Hey everyone! Yeah, so...this update took forever. The same month I decided to write a huge chapter happened to be when I take all my finals. I'm great at decisions, aren't I? Before anyone points this out, I did make a mistake when Zuko gets a video call in the middle of a library, and then he chews out Sokka for being loud. Oops. Also, in a flashback sequence later, Zuko is 10 and Azula is 8. Enjoy!
Suki carefully walked out into the courtyard, unsure of what to expect. When she got the text message, she had honestly thought her heart had stopped. She had thought, until that point, that Yue had been having second thoughts about hanging out with her, and was going to spend her days with the wealthy cliques. She couldn't decide whether she should be ashamed of her lack of faith, or upset that Yue made her feel this way.
She gazed around for a moment, and spotted a familiar head of beautiful snow white hair, neatly braided and blowing in the wind. She had a white cardigan, and a sky blue dress with red floral designs at the bottom. Why she was wearing a dress in the middle of winter, Suki didn't know. Maybe after growing up where it snows more than the sun shines make you more resistant to cold temperatures. She'd have to ask Sokka about it.
She couldn't focus on that, though. She had to focus on the present, and the present was terrifying. However, she mustered up her courage, and approached the bench Yue was sitting on.
As Suki came up next to her, Yue looked up, then quickly looked away again, hanging her head. She scooted to the right, and gestured for Suki to sit next to her. She did.
A minute of silence passed.
Yue, at last, broke the silence. "I'm sorry I left so abruptly. And I'm sorry I haven't contacted you since, I just didn't know how to...compose myself." She took a large gulp, and her voice became cracky. "I know...that you're probably really hurt right now, and I can't tell you how sorry I am. After what happened, I was scared of explaining myself, so I selfishly decided to not approach the situation at all. I...I'm so sorry, Suki!"
Yue was crying now, and Suki was at a loss for words. She didn't understand, but she couldn't bear to see Yue like this, so she put a soothing hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, trust me. I...understand what it feels like to be afraid of confronting something. However, I still don't follow. I really have more questions than I do answers. Did I say something offensive?"
"No, no, no! You said everything I've ever wanted to hear, it's just...the problem's with me, not you."
"Yue."
Yue looked up from the ground, tears running down her face. Suki gripped her shoulders tightly, and gazed intensely into her bright blue eyes. "Whatever it is, I won't be upset. I just want you to tell me what's wrong. Can you do that?"
She nodded minutely, and a few seconds passed before she said anything. Then, "I'm engaged."
It came out as barely a whisper, but it still rocked Suki to her core. "What?"
Yue's lip trembled. "My family is very wealthy and important in the northern Water District. They wanted to spread out more into the south, and Hahn's mother's company was very prevolent in that area." She sniffled. "Marriage wasn't their first idea. Hahn came up with it. He said he would be honored to marry someone like me."
Suki gaped. "Surely they didn't agree?"
"They...they asked me if it was okay first. They said that I didn't have to if I didn't want to. They weren't forcing me into anything. But how could I do something like that? This deal was going to make or break my parents' company. I couldn't let my own feelings get in the way of that."
"Yue, it's not selfish of you to put yourself first. If your parents truly care about, they'll respect your decision. If they don't, well...well, they can just get eaten by lemurs."
Yue laughed, wiping away her tears. "Thanks, Suki." She lunged forward and locked Suki in a tight embrace. "Thank you so much."
"You're always welcome," she replied, returning the gesture.
Yue got up from the bench, walked about fifty paces, then stopped suddenly. She turned back to Suki, her face red. "This...this means we're together, or something, right? Or are we not? You know what, I'm just gonna go-"
She took off running, only to hear Suki call behind her, "Yes, we are!" She could hear her laughing, and she blushed.
...
One Week Later
Zuko scribbled furiously across the page, his head swarming with numbers. His math textbook lay open beside him, and he was currently working on a packet filled with equations in the library.
So if I carry the nine here, and the subtract the two here, that'll give me-
Wait. No, that can't be right. Hold on, how did I even get that? Let's see, where did I mess up...oh, right here, there's not supposed to be a six there. No, wait, that's right, what in the name of Agni did I do? I'll just start over.
