A/N: So in case y'all didn't already know, FETL hit 100 reviews a few weeks ago (after the last chapter). That just... it blows my mind. 100 reviews? From this one person doing some crappy writing at the randomest hours from her bedroom? Thank you all so much. Today, in celebration, (while it's a little late), we have an extra-long chapter (2000 instead of my usual 1000 words). Enjoy!

Chapter 26: A Change Of Heart

Last Time:

"Back off, Azula."

Azula carelessly rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"And what are you going to do about it, Zuzu? You can't even get our own father to consider you for the throne. You constantly are shown up by your little baby sister- to be honest, it's getting quite pathetic."

Some quiet oohs emanated throughout the lunchroom.

Azula continued, walking towards him.

"You, just like that weak little Air Nomad over there, have done nothing to earn your position. You don't have talent- people love you for your position, not you. Until now you've always had Mother to save you from tricky situations- well," she chuckled darkly, "Not today, brother."

"I was born lucky, you were lucky to be born!" she spat, their gazes locked.

Zuko looked away first, picking up his lunch tray.

"You're right, Azula. I haven't done anything to get where I am. But that's about to change I promise you."

He dumped his lunch tray on her, mashed potatoes and gravy seeping into her shirt.

"If I were you," he began, opening the door out of the cafeteria, creating a creak amongst the otherwise silent room, "I'd watch out."

And the door slammed shut behind him.

~The Next Day at Lunch~

"Uh, hey."

Both Katara and Aang looked up at the black-clad boy in front of their table, sheepishly rubbing his head.

"Uh, hey Zuko..." Aang trailed off, eyebrow raised in question while Katara glared at him.

"The hell do you want?" the waterbender asked sharply.

"N-nothing. I just-"

Zuko sighed.

"Look- Azula was right yesterday. I haven't done much to get where I am- it was just a matter of being born into the right family at the right time, you know? If my dad even lets me become Firelord, I need to think about who I am and what I want and what I can do. Which is why I want to join you guys."

"Join us?"

"Well, I mean, i-it's not right that you were just kinda kicked out for being with who you wanted to be with, you know? If y-you still want to, of course, I'd still like to be friends," he stammered.

Aang stared at him discerningly for a minute and then broke out into a goofy grin.

"Hell yeah! Welcome to the outcast club, man!"

Zuko chuckled slightly, setting his lunch tray down and sitting across from the couple.

"You haven't said much, Katara."

Katara scoffed.

"Forgive me if I'm not too trusting of the guy whose father played a hand in ordering all those raids on the Southern Water District a few years ago."

"Allegedly," Zuko muttered.

"Kat..." Aang frowned at the girl.

"I'm just saying," she raised her arms up defensively. "Should we really trust a guy whose done so many bad things up to this point? Are we really supposed to believe he's changed from the same bullying, arrogant douchebag all you popular kids usually are?"

"Ouch," Aang mumbled, staring down at his tray.

Katara sighed.

"Sweetie... you know I didn't-"

"No, you did," Zuko interrupted.

The firebender started to stand up.

"Zuko, wait."

Aang turned to Katara.

"You have every right to think that, Tara. Honestly, I get it."

Katara began to open her mouth to object but Aang continued.

"But you know me, Katara. And you know that that was all a show, a facade. If you're so willing to believe me and love me, why can't you do the same for Zuko? Except for the love part of course- we all know that he doesn't stand a chance against me," Aang said, grinning at the last bit.

Katara looked between the two, groaning as she motioned Zuko to sit back down.

"I-" she sighed. "I don't like it, but I'm willing to be... more open to the possibility."

A rare smile popped up on Zuko's face.

"Thank you, Katara," he nodded sincerely. "I promise you you won't regret it."

Katara stared at him for a long moment before responding.

"I better not."

"Zuko joined them, huh?"

Both Suki and Sokka nodded absentmindedly in response to Toph as the wind shook the walls of their little fortress.

It was a simple hideout the four had made when they were kids. They got the brilliant idea to go exploring in the woods behind Katara and Sokka's house one day and naturally, got lost while a thunderstorm began to approach. To keep dry, the four worked their hardest to make a hideout out of the sticks and branches around them, using large leaves for covering for the roof, and stayed there until the storm cleared an hour or two later. That day, it became their go-to hideout.

Over the next few weeks, they worked on it. They added extra support branches and tighter coverings. They built ladders and made (with some parental help) a treehouse in case the ground was too wet. They built maps and made secret markings to their secret place. It wasn't just a hideout, it was their hideout. And it was special.

Of course, as the years went by, the hideout soon deteriorated. The walls weren't as strong as they used to be. The ladder and treehouse they had built as kids could no longer support their adolescent bodies. That didn't stop them from meeting in their original hideout, of course. Although now it was no longer all four of them that met up.

