Sokka looks up at the sky and grumbles.
They were going to go hunting. Dad, Sokka, and Chit Sang. It was going to be a great chance to spend some quality bonding time with his dad. Maybe even show off a bit. After all, he's learned a lot since Dad left.
But then the clouds just had to show up, and Katara had to insist it was going to rain, and Dad decided it would be better to wait until tomorrow. It wasn't like they were running out of food, after all. It just would have been nice to have some fresh meat.
Sokka sighs.
Katara is off talking about girly things with Suki, and Sokka knows when to mind his own business. He really likes Suki, and she really likes him, but sometimes a girl just needs to hang out with another girl. Sokka gets that.
But now he's bored.
Aang is off training with Toph. They don't seem to care about a little rain.
Sokka figures he might as well get some sword practice in. He figures Zuko might not be up for a match, but he can always work through a few routines on his own.
He wonders if Zuko would want to come along anyway. The guy has to be getting a little bored himself, right? True, he slipped away and curled up in a corner of the courtyard for a nap earlier, but he's not there anymore, and from what Sokka's seen the firebender isn't really a 'sit back and relax' kind of guy, and he hasn't really done anything but take it easy today.
He goes looking for Zuko.
"I'm not really up for a match," Zuko admits, and for a second Sokka thinks he looks embarrassed.
"I kind of figured," he admits. "But I also thought you could still tell me what I'm doing wrong. If you wanted. If you didn't have anything better to do."
He doesn't, so he follows Sokka outside.
Zuko finds a spot near one of the walls, where there's an overhang above him that should block most of the light rain that's just started (it's only a sprinkle, really), and Sokka finds a place that he doesn't have to worry about getting slippery, and begins.
"Your left foot is out of position again."
It's different, having Zuko just watch rather than spar with him, but it's also a nice change of pace, having the firebender tell him what he's doing wrong and how to fix it. When they're sparring, Zuko usually just knocks him on his ass in a way that makes it almost painfully obvious what he needs to fix.
Not that he's ever hurt Sokka. And he easily could. Sokka's pretty good, but he just doesn't have the years of experience that Zuko has.
"Your weight is too far forward. Lean back. Not that far."
Sokka is working up a sweat, and the rain is starting to come down in a drizzle. It's not bad yet, so he keeps going. He's enjoying the workout, and it's easier to adjust his stance when Zuko isn't bearing down on him with ruthless efficiency.
"D-Don't overextend yourself."
Sokka pauses, lowers his sword, and turns to look at Zuko, who is huddled beneath the overhang, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs. He crosses the space between them.
"Why didn't you say something?" he asks. Zuko looks up at him, eyebrow furrowed in confusion, and Sokka realizes that not only is he shivering again, his lips are slightly blue. "Toph is going to kill me. You could have told me you were cold."
Zuko shrugs, but stands up anyway. "I've been cold all day," he says dismissively.
"You're shivering." Sokka tells him. "You're turning blue. Come on, we're going inside."
Zuko follows him back, still shivering, and Sokka tries to think.
They run into Dad and Chit Sang on their way back to the corner of the room where Sokka keeps his things. Chit Sang takes one look at Zuko and holds out his hand. The other firebender hesitates briefly, then nods.
Sokka and his father watch with interest as Chit Sang presses the palm of his hand against Zuko's chest. At first it seems as if nothing happens, but after a moment Zuko stops shivering, and some of the color seems to return to his cheeks.
"Thank you," Zuko says, when Chit Sang takes his hand away.
"What was that?" Sokka wants to know as they start walking again.
"What?" Zuko asks, then looks over his shoulder at the two men. "Oh. Heat transference."
"Cool." Sokka says. They've reached his bedroll. He puts away his sword, then digs around his stuff for a minute. "Here," he says, straightening back up.
He offers Zuko the coat he's been dragging around with him since they left the North Pole.
Zuko looks at it.
"Just until you're feeling better," Sokka says.
"Oh," he says. "Thank you."
The coat fits. They're roughly the same size, after all. They're nearly the same height. Sokka's never asked, but he thinks they're the close to the same age.
"Why don't you hang on to it for now." Sokka suggests.
Aang barely sits down for dinner before noticing Zuko's new wardrobe.
"What's with the coat?" he asks. "Is that Sokka's or Katara's? Are you cold?" He stops and stares at the firebender for a moment.
Zuko is studying his food as if his life depends on it.
Aang's shoulders slump. "It was the coolers, wasn't it?" he asks, his voice soft. They all heard the story yesterday, from start to finish, with Sokka, Suki, and even Chief Hakoda taking turns at telling the tale.
Zuko scowls at his dinner. Hakoda and Suki both look confused. Chit Sang looks concerned.
Aang tilts his head, studying his firebending teacher for a moment. "Does it hurt?" he asks, and Zuko's head snaps up as if startled. The rest of the group stays silent, waiting for the answer to a question they never thought to ask.
"No," he finally says. "It doesn't hurt. I still have my bending, it's just-weak, right now."
He looks away, but not before the twelve-year-old sees the shame in his eyes, and Aang just wants to give the older boy a hug. He knows it wouldn't be appreciated right now, though. Too many people are watching, and he's already too on edge.
"I think it's brave," Aang says instead. Zuko looks back at him. Aang smiles. "You had to know what it would do, getting thrown into the cooler, and you did it anyway, to save people you didn't even know. And then you still fought Azula afterwards. That's amazing!"
