The Gaang wasn't prepared at all. It was something they should've started working on days ago.
Yet Iroh only remembered to tell them today. He remembered to tell them something important. Today...
Was Zuko's birthday.
And the Gaang wanted to make it good. They wanted to surprise him, and make him happy.
It was early in the morning, just after breakfast when Iroh remembered this important piece of information.
So they were rushing it now.
"Come on Sokka, it wouldn't be surprising if you wanted to hang out with Zuko, maybe practice with him with swords or something...you'll come up with something! Besides, your just going to mess up something here!" Katara snapped at her older brother, stirring some batter and eggs and sugar and a few other ingredients in a bowl, that would hopefully become cake sometime today.
"Fine, fine, whatever. Maybe he won't be suspicious that I'm keeping him distracted. But you know, if you think its a good plan, it probably is, cause its not like I'm the idea guy here." Sokka said sarcastically.
Katara rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.
"Just get lost and come up with a good excuse." Toph snapped at him.
"Alright, I'm going!" Sokka quickly said, leaving the house. Then he went looking for Zuko, and it wasn't long until he found the new king of the Fire Nation, who was currently bossing his solders around.
Sokka sighed. Did this guy ever take a break. Like, he realized it was his birthday, right? Or did he forget? Was that the reason why he didn't tell them, because Sokka was sure he just didn't tell them cause he was shy to celebrate it, or whatever.
He shook his head. He should be focusing on his mission now...which was making sure Zuko didn't ruin the surprise for himself by walking in the tea shop.
"Hey Zuko!" Sokka called to him. Zuko glanced behind him, at Sokka, before turning back to the guards, saying something to them to make them leave. Then he turned back to Sokka, walking over to him.
"What's up?"
"Oh nothing. Just...bored. You know, there's just not much to do, especially since there's peace with the Nation's again." Sokka said with a shrug. He knew he was a good actor too. He just did, so maybe it was a good thing Katara got him on the job. Zuko would fall for every little thing he said.
"Oh...well, why not hang out with Suki or something...you know, go on a date with her." Zuko told Sokka, looking slightly suspicious.
Sokka looked down sadly, taking in a breath, making things look as realistic as possible. "Yeah...well, we...we got in a fight."
Zuko raised his eyebrows. "You two? Fighting? You always seem to get along with her pretty well."
"Yeah, well...she just seemed to be in a grumpy mood all day. I was just trying to cheer her up, but...it made it worse." Sokka said with a sigh, shaking his head.
Zuko sighed, face-palming. "Sounds about right. You just don't know when to give women their space, do you?
Sokka shrugged. "That doesn't always work. They want the guys attention usually, you know? But women are really confusing, I guess. Anyways I decided to leave her alone now. She's currently in the tea shop, so I'm gonna give her a bit of space to cool off."
"Sounds like a good idea. I can talk to her if you want." Zuko suggested.
Sokka widen his eyes. "Whoa, no need there!" He quickly said. Zuko gave him a confused and suspicious look.
"Its just..." Sokka lowered his voice. "You haven't seen Suki when she's angry. She's a monster. So...just give her her clearly needed space. Maybe she'll have a girl talk with Katara and figure things out anyways. But uh...lets just avoid her."
Zuko continued to stare at Sokka. "Okay..."
"Anyways, so, now what? Like I said, I'm bored. We should do something together, or something. Entertain me." Sokka told Zuko, crossing his arms playfully.
Zuko sighed, putting a hand on his hip. "Okay, what should I do, your majesty? Want me to juggle fireballs for you?"
"Yeah, sure!" Sokka said excitedly.
"No. I'm not your entertainment. Fine someone else for that." Zuko told him, before starting to walk off. Sokka widen his eyes, quickly following him. "So...you want to train?"
Zuko looked at him, confused. "Why? Why are you coming to me if your bored, and why are you so determined to hang out with me?"
Sokka sighed, looking down, quickly looking for a good excuse in his head."I just...I want to forget about the fight me and Suki had. I need a distraction. And Katara won't get it, she'll be trying to get me to apologize and take Suki's side. Toph...she won't get it either. She'll beat me up and call my wounds a distraction. Aang and me aren't really close and I don't feel like we know each other. Plus he can be really immature and naive."
Zuko nodded. "Oh..." Then he looked shocked, realizing something, and looked over to Sokka. "Wait...you say you and Aang aren't close...but are we?"
