A/N: It has been years since the last time I posted anything on my FFnet account. Most of the fics I wrote are usualy posted on AO3, but I thought to myself, 'Why not use it again?' So yeah. This story is cross-posted on AO3 under the same title. This fic is not beta-read. Tell me what do you think?

I still wasn't sure where I want to bring to head with this fic. I have a vague general idea, but I'm open for suggestion. Remember the golden rule, guys. Don't like, don't read.

Warning: BL (male x male), Zukka, minor character death, Modern Royalty AU.

ROYALS

Chapter 1

Zuko always liked Republic City. Everything was bustling and lively, this city was filled with different kind of people. People from Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Water Tribes, and you could even find some Air Nomads wandering around the city to make it livelier. Zuko could sit for hours just watching people passed by, like he did at the moment, sitting near the window of Jasmine Dragon, the best tea and coffee shop in Republic City. In front of him was a warm cup of tea and muffin. He couldn't believe today would be his last day in this city, and tomorrow he would have to return to the Fire Nation to assume his duty as the Prince of the country.

His mood soured at the thought as his eyes sweeping the room until it fell on the young man around his age sitting comfortably a few tables down from him. He might look relaxed in casual leather jacket and jeans, but Zuko knew he had a weapon holster strapped on his shoulder, loaded with a gun and knife. His combat boots were hosting more weaponry, and even though he looked relaxed, the man was always ready to jump into action.

Jet was a good bodyguard, but he could be annoying from time to time, so Zuko had to make him sit a bit further and left the Prince with the company of his mind for the moment.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

The voice snapped him back from his musing and he looked up to see a young man around his age was standing in front of him. He was holding a cup of coffee with a laptop tucked under his arm. His skin was healthy tan, and his hair was styled in hipster-like warrior's wolf tail with the sides shaved. He was beautiful, though Zuko couldn't help but finding he looked rather familiar. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Jet was ready to jump and pulled his gun, but Zuko gave him a nondescript signal to stand down. Zuko always wondered about coffee shop meeting after all.

"Ah, sure, please," Zuko motioned to the seat in front of him. He was never the most eloquent when it came to normal human conversation. This was why he preferred the company of his pet turtle, Ran, and his duck, Shaw. Yes, he had a pet duck. He also had a snake, Fang, and the three of them were great friends. Fang hadn't tried to eat Ran or Shaw so far.

"Thanks, man," the young man smiled brilliantly at Zuko, making the Prince blushed slightly since this man was pretty handsome himself. He watched as the guy set his laptop on the table and opened it to start working. Zuko was quietly watching from the corner of his eyes as he pretended to looking out the window. He could feel Jet's amused stare at the back of his neck now. His personal bodyguard was probably holding his laugh at how awkward Zuko looked at the moment.

"So, are you waiting for someone?"

Zuko was startled when the handsome guy tried to strike a conversation with him as he waited for his laptop to boot.

"Uhh… No," Zuko mumbled, suddenly feeling stupid for such a crude answer. He could imagine his father glared at him for such inelegant respond. He wondered if he sounded rude just now, and hopefully the guy wouldn't take offense. God, he was so bad at this small talk stuffs.

"I see," the guy nodded. "My name is Sokka by the way."

"I'm Zuko," Zuko nodded. The name "Sokka" sounded very familiar, but he couldn't exactly remembered where did he have heard of it before.

"Nice to meet you, Zuko. Say, are you a student at Republic University?" Sokka asked, of course he would guess that since the shop was in the close proximity of the university and most of the patrons were students. His tone was still casual despite his eyes had shifted to the screen of his laptop. The guy seemed pretty friendly.

"I've graduated," Zuko said. "Today is my last day in Republic City, I'm going home tomorrow."

"Aww, man. That's too bad!" Sokka looked genuinely disappointed as he looked up from his laptop towards Zuko's face. "I was hoping I can get to know you some more…"

Zuko blinked, frowning inside. Was he getting hit on? Was this what Jet was talking about when he told Zuko how dense he was about casual social interaction? Just last night Jet told him how much of an awkward turtleduck he was (a what, Jet?), but Zuko wasn't sure if this line should be categorized as pickup lines (another thing he weirdly learnt from Jet) or not. So Zuko decided to play it neutral.

"Uhm… I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Dude, what are you even apologized for?" Sokka laughed good-naturedly.

"Well, you look disappointed," Zuko reasoned.