And so there they were in their special hideout.

"We should make amends," Suki mumbled. "We should just apologize. If she could accept Zuko then why wouldn't she forgive us?"

"You heard what she said after the dance," Sokka muttered back. "We have no right. We don't deserve to even try."

"Even if it's killing us all inside?" Suki asked.

"Especially if it is," the earthbender responded. "It's karma, plain and simple."

Sokka snorted.

"I thought you didn't believe in that shit."

"It's hard to not believe in what's staring you right in the face. Metaphorically, of course."

She waved her hands in front of her face.

All three shared a chuckle. A light one, dulled by the rather melancholic thoughts in their heads, but a chuckle nonetheless.

That afternoon, Zuko, Katara, and Aang all walked home from school together, resolving to go to Aang's place and have an impromptu study session.

Katara shivered, hugging her arms around her waist as she pulled her jacket on tigher.

"This is so unfair."

"Hey," Zuko gave her a look. "You were the one who wanted to walk home and get some cardio, not us."

Katara gave both jacket-less boys a glare, each using their bending to stay warm on the chilly spring day.

"And it was y'all's responsibility to let me know when the weather outside is too cold to reasonably have an enjoyable walk!"

Zuko snorted. "Is 'y'all's' even a word?"

He got another glare from the waterbender.

Aang rolled his eyes, draping the jacket formerly around his waist onto his girlfriend's shoulders, also taking her hands in his as he used his firebending to warm them up.

"Geez, woman, did you hecking keep your hands in solid ice for an hour?! Your hands are freezing!" he exclaimed, frantically rubbing them together.

Zuko snorted once again.

"Hecking? After all the f-bombs I've heard you use, you're using 'hecking'?"

"What can I say, Zuko? I must be polite in front of," Aang did an extravagant and overdone twirl of Katara before lunging into a bow and kissing her hand, "milady."

Zuko rolled his eyes while Katara giggled, pulling him up and kissing his cheek.

"Love you too, babe."

The three arrived at Aang's house, much to Katara's delight as she soaked up the warmth of glorious HVAC system, and headed up to the airbender's room.

"All right. What subject should we start with boys?"

Aang groaned, flopping onto the bed.

"Math, please. I'm flunking PreCalc and I need you two geniuses to help me out."

The two chuckled together, looking at each other in surprise when they heard them.

"Math it is then," Zuko declared.

~1 hour later~

"I'm done," Zuko quipped, letting gravity take over as he landed on the bed with a thunk.

"Me too," Aang said, also dropping down.

"Me three," Katara groaned, joining them.

"So..." Zuko trailed off, "What should we do?"

"Well..." Katara mused. "We could go to my secret hideout in the woods."

"I'm sorry, your what?!" Aang exclaimed.

Katara laughed.

"My secret hideout. A couple... people and I made it when we were kids. Last time I checked it was still standing."

"I'm sorry but didn't you say it was our job to tell you when the weather was too cold outside for you to reasonably enjoy it?" Zuko questioned.

"Well, yes. That is what I said. Almost word for word actually... but the hideout has pretty solid walls to keep out the wind and the quarters are close enough for you two to help me keep warm."

Aang shrugged, bouncing up and halfway out his room door.

"To the secret hideout!"

Toph, Sokka, and Suki all started to shiver as the wind grew stronger.

"It's getting late guys," Suki said. "We should head back now."

"Yeah... what I wouldn't do for a hot chocolate right now," Sokka muttered, shaking his head.

Toph stood up but then paused.

"Wait... do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sokka responded.

"Voices... coming from there," Toph pointed to the direction of Sokka and Katara's house.

Suki peeked outside the fortress.

"Oh... yep, I see them."

"Who is it?" Sokka stood up to get a glimpse too.

Toph grimaced.

"Feels like Twinkletoes, Sparky, and Sweetness."

"Oh. Do you think we can sneak out without them seeing us?" Suki asked.

"They're coming the way we came so that would be a negative," Sokka answered. "Great."

The bending trio came up to the hideout laughing, Katara and Aang immediately halting when they saw who happened to be inside.

"Oh. Uh, hey Sokka..." Zuko greeted awkwardly, noticing the new tension in the air.

"We were just leaving," Suki muttered, the three exiting the hideout.

"Yeah, you're pretty good at abandoning things. Or should I say people?" Katara whispered snarkily, loud enough for all six teens present to hear.

"We-" Sokka began.

Katara looked at him, inviting him to continue.

He sighed and mumbled.

"Never mind."

Sokka, Suki, and Toph walked away without saying anything else.

