The quiet that had persisted throughout the week wafted through the air like an old grease stain that wouldn't budge no matter how many times you washed. It didn't stir. Only heightened in its stubbornness as time went on.

At their family dinners - a rare occasion in the Fujiwara household - Zuko couldn't help but notice the tense quiet that filled the space between Azula and Ozai so much so that if he didn't keep wary, he'd suffocate in it.

He didn't ask questions. Not that there would be any answers. Azula had spent most nights half-heartedly pushing food around on her plate before excusing herself to bed. Ozai carried on eating as if nothing affected him. Zuko was sure that that was true.

He was even more sure that the bandage Azula donned on her cheek was a result of her father. Ozai had blacked his eye a few times before. He remembered how the mood would shift in the house after he was forced to eat one of his father's blows.

For a moment, memories came flooding back of Azula's withdrawn, sunken eyes as she sat on the edge of his bed waiting for him to speak. She would approach him in this meek, rattled manner that if he told anyone outside of the house of it, they'd laugh and say it was unbefitting of her character. Sometimes, she would just stand at his door pretending not to care as she made time checking her nails every now and again. Her eyes would dart back and forth from him to her quivering palm.

As Zuko stood at her slightly ajar door, peeking on her sitting hunched over, head in hands, knee bouncing erratically, he couldn't come up with a reason for these sudden memories. Maybe he was here to comfort her as she had done to him many years ago.

His fists clenched at his side and he bit back a scoff. But that was years ago. Felt like a lifetime really. Nothing from that time period existed anymore. Whatever bond they had had been destroyed forever ago.

Zuko threw his hands into his pockets and trudged off towards his bedroom. Besides, if Azula was Ozai's new punching bag, then that meant less abuse for him.

It was only fair, right?

….

Azula thought she was cut out for the "lone wolf" thing. She'd always followed the beat of her own drum - well, the beat her father played for her and she tweaked to fit her own rhythm.

She didn't require intimacy of any kind. Hugs, kisses, "I love you"s were all frivolous things that she cringed at whenever the topic was broached. She didn't acknowledge crushes of any kind, whether fleeting or long term. She had closed her heart off to things like that when she was younger.

Anyone could leave you at the drop of a hat and leave you shattered into pieces. Azula figured if she never put in the effort to make those kinds of emotional connections, then she'd never get hurt.

So far this had all worked in her favor. But now, as she sat at her usual spot outside for lunch, picking apart the pieces of a sloppily thrown together bologna sandwich, she couldn't fight the nagging feeling that maybe she'd been going about her life all wrong.

The more she sat with her solitude, the more she began to think. Had Ty Lee and Mai ever really liked her? This friendship breakup surely harbored some residual resentment amongst the three, but now she really had time to look over their histories together.

Naturally, Azula was the boss. Mai was too weak spined to run anything. She couldn't even express her true feelings at home, where the hell would she get the courage to stand up to someone as strong willed as Azula?

Ty Lee was a girl desperate to stand out from her sisters. As trivial a problem as Azula thought it was, it made it easier to get Ty Lee to bend to her will. Anything to get herself to stand out was completely fine.

They'd had a lot of fun together. Good times and bad times that had tested all of their limits time and time again. So after all that, how could they just give that all up?

Azula clutched her chest, a funny, sharp shooting ache ramming through her body. She had to grip the lunch table to keep herself from keeling over into the grass. She took a few deep breaths before bringing herself back up to a seated position.

Her vision unblurred and she saw Ruon Jian running towards, hand waving lazily in the air, shaggy hair bouncing, and an untouched goofy grin that lit up his face.

"Hey!" he shouted out of breath as he came to an abrupt halt, heels kicking up dirt. Azula couldn't fight the grin that snuck onto her lips.

"Hello," she replied cheekily.

He lifted his brows surprised, but intrigued by her inviting greeting. He lugged himself over to her side of the lunch table and straddled the seat so that his legs sat on either side of the wooden seat with his legs opened towards her. He slid closer and rested the side of his head on a propped up arm.

Azula felt her body tingle with sparks as his breath tickled her neck. She tried turning her face, but he caught her chin in his hand. Up closer than what was comfortable for Azula, her face reddened considerably.

Ruon Jian's eyes colored with pity. His eyebrows dipped towards the middle until they made a crescent moon shape. The corners of his lips turned downwards into a frown.

"What happened to your face?" he asked, genuine sadness in his voice.

All the color drained from her face. She felt embarrassed all of a sudden, his kindness too intimate for someone as cold and reserved as her. She slapped his hand away and twisted her body towards the passing students.

"Nothing," she mumbled under her breath.

"It doesn't look like nothing."

"Well it is!"

The beats of silence that lingered between them only heightened the pounding of her heart in her chest. A terrible anxiety spread throughout and caught in her throat. She thought she'd vomit from the weight of it all.

But Ruon Jian, with his ever cool and understanding persona, gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's been a while. Do you wanna ride home with me today?"

….

By the end of the school day, Azula was more than tired. Never had sitting through six periods been so exhausting. She honestly couldn't believe she had to do it everyday.

But she found the wait was worth it even if she did have to endure practice with teammates who excluded her and a coach who had all of a sudden taken an interest in her personal life.

Ruon Jian was at the steering wheel looking just as handsome as he always did. Azula had to stop herself from stealing glances every now and then. She felt…like a teenage girl. For once in her life she finally felt like her age.

If she were from a normal family, this car ride would be scandalous. Not that it wasn't already. Ruon Jian was still too young to be driving and she only hoped that the day he got pulled over and carded that she wouldn't have to be there getting caught up in the crosswires. But Azula knew that all this time she'd spent with him had begun to mean more than she was ready to admit.

