Hi everyone!
This will be my last updated chapter during the coming exam season. I'll actually have my first exam tomorrow about English literature! Ha, I can't wait for it (please save me!)!
I started writing other stories during Christmas break in order to be able to update something during exam season, although I will have to study, so keep your eyes open for those, they're coming soon!
Facts about this chapter and the fictional country based on the Avatar world, in which this story takes place:
In this chapter, there will be talk about money, and although I used the currency before, I don't think I explained it. In The Legend of Korra people pay with Yuans in Republic City, and since this is a modern AU, I thought this currency would fit in here, too. It has nothing to do with the Chinese Yuan, which is, by the way, also pronounced differently. Elementia is a neighbour country to China, but the currency is not the same, also since the value is different. But I don't know a lot about the United Republic Yuan, so I invented a value: Five Yuans would be one Euro or 1,10 $. Just in case someone would be wondering why Katara would need 2.500 Yuans monthly to pay for her apartment in a dormitory and household.
Other things about Elementia I should mention, so that you won't get confused with future chapters: Since the Western Province equals the Fire Nation, and the Eastern Province equals the Earth Kingdom, I put a large lake between them. I mentioned that before, but I couldn't find any names for the oceans in the Avatar world, so I simply asked Google translator for ocean in Chinese: Haiyang. The lake is therefore named Lake Haiyang. It stretches from the Northern Province of Elementia to the Southern Province, while both provinces still have the ocean in their north and south, which means that the Eastern Province aka the Earth Kingdom has an ocean (East Chinese Sea) on their eastern side, since I figured Elementia would be in the east of China, with Japanese influences in the Western part of Elementia, and Chinese influences in the Eastern part, although it should be the other way around, since Japan is more in the east than China, but I don't want to change the geography of the Avatar world. To fit Elementia in there, I thought Japan would be more in the east and Taiwan more in the south, so that a country almost the size of China would have enough space.
In case anyone wondered about the language which is spoken in Elementia, I decided it was English, because Elementia had been a British colony, and only gained its independence forty-four years ago. The last Kasaishi Emperor Sozin would have worked with the British, which would have been one reason for rebelling against him, because honestly, which country wants to be colonised? Sozin would have only wanted to stay in charge, so he had sold out his country to the British. After the successful beheading of Emperor Sozin, the British had intervened, killed or imprisoned all the rebels, but had decided on a compromise, making Elementia a democracy. The people of Elementia and the British Parliament would have elected the president, until Elementia gained its independence from the UK in 1976.
This is not based on actual British colonies gaining their independence, I'm simply using it as an explanation why inhabitants of an Asian country would speak English. This is also not a critique to the UK, I simply chose it, since they had colonies in Eastern Asia, in which people still speak English today. Although this definitely can be seen as a critique against colonialism in general, also against British colonialism. I'm simply saying that this is not a critique against UK politics today. If I wanted it to be, I would have mentioned a country exiting a union of countries, which woud lead to economic problems.
Sorry for all this text above...
I do not own Avatar The Last Airbender, nor its characters.
Chapter Thirteen
This coffee shop was way too much fluff for him.
Frowning Zuko looked around, again finding that it looked like the living room of a grandmother. This purple on the wall and all those differently coloured chairs, armchairs, chaiselongues and sofas with all the differently coloured and patterned cushions on it didn't do a lot to make Zuko feel comfortable. He'd rather be in a normal coffee shop, where everything was made out of metal and wood, no bolsters, no cushions and no carpets!
But he found it fitting that Katara liked this environment, so he went along with it.
Zuko joined Katara in line, his thoughts still occupied with Aang, and how Katara had looked at him. He looked down at her arm, pondering if it would be okay to touch it. He thought it was.
She turned to look at him, after he had tipped on her arm, her eyebrows raised. She still looked somehow sad, but tried to mask it with being annoyed.
"I can order for you."
She stared at him, unrelenting, until she sighed and looked down. "Hot chocolate with whipped cream and… an apple beignet."
