Yo! I thought ALTA needed more bromance so here's some. Please enjoy.
The painting of emotion was a rough one with far too many eye-watering colors and dizzying illusions for one person to successfully avoid and decipher without becoming emotionally disturbed themselves. Reason translated into a much more... Reasonable picture: one that left the viewer thoroughly informed, hardly overwhelmed, and maybe slightly bored. Both sides had their flaws and at least one of the two admitted to problems. Rationality felt no necessity in lying to oneself and knew that general dishonesty inevitably led to general unfortunate consequences down the road. Emotion and reason were brother and sister, dancing the balancing swirl of yin and yang, push and pull. He would pull her in when she pushed too hard, hoped too much, loved too deeply. She would push him out like the sun that drew the cautious sprout from the ground and told the small thing that the safe soil it had come from was not for living the rest of life within. The push was for chances, new things. The pull was to curb a reckless turn of events, most likely spurred by her actions. They held together well and kept themselves steady in an even balanced way, like an arch would with it's buttresses and keystone, supported solely by itself. By themselves. Together, they fought the hardest fights and won, together they failed the toughest tasks and pulled each other back up. Brother and sister. Sokka and Katara. Reason and emotion.
-/
There was nothing for them. No letter, no intelligence report, no sightings, no stories, not even a scrap of blue cloth. Nothing. Sokka felt the heaviest rock of disappointment settle in his stomach, but he ignored this discomfort and slung an arm around his somber sister with an easy, false smile.
"He's still out there Katara. He's out there being brave and winning this war, just like us." she looked up, watery eyes holding a glimmer of that ever-present hope at his words. Sokka just wished HE could be so easily convinced, but no, he couldn't lie to himself when the strong possibility of their father no longer being alive still loomed above him in an oppressive cloud. He truly did wish, really, he did, but Sokka knew, deep down, that the orderly reasonable side of him didn't believe in wishes- in fact no part of him really did. So he stopped and let Katara hope and himself despair because no amount of hoping or wishing or praying would actually change anything.
After hugging his sister one last, reassuring time, Sokka stood and walked out while everyone else went on about parents and gurus- whatever a guru was.
"I'm gonna go for a walk. You guys just keep talking about your poisonous blowfish or whatever. I need to find some meat."
"Yeah, yeah. Go find your meat, meat head." Katara called after him, humor evident in her voice, her prior distress forgotten and Aang waved with his usual giddy grin. Only Toph looked vaguely troubled but she kept her mouth shut and watched him with unmoving eyes.
Sometimes it unnerved Sokka how much the blind earth bender seemed to pick up. Her sensitivity contrasted immensely with her personality. She was incredibly seismic in both small and large ways: from her perceptiveness, as fine as Appa's ear hairs to her brash drill- sergeant like teaching methods which were about as subtle as throwing a flaming rock through a house full of blasting jelly.
Sokka sighed. Everyone in their gang he loved very much, but sometimes he felt like the odd one out. Being the oldest and a non bender set him aside from the rest and occasionally he just needed a break.
Like now.
But now wasn't necessarily an instance when all the usual things set him apart. No, it was their irrational, innocent tendency to hope that Sokka sorely needed a break from. So the young warrior had excused himself, made his way through the earth king's palace and out the gates as hastily as possible. He hitched a ride on the monorail and breifly considered riding it all the way out to the outer ring. Laying in the fields would do wonders in clearing his mind, but Sokka decided to stop at the lower ring where the din and dinginess would distract him from his depressing thoughts.
The city blurred by like watery, inky brush strokes and the slight rumble of the train on the tracks nearly lulled Sokka to sleep. People moved in and out and the car got steadily more crowded as it moved out of the upper ring. They bustled and jostled each other, completely unaware of one another and Sokka joined his fellow riders in the unspoken agreement of never meeting anyone's eyes.
The train delved deeper. Now, instead of opulent mansions and grand government buildings, they pressed past grimy factories and rickety tenements. These places and people were far more interesting than those of the upper rings. Things were less regulated and less fake. Sokka drew his face away from the window to peer past the wall of bodies between him and the door. Most looked at the ceiling or the floor or their hands. They wore all shades of green, the majority in rags, but there was an individuality to each, as if every person went out of their way to make themselves special in that depressed part of town.
The monorail slowed at the next station, emptied some and then filled again, even more than last time. A bell rang and stragglers rushed through the closing door. Sokka was glad for his seat; people were awfully crammed standing.
Then, in his observance of lower ring citizens and his avoidance of thoughts of the ever present problems of war, Sokka spotted something familiar between the arms and legs and torsos and heads of passengers. His eyes landed on the profile of a boy, back-lit against the window. From the side Sokka saw the pale skin, high cheek bones and narrow nose and something almost fit together in his mind. He had seen that face before. It was terribly familiar and, for some unexplained reason, the anxious feeling it accompanied was equally recallable.
