(A/N: Many thanks to sev7n, as usual, for putting up with me and being the best beta ever.)

Firestarter

Inspired by the novel by Stephen King.

Aang

Aang fell.

Shocked, he threw out his arms and legs, reflexively bracing for impact… only to encounter a soft padding. He opened his eyes to blue linen, and realized that he was face down on his own bed, safely wrapped up in the covers. The mattress swayed gently underneath him, set in motion by Aang's sudden, violent movements. If not for the sound of his foster brother snoring on the other side of the room, Aang might have honestly believed that he had just dropped down from the ceiling.

Even though the danger had passed, Aang's body was still wound tight and his heart still beat furiously in his chest. He couldn't remember much of his dream, but he had an unshakable feeling that Gyatso was in immediate danger. A warm wetness on his cheeks alerted the young boy to the fact that he had been crying in his sleep.

Aang mopped his face, disappointed in himself, and then hurried to the bathroom to douse his skin with cold water. He didn't want Sokka to see him.

He remembered taking the sleeping pills that he had pilfered from the Arnaaluk's medicine cabinet, and wondered if he was having some sort of emotion reaction to them. When Katara had been given anesthetics once at the dentist, she had cried for hours afterwards. Never again, he decided. He didn't think that he had taken enough medication to blame the pills for his current state, but he felt wretched, and he wasn't eager to try anything similar again. He didn't feel rested at all, and his stomach felt the same way it did after a whole day of riding roller coasters.

Aang thought about going back to bed, but, after some contemplation, decided against it. It was light outside and Katara would be up soon. It was a rare treat to shower before she had a chance to use up all of the hot water, and with a new house guest staying with them Aang knew that he wasn't likely to have another such opportunity for some time.

By the time he finished, the unpleasant memory of his dream had mostly faded. These mornings weren't that unusual for the young boy; he often had nightmares revolving around his missing guardian. Sokka had noticed, on a few occasions, but Aang preferred not to burden the family with his problems. He appreciated their attempts to be reassuring, but sometimes they just left him feeling patronized.

His stomach had mostly settled, so the young boy decided to find something to eat. He started towards the Arnaaluk's kitchen, but halfway there he discovered that his path had been blocked. Zuko sat at the base of the stairs, lacing up his old sneakers.

Aang felt a surge of annoyance.

"You're leaving without saying anything?" he demanded.

Zuko jumped and turned around, spotting Aang on the landing above.

"I left a note," he said defensively, "and I was going to come back."

"Oh," Aang felt foolish for his outburst, and for the first time, he noticed Zuko's clothing. The older boy was wearing a red, polyester shirt with a small, golden dragon stitched over his heart, and a pair of black slacks. Aang realized that Jin had been wearing the same uniform the night before, when she had stopped by with their order of take-out. "Isn't it a bit early for Chinese food?"

"I've got some stuff to take care of," Zuko said vaguely.

Aang went the rest of the way downstairs, and checked the clock in the front hallway. It was still only nine o'clock.

"Have you had breakfast?"

Zuko shook his head.

"I was going to pick something up on the way. I didn't want to go through the cupboards."

Aang understood. It had taken him a long time to feel comfortable in the Arnaaluk's household even though they had done their best to reassure him that he could help himself to whatever he liked.

"It's okay," he told Zuko, "they're really cool about that kind of stuff. I'm going to make myself some jam and toast, do you want some?"

Zuko mumbled something, and began unlacing his shoes. Aang figured that the other boy had accepted his offer, and went ahead into the kitchen, rooting through the cupboards for the necessary supplies to put together a meal for both of them. After he had started the toaster, he noticed the note that Zuko had left on the counter.

Gone to work, the first line read. The second said, Sokka: Will pick up poster board + white glue for project.

Even though Aang hadn't expected the teenager to renege on his promises, he found himself grinning. Zuko was really going to live with them.

