Chapter Text
“Are you ready for this?” Sokka asks Zuko as they stand outside a run down tea shop in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. Zuko can’t help but think that this is no place for the former Fire Lord to be. Simply making their way here had given him the chills. He wonders if any of his people have come to grief in ways such as this.
He can’t think about that now. Bigger octopus-fish to fry.
“It has been over a year since I have seen him. What if he doesn’t want to see me?”
“He’ll see you, Zuko. You’re family.”
“I get the feeling that that word means far more in your home than it does in mine.”
“Maybe.” Sokka takes his hand gently, and there is a wariness to it. “But my home is yours now, and that word can mean whatever you want it to mean.”
In reality, Sokka's words don’t mean much. They don’t actually change the reality of the situation placed before him, but somehow they still manage to give Zuko the strength to walk through the door.
The smell of more spices than he can name assaults Zuko’s senses the moment he crosses the threshold. The strongest of them, ginseng– Uncle’s favorite.
He hears his uncle before he sees him. That deep belly laugh he would know anywhere sends something rattling in his chest that the prince can’t quite decipher as excitement or fear. Before figuring it out, Zuko simply decides to turn and run. He takes a singular step back but finds himself blocked. He whips around only to see Sokka smiling up at him gently, as patient with him as ever.
“Are you alright, Zuko?” His name on the lips of the Southern prince sends his chest rattling again, but with something entirely different. Zuko takes a deep breath and just barely nods. He suddenly feels uncomfortable and awkward in the heavy Earth Kingdom textiles.
He misses the comfortable light silks he was raised in. Surprisingly, he had never longed for those when Sokka had given him climate-appropriate clothing back in the south. Although whether that comfort came from the softness of the fabric, or from knowing who that fabric belongs to, is anybody's guess.
“Okay, good,” The back of their hands brush. “I’m going to be sitting just there in the corner. I won’t eavesdrop, but I’m here if you need me.” With that, Zuko’s next thought is simply I love you. It startles him so thoroughly that for a moment he considers the merit of pushing past his friend and making a run for it.
No, unfortunately it is not just his own sorry fate he is responsible for. So he holds his feet and tongue as steady as he can bear. Zuko offers the barest hint of a smile in lieu of words. Just the ghost of an expression as always. Sokka has become a master at recognising them over the weeks they’ve been by each other's side. Zuko still can’t quite decide if he finds it endearing or unnerving, being seen. He has been invisible for so long.
Sokka says nothing else. He simply sits in the small corner table he gestured to previously. He pulls out a book and makes a show of covering his eyes. Zuko has to bite the inside of his cheek to suppress a smile.
Zuko rolls his own eyes before taking a steadying breath and turning back toward the front of the tea shop, if it can even be called that– more of a shack with scattered tables and a kettle, really. It looks like some patrons even bring their own cups.
Uncle is speaking to a middle aged woman. Both are wearing bright smiles as she pays her tab and giggles as he tells her that the “secret ingredient” is love . Zuko resists the urge to roll his eyes again.
Every bone in his body is telling him to turn and run. To figure it out himself. Uncle got away from the palace and cutthroat politics. Who is a banished prince to drag him back in?
Before he can make a final decision, Uncle makes it for him.
Their eyes lock. Something inside Zuko that has been freezing since the day his uncle left thaws at the familiar warmth. He doesn’t think he has ever seen his uncle move so fast as he does now. He swings around the counter and makes a straight line for him.
Zuko nearly topples over at the force of his uncle's embrace. He has the sudden urge to fall to his knees before him and beg for forgiveness for what he is about to ask of him.
“Oh, my Prince Zuko. It is so good to see you. Why have you come?” His uncle releases him just enough so that he can get a good look at him and Zuko decides. No. He can’t do this to the man who practically raised him.
“I just missed you. I wanted to see you.” It is the only excuse his useless brain can provide on such short notice. Unfortunately his uncle is neither blind nor senile. He sees directly through the lie. Zuko worries that he is about to be scolded, but his uncle smiles knowingly.
“Is it about that young man who is pretending he isn’t watching us?”
“What?” Zuko takes half a step back out of reflex and knows that his face is likely as red as a fire lily. “No! Of course not. That's my fia-” He clears his throat, “I mean, that's Sokka.”
“Then why don’t you introduce us?” Uncle links their arms and Zuko curses his keen observation as he is all but dragged over to Sokka’s table.
