Gradual Changes

Self Confrontation

Zuko and Katara did their best that morning to not irritate Toph, but she just sat there in her usual seat at breakfast muttering curses under her breath. Surely it could not be the snow, it was well on its way to melting, and there had not been any fresh snowfalls for the past few days. It could not have been Aang either, he was always a little late to breakfast. That and she would be speaking much louder than this if it was him. Finally, Zuko could no longer take it.

"What's the matter with you today?" he asked.

"It's Thursday," she answered in an angry huff.

"What's wrong with Thursday?" Katara asked.

"Nothing!" Toph nearly shouted. "But c'mon! It's Thursday! Why would they drag us back from vacation just to stick us in school for two stupid days? Couldn't they just wait until Monday?"

Katara started to laugh. Of course it would be something like that. Through the phone, Toph had been telling Katara how well she and her parents had been getting along lately. It seemed like she wanted to spend more time at home now, rather than put all of her energy into getting away from it.

"You're lucky," Zuko said. "If I know my new teachers like I think I do, I'll probably have a paper due by Monday. You're a first year, so you'll probably get a 'get to know the students day' today."

"Do I look like I wanna be social?" Toph remarked causing Katara to laugh again.

Mercifully, Aang's vibrations crossed through the doorway of the cafeteria and reached Toph's feet. Her mood did not improve, but stupid things like "back to school Thursdays" were always a little less annoying with him around. At least they usually were. Today, Aang did not come straight to the group's table, but instead stopped at another one.

"What's he doing?" Toph wondered out loud.

Katara and Zuko looked up from their breakfast and noticed their friend for the first time. Katara nearly choked on her breakfast roll when she saw him, and Zuko's drink was pouring unceremoniously onto his tray and the rest of his breakfast as well.

"What's wrong with you two?"

"Oh, nothing," Katara said with a giggle hidden in her voice. "Aang's just talking to some friends."

"What friends?" Toph asked.

"You don't really think we're the only friends he's got, do you?" Zuko asked. "He's a track star."

"Fans are not friends," Toph said bluntly. "You should know that better than anyone."

"He's also really outgoing and friendly," Katara added. "Not to mention kind of funny. Aang is probably the single most popular first year in the school. A lot of the upperclassmen like him too."

Toph thought about this for a moment. She could not deny that Aang had always had a type of charm and charisma about him, but she also knew that he could very quickly go from fun to annoying. Regardless, Zuko had been right. It was absurd to have thought that Aang would not have made any friends at all in half a year at the school, no matter how annoying he could be.

"Sorry, guys," Aang said as he plopped next to Toph with a grin. "How were your vacations?"

Before anyone could give an answer, a young man walked past the table.

"Nice cut, Aang."

"Thanks!"

Toph shrugged it off. He was obviously talking about the burn on Aang's head and just mistook it for a cut because of the bandage. She attempted to tell Aang about the last few days with her parents, but once again she was cut off by another student she did not recognize. This one was a girl.