Kaktus Kaktus: Awesome! It's such an underrated ship lol.

gemsofformenos:

"Somehow she had sneaked in my story and until now I have a lot of fun with her." It's a lot of fun when new characters worm their way into stories lol. "In other stories, I have read, Toph has got somehow only small parts and hen most of them are the "Hey let's get drunk and make dirty jokes" part." I've noticed that a bit and I feel like I've been a bit guilty of it once or twice. So I had to do her some justice here! "She's a tough and rough one but on such a controlled level, very much like Azula, in my opinion." I feel like she and Azula have more and common than meets the eye. Toph is a less refined, crasser Azula in some ways. "In my opinion an aliance or friendship between Azula and Toph" That would be a wild team, indeed. They could do some serious damage lmao.

"And again a good balance within this chapter between the sad points and some heart-warming moments." I tried to give this one at least a few lighter moments instead of making it downright depressing. "Azula is destroying herself. Her body will get weaker as longers as she keeps on doing this to herself. She will only loose more muscles if she stays on this way and she's putting herself in high danger about her electrolytes." Exactly. That's one of many symptoms I've read about. The other being swollen hands and feet. "The cramping muscles are a warning signal." This was the other major side-effect I learned about. "And Teo has seen her through and cares for her. And he doesn't judge her for what she's doing. It's a helping hand and a supporter, she's needing so badly." He wants to help yes, but she's giving him a bit of a hassle and he's a bit frustrated. Mostly because he is concerned though. "Both had talked about her dads and both dared to share some of their problems with each other." This was something they both needed, for sure. It's a step closer to support."And I fear as long as her father would have the chance to put pressure on Azula and Zuko, both won't have a good chance to get things in line again." His influence is extremely negative, that is for sure.

"And I see you've decided to let Mais parents rethinking her pressure on the BeiFongs." I feel as though Mai's parents are more merciful. Like they have their reasons but there is a line they draw. Whereas Ozai is just a straight up asshole.

Aang threw a sheet over his head. Toph had told him to go to the party without her, but he didn't anticipate going so he didn't have a costume. So sheet ghost it was. Haru, Teo, and Long-Shot would be there so he wouldn't be totally alone. He removed the sheet once more, frowned, and flopped into a sitting position on the edge of his bed. On one hand, this party would be an opportunity to meet hot, hopefully caring and accepting guys. On the other hand, he was supposed to be tag-teaming it with Toph wearing the most kick-ass costumes they could. That would have really helped considering he was a marshmallow the rest of the year.

More than that he worried about Toph. Over the phone she made it sound like she was never going to see again. He hoped that she was just being uncharacteristically dramatic. But he had that feeling in his tummy. The uneasy one. He swore that he had some type of sixth sense.

Evidently. he also got the same feeling when thinking about the party.

But he already promised Katara and Suki that he would tag along, and from the sound of it Sokka would be there too. He didn't want to miss a chance to catch up with Sokka. He looked at the sheet again. Maybe, just maybe, if he searched the basement hard enough, he would find a costume worth wearing.

Hopefully it would go better than the last party he had attended. If it didn't, he vowed to never go to another party again. He twiddled his thumbs nervously; this would be the first time he would ever sneak out of his home. He couldn't afford to think about it too much, he was already feeling guilty and he hadn't even done it yet. His foster family had been so nice to him, his foster mom especially and he was about to go behind her back for a stupid party.

He tried to rationalize; he wasn't actually sneaking out. He had told her that he would be going out. But he had told her that he'd be trick-or-treating with Toph and Katara.

He wasn't sneaking he was…fibbing.

A small, teeny, little fib.

That was all.

He sends Katara a quick text. 'Are we still meeting up for the party?'

She took a little while to respond. 'I guess, but only because Sokka and Suki are going.' The dots disappear and reappear. 'I probably won't stay long though.' That was find by him, he hadn't exactly planned on staying long, himself. He'd probably just say hi to Sokka and Suki, have a few Halloween treats, and head home.

.oOo.

He had nothing even remotely worth wearing to the party so he stuck with the sheet. He flung it over his head and heads out, at the very least he could hide under it and pretend to be anyone but him. He paused and ran back inside to dress himself in a festive shirt—a simple t-shirt with a friendly looking ghost. He wanted to wear a Halloween-themed shirt, just in case he got tired of wandering around in a sheet.

It would seem that he had good timing because his foster mother called up, "Aang, your friend is here!"

He rushed down to greet Katara. She looked perfectly stunning, her hair was braided and beaded with shells and faux pearls woven into it. She wore a skirt that billowed out like mermaid fins and shimmered when caught in the light. "Where are the other two?" He paused before deciding to add, "you look nice today!"

"Thanks." She smiled. "They're going to meet us there." And then with a chuckle she said, "I think that the sheet ghost get up really suits you, it's cute and a classic."

