"TyLee is facing her demons within this chapter." It's a huge moment for her, really. Frankly, it's part of her healing process. "As he has done this to her, she stayed silent and so Jet still has power over her. She's blaming herself, that her silence has allowed him to do harm to Katara now, but now she dares to stand up for her and for herself." She basically had an opportunity to take back some control and in her own way she had done so. "She has acted bravely and she was quick thinking too and had done almost everything right." She had thought about this kind of scenario a lot, what she would do if it happened again. "And maybe it sounds ridiculous, but I'll only believe, that this video will get this bastard, when he would be judged and would be put in jail, finally." Anything can happen in the span of time it takes to prove something. "I hope I haven't messed up something here, cause I'm definitly not familiar with the court system of your country," Frankly I'm going to have to do a bit of research on this myself, if that's the route I choose to go in. "The fact, that TyLee was his former victim was a bit on horizon for me and also that Ruon-Jian was somehow involved in this. It explains a part of the reasons, why he probably commited suicide." Since there really are no spoilers here, I will say that it really was a suicide. That will be touched on a bit more in this chapter. "But it seems, that Jet is about to get the trashing of his life now. In fact I have two candidats for beating the s**t out of him. Sokka AND Chan. Sokka for obvious reasons." Honestly there are many people who deserve to have the chance to whoop Jet's ass and Azula is one of them. "First, he might be an bully, but I think raping is a red line for him." Yeah, Chan is an asshole but he's not a criminal. "Thing becoming more interesting. I'm expecting, that Chan is the one, who saves Katara. This would be a fitting twist for your story and for your style of writing, in my opinion." Thank you, I had actually started typing this chapter right after I finished chapter 29. Granted I actually started with the end half of the chapter and then went back to the beginning of it to finish it off before posting lol. "You said, that you would try to put some characters together, who normally wouldn't be matched together so often, so this might hold up a chance for a new couple." Beyond Azula/Teo I actually haven't planned out anymore couples, so honestly I'll have to see where it goes as well lol. "Good job and a careful handling with this very serious and emotional topic."Thanks, I try to be tactful about it. I'm not a fan of stories that have rape scenes for shock value. For me a heavy topic like that has to have a real point in the story and it has to highlight how vile the rapist is. "Keep on having fun with your stories and thanks for the good wishes." Thank you and you're welcome. :)

So far, the party was going well, absolutely swimmingly, in fact. He had arranged the concessions stand to his liking and had picked out the perfect playlist. There were plenty of games and activities to keep his guests away from the areas of the house his parents had warned him not to invade. Evidently, he was, if nothing else, thankful that his parents were so lax. He could host as many parties as he liked so long as he didn't get the cops called on him and he paid for any of the damages inflicted to the house. Of course, he still had to wait for them to go on vacation or bribe them into leaving for the night. His mother was every bit as annoyed by the noise and bustle as he was intrigued and lifted by it.

That night was a bribe kind of night, he had done a good portion of the house work to earn this party so it better go spectacularly.

Usha was hooked around his neck blabbering on and on about how she was the perfect team captain and how it was beyond her that she wasn't chosen for the position in the first place. How they were probably going to make it to the state championship this year. He had to bite his tongue to keep from reminding her that Azula had gotten them to the state championships in the years prior. He shook his head, why was it still such a habit to want to speak up for the girl? He decided that it was only because Usha was so unbearable.

He watched her take another chug from her glass. "I don't know where you get this stuff." She murmured. "Really, you've got the best drinks."

"I have my sources." He winked.

"You think I'm going to win the costume contest this year?"

"Probably." He replied. He didn't see much other competition this year. Usha's costume wasn't very creative, but her figure filled it the best.

He finished the last of his own drink, still deciding how far he wanted to go. He didn't want to be drunk when he announced the winners of the competition and he had to watch the house. Last time Azula's waste of a brother had wrecked his nana's vase and he got an earful for it. But he didn't want to be sober either. He supposed that he'd settle for tipsy. It's not like he had any driving to do.

.oOo.

Usha was becoming more and more infuriating with each glass. Really, he ought to take the bottle away from her, but he didn't feel like dealing with the bitch fit she'd pitch. So he made his way to the concessions stand. Naturally the girl had to follow him.

He had every intention of ignoring her for his snack when the girl started giggling obnoxiously. He couldn't imagine that whatever she was laughing at was funny, but then, she wasn't the only one laughing. So he turned his head. He didn't really have any expectations in mind, but he also didn't think he would happen upon his ex stuffing herself. For the first time he considered that there might actually be something wrong with the girl, something that he was helping to fuel. That or he was overthinking things. She had probably always been that way and no one had caught it because she had been an athlete. Either which way, it wasn't a good look on her. Frankly he thought it was both disgusting and irritating. He hadn't arranged all of that food just for one person to inhale it all.

But then she locked eyes with him and the anger fades.

Into what? Pity? Guilt? Concern? He wasn't quite sure, but he certainly didn't welcome the feeling.

He was glad to see her turn away and take off. He didn't want to dwell on whatever that feeling was. It was easier to pretend like he hadn't felt it at all.

"Can you stop that!" He snapped at Usha. The girl's screeching laugh was giving him a migraine.

"But. Like, did you see her!?" She burst out in laughter again. "Ohman, I can't wait ferschoolon Monday."

He was definitely going to have to keep her from anymore drinks.

.oOo.

"Your costume is incredible." Chan didn't know the girl but her flattery was wonderful. Just when he thought that the night was going sour too. He savored the compliment. He liked to think that he looked pretty sharp in a gothic tux.

"Yeah, it's a pretty cool costume." Kori added. "But I don't remember inviting a nobody into our conversation."

