Day 5: Growth and Change

Genres: Friendship/Angst

Rating: K+

Setting: Modern, non-bending AU

Growth and Change

"Come on!" Zuko shouted, pulling his friend along by the hand. "Over here!" The twelve-year-old parted two bushes and crawled between them until the world around him went dark.

Sokka followed him. "Whoa. Where are we?"

"Inside the oak tree." He stood with his back against the bark to make room. "The monsters'll never find us here."

"It's a little cramped…"

"Sorry," Zuko laughed. "It's my secret hideout."

"Secret? Then why are you showing me?"

"Because! You're my best friend." He smiled. "And best friends don't keep secrets."

Sokka blushed. "Zuko… t-there's something I should – "

"Shhh." The yellow-eyed boy covered his friend's mouth. "They're near."

The boys listened, as quiet as mice. They heard some footsteps pass by. But just as they let their guard down, the bushes parted and they were ambushed by a garden hose.

"Azula!" Zuko cried, blocking his face from the stream of water. "What the heck?!"

"You wanted a monster? You've got one," the ten-year-old spat.

"Cut it out!" Sokka yelled, trying to shield his friend from the attack.

"Stop it!" Ty Lee shrieked.

"Azula!" Mai sprinted toward the action. "That's enough!" She hurled a water balloon, hitting Azula in the back.

"Okay! Geesh!" She released the trigger. "You two were supposed to be on my team!"

"Not when you're being a jerk," Ty Lee huffed.

"Oh no." She rolled her eyes. "The boys are all wet. What a crime!" She smirked. "Guess we should leave the lovebirds to dry their feathers."

Zuko and Sokka looked at each other, red in the face.

"There's no need to be cruel," Mai derided.

"I'm just calling it like it is." Azula crossed her arms. "They're lovebirds. They just haven't realized it yet."

Five Years Later

Zuko picked up his latte from the bar and spun around, meeting two blue eyes he hadn't seen since he was a child.

"Zuko?" Sokka breathed. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

He opened his mouth but was lost for words. "H-Hi – "

The taller boy wrapped his arms around his old friend. "It's so good to see you. I never thought I'd – "

"Yeah." Zuko patted the boy on the back. "Me too."

Sokka released him. "You've… you're all grown up," he laughed.

"So are you."

"Can we… do you want to sit down for a bit and catch up?"

"I…" He looked uneasy. "I need to, uh – "

"Come on." Sokka smiled warmly. "For old times' sake?"

Zuko momentarily held his breath. "O-Okay, sure."

The boys took a seat in the back of the coffeeshop, far from prying ears.

"I can't believe it's really you," the blue-eyed boy whispered.

"What are you doing here?"

"College touring, can you believe it?" he grinned.

He chuckled. "It's been a while."

"Yeah." Sokka's grin faded. "You don't… seem happy to see me."

"I-It's not that – "

"Then what is it?" He sighed. "Zuko… we used to be best friends – I wrote to you every day for a year!"

"I know, I – "

"The day your father sent you away was one of the worst days of my life! H-How was it so easy for you to write me off?! Has boarding school really changed you that much?!"

"No! I-It's complicated!"

"Then explain it to me! Please. All these years I've been trying to figure it out – "

"Sokka…" The yellow-eyed boy took a deep breath. "Father has been displeased with me for a long time. I-I've been keeping my head low and working hard so that I… so that Father deems me worthy enough to come home."

"He… won't let you come home?"

Zuko shook his head. "Not until he thinks I have what it takes to inherit his multimillion dollar company. Right now, he's leaning toward giving it to Azula! Just imagine what she'd do with that kind of power."

"I don't understand what that has to do with me… with us…"

He looked down at his coffee cup. "Father… didn't approve of our friendship."

"What? Why not?!"

"I-I can't tell you."

"What ever happened to not keeping secrets?"

"That was a long time ago."

"Don't give me that bullshit."

"I don't know what to say!"

"Tell me the truth!"

Zuko gritted his teeth. "Fine." He sighed. "Father could tell that I…"

Sokka's heart was pounding.

"That I loved you." He didn't even realize he was holding Sokka's hands. "Say something, won't you?"

"There's a party tonight." Smiling, he began to write something down on a napkin. "Here's the address. Meet me there. Eight o'clock."

"What? That's all you have to say?!"

"Just be there. Okay?" Sokka handed over the paper before scurrying out of the coffeeshop.

Hands shaking, Zuko opened the napkin to find a scribbled down address along with a note.

'By the way, I loved you too.'