Work Text
Day 1: WeddingPairing: Sokkla (Azula x Sokka)Genres: Angst/RomanceRating: TSetting: Katara and Aang's wedding in the Southern Water Tribe (after North & South)
Wedding
Weddings were supposed to be a joyous occasion. A time to celebrate the joining of two people. A time to celebrate love.Love was such a foreign concept to Azula. She thought she had a chance at it once, not too long ago, but it was clear that that was never going to happen. Not after that fateful night. She didn't want to think about that night, but the more she tried to forget it happened, the more it replayed over and over in her head like a perpetual torture device.It's not like she hadn't tried to distract herself. She had. Desperately. First, she started by trying to make small talk with her old friends, Mai and Ty Lee, throwing them compliments about their dresses and overall appearance. But it became very apparent that they were not interested in renewing their friendship with her, and Azula did not want to waste any more of their time.Then she tried the blind earthbender, but even in her inappropriately intoxicated state, Toph said there was no way she could ever trust someone who could pass her otherwise failproof lie detector test, her feet. Toph and her superpowers.So she moved on to the bride and groom, graciously thanking them for the invitation. She was pretty sure she didn't come across as sarcastic. But Katara immediately snapped at her, saying the only reason she was invited was because Zuko forced them to include her. And to stay out of their way and try not to ruin anything. Aang just stood there smiling awkwardly. Azula couldn't blame him. He couldn't disagree with his bride on their wedding day after all.She did manage to successfully converse with her uncle. That lasted a solid minute or so. But his body language told her he was more interested in trying to chat up a young lady than speak with her, and Azula didn't want to be in the way.She hit the peak of her desperation when she decided to ask her own brother to dance. It was better than sitting alone, right? Well, he turned her down. He said he was trying to get back together with Mai so he had to save all his dances for her. How romantic.There was no way she was going to interfere with her mother dancing with her husband and favorite daughter. Their family was complete without her. When people thought of the Fire Nation royal family, they pictured Fire Lord Zuko, Ursa and Noren, and little Kiyi, the young prodigy firebender. Not the one who went insane.So that was that. All she could do was sit at the table by herself and watch everyone else have a good time. She was certainly not going to approach Suki. No. Suki was the last person she wanted to talk to. Not after that night. Not after what she did with the Kyoshi warrior's boyfriend. Sokka…Every once in a while, she noticed some of the other guests stare at her and quickly turn away. Sometimes she'd see them whisper to each other. They probably thought she was still crazy. Or maybe they were just trying to figure out why she was there.That was a great question actually. Why was she there? Why was she subjecting herself to this torment? Why couldn't she fit in? Why wasn't anyone asking her to dance? Why were people so hesitant to trust her when the war ended seven whole years ago? Why did her mere presence make people so uncomfortable? And why, for Spirits' sake, couldn't she peel her eyes away from Sokka and Suki dancing together? Holding each other so closely. Gazing longingly into each other's eyes.Sokka had looked at her like that too. Once. She thought everything would be different after that. And in a way it was, just not in the way she had expected. Life was full of disappointment. She probably should have known better.No, things didn't pan out the way she had hoped. Sokka didn't want her. And she really only had herself to blame. After all, she was the one who kissed him. She was the one who ruined their friendship. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have thrown away the only good thing she had going for her? Sokka. The only light in her life.But even Sokka hadn't been so welcoming at first. As a favor to Zuko, he had helped her get settled into her new office in the Fire Nation Embassy and given her a quick rundown of the work she was expected to do, but he was as cold as the Southern Water Tribe itself. He hadn't wanted her there. Not at first anyway." I'll be reporting to your brother on your progress so no funny business," he threatened, puffing out his chest.
She laughed, crossing her arms. "Remember what happened the last time you tried to pull that no-nonsense attitude with me, Water Boy?"
" Yeah! You zapped me with lightning!""No," she corrected, "I zapped your boomerang with lightning. Your hand just happened to be in the way."" Yeah, well, I-I'll tell Zuko if you lightningbend at me again. I'm keeping an eye on you, Missy!"And he did keep an eye on her. He monitored everything she did at work. That micromanaging pest. He scrutinized every little detail of her assignments. It annoyed her to no end. But even so, she kept her head low and did the best job she could. It seemed like the only plausible way to get people to stop looking at her like she was infected. Sokka had kept things strictly professional between them. Until one day when he decided to try and make small talk for whatever reason…" I, uh, must say, Azula…" He placed his hand on the back of his head in an awkward stretch. "You've been doing some really great work here. You've actually been quite valuable in mending global relations between our two – "" You sound surprised."" Well… it's just – "" What were you expecting?"" I don't know." He shrugged. "Intricate plots. Schemes. Not this."
She sighed with irritation but decided it was in her better interest to hold her tongue. "Well… thank you, I guess."
" You're welcome, I guess."She expected him to leave after that, but he kept hovering over her shoulder." So… are you, I don't know, homesick?" he asked, his voice squeaking." I'm not sure what you mean."" Uhhh…" He looked puzzled. "Do you miss home?"" It's hard to miss something you don't have."" The palace…?"" The palace hasn't felt like home to me in a very long time."" What about your family?""Oh," she laughed snidely. "Do you mean my mother who willingly chose to forget my existence, my new sister with whom I've been replaced, my brother who shipped me off to the South Pole because nobody wanted me around, or my sociopathic father who's in prison?"" I, uhhh, I guess I never – "" I'm sorry," she sighed, shaking her head. "I shouldn't have said anything.""No! I'm… I'm glad you did." He paused. "Well, you know… you do have a new home here."" No offense, Sokka, but the Southern Water Tribe doesn't exactly feel like home either."" But you've been here for almost a month now!"" Yes, but besides where I work, where I sleep, and where to find food, I know nothing about this place."" Well, then…" He smiled warmly at her. "Let's change that."So he took her out for a night on the town. She would have thought he'd have better things to do with his time, but he seemed thankful for any excuse not to hang out with his sister and Aang who were swimming in wedding plans and giving him a constant case of the 'oogies'.That night, he had given her a proper tour of the Tribe and walked her home like a gentleman. Nothing too exciting, but it was nice to get out of the house for once. But a few days later, he said he had a surprise for her. So after work, he led her to his Aunt Ashuna's house where he presented her with some foreign meat-like substance."… What am I supposed to do with this?"" You eat it, of course!" He grinned and took a bite out of his.
She watched him struggle. It seemed a little tough to chew. "What is it?" She eyed hers suspiciously.
" Blubbered seal jerky," he mumbled through a full mouth, "No one makes it better than Auntie Ashuna."" Hm." She continued staring at it with skepticism for a bit. "Well… okay." She sank her teeth into it and ripped off a bite." Well? What do you think?!"" It's… kind of sturdy, but… surprisingly tasty!" She smiled.
He returned the smile, seemingly pleased that she was enjoying it.
" So, Sokka… what does one do for – "" Hold on. Back up a second." He smirked. "Did you just call me by my real name?"
She raised an eyebrow at him.
" Not 'water peasant' or 'snow savage'?"" Well," she laughed. "It's clear from your thorough tour that you are not the peasant I once thought you were. The Southern Water Tribe is actually quite lovely. It's cold, way too cold, but beautiful nonetheless."" It is, isn't it? But you know…" He looked down at his feet. "It wasn't always like this. When I was growing up, we lived in tiny huts. We only had what we needed to survive."" As someone who grew up with every sort of luxury imaginable, I wish I could have seen what it was like…"" Hmm," he droned, cocking his head to the side and looking up and to the left. Then he abruptly turned back toward her. "You can! There are still some parts on the outskirts that haven't been renovated yet. Let's go!"Once they had gotten far enough away from town, the whole environment changed to blankets upon blankets of white. Azula had never seen so much snow in one setting. It was almost blinding."Wow. So this is the environment in which you grew up?"" Mmhmm."" There's nothing to do out here at all!"" Hey, that's not true!" He looked up over a hill in the distance. "I'll show you." He grabbed her hand and pulled her to the top of the snowy mound where they found a cluster of black-and-white whiskered critters." What are these things?!" she asked, laughing nervously." Penguin-otters!"" Oh…"" Come on, you can admit it," he teased, "You think they're adorable, don't you?"
She smiled, blushing a bit. "Okay… they're kind of cute." She began laughing when a group of them waddled up to them, surrounding them with their fuzzy bellies.
" They like us!" he grinned." They like us because we smell like food."" This is true," he acknowledged. "So… would you care to go penguin sledding?""… Penguin sledding?"" Yeah! We get on their backs and ride them down the hill."" Ummm… okay hotshot, show me how it's done."" Fine," he said smugly, "Watch and learn."Azula remembered his demonstration well. Especially the look of sheer fright on his face as he began his descent. His landing was pretty rough too. She wouldn't have guessed that he had ever done this before. But his panicked display had been enough to encourage her to give it a try. And so she grabbed one of the creatures and pounced on its back, screaming her head off as she torpedoed down the hill. Her landing was also less-than-graceful." That was fun!" she giggled, lying on her stomach and panting." Yeah? You really think so?" he laughed, "I kind of forgot how much of a terror that was."" Oh. I was going to ask if we could do it again."" Well… okay. Just for you."So they marched back up the hill and proceeded to ride penguin-otter after penguin-otter, gradually building their confidence." Race you!" she challenged." You're on!"" Three, two, one…" She started before saying 'go'." Hey no fair!" he screamed, barreling down the hill after her.To her surprise, he nearly caught up to her. She could see him flying next to her in the corner of her eye. That is, until she crashed into a snowbank and then fell harshly onto her back, getting the wind knocked out of her. Following suit, Sokka proceeded to make the exact same mistake, and ended up landing directly on top of her." Are you okay?" he asked, staring into her eyes with concern.
She stared back up at him, noticing for the first time the intense blue color of his eyes. Her cheeks reddened. "I'm. Fine," she choked.
" Are you sure?"" Yes. I just. Had the wind. Knocked out of me." She tried to laugh." Oh," he chuckled, "Glad you're okay.""… Uhhh, Sokka?"" Yeah?"" Y-You can get off me now."" Oh!" He rolled off of her. "Sorry about that."
She could have sworn his cheeks had become a little more rosy. "It's okay."
That night sparked somewhat of a tradition. From then on out, most nights after work Sokka would show her something native to the Southern Water Tribe. And soon after that, they found themselves hanging out every single night. Even if they had nothing to do. As long as they had each other, it was a good time. They became inseparable.Azula learned a lot about him during their time together, but one of the things that stood out to her the most was his love of poetry, particularly haikus." Check out my sick rhymes, I make 'em up on the fly, I bet you're surprised," he rapped." Yeah I liked your verse, but that was fully rehearsed, unlike these fresh words," she spat back at him.
He looked at her with shock. "You're tough for your size, but these words are improvised, don't go spreading lies."
" I wouldn't have guessed, now I'm sorry to confess, but I'm not impressed."" Then what can I do, to impress a girl a like you, uhhh…" He grinned awkwardly, his cheeks flushing. "…I guess I lose?"" I guess so," she giggled, thankful that he forfeited because after that poem, her mind was drawing a blank.Why had he wanted to impress her? That still remained a mystery to her. At the time, she had wondered if that meant he liked her, but even then she quickly ruled that out. Boys never liked her, even the ones who were single. So there was absolutely no chance that a boy with a girlfriend would ever care for her in that way. Still… it was nice having his attention, even if it wasn't long-lasting.The night where it all changed was on the day he asked her to the first annual Glacial Spirits Festival held on the winter solstice. She usually despised the winter solstice, it being the day with the shortest amount of sunlight and all, but she was actually giddy to go to the celebration with him. The way he had asked her, it almost seemed as if he were asking her out on a date! She knew better of course, but it didn't stop her from primping and preening until he picked her up.It appeared he had cleaned up a bit too. He looked diabolically handsome that night. And he was quite the gentleman too. He escorted her by the arm all the way to the town's center where the festival was being held so she wouldn't slip on any dark patches of ice.After he treated her to some ice cream, they went off to play carnival games, which quickly turned into a competition of who could win the most stuff. Azula beat him at dart-throwing and the ladder climb, but Sokka beat her at whack-a-badgermole and the ring toss." Guess we're tied, Princess."" That last one was no fair. You've had all that practice throwing that boomerang of yours – of course you'd be good at ring toss."" No one likes a poor sport, Azula," he teased.
She pouted.
" You know, if you'd like… I can teach you how to throw it sometime."" Really? You'd teach me how to throw a curved piece of wood?!" she taunted, smirking, "Why, I'd be honored!"" I'll have you know, it's a lot harder than it looks!"" Okay." She smiled. "Teach me sometime, Sifu Sokka."" Sifu Sokka, eh?" He grinned. "I like the sound of that. Ooh! There's the water shooting booth!"" Good. We need a tiebreaker."She'd never forget the triumphant beam on Sokka's face after he beat her fair-and-square. He picked out his prize quickly – a stuffed penguin-otter. It seemed he had already had his choice picked out ahead of time." Here," he smiled, handing her the stuffed animal." Please," she scoffed, refusing the toy and rolling her eyes. "Spare me your pity."" This isn't a pity offering! I, uhhh, wanted to win this for you." His cheeks reddened." W-Why?" she asked, flustered." Because, we're friends and… I had a fun time penguin sledding with you." He tried handing her the stuffed penguin-otter again.
She accepted it this time, locking eyes with him as her hand unanticipatedly grazed his. "Thank you," she whispered.
" Uh, hey!" he squeaked. "Looks like a performance is about to start!"After he dragged her off to join the audience forming by the stage, a spectacular show commenced. It was the most beautiful waterbending demonstration Azula had ever seen. She was blown away. The way the water and ice shot through the air, sparkling in the night's sky, it was nothing short of magical." I didn't realize Katara and Aang would be performing."" Oh yeah, they've been practicing for a while," he informed. "Pretty amazing, huh?"" It would be better with fire, but I guess," she teased." Um, you're not too cold are you?"" It's a little chilly," she admitted." Come here," he smiled, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
Her heart stopped.
" Better?"
She smiled back at him. "M-Much better."
He walked her home like that, with his arm around her. And she even mustered up the courage to slip her arm around his waist. He didn't seem to mind. If he did, he didn't say anything. But it was the next part she regretted. The part where he was saying goodnight to her. The part she wished could be undone. Why, why, WHY couldn't she have used some self-control?!" I… I had a really fun time with you tonight." She smiled warmly at him, looking into his sea blue eyes." Yeah?" he grinned. "I had a really fun time with you too, Azula."
She fidgeted with her new, cherished stuffed penguin-otter in her hands.
" H-Have you named it yet?"" Yes. I think I'll call him Sir Waddles."" That is an excellent choice," he laughed. "Well… I guess I should be going. It's pretty late."" Okay." Her heart pounding, she walked closer to him and gave him a hug. "Goodnight, Sokka," she whispered against his ear." Goodnight." He hugged her tightly.But when she pulled back, there was an odd moment where he lingered. Or she lingered. Or they both did. It was hard to tell. Her arms were still around his neck and his hands were on her waist. She didn't know what to do. And so she did something stupid. Something so absurdly stupid, it made her want to shoot herself with lightning. She pressed her lips to his.It was a soft kiss. Nothing too intense. But it still made her tremble just thinking about it. How the lightest touch could have such an effect on her was beyond her comprehension. Especially knowing how little it meant to Sokka now. She must have been defective or something." Sokka," she breathed, feeling regretful. "I'm – "
He cut her off by pulling her against him and kissing her deeply. Passionately. Madly.
She kissed him under the moonlit sky. On the porch. Up against the door. And somewhere in the middle of it, she let him into her home where the make-out session continued at full force. Whether they were on her couch, in the kitchen, on her stairs, or up against a wall, his tongue was in her mouth. And he wasn't stopping.Naturally this led to her bedroom. No time was wasted. No words were exchanged. They tore each other's clothes off like they were on fire. And once they were fully undressed, he kissed her on her bed, lying on top of her, anchoring her down with his whole bodyweight. It was unbelievable. She had wanted this for so long but never thought it would actually happen.And he seemed like he wanted her. Really wanted her. The way he kissed her. The way he gazed into her eyes. He made her feel like she was the only one. And the way his stiffened manhood rubbed between her legs… she had never felt so desirable in all her life.So they got carried away. He wasn't gentle with her, but it's not like she had told him it was her first time. He had no way of knowing that. In retrospect, she was glad he hadn't been gentle. She didn't deserve gentle.Just feeling him moving inside of her like that with such fire was enough to distract herself from the physical pain. His lips on her ear, his hands on her chest, his tongue on her neck, his hips… oh his hips! Crashing against hers over and over in an impassioned fury until he was done, drained of his contents.She lay panting on her back as he rolled off of her. But when she tried to put her arm around him to cuddle, he sat up. That's when her dream turned into a nightmare.
He covered his head with his hands. "How," he exhaled. "HOW could you let me DO this?! I-I have a GIRLFRIEND!"
" I – " she choked, her stomach knotting. "I'm sorry! I – "" I thought we were friends!"
Her chest felt tight enough to constrict her. "I won't… tell anyone."
