New Student (Zukka fic)

by Blisterpaw

Zuko has finally been able to get into his dream school, a college called Republic Academy, and he's hoping to do the very best he can. He stays in his room, studies hard, and doesn't socialize much. His dorm mate, Sokka, on the other hand, would much rather party and socialize, and he's put off by his serious dorm mate. What starts out as sour, however, can turn sweet.

16. Part Sixteen

Suki lay horizontally across an armchair, scrolling on her phone. "Hey, Yue, what should we have for dinner?"

Her girlfriend's blue eyes lit up like the night sky. "Oh! I found this amazing recipe online, and I really want to try it out! Want to see?"

With effort, Suki rolled out of her spot and hiked over to the kitchen, looking over Yue's shoulder at her phone. It was a recipe for chicken and dumplings casserole, and her mouth watered. "I like the sound of that." She scrolled down further. "How long does it take to...two hours?"

Yue's eyebrows scrunched together, which was the cutest thing she'd ever seen. "Oops. Guess we're getting fast food."

"Fast sounds nice." Suki pulled out her laptop, and the two of them put in their orders. Yue pecked her on the cheek, and even though it'd happened a hundred times before, she couldn't help but blush.

Another thought came to Suki, one that they'd been dancing around for weeks. She'd asked indirectly once or twice, but the topic always swerved into a different direction. This time, she would be blunt. "Yue..." She twiddled her thumbs. "When are we going to tell your parents about us?"

Yue started, and she turned around to face Suki, her expression anxious. "I...I don't know. I'm still not sure how they'll take it, so I suppose I've been...procrastinating a bit." She walked over and put her hands in Suki's. "I hope you don't think I'm embarrassed about you, I'm not!"

"No, no, I didn't think that!" She put her hands up in surrender. "I just...didn't want them to find out too late and it turns into this big blowout."

Yue raised her hand to her lips, and Suki felt herself about to explode. "It won't, I promise. I'll tell them."

She smiled, and the two of them enjoyed the moment of peace and quiet. Then she realized something. "Hey, isn't it kind of weird that nothing's happened with Sokka and Zuko lately?"

"Yeah, it is kind of odd, isn't it?" Yue chuckled. "Something always seems to be going on with those two, huh?"

"Exactly! I feel like right now there should be some sort of drama or completely unexpected event-"

"SOKKA, SHUT UP! I NEED TO BOIL MY SADNESS AWAY UNTIL I AM THE GOD OF TEA!"

Suki sighed. "There it is."

...

After yesterday's crying session, Sokka figured that would be the end of it. Zuko would get all of his emotions out, and things would go back to normal. What happened instead is what Sokka could only describe as the tea-pocalypse.

Zuko was bent over yet another kettle, as half-finished teacups lay strewn across the dining table. A couple had tipped over a bit, causing stains on the usually immaculate wood. Zuko still had a bedhead (which was kind of cute, but not the point), and was still wearing his pajamas.

Sokka sidled up behind his roommate. "Hey, hey, Zuko, buddy, pal..." He paused. "Another word for friend! Maybe you should just step away from the kettle...you know, re enter society..."

"Why re-enter the society in which the best tea shop has closed down, when I have all the tea I could ever want at my disposal?" Zuko replied, dramatically waving his hands about and not taking his eyes off the electric kettle.

"Listen, I know this is hard, but there's no need to drink yourself into a tea coma." Sokka squinted at the cluttered dinner table. "You haven't been drinking most of this, actually."

No comment.

"Zuko-"

"SOKKA, SHUT UP! I NEED TO BOIL MY SADNESS AWAY UNTIL I AM THE GOD OF TEA!"

Sokka stopped talking at that point. He put up his hands in surrender and walked towards the couch, knowing there was no use in trying to stop Zuko. Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Uh, Sokka? Zuko? Is everything okay in there?"

He zoomed like a rocket towards the door, yanking it open but only a crack, so all that they could see was his face. "Suki, Yue! What's up? What's new?"

Suki scrunched her eyebrows and tried to peer over his shoulder. "We heard some yelling, mostly Zuko calling himself the god of tea?"

"I have many questions," Yue piped up from behind her.

"Um, everything's cool back here-"

At that exact moment, Zuko let out a demonic screech, and the sound of a small explosion could be heard. No one said anything.

Sokka inhaled deeply, then walked out the door and closed it behind him, deciding to investigate for now. "Listen, Zuko's going through a time right now. His uncle's tea shop just closed down, which was also basically his home. Yeah. It's not great."

Suki's eyes widened. "That's awful! Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I don't know if there's any hope for him." He shook his head sadly. "I tried talking to him, but as you heard, it didn't go all that well."

Yue pulled out her phone and turned it around so Sokka could see the time. "You're going to have to talk to him, because you've got class in fifteen minutes."

