Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. Derr.

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Aang's POV

I looked around, feeling completely and utterly lost. Sure, I've been shopping before with the whole gang before (not the old one but the new one) and I had enjoyed myself. But I still felt like such a stranger. Racks and stacks of "modern clothing" still intimidated me. On things that intimidated me, malls would be on the top of the list right behind Toph. As a white shirt was being placed against my chest "modern clothing" was really pushing the limits.

"C'mon Aang, work with me," Skeeter complained. I don't know what he was complaining about though; I stood straight and held my arms out like he said. "You look like a mannequin," he scolded. "Relax, just let it flow." He moved his arms in a wave motion and signaled for Todd and Riley to follow as well. But when I did they laughed at me. "You look like a constipated penguin," he said.

I laughed too, just imagining a constipated penguin walking on ice in the South Pole, where the southern water tribe was. That was where I first saw a penguin since I woke up. It was where I first saw Katara. If I think back now on that day I can clearly remember her magnificent blue orbs that shined and rippled like the ocean. Another thing I remember was her failed attempts to stand up for me. When Sokka was paranoid towards…well, he seemed to always be paranoid but I mean to me, she was the one who stood up for me. She was the first one to believe in me. That was the first time I thought that she'd be a really good friend to have.

I just never knew how tough she had it.

I got my first clue when we went penguin sledding. We were laughing and having so much fun riding on those penguins and slicing through the snow like we were invincible. She turned to me and said, "I haven't done this since I was a kid!"

I yelled back, "You still are a kid." I was so naïve back then. When I was introduced to the village I remember being somewhat alarmed that there were less than 20 people in the entire village. But I carelessly tossed away the thought, thinking that maybe the rest of the tribe was out hunting. I didn't know anything about the war.

"Does this jacket look okay?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and looked Riley over. "You look great," I said not really looking at him.

He frowned at me. "No, I don't think it goes with the pants." He put the jacket back on the rack.

Todd and Skeeter stared at him for a while and had to hold back their laughter with their hands, but they were failing miserably. Riley glared daggers at them and I scooted away from them, not wanting to be at the end of Riley's glare.

"And you say I sound like a girl," Todd strained to say, holding back the laughter as best he could.

Riley's fist clenched. "Well if I don't match Heidi will annoy me to no end."

Todd sobered up slowly, "True. But honestly, could you sound any more like a maiden in distress?"

I had drifted back to my thoughts while their little spat went on.

Back before I was announced the Avatar everything was so simple. They only dilemma I really faced was what new game I would play with my friends that day. I had no qualms about what happened in the world. The Southern Air Temple was my world.

Now, I had a bigger world. Two of them in fact. One extended well past my imagination. Never, in my 100 plus years alive, would I have ever thought that I could have gone forward in time – who knows how many years! If I thought about it too much though I'd get a little too confused and wouldn't be able to perform my new duties in this world. Duties that I had finally taken up for the good of everyone else. If I had the power to change something, why not?

That's why I had agreed to go shopping with the guys. A couple of days had passed since Heidi had announced that we were all going to the dance and the guys had insisted on shopping just to have something to do. Not that I had much of a choice really. If I hadn't agreed they would've dragged me here eventually. But I was also here to try to found out a little more about these guys. If Toph and I ever wanted to go back to our world then I had to help these people, just like Avatar Roku instructed.

"Riley?" I asked.

He was looking through shirts and answered without looking. "Yeah?"

I craned my neck in search of Todd and Skeeter but I couldn't find them. Maybe they went someplace private to laugh. I turned back to Riley but he was gone. He had moved from the shirts to the ties.

Walking towards him, I asked, "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"You already did but I think you're about to follow up with another one. Shoot." He held different ties in his hand and put them against his chest.

Shoot? Was I supposed to kill him? Or shoot the ties? I shook my head and got back to the question in mind. "Well, you have a lot of problems with your dad right?"

He didn't falter and his face showed no emotion besides judging his own look in the mirror. "Yep." His tone seemed normal as well.

"Why?"

He held up two ties in my face. "Which one looks better?"

I picked the brightest one. He held it up with a thoughtful look before he set down the dark one.

"So, why do you have problems with him?"