" Yeah," he breathed, enraged. "You'd better not."And then she watched him collect his clothes and leave. She blinked, unable to move, wondering if that really just happened. She couldn't even get up to clean herself up or lock the door after he let himself out. All she could do was think about what she did wrong. She always did something wrong. This had to have been her fault. She must have misread something.Her lips trembled and soon the tears started spilling in hot streams down her cheeks. She wanted to disappear. To fade from existence. What had she done?! Sokka was her only friend in the world and she had messed everything up. Why did she have to go and kiss him?! Why did she let him into her home? Why didn't she stop him? She knew he had a girlfriend and she was too selfish to care. She didn't deserve a guy like him. She deserved to be alone.After that night, Sokka went back to being professional with her. He never brought it up. It was like it didn't happen at all. Azula thought that was probably for the best. She had heard a saying once that time healed all wounds, but every time she saw him, the more she realized that that wasn't true. Each time they had to interact, she only felt emptier and emptier.Wondering if the emptiness would ever go away, she felt the familiar stinging of tears pierce her eyes, blurring her vision of Sokka and Suki dancing the night away. Well, she'd be damned if she let herself cry in front of everyone. How humiliating that would be. So she stood from her table and quickly walked out of the frozen ballroom. She felt a little rude for leaving so early, but surely no one would notice her departure.Holding her dress up over her shoes, she hurried down the icy steps. She needed to get away from there as quickly as possible. No one wanted her around. Not Mai and Ty Lee, not Toph, not Katara and Aang, not Iroh, not Zuko, not Ursa, Noren, and Kiyi, not Suki, and certainly not Sokka. She only ever made things worse for everyone.Maybe it was time to leave them all behind. To change her appearance and run far, far away where no one would know her history. She could be somebody else, somebody better, somebody deserving of love, somebody…"Azula!" a voice shouted. "Azula! Wait!"Her head screamed at her to keep running, but for some reason her feet refused to move. She stood frozen in place, paralyzed."Azula!" he panted. "Please. Don't go."She didn't have to turn around to know it was Sokka. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "What do you want?" she spat in a low whisper."I just," he continued to pant, "I had to tell you." He took a deep breath. "I'm breaking up with Suki."She bit down on her lip, still refusing to turn around. "So? Why are you telling me?""Because, I… I thought you'd want to know.""Why?" Her tone was bitter. "Are we friends or something?""Azula," he breathed. "I'm… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know I fucked up. Big time. And I'd understand if you couldn't forgive me, but…" He sighed exasperatedly. "I miss you! I miss you so much, I think about you all the time. I – "She squeezed her eyes shut, allowing two scorching tears to trail down her face."I was confused and angry. At myself. For letting myself take things too far that night. And I took it all out on you. It was unfair. You didn't deserve that.""Sokka, don't…""But the truth is, the way I felt with you… I've never felt like that before in my entire life. And it scared me. I felt like… like everything had finally fallen into place and everything was the way it was supposed to be… I know it sounds silly, but I've never felt that with anyone else, not even with Suki. And I've been thinking of breaking up with her for a while now. I just… I wanted to do it in person, you know?. Please look at me, won't you?"Slowly, she turned around, but refused to make eye contact with him."Do you think you could ever forgive me? Every day we don't spend together, I – I feel like I'm drowning.""I don't…" She shook her head. "I don't know.""Azula, please. I'm sorry I hurt you, it kills me. But I'll never do it again, I prom – "The truth was, she could forgive him. Maybe she already had. But she knew if he were back in her life, she'd do something to screw it all up. And she didn't want to take him down with her. "No. I… I don't think I can forgive you." She turned back around and started to walk away, but he stopped her by grabbing her hand. "Let me go.""No. I won't let you walk away from this. Because I know you feel the same way I do.""And what would that be exactly?""Like… like this!" He pulled her in close to him and kissed her deeply, passionately, madly, just like he had on her porch that night, clutching her cheeks with his hands.Again, her head cried at her to stop this madness, but she just couldn't fight it. It felt too good kissing him. She surrendered to him, to the feeling, closing her eyes and deepening the kiss. The world spun around them in a dizzy whirl, like they were the only two people to enjoy its beauty. It rendered her completely breathless.He gazed affectionately into her eyes, breathing against her lips."Damn it, Sokka," she trembled.He laughed. "So does this mean… you want to be with me? You'll give me another chance?"She smiled. "Break up with your girlfriend first. Then we'll talk.""I will," he grinned. "And after I do, I'm taking you out on a proper date." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then darted back to the celebration.Azula stood there for a moment, trying to process everything that had just happened. She wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling, but the dumb smile on her face and the skipping of her heart made it seem like everything was going to be okay. For once in her life, she felt hopeful.Maybe weddings weren't so bad after all.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Day 2: Tea Time with IrohPairings: Maiko (Zuko x Mai), Sukka (Suki x Sokka), and Tyzula (Azula x Ty Lee) (sort of)… and lots of secret ships – read to find out!Genres: Humor/RomanceRating: MSetting: Fire Nation Royal Palace (after North & South)
Tea Time with Iroh
"This is gonna be awesome," Zuko muttered through a toothy grin, happily waving goodbye to his mother, Noren, and Kiyi as their palanquin took off."I know," Azula muttered back, smiling and waving. "Let the parent-free week of debauchery begin!""And little sister-free. Can't forget that." He started heading back into the palace after he could no longer see the palanquin.Azula followed suit. "We need to get this palace into partying shape. When are your friends arriving?""Our friends," he corrected, smiling."Right… I still need to get used to that.""Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph are expected to arrive in two days. And, speaking of Toph, I wrote to her asking for some party game suggestions, but, well…""She didn't write you back?""No, she did." Zuko handed her a piece of parchment that was just filled with a random assortment of lines and squiggles. "She can't read or write.""Oh yeah," Azula laughed. "Why is it so easy to forget that?""I don't know! But it really – ""It's so nice to see you two getting along," Ty Lee interrupted with a languid smile, seemingly more sluggish than usual."The more often you point that out, the less I want to get along with him," Azula teased."Yeah," Zuko laughed. "Hey, you look tired. Did you not sleep well or something?""Or something." A naughty grin crept across Ty Lee's cheeks."Uhhh…""Well what do you expect from your bodyguards, Zuzu?" Azula cut in, "Not staying vigil to protect you all night?""I guess that's a good – ""Uh oh, you guys." Suki came running down the hall. "We have company.""What do you mean?" Azula asked with an unamused tone."Who?!" Zuko demanded."I just saw one of the servants let Iroh in. Did anyone know he was visiting?""What?! No!" Azula threw her head back in defeat."Why'd he have to choose this week of all weeks?!" Zuko huffed melodramatically."Zuko? Azula?" a gruff voice called, "Where are my favorite niece and nephew?" Iroh found the group in the hall."Uncle!" the Fire siblings greeted, pretending to be excited about his unexpected visit. They gave Iroh a hug."What are you doing here?" Azula asked, trying her best to hide her annoyance.Zuko shot his sister a warning look. "It's so good to see you!""Well, I heard Ursa and Noren took Kiyi on a vacation to Ember Island, so I thought it would be a good time to come over and catch up with all you young, hip folks." He bust out a lame dance move by connecting his hands and moving his arms up and down in a wave."Nice one, Iroh!" Ty Lee mimicked his move. "I have a few more to teach you too!""Excellent! But first, why don't you all relax and let me serve you some of my famous Jasmine Dragon tea?""Your teas are the best," Suki cheered. "But you've had a long trip. Why don't we serve you instead?""What hospitality," Iroh smiled, "Who could have known all you rowdy children would grow up to be such fine adults?"Azula pulled her brother aside as Suki and Ty Lee escorted Iroh into the dining room. "Zuzu," she hissed under her breath, "He's going to ruin this whole week.""No he won't, Azula. Iroh's cool. All our friends love him."She let out a low growl."Everything'll be fine," he assured, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Don't you worry about a thing.""So Mai had just finished telling us about her neighbor's bakery burning down, and Sokka says…" Suki lowered her voice to try to impersonate Sokka. "'Guess her business is toast!'"Everyone burst out laughing."Oh yes, hilarious," Mai said dryly as she entered the dining room. "It wasn't wildly insensitive at all.""Good morning, sleepyhead!" Ty Lee greeted."Good morning." She turned to the older man at the table. "Iroh! When did you get in?" Mai walked up to him and gave him a hug."Mai! I didn't realize you'd be here. What a pleasant surprise.""Oh, Zuko didn't tell you? We got back together." She walked behind her boyfriend and kissed the top of his head before taking a seat next to him."No, he didn't tell me! But I always knew you two would find your way back to each other." Iroh chuckled. "I guess I should visit more often. Otherwise you'll never tell me anything! What else have I missed?""Uhhh." Everyone looked around at each other shrugging."Not too much here," Suki reported. "Sokka and I are still going strong. The distance is tough, but we're making it work."Ty Lee released a nervous laugh."That is good news. You two are a formidable team." Iroh turned to the sleepy acrobat. "And Ty Lee, any romance in your life or are you still beating boys off with a stick?""Oh, you know me," she giggled uncomfortably, "I'm just playing the field. Keeping my options open.""How I miss being young." Iroh sighed with nostalgia, smiling. "And how about my beautiful niece? Surely you have a boyfriend by now."Zuko snickered from across the table.Azula shot her brother a dirty look. "No, Uncle. Unlike everyone else here, I don't need anyone to live a fulfilling life. I'm not weak." She sneered."Oh really?" Mai questioned, crossing her arms smugly. "The bruise on your neck says otherwise.""Wh-What?" she stammered, "What bruise? I don't have a bruise."Suki leaned over Ty Lee to get a better look. "Oh yes you do! That's definitely a love bite.""No!" she continued to deny. "It's probably just a scratch from training or something!""Ho-oh!" Iroh chortled. "Your face is turning as red as your robe.""Yeah Azula, who gave that to you?" Zuko demanded."No one! It's – ""I did."Everyone turned to face Ty Lee, mouths agape."I gave it to her," the acrobat reiterated."I – well," Azula choked. "I guess the cat-owl's out of the bag now.""Wait… really?" Zuko stared at the girls dumbfounded. "You two are a couple?""Indeed we are," the princess confirmed. "We were trying to keep it a secret, you know, since our relationship is forbidden and all, but – ""I think it's wonderful!" Iroh celebrated. "You two make a lovely couple.""Thank you." Ty Lee smiled graciously.Mai stared at them with skepticism. "I don't buy it.""Well you'd better believe it because it's true." Azula kept her eyes on Mai as she took a slow sip of her tea."I've traveled a ton with the both of you and I never saw any romantic chemistry there at all. But…" A crafty smile spread across her pale cheeks. "I think I could believe it if I saw you kiss.""Oh, no." Azula dismissed the idea. "We don't do that sort of thing in public.""Come on! It must feel like such a relief to have that weight off your shoulders. Now, let's see you kiss!" Mai smirked.The princess narrowed her eyes at her. "Fine," she muttered before looking over at Ty Lee.The acrobat smiled apprehensively.Azula slowly leaned in and closed her eyes, kissing her alleged girlfriend softly on the lips.Iroh looked happy for them, Mai looked self-satisfied, Suki looked disgusted, and Zuko looked utterly shocked."Well," Zuko snorted, "Now I've seen everything.""You'd better not have liked it.""Oh, don't be like that!" Ty Lee pouted. "You know why I had to do it.""You didn't have to kiss her.""But baby, I did it for us." She put her arm around her real significant other. "So that no one would ever figure out our secret. Besides… we owed her.""Yeah… I guess you're right," Suki sighed."Azula could have outed us a long time ago.""I know." She smiled halfheartedly. "Just… don't kiss her again, okay?""Deal." The acrobat grinned. "From now on, I'll save all my kisses for you." She wrapped her arms around Suki's waist."I like the sound of that," the Kyoshi warrior purred before giving Ty Lee a rough kiss on the lips."Mmm," she moaned, deepening the kiss.Suki pushed the other girl's back against the kitchen wall, grinding her hips as she felt the acrobat wrap a leg around her lower back.But just as soon as things really started heating up, the girls were interrupted by a surprised gasp."Girls!"They jumped away from each other and started straightening out their clothes."Uh, Iroh!" Suki's cheeks flushed. "This isn't, uh, we were just – ""How could you do this to Sokka?!" He abruptly turned to Ty Lee. "And you to Azula!"The acrobat sighed. "Azula and I aren't really together. I'm sorry I lied. I was just trying to be a good friend and cover for her.""And Sokka and I broke up a long time ago," Suki added. "The truth is, Ty Lee and I have been seeing each other for… how long has it been?""Almost three months now!""But why would you try to hide this?" Iroh asked. "Do you not think your friends would approve?""I think they would… it's just that this kind of relationship is prohibited in the Fire Nation." Ty Lee sulked.Suki took her hand for support. "That and Zuko probably wouldn't like the idea of his bodyguards dating each other. He'd probably try to switch up our shifts or something.""Which is why I covered for Azula earlier… she knew about our relationship and kept it a secret from everyone else.""Ah, well that explains a lot." Iroh smiled warmly at the girls. "Well, don't you worry. Your secret is safe with me. And, for what it's worth, I wholly support your relationship.""Aw, thanks Iroh." Suki smiled back at him."You're the best!" Ty Lee threw her arms around his big belly.He patted her back."Hm," Suki hummed, placing a finger on her lip.Ty Lee glanced at her. "What?""Nothing, it's just… I can't help but wonder, how did Azula get that hickey?"Azula lay panting on her back with an arm draped across her forehead, dripping with sweat from a long training session, when a shadow came in between her and the dim rays of the setting sun. "Hello, Uncle.""You've been training so hard, my niece. I brought you some water."She sat up and accepted the drink. "That's kind." She chugged down the contents. "Thank you.""Your forms have much improved since the last time I saw you," he smiled with pride, taking a seat next to her."Well, unlike the Lazy Lord, I haven't missed a single day of training," she laughed. "There's always something to improve.""That is very wise. But don't be afraid to take some rest when you need it.""I know, Uncle," she groaned with a know-it-all tone.He chuckled. "So, it looks like the servants are preparing for some sort of party?""I suppose there's no use trying to hide it." She sighed. "Yes, we're expecting some company in two days. Don't tell Ursa.""Of course not! I would never snitch on my own niece and nephew.""I'm serious.""And so am I! I can be trusted with any secret." He flashed her an angelic smile."What are you getting at?" She lowered her eyes at him. "You already know about Ty Lee, so – ""I know you're not really dating Ty Lee.""Yes I am – ""Azula. It's okay. I know she was covering for you because you have been such a good friend to her, keeping her big secret and all…""What secret?" she asked, testing him to see if he really knew the truth."That she's dating Suki! What a beautiful couple.""Hmph.""So, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?" He grinned widely. "Maybe about your boyfriend? Or girlfriend?""I don't know what you're talking about," she assured. "If anyone has something to hide, it's Zuzu and Mai."He waited for her to elaborate."Something is not right with them. I suspect they're not really together.""And why is that?""Because they never fight anymore. When they were a couple, they fought constantly. Constantly. Something is definitely up.""Azula," he laughed, "I think you're just upset with Mai because she pointed out that, well – " He smiled awkwardly.She groaned and covered the bruise on her neck with her hand."And now you're just looking for something suspicious with her.""If you say so." She stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "Well, it's been lovely chatting with you, Uncle, but now I think I need a shower and a massage.""You certainly need a shower, my niece," he teased.She scowled at him and headed back inside the palace.