But wait...I think this might be right. Ugh, but no, it's not, because it's different from every other equation. Or is this a trick question?
Zuko sighed and slammed the textbook shut. He'd try to finish this afternoon when his head is clear. Right now, he'd rather do anything but math. He sat in his chair for a moment, breathing deeply.
In...out.
In...out.
In...out.
In-
Brrrrrinnnngg!
He jumped out of his skin, his phone ringing in his pocket. He sighed, but then smiled once he saw the caller ID. He pressed the green button.
"Hey, Uncle."
He was suddenly bombarded with a flurry of shouts.
"Zuko Meiyo! Why in the name of Agni haven't you called me in over 2 months?! When I told my pai'sho club that you haven't been calling me, they said you must be dead! You'd better come up with a better explanation than becoming a corpse!"
"I-um..." he stuttered. He wasn't sure why the White Lotus thought he was dead, but he doubted freaking out in his room over Sokka was a good enough excuse. "I...I just...I got distracted with class, I'm sorry. I don't really have a good excuse."
His uncle seemed to have calmed down anyway. It took a lot to get Uncle Iroh mad, and even when he was, he calmed down rather quickly. "It's fine. In other words, Happy Birthday Zuko! Are you doing anything fun?"
"Well...I was just going to catch up on math, so not really..."
"What?! What about your friends?"
"Oh, they're just kind of doing their own thing, but we're probably going to hang out at the park tonight. The gang's going to leave tomorrow morning, and-"
"Nephew, there's no way I'm going to let you do calculus on your birthday. Go up to your friends, and tell them that you want to go out for tea, or the movie theater, or something. You can't just hole up in the library!"
"I mean, they probably have other stuff going on, and birthdays aren't that big of a deal..." Zuko replied sheepishly.
A pause.
"Zuko, this is the one day of the year where it's okay to be a narcissist. Go on and tell them that you want to do something, promise?"
He smiled, eventually conceding. "Alright, I promise."
Iroh grinned back at him. "Good to hear it. One of these days, I want to have a conversation with you that doesn't involve me yelling at you to socialize."
He laughed. "I don't think I can guarantee that. By the way, did you ever manage to hire a new server?"
Iroh brightened up at that. "As a matter of fact, I did! A young lady was visiting from the Earth District and she said that my tea was the best she ever tasted and she'd like to apply for the job. I set up an interview for her, and she did wonderfully! I was rather impressed with her jasmine tea."
"That's great, Uncle!" he replied. He was genuinely happy that the Jasmine Dragon would be well taken care of, but he couldn't help but feel a small pang in his heart that the tea shop was moving on without him. Like he was disposable.
His uncle, as he always did, sensed that something was wrong. "Zuko, I hope you don't think that I'm replacing-"
"No, no, no, of course not, it's just..."He struggled to put his words together. "I love being here, and I wouldn't change anything...but I wish I didn't have to choose. I don't want to finish with school and then come back to the Jasmine Dragon and everything's different."
Iroh gave him a soft, knowing smile. He usually hated it because it made him feel like he was wearing his emotions for everyone to see, but he welcomed it now. "Just because things are changing, doesn't mean things are different. Believe me, I've traveled around the world many times, and while it's always an incredible experience, there is truly nothing like returning to your roots. Every time I come back something's changed, but I recognize the same community, the same feelings, and the same culture. The Jasmine Dragon will be waiting for you, with the same feelings you had the last time you were there."
Zuko paused for a moment, then chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly Uncle, you should write a book."
"Perhaps I should," his uncle beamed. "Just picture it-Old Uncle Iroh's Guide to Pai'sho and Other Nonsense."
He made a face like he'd just sucked on a lemon. "Absolutely not."
Iroh shrugged. "Eh, it's a work in progress, I suppose. By the way, your gift should be arriving in the mail tonight. I think you're really going to like it!"
"I bet I will. See you later, Uncle."
"Happy Birthday Zuko!"
The call ended.
