Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or it's characters.

87

He actually looked a little terrified. Poor thing, Mai thought offhandedly as she stalked toward him. She was clad in a skintight bodysuit, the cut of the underwear so high that it added significant length to her already long legs. It made her look almost alien. She fucking loved it.

Zuko was sitting on the leather chair that decorated one corner of his room, the only concession of comfort in an otherwise sparsely decorated space. She'd had to bite her lower lip from making a comment when he'd first guided her into the room. As soon as the door had shut behind them, she'd shimmied out of her leather leggings, and forced herself not grin at the look of absolute shock and awe that had dominated Zuko's features.

Speaking of dominating, she thought to herself. She glided over to him, straddling him on the chair as his hands settled on her hips.

"You're just getting right down to business, aren't you?" he asked dryly.

"No point in waiting," she purred. "We had a date."

He scowled. "Don't make fun of me, or I'll cancel."

"You're really going to cancel now?" she asked, rocking her hips against him.

"I can cancel any time I want to," he said defiantly, though his face spasmed with pleasure.

She laughed wickedly, leaning forward to kiss him, her hands curling into the fringe of his hair. Taking his lower lip between his teeth, she pulled gently, running her tongue along it. When he kissed her back deeply, her hips rocked again of their own volition.

Just as she reached for the fly of his pants, there was a resounding knock.

"Dinner's ready," Iroh said cheerfully through the door.

Mai's eyes snapped incredulously to Zuko's. "You invited your fucking uncle?"

"I didn't invite him," Zuko said. "He lives here."

"He wasn't here when I came in."

"He was grabbing dinner from the Fire Nation diner down the street."

Mai's mouth dropped open in shock. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

He grinned darkly, standing and dropping her out of his lap and onto the floor in a tumble. "Whatever I want." He re-buttoned his pants before holding a hand out to help her up. "Ready for our date?"

"There," Suki said, pinning the last lock of Katara's hair in place. "Finished."

Katara admired Suki's handiwork in the mirror. "Thank you. This is amazing."

Suki nodded mutely, her eyes downcast. "You look beautiful."

Katara peered up at her from over her shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Suki shook her head. "I don't, honestly. And even if I did, I don't have anything to wear."

"I've seen your closet, Suki," Katara said. "You've got so many incredible outfits. I thought Sokka was going to pass out after seeing you in that one dress."

Suki's eyes tightened for a split second at the mention of his name.

Katara flushed, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Suki sighed. "You shouldn't be afraid to say your own brother's name. I'm just... I don't know."

"You're going through a major relationship upheaval," Katara said. "You're allowed to be upset."

Suki laughed, devoid of humor. "I literally cried all of last night in your bed."

Katara patted Suki's hand. "You guys are going to figure this out. I know you will."

But her friend nodded so disconsolately, Katara wasn't even sure that she'd heard what she said. Silence filled the room like smoke, choking them "Have you... have you heard from him at all?" Suki asked finally.

"Yes," Katara admitted. "He's at Haru and Song's place. We talked for a while last night. He's..." She bit her lip. "He's not doing great."

Katara's heart gave a tight squeeze of sympathy at the way Suki looked up at the ceiling, blinking back the tears that filled the corners of her eyes. After a moment, though, Suki shook her head, as if pulling herself from a dark place, and she stood up suddenly. "Let's get you into this dress."

Katara sighed, wishing she had the words that Suki needed. "Okay."

They worked in silence, sliding the satin fabric over Katara's smooth skin, and then stepped back to admire the full effect. The dress had a high neckline, ending in thin straps that plunged to her waist, baring almost the entirety of Katara's back. The skirt was split to mid thigh, and Katara's long legs could be seen peeking between the flow of navy blue fabric, ending in black patent leather heels.

"You're a vision," Suki complimented her. "I'll get Aang."

Katara gave her hair one last nervous pat before the door opened, and Suki guided Aang into the room, a knowing smile on her face.

Aang's face, however, was mired in a lost sort of hopelessness, a longing for something that seemed beyond on his reach. Every ounce of the love he bore for her was in his eyes, and he stepped slowly to her, reaching out for one of her hands. "Oh, Spirits," he breathed. "I swear, there is no one else like you walking on this earth."

