I'm In Love With A Monster

Because I'm Here

Zuko managed to find his English class on his own and felt he was growing more familiar with the geography at the school, despite it still feeling alien in so many other ways.

He was able to make it there on time and took a seat in the back. Shortly after he sat down, he spotted Ty Lee entering the room. She was holding hands with another girl with short brown hair. She whispered something to her before kissing her.

When Zuko had first met Ty Lee, he had thought she was flirting with him. Apparently, he was wrong. Very wrong.

It wasn't long before she spotted him and waved.

"Oh, hi Zuko!" she said in her usual upbeat tone.

Zuko nodded casually.

"Hey," he replied.

"This is my girlfriend, Suki," Ty Lee introduced.

Suki looked at him with inviting eyes, full pink lips curved upward into a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you," she said.

It turned out that Ty Lee wasn't actually in that class, but simply walking Suki to class that. She said her goodbye with a kiss on the cheek and Suki took a seat next to Zuko.

Class started shortly after, which Zuko was grateful for. It's not that he was particularly eager for English class, but it took the pressure off to attempt to make small talk with a stranger which he hated.

The teacher, Macmu-Ling, was a stern looking woman with light brown skin, dark hair, and sharp features.

She began class by going over the syllabus, explaining a list of rules including tardiness counting against one's semester average and late work not being accepted under any circumstances. She was undoubtedly a hard-ass.

She then segued into talking about redemption, a major theme in the first book on the syllabus, The Children of Hope by Sterling Hoffman.

"Redemption. What is redemption?" she asked the class.

Silence befell the class, as everyone seemed afraid that it was some kind of trick question. This only served to frustrate her.

"If no one volunteers, I'm going to have to just call on someone randomly," she threatened.

No one budged. She called on Zuko.

Fantastic.

Zuko shrugged.

"I don't know. I️ guess it's like regaining honor," he suggested nervously as eyes looked at him.

She nodded as she considered his response.

"And how exactly would you define honor?" she prompted.

Honor.

He froze.

Honor.

It was a word that he could hear so clearly in his father's voice. To Zuko, honor meant hiding. It meant trying desperately to be something he wasn't. It was something he lost before he even died. It was something that maybe he never even had.

Suddenly, he felt hot in a way he hadn't since he was still human. He could see fire.

His father's voice was there again.

"Suffering will be your teacher-"

Zuko couldn't breathe. His face was on fire again. He needed it to stop.

So he ran. He was gone in a flash, not even necessarily continuously using his vampire speed but his fight or flight response making him use it anyway.