Chapter Text
Fishing was something Sokka had always enjoyed, even if it had become a bit… What was the word? Bittersweet? Since their dad had left for the Earth Kingdom. What was worse was the fact he was always forced to take Katara with him, he wanted some alone time! But noooo, Gran-Gran said he couldn’t leave the village all by himself! Speaking of, his little sister was staring down at the water, she looked like she was concentrating, which could mean one of two things. Maybe she’d seen a fish, that would be nice, he could already smell one of the slimy things cooking away. That or she was going to play around with her damn magic again, which was stupid, dangerous and absolutely going to soak him!
“Do not even think about your weird magic”
Katara shot her brother a glare, of course she did, she wanted to be a waterbending master. And who could blame her for that? If he was born with weird magic he’d want to master it too, it would be a great tool against the Fire Nation.
“It’s not magic! Besides, I wasn't even going to!”
“Rightttt… that’s why you were staring at the water so hard”
“Please! You were staring just as hard as I-”
Katara cut herself off, going almost deadly silent and staring off to her side. It was alarming, actually, more like terrifying, she didn’t quiet down for many reasons after all. Sokka turned to where Katara was looking, having no luck in seeing what had spooked her so badly. That was until he saw it, barely visible in the vast ocean but still there, a speck of red in the sea of blue and white.
“Is that…”
His sister’s voice trailed off, and he knew where her mind was going, any sign of the Fire Nation seemed to trigger those memories. But this wasn’t a boat, this was a speck of red, there was no metal ship in sight, not even a small one. Hell there wasn’t even any smoke around, a sign of one of those evil ash makers boats. This felt different in a way he couldn’t quite put to words, almost subconsciously he started steering the boat that way.
“It’s not a boat, but it could be something we can use”
“Are you sure about this? What if it’s a trap!”
“Then I’ll hold them off and you get out!”
Katara didn’t like that plan at all but Sokka was stubborn about it, no way in hell was his little sister getting captured by the most evil people on the planet. But honestly, he was really hoping it was just something dropped into the water by accident, that ended up floating all the way here. That would be useful and safe, the Fire Nation wouldn’t miss one little red bundle of supplies, right? Right! But as they got closer, the two kids realised, it wasn’t something that had been dropped into the ocean, it was someone. It was hard to tell at a distance, all Sokka could tell was that they were definitely Fire Nation by the clothing. At that point he’d wanted to turn around, let the murderous scum die in the cold, but Katara refused, at least until they checked for life.
Everything in him was telling him this was going to get them killed several times over, it was going to be painful too. That was until they’d reached the person, the idea that Fire National could be a threat vanished, if only for a split second, cause this was a kid. A kid that had to be the same age as Sokka himself, thirteen, maybe slightly older, and from the looks of it, completely unconscious. His long black hair was tied into a tight ponytail, reaching just past his neck, Fire Nation clothes soaked till they stuck to his pale skin. And dear god he was pale, sure both Water Tribe siblings knew people of the Fire Nation were pale, but he was almost white.
“Katara, what are you doing?! We can’t just pull him onto the boat!”
“Yes we can! He’ll die out here Sokka! He’s barely alive now!”
Of course Katara had to grab the other boy from the water, trying to drag him onto the small, wooden canoe! This was going to end awfully! Bringing a Fire Nation scumbag right to the village? What was Katara thinking?! He thought of pushing the boy out of her hands and leaving him out here, to either drown or freeze to death. While it was a fitting punishment for someone from the Fire Nation, those were adults, this was someone his own age. And really? Sokka didn’t want to be the one to order a kid his age to die a cold, painful death. So reluctantly, he helped his sister pull the ash maker onto the canoe, heaving at the effort.
And that’s when he saw the boy's face properly, it was horrifying, a violent burn, most likely infected from the water. He felt sick really, he’d seen burn scars before but this was something else, those had healed, and properly, this was so, so much worse, and deep too.
“Come on, if you wanna keep this ash maker alive, we need to get home fast”
Katara nodded, she looked as sick as he felt, taking worried glances down at the boy, still passed out in their canoe. The two siblings didn’t say a word on the trip back for a while, shaking and terrified, what in Tui’s name had happened? How had this random Fire Nation boy even gotten all the way down here? How was he even still alive? And why did that horrifying burn scar look like it was from another firebender? So many questions and no way to answer them all, it was driving Sokka insane really, he wanted answers, and soon.