"Well," Aang said hesitantly, "Should we go in?"

Katara perked back up, back to her normal self.

"Yeah, let's."

She carefully opened the door, revealing the modest space inside.

"It's big enough for us all to fit but it might start to feel cramped after a while. Also good for staying warm and conserving body heat."

"It's... quaint," Zuko murmured as they each sat on one of the wooden log stools, leaving one vacant. "I like it."

"So, we all haven't really gotten to know each other. Let's play some icebreaker games."

Katara raised an eyebrow at Aang.

"You're the one that knows both of us best, Aang."

Aang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well yeah, but do we really know each other? I mean, what Zuko mostly knows of me isn't really me, and I'm willing to bet that it's the same vice versa. Plus, you two don't know each other at all."

"The man does have a point," Zuko said. "Where do we start?"

Katara smirked.

"Let's start deep, personal, and most importantly, nosy. Each of us can ask both of the others any question, no matter how private or sensitive the topic may be. Sound good?"

Both boys looked at each other and back at the mischievous waterbender.

"Whatever you say, Kat. Whatever you say. Who wants to go first?"

Zuko raised his hand. "I'll go."

"Uhh, Aang- how the fuck did any of," he gestured between the two of them, "this happen?"

"Um, short answer or long answer?"

"Long. I have no intentions to do that pile of homework in my backpack and I would rather blame you than myself."

Aang sighed.

"Forever the scapegoat. Anyways, you know that psych project your uncle had us do?"

Zuko nodded.

"Well, against all the odds we ended up as partners and well..." Aang looked up at his girlfriend and grinned, taking her hand in his. "I got her to open up and it was kinda just history from there."

Zuko stared at the two in incredulity.

"THAT was the long version? Really?!"

Aang chuckled.

"Well you see Sifu Hotman-"

"I told you to never call me that!"

"I was going to tell you, Sifu Hotman-"

"Aang..."

"The long version but then I decided I didn't the patience to go through the whole multiple-weeks long story and so I decided to give you the tl;dr, but better because it's an atl;dc."

"Atl;dc?"

"Aang is too lazy, didn't care."

Zuko groaned.

"Fine. Next! Katara-"

He sat up, looking at her scrutinizingly.

"What's up with you, your brother, and Toph?"

Aang sharply inhaled, looking at Katara, appearing like a deer in headlights.

"Well... it's kinda a long story. And kinda personal."

"Isn't that the point? And again, I need a scapegoat since Aang's story was too short."

Katara chuckled a little, despite herself.

"Well, I don't want to be too responsible for you not doing your homework so I'll give you the semi-short version. In 8th grade, my brother decided to hang out with the popular kids. When Toph and I were about to enter high school, he offered us to join as well. I didn't like them- their attitude, the way they bullied other kids. You get the gist. Those three... well, they didn't really care."

Katara blinked away her tears, feeling her eyes prickle.

"It really hurt- my brother, Suki, Toph, and I all used to be really close, but they just abandoned me. Like I was nothing..."

The waterbender looked around and realized the shocked looks around her and quickly tried to apologize.

"I'm so sorry I brought down the mood, guys. I didn't-"

Both boys shook their heads.

"It's fine, Kat. Really. I just- you got through the whole thing."

Aang smiled at her.

"No crying. It just- it made me happy to know that maybe, just maybe, you're really healing from this."

Katara smiled a little, tears in her eyes from her boyfriend's sweetness for once, and not her story.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

"I-if it helps, Katara, I can kinda relate."

Aang and Katara both perked up.

"My mom- she abandoned me when I was little. Left Azula and me with our dad who hasn't exactly been the greatest parent. I spent so long trying to blame her, being angry at her. My uncle put me in therapy and in a way, though I'm still hurt, of course, I've kinda come to terms with it. Come to terms with the fact that I may never know why, but it did happen and maybe there was some good that came out of it."

The three looked at each other and smiled.

Something new forged in that hideout that day. A bond that would carry through until they were on their deathbeds. They may have all started pretty broken- Zuko from his parents, Aang from his people, and Katara from her friends and family, but at the very least, they were healing. They were healing together.

A/N: Wow. That... turned out a lot better than I thought it would. You guys got a little more than promised (almost 2500 words compared to my normal 1000). Hope you all liked it.

Please be patient with updates- I have 3 projects in the making: 1 original book that I'm outlining and writing with my best friend, another Kataang multichapter called "Out of a Dream" (loosely inspired by that one scene in They Met On the Internet where Aang draws Katara but has in no way the same plot), and of course my other OOAD (Out of Aerodynamic Dancers, Tyzula oneshot, based on my best friend's guess for what OOAD stood for).

Please review! It means a lot!