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i.
“Ow! Zuko, she bit me!” Sokka whines, the turtleduck he was holding diving back into the water after biting Sokka’s finger.
Zuko huffs a laugh as Sokka pouts at him, bottom lip stuck out. He’s practically glowing with the spring sun on his light brown skin, freckles already getting darker from being outside in the warmer weather.
“She’s slow to warm up. You have to be extra gentle with her, see?” Zuko extends a hand towards the turtleduck, her coming over towards Zuko and letting him pet her.
“Sounds like someone I know,” Sokka raises his eyebrows, resting his palm on Zuko’s knee as Zuko smiles.
All of Team Avatar is sitting outside in the palace gardens, having finally found the time to meet and catch up between all of their very busy schedules. Sokka and Zuko are right at the edge of the turtleduck pond, one of their favorite spots to frequent in the palace. Aang, Katara, Toph, and Suki are all under a big willow tree behind them, sitting on a picnic blanket with various foods that the cooks prepared for them.
“Hey lovebirds!” Suki shouts at Sokka and Zuko, them both turning their heads towards her. “Come sit with us!”
Sokka grins, pulling Zuko up and over to the blanket and both of them sitting down. Zuko thinks it’s kinda funny how he and Sokka haven’t told their friends about their relationship, but they always joke about how affectionate Sokka and Zuko are with each other.
“What’s up my best friends?” Sokka grins, hands on his knees.
“Have you two eaten yet?” Katara asks. Zuko still thinks it’s sweet, how she’s always looking out for them despite her being one of the youngest of the group.
“Great thinking, Tara,” Sokka snaps, pointing at her and grabbing a komodo chicken skewer, biting into it. He glances over to Zuko, grabbing a dumpling and handing it to him with a smile. “You too. You keep forgetting to eat lately, I know you’re busy being the leader of a whole country but still.”
Zuko smiles as Sokka shrugs. His boyfriend is so goddamn perfect. “Thanks.”
“What a lovely boyfriend you are, Sokka,” Suki grins, leaning against the trunk of the tree.
Zuko glances at Sokka whose eyebrows are furrowed in confusion. He looks over at Zuko, then back at Suki. “Boyfriend? Zuko? We’re not dating.”
The stares they get almost makes Zuko choke out a laugh, but no—serious conversation. All Katara, Aang, Suki, and Toph’s eyes are huge, Aang’s mouth open in shock and Katara’s eyebrows halfway up her forehead.
Toph quickly sits up from where she was laying on the ground, shrieking in disbelief. “What?!”
Sokka chuckles slightly, glancing between them. “What? Did you all think we were?”
“Uh, yeah! You guys do so much couple-y stuff! You’re more couple-y than me and Katara!” Aang exclaims, staring at them with wide eyes.
“Sorry to disappoint, buddy,” Sokka shrugs, taking a bite of his skewer, Zuko silently impressed with his acting. Zuko huffs a laugh, looking down at his dumpling and taking a bite in a hopefully nonchalant manner.
“I’m sorry. What the fuck?” Katara stares at the two. “Suki just called you two ‘lovebirds’ and you didn’t react at all. Sokka, I thought you moved here to move in with Zuko! Because you’re dating!”
Sokka tries to stifle a laugh, failing miserably. “Wow, yeah no. I moved here for the Ambassador thing, being with Zuko’s a plus though. He’s my best friend!”
“Holy fucking spirits,” Suki mutters under her breath, raising a hand to her forehead.
“Are you both fucking idiots?” Toph says bluntly, eyebrows furrowed. “Holy shit, your gay pining fucking radiates off both of you, and I can’t even see!”
She gestures towards them, throwing her hands up.
“I hope you know that absolutely none of us believe you, Sokka,” Suki crosses her arms as Sokka raises an annoyed eyebrow.
“You tell them then, Zuko,” Sokka glances at him casually, everyone’s eyes locking onto Zuko. Okay, no pressure. It’s just acting, he can do that.
Zuko shrugs, huffing a small laugh. “Yeah, we’re not together.”
They all just stare at Sokka and Zuko again, incredulous looks on their faces.
Aang glances at Toph. “Toph?”
Oh right. Walking lie detector.
