"Hey, Zuko is your name, right?" Katara walked up to the older boy in the library as he was standing at a book shelf looking at the summary of a book.

"Why do you wanna know?" Zuko sighed and looked over at her. She pursed her lips and smiled ignoring the annoyance in his golden eyes.

"I'm Katara, we have history together," she held out her hand with a kind smile. He didn't take it.

"I know," Zuko set the book back with a frown.

"So what do you want?" He asked looking through the books while paying little attention to her.

"Oh um, I just wanted to introduce myself, being new and all is hard, I hated my first week here with not knowing anyone," Katara laughed awkwardly rubbing her arm.

"So where did you go before here?" She asked as Zuko pulled a new book out and flipped it open.

"I was at a school in Japan," he said flatly not looking up.

"I- Uh japan?" She asked surprised.

"Yea, not prison," Zuko snapped the book close and walked away in the library.

Katara blinked a little surprise, he was in school across the world... but his sister has been in this school when he's been gone, so why wasn't she with him?

"Are you japanese?" Katara asked following him.

"Yes," he said shortly.

"You don't look japanese,"

"Wow, I must've left my samurai sword at home," he gasped sarcastically as Katara didn't seem impressed.

"I'm mostly japanese, my mom was only half and my dads fully japanese," he sighed and explained turning back at her with a quirked brow.

"What is it you wanted?" Zuko asked again shaking his head.

"Uh yesterday I saw you didn't have anything for class, and uh you came like in the middle of the chapter so," Katara handed humor a new yellow notebook with a pack of new pens.

"Here's my notebook too if you want to copy down what we've learned so far for the test, and my numbers inside, I tutor so if you need help just text or call me," she explained as Zuko held the notebooks confused.

"Why?" Was all he asked with suspicion.

"I know a lot of people are saying bad things about you and all, but maybe you just need a break from that, you don't need to shit on 24/7," Katara told him with a smile as he pursed his lips.

"Thanks," he looked away awkwardly.

"So what book did you pick out?" She asked changing the subject seeing he was uncomfortable.

"Oh.. um it's to kill a mockingbird," Zuko told her quietly as they stood together in the library.

"Look I got to go, my uncles gonna kill me if I'm late again," he sighed as he clenched his jaw.

"Okay, See you tomorrow in class," Katara beamed brightly as he walked away without another word but carried the two notebooks with him still.

Katara gulped a little as she looked at her phone, she saw she had a text.

Jet: how'd it go?

K: went fine, he took the gifts

—

"Uncle I'm home!" Zuko walked into a tea shop as he saw a black cat sleeping in the middle of the tea shop floor.

"Hey Durk," he smiled petting the black cats belly.

"Zuko can you grab the box with the fancy China? I want the red and gold ones out on display," an old man peaked out from behind the counter.

"I thought you were going with the green ones?" Zuko asked walking to him.

"I couldn't decide, would the green be better?" His uncle asked with his accent.

"I liked it better, greens more sudden than red," Zuko nodded as the black cat rolled on the ground and opened his light brown eyes that almost seemed red. Twitching it's pink nose as durk walked over to Zuko.

"How was school?" Iroh asked as Zuko knelt down to the cat again to pet him.

"I've only gotten threats written on my locker so far," he shrugged.

"It'll get better, not everyone let's go of things," iroh smiled over at him.

"I don't really care, it's nothing I haven't heard before," he smirked a little as his uncle gave him a look.

"Uh.. a girl came up to me and gave me a notebook?" Zuko tried to show progress, hoping his uncle would be proud.

"A notebook?" His uncle asked.

"The one you gave me got lost... it fell out of my backpack on the bike," Zuko bit his lip to explain.

"Are you wearing your helmet still?" Iroh asked quickly.

"Yes uncle, i always wear my helmet," Zuko groaned as he went to the stairs that led to their small two room apartment on top of the tea shop.

"If I catch you not wearing the helmet-" "I wear the helmet!" Zuko called back at him as durk followed him up the stairs as Zuko opened the door to their apartment.

He took off his boots and jacket with a long tired sigh.

Going to the same school from three years ago was stupid, he hated that he had to go hack but it was the only highchair school in the small city. If he wanted to go to a different school he'd have to stay with his father and to hell with that.

Zuko ran a hand through his longer hair that tickled his neck as he grabbed a snack and sat on the couch to turn on a show for himself while he copied the notes that weird girl offered.

"So are we watching American horror story again or unsolved mysteries?" Zuko asked as durk jumped up next to him with a meow.

"Unsolved mysteries it is," he shrugged and turned on the show as he opened the latest notes the girl had. He noticed it was color coded with a few doodles in the corners of it. Zuko pursed his lips and started to copy what she had and some was in his own words, he did miss his school in Japan, it was so much more organized than American schools. But this girl seemed pretty smart, she knew what she was doing.

He felt uneasy with how kind she was though, she'd want something in return, no one here is just nice because they want too. It's never been like that, he wasn't stupid enough to immediately trust her, especially if she heard the rumors. She was surprised to hear he hasn't been in prison or wherever people are saying he was. He only spent the one night in a jail cell after he was dragged out of the school.

But he spent that three months after in a mental hospital to get the help he needed in japan, and stayed with his uncle in Japan for the next three years to hopefully live a better life. He wouldn't be where he was today without his uncle, someone who never gave up on him. He knew his uncle partly blamed himself for that week of zukos violence but that pushed him to bring the good out in Zuko.

But he'd try to do better for his uncle.

It was the least he could do for everything his uncles already done for him.