Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

Burning Love	By : InvokingRainbows Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Slash - Male/Male > Sokka/Zuko Views: 8145 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Avatar: The Last Air Bender or any of their characters or creative world. All rights belong to Nickelodeon (I assume), or some other company that isn't me. Just trying to write stories here, enjoy!

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
Love Burns
Author’s Note: This is not a fanfiction. This is a role-play log between a friend and myself. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it! J
Written by InvokingRainbows and velvetxpoison
Chapter 1: Prison Break
Being part of the ‘good guys’ was not working out the way Zuko had initially hoped.
Aang seemed to be the only one who really believed him, though their earth bender had casually announced that Zuko was indeed telling the truth. Which was disconcerting enough by itself; Zuko wasn’t a calm person at the best of times and having a human lie detector hanging about was going to be a real challenge, he knew.
Katara was wary of him – with good cause – but seemed to be following Aang’s lead on the matter. Her brother, on the other hand, well… Zuko wasn’t stupid. He knew Sokka trusted him as far as he could throw him, and considering the other wasn’t all that physically strong, the distance wasn’t far. Zuko supposed the dunderhead had every reason to be leery. Zuko would be too if a former enemy suddenly decided to start singing a different tune.
Zuko had learned the error of his ways, however. He supposed it wasn’t imperative that they trust him, though having it would help. He was still determined to help them however he could, whether they wanted him to or not.
Which is why he was here, he supposed.
The Boiling Rock was just ahead; he watched its approach quietly, standing stiff and awkward off to the side, fingers curling and relaxing as he fought the urge to cross his arms defensively. It would be just him and Sokka on this rescue mission. He imagined the other teen must have been feeling just as uncomfortable, but did he really have toglowerat him so damn hard? Zuko imagined he could feel his skin peeling under the suspicion of that gaze.
Zuko knew that he was perfectly capable of blowing them up, but that didn’t mean hewould.
“We’re here,”he said at length, knowing he was stating the obvious, but wanting to start the mission. Movement and purpose were good distractions, after all.
Sokka had indeed been rather suspicious of Zuko the moment he’d shown himself at their camp. Beyond that, he’d gone and burned Toph’s feet which was just another sign that he was at the very least, unpredictable. Still, Toph insisted it had been an accident and she seemed willing to trust the fire bender. Sokka on the other hand was not yet convinced.
Zuko had caught him as he was heading out on his own to find his father at the Fire Nation prison he’d been told about. The other had insisted on coming to prove his worth and his loyalty, so Sokka had agreed reluctantly. Now, the other was just making him uncomfortable.
“You do realize that you look like you’re itching to punch something, don’t you?” Sokka said off handedly as the prison came into full view, his head turning away from the fire bender after he had announced it. “Hang on, it’s going to be a rough landing.”
He had been right, the balloon starting to loose altitude almost immediately after entering the space above the lake. The heat rising from the boiling water was making it harder and harder for the balloon to stay airborne, and soon they were plummeting towards the outer wall of the prison.
With a muffled splash, the war balloon landed on the water a few yards out from shore, the heat coming off of the lake making it difficult to breathe at first. “You ok?” he asked, glancing back over to Zuko to see how he’d faired during the landing.
He braced himself as they quickly began to lose altitude, hopping free of the basket before it collided with the water and managing to stick his landing on the rocky shore. All of the terrain was unforgiving and the stone they were standing on was only marginally cooler than the water around them – he could feel the heat through the soles of his shoes. Glancing upward, he judged that the climb to higher ground was not going to be fun. For while he was perfectly accustomed and at home with the heat, his companion certainly wasn’t.
Speaking of.
“I’m fine,” he replied, turning to regard Sokka shrewdly. The other teen looked uninjured, which meant they were off to a good start.
“We should start climbing,” he suggested, wanting to make it to the top before it got too dark out to see. The rocks were treacherous enough without having to worry about missing footholds and getting sliced open by the pointy bits.
“The door we’re looking for should be over that way,” he motioned vaguely toward the direction he meant.
Sokka gave a curt nod, digging into the bag he’d brought and procuring two grappling hooks and some long, sturdy rope. Incidentally, it was the same rope Zuko had used to tie up Aang in the North Pole. Sokka had kept it, for some reason.
“With a bit of luck…” Sokka said, squinting up at the wall of rocks before them, the metal prison wall beyond that. With all of his strength, Sokka hurled the hooks towards the wall, managing to hook one of the two successfully. He gave it a tug before grinning at Zuko. “This should help. Normally, I’d say I should go first, but it might be better if you do since you can shoot magic fire.”