Her eyebrows furrow. “I can’t… I can’t tell if they’re lying or not. I mean, both their heartbeats are a little erratic but that might be because they have huge fucking gay crushes on each other that they won’t admit. Also Zuko’s always anxious about confrontation.”
Zuko furrows his eyebrow as Sokka rolls his eyes, leaning back on one of his hands. “Alright guys. Can we get back to more important matters, like this picnic? And updates? How are the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki?”
The four decidedly drop the subject of Zuko and Sokka dating, even though Zuko can tell it’s on all of their minds.
ii.
Sokka’s back in the Southern Water Tribe for two weeks, helping his dad with relations between the North and South.
Away from Zuko for two weeks, which sucks, but Sokka has always loved writing letters. He constantly wrote to Zuko before he moved to the palace, Zuko always writing him back with updates about the nobility and his Uncle and himself, of course.
Sokka just got a letter from Zuko, giddy and smiling as he enters his dad’s house. The South has undergone some serious infrastructure upgrades since the end of the war, his dad getting a fancy new house since he’s the chief, made by waterbenders sent from the North.
Sokka’s on his way to his room to read his letter as he walks past his dad’s office, getting stopped by his voice.
“Sokka!” Hakoda calls. Sokka pokes his head in, still smiling because of the letter—he should probably stop being so obvious about it. Hakoda raises an eyebrow from his desk. “Have you seen your sister?”
Sokka nods, eager to get to his room. “Waterbending training.” Katara’s taken up training some of the young waterbender girls from both the South and the North.
“What’s got you all excited, then?” Hakoda asks, scribbling something down on a piece of paper before folding his hands and looking up at Sokka with a knowing smile.
“Nothing. Just a letter,” Sokka holds it up, careful to turn the red Fire Nation seal away from his dad, shrugging.
“Mm, okay,” Hakoda laughs, leaning back in his chair. “You do know I’ve known you for your entire life, right? Are you seeing someone?”
Sokka’s dad is clearly just curious and Sokka wants to tell him, he really does. Yeah Dad, it’s Zuko! Y’know the Fire Lord, we’re super in love and we’ve been dating for seven months now but we can’t tell anyone because, y’know, Zuko’s the Fire Lord! Lots of drama, we don’t want tons of attention and people inspecting our every move, plus they hate gay people over in the Fire Nation.
Yeah, okay maybe not.
Sokka clears his throat instead, shaking his head. “Nope.”
Hakoda raises a knowing eyebrow.
Sokka laughs. “Trust me, Dad. You’d be the first to know! I’ll see you later, okay? Love you!”
Sokka practically jets out the door and to his room, Hakoda throwing a “love you too!” after him.
iii.
Sokka knocks on the door of Katara’s guest room in the palace, poking his head in. “Tara?”
“Yeah?” Katara calls from inside, reading over a scroll on the couch.
Sokka waltzes in, glancing around for Aang but not finding him. He flops onto an armchair beside Katara. “Where’s Aang?”
“Sparring with Zuko,” Katara hums, raising an eyebrow. “Surprised you didn’t know that.”
“Spirits, Katara, how many times do I have to tell you we’re not dating?” Sokka groans, throwing his head back.
Katara rolls up her scroll, sighing as Sokka looks over at her. She stares at him, serious expression on her face. Oh great.
“Okay, you’re not dating Zuko. Fine. But I know you’re seeing someone,” She crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow.
Sokka suddenly feels horrible, he hates lying to Katara. But he just scoffs a smile, acting like the accusation is wild. “I’m not.”
“I know you are! You’re never in your room at night, I haven’t seen you flirt with a single person in months, plus you’re always showing up to breakfast with fucking hickeys, acting like they’re not even there! You’re not sneaky, Sokka, and I hate that you're lying to me!” She exclaims, throwing her hands up with her eyebrows furrowed.
Sokka’s face gets hot and he chews on his lip. Guess they really weren’t being as sneaky as they thought they were.
“I’m not seeing anyone,” Sokka huffs, leaning back in the armchair and trying not to look at Katara. “If you’re really so interested in my sex life, they’re just hookups.”
Katara groans. “I never want to hear about your goddamn sex life.”
“You’re the one who brought it up!”
“Because you’re lying to me, Sokka! We don’t lie to each other!” Katara stares at him and it feels like she’s looking straight into his soul. She’s right, they don’t lie to each other, and he hates more than anything that he can’t tell her about him and Zuko.
