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“This is harassment!” cried out Katara, waving her phone in her friends’ faces the moment they sat down in their usual booth at Koh's Lair. “It doesn’t matter whether I block him or not, he just gets a new number and contacts me! Do I report him? Hire an assassin? What do I do?”
“Slow down, Miss Fussy Pants,” said Toph, lounging on the leather seat and raising her hand to call for a waiter. “Who are we killing?”
“Jet!” Katara replied, almost pulling out her hair. She shook the phone in front of them, and the group collectively drew back before it could hit their noses. “Look at all his messages!”
“‘Babe, I promise I’ve changed,’” Sokka said in a mockingly deep voice, scrolling through the app with his forefinger. “‘I shouldn’t have cheated on you. You’re one in a million.’”
“‘And I swear, whatever you might have heard, my herpes is all cleared up,’” Suki read over Sokka’s shoulder. She, Aang, Toph and Zuko all made disgusted faces. “Ew!”
“How do I deal with this?” Katara said, grabbing the tequila shot that the waiter handed to Toph and downing it. “He’s already dropped by in front of my apartment eight times this month, and Iroh said he's been showing up at the Jasmine Dragon more often and asking about me! It's only a matter of time before he finds out where I intern!”
“That slimebag!” growled Sokka, guzzling his beer. “Want me and the guys to beat him up again?”
“Uh, last time that happened, we all almost got arrested,” Aang reminded him. “I don’t think he’ll learn anything from violence, anyway.”
“Aang’s right; he thrives on it,” said Zuko darkly. "He'll probably take it as a challenge."
“You used to thrive on violence, too, Zuko,” Suki pointed out, and Zuko glared at her. She shrugged, unperturbed. “C’mon, we all know why Mai broke up with you, you big ol’ jealous mess. What changed?”
“I—” Zuko’s mouth twisted as he sipped his whiskey. He sighed. “I don’t know. I just saw how happy she was with Kei Lo, so I backed off.”
“Would that work with Jet?” asked Katara harriedly, gripping her head in her hands.
“I don’t think Jet has Zuko’s emotional maturity,” mused Aang, and Toph and Sokka snorted in agreement.
“Besides, even when you dated Haru, he was still creeping on you,” Sokka added.
“Maybe it’s because Sweetness and Wispy Moustache weren’t too public about it,” said Toph, with a hint of actual thoughtfulness. Then she grinned maliciously. “Or maybe it was because Mr. Manwhore knew he could beat Moustache to a pulp. Hell, the only one he couldn’t take on a fight is Sparky.”
“Hey!” Sokka protested.
“It’s true, honey,” said Suki, patting his arm.
“I landed a blow or two when we beat him up the first time!”
“It was because Zuko already almost knocked him out,” said Aang. Sokka pointed at him agitatedly.
"Well, you didn't do anything besides telling us to just 'talk it out'—"
"We hadn't even heard his side of the story yet, Sokka—"
Sokka opened his mouth to retort and moved to stand, but Katara beat him to it and slammed her fist on the table.
“Guys! This is not helping!” She sat down and slid another drink to her— this time Zuko’s whiskey— and tossed it back again. She grimaced and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “What do I do?”
“You could get a restraining order,” said Suki hesitantly, but Sokka shook his head.
“He hasn’t done anything to warrant one, technically,” he said. He pointed his beer bottle at Katara. “He hasn’t threatened you, hasn’t he?”
His sister shook her head and Sokka nodded knowingly.
“Dude knows how to play,” he said, then thumbed through the messages in Katara’s phone with a look of pure concentration.
“He doesn’t even text or call that often; just enough that it’s annoying, but not enough to be considered harassment— not that I’m saying you’re not harassed!” he added quickly at Katara’s and Suki’s twin glares. “All I'm saying is, there's a big chance that the restraining order won't be granted."
"You could hire a bodyguard," suggested Aang, and Toph spat out the drink she'd just ordered.
"Who's gonna do it, Twinketoes, you?" She laughed and patted down her wet shirt. "Oh, man, how I wish I could see that."
"I can take care of myself," Katara said defensively, finally starting on her own cocktail. "I just need him out of my life. Permanently."
"So we're back on hired assassins?" Zuko quipped, and Katara shot him a deathly glare over the pink umbrella in her glass.
"I'm not really suggesting that," Katara replied haughtily, in a tone that said she was sort of considering it. "I just want to get the message across that we're through. It's been months, you guys. He's had plenty of time to— to— to whore around and get herpes, but he still thinks I'm an option!"
"Maybe it's because you make it seem like you are," Toph said blithely, and Katara gaped at her in indignation.
"I do not!"
"Oh please, Sugar Queen. All you do is study all week and hang out with us in your free time. Of course he's gonna think he's got a chance 'cause it seems like you're still pining over him like a big baby."
