To Pass A Law ||Zukka Fanfic||

Chapter 3: Being Fire Lord

We all ate dinner together and the food was amazing, however I was too anxious to enjoy it. One man took down an entire prison filled with trained fire benders and skilled warriors. He even took down my brother in the process and the other day he almost killed Zuko! "You okay sweetie?" Aang asked, breaking me out of thought. "Yeah I'm alright just anxious about this whole situation." I replied, "Me too." We all continued to eat and dinner was fairly quiet other than a few of Sokka's horrible jokes. "Ooh I have another joke!" Sokka exclaimed and the rest of us all exchanged looks. "Not again Sokka!" I groaned, "But this one is good, trust me." Zuko rolled his eyes and Sokka began his joke, "Okay what did the cloud say to the sky?" "I don't know?" Aang replied intrigued. "Why ya so blue?!" Sokka and Aang burst into laughter while Zuko and I were not amused at the slightest. Honestly every time Aang and Sokka hang out together they just bring out the idiotic side of each other. "I have a part two to that joke, wanna hear it?" "No!" Zuko and I replied in unison. "Fine," Sokka said sinking into his shoulders. "Actually Sokka you can tell us, but make it your last." Zuko said all of sudden changing his mind. "Really?" I exclaimed. "What did the sky say to the stormy cloud?" "What?" Aang asked, "Why ya crying?! Get it! Because the rain looks like tears!" "Brilliant Sokka, just brilliant." I respond sarcastically. "I know, I'm a genius!" Sokka remarked back. A maid then came into the dining room holding a letter handing it to Aang. He suddenly stopped smiling. "Aang what's wrong?" I asked him concerned. "It's Bumi...he was attacked last night by a water bender and a non-bender." He said sounding devastated. "Is he alright?" Sokka asked, "Yeah he's fine." Zuko then snatched the letter from Aang and began reading it himself. "The water bender had a white lotus tile that he painted red! Just like Xuza had in her cell!" If we weren't already cautious about this entire situation, then this definitely tipped us over the edge. "I need to go check on Bumi. He is the only friend I have left before the war, I'll only be gone for two days." Aang said and no one questioned it.

I went to help Aang pack. "Be careful sweetie, and only be gone for two days. Also don't do anything stupid or dangerous while you are there." I exclaimed as he pulled me in for a hug. "I will be." He said as he leaned in to kiss me. We then walked outside with the others and all said our goodbyes. "Bye Appa! Bye Momo," Sokka says to the animals. "Oh and goodbye Aang." Aang hugged Sokka, Zuko, and I one more time before heading onto Appa, flying away from us towards the darkness.

Sokka's POV

"Aang will be fine, Katara." I told my sister who had a very concerned look on her face. "I know, I just miss him already." We were in her bedroom just the two of us. "I know what you mean," We were both silent for a while. "Soooo Zuko huh?" "What about him?" I questioned her. She smiled, "Do you like him?" "Of course I do! He is one of my best friends," "Do you like him as more than just a friend?" "I-I don't know what you are talking about." "Sure," she said while rolling her eyes. "I don't! I haven't even considered it," That was partially true, I never really thought in depth about my relationship with Zuko. Could we be together?  "And besides, Zuko is a guy." I told her. "So? It doesn't matter if he's a guy or not. If you like him, you like him. You can't control that. And besides, it would be so fun to go on double dates together!" "Well we aren't dating so that can't happen. Also isn't it a bit weird?" "I don't think it's weird, I think it's cute. You guys are always blushing and it's so sweet." "I'm not always blushing!" "Whatever you say. Oh Zuko look at my hand please, you see those scars, touch me please. Your face turned so red today, especially after he complimented you!" She mocked. "That is not true!" "Oh Zuko please hold my hand again and carry me to safety! My little Fire Lord-" "Stop it Katara! I don't tease you about Aang!" "That's because we are in a relationship and aren't oblivious to everything!" She shot back. I grabbed a pillow and threw it in her face. Within seconds we were in a full out pillow war. "Stop it Sokka!" She screamed, "Then stop making fun of Zuko and I!" We eventually stopped smashing our pillows at each other. "Fine I will." "Good, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Katara" I told her. "You know it isn't a coincidence that Zuko has your room the closest to his." "Katara!" She quickly bent the water out of her bedside plant, shoving me out of her room locking the door behind me. "Wow, so mature!" I called out to her. "Goodnight Sokka!"

