Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender

Author: Hikuni

Title: Boys & Swords

Pairing(s): Sokka/Zuko

Rating: T

A/N: This is written as a sort of continuation of my previous Zukka fic, Nobility (which is also here on FFnet!), although if you haven't read that, don't worry - this also reads fine as a standalone fic. This story is based off of (and takes place directly after) the Swordbending comic, which is in the ATLA comic book The Lost Adventures. Anyway, thank you for all your kind reviews on Nobility! If it hadn't been for your encouragement, I never would have written this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters. I gain no profit from writing or posting this work of fiction.

It was just stupid that Zuko was better at sword fighting than Sokka was. Stupid, and, in Sokka's opinion, really, really, really unfair.

At first, challenging Zuko to a weapons match had seemed like a good idea. They were the only ones in the group who used swords, after all, and Sokka needed the practice. Even when Zuko had won that first match in only five seconds flat, it still didn't occur to Sokka that he had made a bad decision. But then Zuko won the next mach. And the next. And the next. Zuko had beaten Sokka sixteen times already, but who was counting? (Toph. Toph was counting.) A wiser man probably would have already conceded defeat, but there was no way Sokka was giving in. A real warrior never quit, especially not in a situation that was just this unfair and stupid.

"You don't get to have magical bending powers and a mastery of bladed weapons," Sokka whined when Zuko landed an attack squarely against Sokka's ribs with an ease that was almost offensive.

The firebender grinned. "A good prince trains in all forms of combat," he called from across the ring, swinging his twin blades gracefully. "Besides, it's come in handy. Like the time I saved Aang from Zhao's prison."

The airbender in question was torn between refereeing the sword match and watching a caterpillar crawl on a rock, though he perked up at the sound of his name. "Oh, yeah," Aang chirped, "you were pretty good then, even though you were only saving me so you could capture me for yourself. Wasn't that when I told you we could be friends?" With a smug smile, Aang looked over to the Duke, who was sitting next to him. "I told him we could be friends."

Sokka huffed and reached for his fallen space sword. Whatever. Useful or not, Zuko being skilled with both bending and weapons was still unfair and a complete monopoly of talent.

"You know, you benders suck sometimes," he grumbled, "You think you're allllll special with your bending, but you're not! We normal folk are just as good at fighting as you, but do we get any of the glory? No!" Sokka jerked the blade in Zuko's direction to emphasize his point. "But even when we do," he went on, "even when we get good at things like swords, you jerks come along and steal that, too, because flamethrower powers aren't enough to satisfy your giant egos! Seriously, Zuko, you're a walking flamethrower. A walking flamethrower! Isn't that enough?"

Zuko's face darkened from normal teenager to angry dishonored prince faster than you could say 'hogmonkey.' "You know, Sokka, even for a peasant-"

"Whoa now, calm down," Aang interrupted, propelling himself upward with a gust of air. "There's no need for that kind of harsh language here. I'm still refereeing this match, and I'm going to keep it fair! So Sokka, it's not Zuko's fault he's a bender and a good swordsman, and Zuko, you are kind of a walking flamethrower."

"Stay out of it, Aang!" Zuko barked, drawing his dao blades apart with a sickening shrill of metal on metal.

"Yeah, Aang," Sokka agreed, "you're the worst bender of them all! One element isn't good enough for you, so you hog all four!"

With not one but two death glares heading in his direction, the airbender held up his hands meekly and quickly sat back down on his rock. "Let's just have a good clean swordbending match, okay?" he squeaked.

With nothing left to interfere, the two swordsmen turned their glares towards each other. Slowly, they began making their way around the circular ring Toph had raised for them with her earthbending. Toph had been really into the swordbending kai (a name of Sokka's invention – brilliant, right?) when they'd first started, probably because she was pretty into exhibition fighting, what with her being the Blind Bandit and all. She'd even established the rule that if anyone fell out of the ring, that counted as losing. (Another thing Sokka thought was a good idea at the time – now, not so much, since he found himself losing that way a lot.)

