Title: Silk
Author: Traxits
Chapter Rating: Teen.
Chapter Content Notes: Author chose not to use warnings.
Chapter Word Count: 3304 words.
Author's Notes: I posted fanart to my tumblr and deviantart! So if you're interested, I'm 'traxits' over there too. Feel free to check it out! Also, a question, is my 'cover art' working here on ? I can't tell from my end, because it just shows a gray image until I click into the story manager, where it shows my cover art.
(Chapter 14, Swordsmanship)
The sunlight seemed especially bright after the storm passed, and Sokka stood there for a long moment, sword in hand, face turned up toward the sky, enjoying it. He still hadn't quite gotten used to the way the sun rose and set every single day this far north, especially considering that for the most part, it rose and set around the same time.
It still weirded him out on some levels that people this far north seemed set in their determination to let such an arbitrary thing rule their days.
He opened his eyes when he heard Zuko's footsteps on the deck, and he smiled as he pulled the sword out of its scabbard.
He still had a dress on today, even for this, mostly because Meili had been the one to point out that he had to be used to fighting in it. If Zhao caught up to them and Sokka needed the sword, it wasn't like he'd have time to change. He had pulled out the hairpiece though, just because he'd been able to argue that even in the most heated of moments, he would have time to do that much.
Zuko stood there in his Fire Nation uniform, the twin dao sheathed on his back, and he studied Sokka's stance for a long moment. Long enough that Sokka finally lowered his sword and tilted his head and asked, "What, you having second thoughts?"
"Keep the sword up," Zuko countered, and Sokka frowned before he did as told. He didn't want to provoke Zuko into changing his mind. Jee and a few of the others were very good swordsmen, but Zuko was, by far, the best on the ship. He surpassed even Iroh, and Sokka knew that Iroh was excellent at most things.
When he'd asked about the training though, Iroh had chuckled and murmured that swordplay such as that was a young man's game.
Sokka wasn't sure what he'd meant, because the best teachers were always those who had lived through enough to know what they were talking about.
Then again, looking at Zuko now, Sokka couldn't help but notice his scar. Maybe Iroh had known exactly what he was saying.
"You just gonna make me hold it all day?" Sokka asked sharply, and Zuko glanced up at him, gave him this tiny smile, and then went back to whatever he was looking at. Sokka sighed, and he stayed where he was, until finally, the sword felt like it weighed a ton and he had to lower it again. "C'mon, Zuko, I thought we were going to train—"
"We are," Zuko replied, and he shook his head as he walked over to Sokka. He made changes to Sokka's stance, touching him as little possible, nudging Sokka's foot with his own and guiding Sokka's arms with the edges of his hands. It was strange after how close they'd been, and stranger than that was that Sokka thought the whole thing strange. He focused himself again, paying attention to what Zuko was doing.
"Why are you moving me so much?"
"You're fighting with a jian, Sokka. Your stance is... better suited to my dao that your jian." Zuko tilted his head, still studying Sokka, and then he nodded faintly. He leaned in closer, and Sokka drew a breath as Zuko shifted his shoulders. With that last adjustment made, Zuko stepped back, and Sokka glanced down at his sword again, trying not to think too much about how close Zuko had been.
Why were there dark circles under Zuko's eyes anyway?
"What's the difference?" Sokka finally asked, shifting his hold on the sword until it was comfortable in his hand.
Zuko pulled the dao from the scabbard on his back, and he turned one so that Sokka could see it. "The dao," he said softly, "is for slashing. For attack. For doing as much damage as possible, I guess."
"Firebending," Sokka murmured. "It's the firebending of swords."
Zuko hesitated, and Sokka shook his head.
"No, it works for you. I get it. But it doesn't work for me."
"Not in those clothes, at least," Zuko replied, some of the tension in him easing. Sokka smiled, and he nodded as he took an experimental swing with the sword.
He froze when he heard Zuko's muffled chuckle, and he glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, Zuko had shifted back, and his lips were pressed together to hide the smile tugging on them. Sokka outright grinned.