But unfortunately answers had to wait, this kid was in no condition to answer the list of questions tangling inside the Water Tribe boy’s head. Spirits, he looked like he was dying even more now he was in the canoe, still body beginning to shudder violently, rocking back and forth. He could feel it rock the canoe softly, it wasn’t enough to tip them over, thank Tui and La, but even this amount of shaking was bad. And what was worse, the water seemed to be getting worse, it almost looked like when Katara played with it. Though it felt different somehow, bigger, more powerful, but there were no other benders in the South Pole, so it couldn’t be anything like that. This day kept getting weirder and weirder, a random Fire Nation boy in the water, the waves acting weird and doing stuff they shouldn’t, it was going to drive Sokka mad.
The shaking stopped, at least slightly, and when he turned to look at why, Katara had taken her parka off, draping it over the shivering boy. It felt too kind, Fire Nation scum didn’t deserve to get the comfort of his sister's source of warmth.
“Katara, no, put that back on!”
“And do what? Let him die, Sokka? No thanks”
Of course that was his sister’s response, she was too kind for her own good in his opinion. But to be fair, the kid did look like he was going to die, and with Katara’s parka he looked ever so slightly more alive. But there was no way in hell he was letting his sister freeze for some ash maker, so he took off his own parka, handing it to his sister. Sokka, of course, regretted it almost immediately, the chill was insane, shooting right down to his bones. This trip back was going to be the worst, freezing, without his parka, with some strange soot snorter in his canoe.
By the time the siblings did make it back to the village, the sun was beginning to set, and Sokka was damn sure he was going to be sick from how cold he was. But the Water Tribe siblings were persistent, bringing the canoe into the small dock set up nearby. It was almost impossible to get him out, Sokka had hopped out of the canoe first, he was tempted to grab the Fire National’s legs, and be further away from that wound. But he wouldn’t make Katara be near it either, he could tell that looking at it upset her, he could handle it more than her.
So instead, Sokka took the boy’s shoulders, beginning to lift him onto the dock, Katara helping with his other half. He was heavier than he looked, lean and from what he could tell, slightly taller, making it difficult to lift him without tipping the canoe. But they managed, somehow without even getting Katara’s parka wet, or tipping Katara into the freezing ocean. And now they had to trudge over to the village, carrying a barely alive ash making enemy. Nothing was going Sokka’s way at all, they hadn’t even gotten a single fish! They’d probably need to go fishing again tomorrow, they needed food, especially if they had to deal with another mouth to feed.
“Sokka, Katara, there you are! We were getting worried”
One of the older women in the tribe, Uki, had come to the dock to wait for them, because of course Sokka wasn’t allowed time to think up an excuse. The woman began coming closer, as if to offer assistance with their fishing haul, though stopped upon seeing what the siblings were holding. Not even Katara’s parka could hide the obvious Fire Nation clothing and unconscious ash maker they were holding.
“What in the spirits are you holding?”
Uki sounded harsh, though her eyes held much more worry than anger. Of course she was scared, everyone was, for good reasons too. Well, everyone besides Sokka of course, if the Fire Nation brat tried anything, he could totally deal with it. But before he could respond saying that, and giving any kind of plan to control the ash maker, Katara spoke up, voice trembling.
“Please! We need help! He was just floating in the ocean! We think he’s dying!”
Sokka, selfishly, had wished she’d said it was only her idea, so he wouldn’t be dragged into everyone getting mad at them for it. But he pushed that down, a hard thing to do but it felt necessary right now to stand with his sister.
“Yeah! Look at his face! There’s a massive burn! It looks infected! And he feels as cold as ice!”
Ok maybe he wasn’t as cold as the ice around them, but he definitely felt close to it, and that damn shaking had not stopped since they got him out of the water.
The older woman sighed, walking over to the kids, her eyes wandered over the freezing Sokka before landing on the Fire National’s face. Uki’s face showed sheer horror, taking a step back, before she seeled herself, grabbing the boy from the siblings. She was rougher than she needed to be, but it made sense, to him at least, he might be injured, and Sokka’s age, but he was still Fire Nation. So the three Water Tribe members walked silently back to the village, Sokka still freezing without his parka.
No one was happy about their decision, seriously, not even Gran-Gran had been happy about it. They were both scolded by literally every single adult left in the Southern Water Tribe it felt like, even if it wasn’t too harsh, it still hurt. Uki and three of the other women had brought the Fire National in for healing, though no one was happy about it. And worst of all, since Katara and Sokka had brought him here, they needed to keep watch on him during the night, as well as one of the healers. He had made sure he was taking the first night, no way was he letting his sister watch some evil flame spitter until he could access the other himself.