She smiled. "Thanks, Aang."

"I am hopelessly in love with you," he sighed dreamily. "Are you sure you need to go to this ball? We could always just stand here and worship you in all your glory."

"That does sound nice," Katara chuckled. "But, no. I should probably not stand Toph up."

Suki checked her watch. "Are you meeting her there?"

"No, she's picking me up. Her driver should be here any minute."

Aang stepped forward to press a kiss to Katara's temple. "Have fun, sweetie."

"What are you going to do tonight?" she asked him.

"Go to the gym," he said. "Gotta burn off this sexual energy until you return."

She laughed again. "Well, save some for me." She turned to Suki. "What are your plans for the night?"

Suki shrugged. "Ice cream. And I downloaded 'The Emperor's Secret'."

"That movie is so depressing," Aang muttered under his breath. He flushed when he caught Katara's pointed glare, and cleared his throat. "Why don't you come to the gym with me, Suki?"

"No, thanks, Aang," she replied quietly.

"Are you sure?"

Katara rested a soft hand on his shoulder. "Just let her be, Aang." She gave Suki a gentle smile. "We're going to talk soon, though, Suki, so be ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Tough love."

Sokka looked up in surprise as Aang's car pulled up. "Hey," he called from his seat on Haru's porch steps. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm headed to the gym," Aang explained through the open window as he parked the car in their driveway. "I thought you might like to join."

Sokka gestured to himself, drenched in the sweat that was the result of a five mile run at a pace that far outmatched what was typical for him. But he'd had a lot on his mind, and pushing himself past the point of exhaustion was the only thing that would clear away the image of Suki's face, brokenhearted and teary-eyed. "No, thanks," he heaved. "I've just come back from a run."

"Looks like a good one," Aang said as he opened the car door, striding over to join Sokka on the steps.

"It was decent." He leaned back with one elbow onto the step behind him. "How'd Katara look?" he asked, suddenly remembering that tonight was the night of the charity event.

He almost frowned at the dopey look on Aang's face; he looked dreamy, lost in love. As happy as he was that Aang loved his sister so deeply, it stung a little to see. His own relationship was balanced on the point of a knife.

"Spirits, Sokka, she was most the beautiful thing I've ever seen," Aang sighed. "You two are genetically blessed."

Sokka laughed, a real laugh, for the first time in two days. "A triumph of Water Tribe genetics."

"Well, the rest of us poor souls are scrambling to keep up."

"Yea, okay," Sokka scoffed sarcastically, gesturing irritably at Aang's own impressive physique.

Aang waved him off with a laugh. "How are you, Sokka?" he asked, his expression turning somber. "I hate to ruin the mood, but I'm sure you guessed that's why I swung by."

Sokka's smile fell away immediately. "I thought you were here to invite me to the gym."

"That, too," Aang said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine."

Aang patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. "She's in rough shape, too."

Sokka said nothing, his eyes focused on the worn laces of his running shoes.

"Are you guys, like... breaking up?"

"Spirits, Aang, I don't know," Sokka heaved. "I don't want to."

Aang chewed the inside of his lip. "Then maybe you won't."

"Maybe we won't."

"You could always reach out to her."

"I'm not ready for that. I can't... it's painfully confusing, this weird limbo. I don't understand it. I don't understand any of it." Sokka picked at a broken piece of concrete on the steps. "I don't want to break up. But I don't know what I'm supposed to do. All I know is that right now, I can't listen to her tell me the same things again. It broke my heart last time; I'm going insane. I've watched 'The Emperor's Secret' four times in the last two days."

Aang gave him a strange look before shaking his head. "I know you'll figure this out, Sokka. You love each other so much. You'll make things work."

"Thanks," Sokka replied sullenly. "Hadn't you better head out? The gym closes in two hours."

"Oh, crap," Aang said, starting as he looked at his watch. "Yea, I'd better go." He jogged to his car. "Don't be a stranger, Sokka. We miss you at home."

