Nearly a month passed, and Aang had successfully managed to hide his Avatar identity, save for one small slip of airbending as he almost got tackled by an entire fleet of Football Players. It was all Coach Bumi's idea to place Aang as the interceptor one day during gym class, but from that day on, the young boy suggested that he was better as an aggressive linebacker.
He remembered how he could hear Toph's snickering voice within the rubble.
"There's still hope, Twinkle Toes," she said to him roughly one day, walking off the field after an intense drilling session. "Come next year, you'll be ready to take on the scrawniest opponent at our games!"
Aang did not hesitate to give Toph a teasing punch on the arm. "You're lucky I'm only here for a year, because that's pretty bold talk for somebody shorter than me," he said playfully, taking much advantage of this teasing session.
"Hey... hey..." Toph looked to Aang's general direction, smiling wryly. "Didn't I tell you that shortness makes you more in tune with the ground?"
And promptly, the girl kicked one of her heels and summoned the dirt below to attach to Aang's ankles like rocky anthills, making him flinch in surprise. Toph didn't move before the boy was sent by his ankles forward with the ground below him, and Aang yelped, his whole body shifting back and forth with his arms flapping wildly to keep balance.
Toph could only laugh amusingly, but only before the boy impulsively bended two stumps of Earth from the ground, holding onto them to keep himself from falling over. The Earth anthills quickly melted back to the ground as Toph just stood there, quite impressed at her classmate's improvements.
"Have you been practicing behind my back?"
"Maybe..." Aang gave a wry smile and turned to Toph, whose analytical expression was priceless.
"Ha." She clicked a heel to the ground to make one of the stumps shatter into dirt. Aang lost his balance and knocked the other stump over, falling to the ground.
The falling didn't seem to shatter the boy's spirit, as he knew that he had almost outsmarted the toughest Earthbender in the school. "I got in tune– I got in tune with the ground!"
"Well duh... shortness," Toph replied, punching the boy's arm playfully as he got back up from the ground, lending him a hand as a friend. "Nice job with the reflexes."
"Thanks, Sifu Toph!" Aang felt so happy and proud, he could not fight the urge to pick up his classmate for a hug.
"Don't you dare–"
The little girl sensed this coming, but before she could Earthbend a wall between them... Aang leapt over to her side and picked her up friend like a baby again. And Toph did the only thing she could do... kick her legs feverishly like a baby and say "put me down!" ... with a few pieces of dirt flying up to hit Aang at the back of his head.
"Sheesh!" Toph remarked as the boy finally put her down after a few seconds. "What's with this positive mood all of a sudden? Did Jeong Jeong give you an A on our poetry exam or something?"
"Oh, um... not really," Aang gave a nervous laugh. He'd just barely gotten a B- but nevertheless, the young airbender still smiled over at the girl, immediately thinking about another one. "I think it's the Omashu play. Everything is just going so well with it."
Toph raised an eyebrow. "You mean you actually enjoy playing the lover-boy? Ugh..."
"Mm-hmm," Aang said almost in a dream-like way. "And Haru says I'm a natural at it."
He couldn't help but recall the past few weeks in terms of play rehearsals, how Katara was trying really hard to memorize her lines along with him, whenever they would meet for extra practice on Saturdays. Neither of them had had the guts to practice the kissing scene just yet... but the boy was still hopeful. Haru insisted, however, that On Ji memorize the Oma lines with Katara during rehearsals, and watching the two of them work together onstage was almost like a threat to the young boy; he didn't want his heart's wish to be shattered at the last moment.
Kuzon's occasional nudging of "Um... am I saying this the right way?" was not a big help, either.
"Well... don't let it get to your head. It's just a play, right?"
Toph's eyes were narrowing curiously at the boy, as they continued to walk out of the football field. The crush he had was an obvious one to her, since almost everyone in the school had known about the leads in OmaShu. Toph could sense it, easily... back when the two of them would leave the football field to meet with Teo and his gardening class... she felt Aang's heart race for a certain girl.
"I know," Aang said under his breath, but still believing that something extraordinary was possible with this romantic play.
Toph kept her voice calm and chillingly sincere at the next statement: "I mean, Katara's real sweet and all, but she has a lot going on... I don't want you to get upset."
"Yeah, thanks, Toph. I'll try not to— wait— WHAT??"
