Chapter Text
His neighbor had moved in last week and excluding the noises from move in and a few bangs from the TV, they had been decent neighbors. Living in apartment buildings could be a toss-up with what kind of people will move in.
But that was the last 7 days. And now she had been singing sad love songs all day. The weather had been good so they both had their windows open allowing the flow of sound to cross apartments easily. Plus the walls didn’t muffle out every noise.
Zuko had to admit that she had a good voice but it’s been 2 hours solid of the pain and heartache. He had to wonder what she had left behind to make her feel this melancholy. There was a break in the concert as he assumed she was either done for the night or was figuring out what album was left in this genre that she owned. She’d made it through quite a few artists.
Surprisingly, the soundtrack to Across the Universe movie started. She skipped the fast beats and rough songs before she settled with Hey Jude. Zuko had to pause his Netflix to listen to her harmonizing with the audio.
She's good, he couldn't help but think. Maybe she sings as her profession. But he ignored it as she finished the song and he continued watching some action anime.
The album was on the last song quick with all the skips but it surprised him none the less when her voice, suddenly close to the window where he was seated, sang, “Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover.” Followed by a deep sigh.
He heard her shut the window.
And just like that, her concert was over. Though he could still hear the song and muffled singing, it wasn’t the same.
He had to admit that he had got used to the background music even if it was a little depressing to hear sad songs for that long. He couldn't imagine what she was feeling like.
That was the catch. Zuko couldn't understand why he was caring so much for his new neighbor. It'd be different if he'd meet her a few times to gather a rapport. He didn't know if she was missing her significant other or if there was a recent breakup. She could have moved from another country and was homesick.
But he did know one thing. He was going to meet her somehow – but not in a creepy way! It had to be in a setting where he didn't give off a weird stalky vibe. Like the rooftop. Everyone hung out up there so he made plans to be on the rooftop more often, just in case he could get a glimpse of his neighbor with the lovely voice.
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It had been another week of missed encounters. Zuko would hang out on the rooftop for a couple hours before heading down to work on dinner. Katara would take the stairs up after eating an early dinner and eat her dessert with a view of the city. One would leave the mailbox area just as the other walked in the other door. Another time Zuko was in the coffee shop and Katara was in the deli next door.
But it was an accident one night that allowed Katara to realize how thin the walls were. Both neighbors were laying down in their respective beds, separated only by a thin wall that their bedrooms shared. Katara was reading on her phone and Zuko was playing a game on his tablet.
He was seated upright so when the sneeze ran through him it shook his body forward forcefully and projected the noise throughout the room. And into the next.
“Bless you,” came a female voice through the wall.
Zuko eyed the wall. Did she…did she just say “bless you”?
Not wanting to be rude, Zuko replied, “Thank you,” still staring at the wall.
Now it was Katara’s turn to eye the wall.
She had responded to the sneeze unconsciously and only just realized that she had in fact talked to her neighbor on the other side of a wall. A wall thin enough to talk through. Shit, what else has he been able to hear?!
Katara opened her mouth a few times, feeling the need to talk to her neighbor but unsure what to say. By the time she thought about telling him her name and asking his, it was minutes later and the moment had passed. So she resigned to the silence.
Zuko had sat, game paused, for a few minutes, waiting to see what she would do. Had he scared her? Well she had to find out how thin the walls were sooner or later. He gave up but turned the game volume down in case she ever responded. But she didn’t.
Sleep wasn’t easy for Katara as she focused on all kinds of noises that she had made the last few weeks. Could he hear every movie and show she watched? What about her singing? She was beyond embarrassed.
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Katara actively avoided her neighbor after the Sneeze Event of Last Tuesday Night. If she planned on going to the rooftop but heard his door open and shut, she changed her mind just in case he had the same idea. If she took the elevator she would press the “close door” button immediately when she heard a door open in the hallway.
She was still feeling embarrassed. She never sang for people. Not her friends in college or her family during the holidays. She also felt silly for saying “bless you” to a person that wasn’t in the room.
She tried to forget about the incident and almost had succeed when her neighbor decided to watch a loud action movie one evening. It wasn’t too late on the Friday night so she wasn’t trying to sleep but every now and then she’d hear explosions and machine guns. Action movies not being her movie genre of choice she couldn’t tell what he was watching.
But it made her think of him. And he obviously knew how thin the walls were so why did he have his movie so loud? Was he doing this on purpose?
She couldn’t tell and avoided further thoughts by making cookies for the building’s end of summer rooftop party that was tomorrow. She opened her window after she put in the first tray of cookies so her flat wasn’t too hot with the oven on.
The smell of fresh baked cookies wafted over to Zuko as he sat on the couch by his window. He couldn’t help but wonder what type they were. He could smell the chocolate but couldn’t figure anything else. It took a few minutes before he wondered if she was going to the rooftop party tomorrow and was planning on bringing the cookies.
