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It takes a while for Sokka to get used to Zuko being part of the Good Guys.
For the first few days, he has to press down the muscle-memory instinct to freak out at the sight of him, sharp amber eyes and red-gold clothes sticking out like a sore thumb among the softer colors of the others’ clothes, among brown skin and brown eyes and Aang’s curving blue tattoos.
Also a new development that takes getting used to─his fucking hair. Sokka almost hadn’t recognized him when he approached their camp at first, maybe wouldn’t have at all if it weren’t for the distinctive Fire Nation garb he still had on.
Sokka remembers that moment pretty well. It’s the moment he realizes that Zuko is pretty handsome when he’s not, y’know. Actively trying to kill them.
It’s not Sokka’s fault that he has eyes! He has eyes, and is very much bisexual. So, okay, he starts to notice how Zuko’s hair falls in his face all the time now that he has it, how his eyes melt dark gold-brown in the shadows of the Western Air Temple (or, at least, what remains of it). Maybe he starts to find Zuko’s awkwardness less painful and more endearing. It's definitely not relevant.
Despite how attractive Zuko may or may not be, Sokka’s still painfully aware that it wasn't too long ago he was dead-set on trying to kill a pacifistic twelve-year-old. Not exactly his definition of picking a fair fight.
(Definitely not a fair fight, Sokka thinks blindly when he walks in on Zuko’s designated broody training time and sees the pull and clench of muscle in his arms even underneath his shirt, flames licking outward from his palms. Not even a little.)
Aang is still firm on giving the guy a second chance, though. Of course he is; the guy’s tried to kill him about a million times over and all it takes is one awkward (if not sincere) apology for Aang to decide that they’re best friends for life. Fire Lord Ozai could probably say ‘my bad’ before their fight and Aang would insist that he was reformed.
Well ─maybe. Sokka has more faith in Aang than that. He’s come a long way from just doing marble tricks with airbending.
“Hey, Sokka!” Aang calls out, and Sokka quickly turns, hand instinctively going to his bag for his boomerang.
Aang grins widely, proudly holding out his hands where he’s spinning a couple vaguely misshapen spheres in a familiar trick.
“I figured out how to make pebbles!” He says excitedly. Sokka sighs, letting his hand fall back to his side.
Or maybe he’s still doing marble tricks.
✦
Sokka is in the middle of practicing with his sword, sweating even in the open, cool air of the temple, when he hears footsteps.
He turns to the doorway, letting his sword fall back to his side and wiping away the sweat beaded on his forehead. He’s expecting Aang to be standing there, maybe Toph if she’s decided to hijack his practice space, but instead, he’s greeted by red-gold robes and pale skin and Zuko’s wide, nervous eyes.
“Oh, it’s you.” Sokka says, eyebrows furrowing. The response to grimace at the sight of him is almost instinctual after all this time ─Zuko definitely notices, if the way he winces is anything to go off, but he never says anything.
Sokka doesn't really know what to do with that.
“Um, yes.” Zuko says, stepping back. “Sorry to interrupt, I didn't know you were here.”
“Chill, jerkbender. I'm not kicking you out.” He says, rolling his eyes. Zuko still looks hesitant, standing awkwardly in the doorway, so Sokka keeps talking. “Were you gonna do fire dancing stuff?”
“I was going to practice with my swords, actually.” Zuko says, hand going up to the scabbard strap slung across his chest. “I'm getting rusty.”
“Oh, cool!” Sokka says, perking up. “We could spar, then, if you’re up for it.” Zuko looks a bit taken aback, but then his expression melts back into familiar neutrality, posture straightening out.
“If you’d like to,” he says, brushing his bangs out of his face. “Though you should know I’ve trained with dao swords for a while.”
“Pfft,” Sokka scoffs, squaring his stance and lifting his sword toward Zuko. “Don’t underestimate me, either.”
Zuko slings his scabbard to the side, pulling both swords out and holding them up as they glint dangerously in the light.
“Wouldn't dream of it,” he drawls, voice low in a way that curls in Sokka’s gut and wow, okay, not gonna think about that. Then, in a flash of movement, he’s stepping forward, and Sokka snaps out of his daze quick enough to bring his swords up. They clash against each other with a loud scrape of metal on metal, the thinner width of Sokka’s sword holding Zuko’s blade back from his face.