The young bender was naïve enough to look forward to it.

oOo

Over the course of the next month, the family came to regard Zuko as an ordinary, if almost invisible member of the household. He went to his part-time job almost every day, so he was seldom present during meals or any of the Arnaaluk's other everyday activities. Even so, they could find little to fault him for. He was quiet, tidy, and careful to smoke only outdoors. No one commented on his bad habit, but a covered ashtray appeared on the wicker patio table outside within a few days of the scarred boy's arrival. After that silent reprimand, Zuko was also careful not leave his discarded cigarettes scattered around the back porch.

Zuko, for his part, kept mostly to himself, but seemed to enjoy the conveniences of living in a proper house. He rarely expressed these feelings, but a slight tug at his lips betrayed his satisfaction each time he emerged from a long shower, clean and fresh faced, or made use of Kana's ironing board to smooth the wrinkles out of his uniform for work. The teenager had never struck anyone as being unhygienic, but there was a noticeable improvement in his appearance after he had settled in with the family.

Gran Gran took quite a shine to her new guest, though Zuko seemed dismayed by her attention. A few weeks into the older boy's stay, Aang witnessed Zuko attempting to return several sets of clothing that had mysteriously appeared on the foot of his bed, only to be embarrassed into silence by the elderly woman's stern glare.

The teenager was particularly awkward in Hakoda's presence, but sometimes Aang got the feeling that Zuko was curious about him. Every once in a while the bender would probe the officer for details about his past. He asked if Hakoda had ever lived outside of Omashu, and how long he had been an officer. Mundane things, but Aang had a feeling that there was intent behind his questions. Hakoda didn't seem to suspect anything – as a matter of fact, he didn't seem to take much interest in the young man's presence at all.

With Sokka, Zuko seemed to enjoy a rather short-spoken but pleasant companionship. The two of them sometimes did their homework together, but the bender often became volatile when frustrated by a concept he didn't understand. Mostly, they stuck to eating snacks and watching television when they were in each other's company. As far as Aang knew, they rarely interacted at school, and Zuko declined all of the other teenager's attempts to include him in his social activities.

"I don't drink, so parties are pretty pointless for me," he told Sokka once. "Besides, I can't stand taking care of people when they're tanked."

"You don't drink?" Sokka had been flabbergasted. Having spent most of his youth in a small town where distractions were few in number, he had spent most of his high school years doing little else. "How come? I mean, you smoke like a chimney. You don't really seem like the 'straight edge' type."

"I don't like the idea of losing control of my own mind." Zuko had answered. After some consideration he added, "I mean, I might blow someone to smithereens."

Zuko lisped quite badly when he said the word 'smithereens', but Sokka hadn't attempted to make a joke about it. After that, he never pressured Zuko to spend time with any of his friends.

Aang didn't get to spend much time with Zuko, but the teenager did make an effort to teach the younger boy what he knew about bending, and practice meditating with him. When Aang suggested they practice bending, however, Zuko blatantly refused.

"You should never, ever bend if you can help it," Zuko advised him. "You could end up hurting yourself, and other benders will be able to tell what you're doing."

"Others?" Aang had asked him, curiously. "Are there many others out there?"

"Some." Zuko stated tersely. "You don't want to meet them."

He wouldn't say anything else.

Despite all of his progress, however, Zuko's integration into the home was hardly seamless. This was mainly because Katara had remained hostile and suspicious towards him since their first meeting. Although she usually held her tongue in Aang's presence, her intense dislike of the other boy was obvious, and more than once a bitter, sarcastic remark would find its way out of her mouth. Several times, the two teenagers had ended up screaming at each other. On one occasion, Zuko had been so furious that he had stormed out of the building, and did not reappear for days.

Rather than acclimating to each other, Zuko and Katara seemed to get angrier and angrier as the weeks progressed. They both made an effort to contain themselves in front of Aang, but more often than not their arguments spilled out into the open.

Unfortunately, one of these incidents occurred when company was visiting.

oOo

Toph Bei Fong had invited herself over one evening, as she often did, because there was a wrestling match airing on television that her parents had forbidden her from watching. By that time Aang's schoolmate had become well aware that Zuko spent a lot of time over at the Arnaaluk's, although she was under the impression that he was simply a frequent visitor. Toph's parents would undoubtedly be furious if they discovered that their daughter was anywhere near that "deviant looking young man", so Aang knew that she wouldn't spread any rumours about Zuko's living arrangements.