For a while, neither swordsman did anything, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Uneasiness began to churn in Sokka's stomach; he hated this waiting. It was pure torture. It left you with nothing to think about but all the ways your opponent was going to kick your ass into the ground. Then, just when Sokka was considering starting the attack just to get said ass-kicking over with, Zuko moved.

It happened so fast, Sokka almost missed it. Without any warning, Zuko darted to the left – but Sokka had been fighting the guy for the better part of two days, and the Water Tribe warrior was beginning to learn some of the firebender's moves. He knew from experience that it was just a feint, and at the last moment, Zuko would cross-over to the right and – there it was!

Sokka blocked right, his sword connecting with both of Zuko's blades. A vicious clang of metal echoed throughout the open courtyard, and the resulting force sent one of the firebender's dao swords flying into the air and out of the ring. Sokka grinned with victory. This was more like it! Now he'd show that jerkbender who was boss and – oh, crap.

Just when Sokka was ready to make a glorious counter attack, he felt the cold edge of steel press against his neck. Okay, so maybe Sokka had momentarily forgotten Zuko had two swords and not just one. His bad. But hey! Sokka managed to actually block this time! That was definitely an improvement.

"Not bad, peasant," Zuko smiled, the blade of his sword still pressed firmly against Sokka's throat.

"Talent hog," Sokka replied flatly.

Zuko said nothing. He only flashed one last unreadable smile, then pulled his sword away and exited the ring to retrieve the other.

"Zuko wins the match!" Aang announced in what was probably supposed to be an authoritative voice. "That brings the score to Sokka: zero, and Zuko: a lot!"

"I'm done for today," Zuko called over his shoulder as he picked up the lost dao blade and returned it to its sheath.

"C'mon, you can't give up now," Sokka whined, eagerly thrusting his sword out as he hopped from foot to foot. "I'm just getting warmed up!"

The firebender rolled his eyes. "No thanks. I really am done."

A smug smile took over Sokka's face. "It's because you're afraid you're going to lose next round, isn't it? You weren't ready for that block, and now you're thinking, 'Oh, no, Sokka's actually getting better and he might win next time! Then I'd lose my honor and I'd have to run around the whole world for three years trying to find it!'"

For a moment, Zuko looked like he wanted to send a jet of fire blasting towards Sokka's very un-fireproof head – but then the moment passed. Instead of an angry outburst, the firebender's shoulders slumped and he groaned. "It's more like – 'oh, no, another round means I'd have to spend more time near Sokka, and listening to him makes me want to jump off a cliff.'"

"I'll take that as a concession of your defeat."

Zuko glowered. "Whatever." Then, in the same breath, he turned on Aang, who was now completely engrossed in his caterpillar-watching. "Come on, Aang, let's go practice your firebending before dinner. I've still got plenty of energy." Shooting a sidelong glance at Sokka, he added, "It's not like I did anything strenuous today."

"Don't forget! You conceded!" Sokka chirped as the firebender grabbed Aang by the collar. "Hey, Zuko," Sokka went on, "don't be too hard on yourself! It's not your fault you aren't as awesome at swordbending as me!"

"C'mon, Aang!" Zuko yanked on Aang's clothes harder, and something resembling a muffled, "Hey, my caterpillar!" escaped the airbender before Zuko started to literally drag the kid away.

Sokka grinned and brought his hands to his mouth as he yelled, "Don't worry Zuko, just because you lost to me doesn't mean your life sucks! Look on the bright side - it's not like you're a banished prince or anything!"

There was a snarling noise like a rabid polar bear dog coming from the direction of Zuko's retreating back. Sokka grinned wider. Make that two victories for today.

The Duke – who had been quietly watching all of the swordbending matches, even when the rest of the group got bored with watching Sokka lose – turned towards Sokka and gave him a curious look. "Why do you guys argue like that all the time?"

"Huh?" Sokka had almost forgotten the Duke was there. The kid was kind of tiny, even for a, well, kid. "You mean me and Prince Jerkbender over there?"

