☆ yellow ☆ (zukka AU)

chapter 33

sokka's POV

i couldn't shut my eyes all night, even after zuko fell asleep. i had to wake him up at some point, because he was twitching and turning, obviously having a bad dream, but he somehow went back to sleep.

my mind flies to the moment when when mai came rushing to me and started dragging me by the forearm, after only saying 'it's your boyfriend', which made me panick instantly, because i was waiting for him to return from the bathroom. when i found him unconscious on the floor, half naked and with red marks all over his neck i- i collapsed on the floor next to him.

and he wouldn't wake up, no matter how hard i shook him. why do bad things keep happening to him, when i'm not there to do anything about it? i should have gone with him to the bathroom, i should have made sure he was alright...

but i didn't, so now he is suffering and i can't do anything to make the pain go away.

i look at the time on my phone and see that it's almost 8. i decide to text mai (we exchanged numbers last night, after we brought zuko home), even though she probably won't answer this early in the morning. i ask her to call me as soon as she sees my message and, to my surprise, my phone starts ringing after less than 5 minutes.

i turn the sound off as quick as possible, and glance at zuko to see if he was woken up by it. fortunately, he's still sleeping, so i gently brush some hair away from his forehead and then i leave the room.

i answer mai's call from the hallway and i ask her to help me find the douchebag that dared to lay his hands on my precious baby. she tells me his name is luke and that she knows the place where he hangs out with his buddies all the time, but that he won't be there until around 11.

i ask her to come to our house at that time, so she can lead me to where that place is and she quickly agrees. until then, i go downstairs and decide to make some breakfast for everybody, so i can stop looking at the clock every single minute out of impatience.

i make a bunch of sandwiches for the whole gAang, but i shape zuko's so they look like little hearts. the cuts i made are uneven and not very smooth, but you can still tell what they represent! (at least i hope so)

i put the sandwich hearts on a plate and go upstairs, only to find that zuko is awake, rubbing his eyes and yawning, with his hair being a complete mess.

"good morning!" i greet him in a cheerful tone, hoping it would make him feel better.

i don't feel cheerful at all, but i can't let him see how down i am, as he already looks so drained and exhausted, even though he just woke up.

"hey" he says breifly.

he doesn't even look at me for more than two seconds, because he then zones out and just stares into space.

"i made you breakfast" i pull him out of his trance after a quick moment.

i hand him the plate with food and he puts on a faint half smile, that crushes my soul.

"thank you, sokka" he mutters.

no making fun of the weird shapes that -who am i kidding- don't look very much like hearts? no jokes about how i have two left hands and can't cut anything evenly? nothing.

my heart sinks and my shoulders drop in defeat for a second, but i brush off the shitty feeling that has taken over me. for him.

"i'm gonna make you some tea" i force myself to smile. "be right back"

he lifts his eyes to meet mine and he nods, but even after i leave the room, his empty stare is still ravashing my insides, like someone has just stabbed me and is twisting the knife repeatedly in my body.