Hi everyone! After a long long hiatus, I'm somewhat back. I've had a lot of people asking when I'm going to update, if the fic is abandoned, and I don't really have a great answer. Some people have speculated that it has to do with everything that happened with Aangbanger, and that is absolutely not the case. As many of you know I'm very sick and had some professional opportunities come up, so FF fell to the wayside.
I've felt really disillusioned with the fandom on the whole through my own issues I was having with people in the community (again, unrelated to Aangbanger), and then in how people responded to everything with Aangbanger. I was really disappointed that people were blaming them for what happened, blaming them for me not updating, and in general not letting FF writers do their thing and have fun. It's just supposed to be fun and not be so serious, it's just fanfiction. Aangbanger was one of my best friends in the fandom and I'm just really disappointed with people in general. I'm 100% behind Aangbanger and never felt like they did anything they were accused of, nor did I feel like I was getting flack or something because of it. I know it's their desire to disappear from all this, so I won't be talking about this again on here. Just please be kind and don't crusade on my behalf.
Shout out to Ryker and RMS for giving me bar names, as I am running out of them. Feel free to drop them in reviews and I'll try to use some.
Iroh was known for being a patient man. He, after all, ran the tea shop that hundreds of privileged and occasionally whiny college students frequented each year. But Zuko was absolutely getting on his last nerve.
Normally, they had enjoyed a synergy working in the tea shop but Zuko's moodiness had reached a new extreme. It radiated off him in a way that even seemed to seep into the tea, souring its normally sweet and fragrant scent. As he somehow managed to ruin another pot, Iroh decided it was time to put his foot down, with love.
"Zuko, my nephew, get out."
Zuko looked up from his brew, surprised, "What?"
He smiled lightly. "Go home, to your friends. Don't hang out with an old man when you live with such wonderful people."
"But, Uncle, I-"
"Go. Home."
Aang skipped out of the Apple store with a new iPhone in hand. He was getting ready for Jin He's arrival and decided to pick him up some treats to help him get acclimated to city life. Aang wasn't sure how Jin He was going to react to living in the city. It wasn't that he'd never been to one - Jin He had traveled the world like most of the nomads their age - but that Jin He would likely not be prepared for what life was like with Aang's friends. Jin He could, of course, stay mostly within the Acolyte Center, but Aang was hoping he could get his friend to become at least a small part of his friend group.
Aang smiled when he saw Sokka walking out of the campus bookstore with Suki. Perfect timing. He ran up to the pair who were walking down the sidewalk hand in hand.
"Hey Aang," Suki said, "What have you been up to?"
He held up the bag in his hand. "Just getting ready for Jin He. He should be here in time for dinner."
"That's great!" Sokka said, pushing himself to be happy about Aang's friend coming. He was convinced if he just faked it, he would eventually feel it.
"Really?" Aang said, with that signature hopeful smile that made Sokka regret saying anything. "I was actually thinking that maybe you'd want to join us for dinner tonight, help him get the lay of the land in terms of being the Avatar's assistant and all. What do you think?"
"Oh… that's a…"
Suki squeezed his hand in support, looking up at him with encouraging eyes. Sokka steeled himself. What was one dinner? He could scope this Jin He guy out. "I'd love to, Aang."
Hours later Sokka deeply regretted his decision. He was staring at the menu in front of him, filled with tofu and veggies and something called jackfruit. Aang could sense Sokka's hesitation with the Air Nomad cuisine and realized the choice of restaurant was maybe not best for everyone. He had just wanted Jin He to feel at home in an unfamiliar place.
Aang pulled Sokka's menu down from in front of his face. "Get the BBQ jackfruit, trust me."
"Alright then… I guess I'll get the jackfruit, whatever that is."
Jin He looked up, oblivious, "It's a large fruit native to the southern Earth Kingdom, tastes somewhat like pork... from what I've heard."
"Right," Sokka nodded, unsure what to tell the walking textbook.
"So…" Aang tapped his fingers on the table anxiously. "You're definitely staying at the Acolyte Center?"
Jin He nodded his head. "Yes, definitely. I'd like to keep up with the ceremonies, even if it's with the newbies. I figure that's the right place to do that, and would be good to be near elders." He fiddled with the iPhone in his hands, unfamiliar and bizarre.
A server dropped a fried cauliflower appetizer in front of them. Sokka lifted the unfamiliar vegetable on his fork.
