Zuko looked dismally at his reflection. These uniforms were so stupid! They were simple enough, with the look of standard Fire Nation ones, but the kids attending White Lotus High were hardly elementary school students. The entire uniform was black with the exception of the lining, sash and headband (another tacky touch, marked with the symbol of the Order of the White Lotus), which were the color of the student's nation.
Decked out in red and black, longish dark hair dispersed by a dumb- as well as sickeningly bright- headband, and expression even more gloomy than usual, Zuko definitely wasn't at his best. He wondered absently if Mai felt like this all the time.
He left Sokka to his own black and blue fate and headed out the door. The Team Roku dormitory was fairly simple. There was one two story building for the boys, one for the girls, and another red roof-tiled pavilion in the middle where they could meet and socialize. This dorm was to the west of the main campus, with the others stationed at the remaining three points of the compass- Kuruk in the north, Yangchen to the south and Team Kyoshi's home in the east. Zuko could see enough in the moonlight to find the pale yellowed tiles of the Yangchen roof and the blue of Kuruk's to either side, but the green Kyoshi rooftops were obscured by the stark white buildings in between.
With nothing better to do, he headed towards the meeting pavilion and braced himself for the four long years to come.
--
Katara tugged angrily at her simple white tunic, practically begging it to look fashionable, or at least marginally cuter than it did now. It flatly ignored her pleas. "Ugh! These stupid uniforms!"
"Cool it, Sugar Queen. No one cares what it looks like. Besides, aren't we all wearing the same thing anyway?"
Toph's calm acceptance of her uniformed fate made Katara reconsider. The girls' clothes were all white, with the exception of the sash, lining and headband, and their tunics were slightly longer than the boys', almost like a skirt.
Deciding her hair loopies had no place in this unforgiving teenaged world, the Waterbender undid them and allowed her gently curled locks to flow freely. Then she put it all up into a high ponytail, using the headband to bind it, and tied the sky-blue sash around her waist.
She continued to twist and turn to examine herself from all angles until Toph cut in again. "Would you quit pacing around already?! You're killing me, Sugar Queen!"
"Sorry, I'm just making sure everything is... neat."
You mean 'everything is perfect for Sparky', Toph thought. It took all her willpower not to snicker.
"Shoot! One more adjustment." Toph heard the rustle of fabric and the swish of Katara's hair, which had gotten a good deal longer since the final battle. Then more of that infuriating pacing. "Okay, that's perfect." Realizing she was annoying the master Earthbender, she hastened to add, "I'm... just... gonna go now," and disappeared from the room, leaving Toph to wonder just when she had gotten so picky.
--
She arrived in the main Roku pavilion to find herself alone except for one other person- a boy, lounging by the fire and manipulating it with lazy hand motions.
"Zuko!"
He jumped up immediately at the sound of his name, then relaxed slightly, grinning broadly. "Katara!"
Her heart skipped a beat. His eyes caught the firelight in the most amazing way, his easy grin lighting up the room much more thoroughly than the blaze itself. Underneath the black uniform, muscles flexed powerfully as he leapt to his feet, the red piping bringing her glance over his strong form before the headband drew her eyes up to that gorgeous amber gaze again. "Wow..." she breathed.
He fidgeted under her stare. "Yeah, I know, it's pretty tacky. They should really work on their uniforms, huh? Although yours is... nice..." He trailed off as his eyes met hers for the first time.
The simple white tunic brought out Katara's darker skin, shining now in the moonlight. The blue of the sash matched those beautiful eyes, not to mention the way the entire uniform fit her feminine form...
"Oh... thanks. Yours is... great..."
Both shook themselves fiercely, recovering from the stupor. It's just Katara... The same Katara I traveled with a few months ago... he told himself sternly, but couldn't help adding, The same Katara I was imprisoned with below Ba Sing Se...
Just Zuko... Just a crush... This is like with Jet, Katara. You're getting ahead of yourself, she reprimanded herself internally, but couldn't resist finishing with, There's no harm in being friends with your teammates...
Friends. Right.
--
Aang finished putting on his uniform. Although he could have gone with the white of the Air Nomads, he didn't want the fame and the pressure of being the Avatar. He would just be a regular kid. It had taken these past two months to pull it off, but he'd even grown out his hair again for the occasion. Since it was the element he had the least experience with, Aang had decided to play the role of Firebender here. He stepped out of the boys' dorm and began the walk towards the pavilion. He would fit in perfe-
"Kuzon? Kuzon, is that you?!"
Aang stiffened. He knew that voice. On Ji was here!
--
"So... been a long day, huh?" he ventured.
"Yeah... really long day..." Katara made a note-to-self to teach Zuko some social skills.
"So... tomorrow's AP testing, right?"
"...Right..."
"So... do you want to... practice? Together? For the AP bending test, I mean. You know, just... sparring and stuff... A few hours from now, maybe..."
Was he asking her on a date?! They both already had someone else! But then... how could Aang and Mai ever find out about this? They were on the same team... this was normal... It certainly wasn't the most romantic invitation... It was up for debate... "I'd love to, Zuko. Meet here at eight?" She couldn't stop smiling at him.
"Oh... yeah... eight. Got it." He grinned and the innocent uncertainty in his eyes made her giggle. He might be older than Aang, but it was clear that he'd never been in love before. Mai was someone the Fire Nation expected of him. But this?
This was a good old fashioned high school romance.
