One week before

"I'm really sorry, Katara! I hate to put you in a difficult position like this, with classes starting up again in a couple weeks and all… it's just that Sokka and I were talking about how our relationship is getting more serious, and it makes sense to move in together." Suki shot Katara a nervous smile from across the table. "We really hope you can understand," she continued, clasping her hands together in a plea.

Katara let out a long sigh as she leaned back in her chair, the wood groaning along with her. The sounds of chatter and laughter drifting throughout the tea shop and the low clink of stoneware was typically a welcoming sound to her, but it suddenly caused her head to throb. She rubbed at her forehead, trying in vain to halt the headache coming on. "And you can't move in with Sokka? I mean, he lives in a house.."

"With Haru," Suki interjected quickly. "Haru's parents' garage guest house. It's not exactly ideal for a couple wanting privacy, ya know?"

While still massaging small circles above her left brow, Katara glanced up at Suki and couldn't help but sympathize with her. She knew that her friend genuinely felt bad about springing this on her. The move did, albeit frustratingly, make sense; Suki had been dating her brother for over two years, and this step was bound to happen sooner or later anyways.

The timing of the situation just happened to be quite unfortunate. The fall university semester was almost upon them, and most students had already moved back into town and filled up apartments and rented rooms by now. Finding a decent living situation at this point would likely prove a difficult task, and Katara hadn't exactly planned to end her summer break by searching through apartment advertisements and packing boxes.

After a few moments passed without a response Suki's already anxious smile began to waver. Katara sighed again, though this time much lighter, and sat upright once more.

"I understand. Really, I do," Katara said, offering a bashful smile of her own.

Suki beamed and clapped her hands. "Oh I knew you would, Katara! I promise I'll help you find another place in time before Sokka moves in. We'll get you something close by and affordable, yet still cool and chic. I won't just leave my best friend high and dry after all. I'll even start today!" She suddenly gasped and began to dig around in her purse. "I need to message Sokka, he's been dying to hear an update all morning. Truly, Katara, you have no idea how much your support means to us," she gushed.

Katara chuckled at Suki's enthusiasm and shook her head, relieved to find her headache fading away with the motion.

Midway through typing out a message to Sokka, Suki paused, a coy grin stretching across her face. "Sokka moving out from Haru's place will also leave you with endless opportunities of alone time with your boyfriend now. When you visit Haru, you two will have the guest house all to yourselves."

Katara's face reddened. "Oh shush now, get your mind out of the gutter."

"I'm just saying," Suki said, holding an innocent hand up and then betraying it with a wink. She finished up her text to Sokka and then tossed her phone back into her bag, glancing around the tea shop and tapping her foot distractedly for a moment before her eyes widened in excitement. "Oh, our tea is coming now!"

Katara thought that the tea service couldn't possibly have had better timing. She turned in her chair and waved at the shop owner. "Good morning, Iroh!"

"It is a good morning, indeed! How are my two favorite customers doing today?" Iroh asked, neatly setting up the girls' tea tray.

"Spectacular, now that we have the best tea in town," Katara replied, reaching for the kettle as soon as Iroh stepped back. She filled her cup, humming contentedly at the warmth that enveloped her palms, and took a greedy sip. Her tongue burned in protest of the temperature, but Katara paid little mind to it.

"We definitely need the caffeine boost today, Iroh," Suki added. "Sokka's moving in with me, so we're apartment hunting for Katara now."

"Oh, is that so? Hmm…" Iroh mused, a thoughtful expression forming on his face.

"Do you know of any available places?" Suki asked, picking up on the elderly man's countenance. She rolled her eyes as she watched Katara burn herself on her tea for a second time and filled her own cup, making a show of blowing on it first before taking a sip.

An idea had struck Iroh, one that would require a covert execution to ensure its initial success. If luck was on his side though and he was able to pull it off, he did envision a positive turnout for both parties involved. He straightened his beard absentmindedly as he mulled it over. "As it so happens, I sublet the unit above the tea shop to university students. It's a two bedroom, and one of my tenants graduated this spring and moved out. The room is still available. If you're interested, Katara, I would be happy to lease it to one of my longtime customers," Iroh concluded, smiling grandly.

Suki sputtered on her tea and tapped the table excitedly. "Oh my goodness, Katara, this would be so perfect! Just picture it, the tea shop is only a few blocks away from our current place, it's downtown and within walking distance to the university." Suki turned her attention to Iroh. "And I can firsthand tell you that Katara is an excellent roommate and tenant."

