Vanished

Shattered

TW: this chapter has a lot of swears so if you're sensitive to that, proceed with caution :)

    "S- Sokka?" Zuko was staring at the man who was supposed to be dead. On the anniversary of his supposed death. The man who he fell in love with.

    Sokka was staring at the Firelord. The man who he had just saved. The man who he fell in love with. Zuko's face was pale. His eyes were wide. Tears started streaming down his face.

    As soon as Sokka saw Zuko's tears, his eyes started tearing up aswell. He knelt down in front of his husband and tried to hold his hand. Zuko jerked it away.

    "No." Zuko said. "No, no, no..."

    "Zuko, I-" Sokka started to say.

    "NO!" Zuko screamed. "Fucking spirits, Sokka! Spirits, I- how- no!"

     There was a long pause before anyone said anything, then, "I don't know how I survived, Zuko." Sokka admitted. "I just- Ikiaq and I crashed into something and everything went dark. Then- then Yue showed up."

    Another long pause. Zuko wouldn't look at Sokka.

    "She- she told me that I had to come back to you. That I had to protect you." Sokka looked back up at the his husband. "Zuko, please look at me."

    "Well what do you want me to do, Sokka!?" Zuko demanded. "Say that everything's okay now that you're back!? That we should kiss and have a happy ending? This isn't a fucking fairytale, Sokka!"

    Sokka looked down. "That's not what I-"

    "Four years, Sokka!" Zuko practically whispered.

    "What?"

    "That's how long you were gone." Zuko looked him straight in the eyes. "Do you know how much fucking money I spend looking for you!? Money that I should've used for the people of my kingdom! I'm such a fucking horrible ruler."

    "No, Zuko. You're amazing." Sokka said. "You kept this kingdom together on your own. When I wasn't here to help. I am so proud of you." He paused. "I- if I'm going to be honest, I wasn't... here... for the past four years."

    "Hah, yeah, no shit."

    "No, you don't understand. I wasn't here. In the physical world." Sokka explained.

    "What... do you mean?" Even though Zuko's blood was boiling, he also loved Sokka. He needed to hear his explanation.

    "Yue... Yue saved my life by pulling my entire physical form into the Spirit World. ...The thing is, it wasn't the right time for me to come back until four years after the accident."

    "You had to wait that long?" Zuko asked.

    "That's... that's the thing. I didn't even know four years had passed. It was an instant to me." Sokka sighed. "I wish- I wish it would've felt like four years, so I could feel your pain."

    "The pain of not knowing whether my husband is alive or dead and feeling like all my plans of trying to find him are in vain?" Zuko asked. "I would never wish that kind of pain upon you. I love you way too much for that."

    "Can I... sit next to you and hold your hand?" Sokka asked. "I think... I think you need it."

    Another tear fell down Zuko's face. He nodded.

    Sokka sat next to Zuko on the four-poster bed, holding his hand as they watched the sunlight through the shattered window.

    As the sun rose, the light refracted off of the shattered glass and scattered rainbows across the room.

    Sokka looked over at Zuko. A rainbow shone across his tear-stained cheek. Zuko was like the window. Even when shattered and broken, he was still beautiful.

    "Sokka?" Zuko asked. "Can you move over to my left side? It feels... safer when you're there."

    Without a word, Sokka moved where Zuko asked him to. They were still very much in love, but, like the shattered window, their relationship would take a lot of glue to fix.

_______________________________

metaphorical glue, of course. Sokka, put down the glue bottle! Elmer can't fix your relationship!

yeah, this is super short, but i really wanted to write this! also, i love how Sokka and Zuko are just having this super romantic scene while there's an ✨unconscious body✨ on the floor.

also also, look at me! blessing you all with a second update so soon after the most recent one! now we wait for my writing brain to function again so i can think up the next scene! (yes, i have no plan for this story! i just write what comes to mind! i know! i suck at this!)

anyways, thank you all for dealing with my inconsistency with updates! thanks for reading! -Em