Please R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA.
Chapter 19
Zuko walked into the living room of the Team Avatar house. Sokka was fast asleep in his bed while Suki rested on the couch. Aang and Katara were cuddling on the couch across from Suki.
"Hey! So, how was your date?" Suki asked curiously.
"I'm just glad it''s over," Zuko groaned. "It's so uncomfortable going out with someone that isn't your girlfriend."
"I feel you," Aang piped up. Katara smiled at him.
"Jin isn't a problem anymore though, she said that she's moving to Omashu next week and she didn't want a long-distance relationship."
"She sounds really nice, are you sure you don't want to move to Omashu with her?" Katara teased.
"No, of course not! I have Mai!" Zuko yelled.
"Sheesh, it just a joke!" Katara rolled her eyes.
"Guys, be quiet! You might wake up Sokka and Mai!" Suki whispered.
"Mai's already here?" Zuko asked.
"Yeah, I heard her snoring when I brought Sokka to his room."
"Alright, thanks!' He rushed over to his/Mai's room.
Suki, Katara, and Aang sat there in silence for a few more minutes.
"Maybe we shouldn't have left Toph alone at the party," Katara whispered, her face buried in Aang's chest.
"Should we send somebody to get her?" Aang whispered back.
Just then, Toph barged into the room.
"How you guysss doin'?" she asked loudly.
"Toph quiet down!" Suki whisper-yelled.
"She must've taken some of the cactus juice," Katara sighed.
"Heyyy Kataraaaa, where are yourrr cloud babies?" Toph slurred.
"Not again with the cloud babies!" Katara responded.
Toph ignored Katara's comment and looked over to Suki. "Where isss Sssokka Juniorr?"
"Sokka Junior?" Suki said, surprised.
"Yeeeaahh, he'ss yourrrr son." Suki blushed madly while Katara and Aang laughed at her.
"Okay, Toph. Time to get you to bed." Katara said in between giggles.
"I don't neeeed sleep, I'm the grrtest Earfbender of allll-time!"
"Alright, let's go." Katara grabbed Toph's hand and led her to her room.
"Aw man, I'm sooo tired," Sokka groaned as he rubbed his cheek. His eyes were red and there were bags hanging underneath.
"Same," Toph said as she sipped her tea.
"Maybe it's because you two decided to drink CACTUS JUICE!" Katara scolded them, arms raised in the air. A certain airbender grabbed her hand from behind and twirled her around to face him. He pecked her on the lips as soon as she faced him. They were apart a few seconds later.
Katara immediately forgot all her frustrations and started giggling. "Why'd you do that?"
"It was just a sample of what our date will be like next week," Aang smiled.
"If that's a sample of what's happening next week, then I can't wait," she replied flirtily. Their lips immediately reengaged. Sokka rolled his eyes and Toph stuck her tongue out in annoyance.
"This is not something I want to see this early in the morning," Sokka commented.
Katara's anger immediately returned and she turned around to scold her brother again. "ARGH! JUST SHUT UP, SOKKA!"
"Where are you two going? We still have a couple of hours until school starts," Katara asked as Sokka and Suki walked towards the door.
"We're going to study, the first test is today and we don't want to flop. We're also going to practice sparring, so we're ready for the Battle Royale at the end of the week," Sokka replied.
"The Battle Royale?" Aang asked.
"Oh yeah, you weren't there. They made the announcement at the dance. You were probably too busy making out with Katara or whatever." Katara rolled her eyes and Aang shrugged, knowing it was somewhat true.
"Sokka's trying to say that the Battle Royale is a tournament where nonbenders and benders show off their battle prowess. You knock someone out of the tournament if they become incapacitated or if they give up. The winner gets displayed in the Hall of Fame, and I am NOT going to lose that title," Suki clarified.
"HAHAHA! Not a chance Mrs. Facepaint! I am almost guaranteed to win, with Twinkletoes only being able to use firebending!"
"What about me? I could give you a run for your money," Katara chimed in.
"Uh-huh, suuuuuree," Toph replied.
"What do you mean 'sure'?! Don't forget that I defeated Azula when Zuko," she motioned her arm over to him, "fought her multiple times and still lost!"
"HEY! I was shot by LIGHTNING!" Zuko screamed from the couch.
"Whatever guys, I'm still going to win," Toph said proudly.
