Burnt Full Moon

By Yoshikuni Kaito

Chapter 1: Hot Metal

It was a cool evening in the spring. The moon was already out and the sky was beginning to darken. Children could be heard on another street playing on their bikes, pretending to be soldiers going into battle. Though hard and full of small pebbles, Sokka Saruwatari walked barefoot feeling at piece with the world.

Sokka had just gotten off of work at Pizza Hut. He had to work a double shift, so he was happy to be heading home. Since Sokka didn't own a car (he had been saving since last summer), he walked. Sokka's cell rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. Saying hello, said boy was answered by a cheery familiar voice.

"'Sup, big bro?" Katara hollered through the other phone.

"Nothin' much. Just got off from work and I'm going home to take a well-deserved sleep."

"You'll remember to get up tomorrow, right?"

"Of course, why would—"

"Because," Katara interrupted, "we have to pick up Aang. He's coming in from New York and—"

"You don't want to be late," Sokka finished. "I know. It's in your nature to be on time."

The boy's sister gave a sigh of relief. "Good, I'm just making sure you show up, unlike last time!"

"Don't worry. I'll be there. I have a new alarm clock. I can't be late."

"That's what you said last time."

"The batteries ran out!" Sokka protested.

"That doesn't mean it will work tomorrow."

"Just wait for me at the do—." Sokka's words were cut short as he looked up. He had just entered his neighborhood and the sky had become filled with smoke. Sokka began to jog, questioning where it was coming from. 'Please don't let it be me,' he thought to himself. As he neared the black column, the boy realized where the fire was. Sokka broke into a sprint, his heart pounding. His mind was racing, hoping and praying that he was wrong. He wasn't.

Sokka's eyes widened at the scene. Flames billowed from windows and doors, enveloping his house with smoke. People were beginning to crowd along the sidewalk, each of them pointing, staring. Sokka could hear walls and boards in the house collapsing. The fire crackled loudly with each new object being consumed by the growing flame.

The tongues of the fire had now reached the roof and the licked at the blue ocean of the air to get a taste of heaven. The sirens of fire trucks and police cars resounded around the neighborhood. Those who had stood on the street were roughly pushed to the side. Parents, not wanting their young ones to be hurt, picked them up and ran to their houses. Others who didn't even live in the area were driving in to see the sight of a burning house.

"It's like a traffic jam without the highway," Sokka heard someone behind him say.

"If you all could please move away from the house," a police yelled into a bullhorn, "we can get this fire out. That's right, back off. Let the trucks through!"

Something within Sokka caused him to run towards the inferno. Letting out a cry of pain, he ran to the flames. The dark-skinned boy was stopped by a fireman before he had stepped through what was left of the doorway.

"You can't go in there, son," he said.

"That's my house!" the boy screamed. Struggling to break from the man's grasp, he finally gave up and let himself be dragged to the curb on the other side of the road.

Sokka grabbed his knees to his chest and buried his face in them. He didn't want to see the sight of the first house he had own go up in flames. Sokka had just managed to pay for the house in full only a few months ago. It was far from perfect. One of the steps squeaked no matter what you did to it, a door never closed, the whole house seemed to sway whenever there was a storm… but it was his. All of it. And Sokka was proud if it. Now all the one-bedroom house was good for was tinder for a small fire.

Tears began to spill from the young boy's closed eyes. Sokka shook as he shivered uncontrollably. The burnt house was just like his life. His father had been killed in a war and his mother died by fire at her job. Now everything he owned was nothing more. At least the boomerang that had been given to him before his father died would be able to survive the fire. It had done so before. The firemen would find it in the rubble and return it to him later. Sokka looked up into the sky searching for answers as to why his house was on fire. All he could see was a full moon being hidden by clouds of smoke.

A car pulled up, Katara jumping out. After seeing the house, she ran to Sokka and hugged him.

"Sokka, what happened?" she questioned.

"I don't know… fire… house… gone…," Sokka spoke in spurts as he hiccupped from the tears.

"I am so sorry."

"Don't… be… it wasn't… your fault…"

"Well then whose fault is it?"

"How… should I… know…?"

"What do you mean, 'how should I know?' It's called asking around. Seeing what people know! Maybe someone saw the fire start and they may know the reason your house is being eaten by flames. That's what smart people do."