"The jian," Zuko said, and he put both dao away so that he could guide Sokka back into the stance Zuko had arranged him in, "is for defense. It's about…" He was quiet for a moment, and Sokka watched him curiously as he tried to find the words. "It leaves less openings."
Sokka nodded again, looking down at the sword in his hand. A glance over at Zuko's back reminded him all over again about just how different the two styles of swords were. "Are there so many different kinds then?" he asked, unable to stand it finally.
Zuko blinked, and then he shook his head slightly. "No. Yes. But no. There's only so many variations on a blade. There are numerous applications of the blades however, and beyond that, stances and motion can make a world of difference between two otherwise identical blades."
"You've actually studied this, haven't you? Like, I mean, formally or something."
"I... of course. I was trained at a young age to handle various weaponry that i might be expected to wield," Zuko replied, and he frowned faintly as he looked at Sokka. "You're a warrior. Weren't you?"
Sokka looked away from Zuko then, and he leaned forward experimentally, trying a motion that felt a little more natural considering the pose Zuko had him in. "Not like that," he finally answered. "I can use a spear for fishing. It isn't that different to jab it at a person. I use a boomerang for...any number of things. Figuring out how to throw it at a person was a fairly natural extension. But swords and everything... I didn't have anyone to train me. All the warriors of our village left when I was little." He blew out a breath and looked up to the sky before he risked a glance back at Zuko again.
Zuko stared down at the deck, and there was that tension in him all over again. Sokka's eyes narrowed, and then he leaned over toward Zuko just enough to make Zuko blink and focus and catch him. Sokka chuckled.
"But I guess I have a teacher now, don't I?"
"Yeah," Zuko said softly. "I guess I do."
"There's not some kind of code of secrecy or something among Fire Nation warriors?" Sokka asked curiously, and Zuko raised an eyebrow before he shook his head.
Sokka liked the way the motion made his hair move.
"No. My swordmaster once told me that the art of the sword goes far beyond nation borders. I imagine he'd have liked you quite a bit."
"Is he dead then?"
"What? No. Would you focus?"
Sokka laughed as he looked back to the sword again. The jian.
Sokka could feel the dawn coming more than he could see it, and after that storm, the air was oddly clear. He felt like he might could hear as well as Zuko could with the air so clear, and his frown deepened.
No one walked by on the docks, not when it was so early in the morning, and he had long since given up standing in order to sit and lean over against the railing. The breeze had worked his hair loose, and his hairpiece was in a tangle on the deck beside him. He slid his fingers down along the scabbard of his sword, the motion idle and careless.
He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there, waiting for Zuko. He'd woken in the middle of the night, crossed the hall without waking Meili somehow, and knocked, but Zuko wasn't there. Sokka was fairly sure he hadn't been there all night.
So he stayed outside, breeze blowing past him, waiting. Iroh had long since given up talking him into going inside and had headed in rather than waiting with him. There was a blanket still folded up there by the wall, where Iroh had left it. Sokka hadn't touched it.
Movement in the shadows, and Sokka tightened his hold onto the sword, fingers curving around the hilt as he straightened up. Another breeze, and he stood just as something sharp prickled down his skin. He drew a breath, and just as he started to spin around, someone reached out and wrapped their hand over his.
He turned, and he huffed, scowling up at the bright blue mask there.
"You are the stupidest— What are you even doing?" he demanded, and when Zuko lifted his hand to touch the mask, Sokka slapped his hand down. "Not here," he ordered. "Go change."
Zuko stilled for a second, and then Sokka sighed and turned back around. He felt Zuko leave and he closed his eyes, blowing out a breath. Hopefully no one had seen him, because no one could know Zuko was doing anything that could be considered moving against the Fire Nation.
Or maybe everyone already thought he was moving against the Fire Nation, considering the very public courting and everything else. Sokka's hands tightened around the railing, and then he shoved off it and started to stalk into the ship proper.
He ran right into Zuko, who raised an eyebrow at him, and he hesitated before he let Zuko guide him back out onto the deck.
"What were you thinking?" Sokka demanded, and then he shook his head. "No, you were spying on Zhao, weren't you? What did you find out?"
