Goodnight, My Darling

Sokka was working strenuously to suppress a powerful yawn when Zuko walked into the infirmary. "HHHWWWAAAiyah, roommate. Sorry, been a busy day."

Zuko shrugged. "Well, you can get all the rest you need. I'm just stopping by for my stuff." He went to his bed and began gathering a spare change of clothes and other odds and ends.

"Your uncle finally let up on you? I guess his music thing is distracting him."

"Well, not exactly. I was kind of... goingtostaywithMaitonight."

Sokka blinked and grinned predatorily. "What was that last bit? I didn't quite catch it."

"Never mind."

"I think I caught Mai's name in there."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm not sure that type of activity is authorized. Maybe I should call up to the bridge to check-"

At that, Zuko whirled around to shine his furious, scarred scowl on the Water Tribe boy. "Don't. You. Dare."

Sokka sniggered. "Eh, don't worry about. I'm just messing with you. Bros gotta stick together, am I right?"

Sokka had never seen Zuko blush before. "It's not... like that. It's... I'm sick of this room, no offense, and Mai and I had some ups and downs today... mostly on my side. It would just be nice to just be together, relaxed. Do you understand?"

Sokka refused to be reasonable. He had found that it was a good strategy for humor. "Sure, sure, I get you, you want relaxation. This bro is in complete support of your lifestyle choices. Especially for a girl like Mai."

Zuko stiffened like a Firebender in a snowstorm. "What's that supposed to mean?" The temperature in the room suddenly went up.

Sokka suddenly realized that he had very little experience with bro-teasing, and may have crossed a line. It didn't help that his only other bro's choice of girlfriend, Aang with Katara, didn't really leave room for this specific joke. "Just... that... she has a nice singing voice."

Zuko blinked. "Oh. Suki sang well, too."

"Thanks."

Both boys were silent while they tried to figure out if 'singing' had somehow become a euphemism for something else. Sokka ran his good hand through his hair self-consciously. "So, want to have a talk where we acknowledge the personal problems that are making us cranky, and then bond and promise friendship in the coming battles and stuff?"

"Nope." Zuko went for the door. "I'm going to Mai. G'night."

"Yeah, see ya." Alone again, Sokka laid back on his sick bed, and sighed. Suki, Katara, and Aang had all dropped by with their good-night wishes, and Ty Lee had poked in her head for a moment to give him a suggestive leer and blow him a good-night kiss before dashing away, and so he was once again left in the dark with nothing but his injuries and failures. His various injuries were steadily getting better, sped up by Katara's twice-daily healing sessions, but the broken bones were still slow to heal, thanks to the lack of clean breaks. More than anything, he wanted to be up and about and helping everyone get ready for the coming war, but instead, he was dragging everyone back. He knew, intellectually, that none of the others thought of him that way, but it was like his heart had a brain of its own, and was getting its own counter-productive ideas. (Although, two brains would probably come in handy when inventing stuff...)

Ah well, nothing to do but rest and try to get better. And not let Ty Lee cripple him even more.

Over the broadcast pipes, Iroh finished singing a little ditty he called, 'Four Seasons, Four Loves.' Sokka kind of liked it, but Iroh's singing could use improvement; it was enthusiastic, but not quite on tune, to Sokka's ears. Still, catchy. Sokka found himself mumbling a reprise when Iroh spoke up again. "And now, for our last performance in this special event of mine, we have an anonymous contributor who will deliver the last lullaby. It is an old song of indeterminate origin, having passed over the seas and reaching all the nations before memory, although now most know it as a Farewell Poem passed between young lovers. How our performer learned it, I cannot say, but there is no doubt the music is of the highest quality. Good night, my friends and allies, and I hope this little musical event has brought some peace to your souls."

The voice that came up next didn't actually sing. Instead, she (Sokka could tell it was a 'she') hummed the entire piece. It was actually a lot better than he would have expected, because the girl certainly wasn't without a sense of tone and melody. Sometimes, to add variety to the sound, she would give some wordless crooning that reminded Sokka a little of the howling of wolves, in that it was full of emotion and naturally harmonious.

The piece itself was slow, but structured, and Sokka found himself reminded of the lullabies he liked to think his mother had sang to him. Certainly, the sound gave Sokka a sense of well-being. But then, his friends often did that.

He stayed awake long enough to hear then entire song, and then picked up the speaking tube that the others had linked directly to the bridge for him. "Good night, Toph. Great lullaby."

"Goodnight Sokka," the hummer's voice came back, over the direct line to the infirmary. "Feel better."

"I do."

That night, The White Dragon was at peace.

END