Distractions (Sokka x Zuko) [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twenty-three

    Things were nice and calm now. Once Aang had come back with Zuko unharmed, Katara had reduced her snide remarks (though she was still undoubtedly pissy with him) and everyone had eased up around the Prince enough that he had joined their circle at dinners. He even brewed tea for them and told them the punchline for jokes he didn't know the rest of!

    One night after dinner, Katara and Aang were cleaning up and the others had run off somewhere. Zuko had gone over to feed Appa and Sokka followed him.

    "So," He started, clasping his hands together. "Zuko..."

    "Yeah?" The Prince looked over his shoulder.

     "So let's say you uhh, arrested some 'war criminals,'" Sokka air quoted, ignoring the suspicious look Zuko was giving him. "Where would you put them?"

    "What is this about?" Zuko raised a brow.

    "Ugh," Sokka slumped over, looking around them before dragging Zuko off to settle around the corner. "My Dad."

    "Your... Dad?" Zuko still wasn't getting it.

    "He was a part of the invasion... He got captured so that we could escape." Sokka looked at the floor.

    "Oh," Zuko nodded. "My guess is probably the boiling rock."

    "That doesn't sound too great." Sokka frowned.

    "It's a prison," Zuko gave him a look. "Of course it's not great."

    "So where is this... boiling rock?" Sokka pursed his lips.

    "Sokka you can't go there. It's a floating island in the middle of a volcano." 

    "I wasn't going to!" The lie was not very well concealed in his tone but Zuko neglected to point that out.

    "Mhm," Zuko paused, shaking his head. "It's right between here and the Fire Nation. You probably flew right over it on your way here."

    "Oh really?" Zuko could practically smell the plot thickening. 

    "You. Can't. Go. There." Zuko protested.

    "You said that already." Sokka gave him a look, a little smile edging his lips.

    "Seriously. It's dangerous and you could get captured," Zuko grabbed his hand. "Or worse."

    "I won't! I won't!" Sokka held the other up in promise and then leaned in to peck Zuko on the cheek.

    He then sprung to his feet and dashed off. Leaving the unimpressed, -not nearly as gullible as Sokka thought- Zuko sitting against the wall. Watching him leave with a tired expression.

_

    "Won't my ass." Zuko spat when Sokka clambered onto Appa.

    "Jeez! What the hell?!" Sokka exclaimed, falling off the bison and landing flat on his ass.

    "What was that you said about totally not going to the place I told you not to go to?" Zuko leaned over the side of the saddle to peer down at Sokka.

    "Okay fine! I'm going to go rescue my Dad! You win!" Sokka huffed, recollecting his things that had fallen out of his arms. "Now just let me go!"

    "Sokka," Zuko spoke softly but firmly, gaining the other boy's attention. "I'm not going to let you go to a high security prison by yourself."

    "I-"

    "Especially not on Appa," Zuko slid out of the saddle and landed softly on the ground. "We'll take my war balloon."

    He beckoned Sokka to follow and then began the trek to his abandoned camp. Sokka glanced from Appa back to the Prince, still confused.

    "We?"

_

    Being in an air balloon again felt weird. Despite Sokka being the one to help invent them, he had subconsciously begun to associate the contraptions with the enemy. So watching Zuko set it up and have it go with ease, he felt somewhat unsettled. 

    "So I never really asked you," Sokka spoke up, leaning into his hand. "But what exactly made you decide to switch sides?"

    "A lot of things," Zuko answered immediately, closing the door to the fuel. "My Uncle, the story about my great grandfathers, the way the Fire Nation treats the other Nations..."

    There was a pause, Sokka nodded along to every reason. Not really sure what two old guys had to do with it but he'd ask about that some other time. His gaze wandered back to the sky. 

    "And you." 

    Jerking his head back to look at Zuko, Sokka felt his face warm at the statement.

    "Me?" He uttered, pointing at himself.

    Zuko nodded, smiling a little. Sokka smiled back, standing up he made his way over to wrap his arms around the Prince who welcomed the embrace.

    "I'm glad," He said softly. "While we were getting closer I was driving myself crazy asking what the hell I was gonna do."

     "About what?" Zuko turned his head to try and discern Sokka's expression but his face was too far back in his peripherals.

    "Well, the invasion," Sokka sighed. "I knew the goal was to... get rid of Ozai. But I didn't know what the plan was for Azula and you... And I couldn't even begin to think of letting anything happen to you."

    Zuko turned his head back around but Sokka could see the red in his ear. Smiling softly, he pulled the Prince's head back softly to kiss his cheek. 

    Turning around in Sokka's arms, Zuko pressed his lips to his. Wrapping his arms around Sokka's shoulder's and pressing in closer as Sokka deepened the kiss. Sokka's hands rested on Zuko's waist but he slowly brought one up to run through the Prince's hair and hold his face close. Their surroundings began to meld away very quickly and Sokka pressed Zuko into the side of the Air balloon, lowering them down so that their gravity was not in an easily topple-able state. (Meaning that they would not fall over the wall of the balloon and plummet to their deaths).

     At their contact, Sokka had been hit with the overwhelming realization that he hadn't been alone long enough with Zuko to kiss him for more than a second. He missed savouring the taste of his lips and the feeling of his skin and hair and his clothes coming undone. Zuko's hands wrenched themselves in Sokka's shirt, unintentionally loosening the fabric. He pulled back to loosen it off of his shoulders, but before he could get any further Zuko pulled him back in desperately. Mouth slightly open this time to let him in. Smiling into the kiss, Sokka slid his hands in the opening of Zuko's tunic and ran them over his chest and brushing over his nipple.

    A short but sharp noise escaped Zuko's throat at the motion. Sokka forgot they were in an air balloon. He pulled the Prince's tunic open and kissed down his neck, the hands holding him by the back of his head and shirt egging him on to go faster and further. Just as Sokka closed his mouth over one of Zuko's nipples, they both seemed to come to the realization that the balloon was slowly descending. 

    Zuko shot up, lightly but firmly pushing Sokka off him and scrambling to his feet. He opened the hatch to the fuel and blasted a fireball into it and continued doing so until the balloon reclaimed it's previous height. 

    "That could have been bad." Zuko sighed, closing the door and then looking back at Sokka who was pouting on the floor.

    "It could have waited like five minutes, too." He sighed.

    "Maybe not," Zuko's eyes trailed past him and the wall of the balloon. "We're here."