a/n: Here's chapter three. It took a little longer to write this time, sorry about that! I also want to apologize because this chapter is so pitifully short — about half the length of my usual ones. Think of it as an intermission chapter, I guess. Stuff will actually happen in the next one.

The thing towered over them, its shadow falling over the two boys. Distantly, it resembled a bear, except for the huge, pulsing sac that hung at the bear's neck, covered in tiny spines.

"Zuko," Sokka began slowly, "What is that?"

"That," Zuko replied equally as slowly, his voice barely above a whisper, "is a pufferbear."

"A what?!" he shouted, momentarily forgetting his place of danger in light of the ridiculous name. Zuko panicked and clamped his hand over Sokka's mouth.

"Shh! Just back away slowly."

"Mmmph mm mpf,"

The pufferbear snorted and a low rumble came from deep within its throat, making the sac around its neck vibrate. Thick strings of drool hung from the animal's mouth.

"They can't see very well," Zuko explained as they took tiny steps backward, "and generally, they're harmless—"

"Pah!" Sokka said, having finally worked himself free from Zuko's grasp, "If they're harmless, what are we creeping around for, then?" He pulled his boomerang out of its holster.

"No, don't—"

The pufferbear looked around for the source of the sudden movement, sniffed the air again, and growled. Its sac expanded rapidly, ballooning up to a spiky, rounded ball. Sokka stopped mid-throw in shock.

"The pufferbear makes itself look bigger if it feels threatened. It's a defense mechanism."

"Hah. That just makes it an easier target." Sokka smirked and let the boomerang fly.

"You fool!"

The sound of the explosion that followed was comparable to a bomb being detonated. The noise was deafening, and the bright light and ringing silence that followed soon after may have been why it took Sokka a few moments to realize that he was covered in tiny bits of the pufferbear's insides.

"Eewwww." he shuddered, trying to brush off the blood and goop. He looked around for Zuko, who had wisely ducked for cover. "What are you—"

"Another thing the pufferbear does when it feels threatened — it explodes."

"What a completely messed up animal." Sokka said, wiping chunk of internal organs from his face.

"The good news is that the rest of it is perfectly edible. This should be enough meat to last us for a while."

"What do you mean the rest of it?"

"The pufferbear's sac is full of toxic poison. By the way, you might want to clean yourself up, since you've got it all over you."

"What?! You could have told me that first!" Sokka jumped around in panic.

"Relax. As long as you don't let it get absorbed into your skin, you'll be fine. Or was it the other way around? Anyway—"

"What do I do?!" Sokka grabbed Zuko and shook him by the shoulders.

"There's a river over there," Zuko pointed. Sokka took off like a rocket, dust trailing in his wake. Zuko smiled to himself. Once the water tribesman was out of sight, he turned to the carcass of the pufferbear. "Now, how are we supposed to carry this back to the temple?"

It took him longer than he thought, cleaning up the carcass and stripping away what was edible from the parts that weren't, but he was finally finished and now made his way towards the river, dragging the bear's meat on a tarp behind him. It was too heavy for him to lift by himself.

The sound of gently running water reached his ears as he neared the river. From his memory, the river was wide and shallow, with a weak current. He brushed aside a palm frond and it came into view.

"Sokka?" he ventured, and the boy in question looked up.

"Hey, I'm almost done," Sokka said, and went back to washing. The water went up to his stomach, but it was so clear and pristine that it was obvious the boy was wearing nothing. Well, why should he be? His clothes, washed free of the pufferbear's poison, were laid out to dry on the riverbank.

Zuko had never really looked at the water tribe boy before, but right now it seemed that he couldn't look anywhere else. In his head, he'd always scoffed at Sokka's string bean physique – the boy was made of noodles compared to him – but now, upon closer inspection, Sokka was anything but string bean. Skinny, yes, but perhaps lean was a better word. His arms, shoulders, every inch of him looked strong and Zuko thought perhaps he'd underestimated how hard the boy worked. And lower — no, he wouldn't go there. Not today. He forced himself to keep his view at eye level.

Which was perhaps a mistake. Zuko had been staring, and Sokka had been watching Zuko stare. It was nearing dusk by this time, the sun a blazing orb resting on the horizon, and the light reflecting off the water made Sokka's eyes, a clear icy blue, shine and seem to look straight through him.

Sokka smirked.