"We'll see about that," Sokka murmured. Everyone rolled their eyes and continued to wait until it was time to leave. Suki and Sokka left for the library.
Sokka and Suki arrived at the library, hand in hand. They checked out some books and began to study. Suki was deep into her textbook and notes while Sokka looked up at her every two seconds. Her beauty kept distracting him no matter how hard he tried to focus on his notes.
"Sokka, when are you going to start studying?" Suki giggled, her eyes focused on her notes.
"What?! I'm not staring at you! I'm studying!" Sokka said guiltily. He raised his book so it stood on the table and peered over it. The top of his head was still visible and it was quite obvious he was checking her out.
"Sokka, I know you're still staring!" Suki said, closing her textbook and looking up at him.
He lowered his textbook so he was entirely visible. "What? It's not my fault that your beauty is so intoxicating! So if anyone is to blame, it's you!"
"Well, it's not my fault that you have eyeballs!" Suki combated.
Sokka opened his mouth to reply and realized he had no comeback. "Fair point."
"It doesn't matter anyway, I finished studying," she smiled.
"We've only been here for, what, 15-20 minutes! How?!" Sokka asked, mouth agape.
"Fifteen minutes is all I need and a few seconds is all I need to proclaim how much I love you." Sokka raised his eyebrow in confusion but soon her lips crashed into his, bringing him out of his state of shock. They let go a few seconds later.
"Let's do that again," he whispered.
The final day of school quickly arrived. It was the end of the day and Team Avatar had completed their exams. They met up after school.
"How were your finals?" Aang asked, exhaustion evident in his voice.
"Fine" Katara replied.
"Mine were easy," Sokka chimed in.
"I just wanna relax," Zuko said.
"Well, while you lazy bones relax I will be preparing for the Battle Royale. We only have a couple of hours before the tournament begins," Toph said.
"Ugh," Aang groaned. "Why didn't they host it last week instead of the final day of the exams? Everyone's exhausted, including me."
"I know right," Zuko agreed.
"I'm going to practice, see ya guys there!" Toph said while running off.
Sokka shrugged. "I guess we better get to it, then."
The Gaang split up to rest and get some more practice in before the Battle Royale. Aang was outside doing firebending drills. He didn't care about winning, he just wanted to get as much firebending practice done. All the students lined up in the courtyard. They were talking about the Battle Royal. They were dying to see a Kuzon-Lee rematch and were even happier at the prospect of Team Avatar (excluding Zuko and Aang) in the fight. People were coming up with different scenarios. Gambling on the Battle Royale was very popular. The bets were placed mostly on 'Kuzon', Toph, and Katara. 'Lee' got some votes but people thought 'Kuzon' would do better. Sokka and Suki weren't getting many bets on account of being nonbenders.
"Wow, this betting thing is big," Aang said, looking over to the betting tent.
"Yeah and nobody is even betting on me," Sokka said annoyed.
"You and Toph are the favorites to win. Katara is right behind," Suki said.
"What about me?" Zuko said annoyed.
"Nobody cares about you Sparky. After you lost to 'Kuzon', Katara and I are considered his only competition" Toph said.
"Yeah, sorry, Sifu Hotman," Aang said.
"Don't call me that," Zuko said annoyed.
The contestants were called into the arena. Zuko had brought his swords and was ready to fight. Aang was meditating. Katara was trying to focus. Toph was doing some last-minute practice. Sokka and Suki were doing practice-sparring. A gong rung and the contestants walked out into a makeshift arena. The arena had a pond in the middle and lots of rocks scattered around. The audience sat in stands surrounding it. They were cheering and the contestants walked into the center of the ring.
"These students have worked hard," the headmaster started. "Today they will show who has worked the hardest and who our strongest student is. This person will go down in history. I wish each of them good luck." The gong rang again and each contestant got into their stance. There was silence. Not one contestant wanted to initiate the battle. For a few minutes, they all stood in silence. One of the firebenders shot out a blast of fire and all the contestants started fighting. Aang managed to keep others away with quick and powerful fire blasts. Zuko was dueling Sokka with his swords while Sokka fought with his own single swords. The two fought evenly and Zuko was forced to mix firebending with his moves. Sokka then went on the defensive. Katara was fighting some warriors with her octopus stance. None of them could get close without getting significant damage. Toph had bent herself metal armor and was annihilating all of her competition.
"Half of the contestants have been eliminated!" an official announced.
