Summer Camp

Chapter Nine- Something Relatively Happy To Fix Your Broken Feels

The morning dawned misty and grey. Shards of sun slanted down through the thick clouds like white spotlights, lighting up random slivers of Holy Trinity Church Camp in the dusty hours between night and day. Sokka woke first. He had slipped into sleep somewhere in the very early hours of the morning.

One of the scarce streaks of sun was sliding gently through the window and playing in Zuko's hair, turning pieces of it gold. Once Sokka had touched all of the gold pieces -just to see what they felt like- he simply looked at the other boy for a while and started noticing things he'd never noticed before.

For example, Zuko had a slight smattering of freckles across his nose and right cheek. They were small and blended into his skin for the most part, but in the soft pre-day light they were visible.

As Sokka lightly brushed his fingers over these too, he breathed slowly, but inside he was hyperventilating. Asleep, at peace, haloed in the shimmering glow from a slanting shaft of reddish-gold sunlight...? Zuko was beautiful.

And it wasn't just the way he looked -although that was definitely part of it- it was as if, now that he had let his past go, told it to someone, showed any sign of potential weakness, he was more at peace with the world. He radiated a soft kind of stillness.

Sokka let himself fall into that stillness. After all, he had nowhere to be and nowhere to go.

And it was Saturday! All the campers got to sleep in on weekends... Ok, fine, getting up at eight o'clock isn't that different than getting up at seven o'clock, but still. It was nice to know they had time.

The clouds outside shifted and the ray of luminescence disappeared, taking Zuko's freckles with it. Oh well, Sokka knew they were there.

At that moment, Zuko's eyes fluttered open and he gave Sokka a tired smile, "Hey."

Sokka smiled back, "Hey."

But then as the events of the past night came flooding back to him, the smile slid from Zuko's face, "About last night."

Sokka tucked a lock of Zuko's hair away from the boy's forehead, "I know. I know how hard that must have been for you. Thank you for telling me. I'm really glad you trust me enough to tell me those things."

Zuko sighed, obviously relieved, "Thank you, Sokka. I- You didn't judge me or try to get me to talk about my problems, which a lot of people have done -y'know, unhelpful therapists, social workers. I- I think I just needed someone. Someone who wouldn't-"

Zuko broke off, slightly overwhelmed by emotion. Sokka just smiled and kissed his forehead, "I get it. You needed an unbiased listener who wouldn't try to dissect every little detail."

Zuko let out a tiny laugh, "Yeah, something like that."

A comfortable silence fell over them as they just looked at each other. "Did you know you have freckles?" Sokka asked, out of the blue.

"Yeah," Zuko grinned, "But you're the first to notice them."

Sokka stuck his tongue out playfully and crossed his eyes, "Guess I just looked closer than anyone else. Our secret."

Zuko laughed, "Deal."

===============================

ok, this one was short too... but it was all fluff so I hope it made you smile :)