Author's Notes:

Break Away:

The bright, chipper ringtone that sounded from her pocket could only be the polar opposite of the dull, exhausted feeling that was beginning to overwhelm Katara. Without slowing her brisk walk back to her dorm she flipped her phone opened and barked, "Speak, oh one who wishes to talk with the great and powerful Katara Pak."

From the other side came an equally sarcastic voice. "Oh, the lowly peasant-girl of the Bei Fong family begs for the Princess Katara to hear her and accept her request for an audience," Toph drawled.

Katara smiled wryly and her walk slowed significantly. "An audience? Well I suppose I could grant one, but only to those that are worthy. Are you and your companions -of which I'm sure you have several- prepared for what a Princess of my stature requires?"

"A slap in the face?" A new voice said over the phone -Aang.

Katara's eyebrows flew up in surprise. "Oh yeah, totally Aang. Way to kill the whole charade," she said, only half jokingly.

"Yeah, I know Twinkle Toes," Toph said. "That's my job. You're taking away from my fun with Sugar Queen!" She sighed into the receiver. "Anyways, what I was trying to say was that we're just hanging and playing ultimate Frisbee over on the South side. You wanna join in?"

Katara thought for a moment, humming to herself. She hadn't seen the gang in while, not since before she started working as a T.A. Finally she replied, "I think I can put off my coursework for a little bit more. The South side you said?"


"And that paper will be due next Wednesday, and not a day later!" Mr. Feng shouted at the departing class. Zuko only groaned inwardly. It was bad enough that he had to take an inter-disciplinary course, but taking an ethics class that focused only on science in war was obnoxious. He edged out the room, keeping his eyes to the ground.

Checking his watch -11:45- Zuko pondered what he was going to do. His next class was in over an hour, but he wasn't hungry yet for lunch. He spotted a lonely shade tree and chucked his bag under it. He might as well sit somewhere comfortable before standing around in a lab for two hours.

BEEP BEEP BEEP. His phone sounded from within his pocket. Zuko pulled it out, sitting down and resting against the tree. Without checking the name he flipped it open, answering, "Well I can't say I didn't expect you to call."

A low, bored voice replied, "Yeah well it gets boring here. Ty Lee is my roommate, again. There's only so many handstands I can see before getting bored enough to call you, Zuko."

Zuko scowled, rolling his eyes. "Well Mai, I'd think you'd be used to boredom by now. Wasn't I the most exciting thing to have happened to you? I mean, you asked for me back like what, three times?"

Mai chuckled darkly. "What, you're going to hold that against me? You took me back, didn't you? Besides, I didn't call to bring up that whole mess. How's Sozin U treating you?"

"Oh, about the same as Ba Sing Se only without my sister lurking around," he replied coolly.

"Well that's great. But ever since you left Omashu it's been a real bore. No one knows how to do things here," she complained.

"Mai, you don't even do things," Zuko said, looking at his watch. 11:48. This was going to be a long conversation.


The green lawn of the South side was perfect for the fall. There were only trees along the pathways so the few leaves that didn't get raked away weren't an issue for Frisbee. Katara spotted Aang's blue arrow hat before she was even halfway across the grass. Toph waved to her and Katara waved back. She was glad now that Toph had called her. The fresh air and running around would do wonders for her mood.

"Katara, think fast!" Sokka yelled, throwing the Frisbee to her. The flying disk came at her and she had to drop her bag quickly. "Ahh!" she yelled, jumping back as the Frisbee whizzed just past her face. It landed a few feet away and Katara plucked it off the ground. Without warning she chucked it at her brother, hitting him in the back of the head as he was turned away to high-five Aang.

With a laugh she grabbed her bag and jogged up to her friends. "'Sup guys!" she said brightly. Toph high-fived her with an equally large grin.

"Awesome! Now we can do guys-on-girls," Suki said. "We've got three and they've got three."

Sokka scowled and snatched the Frisbee. "Fine. Aang, Teo, and I will win anyways. Isn't that right guys?" Aang and Teo whooped, darting to spread out. Sokka glanced over his shoulder at the three girls. "You going to stop us or are we just going to start kicking ass now?"

Toph stuck out her tongue and ran over to where Teo was wheeling about. "Suki, you get Aang. Katara cover your brother until you get where the boundaries are!" she shouted as she ran. And the game began.


"So I said to Ty Lee, if you bring anything more pink into this room, it's going to be shoved up your ass," Mai drawled. "I mean, honestly, how much stuff does she own?"

Zuko stifled a yawn, pulling out a sketch pad. "I dunno Mai. How much stuff do you own?"

"Well Mom and Dad buy me all my school stuff so I basically can get whatever I want during the school year. Not that I really care much about what I buy. I mean, it's just stuff, right?"

"Totally, Mai. Totally," Zuko replied vaguely.


Katara panted, her eyes darting back and forth. They were tied, 4-4, with only a few yards from where the end zone was -a walkway halfway through the green. And Katara had the Frisbee.

Toph darted back and forth, yelling, "I'm open!" Suki held her ground, preparing to rush if the Frisbee was thrown to her. Katara groaned inwardly. Toph couldn't see behind her that besides Teo following behind, wheels clicking gleefully, Aang was shadowing behind on her other side. And Suki couldn't out-sprint Sokka. It was an impossible shot.