The following morning…
"So I'm lying down on the ground, completely paralyzed, and I look over to my left…" Zuko took a quick sip of his tea. "And there's Uncle, lying blissfully on his back with the bounty hunter wrapped in his arm. He pretended to get hit with the shirshu tongue just so he could snuggle up to her."The girls at the breakfast table broke out in hysterical giggles."My nephew is making me out to be some sort of pervert," Iroh laughed. "I merely cushioned her fall after she got struck. The rest was just an added bonus.""Iroh, you sly fox," Ty Lee grinned."Oh, look who's finally up." Azula smirked at Mai as the pale-skinned girl waltzed into the dining room after a long night's rest. "I'm surprised Zuzu doesn't wake you in the morning when he gets out of bed.""Well, you know Mai." Zuko smiled warmly at his girlfriend as she sat down next to him. "She loves her beauty rest.""Plus, Zuko knows better than to wake me up.""That's for sure," he laughed before giving her a kiss on the cheek.Azula narrowed her eyes at them."Well, now that you're all here…" Ty Lee stood from the table. "Suki and I have an announcement to make. Isn't that right?"Suki nodded and stood up. "Let's see… where to start? Well, after we had a little chat with Iroh yesterday…""He gave us the confidence to come clean about something," the acrobat continued. She took a deep breath. "Azula and I aren't really a couple." She grabbed the Kyoshi warrior's hand. "Suki and I are."Mai and Zuko looked at each other, astonished. Azula rubbed her temples with her fingers."We've been together for months now," Suki added. "Sorry we kept this a secret from you for so long. We just… didn't know if you'd approve, and we didn't want to risk our jobs.""I think it's great," Mai smiled. "Don't you, Zuko?""Uhhh, yeah, sure." He grinned awkwardly at them. "So, uh… does Sokka know about this?""Yes," Suki answered, "He's been very supportive."He turned to his sister. "And you knew about this?""Of course, Zuzu," she sneered. "I know everything. Or at least… I will." She gave her brother and Mai a threatening look.Zuko let out an uncomfortable laugh.Mai sharply squeezed his hand."Well, let's hear it for the happy couple!" Iroh beamed, holding up his tea mug to toast the girls.Azula continued to stare down Mai while everyone clinked mugs in the center of the table."Sunbathing would probably feel a lot better in the sunlight."Mai laughed. "I prefer basking in the shade." She repositioned herself on the blanket, ensuring no part of her was touched by the sun.Iroh kneeled down by the turtleduck pond and began ripping a loaf of bread into smaller pieces. "Why isn't Zuko with you? It's a beautiful day.""He's trying to get some paperwork done before the party. I don't think he realized how much reading he'd have to do when he became Fire Lord.""I see." He started to chuckle. "You know, Azula has some sort of crazy notion that you and Zuko aren't really back together. Where does she come up with these ideas?""Azula really said that?" she asked, eyebrows raised."I'm sure she was just blowing off some steam." He tossed a piece of bread into the pond."Did she… say this to anyone else?""I'm not sure. But I wouldn't worry about it." He smiled as he watched a turtleduck nibble on the bread. "No one would believe it anyway. You and Zuko are perfect for each other. He's always had a soft spot for you.""Yeah, about that…" she sighed under her breath. "Iroh, I can't lie to you. Ever since my dad went to prison, you've been like a second father to me.""Mai…" He looked at her with concern."Zuko and I aren't back together. I'm sorry to disappoint you.""You're not disappointing me," he assured, moving over to sit next to her on the blanket in the shade. "But why would you pretend?""Well…" She shifted her eyes from side to side. "Zuko asked me to pretend to be his girlfriend because he's… gay.""Hm." He cocked his head to the side. "That is not so surprising.""Tell me about it," she scoffed. "Anyway, he has a boyfriend, but no one can know about it. He doesn't want to be known as the first gay Fire Lord.""Well, he certainly wouldn't be the first," Iroh chortled. "But I can understand why he'd want to keep it a secret. You are a good friend for going along with this, but if I may ask, what are you getting out of it?""Ehhhh." A guilty smile crept across her cheeks. "I like living in the palace. I enjoy the amenities and privileges of dating the Fire Lord. Plus, Zuko said I could still see anyone I wanted as long as I was careful. I know that's horrible.""No judgment here. I think you should get something out of it. Take advantage of this arrangement for as long as you can!""Thanks, Iroh.""So… do you know who Zuko's boyfriend is?" He grinned craftily."I do. He actually works here. In the palace spa.""What are you doing, baby?" Suki wrapped her arms around Ty Lee's waist. "You're not supposed to be on shift now. Let's 'nap' together."The suggestive tone was not missed on the acrobat. She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. "I wish I could, but… Azula asked me to stand guard for her for a bit."Suki shifted her eyes from left to right. "Why?""She, uhhh, likes her privacy when she's getting a massage.""She's been getting a lot of massages lately…""It's probably stress?" Ty Lee squeaked. "It can't be easy being the political adviser to the Fire Lord.""I guess…" Suki moved such that her back was flush up against the wall. "Well, can I stand here with you?""You really don't have to – it's gonna be boring – ""Hey." Mai approached the two girls. "Is, um, Zuko in there?"Before Ty Lee could answer, the ladies were startled by some moaning sounds coming from behind the wall."I'll take that as a yes," Mai muttered. "I didn't realize you two knew about it.""Knew about what?" Suki asked."Yes, exactly." Mai smirked. "You really are professional.""Wait…" Ty Lee's face twisted with confusion. "You think Zuko's in there getting a massage from the hot new servant?""Well yeah…" Her brow furrowed. "Isn't he?""Hold on now. Zuko's gay?!" Ty Lee whispered, her eyes wide with curiosity."What are you two talking about?!" Suki cut in."If Zuko's not in there… then who is?!" Mai hissed."Azula… she's getting a massage from her boyfriend. Jet."Mai's eyes doubled in size. "But Jet is Zuko's boyfriend!"Ty Lee covered her mouth with her hands.Suki looked at Ty Lee and then at Mai and then back at Ty Lee. "Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?!""I think…" Mai lowered her voice to the softest whisper. "Zuko and Azula are dating the same guy."Suki gasped."What should we do?!" Ty Lee panicked."I don't know…""Mai!" the acrobat scolded, "Why are you smiling?!""Sorry! It's a little funny!"A faint giggle escaped Suki's lips."It's not funny! This is really serious!""Okay, okay." Suki placed her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. "What do you think we should do about it? Do you want to tell them?""No! Yes! I don't know." She sighed. "I think we should at least tell Iroh though. He'll know what to do."The girls rushed off to find him."Oh no." Iroh quickly shook his head. "Are you sure? Are you positive?!""Well, I know Zuko is dating Jet," Mai affirmed. "There's a reason why he hired the rebel despite him having no prior training.""I do remember my nephew having a strange fixation with that boy during the war…""And I know Azula is dating Jet. I was the only one she told… I was supposed to keep it a secret, you know, since Azula's royalty and Jet's just a commoner." Ty Lee looked down at her feet."Do you think we should tell them?" Suki asked.Iroh thought for a moment. "Normally, I would say that honesty is the best policy, but… these aren't normal conditions. Zuko and Azula have been getting along so well lately – this could easily ruin their relationship. We could have another Agni Kai on our hands!""That's a good point," the Kyoshi warrior agreed."So that settles it. We won't tell them.""Mai, you're still smiling!" Ty Lee berated."It's still funny!"
The following morning…
"Oh, Mai, I was looking for you." Zuko entered the dining room and sat down next to his pretend girlfriend. "I didn't expect you to be up so early.""I, um, couldn't sleep – ""Yes, it's very odd indeed." Azula looked around the table at everyone suspiciously. "Before you, Zuzu, I was the last one here. And everyone stopped talking immediately upon my arrival.""We weren't talking about anything of interest," Mai droned, rolling her eyes.Some servants brought Zuko a piping hot cup of tea.The Fire Lord blew on the steam before taking a sip. "Mmm. Uncle, your tea really hits the spot.""Thank you, nephew." Iroh shifted uncomfortably. "So… how about that weather?"Azula scrunched her face."It's beautiful out," Ty Lee laughed nervously. "Perfect day for… traveling.""Yes," Suki blurted, "Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Aang should be here in no time…""What is wrong with everyone, today?!" Azula lowered her eyes."What do you mean?" Suki panicked, "N-Nothing's wrong!""Nothing at all." Ty Lee forced an innocent smile. "Nothing out of the ordinary…""Ugh." Mai dropped her head into her hands."Azula's right…" As Zuko glanced around the table, everyone avoided eye contact with him. "You guys are acting really strange.""You're acting strange!" Ty Lee barked."Okay, that's it." Azula stood up and slammed her hands on the table, causing all the tea mugs to rattle. "Someone tell us what's going on right now!"Suki started fidgeting with her hands, Mai took a slow, casual sip of her tea, Ty Lee played with her braid, and Iroh stared off to the side and began whistling."I'm not going to ask again!""Okay," Iroh conceded. "Someone tell them.""Tell us what?" Zuko asked, annoyed.Mai set down her mug, smirking. "We have reason to believe that you two are dating the same person."Azula's and Zuko's eyes shot at each other."Who are you dating, Zuzu?" The princess spoke slowly, enunciating each syllable carefully."Errr, uhhh…""I knew you and Mai didn't get back together! Now tell me, brother dearest, who are you dating?!""Who are you dating?!""I asked you first." She folded her arms."I asked you second!""Is it the masseur you hired? Jet?!"His cheeks flushed. "Maybe…""JET'S MY BOYFRIEND!" Azula flew at him from across the table."JET'S MINE!" Zuko roared back, trying to block his sister's pummeling fists."I'LL KILL YOU!""NOT IF I KILL YOU FIRST!""Stop it!" Ty Lee screamed, ready to chi-block them both. "Stop fighting!"Iroh attempted to pull them apart, but to no avail.Mai kept sipping her tea, leaning back and smirking."Azula, wait. Stop it, stop it," Zuko panted. "Don't you see what's happening?"She hit him one last time before ceasing her assault, then she glared into his eyes."We shouldn't be fighting with each other. We should be fighting with Jet."Nostrils flared, she took a deep breath. "I hate it when you're right." She turned to Ty Lee, an evil grin spreading across her reddened cheeks. "Go invite Jet to tea. It may just be the last thing he ever drinks.""Good morning, everyone." Jet wore his signature disarming grin. "Iroh! It's, uh, it's been a while.""Yes." He released a hearty chuckle. "I never thought I'd see you working in the Fire Nation royal palace of all places."He shrugged. "The war's been over for a while now. Let bygones be bygones, right?" He laughed, trying hard not to show his discomfort."Those are wise words…" Iroh shifted his eyes toward his niece and nephew.Jet looked over at the royal siblings. "Oh shit." He blanched. "You know.""Have a seat, Jet," Azula ordered with a sadistic gleam in her eye."Why don't you have some tea?" Zuko slid a mug over from across the table."I think I'll pass on the tea," he squeaked."Fine." Smirking, the princess stood from the table and crossed to the other side. "Then we'll cut straight to the interrogation." She sparked a blue flame with her index finger as she sat down next to her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend. "Just a warning, it may get a little hot in here."Jet gulped.Everyone else backed away from the dining room table."How could you do this to me?!" Zuko shouted.Azula cleared her throat."I mean, to us!""Hey." Jet held up his hands defensively. "Before things get too crazy, we never defined our relationships to be exclusive."The princess held the flame closer to the boy's neck."You said you came back for me!" Zuko pounded his fists on the table. "So we could be together!""I did come back for you, babe!"Azula snarled."I just… I didn't anticipate how hot your sister would be! You're the one who hired me to be a masseur – I had to rub oil all over her naked body! I couldn't help myself!""Sweet talk will get you nowhere," the princess growled, though she was feeling a little smug."YOU BASTARD!" Zuko dove across the table and coiled his hand around Jet's neck."A-Aren't siblings supposed to share?" he choked, struggling for air.Azula held his arms back behind him. "Get him, brother.""Not gonna lie – this is kinda hot," Jet gasped."What the hell is going on in here?!"Toph stepped into the dining room, followed by Katara, Aang, and Sokka.Suki and Ty Lee ran up to them and gave them a big group hug. "We're so glad you're here!" they cried."Uhhh, what have we missed?" Aang asked. He looked over at Zuko, who was on Jet's lap strangling him, and Azula behind the chair restraining him."Only the best show ever," Mai answered, sneering.Iroh walked over to the group and joined in on the group hug."Iroh!" Katara greeted. "Why are they fighting?""Well, as it turns out, Azula and Zuko have been sharing a boyfriend for some time. They just found out about it.""HAH!" Toph cackled, "That's hilarious!""I know, right?!" Mai laughed."Wait… is that Jet?!" Sokka had a hard time deciphering the features of the boy getting strangled."So he is alive!" Aang cheered."I told you it was really unclear.""I. Get. That. A lot," Jet managed."You know what?" Azula let go of Jet's arms. "I'm done with this."Jet brought his hands to Zuko's wrists and tried to free himself."Zuzu, you can have him.""Wait, really?" Zuko asked, letting Jet go."Mmhmm." She crossed over to the larger group and grabbed onto Sokka's hand. "You're coming with me to my room.""Ummm, I don't know if that's such a good – ""I'll let you do things to me I wouldn't let Jet do." She glared over at the former Freedom Fighter."Aw, come on Azula, kitten," Jet griped, "Don't be like that."Sokka deliberated for a second. "Well, if you put it that way!" He lowered himself and gestured for the princess to hop onto his back. After he had her secured, he galloped merrily away from the dining room.Suki blinked a few times. "This has been a weird day.""And it's not even noon," Ty Lee laughed."It's been a weird several days," Mai corrected."Okay. You guys have stories." Toph took a seat at the table. "Let's hear 'em.""Not without some special tea," Iroh smiled, standing up and walking toward the kitchen.Katara raised an eyebrow. "What makes this tea special?""I think all your tea is special, Iroh!" Aang beamed."Well, this tea has a special ingredient… liquor!" Iroh winked. "Trust me. With everything that went down these past few days, you're going to need it."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Day 3: First DatePairing: Zukka (Sokka x Zuko)Genres: Friendship/RomanceRating: TSetting: Fire Nation (after North & South)
First Date
"I seriously don't get girls – ""I hear you, buddy.""I mean, she complains we don't spend enough time together, so I drop everything and drag my butt all the way out here to the Fire Nation, and then she breaks up with me because 'we don't see each other enough'! How does that make any sense?!" Sokka sighed with irritation."Girls never make sense," Zuko huffed. "Mai's the exact same way! First she breaks up with Kei Lo because she supposedly still has feelings for me, but then when I make a move on her, she says I'm not trustworthy enough, not romantic enough, and that I'll never change! How is that fair?!""Well…" He smiled sheepishly. "You did take her to the Fire Sages Capital Temple, the burial site of your ancestors, for a dinner date once upon a time…""It was romantic! We had a great time!""Yeah, yeah. I'm sure you did," he teased."Well if you're the expert on romance, then why did Suki break up with you, hm?"Sokka gave his friend an incredulous stare."Too soon?" Zuko smiled awkwardly."Much.""Sorry – ""But I'll forgive you this one time if…" He paused for dramatic effect. "… you do me one small favor.""And that would be…?""Well you see… before I knew Suki was going to dump me, I made a reservation for us at that new couple's resort in the Capital City, you know, the Owl Swan's Nest, which required me to put down a very steep non-refundable deposit, so I was thinking – ""That I could use my pull as Fire Lord and try and get your deposit back?""No!" Sokka put his hands on his friend's shoulders. "You should come with me!"Zuko raised an eyebrow."So my money doesn't go to waste!""Uhhh… wouldn't that be weird?""No, man! Just think of it as research. If you like the place, maybe you can take Mai there sometime! It's bound to be 'romantic enough'.""I… I guess you have a point.""And besides, when was the last time we went on a crazy adventure together, just the two of us?" He grinned, batting his lashes over his baby blues."Yeah!" the firebender nodded, suddenly getting excited. "Who says two best bros can't go to a couple's resort together and have an awesome time?!""Exactly! But, I should warn you…" Sokka lowered his eyes seductively. "I can be pretty darn irresistible. Try not to fall in love with me, okay?" He winked.Zuko chuckled. "Somehow I don't think we'll have to worry about that.""Just when you think it doesn't get better than breakfast in bed," Sokka mumbled through a full mouth of food, "they bring you brunch in bed.""I know!" Zuko chased down his eggs with some tea. "I bet this is what the afterlife is like. Brunch in bed. Every day.""Yes! Mm." He shoved some sausage into his mouth. "I know I always say this, but…" He swallowed. "Fire Nation meat is by far the best meat.""You're not wrong," the firebender laughed. "So… what kinds of… activities can we do here?"Sokka smiled with nostalgia, thinking about the time he had embarrassed himself asking Yue if they could 'do an activity' together all those years ago. "Well, following brunch, there's couple's yoga, and then we can go ice skating – ""There's an ice skating rink in the Fire Nation?""For the Fire Lord, you really don't get out much!" he joked. "A lot of places have them now. They hire waterbenders to make sure the ice stays frozen.""I see…""Then we can hit up the spa, maybe check out the sauna or something, have dinner, and drink sake in the hot tub. How does that sound?""Like paradise.""See? We don't need girls to have a good time. If Suki and Mai were here, we'd probably miss out on all the fun things, lounge in our underwear all day, and occasionally get laid."Zuko smirked. "That