Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 0 days)

The car ride through the small town was torture. Most car rides were torture but at least some provided something interesting to look at or good conversation with friends. This trip provided none of that. The town was beyond boring, almost everything looked exactly the same as it did to all other towns they’d been before, and the car was dead silent. 

Zuko moved a tad in his seat every few minutes but beyond that there was hardly any sound. Azula would try to give Zuko a look to get his attention—not wanting to be the one who spoke first—but she never could. Their case worker, who was driving the car, kept his eyes trained on the road and never even tried to make small talk. Mostly because he didn’t know if the two would take to it or not.

Finally, the map, as if it too could no longer take the silence, declared, “Your destination is ten minutes away. Take a left at the next exit then turn right at South Pole road.”

“Alright.” Piandao sighed, “We’re almost here.”

“Yay.” Zuko grumbled.

“Hey. None of that. Can you two at least try to be good?”

“We’re delightful.” Azula said with the fakest smile she could muster, “What could they have to complain about?”

“Do you two realize how lucky you were to find a family willing to take you both?” Piandao asked, “It wouldn’t kill you to try and meet this new foster family with a bit of-“

Zuko scoffed at Piandao’s words and crossed his arms over his chest, “What? Should we be grateful? Happy that they realized they get a check for taking us in? Or that we can be some charity story they show off to their friends?” 

The case worker sighed. He knew this would be a challenge. It would be hard for two teenagers to honestly believe anyone would want them, especially with some of the families Zuko and Azula already had. Still, after three years with the sixteen and fourteen year old he truly hoped that this family would be good for them. Adoption wasn’t looking too good for either of them at this point. Foster families were the only way Zuko and Azula stayed fed, safe and together….or maybe just one or two out of those three.

“I’m only saying that this family might be different. You could be a bit more optimistic.”

“That’s what you said about our last five foster families.” Zuko reminded him, “You were only right about one.”

Piandao winced, “Alright, but I have a good feeling about these people. You’ll see.”

“Whatever you say.” Azula sighed.

“Your destination is on the right. 04 South Pole Road.” The destination lady said before turning off. Piandao drove into the driveway of the house, giving the siblings a perfect view of their new home.

The house was two stories—though they assumed there was a basement—with sky blue paint decorating the whole house except the windows which were outlined in white. The door was a dark red color with the number in gold on it and two trees hanging over the front door. It was out of sight but the siblings assumed there was a backyard as well given that this looked like a house that would have a large backyard for little kids and a dog to play in.

“Come on. Time to meet your new foster family.” Piandao got out of the car and opened the back so that they could collect their individual small suitcases. Three years in the foster system did a lot to their personal possessions. Azula, personally, had started out with six large bags of stuff when they were first taken by social services but all that had dwindled down to a small case of her most valuable and necessary possessions. Zuko had two bags but one was his stuff and the other was an emergency bag, a bag filled with food, water bottles, cash, a couple items of clothing, and a map.

The front door opened before they arrived, revealing a couple: a man and a woman. They both had dark skin with brown hair and blue eyes. The woman was a bit bigger but looked like she had the strength to punch someone’s lights out if need be and the man was short but held himself with the same power that their father had.

“Zuko! Azula!” The woman smiled, walked over to them, “It’s great to meet you two! Let me carry your bags for you.”

“You don’t have to do that.” Zuko told her, “We can carry them ourselves.”

“I insist.” Piandao stepped in.

“Thank you for the kind offer but they prefer to keep their bags with them.” He said.

Kya seemed to realize her mistake and backtracked, looking embarrassed, “You two must be exhausted. Why don’t we show you a quick tour of the house and show you your rooms.” Rooms?

“Rooms?” Azula asked, “As in…we aren’t sharing?”

“No. We have enough space that all you kids should be able to have your own room.” She told her. 

While Zuko and Azula were completely shocked—usually they had to share a room or shared with other foster kids or the bio kids—Piandao stepped in, “Zuko, Azula, these are your foster parents: Kya South and Hakoda South.”

“And our children are currently in school but they’ll be home soon.” Kya told them, “We also have a dog that our neighbor is currently watching so you two aren’t bombarded by him.”

“That sounds lovely.” Piandao said, “Do you mind if we come in?”

“Of course not!” Hakoda walked out of the doorway to shake Piandao’s hand then turned to Zuko and Azula.

“It’s nice to meet you both.”

“Nice to meet you too, sir.” Zuko said first. Azula remained silent.

“There’s no need for that. You can call me Hakoda.” He said. It was the safest bet right now for names. Better than them calling him Mr. South or Sir.

The five walked into the house in painful, awkward silence. Kya and Hakoda knew it was going to be awkward at the start but they could work through it. They had been prepared for this. They looked at one another and nodded: a home tour.

“So, this is the kitchen. You two are welcome to come down here and get something to eat whenever you want. If there’s anything you want and we don’t have it you can put it on the shopping list right here.” Kya gestured to the refrigerator where there hung a piece of paper and a pen, “Family dinner is every night but if you have homework or sports or some other commitment just tell us so that we know.”

They walked through a small hallway connected to the left side of the kitchen which spat them out into a living room. The living room had a couch, chair and carpeted floor with a nice tv on the other side for everyone to watch. All along the mantel were pictures of the family and some pictures of random people.

“This is the living room. We’ll usually watch family movies here but it’s also a nice place to go if you want to sit and relax after school.” Kya told them.

“Outside we have a deck which overlooks the backyard. It’s getting a little too cold for it but when it warms back up it’s always nice to sit out there.” Hakoda added.

The couple then gestured to the final hallway and pointed to a door at the very end of it, “That’s our room. We will be downstairs while you kids are upstairs but if you need anything, you can come down and get us.” Zuko and Azula remained silent, only giving slight nods to confirm that they were listening.

The five then walked up the stairs to see a long hallway that stretched across the entire second floor. Kya pointed to the first open door they saw after climbing the stairs.

“Zuko, this is your room.” She said, “Azula, your room is right next to his.” Slowly, the siblings poked their heads into their rooms.

Zuko almost dropped his jaw at the size of his room. After three years of never having his own space, seeing a bed neatly laying against the wall, a nightstand, a closet, a bookshelf and a desk and chair all laid out in his room was an amazing sight. The room was pretty bare though. The only color that was added to it was the bed which was dark red. Zuko also took the opportunity to look at Azula’s room which was pretty much a copy and paste of his except her bed was light red.

“Piandao told us you like the color red.” Kya nervously explained, “We can go to the store later if you don’t like it.”

“No!” The siblings quickly cried, not wanting to anger their foster parents on their first day.

“It’s okay. We do like the color red.” Zuko said, “It looks really nice.”

“That’s great.” Kya smiled.

“There are also snacks in your rooms.” Hakoda pointed to the small bedside table which held some goldfish, chocolate chip cookies, fruit, chips and a bottle of water, “Those belong to you. Feel free to have some whenever you want. Azula, Piandao told us about your peanut allergy so we made sure that all the food in your room is nut free.”

“Oh, um, thank you.”

“Well, these are your rooms and then this is the bathroom right here.” Kya gestured to the door that was on the other side of the second hallway. The two hallways made a sort of T shape with the second one containing the doors to Katara and Sokka’s room and the bathroom, “You can fill the room with whatever you need and we keep this room stocked with medicine, toothpaste, extra toothbrushes, whatever you need.”

“And that’s the whole house. There is a basement but it’s not finished yet so please don’t go down there. Not much but it’s livable.” Hakoda nervously smiled.

Azula and Zuko remained quiet, “Zuko? Azula?” Piandao whispered. He gestured slightly to the adults.

“Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. South.” They said.

“Alright. I’ll be heading out now. You have their registration for school and medical information?” Piandao asked.

“Yes. We got all the emails and everything has been printed out.” Hakoda confirmed.

“Good.” He then turned to the kids, “Why don’t you two get all situated here? I need to talk to Kya and Hakoda for a moment.” He said.

The siblings shared a quick glance but left to grab their bags—which had been left downstairs—anyway. Piandao turned to the couple. 

“I assume you’ve both been prepped on them?” They nodded, “Good. I promise they’re good kids. Azula excels in school and Zuko is an amazing artist and writer, but they…they need time. They’ll be a bit resistant at first which is completely normal.”

“Of course. We were told about their father. We can’t exactly blame them for being skittish.” Kya said.

“Yes, well, if at any point that skittishness turns into full blown anger make sure to give me a call.” 

By now, Piandao was able to tell when a foster family would not be a good fit and when they would be. Some of the foster families Zuko and Azula had been with in the past were horrible fits and he shudders at remembering the two calling him and begging him to take them away. Piandao liked to think the agency did a good job of turning away those who just saw foster kids as paychecks but they weren’t always successful. The fact that Zuko and Azula started out as genuinely curious and scared children and had now become cynical and jaded teenagers was proof of that to Piandao. But he had faith in this family. Something about them told Piandao this would be different.

“We will.” Kya confirmed.

“Good. I should get going.” When Piandao walked down the stairs, he was greeted by the sight of the two standing next to their bags.

“Done with your super secret talk?” Azula asked.

The man sighed, a hand on his forehead, “Please give this family a chance. Just one chance.”

“Piandao-“

“Please.” His voice was close to breaking. The two suddenly found that they had lost the will to yell, to be sarcastic and snide at their case worker, “I-I don’t know if another family will be willing to take in two teenagers again. This could be the last family where you two get to stay together.”

“We’ll give them a chance.” Zuko whispered.

“Thank you.” Piandao whispered, hugging the two teenagers, “You two have my number if anything happens. Goodbye! I’ll stop by every so often to check in.” With that, the case worker walked out of the house leaving the couple to look at the siblings.

“So….have you two had lunch?”

——————————

The hours waiting for Katara and Sokka to return were agonizing. Azula and Zuko didn’t speak unless they were responding with yes or no to a question Kya or Hakoda had asked of them. The two hadn’t eaten so the couple decided to make them something. 

“What do you like to eat?” Kya asked.

“….”

“Will you eat chicken?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Then I’ll make some baked chicken. Would you be okay with some fries as a side?” Hakoda asked.

“Okay.”

Silence filled the room again pretty quickly. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of cooking and machines running. The silence continued on for multiple minutes, Azula and Zuko kept their eyes trained on the table to avoid looking at their new foster parents, until a large sound behind them made the two jump.

“AH!” Zuko grabbed Azula and forced her behind him as the two whipped around to see what the noise could be.

“What’s wrong?!” Hakoda and Kya also turned around when they heard the two scream.

“Nothing. Nothing.” Zuko was blushing now at the realization of what had frightened him.

“Oh!” Hakoda realized, “It’s just the pipes.” He said.

Under the stairs was a small little door which no one had really mentioned before on the initial tour. Hakoda opened the door to reveal that it was a tiny room, only about the size of one adult or so, with pipes inside. 

“See? Nothing too dangerous or scary. The pipes make that noise every few minutes.” He explained, “But I promise there’s no one in there. We’re not as horrible as Harry Potter’s parents.”

“They’re his aunt and uncle.” Kya argued, “You should know this.”

“Parents. Aunt and uncle. Close enough.”

“Not close enough! You’re messing with the fabric of Harry Potter.” Kya laughed.

"I'm so sorry. Please, forgive my horrible and shameful action of getting two fictional characters mixed up." Kya playfully hit her husband on the head.

“All I'm saying is there is still a big difference between Harry’s parents and his aunt and uncle.” Kya said, “What do you two think?”

Zuko and Azula looked at one another, trying to find the right answer. Did they agree with Hakoda or Kya? Azula, deciding on an answer for them, responded with, “We’ve never really read or watched Harry Potter.” It wasn’t a complete lie. They had read the first book when they were initially brought into foster care and then one of their old families had the second book but they never saw the movies or read anything beyond that.

“Well, I know what my choice for family movie night is going to be.” Kya said, “No children should go this long without Harry Potter.”

“Or lunch.” Hakoda snickered.

“Yeah, yeah. The chicken is almost done. Why don’t you get them plates?”

Within minutes, the food was set down in front of them. Kya also prepared a plate for Hakoda and herself so they could sit across from the teenagers. Silence returned to the kitchen, minus the pipes, as they all ate. 

Azula and Zuko had a specific frequency that they ate at. Never fast enough that they could be accused of stuffing themselves and be yelled at by their foster parents but also never slow enough that the food could be taken away before they were done. It took time to master but they had it down by now. By the time they were done, they had perfectly timed it to when Kya and Hakoda finished eating as well.

“Do you two have any other items except for the bags?” Hakoda asked.

“No.” Zuko told him.

“What did you bring?”

“Toothbrushes, toothpaste, chargers, a couple books, hairbrush, clothes, medicine and pictures.” Azula easily recited.

“Do you need anything else? We could go to the store?”

“Oh, no!” Azula quickly said. She hadn’t meant to make it seem like they needed more stuff, “We’re good! Really, we have enough.”

“Are you sure? We could go to the store and get you two some stuff to make your rooms feel more personal.” Kya offered.

“No, no, we’re okay. We have everything we need.” Azula said again, “Actually, we had a long drive here, could we rest for a bit?” She asked. Zuko and her braced for the response. Would they be angry at them for not wanting to spend time with them? Accuse them of being ungrateful?

“Of course! Head upstairs and rest. We put school supplies in your desks so feel free to take a look at that and see if we missed anything.”

“Thank you!” The two ran before Kya or Hakoda could change their minds. They ran all the way up to their rooms and hid against the wall. 

Less than two hours they had been in this house and already they were hiding. Not because Kya and Hakoda were loud or angry, but because they were kind and seemed to care about them. To the siblings, this was worse. At least when parents were angry they were upfront, but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t take long for Kya and Hakoda to show their true colors. All it was now was just a waiting game.

—--------------------

Katara and Sokka came home with a slamming door. The noise startled the new siblings who were still hiding in their room. Azula slipped out of her room and into Zuko’s. They hid against the wall so that no one could see them.

“Biological children are here.” Azula whispered.

“I heard. How do you want to do this?”

Azula bit her lip, “Mmm…I think we should see what they do first. It’s better if we let them talk first and see what they’re like so that we can tell Piandao when we have to leave.” He wouldn’t be able to accuse them of anything if the bio kids were hostile to them first.

“Good idea.” Zuko nodded, “You ready?”

“Not at all.”

“Me neither. Let’s go.”

All Azula and Zuko had been told about Kya and Hakoda’s current children was their name and ages. They had looked them up and found Instagram accounts for the two but they had no other information beyond those three pieces. When they walked downstairs, they were instantly greeted by the sight of the two kids. The girl gave them a huge smile while the boy looked at them kinda weird.

“Hello!” Katara chirped, “My name’s Katara and this is my brother, Sokka! It’s great to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Zuko said, “So….you were at school?” Azula had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Of course they were at school. Where else would they be?

“Yeah. Our parents say you’ll join us on Monday.” Katara said.

The foster kids looked towards Kya and Hakoda, “We wanted to give you a few days to settle into the house before you went to school. You’ll have the weekend and then you’ll start school on Monday.” Kya explained.

“Then I guess we start classes Monday.” Zuko confirmed.

“You’ll love it! Four Nation High School is great! And we can show you around.” 

“That’s great. Thanks.” The tone of Zuko’s voice made it clear that he was hardly as invested in the conversation as Katara was. Katara backed off, giving Sokka a look that begged him to take over the conversation.

“....Were you involved in any clubs in your old school?” Sokka asked.

“I was on the debate team for a few months and our old school had a law club that I really liked.” Azula admitted.

“You’re interested in law?” Hakoda asked

Sokka swooped in first, “That's amazing! Our school has a law club if you want to join that. I'm sure you'd do great." 

Azula instantly went stiff and wrapped her arms around her body, “It’s okay. I never got that involved. I had to leave because we switched foster families and our last high school didn’t have a law club.”

“Oh.” Sokka went quiet.

After about two or three minutes of no one saying a word, Kya finally cried out, “Who wants some ice cream? That little place in town reopened.”

“The place with the chocolate cake batter ice cream!?” Katara asked, “Yes! Yes!”

“Finally! I thought they’d be closed forever.”

“I’ll go get my purse. I think I left it upstairs.” Kya said. She took off before anyone could say another word.

“We-um-we don’t have the money.” Zuko told her, “But feel free to go without us or we can go and just stay in the car while you go inside.” Some foster families didn’t trust them alone in the house. One of their old foster dad’s specifically told them that they would probably steal from him and flee so they would never be allowed in the house unsupervised.

“Oh! No! No, you don’t pay. We’ll pay.” Hakoda said, “You kids never have to worry about that.”

“What?” Azula asked, “Are-are you sure?” Most families wanted them to pull their weight for any kind of family activity. No family had yet to tell them they had to pay rent or anything like that but for family outings like parks, ice cream, movies, etc, Azula and Zuko were usually expected to pay for themselves.

“Of course! The state gives us plenty of money for an ice cream trip. You two just come along and we’ll get whatever you want.” Hakoda promised. He tried to set a hand on Azula’s shoulder but the fourteen year old backed away from him and the sixteen year old flinched.

“Okay.” Zuko’s tone was suspicious and Azula still looked off. It was as if the two expected him to suddenly change his mind and laugh in their faces.

“Come on!” Kya chirped, coming back downstairs, “Let’s go get some ice cream!”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 1 day)

Since all the kids were upstairs, Hakoda and Kya usually used the downstairs bathroom to shower and brush their teeth before bed. It doubled now as their own bathroom and a shared one since it was right across the hall from them. Hakoda was finishing up getting ready for bed and found Kya already in their king sized blue bed.

“You okay?” Hakoda asked, noticing his wife’s pressed together lips.

“I’m okay. I’m just tired.” Kya admitted, “We did it. 24 hours with foster kids.”

“That’s a milestone?”

“I’m saying it is.”

“Ah, okay.” Hakoda lifted the blanket and got in bed with his wife, “So, how are you feeling?”

“About Azula and Zuko?” He nodded, “They need time. They’ll come around but they just need time. I don’t blame them for being quiet either. Apparently they’ve had five different foster homes before us.” Kya said.

“What are you reading? Their file?” 

“Of course.”

“Kya, you’ve already read that thing front to back.” Hakoda said.

“We need to know these kids. If we do then we have a better chance of providing them with a warm and welcoming home.” Kya argued.

“I agree but we also need to get to know them by spending time with them and not simply reading their file for the 50th time.” Hakoda gently took Kya’s phone from her.

“…What if we’re bad foster parents, Hakoda? What if we screw up?” Kya asked.

Gently, Hakoda kissed his wife, “We won’t screw up. We raised Katara and Sokka, didn’t we? I mean, I know I did most of the work-“ Hakoda laughed when Kya hit him with her pillow, “What?”

“You did most of the work, huh?” She chuckled.

“I think I did.” He laughed.

“I beg to differ.” Kya said, “But I get your point. I just hope everything works out. You know who is coming back tomorrow and Bato is coming over for dinner. I’m hoping that’ll be a nice way to introduce the kids to him.” 

“I’m sure it will be.” Hakoda said, “It’ll take time for them to come out of their shells but if we’re patient I’m sure we can get there.”

“I agree.” Kya nodded, “Alright. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Kya.” Hakoda whispered, “Sweet dreams.”

——————————

It was early morning when Katara woke up. Her eyes blinked open when she heard a noise coming from the hallway. For a moment, she was just confused because there was no way Sokka was up this early. He usually slept until 12 on Sundays. Then she remembered. They had foster siblings now.

Feeling like it was rude to let them be awake without anyone else around, Katara rose from her bed and poked her head outside. The two were in the bathroom, brushing their teeth as quickly as possible.

“Hello.” Katara said, “Good morning!”

Both siblings went quiet until Zuko finally mustered a quiet ‘good morning’ in response.

“How did you sleep?” 

“Well.” Zuko said, “The beds were very nice. Thank you for the rooms.” He didn’t want to seem ungrateful. 

“Of course! I don’t know what your rooms were like with your other foster families but I hope these rooms were just as good.” Katara’s desperate attempt to make any kind of conversation fell flat. Zuko and Azula only stared at her like they were waiting for her to need something, “So……do you want to do anything for breakfast or have you already eaten or…?”

“We’re not hungry.” Azula’s voice was a tad off, sounding kind of angry. Zuko’s heart immediately started to race as he stared at her like she was an idiot. Why was she trying to fight with the biological kids?!

Katara must have heard it because her tone shifted as well, “I was just trying to see if you were hungry. It’s not like you two talk much.”

“Oh?” Azula asked, “I’m sorry we don’t live up to your expectations. A word of advice, next time you want foster kids who will talk your ear off: get yourself a little kid, not two teenagers.” 

Katara gritted her teeth, “I didn’t mean it like that. I just-”

“Then how did you mean it? Because it sounds like you’re mad we’re not some poor little kids who will spend every minute talking to our ‘new siblings’.” Zuko grabbed Azula’s hand and pulled her back into the bathroom.

“I’m sorry about her. She just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We’re good on breakfast, but thank you so much for the offer.” His smile was nervous and shaky but Katara retreated back to her room. Once he was sure she was gone, Zuko turned towards Azula, “What is wrong with you!?” He hissed, keeping his voice to a low whisper level, “Fighting with their daughter! Are you trying to set a new record for how fast we can get kicked out of a house?”

“If I said yes would that make it okay?” Azula smirked.

“Azula.” Zuko grumbled, “This is a family that was willing to take both of us. Why are you trying to ruin that?”

“I’m not trying to ruin anything. I simply am refusing to be looked at like some poor lost kitten in the rain.” Azula snapped, “You know how these things go, Zuzu. People care about helping ‘the poor abused little kids’ then realize what that actually means and kick us to the curb. Excuse me for wanting the process to go a little faster.” 

“How long have we been in foster care?”

“What?” Azula asked, taken aback by her brother’s question.

“How long?”

“Three years.” She answered.

“I only have two more years left in the system, Zula. Then I can age out and adopt you and we can get away from here but that will be much harder if we get kicked out of our sixth home.” Zuko argued. That had been their plan for the last few years. In their current state—Pennsylvania—a person had to be 21 to adopt a minor, but in their home state—New York—you only had to be 18. Once Zuko turned 18, the two could leave and find someplace to stay back home while Zuko worked with the court to adopt Azula. They could stay with friends for a while to get themselves on their feet, but at least they would be able to stick together.

“Two more years.” Azula grumbled, “Fine. I’ll play nice.”

“Thank you.”

“Now can you go? I need the bathroom.” Azula said, “Some of us have actual beauty that takes time.”

“Oh, Lala, it’s gonna take more time than we have left on this planet.” Azula shoved him out of the bathroom as he laughed and returned to his room.

—----------------------------

Most of Sunday was spent lounging around. Even if the family wasn’t already nervous and on edge thanks to the new foster kids, Sunday would still be a day to do pretty much nothing. Katara was finishing up some work for a class while Sokka played a game on his playstation that he had gotten for Christmas. As usual, Azula and Zuko’s doors remained wide open. For most of the day, they were trying to get a plan together for school the next day.

“Kids!” Kya’s voice called out from downstairs, “Dinner!”

“What’s for dinner?” Katara asked.

“Some baked chicken, corn and rolls.” 

“Ohhhh. Smells delicious!” Sokka yelled, running down the stairs. Kya and Hakoda chucked at their son’s words. The boy could probably eat everything at the table and still be hungry. Hakoda always said he got it from him, “I’m gonna get a Pepsi from the fridge outside. Anyone want one?”

One by one, everyone said no, minus Azula and Zuko, who hadn’t said a word since coming downstairs. Once Sokka had left, Kya went to set down everyone’s plates in front of them.

“We have more food so tell me if you guys want seconds or anything.” She said.

“Thank you, Mrs. South.” Zuko said.

“You don’t-…you’re welcome.” Kya really hated Zuko and Azula calling her that, but it was about baby steps. They’d call her something else when they were confident enough to.

“Do we wait for Sokka?” Azula asked.

“No. If you’re hungry, go ahead. Katara’s already eating.” Kya pointed out.

“It’s not my fault Sokka can’t find a soda fast enough.” She said, eating a piece of chicken she cut up.

“Well-“ The sound of barking cut Azula off.

“Blue!” Sokka yelled from outside.

Because Sokka had just stepped outside, he didn’t close the door and the samoyed dog came running into the house. The medium sized puffy white dog looked around until his eyes landed on the family and the food. Hakoda was out of his seat and holding the dog before he could get far.

“Woah, Blue. Easy boy. The food is not for you.” Blue whimpered.

“Blue!” Katara cried, running over to her dog and proceeding to get face licks, “I missed you too, boy.”

“Are you two okay?” Kya asked.

“Fine.” Zuko said, “It was just sudden.” 

“Azula?” Kya asked.

Azula must have realized that she looked scared because she quickly changed herself up, “S-sorry. I just forgot you had a dog.”

“Not a fan of dogs?” Kya asked.

“I’m more of a cat person.” She admitted.

“Blue is a sweet boy and he’s been fully trained. He won’t hurt you.” Kya said, “He’ll lick your face and might steal your food, but he won’t hurt you.” Azula just nodded. Kya decided not to comment on the fact that her fingers were still gripping the chair like it was a lifeline.

“Sorry! Sorry!” A person yelled, “He just ran out of the car.” A man with long brown hair and the same tan skin that Hakoda, Kya, Katara and Sokka had ran into the house.

“Uncle Bato!” Katara yelled.

“Hey, kiddo! How’s it going?” Bato asked.

“Great!” 

“That’s great!” Bato ruffled her hair a little, “And what about-Oh! You must be Zuko and Azula. It’s nice to meet you!”

“Nice to meet you too, sir.” They both said.

“There’s no need to call me that. You can call me Bato.” He said, “I’m Katara and Sokka’s uncle. I live down the road at 08 and you can come and see me whenever you need a break from these two.”

“Thank you, Bato.” Hakoda mumbled, “Thank you so much.”

“I’m just making sure they know that they have a place to go if you two are being annoying.” Bato said, “Oh! Dinner?”

“Only you Bato would come in, call us annoying and then ask to eat our food.” Kya said.

“I did not call you annoying. I said you could be annoying. And you can’t just kick me out and make me go hungry.”

“You have a full fridge at home.”

“But nothing that’s cooked and ready to eat.” Bato added.

“Fine. Fine. Pull up a chair.” Hakoda said.

“Push over.” Kya chuckled.

“You love me.” Hakoda smirked.

“That I do.” Kya kissed her husband’s cheek then turned to put food on everyone’s plate.

Within two minutes, everyone was sitting down at the table with a plate of food. Azula and Zuko remained silent, only speaking up when someone asked them a question, while everyone else spent the night chatting. Hakoda was in the middle of listening to Katara talk about her project when he saw Zuko wince in pain. 

“Zuko?” He asked, “Are you okay?”

“Fine. I’m fine.” He said, a hand on his scar, “I’m sorry for disturbing the meal.” He kept his face half hidden behind his hair, “Could I please be excused?” He asked.

“O-of course.” Hakoda said.

Zuko quickly shot up from his chair and raced upstairs. His medicine was still in his bag in his room. He hadn’t put it out yet because he and Azula had been slowly adding their items to the upstairs bathroom to see if Katara and Sokka would mess with their stuff or not. He took out his medicine and opened his phone camera to act as a mirror.

“Ugh-ow.” Zuko gently applied the gel to his burn, careful to avoid his eye and not press down too hard. 

“Zuko?”

Hakoda.

“Sir! I’m sorry!” Should he have specified that he wanted to go upstairs? Or that he wanted to take his medicine? Maybe he was supposed to come up to hit him for disturbing the nice dinner Kya had made? 

“Zuko, why are you apologizing? You don’t have to apologize.” Hakoda said, “I just came up here to make sure you’re okay.” He tried to walk into his room but the teenager flinched, “Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. I’m sor-I mean I was just coming up for some of my medicine.” Zuko weakly held up the small tube of gel, “I need to use it whenever my scar starts to hurt.”

“Is that a common thing?” Hakoda asked, “For your scar to hurt?” 

Zuko pressed his lips together. Was it better to lie and make Hakoda feel more at ease or to tell the truth and have Hakoda not be mad at him later for lying?

“It happens from time to time, but it’s not a big deal.” Half truth and half lie.

“Not a big deal? Have you been to a doctor for this?” 

“Not really. I mean I see a doctor every so often but that’s more to just check the scar.” He replied.

“When was the last time you went?” Hakoda asked.

When was the last time he went? Oh…it would probably have been with their fifth foster family. So, probably not that long ago. Maybe a couple months? A year?

“My last family took me a few times.” Zuko said. He remembered going with his old foster mother to the doctor at least three times because they would get pizza after, “But I haven’t been since.”

“Has it been getting worse?” Hakoda asked.

“I have good and bad days.” He admitted, “But I’m really fine. It’s not that big a deal. I just need my medicine and then I’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure? We have your medical forms. It would be no trouble to set up a trip to the doctor and-“

“No! No! I’m okay! Really!” Hakoda raised an eyebrow at the teenager’s words but he didn’t press the issue.

“Alright. Well, tell me if it gets worse. Do you think you’ll come back downstairs or do you want to stay up here?” Hakoda asked.

Why did this man have to ask him questions he didn’t know the answer to? He wanted to give the right answer. He really did. But he just didn’t know what exactly Hakoda wanted him to do. Did he want him to remain upstairs so he didn’t ruin the dinner anymore than he already had? Or did he want him to come back downstairs to face everyone and so he could keep an eye on him? 

“I’ll….stay up here?” Internally, Zuko braced for Hakoda to grab him or yell. Instead, the older man only nodded.

“Alright. I’ll check on you again before bed. Goodnight, Zuko.”

“Goodnight, Mr. South.”

———————————

About two hours later, everyone was back upstairs and getting ready for bed. Since they all had school and work the next day, everyone was filing into their rooms early to ensure a good night’s rest or, at least, to be loud in a more isolated setting. Kya made her way up the steps a little while after everyone had gone upstairs to make sure Azula and Zuko were ready for school the next day. She found Zuko lying in his bed, seemingly asleep, and turned off the light for him, closing his door. It was still so odd to her that he and Azula kept the doors wide open. 

“Azula?” Kya asked.

“Yes?” 

“Just checking on you before your first day. Are you ready?” 

“Yes. I have my backpack, notebook, pencils, and money for food.” Azula was actually quite proud of the bit of money she had kept together for school lunches. In her last foster home, she had gotten a job, her first one, and her foster parents let her keep all the money to spend on herself. 

“And clothes and everything for tomorrow?” Kya asked, “You’ll need to get up and get out the door quickly for the bus.”

“Bus?” Azula asked.

“Yes. Only Zuko is old enough to drive and he doesn’t have his license yet, so you four will need to take the bus to school. I have work in the morning but Hakoda will be here in his office to make sure your morning goes smoothly.” Kya spoke with such kindness but Azula could feel her heart pounding. She hadn’t been prepared for that! She’d have to make sure she had an alarm set and get into the bathroom before the bio kids because they’d probably take long on purpose and-

“Are these your clothes?” Kya asked.

