 'I'm so sorry Gyatso. I'm so sorry everyone.' I voice silently as a sob escapes my lips.
"It should've been me." I choke out as I remain on the ground, pressing my face further into the cold, unforgiving floor. "It should've been me." I repeat in a strangled voice.
A/N: Gosh I'm sorry Aang. You're still my second fav character, I just can't help the drama. I hope you guys still liked it? Thought it would be fun to have more Zuko & Aang bonding time – if that's what you can call it. Zuko's line of 'what free time' is basically me half the time, as you've prob guessed from all my ranting in these author notes lol. Anyway I think I was lucky to have a few spare moments to post this, but when we hit Aug I'm pretty sure that will be non-existent as the shops get really busy, so if you see me gone for a month you know why. Until next time guys!
24/7/21