Avatar Zuko

Chapter 38

Sokka was dating Avatar Zuko, the Prince of the Fire Nation. It was… Surreal to say the least, terrifying but also extremely fulfilling? He wasn't even sure how he felt, but he did know that he wanted to kiss Zuko again, so at least there was that. Unfortunately for the non-bender, however, the blossoming new couple (incredibly new, as in two days old) were surrounded by their friends and had been for the last ten hours whilst travelling on Appa through the Fire Nation. Sokka’s dad and the rest of his tribe, as well as a few others from around the world, we're back on their stolen ship, collecting new fighters for their budding army.

“Are we there yet?” Whined Toph for the ninth time, whilst leant back against the saddle with her eyes closed.

“You know that the rendezvous is weeks away.” Sighed Katara from a few feet away from the other girl, likely sick of answering this question.

It was true; Sokka would not be seeing his dad for a good while, and they had to get to the Capital by the eclipse else all would be lost. This might have been stressing the non-bender out more, except all he had to do to calm his nerves was remember the moonlit, soft smile Zuko had given him two nights ago. Zuko, his boyfriend. Wow… That was crazy to say.

“I meant are we nearly at our first pitstop.” Grumbled the earthbender, now sitting up to frown at Katara.

“Yes!” Aang interrupted what would have probably been a snarky remark from the waterbender, pointing down at a nasty looking cave a couple of miles away from a town.

Their sight of the ground was wrapped up in misty fog, since Katara and Zuko had created a cloud around Appa to disguise him, but Sokka could still see how dark and miserable the cave looked. The town, however, seemed bright and happy- probably filled to the brim with Fire Nation soldiers celebrating the death of the avatar. They landed on the ground and the mist unfurled around them, condensing back into water which the waterbenders of the group brought back into their pouches. It was a sunny day and everything seemed calm, but there was still a very prominent feeling in Sokka’s chest, born from the group being in enemy territory.

“Wow.” Zuko spoke so softly that even Sokka, who was literally two inches away from him, struggled to hear him. The firebender let out a soft breath before taking it back in and smiling.

“Zukes?” Whispered the non-bender quietly, nudging the other boy with his elbow.

“Oh! It's just…” He began to reply, a little flustered but seemingly not from anything to do with Sokka. He looked again at their surroundings: the vibrant green grass, the cool waves of the sea lapping against the shore behind them, the midmorning sun that lit up the sapphire blue sky like a flame lit up gemstone and even at the cracking grey cave in front of them. “I've missed this place. A lot. Terrible things happened here but… It's still my home.”.

Sokka immediately understood and squeezed his boyfriend’s bicep supportively, before turning back to everyone else to make sure they hadn't managed to destroy all their chances of beating the Firelord in the twenty seconds his focus had been elsewhere.

“Seriously? A cave? Sokka, we could just-” Began Katara in her ‘I'm so sick of my stupid brother voice’, squeezing the bridge of her nose.

“Nah uh! We're in enemy territory now, which means we need to be discreet! Camping out in caves is our safest option, along with relying on insects for fibre and only going outside if we're literally about to die otherwise. This is our lives for the next month and a half, so get used to it.” Interrupted Sokka, who was also unhappy about their campsite but understood that it was their best bet for not dying.

“We don't need to become cave people to be discreet- we just need new clothes.” Protested Katara, tugging distastefully at her tattered water tribe garments which were badly hidden under a dirty, red shawl.