.oOo.

He had to admit, the party scene was already rather overwhelming, it was only just started and the house was brimming to the ceiling with people, most of whom he'd never seen before. The entire block must have been invited and then some. No wonder he and Wan High's other nerds were so easily able to get in. But then, even if the place wasn't over-crowded he couldn't see Chan passing on an opportunity to humiliate or mock them. And a party was the perfect place to watch the socially inapt stumble around.

People aside, the music was already much too loud. Granted, he was a fan of the Monster Mash, so he might be able to get used to it. It certainly was better than the overly sexual or overly violent themes of rap and pop. It was also better than the fury and volume of rock and metal.

Next to him, Katara sighed. "What am I doing here?" She was preaching to the choir. "I can't believe I let Suki talk me into this. We could have been at home watching Halloween specials."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind going trick-or-treating with my foster siblings."

"Oh, Aang, I wish you would have told me that! I totally would have ditched the love birds to help you watch the kids."

Aang gave a lopsided smile. "Sorry, Kat, I didn't think about it." Truth be told he was thinking more with his manhood than anything else. He was tired of being one of Wan High's only students who'd never had a date.

One way or another, tonight would be a game changer for him.

Aang did a sweep of the party crowd, he spotted the usual attendees; Usha and her clique were dressed as sexy kitties. Jet and his posse took the zombie route. Though, he thought that jailbird costumes would suit them much better. And of course, Chan and his team. Chan himself was a suave vampire in an elaborate tuxedo. It was a little cliché, but at least it wasn't downright offensive like the rest of his group's were. Each and every one of them was dressed in drag; horribly stereotyped and poorly rendered parodies of it anyways.

The three groups gathered in the center of the room.

Aang averted his attention and spied TyLee in a cute bumblebee costume standing near the concession stand with Mai. He couldn't tell what she was supposed to be, but he thought that it might have been some sort of Victorian noble. No less, he couldn't help but smile at the apparent re-connection. It took him a while to pick out more familiar faces amid the crowd. But then, with an ounce of overwhelming dread, he noticed Hide standing by the DJ stand—likely requesting an awful hip-hop number that wouldn't fit the holiday at all. He cringed, it would seem that there would be a road block after all and suddenly is thankful for his generic ghost costume.

He spotted Azula too. She was standing on the side of the room opposite to the concession stand. Despite it all, he was curious about her costume. Usually she had the best one. But this year was different. There was nothing elaborate about it and he was left to assume that she had thrown it together just as last minute as he had selected his sheet ghost costume. This year she was dressed as a demon, it was cool enough, but it was missing the flare she usually added.

What truly caught his eye was who she had come to the party with. Teo smiled up at her. Aang thought that his costume was rather creative; he was an aviator and his wheel chair was made to look like an airplane.

But what Aang didn't see the person he had come there for. Suddenly, it occurred to him that he was looking in the wrong places. Moo-Chee liked hanging out in the corner, mostly alone, but sometimes with Mai or some of the other goth kids.

He shifted his gaze to the corner in question. There he was. Dark, brooding, alluring Moo-Chee. He stood there with his arms folded over his chest and a scowl on his face. No one could possibly be cooler than Moo-Chee. If he could score even one point with him tonight, his place on the social ladder could change.

He wasn't sure if Moo-Chee liked guys, but if school lore was to be listened to, then Aang just might have a chance.

"You find Suki and Sokka?" Katara asked.

Aang jumped. "What? Oh! No, not yet."

To his dismay, Katara followed his line of sight. "Him? He's the guy you're shooting for tonight? What about Haru? Haru is a good guy. Long Shot?"

"They're nice, but I don't know, I think that they're just friends. I wouldn't want to make things weird between us."

"I guess. But, 'The Dark One'? Oooo." She wriggled her fingers.

Aang nudged her, "I want to give him a chance."

"Sorry, I just didn't realize you were into bad boys."

"I had a little crush on Zuko, remember?"

"We all remember that." Chan remarked as he passed by. "Why aren't you dressed as a fairy?"

"Because it's Halloween!" Hide shouts from afar. "You're supposed to dress up as something you aren't already."

"Don't listen to them, you're going to find a great guy tonight. Even if Moo-Chee doesn't work out." Katara quietly reassured him.

He sure hoped so, because his night certainly wasn't starting right. He let Katara lead him over to the chocolate fountain. "We can wait here, Sokka usually goes right to the food." She remarked. She picked up a pretzel and dipped it into the chocolate. "Suki is going to love these."

Aang picked his way through the table until he found the fruits and vegetables until he acquired himself a healthy platter of them. A task made harder by the drag of his sheet, every now and again he'd accidently knock something to the floor.