The Duke nodded, his wide eyes boring into Sokka's, unblinking. "Yeah. Do you guys like each other or something?"

A chill snaked its way down Sokka's spine, like someone had dumped ice cold water on him. "What? Me? Zuko?" he choked, his voice betraying him by raising an octave higher. "No, no, no, nooo, no way. Where do you get crazy ideas like that? They're crazy. You're crazy. Oh, look at the time – I'd better go help Katara with dinner. See you, the Duke!" And before the Duke could say anything else, Sokka sprinted towards the exit to the next hall. Smooth, Sokka, he thought to himself. Real smooth.

When dinner was ready and everyone was gathered around the evening campfire, Sokka chose a seat as far away from the Duke as he could. Being next to the kid would only invite more wide-eyed imploring stares and, ugh, even thinking about that look on the Duke's face gave Sokka the willies.

It wasn't like the Duke was right, or anything. That was nonsense. He and Zuko didn't like each other. He and Zuko had reached a… a camaraderie. Of bros. A bro-raderie. That's all they were, right? Just two dudes fighting on the same side of a war, hanging out, playing with swords. They weren't anything more, and there wasn't anything else between them.

Well, you know, except for that one time when they'd kissed. The two of them had been exploring the far reaches of the Air Temple alone, and Zuko had practically pounced on Sokka. The guy was all over Sokka's sweet Water Tribe business, and Sokka hadn't done anything in the least to instigate it. (No, really! Sokka had been the perfect example of resistance.) But neither of them had ever mentioned that day again. Zuko acted like nothing had happened, so Sokka did, too.

And it had been so long since that kiss anyway. Sokka was beginning to doubt if had really happened at all – maybe it had just been a dream. It had kind of felt like a dream, even when it was happening, what with the gentle rushing of water in the background, Zuko's hands wrapped in Sokka's hair, Zuko's breath against his neck, and –

"What are you thinking about? About how I crushed you today?"

Sokka jolted out of his thoughts in time to see a disgruntled but reasonably cheery Fire Nation prince sitting down next to him.

"Huh?" Sokka stammered, "What? I wasn't thinking about anything!"

"I can see that," Zuko chuckled as he brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth.

"Hey! I mean – no, I was thinking about how I crushed you today."

"Uhuh," the firebender smiled, taking another gulp of soup. "Sure you did."

"Screw you, I'm awesome," Sokka spat. Then, using a tried and true tactic employed by all the great conversational warriors before him, Sokka changed the subject. "How was firebending practice with Aang?"

Zuko made a low noise like a groan. "Don't want to talk about it."

If Sokka were both a wiser and a more sensitive man, he would have dropped it. But let's face it – Sokka was neither wise, nor sensitive. In fact, Sokka's deficiency in both departments were so severe, that it often left his sister wondering if he'd been born without the gene for either.

And so he badgered. "Why, what happened? Did Aang kick your butt?"

"No," Zuko grumbled, brooding over his bowl of quickly cooling soup.

"He totally did!" Sokka hooted, slapping his knee as he laughed. "Look at your face! It's written all over it. Aang is totally kicking your ass at firebending."

"He is not!" Zuko snapped. "It's the exact opposite. He's too timid. He's too weak. If he keeps this up, he's never going to master firebending, and he's never going to defeat my father, and we are going to lose this war."

The two boys fell silent.

"Oh," Sokka said at last. Then, with a grin, "Is that all? I thought something really serious was bugging you."

That old expression of anger rose up on Zuko's face again, like water coming to a boil – and then, once more, it evaporated into a kind of tired resignation. "You're an idiot," Zuko sighed, finishing the last of his soup.

"That may be so, but my charm and good looks make up for it right?" Sokka teased. Zuko snorted and choked on his soup. With a laugh, Sokka swatted the firebender on the back. When Zuko finally stopped gasping for air, Sokka stopped hitting him, and instead let his hand rest comfortably against the small of the firebender's back. "Hey, want to get out of here?"

