A/N: How are we enjoying my tale so far? Please let me know :)

I don't own these characters, but you already knew that.

Chapter 17

Katara wasn't mad that her boyfriend ditched her, they didn't need to be attached at the hip and she knew how seriously he took his schooling, it was one of the many things she found so attractive about him, so it wasn't that much of a surprise when he'd cancelled on the plans she'd made mentally to catch up on work.

Part of her felt guilty, she'd been a little demanding of his time the last few days but she'd just missed him for so long that having him with her again felt like a dream. Being with him was as easy as it always had been. She would talk and he would listen offering into the conversation but never overtaking it. He was thoughtful and caring, picking her favourite tea for her and remembering how she liked it iced over hot, the salty surprise was not his fault. Taking her to the lake because he knew how much she loved to swim or laying out clothes for her because he'd remembered before she did, that she had none to wear. Making her laugh with his dry remarks or his rendition of past events, usually accompanied with said dry remarks. Or being effortlessly affectionate and just a little flirty.

And it was so easy how they'd slipped back into being together again, it was effortless for them as if no time had passed between their last tearful kiss in his bedroom, almost three years ago now, and their kiss on the Palace museum wall, Friday.

The timeline made her head spin. They'd ran into each other on Thursday, had their first date Friday - it technically wasn't a date but now that he was very much her boyfriend she was going to count it as one - second date and reconciliation on Sunday and third date, first as a couple, Monday. Five days. If it was anybody else she'd probably be thinking that was a little fast. But it wasn't anybody else, it was her and it was Zuko and it felt right. Everybody's else's opinion didn't matter.

So being ditched, while she understood it, left her feeling a little bit disappointed and a little bit at a loss, thankfully Suki, who had also been ditched, suggested they have a girls night. Katara agreed and she and Yue decided to host.

And that was how Katara found herself sitting cross-legged on her bed, a bowl of popcorn in between her knees swapping funny stories. Katara could only blink in disbelief as Suki talked about how she and Sokka had met. Sokka had just begun to fill out properly and was bragging, really loudly, about how much he could lift at a party, Suki didn't like the insistence he made when he said no 'man' could beat him and promptly dominated him in an arm wrestle.

"He was stronger than I thought he was but he held his arm all wrong so it was a pretty easy win" Suki laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye, somewhere in the memory was Sokka's face and Katara wished she could have seen that.

Katara was impressed and a little in awe of her, Suki was, In all meanings of the word, a bad-bitch and Katara no longer wondered how this five-foot-five brunette had humbled her loud-mouthed brother.

"I'd have paid to have seen that" Katara laughed, as she shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"It was pretty funny" Suki nodded, "but honestly he surprised me by asking me to show him how I did it, the rest as they say..." Suki enunciated with a dramatic roll of her hand, "...is history" she finished, pulling a laugh from Katara and Yue.

"I still think I could take him" Toph spoke from the floor, the sound of her fist slapping into her palm.

"Sokka is over six feet, Toph" Suki spoke as she took a handful of popcorn and tried to unsuccessfully throw a piece into her mouth.

"Your point?" Toph spoke, blowing her bangs from out of her eyes.

"Go for the knees," Suki added, she was met by a round of laughter.

The conversation moved on to Yue and Hahn, to the room's surprise, it turned out the couple had known each other their whole lives so they didn't have a sweet how-they-met-story, and if Katara was being honest he sounded equally as awful through their childhood and teen years. Katara was also surprised to find out Hahn, like her and Sokka, was a military brat too; only his father had served directly under Yue's, who was a base commander.

So what gives? Katara mused. She and Sokka had respect for authority and manners drilled into them since they were kids. Hahn seemed to lack both of those teachings, and while Katara was guilty of ignoring her father through her teens, she was at least nice to everyone until they gave her a reason not to be.

"Your turn Tara, how'd you and tall, dark and mysterious meet?" Suki spoke as she continued her efforts to dunk the perfect popcorn kernel in the basket that was her mouth.

"High school, he yelled at me, then a few months later he kissed me" Katara spoke, offering a far more condensed version of their love story.

"Romance at its finest" Suki replied, as a buttery popcorn kernel bounced off her cheek.

"Was he your first kiss? Yue asked, her own blue eyes following the popcorn Suki threw into the air, again missing.

"No, he wasn't" Katara spoke, she gnawed at her lip for a moment deciding if it was okay to tell her friends he had a few of her other firsts though. Would that be something girlfriends talked about?