Sokka gave him a bright smile, punching his shoulder lightly. "Of course! We went to the most dangerous prison in the Fire Nation and came back in one piece with my dad! That's a true bond right there! Besides, you understand what its like to have a girlfriend. You just get it, you know? Its easy being around you."
Zuko smiled, looking away. "That means a lot to me. Thanks Sokka."
"You don't have to thank me for being your friend, jeez. Anyways, now what? Want to train?" Sokka quickly asked.
Zuko nodded. "Alright. Lets train."
Then the two found a nice area a little outside the city. Then they pulled out their swords, and begin battling each other.
But when they were fighting, a wave of dizziness hit Sokka, and he couldn't block when Zuko lung forward with his sword.
And next thing he knew, he was laying on the ground, his side in pain.
"Sokka! I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Ugh, why didn't you block!?" Zuko yelled worriedly, kneeling down next to Sokka, putting his hand near the bleeding wound.
"I...I got...dizzy..." Sokka mumbled weakly.
"Dizzy? Why, are you sick? Ugh, forget that for now, your side's bleeding a lot! We need to get Katara to look at this." Zuko quickly said.
"No, no, not Katara." Sokka said panicky.
"What? Why not?" Zuko asked, confused.
"Because, she's probably with Suki!" Sokka desperately told him. Zuko was going to have a big happy surprise when he got back to the tea shop, even if it was the last thing Sokka did. He was given the mission, and he was going to make sure he fulfilled it!
"Seriously!? Your bleeding and in pain, and all you care about is an awkward encounter with Suki?! Besides, I doubt she'll be angry when she sees you like this." Zuko snapped worriedly.
"Zuko...please...please, just...don't take me there. There's a hospital here, right?" Sokka pleaded.
Zuko sighed, obviously giving up now. Then he helped Sokka up, and they went back to the city. Soon they were in a building. A small hospital that recently opened up.
"Oh my!" The woman in the hospital gasped. Then she helped Sokka over to a bed, laying him down and inspecting his injury. Then she took his shirt off, grabbing up some bandages.
Sokka sighed, closing his eyes as the woman began messing with his injury. She was obviously no water bender. She couldn't heal or anything. Still, she bandaged and dressed his wound up nicely.
"He'll be alright. Its not too bad. He should rest for a good few weeks though." She told Zuko, who thanked her. She nodded then, walking off into the back room.
"Sorry about your side." Zuko mumbled, sitting down next to Sokka's bed now.
"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault anyways." Sokka assured him, looking up at him.
"Yeah...and you said you got dizzy?" Zuko leaned over to him, putting a hand on his head. "You don't seem to be feverish..." He said after moment, backing up.
"Well, it just happens, you know? I'm sure I'm fine." Sokka told him.
Zuko frowned though. "People don't randomly get dizzy without reason, Sokka. Have you been eating like your supposed to? Or sleeping alright?"
Sokka frowned, looking away from Zuko. And he wasn't acting. "Well...I guess I haven't been sleeping well. Its just...you know. The moon. Its distracting. I was able to avoid thinking about it when there was missions and stuff but now...there's nothing to keep my mind occupied anymore."
"Oh...sorry. You should've told someone if its been bothering you. We're all here for you, you know." Zuko told Sokka quietly then. Sokka nodded, looking away and wiping at his eyes. "I know...but I guess...I didn't know how to bring it up and talk about it..."
"Well...I mean, you can wake me up if you can't sleep tonight. We could do something. Something that doesn't involve moving too much, since your injured." Zuko told Sokka after a moment.
"Thanks...that's...really nice of you." Sokka said with a small smile.
"Hey, what are friends for? We've got a bond, remember?" Zuko told him, smiling now as well.
Sokka chuckled, but regretted it, holding his side, though still smiling a bit. "Right. So uh, now what?"
"I don't know...hey, my uncle has a game of Pai Sho, so we could play that together. I'll be back!" Zuko said, standing up, but Sokka quickly grabbed his wrist, and his blue eyes met Zuko's yellow ones. Sokka couldn't let him go to the tea shop. It would ruin everything!
"Stay..." Sokka pleaded to Zuko after a moment of staring into his confused eyes.
"But...Sokka...alright." Zuko gave in after a moment, sitting back down. "So...what do you want to do?"
