Episode 7: Criminal-ness

Zuko lasted longer than he'd thought he would, but by noon he couldn't move more than three feet without needed to stop and catch his breath. So he called it a day, emailed his remaining professors, and headed home early. Hopefully he could get a couple of hours of rest in before Sokka came home and he had to act normal again. The bruising on his face had started to darken only after class had already started for the morning, so he hadn't had a chance to try and cover it up before seeing Katara.

On the other hand, she'd been quite the mess herself when she'd crash landed into their class that morning still wearing his blood on her clothes.

It was heaven to enter his empty apartment and lay out on the couch. Before he knew it, Zuko was closing his eyes and falling asleep.

When he woke, Sokka had apparently come and left. There was a new shirt and pants thrown over the coffee table and a handwritten note resting directly on Zuko's face.

Hey dude,

At the JD working until midnight. Covering your shift since you seem kind of out of it.

There was a poorly drawn sketch that Zuko assumed was supposed to be him asleep on the couch but it really just looked like a dying boarcupine on a beanbag.

Left the last piece of lasagna for you in the freezer 'cause I'm awesome like that. Rest up so that you can join me for party shopping. There's no way I'm doing that alone.

Bro hugs and fist bumps,

- the resident mess

What a ridiculous person, Zuko chuckled. He loved that piece of crap.

His head felt better, the swelling seemed to have gone down a little on his face, and he could breathe without feeling like his side was being repeatedly stabbed by knives.

He decided he would eat an early dinner then head down to the tea shop to keep Sokka company for at least a little bit. The rest was helping, his side was stiff and sore, but definitely healing. Katara had done a good job patching him up. From the news he'd been able to collect that morning, he'd been hit by Aang, yet another adopted son who had been around the bakery for years. The boy had obviously called Katara and she'd arrived on the scene within minutes and stopped him from losing too much blood. No matter how he looked at it, there had been way too much blood on her scrubs. He had been hit by a car, and yet all he had was some dark bruising and a minor gash to show for it.

As far as he was concerned, she had performed a miracle last night.

It was slow work when he finally made his way downstairs, each step a slide and shuffle as he fought to keep his left side as still as possible. He took a deep breath before entering, steeling himself for the show he was about to perform, but as soon as he opened the door, he was accosted.

Sokka spotted him first. "What are you doing up?"

Then someone crashed into his side and they almost fell over. "Nephew! Are you sick? Your brother says you are ill."

"I'm fine, Uncle," Zuko gasped. "Please let go."

"I was so worried!" Iroh did not let up on his crushing hug. "You should have told me sooner, I would have brought you soup! And tea!"

"Please," Zuko squeaked, finally getting out of the old man's grip. "I'm really okay, Uncle, thank you. Though I would love a cup of tea."

There were several customers spread out throughout the shop so Zuko decided to settle at the bar beside the pick-up counter where he could speak freely with Sokka and Iroh. Sokka was recounting, for Zuko's benefit since he must have already shared it once tonight, about his worry the night before when Zuko hadn't come home. But there was one thing Sokka was good at, and that was keeping secrets. As much as Zuko knew it was probably killing him, he never brought up the fact that Zuko had mentioned a girl as part of the reason he hadn't returned.

When it finally came his turn to participate in the discussion, Zuko heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, I don't need to guess anymore, I know the universe laughs at us."

"What makes you say that?" Iroh asked.

The bell on the door rang and the three men turned to see who was entering. Zuko paled.

It was Katara. Cue universe laughing.

She gave Sokka a pleasant little wave, tightened her lips to give a curt nod to Zuko, and then sat at the same table they'd occupied a couple of nights earlier. It was at least easier now that he knew she hadn't looked beneath his mask while she'd been treating him. He'd held his breath for the entirety of their class this morning but she'd never mentioned it and she continued to treat him with the same cold shoulder. If he knew anything about Katara, it was that she spoke her mind. If she knew he was the Blue Spirit, she would have made a point of telling him off for his poor life choices in between writing notes about the positives and negatives of bacteria in the body. The only question that remained was why hadn't she looked?

"Go talk to her," Sokka said.

Zuko turned so fast he ended up grabbing his side and hissing in pain. Iroh had conveniently disappeared.

"What?" he asked.

"You're never going to get her to help you if you don't talk to her," Sokka explained, pouring another mug of tea and holding it out to him. "Bring this to her, try being nice, maybe she'll forget you want to work for the epitome of evil." He shrugged when Zuko glared at him. "In her eyes, anyway."

