Happiness Recommended

Chapter Eleven

That night, after he'd spilled his secret to Sokka―who had accepted him like nothing had happened, like the past didn't even matter―Zuko lay in bed, fully awake while the tan boy snored quietly beside him. He let his eyes wander over to the letter that sat on the nightstand, taunting him. She never loved him. She loved his name, and the money that came with it. Zuko felt tears begin to prick at his eyes with these thoughts, and he knew he couldn't hold them back. He brought his hands to his face and let them fall, his shoulders beginning to shake with the force of his sobs, and he found that he was crying more today than it seemed he ever had in his entire life.

After a few minutes, he felt a hand grip his shoulder, forcing him to roll over. Sokka pulled him to his chest and wrapped his arms around him, and Zuko buried himself in the other's body and cried while Sokka [i]shh[/i]'d him, rubbing soothing circles on his shaking back.

X x X

When Zuko awoke next, he was surrounded by heat. He found it soothing, and keeping his eyes closed, he snuggled deeper into the warmth. He could hear Sokka's light snoring somewhere around him, and he didn't think he could be happier. After crying as much as he had the night before, he found so much comfort and pleasure in simply waking up with the other boy. After lying awake for what felt like almost twenty minutes, he felt the arms around him begin to shift as the snoring stopped.

Sokka woke up to find that his arms were wrapped around something strong, yet soft at the same time. He took a peek out of the corner of his eye and saw that he had been cuddling Zuko in his sleep. A deep blush colored his cheeks as he stared down at the boy pressed flush against him. After the night he'd had, Sokka wasn't really shocked to see the other looking for some security. He understood how Zuko was feeling―it was simple, really, now that he thought about it―betrayed.

After a few more minutes, Sokka stretched and Zuko sat up, looking everywhere but at the other teen he was currently sharing a bed with.

"How are you feeling, Zuko?" Sokka asked as he placed his hand on the other's shoulder.

Zuko shrugged. "Empty, I guess."

"Yeah, you'll feel that way for a while."

"I know."

The two teens sat quietly for a few moments before Iroh entered the room carrying a tray loaded with food. Zuko saw the dish overflowing with chocolate blueberry pancakes and knew his uncle wanted something.

"Zuko, how are you feeling this morning?" the portly man asked as he set the tray on Zuko's desk.

"I'm fine, Uncle, and I don't want to talk about it, not again. I'm alright. Sokka kept me relatively calm."

Iroh nodded and handed the two a plate. "And did you thank Sokka for being there for you?"

Zuko looked down and blushed slightly. "No, no I didn't."

"So what do you think you should do?"

"Thank him," Zuko muttered.

Iroh hummed his approval and turned back to the tray.

Zuko turned to face Sokka, his eyes still cast down. "Thank you, Sokka. For, well, you know…last night and all."

Sokka chuckled lightly to himself as he thought of how socially inept the other boy was. Zuko kept his gaze down and he muttered instead of speaking clearly like he normally did, and he seemed to be blushing and stumbling to find the right words.

"It's no problem. You were there for me when we went to see Yue, so it was the least I could do."

"Ah, I remember why I brought you two the food now," Iroh interrupted. "Zuko, you and Sokka may stay home until I decide to have you two uncuffed. I realized how difficult it must be to have both of you in school if your classes are on different sides of the campus."

Sokka smiled and went to lie back down, plate in one hand, cup in the other. "That means I get more sleep!" he cheered to himself.

Zuko stared at his uncle. "Uncle, how could you do this to me? Don't you understand! What if―"

"What if the sky falls down and your nose burns off? You worry so much about what could be that you often miss what's most important. In order to grasp the meaning of things, you must slow down." The older man started out of the room, though once he reached the threshhold of the door, he turned back around. "I would hate it if you missed the meaning that was lying right in front of you, Zuko."

Iroh then left the room, and Zuko sighed as he began to eat. He would worry about what his uncle was trying to tell him later.

Sokka placed his cup and plate on Zuko's nightstand and rolled over onto his side so he was facing the brooding teen. "Y'know, for someone built as well as you are, you're really quite soft and snuggly," he mentioned offhandedly.

Zuko blushed. "Shut up," he muttered.

Sokka's grin grew wider as he snuggled up to Zuko's legs. He could feel that it was going to be a very wet and windy day. "I vote that we stay in bed for the rest of the day."