"I don't know...talk? Talkings always fun." Sokka suggested with a small shrug. Realizing he was still gripping at Zuko's wrist, he let go, looking away now.
Zuko nodded, and they began talking, exchanging stories of all sorts. They talked about a few personal things, like how they felt. Sokka told him a bit about Yue, talked about how he felt since she left, and how special she had made him feel.
And soon, it was sunset, and the hospital door opened.
"Zuko, Sokka, I've been looking everywhere for you two..." A panting Aang said, walking in, but trailed off when he saw the scene. "Sokka? What happened to you?"
"Oh, uh...nothing. Me and Zuko was training together, and you know...I got a bit scratched up. Its really nothing though." Sokka assured Aang, sitting up.
"Well...will you be okay enough to go back to the tea shop? I mean...Katara should look at it." Aang asked Sokka, staring at him intently. And Sokka knew what he meant. Will he be able to get back to the tea shop and celebrate Zuko's birthday? And of course he would be.
"Aang's right Sokka. You may have gotten into a fight with Suki, but you can't just sleep here tonight." Zuko pointed out. Aang looked confused, but quickly nodded, masking it up with a supportive smile.
"Yeah...okay." Sokka said, sounding as reluctant as he could. Then he stood up with the help of Zuko.
Then the three walked back to the tea shop, Sokka leaning on Zuko, who helped him all the way back.
Then they walked into the tea shop.
The room was dark, but then the light suddenly came on, and Katara, Toph, Iroh, Mai, Suki, and Ty Lee jumped out of there hiding places, yelling, "Happy birthday Zuko!"
"W-what?" Zuko asked in shock, looking around the decorative room.
"Happy birthday! You didn't forget, did you?" Aang asked cheerily then.
"No...well...not at first. I wasn't expecting this..." Zuko mumbled, obviously lost for words.
"Of course you didn't! You didn't think I would remember, did you? You thought you could get away from celebrating, didn't you?" Iroh asked him with a smile.
Zuko was about to say something, then quickly turned to Sokka, realizing something. "Wait a second, you didn't actually fight with Suki did you!? You said that to get me to stay away from here!"
"Haha, you caught me!" Sokka told him, raising his hands in defense.
"Idiot, even though you were badly injured, you didn't want to come here just so you could surprise me!?" Zuko yelled at him.
"Come on, the injury isn't that bad!" Sokka quickly argued.
"Wait, what?" Katara asked in surprise.
"I accidentally hurt him when he were training." Zuko told her, crossing his arms.
"Come over here, let me see it." Katara told Sokka, grabbing at his arm and pulling him to a chair. "Its really not that bad." Sokka told her grumpily, but she looked at it anyways.
Other than the fact that Sokka couldn't move too much and Zuko felt really guilty, the birthday party was successful, and they all had fun, and Zuko said that this was the best birthday ever...hopefully he wasn't lying.
Soon, the party was over though, and now Sokka was sitting in his bed, the covers over his legs. He was staring out at the window...at the moon.
The door opened, and he turned to see Zuko.
"Oh, hey. I thought you'd be sleeping by now." Sokka said as Zuko quietly shut the door behind him, walking over to Sokka and sitting down on the side of his bed.
"Yeah...I was going to, but I remembered what you said earlier and...I wanted to make sure you was alright."
"Oh yeah...thanks. I guess I was starting to think about...stuff..." Sokka mumbled, looking down at his hands.
"Would it...would it help if I slept with you?"
Sokka looked up at him in surprise. "You would do that for me?"
"Yeah, I don't mind at all." Zuko told him. Sokka quietly scooted over in the bed, giving Zuko room. Then he laid down.
Zuko laid down in the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around Sokka, being mindful of the injury on his side.
"Sokka...thank you. For the birthday surprise."
Sokka shrugged. "It was Katara's and Aang's idea. I was just dragged into it."
"Yeah but...you know what I mean. We could've taken you here to get your injury seen, yet you turned down the idea for me."
"No...I was just determined." Sokka said, smiling.
Zuko rolled his eyes, holding Sokka tighter. "Call it what you want. But thank you."
"Yeah, yeah, your welcome...but hey, what are friends for?"
Zuko grinned, closing his eyes now.
And him and Sokka fell asleep together, content.
This was truly the best birthday Zuko had, and there were only better ones to come in the future.