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“Search them!”
Sokka sighed; he was getting tired of this old song and dance. Captured, kidnapped, held hostage– it all went the same, predictable way. He’d lost track of how many times he’d been through this, especially since he’d started publicly dating Zuko. He hardly even needed to think too hard about how to escape anymore– he knew the exact moments best suited for making a run for it.
For now, they just had to go with the flow, and hope these chuckleheads would be too dumb to figure out who Zuko was. It was rare that the pair of them would be taken together, but it would hopefully not complicate things too much.
Luckily, this capture seemed to be purely a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, which would theoretically make their escape even easier.
Sokka and Zuko had been in the middle of a much-needed vacation in the Western Earth Kingdom after settling some new disputes in the fledgling United Republic. Such disputes were clear symptoms of the unrest that still plagued the collection of former colonies as they figured out their position in this new world.
They had been in a border town between the United Republic and the Earth Kingdom when Zuko had just had to get himself involved in a fight between supporters and opponents of the aforementioned republic.
Sokka had urged Zuko to ignore the conflict– they were traveling in disguise for a reason– but one thing led to another, Zuko had opened his big mouth, and then he was swinging fire and Sokka had jumped right in to fight beside him.
But the skirmishing locals had firebenders of their own, it turned out. Zuko would never hurt his own people, so they’d surrendered to the group they were fighting, which turned out to be this town’s excuse for a police force.
Great .
So technically, Sokka supposed, they had been arrested. It definitely wouldn’t be their first time for that either.
So now he and Zuko were stood in the cramped broom closet of a cell they’d been manhandled into as one of the thug-cops searched the pair of them for weapons at the direction of the man who appeared to be in charge.
Sokka had already decided he didn’t like the boss man. He reminded Sokka of the bullies he’d dealt with from the Fire Navy during the war, and judging by the look on Zuko’s face, he felt the same. The guy was a classic case of letting power get to one’s head.
He’d treated the pair of them roughly the entire time, and it didn’t look like the cuffs holding both their arms behind their backs were going to be coming off any time soon.
Sokka met Zuko’s eye, praying his firebender could keep his cool just a little longer; he knew his boyfriend was not a fan of people touching him, or of being restrained, or especially of any combination of the two.
Zuko nodded back at Sokka as he was searched, expression tight.
The massive cop didn’t seem to find anything of interest hidden on Zuko’s person, so he turned to Sokka. Sokka just smirked at him, knowing he’d find the boomerang that somehow hadn’t been taken from him with his sword, as well as the knife in his belt and the other knife in his boot.
When the cop’s hand next reached into Sokka’s pocket and pulled out the betrothal necklace, Sokka froze.
“Hey, don’t touch that!”
He didn’t expect that he would be so possessive over it, but he also didn’t expect that some dumb hunk of muscle would be touching it before Zuko could, and–
Spirits , this was embarrassing, this was bad – Zuko didn’t even know Sokka had it, or what he was planning…
He couldn’t look at Zuko right now. He just needed the necklace back .
“Oh, this?” The cop dangled the necklace carelessly, just out of Sokka’s reach, “I’m taking this, too. It’s clearly stolen– no way scum like you could afford this, or would just be walking around with it in your pocket…”
Sokka saw red. He lunged for the man and caught him with a headbutt as he turned to leave the cell.
The large man stumbled and turned back to Sokka, a dangerous look in his eye. A split second later, he backhanded Sokka, sending him sprawling back on the floor. Sokka’s bound hands kept him from catching himself and he landed on his shoulder– hard .
The cop locked the cell behind him and left the two of them alone without another word.
Sokka groaned on the floor, spitting blood from his mouth and trying to assess the damage to his shoulder– it wasn’t good , that much was clear.
He heard Zuko kneel down beside him and Sokka looked up to see the concerned and pained look on his face.
“Sokka!” Zuko called. His voice was tight– it clearly bothered him that he didn’t have the use of his hands to check Sokka over or help him up.
“Here,” Zuko offered, turning around awkwardly to try to offer Sokka his hands as something to grab onto to pull himself up. “You probably dislocated that shoulder again. Let’s get you sitting up- slowly…”
Sokka didn’t need to work hard to keep his movements slow- he grunted in pain as he painstakingly scrambled into a seated position, pausing a couple times to catch his breath.
This might complicate their escape.
Shit .
Zuko waited for Sokka to find a (relatively) comfortable position, but didn’t stop looking at him carefully once he did.
“…You gonna tell me what the hell that was all about?” The firebender raised his eyebrow, “You just had a death wish, or you’re just more into fancy jewelry than I ever thought?”
Sokka groaned, but this time not from the pain. He did not want to be having this conversation, not here and now. He’d wanted it to be special, it had all been planned out.
He’d spent weeks carving the pendant on Zuko’s betrothal necklace, getting the rays of the sun just right to look like real flames. He’d spent another couple days deciding on the color of the ribbon- he’d ended up settling on a nice deep purple, a mixture of the Water Tribe’s blues and the Fire Nation’s reds. It was perfect.