"Smellerbee, think fast!" Katara yelled, tossing the Frisbee to a surprised Smellerbee. The small girl caught it, shouting when a frustrated Teo bull-rushed her. Teo grabbed the small girl around the waist as he scrambled to reach the disk. "My Frisbee!" she shouted, hitting him on the top of the head with said Frisbee.

Sokka stomped his foot angrily. "That's no fair! Smellerbee wasn't playing before! You can't just add people when it's convenient," he whined.

Toph laughed hysterically. "I dunno Sokka. It was girls on guys before!" Suki nodded in agreement. Teo let go of Smellerbee, getting a scorching glare from Longshot in the process. Smellerbee laughed the whole situation away, tossing the Frisbee to Katara.

Sokka was still annoyed. "Well if Longshot joins in, it's okay for Smellerbee's goal to count," he bargained. Longshot shook his head. He didn't want to play.

"I'll play," a voice said from behind them. Katara cringed, turning around. Jet stood there, chewing idly on a stalk of grass. "You need one more guy, right? I'll do it."

"All right!" Aang cheered. "Now we're sure to win!" He slapped Jet on the back as he ran past. Katara huffed and ran over to cover Teo.


"But I think I've been doing all the talking. How's Sozin U treating you, Zuko?" Mai asked genuinely.

Zuko jerked slightly from his position resting against the tree, surprised by Mai's sudden, well, interest in anything. "Uh, it's nice?" he said lamely. "I uh, went out to coffee the other night."

There was a short silence on the other end. Mai spoke up quietly. "I take it you didn't go out to coffee all by yourself," she said.

With an inward groan and a desire to "lose connection," Zuko replied carefully, "I went with an old schoolmate from Roku Private. No big deal." He really didn't want for Mai to go into one of her tirades where she hated the fact that he was-

"With a girl, I'd bet," she said harshly. "Lord I should have known that's why you're not complaining. Honestly, any time that you weren't complaining I could tell you were thinking about someone other than me and look! I was right. What happened to 'oh Sozin U's not going to be the same?' Hm?"

Zuko was about to reply when someone nearby started shouting. He didn't pay attention until he heard his own name in the shout-fest.


"Katara, I'm open!" Suki called, waving her arms frantically. With a short, careful toss the Frisbee was in her hands and only feet from the end zone. "Alright, now get open!"

With a determined nod Katara powered past Aang, who had been covering her. She motioned for Suki to throw her the Frisbee and as she leapt into the air-

"Oof!" Jet mumbled as he crashed into her. They tumbled on the ground, finally stopping on the uncomfortable walkway, Katara on her back, Jet atop her. "Well this is familiar," he murmured, his mouth uncomfortably close to Katara's ear.

She elbowed him in the gut, scowling. "Fuck off, asshole," she yelled, shoving him off roughly and storming off. "I don't want to deal with you," she added over her shoulder, "so leave me alone!" Katara grabbed her bag from where she'd tossed it earlier -nearly an hour ago now- and left the surprised group.

She knew it looked ridiculous and emotional, but she was sick just sick of Jet's little jibes and jokes. Katara readjusted the strap on her bag and crossed her arms over her chest, huffing. She regretted ever going out with him. At least Haru hadn't hounded her after their relationship died after barely a month.

"Katara, I'm sorry!" Jet called, jogging up behind her. "Just chill. It was just a joke, 'Tara." He stopped in front of her, making her stop for a moment as well.

"Don't call me that," she muttered, shoving past him. "And don't make me say it again-Fuck. Off." That aught to shut him up, she hoped.

But he was there still moments later. "Look, 'Tara I'm sorry. Will you just stop it so we can go back to normal?" he asked.

"No!" she shouted, stopping to give him the full force of her wrath. "I. Don't. Care. About. You. Anymore. End of story, Jet."

He snorted. "Is this about that Zuko kid? Honestly he looks like a real basket case," he scoffed. "Have you gotten a load of that eye? Gotta wonder where he got that there scar." He pointed to his own eye. He mouthed the word "pyro" and raised his eyebrows, nodding.

Katara snapped. She didn't know when she'd balled her hands into fists, but now she swung and punched Jet square in the jaw. As he recoiled and held his jaw he swore under his breath. "For your information, jackass Zuko is ten times the man you will ever be. So shut the Hell up and get out of my life." She turned on her heel, stopping just as suddenly as she started as she saw a pair of golden eyes staring back at hers.

"Zuko is ten times the man you will ever be. So shut the Hell up and get out of my life."


The words rang around in Zuko's head and he nearly dropped the phone he held in his hand. Katara had said that. The same girl who had vehemently denied being his girlfriend. The same girl who saw him now, just to dash across the lawn with a flush on her face as red as can be.

Awww yeah.

"Earth to Zuko!" Mai drawled. "I'm busy being mad at you. Listen to me!"

Zuko stopped gazing after Katara, his eyes watching Jet for a moment as the boy nursed his bruising jaw. "Sorry Mai. I think I'm making a clean break. Sozin U's not going to be the same, that's for sure."

She sputtered at the other end. "What the hell do you mean by a "clean break?"" she moaned.

He looked at his phone, saying only, "Bye Mai," and clicking it shut. He stared at the phone for a moment, then shrugged happily, tucking it into a pocket of his bag. Breaking away from Mai and his sister's other friends was surprisingly easier than he'd thought before.

A clean break it was.