Chapter 8

I rushed from my Four nations history class to the field. Zuko said he had wanted to work on some of my stances, to search for ways to perfect them. And I was already late. I tugged the arm wraps from my training suit, it was a little too tight for my taste but I guess it was pretty decent to move in.

Zuko spotted me and pushed himself off the pillar, frowning at me, "I've been waiting for 20 minutes! I was about to go looking for you".

I huffed, "Not my fault my teacher decided to end the class late, Fire Prince".

Zuko pulled me by the arm, positioning me in front of him, "Okay let's start with the water whip. I saw you use it in the mock battle, so I've been studying that move for some time".

I started working on the movements, failing to ignore Zuko's intense stare on me, "You know I feel like the teachers want us to fail. How is a fire bender supposed to teach me how to be a better waterbender?".

Without answering Zuko came up behind me, pulling my leg a little farther back. His hand snaked around my waist, making me stand straighter as he pushed my arm forwards, bending my wrist a little more.

He pulled back, inspecting the pose, "That's better".

"Never mind then", I mumbled, feeling as heat traveled up to my cheeks.

We worked like that for the rest of the afternoon, going through all of the moves I had used on my mock battle, and then some. I was out of breath and sore all over once we were done. I plopped on the ground ungracefully, untying my hair and letting it rest on the cool grass. 

"I think we've done enough for today", I said, still trying to catch my breath.

Zuko towered over me, blocking the sunlight, "Are you insane? Those aren't even half of the ones I wanted to go over".

"Well I  think we went through enough", I said, swatting him away as he tried to pull me up.

"How nice to see you two working so well together".

We both froze at the sound of a very familiar, raspy voice. I instantly got up, standing as far away from Zuko as I could.

"What are you doing here, Mai?", Zuko asked, crossing his arms over his chest and standing in front of me.

Mai twirled one of her knifes around her finger, "Oh nothing. I was searching for you, Zuko". She caught the knife with her hand, "We need to have a talk".

Zuko frowned, "We talked. I have nothing left to say to you".

Mai laughed, "Zuko, come on. Don't be like that. It was just a little teasing. Why is she so important to you anyway?". Mai gave me a quick pointed look, making me gulp.

"I said no, Mai", he grabbed me by the arm, pulling me behind him, "Goodbye".

"Fine! Be like that", she called out from behind us, "You'll regret it sooner or later".

"No, I won't!", he yelled back, not turning around to face her.

Once we were out of Mai's sight, I pulled us both to a stop. Zuko spun around, frowning at me. It almost seemed like he wanted to put as much space as possible between him and Mai.

"Calm down, Zuko", I frowned at him, "All she wanted to do was to talk, you didn't have to be rude".

"ME?! Rude?", he squealed. He ran a hand over his face, "I swear, it's like she's obsessed with me".

That made me burst into laughter. Zuko looked at me questioningly, and then frowned as he realized what exactly I was laughing about.

"What's so funny, Katara?", He asked, saying my name sarcastically.

I wiped a tear away from my cheek, still chuckling a little, "Do you really think so highly of yourself to think that a girl would be obsessed with you?".

He stepped closer, making me step back until my back collided with a wall. He smirked at me, "I don't think she's obsessed with me. I know it". He stepped closer, "If I wanted to, you'd fall for me right here and right now".

I felt my cheeks flush red, but I couldn't let my pride be stomped on like that. This smug prince needed to be taught a lesson, "Even if you tried, I wouldn't fall for you".

Zuko's eyes sparkled, golden flames dancing in his eyes, "Wanna bet?".

I stepped closer to him, frowning and looking at him straight in the eye, "You'd lose that bet".

"I wouldn't be so sure, princess", he purred.

I gulped, feeling my resolve dwindle. I was about to push past him when he locked me in between both of his arms, his golden eyes staring at me. I don't know if it was because he was a fire bender, but the air around him seemed hotter. And even though there was no wind, the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes seemed to sway.

I cleared my throat, breaking myself out of the trance, "You'd need the whole year to make me fall for you, and then some".

His smirk grew, "Give me three months, and I can assure you you'll fall for me". He leaned in closer, his lips grazing my ear and his hot breath sending shivers down my spine, "And just so you know, you already drive me a little crazy too". He pulled back, his smirk returning to his lips as he watched my blushing mess of a face, "So no need to worry about me not liking you back".

I stood there, eyes locked on his, trying to process what he had just said. I probably heard that wrong. Right? The fire nation prince, interested in me? I was delusional. Maybe that was all part of his plan to prove the point that he could make me fall for him at any time.

I pushed him off me, not sure what I would do if I didn't, and put three fingers up in the air, "Three months, that's all you've got".

He pulled back, saluting me with two fingers, "I won't even need that much time, princess". He started walking backwards, sending me a wink and saying, "See you tomorrow, Katara", before turning around and leaving me standing there, trying to process what I had just agreed to.