This whole vacation had been an excuse to set up the surprise proposal. Sokka had been dating Zuko officially for close to four years now and he knew in the core of his being that Zuko was his person, and the need to make that permanent had begun to burn inside of him.
So he’d arranged a private, relaxing road trip through the Earth Kingdom, no Fire Lordly or Ambassadorial responsibilities, just like old times– leading straight to Ba Sing Se and an elaborately planned yet intimate dinner in Iroh’s tea shop, leading to the perfect opportunity for a heartfelt speech and the most romantic proposal.
But if Sokka lost the necklace, or if Zuko even knew about it…
Everything would be ruined.
So Sokka took a moment to consider how he could best answer his boyfriend’s question.
“Yeah, uh… I dunno. Everything’s all kinda fuzzy right now?” he tried, wincing internally. He had to keep the secret, but he hated lying to Zuko.
Zuko frowned and looked closer at Sokka’s eyes.
“I don’t like the sound of that… You think you hit your head when that guy slapped you?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“That would explain why you’re acting a little weird…” Zuko frowned, like he still wasn’t willing to let go of the situation with the necklace, but realized that they had other priorities, “So… are you up for the usual plan?”
Now it was Sokka’s turn to frown. The usual escape plan, meaning picking the locks and fighting their way out. The usual plan didn’t usually count on them both being cuffed, but that shouldn’t be a huge problem. The real question was how helpful Sokka would be in a fight right now. He reminded himself that he didn’t actually have a head injury, so that should even their odds a little more.
“Yeah,” he concluded, “Those guys are strong, but there were only four of them that we saw, and they might not even all be here right now. They didn’t look like they’ve had any serious training either…”
Zuko squinted at Sokka– he may be sounding a little too coherent for someone who just smacked his head on a stone floor, oops .
The firebender didn’t comment though, just kicked off his boot to reveal the lock pick that lived in the heel. He grabbed at it clumsily– Sokka could bet Zuko’s fingers were starting to feel as numb as his own.
The next several minutes were spent with Zuko trying to unlock Sokka’s cuffs. Backwards. Without looking. With his hands tied behind his back, literally.
It was impressive work, but only went to show how many times the two of them had had to do this in their lives.
Finally, after what could honestly have taken an hour, but Sokka really had no idea, his hands were free.
He rubbed the feeling back into them as best he could, wincing as the movement tugged on his damaged shoulder.
Sokka grabbed the pick from Zuko and set to work freeing his boyfriend’s hands. Sokka’s skill with a lock pick wasn’t nearly as advanced as Zuko’s but he would still be able to help faster than if Zuko tried to work on his own cuffs.
But as Sokka fumbled with the pick in his one good hand, he wondered if that was even the case right now.
Eventually, they both had full use of their hands again.
Sokka handed the pick back to Zuko so he could get to work on the door, but Zuko set it aside.
“Let me fix your shoulder.”
Sokka grimaced, “No, maybe we should let it wait.”
“Why?” Another frown.
“Because,” Sokka sighed, “If you reset my shoulder now I’ll scream and then those thugs will come in to investigate and find us trying to escape.”
Zuko nodded and looked closely at Sokka again. He exhaled sharply in his characteristic way, accepting the point but clearly reluctant to, “Well it doesn’t sound like you hit your head that hard. That’s a good sign.”
“…Yeah.” Drop it, Zuko. Drop it, Zuko.
Zuko did drop it, turning away and setting to work on the door, which he had open far more quickly than either of them had gotten out of their cuffs.
Sokka stepped forward and cracked the door open the slightest bit, trying to assess the situation outside. “Okay. I see two men, the big one who was in here and the boss. They’re sitting at a table playing pai sho, so we can probably get the drop on them. Knock them out, grab our stuff, and get outta here?”
Zuko nodded his agreement to the plan, “I’ll call Druk as soon as we’re clear. He should be able to get us far enough away.”
Zuko glanced at Sokka’s hurt shoulder and his left arm hanging uselessly at his side. “Let me go out first. I’ll take the big guy.”
Sokka nodded. That was fair. He watched as Zuko took his place at the door and counted down from three.
The door creaked open just enough to let Zuko out and he crept up behind the big man unnoticed until he had him in a chokehold.
Unfortunately for Sokka, that got the boss’s attention and he was on his feet in an instant, running back towards their cell.
So much for the element of surprise.
Sokka lowered his good shoulder and used it to ram into the boss guy’s chest, determined to get to him before he could try bending.
It worked; the man fell back, wind knocked out of him, fast enough for Sokka to find his weapons were stored in the corner of the small room. He lunged for the corner, but the boss man stuck out a foot to trip Sokka.
He went down and held out his arms to break his fall, jarring his injured shoulder painfully. He howled in pain and it allowed just enough time for the man to flip Sokka onto his back– jarring the shoulder again – and call his fire to his fist.
Sokka gasped through the pain and kneed the man in the groin, buying himself enough time to crawl for the corner and grab his sword in his good hand.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the other two men had been drawn into the room by the sounds of their fight, but Zuko was already taking care of them, having already dispatched the big man.