Zuko hesitated, turning to look between Katara and the mug Sokka was holding out to him.

"Come on, man, my arm is getting tired."

Zuko grumbled some choice words as he grabbed the mug from Sokka and stood from his chair. He took a deep breath and then headed towards the window where Katara was working.

"What do you want?" she asked upon his approach.

"I uh…brought you tea," he said with a shrug.

She looked up at him and asked, "Is it Ginseng?"

Ok, not what he was expecting. Maybe Sokka was right, maybe he just needed to talk to her.

"Yeah," he said, sitting across from her and sliding the mug over. It reminded him of this morning when he'd also brought her tea in thank you. This time it felt more like an advanced payment for peace.

"I didn't say you could sit, Phoenix spawn," she said.

Screw talking, Sokka was wrong, she hated his guts.

"Look, Sokka told me to come over here," he argued in a low voice. "I was just trying to be nice, but if you'd rather sit here alone I'll just take my tea and leave."

She'd straightened as he'd been talking, almost as if she'd been waiting for him to wind her up so that she could have another reason to tell him off other than for simply existing. But as soon as he'd finished she suddenly broke into a snort and covered her mouth in shock. Zuko's confusion only grew as a faint blush dusted her cheeks.

"What?" Zuko asked. "Are you sick or something?"

"No, I just…" she snorted again, and brought her other hand to also cover her face. "Tea and leave?"

Zuko raised an eyebrow at her.

"Tea leaves?" she continued earnestly.

Zuko groaned. "Honestly? You think I don't hear enough tea puns? I work in a tea shop."

"You said it, not me," she said, removing her hands.

He was again surprised to see that she was actually smiling. It was faint, but it was there.

"Uncle actually has a pretty good joke about that," he admitted.

As he spoke about him, Zuko looked over to the counter only to see Iroh as well as Sokka staring at them intently. Zuko made rapid motions for them to look away and mind their own business. Sokka went back to wiping the counter while Iroh motioned for Zuko to give his attention back to Katara.

She was looking at him as if waiting for something.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"What's the joke?" she asked again.

"Oh." Zuko was suddenly flustered. "I don't exactly remember how it starts, but the punchline is 'leaf me alone, I'm bushed'."

Katara blinked.

Zuko shrunk over his tea slightly. "It's better when Uncle tells it."

"Yeah," she drew out, "that's probably because he remembers the whole thing."

He grimaced but then smiled when he realized this was better than her yelling at him. "Are you working?"

She frowned and the moment was gone. "Yes. I'm always working."

Reaching up, she tied her hair into a knot on top of her head before leaning down to rummage for something in her bag. He'd never seen her with her hair up before. Her neck was long and slim, accentuating her petite frame and caramel skin.

Her necklace sat delicately against the hollow of her throat, a shining gem of marble carved with some kind of swirling wave. Sokka had mentioned something about her necklace during one of his long Katara speeches, only now was Zuko kicking himself for not paying closer attention.

When she straightened up Zuko's eyes were quick to wander about the room, trying to act like he hadn't been looking. He might have escaped notice if he hadn't coughed at that exact moment.

Her crystal gaze trapped him. "What?" she snapped.

"You wear glasses?" He asked, attempting innocence. They weren't unattractive, but they definitely seemed too big for her face. He figured she must have been going for the hipster look that was so popular in the North these days.

She only frowned at him and blew a stray hair out of her face. "Yes. When I'm tired they help keep the words on the page. Problem?"

"No." He cleared his throat of its final hints of amusement before saying again more firmly, "No."

She went back to working which was fundamentally ignoring him so Zuko went back to breathing in his tea.

"You don't drink." She'd spoken, but hadn't stopped writing or even looked up from her work.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"The tea," she clarified. "You get tea, but you never drink it. Why is that?"

"Oh." He hadn't realized she'd noticed. "No, I don't actually like the taste of tea. I like the smell and the heat."

"Aromatherapy," she said. He couldn't tell if she was actually talking to him or if she just couldn't handle not understanding something. So he kept quiet and waited.

"Where did you get those bruises from?"

Dang it. He should have said something. "What bruises?"

"You had bruises on your face this morning," she said, looking up briefly to motion around her chin and cheek. "Did you get into a fight? Or is that also none of my business?"

"I didn't ask about the blood on your scrubs this morning," he countered. She continued to look at him. He started to fidget like he could feel her assessing his soul and it was uncomfortable.

