Chapter Text
"So tell me why we're hosting this party, again?"
Azula rolled her pale eyes, turning away from Zuko and back to the mirror to finish putting on her eyeliner. "Do we need a reason? It'll be fun, and Father's not in town to tell us we can't. Besides, it'll show the rest of Ty Lee's friends that I -- I mean, that we -- aren't are uptight as everybody thinks we are."
Zuko wanted to be annoyed at his sister, but he couldn't find it in him once he heard the defiance in her voice. It was obvious that Azula hadn't adjusted as well to their new public school as Zuko had. The move out of their old private school had come after a particularly nasty press release had accused their father, Senator Ozai, of not really backing a public education bill he'd been trying to pass, calling him elitist and two-faced (he was elitist and two-faced, as far as Zuko was concerned, but that was besides the point). Zuko actually thought Azula would fit in better at this new school than he did, but so far, that really didn't seem to be the case. Sure, she'd made friends with the captain of the cheer squad and one of the smartest girls in the whole school, but Zuko heard the things that were whispered about her in the hallways. Everybody seemed to alternately make fun of her and be utterly freaked out by her. She tried so hard to be cool, but it always came off a little bit wrong. A little bit fake. Zuko preferred to just keep his head down and stay out of everybody's way, so he fared a lot better. Still, he understood Azula's desire for popularity, and though she would never accept it, part of him wanted to help in some way.
If that meant going along with this random-ass party, then so be it.
Azula turned away from the mirror and back toward Zuko, looking him up and down. "Is that what you're going to wear?" She asked, tilting her head to one side and raising an eyebrow.
Zuko grit his teeth and looked down at his outfit -- black jeans and a button-down shirt that the tag at the store had told him was red, not that he could see it. "What's wrong with it?" He asked.
"It's too formal," Azula said immediately. "We're just a bunch of teenagers hanging out. It's not like it's a proper dinner party for Father or anything. A t-shirt or something would look better than the shirt you've got on now."
Now it was Zuko's turn to roll his eyes. "If I thought this was a legit dinner party, I'd be in a suit. I'm not changing," he scoffed. When he leaned further into the bathroom to look in the mirror, though, it occurred to him that he did look a little stiff. Frowning, he unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and rolled up the sleeves. "Here, is this any better?" He asked.
But before Azula could answer, the doorbell rang. "Ah! That's probably Mai and Ty Lee. Come on!" Azula hurried out of the bathroom and down the stairs, leaving Zuko alone. With a sigh, he took one last look at his reflection, adjusted his glasses, and followed her.
Zuko actually really liked Azula's friends, especially Mai. She was tall and serious-looking, with a low voice and very shiny hair. She wasn't very talkative, but she was in most of Zuko's classes, so he knew exactly how smart she was, always highest scorer on tests and the first person to finish the books they had to read for English. Apparently, she'd entered some big poetry competition last year and won. Out of curiosity, Zuko had gone looking for the poem she entered and actually managed to find it. It was definitely a good poem, all about how bored Mai was with life in their little town and her longing to escape the watchful eye of her parents. Zuko could sympathize.
Ty Lee was Mai's polar opposite. She was the quintessential cheer captain -- energetic, bubbly, athletic. By the time Zuko got downstairs, she was already talking Azula's ear off about some drama that had happened at practice the day before, her thick braid swaying left and right as she gestured emphatically about a point she was making in her story. Zuko normally couldn't stand people that hyper, but he didn't mind Ty Lee. There was something so genuinely nice about her. It was obvious that she genuinely cared about everybody, even people like Azula, who could be so off-putting.
"...but I still just can't believe that she would -- oh! Hi, Zuko!" Ty Lee cut herself off mid-rant to greet Zuko as he approached the girls, who were all hanging around by the door. He returned her grin and wave with a nod and a small smile. "I was just talking about the craziest thing that happened yesterday. So basically--"
Mai cleared her throat. "Maybe we should start setting things up for the party," She suggested, with a meaningful glance at Ty Lee.
"Right. Sorry," Ty Lee giggled. Zuko was surprised to see Azula smile a little at her as she stepped back to let her friends further into the house.
"So we're going to be setting up mostly in the living room, but there are some snacks and things in the kitchen that we need to get ready, too," Azula explained. The smile on her face grew wider, a little mischievous. "Tonight is going to be fun."
~~~~~
"I still don't see why I'm even coming to this, I'm just gonna drop you guys off and go."