“How long have you had a sword for?” Zuko asks, sounding legitimately curious. His eyes trace down Sokka’s sword, appreciative. “I don't remember seeing it before.”
Sokka steps back enough for Zuko’s sword to fall from his, stepping back in again and swinging down. Zuko’s fast, though; he raises both his swords in an x, then swiping them back apart, sending Sokka stumbling backwards.
“A while, I guess.” Sokka says, breathing coming a bit harsher now. “Made it myself.” Zuko’s eyes widen in surprise, and Sokka takes the opportunity to advance, their swords clashing again.
“Didn't know you were a blacksmith.” Zuko gets out in between steps and scrapes of metal. Sokka laughs, almost breathlessly.
“M’not really,” he says, the edges of their blades dragging against each other on a particularly close strike. “Just had some good guidance.” He watches Zuko’s expression falter back into something curious, and he takes advantage, knocking one of his swords out of his hands with a quick flick of his wrist.
It clatters to the ground loudly, and for a moment, Zuko stands frozen with surprise. It’s enough for Sokka to level the tip of his sword to Zuko’s neck, grinning.
“Shhk.
You're dead, I win.” Sokka says, smugly watching Zuko’s expression morph back into familiar indignance.
“You─” Zuko splutters. “You cheated!” Sokka grins, inclining his head toward the other boy.
“Seems like you just got distracted.” He says smugly. Zuko’s face flushes, red pooling over his nose and across his cheeks. Sokka’s eyes draw along the blush, his own face heating slightly when he notices the soft, faded freckles sprinkled over his nose and around the corners of his eyes.
“I,” Zuko stammers out. “I should go. Excuse me.” He says quickly, shouldering past Sokka and bolting out of the room.
Dazedly, Sokka watches him leave, still rooted to the spot.
What the hell was that?
✦
Sokka startles awake at an hour too late and dark to know what time it is, heart pounding against his ribcage.
The memory of the nightmare he woke up from clings to his brain for a moment, slowly pulling away until he’s left with flashes of his dad’s face and a vague feeling of unease and fear. His hand comes up to grasp at his shirt, heart thundering so loudly in his chest he can feel it against his fist.
“Sokka,” A soft, quiet voice speaks up, and Sokka jerks his head up, still sweaty and nervous from the dredges of adrenaline the nightmare left him with. Zuko’s looking at him from where he sits a few feet away, upright and perfectly awake. “Are you alright?”
“I, uh…” Sokka starts, blinking away sleep as he tries to collect his words. “Yeah. Just a nightmare.” He pauses, sitting up straighter and frowning at Zuko, brows furrowed. “Wait, why are you out here? And why are you awake?”
“I’m always up. I just come out here to keep watch.” Zuko responds, amber eyes glinting in the darkness. “I thought you knew that.”
“Whoa, what?” Sokka says, scrambling out of his sleeping bag and over to where Zuko sits at the edge of their circle. “Dude, why aren’t you sleeping?” Zuko shrugs as if it’s not a big deal, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.
“Same as you, I guess. Nightmares. Insomnia, mostly.” He says, gently stoking the fire still burning at the edge of camp. Vaguely, Sokka wonders if that's the reason it’s been warmer at night ever since Zuko joined them.
“Nightmares?” He asks, frowning worriedly. “About what?” Zuko looks away from the fire and back at him, the flames reflecting in his eyes as he looks back at Sokka with a strangely calm expression.
“What are yours about?” He counters, brow raised. Sokka falters, hesitating for a moment before looking back resolutely.
“My dad.” He says. “I don't know what happened to him after we left him after the invasion, so I get…worried about what he might be going through right now.” He admits. Zuko blinks back at him, obviously taken aback that he was willing to share.
“Oh,” he says, his grip loosening on the stick he’s been using to stoke the fire. “I…I'm sorry.”
“It's alright, man.” Sokka brushes him off, shifting closer so they're sitting side-by-side in front of the fire’s heat. “What about you?” He asks, legitimately curious.
Zuko’s face twists into a familiarly angsty expression, and he stares down into the fire, blatantly avoiding eye contact.
“Um,” he starts, obviously hesitant. “Mostly about my father, too.”
“Firelord Ozai?” Sokka asks, frowning. “What, are you worried about what's gonna happen to him or something?” Zuko’s gaze turns back to him, shock painted across his expression and eyes wide, confused.