Zuko sighed, looked out over the water toward the city, and he shrugged. "He's an admiral now. Not just General. He's commandeering everything he thinks can help him capture the Avatar. He will manage it, you know. With those resources... As Admiral, he has almost the entire Fire Nation navy."
"Not all of it," Sokka murmured, glancing toward their own ship before he focused on Zuko again. "Okay, so he's an admiral. He's focusing mostly on the Avatar then?"
Zuko looked over at him, and Sokka blinked at how cold Zuko's gaze was. How flat. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Zuko without all that fire behind his eyes.
"He's coming personally after us. He's sending everyone he can spare after the Avatar."
Which meant the Earth Kingdom rebels had more freedom in their movements, Sokka decided, and he nodded slowly. But given Zhao, also didn't make much sense.
"Or," Sokka said softly, "he thinks we're all going to the same place eventually."
"Maybe," Zuko replied, and he sighed as he leaned over against the railing. "Or maybe he thinks that catching us will lead him to the Avatar."
"Right, because a Water Tribe Princess and the Fire Lord Prince couldn't have made any of these moves without the Avatar around." Sokka stepped in close to Zuko, and he leaned forward until his arms were draped over the railing too. He watched Zuko's face, and then he moved again, turning around and hoisting himself up to sit on the rail. "Okay, yeah, it would unlikely, but not actually impossible. Besides, if I thought you actually liked the idea of overthrowing your father, I probably would marry you."
Zuko went so still that Sokka had to look back at him again just to make sure he was still breathing. Then Zuko's eyes lifted to his, and Sokka's breath caught in his throat. There were there embers of that fire again.
"My father... is still the Fire Lord," he said softly, but there was something odd about his voice. Something that made Sokka lean in a little closer to him. "And will be the Fire Lord until his death. He will never step aside, Sokka. You and the Avatar... do you guys understand that?"
Sokka reached up, brushed his fingers against Zuko's shoulder, and he sighed as he shifted over on the railing. Zuko's hand lifted automatically to steady him, cupping lightly around his hip, and Sokka managed a smile he didn't feel yet. His own voice was low as he said, "Are you familiar with the Southern Raiders?"
Zuko's brow furrowed, and he looked away from Sokka before he nodded.
"The snow turns gray when they come. Mixed with soot, ash." Sokka looked up toward the smokestack on the ship. "It's a warning. Means that you hide everyone who can't fight, and you grab your war paint and your weapon, whatever it is, and you brace yourself. Because they're coming in their ships, and they're going to drag everyone out of the houses and look for waterbenders. The last one they killed was my mother."
Zuko's eyes closed, and Sokka was pretty sure he could have stopped there, but the words he was saying were words he'd been holding in too long. They escaped him, tumbling out one after another before he could even think about them.
"She lied. Told them she was the last waterbender in the Southern Tribe."
"But the girl—"
"Katara," Sokka murmured. His smile twisted a little on his lips, and he looked away from Zuko toward the scuffed up metal of the ship. Soot washed right off it, vanished, and as many times as Zuko and Jee and the others had practiced out here, it was a good thing. The ship was no worse for wear. "She's my sister. Our mother died to save her life, because we all knew they were going to come for her."
Zuko touched his cheek then, fingers curling against Sokka's skin, and Sokka blinked as he looked back up. It was almost strange, focusing on a face again, with those memories lurking so close. The hairpiece jingled against Zuko's fingers.
"You're not going to stop either, are you?" he asked, and there was a sharp pain in Sokka's chest.
He'd never thought this could hurt so much.
"I can't," he whispered.
"I didn't think you could," Zuko murmured, and he leaned in that last little bit to brush his lips against Sokka's. Sokka was still for a long moment, just feeling that, feeling Zuko, and then he leaned in closer so that he could kiss back. It was softer this time, slower, just lips on lips and Sokka sliding his hands up Zuko's arms to his shoulders.
A low gasp escaped him when Zuko tightened his hold on Sokka's hip, and he tried to inch forward, but then Zuko was against him instead. So close, so steady even through the way his hands trembled. Sokka pulled back from the kiss, and Zuko lifted a hand to brush his fingers against Sokka's cheek.
