The Tale of Sokka

索卡的故事

Sokka saw the looks. Since he'd been old enough to notice, women have shown him variations of those looks and he'd responded to enough of them to know what they meant. The problem this time was that his sister was the one transmitting them and the Angry Jerk was the one receiving them. Fire Lord or no Fire Lord, he was still an Angry Jerk. Husband or no husband, there was no way his sister would become the Angry Jerk's bedmate.

They were much too fond of each other for Sokka's liking. There was nothing in particular to note, but he knew Katara well enough to know that she actually liked Zuko. She fought with him, as any Waterbender worth her salt would, but she also touched him at every opportunity. No funny business, much to Sokka's relief, but a simple touch to his hand, his arm, his shoulder. The Fire Lord didn't invite her attentions and, to Sokka's eyes, didn't respond to them either. He wasn't sure what made him angrier; the fact that his sister was wasting her time on the Fire Nation Jerk or that the Fire Nation Jerk didn't think it was worth his time to pay any heed to the most beautiful girl in the Water Tribe. His father thought he'd lost his mind when he started staying over at the residence, but he needed to keep an eye on the situation.

He was absolutely adamant about accompanying Katara whenever Zuko was present. His resolve irritated her enough to result in his feet getting frozen to the ground more than once a day. On the other hand, Zuko didn't seem to mind that Sokka was around. That only irritated the warrior more; it was as if the Fire Lord had deemed him harmless enough to keep around.

Like some sort of pet.

A flying lemur of a sort.

An ostrich horse even.

It was only a matter of time until matters came to a head and after Sokka made sure Katara was busy elsewhere, he decided it was time to have a talk with his brother-in-law, man to man. He knew that Zuko and Aang were at the proposed construction site for the Fire Nation's embassy and he headed in that direction, determination in every step.

He found them in the edges of the city, standing in the middle of an empty lot, deep in conversation about something or other. Sokka was sure it was important but it could wait.

"Hey," he called out.

Zuko and Aang turned towards him. Aang smiled in greeting and lifted a hand in a wave. Zuko merely looked at him.

"Look at this design, Sokka," Aang invited, holding out the scroll in his hands. "Iroh had it sent..."

"If you so much as touch my sister, I'll knock that pointy little hairclip right off your ponytail," Sokka said to Zuko, interrupting his friend.

Zuko's expression was neutral, but his eyes narrowed.

"Has the cold finally gotten to that sorry excuse of a brain you've got?" he demanded.

"What's wrong, Sokka?" Aang asked, concerned.

"Aang, you're Katara's best friend. If we don't watch out for her, this guy is gonna turn her into the captain of his harem," Sokka accused.

"What kind of stories are going around down here?" Zuko suddenly raged, the snow under his feet beginning to melt. "I...don't...have...a...HAREM."

"My sister has a big heart, but sometimes it gets in the way of her brain," Sokka said, jabbing a finger in Zuko's face. "She's protected your country, protected your kids, protected you and you can't even give her so much as a thank you. What the hell kind of treatment is that?"

"What goes on between me and my wife is our business."

"Your wife? Now she's your wife?"

"She has been for the last nine months."

"And she's been my sister for twenty-six years."

"What do you want?" Zuko snorted, glaring at him. "A plaque? She's my wife now and you have no say in her life."

"She's not like one of your metal monstrosities. Her life is her life," Sokka retorted.

"Exactly and I'm in it whether you like it or not. Deal with it."

Sokka had fists up before he even realized it and Zuko jumped to his feet, steam curling up from his raised hands. Aang looked from one to the other, brow furrowed.

"What just happened?" he muttered.

When both men took a step towards the other, he slid between them, one hand on Sokka's fist, the other palm out towards the Fire Lord.

"Wait a second," Aang said, ever the peacemaker. "Katara won't like it if the two of you beat each other senseless over this."

"Out of the way, Avatar," Zuko said, ignoring him.

"Yeah, Aang," Sokka said, not happy to find himself in agreement with his opponent. "There's only one way to settle this."