Zuko relaxes, just a little bit, and almost returns Aang's smile.
Until Chief Hakoda decides to get involved.
"What did it do?" he asks, and Zuko tenses all over again. Chit Sang clears his throat and also looks uncomfortable.
"Firebenders don't really do well with cold," the older firebender says carefully. "Especially when there's not enough room to use our firebending to keep warm."
Zuko growls. "I'm fine," he snaps, rising to his feet. "I didn't freeze. I fought Azula. It's over with. Can nobody in this Agni-cursed camp mind their own business?" The fire they're all sitting around flares in response to his irritation even as he turns and stomps away.
Toph lets out an irritated sigh, like she wants to punch someone, while everyone else watches him storm off.
"So much for not making a public announcement," she says.
"He's the one making a big deal out of it." Katara points out. "If he's going to be a part of the group then he needs to act like it. He can't get upset that we don't trust him when he clearly doesn't trust us either. He should have told us that something was wrong, instead of you having to drag him over last night."
Toph sighs, and Sokka looks up like he wants to say something, but Chit Sang snorts, catching Katara's ire before anyone else can even try.
"What?" she demands, and he has the audacity to look amused as he raises his head to meet her glare.
He takes a deep breath, one that the fire moves in time with, and schools his expression, though his eyes still gleam with an almost dark humor.
"It's not really a surprise that even an exiled member of the royal family might have trust issues," he says, his voice conversational. Katara's eyes narrow, and he continues innocently, "I've never met his sister personally, or his father..."
Katara blinks.
"But I've heard enough that frankly I'm surprised he lets anyone get within three feet of him." Chit Sang eyes his empty bowl with regret. "Everyone knows that Firelord Ozai went behind Prince Iroh's back after his son died in an effort to take the throne from him."
"I-don't think I knew that." Katara's father says, and his voice sounds strained. Chit Sang shrugs.
"Everyone in the Fire Nation knows it, at any rate. It worked, too. Ozai's Firelord now." He looks around the campfire, his expression thoughtful. "Most of the nation thought it would go a similar way with Zuko and his sister, what with the way the Firelord obviously favored his second child." He shrugs. "It wasn't really a surprise when the Firelord banished him for speaking out of turn at a war council, though I'll admit nobody thought he would go to such extremes."
"Banished?" Suki asks. Katara wishes she wouldn't.
Chit Sang looks at her. "You didn't know? He was banished, forbidden to set foot on any and all Fire Nation territory, on pain of death, until he restored his honor by capturing the Avatar." He sighs. "It was a fool's errand. No one had seen the Avatar for a hundred years. Zuko wasn't meant to return."
Katara didn't want to know that. Sokka looks dumbfounded. Aang, predictably, looks sad. Toph looks-
Toph looks annoyed.
"Wait? You guys didn't know that?" She asks, and Sokka starts spluttering. "Have you all been living underneath a rock?"
It would be funny, if Zuko's past obsession with catching Aang didn't suddenly make perfect, painful sense.
Chit Sang flinches as an arm settles on his shoulder. He looks up and back and pales as he realizes Zuko is standing behind him.
None of them heard him return.
"Enough gossip." Zuko is scowling, but there's something hard in his gaze as he looks at the older firebender. "I trust the people here not to go around telling tales behind my back." Chit Sang flinches. "As far as needing help, if I were actually in any danger, I wouldn't hesitate to ask for it. This is a minor inconvenience at best."
Chit Sang looks ready to argue, but Katara beats him to it.
"You don't have to insist on being miserable just because something's not going to kill you. Nobody's going to judge you for that," she says, leveling a scowl of her own in his direction.
He looks distinctly uncomfortable for a minute, then shrugs and sits down next to Chit Sang.
"It doesn't matter why I was chasing Aang," he says as he holds his hands out to the fire as if to warm them. "It shouldn't have taken me three years to figure out that my father is not the type of person I should worry about pleasing." He frowns as he stares into the fire. "I saw enough, while looking for the Avatar, that I should have started questioning both him and the war a long time ago." He shrugs again. "I'm sorry it took as long as it did for me to come to my senses."
"You're here now," Aang points out, with about a fraction of his usual cheer. He hesitates for a moment, watching the firebender. "Is your family really that bad? I mean, I know they're bad, but still, they're your family."
Zuko laughs. It is a dark, angry sound completely devoid of any humor.
"You've met my sister," he says. "And you heard Chit Sang-my father banished me when I was thirteen years old."
That's only a year older than Aang is now.
"What about your mom?" Aang asks. Zuko flinches.
Chit Sang turns white.
"She left when I was young," is all the firebender says. He lets out a long, slow breath that nearly banks the fire before Chit Sang intervenes. "My uncle was-good to me. I didn't really appreciate him until it was too late."
"I like your uncle." Toph's declaration is loud and unexpected. Zuko's head snaps up to stare at her. She continues as if unaware that she's startled them. "He gives good advice."
Zuko snorts. "He gives advice wrapped in a metaphor wrapped in an anecdote drowned in a cup of tea," he says, and Toph laughs.
That night they all climb into a pile: Aang, Toph, Katara, Sokka, and Suki, with Zuko at the center. The firebender doesn't even bother trying to complain.
He dozes off fairly quickly, a sure sign that something is still off, and Katara tries not to think about the way he instinctively presses his back against hers in his sleep.
Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender does not belong to me.