I don't like Zuko right? But do I? Ugh, this is so confusing!  I continued to walk down the hall to my bedroom. The Fire Nation Palace is really beautiful. The bedrooms were huge and the decor was pretty. It was nice to have the place almost all to myself. Iroh now lives in Ba Sing Se working at his tea shop while Zuko's mother, Kiyi, and Ikem were off at Hira'a for the month ; leaving Katara, Zuko and I here 'alone.' As I got closer to my bedroom I heard someone's breath become louder and louder and louder. They were panting at such a fast pace. As I got closer I realized it was coming from Zuko's room. "Zuko, are you okay?" I asked him knocking on his door. "Yeah I'm fine!" He called out in a muffled voice, "Can I come in?" He hesitated. "If you want." I opened the door and saw Zuko sitting up topless with his eyes glistening probably from tears. "Is everything alright Sokka?" He asked me in a calm voice. "Yeah I'm fine, are you?" He nodded. I walked closer to him and sat on the bed beside him. "I could hear you breathing really loudly from down the hall." "Well that's a good thing. You need to breathe in order to survive." I chuckled a little from his statement causing Zuko to smile a bit. "Did you have another nightmare?" "Yeah," "What to talk about it?" "No," "Okay." I looked over at Zuko sitting directly across from him and saw him brush out the tears in his eyes quickly. "I hate being Fire Lord." Zuko whispered to me. "Why?" "You wouldn't understand, it's actually quite pathetic." I reached out and placed my hand on top of Zuko's. "You can tell me. I promise not to tell a single soul," Zuko was quiet for a bit but then decided to speak. "It's just so stressful and energy draining. I'm always dealing with people's issues and all day I have to sit in long dreadful meetings with generals arguing for the sake of arguing! People expect me to have all the answers however regardless of what I do someone is going to get so upset. I can't win! Not to mention that every second of every day I'm completely on edge about not only my safety but the safety of the people I care about. A few months ago Kiyi got kidnapped because of me, another world war almost broke out because of me, the colonials hate me, most of the world hates the Fire Nation, and the people within my Nation hate me for the complete opposite reason! I was almost killed recently and so were you! My whole world is falling apart and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm so alone and afraid all the time, yet even though I'm lonely I still never get time for myself! I just solved the New Ozai Society problem and within a month another uprising occurs. I feel like regardless of what I do or who I defeat a new challenge replaces it. I can't do this anymore! I only get to see my friends twice a month and other than that I'm all alone, stressed out and scared. I don't know what to do!" Zuko yelled, now having so many tears in his eyes. I was just stunned, Zuko never talks about his emotions, much less ramble about them. I moved closer to him and just hugged him tight. Zuko then began to cry in my arms. "I'm so sorry Sokka, I'm so sorry about everything," "Zuko this isn't your fault okay. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." He continued to cry into me, hiding his face in my shoulder. "I had no idea what you were going through but it's okay. Everything will be alright. There's no need to feel alone, I'm right here." I didn't know what else to say, I just felt so guilty. Zuko is up here all alone with the most stressful job on the planet, I should have been there for him. I continued to hug and stroke his hair gently while rocking him. "What if you died? It would have been all my fault." Zuko exclaimed, and I could feel his body trembling. I held him even tighter and explained that, "It was my choice to stay in the prison even after being warned to leave. My death would have been my fault. And it doesn't matter, I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere." Zuko nodded and I tucked some of his hair behind his ears. Zuko then looked up at me and his eyes were so vibrant from his tears. They showed off the many golden sparks in his eyes, just like the sun. "Move over," I told Zuko, moving beside him in bed. I placed his head on my chest wrapping my arms around his body. "I'm right here Zuko and I'm not going anywhere." I repeated while Zuko began to hug me back. "Thank you Sokka, you are an amazing friend." He whispered, burying his face in my chest. I could feel my cheeks turning red, "You are too." We then fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms and I slowly felt Zuko's body stop shaking while his breathing returned to normal.