Zutara âValentineâs Dayâ High School AU
Katara and Sokka are young WaterTribe students who recently moved out of their homeland with their naval-commander father, to start fresh as a 9th grader and 10th grader at Fire Nation Academy after the recent death of their mother. Â
Headmaster Iroh is aware of this sad news, and takes the liberty of assigning his nephew Zuko, a sullen-but-sharply-dressed 11th-grader, to show the new students around campus on their first day. Â
This is right at the beginning of February, and while Sokka canât stop asking Zuko questions about Mr. Mechanistâs engineering lab hours and Geography Club (âI do like expensive atlases!â)⌠Katara remains quiet.  Sheâs culture-shocked by the amount of pink, purple and red paper hearts bannered and dangling along the hallways of the school.  Sheâs also mesmerized by how Zukoâs face â that scar, dressing most of his left side â carries the same tones and hues of that schoolâs decor.  Unlike herself, Katara says nothing throughout that entire tour, holding her backpack straps tightly⌠and Zuko glances at her as they return to the headmasterâs office.
For the first time, Katara notices the rustic gold of his eyes.
Zuko frowns. âAny last questions?â His face moves to obscure his left side.
âWhââ Katara gestures to the hallway with her nose. âWhatâs with all the decorations?â
Zuko blinks, giving her this look that says âyouâre kidding, right?â and when he turns over to Sokka, itâs clear that these WaterTribe siblings have no idea what sappy Fire Nation tradition this is.  Zuko sighs, his eyes back on Katara.Â
âValentineâs Day,â he rasps, almost like a groan as he turns on his heel to finally bid them goodbye with his shoulder and quick wave of the hand.
Katara watches him leave, puzzled.Â
Throughout that first week, Katara finds herself making more friends with the teachers than the actual students, offering to help Mr. Piandao organize his library while discussing ancient military combat techniques, drinking tea with Mr. Jeong Jeong and talking about Eastern philosophies, and stopping by Ms. Ursaâs office to talk about poetry homework⌠but more just to say hello, because sheâs so nice.  Katara has no idea how Sokkaâs managed to make best-friends in the span of a few days, but there he is⌠laughing away with Chan and Rion Jon in the hallways, discussing boysâ volleyball practice.  Sokkaâs never even played volleyball.  Who is this person?
There is one 9th-grader, Ty Lee, who seems sweet and willing to get to know Katara as a friend, but she wonders if itâs all to try to get closer to Sokka.
Katara canât keep herself from chuckling by the handful of girls already looking for her brotherâs affection.  Must be the eyes, Katara thinks, because if she had a copper piece for every time someone complimented her on her blue eyes, or her wavy hair, or the natural tan on her skin that first week of schoolâŚ
Zuko hasnât, strangely. Â Not that she cares.
Occasionally, Katara sees him walk the hallways, holding hands with a girl with a matching gloomy face as they head to class together.  Katara thinks about her parents⌠how they used to hold hands like that⌠how they never looked gloomy when they did.  Katara shrugs.  Perhaps love is different with everyone.
When Katara attends a Student Council meeting that week, she finally understands what âValentineâs Dayâ is, thanks to the Student Council President Azula.  The council has themed activities planned out for the entire week.  Katara has been assigned the Valentineâs Card Crafting Table before school, during lunch, study hall and after-school all throughout that week.  She feels slightly excited about this, as crafting was something she and her mother loved doing together.
But, glancing at the mountainous array of colorful glitter, gel-pens, markers, scissors, glue, construction paper and stickers all mixed around in these various plastic containers⌠Katara also understands why this was the assignment nobody had volunteered for.
She spends the rest of that Student Council meeting hour organizing all the materials to have them ready for the next week.  Nobody stays after the meeting to help her.  When Sokkaâs Geography Club gets out and he finds her on the floor, alone, knelt with a pool of multi-colored construction paper thatâs being organized by shade⌠Sokka approaches her sadly.  He doesnât even open his mouth when she instantly holds a palm to him.  âDonât say a word,â she says sharply, still looking down out at her mess.  âI just need a project.â
Sokka quietly puts down his schoolbag, kneels next to her, and assists.
The table is all set up in the morning as students arrive.  Sokka is there helping her set up, but then immediately dodges Ty Leeâs advances when she shows up to support Kataraâs first day behind the Valentineâs Day craft table.  "Who wants to make me a Valentiiiiine??â Ty Lee shouts in her bubbly song, and a couple of boys head over to the table a proceed to make a card for her.
Katara instructs them on how to best cut out a heart out of construction paper with crafting scissors. Â They compliment her on her eyes.
She braces herself for the lunch period, and a few girls from Student Council stop by to make cards for each other and their own friends.  Katara chooses to not make hearts but instead a mixed-media card with little ice-huts and snow-men and penguins⌠which looks slightly ridiculous in the shades of pink and purple.  They love seeing Katara feel in her element with all of these crafting supplies, and tell her so, and the girl feels somewhat more comfortable behind that table.  Just as sheâs about to ask them about fun things to do in the Fire Nation, the girls leave with their cards, and Katara remains alone at the table.
