Work Text:
A month ago, if someone had told Suki that she would be naked in a boy’s tent, she would’ve run screaming for the hills.
And yet here she was, lying down next to Sokka after doing it. She didn’t know what to expect it to feel like, but certainly not this. There was no screaming or crying or all the other weird stuff she’d heard about, but it was still… nice? She wasn’t sure. Even thinking about it made her feel embarrassed, which was rather stupid. It had literally just happened.
Both she and Sokka were blushing like lovestruck teenagers… well, they were lovestruck teenagers, but Suki couldn’t remember a time where she was allowed such peaceful indulgence. She avoided Sokka’s eyes while wanting to look at him, to touch him again so badly.
This was both of their first times, and they were safe about it: Suki had drunk a special herbal tea, and both knew the theory of it. Still, nothing could’ve prepared them for the thrill.
Sokka broke the silence: “Wow.”
“Wow?” she asked, a little mockingly. “Is that all you got?”
“Is that a challenge?” He rolled forward and kissed her on the lips again, pressing their naked bodies together in a tired embrace.
Suki laughed against his mouth, pulling herself back. “For real though, I think I’m too tired. That was… whoa.”
“Now who’s speechless?” he teased.
They shared a laugh, still tangled in each other’s limbs. Sokka was surprisingly warm, and she melted against him, her whole body itching to be close to him.
“I may as well stay the night,” she said, unwilling to leave.
He snorted. “Aang would be scandalized.”
“Kid’s gotta learn.”
“True.”
Crickets chirped as the two lay on the floor together, eyes still roving over each other’s bodies. Sokka was beautiful, but the thing she hadn’t really paid attention to before were his scars; scars making irregular pictures across his body. Suki had quite a few, but she was just noticing Sokka’s- on his arms, his back, his legs.
“Mind if I touch?” Sokka asked softly, and Suki noticed his fingers hovering hesitantly over one on her shoulder.
She closed her eyes and nodded, feeling his finger trace the scar. “What happened here?”
“First day of training, actually.” She laughed a little as the memory sprung to mind. “Little Suki was so proud and stuck-up, only to be beat up quite viciously by the other warriors.”
“Damn.” He exhaled a little breath. “I can’t imagine you as stuck-up at all.”
“Yeah, they got it out of me.”
He chuckled, pulling his hand away. She took note of a scar on his thumb, and she threaded their fingers together to pull it up to the light. “How’d you get this one?”
His face darkened with a blush. “Um. Funny story. I got a fishing hook stuck in my thumb, and…”
“And?”
“…tried to get it out with another fishing hook,” he admitted.
Suki burst into giggles. “Really? How old were you?”
“I was, like, ten!” he said defensively, but he was laughing too as he looked over the scar again.
“Awww. You must have been adorable back then.”
“Hey, I was always the picture of manliness!”
“Uh-huh. I’ll ask Katara about it tomorrow.”
“Fair enough,” he sighed. He kissed Suki’s cheek, and her heart fluttered in her chest.
“Hey, it’s not so bad.” She grabbed his hand and pressed his finger onto her own thumb, at the spot with a prominent dent in it. “Feel this? Once, there was this Kyoshi Warrior who I really really liked, so I picked a flower to give to her.”
“Mhm. What happened?”
Suki sighed as the embarrassment flooded back to her. “I confessed to her in front of a group of warriors… including her girlfriend. I confessed to her in front of her girlfriend.”
Sokka wheezed like someone had punched him. “Tui and La!” he gasped, his whole body shaking with laughter. “That’s… wow, that’s awful!”
“Yeah, and while she was explaining this to me, I was clenching the flower so hard that a thorn was stabbing right into my finger. Worst day of my life.” That memory still made her cringe, but watching Sokka laugh about it made her feel a little better. Just a little.
“Well, I got this one from when Haru accidentally hit me with a rock.” He displayed a newer-looking red mark on his hip. “Man, I used to think that guy was attractive… until he got the ugly goatee. Yikes.”
“Well, lucky for you that he’s not here to hear you talking smack right now.”
“Yep, lucky me.” He flashed her a smile. “And not like he can compete with you, beautiful.”
“Same goes to you,” she flirted back.
Silence blanketed them like a cloud as they continued holding onto each other. Sokka wrapped his arms around her, tracing his hands absentmindedly on her back. But when his fingers landed on a certain scar, her breath hitched in her throat.
“What’s this one?” he asked. So naive.
She took a deep breath, trying not to be shaky. “That one’s from… the prison. I got into a fight with a guard and… this was my punishment.”
He inhaled sharply and she felt him freeze against her. “Suki… I’m so sorry I couldn’t get you sooner.”
“Sokka, don’t be-”
“I still am!” he exclaimed. “I should’ve been there for you. I should’ve-”
“I’m here now, Sokka. You did get to me.” She sighed into his chest, the memories from the place stirring up in her like a badly-mixed poison. It wasn’t an easy thing to think about. “If anything, I should be sorry that I got captured. We outnumbered them, but-”
“Hey, hey, no.” He kissed the top of her head. “Azula’s a tough enemy.”
It was a minute before he spoke up again. “I actually got this one from her, at the invasion.”
Suki took a look. It was a burn mark on his chest, just missing his heart. She delicately laid her hand on it as her breath rumbled in her chest.
“We were actually gonna leave her, and find the Fire Lord, but…” His voice began to shake. “She began talking about you, that she had you prisoner, and I… I just saw red, Suki. I was blinded and I couldn’t-”
“Hey, it’s okay,” she soothed as his voice broke. She cupped his face and pulled him close, pressing their foreheads together. “The important thing is that we’re still here now. Me and your dad are free, and hey, we even got Zuko now. We can win this, okay? We will win this.”
She felt his chest deflate as he relaxed into her touch. “You’re right, I know you are. It still just… hurts, sometimes.”
“I know. I spent forever thinking about how we could’ve beaten Azula if I had maybe been better. How the other Kyoshi Warriors could be free…”
“We’ll free them,” he promised. “We’ll free them, and the others who got captured. Warrior’s honor.”
“Warrior’s honor.”
They lay together, the only sound being the whoosh of the night wind and the loud chirp of crickets. Sokka nestled his chin in her hair and Suki snuggled into his chest. She hadn’t felt this peaceful in such a long time. She wanted to hang onto it forever.
“Lemme get some blankets, if you’re staying,” Sokka finally said. “And if someone walks in on us, they won’t… uh…”
“I get it,” she laughed quietly. “Go get the blankets, genius.”
They slept soundly in each other’s embrace, losing themselves in the warmth. No matter how many scars they counted, nothing and no one could disturb their peace.