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Sokka refused to believe that Zuko honestly thought any of them would fall for this.
“I’ve done some good things!” the firebender cried, sounding a little desperate as he took a step forward. “I mean, I could’ve stolen your bison in Ba Sing Se, but I set him free! That’s something.”
The desperate look quickly changed to one of shock and discomfort when Appa licked his back, and if it had been anyone else in his position Sokka probably would’ve laughed.
“Appa does seem to like him,” Toph said consideringly. And no. That was not going to happen.
“He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Appa would lick him,” Sokka countered, dismissing the idea as fast as he could. “I’m not buying it.”
Zuko had been slowly moving toward the fountain behind them as Sokka spoke, and was now sitting down carefully on the stone to dip his hands in the water. Sokka couldn’t actually blame him for that one; he hated being covered in Appa’s “greetings” too, and if the guy who currently had two waterbenders glaring him down wanted to get closer to their element, well who was Sokka to stop him?
“I can understand why you wouldn’t trust me,” Zuko began, but he didn’t get the chance to say another word before Teo rolled into the courtyard, the other two Earth Kingdom boys following close behind him.
“Guess what?” Teo asked excitedly, coming to a halt. “We finally convinced Haru to shave!”
Sokka was two seconds from snapping at them to go away so that Zuko wouldn’t have the chance to attack them, but before he could turn to them, Zuko beat him to it.
The Fire Nation prince’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open a little as he froze, hands still dunked in the water as he leaned forward a little.
“Oh,” Haru said, staring at Zuko in surprise. “Uh, hi?” he offered with a kind, if slightly confused, smile. Sokka frowned, part of him wanting to tell Haru off for smiling at the guy that had chased them across the world for months, but again didn’t get the chance to speak.
Sokka watched in detached, yet amused, horror as the firebender flushed almost as red as his clothes; it honestly made the scar stand out a lot less as the other half of his normally pale face turned a dark pink. He saw Zuko quickly duck his head down, letting his hair cover his face as best it could, but the forceful movement had overtaxed his apparently fragile balance and he tipped face first into the pool of water with a yelp.
The splash was almost impressive.
Just as suddenly as he’d fallen in, Zuko shot up again, water streaming from the hair that was now plastered to his still-red face, even as he reached up to push it out of his rapidly blinking eyes.
Aang had lowered his staff, looking at the scene in front of him in confusion. Toph was laughing uncontrollably with a finger pointed toward the prince who now looked a bit like a drowned snow rat. Katara watched with something like satisfaction twisting the corners of her lips up.
Sokka was still convinced that this was a trap, but at least he’d gotten some amusement out of it first.
When Zuko came out to join them for lunch not long after their little chat, Katara watched him carefully. She wanted to make sure he’d taken her promise to heart, and if the way he ate by the fountain outside instead of in the loose circle they’d formed and the way he wouldn’t meet her eye was any indication, he had.
Good.
She sipped at her meal and listened as Aang lamented to Sokka about the fact that he had to practice with Toph after they finished eating. Her feet weren’t quite fully healed, so she wouldn’t be throwing boulders at him like usual, but she still wanted to drill him. Katara laughed quietly as Toph punched Aang’s shoulder, causing him to fly forward and sprawl across the ground. The Duke laughed loudly and Teo smiled softly as he told Aang that he could still explore with them after dinner if he wanted.
She almost didn’t notice when Haru slipped outside, a bowl of cut up fruit in his hand.
She saw Zuko startle as Haru’s solid footfall closed in on him. He’d been looking out into the open air and quickly twisted around at the approach of another person. Katara thought he might have expected her the way he’d tensed up and a sliver of gratification shot through her at the thought.
“I wanted to thank you for the fresh fruit,” Haru said as he sat down next to Zuko. The firebender had apparently picked some the day before and brought it down with him when he went back to the clearing to collect his things.
“Uh,” Zuko stuttered out, face already turning pink. “Y- you’re welcome.” Haru held the bowl out toward him and she watched Zuko do a double take before grabbing a piece and turning away, head tucked low.
Haru acted like he didn’t notice as he sat down and set the bowl down between them, grabbing a piece for himself. “I haven’t had a chance to eat much fresh fruit in the past few years,” he admitted. When Zuko turned back toward him, glancing up at him from where he was hunched forward, staring at the floor, Haru continued. “My village was occupied by the Fire Nation when I was a little younger than Aang is now.”
Zuko’s gaze returned to the floor. “I’m sorry,” he said, shame written across his face.
