Chapter 14: Broken

Eating at an upscale restaurant on Ursa's dime wasn't as enjoyable as Jet had envisioned it would be. Not when he was forced to sit across from Mai and Zuko. Even though the new couple had kept their public displays of affection to a minimum, any touch or soft glance made his stomach churn. Nevertheless, he had somehow managed to keep his food down and now all he wanted to do was go back to the house and sleep. Azula, however, seemingly had other plans for him as she pulled him away from the rest of the group.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked. "That must have been unbearable…"

"Nah, I thought your mom was pretty cool," he joked. Normally he would have been appreciative of having someone care about his well-being for once, but in this case, he just wanted to be left alone.

She lowered her eyes at him. "Jet…"

"Look, I get your concern, but I really don't want to talk about it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I just need some alone time to process."

"Okay," she said, nodding understandingly. "But just so you know, I had no idea about their relationship, it was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to you, I swear – "

"I know," he stopped her.

"I would have told you if I had – "

"I know," he reiterated. "I'm okay. Really."

She looked at him with skepticism.

"Yeah, it sucks, but I think somewhere deep down I knew this was coming. I mean, you saw the way they were at the beach house."

"Yeah. You'd have to be blind to miss that," she muttered. "Well, for what it's worth, I'm… sorry."

"It's fine," he assured. "I'm fine. Or at least I will be."

She smiled. "Would you, oh, I don't know… like a hug?"

He smiled back, realizing it must have been painful for her to ask that given that she wasn't exactly the affectionate or comforting type. "Does it look like I need a hug?"

"That's not what I asked."

"Can you repeat the question?" he teased.

She threw her head back and sighed exasperatedly. "Would you like a hug?"

"That depends… do you want to hug me?"

"You know what?" she asked, feigning being upset. "I'm not playing this game with you anymore." She started to walk off.

"Aww man," he called after her. "I could have really used a hug." He saw her wave him off as she continued walking away. He laughed under his breath. And then his smile fell as the grave reality of his crush being definitively not into him set in. Of course, he knew he would get over it eventually, but he was not used to facing rejection.

He wondered how people typically got over stuff like this. Well, jumping into bed with someone else would probably ease the sting a bit. But who? A sly smirk washed over his face as he thought of someone who would be a sure thing, a pretty waterbender with kind blue eyes.

"Hey," Mai greeted as Azula walked into the dorm room, her eyes affixed to her phone. "Where'd you run off to?"

"Hmm?"

"You disappeared after dinner."

"Oh, yeah. I just had to talk to Jet about something."

"Everything okay?"

It was late and Azula knew she shouldn't be opening this can of worms, but she also knew that this confrontation would have to happen sooner or later. "No, not really."

Mai set her phone down on her lap. "I thought everything went pretty well with Ursa…"

"It's not about Ursa, it's about… you."

Mai's eyebrows arched. "Me?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were dating Zuko?"

"I don't know, was I supposed to get your permission or something?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, of course not! I just want to know why you didn't say anything about it."

"It happened kinda quickly." She shrugged. "Last weekend Zuko asked me to get some ice cream with him, we hit it off, he asked me out, and I said yes. It's not a big deal or anyone else's business."

"Well I agree with that, but… Mai, we've known each other since we were kids. We're supposedly best friends, and yet… sometimes I feel like I don't even know you. We never talk about these things, we never confide in each other. Why is that?"

She sighed. "I guess… we're just both secretive people."

"No, you're secretive – I'm not, I talk all the time – "

"You do, but never about your feelings."

Azula paused. She had a point. Come to think of it, Azula never even told Mai about her crush on Sokka.

"Neither of us do," Mai continued. "I think that's why we make such good friends. Neither of us are emotionally needy. But you know, if there's something you want to talk about, I'm… I'm always here to listen."

"Thanks." She gave Mai a gentle smile. "I'm here for you too."

"And you're right. I probably should have told you before announcing it to the rest of the group. You must have been really surprised."

