Remind Me

It was a clear sky; the moon giving an amazing light, stars surrounding it. Not a sound could be heard in the forest, except for some birds who only come out during the night. Sokka was guarding their camp, occasionally yawning due to the fact that he had absolutely nothing to do, except maybe swim some more in the river nearby. Though, if Katara knew he was going to do that, she'd flip out.

… That never stopped him though.

Standing up from the log he was sitting on, he stretched and quickly undressed himself, with the exception of his pants. He didn't mind swimming in the nude, but if something happened and he needed to fight, he'd rather have his pants on. He sighed as he jumped in the river, splashing and feeling immediately refreshed by the cool water.

He stayed there, sometimes flopping on his back to look at the stars, until the sun started to rise, completely forgetting about his task of watching the camp.

"Sokka!" A voice suddenly cried, disturbing the peace, from further into the forest- he saw Appa rising, with Aang on his head and Katara on his back. They were searching for him, glancing around deeper into the forest. Sokka waved and yelled, not knowing what else to do, but they couldn't see him- they turned around and went into the exact opposite way of where he was. Then, he saw flames rising from the forest, firing at the flying bison, who avoided them easily.

Firebenders.

Sokka panicked and immediately went out of the water, running as fast as he could. He needed to get away from there- he'd meet up with Aang and Katara later on, he was sure of that. He just needed to flee from the Fire Nation for the time being.

After running for a couple of seconds, fire was being shot at him. He dodged several shots, still running away, until he bumped into a very tall and muscular man, who immediately held him still.

"Well, well, what have we here?"

--

The tribesman woke up, shocked and confused as to where he was. Again that dream? It was the same almost every day- he dreamed about his 'adventures' for the past month, ever since he had been 'bought' by Zuko.

Speaking of Zuko, why was he lying underneath Sokka? And why were his arms around him?

"AH!" Sokka yelled and jumped off the bed, falling on the floor in the process. Because of all the noise, Zuko woke up as well, blinking lazily and looking down at the boy on the floor, who was gaping at him and pointing his finger in his direction.

"You better have a good excuse for waking me up," Zuko said dryly, rubbing his head as he was ready to fall back asleep again. Sokka still looked at him, his mouth hanging open. "And close that mouth, I can see what you ate yesterday." Sokka immediately closed his mouth, standing up and rubbing his head.

"Wh-You-THE HELL?" He finally roared. Zuko just blinked at him.

"Get back to bed, you idiot. You were having a nightmare and you wouldn't wake up- this was the only other option. Now get back into bed or I'll strap you down myself." Sokka blinked once, wondering if he should get back into bed with him. On the one hand, it was freaky- he didn't even lie in the same bed with Katara, who was his own sister. On the other hand, it was rather tempting. He hadn't slept that well in a very long time and the warmth radiating from the other's body had been… nice. "Good boy," Zuko said, as Sokka came back to him and lied down next to him, very close to his own body. Sokka stuck out his tongue at him.

"I'm not your dog, bastard," he said.

"No, but you are my slave," Zuko grinned and pulled the other one closer to him. Sokka blinked and blushed slightly at the feeling of an arm around his waist.

"I think you're beginning to turn into a pervert," Sokka muttered slightly, before closing his eyes. He was completely pushed against Zuko's chest. It was as if his arms were having a mind of their own, as they held Zuko in return. Sokka felt drowsy; the heat radiating from his friend's body and the soft and steady beat of Zuko's heart. The prince chuckled at his remark, moving slightly as he did so.

Sokka fell asleep immediately, lost in warmth, comfort and safety.

--

This went on for another week. Every night, Sokka had a nightmare and every night, Zuko would come and lie in his bed, his arms around the others waist in an attempt to make him feel safe. They both enjoyed it very much- the warmth, the comfort. And even though they would never admit it- they practically relied on each other.

Slowly but surely, Zuko started to feel warm whenever he even saw the boy. He felt jealous whenever some other man on the ship made him laugh, or whenever someone else was able to touch him and Zuko found himself thinking about the Avatar less and less. It was weird and incomprehensible for the young prince- he hated not understanding things, but this was probably the biggest mystery to him yet.

He had never had friends. And he felt as if he and Sokka were closer than that, however weird that might sound, but they were more than simply friends. And he liked it, the way Sokka subdued himself to the prince, whenever he would simply hold him close to him. It gave him a feeling of dominance and something else, which he couldn't identify. Maybe it was possessiveness, the way Zuko would swing his arm around him whenever someone else was talking to him. Or perhaps it was protectiveness for him- he didn't want anybody to hurt the boy anymore.