"I was just coming from a patient," she said. "That's why I was late."

She went back to writing notes, basically a dismissal. She didn't expect him to tell her anything. What was he supposed to do? Lie? That didn't seem like a good idea. Tell the truth? That felt worse.

"Last night-"

She stopped writing and looked up. He'd surprised her at least.

"-didn't go the way I'd hoped." Not a lie. "I…ran into someone-" more like someone ran in to me "-who wasn't expecting to see me either." The sound of the car horn echoed in his ears and he fought the urge to wince at the memory.

"Are there a lot of people you might run into who would leave you like this?" she asked.

He deserved that, he supposed. After talking with the Painted Lady…and Haru…He looked up to see that she was watching him with that studious look again, as if he were the textbook she was supposed to be taking notes on.

"It looks better now," was all she said before going back to ignoring him.

Well, not talking hadn't worked too well for him last time so..."what are you working on?"

"Chemistry." He watched her lick the end of her finger to turn a page in her textbook. So she was one of those people. Then she added, "I have a study group."

"Well, aren't you a big girl now," he said. "Finally realized asking for help doesn't mean you're just looking for a way to skate by?"

Katara's knuckles whitened and she gritted her teeth. Well done, Zuko, way to ruin any headway you were making.

"Look, I had a rough night and I have a lot of work to do so I would appreciate it if you could just-" she took a deep breath, "go….please?"

Zuko softened. A rough night. She'd been up all night treating him even after completing a shift at the hospital.

"I'm sorry you had a rough night," he said. "I suppose we had that in common."

She grunted in mild acquiescence.

"Maybe I could help?" he offered. "With the study group, I mean. I have actually taken chemistry before. Probably everything I learned is in the first chapter for you doctors."

"I don't think-"

"Please." Zuko cut her off, placing his hand in the center of the table. "I'd like to help, if you'll let me."

Katara rolled her lower lip between her teeth, her eyes passing to the counter where Sokka was no doubt still watching them. "I suppose I don't see any harm in it."

Katara glared at her cooling cup of tea. Somehow, in the span of an hour, Zuko had gotten her study group wrapped around his little finger. They were over there laughing and discussing chemistry puns while she was stuck trying to figure out the questions for chapter one on her own. All he'd had to do was tell them he was a senior with an internship at Phoenix Industries and they were eating out of the palm of his hand.

Point: Social elite business major.

"If you don't like this one, I would be happy to supply you with another."

Startled, Katara almost knocked over her mug as she turned to look at the old man who had spoken. "I'm sorry, what?"

"The tea." He nodded towards the cup. "Perhaps I could suggest a nice cup of Jasmine? On the house."

"On the…?" A lightbulb went off in Katara's head. Plus the guy was wearing an apron. "You're the owner, Uncle Iroh. My brother has told me so much about you."

Iroh bowed to the young customer. "I must return a likewise sentiment. Only a fool wouldn't notice the similarities between you and Sokka. I am very blessed to be surrounded by such charming young people."

Katara smiled.

"However, your brother never told us quite how beautiful of a blossom you are." Iroh leaned in. "Probably jealous."

She laughed. "I can see why my brother likes you," she said, "and I appreciate your offer for more tea, but Ginseng is actually my favorite."

"Ah, I am glad to hear it is not my tea that has awakened the turmoil within you." He still grabbed the cup. "I will reheat it. A hot cup of tea is the first step towards peace. In the meantime, is there anything I can do to ease your struggle?"

"Struggle?" Katara scoffed, but her voice had entered that high pitched range of hysterics that Sokka's went to when he was nervous. "What struggle? There's no struggle. Why would you think there was a struggle?"

Iroh moved behind the counter without saying anything and started a hot plate, all the time watching her patiently.

"Is everything easy for him?" she burst, pointed her hand towards Zuko and her small group.

Iroh's eyebrows rose. He turned to see who she was pointing at and then burst into a laugh that had to have started all the way in his belly. The entire tea shop stopped to look at what had made the owner laugh so heartily, but all they found was Katara's burning face sinking beneath her crossed arms on the table.

She didn't look up until the gentle murmur of the shop had resumed and Iroh joined her at the table.

"Forgive me, blossom," he said, still chuckling. "I would love to hear my nephew's response to your accusation. You see, he seems to think that the universe is constantly working against him."

Katara took the mug of tea proffered her. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I believe the words he used were 'the universe laughs at us'," Iroh mused, still smiling as he sipped his own tea. "Perhaps if you told him how you felt, he might be able to overcome his own shame."