Sokka focused through the din of mumbling people and shuffling feet to watch the young man. The object of his observations turned slightly.
Somehow Sokka knew it was him all along. In the depths of his subconscious the name was fervently whispered until the rest of him heard.
"Zuko." it was uttered quietly and slowly, too far from the other boy's ears to be acknowledged. For a moment, Sokka was at a complete loss of what to do. He decided to sit on his hands and appear as unassuming as possible. The young warrior was startled by the ring and rattle of the train's opening doors. Zuko climbed out and Sokka bowled past passengers to follow the fire bender out into the street.
The sign read 'Lower Market Flats District' and was embellished with glazed and weathered green tiles. Sokka stared for a few seconds before whirling around and catching the dark and surprisingly long hair of his quarry further into the street. He set off down the slight decline of the cobbles and kept his eyes trained on the back of Zuko's head. Sokka followed less out of duty and more out of curiosity, watching, intrigued as the banished prince wove between crowds.
The first time he had to hide was at the basket weaver's shop. Ducking behind a utilitarian screen, Sokka spied on Zuko and the shop keeper as they exchanged words, goods and money.
"Lee! I was expecting your uncle! How are you feeling?"
'Lee' appeared to blank out for a moment before responding
"I'm fine Mr. Gao." the basket maker looked critically at Zuko for a few moments, who shrunk under the older man's scrutiny.
"You still look awfully pale, and much too thin. Would you like some lunch? It's the least I can do for you and your uncle." the fire bender bowed but declined. Gao frowned and visibly prepared to protest the boy's decision but was interrupted.
"Mr. Gao, I greatly appreciate to offer but I need to get back to my uncle. Pao has been getting all the work he can out of him before we move to the new shop."
The man nodded at this and seemed to snap into action, shuffling into the dimly lit part of his shop farthest from the open, sunny front. He told Zuko he would be right back and the faint sound of a door sliding open and shut drifted through the space. Sokka watched as the prince sagged against the counter, looking as unwell as Gao has accused him of being. He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, ran a weary hand over his face and coughed before scrambling up when the store owner returned with a large, rectangular, covered basket. A handful of coins were carefully counted out before the fire bender gazed at them, clearly pondering something, and then opted to dump all of them into Mr. Gao's waiting palms. The older man's eyes widened and he began babbling about not being able to accept this much and how it was 'too generous'. Sokka was completely baffled.
Then Zuko's weary face did something so unexpected, Sokka thought the earth might crack open and swallow everyone whole.
It smiled. Zuko's normally scowling countenance actually smiled. It was exceedingly unnerving. Something was wrong. Sokka nearly leapt up, ran out and checked the sky to see if it was falling, but stopped when he remembered that his cover was more important than getting smashed by a cloud.
Shaking himself from the shock, the spying warrior turned his attention back to the exchange occurring before him.
"-well don't forget us small folk when you and your Uncle own the greatest tea shop in all of Ba Sing Sae."
Zuko bowed again and reassured Gao that he and his uncle would remain in correspondence. The store keeper was again graced with a disarming, but mild smile and Sokka rubbed his eyes.
How strange. Zuko was both grinning and possibly sick-which was terribly foreign to the water tribe teen as the exiled prince had always seemed somewhat invincible. Despite the apparent oddness, Sokka was both apprehensive and pleased that he was now successfully distracting himself from the unfortunate circumstances of his own life.
Everything was very confusing, all the same. For a moment, seconds in a minute, the city was all bright and strange angles. The light fell through the open face of the shop in warped rays and the shadows of wicker forms lay on surfaces as if breathing. Nothing seemed connected or real, they appeared to dwell in a different reality, floating not so far off from the rest of the world. It was neither pleasant nor unpleasant and Sokka was mainly struck by the amount oddness that abounded.
Strange. He thought he knew who Zuko was, but the prince was as much of a stranger as Mr. Gao, the basket maker. It was astounding.
Shaking himself, Sokka returned to the unbelievable reality to see that the fire bender had bid the shop keeper good bye and was now well into the crowd back in the street. Sokka plunged after him.
The second stop was far less revealing in his quest to spy on Zuko. The water tribe teen peeked though the window of a dusty print shop. In the mid day gloom, a shrewd and ink stained man handed the ex-prince a roll of papers secured by a green string. The print-maker spouted some nonsensical anecdote and Zuko looked convincingly like he understood until the old man turned his back and the fire bender quietly, but incredulously questioned to the empty air what any of the man's words meant. Sokka watched as Zuko paid and slid the papers into the basket before leaving with a bow.
