To Pass A Law ||Zukka Fanfic||

Chapter 21: No More Secrets

Sokka's POV

Dinner was very quiet and awkward. Aang didn't say a word and his eyes were still super red and puffy from crying. No to mention the food was very limitless due to Zuko's nerves. "So we don't have any noodles, or rice to go with the food." Zuko said once we all sat down at the small wooden table. "Really, I'm positive that I bought some before you two came." Aang replied still avoiding eye contact. "I was too nervous about you and Sokka so I accidentally burned a lot of the food, sorry." Zuko replied sheepishly, making me feel even more guilty. This really limited Aang's meal because he couldn't eat any meat on top of having no cabbage noodles or rice. Aang just sighed and glared up at me as if it was all my fault for the dinner, and for what happened. I knew everyone was looking at me like a murder, which isn't fair. Iroh has killed a lot of people when he was a general and Zuko killed someone yesterday. But yet Aang hasn't judged them, only me. He's acting like I wanted to kill Xuza, that I purposely went out to do so, like I planned on killing her today. And it's not like Aang has never seen me kill before, I killed Combustion man and he was fine with it! It wasn't fair, I had no choice. "The Earth King will be announcing our plan tomorrow, making it official. And we'll have a letter written to the Fire Nation, with your and the Earth King's signature so everything will be ready for you nephew by the time you come back." Iroh explained. "Okay, thanks Uncle." Everyone was quiet again. "Will the death of Xuza change the plan at all?" I asked Iroh, "No I don't believe so. We should inform the Earth King about her death tomorrow and I doubt that the Red Lotus will react harshly towards you Sokka, for the time being." "Lucky me," I grumbled. "What do you mean for the time being?!" Zuko asked, concerned. "Xai Bau will be focusing on his mission before he'll seek out his personal desires. So for the moment I do not believe that Ambassador Sokka will be assassinated." I'm not sure why, but this comment made me feel even worse than before. "But you still think there's a chance that he might kill Sokka, or that if he succeeds he'll go after him?!" I looked over at Zuko's and could see him clutching his fists so tightly so I reached over and placed my hand on top of one of them. Zuko just twisted his hand to hold mine better, but the angry gaze in his eyes never left Iroh. "I can't promise anything, but Xai Bau doesn't strike me as the kind of man to seek revenge. He will complete his mission, and only then if he feels very affected by Xuza's death will he take matters into his own hands. But I truly believe that he won't, due to his beliefs that a man should only be loyal to one self and ones who he loves. So despite the fact that he is heartbroken from this occurrence, I do believe that he understands why Sokka killed Xuza and I hope that he will stay true to his morals" "Yeah, the monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed rat viper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself." That was the final straw for me. "I'm not hungry," I said as I got up and pushed away my food. "I'm going to bed, goodnight." I then saw Zuko get up. I honestly just wanted to be alone, but I appreciated the fact that he was coming with me. Neither Aang or Iroh questioned us as I took Zuko's hand and we walked upstairs alone.

I let go of Zuko's hand and just flopped down onto the bed. "Man, I'm exhausted!" I said once my back made contact with the bed. Zuko was just standing above me very awkwardly, "What?" I asked him. He opened his mouth and then closed it, and then opened it again. "Why did you lie to me?" Zuko finally asked. I sighed, "It's complicated." "No it's not," I shot upright and stared at Zuko directly in the eyes. "Well I could ask you the same thing, why you refused to tell anyone that you were planning to give yourself up to the Red Lotus, or why you didn't trust me enough to tell me!" I snapped at him. Zuko swayed uncomfortably before sitting down on the bed beside me. "That was different, they threaten your life Sokka. They could have killed you, I couldn't let that happen." I bit down on my lip hard forcing my eyes to swallow back the tears forming. I don't even know why I'm getting so emotional over this. "I also didn't directly lie to your face Sokka. The Red Lotus are after me, not you. I was not going to let them hurt anyone else because of me. Knowing that I could have done something." "Well I couldn't let you be put in that position again Zuko. So far the plan with the Earth King is only preventing attacks, not stopping them. They tortured you Zuko! I had to do something! Not to mention that the Yuyan Archers and the Dai Lee won't stand a chance against the Red Lotus Society." "Sokka, what were you expecting to accomplish by going down there today? If the Yuyan Archers and the Dai Lee in your opinion can't handle them, then what makes you think that just you and Aang could alone." "Aang is the Avatar! And I wasn't planning on fighting them exactly, just hearing their plans so I could stop them and defeat them." I wasn't planning on killing anyone. "But you did fight them and you killed Xuza during the process in a fight that you started." Zuko sighed, "It was a super reckless thing to do. You promised me that you would only do things like that if it was necessary. It wasn't necessary here," I just stared at him in shock and felt my eyes watering crazily. "You killed Hindary yesterday, why is this any different?! She had a perfect opportunity to kill you Zuko! I had no choice and I don't regret it." Zuko's eyes widened slightly, "You don't regret going there at all, risking not only your life, but Aang's as well?! You don't regret forcing us all in that position to fight the Red Lotus. Forcing the Red Lotus to attack us, and in the end ending a girl's life?!" I looked away from him and couldn't bring myself to answer those questions. They aren't fair. "I'm going to go take a bath," I said, turning away from Zuko. "Sokka," He gently touched my wrist but I yanked myself from his touch and continued to walking away.