"Shame?" Katara repeated, then she heard what he said. "How I feel?!"

"You admire him, don't you? That's why you are upset?"

She choked on nothing, her mouth opening and closing with no sound. She looked over to where Zuko was and caught eyes with him. He gave her a confused look before someone from the study group got his attention again and Katara scowled. "Definitely not."

"Perhaps I am misunderstanding the situation," Iroh conceded, "but I would caution you to understand the history before making too harsh of judgement on him. Both of my nephews still have much to learn."

"I know you've been teaching them." Katara smiled, cooling down. "Sokka says you're very wise." She took a sip from her mug before saying brightly, "And you make great tea!"

"The key to both is proper aging." Iroh let out another laugh but this time Katara joined in. Their happiness, however, was cut short when Zuko noticed them and started over while Sokka simultaneously stalked over to their table.

Searching for any form of escape, Katara started chugging her still burning tea. Next thing she knew, she was choking. Iroh was up and patting her on the back when the two boys arrived at her table.

"Katara." Sokka started. "What's this I hear from dad about the Blue Spirit? You brought him back to the bakery?"

Zuko, who had opened his mouth to speak, noticed Sokka beside him and shut it immediately. Tears were streaming from Katara's eyes as she struggled to breathe in, but she finally gasped out, "What was I supposed to do? Leave him to bleed out on the streets?"

Iroh continued rubbing her back until she'd calmed down.

"He's a criminal!" Sokka insisted. "He probably has criminal buddies who help him with his criminal stuff that could help him with his criminal-ness."

Katara crossed her arms. Then let off one last cough like a hiccup. "I saw on the news that the Blue Spirit returned everything."

"He didn't return it," Sokka countered. "Suki found it!"

Right…people didn't know about the Painted Lady's conversation with the spirit. The phone call had been anonymous. Now that she thought about it, she didn't actually know that he'd returned everything.

"Well…" she sought for something to say. "I…believe in him."

All three men stared back at her with blank expressions. Zuko coughed and looked away, his lips twisting like he was going to be sick.

"What does that even mean?" Sokka asked.

"He…I think he…He's good." She shrugged.

"So you know who he is?" prompted Sokka.

She couldn't seem to settle her hands and her face heated with embarrassment. "No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Sokka asked. "You treated him, didn't you? You would have seen beneath his mask."

She stood straighter. "I didn't look."

"Why didn't you?" Zuko spoke up.

Her eyes passed over to him. "I…I don't know." She hated feeling like she was being interrogated. "I guess I thought that maybe he wasn't as bad as everyone thinks he is."

"Again, Katara. Criminal." Sokka waved his arms around.

"Excuse me, do you work here?" A member of Katara's study group stepped up behind the boys who both turned to look at her. She was a good head and shoulders shorter than both of them and shrunk under their stares, blushing profusely. "Could I maybe have some more Oolong?"

"Of course." Sokka took the mug, but turned back to face Katara. "This is not over."

She wasn't proud of it, but as he walked away she stuck her tongue out at his back. Zuko smiled at her and she stopped.

"I agree with Katara," Iroh said, "he may not have done it on purpose, but he has done a lot of good for this city. Some say he was looking for something specific and has now found it. He stole very specific types of artifacts, ones that had direct correlations with the ancient arts of bending. Now that he has returned them, the media and the museum have been paying extra care to the relics, looking for secrets that the Blue Spirit may have uncovered."

A firebender, Katara remembered. She may be the only person in the world who knew about the Blue Spirit's true reasoning behind the theft and return of the sacred items. And now that they'd been returned, it was just the awakening she'd hoped for. People were paying attention to history again, they were asking questions about the time of benders and the hundred year war.

Zuko was still watching her intently so she narrowed her eyes at him. He had the nerve to smile at her again before he looked away.

"Anyways," Katara said. "I'm going to try and round up my study group so that I can finish this chapter before my shift."

"I'll come with you," Zuko said, moving to help grab up her books.

"Uh-no." Katara said quickly, gently slapping his hand away out of habit. He looked hurt, like a lost puppy left out in the rain. Iroh covered his mouth with his hand but it looked more like he was trying to hide a smile.

Katara clarified, "I actually need to talk to them and I can't do that if they're all trying to be your next best friend."

"I thought-" he stuttered.

"I'll see you on Friday," she said quickly before gathering her things and moving past him to the small group on the other side of the café.

Katara was so embarrassed.

