Learning Experiences Zukka

Chapter 8: Fire Nation Rescue

Warnings : Further references to torture, complete digression from canon.

Sokka wasn't sure what had woken him at first. Then he was distracted from figuring it out by the warm and rather comfortable weight on his chest. Apparently at some point he'd slipped down to a lying position in his sleep and pulled Zuko up to, well, snuggle him. When they were both shirtless. In a totally manly way... Okay, maybe not, but it felt nice anyway. Seriously though, he was going to have to work this out. Respecting, or even being friends with the guy trying to destroy the world's last hope (even if he was only doing it because his father was a jerk and he wanted to go home) was one thing, but happily snuggling the prince of the Fire Nation was wrong on so many levels, it-

But then Zuko sensed his tension and woke up, and Sokka saw fear in his face for just a moment as he remembered where he was... fear that melted away when he saw Sokka, and all the tribesman wanted was to see that look of comfort and relief at his presence whenever he could. Crap this was going to be a problem, and he started to say so, explain that they really had to figure something out that didn't involve being on opposite sides of the most important conflict ever, but was interrupted by the same noise that must have woken him to begin with.

Katara sobbing in her sleep.

He probably wouldn't have dumped Zuko off his lap in his hurry to check his sister, but that didn't have to be tested, because the prince rolled gracefully off of him and into a sitting position almost as soon as Sokka had identified the sound. He held back a surge of gratitude at the other boy's understanding before it could manifest as something embarrassing and unmanly, and moved quickly across the cell to gently shake his sister.

"Hey 'Tara, it's okay, wake up..." He held her as best he could around the chains as she began to cling to him, petting her hair like he always had when they were children and she was scared.

"They were going to... they..." Curse it, now he was all wish I had an Avatar State mad again, and mad at himself to boot. He'd been so angry at what those bastards had done to Zuko, he'd pushed what had almost happened to Katara into the background. And Zuko could take it, he was tough, a warrior, Katara had probably needed him more, really.

"It's okay, sis, it's over, they aren't going to hurt you, we're gonna get out of here and I'm gonna break those guys' faces on the way out. Maybe we'll get Zuko to set a couple on fire too, huh?"

"Zuko?" Oops, back to cold angry Katara, looking over to the other side of the cell with disgust before lowering her voice. "You think we're bringing that monster with us if we have to break out of here?"

And, okay, trying to comfort not argue, yeah, yeah but really? Seriously? She was going to be like this when the guy, any guy, had been hurt that badly, and all because he-

"He thought it was funny." Oh spirits. She didn't think... "He was practically laughing at what was happening, he probably wanted to stay and watch, and you think we should..." But no, that was what it sounded like, that was what Zuko had meant it to sound like because being concerned would have been bad for them all, but couldn't she see that he had just been trying to draw attention, couldn't she...?

No. She hadn't seen the mask pulled down so many times it couldn't be seen as anything but a shield. She'd never heard sympathy in the prince's voice, or regret for needing to kill, or stumbling, awkwardly expressed affection. She'd been worried exclusively about Aang and probably hadn't even noticed Zuko playing 'just a soldier, don't look at me' when they were first brought in, before something became more important (or as he would say it, more urgent) than putting off what would happen to the Fire Prince as an Earth Kingdom prisoner. She couldn't see what he had been doing, had just heard the same thing the soldiers had. Curse it.