"Aw... he went that far to audition for Shu?"

The girl with magnificently white hair giggled, as Katara told her what had happened during her play auditions with Aang yesterday. The two girls had both just finished their usual Saturday Water Tennis practice, and were carrying their backpacks out of the school's outer corridor towards the back of the school.

"Yue, it was adorable!" Katara giggled inevitably. "I really hope he gets it. He seems like such a great kid."

The afternoon sky had turned gray, as the girls noticed while they walked along the outside corridor, seeing rain droplets appearing on the concrete steps of the school.

"Oh dear. We better hurry towards the boating docks," Yue suggested, tugging at her friend's long-sleeved tennis jacket, but she saw how the girl was massaging her left wrist faithfully.

"Yeah, I know..." the girl with hairloops replied, somewhat subconsciously.

"How is your wrist feeling?" Yue asked in her graceful voice. "I'm sorry about the last whimsical move I gave to you..."

"No, it's not your fault." Katara looked up at her teammate then. "I've got to work on that left back hand slashing move. Man, it would be much easier if I were left-handed."

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself..." Yue then stated comfortably, smiling. "You just need to learn to think ahead."

"Our first match is in a couple of weeks!" the girl was still massaging her wrist, her voice turning into panic mode. "I don't think I can be ready for those whimsical moves by the Northern Tribe School. They're vicious..."

"Pardon?" Yue giggled musically at that reaction, pretending to be offended, lightly pushing her teammate aside.

"Haha... sorry." The Southern waterbender teased and giggled back at her, moving her wrist in a flexible manner to keep it from aching. As the two girls continued to walk along the corridor outiside in the rain, Katara turned her head slightly out into the yards. Her walking slowed down then, as something had caught her eye.

Something that looked remarkably like a young man sitting on the grass, hugging his legs, and letting the rain fall down on him without a sulking care in the world. Yue wondered why Katara had stopped walking all of a sudden, as she stared out into the distance.

The two girls didn't have to guess twice as to who it must have been. What made Yue gasp, though, was that her friend had not taken her concerned eyes off of that melancholy figure, sitting out in the rain. In fact, after a moment's hesitation... Katara stepped forward.

Yue gasped.

"...Katara, what are you doing? That's Zuko!" she squealed with concern, grabbing a hold of her teammate's shoulder. "He might burn your skin off."

The girl with hairloops turned her eyes, and gave a slight snorting laugh to comfort her friend... while on the inside... Katara was panicking with this sudden rush of bravery.

"Seriously, Yue, in the rain?" she turned back to look at the distant Zuko. "He probably just got out of detention... poor kid..."

"I know." Yue then said quietly, her graceful voice coming back as she looked over at Zuko's direction as well. "Oh, didn't you hear? He and Mai broke up a few days ago."

"What?" Katara blinked. From what she had remembered from last year, those two were rather inseparable...

"I don't know why... but Azula was taunting him about it during study hall yesterday," Yue looked at the ground, sympathetically. "She certainly seemed to enjoy that subject."

The Southern waterbender grunted uncontrollably. "Why does she always do that? Doesn't he have it bad enough?"

Yue saw that frustration in Katara's blue eyes, the way she was furrowing her eyes, upset. It always seemed to happen when anything pissed her off. And in Katara's own case... it usually would follow with actions.

"I'm gonna go talk to him."

Yue held her friend's shoulder tightly. "Katara, no! He's... he might be dangerous."

"Well, he's going to catch pneumonia if he just sits out there," the girl stated sarcastically, moving a bit more forward to be out of Yue's grip.

Katara crossed her arms then, continuing to overlook her mission, and Yue could not help but stare outside as well, lingering... knowing there was no stopping her friend by this point.

"Are... you sure about this?" Yue attempted, and Katara sighed.

The two waterbenders had known this boy for years, and at least for one of them, it seemed that an understanding with him was far overdue... for the sake of his own survival. Katara flexed her fingers, knowing what she was up against.

"I'll be fine, Yue. Don't wait up for me; I can take the next ferryboat home."

