This chapter and the next chapter will be done in two parts. The first part showing what Sokka's going through and the second showing Zuko's part. Also I have a little history lesson for you guys.

In this chapter I mention the Pleasure Quarters which, as you'll see, are not a part of the Avatar Universe. I came up with idea to use them in this fic when I first started it, after we learned about them in my Japanese history class and I figure I should explain what exactly they are here before anybody gets confused.

Towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate in Japan pleasure quarters were created in the major cities to combat the building resentments and stress levels among the various social classes. The pleasure quarters contained a few things that were actually shown in the Ba Sing Se episodes, tea houses and poetry readings, but there was also shadow puppetry, artistry, and brothels. These areas were meant to ease the stress that was being caused by the country's forward movement into industrialization clashing with its strict Confucian ideals.

During the very end of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Meiji Restoration girls and boys were often kidnapped and sold into prostitution against their will.

Finally, I just want to throw this one thing out there. In Samurai Japan, like in Ancient Greece, it was perfectly acceptable for a Samurai's primary relationship to be with another male as long as that other male was much younger. Since I see a lot of Japanese influence in the Fire Nation I choose to use this fact to justify not making the boys get all weirded out about suddenly liking their own sex and because this is fanfiction I choose to conveniently ignore the fact that a relationship between two males so close in age would actually not be okay.

(The Sun Warriors were totally based on the Ancient Mayans and Aztecs though)

Okay I'm done.

His head was pounding. The pain was what woke him up, dragging him out of the murk and the darkness and back to consciousness. He groaned as his eyes fluttered open and he tried to slide a hand beneath his hair to feel for the source of the throbbing.

"Ugh... Zuko?" His tongue felt thick and dry, too big for his mouth.

His brain was working slowly, not processing things as quickly as normal. He couldn't understand why his hand hadn't reached the back of his head yet. Both hands were still in front of him, together... tied together... tied... he was tied up.

"Not quite." The voice was cold, disdainful and not Zuko, not even angry, enemy Zuko. There was a sharp jab to his ribs and he grunted as he was roughly rolled onto his back by the toe of a boot. "You'll see him again soon enough, long enough to say goodbye anyway."

"Wha...what?" His eyes were open but they had yet to focus. He could just barely make out the large, blurry figure standing above him in the dark.

"I had hoped for a little more of a fight from you. I was quite disappointed." Another kick to his ribs. He grunted and tried to move away but found that he was already against a wall and there was nowhere for him to go.

He didn't recognize the voice or the still blurry features of the man's face and he couldn't comprehend why he was suddenly at the mercy of this stranger. A third kick caught him in the shoulder and he closed his eyes and curled up on his side, trying to block his more important body parts from the man's boot.

"You put yourself in a bad position, kid. Should've kept out of it and let me do my job. If the Fire Lord doesn't die then I don't get paid and I always get paid." Sokka cringed as the man took a step closer to him and kneeled, bringing his face uncomfortably close to the tribesman's. "Don't worry...I'm not going to kill you. I don't do things for free."

The man punctuated that last sentence with a nauseating punch to Sokka's gut, causing the boy to cry out and curl into himself even more.

Sokka's brain finally caught up with the situation and he felt a stab of fear in his chest. This close to the man he could make out the pattern of his clothes, red and black. This was the assassin and Sokka was at his mercy.

The man grabbed Sokka's jaw roughly with one hand while his other hand pulled something from the folds of his uniform. Sokka could see that it was a bottle and he watched with trepidation as the man easily uncorked it with a flick of his thumb. He tilted the tribesman's head back and forced his mouth open before pressing the bottle to his lips.

"Can't have you trying to escape. You're collateral." He explained as Sokka tried to squirm away, his stomach churning uncomfortably at the sick sneer on the man's face. The man tightened his grip and suddenly he could only focus on not choking on the foul liquid that was being poured down his throat.

