ATLA highschool AU

The Match

Zuko's POV

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach, it was my nerves, I was terrified of how today we going to end up, if my dad was going to be proud of me, or if he's going to give me the same look of disappointment when I told him I didn't want to take over the school when I'm older, or when I said I'm going to live with Uncle Iroh. I could go on and on about my dad's disappointment in his only son. But right now, I needed to focus on my training and not let it all get to my head. It should be easy, I've been doing this for years now and I've been practically unbeaten. The thought of messing up and looking like a failure to my dad and the whole school though definitely makes me super anxious. I stood up and began to pace.

"Good morning prince Zuko, I thought I'd bring you up some tea to settle you",  Iroh walked in and placed a tray of tea on my desk beside my bed with a smile. "Good luck today, though I know you don't need it, take deep breaths and clear your mind, you'll do brilliantly nephew, you always do", I did as my uncle said and nodded closing my eyes. "Thank you Uncle", I heard the door close and kept taking deep breaths, I sat down and drank the tea, my uncles tea always relaxed me. I stood back up to get ready picking up my bag and walking to school, making my way straight to the sports hall so I could warm up before everyone came in.

Mai's POV

I made sure I was early to school so I could catch up with Zuko before the matches begin, I made my way to the sports hall and walked in noticing him warming up and looking tense, I waved and walked over wrapping my arms around him and bringing him close, feeling him rest his head on my chest and cuddle up. "don't sweat it Zuko, I believe in you", I rubbed his back and gave him the support he needed, staying with him as he warmed up then moved away as other started to come in. "see you later", I rubbed the back of my neck going to sit at the back row with Ty Lee and Azula, happy that I got to spend a bit of time with Zuko.

"He looks so stressed he's going to burst", Azula smirked with a small laugh then leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath, "I can't wait to be entertained", I heard her say then looked over at Ty Lee seeing she's zoned out. "Ty Lee? everything okay in pink land?", I raised a brow. "mhm all good", She smiled at me then looked away, Azula and Ty Lee weren't really talking to each other any more. And now they aren't even looking at each other, I'm sure the dance later on will fix that.

Most of the school were now sat in the sports hall, followed by Ozai himself, he walked to where we were sat and sat beside Azula. They didn't say anything to each other they just waited for the matches to begin, or in their words. 'to be amused'. I looked over at Zuko noticing he's trying to avoid looking at his father and sighed lightly. come on Zuko you've got this.

A lot of matches were played and Ozai has never looked so bored, I bit my lip and hoped he wouldn't be like this when watching his son and leant forward only hoping the best for Zuko. It was finally his turn. He stepped forward. I looked to the side of me and noticed Ozai sit up and watch carefully, Zuko had his attention alright. His first round went awfully, Zuko payed too much attention trying to attack then dodge, his father quickly lost interest. come on Zuko. He looked like he was ready to give up, I couldn't watch.

"You've got this Zuko!", I looked into the crowd of students and saw Sokka stand up and cheer him on, someone who hates him was supporting him, and before I knew it all of his group were cheering on Zuko, I knew it had to as well, Ty Lee and I both cheered him on. He looked up at the students seeing them all cheer for him and smiled thinking about his training and did extremely well winning the second round. And on the third round he was unstoppable. Yet Ozai didn't cheer, or smile. There was no sense of pride whatsoever.

When everything was over I people began to leave and I walked down to hug Zuko. "I knew you could do it", I let go and stepped back seeing him smile obviously proud of himself. "yeah good job out there Zuko! you killed it out there!", Ty Lee squealed excitedly and jumped up and down. "I can't lie, you were pretty good", Azula shrugged and let Ozai walk past her. "well done Zuko", Ozai gave his son a handshake before walking out. Zuko stood there in shook then smiled brighter then ever. "Father spoke to me. He said well done..", Zuko couldn't process what just happened.

"well he didn't cheer for you with everyone else", Azula shrugged and got a nudge from Ty Lee as if to say don't ruin the moment. "No he didn't, but everyone else did, with Sokka starting it", I raised a brow and crossed my arms, "he cheered for you, and he hates you more then anything". I looked at Zuko seeing his smile fade. "yeah, he did", another thing Zuko couldn't process. "Well, let's celebrate by getting ready for this party huh? it's a shortened day today because of the match so we have extra time to look as good as we possibly can be", Ty Lee giggled as we all walked out.

It felt good to see Zuko happy, and to see him take pride in himself.

This means he should be in a good mood for the party.

This is going to be a good night.

probably one of the best nights of our lives.