We managed to finish our outline in less than three hours and since we were so satisfied with ourselves, we went shopping. Zula borrowed Zuko's car and showed me how to get to the mall. After about a month, I was used to her crazy driving.
"Finally! Shopping!" I laughed.
"For a small town, we actually have a pretty good mall because it is an outlet mall."
"Do you have a Forever 21?" I asked, practically falling out of my seat with anticipation.
"Yeah! It has a guy Forever in there too."
"Yes! I love that store. But its not good for homecoming dresses. Do y'all have a Windsor or a Group USA?"
"No Windsor, but I shop there online sometimes." she said sadly. "I wish we had a real life Windsor. But yes, we have a Group USA."
I smiled. "Don't worry, if you don't see anything you like, we can just shop for fun and then look online for a dress."
"Works for me!"
Once we arrived at the mall, we immediately stopped in the food court and got Panda Express. We made a battle-plan while we ate.
"So Macy's will probably have some nice stuff. I know I've had some luck there before." I stated while pulling my ringing phone from my purse. The University of Michigan's fight song blared from my hand and I laughed at the confused look on Azula's face.
Glancing at the caller ID, I gasped in shock.
"Aang! What in the world? I haven't heard from you in ages."
"Hey Katara, I'm good! I'm heading to the Fire Nation in a week. But Sokka told me your family moved and I wanted to visit you before I left." came a voice much deeper than I remembered.
Aang was the little brother of the nanny I'd had growing up. I spent most of my time with Ming and Aang spent most of his time with her. We were best friends growing up. I had countless photos of me, Aang and Azalea throughout the various stages of childhood.
"Oh definitely! We need the chance to catch up! I live in Oregon now. A small town called Bronze Lake." I said excitedly.
"Alright, I'll be coming in either tomorrow night or the day after. It'll be great to see you." he replied with a gentle excitement.
We ended the call with a promise to keep in touch. "That was one of my closest friends growing up. After our sophomore year, he found out some interesting news and had to move. I haven't really spoken to him since."
"Well that's cool! Plus it sounds like he is gonna come visit you!" Azula remarked before popping a piece of orange chicken in her mouth. "What was that song?"
I laughed and I nodded excitedly. "He is a sweetheart. A great friend too and The University of Michigan's fight song. I love that school."
"You know that is where Zuko went?"
I shook my head and smiled. "Yeah! He told me like the second day of school or something like that. He thinks I'll get in!"
"I definitely think you will. You're so smart."
"Why thank you!"
She giggled and stuffed another piece of chicken in her mouth.
As we finished our lunch, we perfected our strategy and headed to Forever 21.
Four Hours Later
"Dang girl. When you said you loved to shop you weren't kidding." Azula said before taking a sip of her smoothie. "I love my dress though! I never would've tried on this color blue."
I laughed and hoisted one of many bags higher on my shoulder. "I told you that I could work a TJ Maxx unlike anyone you're ever seen. And its a darker blue so that looks good on your skin."
"Seriously though… you found a DKNY for 75% off. I never would've looked behind the ugly bags."
"I'm telling you, living in New York is an enriching experience. You learn how to avoid the weirdos, shop in crazy conditions and be confident." I replied.
Zula laughed and pulled her keys from her purse. "I'm so happy my family is rich. That sounds terrible, but I love shopping."
"At least you're not a mean rich girl. I wouldn't be able to tolerate you."
"You can barely tolerate me now."
I nodded. "I put up with you for your "princess" status. I'm gonna kill you and take your throne."
She laughed and shook her head. "What would you do if I was really a princess?"
"Probably be mad that you did invite me to your palace so I could feel like royalty." I said honestly.
"You're such a child." Azula said with an eye roll and a laugh.
"At least I'm honest!" I laughed back.
As we reached to car, Mai pulled up next to us.
"Hey Katara!" she said excitedly. "Azula.. anyway, I thought your best friend was coming into town."
"She was, but she got this virus and she isn't allowed to fly until it's gone, so we just rescheduled." I replied. I wasn't completely lying, the virus is just a baby and she got it from Sokka.
"Oh bummer. Well I'll see you in school on Monday!"
"Yeah, oh and Azula is becoming one of my best friends. If you say hi to me, you can't be rude to her. That is just how I was raised and I'd appreciate it if you would respect that."
She gave me a look that was caught in the middle of shock, anger and respect.
"Yeah sure. Sorry about that. Well I have some shopping to do." she said before driving off towards the Macy's entrance.
"Girl, I'm loving you more and more. That was so nice of you." she said as she piled her bags into the back seat.
I followed suit and smiled. "I'm the type of person that will literally fight off dragons to save a friend. I just get attached like that. I can't help it. It's like I could be having the worse day ever but I'll do everything in my power to make sure the people I care about are happy."
Azula sat back and the car sat idly. Then she turned to look at me. "Not that there was, but if there was any doubt that you weren't a good friend or that you weren't good for my brother, it's gone."
I smiled as she put the car in reverse and back out the parking space. "I really appreciate that."
The ride back to her house was quick and quiet. But the silence wasn't threatening or overbearing. It seemed that a gentle fog of contentment had covered us.
When we got back to her house, the scene that met us felt oddly comfortable as if I could do this all the time.
Zuko met me at the door with a sweet peck and then he noticed all my bags. I laughed at his reaction and shrugged delicately.
Ursa giggled like a school girl and asked me to show her what we got.
We carried our things to the living room and started to unload all the bags. Ursa looked a tad teary eyed when she saw the dress we found for homecoming.
"This is beautiful! It is so simple yet very pretty! Good job ladies!" she exclaimed.
I smiled and watched as Azula showed her mom all the cute new things she bought. I smiled and snuggled into Zuko's chest. He draped his arm over me and kissed the top of my head.
"You look like you had fun today." he said softly.
"I did. Shopping is one of my favorite activities." I replied. "It just makes me tired and my back starts to hurt."
Zuko shifted and began to gently rub my back while heating his hands. I smiled and closed my eyes, allowing the heat the permeate the knots that formed in the muscles of my back.
perfect
I opened my eyes and the heat stopped. I turned to look at Zuko and he looked just as confused as I felt.
"Did you..?"
"No, I thought you did."
"What are y'all talking about?" Ursa asked before folding one of Azula's shirts.
"I thought he said something and he thought I said something. Clearly we aren't paying attention." I said with a laugh.
That answer satisfied her and I started going through my bags to show her what I got. But in the back of my mind, I knew that I heard something and so did Zuko.
And somewhere, in a place human eyes never saw, a candle burned brightly under a floating glass of water. As if magic, the glass shattered on it's on and the water began to rain down on the flame.
The flame got smaller as the drops of water hit but it managed to stay alive.
As the drops fell slower, the flame grew brighter.
To humans, this is a normal occurrence. They all seem to understand that fire can not exist in the presence of water and vice versa.
But I am not human. This makes no sense to me. I see this every day in two special people I've been watching.
One is flesh of my flesh, a rare occurrence for a god, but true as the sky is blue. The other, a girl with eyes the color of a blue flame.
Together they will carry on my bloodline.
I ignore her water tribe heritage because I know how pure her heart is. Purity of heart is a rare thing in this day.
That's why I chose them. She compliments him in ways he could never imagine.
In ways only I can see.
In a way that has sealed their destiny. When I see them, I do not see their obvious physical differences. I see heartbeats; one graceful like the water she commands and the other sharp and heated like the fire under his control.
But when they are together, I see two meshed heartbeats. There is nothing separating water from fire and I like it that way. Their hearts dance in the ethereally eternal way that is love.
They compliment each other in ways no one could imagine.
In ways only I can see.