He stood aside, offering the rope to Zuko, his eyes glancing the other up and down for a moment before looking away quickly. It was still very strange to him, seeing the prince of the fire nation in this way. His ponytail was gone which made him look less threatening for some reason. Not only that, but the fire prince seemed less sure of himself now. He simply seemed lost, which was something Sokka could relate to.
“Come on, the sooner we get in the better. We don’t want to be climbing the wall after the sun comes up.” He said, giving Zuko a gentle nudge towards the rocks.
"Magic fire?" he repeated, disgruntled but amused.
Shaking his head, the banished prince took up the rope and gave it a tug to make sure it was good and stuck on the rock face.
"You're not going to fall, right?" he asked him, looking Sokka up and down. He could see that the other teen was muscled, most likely from living on the road and fighting for his life, but he was still rather scrawny in Zuko's eyes.
Zuko wouldn't be able to help him if Sokka went behind him. He huffed when Sokka urged him toward the rocks, relenting with some reluctance. Bracing one foot against the rock, he heaved himself up and began the long, steep climb up the mountainside.
"Posing as guards would probably be a good idea," he mused, thinking over their strategy. They hadn't planned very much beyond get there and get in, find Hakoda, get out.
Zuko would admit he could be impulsive, but this level of 'winging it' was even a bit much for him.
Sokka rolled his eyes. “Of course I won’t fall. I’ve survived full on attacks from you if you don’t remember. This is far less dangerous.” He said with a wink before Zuko began to ascend the rocky fortress.
Following closely behind him, Sokka’s mind was buzzing. “That’s a fantastic idea.” He agreed when the other suggested posing as guards. “I just hope my father is here.” He mumbled, taking a deep breath before continuing to climb.
It took close to an hour to reach the top of the wall, the climb going rather smoothly with the exception of one slip up from Sokka. Zuko had managed to sling an arm around his waist just in time to steady him before they had continued climbing.
The sensation of warmth emanating from Zuko’s body when they’d touched hadn’t been completely lost on Sokka, though he’d shuffled it away to the back of his mind. He couldn’t let himself become distracted from their mission.
Once over the wall, they stayed in the shadows, silently making their way towards one of the guard towers. “Okay.” Sokka said under his breath. “There’s only two guards up there, so you get ready to go in and take out one with your magic fire. I’ll get the other one.”
Taking a moment to scan the area and the positions of the guards within the tower, Sokka readied his boomerang after choosing the perfect angle. “Here we go.” With that, he let it fly. It flew up through the window, missing both guards narrowly.
“What was that?” one of the guards said, though as he’d turned to look out the window, the boomerang came flying back through the tower, hitting him square in the forehead and knocking him out.
Zuko wisely chose not to comment, especially when Sokka did end up slipping and it took some interesting flexibility on Zuko's part to catch hold of him, so he wouldn't plummet to his death.
Holding onto the rope with one hand and looping the other arm around Sokka's waist to steady him until the teen could steady himself again. The look Zuko gave him clearly said 'I told you so.'
Sokka redeemed himself, however, with that amazing boomerang throw. Zuko watched, impressed, as it arched perfectly, spun through the window, then managed to come back through again.
Not to be outclassed, Zuko burst into the room once the guards were distracted, pulling off a tight maneuver that had the other guard crumpling unconscious on the floor.
He waited for a moment, listening at the door to see if they'd alerted anyone to their presence. The guards hadn't had time to scream, but one never knew. After a few minutes of tense waiting, Zuko deemed it safe.
"We're clear," he said, then turned to see Sokka already struggling into the cumbersome fire army uniform.
"It doesn't go that way," he pointed out dryly, cocking an eyebrow at his companion's fumbling.
Deciding to have mercy, he approached and reached for the front of the undershirt Sokka was trying to put on - moving slow enough that Sokka could move away if he wanted - then tugged it into place, tying the sash around his waist and helping him shrug into the breastplate.
He thumped his fist lightly against the leather when he was done. The uniform didn't fit quite well, but it would pass at a glance.
"Hide your clothes," he pointed out, then turned to strip his own guard and himself.
“Thanks.” Sokka said quietly, letting his arms go limp as Zuko fixed the outfit on him. He felt the other’s knuckles gently graze across the skin of his abdomen, a small shiver going down his spine. Then, the other proceeded to pull off his clothes right there.
