Chapter Text
"You don't need to be stressed all the time! Take a break. These meetings are boring anyway. Too many old people." A cheery voice rang out throughout the gardens.
The voice belonged to Sokka, the Southern Water Tribe Ambassador. At first, the guard was hesitant about the boy. He was loud, obnoxious, and told the worst puns humanly possible. In only a few days, the guard warmed up to him. Sokka was always kind and respectful to others, despite his enthusiastic nature. He meant well, but things could easily get out of hand.
The two boys sat in the garden outside the palace, the guard not far behind. Firelord Zuko sat by the small pond, feeding little scraps of bread to the turtleducks. Sokka sat beside him, his arm wrapped around the other boy's shoulder. The guard didn't even flinch, everyone had gotten used to Sokka being touchy-feely already.
Zuko rolled his eyes. "I'm fine."
"Is that why you're staring at the rock like it's a pillow?" Sokka asked.
Zuko shook his head. "I'm not!"
Sokka raised an eyebrow. "You need more sleep."
"I'm fine," Zuko grumbled again. "I'm not tired at all."
A yawn escaped his mouth right after telling the little white lie. Despite Zuko's best attempt to conceal it, Sokka still saw. The guard had noticed he'd been yawning a lot more lately too. The firelord went to sleep late and woke up early for meetings. The poor boy rarely slept and it had only gotten worse the longer he held the crown.
"You're an awful liar." Sokka replied.
Zuko smiled slightly, something he didn't do too often. He pushed Sokka lightly. However, he didn't intend for Sokka to fall into the pond. Sokka laid there in the middle of the pond, soaked in water. His unruly, wet ponytail hung loosely to the side, but he had a big smile on his face. He started to laugh.
Zuko offered a hand to Sokka, dragging him out of the water. As Sokka emerged from the pond, he slipped on some mud. The slip brought him tumbling down, knocking into Zuko and bringing him down too. They laid on the ground for a second, neither saying anything or bothering to get up. The guard wanted to help, but figured it would be too weird. It's not like the firelord was in any form of danger.
Sokka was practically on top of the other boy, dripping pond water onto the newly washed robes. From what the guard could see, Zuko was blushing, staring at the fallen boy.
"Sorry," Sokka whispered, barely audible. "Am I dripping water on you?"
"Yes." Zuko mumbled.
The guard expected him to look annoyed, but he didn't. He was always different with Sokka. Still, the guard wasn't expecting when Zuko grabbed the back of the other boy's head and brought it down to his own, and kissed him. The guard was tempted to look away, but couldn't. He wanted to see where this was going.
It was Sokka who broke the kiss and rolled off of Zuko, onto the soft mud beside him.
"You have no idea how much money I owe Toph." He admitted.
Zuko giggled. As in, like a small child. It was the first time the guard had heard him laugh, as the firelord was rarely happy anymore. Sokka looked at Zuko with a dazed expression. He probably hadn't heard Zuko laugh much either.
Zuko put his hand on top of Sokka's. "I've been wanting to do that forever."
Sokka grinned. "You can do it anytime you want."
Zuko rose to his feet, this time not offering a hand to help Sokka up. "Let's go inside, you got me drenched."
The guard watched as Sokka got up and slid his hand into Zuko's, like it belonged there. Zuko may have had a rough few weeks, but they'd hopefully get better. The guard smiled thoughfully. Sokka would take care of him.