highschool [ zukaang ]

28 ; three times the charm

uh oh

btw! ive planned out 30 chapters in total. next chapter will be second to last!

tw - attempted suicide (not descriptive

♡

Aang didn't trust Maia. There was something about her that radiated bad energy, but Aang couldn't put his finger on it.

So he went to see Iroh. Aang wasn't his nephew or anything, but he seemed to always have the perfect advice. Iroh had been awake for a week and a few days, and had begun walking again. He was going to be discharged later that month, once he was cleared. Unsurprisingly, Iroh had a lot of other health conditions he never bothered to get checked.

Aang knocked on the door to his room, and heard a muffled 'come in'. The room was bright with sunlight, everything looked the same as the day Iroh got to the hospital.

"Aang," He smiled, blinking slow. "What brings you here on such a fine evening?"

"I needed some advice," Aang fiddled with his jacket strings and sat down next to Iroh's bed.

Iroh waited for him to speak, and Aang briefly wondeted if this was stupid to ask. He shook his head, and continued. "Well, there's this girl. She's really nice and everything, but I can.... sense something is wrong there. On the inside. She's been hanging around Zuko, and he stopped sitting with us at lunch."

"Hm," Iroh thought for a moment.

"Her name is Maia," Aang added. "I don't know her last name, though. Or if she's a bender."

"Maia?" He asked, and gripped the bed railing. "Describr her to me."

"Uhhhh, brown hair, short, tan," Aang remembered her face. "Why?"

"You may find this confusing," Iroh placed a hand over his chest as the heart monitor sped up. "Keep that girl away from Zuko."

Aang's heart did it's own quickening. "Why?"

"You cannot tell me nephew," Iroh stared at the  ceiling.

Aang nodded, and didn't interrupt through the whole story. He knew a small portion of it from a week ago, when Zuko had visited Iroh. But he only knew about the memory loss. What had happened in that half-year was an entirely different case.

"I'm so sorry," Aang said at last.

"Do not apologize for something you couldn't have prevented," Iroh said. "All I ask of you is to keep that girl away from my nephew."

"Of course," Aang said, determined. He gently placed his hand on top of Iroh's. "I won't let you down."

♡

Aang could see the back of Maia's head, moving side to side as she talked excitedly with Zuko. Aang didn't exactly know what he would say, but he was going to say something.

He tapped her shoulder, bearing a bright, fake smile. Maia looked over her shoulder and smirked.

"Sorry, I was in the middle of a conversation," She said sweetly. "Give us a minute, would you?"

"Uh," Aang swallowed his embarrassment, remembering who this was for. "Actually, it's very important."

Maia rolled her eyes and turned back around. Zuko felt himself pause, it was weird she had done that. Everyone loved Aang.

"Okay, what is it?" She crossed her arms.

"Privately," Aang glanced at Zuko.

"I've got class, anyways," Zuko said. "See you later, Aang."