It had been two weeks since the dinner with the Beifongs, and Sokka was walking through the courtyard of Four Elements High School when he saw Suki running towards him.

"Sokka, catch," she said with a smile, and Sokka saw a glinting metal object flying towards him. He was barely able to catch it, but when he did, he saw that it was a bracelet that looked homemade, with a small silver fan attached to it.

"I found the charm at the local jewelry shop," said Suki coming up to him, "I also found this one," she showed him a bracelet on her wrist with the charm of what looked like a boomerang attached to it, "so we can match."

"Suki, this is so sweet," Sokka slipped on the bracelet. Suki gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"See you in science!" Sokka fondly touched his cheek and smiled.

"So I see you followed my advice," Katara said, coming up behind him.

"What? Oh," you two should just kiss and get it over with, "That." He saw Katara smirk, "Well, you uh, you should follow your own advice, Katara," he said triumphantly.

"What?! What do you mean?!" Katara asked, looking very flustered. Sokka discreetly pointed to Aang, who was sitting on the steps of the school with Appa. She blushed and looked away, "Sokka, you're embarrassing me," she whispered.

"I rest my case!" Sokka said with decision, "Look how the tables have turned."

~~~

"It's been two weeks and no one has found a part time job?!" Katara questioned angrily at lunch. Suki and Sokka shook their heads in unison.

"I didn't even try," Toph said flatly.

"The ice cream shop was hiring," said Aang, "but Appa didn't like them so I decided not to take the job." Katara groaned.

"What about you Zuko?" she asked, "Do you ever work at the Jasmine Dragon."

"Well, I do occasionally but it's more like... volunteer work. Uncle says it builds character."

"That's great, but it doesn't help us," Katara said, "Principal Zhao sent me an email last night, and now we have to pay a 500 dollar fee to use the school as a venue." she sighed, "I'm guessing it's because Azula got wind of it."

"Wait a minute!" Zuko exclaimed, causing Katara to jump in her seat, "I know where we can get some money."

"Where?"

"When I was younger, and our family was actually happy, my mom gave me a bunch of money."

"How much?" Aang asked.

"About $700." everyone except for Toph gaped in surprise, "My family's rich," Zuko said by way of explanation, "The only problem is that I hid it, so Azula wouldn't take it, and I completely forgot about it when I moved in with my uncle."

"So it's at your old house?" Sokka said.

"Yes," Zuko affirmed, "but I think there's a way we can get it without being noticed. There is a three day weekend coming up soon, and I heard Azula saying my dad is going to be gone during that time. I still have a key to the balcony of my room, so we can get in without triggering the security system."

"Wouldn't that technically be breaking and entering?" Aang asked nervously, "I feel guilty just talking about this."

"Well, technically it's breaking and entering, but it's Azula's house, so..."

"Yeah, that's going to be a no," Katara said decisively, "We don't want to try anything risky and-" Two girls started arguing, so she didn't finish her sentence. Then Katara saw all the color drain from Zuko's face.

"I'll be right back," he said before standing up and leaving the cafeteria. Katara glanced around the table.

"Was it something I said?"

~~~

Zuko crept over to a row of lockers, where Mai and Ty lee stood, arguing. Mai and Ty Lee never argued.

"Let me guess, you were going to sign up for track, but Azula doesn't want you to!" Mai yelled. She almost never yelled, and when she did, her voice sounded raspy, like it would go out at any minute.

"You aren't even going to listen to me?!"

"No, because I know exactly what you're going to say. This is always what happens! You want to do something and Azula won't let you. Then go to whine and cry about it to me. Do you even understand how manipulative she is?!" Tears sprang to Ty lee's face.

"You won't even here what I have to say! I was trying to tell you that I signed up for track and I wanted to break the news to you, but I'm just so predictable. You're always telling me how horrible Azula is, but you're the biggest hypocrite on earth!" Mai looked away, and at that moment, saw Zuko peering around the corner. She glared at him, and he quickly ducked out of sight, but he could still hear their voices.

"Ty Lee, I'm sorry."

"I'm done being friends with you, Mai." Zuko heard panicked footsteps receding as Ty Lee walked back down the hall.

"Zuko, I know you're there," Mai said tiredly. Zuko came out from the corner he was hiding behind with a look of guilt plastered on his face.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"No, I'm sorry you had to hear that," Mai sighed, "I hate Azula."

"I know." Zuko sat down next to her, leaning against the locker, "Do you want to sit with me at lunch this week, and get some distance from her."

"With the avatar?" Mai asked incredulously. Zuko nodded. She laughed, shaking her head, "You're just full of surprises, you know that. Sure, I'll sit with you."

~~~

Aang was walking through the courtyard when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he immediately smiled when he saw that it was Gyatso, his caretaker from back home.

"Hello Aang," the voice on the other line was warm and comforting.

"It's so good to hear from you," Aang said cheerfully, "How's everything at home? How's Momo?"

"Your cat's doing fine," Gyatso said with a laugh, "And we might be able to see each other soon."

"Really?"

"Yes. I believe you have a three day weekend coming in a few weeks, and I would love for you to come out and see me and the other airbenders."

"That sounds amazing!" Aang exclaimed.

"One more thing," Gyatso said quickly, "If you would like, you should bring one of your friends along, I would love to meet them." Aang immediately thought of Katara, but would she even want to go? He said goodbye to Gyatso and thought about the weekend.

"Hey Aang," Katara came running out of the school and into the courtyard. When Aang saw her, he could feel his heart rate going up, even without Toph. It was odd, but at that moment he felt so many moment crashing back to him. Holding hands at the ice rink, trudging through the blizzard to find Appa, the brief kiss at Jet's party, joining student government, and meeting her for the first time on the first day at school. I'm... in love with Katara. He had always sort of knew, but for some reason, at that moment, he knew for a fact that it was true.

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