Everyone was talking about the new pairing between the Painted Lady and Blue Spirit. Even though they'd been seen together several days before, nobody knew what the combination meant. Then the Blue Spirit's items had been mysteriously discovered. It seemed the media was siding with Katara in thinking that she'd had something to do with it. One reporter had raised the question "Does her healing go beyond the needy and the sick? Can she really turn Agni Kai's and thieves into respectful citizens? It may be too soon to tell, all we can do is wait and see: what will our nightly spirit duo do next?"

So they weren't technically talking about her so much as they were talking about the Painted Lady, but that didn't stop Katara's face from heating like a fresh pot of tea when the reporters continued to speculate. "Has our shadowed swiper fallen for our healing heroine? Will the modern age spirits be our reborn guides to a brighter future for this city? Stay tuned for our 360 look at the ancient hundred year war with a never-before-seen take on the Blue Spirit artifacts followed closely by a Wan-Chi Tong special, 'Bending: history or myth?'."

Everyone was talking about the possible relationship budding between the two spirits, even more so than the rumor that the Painted Lady had been witnessed waterbending. It seemed more believable that the resident thief and doctor of this city were getting cozy rather than some magical ability had returned to the world. When asked, Katara usually fumbled through an incoherent sentence before running off pretending to have something to do. Only, there wasn't much to do. It was a slow night at the hospital, everything to be completed for the night had already been done and the staff were gathered in the lounge that she now dubbed as gossip headquarters.

She needed some air. Taking the stairs so as to avoid interaction, Katara made her way to the roof for a break. She breathed in the moonlight mist of the night and immediately relaxed. The push and pull of the ocean settled her storm of emotions, the lights of the city a beautiful reprieve from the hospital walls. Katara sighed, leaning against the railing. Everyone was speculating about what was happening between the spirits. She should have the answer, she was one of them after all, and yet she also found herself wondering what was happening between them. He'd rescued her a couple times and then listened to what she'd said, that had to count for something…right?

Back in his room, Zuko laid in his bed going over the night's events in his mind.

Why hadn't that worked? It should have worked! Didn't girls like it when you got along with their friends?

What was he thinking? This was Katara. She wasn't a normal girl. Everything she did was so goal-focused and detail oriented. She knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her from getting there. Definitely not a spoiled, narcissistic, helpless…what else had she called him?

He sat up in his bed.

Of course! She hated him as Zuko but…she'd saved the Blue Spirit.

Could it…? Nah. Maybe? Was it worth the try? He looked at his watch. She was working at the hospital tonight. He could swing by…thank her for saving his life. That wouldn't be so weird, right?

It was totally weird. But screw the laughing universe, he was still going to do it.

Sokka was softly snoring in the bed across the room as Zuko crept towards the door. Luckily, his roommate was a heavy sleeper, otherwise his years as a thief and bounty hunter would have been far more difficult to hide.

"Don't ever change, bud," he said, patting his roommate's head. Sokka let out a singular loud snore and rolled over, still dead to the world. Zuko grabbed his bag from out of the laundry closet, Sokka never went in there, and started out into the night.

The moon was high in the sky by the time he finally made it to the hospital. He'd forgotten his motorcycle was still in the Village so he'd had to get it before driving the rest of the way. Thankfully, he'd taken the care to hide it before sending Suki to his stash and it was still there. It was all groans and whines to get it upright and moving, he was still extremely sore and his mask kept rubbing against the healing bruises of his face.

He parked in an alley behind the building and then climbed the next door apartments. He would have to find her first, which might take some time. He had no idea which wing she worked in and the hospital wasn't exactly small. He had to work systematically so as not to miss her.

Zuko breached the ledge of the roof and looked across towards the hospital. Or she would be alone and out in the open in the first place he looked. Maybe luck was on his side tonight. Either that or the universe was gearing up to laugh at him again.

Katara hugged her jacket closer as she settled against the railing of the building and sighed. Zuko watched her observe the city for a moment, her eyes glazed over in thought. He should have brought a jacket, she looked cold. Maybe he should go get one? No, idiot, just go talk to her.

Taking a couple steps back, he leapt the distance between the buildings and rolled to a stop next to her.

She didn't like that. She screamed.

"No, no no!" He shot up quickly, holding both hands out in a placating gesture. "Just me. Good old friendly neighborhood thief, the Blue Spirit."

"Don't DO that!" she insisted, a hand against her chest. "Tui and La, Spirit, were you trying to kill me?"