Azula turned her attention toward the drawer that the woman was looking into. Azula had opened it a couple minutes earlier because she had been looking for something to wear for school. She didn’t have many clothes, but it was enough to survive and she could always treat herself to something new if she had the extra money—which never happened.

“Yes. Why? Is something wrong?”

“No! No, it’s just….I don’t know. I never saw you as a pink girl.” Kya admitted.

Azula’s clothing was very pink. Her shirts were all some variation of pink or reddish color and her pants were either jeans or brightly colored yoga pants. 

“My mom—my biological mom—she always got me pink clothes and then all my foster moms before assumed that since I’m a girl I love pink.” Azula caught herself too late, “But I do like it! I like all the girly stuff that a normal teenage girl should!”

Kya chuckled, “Azula, it’s okay if you don’t like pink. Do you want to go shopping next weekend? We can get you different color shirts or get shirts with symbols on them. Whatever you want.”

“I…I can’t afford that.” The fourteen year old whispered.

“What?” Kya asked, unable to hear her.

She shook her head, “So….I could, theoretically, get a dark blue t-shirt?” Azula asked, “Or an…AC/DC shirt?”

She waited for the inevitable sighing, the raised eyebrow, the questioning of if she really was a girl. She was greeted with, “Of course! That sounds like an awesome shirt! I actually have an old AC/DC shirt if you want to borrow it for tomorrow? It might be a bit big on you but it could work.”

“Wait! I-I can wear that? Out in public? To school?” Azula asked.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t you be able to?” Kya asked.

Azula took in a large breath, “No reason. C-Could I wear it?” The teenager made sure to keep her voice at a low volume. Maybe the shirt was only for Kya because she was an adult or something?

“Sure! Let me go grab it! I’ll lay it out on your bed.” Azula watched Kya happily go down the stairs to retrieve her shirt. A shirt that was definitely not the typical bright pink with flowers outfit that her foster moms usually had her wear. As she watched Kya disappear downstairs and heard her enter her bedroom, Azula couldn’t help feeling a slight bit of ease. Even if it was only a small and fleeting feeling.

—-----------------------

“Everyone ready?” Hakoda asked.

“As we’ll ever be.” Sokka grumbled, sticking a piece of toast in his mouth.

“Don’t worry, buddy. You’ll be driving in no time and then you won’t have to take the bus anymore.” 

“Yeah. You can be my personal chauffeur.” Katara chuckled.

“In your dreams.”

“In my, very possible, dreams.” Katara corrected, “Where are Azula and Zuko?”

Blue answered his owner by barking at the door, whining as he scratched and looked outside. Sure enough, Azula and Zuko were already sitting outside on the curb. Hakoda had to give it to them, they were fast.

He turned back to Sokka and Katara, “That reminds me. You two better look out for them today. This is a new school and they don’t know anyone.” 

“We will.” Katara promised.

“But what if they don’t want to be around us or act weird?” Sokka asked.

“If they don’t want to socialize then you can’t force them to. They need time. But they are not weird kids-”

“They never close their doors and they get all quiet whenever Katara or me are around them.” Sokka said, “I mean…they’re out on the curb instead of in here with us.”

Hakoda let out a small sigh, “Listen, I know that them being here is….different but you have to try. These kids have been through a lot. They could use some friends and, right now, you two are the first two they got.”

Both Hakoda and Kya had been very clear to Sokka and Katara about how to act when Zuko and Azula came. It was going to be a transition, yes, but the parents expected that their children could handle it. Not to mention they had been the ones to first suggest fostering a child and had shown their parents all the classes and forms they had to fill out. Still, they knew that Katara and Sokka probably weren’t completely ready or able to fully understand why Azula and Zuko had to live with them.

“Okay.” Sokka and Katara said.

“Good. Now go before you miss the bus.” He ruffled their hair as they walked out the door and out to the curb. When Azula and Zuko saw them, they stood up just as the bus pulled up. One by one the four got on, the bus closed its door and then drove off. Hakoda looked at Blue, who offered a soft whimper, “I know, boy, I know. I really hope everything goes okay.”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 2 days)

Zuko and Azula had been to a number of schools before. When they lived with Ozai and Ursa, they attended private school for a number of years. When they were taken away and given to the state, they started attending public school. At first it was a transition, and a bit of a scary one, but after 3 years of switching schools and making their way through middle school, the siblings were used to it. Plus, this was the first time in a couple of years where they got to be in the same school. 

Azula was entering high school as a freshman and Zuko as a junior. 

“Here we are.” Katara said, “Do you have your schedules?” She asked.

“Yes.” Azula said.

“…..Can I see it?” Katara asked. 

Azula gave Katara a small glare but pulled out her phone and showed her schedule to the other fourteen year old.

Katara took her phone, holding it close as the four walked off the bus, before reviewing Azula’s schedule, “Oh! You got Bumi! He’s good!”

“Bumi? The guy’s insane.” Sokka argued.

“He’s not insane. He just has a different way of teaching.”

“By different way you mean taking everyone outside to ‘listen to the Earth’”

Katara rolled her eyes, “Don’t listen to Sokka.” She said, gazing back down at the phone, “This looks good. Do you want me to show you where they are? We have some time.”

Azula looked back at Zuko then at Katara, raising an eyebrow, “You would do that?” She wanted to socialize with Azula outside their house. Usually the biological kids just avoided her and Zuko when they weren’t forced to interact or they would socialize for the sole purpose of bullying them. 

Although it could always be Katara trying to show her pity. Like she thought she wouldn’t know what to do without help. 

“Of course!” Katara chirped, “Come on!” With that, she grabbed Azula’s hand and tore off towards the school. Azula tried to put up a bit of a fight to being dragged away but decided it was for the best to just go along with Katara. 

“Can I see your schedule?” Sokka asked, “You’re a junior, right?”

“Yeah.” Zuko confirmed, handing him his phone.

“Okay….Looks like you and Azula both lucked out. These teachers are really-Oh! Wait!”

“What?” Zuko asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just that this one teacher, Zhao, is…he’s just the worst. He has a reputation for being the worst teacher here but no one does anything because he’s best friends with the principal.” Sokka told him.

Zuko wanted to scoff. After everything he’d dealt with, this Zhao guy would probably be a piece of cake to deal with. If he was honest, Zuko was more worried about the other students than some middle aged man who had nothing better to do than take his aggression out on high schoolers.

The school bell suddenly rang, making Sokka and Zuko look at one another then down the hallway, “Your first class is in room 203. Do you-“

“I can find it.” Zuko put a hand on his bag strap and marched off.

Sokka didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was going the wrong way. 

———————————

Azula took a seat in her first class of the day, taking a seat that was far away from the rest of her classmates but also in the front row. Despite everything, she refused to let anything affect her perfect grade. 

“Good morning, students. I don’t know if any of you have noticed but we do have a new student.” The teacher gestured to Azula, “Azula, do you want to say something about yourself?” She asked.

Azula looked up at her teacher and then back towards the class, “My name is Azula and I have an older brother, Zuko, starting his junior year.” 

“That’s great! My name is Ms. Wu! Feel free to come to me with any questions that you may have.” She smiled, “Alright students, open your books to page 12 and we’ll continue with where we left off. I expect that you all have read the pages I assigned because we will be having a class discussion today.” 

Ms. Wu set a copy of the book and syllabus for the class down in front of Azula and gave her a soft smile, “Don’t feel like you have to do anything but I do expect you to be ready to talk by the end of the week.” She told her.

Azula nodded. The end of the week was when the teacher expected her to be ready, meaning she had to be ready before that to show that she was a dedicated student. A tad difficult, especially given that philosophy was not her strong suite, but she could accomplish the task.

She used this class period to monitor the other students and observe them. Given that everyone had to speak today, she was able to make mental notes of every student. By the end of class, she was decently sure that she had everyone figured out.

The rest of her classes were more or less the same. The teacher introduced her to the class, allowed her a small grace period to get adjusted then went on as usual. Azula couldn’t help but wonder if any of them knew the specifics of her and Zuko’s case. Of course they all probably knew the two were foster kids but usually only the counselor and one other teacher knew any kind of specifics. 

“So!” Azula almost jumped when Sokka wrapped his arm around her, “How’s the first day going?”

She quickly straightened herself back out, “It’s going well. It’s all pretty much the same.”

“I guess that’s good. No surprises.”

“True.” She nodded, “What’s your final class?” She asked.

“Study hall.”

“Study hall?” Azula asked.

“Basically just quiet time for me to get my work done or study.” He shrugged, “I got it because of my 504.”

“Ah, right. Zuzu has one of those.” She remarked.

“Study hall?” Sokka asked.

“A 504 plan. It’s hard to learn when you can hardly hear and see from one side of your face.” Azula remembered those long hours sitting outside the doctors office while they looked over Zuko’s face. One of the social workers always went with them but she didn’t provide much in the way of comfort. 

“Wait. Zuko has a 504 plan?” Sokka asked, “Ohhhhh…this won’t end well.” He winced.

“What won’t end well?” Azula raised an eyebrow.

“His last class is with Zhao. A professor who….unless you’re completely blind or deaf thinks learning disabilities aren’t a thing.” Sokka admitted. He had issues with him last year and he knew a couple people did as well. Only Toph was allowed to use her plan in class and, to this day, Sokka didn’t know if that was because she was completely blind or because her family was rich and would definitely sue.

Azula pressed her lips together, “Zuzu will be fine. He always is.” She stated, “I have to get to class. Do we have a designated spot where we will go for the bus?” She asked.

Sokka looked at her weirdly but still answered, “Outside the gym is where all the buses come. Katara and I will stand outside the gym for you and Zuko.” 

Azula didn’t like that they would wait for them like she and Zuko knew nothing but a small part of her guessed this was better than having to figure it all out themselves. It was certainly better than the time one of the bio sons in their previous family told them the wrong place and they missed the bus. That 4 mile walk was not fun.

“Thank you.” She said it softly and while she was turning away from him, but Sokka still smiled. He always did have amazing hearing.

————————————

Zuko had a different approach to classes than his sister. He preferred to hide in the back of the classroom, keep himself as invisible as possible and actually took advantage of his teacher’s grace periods. That wasn’t to say he was a bad stupid but he just didn’t care as much about his classes as Azula did. Zhao’s class was no different.

“Zuko!” Zhao called, “Come up to the front for a moment.” Zuko glared at him, “It’s alright. I don’t bite.” His vicious grin made Zuko think otherwise but he kept his mouth shut.

“Yes?”

“I see that you have accommodations because of your eye and ear.” Zhao said, “That won’t work for this class. I can’t allow you copies of my PowerPoints, captions won’t be provided on anything—in fact I think you don’t even need this, you clearly hear well enough—and you will also not be allowed any extended time on tests. Why do even need that?” Zhao chuckled as if Zuko had told him a joke

“It’s hard for me to see the tests sometimes so I take-“

“I don’t believe you would have made it this far in school without being able to take a test. You’ll be perfectly fine. Now return to your seat unless there was something else you wanted to say?” 

It was clear that Zhao wanted Zuko to be angry. He wanted him to snap so that he could send him to the principal's office. But Zuko refused to take the bait. At least for now. Maybe later he could try for a fight with this idiot but right now he was not ideal.

“No.” Zuko turned and walked back to his seat.

“Students, open your textbooks to page 284 and we’ll begin where we left off. Zuko, the textbook costs $300 and I expect you to be ready for our test next Friday.” Zhao’s smile grew with every word he said to the point that, by the end, he looked similar to The Grinch. Zuko stared down at his paper, refusing to give him the joy of seeing him upset. The test didn’t bother him that much. What was bothering him was the textbook. How was he supposed to afford that?!

Finally, class ended and Zuko pulled out his phone, texting Azula. He asked her where she was and if she had any extra money. Instead of responding, Zuko felt someone tap his shoulder.

“Hello, Zuzu.” 

“Is your class close to here?” He asked.

“Yes. Just down the hall. Figured I’d help my poor brother find his way to the bus.” Zuko just rolled his eyes, “Why do you need money?”

“One of my teachers is making me buy a 300 dollar textbook.” Zuko told her.

“300 dollars?!” Azula hissed, trying to keep her voice down, “Zuko, we don’t have that money.”

“I know we don’t.” He snapped, “I have about a hundred dollars saved from my job and I think Piandao would loan me some but I need the rest. Or I could just fail the class.”

“Do you want Kya and Hakoda kicking you out?” Azula asked, “You’re already old, you can’t also be stupid on top of that.”

“You’re making me feel like I’m 80, Zula.”

“You know what I mean. Look, I have some cash. It’s not much but it should be enough to help you afford the textbook.” She said.

“Thank you.” Zuko smiled, “I’ll pay you back when I get the chance.”

Azula nodded and a silence fell over the siblings. Zuko, assuming that Azula was guiding them towards the buses, followed without complaint, “Remember when $300 dollars wouldn’t have been a lot of money for us?” Azula asked.

There was a time when such a request from a teacher would have been a simple shrug. They would have gone home, gotten the money and paid in cash to whoever they needed to. It seemed like so long ago that that was the case. The fact that it was only 3 years ago always shocked Zuko. So much had happened.

“Yeah.” Was all he could say.

——————————————-

True to his words, Sokka and Katara were waiting for them outside the gym. They directed them to the proper place to wait for their bus and boarded after them so that they could get on. They also made sure to sit close by and gently tap their shoulders when they arrived at their stop. 

“How was school?” Hakoda asked, leaning against the door when they got off the bus and entered the house.

“It was school.” Sokka said.

“It was okay.” Katara responded.

“Thank you for the detailed description.” Hakoda chuckled, “Zuko? Azula? How was your first day?”

“It was…alright.” Azula told him, “I have a lot of work to catch up on but nothing I can’t manage.”

“That’s great. Make sure you give yourself some space to breathe too.” Azula gave Hakoda an odd look. Space to breathe? He wanted her to do that rather than make sure she excelled? 

Hakoda didn’t notice Azula’s face so he didn’t question anything. Rather he turned to Zuko, “Zuko? How was school? Did the teachers get all the information for your 504?”

“Yes.” Zuko nodded, “Thank you for giving it to them. All my classes went alright too.” 

“I like to hear that! What is everyone doing tonight?” Hakoda asked.

“Studying.” Azula responded, “May Zuko and I go upstairs so that we can catch up on work?”

It was only for a moment, but Azula could see that Hakoda was taken aback by her request. She braced herself. Maybe she should have waited a few more minutes or gone up with Katara and Sokka?

“Sure.” Hakoda allowed, “Go ahead.”

The siblings walked up the stairs as quickly as they could before he changed his mind, leaving Hakoda, Katara and Sokka downstairs and looking at one another.

Hakoda gave his children a smile.

“Dad-“

“Give them time, kids. They’ll come around as long as we give them the time and space too.” He promised.

“And if they don’t?” Sokka asked.

Hakoda shrugged, “If they don’t then they don’t, but we can still be here for them.” He put his hands on both of their shoulders, “That’s all I want from you two. To be there for them and be nice. Please, just try.”

“Okay, dad. We’ll try.”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 7 days)

Friday night came slow. It seemed as though the weekend would never come with the pace at which the family was getting through the week. Finally, the four teenagers came home with the same iconic tiredness that could only be found in high schoolers after a full week of school.

“Welcome home!” Kya chirped, “How was school?”

“So tired.” Sokka mumbled, face planting into the couch, “Wake me up when it’s Monday.”

“I expected as much. Katara? Azula? Zuko?”

“It was okay.” Katara shrugged, “Roku assigned a test this Tuesday that I have to study for. Sokka promised to help me.”

“I did?” Sokka asked.

“Yes, you did.” Katara reminded, “You said you would help me with my flashcards. Don’t forget.”

“I won’t.” Sokka grumbled, “Don’t be such a worrier. You always ace Roku’s tests anyways. Do you really need to study?”

“Yes, I do, Sokka! This test is worth 20% of our grade. I need to get a good-“

“Yeah, yeah. You need a good grade to pass the class and to stay on the President’s List. I’ve heard the speech before, Kat. Relax. You’re going to get a heart attack before you graduate.”

Zuko and Azula both froze when the mini argument began. They looked between the siblings and Kya, expecting her to yell or scold them. At least Hakoda wasn’t around, that was the only saving grace. 

“Azula? Zuko? How was your first week? All your teachers are being understanding, right?” Kya asked.

“Yes. Everything’s been going great, Mrs. South.” Azula said, “Thank you for checking in.” Kya responded with a large and warm smile.

“Are you four ready for tonight?” Kya asked.

Zuko felt his heart drop. Based on Azula’s quick wide eyed expression, she felt the same way. What did they forget? Was there some kind of event that they were supposed to prepare for?

“Who’s picking the movie tonight?” OH! Right. Family movie night.

“Zuko or Azula will pick tonight. Whoever picks tonight the other will pick next Friday.” Kya told them.

“We’re picking?” Zuko asked.

“Of course! You two are the newest members of the family, so it’s only fair that you pick.” Members of the family. Zuko felt himself start to grow a tad excited when she said that before it stopped. Almost all their foster parents said something like that at the beginning. It didn’t take long for them to go from “members of the family” to “burdens and unwanted brats”. 

“I’ll pick first.” Zuko volunteered. If he picked wrong then he’d be punished and not Azula.

“Think about what movie you want to watch. We’ll all come together at 6 for the movie and some dinner. I’m thinking of ordering a pizza for all of us.” Kya said.

“Come on, Sokka. I want to start studying now.” Katara said.

“Later, Tara. I need a minute to rest. Your grade will survive you not studying for one afternoon.” Sokka said.

“Fine.” Katara stomped off to her room, leaving Sokka to turn over on the couch and start to sleep. Kya returned to the kitchen, doing some kind of task on her computer, and Azula and Zuko decided to use the opportunity to slip away to their rooms for the evening.

—----------------------------

If asked, Zuko would never admit how long he spent trying to find a good movie. He would never admit that he scoured the internet, looking for a movie that would make everyone happy. What he thought about the movie didn’t matter. All that mattered was what their foster family thought. He wasn’t exactly trying to spend the entire evening being made fun of for a movie choice. Finally, he settled on Jurassic Park. It seemed like a safe enough option that no one would object to it too much.

“You remember when you almost peed your pants when mom and dad first showed us that movie?” Azula asked.

“I did not!” Zuko snapped, “The death scenes just freaked me out.”

“Baby.” 

“Says the girl who refused to play in the ocean without mom for two years after watching Jaws.” 

Azula pressed her lips together, “At least sharks are a real thing.” She muttered.

“Anyways, I think that this is a good choice, right? It’s a classic and I don’t think anyone would hate it.” 

“It should be good.” Azula nodded, “I heard Kya ordering the food downstairs. We should head down and-“

The sound of a doorbell ringing and Blue barking suddenly filled the house. The siblings stood up, not wanting to leave their room but growing quiet so that they could hear who had arrived.

“Hello?” Hakoda asked.

“Hi! My name’s Ty Lee and this is Mai. We’re friends of Zuko and Azula and we were told this is their new foster home.”

“Yes. I’m sorry. Did they call or text you?” Hakoda asked.

“Mai! Ty Lee!”

Zuko and Azula came running down the stairs, only controlling their pace so that they didn’t slip, and ran to their friends, hugging them tightly. Mai gave the two a soft but comforting hug and Ty Lee proceeded to almost break their ribs.

“It’s so good to see you two!” Ty Lee chirped, “It feels like it’s been way too long!”

“Dad?” Sokka asked, “Who’s at the…Who are you?” Sokka asked.

“Sokka, this is…Mai and Ty Lee, was it?” The girls nodded, “Mai and Ty Lee. They’re friends of Zuko and Azula.” Hakoda explained.

“What are you doing here? Are you foster kids too? How do you know Zuko and Azula?”

“Lot of questions after a four hour car ride.” Mai mumbled. Zuko gently squeezed her hand.

“Four hours?” 

“We came from New York.” Ty Lee said.

“Wow. All the way from New York and…how long do you expect to stay in Pennsylvania?”

“Just the weekend. Mai booked us a hotel room for the next few nights and then I’m driving us back to New York before school on Monday.” Ty Lee told him.

“Hakoda!” Kya called, “Who’s at the door?” Her face softened a touch when she saw the two teenagers.

“This is Mai and Ty Lee. They’re friends of Zuko and Azula.” Hakoda told her.

“Oh! Hello, girls. It’s so nice to meet you. My name is Kya and this is my husband, Hakoda. This is our son, Sokka, and our daughter, Katara, is in the other room.” She said, “Are you going to be joining us for dinner?” She asked.

“Oh, no.” Ty Lee quickly said, “We were actually just coming to grab these two for a weekend together. With them all the way in another state and constantly changing families we almost never get to see them.”

“You don’t mind us taking them off your hand, right?” Mai asked.

“I…ummm…” Kya looked at the siblings then back at her husband, “We don’t know you girls so I’m going to need you to see your license plate for the car and know what hotel you're staying at.” Ty Lee seemed a touch taken aback by this but allowed it.

“Alright. Stay safe. I want you both back before 10. If you’re not back before then I’m calling the police.” Kya told them.

“We got it. Thanks! Bye!” Within minutes, the four were loaded into Ty Lee’s car and drove off.

“Well, that was fast.” Hakoda mumbled.

“Leave them be.” Kya said, “They’re children who want to hang out with their friends.” 

Hakoda let out a sigh. He knew how much Kya has been looking forward to spending family movie night with their new foster kids, “Kya, I-“

“It’s okay, Hakoda. Really. They’ve only been here a week. We’ll have plenty of time to spend together later. They need their space and time.” Kya's smile was strong but Hakoda knew she was upset. 

Still, the two returned to the living room and informed Katara and Sokka about what was going on. The siblings asked a few questions but their parents mostly deflected them and insisted they just put on the movie. 

“They’ll come around.”

————————————

“So…a new foster family in less than two weeks.” Mai said.

Zuko, who was sitting in the backseat with her while Azula sat in front with Ty Lee, turned towards Mai. It had been a couple months since they saw them last. Maybe the start of summer, so four or so months ago. They had come down because of the start of summer. Never did they think that Zuko and Azula would be removed from their foster family and placed with a new one by the end of summer.

“A new family.” Zuko repeated.

“How are they so far?” Ty Lee asked.

“Not horrible.” Azula admitted, “But I doubt we’ll stay long. The parents were probably expecting younger kids, so once they realize we’re not the talkative cute kids they were expecting we’ll be back in the system.” 

“But we are going to try and stay for the next two years.” Zuko said.

“Until you age out right?” 

“Yes.” Zuko confirmed.

“How are the bio kids?” Mai asked, “She said she has two other children.”

“Sokka and Katara.” Zuko clarified, “They’re around our age, so no little kids and babies that we have to babysit again.”

“That’s good.” Ty Lee said, “How are they?”

“Let me put it this way: Sokka is lazy and disobedient and Katara is uptight and controlling.” Zuko’s words were blunt but Azula found herself nodding along.

“You think it’ll be as bad as Star and Bujing?” Mai asked.

Zuko and Azula winced at the reminder of their old foster siblings. Star and Bujing were a pair of siblings from their fourth foster family. In that family the parents weren’t too bad. They tolerated them and gave them minimum care and affection but never really yelled or did anything else to them. 

It was their children, a 10 year old daughter and 13 year old son, who were horrible. Whenever either of them messed up, from breaking a vase to ruining clothes to even bringing back bad grades, they would blame Zuko and Azula for it. Or they’d hold the threat of blaming them over their heads to get them to do something.

Zuko’s personal favorite memory of them was when Bujing told him he would tell his father Zuko broke a plate unless he did his homework for the entire week.

“You and your sister wouldn’t want to end up on the streets, would you?” Bujing asked.

“Don’t you need this? Don’t you have literally no one else? If our parents put you back then won’t you just become homeless bums?” Azula was sure she would never forget Star’s shrieking laugh.

“I hope not.” Zuko whispered.

“Well don’t worry. You have us all weekend and we’ll sneak you some money for a bus, just in case you need to make a quick getaway.” Ty Lee said.

“Thanks, Ty.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, Mai ordered us some good food and I got us season 4 of Friends to binge watch.”

“Why friends?” Zuko asked.

“I was outvoted.” Mai grumbled, “I still think it’s unfair that your sisters got to vote!” She snapped.

“They got to vote and I’m driving, so I pick what we watch. Plus I know you both love Friends . I’ve heard you quoting it.” Ty Lee argued, “And it’s one of Azula’s favorite shows.”

“I told you that in confidence.” Azula hissed.

“We’re watching it.” Ty Lee finished, “Sometimes you just need a stupid, funny sitcom to get your mind off stuff.”

————————————

As the night continued on, Kya and Hakoda both grew more and more nervous. Azula and Zuko had yet to return and they weren’t responding to texts.

“That’s it.” Kya said, “We’re going to the hotel.”

“What about the whole calling the police thing?” Sokka asked.

“We can’t.” Kya told him, “Getting the cops involved could be exactly what social services needs to take Zuko and Azula away.” Hakoda placed a hand on Kya’s shoulder while Katara and Sokka looked terrified.

“They could take them away because of one call?” Katara asked.

“No. They wouldn’t take them away.” Hakoda said, “Your mother is just worried.”

“Come on.” Kya reached for her keys, “We’re going to get them.”

“Mom, don’t worry. They probably just lost track of time.” Katara said, “They wouldn’t have gone with Mai and Ty Lee unless they trusted them.” Katara’s words were comforting but Kya wouldn’t be calm until she had Azula and Zuko in her sight.

——————————

Thankfully, the drive to the hotel was rather short. The moment they arrived, Katara and Sokka leapt out of the car, with Kya and Hakoda shouting the room number at them. The two walked into the hotel, being careful to not catch the eye of the front desk attendant, and went up to Mai and Ty Lee’s room.

“Hey!” Sokka called, “Azula? Zuko? You two in there?”

For a moment, there was nothing. They couldn’t hear anything happening inside or hear anyone coming to the room. So, Sokka tried again, this time banging on the door with as much force as he could. He made sure to only do it once to avoid annoying the other hotel residents and to avoid another glare from Katara. This time, a tired looking Ty Lee opened the door.

“Hello?”

“Where are Azula and Zuko?” Sokka asked.

“Oh! You’re the kids from the South family.” She remembered, “Sorry. We fell asleep and none of us set an alarm.”

Behind her, everyone else was waking up as well. Azula, who seemed to be the most awake, suddenly looked terrified when Ty Lee mentioned their foster family, “Did Mrs. South call the police?” She asked. Zuko, upon hearing the police could be here, snapped awake as well. 

“No.” Katara said, “No one called the police. Mom decided to drive here first. She and dad are waiting for you.” 

Fear gripped the foster kids. They had been late and they made their foster parents worry and drive all the way here. Would they get punished? How would they be punished? What if they prohibited them from seeing Mai and Ty Lee again? What if they told Piandao? What if-

Ty Lee and Mai both sensed that their friends were growing scared and decided to act, “It’s not that big a deal.” Mai said, “You could have just waited until morning. We would have driven them back.”

“So if they had been kidnapped or something you would have wanted us to just wait and hope that they made their way back at some point?” Sokka asked.

“That’s a bit dramatic.” Ty Lee said, “They’re perfectly fine here with us and they didn’t do anything wrong. We all just fell asleep watching a sitcom.”

“And didn’t come back when you were supposed to.” Katara added, “Our mom was panicking and we had to drive all the way here.” That definitely did not help Zuko or Azula’s panic. Azula gripped the blanket she was sitting on while Zuko did everything in his power to get his breathing under control.

“Look, if your parents are that scared of them being away for a couple hours then maybe they should just stay here for the weekend. That way your parents don’t have to worry about coming to get them or anything and we can drop them back off at the house later.” Ty Lee offered, “And your parents have two less teenagers in the house.”

“No.” Sokka said, “They have to come back home. What part of ‘our parents are freaking out’ do you not get?”

Mai stepped up, “We’ll bring them downstairs to show them that everything is fine and then we-”

“And then they’ll come home because their home is our house and not this hotel with you two.” Sokka interrupted, “I don’t understand. Why are you two so insistent on them staying at this hotel? They can be at the house overnight.”

Ty Lee wanted to say more but, during their whole argument, the door had been wide open, meaning that people in the hallway could hear them. As would be expected, someone decided to call the hotel staff because of this with a noise complaint. It didn’t take long for a member of the staff to come up to their floor.

“Excuse me.” He said, “We received a noise complaint. Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine.” Katara said, “We’re just getting our….foster brother and sister back home.”

“Is that so?” He looked into the room.

“Yes, sir.” Zuko said, “Sorry we were being loud. We were just leaving.”

“You were?” Ty Lee asked.

“Good. I know it’s a Friday night but we have mandatory quiet hours after 10pm. If I have to come up here again then I’ll have to get the police involved.” He warned, “Do you understand?” All of them nodded, “Good. Goodnight.” With that he was gone.

“Let’s go, Azula.” Zuko mumbled.

“But-”

Zuko’s voice went low when he placed a hand in front of Mai to stop her from objecting any further, “We don’t need the police getting social services involved.” He whispered. She hated it, but Mai understood that want. The police hadn’t exactly been very friendly with Zuko and Azula in the past. They either sent them back to families that they shouldn’t have been with in the first place, ignoring their pleas, or just created more trouble for them which ended up making them unliked in their foster homes.

“Fine.” Mai mumbled, “Call us if things get really bad.” Zuko nodded.

In silence, the two walked into the hallway with Sokka and Katara and went down the elevator with them. While they were walking through the lobby to the car, Katara couldn’t help but feel a touch upset that the two seemed to hate spending time with their family, especially after seeing how scared her mom had been and how unbothered Azula and Zuko seemed to be.

“You know it wouldn’t kill you two to actually care.” She said.

“Excuse me.” Azula hissed.

“You don’t even seem to care that you weren’t reachable by phone and late for curfew and freaking out our parents.” She pointed out, “It would be nice to show that you at least understand how much you scared them! They thought you were dead or ran away or were kidnapped or….” She sighed, “but instead you’re acting like we’re asking for something totally unreasonable.”

“We fell asleep!” Azula snapped, “You’re acting like we turned off our phones and planned this whole thing out.”

“I’m not saying you did that! All I’m saying is that it wouldn’t kill you to realize how much our parents-”

“Exactly, Katara, your parents. They’re not our parents!” Zuko tried to pull Azula back but she refused, “We’re not siblings! We’re not even friends! You’re just the family they stuck us with because your parents decided they wanted to show off ‘what good people they are,’" Azula switched up her voice a tad when saying that to an overly preppy one, “but that doesn’t mean they’re our parents or you’re our siblings! Actually, I’m glad you’re not our siblings because if you were I would rather be dead!” With that, Azula stomped out of the lobby and into the parking lot leaving Zuko, Sokka and Katara there with shocked faces.