He nodded, watching her go to the table she had sat on last time, too. Her hair fell down in a low pony tail over her leather jacket. In high school it had been braided, and had swung from one side to another, when she had walked down a hallway.
Frowning, he looked back at the counter, noticing he was next in line.
He had ordered tea and a mango filled pastry for himself. This time he asked if he could have a larger tray so that everything would fit on it.
Sitting down in front of Katara, she only glanced shortly at him, before looking out of the window again. She still wore that necklace, and two thin strands of her long brown hair were braided to frame her face, forming loops, because the ends went back into her plait.
He sighed. "If you changed your mind because of Aang, that's fine," he tried to reassure her, although he felt slightly panicked. What would his father do to him if that happened? What could he do to Katara, so that she wouldn't choose Aang? More money? Would he actually have to try to make her fall in love with him?
She shot him a glare, her arms crossed. "I told you it had nothing to do with this. He's my friend, and I don't want to hurt him. But I did. Twice now. You would do me a big favour if you wouldn't mention him again," she said darkly, and Zuko decided to listen to her.
She did look serious and angry. And he didn't want to get on her bad side again.
"Okay," he agreed. "Eat then. Your beignet was heated, and it will get cold, if you don't eat."
"Same for your pastry," she shot back, and stubbornly drank from her hot chocolate, not sparing the beignet a glance.
He rolled his eyes then. "Okay. I already know you're stubborn as hell. But we wanted to get to know each other more today. So tell me something about you I don't know."
She chuckled dryly. "That's like everything."
He shrugged. "Fine. Just start. I wanna know."
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. Alright. What should I tell you? About my character? Things I like and don't like? My hobbies?"
He shrugged. "Whatever. What you want. What you think I should know to convince your family that we're a couple."
Finally chewing on her beignet she seemed to reflect upon this. "Well, I... Pooh, that's not as easy as I thought. Okay, I'm... Uh, my favourite colour is blue. My favourite meal is sea prunes stew."
"What?"
"It's growing in the south, close to the sea. It's a fruit, although it is used like a vegetable. Ocean kumquats taste similarly."
Zuko grimaced. He hated these things. "So what's in this stew?"
"Apart from sea prunes? Well, simply what you have at home. All sorts of fish, crabs and other sea food. Onions, leek, other vegetables. The usual."
Zuko raised his eyebrows, not looking convinced. How could a stew be her favourite meal? Why not... noodles? Or fried rice? Pasties, or dumplings, baozi? Anything he could relate to? Even pizza, or hamburgers, fish and chips, Kebap... He would understand that way better than her love for a sea stew.
"It's eaten in a smaller form pretty often in the south, but when we had festivals or something to celebrate we used to make a giant pot of it, and added a lot of ingredients. We ate bread with it."
He nodded. Yeah, bread was something he was familiar with. He loved bread. Not the one he could get here though, since this one was way too soft and white. On one of his "growing-up-through-seeing-the-world"-trips with Uncle he had eaten bread in Switzerland. It had had nuts in it, was made with a darker grain, and the crust had been hard and crunchy, while the inside had been soft and had smelled so good, when freshly baked. That was real bread to him.
"My favourite time of the year is spring, I guess. But I like the summer, too, since I like swimming outdoors. Swimming is also my favourite sport, apart from dancing. But I'm not in a club or anything. It's just for free time."
"What do you like to dance?" Zuko wanted to know.
"Our tribal dances? It looks a bit like Tai Chi, only faster, and more powerful. Uhm, I don't really know what to think of other styles. Well, I like ballet, too, but hip hop and so on isn't something for me."
"So you don't like to go out to dance then?" He raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his tea.
"No, I do! That's okay. It's fun, and I can always dance how I want to. What about you?"
He immediately scowled. Normally, he never told that anyone, but he supposed he should be honest with her. "I don't like the crowds that much, but I like the dancing. It reminds me of working out."
"So you like working out?" she asked, looking suddenly very judgily.
"Yeah," he said slowly.
"Why?"