“Why would I…” He starts, eyebrows furrowing, before a realization seems to come over him, and he relaxes, expression settling into something more concerned than confused. “...Sokka.” He says seriously. “Do you know what I got my scar from?”
“Uh, no.” Sokka says curiously. “I figured it was a firebending accident or something.” Zuko’s expression hardens, and he looks away again. With his face turned in profile, his scar is almost all Sokka can see ─creases of burnt skin, stretched tightly over the curve of his cheekbone.
“When I was thirteen, my father challenged me to an Agni Kai.” Zuko says after a moment of silence. Sokka’s eyes blow wide, mouth falling open.
“Isn't that a firebending duel?” He says dumbly. Zuko’s shoulders stiffen, and he runs his fingertips over his scar, eyes glazed and lost in thought.
“Yes,” he says, brow furrowed. “I challenged something he said and he wanted to put me in my place.” He purses his lips, head tilting back, watching the embers from the fire float up into the night. “I lost, of course, and he banished me.”
“You were just a kid,” Sokka says, almost pleadingly, like he’s trying to stop something that was set in motion too long ago to undo─long enough for Zuko’s face to heal, skin shiny and burnt red. “You're his son.”
Zuko scoffs bitterly. “Like he thought I was anything other than a princess making a fool of our family.” He mutters.
“Why would…” Sokka starts, then cuts himself off, realization settling over him. “Oh.” Zuko turns his gaze to Sokka once more, blinking in the darkness.
“I thought you knew about that.” He says, voice a bit hollow, suddenly looking very much regretful of the admission. He shifts, glancing behind himself nervously and making to get up, but Sokka’s hand shoots out, grabbing him around the wrist before he can.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” He says, offering the other boy a smile that is hopefully reassuring. “I'm not gonna freak out on you. Aang’s trans, too, y’know.” Zuko looks surprised, but still seems hesitant, afraid; so Sokka continues. “And Toph! Oh man, she’s not quiet about that, I don't know how you haven't noticed. It's really no big deal, Zuko.”
“Oh,” Zuko says softly. “I, um─thank you.” Sokka grins, letting go of Zuko’s wrist.
“Of course, man.” He says, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
Zuko looks like he wants to say something else, but when he opens his mouth, all that comes out is a long yawn.
“Oh, man,” Sokka laughs quietly. “Same here.” Zuko gives him a tired smile in return, rubbing at his eyes.
“I guess I could try and get some sleep…” He mumbles, looking back at the temple that houses his makeshift room with palpable reproach. Sokka bites at the inside of his cheek, considering.
“Why don't you just stay out here?” he says after a moment. “There’s an extra bedroll in Appa’s saddle.”
Zuko stares at him incredulously. “I─really?” He says carefully, like saying the wrong thing could make Sokka take back his offer. Sokka nods, smiling.
“Yeah, ‘course. That way if you have a nightmare or something you can just wake me up.” Zuko seems to relax a bit, the sharp, nervous look in his eyes softening.
“Okay,” he says. “Uh, I'll go get that extra bedroll.” He clambers to his feet, hesitating for a moment and fixing Sokka with some unreadable look before his cheeks flush slightly and he darts off towards Appa. Sokka stares after him for a few moments, eventually shaking it off and crawling back into his own bedroll as Zuko climbs down from Appa’s saddle, newly-acquired bed tucked under his arm.
He doesn't realize how heavy his eyelids are until he’s back under his blanket, wrapped up in warmth. He drifts off faster than expected, eyelids sinking shut, and before he falls into sleep completely, he thinks he hears a quiet murmur of ‘goodnight, Sokka’.
He falls asleep wondering if Zuko would be warm to sleep next to.
✦
Okay.
So.
Sokka might have a tiny, minuscule, microscopically small crush on Zuko.
This realization comes crashing down on him with startling suddenness when he wakes up to see Zuko sleeping soundly a foot away from him, expression uncharacteristically calm, and his first thought is ‘wow, he's really pretty’.
Sleep still hangs over him heavy enough for the situation not to register at first, and he smiles sleepily at the boy next to him before he's blinking himself awake and shooting up in place.
“Oh, you're awake.” Sokka startles slightly at the voice, turning sharply to see Katara looking at him with a knowing look in her eyes.