Katara made an assuring nod, and Yue, with concern overtaking in her features, waved a quick hand over herself and manipulated the rain water over her head to slide away from her entire frame. As Yue stepped out into the rain, she waved a goodbye to her teammate and took off towards the boat dock with the rain shield waterbended by her other hand.

The other waterbender's ears continued to hear the clashing of raindrops in front of her, feeling its intensity and serenity at the same time. To be honest, Katara imagined peace from standing out in the rain, knowing that for waterbenders it was a relaxation, reminiscing technique... but Zuko was not a waterbender.

In fact, the young man's copper eyes practically screamed that he wanted little to do with that element. Why was he being so stupid?

With a small breath, Katara stepped out into the rain towards the young Firebender. One hand immediately waterbended a rain shield over her head. Her mouth was shivering from the cold rain, but also from the reluctance to speak up to the stubborn boy.

"Um... Zuko?" she called out finally, a few feet away from him.

"What do you want, peasant?"

The girl frowned. It was clear that he had recognized the voice.

"Zuko, it's pouring out here," Katara attempted patiently, slowly taking a few steps closer. "You're going to get sick--"

"Leave me alone," Zuko lashed with his raspy voice, moving his head slightly.

Katara blinked, frightened by the familiar traces of a scar on his face. But she didn't let that stop her from walking up to him, and shielding the rain from above his own head.

"Listen, I'm just trying to help... whatever it is, you can talk to me about--"

"SHUT UP!" Zuko growled, turning his upper body around to look straight at Katara in the eye. "What is it with you, and trying to befriend every single freakin' kid at this school!?"

The girl's eyes rose, gradually glimmering by those words as they came at her harshly. Zuko just looked at her, almost as if feeling sorry for her, and with a small groan he turned his head back towards the distance.

"Go find a puddle to drown in, peasant," he mumbled.

All of a sudden, Katara felt her stomach cave in with pain, unable to say anything back to him. She refused to cry, as much as her eyes glimmered to do otherwise, and she stepped back to let the rain pour down on Zuko again. But this time... she raised her other arm over her head and waterbended a huge gush of rainwater to hit Zuko's back like a torpedo.

"HEY!"

The boy jolted back around to face Katara, his teeth gritting with anger... balling his hands into firebending fists in the rain. Yet she stood there, still, unafraid of him. It wasn't because the water was clearly outdoing his element in that moment, but because Katara could see in his eyes... Zuko was trying to scare her off.

Still, that didn't prevent him from heating up with rage, having the layer of rain on his skin steam off right before the girl's eyes. He lanced a weak, fist-sized fireball near Katara, and the waterbender quickly jumped away from it, removing the rain shield from her head to place both her arms in a defensive position.

The rain was now falling on her as well, but Katara refused to get distracted by it, moving some of her long hair out of the way. Zuko stood up from the ground, his face still contorted with ferocity over nothing at all as he came to face her.

"You're acting ridiculous, Zuko," Katara shouted over the rain, "and you're gonna make yourself sick."

"You think I care?" His reluctance came as far as to not listen to her persuasion. "Get out of here!"

Another weak fireball sped through the rain, aiming close (but not precisely) at the girl. Katara dodged it bravely, almost slipping from the wetness of the ground. She frowned to him as she regained herself, raising another waterbending arm at him... and summoned the rain around her to gush towards the stubborn young man.

But the boy was ready for this one, and he jumped away from it swiftly, launching a third fire ball at her through the thin sheets of rain. Katara motioned the same arm downwards, and gushed it useless with rainwater.

"When are you going to quit being so stupid? You're better than this, Zuko."

Faint roars of thunder suddenly sounded over their heads, distinctly making the two of them look up towards the sky. The girl swallowed her pride, not minded her worrisome features then. Zuko, on the other hand, remained indifferent.

"This doesn't concern you, peasant."

"Will you please stop calling me peasant?" She retorted at him, involuntarily letting the rain around her splash out in frustration. But after a small sigh, the girl came back to her senses.

"It's Katara; you've known that for years... and maybe I am trying to help you."

