Disclaimer: Jeez. If I owned the series, Sokka and Zuzu would have been married by now and busy having kids, not fighting a stupid war.

Warning: Right. Read previous chappie warning for that will start applying from now on. Save for the fact that the innuendo will turn into actual sex. So if you don't like it. Scram.

ITALICS MEAN FLASHBACKS!

Answering the voices
I don't forget about you
It's an impossible path, yet I tread it alone

Like a defeated bird, we gracefully endure the rain

--Forces (translated)
--Berserk

Oh, and note: Zuko doesn't have his Blue Spirit blades or uniform.

The cave was actually not so far away, but because of the rain, the journey seemed to take forever.

"It's not that much further…" Sokka yelled over the growing gale down to Zuko, who just grunted.

"You just had to pick one up high on the mountain side, didn't you?" Zuko yelled back as he pulled himself up onto a flat slab of rock with some difficulty. Sokka quickly reached to steady him. "You okay?"

Zuko panted as he glanced down below. They were high up on the side of the mountain, high enough so that they could see over the tops of the pines beginning after the rock rubble right below them. "I'm fine…" He finally answered as he closed his eyes for a moment before bursting out, "Why am I so damn tired? It was just a little climb! I should be able to handle that with no problem!"

"Zuko…" Sokka began, "You're five months pregnant—"

"And? What's that got to do with anything?" Zuko snapped, struggling to pull his tangled wet hair back into a bun.

Sokka sighed as he scooted closer to Zuko so that their faces were almost touching. "Zuko, listen," He started. "Five months is a long time. And frankly carrying a baby for that long requires a lot of energy…and it will keep requiring much more with each month. You have to be patient—"

"There you go with the 'patience' thing again…" Zuko moaned as he looked away before suddenly sneezing.

Sokka sighed as he worriedly looked at Zuko. "C'mon." He started softly, raising a hand to stroke Zuko's burnt cheek, only to have Zuko gently grasp the hand and push it away. Sokka frowned a bit in disappointment, but quickly focused his attention on other things. "The cave's not far. Just a bit further."

"Finally!" Zuko gasped as Sokka heaved himself up beside him. "This the cave?" He asked as he looked pointedly behind him at the dark opening.

Sokka nodded. "Yep."

"Good." Zuko stood and carefully made his way to the cave, slipping and sliding a bit on the smooth wet rocks. Sokka followed behind. "Careful…the rocks are slippery."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "No, really? I never noticed." He answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Then, he added jokingly, "But maybe you should be careful. After all, if you could fall into that big of a hole without noticing it there in front of you, who knows what else could happen?" He glanced back and laughed at the face Sokka gave him.

"Shut up." Sokka sulked and was about to say something, when he suddenly slipped and fell forward, crashing into Zuko, causing him to slip as well. Both of them fell forward, hitting the ground hard and half-rolling, half-sliding into the cave. Zuko managed to avoid landing on his stomach by using his hands to break the fall and the rolling. Sokka, however, wasn't so lucky and he ended up moaning in pain on top of the firebender, nursing quite a few bruises.

Zuko opened his eyes slowly and groaned, shifting a little bit only to realize that he couldn't move. Blinking, he immediately saw why. Sokka was lying on top of him, pinning him down successfully with his weight. Just then, Sokka turned his head to look down at him in surprise, but right then, their lips brushed together causing Sokka to automatically jerk his head back a little and Zuko to blush brightly. They were silent for a second, then Sokka's face burst into a grin. "Isn't this familiar?"

Zuko looked away from Sokka's eyes and instead focused on the dry cave floor. "Get off."

Sokka laughed and shifted himself teasingly, making sure to rub against Zuko's inner thighs. "No, I don't think I will."

Zuko, meanwhile, flushed a bit darker and shot a small glare at Sokka. "Sok—"

Sokka took the chance to swoop down and kiss him on the lips, sliding his tongue into the hot mouth.

Zuko stiffened a bit at the suddenness of it all, but slowly he relaxed and began to respond into the kiss. Sokka grinned at this and deepened the kiss, finding the other's tongue and beginning to wrestle with it. Zuko moaned slowly in response.

Sokka, meanwhile, began to slide his hands down, fingering the edge of the cloth then slipping his hands slowly under and moving back upwards. Zuko shivered at the touch as they broke away for air. Sokka took the time to slide the brown cloak off of Zuko and toss it aside. Then, he swooped back down for another kiss, while sliding his hands across the thin grey robe, massaging the body that was underneath.