Sokka was surprised fire nation royalty even thought of people like those of the lower ring- much less interacted with them. Zuko looked positively friendly- or as friendly as the fire bender possibly could be. It made all occurrences during Sokka's little trip even more perplexing. Until now, there had been no indication that Zuko had the capability to actually be nice.
The universe just loved to prove Sokka wrong, didn't it?
He followed out into the weaving mass of people again. The lower ring smelled wretched and Sokka was sure all the dust there could fill the Si Wong desert alone. It was dirty, cramped, dingy, wrecked and oppressed, but the people around him did their errands with surprising levity. Maybe they didn't know any better; maybe they knew worse. All the same, they still managed to smile and it was astounding.
Zuko came to a halt in front of a shambled looking dumpling stand. It was wooden and painted brilliant green, with chips all over that suggested a prior orange color underneath. Behind the rough hewn counter, worn down with years, stood a short pudgy woman who practically assaulted the exiled prince with a spoon.
"Lee! Where is your uncle!" she barked and 'Lee' shrunk back
"H-he's back at Pao's" the woman did not seem pleased with this explanation. She shuffled out from the shade of her stand and shoved Zuko into a chair off to the side of the counter.
"What was Mushi thinking? Sending a sick boy out for errands! I'll have a word with him!"
For a brief and very amusing moment, Sokka observed the firebender's absolutely terrified expression.
"Look at you! Thin as a rail! Why aren't you back at your flat resting, hmm? I'll give that no good old man of yours a piece of my mind!" Zuko did look at himself, as if very surprised at his own existence and then gave the woman above him a bewildered stare.
"But Suyin, uncle didn't send me." Suyin's rosy cheeks reddened further and she nearly grabbed the boy before her and shook him.
"Do you have no sense boy? Now your uncle will be worried sick!" she paused and looked the prince over as he cowered slightly"Well. You may as well get what you came for. And while you're here eat something." the last part was a demand. "You look like the smallest breeze could blow you away." Suyin swung her portly figure back behind the counter and prepared a box of dumplings with smooth efficiency while Zuko stared, dumbfounded, at the spot she had stood only seconds prior. Sokka nearly laughed aloud and then hid when the fire bender snapped out of his stupor and looked dazedly across the market. From his vantage point behind a giant man buying melons, Sokka watched, with some jealousy, as Suyin shoved a plate of delicious looking dumplings in front of her customer and practically began forcing them down his throat. Zuko's only response was a very started "S-Suyin!"
"Oh don't 'Suyin!' me! I don't let my children walk around half-starved! Why would I let you go free when you look like some half- dead scarecrow?" The ex-prince of the Fire Nation appeared completely lost: a look that the cook must have found incredibly endearing. She put the dumpling Zuko had been dodging back on the plate and graced him with a soft smile.
"Lee... Please. Except this. You and your uncle have been so helpful- what with Mushi promoting my stand and you helping my little Qiao learn to read and write..." Suyin trailed off and gave 'Lee' another warm look
"So you're going to eat and I will not let you leave until you have. I will not have you take all the food home just so your dear uncle can eat it all." Zuko nodded slowly and mechanically reached for one of the cooling dumplings. The older woman watched him with hawk eyes and Sokka was immensely entertained by the whole ordeal. He was very pleased that he had found himself such an effective distraction.
Much to Sokka's utter disgust, Zuko only ate two of the six dumplings before slipping the payment onto the counter and sneaking off when Suyin had her back turned. What a waste of perfectly good food! The dumpling maker seemed to agree when she turned to see the empty chair, the mostly full plate and the pile of coins. She swore and grumbled about certain people not being able to accept a gift while counting out the money. An exasperated sound left Suyin's lips when she apparently found that more than the necessary amount had been left.
Sokka nearly bounded off after Zuko for some more amusing adventures when she called across the market.
"You boy!" Sokka stopped and spun in a full circle hoping he hadn't just been addressed.
"You in the blue!" Shocked and apprehensive, he pointed at himself and the woman gave him a sharp nod while beckoning him with an agitated hand.
"Yes you! Come over here."
Sokka obediently went as summoned, feeling as if he were a truant school boy preparing for the principal's wrath. Approaching the stand, the young warrior was surprised by how little attention the exchange had attracted. All the same, he wished that maybe someone would pay attention enough to save him when the woman would undoubtably gave him a good talking to that only the likes of Gran-Gran could contend with. If only Sokka could predict what the talking to would be about, then he may have had the possibility of saving himself. Alas, the spirits of luck were not on his side- not that they had ever been, and upon arriving in front of Suyin's stand,he was given a calculating, searching look that seemed out of place on the woman's round, rosy face. Sokka swallowed audibly and became acquainted with the scrutiny that was only minutes ago focused on Zuko.