Of course, it wasn’t like they had the choice of privacy all things considered. Turning his back at least, Sokka tried to think of what they should be doing next. Instead, he found himself sneaking a glance back over his shoulder, his eyes taking in the image of an almost completely naked fire prince.
His body was far more toned than Sokka’s with rippling abs and well-defined biceps. Feeling a small pang of jealousy, his eyes wandered to the other’s backside and the feeling of jealousy was quickly replaced by something else. Something Sokka wasn’t quite used to.
After the other had fully dressed himself, Sokka knelt to tie up the prison guards and gag them so they couldn’t alert anyone once they came to. Sokka folded his clothes up, stuffing them under the armor he was wearing until he could find a better place to hide them. If anything, it made the armor look like it fit him better, adding the bulk he lacked.
“What should we do with these two?” he asked, peering out from the guard tower to see if anyone was moving around the prison.
“We'll just have to leave them," he said a little unsure. It had been a good plan in theory, but once they woke up and managed to untie themselves, the compound would soon be on alert for two intruders.
Hopefully they'd be able to find Hakoda and escape before that happened.
He finished dressing and also bundled his clothes beneath the armor, motioning for Sokka to follow him out of the tower, closing the door quietly behind them and melting the lock.
"We'll have to find the prisoner's quarters; they'll be put to bed by now," he said, quickly trotting down the stairs to a ground floor hallway that went both directions and was full of doors.
This wasn't going to be easy, he feared.
“I think you’re right. Based on what this says…” Sokka said, holding up what appeared to be the guard change schedule. “We’ve probably got about 5 hours to do this. So, first thing is finding my dad. Once we find him, you can fire bend him out of his cell and then we just need to get back across the boiling lake.”
Eyes narrowed, Sokka peered around the perimeter of the prison. “There!” He said, pointing north. “Those cable cars. That’s how we’ll get back, we just might have to take out a few guards to do this.”
Turning to Zuko, he paused for a moment. “I know this might not be the time or the place, but I need you to be at your best for this. While you’ve done plenty of terrible things to me and my friends, I think you have good in you. Aang wasn’t wrong when he agreed to let you be his fire bending teacher. I know we can do this, together.” Flashing one of his signature Sokka grins, he patted Zuko on the shoulder before heading down the platform they were on towards what looked like the cell block.
"I, uh..." Zuko fumbled, feeling flat-footed.
He was sure his discomfort showed, tracking the movement of Sokka's hand as it landed on his shoulder, and then as Sokka turned to walk off, the set of his shoulders determined and his grin bright.
What had just happened?
Carding his fingers through the short cut of his hair - he'd admit that it still threw him for a loop sometimes, having hair - he steeled himself for the mission ahead and followed after the other teen, deciding he would shove that weird occurrence to the back of his mind for now.
It may have been unoriginal of them, but most fire nation prisons had the same layout, so Zuko knew more or less where things were located. He took the lead, trying to appear as if he belonged there and like nothing was amiss. His heart raced every time they passed another guard on patrol; though the guards would only nod in acknowledgement without really stopping to look at them too closely.
Why would they, when the Boiling Rock was supposed to be impenetrable and inescapable?
"The prisoner quarters should be around there," he whispered to Sokka, conscious that stone echoed. He motioned to the next corner, illuminated only by the soft flicker of torchlight.
There were more prisoners than he had imagined, though he supposed it made sense since all of the nations were at war. Still, the many cells would make it problematic to find one person and they didn't have much time.
Sokka was grateful that Zuko had tagged along. The other had insider knowledge of the Fire Nation, and thus, of the Fire Nation prisons which was making everything significantly easier.
The pair managed to make their way into the first cell block when they were presented with their first challenge. Checking every single cell in hopes of finding Sokka’s father and/or any other allies that may have been captured.
It was a daunting and time-consuming task, but it had to be done, and so this was where they split up. “You take this side, I’ll take the other.” Sokka said with a firm nod, patting Zuko on the shoulder one more time before turning to head in the opposite direction. Again, the man’s inner warmth was not lost on him.
Cell after cell held a prisoner, but after checking what felt like hundreds, Sokka had come up with nothing. Finally, in the very last cell on his row, Sokka felt his heart jump into his throat. “Suki.” He breathed, glancing back to make sure no guards were approaching.
Along with the guards uniforms had come a set of keys. After trying only two keys, Sokka found the right one and grinned when he heard the soft click that meant the cell had been opened. He stepped in, closing the door behind him leaving it only slightly ajar, before taking off his helmet.
