A/N: How did I get so lucky to have such an awesome bunch reading my story? If anyone find out, let me know. Until then, know that you have my eternal gratitude. Seriously, hugs for everyone! Can I just say it's great to be back at uni? Even if the early starts are making me exhausted, I definitely prefer it over the alternative lol. Another short chapter sadly and I shift between point of views a LOT, so I apologise for that! It's weird because I really feel it should be posted around Christmas time, but ofc I'm not going to make you guys wait 3 months for it, so erm here it is?

Christmas Day:

Aang's POV:

I stare at the three gift boxes I bought a couple of weeks ago, unsure what to do with them since I'm pretty sure that the watertribe family probably wants nothing to do with me.

My heart lurches at the reminder and it's not the first time that I blame myself. 'If only I was more careful. If only I could tell them the truth. If only they just trusted me. If only. Two words that mean nothing now.'

My Skype starts ringing again. It's the tenth time Roku has tried to get in contact with me, but I haven't been able to bring myself to answer. I settle the three boxes on my desk and after a moment I carefully place each one in my last drawer. 'Maybe I'll give it to them one day. Or maybe they'll find it after I've been killed by the Triple Z. Maybe then they'll realise I wasn't such a bad person.'

A lump appears at my throat. 'Or maybe I am a bad person. Why else are people always taken away from me?' I feel a throb at my arm from my latest cutting session and the sensation just serves to make me feel worse. 'If Gyatso knew, he'd be so ashamed.' I think as my eyes prick with tears. My laptop pings a moment later with a message.

Merry Christmas Aang. I'm a call away if you need to talk.

- Roku.

My lips twitch slightly as I type out a response.

Merry Christmas Roku. Thank you. I'll be in touch.

-Aang

I read it over and click send. I slump in my chair before getting to my feet and digging under my pillow for my parents' photo. I gaze at the picture, despite knowing every detail by heart. Christmas was never the same after they died. The orphanage only got so much funding; so decorations were scarce and presents were never given unless kids were under 10. But Gyatso bought me one every year. A book, tattoo kit, airbending scrolls. He never ran out of ideas for me.

Flashback:

"Gyatso?" 11-year-old me asks as I set down my latest Christmas present.

"Yes young one?" The elderly monk hums back as he opens the oven to check on the pies.

"Why do you treat me differently from the others?" I query meekly, prompting the man to straighten up as he gazes at me kindly.

"To show you that the other boys are wrong." Gyatso answers with a smile.

"About bullying me?" I probe.

"Exactly. I want you to know that you should be proud of how special you are and to never ever be ashamed of your gifts. I'm certainly very proud of you. Besides, you remind me a little of myself." The monk voices with a wink. His words acting as a soothing balm on my wounds inflicted by the older boys who say it's only because Gyatso pities me. "Now, are you going to help me with these pies?" He adds with a knowing look. I grin and leap to my feet.

"Of course!"

End flashback.

I drop my head into my hands. 'What even is the point of it all? If you don't have anyone, what do we live for?' A sigh escapes past my lips as I take out my phone. I scroll down my short list of contacts. I freeze when I see Katara's name, the urge to send her a Christmas message is strong, but she probably doesn't want anything to do with me.

I rub at my eye as I continue scrolling to the bottom, skipping Sokka's name and going right down to the Z section, with Zuko being the only name that comes up. I chew my lip, wondering if I'm insane to even contemplate this. After a moment I send him a merry Christmas message, not expecting him to reply. But a minute later my phone vibrates.

Thanks. You too. - Zuko

I gape at my phone and send him another message.

Can we talk? - Me

I wait for a good 10 minutes before exhaling heavily. 'Great. No reply. I'll just have to wait till next week when uni re-starts.' I decide begrudgingly. 'I'll get to the bottom of this.' I voice silently.

Katara's POV:

I glance at Sokka who glances at Dad who in turn glances at the vacant chair at the table. I swallow.

"Dad?" I probe quietly, dragging his eyes away from the wooden piece of furniture.

"Yes honey?" He replies tiredly.

"I...I'm sorry she isn't here." I whisper, the words getting stuck in my throat. The man's eyes crumple as he reaches forward to take my hand. And with his free hand he grasps Sokka's also.

"No, no. I'm sorry. Today has been hard. We've never had a Christmas without her before. I...how are you both feeling?" My eyes flicker to Sokka at the question who decides to answer for us.

