Today's theme says POOR SOME SUGAR ON ME, although I wonder if the 'poor' is a typo?


Katara stepped out of the door, feeling as if she had done this a hundred times already.

Millions of thoughts were jammed into her head when he had announced his engagement, and she truly did need a breath of fresh air. Taking a sip out of her wine glass, she found a a railing to lean on nearby and dragged herself to it.

I mean, she did know that this was going to happen eventually. He and Mai had been dating for a considerable amount of time, and they did seem to get pretty serious, but she really didn't expect them to announce their engagement so quickly.

She didn't know why, but once he announced the word 'wedding', Katara felt her heart almost stop. Heck, she almost reached out for her water skins just in case she needed to heal herself. She didn't need it in the end, to her relief, but she still felt a sort of twinge that stayed on her heart. You know, the sort of feeling that you get when you're jealous.

She cringed. Jealous. Jealousy. Katara hated those words. She didn't see herself as jealous, but overly emotional for her friend. She was actually happy for Zuko. Yes, that's it.

Katara shook her head as an imaginary voice of Suki popped up in her mind. "There's a word for that too: denial." She took another sip of her wine, bringing the glass away from her face. "Ty Lee forgot most of us are underage." She laughed, leaning the glass forward and spilling its contents into the ground. No need for a drunk girl.

"The grass will die now, thank you." His voice filled the air, and she froze in place, not wanting to look around. "You know that, don't you?" He held a glass of red wine in his hands. Walking over to where she was, he too spilled his wine on the grass.

"Not much people know this," He admitted with a laugh, "but in contrast to popular beliefs, I'm not a very avid drinker."

Katara made a snort. "I don't think I've heard any of these so called popular beliefs." She said crossly, one eyebrow raised. "Last time you and Sokka drank cactus juice, you seemed even crazier than him." She laughed, bringing her head back.

Zuko frowned at her gesture, although he did feel a little lighter inside. "..."

Well, yes, he was getting married to Mai, but it wasn't like it was his full decision. It had been suggested to him by the other officials, seeing that the people might want him to have a Fire Lady by his side. And that was Mai, by default.

There was Katara, though. Katara, Katara, Katara. She... she was... how could he explain? She was the first one who didn't really judge him with his scar. Heck, she even tried to heal him. Zuko mentally slammed his head on the wall repeatedly, thinking that it was one of the most stupidest things he could have ever done by turning his back and going with Azula.

Then, when he tried to redeem himself and eventually joined Aang, even though they had a rocky start, he and Katara became great allies, him with fire and her with ice. It was a perfect battle pair.

He did-- he admitted-- he did have feelings for her, one time. And it had been that time when Katara came up to him and suggested, "Why not Mai?" That sort of stung. Since then, any feelings he ever had that were above the borderline for friendship was now sitting in back of his brain.

Look where they were now. Just the two of them, both almost adults, on the balcony, and nothing going on. Nothing, nothing at all. Zuko started hitting his head onto the railings. Katara looked at him worriedly.

She tapped his on the shoulder repeatedly. "Zuko, Zuko? Are you drunk already?" She asked, now shaking both his shoulders.

Zuko stopped, his head still down and facing the rails. "Katara..." He said, as softly as he could. "... are you really okay with this?" It doesn't hurt to ask, right?

Well, it did hurt for Katara. At least a little. But, her jealous-and-in-denial attitude kept her from falling to the ground, in tears, begging him to love her and not Mai, as how soap operas would go.

"I..." Katara started, staring at the back of his head. She took a step back. "I think it's great, you getting married and all." A fake smile was plastered on her face. "I'm really, incredibly, very glad for you. Really."


"Don't forget to send that invite to your wedding!" She always rambled when she lied.


"And... And... I've got to go and find the best wedding present for you both." She still had that fake grin on her face, as if it was glued. "What does Mai like? Dagger? Because I once saw her- oh!" Zuko got up from his position and quickly wrapped her arms around her this waist.

"... Z- Zuko?" Katara stammered, using her arms to push him back just enough to see his face. "What are you-" His lips captured her into a soft, sweet kiss. Katara was shocked beyond anything, but closed her eyes tightly.

He was the one to break it, letting his arms around her drop, and moving to her ear. Between breaths, he whispered. "If you tell me to stop the engagement, I will."

When Katara opened her eyes again, he was gone already.

- - -

Katara returned to the dinner hall, to find that everything was normal, as if no one noticed she had left. Everyone was now mingling and walking around, talking to each other. She smiled to herself, walking up to Suki, who noticed her immediately. "Katara, you're back?" She asked. "That was only ten minutes!"

Sokka, who was indulging in his glass of wine, burped. "You... you left?" He almost sounded drunk. Katara hit him on the head, then turning to his girlfriend. "Suki, is he drunk?"

She laughed. "Drunk?" She repeated, swatting her hand in front of her, "Oh, no, of course not. I told Ty Lee to exchange his wine for some juice. He's just cranky. Aren't you, Sokka?" Sokka just grunted.

"I'm not cranky." He muttered to himself, taking a small sip. "Staying here just makes me annoyed."

Suki laughed lamely, grabbing Katara's shoulders and bringing her away from her brother. "So, I saw Zuko leave too when you left." She said once she brought Katara to the corner of the room, in a low whisper so that no one would overhear. "Did you have a talk?"

Katara nodded.

She continued. "What did he talk about?" Suki asked curiously.

"Well," Katara started. "He asked me if I was okay with it." Suki looked at her, still holding her friends shoulders. "Okay?" Suki repeated. "As in... okay with the wedding?" Katara nodded, taking Suki's arms from her.

"Yeah, I guess, and then he kissed me." Katara added, as if it didn't really matter. "Then he told me that if I said 'don't', he won't, then left. That's pretty much it." She shrugged, noticing Suki's eyes widening. She frowned. "What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

A voice behind her spoke. "It's 'cause I bet Sparky likes you, duh." Toph appeared and stood next to Suki. "Did you tell him to stop the engagement yet?"

Katara shook her head. "No... but it's not like I don't want him to-"

Toph sighed, crossing her arms and nudging Suki. "She's in denial, isn't she?" She made a 'tsk tsk' noise. Suki laughed. "Yeah," She pretended to whisper, but Katara heard very clearly. "If she doesn't get off her jealous-and-in-denial butt, she's going to regret it."

Toph looked at Katara. "Do you get our point?"

Katara stared blankly.

- - -

Meanwhile, Zuko sat quietly on one of the seats of the table. Mai came, sitting down and leaning her head on his shoulder once more. He shook his head, whispered a 'sorry', and shrugged her off. He sighed, staring at the wooden top.

"Is something wrong?" Mai asked. Zuko didn't move.

Mai tried again. "Is something wrong, Zuko?" Still, all he did was sit on the chair quietly, hands clamped together. She frowned. "You know, Zuko, we're getting married soon. You should learn how to say what you feel."

"Should I?" He finally said something, looking at her softly. She smiled, giving a nod.

"Then..." He said. "I think we should call of this marriage."

Soon after, the container of sugar that was sitting in front of him was now poured on top of his head.

Sokka snickered. "He really doesn't have any luck with girls, huh?"

Jealous-but-denying-it!Katara and angst!Zuko? Oh, shat. This is getting emo already. Oh well. I think the angst is due to me listening to this 'You Ruined Me' song and I kept thinking, "Rain. Rain. Angst. Cry. Angst." Oops, I'll listen to poppier songs. Sorry for typos.