[Rewriting) Keeping the fire close [Zuko × Sokka]

Valentine's day special

Valentine's day, February 14th; something that the two teenage boys had been looking forward to for quite some time, both being jittery with excitement and nervousness. They both asked Iroh for advice, when the other wasn't around obviously, the old man got a huge kick out of this, two young men, scrambling around the tea shop in the weeks building up to the love holiday; thinking of what they should do, trying to spend time together whilst avoiding each other to plan out what they wanted to do.

Finally the day had come, the day of love, the day to celebrate love of the young and the old; whether it be through chocolates, material items or sex, couples from every nation would celebrate with their lover. Not a single person would be seen walking alone unless it was a child under the age of fourteen.

Sokka was the first one up, literally. He woke up before Zuko so he could make him breakfast, with Iroh's help of course; because that old man made the best tea in the earth kingdom everyone swore on their life. The two men in the kitchen tried to keep their noise level down to nothing, but the inevitable clicking and clacking of pots, pans, and utensils could never be silenced.

The two whispered over what Sokka was planning to do, he wanted to send Iroh away for the day so the shop could be his and Zuko's, so they could be as loud as they wanted to.

Meanwhile the young prince was up in his room and looked around it, smiling after he opened up the closed and pulled several blankets out of the small space, underneath them was a small box. The young prince had gotten his lover a replacement boomerang to apologize for the first one they had lost whilst they moved into the Jasmine Dragon.

The young warrior was upset about finding out that it was gone for the first couple weeks after the move. The paler teen gently removed the box from the closet and placed his hands on the top of it, smiling to himself. He had spent all of the money he earned to have it made; and he was really proud of it, hoping his lover would like it just as much, if not more than his old boomerang.

He then went back over to the bed, having crawled to it on his knees, he sat down in the middle of it; the olive green box in front of him. He was excited, he was more than excited, he wanted to go downstairs and chuck this item into his lover's hands and then go and test it out.

Sokka made the usual breakfast, soup, dumplings, and this time he even made a little snack, Zongzi; rice stuffed with chunks of beef, slices of carrots, a little chili bean paste and chopped unions, all wrapped up in bamboo leaves. He smiled at the small little tray with tow portions; one for him and the other for Zuko. He then looked back to uncle, "now, off with you, go and visit another shop, go and find a lady friend to spend the day with Uncle.", The old man thought that this is how his son would have acted for Valentine's day if he had found a women; and it made his old heart very happy to feel like a proud father.

"Yes Nephew, I shall leave the shop the for the day, enjoy it." Iroh smiled his heart warming, loveable smile and slowly left the shop. Not because he didn't trust the two, but because he was finally feeling like a father again; well he had been feeling like one, but more now then ever.

The young warrior smiled at his uncle then took everything upstairs to his shared bedroom, knocking on the door gently. "Zuko, you awake yet?" "Yeah! Come in!" Sokka nodded and slid the door open gently and slowly, holding the tray carefully with one hand. "I made you breakfast, and a little snack too."

Once inside the room he returned the door back to its normal position, then looked back, blue eyes meeting gold ones, the two teens smiling at each other. "Good morning handsome," the prince smiled at his lover, scratching the back of his head gently. "C'mere, I got you something and I want you to open it!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Sokka rolled his eyes playfully then walked towards the bed, cautiously setting the tray down before he himself got down on his knees, taking the medium sized box that was being held out to him. "This is kinda light, did you get me nothing? Great just what I wanted!" The warrior joked as he slowly took the lid away from the body of the small box made from several layers of paper.

And what he saw made him want to cry, it was a boomerang, one that had small engravings on the handle; a small fire nation symbol, along with some pretty swirlys creeping up the side of it. It was silver, the engravings almost white, the fire nation emblem painted a soft shade of red that wouldn't be too noticable; the piece that belonged in the hand looked like it had been burned; covered in ashes, because it was. The ashes and paint had been sealed in with a thick coat of gloss that stopped at the blade as too not ruin the weapon. The backside had small words engraved along the curve, 'to hell and back, I will always be with you'

This made the water tribe teen burst into tears of joy, he gently set his new toy down on the pillow he used every night and launched himself at his lover, knocking him over; his arms around the prince's neck. Their lips tangled in a deep kiss that only separated to let out shallow breathes from time to time, pale hands resting on tan hips.

The warrior pulled back and smiled down at his swain, crying softly out of nothing but happiness "I love you Zuko, and I love the boomerang so much!" He sat up while on his prince, straddling his hips and grabbed the boomerang, gently caressing it, "this is amazing, when did you get the money for it??"

"I just used all of my earnings from the shop." Zuko shrugged then itched his nose before returning his hand to Sokka's hip, "you're actually the best! Uncle's gone, so let's just cuddle, have lunch, cuddle, have dinner, then sleep."

And that's what the two did. They spent their first Valentine's together by eating meals together, cuddling up in their room, sharing gentle and loving kisses, maybe a hand job or two mixed in, and small talk. This by far, was the best Valentine's day they had ever had.