"That totally makes sense. You should definitely hang out with us, too, though! You've met Katara, Sokka's sister, but you'd love Sokka's girlfriend Suki. She's really cool, and a Kyoshi Warrior!"
Jin He suddenly flushed red. "Do you think she knows…"
"Oh, definitely," Aang said with a smirk. "Jin He had a thing with one of Suki's warrior sisters, Sokka."
Sokka eyed Jin He, squirming under the attention. "Oh, yeah?"
"It was brief, when I was 16 and traveling with the head monks," Jin He quickly explained before popping a piece of cauliflower in his mouth.
Sokka didn't say much and Aang blinked, looking between his two friends. Sokka was acting aloof, standoffish. Opposite of his normal self. "Anyway, you're going to love Ba Sing Se. It takes some getting used to, but it can be a great city. And this is going to be such a burden off of Sokka, doing this unpaid for years."
Sokka grunted, dropping the cauliflower onto Aang's plate. "It really hasn't been too much. Just answering letters, saying he's too busy for things, stopping assassins, the works."
Jin He chuckled. "It sounds like you had your hands full, and a full-time student. I have big shoes to fill."
Sokka sighed internally, Jin He being so charming and kind was frustrating. He wanted to hate the man taking his friend.
"Definitely, but you're up to the task!"
A server, clearly an Air Acolyte with her red and orange robes, walked up to the table. "Amituofo."
"Amituofo," Aang and Jin He replied without flinching, making Sokka feel like an idiot and avoid replying at all.
"I'm new at Pali, but I've been studying every night!" the server admitted, and the boys smiled.
As they replied in Pali, letting her practice the unfamiliar tongue, Sokka felt more and more like sinking into the ground under his seat. He'd always known Aang was an Air Nomad, but he wasn't used to seeing him in his element in this way. He'd assumed that he knew Aang, his best friend, very well, but he wasn't so sure anymore. There was this whole other part of him that he'd been neglecting to get to know.
Katara had given him the cliff notes of their trip to the Southern Air Temple and how different their lifestyle was, but it didn't hit him until he was the odd one out, listening to a totally foreign language spoken on his best friend's lips for the first time.
She plucked the menu out of Sokka's hand and walked back to the kitchen. "She didn't even take my order!" he said, incredulous.
Aang laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, turning towards him. "We ordered for you, don't worry! So, let's get into the nitty-gritty. Sokka, do you think you could give him a rundown on the system we have going?"
"Sweetie?" Katara leaned on the doorframe of Aang's room. He finished typing a sentence on his computer before spinning around in his chair.
"Yes, sweetie?"
She crossed the short distance between them and perched in his lap. "I think that we need to help Zuko."
He rubbed absentminded fingers over her thigh and supported her with his other arm. Aang frowned. "Is something wrong with Zuko?"
Katara pursed her lips. "Well, just listen to him. He's been playing his 2000s punk rock playlist for like… five hours straight."
Aang nodded, considering. He had wondered why he'd heard Paramore so many times while he'd been working. "Should I talk to him? Try to cheer him up?"
"I have a better idea," Sokka said from the doorway with a smirk.
"BOYS NIGHT OUT!" Sokka cried, his arms around Zuko and Aang in the Uber carriage, which Zuko answered with a groan. They had already pre-gamed at the house and Sokka was quite a few in. "Alright, here's the game plan. First, we're going to hit up the Beta Sigma house for pre-gaming," Their carriage driver stifled a laugh from the front. "And then, we'll hit The Lone Grove."
"I love The Lone Grove! Have you been, Zuko?"
"No," he grumbled, arms crossed. While he appreciated his friends' obvious effort, he wondered why they thought a night out with frat bros at a dive bar would make him, of all people, feel any better. "Why couldn't we take Appa again?"
"Appa has a little date tonight, actually. He and Jin He's bison, Pela, are quite close."
Sokka rolled his eyes. Another mention of Aang's best friend Jin He.
The carriage pulled up to the frat house, interrupting his thoughts. It was on Greek Row, nestled in between two other houses. Sokka had pledged Beta Sigma freshman year and had absolutely loved it. Though it didn't take first priority, his brothers were some of his best friends outside of Team Avatar. Since they were entering their spring junior semester, elections at the fraternity were about to happen. This would be his post-Aang rejection glow-up: Beta Sigma president.