doesn't sound so bad actually…""Ugh, I know," Sokka scowled. "I was trying to spin it around, but I'd much rather be doing that…""Well, I don't think either of us is going to get lucky today so let's just try to make the most of it."He smiled warmly at his friend."Let's get ready for yoga, shall we?""Okay." Sokka eyed Zuko's plate. "But first… are you gonna – "The firebender rolled his eyes. "Yes, Sokka, you can finish my sausage.""You're the best!"The two friends sat lotus style on the woven blanket with their backs against each other's and their palms facing the ceiling."Zuko," the blue-eyed boy whispered, "People are staring at us.""Your eyes are supposed to be closed.""I know, but… they're staring.""If you close your eyes, you won't notice them," Zuko muttered."Hmph." Sokka shut his eyes."Are you really that self-conscious? You're the one who signed us up for this.""I know, but… everyone thinks we're gay.""Obviously they think that! We're at a couple's resort!"Some other couples shushed at the boys to keep quiet."Sorry!" Sokka whisper-shouted.The two friends mimicked the instructors, twisting themselves to the right, with their left hand placed on their right knee and their right arm back behind them onto their partner's left knee.Sokka tried to get back to concentrating on his breath, but he was far too distracted. "Zuko… you've really got this breathing thing down.""Firebenders have to do breathing exercises.""Right." His eyes darted around the room in boredom."I can tell you're not focusing.""How can you focus on breathing?!"Zuko sighed. "First of all, breathe through your belly, not your chest, and, I don't know, just… try to match my breaths, okay?""Okay." He closed his eyes and tried to copy his firebender friend. Once he began breathing into his very full belly, he could finally begin to concentrate. "Breathing in… Breathing out… Breathing in… Breathing out…" he recited in his head. Soon, the meditation started to feel very relaxing.Following the instructors, they spiraled to the left."Getting the hang of it?" Zuko asked."Shhh. I'm concentrating."He smiled, lightly shaking his head."I didn't realize yoga would be so… energizing!" Sokka buzzed as he picked up his ice skates. "First I was relaxed, but now, I feel like I could run for days.""Yeah," Zuko chuckled, grabbing a pair of his own. "That's kind of the point.""And let me tell ya, some of those stretches really felt amazing.""For a first timer, you picked it up rather quickly. I didn't know you were so… flexible." He sat down on a bench by the rink.The boy with the wolf-tail smirked as he sat down next to his friend. "Checking out my lithe, limber body, I see."The firebender groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah. That's exactly what I was doing.""Hey, I can't blame you." Sokka laced up his ice skates and stood up. "Ah. Feels like home.""Are these supposed to be so tight?" Zuko asked, feeling uncomfortable."That's right – you've never been skating before!" He extended out his hand. "Let me help you up."Wobbling, he took his friend's hand and stood up. "You expect me to skate in these?! I don't think I could even walk!""You're athletic, you'll be fine," Sokka assured. "It'll be easier once you're on the ice.""Somehow I doubt that," the firebender grumbled.With Zuko leaning on Sokka for support, the two boys slowly made it over to the rink. The Watertribesman naturally adjusted to the frictionless surface. The Fire Lord, however, immediately fell onto his ass."Well, I think I'm done for the day." Zuko pulled himself up using the railing, rubbing his sore behind with his free hand."Aw, come on. You'll get the hang of it!" Sokka smiled with encouragement. "Why don't you try it out holding onto the rail, and then when you feel more comfortable, you can try letting go?""Fine," he exhaled flatly, "I'll give it a shot.""I'm gonna do a lap or two and then check up on you, okay?" He zoomed off before he heard a response."Great," Zuko muttered to himself, struggling to keep his balance. After a few minutes, he watched Sokka zip past him. "At least he's having fun."On his second lap around, Sokka stopped to help the teetering firebender. "Need a hand?""I need twenty.""I think it'll be easier once you're away from the wall." He offered his hand."Really? Aren't you afraid of what people will think?""Eh. Everyone already thinks we're gay anyway.""Thanks." Zuko took his hand. "Go slow.""That's what she said!""Ugh."Sokka led his friend around the rink, slowly and carefully, ensuring that the firebender didn't fall again. "So… what do you think?""It's terrifying," Zuko laughed. "But surprisingly fun.""Want to go faster?""Ummm…" He grinned. "Okay.""Ah," Zuko breathed, closing his eyes and leaning back in the hot, steamy sauna. "This is exactly what I needed.""Yeah," Sokka laughed, "You must be pretty sore.""Yeah… sorry I fell on you. I didn't hurt you, did I?""No, no. I'm a lot tougher than I look.""I guess you are." His tone had a note of derision."What's that supposed to mean?""Nothing, it's just… I don't know, you don't really seem that distraught about Suki breaking up with you. You were together for a really long time – I just figured you'd be more hurt by it – ""I am upset about it, but…" Sokka looked down at his lap. "In a way, I'm relieved. Things were starting to get a bit stale. Suki's such a great girl, and I really wanted things to work out between us, but after a while, I just kinda felt like something was missing.""Like what?""You know. That spark. It just sorta fizzled out. I thought it was just because of the long distance, but now I'm not so sure.""Still… you must miss her.""I do, but I think we can still be friends."Zuko nodded, smiling halfheartedly."So what do you think you're gonna do about Mai?""I don't know," he groaned. "I know she likes me, but sometimes I feel like nothing I ever do is good enough for her. And… we've just been down this road so many times – ""And it's never ended pretty.""Exactly." He sighed. "I'm just tired of trying and failing with her. I think… maybe I need more consistency. Someone reliable. Someone who always has my back.""Mai's cool, but isn't she a little too gloomy sometimes? Don't you want someone who can, I don't know, make you laugh instead of hate the world?""Yeah…" Zuko nodded in agreement. "That would be nice.""Hey…" Sokka lowered his voice. "Do you think anyone else is gonna come in here?""Probably not – ""Yeah, me either." The blue-eyed boy promptly opened up his towel, letting all of him hang out."What are you doing?!" the firebender hissed."What?" he chuckled. "It's liberating.""If you say so…""You should take yours off too." Sokka leaned over and reached for his friend's towel.Zuko slapped his hand away. "Stop it!""But what if someone comes in here? I can't be the only naked person! Then I would be the weird one." He made another attempt for the towel. "Come on. What are you afraid of?"Laughing, he fought with his friend for a bit, until he eventually caved in. "Okay, okay. I'll take it off." He unwrapped his towel."Feeling better now?" Sokka grinned.Zuko smiled. "Much.""Zuko!" Sokka exhaled upon receiving his dinner. "It's steak! Can you believe it?!""Well, yeah, this place is pretty overindulgent – ""Can we live here? Forever?""Sure, buddy," the firebender chuckled.He didn't hesitate to cut into the meat. "It's so rare!""Well that is how you ordered it…""I know! It's perfect." The wolf-tailed boy took a bite and his face melted."That good?""I've never known such wonder." He shoved some more meat into his mouth. "How's yours?""It…" Zuko swallowed. "It doesn't beat Palace meat, but it's still quite exquisite.""You beat Palace meat," Sokka sneered."Heh," he laughed, "Good one.""But I bet…" He chewed on his food. "…you're not always accompanied by a small orchestra during your dinners at the palace.""Of course not. We're accompanied by a large orchestra," Zuko teased."Right. Of course." Sokka observed the couples in the center of the lavishly decorated room, making sad attempts at ballroom dancing. "Hey… do you know how to dance like that?""I do," he muttered."You don't seem too happy about that.""I just don't have the fondest memories about it.""Why not?""Because Mother forced me to take lessons with Azula as my partner. You know, for sibling bonding.""So what?" Sokka laughed, "Did she purposely step on your feet or something?""No, no. Nothing like that." He sighed. "Azula was… naturally good at it. Like all things. It was just another thing at which she excelled, and I was just mediocre. She was graceful and elegant, and I was just… clunky and awkward.""Well, you had to have been better than…" He took a quick glance at all the couples. "…everyone here.""Maybe." Zuko shrugged."Hey… want to teach me?""You want me to teach you to dance?""Growing up in the Southern Water Tribe, I never really had the opportunity to learn. And ladies dig guys who can dance, so…""But… what about your steak? You don't want it to get…" He looked down at his friend's plate, which was completely clean. "How did you eat so much so fast?!"Sokka grinned. "It's a talent.""I'm impressed.""I know, now come on. Teach me to dance.""Fine." He offered the boy with blue eyes his hand and led him to the dancefloor. "But I only know how to lead, so you're going to have to follow.""I have to be the girl?!"He smirked. "Yep.""Cheers." Sokka clinked his sake glass against Zuko's as they lounged in their private hot tub under the stars.The firebender stretched up his arms and yawned. "This has been a very full day.""Don't fall asleep on me now!" He took a sip of sake."Sorry! But what else is there to do?""Just because there's nothing left on the schedule doesn't mean we can't create our own fun.""You've always had a vivid imagination."Sokka smiled."What do you want to do?""I don't know…""I take my compliment back.""Hey!""I'm kidding!" Zuko downed the rest of his sake. "Well, what would you do if Suki had been here instead of me?""Oh, I don't think you want to know…" A naughty grin spread across his cheeks."Really? Outside?!"Sokka shrugged innocently."Wow. Mai would never go for something like that.""I can't imagine Mai would be that… fun, if you know what I mean.""Yeah…" Zuko laughed. "She was pretty hard to please.""Girls," Sokka sighed, shaking his head."Okay, so if Suki were here and you weren't doing lewd things in public, then what would you do?""I guess…" He paused to think. "I'd probably give her a massage or something.""Oh." He smirked. "That sounds nice." He turned his back to his friend, throwing his arms over the edge of the tub and letting the rest of his body float languidly."You can't be serious.""What? I'm still sore from ice skating.""Fine," he conceded. "But then you owe me one.""I…" Zuko shifted his eyes. "I don't know how.""What?! But don't you get massages like all the time at the palace?!""Yeah! I get them. But I don't give them.""You're so spoiled," Sokka laughed. "Okay. I'll teach you the fine art of giving a massage." He positioned himself behind his friend. "You'd better take notes." He placed his hands on the firebender's shoulders and began to work his magic.Zuko groaned, relaxing the muscles in his neck.The blue-eyed boy's cheeks flushed. It had been a while since he had elicited such a sound from another person. Perhaps it was the alcohol or the fact that he hadn't gotten laid in far too long, but he couldn't deny he found it to be kind of sexy. He continued to rub the Fire Lord's back with his wet, hot hands. "How does it feel?""Good. Really good. You could teach a class.""T-Thanks." He gulped."You did this to Suki and she still broke up with you? She's crazy.""Yeah, she is crazy," Sokka agreed, jokingly. "I'm a catch.""You're too good for her. And I'm not just saying that because you're rubbing my back.""You know, I always thought you were too good for Mai." He moved to the firebender's arms, eliciting another rewarding groan."Really?" He blushed. "I guess… I never really saw it that way. After I got my scar, Mai was the only one who didn't seem to be put off by it. I never thought anyone would find me attractive, but Mai could see past it. I think that's why I've held onto her for so long.""Seriously? I mean… you're, uh, you're… everyone thinks you're attractive," he stammered. "Especially Toph.""Thank you… oh I see what you did there."Sokka laughed.Zuko laughed with him. "I don't know about you, but after today, I think we're going to be okay. A couple of hot guys like us, we should have our pick of the – ""You think I'm hot?"His stomach dropped. He abruptly turned around to face his blue-eyed friend. "I-I didn't mean – I wasn't – "Sokka cut him off with an unexpected kiss on the lips.Zuko closed his eyes and leaned into it. His cheeks were bright red when he pulled back. "W-What was that for?""I'm not really sure, but… why don't we keep kissing for now and figure it out later?"He smiled affectionately. "Like when?""Like when we go out on our second date. This time, you can take me out."Zuko gave Sokka another soft kiss on the lips. "Deal."
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Day 4: Cactus Juice Flim-FlammeryPairings: Kataang (Katara x Aang), Sukka (Sokka x Suki), Maiko (Zuko x Mai)Genres: Humor/FriendshipRating: MSetting: Modern AU at the Beifong mansionWarning: Incidental Zucest
Cactus Juice Flim-Flammery
"And… we're recording," Katara announced, pointing the camera at Toph."Hey everyone! This is your home girl, T Money, coming at you live from the Beifong mansion – ""We're not livestreaming!" the waterbender corrected crossly from behind the device. "At least I hope we're not.""ANYWAY…" Toph gave a quick glare in Katara's direction and then looked more or less back at the camera. "My parents are out of town on business, so naturally things are about to get a bit crazy. In fact, you're about to witness history in the making." She smirked mischievously. "We're about to partake in the infamous cactus juice challenge! You probably already know how it works, but just in case you don't, I'll explain the rules. Basically, everyone here is going to take a shot of whatever's in front of them. All the shot glasses are filled with pure Arizonian cactus juice, courtesy of Sokka – "Katara panned the camera over to her brother."I know a guy," he grinned pompously.She panned back over to Toph." – except for two, which are just filled with water and a drop of green food dye. The sober ones win, or lose, depending on how you look at it. I for one am hoping to get cactus juice. Now, let's meet our lucky participants! First, we have the pun master, Sokka, as you already know – "He shot finger-guns at the camera." – then we have his lovely girlfriend and first-degree black belt, Suki…"The purple-eyed girl smiled and waved politely."…the beautiful and impossibly limber, Ty Lee…"The girl in the braided ponytail blew a kiss to the camera."…the goth queen, Mai…"The pale-skinned girl rolled her eyes."…the governor's very own children, master firebenders, and world's worst siblings, Zuko and Azula, who are currently not speaking to each other…""She put a mushroom on my chair at lunch!" Zuko shouted, "It stuck to my pants when I got up and no one told me about it!""It's not my fault you have lousy friends, mushroom butt," Azula sneered."I'm gonna get you back so hard," he threatened, "Just you wait and see what I have in store for you!""I'm shaking…" Her words oozed with sarcasm."…well at least they're speaking now," Toph continued. "Then we have the bad boy with an oral fixation, Jet…"With a straw blade in his mouth, the dark-eyed boy flashed the camera a charismatic smirk."…the one, the only, almighty Avatar and incurable prankster, Aang…"The boy with the arrow tattoos began airbending some marbles around in a circle with a wide, cheesy smile plastered on his face."…the fierce waterbender and mother hen to us all, Katara…"The girl with hair loopies spun the camera around to face herself. "For the record, I do not condone tonight's activities." She pointed it back at the blind girl."…and last, but certainly not least… me! Toph! The greatest, most powerful earthbender in the world and hostess extraordinaire. Now it's time for the fun part… drinking! Put the camera on the tripod, Sugar Queen."Katara secured the camera and joined the rest of the group sitting in a circle in the center of the living room."Everybody ready?" Toph grinned, holding up her shot glass.Everyone nodded, some more hesitantly than others."On the count of three…"The group proceeded to chant, "One… TWO… THREE…" They downed their drinks.One by one, their pupils began to dilate. Then the hallucinations started.Toph was the first one hit. "I CAN SEE!" she shrieked, abruptly standing up and running straight into a wall.Azula was next, suddenly losing her ability to speak English. "Ma mère pense que je suis un monstre. J'ai besoin de quelqu'un qui m'aimer…""Doesn't she take Latin?" Zuko asked, deeply confused."Mmhmm," Ty Lee confirmed.Then Katara was struck. "Hey, who pooped on the treadmill?" She went over to examine the exercise machine, which turned out to be a potted plant.Ty Lee started acting up after that. She curled into a ball on the floor. "I am nothing but a particle. The universe continues to expand, and I continue to shrink. Soon I will be gone."All of a sudden, Aang ripped off his shirt and proceeded to tie it as a makeshift bandana around his head. "The quest has begun. I am level one. Who has a sword I can borrow?"As if possessed by a spirit, Mai stood up and walked robotically over to the couch where she sat down with a rigidly straight back. She didn't say anything, but her eyes were as wide as saucers.Then Zuko got up and joined his girlfriend on the couch. But instead of sitting, he began removing all the pillows and building a fort on the floor. "We must prepare for winter.""And then there were three." Jet shifted his eyes from Sokka to Suki."Sokka, wouldn't it be great if we ended up being sober together?" Suki asked. "We could see what it would be like to be parents… to a bunch of teenagers… who are also high out of their minds.""Yeah, that would be fun!" He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get ready." Sokka began shedding all of his clothing."What are you doing?!" Suki hissed."All done!" He shot up, wearing nothing but his birthday suit, and began running aimlessly around the mansion."And then there were two." Jet grinned. "Guess you're stuck babysitting with me.""Great," Suki groaned.Jet walked over to the tripod, grabbed the camera, and pointed it at himself. "Don't you worry, guys." He smirked diabolically. "I'll make sure you don't miss a thing.""Beautiful water mage," Aang cooed, kneeling in front of his girlfriend, "Will you accompany me on my quest? It is a matter of good versus evil. The fate of the entire world depends on it!""I will, handsome minstrel, but first, I will require some armor."The Avatar ran into the coat closet and returned with someone's