And suddenly, Aang's entire universe caved in on him, along with the snickering laughter of the girl that stood beside him. But Toph broke into a fierce run towards the girl's locker room before the boy could question anything, and Aang chased after her, dodging a handful a dirt pieces that she threw back at him.
Aang let his airbending endurance take full swing, making him catch up with the running little girl immediately. As he grabbed her arm to stop, Toph was still laughing, whereas Aang's face was one of deep concern and painful humiliation.
"Sorry, I just had to say something; it was killing me!" Toph said between laughing breaths, not wanting to pick a new fight of resistance.
"But how— How did you–" Aang's mind was shaking, barely able to pick the right words.
"I can see your heartbeats, stupid," Toph chuckled slowly feeling a bit of warmth return to her cheeks embarrassingly. "But listen, you really gotta be careful... she just got over a pretty long crush, so she might not be looking for anything right now."
Aang's eyes practically sunk deep into his skull, hearing those casual words come out from the most sincere friend he had. Was it possible? In a way, he knew that the lovely waterbender must've had a crush at some point in her life... but how serious could it have been?
The boy closed his eyes momentarily, held his breath, and asked the inevitable. "Who was he?"
"Jet."
It came in a simplistic tone, almost as light as the breeze that passed through the air, but Toph's concerned look never left her. She could feel Aang's heart beat rapidly on the inside... violently... and then gradually wear itself out into a slow pace within a matter of seconds. The young airbender looked at the girl hard, his lips quivering... not knowing what to say next.
A million questions were running in his mind, and yet here he was, speechless and scared.
But then the school gong broke the silence from overhead, and reality checked in. The two friends blinked at the sound of passing period, knowing that they only had a few minutes before their next class. Toph placed a comforting hand on Aang's shoulder.
"We can talk more about this at lunch, if you want, but I gotta jet--"
Toph flinched, sadly cursing herself for not watching her mouth, and in a moment of instinct... she gave her friend a deep, almost roughened-up hug. Aang just stood there, still flabbergasted, but feeling a little more life come back to him in the process.
"Come on, we only got two minutes to change, Twinkle Toes. Move it," came her commanding voice as she parted, punching him on the shoulder and taking off in her own respective direction.
Jet... of all people. Why did Katara have to like the coolest break-dancing, sword-swinging guy in the school? Aang thought to himself, sadly. And even more so... why didn't it work out??
One step after another, the boy started to walk again, wondering how in the world he could manage the rest of that dreadful day.
"C'mon, guys. Focus! I'm seeing every other step show up half-a-second too late."
The same group was sitting under the Oak Tree outside during lunch, and Jet almost didn't seem to notice the panting breaths of a squatting Smellerbee, or the bullets of sweat streaming down Pipsqueak's nose. Longshot had taken a break five minutes ago, massaging his ankle from a slight twist he'd done to it a few days ago, but still... that didn't stop his eyes from looking sternly at Jet from the shade.
"We have four days before the big Street Fest in GaoLing... and if we do well over there, that'll be our ticket for setting the competition at Ba Sing Se. We can do this!"
Jet's eyes were furrowing strangely with encouragement and determination at the same time, and as Smellerbee regained herself back into a dancing position, her enthusiasm went down a notch. It was obvious that she wanted to speak her mind, but the reminder of the Street Fest deadline was telling her not to say anything.
"Now... let's do this again, from the top..." the young man with wispy brown hair turned his back again to perform the dance moves as well. "Pipsqueak, I want your arms sharper when they cross at the second count of eight. Longshot, watch our shoulder shuffles. Take note because we changed them a little bit. Smellerbee... a smoother transition on the first quarter turn, and don't forget to stomp at the marks.
"JET!"
Smellerbee's eyes fully emerged from the eyeliner as she said that name, frustrated and still panting. The young man on front of her barely flinched at hearing his name, but his eyes closed with grief as he turned around to look at the young thin girl.
"I get it, okay? I get it. That's the fifth time you tell me to stomp at the marks, and I'm doing the best that I can!"
Jet wasn't sure if it was the intense heat of the sun that was making her speak this way, or if it was really the fact that they'd been working too hard this past week. Strange, though... because Smellerbee was not usually one to complain about dancing.
