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!
------------------------------------
Chapter 5
It was Tuesday afternoon and it was still, to say the least, very hot in Ba Sing Se. Katara had just gotten out of class and was making her way back to her dorm. At least the air conditioning will be on there, she thought. As she walked along, her thoughts went back again to her class yesterday morning. How exactly am I expected to work with Super Jerk? And what the hell are we going to do our project on? This is going to be a long semester, she thought to herself while rubbing her temples.
Eventually, Katara made it back to her room. As she entered, she noticed Suki lying on her bed, listening to some music on her iPod and typing something on her laptop. Suki looked up knowingly, "Still hot as hell out there, huh?"
Katara nodded her head in agreement as she placed her bookbag down. "Yeah, I'm staying inside until it gets a little cooler. How're your classes going?"
"Alright so far. How about you?"
"Remember that jerk that I got into it with at the bookstore over the weekend?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, he's my new class project partner for interpersonal comm! We have to work together for the entire semester and do a final project together. This is going to be a painful semester," Katara ended as she flopped onto her bed.
"Did you ask to be re-assigned?" Suki asked, as she took a seat on the floor near Katara's bed.
"Of course I did. But the professor runs her class with an iron fist or something and won't allow it. Anyways, we have to come up with a topic for the final project by Monday and I don't know what the hell we're going to do. I looked through our textbook, but everything is all theory—everything looks really boring."
"Sounds like quite the predicament, Katara," Suki ended with a sigh. "Well, since you're stuck with him, you might as well try to make it work—at least for the sake of your grades. Besides, his uncle is a really sweet guy—so he's got to have at least one redeeming quality, right?" Suki ended on a positive note, standing up and making her way back to her bed.
"You're probably right, Suki," Katara said, lying on her back and staring at the ceiling. I've got to make this work, I can't afford to jeopardize my scholarship. With that, she closed her eyes and, soon enough, she was in the middle of a cozy afternoon nap.
--------------------------------
"Uncle, when you're putting together the new schedule, remember that I placed my class schedule on the bulletin board beside the desk. And I'll probably have to take Sunday nights off because of that early class on Monday. I'll close on Fridays and Saturdays, though, to make up for it," Zuko shouted down the narrow hallway as Iroh made his way back to the manager's office.
It was the shift change at DragonsTea and all the workers were coming or going in some fashion. Zuko stood at the front counter helping the people in line while the workers coming onto shift signed in.
His class had finished early and he had headed over to the tea shop before the start of his shift. As he made his way across campus, his mind kept drifting to the main problem at hand. What the hell are we going to end up doing for our project? There's nothing compelling in the textbook—and everyone will be pulling ideas from there anyway. And how am I going to deal with that girl? Ugh, this semester is going to be one big exercise in futility.
Eventually, Zuko finished helping everyone in line. At this point, he would usually go around cleaning up tables or the work area behind the counter. But, considering his newfound problem, he was stuck in thought for the moment, pondering its solution.
When Iroh returned from the back room, Zuko was still standing there frozen in thought. "Zuko, is something wrong?" Iroh asked quietly.
Zuko, jolted out of his thoughts, replied, "No, Uncle, just thinking about a problem with school…"
"Well, why don't you share your problem with me. I like to think that I've become wise in my old age and maybe I can help," Iroh said with a smile.
As Zuko nodded in agreement, Iroh motioned for one of the employees to cover the front counter. Zuko and Iroh then headed outside and sat under the shade of the large tree in the patio. They sat there for a moment in silence and, realizing his nephew wasn't going to give up the information easily, Iroh cleared his throat as an invitation for Zuko to begin.
"Uncle, remember the 'incident' at the bookstore on Sunday?" Zuko started hesitantly.
"Well, of course, it's hard to forget the look on the face of that pretty girl, not to mention your rude reaction" Iroh replied with a chuckle. "Did you run into her or something on campus?"
"More than that—we're partners for a class project in my interpersonal comm class. We have to do in-class exercises together and a final project together. I want an "A" in this class, but I don't know how it's going to happen with that girl as my partner. If her previous behavior in the bookstore is any indication, she's most likely not up to the task. Not to mention, she was practically late to the first day of class."
