AN: Here is a very long chapter depicting Sokka's bachelor party, and Sokka and Zuko having a heart-to-heart talk about Katara. It's all about Sokka! I'm going back to school soon, so I might not be able to update as often. But don't worry! I won't keeping you waiting for as long as a month! Just a couple of weeks. So look for the next chapter of this-the wedding! To tide you over, please read "The Lily I Loved" that now has two chapters! Read and review!

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own "Avatar: the Last Airbender."

CHAPTER 37: OF BROTHERS AND SCREW-UPS
ZUKO'S POV

I limped back to the Gaang tent, with Katara supporting me. She seemed much more cheerful, yet still cautious, since Hahn's karma (and body) was TOTALLY STOMPED INTO THE GROUND. I cursed as my injured leg hit a rock as we approached the tent flap. Katara stopped and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Great." I panted. "Fine." I winced, contrary to my words. Katara clucked her tongue like a mother artic hen, and gently led him to a comfortable spot on the floor. Drawing water out of the grass, she began to heal my leg, screwing up her face in concentration. The bone cracks slowly began to come together and merge under her hands. I gasped in pain as my bones knitted together with a tightening sensation, as if my leg was being squeezed with fire.

"Should I stop?" Katara whispered, as sweat began to bead on her forehead.

"No...don't. The sooner it's over, the better." I grunted. Katara finished and limply dropped to the ground from exhaustion. My warmed hands carried her to her fur sleeping bag, slipping her in as gently as possible.

"Rest, Tara." I placed a light kiss on my tired fiancé's forehead.

"No...not tired. Need...dinner..." Katara murmured. I nodded and began to get up. A startled shriek of panic made me jump. "Don't leave me alone! Please!" I felt a painful tug at my heart.

KATARA'S POV

I wanted to be strong. But being nearly...raped wasn't something you can get over easily. Zuko sighed, sadness seeming to emit from him. "Tara, I won't leave you. But I need to get food for you. Maybe you can come with me."

I shook my head mutely. I didn't want to see the pitying faces of everyone, trying to comfort me. I wanted to be in solace, with Zuko holding me with his strong, yet gentle grip. Zuko just radiated "protector"...he was also very comforting and the soothing touch of his warm hands made me relax.

"Hey, there you guys are! Do you want dinner?" my brother's head peeked out from the flap.

"Yes. What are they cooking?" Zuko asked.

"Sea prunes, fish stew with herbs, and rice. The rest was your wedding feast, but we're not touching it." My eyes widened and my lips drew at the corners. The wedding. I forgot about it!

"Don't worry, Tara." Zuko said, sensing what I was thinking. "We're getting married later. Maybe two days from now. The Council doesn't want more delays, but doesn't want to rush you after..." his voice trailed off.

"Are you coming?" Sokka asked. I shook my head, still clinging to Zuko.

"Katara doesn't want to go. But if you bring back something, please, we'd like that. Katara doesn't want to be alone."

Sokka nodded, still looking concerned. He leaned forward and abruptly patted my shoulder. "I'll be back, sis."

I shrieked a little again. Sokka's move was impulsive and quick. Zuko was always tentative and slow; he was afraid of making a mistake. It's not like I didn't love my brother. But he startled me, and I felt tense.

Sokka's face fell. He slowly drew out of the tent with a quiet "Bye." Guiltily, I got up to follow him, but my legs collapsed from underneath me.

After the little dinner, I was feeling drop dead tired.

"Go to sleep, Tara. You had a rough day." Zuko observed, stacking up the bowls, untensils, and cups into a small pile. I nodded drowsily and crawled into my warm sleeping bag.

"Zu?" I whispered, my voice sounding like a little girl asking for a nightlight. "Hold me?"

"Always." He got into his sleeping bag and pulled me close to his chest, winding his arms around my waist. Zuko stroked my hair; he knew that always soothed me. I heard the Gaang come in and fall asleep almost immediately, whispering "good night"s. I heard Sokka (I knew because Sokka was on my other side) turn over. "Zuko? Can I talk to you?"

Zuko sighed heavily and sat up, his blanket rustling. He still continued to stroke my hair. I whimpered a little when his arms left me, and Zuko gently set me up against his chest.

"What is it, Sokka?" Zuko whispered. I watched Sokka sit up through my lashes.