Zuko groaned as Sokka broke the kiss and slowly began sliding his lips downward to the neck, kissing and biting the flesh once he got there. The other smiled at the response while moving down to where the shoulder and neck joined together and biting down into the flesh, before beginning to massage it with his tongue.

Zuko let out a yelp in surprise at the sudden pain and pleasure from the bite, before moaning softly. Sokka was beginning to rub against his inner thighs and it felt surprisingly good. Glancing at Sokka through lidded-eyes, Zuko found them to be filled with something…an emotion he'd seen many times before…

Do not let him do what you do not want him to do…

Zuko turned his head away to the left as he gently placed a hand on Sokka's chest, pushing a little away.

Sokka stopped in surprise at the reaction. "What is it?" He asked, trying to read the emotions on the other's turned face.

"We shouldn't do this." Zuko whispered, more focused on the cave floor.

There is always a choice…

"Why not?" Sokka wanted to know, feeling confused.

"We just shouldn't."

No one can choose for you…

"That's not a reason." Sokka pointed out as he reached down and began to nibble on the other's ear, only to be roughly shoved away with one hand.

"I said I want to stop."

No one SHOULD choose for you…

"But I don't." Sokka snapped as he tried once again to kiss the firebender, but the same hand that had pushed him away both times stopped him once again. Sokka sat up, still straddling Zuko (although still being careful), and cocked his head, feeling a little angry but more confused. "What's your problem?"

"I don't want to do this." Zuko answered, still focusing on the floor.

You're choice is your own…

"You seemed pretty willing the last time!" Sokka snapped angrily.

Zuko scoffed. "What do you know of how I felt? You don't care about anyone but yourself."

Did you really want to do that?

Sokka stared down in shock at the firebender. What was going on? Growling, Sokka felt his confusion ebb away, giving into anger. "What were you doing then? Playing with me?--"

"Is that really what you think I was doing?" Zuko growled as he snapped his head back to look at Sokka, blinking back the tears.

I don't kn--…No. I didn't want it. Not then anyways…

Sokka snarled as he stared into the teary golden eyes. "You know, I really don't get you. You and Iroh and everyone else act as if that night was a total mistake. But you know what? I think you're just scared! Scared to admit that you actually enjoyed it!—"

"What choice do you think I had?" Zuko cut him off, now struggling to get out from underneath. "Did you ever sit down and ask me if I wanted to do it?"

"Is that your problem?" Sokka snapped. "That I never blatantly asked you if you wanted to be fucked?"

"Yes!" Zuko burst out.

"Well then," Sokka growled. "Do you want to be fucked now? There, I asked. Happy?"

"You're horrid!" Zuko yelled, almost in tears now. "You're completely horrid! Do you even think about why Uncle is so mad at you right now? Do you even think back to what happened that night and even try to understand? Do you? Well?"

"What are you trying to get at?" Sokka yelled back, before letting out a grunt as Zuko shoved him off of him harshly.

"I knew it!" Zuko screamed, fighting hard not to cry. "You are just like every other person I've met! You don't give a damn about how the other person feels about anything, do you! You just want that instantaneous release and I'm the closest thing there!"

Sokka growled as he made a grab towards Zuko's wrist. Zuko managed to avoid getting grabbed by his right, but wasn't so lucky with his left. However, just as Sokka's hands curled around his left, Zuko let out a cry as pain suddenly shot through his wrist. Sokka immediately let go and watched in worry as Zuko clutched his wrist to his chest. "What's wrong?" He asked, forgetting all about the fight before as he scooted closer and looked down at the wrist, before reaching over to touch it.

Zuko bit his lip in pain as Sokka touched it, causing Sokka to quickly pull his fingers back.

"I must've broken it…" Zuko finally muttered, not looking up. "…when we fell…"

Sokka nodded as he quickly tore a piece of his tunic. "Here." He said as he quickly wrapped Zuko's wrist tightly. "When the other's get here, we'll ask Katara if she can heal it. I'm not sure she can heal bones though…"

Zuko nodded quietly as he looked up out of habit. Their eyes met and they began to lean towards each other…

Don't let it go any further…

Zuko quickly jerked back and stood. "I'll go see if there's…anything to burn…" He whispered as he began walking deeper into the cave, quickly being swallowed up by shadows.

Sokka watched him go, feeling a little angry and confused again, but the feelings quickly went away leaving only a strange sadness.