leather jacket before snugly tying the sleeves around Katara's head."Perfect. Let us set sail." She jumped onto his back.The couple pretended to board a ship and took off into another room."Jet." Suki turned to the cameraman. "I don't think we can watch them all. This is a real shit show!""Yeah," he laughed, "Toph's parents are gonna be pissed."The purple-eyed girl looked around, panicked. "Where is Toph?!"Jet spun around. "I don't know. Ty Lee's gone too."As if on cue, Toph barged in through the front door with a wheelbarrow full of sand."Ah, well there's one of them." Jet pointed the camera at the earthbender. "Whatchya got there?""There's no time for that!" The blind girl pushed the wheelbarrow into the dining room and poured the sand all over the floor. "The reconstruction has to be finished before midnight!""You're right, Toph. But I think you're gonna need more sand than that.""Why are you encouraging her to do bad things?!" Suki snapped at Jet."Relax." He zoomed in on her angry face. "It's not our house. We're not responsible."She glared into the camera and then abruptly turned around at the sound of shouting."WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" Zuko cried, hovering over his pillow fort that had just been knocked down."C'était un accident!""English, please!""It was an accident. I'm sorry. I'll help you rebuild your igloo." Azula crouched down and began assembling the pillows."Well, there you have it," Suki said into the camera, "The world's worst siblings actually get along when they're tripping on cactus juice."Jet pointed the camera at himself. "And now we have documented evidence of Azula apologizing. We've just witnessed the impossible." He panned the camera from the fire siblings to Zuko's girlfriend on the couch.Mai hadn't moved an inch. She sat with pristine posture, completely zoned out.Naked Sokka whizzed past the camera."We're gonna need censor bars," Suki muttered.The boy with the straw blade in his mouth scrunched his face. "Do you smell something cooking?"Suki's eyes widened. "The kitchen!""Don't eat that!" Suki snatched a burger out of Aang's hand before he could take a bite."But why not? It smells so good!""Because you're a vegetarian!""But I want the burger!" he whined."Did someone say 'burger'?" Sokka grinned, sneaking up behind his girlfriend, still completely nude except for a newly acquired red hairband."Sokka!" the Avatar shouted with excitement, "That's top-notch armor right there. Join our quest!""I'm listening… what's in it for me?""You can be the warrior! But you have to start at level one.""Can I eat that burger?"Suki groaned and handed it over to him."Hey… maybe we should look for Ty Lee," Jet suggested. "She's been gone awhile.""But this mansion's huge – ""We've got this. Aang, Katara, and Sokka are in the kitchen, Toph is in the dining room – ""Are you sure about that?"They ran over to the dining room to find that the blind earthbender had filled it with even more sand. It appeared she was building some sort of sandy snowman."And Mai, Zuko, and Azula are theoretically still in the living room.""Mai has been wonderful," Suki noted, "She hasn't moved at all.""Not gonna lie… she's starting to scare me," Jet admitted."Can we just doublecheck the living room before we go look for Ty Lee?""Fine," he murmured."Whew," Suki sighed with relief. "Mai's still there… being a statue.""And Zuko and Azula must be inside the pillow fort."They peaked inside. It was empty."Great! Now we've lost the firebenders!" The purple-eyed girl dropped her head into her hands."Shhhh." Jet paused. "Do you hear that?"Suki strained her ears. "Yeah… it's like a low drone. What is that?"Jet walked the camera closer to Mai. She was muttering something on repeat under her breath."Cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages…""What the actual fuck?!" He nearly dropped the camera out of fear. "Mai, cut that out!""Uh oh." Suki looked into the camera with panic. "I think Aang's cooking another burger!"They darted into the kitchen."AANG, NO!" Suki grabbed another burger out of his hands."Suki," Katara tried to reason, "We need to eat before we go on our quest.""Then how about you eat this burger and we'll find something else for Aang?""I don't want it. I lost my appetite after that pigeon drank the goldfish over there."Suki growled. "Sokka, you're getting another burger.""Yippee!" the naked boy cheered. "But tell me… why are you frozen in a block of ice?""I – I'm not!" she stammered, growing impatient."I found Ty Lee!" Jet exclaimed, having zoomed the camera out the window. "She's in a tree in the backyard!"They hurried out the back door and walked up to the tree."Hey, sweetie," Suki tried to coax, "Can you come down from there?""I have found my place in the universe," Ty Lee hummed. "I am the universe. We are all connected. We are one.""I'm glad you're enlightened and all, but I'm going to need you to come down from that tree.""I am the tree.""You know who would really like to hear about your existential insight? Aang. Why don't we go talk to him?"She paused to consider her friend's words. "Aang is my brother. I will talk to him." She jumped down from the tree and followed Suki and Jet inside, just in time for Suki to snatch a third burger from the Avatar."Stop making burgers!" she scolded.Ty Lee approached Aang and Katara, draping her arms around their shoulders. "Air is water. Water is air. Just think about that.""She's right," Sokka agreed, stealing the burger from his girlfriend and biting into it.Suki shook her head before taking a deep breath. "Okay. I will make Aang a veggie burger and ensure these four stay put, and Jet, you go check up on Toph and Mai and try to find Zuko and Azula.""Do I have to check up on Mai?! She's terrifying!""YES!""Okay, okay. Geesh."Using the camera as his eyes, Jet found the blind earthbender in the living room, creating a whole village of sand people. "Toph. Check," he muttered to himself as he walked past on his way to the living room."Cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages, cabbages…" Mai continued to chant with her eyes affixed to the wall in front of her."You really need to stop doing that. You're creeping me out." Jet took a seat next to her on the couch to get more footage of her disturbing trance.Slowly and robotically, Mai turned her head toward the camera, her hypnotic chanting growing louder in volume. "Cabbages, cabbages, CABBAGES, CABBAGES, CABBAGES! THEY'RE COMING!" Then she started screaming."Fuck this, I'm out!" Jet trembled, dashing out of the room. When he felt safe, he turned the camera around to face himself. "I didn't sign up for this Blair Witch shit. Wait…" He raised an eyebrow as he tried to figure out what was making an odd breathy sound somewhere near him. Turning the camera back around, he pressed his ear to the coat closet door. "Someone's in there…" He turned the knob and barged in.His eyes grew wide. His mouth fell open. "Ho…ly…shit…" He grinned, staring for an inappropriate amount of time before he slammed the door and ran off to get his fellow babysitter. "Suki! Suki!" he cried, "You have to see this!""What?! What?!" she yelped, worried that something awful had happened."Just come on! Trust me." He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away from the kitchen."Jet, no! I have a room full of idiots to look after. Aang keeps trying to eat burgers, Sokka keeps rubbing his naked ass on everything, Ty Lee seems to have transcended this world or something, and Katara keeps trying to airbend!""Water is air. Air is water," the waterbender said pensively, reciting what Ty Lee had said."You don't understand!" he urged, "You have to see this. It will be worth your while."She sighed. "Fine. Make it quick."He led her to the coat closet, making sure to film her reaction. "Open."She gave a hesitant glance at the camera before opening the door. She gasped audibly at the sight, quickly covering her mouth with her hands! "Y-YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"Inside the closet, Zuko had Azula pinned up against the wall. They were sucking each other's faces off like there was no tomorrow."They really are the world's worst siblings," Jet chuckled, zooming in on the steamy action."Stop filming them!" Suki hissed, smacking Jet on the arm. "They're the governor's children!""Exactly," he sneered. "This is gold. We have blackmail on them for life."She glared at him. "I think you're enjoying this a little too much.""Eh." He shrugged."Zuko," Suki beseeched, "Can you come out of the closet, please?"Jet failed to stifle a laugh at the double meaning."Stop cock blocking me," Zuko grumbled, immediately getting back to his make-out session.Suki tried again with the other sibling. "Azula! If you come out, there's a… there's a poor person you can tease!""Hm… that does sound fun…" She pushed her brother away from her. "Okay!" She stepped out and looked to her right and left. "Where's the hobo?"Jet stopped her. "What did you think you were doing in there just now?" he questioned, attempting to stir the pot."Oh! I just made out with Sokka!" Azula smirked into the camera. "Don't tell Suki.""I am Suki!" the purple-eyed girl snarled.The firebender placed her hands on Suki's cheeks, lightly pressing them together. "Sure you are, you giant, talking beaver, you." She pranced off in the direction of the kitchen."We're going to have a discussion about this later, young lady!" Suki yelled after her.Jet pulled Zuko out from the closet. "And what were you doing in there?""I just made out with Sokka!" he grinned. "Don't tell my daddy." He winked at the camera.Suki's hands clenched into fists. "Why does everyone want to make out with my boyfriend?!""That's a great question," Jet murmured. "Why Sokka of all people?! I'm way hotter than him."Naked Sokka zoomed past them once again in a brown blur."Great!" Suki groaned, "Just great.""Let's go see if the others are still in the kitchen," Jet suggested, dragging Zuko along with him."You're pretty," the firebender flirted."I know!" the dark-eyed boy agreed. "Thank you – uh oh.""What oh?!" Suki panicked.Jet peaked his head into the dining room. "Toph's gone.""Give me that!" Suki seized another burger from Aang. "I already made you a veggie burger!""I'm still hungry," he groused, patting his tummy."Don't care." She took a quick glance around the kitchen. "Okay. Everyone's here except for Mai, who's still in the living room screaming about cabbages, Sokka, who's – "The nude boy ran into the kitchen and took the burger from his girlfriend. "I thought I smelled meat.""Haven't you had enough?!""What are you trying to say?" He looked offended. "And when did you become a one-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle of a dead mouse?""Hi, Sokka," Azula smiled, blushing."Hi," he smiled back, his cheeks reddening.Suki shook her head with disbelief. "Are you serious? Right in front of my salad?""Wow, that's an old meme," Jet sniggered."Okay, getting back on track…" Suki muttered, ignoring Jet's taunt. "It looks like only Toph and Katara are missing. Where could they be?""Katara is an airbender now," Ty Lee sang, "She is one with the air."Jet and Suki looked at each other, stricken with dread. "The roof!""Nobody move!" Suki commanded before she and Jet darted outside.Their hunch was correct. Katara was standing on the roof."Watch me fly!" the waterbender cried, moving her arms in a circular pattern above her head."Katara! No!" the purple-eyed girl warned with urgency. "Don't jump!""But I can airbend!""No, you can't! Katara! You're a waterbender. Please don't jump!"Jet lowered the camera. "Suki, I think she's gonna – "Katara leapt from the roof. "I'M AIRBENDING!"Like superheroes, Suki and Jet both ran to catch her, holding their arms out in a cradle. The waterbender fell straight into their arms, the impact of the fall taking them both down."Suki, my hero!" Katara beamed, giving the purple-eyed girl a kiss on the cheek."What about me?!" Jet snapped."I'd like you if you weren't wearing Christmas pants.""Huh?""And if you weren't so much of a douchebag."Suki snickered."Whatever," he mumbled, "It's not like you're my type anyway."They were suddenly startled by the revving of an engine."OH MY GOD!" The purple-eyed girl completely blanched. "TOPH'S DRIVING!"Jet panned the camera over to the driveway. Sure enough, Toph was in the driver's seat of her parents' Mercedes, leaning back with one hand placed on the steering wheel in the twelve o'clock position."TOPH, NO!" Suki shrieked, running at the vehicle at full speed while waving her arms maniacally, not that Toph could see it.But it was too late.The blind earthbender drove the car straight through the closed garage door."Oh my God, oh my God. TOPH!" Suki rushed to the driver's side door. "Are you okay?!""Yeah!" She stepped out from the wreckage and dusted herself off. "I'm awesome.""Okay, that's it!" Suki snapped. She marched over to Jet and covered the camera with her hand. "Turn this damn thing off. I've had enough! I'm done."Jet stopped recording.
The following morning…
"Let's watch the video! Let's watch the video!" Toph chanted."Aren't you upset that we completely trashed your house?" Katara asked, feeling guilty."No way! I hired all our housecleaners to come in today. By the time they're done, this place will be spotless." She folded her arms smugly.Suki rolled her eyes."My tummy hurts," Sokka groaned.The purple-eyed girl flashed her boyfriend a cold, unsympathetic glare. "That's because you wouldn't stop eating burgers!""Spoilers!" Toph complained."I feel like I was supposed to do something really important, like life-changing important, but now… I'm just feeling like I let the whole world down." Aang hunched his shoulders with defeat."I don't know what I did last night, but…" Mai stretched her arms up and yawned. "For some reason, I never want to eat sauerkraut, or really anything with cabbage in it, ever again."Jet shivered."My head feels funny." Ty Lee rubbed her temples."Emptier than usual?" Azula taunted."Actually… yeah!""Well, I don't know about you guys, but I feel great. You know that feeling you get when you wake up after hooking up the night before? That's how I feel." Zuko suavely ran his fingers back through his hair."That's odd…" Azula cocked her head to the side. "I feel the same way."The firebenders shot each other a panicked glance."M-Must be a side effect of the cactus juice or something," Zuko quickly added."I really hope so," Azula muttered.Suki and Jet shared an all-knowing look."Enough yammering!" Toph whined. "Let's watch the video! Let's watch the video!"Soon the whole group joined in on the chant. "Let's watch the video! Let's watch the video!""Okay, okay," Suki conceded. "You want to see the shitstorm you put me through last night? You got it!" She went to Toph's computer and pulled up the recording from the night before.Then they watched the horrors unfold before their very own eyes."I can't believe I tried to eat meat…" Aang shook his head solemnly."I can't believe I was naked the whole night! Now everyone's seen my ding-dong!" Sokka paused, looking off to the side. "On second thought, I can believe that.""Well, I can't believe I drove a car!" Toph beamed.Suki looked at the earthbender incredulously. "You crashed it into the garage!""Whatever.""You guys, I got really deep last night!" Ty Lee looked proud of herself. "Guess I'm not as vapid as you thought.""Your profoundness almost got me killed!" Katara reprimanded. "I jumped off the roof for God's sake!"Mai scoffed and rolled her eyes."Why are you being so snide?" Ty Lee crossed her arms."Didn't you see what happened to me?! My brain literally broke – I was like a scene straight out of The Exorcist – I""I JUMPED OFF THE FREAKING ROOF!" Katara reiterated."My boyfriend made out with his sister!" Mai shouted."Okay." The waterbender backed off. "You win.""I can't believe I made out with Azula!" Zuko sighed and buried his head in his hands."But, to be fair, you did think you were making out with me," Sokka grinned."I d-don't know why – It's not like I-I'm gay or anything!" he stammered, a little too defensively."Sure you're not," Jet jeered."Hey… where is Azula anyway?" Sokka asked, looking around the room."Oh, she went to kitchen for an under-the-sink cocktail," Zuko answered."A what?""You know, stuff that's kept under the sink. Bleach, Drano, Comet, Lysol, dishwashing detergent… you get it."Sokka's mouth fell open.Zuko dismissed him. "She's just being dramatic. She won't actually drink it."Azula came back into the room sulking."See?" Zuko called over to his sister. "Hey, Azula. When did you learn French?"She blinked. "I didn't. And never talk to me again.""You know what I can't believe?" Jet whispered to Suki."What?""I can't believe you uploaded the video to YouTube," he snickered. "It already has over eight hundred views."She smirked."Didn't think you had it in you. I'm proud of you.""After what they put me through, they kinda had it coming.""No argument here." He grinned slyly. "So… are you gonna tell them?""No," she smiled. "Let's just see how long it takes them to find out."
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Day 5: 10 Years LaterPairings: Sokkla (Sokka x Azula), Maiko (Zuko x Mai), Kataang (Katara x Aang), TyLuki (Ty Lee x Suki)Genres: Friendship, FamilyRating: GSetting: Sokka and Azula's son's 10th birthday party; Fire Nation Royal Palace
10 Years Later