Zuko shot a large fireball at Sokka who dropped his sword and fell to the ground. Sokka then threw his boomerang quickly and it knocked Zuko's swords out of his hands. Zuko shot a fireball at Sokka and surrounded him in a ring of fire. One of the officials ran over to Sokka and told him he had been eliminated. Sokka looked disappointed and sat on the side. Aang started going one on one with one of the earthbenders. He was having trouble blocking fast incoming rocks. He gathered his strength and blasted a large fireball. It broke through the earthbender's defenses and sent him reeling. Zuko ran over to Aang and the two started dueling. The crowd cheered as the two fought. Everyone was excited for the rematch that was happening. Before they could go any farther they were both engulfed by the wave of one of the waterbenders. The waterbender attempted to drown his competition. It didn't go as planned. All the competitors got up and continued fighting even though they were wet. Aang and Zuko continued fighting but there were no cheers. They started to hear gasps and whispers. They both stopped and looked around confused. Everyone including the other contestants was staring at them. Aang saw his reflection in a puddle of water and then knew why. Zuko realized too, a few seconds later, and they two froze on the spot.
"Oh no," they thought simultaneously.
"It's the Avatar!" someone called out.
"And Firelord Zuko!" someone else called.
There was an explosion of whispers and conversation.
"That isn't Avatar Aang. It must be a ruse to fool us and intimidate us," an earthbender called out.
"Well... I've been exposed, so I might as well use all elements," Aang thought to himself.
The earthbender who had spoken out stomped his foot to attack. Aang sensed the vibrations and when the boulder came at him he redirected it back. The earthbender freaked out and rolled to the side. He knew it was a dumb idea to challenge the Avatar, so he stepped out of the tournament. One of the waterbenders shot a wave of water at Aang. Aang twirled the water around him and shot it back as a giant ice fist.
"No way," the waterbender whispered before getting plowed by Aang's attack.
The battle recontinued and Team Avatar started to dominate the field. Suki and the rest of the nonbenders were eliminated quickly after. The other benders were being beaten back. None of them could handle the intensity of Aang's attacks. Before long only four contestants were left. Toph, Aang, Katara, and Zuko. The three master benders all silently agreed that they had to get rid of Aang. They backed Aang into a corner and he started doing the motions for his lightning attack. At the sight, Katara backed off a little and Zuko got in position for possible redirection. Toph created a thick wall of earth in front of herself. Aang fired the lightning but instead of hitting an opponent, the attack hit the ground in front of Aang. Smoke and dust shot up into the air. When the smoke cleared, Aang was gone. Zuko looked around and saw him falling from the sky. Zuko shot his most powerful fire blast at Aang. Aang responded by blasting it back using airbending. The fireball hit Zuko in the chest and sent him reeling to elimination. Aang landed and then started to waterbend all the water in the arena. He spread it out over the entire arena and froze it.
"What?! I can't see!" Toph exclaimed. She started panicking at her inability to see. The earth had been covered by ice and Toph couldn't bend. Aang froze her in a column of ice. He and Katara stood facing each other. Katara used the ice to shoot icicles at Aang. Aang dodged the attacks splashed large amounts of water at Katara. They continued for a few moments but it was evident Aang was being very defensive.
"I know you're holding back Aang," Katara teased.
"No I'm not," he started to freak out, fearing he had been caught.
"No firebending either," she said teasing again. Aang shot a blast of air and knocked Katara off her feet. He then earthbended her hands and feet to the ground so that she couldn't move or bend.
"The Avatar wins!" the headmaster called out to the crowd.
Everyone started cheering with an uproar
"Thank you, thank you!" He bowed. He then made his way to Katara and freed her and pulled her up.
"Good game," Katara said. His response was to kiss her on the cheek.
"You did fantastic," Aang complimented her. They walked over to the podium fingers-laced where they met Toph and Zuko waiting for them. Zuko received a fourth-place plaque. Toph received a third-place medal. Katara received a second-place chalice. And Aang was given a first-place trophy.
"Thank you," Aang started, "I am glad and thankful that you allowed me to enroll in this school. I am honored to have won and have enjoyed my time here. After today, I must return to my duties as Avatar. I wish you all a humble goodbye and farewell," he said. Aang walked off and was mobbed by the other students. He spent a couple of hours answering questions and being mobbed. He eventually got home, early in the night and went to bed.
"Avatar..." the sound of clicking on the floor was coming from the distance.