Even as the words left his tongue, Sokka braced himself for rejection. He was ready for Zuko to refuse, like he always did to any of Sokka's advances, but this time, Zuko only raised his eyebrow and asked, "And go where?"

The grin on Sokka's face was as wide as the canyon the temple was carved into. "C'mon," he ushered, practically jumping to his feet.

Hesitantly, Zuko glanced at the group jovially eating their dinner around the campfire, and for a moment it looked like the firebender was going to change his mind– and then that too passed, and with another sigh of resignation, Zuko was up and following Sokka.

Doing his best to hide his glee (because giggling like a little girl was not something the warriors of the Southern Water Tribe were supposed to do), Sokka led them out of the main court and into one of the low hallways carved deeper into the side of the cliff.

"Where are we going?" Zuko whispered once they made their way far enough into the corridor that all light from the outside disappeared into pitch-black darkness. "I can't see anything."

"Gee," Sokka snorted, "if only one of us had, I don't know, the magic ability to make our own light or something."

A pause. Then, "Oh. Right."

A little burst of flame appeared in the blackness, fluttering above the palm of one of Zuko's open hands. The narrow hallway was suddenly bathed in an orange glow that cast dancing shadows all around them. Sokka glanced over his shoulder to make a snide remark about how Zuko was the worst firebender ever, but all sarcastic one-liners escaped his mind at the sight of Zuko. If Sokka had ever seen anything prettier than the firebender's face glowing by the light of a small flame, then he couldn't remember what it was.

The way Sokka's breath caught in his throat, how his heart seemed intent on bursting out of his chest – Sokka hadn't felt like this since Yue.

"Hey," Zuko said quietly, jolting Sokka out of his thoughts. "Which way?"

They'd arrived at a fork in the corridor, and after a moment of consideration, Sokka nodded towards the hallway on the left. "This way," he said firmly. Sokka heard Zuko make some kind of sound of uncertainty, but the firebender followed him anyway.

The new corridor seemed even narrower than the first, and it seemed to go on forever. As they went farther into it, the noises Zuko had been making turned into mutters, then curses, and finally, when it felt like they'd been walking for ten minutes, Zuko burst out, "Sokka, how much farther are we-"

"We're here!"

With an ear-to-ear grin, Sokka stepped aside so Zuko could see the hallway end in a tall doorway. There wasn't much to see except a stone floor lit by moonlight, so Zuko stepped around the Water Tribe warrior to get a better view. Sokka followed the firebender out, and they found themselves in another open courtyard almost exactly like the one their group was camped out in. The ceilings were a little lower, and it was in greater disrepair, but for the most part, it looked exactly the same.

Taking in the moonlight streaming in from above, Zuko killed the flame with a sweep of his fist. "Okay, so we're here."

With his hands on his hips, Sokka nodded proudly, impressed with his ability to navigate the labyrinthine Western Air Temple without a map, and during the night on top of that!

Zuko frowned. "So now what?"

Oh.

Well.

Sokka hadn't thought that far ahead yet. All of his planning and scheming had revolved around how to get Zuko to join him on a secret excursion, not what to do once he actually got the firebender alone.

Shit, shit shit. Suddenly, Sokka was all nerves – why did he want to get Zuko alone in the first place? So they could continue where they left off with the kissing? Wait, should he even bring up the kiss? Or should he play it cool? Was there even anything between them, or was it all just in Sokka's imagination? "Uh… uh…"

With an exasperated sigh, Zuko rolled his eyes and brushed past the mute Water Tribe warrior. Sokka watched as Zuko made his way across the wide expanse of the courtyard, stopping only to rest a hand on one of the massive stone pillars near the that bordered the edge of the court and the thousand-foot plummet beyond.

For a moment, Sokka's nerves took a backseat to admiring the view. He tried to commit every precious detail of it to memory: the way the moonlight reflected off of Zuko's dark hair, the way Zuko's robes rustled around him from the chill wind that whistled through the canyon, the rare expression of serenity on Zuko's face. If Sokka ever met some Time Spirit who let him live in one moment forever, he would choose this one, here, on a cold moonlit night in an abandoned monastery with only the firebender for company.