"Can you tell me why you were spying on Lee?"
The water tribesman opened and shut his mouth a few times in a fashion not too dissimilar to the fish that swam back in his icy homeland. Suyin pressed her lips into a thin line and squinted at Sokka.
"I was bored and... He was... interesting?" he answered almost truthfully, but still flinched as the response came out more like a question. This did nothing to get the woman off his back.
"Lee has enough problems, young man. Do not give him any more."
Sokka glanced briefly back into the crowd to spot Zuko's mop of hair at the far end of the market, headed towards a small, shabby building labeled 'Pao's Family Tea House'. Suyin brought her face back into his vision with a strong grip on his chin and a sharp tug. Looking at her still suspicious countenance, Sokka felt another babbling explanation spill over his lips.
"I won't give him any trouble! I promise. I just saw him on the train and I thought he looked very familiar so I followed him for a bit." he stopped and still felt the unnerving, undressing glare on him. Did this woman want his whole life story? She may as well have been asking for it with that look of hers. Sokka sighed and decided to give her the abridged version; he was never one to spew over-emotional anecdotes.
"I'm just worried about my dad" he leaned in close, much to Suyin's surprise, and whispered
"He's in the war, if you know what I'm talking about" and then shifted back on his heels before continuing
"I just... I just needed a distraction and Zu- Lee was very good at keeping my mind off everything." Sokka finished slowly, all was truth but nothing was needlessly elaborated. It didn't need elaboration. Suyin gave him one last glare before nodding.
"Well, if he is a 'distraction' then you may as well stop following him and have a proper conversation. Maybe then you will find out who he is and why he is so familiar." Sokka looked at her blankly. Have an actual conversation with Zuko, the jerk with a ponytail? It seemed impossible- but thinking back, he remembered the firebender's awkward, yet civil interactions with various citizens of the lower ring and for the first time the exiled prince seemed socially approachable, almost borderline friendly.
It was astounding.
It took a couple of minutes, full of inner turmoil and debate, for Sokka to make a decision, and somehow the side that yearned for the acquaintance of a boy his age won. Suyin warned him about stalking Lee and he reassured her that he was taking her advice. The protective, suspicious look left her and she gave the teen an ample slap on the back which only served to knock him to the ground, rather than actually cheer him on.
"Good. That boy needs a friend." With the next motion of encouragement, Sokka was practically launched into and across the market place where he stumbled to a full stop and turned to give Suyin a half-hearted glare. That woman was strong- and pushy! She had one heck of an arm. For the first time, she blessed him with a smile, beaming all wrinkly, from the other side of the square and Sokka turned back, grumbling. He sauntered across the market and stopped at the front of the restaurant.
The notion of Zuko going to any of these places was completely foreign to Sokka and when he entered the image of the prince's short, squat uncle in a tea maker's uniform served to confuse the warrior more. Based on the older fire bender's occupation, not only did the two visit the lower ring, but they worked down there too.
The interior of the tea house was dark and lit with several paper lanterns. Most light was filtered in through the open door along with the dust and noise from the street. Behind a narrow wooden counter, Sokka spotted Zuko, who was being hugged by his uncle. The older man stepped back, looked his nephew over and then gave a quiet reprimand that Sokka couldn't make out. He motioned for Zuko to sit on one of the empty benches nearest to the back of the shop and then proceeded to fuss over the prince's condition, much to said boy's displeasure. There was a good bit of Zuko's uncle reaching to check on his nephew while the object of the old general's concerns dodged and fled the ministrations. Yet another amusing scene for Sokka.
Things got very awkward and far less amusing when, after standing in the doorway for a good two minutes, the firebenders turned to look. Zuko's uncle seemed amazingly unfazed while Zuko looked the complete opposite. The exiled prince appeared shocked, a look that only highlighted his pale and gaunt face. He did look sick; Sokka would not have been surprised if he fainted right there and then.
"Uh... Hi?" the slick saunter was gone, replaced by a lopsided shuffle over to where the two fire benders sat. Against all better judgement and all alarms ringing in his head, Sokka gingerly sat across the table from them. Why? Why did he feel the need to stay and talk, rather than run all the way to the earth king and blab about the dangerous fugitives residing in the slums of his city? It must have been that small voice, his only moderately reliable instincts, that whispered wily words and prompted him to speak with the enemy.
Zuko still looked half dead and terribly confused. He watched Sokka with obvious distrust. His uncle did the speaking
"Hello young warrior. We did not expect your company-" at this the scarred teen slumped next to the older man uttered a low, sarcastic "No kidding."
"-but I am sure we can interest you in a pot of calming tea." if Zuko didn't look so tense then Sokka would have excepted the eye roll at the mention of tea, but since the exiled prince managed to appear simultaneously weary and painstakingly alert the water tribesman dismissed this as a trick of the light.
