Chapter 7

Lu Ten

"Please Agni, give me strength." Lu Ten muttered at his reflection in the mirror. He sighed, splashed some water on his face, and continued his prayer as he met his own eyes once again, "Great dragons, teach me patience. Blue Spirit," Lu Ten continued even though he wasn't entirely sure that the Blue Spirit was an actual spirit and not just a fictional character, but he was desperate, "lend me your mask so that I may keep appeasing these arrogant slime balls and so that I don't cause a scene tonight."

There, that sounded appropriately reverent and spiritual enough. Lu Ten thought, he just really hoped it worked.

He exited the bathroom and ignored the door to the kitchen where the fancy caterers were surely beginning to clean and pack up their things, (Uncle Ozai had wasted quite a few minutes of everyone's lives boasting about them and the food earlier. That had been just after Lu Ten had noticed a conspicuous absence and had gone up to his uncle and asked where Zuko was. Lu Ten was willing to admit that he had asked rather bluntly and in front of a guest, but the way Ozai was proudly showing Azula off like she was some sort of trophy, touting all her achievements and eagerly speculating on her bright future to anyone who would listen had stoked the angry embers in his chest that always glowed in Ozai's presence. Plus he had wanted to remind Ozai, and the suits he was schmoozing, that he also had a son.

Lu Ten still didn't think that warranted the sheer amount of icy contempt Ozai gave him when he replied that Zuko was working or the dismissive way he turned and made his way back to the main party, which was now in the far too-opulent reception room.

Lu Ten had always found Ozai to be a perfectionist, so fixated on the details, he often neglected the bigger picture. It was why, even though every individual ornament, gadget and piece of furniture in the house was the best that money could buy, the house, in general, was rather off-putting. Some might say tacky. It was the same logic that allowed Ozai to so overtly favour Azula for her raw firebending talent and her grades in business-oriented subjects even though she was a spoilt, shallow, fickle, callous stain on the family name. And his blindness to her shortcomings only exacerbated them.

Lu Ten quickly found his dad. "Are you absolutely sure we need to be here?" Lu Ten whispered into Iroh's ear.

"Unfortunately, we need this soiree to go well, if we want the company to thrive once again. But I'm sure your presence in particular is no longer needed. I know how uncomfortable you are in a suit, I'm surprised you agreed to come in the first place."

"I thought Zuko might be here," Lu Ten replied, "I thought he might need the company."

"You have a good heart, son, I'm proud to see it every day."

"Well, the brat needs someone on his side," Lu Ten said quietly as he watched Ozai circling the room and insisting everyone eat. Apparently Ozai wanted nothing left on a single plate by the end of the evening.

Maybe Lu Ten was being paranoid, but he didn't like the way Ozai smiled as he talked.

"What time is it?" Lu Ten asked after a few minutes.

Iroh checked his watch. "It's twenty past eight. A perfectly respectable time to go home, if that's what you wish."

"I think I might just need some air," Lu Ten said deliberately, "but I'm still feeling rather hungry. I think I might grab myself a plate and take it outside."

"Of course," Iroh replied with a twinkle in his eyes, "you must do what you feel is necessary."

Lu Ten nodded. He made his way over to the buffet table and began heaping food onto it. The Gym closed at eight, so Zuko should have just returned home from his shift by now and Lu Ten highly doubted there had been any food set aside for him.

Neglect! His mind shouted at him, but he forcibly shoved the thought away, Lu Tenn didn't want to deal with Zuko's prickliness if the kid thought he was being pitied.

Once he had what he needed, Lu Ten strolled out of the party and, with a surreptitious glance around, climbed the stairs and made his way up to Zuko's room.

Gently rapping on the door, he listened to a muffled "just a minute," then the creak of bed springs and the gentle thud of a window closing in the room beyond, followed by more creaking bed springs that soon became footsteps coming quickly towards the door, which then opened.

Lu Ten eyed the skylight over Zuko's shoulder suspiciously and couldn't help but think Zuko looked a little too windswept for someone who had supposedly been in their room, in their pyjamas.

Zuko's face turned from confused and apprehensive into surprised as he looked up at his Lu Ten. "Oh, hey." He rasped, his eyes jumping down and up, clearly taking in the expensive suit and the plate of food, although deliberately not lingering on either of them, "how's the party?"

Lu Ten shrugged, "Really crap actually. It's just a bunch of self-important, money-grabbing assholes who think they're all so awesome when in reality they're really fucking boring. Foods good though." He presented the plate to Zuko, "didn't know if you'd had a chance to try it yet."