Without giving it a second thought, Sokka made his way closer to Zuko. The firebender turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. When the firebender's golden eyes found Sokka's, he smiled. And the sight of Zuko smiling – no, not just Zuko smiling, but Zuko smiling at Sokka – Sokka didn't know what to call what he was feeling. Like he could float away or melt into a puddle pure happiness. Sokka didn't want Zuko to smile like that for anyone else but him.

"Nice place," Zuko murmured when the silence dragged on for too long. "I think I remember mapping this area out with you. It's different at night, though. It's… nicer."

"Yeah," was all Sokka's mouth could manage to say. His brain was still lagging a few moments behind, replaying over and over the way Zuko's eyes held his as that smile spread slowly across the firebender's perfect face.

A beat of silence passed, and Sokka could tell that Zuko was waiting for him to say something. Unfortunately for both of them, Sokka's brain was still stuck in a loop. Say something, he ordered his brain, but it responded with a rude, Nope, no thanks, rather think about Zuko's smile. So then another beat of silence passed. And then another. And then there were so many beats that you could practically compose it into a song.

When it was clear that Sokka was incapable of speech, the firebender offered up a nervous, "Sooo..."

"So," Sokka echoed dumbly.

Zuko sighed again, but this time it wasn't pleasant or dreamy – this time it was irritated. Angry. With a scowl, Zuko said, "So are we going to talk about it, or not?"

That finally got Sokka's brain's attention – and it sent his body into a panic. Muscles tense, heart racing, forehead breaking out in a cold sweat. Trying not to feel like he was suddenly on the wrong end of a hunt, Sokka tried to force his brain to come up with a useful response, but all it offered was a feeble, "Huh?"

"Seriously?" Zuko deadpanned, unimpressed. "You've been trying to get me alone for a week, and now you finally have me, and you're going to play dumb?"

"No?"

"You like me," the firebender said flatly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Play dumb all you want, but I know you do."

Words jumbled together in Sokka's mind – never, in any of the hundreds of daydreams or plotting sessions had Sokka ever prepared for Zuko to start this conversation. "I – you – not. Yes. Not! Yes?"

"Okay," Zuko drawled, rolling his eyes, "so what are we going to do about it?"

Zuko was giving him a look usually reserved for use on misbehaving young children, and it was making Sokka feel less and less capable of intelligent conversation. "You – we could – be together?"

Zuko sighed. "I don't think so, Sokka."

"Why not?" Sokka's mouth whined. Oh, that was attractive. Whining like a six-year old always picked up the princes.

The firebender groaned. "For one thing, we just stopped being enemies and started being friends." Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but Zuko didn't let him interrupt, "And I should be focusing on training Aang right now, and if Katara ever found out-"

Both boys took a moment to let the shiver pass down their spines.

"I don't know," Zuko mumbled at length. "It just sounds like a bad idea."

And what could Sokka say to that? Zuko was right. Now, right before Sozin's Comet, was not the time to be fooling around or starting something. They both needed to be focused on winning the war. Zuko was right and Sokka was wrong, and there was no way they could ever be together, and – "Wait." Sokka's eyes went wide as a flash of realization hit him. Then he grinned, slow and wicked.

Zuko flinched. "What?"

"You practiced that speech," Sokka stated, his grin getting wider. "You've thought this through. You've come up with all these reasons on why we can't be together, because you've already considered it. You've been thinking about it! You've been thinking about us, haven't you?"

Oh, Sokka had him now. There was no way the firebender could weasel out of this one.

"N-no I haven't," Zuko stammered, but Sokka was building a head of steam and there was no stopping him now.

"You have been thinking about us! That means that you do like me. And you can play dumb all you want, buddy, but I know the truth." Sokka reached forward and Zuko pulled away – but Sokka's fingers landed on the firebender's wrist and latched on. "You like me," Sokka purred, "Admit it."