"I am totally over him!" yelled Katara, and a couple of heads turned from the neighboring tables. Katara lowered her voice to a panicked hiss. "It's my senior year of med school. Of course all I'm gonna do is study! I have to finish my residency application! All my dreams rest on this, and I can't have him getting all creepy on me just because he's a jobless lowlife who has nothing better to do!"
Toph grinned and took a long sip of her drink before replying.
"Still sounds like you're trying to hide behind your busy schedule because you still secretly wanna bang him."
"I do not want to—"
"Okay, enough of this," said Suki firmly, before drinking the last of Sokka's beer and setting it aside. "Katara, maybe Toph's got a point."
"Suki!"
"A point that she could have delivered more tactfully," Suki continued in a directed tone that totally went over Toph's head, "But it's a point nonetheless. You didn’t seem that connected with Haru, so he probably thought he was just your rebound guy, and now that the dust has settled, he thinks he has a shot again."
"Well then, we're just going around in circles!" cried Katara, throwing her hands up.
"Maybe you could just tell him that it's over- over," Aang said.
"Ha!" Sokka snorted over the new beer bottle he was nursing. "Aang, buddy, when Katara told you in high school that she didn't like you back, how long did it take for it to sink in? This thing with Jet is, like, a hundred times worse."
Aang blushed and hunched in on himself. Katara decided to skate over the awkwardness in favor of her current predicament.
"So I can't let you guys beat him up, I can't get a restraining order, I'm not currently dating anyone, and I don't know where to get hired assassins," she said, ticking her options on her fingers before continuing sarcastically. "Great! Now I just need to get a bodyguard!"
"Oooh! Can it be Twinkletoes?" Toph asked excitedly. "Can I be there when Manwhore beats him up?"
Katara ignored her and cradled her head in her arms dejectedly.
"I don't think there's a solution for this," she groaned. "I'll just be stuck with a crazy ex-boyfriend who won't leave me alone."
"There's still Sparky's idea," Toph pointed out with a hearty belch.
"I didn't have any ideas," said Zuko, looking up from his second glass of whiskey.
"Sure you did," argued Toph. "The 'I saw her happy with someone so I backed off' idea."
"I thought we agreed that wouldn't work on Jet," said Katara with a roll of her eyes. "And there's also the tiny problem that I'm not dating anyone right now— thanks so much for reminding me."
Toph considered this for a moment.
"Yeah, you're right. Even if you managed to snag someone, you're too much of a prude to rub it in Manwhore's face. And he wouldn't take it seriously, anyway, unless the guy was totally over the moon for you," she said, smirking. "Just get a damn bodyguard, Miss Fussy."
"Oh sure, while we're at it, why don't I also buy a golden pony?" Katara said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm still buried in student loans and I'm on an unpaid internship at the hospital!"
"Oh, I know! We could hire The Boulder! He still owes us money from that arm wrestling match with Toph, right?" exclaimed Sokka, excitedly bouncing in his seat.
"I don't think I'll be comfortable being shadowed by a big guy I barely know," said Katara, swirling the dregs of her cocktail in her glass.
"What if you get one of us girls to do it so you can be comfortable?" Suki piped up. She looked sideways at Toph. "I'm not sure I can take Jet in a fight, but maybe Toph could."
"Naw, that won't work, 'cause he doesn't know my record," Toph dismissed with a casual wave of her hand. "If we were actually beating him up, I'll be all for it, but Mr. Manwhore just needs to be intimidated by looks."
"I can intimidate him with looks," said Sokka, puffing his chest out.
"No offence, Sokka, but you can't even intimidate a puppy," said Katara. Zuko tried to disguise his laugh as a cough, but Sokka already heard.
"Oh, you think you can do better, jerk?" he snapped, poking him in the chest, but it was Aang who answered.
"Actually, I think he could," he started, then held his hands up appeasingly when Sokka whirled on him. "I'm not saying you're not manly, Sokka! But Zuko does glare at people a lot—"
"I don't glare all the time," Zuko protested with a glare.
The rest of the group raised their brows at him and he sighed defeatedly and sipped his whiskey in sulky silence.
"Well, I don't know if it's a good idea, but it's better than nothing," Katara said suddenly, scrutinizing Zuko, who immediately choked on his whiskey and shook his head.
"You can't be serious!" he told her. "I have a full-time job at the firm! I can't just— follow you around all day!"
"You won't have to!" Katara countered, a plan already forming in her head. "You'll just have to show up when he shows up! You work almost as late as I do, anyway, and you already go to the Jasmine Dragon often enough so it wouldn't be much of a detour, and your office isn't that far away from my apartment—"
"No, no way," retorted Zuko, crossing his arms over his chest. "I already have a lot on my plate, what with the paperwork the senior lawyers are piling on us—"
"Oh, come on!" Katara pleaded. "It's perfect— Jet was already threatened by you even when we were going out because you always glowered at him—"
"I did that?" Zuko asked dumbfoundedly, but Katara barrelled on.