"You can't help it. You're cute with all that awkwardness," Sokka grinned.

Now Zuko was blushing brighter because Sokka was definitely flirting with him. He tried to look at Jet, asking for some help, but the jerk seemed to enjoy the pain Zuko was in at the moment. He was supposed to be Zuko's bodyguard, and Zuko knew this situation could be counted as "emergency" right now.

"Is something wrong?" Sokka asked.

"Huh? Wha—no…" Zuko said quickly.

"You keep looking at that dude in the corner," Sokka nodded at Jet. "Is he bothering you?" Sokka looked serious when he asked.

"N-not exactly…" Zuko wondered if he should tell Sokka that Jet was actually his bodyguard. But before he could, Sokka had snapped shut his laptop and grabbed his coffee before leaning so close to Zuko's face.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked, eyes full of mischief.

Zuko didn't know what to do or say, it was probably a dumb idea to ditch his security detail and went along with a handsome stranger with beautiful tan skin and hipster hair style he met at the coffee shop. The guy could be a kidnapper, or a serial killer, or a mob boss (Zuko could go on and on about this). But still, Zuko nodded and he felt the warm hand took his and pulled him away from the table, from the coffee shop, towards the street of Republic City.

He wondered why he came along with Sokka.

But Zuko knew, at that moment, he was happy.

One thing led to another, Zuko was waking up in an unfamiliar room the next day.

It took a while for him to remember where he was, what he was doing on the very comfortable bed underneath warm blanket, and the state of undress he was in. It took him a while to remember what happened yesterday after he ditched Jet in the coffee shop and ran away with a stranger—Sokka—his mind supplied. It turned into some sort of an impromptu date with Sokka, Zuko was blushing at the memory. They went to the park, feeding ducks in the pond. They grabbed hotdogs for lunch while talking about things. They ended up in a cozy trattoria where Zuko and Sokka drank a bit too much red wine to go along with their dinner before they ended up in Sokka's apartment for coffee.

And by coffee he meant sex (Zuko kept learning these code words every day).

Zuko could still feel the ache from last night, but he wasn't upset about it. What he found upsetting was the fact that Sokka was nowhere to be seen. Zuko groaned as he tried to locate his clothes and his phone, wondering what Jet was doing and wondered if he could call him to pick him up. Jet would be teasing him about his "walk of shame" (another phrase Zuko learnt from Jet—he still wondered if he used this term correctly because it kept reminding him of that one scene from that particular TV show instead of whatever it was supposed to mean), and Zuko wasn't really in the mood. He contemplated if he should leave a message for Sokka, but since the guy wasn't there (it kind of hurt), he decided not to out of spite.

He put on his jeans and his shirt, along with the sweater he had worn yesterday. He found his shoes and socks in the living room, he didn't bother to tame his bed hair, as he just wanted to leave. He turned his phone back on and was ready to call Jet when he heard the knock on the front door. Zuko wondered if he should open it, maybe it was Sokka. Though why would Sokka knock on his own door, Zuko wasn't sure. But still he went to open the door to see Jet was already there, dressed in his black suits looking unusually subdued.

"Prince Zuko, there's a call from your uncle," Jet said, for once he didn't have his stupid smirk on his face and calling him 'Prince Zuko' instead his usual brand of nickname, making Zuko felt wary. His security detail offered him the phone, and Zuko could see the call was already connected. He took it and brought it to his ear.

"Uncle?" he asked tentatively. He could feel that something was wrong.

"Prince Zuko," his uncle's voice was shaking slightly and the usual warmth was replaced with somber tone. His uncle rarely called him "Prince Zuko" unless it was an official matter or really urgent. "Your grandfather, Firelord Azulon, died this morning."

Oh.

Zuko needed time to process it. Grandfather… was dead…

"I have sent more security details for you, and you will be coming home as soon as you get to the airport. The Royal jet is ready, I'll leave the other arrangement to your personal security detail."

His uncle's voice sounded so far away but Zuko nodded, for a moment forgetting he was talking through the phone. He quickly snapped back and immediately responded. "Yes, Uncle."

"Will you be okay, Nephew?" he asked, this time softer and warmer. His voice filled with worry. Trust his uncle to just lose his father yet worried about his nephew's well-being.

"I will. I have… Jet with me…" Zuko said slowly, his brain was still trying to process everything.

"Good. Give the phone back to Jet, I need him to coordinate with the new details."