Mercifully after a few desperate swallows the man pulled the bottle away and let Sokka's head drop to the floor. Sokka coughed and spat some of the liquid onto the ground before he felt his breath come back to him and he stopped convulsing with discomfort. His eyesight, which had never fully focused, began to blur again until he could hardly make out any distinctive shapes.

He felt the man grab him by the shoulders and brutally roll him onto his knees, securing his hands to something in front of him. They were pulled up high enough that he was forced to kneel to be comfortable. A rough piece of cloth was shoved into his mouth and he tried to bite down on the hand but his jaw wouldn't obey him.

His head was swimming but he was just conscious enough to understand that he'd been drugged. He tried to force himself to think clearly so that he could digest his situation and figure a way out of it but the drug induced fog was too thick and he felt his eyelids growing heavy. He slumped against the wall and let them drop, slipping back into unconsciousness.

Zuko walked forward out of the darkness, dressed in all of his Fire Lord regalia, and stared down at him, his face filled with pain and shock. It was the same look that had been on his face when Sokka had verbally slapped him, the last look he'd seen the firebender wearing. Sokka looked away in shame.

"Why are you pushing me away, Sokka?"

"I'm not! I'm... not..." He protested halfheartedly.

"But you are. You're shutting me out. Is it because you don't really love me? I know you don't want to stay with me."

"Yes I do! I do love you! I've told you that! You're the one who's never said it to me. I had to say it to myself for you!"

He turned his head back up to face the firebender, desperation twisting his features. Zuko only shook his head, a sad look of defeat tugging at his regal features. Sokka had seen that look before too, at the western air temple, after Katara had drenched him and they'd turned him away when he first tried to join them.

"But haven't I shown you? I'm the one trying to find ways for us to be together. I've let you in. Actions speak louder than words Sokka. A warrior should know that."

"Zuko... please. You said you wouldn't force me to decide. I thought you understood."

"I do understand, Sokka. I'll understand when you decide not to stay with me too, because I do love you and I want you to be happy."

The paler man took a step away, robes swishing around his ankles and nearly brushing Sokka's face, his face set with a sad smile.

"Wait!" Sokka cried desperately, trying to crawl forward and finding himself unable to move. "Zuko! How do you know that's what I'm going to decide? I don't even know that! I don't know what I'm going to do!"

Zuko tilted his head and sighed.

"Yes you do, Sokka. We both know that you do. I just wish I knew why."

Sokka felt his chest constricting until his breaths were uncomfortably shallow and hard to draw.

"I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt them begin to leak. He didn't want Zuko to see him cry.

"But you do know, Sokka. It's because you couldn't protect me and you couldn't make Suki happy. You're scared."

He looked up sharply to see Yue standing slightly in front of Zuko, glowing ethereally.

"Yue? Yue, I'm sorry. I tried. I tried so hard but I failed you."

"Didn't you care about me Sokka?"

"Of course I did! Yue I... I cared about you so much. I'm so... so sorry."

"Don't you care about him?"

Sokka only nodded, no words left for him to say that he hadn't already spoken.

A soft smile graced the princess's face, as warm and reassuring as she had been the last time he'd seen her. She reached out a hand and cupped his cheek as Zuko stood stone faced behind her. He tilted his head into the touch and closed his eyes. He couldn't stop heavy sobs from racking his body then though no tears came. He felt tired and weak and desperate.

The world around him suddenly grew cold and he opened his eyes to see himself sitting in the middle of the tundra, the snow permeated his thin clothing and digging into his muscles. Yue was still there, smiling sadly at him, but Zuko was fading away into the blizzard, his white robes blending in with the blinding background. Sokka wanted to yell out and stop him. The fear he felt at the idea of losing the firebender was crippling him and stealing away his breath.

Suddenly Yue's touch turned cold and hard and he jerked away from it, submerging himself into bright white and losing sight of her. He was jerked awake as a sharp pain stabbed at his wrists with the movement that his body had unconsciously mimicked.

He squeezed his eyes shut tighter as the light pushed against them. His eyelids fluttered open against his will as his mind struggled to catch up with his body. He looked around wearily, confusion clouding his understanding.