“Suki, I can’t believe you’re here! But…where are the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors?” he asked as quietly as he could manage.
Suki gaped at him for a moment before throwing her arms around him tightly. Sokka blushed, though he wasn’t mad at the show of affection. “I knew you’d come. Unfortunately, the rest of the warriors aren’t here. They only put me here because I’m their leader.”
“Damn. Okay, well we don’t have much time so we’d better go find Zuko.” Sokka paused at the look at Suki’s face when he mentioned the fire prince. “I know, I thought the same thing but he’s seriously turned himself around. He’s a decent guy now.”
“Any luck?” Sokka whispered into Zuko’s ear from directly behind him, Suki standing back a few paces.
Zuko really wanted to know why Sokka was touching him so much. Considering Zuko hadn't experienced touch very much beyond his uncle, this was all very overwhelming and confusing. Not to say he didn't like it, per say - he was sure he had enough skin hunger to kill an army of camelephants - it was just... weird.
Shaking his head of nonsensical things, he nodded and started down the line of his given jail cells. Most of them were occupied, but none of them held anyone they were looking for. Soon, he reached the end of the line, and peered around the next corner.
There were more cells down the shadowed corridor, but he was pretty sure that who they were looking for would be behind the big double doors at the end of it.
Sokka's voice so close to his ear had him going rigid and spinning on his heel reflexively. Zuko only caught himself at the last minute from punching the teen in the throat.
"Don'tdothat," he growled, rubbing the warm spot behind his ear and hoping that the tips weren't flushing.
Little known fact, his ears were one of his weak spots.
He froze at the sight of Suki, his expression going neutral. He jerked a shoulder down the hallway, "Our best bet for finding your father is probably through those doors; the high security wing."
Sokka wasn’t really surprised by Zuko’s reaction. He had kind of expected it, honestly, and the stupid teenage boy part of himself had wanted to push the other’s buttons just a little. He had decided Zuko was fun when he was flustered, which seemed to be a lot.
“I think you’re right.” He agreed, glancing at Suki before heading towards the double doors with Zuko a few steps ahead. They all paused at the door, and it seemed both of the others were waiting on him to make a decision.
“Okay, we’ll go in quietly. If we run into anyone and it causes alarm, Zuko extinguish the lights. We need to stick close together for this. Get in, look around, and get out as fast as possible.”
“Agreed.” Suki said, nodding firmly and looking to Zuko. “I don’t have my fans but I can still fight pretty well without them. If it comes down to it I’ll be your back up.”
"Let's hope that doesn't happen," he murmured.
He regarded Suki quietly, then nodded. He'd seen her fight and knew she could hold her own in a fight - she was crafty and resourceful. He wouldn't have to worry about her safety, which was good, because that meant one less person to watch out for. He'd already have his hands full making sure Sokka didn't die. He tried, but the teen just wasn't a born warrior.
Zuko pushed open the doors and was glad that the hinges didn't squeak. At first glance, the hallway appeared empty. Zuko knew better.
There were fewer cells here and they were spaced much further apart. Hakoda was in one of the middle ones, pressed tight to the far wall, looking worse for wear. He was thin and dirty and worn-looking, even though Zuko couldn't really see his face where it was hidden by shadow.
He glanced at Sokka to see his reaction, silently telling him to get his father's attention, so Zuko could hopefully melt the lock off and they could leave this place.
A chill went down his spine; he had a bad feeling about this.
“Dad.” Sokka whispered, getting as close to the bars as possible. “Psst, dad. It’s me.” He hissed again. It took a moment, but Haokda moved and made his way closer to the bars. “Sokka? And…Is that Prince Zuko?” his eyes narrowed.
“No time to explain, but we’re breaking you out of here.” Sokka took a step back so that Zuko could start on the lock, looking around as him and Suki stood back to back.
The moment Zuko began to melt the lock, the sirens went off. Sokka felt his heart stop for a moment, but forced himself to regain his composure quickly. “Keep working on the lock, Suki and I will fend them off.” He said, his grip tightening on his boomerang.
A guard rounded the corner on either side of them, one heading for Suki the other headed for Sokka. “Here they come!” A glint of steel shined as Sokka’s boomerang went flying through the air, whipping just passed the guard’s face causing him to falter. Sokka charged at him, taking advantage of the moment to deliver a sharp jab to his stomach while spinning the helmet on his head so it was backwards, successfully blinding the man.