"I do not," Zuko snapped, trying to jerk his wrist free to no avail.

"You totally do. Just admit it."

"I don't!"

"Oh, really?" Sokka smirked and leaned in, using his hold on Zuko's wrist to pull the firebender closer. Zuko's eyes widened with something that looked a lot like panic, and Sokka might have been concerned about that if Zuko hadn't also been tilting his chin up like an invitation. But instead of kissing the firebender – and oh, it would have been so easy – Sokka leaned in close so he grab the hilts of the Zuko's dao swords. He drew them out deftly and let the firebender go.

Zuko staggered a bit, off-balanced and confused. With his brow furrowed, his golden eyes darted between his swords in Sokka's hands and the hungry look on Sokka's face. "Sokka, what-"

"I challenge you to one last swordbending kai," Sokka smirked, holding the twin blades out in front of him like an offering. "If you win, I'll drop it and we'll stay friends. I'll never bring it up again." Zuko started to say something, but Sokka held up a finger to stop him. "But if I win, you have to admit that you like me, and then we'll go from there. Deal?"

The firebender hesitated, his face darkening as he considered the proposition – then, ever so slowly, he nodded. "Deal," Zuko breathed, reaching out for his dao swords.

"Okay," Sokka nodded, satisfied. With that settled, the Water Tribe warrior took a moment to study their new arena. "Well, since we don't have a ring here, I guess the rules will have to be a little different. No out-of-bounds – everywhere is fair game, except, well, you know, falling off into the abyss. The abyss should probably be out-of-bounds."

Zuko nodded again, still looking a little dazed, like he was still unable to grasp the magnitude of the situation.

With another smug smile, Sokka continued, "First one to disarm the other wins. Got it?" Sokka paused, waiting for confirmation. When Zuko nodded, Sokka did, too. "Good. Get ready."

The firebender slid into a defensive stance, one blade held high above his head, and the other held low near his waist. But there was still something off about him, like he wasn't quite all there yet.

Sokka smirked. He was going to enjoy this. Languidly, he drew out his meteorite sword and held it in front of him, its black blade almost disappearing into the shadows. Holding his weapon steady, Sokka smiled. "Oh, and Zuko?"

"Yeah?"

"Since there's no referee, anything goes,"Sokka grinned. "And you should probably know - I fight dirty."

Zuko frowned. "I – what?"

"GO!" Sokka yelled.

Zuko was still dazed, struggling to wrap his head around everything that had just happened, but Sokka saw this as an advantage. A distracted opponent was a defeated opponent, and Sokka wasn't going to lose out on the opportunity.

With no mercy, Sokka lunged in with a great sweep of his blade. A split second too late, Zuko jerked out of the way. Sokka's blade found only fabric, but it tore through it unbiased. Frowning at the miss, Sokka went after the other boy. Zuko wasn't going to stay a confused little puppy-dog forever. Sooner or later, the Fire Prince's years of training were going to kick in, and when that did, Sokka would lose. He couldn't let the match get that far.

So, with almost no time to let Zuko recover from the attack, Sokka cut through the air again, pushing Zuko further down the courtyard. In his retreat backwards, Zuko stumbled on some rocks loosened from their place in the stone pillars by years of neglect, and Sokka took the chance to lunge in again. This time, the hit landed against the firebender's left dao blade, sending he left blade skidding away.

Although that should have been a small victory for Sokka, he couldn't enjoy it. With the loss of one of his weapons, Zuko's eyes flashed with sudden determination. Uh oh. Zuko came to a lot faster than Sokka hoped he would. Not good.

The firebender pulled his one remaining sword back, bringing his free hand to join his other on the hilt. The stance Zuko took was a new one; part of Sokka had hoped that Zuko wouldn't know what to do with just one sword, but now he admonished himself for ever hoping for it. Of course Zuko knew how to change styles to fight with one sword. Zuko had trained under Pian Dao as well, after all. And Zuko had trained under Pian Dao for a lot longer than Sokka had.