As they got out of the carriage, a group of freshmen crawling the row giggled their way by them, getting especially excited when they saw who it was. The events of the previous semester had elevated all of their statuses, especially as Aang was able to prove himself more as an Avatar to be reckoned with.
"The Avatar… and the Fire Prince!" One cackled, laughing as she stumbled by. Aang rubbed the back of his neck, still getting used to the extra attention, but Zuko just rolled his eyes for the millionth time that night.
Things were back in full swing on campus, and each house shook with the bass of the music they played on each floor. A long line of people went from the door to the road. They walked up the front steps, skipping the line, to find Teo standing by the front, his hands out refusing entry to a group of freshmen guys. Teo was a new brother, only halfway through his sophomore year, so he'd been assigned door duty. "Which brothers do you know?" he said with a hint of seriousness before cracking a smile. He set his cane against the bench at the door to embrace Aang and Sokka and bowed to Zuko, who he'd never met before.
A group of freshmen nervously came up the front walk and listed off a few brother's names before Teo let them in. One of the girls, in particular, clearly caught his eye and he watched her enter until the door closed. Aang raised an eyebrow. "See something you like, Teo?"
He groaned. "That girl was so pretty, but I'm hopeless. The alcohol doesn't even help like they say it does."
Sokka wound an arm around his shoulders. "Listen, let the master teach you his ways. I'll have you getting this girl in no time. And Aang knows a thing or two too, though he should have completely retired that, right, buddy?" Sokka pointed an accusing finger towards Aang who only smiled.
"I've got everything I need and more," he said simply and motioned towards Zuko. "Even Zuko here has a girlfriend! We'll help you out, Teo."
As another brother came to replace him, they all ducked inside, much to the annoyance of the earthbenders waiting at the door. The lights were all off except for a few strobes and the walls were covered in paper to protect it from their drunken antics. They walked upstairs to the ongoing hall crawl.
As Zuko listened to Aang and Sokka give the absolute worst pick-up advice he'd ever heard, he knew what he needed to do. He picked up a handle from someone's dresser and tipped it back.
"Easy there... Zuko, right?" Haru said from his spinny chair at his desk. He fiddled with the string lights to wash the room in a reddish haze.
Zuko nodded a little sheepishly and put the bottle back down.
"At least use a mixer or a shot glass, buddy," Haru smiled and handed him a beer from his fridge.
He nodded again, unsure exactly what to say in response, until a group of girls burst into the room. "Haru!" One threw her arms around his neck as the rest filed in.
"Here's your chance to try it out, Teo," nudged Sokka when he noticed the girl he'd earlier been interested in standing by the door.
Teo took a long drink of his vodka cran, and made his approach.
"I'm so glad we're doing this without the guys. It's been so long since this has been a guy-free zone," Suki said as she sunk into the couch. She handed Katara the bowl of freshly made popcorn. Since the guys were having a night out, the girls had planned a movie night in.
"Me too, but I'm… annoyed with Toph. She said she'd come," Katara replied between bites of popcorn.
Suki clicked play on Tall Girl and Katara cracked open her textbook. She was happy to watch the movie if she could also get some studying done.
"Yeah, she super flaked on us. I've texted her like five times, nothing." Suki looked over at Katara, who was practically making out with her reading. "Are you seriously just going to study? It's a Friday night."
Katara sighed. "Look, it's this fellowship thing. I already feel like I'm drowning in work and I need to beat out Viqak for it."
"Oh!" Suki lit up. "That's the hot Water Tribe guy, right?"
"He isn't hot, Suki, he sucks."
"He can be both things!"
"You're just into Water Tribe guys," Katara said, rolling her eyes.
Suki threw some popcorn at her friend. "I've been known to dabble in all the nations, Katara!"
"Anyway, he sucks. He's pompous and-"
Toph burst open the front door and barely said a word. She blistered past the two and went straight to her room.
Suki and Katara looked at each other in silence, confused by her entrance and lack of acknowledgment. She came back downstairs in a new, 'going-out' outfit a few moments later. She could feel their disapproval from across the room. "I'm going out with some people from my, um, engineering class."
Katara's eyes narrowed. "And movie night? You said you'd come. We're even watching Tall Girl because you wanted to."
"No can do, sweetness. Bye!" Toph exited as unceremoniously as she had entered.