"And he already knows he can't win in a fight with you—"
"I thought we weren't going to beat him up—"
"And it'll be super easy, you won't even have to say anything, you just have to look at him the usual Zuko way—"
"What does that even mean—"
"And, as thank you, I can bake you those brownies you liked so much at our last Christmas party," Katara finished triumphantly.
Zuko narrowed his eyes at Katara. The rest of the gang waited with bated breath.
"Fine," he said with a huff, then drank the rest of his whiskey. "But don't call me during work hours. And don't tell Uncle."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Katara squealed, nearly knocking over their glasses trying to hug Zuko from across the table. Zuko sighed and patted her shoulder awkwardly.
"I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Katara just grimaced and shrugged.
"Hey, buddy, about those brownies… can I have a bite of that action?" Sokka began, and both Suki and Zuko slapped a hand to their foreheads.
Katara's nightmares came true two weeks later.
She hadn't had any reason for Zuko's "services"— Sokka had nearly laughed himself sick when he came up with the term— but now Jet was at the hospital's lobby chatting with Song, and all Katara could do was duck into the neurology and psychiatry department and wonder when her life became so complicated.
She smiled sheepishly at her fellow interns— she had already finished this department in her last rotation— and pulled out her phone, tapping her foot impatiently as she searched for Zuko's name in her contacts list. He answered on the first ring.
"Zuko," she said, not even giving him a chance to speak, "He's here. In the hospital. He's talking to one of my classmates."
"Shit," Zuko cursed on the other end. "Okay, uh, what do I have to do?"
"I don't know!" Katara peeked around the corner of the wall she was hiding behind. "He doesn't look like he's going away soon."
"Okay, alright," she heard him huff and she could almost see him running his hand through his hair. "I get off work in about thirty minutes. Maybe— maybe I should hang out there until you're done?"
"Yeah," Katara breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, that'll be good. Thanks so much for this, Zuko."
"I'm only doing it for the brownies," he deadpanned, and Katara rolled her eyes before ending the call. She tucked her phone in her pocket and glanced around for a way out.
By this time she should be at Family Medicine, but it was all the way across the reception area, so she took the circuitous route (around the back of the cafeteria and through the pharmacy) that ate up almost fifteen minutes of her time. She rushed into the ward, pretending to be so busy with her notes that she couldn't look at anything else.
One of the resident doctors, Yugoda, looked up at her sudden arrival.
"Katara, someone was looking for you," she said, and Katara tried her best to not scrunch up her face in distaste.
"Oh, was it Dr. Pakku?" she asked instead, feigning innocence.
"No, it was a young man. He was quite insistent that you meet him." Dr. Yugoda gave her a once-over. "You only have an hour left in your shift; you can end early if you want."
"No, no, it's okay, he can wait," Katara replied with a forced smile. He can wait forever and ever, for all I care.
When Zuko arrived at the hospital, he found Jet lounging on one of the metal chairs outside of the emergency room. He narrowed his eyes at him— why can't this guy take a hint— but before he could do anything else, Song from Katara's class approached him.
"Zuko? I didn't expect to see you here, you're usually as healthy as a bear," she said with a laugh. "Is there something wrong, or are you visiting someone?"
"Uh, no, I'm just here to pick up Katara," he replied distractedly, eyes still on Jet, missing Song's disappointed look. "Her shift's almost over—"
"Zuko!"
He barely had time to register that Jet stood up from his seat when Katara tackle-hugged him from the side. He patted her back bemusedly.
"Tough day, huh?"
"Yeah," she muttered, her voice muffled against his shirt. "Can we please get out of here now?"
"Sure, that's why I'm here," he replied, not even trying to pry her off of him— she probably didn't want to see Jet still hovering around them, so he led her outside with an arm over her shoulders.
"I'm so glad you arrived so soon," she said, still tucked under his arm. "He's already asked one of the residents about me."
Zuko frowned at that.
"Was it your step-grandfather?"
"Oh god, no," Katara laughed and finally detached herself from him. "Gran-Pakku glowers at him as much as you do."
"That's probably because Pakku also hates his guts," Zuko said, to which Katara huffed in agreement. He unlocked his car and opened the passenger door for her. "So, where to?"
"Wow, when I asked you to be my bodyguard, I didn't think I would also be getting a chauffeur," Katara said, her eyes twinkling. Zuko tried (and failed) to fight the smile creeping on his face.
"It's a one-time offer. Take it or leave it."
"Gee, thanks," Katara rolled her eyes at him, then yawned hugely. "But I think I'd just go home. It really was a tough day, even without Jet in the mix."
"Alright." He started to walk around to the driver's side, but Katara stopped him.
"Uh, Zuko? What do I do with the paper bag in the seat?"
