A/N: Thank you guys so much for the praise last chapter! I was very pleased that it was well received and that you guys enjoyed it. I'm not too good with remembering the non-human characters so it was an...interesting angle to work from. But anyway, I digress!
You guys rock and it's all because you're reading this story (still)!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar!
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Ch. 10-Burned
At dawn the next day Zuko roused Sokka and got them moving before the sun had even begun its ascent into the sky.
Grumbling as he tried to shake off the last vestiges of sleep from his foggy mind, Sokka looked over at his companion. His opinion of the fire prince had changed drastically in the past twenty-four hours; he had a better understanding of what had driven him to do the things he had done.
Just thinking about the way the Fire Lord had treated his son caused a shiver to run down his spine and thank La that his own father, while notably absent from the majority of his life, was a loving and caring man who didn't hesitate to show it when he could.
If he was honest with himself, Sokka didn't think he'd be able to look at Zuko and manage to stir up the same unbridled hatred that he had focused on the prince for so long. Without that bias it was painfully easy for him to see the difference in Zuko's eyes now: they held compassion and a longing for acceptance.
In sharp contrast Sokka recalled Azula's harsh gaze: maniacal and hungry for chaos. Just their few encounters with the princess had been enough to instill a new level of fear into the warrior's heart and, if he had a choice, he'd rather be stuck with Zuko for the rest of his life.
The day wore on with the same monotonous drone as its predecessor, though this time there weren't even any passing farms or houses to liven up the landscape. To Zuko however, that meant that they were getting closer to their destination and, as night began to fall, he caught the faint outline of the telltale mountain that housed the island prison through the gathering fog.
He put his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle, successfully catching the attention of Sokka who was just a little ways ahead of him. The teen in question pulled back on the reins of his mount and fell into step with Zuko.
"What's up?" he asked as they slowed to a trot.
"We're nearly there," Zuko replied pointing towards the rising landmass before them, "The Boiling Rock is just ahead, though we're going to have to find a good place to hide these guys so they don't get spotted."
Nodding Sokka felt the excitement begin to bubble up inside him once again at the prospect of having Suki back in his arms. 'Soon…'
When they arrived at the foot of the mountain they came to a stop and dismounted the ostrich-horses and tied them to a couple of trees in a relatively out of the way and shady spot.
Once he had tethered his mount securely to the tree Zuko turned toward his companion to find the Water Tribe boy searching hastily through his pack.
"What are you looking for?" he asked walking over to the pony-tailed teen.
"I," Sokka began, "am looking for—aha! I have found the greatest invention known to man!" He pulled away from the depths of the pack and brandished his prize for the puzzled prince to see. In his hands he held a circle of what appeared to be seal jerky that was fashioned into a crude necklace.
"Every man's dream is to be able to eat on the go, correct?" Without waiting for an answer he pressed on, "Well yesterday night while you were off getting water I had a brilliant idea! Why not get a whole bunch of seal jerky, tie it together and make a necklace out of it? That way, when your hands are full or otherwise occupied, and you have a sudden hunger pang, all you have to do is tilt your head down, snag the jerky, and chew! I call it the Circle Jerk!"
Even if he had bitten his tongue clean off Zuko would not have been able to quell the laughter that erupted from his mouth. Even though he tried to quiet himself desperately he couldn't: every time he came close the name of Sokka's improvised invention came to mind and prompted more hysterical laughter.
Scowling, Sokka asked, "What's so funny? I thought it was a great idea!"
Shaking with silent laughter Zuko shook his head, "Do you…haha…do you even know what a 'Circle Jerk' is?"
The warriors blue eyes stared obliviously back at him, "Yeah…it's my invention. See? Circle of seal jerky? Circle Jerk?"
Putting his face in his hands to hide the smile that was getting wider by the minute Zuko explained, "Sokka…a "circle jerk" is-is…it's when…dammit I'm getting nowhere. Um…you know how sometimes you see an incredibly attractive girl on the street that you can't get out of your head? And all day you're thinking about how things would be if she were your girlfriend and you could just…have your way with her? Then later that night you find yourself uh, stroking your ego, so to speak?"