"It's not the same without her." My brother admits. "You're right, it is hard. It feels wrong to have these decorations and to be eating a Christmas dinner." He continues and I almost sigh in relief to know that it wasn't just me. I feel my hand being squeezed lightly.

"What about we order in a pizza and watch some films instead?" Hakoda suggests.

"What about the turkey?" I remind lightly as my eyes slide over to the large bird given to us by our neighbour.

"We can eat it another day. Maybe in a sandwich or something." He says and with a nod we all start clearing the table.

I excuse myself and make my way to the bathroom. Inside, I check my phone but other than a text from Yue, there's nothing. Part of me had hoped Aang would send some sort of message. He didn't text often, but when he did it was always something sweet like good luck for a test or tips for an essay.

I chew my lip as my fingers hover over his name. 'I wonder what is he doing. Is he with the family that Sokka is convinced that he has? Or is he spending the day all alone in that cramped room?' My heart trips up in guilt if that's true, especially when I promised that I wouldn't leave him alone.

In the end, I just slip my phone back into my pocket. 'We're not friends.' I try to convince myself, but the pang in my chest refuses to leave me alone for the rest of the day.

Sokka's POV:

I watch as Katara makes her way to the toilet with a sigh. 'She hasn't been the same since that whole Aang situation.' The thought of the young monk has me feeling angry and betrayed all over again, so I shove it out of my mind. For now. I've already decided to confront him the next time we meet. 'If we meet. For all I know our only lead could've just disappeared into a puff of smoke, never to be found again.'

I massage my forehead. 'I can't believe I felt sorry for the kid. And he was just playing me. Playing all of us.' I clench my hand slightly. 'Well good riddance. It's not like I miss his cheeky grin or engineering jokes or...' I shake my head firmly. 'I don't miss him.' I voice silently, trying to persuade myself.

"Do you think we'll ever find him?" Dad asks quietly as he comes to stand beside me. The question serves to remind me of exactly why I'm angry at the boy.

"We will, I know it." I vow earnestly. A light sigh passes my father's lips.

"I just don't want you and Katara becoming so focussed on finding him." The older man explains as I furrow my eyebrows.

"We won't." I reassure, but he gives me a dubious look.

"And yet I've caught you staying up late flicking through those case papers repeatedly. And I didn't miss the look on your sister's face when I showed her the picture of her killer. I'm just concerned." Hakoda voices as his forehead creases with a worried frown. My lips part in surprise. 'I thought he hadn't realised.' My eyes flicker away from him.

"I just want to make sure he's caught." I mutter as I feel a squeeze to my shoulder.

"We trust that the spirits of the moon and ocean will give us the justice we want, but we have to be prepared for the alternative. I don't want you to be disappointed Sokka. It's been months now with no news." Dad expresses with steady eyes.

My eyebrow twitches slightly. 'Not exactly. Aang knows something.' I want to voice, but I don't want to create hope for the man just in case I somehow did misunderstand. 'Boy if that's the case then I'd have some serious apologising to do.' I internally shake myself. 'No. I know what I heard. He's hiding something.' I grit my teeth slightly.

"Sokka." My Dad prompts, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"I'm not giving up hope. Not yet." I say instead and watch as my father gazes at me, scrutinising my features, before releasing another sigh.

"Alright. I'm here in the meantime." He murmurs and I give him a half smile.

"I know Dad. I know." I utter back as Hakoda claps me on the back.

"Come on, let's order that mighty meaty pizza you love." The older man says as he steers me towards the telephone with a fatherly arm around my shoulders. 'I'll get to the bottom of this. Mum will have the justice she deserves.' I silently promise myself.

Zuko's POV:

"Ridiculous holiday. It's just another excuse for people to laze around all day." My father grumbles as he shucks paper after paper towards me. I try to catch them and organise them according to their dates, but the man is so frustrated that he throws a whole stack in my face.

I bite my tongue to tame my temper as I silently shuffle them together. Not bothering to tell my father that this is a day that people usually spend relaxing as a family, eating nice food and opening presents. Across me, Azula is filing her papers like an expert and she's barely glancing at the papers!

"For spirits sake Zuko, your side of the table is a mess! Look at Azula's, her side is neat." Ozai growls. I bite the inside of my cheek for the twentieth time today as I try to sort through the papers more quickly. 'This is why I hate the dumb holidays. Everyone else is having fun and here I am being made to work and get shouted at.' I think to myself.