"Oh!" Zuko rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I— uh— I picked up some takeout for dinner, and, uh, I thought you could just heat it up so, uh—"
"Zuko, use your words," laughed Katara, and Zuko blushed and sighed.
"I bought you dinner, just in case," he muttered. "I knew you'd be too tired to cook by the time you get home, so…"
"Oh, Zuko, thank you," Katara said, lifting the bag and finally getting into the car. She peeked into the bag and gasped in delight. "Sea prunes! My favorite! How did you know?"
"How could I not know? We've been friends for six years, Katara." Zuko raised an eyebrow at her and bucked himself in. “Doesn’t mean I would eat it, though.”
“Oh, please, you just don’t have a refined palate,” Katara said haughtily, her nose in the air. Zuko scoffed and put the car in reverse.
“I know for sure that you’re the one who doesn’t have a refined palate, Katara,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You can’t even distinguish spices from each other.”
“Fine!” Katara said, throwing her hands up. “At least we can agree that my brownies taste good.”
“Yeah,” Zuko agreed. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
The next time she needed Zuko's services— which apparently included chauffeuring and catering— she was at home, neck-deep in reference books and trying desperately to finish a paper for her bioethics elective.
Her phone lit up with a call from an unknown number, and then a barrage of texts from Jet followed, asking her to meet up with him so they could both find closure.
Closure, my ass.
Just when the text flood was dying down, he suddenly hit her up with, "Are you at home? Can I come over?"
Katara's first instinct was to check the street outside, make sure it was empty, then stuff dozens of books and her laptop into her backpack. She stood in her apartment for a moment, wondering where to go— Sokka and Suki were away for the weekend, Toph wouldn't give any of them her address, Aang would probably invite Jet over so they could hash it out, and it was one in the morning and there were no twenty-four hour cafes near her block.
So she called Zuko.
"Katara?" he said, his voice even huskier than usual. "What time is it?"
"It's one a.m. and I'm sorry, but can I come over?"
"Why?"
"Jet," she answered simply.
Zuko groaned.
"Fine, I'll pick you up," he replied. "But I'm sleeping right after and I don't care what you do."
"It's fine!" Katara said, peering anxiously out the window. "I don't care what you do, either; just pick me up before he gets here!"
Zuko grumbled his assent, and when he pulled up in front of her apartment, Jet still hadn't arrived.
She finished her paper at five in the morning in Zuko's too-clean kitchen. It was only a matter of time before he got up, and she was still wide awake, so she decided to make breakfast for both of them— and made a fresh batch of coffee, since Zuko was famously horrible at making any beverage that didn't involve alcohol.
He ambled out of his room less than an hour later in just his pajama bottoms, ruffling his already rumpled bedhead.
"Good morning!" Katara greeted, proffering a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. He blinked blearily at her.
"I thought you'd be sleeping by now. I told you, the couch is a pullout."
"I just finished my paper," she replied, biting into her toast. "Thought I'd make you some food as thank you."
"Well, thanks, too," he said, digging into his breakfast. "I could give you a ride home, if you want to freshen up before your class."
"Yeah, I'd like that."
“Or you could do that here, if you want,” Zuko said, and Katara looked at him strangely. He furrowed his brows and continued matter-of-factly. “Who knows if he camped out outside of your apartment? This way, you could still catch some sleep before going to class, and you wouldn’t have to see him. And I could drop you off at the uni on my way to visit Azula.”
“But— I don’t have any clothes here,” said Katara, trying to fight the blush rising on her cheeks, but Zuko didn’t seem to notice.
“I have some shirts that could fit you.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Hey, you made me breakfast. It’s the least I could do.” He shrugged as he sipped his coffee. "I'll still be waiting for those brownies, though."
"I know." Katara grinned at him. "This is just an extra perk."
“Did you really sleep over at Sparky’s place?” Toph dropped into her usual seat as Katara waited for her order in the Jasmine Dragon.
“Jet texted me that he wanted to come over at one in the morning, but I was writing a paper and I didn’t feel safe in my own home,” she replied bitterly. A mischievous grin slowly appeared on Toph’s face.
“So Hotpants swooped in like your knight in shining armor?”
“No, I called him because I didn’t have any other choice,” Katara said pointedly. “I could’ve avoided the whole thing if you just told me your address, you know.”
“Uh huh, like that’s ever gonna happen,” Toph said obstinately. “What’s this I hear about you walking around wearing his clothes?”
Katara blushed to the roots of her hair and thanked the spirits that Toph couldn’t see her reaction.
“It was late when I finished my paper, okay?” she said, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. “I wouldn’t have had time to sleep and take a bath if I went back home, so I did it at Zuko’s place.”
“You did it at Sparky’s place?” Toph repeated with a suggestive smirk.
“Toph! It’s not like that!” protested Katara. “Stop twisting my words!”