Just as sheâs watching them all leave, she notices Zuko standing there at the doorway to the cafeteria, serious.  Kataraâs face immediately winces down, back to her work.  But Zuko then approaches the very edge of the table.
âDid Azula make you do this?â he rasps.Â
Katara shrugs, grinning to herself. Â âI volunteered.â Â In her salesman-type voice, she looks back up at him and says: Â âWould you like to make a Valentineâs Day card for your Valentine?â
Zuko stares at her, and then at the array of crafting supplies on the table, and then at her mixed-media card of her Water Tribe home, and then back at her.
Saying nothing, he takes a seat at the table and grabs a piece of paper.
âMaiâs gonna love this,â is all he says, attempting to cut a symmetrical heart. Â
âMaiâ must be his girlfriend, Katara thought, but she notices the furrow in his eyes, the thinness of his mouth as he works quietly.  Perhaps love is different with everyone.
She returns to her own card. Â In certain instances, she can feel Zuko looking at her. Â After a quiet set of minutes, he asks her about what exactly sheâs making on her card, and Katara tells him. Â They spend the rest of that lunch hour talking, and crafting.
Zuko doesnât compliment her on her eyes.
â⌠and next thing we know, Sokkaâs yelping like a baby seal and running from the wolf-pups⌠and he sprains his ankle and trips into this 20-foot ice-canyon.  My mom and I had to run to the neighboring village to help get him out.â
âWowâ all for some seal-jerky?â
âDad told us to leave all the food back at camp! Â Ughâ Sokkaâs impossible.â
âIâd be happy to trade him for my sisterâ Hey, can you pass the stickers?â
âSureâ the pink hearts?â
âThe white ones. Â Mai hates pink.â
âI like the border you cut for the card.  You can add dots of glitter if you want, to  give it some character.â
âMaybe.  What are those swirls of green and yellow that youâre making?â
âOhâ itâs called the Southern Lights⌠when we were kids, Sokka and I would go swim to the closest iceberg to see them up-close.â
âYouâd swim there? Â Wouldnât you freeze to death?â
âHaha!  We had thermal suits.  Iâm actually thinking of joining the Girlsâ Swim Team here, but theyâre not fancy national champions, like the Boysâ.  They sound like snobs.â
âTheyâre not all like that.â
âYou know the whole team?â
âYouâre staring at it again.â
âWhâWhat? No, I wasnât.â
âI wasnât! Â Your sister was passing by, and she gave me a weird look!â
âFineâ Donât believe me.â
â âŚDo you wanna know how I got it?â
âUm⌠only if itâs okay to ask.â
âItâs nothing crazy.  Azula and I snuck into our fatherâs fireworks supply for the Summer Solstice party at our house.  They were a surprise, but my sister always finds out about these things.  She loves fire.  She wanted to light some up in our backyard before it got dark.  She was only eight⌠my mother was tending to the party, and our father was supposed to be watching us, I guess.  I knew, the moment Azula lit one up, that she was standing way too close to it⌠so I pushed her out of the way, and it got me.
âItâs okay. Â My parents split up, soon after that. Â He didnât fight for custody.â
ââŚDo you miss him?â
âNo. Â Sometimes. Â I donât know. âWhereâs the glue?â
âThanks.  Anyway⌠Uncleâs always been more of a father to me.â
âIroh seems really great.â
âYeah.  He tells the best jokes.  Thereâs this one, about tea leavesâŚâ
âShe was always more my person, you know?  Not that Sokka wasnât close to her, or anything, but⌠it was just different.  He still has Dad.â
âI know what you mean. Â My mother and I have a closer thing, compared to Azula. Â She doesnât talk about it, but I can tell.â
âYeah. Â Hey, are you done with the silver gel pen?â
âThanks.  AnywayâŚÂ I canât talk about it, with them, at least⌠because I donât want to make them feel like they have to watch out for me, here.â
âYou seem like you can take care of yourself quite well.â
âThanksâ I mean, I have to.  Dadâs got work, and Sokkaâs⌠you know⌠joining a bunch of clubs and playing volleyball, and making girlfriendsâ itâs not funny!ââÂ
âI wasnât laughing.â
âYouâre smirking!â
â..the scissors were jammed.â
âUghâwhatever.  The point isâ I canât be anyoneâs little girl anymore. I have to grow up, keep all these feelings in, and just do what I can to keep us all going.â
âI get it. Â Itâs like you have to constantly hide a part of you to just survive each day.â
âIt really does. Â Do you feel that way, too?â
âOh, constantlyâ By the way, I think these scissors are busted.â
âHereâ Iâll trade you.â
âThanks. Â Anywayâ after a while, you kind of stop seeing your life as your own, and you begin to accept whatever it is that people want from you.â
âYeah.  Donât worry, though.  I wonât go down that slippery slope.â
âGood. Â I donât think thereâs a force of nature that can tackle your kind of strength, anyway. Â Not even my sister.â
âThanks, Zuko.  AndâŚÂ I hope itâs not too late for you.â
âYou know⌠to still turn things around? Figure out what you really want?â
âIâ I donât know. Â Maybe thereâs still time, I guess.â
âYeah. Um⌠so, what are those?  Icebergs?â
ââŚYeah!  And this tiny thing is a canoe.  My brother and I would go out fishing in the morningsâŚâ
With it being the last day of school before âValentineâs Day Weekend,â the craft table is more or less abandoned, and classmates are bee-lining along their lunch tables, passing around chocolates and carnations, cards and heart-shaped balloons. Â
Devoted to her assigned task, Katara remains seated behind that table after school for fifteen minutes before she finally begins to pack up all of the materials and officially consider her shift complete.  She hears all the laughter and smiling faces of students closing their lockers for the day, reminding her of the Winter Solstice celebrations back at home⌠the way her tiny hands would be so eager to take that warm cup of cocoa from her motherâs palmsâŚ
She blinks at the sound of Zukoâs voice, surprised to see him there with his messenger bag. Â Thereâs nothing celebratory about his face or his dress â itâs his usual serious look â but Katara thought heâd be somewhere sharing chocolates with his girlfriend. Â She decides not to bring that up, and just nods.