Haru tipped his head in acknowledgment and continued. “We had to give up most of our harvests until a few months ago, when we finally fought back.” He smiled widely. “Katara was the one to inspire my father and the other earthbenders that were imprisoned to regain their spirit.”
Zuko’s eyes flickered toward her, widening when she caught his stare coldly. He quickly looked away.
The jerking movement hit the bowl, causing it to wobble. Zuko immediately shot forward to stabilize it and keep it from falling, and Haru’s hand came up to lock onto Zuko’s arm.
“Wouldn’t want you to fall in again by accident,” Haru joked and Katara felt her own face flush, though in something closer to anger. She wasn’t jealous that Haru was apparently focusing his attention on welcoming Zuko; she’d long since gotten over her brief crush on the earthbender. No, she was upset that Haru was showing the guy that had hunted them down for months on end with so much kindness; she was mad that Zuko seemed to turn into a harmless turtleduck the second Haru was within his sight when they both knew exactly what he was capable of.
She hadn’t forgotten Ba Sing Se.
She doubted she ever would.
“Th- thanks,” Zuko stuttered again. Haru huffed out an amused breath and used his other hand to pat Zuko solidly on the back before he stood up again.
“I’m glad you decided to join us. And thank you again for the fruit; I really did miss it,” he said, smiling once more before walking back toward Teo and The Duke.
Katara watched Zuko slap a hand over his blushing face once Haru had his back turned to him and smiled into her bowl. She had to admit, it was fun seeing him flounder so badly. Maybe she’d have to encourage Haru to keep reaching out to their new friend.
The sun was setting now and they were still stuck in this muck. They’d been “staying calm” for hours now and nothing had happened. After their first few unsuccessful attempts to free themselves, they’d both fallen silent. Aang was starting to feel his worry rise, though, and he needed an outlet for it.
“Sooo…” he trailed off smoothly. “What’s the deal with you and Haru?”
Aang had a feeling that if Zuko had been drinking water right then, he probably would’ve choked on it. As it was, he was still spluttering.
“What- what do you mean?” he asked pointedly. “There’s nothing going on!”
Aang wasn’t sure if hysteria was starting to set in for the older boy or if he would’ve sounded like this no matter when Aang had brought it up, but he pushed forward regardless.
“I mean,” he stressed, “that you always blush whenever Haru even looks at you.”
“I do not,” Zuko snapped. Aang craned his neck as far as he could to the side.
“You’re blushing right now,” he pointed out. That just caused the blush to deepen.
“Shut up,” he muttered.
“So?” Aang prompted again.
Zuko sighed wearily. “I just think he’s… a nice guy. He’s shown me more kindness than I probably deserve after everything I’ve done.”
“But you were doing that before you ever even really talked to him. All he did was smile and say hi that first time and you still fell into the fountain.”
“He just- he caught me off guard, okay?” Zuko replied, not quite as harshly as before, but still with a definite edge.
“Ohhh,” Aang said quietly, finally understanding. “You think he’s cute!”
“No I don’t!” Zuko shouted back. When Aang looked over, Zuko was glaring at him, but he was also blushing again, so Aang figured he’d deduced correctly.
“You don’t have to be embarrassed. He is really nice, he wouldn't give you a hard time about it or anything.”
Zuko sighed again. Aang thought he might be banging his head against the nearest wall right now if he’d had the mobility for it.
“You know,” Aang continued sagely, “he told me that he thought you were really nice too.”
“He… what?” Zuko asked, sounding genuinely confused.
“He came to me while you were gone getting your stuff a couple days ago. He wanted to know why we were so against you joining our group. He thought it was just because you were Fire Nation, so I told him about some of the things you did.”
“Oh.” Zuko’s voice was flat and disheartened, so Aang hurriedly continued.
“But he seemed really shocked!” Aang insisted. “He said that you seemed really kind and willing to help, so he figured that you must have really changed.” Aang chanced a glance over at the other boy. “I agree with him.”
Zuko had a tiny pleased smile and his fierce blush softened a little bit. He was still pinker than normal, though. “I’m glad,” he replied quietly.
Aang smiled back at him. Now if they could just figure out a way out of their entrapment…
Katara was having a blast mocking Zuko over his Dragon Dance, even hours later during dinner, and Toph was ready for her to pick another topic. Sokka would chime in occasionally which would just set his sister off again. Aang chuckled goodnaturedly about it, but Zuko seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else right about now, though he also seemed like he’d resigned himself to his admittedly well-deserved fate.
