Episode 13: The Before Party
Stupid boy. With his stupid pretty eyes, and stupid windswept hair, and his warm shoulders and those rough hands and-
Keep it together, Katara.
It was the suit. She'd seen an attractive man in a suit. What girl wouldn't be flustered?
She breathed a sigh of relief when he entered the classroom wearing his regular clothes. Still a step up from the college messes she was surrounded by with his pressed flannel shirt rolled up to the elbows. Since when did a business major have such roped forearms?
"Good morning," he greeted her, taking his regular seat next to her. "I have the chapter notes typed up from last week and for next week."
He shrugged in response to her incredulous look. "I had some extra time. Figured you'd probably want to spend this weekend with your family to celebrate on your own."
"That's very...thoughtful, Zuko. Thank you," she said, then added hastily, "we still have to work on the partner project, though. Right?"
His lips twitched at the corners. "Right, how could I forget?"
Class went smoothly, the two of them taking turns in writing down what Master Pakku was saying and drawing diagrams of the viruses they were discussing. At one point during the lecture, Katara thought she caught Pakku watching them but she must have only imagined it.
For the first time in a while, Katara was able to focus. Even with Zuko nearby, his work kept her on track and surprisingly efficient. She'd noticed it at their study session a couple of days before but had been loathe to admit it. Now, she didn't mind as much. In fact, it was almost disappointing when class came to an end.
Watching him pack up, Katara decided that perhaps it didn't have to.
"Would you mind?" she blurted out, hugging her books to her chest like a shield.
Zuko straightened, his eyebrows high. Katara realized she hadn't actually asked the favor.
"Walking me to my next class," she clarified, annoyed to find her cheeks heating. "If you don't mind."
"Uhh..." Zuko checked his watch.
Katara smacked her forehead. "I forgot, you probably have to set up for Sokka's party, right?" Am I talking really fast? "It's okay, I don't know why I asked. I'll see you later!" Waving, she tried skirting by him.
Catching her wrist, Zuko shook his head. "It's fine, Katara. Really. Where's your class?"
"The Bei Fong building on the East side," she said quietly.
He smiled at her. "See? It's even on my way. Let's go."
Katara found herself noticing little things she never would have thought about before. Like how closely he walked next to her, the cinnamon spice scent wafting gently off of him, his hands tucked into his coat pockets. Her hands remained tightly wrapped around her textbooks lest she be tempted to reach out for his again.
It had been involuntary the night before, the empathy that had helped her time and again as a doctor had her reaching out before she could stop herself. Not that she'd minded having his warm, rough hand wrapped up in hers. All this time she'd been accusing him of not knowing what real work was and he'd had more calluses on his hands than even some of the factory workers she'd come across.
"Are you excited?" he asked.
Katara started. "Oh, y-yeah. You?"
"I don't know." He rubbed the back of his neck. His thinking state. Katara blushed, remembering that she'd said that out loud.
"I've never been a big fan of the after party," he admitted.
"Me either," she said. "I like smaller groups of people, but I'm excited to see some old friends that I haven't seen in a while."
"Right, you've been gone," he said, nodding. "I bet they'll be happy to see you-"
"Katara!"
Katara wheeled around to see someone waving at her. She smiled and waved back. "Hey, Ty Lee. I haven't seen you in a while. How's life?"
"I know!" Ty Lee responded, grabbing Katara into a quick hug. "I'll be back at the hospital soon, I promise."
"Have you figured out the..." Katara trailed off, remembering the last time she'd seen her friend.
Ty Lee shook her head. "No...but hopefully soon!" Then her eyes alighted on Zuko. "Oh! So you have met!"
Katara just noticed that her partner had paled, his eyes locked on the newcomer.
"I was just telling Zuko about you last night!" Ty Lee continued. Katara gave him a questioning look. He'd been with Ty Lee? Is that why he'd dressed so nicely? Had he been... Katara swallowed. On a date?
"Sad you left so early, though Mai didn't stay long after you left. It was just Azula and I partying it up."
So there'd been other people there. Not a date. Katara found herself smiling pleasantly again.