“Have a nice night cuddling Prince Hothead?” Toph asks from where she sits next to Katara, voice tinged with faux-innocence.
“What ─we didn't cuddle!” Sokka says shrilly, clambering out from under his bedroll and walking over to where the two of the sit by the fire, putting distance between him and Zuko as if it could curb his embarrassment.
“Too bad,” Katara says nonchalantly, stirring the pan of rice that's steaming over the fire ─breakfast, Sokka guesses. “You would've loved that.”
Sokka feels heat rush to his cheeks, and splutters uselessly, flailing. “I─why would I─how could you possibly know that!” He says, feeling a bit hysterical. He just figured this out, but of course, everyone else is already a step ahead. What's next? Zuko saying they've somehow been dating this whole time?
“Are you serious?” Toph snorts, shoveling a huge bite of rice into her mouth. “You two morons have been mooning over each other since Sparky over there joined us.” She says, talking through her mouthful, because of course she doesn’t close her mouth when he chews.
“I have not been mooning over him.” Sokka hisses, cheeks burning.
“You kind of have,” Katara says, handing him a bowl of rice. He glares at her, snatching it from her hand and grumbling under his breath as he takes a bite.
“You're my sister, aren't you supposed to defend me?” He says miserably.
“As your sister, I’m obligated to point out when you're being an idiot. So…” She reaches over to Sokka, flicking him in the forehead. “You're being an idiot.” Sokka winces, frowning at her and rubbing at the spot.
He hears the sound of fabric shuffling from behind them, and Sokka turns to see Zuko blinking at him sleepily, hair ruffled from the (at best) half-night’s worth of sleep he’d gotten. He stares at him and Katara for a few moments before he seems to fall suddenly into wakefulness, jerking up into a sitting position. His eyes go wide and nervous, darting between Sokka and Katara almost in conflict.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean─” He starts, then stops himself, swallowing thickly. “I can go back to my room in the temple. I know you don’t want me to be out here.”
Sokka’s heart skips several beats, still processing the sight of Zuko all sleep-rumpled and starkly not the ponytailed, armor-clad prince they’d fought against before, then he manages to say: “Dude, it’s fine. I told you to sleep out here.” He can feel Katara’s gaze burning at the side of his head, and he doesn’t have to turn to know her expression is saying oh really, how interesting.
“You’ve been here for over a month,” Toph pipes up after a few moments of awkward silence. “If you wanted to kill us all in our sleep, you would’ve already.” Then she leans forward, plucking some rice from Sokka’s bowl with her chopsticks. Sokka lets her, because he doesn’t have a death wish.
“Toph’s right.” Katara says decidedly. “You’re...trustworthy enough at this point. It’s fine.” Zuko nods slowly, obviously taking her approval with a grain─or, rather, a handful─of salt.
He gets up from his bedroll, stumbling a bit as the dredges of sleep still make their way out of his system. He’s still wearing his usual clothes, now creased and messy from tossing and turning in his sleep─Sokka wonders briefly why he didn’t shed any layers like the rest of them did to sleep, but then he recalls the admission of ‘a princess making a fool of our family’ and Zuko’s wide-eyed look of abject horror the night before, and, well…
He doesn’t linger on it too much.
“I’m going to go practice some firebending forms,” Zuko says stiffly, running a hand through the tangles in his hair. “Tell Aang to join me if he wants to once he wakes up.” Gold eyes dart up to where Aang had strung up a makeshift hammock and was still sleeping soundly, snoring like a buffalo yak.
“Alright,” Sokka says, watching as he walks out without another word, evidently having reverted back into his usual brooding self. “Have fun!” He calls after Zuko loudly, which he means to be sarcastic, but comes out painfully, embarrassingly sincere. His face burns, and as soon as Zuko passes out of sight into the the temple, Katara turns to him, leveling him with a Look.
“You like him.” She says, and it’s not a question.
“I like him.” Sokka says, defeated.
✦
Sokka, Zuko, Suki, and Hakoda all come off the airship from Boiling Rock exhausted, soot-smeared, and sweaty from the heat of the lake. He lets Katara pull their dad away, babbling in excitement and surprise and checking the small cuts on his arms, dragging him back into the temple to sit him down and heal them, even though he insists it’s not necessary.
