The way I am
Sokka/Zuko
OK so the masters of fire had helped. Zuko now knew what he had to do, and how he could do it. But the colorful fire had also shown him something, something he wanted but could never have. Because the simple thought of it was absurd.
It didn't stop Zuko thinking about it, all the way back to the western air temple while Aang snoozed on the bisons back.
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Zuko was practicing because although he was Aangs fire bending teacher, he was always able to learn new things. Especially now with his new goal fueling his fire and not the hate, the heat poured out of him easier than before.
It was night outside, the only light coming from the bursts of fire escaping Zukos hands and the glowing candles and torches surrounding the temple.
"It's not fair you know..." a voice interrupted the quiet and Zuko whipped his head around to see Sokka watching him with his arms crossed across his chest and leaning against the wall.
"What's not fair?" Zuko asked.
"That everyone here doesn't like you." he stated matter of factly.
"I hurt people Sokka, I'm not a good person." Zuko muttered only loud enough for the other to hear.
"We've all hurt people, some more than others. Even Katara. But if you feel bad about everything you've done, all the people you've hurt. That makes you a better person than you think you are." Sokka left.
Zuko stood in the court. He watched the other boy leave.
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Zuko would watch Sokka train. Hidden, he would watch the young man slice through air and follow the thrown boomerang with his eyes till it landed back in the rough hands that Zuko had never, and would never touch. Nobody could know he would watch, they would think he was a spy, reporting back to Azula about how to defeat the avatar and his crew.
So Zuko stood hidden behind a pillar watching the man, the way the tanned skin stretched over muscles, the sweat glistening in the sun.
In Zuko's opinion Sokka didn't need to train he was perfect at his skill but Zuko knew that Sokka trained for the exact same reason he himself did, to be ready. That, and there was nothing else to do. Although that was probably different for Sokka. He had friends here, family.
Zuko had no one, and now that he thought about it, it seemed as if he had never had anyone except for his mother and his uncle. But they weren't here. And in a way it was his fault.
Zuko had been to lost in his thoughts to notice that Sokka had stopped throwing his boomerang, he was almost at the other side of the courtyard when Zuko quickly decided to follow him.
He didn't like moving around the temple, always feeling out of place and not daring to cross anyone on his path, he usually stayed in his room or in the courtyard to train. This was the most he had seen of the old building.
He followed Sokka down to a deeper level of the temple, a secret garden it seemed, with beautiful trees and flowers that smelt like honey and sugar. It was breathtaking and it reminded Zuko of the gardens at his ancestral home, before his father, no, the fire lord had destroyed the gardens. Sokka walked further into the garden past trees shielding an outsiders view.
The view in question was a waterfall, it seemed to pour out of the rock and into a small lake no bigger than the courtyard where he would train the avatar.
Zuko hid behind a tree peering out to see Sokka stretch and start untying the the knot on his shirt. He pulled it off his frame. Dark skin, naturally tanned stretched across the broad man shoulders.