As he put his phone back on the table, he glanced at his math textbook. This wasn't even due until Thursday. Why was he doing this on his birthday? Besides, he'd promised his uncle. It wouldn't be too hard, right?
"Zuko!"
Something blue and energetic crashed into him, which meant it was either a character from the James Cameron Avatar movie on a sugar high, or it was just Sokka. As the figure barrelled into his arms, he spotted a familiar ponytail and manic grin.
As Sokka pulled himself off of him, Zuko noticed several deadly glares in their direction, including the librarian, who pointed at a Please Be Quiet and Courteous poster on the other wall. Zuko mouthed sorry, and then tried to shush Sokka.
Sokka pulled up a chair next to him. "What are you doing here, dude? It's your 20th birthday! You should living it up with your friends, not-is that calculus? Since when do you do that out of your own volition?"
Zuko chuckled softly, giving up on reprimanding Sokka for his volume. "Yeah, uh...I don't really know what I was doing." He closed the textbook abruptly, and then turned to the boy beside him. "Would you...would you like to do something later?"
Sokka blinked for a moment, then made a sound of disbelief. "Of course I would, it's your day!" He looked away suddenly, not meeting his gaze. "I mean...would you rather have the whole gang to celebrate, or just...or just the two of us?"
"Oh!" Zuko twiddled his thumbs together, his face feeling like it did when his attempt at komodo chicken flambe exploded. "Uh...you know, I feel like we haven't time between the two of us in ages. Don't get me wrong, I love Suki and Katara and everyone else, but I kind of just want to talk to you by myself."
Sokka suddenly resembled a paprika tomato. "Okay," he squeaked, shoving a hand over his mouth when he realized what it sounded like. "I mean, yeah, sure, whatever you want, buddy."
"Cool."
"Cool."
Silence.
"Uh, how does cupcakes sound? I'm in the mood for something sweet," Zuko offered, trying to break the odd tension.
The boy's eyes lit up at that. "Ooh, there's a new place that opened downtown! We should check it out for sure!"
Zuko broke out into an awkward, but uncontrollably happy smile. "Perfect! But first, let's get out of here before the librarian chews us out."
...
"Zuko, when I die, I want you to bury me in chocolate frosting."
The two of them strolled down the sidewalk, enjoying the downtown scenery. There were people shopping, chatting, sitting at tables and eating, or just taking a nice walk. The pair had stopped by Madame Wu's Cupcake Parlor, with mystical themed cakes.
As Sokka had pulled out a few dollar bills to pay for his Chocolate Raspberry Potion cupcake, Zuko already heading out towards the sidewalk, Madame Wu suddenly grabbed his wrist and stared at him intently.
"W-what-" he stammered, nearly dropping his wallet.
"If you continue on your current path, fire will blaze through the hearts of everyone you know. It's your choice of whether or not to set a blaze of order or chaos."
A beat.
Then Sokka said something really intelligent, like-
"Umm...yeah, okay."
Zuko's melodic laugh snapped him back into the present. "That might be a challenge. Who has that much frosting?"
Right. He and Zuko were on a date. Well, it wasn't really a date, but he could dream, couldn't he?
"Pfft, I should ask Aang. He has the biggest sweet tooth out of anyone I know. Just as a word of caution, don't ask him to share anything. He might seem all peaceful, but just try and take some of his Halloween candy."
Zuko undid the wrapper on his Pineapple Crystal Orb cupcake. "Wait, he still trick or treats? Isn't he like, eighteen?"
"Uh-huh. Katara thinks it's cute, but the parents don't like it when a grown man hangs out with their toddlers. Well, if you could even call him that," he snickered.
Zuko smiled warmly. "Katara and Aang really fit well together, don't they?"
Sokka waved his hand flippantly. "Yeah, yeah, they're sweet. The less we talk about the oogie-boogies between Aang and my sister, the better."
His companion laughed again, causing a spark to form in Sokka's gut. Everyone said he was the funny guy, but it always meant more when Zuko laughed at one of his jokes. And that laugh...he shook himself before following that train of thought. He didn't need his dirty thoughts contaminating this wholesome fanfiction.
