Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything associated with it. This is for personal amusement only—so I hope you're amused!

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Chapter 4

The sun was beginning to peek through the blinds. As an almost automatic response, Zuko woke up. He turned off the alarm, yet to go off, but which he always programmed on the offbeat chance he accidentally slept in. He had been waking up at 6:30 a.m. automatically for years—but he never 100 percent trusted himself to continue doing so. Hence, the alarm being programmed diligently each night and shut off before it rang each morning.

He stretched in bed, running through the list of Monday morning classes he had—interpersonal comm at 8, intro to business management at 9:30 and accounting at 11. After accounting, he had an hour for lunch, then would head to the tea shop for the afternoon shift. Zuko got out of bed and immediately sat on a small cushion on the floor. Every morning, he would start his day with about five minutes of meditation. He'd been doing so since he had come to live with his Uncle.

At first, he'd only done so begrudgingly at Uncle's request. Something inside of Zuko caused him to want to please his Uncle—the man had basically rescued him from an impossible situation with his father, Ozai. But, little by little, Zuko found the meditation helping him focus. It helped him focus in his studies, as well as in his Shotokan karate practice. It helped provide him the balance he needed so desperately after surviving the fire.

Soon enough, Zuko was getting himself ready for the day. As he headed to the kitchen, he smelled breakfast immediately—jook. Uncle had first prepared it for him on his first day back to school after the accident and it slowly became a "first day" ritual. As Zuko trudged into the kitchen, he noticed something on the kitchen table. Sitting there innocently was a new black backpack—simple, with lots of pockets for storing the miscellaneous items that Zuko will inevitably need for class, Iroh thought—wrapped in a red ribbon and topped with a big, red bow.

"Uncle, I told you I didn't need to get me a new backpack," Zuko said, pinching the bridge of his nose. I hate being a burden to Uncle, why can't he just do as I ask?

"Zuko, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, it's not like you let me shop for you otherwise," Iroh replied flatly. "Just think of it as an early reward for another successful semester."

As he finished, Iroh handed Zuko a bowl of the warm porridge. Zuko topped it with the chopped mangos that were sitting in a bowl on the counter, then walked his way to the table to eat. A cup of hot ginseng tea was already waiting for him.

Zuko thoughtfully blew the steam off of the tea and took a sip. "Uncle, ginseng tea? This will keep me wired for the rest of the morning," Zuko noted in irritation.

"You have a long day ahead of you, nephew. Trust me, you'll need all the energy you can get."

When Zuko finished his simple repast, he cleared the table and placed his dishes in the dishwasher. Removing the extravagant red bow from the new bag, he took it to his room, where he placed his textbooks, notebook and planner in the largest pocket. He tucked a few pens and pencils into one of the smaller pockets, along with his cell phone. He took a deep breath as he headed towards the front door. He hoped to make a quick escape, quick enough so that it would be too late for Iroh to notice his absence. However, same as every year, as soon as he opened the door, Iroh would shout, "Go out there and learn a lot, Zuko!"

Zuko, as usual, cringed at the motivational line most often used on elementary school students. At least Uncle means well…he thought as he made his way towards campus.

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She stood there thoughtfully, looking down at her new roommate who was blissfully unaware of the situation. Didn't she say she had an 8 a.m. class? Why is she still sleeping? She must have forgot to set her alarm. Should I wake her up? Well, I wouldn't want to be late for my first class…and with that, Suki softly shook Katara's sleeping frame and roused her from her slumber.

"Katara, wake up! It's 7:30 a.m. and you have class in 30 minutes!" Suki said emphatically.

With a start, Katara woke. "What did you say?" she queried drowsily.

"It's 7:30 and you have class in 30," Suki replied, not knowing what to expect next.

"OH CRAP!" Katara shouted, practically jumping out of bed. "What happened to the alarm?"

Before Suki could say anything in reply, Katara had already said "Nevermind, I don't have time to figure it out right now anyways."

In a rush of blue pajamas, Katara searched for her clothes. Thankfully, I already figured out what I wanted to wear! She threw on a navy blue, cotton tank top, jumped into a pair of jeans and dug her flip flops out of the closet. She quickly rubbed on some deodorant, grabbed her toothbrush and her hair brush, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

She splashed water on her face, rinsing away the last traces of sleep from her eyes. She brushed her teeth and started on her hair. My hair is an absolute mess right now! Just pull it back into a ponytail, Katara, or you'll be late for your first class…She pulled her hair back, making sure to leave the two trademark streaks of long bangs framing her face.

Afterwards, she rushed back to her room, picked up her bookbag and a copy of her schedule and headed out the door.

"Hope you're not too late," Suki yelled down the hall after a jogging Katara.