"Is Katara asleep? I want this conversation to be private." Zuko touched my shoulder, and I pretended to be asleep. I knew I shouldn't eavesdrop, but I wanted to know why Sokka was acting sad and a little jealous after my predictament.

"I think so." Zuko kissed the top of my head.

Sokka sighed. "Good..." He was silent for a few seconds, then continued. "Zuko...I envy you."

"How could you envy me?" Zuko laughed ruefully. "I have a scar on my face, I've had a horrible seventeen years, I have a sister and father who want to kill me, my uncle probably never wants to see me again, and my mother is gone. Your life is almost perfect, compared to mine."

"It's not the life thing I'm talking about. It's Katara." I stiffened slightly, but relaxed.

"Katara?" Zuko asked, still smoothing my hair down. He had a fond look on his face when he fingered my necklace, then stroked my back like Mom used to do when I had nightmares. Oh, Zuko. You're so gentle.

"Yeah. After Hahn nearly...raped her, I couldn't comfort her. She screamed and panicked in my arms. But when you hold, whisper, or even touch her, she doesn't freak out."

"Sokka, she's your sister and she loves you. I'm sure Katara didn't mean to hurt you."

"That's the thing. She did. After Mom died and Dad went away, she rarely sought out comfort. But when she did, it was always me. Her big brother. Before Dad left to fight, he made me promise that I would take care of Katara. Today, I feel like I've failed to do that. I couldn't save her or comfort her. She turned to you, the enemy that we've been fearing for months. It made me...jealous. It's like you replaced me. I got to thinking, where was I when you betrayed her in Ba Sing Se? Where was I when you joined, and she was hurt and angry? I'm a horrible brother. I forgot my little sister. I thought she was being too sensitive or something. And you just come and...do the things I failed to do. I can't even hug her or comfort her." Sokka's voice sounded sad and heavy, as if he had been thinking those thoughts all day. I couldn't believe this. I wished I could tell him he was a great brother, and that he hadn't failed me.

"Sokka. It's not you. You didn't fail. Katara cares for you. She loves you. She probably...oh, I don't know. Maybe you should talk to her. And I'm sorry if you think I'm replacing you. I'm not."

"I know you're not doing it on purpose. But now she's getting married to you. And I'm worried she'll forget about me. She's no the little girl in the South Pole anymore. Katara's more like Mom now." Sokka touched my mother's necklace wrapped around my wrist.

"She will never forget you."

"She's so grown-up." Sokka's voice sounded almost regretful. "Like about the marriage thing. I rushed into it. You know what it's like being married now? It's great, but odd with new burdens. Like you're carrying a knife when you're starting to train in weapons, then you get a sword. It's better, but it feels odd. And I know that there's a huge chance that we might not survive this year. And that's why I married Suki so fast. We were so worried, and we rushed into things. Now I wonder, if we win, I'm going to look at Suki and wonder why didn't I wait? And if we don't live, I'm going to think, I'm glad I married her. It's complicated. Katara was right, but now she's rushing into marriage too. So I don't know anything. I'm supposed to be the responsible big brother. But I might as well be the younger sibling."

Zuko sighed heavily and placed a hand on Sokka's shoulder. "Life's rough, buddy. Sometimes we have to just go along with our life. We can't dwell on the past and ask what if. It justs makes things worse. I should know. You love Suki, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I think you did the right thing. And I think I'm doing the right thing."

The two young men sat in silence, and I fell asleep.

SOKKA'S POV

Zuko's talk cleared my head. I started to prepare the bachelor party. I knew Suki was throwing a bachelorette party. To be honest, I'm cool with Zuko being my new brother.

I was determined for this party to be great so I blew up balloons, put up streamers, and stole my dad's messenger hawk from the Boiling Rock. I named it "Hawky Two." I tied a colorful banner that read "WOMEN DANCERS FOR BACHELOR PARTY. SEE NOTE TIED ONTO THE HAWK FOR DETAILS." I made Hawky fly to Ember Island, which Zuko once said that had a lot of hot babes. Okay, he didn't say "hot babes," but I got the gist.

I just this awesome painting back from these two twins. They looked really young, and were the type that would make any guy swoon and fall to the ground. I reminded myself that I was married, but Suki saw the painting and beat the tar out of me.

I arranged transportation with blindfolds over their eyes, and grabbed them to stand near the end of the tent. They felt wrinkly, as if they had been swimming. It was also really dark, so I couldn't see them.