Zuko's eyes hid from the damp locks of his hair, as the rain was falling on them harder now. He moved his body slightly away from the girl, wanting to return to his own melancholy.

"You don't understand."

"You're not letting me understand." Katara acknowledged the rain on her once again, raising an arm slightly to shield herself from the cold rain. "What the hell is bothering you? Is it Mai?"

More thunder broke the girl's words, and both kids had absentmindedly shrugged at the harsh sound that came from the gray clouds. The boy still refused to respond, or even look at her.

But the girl felt quite the opposite, because now it felt like she had made herself too involved. Maybe it was her stubbornness, or the fact that she felt sorry for him, and couldn't bear to leave a familiar face alone in the rain and thunder. Whatever the reason, Katara let the seconds pass out in the rain, glancing at him empathetically as he kept silent, letting the sounds of harsh raindrops bring bitterness and pain between the two of them.

And then, from what must've been a miracle from the water spirits themselves... the boy turned his head back to look at Katara. His expression looked anything but threatening, and the girl kept her eyes steadily on him.

"Come on..." she said quietly. "Let's get out of the rain."

The young man clenched his fists once, perhaps out of an inner frustration he was still battling in his mind... but he moved his entire body back around and slowly walked to her. He was too upset... perhaps too ashamed... to meet her sympathetically blue eyes. As he passed her, frowning his face, and headed towards the roofed courtyards of the school, Katara watched him sadly, following shortly thereafter.

He found shelter in the gothic outside corridor of the school, where the gymnasium lockers and auditorium met the school's academic building. Katara ran up the stairwell and then released her rain shield from over her head. Zuko sat at the first step of the stairwell, leaning his back against a wall as he stared out at the rain, but Katara's concern now was to get dry.

With a stern, concentrating look to her face, Katara began to remove the rainwater from her tennis clothes with a few waterbending movements of her hands. It didn't take all that long, but at the corner of her eye, she'd noticed how Zuko had shyly glanced at her drying mechanism, and Katara grunted.

Boys, in spite of anything, would be boys.

When she felt she couldn't summon any more miniscule droplets, the waterbender let the dampness of the air keep her warm, while she watched Zuko unsuccessfully keep his upper body from shivering. His arms were crossed, his hands cupping his knees while the light layer of water on his skin slowly evolved into steam. But it did nothing to help his soaking clothes.

"I can dry you up a little, if you want," Katara offered sincerely.

It wasn't long before Zuko looked up to acknowledge the voice he had heard, and with his arms still shaking, he carefully got up from the stair and moved closer to where the girl was standing. As he stopped only inches away, he was more interested in the ground, than looking her in the eye. The girl concentrated fully, trying to maintain a professional presence to the boy who was so reluctant with her.

"Just stay still..." she said to him, and Zuko stood by her without question, taking note of the small height difference between them. Closing his eyes, he listened to the rain while he felt the heaviness of his wet clothes lighten from waterbending movements. He felt the inside pockets of his cargo pants, the collar of his red shirt... it all wasn't completely dry, but it did help.

Zuko opened his eyes again, and noticed how Katara had her eyes closed as her fingers weaved the floating strands of water that came from his shirt. The entire thing looked rather grotesque, but the boy gave a rare smile, wondering how she must've closed her eyes to make the entire process seem less awkward.

Funny really, how he'd known the girl for so long, and yet they still seemed to regard each other as strangers.

The boy sighed quietly, feeling warmer as the rainwater was slowly leaving his system, and Katara then stepped back with her eyes open, quickly releasing the water out into the yard. Zuko gripped the edges of his jacket, bravely moving his eyes to meet Katara's as she turned to him.

"Thank you," he rasped quietly, and the comforting girl just looked at him for a second.

Slowly, Katara shrugged a 'you're welcome' to her schoolmate, with a smile.


"What do you think you're doing?"

Jet blinked as the husky, firm voice of a girl pierced the silence of the empty school hallway, and he turned his head from the mural on the wall to the distant eyes of its creator.

Saturday detention made moments like this worthwhile.

