"If you ever met your celebrity crush, would you dump me for them?"
Sokka watched at his fiancé over his shoulder as she applied sunscreen to his back.
She looked at him quizzically in the hotel mirror. "Uh, what?"
"If you met your ultimate crush, some famous person like an actor or musician or whatever, would you ditch me for them?"
"Sokka," she sighed. "Why would you ask that?"
"I'm curious!" He shrugged innocently. "It's just a hypothetical. If you met your top celebrity crush, your ultimate fantasy man, would you go for them?"
Suki squirted more sunscreen into her hand and began massaging it into his shoulders.
"That's a dumb question. I don't have a celebrity crush."
"Come on, be honest! Everyone has a celebrity crush!"
"I can't think of anyone."
"Alright, then who's the hottest famous guy you know? The guy you think is objectively the best-looking man in the whole world?"
"Why are we even having this conversation?" Suki grumbled and rolled her eyes. "I guess…objectively it's…that Fire Nation prince. That doesn't mean he's my 'celebrity crush.'"
"'That Fire Nation prince?'" Sokka laughed raucously. "I know you know his name! Prince Zuko! He is your celebrity crush!"
"If you want to put words in my mouth, sure."
"Hey, I can't blame you. He's got that dark, mysterious thing going…and the scar! Total bad boy. So if you met him, would you dump me?"
Suki dropped her hands from his back and crossed her arms. "What makes you think he would even be interested?"
"Who wouldn't be interested? Let's assume he has any taste in women at all! Would you dump me for the mysterious, bad boy prince?"
She glared at him in the mirror. "No. I wouldn't." Turning around, she packed the sunscreen into the tote bag and slung it over her shoulder.
"I'm not convinced! How could you possibly pass up a chance to be with Prince Zuko?"
"If I say yes, can we go down to the beach?"
"If it's an honest yes!"
"Fine. If I met Prince Zuko, nephew of the Fire Lord, one of the most famous people on the planet, and he just so happened to notice me, then…who knows. Good enough?"
"I'll take what I can get."
The elevator doors swooshed open, and the two of them stepped inside.
"Which floor?" asked a raspy voice, belonging to the only other occupant.
"Down to the beach," Sokka replied, pointing to the button below the one already lit up. He busied himself with making silly faces at the security camera in the upper corner until a concerning thought suddenly struck him.
He turned to ask Suki if she remembered their room keys, but her dumbstruck expression stopped the words from coming out.
She was peeking over her shoulder, wide-eyed, at the man in the elevator with them—and not just peeking, but peeking intensely.
Sokka decided to see what the fuss was about.
He risked a glance, then snapped front-facing again.
Prince Zuko.
A million thoughts raced through his head. Should he ask for an autograph? No, that would be cliché. He didn't have a paper or pen anyway. A selfie? Might come off as rude and intrusive. Ask him what it was like being a prince? If he was a first grader on a field trip, sure.
To his left, Suki couldn't stop staring. She wasn't being subtle, either. Sokka risked another, longer look to check if the prince was getting annoyed, and discovered why Suki was so entranced.
Clad in just a pair of red swim shorts, Prince Zuko could have been peeled off the cover of a men's fitness magazine. If he never missed a day at the gym, Sokka wouldn't have been surprised. All the tabloids and gossip networks loved to go on about how gorgeous he was, but the man lived up to the hype.
The prince didn't appear bothered by the attention though, despite Suki broadcasting her approval of his physique. He rarely smiled for the camera—or had a pleasant demeanor at all—but from the way his eyes were on Suki…
Sokka almost gasped out loud.
He couldn't blame the prince for admiring her. As a martial arts instructor, Suki was in excellent shape herself. And she looked especially great in her red bikini top and wrap skirt, which clashed with the blues of her engagement necklace but matched the prince's trunks perfectly.
"Hi. I'm Zuko."
He stuck out his hand for Suki.
She gaped up at him, in disbelief that he'd spoken to her.
"I know," she whispered, cautiously slipping her hand into his. "I've seen you on TV. And everywhere else. I'm Suki."
"Nice to meet you, Suki."
"You too, Zuko."
For the rest of the ride, he spectated as the Fire Nation prince and his fiancé had their moment. While they chatted, Suki made an attempt to be discreet, but Zuko showed no such effort. He was into her, and probably too preoccupied with other things to notice the necklace.
Sokka could have sworn there were only fifteen floors. It felt like there were fifty.
At long last, the doors opened at Zuko's floor, a fancy lounge with a bar and pool.
"It was great talking to you, Suki," he said, stepping out of the elevator. "I hope your next kickboxing course goes well. If you don't have any plans this afternoon, my yacht..."
The doors closed, abruptly cutting him off. The elevator hummed as it descended to the ground floor.
Sokka and Suki glanced at each other.
"Is this the part where you dump me?"
"I'm not going to dump you." She cringed and looked away. "But maybe we should take a break and see other people? I don't want you to think..."
He held up his hand to stop her. "It's alright, I get it."
Suki smiled at him and handed over the tote bag. "Thanks for understanding, Sokka." She reached around her neck, undid her necklace and placed it in his waiting hand.
The elevator doors opened and Sokka walked out. He waved to his ex-fiancé over his shoulder, but she was too busy hurriedly pressing the button to take her back up a floor.
"Well, I should have seen that coming."
A/N: Anyone out there who still ships Zuki? Please leave a review about the fic or ship! Requests for short Zuki fics are welcome.