“I-I’m really sorry about her!” Zuko quickly said, “I swear she’s usually not like this and I promise it won’t happen again.” Was Azula trying to get them kicked out or make their entire lives a disaster? Why did she think it would ever be a good idea to yell at the bio kids!?

Katara just pushed past him, mumbling something under her breath that Zuko didn’t catch. Sokka, staying silent, walked up next to him and remained there until Zuko was ready to walk out of the lobby. Katara and Azula were already in the car waiting for them.

“I’m so glad you kids are okay. If you want to stay out later you need to tell us.” Kya said, “Next time this happens we’re going to have to have some kind of punishment put in place, but, for this time, we’ll let it slide.” She didn’t see Azula and Zuko visibly relax when she said that.

“Sorry, Mrs. South.” They both replied.

Kya let out a long breath, “Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 8 days)

It took a little convincing, but Kya and Hakoda eventually agreed to let Azula and Zuko return to the hotel with Mai and Ty Lee and stay there until Sunday night. All they asked was that the two text them every night to make sure that they were okay. With that single request promised, the two bolted from the house and got into Ty Lee’s car as quickly as they could. Once again not noticing the sadness in the foster parent’s eyes.

At the hotel, it was easy to see the two visibly deflate now that they were free from the South’s home for two days.

“Are you two okay?” Mai asked, “Did they punish you?”

“No. Thankfully they let this one go, but they said that if it happened again we would be punished.” Zuko told her, “And Azula yelled at Katara.”

“Azula?” Ty Lee asked.

“I won’t apologize for that.” She snapped, “She pissed me off and I yelled at her.”

“And she’s their real daughter. You’re lucky she didn’t decide to tell them anything. We definitely wouldn’t be allowed to be here right now if she did.” Zuko warned, “Maybe she’s waiting to use it for later.” Mai placed a hand on his shoulder, offering him a reassuring smile.

“Don’t think about that anymore. You’re away from them.” 

“But I do think we need to talk about our plan for if things go bad.” Ty Lee chimed up, “Do you guys still have that spare bit of cash?”

Normally, the siblings tried to keep at least $400 set aside for if they needed to run away. The money was meant to pay for two bus tickets up to New York where Mai and Ty Lee would meet them and help them stay hidden. The two had been a huge help for the few months when Zuko and Azula ran away. 

“Only $300 now.” Zuko admitted. They had been forced to use some on Zuko’s medicine and Azula needed some money for feminine products. 

“Here.” Ty Lee opened her tiny pink wallet and gave them a hundred dollar bill. Azula felt her chest tighten. 4 years ago a hundred dollars would have been nothing for them. She probably spent a hundred dollars in a single day. Now she didn’t want to accept it because she didn’t know if they would be able to pay her back 

“Ty, we-“

“You’re taking the money. I won’t be able to sleep knowing you two don’t have a way to get to us if you need to.” Ty Lee pushed the bill towards Azula, who reluctantly accepted it, “Good. Now that we have that figured out. You guys still have the paper, right?”

“Still hidden in my bag.” Zuko confirmed. The paper had Mai and Ty Lee’s phone numbers, addresses, addresses of where to get bus tickets, and Piandao’s phone number in case their foster parents ever stole their phones.

“Then everything is all set, Ty.” Mai interrupted, “Let’s have some fun. With something that doesn’t involve Friends .”

“You loved it!” 

—————————————

That ‘something fun’ turned out to be an arcade. There was a decent size one not far from the hotel which was filled with large games, a couple small rides and a restaurant that was attached to the arcade. The moment the four stepped into the building they were greeted by the sight of little kids running around with parents sitting down or trying to keep up. 

Ty Lee happily paid for cards for them all before running off to play the first game she could find. Mai and Zuko walked towards one of the wheel games, one of the few that didn’t have little kids at it, and began to spin. Azula charged straight for the test your strength game. Whenever they went to an arcade, she liked playing games she knew she could win. It took her a minute or two but she usually found that she could get the jackpot at this game if given time.

“Yes!” Azula cheered.

“You won?” Ty Lee asked, walking over to her with a small stuffed animal in her hands.

“I won the jackpot three times.” She grinned, “Because I am the best at this game and every game in this arcade.”

“What about deal or no deal?” 

“That doesn’t count!” Azula turned towards her friend, “Those machines cheat.”

“I’m sorry you were cheated. Now, what are you going to get me with your jackpot?”

“Get you?” Azula chuckled, “I’m supposed to get you something?”

“I did pay for the card that got you your winnings and I’ve been eyeing a certain stuffed monkey that just so happens to cost a little less than what you got from your three winnings.” Ty Lee held up her little stuffed animal, trying to add to the cute factor, “Please.”

“I suppose you make a fair point.” Azula decided, “Besides, I wouldn’t really know what to do with all these winnings. It’s good to find something large to get.”

“Yes! Come on!” Ty Lee grabbed Azula’s arm and dragged her to the stand, “The giant monkey!” She cried.

“You won a lot?” Zuko asked.

“Of course I did, Zuzu. I always win.”

“As much as four jackpots?” Mai gave Azula a smirk as she held out one of her cards, “Zuko and I won the 5,000 ticket jackpot 4 times.”

“Two monkeys!” Ty Lee cried, grabbing Mai’s card.

“That’s impossible. That fish game doesn’t even give out 5,000 tickets.” Azula snapped.

“That’s why we switched to another game.” 

“Ty Lee, I need my card back.” Azula grabbed it before Ty Lee could object, “I will not be beaten.” She stomped off back to the game she had been playing while Ty Lee just stood there, hugging her giant monkeys.

“While Azula keeps playing, let’s get a table.” Zuko said, gesturing to the restaurant next to them, “I need to have a good seat while we watch her try to get two more jackpot wins.” Azula would never allow herself to be evenly matched with someone, so she wouldn’t sit down unless she had five wins to beat Zuko and Mai.

“Sounds good!” Somehow Mai had been persuaded to carry one of the monkeys over to the table. 

Eventually, Azula made her way back to the table, claiming two more victories in her game. No one had the heart to bring up how it took her an hour to do so and that they had to order her lunch for her. Azula didn’t seem to care that she was eating cold food so they didn’t think it was noteworthy to bring up. For the rest of the night, the four sat back and laughed.

“Do you remember when we were kids and you and Mai came over during that one incredibly hot summer day?” Azula asked, “When it was close to 100 degrees out.”

“Don’t remind me. Our AC broke and I was pretty sure I was going to burn alive.” Ty Lee took a long sip of her cold water.

“Remember that little game I showed you three?” Azula grinned.

“You mean the game where you made me fall into your pool with Zuko? When we were both wearing our regular clothes.” Mai grumbled, “I remember dragging you in after.”

“And don’t forget our little revenge afterwards when we blasted you with water guns.” Zuko added. “Now that was fun.”

“I distinctly remember Mai being the leading force on that attack, Zuzu, while you cowered behind her.” 

“I did not cower!”

“You kinda cowered.” Mai chuckled.

Zuko glared at his sister and friend, “You both suck. Ty Lee is my new favorite person in this friend group. She is my new sister.”

“So I get to be the girl living in New York with parents so rich they own an island and six identical sisters?” Azula asked, “I’ll take it.” 

Time slowly faded away. Soon, not only was their night done but the whole weekend. Ty Lee tried to drive as slowly as she could when returning Azula and Zuko to their foster home, but there was no denying that they had to go back. She drove them home at the absolute latest time possible, 10 pm on Sunday night, and stayed in the driveway until they were brought inside by Kya and the door was shut.

“They’ll be okay.” Mai promised.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s Zuko and Azula. If anyone can survive two horrible foster parents, it’s those two. We just have to wait and be here if they need us.” Mai told her.

Ty Lee let out a long sigh, turning her attention away from the house and towards the road, “You’re right.” She nodded, “I just hope they can finally have one lasting good family.”

—-----------------------------------

When Kya brought Azula and Zuko in, she didn’t utter a word about them returning home right on the dot or give any indication of being angry at them for some reason. The siblings felt themselves breathing a small sigh of relief.

“Are you two hungry?” Was the first question she asked, “We all ate a while ago, but I kept a plate of pasta warm for you in case you wanted it.”

Their eyes widened as she brought out the two plates and set them down in front of them. The food was piping hot and looked freshly made. Did Kya stay up until ten and keep eating up a plate for them until they got home?

“You-you made us dinner?” Zuko asked.

“Of course! You’re part of the family and I’ll be damned if anyone in this family misses a meal.” Kya said, “If you’re not hungry, I can just box these two up and you can have them tomorrow after school. I have a busy evening at the hospital, so everyone’s on their own for dinner tomorrow.” Kya told them.

“We already ate.” Zuko admitted, “But we’ll be happy to have this tomorrow! It looks delicious.”

“Thank you. I’ll put sticky notes on it to let the others know it’s for you. Goodness knows if you don’t then your food will be gone in a second around here.” Kya couldn’t help laughing at her own little joke. However, she also noticed that while she was laughing Zuko and Azula seemed nervous.

“Listen, I know you haven’t been here that long yet and you’re still settling in and everything, but I…I really hope you can become comfortable around us eventually. We all want to get to know you two and–I don’t want you to feel forced into being part of the family if you don’t think you’re ready, but I hope that you can at least consider giving us a chance.” Kya’s smile was soft and kind. It hit the two hard. At that moment, Kya reminded them too much of Ursa. The mother who left them, the mother who abandoned them with a father she knew was dangerous, the mother who was still their mother, who they still loved.

“Kids?” Kya whispered.

“Mrs. South-”

“DAD!” The sound of Katara’s scream caused all three of them to suddenly flinch, “You can’t do that!”

“If you yell at me again then it’ll be a worse punishment, young lady! Go to your room now!”

“But dad Katara’s the one who stole my stuff!” Sokka yelled.

“You said you’d help me study and you just spent the weekend playing that stupid game with Aang! I’ll give you back your controller when you-”

“You can’t just take my stuff! You-”

“ENOUGH!” Hakoda roared, “Both of you go to your rooms now! You’re grounded for a week and if I hear one more word from either of you tonight your punishments will be doubled! GO!”

Katara and Sokka stayed silent after that, stomping off to their rooms and slamming the doors behind them so loudly that Kya thought Bato could hear them. She sighed at her children’s small fight before turning back to Azula and Zuko, only to find them frozen stiff. 

Zuko grabbed hold of Azula’s hand, holding onto it so tightly that his hand was going white. Kya didn’t know how Azula wasn’t pulling away in pain. Speaking of Azula, she was shaking now as if she’d been left out in the cold. Kya’s doctor training kicked into full gear though when she noticed the two were hardly breathing.

“Zuko? Azula? It’s okay. You’re safe. Can you two move?” Zuko weakly shook his head yes, “Okay. I’m going to bring you to the couch. Just breathe and relax. It’s a panic attack, it’ll be over soon. I promise.” As she said, she brought them into the family room and sat them both down on the couch. 

Azula was hardly present so Zuko had to lead her into the room, “Zuko? I think you’re hurting your sister. Can you hold this instead?” She asked, handing him a pillow. At the knowledge that he was hurting Azula, Zuko let go and latched onto the pillow, “Good.”

“You’re both doing so well. Just continue to breathe. Think about your day with Mai and Ty Lee. Think about all the fun things you did.” Slowly, Azula stopped shaking and Zuko released his hold on the pillow, “There you go. You’re through the worst. Focus on your breathing.” She repeated.

It was subtle, but Kya could tell when the two managed to break free of their panic attacks. She would never be thankful for having experience with panic and anxiety attacks—Katara and Sokka had gotten a few of those—but it did help her now. However, it did not help her with the foster kids bolting from the room and running upstairs, hiding in their rooms but never closing the door. Kya wanted to speak out, to go upstairs and say something and tell them that they were okay. 

“Not now.” She whispered, “They need time.” Lots of time.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 0 months, 23 days)

Things changed between Kya and Zuko and Azula after their panic attack. In the following days, the siblings seemed a tad more comfortable around Kya. They spoke to her more, stayed close to her when the whole family was together, and asked her for help with stuff. There had even been one morning when Kya was getting ready to leave and saw Azula struggling with her hair.

“Something wrong?” She asked.

“I got a knot in my hair.” Azula admitted, “I can’t get it out.” There was certainly a decent knot clumped on the back of her head. 

“May I?” Kya asked.

“You can try.” Azula nodded.

Kya took out a hairbrush and some hair lotion and began brushing Azula’s long black hair. The lotion helped loosen the knot but the brush was the key to getting it out with as little pain as possible. A couple times, Kya could glance at Azula to make sure that she wasn’t hurting her then refocus her attention back on her head.

“There you go! All done.” Azula brought a hand to the back of her head, feeling her soft and now untangled hair, “How does it feel?”

“Amazing. Thank you.” 

Kya smiled down at her foster daughter. It felt weird to mentally think that she had a second daughter and yet, standing here with Azula and helping her with her hair, she couldn’t think of another way to describe the girl, “Good. Finish getting ready. You don’t want to be late for the bus.” 

“Got it, Mrs. South.” Azula didn’t notice Kya go rigid for a moment before walking away. 

And another moment when Kya found Zuko at the kitchen table with what appeared to be a sketchbook out and some colored pencils. She hadn’t exactly been quiet coming into the kitchen so Zuko noticed her right away, looking between her and his book.

“What are you drawing?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” Zuko quickly closed the book and held it close.

“Zuko, I promise I won’t get angry at whatever you drew or how good or bad it is.” She must have been convincing because Zuko did open up the sketchbook and reveal an amazing drawing of Blue sleeping on the couch. 

“This-This is amazing.” Kya whispered, “How long have you been able to draw like this?”

“My mom taught me. My birth mom.” He said. He could feel his chest tighten when he started talking about her. Not only because talking about her brought back so many memories but because some of his foster parents yelled at him for talking about his biological parents. They were his and Azula’s new family now and they should get used to it. Somehow Zuko found himself unable to stop, “She would take me out to our little pond outside and tell me about plays, dancing, singing, and, while we were out there, she showed me how to draw.”

“Well, you’re insanely talented.” Kya told him. She was so focused on looking over the artwork that she didn’t notice Zuko’s smile grow, “Have you ever considered joining the school’s art club? It might be good for you to-” Zuko instantly stood up, grabbing his book.

“Thanks, Mrs. South. I got to go.” Kya was about to call out to the teenager but forced herself not to.

They were small moments, most of them not lasting for more than a couple minutes, but it really did seem like Zuko and Azula were warming up to her and starting to trust her, even if that trust only extended to their hair and homework.

“I’m happy for you, sweetie.” Hakoda said.

“I just wish there was something else I could do to get them to trust me.” Kya mumbled, lying down next to her husband in bed.

“It’s like you said they need time. It hasn’t even been a month yet.” 

“I know, I know. It’s just frustrating sometimes because I can see us getting closer but then they pull away.” Hakoda softly pulled Kya in close, “But you’re right. They’ll come around.”

“We knew fostering wasn’t going to easy, Kya-“

“You sound like those instructors during our training.” Kya chuckled.

Hakoda continued on, smiling at his wife, “However, these kids need us. It’s up to us to give them a nice, caring home and family.” He finished, “Or at least parents.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know Sokka and Katara, especially Katara, aren’t exactly best friends with them.” She had to know this. It wasn’t exactly news, “I’ve seen it multiple times when they come home after school and Katara is glaring at the two or really she’s glaring at Azula.” 

Kya rolled onto her back. She knew the four weren’t all that close—that was to be expected in the first few weeks—but she didn’t know Katara was having this much trouble with adjusting. How had she not noticed?

“Sokka and Katara are good kids. They’ll learn to live with Zuko and Azula eventually. Can you keep an eye on them? If things get worse, tell me so that we can talk to them.”

“Of course, but…what would we tell them? Would we force them to get along?” Hakoda asked, “That doesn’t seem fair to Sokka and Katara.”

“We can’t force them to get along, but we can try going on more family activities or having them talk out their problems. I just think that we do have options.”

“You’re right.” Hakoda nodded, “Let’s get some sleep. I’ll keep a closer eye on the kids starting tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Goodnight, honey.” 

“Goodnight, sweetie.” After a final kiss, Hakoda leaned over and turned off the lights, letting darkness fill the house.

—---------------------------

Sokka liked to think he was a good person. He didn’t cheat, lie, steal, hurt anyone (physically or emotionally), he wasn’t rude, etc. He did his best to help his family—as much as a fifteen year old could—and he was pretty nice to his new foster ‘siblings’. He personally thought he was an okay person. That’s why, even when Katara wasn’t getting along great with Azula, Sokka remained outside the gym to make sure Azula and Zuko didn’t miss the bus. If they got left behind, he was pretty sure that he knew how to reach Bato or their dad better than Zuko or Azula did. Plus his parents would ground him and Katara for a year if they left the two at school by themselves. 

One day, Sokka randomly decided to head up to where Zhao’s classroom was to meet Zuko in the hallway. Sokka tried his best to stay out of that area of the school as much as possible, out of fear of Zhao, but today was a Friday and he had plans with Suki tomorrow night. He was feeling pretty good that afternoon, so he told Katara that he was planning on walking down with Zuko and they’d all meet her on the bus. What he didn’t expect was to walk towards the classroom and hear Zhao scolding someone. Actually, Zhao being a jerk wasn’t usual, but Sokka was more interested in who he was talking to.

“I told you before, Zuko, you don’t meet my requirements to use your recommendations.”

“Sir,” Sokka could hear the strain in Zuko’s voice, “I failed the last test because I ran out of time and I didn’t know them because I can hardly hear the videos you play in class.” 

“If you didn’t take the time to study then don’t blame me for it.”

“But I did study-”

“Clearly you did not. All these other students were able to get decent grades on the last test and none of them have come to me saying they can’t hear the videos.” Zhao’s voice was sickening. The grin on his face had practically melted into his tone.

“They don’t have burns on their faces.” Zuko objected, “All I’m asking for is the captions or the names of the videos so I can watch them when I get home.”

“I won’t be giving you special privileges simply because you can’t be bothered to pay attention in school. If you want to do better on the next test then I recommend studying, actually reading the textbook and paying attention in my class.” Zhao told him, “That or I will have to make a call to home. Am I understood?”

“Yes.” Zuko grumbled.

“Yes?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good. Now I suggest you run along. You don’t want to miss the bus home.” 

When Zuko walked out of the classroom, he was clearly surprised to see Sokka standing there. He looked at Sokka and then back at his classroom. 

“Did you hear-”

“Yeah.” Sokka nodded, grabbing Zuko’s hand and dragging him away from the classroom, “You should tell mom and dad. Zhao shouldn’t be able to get away with this. It’s illegal.”

“I thought you said he does this all the time?” Zuko asked.

“Well…yeah, but that doesn’t make it right. If mom and dad talk to the superintendent then Zhao might just be forced to allow you your accommodations. You should talk to them.” 

The older boy shook his head. Getting his foster parents to talk to the superintendent all because of him? No one was going to go that far just because he was having trouble hearing and seeing. No one was going to do all that for him. The only reason he even had accommodations in the first place was because Piandao got them for him right after he got out of the hospital, “I don’t want to be a bother to them.” Zuko said, “Besides, I can handle Zhao on my own. He’s not exactly the worst adult I’ve had to deal with.”

“Zuko-”

“Sokka, don’t tell your parents about Zhao or that I failed my first test.” It was desperate, but maybe Sokka would actually listen and respect his request? Most of his foster siblings wouldn’t, but he could try, “I can figure this out on my own. I’ll just have Azula help me study.”

“But mom and dad can help.” Sokka argued.

“I can handle this on my own.” Zuko repeated.

A sinking feeling filled Zuko when he saw Sokka press his lips together and look at him with concern. He wasn’t going to keep his mouth shut. He was going to go home and tell Mr and Mrs. South and then he’d get in trouble for failing a test and causing them problems. No, no, it would be worse. Azula was right. They’d probably think he was stupid. Sixteen years old, having trouble in school and high medical costs for his burn? This was just going to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The reason they kick him out of the home. Although maybe they’d keep Azula though. Maybe-

“Okay.” 

“Wait, what?” He wasn’t going to say anything? Really?

“If you’re sure you can handle this on your own then I won’t say a word.” Sokka promised, “But if it really gets out of hand then will you at least think about telling mom and dad?”

“I-...Okay. I’ll think about it.”

“Great! Come on, Zu, we’re going to miss the bus.” With that, Sokka grabbed Zuko’s hand again and dragged him along to the gym where they just barely made it onto the bus.

“Where were you?” Azula hissed, pulling him onto her seat, “I got all the way down here and you were nowhere to be found.”

“I had to stay behind and talk to Zhao.” Zuko told her, “I failed the first test.” He whispered.

Azula sucked in a breath, “I’ll read up on the material and help you study.”

“Thanks.”

“Did Sokka find out?” 

“He did.” 

“Damn it.” She hissed, “He’s going to tell Mr and Mrs. South now.”

Zuko gave Sokka a quick look, “Actually, I-I don’t think he is.”

“What?”

“I don’t think he’s going to tell them.” Zuko said, “I asked him not to and he promised.”

Azula rolled her eyes, “When have promises ever meant anything to the bio kids, Zuzu?”

She wasn’t wrong. A lot of the time the ‘promises’ they got from the biological kids were just used as something to hold over their heads. Despite that, Sokka’s promise seemed…real. More real than most of the other promises he’d gotten.

“I think he really meant it.”

“Sweet and naive little Zuzu.” Azula sighed, “Well, he knows. I guess all we can do is wait for him to tell his mom or dad.” 

What shocked her was that he didn’t. Kya and Hakoda never questioned Zuko about his grade or Zhao, Azula never heard Sokka say a word to them that entire night and he never went to Zuko to ask for some kind of favor. If Azula didn’t know any better, she would say that Sokka completely forgot about the discovery all together. That is until Sokka quickly stopped by Zuko’s room that night.

“Zuko.” He whispered.

Zuko and Azula, who was hanging out in his room, looked up, “Suki’s taken Zhao’s class before. I know I can’t tell mom and dad but could I tell Suki so that she can tutor you. I’ll have her promise not to say a word to my parents.” Zuko and Azula exchanged a quick look. That was…surprisingly very helpful.

“Yeah. That would be a lot of help.” Zuko nodded.

“Great! I’ll text her tonight and she can bring over her old notes tomorrow. I’ll text you her number so you two can chat back and forth.” Sokka smiled, leaving the siblings be.

“Huh?” Azula whispered, “I’ll be.”

“See? I told you.”

“Zuzu, you were right once.”

“And you were wrong.”

“Once.” 

“Still wrong. How does it feel, Lala? To be so wrong, so incorrect, so mistaken, so-”

“I’m going back to my room.” Azula grumbled.

Zuko laughed, “Because you can’t stand that I was right and you were wrong!” He called.

“No!” 

“Then why are you leaving?” He asked, a giant smile on his face.

“Shut up.”

“Two in a row!” Zuko cried, “Today is not your day.”

“Goodbye, Zuko.” Azula said, walking off to her room.

“No, Azula, come back! I’m sure we can find more stuff that you’re wrong about!” Zuko called.

“I hate you!”

“That doesn’t make you right! Only I am right in this case.” Not hearing a response, Zuko decided to turn off his lights for the night and get into bed. Before falling asleep, he heard a soft ping from his phone.

Sokka: Suki’s number! She said she can tutor you and she won’t say a word to mom or dad! Good luck on your next test!

Zuko smiled.

Zuko: Thanks, Sokka.

With the text sent, Zuko put his phone down, rolled onto his back and went to bed.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 1 month, 7 days)

Azula pressed her body against the wall. She could feel sweat trickle down her face and her heart pound in her chest. Piandao was around somewhere, she was sure of it, looking for her so that he could try and put her with some family. A family Zuko wouldn’t get to go to. The fourth foster home in two years.

“Azula.” 

Zuko.

“Zuzu?” She whispered.

Zuko rounded the corner and hid with Azula behind the wall, “You hiding from Piandao?” She nodded.

“He said he had a new placement. They’re going to try and separate us again! I know it!” She screamed.

Zuko grabbed Azula’s arms to try and hold her in place, “Azula, you have to calm down!” The thirteen year old continued to struggle in his hold.

“We can run away! Let’s go back to New York! Back to Mai and Ty Lee!”

“That won’t work again. Piandao knows that we’d go there so it’s the first place he’d check.” Zuko told her, “We have to stay here now.”

“You promised, Zuko.” Azula’s voice seemed to be a mix between crying and getting angry, “You promised you wouldn’t let them split us up again.” Her bottom lip began to tremble. Zuko reached out and hugged his sister as tightly as he could.

“I’ll do my best. I promise, but Zula, you-...you’re a teenager now and so am I. It’s hard enough for one teenager to be placed in a home, let alone two.” Azula hated that he was right. With some of their first two placements, Azula had only been eleven and twelve, so she wasn’t a teenager yet. Now all families would hear is the word ‘teenager’ and instantly kick her and Zuko to the curb, “That’s why I need you to put all your effort into school.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll be in high school soon and that’s when grades really start to matter. If you do well in high school then you can go to a good college or get a good job.” Zuko told her, “Don’t worry about our placements anymore. All that should matter to you is doing well in school.”

“But-”

“Zula, out of the two of us, you’re the smarter one. You have the better chance to make something of yourself. Do it.” 

Azula turned her gaze away from Zuko for a moment, considering his words. He wasn’t wrong. She’d always been the smarter one out of the two. However, hearing her brother’s words now made her stomach twist and turn. It felt like when their father would tell her to do well in school.

“Will…Will you leave if I don’t? Will you get mad?” Azula asked. 

Zuko’s expression broke. Without a word, he wrapped Azula in a hug, “No. No, I’m not leaving, Zula. I’ll never leave and I’ll never get mad. I really want you to do well, but I…I’m not like father.” He could feel Azula hugging him back, “Just promise me you’ll do your best in school and get good grades.”

“Okay, Zuko. I promise.”

Azula pulled her backpack up to prevent it from sliding off her shoulder. The walk through the hallway to get to her class was always an annoying one. Half the kids in this school didn’t seem to understand the concept of walking and it made Azula want to hit them with her bag. Since that was frowned upon though she just had to settle for hitting them with her shoulder.

Before she walked into her class, Azula caught sight of Katara with her friends. They’d visited the house a number of times but Azula had never met any of them for longer than a few minutes. The only person she was really able to remember out of the group was Suki and that was because she was at the house more and was helping to tutor Zuko.

“Hi, Azula!” Suki smiled.

Azula waved to Suki, but chose to say nothing before entering the classroom. She didn’t feel like dealing with Katara today for any longer than she had to. 

“Good afternoon, students!” Mrs. Sato’s heels clicked when she entered the room, stack of papers in hand. Azula really liked Mrs. Sato. She was one of the few teachers who seemed to understand that Azula liked challenging herself. When Azula happened to mention that she would be ready for the first test after only being in school for a week, her teacher took that as a promise—Azula fulfilled that promise when she got a 98 on her first test. 

Every other teacher treated Azula like she was to be handled with incredible care and not supposed to be given too much work, so they would try to reason with Azula when she said that she could learn the material quickly. Mrs. Sato was the only teacher who believed Azula when she said she knew what she was doing and Azula loved that.

“I’ve graded your tests and I must say that I’m impressed. A couple of you really wanted to pull your grade up and it shows.” The students smiled, “Now, do you want to wait until the end of class to discuss these grades or-”

“Now! Now! Right now!” A couple students started to yell and then others joined in. Almost every student in the class ended up at least muttering the word now.

“Alright.” She chuckled, “There’s my answer. Come up when I call your name. Li! Teo! Akemi! Chey! Azula!” 

Azula flipped to the back of her test—where Mrs. Sato always placed the final grade—until she came across her grade written in a red pen.

70.

She scored a 70 on the test.

Azula felt her heart begin to pound, sweat formed on her hands and her whole body began to shake. Her heart plummeted when she realized what was happening: she was having a panic attack. Mrs. Sato must have realized what was happening as well because she went over to Azula’s desk.

“Azula? Hey, Azula? Can you hear me?” She asked.

In a flash, Azula grabbed her bag and fled out of the room. She couldn’t hear her teacher calling out for her from behind or anything else for that matter. The only sound that was audible was a high pitched ringing. Azula finally caught sight of the girls bathroom and forced herself inside and into the largest stall, slamming it shut and locking the door.

“Stupid! Stupid!” She yelled, “You had one job! You idiot! Worthless!” How could she fail one simple task? She could just see her mother’s face right now, looking at her with her disappointed eyes. She let Zuko down and now they would end up on the streets because she was stupid! 

Azula grabbed her bag and brought it close to her body, opening a hidden tiny side pocket and trying to find something. 

Finally, her hand grabbed onto what she was looking for and she began to pull it out until she heard someone come into the bathroom. Quickly, she shoved the small container back into the pocket.

“Azula!” Katara?

“Azula, we know you’re in here.” Suki?

“She’s in the big stall.” Azula didn’t know who the third voice was.

“Azula? Are you okay?” Katara asked. Katara could see Azula from the bottom of the stall curled up in the corner, “Azula? I’m coming in.” Taking off her backpack, she crawled under the door and sat across from Azula, “Az-”

“Get away from me!” Azula yelled.

“Okay, okay.” Katara held up her hands and moved back towards the door, pressing her back against it, “I’m all the way back here, but I really want to keep my eyes on you. Is that okay?”

“Fine.” Azula spat.

Katara didn’t have the same experience dealing with panic attacks that her mother had, but she had been to the hospital a number of times and seen some patients have them. She watched how her mom helped people through it and picked up a couple things herself. 

It’s how she knew to do something when Azula started clawing at her chest, her breathing getting worse and whole body shaking like a leaf, “Azula, you can’t do that. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Katara tried to reach for her but Azula knocked her hand away.

“I don’t need your help! I just need my heart to stop!” The look in her eyes and paleness on her face made Katara nervous, “It’s going too fast.” She whispered.

“I can help.” Katara offered. Azula didn’t respond. She just kept clawing at her shirt, “Can I please try and help?” Weakly, Azula nodded.

“What are five things you can see?” 

“Ummmm….” Azula’s eyes scanned the room, “You…the door…the floor…my bag and your bag.”

“Perfect.” Katara smiled, “Four things you can touch?” Katara asked.

“Can I say the same stuff?” Katara nodded, “The floor, the wall, my bag, and my jacket.” She responded.

“Three things you can hear?” Katara asked, “Take a deep breath, just focus on naming the items and listening to me.”

“You, the vents and…Suki tapping her foot.” Katara smiled a little at the last one.

“Sorry.” Suki whispered.

“Two things you can smell.”

“Your perfume and…the general smell of a girls bathroom.” 

