The fire had long gone out, the sun had just come up from beneath the hill opposite their campsite. Sokka had been awoken by the grumbling noise coming from his stomach. The first few rays of the sun were shining through the blue fabric of his tent. He stretched his back as he yawned, wondering what he could eat at an Air Nomad temple. That's when he remembered the previous night. Suki was sleeping in his sleeping bag - they had made an agreement; she had suffered enough in prison, he would sleep on the old rags. She looked beautiful even with her hair all over her face and some drool coming out of her mouth. If only he could show her off to the village - what would Gran Gran think? He shuddered at the thought.
His stomach made another noise. This time it was serious. He quickly pulled his hair into a ponytail and got out of the tent. Aang was snoring up a tornado as per usual. Toph was in her tent and yet he could still hear her faint snores. Katara was already up, her sleeping bag neatly folded next to Aang - probably getting some water from somewhere. Sokka looked around surveying the terrain - there had to be some sort of real food somewhere.
That's when he saw them. Katara and Zuko were lying on the ground, Zuko's arms flanking Katara's shoulders. He was lowering himself onto her and suddenly he kissed her.
Sokka panicked. He didn't know what to do. Should he run to her? Should he wake Aang up? Should he grab his sword? He froze. And did nothing. This was private, if she wanted to tell him something, she would. But what if Zuko was hurting her? Anger took over his surprise. After everything they had gone through at the Boiling Rock, Sokka thought they were friends. He wouldn't be surprised though, Zuko was a serial traitor after all. But she wasn't pushing her away and if Sokka knew anything, he knew that his sister could take care of herself.
He looked away, trying to remove the picture from his brain. He couldn't. He looked over to Aang. What would Aang say? Sokka knew that the Avatar loved his sister. He knew that he had kissed her before the invasion - people talk, especially when it's the only good thing that happened all day. Did Katara want him back?
His stomach could not care any less about his sister's love life as it grumbled again. This time, he followed his gut and went looking for food.
"Tear bending" Katara exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air. "The writer really needs some lessons on water bending or a blow to the head," They all laughed as they huddled around the fire. It had been an odd day, to say the least. The group had gone to see the play on their supposed lives and the writer took advantage of his creative licence. They were all going around telling their annoyances with the actors - all except Toph who loved that she was played by a man AND the realisation that her name sounded like 'tough'. It had been a good day for her.
Toph was the first to go to sleep. She fashioned herself a rock tent (shooting Sokka straight up into the air, making the entire group howl with laughter). Aang was next. He flew up onto Appa on a quick breeze, barely saying goodnight to anyone. He had had an emotional day. His fire bending was going nowhere. His breathing was a mess, which was very hard to admit as he had done that all his life. He had been played by a woman in a play about him. He wasn't really angry at the fact that she was a woman, it was more to do with the fact that he was over a hundred years old, and the fact that this woman was playing him all innocent-like, was wrong. He was mature. Then he thought about what he had done on the balcony. Maybe he wasn't as mature as he thought himself to be.
He had never been so insecure in his life. He had to learn fire bending, fight the Fire Lord, save the world and try to woo Katara. He wasn't really sure which one was the worst. The more he thought about these problems, the more they plunged him into more questions like what if he never masters the fourth element? What if he doesn't save the world in time? How was he going to stop Ozai? He couldn't kill him. That was out of the question. He would never forgive himself. But what if he doesn't kill him and the entire world has to pay for his decision? Would he forgive himself then?
Then there was Katara. Sweet, loving, perfect Katara. He was pushed off balance during the play. He had never thought that Zuko could be a romantic rival. Jet, yes, Haru maybe - hell even he wouldn't say no to Haru. But Zuko?
Sure, the guy was handsome. But also aggressive and he was arrogant and honour-obsessed. Was. Since they went on their soul-finding field trip, they were different. Aang shook his head. He was losing it. The pressure was getting to him. Katara and he had a connection. A deeply rooted one that was forged the day they met. Or maybe she was just his friend and was afraid of hurting him. Or maybe she was confused and he made it worse by kissing her.
He wanted to scream. This was the first time he had ever felt this way about someone and he had no idea how to express it. Maybe he should just sleep and think about it another time. Appa grunted and Aang took that as a yes.
Suki had fallen asleep on the sand. Katara had left a while ago. It was just Zuko and Sokka. Sokka couldn't stop thinking about the scene in the Crystal Catacombs. The stupid play was getting to him. He knew what happened down there - Zuko betrayed Katara. That part was true. But fake Katara had said something which really threw him off. "How could he ever find out about this?"
Was what Katara saying really all that happened? After the events of the morning, and them sitting next to each other at the theatre … He looked opposite at Zuko who was just staring into the fire. He did that all the time, Sokka always meant to ask why but he never got around to it.
"Why do you that?" He blurted out. Suddenly he hated himself for doing this. They were friends but not tell-me-all-your-thoughts friends. Last time they talked about anything deep it was about Yue and all Zuko said was "that's rough, buddy."
The fire bender was taken aback by this sudden question. He hesitated for a second gathering all his thoughts before replying: "It helps me think." Sokka was not sure what to say next. He was hoping he would get a more elaborate answer. "Cool cool, or not-" he awkwardly said back. Zuko was not sure where this was going, he wanted to go back to looking at his fire but Sokka seemed keen on continuing the conversation.
Sokka knew that Zuko expected more so his impulsive brain came up with "Good night tonight." He pointed to the sky, "Stars are really pretty - you know my sword is made up of stardust - well meteorite rock but tomato, tomato"
Zuko's confusion peaked. He knew Sokka enough that he understood that this was either him trying to avoid the awkward silence, or him trying to spark a conversation which would lead to more awkwardness - like the time he told me about his moon girlfriend. He wasn't sure which one he preferred.
Suki snored herself awake, surprising both guys. She seemed disoriented for a second. When she found her bearings she got up, dusted the sand off of herself, grumbled a goodnight and entered their tent. Soon enough they heard her snoring again.
That left just Sokka and Zuko next to a slowly dying fire. Sokka couldn't stop picturing the person opposite him leaning over his sister. He rose from his seat suddenly exclaiming: "That's it!" Zuko just decided that he was never going to understand the guy. "What's it?" He asked, not sure he wanted an answer. Sokka looked at him like he had just offended him, well actually yes he had offended him by doing that to his sister.
"What really happened between you two down there?" He asked suddenly. Zuko looked like he had just seen Appa for the first time. "Sokka, buddy, I have no idea what you're talking about"
"You know exactly what I mean - you and Katara in the Catacombs back in Ba Sing Sei"
That's when Zuko got it. He started shaking his head. "It was just a play. The Avatar was a woman, you were not even funny in that play - it was all fake." Zuko's mind was going crazy. He didn't want to talk about the Katara thing, least of all to her brother.
Sokka came closer to him, nostrils flaring, expression angry. "Then why did you kiss her this morning? What the hell was that all about?"
Zuko fell back a step. "What?"
"I saw you two this morning. What the hell are you playing at? You think you can betray Aang like that." He was getting super emotional. This was his sister and Aang - his other sibling, in his book. "Sokka, I can explain. I would never betray Aang." What was left of Zuko's world came crashing down as soon as he heard the word "betray".
Sokka shook his head, "I don't know if I can believe a serial traitor."
A serial traitor? Is that what the group saw him as. He couldn't blame them, that's what it felt like he was. First his Uncle, then his father and sister, now the Avatar. He understood where this anger was coming from. Sokka must have seen the kiss as a betrayal against himself too. It was his sister after all.
A sniffle came from behind them.
"Sokka, how dare you?" Katara's voice came from the shadows.