"Are you ready, Zuko?"
Zuko trembled. "No!" He was standing on the top of one of the tallest hills on campus, preparing to test out their hoverboard project. He had been fine with the idea for some time, but now, looking down at the jagged pebbles and mud piles, he was starting to get cold feet.
"Are you sure this works, Sokka?"
"That's what we're trying to find out, isn't it?" Then Sokka seemed to realize what he said. He turned back to Zuko's terrified expression. "I mean, of course it works! I wouldn't ask you to try it otherwise."
That was reassuring.
Against his better judgement, Zuko decided to trust Sokka and his engineering prowess. He tightened his helmet, handed Sokka his phone to call 911, and started down the hill.
Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and the wind rushed in front of his face. The hoverboard was surprisingly steady, but the jagged pebbles caused it to be bumpy and uneven. With every lurch of the board, Zuko was ready to dictate his will and leave everything to his uncle. About halfway through, however, the fear started to pass as none of the lurches caused him to hurtle to the ground.
"Wooo!" Zuko hollered, his heart pumping with energy.
"Yeah, Zuko!" Sokka hollered back at the top of his lungs.
Their enthusiasm seemed to waver, however, as Zuko realized he was on a collision course right towards Sokka.
"Look out!" Zuko screamed, pelting too fast down the hill to slow down. Sokka tried to run, but Zuko had already slammed into his chest, catapulting the two of them to the ground. The hoverboard rolled away as Zuko collapsed on top of Sokka.
Zuko picked his chin off of Sokka's chest, coughing up dirt. "Are you okay, Sokka?"
By the look on Sokka's face, he wasn't. Despite the mud all over his cheeks, his face was burning like an inferno, probably because Zuko skidded him on the ground.
Suddenly, a chorus of snickers interrupted Sokka before he could answer. They both turned to see a young woman standing a few yards away and laughing hysterically. She bore a striking resemblance to Sokka, with cocoa colored skin, piercing blue eyes and thick chocolate hair. Her hair, however, was much longer, and was loose except for a small bun on top of her head. A cerelean halter top hugged her torso, while a pair of ripped blue jeans hugged her hips. Glossy black ankle boots sat at her ankles, silver hoops hung from her ears, and she wore a choker around her neck. The choker was identical to the one Yue always wore, except for the design on the pendant part of it.
"Sokka," she said, laughing with every word, "is there something I should know?"
Now it was Zuko's turn to heat up.
...
Sokka was dead. He had died of embarrassment, and there was no chance of resurrection. He stormed over to his sister, his cheeks flaming from anger and humiliation. "No, there isn't! We were just trying out my hoverboard, and it works! What are you even doing here?" He was talking a mile a minute.
Katara grinned. "I'm visiting for winter break, obviously! Didn't Aang call you?"
"No, he didn't! Why would you trust Aang to handle technology anyway? You know he's like a hundred mentally, right?" Sokka protested. Then he let Katara's words go through his brain. "Wait, you're visiting for winter break?"
"Of course I am! Aang and Toph are waiting in the parking lot for me; I was just going to ask for a map at the front office."
Zuko suddenly piped up, looking incredibly flustered and confused. "I'm sorry, I hate to interject, but what in the name of Agni is happening here?"
In allthe excitement, Sokka had completely forgotten that Zuko was still here. "Sorry about that. Zuko, this is my sister, Katara. Katara, this is my roommate, Zuko."
"Oh, yes, Zuko! Sorry I embarassed you a little bit, I just can't help but poke a little fun at Sokka." She extended her hand for him to shake, and he returned the gesture.
"It's alright, it's a pleasure to meet you. Sokka's told me a lot abou-" Sokka quickly motioned for Zuko to stop talking, and luckily he got the message. If Katara found out about all the things he told his roommate about her, she'd throw a fit.
"He's told me a lot about his friends and family, so it's nice to meet you in person," Zuko amended with surprising ease.
"I would say the same about you, but Sokka hasn't called me in the last three months," Katara snipped with a deadly glare at her brother, "so I suppose we'll have to get to know each other in the next three weeks." Katara grabbed Zuko's arm and started dragging him along. "Come on, I can't wait for you to meet Aang and Toph!"
Sokka rolled his eyes, but snickered at the thought of Toph coming up with a new nickname for Zuko, and hurried off to meet his friends.
...
Sokka's sister had been dragging Zuko across campus for fifteen minutes, like he didn't know how to navigate his own university. He had tried to wrench out of her grasp several times, but she had an iron grip.
At last, they reached the west parking lot, where Katara waved frantically at two figures in the distance. "Aang, Toph, meet Sokka's roommate!" she hollered.
They ran closer to the two figures, and they became easier to see. The first was a boy, who looked to be about eighteen. His messy brown hair was mostly hidden by a beige beanie, that was decorated with a bright blue beanie. His gray eyes were wide and expressive, and a smile brightened his pale features. He donned a mustard yellow sweatshirt, faded blue leggings, and a pair of untied gray high-tops.
The second figure was considerably smaller, so it was difficult to determine her age. She had jet black hair tied up into two messy spacebuns. Her skin was even paler than the boy's, and her seafoam green eyes were glazed over and unfocused. A pale green t-shirt laid beneath an overall romper, with one sleeve of the romper undone. Her brown hiking boots were muddy and tracking dirt everywhere, much to Katara's distaste.
Behind them was a car that looked similar to Zuko's, but only in the fact that it was a Beetle. While Zuko kept his car meticulously spotless, this one looked like it hadn't been washed in about ten years. it was beige, and it was sputtering gasoline on the pavement.