"Yeah… right…"

Katara let out a sigh of frustration as she hit her older brother in the back of the head. Ignoring the yelp of pain that resulted from the gesture, she set off to find any information concerning the start of the fire. Sokka lingered sitting on the curb staring at the remains of what once was as the last of the flames were being put out. Black smoke form the exhausted flames filled the night sky. The smoke drifted through the air, some of it surrounding Sokka. He felt encased in a cave of darkness.

As the young man stared up at the sky he thought about what he would do now that his house was gone. He could stay with Katara. But his sister was already struggling to pay for here rent, bills, and feed herself. Plus, Aang would be in town tomorrow, and he was staying for the next month. There was no way she could support another mouth at this time. 'What about my savings account' he though. 'I could use that.' The idea was soon forgotten. 'No, it wouldn't last long. There are only a few hundred dollars. It won't even last longer than a few weeks.'

Deep in his thoughts, Sokka failed to detect the hand reaching for his shoulder…

Zuko was one among many of the bystanders who had stood on the sidewalk and watched the flames eat at the boards of the small house. Not that he just wanted to see a burning house, but because he was visiting a friend who lived right across the street from it. He had been walking out the door when his eyes met flames. Calling frantically to Teo, Zuko rushed to the phone calling 9-1-1. He then ran back outside where Teo was busy going around on his wheelchair warning the house's next-door neighbors to get outside of their own houses in case the fire spread. Others had begun to crowd soon afterwards.

Zuko had almost gone to stop the maniac who had tried to enter the burning house but was beat to it by fireman. The boy had screamed that it was his house. After hearing this, Zuko felt sorry for him. He didn't know what it was like to lose a home, but he did feel for the guy. Slowly moving closer to the boy, he overheard the conversation between him and who appeared to be his sister. The owner of the house fell silent when his sister left.

Standing off to one side, Zuko chanced a glance at him. His name was Sokka. Zuko had heard the name said once during the banter between the siblings. The said boy looked stressed and tired. His eyes were reddening from the large amount of tears that had yet to stop pouring from them. In that position, Sokka looked… cute, almost like a little toddler. His pouting eyes looked as if they were begging for an answer. Zuko couldn't help but chuckle a bit. When the other had turned his direction, he averted his gaze.

'He must need a place to stay,' thought Zuko. 'I could let him stay at my house, but what would dad say? I know Iroh wouldn't have a problem with it.'

Before he could stop himself, Zuko reached out and tapped Sokka on the shoulder. Said boy jumped and turned around, completely shocked.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he cried.

"Um," Zuko stuttered, "I see that your house is on fire and I was—"

"You were what? Going to rub it in my face?"

"Why yes, I was," Zuko answered. "That's exactly what I was going to do."

"As if my life isn't already in shambles, now I have some asshole telling what I already know!"

"Hey, dude. I was just— "

"Not only that, but I have no place to go either. Might as well live on the streets downtown whenever I'm not at my job. I'll be asking for more shifts later on to keep from going mad."

A swift kick to the head sent Sokka sprawling. "I think you've already achieved much, big bro." Katara had come back from her investigation. "No one was able to tell me what happened. The only thing I got was guesses. Who are you?" she asked looking at Zuko.

"My name is Zuko Kuroda," said boy answered. "And might I have the privilege of knowing your names?"

Katara extended her hand. "I'm Katara Saruwatari, and that's Dimwit." Sokka scoffed. Katara rolled her eyes. "Anyway, do you know how the fire started?"

"No, but I was able to call for help before it got out of hand."

"I'm pretty sure you're the one who started the fire!" Sokka snapped.

"Shut up! Excuse my brother. He's not the most polite person you'll meet. Give him a chance and he'll warm up to you."

"But he came here to make fun of me."

"I'm sure he was just playing with you. You're overreacting. Again."

"Am not!"

"Are to."

"Am not!"

As the two siblings bickered, Zuko left them to go ask about the house. By now the fire had been put out and firemen were searching through the rubble to see if anything was left. He was told that nothing could be done to save it. It would have to be completely rebuilt. Everything was gone, except for one thing. When Zuko asked for it, he was given a metal boomerang. Though one side of the boomerang was obviously the handle, the other was sharpened into a blade. The reflection of the smoldering flames danced along the blue metal. 'The craftsmanship on this is great,' thought Zuko. 'You don't see stuff like this anymore.'