Aang had the presence of mind to duck when Sokka threw the first blow. He rolled out of the way when Zuko kicked a leg out.

"Is that all you got?" Sokka taunted, hopping on the balls of his feet. "Don't hold back on my account. I've taken Firebenders down before, in case you've forgotten."

"Shockingly enough, I have," Zuko said, flinging a lick of fire at Sokka.

With a yell and the unmistakable puffing sound of parka hitting parka, Sokka threw himself at the Fire Lord. He heard the exhalation of breath as he knocked the wind out of the other man, but also felt the heat of that air graze his cheek. Fist curled, he aimed straight for Zuko's face.

But Zuko wasn't one of the Fire Nation's greatest combatants for nothing. He threw his head forward before Sokka's fist could make contact, his forehead smashing into Sokka's nose. Sokka saw stars and was barely able to dodge the blow to his temple, catching it on his jaw instead. He rolled off Zuko and was on his feet, ignoring the blood gushing from his nose.

"Had enough?" Zuko asked, smirking at him, hands at ready.

"Not until you've got one to match."

"I'll be here in case you need me," Aang called out from somewhere on the sidelines.

Neither man paid him any attention.

"If I had my swords, you'd be in a thousand pieces," Zuko said as he landed a kick into Sokka's gut.

"If I had my boomerang, your head would be facing east and your feet would be facing west," Sokka shot back, grabbing the offending foot and twisting it.

But Zuko turned with his ankle and using Sokka as leverage, he kicked up with his other foot, missing Sokka's face by inches. It had become obvious that Zuko was refraining from bending in order to keep a level playing field and that irritated Sokka. He wanted a real fight and this wasn't going to cut it.

"Time out for weapons," he managed to say as he dodged Zuko's fist.

"It'll take me longer to get my swords than it would be beat you," Zuko said, but he lowered his hands.

Five minutes later, armed, Sokka's nose stuffed with cotton, and with another audience member in the form of Toph, they faced off again.

"It's like watching two monkey-chickens fight over a coconut," she mused, sitting on the stool Aang made for her.

"That's actually a flattering description," Aang replied.

"Hey, try not to kill each other, alright?" Toph said as they circled each other. "We'd have a lot of explaining to do, not only to a country, but also to one angry Waterbending Master if one of you dies."

"Aang will save us," Sokka said and then he leapt.

Boomerang met twin broadswords in midair. Sokka was aware that when it came to style, Zuko had him outmatched, but he hoped that what he lacked in grace, he made up for in righteous indignation...and in the complete trust he had in his boomerang. He blocked a blow that would have surely separated his arm from his shoulder, and his blue eyes laughed into Zuko's. That seemed to enrage the other man and Zuko attacked with renewed vigor. His swords caught the sun's rays and were too fast for Sokka to track, but he'd sparred against Zuko before and he knew what to watch for. The swords moved a great deal faster than the man.

Sokka flung his boomerang and pulled out his bone knife. Zuko smirked at the sight of it against his swords.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really," Sokka returned.

Sokka was mobile enough with his single knife that he could get underneath Zuko's guard. Zuko couldn't hide his shock at that, but he was fast enough to avoid getting his parka—or worse—ripped. His swords got close enough to Sokka for him to feel them disturb the air around him. Yet, Sokka kept moving forward, ducking and dodging, weaving in and out of Zuko's center so that the Fire Lord was constantly having to change position. From his gritted teeth and irritated expression, Zuko was not happy about the situation.

"So you want to play with my sister, do you?" Sokka exclaimed.

"Who says I'm playing with her?" Zuko responded with a swing of his sword. "You need a new hobby instead of following her around all day."

"I'm protecting her," Sokka said, catching Zuko's wrist in his hand, twisting it so he dropped the sword. "She cares too much."