"It sounds to me as if you two need to find some common ground—your previous experience has made for a bad first impression," Iroh smiled, recalling his conversation with the young girl earlier that week and inwardly chuckling at Zuko's predicament. Such a silly young man, always thinking of school. If I were him, I would be celebrating my good luck for being partnered with such a nice and pretty young lady.
Continuing, Iroh noted, "She needs to learn that there is more to you than the angry young man she met at the bookstore. And you need to do the same for her—she's probably a very nice young lady and has more to offer as a partner than you think."
At that, Zuko thoughtfully licked his dry lips, ran his hand through his shaggy dark hair and sighed. "Thanks for the advice, Uncle."
"Doesn't the girl have a name? It would probably help you get past your previous experience if you addressed her by her name in conversation, especially with others, Zuko," Iroh deadpanned, knowing full well the girl's name.
"Her name's Katara," Zuko said, peering into the small tea shop. "Looks like some orders are up, Uncle. I'm going to head inside. I'll see you at home later, okay?"
"Of course, nephew. See you later," with that Iroh stood up and quickly went inside. Once he grabbed a few things from the office, he headed out and began walking home. This is going to be a very interesting semester for Zuko, indeed.
------------------------------------
As Zuko silently strode into class, he took his seat in the front. This time, Katara was already sitting at her desk, writing some notes in her planner. You can do this, Zuko. Just talk to her like a normal person—your grade depends on it.
"So, uh, good morning. How are you?" Zuko asked, not raising his eyes from his desk while he asked.
"Fine thanks," she replied coolly, not even glancing up from her planner. Looks like the jerk is trying to be nice…Guess I'll play along. "How are things with you?" she asked, not really caring for the response.
This is going a little easier than I thought. "Good. So have you given any thought to what we should do for our project?"
"I scanned through a ton of different sections in the textbook yesterday and didn't see anything that really appealed to me. Most of it's boring theory and I'd like to at least do something that I find mildly interesting. Did you have any ideas?"
"Not yet, but I'm still thinking about it…" Zuko trailed off.
As Zuko silenced himself, Professor Wu strode up to the front of the classroom. "Good morning everyone. Glad to see I didn't scare any of you off on Monday. Let's begin with our first lecture then, shall we?"
With that, Professor Wu went into her introduction on interpersonal communication. As Zuko took fastidious notes, he glanced to his right and noticed that Katara was doing the same. I guess she's not as bad of a student as I made her out to be…
Slowly, the hour-long lecture came to an end and Professor Wu began to discuss the final project in greater detail. She also reminded her students that they needed to turn in a one-sheet with information on their topic and possible sources.
"Now remember, you can change your topic at any time during the course of the semester, but I want you to at least choose something now. Additionally, the possible list of sources needs to include at least fifteen sources. Please note that you need to include both journal articles and books. Also, please make sure you turn it in with proper formatting—otherwise, you'll automatically lose points. So, exchange contact information with your partners and make plans to turn in your topic one-sheet," Professor Wu finished with a flourish of her hands, dismissing the class for the morning.
As Zuko turned to Katara, she slid a small piece of paper across his desk. On it were her cell phone number and her e-mail address. "Here's my info. Do you have any time this week to meet up at the library and throw this one-sheet together?" she asked while she packed up her stuff.
Zuko took the small paper and shoved it into his back pocket as he stood up, backpack in hand. "I'm not sure since I don't have my final schedule, but I usually work Friday afternoon, Saturday night and Sunday morning. But I could meet up with you on Sunday night…"
"Okay, Sunday it is. Give me a call sometime that day and we'll figure it out from there. Later," she called over her shoulder as she walked across the room. That wasn't so bad…she thought to herself as she strode to her next class.
----------------------------------
Katara stood at the counter, staring again at the extensive menu before her. She thoughtfully bit her lip before ordering, "I'll take the chicken teriyaki bowl and an iced peach boba, Iroh."
"Great choice, Katara. Will you be sitting outside or inside?" the old man asked with a smile while taking her money.