"So, Zuko...about last week...I hope I didn't I cross a line or anything. I should have respected your personal space, and-"
Zuko held up a hand for him to stop. "It's fine, Sokka, really. I was just...surprised, that's all, and I shouldn't have isolated myself like I did. It wasn't your fault."
It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest. "You're sure?"
"Positive."
"Wait," Sokka said, frowning. "Why were you surprised?"
Zuko flushed from head to toe; clearly he hadn't expected the question. "What?"
He sputtered for a moment, unsure of whether or not to keep going. "I-well-I want to know why that caught you off guard. No reason, you don't have to answer, just curious-"
"I...I felt insecure about how I looked for a long time. I used to try and claim that it was just a really bad sunburn, but it became pretty obvious what it was when it never went away. I got used to it eventually, and I became more comfortable in my own skin. But those feelings never really went away, and I have a hunch that they will always stay inside me. Even the few people who are really close to me don't want to touch it, so when you touched it with such ease...like it was just another part of my face..." Zuko chuckled, disbelief lacing his voice. "You don't even know me that well, and we hated each other at first. It wasn't something I ever expected."
Sokka blinked, both surprised and touched that Zuko had decided to share this with him. He knew that if it were him, he never would have revealed something so personal. "To be honest, I barely noticed the scar at first. The first thing that caught my attention was your eyes."
Zuko's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh? Why?"
The two of them stopped by a park bench, and the two of them took a seat, Sokka on the left and Zuko on the right.
"They looked like molten pools of amber, and then there was this...spark to it that I'd never seen before. Like an explosion, but a good one, I guess? I saw you from my dorm and I thought, now there's an interesting guy. It took a while, but I eventually figured out I was right."
Honestly, if Zuko had looked any redder, he would have exploded right before his eyes. At least he was doing something right.
"Besides," Sokka said, propping his arms behind his head, "I know a thing or two about not being comfortable in my skin."
Zuko's eyes widened as he relaxed his back against the bench. "Oh? How so?"
"I..." I'm really saying this, aren't I? "When I was about twelve, my dad left to join the Southern Protests against the North, to stop the oppression. At my house, it was just me, Katara, and my gran-gran. I had to be the man of the house, I had to be the one to bring order and take responsibility. Now, I don't know if you've noticed, I'm more of a laid-back kind of guy."
A chuckle. "Yeah, I got that impression."
"Katara calls it my 'imposter phase', and I think that's pretty accurate. I was always lecturing them and asking where she was going, and doing background checks on all her friends. I thought I had to be the rock of the family. Gran-gran eventually pulled me aside and told me that I didn't need to be the rock, or the best, or this pedestal of order. All they wanted me to be was Sokka. Once she told me that, it felt like I'd just shed an extra layer off of me. It's like you said, though...those insecurities are never truly gone. So when you kept ignoring me, and then you beat me at pai'sho over and over again, one of the things I'd prided myself on, I just...well. You know what happened."
"I do. Thanks for sharing this with me, Sokka. I know it's not an easy thing to do," Zuko replied, giving Sokka a smile that could light up the sky. "My uncle once told me that pride is not the opposite of shame, but it's source, and that true humility is the only antidote to shame. I think it was honorable to let that pride go and just do what you could for your family. Besides, for the record, I forgave you for the pai'sho game ages ago."
Sokka wrapped Zuko in a hug before he could say anything else. Zuko tensed, but returned the hug after a second.
"So," Sokka remarked as he let go, grinning, "you said I don't really know you that well. How about we remedy that?"
...
When Zuko came back to the dorm that night with Sokka in tow, he was surprised to find the entire gang beside a spicy chocolate cake decorated with candles, the only light in an otherwise dark room. As they ate around the table, they laughed and joked and played Zuko's favorite card game, Peaches to Peaches.
Zuko hadn't expected any of their visitors to have the time to get him anything, so he was taken aback when each of them presented him with a gift. Sokka nudged him playfully at the sight of his expression and joked, "I think the concept of a birthday is a bit lost on Zuko!"
Suki had gotten him a red leather jacket that she had noticed him eyeing in a store. "Now you can really lay the bad boy look on thick."