"Yes, Uncle." He handed the phone back to Jet, who swiftly took control of the situation while Zuko's mind went blank.

Firelord Azulon might not be the greatest grandfather in the world. How could he, being the leader of Fire Nation had made him too busy to play with his grandchildren. But still, he was family. And the loss of a family member was… Zuko didn't sure he could find the right words to describe his feeling. He was numb. He let Jet led him to the car, drove him to the airport and embarked the plane without saying a word. He didn't say anything when the flight attendant offered him a drink and breakfast, he wasn't hungry.

And then it hit him.

His grandfather was dead.

And finally he let himself cried.

When he arrived, it was his cousin, Lu Ten who welcomed him, holding him close to his chest. From the corner of his eyes he could see his father, Prince Ozai, standing stoically, dressed impeccable as always. His younger sister, Azula, held the same expression as their father as they watched Zuko's arrival at the Dragon Palace in Caldera City, the capital city of Fire Nation.

"Welcome home, little brother," Lu Ten said softly to him.

"Thank you, Lu Ten," Zuko tried to smile at his older cousin. Lu Ten was always felt more like a big brother to him than a mere cousin after all. Zuko turned to his father and sister, bowing respectfully to them. "I'm home, Father, Azula."

"Welcome home," Ozai said, though his voice was lack of the warmth Lu Ten had given him moments ago. "How was your flight?" the questioned didn't mean anything but a forced politeness from the older prince.

"It was good, Father," Zuko answered respectfully. With a simple nod, his father turned around and left the room while Azula stayed to take a better look at her older brother.

"Oh, Zuzu… You should clean up before anyone could see your… less presentable state," Azula said with sickeningly sweet tone of her voice that always put Zuko on the edge.

Zuko realized he was still wearing the clothes from the day before and he hadn't bothered to change and make himself looked presentable. No wonder his father looked displeased when he saw him. Zuko hadn't even showered after he left— He blushed slightly at the thought and chastised himself for thinking about it in this situation. It was nothing more than a one night stand.

Sokka didn't even bother to wait for him to wake up or anything, and despite his lack of social awareness, he got the message.

And now… Now he had to put on the mask as the Prince of Fire Nation.

He quickly headed to his room to clean up and made himself more presentable.

With the death of Firelord Azulon, the Crown Prince Iroh was proclaimed as the new Firelord of Fire Nation, which made his son—Lu Ten—the Crown Prince of the Dragon Throne. Zuko watched with Azula and his father by his side as Firelord Iroh gave his first address as the new Firelord for the mourning Nation. The Country would enter several days mourning period where almost every activity in the capital city stopped.

Zuko had heard about the cause of death. Heart attack, Lu Ten explained to him. Firelord Azulon was old, and everyone knew he wasn't as healthy as before. High blood pressure and heart problems were the two main concerns, and he had taken his medicines, but in the end, his time had come. Zuko was told he died in his sleep.

In the next morning, Zuko saw the flag was lowered and his uncle was already dressed in traditional Fire Nation robe for his coronation. Zuko barely able to speak to Iroh since the news hit, his uncle was busy handling the events that followed Firelord Azulon's death. Zuko kept to himself, standing where he was supposed to stand, being respectful like a Prince he was supposed to be. Azula hadn't made any snide remarks after the first day, though she didn't really look like she cared much about the funeral. She dressed properly, looking stoic and somber like she was supposed to do, but Zuko knew his sister better. He could see the bored look on her face as they followed each procession as the protocol dictated.

Zuko couldn't help but reminded of his mother's funeral. The same procession, the same gloomy atmosphere. But back then Zuko was younger, he couldn't control his emotion well as he clung onto his uncle and cried. His father despised such blatant show of emotion, a shameful display of a member of Royal Family he said. But for once Zuko didn't care. He just cried as his Uncle hugged him, keeping him from falling apart. Zuko didn't remember his aunt's funeral though. He was still too young back then, far younger than when he lose his mother.

He watched as the High Priest of Fire Sages crowned his Uncle as the Firelord of Fire Nation.

That moment, he never really thought about what his father was feeling about it.

The procession continued.

"Why is Sokka mopping?" that was the question Suki asked when their group met up for lunch in a quaint Japanese restaurant next to Republic University, only several doors down from the Jasmine Dragon. The brunette was carrying her sport bag, just finished her morning practice at the dance studio before she joined her friends in Muramasa. Aang and Katara were already there, sharing a plate of kappamaki between them while Sokka was sulking in the corner of their booth. Suki and Sokka might have broken up two years ago, but they were still great friends with each other. It wasn't like there was any bad blood between them, it was just Sokka accepted that he preferred men and they ended their relationship because it wasn't working. And now the two of them would often sit together, judging people and finding hot guys.