"You are just like every other person I've met"

No he wasn't. Was he? How should he know what the people Zuko met were like!

"You don't give a damn about how the other person feels"

Yes he did. He cared about what his sister felt like, what Aang felt like… What did Zuko know?

"Do you even think back to what happened that night"

Yes he—No. He didn't. He hadn't thought about that night since it happened. It had all happened so suddenly that he hadn't known how to react afterwards…not to mention it was kind of hard to talk to someone about it when that someone did everything to avoid you afterwards…

Closing his eyes, Sokka thought back for the first time in five months.

Zuko kept walking deeper into the cave without a destination. A small ball of flame from his good hand lighted the way for him, not that he really cared where he was going.

Something wet slid down his face.

Blinking, Zuko looked up, half expecting the ceiling to be wet or something, but no. The ceiling was dry.

Another wet something slid down his face.

He quickly reached up and touched it, feeling the cool moisture on his fingertips. It took him a second to realize it was tears.

What he did was wrong, Zuko. And you know that.

Closing his eyes, Zuko furiously tried to wipe the tears away with his good hand. He hated crying. So why was he doing it so much today?

Another tear managed to escape his tightly shut eyes.

Crying is stupid! He thought angrily. A weakness! Something to be ashamed of! No one of a noble status should cry. It was something that just was not done.

And yet a sob escaped his lips.

They had been fighting again. They did not know how else to act around each other, so they exchanged verbal insults and blows…when they could.

Now they were alone. In the dark woods with the full moon shining overhead. Zuko had stalked off after he had said something insulting, and Sokka being Sokka, just had to follow.

He found him, alright. Standing by the edge of a small river. The light from the moon was shining directly onto him, making his form seem as if it was glowing.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as he watched, his heart suddenly racing. He knew what he felt around the other, oh did he know! He had dreamt of the Firebender many times, many of the dreams having underlying desires in them. But as always, he did not know how to show it… He'd never felt this way, not even around Yue… He thought he had, but apparently not.

But here was the perfect chance! All he had to do was say it… He opened his mouth and…

Winced as an insult slipped through.

The Firebender whirled around, his eyes blazing. Sokka snarled almost automatically back at him as he clenched his fists and struck.

Zuko's knees gave way under him as he collapsed onto the cave floor, sobbing harshly. Iroh had warned him many times to avoid people like him…but did he listen? Oh no…

He had had many suitors like Sokka in the palace…Iroh had disapproved of them all.

Hell, even his father and sister disapproved of them.

And if they disapproved, then there must be something wrong with those kinds of boys.

They fought for a while, just with fists, then things turned more violent when he accidentally drew a small dagger and struck at the Firebender, catching him in the shoulder.

Immediately, the Firebender backed away, caught of guard by the action. Of all the times they had fought, they had never drawn a weapon. It had been a silent truce…they were on the same side now supposedly. But now the truce was broken.

Zuko snorted in anger, and Sokka watched in mild fascination as smoke curled out from his nostrils. Then, the Firebender drew a dagger with some inscriptions on it. Sokka took no time to read it though, for Zuko jumped at him, eyes blazing with want for revenge.

After Iroh had found out he was pregnant, he had come in one night, when everyone else was asleep, and forced Zuko to tell him everything.

Afterwards, he had frowned and stayed silent for a moment before starting to talk.

"No one's choice is your own, Zuko." He had said. "That boy had no right to do those things to you. It wasn't your fault for it…we had just joined their group a few weeks ago. We had been starving for months before that…barely living off of what we could beg from strangers. We were thin and yes, Zuko, weak. What possibly possessed you to believe that you were on equal footing with the boy is beyond me. He had had plenty to eat, plenty to drink, plenty of rest. We had none of those. You were obviously disadvantaged. It had not been fair that the boy had taken such advantage of the situation and used it for his own gains."

Iroh had been right then. He had been too tired to fend for himself, but he had pushed himself to exhaustion, and when the need came to defend himself, he was unable to do so.

And look where it had gotten him.

They fought again, this time a deadly dance, one striking, the other blocking. Zuko was trained well with the dagger, but Sokka was better. He had had to rely on it far more often than Zuko had. Slowly he gained the upper hand, but right before he could dislodge the weapon from his opponent's grasp, Zuko slipped.

He wasn't really sure how they managed to back so close to the river, but the fact was that Zuko had slipped and fallen into the shallow river, and the dagger had fallen in between two bigger rocks.