"Jet, please... can't we just take a break?" Pipsqueak suggested in his low voice, wiping off a bit of sweat on his forehead with a hand.
The young man couldn't believe it, shifting his eyes from one exhausted dancer to another, and then to Longshot, who looked just as tired and upset in the shade.
"What's the matter with you guys?" Jet asked them inquisitively, but with concern in his voice. "This is Street Fest. We've done it for the past two years, and now we actually have a chance in making the top ten... as highschoolers. Can you imagine? All we need to do is stay focused for it."
"We are focused, Jet." Smellerbee reprimanded with a slight husk in her voice, narrowing her eyes at their leader angrily. "You're the one who's acting like we're not good enough, making us work all the way to our fricken' bones."
"Bee, that's enough." Jet spoke assertively. "I'm not making you do anything. If you want this title as much as I do, then you of all people should know what it takes to be the best dancer."
"Yeah, and we were doing just fine up until a few days ago." Smellerbee threw those words at Jet like fresh spit, and then proceeded to move and lean against the tree for shade.
"What're you talking about?" Jet refused to lose that sense of leadership he had under the dance crew, looking at Smellerbee straight in the eye.
"It's like all of a sudden, you woke up and realized you were spending way too much time thinking about Miss Sharpy over there..." The girl nudged her head over at a small crowd of students, acknowledging the girl with jet-black hair who was talking to the Fire Nation princess. "...that you almost forgot that your crew was practicing for the Street Fest. Now you're trying to make up for lost time by working us to death."
"She's right, Jet." Pipsqueak finally moved and sat himself down in the shade of the oak tree, continuing to wipe of the sweat above his eyes. "If there's anybody whose unprepared for the tournament, it's you."
"I don't believe this..." Jet shook his head, refusing to take in the truth that was being thrown at him like on of Smellerbee's daggers. "Longshot, what do you have to say?"
And the tall slender boy furrowed his thick eyebrows in the shade, not even wanting to look at Jet in the face as he continued to massage his weak ankle. Smellerbee slowly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, making him slump with the frustration he showed in his eyes. Saying nothing, in spite of it being the boy's demeanor, still made Jet absolutely defeated and horrible.
"Well great, then." Jet brooded under his breath. "You guys wanna relax under the shade? Fine. I'm gonna keep dancing."
And he ended it like that... turning himself around with his back against his friends, counting off the beats under his breath and letting the scorching sun fall down on him as he did all the movements. He kept his mind focused with every small move he made, noting the little mistakes he would have to improve on with day's time.
His eyes, however, lingered over in the distance as he danced, towards the same girl that Smellerbeehad pointed out earlier... and Jet let the silky texture of her hair embrace his sharp movements and daring turns.
A giant poster appeared somewhere in that afternoon, its size taking up a good fifteen square feet of wall in the great hall. Students from both sides of traffic had barely been able to pass without taking a glimpse at it proud shades of Red and Black. The image was of a young woman grinning, with dark locks of hair and an eerily determined look in her copper eyes. Her arms were crossed. Her stance, uneven. Like she was pretending to show that she could be like any other student passing by in Praying Mantis High School.
In the background, a grand logo of the Fire Nation was situated in brilliant black, while the young woman representing it continued to smile to its audience. Below the girl's firm arms, there were words written in delicate black ink, in a style that could only deliver its threatening message: For Strength, For Discipline, For Order. Your Student Body President.
Katara's eyes glimmered in disbelief as she stood there after the end of the school day... in front of that new poster of Azula in all its menace... wondering how in this side of the world she could compete with such a brilliant young student. The young waterbender stared at those sadistic copper eyes that seemed to stare back at her, saying something along the lines of "I will devour your very soul if you even think about running against me."
The girl felt her shoulders slump as she held her history books over her chest. It was strange to think that a poster could suddenly make the hallway seem so much colder... and she'd have to see this whenever she went by to her locker?
"This isn't right..." she muttered to herself, continuing to study her classmate's face as it was framed menacingly on the wall.
"No, it isn't," a familiar raspy voice approached then and stopped at Katara's side, touching her shoulder briefly for a greeting. The image of his sister like that both amazed and discomforted him, yet the boy was not at all surprised to see it.
"I guess she wants us all to know she means business this year," Zuko added, after a slight moment's pause from studying the poster. "Like we don't have a choice except to follow her."