Zuko eyed the plate hungrily for a moment before wrenching his eyes back up to meet his cousin's. "Won't you be missed?"

Lu Ten scoffed. "They'll miss me just as much as I'll miss them, I'm sure. My dad will probably tell anyone who asks that I wasn't feeling well and had to go home."

"Why didn't you? Go home, I mean."

Lu Ten rolled his eyes, "Because, as annoying and as stubborn as you can be, I do actually like you and want to spend quality time with you. I keep telling you you're my favourite cousin."

Zuko's face softened as he snorted. "That's not saying much when the only other option is Azula," the boys smirked at each other and Lu Ten was glad he was only barely an adult and therefore under no obligation to be fair. "Thanks for thinking of me, but I should be doing my homework."

"Zuko, it's twenty past eight on a Sunday night. We only have a few hours of the weekend left, just relax and let yourself act like a normal teenager for once." At the hesitant look Zuko gave him, Lu Ten continued, "Plus I snuck all this food up for you because I'm betting you haven't eaten yet."

Zuko sighed at his cousin's triumphantly raised eyebrows. "I got myself something," he countered moodily and shifted slightly so Lu Ten could see the small plate on the bedside table.

"A sandwich?" Lu Ten asked flatly.

"And fruit!" Zuko protested.

Lu Ten pushed forward into the room only dimly aware in the back of his mind that (due to unfortunate and possibly contrived circumstances,) he had never seen Zuko's room before. But mostly he was excited to leave the pompous party below and chill with his exasperating cousin.

"Tough shit sugar tits," Lu Ten said loudly to mask his sadness as he took in his cousin's spartan room. He turned slowly and waited until he could fix a convincing smile on his face before finally facing Zuko, "I did not put all that effort into sneaking you some party food just to let it go to waste. So we are going to sit here, eat this food, maybe make fun of the people downstairs a little and then, if you really insist, I can help you with your homework."

"You don't have to stay," Zuko muttered, his eyes darting off to scrutinise the wall with stubborn interest.

Most of the time, Lu Ten merely hated Uncle Ozai. It was times like these, when Zuko would say or do something seemingly small but which would hint at an ocean of suffering, that Lu Ten abhorred the prick with a revulsion that quite literally burned.

Forcing himself to stay casual in the face of Zuko's infamous skittishness, Lu Ten replied, "Are you kidding? There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

"Even if I have to do homework?" Zuko challenged.

"Even if you have to do homework," Lu Ten reassured, "But first, we feast and make merry!" he joked, holding the plate up.

Zuko snickered, "Okay, you weirdo."

Zuko turned to close the door. Lu Ten wasted no time in shedding his tie, blazer and shoes and was about to sit on the bed when Zuko barked at him to stop.

Lu Ten froze and turned to stare at Zuko, wondering if he had somehow managed to upset his cousin already. But Zuko merely tutted at him and threw a spare blanket over the bed.

"You might be willing to sleep on crumbs, but I am not," he admonished, causing Lu Ten to grin sheepishly and wait until Zuko had settled himself on the bed before following suit and placing the plate between them.

"So," Zuko began a little shyly as he picked a dumpling up off the plate, "is it really bad down there?"

Lu Ten smirked, "Oh yeah. It's awful."

They sat and talked for two hours, making fun of business executives in general and the people downstairs in particular. Lu Ten was having fun and full-on guffawing at the scathing commentary provided by his cousin. Lu Ten had never lied about enjoying his cousin's company, even if he usually had an ulterior motive when talking to him. It was only Zuko who had yet to realise that Lu Ten's motives, and even his dad's motives, were almost exclusively in Zuko's best interests.

"Hey, come stay with us for a few days," Lu Ten suggested as Zuko began to sorrowfully regard his homework with tired eyes.

"I can't," Zuko responded automatically.

"Sure you can. Just throw some things in a bag and let's go."

Zuko frowned disapprovingly at him, "Fine then. I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"I have chores. I can't just abandon my responsibilities here."

Lu Ten had a sarcastic retort comparing Zuko's chores to slave labour on the tip of his tongue, but he thought of the argument they'd had the previous week and kept his mouth shut. Zuko was too tired for an argument tonight even though it would be Zuko who would insist on having it. But curiosity was a powerful thing and Lu Ten was inclined to indulge his curiosity more often than not and was too tired to resist asking, "Why are you so worried about homework all of a sudden?"

"What do you mean? I always do my homework," Zuko countered with a confused frown on his face as he pulled his workbooks onto his lap.

"I know but…" Lu Ten struggled to find the right phrasing, "all you seem to do now is work. If you're not training, you're on shift or you're doing homework or you're doing your chores. Do you ever… not?"