"I think I'll sit inside—I have some reading to do and I don't want to get distracted. By the way, I have some fliers for a show by a friend's band. I was wondering if it was okay for me to hang them up on the bulletin board by the front door."
"Sure, when is your friend's band playing?" Iroh replied as he fixed her drink.
"They're playing this Saturday night at The Underground," she replied as she tacked the fliers up to the board.
"The Underground— I've heard of that place. It's the all-ages nightclub on the other side of campus from here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, my buddy, Jet, he and his band The Freedom Fighters are playing that night. It's only a five dollar cover and we always have a really good time."
"It sounds like fun, I'll be sure to let some customers know about it," Iroh said as he handed Katara her drink.
"Thanks Iroh," Katara replied as she strode towards the back of the tea shop.
"You're welcome, as always, Katara," Iroh said as he thoughtfully stroked his beard. Maybe someone besides our customers would be interested in going to that show…I'll have to make sure he has time off this weekend.
---------------------------------
Zuko glanced at the new schedule tacked to the manager's office door. Reading through it, he furrowed his brow in confusion. Why would Uncle give me Saturday night off? I usually close that night. I'll have to take this up with him immediately, he's getting old and he can't keep staying up late to close the shop on weekends.
Knocking on the door, Zuko waited for his Uncle's reply.
"Who is it?" Iroh queried through the door.
"Uncle, it's me. We need to talk," Zuko stated while opening the door.
"What do we need to speak about, Zuko?" Iroh asked as he looked up from the paperwork he was completing.
"Why did you give me Saturday night off Uncle? I usually close that night—I don't want you staying up late with all of the hooligans that show up just before midnight."
"Zuko, I'm not as old as you think I am," Iroh said with a chuckle. "Besides, you should be out celebrating the completion of your first week of classes with other students. Young people should be out reveling in their youth, not working behind counters watching others having fun."
"Uncle, I appreciate that, but it's not like I have any plans…"
"You don't need to make plans. I heard a student talking about this club near campus…What did they call it? Oh, yes, The Underground. I guess they have bands play there and whatnot. It sounds like it could be fun. Besides, you might make some new friends."
"I'm not gonna go to some show, not knowing anyone and just sit there by myself, Uncle…"
"Well, would you rather I go with you, nephew?" Iroh queried innocently, knowing full well what Zuko's response would be.
"Of course not Uncle! But I'll think about going anyways. Do you have any more info about the show?" Zuko asked while he stood in the doorway.
"I think someone put up a flier on the bulletin board at the front of the tea shop—some band called The Freedom Fighters, I think," Iroh replied as Zuko stepped out of sight. If nothing else, I can live vicariously through the life of my nephew!
--------------------------------
Zuko had been lazily surfing the net that Thursday night. He had finished his homework and eaten dinner with Uncle. There wasn't too much on TV, so he decided to just go to his room and relax. With his laptop resting on his legs, he leaned against the pillows and headboard as he began checking his various online personas.
He checked his LiveJournal first, as it was the one he kept up with the most. He typed in a few updates and then logged into his MySpace account. He didn't check MySpace all that often. He had gotten the account when he first started college, before it became so popular. As soon as it seemed that everyone and their mom had a profile on MySpace, Zuko lost interest in the social networking site.
For some reason, he decided to search around MySpace, glancing through the profiles of old friends and classmates, checking their pages for any interesting tidbits. Sometimes, he even checked Azula's page, clicking through her pictures or reading her blog. Most of the time, it was some party or another that Azula's sorority had put on. In her photos, she'd have this devilish grin on her face, while Mai, one of Azula's best friends and Zuko's ex from high school, held a look of absolute boredom on her face and Ty Lee, Azula's other best friend, always seemed to have her mouth gaping wide open because she always happened to be talking to someone any time her picture was taken.
Suddenly, Zuko remembered that Katara had given him her e-mail address. I could check her page and see what other interests she has. That way, maybe we'll have something to talk about…
Digging through the pocket of his pants that were lying on the floor, Zuko found the crumpled up piece of paper. He quickly typed Katara's e-mail address into the search window and pulled up her profile.