Zuko nodded his agreement, and after he had eaten a few pancakes he lay back down and curled up next to Sokka, his eyes closed. He still felt tired, though he couldn't figure out why. Sokka wrapped his arms around Zuko and smiled into the other's hair. One hand reached down to pull the comforter up around their shoulders as the wind outside picked up, and the two fell asleep soon after that.

X x X

Iroh peeked his head into the room and smiled at the two slumbering teens. He'd had a feeling that the two would become close―hopefully much, much closer―even if the ex-general had to shove them in a small room and lock the door to make it happen. Iroh smirked to himself as he left the two alone. It was time to put his plan into action. He could only pray that Zuko would not hold it against him.

He made his way into the kitchen to grab the phone and dialed Kanna's number. It was time to butter up Sokka's grandmother to the idea.

X x X

When Sokka woke up next, it was to Zuko holding him to his chest. It looked like he had gotten tired of being cuddled and decided to do the cuddling himself. Sokka smiled as he tried to sit up, only to find that Zuko wouldn't loosen his grip. After another half-hearted attempt to free himself, he lay back down and snuggled up with the other teen.

The two spent the rest of the day in bed, either sleeping or talking with one another. Zuko began to notice small things that Sokka did that he found irritating, yet in a way comforting at the same time, like how he would talk avidly with his hands―hands that were brown and soft and smooth―or the way his eyes would sparkle when he was excited. Zuko saw how Sokka's lips quivered when he couldn't find the right word to express what he was trying to say, and even how, in the middle of a sentence, his tongue would dart out to moisten his lips when they were dry. Before Zuko knew it, he found himself thinking of those lips, and how he wanted to pull on the lower one with his teeth. Zuko knew without a doubt that Sokka was the single most annoying person he had ever met, but he was quickly learning something else as well.

He was starting to like Sokka.

No, he was starting to [i]like[/i]-like him, and that was making Zuko mad. He couldn't afford to fall for the other boy, he just couldn't. His father would never let him come back home if he found out. He couldn't repeat the actions that got him here in the first place.

Zuko told himself that he was going to take those feelings and squish them under his shoe. His father had told him that liking the same sex wasn't normal, that he wasn't normal, that he was tainted and he had dishonored the family name. Zuko, at the time, had begged and pleaded for his father not to send him away, but he knew it was pointless.

Had he simply kept his mouth shut and not argued back, his uncle wouldn't have had to use all those tea leaves on his back.

Zuko shook himself from his grim thoughts as Iroh came into the room, disrupting Sokka as he spoke to the boy that wasn't listening.

"Ah, I have some wonderful news for you both," Iroh said as he took a seat at the computer chair by the desk and smiled at the two perplexed boys.

"Well?" the two asked when the older man didn't say anything.

"Zuko, you know how I have that cottage to the west of the city, correct?"

Zuko nodded.

"Well, I thought that the two of you could go there and spend some time away from the city, get to know each other better, have a little fun while being punished."

Zuko glanced over at Sokka, who looked as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to feel at that suggestion.

Seeing the look on Sokka's face, Iroh continued. "I have already spoken with your grandmother, and she thinks it is an excellent idea."

Sokka looked over at Zuko, as if he were hoping that the other boy would want to go with him.

Zuko sighed in defeat and nodded. "I guess you're right, Uncle. It would be nice to get away from the city for a little while. When do we leave?"

Iroh clapped his hands together. "Excellent! You two will leave tomorrow. I would go with you, but I have a tea shop to run." With that, the older man left.

X x X

The next morning found Sokka excitedly running around the room, packing what few possessions he had with him, dragging Zuko around behind him. After the trio had breakfast, Iroh left the room and Zuko and Sokka began to clean the table. Iroh returned as they were washing the dishes, and the two turned to look at him.

"Boys, because you two will be in the woods, I'm going to be kind and extend the chain on your handcuffs." Iroh walked over and placed the new, longer pair on the boys' wrists before removing the older ones. The new chain was ten feet long, which would allow for one of them to be on the bed and the other to be going through the bureau.

Iroh walked them down to the cab he had called, and handed Zuko an envelope. "This is so you can pay for the cab and buy food while you are down there. You may also eat some of what is in the garden, but be mindful, as some of what grows there may contain certain toxins which would act as a sort of mild narcotic unless cooked thoroughly."

Zuko nodded, and Iroh closed the door to the cab, stepping back.

"Behave you two!" he called out as they pulled away. He watched the two talking to each other as the car drove off, hoping that his plan would work.