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Zuko doesn’t know how to act around Hakoda. There wasn’t much time to think about it in prison or during the escape, and the ride back to the Western Air Temple was mostly Sokka talking to his dad about everything he’d missed. Hakoda was an unknown, and Zuko did not like unknowns.
When they’d gotten off of the airship and Hakoda hugged both his children tightly, a small bubble of apprehension popped into relief inside Zuko’s chest. He tried not to think too hard about it.
Sokka and Katara were both talking rapidly around the fire now, taking an occasional break to eat a bite of… whatever the stew that Katara managed to cook up was. Regardless of the relief he’d felt earlier, Zuko, next to Sokka, was still apprehensive and abnormally quiet. Sokka was regaling the crowd with the story of how Suki managed to kidnap the warden, the girl in question laughing at Sokka’s over-zealous descriptions as she grabbed seconds, soon being pulled aside by Toph, who looks as star-struck as possible for the girl. Suki smiles brightly at something she says, and the two of them strike up a conversation by the food pot.
Zuko turns his attention back to the story in time to hear Sokka praising his jump to the gondola.
“-and I’m not kidding! Even with a running start, I don’t think I’d be able to jump that far. I was all like, ‘What’d you do that for?’ and he was all like, ‘I was thinking ahead and using my big brain to make sure they can’t thwart our escape! Muahahaha!’”
“I did not laugh like that,” Zuko grumbles with no real malice.
Sokka shrugs. “Eh, but who can get all the details right anyway?”
“Aren’t you the plan guy?” Zuko asks, eyebrow raised. “Plans usually need details.”
“Wh-but this isn’t a plan! This is a story, Zuko! Embellishing everything makes it awesome!” Sokka says dramatically. Hakoda chuckles gently at the two of them, while Katara snorts and looks away.
Zuko flinches slightly but shakes it off to give Sokka a dry stare. Sokka stares with puppy-dog eyes for a minute before he gives in and sighs loudly.
“Okay, fine, Zuko didn’t laugh like crazy because he’s boring.” Sokka continues with a pout. “Anyway, we were leaving on the gondola when we saw Azula! So we- oops!”
It almost happens in slow motion. Sokka spills his stew with an elaborate arm movement, splashing it on both Sokka and Zuko. Sokka yelps as the hot liquid splashes him, and Zuko hisses slightly as they both jump up, Hakoda halfway to following them with ease. Then firmly and loudly, in an authoritarian tone, Hakoda shouts, “Sokka!”
It’s a blur after that. Zuko reacts in the only way he knows how (because Sokka shouldn’t need to deal with this, he shines too brightly for Zuko to be able to watch him burn out like he did), pulling Sokka behind him and switching their positions, shutting his eyes and clenching his teeth for the inevitable blow that was about to come.
Nothing happens.
Zuko cautiously opens his eyes to see a bewildered Hakoda in front of him. His arms are by his side, and Zuko feels like a fool. He drops his eyes in case Hakoda rethinks his peaceful stance, and murmurs, “Sorry, sir.”
“Zuko?” Sokka asks, and Zuko remembers that he’s still holding Sokka’s wrist, and that the rest of the group must be staring at him if the silence is anything to go by.
“Buddy, are you okay?” Sokka asks with a little more urgency in his tone.
“I’m fine,” Zuko says, harsher than he intended to. Toph doesn’t even need to out him on the obvious lie. He rips his hand off of Sokka’s and turns around, ignoring Sokka’s feeble attempt to grab it back. “I’m going to bed.”
“So it’s true?” Chit Sang asks from across the fire. Zuko freezes in his tracks.
“What’s true?” Katara asks warily.
Zuko swallows the lump in his throat harshly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Prince Zuko, you should know that word travels fast.”
“I’m not a prince anymore!” Zuko snarls, whipping around to face Chit Sang. “If you know so much, then you should know that too!”
“I’m not trying to start a fight here,” Chit Sang says while raising his arms. “I was just curious if the rumors were true. I didn’t really believe it at first, but when word of your banishment hit the prisons, it was much easier to draw the lines. Prisoners from Capital City vouched for it too, which helped.”
“Shut up,” Zuko says lowly. “Shut up or I’ll make you shut up.”
“Zuko!” Katara yells, and everyone can see his flinch this time (a coward has no place in the Royal Family, child. Learn to grow up. A handprint on his face that stays for days before fading, and a fist in his stomach that stays longer). “Don’t you dare threaten him!”
