Beauty in the Beast (Zutara)

Chapter Three

Azula smirked as she calmly strolled into Zuko's room as he was engrossed into his homework, his hair covering his face as he mindlessly scribbled away, the sounds of scratching the only noise in his room as the door was swung open. Zuko's scratching ceased the moment he heard the door open behind him. His shoulders slumped forward, exhaustion weighing on his body as he placed a hand over his forehead.

"Oh, Zuko, don't be so dramatic." She scoffed. "It's just me." That's the problem. He thought, with a quick roll of his eyes.

"What do you want, Azula?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of his story. She gently sat on the edge of his bed; her legs crossed contently, leaning back a bit against the plush mattress.

"Zu-Zu, I heard you weren't playing with your little girlfriend, Mai." She said with false concern, her tone near condescending, like an adult speaking to a small child. It was Zuko's turn to scoff as he pushed his hand from the desk, daring himself to look at her.

"You mean your friend."

"She is your betrothed you know. Couldn't you pay more attention to her?" Zuko's golden eyes strayed to his paper as he sighed before resting his head on his hand. "Seriously what kind of a fiancé are you?" We aren't even dating. He groaned to himself recalling how much his own father and Mai's parents had pushed the two of them together.

"I'm busy and I'm sure she is too; everyone was swamped with homework this week." Clicking his tongue, he moved his main focus back to his work as he traded his pencil for an eraser, he aggressively rid himself of the mistake on his paper.

"Goodness Zuko, you act like you don't even like her!" Aggravated, Zuko growled slamming the eraser down against his flat palm.

"I do like her! Okay?! I'm just..." He paused for a moment and glanced at his sister, not missing the cocked eyebrow and the cocky curving at the corner of her lips, "...not focused on Father's plans and all right now." He leaned back against his chair letting out a frustrated sigh. With a roll of her eyes, Azula got up and started heading towards the door.

"Well you better get focused on it. You know how important our relationship is with Mai's family and you know what your betrothal is for." She stopped at the threshold looking back towards her older brother. "I hope you know... Father's not pleased with you." At that, she closed the door making him sigh.

"When is he ever pleased with me?" He asked himself, his hand on his head.

~~

Katara watched Zuko talk to Mai at lunch, a small pale red showing on her cheeks as she made room for him. After he sat however, no words were spoken. Instead, they simply ate. Zuko moved a little closer to the girl making her chuckle and look down.

"Ever hear of personal space?" She deadpanned before taking a bite of her food.

"Nope." He matched her deadpan and scooted closer much to the pleasure of the black haired girl. After a couple moments of sitting so close, Zuko moved back to his original spot with a small smile. It could be worse, he thought to himself, she and I seem to have the same dry humor at least. So, there's that. He focused back on Azula who seemed to be pleased with the small effort Zuko made as she spoke about her plans to run the school in a matter of a year to a very attentive Ty-Lee, never taking her eyes off her, pure admiration in her large grey eyes. Katara rolled her eyes at them and sighed as she continued to eat. Aang took the opportunity to grasp her hand, his brown eyes peering into her light blue ones as she looked at him a little shocked from the sudden contact.

"Katara, please don't stress about them anymore. They aren't worth it." Katara sighed a bit feeling her blood cool.

"You're right, Aang." She smiled softly. "I shouldn't let them have that kind of power over me." Aang nodded pleased as he squeezed her hand softly. Azure eyes sparkled lightly as she gave him a gratuitous smile as she slowly took her hand back. "Thanks for that." Aang blushed at her smile, shyly looking away from her hiding his disappointment and the emptiness of his outstretched hand. Sokka chuckled at the brown haired boy with a playful roll of his eye before looking towards the door for his beloved. Suki came with a group of girls giggling as the lot of them parted before Suki accompanied herself with another girl, she exuded confidence, her long flowing jet black hair swaying behind her in a long ponytail. Her pale skin contrasting with her skin tight red and black outfit. Suki smiled walking to Sokka kissing his temple before motioning to her friend.