There wasn't a sign of realization in Sokka's eyes and, with a sinking feeling that killed the remnants of his laughter, Zuko realized he was going to have to put it in laymen's terms.
"Agni help me," he whispered as he looked up to the sky in exasperated embarrassment, "You masturbate you idiot!"
Comprehension dawned on Sokka, his face paling.
"Well," Zuko drove on, desperate to finish this so they could get on with the Agni-damned rescue mission, "A circle jerk is when a group of guys stand around in a circle and…well…jerk off. Hence my laughter at "Circle Jerk" the amazing meat necklace!" Zuko paused before smirking, "Ha, there's another innuendo for you right there, in case you were want for any more sex references."
Blue eyes widened in horror at the information that had just been given to him and Sokka ripped off the seal jerky necklace from around his neck and threw it as far as he could. He glared at Zuko, "I hate you."
Another round of raucous laughter met his declaration.
Once his companion's guffaws had faded Sokka, still bitter, turned to Zuko, "Okay then…plan time!"
Perplexed, the firebender raised a brow, "Uh…what?"
"Plan time," Sokka reiterated, "you know: the crucial time before a mission or task where you plan what you're going to do before you actually do it so you don't have to worry about getting caught with your pants down," he paused and seemed to think for a moment before adding, "figuratively of course."
"Wow," Zuko huffed in disbelief, "I never thought about that. I usually just jump right in and…make it up as I go along."
Sokka snorted, "And you wonder why we always managed to get away from you all the time. Planning, my dear Prince Zuko is essential to any successful endeavor."
With a scowl Zuko crossed his arms defiantly, "Okay then oh 'Wise One', how do we get your girlfriend out?"
A blush marred his cheeks, but Sokka paid it no mind, "Well to tell you the truth…I have no idea." The sound of Zuko slapping his palm to his face prompted Sokka to defend himself, "But that's only because I haven't seen the place yet or determined what we'll have at our disposal when we get in."
"So you're telling me," Zuko began through clenched teeth, "that, after your little tirade on having 'plan time', you think we have to go in there to evaluate the situation first? Kind of like my idea?"
A beat and then, "…yes?"
Zuko felt his eye twitch.
The trek up the mountain wasn't too horrible, aside from having to slowly scale the unstable rocks and vines that protruded from the side of the landform. Several times Zuko was forced to brace himself from falling debris as Sokka, who'd scampered up first, pulled at a loose outcrop only to have it give way.
Despite his grumblings and the occasional swear, Zuko knew that things would finally get easier once they reached the top seeing as the prison was accessed regularly and the path to the gondola was well worn. That being said the top was still a long way up.
"Heads up!" Sokka called as yet another hail of rock and dirt fell toward him. Latching onto his current holds quickly, Zuko managed to weather the storm without too much trouble.
"Dammit Sokka I know you're doing that on purpose!"
Of course that didn't mean it wasn't getting annoying.
"What?" Sokka drawled, "Why would I consistently put you in danger of falling hundreds, or at this point thousands, of feet to your death by dropping rocks in your face? That would be stupid!"
There was a faint sound of crumbling earth before a rock—a rather large rock if Zuko had anything to say about it—fell onto the firebender's head.
There was a pause and an indignant huff.
"This is for the 'Circle Jerk' crack…isn't it?"
Another rock hit him square in the face.
Between dodging rocks and following Sokka's foot and handholds, Zuko found that the trip up the mountain went rather quickly. However it was tiring and, when the top and the flat surface that accompanied it showed up, Zuko let out a relieved breath.
He grabbed a hold of Sokka's outstretched arm as the boy helped him up the cliff face. He gave the teen a half-hearted glare as he wiped all the excess dirt off of his clothes and out of his hair.
"You know that really wasn't necessary. Not only could I have died if I wasn't careful, but you were the one who came up with the name in the first place!"
"It was a good name before you…defiled it with your twisted mind!" Sokka defended heatedly, his arms crossed and scowl on his face.