He shrugged. "Maybe because of adrenaline? I don't know..."
She frowned more, and he took a deep breath. "But I might like it, because it is a way of expressing feelings. Inner turmoil. And I feel better, when I'm finished."
He could see that she looked pleased with that answer, for she looked far friendlier than before.
"That is good," she said. "And important. It's healthy to let your feelings out, and not to keep them locked up."
Yeah, that was a bit too heavy for his taste.
"Okay, what else?" he asked, taking the last bite of his pastry.
"I hate to be bossed around, or when people make me feel stupid or inferior. Or when they make fun of me. I, uh, can get very angry sometimes," she said, almost sheepishly, while fidgeting with her hands.
"I already know that," he said, smiling. "Especially since I was the cause of a lot of your anger in high school. But I never made fun of you."
A high chuckle escaped her, sounding false or nervous. "Yeah. You're right. I was actually talking about Sokka or Toph… Anyway, I do like it when people have manners. And don't eat with a full mouth. And take regular baths. And don't behave like children." She suddenly scrunched her nose and sighed, her shoulders slumping.
"What?" He sat up straighter in alarm, thinking she had changed her mind after all.
She only smiled at him. "I'm basically describing my brother and best friend, so apparently these things don't bother me that much."
Zuko smirked, nodding. "Yeah. There are very few things I actually like about my sister or Jet, but I still like spending time with them."
Katara's nose scrunched up, looking disgusted. "Oh yeah, Azula. Totally forgot about her."
He raised his eyebrows. "If you don't bully me, she won't bully you," he simply said.
Katara cocked her head to the side. "Was that really her only reason? That's kind of... nice."
He frowned in thought. "Weeeell, I guess it was more like an excuse. She would have tormented anyone who was mean to me, but she also really enjoys being mean or making people suffer, but only if they deserve it in her opinion. She loves to win."
Katara huffed, and he lifted his shoulders a bit.
"Although she always goes for the extreme."
"Why did you live with your uncle, when you were a teenager? And why didn't Azula live with the two of you? And she wasn't there from the beginning, so where was she? Did she stay here? Why was she here?"
He swallowed, feeling his throat drying out, and sweat glistening on his forehead.
"You don't have to know that to convince my family that we're a couple," he rasped, staring out of the window.
Katara was quiet for a long time, but he didn't manage to gather the courage to look at her.
"Okay. Er, you don't have to tell me. But... you're glad to be back here, right? Are you a family person?"
He felt relief rush through his body at her change of topic. He knew he would never be able to answer her first question.
"Maybe?" He wasn't sure. "Probably. I don't like being apart from my family for too long, and although I don't really participate on any family activities, I just like having them around me."
"I never thought you liked them that much," Katara said.
"Why?"
"You... Uh, oh well, I assumed you just don't like to show affection in public."
Zuko frowned. "That's not true."
"Really?" She smirked at him, as if she knew she would win this.
"Yes. Really," he replied sternly.
"Then tell me something nice about me. How you think of me."
He rolled his eyes. As if he would be bothered by something like that. "You can be very funny. Although it's mostly annoying, because you're making fun of me, I get that you like to laugh, and to make people laugh, too. I also like your laugh. You are strong willed and don't beg down before anyone."
She blinked at him, and he couldn't help but feeling smug. Ha, he had managed to make Katara Qinu speechless!
Hiding his grin he took a sip of his tea.
After recovering from her surprise she looked annoyed. "Okay, fine, but what about your sister? Would you tell her in public that you love her? That you think she's amazing?"
That made him grimace. "I would, but she would probably just laugh at me, and tell me that she already knows how amazing she is."
"And your mother?"
That got a genuine smile out of him. "Totally. She's the best person I know."
Katara's eyes widened, and suddenly a smile spread on her lips. Not a teasing one, a real one. "That is really sweet of you."
What? Sweet? Him? How?
He actually choked on his next sip, and coughed into his napkin, trying to get the bit of tea out of his windpipe. His leg hit the table and the cutlery clattered, probably making other guests look in their direction.