Sokka closes his book, looking a bit startled. He stands abruptly and bows, nearly flipping the rickety wooden table in the process.
“Oh please, my boy. Not here.” Iroh swivels his head, but none of the patrons seem to be paying them any mind. “I quite enjoy my life here. To keep it, I must also keep a certain degree of anonymity. You understand.” Zuko can tell by the slight quirk of his left eyebrow that he doesn’t, but Sokka nods anyway.
“So, uhm,” Sokka sits back down awkwardly on the creaky stool. “What should I call you then?”
“You can call me Uncle, most people around here do.” Surprisingly, Sokka seems more than comfortable with that arrangement. Zuko is puzzled for a moment until he remembers a conversation they had a couple of weeks ago aboard their ship.
Zuko had noticed that Sokka called all of the older men on the ship “uncle”. When Zuko had asked him why, Sokka had simply told him that it was a sign of respect, but assured him that Zuko did not have to do the same. He was grateful. He can’t imagine calling someone other than Iroh “uncle”. Apparently the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes share that particular custom.
Soon enough, the three men are settled around the table barely big enough for their cups and Sokka’s book.
“So, tell me why you have truly come. An old man would never squander the presence of family. Old or new.” He meets the eyes of Sokka, who blushes and focuses on his tea. “But I can’t help but feel there is something more to this visit.”
Zuko wants to tell him. Really, he does, but his hands are shaking so violently that he doesn’t know if he will be able to utter a single coherent sentence.
Luckily, as has been true far more than Zuko will ever admit to himself, Sokka comes to his rescue.
“Uncle, we need your help.” The old man looks a bit startled at the outright admission. He meets Zuko’s eyes which are no doubt filled with urgency and anxiety. Zuko was never one to ask for help on anything. He knows that the simple fact that he has come all this way is alarming to his uncle, much less to ask for assistance.
“Anything at all,” He places a sun-spotted hand over Zuko’s own, and makes no comment about how it shakes slightly. “If it is within my power.”
Sokka takes a moment to compose his thoughts, then tells his story starting with the day Zuko arrived in the Southern Water Tribe. He explains how Zuko’s father sent him as a way to remove him from the playing field, and how Zuko did everything in his power to return as fast as possible. When Iroh questions Ozai’s motivations for this, Sokka falters which gives Zuko the strength to take over.
“I don’t know if this is the exact reason, but it’s the only one I have.” Uncle nods with understanding and bids Zuko to continue.
Zuko recounts the conversation he overheard, how he barely had time to form any plan to stop it before he was sent away. He drops his gaze to the floor in shame as he explains how he was too afraid communication would be intercepted if he tried to contact anyone who could help.
Iroh gives Zuko’s hand a reassuring squeeze and stands with purpose. He waves the two young men to follow without word, the urgency in his expression has them following without protest. They are out of the tea shop and walking down the cracked cobblestone street before Zuko dares speak again.
“Uncle…?” Zuko asks as they make their way through the slums. He doesn’t know what he means to ask, but he needs some reassurance that he didn’t doom their country by waiting so long to get help.
“Hush nephew, lead us back to your ship. We must leave immediately.”
“Don’t you need your things?” he can’t help but ask.
“Not a moment to lose, and no royal blood has ever been tainted by something so simple as clothing. I feel closer to the world like this than I ever did with a crown upon my head.”
Zuko says nothing to this. He knows the feeling too well. Something Sokka said when Zuko told him stories about the “Blue Spirit” on a night when neither of them could sleep comes to mind.
“How can one rule a people, if one does not know the people?”
~
A week into their final stretch from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire nation, Hakoda and Iroh are getting on famously, as if they had known each other all their lives. Zuko finds a weight that he didn’t realize he had been carrying has been lifted from his shoulders at the sight.
“Well, they’re just two cubs in a pouch, aren’t they?” Sokka says, coming up behind him. Zuko gives him a weird look.
“What?” Sokka shakes his head with a smile.
“Nevermind. Want to go up in the eagle-crow's nest with me?”
“The what?”
“I think you would call it a watchtower.” Sokka clarifies, and points up one of the main masts to what looks to be little more than a platform with a few ropes for balance.
“How do we get up there?” It’s not exactly a ‘yes’, but Sokka takes it as one.