“Great. Last one, name one thing you can taste.” 

“....My spit?”

“Amazing!” Slowly, Katara went to sit next to Azula, “How do you feel? Your heart slowed down?”

“Yes. I think it passed.” Azula’s head fell against the wall, “Thank you, Katara.” 

“Of course. Can I ask…what happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Azula pulled her bag close to her and stood up, “I need to go back to class.”

“You just had a panic attack. You need to rest. I can walk you down to the nurse-” Azula shook her head. She had to go back to class before she missed any more and became even dumber.

“I’m fine.” She snapped, “I’ll see you in a few hours, Katara. Bye.” 

Katara, knowing she couldn’t exactly stop her, forced herself to stay back. She exchanged a quick look with Suki and Toph before pulling out her phone and texting her parents. Within ten minutes, Kya and Hakoda had the full story of Azula’s panic attack—or at least the story from Katara’s perspective—and were waiting to hear Azula’s when she returned home.

—----------------------------

“It’s not a big deal.” Azula said.

“Not a big deal. You had a panic attack in the bathroom.” Hakoda said, “Should we schedule a doctor’s appointment or-”

“No.” Azula snapped. Her eyes widened when she saw Hakoda and Kya look at her. She shouldn’t have used that tone, “No, I don’t need to see a doctor. I just got a little worried because of something that happened in class. It was a one time thing and it won’t happen again.”

“Azula, you and Zuko both had a panic attack a few weeks ago.” Kya reminded her, “Are you sure we can’t help you see a doctor or maybe get some medication or something? You know the state does pay for a lot. It wouldn’t-“

“I’m sure, Mrs. South, I don’t need anything. I’m fine.” Was it smart to interrupt her foster mother? No. But Azula really wanted to get out of here. She hated the way they were looking at her like she was some kicked puppy, “I really don’t need anything. I’m…glad that Katara was able to help, but I don’t need anything else from her or you.” It took everything in Azula to not have her tone sound rude or dismissive.

“Azula-“

Kya put a hand on her husband’s shoulder, “If you’re sure that you don’t need help then we won’t force you into anything.” She said, “However, there is something that Hakoda and I would like to tell you and Zuko.”

“Yes?” 

“Come with us.” The three walked up the stairs to Azula and Zuko’s room. Zuko was in his room, sitting on his bed, so when he saw everyone walk up right in front of their rooms, he quickly jumped up, “You two keep your doors open.” Kya said, “Is there a reason?”

Zuko looked over at Azula, searching for some kind of explanation as to what was going on, “Ummm…uhhh…”

“We fully believe in giving you two your space and making sure that you’re comfortable.” Hakoda said, “Which is why we will not force you to accept treatment you don’t want,” He said this while looking straight at Azula, “and why we want you two to feel like you can close your doors.” 

“You won't get mad if we close the doors?” Azula asked.

“Or take our doors?” Zuko added.

The way both questions were asked cut deep. They weren’t said in a mocking or fake way. These two fully believed that they could lose the right to their own rooms. These were real fears and worries. 

“You think Hakoda is strong enough to take someone’s door?” Kya laughed. Her laughter seemed to calm the siblings a bit.

“Hey, I was in the Navy. I’m strong.” Hakoda objected, giving a couple chuckles himself to show that he wasn’t angry.

“Honey, in this house, I’m the one who kills the spiders.” Kya reminded him. Hakoda rolled his eyes at his wife’s humor.

“We won’t take your doors or get mad at you.” Hakoda promised, “You have a right to your privacy just like Katara, Sokka, Kya and myself do.”

“But if you don’t feel comfortable yet closing your doors then you can also leave them open. We just wanted to make sure that you know you have the option.”

“Thank you.” Zuko said.

“You’re welcome.” Hakoda said, “There’s no plans for dinner tonight so we’ll see you in the morning.” 

Zuko did not close his door when he turned around to go back to his bed. Azula did. A small victory but a victory nonetheless. Hakoda and Kya walked back downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Another panic attack.” Kya sighed.

“Honey, it’s her choice about if she wants to receive any kind of medication or help. We can’t force her into anything.” Hakoda said, “But we can call Piandao.” 

Kya nodded, “I’ll call him tonight.”

“While you do that, I think I might call Zuko’s doctor.” Hakoda said.

“Why?” 

“He’s been having some trouble with his medicine. I think he needs to get his scar checked. Plus it seems like it’s time for a check up in general.” It was probably a good idea to get him checked a month or so after a new placement, right?

“Call the doctor then I’ll clear off some time to-“

“No, no, I can take him.” Hakoda said.

Kya hit her lip, “Hakoda-“

“It’ll be fine, Kya. I’ll make sure he’s comfortable and feels safe the entire time. We can’t avoid me not driving them forever.”

That was true. There was no way Kya could drive them all the time with her schedule. They’d managed to get through the first month but Kya knew it wouldn’t last, “Piandao said they have trouble with men. Zuko might get really freaked out being in a car with just you.”

“I know. That’s why I’ll tell him where we’re going, tell Azula, give him plenty of control, anything he could need to make the drive less stressful. I really want to show him that I can be a good foster dad.”

“You’re right and it’s not something we can avoid forever. Just text me if anything goes wrong.”

“Apparently I’ll have to because, according to you, I can’t even handle spiders.” Hakoda chuckled.

“One week ago you screamed like a little girl because a spider was in our bed.” Kya said.

“In our bed is different from them being on the ground or something. They’re literally about to strike!”

“Hakoda it’s a creature as big as my fingertip. You’d be fine even if it did strike.”

“I’ll remember that when a poisonous spider bites me. You’ll feel really bad when I’m in the hospital and you’re crying at my side saying ‘I’m sorry! I should have believed you! Spiders are the devil!’” Hakoda changed his voice to imitate his wife, earning a laugh from Kya.

“How did you get into the Navy again?” She chuckled.

“I trained like hell to go to the place where there are little to no spiders: the ocean.”

“Well, you’re back on land. Where there are little spiders just waiting to meet you and give you a kiss.” Kya chuckled when Hakoda sighed at that, “In fact, I think there’s one right on that counter. It looks like a-“

“No, no, no, no.” Hakoda shivered and quickly walked out of the kitchen while Kya’s laughter filled the house.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 1 month, 20 days)

Hakoda was not an idiot. Despite what people may believe when they heard that his wife was the doctor and the breadwinner in the family, he was far from stupid. He worked years in the Navy in tense pressure situations and went to an amazing college, graduating with high honors. He was smarter than people gave him credit for. Smart enough to know that Zuko was beyond scared and stressed right now. His nails currently digging into the seat and wild looking eyes were more than enough to indicate that. 

“Zuko?” Hakoda whispered, “We’re about ten minutes from the hospital.”

The sixteen year old just nodded. He was completely looking out the window and not sparing Hakoda a glance. Hakoda let out a small sigh, returning his attention to the road. There was really nothing he could do to calm Zuko down until they were out of the car, so silence was probably the best choice right now. Silence and a constant reminder about how close they were getting. That helped him a lot with scary stuff-when he knew it was coming to an end soon. Besides, the silence and laser focus on the road also seemed to help Zuko feel like the attention wasn't all on him. 

Once they pulled up to the hospital, Zuko released his stress and fear, bolting from the car the moment he had the chance. Hakoda didn't miss that it wasn't so much the car he was running from but the small and enclosed space with Hakoda. He stayed a couple of feet away from Hakoda when they walked inside but still followed him without a word.

“Hello. My name’s Hakoda South. I have Zuko Agni with me.” Hakoda said.

“Yes. Doctor Tenzin will be out in a moment.” The receptionist smiled.

“Thank you.”

Zuko was already sitting in the farthest seat. His whole body was curled up to appear as small as possible. It wasn’t unusual for Zuko to be withdrawn but this seemed different, more intense.

“Zuko?” Hakoda asked, “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Zuko replied harshly, “Just…don’t want to be here.”

“Yeah. I get it. The doctor is no fun, but he’ll just do a quick check up and then we can leave. Kya told me you and your old foster mom used to get pizza after appointments. Maybe we could stop and get some.” Zuko didn’t respond, “Or not.” Hakoda whispered, “Do you think the girls are having fun?”

“Huh?”

“The girls? On their spa day?” Hakoda said.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah. Azula loves spa days. I’m sure she’s really having fun.” Zuko nodded, thinking about how he would give anything to be at some girls day spa trip and not sitting in a cold doctor’s waiting room. It didn’t matter which foster family brought him to the doctor, he hated every single visit since being placed in the system.

“Zuko Agni!” A voice called. A tall man with a beard, wearing a doctor’s coat, stepped out into the waiting room, “Ah, there you are. You look very well, Zuko.”

“Hi, Doctor Tenzin.” Zuko whispered.

“And you must be Hakoda. His new foster father?” 

“I am.” Hakoda nodded, shaking Tenzin’s hand.

“Yes, well, Zuko and I will go back and once we’re gone I’ll come out and talk to you.” Tenzin told him, “It shouldn’t be too long. Half an hour or so.”

“Okay. Zuko, you can text me if you need anything, okay?” Hakoda asked.

“Got it.” He replied.

“Alright. Let’s get going, Zuko.” Hakoda decided to wait until Tenzin and Zuko were gone before sitting back down in the chairs. 

-------------------------------------

60 minute signature massage? Probably 120 dollars or so. The math would get too hard if she tried to calculate everything. It was best to round so that she could add everything up easier.

30 minute acne lift peel? Another 120 dollars most likely.

All three of them in a sauna for 30 minutes max? 60 dollars maybe. Kya did have a coupon for this part of the spa trip.

300 dollars spent in a single day on a spa trip and all that was just how much she was costing Kya. She hadn’t even factored in how much money Kya was spending on herself or Katara. Azula turned her head towards Katara, who had a towel wrapped around her body as she relaxed in the sauna.

“I’ll be right back, girls. Stay here.” Kya said.

“Okay, mom.”

Azula waited until Kya left to let out a sigh, “So…when does Kya expect the money?”

“Money?” Katara asked.

“You don’t have to pretend. I know that this is an expensive trip. I-I don’t have the money to completely pay for my share, but if she tells me when she expects it then I can get it to her as soon as possible.” Azula promised.

She could already hear the voice of her old foster mother, screaming at her for believing that anything they gave her was free, “ The moment I spend more on you than the state gives me, it becomes a debt. A debt that you and your brother must pay! You owe this family over two hundred dollars!”

“I don’t have that money.” What eleven year old had over two hundred dollars?

“Oh? Then someone isn’t getting dinner for a while. Two weeks of no dinner to pay off your debt.” 

Azula's eyes widened, “But-”

“You want it to be three weeks? Go to your room! Now!”

“You don’t have to pay for anything.” Katara told her, “Mom is paying for all of this.”

“Nice trick, but it won’t work on me. You’re not going to trick me into not paying Mrs. South back.” Azula snapped.

“I’m not trying to trick you, Azula. I’m not paying her back either. She really doesn’t expect you to pay for a spa day that she decided to take all of us to.” Yes, Azula had to admit that part had tripped her up a bit. She didn’t expect Kya to take her along as well. She thought it was just a mother-daughter day, but, no doubt, Kya wanted to bring Azula to show off what a good foster mom she was to Piandao.

“You’re her daughter. You don’t have to pay, but I do.” Azula spoke as if it was simple logic but the look on Katara’s face was one of shock and a bit of horror.

“I promise you don’t have to pay a cent. Mom invited you here so it’s her treat.” Katara said.

“You may believe that, but you’ll see. When we leave she’ll be expecting me to pay her either now or later.”

“No, she won’t.” Just then Kya re-entered the sauna.

“What are you girls talking about?” Kya asked.

“Nothing.” Azula quickly said, glaring at Katara to not utter a word.

Satisfied with her answer, Kya leaned back against the seat, letting out a sigh, “Isn’t this perfect?”

“Yeah…perfect.”

—-------------------------------

Hakoda had to give Tenzin credit. He said half an hour and exactly thirty minutes later, Tenzin walked out and said they were done, calling Hakoda back. 

“Is everything okay?” Hakoda asked.

Tenzin didn’t say a word. His silence filled the hallway and then room when Hakoda stepped inside. Zuko was sitting down on the table, his legs bouncing back and forth, and playing with his fingers when Hakoda walked in.

“Zuko? What’s wrong?”

“He says he needs to talk to you.” Zuko told him.

“Yes?” Hakoda asked, turning back towards Tenzin.

“I was looking over Zuko’s scar, like I always do, and I found something weird when I was looking.” As if Tenzin had pressed a button, Zuko instantly went stiff and gained a terrified expression on his face, “Zuko?” Tenzin asked.

“Zuko? Zuko, everything is okay. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Leave…” Zuko let out a shaky breath, “I want to leave. Now. Now!” He yelled.

“Woah, woah, Zuko.” Hakoda quickly put himself in front of Zuko so that the teenager was just looking at him, “It’s okay. Breathe. I need you to breathe. Five in and five out, can you do that?” Zuko nodded, “Great. Five in and five out.”

A couple of minutes passed before Zuko seemingly relaxed, “That’s good.” Hakoda whispered, “Doctor Tenzin?”

“Zuko’s scar looks to be infected.” Tenzin told them, “Have you been using the same medicine you always have?”

“Yes. I never stopped.” Zuko said, “It starts to hurt if I don’t use my medicine.” He admitted, looking away like he had said something shameful.

“Has that pain been getting worse over the last few months or so?” Tenzin asked. Zuko nodded, “I think your scar is infected. If you’re still using the medicine then I’m willing to bet that it’s no longer strong enough.” 

“So…what does that mean?” Zuko asked.

“I think you’ll need some antibiotics for the infection and a stronger dose of your medicine, but that should be about it.” 

“How much does this cost?” Zuko asked.

“Don’t worry about that.” Hakoda cut in, “I’m paying for all your medicine. Whatever you need.”

Tenzin must have sensed Zuko hesitation, “Zuko, this is not something to ignore because of the cost. You could completely lose sight in your eye if you let this infection continue and it could get to the point where the pain is unbearable. We caught it early, which is very good, but it will get worse if it’s not treated.”

“I understand.” 

“Good.” Tenzin turned to Hakoda, “I’ll be right back with some papers you can send to the drug store for his medication.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Tenzin nodded before leaving the room, “Zuko, are you-”

“Can we please go?” Zuko asked, “Please. Just out to the waiting room or something.”

“Zuko-”

“Please! I don’t like hospitals!” Zuko begged, “I-I’ll tell them it was all my idea. I’ll say I ran and you had to go catch me or something.”

“There’s no need for that.” Hakoda said, “If you don’t want to be in this room then we’ll leave. Do you have all your stuff?” Zuko’s look of pure shock never left his face. Even as Hakoda got him out of the room and received glares from the doctors who had to track the two down in the waiting room.

“It was my mistake. I thought we were supposed to wait out here. It is called the waiting room after all.” Hakoda nervously chuckled.

“Just wait in the room next time.” The receptionist snapped.

“Will do.” Hakoda didn’t say a word about the whole thing being Zuko’s fault. Zuko spent the whole car ride to the house waiting for Hakoda to snap at him and yell about embarrassing him. 

“Pathetic brat.” Ozai snarled.

Zuko whimpered, curling up on his mother’s lap, “I-I’m sorry-”

“You’re sorry!? I looked like an idiot because you couldn’t manage to stay put for five minutes!”

“Ozai!” Ursa snapped, “Leave him be. Zuko doesn’t like these dinners. It’s hard for him to stay still that long.”

“He needs to learn to like them. I will not have a crying child who runs to his mother whenever things get hard.”

“He’s only 6!”

“It’s no excuse, Ursa! You can’t keep babying him!”

“I’m not babying him! You are the one forcing him into situations he isn’t comfortable with!”

“I am preparing him for the future! In ten years, he’ll be grateful for everything I did for him!”

“Zuko?” Hakoda repeated, giving him a small shake. Zuko’s eyes snapped open and he flew around to face Hakoda, “Woah. Woah. It’s okay. I was just trying to tell you that we’re home.”

“Oh….Thanks.” The two slipped out of the car and into the house.

“Glad to be of service. I’ll call the drug store about your medicine. I-” Hakoda didn’t say anything more because Zuko had already run off to his room upstairs, “Guess that’s that.”

—----------------------------

When Kya’s car pulled into the driveway and the three left, heading inside in silence, Azula was left in a state of utter confusion. Kya hadn’t said a word about Azula saying for her hair, it was so weird. She made her way up the stairs where Zuko was lying on his bed.

“You look like you’re dead.” Azula commented.

“Ha-ha. I see the spa day didn’t help. They couldn’t even get rid of the bags under your eyes.” 

“Those are there because I’m the smarter of the two of us and spending more of my time studying while you stare at the ceiling.” 

“And spend my time wondering why my sister has decided to invade my room.” He added.

“Something weird happened and I need your opinion.” Zuko sat up. It wasn’t unusual for Azula to come to him with a question or two and he wanted to try and give her the best answer possible, “I went on a spa day with Kya and Katara. An expensive one.”

Zuko winced, “How much do we owe?”

“That’s the thing. Kya didn’t say anything about me paying.” Azula said.

“Did she forget?”

“I don’t think so. I tried to bring it up in the car, but she brushed me off, saying that I shouldn’t worry about money. What matters is that we had fun.”

“That’s really weird.” Zuko agreed, “Maybe she’s waiting. She’ll bring it up later when she can actually use it against you or something.”

Azula slightly nodded, “Yeah. That’s probably it.”

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I just….what if she actually doesn’t expect me to pay and she’s just being nice?” Azula suggested, “Like our last foster mom?” 

“I thought you said I was naive before to believe that Sokka was actually being nice. Now Kya really is being nice?” Zuko asked, “Which is it?”

“I-I don’t know!” Azula snapped, “Maybe for now we can just hope that they’re a good foster family….however unlikely that is.” She said.

“Yeah.” Zuko nodded, “Yeah, we can hope.”

After dinner, after everyone was in their rooms, Zuko snuck back downstairs. He found Hakoda getting himself a glass of water in the kitchen. The man’s eyes widened a touch when he saw Zuko.

“Scared me.” He chuckled, “Everything okay?”

Zuko remained standing still. His head down and his arms attached to his side.

“Zuko?”

“A hospital visit ruined my life.”

“I’m sorry?”

“When I was thirteen, I was taken to the hospital because of this.” Zuko gestured to his scar, “While I was there, CPS came and started asking me and Azula a bunch of questions. When I finally got out of the hospital, Piandao was right there to take me and Azula away from our home and said someone else would be taking care of us now because our dad had been arrested.” Hakoda remained silent, “He lost parental rights a little over a year after that…something I found out during a doctor’s visit.”

“Oh.”

“That’s why I freaked out in the doctor’s office. I can’t be there without thinking about that day in the hospital or everything that came after it.” Zuko admitted.

“I-Thank you for telling me. I know it must have been hard. Is there anything I can do to help you feel calmer? Because we can’t stop taking you to the doctor.” Zuko offered Hakoda a small smile at that.

“Talking. I think talking really helps me feel better.” He said, “I just don’t know if I can talk back but if you could talk to me when we drive to the doctor's office…maybe?”

It took everything in Hakoda not to jump up and down at that moment. Zuko wanted to talk with him and he was opening up! This might never happen again!

“I think that can be arranged.” Hakoda nodded, “Alright. You should head up to bed. You have school tomorrow.”

“Okay, Mr. South.” Zuko went back to the stairs, “Goodnight and thank you.”

“Goodnight, Zuko.”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 2 months, 7 days)

When November arrived, it came in strong. The weather dropped quickly to fleece temperatures in, what seemed like, a day. As more and more days of November went by, the weather remained cold but not freezing quite yet. Outside, the trees were losing their leaves and night was coming earlier and earlier. Inside, everyone was counting down the days to Thanksgiving and the couple days or hours of freedom it brought to be with family and eat.

Kya, never wanting to fall behind on making Thanksgiving, already had the entire meal planned out. Thanksgiving was always a big event with their family because they usually had an extra three people or so: Bato, Kanna and Pakku. This year was even more special because they would have them and Azula and Zuko. Not to mention that this was the first time Kanna and Pakku were meeting Azula and Zuko in person.

“Zuko? Azula?” Kya asked, “Are you two okay with traditional Thanksgiving food? Is there anything I’m missing?” She asked, handing them her phone so they could look at all the foods.

“It looks good.” Zuko said, “Where will we sit during the meal?”

“What do you mean?” Kya asked.

“Some foster parents had us stay in our rooms, others had us at the table and one told us to eat in the kitchen.” Zuko explained, “Where should we sit?”

“I think there will be a teenager table for you two, Katara and Sokka since we have so many people coming. We have a table in the basement. We’ll bring that upstairs and connect it to the table in the kitchen.” They’d have to make sure they had the room but it would either be that or the kids eating in the living room, “Is that okay?” The two nodded.

“Good. And all the food is okay, too?” More nodding, “Great! Did you two have any kind of traditions for Thanksgiving when you celebrated with other foster families?”

“Not really.” Azula scrunched up her eyes, thinking back to their previous families, “The only traditions we had were with our bio family.”

“Oh?”

“Our uncle would come every year and he’d bring these little popper things that you could pull and there would be a saying in them or a one dollar prize kind of thing.” Zuko said, “He’d bring those and tea that was delicious.”

Azula stuck out her tongue, “Bleh.”

“Bleh?” Zuko asked, “You loved the mochi he brought.”

“The mochi. Not the tea.” Azula clarified, “I'm not a tea person and with the amount he brought to the house, I got sick of it."

“Imagine if uncle heard you talking like that.” 

“I’d get a stern talking to about how tea is the essence of the universal or some crap like that.” Azula chuckled.

“You have an uncle?” Kya asked.

“Yeah.” Zuko admitted, his tone changing slightly, “He’s our dad’s brother. When we were originally placed in foster care, he tried to get custody of us but the courts refused. He’s really the only family that we have left.”

“But that’s not to say that we’re ungrateful for everything you and Mr. South have done.” Azula quickly added, “We’re really happy to be here.”

“It’s okay.” Kya whispered, “I’m sorry about your uncle. When was the last time you two saw him?”

“Probably…two years ago. After he failed to get custody, we were placed in foster homes outside of New York and then we just kept getting further and further away.” 

“Hmm. Alright, thanks for telling me.” Kya said. 

Once she was far enough away, Kya pulled out her phone and called up Piandao, asking for whatever he knew about Zuko and Azula’s uncle. 

———————————

“Freedom!” Sokka yelled, jumping off the bus.

“Did you have to scream that at school and here?” 

“Yes! Because we are free!!!” Sokka yelled.

Katara rubbed her ear, “I heard you the first time you screamed in my ear.” 

“Hey. Who’s car is that?” Zuko asked, gesturing to the red Honda in the driveway.

“No clue.” Sokka muttered, “Is it your caseworker?”

“No. Piandao doesn’t drive a car like that.” Azula said.

“Hello?” Katara called, “Mom? Dad?” 

“In the kitchen kids!” Kya called, “Azula, Zuko, come here.” The foster kids looked over at Sokka and Katara, who just shrugged. Slowly, they began walking towards the kitchen and poked their heads in. 

Then they saw him. It was impossible to miss him sitting at the kitchen table with a teacup in front of him and a giant smile on his face.

“UNCLE!” 

“Kids!” Iroh was instantly crashed into by the two teens, “Ugh! I see you missed me.”

“Did the courts agree to give you custody?!? Can we go home?! Are you here to take us?!” Iroh didn’t say a word until the two were done giving him their questions.

“That’s a lot of questions for an old man.” Iroh laughed.

“You’re not that old.” Zuko said.

“That’s sweet of you to say, but I’m afraid I am.” Iroh sighed, “First of all, no. The courts did not give me custody. I’m not here to take you kids back to New York.” Zuko and Azula visibly deflated, “I’m here for something else.”

“What?” Azula asked.

“It seems your foster parents spoke with Piandao and myself and we all agreed that I am allowed to come down and see you. Every few weeks, I can drive down here and we can spend the weekend together.” 

For a moment, everything went quiet. Zuko spared Kya and Hakoda a look but refused to let go of Iroh. Azula, who did let go, turned to look at the two and launched herself forward, wrapping her arms tightly around Kya.

“Oh! Umm…” What did she do?! Did she hug her back? Wait for her to let go? Eventually, Kya decided to hug her, holding her close until she felt Azula let go.

“Thank you.” Azula whispered.

“You’re welcome.” Kya turned to take Hakoda’s hand, “We’ll let you three catch up. And Iroh?”

“Hmmm?”

“See you at Thanksgiving?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

———————————

Thanksgiving Day came way too fast in Kya’s opinion. All the kids slept in that morning—Zuko and Azula were informed to go back to bed after Kya told them too—while Hakoda and Kya worked on dinner. Eventually, everyone was awake and doing something to help out. Azula and Sokka were down in the basement looking for an extra table to bring upstairs. Zuko was helping Hakoda by going to the store because Kya forgot rolls and Katara was in the kitchen with her mom.

“When are Gran Gran and grandpa coming?” Katara asked.

“They should be here any minute now.” Kya told her.

“And this is the first time they’re meeting Azula and Zuko, right?”

“In person at least.” Kya muttered, “I’m sure your grandparents will love them.”

“What if they don’t?”

“Katara!” Kya scolded.

“I’m just saying, grandpa wasn’t thrilled with the idea even before Zuko and Azula arrived.” She did have a point. Pakku had always been against the two of them fostering teenagers. When they announced it, he’d actually texted Hakoda asking if they were doing this because of a money issue. Pakku got blocked for a couple days after that comment.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t say anything to them.”

“Say anything to who?” Sokka asked. Azula right behind him.

“Nothing. Did you find the table?” Kya asked.

“Yup!” Sokka nodded, gesturing to the table in the living room. It was covered in dust and cobwebs.

“Maybe wipe it down before we put food on it.” Kya said, “I have a feeling you kids won’t be in the mood for eating spiders and dust with your turkey and cranberries.”

————————————

Iroh arrived an hour later with two large pies and ice cream in hand. Azula and Zuko attached to his side like glue, trying desperately to get in whatever time they could with their uncle before he left again. The food was nearly done when Kya heard a knock at the door. Everyone else was outside with Blue so she had to answer the door.

“Kanna! Pakku!” The elderly couple walked in with bright faces.

“Kya! It’s so good to see you!” Kanna and Kya hugged for a second before Kya turned towards Pakku.

“We brought peanut butter cheesecake!” Palau declared, “We saw your post about how much you and Katara loved that cheesecake place and thought we’d bring some.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to bring anything. Thank you so much.” Kya said, “I’ll make sure to mark this.”

“Mark?”

“Azula’s allergic to peanuts. She can’t eat this.” Kya said. Kanna, at least, looked concerned and a little guilty when she found out she brought something someone was allergic to. Pakku didn’t seem that concerned.

Pakku shook his head, “I swear, kids these days are allergic to everything.”

Kya winced, “Well, she’s not allergic to everything but she will lose the ability to breathe if she eats this so I’ll just mark it.” She said, “How was the drive?”

“A breeze.” Kanna said, “There’s no traffic on Thanksgiving.”

“That’s great! I’m glad you guys were able to make it in without any issues.” Kya grabbed a hot pink sticky note and wrote down, in sharpie, the words ‘has peanuts in it’ and pressed it onto the box. Front and center for everyone to see, “The kids, Hakoda and Iroh are all out back with Blue. Come on.” Kya didn’t notice Pakku eye the sticky note with annoyance.

—————————

A couple hours later, once dinner was over and done, everything was going great. Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Azula were all inside watching TV in the living room. Hakoda was outside with Iroh—it took two plates of turkey for Zuko and Azula to be too tired to follow him outside—and Kya, Kanna and Pakku were all in the kitchen.

“Pakku?” Kya asked, noticing him looking over at the kids, “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine. I’m still just…shocked you and Hakoda finally did it.” 

“What? Fostered?” Kya asked.

“Yeah. Even more shocked that you’d pick teenagers. I figured this was a way for you two to have little kids running around the house again without all the commitment of having to actually raise them.”

“Pakku.” Kanna lightly scolded.

“I’m just saying. I certainly see the appeal. I mean the state pays you what…little under 2,000 for Zuko and like 1,200 for Azula? 3,000 extra dollars a month isn’t something to ignore.”

“Pakku, I’m going to have to kindly ask you to shut up now.” Kya snapped. 

“Excuse me?” Pakku’s voice turned angry.

“Shut up. And if you say anything like that in front of Azula or Zuko then you will be kicked out of this house and it’ll be months, maybe years, before you see your grandchildren again.” She threatened.

“I’m only saying that I understand why you fostered, but I don’t get why you didn’t pick a baby or a toddler. They’d be much easier to handle than two teenagers.”

“As shocking as this may sound, we didn’t pick who we’d foster based on how easy it would be. We picked them based on who needed help.” 

“And these two teenagers, about to age out of the system, were more in need of help than a baby that’s completely reliant on others for care?” 

“No. These teenagers who were about to be split up and have just as much right to a family as any other children needed help.” Kya shoved a plate of dessert into Pakku’s chest. Behind her, she could hear Hakoda and Iroh walking into the living room, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to spend some time with my family.” With that, she walked away.

Kya had just walked into the living room, her eyes tired and set on Hakoda, when she noticed all the kids had plates of the dessert Pakku and Kanna had brought, including Azula.

“AZULA! Don’t!” Kya screamed, hitting the cheesecake off her plate. Blue was right there to snag it up off the ground but no one really noticed.

“What-what did I do?” Azula asked. She looked at Kya in shock and a tiny bit of fear with Zuko and Iroh now ready to jump in if need be. Iroh looked ready to guide Kya out of the room while Zuko was about to jump in front of Azula.

“That had peanuts in it.” Kya explained, “I put a label on the box saying it had peanuts. Did you not see?”

“There was no label. I thought it was just regular cheesecake.” Kya marched into the kitchen, looking for the light pink blanket she’d placed on the box. It was nowhere to be found, “I’m really sorry, Mrs. South. I’ll-“

“No, no, no,” She flew around and gently placed her hand on Azula’s shoulder. Her flinch made Kya wince but she continued forward with her apology, “you did nothing wrong. There’s nothing you have to apologize for. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I should have done something else.”

“It’s okay-“

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry and I hope I haven’t done something to ruin your Thanksgiving.”

“It would take a lot more than a simple yell to ruin the day. I’m not that traumatized.” She tried to laugh but Kya still looked upset, “I’m really fine, Kya. I promise.”

Kya and Hakoda shared a glance of pure shock. Azula just called her Kya?! Not Mrs. South. Kya! 

“If you’re sure.” Kya sighed, taking out pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream from the freezer, “Here. This is some dessert that won’t send you to the hospital.”

“Thanks.” 

