And WOOO the power is out…I LOVE YOU, LAPTOP!
Alright, so apparently Zula is Azula….I didn't even notice….stupid Z names….with the A being all non-noticeable. And apparently I went insane and spelled Zhao, Zhai. I KNEW how to spell it and still managed to not spell it right. I…er….I blame my cat.
So yeah…I fixed dat crap.
So Voila…the first step to romance is making someone's acquaintance. Strangely enough, Sokka and Zuko are not a ready-bake-couple. They need stirring and kneading and melting before you can add the chocolate chips and even then, you really shouldn't pick out the little bits of eggshell that fell in or it just wouldn't be them. And I can tell by the analogy that its time for me to hit the hay.
The first hour and a half of their search was done in silence. Zuko discovered that Sokka was very much not a morning person and resented anyone who rose before noon to practice firebending forms. The bison was in fact, much healthier than it had appeared in the night. It was missing some of the white poofiness, but the char and blood he'd seen the night before was from very minor burns and scrapes. It did not hesitate or complain when Sokka took its reigns and said "Yip-yip." Zuko wondered if it would respond to more dignified words if trained properly, but he doubted it. The beast seemed wholly of a nature with the Avatar and therefore without dignity.
Zuko, seeing that Sokka had control of the creature, retreated to the rear of the saddle and settled himself as a lookout. It would be some time before they came in range of Azula's ship but he didn't know what else to do. Sokka was ignoring him in favor of staring avidly into the empty blue sky.
Zuko figured that the normally loud and obnoxious boy would be subdued until his friends and family were together and healthy. He understood the weight of the responsibility Sokka had taken upon himself. Being crushed by responsibility was something everyone learned eventually. What Zuko wondered was how the other would change later on, if his sister and the Avatar were saved. Would Sokka return to his cheerful personality and forget just how much could depend on him, or would he feel the weight from then on, crushing his every thought. Would worry eat at him until he became consumed by a single goal? Would he become like Zuko.
The Prince shifted uneasily at that thought. For Sokka's sake, he hoped the warrior would be able to forget. It was likely, he thought. Sokka didn't seem like the focused type in the few meetings they had. He was more the sarcastic, everyone's-insane-but-me-aren't-I-hilarious-and-cute type. Zuko wondered if that really was a type or if maybe Sokka was one of a kind.
"So are you in love with my sister?" Zuko blinked. The question came out of the blue and Sokka was still facing forward.
"What?"
"I'm trying to figure out why the evil Prince of Pain is helping us. Are you in love with my sister?" He finally glanced back at the staring Zuko.
"You think I would abandon my entire life, my people, my future, for a girl?" He sputtered in disbelief. Sokka shrugged.
"So why, then?" He pressed. "Is this an elaborate plot to lure Aang into your evil clutches?" Zuko scowled.
"I have the Avatar, if you hadn't noticed. He's deep in my evil clutches and so are you, if you hadn't noticed." Zuko sneered at the now glaring Water-boy, then let his features soften with his voice. "But that is not my goal any more."
"Then what is? Why should we trust you?" Sokka asked bluntly. He turned in place on the bison's head so he could look Zuko in the eye. Zuko hesitated. A part of him still seemed unwilling to voice his hopes for the future. Speaking them aloud to someone other than Iroh might reveal how ridiculous they were. And to say that he was going to betray his father would make it final. He took a deep breath and looked at Sokka. The other was watching Zuko intently, a mix of suspicion and curiosity in his bright eyes.
"I suppose I'll have to trust you if I want you to trust me." He said, not really intending to vocalize the thought. It just came out. "My Father is insane and I need the Avatar to save my people." Sokka looked startled and took a long moment of staring at Zuko to respond. Zuko avoided seeing the expected contempt by turning his head to gaze out at the sea.
"You want Aang to save the Fire Nation?" Sokka said, sounding puzzled. "Why should he? After everything the Fire Nation has done to him, to the world? After they killed every other Airbender in the world, why would Aang stoop to help your people?" His voice didn't come out as harsh as the words would normally dictate. His tone was curious.
"The Avatar brings balance. My people have been misled by my father to believe that the world will be better when the Fire Nation controls all. The Avatar can save them from themselves." Zuko said, waiting for the boy to laugh at him.
"Aang was already planning to help the Fire Nation. Somehow he knew what you wanted. We were on our way back to you when Azula caught up with us." Zuko looked at him, surprised again by how foolishly trusting the Avatar kept revealing himself to be. "He told me to trust you before he passed out. And I trust him, so I here I am."
"Trust in the Avatar…" Zuko murmured. It seemed to be the theme of the past months. Zuko wondered if the Avatar knew just how much the world was putting on his thin little shoulders. His mind showed him a flash of memory, of the Avatar sitting on a tree root waiting for Zuko to wake up. He had seen the boy sitting there, thinking. Somehow the sadness in his face translated to Zuko. He was just a child and he was expected to be so much more and he was just barely managing to keep from crushing under the strain. Zuko was starting to think that if there was anyone in the world who could understand him, it would be the Avatar.
He turned his gaze outward again, to the Water tribe boy that was watching him with a thoughtful expression. "Why were you banished?" Sokka asked him softly. Zuko jerked his gaze away from the other and glared out at the sea.
"That is not your business." He snapped. The last thing he needed right now was the moron questioning his honor.
"You'll have to tell us eventually." Sokka pointed out. "We need to know if you were kicked out for being a homicidal crazy man instead of just a staring crazy man." Zuko twitched.
"I don't stare!" Sokka didn't answer; he just smirked and turned his self-satisfied mug around to face forward again. "There isn't anyone around here worth staring at." Zuko said in a spiteful voice and smiled internally when the boy hunched his shoulders and engaged well-practiced sulk.
"I knew you were in love with my sister. Everyone's in love with Katara. Even Aang is secretly in love with Katara. What'm I? A toad?" Zuko wondered if he was supposed to be hearing the mumbled rant of the water tribe's madman but no longer cared when the bitching seemed to go on. Then he just settled for glowering at the back of Sokka's head. He hoped they found his sister's ship soon. As charming as Sokka was, Zuko thought that prolonged exposure might drive him insane. My family already has enough insanity in it, thank you very much.
I just violently suppressed the urge to sit as Zuko and muse about life and insanity for a bit….I usually write comedy so this drama thing is more challenging than I expected….once I get into Zuko-mind its hard to get out….he's corrupting my BRAIN! I brooded today! BROODED! It was not….normal.
