Royal Screw-Up

Please, Zuko

"Do you need to go over the plan one more time?" Iroh asked.

"Uncle, please, we've gone over it five times already," Zuko groaned, his cheeks blazing red.

"You're sure you have it down? You can't forget a single step!"

"Uncle, I'll be fine," Zuko insisted. "I'll see you tonight."

Iroh waved to him from the door of the tea shop, his eyes full of pride. "Good luck, nephew!"

Zuko slipped on his Blue Spirit mask, and he disappeared into the gathering shadows. It hurt him dearly, but he'd gone to his uncle asking for advice on planning a date. He'd never had the chance to ask his parents about romance—not that Ozai would be remotely interested in explaining it. All Zuko knew about dating was the small tidbits he'd picked up in the last three years from his crew, but they were a bunch of hotheaded men that blurted out terrible pickup lines while drunk. And undoubtedly, they were all straight.

Inexplicably, Iroh was a genius at romance. Zuko caught him reading sappy romance novels on the ship a few times, but other than that, the man hardly ever experienced it. So to hear reasonable, useful romantic advice pour from his lips was a shock. Zuko's brain swam with a thousand thoughts at once while listening to that man go on and on about the different types of relationships and the creative ways to express one's love. There were points that made Zuko laugh, and others that made him want to throw up, but overall, Iroh had saved Zuko the trouble of figuring out romance for himself. After hearing that Sokka would be alone for a whole week, they designed a date plan, and now all Zuko had to do was not mess it up—which felt like a tall task in itself.

Still, it didn't deter him from following through exactly as he'd planned. He went to the library as Li the Earth Kingdom refugee and checked out a few books that he knew Sokka would love. Then he went to the market, bought a few classic Southern Water Tribe snacks that Iroh swore were authentic, and kept them warm in his hands. He ducked into an alley to disguise himself as the Blue Spirit. The day was waning. It was almost time to meet. Zuko took a deep breath.

Don't mess up, don't mess up, don't mess up—

He approached the Avatar's house with a pounding heart. His chi was more antsy than usual. It was difficult to put firebending out of his mind when emotions were so high. There were so many ways this could go wrong. What if Sokka recognized his voice? What if he disappointed him? What if Sokka never liked him after all?

For once in my life, shut up! Zuko yelled at his brain.

And for the first time in his life, his brain complied. Zuko almost stopped short, but he was nearly in the backyard now. It was too late to turn back. He had everything he needed. Iroh had his back. All he had to do was follow through. With a few more steps, the Blue Spirit came into view of the Southern Water Tribe warrior, and all fell into place.

"You're here!" Sokka exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "I'm so sorry I didn't meet you yesterday! There was this whole thing with Long Feng and the Earth King—Kazen told you in time, right?"

"Yes, they did. I'm glad you guys were able to take him down."

"We would have been goners if you didn't free Appa," Sokka said. "He found us just in time. We were surrounded."

Zuko's face burned beneath the mask. "Don't mention it."

"Too bad the Dai Li are still after you..." Sokka grumbled, crossing his arms. "We told them you're a good guy, but they still have your wanted posters up!"

Good guy. Those two little words crushed Zuko like a ton of bricks. Sokka thought he was a good guy...but he wasn't. This was wrong. He'd hurt Sokka and the rest of the Gaang so many times that he became their primary enemy. Zuko wanted to bury himself a mile underground. His guilt threatened to consume him.