He had done it again.

Waves of heat and self-loathing fell from the Fire Nation prince, building and crashing into a sea of anguish. Zuko pushed himself wordlessly through the door of an out of the way room in the no longer abandoned Western Air Temple.

The room was not quite as dark as the abyss that he wanted to throw himself into, but it was filled with a hundred years worth of dust, untouched by life. Perhaps if Zuko was lucky for once, no one would enter it for another hundred years. The air inside it was hot and heavy and choking, fit for the lungs of the pathetic excuse for life that was Zuko.

He collapsed into a pile of worthlessness on the ground. Why did he always do these things to himself? Azula was right; he would never be able to do anything right except cause misery to himself and those around him. Surely this was truly the reason his mother had left him all those years ago, and why he had been banished. Oh, his poor uncle, stuck with him on that tiny ship for three long years. What a burden he must have been. And after all he had sacrificed, Zuko had just left him in prison. He had to be the world's worst nephew.

Zuko's social inadequacies didn't even end with disappointing his family. He had managed to drive away the only person who had ever liked him even though she didn't have to. He hadn't even been able to work up the courage to push her away to her face. Mai would probably never speak to him again. It was probably better that way; at least she could lead a normal, happy life.

The worst part was, he had felt so close this time, like he had been doing something right. He had been mostly accepted into the Avatar's group and only Katara had openly expressed her hatred for him. But he had inevitably taken everything he had been given and twisted it around with his words and actions, burning away any chance he had had at friendship and tossing it into the wind as ashes. He would truly never be able to have anything wonderful in life.

The door swung open, light filling the room and exposing Zuko to the world.

"Whoa," Sokka said more to himself than Zuko, waving the dust he had unsettled out of his breathing space and choking on the heat pouring out of the room. "What are you doing in here, man?"-he coughed again-"Baking cookies?"

Zuko sat up, pulling his knees to his chest and turning his head away from Sokka, his eyes hidden behind his hair.

"Nothing."

"Oh. Well, that just sounds like a bucket of fun."

When Zuko chose to respond with a little half grunt-half whimper, Sokka quirked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. He sighed and rolled his eyes; seriously, what was the matter with this kid? Sokka sat down in front of Zuko, pasting what he hoped was a friendly look on his face.

"Come on, Zuko. What's up?"

Zuko peeked out through his hair.

"You mean...you aren't mad at me?"

"Uh, no," Sokka said loosely, leaning back a bit and raising his eyebrows. "Why? Am I supposed to be?"

Zuko blushed and looked away before he answered.

"I just thought that, you know, after I-"

"Oh! Is this about earlier?" Sokka said a little too loudly, a huge grin of comprehension spreading across his face. "Don't sweat it, man."

Zuko didn't know what to say. He sat, staring, as Sokka laughed and pushed himself up from the ground.

"Well?" he said expectantly, pausing in the door frame and turning to look at Zuko.

"I -I'm sorry; I didn't mean to-"

Sokka groaned, then laughed again.

"Noooo, Zuko! I meant 'well, are you coming to dinner, 'cause I don't know what Katara's making, but it smells great and meaty and you've been hiding all afternoon, so you must be pretty hungry, you silly, little jerkbender?'"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so."

Sokka reached out a hand to help Zuko up, but before he could see it, he had already managed himself. Zuko ran his hand through his hair, his fingers itching for something to do and his cheeks turning pink.

'Thanks."

Sokka grinned and hit Zuko's hip with his own.

"No problem, hot stuff." He snickered. "Get it? 'Hot stuff'? Like hot? 'Cause, you know, you're a-"

"Yeah. I get it."

"Great, huh?"

Zuko almost smiled to himself as Sokka continued laughing.