“I—” Sokka starts, sentence quickly dying in his throat. He takes a breath, looking at his fingers as they fidget with the edge of his tunic. “Nothing’s going on, Tara. It’s just hookups and they don’t mean anything. I’m not seeing anyone.”
Sokka looks up, Katara’s jaw clenched as she stares at him. She sighs after a moment, eyebrows still furrowed. “Okay. Fine, whatever.”
It’s clearly not fine but Sokka doesn’t want to start another argument.
“Okay,” He responds. “Well I uh… just wanted to say hi. So I should get going.”
Sokka stands up as Katara nods. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Sokka looks at her for a moment before moving to the door. “Bye, Tara. See you later for dinner?”
She sends him a small smile back. “Yeah, see you then.”
iv.
Sokka’s lounging on a couch in Zuko’s office when Mai knocks and opens the door.
“Oh, hi Mai. I didn’t know you were visiting the palace,” Zuko says from his desk, eyebrow raised.
She shrugs. “Wanted to talk to you.”
She sends Sokka a look which sends him scrambling, making Zuko huff a laugh.
“Oh yeah, I’ll…! I’ll go, you guys… okay, yeah,” Sokka stumbles over his words, quickly leaving the room.
Mai smiles, sitting on the couch and turning so she’s resting her arms over the back of it, looking back at Zuko. “Is he scared of me?”
“Oh, he’s horrified,” Zuko smiles back. He loves when Mai comes to visit, she’s really the only person from his childhood who’s always understood him.
Mai hums. “Hm. So I have something I wanted to tell you.”
Zuko raises his eyebrow, Mai surprisingly bordering on showing emotions. She’s definitely gotten better at opening up since the war ended, but Zuko still finds himself surprised in instances like this.
“What’s up?” Zuko asks, setting his pencil down.
“I’m a lesbian.”
Oh. Well. Yeah.
Zuko nods. “Can’t say I’m surprised. We both weren’t super invested in our relationship while it was going on, hm?”
Mai scoffs. “Yeah, no. I totally wasn’t into you. You’re like my weird brother, I can’t believe I dated you.”
She shudders, Zuko smiling. “I wasn’t either. Glad it was mutual.”
“You’re gay, right?”
Zuko can’t help but laugh—Mai is always so blunt. He hasn’t explicitly come out to anyone besides Sokka and Uncle Iroh, but Mai has always known, hasn’t she?
“Yeah. Haven’t told many people though so… obviously don’t go around spreading the news that the Fire Lord is gay,” Zuko shrugs, feeling surprisingly calm about the whole exchange.
“Well duh. Are you and Sokka dating?” Mai rests her chin on where her hands lay on the back of the couch, looking over at him.
Zuko lets out a small, soft sigh. “No.”
“Oh, really?” Mai furrows her eyebrows, like she honestly didn’t expect that.
“Yeah,” Zuko can’t help but let out a small laugh.
“Oh. But you like him?”
Zuko shrugs, turning to look at the scroll he was reading over and chewing on his lip. “He’s my best friend.”
“I didn’t ask if he was your best friend, I asked if you have a crush on him,” Mai sighs, rolling her eyes.
Zuko inhales slightly. She won’t let up, will she? “Dunno. I haven’t really thought about it. Try not to, I guess.”
He silently prays Mai will take the vague answer and let it go.
Mai shrugs. “Okay, whatever. I was just wondering. I’m dating Ty Lee now, by the way.”
“Wait, what—?!”
v.
Sokka swirls his glass of plum wine, not near many people and leaning against the wall as he watches Zuko from across the ballroom. Zuko’s talking to some nobles or government officials (Sokka can’t tell, but they definitely look important) and nodding along, seemingly focused, but Sokka can tell he’s bored out of his mind.
Sokka smiles to himself, quietly wishing he could swoop over and save his boyfriend.
“Hey Sokka!” A voice says. Sokka glances over at a woman around his age with jet black hair and yellow eyes, sporting the Fire Nation red. Sokka remembers her as Aino, one of the women on Zuko’s council. She’s nice enough, but she’s always flirting with Sokka, which he isn’t totally down for. Y’know, having a boyfriend and all.