His eyes widened and his heart leapt into his throat. He dashed back into the room, slamming the door. "Crap! Zuko, get over your crisis right now, we've got to move!"

Yue and Suki blinked at the door in front of them, unsure of what just happened. Finally, Suki spoke up. "Well, Zuko certainly opened up, didn't he?"

...

"Come on, Zuko, we're going to be late!"

Sokka was practically dragging him across the campus, but Zuko didn't care enough to speed up. The world had ended, and no one seemed to notice but him. The only way to cope was with tea, not going to class. He knew even his uncle would probably object to that, but right now he didn't care.

Somehow, they made it to English, and Zuko plopped down his stuff at his usual spot, and Sokka did the same on his left. He wasn't completely sure he had his English textbook on him, because he packed everything in his bag in about thirty seconds, all while Sokka swore the whole time.

They both took a seat, and Sokka was babbling about something that Zuko wasn't listening to. He wasn't trying to be rude, but he was basically dead to the world at this point.

"Attention, class!"

That strict voice grabbed his attention. Professor Jeong-Jeong had a way of quieting an entire classroom of students with only a few words, a skill that Professor Pakku continuously struggled with.

"Today, we will be starting a new piece of literature."

There were some groans at that, including Sokka's, but Zuko couldn't be more thrilled. Books were a journey to another world, another time, and no form of art could ever capture the same feeling. Today might end up being a good day after all.

Jeong-Jeong gave his class a stern look, and they immediately shut up. He picked up a very familiar book from his desk and held it up for them to see. "We will be reading a classic Fire District play, Love Amongst Dragons."

This was the best day of his entire life.

The professor surveyed the room. "Is there anyone who has read this play before?"

Zuko's hand shot up in the air, along with a couple of other Fire District students, although they were much more relaxed. He could feel Sokka's gaze on him, and he could have sworn he was laughing at him, but he couldn't care less. He also distinctly heard someone (probably Hahn) cough loser rather loudly, and they were swiftly silenced with a piece of chalk slamming into their nose.

The black-haired boy smirked. This was why he liked Professor Jeong-Jeong.

Then as if nothing happened, Jeong-Jeong returned to his lecture and nodded sagely. "Yes, I expected a few of my Fire District pupils to have read this before, or perhaps seen it performed. For the rest of you, it might be helpful to do some research on the Fire District during the time it was written. Now, the period before the Sozin era is often quite vague..."

Zuko took rigorous notes during that class, drinking in every word Jeong-Jeong said. He'd heard most of it before, but he couldn't stop grinning at every memory the lecture brought forth.

"Mom, do I have to?"

His mother was pulling him by the hand, weaving in and out of the bustling crowd while making sure that her son was still clinging to her. She looked down at him for a moment and smiled in that way of hers. "Trust me, Zuko, you'll like it. I know I did when I was a little girl."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "But plays are boring. Why couldn't we have gone to the movies instead?" His eyes lit up. "They're playing Phoenix Warrior at the movies this afternoon! Can't we go, pretty please?"

She laughed at his attempt at puppy eyes. "I'm sure we can go see it with your sister later. But this is the last time they're performing it here, and I promise it'll be much better than those stuffy productions Uncle Iroh drags you to."

"I hope so," Zuko grumbled.

Before he knew it, they had merged with a small crowd gathered before a hastily constructed was surrounded by towering figures looming over him, until all he could see was the blue sky. Suddenly, hands went under his arms, and he was hoisted up onto his mother's shoulders, and he was able to see the stage with perfect clarity. He startled at the sound of thunder, and Zuko looked up to see if the sky was still blue. Not a cloud in the sky.

Chilling music swept over the market, causing nearby shoppers to stop and stare. Majestic creatures popped out from behind the tiny curtain, giving them a glimpse into another world. Dragons, phoenixes, sky bison, all the beasts of old. Zuko knew it wasn't real, but it almost felt like-

"It was magic, I'm telling you!" Zuko exclaimed, moving his hands about animatedly. All of their classes that day had just ended, and the pair of them were strolling back to their dorms, their shoes crunching against the melting snow. "It was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. It made me realize just what someone could do with a wooden platform and a few talented artists! That play script was the first book I actually wanted to read out of my own free will."

"Okay, okay, but did you see Phoenix Warrior?" Sokka interrupted. "Because that's one of the best films of all time."

He shook his head. "Nope. My...uh...my cousin went to see it. I didn't." He had left Azula out of the story, not wanting Sokka to ask questions about her. He wasn't quite ready to talk about her yet.

He'd do it one day.

Sokka sighed theatrically, beginning the climb up the winding staircase. "There was no reason you couldn't see both. Now you're a theatre kid, congratulations."

Zuko scoffed, putting a hand over his heart as he followed Sokka. "Excuse me, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, nothing!" His roommate put his hands up in an act of remorse that fooled no one. "I'm just saying theatre kids are...you know. Interesting."