They pack up the materials appropriately into the plastic containers, making sure that the supplies donât move about inside and thus become a mess for the next person whoâs assigned Valentineâs Day Craft Duty next year.  Between the two of them, Zuko and Katara are able to carry all of the boxes into the schoolâs supply room in one single trip.
When Katara locks up the supply closet, she sighs a deep breath of relief, and Zuko chuckles.
âYou know? This whole Valentineâs Day thing isnât so bad,â she smiles at him.
Zuko just shrugs. Â But in his hand, thereâs a card with an envelope. Â
The color of the envelope is an unfamiliar rustic gold â not like the shades of pink and white that Katara saw in her craft bins all week. Â Zuko mustâve found this envelope on his own.
Katara mentally kicks herself when Zuko raises his brow.
âYour Valentine,â he says flatly, bringing it out to her.
âButâŚâ she feels a lump in her throat, ââŚÂ I didnât make you anything.â
âItâs okayâ just take it.â Zuko insists, his hand gesturing with the card.
Katara does. Â She gazes at the envelope with both hands and proceeds to turn it over to slice it open.
âNot yet--â he rasps so suddenly, her hands flinch. Â âYou canât open it until the Fourteenth.â
âOh- so youâre superstitious, now?â Katara raises her brow, laughing.
Zuko groans, pinching his nose. âForget it.  Open it, donât open it.  Do what you want.â
They walk back out to the student hallways quietly, back to the noise of students and closing of lockers. Â
âAre you doing anything special for Mai?â she asks him, out of courtesy.
He says nothing for a long second, and without turning to her, he speaks. Â It comes out of him like invisible torture, of mumbling sounds and a syllables.
âWeâre⌠um⌠weâreâ not togetherâ anymore.â Â
Katara turns to him, over to the scarred side of his face as they walk. Â Itâs impossible to read what exactly heâs feeling by that almost-permanent frown, but she tries to, nonetheless.
Thatâs all that she says, and Katara kicks herself again.  As they walk, she can feel the words sitting idly in her throat, the Iâm sorry and What happened? and Did she hurt you? and She doesnât deserve you, you know that? and Sorry, do you want me to just stop talking?  Â
But before any of those words could come up, Zuko chimes in, turning his good side to her.
âSee you around,â and thereâs a tiny, almost secret grin that catches her eye as his face turns to leave for the parking lot.
âSee youâ thanks for your help!â she calls after him, and she can tell he heard her by the way he waves his hand. Â
She waits until the official stroke of midnight to finally open the envelope, and it feels like a bunch of paper-heart confetti that falls out of it. Â
Five large pieces of confetti, to be exact. Â
One card for each day of the week that Zuko had been sitting there at that table.  She sees the monochromic card from the first day, and the small patches of red, purple, and pink showing up on the cards the following days.  Nothing is written on them, but that is fine. Â
That is still enough to make Katara smile.
And she sees a creme-colored folded piece of paper attached to the last card. Â
She unfolds the paper nervously, fidgeting as to what kind of handwriting⌠what kind of words, what sappy poetry would be in store for her big blue eyes.
âHappy Valentineâs Day, Katara.
Iâm really sorry about your mother, but I hope that you will find something to call home here.  You should definitely join Student Council and try out for Swim Team; the girls could use more talent (I say that as a fellow swimmer â not as a rival, or anything).  Thanks for teaching me how to craft these cards - theyâre actually not so bad. Â
Would you want to keep talking, maybe? Â At lunch?Â
Anywayâ Iâll be around, if you need me.