A boomerang to the back of the head was not what Kyan had anticipated during his birthday party. But alas, here he sat, being healed by Auntie Katara while the rest of his friends and family played and socialized without him."Hmph.""Hey," Katara said softly, holding her hands over the bump on her nephew's head, "I'm gonna have you all patched up in no time – you'll be back to playing before you know it!""It's not that…""What could possibly be the matter on your tenth birthday?!"He sighed. "You wouldn't understand."She bended the healing water back into her flask and looked down into Kyan's sea blue eyes. They were just like her brother's. "Try me.""Sorry, Auntie Katara." He shook his head. "Do you think… you could get my dad?"She frowned at first but then nodded. "Anything for my favorite nephew." She winked at the birthday boy."I'm your only nephew!" he huffed, throwing his head back."Still my favorite!" After she saw a smile creep across his cheeks, she went to go fetch Sokka."Why so glum, chum?" the swordsman asked, approaching his eldest child. "You know cousin Bumi didn't mean to hit you on the head – ""I know. I'm not upset about that."Sokka took a seat next to his son on the grass. "Then what's got you down?""It's just…" His jaw began to quiver. "I'm tired of being a non-bender.""Kyan…" He looked at the boy with great concern. "Where's this coming from?""It's just not fair! These birthday parties are always the same. Lin and Suyin always get into a competition over who the better earthbender is, and now they're learning metalbending, which is so cool! Tenzin always shows off these cool tricks Uncle Aang taught him, like right now – he's doing no-handed push-ups using his breath! And Kya is always trying to impress Izumi with her waterbending for some reason…""Okay, but what about – ""As if it wasn't bad enough that I have to live in a palace full of firebenders, a constant reminder that I can't bend." He tried to blot his eyes inconspicuously. "Mom is like the most powerful firebender in the whole world, and Uncle Zuzu and Auntie Kiyi are not far behind. Big cousin Izumi has almost mastered all her katas, and my own little sister is a prodigy who will probably surpass them all one day. And I'll just be left behind…""Let me ask you something." Sokka put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Do you think your cousin Bumi will be left behind?""No," Kyan grumbled. "But everyone loves Bumi! He knows how to make everyone laugh.""You know, son… I used to feel the same way. Fighting the Hundred Year War with Auntie Katara, Uncle Aang – the AVATAR – Uncle Zuko, and Toph… sometimes I felt like an outsider. But you know what I learned?" He started giving his wolf-tailed son a light noogie. "With this big 'ol brain of yours, you're unstoppable!"The ten-year-old broke out in laughter. "Dad, stop!"He ceased his playful attack. "You have to admit, you are worlds smarter than the rest of your friends.""I guess. But… I don't know." He took a deep breath. "Sometimes I feel like maybe Mom would love me more if I were a firebender…""That's crazy talk! I don't ever want you to think that. You know your mom loves you very, very much – ""I know, but she spends so much time training Zuri and Izumi, she hardly has time for me."Sokka looked into his son's eyes. "Your mother worked so hard planning this party for you, making sure all your favorite foods were prepared and that everyone could be here – ""Yeah, but – ""No buts." He sighed. "Do you know who your mother chose for her 'elite team' during the war?"He shook his head."Auntie Mai and Ty Lee. Non-benders.""Really?""Yeah! And, well, you know who your mother chose to marry." He grinned.Kyan smiled."And she would only choose the best. What I'm saying is, your mother has the greatest respect for non-benders. She probably loves them even more than benders!""Well, let's not get too carried away," the birthday boy chuckled."And, between you and me, your mom may have planned a little something extra special for you on your extra special day… in fact, I think you're about to find out what that is right now."He looked at his father with wide eyes and then at his little sister who seemed to be delivering him some sort of letter."Momma said to give this to you," Zuri grinned, handing him a piece of parchment. "What's in it, what's in it?!"He opened it up and read aloud, "A grand gift awaits, if you follow each clue, a cousin holds the next, the one with eyes of blue.""It's a scavenger hunt!" the little firebender squealed.Kyan abruptly stood up. "It's cousin Kya!""I'm coming with you, big brother." Zuri hopped onto his back."Okay. Hold on tight."Kya was having what seemed like a serious chat with Ty Lee and Suki when the birthday boy neared."Hiya, Kya," he smiled while his little sister waved from atop his back. "Hey Suki. Hey Ty Lee. Congrats again on the engagement.""Thank you!" the acrobat beamed, wrapping an arm around her fiancée's shoulder. "We can't wait to get married!""Yes, we're very excited." Suki gave Ty Lee a kiss on the cheek.He faced his cousin, grinning. "Do you have something for me?""I may… what's in it for me if I give it to you?" the young waterbender teased."Kya!""I'm just kidding. Here." She handed him the next clue.He turned his head to his little sister on his back. "Would you like to read it?""Mmhmm!" Zuri snatched the paper from him. "You'll have to do some work, for your special birthday treat, now go find the earthbender, who sees with her feet.""Let's go find Toph!""Whaddya want, kid?" The earthbender sounded annoyed, but this wasn't anything new."How'd you know I was behind you?!" Kyan walked around to her front, not that it mattered."Your footsteps are clunky. Just like your dad's."He laughed."Looks like you got a strange growth on your back, kid. You might want to get that checked out.""It's just me, Toph!" Zuri giggled."What?!" She pretended to act surprised. "It talks?!"The child's giggle fit grew louder."Now, can I help you with something or can I get back to catching up with Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen over here?"Kyan and Zuri waved to their aunt and uncle."Do you have my next clue?" the blue-eyed boy asked."Yeah, yeah." She gave him the paper but held it tightly enough that he couldn't pull it away from her."Ergh," he groaned as he tried to pull it out of her grip.Toph smirked as she felt him struggle."Come on! Just give it!"She let go as he gave an extra hard pull, sending his weight back and almost making him fall over and crush his sister. "You sure are clumsy, kid."He flashed her an insolent glare, not that she could see it, before opening the paper and reading the contents. "Only seven clues remain, so don't be forlorn, now which of your cousins, was the first to be born?" He cocked his head to the side."Is it Bumi or Izumi?" Zuri asked."I'm not sure… but my instincts tell me it's Izumi.""Great job, Brainiac," Toph confirmed sardonically. "Now scram.""I know it's your birthday and all, but don't disturb me." Izumi was seated lotus-style on the grass, having an intense staring contest with Lin.Kyan was slightly perturbed by how hard the girls were concentrating. "But I need my – ""I know what you need." Slowly and carefully, the firebender reached into her pocket, pulled out a slip of paper, and handed it to him.He began to unfold it, but before he read what was written, he was struck with a crafty idea. "Hey Lin… do you have a hint for me too?""Do you really think I'd let you skip clues?!" the earthbender derided."It was worth a shot," he shrugged, grinning."Let me read the message!" Zuri insisted, reaching to grab the paper from her brother."Okay, okay.""It says, 'So you found the oldest, for that I must commend, but who would fall, on the opposite end?'""So I have to find the youngest… well that's Suyin!" He took a quick look around. "She's right over there.""Wait one second." Zuri hopped off her brother's back and crouched down by the two slightly older girls. Suddenly, she started waving her hands maniacally in their front of their faces, sticking out her tongue, and making all sorts of silly noises in an attempt to break their concentration. "BELALEAALELAELAELAL!"The girls didn't move a muscle."Nice try, Zuri," Izumi sneered, continuing to stare into Lin's pale green eyes."Yeah." The earthbender stared straight back. "You're gonna have to try harder than that."Kyan could have sworn he saw a hint of a smile spread across their faces.The birthday boy found Suyin sitting beneath a shaded tree in front of Kya who was braiding the earthbender's wavy black hair."Hey Suyin," he greeted, receiving a wide, cheerful smile in return. "Hey Kya. Get tired talking to the adults?""Not really," the waterbender replied. "The little one wanted a new hairstyle, so I – ""Mom never does my hair." Suyin crossed her arms, sulking."I'm just about finished." Kya tied the end of the braid together. "Doesn't she look pretty, Kyan?"The young earthbender batted her little lashes over her bright green eyes."Uhhh… yeah, sure."Noticing Suyin's cheeks redden, Zuri smirked."So, um, Su, did my mom give you a note to give to me?""She did." She smiled innocently but did not hand over the letter."Can I, uh, have it please?"She put her finger to her lips. "I'll give it to you… for a hug."Kyan scrunched his face in confusion. "Okay… I guess."She stood from the grass and wrapped her little arms around the blue-eyed boy's back, squeezing him tightly.He gave her a few quick pats on the shoulder in return before breaking the hug.Kya and Zuri snickered."Here," Suyin grinned, handing him over the paper, seemingly very pleased with herself."Thanks…" He unfolded the sheet and read the writing out loud. "One bends water, the other bends air, I suggest you visit, this dynamic pair.""It's Auntie Katara and Uncle Aang!" Zuri cried."Yeah! Let's go see them." He began hurrying his younger sister off. "Right now."Once they were out of earshot, the little firebender whispered with a taunting tone, "Su likes you.""W-What?!" Kyan stammered. "N-No she doesn't!""Yes she does. It's so obvious!""How can you tell?!"Zuri smirked. "I'm a people person.""Whatever.""She wants to kiss you," she continued to tease. "Smoochy, smoochy, smoochy.""Ugh," he groaned, shaking his head. "Girls are crazy.""Momma!" Zuri squealed, running at full speed toward her mother, who was socializing in the gazebo with her brother, Aang, and Katara. She gave her a big hug from behind."Hi, baby girl!" Azula wrapped her arms around her daughter's and gave her a squeeze."Could you two look any more alike?" Zuko laughed. "Next thing you know, your fire will be the same shade of blue!"The little firebender's golden eyes grew wide. "You really think so, Uncle Zuzu?""I really do."Kyan caught up with his sister."There's the birthday boy!" Aang shouted."How's your head, turtleduck?" Azula asked."Better! Thanks to Auntie Katara."The waterbender smiled at her nephew."How are you enjoying your scavenger hunt?" The firebender gestured to her lap for her son to sit."Mom, you're embarrassing me," he muttered. "I'm ten now!"Aang, Katara, and Zuko laughed."It's my job to embarrass you, dear. And besides, you're never too old to sit on your mother's lap.""She's right," Katara agreed."Fine, I'll sit, if… you give me a hint as to what my special birthday gift is." He smiled slyly."You really are your mother's son," Zuko sneered.Azula shot her brother a dirty look before looking back at Kyan. "Deal." After he sat, she rested her head on his."So, what's my hint?""Let's see… your birthday present is… something dangerous." She smirked."Whoa, really?! L-Like a spiked boomerang or something poisonous or a tiger-shark or something?!""You'll see…""Awesome!""Hey, maybe your next clue will help?" Katara pulled out a piece of paper. "I'm guessing this is what you came here for.""Thanks, Auntie Katara!" He opened the parchment. "More than halfway done, soon your gift will be revealed, but first track down the girl, who can bend earth and even steel.""But we've already talked to Toph," Zuri noted. "And Suyin." She smirked."So that leaves Lin! But before we go… Uncle Aang, can you please show us the air scooter?!""You kids wanna see the air scooter?!" Aang shot up out of his seat."Yeah! Air scooter, air scooter!" Zuri cheered."You got it!""Oh, Liiiiiiin," Kyan sang. "Can I have my clue now?"The young metalbender was still engaged in the same staring contest with Izumi as before. "That depends. How many clues have you already found?"The birthday boy rolled his eyes, knowing she was testing him. "Yours would make seven.""Great." She raised her hand with the paper and waved it sharply at her side.He grabbed it from her without breaking her concentration."You know," Zuri cut in, "if you want to win, you could always earthbend the ground under Izumi's butt. That would probably make her flinch.""Why thanks, little cousin!" Izumi said sarcastically. "And here I thought we were friends."Zuri giggled."Bending is against the rules." Lin's tone was as austere as ever. "That would be cheating.""That would be cheating," the little firebender mocked under her breath.Kyan broke out laughing."I heard that.""You two are no fun!" She turned to her brother. "Read the next clue!""Okay," he agreed, unfolding the paper. "It says, 'This boy descends, from a long line of nomads, soon he'll have arrow tattoos, that are just like his dad's.' That's Tenzin!""T-Tenzin," Lin choked, losing her focus."Hah! You blinked!" Izumi stood up and began stretching her arms and legs in triumph."Yeah, whatever. You win." She turned to Kyan, blushing. "Ummm… tell Tenzin I say hi, okay?"He shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure thing.""Is, uh… now a bad time?"In an attempt to wrestle with his younger brother, Bumi was swiping at Tenzin, while the airbender continuously sidestepped out of the way."Huh?" Tenzin asked, taken off guard."Aha!" Bumi was able to put the airbender in a headlock and roughly rub his shaved head. "Thanks for the distraction, Kyan. And… sorry again about hitting you with your boomerang. I'll get the hang of it one day.""That's okay. Hey, would you mind letting Tenzin go for a sec so I can have his clue?""What, you don't want mine?" Bumi teased, laughing."Well…""Bumi!" the airbender chastised. "You can't do that!""I know, I know. I'm just kidding." He let go of his brother.Tenzin shook himself off and gave his cousin the paper. "Here.""Thanks!" He began to unfold it."Don't you have a message for Tenzin?" Zuri asked her brother with a hinting tone."Oh yeah! Lin says hi.""Really?" Tenzin blushed."I don't know why she couldn't just tell you that herself…"Zuri smiled all-knowingly."Oooh! You should go over there and talk to her!" Bumi encouraged."Yeah… maybe…" The airbender stretched his arm awkwardly behind his head. "A-Anyway, what does your clue say?"Kyan cleared his throat. "More than fire, more than knives, these two have been sweethearts, for nearly all their lives.""Fire and knives? That's Uncle Zuzu and Auntie Mai!" Zuri yelped."Yeah! Come on!"Zuko and Mai were seated on a picnic blanket by the pond with Ursa. Not too far away, Kiyi and Tom-Tom knelt by the edge, feeding the turtleducks."Gran-Gran!""Why, look who it is?!"Kyan took a seat on the blanket while Zuri hopped onto her grandmother's lap."Are you having a fun birthday?" Ursa asked her grandson, playing with the little firebender's silky black hair."Mmhmm. I can't wait to see what my special birthday gift is. Do you know what it is?!""I do. But you're not going to get anything out of me, so don't even try!""Fine," he laughed."Auntie Mai, Auntie Mai! Momma said that you and Uncle Zuzu were sweethearts for most of your lives. Is that true?" Zuri questioned with curiosity."Hm. Well, our relationship wasn't always so solid, but yes, I guess that's true." Mai smiled softly as she reminisced about the past."Did you know that your mother was partially responsible for setting us up?" Zuko chimed in."She did?! How?!""Yeah," he chuckled. "Let's see… well, when we were younger, much younger, there was this one day where your mom forced me to play with her, Auntie Mai, and Ty Lee – ""You didn't want to play with them?" Kyan interrupted."No! Back then, your mother and I did not get along.""That's an understatement," Mai laughed.Ursa nodded in agreement."Anyway, being the handful that she was, your mom put an apple on Auntie Mai's head and shot fire at the stem, knowing full-well that I would go and save her. You see, my sister knew that your aunt had a crush on me back then."Zuri giggled."I ended up pushing Auntie Mai straight into the fountain!""And he fell in right there with me." Mai shook her head.Kyan burst out laughing."But I did save you from the fire." Zuko smiled at his Fire Lady."This is true…""I guess you could say it was love at first splash!" Kyan's mouth spread into a cartoonish grin.Everyone else blinked."Well, you certainly do have your father's sense of humor," Zuko muttered.The birthday boy shrugged. "Hey… can I have my clue?""Of course." Mai handed him the parchment."Thanks! It says…" He smoothed it out. "This boy was named after, his father's old-time friend, someone a little quirky, someone who could earthbend."Zuri sulked. "I have no idea who that is.""I do," Kyan grinned. "It has to be Bumi. We already know he had a clue for me and one of the other hints said there would only be ten.""Very clever," Ursa said proudly."Cousin Bumi's over there eating with daddy!" The little firebender hopped off her grandma's lap."Alright! Final clue, here we come.""Think fast!" Sokka cried before throwing a fire gummy toward each of his children.The siblings successfully caught the gummies in their mouths."Mmm." Kyan swallowed. "It burns.""You guys! Did you know your dad can fit five whole rice balls in his mouth at the same time?!" Bumi was ecstatic.Sokka crossed his arms smugly. "It's a talent.""You're the coolest, Uncle Sokka! I told my mom I wanted to be just like you when I grew up.""Oh yeah? And what did she have to say about that?" He had a pompous grin on his face."That I should have greater ambitions."Sokka's face fell.Kyan and Zuri started giggling."But I knew she only said that because she was jealous," Bumi added."Yeah!" Sokka nodded. "You should tell her that more often."The young non-bender laughed."Hey Bumi." Kyan shoved some more fire gummies in his mouth. "Can I please have my last clue?" he mumbled."Yeah, sure!" Bumi pulled the letter out from his pocket. "Here you go."The birthday boy opened it up to find it was somehow smudged with food stains. The writing was still clear, however. He began to read, "You have sol – ""Wait a minute!" Sokka cut in. "Let me grab your mother." He ran off.Kyan snorted with impatience but put the letter down."I bet I can eat more flaming fire flakes than you," Bumi challenged."You're on!"Zuri shook her head, knowing that this wasn't going to end well for either of them. She watched the contest nonetheless.The cousins were gasping for air and chugging down water when Sokka and Azula showed up, holding a long rectangular box."Can I read it now?" Kyan managed, his voice strained.Sokka nodded. "Go on ahead.""Okay." He coughed dramatically. "You have solved all the clues, each and every one, you've earned your special gift, happy birthday son." He looked up at his parents with twinkling blue eyes. "Is this it?!""Mmhmm," Sokka smiled. "Happy birthday, Kyan.""Be careful with it," Azula warned, handing over the box.Kyan untied the ribbon and opened it up. His mouth fell open."A SWORD?! A SWORD! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"Azula and Zuri laughed."Now that you're ten, we think you're old enough to learn the art of the sword, my son." Sokka looked at him with pride."And you'll teach me?!""I sure will!""I bet you'll be a master swordsman in no time, big brother!" Zuri cried."Now, this is just a practice sword," Azula clarified. "But when your father feels you're ready for it, we'll take you to see Master Piandao – ""My very own teacher," Sokka added." – so you can create your very own sword.""WHAT?!" The blue-eyed boy threw his arms around his mom's and dad's waists. "Thank you! Thank you so much! This is the greatest gift ever!"Azula hugged him tightly. "Happy birthday, my son."
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Day 6: "Where Do We Go from Here?"Pairing: Jetzula (Jet x Azula)Genres: Drama/RomanceRating: MSetting: Earth Kingdom village of Gaipan (after North & South)
"
Where Do We Go from Here?"
