A/N: The lyrics that inspired this story come from Hinder's "Lips of an Angel." I'm under the impression it's pretty popular on the radio right now. This is a story from Irrel's AU, and is set in the college era of the timeline. And of course, I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and its characters, and The AU is solely of Irrel's creation.

Lips of an Angel

Deedly-deedly-deedly-dee! Deedly-deedly-deedly-dee!

"Fuck!" Zuko slammed his hand down on the offending cell phone, muffling its insistent tweedling.

He stole a look to his side. Good. The damn phone hadn't woken Jin. God, she could sleep through a stampede. "This had better be good," he rumbled at the phone clutched in his fist, still ringing. "It's fucking finals week."

Zuko slid out of bed and hustled on tiptoe to the hallway. He stole a glance at the glowing screen. "Hmm," he murmured. "Katara."

"Zuko?" She quavered, tinny and hollow as voice is wont to be when filtered through electronics. "Zuko, it's me."

"Yeah. Why are you calling me so late?"

"I'm so sorry. I really am. I-I don't...oh god, I'm so stupid. I'm sorry I woke you. Go back to sleep."

Zuko huffed. "You woke me up to tell me to go back to sleep? C'mon. I'm awake and I'll be damned if I don't hear you out and fail Guiterrez's exam tomorrow. Now what's wrong?"

She whimpered. "Oh...oh god."

Zuko immediately softened. "Katara," he said, "What's going on? Why are you crying? Is everything okay?"

He got a squeak and some sobs in response. "Katara," he tried again gently. "It's all right. I'm not angry. I just have to be quiet. Jin's sleeping but I can talk as long as you need to. Now tell me what's going on."

Katara sniffed. "It's just...oh you're going to think I'm such an idiot. But...but I miss you."

It was as if she had jabbed him with a cattle prod. "Whuh?"

She managed a shaky laugh. "Or maybe you're the idiot," she teased. Her tone sobered up again. "That was all. I just missed you."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Does Jet know you're calling me? You know the last time he saw us talking, he nearly knocked me out with a roundhouse."

"No, he's out drinking with his stupid Freedom Fighters again. God, could he have picked a dorkier name for such a bunch of weirdos?"

"Seriously. Okay, I just don't want to start a fight. Anyways, back to the original topic: what, why, how, when...huh?"

A sigh. "I dunno. It's just...maybe I'm just PMS-ing extra badly or something, but it's been kinda overwhelming. We're best friends and then you disappear and never call or write for years, and suddenly I sit down across from you in a college Spanish class. It's weird, y'know? And I know we can't make up for all the time and stuff lost, but seeing you...I just miss how it used to be and I wonder how it could've been, you know?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah."

"I guess I just never really got over you," she said flatly.

Zuko could hear every tick of the kitchen clock as his dumbfounded brain tried to come up with an intelligent response. How had she said in one breath what he had been trying to formulate into a vague cloud of a concept for the last fifteen weeks? He missed her too.

"Zuko?"

The way she said his name made his knees weak. "Yeah, sorry, hi."

"I'm sorry. It's a lot to dump on you in the middle of the night. Something just broke inside and I had to tell you. I'll leave you alone now." Katara hung up.

Zuko sat in the dark of the kitchen. He set the phone down on the table. Slowly, his head lowered forward until it landed with a thunk next to his phone. Staring at a coffee stain on the formica, he thought back to a time when they didn't have to deal with anything but the immense freedom of childhood. A time unmarred by years of loneliness, anger, shame, or burn marks. The echo of her laughter in his memory and the way she had said his name – Zuko – bore into him. Oh god. He missed her too.

He sat back up and hit a button on the phone. The line rang once, twice. "Hey, it's my turn," he said.

"Hi."

"I miss you too."

Silence.

Zuko closed his eyes. "Katara, I'm sorry I never wrote back. I'm sorry I never called, that I never visited. God knows I wanted to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I never forgot you. Not once. Uncle took me to therapy and you know why I went? So I could finally answer your letters. But oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck, I guess I was just too fucked up to ever face the music and reply. And oh Katara, I'm so sorry. I've been wondering all semester how to tell you all this. Forgive me."

"I already did, years ago," she replied.

A smile crept to Zuko's face, despite himself. "Really?"

"Yes."

The clock ticked another round.

"Uh, okay then," Zuko said, suddenly feeling horribly vulnerable and awkward. "I'll uh, see you in class for that ah, final...that I'm screwed for...tomorrow."

"Zuko." Her voice was strong now, strong and confident. "Come over."

"What, now? Why-wha-no! I can't...what...but Jin!" he spluttered.

"So what? What about Jet?"

"Exactly!"

"That was sarcasm, Zuko. So what about Jin? So what about Jet? You and I both know that sooner or later, we're going to hurt them. You and I both know that sooner or later..." her voice trailed off.

"Katara! No, I can't possibly do that to her! Do you know what she's done for me?" Zuko protested.

"And Jet was there for me when you weren't. Yeah. But you know what, Zuko? You are here now. You're here and I'm here and we can make things right again. We owe it to ourselves to finally be happy."

Zuko gritted his teeth. This was nonsense! And yet, she was infuriatingly persuasive. Didn't it make sense? Didn't he finally deserve this happiness? No. No, he was in a committed relationship. No no no.

But God, he did want to go to her.

"I'm sorry," he finally croaked.

Katara sighed. "Still the noble one. Ever so self controlled. Zuko, you're still the same where it counts. Well, good. Because if you had come over, I'd have clocked you harder than Jet ever would have."

"WHAT?" Zuko hissed. "That was all...what?"

She laughed, a sound that hit home once again. "Sorry. It was mean, I know. But I needed to know if you were worth all that lost time. And you are. You're still you, and that's all I ever need. Hey, calling you in the dead of the night makes me feel a lot better. I'll see you tomorrow."

There was a click, and all he was left with was her laughter ringing in his ears.

Zuko thought his head was going to explode.