"...What does that even mean?"

Instead of answering, Sokka just laughed and deliberately walked slower up the stairs to look at Zuko from behind. "Now that you've told me, I can't unsee it. You even walk like a theatre kid."

Zuko's face flamed and he stumbled a bit, unsure of where to put his feet now. "Huh? That's not a thing. I walk just like everyone else."

"No, you don't!" He just laughed harder. "It's actually hilarious! I always thought there was something about your walk, and now I know what!"

Zuko fumbled around his jacket pockets for his keys as they approached their dorm. He felt like he'd inhaled hot sauce into his nose. "That's absolutely not a thing. How do I even walk, anyway?"

Sokka shook his head. "Oh, no, I'm not telling you."

The door unlocked with a click and Zuko whipped around to stare at him. "What? Why?"

"Because then you'd try to stop!" Sokka brushed past him and dropped his bag in the middle of the hallway. Then, quieter- "It's cute."

Well. Now it was as if Zuko had stuck two chili peppers up his nostrils.

"Uh, buddy? C-could you help me clean up the kitchen, I'm not doing all that by myself."

The Fire District boy snapped out of it, and strode into the dorm, clearing his throat to make sure he still had a voice. "Yeah, of course, sorry about that. And move your backpack, I'm tired of you leaving it here!"

...

"...And so, with my final breath of flame, I give to you, my daughter, the power of our ancestors and the wisdom they hold. May you be forever Queen after my passing."

"Right. Um..." Sokka squinted at the page like he was a senior citizen. "I promise to uphold my sacred duty as Queen of the Crimson Dragons, and bring honor, in-integrity, and peace to my people. We burn as one."

Zuko beamed. "Right! That's the end of Act One."

It had been two weeks since they had started reading Love Amongst Dragons, and Zuko thought it was going rather well. Sure, he was still one of the only four students who answered questions about it during class, and he was definitely the only one excited about the project Professor Jeong-Jeong had promised at the end, but none of that mattered. He liked this time he had with Sokka, reading out the lines Zuko had long since memorized. He was sure Sokka enjoyed it, too.

His roommate's book slammed shut. "Zuko, no offense, but I have no idea what just happened."

Or maybe not.

Zuko cocked his head to the side. "What about it is confusing?"

"I just-okay. So, dragon dad knows he's going to die, right? But since his daughter was exiled, when he dies, the throne's going to go to his creepy brother. I got that. But didn't the dad send the Blue Spirit to go find his daughter? How did that turn into the Blue Spirit killing the purple dragon king? And why is the daughter queen now? This doesn't make any sense."

"Oh, I see." Zuko nodded his head in understanding. "Yeah, that part happens kind of quickly. His daughter didn't know that her father was looking for her, so she figured the only way to get the throne was to form an alliance with the Purple Dragon King, and that's where the Blue Spirit found her. But it turns out that her uncle knew about this, and paid the Purple Dragon King to assassinate her. The Blue Spirit killed him, the Crimson Dragon King was able to disinherit his brother because of that, and so now his daughter is queen."

Sokka paused, and then leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a solid minute. Then he threw his hands up in the air. "It's official. I'll never understand books."

Zuko ran a hand over the cover of his own copy, and smiled softly. "Well, to be fair, it was never meant to be a book. It'd be a lot easier to understand if it was performed, not read, like the playwright intended."

"Oh, okay then, I'll just get up onstage and dress up like a dragon, that way I'll actually know what's happening," Sokka snarked. He banged his head lightly on the table. "I couldn't even imagine it."

"Speak for yourself," Zuko chuckled. "When I was a kid, I would have given anything to be in a play like this. You know, they put on a production of this when I was in middle school."

His roommate perked up at that. "Really? Did you audition?"

Zuko gulped. He suddenly regretted bringing it up. "Uh...uh, no. No, I...chickened out."

Sokka studied his face with a dead expression, which didn't look right on him. "I don't believe you."

"...What?"

His expression didn't change. "I don't believe you. You just said you would've given anything to be in this play, you would've at least auditioned. So what's the real reason? Or were you in the play?"

"No, I wasn't. Um..." Zuko twiddled his thumbs and stared intently at the floor. "It's nothing, really. It's just that my father found out that I wanted to audition for it, and strongly encouraged me not to. So I didn't."

The dead expression had left Sokka's face, and was replaced by a gaping jaw.

Zuko swallowed. "Yeah," he breathed. "I live with my uncle now."

Sokka tapped his fingers against the table for a while, apparently deep in thought. Then blue eyes turned to steel. "Who did you want to audition for?"