The rest of the night finished up well. After some more discussions and an hour or two spent watching football, everyone retired to their cars or rooms. Azula and Zuko hated having to say goodbye to Iroh though. No matter how many times the man promised he’d come back it was clear that, at some level, they didn’t believe him. They watched him leave the house with looks that begged him not to forget that they were still there.

“Kids.” Hakoda whispered, a hand on both of their shoulders while Iroh got into his car, “Why don’t you go upstairs and get into bed?”

“Okay, Hakoda.” Azula whispered.

Hakoda decided to wait until they were both upstairs and had closed their doors before he and Kya did a little happy dance in the kitchen.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 3 months, 15 days)

December 24th.

“Celebrating the Holidays with Foster Youth: Do’s and Don’ts?” Hakoda asked.

He was currently leaning over Kya’s shoulder while she looked over the information on her computer. She had about ten tabs open with each other holding an article that talked about the holiday season and foster kids. Hakoda could remember a couple comments people made during their training sessions to be certified as foster parents but nothing concrete.

“Christmas is tomorrow. I just want to make sure that we have everything all set for everybody. I have stockings and presents for Zuko and Azula, ordered extra cinnamon buns, and I have some sausage and biscuits ready in case people don’t want that.” Kya noted.

“And we have my famous roast beef for dinner.” Hakoda said, “Everything is all set, Kya. It’ll be perfect.”

“I hope so.” Kya winced, “I really want everything to be perfect.”

“And it will be.” Hakoda gently closed her computer, “Everything is all ready for Christmas tomorrow. It’s time for you to get some sleep. The kids won’t enjoy the holiday if you’re falling asleep on the couch.”

“You’re right. You’re right. I need to get some sleep. Everything is all set.” Kya turned to walk towards their bed only to stop in the middle of the room.

“Kya?” Hakoda asked.

“What if I didn’t fill the stockings all the same? Then Katara and Sokka might think we’re favoring Zuko and Azula or Zuko and Azula will feel left out or-”

“Okay!” Hakoda grabbed hold of Kya’s shoulders and guided her down to the bed, putting the blanket over her body, “You need to calm down. The kids aren’t going to count how many presents each of them got and they aren’t going to feel neglected.”

“But-”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“You should know me better than that after 21 years of marriage.” 

Hakoda smiled at his wife, “You get to bed and I’ll go count the gift, okay?” 

“Fine.” Kya wrapped the blanket around her body, nuzzling into the pillow, “Goodnight, Hakoda.”

“Goodnight, Kya.”

After heading out to their decorated and lit up tree and counting every single present, Hakoda returned to bed with Kya. Tomorrow would be their first Christmas with foster kids. They both really wanted to make a good first impression and ensure that all their teenagers felt like they were part of the family. Both adults went to bed that night, hoping that tomorrow would be a Christmas everyone in the family would love.

—--------------------------

“Zuko! Zuko, wake up!” 

Zuko grabbed a nearby pillow and tossed it over his head, mumbling something about telling the person to be quiet.

“Get up, you idiot.” Azula hissed, dragging him off the bed.

“Ow! What was that for, Zula?” Zuko snapped.

“You have to come downstairs now. Something really weird is down there.” She said.

“Weird how?” Zuko asked, rubbing his eyes to wake himself up.

“Just come down. Now!” Azula then grabbed his arm and dragged him down the stairs to the living room. 

The tree was up, shining proudly with multicolored Christmas lights, and the presents were all safely situated under the tree. The only thing Kya and Hakoda had officially added were the stockings and a few small decorations to make it look even more festive. Otherwise, it looked like a traditional Christmas morning.

“What’s wrong?” Zuko asked.

Azula pointed to the stockings, “Look. They have our names on them and there are presents inside.”

“Are they…fake? Maybe for show?”

“No, I looked and they’re real. They actually got us stocking presents and there are presents for us under the tree.” Azula said.

The last decent Christmas the siblings had shared was either with their last foster family or the last Christmas that their mother was around. Last year their foster parents had been kind, caring and included them in everything. It really felt like they were part of a family. Every Christmas before that felt like an excuse for the foster parents to either exclude them entirely or give them two single presents and take a photo so they could show off what good foster parents they were.

“Hey! No peeking before everyone else gets down here.” Katara said, jumping onto the couch after setting her cup of coffee down.

“Are these for…us?” Zuko asked, pointing to the presents, “Or are they fakes? Is this just cardboard?”

Katara gave Zuko a raised eyebrow, “Ummmm…they’re Christmas presents. Why would they be fake?” 

“Because why would….nevermind.” Azula shook her head, “When will everyone come downstairs?”

“Soon. Sokka’s usually-“

“Wake up! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”

“Like that.” She finished.

Kya and Hakoda shuffled out of their rooms, still looking tired, while Sokka practically jumped down the stairs looking more excited than Zuko or Azula had ever seen him. He happily jumped onto the couch next to his sister with a giant grin on his face.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, kids.” Kya smiled, “You can start opening presents. Your father and I need some coffee before we start this very long day.” She said.

“Okay! Got it, mom!” 

Katara pulled out two presents and handed them to Azula and Zuko, “I promise they aren’t fake.” She whispered.

Slowly, Azula unwrapped hers first. Her eyes widened. It was a small pack of gold, blue and dark red shirts and all of them had some kind of rock band logo on them. A couple of them were bands Azula had never heard of but there wasn’t a single pretty pink shirt in the mix. 

Meanwhile, Zuko unwrapped his present to find it was a brand new sketchbook with new pencils attached. The paper on the sketchbook was also clearly designed to be drawn on. 

The siblings looked at another before turning to Kya and Hakoda, who were now in chairs with cups of coffee in their hands, “Do you like them?” Kya asked.

Trying to hide their true reactions, Zuko and Azula gave very restrained nods and small confirmations that they liked their gifts. Hakoda and Kya did chuckle a touch when the teenagers began ripping into their other presents under the tree with the same enthusiasm that Katara and Sokka had. An hour passed before everyone had unwrapped all of their presents. Small piles were made in each corner of the room to determine what belonged to who.

“Alright! Who’s up for some Christmas breakfast?”

—----------------------------------

In the days before Christmas, their town had been hit with a large blizzard. The storm shut down most offices—except for Kya and Hakoda’s work—and made travel outside of the house nearly impossible. The South family, thankfully, remained largely unaffected as school was already done and Hakoda’s job was virtual. All the snow did for them was make things a little colder and give Sokka the opportunity to start a massive snowball fight which began when he launched a snowball right at Azula’s head.

“Hey!” She yelled, “What was that for?”

“It’s a snowball fight. It’s fun.” Sokka grinned. Only to get hit right in the face with a snowball.

“You’re right. That is fun.” She grinned.

“You’re on!” Sokka laughed, “Zuko come help me! It’s boys vs girls!”

“Wait, wh-” Sokka grabbed Zuko’s arm and yanked him over to the other side of the yard, “Quick! We have to build a shield.”

“A shield?”

“Yes. You start on that and I’ll make snowballs.”

“Okay?” While constructing the shield, Zuko noticed Hakoda and Kya come and stand outside, looking over the kid’s snowball fight. He also noticed them unleash Blue. The dog instantly ran over to him and Sokka, jumping on them and biting at their coats like he was an attack dog, “Blue! Blue, no!”

“No, Blue! Go attack the girls! Go attack-....Where are Azula and Katara?” Sokka asked.

They were gone. They weren’t in the yard at all. Sokka’s head began spinning around, looking in all directions to try and find the two girls.

“Zuko, keep building the shield. I think we’re about to be ambushed.” He whispered.

Zuko began to build up the shield as best he could. The last time he and Azula had played in the snow was when they were kids still living with their mom and dad. There had been a massive snow storm one night that cut the power and, to keep them from being scared, their mom took them outside to play. It was one of the fondest memories Zuko had.

That memory soon disappeared when a snowball collided with his head. 

“Zuko!” Sokka cried, “Man down!”

“You’re next!” Katara yelled, aiming the snowball at Sokka.

She missed her target and Sokka and Zuko ran inside to the garage, closing the door and locking it to keep them from getting in.

“I think we’re safe.” Sokka whispered, “They can’t get us in here.”

“What’s the plan?” Zuko asked.

“Katara has this almost magical ability with snow—I can’t explain it—so she’s our bigger threat. Azula is the weak link of the group.”

“Oh?” A voice asked.

“AHHHHHH!!!!”

Sokka and Zuko ended the day covered head to toe in snow while Azula and Katara became the official champions of the snowball fight 2025–as they decided to call it.

“You scream like a girl.” Azula commented, “I just wanted to make sure you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah. I demand a rematch.” Sokka said.

“So we can kick your butt again? Fine by me.” Katara smirked.

“You did not kick our butts. We hit both of you.” Sokka argued.

“You hit Azula twice and me once and we hit you 58 times and Zuko 79 times.” Katara smirked. Zuko looked down when she mentioned his number.

“I kind of want to go again too.” Azula said, “I know I can make it a good 100 on both of them now that I know the layout.” 

“Ha-Ha.” Zuko said, “You’re hilarious.”

“Thank you, Zuzu.”

“Kids!” Hakoda called, “Come inside! You’ve been out there for three hours.”

“One more round?” Sokka called.

Hakoda shook his head, “Not tonight. Come on. It’s time for dinner!”

“Dinner!” Sokka bolted back inside the house with Azula, Katara and Zuko following close behind. 

—————————————

Dinner was amazing. In addition to the roast beef, there was carrots, gravy, rolls, potatoes and chocolate cake that Kya had purchased two days ago and kept hidden until that night. For an hour and a half the family did nothing but eat and talk, discussing the presents, New Years and how school was progressing. Zuko did not miss Sokka’s bright smile when he spoke about how helpful Suki was being.

“Zhao is an awful teacher.” Kya grumbled, “I’m glad that you’re actually having a somewhat positive experience in his class.”

“You think he’s an awful teacher?” Zuko had never really heard about a foster parent bad mouthing a teacher before. 

“Most of the teachers in that school are great and really nice but Zhao is a good example of a person I would….” Kya trailed off, looking down at the table, “Perhaps I shouldn’t say what I would do. No need for anything to get traced back to me.”

“Kya.” Hakoda sighed, “Anyways, we’re glad to hear everything is going well, Zuko. How about you, Azula? Piandao said you’re a straight A student. Think you can pull it off again?”

Azula tensed up at his words. Nothing that would alert him to any trouble but enough that his smile did turn into a frown. Azula shuffled in her seat when she noticed everyone was looking at her. 

“Yes! Yes, of course.” She nodded, “All my classes are easy as usual.”

“Do you not feel challenged at the school?” Kya asked, “Because we can get you into an advanced program if you think that would be better.”

“Oh, no, no, no. There’s no need for that. I’m fine at the public school.” The last thing she needed was for these two to spend even more money on her. Kya already didn’t charge her for the spa days. She didn’t need even more debt.

“It’s no trouble. We can’t talk to Piandao.”

“I really don’t need to go to another school.”

“Mom. How’s the hospital?” Katara asked.

Thankfully, the conversation shifted after that. And, after everyone ate, no one felt like talking. All anyone could do was rest in their living room and turn on a Christmas movie as they tried not to move for their drinks.

That night, Azula slipped into Zuko’s room again. He had the door closed—which he was doing a lot more of lately—so Azula had to knock and hope no one heard her. Zuko let her in seconds later looking a touch annoyed at her.

“What?” He asked.

The fourteen year old pushed her way into Zuko’s room, “What to do you mean ‘what’? That was weird.”

A look of understanding dawned on Zuko’s face, “Yeah. It's kinda weird that they would spend this much time and money on us.”

“They get us presents, a nice dinner, Katara and Sokka are okay with spending the whole day with us out in the snow. What is their game here?” Most of the foster families they stayed with made it a point to exclude them from holidays unless Piandao or outsider relatives were around. Holidays were a great time to remind Azula and Zuko that they weren’t really a part of the family. They were visitors that the family was taking in for a short time. 

“Why are you questioning it?” Zuko asked, “Just be grateful.”

“I have to question it because apparently you aren’t. What do they want? They can’t just be doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“Our last family did.” Zuko whispered.

“Our last foster family isn’t this family.” Azula snapped. No matter how much she wanted to believe that they were, “What if we wake up tomorrow and they take our presents back? Or they demand that we pay for them? Or-”

Zuko put a hand on Azula’s shoulder, “Azula, you don’t have to worry about that. If they want money from us then I’ll handle it. I’ll get a job or something. You just worry about finishing school and getting good grades.”

“I know.” Azula nodded, “I’m sorry. I really want this family to be as good as the last one and I think they are but…” Zuko nodded. He understood. All the foster families before them, minus one, had been so bad. It made sense for her to be skeptical but at least she was trying to see that this family could be different.

“It’s okay. Just make sure no one hears you worrying.” 

“I know. I’m not stupid.” Azula snickered, “Do you remember the last Christmas we had with mom?”

Zuko suddenly froze, “Yeah. What was that…six years ago? Didn’t you still believe in Santa at that age?” 

He and Azula had raced downstairs in their pajamas. Their father had been sitting in his chair, hardly paying attention to the commotion but their mother was on the ground with them. She was taking pictures, helping them unwrap gifts and showering them both with affection all morning. Azula and Zuko had no idea that less than 6 months later she would disappear one night, leaving them all alone with Ozai.

“I stopped believing in Santa long before that, Zuzu. I think you’re thinking of yourself. I remember a certain ten year old boy crying because mom had to tell him the real reason Santa didn’t eat all the cookies.”

“In my defense, I was more sad about the fact that the cookies weren’t eaten. I worked hard on those.” His mother had watched him the entire time but that was the first batch of cookies he ever made by himself. He remembered Azula wanting to help but Ursa kept holding her back and saying she could help by taste testing which Azula happily agreed to.

“They tasted like dirt. It’s been six years and I still remember that.” 

“And you’re an amazing baker? You almost burned the house down trying to make cupcakes!”

“No one told me you couldn’t just bake them at 500 degrees for less time! How was I supposed to know!?” Azula cried. Zuko just laughed. That had been a fun afternoon. He came home from school and Azula said she needed the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, he was smelling smoke and hearing the fire alarm as their maids ran into the kitchen to try and calm the fire Azula had created in the oven.

“Common sense?” Azula wacked Zuko with one of his pillows.

“Why do I bother talking to you?” Zuko’s shrug made Azula laugh, “I missed Christmas like this.”

Zuko could only nod in response. So had he.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 5 months, 9 days)

By the time late February rolled around, Zuko and Azula knew their high school fairly well. They knew where most of their classes were, how to get to the bus, and, more importantly, they knew who to avoid. It wasn’t hard to avoid people that they didn’t want to be around since most kids either ignored them or took their silence as answer enough and didn’t bother trying to be friends. Still, it was good to know who they wanted to avoid more than anyone else. And a group of those people was Jet and his friends.

The two didn’t hear much about them when they first arrived at the school, but it didn’t take long for Jet to approach Zuko joining them. Zuko didn’t know exactly who Jet was at this point or what he wanted but something told him that it was best to keep his distance.

“Good instincts. Jet’s not a good guy.” Sokka told him, “He and his friends just spend their time stealing, getting in fights and cheating.”

Suki piped up, “Sokka’s still sore because Jet and his friends tricked Katara and Aang a few years ago.”

“Tricked them?” Azula asked.

“They tricked them into being lookouts while they burned down some store. Katara believed everything Jet said because she had a major crush on him at the time.” Sokka said, “Thankfully, I was able to tell the store manager and the police got to Jet and his friends before anything happened. Katara and Aang explained their side and they didn’t get in trouble. Well…actually Katara got in a lot of trouble with our parents but nothing else.”

“Wow. Why did he want to burn down the store?” Zuko asked.

Aang shrugged, “He said something about it being a horrible work environment.”

“Even if it was, you don’t burn down the building.” Sokka snapped.

“Anyways, you made a good choice avoiding Jet. He’s nothing but trouble.” 

To Zuko’s surprise, Jet didn’t seem to care much when he turned him down. He simply shrugged and said it was his loss then didn’t talk to him again for months. Not that Zuko was complaining. From the story he expected Jet to get angry, he was glad that he didn’t though. 

Time went on, Zuko soon forgot about Jet aside from a rumor or two he heard through the grapevine, and more important things came up. 

Then, one day, Zuko was leaving school when he heard Jet’s voice. Normally, he wouldn’t think much of it and would keep walking. Today, however, it wasn’t just Jet’s voice that made him stop though. It was Sokka’s.

“Back off, Jet.”

“Why? I just want to talk. You talked to us before.”

“Yeah. When you tricked me into stealing from some old man!”

“He was a monster! Profiting off-“

“He was an old man! And you have no proof! You can’t just go around like a vigilante whenever you think something isn’t right.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Sokka. I wanted us to work together again.”

“Just leave me alone.” Sokka hissed.

Zuko rounded the corner just in time to see Jet grab Sokka’s shoulder, “Don’t walk away from me, Sokka.” A chill ran through him when he saw Jet’s fingers press into Sokka’s shoulder. His father always did that. A sign that he was in control.

“Hey!” Zuko shouted, “Leave him alone!”

Jet and his friends turned towards Zuko. Jet and Zuko were roughly the same age but only one of them had the scar over his eye and a new reputation surrounding him. Zuko glared daggers at Jet, daring him to say or do anything.

“Are you gonna let him yell at you?” One of his friends asked.

“Don’t let him disrespect you, Jet.”

“Just walk away.” Zuko growled, “I don’t want trouble.”

“You got it.” Years of experience told Zuko what would happen next.

He moved out of the way of Jet’s incoming fist. When he did, he grabbed the boy’s hair and pulled his face down, kneeling him right in the nose. Jet’s hands flew to his face as he fell to the ground in pain.

“You little piece of-“

“Do you want me to hit you again?!” Zuko yelled.

The younger boy grabbed his arm, “Zuko.” Sokka hissed, “Let’s go. They aren’t worth it.”

“Okay.” Was he in trouble? Would Kya and Hakoda get rid of him for this?! He had never gotten into a fight like this before but that probably wouldn’t matter much to them.

“Hey.” Sokka whispered as they walked towards the bus, “I’ll tell mom and dad that you were protecting me. You won’t get in trouble.”

“How-“

“You and Azula just always seem to be worried about that. If you’re not then okay but if you are well…you have nothing to worry about.” Sokka flashed him a smile, “You can trust us.”

“I do.”

Zuko spoke without thinking. He didn’t need to think. He didn’t need to debate in his head about whether or not Sokka was telling the truth. He just knew. He knew that if Sokka and Katara wanted to make his and Azula’s lives hell then they would have done so already. They certainly wouldn’t have waited almost six months into their stay before doing something. 

The realization of his words hit Zuko like a brick. He trusted Sokka. He trusted Katara. He didn’t fully trust Kya and Hakoda but he was getting there. And he hoped Azula was getting there too.

“Good.”

—————————————

When Sokka didn’t say anything about what happened, the memory of it kind of faded from Zuko’s mind. Of course, it helped that he didn’t see Jet again for a while. Two weeks passed before he noticed Jet and his friends walking around the school again. They seemed to show him no interest so Zuko extended the favor.

Then, one night, things changed.

“I’m so sorry.” Zuko said again.

“It’s okay.” Kya chuckled, “Are you sure your stuff is in your locker?”

Zuko nodded, “I’m positive. I know I put it in there after class and then I just forgot to grab it.” 

“Okay. Head inside and grab it. I’ll be right here.” Zuko gave her a quick smile before racing out of the car and running into the building. 

Thankfully, the school was still open and he was able to get inside and to his locker without issue. Also, thankfully, his paper was right where he left it. 

“Look who’s here.” A voice said.

Jet.

Zuko decided not to engage. He just grabbed his things and began to walk back towards the door. 

Despite what some therapists might say, Zuko did know the difference between his father and others who would yell or try to hurt him. If Ozai somehow appeared behind him, Zuko would have frozen because it was best to stay still and avoid eye contact. With anyone else, Zuko preferred to walk off. He’d fight and yell if need be but he didn’t want to do that, especially since he now had Azula to think about. One mistake could get both of them kicked out of a foster home.

“Hey! You don’t walk away from me!” Jet yelled. 

“I think I am.” Zuko said.

Two of Jet’s friends suddenly jumped in front of him, cutting off his exit.

“Now you aren’t. I just wanna talk.” 

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

“You broke my nose. I think it’s only fair that I get to do the same.” Jet smirked.

“And you clearly can’t do it on your own.” Zuko grumbled.

“I just want to make sure you don’t try and run away like a coward.” 

Zuko charged at Jet first. He managed to grab his arm but Jet kicked him in the stomach. One of his friends then punched him in the side just in time for the biggest one to violently push him into the lockers. Once he was done, Jet began to kick him in the chest. 

“Jet! Jet!” One of his friends cried, “That’s enough. Let’s get out of here.”

“Fine.” Jet spat, “Tell anyone it was us and we’ll see you again.”

For a few minutes, Zuko just sat there. He was embarrassed to say that he was used to this pain. It wasn’t uncommon for Ozai to hit him a couple of times when he returned home drunk. But he never thought he’d be beaten up in the middle of school. 

He rolled over so that his back was leaning against the lockers and his face was to the wall on the other side of the hallway. Everything hurt but it hurt in a way he was used to. For a while, he just wanted to lay there on the ground and let himself be in pain. Then he heard shoes and remembered Kya.

“Zuko!” She called.

“Coming!” Zuko called, “Sorry. I couldn’t find it. I-“

“ZUKO!” Kya screamed, “What happened?!? Why are you all bloody?! What-What happened?!”

Zuko winced. He didn’t know he was bleeding, “Nothing. It’s fine. I just slipped and-“

“A slip wouldn’t do this. Who did this to you?” She demanded.

“No one.” 

“Don’t lie to me.” She snapped, “Who did this?” Kya pushed his chin to the side, looking over his face to see if she could find any other injuries. 

“No one.”

“Zuko.” Kya’s voice dropped, “Who. Did. This?” 

Zuko remained silent, looking away in shame which only encouraged Kya, “I won’t be mad at you. Please, I just want to know who did this to help you.” Zuko still didn’t speak, “Okay. Come on. You don’t have to tell me who did this but I am taking you to the hospital.”

“What?! No! No hospitals!” A general panic filled Zuko. He didn’t know if it was the hospital setting, that she’d have to pay money, that he could get him and Azula taken away from Hakoda or Kya or some other trauma he hadn’t named yet.

“Zuko, you could have broken bones or need stitches.” Kya worried, “It’s okay. I promise the doctor doesn’t hurt-“

“No! No! No hospitals!” Zuko cried.

“If I don’t take you to a hospital, Hakoda and I will get in a lot of trouble. You and Azula could get taken away and we could get investigated. Please, Zuko. Just let them look you over. I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

Zuko remained silent for a while. His eyes staring down at the ground. Finally, he looked back up at Kya’s worried eyes.

“Okay.”

—————————————

Piandao was the first to arrive after Kya called everyone. He pulled her out of the room where Zuko was being kept to ask her what had happened. Only once Kya had finished up did Hakoda, Azula, Katara and Sokka arrive, all of them wearing faces of fear and concern. Hakoda took Azula back while Piandao remained with Kya, Katara and Sokka.

“And you have no clue who did this?” Piandao asked.

“No. He just went inside to get his stuff and he was taking a while so I went in to see if he needed some help. When I found him, he was leaning against the lockers and bleeding all over the place.” Kya repeated.

“I’ll contact the school. They have to have cameras in the hallway. We’ll see who did this.” He said.

“Bet you ten bucks it was Jet.” Sokka whispered.

“Sokka?” Kya asked.

“Sorry. I was just telling Katara that I thought it was Jet. Zuko and him were yelling at each other a few weeks ago.” It was probably best to leave out the part about Zuko breaking Jet’s nose.

“Wait. Is this the same Jet who tried to get Katara and Aang to be lookouts?! That Jet!?” Kya asked. Her eyes turned red with rage.

Piandao sighed, “Miss. South, please. I’ll handle it from here. You and Hakoda just keep doing what you’re doing.” He wrote something else down on his clipboard when he said that. Katara, who hadn’t said a word since finding out about this whole thing, couldn’t help but feel her anxiety heighten at that.

“Piandao?” Katara whispered, “Are Zuko and Azula going to be taken away?”

The older man set his clipboard down, “No. I spoke with your mother and I’ll speak with Azula, but this has nothing to do with your mother or father creating an unsafe environment for them. I have no reason to move Zuko or Azula into another home.” Katara nodded, “Do you want them to stay?” Kya looked at her children with wide eyes.

“Yeah. I like having them around. They’re fun.” Katara smiled.

“Like when all of us stayed up until 2 am eating ice cream and watching bad Netflix movies.” Sokka chuckled.

“Or when we pranked you into screaming like a little girl because you thought someone was outside your window.” Katara laughed.

“That was just mean.”

“Mean or hilarious?” 

“Mean!” 

Piandao smiled at the siblings, standing up to make his way back and talk to Azula, “Piandao!” Kya called.

“Yes?”

“I-Um….Could I talk to you about something?” Kya asked.

“Of course. Is something wrong?”

“No, no, I-I just…how difficult would it be to go from fostering to adoption?”

—--------------------------

Zuko was stuck in the hospital for another two weeks while the doctors worked on his face and ribs. In that time, Piandao confirmed that it was Jet and his friends who beat Zuko up and, according to Katara, Jet was expelled from school with the cops sent to his house. Although Zuko didn’t really know if that last part was true, he liked to imagine that it was. It didn’t feel like it at the time but getting to lay back, missing a couple days of school and getting ice cream and fast food while Jet was, potentially, in a jail cell did fill him with a sense of joy.

Although nothing could compare to seeing a text from Suki showing Jet with a black eye and hearing from Katara that Sokka got an in school suspension.

“He won’t say what for either.” She added, “It’s driving our parents insane.” Zuko just smiled.

How long had it been since they had a family that would do something like that for them?

Chapter Text

(0 years, 6 months, 9 days)

March 3rd.

Zuko was quick to realize that being confined to the hospital and then to his house for some extra rest was very boring. He could hardly do anything while he was stuck in bed and there were only so many movies he could watch before he wanted to actually go back to school. On top of that, everyone, minus Hakoda, left the house all day so he was alone for the majority of the day. Aside from Hakoda checking on him from time to time, Blue would come in and lick his face. There really was nothing more he could do aside from a couple walks around the house and the block. Thankfully, he would get to go back to school soon and Sokka and Suki were helping him with homework but it wasn’t the same.

The only good part of his time off was sleeping in and the weekly lessons that had to be created so he didn’t fall behind on school work. Everyone would come over to the house, they’d order a pizza and eat while Zuko got caught up on work.

“I heard Jet got expelled.” Aang said.

“As he should.” Katara added, “I still can’t believe he did that right in the middle of school.”

“Technically it was after school.”

“You know what I mean.” 

“I can’t believe Zuzu didn’t defend himself.” Azula said, taking a bite of pizza.

“Thanks for the support.” Zuko chuckled.

“If you had been faster then you wouldn’t have gotten beaten up. That’s all I’m saying.” She shrugged.

Zuko knew Azula was joking so he could only really laugh along as she spoke, “How is this my fault?” 

“Not fast enough. Maybe if you had two working eyes…” Sokka choked on his water when she said that, fighting back a smile. Even Azula was smirking a little at her own words, “That was good and I don’t regret it.”

“You need better material. You’ve been making eye jokes for three years now.” Zuko said.

“Fair enough but now I have new stuff to make jokes about.” Azula gestured to Zuko’s whole body, “With the amount of stupid stuff you do, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of material.” 

“I don’t do stupid stuff. Right?” The rest of the group shared a look with wide eyes.

“Oh, look at the pretty butterfly outside. Anyone want to come see it with me?” Sokka asked.

“Me! I’ll go! Me too! Don’t forget me!” Zuko’s mouth dipped into a frown as they all filed out of the room one by one, leaving to chase after an imaginary butterfly.

“You all suck!” Zuko yelled.

—————————————

While Zuko remained home, everyone else returned to school. The town they lived in was not a relatively big one. It was a decent enough size that there was stuff to do but also small enough that, if something happened, it wasn’t long before that news spread. In this case, it didn’t take long for someone to hear about what happened between Zuko and Jet and spread the news. Azula made it through three periods before someone called her name in the hallway.

“Hey! Azula, right?” A guy asked. 

“Yes. Who are you?”

“My name is Hahn. I just heard about what happened to your brother-“

“I’m not talking about this.” Azula turned away and began walking down the hall. They were in the middle of transitioning in between classes so the hallways were packed.

“Come on. I just want to know what happened. I’ve heard so many accounts that I don’t even know what to think anymore. But you’re his sister. You would know-“

“What makes you think you deserve to know?” She asked, “What gives you the right to just demand that I tell you what happened?”

“Geez. I figured you’d want people knowing the real story.” Hahn said, following her down the hallway, “No need to get so emotional.”

Azula just rolled her eyes, “Stop following me. Just go away.”

“I just-“

“Leave me alone!” She snapped.

“Foster brat!” His voice was starting to get loud and students were clearing out of the hallway. Teachers standing by the doors turned to look at the commotion and students stopped in their tracks. 

Most things didn’t get to Azula. She didn’t let them. Besides, it was easy for her to let stuff slide off her back and chalk it up to someone being an idiot—most people were in her mind. But her status as a foster kid was always something she didn’t have full control over. Maybe because she’d only been one for three years or because of how much it reminded her of everything she lost. Azula didn’t really know. All she did know was that someone pointing it out in an insult made her blood boil. 

“What does me being a foster kid have to do with any of this?” Azula snapped, “Or is that just the best insult you could come up with with all 10 of your IQ points?”

Hahn’s anger washed away with a look of superiority. Azula found it annoying more than anything else, “I’m just saying. A lot of people were…surprised that a foster kid like Zuko went to the hospital. Aren’t you two used to getting hit?” 

His voice was low. The teachers didn’t hear but Azula did. Azula also heard the sound of her fist colliding with his jaw and the screams of teachers and Hahn as he lay crying on the ground. The next thing she knew, one of the teachers was guiding her towards the principal's office. 

———————————————

“I want her expelled!”

“Mrs. Oonark, please. If you could just settle down-“

“Settle down! That brat punched my son! Why are you defending her?!” The woman yelled, “He’ll have to go to the hospital! She’s covering those expenses by the way! And I’ll sue you, you little brat, if you-“

“Woah! Woah!” Kya’s voice brought a sense of calm to Azula. She was here. Everything would be okay now, “What’s going on?”

“Your foster brat-“

“Nope. Not doing that.” Kya said, “Principal Feng, what happened?” Kya asked.

Long Feng had no loyalty to the Oonark family and no reason to help them. Besides, they had security cameras with audio so there was too much of a risk with Kya getting her hands on them and suing the school. Long Feng was not ready to lose his job over an angry HOA mom.

