School started for me and many other writers. It's been a pretty stressful week for me. I apologize as the updates will probably become even less frequent.

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Chapter 17

A few weeks had passed since Aang and Katara reconciled about their thoughts and feelings. They had grown to love each other even more, but twinges of jealousy still lingered. Aang enjoyed his time at the school, but he missed Katara greatly and often caught himself thinking about her. Katara had similar feelings. She missed her boyfriend greatly, and although they had plenty of time to be together at the house, she couldn't stop thinking of him. Whenever she saw a girl get close with Aang, she would always get jealous and envious, but always managed to keep her cool.

"Can you guys believe it? These girls won't leave him alone, even when they don't know he's the Avatar," Katara said as she motioned to a group of girls crowding Aang.

"You should be flattered, Sugar Queen. You managed to score a guy who is attractive no matter his position. Twinkletoes isn't concerned about any of those girls, he just wants to be with you. I can feel him get nervous and uncomfortable whenever any girl approaches him, but when you enter the room, it's a whole different story," Toph replied.

Katara blushed. "I just wish we could spend more time together. Even though we get to hang out at home, it still pains me to bottle up my emotions for him when he's literally right there. I want the world to know that he's mine and that I'm his."

"Don't sweat it, Katara. The semester-finals are coming up soon and we'll finally be done with school," Suki reassured her.

"Yeah, you'll have the free time to profess your love for each other for the millionth time," Toph teased.

Katara rolled her eyes, but she smiled because she knew that she would finally have some time with Aang soon.

Aang walked to his sixth-period class and entered the room.

"Hello, Kuzon."

"Greetings, Instructor Rekishi," Aang replied.

Instructor Rekishi then looked up to the rest of the class while Aang took a seat.

"Before class begins, I'd like to make an announcement." The class looked up at him. "Our semester-finals are coming up and the school has decided to host a dance before our stressful week. The Spirit Ball will take place after school at the end of the week. We shall meet at the Ba Sing Se Dancing Hall. You must wear formal attire and you're expected to bring a date."

Many students made eye-contact while many gazes went to 'Kuzon'. Aang was too busy stressing about the dance to notice people staring at him.

"OH SPIRITS! I have to bring a DATE? This is terrible. I really want to bring Katara, but it'll just cause us problems." He slammed his head into his desk and groaned.

He spent the whole class panicking about it. Aang didn't pay attention to any lessons taught that day. As soon as class ended, he rushed through the halls, looking for Katara.

"Hey Katara!" he called.

"Yeah, Aa-err... Kuzon," Katara responded.

"You heard about the dance, right?" Aang whispered.

"Yeah, what are we going to do? We have to bring dates," she whispered back.

"I really want to bring you, but it will just cause confusion and disruption."

"I won't go out with anyone, I'll just say that you have a peace meeting to attend. You should take someone. If you don't, you'll probably be circled by girls and get more attention than if you went out with someone."

Aang looked down and stroked his chin. "What if..."

"Hey Kuzon!" On Ji yelled as she ran up to them. Katara immediately frowned. "Did you hear about the ball coming up?"

"Yeah, I did," Aang responded.

"Do you have a date?"

"Erm... no."

"Well... would you go with me?" She twiddled her thumbs and looked down.

Aang looked over her shoulder and looked at Katara. She nodded, despite really hating the idea of Aang dancing with On Ji.

"I'd... l-love... to..." he said cautiously, checking Katara's facial expressions every second. On Ji giggled and tackled him into a hug. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek. Aang blushed and looked extremely uncomfortable. Katara's eye twitched and her blood was boiling.

"I guess that's taken care of," Aang laughed nervously.

"Yeah... I guess it is," Katara said in a monotone.

"Are you okay, Katara?"

Katara sighed then flashed him a small smile. "Just promise me that you won't let her do that again."

He laughed. "I promise."

By the end of the school day, most students knew that Kuzon was bringing On Ji to the dance. Many other girls were unhappy, including Katara. She was envious and jealous of On Ji getting to dance with Aang. Students were going crazy around the school, looking for dates. Toph was asked out by a few boys but turned them down in a harsh manner. Katara was asked too, but all she had to say was that the Avatar was her boyfriend. Mai ignored any guy that tried to ask her to go out. Sokka and Suki were going together. Zuko was trying to avoid getting asked. He didn't want to anger a certain knife-thrower.

"How do I get these girls to leave me alone?" Zuko groaned.

"Lee? Is that you?" Zuko turned to his left to see a familiar girl, yet he couldn't remember who it was.

"Yeah, my name's Lee," he said.

"How have you been?" the girl asked.

"I've been... okay... How about you?"

"I've been doing pretty good. Where's the knife girl from your circus?"

"Knife... girl..?" he said, confused. His eyes widened a few moments later. "JIN?!"

"Duh, who else would it be?" she said mockingly.

"Uh oh, this isn't good," he thought.

"Hey, what happened to the scar on your eye?"

"Oh no, she remembers the scar. How do I explain why it's gone?"

"It actually wasn't a scar. It was just really good face paint for my act. In between shifts at the Jasmine Dragon, I would go act as prince, now Firelord, Zuko," he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Oh, sounds neat," she said. "So the dance is coming up and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"

"I, uh... go, with-you... dance," he stuttered.

"If you don't wanna go with..." she started with tears in her eyes.

"I don't want to hurt her feelings and I don't want her to cry." He sighed. "Hopefully, Mai will understand."

"Sure, I'll be happy to go with you," he said.

Jin looked up and smiled at him. "Great, I will meet you at the Firelight Fountain," she said as she ran off.

"Why me?" he thought to himself.

Team Avatar walked back to the house. They all sat in the living room.

"So guys, what's up?" Toph asked.

"I got a date," Zuko groaned.

"What? How?" Mai asked.

"This girl that I knew asked me out and I said 'yes' out of pity. She was going to cry and I didn't want to hurt her feelings and..." Zuko started.

"It's okay Zuko. That is really sweet what you did for her. Just no funny business," she finished sternly.

"Aang got a date too," Katara sighed.

"What? Why?" Sokka asked.

"The instructor said that we were expected to bring a date and as one of the most popular kids in the school, I would be one of the most expected students to bring a date. I asked Katara what I should do and On Ji asked me. I would've said 'no' if Katara said that she didn't want me to," he explained.

"Alright, but don't double-cross my sister," Sokka said sternly.

"Trust me, I won't. She's the only one for me," Aang replied.

"Well, we should go shopping. Us girls need new dresses and you boys need new dress robes. Our old ones are getting worn down," Suki said.

"Okay, shopping it is," Sokka said excitedly.