"No! I promise," he said. "Quite the opposite, I actually wanted to thank you for saving me."

"Oh," Katara stood up straighter and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. It reminded Zuko of that morning when he'd done the same thing while she was asleep.

Again he was blindsided by how beautiful she was. The moonlight highlighted the gentle curl in her long dark hair. Her scrubs were purple and figureless, hidden beneath her large jacket that, now that he looked at it, was probably stolen from her brother.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"A little rough around the edges," he answered honestly, spinning for effect. "But definitely in much better shape than I would have been without your help."

"I'm just glad you're alright." She smiled at him, then looked down as if she were uneasy and rubbed her arms. "I saw what happened." Her voice was quiet and calming. He could see why her patients felt at ease around her. Why he had once felt safe and protected in her care.

"Did you do it?" she asked.

"Do what?"

"Return all the things you stole," she finished.

"Oh, yeah." He scratched the back of his neck. "Someone gave me some pretty good advice."

"You've been working with the Painted Lady, right?" she said. "She's a waterbender, according to witnesses."

Zuko shrugged. That wasn't his secret to share.

"I saw…while I was stitching you up-" Katara bit her lip and Zuko's heart rate sped up. Had she lied? Did she know who he was? Had he said something embarrassing?

"You kind of…made fire with your fingers," she said.

Zuko might have preferred to be a sleep talker. His face drained of blood and he felt cold.

"You haven't told her."

He shook his head.

"Wouldn't she understand?" Katara asked. "Why didn't you tell her you were a firebender?"

Zuko looked away. "Because…" He clenched his fist. "I never wanted to be." He gently hit his fist against his thigh as he deliberated. "Did I...hurt you?"

Thankfully, she seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and solemnly shook her head. "Though you did leave some marks on my table," she said seriously. "Not to mention you ruined my favorite pair of scrubs."

He looked down and gently kicked some dirt across the roof but immediately looked back up when she started giggling.

"I'm just kidding," she said. There was a kind of twinkle in her eye that he'd never noticed before. Perhaps it hadn't been there earlier. Was this what it was like to be friends with Katara? No wonder Sokka and Hakoda loved her so much.

"I'd like to make it up to you," he said. "Would you want to maybe...do an activity together?" Zuko winced at how ridiculous it sounded. Curse Sokka. Why did he continue to take advice from that guy?

Katara only laughed. "What kind of an activity?"

It was late afternoon the next day when Zuko finally burst through the door, a massive grin lighting up his face. "Sokka, you're a genius!"

There were more people than he'd expected inside his little apartment's living room. Of course. It was Thursday, poker night. The foldable round table was set up in the middle of their living room. Aang, Sokka, and Suki were all sitting around it holding cards.

Aang turned away from the game they were playing to ask, "How is Sokka a genius? He's currently down $10 in a game where the highest bid is $2."

"Come on, Aang." Sokka waved him down. "Let the guy dream."

There was a flash of white and Zuko was tackled to the ground. "Appa!" he reprimanded, a slimy tongue drawing up and down his face. "Appa, no."

The sheepdog was pulled off him by Suki but he continued to hang out next to Zuko, wagging his tail and panting excitedly. The business major had been the one to find the small puppy abandoned in a box just outside the Village and bring him home. He'd planned to bring him to the shelter the next morning, but Aang had fallen in love with the animal and now he took it everywhere with him.

The pup had grown past average size and was now the height of Zuko's waist, but it had never lost it's attachment to him. Whenever he was in the room, Appa would stand next to him and follow him around until it was time to go home and Aang would have to drag the dog out.

Zuko used his shirt to wipe his face of dog slobber and then smiled at the small crew again. "You know that girl I told you about?"

"Oooh," Aang cooed, wagging his eyebrows. "Zuko's got himself a giiiirrrrrlfriend?"

"Slow down, Aang, it's not a date. I'm thanking her for helping me out when I was in a bind." He mentally high-fived himself for coming up with that one on the spot. Yup, Sokka was definitely getting to him, but he was too happy to care at the moment. She'd said yes! He had a date -not a date- with Katara!

"Just you and her?" Aang asked, still grinning.

"Alone?" Suki pressed.

Zuko blushed.

"Smoochie smoochie," Sokka teased, pretending to kiss his hand of cards.

"Knock it off." But Zuko's face was still burning as he stalked into his room, their laughter chasing him until he slammed the door shut behind him.

A/N: Thanks for reading!! Please like and comment your thoughts.