Sokka raised one hand in goodbye as Aang got into his car and pulled away.

The gym was practically empty. It was ideal. Aang pulled his headphones over his ears as he stretched on the mats, warming himself up. This workout would be a needed distraction. His emotions were evenly split; over-the-moon at how things were going with Katara, with his admission of his desire for marriage out in the open, but brokenhearted at the very questionable status of Sokka and Suki's relationship. To say things were tense in Apartment 3E was an understatement.

He leapt smoothly onto his feet, stepping onto the sparring mats to work his way through a footwork exercise, spinning this way and that, changing directions as soon as the thought entered his mind. There was no disconnect between thought and movement; he simply moved. It was the peace that he needed.

The mat dropped lightly in one corner as he was joined, and he turned to make space for the guest.

And his heart clenched.

"Is this mat taken?" Jet asked in a mock semblance of innocence.

Aang scowled. "What are you doing here?"

"Working out, dipshit. Obviously."

Mentally, Aang cursed whatever karmic energy had brought Jet to his gym. But when he spoke, his tone betrayed nothing. "There are at least three other empty mats, Jet."

"Well, I want this one."

"Of course you do," Aang muttered. "Yea, fine. Here, you take it. I'll move to that one over there."

Jet snorted derisively as he pulled on his sparring gloves. "I don't want to interrupt your dance lesson, but these are sparring mats, aren't they? So, let's see what you've got."

Aang scoffed. "That's probably the worst idea I've ever heard."

"Come on, man. You can't tell me that you've never thought about fighting me." Jet shrugged. "I think about fighting you on a regular basis."

"So you, what? Looked up the gym I work at and then stalked me here on an empty night?" Aang shook his head. "And, why do you want to fight me, anyway? I haven't done anything to you."

"You're just an asshole," Jet replied.

"How am I the a-hole?"

Jet sneered. "This whole 'innocent' act is cloying. And, for the record, no, I didn't know you work here. I'm delighted at the discovery, though; now, you have to spar with me. Customer knows best."

"I'm off the clock."

"So?"

"So you don't know crap," Aang snapped, his patience wearing dangerously thin. "It would just upset Katara, and I don't like doing that. I'm sure that's a novel concept to you."

Jet waved him off. "This isn't about Katara."

"Isn't it?"

"No. I've been over her."

"Hey, that's great news," Aang said in mock congratulations. "There's no point in us fighting, then."

Jet laughed. "I don't want to fight you because of Katara; I want to fight you because I don't like you."

"Very reasonable," Aang replied sarcastically.

Jet lunged at him suddenly, and Aang spun out of the way, deftly avoiding him.

"What the hell?" Aang demanded. "I already told you, I don't want to fight."

"Too bad," Jet said. He took another swing at Aang, and Aang scrambled out of the way.

He's faster than he looks, Aang admitted to himself. But, still no match. He stepped around his opponent, avoiding a third punch. "Spirit's sake, Jet, this is so stupid."

The next punch clipped him on the jaw; his attempt to talk Jet out of this ridiculous crusade had distracted him. He rubbed it in irritation.

Jet spread his hands in invitation. "Gonna let that go unanswered?"

"Yes, because I'm not fighting-"

A second punch connected with his stomach, and he dropped to one knee to catch his breath.

"You're right," Jet murmured, leaning close to him. "You're not fighting; you're losing. Because, you're a loser. Like your friend Toph. Like your girlfriend." He shrugged, as if he didn't care.

A line was crossed. Aang could take abuse (though, admittedly not without repercussions). No one insulted his friends, though, and even more so, Katara. He stood, dropping into a low stance. Jet gave him a predatory smile.

He saw the shift in motion, Jet's preparation for a snap kick. All of Jet's weight was in that kick, all of his body's momentum. He couldn't move in time; he couldn't even turn his head as Aang executed a perfect tornado kick, his foot landing solidly against Jet's unprotected left side. Jet crumpled to the floor.

Even as Aang landed, he knew he'd made a mistake. "Fuck," he muttered the moment his feet touched the ground.

A/N: see you Monday :)