“You’re right, you might not be able to,” Sokka eyes him with a mischievous grin. The same grin that got them caught trying to sneak into the wine cellar of the ship. Zuko nearly threw himself overboard, but Hakoda only gave them a light scolding and sent them back to bed. “Bet you the Blue Spirit could though.” Sokka’s eyebrows wiggle.
“You did not just play that piece.”
“I absolutely did.” Something sparks in those ice blue eyes that sets Zuko’s chest fluttering in that uncomfortable way it always seems to when Sokka is around. “In fact, I think I could beat him there.” Zuko scoffs. “Oh, you don’t think I could? That sounded like a challenge.”
“Sokka no. I did not-”
“Too late!” Before Zuko can utter another word, he is watching Sokka sprint towards the rigging. He follows after casually, stopping near the end of the rope, grateful to be back in soft black pants and a sleeveless top. He had felt awkward and exposed at first, but Hakoda was right. Robes were no good for sailing, and it didn’t take long for the leathers and furs of the south to become far too hot to bear.
“I’m not following you!” Zuko cups one hand on the side of his mouth to amplify his voice, the other firmly fixed in his pocket.
“Come on! I have a surprise for you!” Sokka stops clambering half way up the rope to shout back down.
“You can give it to me down here!” Zuko laughs at how ridiculous Sokka looks. Like a baby spider monkey.
“But the view up here is-” Sokka cuts himself off with a shout. He loses his balance and barely manages to catch himself with one hand. Fear grips Zuko’s chest, and before he even fully processes his next move he is sprinting up the rope with all the agility that seven years of practice on rooftops and window ledges allows.
He reaches Sokka in what is likely only a few seconds, but to Zuko it feels like a lifetime watching him dangle high above the deck.
When he gets close enough, Zuko lowers himself and grabs Sokka's legs one at a time, helping him secure them back around the rope so that he doesn’t fall.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” Zuko tries to make his words sound harsh, but there is a shake of worry in his tone that he is unable to hide. He reaches for Sokka's waist to help him flip upright on the rope, but before he gets the chance, Sokka does it himself.
Zuko looks at him dumbfounded for a moment, but Sokka just grins.
“Gotcha.”
It takes every inch of the tenuous hold Zuko has on his temper not to push him right back off and let him fall.
“Yeah yeah, hate me later. Right now though- come see the view.” The last thing Zuko wants to do is give Sokka what he wants, but then those blue eyes flash with laughter and he is powerless to deny him.
“Whatever,” He grumbles to himself as he follows after.
Any annoyance still dancing along his skin vanishes when Zuko finally rights himself by Sokka’s side. “Woah.”
“Told you,” Sokka folds his arms triumphantly. It looks weirdly out of place against the setting sun over the waves. Zuko can’t help but think that if this was one of the plays his mom loved so much, Sokka would be casually leaning against the mast, watching his profile while Zuko watched the endless ocean.
This isn’t a play though, and Sokka’s grin is far too pleased to be considered romantic in any way. Even if it is aimed at Zuko.
“Come sit with me,” Sokka pulls him out of his thoughts. Zuko hadn’t even noticed that Sokka is now sitting on the edge of the creaking platform. He resists the urge to tie a rope around their legs in case it gives way beneath them. Sokka doesn’t look even the slightest bit worried.
They sit beside each other like that for a long while, just watching the light reflect off of the water, and feeling the gentle rock of their ship. Agni is nearly completely swallowed by the waves before either of them speaks again. It’s Sokka.
“So, we should be in the Fire Nation by morning if these winds hold steady.”
“Yeah,” Zuko says tightly. He doesn’t know how he should feel returning home after all this time. Not only that, he is returning to usurp his father. His mind is a mess of contradictions that he has been trying very hard not to think about this past week.
“How are you feeling about it?” Sokka knows how he’s feeling about it. Their hammocks below deck are right beside each other, and he would have to be deaf or dumb to not notice Zuko’s increasing nightmares. Zuko considers it no small mercy that he doesn’t ask. Sokka has simply taken to reaching out to clasp his hand, and rubbing soothing circles until Zuko falls back asleep.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Even with Uncle this is going to be hard. He did legally renounce his title. The people love him. So it won’t be hard for him to win them back over, but my father’s advisors are another matter entirely, and my sister is a wild card.”
“Oh, is that all?” Zuko knows it is probably meant as a joke, but the task ahead of him is nothing short of daunting. Still, there is something bitter in Sokka’s tone that he can’t place. One that prompts him to answer the joke with honesty.