“Apparently, Hahn wanted to know what happened to Zuko and Azula didn’t want to tell him. Hahn continued to ask and, when Azula said no again, he brought up that she was a foster kid and the two started arguing. And then, according to Azula and some students, he told Azula that she and Zuko should be used to getting hit because they're both foster kids. That’s when she punched him in the jaw. He’s currently at the hospital.” Long Feng said.

“Azula, you can’t just hit people you don’t like.” Kya said.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“That’s it?!?” Mrs. Oonark screamed, “She punches my son and gets away with a pathetic little apology?!”

“Your son insulted-“

“An insult does not warrant a punch!” 

“I don’t know. I kind of want to punch you right now.” Azula hid her smile behind her hand.

“Mrs. South! Mrs. Oonark!” Long Feng snapped, “The children’s behavior will not be tolerated and neither will yours. Hahn is in the hospital with a broken jaw, that seems like punishment enough for his insult. Azula, you’re suspended for three days.” Azula gave him a quiet nod. She was just ready to get up and out of this room as soon as possible.

“What?!? You’re letting her-“

“Mrs. Oonark! This is the best case scenario for both involved. Now please, leave before my headache gets worse.” Kya grabbed Azula’s hand and led her out of the principal's office. Whether Mrs. Oonark stayed behind or just didn’t talk to them was unknown but Kya and Azula didn’t care.

They were out of the parking lot and on the road before Kya spoke up again.

“Azula, you can’t hit-“

“I know. I know. I’m sorry.” Azula curled in on herself, “You won’t kick us out, right?” She asked.

Kya let out a sigh, “No, we will not kick you out, but you can’t act like this. Violence is never the answer.”

“But you threatened to hit her.” Azula pointed out.

“Threatened. I didn’t actually do it.” Kya said, “…Even if I wanted to.”

Azula let out a small chuckle, feeling her anxiety start to melt away, “Try listening to her annoying voice yell at you for thirty minutes.”

“Oh, I can only imagine. I’m sorry it took me so long to get there.” Kya said, looking down at the clock on the car, “Did you have lunch?” It was 12:15.

“No.” 

“Let’s stop somewhere and get you something. Then we’ll go home. I’ll explain to Hakoda about what happened so don’t worry about that.” Azula let out another sigh of relief. She didn’t have to talk to Hakoda. That was one bullet dodged, “Azula, did he really say that to you?”

“Yeah. He said we should be used to getting hit.” Azula confirmed.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. He’s not wrong. It happened with father and it happened with a couple of foster families.” Azula shrugged, “We are kind of used to it.”

Kya had to put all her attention into driving because if she didn’t she was sure she’d cause an accident because she wanted to hug Azula, “Azula, you…you should never be used to that. What do you mean it happened with other foster families?” Piandao told them about Ozai, so Kya was familiar with him. He did not tell them about any other foster families.

“We’ve had five foster families before you and Mr. South. The first one was…nice. They were kind and cared about us and really tried to help us when we still didn’t know what was going on but then…then Zuko’s medical bills became too much and we were given to another family.”

Kya nodded. Well, that partly explained their thing about money.

“Our second foster family was bad. We were nothing but a paycheck to them, other children who didn’t get to have luxuries like a bed or closed doors like their bio kids did. One day, Zuko broke a plate because of his eye and the mom started screaming at us to the point that we ran away.”

Kya’s hands gripped the wheel. These babies couldn’t have been more than twelve and fourteen by this point and they were running away from a foster home.

“We were placed in two separate houses after that. One family could take Zuko and another family could take me. I don’t know much about the family Zuko was with but mine sucked. They didn’t have any biological kids but they had seven other foster kids and since I was the new girl I got scraps. One night, while I was freezing because all they gave me was a dirty mattress, I ran away and texted Zuko to do the same. We ended up traveling all the way to New York and stayed with Mai and Ty Lee for weeks until the cops found us.”

And that explained their still lively connection to Mai and Ty Lee. The two had saved them from living on the streets and probably lied to foster care for a while about where they were.

“After that we were placed with a random family only for a few weeks and they were…fine. I guess. They didn’t hit us or take away stuff to give to their bio kids but they just didn’t really acknowledge us which was fine. We weren’t there for very long.”

Why were they driving again? Oh, right. She was supposed to be getting Azula lunch. She-She just had to keep focusing on that.

“Our fifth family was amazing. They were perfect. The mom was a lawyer so she was teaching me stuff and she was kind to Zuko about his scar and the dad was…unsure about us but he was amazing and so funny. They had three bio kids already but we got along with them. Just like we get along with Katara and Sokka. Zuko and I loved it there so much and Piandao told us that we could stay for as long as we wanted. It was the first time we were happy to stay with a foster family.”

“What happened?” Kya asked.

Azula’s face suddenly filled with guilt. She hugged her bag close, hand on the side pocket, “….I don’t want to talk about it. I-I screwed up and they started arguing and the bio kids blamed us and then….and then the mom called social services and told them we were a danger to her real kids.”

“Oh. Azula, I-I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Azula sighed, “It…Actually feels really good to finally be able to say all of that. And one good thing did come out of it?”

“And what’s that?”

“I learned that I really love cats. They had a pet cat and it was the best thing. She would follow me all over the house, play with the strings I got her and purr in my lap after long days. When I get out of the system, I’m definitely getting myself one.” Kya chuckled.

“Nice to see there’s finally another cat person in the house. I’ve been surrounded by dog people for too long.”

“You know…there are a lot of stray cats around here…” Azula said.

“No.” One dog was enough, “Even if cats are better and I always wanted one…No! No!” 

Sensing an opening, Azula pounced, “Awwww. Come on, you didn’t even consider it. It could be just my pet if you don’t want to take care of it.” She offered, “I’ll do everything all by myself. I won’t neglect it and I won’t get into any more fights at school and I’ll get a job to pay for everything and-“

“Okay. Okay.” Kya smiled, pulling into a restaurant parking space, “I’ll cut you a deal. At the one year mark, you come talk to me and Hakoda about getting a cat and we’ll see what we can do.” Azula’s smile could not have been bigger. 

“Yes! Thank you! Thank you!” Azula wrapped her arms around Kya, pulling away only when she wanted to.

“You’re welcome. But he’s a dog person so you really will have to work to convince him.” Kya warned.

“I think I know what to do.” Azula grinned.

“Alright. Let’s go get some lunch!”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 7 months, 14 days)

Piandao pressed his pen against the paper again, writing down Kya’s response, “And you’ll be gone for 5 days?” 

“Yes.” Kya confirmed, “We leave Thursday morning and will return Monday so the kids can go back to school on Tuesday.”

“And you already filled out all the forms and everything for this, correct?” Kya nodded again. He knew that they had filled everything out but he still had to ask. Still, she couldn’t find it within her to be bored or annoyed.

The whole family was going to Disney World for spring break. Five days with no work and no school, just the family getting to sit back and relax. The only headache was the paperwork both to get Azula and Zuko out of the state and to book everything. Thankfully, Disney was not too crowded in April and neither were the hotels.

“Alright. I think we’re all set. You’re good to go.” 

“Piandao?” Kya and Piandao turned towards Zuko’s voice.

Somehow, the kids had gotten into the house without either adult realizing it. They were standing in the doorway, looking at the man with stunned expressions. Even Blue seemed confused as to why he was here.

“What’s going on?” Azula asked.

“I can say it now.” Kya smiled, “We’re going to Disney World for spring break!”

“We are!?!” Katara and Sokka cried, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

“And we can go?” Zuko asked, gesturing to himself and Azula.

“We just finished all the paperwork. You two are free to go.” Piandao confirmed, “Bring me back some Mickey Mouse ears.”

“We’re going on a trip.” Azula whispered.

How long had it been since they got to go on a trip? If Azula really guessed, she’d say that it had been seven or so years. They never went on one without their mom, so it was at least six years ago. If Azula was remembering correctly, the last trip they went to was a visit to Ember Island over the summer. The plane ride down in their private jet and space for her and Zuko to run around, play and relax was an experience Azula never wanted to forget. She just hadn’t realized that that trip would be the last time they set foot on a plane for seven years.

“You two are comfortable with planes, right?” Kya asked.

“Yeah.” Zuko nodded, “We used to fly a lot for our dad’s business. And we’ve been to Disney World.”

“You have?”

“We went when we were really young. I think I was…7?” Azula guessed. It had been close to the last time they went to Ember Island so that made sense. 

“When do we leave?” Sokka asked, happily bouncing on his feet.

“We’ll leave early Thursday morning. Our flight is at 7 am so we need to leave here at 4 am.” That earned her some groans from the teenagers, “No. None of that. We’re going early and I expect you all to be awake enough to make it through security and onto the plane. Then you can sleep the whole way there.”

“Which is exactly what I’ll be doing.” Sokka said.

“You and your father, no doubt.” Kya smiled, “Katara and I will be sitting next to two snorers it seems.”

“I don’t snore!” Sokka cried.

“Azula, I’ll pay you twenty dollars to switch seats with me.” 

“Fifty.”

“Zuko-”

“Sixty.”

“Azula, you got a deal.”

—------------------------------

Spring break took forever to arrive, as it usually did, but when it did the entire South family was practically bouncing off the walls. Even at four am, when the sun hadn’t risen and the outside still looked like the dead of night, the family was in high spirits as they drove to the airport. As Kya predicted, Sokka and Hakoda fell asleep when they got onto the plane. Thankfully, Kya had been married to Hakoda long enough to predict this and brought headphones. Azula was not so lucky, but she had brought something else.

Sokka’s eyes fluttered open when he smelled the jerky in Azula’s hands, “Is that beef jerky?”

“Stay awake and stop snoring and it’s yours.” She offered.

“Did you bring jerky just to get him to wake up?” Katara asked from her seat across the aisle.

“I planned ahead.” Azula shrugged, “Now I have fifty dollars and don’t have to listen to him snoring.”

Katara stared at Azula for a good few seconds before shaking her head, “I can’t even be mad at that.”

“Now the only question is, what do I buy with my lovely fifty dollars?”

“Yeah, yeah, you know you can’t get much with fifty bucks at Disney.” Katara said.

Azula rolled her eyes at the Katara. She put the money back into her pocket and pulled out her phone, pulling up something she could watch while the plane continued to fly through the air. 

——————————

“Welcome South family!” The hotel receptionist grinned with the typical smile one would see from someone who was forced to smile all day, “Have any of you been to Disney World before?”

Everyone shook their heads except for Azula and Zuko. They’d been but it was their mother who took them to the parks. Their father only came with them to lounge in the hotel room and use the space for work while the rest of his family was at the parks. That’s how most of their vacations went. If they do that then the siblings got dragged to resorts for adults and forced to stay in the hotel room all day. 

The South family had never been because it was usually too expensive for them to fly down and get a hotel room for four people.

“Great! We have maps of the resort around the hotel or you can get one up here. There are buses that come every hour to pick you up and take you to the parks and then they’ll bring you back! Mr and Mrs. South, you’re in room 44 and kids, you’re all in room 45. The rooms are connected just as you requested.”

“Thank you.” Kya smiled, taking the six card keys from the woman, “Alright kids, here are your keys. Feel free to divide up the room however you want but don’t touch the minibar.”

“Got it!” Sokka yelled, taking the card keys from his mom with Katara, Azula and Zuko running behind him.

“So, what do you want to do on your first day at Disney?” Hakoda asked.

“After an early morning and almost three hour plane ride? What do you think?” 

“Run a bath, relax in bed and order room service?”

“You know me so well.” Kya leaned forward and kissed her husband, “While I do all that-“

“I will be relaxing in bed and then ordering room service.” Hakoda finished.

Kya’s smile filled her entire face, “You are the best husband I could ever ask for.” 

————————————

Whenever Zuko or Azula went with their father to a hotel, they were usually placed in a separate room because he didn’t feel like dealing with them. Plus, he typically got drunk during the meetings and parties and Ursa refused to have him around the kids while he was like that so it was either no drinking or the kids got their own room. The choice was an easy one for Ozai to make. 

Getting their own room now felt different. Their other foster families had never taken them to a hotel so this had never come up in years but it still felt different than before. It felt nice to have their own space—space they shared with two other people but still—and know that their foster parents spent their own money on it. On them.

“Ahh.” Sokka sighed as he leaned into one of the beds, “Okay. We need to make a schedule.”

“Do we have to?” Katara asked, “I thought one of the benefits of being on vacation was that we didn’t have to schedule anything out.”

Sokka and Azula both laughed out loud as Sokka reached for his bag and pulled out a giant piece of paper, “Azula and I created the perfect schedule before we left. We’ve mapped out everything from 7 am tomorrow to 7 pm the day we leave.” 

“7 am?!” Katara asked, "I thought you hated getting up early."

"No, I hate getting up early when we just have to go on a plane but when we go to a park with rides and delicious food I will be the first one in line."

“Of course you’ve scheduled everything.” Zuko sighed.

“...7 am.” Katara quietly whimpered.

“Yes! You’ll thank me for this later when we get into the parks before the crowds.”

“Yeah because everyone will be asleep.” Katara said, “Also, what are we thinking for beds? Azula and me and you and Zuko?”

“Works for me.” Sokka shrugged, “Or there’s a pull out couch if someone wants to take that.”

“Huh? A comfortable bed or a freezing cold and hardly functioning pull out bed?” Zuko thought, “You know, it’s a tough call but I gotta go with the bed.”

“Good then I’m going to use that couch.” Azula flopped her body down, taking off her shoes with her feet and leaning them off the side, “I feel like a nap is in order.”

“As much as I agree, I do think we should quickly get everything figured out in the room then rest.” Sokka said.

“What’s there to get figured out? We have our beds and the schedule is all set. Nothing more to do.” Zuko argued. Was there? They’d never shared a hotel room with anyone. Was this different from sharing a room with other foster kids or bio kids?

“Ah!” Katara cried. Her body fell to the ground, thankfully against the carpet, before she turned to glare at the other three residents, “For starters, someone needs to move their suitcase. What genius put it where people are walking?”

“What genius didn’t notice a suitcase in front of them?” Sokka asked.

“It’s your suitcase, isn’t it?” Sokka’s silence was answer enough. 

Thirty minutes later, the four teenagers had drawers picked out for everyone where they could put their clothes. The bathroom sink had also been carved into four parts of all of them—Zuko was given the most space because of his medicine. There was also a general understanding that anything they got at Disney would be hidden in their bags to avoid a mess. Once that was officially gone, all of them collapsed for the day. 

Kya and Hakoda arrived a few hours later, they were sure to have a key to their children’s room, and found all four of them fast asleep. Both not wanting to wake them but also not wanting to deal with four teenagers waking up in the next hour and demanding food, Hakoda set a letter down with the number for room service before he and Kya snuck away back to their room.

“How long do you think they’ll sleep?”

“They’re teenagers on Spring Break, Hakoda. They might not wake the entire time we’re here.”

——————————————

The next morning, once Sokka got Katara up because she was still in bed by 8, the family was downstairs at breakfast. Azula and Zuko were used to colder weather having lived in New York the majority of their lives but they weren’t expecting to feel a small chill in the air in Florida.

“Are you two warm enough?” Kya asked, setting a hand on Zuko’s shoulder.

“We’re fine, Kya. The hotel just cranked up the AC.”

“Well, we won’t be here for long.” Sokka said.

He pulled out his master schedule yet again and placed it onto the table for the entire family to see, “As you can see, we should have been in the park an hour ago-“

“I’m not sorry.” Katara mumbled, taking a bit of her cereal.

“But we can make up for lost time if we push the dumbo ride to tomorrow instead of today. We’ll be at the park until 7 tonight—8 if there’s a line at the buses—and then back to the hotel by 7:30 or so.”

“Hold on, you have what rides we’re going to do schedule too?” Zuko asked.

“That was Azula’s idea.” Sokka grinned, turning the map towards Zuko so he could see their work.

“Of course it was. Wait, Azula, you want to go It’s A Small World?” Zuko asked.

“Why not? It’s a slow ride and it’s located in an air conditioned part of the park.” 

“You were terrified of this ride last time.”

“You were scared of It’s A Small World?” Katara chuckled.

“I was not!” Azula hissed, her face turning red, “You’re misremembering, Zuzu.”

Now Zuko was grinning, “No, I remember. We got off the ride and mom had to carry you for almost an hour because you were terrified the puppets would come after you.” Katara and Sokka were snickering by now, “If I’m remembering correctly mom actually had to run off of the ride carrying you because she thought you pe-“

“I will throw you off of Space Mountain.” Azula held her knife up, glaring daggers at her brother.

“Finish the story, Zuko.” 

“I think I’ll opt for silence on this one. It feels like my safest bet.”

“A wise choice, Zuzu.” 

—————————————

“Race you to Jungle Cruise!”

“Shouldn’t we be monitoring them?” Hakoda asked.

“They’re teenagers. They can handle walking around a theme park by themselves.” Kya said.

“You really believe that?”

“....KIDS! Don’t jump into the water and remember to stay hydrated!” She called.

“That feels like a mixed message.” Hakoda chuckled.

“They’ll figure it out. Come on, I want to kick your butt in the Buzz Lightyear game.” Kya grabbed her husband’s hand and dragged the former Navy commander with her towards Tomorrowland.

—------------------------------------

As it turned out, they would not be staying at the park until 7. Halfway through their visit, right after they had all come back together for lunch, rain began to pour down from the sky. Normally, this wouldn’t bother most in the park as they were prepared for Florida’s quick showers but some of the park attendants were starting to funnel people towards the buses, alerting them that it was time to go back to the room. Following a very fast run in the pouring rain from the park to the bus to the hotel, the next logical step for all of them was warm clothing.

“Take a break for the rest of the afternoon. It looks like the storm is going to keep up until tonight so I think it’s best to just stay here.” Hakoda told them, “We’ll see you kids at dinner tonight.”

“Thanks, Hakoda.” Azula said, closing the door behind them, “I call bathroom!” The door slammed shut before anyone could stop her.

“Hey! Not fair!” 

“Cry about it in your wet clothes. I’m going to be happy and warm.” 

“Let her take the bathroom.” Sokka said, “Because we have the chargers.”

“And…” Zuko grabbed Azula’s light blue charger and placed it under his and Sokka’s bed, “I’m going to enjoy watching her tear the room apart.”

Following a lot of threats from Azula and everyone else changing their clothes, the four teenagers each found a spot and activity in the room to keep themselves occupied until the storm passed. Azula and Zuko were on Zuko’s bed, scrolling through their phones, while Sokka and Katara were on the floor playing Crazy Eights. 

Their peace and quiet was soon interrupted by a large bang of thunder and the lights in their room flickering.

“Come on.” Katara groaned, “We better not lose power.” The lights remained on but the storm was still hitting the hotel as hard as possible.

“We won’t. Hotels are designed to withstand storms.”

“Who told you that?” Katara asked.

“The internet.”

“Ah, yes, the all knowing and always correct internet.” 

“Don’t be mad just because I got the facts before you.” Sokka said, “We’ll be fine. Even if the power goes out, the storm will be done by tomorrow morning.”

The lights flickered once more. The noise and view of the dimming lights gave the room a creepy feeling to it. It was getting later in the day, so there wasn’t as much light from the clouds as before. If the lights shut off now then the entire room would be bathed in nearly complete darkness. 

Katara and Sokka found the whole thing annoying.

Zuko and Azula found the whole thing terrifying.

They both knew that thunder was very different from their father charging through the hallway when he was drunk but the memories were still coming to the surface. The memories of pure and utter fear, of crying in their beds, of having their doors smashed open and being hit. It certainly didn’t help that the thunder was right above them, making it seem like the danger was getting closer and closer.

“You can’t do that.” Katara said.

“Says who?”

“Says the rules of the game.” 

“Rules are made to be broken.” 

“Yeah. What do you two think?” That was the first time Katara looked over at Zuko and Azula.

“Guys?” Sokka asked.

“Hey?” Katara whispered, “Are you two okay?” They didn’t answer, only continued shaking and eyeing the floor as if it was the only thing they were allowed to look at. 

Sokka stood up, extending a hand, “Zuko? Azula? Guys, can you talk?” He asked, “You’re really freaking us out.”

“Sokka, don’t-” Sokka’s hand set on Zuko’s shoulder. His reaction was instant. Zuko grabbed Sokka’s wrist and pushed him to the floor. Azula shot up like a rocket when she heard the commotion next to her, running for somewhere safe. They both found it in the bathroom as that was the only place in the entire room they were able to close the door and hide in.

“Azula! Zuko!” Katara cried, “I think they locked the door or something. I can’t get in.”

“I’ll get mom and dad.” Katara just gave him a nod.

“Hey, guys.” She gently knocked on the door, “Sokka’s going to get our parents. Can you please talk to us or come out?”

There was no response.

“Okay. You don't have to talk but we really need to know that you’re okay. Can you tap the floor or something?”

More seconds passed by with nothing. That silence was quickly interrupted by Hakoda and Kya nearly smashing their way into the room. Both parents wore looks of pure fear on their faces. Honestly, Katara wasn’t sure if Sokka told them what happened or an exaggerated version but she was just glad they were here.

“Zuko. Azula.” Kya tried to press herself as closely to the door as possible, “Kids, no one is going to hurt you, okay? It’s just a storm. No one here is going to lay a finger on you.” Thankfully, Hakoda shut the door behind him. 

“Is that what they’re scared of?” Sokka asked.

“Katara, Sokka, go sit on the bed.” Hakoda was using his military voice. It was often when he did, but whenever it happened the siblings never uttered a single word against him.

“I have to come in.” Kya told them, “I know you’re both really scared but I need to make sure you’re safe.” Katara was about to tell her mother that they locked themselves inside when Kya pulled out Hakoda’s pocket tool and clicked the lock. Slowly, she opened the door, allowing the two adults to see Azula and Zuko had pressed themselves into the farthest corner of the room.

“It’s okay.” Kya whispered, “I just needed to see that you two were safe and you are, which is very good.”

“Do you two want to talk?” Hakoda asked.

“Ozai?”

“He’s not here. He’s in prison, remember? Far, far away from you two.” Kya took a small step into the bathroom to see how the siblings would react. When they didn’t wince or scream, she took another step, “Is it Ozai? Is that what's scaring you?”

“It’s the storm. The way the thunder is shaking the hotel reminds us…” Neither one could finish the statement. When another blast of thunder hit the hotel, albeit slowly getting further away than before, they winced and pressed themselves against the wall again.

“Well, Hakoda and I can’t do much about the storm, but we could all come in here and play a game or order some food? It’s 6:45. You two must be getting hungry.” 

“We’re still getting dinner?”

“Of course you are. Do you want us to grab you a menu or tell you what they have in room service?” There was no way they were taking the two out of the room for dinner after a panic attack this bad.

“Where are Sokka and Katara?” Azula suddenly asked.

Kya blinked, a bit taken aback by Azula’s question, “On the bed outside. Do you want to see them?” The two nodded. Kya stood up and moved herself to the side, taking the extra step of standing in front of Hakoda. The siblings made their way out of the bedroom, eyeing Kya and Hakoda the entire time before sitting down on the bed next to the South brother and sister.

“Are you two okay?” Katara asked.

Zuko nodded, “Sorry. We didn’t-”

“You don’t have to apologize.” Sokka quickly said, “You should have seen how scared Katara used to be of thunderstorms.”

“I was not scared of thunderstorms!” Katara argued.

“Then I imagined all those times you would run into my room and cling to me like a lost koala bear?” Sokka asked.

“That was because…because I thought you were scared.”

“Okay, okay.” Kya chuckled, taking a seat next to Zuko, “Why don’t we order some food and watch a movie?” 

“I like the sound of that. Then we get up bright and early tomorrow to go back to Magic Kingdom.” Sokka said.

“Mother, how much trouble would I get in for throwing Sokka off the balcony?” Katara asked.

“A lot.”

“Scale of one to ten.”

“Hey!”

“...Six.”

“HEY!”

—-------------------------------------

It didn’t take long for Spring Break to come to an end. Almost as quickly as it began, the vacation was wrapping up and it was time to pack up and put everything in the car so they could drive to the airport. While Sokka and Katara were busy helping their parents move bags downstairs, Azula’s phone began to buzz.

“Hey, Ty.”

“Hi, Azula! Is Zuko with you?” She asked.

“Yeah. He’s here. We’re heading to the airport so we can’t talk for long.” Azula took the phone from her ear and put it on speaker.

“The airport?” Mai asked, “Are you two running away again?”

“No, we went to DisneyWorld for spring break and now we’re heading back to Pennsylvania.” Zuko explained, “And if we were going to run away, we wouldn’t use a plane. We’d use the train.”

“You guys went to Disney!? That sounds so fun! Did you get me something?!” 

“Only a shirt.” 

“I’ll take it.” 

“Disney sounds fun. The foster parents took you guys too. That must have been a shock.” Zuko looked up at Azula with a small smile.

“Actually…this entire vacation was really nice and we had fun. More fun than we’ve had with any foster parents. More fun than we had with our biological parents.”

“What are you saying?” Ty Lee asked.

“Nothing. Just that…this family’s different. They’re…they actually want us.” How long had it been since people, aside from Mai, Ty Lee and their uncle, actually wanted them? Not the paycheck, not the rewards they got, not to show them off, not because they had to, but because they just wanted them.

“Okay, but what happens when Zuko ages out of the system in a little over a year?” Mai asked.

“Well…Can we call you back?”

“Mai didn’t mean-” The call disconnected before Ty Lee could finish.

There was no use talking about it. Mai was right. In a little over a year, Zuko would age out and Kya and Hakoda would either get rid of him or be forced to get rid of him. Azula would follow soon after him. No matter how much they liked it here, and they did like this place and this family far more than any other, the fact was that soon they would be removed. There was no use trying to make themselves feel better or dwelling on it too much so they simply picked up their bags and walked downstairs. Even if they would eventually leave, that didn’t mean they couldn’t spend time with their new family now.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 8 months, 15 days)

May brought many things. The warm weather that wasn’t quite yet the heat of summer, the sun that didn’t set until 8 pm most nights, the feeling of summer break approaching closer and closer. Although, that was the May people had when they weren’t in high school. When they didn’t also have to cram for exams and final projects. During finals season, students at Four Nation’s high school became zombies to the world, everyone hyper focused on studying and getting through the final few weeks.

“Are you kidding me!?!”

And that also meant forgetting common things from time to time.

Hakoda stuck his head into Azula’s room, her door was wide open and he could see her throwing items to the wall. Normally, he really tried to make his presence known so that she didn’t get startled. He guessed that because of all the sound she was making she didn’t hear him.

“Azula?”

“Oh! Sorry, Hakoda. I’ll clean all this up.”

“No need to worry. What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find my calculator.” 

“Can’t you just use your phone?” Hakoda asked.

“I would but these kinds of math problems need functions that my calculator on my phone doesn’t have. It’s just a lot easier to use a real one.” She tossed her freshly folded clothes onto the floor, “If I could find it.”

“Do you want some help?”

“Sure. I think I might have put it in one of my cabinets last night. I don’t remember. I didn’t go to bed until 2 so I might have put it in the bathroom for all I know.” Hakoda chuckled. Katara had had a few nights like that as well. Kya, being a doctor, loved to preach about how important it was to get sleep and while she wasn’t wrong, Hakoda also wanted to reminder about all the all-nighters they pulled in college and high school trying to study for stuff.

Hakoda began to open her desk drawers, looking under papers to see if it might be hiding in plain sight. He found worksheets, pencils, pens, and some drawings that looked like Zuko had made stuff for her but no calculator. Then he opened her final drawer and found a bunch of folders and binders—no doubt gotten for her by Kya—but also something else. There was an orange bottle in the back of the desk. Hakoda reached in and pulled it out, reading the label.

Adderall. 

And there were only three pills left in the bottle.

Hakoda’s navy voice turned on, “Azula.”

“What?” She asked, not picking up on his tone. Then she noticed the bottle in his hand and her face turned pale. She looked between Hakoda and the bottle with pure horror on her face, “I-”

“Want to explain?” 

She opened her mouth a couple of times to try and speak but nothing came out. Finally, she managed to say in a shaky voice, “They help me focus. I need them.”

“You don’t have ADHD or Narcolepsy. No, you don’t. You’re taking a drug that you don’t need and you shouldn’t have in your body.” 

“You make it sound like I’m doing meth! It’s just adderall. A lot of people use it to help them focus for studying.” No one Azula knew at this school but in one of her other foster homes she knew people who did it. They were the ones who told her about using it to stay focused.

“It’s illegal, Azula!” Hakoda yelled. Azula flinched at his yelling, making him back down, “You could get really sick if you take this without needing it. I know you want to focus and get good grades but this is not the way. I’m taking these and we’re telling Piandao.”

“NO!” Azula clamped her lips together and looked down, eyes closed, when she realized she had yelled.

“Azula,” Hakoda’s voice turned soft and comforting, “I don’t want to get you in trouble, but this is serious. We need to tell him that you’ve been taking these and I need to take them away from you.”

“I-I won’t be able to study. My finals are coming up and-“

“You’re a very smart girl. I know you’ll figure something out. You’ll do great on your tests without drugs.” Hakoda said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Azula didn’t look up at him.

“Please don’t tell Zuko.” She couldn’t handle him knowing. She couldn’t let him down this much.

“…Okay. But I can’t promise that Piandao won’t reach out to him because he thinks that Zuko might be doing something too.” Hakoda made a mental note to give Azula’s request to their case worker but chances were that he would reach out to Zuko to make sure he wasn’t doing something like this too.

For a few minutes the two stood in complete silence. Azula, embarrassed and angry, didn’t look at Hakoda and she didn’t know why he was still in her room. Hakoda, having never caught one of his kids with drugs—the worst was a cigarette and Katara had only taken one puff before almost throwing up then never touched them again—, didn’t know how to react. Did he lecture her more? Check her room? Have Kya check her room? Could they even check her stuff legally? Leave her alone? Yeah. Yeah, that was probably best. 

“I’m going to leave you be. Kya might be by a little later to see how you’re doing, but we are serious about this. This will not be tolerated here.” 

————————————

Hakoda decided to wait until Kya was back from work to call Piandao. He didn’t even tell Kya what had happened, just that they needed to call the case worker because of Azula. To say Kya was worried when she arrived home was an understatement. She ran right past Hakoda and up to Azula’s room, trying to talk to her through the door and make sure she was okay. Azula hadn’t wanted to open the door so Kya settled for leaving once she was sure everything inside the room was okay. 

Hakoda waited until he and Kya were in the bedroom and the kids were all upstairs before calling Piandao. Regardless of what Piandao did, he would not be the reason Zuko learned about the drugs.

“Yes?” Piandao’s voice came over the phone clear and crisp.

“We have a small problem with Azula.”

“Oh, no. What happened?” 