“Whatever you say, Sweetness,” she put her feet up on the table and Katara scowled at her boots’ dirty soles. “So, do Sparky’s carpet match his drapes?”
Katara covered her face with her hands and Toph cackled.
“Oh, this is priceless,” she said. “I wish Hotpants was here so I could make fun of you both.”
“Well, too bad, he’s visiting Azula today,” countered Katara.
“Oh,” Toph looked truly devastated. “So who’s gonna protect you if Crazy Manwhore shows up?”
“Well, you’re here…” began Katara, but Toph stuck her tongue out at her.
“Barking up the wrong tree, Sugar Queen. I’m just here to make a bet with Gramps.”
“What bet?” Katara asked, but Iroh himself came over bearing her order, a wide smile on his face.
“Katara, Toph! It is wonderful to see you again, my dears,” he greeted, placing a plate of delicately iced cookies beside Toph’s feet. He glanced at Katara and his face broke into a smile identical to Toph's. "Katara, is that my nephew's sleep shirt?"
Katara's eyes bugged out and she looked down at the loose clothing.
"I didn't realize he actually wore shirts— I mean! He didn't tell me it was his sleep shirt!" she exclaimed. "It was the only one he had that actually fit me!"
"Well, it looks marvelous on you, my dear," Iroh assured her, patting her shoulder. He surreptitiously looked at Toph with a sly grin. "As the saying goes, you look like a million dollars."
"I say she looks like ten," piped up Toph, tucking her hands behind her head. "Of course, I wouldn't know how you actually look like, Sweetness, so no offence."
"None taken?" Katara said hesitantly, looking between the old man and the blind girl, but the two of them were already engrossed in talking about Toph’s new gym trainees.
Jet dropping by the hospital had become a regular twice-a-week kind of thing, and so did Zuko’s routine of picking up Katara after work. She always greeted him with a hug (effectively hiding from Jet) and he always gave Jet the death glare over her shoulder.
They alternated between eating at the hospital cafeteria (those were the times that Katara was too famished to even process anything else aside from the smell of food) and buying takeout from whichever fast food place they could agree on (Zuko knew from experience that Katara couldn’t tolerate spice in her food, and Katara knew she couldn’t force Zuko into eating her favorite sea prunes, so they called it quits). Other times, when their schedules would allow it, they would eat in one of the swankier places that the other members of the gang wanted to try, just for the kick of rubbing it in their faces.
After that, Zuko would drive her home, she would hug him goodbye, and he would remind her that she owed him a batch of brownies. She would always say that she’d make them once she had the time, and Zuko would always pretend that she would uphold her promise.
The one time Zuko picked her up when Jet wasn’t there was when the gang decided to throw Toph a birthday party, which was pretty easy for them to plan, because Toph’s parties over the years almost always devolved into two things: alcohol, and whatever alcohol-induced adventure the birthday girl might come up with.
Since they were regulars at Koh’s Lair, the staff already knew what to expect. This year was not any different.
Zuko and Katara arrived to see Sokka standing on the bar, belting out the lyrics to Mr. Brightside. Suki was watching him with an amused look on her face and Aang was pretending to play an instrument along with Sokka’s singing, although it looked like he was playing an air flute. The other patrons— Toph didn’t care who attended her parties, as long as she got tanked— looked everything from mildly horrified to full-on supportive.
“Oh my god,” Katara exclaimed, her voice almost drowned out by Sokka’s cracking voice, “This is almost as bad as her eighteenth birthday.”
“It’s not that bad,” yelled Zuko over the music. “At least there’s no pool that she can dunk us in.”
"Oh, right!" Katara laughed at the memory. "I almost had to give you mouth to mouth!"
Zuko blushed and opened his mouth to reply, but Aang's voice cut him off.
“Hey, you guys!” Aang waved them over to their usual booth. His eyes looked a little too bright and he was flushed. “Toph said the drinks were on her tonight!”
“Aang!” Katara admonished, sliding into the booth. “You drank? I thought you were against it!”
“Toph made some pretty good points,” he said in a tone that told them that he had already forgotten what those points were. He dropped his voice to a comical whisper. “I also ate some roast duck.”
“Okay, we’re cutting you off,” said Zuko, sliding the glass in front of Aang away from him and settling down beside Katara. “Where’s Toph, anyway?”
“She said she was getting her surprise gift,” called Suki over the raucous applause that followed Sokka’s performance. “I don’t even want to know what that means.”
“Alright, the lovebirds are here!” shouted Sokka, jumping down haphazardly from the bar. Katara frowned at him.
“That’s a weird way of referring to you and Suki in third person,” she commented, but Sokka grinned and sat down beside Suki.
“No, no, I’m talking about you two,” he said, pointing between Katara and Zuko. The two of them exchanged confused looks.
“What are you talking about?” asked Katara.
“Oh, just the fact that you slept over at Zuko’s place,” said Sokka, waggling his brows at them.
