"You are seriously so lucky, do you know that? I'd kill to have been you this summer."

My eyes looked up at the group of girls leaning over my desk. They were hungry for more information, any tidbit would be enough to satisfy them at this very moment. The talk of sweet kisses and hot summer nights had that effect on my classmates. The moment they heard the story, they came flocking to where Kimi and I sat. Kimi nervously squirmed in her desk, but smiled at them.

"Osamu is so brave." Our classmate Rei sighed and the girls nodded along. I couldn't understand what the big deal about my brother was. He was inconsiderate, stubborn, and narcissistic. Yet, he had all these girls drooling all over the mere mention of him. I was about to point this out, but one look at my best friend shut me up. Kimiko had never been the center of attention, I wasn't going to ruin this for her. I'd already promised myself to support their relationship no matter how gross I found it.

"Ladies take your seats." Miss Hira's voice echoed throughout the room and the girls quickly stood up straight, for there was no room for poor posture in her class. If there was one woman we feared most throughout the land, it was our teacher. She had the ability to send shivers down your spine with just one look. That wasn't to say she was ugly. Oh, not Miss Hira was and had always been a great example of beauty, she was what girls strived to be. Her looks and the way she carried herself was what made her one of the best teachers in the academy.

We followed our routine by standing up, facing her and taking a bow. The we preceded the pledge to our Fire Lord. Here's the thing about having to look at her picture every morning… it was going to be kind of uncomfortable. While my mouth let out every word of the pledge perfectly, my mind kept apologizing to her. It would be a completely different story if I had not just returned from having had sex with her son. The guilt only presented itself the moment I had seen her eyes staring down at me that morning, though I had no regrets about spending that night with Iroh. Still, I had promised the picture of Fire Lord Izumi that I would not tell anyone about that night.

"I hope your had a wonderful summer, but we are back and I expect you all to remember everything we covered before we took our break."

"Miss Hira," Rei's hand shot up in the air. The teacher stared back at her, then nodded. Oh, this had to be good, we could always count on Rei to push her buttons. "My father signed me up for a class in Republic City this summer and though I only attended one lesson, I did get a chance to see their attire. I guess what I'm getting at is, do our uniforms really have to be so long?"

And then we proceeded to have a lecture on why we had to act AND dress like young ladies. By the time Miss Hira had finished her speech, we had wasted a good amount of time.

Rei was pleased with herself as we made our way out of the academy that afternoon. She threw her arms around Kimi and myself, pulling us closer. "Shall I tell you ladies a secret?" her voice was low and mysterious. I had to admit that I was curious to see what she was up to. "Something amazing is going to happen soon, you'll see."

"What?" Kimi's eyes were wide with anticipation, but Rei only winked and set us free before running ahead of us.

"Hey!" I yelled after her but she was out of earshot. "What's with her?"

"What do you think that was about?"

"She probably has nothing good to say, you know how she gets." Kimi nodded at me and grabbed my arm, leading the way home.

It had been two weeks since then and so far nothing. Rei kept hinting at this amazing thing, but she was so vague, we couldn't figure anything out. She was clearly enjoying this, knowing so much more about whatever was going on, while the rest of us sat around with confused faces painted on. Then one morning, she strolled into the classroom and slapped a piece of paper on our desk.

"What did I tell you?" she asked, crossing her arms and smirking down at us.

I picked the paper up, then looked back at her. "Are you serious?"

"Dead serious and guess who has the first ticket?" she pointed at herself before giggling.

"An exchange program with Republic City? That was your big secret? You said something amazing was going to happen."

"Yes, amazing for me. I'm getting out of this time capsule!" She glanced at the doorway and let out a loud sigh. "In fact, I'm leaving this afternoon. However, I have to show my replacement around."

Miss Hira was right on queue, she stepped into the classroom at the very moment. A pair of footsteps following right behind her. Immediately, we were taken aback by her. This girl looked like she had just stepped out of a Mover, everything about her was perfectly in place. She had a certain air about her, something Miss Hira had been trying to make us achieve for the better part of four years.

"Good morning, ladies. Before we commence our lessons, I would like to introduce you to a our new student. Go ahead, dear."

"Hello, my name is Zira." Her voice was soothing, it certainly matched her face. "I'm from Republic City and I'm very pleased to be joining you for the next few months."