He wasted no time in shoving the bender into the water, with the dagger held to the throat. A rock underneath the bender's head kept Zuko's head from being shoved underwater, but the rock was only wide enough for the head. His hands and feet were well underneath.

They were silent for a second, and that was when he noticed that the Firebender was breathing hard. He was stunned by that fact, and he let his grip loosen just a bit. But that was enough for the Firebender to punch him in the gut.

Sokka had gasped, but long hard training provided by his sister mostly, had hardened the muscles there, so he recovered quickly. Before Zuko even had the time to try to kick him off, Sokka had punched him hard in the stomach and elbowed him hard in the face, before shoving the dagger right back where it was, this time drawing a thin line of blood from his opponent's throat. He felt the bender beneath him take a deep breath.

"Don't even think about it." Sokka threatened, knowing what the bender was thinking of doing. He had heard stories about powerful benders being able to blow fire. He didn't know if they were true, but he sure didn't want to find out! "I'll cut your throat before you even manage to let it out!" He held the dagger a little closer to the throat, and watched as a tad thicker line of blood began to flow.

Zuko had hesitated then, and Sokka knew he was measuring his chances. Then the bender relaxed and let out the breath slowly through his nose. Sokka smirked at that, knowing he won but now came the dilemma. What to do now? If he removed the dagger, then the Firebender would simply kick him off and most likely burn him to crisp. But they couldn't just stay like this forever, now could they?

That was when he glanced down at Zuko and he felt his heart start to race again. The moonlight was shining in such a way upon him that he seemed almost…angelic in a way. The scar itself seemed to be less noticeable; almost blending into the rest of the features…

Without thinking, he bent down and brushed his lips against Zuko's, neither of them realizing that Sokka had let go of the dagger.

The kiss was brief, but had sent a strange tingling of excitement down Sokka's spine and he found that he wanted…more. Ignoring the shocked look on the Firebender's face, Sokka swooped down again, this time wanting to go deeper. When he found Zuko wasn't going to open his mouth to let him in, Sokka growled in anger and twisted the Firebender's hand backwards into the water. The pain caused Zuko to gasp, and Sokka took the chance to slip his tongue in.

Beneath him, he felt Zuko stiffen before start to struggle, but Sokka ignored it all as he focused only on the hot mouth.

When the struggling became fiercer, Sokka growled as he broke away and maneuvered himself so that he was completely pinning the bender down. Their eyes met briefly for a second, and an unknown emotion flickered across Zuko's eyes before he looked away. Sokka didn't waste time dwelling on that as he leaned down, nibbling on the nape of Zuko's neck.

That was when Sokka realized that Zuko had stopped struggling. And taking that as his cue to continue, Sokka moved further down, nipping and biting and kissing whatever he could find underneath the robe and shirt, moving lower and lower…

Sokka opened his eyes as the memory slowly ebbed away. Zuko had struggled once or twice afterwards, he remembered now. Especially when Sokka had forced him, naked, on his back and mounted him. But he had been too absorbed in his 'love-making' to pay attention.

Sokka scoffed. 'Love-making'. That was no love. That had been lust. The whole thing. No wonder Zuko had shoved him off afterwards and ran off, scooping up his clothes as he went. And no wonder Zuko refused to talk to him afterwards for two weeks…until he started throwing up violently in the mornings.

Sokka closed his eyes again as he leaned back onto the cave wall, massaging his temples. No wonder Iroh wanted to kill him. After what he did…he was surprised Zuko had actually stuck up for him. And it was a wonder that Zuko actually put up with him…actually allowing him to kiss him and flirt with him…

Sokka pushed himself off of the cave wall. He needed to find Zuko.

It didn't take Sokka long to find the Firebender. He hadn't gone far. But when he did, he stopped, suddenly hesitant and unsure of himself.

Zuko was kneeling on the ground with his legs spread beside him at a small angle away from his body. His shoulders were hunched and his head bowed, his shoulders quivering.

"Go away."

Sokka almost jumped at the hushed voice but quickly recovered. "I need to ask you something."

"I told you I don't want to have sex!"

Sokka blinked at that before realizing what was going on. "No! Not that…" He paused. How was he supposed to ask this? "…Why?"

Zuko turned his head to look at him, confusion etched on his tear-streaked face. "Why what?"

"Why didn't you just let Iroh kill me?"

It was Zuko's turn to blink for a second as he figured out what Sokka meant. When he did, he glanced down at the floor as if embarrassed and muttered something.

