Importantsauce Author Notes: owO I love these random words. -is a n00b- o.O Anyway, to the point of this!
Now I'm starting to get into the adventure. O.o Took a couple chapters to bring it up to speed there. I know, I know, horrid wait Dx. But! Owo I am so closer to the actiony goodness! I am also closer to the Zukka brotherhood that's just gotta be there. War doesn't prove who's right, only left. And even though it's a bit morbid at times, there does come good things. One of those can be the unbreakable bonds one makes with their friends.
The one part about Zuko's little secret with Aang...o.O I didn't put it there, because I'm not sure it fit, but It can be left to the wild imagination [Though I imagine Zuko spanking him for disobeying -lulz to self like n00b- owO]
I've also got a treat for you all! I've made a promotional poster on my deviantART account for this story! But, the problem is, I don't think I can hyperlink it, so if you want to see, I'll put it in a review, or a PM, if you would like! O.o I know I don't have a lot of supporters...but I thank you all anyway, because you keep me going. I hope something so small as this can blossom into something beautiful, and I"ll keep making sure it grows. In the mean time...enjoy! Owo
As soon as the ship had arrived on the port, Sokka was absolutely excited to get out and get into a nice, comfortable, and rather pampering place. He couldn't wait to get served hand and foot, getting some tea, a relaxing massage, and a good, old-fashioned foot scrub [They needed the love, too].
Instead, Zuko was serious the moment they set foot on the polished marble floors. He ordered the brunette to go get dressed in his warrior's uniform, and to double check that he had all the supplies he needed for a long trip. He groaned and mumbled inaudibly the whole time there. [Where was the pampering when he needed it?]
Of course, the mission was one that had unavoidable risk factors, and the fact that they were getting closer to the capital city every day was a threat to not just the Fire Nation, but the world itself. So without any say-so in the matter, he went along with it.
The departure had been bittersweet. He wasn't sure what had gone on, but as soon as they started to head down toward the courtyard for a war balloon, the raven had a long face put on. His shoulders slouched, and his feet almost dragged themselves the whole way there.
Even after a day and a half's worth of travel, Zuko was still wearing the same long face and the same slouched shoulders. Sokka was just hoping he would cheer up, and start to put his mind more into the mission. Despite how he tried to keep good spirits on it, nothing had changed since.
They sat in the comfortable silence, continuing forward through graying skies. The brunette was taking a high level of interest in the current book he was reading, tearing through pages of text with little time passed between each flick of the finger and the 'swoosh' of the paper.
He was enjoying what it had to say about strategic advice, but his mind couldn't ignore the image that it was receiving from the corner of his eye. He could see his friend, body half-way hanging over the basket that carried them. The raven was completely still, and the wind had dared not to make any movement against him.
He paused, and lowered the book, pouting slightly. He glanced down at the page and hesitated for a moment before he pinched the corner of the paper, folding it in, and shutting the book. Slowly, the brunette set it down and let his hand depart away from it before he stood up and walked over to the raven.
"Zuko…" Sokka started, trying to prod him into a conversation of some sort.
"What?" He turned around, tone mixed between tension and sleepiness.
His mouth opened, but shut itself quickly. He could see raven locks tasseled, and the bottom part of his eyelids colored in a light gray from lack of rest.
"Whoa…" Was the only word that managed to slip past him, before the brunette gathered a grip. He shook his head, trying to look past it. "You look like you haven't been sleeping that much. What have you been doing?"
"Thinking." His reply came out terse and strained.
"Thinking about what?"
"Nothing." The raven started to turn back around, before a hand on his shoulder prevented him from any such movement.
"I know it isn't nothing." He paused, before his tone became softer. "Is it…Mai?"
"What? No. I'm not worried about Mai. With my uncle helping her, they can manage any annoying documents that come their way. And if anything happens, they can handle themselves."
"Huh? Oh, I know that." Sokka shook his head. "I meant…do you miss her?"
In a typical response, the raven rolled his eyes. "Of course I do. But I'm not going to mope around about it all day and night. I can't."
"Then why haven't you been sleeping?"
There was a tense pause before Zuko sighed rather roughly. "…It doesn't matter."
"Matters to me."
"Fine. I'm just…worried."
"Just worried?" The brunette blinked a couple times, confused. All this time, the raven had been wearing a sullen face just because he was a little stressed? It couldn't have been that bad to have lacked that much sleep.
"It's more than you think it is." He answered, as if reading right off his friend's expression.
"Oh…"
Another sigh came from the raven, but it was more aggravated then the previous one.
"I'm feeling really pressured. I have to stop all of these guys from threatening any more of the land, or the people in it, and I have to make sure they don't get to the capital." Silence washed over for a moment, before Zuko pulled at a part of his hair in frustration.
"Sokka, my nation is being threatened. What the hell do I do?"
"You have to fight. That's why we're here."
"I know that!" His voice raised itself. The raven had just about enough with the way the brunette stayed so calm. "How are you not even freaking out about any of this?"
"Hey…" The hand on his shoulder started to rub. He wasn't too good with being sensitive, but he at least wanted to get a message across that he still cared. "I'm just about as anxious as you are, but if you keep worrying about it, you're not gonna get anywhere. If you're stressing out, then you won't be able to keep up and fight."
"Yeah…" He huffed again, throwing his arms up in defeat. "But it doesn't stop there, either. I couldn't stand to watch my nation fall. But I also couldn't stand to watch you go down with it. The worst case scenario is that you'll die. And if that happens, I'm not going to forgive myself."
