Katara regretted accepting the offer to go out the moment she woke up from her nap, her clothes strewn all across the floor of her new room as she tried to find something to wear.
"Ugh, I'm not good at this whole going out thing," she groaned to herself. Her owl-cat gave a soft hoot and cocked her head, blinking at her as if she agreed.
It was already 6 o'clock and there was nothing she wanted to wear. A knock at her door pulled her from her wardrobe, Song waiting outside with a smile… and a very attractive man.
"Katara, good! You're awake!" Song beamed. "This is my friend Jet, I wanted to introduce the two of you! He's only lived in Ba Sing Se for a few years, and he helps out at the reserve sometimes."
The man was tan and had dark, fluffy hair, a toothpick hanging lazily from his lip. His clothes were baggy but obviously designer, draping over his frame with calculated swagger.
"Hey," he said, giving her a smirk and letting her see the obvious movement of his eyes as they did a slow march down and back up her body. Katara felt her cheeks flush at his bold behavior - her experience with boys was limited, to say the least. Having grown up with all the guys her age back home, she knew all of them too well to have any sort of romantic interest in them despite them chasing after her since they all hit puberty.
"Um, hi," Katara replied, shyly tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear before turning back to Song. "I'm sorry, I'm totally not ready at all," she admitted.
"Oh!" Song exclaimed. "That's okay." She turned to Jet and said, "Would you mind hanging out in the jeep for a bit while I help Katara get ready?"
Jet still hadn't removed his eyes from Katara when he answered, "No problem. Take your time ladies." He turned on his heel and walked off, shoving his hands in his pockets and whistling a tune to himself.
Song swept into Katara's room and started digging through the mass of clothes Katara had compiled on the floor, chattering along as she did so.
"We're going to the Earthquake, it's a smaller bar but the atmosphere is perfect. Oh, I hope you don't mind, I invited someone else to join us too! He's new in town like you, just got here the day before you did!" Song babbled, pausing to hold a shirt to her chest while she gave a dreamy sigh. "He's sooo handsome."
Katara giggled, kneeling beside Song to help her dig through shirts. "Does Mr. Handsome have a name?" she asked.
Song turned to beam at her, eyes twinkling. "You'll never guess it!"
Katara raised and eyebrow and waited for more.
"Zuko. Sozin."
Katara resisted the urge to let her jaw drop. The Zuko Sozin? As in, the heir to Sozin Industries? The company that basically funded her entire externship?
Song nodded knowingly at Katara's expression. "Yes, that Zuko Sozin. And he agreed to go on a date with me!" she squealed. "Well, he didn't technically agree to a date, I told him this wasn't anything like that," she mused aloud, "but this could be the ice breaker that leads to a date!"
Katara found herself laughing at Song's excitement, biting her tongue to keep from spoiling her new friend's fantasies. By all accounts, Zuko Sozin was a cold-blooded, ill-tempered business man. Certainly not someone Katara could ever see herself dating. But, she supposed, Song wasn't her and if that was Song's thing she wouldn't rain on her parade.
"Ooh! What about this one?" Song asked, holding up a dark blue slouching sweater.
Looking at the time, Katara realized they'd spent 15 minutes already, and she didn't want to be the reason they were late and missed their table. "That'll have to work, let me just go get dressed and I'll meet you guys at the jeep?"
"Sure thing!" Song answered, giving her a smile as she stood up and left Katara to dress.
Tugging on a pair of dark skinnies and her black sneakers, she pulled the sweater over her gray tank top and went to inspect her reflection in the mirror. Fixing some smudges from her nap and reapplying her mascara and some lip gloss, she tried to give herself a reassuring smile in the mirror.
"You can do this, Katara," she told her reflection. "It's just a drink or two with friends, you can be social." Staring at herself for a minute, she felt silly and pulled herself away finally, giving her owl-cat a pat on the head and filling her food and water before slipping out the door.
Katara quickly realized that her definition of a small bar and Song's definition varied greatly, the lights and sounds and smells in the club almost overwhelming her. She'd been to a few bars in the South Pole, but they were dives compared to this club. People their age packed the building, dancing, drinking, singing and yelling above the DJ. She was glad they'd reserved a table otherwise they'd have nowhere to sit.
Song offered to get them drinks from the bar while they waited for Zuko to show, leaving Katara and Jet alone for a few minutes.
Wow, does he know how to talk about himself a lot, Katara thought to herself as she politely smiled and nodded along while Jet bragged about his band, The Freedom Fighters, and how many adoring fans they had.
"The ladies, especially, love us," he told her, giving her a wink.
Katara resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead saying, "I bet they do."
Jet seemed to pick up on her attitude and nonchalantly changed the subject. "Well, enough about me, what about you? What brings such a fine, Southern lady to the great city of Ba Sing Se?"
Finally, Katara thought. For such a cute guy, his ego really ruined the image for her. "Well," she started, but he interrupted her quickly.
"Wait, wait, wait, let me guess," he cut her off, turning his body to stare at her intently. Katara did roll her eyes this time and gave him an expectant stare.
"You're from the Southern water tribe, you're living at the Reserve, you're absolutely gorgeous… you must be an underprivileged artist coming to help save their image with a cultural exchange program, right?"
Katara couldn't even believe what she was hearing right now! What a pig, she thought, getting ready to sharply correct him when Song returned with an armful of drinks.
"Okay, I wasn't sure what you'd want, Katara, so I just went with a simple cocktail. Is that okay?" she asked, gently setting the drinks down on the table. She noticed Jet's posture and a hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt some mingling?" she giggled.
"No-" Katara began, but Jet cut her off once again.
"Actually, Kitty Kat here was just telling me all about how she struggled to climb her way out of the frozen wastelands of the South to Ba Sing Se," Jet interjected, flashing Song a grin.
"Oh, that's great! I'm so glad you two are getting on well," Song beamed, sliding into the booth across from them. "Zuko should be here soon, too, and then we can all have a few drinks and hit the dance floor!"
Katara groaned internally and pulled her cocktail towards herself, sipping the fruity beverage and praying to Tui and La that the night would be over quickly.
She was the first to see the bar door open and a new person walk in, eyes scanning the room. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt. He was handsome, with a sharp jawline and golden eyes. She felt a moment of shock when his face turned and she caught a glimpse of an angry pink and red scar covering the left side of his face, her shock intensifying when she heard Song call out a name and his eyes snapped to their direction.
"Zuko! Over here!" the earth nation woman called, waving an arm at him. He crossed the floor of the bar and came to stand over their table.
Katara's skin crawled as she heard Jet's voice again.
"The Zuko Sozin, in the flesh," he drawled, extending a hand.
Zuko gave the tanned man an amused look as he grasped his hand in return. "Well, I'm glad you already know me, but unfortunately I can't say the same."
"Jet," came the cocky response as he dropped Zuko's hand. Katara saw the corner of Zuko's mouth tug briefly into a smirk before he returned to his deadpan expression. Then, his golden eyes turned to meet hers, and Katara felt like all the air rushed from her lungs.
Song was right, Zuko Sozin was incredibly handsome.