"How about your first time?" Suki asked as if it was the most natural question in the world.

"Suki!" Yue gasped as she flicked her eyes between the girls.

"What? It's a normal question, I'll tell you mine too" Suki spoke with a shrug.

"He was actually" Katara spoke, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, clearing her throat.

"Nice. Mine was a boy named Kai, he was cute but it's a no from me" Suki spoke with a stretched smile.

"Mine was a boy named Kanto. Couldn't tell ya what he looked like" Toph offered.

"Hahn" Yue spoke as she flicked her eyes to the carpeted floor, her face pink with her blush.

"On purpose?" Toph spoke from the ground, Katara bit down hard on a laugh. She knew she should have chastised Toph for being rude but after Hahn's continued digs at Zuko last night she decided to let it slide. Suki on the other hand snorted loud enough, drawing Yue's eyes, that she had to comply.

"Toph, be nice" Suki spoke with no real strength to her voice.

"Fine, help a blind girl out. Who's hotter, Zuko or Sokka?" Toph asked.

"Sokka, Duh" Suki replied immediately.

Yeah. Hottest head. Katara thought to herself.

Katara didn't feel the need to answer that, her choice was a pretty obvious one. But if she was being honest, the girly part of her had wanted to answer, that middle schooler inside her wanted to shout Zuko's name as if she was writing those love hearts on the cover of her notebooks again, but the rational part of her had known Toph was only asking out of boredom.

"Your turn Sugar Queen, who's hotter Snoozles or Sparky?" Toph spoke without a hint of irony in her voice, she folded her arms over her flat stomach and leaned back against Yue's bed. Her lackadaisical relaxation belaying her true intent.

"Zuko" Katara replied, giving in to her urge to fly the flag for her own boyfriend, even if she did still find the question childish.

"Ooh it's a tie, wanna weigh in there Ice princess?" Toph spoke, picking at her ear with her little finger.

"N-no" Yue spoke as she cleared her throat, shuffling awkwardly in her spot before reaching over and grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl on Katara's lap.

Katara eyed her for a moment, even with her newfound skill of social density, she found that reaction odd. She felt that itch resurface, she was close, so close to scratching it that her fingertips were brushing against it.

Toph's stupid game wouldn't have offended anyone, of course, Suki would pick Sokka and obviously Katara would pick Zuko. Toph was more than likely looking to liven things up so she could listen to the ensuing debate between Suki and Katara as they tried to convince Yue whose boyfriend was hotter.

why didn't she just answer? Better yet why didn't she just say, Hahn? Katara thought to herself.

"Sooo… now we have established everyone has the hots for their men" Suki spoke as she pursed her lips, effectively breaking Katara's train of thought, "we should address the big beanie baby in the room" Suki finished with a pop.

"W-what would that be?" Yue asked, keeping her eyes to the mattress, sucking in her plush bottom lip as she fidgeted in her seat.

"She's talking about twinkle toes' monster crush on sweetness" Toph spoke, rolling her head to stare unseeing at Yue.

"What's there to talk about?" Katara sputtered, she was still not ready to have this conversation, not with Aang, not with Zuko and not with Toph and her all-knowing ears. She was already feeling bad about it, she didn't want to hurt Aang, but she just didn't feel the same way. The look of hurt on his face had been on replay in her mind all day.

Well most of the day, those few minutes she'd spent watching Zuko get mercilessly teased by his friend and not blowing a gasket had pushed Aang far from her mind, as had Zuko's warm hand in hers and his soft lips as he offered her a sweet kiss. She blushed thinking about it.

"He hasn't actually said anything, so until he does, I'm not going to" Katara spoke, she wondered if it would be okay to call Zuko later, just for a few minutes, she wanted to hear his voice.

"You should probably just let the kid down easy" Suki spoke, "nothing worse than pining for someone you can't have" she added.

Yue shuffled slightly, Katara and Suki missed it, but Toph didn't. She'd caught the rustle of the sheets and the vibration from the bed.

"I don't want to hurt him, I care about Aang, I do. I just don't see him that way" Katara sighed as she leaned against the wall.

"I get it. Can't help what you're feeling or not feeling for someone" Suki shrugged as she once again flicked a kernel into the air, she cursed when it bounced off her lip.

"But what if you know it's wrong?" Yue piped up, surprising the other girls in the room. "What if you never meant for it to happen?"