"Thank you, Suki," Katara said, blushing. "Wow, I initially anticipated some long, exhausting search for an apartment, but this offer sounds pretty perfect." Katara blinked and looked at Iroh and then to Suki, who nodded her on eagerly. "Are you sure though, Iroh?"

Iroh smiled reassuringly. "Absolutely, it would be my pleasure."

Katara considered the offer, racking her brain for any questions to ask before proceeding. "What can you tell me about the other tenant who lives upstairs?"

Iroh, having already prepared for a question of this nature in the moments he had after offering the room to Katara, answered the question calmly and with ease. "Quiet and can keep to themselves, but once you break them out of their shell will find that they are kind hearted and fun to be around.

"Well then…" Katara trailed off, not sure how she could pass up on the offer at this point. The end of her summer break may yet be somewhat salvaged.

"We'll have her ready to move in by this time next week," Suki declared, reaching out a hand to shake with Iroh.

Iroh smiled widely. "Excellent, I will make the arrangements then."


Day 1

"Jeez, Katara! What did you pack in here, rocks?" Sokka cried as he heaved a box onto the floor of their moving truck. He huffed dramatically and placed his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "And to think we still need to move my stuff here after we move yours out."

Suki sauntered past him holding a box with ease and shot him a wicked smile. "It's okay Sokka, I have enough muscle for the both of us."

Sokka's eye twitched. "Give me that!" He took the box from Suki and placed it into the truck with a wince. He stuck his tongue out at her when she giggled at him.

"Make way for the real muscle, guys," Haru called as he jogged past them with three boxes stacked on top of each other. He climbed into the box truck to set them neatly in the back corner and began arranging the other boxes that Sokka had haphazardly set down at the front.

"Hey, I could have done that!" Sokka made to jump into the truck with Haru but underestimated the height from the parking lot asphalt to the truck and slipped, the top half of his body smacking the truck floor while his legs kicked out under him.

"Oof, tough one there dude." Haru laughed as Sokka groaned and picked himself up, rubbing his chin. "He's all yours now, Suki."

Suki clucked her tongue and patted Sokka on the shoulder. "I'll get you an ice pack, babe."

Suki walked through the first story apartment's open front door and found Katara sitting at the kitchen counter with her head resting against her hand and a wistful smile on her lips. She opened the freezer door and rummaged around to find something for Sokka to put on his face. "What's up, girly?"

"I'm going to miss this place," Katara admitted, turning towards Suki.

"Oh Katara, it's not like you won't be here all the time still! We'll still host game nights and study groups here. Weekend girls night movie binges and birthday parties. None of that is changing, I promise," Suki assured, picking out a bag of peas and closing the door again.

"I know I know, it'll just be different. I won't smell you cooking pancakes in the morning anymore and I'll finally need to learn how to make them on my own now… but I also won't wake up to seven alarms in the morning either because you keep snoozing them," Katara laughed.

"Hey now, that's my little morning ritual! I get a few last little naps before I need to start the day." Suki swatted at Katara's shoulder playfully and both girls laughed. "You should start heading over there so you can do introductions before the rest of us arrive. You already got everything packed up, we can take care of the rest."

"Are you sure?"

"A hundred percent. I'll call you when we're on our way."

"Thank you, Suki, I really appreciate this. You've all made this move pretty much seamless for me." Katara hopped off the barstool and grabbed her bag and a white box from the counter. "I signed the lease with Iroh and got the keys yesterday. I also got these for my new roommate." She opened the box and showed Suki a large variety of pastries inside. "I'm not sure what she likes so hopefully one of these is the right one." Katara frowned and looked worried.

"I'm sure she's bound to like at least one of the dozen pastries in that box, Katara. And for the ones she doesn't, the rest of us will gladly eat for her this afternoon. What was her name again?"

Katara paled. "Oh my god, I forgot to ask!" She smacked herself on the forehead. All of the chaos of moving had distracted her when she spoke with Iroh over the past week, allowing her to forget this detail.

"Easy there, this is the last bag of peas in the freezer," Suki scolded. "But in all honesty I'm sure it'll be fine. She's probably expecting you now, so you had better hurry up."

Katara gave Suki a hug and the two girls walked back outside. Suki pressed the bag of peas to Sokka's chin while Katara stopped in front of Haru and planted a light peck on his lips.

"Thank you for helping me out again."

"What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't help my girlfriend move?" Haru asked incredulously, pulling Katara in for one more kiss.

"Well I guess you've got a point there," she said and bopped him on the nose, eliciting a grin from him. Katara stepped back to wave at the group. "See you all soon!" she called as she turned and began making her way down the sidewalk.

