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“Zuko!” An excited call reverberated throughout the meeting room.
The councilmen all snapped their mouths shut, looking at one another with long-suffering expressions. They were used to these interruptions. Zuko buried his face in his hands.
“Yes, Sokka?” He asked, expectantly. “Something better be on fire again-”
“Appa just landed in the courtyard!” Sokka interrupted.
“Appa?” Zuko asked, standing.
“Yes! C’mon, let’s go!”
Without waiting for confirmation, Sokka took off out of the meeting room at full tilt. Zuko looked down the table of disgruntled councilmen. At the end of the table, Iroh stood.
“I’m sure our discussion can wait until tomorrow. The Fire Lord should greet the Avatar personally, of course,” Iroh suggested. Begrudgingly, the councilmen nodded their agreement.
Zuko tried not to let too much excitement show as he walked out of the meeting room with Iroh in tow. They made it out to the courtyard just in time to see Aang jump down off of Appa and tackle Sokka. He had grown significantly since Zuko had last seen him, but that didn’t stop Aang from wrapping his legs around Sokka’s middle and trying to squeeze the air out of him.
“Sokka! You got so muscley!” Aang exclaimed.
Katara popped her head over Appa’s saddle and jumped down to hug Sokka too. Behind her, Toph landed with a loud crack to the cobblestones.
“And I feel a certain Fire Lord too!” Toph announced. “Come over here, Zuko, unless you’re too important to give your best friends in the world a hug!”
Zuko laughed and approached the group, giving everyone heartfelt greetings. When he bent down to hug Toph, she grabbed his head and began tugging on his hair and running her fingers all over his face.
“Nice ponytail!” She teased. “Are you and Sokka matching nowadays?”
“I can’t believe you’re all here!” Sokka cried, ignoring Toph’s comment. “Toph, I thought you were busy with your school in the Earth kingdom?”
Toph released Zuko’s face only to latch onto Sokka’s instead. “Those snoozles were complaining that I was getting too rough with them and needed a vacation to cool down. Sounded to me like they were just asking for a break! But I had to check on you guys anyway, make sure you haven’t died without me around to save you all the time.” Toph smiled as she let go of Sokka’s face.
“Welcome, everyone,” Iroh greeted, stepping forward. “It is so nice to see familiar faces again. Come, let us go make some tea and catch up.”
#
As everyone sat around Iroh’s low tea table, Katara turned to Sokka.
“How has everything been?” She asked.
“Great!” Sokka replied, with enthusiasm. “We’re getting a lot of really important work done. And the technology here--Katara, I get to work with some really cool stuff. We’ve already made this great new invention-”
“It’s a menace,” Zuko interrupted. “You told me you’d stop experimenting with it!”
Sokka pouted. “I only said I’d stop experimenting with it on you!”
“What is it?” Aang asked.
“A fire sword,” Zuko and Sokka answered as one. Zuko resigned, Sokka excited. “Basically the concept is to bend fire through this sword handle, but it comes out as this blade thing--we haven’t actually gotten it to do that yet, but we’re close!”
“Yeah, close to burning down the palace!” Zuko protested.
Sokka bumped his shoulder into Zuko’s. “Well at least now Katara is here, she could put out the fire before it got the whole palace.”
Zuko rolled his eyes. “So how have you all been?”
Katara seemed startled, looking back and forth between her brother and Zuko, before she answered. “We’ve been good. We’ve gotten to see a few places we haven’t been before. And revisit places we have. It’s nice to just--travel. Not run, you know?”
“So much has changed,” Aang agreed.
Toph chuckled. “Seems like it,” she teased, a knowing eyebrow raised. At this, Iroh turned to her.
“Toph, if you would be so kind to an old man, would you accompany me for a walk in the gardens? I am interested to hear about the changes to the Earth kingdom. And your students!”
Toph considered before she nodded her agreement. “Sure thing,” she agreed. “I always love not-seeing the gardens.”
They left the room, Iroh asking intently about the tea shops in Toph’s area.
“How long do you plan on staying here?” Zuko asked Aang. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want, of course.”
Aang and Katara shared a look. “Probably just a week,” Katara said. “We’re on our way to the other end of the island, but we decided we needed to see you guys before we left.”
#
“So what do you really want to talk about?” Toph asked, crossing her arms once she and Iroh made it into the center of the gardens.
“Is it so unbelievable that I simply want to talk to an old friend?”
“I’m barely fifteen, I don’t think I qualify as an old friend,” Toph argued. “Come on, old man, spit it out!”
