a/n: Here's chapter two. Haru, Tao, and the Duke are still nowhere to be seen. Hope you like it. Please review afterwards, thank you!
Zuko and Aang had returned from the ruins late in the day, both boys in incredibly high spirits as they showed the rest of the group their...dance, for lack of a better word. Sokka had teased them mercilessly, as was his nature, but in all seriousness, it did look impressive.
Well, as far as he could tell. Not that he would know if it was impressive, his knowledge of bending and bending history limited to what he heard from others. But still. It looked impressive.
And since the day they'd first crossed paths in Sokka's own village, he'd never seen the firebender look happier. Not smug, or haughty, or righteous, but just...happy.
Sokka wasn't concerned about Zuko's feelings or anything like that. It was just in his nature to observe, and he was more perceptive than his sister and the others gave him credit for.
When they ate dinner that night (fueled by a fire that Aang proudly created himself), Zuko sat with them, instead of just near them, and even joined in the conversation a bit. Mostly his words were directed at Aang, who it seemed would never tire of telling and re-telling everything that had happened that day. Even Katara's mood was light as she laughed at the airbender's impression of Zuko stuck to the ceiling. But occasionally, she'd glance at Zuko, and her face would darken. Zuko was perceptive, too. He could easily see that there was at least one person sitting around the fire who didn't want him to be there.
Tonight, though, Zuko didn't seem to care what Katara or anyone else thought of him. The way his face lit up when he told them all how his uncle had protected the dragons (Toph paid close attention to him, this time), he seemed as if he didn't have a care in the world. Sokka liked him that way.
Only because, y'know, a happy Zuko is much less likely to burn the pants off of you when he's finally had enough harassment for the day.
"Somebody's in a good mood," Sokka said, by way of observation. Zuko was sitting in the alcove again, lacking a fire this time, except for the small flame that he flicked on and off on his palm. He looked up and smiled. Fire on
"Yeah, well, it's been a good day."
"Yeah." Sokka said, sitting down. "Yep."
"...sure has." Fire off. There was a lull in the conversation. And then–
"Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Sokka changed the subject abruptly, turning sharply to face the other boy.
"No. Do you?" Zuko's words were blunt. Fire on.
"Er...well, no. But's it's freakin' late, I know that much."
"What's your point?" Fire off.
"It's...late. People sleep. You're not sleeping." Sokka said with a whine, as if stating the obvious should fix everything.
"I told you before. I can't." Fire on, fire off, rapidly this time.
"Can't, or won't?" Sokka pressed.
"Can't." Zuko's voice took on a dangerous edge. Sokka, despite growing up with Katara, never really learned to quit while he was ahead.
"Won't, you mean. I think you're lying."
"Can't"
"Won't!" he said in a sing-song voice.
"It's CAN'T!" Zuko shouted. The flame in his hand flicked on and flared upwards suddenly, singeing the ceiling. Sokka coughed from the sudden smoke.
"Shhh, you'll wake everyone."
"You—!"
"Nightmares again?" Another abrupt subject change. Sokka was a master at them. Zuko just nodded. "What are they about?"
Zuko regarded him for a long moment. Sokka tried to meet his stare, but after a few seconds he had to break away from the intense golden eyes. Instead, he fidgeted.
"If I can't tell you, I can't tell anyone I guess." He mumbled. Sokka wondered if that meant he was going to get to hear it or not. But then Zuko continued. "When I decided to stop chasing the Avatar, I lost everything. I lost my entire purpose in life. Today I found that purpose again. I'm supposed to help the Avatar."
"What's this have to do with your nightmares?" Zuko just held a hand up, and continued.
"But despite that, I've still lost everything I once considered important to me. And in my sleep, I lose them all again, over and over. Sometimes I'm standing in front of my father, and he's got his hand raised in the air. I know what comes next, but I'm unable to do anything to change the outcome; sometimes my mother is there and he's hurting her and there's nothing I can do, and I'm forced to watch. In my dreams I have to watch my mother be tortured and killed!" His voice had grown tighter as he spoke, and the last few words were difficult to understand.
"Zuko..."
Zuko looked at him. Sokka was a bit started to see that his eyes were wet with tears. He paused, just for a moment, to reflect upon the choices he made in life that must have led him to end up here, comforting Zuko. He couldn't find a correlation.