Azula came with a long list of surprises. For starters, Jet hadn't expected her to agree to go out on a date with him after she had turned him down so many times before. Perhaps persuasion was key, or maybe she had just grown tired of him asking her time and time again. Either way, he had finally gotten the 'yes', which was really all that mattered. It brought him one step closer to his goal: disarming the runaway Fire Nation princess, capturing her, turning her in to the new Fire Lord, her very own brother, and making off with the hefty bounty on her pretty little head.With nothing but his goal in mind, he certainly hadn't expected to actually enjoy his date with her. Even though she had lied about who she was and every detail about her life, he found her to be quite charming and alluring. He had tracked her for weeks from a distance, but seeing her up close was truly something else. Her golden eyes were dazzling, her silky black hair was as dark as midnight, her red lips were full and enticing, and although she was wearing commoner's clothes, she moved and spoke with the elegance and grace of a princess.If he didn't know better, he would have thought she had enjoyed going out with him as well. After all, she had allowed him to walk her to back to her inn. She had even allowed him to kiss her goodbye! And Spirits, what a kiss that was. But what he hadn't expected was for her to press a fire dagger to his throat immediately afterward.It seemed impossible! He had slipped a mild chi-blocking herb into her tea during dinner. He had watched her drink it. The dosage should have been enough to disable her firebending while allowing her to move about normally. She must have built up an immunity to it or something. So alas, here he was with his back pressed to a pillar and flames to his neck.She was smirking up at him. "Why don't you come inside, bounty hunter Jet?"How did she know?! And what did this crazy bitch have in store for him?"We need to have a little chat."He gulped before following her inside. It's not like he had much of a choice.She showed him to her humble room and dragged a wooden chair out into the center. "Sit."His eyes darted around the room, looking for something, anything, with which to attack her. There had to be something, there just had to be –"I said, 'SIT'," she reiterated sternly, hurling a blue orb of flames right past his head.He shivered, frozen in place."I'm not fucking around.""Well, that's a pity," he muttered before taking a seat on the chair. His heart was racing. "What are you gonna – ""Shut your mouth."He obeyed. This girl was terrifying. Of course, he had heard the rumors about her reputation, how she was unstable, cunning, sadistic, but the longer he had observed her, the less he believed those rumors to be true. Now that he sat helplessly in the dragon's clutches, he was ready to throw all his observations out the window."Take off your shirt."Well… this was getting interesting. He complied, pulling the dark green fabric up over his head.She grabbed it from him and walked behind the chair, out of his field of view."Ermph," he groaned as he felt his arms being pulled back and tied to the chair with his own shirt. "I didn't realize you were into this sort of thing, Princess," he smirked, trying to take her off guard. "I can't say I'm disappointed."A naughty smile crept across her face as she walked back around to his front, where she proceeded to slowly remove her own shirt.Where was she going with this?! As petrified as he was, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want to see what was underneath the white cotton of her breast bindings.Swaying her hips, she slowly walked closer to him.Seriously? What was she going to do to him?!She knelt down directly in front of him and began to tie his ankles to the front chair legs.Oh Spirits, help him.She stood up, placing a hand on her hip and a finger to her lips. "Hm." The left corner of her lips curled up into an evil smirk. "Now, what am I going to do with you, Jet the bounty hunter?""Just give it to me straight, Princess. Are you going to kill me?""Kill you?" she laughed snidely. "Spirits, no. I can't have a trail of blood following me around, now can I?"He sighed with relief, louder than he had intended."But I can't exactly let you go either."The relief was short-lived. His stomach knotted."You'd just get in the way of my plans.""Your plans?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. In all his time tailing her, he had never once seen her commit any sort of suspicious activity whatsoever. If she was planning something, she was a master at covering it up. "Now what sorts of diabolical plans are you scheming up?"She smirked. "Why tell you when I can show you?"She walked somewhere behind him. He heard her open up a drawer and pull something out, something crunchy. When she returned, she laid out a map on his lap and smoothed it out. Nothing in particular about it jumped out at him. It seemed like an ordinary world map. All he could see was that some specific locations were circled, maybe fifty or so, some of which were crossed off with an 'x', including their current village. He also noticed that the village from which she had traveled, where he had first started tracking her, was also crossed off. What was she doing in these towns that he failed to see?!"I don't understand.""Of course not, peasant. No one ever does." She snatched the map from his lap and placed it on a nearby table."Well if you're not going to explain your plans to me, and you're not going to kill me… then what exactly do you want with me?""I'm not sure." She cocked her head to the side. "You're posing quite the predicament for me, mister bounty hunter…""Well gee, sorry." He rolled his eyes."I can't have you following me around and capturing me when my guard is down, like when I'm asleep for example – that would have been much smarter, by the way.""Duly noted.""And there's absolutely no way I'm going to let you turn me in to the Fire Nation. That would ruin everything.""Like wh – ""I'm not done." She gazed deeply into his eyes as if she were trying to read his mind. "Tell me, why exactly do you want my bounty?""What do you mean?" Was this some sort of trick question? "Isn't it obvious?""Is it for the fame? The glory of taking down the most powerful firebender in the world? Or is it simply for the money? I am worth a lot, you know.""Oh." He hadn't even considered the aspect of potential fame. That didn't particularly appeal to him, not when he was trying to keep a low profile. "The money," he answered honestly. "With the amount I'd get for you, I'd be able to quit this lifestyle altogether and do something better with my time.""Like what?""I – " He wasn't really sure. He never really pictured himself doing anything else. "I don't know.""Interesting." She paused. "Then let me ask you this. Why did you decide to become a bounty hunter?""I…" This was the strangest interrogation he'd ever had, and he had been through the wringer with the Dai Li! "I was severely injured during the war, so much so that all my friends thought I was dead. It took me months of physical therapy to regain my strength, and by then, the war was over. I didn't get to do my part in helping to fight the Fire Nation, to get revenge on the soldiers who slaughtered my parents when I was eight." He lowered his head to try to gain her sympathy, not that he was counting on it. "I was useless…""So you became a bounty hunter to help clean up and put 'bad people' away now that you've healed.""Yeah, I guess." He had never thought about it that way before, but it made a lot of sense. The money wasn't half bad either, but the lifestyle was very unpredictable."And with my bounty, you'd have some more stability, some more… freedom."He shot his eyes up at hers at the word. Freedom. Did she know about his past as a Freedom Fighter? He highly doubted it."Hm. Well, I actually think that's quite noble. But herein lies the problem."He clenched his jaw."Your freedom would cost me my freedom. And I can't be locked up again." She quickly shook her head. "I just can't."That's right. She had been locked up in an insane asylum following her mental breakdown at the war's end. That couldn't have been easy. "But don't you think you deserve it?"She looked at him, puzzled."Y-You kidnapped Fire Nation children and turned your own city into chaos! I mean, there's a reason why Zuko – " He almost called him Lee. " – put such a steep bounty on you.""My brother put a bounty on me because he's an idiot who doesn't know what's good for him," she huffed, annoyed. "That and because he knew the girls who were helping me with the whole Kemurikage ordeal would ditch me if they knew people were out hunting me, which they did without hesitation."He noticed the tiniest hint of sadness in her golden eyes."Do you know what happened after Zuko heroically squashed the evil Kemurikage?" she asked sardonically.He shook his head."Think."He thought for a moment, but the only answers that were coming to him didn't make much sense. "I don't… I'm not…""Think harder," she barked, causing him to flinch."People… learned to trust his leadership?""Yes, and…?""And… the members of the New Ozai Society became exposed…" He scrunched his face. "You did all of this… for him? Y-You wanted to help your brother?""Now that wasn't so hard, was it? No one ever stops and thinks about these things. It's so easy to find a villain when you're looking for one.""But why would you want to help him? I thought – ""Because." She looked away from him. "Because of something he said to me after we found our mother."He had heard about Lady Ursa's return to the palace."Something sentimental." Her hands balled into fists. "And something he clearly didn't mean. But it was my fault for trusting him, to think that he actually wanted to restore his relationship with me. I should have known better."At this point, he was beginning to feel a bit sorry for her. "So… when you carried out your plan, you thought you were doing the right thing…""I did. But no one will ever see that. No one wants to see that. And I know it wasn't a perfect plan, I know what it looks like, but…" She exhaled sharply. "I really felt like what I was doing was the right thing. For once in my life. It's just, sometimes it's hard for me to tell right from wrong. It sounds so silly – it comes so easily to everyone else, but not to me. Because there's something wrong with me. Because I'm… I'm a…""Azula." He sighed. "It doesn't come easily to me either. I've done some pretty terrible things in my life, things I thought were for the better."She studied his face. "Like what?""Like…" He started to laugh. "It's kind of funny that we'd end up in this village of all places."She raised an eyebrow at him."This village, Gaipan, wasn't renovated because the Fire Nation burned it down. During the war, I flooded it."She didn't react."I was trying to kill the Fire Nation soldiers who were stationed here. And I knew full-well that many innocent lives would be taken in the process. But to me, those lives were just sacrifices for the greater good.""Did… Did your plan succeed?""No. Sokka, Katara, and Aang stopped me."Azula nodded slowly."I was furious with them at the time. But now… I'm glad they interfered." He shook his head, thinking about all the unnecessary bloodshed he could have caused. "Something Katara said to me really stood out.""What was that?""She… She called me a monster."Her golden eyes flashed with hurt."I'll never forget it.""My…" She swallowed. "My mother thought I was a monster. Everyone did, really. My uncle, my brother, my alleged friends. I… I just wanted to prove them wrong. But I failed. And now… I fear they may have been right about me all along."He opened his mouth as if to speak, but words were evading him.Her tone softened. "There's a reason why they all want to keep me locked up. Away from humanity. Where I can't do any damage.""Hey, don't say – ""But it's not…" She took a deep breath. "It's not fair. I've already done my time.""Azula… how long exactly were you in the asylum?""A little over a year." She looked down at her feet. "While everyone else was out celebrating, socializing, dating, living their lives, I was locked up. Restrained in a straightjacket most of the time. Alone.""Well, surely they allowed visitors, right?!" His tone came out angrier than he had anticipated."Yes," she whispered, languidly closing her eyes.When she reopened them he could see a film of moisture beneath her black lashes."And yet, I received none. No one cared enough to visit."What? Was she serious? How could that possibly be? "No one came to see you in over a year?! Not your brother, your uncle, anyone?!"She shook her head and turned her back toward him.Now he understood what she really meant by, 'I can't be locked up again.' She meant she couldn't endure it. She couldn't handle more time in solitude. She needed her freedom. Just like him. And she was… scared.She spun back around. "Don't look at me like that.""Like what?""Like I'm some sort of wounded animal.""How do you want me to look at you?""I don't know. Just not like that." She moved closer to him, clearly aggravated. "I didn't mean for this to turn into such a pity party – I suppose I should let you go." She walked behind the chair and began untying his wrists.He instinctively groaned, rolling his shoulders back and stretching out his sore arms, wondering why she had invited him into her room if she was just going to release him. What was the purpose of all of this? This girl was quite the enigma. Maybe she was just bored or something. Or maybe she was just feeling lonely…She threw his shirt back at him and proceeded to untie the binds from his legs.He wasn't sure exactly what came over him, but after he was thoroughly released, he didn't bolt for the door. Instead, he leaned down and cupped her cheek. "Azula…"Kneeling on the floor, she looked up at him with sad golden eyes."For what it's worth… I don't think you're a monster.""Really?" she breathed."Really.""Then… what do you see? What do you see when you look at me?"A warm smile spread across his cheeks. "A beautiful girl who could really use a friend." He could barely get out the last word before she captured his lips with a heated kiss.He pulled her onto his lap, holding her close and kissing her with a red hot fury. He knew she could probably use a real friend more than a friend with benefits at this point, but he just couldn't help himself. She was so hot and so eager for his touch. This could only lead to trouble – he knew better, he really knew better, but in this moment, he didn't care about the consequences. He wanted her.The remainder of their clothing was quickly shed and tossed to the floor, mixing with their shirts that were already strewn about. He was devouring her face as she grinded and rolled her hips on his lap. Spirits, this was going to be fun. Wrong. Very wrong. But too much fun to pass up. It seemed their morally gray compasses were going to take them the hedonistic route. Jet was thankful for that."Hey," she exhaled against his lips. "Shall we take this to the bedroom?"He nodded slowly, staring into her molten eyes with a lustful gaze.And so the surprises continued. He certainly hadn't expected to hook up with her that night, and he especially didn't expect to wake up the following morning holding her in his arms. He was always so quick to leave or kick someone out of his bed following sex – the whole post-coital cuddling thing was completely out of the question for him. And from everything he had learned about the princess, it seemed she matched him on emotional distance. Maybe that's why he had decided to stay. The risk of her getting too attached was low.She had an arm draped across his chest, and her head was resting on his shoulder. For once in his life, he didn't mind the intimacy. His stomach actually felt fluttery as he looked into her eyes, sparkling in the sunlight. She had the softest smile on her face. He had seen this hazy look on many women and men who came before, and it always annoyed him. But on Azula… it was another story. She was so beautiful. He realized he was probably making the same dumb smile. Oh, Spirits. What was going on with him?"G-Good morning, Princess.""Good morning, bounty hunter.""How did you, uhhh… sleep?" Why was he so nervous?! He was never this nervous around anyone."Quite pleasantly. And you?""Very well." He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips in an attempt to seem a little less awkward. And then his mind drew a blank. "So…""So…"He let out an anxious chuckle. "Where do we go from here?"She laughed. "Well, what do you normally do with your bounty after you sleep with them, hm?""Hey! This is unchartered territory for me. I make a habit of not mixing work with pleasure.""You certainly broke that habit last night," she giggled.He grinned. "I most definitely did.""Was it worth it?" She smirked."Every second."She closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his.He ran his fingers through her soft, silky hair."Well… since you seem to be in need of some assistance as to how we should proceed… I have a proposition for you.""Oh? Let's hear it then.""So, you remember that map I showed you last night? The one outlining my oh-so devious plans?""Yeah…""Well…" She exhaled sharply through her nose. "Look. I know I'm a dead man walking. I know I'm eventually going to have to return to the Fire Nation and face whatever punishment my brother deems fair for me. But, before I go back… there are some things I want to do, some places I want to see – "Suddenly the map made complete sense to him. "The locations you circled are places you want to go." And the ones she had crossed out were places she'd already been."Precisely," she smiled.He couldn't believe it. All she wanted to do was see the world."So here is my proposition." She looked down and then back into his eyes. "Take me to see the rest of the places I've circled on the map, and I'll let you turn me into the Fire Nation. You can collect my bounty and – ""Are you serious?!" He didn't know what to think. He should feel happy about this. He could have everything! But for some reason, he just felt off."Completely." She placed her hand on his cheek. "You deserve your freedom, Jet. The Fire Nation took everything from you. I want to do this for you. I – ""Azula…" He shook his head, removing her hand from his face. "I don't – ""I was eventually going to turn myself in anyway. You may as well collect something from it.""I – well – " She had a point. "But what about your freedom? You said yourself you couldn't be locked up again. And I don't want you to be alone…""Then… maybe you could come visit me sometime," she suggested, her cheeks reddening."Of course. Of course I would." He smiled warmly. "But, before we even cross that road, Azula…" He took a deep breath. "I'd love to travel the world with you." He took her hand and gently interlaced his fingers with hers.She returned the affectionate smile before leaning in and kissing him.After the kiss was broken, he rested his forehead on hers. "Well then, what's our next destination, Princess?"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Day 7: Free DayPairing: Jetko (Jet x Zuko); also Kataang (Aang x Katara), Tyluki (Ty Lee x Suki), Sokkla (Azula x Sokka)Genres: Romance/HumorRating: TSetting: Modern High School (non-bending) AU; Juniors: Sokka, Zuko, Mai, Jet, Sophomores: Katara, Azula, Ty Lee, Suki, Freshmen: Aang, Toph
Free Day