Out of nowhere Katara jerked and grabbed his arm, "come on Aang, lets go see if we can catch Sokka and Suki before they get into the house. Might be easier, ya know?" She asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure." He didn't particularly want to risk losing sight of Moo-Chee, but then again, he couldn't imagine Moo-Chee actually leaving the corner. He looked over Katara's shoulder, nothing seemed amiss. He wondered if the spookiness of the season was finally getting to her. He gave the crowd another look and caught sight of a certain zombie merging himself back into it. "Are you sure it's safe to be here?"

"I'll be fine. I have…I'm going to have Sokka and there are so many people here." Katara promised, but the way she wrapped her arms around herself wasn't even slightly reassuring. "Besides, I can't just let him scare me away from everything, right? I have to live my life. If I let him take over every part of my life, then he wins."

Aang shifted nervously, he wasn't so sure. But she sounded so confident…and he was known for being timid and shying away from things. "If you say so." Trying to break the tension he offered her a cupcake.

"No thanks, I'm not in the mood for sweets right now."

Aang shrugged and scarfed it down.

He heard a soft tsking. "I come all the way back here from college and you don't even offer me a cupcake!" Sokka shook his head. Immediately he burst out laughing and slung an arm over Aang's shoulder and he had to laugh too. Soon Katara and Suki were snickering as well. "Good to see you again, Aang!"

"How's the party going?" Suki asked.

"I guess it's okay as far as a Chan party goes." Aang said, trying to push Hide's petty remark out of his mind.

"Jet is here." Katara noted and Sokka's expression darkened.

"Don't worry, he's been keeping his distance." Katara stated. "Anyways, Aang, tell them who you're making a move for."

Aang's face flushed.

.oOo.

"No really, I'll be alright, I'll just stick close to Sokka and TyLee." Katara smiled. "Go get him, Aang."

Aang blushed, had she really caught him staring? A moment of thinking told him that he had made it pretty obvious. "You sure, Katara?"

"Yes, Aang!" She urged. "I don't want to ruin your shot because I'm being paranoid. I haven't seen a sign of Jet since we spotted him by the concessions. Maybe he finally found a hobby."

That sounded like wishful thinking to him. But then again, Jet might be taking a break from his antics to enjoy the party scene. "Are you sure you're sure?"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Are you stalling?"

"What!? No!"

She gave him another nudge. "Then go get him."

He hesitated for a moment before shooting her a beaming smile. Now that he had her go ahead, he could take a shot. He took a deep breath and headed towards Moo-Chee's corner. It was the very same one he had inhabited at the last party. But the closer he got to Moo-Chee, the queasier his stomach felt. He almost wished that Katara hadn't granted him permission.

"Hi, how's the corner?" He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"Who are you?"

Aang chuckled nervously. "Oh, right, forgot…" He pulled the sheet off of his head.

"Oh. Aang." Moo-Chee muttered. "You having a good time?" Aang was almost certain that he was only asking out of courtesy alone.

"It would be better if Toph were here." He replied. "But, I guess this has been one of Chan's better parties so far."

"That's true." Moo-Chee agreed. "This one isn't as noisy."

Aang begged to differ but he agreed anyhow. "So uh…your name is Moo-Chee, right? I'm Aang."

"That's, The Dark One', to you." Moo-Chee corrected with an edge. "Never. Call. Me. Moo-Chee."

Aang flushed, he wished that he hadn't removed the sheet. How had he forgotten to use Moo-Chee's nickname? "S-sorry. I'm uh. I'm just a little nervous because I. Because I haven't been to a party like this in a while. And Toph was kinda, sorta, supposed to help me through this." Now he was rambling.

Moo-Chee sighed. "Forgiven, just don't do it again."

"So, how does bobbing for apples sound?" Aang asked.

"Perfectly awful."

"Oh. Okay. How about, the pinata?"

"I hate candy."

"We can join the costume party."

That time Moo-Chee scoffed. "This isn't a costume, this is my lifestyle."

"Oh really? Because it could be a really cool vampire hunter costume. Or that steampunk stuff." Frankly, Aang thought that he was going for the industrial metal look. Moo-Chee frowned so Aang attempted to save himself. "It's a cool lifestyle."

"I know." Moo-Chee replied.

"Do you want to leave the corner?"

"Not, at all." He grumbled. "But I will

.oOo.

Aang did another sweep of the room. He caught sight of Katara conversing with Mai and TyLee. He couldn't seem to find Suki and Sokka anywhere. He supposed that they would have to meet up after the party. If he were being honest, he kind of wanted to reunite right then. Moo-Chee was sucking the life out of him. He was undeniably hot, but he was so bleak.

He had been trying to make conversation with him for well over an hour and it seemed that he kept stumbling upon all of the wrong things. He learned the hard way that, 'goths don't cut themselves, that's what emo's do' and 'no goth and emo are not the same, emos are whiney and give the scene a bad rep'. Shortly after he learned that all of the bands he thought Moo-Chee would be into were 'poser favorites'.