Then realization dawned on him and remembered where he was. He was not in Zuko's bed, curled up against the warm and surprisingly soft firebender like he should have been and he was not leaning into the moon spirit's touch as the man he loved looked on. He was tied up and gagged in a strange room, slumped against a cold and hard wall.

He was still somewhat groggy, aftereffects of the drug he guessed, but he could see that the day had dawned and that it was actually bright enough to be afternoon already. He groaned and let his chin fall back against his chest.

This was not good.

He tried to shift out of the position he was in and nearly cried out when all of his muscles screamed in protest. Sharp stabs of pain raced across his body and attacked him mercilessly in punishment for allowing his limbs to stay in such an uncomfortable position for so long. He whimpered quietly as he did his best to stretch whatever he could without moving too quickly.

Once he'd stretched all that he could he examined his position and saw that his hands were secured with rope to a metal ring that protruded from the wall. He chanced a quick look around and noticed more along the walls and some even sticking out of the stone floor. Probably to tie animals to, he realized with some indignation. There were various sized boxes stacked around him and straw scattered across the ground. It was a storage facility like the one they'd looked for Appa in.

He was being held in a storage facility like an animal! As his ire rose it didn't even occur to him how irrational it was to be angrier about how he was being treated than the fact that he'd been knocked out and kidnapped in the first place.

He growled and began to gnaw at the ropes around his wrists when he heard footsteps just outside the room. This guy thought he was an animal? He'd show him an animal.

"How can you be so sure that this is going to work? The Fire Lord might be young but he's not a fool. He'll see right through this."

"No, he isn't a fool but I've done my research. He is proud and he is loyal. The scar on his face is from refusing to fight his father in an Agni Kai. The one on his chest he received risking his life to protect the Avatar's woman. You really don't believe he would do the same for the man actually sharing his bed? He won't risk his lover's life, it wouldn't be honorable."

Sokka forgot his desperate attempt to get free as he strained to listen to the conversation. A chill rippled down his spine at the last statement. He may have been out of it the night before but he was pretty certain his kidnapper had specifically said that he wasn't going to be killed. He'd also said he'd get to see Zuko again... to say goodbye. His eyes grew wide and wild as he silently prayed that Zuko wouldn't do exactly what this guy expected him to even as everything he knew about the firebender told him that he would.

"Do you even know who that is? He's not just some random call boy Fire Lord Zuko picked up off the street! He's the brother of the Avatar's girlfriend and I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that he's the next in line to be chief of the Southern Water Tribe!"

The tribesman sat a little straighter and raised his chin.

That's right whoever you are. I'm important. People know me. You won't get away with this.

"I'll admit he'd be worth more if he were going to be chief of the Northern Water Tribe but being the Fire Lord's lover and a companion of the Avatar's should more than make up for it."

Hey!

"You don't think that it might make the Avatar mad when he finds out two of his friends are dead?"

"I'll be long gone by then and I don't intend to kill the hostage."

"But he's seen your face!"

"And so have you." Sokka shivered at the ice in the man's voice. He could imagine that whoever the other speaker was, he was probably uncomfortably close to making a mess of himself.

He heard a heavy door open and the footsteps began to echo off the stone.

"What... what are you going to do with him then?"

Sokka looked up as the two men entered his line of sight and glared. They were both dressed in the Fire Nation Royal Guard uniform, helmets and all, but the one leading the way was carrying himself with more grace and confidence than the other. Sokka assumed he was the assassin.

The disdainful sneer that twisted his mouth up when he noticed that the tribesman was awake and listening convinced him even more.

"I'm going to triple my income."

"H-how?"

The second man looked positively terrified, Sokka noticed. He wondered if the guy was a willing participant or if he'd been dragged into something over his head.

"Once I get my payment for killing the Fire Lord and his ransom," he cocked his head towards the tribesman," I intend to sell him in the Pleasure Quarters. I've done more than enough business with some very underhanded flesh merchants there."

