zukka, bitches! (oneshots)

tree

"oh, you're still alive."

"don't sound so disappointed, I might think you don't like me."

in which sokka and zuko are out on their own, and sokka stupidly falls from a tree. 

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"why are we out here again?" zuko asked, after what seemed like hours of silence. he wasn't going to lie, his feet were tired, he was tired. that was entirely understandable, of course, because it was in the middle of the night, and he had hardly gotten any sleep, thanks to the boy grasping his hand, leading him along the path. 

"i told you, i'll let you know when we're there!" sokka replied, almost too giddily, "it's a surprise!" 

zuko didn't like surprises.

when sokka had woken him up back at the camp, he had thought that something was very wrong. that someone had gotten hurt, or that they had been ambushed. he was right, in a way. something was wrong, and that something was sokka's head. 

why the hell did he think it was a good idea to come out here in the middle of the night? 

"okay, we're here!" sokka exclaimed, suddenly coming to a halt. zuko stumbled beside him, catching his footing before he fell over. 

"we're here..? where is here?" zuko asked, confused. what was so special about this place? it was just like the rest of the terrain around the temple, nothing but woodlands. 

"we're at the biggest tree in all the woods!" sokka said excitedly, "well, that i could find, at least." 

"uh, why?"

instead of explaining, sokka let go of zuko's hand, which zuko had just now noticed that they were still doing until then, and began to climb the absolute behemoth of a tree. 

"hey, wait a minute!" zuko called out, quickly moving towards the tree. 

"no waiting, hotman, only climbing!" sokka called back from his position high up in the tree. how did he get up there so quickly?  

zuko sighed, reluctantly joining sokka in the tree. true to his word, the water tribe boy didn't wait, scrambling further up the branches. it would be almost impossible for zuko to catch up. 

"sokka, seriously," zuko huffed, advancing slowly up the tree, "why are we climbing a tree in the middle of the night?" he stopped and sat on a sturdy and thick branch, leaning against the trunk. 

"don't you want to have some fun together?" sokka asked, pausing as well, "just us? with no one else getting in the way?" 

"couldn't we just do this during the day?" zuko yawned, rubbing at his eye tiredly. 

sokka thought for a moment, silent. "i.. didn't think about that," he replied. he perked back up almost immediately, "but at least we're out here now!" 

he continued to climb to the top, branches becoming thinner and thinner. zuko watched from his resting spot, too tired to go any higher. he'd sleep there if he could, he told himself, but then he might fall. 

sokka fell. 

it was almost too fast for zuko to comprehend. one second, sokka was in the tree. the next, the ground. he wasn't moving. shit. 

"shit, oh shit," zuko rambled as he hurried down the tree. never mind the fact that he was tired as all hell, sokka could have died. 

zuko quickly made it down to sokka, who was splayed out in front of him. "sokka!" he kneeled down next to the younger boy, worry overcoming his face and voice. was sokka unconscious? was sokka dead? how was he going to tell everyone else?  

"hey."

zuko, alarmed, looked up at sokka, who was.. alive. thank agni. his heart swelled, feeling incredible relief. 

"oh, you're still alive," was what he said. 

"don't sound so disappointed," sokka joked, moving up onto his elbows, "i might think you don't like me." 

"are you okay?" zuko asked, not even registering the joke sokka had just made, or tried to make, "well, i mean, you are okay, because you aren't dead, but do you feel--" 

"zuko, buddy, i'm fine," sokka assured, moving to stand up, "granted, a little sore because of the whole falling thing, but eh. i'll live."

"you will, until katara finds out," zuko said, making sokka cringe inwardly. 

"please don't tell her," sokka pleaded, "or anyone else for that matter. i'll never hear the end of it, from anyone."

"don't worry," zuko assured, "i'll keep it just between us." sokka let out a sigh of relief, his body relaxing. 

"let's go back to camp, get some sleep," he suggested, helping zuko to his feet. it wasn't entirely necessary to do so, but it was an excuse to hold his hand, even if it was just for a moment. 

"that's what i wanted to do in the first place," the fire prince grumbled, much to sokka's delight. 

they walked back to camp together, still holding hands. once back at camp, they fell asleep almost immediately, holding each other close. this was much better than just holding hands..

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i'm just getting dear evan hansen vibes from this now, because of the tree, and the falling out of it. dammit.