“What else is there?” Sokka pulls his eyes from the horizon and meets his own. Whatever he is searching for, he doesn’t seem to find. Zuko would give it to him if he knew what it was.
“No, I guess not.” They slip into silence again, but it feels awkward and heavy. Not at all like the comfortable one Zuko has gotten so used to over these past months, the one that makes him feel like he could say anything and it would be okay.
“So,” Zuko tries, wanting anything except this awkward air that has settled between them, “What was that surprise you wanted to give me?” Sokka cracks a small smile. Good.
“I just had something to tell you, really.”
“So, tell me. I’m right here.”
“I know that we’ll be in the Fire Nation soon, and I have no idea what that will change. Hopefully it will all be for the better, but there’s no way to know.”
“Sokka-” Zuko interjects, he doesn’t really know why. There is just a deep feeling in his gut that tells him he won’t like where this conversation ends. Sokka places a heavy hand on his own.
“Zuko please. Just let me finish.” Zuko nods. “Anyway, I told myself that I would make the best of this thing we’ve both been forced into, and I think I have, but that’s something that I know is bound to change once we reach your shores. I understand that this- that I am a punishment for you.” Zuko wants to interrupt again, but holds his tongue. A survival skill he has come to be quite good at.
“But I want you to know that you are not a punishment for me. Not once. Even when you went blind from stubbornness, even when you were doing everything in your power to get rid of me, I never saw you as a burden. Not once.” Zuko can’t help himself, he feels like he’s choking on Sokka's words.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying I think you’re wonderful and will make an amazing prince and heir. Your people are so lucky to have you. You are kind, and thoughtful, and resourceful, and you care more deeply than anyone I’ve ever known. About everyone you meet. I’m saying… I think you’re beautiful, Zuko.”
Despite himself, and despite Sokka’s heartfelt words, Zuko scoffs. “I don’t think that is a word that has ever been used to describe me.” To his surprise, Sokka takes his face gently in both hands and forces them to lock eyes. Zuko shivers a little at the feeling of Sokka’s calloused fingertips on his neck. He hopes he hid it well.
“It is the only word they should ever use.” His voice is quiet but firm, and leaves no room for argument. Zuko swallows and blushes. Although, he isn’t sure if it’s because of Sokka’s words or their proximity.
Sokka continues. “Tomorrow, everything is going to change whether we like it or not. I just can’t let that happen without telling you everything.”
“I’m listening,” Zuko says softly, reverently. He is hanging on to the Southern prince’s every word.
For a moment, Sokka does look like he’s going to continue. His mouth opens slightly, then closes. Before Zuko can ask what’s wrong, Sokka is pulling him in.
They connect, and it feels like the answer to a question Zuko has been asking his whole life. His lips are slightly cold, as if the deep of the ocean refuses to leave him, but he tastes like tea and smells like leather. Zuko can’t help but melt into it.
Too soon, it ends. Before Zuko has regained enough sense to open his eyes, Sokka is gone. He catches a glimpse of him as he slides down the rigging back onto the deck now illuminated by torches.
Zuko feels weak in all his bones. He doesn’t know if it's from the lack of sun - now gone beyond the horizon- or Sokka, who he feels he has been blind to until just this moment. Blind in a way that has nothing to do with his scar.
~
Zuko is pacing back and forth in his room, the door open. Father and Uncle have been locked in the throne room with the advisors and members of government for what feels to Zuko like a lifetime.
“Hey, you’ve gotta relax. You’re going to make yourself sick.” Sokka takes his shoulder and gently lowers him onto the edge of the bed. “There’s nothing you can do right now. If they need you, your uncle will call.” Zuko knows he’s right, but it doesn’t help.
Sokka’s hand tightens slightly, causing Zuko to lift his head and follow his gaze. Azula is leaning against his doorframe with her typical bored expression.
“Since when do you leave your door open?” She mocks lightly.
“Sokka, could you give us a minute?” Sokka nods and bows to Azula as he passes her on his way out.
Azula shuts the door behind him and immediately makes her way into the room. Zuko stands and holds his arms open for her. She just stops and folds her own.
“Is everything okay, ‘Zula?”
“Oh, you mean besides the fact that you disappear to the other side of the world for months, then come back and throw me in the middle of this without any warning? Yeah Zuko, other than that I’m just great.”