"Uh...Sure. I guess I could have some of that...um, calming tea."
Zuko's uncle smiled, Zuko glared and Sokka felt possibly the most uncomfortable he had ever been in his life- and that included his good six hours wedged in a crack with a baby saber-toothed moose lion cub curled up on his head. To further the awkwardness, friendly uncle thought it would be great to get up and make tea at that point when everything was still incredibly unpleasant. Sokka cleared his throat and looked around the room with avoiding eyes
"Umm... Nice place ya got here."
Zuko prolonged his scowl for a few more seconds before sighing and raising his eyes skywards in apparent exasperation.
"I don't own Pao's tea house. It's not my place."
"Oh- well... Nice place Pao's got here?" Sokka ended with a raised eyebrow- as if he were skeptical of his own words.
This was astoundingly awkward.
"Sure. Can you tell me why you are here? How did you find us?" the firebender's questions were rapid and aggressive. The guy really didn't wait to get down to business. There was no small talk with Zuko.
Sokka contemplated for a moment, whether he should respond with an inconsequential question like 'How about the weather? Crazy, right?' but he refrained from this for the sake of not getting his eyebrows burnt off. The prince still looked surprisingly calm- if not a bit aggravated.
"So, ya see, I was feeling pretty down about all sorts of things, so I got away from everyone else and decided to go on a monorail ride and I wasn't expecting to see you but when I did it was like: woah distraction! And everything was like some crazy coincidence so I had to find out what you were doing here so then I followed you around a bit and it got really weird because you were actually being nice and then the dumpling lady yelled at me and told me I should talk to you so... um... yeah." as he got further into his explanation the words deteriorated steadily like a rope abandoned in the water. It left Sokka feeling frayed and unsure and Zuko looked as if he felt about the same.
"You're still after Aang?" neither could decide whether this was a statement or a question. Zuko sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"For now, no. The Avatar is simply too- wait. Did you say you followed me from the monorail station? You've been stalking me the whole time?"
"Weelll I wouldn't call it stalking-"
"What is it with everyone spying on me? First Jet, now you! Can't people just leave me alone?" before Sokka could ask what exactly Zuko meant by 'First Jet' his fat and happy uncle slid a tray of tea between them with expert ease. The two boys watched warily over the curtain of steam before looking away.
"I do not believe I know your name, young warrior." Sokka nearly asked him to call him just that before he remembered he had an actual name. The older firebender was friendly, it wouldn't hurt to get on a first name basis with the guy.
"The name's Sokka. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." he held his hand out in the warrior's greeting of his homeland. Both uncle and nephew looked at the extended appendage with obvious uncertainty. The elder of the two seemed perplexed as to how he should reciprocate the gesture and decided to grasp Sokka's hand and give it a firm but awkward twist, rather than clutch the teen's arm as tradition dictated.
"I apologize if that was wrong Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe." the man supplied at the blue clad warrior's odd look."I have become aquatinted with many greetings of many different people throughout the world but I have yet to formally introduced to one from your land. It is a pleasure to meet you, call me Mushi." if Sokka had been drinking tea it would have been all over Zuko at that point.
"Mushi?" the name was incredulously reiterated. Surely the old man's parents didn't name him that. It was hardly a ferocious Fire Nation name.
"Yes. Fortune has bestowed upon me an unfortunate name." for some reason this statement was accompanied with a slight glare in Zuko's direction.
"Fortune gives us many strange names, doesn't it Lee?" 'Lee' grumbled something about childish grudges before giving Sokka another suspicious look. The ex-prince did not see the worried glance his uncle gave him. Sokka wondered how they were related beyond their obvious uncle- nephew connection.
"Lee, please do not worry me any further. It would be best if you finished your tea and went back to the apartment to rest." Zuko blushed bright red at this and whipped his head around to give his uncle some angry retort, but snapped his mouth shut at the sight of Mushi being summoned by a thin short man who was most likely the firebender's boss. The scarred teen turned back around and sighed dejectedly before remembering Sokka was there.
"Who would name their kid Mushi? Did they want other kids to beat him up?" it both surprised and pleased Sokka how much the blush renewed on Zuko's pale cheeks.
"His name isn't actually Mushi, you oaf." Sokka struggled for a comeback.
"You're one to talk! You're like the oaf king- the prince the Oaf Nation!"
Rather than burst into a fit of fiery rage, Zuko did something so incomprehensible that Sokka did choke on the tea he had only started drinking. It was spat into a the hat of a large woman to his left who didn't notice the newest addition to her head dress. Zuko laughed! It was a short but genuine chuckle that nearly prompted the boy across the table to check if a delusional fever was a symptom of Zuko's supposed illness. Sokka mouth hung open in what he was sure was a very unattractive expression.