“Aino, how are you? Enjoying the party?” Sokka takes a sip of his wine, looking over the rim at her.
She nods as Sokka glances over at Zuko across the room, the other man catching his eye. “Oh yeah, the palace always throws the best parties. How about you?”
Sokka doesn’t respond, too busy sending Zuko a soft smile and only grinning harder as Zuko tries to hide his own. Zuko looks down at his drink, shaking his head slightly, biting his lip to suppress a smile before he turns his attention back to the noblemen he was talking to.
“Sorry,” Sokka shakes his head, looking back at her after embarrassingly having forgotten that she was there. Oops. “What was the question?”
Aino laughs, close enough to him that their shoulders brush. Weird, when did they get so close?
“Just how are you liking the party? She asks, cocking her head.
“It’s great, I’ll take any excuse to drink the palace’s fancy wine,” Sokka raises his glass slightly, smiling.
She laughs, nodding in response. “Hey, really random question, but are you seeing anyone right now?”
Uh.
Sokka shakes his head, swallowing. “Nope. Why?”
Aino shrugs, smiling to herself. “In that case, I wanted to see if you might want to grab dinner sometime. There’s a great place just outside the palace I’d love to take you to.”
Oh fucking great.
“Oh, I-I’m flattered, but I’m not looking for a relationship right now,” Sokka says, eyebrows raised in surprise.
Aino purses her lips, frowning. “You can’t take one afternoon off? Just for dinner?”
Sokka swallows. “Well, it’s not that I can’t… I just…”
Aino rests a hand on Sokka’s bicep, looking up at him through her lashes. “C’mon, Sokka, it’ll be fun! We can get out of this stuffy palace for a bit.”
Sokka blinks, not moving away because he doesn’t want to be rude but Sokka really does want her hands off of him and why can’t she take a fucking hint?
“I’m sorry, Aino,” Sokka shrugs her hand off, about to move away before Aino slips her hand into Sokka’s. Sokka tenses, taking a breath. But then Aino’s looking out towards the ballroom, eyebrows raising and hand immediately dropping from Sokka’s grasp.
“Is everything okay over here?” Zuko asks, looking between the two. He sends Sokka a soft look, eyebrows raised as if to ask if he’s alright. Sokka sends a small smile back, exhaling in relief.
“Oh, yes Fire Lord Zuko. I was just chatting with Ambassador Sokka about the party, you continue to outdo yourself,” Aino smiles. Suck-up.
Zuko bows his head. “Thank you, Aino.”
Aino blinks, and when Zuko doesn’t make any indication that he’s going to move away, she finally gets the hint.
“Well I’ll let you two catch up, see you both later,” She bows, barely sparing Sokka a glance before she walks off.
Zuko looks over at him then, lowering his voice even though no one’s really near them. “You okay?”
Sokka nods. “Yeah. Thanks for saving me. I don’t think I’ve had a conversation with her where she hasn’t tried to hit on me.”
Zuko furrows his brow, looking back out at the crowd as Sokka huffs a laugh.
“It’s fine, Zuko. I don’t care.”
“Yeah, but I do,” Zuko mumbles, probably not meaning to say it out loud. Sokka smiles, leaning his shoulder against the wall and looking over at Zuko.
Sokka looks him up and down, taking in his whole outfit. He looks very fancy, all dressed up in his nice robes with his hair done up.
“You look great, by the way,” Sokka smiles, wishing he could use a different adjective. Hot, gorgeous, stunning, breathtaking, etc etc.
Zuko huffs a laugh, eyes trailing down Sokka’s body, then back up to his eyes. Sokka’s wearing his own formal Water Tribe outfit, red beads in his tied-back hair. “Says you. I can’t stop fucking staring at you, I think everyone I’ve talked to tonight thinks there’s something going on with my eyes or my attention or something.”
Zuko leans against the wall, mirroring Sokka as Sokka grins. “Mm, really?”
Zuko nods, glancing down at Sokka’s lips and lowering his voice to be sure that only Sokka can hear him. “I’ve wanted to come over here and kiss you all night.”
Sokka smiles at Zuko’s slight frown and his fingers twitch by his side—all he wants to do is reach out and touch Zuko. Hold his hand or run his fingers down Zuko’s arm or rub his bicep, just anything.