"Well," Azula sighed triumphantly as she spun the map on her phone around in a full circle, admiring all the newly claimed Valor gyms, "I'd say we've successfully painted the town red once again.""I'll say," Toph grinned, unable to see the fruits of their labor.Azula rolled her eyes."Hey… wait a minute." Zuko squinted, looking off into the distance. "Is that person taking down the gym over there?"The blind girl gasped. "I think he is!""I'm serious! Look!" He grabbed his sister by the shoulders and moved her into the right line of view."Who the hell is that?" Azula scowled, crossing her arms. "And who the hell does he think he is?!""I've never seen him before…""Well then he needs to learn who's boss around here!" Toph began stomping in the wrong direction."This way." Zuko helped to guide her."Yeah, yeah.""I don't like this," Azula muttered. "A new PoGO player on our turf who's clearly not on our team? He could really throw off the balance around here – ""Balance?" Zuko laughed. "If by balance you mean Valor's complete and utter domination…""Yes, exactly." She smiled haughtily. "Balance.""And besides, Sparky, it's not like we outnumber our rivals," Toph added. "We dominate because we play harder – ""Because they're doing other normal teenage stuff like, oh I don't know… dating!" Zuko didn't even bother hiding the bitter notes of his tone."Shut up for one second." Azula stopped them from walking any closer to the mysterious boy."What? What's wrong?" the blind girl questioned."He's… he's – ""He's hot," Zuko breathed, getting a better look at the bronze-skinned stranger."Yes, my thoughts exactly." Azula smirked up at her brother. "Dibs!""What? That's no fair! You already have a boyfriend – ""Friend with benefits," she corrected, still smirking. "And there's always room for more friends.""You're unbelievable!""What? Am I supposed to just give him to you because you're lonely?!""If you were a good sister you would!""Oh, here we go again…""Hey!" Toph interrupted. "Would you two stop bickering like an old married couple?! We don't even know if he's gay or straight or whatever."The siblings huffed.With the stakes high and the tension near stifling, the trio approached the handsome stranger."Can I help you…?" The boy with a wheat grass blade in his mouth picked his head up for a brief second to find the Valor team staring him down like something straight out of Westside Story."What d'ya think you're doing there?" Toph demanded."What does it look like I'm doing?""Taking down our gym.""Nah," he denied sarcastically, "I'm just standing here in the cold tapping my phone like a jackass for the fun of it."Zuko chuckled under his breath.Toph aggressively stepped toward the stranger. "Listen here, pal – ""Don't mind her," Azula cut in. "She just… has a lot of pride in our team.""I have a lot of pride?! You're the one who – ""Who just loves welcoming new people to our little town," she said with a clenched jaw, glaring at the blind girl."Right…" Jet was unconvinced."Anyway, I'm Azula." She gestured to the smaller girl. "This here is Toph."His attention remained affixed to his phone."And this is my brother, Zuzu.""I-It's, uh, Zuko actually," the yellow-eyed boy nervously corrected.Jet finished beating the gym and placed his phone into his jacket pocket. "The name's Jet.""Well, it's lovely to meet you, Jet," Azula smiled. "Did you just move here?""Yeah, but I won't be here long.""What do you mean?" Zuko asked."Nowhere I ever go is permanent. I just got out of juvie and moved in with my new foster parents. It's like my fourth home and they already have house full of foster kids. They won't keep me for long."Zuko's eyes widened with concern."Juvie, huh?" Toph smirked. "Whatchya do?""Toph!" Zuko muttered.Jet laughed."Y-You don't have to answer that…""Wasn't planning on it." Jet swished the wheat grass blade to the other side of his mouth. "Anyway, I'll be lucky if I can finish out high school here.""What grade are you in?" Azula asked."I'm a junior."Zuko's stomach somersaulted. "Oh, uh, me too – ""But you're in the public school, right?""Azula!" Zuko elbowed his sister on the upper arm."What?" She failed to notice the elitist undertone of her question. "You are, aren't you?""Yeah…" Jet answered. "What, are you guys in the private school or something?""We are, but we have a lot of friends in the public school. We could introduce you sometime…" Azula smiled coyly. "And we'd be happy to show you around town…""Yeah, maybe…" He looked over at Toph. "Hey… if you don't mind me asking, are you… blind?""No, I just carry around this cane to make a fashion statement," she groaned.Jet chuckled. "I mean, I figured, but… how do you play PoGO?""I can 'see' feeling the vibrations of the phone.""Whoa, really?""No, you idiot!" Toph cackled. "My friends help me play.""She doesn't really need much help," Zuko mentioned. "She has a pretty wicked curveball.""No kidding." Jet looked at her, impressed. "So, do you guys raid?""Yeah, we have a group." Toph folded her arms smugly."And no, they're not all Valor," Zuko quickly added."I can add you to the group chat if you'd like," Azula hummed nonchalantly. "But I'll need your number."The yellow-eyed boy rolled his eyes."Yeah, sure." Jet reached for Azula's phone so he could enter his contact info.She flashed her brother a wicked smirk. He scowled at her in return."So, what team are ya on?" Toph asked."Mystic.""Mystic? More like Mys-take!" She grinned widely."Funny." Jet was unamused.Azula took her phone back from him when he was finished. "Well, we probably should be going. I'll let you know when the next raid is.""Cool. See ya." Jet gave the group a charismatic smile.Zuko nearly swooned.As the Valor team made their way back to their upper-class homes, Azula linked arms with her brother. "Do I really need to warn you about falling for another Mystic boy, Zuzu? Especially after what happened last time…"He rolled his eyes. "He turned out to be straight and then you hooked up with him!""Yes, several times," she smirked, thinking fondly of her blue-eyed hook-up buddy."Toph, what do you think? Your gaydar is usually spot-on.""Not gonna lie, he's a tough read," she answered honestly. "He definitely gives off somewhat of a straight vibe…"Zuko sulked."But… I was also picking up some unmistakable bloops on the rainbow side.""What does that even mean?!""I think he's bi or pan or something."Zuko sighed dramatically."Don't worry, Sparky." She slapped him hard on the back. "I have a plan.""Taking down the gym right before a raid, huh?"The low purr of the voice startled Zuko so much, he nearly dropped his phone as he spun around. Suddenly face-to-face with the hot new guy, the yellow-eyed boy was lost for words."Kind of a dick move, don't you think?""I – well – I," he stammered."Relax," Jet chuckled. "I'm just messing around. I was coming here to do the exact same thing.""Oh," Zuko laughed apprehensively. "I-I don't usually do this. My sister sent me.""Ah, so your sister bids you to do her dirty work for her? Interesting."Zuko's eyes darted to the wheat grass blade in the boy's mouth and then back into Jet's pools of chocolatey brown. "N-No, she usually goes herself but she's just getting out of a cello lesson.""Cello?" Jet smirked. "She any good?""Little Miss Perfect?" he muttered. "She excels in it. Just like most things." He looked down at his feet.Jet took a step closer to him. "Perfection is boring."Zuko looked back up at the boy."People's flaws and struggles, now that's what makes them interesting."The yellow-eyed boy smiled, blushing faintly."So…" Jet looked mischievous. "I couldn't help but notice everyone in the group chat has a unique Pokémon type icon. What's up with that?""Oh. That," Zuko laughed, embarrassed. "One of the people in our group, Aang – you'll meet him soon – thought it would be a good idea if we all chose a trainer identity… it's stupid.""Wow… he sounds like a total nerd. Let me guess, he's on Instinct?""Yeah… you just kicked him out of the gym.""Figures," Jet laughed. "So… when do I get my trainer identity?""Really?" Zuko's eyebrows arched. "You want one?""If I'm gonna be part of the group…""Well then, Trainer Jet," Zuko smirked, "What type would you like?""I don't know… maybe Ghost…?""Hey, where is everyone?" Azula interrupted, approaching the boys in a fashionable down winter coat. "I can't believe I ran all the way here and still managed to be one of the first ones here." She rolled her eyes."Didn't our driver just drop you off?" Zuko questioned."Doesn't change the fact that the raid is starting in two minutes and no one's in sight," she scowled. "So, what were you two talking about?""Zuko was just telling me about your trainer types, Electric Trainer Azula," Jet smirked, teasingly."Oh, was he now?" She glared at her brother. "Well, it's not like any of us take it that seriously.""Really? That's too bad." Jet shrugged. "I was just starting to get into it." He gave Zuko a cunning grin.Azula huffed, which was visible in the cold winter air.The others started to arrive."Well in that case, let me introduce you to our Flying and Water trainers, Aang and Katara, one of our Instinct power couples.""Nice to meet you," Katara smiled, waving."Welcome to the group!" Aang grinned."Hey." Jet nodded coolly.Azula gestured to two pretty girls to her right. "And here are our Fairy and Fighting trainers, Ty Lee and Suki, our other, hotter, Instinct power couple."Katara shot Azula a dirty look."Ooh, he's a cutie!" Ty Lee giggled, eying the new boy."Seriously?" Suki groaned. She turned to Jet. "Don't mind her – she flirts with everyone she meets.""Don't be jealous, babe." The bubbly brunette wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. "He's not as cute as you."Suki gave her a kiss on the cheek.Jet chuckled."And this here is Mai, our Dark trainer." Azula gave a quick glance to the goth girl to her left. "She's also on Mystic." She smirked deviously. "And, fun fact, she's also Zuzu's beard!"Zuko's face went pale."Wait, really?" Jet smiled, amused. "You pretend to be his girlfriend?""Well, yeah." The black-haired girl's tone was unaffected, almost monotone. "I mean, he's one of my best friends, and – ""And they did use to date," Ty Lee added, "You know… before he came out.""Just kill me now," the yellow-eyed boy sighed dramatically under his breath."What I was going to say was," Mai continued, "and this way, his father won't find out.""Really?" Jet turned to Zuko. "Your dad's that judgmental?""Seriously, kill me now." Zuko dropped his head into his gloves."Yes, Father can never know. Moving on!" Azula looked around at the group. "Well, you already know Toph, so that's everyone who counts – ""Ahem!" Sokka cleared his throat.The yellow-eyed girl gave him a teasing smirk. "This is Sokka, our Ice trainer. He's on Mystic and he's also my personal Pokémon rival.""Hey." Sokka quickly acknowledged the new guy before turning his attention back to Azula. "So…" He grinned roguishly. "I just so happened to catch a perfect IV Snorunt last night. What do you think about that?""I think it's not as cool or as rare as the shiny Snorunt I caught this morning," she boasted."What?! No way!"She showed him her phone."Damn it.""Now can we please get on with this raid already?" Azula said in a way that was more demanding than asking. "It's freezing out here.""Jumping in!" Aang called out.Everyone else followed, carefully picking their teams for the legendary raid as the timer ticked down to the start time.After Sokka finished his lineup, he took off his jacket and placed it on Azula's shoulders. "Here you go, Princess."She gave him a look that read, "You shouldn't have," but accepted the jacket nonetheless.Jet raised an eyebrow at the unexpected interaction, noting that no one else seemed surprised.Finally, the timer flashed "0" and the raid began."Got 'im!" Toph bragged, "First throw, excellent curveball, let's go!""How did you know it was an excellent throw…?" Jet questioned suspiciously."She has superpowers," Sokka answered. "I got him too, by the way." He turned to his rival. "Did you?""Of course I did." Azula looked smug. "He's a ninety-three percenter too. Not a bad Groudon indeed."The blue-eyed boy scowled."I got him too!" Aang cheered."Me too!" Ty Lee jumped for joy."I didn't," Katara muttered."You'll get the next one, Sweetie." Aang kissed her on the nose."I didn't either." Suki shrugged. "Oh well.""Same," Mai said apathetically."I got him." Jet faced Zuko. "Did you?""No," he groaned. "Luck is never on my side."He smirked. "Maybe you just need a lucky charm..."Zuko felt his cheeks grow hot."Is that what that is?" Ty Lee pointed to the wheat grass blade in Jet's mouth. "A lucky charm?""No," the brown-eyed boy laughed. "Oral fixation."Zuko's feet slipped out from underneath him, causing him to fall and land on his butt. "Owww!"Jet snickered. Azula rolled her eyes."Are you okay?" Suki asked."Y-Yeah. The sidewalk is j-just really icy." He stood up, feeling humiliated as he brushed the snow off his jeans."Whoa! Did you know this gym is sponsored?!" Aang's gray eyes were as wide as saucers."What does that mean, Twinkle Toes?" Toph questioned.Jet raised an eyebrow. "Twinkle Toes?""She has endearing nicknames for everyone." Katara smiled. "You'll probably earn one too if you hang out with us long enough.""Anyway…" Aang spoke quickly out of excitement. "Now that it's out of beta, winning a battle at a sponsored gym means that we all have a chance at being invited to an Ex-Raid!""In other words, we all may have the chance to catch Mewtwo," Sokka added."If anyone gets an Ex-Raid pass, post it to the group chat immediately," Azula demanded. She shivered. "I need to get out of here. I'm freezing." She started to dial her driver when her brother interrupted."Wait. Before everyone scatters, Jet needs a trainer identity!"The brown-eyed boy smiled. "You weren't gonna let me forget that, were you.""Nope." Zuko smiled back at him."That's an easy one," Azula interjected. "He's our Grass trainer. You know, because he always has a blade of grass in his mouth.""Makes sense to me," Jet agreed."Welcome to the team, Grass Trainer Jet!" Toph smacked him hard on the back."Thanks," he coughed, noticing that Azula and Sokka were having their own private conversation."Can I walk you home?" Sokka asked, grinning."It's okay. I'll just have my driver pick me up – "He leaned in and whispered into her ear. "How about I keep you warm instead?"She smirked. "Well in that case…" She let Sokka put his arm around her and began walking off with him.Jet shook his head, laughing under his breath. "Some rivals…"
Group Chat: Saturday Afternoon
Azula (Electric): (Posts screenshot of Ex-Raid pass.) Read it and weep, suckers!Sokka (Ice): WHAT?! NO FAIR!Mai (Dark): Fake news.Azula (Electric): Jealous?Mai (Dark): Not even a little.Ty Lee (Fairy): I didn't get one either. (Inserts broken heart emoji.)Suki (Fighting): Same here. (Inserts sad emoji.)Katara (Water): I GOT ONE! (Posts screenshot of Ex-Raid pass.) I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!Sokka (Ice): YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! WHY DOES THE WORLD HATE ME SO MUCH?Toph (Steel): You make it too easy, Snoozles.Toph (Steel): BTW I'm hanging with Twinkle Toes and Sugar Queen right now. They tell me I didn't get one.Aang (Flying): I didn't get one, but I'm SUPER HAPPY for my sweetie! (Inserts heart emoji.)Katara (Water): Awww, thanks babe! (Inserts three heart emojis.)Sokka (Ice): Gross.Mai (Dark): Blech.Azula (Electric): What they said.Ty Lee (Fairy): I'm so sad right now you guys. But good luck to those who got one!Suki (Fighting): Yeah! Anyone else? Zuko? Jet?Zuko (Fire): Do you really have to ask?Toph (Steel): Let me guess. You didn't get one.Zuko (Fire): OF COURSE NOT! FMLJet (Grass): (Posts screenshot of Ex-Raid pass). Boom.Sokka (Ice): Great. First my rival, then my sister, and now the new guy. Just great.Aang (Flying): So, looks like the raid is next Friday night! That's in 6 DAYS! Are you guys excited?!Azula (Electric): Omg…Azula (Electric): I CAN'T GO! (Inserts angry emoji.)Sokka (Ice): HAH!Ty Lee (Fairy): Oh no! Why not?Azula (Electric): I have a scheduling conflict OBVI!Ty Lee (Fairy): But what is it? Can you reschedule?Azula (Electric): No.Zuko (Fire): She has her ballet recital dress rehearsal! LMAO. (Inserts laughing/crying emoji.)Mai (Dark): You do ballet? Wow.Azula (Electric): No.Zuko (Fire): She sure does! Leotards, tights, little pink slippers and all!Toph (Steel): ROFLAzula (Electric): You really want to play the blackmail game, Zuzu?Zuko (Fire): Uhhh…Suki (Fighting): Can't you just give your phone to someone to play for you?Sokka (Ice): Shot not!Aang (Flying): I can do it!Ty Lee (Fairy): Me too!Mai (Dark): I would volunteer, but I don't want to risk ending up on Azula's shit list if I don't catch the Mewtwo.Ty Lee (Fairy): That's a good point…Azula (Electric): Zuzu just barged into my room and is acting totally crazy. He's trying to grab my phone. Don't trustAzula (Electric): I give my dear brother Zuko permission to take my phone to the raid. I wouldn't trust anybody else with such an important task.Mai (Dark): Facepalm.Zuko (Fire): Well that settles it then! I'm honored really. I meeting hang kaftan soKatara (Water): Are you having a stroke?Zuko (Fire): I'm Zuko and I think Jet is SOOO hot.Toph (Steel): HAHAHAHAHAHATy Lee (Fairy): What's going on?Suki (Fighting): They've traded phones.Ty Lee (Fairy): Ohhhhh.Jet (Grass): I'm flattered.Toph (Steel): So you ARE gay?Azula (Electric): THAT was your plan?! You were just going to ASK him?!Toph (Steel): Yep. Aces like me don't play these stupid games. Aces rule!Jet (Grass): Do you really wanna know?Zuko (Fire): Yes please Jet sempai!Zuko (Fire): Zuzu just hit me.Mai (Dark): You deserved it.Jet (Grass): Drum roll please.Aang (Flying): (Inserts drum emoji.)Jet (Grass): I'm bi.Toph (Steel): Called it!Jet (Grass): On that note, I'm gonna go get lunch. Bi!"Thanks for the ride," Jet said as he stepped into Zuko's crimson red Lexus."N-No problem. I couldn't just let you walk in the cold."He smiled. "Is this your car?""Well, yeah, sort of. I'll – ""But I thought you had a driver.""I do." Zuko looked down at his hands on the steering wheel. "But I just got my license, so – ""So your rich, homophobic dad bought you a car. That's a pretty sweet deal."He laughed nervously. "Well I'll be sharing the car with Azula as soon as she gets her license next year." He pulled out of the driveway."So basically Azula will have the car and you'll – ""What makes you say that?""Oh, I don't know – she's headstrong and entitled? Not to mention how easy it was for her to take your phone away from you…" Jet smirked."Hey, I took her phone first!" He began to blush. "Sorry for all those messages by the way. You know I didn't write those…""I know. I thought they were funny."Zuko smiled faintly."How did you manage to get your phone back?""Oh, after you left the chat, we beat each other up," he laughed."Really? Must be a sibling thing.""It is. We fight all the time. She's deceptively strong.""I guess she must be," Jet chuckled. "So… is she going out with that hot nerdy guy with the ponytail?"Zuko's stomach dropped. "Sokka? Um… kind of. It's complicated.""They're hooking up, right?""Yeah. On and off. He's crazy about her but he wants more of a commitment and she's… um…""She likes to keep her options open?""Not really. I think she likes him a lot more than she lets on, but she's too afraid to get close to anyone. She's kind of been that way ever since our mother left…""Oh. I didn't know. Well… I can relate to that.""I can imagine." He paused, thinking of what to say. "Why do you ask?""Hm?""About Azula? Do you… do you like her?" His hands were shaking at the wheel.Jet glanced over at Zuko, smiling as he sensed the yellow-eyed boy's nerves. "Not gonna lie, I think your sister's pretty hot. But…"The tremoring of his hands intensified."Spoiled, elitist overachievers don't really do it for me.""I see." Zuko nearly sighed audibly. "Well." He pulled into the parking lot. "We're here.""Ready to catch a Mewtwo?""I better be. Azula will literally kill me if I don't.""I DID IT! I FREAKING DID IT!" Katara shouted with glee, jumping up and down in the frosty air. "Sure it took four throws, but NOW I HAVE MEWTWO!""Congratulations, babe! I knew you could do it!" Aang threw his arms around her in the excitement of the moment. "What're its stats?""Let's see…" She did some quick calculations. "Not great. Ten, eleven, thirteen. Seventy-six percent. But I don't care, I still got it!""That's amazing!""Yeah, great job, Katara." Zuko's Mewtwo popped out of the pokéball once again. "Damn it.""Congrats," Jet said as equally frustrated as Zuko. "Quit bursting my balls, Mewtwo!""Don't worry. You'll get it," the blue-eyed girl assured."Yeah! I believe in you two." Aang adjusted his scarf, pulling it higher on his neck. "I'd love to stick around and watch you catch it, but it's cold and I'd like to take Katara out for a celebratory hot cocoa!""Ooh, that sounds perfect!" She kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "Post your Mewtwos to the chat when you catch them!"They walked off to the parking lot hand in hand."Damn it, I'm never gonna catch it," Zuko groaned. "This is it. This is the day Azula actually murders me and becomes the only child she always wanted to be."Jet laughed. "I'm not doing too hot either. You'd think golden razzing excellent curveballs would be enough. But no.""Two shakes and… HE POPPED OUT!""That bastard!""Two balls left.""That's really all you need."Zuko chuckled. "Excellent curve and… one shake… two shakes… NOPE! Of course not!""Down to your last?""Yeah.""Me too."Zuko picked up his head for a second to distract himself from the stress. "Did everybody else leave already?! Everyone already caught their Mewtwos and left?!""I guess so."He sighed."Hey, I have an idea." Jet stepped closer to the yellow-eyed boy. "Let's trade phones.""Really?""Yeah, so your sister can take out her wrath on me instead of you if I miss.""You don't know my sister's wrath…" Zuko shuddered. "And I don't want to be responsible for missing your Mewtwo.""I won't be upset. There'll be other Ex-Raids.""You promise you won't be disappointed?""I promise."Zuko smiled halfheartedly.The boys exchanged phones."Okay." Jet took a deep breath. "Here we go." He threw the final pokéball. "Excellent curve…""You golden razzed it, right?""Of course." He stared at the screen. "One shake… two shakes…" He heard the victorious click of the pokéball shutting. "Got it! Would you look at that?""WHAT?! REALLY?!""Looks like you won't be having an early funeral after all.""Thank you, thank you, thank you! How can I ever repay you?""I'm sure we'll think of something," the brown-eyed boy laughed.Zuko's cheeks reddened."Whoa. Its stats are pretty good too. Twelve, fifteen, fourteen. Ninety-one percent! Damn! Your sister is gonna owe you a big favor.""Yeah…""Why don't you look relieved?""Because I still haven't thrown your ball.""Then go for it already!""Are you sure? I'm inherently unlucky."Jet looked into the sulking boy's eyes. "I don't believe that's true."Staring back into Jet's warm eyes, Zuko nearly choked. "O-Okay." He fed the Mewtwo a golden razzberry and threw the ball. "Excellent curve." His heart was pounding in his chest."I can't look.""One shake. Two shakes." He gasped. "I GOT HIM!""You got him?!""I GOT HIM! Ten, fourteen, fourteen. Eighty-four percent!""I don't care about the IVs, I – I'm just so happy, I could kiss you!""Then do it," Zuko whispered before clasping his hands over his mouth. He stared up at Jet, panicked. "I can't believe I just said that out loud. Oh God. Why am I such a – ""Okay." Jet smirked."Okay, what?"He stepped in toward the slightly shorter boy, placed his hand on his cheek, and kissed him softly on the lips.Zuko's cheeks flushed. "I – you – I – ""Thanks for catching me the Mewtwo." He gave Zuko a wink."Likewise," he smiled. "Do you… would you maybe… would you like to go out for some celebratory hot cocoa? My treat.""Hot cocoa sounds lovely," he smiled back. "It's a date."