"What do you think the last hour was?" Zuko retorted defensively, "You've already gotten into college, you can relax but I can't, alright? I need to do this homework, you can go if you want to. I know it's boring."

"Fine," Lu Ten eventually surrendered, "what have you got to do?"

"You really don't have to stay." Zuko insisted.

"No," said Lu Ten with all the sincerity he had in him, "I said I would help you and I will. What have you got to do?"

Katara

By the time Katara made it to her Monday morning literature class, she was already in a state of agitation - and that agitation, once again, was stemming from the boy in the big, red hoodie. The boy in the big, red, expensive hoodie that his father could afford to buy him because Ozai Nikko raised the rent on instructors who were still in high school multiple times per year.

Was it not enough that the two smaller gyms that had served the town previously had already been put out of business because of him? Did he enjoy crushing people's hopes and dreams? Seeing them suffer?

He probably did enjoy it, Katara thought to herself bitterly.

"Why has your dad raised the rent on Suki three times in the last year?" She demanded before she had even reached the desk.

"What?" Asked Zuko as he blinked up at her, he had only managed to tune his brain into listening mode for the latter half of the question.

"Why has your dad raised the rent on Suki three times in the last year?" Katara enunciated with facetious clarity while putting her hands on her hips.

"Why are you asking me?" Zuko retorted with a scowl.

Katara huffed and rolled her eyes. "Because it's your dad who owns the gym, and it's your dad who raised the rent so much. If anyone's going to know why, it's gonna be you."

"Well usually if the prices have gone up, it means that some cost to the business has gone up," Zuko replied in a tone that screamed: duh.

"Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot! I know the basic principles of supply and demand!" Katara cried in outrage, "What I wanna know is what costs have gone up three times in one year?"

"Y'know, it could have been a different thing each time," Zuko drawled.

Katara pulled a face. "Most business costs are usually small increases that are easily planned for. Are you saying your dad is disorganised?"

"What? No!" Zuko protested, his usual scowl returning to his face with impressive alacrity.

"So then you're saying he did it on purpose."

"No!"

"Well, then why did he do it?"

Zuko simply scowled harder.

"Well?" Demanded Katara impatiently.

"I don't know! Alright?" Zuko hissed, turning his furious squint on her, "It's not like they let me into board meetings - I'm not even eighteen yet!"

"You mean your dad never talks to you about work?" Katara asked sceptically.

"Not in the way you're suggesting, no." Was that a trace of bitterness Katara heard? "It could be any number of things that have made Suki's rent go up."

Katara scoffed.

Zuko rolled his eyes.

Other students started filing into the classroom along with Mr Pakku and Katara took her seat. She sat stiffly in her seat throughout the lesson, she glared at the board with a pointed focus which definitely and resolutely excluded Zuko.

Not that he even tried to talk to her. He was too busy trying to relax his fingers enough so that he could take legible notes.

Eventually, the lesson ended and Zuko practically sprang out of his seat to start packing up but Katara was still seething.

"I just can't believe you!" She spat venomously, but quiet enough that it wouldn't carry too far over the rustle of other students packing up, making Zuko pause and turn his good ear towards her, "You have all this money, and all you want is more, it's all you care about."

"Well maybe if Suki was a better teacher she would have enough to pay her rent instead of sending her friends to ask for handouts for her," Zuko hissed back before continuing to sweep out the door.

Katara was incensed. How dare he? She could hardly believe that there were people out there who were so self-centred and so lacking in basic human decency!

She stared after him in disbelief until he disappeared from her view. She shook herself, gathered her things and marched up to Mr Pakku's desk.

"I need to change partners," she demanded.

Mr Pakku slowly lifted his head to stare balefully at her. "And why do you think you need to change partners, Miss Katara?"

"Because I cannot work with Zuko! He is insufferable!"

Mr Pakku sighed and brought a hand to his forehead to rub soothing circles with his thumb and middle finger. "I partnered you with Zuko specifically because you were struggling and wanted to improve, and Zuko is top of the class. Moreover, you've had several weeks to work on this project, it wouldn't be fair to anyone else to mix up partners now."

"Fine! Then I'll work on my own!"

"Katara, this is a group project." Mr Pakku said sternly, "I am expecting one speech from the pair of you, and that will not be changing under any circumstances. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," Katara grumbled reluctantly before stomping out of the classroom.

She fumed all the way to the canteen.

"Hey Katara, you ok? Did something happen?" Suki asked as Katara dropped into the seat beside her.

"I'm fine," she replied in a way that sounded like she was very much not fine at all, "it's just... I mean, I always knew Zuko was a jerk, but I just didn't realise he was the biggest jerk of them all!"