So at ten, he trudged over to the healers, wrapping his newly regained parka around himself and stepping inside. And as soon as he did so, he almost regretted wearing the parka, it was completely boiling in here, several fires littered the room. It felt so odd to see this much fire, odd and almost terrifying, he hated seeing the flames everywhere. It made him remember things, he hated it so much, but he could take a guess as to why it was needed. The Fire Nation boy was still unconscious, but at least he was still, no longer doing that disturbing shuddering. That awful burn had been bandaged, but they already looked slightly bloody, it made him feel sick still honestly.
“He’s a strong kid, don’t know how he’s alive”
Uki sighed, staring down at the Fire Nation boy. The look in her eyes was a mix of pity and disgust, which Sokka could understand in its entirety. Pity in that he was a kid his own age, nearly dead and burned, but disgust in his origin, the Fire Nation were monsters.
“His wrists are bound?”
“Of course, can already tell, he’s a firebender”
Well that was terrifying. But it did make at least some sense on how he’d survived in the freezing water for however long, something about an ‘Inner Fire’ or whatever. He also assumed his ankles or legs were bound too, though it wasn’t visible under the layers of furs he’d been smothered in. It wouldn't be safe to leave those unbound, he knew that the ash maker could easily burn them if they were left free. Honestly hearing he was a firebender had flipped a switch, and Sokka no longer saw the boy as, well, a boy. Instead he saw a little fire spewing demon, which a very small part of him said was unfair, but that didn’t matter.
“How could you tell?”
This information could come in useful in the future, Sokka needed to know immediately, anything that could be useful was needed information.
“Two reasons, his body heat is one, he’d be long dead if he wasn’t one of them, that heat kept him alive”
That confirmed one of Sokka’s suspicions, but it wouldn’t be useful in combat, the last thing he wanted was to get close to someone who could cook him.
“And the next is in the eyes, barely got them open to check, but they have the same flame around the iris as all firebenders”
That was even worse of a tell, Fire Nation soldiers usually wore masks over their faces, and even if they didn’t, you’d need to be even closer to one to see that!
“Though his were an odd colour, usually those ash makers eyes are orange, yellow or amber, his are gold”
Gold? Why was that so important it required mentioning? Or was it just that Uki thought it was interesting? Maybe it meant something to the Fire Nation, something Sokka didn’t know, but then why would Uki know it? This was all so confusing, it hurt his head in a way.
The two Water Tribe members stayed in silence for a while, Sokka trying to go over everything he knew about the Fire National. And then a question popped into his head.
“Hey, how’d you figure out his eye colour? Did he wake up?”
“Huh? Oh no, he didn’t, I had to check his vision on his burnt side, the eyes still there shockingly, but the vision seems to be mostly gone”
Sokka nodded, that made enough sense to him, though the eye still being there at all was a miracle in itself. But the fact he hadn’t stirred at all was a little concerning if he was being honest, though he told himself he didn’t care. The boy was not only trouble, but firebending trouble, it was like a disaster waiting to happen. He really should have pushed him back into the water, he’d be saving the Tribe, himself, and his sister, a world of trouble, and gotten rid of an ash maker too. But he couldn’t bring himself to picture pushing Katara off him, even with seeing the Fire National as nothing more but another firebender now.
The night passed without another hitch, same with the next three nights, the Fire Nation boy hadn’t so much as stirred the four days since they’d found him. And now it was the fifth night, and Sokka was back, this time with Yuka, they were slightly older than Uki, their hair mostly gray at this point, wrinkles covering their kind face. They were the only one in the tribe he’d seen besides Katara not look at the boy without some form of disgust or hatred, himself included. They were redoing his bandages when it started, he was stirring, small whines and hisses off pain coming from under the furs.
He was up to his feet immediately, holding his club in his hand, but the other gestured him to sit back down.
“He’ll panic if the first thing he sees is an attack, calm down Sokka”
Against his better judgement, he sat back down, staring at the bed, trying to at least somewhat cover his aggression. Yuka on the other hand, didn’t seem scared at all, despite obviously knowing that thing they were caring for was a firebender!
“Come on boy, up you get”
They smiled softly, moving the boy ever so slowly into a sitting position, much more careful than Uki or any of the others had been. But that didn’t help with the increased whines and sharp, fearful breaths, he sounded terrified of something.
And then the boy actually did get up, he jerked awake, his one visible eye open wide, terrified, his breathing ragged and shallow. He squirmed around, trying to get out of his binds, panicking much more than Sokka had expected with how immobile he’d been just before. Yuka sighed softly, placing their hand on the boy's shoulder, which seemed to be a big mistake, making him panic even further.
“Get off me! Where am I?! Who are you people?!”
His voice was raspy, most likely from barely being able to drink, as well as, of course, nearly dying.