Zuko winces because she’s right. He has been so caught up in all of this that he hadn’t even bothered to send her a letter. He couldn’t have outright warned her, but he should have found a way.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t know how you would feel.”
“Feel?” she scoffs. “What are you talking about?”
“With all this– Uncle, Father’s plans, my coming back. I didn’t know what…” He trails off, not knowing how to finish the sentence without setting her off. It happens anyway.
“What side I’d be on, you mean.” Zuko casts his gaze to the carpet. “Agni, you really are an idiot.” He snaps back up at that, meeting her blazing eyes. “ You aren’t the only one who grew up in this house, Zuko.”
“I know that.”
“Do you? Because you don’t act like it. Father may not have turned my face into something out of a horror novel, but that doesn’t mean I was exempt from his wrath, and it doesn’t mean that I would have agreed to start a war .”
“I didn’t-”
“Of course you didn’t. I didn’t expect you to. You took the brunt of Father’s abuses for me and I will never forget that. For that, I never asked anything of you, never pushed where you didn’t want me to. Never asked questions. For years I let you keep all our family's pain balled up inside yourself because you wanted it, and because I was too scared to face it. But you left, Zuko. You ran off to get married and I didn’t know how to handle it. You never taught me!” She was getting more and more agitated with every word.
Zuko hazards a step closer, she doesn't back away.
“I never taught you, because I never planned on leaving.”
“But you did!”
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“You could have tried!”
“And likely died in the process. Then you’d be alone anyway. This way, I could come back.” His final words seem to break the dam. Her face crumples at the same moment her body does. She tucks into him and cries. Zuko just strokes her hair gently and holds her tight. “It’s okay ‘Zula. I came back to make everything right. I’ll never make you face this alone again. I’m so sorry.” His voice cracks in his final words. He can’t help it.
He didn’t think that Azula would see his arranged marriage as him abandoning her, but she does. It probably hurt worse because their mother left in much the same way. Just vanished into the dark of the night. Except this time he wasn’t there to hold her through it.
After a while, the tears stop flowing and Azula dries her eyes. She glances out the window at the sun beginning to make its descent.
“They should be done soon.”
“Should we go?”
“Not now. I need to fix my face. I look like some deformed baby dragon.” Zuko has to laugh a little to himself. Her pale skin is splotchy and her eyes are all puffy. Still, she is still his little sister, and he will always think she is beautiful.
“Go on then, come get me when you’re done.”
Sokka comes back shortly after she leaves, with a soft rap at his door before coming in to sit on the edge of his bed. Zuko is sprawled across it dramatically. Still fully dressed. Wondering about all the life decisions that brought him into this endless chaos.
“Doing alright there, Oh Fire Prince?” Zuko reaches up and throws a pillow at Sokka's face.
“Perfect.”
“Good to hear.” Sokka lies across his pillows so the two men make a weird sort of “T” shape across Zuko's bed. It almost makes Zuko feel like a child again.
“I’m so afraid of failing her.” Zuko breathes into the silence. There’s a hiss of cotton on silk, then Sokka’s face is hovering above him, wolf tail forsaken. The strands of his dark hair obscure his face slightly and glow in the sun. Zuko resists the urge to smile.
“Failing who?”
“My sister.”
“I worry about that too. With my sister, I mean.” Sokka reaches down and brushes a strand of hair out of Zuko’s face, he closes his eyes at the touch. “But It’ll be okay. You are literally in the middle of trying to fix your whole nation for her. That’s pretty big on the scale of big brother duties.”
Zuko does crack a smile at that. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am. I’m smarter than you.” Zuko hits him with the pillow again. Sokka laughs and attempts to dodge, but fails. “And if you ever need me, I’m only a messenger hawk away. Promise.”
Zuko opens his eyes, and finally dares to meet Sokka’s. He doesn’t know why today looking into them feels painful. Something in him is screaming that he shouldn’t indulge, because this will only end in tears. Then again, Sokka kissed him . That has to mean something, right?
Maybe it will be okay if Zuko pulls him down to be in this moment with him. Sokka had been right, he always seems to be. Everything is changing today. The world is going to look very different for both of them in just a little while. Just maybe, Zuko could hold on to this moment for a little longer.
Unfortunately, the decision is made for him. Azula’s knock raps at the door.
~~~
“Once more, I welcome your Fire Lord- Iroh!” The Fire Sage declares. Iroh’s re-coronation is a small affair. Just the members of the government and the royal family. Along with Sokka, Hakoda, and his crew of course.
