This is my first ever Avatar story! This idea popped into my head after watching "The Boiling Rock" parts one and two, and I had to write it. This will probably be really confusing if you haven't watched the episodes, but I hope it's not too bad. Thanks for taking the time to read! (To my TMNT readers, I promise I'll update my stories soon. I'm working on all the chapters, but this story just wouldn't leave me alone. I had to write it if I was going to be able to concentrate on the turtles. So bear with me, and I promise to do my best to update soon.)

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Zuko lay on his mat in the Western Air Temple, listening to Sokka excitedly describing their adventures in The Boiling Rock. Surprisingly, he wasn't exaggerating the details or trying to make himself sound super cool; on the contrary, he was belittling his own contributions to their escape and making everyone else's sound more glorious.

Zuko chuckled to himself; of all the members of the Avatar's group, Sokka had been the one he had been the most wrong about. The other boy had always come across as slow and arrogant. But the more time Zuko spent with the gang, the more he realized how brilliant and selfless he truly was. Yes, he had his annoying points, but Zuko had come to really respect the water tribe warrior.

And while they were working together at The Boiling Rock, trying to escape the Fire Nation, it had almost seemed as if they could be… friends. Zuko turned the word over and over in his mind, trying to grasp its meaning. Had he ever really had a friend before? Or been a friend? He thought of his uncle. His throat clenched and he quickly pushed him from his mind. No, that didn't count. Zuko had returned his uncle's kindness with sarcasm and resentment. There was Mai, but that was different. She was his girlfriend, and now she hated him. And rightfully so, too…. No, he had never truly had a friend. He didn't know where to begin….

Zuko let his thoughts turn back to Mai. She had saved him and the others trying to escape the prison, but the look in her eyes clearly communicated that she had no idea why she was doing so. And she had been arrested by Azula herself and dragged away to be… well, Zuko didn't really want to think about what they had done to her.

He sighed in frustration and flipped over onto his stomach, kicking his blanket off in the process. He heard Sokka and Katara say good night to their father and head into the large open area the gang used as a community bedroom. Katara lay down carefully on her bedroll, pulling her blanket over her shoulders and quickly falling asleep. Sokka flopped down on his mat in apparent exhaustion and closed his eyes. His breathing evened out and Zuko assumed he was asleep.

"What's bothering you?" the younger boy asked suddenly. The blunt question caught Zuko off-guard and the fire nation prince just sat up and stared at his companion. Sokka's eyes opened. "You should be asleep by now. Something's keeping you up." This time it wasn't a question.

Zuko shook his head. That was another thing he hadn't expected from Sokka. The warrior was very adept at reading others' moods and emotions. At times, he could even be sensitive. But only sometimes…. "It's nothing. I'm just… too tired to sleep."

Now Sokka was sitting up and staring at him intently. "Dude, I know 'too tired to sleep,' and although we had a long couple of days, you shouldn't be 'too tired to sleep.'" He paused long enough to sigh. "This is about Mai, isn't it?" Zuko jumped. He certainly hadn't expected Sokka to be this perceptive.

Without thinking, he answered, "Yes." Surprised at how open he was being with someone who had been his sworn enemy less than a month ago, he continued. "I turned my back on her and abandoned her with only a note saying 'I'm sorry.' I broke her heart, and she saved me. She sacrificed herself to make sure I could escape." He slammed his fist into the ground and growled. A low snore from somewhere in the darkness caused him to lower his voice. "I just feel so bad. It's my fault she was arrested."

"I know how you feel, Zuko. I went through the same thing with my dad. But she made the choice to save you, even if it meant she would be arrested."

"I seem to remember using that same argument on you and it not working too well."

"Yeah, well. I thought I'd give it a try anyway."

"I just- It just feels like our job is incomplete. Like… like we failed somehow. Like we should have done more." Zuko flopped back onto his matt and stared at the rock above. "Like I should have saved her," he whispered.

"We could go find her. They probably won't keep her in The Boiling Rock. We just go back to the Fire Nation, find out where they're keeping her, and finish our job." Zuko was struck speechless. Was Sokka actually offering to help him find Mai? "Listen—you helped me when I needed to find my dad. So now I'm returning the favor. It's what friends do." By the time Zuko recovered, Sokka was already snoring softly from his bedroll.

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Thanks again for reading!