"What happened?" Suki frowned.

"I tried to talk to him about your rent-"

"Oh Katara you didn't," interrupted Suki with a moan.

"I just wanted to ask him why you were being extorted," protested Katara innocently.

"And?"

"He tried to blame it on you!"

"What?"

"He said that if you were a better teacher then you wouldn't have any trouble paying rent."

"Oh, that is it! Next time I see him I'm going to give him a piece of my mind!"

And that was how Katara found herself in the lobby of Solaris Gym after school. She stood behind Suki's left shoulder while Sokka stood behind Suki's right shoulder.

"Hey Jun, is Zuko here?" Suki asked in that sickly sweet voice of hers that was its own warning label.

"Sorry Suki, the kid doesn't work a Monday."

Suki barely deflated, instead she almost seamlessly changed tack. "Well then, can I speak to a manager or someone about my rent increase?"

"Sure, Zhao's in. I'll go get him," Jun replied stiffly and off she went.

Suki wrinkled her nose as Jun disappeared. "I was hoping I could speak to Iroh," she murmured.

Just a minute later a man with the most outrageous mutton chops Katara had ever seen appeared behind Jun and beckoned Suki into what Katara assumed was an office of some sort. Which left Sokka and Katara to loiter in the lobby awkwardly. Well, Katara felt awkward; Sokka, with all his bravado, was sauntering up to the desk to lean an elbow on it as if he had never felt awkward a day in his life. A fact that Katara knew for certain wasn't true.

Jun slowly looked up from her computer and levelled Sokka with a flat look.

"So," Sokka began, "you work with Zuko."

"Don't put me in the middle of whatever beef you have with the boss's kid," she said abruptly and turned her attention back to the computer.

"I just-"

"No."

"But I only-"

"No."

Sokka promptly retreated and came to stand next to Katara. "You know," he murmured, "I don't think she likes me."

"Gee, ya think?" Katara retorted.

They waited ten minutes for a disappointed Suki and the manager of the gym making an effort to conceal his smugness. It was a poor effort.

Zhao followed Suki over to them. "I see you care a great deal about your friend's rent situation," he addressed Katara in a voice that was aiming for silky smooth, but instead ended up greasy like old engine oil.

"Come on, let's go home," Suki said as she wrapped her hand around Sokka's and began to lead him away.

Katara was about to follow but she just couldn't take her eyes off Zhao's triumphant expression. She turned back to him as the other two passed through the exit.

"Look, I know you're just the manager, and even when I asked the owner's son he couldn't tell me anything, but why has Suki's rent gone up so much, do you know?" Katara asked.

Zhao's eyebrows had shot up and had continued to rise as she spoke until they were in very real danger of running out of forehead to climb. He managed to smooth out his expression as she finished talking and took a moment to answer.

"Of course, the boy wouldn't know," Zhao began slowly, "he barely takes an interest in what it takes to run a successful business. And to be honest, I think everyone, including Ozai himself, is glad of that."

"What do you mean?"

Zhao sighed regretfully, "Look, don't mention this to anyone, okay?"

Katara nodded.

"But you know how it is, successful parents want to give the world to their kids, they end up with spoiled idiots who are never going to amount to anything because they rely on their parents bailing them out all the time... Ozai is a family man. It's very hard for him to separate personal expenses from business expenses."

"Are you saying it's Zuko's fault that Suki's rent is going up?"

Zhao nodded sagely. "The boy is a troublemaker."

It felt like everything was slotting into place for Katara, she practically had confirmation that Ozai was bribing the school to not expel Zuko. She nodded her thanks to the manager and hurried to join the others outside. Katara now had less than an hour to get ready for her shift, and she still needed to go home first; unlike Zuko, who could do whatever he wanted safe in the knowledge that nepotism and generational wealth made a sturdy safety net - Katara could not afford to lose her job or even a day's wages.

Zuko

Regret for what Zuko had said to Katara didn't sink in immediately. With the sheer amount of frustration and anger he was feeling, (along with the stinging hurt that came with the fact that Azula would probably know,) there wasn't much room in him for regret.

No. Regret sidled in about an hour later when frustration had gotten distracted and wandered off and anger had laid down for a nap. (Hurt was still lingering in the corner and not talking to anyone.)

But even when regret did start to make itself known, his main regret wasn't snapping at Katara, as much as he had cast aspersions on Suki's competency as a teacher.

Ideally, he would have liked to have sat down and done some homework before training, but the regret was really pestering him, (it had invited over its cousin, guilt, and the pair had teamed up to heckle him with all the things he could've said instead if only he were better,) and he was finding it hard to concentrate.

