Iroh smiled benevolently, and Sokka immediately felt intensely uncomfortable.

"Ah, Sokka, excellent. Tea?"

It was phrased as a question, but the look in Iroh's eyes left no room for refusal.

"Yes, please" Sokka replied reluctantly as he sat down on a slender iron chair on the veranda. Iron leaned over the little table and handed him a cup full of a steaming dark brew that smelled faintly of citrus.

"I have come to understand that you are soon to be my son-in-law" Iroh said in a cheery tone as he chose a small cake with blue icing, topped with a delicate white flower made from spun sugar.

"Thanks for the reminder" Sokka muttered as he stirred honey into the tea. Not as if he had spent the past few days trying desperately to forget about it or anything.

"Hmm" Iroh said, now sounding thoughtful.

None of them said anything for several minutes, the silence only interrupted by the clinking of spoons against elegant bone china and the occasional slurp as sokka drank the tea. It was a deep, rich, spicy flavor that he found that he liked. Probably fire nation tea; they did not have such things in the water nation as far as he knew. He helped himself to the little iced cakes as well, finding that they were deliciously light and sweet. Probably to complement the tea, he figured.

After having refilled his cup for the third time, Iroh seemed to think it was time to start the conversation back up.

"I know you are not pleased about this" he said and Sokka snorted in derision. That was the understatement of the age! Iroh went on, as if he hadn't head Sokka's little protest:

"You must understand, Sokka, that it is absolutely necessary."

"Why is it necessary that I marry Zuko?" Sokka said petulantly as he sat his teacup down a little to hard on the saucer. A fine crack immediately appeared in the glaze. "Can't he have someone else?"

"No. It has to be you."

"But why?" Sokka cringed at the whiny tone in his voice.

"Because without you, my nephew will die." Iroh said bluntly.

Zuko stood in the cold water just north of the island, shaking with heat from the fire burning within. He had waded in up to his waist, but even though Ty Lee insisted it was frigid it did not help at all to calm the roaring inferno just under his skin. Indeed, the water coming into contact with his body immediately boiled away into steam, shrouding the immediate area in a fine grey mist.

"Please come up your majesty" Ty Lee called from where she stood on the beach, wrapped up in a thick coat and shivering in the cold night wind. Zuko made a face.

"Get over here and I'll warm you up" he called and if it wasn't for the fact that she could see beads of sweat gleaming on his bare torso she would have taken it for his usual teasing. Now it just made her even more worried. Zuko was one of the strongest fire benders she knew, but that only made the Ner Tamid burn hotter within him. If he did not find his nichoach soon… She didn't want to think about that. Ever.

She dipped one of her bare toes into the sea and jumped back with a shriek as the water immediately chilled her skin.

"Nope!" she cried back. "Nope, nope, nope, nope!"

"Coward!" He yelled and waded in a bit further, now up to his chest.

"Yes!" she called, "in this instance!" He made a rude gesture, but otherwise seemed to ignore her. The steam was growing hotter around them, and Ty Lee started to wonder if she was going to have to send someone to fetch an ice bucket or twenty.

"It's not going to help, your majesty!" She cried desperately. "Come up and I'll get you an ice bath!" She was reasonably sure that Zuko rolled his eyes, but she couldn't see him through the steam.

"Last time we tried that it evaporated before I'd gotten fully in the tub!" he yelled.

"Yes but you hadn't spent an hour in the cold sea then! You have now!" She felt reasonably confident that she could hear him mutter a curse, but then she felt relieved at hearing the noise she connected to him wading back towards the shore.

When he stood in front of her he was still sweating, his skin pink from the heat, but not as badly as before she'd dragged him to the beach. The heat rolling of him in waves was still enough to make her take a step back.

"Ice bath" she said grimly, "preferably two, if we can find enough ice." He wobbled precariously and she instinctively dove forward to support him, even though touching him felt like sticking her hand into a brazier.

"Of course we can" Zuko said haughtily even as he sagged against her shoulder. "I am the King of Fire Nation. If I want ice, they'll give me ice."

Sokka laid awake, staring at the ceiling and listening to his sister's deep, even breaths from the bed on the other side of the room. He still didn't know what to say to her, hell he didn't even know what to think. It wasn't very fair of Iroh to dump this into his lap, he thought snidely. "Without you, Zuko will die" Iroh had said, and for a moment Sokka felt like letting the jerk die. Except, not really.

He rolled over, punching his pillow in frustration. This wasn't fair! He had plans, curse it! He was going to find a nice girl, settle down, have a couple of kids… not become royal consort to the King of the Fire Nation!

Then again, being royal consort didn't sound so bad. A big palace, fancy food, getting to laze around all day, have sex with Zuko each night… he sat up, startled. Since when did he want to have sex with Zuko? The guy was rude, cranky, obsessed, intimidating… intense, passionate, loyal, intelligent… Sokka shook his head determinedly. No way was he attracted to that scarred, bald… freak! He had yellow eyes for pity's sake! Who even had that!?

Not that they were yellow, not really. They were more like a deep, rich amber, or the bright light of a freshly lit candle. And the scar only accentuated the elegant nose, the full, lush mouth, the…

Sokka felt back against the pillow again, groaning. Okay, so he wanted to bang Zuko. Big deal. Anyone with eyes in their head and a smidgen of ambition wanted to bang Zuko. That didn't mean he wanted to marry him!

Except Katara had given her word that he would.

Damn it.