The brunette raised his hands, as if surrendering to agree. "Hey, you don't have to worry about me. I'm sticking this out. It's you that you need to be concerned about. If you go, the nation will go no matter what I do. You're the important link in this, Zuko. You have to stop stressing."
The raven only folded his arms, looking unconvinced. Without saying another word, Sokka took him by the arm and dragged him over to the perfectly untouched makeshift bed and shoved him down…even if the raven didn't take too kindly to it.
"Hey!"
"Yeah?"
"Why did you do that?!?" He shouted, demanding an answer.
"You're going to sleep."
"And what makes you think I'm going to do that?"
"I'll…" The brunette paused, before his lips curved into a smirk. "I'll tell Katara what you did to Aang that one day…"
"…You wouldn't. It was an accident! He wouldn't stop running around!"
"Oh, I would. I mean, I do have concrete evidence…the Avatar himself." Zuko could have sworn he saw Sokka just rub his hands together, eyes glinting with mischief.
"I hope you fall out of the basket." He huffed, before giving in and laying down.
"I know you'll thank me later for this." He snickered, joyful at his quick scheme's success.
Zuko fell asleep without any more protests.
---
After several hours of rest, the raven had stirred from feeling moisture hit on his arms every now and then. He got on his knees before standing up, rubbing at his good eye. He wasn't sure, but he swore he saw the ground come closer…
"Hey! Did we get hit?" His body became stiff, instincts of defense triggered and alert.
"What? No. If we got hit, I would be screaming by now. I'm lowering the balloon."
"Why?"
"It's starting to rain. If we're still up there, we'll end up like fried leopard-seals."
"Right…" Zuko rolled his eyes again [Though it became more amused, like it usually was]. He turned to face the side, looking around.
"How far are we in enemy territory? Or are we even there?"
"Oh, we're not really far in, but this area is completely abandoned, so nobody should be there."
"Please tell me you have a plan." The raven pursed his lips, hoping that they weren't playing it by ear on this one.
"Of course I have a plan." The brunette pulled out a map of the Southern parts of the Fire Nation. "It's a simple one for our first attack. All we have to do is go to the very end, and work our way upward."
"…That doesn't sound like a good one. Shouldn't we attack them where they're at right now, and push them back?"
"That would be the typical idea, but there's a flaw in that plan that we don't have a chance against." Knowing an explanation was coming up, he folded his arms. [Sokka always took forever on these things]
"You see, if we take them at the frontline, they're going to summon up more troops. They have their soldiers spread out throughout the land in order to maintain order in the villages they take down. As soon as they call for help, we're outnumbered, and outmatched. If we start from the back, and take out the small number of guys in each village, the rest of them will slowly come backward after much suspicion, and then bam! We kick their sorry cans."
"Sometimes, you never cease to amaze me."
"I know." He smiled, pleased at the compliment. "But, that's not even the cool part. We can also stock up on food and supplies, and maybe try to find extra help while we're there."
"…Did I mention you never cease to amaze me sometimes?"
"Well, I don't mind hearing it again." He joked, nudging at his friend. A smirk curled up on the raven's lips, mirth glinting in his irises.
When the basket had hit the ground, both of the boys gathered what they had and sought out an empty hut to make use for until the storm passed.
Zuko tried hard not to pay attention to the surroundings. All he saw around him was ashen soil and smoldered piles of wood laying sadly in the rain. He shut his eyes after a bit, hoping they could hurry up and find a place. He was sick of seeing this already, and they hadn't been here for even a minute.
"Oof!"
The next thing he knew, the brunette had tripped over something, and ended up grabbing onto the raven for dear life.
"You idiot." He mumbled, shoving his friend off. "You have to be more careful. What did you even trip over?"
"I don't know…" Sokka turned around to get a good look at the object that made him stumble. As soon as he saw it, though, his jaw dropped, and his eyes widened a fair amount.
"What? What is it?"
Wondering what the brunette was gaping at, he took a look over his friend's shoulder, face falling quickly. When the tanned teen caught more out of his eye, he turned to the older, lips curved in the smallest of frowns.
"…I don't think this is the only one."
They had both done a double look of the empty village. It wasn't completely abandoned, for there were heaps of dead bodies laying around, flies buzzing around their corpses, and maggots taking their plentiful helpings.
In haste, Sokka snatched his friend's arm, tugging him. "We gotta go. This place is too depressing…"
The raven only dropped his stuff. He shut his eyes, tighter than he had before. He couldn't decipher the sight that was playing before him. This wasn't in his nation. This was…a mistake. He was still dreaming. Heck, he was still delusional from not getting enough sleep.
"I can't believe I let this happen. I failed."
"No. You'll only fail if you give up now. If you don't go on, more villages are going to be like this."
"…I know."
The brunette gave up on words. He dropped his stuff and put an arm around his friend's shoulders, head leaning softly on his shoulder. In response, he rested his head on top, and both had closed their eyes, letting the rain soak deep into their hair and clothing.
It was too much of a tortured departure.
Importantsauce Ending Notes: I thought the ending was the perfect chance to slip in a bit of a brotherly moment. O.o But, hey, one step at a time. -cackle- And now...
Review. o.O Don't make me tell...the...uh...Well, Dx, I don't know what excuse I got under my sleeve this time, except, I love reviews, and the review button loves clickers. o.O So be kind to your review button! Positive, uplifting reviews and helpful, concrete advice give an angel its wings. Owo I hope you loved it and enjoy the rest of your day!