A sudden strong hit on his back startled him, and he could suddenly breathe more freely.
"Better?" he could hear Katara ask, but she was standing behind him.
"Yeah. Just admit that you waited for an opportunity to hit me."
She grinned at him, rolled her eyes, and turned around to sit down on her chair again. "I take it you can't react to compliments very well."
He felt heat crawling up his neck. "What? Uh, I don't know."
"You're really handsome."
The heat became worse, as his eyes widened at a smiling Katara, the blue of her eyes looking so deep and beautiful.
Wait, what?
His head would explode from all this blood, any minute now, as he bit down on his lower lip.
Then she suddenly laughed. She was laughing very loudly, holding her stomach, and even slamming her hand on the table. "Oh my, that was so priceless! Hahaha!"
The blood vanished from his face very quickly, when he noticed she had only said this to prove her point. Annoyed he crossed his arms and glared at her. How would he survive if she would always make fun of him? Even though he really liked her laugh, that wasn't worth it. Not even her sparkling blue eyes, the delighted expression on her face or the high pitched sighs, as she wiped tears from her eyes. Nope, definitely not worth it. And also not cute.
"Are you finished?" he asked pointedly.
Nodding she smiled at him. "You will need to get used to receiving compliments, you know. If we are going to pretend to be a couple, I will compliment you, and you would have to act as if you were used to me adoring you."
If that would ever happen, he was sure he wouldn't ever get used to it. It wouldn't be easy with any girl, but Katara had hated him in high school! How could he make it seem, as if he was used to it?
He also didn't feel comfortable with the topic. So he scowled. "Why would you even have to compliment me?!"
"To make sure you know how much I care about you," she said, smiling, and suddenly laid her hand on top of his.
His eyes widened again, and he was about to stutter something, when she sighed and drew back.
"Honestly, you aren't a really good actor, are you?"
"Uh..." He scratched his head. "I always gave the drama club a wide berth."
"Well, you will have to work on it. If I'll compliment you, just smile at me and mouth something. Or give the compliment back," she instructed.
"Didn't you want to tell me more about you?"
"I'm a good actress. You apparently not, so let's practise." She shook her head, then looked up at him, and smiled softly. "I'm so glad we're together, Zuko."
His eyes widened again. His heart stuttered in a kind of way, and her twitching eyebrow told him that he did the wrong thing.
Shortly closing his eyes, he tried to think of something he would tell his girlfriend. Something he might have said to Mai, or Jin.
Opening his eyes, he saw Katara still smiling softly at him, and he tried to smile back. Just as softly. Who would he smile at like that? Probably at Peter Parker as a kid, while thinking about all the great things he would do, and how he would become his hero. It would be a smile full of devotion and thanks.
"I'm happy to know you feel like this," he managed to get out, while smiling, but then he couldn't pretend any longer, and gasped for air.
Katara chuckled. "Wow, I thought this would be easier. After all, it had been you asking me for a fake relationship."
"Yeah, I know," he grumbled. "I'm a terrible actor. And a terrible liar. I don't know what I was thinking." Letting his head hang, he grasped onto his hair, screaming internally. Who would ever believe they were together?
"Hey, don't you fire me! I haven't even got paid yet, and my rent really needs the money!"
Sighing he looked up at her again. "Yeah, sure. How much would you think is appropriate for a month?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Depends. My rent, food, other things for my household, and what I'll have to buy for my studies have to be included. And then, it's about everything I would have to do. That's what I wanted to ask you. What exactly would I have to do? You don't live with your family, so it cannot be that much, right?"
He twisted his mouth. "You could think that, yeah, but there are events. You would have to accompany me to them. Some for the company, others for my father's campaign. I think two dates a month should be enough to let the paparazzi take pictures and think we're together. Maybe there would be an interview. I don't know, depends on my father, really. And we would have to pretend to sleep at the other's place very often. And you'll have to come to lunch, or dinner, or whatever family activity they'd want to do, only if you're free, of course."
