AN: Thank you for the reviews :3 I hope you enjoy this chapter! … And don't mind the title XDDD
Chapter 5: What The Hell?
"Prince Zuko, we have some information concerning the Avatar's whereabouts," one of the crewmembers told him, as Zuko was concentrating on a map. He nodded, an indication for the man to continue. "He's currently heading to the West, in a village not so far from here. He has been residing there for three days now, according to an old man I talked to earlier. I suggest we walk there- it will take us three hours if we do."
"Very well. Make a party of about ten soldiers and be sure to be ready in an hour. We'll leave immediately." Zuko dismissed the man and concentrated on the map again, occasionally glancing towards the boy standing on the other side of the deck, practising with his boomerang. Lately, he found it hard to concentrate on the work, especially when his friend was around and it was rather annoying him. He'd sometimes even send Sokka out of his sight, so he could finally get some work or training done, even though he felt emptiness when the tribesman wasn't around and, of course, guiltiness as he usually sent him away rather briskly.
"Sokka," he called out to the boy, who immediately came jogging towards him, panting slightly because of the exercise. "We know where the Avatar is and we'll be leaving in one hour. Be ready for that time, we'll need you with us to convince him that we don't intend any harm." Sokka looked surprised.
"Really? You found him?" Zuko nodded. "Zuko…" he started, looking hesitant. He knew this moment would come- facing his sister and Aang. And he knew that they would never agree with Zuko's offer to join them; not unless the prince would release Sokka. The tribesman knew Zuko would never agree to that and there was a small part of Sokka that didn't want to leave the prince and the ship.
"What is it Sokka?" he asked, not looking up from the map.
"I think it's better if I stayed here," he finally said, looking away from Zuko's face. Zuko looked up, a questioning look on his face. "You really think it's smart to talk about peace with Aang and my sister when you bought me to serve you from an Earth Nation slavehouse? First of all, they won't trust you. Secondly, they'd only talk about peace if you'd release me. I know my sister, she won't let you off the hook that fast." Zuko looked thoughtful for a while, making Sokka wonder if he was even thinking about what he had said. Then again, Zuko usually took his time thinking things through (whenever he wasn't angry, because then he would act on impulse), so Sokka waited patiently for him to answer.
"I have decided," he said finally, making Sokka blink. Decided on what? "I'll let you free. You're not a slave anymore."
Zuko, of course, reluctantly said this. However, he had been thinking about it a lot- releasing him. What kind of friendship did he have with Sokka, if said friend was a slave? And, if Sokka really was his friend, he'd stay with Zuko. The prince was scared of course, scared that he'd leave him, but he didn't dare to think about that… he'd just have to accept that, if it was Sokka's decision.
And Sokka had a point- if he wanted to agree with the Avatar and offer him peace, then he needed to let Sokka go anyway, so it was either now, with his own will, or later, the Avatar pushing him to do so. He rather did it on his own, because it would mean more to Sokka and himself if he would let him go like that.
"Wh-what?" Sokka stammered. He hadn't expected that.
"You're welcome to stay here with me, but I hereby release you. You're free to leave or stay," Zuko said. He hoped on the latter, of course.
"I-I… thanks," Sokka replied, not exactly knowing what to say to it. "I don't know… if I'll stay. I'd have to think about it." Zuko felt a rock dropping in his stomach, but nodded reluctantly. "Unless…" Sokka blushed slightly, scratching his neck. "You want me to stay? I mean, I wouldn't mind. I like it here," he mumbled. Zuko blinked at him, his heart immediately skipping a beat.
He was glad… he just needed to say a couple of words and Sokka would stay with him. He wouldn't leave him, he wouldn't go away- it was at that point that Zuko realised how nervous he was of the tribesman's answer.
Did he need him to stay? Probably. Zuko shrugged quickly, dismissing the thought and focusing on the boy instead.
"Think about it before you say anything, you have four hours," he said to him, not missing the obvious disappointment in his eyes. "But, I'd really like it if you stayed." With that, Zuko quickly left the deck, leaving a still very confused Sokka.
Arriving in his room, Zuko quickly flopped on Sokka's bed- a habit he had picked up over the couple of months they had spent together. He now slept in the same bed as Sokka, always ate together with him, trained with him and even in his dreams, Sokka would keep him company. Was this how friends felt towards each other? He couldn't imagine that. What were they exactly?
He wanted to know that- he wanted to understand.
There was physical attraction between the two. Zuko often found himself watching him from the corner of his eyes or just stare at his body, his muscles, his face, his eyes… whatever glimpse he could get. Besides that, he liked his conversations, he liked his sense of humour, he liked to sleep in the same bed with him and hold him. He liked to touch his face, arms or back and he found that he wanted to always hold him and that he didn't want anyone else to get near him.
Could it be that he was in love with him?
He had heard many stories about love and being in love with someone, though they were never about a man and a man. He heard several of his crewmembers talking about it though and it was generally accepted by the people, even if it was still weird.
Was there love between the both of them?
He had heard some things about the 'effects' of being in love and he decided to go through them one by one. The most important one of them all, was constantly thinking about that person. In his case, it was true- he definitely couldn't keep his mind off of Sokka. Every second he was awake, he would think about him and even in his sleep, he'd still be in his dreams. It was annoying, because he couldn't concentrate properly anymore, but it was strangely enjoyable at the same time. It was hard to explain it.
He also never wanted Sokka to have a… girlfriend. Or something. He wanted to tear everybody who had ever touched the boy apart and throw them in the ocean so they could never come near him again- so, he was possessive of him. But was that really love?