"Though it would have been more fun if Sokka had been there." Ty Lee bumped hips with Katara. The bubbly girl was always trying to get Katara to set her up with Sokka. Every time he visited her at the hospital, Ty Lee would inevitably show up yelling 'the cute boy is here!' and proceed to flirt with him until Katara could fake some need for him to leave. Still, she didn't hate the idea of having her friend around a little bit more. Ty Lee was a better alternative to some of the other girls Sokka had dated...
"We're actually having a party tonight if you...want to..." Katara trailed off, noticing Zuko's frantic cutthroat motions behind her friend. She shot him a quizzical look.
"A party?" Ty Lee squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. "I'm so there. Is it okay if I bring some friends?"
There was pure panic in Zuko's expression, his eyes wide and pleading.
"Uhm," Katara hesitated. Why wouldn't he want Ty Lee to bring her friends? Too late to turn back now. "We're meeting at the Cabbage Club at 8:30 tonight." There. The after party would be so full of people that they probably wouldn't run into her or her friends anyways. Zuko still appeared to be in some kind of physical pain but he managed a weak smile in Ty Lee's direction before the pink girl skipped off towards her own class.
When she turned out of sight he let off a loud gasp like he'd been holding his breath and rounded on Katara. "Why did you do that?" he asked in desperation.
"What?" she asked. "Why can't she come?"
"It's not her I'm worried about," he grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Katara crossed her arms. "Who are you worried about, then?"
Zuko pursed his lips. "No one."
"A girl?" she asked. She'd wanted it to come out teasing, or even sneering, but jealousy was a difficult emotion to mask.
"Yes, if you must know," he said. "And you wouldn't like her, trust me."
Katara bristled. She already didn't like whoever this was but she couldn't very well let him know that. "You can't know that for sure."
"I'm pretty sure." Zuko chuckled. "There are a couple things you might find in common, mostly your inability to get along with me-" Katara poked him for teasing her. "-But a fight between you two? That would be something to behold."
She looked to her fingers fiddling along the spines of her textbooks. "Is this the girl you went on a date with?"
Why did she ask that? He'd just said that whoever this girl was didn't get along with him, but the question had been burning on her tongue ever since Ty Lee had walked up. He'd mentioned that the date had gone well, but hadn't mentioned the girl or going out with her since. She hadn't really talked about the Blue Spirit either...in fact she'd almost forgotten about him. How could feelings and emotions change so rapidly? The longer the quiet went, the more Katara wished the ground would open up and swallow her.
Zuko said, "The girl...with the date..."
She looked up to find him scratching the back of his neck again. This time he was the one blushing.
"It just...wasn't the right...moment. I don't think," he finished. "For either of us."
A warmth entered her chest and she found herself grinning until the chime of the clocktower alerted her to the hour.
"I have to go!" she yelled over her shoulder as she started jogging towards her class. "I'll see you tonight!"
It was around five in the evening when she left. Katara kept fiddling with the belt of her dress, ensuring that the side was tucked and tied far enough to stay. It was a beautiful light blue with white trim wrapped in the traditional style across her chest and tied with a white sash. Thankfully, she was about the same size around as her mother, though apparently quite a bit taller. The side slits came farther up her thigh than Katara felt comfortable with, so she dawned some navy blue leggings that tucked into fur-lined leather boots at her ankles.
She felt rather ridiculous walking the wintry streets dressed as an old time water tribe girl, but at least it was a short walk to the apartment from the bakery and she was carrying warm sweets her father had baked for the party. Looking at her watch, Katara realized she was a little early, but they probably wouldn't mind. Zuko would need help with something, for sure. Sokka always went overboard with these things, no doubt there were still several streamers to be pinned and balloons to be blown up.
Thinking about Zuko had her cheeks warming past the pink bite of the cold. There was something about his tenacity that intrigued her beyond the obvious smarts and responsibility he exerted. Plus, he had a face and a name, which was two-fold better than the last man she'd spent above average time thinking about.
After knocking three times, Sokka opened the door for her. He was wearing a blue robe that he'd cut the sleeves off of with cotton pants underneath. He'd wrapped his forearms in some sort of tape, and had blue gloves that matched his outfit.
"Katara!" He wrapped her in a hug. "First to arrive. Typical."