" Where did you come up with the idea that I'm the 'Oaf Prince'?"
"You laughed. Spirits! I didn't think you could smile- much less laugh! Oh man... this is just getting too weird."
Zuko just raised an eyebrow.
"Look I was just trying to distract myself from the possibility that my dad may or may not be alive! I didn't ask for all this smiling and laughing and you being all weird and friendly!" Sokka took a breath, released it shortly from his nose, and looked around the tea house, where many of the patrons had noticed his outburst. His face reddened and he opted to hide his embarrassment behind a piping hot cup of tea which he gulped down only to let out a yelp as it scalded his tongue. The firebender across the table looked less than impressed, his single eyebrow may as well have been perpetually raised. The oddest thing was that Sokka wasn't afraid of or aggressive toward Zuko. Maybe his logic had abandoned him, or maybe he was just reinventing logic.
"Okay. This is really, really weird." to his surprise, the Prince of the Fire Nation, Sokka's sworn enemy, actually agreed.
"You're telling me."
And suddenly Sokka didn't mind talking to Zuko that much.
Somehow the world had been twisted around, turned inside-out and placed gently upside down after all the man- handling. There was little room for reason so he just rode the wave. It was the strangest when Sokka had finished talking with 'Mushi' and returned to the table to find Zuko asleep on its wooden surface, snoring slightly. A girl stood over the firebender, finding his behavior obviously endearing. She raised her clear green eyes and grinned at Sokka.
"Are you his friend?". She eyed the blue water tribe clothing and then turned back to the prince slumped in his seat.
Sokka didn't know Zuko actually slept. Maybe he didn't and he was just sick. The young warrior stared at Zuko's unconscious form, incredulous and completely bewildered. Trying to escape the confusion, he turned on the charm.
"Weelll..." he drew it out and leaned on the table with an elbow. She was a pretty girl. "Let's just say that the two of us are... acquainted." Raising an eyebrow, the girl settled for a short snicker before once again moving her gaze toward Zuko.
"Yeah. I understand. He's not all that friendly. I'm Jin by the way."
Sokka was really confused.
"Wait, wait. Let me get this right. Are you his friend or like... His girlfriend?" Jin actually did laugh at this, but stopped when the sleeping teen shifted slightly .
"Oh I did try that, but, for now, I am just a friend."
Sokka took a moment to look from Jin to Zuko, obviously perplexed.
"So do you have a name?" she had a dry voice, one that Sokka could imaging delivering perfect punch lines without so much as a chuckle, but lacking that scathing sarcasm. Everything about her seemed genuine. He had to admit, she was nice. With another glance at Zuko, he wondered how such a attractive girl ended up with the grumpy, lopsided, prince ponytail. She was very charming and he was... well, Zuko was just the opposite of charming. Jin cleared her throat and Sokka became painfully aware of his awkward staring.
"Oh! I'm Sokka. Southern Water Tribe." a finger was pointed to his blue clothing in a pointless gesture. Of course she saw what he was wearing!
"We're pretty cool because of all the ice, ya know what I mean?" She let out a small laugh and Sokka could barely think of the repercussions of talking with Zuko's potential girlfriend. She was just so nice! How did she end up with Jerk Bender over there? Sokka opened his mouth to ask, but was saved from voicing the asinine question by Zuko's portly uncle bustling in.
The old Firebender gave Jin a warm smile and a few friendly words before 100% of his attention turned to his nephew. With an experienced hand, Zuko's head was lifted from the table top and his shoulders were given a gentle shake. The prince's head only lolled to the side, looking pale and tired. With a few whispered 'Nephew's the pair of golden eyes cracked open to peer at the older man. Blinked. And drifted closed.
"Uncle."
"Lee. I think it would be best if you returned to our apartment." a wordless nod.
"Maybe our friend Sokka wouldn't mind helping. It is a long way." Zuko shifted fully awake and gave his uncle a half-lidded, annoyed look.
"I think I can manage Uncle. I'm not an invalid." Sokka was amused when the prince's cheeks reddened at the older fire bender's concern.
"I did not say you were, nephew." Mushi retorted- and then dragged said nephew from the seat anyway, almost grinning at the half-hearted protests. Sokka quirked an eyebrow and tried to digest the scene before him. It was so bizarre that, for a breif moment, he had nearly forgotten what had led him to that spot.
Dad.
Sokka felt a pang of jealousy as 'Mushi' checked over 'Lee', who protested fervently. Hakoda was not there to voice reassurances and come up with plans that didn't actually fail. Dad was not there to love his son and daughter, even though he obviously did. Sokka's father wouldn't have been fighting if he didn't love, didn't care. He wanted the world to be a better place for his children. Sokka knew Hakoda fought for his kids, but Zuko's Uncle was right there, by his Nephew's side. It wasn't fair.