But for some reason Moo-Chee still engaged in conversation. Aang took a breath and then a sip of his vampire's brew, the fruit punch was sweet on his tongue. Maybe he was overthinking things, maybe he was just trying to teach Aang about his lifestyle in his own Moo-Chee way.

Eventually, Aang decided to take a different approach and talk about his interests. All of his favorite indie artists and his favorite incense scents, healing gems, and songs to meditate to. This was going much better.

"So like, if you drink the right tea you can transcend?" Moo-Chee asked. "Is it like, drugs?"

"Not drugs," Aang emphasizes, "a deeper, calmer meditation."

"And you guys don't really like the mainstream?"

Aang doesn't exactly know what Moo-Chee means by 'you guys', but he replied anyhow. "Well, I think pop and rap don't fit my morals. So I guess you can say I don't like the mainstream stuff. I'd rather listen to white noise and do some crafts."

Moo-Chee nodded. "That's fascinating…"

"Really!?" Aang perked up. So far Moo-Chee was the only person save for Katara, Suki, Sokka, and Toph who didn't think that it was anything but wimpy.

Moo-Chee snorted, "No. That's some of the lamest shit I've heard all night. Right?"

Hide slapped his knee. "I told you he was a real fag, Moo-Chee."

Aang felt his face grow hot. He made a mental note to never mention making dream catchers and doing yoga again.

"Real men don't meditate and make dream catchers." Moo-Chee remarked. "Even I know that and I wear eyeliner and nail polish."

Hide turned to Moo-Chee and gave him a high five. "I didn't realize that you were so witty. Who knew that making you leave the corner was such a good idea."

Moo-Chee shrugged. "Don't take it the wrong way. He has been stereotyping the goth community all night, I had to pay him back."

"Pay me back?" Aang asked. "I thought that you were…"

"What? Into you?" Moo-Chee rolled his eyes. "Gross. I don't swing like that."

"But…"

"Rumors, I thought that a dweeb like you would know about those." He faced Hide again. "I helped you uncover his ridiculous hobbies and went along with his hipster bullshit, now lets talk about getting rid of those rumors I mentioned."

"Deal." Hide shook his hand. "Just do one last thing for me."

"Oh right." He turned his attention back to Aang. "As great as our yoga date sounded, I'm going to have to cancel."

.oOo.

Aang groaned, how had he fallen for that one? He should have known that a pretty guy like Moo-Chee was going to lead him on. He was a nerd. A dork. A zero. A complete loser. Of course he wouldn't get lucky on his first try.

He wanted to cry but he knew that it would be exactly what Hide had been waiting for. It would be even more ammo, God knew that Aang had given him a supply of that to last a lifetime and then some. He ran his hands over his face. This wouldn't have happened if Toph were here. How was he supposed to go back to school now?

Laughter echoed around the room. They were laughing at him weren't they?

Everyone was laughing at him.

The school priss.

The gay virgin.

He had to get out of there.

"Aang!" Katara called. But he wasn't in the mood for one of her bright-eyed, optimistic pep talks. "Aang, please!" She sounded almost desperate. But he would listen to her motherly speeches later. Right now he had to get some air.

He rushed for the door, not expecting a race. Azula shoved past him at a pace that would leave the school's track team in aw. Apparently, he wasn't the only one having a miserable time. This party was a disaster through and through.

He made it to the patio when it struck him that he couldn't go home just yet. Trick-Or-Treating was still in full swing and his foster mother would have a lot of questions if he showed up early. Especially if he did so with neither Toph nor Katara.

He sat on one of the empty chairs and sulked. This night was going so dreadful and he couldn't even run home this time. Instead, he had to sit there and hold back tears.

"Aang?" He looked up to see Haru in the most ridiculous pirate costume. Long-Shot in an equally ridiculous Robin Hood costume trailed behind. Aang could have sworn he saw the boy shoot Haru a thumbs up.

"Hey, Haru…"

"What's going on?"

"You mean you didn't hear?"

Haru winces. "Moo-Chee isn't that special. I mean come on, he calls himself The Dark One. Everyone knows that he's a big loser too, he was just trying to impress everyone…"

"It worked." Aang frowned.

"You want to have some real fun tonight?" Haru offered.

"Depends, what is 'fun'?"

"I was thinking, an overload Halloween candy and some spooky, scary movies. Courtesy of Long-Shot and I."

"We were going to invite Teo…" Long-Shot trailed off.

"But he has a date." Haru finished. "What do you say, Aang?"

"Where'd you get the candy?" Aang asked.

Haru motioned to the rest of the block. "Duh."

"I thought you were at the party."

Haru nearly doubled over in laugher. "What, hell no! I thought about it for a while and we decide to skip it. A good choice, from the looks of it."

"A very good choice." Aang nodded. "Yeah, candy and movies sound great right now."