“I always wanna kiss you fucking stupid, babe,” Sokka says quietly in return, sending him a smirk, staring at Zuko’s perfect lips and just wanting to lean in. “I wanna drag you to your room and make you forget about this whole damn party.”
“You can’t fucking say stuff like that to me in public,” Zuko groans, tilting his head back as Sokka laughs. “Trust that I’d let you if people wouldn’t notice if I was missing. But unfortunately, leader of an entire country.”
Zuko gestures to himself, shrugging. Sokka laughs. “We both know you always make time for kissing, Zuko.”
“That’s true,” Zuko glances down at Sokka’s lips, like he’s weighing his options. “Come to my room tonight?”
Sokka grins. “You betcha.”
Zuko smiles back before looking out to the crowd for a moment with a sigh. “I should get back to being a diplomat, as much as I don’t want to. But I’ll see you later.”
Sokka grins, winking at him. “You know it.”
Zuko scoffs a laugh, reaching out and rubbing Sokka’s bicep, sending sparks up the man’s entire body.. “Okay. Bye, Sokka.”
“Bye,” Sokka hums, watching him walk off.
+ i
Zuko gets a letter and he feels like he can’t breathe.
Sokka’s in Republic City and there’s been a Red Lotus attack at City Hall and for some reason, only Agni knows why, they were targeting Sokka.
The letter was clearly written and sent hastily, saying that an icicle was shot deep in Sokka’s side and that they’ll send updates as soon as they have more news about his condition.
Zuko reads the two short sentences over and over again, trying to make any sense of the words, paper crumpling under his grip.
Sweet, perfect Sokka, who looks out for others far more than he does for himself. The love of Zuko’s life, his beautiful, selfless, reckless man.
Zuko stares at the letter until the words turn blurry, drops of water falling onto the parchment. Is it raining? He thought he was inside. Zuko looks up at the ceiling. Yeah, inside. Oh, he’s crying.
Zuko paces, because it’s all he can think to do, paper gripped in his hand so tight it starts tearing. He doesn’t know how long he paces, oscillates between pacing and sitting on the side of his bed, feeling so scared, missing Sokka so bad it hurts. All Zuko knows is that when he gets the second letter it’s dark out. He doesn’t remember what time it was when he got the first one.
Zuko gets a second letter, this one in Suki’s handwriting, and he can breathe.
Sokka’s okay. Thankfully Katara was there and got right to work healing him, and with the rest of Team Avatar being there as well, Zuko knows Sokka couldn’t be in any better hands. Sokka’s okay, there was internal bleeding but he’s okay. He asked for Zuko in his panic-induced blood loss haze and he’s coming home, back to the Fire Nation, as soon as he can.
Zuko breathes.
—
Sokka gets back to the Fire Nation a few days later, all bandaged up and pretty much everything's sore and hurts but he ignores it, he really just wants to see Zuko. He just wants to be home, as much as he hates the heat and the humidity and all the red of the Fire Nation.
Sokka can’t help but remember bleeding out, crying as he pressed his hand harder to his side, hating the thought that he’d never get to see Zuko again. So scared he’d never get to see those golden eyes or that small smile again, never get to run his fingers through Zuko’s hair or trace the scars on his torso again.
But Sokka’s okay. Somehow, he’s okay.
Sokka, Katara, Aang, Suki, and Toph get back to the Fire Nation by boat, and Sokka can make out Zuko’s figure as they dock.
Zuko looks all pretty and anxious, bags under his gorgeous eyes and his soft long hair’s out of his topknot, a truly rare sight. Zuko hastily walks over to Sokka and quickly pulls him into a hug, holding him so tight, arms wrapping around Sokka’s back.
Sokka closes his eyes and breathes, hugging Zuko close to him. He’s warm and perfect and real, and Sokka’s alive.
Zuko pulls away, not very far, Sokka’s arms still wrapped around Zuko’s waist. Zuko takes Sokka’s face in his hands, brow furrowed.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He mumbles.
And then he kisses Sokka.
Sokka blinks in response, body all stiff and surprised because Zuko is kissing him, but then he sighs under Zuko’s lips, them soft and warm and he tastes like tea which makes Sokka laugh a little.