But Mushi was an Uncle. Zuko's father was off being evil in the Fire Nation, he wasn't even fighting for a better world for his heirs. Ozai was hiding behind his cushy palace walls and making everywhere awful.
Maybe Sokka wasn't as jealous as he thought.
He resumed the Angry Jerk and Friendly Uncle watch with the hope of slight entertainment at Zuko's expense, but only felt slightly alarmed at what he saw.
"I really hope what he has isn't contagious." he eyed the sagging and listless teen in the older man's arms, who immediately straightened and sent a harsh look in Sokka's direction. If some illness could knock out Prince Zuko, North Pole- infiltrating, Avatar- chasing, Katara fighting, Prince Zuko, then Sokka felt it was necessary to know what brought down Mr. Grumpy Kimodo-rhino. The guy really didn't stop to breath let alone sleep. If it was bad enough to leave him dead to the world on the table then Sokka really didn't want it.
"My nephew is recovering from a spiritual illness."
"I'm fine uncle!"
Jin laughed and Sokka suddenly remembered she was there. She received a half- hearted glare. Zuko snatched himself from his uncle's grasp and began to stagger off in the direction of the door. Mushi motioned to follow the young firebender while Pao came from somewhere within the back of the room to chastise his tea maker for not working and bringing his ill nephew into the establishment. Sokka looked at Jin. He was disappointed when he saw she was not nearly as confused as he was. In fact, she was already over grabbing Zuko's hand. The latter did not appreciate the attention and was bright red. Still, he did not withdraw his grasp.
Sokka wondered how late it had gotten, but ignored how far the sun had traveled when he remembered Jin was taking Zuko back to an apartment. Maybe curiosity did kill the owl-cat, but Sokka would kick himself if he didn't get at least a glimpse of where the two firebenders lived.
It turned out they didn't live in a palace- the shabby little complex was possibly as far from a palace as one could get. There were three rooms total, all dull, Earth Kingdom brown with muted green accents. Beyond the sliding screen of what appeared to be the bedroom, was a rickety- looking balcony overlooking a very square and dismal courtyard that must have been in constant shade. A glance through the narrow gap of a neighboring door revealed a measly restroom with spartan accommodations. The windows in all the rooms were clouded and dusty and the entire flat held that customary 'Lower Ring Dirt' that seemed to fill any thing around like a fine layer of dirty patina. It was not the most pleasent of dwellings, but still it held some charm.
The flowers, tea sets and sumi paintings of what appeared to be female nudes kept a homey air about the apartment. Maybe a woman's touch, an uncle's eccentricities. Most definitely not the prince's decorating skills. Sokka was almost positive Zuko's choice in interior design would get him arrested by the Di Lee- partly for being completely atrocious and partly for being completely without tact in its blind loyalty to the crazy psychopath also known as the Fire Lord. With all his gaping at small things like the porcelain figurine set of two traditionally garbed earth kingdom women, Sokka did receive a very suspicious glare from Zuko. They all appeared unsure as to what to do, excluding Jin who inserted comments about health and resting between her tiding of a bedroll on the floor.
"May I ask why you followed us here?" came a slightly heated question like tea you didn't expect to be hot.
"What? A guy can't check out another guy's place? Am I interrupting something?"
"Interrupting something?" the question was short with barely conceiled annoyance.
"Yeah. Like your time with your girlfriend or something." the source of the redness of Zuko's face was unclear at those words. Sokka wasn't sure if he was angry or embarrassed or just both. Prodding that topic probably wouldn't be the best idea.
"Anyway, your uncle asked me to help." Zuko responded with a scoff.
"Great job you're doing."
"Hey! It's not like you told me how to help or anything!"
"I said I didn't need help! I'm fine!"
"You're never fine! You're always crazy and attacking us and trying to capture Aang and-"
"Why are you even here?"
This stopped Sokka like the monorail hitting an earthen block on its tracks. He opened his mouth only to shut it again. What could he say? Looking into Zuko's pale, exhausted face, he remembered how wrong everything was.
"My dad."
It was obvious the ex-prince wasn't expecting this. His unscarred eye grew wide and his mouth snapped shut. He looked shocked.
It almost angered Sokka. Here he was, trying to get his mind off all the bad things that were happening and spirits- forsaken Prince Zuko was there to dig it all back up. Life just wasn't fair. Things just weren't right and the level of wrongness was so astounding that even the young southern warrior who could possibly out-talk the king of Omashu had nothing to say. Zuko apparently did. His face was screwed up in a way that resembled his intentions of peaceful philosophy about as much as a turtle-duck resembled a badgermole. Sokka couldn't say the fire bender didn't try.