"I figured you might need some help with final decorations," she said, hugging him back before stepping into the apartment and out of the cold.
"I appreciate the concern, but everything is all set. Did I forget to mention that Zuko is a party planning wizard?" he joked.
Katara muttered under her breath that 'of course he was' as Sokka helped her take off her coat. "Blubbery seals, Katara!" he exclaimed, "you might want to sit in the kitchen where it's warmest. Your coat is freezing!"
"It seems winter came early this year," she agreed, rubbing her arms. "I bet it's already snowing on the mountain."
"Should make for an interesting trip this year," Sokka said, tossing her coat onto the couch.
"Now, I know we're celebrating you, but that is not where that goes."
Katara spun on the spot and then promptly burst into raucous laughter. Zuko was standing in the entryway to the kitchen brandishing a wooden spoon at her brother, a look of fiery reprimand on his face. But that wasn't the funny part. He was wearing what she assumed to be a fire nation replica outfit including a red shirt overlaid with a maroon vest. And on top of that...a frilly pink apron that said, 'sprinkles are for winners' only sprinkles had been crossed out in magic marker and replaced with 'sparkles'.
"Yes, yes. Ha ha. Very funny." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Suki and Toph got it for me last year as a joke and apparently Suki thought it would be hilarious to hide all my other aprons this week."
"I love Suki," Katara said through her laughter, wiping away tears that had leaked from the corner of her eyes. "And the shoes?" she asked.
Zuko looked down as if he had forgotten he was wearing fuzzy, white bunny slippers. He straightened back up with a frown. "I lost a bet."
Katara laughed harder.
"Lay off the man," Sokka insisted, having correctly stowed her coat in the hall closet. "He's making the cake."
"And the lettering, apparently," Zuko played, crossing his arms and leaning against the door jamb.
"I can do the lettering," Katara volunteered. "Since you already finished the decorations. I did quite a bit of pipe work when I was younger at the bakery. And you know, doctor-" she held up her fingers and twiddled them- "steady hands."
He fixed her with his golden eyes. La, those eyes.
"Sure," he said. Then a mischievous glint entered his eyes. "But you have to wear this." He pinched the apron.
Katara wrinkled her nose then took a deep breath. She smiled brightly at him. "Of course, I wouldn't want to get frosting on my outfit."
Twirling her skirt, his gaze slid down to take in her dress.
"I didn't notice, Katara! We're matching!" Sokka slammed into her side, his arm around her shoulders as he messed with her hair.
"Sokka, stop!" she insisted, pushing him off.
"Water tribe," he whispered, brushing invisible lint off his shoulder before throwing his hands out in a kind of 'what you gonna do about it' gesture.
Katara growled at him, trying to fix her hair back into it's braid. After rescuing some bobby pins, she gave up on trying to redo the traditional style, and instead tied it half-up with her regular loops attaching at the bun. Finally, she turned to the kitchen where Zuko was holding out the bright pink apron, his lips pursed in an attempt not to laugh.
"Oh, whatever," she huffed, snatching the apron and throwing it over her head before tying the sash around her waist.
"Here, let me help." Zuko stepped forward and collected a couple of the strands she had missed, tucking them gently into the bun at the back of her head. Katara stayed extremely still, barely even allowing herself to breathe until he'd moved away.
"There," he said quietly.
"Thank you," she replied. Then cleared her throat. "Do you have the frosting ready?"
"All set, if you'd like to get started," he said, then pointed. "The cake is on the table."
It was in the shape of a fish, smothered heavily with blue frosting. As the daughter of a baker, Katara couldn't help but scrutinize. And of course, it was immaculate.
Mixed to perfection, she could smell the blueberries that had been infused into the frosting and smoothed sharply across the entire surface. It must have taken him hours.
"Hakoda let me borrow his spatula set for the edgings, but I don't think he'll forgive me for the fact that Sokka asked me to make the cake this year."
"I'm impressed," she said, turning to look at him. "Where did you learn how to do this?"
Zuko shrugged before passing her a pipe bag filled with a basic white frosting. "A little from your dad, but mostly just a lot of practice in failure."
