Confrontation of the Spirits

A Zutara Modern Day AU

By smartcheer917

Sokka sprinted through the pack to get ahead of everyone at his cross-country practice. He grinned like a goon when he spotted Suki hurrying off the field with the rest of the field hockey girls as they ran for the light and warmth of the building and an indoor practice. He stopped when he rounded out by the school where the coach was waiting.

"We're going inside to use the third floor halls." The coach said, "You can meet us there." Sokka nodded and walked inside the building. The band kids sneered at him when he crossed through the band room to get to the third floor stairwell without passing through the cheerleaders practice in the auditorium lobby. He rolled his eyes and took the steps two at a time, missing the fifth one from his destination and fell to the landing with an 'oomph'. He sat there fore a moment pouting.

"Come here often?" Suki asked him, looking him in the face. He jumped and hit his head on the rail She laughed as he rubbed his head.

"Hi Suki. I was sun bathing with artificial light. It's much better than normal tanning." Suki nodded with sarcastic eyebrows, "See, it's working." He pointed to his arm and the milk chocolate color it was. She smiled.

"So, uh, what are you doing here?" He tried to lean on the wall, but discovered he had no wall and just crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was headed for my coaches classroom. She wants her stopwatches." Sokka nodded

"That's... interesting." He said, stroking his invisible beard. Suki smiled girlishly.

"I have to be going." She said,

"Yes, yes, be... going." Sokka said as Suki walked up the steps. He didn't see her blush like the wind had just attacked her face in the cold, and she didn't see him.

Zuko and Katara got into his car. He stuck the key into his ignition and made a point to turn on his headlights. He buckled himself and turned to Katara.

"Ready to go?' He asked. She nodded. He unlocked the emergency break and made the car purr, then turned and looked at her.

"Don't say anything... about... what I told you this afternoon." He said slowly. She looked at the paneling on the car door.

"I wasn't going to." Katara said. He nodded and started the car.

The pair rode in silence to the theater. They pulled up in silence, and walked into the theater in silence.

"What do you want to see?" Katara asked him, looking up at the colorful displays begging people to watch their movie so they could pay their actors.

"How about that one? The one about the guy?"

"It doesn't start for another 20 minutes." Katara pointed out.

"Well we can get a bite to eat then."

"Okay." Katara said and Zuko bought the tickets. They went to the snack counter and picked up some nachos. The took a seat and each took a nacho.

"So what did you think of the math test?" Zuko asked her and she looked at him, bewildered.

"Huh?" She said, "You're in my math class?"

"Yes, I just don't do anything. I just sit there."

"I think I did really bad. I can't do rationals for anything. I haven't been paying attention that much."

"Too busy itching your pocket?' He smirked.

"You..." She said, pointing her finger than putting it down, "No, I just don't like math." He nodded.

"Well, I could help you sometime... maybe?" He said and ate two nachos.

"I don't know. Tutoring never seems to work out for me..." Katara said, remembering her old English tutor, Haru, and how it had fallen out nastily and she had to fix it, which included her getting put into detention with his cousin. Katara shook her head to rid the thought.

"Are you going to the festival? They're setting up after sports ends for today."

"I don't know." Zuko said, looking at the cheese. It had little bits of jalepeno and red pepper floating about in it. Katara looked down.

"I guess we should go to the movie now?' Katara said. Zuko nodded and got to his feet before Katara did and offered her his hand. She looked up at him curiously, then took his hand and was pulled to her feet. The two headed for the movie.

If boring was written down, taught to actors, and put on film they would call it this. If you looked up boring in the dictionary, you'll find this listed along with many seeming great English novels. In short, this movie was boring.

Katara sighed and leaned her head on her right hand and tried to make it look like she was interested. Zuko did the same on the other side of her, also trying not to be noticed. Zuko took a glanced over at her and saw her boardum, no matter how she tried to hide it.

'This is not the date I imagined where I convinced her to like me.' Zuko thought to himself.