Yue gifted him an old record player from an antique store, along with a couple of records from the 80's, Zuko's favorite era of music. "The record store is just around the corner if you want to get more, we should browse sometime!"
Katara handed him a flight of small spice bottles, each with its own mix of herbs. Some were hot, some were salty, and Zuko was eager to try them all in his cooking. "I'd like to try the spicier ones one of these days, I've never had Fire District cuisine."
Aang gave him three whole boxes of chocolates (big surprise) and warned him not to eat them all in one day. "Last time I did that, I blacked out and woke up in the children's section of a library with a copy of Clifford the Big Red Dog in front of me. I wouldn't recommend it." Zuko nodded, and briefly wondered if Aang's sugar levels were okay.
Toph passed him a shoebox and when he opened it, a collection of a dozen or so rocks greeted him. They all had some sort of natural pattern, such as stripes, marbling, or transparency. "I just found those around campus, it's got nothing on my actual rock collection. But you know. The rocks around here aren't terrible."
Then it was Sokka's turn.
Sokka emerged from his room and set a large, shoddily wrapped box beside Zuko. As he began to unwrap it, he wondered what Sokka could possibly have spent on his money on for something so big. He found a generic cardboard box, and when he opened that, Zuko froze.
"I know you already forgave me for what happened, but I wanted to give you something to make up for it anyway. Besides, now you won't have to use my old electric kettle! Uh...Zuko? You okay?"
Zuko pulled out the tea set, looking at every individual design on the cups. He recognized each tile's symbol- the Green Bear, the Purple Ribbon, the Blue Sword, the Red Castle.
"I want the red one!"
Zuko shook his head, frustrated. He didn't know why he had to play pai'sho with his little sister instead of going outside with Lu Ten. His mother said he had to spend time with her because 'Azula needs to get to know her big brother'. Whatever that meant.
"No, Azula, that's not how this works. The Red Castle goes back here with the rest of your tiles. They need to stay here, got it?" Zuko moved the tile back, much to Azula's irritation.
"But I want to move it!" Azula protested, pouting.
"That's not how you play. See, look, I'll move this piece-" He picked up the White Lotus tile and moved it up a couple of spaces. Now it's your turn. You want to move the Red Castle, right?"
"Yeah."
"The Red Castle can move four spaces at a time. Can you do that?"
Azula nodded enthusiastically, and moved the Red Castle forward that many spaces. "What now?"
"Now that you're facing diagonal from my White Lotus, you can take it. That means I lose a piece, and you're closer to winning. Do you understand?" Zuko explained calmly.
Azula brightened up instantly, a grin taking over her face. "Yeah!" She swiped his White Lotus and put it behind the board on her side of the table. "I'm definitely gonna win."
Zuko snorted. "As if."
They played for hours, with Azula winning some of the time, while Zuko won most games. Azula would fuss and cross her arms, but it was never out of any real anger.
Mom soon came, calling them inside for lunch. "Please, just a few more minutes? I'm just about to beat Azula."
Azula blew him a raspberry. "No, you're not!"
Mom smiled gracefully and took Zuko's hand , leading him away from the table. "I'm glad you two are having fun, but it's time to eat. You want to grow tall like your cousin, don't you?"
Zuko pursed his lips for a second, then let go of his mother's hand. "I guess we can play later. This isn't over, Azula!"
Azula giggled. "Sure it isn't."
Zuko was about to tease her back but stopped when he felt his mother's fingers tense. He looked up, and saw his father standing in the entrance to the doorway. Even Azula went quiet.
"Hello, Ozai," Mom greeted cordially.
His face didn't change. "I've been called in for a meeting. Make sure dinner's ready by the time I come back."
"Yes." She unconsciously squeezed Zuko's hand tighter.
Ozai walked off towards the car, and the three of them didn't move until they heard the roaring of the engines disappear into the distance.
Mom turned back to them, smiling with less brightness than before. "Do you want to watch a movie during lunch?"
The two kids perked up immediately, grinning. "Yeah!"
Zuko turned back to Sokka, beaming from ear to ear. "It's absolutely perfect. I love it, Sokka."