“I was helping her look for something in her room and I found a bottle of pills.”

“WHAT?!?” Kya screamed. Hakoda winced at her scream. Did she have to do it right in his ear? Although he was only on call and not FaceTime, Hakoda could practically feel Piandao’s shock through the phone.

“She’s been taking adderall to help her focus when she doesn’t need it.” He finished, “I took the bottle away but I figured I also needed to tell you about what happened. Is there a…procedure we should follow? Some kind of plan?”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” Kya snapped, “Azula could go through withdrawal or she could be sick or-…I need to go talk to her. Now.” Hakoda dropped the phone from his hand to grab Kya’s wrist. She hadn’t even gotten out of bed when he latched onto her.

“Kya, she’s embarrassed and angry and not going to talk to us right now. Confronting her where everyone can hear and see isn’t the best option.”

“He’s right.” Piandao added, “I need to put it in her file and we need to come up with a safety plan in case she gets her hands on more. If she gets worse, then we may need to talk about something more serious. I’m hoping her wanting to stay with her brother will keep her from forcing us to send her to rehab.”

“Speaking of Zuko, Azula doesn’t want him to know.” Hakoda added.

“Do you think he’s doing drugs?” Piandao asked.

“No.” The two said together.

“Then I don’t think there’s a reason to get him involved. But if you suspect anything-“

“We’ll let you know.” Hakoda confirmed.

“Good. Now…how much do you think she took?”

An hour later, the questions were done and Hakoda hung up the phone. Both parents laid back in bed, exhausted despite having never moved. Kya was even too tired to question why Hakoda didn’t tell her anything about what he discovered. Hakoda was too tired—and too smart—to bring it up. They remained in perfect silence until they heard someone knock at their door.

“Come in.” Kya called.

Azula poked her head in.

“Azula.” Kya stood up from the bed but didn’t get any closer, “What are you doing down here?”

“You talked to Piandao I assume.” She said.

“We did.” Hakoda nodded, “He knows about the adderall and he’s agreed not to tell Zuko.”

The fourteen year old visibly slouched at that. At least one worry was off her chest.

“Thank you. I know I’m in no position to ask this but…would you guys mind keeping Zuko here? When you put me back I mean.” Her small clarification at the end did nothing to help Kya or Hakoda. Both of them still stared at her in shock.

“Azula, we’re not putting you back and we’re certainly not separating you and Zuko. You’re both staying here.” Hakoda said.

“Why? I did drugs! In a house with your real children. I’m not safe. I’m a bad kid. Why-Why do you still want-“ Azula was cut off by Kya hugging her. A risky move, she knew, but nothing could have stopped her from giving the teenager at least some physical comfort. Much to her surprise, Azula wrapped her arms around Kya and dug her nails in.

“You’re not going anywhere and you aren’t a bad kid. You made a mistake.” Kya knelt down so that she could look Azula in the eye, “We’re not getting rid of you. Can I assume another family did?”

She nodded.

“Okay. You don’t have to worry about getting another placement unless you want to leave-“

“NO!”

Kya offered her a soft smile and chuckle, “Then you’re not going anywhere. You are grounded though and are to come straight home after school but that’s it. Just stay away from the adderall, keep checking in with us and keep doing amazing in school. That’s all you have to worry about.” Kya ran her hands through Azula’s hair, letting the girl rest her head against her shoulder.

Azula was facing away from Hakoda so he didn’t see her frown or her eyes squint in concern. Keep doing amazing in school without access to the thing that made her amazing in the first place. 

Easy.

———————————-

Azula was grateful to her foster parents for not telling Zuko. After everything they’d been through, she didn’t know what she’d do if he found out the truth. She could handle Zuko yelling at her about being irresponsible but he would also have that stupid ‘I’m so disappointed’ look on his face. Despite how she felt, she’d only been off the pills for 24 hours and already found herself wanting more.

Kya told her what some of the symptoms of withdrawal would be. At first, Azula didn’t feel anything except tiredness but by her fifth period class she was growing more irritable and angry. Her tiredness was soon replaced with a wave of anger, headaches and an inability to concentrate.

“Azula?” Her teacher knelt down, “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” She snapped, “Just trying to concentrate and people keep talking.”

“Hey.” The teacher lowered her voice, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” Her words shot out in a tone Azula knew was going to get her in trouble.

“Do you need to go to the principal?” Azula wanted to snap at her again. She wanted to scream at the whole room actually about how unfair it was that she was being singled out. Her teacher just continued to stare at her and that was when Azula noticed her classmates were looking too, waiting to see if she would be sent to the principal.

Azula shook her head.

“Good. You’re in high school. I suggest you act like it.”

She opted for silence the rest of her school day and evening. Kya and Hakoda, thankfully, didn’t push her when she wanted to eat upstairs in her room. The kids tried to ask why she got to be upstairs only for Kya and Hakoda to tell them that they should mind their own business.

“Azula wants to eat upstairs and she can.” Kya said.

“But why?” Katara asked.

“Katara.” Hakoda warned.

“Just think it’s unfair.” She mumbled, looking down at her food. 

After dinner, Zuko slipped up to Azula’s room, using their secret knock to tell her it was him. When he got no response, he opened the door, waiting for Azula to yell at him to close it. She didn’t so he poked his head inside.

“Azula?” She was on her bed with her headphones on, “Azula, are you okay?”

“Zuzu? What are you doing in my room?”

“Checking on you. You didn’t seem well and I just-“

“I don’t need you to check on me! I’m not a child. I just want to rest. I’m really tired.” Fatigue was apparently another symptom of adderall withdrawal. 

“Okay. I was just-“

“Just leave! Get out of my room! NOW!” Zuko took a few steps back, but remained. He stared at Azula with wide eyes, “What?!”

“What is wrong with you?! Why are you yelling at me?!”

“Because you’re annoying me, Zuko! I yell at people who annoy me!” 

“I walked into your room! How is this different then the hundreds of times I’ve done so before?!?”

“Maybe you annoyed me then too! Why are you still in my room?!? Leave! Leave right now! I don’t want to talk to you! I don’t want to see you! GO!” 

“What is going on?” Kya asked, “Why are you yelling?”

“Ask her! I came in to check on her and she just started yelling.” Zuko said.

“Because I don’t want him here and he’s not leaving! I don’t want him in my room! I don’t want him anywhere near me!” Azula screamed.

“Okay, okay.” Kya placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder, gently directing him out of the door, “Zuko, go. I’ll come check on you later. Azula’s…going through something.”

“What-“

“It’s nothing you have to worry about. Just go.” 

Only when Zuko was gone and the door shut did Kya turn to face Azula. The teenager had moved from her bed to her desk which had a piece of paper on it. The only words Kya could see were ones that read ‘study guide’. 

“You’re-“

“Don’t diagnose me. This is your fault!” Azula snapped.

“Our fault? You took the drug. I know you’re really frustrated and angry and lashing out but that’s just a side effect of withdrawal. In a week, you’ll feel much better.” 

“Yeah but my exam is tomorrow and I can’t even concentrate on this stupid study guide! And I can’t concentrate because you took my adderall!” 

“Azula, keep your voice down. Zuko is going to hear you.” Kya warned.

Azula’s hands went to her hair, her nails digging into her scalp as she pulled at her black locks. Kya, realizing what was happening, grabbed Azula’s arms and pulled them away from her head. The fourteen year old struggled in Kya’s grip until she pushed Kya away from her. 

“Azula, please breathe. Just breathe and focus for a second. Please.” Miraculously, Azula complied and her frustration subsided for a moment, “Listen, if Hakoda and I have to call someone they’re going to take you away from us. I know you’re frustrated and scared and you want it back, but I promise this is the worst it’ll get. In a week, you’ll feel much better and be able to concentrate again.” Hopefully.

“My brain just feels like mush.”

“That’s completely normal. I’ve seen people go through adderall withdrawal. This will pass.”

Not quickly enough. Her exam was tomorrow and she couldn’t focus. She was going to fail. She was going to get a zero and fail and it was Kya and Hakoda’s fault. But that wouldn’t matter because all they’d see is a stupid foster kid. First drugs then a failed exam. It was too much. 

“Azula?” Kya whispered.

“I….Okay.”

“I’m going to give you some space but I’ll be back to check on you later.”

True to her word, Kya did. Again and again and again throughout the night until she was sure Azula was asleep—even then she checked one final time to ensure that Azula was actually sleeping.

The next morning, Azula didn’t speak to anyone. Kya and Hakoda made sure Zuko, Katara and Sokka were all set for the school day, making a conscious choice to leave Azula be. The day progressed as normal until that night. All the kids returned home on the bus but, while Katara, Sokka and Zuko went to the kitchen for food, Azula ran to her room. 

“Azula!” Hakoda called.

She didn’t respond.

“She was acting really weird on the bus.” Katara told him.

“Yeah. She didn’t even laugh at my amazing joke.”

“Sokka, no one laughed at that.” 

“Yeah, but Azula always does.” He pouted.

“Azula’s….going through some stuff.” Hakoda told them, “But it shouldn’t be long until she’s feeling like herself again. We just have to be patient.”

Like clockwork, Kya returned home at six and Hakoda had dinner almost ready. Zuko, not feeling like going to see Azula, sent Katara upstairs to tell her it was time to get her plate. Peace lasted for only a couple of seconds after that because Katara quickly came running and screaming down the stairs.

“Katara! What’s wrong?!”

“Azula ran away!”

“WHAT?!?” Everyone screamed.

“She’s not in her room! She’s not upstairs and she left her phone behind!”

“She wouldn’t have run off without her phone!” 

Sokka spoke up, “If she was trying to not be tracked she might have….”

“She didn’t…” Zuko ran up the stairs and into his room, opening the drawer with money inside. Money that was meant to be an emergency fund in case they needed to leave.

It was all gone.

“She took three hundred dollars.” Zuko said. His mind was spinning too much to register anything going on around him. Azula ran away? She ran away without telling him? Why? Did she think he’d tell Kya and Hakoda? The hurt in his chest made it hard to breathe, “She’s gone.”

“Zuko!” Sokka cried, “Zuko, you need to breathe.”

The last thing Zuko saw before his head hit the floor was Kya on the phone. Just barely, she was able to make out, “…Police….report missing child…”

Chapter Text

(0 years, 8 months, 17 days)

The police came to the house ten minutes later to take statements from everyone. Since no one had any idea how far Azula had gone, the police advised the family to look around the area and they would send word out to other stations to be on the lookout for a girl matching Azula’s description. Hakoda stayed in the house with the police and called Iroh and Piandao, Kya called Kanna, Bato and Iroh then drove around the neighborhood, and Katara, Sokka and Zuko called their friends, all of whom agreed to help in the search.

“I drove 20 miles all around us and couldn’t find her.” Kya said, slamming the door behind her. 

The clock under their tv clicked to 2:00 am. The cops had left by now, promising to keep looking into this but they didn’t sound hopeful after Hakoda informed them that Azula could have been gone for two hours before they noticed. Piandao left around midnight after taking a report. The only ones who remained now were Iroh, Bato, Kanna and Pakku.

“Kya, you need to rest.” Kanna told her.

“Not until I find my daughter.” Kya pushed past her and went to Hakoda in the kitchen, “Anything?”

“I talked to the cops, the kids, Iroh, Piandao, no one has seen her.” Hakoda sighed, “Katara and Sokka are terrified and Zuko has practically stopped talking.”

“Where are they?” Kya asked.

“I sent them to their rooms to get some rest. I don’t know if they’ll sleep but they need to lay down.”

“Good idea.”

“Why would she have run away?” Iroh asked, “It’s not like her.” 

“She told me she ran away from foster homes before but it was always with Zuko and because of something.” Kya sighed, taking a seat in the living room with everyone else, “So…there might be a reason why she left.”

“What?” Bato asked.

“We caught her with adderall a few days ago. She was taking it to focus on exams and when we took it away she started having trouble focusing and thinking clearly.” Kya told them, “She might have run away to get more or because she’s angry with us or…I don’t know.”

Pakku sighed, “I told you. The older kids in foster care-“

Iroh glared at him, “Is that sentence going to end as an insult to my niece and nephew?” 

“I’m just saying. This wouldn’t have happened if you fostered a baby.”

A look of rage filled Iroh’s face, “Excuse me-”

“We don’t have time for this!” Kya yelled. Both men instantly turned to the angry mother, “Pakku, if you’re not going to be helpful then leave! Iroh, do you have any idea where she might have gone? Is there anywhere we didn’t check? Anything she told you?”

Iroh narrowed his eyes, thinking back to every conversation he had with Azula to try and remember something. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come up with anything. Azula didn’t have any favorite place around here and there was no way she’d go back to one of her old foster families so he had no idea what to do. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know. She has no other family around here except for Zuko, no connections to anyone, except her old friends in New York, she wouldn’t go back to any old foster families, and-” Kya held up a hand.

“Her friends in New York.” Kya whispered. Hakoda’s own eyes widened at the realization. They hadn’t suspected she would go back to New York, especially this late but she took money. There was a chance she could have gotten on a train to Grand Central and then gotten picked up by someone in the city, “Do you have their number?” Kya asked.

“No, but Zuko does.” 

Minutes later, Zuko was sitting on the couch with Iroh, having told Kya Ty Lee’s number. Katara and Sokka woke up when they heard their father and Zuko talking in the hallway and were downstairs now too. In fact, everyone was sitting around the living room, staring at Kya as she waited for Ty Lee to pick up the phone. Finally, a voice answered.

“Hello?”

“Is this Ty Lee?” Kya asked.

“Yeah. Who-”

“This is Kya. I’m Azula’s foster mom.” She said.

“Oh! How did-”

“Is Azula with you or did she text you at all tonight? She ran away and we’re trying to find her. Zuko is worried sick. We all are.” 

The silence on the other side was heavy, “I don’t think I should say anything. Azula didn’t want anyone to know-”

Maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe the anger that Ty Lee clearly knew where Azula was and refused to say a word, or maybe Kya was just at the end of her rope but she snapped, “Listen to me, my daughter is missing and her brothers and sister are panicking–I am panicking! So if you know where she is, you better start talking. Now!” No one heard any noise from Ty Lee’s side for a while. Doubt began to bloom in Kya’s stomach as she feared Ty Lee would just hang up on her.

“She’s here.” Ty Lee admitted, “She got here a few hours ago but she’s…she told me not to tell you. I think she’s scared to go back.” 

Kya let out a breath, “She shouldn’t be. We just want her safe. I’m driving there to pick her up. What’s your address?” Now Hakoda was standing up, “Thank you. I’ll be there in a few hours.”

“You’re driving to New York?” Hakoda asked.

“Azula is there and I think it would be better if I was the one who picked her up.” She didn’t need to explain that any further to Hakoda, “I’ll text you when I have her and when we’re on the road back home. The rest of you, go to bed. I’ll text or call if I have any updates.” Kya didn’t wait for them to respond. They could find their own ways out of her house or up to bed without her having to stick around and, besides, she wouldn’t be able to really be calm until Azula was safe back at the house. She walked out to her car and turned it back on, pulling out of the driveway and heading towards Ty Lee’s address.

—-------------------------------

It was 9 am when Kya finally pulled up to Ty Lee’s place. Zuko hadn’t been kidding when he said they were rich. The house was located smack dab in New York City and looked like 5 apartments had been demolished to make room for it. The white paint that covered the entire building almost blinded Kya with the sun shining directly onto it. When she knocked on the door, a man dressed in a suit answered. Based on his appearance and sense of urgency, Kya guessed he was the father. He didn’t even look surprised Kya was there.

“I assume you’re here for the runaway.” He said.

“My foster daughter.” Kya corrected.

“She’s upstairs. 3rd floor.” Wasting no time, she brushed past him and made her way upstairs. Thankfully, finding Ty Lee’s room was not difficult. The entire door was painted with the hottest pink color Kya had ever seen in her life.

“Hello?” She called.

The door rattled and Ty Lee’s face popped out, “She’s in here.” She whispered, opening the door and revealing Azula asleep on her bed. The entire drive over, even though Ty Lee confirmed Azula was with her, Kya wasn’t able to let go of a sense of fear. A fear that she wouldn’t be there or Azula would leave before she could arrive. Seeing her peacefully sleeping allowed that fear to finally leave her, “She called me last night and said she needed to come. I thought she was running away again with Zuko but she came alone and said she couldn’t go home. I tried to ask what happened but she refused to answer, just barricaded herself in the bathroom. I finally convinced her to come out and sleep on the bed but it took hours.”

Her story made Kya’s heart twist, “Azula?” 

Azula’s eyes gently blinked open. For a moment, she seemed perfectly at peace. Then she recognized Kya, “What are you doing here?! What is she doing here?!?” Azula yelled.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Kya held up her hands, “I’m not mad. I’m just hear to-“

“I’m not going back!” Azula yelled.

“Azula, Zuko is worried-“

“Never!”

Tiredness mixed with irritation got to the woman, “You are coming back because you are still our foster kid and so it is our job to make sure you are in the house and safe. So either you come with me willingly and we drive home or I call the police and we see what social services has to say.” Would she actually call social services on Azula? No. But Azula didn’t know that and right now Kya didn’t have the patience or time to wait for Azula to finally decide she was ready to come home.

“Fine.” Azula mumbled.

They walked to the car in silence. They drove in silence or, more specifically, Kya drove in silence. Azula remained in the backseat, staring out the window or at her phone. Kya didn’t really mind the silence as long as she had Azula in the car and they were heading home that was all she needed. Occasionally, Azula would glare at Kya but never spoke a word. They were arriving into Allentown when Kya noticed the storm clouds.

“Azula, can you look up the weather?” Kya asked.

Azula didn’t answer.

“Fine.” Kya grumbled, pulling it up on her phone, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. There are huge storms throughout the state. We have to stop at a motel or something until they pass. I know you’re not a fan of thunder but-“

“I get it.” Azula snapped.

“Excuse me for trying to be nice.”

Fifteen minutes later, Kya was pulling into a motel and ordering a room for the night. The rooms were small, containing a single bed, a tv, a toilet and a tub. It wasn’t much but enough for a few hours or a night depending on when the storm let up. Neither of them had any clothes aside from the ones on them but that didn’t stop Kya from wanting a shower and a nap. She’d been up for over 24 hours now and the drive made her exhausted. All the way to New York she was running on pure adrenaline and now she was starting to wind down. 

“I’m going to get in the shower. If you’re gone when I get out, I-“

“I know.” Azula grumbled. Her knees were pulled up to her shoulders and her arms wrapped around them as she sat on the bed.

Kya gave her one final look before closing the bathroom door and pulling out her phone. She shot Hakoda a quick text about what was going on and that she’d talk to him more when she got out of the shower. She’d already texted the family chat telling them she had Azula and they were on their way. It was now up to Hakoda to get the rest of the message across.

The feeling of the warm water against her skin gave Kya a needed sense of peace. The last day had been so hectic that this one shower felt like getting a cold drink of water after a long race. She had just finished washing her hair when she heard a scream from the other room. 

She didn’t even think.

She just grabbed a towel and ran outside.

Azula was pressed into the corner of the room, eyes wide and frantic. For a moment, Kya looked at the wall and the bed, expecting to see a mouse or something. Nothing was there.

“Azula?”

She was hardly breathing. Any time she did breath it came out in small and choked puffs of air. Her fingers dug into her shirt, grabbing onto it so tightly that her fingers started to turn white. Any breath that managed to get out was also stopped by Azula biting her lip and digging her teeth into her lip.

Her eyes could never settle on anything in the room, almost like they were incapable of focusing on something. Her pupils were shrunken.

Her whole body was shaking like a leaf. One hand was still grabbing at her shirt but her other hand was digging into the rug like she would fly away if she let go. Kya couldn’t help but be reminded of her patients—the ones who looked like they were about to be sick. But what killed Kya the most were the tears coming to her eyes. 

“Azula?” She tried to keep her distance, not wanting to overwhelm her.

She didn’t respond. Just continued to shake.

“Azula, honey, I really need you to say something. Please, just make a sound to let me know you’re okay.”

She opened her mouth and let out a choking sound but Kya didn’t push, “That’s okay. That’s enough. I’m right here, sweetie. Just try to breathe for me. That’s all you have to do.” Azula made another choking sound but this one was different. It sounded like she was trying to talk, to say something but her own voice was holding her back.

“Azula?”

“Mom, it hurts.” The words came out barely audible and hidden behind Azula’s attempt to not cry but she heard them.

Mom.

She called her mom.

“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s just an episode. It’ll go away soon.” Kya promised, “I’ll get-“

“Don’t leave!” Azula yelled, grabbing Kya’s sleeve, “Please! Please, my head hurts so bad and-and I can’t focus and everything is spinning and I-“

“Shh, shh. It’s okay. I’ll stay here. Can I sit next to you?” Azula weakly nodded and Kya took a seat, wrapping her arms around Azula, “Do you want me to talk or sit here in silence?” 

“Talk please.” Kya nodded.

“Okay. Did you know that I was here years ago with my family when I was a little girl? We didn’t have a lot of money growing up but my mom always did something special for the weekends if I behaved during the week. Near here, there’s an amazing cookie store that sells a cookie with ice cream on top. Let me tell you, as a kid, that cookie was everything.”

Azula didn’t stop shaking.

“My mom and I went to get it one day and I ate the whole thing before we could even get back to the car. I think my mom was kind of impressed but probably also annoyed because this meant that I was going to have a stomach ache when we got back to the motel. She let my dad deal with that one.” Azula rested her head against Kya’s shoulder, “Is the story helping at all?”

“Am I gonna die?”

“No! No, not at all. It’s just a bad episode. Your body needs a few minutes and then you’ll feel much better.” Kya promised, “I’ve seen this before at the hospital. Patients, on much worse drugs than adderall, recover just fine.” Azula stiffly nodded. Her shaking had considerably gone down by now but there was still an air of uncertainty and fear coming from her.

“I’m sorry I ran away.” She whispered, “I…I failed one of my exams and I knew you’d think I was stupid. Bad enough you have a foster kid that’s already messed up but I can’t also be stupid too.” 

“Azula, listen to me. You are not stupid or messed-”

“Yes, I am!” Azula’s hands went to her hair. Her nails digging into her scalp, “I can’t do anything right! That’s why mom left! That’s why we’re in foster care! I’m a horrible, stupid, mons-”

“Azula!” Kya snapped, “Listen to me and listen well. You are not horrible or stupid or messed up and it is certainly not your fault that you’re in foster care or that your mom left. You know that isn’t true. You are an amazing, brilliant, and strong person and, yes, you did make some bad choices but that doesn’t mean you’ve destroyed your life forever.”

“...You hate me.”

Gently, Kya lifted Azula’s chin up so that she was looking at her, “No, I don’t. Neither does Hakoda or Katara or Sokka or Zuko or Iroh or Kanna or everyone else who spent last night looking for you, terrified that you were hurt or lost or in trouble. Why would we all do that, why would I drive all this way, if we didn’t care about you?”

Azula didn’t have a response. Kya didn’t need one. Carefully, giving Azula the chance to back away or reject her, Kya wrapped her arms around Azula and held her close. Within minutes, Azula fell asleep against her chest. Not wanting to risk waking her up, Kya settled in for the night, whispering a soft goodnight to her daughter before falling asleep herself.

Chapter Text

(0 years, 8 months, 19 days)

The drive home was not as quiet. Azula and Kya made some casual conversation and listened to some music to fill the time and Azula was now sitting in the passenger seat as opposed to the back seat where she had been for the first half of the drive. When they got closer to the house, Azula turned off the music and nervously shuffled in her seat. Kya picked up on it right away.

“Nervous?”

“You’re sure Hakoda won’t be mad?” Despite her calling Kya mom, she still seemed a little hesitant to call Hakoda dad. Not that Kya was about to push her, it was just something she noticed.

“Positive. He’ll be relieved you’re okay and you will be grounded, but nothing beyond that. I promise he’ll be more thrilled that you’re back home then angry that you ran away.”

“And…groundings don’t include no food or beds or anything like that, right?” Azula asked.

Kya sucked in a breath. The horrible trauma was something for another time, “No. In fact, you’ll be spending more time in your room and at a house filled with food actually.”

“Was Zuko mad that I left?”

“I think he was more confused. He didn’t know where you went or if you were coming back and it scared him. He’ll also be really happy to see you though, but….he might ask you why you left. We didn’t say anything about the adderall to him but if you want to you can. You don’t have to worry, Azula.”

“Thanks...mom.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kya pulled into her driveway and turned off the car. Azula’s movements were slow which Kya wasn’t sure if that was due to her being tired or just her not being ready to face the family. 

The moment they opened the door, everything exploded. Zuko was the first one to reach her, racing through the kitchen and to the front door in a matter of seconds.

“AZULA!” Without a word, he grabbed his hands around her and lifted her up into a bone crushing hug, “I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU!”

“I’m sorry I worried you, Zuzu, but you need to put me down.” Azula winced.

“Never.”

“You’re going to crush my ribs.”

“Then you’ll live with broken ribs.” 

Hakoda chucked, “Okay, Zuko, put her down.” Reluctantly, Zuko did so, “Azula, we're all really happy that you’re okay and back home. You really scared us.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, “I’m sorry.”

“Thank you, but you’re not off the hook that easily. You’re grounded for 2 months. No friends, nothing after school and no devices.” Hakoda said.

“So basically Azula’s life?” Zuko quipped, earning him a punch to the arm, “Ow!” Katara and Sokka had entered the living room now too, both keeping their distance but smiling at Azula. It felt odd. These smiles felt more family like then they had 8 months ago, more like they were actually really happy to see her.

“That’s fair, Hakoda.” Azula nodded, “And I’m still really sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” 

“Why did you leave?” Zuko asked.

Azula turned back to Kya, who tried not to move much. She really didn’t want Azula to feel like she was being pushed into revealing anything. Hakoda didn’t say a word either, leaving the choice entirely to Azula.

“I…Zuko, do you remember our last foster home? The family kicked us out and the mom said we were a danger to her real kids?” Azula asked.

He nodded, “Yeah.”

“I’m the reason. Our last foster placement found out about the adderall I've been taking to help me stay focused and freaked out. A few days ago Hakoda and mom found my bottle,” Kya and Hakoda both shifted at the name, “and they took it away. I started getting really tired and angry and I couldn’t focus-“

“That explains her rolling her eyes at the teacher.” Sokka mumbled. Katara elbowed him.

“And then I failed an exam. I panicked because I was sure you’d all think I was stupid and didn’t belong here and-“ 

She was cut off by Katara, without a word or even a sound, coming forward and hugging her. When Katara did, Sokka and Zuko quickly followed with Zuko remaining after Katara and Sokka stepped away. Azula closed her eyes, letting herself feel the warmth and love from the hug.

“I’m so sorry.” Zuko whispered.

“Why are you apologizing?” Azula asked.

“I should have noticed or done something or-“

Azula chuckled, “Only you Zuzu would hear that I had done drugs and think you were to blame.”

“I’m the one who told you to focus so much on school.” Zuko said, “It’s-“

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. It’s also not your fault I ran away so let’s nip that in the bud right now.” Azula said. 

“But-“

“Zuko.” Azula warned.

“…Fine. It’s not my fault.” Even though his tone was clearly a mocking one, Azula took it.

“Okay, everyone. Azula needs some rest.” Kya said, “We can talk more about this later.” The kids nodded, making space for Azula to walk up the stairs and go to her room.

Once Azula was gone, everyone else faded into the background, each finding their own task to do. Now that they all knew Azula was safe and back up in her room, an air of calmness and peace filled the house that had been missing the past few days. Their family was whole again.

———————————

A few days after Azula came back, so did Piandao. Of course the social worker had to come in and check with Azula and Zuko about what had happened before speaking with Kya and Hakoda about the incident. That was all mandatory but it didn’t make the time any less nerve wrecking. Finally, he clicked his pen and smiled at them.

“A teenager running away. Nothing out of the ordinary.” 

Translation: no one is getting removed or having their foster license taken away.

Kya released a breath, “That’s great.”

“Just once I wish I could visit here and not see you two panicking.” Piandao chuckled.

“We have four kids. I don’t think there is a time when we’re not panicking.” Hakoda said, “Even in dreams I have to run to find Sokka and stop him from doing something stupid.”

“The joys of parenthood.” Piandao chuckled.

“I suppose.”

“Speaking of parenthood…do you have any more information on the whole adoption?” Kya asked. The kids were at school so there was no chance of them learning about this conversation. Not unless Blue suddenly gained the ability to speak.

“I do.” Piandao nodded, “Ozai is obviously out of the picture. His parental rights were removed years ago so there’s nothing there. It’s Ursa, their mother, who might pose a problem.”

“How so? She’s been gone for six years.”

“I know, but she never had her parental rights removed. No one ever filed to take them away so she still has those rights but the problem is we have no clue where she is.”

“So what does this mean for the adoption?” Hakoda asked.

“Hopefully nothing.” Piandao said, “In all likelihood, the court will take into account that she’s been gone for six years and has had no contact with Azula and Zuko and take it to mean she’s neglected them.”

“And then we can…”

“You can adopt. I’ve already gotten the process started. You’ll need to sign some more forms and everything but, pending nothing huge happening, you two should be all set to adopt Zuko and Azula very soon.”

Kya’s smile reached across her face, “We can tell them.” Her voice was high as she excitedly tapped her feet against the floor.

“How do you want to do it?” Hakoda asked, “Cake? Present?”

“It’s May. Why would either of them get a present?” 

“I’m just trying to make it special.”

“They’ll see right through that, Koda! The cake isn’t a bad idea. Oh! Maybe cupcakes that spell out the word adopt.” Kya suggested.

“I don’t know I still keep coming around to this present idea.” Hakoda said.

Piandao’s laughter broke Hakoda and Kya’s conversation, “I can see you two have a very important decision to make. I’ll head out.”

“Thank you.” Hakoda said.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

“No, you wouldn’t have.” The social worker smiled, “But do me a favor?”

“Hmm?”

“Invite me to the court when Azula and Zuko are officially adopted.” Piandao said, “I…It’ll just be really nice to see them happy.” 

Three years. He’d been with those two for three years. The moment he stepped into the hospital room and saw Zuko lying on the bed with a bandage over her eye and Azula glaring at him with a look that could kill, he knew this would be difficult. And he wasn’t wrong. Home after home after home the two had been kicked out, seperated, neglected, run away and probably some stuff he didn’t even know about. 

So to now be helping with their adoption and knowing that they—hopefully—would never return to foster care…it felt like a weight was finally lifted off him. They’d be okay. They’d stay together.

“We wouldn’t dream of not having you there.”

—-----------------------------

“SOKKA! GET BACK HERE!” 

Hakoda and Kya, who had been on their way to find their children, were given a very helpful clue about where they were when they heard Katara’s scream coming from the backyard. The two went out on the porch where they found Sokka, dying of laughter, and Katara, trying to tackle him, and Blue running around both of them and barking.