It was fun, and Sokka was always better as friend for her anyway.

But back to the current situation, it was odd to find Sokka wasn't as loud or stuffing his face with food like usual. It was easy to see something was wrong.

"Hm? Ah, Sokka met a cute guy yesterday and got laid," Katara said in disgust, probably because the thought of her brother getting laid. She didn't need that image in her life.

"Congratulation! But why the long face?" Suki still confused.

"Because the guy left without saying anything," Aang said simply. "No note, no phone numbers to call… the guy just 'poof!' disappeared without trace."

"I just walked out to buy some coffee and breakfast! He could just wait a bit or if he really has to leave, he could at least leave a note or a phone number!" Sokka whined from his sulking corner. "And he was so cute too… I know it probably meant nothing… the guy said he was leaving the city the day after and he had to move back home, but I thought we had a connection! And his butt is cute! That's just rude to leave like that…" Sokka started to ramble while Katara was getting more impatient and deliberately left to the bathroom once Sokka's ramble started to get into "too much information" territory.

"Let me get this straight," Suki cut him off after they listened to his ramble story-telling for a few minutes and they got a gist of what happened. "You met a guy in a coffee shop, you went on an impromptu date with him knowing he would leave the city the very next day, you feel the connection with him and brought him to your apartment to have 'coffee'. And then in the morning, you left to buy breakfast and returned home to find him already gone," Suki summarized. "Did you lose anything? Money? Anything valuable?"

"No. He wore designer clothes, and his watch was custom made, probably cost a fortune," Sokka shook his head. "He told me his family was pretty wealthy in the passing and I can see it from his demeanor." Trust Sokka to recognized designer clothes. If Sokka didn't tell her he was engineering major, Suki would think he was majoring in fashion instead.

"So he wasn't stealing from you," she said. "Well, maybe… He was upset when he woke up alone and found that you're not there?" she tried to find other explanation.

"He could still leave a note."

"Maybe there was an emergency and he had to leave immediately."

"Why are you taking his side?" Sokka scowled.

"Hey, I'm just offering you an alternative, because the other reason would be you're so bad at sex he didn't want to see you anymore!" Suki told him bluntly.

"Ouch," Aang mumbled as he popped a sushi into his mouth.

"You're right. Maybe he just… had an emergency… or he was late for his flight… or something…" Sokka mumbled. Suki patted his back to cheer him up.

"Don't worry. There are many more cute boys in the world, Sokka," she said and rubbed his back. "Now, let's order some meat to make you feel better!"

"Yeah… Okay," Sokka nodded.

Neither of them was paying attention to the television set in the corner of the restaurant playing on mute to a news channel announcing the death of Firelord Azulon.

Sokka would find out about it from his father.

Of course Prime Minister Hakoda of Southern Water Tribe came to the funeral of Firelord Azulon. After all, the Crown Prince Iroh—or rather Firelord Iroh now after his coronation—was an old friend of his back when Hakoda was an ambassador. Hakoda's step-father, Pakku, was in the same Pai Sho enthusiast club back in college with the new Firelord. So of course, he was granted an audience with Iroh after the funeral was over. The Fire Nation Royal Family was gathering in the Dragon Palace after the procession, and Hakoda respected the mourning family. He brought along his children, Katara and Sokka for this. They might not know Iroh's family that well, but he always wanted to introduce the kind older man to his family. After all, Iroh had mentioned his nephew and niece were about the same age as Sokka and Katara.

"Wait here while I talk to the Firelord," Hakoda said to his children before he went the room the head butler of the palace showed him. Sokka and Katara nodded as they sat together in a lavished room, all dark red and gold, the color of Fire Nation.

"Do you think they will arrest me if I steal an ashtray?" Sokka whispered to his sister, glancing the ashtray on the coffee table with Fire Nation's insignia on it.

"Why would you want an ashtray?" Katara whispered back, half-way wondering why were they whispering when no one else in the room except for them. Probably because Sokka wanted to steal from the palace.

"I don't know. Just a thought," her brother shrugged. "Man, this place is huge." He looked around the room. He wasn't sure what the room was supposed to be used for, but it was full of antique furnitures, including the couch they were sitting on.