Iroh sighed. “Frankly,” he began, “I’m enlisting your help in a plot to manipulate my nephew and his best friend without their knowledge and I need your help.”
“Say no more! I’m in!” Toph agreed. “What are we talking here?”
“Well...my nephew holds very strong feelings for Sokka, as I’m sure you know,” Iroh said.
“Of course. I may be blind, but I’m not stupid,” Toph agreed, laughing. “The way their heartbeats go off when they touch each other. Not to mention the flirting. Like they’re married or something.”
Iroh rubbed a hand down his face. “Exactly,” he murmured. “But my nephew is hesitant to...elevate the relationship. He seems to believe Sokka won’t want to.”
“So what should we do? Just lock them in a room for a couple of hours?” Toph asked.
Iroh shook his head. “I have tried that already. It didn’t work.”
“What!” Toph exclaimed. “But that is a classic!”
“These two require...more creative approaches. I tried to just talk to my nephew about his feelings…” Iroh trailed off, shivering. “It did not go well.”
“I’ve got an idea!” Toph offered. “Leave it to me.”
#
Sokka opened the double wooden door with a flourish. “May I present...the royal guest chambers!”
Aang’s mouth dropped as he took in the grandeur, and then proceeded to rush around the room, picking up random objects and shouting for Katara to “check this out!”
“This is too much,” Katara protested.
“You should see our room,” Zuko teased. Katara shot him a questioning glance.
Behind them, Toph walked into the room. “Hey guys! Iroh said you’d be here.”
“Hey Toph! How were the gardens?” Aang asked.
Toph shrugged. “You’ve stood outside once, you’ve done it a thousand times,” she explained. “But I was telling Iroh about a fun game I use to teach my students some metalbending and teamwork. He mentioned Zuko and Sokka might be interested in trying it.”
“Oh, I mean, we usu-”
“Great!” Toph interrupted. “It’s called cuffed!”
“Why is it called-”
Before Sokka could finish his question, Toph grabbed a ceremonial sword off the wall beside the door and twisted it. She quickly grabbed Zuko and Sokka’s wrists and bent the now crude metal around them.
“Wha-” “Hey!”
“So the rules are pretty simple. You have to work together to get the handcuffs off! You can’t ask anyone else for help. It’s a great team builder, right?”
Sokka and Zuko shared a panicked look.
“But we’re not earth benders!” Zuko protested. “How can we possibly metal bend?”
Toph waved him off.
“Plenty of my students manage without metal bending. You’ll figure it out! Anyway, I’m gonna go ahead and take a nap. It’s been a long day.”
#
“Alright, I got it!” Sokka exclaimed, jumping up. His movement jerked up Zuko’s arm where it was still attached to Sokka’s.
“Sokka, we’ve been up all night trying to get this thing off. I’m sure Toph will get tired of watching us struggle and she’ll take it off tomorrow. Can we just go to bed?”
“Okay, okay, just give this one a chance,” Sokka conceded, pleading. He stuck out his lower lip and did his best puppy-dog eyes.
“Fine,” Zuko relented. “What is it?”
“Firebending!” Sokka revealed. “Just kind of…” Sokka made several strange motions that Zuko assumed were supposed to emulate firebending postures. “Then, bam! Metal melts off, and we both get a cool new metal bracelet.”
Zuko looked incredulous.
“You want me to melt metal off of our skin ?”
“Just the middle part! Not the part that’s, you know, touching us!”
“Sokka, of all the ridiculous-”
“C’mon, Zuko, give it a chance! Just stop if it’s getting too hot. Here, let’s go to the bathroom. We can just put it under water if we need to.”
Zuko bowed his head.
“I can’t believe that I actually listen to you, you’re a crazy person,” he said.
“It’s because you love me,” Sokka stated, bumping his shoulder into Zuko’s as they walked towards the bathroom.
Zuko thumbed thoughtfully at his chin. “No, that can’t be it,” he dismissed.
Sokka rolled his eyes and turned the tap on, the rushing water quickly filling the sink’s basin. He filled it halfway, splashed his hand into it, and then looked at Zuko expectantly.
Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He flicked his wrist and a small flame appeared from his finger tips. He pressed the fire to the small divot of metal that wasn’t directly against either of their skin. Sokka let out a low whistle.
“Still gets me every time that you can do that,” he mumbled.
Zuko caught his eye and held his gaze there. They stayed like that for a moment, just searching each other’s eyes, before Sokka suddenly drew in a sharp hiss.