"Your dad?" it was not philosophical at all.
"Yeah my dad. Thanks for bringing it up again." came Sokka's testy response. He was generally displeased with the direction of the conversation. Curiousity really did kill that gullible owl-cat and Sokka hated that the most.
"Did your dad... Did he...uh..." every word seemed a major effort. Sokka had no ideas where Zuko was going with it. He watched with furrowed brows as the scarred firebender dragged his phrases from some deep recess that seemed awfully reluctant to let him say what he wanted. It was all very awkward.
"Did he... You know..."
"Die?" Sokka finished the painful question for him.
"What? No! Uh..." Zuko couldn't seem to form coherent thoughts, but from what Sokka had observed, this wasn't very surprising. The guy was about as far from outspoken as anyone could get. The banished prince released a disgruntled groan before snapping his mouth shut and appearing generally unsure.
Jin saved them from the terribly uncomfortable silence that proceeded. Zuko looked at her like she had just grown a full mustache an decided she would be the new Earth King. She wrestled the firebender to bed and smiled at Sokka as she slid the door shut behind her. The door's journey to its latch, however, was interrupted by the person Jin was trying to keep inside.
"Wait! Sokka!" Zuko's voice took on a foreignly unsure quality as he shoved his hand out and burst through the threshold with an unknown source of energy.
"Uh... Your dad! Good luck with him, alright?" the whole jumble of words sounded terribly encouraging and hopeful. Zuko must have realized this because he finished with a look that suggested he had tasted something horribly bitter. Sokka nodded all the same and felt oddly lighter at his once sworn enemy- now rather awkward acquaintance's words. Maybe the whole trip did help after all.
In the head- ache inducing mess that was Azula's coup Sokka had somehow managed to aquire an intelligence report regarding the location of his father and other Southern Water Tribe troops. The paper had been given to him by Zuko's friendly uncle, Mushi or Iroh or what ever he was going by those days.
The whole gang also aquired a slightly crispy Zuko.
According to Katara, they had been locked in a cavern together and, from the sounds of it, she just emotional tidal waved all over the banished prince. Much to Sokka's surprise, Zuko had asked where Katara's brother was because he was "Not up for this kind of stuff yet." and was "Really sorry, but Katara- that's your name right? Yeah Katara, we're both in a bad place right now and could you maybe not cry because I really hate it when girls cry because all the other girls I know just DON'T CRY and now I'm babbling like your idiot brother and spirits, girls are crazy."
Sokka nearly laughed at him, but Zuko was actually slightly crispy, as established earlier, and being slightly crispy was actually pretty bad and generally involved a bit of pain. A good bit of pain. So Sokka held off on the ridicule.
The worst thing was Aang, though. He was less crispy and more blackened possum chicken. Azula's coup had definitely left them worse for wear and with a few new members. The Earth King watched avidly as the two FIre Nation royals interacted in a fashion strongly reminiscent of what Sokka had observed less than a week ago in the lower ring. Uncle fussed over nephew and nephew grew increasingly indignant to his uncle's ministrations.
"Uncle! I'm fine! It's only a bruise!"
"A rock to the chest is never a good thing, Zuko." Sokka didn't peek at the prince's wounds, the other boy was already embarrassed enough when he woke up in camp with the Avatar and his friends, covered in burns, cuts and bruises. His uncle told him that after redirecting that lightening ("You fought beautifully, Zuko. You learned well.") he had collapsed and the battle ended soon afterwards. The prince looked exceedingly uncomfortable amidst those he tried to capture earlier that year.
Katara protested his presence with a rather irritable
"I tried to open up to him, but he just asked for someone else!" which was accompanied by a glare directed at her brother.
Sokka just rode that wave. Things at the moment were... Irrational, but the warrior knew, beyond any doubt, that it would be completely unreasonable to change anything. He would find his father and finally see him for the first time in nearly three years. Aang would get healed and save the world while still being a goofy kid. Katara would settle down and maybe see reason for once because no, letting Zuko hold your boomerang didn't mean you were inviting the guy to slit your throat. Iroh would get a chance to stop worrying about his nephew. Toph would keep being Toph. And Zuko... Zuko would be the first kid his age he could talk about manly things with, like swords and girls and meat. Because when Sokka looked back on it, Zuko wasn't a bad guy, just an angry, confused kid with a screwed up family and a bad complexion on half of his face. Nothing too out there. Nothing completely unreasonable. He didn't know why,but Sokka couldn't help but like the banished prince.
The weirdest part was that Zuko seemed to feel the same about Sokka. Maybe they could be friends.
And that was astounding.