Sokka heaves a sigh, eyelids sagging with fatigue. Zuko walks up beside him, their shoulders brushing for a moment before Zuko steps back. Sokka offers a tired smile to the other boy, and Zuko’s lips pull up into a soft, hesitant smile in return. A beat, then; his eyebrows pinch together, eyes darting to the side before his gaze draws back to Sokka.
“So,” Zuko says haltingly. “You and Suki?”
“Huh?” Sokka says, blinking back at him. “Oh, uh─I dunno, actually. We haven't gotten the chance to talk.” He says sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “Why d’you ask?”
Zuko presses his lips into a thin line, expression falling into something frustratingly unreadable.
“Nothing,” he says, quick and clipped. “I'm going to go train, goodbye.”
“Goodbye?” Sokka echoes back, a bit confused as he waves at Zuko’s retreating figure.
“You’re an idiot.” A voice says from behind him, and he jolts, turning quickly to find Suki standing there, arms crossed.
“Suki!” He yelps. “Don't sneak up on me like that!”
“I'm not sneaking.” She retorts, rolling her eyes. “You're just painfully unobservant.”
“And an idiot, apparently.” He grumbles. Suki smiles, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
“Only sometimes.” She says, head cocked to the side and giving him a look he can’t quite place. “I missed that idiocy, though. It’s good to see you again.” Sokka beams, brightening at her words.
“I missed you, too.” He says, pulling her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Suki hugs back without hesitation, wrapping her arms around Sokka’s torso. Her warmth is familiar and soothing, something he’s missed─maybe not her in particular, but...touch. It feels like it's been a while.
He pulls back and looks at her, fully intending to say something confident about where they go from here, but he hesitates the second he sees her face again. Suki has always been better at being upfront than he has, a towering and intimidating presence.
“We need to talk, don’t we?” He says, and somehow, it’s easier to say than any time he’s asked to kiss her. Suki gives him a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes─there’s something both sad and nostalgic there, and Sokka understands it. He feels the same emotion deep in his chest.
“I think we do.” She says. “I’m pretty sure I know what you’re gonna say though, Sokka.” Sokka’s face falls, and he sighs.
“I know that breaking up with you after we haven’t seen each other for so long is rude, but I─”
“Don’t feel that way about me anymore?” Suki cuts in, still looking at him with a strange understanding in her expression.
“...Yeah.” Sokka agrees after a moment, dejected. Suki lets out a quiet laugh.
“I get it, Sokka. I feel the same way.” She says, smiling. Relief floods his body, and his shoulders sag.
“Man, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” He sighs, a smile making its way back onto his face.
“I kind of figured things faded for both of us,” Suki explains, running a hand back through her hair. “After all, we went so long without seeing each other, and…” She glances at the doorway to the temple where Zuko disappeared to moments before. “Your...head seemed other places.”
Sokka’s face flushes hotly at the implication, waving his hands in a floundering attempt to deny it, but Suki just laughs, walking away.
“Good luck with the hothead, loverboy!”
“I’m not─!” He calls after her, weakly protesting, but she’s already retreating into the temple, ignoring him.
The sound of her laughter follows him for the rest of the day.
✦
Sokka starts keeping Zuko company at night.
The first few times it's more because he can't sleep than out of concern for Zuko, but there's something about the way he just knows the other boy gets three hours a week at most that...needles at him.
So he starts keeping him company. It becomes part of his routine, to talk with Zuko for a while and eventually figure out a way to make him go to sleep. Part of his normal now includes something that would probably make his past self burst out laughing─whispering with the estranged prince of the Fire Nation in the hours between midnight and dawn.
“How did you and Suki even have that…thing, in the first place?” Zuko says, sounding mildly amused. “We’re in the middle of a war.”
“Okay, rude.” Sokka huffs. “I’ll have you know I'm perfectly capable of admiring pretty people and focusing on the war, too.” Zuko rolls his eyes.
“Sure.” He says, unconvinced. Sokka bristles.
“It's true! I mean, Jet was kinda hot, but he was a creep, so I didn't─”
“He?” Zuko cuts him off, bewildered. Sokka raises his eyebrows, blinking in surprise.
“Oh, yeah. Didn't you know that?” He says.
“Know what?”
“That I like guys, too.” Sokka says, stopping himself from adding a ‘duh’ to the end. Zuko flushes slightly, shaking his head.
“Um, no.” He mumbles.