If she had a father like the ones in the movies, he would seethe at the thought of her being alone with a boy she…was on the fringe about whether or not she liked him.

Her heart clambered in its chest. Maybe she needed to spend a few days away from him. She felt like a junkie on a high. A little withdrawal would do her some good. Her body would finally cooperate for sure.

Ruon Jian rounded the corner that would lead to her house. He looked over at her for a split second and smiled. Azula felt a chill run down her spine. Oh god. She needed to get away from this boy immediately. He was driving her insane and she couldn't even put into words how.

They drew near her house and she felt her heart crawl up her throat. Those cars. The outlines of those bodies. What the hell was her mother doing here? And she seemed to have brought everyone in tow.

Azula grabbed Ruon Jian's forearm forcefully. He gave her a confused brow.

"Drop me off here," she demanded.

Ruon Jian looked ready to argue, but Azula loosened her grip and gave him those desperate eyes she didn't even know she possessed.

"Please," she begged.

She was shocked at the sound of her own voice. She didn't even know she was capable of groveling.

Thankfully, it seemed to work. A light pink shaded the boy's cheeks before he pressed a button to unlock the door. Her fingers lingered for longer than they should have on his arm. Azula didn't trust the face she was making and chose not to glance back as she hopped out of the passenger seat.

"I'll text you later!" he shouted out behind her.

Azula held a thumb up as she power-walked down the street. She only knew he left by the sound of his tires squealing off in the other direction.

The scene became clearer as she walked up. Lu Ten stood with his arms folded next to Iroh outside of the gates. He took notice of his younger cousin and nodded in her direction.

"Hey, Azula!" he called enthusiastically.

Azula straightened her spine and walked with her nose up in their direction. "Cousin Lu Ten," she responded airily. "So nice to see you. It's been a while."

"Well, you know where to find me if you ever wanna catch up some time," he said, a wink following his statement.

Azula didn't miss Iroh's eye roll at the invitation. It only made her walk with her nose higher.

"I'll remember that."

As she pulled out her key to unlock the gate, Zuko came up out of breath already hooking his own key in to exit. The siblings shared a brief glance before carrying on about their ways.

Zuko unlocked the gate and ran past her into the car with a mystery man Azula could only assume was her mother's new beau. He looks like a schmuck, she thought to herself.

"Is that my older sister?" Azula heard from the car as Zuko ripped open the door.

"No," he replied roughly to the little girl.

Azula snorted at his abrasiveness as she locked the gate back in place. Her mother's new husband sighed at the topic. As Zuko closed the car door behind him, she could hear the schmuck reply to the little girl "It's complicated."

….

Azula was nothing if not vengeful. This situation should've been settled in the summer when she'd rightfully gained the upper hand on that asshole Chan. But he didn't know when to quit. Even worse, he'd got her in trouble because he could not accept the reality of his shortcomings.

He was a good player, she'd give him that, but Azula was better. She'd grown up under the tutelage of the grimiest motherfucker in town. This was her territory. He only needed to realize that before he'd released the dragon.

Of course it was too late now. He'd provoked her beyond any means that anyone had ever dared to before. He was going to pay for the way he'd embarrassed her. The way he embarrassed her father.

Right now, she could see him from around the corner she was peeping from talking to Silly Pigtails. Azula held an old phone that had since been turned off for an upgrade. She was shocked that it was even able to connect to the school wifi.

Chan looked like he was laying it on thick and Silly Pigtails seemed like she was taking the bait. He slouched onto a locker near hers as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

And here she thought the girl had hated him. What a fucking floozy.

But that didn't matter. Azula had a plan and it was going to work just fine because she was dealing with two idiots.

She had downloaded a text free app that would allow her to text Chan from an out of service phone without tracing it back to her. She'd gotten Chan's number out of Ruon Jian's phone the other day.

That boy really was an open book, a saint in its truest form. She couldn't imagine letting some strange girl just rummage through her phone no matter how close they were.

No matter. She could think about how shitty her actions were later. Azula had a plan and she would execute it this time.

She sent Chan a chainmail link via text. A notification went off on his phone. He momentarily paused to look at his phone, notice the notification, and then slipped it back into his pocket.

Azula frowned. What the fuck was he doing?

She dialed his number this time. He glanced at his phone again and declined her call. Growing frustrated, she dialed his number again. Silly Pigtails was thrown off by the amount of phone notifications.

"Aren't you going to check that?" she asked, none the wiser to Azula's plan.

"Oh," Chan said, a smug grin on his face. "It's really nothing. Let me just check real quick."

As Chan raised his hand to answer the call, Azula dropped it. Chan looked befuddled, but continued to check his notifications. "Who the fuck even is this?" he cursed under his breath.

By how long he was scrolling through his phone, Azula could tell that he was on the brink of opening her message. She hid an evil grin behind her hand. This would be good.

"What the fuck?" Chan cursed as he clicked the link.

All of a sudden, the hallway was filled with the pleasured moans of two masculine voices. Azula could see Silly Pigtails' face blanch. Chan broke a sweat as he tried to exit out of the video to no avail. Passersby stared at him funny as the moans heightened in volume.

"I don't know what the hell's going on," he tried to explain. "I clicked some link and-"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," Silly Pigtails excused him, her hands up in mock surrender.

"It's not what you think-"

"I don't think anything."

The moans continued. Chan's face burned beet red as the students in the hall burst into giggle fits. Silly Pigtails made her exit as slyly as possible. In his embarrassment, Chan chucked his phone to the ground until his screen cracked and his phone shut off.

Azula could barely contain her laughter as she hurried down the hall in the opposite direction.