"What?" he asked, voice full of faux innocence.

Zuko caught hold of himself and tried to shake off the blush he felt approaching.

"Nothing," he said snappishly, "Are you done yet? You've been in there forever."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm done," Sokka made his way to the riverbank. Zuko turned away as he stepped out of the water and pulled his clothes on. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out, trying to regain some measure of composure. When Sokka's voice was suddenly right next to his ear, he nearly jumped ten feet in the air. "You know," Sokka said, sniffing his clothing, "I got the poison off, but the smell is still there. Yech."

That was exactly what Zuko needed to hear. Sokka, acting his normal airheaded self, to bring Zuko back down to earth. How could he ever have thought—with this guy—it was just ridiculous. He willed the images of Sokka bathing out of his mind.

"Let's just try to get this back before sundown."

"I'm impressed, Sokka," Katara said. Everyone had gathered around to see what the boys had returned with, "I didn't actually expect you to get anything."

"Yeah, well—" Sokka puffed up his chest, trying to look proud.

"You underestimate him," Zuko interjected. Sokka deflated. What? But Zuko had done most of the work — Sokka was sure he'd want to take credit for it, to win over Katara if nothing else.

"Oh, what would you know?" Katara huffed and stalked away.

"I think she likes you," Sokka said, elbowing Zuko in the ribs.

"That's not true," Zuko waved Sokka away, frowning, and walked in the opposite direction of Katara.

"I was...joking...?" he finished weakly. "Augh! Why does everybody have to be so moody?"

"I don't know," said Aang, who grinned widely at Sokka, "Laughter is the best medicine. Or so the monks used to say."

"Ha ha ha...ha." Sokka tried, "Ha...it's not working, Aang. Their depression is seeping into my very pores!" he fell dramatically on the ground, "Moping...is...imminent!"

Aang laughed, and his laughter was catching, and soon Sokka was laughing, too. Zuko had been acting strangely since they'd come back from hunting. And Katara...well, these days, she was just plain impossible to approach. Forget them, anyway.

Well, he tried to forget, but in the case of one firebending prince, the task proved more difficult than Sokka had anticipated. Dinner was eaten (pufferbear was a little gamey, but still tastier than expected) and bedrolls were brought out, fires extinguished.

The soundless hours of the night found Zuko in his secret place, where he'd taken to coming every night since settling at the temple. It was hardly a surprise when Sokka came to join him.

"We really must stop meeting like this," Zuko said, and realized it almost sounded like he was flirting. Sokka didn't seem to notice, as he merely sat down next to Zuko. He had in his hand two apples. He held one out to Zuko, who took it.

"We wouldn't have to, if you'd sleep like a normal person." He yawned. "Do you realize how many precious seconds of dream time I'm losing right now?" Now that was something strange.

"If it's so important to you, why do you keep meeting me here?" he asked. Sokka chuckled and rested his head against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes in thought.

"Why do I, I wonder? I don't know." Zuko took the opportunity of Sokka's closed eyes to observe him. The moonlight seemed to cradle Sokka's skin, casting shadows over every slight curve. Despite the fact that warm air currents wafted through every corridor of the temple, and that Sokka, being from an ice-covered continent, should be used to more extreme weather, small goose bumps were visible on his bare, tanned arms. Zuko had the sudden and irrepressible urge to reach out and see what those arms felt like—

Sokka's eyes flew open.

"Sleep!" he shouted with all of his usual coherency. Zuko nearly fell back from the abruptness of it all. And just what had he been about to do?

"Excuse me?"

"Sleep! I mean, slept. I mean, that is, last night. You slept last night, didn't you?" Sokka spoke so fast he stumbled over all his vowels and consonants.

"Well...I woke up this morning," Zuko said slowly. How could he forget that? "So, it logically follows that I must have fallen asleep."

"Exactly!" Sokka said triumphantly, "and you didn't have any nightmares, did you?"

"Um..." Zuko tried to think, "I guess...I didn't."

"This is a major breakthrough. You could try to sound more excited about it!"

"Hooray?" he tried, "I'm sorry, but I can't get that excited when—" when he was realizing, increasingly, that being around the water tribe boy was making him forget about everything else, nightmares included.

End Chapter 3

Again, sorry about the shortness. It seemed appropriate to end it there. In the next chapter: Azula! Nefarious plots! Blossoming romance! All of this and more...may or may not be appearing.