"Yes and no. You two were pretty flirty over the summer."

"Yeah," she smiled.

"I am happy for you two, you know. But… if you hurt him, I'll have to kill you. Obviously."

"Yeah, yeah," Mai laughed. "But I don't think you'll have to worry about that. I really care about your brother."

"Good." Azula crossed to her side of the room to grab her shower caddy so she could get ready for bed. "By the way… thanks for being cool about the whole Ursa thing. I know how you feel about her, so… just thanks for being supportive."

"I hope she proves me wrong."

"Things went really well tonight, I – I actually enjoyed her company, but… somehow I can't quite shake the feeling that everything is going to blow up in my face."

"Hey. Don't think about that tonight. Tomorrow's a big day. We should get some sleep."

Azula nodded. The talent show was the next day and they both needed to be well-rested.

"You and Zuko are gonna kill it."

"You're damn right we will."

Considering the restless sleep he got the night before, Jet was content with his sleight-of-hand magic routine. He had wowed the audience – some were even up on their feet. Of course, it probably didn't hurt that he had chosen Ty Lee to be his assistant. Her fans were probably going wild about her too, especially given the skimpy outfit she had chosen for the occasion.

After his performance, he and Ty Lee rejoined the rest of their friends in the audience, all sitting eagerly in the second row, as the first two rows were designated for the contestants. Now all he had to do was sit back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the talent show. There were 20 acts in total; Jet's had been the seventh. Sokka had gone fourth with his somewhat underwhelming slam-poetry act, but the rest of the group had yet to perform. Azula and Zuko were set to close out the first act at spot number 10, and Ty Lee and Katara would be performing after intermission with their respective contortionist and ice skating routines.

Jet had almost fallen asleep during the acts that followed his, but he watched keenly as Azula and Zuko took the stage. He had heard some details about this dragon dance of theirs but knew very little of what it would actually look like. He had never seen Zuko firebend before, and he had only caught a glimpse of Azula's famous blue fire when she was briefly threatening Ty Lee's stalker.

The fire siblings started toward the far end of the stage with their backs toward each other, standing about one foot apart. Simultaneously, they ignited their palms with a modest flame and bowed away from each other, as if they were giving their fire up as an offering. Drums started playing through the sound system in a steady, tribal rhythm. Completely in sync, they began performing sharp, strong, and precise capoeira-like movements, mirroring each other as they posed, the drums getting more and more intense with each step. Like the hands of a clock moving both directions at the same time, they moved together around in a semicircle until they eventually met up in the center at the front of the stage with their fists extended toward each other, completely ignited in their respective orange and blue fire.

There was a break in the music and Azula and Zuko looked out into the audience for the first time, their chests heaving as they recovered their breath. But that's when Jet noticed something was off. Something about the look in Azula's eyes. Pain. Pain and distraction. He turned around to see what she could possibly be disturbing her so much.

It was Ursa. She was standing up whispering into her phone, rushing out of the auditorium. Oh shit. How could she do this to her own children? How could she leave them again? Right in the middle of their performance?! He turned back around and tried to catch Azula's attention. Fortunately he was able to catch her eye.

"You've got this," he mouthed, giving her a look of encouragement.

She gave him the slightest of nods and turned her attention back to Zuko. The drums swelled again and the siblings picked up their dragon dance, this time facing each other, circling around each other with their wrists meeting in the middle. Their flames grew stronger and brighter, with orange and blue swirling around the air harmoniously. Soon the fire morphed into a huge, fiery vortex that engulfed the siblings entirely. It was unbelievable. Jet couldn't take his eyes off of it. Azula's azure flames were particularly breathtaking.

The audience erupted in applause and roaring cheers as Azula and Zuko took their final bow. It was a standing ovation, a complete knockout. And Ursa missed it.

The lights came on for intermission but instead of mingling, Azula and her brother remained isolated backstage. There was no way she was going back out there. Not while she was on the verge of crying and screaming. Fucking Ursa. It was such a mistake letting her back into her life. Mai had been right all along.