He licked his bottom lip, but before he could say anything, Zuko looked past him toward the dock. Sokka turned to see what he was staring at, and he dug his fingers into Zuko's shirt at the sight of the Fire Nation soldiers. They were soldiers that Sokka didn't recognize, and while it wasn't like he expected to actually recognize very many of them, he'd spent enough time around different groups of them to know to be wary around outsiders.
Because the Fire Nation military was more than big enough to have 'outsiders' within its ranks.
"What do you want?" Zuko demanded, and Sokka could hear the prince in his voice. It wasn't something that he heard very often anymore. Zuko was far more relaxed around his crew these days.
"Admiral Zhao is requesting the assistance of all Fire Nation—"
The words cut off, and Sokka closed his eyes for just a second before he turned to really look at the soldiers. More importantly, the motion turned him enough for them to see him as well. He let go of Zuko to reach up and brush his fingers against his collar, making sure nothing had slipped, that he still looked like the girl he was pretending to be. Zuko batted his hand away before he could do anything though, and the next thing Sokka knew, Zuko had interlaced their fingers. He had a little trouble pulling his gaze away from that to look back up at the soldiers again.
"Is that—"
"My lady," the other one blurted out, and Sokka flushed as he dropped his gaze, tilting his face away slightly. He cut a look up at Zuko, mouthed 'what do I even do?' and immediately regretted it.
Zuko took those words as permission to pull Sokka down off the railing and push him half-behind Zuko. Sokka hit his back, and Zuko didn't even flinch from it.
"You stole the Water Tribe Princess from Admiral Zhao?"
"My nephew stole very little, I'm afraid," Iroh called out, and Sokka started, glanced around Zuko to see him walking up from below deck. "The Princess came to us of her own accord. After all, they are betrothed, it would be odd for her to be elsewhere, yes?"
There weren't enough earthbenders in the world to bury Sokka deep enough to get away from his embarrassment.
"Uncle," Zuko started, but the flash of Iroh's palm was enough to silence him. Sokka wondered if Iroh could teach him that, and, not content to be hidden away where he couldn't see what was going on to help, he shoved Zuko again until Zuko stepped aside just enough to let him back around.
He didn't let go of Zuko's hand, however.
"The Princess was a guest of Admiral Zhao's," one of the soldiers said, and Sokka cleared his throat softly. It was still more than enough to snap their attention to him.
"I'm afraid there's been some miscommunication," he said, and he was careful to keep his voice as high as he could manage without sounding completely fake. After not needing to fake the voice on the ship with Zuko, Sokka had a much more difficult time with it. "But I was not stolen. The fight was very loud and upsetting, and when I saw my chance to return to my betrothed, I took it. You must thank Admiral Zhao for me. He did a masterful job with the Avatar in that skirmish, I hear."
Zuko snorted very faintly, and Sokka squeezed his hand tightly enough to wipe that faint grin from his lips. He nodded, serious all over again.
"Indeed. I am... lucky that Admiral Zhao was there to rescue her for me. However, you must leave. I have nothing to tell Zhao regarding his hunt for the Avatar."
One of the soldiers bowed, and they both stepped off the ship, but not before the other said, "It wasn't the Avatar that Admiral Zhao wished your assistance with, my lord. That matter is well in hand."
No one moved for a very long moment, watching the two soldiers go, until finally, Iroh's voice broke the quiet.
"We wanted Zhao's attention," he murmured. "I think we have it."
"What did they mean, 'that matter is well in hand'?" Sokka asked, looking back at Zuko and Iroh. He didn't let go of Zuko's hand, and Zuko pulled on it just enough to draw Sokka closer to him. "You think he has Aang?"
"If he doesn't, he expects to soon." Zuko's hand tightened on Sokka's, and Sokka reached back to wrap his free hand around their interlaced fingers.
"Well, you can pay him a visit after you get some sleep," Sokka murmured. "You won't do anyone any good if you crash while you're there."
"Should have just stayed. If he does have Aang—"
"You'll get him this evening," Sokka interrupted, and he squeezed Zuko's hand again. "Go sleep. We'll have a plan by the time you're up."