"Are you kidding me? The minute you had gone public with a name like that people would have started trying to kill you for indecent exposure!" Here the fire prince cleared his throat and changed his voice opting for the rather squeaky one of his companion, "'Hi there, Sokka here and have I got a question for you! Does anyone want to try a Circle Jerk?'" Zuko snorted derisively, "I bet that would go over so well!"
Unfortunately for Sokka, the bender had a point. Despite the innocent origins of his invention, which by now was probably some nameless animal's dinner, no one would take more than a passing glance at it if he stuck with that name.
"I hate the fact that you've destroyed seal jerky for me. I just want you to know that."
"Duly noted," Zuko said, before starting up the path, "Now come on, we're nearly there."
As they made their way down the well-worn path, Sokka began bouncing ideas off of Zuko on how to get in without attracting too much suspicion.
"Well what do you think about going in as prisoners? We could attack some random guard and then let ourselves get captured. Then we wouldn't have to worry too much about sneaking around to find Suki: we could just wait until the guards give us free time."
"Sokka," Zuko sighed, "after everything I've told you about this place, why would you want to limit what freedom we actually have by playing prisoner? I say we should ambush a couple of guards, take their uniforms and ask around until we find your girl."
The water native shook his head, "No way! Don't you think that'd be a little bit suspicious? Two guards all of a sudden taking an interest in a specific prisoner and making it their personal goal to find her? Uh-uh, not doing it! We'd be risking our necks if we were found out and Suki's just because we were curious."
"You have a point I guess," yielded Zuko, running a hand through his raven locks as his frustration started to grow, "But then how?"
By now they had reached the mouth of the cave that housed the gondola that transported guards and prisoners to the island complex. Signaling for silence, Zuko snuck a glance in to try and gauge the situation.
Several torches running along its length illuminated the elaborate pulley system that was housed within the cave and, judging by the dying embers of what had once been a campfire, the guard quarters as well. Though whether or not there actually were guards present remained to be seen.
"I think the coast is clear," Zuko whispered looking back at Sokka with suspicious eyes, "but stay alert."
Both boys slowly moved into the cave with their weapons drawn. There was silence as they took in the sight around them fully and, while there didn't appear to be anyone there now, it was clear people had been here recently.
"So," Sokka mumbled, "for such a secure facility they seem to be lacking in actual people. This is looking like a cake walk."
"I'd agree with you except for one thing," Zuko breathed, "we can't do anything without the gondola! I don't know about you but I don't feel like sliding down the cables by hand!"
Sokka nodded, "Yeah…not to mention the guards would see us as clear as day. You know," he added as an afterthought, "if there actually are guards on duty here."
The screeching sound of metal on metal interrupted their conversation and both boys turned to see the pulley system working, along with several gears that were grouped off to the side of the cave, to move the thick metal cables.
"Are…is the gondola…" Sokka couldn't seem to figure out exactly what was going on as he turned to Zuko with confusion clearly written on his face.
"Search me," the bender responded he too looking on in astonishment as the gondola grew steadily closer.
"Do you think they're sending it up for someone?" Sokka queried.
"At this time of day? No…at least I don't think so. Unless…" Zuko trailed off as he adopted a look of intense thought.
Sokka was about to ask "unless what?" when the cacophony of sound stopped signaling the arrival of the gondola.
There was no one inside of it: no guards, no prisoners…nobody.
With a soft laugh Zuko clapped Sokka on the shoulder, "Unless Agni has finally decided smile upon me for once and it's for us."
"Close, but no." A voice rang out, echoing within the cave as if the words had been shouted.
Both boys spun around in panic and their eyes widened as they caught sight of a satisfied smirk and amused eyes.
"Agni hasn't smiled on you…but on me. Hello Zuzu."
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A/N: And there you have it people! A little more Zuko/Sokka bonding time and an epic "holy crap" moment at the tail end of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope you'll drop a review if you see fit.
On another note, this story is potentially going to be part of a quadrilogy. That's right, I've got the concept down for each of the other three stories and things...should get interesting. Until next time!
-HakushoRurouni