He glanced through the page, looking for anything she might be interested in. He looked through photos, some of her with her teammates, others with kids in what looked like the lower tier…Why is she hanging out with those kids? Sounds like something to talk to her about…
Then, he clicked back through to her profile page. Before he left her page, he noticed that she had her IM listed. He was already signed into his IM account, maybe if she was online, he could chat with her and find out a little more about her. But, if she finds out it's me, she probably won't say anything of importance…Well, she doesn't have to know it's me chatting with her, right? Besides, I'm only going to ask her about her interests, it'll be completely innocent.
With that, Zuko typed in Katara's IM identity, h2opologurl, hoping to find out if she was online. Suddenly, it dinged that she was available. With a little trepidation, Zuko typed out "hi."
---------------------------------
It was late Thursday night. Katara was sitting at her desk, attempting to complete a worksheet for her biology lab. I need a brain break… I wonder if anyone's online to chat right now.
With that, she grabbed her laptop and sat on her bed. As soon as it was on, she signed on to her IM account and checked her buddy list. No one was online right now, she sighed. Oh well, I guess I'll just surf around for a little while and check MySpace and e-mail for any new messages.
Before she could even sign on, her IM window dinged with a new message. It was from someone named "bluspirit" and all it said was "hi."
Not knowing who the bluspirit was, Katara typed "hi" back. When she didn't hear the familiar ding of a new message, she typed, "who r u?"
Soon enough, a response came back:
bluspirit: saw ur myspace profile. u seem cool. wanna chat?
Katara glanced at her desk and her unfinished biology homework, knowing that she didn't entirely mind the distraction. Besides, she was a little flattered that some stranger had thought she was cool simply by looking at her profile. She responded, "sure."
--------------------------------
Zuko had hesitated when Katara, at the other end of the chat, responded "sure." What do I say now? Suddenly, Uncle's words came back to him—find common ground.
With that, Zuko started typing:
bluspirit: i go to bssu. do u?
And their conversation of intros continued:
h2opologurl: yup. phys therapy major. u?
bluspirit: biz major. got any hobbies?
h2opologurl: water polo
bluspirit: makes sense lol im not the most observant
----------------------------
Katara chuckled when she got the response back from bluspirit. At least bluspirit has a sense of humor.
She typed in a few questions for bluspirit. She found out bluspirit was a he and a junior at BSSU. She found out about his moniker—evidently he really liked the Blue Spirit comic book hero. So, he's just a harmless comic book nerd, Katara thought. He can't be too bad of a guy.
Soon enough, Katara figured out she'd been chatting with bluspirit for nearly an hour and it was getting late. While she found herself openly laughing at some of his jokes, she realized she never really hit it off with someone that quickly, either online or in person. Hesitantly, she typed in that she had fun chatting with him and asked:
h2opologurl: u busy saturday nite?
bluspirit: no y?
Katara took a deep breath and typed:
h2opologurl: 7 pm show underground club. wanna go?
-------------------------------
Zuko's eyes widened when he realized that Katara had just asked him out…to the show Uncle had mentioned on Saturday night. It's just a coincidence. And what is she doing asking out some stranger?
Zuko thought about it for a moment. Katara didn't know it was him and, he had to admit, he did have fun chatting with her under the guise of "bluspirit." Since he wasn't really worried about what she thought of him, he felt like he was able to say anything. He even tried making a couple of jokes—and she actually responded like they were amusing. She just wants to meet in person as friends, he thought.
He slowly typed back "maybe," not wanting to disappoint her. She typed back:
h2opologurl: look 4 me if u show up. sorry got 2 go now. nite
Zuko barely had time to type back "nite" to her before the computer dinged that h2opologurl had signed off. He signed off himself and turned the computer off, placing it on his desk. Maybe I will go to this show. It's just an opportunity to find some "common ground" like Uncle suggested. With that, he turned off his light and got into bed. Uncle does give good advice—maybe I should listen to him for once, Zuko thought as he drifted into slumber.
----------------------------
Author's note: Another long one…So, I've somehow been able to work in the Blue Spirit and Jet and his Freedom Fighters! The next chapter takes place at The Underground…with the rest of the gAang…Thanks for reading!