The question caught Zuko by surprise and released a little bit of the tension from his body. "Oh, well, I always wanted to play the Blue Spirit. He incorporates a lot of pantomime into his performance, as well as-"

"Well, would you look at that?" Sokka exclaimed. He had opened the book back up and flipped to the next page. "The Blue Spirit's in this next scene, along with..." He squinted. "The Purple Dragon Prince. I can work with that." Without any warning, he stood up and jumped onto his chair, ignoring Zuko's confused sputters, and proceeded to step onto the table.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sokka, what are you-"

"We're living your dream, Zuko. Get up on the table with me."

"What? No, that's disgusting. That's where we eat-"

"Not anymore! Now it's the home of the greatest production of Love Amongst Dragons ever performed!" Sokka narrowed his eyes at him and held out his hand. "I will drag you up here if I have to."

Zuko threw his head back and groaned softly. Sometimes, he really had no idea what went on in Sokka's head. But, since he had no desire to be dragged onto a table, he took off his shoes, and accepted the outstretched hand. After being pulled up onto his precious mahogany dinner table with his sweaty socks on, he stared at his friend. "Well? Now what?"

Sokka laughed. "We perform the scene, dummy! You're the Blue Spirit, and I'm the Purple Dragon Prince." He waggled his eyebrows. "I hope you're ready for my impeccable acting skills."

Zuko couldn't help but laugh a little bit at his antics, even if he still didn't know what he was playing at.

The 'impeccable actor' cleared his throat. "Ahem." Then he dropped down to one knee, startling Zuko. "Oh, Blue Spirit, please spare me!" Sokka declared very loudly, dramatically enunciating every word. "I knew nothing of my father's plot, and I would never wish harm against the Crimson Dragons, let alone their princess! Oh, you must believe me!"

Sokka's energy was infectious, and Zuko felt himself get swept up in the spectacle. He closed his eyes, taking himself back to middle school, and thought of how he would have said his lines if he had auditioned. "Belief does not come easily in these times. If that is all you have to offer me, you would be better off with my sword against your throat." His voice was icy, his raspy tones contributing well to the effect.

Sokka grinned broadly, making Zuko blush a little, before he continued. "I do not know what proof I can give you, spirit!"

"The servants tell me you are not so much like your father, which is promising. However, your fate does not rest with me. The Crimson Dragon Princess will be the one to decide that."

There was a scoff that was so comical it easily could have come from a cartoon villain. "Oh, so the great Blue Spirit is now a thrall of the Crimson Dragons? Since when did they have any claim over you?"

Zuko strode carefully across the wood over to Sokka, and leaned down slowly until he was right in his face. "I am claimed by no physical being, prince," he hissed. "I obey only justice, and at present, it does not lie with you. I suggest you choose your words carefully in front of the princess."

Sokka's entire face was red, which was confusing, before he coughed and got back into character. "Apologies, spirit. I will of course speak to the princess."

Zuko backed away, his hands clasped behind his back. "Considering you have no choice in the matter, I suppose you will."

They both stood there in silence, unsure of what to say next. Then Sokka beamed, grinning ear to ear. "Do I have permission to punch your dad in the face if I see him? Because he had no idea what he was talking about."

An image of Sokka sucker punching Ozai came to his mind, and he couldn't help but snort. "By all means."

Zuko was suddenly enveloped in a bear hug, and he could only see a fuzzy blue jacket. "Seriously, dude, that was awesome! I think you had a point about that whole performing thing, too, I actually understood what just happened."

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "We should keep doing this!" And then he remembered where he was. "Not on the table, though, please. That's still disgusting."

"What?! But it's part of the fun..."

...

Sokka had a hard time falling asleep that night.

Getting up on that table and performing had definitely been a blast, and he wasted no time in patting himself on the back for that brilliant idea. It was nice to see Zuko laughing and smiling again, after he'd been so dismal this morning. Plus, the fact that he'd nearly had a heart attack earlier when Zuko leaned right into his face (His eyes were so gold, his raven hair falling gently in front of them, his hot breath so close to his face, oh Tui and La help him-), didn't hurt either.

But then there were other issues to think about.

Sokka had always wondered why Zuko lived with his uncle, and his first theory had been that he was an orphan. It would make sense, especially considering that he never talked about his parents. But now that theory was out the window, and was replaced by a theory that might actually be worse. To say that Zuko had to be removed from his parents' custody (or maybe just one) was a pretty hefty assumption to make, as he wasn't sure if there had been any physical abuse or neglect going on. It still didn't change the fact that his dad was a jerk.

He felt depressed just thinking about an adolescent Zuko standing before his dad, who was cartoonishly huge and sinister-looking in front of his son, crying as an audition flier was torn to shreds. Maybe it didn't happen as dramatically as that, but his point still stood. He would have been amazing in that play, and because of one person, no one got to see him.

Fluffing up his pillows, he settled into his bed further and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep. If Zuko didn't want to talk about it, that was fine. But he'd be there if he ever did.