She grimaced. "Uh, I don't have a couch, but you can sleep on my bedroll. There is just not that much space at my place. But you probably have two guest rooms in your penthouse apartment, right?"
Zuko gave her a flat look. "Sorry. Jet's living in the guest room. That's okay, I can just bring my portable, foldable, handy king size bed with me. It fits everywhere."
Katara looked at him with a funny expression, before something like a reluctant smile appeared on her face, although she was frowning. "Did you make a joke?"
His left eyebrow rose slowly. "No, I really intend to do that," he said sarcastically.
Her mouth opened, as if she wanted to say something nasty, but she apparently decided against that. "Okay. So you do have a sense of humour. Noted."
He made a show of rolling his eyes, while he had to fight a smile. "What about the other things you'll have to do?"
She grimaced. "I don't know. I don't have any fancy things to wear for those events. And I cannot buy a new dress for everything! I don't even know how to walk in high heels!"
He blinked. "Uh, I can buy you these things. Or... I'll give you the money, and you'll buy them, because I wouldn't know what to buy."
She chuckled. "I can only imagine, but... that's really a lot of money, Zuko."
He cringed. "I get a lot of money from Father, and I don't know what to do with it. I was thinking about buying Jet a motorcycle for his birthday, but that would probably only lead to his soon death."
She raised one eyebrow. "Okay, honestly, I need this money, and I think you should pay me a lot, since you're asking something totally crazy and not even moral from me, and this is insane, but I also don't want to use you, or make you bankrupt."
That was funny. Father gave him far more money as that Katara could make him bankrupt. Right.
But laughing at that would probably only enforce her prejudices against richer people, so he only shook his head. "No, that's okay, really. I owe you big time. So name any price."
She narrowed her eyes again. "I want two thousand and five hundred Yuans for my apartment and household. And extra two thousand, when I have to buy a dress, or shoes, or jewellery. And you're going to pay for all the dates, and anything else I will have to go to because of you."
That was... less than he had expected. "Are you sure you don't want more for the dresses?"
Her jaw dropped. "What? Why? Are those dresses too cheap for the upper class?"
Flinching, he suddenly felt bad. "No, it's just that I only know from Azula or my ex what dresses do cost, and they were more expensive."
Katara seemed to ponder on this, her mouth moving from one side to the other, her teeth attacking her lower lip. "No," she finally said. "I refuse to waste that much money on ridiculously expensive dresses. I'll buy nice things, but nothing above one thousand five hundred Yuans, just because a certain brand is knitted on to the fabric or whatever," she grumbled, staring at the Ralph Lauren Polo player on his chest.
Heat was creeping up Zuko's neck again, but he also felt a bit offended. This was one of his favourite long sleeved shirts in a deep crimson red with a white collar, and no one had ever said anything against the brand on its chest.
"Alright," he agreed. "But if you'll need anything else, let me know."
Katara nodded, still biting her lip. "This is so messed up," she murmured. "I kind of feel bad for doing this. Like Pretty Woman or something."
He cocked his head to the side. "You're pretty, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar with this expression."
She shook her head. "It's just a film. Richard Gere is paying Julia Roberts, a prostitute, to play his girlfriend for some time, because he doesn't want to deal with women who are really interested in him. She also gets all those expensive great things from him, and..."
"Wait a second." He held a hand up. "Are you comparing yourself to a prostitute? Do you think so lowly of me paying you for pretending to be my girlfriend?" His jaw clenched against his will, and he formed his hands to fists under the table. What the magma?
"No!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide, and held her hands up in order to appease him. "But kind of the same thing happened, anyway. Just that I'm not a prostitute. And you won't see me naked."
Zuko took deep measuring breaths in order to calm down and not trying to imagine what she would look like naked. "You don't have to get fancy dresses if you don't want to. You could also show up in jeans, I certainly wouldn't mind," he said sincerely.
She smiled a bit.