"You know, when the fire nation attacked our village, our mother was killed."
Zuko frowned.
"Your sister told me that, a long while ago. I'm sorry for your loss, but I had nothing to do with that attack. I—"
"No, listen. We lost everything that day," he said. Zuko stared, in slight confusion. "But, that was years and years ago. And look at us now! We're doing fine! Well, depending on your definition of fine. I mean, we're holed up in the ruins of an abandoned air temple like sitting ducks waiting for your psychopathic sister to come and kill us, but mentally, we're 100 percent!"
Zuko blinked. Sokka sighed.
"I'm trying to say, time heals all wounds." Unconsciously, Zuko reached a hand up to feel the scar over his eye. Sokka balked. "Ahh, I didn't mean it literally. Yeah, burn marks will probably last forever. Sorry about that—"
"No, you're right." Zuko sounded calm.
"I am?"
"This scar used to be a mark of shame. A constant reminder that I had failed the fire nation and my father."
"Your father?" Sokka questioned. Zuko continued, interruption unheeded. He talked as if he was realizing something for the first time.
"But now I realize that I never failed him. He gave this scar to a kid who tried to hard to please him, who he knew would never fight back against his father. He's the one who failed. Now it's a mark of how much better I am than he his."
"Your father gave you that?!"
"Yes."
"Holy—wow."
"Please...it's past now, like I said. I'm...healed. Sort of. A little bit." Zuko seemed weary of the subject.
Sokka merely hmm'ed in response from lack of anything else to say. There was another long span of quiet, but this one was quite comfortable. The air was warm and from their safe place in the temple they could hear all the distant sounds of the forest. He could feel Zuko next to him, but neither said a word.
He was just beginning to nod off, when he suddenly was jerked wide awake by Zuko's voice.
"Sokka?"
"Hmmmyeah?" he murmured sleepily.
"Thanks." He spoke quietly, almost shyly.
"Fer what?"
"For listening. Today, and before."
Sokka just looked at him. He was awake now, at least temporarily.
"It's not a problem. Anytime." Those were the words that came out, but his brain wanted him to say something else. He wished he could figure out what.
"It...helps." Sokka didn't know what to say to that. He changed the subject again.
"You're still not going to sleep tonight, though?"
"I don't think so."
"Be careful. Aang tried not sleeping once. It was...bad."
"Thank you." Zuko smiled. Sokka gaped. Two 'thank you's and another smile from the firebender, all in the span of a minute? The world as he knew it was crumbling around him!
"Well, at the very least, come back to Appa and watch the rest of us sleep," Sokka smirked, "Katara thinks it's suspicious that you hang around here at night."
"How did you explain you being with me?"
Sokka flushed at the memory of waking up snuggling Zuko's leg. Thank god for the dark. "Apparently, I sleepwalk."
"Do you, really?"
"I did last night." He grinned conspiratorially at Zuko hand extended a hand to help the other boy stand up. They walked back to the rest of the group in amicable silence. Then, just as Appa's great furry hide came into view, Zuko stopped.
"What is it?" Sokka asked, once he'd noticed.
"I thought it might go without saying, but..."
"But what?"
"Meeting like this...it's secret, right?"
"It is if nobody knows about it."
"I've never spoke so much about myself to anyone before."Zuko half-snapped. Except for Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee, and god knows what they'll do with the information now that I've turned traitor. "I don't want anyone to know about it,"
"Then...nobody will," Sokka said, and it was simple as that. The water tribe boy turned back around and walked towards Appa. Zuko followed.
Sokka quickly settled in, leaning snugly against Appa's thick fur. He sighed in contentment. "Sweet sleep," he said, nearly gone. "Goodnight."
Zuko stared in wonderment at Sokka. Or perhaps it was amusement. Either way, he seemed to have little choice in the matter and leaned against the bison as well.
"Goodnight..." he whispered back, but Sokka was already asleep. Zuko shifted a bit to face him.
Definitely not what he expected.
The last thing Zuko remembered seeing, before his eyes closed against his will was Sokka's sleeping face.
"Rise and shine, sleepy heads."