The boss was on his feet again, approaching Sokka, who pulled himself to his own feet, sword ready, “Look, man. I don’t want to hurt y–“
The guy wasn’t in a chatty mood apparently, as Sokka’s words were cut off by a ball of fire hurtling right over his head.
He absently thought about how he’d really appreciate just one fight where he didn’t walk away burnt.
Sokka dodged more fire, singeing his hair and tunic in a few places, but managing to get a few slices in at the firebender in the meantime. One got the man’s shoulder and Sokka couldn‘t help but feel a sense of justice for his own hurt shoulder. It wasn’t a deep cut, but it was enough to make the man hesitate enough for Sokka to knock him out with a well-aimed hit from the pommel of his sword.
He looked around; Zuko had already taken care of the other three men and was dragging them into a corner to tie them up.
Sokka collected the rest of his weapons and stopped.
The necklace .
They couldn’t leave without finding the betrothal necklace.
Sokka panicked but tried to keep casual as he looked around the small room. Where would it be?
“…Sokka?” He couldn’t place the tone of Zuko’s voice as he looked over at him.
Zuko’s back was to Sokka, but Sokka could see he was looking at something he held in his hand.
Nononononono ….
Sokka crossed the room and could see Zuko standing over the unconscious thugs, betrothal necklace in his hand . It must have fallen out of the big guy’s pocket during the fight.
Zuko’s brow furrowed as he tried to place it, something clearly seemed familiar about it to him, “This is like your sister’s…”
Sokka squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He did not want this to go this way , but maybe it was meant to be.
He opened his eyes, cleared his throat, and stepped alongside Zuko, absently noticing his nose was broken, taking the necklace into his own hand, “Yeah, it’s… you know about how the Water Tribe has the custom of betrothal necklaces…”
Zuko’s brow furrowed as he turned to face Sokka, “So this is… oh .” He seemed to make the connection, a flush coming to his cheeks.
Sokka wasn’t sure what that flush meant, but he knew that he too was now unexpectedly embarrassed, and this was not how he’d wanted it to go at all . Zuko didn’t deserve to be proposed to in a room full of unconscious men they’d just escaped from.
The universe could just never give Sokka a break, could it?
“Listen, I had this huge plan for us. We were going to go to Ba Sing Se, and there was going to be dinner and a speech, and your uncle was going to be there…”
“Sokka,” Zuko placed a hand on his own and smiled at him, tears in his eyes, “It’s okay. My answer is yes.”
“And I–“ Sokka cut himself off as he registered his boyfriend’s words, heart dropping into his stomach. “Oh,” he breathed, suddenly completely lost in the moment.
Sure, this wasn’t perfect, but Zuko, the love of his life, his soulmate , had just told Sokka he’d marry him. That was perfect, and he didn’t know if he’d ever been more in love with Zuko than he was in this moment.
One of the cops stirred at their feet, snapping Sokka back to reality.
He really didn’t care if the thugs came to– they were tied up tightly– but it was suddenly important that Sokka made this at least a little special.
“At least let me do this properly ,” he suddenly felt flustered as he pushed one of the guys’ legs out of the way to give him enough space to kneel.
Sokka cleared his throat and began reciting the speech he’d been preparing for weeks.
“Zuko… Ever since we first met all those years ago, we’ve had this connection. It took us a few girlfriends and a few more years for us to figure it out, but when we found each other… You say that as a nonbender I will never understand what it’s like to feel a connection with an inner fire, but Zuko, you’re my fire and I’ll never stop burning for you.”
He looked around at the stirring cops and felt moved to go off-script. “Katara once told me that the two of us must share a single brain cell. And over the years, we’ve also shared a few prison cells. I… don’t think that’s ever going to change. I wanted the circumstances of this proposal to be… different than what we got, but the reality is this is our life and it probably always will be. But I’d get arrested a thousand times over if it meant I got to be with you.”
Sokka held up the necklace and went back on-script for the last part.
“ You make me complete.
Without you I am no one.
Zu, will you marry me?”
Time seemed to stop as their eyes met, filled with love and all the things left unsaid, that never needed saying.
And then–
“Are you fucking kidding me?!”
The Cop Boss had apparently woken up.
Sokka kicked him in the head, knocking him back out, without even removing his eyes from Zuko’s.
“I will,” Zuko breathed, tears still in his eyes, as if he hadn’t even heard the interruption from the other man.
It was the happiest moment of Sokka’s life.
He stood shakily and fastened the necklace around Zuko’s neck– struggling a little with his as-yet-unfixed arm. That would be their next priority.
Sokka walked back around to face Zuko and brought his good hand up to his boyfriend’s– his fiancé’s – cheek, kissing him passionately. He could feel Zuko’s arms around his waist as he deepened the kiss even more. Sokka was faintly aware that another cop had woken up and was moshing about the PDA, but Sokka couldn’t bring himself to care.
This moment was perfect .
Until he tilted his head the wrong way and jostled Zuko’s broken nose.
Oh, yeah.. .
“Shit, sorry.” Sokka pulled back with a wince and Zuko let out a laugh.
“This is kinda crazy, right?”
Sokka grinned back, “I wouldn’t expect anything less of us.”
“Come on, let’s get out of here and see about that shoulder.”