"I'm sorry," Zuko whispered, pulling Azula in for a hug. "This is all my fault."

"It kinda is," she muttered as she hugged him back.

They stood there in silence for a moment, lost in thought and at a loss for words, but eventually Zuko's phone vibrating in his pocket brought them back to reality.

"It's a text message," he said, checking his phone. "From Ursa."

"Fuck her."

"…Don't you want to know what it says?"

"Yeah," she groaned sarcastically, "please tell me what sorry excuse she has for abandoning us once again."

"It's… actually a pretty good excuse."

She shot him an incredulous glare.

"Kiyi fell from the tiger-monkey bars at the playground and had to be rushed to the emergency room."

Her eyes widened.

"She's okay – she just broke her leg." Zuko set his phone back into his pocket and sighed. "Look, Mom's really sorry – "

"Save it, Zuzu," Azula interrupted, shaking her head. "Kiyi has a father, there was no reason for Ursa to rush off like that, she could have at least waited for our – "

"Kiyi's only nine-years-old. She needs her mother."

"We needed our mother too."

"You're right." He nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's unfair. But… maybe we should try to be understanding."

"I do understand. I understand that Ursa will always choose Kiyi over us."

Zuko hugged her again, resting his head on hers. "Do you… want to head back to our seats and watch the rest of the show? Or do you want to get out of here?"

She shrugged. "I guess we can stay. Not to sound cocky, but – "

"That's never stopped you before – "

" – I'm pretty sure we just won this thing."

He laughed. "What's the prize anyway?"

"You know, I have no idea…"

Azula was eerily quiet after reclaiming her seat between Jet and Sokka in the audience. Jet tried asking her if she was okay, but she said she didn't want to talk about it and that was that. She carried on as normally as possible through the second half of the show, applauding when appropriate, but Jet could tell she was just going through the motions and was lost in her own little world. A world where mothers leave their kids behind. He couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for the betrayal she must be feeling.

However, things seemed to brighten up for her toward the final few acts. Jet noticed Sokka had placed his hand on top of Azula's on their shared armrest and Azula was resting her head on his shoulder. It probably wasn't enough to take her mind completely off of Ursa, but it was something.

Following Katara's stellar ice-skating routine, senior members of the student council met to determine the winner. After a few minutes of deliberation, they handed Suki, the emcee, a sealed envelope. Students in the audience patted their laps and stomped their feet to create a drumroll as Suki took the stage.

"This year's talent show winner is…" Suki opened the envelope. "…Zuko and Azula with their amazing dragon dance! Come on, let's hear it for them!" She motioned for the fire siblings to come up and join her.

Everyone cheered for them as they made their way to the stage.

"I knew they were gonna win!" Ty Lee celebrated.

A student council member presented the siblings with one of those novelty oversized checks. Jet couldn't help but grin upon seeing their faces light up at the cash prize amount of $1,000.

"Holy shit!" Sokka gasped.

"Looks like someone's treating us to dinner tonight," Mai teased.

Katara nodded. "I'll say."

"Attention!" Suki called, trying to get the audience to settle down. "The talent show is over! However, the entertainment isn't over just yet…"

Two more student council members came out carrying what looked like a prom crown and tiara.

"Zuko and Azula are officially pronounced king and queen of the talent show, but you also have the chance to join the royal court." Suki paused for dramatic effect. "The student council has set up a racecourse on campus! The winners will get the honor of sharing the first dance with the king and queen at… the schoolwide dance tonight!"

"A school dance?!" Katara asked excitedly. "Really?!"

"Oh my goodness, I can't wait!" Ty Lee beamed, jumping up and down.

"Yippee," Mai said.

Seeing this as an opportunity to get Sokka to dance with Azula, Jet decided to egg him on. "Hey," he whispered, leaning closer to Sokka. "You're gonna be eating my dust at that race."

"Bring it on, magic man!"

Jet smirked. Game on.