Written as Part 5 to the All Along universe, but I feel like this one can also stand alone. Zuko helps Katara with some gaps in her memory.
Read on AO3 here
@zutaramonth
“Katara, this is our roommate, Jet. Jet, my little sister, Katara. She’s a first-year. Just moved into her dorm.”
“Cool shirt,” Jet says.
Katara looks down at the shirt she’s wearing. “Oh, thanks. I don’t even remember where I got this from. I’ve never even been to any of their concerts.”
“So not a fan of the Airbenders then?” this third roommate asks, chewing on the cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
For some reason, Katara feels like she’s said the wrong thing. “Um, well, I am. I’ve just never been to any of their concerts.”
Jet smirks. “I’m sure they’re playing somewhere around here soon. I’ll have to take you.”
“Hold on a second,” interjects Sokka. “You’ve known her for two minutes. You can’t just ask her out.”
Jet shrugs. “She’s cute. Looks nothing like you..”
Katara giggles. “Yeah, let me know if they’re playing. I’d love to see them.”
Sokka rolls his eyes exaggeratedly. “Come on, Katara, we’re going to get smoothies.”
“But, Sokka-”
“Smoothies!” her brother exclaims, latching onto her arm and dragging her out of the apartment, far away from Jet.
“Katara, you do not want to get tangled up in that,” her brother warns, though the words go in one ear and out the other. “I have to listen to his phone calls. Believe me, he’s a mess.”
“You’re the one living with him, not me!” she exclaims defensively, crossing her arms over her chest, directly over the shirt that started it all. She’s still trying to remember where it came from.
“Only because Suki and I couldn’t afford it by ourselves.”
“Well, why didn’t you ask Zuko?”
“We did, but he lives with his uncle.”
That’s right. He moved into the apartment above his uncle’s tea shop right before she graduated high school. He had worked there all through the summer, never coming home once.
“Hey, do you want to go to the tea shop instead of the smoothie place? Zuko’s working right now.”
Katara smiles. “Yeah! I haven’t seen him in ages. Is it close by?”
“A few blocks away from campus. Not far at all.” So she walks alongside her brother with her tiny purse strewn across her shoulder. It’s the perfect day for a walk. She thinks about how when she sees Zuko, she’s going to rub in his face how he has to work while she enjoys the nice weather. No matter how much time passes between their visits, they always fall right back into the comfortable friendship they worked so hard on.
“Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon,” calls Zuko from behind the counter when the two of them walk in. He doesn’t look up, though.
“Nice apron,” Katara says back.
Zuko’s head snaps up comically and his face finally relaxes into a full blown smile. “Hey, guys. Uncle, Sokka’s here.”
Zuko’s Uncle Iroh appears through the doorway from the front counter to the kitchen, wearing an apron similar to Zuko’s. “Sokka, it has been too long.”
“I know, Uncle Iroh. This is my sister, Katara. She just moved into her dorm today.”
“How exciting! It is very nice to meet you, Katara. Zuko, take your break. I’ll take over the counter. Anything you and your friends want is on the house.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Sokka protests, though Katara knows this new apartment is putting a strain on Sokka’s extra spending.
“Nonsense. Can Zuko get the two of you anything before he takes his break?”
“I’ll take a chai latte please,” says Katara sweetly.
“And two of those tea cakes for me, man.”
“Two tea cakes and one chai latte coming right up.”
“Alright. I’m going to go to the bathroom real quick. Katara,” he stares at her meaningfully, “I will know if you so much as lick one of those cakes, okay?”
“I’m not going to disturb your food. Just go to the bathroom,” she huffs. When Sokka disappears, she stalks over to the counter to pester Zuko while he works.
“Just so you know, it’s really nice outside.”
“It looks nice out.”
“When do you get off?”
“Not till closing.”
She pouts. “Bummer.”
He hands her a finished chai latte. When he holds it out to her, he looks at her like he’s noticing her for the first time.
“You still have the shirt,” he says.
She looks down at the mystery concert tee tucked into her jean cutoffs. “Do you know where this came from? It just appeared in my closet one day.”
“It’s mine.”
“It’s yours?”