When everyone had finished eating, Katara finally gave him a break and stood to collect everyone’s bowls. She and Aang left to wash them and Sokka moved over to sit with Teo and The Duke. As soon as he was out of the center of attention, Zuko blew out a steady breath, his head leaning back to thud dully against the wall.
She felt Haru stand up, waving off The Duke’s halfhearted questions as he moved toward Zuko, who had apparently missed the entire exchange; Haru got within spitting distance before speaking and Zuko didn’t notice a thing.
“If it makes you feel any better, I liked your form,” he said, lowering himself down to sit next to Zuko.
Toph felt the way Zuko’s heart immediately sped up as he jerked upward, sitting ramrod straight as he faced Haru.
“Um,” he said, voice a little higher than it normally sounded before he tried to subtly clear his throat ( tried being the key word). “Thank- thank you.”
Haru huffed out a small laugh. “When I was little, my dad used to show me the weirdest earthbending poses. He’d squat down until he was almost touching the ground and then tell me to do the same. I felt completely ridiculous, and I’m pretty sure I looked it too, but it actually helped me a lot. It helped me find my center of gravity and made my stance a lot steadier.”
Toph knew exactly what he meant and thought about when she’d tried to teach that same lesson to Aang, back when he’d first started practicing. Zuko seemed to understand as well, a lot faster than Aang had, so maybe there was something to the method Haru was describing.
Zuko’s heart was still beating a lot harder than it normally did, but not in the same way it did when Katara was around him. He only got this way around Haru.
“Yeah,” Zuko replied quietly. “I remember some of the katas that my teacher ran me through when I was younger were… interesting.” He sounded like he was trying really hard to relate to Haru, and the earthbender laughed, so maybe she was just reading into it too much, but Toph thought that the former prince’s tone sounded a little…
Well. Sad.
Then again, Haru had been talking about a moment he’d had with his dad that he clearly cherished. Toph couldn’t imagine that Zuko had too many of those with the Firelord as his father.
It wasn’t quite the same with her parents, but it was something she could definitely understand.
“Don’t let their teasing get you down,” Haru said, bumping Zuko with his shoulder. Zuko’s heart had sped up again at the contact between them, but Toph still wasn’t entirely sure why; Haru wasn’t attacking him, she was almost positive Zuko knew that. It was just how earthbenders showed affection. Surely he’d seen the way she was with Twinkle Toes and Sokka, the way Haru ruffled Teo’s hair and bumped The Duke with his hip when he was chasing around after them?
“I know Aang really appreciates what you did for him,” Haru continued. “He’s a lot calmer now than he was before you showed up. I think he sees you as… well, kind of an older brother, to be honest.”
Zuko laughed like he didn’t believe Haru’s words. “I don’t exactly have a track record as Best Big Brother of the Year,” he pointed out bitterly.
Haru hummed gently. “Well, maybe not. But I’ve seen the way Aang lights up around you now. He practically bounces into the air and glows when you tell him he did something well.”
Toph could recall moments when Twinkle Toes had re-earned his nickname and suddenly disappeared from her view for a moment, and they did seem to coincide with when he had been training with Zuko earlier.
Zuko’s head lowered, chin almost resting against his chest. “He’s a talented kid,” Zuko said softly.
Haru nudged him with his shoulder again. “So are you.” With that, Haru stood up, bowed slightly to Zuko, and walked back to where the other boys had started racing toward one of the tunnels that Toph knew led to a steep ramp that they all liked to race down with Teo’s chair.
Once Haru was out of sight, jogging to catch up with them and laughingly calling out for them to wait up, Zuko buried his head in his knees. His heart was still thumping pretty hard as he groaned quietly.
Toph figured that laughing at him would be mean, and she did kind of like the guy, so she kept her mouth shut.
She did let herself smile, though.
It had been a couple of days since the last time Haru had approached him and Zuko wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. One the one hand, he kept worrying that he’d blush in front of Katara and he knew the waterbending girl would not let him live it down if he did; she still brought up his dip in the fountain occasionally when she was in a good mood.
On the other hand, Zuko… really liked Haru. Okay, yes Aang, he did think Haru was pretty cute. But that wasn’t the only thing. Zuko could deal with that if it was. After all, he’d been fairly level headed around Jet. At least until he’d found out that Zuko was a firebender.
Zuko still regretted the fact that he’d never had a chance to see what a life in Ba Sing Se with his uncle and Jet not trying to kill him might have looked like.