She raised a single eyebrow to which he shrugged again.
"I bake when I'm upset."
What an adorable quirk. When she got upset, things broke. Usually the closest thing that was Sokka's.
"What am I writing this year?" she asked, holding the bag above the cake.
"What was it again, bro?" Zuko called into the living room.
"I think we settled on 'Sokka: the meat and sarcasm guy'," her brother called back.
Katara snorted, then muttered, "How about Sokka: the annoying and imbecilic?"
Zuko laughed, shaking his head. "I can't believe you did this every year. I'm getting tired of it after only three."
"Ever since he was twelve," Katara replied, "he cares more about this than his own birthday."
"The Anniversary of Manliness is way more important than remembering a birth!" Sokka insisted, still in the other room. "I didn't have to earn my way into the world, mom did all the work that day."
"Yeah, she had to push out your giant head!" Katara jeered back.
"Alright, alright," Zuko chuckled. "Settle down, you two."
"He catches one measly fish in the ice and suddenly he's a man," Katara continued, even as she started pumping the icing onto the top of the cake.
"It's a rite of passage!" Sokka defended.
"It's a stupid custom!" she replied just as loud.
"I said settle down!" Zuko insisted, only adding to the volume.
"WHAT'S WITH ALL THE SHOUTING?!"
Only due to years of experience was Katara able to instinctively cut the tap on her frosting before she jumped in fright at the sudden outburst and fell over a nearby chair.
"Toph!" Sokka exclaimed, "you came!"
"Of course I came, ponytail, I wouldn't miss your stupid competitions." Toph, a freshman by the looks of her, with jet black hair and fair skin, stepped into the apartment. "I relish every chance I have to beat your sorry butts." She nodded her chin towards Katara who was just wiping excess sugar off her hands as Zuko bent to help her up. "Who's the chick?"
"That's Katara," Sokka said. "My sister and the reason for the shouting."
"It takes two to shout, Sokka," Katara shot back, then stuck her tongue out at him.
Toph took a deep whiff. "Why does she smell like a queen of sugar?"
"You surprised me, that's all," Katara muttered, brushing her hands on the apron. "I'm decorating the cake."
"Sweetness." Toph rubbed her hands together. "I hope it's a big one this year."
Katara was able to finish the lettering with out any more incidents and then help Zuko wash the dishes. Sokka and Toph chatted in the living room and greeted the last two members of the before party, Suki and Aang, as they arrived. Appa had been left at home due to the large quantity of desserts present.
Toph had dressed as an earth kingdom girl with a green t-shirt and pants under a sort of yellow tunic. Aang had hastily wrapped an orange sheet around his body and tied it with a belt to be an air nomad. On the other hand, Suki had gone all out. She wore a headdress painted gold and full green robes with body armor. She'd even painted her face in an island style she'd looked up online.
They talked during dinner, eating meat and catching up. Katara found out that Toph was actually blind, but she didn't act like it. In fact, Katara never would have known until she'd tried to show her a picture of Sokka's original ice catch.
"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper," Toph had said, "but I'm assuming you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper."
The Anniversary of Manliness was a celebration of Sokka completing his ancestral rite of passage by catching a fish from a frozen lake. Every year they would celebrate his achievement and then compete in some silly games and eat lots of good food. Everyone brought something: Toph had brought fruit, Suki brought the blindfolds, and Aang brought the chilis.
First would be an arm-wrestling challenge, which was promptly won by Zuko. Winning the challenge had forced Suki to begrudgingly allow him to remove the bunny slippers. However, when asked what the original bet was, neither would share. To Katara's surprise, Toph had come in second. She was surprisingly tough, and loud, for the small package she came in.
The second game consisted of seeing who could shove the most pieces of fruit into their mouth. After being pronounced the winner for fitting twelve pieces inside her cheeks, Toph jumped on the table with her arms above her head to announce "I am MELON LORD! MUAHAHAHA!" and proceeded to insist that everyone call her that for the rest of the night.
Sokka won the boomerang toss for the tenth year in a row followed by Aang winning the rubber ducky ring toss.
After that was the chili eating contest. Aang had gone to the market square and found the hottest chilis on the island. They were small and red, but even direct contact with skin would send your fingers tingling.