'Well then make it! Make a move you retarded chimp.'His subconscious screeched at him. He jumped slightly in his seat. Wasn't expecting that. Zuko looked at the girl sitting next to him and very subtly stretched his muscular arms above his head. Katara noted this and smiled a small smile. Zuko slowly brought his arm down over her shoulders and tugged her a bit closer to him. Katara ginned like the cat in Alice in Wonderland momentarily, the put on the best example of a straight face she could and leaned her head on his shoulder.

She fell asleep on his shoulder.

She didn't mean to, it just happened. Besides, Zuko shouldn't be allowed to have such a comfy shoulder. Of course, when he woke her up she had a big red mark across her cheek. Lovely. She rubbed it off and followed Zuko out to his car. It was already pitch black out and the temperature had dropped like a bomb. Katara looked around at the stars coming out to the sky then took a glimpse of Zuko's backside.

"Tasty." She said out loud.

"Excuse me?' Zuko said, turning around, "Did you say something?" He asked her. Katara turned beat red again. Zuko slinked toward her.

"no..." She stammered out, looking at him. He looked to the side and turned around. Katara followed him back to the car.

The ride back to Katara's house was silent. When they pulled up in front of her house, Zuko turned off the car and the two sat there.

"Well," Katara said, "I guess... I have... to go." She said slowly. Zuko nodded and ran his hands around the steering wheel. All the boldness he had back at the theater and school was completely gone. Katara looked at him for a moment.

"Thanks for the fun afternoon." She said, "Maybe we could hang out again some other time?" Katara said. Zuko turned to look at her.

"That'd be great." Zuko said. Katara nodded and reached for the door handle. She had her hand on it when her name was called. She turned back around to look at Zuko and he pressed his lips to hers.

Looks like the boldness is back on.

Gran-Gran sighed as she threw some pasta into the water to boil. Things had gotten so complicated around here since her daughter in law died. Sokka spent all of his energy on sports. Katara was never home and her grades were slipping. Hakoda had almost immediately after gone to war, leaving her behind to an empty house and two mentally upset kids.

She suspected that Sokka wasn't as deeply hurt as Katara was. He had been very upset the day of, but he probably got it all out that day. Katara, the emotional one, hadn't even blinked an eye the entire time. Gran-Gran had never seen the girl cry over her mother. It wasn't like she was home.

The poor girl was just like her mother, smells were her weak spot. Katara's mom's scent ran through the house, a rainy & flowery smell. It was unique, and it surround the house. She had loved the girl like a daughter, and it almost killed her sometimes to come home. She knew it was the same thing that Katara felt, and that was why she had called Aunt Wu. Maybe getting Katara a boyfriend would help her achieve a better emotional state.

If only, if only.

Iroh sighed as he pulled some chicken out of a plastic container. This was no way for his nephew to live. The boy smoked constantly and skipped his classes more often than not. He didn't have any idea of a way to get through to the boy. He thought of a way a while back, but he had no idea when it would start. Maybe getting his nephew a girlfriend would help his achieve a better emotional state.

If only, if only.

He added some salt to the chicken and shoved it into the oven.

Zuko moved back a little and looked into Katara's eyes. They were such a beautiful shade of ice blue. He had never really noticed them before, and they were amazing. Zuko prayed for a good reaction. After all, it wasn't his most thought out move to kiss her, it was the second time he'd taken a chance and followed what his heart said. Katara smiled slightly at him.

"That was... tasty." She said, her grin widening. Zuko let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "Maybe we could do that again some time too?" Katara said. Zuko grinned a lip grin.

"Yeah, maybe we could." Zuko said. Katara bit her tongue in a grin and opened the door. Zuko watched her walk to the door of her house and wave to him. He sat back in his seat and smiled to himself, the first one in a long time. He started the car and drove to his uncles, 2 houses down and across the road.

"How was your day Zuko?" His uncle asked him as he heard him come in the house, not looking up from the pot.

"Fine." Zuko said, entering the kitchen and bee lining for the fridge,

"You sound like you're in a better mood than usual. His uncle said while stirring the pot on the stove.

"Sure." Zuko said, digging around in the fridge for the soda bottle that never had soda in it. He shook random bottles, searching to see which one did not fizz.

"If you are looking for your tequila," his uncle said, not looking up from the stove still while Zuko lifted his head, "Its not there." Zuko closed the fridge

"I threw it out. You don't need to poison your liver and your life with that substance at your age." Zuko looked at the floor and bit his lip. He shook his head and stormed out of the house.