Thanking the man, Zuko took it to Sokka. When it was handed to said boy, he held it in his hands, trembling. Katara hugged her brother as he began to cry once more. Zuko felt awkward. He didn't know what was going on but he knew that that weapon meant a lot to the two siblings. He left them to their memories and went to where Teo was sitting in the lawn of his house.

"Zuzu, where have you been? I've been waiting for you. The only reason I wasn't able to come look for you is because of all the people standing in my way. They won't move their fat asses out of the way!"

"I told you don't call me that," he replied, not really paying attention.

Teo noticed the depressed look on his best friend's face. Tilting his head a little he asked, "You alright, Zuko?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," said boy waved him off.

"Does it have something to do with that guy who ran into the house?"

"He didn't make it in. Someone pulled him away. But…," Zuko's voice trailed off.

"What's his name?"

"Sokka."

"You told him yours?"

"Yeah, and his sister, too. She was there with him. Nothing."

"And yet neither of them has figured out who you are. Amazing. Usually people will find out and not want to have anything to do with you. You're lucky you met me."

"I know. Stop reminding me. If I hadn't met you, I would have been a lonely brat living in a house that I'll probably never leave. And it's not even mine… yet."

"With the way things are going, that house will never be yours."

"He needs somewhere to crash. Not that Katara wouldn't have already offered him a room—"

"Zuko, don't even go there. You'll never get this past your dad."

But Zuko didn't hear Teo's objections. He had already pushed his way through the crowd and was now standing in front of the Saruwatari siblings. "Do you need a place to stay?"

Both Katara and Sokka were taken aback by this generous offer. No one else had even asked why they were crying much less why Sokka had attempted to have himself burnt to a crisp. The younger of the two began to say no when Sokka blurted out, "Sure!"

"Now wait," said Katara, "we don't know who he is, where he lives, or if he's some kind of criminal."

"Like I said before, my name is Zuko Kuroda. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm the son of Ozai Kuroda. He's a lawyer and founder of—"

"Of Kuroda Law!" Sokka exclaimed. "Why didn't I recognize that name before?"

"Because you're an idiot," jeered Katara. "Dumb, stupid, dim, thick, dense, obtuse, unintelligent… Shall I go on?"

"No, we get it," her brother grumbled.

The other two laughed. Teo, who had managed to barge his way through the crowd, rode up. "So how is the two-legged species faring this lovely evening?"

"Oh," said Zuko, "this is my friend, Teo. He's the one whose house I was at when I called 9-1-1."

"Hiya!" Teo greeted.

After salutations were made, the group began to talk about Zuko's offer. Katara said that they didn't know anything about Zuko. Sokka said they at least knew who his family was. Teo agreed with his sister, also adding that they were not prepared for what lay behind the front gate of the Kuroda Estate. Zuko said they were all overreacting.

"Okay," Sokka said finally, "this is my choice. My house was burnt down, I don't have a place to go—"

"Other than my house," Katara interrupted.

"Other than your house, and I'm the one who will be affected by whatever we decide. And I say I'm staying at Zuko's."

"Are you sure you want to go in there, Sokka?" Teo cautioned. "Not even I have been in there and I don't plan to try."

"Teo's right," Katara said. "Practically everyone on earth has heard of Ozai's ruthlessness. How do we know you can trust him?"

"The only way I know to avoid my father's wrath is to stay out of his way," Zuko advised. "That shouldn't be too hard, though. Lately he's been in his study all day only coming out to eat."

"What about going to take care of his business?" Sokka asked.

"My mom is dead so—"

"NO! Not that, I mean going to the bathroom."

"Oh. Well there's one in his study."

"Anything else we should know…" said Katara.

"Sister, name's Azula…," Zuko paused. "And my uncle, Iroh. He's alright. You'll like him."

"Well just give us the address and we can go!"

Katara and Zuko exchanged phone numbers and the four began to talk about other things. Not knowing what tomorrow would hold, Sokka tightened his grip on his boomerang and smiled.