Suki's jaw snapped shut. "Bye? I can't believe her, but I guess her engineering friends are more interesting, even if we're bankrolling her housing right now."
"Wow," Katara shook her head. "I can't believe she'd be so flippant, but I guess that's Toph…"
Neither could help but feel a bit hurt by her choosing other friends. Toph was becoming more and more distant, disappearing at random and not explaining where she had been besides to say with her engineering friends.
The reality was much different. Toph hopped in a carriage that had been waiting for her outside, ready to meet with a potential sponsor for her underground fighting. She had tried to reschedule because it was movie night, but the man's assistant had been firm: this was the only chance she would get to meet with the potential sponsor. She knew if the Gaang heard what she was doing for cash, they would disapprove. It was easier to lie and tell them she was hanging out with other friends. Toph picked at her toes nervously in the carriage as it drove towards the restaurant where she was to meet the man who would hopefully pay for her meals for the semester.
Suki and Katara took the rest of the night to relax and catch up, brushing aside their frustration with Toph. Suki told Katara about missing her sisters, about the awkwardness of seeing Chan on campus, and how Sokka had been much sweeter to her lately. Katara, over Tall Girl's complaining, told Suki all about the fellowship situation, about Viqak's racist remarks, and how she'd felt after trying zank. Hours passed, and though Netflix started playing ads, they talked right through them, just old friends connecting.
That was until the boys crashed (literally, with Aang's earthbending) through their front door. Zuko was slung between Sokka and Aang, who were stumbling themselves. Zuko laid himself facedown on the floor at their feet, while Sokka pretended to fight the wall.
Zuko stared at the ceiling like it was the most upsetting thing he had ever seen. Aang tossed the books out of Katara's hands and sat in her lap, his size awkward enough that he fell straight out.
"Katara," Zuko said, his head between her feet. "I need to tell you something."
She was busy juggling Aang who kept sliding back towards the floor and on top of Zuko, but she also loved drunk confessions. "What is it, Zuko?"
"I am… so sad, Katara."
Suki stifled a laugh. "Are you, Zuko? Wasn't this night out supposed to help?"
"We fixed him alright!" Sokka said, holding a piece of the wall in his hands, inspecting it closely.
"You… did not fix me," Zuko groaned. The whole room was spinning and every time he closed his eyes it just accelerated.
Suki grabbed Aang and tried to get him to fix the front of the house, which he did, in a rather haphazard way that left it marred but passable for the night.
Katara slid down to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. "What are you sad about, Zuko?"
She didn't expect an answer, but his intoxication opened him up. "My uncle, Mai, what aren't I sad about, Katara." He threw his arms up in the air and let them sink back down awkwardly.
Suki slapped Sokka upside the head. "You really thought going to your lame frat house would fix that?"
"What! It always cheers me up, Suki." Sokka shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth for emphasis. He wrapped his arms around her and she squirmed against his sweaty chest, smiling but lamenting her previously clean self.
"Katara!" Aang said excitedly, back from fixing the wall they'd broken. "We set up Teo with a giii-rl!" He looked utterly proud of himself and nodded in union with Sokka, who had the same smug look on his face.
"Oh yeah, we totally coached him and he bagged a very cute freshman."
They high-fived and Suki and Katara exchanged a disappointed but amused look. "Great for him. More importantly," Katara gestured towards the Fire Nation Prince miserable on the floor. "What are we going to do about this guy?"
"Idea!" Aang had his finger up in the air as if answering a question in class. "Insomnia Cookies?"
Suki laughed. "We should order them, yes, but I don't think that will fix it. I actually… have a good idea, I think." She hauled Zuko up and began leading him towards his room. "Let's get you to bed, and I bet I'll have a fix for you in the morning, okay?"
"Okay," he mumbled as he tripped up the stairs.
The next morning Zuko woke up to a weird… chirping sound in his room. Blearily, he rubbed away the gunk around his eyes from the night before and looked for its source. There was a strange box on the floor of his room with a note on top. He pulled himself out of bed and picked up the note.
I know you've been feeling down lately - I thought this might help. Think of it as emotional support.
- Suki
Setting aside the note, Zuko gingerly opened the top to the box. A little turtle duck looked up at him and quacked. Zuko felt himself smile for the first time in days. His own little emotional support turtle duck!