Katara has completely forgotten about her wine date with her brother and his girlfriend until she gets Suki's message asking when she's coming over. She's been visiting the bookshop quite frequently the past few days, eating candy and talking about books after work with Zuko and Ty Lee, and sometimes Azula or Mai, and now it's past eight, and she has to haul ass to Suki's apartment if she wants to save herself from Sokka's butthurt passive-aggressiveness.

She's beyond late when she finally rings Suki's doorbell.

"Took you long enough," Sokka says when he opens the door for her.

"Sorry," she replies, still short of breath as she steps into the apartment. "Had to stop by the convenience store to buy some stuff."

"I hope it was worth letting your brother nearly starve to death." He steals the plastic bag from Katara's hand and spins on his heels, keeping the bag away from her reach.

"Give it back, you goon!"

"Superglue?!" Sokka shouts. "And it couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"No, it couldn't." Amidst her brother's indignation, Katara seizes the chance to take the package back and shoves it inside her purse. "Are we eating or not?"

Sokka crosses his arms and eyes her up and down skeptically. "I see what you're doing."

"What am I doing, Sokka?" She drops herself on the couch and lets herself relax. The little sprint from the bus stop to Suki's building was more tiring than she expected, and her legs feel heavy and stiff.

"You're using my stomach to distract me."

Katara smirks. "Is it working?"

Answering her question, Sokka's stomach growls loud enough for them both to hear it very clearly.

"This conversation is not over," he grumbles, trying to hide his flushing cheeks, and drags his feet to the kitchen. Upon return, Sokka carries a meticulously arranged charcuterie board full of fruits, crackers, slices of cheeses and cured meats, and some other accouterments Katara can't even identify. Jubilant, Sokka sets the platter on the coffee table and spreads his arms. "Behold my masterpiece!"

"How much money did you spend on this?"

"You can't put a price on happiness, sister of mine."

While the siblings banter, Suki joins them in the living room with three glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. With a knowing smirk, she pours the drinks and passes Katara one. "Translation: too much."

"Suki! Whose side are you on?" Sokka shouts, waving exasperatedly with his hands.

"Hey, Katara," Suki greets, walking around the frantic guy and taking a seat on the love seat. "Feels like we haven't hanged in a while."

"I literally sat two desks from you for eight hours today."

"Work doesn't count."

"Oh, it doesn't?"

"Nope. Can't drink in the office for starters."

Suki raises her glass and Katara clinks hers with it, smirking. The girl really did like her wines.

"Fair," Katara concedes before taking a sip of her drink.

"Suki has a point though," Sokka says, leaning over the platter, his mouth stuffed with five different types of meat and his greasy hands already reaching for more. "You've been leaving with Zuko for that bookshop all week."

The wineglass starts to get slippery in her hands, so she discreetly wipes her palms on her skirt. Katara hasn't told anyone about her and Zuko yet, but she has an inkling that it should be brought up at a better moment than when her brother has prosciutto stuck between his teeth. Possibly when Zuko is around so she has someone to throw under the spotlight in her place.

"And most of the time, you're doing stuff that is not even in your job description," Suki adds. She swirls her wine casually, but the frown of concern on her face is still obvious.

"Suki and I were talking, and we agreed that you're working too much, sis."

"I appreciate the concern, guys, but you're both overreacting." Katara laughs, dismissively. She spreads some brie on a cracker to avoid looking at her worried companions, and keeping her tone as light as she possibly can, she says, "I chose to be involved, and I stand by my choices."

"We know you do, kid." Sokka smiles at her, his expression a mixture of teasing and pride. "Just don't forget to take a break every once in a while."

Katara finishes her cracker and returns the smile. "Don't worry, Sokka. I'm having my fair share of fun too."

Sokka nods slowly. "It does look like you and Zuko are not trying to kill each other anymore, which I totally see as progress."

"Mmhmm..."

"You know, since you two are starting to get along, maybe we can invite him next time," Suki suggests, and Katara has to make a conscious effort to keep her face even.