“Sorry,” he spits out after some hesitation.
“I’m sorry too,” Chit Sang says. “Sorry that it’s true.”
Zuko has to bite his cheek to stop himself from launching over the fire and punching the man (because he doesn’t need pity, he doesn’t need whatever help they think he does, because it doesn’t matter that Azula’s better than he’ll ever be, because he just wants to be alone right now, because-).
“Zuko.”
His name is softer this time. Zuko’s back straightens automatically, remembering another time where bad posture was rewarded with hours of painful and boring practice.
“Zuko,” Hakoda says again, very quietly. “May I talk with you?”
Zuko wants so badly to say no. To go to the room he claimed for himself and meditate until he can’t anymore, and then go outside when everyone is asleep and practice his firebending until morning so that he won’t have to face the nightmares that are sure to come if he tries to sleep.
But he knows what refusing will get him.
“Of course, sir,” he says, voice steady again as he turns around. “Where would you like to talk?”
Hakoda frowns. “You don’t need to call me sir. Just Hakoda is fine.”
“Okay,” Zuko says, trying very hard to ignore the stares. Katara watches him very strangely, somewhere between sorrow and hatred, and Zuko doesn’t even want to think about what Sokka looks like. Aang’s hurt look in the corner of his eye is bad enough.
“Let’s take a walk,” Hakoda says. “It’s getting late anyway. You all should be getting to bed,” he turns to address the group, raising his voice at the end. Zuko doesn’t do a very good job of hiding this flinch, and he’s glad that Hakoda isn’t looking at him.
“Dad,” Sokka starts, walking forward and Zuko can’t help the jolt that runs up his body at his show of disobedience, or the fact that he looks away so that he won’t have to see the disappointment on his face that’s sure to be there.
“You too, Sokka. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” Hakoda says gently, reaching a hand out to ruffle Sokka’s hair. “Let’s get going, Zuko.”
They walk in silence for a little bit, roaming the many rooms of the Temple. It’s quiet for so long that Zuko almost thinks Hakoda has forgotten about wanting to talk to him.
“Zuko,” he says. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but you saved me. You saved me, my son, Suki, and Chit Sang. For this, you have my gratitude. If it’s okay, I’d like to talk and have you listen for a little bit. Is that alright?” Hakoda turns gentle eyes on Zuko, who swallows the fear threatening to engulf him. Zuko nods.
“I think you were afraid I was going to hurt Sokka today,” Hakoda starts, and Zuko instinctively brushes at the still-damp patch of stew on his clothes. “And you tried to protect him from me.”
Zuko nods again, unsure of what to say.
“I think you did this because you’ve had bad experiences with people yelling at you and then hurting you when they should be trying to protect you.”
Hakoda looks up at the night sky and the twinkling stars that lay across it. “I think your father abused you, and you haven’t recovered.”
“I was disobedient. He punished me. It wasn’t abuse,” Zuko whispers, afraid that his voice will crack if he goes any louder.
“It was abuse, Zuko, if he was hitting you, and it was wrong,” Hakoda says, pulling his gaze from the sky back down to Zuko. “I want you to know that I will never hurt my children, or any others, like that. And,” he hesitates for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “And if you need any help at all, I will be here for you.”
Zuko doesn’t respond, though his throat grows tighter. Very slowly, Hakoda puts an arm around his shoulder and pulls him closer. A sob rips out of Zuko, and Hakoda holds him tight.
It’s quite a while later when Zuko finally calms down enough to go back to camp. Hakoda gives one final squeeze before letting him go.
“Thank you,” Zuko murmurs.
“Don’t worry about it,” Hakoda says.
The walk back is mostly silent, save for the firefly-crickets. Zuko tries not to think about what happened, and instead focuses on what he’ll teach Aang tomorrow. He waves at Hakoda as the older man bids him goodnight and goes off towards the room he claimed for himself.
Zuko slows his steps as he walks toward his room, peeking into the communal room that the rest of the original group sleeps in. They’re all asleep, which relieves Zuko. There was a small bubble of irrational fear that Sokka would be waiting up to interrogate him, Katara standing at his side-
Zuko scans the room again. Toph, snoring on her side, Aang curled into Appa, Katara in her sleeping bag, and Sokka- where was Sokka?