Zuko's gold eyes turned to ice. With a viciousness Sokka hadn't seen in the firebender before, Zuko lashed out with a quick strike that sliced through the cloth of Sokka's trouser and stung the skin of Sokka's thigh.

"Uncool," Sokka whined as he felt the warm wetness of blood trickle down his leg.

"No rules, right?" Zuko grinned humorlessly, twirling the lone blade between his hands like a threat.

Sokka frowned. Well, Sokka had said anything goes, but he mostly meant that anything goes for himself. Zuko was supposed to stay all honorable and boring. "No rules," the Water Tribe warrior finally repeated grudgingly.

Zuko's grin widened, and then disappeared as a boomerang came hurtling his way. With a snarl, the prince held up his sword to deflect it. The boomerang clanged off his blade and went whizzing away in a wide arc. With narrow eyes, the firebender traced the boomerang's path in the air, making sure it wasn't going to come back his way. A classic mistake – one Sokka had been counting on.

With the firebender distracted, Sokka was able to close the distance between them easily. By the time Zuko realized what was happening, Sokka was already a swords-length away from hacking into the firebender.

"Shit," Zuko hissed, stumbling backwards as he tried to recover a decent defensive position.

Sokka only grinned. With one hand bringing his ebony blade forward, he used the other hand to grab a fistful of Zuko's collar. The Water Tribe warrior pulled the firebender to him with ease, leaning in close enough to whisper into Zuko's ear. "You lose," Sokka exhaled, his breath hot and his lips just barely tracing Zuko's skin.

Zuko looked like cornered prey: eyes wide, mouth open, a shiver crawling up his spine. With a dagger-like grin, Sokka licked the top of Zuko's ear, relishing in the way that Zuko both squirmed away and pulled closer to him. Then, before the firebender ruined the moment with his incessant need to complain, Sokka let his grip on the firebender's clothes go. Suddenly off-balance, Zuko found himself falling, and this time he went down. Hard.

With a grunt of pain and clenched teeth, Zuko landed flat on his back. To his credit, it was only a second before the firebender was struggling to get off his back and up to his feet, but Sokka was too fast for him. Before Zuko could do anything, Sokka was hovering over him, black sword tip pressing menacingly into the firebender's jugular.

Anger flashed in Zuko's gold eyes, but he said nothing.

Sokka kicked the prince's remaining blade away. "Looks like I win," he said cheerfully, his sword still held against Zuko's throat as close as he could get it without actually cutting into the firebender's skin.

Zuko let out a snarl. "Fine. You win."

"Then admit it. That's part of the deal."

The firebender narrowed his eyes. "No."

Sokka raised an eyebrow and leaned more weight into his sword until he saw the smallest flinch cross the prince's face. "You have to. It was part of the agreement. Doesn't your honor dictate that you have to hold up your end of the deal?"

Zuko swore and called Sokka all sorts of impolite names a noble Water Tribe warrior shan't repeat. Instead of letting them faze him, Sokka sing-songed, "I'm waiting."

Zuko glared at Sokka one more time before looking away. "Okay. I like you. Satisfied?"

"Sorry, didn't catch that," Sokka said, holding a hand up to his ear. "One more time?"

"I like you," Zuko spat, jerking his head up, even though it meant leaning into the razor sharp edge of Sokka's meteorite sword. "I like you, and I'm always thinking about you, and I'm always thinking about kissing you, okay? Happy?"

Sokka smiled and pulled his sword away, returning it to its sheath. "Delighted." Sokka extended an arm to the fallen firebender, and at first, Zuko hesitated, like accepting the help would wound his already damaged pride beyond repair, but then, with a grunt, the prince took it. Sokka pulled Zuko to his feet easily, and let the prince swipe the dust and dirt of the floor off of his clothes before gloating.

"So now what?" the Fire Prince spat, directing his glare everywhere but at Sokka's face.

"Now," Sokka said, feigning thoughtfulness, "now I kiss you."