"Do you have any idea how bad this is for your digestive system?" Katara asked, eyeing the peppers with unease.
"I'm not scared," Toph said, shoving a whole chili into her mouth. Her cheeks puffed out, her entire face turning red. Her hand shot out to grab the spit bucket before she choked out the pepper and chugged an entire glass of water.
Katara crossed her arms with a smug look.
"My turn!" Aang exclaimed. He made it a bite and a half before running to the bathroom to throw up. Katara was concerned until he returned with a massive grin. "That was awesome, let's go again!"
Zuko got two bites in before conceding, his eyes watering. Katara still refused to try it. Sokka was able to consume an entire pepper but Suki dominated the challenge by eating three whole peppers without breaking a sweat.
"What?" Sokka had demanded through his tears, snot streaming down his face. (Another reason why Katara had refused to participate.)
Suki only grinned. Said, "I like spicy things." and proceeded to toss a fourth chili into her mouth. Sokka was convinced she was cheating somehow but they had to move on to the final game if they were going to make it to the Cabbage Club for the after party on time.
The last challenge: the cake blind. Each player wears a blindfold and searches the cake for a hidden token. The twist? You have to search with your mouth. Each person chooses a slice of cake that is placed before them on a plate. If they deem that slice to be empty, they may ask for another until the prize is found.
"You're not playing?" Katara demanded of Zuko who was helping Aang put on his blindfold.
"I made the cake this year," Zuko said in reply. "Wouldn't really be fair, so instead I'm handing out the slices." He smirked. "But you have fun."
"What's the matter, sugar queen?" Toph taunted. "Afraid to get your face a little dirty?"
"Not at all," Katara replied.
"Ready," Zuko called after everyone was blindfolded. "Set? Go!"
Taking a deep breath, Katara dived in. The cake tasted amazing, she had to stop herself from just slowly enjoying the blueberries tucked into the white cake.
"Eck, I think I snorted up some frosting." She heard Toph complain.
"Dis cake is tho good, 'uko," Suki managed through a mouthful.
"I got it!" Sokka yelled. Katara pulled off her blindfold to see Sokka holding a white lotus tile aloft. Zuko started passing out towels for everyone to clean up.
"Aww," Aang complained, taking the damp towel Zuko offered him. "I really thought I had it this time."
"Sorry, kiddo." Suki wrapped an arm around his shoulder before winking at Zuko. "Maybe next year."
"I don't know Suki," Katara said as Zuko came to her with the final towel. "That boy's mouth is like a black hole. We used to call him the garbage disposal back home."
"We still call him that," Zuko admitted. Katara held her hand out for the towel, but instead of handing it to her, he started cleaning the frosting out of her hair himself.
"I would say I'm happy for him, but it will probably just grow his head," she muttered.
"Ah, don't stress too much about it," Zuko chuckled, wiping her face. "Suki and I take turns making sure Sokka wins."
"You-" Katara stopped, a smile growing on her face.
Zuko shrugged, finally passing her the towel so that she could get her neck. "It's supposed to be his day, after all." Then he added under his breath, "Sorry you didn't win anything."
"I think I'll survive," she said. A chuckle died on her lips when she noticed Suki and Toph looking at them. Well, Suki was looking at them, but both were wearing identical looks of knowing.
Katara cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we be heading out?"
"Good thinking, Katara," Sokka said, a line of blue frosting lingering across his forehead. "Alright, there's six of us so we'll have to take two cars-"
"I'm going with Zuko!" Toph shouted, clinging to his arm. Zuko blushed, his face the same color as his shirt, and Katara frowned.
"What?" Toph demanded. "Everyone else has gotten to ride the motorcycle."
He had a motorcycle?...Could it possibly be...Did she have a type? How had she liked two guys who owned motorcycles? NOT THAT SHE- time to face it. She had a massive crush on the man. Suki knew it, Iroh had guessed it, now Katara just had to figure out a way to keep him from finding out.
A/N: Fun fact, my friend and beta reader for this story made me an apron that said "Sparkles are for Winners" and I love it. Feel free to make your own! But if you do, please please PLEASE send me a picture!