Zuko drove off to his alley way and checked his glove compartment for his cigarettes. A tiny piece of paper fell out of the box and floated to the floor instead of his cigarettes. He picked it up.

"I love you Zuko" It read. The sender didn't even have to sign they're name, he knew it was Iroh. Zuko plopped his head on the starring wheel.

"I come home happy, and I want a drink. Can't have that. The waters polluted and soda is gross chemicals of the late 20th century. When you go to Mexico, they encourage you to drink the beer. I can't even get a simple drink here. So I go to have a smoke to calm these fraying nerves that have begun to take over and I find that my uncle loves me. How convenient." He grumbled to himself, 'And it falls at the time when I don't live with my father, so I don't have unlimited access to unlimited amounts of alcohol. It also happens when my dealer is out of town for the weekend. Lucky me. Just so very lucky..." He stopped in mid sentence when he noticed a lump on his floor that wasn't supposed to be there. Maybe luck had decided to throw him a bone.

Katara closed the door to her house and leaned on it with a small smile on her face and in her eyes. She got up and went into the kitchen.

"Smells good Gran-Gran." She said, smelling the food and giving her grandmother a kiss on the cheek. Kana looked at her granddaughter as she pulled things out of the cabinet for the table.

"How was your day?" she asked Katara

"Same as usual" Katara said, setting the table for three, "Where's Sokka?"

"I heard his truck about a half an hour ago. I haven't seen him come in. Could you go outside and call him in? He probably fell asleep in the truck again." Kana told her. Katara nodded and went outside. She went to her brothers truck and pulled the door open,

"Sokka you need to get up, its time for..." She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw her brother and best friend making out in the truck. The two pulled apart and look at the floor of the truck guiltily.

"Suki you should..." Sokka said and she nodded and slipped out the passenger door. Katara looked at her brother and shook her head, then ran inside the house and up to her room.

Katara went downstairs for dinner, but didn't speak to anyone. Her grandmother tried to raise a few words out of her and was met by monosyllable answer each time. All though dinner her mother haunted her to forgive, but she didn't She sat there and ignored the smell and pretended it was chicken. She sat there and made a point to pretend her brother didn't exist. She made a point to go up to her room and slam the door.

Katara shed her school uniform and put on a pair of light blue shorts and a black long-sleeved La's swimming polo shirt. She jammed on her black fuzzy slippers and went looking for her backpack. She looked around her room. It wasn't there. She opened the door and crept down the stairs, looking around the clean floor for her backpack. She spotted Sokka on the couch watching some show. He muted it when he saw her.

"Katara..."

"Save it" She said, holding a hand up and continuing to look around for her pack.

"If you're looking for your pack," he said, "It's not down here." Sokka informed her. She looked at him and turned around, going back up to her room. She began to pull it apart from top to bottom.

"Where is that backpack hiding!" She yelled and threw some blankets onto the floor.

"Looking for this?" An all too recognizable voice behind Katara said. She spun around to face her window where Zuko was standing, smirking, holding her backpack. She tensed up.

"Where did you get that?" She asked him.

"You left it in my car." He said, "I came to return it." He dropped it to the ground and took a step toward her.

"You know that there's a door," Katara pointed out taking a step toward Zuko, "And normal people use it."

"Really?' He said, "Well then I guess I'm not normal people." Katara cocked her head to the side as she looked at him.

"Well that's a good thing," Katara said, moving a hairs length away from him, "Because I don't like normal people." Katara smirked back at him. He moved in and kissed her. She found his hands and intertwined her fingers in his as he pushed her back toward her bed.

Ahhhh thanks for the great reviews guys! I got bombed with a bunch of stuff from my Model Untied Nations because I procrastinate. Then I had a test on a book that I can't understand and sucks my soul out. Those reviews kept me from pulling my hair out.

So I was really pissed with myself because I didn't write anymore than like a page in a day and then it snowed! Yay for delays! I had a 2-hour delay Thursday morning, so I finished most of this chapter.

So now I'm off to get some hair dye. Bye-bye blond.

Review?