But Sokka still hadn't told him what exactly had happened to him at… the place. And Zuko wanted to know- he wanted the boy to open up to him and he wanted to know who the man was who had borrowed him for the night so he could hunt him down and kill him for ever touching the boy.

And so, he found himself yet again, rubbing the boy next to him softly on his back, wiping a strand of hair out of his tanned face and just comforting him with his presence. Sokka was breathing heavily, still in shock of his dream, still afraid and still panicked about it. Zuko sighed; even though he didn't mind doing this for his friend, he still thought this should stop.

"Sokka, do you want to talk about it?" he asked, almost gently. The tribesman shook his head heavily, clutching Zuko's shirt even tighter. "It might help you get over this. You can't keep everything inside- you know when I get mad, I always vent it out on someone or something and it helps. Just… talk to me about it." Sokka was silent for a moment. "You're not ashamed for it, are you?" Zuko then asked, suddenly it dawned on him- Sokka was scared, ashamed for it. The tribesman nodded silently and Zuko sat up straight. "It's not your fault that it happened to you, you shouldn't be ashamed for it, but those men do." It was silent for a while, before Sokka started to speak softly.

"I… didn't realise it at first, that I actually was a slave and that… people could do things to me, just like that. I mean, they told me, but I just didn't want to know, I guess. Not until one of the guards came into my cell, it was then that it… that I realised it was all for real," Zuko had lied back down again, holding the boy against him as he spoke. The words were tentative at first, as if to try out if it really worked, but then he started to speak a bit more louder so Zuko could hear it. "He locked it and he hit me and… well, I think you know what he did," he continued, an awkward grin on his face as he said the last words. "An hour later, these other men came. One was pretty big and he said that he had interest in me. He took me to his home, I think, well, it was pretty big and he seemed to be very rich. He started to hit me too, when I tried to escape, so I bit him when he held his hand in front of my mouth. That only made it worse though," he added with a soft and insecure chuckle. He could see smoke coming out of Zuko's nose and he liked the fact that it made the prince angry, angry for him… he quickly dismissed the thought and shrugged- it probably didn't mean anything and he didn't want it to mean anything. "Well, he did the same as the guard after that. He hit me some more, on my back, my arms… he had a belt, I remember and used that on me too. I passed out after that and then I woke up here."

"How did you get caught anyway? Didn't the Avatar protect you?" Zuko asked him, trying to control his temper. Bastards- if he ever would find the name of the guy who had taken Sokka, he'd definitely hunt him down.

"Well, I don't really remember. I think I sometimes dream about it, but I can't be sure if that really happened. In my dream, I was awake at night and they were sleeping- I was bored, so I went swimming in a river only a couple of metres further away. After a while, I heard them yelling my name and I saw Appa- you know, the flying bison- lift up and flames trying to hit them. I yelled, but they didn't hear me, so I got caught by Firebenders." Zuko nodded. "Some parts seem familiar, so I think that that's what happened."

"Bastards," Zuko ground out, through gritted teeth. Sokka flicked him on the head.

"Don't call my friends bastards, bastard," he said, jokingly. Zuko smacked him back in return- though his friend was already laughing again, he couldn't see the humour in this.

"Are you… alright?" Zuko asked finally, hesitantly. Sokka's eyes immediately darkened.

"I am, I guess. But…" Zuko could faintly see tears in his eyes, all trace of the smile he wore mere seconds ago gone. "How will I ever tell Katara? Or Aang? How can I ever return to my village?" Zuko told himself in his mind, that he could never return, since he was a slave anyway, but decided to keep that thought to himself. Sure, he could let the boy go… but that meant that Sokka would leave him. Zuko didn't want that to happen.

"Like I said, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Well, except for the horrid smell," Zuko said, teasingly. Sokka just smacked him again, but grinned back- he was slightly stunned when Zuko wiped away a tear with his thumb, though soon leaned into the soft touch, his eyes closing and drowsiness taking him over. "Now, I order you to go to sleep, peasant," Zuko said, in a tone which made the 'peasant' laugh. There wasn't a hint of malice in that tone, just teasing.

"Yes, your royal Pain in the Ass," he replied, sleep overtaking him.

AN: Ok, short chapter, but I thought it was a good point to stop o.o. Nyah, review if you will :3 xD