“How do you know about that?” exclaimed Katara, the same time Zuko said, “It’s not what it looks like!”
“Ooh, is this the part where you say hiding it is half the fun? Hmm?” teased Sokka, making kissing noises at the two of them. Both Katara and Zuko slapped a hand to their foreheads.
“We’re not— We didn’t—”
“How can you say that—”
“Ha! Toph was right!” squawked Sokka, laughing loudly. “Damn, it is fun to see you two squirm.”
“And speaking of squirmy things,” the group swiveled their heads as Toph approached. “I come bearing gifts!”
Katara gasped as a familiar figure entered the bar, and she saw Zuko’s hands tighten into fists under the table.
“Toph!” she hissed angrily, but the other girl was immune to her ire. “What were you thinking?”
“Calm down, Sweetness, I’m just trying to speed things up,” she replied, a maniacal grin on her face.
“Are you so crazy that you want me to murder someone on your birthday?” hissed Katara, casting a wary glance at Jet, who was hanging by the entrance with his hands tucked into his pockets.
“Ha! I doubt you would, Sugar Queen, ‘cause you’re too nice.” Toph held up a hand before Katara could retort. “But it’ll still be fun to hear you tell him to shove off and splash a drink in his face.”
“Toph, I don’t think this was a good idea,” said Zuko, glaring at Jet from the corner of his eye. Toph just snorted and grabbed a beer from the table.
“All my ideas are the best, as you should know by now,” she said, plopping down beside Sokka. She nodded at Katara. “Your move, Miss Fussy.”
Katara crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at her.
“Maybe if you just let go of your anger—” started Aang, but he dropped silent at the look Katara gave him.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” asked Zuko quietly, but Toph scoffed and pointed her beer bottle at Katara.
“You’re making Sparky do your dirty work for you?” she called out. “I thought you were better than that, Sugar Queen.”
“You know what?” cried Katara, standing up and drinking half of Suki’s cocktail. “Fine. I’ll go over there and talk to him. Happy?”
“You might wanna hang on to that,” Suki said, nodding to the drink in her hand. “I’ll get another one.”
Zuko’s hand wrapped around her wrist as she slid out of the booth.
“You sure you want to do this?” he muttered. Katara’s lips twisted into a wry grimace.
“Toph’s right,” she said grimly. “I'll call you for backup if I need it."
Zuko nodded and finally let go of her. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and marched towards Jet.
He pushed off the wall he was leaning against and smiled lopsidedly at her. Katara glared at him and planted one hand on her hip.
"What do you want?"
"Kat, I just wanna talk," he said, his voice pleading, but Katara was having none of it.
"You could've asked to talk in a less stalkery kind of way," she spat out. Jet raised his hands to his shoulders.
"You weren't answering my calls and you wouldn't come meet with me, Kat! What was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know," Katara pretended to think hard. "Maybe you could've stopped harassing me?"
"Please, Kat, that was barely harassment—"
"You don't tell me how I feel, Jet!"
"Okay! Okay," he said, then paused. "But it was your fault, you know."
"What?!" Katara shrieked, almost dropping her drink in her anger. "How the hell is all of this MY fault?!"
"Smellerbee already talked me into backing off, but then you started dating him like you wanted to rub our breakup in my face—"
"Dating who?" Katara yelled, aghast.
"And we just broke up, Kat, how else did you expect me to react—"
"We didn't just break up, Jet, it's been over six months—"
"Hanging on his arm all the time like some whore—"
"Do not call me that—"
"I knew you had a thing for him—"
"Who?"
"Him!" Jet said, pointing to the gang's table. "I've seen the way he looked at you even back when we were together— and the way you talked about him all the time, fuck, it was so annoying, Kat, but I was willing to put that aside—"
"Who the hell are you talking about and what does this have to do with anything?"
"ZUKO!" roared Jet, a manic look in his eyes. "Here I was, thinking we could move forward—"
"I never said I wanted us to move in any direction, Jet—"
"But no, you just had to start slutting it up with Mr. Perfect over there—"
"How. Dare. You," Katara hissed, her whole body shaking with rage. "You were the one who decided to end things when YOU cheated on me! How dare you even suggest—"
There was a sound of a fist hitting flesh and Jet stumbled backwards, clutching his face. Zuko towered over him, breathing heavily.
"Zuko!" cried Katara, whirling on him in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"He was insulting you!" He defended himself angrily. "He just said that— that you're—"
"I know what he said!" Katara yelled, shoving him. "I don't need anyone fighting my battles for me!"
"What was I supposed to do, just stand here while he—"
"This has nothing to do with you!" shouted Katara. Zuko took a step back involuntarily.
"Sorry, I guess I was thrown off by the mention of my name," he said in a low voice. The muscle in his jaw jumped as he said his next words. "And I thought you wanted me to protect you from him."