Who? Sokka heard the voice, but he was so happy where he was right now. So warm. To move even an inch seemed like an act of sacrilege.
"Nggg frum pah," he told the voice, and burrowed his face in the warmth. Appa was so warm. Hmm. Sleepy. Appa's fur breathed on his ear and wrapped an arm around his back, pulling him closer.
"Ehhhhmmfur?" Sokka mumbled, opening his eyes partway. His world was blurry and unfocused.
"Nnnm. Warm," Appa's fur said. Sokka agreed. There was a pause and Appa's fur became very still.
Sokka woke up.
He pulled away from the warmth and found himself staring back at a pair of golden eyes. The eyes searched him, trying to find focus, and suddenly they became clear and opened wide.
"Good morning," Zuko said, his expression was befuddlingly blank.
"Morning," Sokka replied. He turned to look at his surroundings. Katara was standing in front of them, arms crossed. He couldn't tell if she was angry or amused. Toph stood next to her, and expression of expectant glee on her face. He looked back. Zuko was right next to him. There was no other way to describe it.
They were cuddling.
Sokka had his hands resting on Zuko's chest, Zuko's arms were around Sokka's waist, and their legs — well, their legs Sokka was going to have a fun time trying to sort out. Now that he was focusing on it, he seemed to have lost all feeling in his right leg from the knee down. More fun.
He looked back towards his sister and Toph's maniacal grin. They seemed to be waiting for something.
Back to Zuko, who still had not said a word past good morning nor made any gesture to move. Sokka blinked.
"This whole situation seems very familiar," he said calmly.
Katara groaned and Toph sighed loudly in disappointment as the two boys attempted to untangle themselves. Sokka stood up first, opened his mouth to say something, and promptly fell back down.
"Pins and needles! Pins and needles!" he cried, clutching his leg. Behind him, Zuko was dusting dirt and Appa hair off his shoulders. Katara tossed her braid back and frowned.
"Anyway, don't make a habit of it."
"Wasn't trying to," Sokka glared. The effectiveness of it was somewhat lessened by the fact that he was still on the ground, holding his leg.
"Okay, everyone. This is the plan today—" Katara turned to face everybody.
"Hey, hey, wait a minute," Sokka said, shaking off the prickling feeling and standing up, "I'm the plan guy here."
"Alright. What's the plan, then?"
"Well, it's...we're. Tell them, Katara." Katara smiled and resumed her train of thought.
"Let's not forget why we're here, everyone. Aang, you've got to concentrate on improving your bending. That's the main thing. How do you feel?"
"Uh, okay, I guess." The airbender scratched his head, "I just need to keep practicing everything."
"You and Toph haven't done much earthbending lately, have you? Why don't you two go find that room that Haru was talking about the other day, then?"
Aang nodded, unable to find fault with that.
"How's the food supply?"
Sokka, who was closest to their bags, answered.
"We're almost out of rice...this fruit should be good for a few more days, though," he looked up from the bag, "and of course, we lack meat. Again."
"Thank you for volunteering to go find us some."
"What should I do?" Zuko asked.
"Go with my brother, to keep him out of trouble," Katara said distractedly, as she watched Sokka try and pull his boomerang out from where it was stuck under Appa's paw, lose his grip, fly backwards, and smack his head on the stone column halfway across the room. "I mean, so he can keep you out of trouble," she corrected herself quickly.
As she ran to catch up with Toph and Aang, Zuko wondered what it would take to get the waterbender to trust that his intentions were good.
Cutting through the thick underbrush of the forest, Sokka hummed to himself. There was nothing like hunting, chasing the noble prey, dragging its noble carcass back home. There was certainly nothing more manly.
"Huh, not too many animals around."
"Maybe they were all scared off by your humming."
"Maybe they were all scared off by your face—" Sokka retorted instantly, "—um, sorry."
"No harm done."
Sokka kept on humming, partly out of pride, but a faint noise nearby cut him off.
"Did you hear that?" Rustle, rustle.
"Hear what?"
"That." More rustling. Growls.
"It's coming from over there."
They inched closer towards the sound.
"What do you think it is?"
"A harmless rabbit?" Louder growling. Then, silence. Zuko and Sokka held their breaths.
Then something lunged out at them.
End Chapter 2