The Jasmine Dragon - Zukka AU

Chapter 10

-Zuko POV-

Zuko woke up a start. Well, and a sore neck. His head was propped on the wooden sides of Appa's saddle, and his body was in an awkward position. There was also an unknown weight on his legs, but he decided to ignore that for now. He opened his eyes, and was met with complete darkness.

"...Sokka?" He called uncertainly.

Zuko blinked a few times to get used to the darkness and could see stars forming in his midnight surroundings. The weight on his leg shifted and startled Zuko so much that he accidentally knocked the living daylights out the poor thing as he got up. When there was a sharp thunking noise though, a grunt came out of the- thing. A grunt that Zuko recognized.

"Sokka!" Zuko whisper-yelled. The other boy made a noncommittal grunt back. "Are you okay?"

Sokka got up and nodded, wincing.

"Sorry. I didn't realize we were so close," Sokka squeaked back.

They both looked down to see their legs tangled together in the confusion earlier. Zuko looked back up with what he hoped wasn't a blush and scooted away. Sokka did the same with a constipated expression.

"Where are the others? I don't see anyone else," Zuko said, clearing his throat. He was trying to talk a bit louder now that he knew no one else was with him, but it was painfully awkward to do so.

"They're..." Sokka looked around as if he was searching for them. "Down there."

He pointed under Appa, where Aang, Toph, and Katara were huddled together in the cool air.

"Oh. Cool."

"Cool," Sokka replied, twiddling his thumbs.

Zuko noticed he was doing the same and stopped. Both the boys fell into a comfortable silence.

"So..." Zuko looked up, startled by Sokkas sudden speech. "It's just you and me... alone. Together. Just- you know what? I'll stop now."

The comfortable silence gradually turned into an awkward one. Zuko cringed internally. Wasn't Sokka supposed to be better at this sort of thing? He rubbed the back of his neck, racking his brain for ideas. He definitely wasn't feeling somnolent anymore, and Sokka looked too mortified to sleep.

"Do you know how to spar?" Zuko asked all of a sudden

He had just said the first thing that came to mind. Sokkas eyes instantly lit up as his mouth twisted into a smirk.

"Oh, sparring?" He asked, pretending to be nonchalant, "I'm sort of a master at it."

"Really? I see, that sure was evident last time we met," Zuko teased.

Sokka's eyes widened as he realized what he just said and he hid his face in his arm as he took a pained inhale. Zuko smirked. He knew these kind of tricks. Back in Ba Sing Se, he had met some interesting people (one, claiming their father was the king. Oh how ironic that was). The problem though, was that Sokka wasn't trying to impress or flirt him...why would he?

"Actually , I'm not exactly a master at it. I don't really know how to use a sword. I mean, I've never even owned a sword before. But- they seem cool. I've got a machete, is that good enough? I-" he abruptly cut himself off.

Zuko stared expectantly at him. The air was tense, as if Sokka wanted to say something he was holding back on. He prepared himself for the worst.

"Can you teach me?"

Zuko visibly relaxed, letting out a breath he was holding in.

"Of course."

Sokka smiled brightly, and Zuko tried hard not to reciprocate it.

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If Zuko was honest, Sokka was a quick learner. It was nearing dawn and they where heading back, both sweaty and somewhat exhausted. At first he had been hesitant to let him hold his swords, but Sokka had been so genuinely interested that he couldn't resist.

At first, he was... terrible. But- he just taught Sokka some simple forms to practice. Maybe he could use this as prep for teaching Aang how to firebend.

"Hey, Zuko."

Zuko looked over to see Sokka looking at him with a strange expression.

"Thank you."