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Ch.5 "What brings us down makes us stronger."

This day again: September 30. Each year, the same feeling off regret, remorse, and bitter sadness hitting me like an angry tornado. The one day in the year I wish I could just disappear from. If only it could just fall off the calendar, and just vanish into the oblivion. But the world is not always kind, mostly the opposite, and if we always got what we wanted, my life would be drastically changed.

Slowly, I slip on a plain gray t-shirt; my arms feeling like lead pipes hanging from my shoulders. I can feel my head drooping at a slight angle, as if my thoughts are too strong for it to handle. Carefully, I walk out the door.

"Good morning!" Azula cries jolting my head upright. Mai, Ty Lee, and she are leaning against the wall opposite me, their heads perched perfectly straight. They all have big smiles on their faces, Mai's even a little brighter than normal. Suddenly I my stomach heaves, the glistening look in their eyes not giving me a comforting feeling.

"Oh dear," Azula says feigning sympathy, "You don't look too jolly today, no indeed. Actually I heard from a boy in my class that in sixth grade you burst out in tears on this very day. In fact it looks like you are about to cry right now." I can see her purposely grinding her teeth waiting for me to answer, waiting for me to break down under her pressure.

Silently, I turn to start walking down the hallway, but Azula grabs my collar sneering, "You want to know what I think. I think since no one ever visits you and sadly you never receive any visits either, someone special must have died on this day, leaving you and your brother all by yourself; perhaps your mother or father?" My stomach flips, and then falls to the floor. I start to blink rapidly, willing myself to not cry in front of Azula no matter what. The floor shimmers under my eyes, turning an unclear color of beige.

"Do you want me to get you some tissues?" Mai says in her same monotone voice, but I can hear the mocking tone beneath it.

"What are you guys doing?" a livid voice says. I can hear the anger in his pitch, but I don't bother to look up. The unchanging floor looks too appealing in my eyes. Its hard tiles aren't spewing any hurtful words or causing the pain swelling in my chest. Although, the pain builds year after year, always feeling like it's going to burst on this awful day.

"Go away, and leave her alone. This is my last warning," The angry voice in front of me spits. A few seconds past, maybe even a few minutes, and I still don't look away from the floor.

"Katara are you okay?" A voice says gently, lightly grabbing my arm and pulling me onto the ground and against the wall. I look up into the face of Zuko, genuine worry in his features. This time I can't hold back the tears as they well up inside me eyes like a waterfall trying to break through a dam.

"What did they do?" He asks softly.

"No, it wasn't just them," I say quietly, gasping a little, "It's much deeper than that."

Surprising me, he puts his hand gently on my back. His touch is light, barely there, but I can still feel it.

"Come with me," Zuko murmurs, pulling me onto my feet and leading me somewhere unknown, "We can talk, but only if you want to."

Without protest, I walk right next to him. Silently we travel down the halls, Zuko shielding me from the view of prying eyes. I feel miserable. One of the only people I want to be strong in from of finds me a vulnerable mess, practically collapsing to the floor. I say nothing, but nothing needs to be said.

Finally we arrive at a dorm room, after what seemed like a mile long walk. One side of the room looks like a twister traveled through it, and the other side is neat and well taken care of. Zuko leads me to the clean side of the room, and gently places me on the bed. I can't help but smell the fresh musk scent of him on the blankets, even though I'm sitting up.

Zuko just stares at me, not forcing anything out I don't wish to tell. His face is placid, his eyes questioning. Slowly and deliberately he lifts his slightly bent head. A muscle twitches in his finely boned face, but every other part of him is still.

"If it makes you feel any better, I never get any visits also. I don't go home on the holidays either, but Azula does," Zuko says consciously, a look on his face hiding all emotion. His voice is quiet, not strained or unnatural, just there.

"I haven't had a real home in years, just living here or there," I say softly, awkward to my own self, "None have been great, some of them okay."

"I've lived here since the eighth grade. I came here a few weeks after my fourteenth birthday, but I'm not alone and neither are you. You have your brother, and I have my uncle. He teaches a class in the middle school," Zuko says, his voice sounding calm, but I can hear a thinness masking the serene tone.

"When I was seven, I was sent to live in a home for girls, but it didn't work out very well. Sokka and I were put into the control of a foster care program. Most people didn't want to take care of two children, especially if they come with emotional problems."

"You seem to be okay now," Zuko replies, a note of inquiry in his tone, but the question is not formed into words.

"Maybe, but I wasn't then…I suffered from terrible anxiety. I would cry all the time. I would only sleep or go in rooms that had fire extinguishers. Periodically throughout the day, I would check to make sure the stoves were turned off… and the lamps weren't too hot and take plugs out of sockets…I was always paranoid about a fire."

"A fire," Zuko says softly, reaching up a hand and touching the pink patch of burned skin on his face. "What happened because of a fire?"

"Many things," I croak, "But it was a long time ago."

The only noise vibrating off the walls in the small corridor are my squeaking shoes. Every step fills my ear with an annoying high pitched hum. Slowly I walk toward the front hall, trying to forget what just happened, praying that Zuko does too. The first three periods of the school day are over, but I still don't go to class. I have no trouble sneaking past a teacher and running straight out into the large lawns of the front entrance. Silently I walk to a large tree hidden from the windows of the school, just in case any wandering eyes peer out. I sit and just think, too many thoughts occupying my head.

"You skipping class too?" A voice says, coming from above me. Glancing up I see Jet, easily balancing on a tree branch, "You know they give detentions for that."

"What about you?" I ask brashly, "Are you excluded from detentions, or are they so used to it now that they just put you on the list every week."

"I'm not going to lie, I do get my fair share, but luckily some of the teachers have a soft spot for me."

"Yeah, I bet you can smooth talk your way out of anything, unlike Sokka who just gets the detention and has to deal with it," I say freely, relaxing in the dark shade of the tree.

Jet just chuckles, and drops down gracefully landing effortlessly next to me.

"Why are you skipping?" Jet asks. "You don't strike me as the person who would normally do this."

I breathe in deeply, and sigh. "I guess I just felt like it."

Jet glances at me out of the corner of his eye, knowing I'm not telling the whole truth, but doesn't question any further. A breeze picks up in the air, and the late summer clouds change shape quickly in the sky, forming many different objects reminding me of past memories. The atmosphere is peaceful, showing me all the glorious things to be enjoyed. The heavy, rich scent of coming fall is in the air, and I feel the need to start afresh. Time has past, and now I can stop thinking about memories I wish to suppress. It's time to start living.

Hope you like it. It's shorter than others, but I felt like this was a good place to end it. I had written a lot of it, but didn't like it, so I had to redo it, so my update was kind of late. Please review.