The Prince and the Servant (Zukka) (Discontinued)

-3-

Sokka's POV:

Zuko seemed nice. A little odd, of course. But nice. I kept catching myself staring at the boy while he was practicing, wondering why Master Piandao seemed upset by him being here. Also, he had excellent form. I'd seen some extremely skilled swordsmen learn here, and Zuko, a teenager, looked like he could have a fair match with any of them. I finished my work early, so I sat and watched Zuko finish his practice. At one point, he swung his sword, realized I was watching, stumbled, and missed the target. I laughed extremely hard. I may or may not have snorted.

Anyways, Zuko finished practicing about a half-hour later. He began walking out of the arena, so I jogged to catch up.

"Hey, Zuko! You were great out there! How long have you been doing this?" I asked.

"Oh, a while. My mom wanted me to have something to do in my spare time."

"Your mom sounds cool. My mom didn't like me learning all that combat stuff. She used to take away my boomerang when I got in trouble."

Zuko looked at me, taken aback by my transparency. I suddenly felt a bit sheepish.

Used to?" Zuko questioned.

"Oh. I was captured in a raid. I used to live in the South Pole, in the southern water tribe. A fire navy ship came to our village and took me away. They thought I was a water bender, for some reason. I ended up escaping. We had already arrived here, though, and I couldn't find my way back. Then I started working for Master Piandao, and now we're here."

"Wow. I'm sorry that happened." Zuko looked down at his shoes and continued, "I'm not sure what happened to my mom. As I said, it's a long story."

"Well, I'm here every day to help out good ol' Piandao, so if you've ever got the time..." I joked. A smile tugged at Zuko's lips.

We arrived at the gates of Master Piandao's castle. I waved goodbye to Zuko and watched him head down the hill. He was nice. I liked him.