With that, he stalked out of the bar.
Jet snickered behind Katara.
"Way to give yourself a dose of your own medicine, Kat," he said, his voice muffled as he tried to stymie the blood dripping from his broken nose. "Do they teach you that in med school?"
Katara clenched her jaw, set down her drink, and turned on him, placing her hands on his shoulders. She gave him a deathly sweet smile before speaking.
"Go to hell, Jet," Katara said, before swiftly kneeing him in the crotch.
From their booth, Toph whooped and clapped as Jet writhed in pain.
"Oh, man, that was the best birthday gift ever."
The rest of the gang gaped at her as she guzzled down her beer in the most satisfied fashion.
"He's still not talking to me," complained Katara, stirring the brownie batter a little harder than necessary.
"Not to quote Jet, sis, but…" Sokka began, then quailed at Suki's look. "Hey! All I'm saying is, how many times over the years was Katara mad at Zuko? Isn't it ironic how the tables have turned?"
"I got so used to him not being mad at me," muttered Katara. "Now he is, and I don't know even know why."
Suki and Sokka exchanged glances across her kitchen counter.
"Well…" Sokka started again, his voice trailing at a pitch higher than usual, but Suki cut him off.
"Whatever the reason, I'm sure he won't be mad at you for long," said Suki soothingly, but Katara pouted at her.
"He didn't even want to be my bodyguard in the first place," she said, dropping all pretense of making brownies. "Then when he did exactly what I told him to do, I lashed out at him! He took time out of his schedule to pick me up at the hospital for weeks, he let me crash at his place at the most inconvenient hour— How can he even forgive me after I invalidated all his efforts like that?"
"Your brownies could do the talking for you," said Sokka. He shrugged at Suki's and Katara's incredulous looks. "What? They're really good."
"Well, I hope they're good enough to get him to forgive me," Katara said, petulantly poking at the batter with her spoon. "I really miss him."
"You do?" said Sokka and Suki simultaneously.
"Of course I do," Katara said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "It was surprisingly relaxing to hang out with him after work; it's like I got to know him a little better, you know? He usually doesn't tell us about his day, but when we'd get dinner, he'd tell me all about the cases he was working on, how annoying his co-workers were, how Uncle Iroh was pressuring him to get a girlfriend… and I could tell him all about my classes, how my internship was going, and he'd let me rant and tell me how great it was that I was pursuing my dream— what?"
Suki hurriedly covered her smirk with her hand, but it was Sokka who pounced.
"You love him!" he teased, a goofy grin on his face. He flailed his arms and raised his voice in a poor imitation of his sister. "Ooh, I'm Katara, I love spending time with broody-broody Zuko, we're gonna get married and we'll drive off to the sunset and I'll bake him brownies forever and ever!"
"It's not funny, Sokka!" Katara reprimanded, even though she was resisting the mad urge to laugh giddily. "I'm sure he just sees me as a friend, and— and he's still mad at me!"
"Well, you better start baking those brownies soon, 'cause I didn't hear you deny that you like him," Suki pointed out, laughing openly now. She pitched her voice higher. "Ooh, I'm Katara, I've fallen for one of my best friends but I only realized it when he got mad at me!"
"Not you, too, Suki!"
Zuko sat in the back room of the Jasmine Dragon, drinking the now-lukewarm tea that his uncle had prepared for him.
He still didn't know why Katara's words affected him the way they did— in a way, she was right, her relationship with Jet had nothing to do with him— but it still stung, being shoved away as though the past weeks didn't mean anything to her.
And Zuko was just now realizing that their time together meant a lot to him, more than he cared to admit, because now that he wasn't picking up Katara at work, there seemed like a hole in his day that can't be filled by anyone else, not by hanging out with Toph or Aang, not by having tea with his uncle, not even by staying late at the office.
And with the way Katara acted, Zuko was sure she didn't even feel like something was missing.
"Zuko?" his uncle called from the kitchen. "Someone's looking for you."
"I won't see anyone, Uncle," he snapped, sipping his tea.
"Would you prefer if I let them in here?" Iroh asked, knowing how much Zuko hated it when people barged in on his space. Zuko glowered at him and made his way to the shop, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Jet standing by the counter, flanked by his friends.
"What do you want?" Zuko said in a lethal tone, feeling savage pleasure at seeing Jet's bruised face. Jet pressed his lips to a thin line before speaking.
"I just wanted to apologize, to you and to Katara," he said seriously. "But since I promised these guys that I won't force her to talk to me anymore, I was hoping you could pass along the message."
Zuko crossed his arms over his chest.
"What's the message?" he asked, because his pride wouldn't let him admit that he and Katara weren't speaking at the moment.
"I overstepped my boundaries," Jet said, then paused. The petite girl beside him nudged him with her elbow, and he sighed. "I shouldn't have said the things I said, I shouldn't have treated her the way I did, and I should have backed off when I saw how happy she was with you. There."
