Zuko sighed as he settled into his bed in his new room at the western air temple. It was only his second night after being 'accepted' into the Gaang. He'd been spending most of his time trying to win over the group. The Duke and Teo were wooed by his knowledge of the temple itself, from the numerous times he'd investigated it in his search for the Avatar. Haru and Toph took a liking to him after he'd shown them some firebending forms he thought could be applied to their earthbending. Aang had apparently liked him from the beginning, so there was no trouble there. Sokka hadn't quite warmed up to Zuko yet, and the water tribe teen's discomfort at the fire prince's presence was apparent through his awkward banter. Zuko wasn't too worried about Sokka, though, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He felt like they had some things in common and wouldn't have a problem connecting after they'd finally established a connection.
The one person Zuko was very worried about was Katara. He knew her cold threat to end his life if he regressed from his 'good' behavior was legitimate, and that terrified him. What even would be "one reason to show her he might hurt Aang" anyways? If he accidentally spilled hot tea on Aang while serving the group, would that mean Katara would jump up and send an ice spear through his heart? Why was she so protective of him, anyways? Zuko was starting to suspect there was something going on between the two, but he certainly wasn't going to bring it up if no one else did.
"Hey, Zuko," a voice pulled the fire prince out of his thoughts. Zuko sat up in his bed and turned to face the water tribe teen who happened to be the same age as him.
"Hi Sokka," Zuko greeted his acquaintance.
"You, uh, trying to sleep?" Sokka awkwardly tried to converse.
"No, I was just thinking," Zuko replied, feeding the discomfited air between the two. "Why, what's up?"
"Well, I uh, was wondering if you might like to, uh, join me," Sokka invited.
"What am I joining you in, exactly?" Zuko returned.
"I have some…herbal remedies….and I don't want to use them alone, if I don't have to," Sokka explained, blushing slightly. A smile spread across Zuko's face.
"Wow, Sokka," he started, pausing as he faltered with what to say.
"Oh, man, you don't do that, do you?" Sokka interjected, starting to panic. "Spirits, please don't tell Katara, or Aang, or anyone, really, for that matter, I just thought that you might be into that kinda thing, and—"
"Sokka," Zuko cut the teenager standing in his doorway off. "I am into that kinda thing." There was a pause as Sokka's brain registered what Zuko had just said.
"I knew it! I don't know why, but I just got the impression from you," Sokka finally said happily.
"I'm going to assume that's a compliment," the Fire prince stated dryly.
"Oh, it is," Sokka returned, turning around and motioning for Zuko to follow him. Zuko stood up from his bed and followed the water tribe teen through the hallways of the temple. After being led through one hallway after another, the pair finally arrived upon a room that was half-full of zigzagging staircases that led all the way up to the high ceiling. They made their way up the stairs until they reached the top, where a small doorway was located. Sokka opened the door and tilted his head to one side as he slouched slightly to fit through the doorway. Zuko followed his lead. The fire price was surprised to see that the doorway had led them outside, to a balcony that overlooked most of the temple. A table with two very old, faded pillows for seating was in the corner of the balcony. Zuko also noticed the pile of sticks and a scorch mark on the ground next to the table, from where he assumed Sokka had made a fire the last time he'd visited the spot.
"Since you're here, I won't need to start a fire and use burning twigs to light my pipe," Sokka commented as he sat down at the table, noticing Zuko staring at the blackened ground. Zuko smirked at this statement and joined Sokka at the table.
"My girlfriend liked to use me for the same purpose," the prince said, watching the water tribe teen pull out a pouch from his pocket, and removing a ceramic dragon pipe and another pouch that brought with them their overwhelming smell. Sokka opened the pouch containing the herbs and grabbed out a nugget, breaking it up between his fingers and packing the bowl of the pipe.
"Guest gets the first hit," Sokka said, extending the freshly packed bowl to Zuko. The fire prince shrugged and placed the mouthpiece to his lips. He snapped his fingers, igniting a small flame from his thumb that he held up to the green herbs. He inhaled lightly, drawing the flame into the pipe, pulling the sweet smoke into his lungs. He then handed the pipe to Sokka and exhaled, coughing for a moment as his lungs readjusted to holding the smoke of the burning plant material. Sokka held the pipe up to his lips and motioned for the firebender to work the same magic on the pipe for him as well. The pair continued to pass the pipe back and forth until the plant material was reduced to ashes, and the water tribe teen had repackaged the herbs and pipe. They sat together in silence for a moment before Zuko posed a question.
"Where did you find such a high quality product?" he asked.
"In a Fire Nation village," Sokka answered. "We stayed in this inn with this creepy old lady who turned out to be from the Southern Water Tribe."
"And you bought drugs from this creepy old lady?"
"What? No, she turned out to be a kidnapper who'd been using bloodbending to capture her victims and trap them in a dungeon underneath the local mountain. I procured these herbs from one of the street vendors who sold tea," Sokka elaborated.
"I remember hearing about that," Zuko mused. "My sister was very interested in the concept of using someone's body against them."
"You're sister's fucking crazy, man," Sokka commented. Zuko was taken aback by this sudden, vulgar commentary on his family, looking at his acquaintance with an expression of shock. Sokka realized what he'd just said and mirrored Zuko's expression. These looks only lasted a brief moment before Zuko burst into laughter, prompting the water tribe teen to do the same.
"Only one person has told me that before, and he didn't use those exact words," the fire prince finally managed to say.
"Somebody else in the fire nation had the guts to call their princess crazy?" Sokka questioned.
"Yeah, my Uncle. I wonder where he is now…"
"What, did he go on vacation or something?"
"No, he broke out of his prison cell and ran off somewhere during the eclipse," Zuko explained.
"Wait, your overweight uncle busted out of a metal cage without the aid of his bending? How?" Sokka asked further.
"I have no idea. The guards said that apparently he's not so, uh, overweight anymore."
The pair sat in silence for a short while after that.
"So, not that it's any of my business," Zuko started, "but what exactly is going on between your sister and the Avatar?"
"Oh, who knows?" Sokka replied. "I know he has a huge thing for her; I mean, the guy couldn't be any more obvious. But Katara's so hard to read. I guess she likes him, she does seem to be pretty protective of him."
"You don't have to tell me twice," Zuko said, wincing at the thought of getting blasted in the face by Katara's waterbending.
"Oh yeah, I forgot she hates you for a second," Sokka returned.
"Oh she hates me alright," Zuko declared. "Last night she came into my room and told me she'd kill me if I led her to believe I'd hurt Aang. I believe her too."
"Once she forms her opinion on something, it's almost impossible to convince her otherwise. You shoulda seen her tell Master Pakku off back at the Northern Water Tribe," Sokka said. Zuko nodded silently, not sure what to say to this statement. The pair sat during another short silence.
"So, Sokka," Zuko found himself breaking the silence yet again.
"Yeah?"
"Does this mean we're friends now?" Sokka smiled.
"Yeah, I guess it does," the water tribe teen responded. "As long as we can keep enjoying 'herbal remedies' together every now and again." Zuko smiled back and nodded in agreement.