highschool [ zukaang ]

2 ; hello

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CHAPTER 2
HELLO

The Jasmine Dragon is a small, unassuming tea shop just a mile from school. Aang spends Thursday evenings there every other week, and on the other weeks he spends Wednesday evenings there.

It's small, warmly lit and welcoming. There's a plethora of candles and incense and sage burning, leaving ashes on all of the counter spaces.

The owner, who Aang had seen several times, is a short and plump old man with a gorgeous smile and kind words. Aang is sure he has a name, but everyone calls him Uncle. He suspects you need to perform some monumental show of trust and honesty to be able to call him by name, but he'd never bothered to find out. He wears Earth kingdom robes and sandals, and wouldn't be caught dead without a cup of Jasmine tea in his hands. He knows Aang's order, has it ready before he comes in most days, and always saves him the back corner booth— it's his favorite.

Aang knows the tea shop opened several years ago. It's a little mysterious, especially after Uncle had been accused of being a fire bender, which... turned out true... Despite his choice of garments and firm denial. To say he lost considerable business would be an understatement.

Aang didn't mind, though. You have to warm tea pots somehow.

Katara and Sokka are already sitting in his booth when he arrives. He can hear her complaining about the upcoming annual bender's exam. Sokka looks uninspired and bored.

"Aang! Thank god you're here," Kat pats the seat next to her. "Sokka doesn't understand how stressful this stupid exam is."

"I don't really think I'll be much of a help," Aang apologizes as he sits. "No one really has anything to base my forms on."

Katara lets out a frustrated groan. "I just can't believe it's in two days. Gosh, it felt like we started senior year yesterday."

"Unbelievable? Yeah, I'll tell you what I can't believe— there's no showcase for people who don't mess around with stupid magic!" Sokka sits up. "What about a warrior showcase!? Suki can have a— a, a fan show case?"

"Okay, Sokka," His sister mumbles. "The point is to see if the school's curriculum is working... Not to see you swing a sword around like an idiot."

Aang stifles a laugh as Suki finds her way to the table, linking arms with Toph.

The conversation devolves until the stars reach the highest peak in the sky, and Aang excuses himself in favor of the solitude that awaits him at home.

His parents... It was a long story. He obviously needed a guardian of some sort after emerging from a block of ice... So, into the foster care system he went, marked off as an old relic of time, certainly not the avatar. Preposterous, surely...

His adopting parents soon found out otherwise.

Despite his feather-light foot steps inside, a bombardment of fur and slobber meet him anyways as his dog jumps him the moment the door closes.

"Appa! Down!" Aang giggles as he struggles against his large dog and ruffles his shaggy coat.

Appa leads the way, through the imposing empty corridors and unsettlingly clean surfaces— all the way to his room— a messy safe haven for a teenager trapped in a house alone.

✿✿✿

School the next day was the same as every day. Aang remained nonplussed by the sheer amount of crumpled paper, food wrappers and strange stench protruding from Sokka's locker as he rummages through his.