An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 75: Return Home

The Fire Nation guards ushered Zuko and Sokka into a side entrance of the palace. Awaiting them on the other side was Iroh. His eyes were sunken in his face, and he looked like he hadn't slept for weeks.

"Uncle," Zuko said and placed his hand on his uncle's shoulder, "I will make this right. I will make sure you don't have to do something like this ever again."' "I am getting too old for this," Iroh said. "Just when we begin to have peace another disaster strikes. I am afraid I have shaken the people's trust in you by my actions."

"Uncle don't say that," Zuko said. "You had no choice, martial law had to be temporarily put into place or the capital would have devolved into complete chaos."

"We will make this right and restore order," Sokka added, though he was not sure how. Zuko had a plan but despite Sokka's nagging he would not tell him what it was which meant he wouldn't agree with it.

"It is late," Iroh said and motioned for them to walk with him into the palace. "Martial law must end tomorrow, or I fear we will not be able to regain the trust of the people. They will see us as favoring a few over the well-being of the entire nation."

"That's not what the law was about, and that's not what the curfew is about," Sokka protested.

"We know that is true," Iroh said and paused, "but few others would think the same way."

It was a painful truth that Sokka was still coming to terms with. Iroh left them to finally rest after two days of trying to hold the nation together.

Being left alone with the weight of an entire nation on their shoulders was too much for the two of them. They were just 18 and 19 years old and neither of them had the answers to everything. Iroh was who they looked to for wisdom, but he was just as unsure as they were, and the gravity of the situation weighed down on them like an anchor made of cast iron.

"If we don't make the right choice..." Sokka started to say, trailing off when Zuko met his eyes. There was a childlike fear in the golden eyes Sokka adored, a fear Sokka felt on some level too.

For a while it felt like peace was finally being achieved, at least in the Fire Nation. Peace was such a foreign concept to everyone except the oldest members of each nation's population, so it was difficult to tell if they had a glimpse of peace, or if it was a lull in the storm.

"I... I'm scared Sokka," Zuko said quietly. "I made a choice I know in my heart was right, but the cost is so high."

"Hey," Sokka said and gently pulled up on Zuko's chin to bring his eyes back to his own, "we've been over this. We deserve our love just as much as any other couple, and so do thousands of people across the nation who have had to hide for so long. They're still hiding because all the people out on the streets want them to be erased from the world, they want us to be erased from the world. Giving up now means they win; it means people like us will have to keep living in fear. You and I have the luxury of having guards protect us at all times, but so many people don't."

He wasn't sure where his monologue had come from, but whatever had come over him brought with it confidence. Even if he had to go out and fight the mobs himself, he would do it if it meant making the world a better place.

"I know what needs to be done," Zuko said. The fear was still in his eyes but it had retreated farther back, and come morning Sokka hoped it would slink back into the shadows where it belonged.

"Let's get some sleep," Sokka said. The two men stood up and Sokka leaned his head on Zuko's shoulder. "I missed this place while we were gone."

"You actually missed the palace?" Zuko asked slightly amused and surprised.

"All the redecorating the staff did made it feel a lot more like a home rather than a fortress," Sokka said and poked Zuko's chest with his finger.

"Sorry my sense of decorations offended you so much," Zuko replied and playfully rolled his eyes.

The dimly lit hallway helped ease their minds as they walked to their room they hadn't shared for days. Tomorrow would determine the fate of Zuko's rule and the fate of people like them across the Fire Nation, but all Sokka needed in that moment was to know Zuko was safe in his arms.