Using his trapped hand as a pivot point, Zuko swung his body outward and avoided the knife Sokka thrust towards him. He straightened that same arm and pushed forward, his open fist slamming into Sokka's chest as he kicked Sokka's foot out from behind. Sokka fell, hitting the back of his head hard enough to make his vision gray around the edges. He blinked rapidly as he stared up at Zuko.

"That's her way. She's a big girl. She can take care of herself," Zuko said breathlessly as he stabbed his remaining sword into the ground next to Sokka's neck. "And I'm not playing with her."

Sokka ignored the nausea threatening to make him lose his lunch all over Zuko's boots and ignored the cold steel perilously close to his jugular. He hooked one foot behind Zuko's knee, while his other heel caught Zuko in the gut. Zuko lost his grip on his sword and fell flat on his back. The sword remained upright for a moment before falling on Sokka's face. Fortunately, the flat side rather than the sharp edge hit him, but with his newly broken nose, a feather landing on him would have hurt just as much.

"Are you finished?" Aang asked.

Both men groaned. Then Zuko kicked out with one foot and managed to land a blow to Sokka's hip. Sokka returned the favor by grabbing the offending foot and twisting it viciously to one side hard enough that he was sure he'd sprained Zuko's ankle.

"I'm not playing with her," Zuko repeated tightly, shaking his foot from Sokka's grasp.

Sokka sat up. "Then why do you act like such a...a..."

"Fire Lord?" Toph supplied.

"Firebender?" Aang added.

Sokka considered those answers. Zuko sat up, wincing. He started to stand but seemed to think better of it when his injuries protested.

"I'm not explaining myself to you," he said, wiping at his cut lip.

"I'm her brother," Sokka said.

"We went over that already," Zuko retorted.

"Alright. Well, around here, that means something," Sokka said, standing. "We're family and that means something."

"I know," Zuko said, sounding tired. "Then let me say this one last time as family. I'm not playing with her. Alright?"

Sokka stared at him. That was the third time Zuko had defended his intentions towards Katara. He was bleeding, in pain, and more disheveled than Sokka had ever seen him, but there he was, continuing to defend his relationship with Katara. This situation was not one Sokka had prepared himself for and all he could do was stare.

"Sokka," Aang said quietly from where he sat. "I think he's telling the truth."

"Thank you for that vote of confidence, Avatar," Zuko sighed.

Sokka wiped the blood from his chin and stood up. He went to where Zuko sat and the two men exchanged one long look. Blowing out a breath, Sokka looked away...but held out a hand. There was a beat of hesitation before Zuko took it and he let Sokka pull him to his feet.

"If you so much as make her cry one tear, we'll be right back here," Sokka warned.

"She's so lucky to have a brother like you," Zuko said sarcastically.

He started to move away but Sokka didn't let go of his hand. Sokka cleared his expression of anger and animosity—he only wanted honesty and he made sure Zuko knew that. Zuko started to respond with his usual venom, but the look on Sokka's face seemed to give him pause. He straightened and squeezed the hand in his grip.

"I don't want to make her unhappy and I won't," he said simply.

Sokka let him go. Zuko glanced over at Aang who had a strange expression on his own face as he looked back at the Fire Lord.

"Do you remember what we were talking about?" Zuko asked him.

"Uh...don't you want to get cleaned up first?" Aang asked.

"I'll be fine. We can walk and talk. What you were saying about this..."

They walked off—though Zuko hobbled more than walked, leaving Sokka and Toph in the empty lot. Toph held out a white handkerchief for him to take. He snatched it out of her hand and used it to stem the blood from his split lip.

"You can keep it," she said dryly.

"What's this world coming to?" Sokka said, his voice coming out muffled and nasal. "My sister and the Fire Lord...who's next?"

Toph put a hand on his arm and started to lead him back to the Chief's residence.

"Who knows," she said. "You can think about it when you're getting your nose reset."

Sokka let her lead him.

"Toph...was he telling the truth?"

"You don't need me to answer that for you, Sokka. Just get used to it: your sister isn't coming back to stay."

"That's what I was afraid of," Sokka said sadly.

-fin-