"I think I'll be okay. Thanks for waking me up, Suki!" Katara yelled back over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

As soon as she got out of her building, she groaned as she looked down at her schedule. Of course my first class—at 8 a.m. no less—is all the way on the other side of campus! What I wouldn't give for even Aang's dorky scooter right now!

As Katara hoofed it across campus, weaving in and out of the crowds of people thronged everywhere in sight, she repeatedly checked the clock on her cell phone for the time. It's almost 8 a.m.!

As she headed into the building her classroom was in, she heard the bell tower begin its toll, letting everyone on campus know that the fall semester at BSSU had officially begun.

She quickly found her classroom on the first floor. Peeking through the small window in the door, she sighed in relief when she realized the professor had not started speaking to the class. Katara composed herself and took a deep breath as she entered through the back of the small classroom. She surveyed the room, searching for an empty seat. Unfortunately, the only one available was all the way in the front at the end of the first row. She quietly strode her way upfront and silently took her seat. She pulled out her notebook and pen, listening intently to the professor, who had begun her introduction.

"Welcome to interpersonal communication. I'm Professor Wu. This class is designed to teach you how to better communicate one-on-one with others, as well as teach you basic theories on interpersonal communications."

As Professor Wu continued, Katara read a cryptic message on the whiteboard at the front of the room. "Be mindful of the seat you choose," it read. Katara crinkled her forehead in confusion. What the hell is that supposed to mean?

Turning her head towards her classmates, she noticed a cute guy sitting to her left. She only saw a portion of his profile, as he was hunched over his desk diligently taking notes while Professor Wu spoke. He looks familiar…Katara thought, but she couldn't place his face. Shrugging her shoulders, she looked across the room, realizing that it was completely full. Not a surprise, considering there are only 30 seats, she thought.

During her online registration period that summer, she glanced through several sections of interpersonal comm. Unfortunately, her status as a sophomore meant she was in the very last group of students scheduled to register. She hated crashing, so she sucked it up and registered for the only class with open seats—Professor Wu, 8 a.m.

"As it's the first day of classes, I'm going to call roll. Please raise your hand and say present when I call your name…" Professor Wu said, following with a list of names.

Katara listened, waiting in dread for yet another incorrect pronunciation of her name. She didn't have to wait long.

"Kat-AH-rah KOO-rook," Professor Wu called.

Automatically, Katara responded, "Kah-TAH-rah Ker-UK," she said, raising her hand.

"My apologies, I always butcher someone's name the first day of classes," Wu responded.

Katara replied with a smile and then began doodling in her notebook while she waited for Professor Wu to continue calling roll. Fortunately, or unfortunately, she didn't notice the "cute guy" on her left grimacing.

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Zuko, as always, arrived five minutes early to class. He had heard about this Professor Wu. He was always careful to check the online professor review site to see what his professors were like before he even registered for classes. She was an older, widely respected woman who had worked as a consultant for some time before returning to academia. Unfortunately, she had some small quirks when it came to running her classes. Wu had a semester-long project where she paired people up for a project due at the end of the semester. She always wrote "Be mindful of the seat you choose." on the whiteboard, pairing people up for the project based on where they sat in the classroom. It was always some different combination and you were never sure how you would be paired up—Professor Wu evidently liked keeping people on their toes, Zuko surmised. No matter, I'll sit in the front, like always, and most likely be paired up with another diligent student. So when he arrived in the mostly empty room, he took his seat up at the front of the class. While he waited for the class to begin, he went through his planner, writing in his class schedule as he went along through the pages.

He didn't notice the girl that sat next to him until it was too late. He glanced over to his right when she sat down, back to him while he quickly glanced at her. She looks familiar, he thought as she sat down and grabbed some items from her bookbag. He glanced away though as Professor Wu started her introduction, hunched over and writing notes down as she spoke.

Soon enough, Professor Wu was going through roll call. As she went through the names, Zuko finally heard the voice of the girl sitting next to him, correcting the way her name was read. As Zuko looked at her during her response, he grimaced realizing where he'd seen the girl before. It's that clumsy girl from the bookstore! Better look away before she notices it's you and starts a scene again.

As Zuko did his best to not look at the girl, his name was eventually called.

"Zuko Sozin?" Professor Wu called out.

"Present," Zuko replied while raising his hand. He didn't notice the wide-eyed look of shock on his neighbor's face, as he was still avoiding even looking in her general direction. No matter, I'll just sit somewhere else for the rest of the semester.

As soon as he thought this, though, Professor Wu announced loudly, "Please note that since I hate taking roll, these will be your seats for the rest of the semester."

Zuko groaned under his breath as he realized there was going to be no way to avoid the tan, blue-eyed brunette to his right.

As class went on, Professor Wu passed out and reviewed the syllabus with the class.

