RARG!! My brain wouldn't stop flying around until I caught this idea and put it onto paper. Loosely based on "Sleeping Close" by Swiss Army Knife which is a fabulous story everyone needs to read. Seriously. Go read it.

Also includes a bit of wisdom from K.A. Applegate. I don't think it's a direct quote from the Animorphs books, but a paraphrase. Just in case...

I HEREBY WAIVE ALL RIGHTS TO AVATAR, THE SCRIPT WRITERS, AND ANIMORPHS. ALTHOUGH I WILL BE LOSING A FORTUNE, I NEED TO BE CHARITABLE TO THE UNSUSPECTING PUBLIC.

Nightmares

"So, who do you go to when you have nightmares, Sokka?" An innocent enough question, right? At least, that's what a hundred-year-old-plus kid thought.

He may as well informed everyone what their dirty secrets were. The group shot guilty looks at each other. Even a blind earth bender looked towards the ground. No person there, after all, could deny that they had gone to Sokka when nightmares or the cold plagued them. Not even the newcomer was innocent of such a charge.

Sokka laughed. "Come on! I'm Sokka the Stupendous! The Awesome! I don't get those!" If it wasn't for the slight hesitation before an almost forced laugh, he might have gotten away with it. As it was, no one needed Toph to flat out state that he was lying.

Goofy grin transfixed, Sokka continued. "Seriously? Come on. After everything we've been through, who wouldn't get nightmares occasionally?"

Although he had given no answer, the core group recognized the stubborn set of his chin, the change in his stance. There would be no other answers, not right now. Zuko did not read these signs, but respected the other teen's privacy enough not to question any further.

"Meathead," Toph muttered under her breath. She started to stomp away then gently replaced her feet on the earth. Her "eyes" were still healing. Toph had only regained the ability walk yesterday afternoon. No one seemed surprised to see her angled to Sokka the next morning, head pillowed on his stomach and legs curled up to her chin with feet flat on the ground.

"Speaking of meat, when are we going to be getting some more?" Sokka asked hopefully. "I know this is an air temple, but still..."

A couple nights later, Kataara awoke from a fitful sleep. Glancing around, she only slightly relaxed when she saw the boneless form of her sleeping brother. Standing up on shaky legs, she dragged her bedroll next to his. Prodding her foot gently, then a little harder into his stomach, she said quietly "Sokka?"

Twitching, then a mumble before two glazed blue eyes opened. Grunting again, Sokka flopped over onto his side. Kataara gave a quivery smile when he tugged her bedroll just a little bit closer to his and looked up at her as if to say "and?"

Sliding into it, she pressed as close to him as the two rolls allowed. "It was that woman again," she mumbled into his shoulder. The tremors started again. "She-the blood-so many people..."

When the tremors began, Sokka had put his other arm on top of her. When Kataara started crying softly, he hugged her close. Whispering what comfort he could, he nevertheless inwardly cursed and damned that witch yet again for bringing his baby sister to this point. For the first week or so after their encounter, Kataara had to share the same bedroll as him in order to sleep at all.

The next night was far too cold for an Avatar's liking. Or for an exiled prince's liking. Rather than shiver violently on the ground like he had been doing, Aang woke up and stumbled towards the water tribe warrior. Sokka was curled in a fetal position. Maybe the cold had gotten to him as well. Or maybe he was trapped within the arms of the moon. No one could really tell.

Regardless, Aang opened up the older boy's arms and snuggled in, pulling the combined bedrolls over them. If he had been facing Sokka, Aang would have missed another sleepwalker heading towards them. Waving sleepily at the shivering and yawning firebender, Aang yawned himself and burrowed downward, knees matching with Sokka's and laying his head back against the other's shoulder.

The first time he had done something like this, Sokka laughed at him. "Come on, you've been frozen for a hundred years! Haven't you gotten used to cold yet?"

The trembling Aang had shaken his head vehemently enough to hear the teeth clatter. Grinning, Sokka had rearranged the bedrolls so it covered both of them, but mostly the young airbender. Same smile on his face, he fell right back asleep.

Now it was almost normal to find the boys wrapped up together on cold and windy nights. What became abnormal was the first time Kataara had woken up to find Aang safely cuddled in her brother's arms and Zuko sleeping back to back with him. She nearly unleashed her water carrier on them in an attempt to make sure she was actually witnessing it. Although it was still strange, Kataara had slowly gotten used to the idea of Zuko and Sokka sleeping with their backs against each other.

