Four Elements High school

Chapter 23: Aftermath

Four Elements High School didn't have a great track. It was really just a wide sidewalk that looped around the soccer field, but it was all Suki had to practice. She was jogging for a few minutes when she heard a bright, bubbly voice.

"Hi!" It was Ty Lee. Suki looked around to make sure that no one else was around, before realizing that Ty Lee was talking to her.

"Hey, Ty Lee," she said confusedly, "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you," she set her bag down and started stretching. Suki had forgotten that she was also doing track, "So what events are you doing?" Ty Lee asked cheerfully. Suki wished she could just practice in silence, but Ty Lee was just too much of a cinnamon roll to ignore. 

"Hundred meter dash," she smiled, "and the co-ed relay with Sokka."  

"You really like him, don't you?" Ty Lee said with shining eyes.

"Yeah," Suki said, the rosy beginnings of a blush creeping onto her face, "I do. So what events are you doing?" 

"Hurdles," Ty Lee said.

"That's cool-"

"And pole vaulting."

"What!?" It definitely sounded like something Ty Lee would do. "I didn't know that was an option."

"It wasn't, but I just wanted to do it for fun, since I've been practicing, and coach Piandao said I could." She shrugged.

"Is anyone else doing it?" Suki asked, flabbergasted. 

"No."

"Oh." There was an awkward silence.

"Do you think that maybe I could sit with you guys today?" Ty Lee asked quietly.

"Sure," Suki said, not just out of politeness, but because there was something... endearing about Ty Lee's personality, "But what about Azula." 

"I think," her voice broke, "I think Mai was right about her. She is manipulative, but I've been denying it." 

"I think Azula needs to see that too," Suki said gently. 

                                                               ~~~

Aang and Katara walked up to the front office of Four Elements High School. June sat at the desk, painting her nails and sighing dramatically. Mai would like her.

"We'd like to speak with principal Zhao," Aang said nervously. 

"Sure," June said nonchalantly, "he's free right now. You can go right in." They glanced at each other before heading into his office. Out of all of the talented educators at Four Elements, Zhao was probably the least qualified for his job. He was only in his position because Zuko and Azula's father was a wealthy benefactor of the school, and had pulled some strings for him.  

"How can I help- Oh, you two," he didn't even try to hide his disappointment, "Do you need something?"

"Well, actually," Katara took out a check. They had decided that it wouldn't be wise to pay with cash, "We came to pay the fee, for using the school as a venue." 

"Oh." Zhao took the check and sighed, as if this was too much work for him, "What day is the event scheduled?"

"April seventh. We'll be covering all the expenses."

"Great." Zhao barely even tried to conceal his sarcasm. As Aang and Katara headed across the courtyard, they saw a dart of pink, before Ty Lee cartwheeled in front of them. 

"Aang and Katara, right?" she said, smiling, "I made these posters for you to put up." She held up a large sheet of paper with an elegantly drawn picture of the school campus, with little floating lights and a couple dancing, as well as the words "A Mid-Spring Night's Dream" written in curly cue letters. 

"Whoa," Aang said, "I didn't know you were an artist."

"Well, it's more of a side hobby, but thanks," Ty Lee said, "can I sit with you guys at lunch?"

"Sure," Aang and Katara said in unison.

"Great," Ty Lee said before cartwheeling away.

                                                                               ~~~

Zuko almost went the whole day without seeing Azula, but she finally confronted him after chemistry. He separated from Sokka and Suki and was heading down the hall towards the music room, when Azula stepped out in front of him.

"I want to talk to you," she said. She didn't look like her normal self. For one, she wasn't wearing red, her usual color. She was wearing a flowery yellow blouse and jean shorts. She also wasn't smirking, and there wasn't that malicious glint in her golden eyes. She just looked angry, sad and confused. Zuko silently followed her to a bench in the hall, and they sat down. 

"I know it was you," was the first thing she said, "who snuck into Dad's house. What were you looking for?" She seemed civil enough, so Zuko hesitantly replied,

"I was just helping out my friends, and getting some money for them." 

"Friends," she said the word like it was poison, "What's even the point?" 

It was weird, talking to his sister like she was a real person, "Is this about Mai?" he paused, "And Ty Lee?" he had seen her walking with Aang and Katara earlier. 

"You're funny, Zuko," Azula said without a trace of humor in her voice, "No, this is about you, and how you seem to have your heart set on taking everything away from me."

"What? What do you mean? I haven't even done anything," Zuko looked at her confusedly.

"Well, why else would Ty Lee be ignoring me? She leaves before my party last weekend, and now she's hanging out with the avatar and his girlfriend, and she was running around the track with that Suki girl this morning. You've been manipulating her, and telling her I'm a horrible person and-"

Zuko wanted to be calm, but something about Azula just made him explode, "Oh, so It's all my fault, isn't it, because you think that you can do no wrong! You're the prodigy, the golden child," he mocked, "You can't even acknowledge when you screw up!" 

"You're wrong!" Azula said frantically, "I'm not the favored child when we don't even have any parents to take care of us. Mom left, Dad's too concerned with the business to care, and you've just taken away my only friends. It is so, lonely at home without anyone to talk to, and you say you're the unlucky one, when you've got uncle and the Jasmine Dragon. You have the avatar's friends and now you have my friends!"  Zuko's anger subsided as he looked at his sister. She was on the edge of tears and her perfect hair was starting to come out of its updo. 

"Azula, I'm not going to pretend that I don't have issues," he said quietly, "but you have your own stuff you need to work out, and you need to figure things out with yourself before you talk to Mai and Ty Lee." Zuko took his binder and walked away. 

"Zuko, you were still trespassing on private private property!" she called back to him, "Once Dad comes back I'm telling him what happened and we're- we're going to press charges!"

Just ignore her, Zuko thought to himself, but he looked back at her and saw his little sister.

"You can always stay with me and uncle, if you want," he said, before walking away. 

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