Katara felt her figurative fingers twitching, it was right there she was so close. That itch was begging to be scratched.

"You can't be held accountable for your feelings Yu-Yu, only your actions" Suki replied.

"But- I have Hahn- so I shouldn't be…" Yue sighed deeply before turning her eyes away. "Never mind" she sighed, her eyes gaining that look of distance again.

Shouldn't be what Yue? Katara could feel the question on her tongue, sitting just behind her teeth ready to spring forward.

Yue had been acting weird for days now, every time a conversation about boyfriends was brought up she'd get all fidgety and distant. Even for the usually quiet Yue, it was out of character.

Kinda like Sokka did when… she scratched. Oh, how she scratched.

The realisation hit her like a freight train.

Sokka's flustered reaction on the first day of school when he'd met Yue. Their awkwardness around each other when she'd walked in on them in the canteen on Friday, she'd thought Sokka had opened his big mouth and embarrassed her, but Yue had been insistent he hadn't. Sokka being in her room, their room, when she got back yesterday. He'd have needed a key or to be let in by someone with one. Yue knowing about her and Zuko before Suki did even though Sokka was the only one she'd told and that look on Sokka's face when he found out Yue had Hanh over…

How do you know? That question echoed in her mind as she flicked her eyes between her brother's girlfriend and her roommate. Her friends. Their friends. She felt a panic surge in her, Sokka was heading for an iceberg and she didn't know how to stop him. If she should stop him.

Suki was very clearly in love with her brother and Katara had thought Sokka loved Suki back but after yesterday she wasn't so sure anymore. And that meant whatever feelings Sokka had for Yue were strong enough to make him doubt what he felt for Suki, and Yue was all but admitting to having the same predicament.

Suddenly Katara was wishing she was socially dense and lamenting the fact she wasn't. She gnawed at her lip. They had both encouraged and supported her and they were both the best friends she'd ever had… but she loved her big brother. And someone was about to get hurt.

What do I do?

"Is this what girl talk is?" Toph chimed up, her milky jade eyes fixed on the space in front of her.

"Sugar Queen, you need to woman up and tell twinkle toes it's Sparky who's roasting your chestnuts-" Toph spoke as she jutted her finger in Katara's direction.

"-And if Hahn ain't the one melting your icicles, Ice Princess, then you need to venture further upstream" Toph concluded her tirade as she threw her arms over her chest in a huff.

Katara opened and closed her mouth for a moment as she looked at her annoyed teenage friend sitting on the floor. She wasn't sure if she was angry, embarrassed or impressed. Yue blushed furiously as she cleared her throat and looked out the window.

It was Suki who broke the silence that had fallen over them when she threw her head back and laughed into the room.

Katara wished she could laugh too, but nothing about the situation was funny to her.

Zuko should have known agreeing to eat with Sokka wasn't a great idea, the only time he stopped talking was when he was shovelling food into his mouth. At some point, one of Sokka's, unsurprisingly, many friends had joined them and he'd been all but forgotten about.

Or so he thought. He had no idea why Sokka felt the need to introduce him to his friend, a boy about his height with dark hair and green eyes, but he did and now he was stuck in a conversation that had nothing to do with Hahn and his escapades and everything to do with hockey, a game Zuko knew nothing about and had only vaguely remembered the rules from one of Bolin's excitable retellings. He stayed relatively quiet, moving his food around his place until his ears twigged to their new conversation.

"I was surprised yesterday, your sister looks so much like you" the boy, whose name Zuko had immediately forgotten, spoke.

"I'll thank you for the compliment on Tara's behalf" Sokka quipped.

Zuko stared at him flat-faced, he'd already begun weighing up his options, sitting in the canteen eating barely palatable food and having even less palatable conversation with Sokka and his friend, sitting in his dorm room with Hahn and his back-up laughers knowing he was plotting his downfall or, his favourite option, drowning himself in lake Laogai. He'd been leaning towards the third option when Sokka's friend spoke again.

"She seemed nice" the boy spoke again, a seemingly innocuous statement that shouldn't have pissed Zuko off, but coupled with that pink tint on his cheeks, managed to. Immensely.

"Kat is nice" Zuko spoke, breaking his self-imposed vigil to stare at him.

"Calm down there Shu, he meant nothing by it" Sokka spoke up as he rolled his head to look at Zuko.

"Whatever" Zuko huffed.