“Huh. Well, I do.” Sokka says. A moment passes, then: “So…what about you?” He ventures, admittedly curious. “You like girls? Guys? Both?”
Zuko goes silent for a long time, knees tucked to his chest, and stares out past the horizon─not quite blankly, but...considering. Like he’s never really thought about it before.
“I don’t know.” he says after an uncomfortable silence.
“You dated that Mai girl, right? The one that’s part of Azula’s super-scary lady gang.” Sokka offers, not sure if it’s really helpful or not.
“Yeah.” Zuko says, a small crease folding between his eyebrow and his scar as he looks down at his feet, scuffing a shoe against the dirt. “I…kissing her felt weird, sometimes. Like I was doing it because I was supposed to.” He admits, and Sokka can tell from how uncomfortable he looks that this is something he hasn’t told anyone before.
He swallows hard, eyes still averted, and says: “I think I like boys.” A soft admission spoken like it’s something shameful. Sokka frowns, placing a hand on Zuko’s shoulder─he can feel him shaking slightly.
“Hey, man,” He says quietly. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I know.” Zuko says, staring resolutely towards the horizon, where gray-purple swirls of clouds hang, a sign of the morning coming soon.
Something Sokka has learned about Zuko since he joined them is that he’s a terrible liar . He honestly wonders if Zuko thinks he’s convincing, because half the time, he says the lie as if he doesn’t even believe it himself. It’s a ridiculously flimsy mask, and it never takes much to tear it down and get to what he actually means.
Zuko does not say ’I know’ like he actually knows. He says ’I know’ like a boy who grew up being told in no uncertain terms that deviating from the norm was wrong. He says it like a boy descended from the same lineage that outlawed same-sex relations in the Fire Nation.
He says it like a boy who was called a daughter playing prince. A boy who stood on ice that was already thin enough in the eyes of everyone around him.
A boy who had that reminder permanently burned into his skin.
“Okay,” Sokka says. “As long as you know.”
✦
“So,” Sokka says, twisting his hands together nervously. “This is it, huh? Next time we see each other, the war will be over.” Zuko’s still turned away from him, but Sokka can picture how his expression twists up at that. He’s never been the optimistic type.
Zuko finishes packing away the bedrolls in Appa’s saddle, and turns to face Sokka.
“If all goes well.” He says, one hand still on the edge of the saddle. He lets go, jumping down from the giant bison and landing cleanly in front of Sokka. “If you’re worried, don’t be. All you have to do is stay focused and I’m sure everything will go well.”
“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Sokka argues, then pauses, frowning. “Well, I am worried about that, I guess, but I’m more worried about you and Katara.” Zuko’s eyebrows knit together, his expression turning confused.
“I’ve faced Azula before. I’m perfectly capable─” He starts, cutting off abruptly when Sokka raises his hands, quickly waving his argument off.
“No, I know you can, I just─it makes me nervous, okay? My sister and my…” He trails off, abruptly realizing that he has absolutely no idea how to refer to Zuko. His...teammate? No, that feels too impersonal for how close they’ve gotten since he joined the team. Friend? Even the thought of saying that puts a bitter taste in his mouth. Any other options just make his cheeks feel hot and his stomach turn at the prospect of Zuko knowing anything about his admittedly less-than-platonic feelings.
Zuko raises an eyebrow at his silence, staring at Sokka expectantly.
“Your…?” He prompts him.
“My sister and my friend,” He says, despite the sour feeling the word brings. “Going to face her together. I just don’t want anything to go wrong.” Zuko’s expression softens, and he steps closer to Sokka, laying a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“Sokka,” he says, his voice unbearably gentle. ‘It’s going to be fine. We’re going to win.” Sokka scoffs.
“I thought you were the pessimist of the group.” He jokes, laughing softly. Zuko rolls his eyes.
“I figured today should be an exception. For morale.” He says drily. “But really, Sokka. Me and Katara will take down Azula, and you know Aang’s been working too hard to fail…” He smiles softly, his touch still burning on Sokka’s shoulder. “I better see you on the other side, Water Tribe.”
Sokka gapes at him, and for a moment─standing tall and fire-bright in the golden sunlight shining on the camp, he wonders why there was ever really any doubt in his mind that he is completely, pathetically in love with Zuko.