Suki was holding her own against the other guard, dodging every attack he threw her way which looked like an elegant dance. Waiting for her moment, she dodged a heavy blast of fire and pulled the guard forward, using his momentum to throw him over the railing and down to the floor below.
Zuko swore beneath his breath when the sirens began to wail. Luckily, besides being traitorous, the lock gave him no further trouble and his fire bending easily melted it. The jail door swung open without a sound and Zuko turned to join the fight.
More soldiers were flooding into the narrow hallway and though the plan had been to snuff the lights, Zuko didn't think that would do them any good at this point.
The banished prince shouldered Sokka out of the way, intercepting a man who'd been about to flame the weaponless teen. He smacked away the other man's flaming down strike with his wrist, sweeping the man off his feet with a flaming low kick.
He did his best to be mindful of the small space and fire, but unfortunately it seemed his people weren't the smartest, or best interior decorators. The Fire Nation definitely loved their heavy drapes and banners, and there were plenty of them lining the stone walls. Unsurprisingly, someone's shot missed and ignited one, then all of them quickly lit up.
The prisoners started shouting, rattling their cell doors and more guards were pouring in from the ruckus.
“This is bad. This is really, really bad.” Sokka groaned, his eyes taking in the chaos surrounding them. They couldn’t just let the prisoners burn up in their cells, but there were so many of them and Zuko was too busy fighting to free them. He had to do something.
“Excuse me.” He said, pushing his way passed the fire prince and the guards he was battling, carefully bobbing and weaving his way through the prison until he found what he could only hope was the main control room. He knew that every jail had a way to open and close all of the cells at once for when they let the prisoners out into the yard.
Managing to knock out the final guard standing between him and the room with a strong blow to the face, Sokka opened the door. Fortunately enough for him, there was no one in the room. Even more fortunate was the obvious control panel that stood only a few feet away.
He stared the buttons down for a moment, and since none of them were labeled, he decided to press them all at once. A number of things happened. The sirens stopped, all of the cells slammed open at once, and a loud groaning sound echoed through the prison.
Back with Zuko, Suki had managed to fend off her fair share of guards with some help from Hakoda, glancing around when the sirens stopped and the cells opened. “We need to get to the gondola now!” she said, grabbing Zuko by the arm and dragging him away from the battle.
Sokka was sprinting back towards them, managing to catch up to them as they were exiting the maximum-security wing. Riots were breaking out all around them as prisoners and guards fought one another, the prisoners clearly making the most of the situation to try and escape as well.
The four of them rounded a corner and all but flew up a flight of metal stairs, the gondola in sight. “Get on!” shouted Hakoda. “I know how to start this thing.” Sokka, Suki, and Zuko all boarded the gondola, Hakoda throwing the lever to make it start moving before taking a flying leap from the platform to get onto the gondola as it was already moving away.
“You know, I never gave up hope that you would come for me Sokka.” Suki said after a few moments of silence. She hugged him tightly, kissing him on the cheek. Sokka blushed. “I-It was nothing. Just being awesome, you know.”
Everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.
There were prisoners and guards in equal measure, all of them shouting and fighting. The fire was spreading, the benders too busy to put it out, and the sprinklers had gone off, so now the water benders were wreaking havoc as well.
Zuko would groan and facepalm if he weren't so busy. They'd come in with the idea of a covert operation and now the whole place was falling down around their ears. He'd lost Sokka somewhere in the chaos, as well, though Suki was somewhere behind him and Hakoda was holding his own off to the side.
He'd just finished punching someone's lights out when Suki grabbed him by the elbow and suddenly they were running for the gondolas. They barely made it onto the thing, and for the moment it seemed they were home free.
Zuko allowed himself a moment to breathe, watching the burning building and the shouting get further and further away. Turning, he braced himself against the wall and checked on his companions.
Just in time to catch Sokka's and Suki's reunion hug, which left the banished prince feeling particularly uncomfortable, though he didn't really know why.
The vestiges of adrenaline, he reasoned. He felt Sokka's father watch him quietly, felt like he was being silently appraised and judged and was found lacking.
Zuko straightened his posture and held himself stiffly, doing his best to look cool and detached. It had been a very, very long time since he'd been at court, but he'd had all sorts of etiquette lessons drilled into him from an early age.
If anything, he'd learned one of life's most necessary lessons - fake it 'til you make it.
As the gondola approached its destination, Zuko suddenly realized something, "We never figured out how to get off the island."
He found Sokka's eyes, "... we'll need to commandeer an air craft."