“So…is there a reason for this or…?” Hakoda asked.

“Sokka took my phone and he said he’d text Aang and tell him I like him!” Katara yelled.

“I’m tired of watching Aang try to flirt! Toph, Suki and I have agreed that it’s too painful at this point and it’s time to bite the bullet.” Sokka said.

“I’ll kill you if you send that text!”

“Okay, okay.” Hakoda pushed the two away from one another grabbing Katara’s phone from Sokka, “Sokka, as painful as it is to watch-”

“Hey!”

“You can’t take your sister’s phone and text Aang.” Sokka grumbled something under his breath about having to wait 60 years before they actually asked each other out.

“Well, this certainly isn’t what your father and I thought we’d find when we came out to talk to you about this.” Kya chuckled.

“Talk to us about what?” Katara asked.

Kya and Hakoda gave each other a quick look, nodding to confirm their plan, “We’re planning on adopting Azula and Zuko.” Hakoda said.

“WHAT!?” Sokka cried, “That’s awesome! So they get to stay here!?”

“Have you told them yet?!” Katara asked.

“Not yet. We want it to be a surprise but we also wanted to talk to you two first and make sure you’re okay with this. Us adopting them means that they’re in our lives forever now.” Hakoda told them, “We want to make sure you’re both okay with that and okay with the fact that they might think of us as their parents.” That last part wasn’t certain but with Azula already calling Kya mom almost all the time now, there was a possibility for it.

“Of course we’re okay with it!” Sokka said, “They’re cool and it’ll be nice to finally have a good sibling.” Katara punched him in the side, “See what I mean? Zuko wouldn’t hit me.”

“Give him a few months.” Katara smirked, “But I think it’s a good idea.”

“Are you sure, baby?” Kya asked, “Please don’t say what you think we want to hear. We want you to be certain.”

“We’re certain, mom.” Sokka promised, “Zuko and Azula will be good siblings and we really want them to stay.”

“Do you want us to talk you out of it?” Katara asked.

“No! We just…we wanted to make sure you kids didn’t feel like we were ignoring what you wanted and forcing this on you. Neither of you deserve that.” Hakoda said, “But, if you’re okay with it, their adoption court date is being planned as we speak. With luck, everything will be wrapped up by December.”

“Wow.” Sokka whispered, “We’re really getting a new brother and sister.”

Kya smiled, kissing her son’s head, “You are.”

———————————

Two weeks after Piandao left, Kya came home one evening with a red frosted cake. The kids were all sitting in the living room, watching tv, but the moment she walked in, their attention was all on her and the dessert she held.

“Why do you have a cake?” Sokka asked.

“Come into the kitchen and you’ll see.” Kya smiled.

One by one, they stood up and followed her into the kitchen. Azula and Zuko stared at one another in confusion, wondering if they had forgotten something important. Sokka and Katara, knowing what was about to happen, tried hard to keep the joy out of their faces. The four kids circled the table and stared down at the cake. Aside from the red frosting, it also had words written on it. Specifically a date.

November 20th, 2025

“November 20th?” Azula asked, “Is that someone’s birthday?” She didn’t remember anything special happening in November last year. Maybe they just didn’t tell them because she and Zuko had been so new to the family at the time.

“Not exactly.” Hakoda said, “It’s the day of an appointment.”

“Appointment?” Zuko asked.

“What are you two hiding?” 

“Nothing. Nothing. It’s just the date of a special court appointment that we thought we’d celebrate.” The word court confused Katara and Sokka but Zuko and Azula froze.

“Court?” Zuko whispered. The smallest bit of hope entered his voice but he pushed it down, trying not to seem excited.

“Why are we going to court?” Sokka asked, “Did dad run a red light again?” His inability to keep himself from smiling was going to give everything away. Hakoda knew that. So, he decided that it was just time to come clean.

“No.” Hakoda said, “Something else is happening. It involves Zuko and Azula and starts with the letters adop. Any guesses?” He asked. 

Zuko had to grab the counter, worried he’d collapse on the ground if he didn’t have something supporting him. Hakoda grasped his shoulder to try and keep him on his feet. An action that, a few months ago, would have sent Zuko into a panic but now gave him a sense of comfort and belonging. Azula tried to hold herself back but that only lasted a couple seconds before she ran to Kya and tackled her in a hug,

“Mom!” She cried. Tears came to her eyes as she buried her face in Kya’s shoulder. Kya said something but she couldn’t hear nor did she care. She just continued to hold Kya in the tightest hug she could manage. 

Zuko wasn’t far behind, hugging Hakoda tightly, “Really?” He asked, his voice filled a choked sob.

“Really.” Hakoda nodded, “If you two want, Kya and I would like to adopt you.”

Both Zuko and Azula were sobbing, unable to speak, but they nodded quickly, holding onto Hakoda and Kya as if letting go would make this dream end. Behind them, Katara and Sokka joined in on the hug. Hakoda and Kya held their four children close. That’s how they stayed for the next five minutes until Kya heard something at the table.

“BLUE!” Kya screamed.

Blue, who had been licking the cake, jumped down, running off with the family chasing after him all over the house and laughing their heads off as they did.

Chapter Text

(1 year, 1 month, 0 days)

In the blink of an eye, summer was over and October had returned. The summer certainly wasn’t dull despite its quick time. Azula and Zuko celebrated their birthdays, now 15 and 17, all of them were in driving school, Azula had displayed some interest for the soccer team at school, and Sokka was looking at colleges. 

The family had settled into a nice rhythm by the fall. The kids, Kya and Hakoda, would go to school during the day. Azula had soccer practice on Wednesday and Sokka had SAT prep so the two would take the afternoon bus home. Weekends were usually open except for when the four were forced into a small classroom for driving school. But none of that mattered too much because as October slowly began to end, they got closer and closer to November 20th.

“Mom!” Azula called, “Have you seen my phone?”

“You left it on the couch!” Katara yelled back from downstairs.

“Where’s mom?” Azula asked, walking into the living room to grab her phone.

“She and dad got called away for something. They said it was really important.” Katara said.

“Do you know where they went?”

Katara shrugged, “They just said something happened and they had to go deal with it.”

Something in Azula’s gut began to shift. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like this at all. The rest of the afternoon she lived in a state of anxiety, knowing she wouldn’t be calm until Kya and Hakoda returned.

“You okay?” Zuko asked, noticing her on the couch.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You always play with your bangs when you’re upset.” Zuko plopped himself down on the couch, “What’s going on?”

“Mom and da-Hakoda are gone.”

“So? They probably just went to get groceries or something or maybe Bato needed some help with something.” Zuko’s casual tone didn’t make Azula feel any better. 

“Something’s wrong.”

“You always think something is wrong.

“And I’m always right.” Azula argued, “Remember that maid…Keiko. I said she was dating the cook and I was right.”

“Everyone knew she was dating him. They weren’t exactly subtle about it.” Zuko reminded, “What could possibly be going on?”

“They could be giving us up.” Azula grumbled, sitting next to Zuko.

“Ah, yes, the perfect trick: go through the long process of adoption and all the headaches that come with dealing with the court only to return us a month before everything is done.” Zuko said, “Genius!”

Azula glared at her brother, “You don’t know.” She mumbled.

“Come on, Zula. You know that’s not it.”

“I…I know, but I just can’t help but feel like something's wrong. I can’t explain it but something just isn’t sitting right.” Azula wrapped her arms around her body, staring at the floor like it owed her money.

“Hey.” Zuko whispered, “Everything’s fine. I’m sure that, whatever is going on, they have it handled.”

Azula nodded, “Thanks, Zuzu.” It wasn’t much but his words did make her feel better. 

Kya and Hakoda didn’t return home until late that night and when they did, they asked Katara and Sokka to go upstairs. The second they made that request all four kids went quiet and straight. They didn’t know what was going on but the fact that their parents wanted to separate them wasn’t a good sign in their eyes. Katara and Sokka silently went upstairs while Azula and Zuko stared at Kya and Hakoda with confusion.

“We received a call from Piandao today about the adoption.” Kya started, “We were called down to the courthouse because something has come up.” Her voice stopped. She couldn’t continue. Whatever had happened was breaking her and she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Hakoda, holding his wife’s hands, also looked defeated.

“Dad?” Zuko’s voice was small. 

Azula didn’t know if this was the first time he was saying it but based on Hakoda’s expression it was.

“Someone wants to see you two.” Hakoda said.

“Not father.” Azula stood up. She wouldn’t see him. Not now, not ever again. Zuko looked similarly scared when she said that. The thought didn’t enter his mind but now that it was there and there was a possibility of seeing Ozai again, he felt fear enter him.

“No, no, it’s not Ozai. He’s never getting anywhere near you two again.” Hakoda promised, “It’s-“

The ringing of the doorbell cut him off. With a sigh, Hakoda walked to the door while Kya remained in the kitchen, silently shaking. Her holding back tears and Hakoda trying to put on a brave face made Zuko and Azula’s stomach twist as Hakoda opened the door.

“I’m so sorry. She really wanted to meet her big brother and sister.” A friendly voice said.

Zuko and Azula froze only a few feet from the doorway.

“It’s okay. Come inside.” Hakoda said.

“Thank you!” She looked exactly the same. Her hair might have been a touch different but other than that she was identical to how they remembered her.

“Mom.” Zuko whispered. 

Ursa smiled. She knelt down and hugged Zuko without him returning, “My little turtleduck.” She chirped, “I’ve missed you so much.” 

Azula looked up at Hakoda, “What-? What’s going on?”

“Ursa was alerted when we started the adoption process and she wanted to come down. Apparently, she never knew you two were in foster care.” Hakoda said, “She…umm…she wants custody of you two.”

“I never knew you two were even in the system.” Ursa said, repeating Hakoda’s words but feeling like she had to say something to excuse her absence, “When I left Ozai, I knew I could never go back no matter how much I wanted to get you both away from him. He had too much power and if I went back I’d only get you hurt. My plan was to wait for Ozai to slip up or make a mistake and then join whatever legal team was fighting against him. Nothing ever happened. I moved to California a year after I left Ozai and married Ikem.” A man behind her awkwardly waved, “And had Kiyi.” A young girl smiled brightly.

“And….now you’re back.” Azula muttered.

“Well, I was alerted to the potential adoption because they were telling me my parental rights were about to be removed so I emailed a…Piandao and got on a plane as quickly as I could.”

Azula and Zuko remained frozen.

“I can take you both home now.” Ursa grabbed one of Azula’s hands and one of Zuko’s, “It’ll be great! I can take you to California, you’ll get to experience some of that great L.A life and we’ll be a family again!”

“What-What about-“ 

Ursa cut Zuko off when she saw he was about to gesture to Kya and Hakoda, “Of course you can FaceTime or Zoom with them whenever you want and if we’re ever in Pennsylvania again we’ll have to have lunch or dinner.” Ursa promised, “I owe them so much for taking care of you two for the past few months-“

“13 months. It’s been 13 months.” Azula clarified.

“Wow. You were here for a while. Well, I’m glad you two can finally come home!”

“Well, wait.” Hakoda said, “The judge didn’t say you could just take them and leave. They’re still our foster kids.”

Ursa pressed her lips together into a thin line, “Yes but they’re my children. I’m their real mom.”

“Doesn’t mean you get to take them after disappearing for 6 years.” Kya came to stand next to Hakoda, glaring daggers at Ursa.

“I didn’t disappear. I was trying to do what was best for them.”

“Right. Going to CPS or the cops was just not in the cards, huh?” 

Ikem quickly stepped in between them, “Okay, okay. Why don’t we all take a deep breath and back up? No one is taking Zuko or Azula away right now. Ursa just doesn’t want her parental rights taken away. We’ll let the courts figure out who gets custody.” He said.

“The birth mom or the couple that's only been fostering for a few months.” Ursa grumbled.

“Ursa.” Ikem warned, “I think we should go. Kiyi’s in the car and she’s probably getting hungry for dinner.” Ikem grabbed Ursa’s hand and pulled her out of the house but not before Ursa gave Azula and Zuko a smile.

“I’ll see you kids soon. I promise.” Hakoda closed the door the second she was out of the doorway.

“Kids-“ 

They ran upstairs.

————————————

The next two weeks were weird. Thanks to Ursa’s reappearance and lack of any wrongdoing aside from neglect, she was granted visitation rights to Zuko and Azula. She would stop by every day at 5 pm and pick them up and, if they weren’t ready exactly at five, she would glare at Kya as if the woman was keeping her children from her.

What killed Hakoda and Kya even more though was that Ursa wasn’t a bad mom. They had stopped the family while they were out at dinner one evening and saw both Azula and Zuko laughing their heads off and the siblings always had good stories to share when they came back to the house. The court took notice.

Their adoption hearing was cancelled. 

“She’s getting them.” Kya whispered, “We…They were going to be our kids.” 

Hakoda sat down on the bed next to Kya, letting her sob into his neck, “It’s…I want what’s best for Zuko and Azula but I just…I want them to stay here.” Kya felt the disgust curl in her gut for feeling like the worst person alive.

“Shh, shh.” Hakoda whispered, “I want that too. We both want them to stay with us but…it’s better for them to be with their mom.”

“I know! And that’s the worst part of this! I don’t want to take them away from their mom. They’ve clearly missed her so much but at the same time…”

“You don’t want to say goodbye to our kids.” Hakoda finished.

“I really don’t.” 

“We could try adopting again if-“

“No. I-…Maybe more fostering but never adopting. Never again.” 

“Okay.” Hakoda decided it was best not to push the subject. For now, they both just needed to breathe. Hakoda was about to say more when the adults heard a noise at their doorway.

Hakoda went to open the door, revealing Katara and Sokka standing awkwardly side by side with redness around their eyes.

“Kids.” Kya whispered.

They didn’t need to speak. Their parents already knew that they had heard everything. Hakoda gently pushed them both into the room and towards Kya, who half stood up from the bed just enough to pull them close so she could hug them. Hakoda was next to the family less than a second later, hugging his children and wife. There was nothing they could do, they all knew that, but that didn’t make the situation any less heartbreaking. 

————————————

Azula tapped Ursa’s shoulder while she sat and read. Outside, November weather was fast approaching and making the suburban landscape cold and colorless. Azula and Zuko didn’t mind it, having lived in New York and Pennsylvania their whole lives, but Ursa, Ikem and Kiyi were constantly talking about how different these places were to California. There were also numerous comments about how they would love L.A and fit in right away once they got there in a few weeks.

“Yes, baby?” Ursa asked, setting down her book. Azula shivered a little at the name.

“I wanted to ask you about court tomorrow.” Azula said.

“Is something wrong?” Her words sounded genuine but Azula could tell there was a touch of panic in her eyes.

“We’re never coming back to Pennsylvania if you get custody, are we?” Azula asked.

Ursa shifted in her seat, “Not never but I can’t really think of a reason for us to come back here anytime soon.” She said, “Oh! Is this because of Mai and Ty Lee? I know you’ll miss them but you can FaceTime and Ikem does work sometimes in New York so we can make sure we visit them if we have to come out here or, who knows, college is only a few years away, maybe you’ll go to NYU.” 

“Or Penn.” Azula whispered.

“That’s…an option. Oh! Berkeley’s good too.” Ursa stood up, walking away like she was trying to avoid having any more of this conversation.

“Mo-…Kya and Hakoda have been nice to me and Zuko. It feels wrong to just up and leave and never come back.” Azula argued.

“You’re not doing anything wrong by choosing to come with us, Azula. You’ll see. You’ll be so happy with your real family.” Ursa pressed a hand to Azula’s face, gently brushing a thumb against her daughter’s cheek, “I know you and I didn’t have the best relationship all those years ago but we can start over in L.A. There will be no Ozai, no hiding, nothing. Just all of us living there as one big happy family.”

Azula wanted to argue further. She wanted to bring up that the South family was their family for so long and was only weeks away from making that legal. She wanted to point out that she and Zuko had been in the foster care system for three years and never heard a word from Ursa. She wanted to scream that she didn’t want to leave her family.

But Zuko was happy. He liked having their mother back and she didn’t want to take that from him. If she was the reason they accidentally ended up back in foster care because she rejected Ursa, she would never forgive herself. So she swallowed her feelings and let Ursa hug her, let her talk about how happy they’d be.

Zuko meanwhile leaned over the railing, looking down at his mom and sister hug. He didn’t catch all of their conversation but he did hear the end of it with Ursa talking about their big happy family. The odd thing was, despite how much he missed his mom and wanted her to come find them, when she said that, all he could think of was the South family.

“Zuko!” Ursa called, “Come down here. You two need to help me pick where we’re having dinner tonight. It’s a really special night so I’m thinking somewhere nice. Maybe Italian?”

Zuko and Azula turned to look at each other while Ursa spoke. She didn’t notice the silent pleas in their eyes for the other sibling to say something or agree with them and they didn’t comment on it. In their minds, it wasn’t worth it to bring it up only to then become the villain for not wanting to go with Ursa.

“Kids? Kids!” Ursa’s tone shifted, “Italian sound good?”

“Sounds great.” Azula nodded.

“Yeah. Sounds delicious…mom.”

————————————

The next morning, everyone was in court. Katara, Sokka, Ikem and Kiyi all sat in back while Piandao, Kya, Hakoda, Ursa, Azula and Zuko sat at the tables in front of the judge. Most of the opening stuff was boring mixed with information that they’d already gone over a hundred times but needed to be resaid.

“And Mrs. Spirit, you feel like you can raise Azula and Zuko?” The judge asked.

“Yes, sir. My husband and I make enough money to financially support them and I am eager to make up for lost time.” Ursa told him.

“Alright.” The judge turned to Kya and Hakoda, “Do you two have anything you wish to add?”

“No, sir.” Kya whispered.

“Good. Mrs. Spirit, you understand that because of your six year absence you will be under strict watch from L.A. police and CPS located near your residence there? If there are any reports of more negligence or abandonment or anything else, custody will be removed and you will not have the option to regain it."

Ursa nodded, “I understand, sir.” Her voice grew a touch shaky at his words but it was enough to please the judge.

Azula and Zuko turned in their chairs to look at Katara and Sokka who gave them pleading looks. Zuko shook his head. There was nothing they could do, not now anyway. Everything was too finalized for them to suddenly stand up and say they wanted to stay with Kya and Hakoda. Besides, the court probably wouldn’t allow them to do so when their biological mom was sitting right next to them.

“Then, with nothing else to note, Zuko and Azula are officially removed from foster care and placed into the custody of Mrs. Spirit.” 

Chapter Text

(1 year, 2 mo…

Ursa, Ikem and Kiyi, mostly because her parents were happy, celebrated all the way home. Ursa told Ikem to stop for ice cream on their way as a treat for such a stressful morning. 

“I know ice cream before lunch isn’t the best parenting but I think we can let it slide once.” Ursa said.

“Yeah.” Zuko whispered, “Great.”

“You two better start thinking about what you want your new rooms to look like when we get back home. I’ll clear out some space for you so that you can have a whole room just for yourselves to design.” Ikem told them, “Your mom tells me you both like music? We could get some guitars or artist posters or-“

“Not big fans of music anymore.” Azula said, trying very hard to keep her voice from sounding rude.

“Ah, well, no worries. The rooms will be completely yours to decorate.” Ikem hoisted Kiyi up to his shoulder, asking her what she wanted to order.

Ursa, who had been staring up at the counter, heard Azula’s tone and turned her head. She was met with the sight of both of her children staring at the ground as if someone had just killed their childhood pet. She didn’t expect them to be jumping for joy—they’d get there eventually—but she didn’t imagine they would be this sad about leaving foster care.

“Are you two okay?”

“Fine, mom.” Zuko said. The word came out a bit broken like Zuko had to remind himself to call her only that from now on, “We’re just adjusting to everything. It’s a lot.”

“I understand but you both seem very…sad and I don’t know why. This is a happy moment. Our family is reunited. You two will get to stay with me. This is what we wanted for so long and you don’t even look happy about it.” 

“We are happy.” Zuko quickly said, his voice sounding weak, “We just…we’ll miss the South family. They were nice and treated us like we mattered and-“

“And you don’t think I’ll do all of that for you?” Ursa asked, “I love you both so much. All these days in court have been so I can take you home. I know it hurts now but it’ll get better.”

Zuko nodded, “Okay.”

“Now, what ice cream do you two want?” Ursa asked.

————————————

Ursa didn't spend much time with Iroh when she was married to Ozai. They certainly spoke and had tea from time to time but beyond that there was never any deep connection. When she returned after six years to collect Azula and Zuko though, Iroh had to come down. Mostly he was there for Azula and Zuko, to ensure they had a family member they were a little more currently familiar with to be an anchor, but he also spoke to Ursa briefly. 

Naturally, he heard about Ursa getting custody and drove to the hotel where they were staying, intent on at least talking to them before they got on the plane. When he arrived, Ursa didn’t say much beyond a quick greeting and update that everything was okay.

“When is your flight?” Iroh asked.

“Tomorrow afternoon.” 

“And…Azula and Zuko are ready to go?”

“Of course. They have everything packed and all their papers are ready.” Ursa smiled, feeling a sense of joy that infected her tone. 

“I meant more…emotionally.” Iroh amended, “They are leaving their home after all.”

“A home with foster families, not their real family.”

“A foster family can be just as real as any biological one.” Iroh told her, “You must know this, Ursa. You do have a connection to Zuko and Azula that can never change but that doesn’t mean you’re the only one who can claim the title of family.”

“I…Of course, I know that. It’s just different when it’s your kid.”

“I understand but I think you’re letting your insistence on the perfect ‘real’ family distract you from the fact that your children truly did have a family with the Souths and they are going to miss them.” 

Ursa took a seat on the couch, letting her hand go through her hair. She stared down at the floor, unable to look Iroh in the eye and began to think over his words. She really never viewed herself as a mother who wanted her children all to herself and had to have things her way. She loved her kids, she really did, and she just wanted them to be happy, but, at the same time, it was so hard. Iroh must have sensed her conflict because he sat down next to her.

“I’m not telling you to give them up or forget them. Just to take a moment to think about this from their side.” Iroh whispered, “Think about what they need.”

“They need their mother.” Ursa instinctively said.

“I’m not saying they don’t need you, but maybe they need someone else now just a bit more.” 

“I…” Ursa couldn’t bring herself to say anything more. She turned her attention down to the floor and away from Iroh, earning her a concerned expression from the older man, “I messed up, didn’t I?” 

“Perhaps a little.” Iroh nodded, “But so did I. What matters now is how we try to make up for it.”

“And you think the best way for me to do that is to give Azula and Zuko to the South family?”

“I think you should speak to your children and listen to them. What do they think is best?” Ursa nodded, understanding Iroh’s words.

“Thank you, Iroh. You’ve always had good advice.”

“Comes with old age I’m afraid.”

“Don’t say that. I’m going to be your age before you know it.” Ursa chuckled, “I’m getting gray hairs by the second with an eight year old running around.” She loved Kiyi, but it didn’t change the fact that every other day she was trying some new stunt that took two years off her life expectancy. 

“Well, speaking from experience, I promise those gray hairs are going to be much worse by adding two teenagers into the mix.” 

“They entered their rebelling years?”

“You just missed Azula running away to New York and Zuko getting into a fight with a boy at school.” 

“Now those are stories I need.”

“After you speak with your kids.” 

“You got a deal.”

—-------------------------------

The evening, while Ikem prepared a nice pasta dinner and Kiyi helped by watching the bread warm up, Ursa went to speak to Azula and Zuko. Both of them were finishing packing up, their suitcases nearly full on the beds. Thanks to their years in foster care, they had very few personal items left so most of this new stuff were items they had gotten while with Kya and Hakoda and wanted to take with them to California. Azula was finishing putting away her shirts that Kya had gotten her and Zuko his sketchbook when Ursa appeared.

“Hey, mom. We’ll be out-”

“No. I didn’t come for that.” Ursa quickly said.

Zuko turned when he heard her quiet tone, “Is something wrong?” Azula’s head perked up.

“I….You both know I love you, right? I love you both so, so much.”

“Yes.” Zuko slowly said, “We know that.”

“And I…I need to apologize. I’ve been selfish the last few weeks. I was so worried about getting you back and being a family again that I didn’t stop to think that maybe you had one here and I was taking you from it. I want you two to be honest with me, before we get on a plane, do you want to stay with the South family?”

Zuko and Azula stared at her in disbelief and then at each other. Without a word, they seemed to have a whole conversation with just their eyes and the smallest expressions on their faces. Ursa didn’t interrupt while they ‘spoke’, knowing they needed the silence to really think about their answer. 

“Can we?” Azula asked.

“I can call the judge and the airline tonight if you want. I’ll push our flight back and give my custody to Kya and Hakoda, but you need to tell me now.”

“Would Kya and Hakoda even want us now?” Zuko whispered.

Azula pressed her lips together. She hadn’t thought of that. Maybe they moved on to other foster kids who needed help now that she and Zuko were with Ursa.

“Never know unless you ask.” Ursa said, gesturing to their phones.

Ten minutes later, Zuko was on the phone with Hakoda, explaining everything to him. He handed the phone to Ursa so they could talk logistics for a few minutes before she returned it to Zuko. It was only when they got everything figured out that Azula turned towards Ursa.

“Is this…are you…You won’t hate…” Ursa sat down next to Azula, taking her hand.

“I want you two to be happy and if being here with them will make you happy then I think that’s what we should do. I won’t be gone forever. I’ll come and visit you all the time and you can come and visit me whenever you want.” 

“But….we can go back?”

“Only if you two are sure. Are you okay with this?” Hakoda asked.

“….Yes. Yes, we want to stay here with you two.” Zuko nodded, “Unless you and mo…Kya don’t want to adopt us anymore.” 

“NO!” Kya yelled in the background.

Hakoda chuckled, “Well that was Kya’s answer. My answer is also a clear no.” He added.

“I think they’re still okay with adopting you.” Ursa chuckled, “I’ll tell Ikem and change my ticket. He and Kiyi should go home but I’ll stay to make sure all the adoption stuff goes through.” She stood up to leave when she felt Zuko grab her hand.

“Thanks, mom.” His voice was small and tired but Ursa had never heard him sound so at peace. She turned back to the two and hugged them. For the first time in a while, they seemed to hug her back with an equal amount of love and ferocity, “We love you.”

“I love you both too.”

—————————————

The judge and Piandao were shocked when they got the news to say the least. The judge himself checked the paperwork ten times to make sure he hadn’t gone crazy. Even in person, Ursa, Kya and Hakoda had to explain themselves and their plan several times. Finally, things got moving and they were able to finalize the adoption rather quickly as they’d been in the final stages before Ursa’s arrival and she was willingly handing over custody. 

“Mrs. Spirit, you understand what you’re doing, right?” The judge asked.

“Yes, your honor.”

“And you wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Guess we’re doing this. Mr and Mrs. South, do you two accept Azula and Zuko into your household as your legal children?”

Azula and Zuko, who were in the back with Katara and Sokka and Iroh, smiled brightly when they heard that. As expected, Kya and Hakoda both gave a passionate positive response to the question. With nothing else to do, as both Azula and Zuko had already confirmed they were ready to be adopted, the judge smiled at the couple.

“Then, Zuko and Azula, you two are officially adopted. Congratulations on your new family.” The second the words were out of his mouth, the four teenagers stood up and ran to Kya and Hakoda, hugging their parents as tightly as they could, “We’re not reversing this again, right?” The judge asked.

Kya chuckled, “I think we’re okay now. Thank you, your honor.”

“You’re welcome. Piandao, I’ll hopefully see you for another one of these very soon.”

“Hopefully.”

Azula and Zuko broke away from the hug long enough to turn their hugging energy on Piandao, “Thank you.” He wasn’t sure which one of them said it but it didn’t matter to him. 

“You’re welcome and you two still have my number so text me if anything goes wrong or you just need to talk.”

“We will.” 

“And you two,” Kya and Hakoda looked up at him, “you can also call me if you run into any trouble or feel like fostering again.”

Hakoda nodded, “Thank you. Now, I think we promised these kids a drive and some family dinner.” Piandao gave them a silent nod before leaving the courtroom. Only the South family and Ursa remained. At her table, Ursa was silently starting to clean up her papers and pulling out her phone to text Ikem that she would be on the next flight home. She was about to hit send when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Do you want to join us?” Kya asked, “I know Azula and Zuko will want to say goodbye.”

“You want me to join you for a family dinner?” Ursa questioned.

“If you want to come…and you’re comfortable being in the car while Zuko drives.” Ursa’s eyes widened slightly. Zuko was already driving? She really had missed a lot. 

“I’m not.” Azula called from the aisle.

“Too bad cause I am.” 

“Is it too late to call an Uber?”

“You’re too paranoid. What could happen?” Zuko shrugged.

“Yeah, letting the guy with only one eye drive the 4,000 pound vehicle. What could possibly go wrong?” Hakoda laid a hand on Azula’s shoulder, giving her a raised eyebrow, “Am I wrong?” Azula asked. He just ruffled her hair.

“Come on.” 

Kya chuckled quietly, “You should come. The kids will want to say goodbye before they don’t see you for a few months.” 

“A few months?” Ursa asked.

“Is that too much? You can come to visit whenever you want but I figured the next big event would be Zuko’s high school graduation.” Once again, Ursa couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Kya wanted her to come back, to see the kids and be there. It felt like an invisible weight, that Ursa honestly didn’t even know was there, had been lifted off of her chest. 

“That sounds wonderful and so does family dinner. Where are we going?”

“Katara and Sokka reminded us about this lovely Italian place that has the best pizza I have ever tried.” Kya told her, “Although, Zuko still thinks Dominos is better.”

“Because it is.” Zuko called.

“No judgement skills and he’s the one driving us.” Azula muttered.

“He’s always been like that. Even as a kid, he loved Domino's pizza.” Ursa told them.

“Wait!” Sokka cried. The realization dawned over him, “....You have childhood stories about Zuko and Azula.” His and Katara’s faces curled into devilish smiles.

“No.” Azula quickly said, “Mom, no!”

Katara and Sokka were already past Azula and Zuko, staring directly at Ursa as they walked out of the courthouse, “Did Azula have stuffed animals? When did Zuko enter his emo phase? What’s your personal favorite embarrassing moment? Oh! Do you have any childhood art projects?”

Azula and Zuko sighed, resigning to their fate as they followed everyone outside. Giving one another a final look, the siblings smiled. 3 years. It had taken 3 years, many failed foster homes and surviving an impending hopelessness that they would one day be thrown out on the streets, but they had a family. An actual family. 

"Mom, don't tell them anything!"

"Tell us everything!"

"I'm never speaking to you two again!"

"Nah. You love us too much."

"Well that's a lie if I ever heard one."

It was amazing.