Katara turned over to look at Zuko, how he looked at his sister's portrait with frustrated eyes. She sighed and turned her eyes back towards the poster, already sensing defeat before any sort of registration document could be filled out. And before she knew it, Zuko playfully hit her on the arm with a drumstick he'd held on his hand. Katara gasped a small "ouch!" and turned to look at him grinning under his loose hair, silently telling her to go for the impossible anyway.
"Zuko, be honest. Can you really see me as a leader? Next to this girl?" She gestured harshly over to the poster in front of them, frowning as her eyes met the young woman's deadly copper.
Taking a deep breath, the boy crossed his arms limply as he stared at the young waterbender, almost mimicking the expression of his sister on the wall. "I'm not answering that."
"What? Why?" Katara's cheeks suddenly felt heavier, looking at him dumbfounded.
"Well," the boy began to speak coolly, "weren't you the one who told me about not listening to what other people say? How you have to believe in yourself?"
Katara raised an eyebrow at him, as if trying to weigh in this philosophical, metaphysical lingo that Zuko was all so suddenly tossing at her. She didn't blink, nor did she know how to answer that. Her mind was trying to remember when exactly she has said that to him.
"...I think I wrote that down somewhere..." Zuko continued, looking down to check one of his pockets.
That's when Katara blinked.
"Um... Zuko, I didn't say that." Katara retorted, grinning with disbelief. "That was Mr. Iroh last week, when he invited us for tea. Remember?"
The boy stared at her and flinched, quickly rummaging into his pockets and reading through a few scraps of crumpled paper. Indeed, he found one... and it was exactly what he had said before, on his uncle's signature tea-leaf logo paper.
"Oh." Zuko's face became sheepish, with a slight look of defeat on his face, "...but... but you know what? That's not the point. The point is... you have to believe in yourself. First and foremost."
He pointed the same drumstick at her for more clarification, taking the other drumstick out of his pocket to twirl with it playfully. Katara sighed, staring out elsewhere, refusing to look at her arch-nemesis that was on the poster.
"What this school needs is representation," The girl clenched her hands as she continued to hold her books steady in front of her frame, and then finally looked back at Zuko with a determined look in her eye. "It needs to change, and enrich the cultures from the four different nations."
Katara slowly brought a wider, more certain grin to her face, shifting her eyes along Zuko's own.
"I can do this."
"Yeah, you can." Zuko hit the drumstick playfully onto her arm again and smiled while his face turned over to the giant poster. "You nearly drowned her in a tidal wave last year, so I'm sure you can outvote her."
"Ugh... Zuko, I swear... if you bring that up again one more time, I'm gonna..."
"...Flip out?"
"Gaahhh!"
Katara didn't waste another second and started hitting the boy with her history books, playfully, as the young man immediately held his drumsticks in defense and made little yelping sounds in the process.
Zuko jumped a few steps backwards and tried to run off the opposite direction, but the girl's keen eye got her to throw a hard book at her moving target. It hit the boy square on the back, and he fell playfully onto the marble floor of the hallway, playing death and trying hard not to laugh.
Thank goodness it was the end of the day. Otherwise students would've just stared blankly and wondered what the hell was going on between those two.
"Hey, I warned you!" Katara chortled. "Don't think I'll be going over there to help you up."
Zuko narrowed his eyes, still laughing softly, and lifted his upper body up from the ground to see that girl's stern look in the distance. Her arms were crossed, and her nose raised high to show that she was keeping her word.
She knew how much this'stuck-up' pose of hers annoyed him, and the boy sighed and took the liberty of getting himself up to wipe his clothes off of wrinkles. Not only that... but he picked up the same book that the girl with hairloops had generously thrown at him and approached her with to return it to her kindly.
Katara shook her head in disbelief while watching all of this, and not being able to keep it in any longer... she giggled... amazed that Zuko just went with it all. Funny, how despite his dark, rebellious-looking demeanor, the boy was really a gentleman... and Katara sometimes felt flattered to be one very few people who knew that.
"Just be ready for anything," Zuko then said, finally handing Katara her history book. "I don't doubt that she'll try to mess you up, but keep reminding yourself why you're doing this."
Katara felt the threatening glace of Azula at the corner of her eye, and said "Yeah... thanks."