“Yeah,” he answers, somewhat nervously, fiddling with the strings of his apron.
“How did I end up with it?”
“Three words: drunk as fuck.”
Her face flushes. There’s only one time she’s been that drunk - the one and only Kyoshi Sorority Party Suki dragged her to just after she turned 18.
“Oh.”
He laughs. “You don’t remember it at all?”
“That night’s a blur,” she admits guiltily.
“Well some Chin Fraternity guy spilled beer all over your shirt, and you were so drunk you took your shirt off.”
“Oh, my God!” Her cheeks are burning. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Don’t worry, I doubt anyone remembers.”
“Ugh, does Sokka know?”
“He punched the guy who spilled the beer on you and the first guy who wolf whistled.”
“This is so humiliating.”
“Katara, believe me, there have been worse college parties.”
She still feels so embarrassed. When Sokka comes back to collect his tea cakes, and the three of them sit down at one of the corner tables, she tells her brother, “So I figured out where this shirt came from. Zuko gave it to me on the night I apparently made a fool of myself at the Kyoshi party.”
“Oh, yeah. I guess that is the one.” He claps Zuko on the back. “This is a good friend right here. He covered you up with the shirt off his back.”
“Yeah, thanks for helping me out. I’m so mad I did that.”
“Don’t worry about it. Seriously,” he assures her.
“Maybe Jet should ask you out, Zuko.”
“Excuse me?”
“Jet hit on my little sister here as soon as she walked in the door, all because of this Airbenders tee shirt. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?”
“I don’t think it’s the shirt, Sokka. It’s more of how she looks in the shirt.”
Katara blushes once again, much more pleasantly this time, as Sokka gags on his tea cake. “Okay, conversation over.”
“I don’t know. I kinda like it. Zuko, tell me more about how I look in this shirt,” she teases.
Now it’s Zuko’s turn to blush. “Your brother said conversation over.”
She rolls her eyes playfully. “Sokka doesn’t make the rules.”
“Just drink your latte, Katara. I slaved over it for you.”
She takes a sip. “It tastes like you could’ve slaved a little longer.”
“Woooow!” Sokka exclaims. “You know, I missed this. We all need to hang out more. Us three, Suki, even Toph and Aang,” he tells them. “Not Jet.”
“Jet’s not too bad,” Katara protests.
“Yes, he is.”
“Do you know him, Zuko?”
“Yeah.”
“Would you let your little sister date him?”
“Azula, sure. I’d tell him good luck, actually.” Then he takes a sip of his jasmine tea, looks her over head to toe, and adds, “But you’re not Azula.”
It’s so offensive to her that these two think they can control who she does and doesn’t date. Once upon a time, Zuko could have controlled it. Once upon a time, he had been the only one she daydreamed about. But the way these two are acting now make her want to date Jet more.
“If I want to go to an Airbenders concert with him, I’m going to go to one!” she asserts.
“Do they even have any shows coming up?”
“Jet said they did.”
“Oh, Jet said,” Zuko repeats mockingly. “Tell you what, if there’s a concert, and you still want to go, I’ll take you. Leave the cigarette chewing asshole out of it.”
“Maybe I want the cigarette chewing asshole.”
“How long have you known him again?”
“Grand total of two minutes,” answers Sokka. “I’m gonna go ask Iroh for another one of these tea cakes. These are too good.” He stands up and walks over to the line forming around the front counter.
Katara knows she looks angry, and she can tell by the twinge of Zuko’s jaw, that he’s not too happy either. “I don’t want to be mad at you. I just want you to know that you don’t get a say in who I date.”
“I know that.”
“I get enough of it from Sokka. You’re not my big brother, even though we grew up together.”
“I know that too.”
“Good.”
“But I am your friend,” he reminds her. “Forgive me for looking out for my friend.”
The statement strikes a chord in her and she looks down at the tee shirt given to her in a vulnerable moment that could have turned into a very bad situation. Some people don’t exactly hesitate to take advantage of drunk girls walking around without their shirts on. Zuko had looked out for her then, and he is looking out for her now, in his own twisted way. Still, it relieves her of her sour mood.
“I’m gonna hold you to what you said. You’re taking me to the next Airbenders concert.”
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