The second man's eyes flitted away from the assassin's face and raked over Sokka's form with astonishment.

"He's too old! Who would take him?"

Sokka saw a glint of teeth in the assassin's sneer and automatically tried to make himself smaller in response to the sour lump of fear that was growing in his throat. He kicked out wildly when the man pulled a knife from his boot and took a knee in front of him. The man caught his booted ankle without even glancing at it and yanked it back, knocking Sokka off his other leg and leaving him hanging painfully from his suspended wrists. His head knocked against the stone, jarring his previous injury and ripping a pained groan out of his throat.

The man chuckled darkly and reached forward, grabbing Sokka by his wolftail and dragging his head forward. He caught a glimpse of the knife before it was removed from his vision and felt another chill. He knew this guy was the assassin. He'd already figured that out. But somehow he hadn't expected the man to have a whole set of matching knives. He should have, Mai had tons, but he hadn't and seeing the twin of the blade that had been imbedded in Zuko's chest still managed to shock him, so much so that he couldn't bring himself to fight back.

There was a sharp tug on his head and then his hair was falling loosely around his face and the man's grip was gone. He raised his face slowly, letting a brown curtain fall over his eyes as he regarded the man again. He was twisting the knife in front of him, allowing the sunlight to glint off the silver blade, a contemplative look replacing the sneer on his face.

Sokka flinched when the knife was suddenly thrust towards him but it never pierced skin. Instead the man cut cleanly through the sleeves of Sokka's tunic and then ripped the fabric from his body. Sokka screamed in protest around the gag and tried to squirm away but froze when a sick smile started to spread across the calculating face before him.

The man was appraising his body and smiling. He honestly intended to sell him in the pleasure quarters... Sokka suddenly felt lightheaded and sick.

"He has a few more scars than I was hoping for but I'm sure I can pass him for seventeen maybe even sixteen." He suddenly plucked the rag from Sokka's mouth and eyed him coldly. "How old are you, kid?"

"Twenty." Sokka snarled and spit in the man's face.

The man remained calm as he wiped Sokka's saliva from his skin and merely smirked at him.

"You'll regret that." He made as if he were going to stand and turn back to his partner but it was merely a feint. His fist flew too quickly for Sokka's muddled brain to follow and slammed into the tribesman's gut hard enough to make him nearly vomit.

He would have doubled over but he was still suspended by his wrists and there was nowhere for him to go. He could only groan and let his head hang. From beneath the curtain of hair he could see the man actually get to his feet and turn away.

"He'll pass for younger. The men I do business with don't exactly have the most intact moral ethics. They won't think twice about such an inconsequential lie."

"Sixteen's still a bit old."

The man sighed impatiently.

"I think patrons will forget that little fact when presented with the prospect of having the son of a Water Tribe chief and the lover of the late Fire Lord. The flesh merchants will see that as well, I'm sure."

Sokka growled audibly and bucked against his constraints as he tried to get his feet back underneath him. He was not going to let this happen. He was not collateral. Zuko's voice popped into his head at that moment, reciting the engraving from his knife.

Never give up without a fight...

He made the firebender a silent promise.

I won't, Zuko. I won't let it end like this.

The man turned back when he heard Sokka struggling and his features twitched in something like amusement.

"He seems to be getting feisty... must be time for another dose."

Sokka saw the bottle leave the folds of crimson cloth and set his jaw. He was prepared this time and he wasn't going to go down so easily.

"You're keeping him drugged?"

"It's the best way to keep him subdued. He already got me once." He smiled ruefully as he regarded the young man. "Can't let that happen again, can I?"

Sokka allowed a sadistic grin to twist his lips as the man approached him and reached for his face.

No, he wouldn't give up. For Zuko, he wouldn't give up.

***************

I had no intention of including Yue in this fic but Sokka's dream was too normal and when I have dreams like this they never make that much sense. So enter the moon spirit. I know Zuko's really OOC but that's because he's dream Zuko, not real Zuko. He's a figment of a drugged up Sokka's subconscious.