And Zuko shrugged a quick "you're welcome" with his shoulders, which made Katara wince from a certain time she had done the same gesture herself. It was incredible how the two of them seemed to feed off of each other's habits. She then took a small, courageous breath after looking at the poster one last time, and then waved a hand to Zuko for a 'goodbye,' turning around to head for her locker.
Zuko had a question in mind... something that he was debating to ask her all day. He wasn't sure if this was the right moment, or if just writing it down on a note would deliver the message much easier. As he was watching Katara leave, however, he as if felt that any other time would make the moment even more difficult to go through. He just couldn't go through another day without bringing it up.
The boy bit his lower lip with hesitation, and with a quick shuffling of his feet, he caught up to Katara's brisk walk down the hallway. Touching her shoulder with one hand got her to stop and look at him curiously again.
Her perturbing blue eyes then caught Zuko by surprise, making him feel uneasy as he tried to find the right words to say next.
"Listen... um..." Zuko felt very, extremely awkward about this all of a sudden. "I wanted to talk to you about next weekend. It's... it's my mom's birthday."
"Oh really?" Katara exclaimed sweetly. "That's funny; Ms. Ursa never mentioned anything about her birthday coming up."
"Yeah... she's weird about talking about her personal life...she doesn't like to bring it up, much..." Zuko trailed off nervously, feeling quite comfortable just talking about his mother for the time being. But as he saw Katara's keen eyes for listening, it made him realize he was losing his main point.
"Anyway, we– the Royal Family– um, we have this overnight celebration for her on Ember Island every year. Bonfires, fireworks, dancing..." Zuko suddenly felt ridiculous, describing things that would make 5-year-olds smile with glee, and he ended his statement with "...it's some stupid tradition, I guess."
"That sounds pretty cool," Katara said cheerfully, but she couldn't help but notice a burning sense of nervousness in her friend's features. He was almost shaking because of it. Something she wasn't used to seeing.
"Well, the thing is... everyone has to bring a date."
Zuko blinked, feeling like he made that statement too flatly, and quickly picked up words for an explanation, scratching the back of his head with from all the anxiety. "It's tradition... and, um... well for a long time, I just brought Mai."
Katara nodded, keeping her mouth closed and looking at this sincere boy in the eye. Zuko continued to speak his mind, trying hard not to feel the shaking in his voice.
"And... well I wouldn't have a problem going to the party by myself -- I mean, it's my mom... but... but I have this feeling that Mai's going to be there, too. She and Azula are like sisters... and... and I don't know if I'd be able to..."
In a small shuddering breath, the boy placed a hand to his temple to think, looking elsewhere. Katara gazed at him sadly, and quickly found the strength to say something to him.
"Zuko... are you trying to invite me to your mother's party?"
The boy with the scar then looked at the ground, too embarrassed to meet her eyes. "...Yeah..."
"...as a date?" Katara challenged, her blue eyes thinning into a smile within those thin hairloops.
"No!" Zuko flinched and turned to her again, almost too quickly, and stopped by the surprised look she made. "I--I mean... I'm sorry, it's... not that I wouldn't want... I mean...it's..."
This sort of talk was killing him, she could tell, but Katara could only stand back and be entertained. She knew that he meant well, and that silly embarrassment he was putting himself through was something for the highschool record books. But Katara would never be that cruel.
Finally, the boy managed to finish his statement. "...It's more like a distraction, I... guess."
The girl laughed musically and approached him, gathering her thoughts about the situation.
"So, you're asking me to go to Ms. Ursa's birthday party, on Ember Island, for the weekend... to make sure you don't go emotionally crazy around Mai?"
"Y— yes?"
The boy waited for her reply, feeling like he was sweating bullets in the back of his head.
"Zuko... say no more. I would be honored to be your distraction," she said kindly, with a slight glimmer in her eyes, bowing her head to add a little exaggeration on him.
And the boy slumped his figure into a smiling sigh, feeling much more relieved that he had gotten that question out of his system... and with a very nice answer in return. A bit of color finally came back to his face, knowing that Katara probably wouldn't feel too awkward about the whole thing..
"I'll try to be a good host, I promise," Zuko then added with much honesty. "I mean I'll probably be with the band for most of the night, but I'll make sure you'll have a good time."