I set up a special stand for cactus juice (Suki stole some) and snacks. Some of my friends and Zuko finally came, gathering into the private tent. Zuko sighed moodily, as the boys chatted.

"This is my first bachelor party." Aang commented. "What are you supposed to do here?"

Zuko facepalmed. "Why did they invite you! You're a twelve year old monk!"

"What's that have to do with anything?" Oh dear...I really shouldn't have invited Aang. But every boy was invited, so it would have hurt his feelings. Though, Aang-

"See, at bachelor parties, we..." Zuko strained to put his gently for the young, naive boy, but he gave up, saying, "Uh..."

"What?" Aang asked eagerly.

"Talk about...man stuff." Zuko stumbled.

"I'm almost thirteen!"

"And you're a monk!"

"And what-um, Zuko, what's-" Zuko slapped his hands over Aang's ears as someone talked about-you know what? Never mind. "NEVER MIND!"

"Now the moment you've all been waiting for!" I yelled dramatically.

"What moment?" Zuko asked.

"Haven't you been listening?"

"Sokka, you just said earlier that it was a "super duper, awesome, and secret surprise."" One of the boys, Tako, pointed out.

True. "Zuko, remember how you said how they do bachelor parties in the Fire Nation?"

Zuko startled, and glared at me. "You. Didn't."

"What?" Kalo, a guy who was chugging down cactus juice, looked up. "What happens?"

Zuko's heel of his hand slapped against his forehead. "He hired women...dancers. To our SECRET hideout, where the AVATAR is!" Aang tugged on Zuko's sleeve. "Women dancers? Great! I love dancing!" Zuko smacked me in the head and groaned.

It dawned on me, as everyone began to glare at me. "Ohhhh..."

"That was the most stupid thing you have ever done in your life." Kaito shook his head.

"Gee, thanks for the motivational support." I said sarcastically. "I did ALL OF THIS for Zuko, my new brother-in-law. You knew what I was doing. And you don't lift a finger to help, and now you're telling me that. I'm stupid?" I couldn't believe this!

"Sokka. Just pay them and make them go." Zuko growled. "They can't be here. I'm the banished prince, and they'll put two and two together-"

"That's the thing. The whole thing is free. We don't have loads of money, so only one group volunteered." The guys face-palmed and swore. Aang kept asking people what was so wrong with "women dancers," but everyone ignored him.

"Hey!" I protested.

"Just...let's get this over with." Zuko said in a strangled voice. "I bet they won't leave without doing their job, so let's do this so I can go to bed and BAIL this party."

I was deeply hurt, but I called in the women. The guys leaned forward. Zuko quickly placed a piece of cloth over his scar. Aang hid his tattoos with the streamers.

They strolled in and they were...

TWO OLD LADIES?

Zuko made a pained noise in his throat as if someone had slugged him in the gut with Firebending. He grabbed me by the shirt and shook me hard. "YOU HIRED LO AND LI?"

"Who?" I whispered. The two old ladies were starting to drink the cactus juice.

"AZULA'S TEACHERS!" Zuko hissed. I gulped. This was bad. I invited the crazy lightning-bending witch's two masters over, and my career as bachelor party planner was toast.

"Oooooh..." I winced. "That's awkward."

"You're telling me! Now just get rid of them!" Zuko growled, looking at Lo and Li in disgust as they began to dance.

I walked up to them. "Um, sorry, ma'ams, but your services-"

The two old ladies didn't either listen to me or screwed up their sentences in their brains.

"Let's get this started!" they yelled, throwing off their robes and beginning to dance.

Zuko slapped a hand over Aang's eyes and covered his own eyes. Kaito began to vomit violently. Tako screamed, "MY EYES! MY EYES!" Three guys cowered in the corner, rocking in fetal positions. The others were either practically crying, or covering their eyes.

I looked around. I was going to be the hero. Covering my eyes, I slowly dragged my way to the two old ladies and yelled with all my might, "YOU ARE FIRED!"

They stopped, looked at each other, clapped their hands, and strolled away back to their airship.

Everyone sighed with relief, and got drunk on cactus juice. Let's just say that our tent burned down, we exchanged...pleasure techniques, and sang karaoke. I'd tell you more, but my head hurts too much from all the cacus juice. Hangovers are awful, aren't-ahhh! SUNLIGHT! IT BURNS!

Time to get up for Katara and Zuko's wedding...

AN: Read and review!