All this merely resulted in Zuko sitting down and staring blankly at the pages of his textbook for a couple of hours before it was time for him to get ready. Therefore he was not in the best of moods when he walked into the gym.

He could feel the scowl that had once again seared itself onto his face as he trudged through the chilly streets like it was an old friend. Well, more like one of those distant relations that always turned up uninvited, ate all the food, then outstayed their welcome and had to be told in increasingly firm tones to go away.

Jun however had never been phased by any of Zuko's moods or the expressions they manifested. In fact, Zuko secretly suspected that Jun viewed him pretty much like he was the company kitten.

"So what's up with you and fan girl?" she asked without preamble as he marched through the lobby.

"What?" he asked, bewildered.

"The girl who teaches people how to kill other people with fans, she was looking for you earlier. Seemed pissed. Had a couple of friends with her too." Jun deadpanned.

Shit. That would be, "Suki."

"Yup."

"What did you tell her?" He asked cautiously, trying not to think of all the ways his earlier words could come back to bite him.

Jun shrugged. "Just that you weren't working today."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. Jun had covered for him? Jun? Jun who never did anything for anyone unless there was something in it for her? "Why would you say that?"

"Well it's true isn't it?"

"Careful Jun, some people might start to think that you care," he finally replied, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Those people can go suck it," she replied absently as she stood up with her mug of coffee and stalked away to the staff room.

Zuko was left to stew in his own thoughts as he wandered through to the changing rooms. This, historically, had never led to anything good for Zuko.

And today was no exception.

He was distracted all through training, the entirety of his limited focus being on not singeing anything that shouldn't be singed, and it soon became apparent that Zuko's brief reprieve from leaving his MCB classes black and blue was over.

He didn't know which was worse, Long Feng and his sharp thwacks with his cane and even sharper tongue, or getting knocked on his ass, repeatedly, by pretty much everyone.

It was so aggravating.

That was until Bumi pulled him aside to spar one-on-one and Zuko's day got even worse as Bumi proceeded to also knock him on his ass, but with astounding ease and in record time, repeatedly. The building inferno inside translated quite effortlessly into the inferno outside and Zuko wore himself out battering ineffectually against Bumi's rocks with great tongues of flames.

As the lesson concluded, Bumi caught Zuko by the shoulder before he could disappear. "You firebenders," he started, his voice crackling with old age, "you're always flickering. You flicker between one emotion and the next because you think that makes your bending stronger. But only a steady flame will grow sure and strong." He poked Zuko in the chest, "If you deal with what's causing all the chaos in here," he then poked Zuko in the forehead, "you will be able to use what's in here when you fight."

"I don't get it," Zuko admitted.

Bumi leaned forward so his nose was millimetres from Zuko's, "are you sure you're Iroh's nephew?"

Zuko nodded.

Bumi hummed doubtfully, but at least he leaned back. "What I mean is, if you took the time to think about it, if you get all your flashy emotions under control, then you might be able to use your intelligence to win the fight... If you have any, that is."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "And how do I do that?"

Bumi shrugged, "have you thought about yoga? Deep breathing exercises?"

Zuko barely stopped himself from facepalming as he stomped past Bumi and towards the changing rooms.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? That was always Zuko's problem, he got all worked up and he let his flames run away from him. And his fists. And his mouth.

As loath as he was to admit it, the old man had a point. He put his shoes and socks on and grabbed his hoodie off the peg and slipped it on as he walked down the corridor.

He had the entire walk home to mull things over, and the rhythmic motion of his steps helped his mind wander. He shouldn't have said that about Suki. He had seen a couple of her classes and they seemed pretty cool and pretty busy. Plus, in the sparse moments they had come into contact, she had been more than civil. More than polite, even. Now that Zuko thought about it, she had been downright friendly.

Maybe he had missed it because the only other friendliness he had experienced had come from Ty Lee, and that was an overwhelming, bubbly sort of friendliness. Sort of like you were drowning in happy foam.

No, Suki definitely hadn't deserved what he'd said.

He slid his key into the door and pushed it open. He wandered straight through to the kitchen and threw together a simple dinner while his mind continued to whir.

And, thought a quiet voice in the back of his mind, a little while later, just as he was sliding the last of the dirty dishes into the draining rack, maybe she didn't deserve to have her rent raised again.

The traitorous thought had wormed its way deep into the back of his mind where its presence was felt quietly but constantly. The more Zuko tried not to think about it, the quicker his thoughts kept circling back to it. And the more he thought about it, the more that tiny little thought grew and made sense.