The young man didn't bother to hide the paintbrush he was holding eerily in his hand, nor did he hesitate to smile at the pale-looking girl with one of his mysterious, plotting grins. He knew that she took great responsibility and care for her artwork... and seeing someone lean over so closely to a piece? That made her nervous. Speculative, that someone might sabotage it.

"I'm trying to figure out what this piece is expressing about you," he spoke to Mai cooly, tightening his smile at her.

"All these cubes... solid shapes you painted probably means that you're well aware of who you are, and you're not afraid of how people see you."

Mai's figure from the shadows in the distant hallway seemed to get more distinctive as she approached the critical Jet, letting her narrowing eyes threaten the young man with all of her bitterness. The young man continued.

"...but, you see, I'm a little confused. Because you painted the shapes from solid, straight figures and morphed them into softer, wave-like shapes by the very end of the wall..."

"What's your point?" Mai asked flatly, keeping her expressionless-yet-concerned face at him.

"I'm just saying..." Jet took a small step forward, his calm demeanor hiding the skipping heartbeats beneath his chest, "...that it looks like these shapes are trying to go through a metamorphosis..."

Mai winced, and crossed her arms belligerently. The fact that this boy was trying to impress her with big words was utterly annoying.

"...but I'm not sure the painter is letting these cubes and prisms set themselves free."

Jet gave the young woman a challenging look, as if he were expecting an argument or a belittling comment back from her, but her pale face remained the same. He knew she would reply with an apathetic sigh, and could bet his week's lunch on the next word that would escape her pretty mouth.

"Whatever."

Jet shook his head; he'd known her that much.

"They're just shapes to me..." Mai let out a dramatic sigh of boredom. "I don't care."

The boy couldn't help but furrow his eyebrows at her, studying her indifference. "Oh really?"

He turned his frame back towards the mural that was enveloping the wall with color, replacing his sense of criticism with a playful waving of a paintbrush he held in his hand. Much to Mai's surprise, a small set of paints suddenly came into existence as the young man immediately reached into his cargo pant pocket.

"...then I guess you wouldn't mind if I fixed this painting of yours a little, would you?"

He didn't even bother to give a last-minute glance at Mai as he fully turned around to let the dry brush run loose against the canvas of the wall for a practicing gesture.

Jet had barely looked down to open his small paint box... when something flew swiftly across his vision to pin his arm sleeve against the opposite wall. It had passed without a moment's notice and brought a sense of alarm to his skin no greater than a papercut, but enough to send the young man's thoughts to deadly oblivion.

As he looked from the thin paintbrush pinned on his sleeve, back to the young woman who'd thrown it with such natural precision... Jet knew that his instincts had been right all along.

"Don't you dare try to fix anything," came the girl's husky voice, as swift as the paintbrush she'd lanced to him.

The surprise didn't come from the girl's deadly reflexes, nor from that vague threat she had brought to the young man. What ended up fascinating Jet right then and there... was how her eyelids had slightly risen up for a fraction of a second, as if that pinning reaction of hers had not been intentional.

Jet sighed, smiling kindly to Mai, without any sense of threat as he finally knew just how much these paintings meant to her. It was something that he had been counting on, something that he had been hoping to figure out truthfully about her for a very long time.

Slowly, carefully, the boy pulled at the sharp end of the paintbrush that kept him attached to the wall. As he managed to walk up to Mai casually, he said "Hey, I was just trying to help..." and handed her the small paintbrush, along with his own.

"Just leave." Mai retorted flatly, quietly.

The girl received the paintbrushes with a quick snatch, frowning at the young man who'd dared to sabotage her mural. She couldn't understand how this boy was taking it so plainly, whereas any other young man would have tripped over his own feet by her fierce, almost lifeless gaze.

Instead, before he walked away... the boy simply bowed his head to her with a sincere amount of respect, as if she were something more of a girl. Something more mysterious, and surreal.

Something that he would give his life to get closer to.


A/N: No, Kataangers, I have not betrayed you! But don't think that I've set anything in stone just yet... let me remind you that this is, in fact, a high school universe. Bear with me. --MM