The first few nights Zuko had become part of their group were also some of the coldest. At least, to a boy with desert blood in him. When he had first witnessed the avatar crawling into a bedroll with the water tribe peasant, he almost scoffed. The problem was that it looked far warmer over there with the two boys than it did with a small fire to himself. He was surprised when Aang had originally looked over to him and raised an eyebrow.

Still, Zuko did nothing. Aang frowned at him then, and woke the other boy up. Not an easy feat, Zuko figured out after a few mornings with the group. They exchanged words too quiet for Zuko to hear, then Sokka halfway sat up. He didn't get much further than that because Aang was clinging to him for whatever extra warmth he provided. Lethargically, Sokka motioned that Zuko should join them.

"As long as I don't see your face when I first wake up," Sokka had mumbled. Turning back onto his side, he made it obvious that Zuko could huddle up with them like puppies-back to back.

This was another of those nights. Aang was curled inside the scoop of Sokka's body, and Zuko was on the other side, face towards the black night. Not even Kataara and Toph escaped the chill, as they were also curled next to each other in the morning light.

Aang's question remained unanswered though, right until they rescued Hakoda, Suki and the rest. The night they returned, not everyone slept peacefully.

Although the former prisoners mostly kept to themselves, Hakoda and Kataara stayed up late into the night. When Kataara started yawning almost as loudly as her father, they decided to try and work out their relationship later. For the first time in years, Hakoda was able to fall asleep to the sound of his daughter's steady breathing.

About halfway through the night and shortly after the water tribe villagers had fallen asleep, Zuko awoke with a shiver and a nightmare at the end of his voice. Looking around, he noticed that the person he would generally fall asleep next to was not sleeping. Sokka was not there at all, in fact.

Quietly surrendering his bedroll, Zuko moved silently through the camp. Not seeing him anywhere else, the Blue Spirit moved towards other places of the deserted air temple. He finally caught his prey by one of the overhangs, about 20 minutes from the camp.

"Nightmares?" Zuko asked, approaching this blue-eyed actor.

Sokka was far more startled than he should have been. Zuko noted this with a narrowing of his eyes. The boy also looked pale, and it didn't seem to be directly from the moonlight.

"Could ask you the same thing," Sokka shot back. He was resting against one of the statues. His back may have been hurting, but something still seemed out of place to Zuko.

Giving an inward sigh, Zuko sat down next to him. He asked "are you saving this for someone?"

"Nah. I would ask Yue to come down, but that's kinda selfish." Silence. Now that Zuko knew who Yue was, his unbidden natural curiosity couldn't stop yammering in the back of his skull. Ignoring it, he also started looking at the rays of moonlight that trickled though ruined walls and crooked offerings.

"Is this who you talk to when nightmares come?"

Sokka grinned sheepishly. Although the smile didn't set quite right, he continued. "Even before I met Yue. You talk to the snow, you might get something talking back. Generally something bigger than you. Talk to the moon, she listens without judging. Or eating you."

"There are some firebenders that do the same thing. They will not let the sun disappear without talking to it first. Uncle would sometimes talk to the sun as it was rising." At that lest sentence, Zuko felt a hand grab his throat. Not his or Sokka's, but one that seemed to squeeze his heart every time he mentioned Iroh.

"It's comforting," Sokka offered.

Now that he had gotten him talking, Zuko felt obliged to try and figure out the problem. Not that it was due to this friendship thing (he still doesn't call anyone 'friend'), but because they needed every warrior able to focus. They didn't know what would be happening within the next few days, so they needed to be alert. That's what Zuko told himself, anyway. "How is the moon such a comfort? The sun is warm, offers light."

"The moon also offers light," Sokka interjected. "You can't always see it, but it's there. And even though it may be cold, on cold nights is when you become closest to those around you."

Zuko frowned again. "Was that a joke?"

A small, tired chuckle. "No. You're learning, but no. That was a double-meaning."

More silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but nothing else needed to be said right now. Until Sokka asked if Zuko was also having problems sleeping.

"I'm out here talking to you, aren't I?" Zuko asked pointedly. "You weren't in your bedroll, so I figured you had gone for a walk."

"Aw, was Zuko looking for someone to cuddle to?" Sokka asked, sarcasm dripping.

"You want me to leave, I won't object," Zuko snapped.