He sighed. "He just doesn't understand me. I mean…I guess deep down – and I'm talking deep like a black hole – he cares about me. Because of that he's more prone to being really harsh on me. I'm the eldest and there's always pressure on the older kids, right?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't have any siblings. But I've always wished for some. Not that it could happen, I mean I don't know who my parents are and whoever they were they're gone now."

Blond eyebrows furrowed. "I know you don't mean to be but you can be kind of depressing you know? And you sound cheerful while doing it."

I moved back in surprise. "Really? I never noticed."

"It's not easy to detect. I mean, you sound cheerful but the subjects that you sometimes talk about are ones that bring tears to the eyes and tug at the heartstrings." We were looking at shirts again and he thumbed through the stack, not really seeing it. "I kind of admire that about you."

"You admire my depression?" I asked, gravely perplexed.

To my surprise he laughed.

He shook his head, blond hair swaying with the movement. "No. No, Aang. Not at all. But I admire just how strong you are even when talking about subjects like that."

I scratched my head and pulled on strands of my hair to get them back in place. "But earlier when I asked about your dad you didn't seem concerned."

"I hate talking about him because then I get so angry that I want to kill something." That comment reminded me of Zuko. He was a hot head like Riley. Or rather, Riley was like him. "But if I act like I don't care it just makes it an easier pain to bear." He paused and when he looked at me his face was lit up with a smile. "That sounded like some cool lyrics, man."

I laughed. "Heidi's been rubbing off on you."

"Ugh…gross." He smiled as he said it so I hope that meant that it was a joke. If it wasn't well…I just didn't comment on it.

"Do you think," I asked as he looked through a couple of weird hats. Didn't they have any dou li? "that you'll ever be able to repair your relationship with your dad?"

Did they not have any conical straw hats? I searched around the store seeing none as Riley answered.

That question had him going on a tirade, "No…as long as he doesn't change then my feelings towards him won't change either. I'm done trying to pacify him for his wrong doings. I'm done trying to be his perfect son. I'm going to get my own house and finally get out from under his thumb, then I am going to –" he ended his tirade short. Did faces really turn that red?

"Then what are you going to do?" I asked, fully interested in his plan.

But he turned away from me, his face partially hidden underneath his blond head. "Nothing," he muttered. He paid for his items with a piece of green paper and we left the store.

"C'mon, what are you going to do? What are you going to do?" I pestered him. I just wanted to know what his plans were so I could help him out. But he just kept turning away from me and muttering angrily at himself. "Riley, please tell me. Please!"

He turned towards me, his face irate. "No I will not tell you because it's embarrassing!"

Behind me a small child cried in surprise and I could see around us that people were shocked. I pouted. Riley grew shocked and embarrassed at all the glares directed at him. Typical Zuko outburst.

"Uh, no. Wait. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell." He scrambled for an excuse as I stared at him. "I didn't mean it, man. I'm sorry."

I shook my head and blushed a bit at my actions. "No. I shouldn't have bothered you with questions. I just had to…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so persistent."

He dismissed me with a wave, "Whatever man, let's just go find Skeeter and Todd and get out here. The stares are getting creepier," he openly shivered and quickly walked away with his head low.

I copied his stance, a bit ashamed at not being able to contain my piqued interest in his life. I just thought that if I pestered him long enough that I'd get a satisfactory answer. You know, to help him with his problem so that Toph and I would be that much closer to getting home.

But it didn't really seem like he had that much of a problem like I had first thought so. He seemed to have his whole life figured out…except for one thing. That one thing that he had left out of his tirade. He said that it was embarrassing. How so?

I knew I had to figure it out. But I had to be careful not to get ahead of myself next time and take it slowly. To deal with him, I had to act with tact. I mean, Riley wasn't really one for words and today is probably the most I've heard out of him, so I had to be careful. I made a mental note to myself to ask him about his goals for the future. Maybe if I caught him off guard then I'd be able to get it out of him.

We went looking for our friends but I was separated from Riley when I stopped at a snack food place. I didn't know how to use money in this time but it was probably the same as using money in my world but one would never know. I'll ask the nice lady behind the counter.

"Excuse me," I asked politely.

"Watcha want honey?" She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her face.

I looked around for this Honey. People looked at me and the stand but they weren't really looking at the lady. They didn't acknowledge her.

"Me?" I asked.

"You the only one standin' right there," she answered back.

I smiled and showed her my money. "I'd like to buy something to eat."