"Oh, that would be awesome," Sokka agrees, his attention going back to the food. He licks his lips and still chewing, continues, "Spirits know the guy needs to go out more. And if Katara is now okay with it, I say we do it. We can take him bowling with us."

"Great idea, Sokka. I can't wait..."


People are staring at him a lot more than usual this morning, and the attention instantly triggers Zuko's anxiety. His palms start to get clammy, and the necktie starts to feel a little too constricting around his neck as the eyes follow him from the very moment he steps out of the elevator.

He tries to think of anything that could have caused his sudden peak of unwanted popularity, and his immediate thought is Katara, but there's no way that's the reason. After that night they first kissed, he and Katara had both agreed that it would be best if they kept… whatever was going on between them on the down-low, so Zuko doubts that's what people are sniggering so openly about.

He crosses the office with tense shoulders and a lowered head, ignoring the attention the best he can. When he gets to his desk, there's a suspicious-looking glittery package that may have something to do with all the weirdness he's been experiencing.

"Uh, what's this?"

"What's what?" Toph asks, turning on her chair to face him.

"There's a package on my desk," he says, dropping his bag on the floor. "D'you know who dropped it?"

"Beats me," Toph says with a shrug. "Didn't you buy more pens the other day?"

Zuko glares at the shiny box as if getting any closer to it could trigger a bomb to explode. He had indeed bought more pens because people kept stealing his, but unless someone in accounting was splurging on wrapping paper, that couldn't be it. "No, this one looks like a gift."

"Sparky, you didn't tell me it was your birthday!"

"Because it's not."

"Oh." She frowns. "Well, cut to the chase and open the damn gift already."

He half wonders if Toph really doesn't know who the package is from. It wouldn't be the first time Zuko was tricked by her, and would probably not be the last either. Not letting go of his suspicion, he carefully starts working on unwrapping the gift, and his confusion only grows as he pulls out its content.

Somebody has given him a succulent plant, but what's even weirder is the vase it's planted on: a very familiar mug with its broken pieces crookedly glued together and its silly cacti drawings grinning dumbly at him. There's also a piece of paper attached to the green handle. It reads:

Since you got me a new mug, I figured I could give that one to you

"... It's a plant."

"Someone gave you a pet plant?" Toph asks.

"Apparently," he deadpans, ignoring the warmth he senses rising up his neck.

That drawer was supposed to be locked, he messages Katara, and he's somewhat glad that Toph can't see him right now.

Azula taught me a few tricks, Katara writes back, making him roll his eyes.

As much as I appreciate the gift, I should inform you that I will not be displaying it on my desk

Why? Too much of a distraction? ;)

Zuko glowers at his phone, a sudden urge to smash the device into pieces making his grip tighten ever so slightly. He comes to the conclusion that he has never hated a silly winky face so much in his entire life.

"And it's not even your birthday." Toph huffs, spinning around in her chair, and her voice draws him back to the real world. "How come no one ever gave me a pet plant?"

"You don't like plants."

"I still like presents!"

Zuko sighs, carefully setting the mug back inside the box and shoving it under his desk. As if keeping it out of sight will make him any less aware of its existence. Or better yet, the existence of that one woman he can clearly see smirking smugly at him in his mind's eyes. Looking back at Toph, he says, "I'll get you a pet rock. How about that?"

Toph grins a toothy grin at him. "Ah, Sparky, you sure know how to make a girl feel special. No wonder you're getting yourself nice little gifts like that!"

"Please stop," he groans, burying his face in his hands.

"Where's Snoozles? He's gonna be so proud of you—"

"If you breathe a single word to Sokka, I will rub his dirty socks on your headphones."

"Okay, now you're just playing dirty. And not even the fun kind."

Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose. As calmly as he possibly can, he calls, "Hey, Toph, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Sparky."

"SHUT UP!"


Day 5: Mend

A short one today. There was a scene that I had to cut that was basically outlined as "self-indulgent painting walls fluffy date" and I hate that I didn't have time to write it. Maybe after the week is over...