“Oh, fuck!” He shouted. He quickly pushed his hand, and subsequently Zuko’s hand, into the water. “That’s hot! Fuck!”
Zuko could feel panic welling up in his throat.
“Shit! Sokka, are you okay? Did I burn you?” He asked, his voice tight.
“Yeah, shit, I’m fine Zuko,” Sokka tried to soothe, but he didn’t take their hands out of the water.
Zuko grabbed Sokka’s arm and lifted their hands up. Beneath the cuff, Sokka’s wrist was bright red. Zuko felt bile at the back of his throat, and forced his eyes not to roll back into his head.
“Zuko, I know you are freaking out a little right now, but really, I’m fine,” Sokka tried to placate. “I’ve had worse burns from cooking with penguinseal oil!”
Zuko knew Sokka was talking to him, but it sounded like buzzing. Everything sounded like buzzing. He could not force his eyes away from the burn around Sokka’s wrist. He stared, and stared, and imagined that it was bleeding, even though he knew it wasn’t.
“Hey,” Sokka said. “Zuko. Please. It’s nothing.”
Zuko closed his eyes.
“I burned you!” He screamed. “I can’t believe I...I wasn’t paying attention, and I fucking burned you,” tears were threatening to spill, so he screwed his eyes shut harder.
“Zuko! I’m telling you. This is nothing. I’m not mad. Please look at me.”
Zuko took in a deep breath. A vision flashed across his eyes, Sokka crying out, clutching at his face where Zuko had left a horrible scar…
He felt fingers gently press his chin up.
“Please, Zuko,” Sokka pleaded.
Zuko forced his eyes to open, and he saw Sokka’s blue one’s looking back, sharp with worry, flicking back and forth between Zuko’s eyes. There was no scar, nothing even changed. Sokka even still had that stupid stubble patch under his jaw that he always misses when he shaves.
Zuko finally let the tears spill. Sokka pulled him into a hug, rubbing strong circles into Zuko’s back.
“I’m sorry,” Zuko choked out.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Sokka assured.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Zuko’s tears finally subsided. He pulled away from the hug, swiping at his eyes.
“Better?” Sokka asked.
“Yeah,” Zuko admitted.
“Good, because I have to pee,” Sokka proclaimed, marching towards the toilet.
Zuko laughed out loud, surprised.
#
At breakfast, Toph seemed thrilled. Katara just finished a quick heal to Sokka’s wrist, calling him an idiot for trying something stupid. She patted Zuko on the shoulder as she stood up to return to her seat next to Aang.
“So how did last night go?” Toph asked, grinning. “I guess your amazing plan didn’t go well.”
Zuko tensed, but Sokka just shrugged.
“We did our best. Maybe we’ll get it today,” Sokka offered.
“Maybe,” Toph agreed easily. “But what about last night? How did you manage, did you sleep well?”
Zuko tried to reach for the jam, but brought Sokka’s hand with him. He smiled sheepishly and Sokka used his unchained hand to give him the jar.
“Yeah we slept fine,” Zuko told Toph.
Sokka wrinkled his nose. “I usually sleep on my stomach, but Zuko likes to sleep on his back, so we had to compromise there. He won.”
“So…” Toph prodded. “Sharing the bed was no biggie?”
“Why would it be?” Zuko asked.
“Yeah, we usually share anyway,” Sokka added.
Water sprayed out of Toph’s mouth, her eyes wide. “What? You do?”
Sokka and Zuko shared a confused glance with one another. Sokka looked to Aang and Katara for support, as if to say, she’s weird, right? But both Aang and Katara were staring at him and Zuko as if they were the strange ones.
“ You share a bed?” Toph repeated. Her hands were clenching the table’s edge. “I have my work cut out for me…” she muttered.
Zuko spared her a strange look, before he turned to Sokka. “I guess we should get going to that meeting. They’re not expecting you but…”
Sokka held their chained wrists and shook them with a smile. “Ha! Let’s see if they can get rid of me this time! Just because I am ‘not on the council’ doesn’t mean I can’t be there, right?”
“Just try not to insult anybody,” Zuko said.
Together they stood up, Sokka stuffing toast in his mouth as they waved adieu to the group and exited into the hallway.
“That was weird, right?” Toph asked Katara and Aang, who were still staring after the pair, dumbfounded. “I mean, how come they think what they’re doing is normal? It’s not normal, right?” Toph tried to clarify.
“They’re acting like they’re married or something!” Katara agreed.
“Kiss already,” Aang mumbled.