--
"Kuzon, it's so great to see you!" He had turned to face her now, and was fidgeting, hand on the back of his head and elbow cocked. "And you've grown your hair longer! It still looks good with the headband, though," she added with a smile.
"It's nice to see you too, On Ji!" He inched away, looking for an opening. If he could just slip away from her, he'd be able to visit Katara at the Team Roku meeting pavilion...
"My parents made plans to transfer me here after the war ended, and now it's finally open, so here I am! Hide didn't come though. I'm kind of glad about that," she added in a whisper.
"Yeah, me too." He hadn't heard any part of the explanation but the last three words. It seemed to be enough.
"I've been practicing my dance moves, Kuzon." He had to give her credit, she'd been holding her own in this awkward conversation for a while now.
Aang braced himself. He knew what he would have to do to get her off his back, and he would do it. For Katara. "How about me and you try them out some time?" He made his best effort at a sly smile, and it was clearly just perfect for On Ji.
"That'd be... nice." Her attempt at playing it cool was ruined by the excited tension in her voice, but he pretended not to notice.
"See you around, On Ji." He sprinted away without looking back, leaving the girl to contemplate how he moved so quickly.
--
Zuko flopped down onto the bed and sighed contentedly. He'd just realized how nice the pattern on the ceiling was... Come to think of it, he liked the one on the wall, too... And then there was-
"Zuko? Zuko! EARTH TO JERKBENDER!!!"
He snapped back into sitting position as his old annoyed self. "What?"
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Sokka asked, skeptical.
"Do I look like I'm in a good mood to you?" he scowled back.
"I mean before I brought you back to planet Earth. Anyone would think you were mooning over some girl! But of course, that's not a Zuko thing to do. You're too grouchy and angry and..."
Like the rest of the group, Zuko had long since perfected the art of tuning Sokka out. He turned away so the red rising in his pale face wouldn't be so obvious to his roommate. "Yeah... not a Zuko thing to do..."
"Oh spirits, who is she?!" Sokka's explosion brought him back into focus.
"No one! I'm not in love with anyone! And-"
A knock on the door interrupted Zuko's rant. "Hi... uh... this is Shoji... I don't think I know you... This Waterbender outside told me to come here and make sure some guy named Zuko was ready for tonight... Umm... bye..." Without having even opened the rice paper door, the boy's silhouette disappeared from view.
"Well, she's paranoid." Zuko mused. What did she think, he was going to run away?
"If you lay one finger on my sister..." Sokka growled.
"Why do you automatically assume I'm going to do something unspeakably horrible to her?! We're just-"
"Just what, Zuko?"
"Sparring," he finished lamely, now realizing how much that seemed like a pathetic excuse.
"If my sister is hurt at all, in any way..." he let the threat hang unfinished in the stillness.
"You mean you're not going to kill me now and just get it over with?" Zuko was actually surprised. Sokka had never let any boy besides Aang to get close to his sister since the Jet incident, a story he'd heard only fragments of.
"Eh, she can have her pick of psycho boys. You're part of the gang now, right? That means I kind of have to trust you."
Zuko wasn't sure whether to be offended or grateful. He left the room.
--
"You're here!" Katara threw her arms around him.
He backed away slightly. "Well I just barely escaped your brother alive. If you value our health, you should probably minimize contact."
"Right... Sorry..." Katara's blush was visible even in the dark.
"Why don't we just get started?" he suggested, and they did.
--
Mai wanted to puke. Looking ridiculous in white and red, with sleeves to fitting to hide her knives, she felt completely out of place. And way too bright.
She sighed and acknowledged the fact that the only thing that made it worthwhile was her boyfriend. And she wasn't even sure if he deserved this kind of sacrifice on her part.
Leaving Ty Lee to amuse herself, Mai left the team's dorm behind her and went to find Zuko.
--
"You know, my uncle created his own Firebending technique by studying Waterbending," Zuko informed her as the advantage danced back and forth.
"That's really cool. I'd like to make a Waterbending move from Firebending sometime."
"Here," he stopped bending and walked towards her. "I can teach you some moves and you can figure something out. It'll be fun."
"Okay..." she seemed a little nervous, so he started with a simple kick. Waterbending didn't involve much kicking- maybe it would give her some new ideas.
After she fell on her face, he decided a punch would work just as well. "Like this."
She mimicked him. "No, your stance is too soft. Here." He stepped in alongside her and raised her arm slightly, bent her knee a touch.
Suddenly both jumped at the sound of their names, falling into a heap on top of each other. "Dear Agni!" Zuko murmured a desperate plea for the spirits to be merciful.
Aang and Mai had arrived.
wow, 2000+ words! my longest chapter of anything ever! and it looks like zuko and katara are in trouble...
Zuko: By the way, z4e's terrible with the whole disclaimer business, so I'm just letting you know that we still belong to Mike and Bryan.
Me: Oh, good, as long as you're here Zuzu, I just wanted to let you know that you're going to have to stop being a naughty little teenager or we're gonna have to change the rating. I saw the way you were looking at Katara before.
Zuko: I TOLD you not to call me that! And wait a sec... If you changed the rating, would it allow me to express my feelings for her in a more unrestricted way?
Me: I'm not even going to answer that question.
Zuko: I'm SORRY! It's not my fault she's so-
Me: AAAAAAND that's all for now folks! K+ people please leave the area now if you know what's good for you!
Zuko: Don't forget to R&R!