… He'd just have to find out.
--
"Prince Zuko, we're ready to go," a member of his crew told him, as he was still lying on his bed thinking about a certain tribesman. Zuko immediately stood up and dismissed him, quickly getting his helmet and hurrying to the deck. He saw Sokka already standing there- he had a white shirt on him, sleeveless, and a pair of very baggy kaki pants. They would easily drop off his hips, had it not been for the belt.
"Sokka, before we go, I'd like to talk to you for a minute," Zuko said, motioning Sokka to come with him. They didn't stop far away from the rest of the party which would go to find the Avatar, but far enough so they couldn't hear them. "I'd like to test something."
"Really? What?" The other asked, confused. Test something?
"Yes, just stay still for a minute or so," Zuko replied, inching closer to his face. Sokka swallowed slowly, wondering what it was that the slightly taller boy was going to do. "Don't pull away," he breathed, closing the gap between the both of them and kissing Sokka full on the mouth.
For a minute or so, the tribesman simply froze. Literally. He couldn't move at all- he was in shock. It was supposed to feel wrong, but slowly, as Sokka started to get used to the feeling of his lips pressed against his, it started to feel completely right and he wanted more of that. As if they had a mind of their own, his hands found their way to the back of Zuko's head and pulled him closer, his mouth slowly beginning to move against the prince's. He felt Zuko smirk and couldn't help but grin back at him in the kiss.
And then, suddenly, Zuko's lips were gone and Sokka felt a certain emptiness inside of him.
"Thank you. It's all clear to me now," Zuko said and walked away, towards the very stunned crew standing on deck, all gaping at the sudden display of affection between the two boys. Only Iroh grinned. "I don't want to hear anything from you, uncle," Zuko said as he passed him.
"Why, dear nephew, I would never," Iroh replied innocently. "Just make sure he follows us, I think he can't move right now." Zuko turned towards the still stunned Sokka.
"Sokka, get over here, or I'll carry you myself!" he called to him. Iroh snickered softly to himself as Sokka hurried over and followed Zuko, still a weird look on his face and a hint of pink on his cheeks.
"You gave us quite the show there Sokka," Iroh said, chuckling as the tribesman's face turned a deeper shade of red.
"S-shut up!" he quickly said and scurried over to one of the people he knew, who slapped him on his back and laughed loudly as Sokka smacked him on the head. Iroh watched as Zuko immediately pulled the tribesman away from the man and how he snaked his arm around Sokka's waist. He heard Sokka saying something along the lines of 'pervert! Get your arm away from me!', obviously still embaressed about before, and he inched away from Zuko.
Ah, love. Isn't it wonderful?
--
"Pervert! Stop harassing me!" Sokka smacked Zuko's arm away for the hundredth time when they had started to walk. Zuko just smirked at him and pulled Sokka closer.
"That's no way to talk to your boyfriend," he replied, swinging his arm over the tribesman's shoulders and pulling him against his chest.
"You are not my boyfriend!" he hissed. How the hell had he gotten himself into this mess? Oh yeah. He allowed Zuko to kiss him.
Well, not that this was all bad, the attention, affection, the touching, but it was just so… weird, especially doing it in public. They had slept together, hugging each other in the bed, arms around each other's waists… but this was so different than all of that. Zuko had kissed him and now he was calling himself Sokka's boyfriend. It was just too confusing for him. So, therefore, he kept pulling himself out of Zuko's annoying grasp and tried to get away from him and mingle with the crewmembers.
Zuko always pulled him away though.
"We're here," Zuko said, finally letting go of Sokka, to his relief. The village they had arrived in was very small- at the most, there were seven houses standing there, without any stores to buy food. These people probably had to travel to a bigger city in the neighbourhood to get their food, clothes and other supplies. Sokka looked around and saw few people on the only street, looking frightened at the Fire Nation soldier's, especially at Zuko, who always looked as if he could murder someone.
With the exception of Sokka of course- Zuko always looked at Sokka as if he could jump him any second. Sokka shuddered at the thought.
For a moment, Sokka had no idea what to do next- wait until Aang would show up? Ask some-
"You there, peasant, tell me where the Avatar is," Zuko said briskly to one of the elderly men on the street. The man blinked once, before he narrowed his eyes. Sokka gave him a smack on the head. "Ouch! What was that for?" the prince hissed at him.
"You don't ask people for things like that!" Sokka hissed back. "Excuse me sir!" the tribesman said then, ignoring Zuko who was rubbing his head in annoyance. "Do you know where the Avatar is? I have to talk to him."
"S-Sokka?" A familiar voice piped up from one of the houses. Zuko crossed his arms as he saw the girl- Sokka's sister- walk towards them, an angry look on her face. "Let him go now!" she yelled, clearly directed at the prince, getting out some water from the flask she always carried with her.
"Katara, wait!" Sokka yelled at her- he knew this would happen. Zuko raised an eyebrow at the display and swung an arm around his shoulders- Sokka was too busy to notice anyway… much to the pleasure of Zuko. "Where's Aang?" Katara blinked.
"He's… washing Appa," she replied, looking at Zuko and Sokka, who didn't seem to want to be released. "What's going on here?" she finally demanded. She watched how her brother smacked the arm of Zuko away, before he walked up to her and gave her a hug.
"Don't worry," he grinned. "Zuko's not after Aang anymore. I'll explain everything when we find him, 'kay?" Katara nodded silently, still too confused about what was happening.