“Listen, Iroh asked me to help him get those two to get their heads out of their asses and realize their feelings, but honestly, I think this is a bigger job than I first expected."
“We could help!” Aang offered. “I’m a great matchmaker.”
“When have you ever made a match?” Katara asked.
Aang pouted, crossing his arms. “Well we’re dating, aren’t we?” He turned to Toph. “Let me try!”
#
“How was the meeting?” Aang asked as the two exited the council chambers.
“Sokka got into an argument with Councilwoman Reyva again,” Zuko answered. “About whether or not the official color of the Fire Nation is crimson or blood orange. ”
“It’s definitely blood orange!” Sokka shouted.
Aang laughed, wiping tears out of the corners of his eyes. “You two crack me up!” He said. “You’re like an old married couple.”
Sokka elbowed Zuko lightly. “I told you so,” he whispered, grinning.
“We are not!” Zuko protested. “It hasn’t been that long, right?” He asked Sokka.
“Well I don’t know, it has been like a year and a half? But we’ve known each other since we were like fifteen!”
“A year and a half since what?” Aang asked.
Sokka laughed and ruffled Aang’s non-existent hair. “Take a wild guess,” he teased.
“We need to get going,” Zuko said, turning apologetically to Aang. “Sokka has to talk to some of the engineers about a new project. We’ll see you at dinner, Aang!”
#
“And then when I asked what happened a year and a half ago, Sokka just laughed at me!” Aang exclaimed, pacing back and forth in front of Toph and Katara.
“Maybe since Sokka came to live at the palace?” Katara mused. “That was around then.”
Aang looked thoughtful. “Yeah...that was about two years ago?”
“Hey guys! Sorry we’re late!” Sokka greeted, tugging Zuko into the dining room after him. Both of them looked a little singed. Zuko’s hair had been taken out of its bun, and it was a mess. Sokka’s clothes were incredibly ruffled.
“What happened to you two?” Katara asked.
Grinning, Sokka triumphantly held up his wrist, and then he grabbed Zuko’s hand and raised it up too.
“You got it off!” Toph yelled, disbelieving. “How did you do it?”
“Two words,” Sokka said. “Fire. Sword.”
“You got the fire sword working?” Aang asked.
“It was all Zuko’s idea!” Sokka beamed. “We added this mechanism to the inside to help direct the current of the fire...it worked perfectly!”
Zuko blushed and ducked his head. “It was your invention.”
“And you made it work. We both did great!” Sokka paused and looked down at the table, where several platters heaped with food has been set out. “Enough bragging," He dismisssed, "let’s eat!”
Throughout the meal, Katara, Aang and Toph suffered in stunned silence as Zuko and Sokka continued their erratic behavior, seemingly clueless to anyone else in the room.
Finally, when dinner was over, Katara pulled Sokka to the side.
“Can I talk to you?” She asked quietly.
“Sure, sis,” Sokka agreed, a trace of worry in his voice. He grabbed her arm and led her out onto a balcony, shutting the doors behind them. “What’s up?” He asked her, his eyes bright.
“Just…” Katara shrugged. She looked out over the landscape. The moon was lighting the palace gardens in a way that made everything look silver.
“Are you happy? Here?”
“Yes,” Sokka immediately answered. “Very.”
“Good. It’s just it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this. You’re really thriving here. It’s like you belong here.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Sokka whispered, smiling.
“And...You and Zuko?” Katara pressed.
“We’re great,” Sokka said. “Katara, I’ve been meaning to ask you something too.”
“What?”
“Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but Zuko and I are...well, he’s my best friend. He’s like family to me. Not like you or Aang, but, differently. I really love him a lot.”
“Oh, Sokka,” Katara gasped. She pulled her brother into a hug. “I have noticed.”
Sokka patted her hair before he pulled back slightly, looking her in the eyes. “I’ve been thinking about asking him to...you know, take the next step.”
Katara’s eyes met Sokka’s, and she grabbed his hands. “Oh I’m sure he’ll say yes!” She assured Sokka. “I can tell that he thinks you’re very special.”
Sokka squeezed Katara’s hands. “That means a lot. I was thinking about doing it for a while now, but now everyone is here, and I just keep thinking, I don’t know, that I want this? That I can’t imagine it any other way?”
“I’m so happy for you,” Katara exclaimed, pulling him back into another hug.
#
Sokka was sweating. Zuko knew that it was not unusual for Sokka to sweat--when you grow up in the south pole, things like living on a tropical volcanic island might make you break out into a sweat. He also insisted on wearing fur-lined water tribe boots, just because he thought fire nation style was “too pointy.”
