The ride to the boiling rock was long and utterly boring to the ex Fire Prince, and being with his Water Tribe ally wasn't a bundle of joy either. He had to give him credit though, the boy was at least trying to be friendly, and he knew that was more than he could ask for. It was odd to him that the boy could be so kind, where as his sister didn't give him the time of day, and when she did it was only to yell at him, which he knew well enough he deserved.

It still surprised him when the boy would strike up a conversation, though most were just about how pretty the clouds looked.

Hearing a low whistle Zuko turned to his companion.

"What?" He asked.
"What Oh, I didn't say anything. You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons."
"No kidding?"
"Yep. A balloon. But for War."
" If there's one thing my Dad's good at it's War."
"Yeah, it seems to run in the family." Sokka said nonchalantly.
"Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that." Zuko defended.
"I know, I know, you've changed."
"I meant my Uncle. He was more of a Father to me. And I really let him down."
"I think your Uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard."
"It wasn't that hard." Zuko admitted.
"Really You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about ?"
"Well I did have a girlfriend. Mai."
"That gloomy girl who sighs a lot ?"
"Yeah. Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it."
"My first girlfriend turned into the Moon."
Zuko looked up to the sky. "That's rough buddy."

A small silence fell between them, but Sokka had to break the peace by speaking his mind and asked,

"Did you have any girlfriends before Mai?" he voiced his curiosity, then gave a toothy grin at the dumbfounded look on Zuko's face.

"I…er…had a few…" He quickly became deeply immersed in his Firebending.

"If you keep doing that we're going to fly into outer space," Sokka said, inquiring his Firebending. Zuko reluctantly stopped and answered his question.

"I never needed another girl, I've known Mai since we were kids, her and Ty Lee were always with Azula." He rolled his eyes and leaned on the side of the basket, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What, you didn't have one other girl? There must have been-" He cut himself off and giggled to himself. "Or was it a guy?"

"WHAT!" Zuko nearly fell off the balloon, he tripped on his own feet and ended up sitting on his butt. "That's idiotic! Where would you even get such an idea!?" He demanded to know. Sokka only held his sides with laughter.

"You wouldn't tell me so…" Sokka broke out.

"No. That's stupid and idiotic and…" Zuko scrambled to his feet, wishing deeply he could have fallen over board.

"So were there some girls?" Sokka asked again, more eagerly. Zuko hesitated, but answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I went on a date when I was in Ba Sing Se." He admitted.

"And…?" He prompted.

"And that's it. For the last three years I've been to busy traking down the Av-I mean Aang, that I didn't have time for girls." He shrugged, he still wasn't used to calling the Avatar by name.

"Like you didn't notice 'em," Sokka said sarcastically, rolling his eyes to add emphasis. Zuko grinned, he wasn't that much older than him but it still made a difference on just how much he noticed about a girl. Those included now, when Katara was yelling at him or making him do extra chores, he couldn't help but notice her. But them again she was the only girl with the group, besides Toph, who didn't really count as a girl, much less a girl he though was-

He was pulled back to reality as Sokka spoke again.

"How many?"

"What?"

"How many girls have you dated?" He asked again, the look on his face was threatening, like he could beat his number. Zuko though a moment, lifting his hand to count on his fingers, mostly just to annoy Sokka, and judging by the way his face fell it worked.

Zuko chuckled.

"Just two. You?"

"Tw-elve." He answered with a toothy grin.

"Yeah right," Zuko called his bluff. Sokka grinned sheepishly.