Suddenly the older man stands up from his chair and takes a look at the papers I've piled together, only for him to slap them off the table and onto the ground.

"What the...!" I start, my patience finally wearing thin.

"Don't you dare answer me back boy! The dates are wrong, start again." He orders, I grit my teeth, barely stopping the biting words from firing out. With clenched jaws I bend down and pick them up. I get a kick to my side a moment later. "Useless. Just my luck to get stuck with you. You're lucky I didn't get rid of you when you were born." My father bites out before going to his office and slamming the door behind him. I clench my hands so hard that my knuckles go white.

"Suck it up Zuzu and continue. You don't want him coming back to find that you haven't done anything, would you? Your weak body can only take so much." Azula states with a smirk. I glare at her.

"You're just as bad as him." I fire back, only for her to shrug.

"Take it as you will. I'm not the one getting hit if I don't move." My sister reminds in that haughty tone of hers that I hate. Just then I feel my pocket vibrate.

With a frown I pull it out, only for my eyebrows to knit even more tightly together at finding the sender to be none other than Aang. 'Why would he send me this? Is this his way of keeping up this friend charade? Gah! I knew talking to him was a bad idea.' And yet I can't deny that a very, very small part of me...appreciates it? Mai is the only one to ever bother with sending me messages and that's probably because we've known each other since we were kids.

I type out a quick response. My face pales slightly at his quick reply. Immediately I delete the text and switch my phone off. When I look up, I find my sister's sharp eyes on me.

"Who was that?" She asks curiously. I shove my phone back into my pocket.

"Just Mai saying merry Christmas." I mutter and return to my chair. Azula scans me for a few moments more before shaking her head.

"You're a terrible liar Zuzu." She voices with set eyes. I ignore her and continue my paper work. "Tell her I say hi then." She adds a second later. I grit my teeth briefly before nodding my head.

Azula's POV:

I study Zuko as he continues shuffling those papers half-heartedly. 'Honestly it's a wonder that father hasn't hit him harder for all his attitude.' I think silently as I push another finished stack of papers to one side.

I continue watching him from the corner of my eyes, knowing that he was lying about whatever message he received earlier, especially with how telling the fear on his face was. And trust me when I say I know fear. It's something I inhale first thing in the morning. Because fear is power and power means nothing can hurt you. No mothers preferring their eldest over you, no one thinking you're a monster, even if you are one, and most importantly no one abandoning you without reason.

I learnt at a young age to make sure you're the one holding all the cards against anyone and if you can't, then pretend so well that they think you do. 'Zuko calls it deception. But me? I call it a refined skill. It doesn't matter to me if father uses those skills to hurt people. The main aim is to be superior.'

My eyes flicker briefly to the boy in front of me. His angry scar is still a raging red as it has always been, as if it weren't years ago since he got it, but merely days. 'I won't lie. I had laughed when I saw him get it. How could I not? Zuko. Speaking out against father. Preposterous. What did he expect? It's hilarious to think that Zuko believed that father would actually listen to him. Father barely listens to me and I'm the treasured child.' I sniff at the thought, but my gaze returns to the firebender.

From the way that he's blinking so rapidly I can correctly assume that he's trying to starve off any tears. My sharp amber irises glances back to my neat piles. 'Yet it's hard not to pity him. He's my brother after all. But it's weakness to show emotion. So I don't show it. Sometimes I wish he understood that. Maybe things would be different. Maybe he would even trust me for once.'

A/N: I have never written in Azula's POV before. 7 years on the site and never even considered it before. She's just so – cold? It makes it hard to put myself in her shoes because our personalities are so drastically different. And yet, I share more similarities with her than I initially realised. I'm not sure if I've done her justice. I wanted to keep her in character, but I wanted her to be human too – we saw a snapshot of it in the show, so it obviously exists. That was my stab at it and hope it was good enough.

I'm sorry for the hundred and one switches between point of views, but I wanted to put nearly everyone in here since it's meant to be a Christmas chapter. Some of the stuff written in this chapter is actually based on my own life. Also, the mighty meaty pizza is so not made up! It's actually a pizza on my dad's menu for his shop XD

Anyway, from the next chapter things gets more interesting I'd say – I think. Hope you all are keeping well!

17/9/21