But this sweat, it seemed different. Usually Sokka shimmered. It was less like sweat and more like a light mist that made his tan skin shine. This sweat was beading. He was wringing his hands, and he kept fidgeting.
“Are you alright?” Zuko asked. “We can go inside, you know.”
“I’m fine!” Sokka exclaimed, his voice raising to a pitch Zuko hadn’t heard from him in years. “The gardens are fine. I love the gardens. Why would we leave the gardens?”
“Sokka, what’s going on?” Zuko drilled.
Sokka bit his lip, looking out at the pond. He shoved his hand in his pocket and opened his mouth. He looked at Zuko, his face looking panicked, before he quickly snapped his mouth shut and looked back at the lake.
“Sokka, tell me what’s wrong,” Zuko pressed.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Sokka insisted. He grabbed Zuko’s hand with the hand that wasn’t in his pocket. He squeezed it. “Nothing is wrong. In fact, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” Sokka admitted.
Zuko sucked in a breath. “Me, too.”
“And honestly, Zuko, you’re the reason I’m so happy. Every time I think about you I grin like a crazy person. And a few nights ago, I was talking to Katara, and I just...I was just thinking, I love you. I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Zuko whispered.
Behind them a bush rustled loudly, but neither of them noticed, their eyes glued to each other.
“And I...Zuko…”
“Sokka…”
Sokka finally pulled his hand out of his pocket, and clenched in his palm was a navy blue band. At the center, there was a red pendant, carved out of wood and hand-painted.
“Willyoumarryme?” Sokka asked, so fast the sentence sounded like one word.
“WHAT?!?!?” Suddenly, the bush behind them exploded, and Toph, Katara, and Aang burst forward. Aang fell right over onto his back, his face frozen in shock. Katara and Toph did not look any better. Toph was ruining the flower beds, great shards of rocks popping up from under the soil. Katara was pacing back and forth, her hands running through her hair.
“Guys?!” Sokka exclaimed. “What the fuck, guys?!!”
“WHAT THE FUCK, SOKKA?!” Katara yelled back. “You asked him to marry you?”
“I fucking told you I was going to ask him the other night!”
“I thought you meant you were going to ask him on a date!”
“Why the fuck would I have to talk to you about that? We go on dates all the time, he’s my boyfriend!”
“YOUR WHAT??” Toph interjected, a ten foot tall rock suddenly springing from the earth three feet away from her.
“We’ve been dating for over a year!” Sokka screamed, desparate.
“We had no idea…” Aang murmured, slowly sitting up.
“How could you not…?” Sokka trailed off, considering. “I mean, I guess we never said anything about it…”
“No mention, no quick pulling aside, oh-by-the-way, FUCK, Sokka, you didn’t even send a hawk!”
“I mean, we weren’t hiding it!” Sokka defended. “We sleep in the same bed! I mean, surely we’ve kissed in front of you…”
“You really haven’t!” Toph shrieked. “We’ve been trying all week to get you guys to realize that you’ve head-over-heels for each other!”
“Mission accomplished!” Sokka yelled, exasperated.
“And where the fuck were you this whole time?” Toph accused, pointing a finger at a willow tree. Just as Sokka was about to break it to her that she was pointing at a tree, Iroh stepped out from behind it.
“What is it with everyone we know and hiding behind plants?” Sokka bemoaned.
Iroh’s hands were raised. “I thought you knew they were dating to,” he placated. “I was hoping you would help me usher on the engagement, not start them dating.” Iroh paused thoughtfully. “I thought that fact was quite obvious…”
“Apparently not,” Aang said, picking himself up off the ground.
“But, now that the whole situation has been cleared up,” Iroh clasped his hands together and looked expectantly at Zuko. “What do you say, Nephew?”
Zuko looked at his uncle, at Katara, at Aang, at Toph, at the ten foot rock next to Toph, and swallowed deeply. His eyes finally rested on Sokka, who was frozen, holding the engagement necklace in a clenched hand, his mouth hanging open.
“Yes,” Zuko breathed, and Sokka melted. “I don’t think I could survive the rest of these idiots without you,” Zuko added.
Sokka let out a single burst of a laugh, his eyes watering. He threw his arms around Zuko’s neck and pressed his face into his hair, laughing.
Zuko pulled Sokka back just far enough to kiss him, his eyes watering a little too.
“I call best man!” Aang shouted.