Sokka cocked his head and stepped forward. "What did you say? I couldn't hear—"

"I said, because I love you!"

Sokka fell silent at that as he looked at the Firebender before him. He let out a soft breath as his legs gave way and he collapsed into a sitting position. "But…why?" He paused, not comprehending it all. "I…raped you…"

Zuko looked away. "I know…" He whispered. "But I suppose I did like you before that…liked you a lot…" He paused.

Sokka didn't say anything for a while and there was a silence, as neither of them knew what to say. Finally, Sokka took a deep breath and spoke up.

"I should've said this before, but like you said, I was too self-absorbed to see the truth." He took another breath again as he touched his head to the ground, bowing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done what I did and I was completely wrong in doing it. I'm sorry."

Zuko was silent for a moment than took a breath as well. "I'm sorry too." He said quietly, the apology being no big for him anymore. He had had to do a lot of that when he joined the group. Mainly to Aang and Katara, though.

Sokka blinked as he glanced at the Firebender. "What? I was the one that—" He fell quiet when Zuko held up a hand.

"I'm sorry because I should have told you what I and Uncle were angry about. But I figured…you…well…knew."

Sokka was silent for a bit after that. "No, you're right. I should've known. But like you said, I 'didn't give a damn about how the other person felt'. I was too selfish."

Zuko opened his mouth to say something, but this time Sokka held up his hand to silence him. "No, listen. Let me try to make it up to you." He paused. "Let's start over again. Let me try and do it right. Okay?" He looked at Zuko than quickly added, "You don't have to put up with me, you know. Just tell me and I'll leave you alone—"

"I want to."

Sokka paused. "What?"

Zuko smiled softly. "I want to. What happened, happened and I've forgiven that part. Just…I would like you to slow down a bit. Love isn't just about the sex, you know."

Sokka nodded. "I know." He, too, smiled slowly as he held out a hand. "So you're willing to forgive me?"

"You dolt." Zuko snapped as he took the hand with the good one and they shook it. "I told you I've already forgiven you. As long as you don't try to force me like you tried a little while ago, then I'm fine."

"I won't." Sokka promised. "I'll take it nice and slow from now on. I swear I'll keep the flirting to a minimum until you're comfortable in moving on."

"Thanks." Zuko whispered. "I'd appreciate that."

They sat there for a little bit, not realizing that their hands were still clasped together, when suddenly something white and tiny bound over to them and leapt into Zuko's lap. Both looked in surprise down at the little furball, before realizing that it was the little two-tailed fox.

"Yun!" Zuko cried in surprise as the little fox licked his hand. "What are you doing here?"

Just then, as if to answer his question, a familiar voice echoed through the darkness. "HELLO? ANYBODY HERE?"

Sokka grinned as he stood up. "Aang!"

"Where are you—OW!"

Zuko quickly lit up his good hand just as another ball of fire lit up further down the cave. Light immediately flooded the small cavern and both sides blinked in surprise for a few seconds, adjusting their eyes. Then,

"ZUKO!" Iroh rushed over and hugged Zuko with a little difficulty, for one hand was lit up with fire.

"Uncle!…" Zuko gasped. "I can't breathe!"

Iroh immediately let him go. "Are you all right? Are you hurt in any way?" He asked as he checked Zuko over, tisking when he saw the sprained wrist. "What happened? Can you still move it?"

"Uncle, I'm fine—"

"Zuko! You're wrist is hurt! I demand to know as your Uncle and guardian, how that happened!" Then Iroh lowered his voice so that only Zuko heard, "And what happened to your neck?"

Zuko sighed as he set about trying to explain in a low voice what happened.

Meanwhile, Sokka was getting hugged tightly around the waist by Katara.

"We missed you both! Where were you two? What happened? Why didn't you two come back? Are you both all right?"

"Katara! We're fine! Honest!" Sokka sighed as he glanced at Aang, who came up behind them massaging his head and grinning sheepishly.

"Stupid cave wall…" Aang muttered before grinning cheekily. "We're not interrupting anything, are we?"

Sokka glared at him and playfully stuck out his tongue at the airbender, who laughed and stuck out his own tongue back at him.

Katara sighed. "We really have to work on your direction skills don't we?" Her relieved expression turned into a cheeky one when she glanced towards Zuko. "Or do you both get lost on purpose?"

Sokka blinked. Then,

"KATARA!"

End chappie. Good god that was long. -


SVA