“Oh dear boy, calm down, you are still injured”
The other paused, it seemed the panic of waking up had made him forget his burn, or maybe he just didn’t want to remember it. He looked like he went to touch his face, but due to his bound wrists, couldn’t, giving up on reaching it.
“Where am I?”
He finally said, maybe a few moments later, looking down at his fur covered, bound legs. Yuka and Sokka looked at each other, coming to a silent agreement, they could not tell the Fire National where he was. But they had to be clever, they couldn’t just tell him that, it could end badly, so Sokka would have to be extra careful, he was lucky the kid woke up on one of his days.
“We’ll tell you if you answer our questions”
“Fire Nation scum”
He hissed, muttering the last part, just loud enough for himself to hear, though with how the ash maker narrowed his eyes, he could have heard it. It looked like he wanted to say something, snap at him maybe, but he didn’t, glaring at both Sokka and Yuka.
“I’m not saying anything that could hurt the Fire Nation”
“That is not what we were wanting to ask dear boy”
He was almost glad Yuka answered for him, as Sokka was convinced he would have said something stupid. Of course the Fire Nation scum had to sound like a prick, what was he expecting? He should probably let Yuka deal with the conversation, he could act like backup just fine thank you very much.
“Fine… what do you want to know”
Well that confirmed the hostility was directed only at Sokka at least, he seemed to be at least slightly calmer with Yuka, though not by much.
“Could you tell us your name, boy?”
The firebender looked suspicious, thinking over the question slowly, trying to see if there was any ulterior motive. When he had thoroughly convinced there was no drawback to revealing his name, he nodded his head slightly, before speaking.
“My name is Prince-... Zuko…”
Sokka almost fell off his chair, prince?! This kid who was just floating in the water, almost dead and burnt, was the prince of the damn enemy?!
“Calm down boy”
He felt rage flicker to the surface for a second, he shouldn’t need to calm down! The child of the most evil man on the planet was sitting right in front of him! But he forced himself to stay sitting down, very much scowling now though.
“And what were you doing in the water?”
“I don’t… know… all I remember is-”
He cut himself off, shuddering violently, kicking and trying to bring his knees to his chest, of course being restricted by his binds. Sokka got up himself, ignoring Yuka trying to get him to sit down wordlessly, glaring down at this prince.
“Tell us! You- you scumbag!”
“How am I supposed to tell you something I don’t know?!”
The Fire Nation boy, Zuko, snapped, leaning forward as far as he could, even if it looked like it hurt. Yuka sighed, trying to keep the two teen boys from fighting, especially the firebender, he could burn the whole place down.
“Calm down, how you ended up there does not matter right now… and you are much too injured and weak to move so much”
The upset fire snorter did not calm down, not in the slightest, but he did let the older person sit him back down into a more comfortable position. Sokka was already done with this damn Fire National, he was such a pain, and not to mention, the son of the Fire Lord! Wait… the son of the Fire Lord! They could totally use that! His face lit up in excitement before that was crushed in an instant.
“You won’t be able to use me against my father”
Zuko’s voice was a mix of pain and resentment, lowering his head to look down at the furs again.
“And why is that dear?”
“Father doesn’t want me home…”
That made no sense to Sokka, why would the loser lord not want his son back? Hakoda, his dad, would totally want him back if they were in swapped positions. He just couldn’t wrap his brain around the idea of a father not wanting their son safe and home.
“And why does he not want you home dear?”
Yuka was careful with their tone, keeping it light, kind and friendly, but even then Zuko hissed like the question burned him. And he stayed silent, for much longer this time, not looking up from his lap. It was infuriating, he wanted to shake the little fire cracker, force him to answer the question, the need for an answer was eating him up inside.
But the firebender didn’t answer, at least for what felt like over an hour, and when he did he finally looked up, he looked ashamed, scared and every other negative emotion under the sun.
“I did something wrong… very wrong… and couldn’t take my punishment properly”
Something about how the boy said it felt wrong, Sokka felt his stomach drop, looking at the bandaged side of his face without thinking. Which the firebender saw, turning his face so he could only see the non-injured side. Uki was right, the prince’s eye was gold, a beautiful colour, it felt like he was staring right into the eye of something ancient. It reminded him of the stories of dragons from long ago, they were always described with wise, golden eyes, just like the boy in front of him. There was also a fire burning within them, which must have been what Uki meant when she said firebenders had flames in their eyes.
“I… I panicked… and attacked… I don’t remember very well… but… I think I’m-”
Zuko cut himself off, he was struggling to speak, shuddering as he remembered something so painful to him. But he forced his words out, and Sokka felt his stomach drop even further, deep into the snow and ice below his feet.
“I think I’m the avatar…”