Zuko pulls away, looking somehow more upset. “Don’t fucking scare me like that again.”
“What the FUCK?!” Toph yelps, Zuko and Sokka’s heads quickly shooting over to the four behind them on the dock.
Oh. Right.
“What the fuck do you mean ‘Sokka and Zuko are kissing’?!” Toph yells, poking Aang in the chest.
“I mean… they’re not anymore,” Aang winces, Suki and Katara staring at them with their mouths wide open.
“When did you…?” Katara starts, blinking.
“I fucking knew it!” Suki jumps, pointing at them. “I knew it, Toph and I knew it!”
“We all called it months ago! When did this happen?!” Toph screeches, throwing her hands up.
Zuko and Sokka exchange a glance.
“Uh… almost a year ago,” Sokka winces.
“Oh my spirits,” Katara raises a hand to her forehead, looking like she’s about to faint.
“What?!” Suki, Toph, and Aang all shriek at the same time.
“But… just a few months ago you said you weren’t together!” Aang exclaims, eyebrows furrowed in genuine confusion.
“We couldn’t tell anyone, still can’t,” Zuko starts, gently moving away from Sokka. Sokka’s glad the dock is empty and secluded because he is not letting go of Zuko any time soon, still holding onto his arm. “Even though I got rid of the law banning same-sex marriages, it hasn’t changed the outlook of lots of people in the Fire Nation. They can’t know their Fire Lord is gay, not… not yet.”
Toph sighs, crossing her arms. “Just send the homophobes to me, Sparky. I’ll deal with them.”
Zuko huffs a laugh. “Thanks, Toph.”
“I knew you were lying to me, Sokka,” Katara looks up from the ground, eyebrows furrowed. Sokka’s heart drops.
“I-I know Tara, I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to lie,” Sokka moves away from Zuko, taking a step towards Katara.
“No, it’s my fault, I asked him not to tell anyone,” Zuko says, stepping beside Sokka.
“Zuko—” Sokka starts, glancing at him.
Katara shakes her head, reaching out and pulling Sokka into a hug. “It’s okay. I’m happy for you,” She pulls away, poking him in the chest. “But don’t lie to me ever again,” She looks between Sokka and Zuko, “Either of you.”
Katara raises an eyebrow and Sokka laughs nervously, nodding. “Okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise,” Sokka nods. “Now can we go inside? My body hurts and I really just wanna cuddle my boyfriend.”
“Blech, now I have to deal with Katara and Twinkle Toes and you two? Me and Suki are seriously 5th and 6th wheeling?” Toph groans, Suki slinging an arm around her shoulder and laughing.
“Hey!” Sokka exclaims, pouting. “Katara and Aang are the boring parents, me and Zuko are the fun gay uncles!”
Katara rolls her eyes, walking past him and towards the palace.
Sokka turns to Zuko then, frowning. “Zuko, I think I need you to carry me.”
“He is perfectly capable of walking on his own!” Katara shouts over her shoulder, Aang laughing and running to catch up with her.
“You’re the worst!” Sokka shouts back at her, turning to Zuko and pecking him on the lips. “Will you carry me anyway, babe?”
“Spirits, I’m going to go fucking bury myself alive,” Toph mutters, walking off, Suki laughing and trailing behind.
Zuko huffs a laugh, turning back to look at Sokka. “I think you’ve got it. You can lean on me, though. Are you in a lot of pain?”
Zuko slips his arm around Sokka’s waist, pulling him towards himself as Sokka slings his arm over Zuko’s shoulder. Sokka grins, just happy to be close to his boyfriend.
“A little. You make it better,” Sokka shrugs, pressing a kiss to Zuko’s cheek, silently glad he can do that around their friends now.
Zuko hums, smiling. “I’m glad you’re okay, you really worried me, y’know?”
Sokka frowns at that, eyebrows furrowing as he glances over at Zuko. Zuko keeps his eyes trained on their friends ahead of them, helping Sokka along.
“I know, I’m sorry. I’m here, okay? I’m not going anywhere,” Sokka presses another kiss to Zuko’s jaw this time, trying to make up for lost time, he supposes. Or time that could’ve been lost, he doesn’t know.
Zuko looks over at him, nodding with a smile so perfect that Sokka thinks it’s all worth it, having him even if the world doesn’t know.