"Eh, let Chu-Leng flirt a little." He jabbed a thumb in Chu's direction.

Kori rolled her eyes.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, a hand that was spinning him around. Jet didn't think he had ever seen the girl look so incredibly pissed off. "Where's Jet?"

Oh wow, what a trip she was, he had to chuckle. "Baby face has some bite." Who would have thought, he almost added. He earned himself a round of laughter. Of course, Usha and her hyena screech had the most volume. Just as she had after watching Azula, she was flailing her hands wildly. He was going to have to dump her soon, spiting Azula just wasn't worth that kind of hassle. Even with a few drinks in his system he found Usha nearly intolerable.

"Where. The fuck. Is. Jet?" TyLee cut through his pondering. Her voice had such a dangerous edge. A surprising one at that. When had that little marshmallow developed such a bark. He let his smirk fade. "I have no idea. I don't keep track of him. Why?"

"Like you'd care." With that final, wholly un-TyLee display the girl had spun on her heel and stormed into the crowd. Chan felt somewhat squeamish. There was something off about the whole situation. These days TyLee was anything but peppy and upbeat, but she was never outright vicious. He didn't think that he had ever heard her use the word 'fuck' before. He had never seen her snarl quite like that either. Perhaps that was what enticed him to call out for her to wait a minute. Not that he thought she would listen, she was walking with a purpose. He undraped Usha from his arm.

"Hey were-er-yagoin'." She slurred. "Ch-Chan, hey wereya… where ya…"

He hoped that Chu-Leng would take care of that hot mess. He watched her stumble and collapse and rolled his eyes. She was such a sloppy drunk, it almost made him miss dating Azula who—even completely trash—had at least some degree of grace and poise.

Chan weaved in and out of the crowd keeping close behind TyLee, his curiosity well and piqued. She didn't seem to take any notice of him at all and maybe that was a good thing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see what her claws looked like.

She was navigating the crowd like her life depended on it. Or like someone's life depended on it. That feeling was back, that feeling as though something was wrong in the world. He couldn't recall ever having felt unsafe at one of his parties even with all of the drugs and booze. He ignored various outraged cries from people who he brushed or shoved passed.

Suddenly TyLee came to a halt, so he slowed himself. Just what was the girl up to? Was she going to trash his party? But what reason would she have to spite him like that? He didn't think that she had any love left for Azula, certainly not enough to wreck his party on her behalf.

Just like that she was sprinting towards one of the unoccupied halls. If he weren't trying to be sneaky he might have yelled at her for going into one of the off limit hallways. Instead he followed her silently, thankful that she was so hyper-focused on whatever her goal was. He noticed her whip out her phone and push the door open.

"It didn't have to happen this way." With that voice, Chan's throat went dry. "All you had to do was say yes, then we could have had a nice date without all of this struggling."

"Oh for fuck's sake." He muttered to himself, clawing at his hairline. Jet was doing this at his party. He raked his hands through his hair again. Chan was a lot of things. A bully? Some would say that, he supposed. An asshole, that was probably a check too. But this?

He wasn't this kind of person.

And a few pieces fell into place. He didn't know exactly where they belonged in the puzzle but two things clicked. Ruon had seen something. He had seen something that Jet did. They had a falling out and now Ruon was dead.

With a howl, Chan darted passed TyLee and threw himself on Jet. He thought that he might have kicked Katara in the process. But it didn't matter. What mattered was making Jet pay for Ruon's death. He slammed his fist into Jet's jaw. It might have cracked.

And that was fine by him.

It was also fine by him that Jet's nose was bleeding profusely. And it was finer still that Jet was whimpering. "At my party!" He roared. "At my fucking party. You couldn't have kept it in your pants until…" until when? So he backtracked. "You can't just keep it in your pants? You can't control yourself, are you some kind of animal?" But then, Chan was almost certain that even animals had more control than that.

Yes, Chan was a lot of things. A good number of them were rather awful, he knew that very well. He had no love nor respect for Katara but seeing her on the floor, shirt cast aside with nothing but a bra to keep her unexposed…

His fist fell upon Jet again.

He didn't know how many times his fist landed on the boy's face, but he imagined that the two were well acquainted by that point.

He heard another body enter the room, maybe two. This was it, he was going to jail…

But the hands that pull him off of Jet didn't constrain him. They took his place. And he understood, as much as he wanted to keep wailing on Jet for what he'd done to Ruon, this was more of Sokka's fight than his. So he let Sokka have at it.

Instead he stood up and grabbed Katara's shirt he handed it to Suki, who dressed the other girl.

And then he approached TyLee. A sobbing, trembling TyLee. "How did you know where to find her?" As soon as he asked more pieces fell into place. He didn't need her answer because he already knew it. Jet had done this before. He had done it at his homecoming party the year before. He had done it and Ruon knew.

Chan wondered what kind of threats Jet had made to keep his long-time companion quiet. He didn't imagine that it took much, Ruon had always been more timid. Timid until it mattered. And while he mustered up the courage to speak out, Jet had put all of his power into ruining the boy's life.

The picture was almost completely clear. "He saw something so he had to die." He whispered to himself.

"What?" TyLee asked softly.

"Ruon knew…" His father had always told him that a real man didn't cry. His father would be disappointed in him. He probably cried harder than TyLee, or at least on par with her. His best friend was dead and it really was all his fault. TyLee…Katara…that was his fault too.

He threw his fist into the wall, leaving a pretty good hole.

Distantly he noted that Suki was pulling Sokka off of Jet.

Lord Chan hoped that a murder wasn't just committed in his house. All the same, he truly hoped that one was.