Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters

57

"Okay, all packed," Suki said brightly as she slammed the trunk closed. "Although, I don't know who likes to camp this late in the year, but to each their own, I suppose."

"Its a bit warmer there," Aang explained. "So it won't be so bad. There's something different about that forest. People say the Spirits still live there."

"Really? And you want to spend overnight there? What a remarkable lack of self-preservation you're showing."

Sokka slung his arm around Suki's shoulder. "I thought this was supposed to be romantic, not a haunted forest tour."

"Leave him alone, Sokka," Katara said when she caught the sight of Aang's frown.

"Just protecting my little sister."

She rolled her eyes and slung her bag a little higher onto her back. "Well, don't. Let's head out, Aang."

He shot her an grateful smile. "Let's go."

As Aang's car pulled away, Sokka and Suki turned back into the apartment complex, his arm still tossed casually around her. Through large glass windows, she could see a few construction workers still milled around in the nearly-finished cafe. "Let's see how close they are," Suki muttered to Sokka.

The café was a tasteful sort of elegant, decorated in warm earth tones and subtle nature motifs that lent the space a sense of quiet, secluded comfort. Beautiful little wooden tables littered the room here and there, and a sleek wooden counter top separated the seating area from where the tea and coffee would be made. Suki leaned against the counter, her hands in her pockets and a satisfied little smile on her face.

"It's so beautiful in here," she said. "I'm almost excited to work a customer service job."

"Definitely a nice commute," Sokka agreed, looking around disinterestedly. "But where are all the flat screen TVs?"

She laughed.

From the kitchen, a tall young man strode in, a deep grimace on his face. "I've told you people, the café isn't ready yet. Construction workers only." It was Zuko, and he stopped abruptly when he saw Suki, though his scowl didn't fade. "Oh. It's you."

"It's me," she nodded. She waved a hand toward Sokka. "And you remember my boyfriend, Sokka."

Zuko eyed him dispassionately, not quite sizing him up, not quite ignoring him, either. "Hi."

"Hi," Sokka said, inclining his head. "Nice place you have here."

"It's my uncle's," Zuko muttered.

Sokka blinked. "Nice place your uncle has, then. How long til it's finished?"

"We're running a little behind, but should be by the end of this week. Training for employees starts Monday."

"I almost forgot about that," Suki said with a light laugh. "How would that have looked? First day of work and I didn't show up."

"It would have looked bad," Zuko answered placidly.

"You don't say?"

Zuko stared at her for a beat before shuffling back behind the counter. "Well, I have to get back to work," he announced awkwardly. "Careful out here. There's still construction work going on."

After a moment, Sokka began to snicker. "He's a charmer."

"Be nice," she said, though she couldn't help but chuckle with him. "He is a bit... abrupt. You should have been there for the interview. It was so strange."

"Did he ask you if you were into leather?"

Suki paused. "That's a weirdly specific question."

"I had a strange interview once, too, and the interviewer asked me if I liked leather goods. I was twenty," Sokka said. "Turns out, he had some very specific reasons for interviewing me."

"Spirits, Sokka," Suki said, blanching. "That's... awful."

"Not really," Sokka answered. "I laid out some boundaries very early, and he maintained them to a tee without being bitter about it. He actually turned out to become a decent friend of mine."

Suki leaned against the counter again, fingers running idly over the silk-smooth wood. "So... do you like leather?"

Sokka grinned at her. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"So, what kind of music do you want to listen to?" Katara asked, scrolling through her music selections.

"Oh, I like just about anything," Aang said.

"That's helpful."

"I try."

Katara gave him a pointed look before continuing. "Okay, let's try a different approach. How do you want to feel during this car ride? Pensive? Lighthearted? Excited?"

"Are you going to curate a playlist based on how I want to feel?" he asked in surprise.

"Of course not," she answered loftily. "I already have curated playlists based on a specific mood."

"That's genius, actually. Usually, I just play my whole song selection and skip the ones I don't feel like listening to. Sometimes, I'll end up skipping three quarters of my music."

Katara stared at him. "That's why they have the playlist option."

"I know, but my playlists are usually like... If I know Mrs. Morishita is my client for an afternoon, I play pop music with lots of synthesizer beats, because that's what she likes," he explained. "Or Mr. Nguyen, who is really into heavy metal." His face twisted thoughtfully. "That is one type of music I'm not really a fan of. I can enjoy a good song here or there, but I get anxiety listening to them yell at me."

She let out a silvery laugh. "Okay, then I'll assume that 'anxiety' is not one of the moods you want to experience during this car ride."

"Is 'anxiety' a mood?"

"Question of the century."

Aang grinned at her. "Greater minds than ours will have to figure that one out."

"True," she agreed. "But, in the meantime, can we figure out what we're going to listen to?"

He was quiet for a moment, calloused hands gripping the steering wheel and his eyes trained forward. "Lighthearted."

"Excellent choice."

Great oak trees lined the road, branches extended like hands reaching for the skies, palms up in supplication. Reds, oranges, and yellows flashed at them in an intricate dance, leaves spinning on thin wooden stems as the wind blew through the trees. Great shafts of sienna sunlight beamed between thick trunks, and Katara could see little motes twirling in the air, revealing the secrets of air currents she didn't even know were there.

"This is stunning," she said. her voice low in reverence. "I didn't even know this was here."

"It's an old-growth forest," he explained. "The city tries to keep it quiet because they don't want a lot of tourism. Some of these trees are nearly a thousand years old."

Her head twisted this way and that with wonder, trying to soak up the natural splendor around her. "How did you find out about it?"

"I took a class on dendrology as an elective. They talked about this forest." He smiled. "Camping isn't typically allowed here, but I hit it off well with the professor and he gave me a special permit to come here."

"I don't know what dendrology is," Katara said. "But if it gives you permission to come to places like this, I think I'd like to study it."

"It's the study of trees... wooded plants, really. It was fascinating."

"Sounds like it. This place is... I don't even have the words," she breathed.

He grinned at her. "Wait until you see our campsite."

A/N: the long awaited camping trip has arrived.