"You're coming to this, Sokka, because I refuse to let you mope around the house alone when you could be out actually having fun!" Katara's answer was snappier than it needed to be, Sokka thought. Besides, he could think of a lot of things that were more fun than going to a stranger's party with his little sister and her friends.
But he knew Katara was just trying to be nice. After all, Sokka had been pretty miserable lately. His best friend, Yue, had had to move suddenly a few weeks ago. Something about her dad's job. She was over 2,000 miles away now, and even though they texted and Facetimed constantly, it just wasn't the same. Sokka missed her terribly. He had other friends, of course, but Yue was really something special. He knew they weren't soulmates, but he might even have loved her.
"So, wait, who's hosting it, again?" Aang asked from the backseat of Sokka's ancient SUV. Speaking of soulmates. Katara and Aang had found each other during the second week of the latter's freshman year, and they'd been inseparable ever since. Sokka liked to tease his sister about the fact that she was destined to end up with the dorky little underclassman, but he couldn't help but feel jealous. Not many were lucky enough to find their soulmate so quickly. Besides, Sokka was an artist at heart. He wanted to be able to see in color. He remembered that for Aang and Katara's first date, he'd taken them to an art museum. On the drive home, Katara hadn't been able to stop crying about this one painting she'd seen of a sunset.
The sunset was visible now as Katara answered Aang's question, a slow gradient of charcoal to silver as the sun drew close to the horizon. "One of Ty Lee's friends, that new girl Azula." Sokka was surprised to hear distaste in his younger sister's voice. Katara liked everyone.
Aang's friend Toph picked up on it too, leaning toward the front seat and poking Katara in the arm. "So the rumors about her are true, then? I've heard she was totally crazy." There was glee in Toph's voice as she spoke, which didn't surprise Sokka half as much as Katara's reaction. Toph was always looking for a fight somewhere.
"I mean, maybe crazy's the wrong word, but she's definitely...well, I don't even know. Something about her freaks me out," Katara said. "Like, the way she talks, I get the sense that she was never around other people until she came to this school. Like she was some kind of shut-in. And she gets angry really easily. I saw her snap a pen in half once because our math teacher told her her answer to a question was wrong. A pen! She got ink all over the place and the teacher made her leave. It was really weird."
"Sounds crazy to me," Toph snorted.
"Yeah, seriously, I'm just gonna drop you guys off," Sokka started, but Katara shook her head.
"No way! Come on, I was just being dramatic about Azula. I'm sure she's not all that bad if you actually get to know her. It's not like she'd start a fight at a party she's throwing. Besides, pretty much all the cheerleaders are coming because of Ty Lee, so Suki'll be there."
Sokka sighed. "Yeah, I know. She texted me about it yesterday. Okay, I'll stay." It would be good to see Suki. She and Yue and always been close, so Sokka knew her pretty well, but since she was a sophomore and he was a junior, they didn't get the chance to talk in school that much.
Katara smiled triumphantly. "Good."
They pulled up to the house a few minutes later. "This place is huge!" Aang yelled, which made Katara giggle and Toph roll her eyes.
"Honestly, did you forget Azula's dad is a senator? Why are you surprised she's rich?" Toph asked dryly. "Besides, it looks just like every other house to me." Toph chuckled at her own blindness joke and took off her seatbelt, opening the door as soon as Sokka was parked. "Alright! Which way to this party?"
Sokka sighed to himself as he got out of the car. No matter what happened, at least tonight wouldn't be boring.
~~~~~
Zuko stared at the can of beer in his hand, feeling stupid. All around him, the party was in full swing. Music that he didn't like was pouring from a speaker Mai had brought, the bass pounding in a way that made Zuko's head hurt. A very odd mix of kids filled the room before him; Ty Lee's cheer squad and Mai's friends from various artsy clubs each occupied different corners of the room, and a few random seniors that Zuko was semi-friendly with lingered in the spaces between. Azula was keeping herself close to Ty Lee and looking very on edge. Zuko himself was leaning against the wall by the stairs, a little ways away from Mai. He felt like he probably looked weird just standing there alone, but he wanted to keep an eye on his sister. Besides, he didn't mind people-watching. He barely knew anybody anyway, so it would probably be weirder if he tried to start up a conversation with anybody.