This made Zuko excited. It would be the perfect setting. He could finally meet her and have a conversation with her. Though he’d probably leave it up to her if she wanted to bring up the sneeze. Zuko hardly focused on his movie before going to bed.
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Zuko walked up to the rooftop early so he was there the moment the party technically started, even though that was 4 pm on a Saturday so not many other residents were there yet. The leasing office staff was there and setting up the catered entrees that they were providing along with sodas and local brews. The residents were asked to bring desserts if they wanted to.
A bubbly staff member saw Zuko come through the stairway’s door and greeted him with an exaggerated wave, yelling his name, “Zuko! I’m so glad you made it here early!” She rushed over to him.
Zuko smiled, “Hey Ty Lee, what do you need?” Ty Lee was friends with his sister in college which was how he heard about this apartment building. It was nice knowing someone in the leasing office.
“Well you know how none of us office girls are tall. We forgot to bring up the step ladder. Can you string these plastic suns on the trellis?” Ty Lee handed him the string of bright yellow suns with stickered on smiling faces. They creeped him out. But he did what she wanted and started hanging them up while she fixed things and talked with other residents that had made it to the roof.
Zuko was finished a few minutes later and looked around to see who was there. The families with kids were off to a corner away from the hoodlums that were the 20 to 30 year olds. He smirked at their behavior and moved to the food line that had begun and grabbed a paper plate. His plate was half full by the time he made it to the dessert table but he was excited to see chocolate cookies in a container. He took two but looked around for any women that he hadn’t seen before. One of them had to be his neighbor.
There were no new faces so he grabbed a local brew and sat down at table for 8, allowing others to sit with him if they choose.
Ty Lee came at him from behind, “Zuko, have you meet your neighbor?” Zuko thanked the heavens for Ty Lee and her good nature because as he turned around in his chair he realized he didn’t have to keep looking for her. There she was.
Katara was dressed in a thin, ankle length navy skirt with a formfitting maroon tank top. Her hair was out of her face but was flowing down to the middle of her back. And her eyes, Zuko couldn’t look away from her ocean blue eyes.
Zuko looked just as striking according to Katara. Though he was still sitting, she could tell that he was wearing light jeans and the local sports team shirt. Katara was shocked to see the burn scar on his face but pushed through so as to not be rude. Her neighbor was more than a scar. She was interested in meeting him before she saw his face. Plus, he had a sexy smile.
“No I haven’t Ty Lee.” He stood up and towered over Katara by a good 6 inches. He stuck his hand out, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Zuko.”
Katara’s hand slipped into his for a quick shake, “Nice to meet you Zuko. My name is Katara.” She forgot about embarrassment, about the Sneeze Event of Last Tuesday, and about the singing. Right now, there was a sexy man who was making eyes and smiling at her as if he wanted to get to know her, personally.
“I need to check on something, be back quick!” Ty Lee’s voice popped their bubble and brought them back to reality.
“Have you grabbed a plate of snacks yet?” Zuko cautiously started the conversation back up, noticing her empty hands.
“No not yet. I was too busy meeting everyone Ty Lee dragged me to.” Katara awkwardly laughed and touched then end of a hair strand that hung over her shoulder.
“Well, um, if you want you could go grab something and bring it back to the table. I’ll save you a seat?” The confident Zuko was gone in place of nervous Zuko who stumbled over words.
But the offer was worth the wide smile that Katara sent his way. “Ya that’d be great. Just give me a sec and I’ll be back.” He nodded at her, watched her go to stand in line, and then sat back down so he wasn’t staring at her any more than he already was.
He skipped the hot snacks and went straight for her chocolate cookies. They were damn good. He savored the it slowly and finished right before Katara had returned. She set her plate next to his and he noticed that she had one of her own cookies.
Not knowing where to start, Zuko blurted, “I love your cookies.”
Katara’s eyes widened in the sudden confession of love for her baked items. “How did you know that I made them? I didn’t put my name on the container or anything.”
Zuko panicked for a minute at what he reaction would be but he decided to be honest. “Well I had my window open and I smelt chocolate cookies being made. I don’t know why I instantly thought that you had made them but I did.”
Her smile let him knew he was safe – until he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes. “I didn’t need the window open to hear your movie yesterday. These walls are very thin in case you didn’t know.”
Zuko wondered which way he should take the conversation. Where was she going with this? He smirked back at her with false confidence, “No I had no idea whatsoever. Please enlighten me to all that you’ve heard.”
Ty Lee looked on at the pair as they leaned into each other throughout the party. Their conversation was constantly changing from loud laughter to searing looks with heated meanings. She didn’t plan this from the start but the longer she knew Katara the more she realized how they balanced each other out perfectly. Yup, she was excited to watch them grow.