Learning Experiences Zukka

Chapter 2: Questions and Answers

Sokka watched the little boy run up the gangplank, saw one of the figures on the deck stand and embrace the child. It was a nice moment. It really was too bad Zuko hadn't brought the child back himself and gotten to see the sweet moment close up. It might have done the angry jerk some good to see a touching scene of family love.

The water tribesman found the thought hard to entertain. Zuko hadn't been too angry helping the child, and if he was still a bit of a jerk, well . . . He'd gotten the job done. And he stayed to make sure the job was finished, even though, like Sokka and his companions, he'd be leaving this area soon. Even more shocking, he had let Aang go. Walked away from a perfect opportunity because a child he thought of as some 'random colonial brat' needed rescuing.

Sokka wasn't used to thinking of the fire prince with anything other than hate or maybe fear, but on the long walk down to the docks, listening to Chang prattle on about how strong and powerful and brave Zuko had been, he had to admit that a small glimmer of respect had reared it's ugly head. Ugly, because he didn't see much use in respecting the guy trying to destroy the world's last hope for balance. Zuko was a bad guy, the prince of bad guys in a very literal sense. But in Sokka's world, bad guys didn't put aside their goals to save little kids, and the contridiction was spinning around in his head. Along with it was an oncoming headache.

If there was one thing Sokka didn't like, besides firebenders and being hungry of course, it was not understanding something. Which somewhat explained why instead of heading southwest of the village, on the most direct path to where they had begun camping before all the interuptions, he retraced his steps back towards the cave. Maybe he'd run into the prince on his way back. Maybe their informal truce would still be in effect. Maybe he'd come up with a better way of assauging his curiousity than "So, whats up with you not being a complete monster?" Never hurt to try.

When he realized he was almost back to the cave, the water tribesman figured he'd missed his chance. Either Zuko had somehow slipped past him when their paths crossed, or he had taken a different way back to his boat. Or he had somehow tracked Aang and Katara in the dark and was attacking them right now... what if he hadn't really even gone back into the cave any longer than it took to get Sokka to head off? What if while Sokka was taking the long way home his family had been captured? What if. . .

Sokka saw a flicker of light as he took the last turn out of the trees. A fire had been kindled among the ruins, and a figure sat facing it on one of the crumbled benches, back straight with one leg folded and the other stretched out awkwardly. As he got closer, Sokka realised that the fire prince had his eyes closed and was taking deep breaths, like Aang did when he meditated. Then he stopped in shock, because the fire also seemed to be taking deep breaths, rising and falling in time with Zuko's chest. It was an almost hypnotic sight and for a moment, Sokka just wanted to sit and watch, maybe even try to time his breaths the same.

"I take it you didn't get captured by the town guard?"

"Yeep! Um, I mean, no, no problems, Chang got on the ship fine, lots of hugging and crying from what I could see..."

"Oh. Glad I missed it, then." The prince sounded too tired to be properly contemptuous, though. Sokka tore his eyes away from fire to get a closer look and quietly gasped. What he had assumed was just a shadow from the moonlight and shrouded darkness was an ugly, almost bleeding bruise stretching from the right side of Zuko's neck to his cheekbone. A similar mark adorned his left arm from bicep to shoulder.

"What happened to you?"

"Finishing the job turned out to be... harder than I anticipated." The fire prince kept his voice steady, but Sokka noticed the fire flaring up for a moment before Zuko began the deliberate breaths again.