Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or its characters.

91

There was a canvas-wrapped parcel hidden under Zuko's desk in the break room. Mai figured it was probably supposed to be a surprise, or something. But the parcel was sitting in a vase, the canvas ending just above green stems that rested neatly in a six inch layer of water.

Flowers. Zuko had a bouquet of flowers.

Mai would absolutely not put it past Zuko to give those flowers to his uncle, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that Iroh would be delighted to receive flowers from his nephew. But there was a niggling sense of surety, an unflappable notion in her brain that those flowers were for her.

And she absolutely hated that idea.

As a result, this shift, shared with Suki, had been subdued at best, downright irritating at worst. Suki was clearly going through something herself, though Mai was admittedly too embroiled in her own canvas-parcel-that-was-definitely-hiding-flowers-related drama to ask her about it. She hadn't even made a snarky comment when Suki had mixed up a macchiato and a cappuccino. The customer had, though.

That had actually been sort of cathartic. Suki, clearly at in no mood for a lecture from a customer, was on the verge of murder as the customer informed her just exactly what he thought of Suki's drink-making skills. Mai had managed to cut in on Suki's behalf before her temper had gotten her in hot water. Customer service was admittedly not Zuko's strong suit, but Mai still didn't think he would approve of Suki verbally eviscerating a 'guest'. There wasn't much Mai couldn't get away with when it came to Zuko, so she took care of the situation on Suki's behalf.

Both girls had given each other a knowing look as the customer retreated, tail between his legs and echoes of 'I won't be coming here anymore!' still ringing in the air. The look had lasted mere moments before they both laughed dryly at the man's stupidity.

"I'm glad you were here," Suki said. "I was about to fly across the counter and throttle him. I'm in no mood today." She chuckled humorlessly. "Or any day, really, but especially not today."

"It was my pleasure," Mai admitted. "I'm going through some bullshit, myself."

Suki smiled commiseratingly. "Oh? Do tell."

"It hasn't happened yet," Mai heaved. "But it's going to."

"Is it about the flowers under Zuko's desk?"

Mai rolled her eyes skyward. "Clearly, he has an aggressive lack of subtlety."

"I'm guessing you don't like flowers," Suki said, turning around to wipe down the sticky counter tops.

"They're just going to die. It's impractical," Mai explained. "It's like, 'here, have these flowers that were doing perfectly well where they were and take them into your home so you can watch them suffer and shrivel and bring a touch of death into your home in real-time'."

"You sound like my boyfriend," Suki had murmured before returning to work.

The shift crawled by, and Mai was certain that she was going to lose her mind when Aang and Katara finally waltzed in, cool as you please, their hands clasped together like life was some sort of fucking romantic comedy. An eternity of time elapsed before they came out in matching aprons, still nuzzling each other. Mai's glare had little to no effect in speeding them up.

"We're your relief," Aang said cheerfully.

"I'm so fucking relieved," Mai snapped, ripping her apron off and practically sprinting into the break room to grab her bag before Zuko could spot her leaving.

But he was already there, waiting for her. From the corner of her eye, she could see Aang, Katara, and Suki all peering into the break room, conspicuous in their attempt to be discrete.

Zuko stood in front of her locker, essentially holding her bag hostage. His arm was outstretched, and in his hands was probably one of the bleakest bouquets Mai had ever seen. Was that black hellebore? She was ninety percent sure that was poisonous. Burgundy flowers peeked between leafy stems, and deep purples floated in the midst of the dark mass.

She didn't even remember reaching out to take the flowers, but who was she even kidding? She fucking loved them. They suited her perfectly.

"These are for you," Zuko said blithely.

"I see that," was her waspish reply.

He glared. "You could say thank you."

"I could."

The glaring continued, until he broke into an uncertain smile. "You like them."

She scowled. "Maybe."

"Slow shift," Aang noted, jerking his head toward the empty cafe.

"It's always this slow in the afternoon," Katara said. "Don't worry, the evening rush will come in, and then you'll look back on these peaceful moments wistfully."

Aang smiled affectionately. "'Wistfully'?"

"Yea, 'wistfully'. It means-"

"I know what it means," he laughed. "I've just never heard anyone use it in real-life conversation."

Katara turned to him, leaning against the counter in a way that was just a little too casual to be genuine. "So," she began, "maybe we could steal these few moments to talk about the job offer."

Aang stilled. "We could, yea. That's probably a good idea."

But neither of them said anything, and the weight of the silence did nothing except make them laugh nervously.

"I don't know why I'm so anxious," Katara began. She looked down at her hands. "My palms are sweating; look." She held one up for him to see.

He took her upheld hand in his. "How about, first, we just agree that whatever we do, we do together? And then we can decide what's best from there."

She gave him a grateful look. "I think I can agree on that."

"Good."

"Good."

Aang rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, so... let's decide."

She swatted him, chuckling. "That's helpful."

"I do my best."

"Then we should decide."

"Yea, I completely agree."

Katara shook her head in exasperation. "I have an idea, okay? Let's just say out loud, 'yes, I want to move', or 'no, I don't want to move'. We'll do it at the same time. And if we disagree, we can weigh the pros and cons and make the decision that's best for both of us. I mean, we still have time. Tomorrow's Monday, so I haven't emailed the Dean yet, so as of right now, we're holding all the cards."

"I like that idea," Aang said, nodding. "Let's do that."

"Okay, then," she said. "On the count of three. One... two... three..."

"I want to move."

"I want to move."

The silence descended over them again, but this time, a shocked look was plastered across both of their faces.

"So..." Aang began, his voice cutting through the air. "We're agreed. We want to move."

"Yea," Katara said quietly, nodding her head. "We're moving."