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"I'm an idiot!", I exclaimed, throwing my hands up as I paced around Suki's room nervously.

The moment I had processed what had happened after Mai had barged in, demanding to talk to Zuko, I ran straight for Suki's room, nearly smashing into Toph on my way over here. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along too. I needed all the help I could get. I told them what had happened, what Zuko had said and that I gave him three months to try to win me over. I was mortified.

"I really don't see the problem", Toph said, smiling to herself because of the unintended pun. She swung her feet off the desk, resting her chin on her hand, "You've got a prince who is hell bent on winning you over and from what I've heard he's not bad on the eyes".

"That's true", Suki agreed, making me frown at her and getting nothing more than a shrug in return. 

"How can you both act like this?!", I said desperately, putting my hands on my hips. "How do you expect me to survive three months of those beautiful golden eyes and that lazy smirk of his that could win anyone over. And... and we also have the project to work on and-"

Suki's laugh interrupted me, "Beautiful golden eyes? Lazy smirk? Oh boy, you're already head over heels for him".

"I am not!", I huffed.

"Sure sounds like it to me", Toph stated. I stuck out my tongue, making faces at her. She stuck her tongue out back, giving me the middle finger. I grit my teeth together, ready to lash out on her.

"O-kay", Suki chuckled, stepping in front of me, "All you have to do is pretend like you don't like him, right?".

"Huh? What do you mean pretend?", I asked, blinking at her in confusion.

"Yeah, like take me for example, when Sok-", She coughed, "I mean, when a guy I like is hitting on me, all I have to do is act uninterested. Not only will that make you win the bet, but it will also make him want to try even harder".

"Does that actually even work?", I said in a monotone voice. I didn't really believe in those "the less interested you act the more they like you" kind of things.

"Don't look at me, I know nothing about this whole dating  thing", Toph said, putting her hands up in defeat.

"Zuko and I aren't dating", I scoffed.

"Yet", Toph snorted. 

I felt like punching her right in the gut, but I was not a violent person. Most of the time anyway.

I plopped down on the bed, covering my face with my hands, "I am an idiot for letting my pride take over and agreeing to this stupid bet".

Suki sat next to me, rubbing my back in circles, "At least the bet is with a hot fire prince with a badass scar and not some wild boy like that so called Jet  that's in my fighting class". She shuddered at the thought of the "wild boy", sticking her tongue out in disgust. Suki pulled my hands away from my face, smiling enthusiastically at me, "Besides, what's the worst that could happen?".

"His ex tries to chop her up in a million pieces with her scary gang", Toph answered, quite seriously.

Suki frowned at her, "Not. Helping". She turned towards me again, "Katara, you'll be fine. You can do this", she cupped my face in her hands, "You can win this bet".

"What did you two even bet anyway?", Toph asked.

I blinked at her, "We... we didn't really bet anything... just who won and who lost?".

"What?!", Toph screeched, turning towards me, "So all you get as a winning prize is saying 'I won the bet'? What kind of stupid prize is that?! You should have asked for unlimited drinks at his uncle's tea shop!". She shook her head, acting disappointed with me.

I frowned at Toph. But really I was more annoyed with myself than anything, "Like I said, I'm an idiot".

She scoffed, "You sure are, Sugar Queen".

"Okay!", Suki said, trying to stop a fight from brewing, "Katara, you'll be fine. You just have to act uninterested. Don't even give him the time of the day. He asks to see you? You can't. He wants to hang out? You're busy. Make it hard for him".

"Yeah, except for the fact that us spending time together is literally what my grades depend on", I groaned.

Suki frowned, "Okay, so thats a minus. But other than that there's no reason to spend time with him right?".

"Well, yeah", I said.

"Great! So we will just spend more time together, maybe even invite Aang and Sokka along". She nudged my shoulder, "We could even go on days he works at the tea shop to make him jealous".

Toph snorted, "Okay now you're over doing it. It's almost like you're enjoying the situation she's in".

Suki shrugged, "It's not the worst situation to be in".

And while I couldn't really agree with that, I also found myself unable to counter what Suki had said. I didn't completely hate the situation. But I was more scared of what would happen than I was enjoying it. Toph wasn't wrong either. Once Mai found out that Zuko had started flirting with me, she'd make sure to make my life hell, especially since she still wants him back and it would only fuel her hatred for me. 

This would either end up one of two ways. With me chopped into tiny pieces by Mai, or with me head over heels for Zuko and heartbroken in the end. I just couldn't believe that he would actually fall for me. Not when there were pretty girls like Mai and Ty Lee always hovering around him. In short, this was going to end terribly for me. And it was my own fault.

A/N: Okay so I know this chapter took FOREVER to come out. But I promise I'll be updating more often. I'm sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoyed this chapter a lot. I love you all and thank you for reading <3