Sokka Of The Fire Nation

First Day

"You ready for this?" Zuko asked him as the two of them stood outside the grand doors of the throne room. The halls of the palace were designed to both inspire and intimidate, they told stories of Fire Nation history some peaceful others of war and suffering. And Sokka realized that he and Zuko would mostly likely occupy a spot on these walls in the future.

But that was the future, and he needed to focus on the present. Today was the day that he and Zuko would have their first official meeting with the Fire Lords advisors. Zuko had told him that these men came with the job in the same way that the furniture did. Some of them had been serving since Zuko's grandfather.

"Yeah, I'm ready let's do this."

Zuko nodded at one of the guards who moved to open the doors. When they entered the throne room the doors were immediately closed behind them and the guards inside stood at a permanent pose of salute. It was a long walk to the actual throne itself and he could see Zuko growing tense with every step. This place probably brought up a lot of bad memories for him.

He moved closer to Zuko until their shoulders were touching.

Zuko stopped just short of the throne.

So he stopped as well.

"Not to late to back out, Sokka. If we take those seats everything is going to change." Zuko said facing him. Sokka knew what his finance was doing, he was looking for even the slightest doubt in him.

"Everything has already changed," He said honestly. They had changed everything, their little ragtag group that turned into a family and then an army. "And we're going to keep making change...Together."

When he was sure that Sokka wasn't going to back out they walked up the stairs to the actual thrown. It was solid gold but what really caught Sokka's eye was the dragon designed right behind it. The dragon made him uneasy, so he averted his eyes from it.

Zuko took his place standing in front of the throne.

He smiled because while Zuko might have reservations about his ability to lead the nation, he certainly looked the part.

Sokka saw the large pillow next to the throne.

Guess that's where I'll be sitting for the next couple of years

He went to sit down when Zuko made a halting gesture with his hand.

"My father used to make me and my sister sit there. It's supposed to show that the Fire Lord is above everyone, even his own family. Give it to me."

He didn't know what Zuko had planned but he had that look in his eye, the one that said I've made my decision. On what, Sokka didn't know.

He got his answer when Zuko cast the pillow behind the back of the thrown and shot furious heat of fire at it. The fire stretched from behind the throne on a system of candles each lighting as the fire touched it until the entire wall behind the throne was framed by fire.

"Get him a chair from the library," Zuko ordered the nearest guards. "We'll work on getting you something more permanent."

-

When the advisors entered the room, they all stopped short of the throne. They bowed three times each before taking their seats.

"Fire Lord Zuko, you honor us with your presence" the oldest one spoke. His hair was gray, and he dressed differently than the others. "I served your great grandfather as a simple mail boy and know I serve you as your private secretary as I did your father."

"Very well Kenji begin the meeting." Zuko ordered.

They began to discuss important matters of state. The struggling economy, the withdrawal of all troops from foreign lands, plans to help rebuild what the fire nation had destroyed.

Sokka decided that since this was his first meeting that it was better for him to hang back and let Zuko do the talking.

He should have none the new Fire Lord wasn't going for that.

"Your awfully quiet Sokka," Zuko announced while one of the advisors was talking about restoring diplomacy with other nations. It seemed that the group of grey-haired men had forgotten he was there because all eyes turned to him. "I'm sure you have opinions on how we can best promote a new image for the nation."

"Well I don't think it's enough to just tell people that the Fire Nation has changed or to just throw money at people who have lost family members during this war. If we want people to see us differently then were going to have to do it by actions." He had chosen his words carefully; he wanted the advisors to know that now he was just as invested in the Fire Nation as they were. And apparently, he had said something right because Zuko was beaming at him in a way that some people might consider unprofessional for a meeting like this.

"Fire Lord perhaps this would be a good time to discuss your personal life," one of the advisors said gently trying his best not to set of Zuko. "You're a young man and its understandable that the stress of war would trigger your hormones, but, and I want to stress I mean no disrespect to you or your companion. We can't expect the people to accept him, not only is he Water Tribe he has no knowledge of our history and culture. What would we even call him?

"His name is Sokka," Zuko seethed. "I'm only going to say this once, you will treat him with the same level of respect you do me. Let me be clear, your job is not to convince me why my decisions won't work. Your job is to implement them."

"Very well, your majesty. May I then suggest that we introduce him to the public in a controlled way, maybe assisting you with some of your duties or some tours of the nation."

"I like that idea, Zuko," He said. "I haven't seen much of the Fire Nation it could be our fun pre-wedding trip."

"Wedding!" One of the advisors shouted almost falling out of his chair.