Sokka is very grateful for it. He was never a fan of large gatherings, and he felt even better knowing that loser-lord Ozai was incarcerated in the palace dungeon for his crimes against the nation as well as attempted ones against the Earth Kingdom.
Sokka hadn’t been there for the proceedings, but the documents were made public almost as soon as they ended. Things move fast in the Fire Nation and it seemed that even Zuko and Azula were as surprised as him when they sat and read the documents together.
Now though, it is all over. One day in the Fire Nation is all Hakoda will allow. He is right, of course. They have been away from home far too long, and Sokka is sure that Katara will rip their heads off about it the second they dock. He is not looking forward to that.
The celebration is wonderful, all flickering lights and intricate decorations. Sokka has never seen anything like it. He knows he should get some rest– he has long weeks of sailing ahead of him. A full night's sleep in a real bed would do him some good.
However, he abandons logic to try every food presented to him and dance with anyone who will allow him their company. The women are all wonderful, the men are a bit shy, but Sokka doesn’t care either way.
Sokka dances until he feels like his feet will fall off, and he has no idea what time it is, but he decides to call it a night. The Water Tribe prince pulls off his shoes as he somewhat waddles down the long hallway towards the guest rooms. He is fully prepared to collapse on the large bed until his father drags him onto the ship tomorrow morning.
He is surprised though when he finds his door slightly ajar, and Zuko sitting on his bed, fiddling with the edge of his robe.
“Zuko?” Zuko jumps to standing as if he hadn’t heard him enter. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes! Fine! I just, uhm. Wanted to return this.” He pulls out the sun goggles Sokka had given him. Sokka frowns.
“Those are yours. They were a gift.” With those words, Zuko closes his fingers around the cool bone. One last souvenir from his trip to Sokka’s shores.
“Right,” Zuko’s cheeks flush. “Well, goodnight then. Sorry to have kept you up.”
“Zuko,” Sokka grabs his arm as he tries to brush by him. “What is this really about?”
Zuko’s face twists like he wants to pull away, or run, or maybe both, but he stays put. Something warms in Sokka’s chest at that.
“Nothing, I guess I just wanted to see you one more time. I’m glad all this is over.” Sokka drops his hand, and can’t help but feel hurt.
“Right,” He grips his own bicep across his chest. “So… I guess this means you’re free. The wedding is off. Congratulations.” These are the thoughts Sokka has been avoiding all night. The more he danced and got to know these people, the more he thought that being married to Zuko might not have been so bad. That is all over now though. It hurts deeper than he thought it would.
Somewhere in all their wanderings. Sokka had noticed that this- Zuko- might actually be what he wanted. Sure, it is a tad unconventional, but the normal stuff rarely makes history. He has to stop thinking about it, though. It’s over.
Sokka takes a moment to wonder if it had always been. Was it over the moment Zuko docked his ship that day? And more importantly- is it over now?
“Actually, I believe brokering peace between our people is still important. My father’s motivations were wrong, but there was some truth in the lie he told to execute his plan” This stops Sokka’s mind in its tracks. Is he seriously trying to propose right now? Sokka truly doesn’t know what he will say if he does.
“What are you saying?” It’s been months of this back and forth, Sokka is done playing games with him. But then, Zuko says the most wonderful thing.
“Sokka, you are the smartest person I know. Study at our universities. Help me bring a golden age of innovation to every nation.” Sokka’s stomach does cartwheels at the thought. He knows the Fire Nation has some of the best universities in the world. He never dreamed of going to any of them. Still something about his offer feels wrong. Is he just trying to keep him close to toy with him? Did he think he could send Sokka off to study so he would be obligated to be at his beck and call? No. Sokka would rather go back home than be some glorified pet.
“I don’t understand.” Sokka snaps, “Whatever you’re trying to ask, Zuko just ask.”
Zuko takes a deep breath that seems to steady him, Sokka doesn’t miss the light puff of smoke that comes with it, barely noticeable. “Will you stay with me?”
Sokka’s face breaks into a wide grin. He throws himself into Zuko’s arms and places a deep kiss on his lips, something he never thought he’d be able to do again. He takes a moment to admire the Fire Prince’s face, scar and all. It’s still the most perfect face he’s ever seen. He could spend a lifetime memorizing the lines of it.
“I thought you’d never ask.”