It was so different from the Southern Water Tribe. Though they were no longer living in tents (like the way people always stereotyped them as such), the housing and buildings back home were much simpler. As the son and daughter of the Prime Minister, they had a nice house to live in with Gran Gran. But the Dragon Palace was a whole different level. The place was huge, consisted of several other buildings connected to the main one, covering a large area in the highest part of Caldera City.

Katara used the chance to look around the room, wandering to the window that was facing the inner garden of the palace where there was a duck pond in the middle. Neither of them was prepared when the door to the room was opened and a young man was standing in the door way.

He was quite tall with lithe figure, dressed in black for mourning with bespoke suits that fit his figure nicely. His dark hair was a bit messy, with bangs framing a handsome face that was marred with scar on the left eye. Before Katara could say anything, Sokka already jumped to his feet.

"You!" her brother hissed angrily.

The young man blinked before realization hit and he looked loss for words.

"Sokka…?" the young man asked tentatively, as if he wasn't sure. "How… What are you doing here…?"

"What am I doing here… What about you? You just left that morning—" but Sokka was cut off when an old man showed up, he was wearing a traditional Fire Nation clothes with his hair pulled into top knot.

"Prince Zuko, is something wrong?" the man asked, looking at Sokka and Katara with a bit of wariness. Katara noted there was a jian—a straight sword—hanging from his belt, though whether it was fully functional or just ceremonial, she wasn't so sure. And also… Prince Zuko…?

"Ah, it's okay, Master Piandao. These are my… friends," the Prince said quickly. "Are you looking for uncle? He's still in the meeting with Prime Minister Hakoda."

"I see. I shall find Mr. Jee then," the man bowed politely in which Prince Zuko quickly returned before he faced Sokka once again.

"Sorry about that…" Prince Zuko mumbled awkwardly, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Wait, wait… Hold on… You're a Prince?!" Sokka let out a pathetic screech as he stared at Prince Zuko, looking all speechless. Katara was confused at the reaction at first until she recognized the name as the guy Sokka had been pining over these past few days and Suki nick-named as "One-night Stand Guy". Katara had to admit, Zuko sure was cute, though he wasn't exactly her type.

"Uhm… Yeah… I didn't tell you that…?" Zuko asked, still mumbling in embarrassment.

"No. You were leaving without leaving a note or a way to contact you," Sokka said with an accusing tone.

"Sorry. I was thinking about leaving a note, but since you weren't there, I thought… yeah…" he left his sentence hanging, blushing slightly. "And then my security detail came with the news about my grandfather…"

Now Sokka was definitely looked guilty. "Oh… yeah… Sorry to hear that… About your grandfather," he said. Katara had to hold herself back before she marched up to them and shook them both for being too awkward with each other. And here she thought Sokka would at least be smooth and all, from what he told Katara about Zuko.

"Thank you. But still, why are you here?" Zuko looked up to Sokka in confusion.

"We're here with our father, Prime Minister Hakoda. This is my sister by the way, Katara. Katara, this is Zuko," Sokka introduced them. Katara could see the wheels turning in Sokka's head, probably trying to remember the rules about royalties and how to act around them.

"It's nice to meet you, Katara," Zuko offered his hand which Katara shook confidently.

"Nice to meet you too," Katara nodded. "Sokka told me a lot about you," she added with knowing smirk at her brother.

"He did?" Zuko looked surprised as he turned to Sokka.

"I might have mentioned you a few times," Sokka shrugged, trying to play it cool. Katara snorted. More like every time, she thought to herself, but she didn't say anything.

"So you're Prime Minister Hakoda's son," Zuko smiled slightly. "No wonder you look familiar, and your name as well…"

"And you're the Prince of Fire Nation," Sokka said in return. "There seem a lot of things we need to explain to each other, huh?" Sokka smiled at the Prince.

"It seems so," Zuko nodded. "Would you like to join me for tea?"

And of course, Sokka said yes. And with that he dragged Katara along as the third wheel while the two awkward boys reconnecting again. She groaned and praying she could talk to Aang or Suki at the moment and ranted to them of how much pink aura she could see surrounding Sokka and Zuko.

But still, they were cute.

And trust her brother to have a one-night stand with a prince.

As Katara sipped her jasmine tea, she texted Suki and Aang. After all, she didn't want to suffer alone.

A/N: Tell me what do you think~