"But my father would. It wouldn't look good. You see, if we really were a couple, and my father would ask me to bring you, and if I'd say that you didn't want to come, because you hadn't a fitting dress, he would probably give you your own credit card, or slap me for being an inconsiderate idiot who didn't offer to buy a nice dress for you!" That would probably really happen. But not because Ozai cared about Katara, only about how she would make him look. "This is not the same thing as in this film, Katara. This is mostly to please my father and for the public. To make sure Elementia will get a good next president."
"I know." Then she suddenly smiled at him. "I didn't even thank you for telling me the truth and giving me this opportunity."
He let his back touch his rest, bringing more space between them, feeling baffled. "Thank me?"
"Yeah, after all, you really could have tried to make me fall for you, and if I had, and you would have dumped me, after your father would have got elected, I would feel miserable, so thanks. For not making me feel miserable," she explained, then drank the last bit of her hot chocolate.
"I don't think I would have ever succeeded in making you fall for me," he only said, but a smile tugged at his lips, and he felt slightly better.
She looked at him, as if she was searching for good and bad things about him. "Mhm, probably not. Your acting skills are far too bad for that."
He had to chuckle, which surprised him, since she kind of had insulted him, hadn't she? But her voice and face had seemed different from a real insult. She had reminded him more of Jet teasing him.
"Apropos, what about physical affection?" Katara asked.
Zuko frowned. Physical... What?
"We..." Oh no.
"How was it with your ex?" Katara went on. "You said you were okay to show affection in public, but what about physical affection?"
He grimaced. "Mai and I... showed physical affection in public very often."
Katara mirrored him, then twisted her mouth. "Great."
At least she didn't make gagging motions.
"What about you?" he quickly asked.
A nervous chuckle escaped her, and she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Aang and I showed a little bit of affection, but mostly through words and looks. We hugged often and always touched each other, but we didn't kiss a lot in front of others. But we had... pet names."
He let his head fall back and groaned in annoyance. "Pet names? Are you serious?"
"What?!" she snarled, stemming her hands on her hips. "That's asking less than kissing!"
He blushed furiously. "I never said we had to kiss," he mumbled, looking at his lap, as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.
"Well, it's kind of obvious we have to, isn't it? If you wouldn't behave around me the way you behaved around your ex, wouldn't your family think that something was wrong?"
Sighing he looked up again. "Well, my parents probably not, because they only saw Mai and me right before we broke up. But Azula would definitely notice that something is different. And then she would probably assume the right thing and threaten me to spill it to Father."
"I guess my father would prefer if you wouldn't show any physical or any kind of affection towards me in front of him, but my brother and mother would become suspicious, too. Or, at least, they would worry if we really had feelings for each other."
Zuko rubbed his hand over his face. It made sense, and it had probably been obvious from the beginning that they would have to do such things to convince others of their relationship. But since those things made him very uncomfortable he had tried not to think about them. He had never did things like that with a girl he hadn't fallen for (this one attempt at a one-night-stand didn't count). This would become very weird.
But he nodded. "I understand. So what should I call you?"
She shrugged. "You pick something. So that you'll be okay with it. I'll probably just call you "sweetie" or "love"."
He grimaced again, but relented. "Alright," he murmured. "I'll think of something."
Then she suddenly leaned forward. "Now you've got to tell me about you."
Frowning he shook his head. "Yeah, in a sec. It's just that... We should probably practise. Being a couple. It will make things easier."
Twisting a mouth she nodded. "Yeah. What do you have in mind?"
"We could... just meet at your or my place and pretend to be a couple all evening. This way we will be more used to each other, and things like pet names or kissing won't... No, they will feel weird, but the thing is no one except for us will notice that it's weird."
She didn't look very convinced, and definitely not happy at the prospect to pretend to be his girlfriend, when there wouldn't be anyone else around, but in the end she nodded. "Yeah. You'll definitely need the practice."
Zuko rolled his eyes at her, but felt his stomach flutter nervously at the thought of behaving like her boyfriend. Oh gods, how could this ever end well?
Please review, and let me know what you think!
Until after the exam season! :D