And in another moment─fleeting as it is─Sokka feels confident enough to do something the voice at the back of his head has been screaming at him to do ever since he saw Zuko smile for real.
So he kisses him.
It’s clumsy, and way too telling of the minimal practice he’s had, but Sokka is fifteen and stupidly in love with a boy who he has a very good chance of losing in the next few days, and he’s stopped caring. Zuko’s lips are chapped, and it fits awkwardly against Sokka’s with the stiffness of someone who didn’t expect what’s happening, but Sokka imprints the feeling into his memory all the same.
They pull apart after what feels both too long and too short, and Zuko stares at him, wide-eyed.
“What are you doing?” He asks quietly, pupils blown wide.
“I don’t know,” Sokka replies, then, contradicting himself: “Being brave.”
Zuko opens his mouth like he wants to say something, and Sokka barely has time to notice the pink flush pooling over the other boy’s cheeks before Toph is shouting out behind them, grabbing Sokka by the arm and dragging him away to the eel-hound they’re taking to meet the Fire Nation airships.
He glances back at Zuko as he’s pulled away, and the other boy is still standing there; face red and mouth open.
(Later, surrounded by blood-red walls and the smell of gunpowder, Sokka can still feel the phantom press of chapped lips on his and his brain is screaming at him,
don't let that be it.
Sokka has a whole lot of things to live for, but with the warmth of Zuko’s lips still lingering on his mouth, all he can think of is: don't let that be the last one.)
✦
He sees him on the other side.
They’re both exhausted, soot smeared on Sokka’s skin and Zuko barely holding himself up, but when he looks up and his eyes meet Sokka’s, his face lights up. He still stumbles, an arm over Katara’s shoulders to help him walk, and Sokka can only guess what Azula did to him, but he beams ─eyes lit blazing gold in the light of sunrise and his hair sweaty from exertion─and moves towards Sokka. He lets go of Katara once he gets close enough, shaky but still on his feet, and grabs Sokka by the shoulders.
“We did it,” Zuko says, almost disbelieving. “Sokka, we did it.”
“Yeah,” Sokka echoes back dizzily, a wide grin of his own spreading over his face. “We did it. We did it!” He laughs, feeling a little hysterical from the adrenaline. “It’s over!” Zuko lets out a breathy laugh of his own, cheeks dimpled from the wide smile on his face and looking at Sokka with his eyes full of something Sokka would call adoration if he didn’t know better.
But then, in the next few moments, too fast for Sokka to really process what’s going on, Zuko’s hands are on his face, pulling him in, and their lips meet.
Sokka lets out a quiet, surprised noise into Zuko’s mouth. It takes him all of five seconds to melt into it, leaning his head against Zuko’s battle-calloused palms and letting his hands come up to clutch at the collar of the other boy’s shirt, pulling him in until he can feel Zuko’s heartbeat thumping rabbit-quick against Sokka’s own chest.
Zuko’s kisses taste like fire and sweat and sixteen-year-old boy, and Zuko kisses desperate─like this is the first grasp he’s gotten of affection, and he’s clinging to it with everything he has. Sokka clings back just as hard, eyes squeezed shut and hands balled up into fists in Zuko’s shirt.
They break apart when Sokka can’t breathe anymore, pressing his forehead to Zuko’s. Zuko still has his eyes closed, mouth open and red. Both of them stay there for a long moment, breathing heavy.
Zuko’s eyes flutter open after a long moment, and Sokka smiles, running his thumb along the line where the scar tissue on Zuko’s face meets untouched skin.
“Hey, handsome.” He says, half-whispered between the two of them. Zuko blinks, red pooling across his cheeks.
“Shut up.” He grumbles, his distaste unconvincing when he’s so willingly standing here, wrapped up in Sokka’s arms, lips kissed pink.
“You don’t want me to shut up,” Sokka says giddily. “You loooove me.” Zuko’s face scrunches up, but he flushes even brighter red, averting his eyes, and Sokka gasps. “Wait, you love me!”
“Shut up,” Zuko groans, burying his face in Sokka’s shoulder. Sokka just laughs, pulling Zuko closer to him and hiding his grin in his messy black hair.
And maybe Sokka has rarely felt like the kind of hero that saves the world, but here, bathed in golden orange sunlight at the end of a war, the prince of the Fire Nation’s kiss still lingering on his lips, he has never felt like more of a victor.