The School of Ba Sing Se (Zukka Highschool Au)

Chapter 14

<Sokka>

"Hey, I noticed you were awfully quiet when Wu was talking about his being royalty." I said. "What was that about?"

Zuko gave me a wide-eyed look, but then looked away.

"Zuko... is there something you're not telling me?" I asked.

Nothing.

"Is there something you... can't tell me?"

Zuko shook his head. "No... I could tell you," he said, "but..."

"What is it?"

"Just... I'll tell you when we get to your house."

—

About 5 minutes later, we were in my room sitting on my bed.

"Okay, Zuko." I said. "If you're still up to it, tell me what's going on."

"Sokka? How much do you know about the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked.

"Okay, I'm gonna be honest." I said. "If any of what I say offends you, please let me know."

"Nothing that you say about that hellish place will offend me, Sokka." Zuko told me. "Go ahead."

"Well, my first impression of the Fire Nation was bloodthirsty murderers." I admitted. "I- I mean, I'd read the articles and heard on the radio what they were doing to the Air Nation. We don't really have television in the South Pole." I paused. Zuko just waited. "Uh, and I guess another thing is that they have an awful king."

Zuko nodded. "The king in the Fire Nation is called the Firelord." He said. "Okay, next question. What do you know about the Fire Nation royal family?"

"Uh, nothing, I guess? Just that the Firelord's a tyrant." I told him. "Wait- I thought I was supposed to be asking you questions!"

"Just one more." Zuko said. "Do you know anything about... the royal children?"

I was confused. Why was he asking me this question when I already told him I didn't know anything? Hang on... my brain started to connect the dots. "Zuko, you're not..."

He gave me a sad smile. "Hi, Sokka. My name is Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation. I was supposed to be the heir to the throne before I was banished, and my father is Firelord Ozai."

I placed my hand on my head and looked up at the ceiling. "Tui and La, I'm dating royalty."

"No, Sokka, I- I'm not a prince anymore, and I don't want to be associated with my father, anyway." Zuko said. "I'm just... Zuko."

"Good. I like Zuko." I smiled at him.

We just sat there, staring at each other in silence. Then, Katara slammed open my door

"Alright assholes! Stop flirting for a second and listen up!" She flopped down between Zuko and I and opened her laptop. "Zuko!"

"Uhm, y- yes?" He said.

"You've said before that you used to do hockey. Did you figure skate at all?" Katara asked.

"Oh, yeah, I took classes." Zuko answered. "I wasn't very good, though."

"That's fine! I just saw this article about a figure skating competition coming up this upcoming February, and I thought you might be interested."

"Hmm... I mean, I guess I could call my old skating instructor and see if he'll coach me." Zuko said. "What's the prize?"

"An all-expenses-paid trip for six to the metal city state of Zaofu!" Katara announced. She showed Zuko her laptop. "Here, look!"

Zaofu!? I thought. I'd heard about that place. It was supposed to be made completely out of metal.

Zuko studied the screen for a minute. "Yeah, sure!" He agreed. "Sounds fun, I'll do it!"

"Awesome!" Katara cheered. "Also, if you win the local Ba Sing Se competition, you can choose to go on to the next stage, which is competing against the other winners all across the Earth Kingdom! It'll be here, too. And if you win that, you'll move on to Internationals, where you'll compete against the winners from all the four nations!"

"Wait, but the Air Nation wouldn't count, would it? I mean, it's basically part of the Earth Kingdom now, right?" I asked.

"No, you're right. The Air Nation isn't part of this." Katara said. "Since the Northern and Southern Water Tribes are basically their own nations, they're separate."

"Great, so if I somehow make it that far, I'll have to go up against two Water Tribe kids." Zuko sighed. "Alright! Bring it!"

***

<Zuko>

A few days later, I called my old figure skating instructor, Master Piandao. He agreed to come to the Earth Kingdom to coach me.

It was nearing the end of November, and the competition was in mid-February, which meant I only had a few months to prepare. Good thing the volleyball season ended a week ago.

After confirming things with Paindao, I flopped down on my bed.

I hadn't figure skated in years. Was I even able to do it anymore? I'd probably already grown out of my old skates, which meant that I'd have to get Uncle to buy me new ones.

I sighed. I hated asking Uncle for things. We didn't have much money, and figure skates were expensive.

My phone dinged. I picked it up and looked at it.

Another message from Piandao. He was asking me if I needed skates.

Well, I thought. That's convenient.

I told him I did and he said he'd bring me some from the Fire Nation.

That was one thing I liked about the Fire Nation. That some people were kind and generous.

Piandao hates my father as much as I do, too, so that's a bonus.

Piandao would be here tomorrow, and we would train after school on Mondays and Wednesdays and in the mornings on weekends.

I was going to have a lot of work to do if I wanted to take Sokka and the rest of the gang to Zaofu.

_______________________________

first it was Haikyuu, now it's Yuri on Ice. There are gonna be so many references.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: i'm gonna start writing a Wuko side story to this au! the first chapter isn't out yet but there's an introduction on there so you can add it to your reading list and be notified when the first chapter does come out!

it's called The Earth Prince Goes to High School

you can also find it if you click on my account or look up #wuko

thanks for reading! -Em