The door opened and four more kids walked inside. Three of them were strangers: a pretty, long-haired girl in light-colored dress and a choker, a boy with a buzzcut and a rather goofy smile on his face, and a tiny, scowling girl who was holding onto the other girl's arm. The fourth, a taller boy with a ponytail, looked vaguely familiar. It took Zuko a moment to figure out where he knew him from. He was often in the bleachers when Azula dragged Zuko to Ty Lee's practices, cheering for a girl Zuko knew named Suki. For the life of him, though, Zuko could not remember the guy's name.
He edged closer to Mai, keeping his eyes on the newcomers. "Any idea who they are? That one guy looks familiar," he asked.
Mai narrowed her eyes a little as she looked at the four of them. "The taller guy? His name's Sokka. He was in my poetry club for a little bit. I think that's his sister Katara next to him, and the other guy must be Aang. They're those two kids who found out they were soulmates at the beginning of the year, remember?"
Zuko did remember. The whole school had been buzzing. It was always pretty exciting when something like that happened nearby.
"And then that real little one is Toph. I heard somebody say that she's blind, but I'm not sure if it's true," Mai continued. "Why'd you ask me, anyway?"
"I told you, the one guy looked familiar. I just thought it might be awkward to introduce myself to them now," Zuko answered. Mai rolled her eyes.
"You're one of the hosts, it's your job to introduce yourself to people. Go talk to them, weirdo, Azula's busy." There was no real scorn in Mai's voice as she said it, but Zuko was still embarrassed. He wanted to say more to her, but she'd already turned away. Swallowing a sigh, he started toward the newcomers.
"Uh, hey, guys," He greeted as he approached, still feeling like an idiot. He was still holding his unopened can of beer. That only made him feel dumber, so he set it down on a nearby end table. All of them except Toph turned to look at him. "So...welcome to the party. We have beer and stuff, some of the girls on the cheer squad brought it. And snacks. That's all in the kitchen, and I think we have pizza on the way, too. So, um, help yourself?"
Sokka smiled faintly, which made Zuko's face grow warm. Oh, god. This kid definitely thought he was an idiot. But when he opened his mouth to speak, instead of making fun of him, all he said was, "Thanks. You're Zuko, right?"
"Yeah. Your name's Sokka, isn't it? I've seen you--" Suddenly it felt weird to say he'd seen Sokka at cheer practice. "I've seen you around, I think," he quickly corrected. Toph raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Katara and Aang exchanged a look. Sokka didn't seem bothered by Zuko's floundering, though.
"Yep, that's me," he chuckled. "Nice to officially meet you. Do you know my sister and her friends?" He asked.
"Not well. It's nice to meet you all, too--"
"Yeah, yeah, we're all friends now, where did you say the snacks were?" Toph piped up. Zuko couldn't help but laugh. Something about the girl's bluntness made him think that she and Azula would get along.
"They're back in the kitchen, I can show you if you want," he offered.
"That's okay. Thanks, though," Katara spoke before Toph could, walking further into the house with the other girl. Aang quickly followed them, leaving Sokka and Zuko alone for the briefest of moments. Then, Sokka gave Zuko another small smile and went after his friends.
Zuko stared after him until the next group of arriving partgoers pushed him out of the way.
~~~~~
Zuko's kitchen was large, and better-lit than the living room. Sokka found himself squinting a little at the sudden brightness as he found his friends by the kitchen island. Toph was perched on the counter, munching on a handful of Doritos. Aang was rooting through a cooler, and Katara was on a stool beside him. None of them seemed to notice when Sokka joined them.
"Ugh. When Zuko said they had beer here, I didn't think he meant they only had beer," Aang groaned, finally standing up and shutting the cooler. "All I want's a Sprite."
Sokka looked down. At his feet was another cooler labeled "soda". He leaned down and opened it, and it didn't take him long to spot a can of Sprite. He silently slid it across the counter to Aang, who immediately brightened. "You're a wizard, Sokka," he declared as he popped the can open.
"Speaking of Zuko, though, what's his deal?" Toph suddenly asked. "I thought this was Azula's party. That whole 'welcome to the party' thing he did was kind of weird."
Katara shrugged. "Well, I know Azula's got a brother who's a senior. I guess maybe that's him. They certainly look alike."
"Really? I don't see it," Sokka said. He'd seen Azula around enough to remember her face pretty well. Her hair was straighter than Zuko's, and her face was rounder. Plus, she just looked...meaner. Something about the way she carried herself made it easy to believe she was a politician's daughter. Zuko just seemed shy and kind of dorky. Cute, in a way. Maybe it was the glasses.