"Of greatest interest to yourselves, you will be paired up with a partner to complete the bulk of your assignments—which, of course, comprise the bulk of your grade. You'll complete in-class exercises with this partner, as well as work on your final project together. Your final project consists of a 10-page paper you'll write on a topic related to interpersonal communication and a similar 10-minute presentation to the class. If you receive an "A" on your final project, you're excused from taking the final exam. So, without further ado, I will begin pairing you up with your partners," Wu said with a sly grin on her face. She walked over to Katara and stood directly in front of her and looked along the line of faces lined up before her.

"Everyone in this aisle of seats, please look to your left. The people directly to your left will be your partners for the course of the semester. Please introduce yourselves after I've assigned everyone's partners. Please note that this will be your first in-class activity—find out your partner's name, where they are from, their year and major, and a hobby they enjoy. You'll report this quickly to the rest of the class in about 10 minutes."

With that, Katara looked to the young man to her left. He looked at her with thin eyes, obviously unhappy with the partner he was assigned.

Katara squinted her eyes in response, muttering sarcastically under her breath, "Oh great, what super awesome luck I have." Why are the gods punishing me this early in the semester, Katara pondered.

She looked at her partner and simply said, "I'm Katara Kuruk…and I already know who you are."

Zuko responded in kind, "Thanks, I'm not deaf, I heard her when she called your name."

They shared a moment of silence while the hum of voices of the other students introducing themselves to each other filled the room. Turning to her, Zuko said coldly, "In case you're wondering, I pretty much refuse to be your partner and I'll be asking for a re-assignment after class."

"Not if I beat you to it," Katara replied, immediately standing up to go speak with Professor Wu.

As she approached Professor Wu, Zuko followed behind her, intent on not letting that clumsy girl misrepresent him to his professor.

"Professor Wu, I'd like to ask for a reassignment of my partner," Katara said as she approached the older woman.

"And whatever for, you two just met each other?" Wu questioned.

"We've met before and we absolutely do not get along. For the sake of my sanity and my grade, I'd like to be reassigned," Katara pleaded.

Zuko piped in, "Yeah, we don't get along, to say the least. I'd like to be re-assigned—with anyone…"

"Well, I'm sorry, but I don't make reassignments. It's an unspoken policy. Look, this is interpersonal communication. The whole point is to learn how to better communicate with others, and sometimes that means learning how to communicate with people you don't like or can't stand. You both look like intelligent students—you were both sitting in front. I'm sure you'll be able to stand each other's presence for the next few weeks. Don't look at me like that—with the amount of technology at the disposal of you young people, you practically won't even have to speak to each other outside of class for all I care. Now, thank you for your concerns, but I highly suggest you return to your seats and continue the 'getting to know you' assignment I just gave. It's worth in-class participation points and I'll be calling on you two first," Wu said with a little exasperation in her voice.

With that, both Zuko and Katara went back silently to their seats. It was Katara that spoke first.

"Looks like we'll have to deal. Well, I guess I'll start off by telling you my year and major. I'm a sophomore majoring in physical therapy. I'm originally from the South Pole and I guess my hobby would be playing competitive water polo on the BSSU team. Hmm, that wasn't too bad, how about yourself?"

"I'm a junior entrepreneurial biz major. I'm originally from the Fire Nation and I enjoy practicing karate in my spare time," Zuko said, refusing to make eye contact and staring straight ahead. This is so stupid. I make the effort to show up early, get a good seat and now I'm stuck with that incompetent girl. At least she's making an effort to not be the bitch she was over the weekend.

They sat there silently while the rest of the classroom buzzed with conversation. As promised, Professor Wu ended the in-class activity and called on Katara and Zuko first. Zuko began, relaying in verbatim what he had learned of the girl to his right. When he finished, Katara gave her short report on him.

After they finished, Wu stated coolly, "Now that wasn't so bad was it." She continued on to the next pair behind them, making her way across the classroom quickly. Soon enough, it was the end of class.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's been a pleasure this morning. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday and working with you for the rest of the semester. Best of luck in your other classes and, don't forget, you'll need to turn in your project topic to me next Monday, including a list of possible sources," she said as she waved off the students with a smile.

As she picked up her bookbag from the floor, Katara knew that this semester was going to be hell, no matter what happened in her other four classes. Just great…Just what did I do in a past life to deserve this?

Zuko quickly made his way out of the room, rushing to his next class. Well, I guess I'll have to work harder in order to pick up the inevitable slack—per usual. Great…

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Author's note: Wow, this ended up being a helluvalot longer than I thought it would be. But, our main characters are stuck together now and there's the hint of more of the gAang joining soon…And while I understand most professors wouldn't have you pair up on the first day of classes, Professor Wu isn't that way. She does what she wants…knowing that it'll all work out in the end. ;)