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The sun beat down harshly above Sokka’s head. He knew the Fire Nation’s climate was warmer, obviously, but this was a whole new level. It was the kind of heat that made you want to find a cold river somewhere and just turn into a fish and never return to land. On top of the heat, their proximity to the ocean added an intense humidity. It was so bad that there was actual steam visible in the air. He wiped the back of his hand across his sweaty forehead. Wasn’t sweat supposed to cool you off? It was so hot that his bodily functions were shutting down. Maybe he could just lay down on the stone floor of the courtyard and pass away.
Sparring was absolutely not helping Sokka cool down, either. The comet was only days away and they were down to the wire. He knew that every spare second should be spent preparing but God, at what cost? He considered this as Zuko knocked him flat on his back, sword angled under his chin, for what felt like the millionth time that day.
“Zukooooo,” he whined, looking to the equally sweaty boy above him. “How did you deal with this heat for more than half of your life? I hate it here.”
Zuko laughed and put his swords back in their sheath. Something in Sokka ached. He couldn’t explain why, but he wanted to hear Zuko laugh like that all the time.
“It isn’t that bad, you’re just dramatic,” he replied, walking across the courtyard to sit under the shade of the walkway. He laid down against the cool stone, stretching his arms above him then letting them settle underneath his head.
Sokka decided to follow the boy’s lead and take a break. He rested his sword against the wall and sat down to the left of Zuko. He leaned back on his arms and took in the view of the courtyard. The scenery before them was beautiful, he supposed. The sky was a picturesque, clear blue and he could hear the faint crash of ocean waves against sand. It almost felt inappropriate. Did Mother Nature not know that in just a few short days, all of this could be turned to ash? Sokka knew that if he controlled the weather the sky would be full of heavy clouds and rain. Maybe he would strike the Firelord with a bolt of lightning. That would be some cosmic irony, for sure.
He sighed and laid down fully on the ground next to Zuko. Sokka decided that he should stop moping and at least try to think about something else, if only for a minute. Thankfully, Zuko was pretty good at distracting him.
“Whatever,” Sokka finally said. “You wouldn’t last a minute in the South Pole.”
“Not true. I spent years there hunting Aang. And, you saw me get locked in a cooler for hours at the Boiling Rock. I can deal with the cold just fine, you’re just dramatic,” he repeated.
Sokka turned his head towards Zuko. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what Zuko had been through in his short life. They had heard rumors, of course, along their travels. Sokka knew the gist – Zuko had been banished at thirteen and was forced to search for the Avatar. The reasons varied; Sokka heard everything from Zuko had spoken out of turn in a meeting to Ozai just straight-up didn’t like him and banished him for that alone. Whatever it was, Sokka knew it couldn’t be pleasant.
“You’re staring,” Zuko said, turning his head to face Sokka. Sokka couldn’t help but continue to stare. He didn’t think he had ever been so close to Zuko. Had he not noticed how alarmingly bright Zuko’s eyes were before? They seemed to be made of several different shades of gold, as if there was an actual flame twisting behind his corneas.
Sokka realized he absolutely was staring and turned his gaze back to the ceiling. He blushed and tried not to think about exactly how long he had looked at Zuko.
“Do you already know how it happened?” Zuko said softly.
“What?” That caught Sokka off guard. Zuko was never exactly one to open up about things.
“Don’t play dumb, you know what I mean,” he let out a little huff and Sokka felt the air around them get a bit warmer. “I know that there are rumors about me. About how I was banished, and about how I got my scar. I was wondering if you already knew.”
“No. Well, we’ve heard the rumors too, but we never knew which of them were true.” Sokka turned his head back and was met with Zuko’s intense stare.
“Do you want to know?”
“Do you want me to know?” Several emotions played out across Zuko’s face. He scrunched his eyebrows together and turned his gaze to the ceiling. He was silent for a few seconds.
“I was thirteen,” Zuko started. “It was a few years after my mother disappeared. I had grown up a lot, then, or at least I thought. I started to take an interest in the war. I wanted to prove to my father that I could be useful, that even if I wasn’t as good a bender as my sister, I could still do something. I finally bothered my Uncle enough to convince him to let me sit in on a war meeting. There were many important generals and nobles there, and Uncle warned me to only be seen and not heard.”
Zuko stopped for a minute. Sokka could understand where he was coming from. Sokka, too, had often felt the need to prove himself after being overshadowed by a talented sister. It was easy to put himself in Zuko’s shoes. He probably wouldn’t have done much different in his place. Zuko took a breath and continued.
“One of the generals began to tell his plan to my father. It was awful. He wanted to sacrifice a whole division of men as a distraction to gain the upper hand. No one disagreed with him – the rest of the men in the room actually began to praise his scheme. I couldn’t just sit idly by and let that happen, so I spoke up.” Zuko was getting worked up. He obviously cared deeply for his people, even back then. “My father said that, for my outburst, I would have to participate in an Agni Kai. He said that it was one of the most embarrassing things I could have done and that I needed to learn my lesson.”
Sokka felt his stomach start to twist. He had a bad feeling that he knew exactly where this was going. He knew the Fire Nation could be cruel, but surely not to that extent. Sokka sat up and balled his hands into fists.
“Zuko,” his voice cracked. “Please tell me that your father didn’t do this to you.” Zuko didn’t meet his eyes.
“I thought I would be fighting the general that I spoke against. But you’re right, when I faced my opponent, I found my father standing across from me.” Sokka felt like he could throw up. “Agni Kais are supposed to be to the death. It could have been much worse. I should consider myself lucky to have escaped with my life.”
Sokka was horrified. This entire time Zuko had never been the enemy. He was just a scared kid, exactly like the rest of them. No wonder he had been so persistent when chasing Aang. All he really wanted was to gain his father’s love and approval, like any teenager would.
Sokka pulled Zuko up from the floor by his shirt in the tightest hug he’s ever given someone.
This probably wasn’t at all what Zuko wanted, but Sokka didn’t care. Zuko seem to slowly realize what was happening and hugged Sokka back. He buried his face into Sokka’s shoulder.
“I hope you know that you didn’t deserve any of that. No one does.” Sokka felt something warm and wet on his neck. Zuko had started to cry.
“The thing is, though, I did. I’m the one who spoke out of turn. It didn’t matter if I was right or wrong, I shouldn’t have done it.” And shit, that just knocked all the wind out of Sokka. After all these years, he had to know that he didn’t do anything wrong, right?
“But you were right.” Zuko leaned back so he could see Sokka’s face. He looked confused. But now, something had been building up in Sokka and he couldn’t stop it from boiling over. He gently held Zuko’s face in his hands. “You said those things because you were right, and you knew it. Because you were a better man at thirteen then all of the men in that room combined could ever hope to be. What Ozai did . . . it’s unforgivable. No father should ever be able to do that to his own kid and get away with it.
“Zuko, I need you to know that you are so good. I know it’s taken a lot for you to get here but you are now, and that’s what matters. You are so good, and so brave, and I just,” Sokka could feel his eyes start to well up. “I need you to know that.”
Zuko was speechless. Sokka started to worry that he crossed a line. Maybe Zuko wasn’t ready to hear that. Maybe he needed more time to accept what happened to him, to process how much of a terrible, abusive asshole his father was. Before Sokka could say anything else, Zuko pulled him back into a hug.
“Thank you, Sokka. It, uh. It means a lot, to hear you say that. More than you know.”
Sokka hugged him back, and for just a second, nothing else mattered. He didn’t care about the stupid war, or their stupid plan, or the stupid, awful, shitty firelord. They had each other, and maybe that could be enough.