Although the young lady insisted that they set the television to nearly full volume, the sounds of the match on screen weren't enough to mask Zuko and Katara's voices reverberating throughout the house.

"Sokka should really start hanging out at Zuko's place," she commented, irritated at having her program interrupted. "Katara doesn't like him much, does she?"

Aang shook his head. "Not really. Hang on. I'll go tell them to stop."

Aang was usually good at diffusing the two feuding teenagers, but when he exited the living room and drew closer to the source of the noise, he began to lose confidence. They weren't on the second floor, as he had originally surmised, but all the way up in Zuko's loft.

"How dare you say that!" Katara's voice had taken on a hysterical note, "Those are my mother's things, you jerk!"

"Well I didn't know that!" Zuko shot back at equal volume. "If you didn't want me to see that stuff you shouldn't be keeping it all in my bedroom!"

Aang hesitated at the bottom of the ladder into the loft, wondering if he should interfere. He could see Katara above him from where he was, gripping something tightly to her chest, but her back was turned, and Zuko was somewhere out of sight. Whatever they were fighting about, it seemed worse than usual.

"It is not your room!" Katara yelled furiously. "It's my attic! What my family keeps up here is none of your business!"

"What is your problem?!" the teenager bellowed. "Get out!"

Aang heard Katara gasp, and an orange glow lit up the room above. Katara stepped back, but the trapdoor was behind her. Aang tried to shout out a warning, but he was too late, and the words stuck in his throat at the sight of Katara's foot dipping down into empty space. The girl flailed her free arm in a futile attempt to regain her balance, and for one horrible moment Aang was sure that she would fall. He hovered at the base of the ladder, unsure of what to do. Katara was taller than him, and he didn't know if he would be capable of breaking her fall.

He was saved from finding out when Zuko rushed into view, grasping Katara's outstretched arm by the elbow and yanking her upright. For a moment the girl seemed too surprised to react, but when he didn't release his hold on her she shook him off.

"I-" he started.

"Don't touch me," she said. This time her voice was very quiet. "I'm leaving."

Aang moved out of the way when she backed down the ladder, and when she reached the bottom he could see that she had tears in her eyes, and she was clutching a bundle of fabric to her chest with one hand. Without giving Aang a second look, the young woman charged into her bedroom and slammed her door shut behind her.

Zuko was staring down the ladder with an ashen face, but his expression was replaced by anger when he spotted Aang staring.

"What do you two think you're looking at?" he barked.

Aang looked around, realized that Toph was standing behind him, one eyebrow raised in question. When he turned back to the trapdoor, Zuko had disappeared.

"That, uh, wasn't what it looked like," Aang told Toph quickly, hoping that she hadn't been able to see any fire from where she was standing.

Toph snorted. "Sure, Twinkle toes," she told him, "whatever you say."

Aang had made it painfully obvious that he was hiding something, and he could tell that he had offended his friend by keeping secrets from her. He tried to retract his statement.

"That's not what I, uh, what I mean is, it's not really my - ow!"

Toph interrupted his rambling with a solid punch to the shoulder.

"I said 'whatever', didn't I?" she said sharply, turning her back on him, "I don't even wanna know. Now hurry up or we'll miss the rest of the match!"

Aang cast one last glance over his shoulder at Katara's closed door, and then hurried down the stairs after his laconic friend.

"Thanks," he told Toph, drawing up behind her.

Toph just turned around punched him again.

oOo

(A/N:

1. For the record, Aang really was just dreaming about the falling thing. He was not flying over his bed or anything. I refuse to poach my clichés from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. I would say I'm too cool to steal ideas from Smallville too, but there's a pretty good chance that I've done that by accident at some point already.

2. Aang doesn't know what he's talking about when he blames his reaction on the sleeping pills. He's not stupid, he's just innocent that way.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, as well as those who have been quietly adding me to their alerts and favs. There's nothing more rewarding than knowing that you guys are interested!

Edit: So apparently no longer believes in page breaks. you gets o's instead.