"Please..." Katara reeled, "It's the beach for God's sake! Don't worry about me."
Zuko grinned in reassurance. "Okay."
A slight pause passed between them, and Katara wasn't sure if it was the best time to just go and let these plans and thoughts sink in. She looked over at Zuko's reflecting copper eyes, hidden under his messy hair, and wondered what was on his mind.
If he was thinking the same thing she was, at the moment.
"How are you doing, with... with all this?" She asked him quietly, a little unsure about how he'd respond. "You haven't really talked about her much."
"Mai's fine." The boy suddenly became very interested in his shoes. "I can imagine she's keeping herself occupied -- with all that art stuff -- something about a senior exhibit for next year."
Katara nodded in understanding. Part of her wanted to say something else... something that she would probably relate to. And her eyebrows furrowed from wondering if she should ask him right then and there. With a tightening stomach, she decided to go through with the question.
"Do you miss her?"
"Sometimes." The boy responded honestly, in his soft-spoken raspy voice, and he looked at Katara as he saw her form almost slump with defeat, feeling abandoned over something from long ago. Her hairloops couldn't hide the glimmering reflection of her blue eyes, no matter how much she bit her lip to repress it.
"I miss him sometimes, too..."
"Jet?"
It took her a second but Katara nodded angrily, nesting her chin with disappointment as she began to mutter more words. They had talked about him before, and even though this happened a long time ago... Zuko could tell her clenching hands that pain was still in her system, like she had so many memories to filter out.
"Sometimes I tell myself that last year never happened... like it was nothing but a long nightmare... chasing after him like that, pretending like I was someone different... somebody completely stupid. God, I must've looked like such an idiot to him."
"That's not true." Zuko said calmly, knowing how the wrong choice of tone would set her off.
"I wasted a whole year trying to get this guy to like me, Zuko. Do you know how many things I missed out on? How many guys I probably turned down because of him?" Katara felt her voice rising from all of the pain, clenching her books to her frame even more.
"Maybe he just had his eyes set on someone else," Zuko suggested with willful honesty. "That happens."
The poor girl shook her head in denial, pursing her lips as if keeping herself from crying, or perhaps from yelling something obscene. Zuko didn't know what he could say next, or if a simple hug would just seal everything that he wanted to tell her. That life would go on.
He did hug her, slowly approaching her and embracing the girl's forearms that held her books so tightly to her form. Zuko knew that denial would eventually have to fade from her, and perhaps when that day came, they could talk about those days of lost love with a strong cup of ginseng tea.
Oh God... tea? Zuko thought. I really have to stop visiting Uncle so often.
Katara accepted that hug sweetly, but with her mind still wandering through the many opportunities she would have willingly 'given up' on Jet but refused. She took in the discomforting smell of smoke through Zuko's clothing to wake her mind up, and she then opened her eyes and let herself part from him with a smile.
"Anyway, I better head to OmaShu rehearsal before I'm late... again..." the girl frowned, slightly ashamed of this reputation she'd given herself, but not at all regretting the time spent with a friend. "Where're you off to?"
"Detention." Zuko said it as if it were as common as going to the bathroom. He lowered his head to search for something in his pant pockets, taking out a small metallic canister with a blue dragon on it. "But I'm stepping out for a cigarette, first. See you later?"
Katara stared at that familiar blue dragon he tossed casually with one hand, and lowered her eyes when she looked at him. It was the reason he was accumulating so many hours in school with Vice Principal Zhao, and yet the boy didn't care.
"Yeah, see you," she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder for a good-bye, her eyes trying to hide a certain sadness in them.
Zuko smiled at her just as casually, taking a small breath before turning away. Katara watched him leave for a few moments, before taking a couple of steps forward in her own direction. She was bracing herself for the long lecture that Sokka would probably be giving her at rehearsal, about picking out her friends wisely and accurately.
And she cursed the fact that she couldn't waterbend inside school grounds.
A/N - Don't hate me, Kataangers. I'm just keeping this highschool universe real... with friendships and heartache and all that jazz. But I'll stay true to what I had in mind originally. Oh! And in case you didn't spot the hints, Zuko's a drummer! With this band that his cousin Lu Ten and his buddies put together. I kinda saw him as an angsty drummer, for some reason. I love drummers... ) --MM