"No, sorry, natural reaction. Sarcasm, I mean," the other boy amended. Still, the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Zuko by no means prided himself on his ability to read people. The only reason he noticed that small detail was because it was the same smile he saw at the prison. The smile changed, at least temporarily, when everyone was back safely.

"I mean, you can either cry about how depressing the world is or be sarcastic about it." Drawing his knees in tight, Sokka continued. "If you can't laugh at it, well, you become pretty depressing yourself."

Zuko considered this. "Is that why you always talk? To make things easier to laugh at?"

Sokka winced. Damn, he had forgotten that Zuko can occasionally by pretty intuitive. Oh well. It was out in the open now, he guessed. "Partially."

The exile definitely noticed the lengthy pause between that comment and the next. "It also keeps me from hearing other things."

"Such as?"

"Memories," Sokka whispered. During the Fire Nation raid, there were quite a few memories Sokka didn't want to relive. The screams of burning people, most of them women and children, the smell of blood and smoke, and especially the screams of his mother. Shuddering, Sokka pulled in even tighter and subconsciously started rocking, just a little bit. The soldiers had taken their time before killing her. Although he would never be able to put the laughs to the people if he heard them, the sounds would remain with him always. He couldn't cover his own ears because he was covering Kataara's. No daughter as devoted as Kataara should have to hear her mother taken forcibly, over and over again.

Zuko was starting to regret not bringing his bedroll. It wasn't so much for warmth now, but just something to throw over his swaying companion. "Why not meditate?" Zuko offered gently.

Sokka stopped rocking long enough to look at the boy next to him. Why was he being so nice? "I could never sit still long enough. I know there's different types, but it seemed to work the best for benders. Another reason I don't completely trust it."

This surprised Zuko. Usually the water tribesman was quick enough to direct how bending should be utilized. At least, from the little he had gathered from the others. "Strange. I would have thought the opposite."

"Naw. I'm better now, I suppose," Sokka answered. Suddenly questioning, "you're not out here to figure out all my weaknesses, are you? If you are, then you're being way too nice about it."

Although it irked Zuko that Sokka came to that conclusion, he could hardly be surprised. Maybe Iroh was finally rubbing off on him, to see the perspective of the other. "No. It would take me longer than a night to do that."

That worked. The smile finally reached frozen eyes. "Yeah, I suppose I am that flawed. And you're not perceptive enough to figure all of them out right now anyway."

This was familiar. Mild insults, thrown between conversations. Although Zuko figured pulling his own teeth out might have been slightly easier. "Go ahead and think that. I'm going back to bed."

Standing up stiffly, Zuko spared the other boy a glance. "Are you going to stay out here?"

Sokka considered it. Shaking his head, he also stood up. "I should probably go back to sleep. Who knows what the next few days are going to bring, right?"

"Exactly. Everyone-even you-needs to be fully alert."

Raising his eyebrow, Sokka bit his cheek to keep from grinning again. "Which is why you came after me, right? Make sure I end up being alert tomorrow?"

"Correct," Zuko answered deadpan. "That's all."

But Sokka knew how to read the lines between insults. It was a skill Zuko had been practicing, but hadn't honed as much as the water tribe warrior. This wasn't the time to point something like that out, though. "Of course, O Stoic Prince of the Fire Nation. Come on, let's go to sleep. It'll be cold, so the sooner we go to sleep the warmer we'll be sooner."

"That...made almost no sense."

"I'm not a diplomat. I'm allowed to sound like the village idiot."

"You mean you weren't?"

The next morning, the group found both teenagers curled against each other. To Aang and Katara though, there was something different. Although it was normal for Zuko to have his back against Sokka's back, something had changed. Generally Sokka kept his elbow and shoulder away from the Fire Prince. This morning, their shoulders were touching in a sign of comradeship.

Captain: WOOT!

Zuko: disgusted Why am I so out of character in this?

Captain: I said so.

Zuko: But-

Sokka: shaking finger Nah-uh. She's the author, she says so.

Captain: Thank you, Sokka. I always liked you best.

Sokka: sparkle grin I know

Captain: On second thought...Anyway, if you've gotten this far, thank you! It warms my heart to know that any readers I have left haven't completely given up on me. Not that I was that popular of an author in the first place, but whatever. I would ask for reviews, but that doesn't seem to work. So, I am NOT asking for a review. (they said I didn't learn anything from school...)