"Am I missing something?" The boy spoke as he flicked his green eyes between a glaring Zuko and a relaxed Sokka.

"Not much, Haru, just that angry boy here is Tara's boyfriend" came Sokka's flippant response.

"I'm not angry" Zuko defended as he shot a glare at Sokka.

"Tell your face" Sokka spoke.

"Do you ever shut up?" Zuko replied.

"I have it on good authority that I do not" Sokka spoke with a shrug.

"There's a surprise," Zuko grumbled.

"Oh. I didn't know" Haru spoke, finally getting a word in between the bickering pair.

"Yeah well, now you do Hank" Zuko spoke as he levelled another hard stare at Haru.

Zuko knew he was being petty, he knew it. But he'd had it with guys thinking just because Katara was nice to them that it meant they had a free pass into her pants. He didn't care if Haru was Sokka's friend or if he'd only called her nice. He knew she was nice. She was nice to everyone and that meant he wouldn't be nice. Not until guys learned that being nice wasn't a yes.

Zuko stalked back to his room after that, he'd surmised Sokka had no more to say about his master plan and Haru had landed himself squarely on Zuko's hate list. He wanted a hot shower and his bed, his eye hadn't stopped aching yet and he was hoping he'd be able to sleep the ache away.

He lamented how his day had started so well and now twelve hours later he couldn't have been in a worse mood. He prayed Hahn wasn't in his dorm room because he might just hit him for the pleasure of it, he'd all but decided on a night jog when his eyes fixed on the tanned beauty sitting on the bench outside his dorm.

He watched her for a moment, swinging her legs absentmindedly as she gnawed on her bottom lip, she was wearing his hoodie and a pair of leggings that showed off the perfect curvature of her legs. His heart picked up.

"Hi, pretty girl" he spoke as he took the seat next to her on the bench. She turned her blue eyes to him and offered him a smile.

"Hi, Outlaw" she replied softly.

"What are you doing out here?" He asked, eyeing the empty surroundings, the campus was always quiet this late at night, even well lit he didn't like the idea of her sitting alone on a bench outside the boy's dorm at night.

"I wanted to see you, then I remembered I have no idea what room is yours and figured it was better not to knock on every door until I found out" Katara replied as she looked at him from under her lashes.

"Probably wise" he replied as he threw his arm around her shoulders, she melted into his side linking their fingers together.

They both sat in silence, they'd both had a pretty rough day and we're thankful for the comfortable silence the other brought. Katara rested her head on his shoulder, letting his smoked scent ease the knots that had twisted themselves into her belly, and Zuko rested the injured side of his face on top of her head, allowing the familiar jasmine scent to ease his sour mood.

They weren't sure how long had passed but knew it must have been a while from the shifting shadow position of the campus lampposts.

"It's getting late, Kat, I'll walk you back to your dorm" Zuko spoke first, his voice raspier from the lack of use. She replied with a nod before raising her head from his shoulder, he could see from the owlish look in her eyes she hadn't been that far off falling asleep. He knew he hadn't, any longer and he'd have been woken up by the campus security guard telling him to move along.

Katara was the first to rise to her feet, a yawn escaping her as she did. Zuko followed, blinking back the tiredness from his own eyes before they fell on her. He felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips, he didn't know how she managed it, but by doing nothing at all she'd soothed him.

He cupped her face between his hands before placing a soft kiss on her lips, which she accepted, Happily, as she stood on her tiptoes looping her arms around his neck. He rested his forehead against hers as his palms rested on her lower back. She smiled at him before placing another kiss on his lips, this time it was slow and he let her guide the kiss, as he just enjoyed the feeling of her lips on his.

"Zuko I-"

"Katara?" A high pitched voice broke their moment. They both turned to be greeted by the large brown eyes of the girl Zuko had seen Katara speaking with on Sunday.

The realisation of where he'd seen this girl before hit him. In his room. He'd seen her in his dorm room on Thursday night, she had been with Hahn… she was with Hahn.

"This is perfect! We can walk back together!" The girl spoke excitedly as she beamed at her.

"Meng? What are you-" Katara's eyes widened when she laid her eyes on Hahn lingering in the doorway behind Meng. She flicked her eyes between them for a moment before she felt the anger flare inside her veins.

"You dirty cheating son of a bitch!" Katara hissed as she untangled herself from Zuko.

Hahn had no idea the storm Katara had landed and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Please R&R