"Like hell you will-"

But it was too little, too late, because Sokka already had his hands on either side of Zuko's face. He leaned in to press their lips together like a man starving for it. And he was – ever since that first kiss, all Sokka could think about was the way Zuko tasted, like smoke and man, the way Zuko's tongue felt brushing against his own, the way Zuko made tiny little moans like he was torn between trying not to enjoy it and just giving into it. The kiss was long and heavy and so much better than Sokka remembered it being. How was Zuko so ridiculously sexy? It was just stupid the way Zuko was so hot. Stupid, and in Sokka's opinion, really, really, really awesome.

Sokka bit down on Zuko's lower lip, eliciting the tiniest of gasps from the firebender. Sokka smiled and apologized by sucking on the swollen lip, and he kept at it until Zuko tried to pull away. Sokka let him, and moved on from kissing Zuko's mouth to kissing Zuko's jaw, then his throat, then the side of his neck, right below the ear. That won him all sorts of fun noises from the firebender. When Sokka finally pried himself away, he found Zuko's eyes squeezed shut and his jaw slack, and Sokka would be damned if that wasn't the best victory of the day.

Sokka left his hands still resting on both of the firebender's now flushed red cheeks, and he did everything in his power to resist the urge to pinch them.

"N-now what?" Zuko stammered, all the fight gone from his voice.

"Now, I'm making you my stupid Fire Nation boyfriend," Sokka cooed, leaning in to kiss the firebender's forehead gently. "You can try to say no, but you know I'll just keep hounding you until you give in."

Zuko laughed nervously, the way he always did when he was embarrassed. "This sounds like the start of an unhealthy relationship."

"Coming from a guy whose family is insane and whose only girlfriend was incapable of showing emotion? I don't think you'd know a healthy relationship if it bit you in the ass," Sokka laughed. To his relief, Zuko laughed too.

Sokka let go of the Zuko's face in favor of the firebender's hand. Linking their fingers together, he brought the firebender's hand up to his mouth so he could brush his lips against Zuko's knuckles. "But fine," he sighed, murmuring into the back of Zuko's hand, "you're right. I'll ask nice. Your Royal Flame-iness, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Zuko's cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red, and he started making strange noises that might have been laughter or choking. "I don't know," he choked, "What do I get if I say yes?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sokka squawked. Using his free hand, he gestured at himself. "You get all of this. What more could you ask for?"

Zuko made that laughing-choking sound again. Sokka smiled fondly as he watched Zuko struggle with his embarrassment – with Sokka still holding on to one hand, Zuko used his free hand to cover his face. "Okay, okay," he exhaled at last, a smile tugging at his lips. "Okay. Yeah. I guess so. But do you have to call it 'boyfriend'? It's so… embarrassing."

Sokka rolled his eyes and let go of Zuko's hand. The firebender looked relieved at this, and if Sokka was a wiser and more sensitive and a more compassionate human being, he would have relented and stopped trying to push at the prince's comfort zone. But again, Sokka was really not any of those things. So instead of giving Zuko space, Sokka swung his arms around Zuko's waist and pulled the firebender up against his chest.

"Fine," Sokka mumbled, burying his face into Zuko's black hair – something he'd wanted to do for a long time. "What do you want me to call it? 'Lovebending partner'?"

"That is so much worse," Zuko gasped, absolutely horrifed.

"Alright," Sokka said cheerfully, squeezing Zuko tighter, "lovebending partner it is!"

"I'll kill you."

"Oh, you're so cute when you're mad, my widdle lovebending partner!"

"Seriously, I will end your life."

"Don't be like that! You know you love it."

"Sokka, I'm warning you…"

"So how soon is too soon to take this to the next level and become sexbending-"

"I am going to get my swords and slit your throat while you sleep."

Sokka frowned. Explicit death threats were going a little too far, even when Zuko was wearing that adorable frown of his. With a pout Sokka said, "So, what, in like, a week?"

Zuko scowled, looking torn between hitting Sokka and kissing him. Sokka could only grin. Oh, this was going to be fun.

END