"Hey, I'm Aang! I hope Sokka hasn't been bothering you too much," the boy chuckled, grabbing Zuko's hand and shaking it excitedly.
Zuko and Sokka both laughed nervously. "No, he's been...he's been great," Zuko assured them.
"That's good, because otherwise I would've had to shove Sokka's head in a toilet. And that would've been way too fun, right Sugar Queen?" the girl mentioned casually, not making eye contact with anyone.
"Your anger has reached new levels of subtlety, Toph," Katara said icily, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I don't think I need to tell you that Katara is rolling her eyes," Aang laughed. Does this guy ever stop smiling? Zuko wondered.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, choosing to ignore his wondering. "Can't you see it?"
Sokka yelped, and made a bunch of frantic motions, but too late Zuko realized that it was for him to stop. Before he knew it, Toph was peering up at him, her chest puffed out.
"I'm blind, you nitwit. Do you have something to say about that?" she snapped, the threat crystal clear.
"N-no, I just...didn't know," he stammered, his hands raised in surrender.
"Okay, okay, calm down, everyone," Sokka interjected, forcing the two apart. "I think you're scaring him. How about we go up to our dorm, and we can talk more up there?"
"Good idea! I'm famished over that long car ride," Aang agreed, starting towards the west dormitories, the rest following suit.
"I don't know how you could be. That pile of junk you call a car made me more carsick than I've ever been in my life," Toph complained.
"How could you say that?!"
"Sweetie, you know I love you, but you really need to trade that old thing in," Katara soothed with a forced smile.
Aang held a hand over his heart. "What?! I would never trade in Appa! He's been my first car, and he always will be!"
Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Did Aang say his car has a name?"
"Yup," Sokka deadpanned. "He got it when he turned sixteen, and I don't think he's vacuumed or washed it since. You're lucky he didn't bring his dog, Momo. Then we'd have a real stench fest, I'll tell you that."
...
Sokka watched as Zuko pulled out a tray of homemade mini hot dogs from the tiny oven in their dorm, taking care to make vegan ones for Aang. Everyone else was sprawled about the living room, chatting and looking at their phones.
As Zuko laid out the plate of mini hot dogs on the coffee table, Katara suddenly turned away from her conversation with Aang. "So, Zuko, how's Sokka doing in school?" she asked, not so subtlely staring down Sokka.
Sokka had a mini heart attack, but Zuko seemed relatively calm. "Well," he started, sitting down in an armchair, "he started out a more than a bit rocky, but after a while, he got the hang of it. He's doing great now."
Sokka's heart pounded. By the looks of Zuko's soft smile, he wasn't really talking about grades.
"Zuko, these hot dogs are delicious!" Aang exclaimed, his mouth full.
"That's good to hear. I was worried my culinary arts major wouldn't amount to anything," Zuko replied, rubbing his neck bashfully.
"Hmm, I haven't tried them yet." Katara got up to walk over to the coffee table, but Aang stopp her.
"No, I got it, sweetie," Aang said sweetly.
"It's okay sweetie, it'll only take a second-"
"I can get it sweetie, really-"
"If you say sweetie one more time, I'm going to puke," Toph snapped, throwing a hot dog into Katara's hand. "Just take it."
Katara sat down, the rest of group laughing good-naturedly while the two blushed in embarassment. "Let me guess-you two are dating," Zuko chuckled.
Katara opened her mouth to answer, but to everyone's surprise, a new voice answered for her. "Yes, and you won't believe how long it took for them to get together. They acted like a pair of kittens, and yet we still had to convince them that they loved each other."
Everyone turned to see Suki standing at the door, grinning broadly with two grocery bags in her hands.
"SUKI!" Everyone collectively ran towards her and embraced her, to which she laughed heartily.
"It's great to see you guys! Are you visiting for break?" she asked, putting down her groceries in the kitchen.
"Yup!" Katara exclaimed. "We're not staying here, of course. We're renting a hotel room down the street." She raised an eyebrow. "What were you saying about Aang and I?"
Suki collapsed on the couch next to Sokka. "Nothing, just that were you unbearably dense. You two would cuddle up together on the couch and call each other sweetie and cutie pie, and yet you still insisted that you were just friends."
"Really?" Zuko asked between laughs.
"I will admit that we did try to deny that we felt anything. Looking back, the signs were all there." Aang scooped up another hot dog and popped it into his mouth. "We were always falling into each other's arms, which always resulted in a case of serious blushing. We'd give each other compliments, and we'd get all embarassed. Everyone else knew though, and they'd always laugh like it was some inside joke."
Sokka nearly choked on his hot dog. Everyone turned to him, concerned, but Sokka waved them off. "I'm okay, really-" he said between gasps. "I just need to go to the bathroom real quick-" He rushed off to the bathroom before anyone could say anything. After he locked himself in. He sat on the toilet and hugged his knees.
Sokka looked at him with a confused expression, then realization began to dawn on his face. "Oh! We're not...we didn't..." He cleared his throat, excusing himself with a menu covering his blushing face. "Thank you for the tea."
Zuko smiled and looped an arm around his shoulders. "Well, I don't know anything about sports, so I suppose not everyone." Sokka's face burned even harder, and he looked like he had forgotten how to speak. "W-well...most people do, so I guess you're just special, Zuko." Suki and Yue looked like they might drop dead from laughter, like they had just shared an inside joke.
Despite the mud all over his cheeks, his face was burning like an inferno.
Damn it. He liked Zuko.