She raised a black eyebrow. "We have pretzels, popcorn, candy, soda…dippin' dots. Take your pick."

I took out a piece of green paper that Todd had given me earlier because he didn't like the number on it. He said it was too even.

"What can I buy with this?"

She looked at it. "A candy bar."

"Well…. What's your favorite?" I asked her.

She wrinkled her brow. "My favorite what?"

"Candy bar. What's your favorite candy bar? I'll take that one."

She stared at me for a while and made me feel uneasy. She handed me a bag that seemed filled with little bits of candy. "You are one strange kid, you know that?" she took my money and handed me back coins.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I seem to get that a lot. Well it was nice meeting you…"

"Adele, the name's Adele."

I stuck out my hand. "I'm Aang. It was nice meeting you, Adele. Hope I see you again. You seem nice." She shook my hand.

She smiled ruefully. "And you seem too nice for your own good." She handed me back a couple of pieces of paper. "Don't let nobody play you for a fool, got that Jackie Chan?"

I cocked my head to the side. "My name's Aang."

She laughed.

"Alright Aang, get out of line I got other customers to attend to." She waved good bye as she helped another customer.

As soon as I was out of line I was grabbed by the arm. "Where's Riley, Aang?"

It was Skeeter.

"He's…" I looked in front of me but I didn't see him. Oops. "I think I lost him." Wait a second. Skeeters alone with me. Yay. "Hey Skeeter!"

He jumped at my exclamation. "Ah! What you want boy? 'Bout to give me a heart attack." He rubbed his chest to punctuate his point.

Apologetically, I smiled. "I was wondering." How to phrase this? "Why do you pull pranks?"

He looked up thoughtfully. "It's fun."

"Is that it? Aren't you starving for attention?"

Skeeter raised an eyebrow incredulously. "How would I be 'starving for attention' China man?"

"Well, when people play pranks on others it's mostly to get others to notice that person. Isn't it?"

Skeeter smiled. "Nope. The fact is plain and simple that I like to catch others by surprise. It's funny when people scream their heads off. I've made a couple cry."

I frowned. "And you don't feel bad about that?"

He shook his head. "Nah. But if you really want to get mushy with it, then I guess you could say that I like pranking because it's the only time I get to spend with my brother."

"Is your brother always busy?" I asked carefully.

"Yeah. He fixes up computers and TV's. That how he pays for most of the stuff we have."

"What about your parents?"

"My mother left when I was little so I don't really remember her. My dad was working hard for us to have what we needed. He worked at a law firm as a lawyer. He was good at it too, made a lot of money. But on his way to work one day he ended up in a car accident. Died on impact. So now it's me and my brother."

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

"It's depressing, I know. But what can I do? I have everything I could ever need right here." He put an arm around my shoulders. "I got great friends, a nice brother and good memories. All I need now is a girlfriend." He moved my head towards his and whispered, "Who was that girl you were talking to?"

"Adele?"

He smiled and put his arms on the back of his head. "Yeah, I've seen her at school"– so that's why she looked so familiar –"but she's always too busy reading to make conversation. Honestly, I don't know why girls need to read so much? Novels don't prepare you for real life." That last sentenced savored of bitterness.

I shrugged. "Maybe she does it for fun."

He snorted and adjusted his red headband. "I'll put her on Maybe."

I smiled secretly to myself. A plan had formed in my mind and I thought it was a pretty good one. "I bet…" I paused to see if caught his attention. I did. "I bet that you couldn't get her to go to the dance with you."

He smirked at me. "Have you seen me? Who wouldn't want a piece of this stud muffin?" He winked at this group of girls passing by and they hurriedly walked away.

"Right. You seem like such a catch." I picked up my pace, spotting Riley staring at jewelry and Todd looking extremely bored.

"Alright man." Skeeter quickly caught up to me. "If I win you have to do something embarrassing. Anything I choose."

"Fair enough. If I win…you get a cute date."

His eyebrows furrowed as he stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. "Wait a minute that's it? If I win then I win but if you win then I still win. What's up with that?"

I smiled. "Secret."

Skeeter's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of the front of his head. "Is this Adele chick crazy? Is she committed? Did she kill someone? What's the catch?"

I did a double take at his accusations. "She seemed nice to me. No need to act all paranoid."

"I'm watching you…" he motioned towards his eyes then to mine.