"I mean, thinking back, the way he talked made it seem like this was his house, so I could believe it," Toph conceded.
"Who we talking about?" A new voice from the doorway asked. Sokka turned and smiled at the newcomer, a lighter-haired girl wearing dark lipstick. She walked further into the kitchen, smiling back at Sokka and leaning against the counter beside him.
"Hey, Suki," he greeted. They'd seen each other already, but one of her cheerleader friends had pulled her away right as Sokka got to the party, so they hadn't actually talked. "We were just talking about Zuko. He is Azula's brother, isn't he?"
Suki nodded. "Yup. He's pretty nice, actually. I'm surprised you haven't talked to him more. You and him both come to our practices a lot. I think Azula might have a bit of a crush on Ty Lee, so she drags him there pretty much every day." She smirked to herself, leaning down to grab a beer from the cooler. "You want one?" She asked Sokka.
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm driving," he said. He wasn't much of a big drinker, anyway. Every so often, when Yue was still in town, the three of them would get drunk or high together at one of their houses when their parents weren't home. But it was just something to do, and Sokka knew his limits. He hated hangovers more than pretty much anything else, so he always made sure he stayed sober enough to avoid them.
Suki shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said simply, popping the tab on her can and taking a sip. "So does anybody know what people are gonna, like...be doing here? It doesn't seem like anybody's dancing, so are we all just kind of hanging out?"
As if on cue, the music in the living room quieted and Azula's sharp voice rang out across the house. "Everybody! We're going to have a game of Spin the Bottle, so come in here!" She called. Sokka and Suki exchanged a look.
"I guess that answers that," Toph quipped, brushing Dorito dust off her hands.
~~~~~
Spin the Bottle? Honestly, sometimes it was hard for Zuko to remember his sister had ever left middle school. Still, he sat down on her left without complaint as the guests formed a huge circle across the living room floor. Mai was on his other side, and she suddenly seemed to have trouble meeting his gaze. Weird. There were two pairs of soulmates at the party, Katara and Aang and a pair of juniors that were friends with Ty Lee. Both couples decided to sit out of the game. Toph sat out, too, taking a seat beside Aang outside of the circle. Suki and Sokka were sitting together, whispering about something. Sokka laughed. Zuko found himself wondering what they were talking about.
Azula spun the bottle (which was really an empty can of orange soda) first. She landed on some football player named Chan. She kissed him quickly and pulled away much faster than he did, which was funny. Why was she so nervous? The game was her idea.
The bottle moved to the right, which meant Zuko would be the last one to spin. Fine by him. He watched each person spin, smirking at some of their reactions. Some people barely even let their lips touch the other person's, while some pairs practically have to be pulled apart so the next person could spin. Suki must have laughed for a solid minute when she landed on Sokka, before leaning in to kiss him hard. When they broke away, Sokka was laughing, too, and he had a smudge of her lipstick on the corner of his mouth. Zuko had to keep reminding himself not to stare at that smudge.
A few minutes later, it was Zuko's turn. He could hear Azula and Ty Lee giggling behind him as he grabbed the can and spun it. The first time, he did it wrong and ended up just pointing it at himself, which made everybody around him laugh. Gritting his teeth, he tried again. When the can stopped, he looked up to see it pointing straight at Sokka.
The room was quiet for a moment. "Um...should I spin again?" Zuko asked, though he wasn't quite sure who he was asking. A girl had landed on another girl earlier, and she had spun again so she could kiss a guy.
Sokka blinked. "I mean...I don't mind," he said softly.
Zuko's face turned hot. "Okay," he mumbled. He scooted forward awkwardly until he was right in front of Sokka. Trying to ignore the way his heart was slamming against his rib cage, he closed his eyes and leaned forward.
This wasn't Zuko's first kiss, but it was definitely the nicest. He managed to relax, leaning into Sokka and letting the other boy rest a hand against his face. His hand was warm and soft. Zuko's heart rate slowed.
That is, until he opened his eyes to pull away.
He found himself staring into Sokka's eyes, which made him jerk away and let out a yell. Sokka's reaction was essentially the same. Instantly, Zuko went from relaxed and actually happy to more panicked than he'd ever been in his life.
Because Sokka's eyes weren't gray anymore. They were a strange, vivid color that made Zuko feel cold and warm at the same time, a color that reminded him somehow of swimming pools and ice and the sky all at once.
The world around him was suddenly in full color. And that could only mean...
"Holy shit," Sokka breathed. "You're my soulmate."