When the silence came again, they were both grinning, and then they were hugging, and right before Aang pressed a kiss to Katara's lips, she smiled as she said, "I guess we're moving."

At the sound of the front door swinging open, slamming unceremoniously into the wall behind it, Suki's instincts kicked in. She dropped into a defensive stance and crept around the wall that separated the kitchen from the rest of the living room. But when she peered around it, it was just Toph, standing in the doorway and sipping a bubble tea as if it was her prerogative to kick open other people's doors.

"Hello, Suki," Toph greeted her casually.

Suki straightened, half-relieved, half-irritated. "Toph," she said dryly. "What are you doing here? And how did you know it was me?"

Toph pushed her way past Suki, whacking her lightly in the ankle with her cane, and made her way over to Aang's room without so much as a word.

"He's not here," Suki grumbled, leaning down to rub her injured ankle. "He and Katara are at work."

"That little weasel," Toph said. "He told me he worked the morning shift."

Suki shrugged. "Maybe he switched. Maybe you misheard- willfully, no doubt."

Toph snorted a laugh before stomping over to the couch and dropping herself onto it. "Guess I'll just have to wait, then."

"Oh, wonderful," Suki muttered.

The blind girl's head snapped toward her at the sarcastic comment, a tiny flash of hurt crossing her face. Suki instantly felt guilty. It wasn't Toph's fault that she was in such a foul mood.

She opened her mouth to apologize, but Toph cut across her, the look of hurt long gone and replaced with something faintly devious. "So, I heard you fucked things up with your boyfriend. The hot one."

Suki's mouth dropped open, her feelings of guilt evaporating in an instant. "Wow, Toph. Do you ever think about the things that you say before you say them? Even just a little bit?"

"What? You don't like that I called him hot?" Toph shrugged. "It's obviously not a 'looks' thing. It's, like, a personality thing. Dude seems like he can take a punch, but isn't a punching bag. That's hot." She laughed then, and leaned her head back on the back cushion of the couch. "I guess he'd need to be like that, to be in a relationship with you."

"Toph, you're getting dangerously close to a line that you do not want to cross," Suki warned. "People far closer to the situation than you have already shared their opinion of how poor a girlfriend I am. I didn't need a second opinion."

"And what did they say? 'Poor, sad, little Suki, why can't her boyfriend just let her be mean to him? Why can't he just let her walk all over him, no promises, no strings attached, until she's done with him and then she can just drop him off at the donation center like a discarded t-shirt for some poor, sensitive woman to find later'?" Toph laughed derisively at Suki's furious spluttering. "I'll bet they didn't. If Katara was there, I'll bet she was all gentle words and soft smiles. Warm, comforting caresses on the shoulder. Like a mother."

Suki leaned forward aggressively. "Don't you say a fucking word about Katara. She puts up with way more of your bullshit than I ever would."

"Easy," Toph said mildly. "I actually like Katara. And since you're feeling so punchy, before you announce to me that she doesn't feel the same way, I know. Whether or not she likes me makes no difference. She doesn't take shit, just like her brother. And I respect that." She turned her head toward Suki. "People like you and me, we need people who can handle our moods. I guess Sokka and Katara and Aang are those kind of people."

"I am nothing like you-"

Toph's eyebrows raised so high, Suki thought that they were going to disappear into her hairline. "Wait, what? You really think that?"

"Of course I fucking think that! I actually care about the way I hurt people, the way I run from tough situations; I care about it enough that I'm trying to fix it," Suki snapped. "I'm meeting with Sokka tomorrow to talk about how we can move forward-"

"And you're going to tell him, what, 'I'm sorry I don't want to marry you and also I'm sorry that I'm mean, but please don't go because I really like you'?" Toph scoffed. "He can take a hit, but he's not stupid."

Suki huffed an irritated breath. "How do you even know about all this?"

"Aang."

"Blabbermouth," Suki muttered venomously.

Toph scratched at her armpit. "Who told you that you run from tough situations?"

"Huh?"

"Who-told-you-that-you-run-from-tough-situations?"

Suki glared at her. "Everyone. Song, Katara, Sokka... everyone."

"Wow." Toph whistled. "I can't believe this. All these people who are so close to you, and they don't get you at all."

Suki frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You don't run. Running's not in your nature. If you ran, you'd be in your room right now, sulking, and I'd be listening to music on your couch in peace." Toph laughed. "You don't run. You fight. And that's your problem. Everything is a fight; everything. Dating Sokka, loving Sokka, marrying Sokka. Listening to advice about Sokka. You're so busy fighting that you're not even letting yourself win."

"That's not true-"

Toph laughed again, tilting her head toward Suki. "You're fighting right now."

"So, what are you saying, then?" Suki heaved. "I should just, like, give up all the things I believe in and let other people win? Let everyone else walk all over me?"

"Winning all the time makes you a conqueror, Suki, and you can't conquer love. Sometimes, loving is losing. But it's losing the right way." Toph sipped at her tea casually. "You could promise Sokka that you'll love him for all eternity, and you might even mean it. But this is the real world. Sometimes- a lot of times- just loving someone isn't enough. You have to learn, you have to change, you have to grow. In your incredibly immature state right now, you probably think that changing, growing, compromising, equates to losing. That's why this meeting tomorrow will fail. Because you're not going in there to 'fix this'; you're going in there to win."

Suki stared. There was a swirl, an absolute whirlwind of emotions tumbling through her, careening past the rigid walls she'd set around her heart. Toph is such an asshole, she thought to herself.

But, "Fuck," Suki murmured.

Toph was right.

A/N: Coyotelemon thank you that might be one of my face reviews of all time. And I actually had look up what a kumquat was. Did not know it was a citrus fruit. The more you know.