But Haru was easily the nicest person Zuko had ever met, bar Aang. And even the young airbender liked to tease him every now and then. No matter how much of a front he put up though, Zuko didn’t actually mind it. In fact, it made him feel warm inside to see someone as gentle as Aang completely at ease and happy in his presence. But he also didn’t want Aang to think that he could just get away with stuff like that all the time now just because Zuko had switched sides.
Haru though… every single conversation he’d had with the other boy had left him a mess, and Zuko hated it. Sure, he wasn’t the best at anything social, but he should at least be able to make it through one conversation without turning the color of his pants. Haru was just so damn nice. Zuko was the prince of the people who had subjugated his home and imprisoned his father, and yet Haru had nothing but kind words and gestures for him.
Zuko was far more familiar with stinging insults and thinly-veiled criticism than he was with compliments and encouragement.
Zuko was also pretty sure that Haru was just being nice. He didn’t think the Earth Kingdom boy was interested in him in any way, which made it a lot easier and a lot harder all at once. Zuko really wished there was something behind his smiles, but in all honesty, the way Haru treated him wasn’t that much different than the way he treated Sokka or Teo.
So. Zuko was slightly dreading seeing him at breakfast this morning, hoping that he could make it through without his face heating up, because Katara would notice and make a comment about him being a firebender; she might like to think that she was more dignified than her brother, especially when it came to the jokes he liked to make, but they were far more similar than she probably thought.
As Zuko turned a corner, he accidentally bumped into something, causing him to fall back onto the floor. He winced, waiting for the sting to pass as he looked to see what had caused his fall.
Zuko could feel his face heat up and all he could think was that he was so glad that Katara wasn’t here to see him.
Grumbling in front of him, eyes half shut, was Sokka, his hair falling loose to brush over his jawline. His shirt was also a little loose, slipping down his shoulder just enough to expose his neck and shoulder.
Zuko could feel his mouth hanging open slightly and shut it quickly, swallowing against the dryness that had suddenly cropped up in his throat.
“Sorry,” he said, wincing a little at the way his voice had pitched higher than normal. He hoped he could play it off as a result of the unexpected fall.
Sokka finally looked up at him, and Zuko felt the breath go out of him as that striking blue gaze swept over him. “Nah,” Sokka sighed, “it was my fault. Wasn’t watching where I was going.” One hand lifted up to rub against the short hair at the back of his head.
The movement just so happened to also make his shirt fall a little lower down the other arm.
Agni, and he’d thought Earth Kingdom boys were bad enough.
When Sokka raised an eyebrow, looking amused, Zuko realised he had never actually responded.
“It’s- it’s okay,” he managed. “I wasn’t exactly paying attention either.”
Sokka laughed awkwardly. “Well, at least this time it wasn’t on purpose,” he offered.
Zuko felt himself flush again at the reminder of their first few months knowing each other.
“Yeah. Uh, sorry about that,” he replied, not looking up.
“It’s okay. I mean it kept me in pretty good shape,” he joked.
That made Zuko look up. Sokka didn’t look upset at the reminder, was actually leaning back against the wall calmly, one arm slung up around his raised knee.
I’ll say, he thought as his gaze lifted from Sokka’s arms to his jawline again.
It was only when he heard Sokka’s bashful laugh that Zuko realized he’d accidentally said that out loud.
Oh no.
Zuko wanted to slap himself, but then Sokka looked up at him, a couple strands of hair falling in front of his eyes. “You’re not so bad yourself,” he said. His nose wrinkled up briefly and all Zuko could think was that it was pretty cute. “Although I have to say, I much prefer your current choice in hairstyle.”
“Hey,” Zuko joked, making his voice sound purposefully haughty, “a phoenix plume is a highly respectable style for a young prince to have.” And it was.
A century or two ago.
Aang would probably back him up on this.
Sokka huffed out a laugh. “Well, we’ll just have to add that to the list of things we’ll change once we’ve won. Step 1,” he said holding up a finger to keep count, “end the war. Step 2: ban phoenix plumes.”
Zuko laughed along. “Okay, ponytail guy,” he teased.
Sokka let out an offended noise, reaching forward to smack Zuko’s leg, but Zuko flipped over himself and started backing up down the hallway. Sokka’s eyes narrowed and the corner of his lip twitched up as he sprung forward, chasing after Zuko as he ran back toward the rooftop where he’d just finished practice with Aang.
Sokka’s laugh echoed down the halls after him and Zuko let himself smile brightly.
Zuko already knew he would probably do anything short of attacking Katara if it meant that Sokka would smile at him, so when the water tribe boy had pulled him aside and very obviously asked him about Fire Nation prisons that night, Zuko had long since resigned himself to the fact that he would be tagging along.