The weather was nice out - clear blue skies and sunny, but not overtly hot. Katara breathed in the fresh air deeply and hummed contentedly. The tea shop was only a five minute walk from her old apartment, fifteen minutes from the university and was located centrally downtown. Reminding herself of the convenience of all this made her feel a lot better about the move - she would still be close to her friends, which was important to her.

Over the past few days Katara had been a little concerned that she hadn't been able to meet her new roommate before move-in day, but Iroh said they had been out of town visiting family until late last night. Katara was known for being neutral and able to get along with everyone though, so she should have no issues, she decided resolutely.

Still, she couldn't help but think about her new roommate - what she was like, how she looked, what she would think of her. There were so many possibilities it made her head spin.

Almost as soon as her trek began it ended and Katara was pulled out of her thoughts as she arrived outside of the tea shop. She followed a neat stone path to the back of the shop and ascended a metal staircase. Despite earlier reassurances her stomach began to knot and turn. She steeled herself as she reached the top of the staircase and took a breath before knocking twice on the front door to the apartment, deciding that would be better than unlocking it and catching her roommate by surprise as she waltzed right in. There's nothing like a first impression where you scare the daylights out of someone.

Katara heard movement from inside of the building and bit her lip nervously. After a brief moment the front door opened and Katara let out a small gasp, her eyes widening.

A young man about her age appeared in the doorway. He was tall and lean with pale, almost translucent skin and shaggy black hair that nearly reached down to his eyes. A brutal red scar marred a good portion of the left side of his face, the worst of it enveloping his eye.

Katara swallowed nervously and shifted on her feet. "Umm.."

Zuko frowned at the strange woman standing on his balcony and crossed his arms as he gazed down at her. His eyes drifted down to the pastry box clutched in her hands and he scowled in annoyance. "I don't want whatever you're selling," he said, and slammed the door on her.

Katara blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Acting on autopilot she reached up and knocked on the door again. It was flung open once more mere seconds later.

"Did you not just hear what I said? I don't want - "

"Do you live here?" Katara interrupted. Her thoughts were flying a mile a minute and she was beginning to panic. She was sure that she already knew the answer to this, but there was a chance, although likely small, that this man could be a friend of her roommate who just happened to open the door. Katara wasn't remotely prepared to live with a man who she didn't know, especially considering that she still got nervous spending nights with her own boyfriend and wouldn't consider living with him anytime soon either.

A wild look came over Zuko's face and he shook his head in confusion. "Well, obviously!"

'Damn,' Katara thought, her last sliver of hope crumbling down. "And were you expecting a new roommate to move in today?"

Zuko took a step back, tilting his head slightly to the side and creasing his brow in a slight hint of nervousness. "How would you know?" he asked, almost accusingly.

"I'm your new roommate," Katara deadpanned. "I signed the lease with Iroh yesterday," she continued. Katara felt herself deflate a little in the silence that encumbered them both as they stood there. She looked back up at the man, who was now looking at her like she had just grown a second head. "I take it that this comes as a surprise to the both of us then."

Zuko opened and shut his mouth a few times, attempting and failing to come up with words, until one finally came out explosively. "UNCLE!"


"I wonder why Katara isn't answering her phone?" Suki wondered aloud, looking down at her phone's call history displaying her three missed attempts to contact Katara.

"She's probably just hitting it off with her new roommate." Sokka jabbed Suki playfully in the ribs as much as he could while she was sandwiched between himself and Haru on the moving truck's one bench seat. Suki gave him a withering look.

"Well, we're here." Haru pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the tea shop and turned off the engine.

The three of them piled out of the truck. Haru unlocked the back and began to push the door open when Suki held out a hand to pause him. "Do you hear that?"

The group stood still and listened closely. A man's angry voice reached them as he yelled from the back of the tea shop, followed by none other than Katara's equal in volume. Suki traded glances with Sokka and Haru and then they all bolted, tearing across the side of the building and skidding to a stop at the bottom of a metal staircase. Suki's jaw dropped, Haru's eyes widened and Sokka clenched his fists at his sides at the sight that met them.

Katara stood on the balcony waving her hands and arguing animatedly with a man who was reciprocating her movements and firing back retorts. Iroh stood at the top of the staircase in between them.

"Zuko, Katara, please try and calm down," the elderly man pleaded. His words fell on deaf ears to the two arguing though as they continued firing scathing insults at each other.

"Oh.. that's why," Suki whispered.


I'm excited to hear that you think of this! This is my first attempt at a Zutara fanfic. I've been binging Avatar lately and reading all sorts of Zutara fics, and I thought I'd give this a try of my own.

Have a great day!