“That shouldn’t be too hard. I saw some Fire Nation air ships as we were flying in.” Sokka said with a grin, turning his eyes to the fire prince. He felt a strange feeling swell in him. He was accepting Zuko more and more as they spent time together. He had been an asset in the rescue mission and had more than proved himself in Sokka’s eyes.
The gondala stopped and they exited, finding themselves lucky as all the guards had gone to help fight the prisoners, leaving them open to board the first airship they saw and take off for the Air Temple.
Zuko and Sokka were at the helm together while Suki and Hakoda kept watch on deck. Sokka didn’t say anything, but simply let Zuko take command over steering the contraption as he was the only one of them who would know how to fly the damn thing. Before long, they were leaving the prison and heading back to the rest of their group.
“You were great in there.” Sokka said, breaking the silence after they’d been flying for some time. “Thanks for coming with me. I don’t know that I could’ve handled this on my own.”
He shifted his weight and wondered why being nice had to be so hard, or so torturously uncomfortable.
"You're welcome," he said at length, glancing at Sokka from the corners of his eyes, before looking forward again - out at the view of blue skies and clouds.
He fell quiet for a long string of heartbeats, mulling over this change in Sokka's personality, all of the touching he'd had to endure, and the feeling of being a part of a larger effort. He wondered if this was how normal people acted; people who weren't emotionally stunted.
"Why," he started, then paused, steeling his resolve and turning to face Sokka head on, "why are you being so personable all of a sudden?"
Sokka raised an eyebrow when Zuko asked why he was acting the way he was. “I’m just saying things when they pop into my head, I’m not doing anything on purpose.” He said with a small shrug. “But what I do know is that in this war, we need all the help we can get. Without you today, I probably would’ve ended up getting myself captured and then the group would be down another person.”
Blue eyes moved over the other’s form, noticing how tense and rigid he seemed, his eyes holding a confused look. “I think you just need to relax. Being so tense all the time can’t be good for you.” He said, eyeing the other for a moment before pushing a hand through his hair, messing it up a little. “Stop trying so hard and just be you. You’re plenty good enough, or worthy on your own.”
Zuko snorted, "You're kidding, right?"
He crossed his arms and leaned carefully against the control panel, making sure not to accidentally press any buttons or switches. He wanted to be angry at Sokka's easygoing personality, at how simple he was and how easy it was for him to 'relax.' Not when being 'himself' was such a challenge for the banished prince. Not when he still wasn't sure who he was exactly.
But getting upset would be silly, so he swallowed back his kneejerk temper and just frowned at the other teen.
"It's not that simple," he said, "... not for me."
He found Sokka's eyes, "... why aren't you with your father, anyway? It's been a while since you saw him, right?"
Sokka thought for a moment. That was a pretty good point. Why was he there with Zuko anyways? “I dunno.” He admitted. “I suppose it feels like this is our mission. We started it together, I wanted to finish it together. Besides, I’ll have plenty of time with my dad back at the Air Temple and you’ll be busy training Aang.”
He grinned again, his eyes lingering on the scar that marked the fire prince. “Does it still hurt?” he asked, reaching out curiously to brush his fingers across the lower part of the scar, noting how smooth yet textured the skin felt there.
His logic didn't make any sense to Zuko. He was coming to the conclusion that Sokka was his own manner of strange beast and that 'Sokka Logic' was just a thing he'd have to get used to.
"Does what--" He didn't realize what Sokka was reaching for until it was too late to stop him. Warm fingers slid across the skin of his face and though he couldn't really feel it, he flinched hard.
He reached up reflexively, hand clamping down hard around Sokka's wrist, pulling the hand away from his face.
"Don't," he said thickly, expression halfway between pained and stormy.
He let go of Sokka's arm as if it bit him, resisting the urge to rub his face against his sleeve.
He swallowed hard, staring Sokka down for a long, tense moment, before forcing his shoulders to relax. "So much casual touching... it'sweird," he told him.
Flexing his wrist a little, Sokka frowned. “Not for me. I guess I’m just used to it I guess. Sorry, though.” He said, staring at the other for a moment. He could only imagine what his childhood had been like. After all, the Zuko they had originally met had seemed all together crazy. This one just seemed lost, scared, and confused with a strong determination to do some good in the world.
“I’m gonna go check on Suki and my dad. Try not to crash this thing.” He said, back to his normal goofy demeanor. He exited the room with a wink at the fire prince before heading to the deck.
- 1
- 2
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Burning Love