It's not that bad.
Sokka folded his arms along the bottom of the window frame, sighing as he looked outside at the light fluff of snow falling. It was . . . nice, to see snow again, but it was. . .
It was nothing like the snow at home, and he missed it. More than he might ever have thought he would, before he first left the pole. Sokka swallowed and tucked himself up a little tighter, leaning forward against the wall. He could be outside, playing in the snow - he'd seen games going on out there earlier, and Sokka was sure he knew some these Earth Kingdom kids didn't - but . . . it just heightened the feeling that it wasn't right, and. . .
The not rightness made him long even more strongly for the snow that danced over the tundra, the glow of the light from the stars in the long winter days, even the way the air felt in the deepest winter that drove everyone inside to curl around their fires and cling together in heaps of furs.
Sokka thought he really must be homesick if he was missing the bitter cold of the winter at the South Pole. Then again . . . winter in the Fire Nation was . . . strange. Especially the Fire Nation capital. This trip, far into the north of the Earth Kingdom, was the first time he'd even seen snow, save the occasional cap on a mountaintop, for over a year.
A creak caught Sokka's attention and he half-turned, looking around at the door.
Zuko came through and shut it promptly, shivering even as he swept off his cloak, flinging melting snowflakes off the fabric as drips. Sokka sniffed a little, but a faint smile tugged at his lips as he watched Zuko shake his head, then fluff his hair with his fingers, bright snow clinging to the dark strands.
He might . . . miss it sometimes, but Sokka did remember the reason - well, multiple reasons - that he hadn't gone back.
"Sokka, what's wrong?" Zuko asked suddenly, striding across the room towards him, snow forgotten.
"I'm okay." Sokka assured his boyfriend quickly, wiping at his tears.
"Sokka?" Zuko knelt by him, and Sokka smiled weakly, scrubbing his wet fingers on his pants. The tears had just . . . welled up, all of a sudden.
"I just-" Sokka glanced outside again, then back to warm, worried golden eyes. "It's not right, the snow, but it makes me miss. . ." he trailed off. "Miss being at the South Pole. I'm a little homesick, I guess," he said, "although I mean, now home is-" He gestured illustratively - home was the palace and Caldera City and the Fire Nation, now, as weird as that was. Home was Zuko.
Zuko who looked much less worried now, to Sokka's relief.
"It's not that bad." Zuko said, and Sokka . . . stared at him, boggling a little.
". . .what?" Sokka said, wondering if he'd misheard, a little twist of anger curling in his belly.
Zuko twisted, settling on the floor with his back to the wall below the window. "You can go back for a visit if you want," he said, and Sokka frowned, because he might not just take off but he didn't need Zuko's permission either, even if he was the Fire Lord, "I mean, you could leave as soon as we get back home, if you wanted. They'd be happy to see you back and. . ." Zuko shrugged, looking away. "Even if you wanted to go home, to stay, they'd be happy to-"
Sokka abruptly remembered that when Zuko was thirteen he had been banished from his home, from his whole country, on pain of death if he dared come back.
Yeah, this sucked - he sniffed - but . . . he supposed compared to that, on Zuko's life scale of suck, it wasn't too awful. Sokka still elbowed Zuko lightly before shifting over a little and leaning on him.
"I might visit them sometime soon." Sokka said, glancing backwards out the window at the snow and then turning his face away resolutely and resting his head on Zuko's shoulder. "But I'm not going back, Zuko. It's- I grew up there and it'll always be home, in a way, but the Fire Nation is my home now. I belong there." he said quietly, snuggling closer.
Zuko shifted away and Sokka frowned, about to grab him, but he only moved to wrap an arm around Sokka's shoulders, stretching out his own legs and pulling Sokka in close. "I'm glad you feel that way." he said quietly, against Sokka's temple. "I would. . . I can't imagine you leaving, if you weren't- weren't coming back." he admitted, barely audible, his voice rough.
Sokka smiled, another couple of tears dripping down his face, and hugged Zuko in return. Silly Fire Lord.
Zuko, Sokka thought, would probably be miserable in a South Pole winter . . . but he would be very nice to curl up to, when the harsh cold drove everyone inside. Spending the longest nights tucked up inside and alone together, keeping the fire breathing - well, that would hardly strain Zuko - and keeping each other warm. . .
Sokka's smile tipped crookedly at the thought. It was a sweet imagining, but also never going to happen. Zuko might visit the South Pole but he was never going to belong there, never going to stay - and he was desperately needed where he did belong.
Still. . .
Sokka shifted and slid over into Zuko's lap, straddling his thighs and giving him a lingering kiss. "Warm me up?" he asked, hands sliding over Zuko's shoulders. That idle fantasy might never be true, but Sokka could have most of it, in pieces.
Zuko's hands slid up his back, and he smiled at Sokka, leaning forwards to meet him in another kiss.
Zuko's still a little awkward around the edges with comforting words, but he's improving! And he cares/does his best, which is the most important thing, right?