Zuko stood before him for a while, scowling darkly as he assessed his sincerity. Finally, he spoke.
"Fine, I'll let her know," he said, because he knew Katara deserved to know about the apology, but he still felt the need to explain. "But you have to get over your jealousy issues. Get it through your thick head: She and I are not together."
Jet snorted at that, then winced and touched his nose tenderly.
"Well, that is the biggest lie I've ever heard, and I've heard plenty," he said, turning away. "If you two aren't together, then you're both stupider than I thought you were."
"There's a young man looking for you," said Dr. Yugoda, and Katara looked up from her clipboard in irritation— was Jet stalking her again?
She stomped out of the ward, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but then she came to a halt when she saw Zuko instead.
She started to rush forward— her first instinct was to hug him, but then he looked so serious that she stopped at arm's length. Zuko cleared his throat awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.
"I… don't really know why I'm here," he said, looking at anywhere else but her.
She wrung her hands together and bit her lip. A loaded silence descended upon them, and Katara desperately cast her eyes around for a topic.
"I made you brownies!" she finally blurted out. "And I have your shirt— I was going to bring them over to your place after my shift—"
"Oh, that's— yeah, thanks," Zuko said, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"And I'm so sorry for the way I acted—"
"It's fine, I understand, I shouldn't have stepped in—"
"It's not fine, you did so much for me over the past weeks—"
"It's alright, I wanted to do it—"
"And Jet was way over the line, blaming you for how he acted—"
"I know, he told me—"
"He told you?" Katara repeated. "When?"
Zuko rubbed the back of his neck again.
"He dropped by Uncle's tea shop yesterday," he explained. "He told me to tell you that he was sorry for the way he treated you, and that he won't bother you anymore."
"Oh," Katara said blankly. "That's good, then."
"Yeah."
"Well," said Katara, her heart hammering in her chest, "I guess I won't need you as a bodyguard anymore."
"I only did it for the brownies," replied Zuko, his mouth twisting into a wry smile.
"Yeah, I know." Katara tugged at her hair nervously. "Um. Did… did Jet tell you why…?"
"Oh," Zuko opened his mouth and closed it, his cheeks reddening. "Uh, he said— he said that, um—"
"Zuko, use your words," Katara laughed, and Zuko blushed even harder.
"He said he should've backed off when he saw how happy you were with me," he said in a rush. Katara's eyes widened, and Zuko tried to backpedal. "I told him we weren't together! I said he should get over his jealousy issues, but he called us both stupid because we weren't together, and I don't know what gave him that idea because we didn't really act that differently whenever I picked you up here—"
"Do you want to get dinner?" Katara interjected suddenly, and Zuko stopped his rambling and blinked at her.
"What?"
"I missed having dinner with you," Katara clarified, and Zuko's face broke into a disbelieving smile.
"You did?"
Katara nodded earnestly, and Zuko's smile widened.
"I missed having you around, too," he said, before sputtering. "I mean—"
Katara cut him off with a hug.
"I know what you mean," she said, holding him tighter. She smiled against his shirt when she felt his arms wrap around her waist. "I missed having you around, too."
"So, dinner after your shift?" Zuko asked, still not letting her go.
"Yeah," she pulled back just enough to look up at him and smile. "We can have brownies for dessert."
Zuko smiled warmly at her.
"Please don't think I'm taking you out to dinner just for the brownies."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"So, who won?" Aang asked, sipping Iroh's boba tea experiment. He raised his brows in surprise. "Hey, this is not bad, Uncle."
"That's kind of you to say, Aang," said Iroh. "And as for the winner…"
"This is where it gets exciting!" Toph exclaimed. "Sparky showed up at the hospital first—"
"Wait, this bet was about us?" Katara cried out from the couch she was sharing with Zuko. Zuko simply scrubbed a hand over his face.
"This explains why Uncle kept telling me to get a girlfriend," he muttered tiredly.
"Katara asked Zuko out first, so there!" continued Sokka triumphantly.
"Wait, who did you bet on?" asked Zuko.
"Uncle and Aang were in your corner, and me, Sokka, and Toph bet on Katara," Suki explained.
"You were in on this, too?" Katara asked. "Who even started this stupid bet?"
All eyes turned on Toph and Katara gaped at them all in disbelief.
"You are such bad influence on all our friends," she reprimanded her, but Toph just tucked her hands behind her head.
"Hey, it worked out, didn't it?" she said airily. "You got Jet off your back, and I won twenty bucks."
"Dammit. And all I got were brownies," muttered Zuko dryly. Katara shoved him playfully.
"You got brownies and me, jerk."
"Yeah, kudos on all that, but while we're on the subject of brownies…" Sokka began, but Suki slapped a hand to her forehead.
"Just let the damn brownies go, Sokka."