Zuko feels his heart rate rise, panic building up in his chest. He wouldn’t have gone out this late at night to hunt, and Zuko hadn’t seen him as he walked through the temple.
He’s probably just going to the bathroom, Zuko tries to reason. I shouldn’t worry.
Zuko forces himself to turn away from the room, worst-case scenarios swirling around in his head. He starts walking to his room, trying to force them out of his mind.
“Achoo!”
Zuko stops walking with a jerk, staring intently into the shadows of the hallway, eyes catching on a glimmer of light from under a door somewhere ahead of him.
“Who’s there?” Zuko whispers. He creeps forward in a fighting stance.
“Zuko?” the voice says, thick with sleepiness. “That you?” The door creaks open slowly, and Sokka’s head pops out.
Zuko will later refuse to admit anything of the sort, but he almost cries in relief. “Sokka?” he says, falling out of his stance. “What are you doing in- is that my room?”
“Uh,” Sokka says. “Yes?
Zuko resists the urge to pinch his nose. “Why?”
“Mmm…”
“Sokka, you need sleep. You look exhausted.”
“I was waiting for you,” Sokka admits. “I was worried.”
“Oh,” Zuko says. Suddenly, he’s very glad for the fact that it’s so dark out. If Sokka saw him blushing, he’d never live it down. “Well. I’m okay.”
“Good,” Sokka says.
“Um, Katara will be worried if she wakes up and you aren’t there. You should probably go back.”
“Eh,” Sokka shrugs. “She’ll find something to worry about no matter what.”
“Sokka, you need to sleep.”
Sokka fidgets with his fingers, avoiding Zuko’s gaze. “Actually…”
“You need to sleep Sokka!” Zuko groans at the same time that Sokka says, “I was wondering if I could sleep in your room?”
“Uh,” Zuko says. “What?”
Sokka pointedly looks somewhere to the side. “Can I sleep in your room?”
“Oh. Uh, sure?” Zuko says, almost a question.
“It’s fine if you aren’t comfortable with it, really!” Sokka says.
“No!” Zuko yelps. “I mean, I’m used to having more people around, because of the ship. You can sleep in my room. But, um, I don’t have a bed. I’ve been sleeping on some blankets I found.”
“I know, I was in there,” Sokka says, a little too loudly. “It’s fine!”
“But, um, isn’t your sister going to kill me if she wakes up and you’re in my room?”
Sokka waves a dismissive hand. “Nah, don’t worry about her. Now, I’m tired!”
“Okay,” Zuko says. The two of them stand there awkwardly for a moment before Sokka spins around and enters Zuko’s room. Zuko follows close behind, vaguely mortified.
“I’m, er, I’m glad you’re okay,” Sokka says, fluffing out the blankets on the floor. “If you want to talk at all…”
“I’d rather sleep right now,” Zuko says, dropping another pillow on the floor.
“Okay,” Sokka squeaks. “But, um, if you need to talk, I’ll be here.”
Zuko pauses. “Thank you,” he says. “Really.”
“Pshaw, yeah, of course! What’re friends for?”
The two of them shimmy under the covers of the nest they managed to make, and close their eyes. Zuko is almost asleep when he feels a distinct lack of warmth. “Sokka,” he groans. “Give me back the blankets.”
“I’m cold,” Sokka whines. He turns to look at Zuko with barely visible puppy-dog eyes. “Anyway, you’re a firebender. Aren’t you always warm?”
“It’s the middle of the night, and I’m cold. Gimme my blankets.”
“Nu-uh, you’re warmer than I am! You already have an advantage, cheater!”
“Firebending isn’t cheating! And you stole my blankets!”
“It’s freezing in here!”
“Oh, just-” Zuko groans. “We can share the blanket if you’re so cold, just let me back under it.”
“Deal,” Sokka agrees. He opens up the blanket and Zuko crawls closer. He sighs in content and closes his eyes to sleep.
“Zuko?”
“Sokka I am going to kill you, sister be damned, if you don’t let me sleep.”
“But I’m still cold,” Sokka whispers. “And you’re really warm.”
“Shut up and let me sleep,” Zuko hisses. Still, he does inch closer to Sokka, who is practically an ice-cube. Sokka gives a loud (and almost certainly fake) yawn, and slings his arm over Zuko’s shoulders, tugging them closer together.
Zuko rolls his eyes and finally (finally!) falls asleep.
When Zuko wakes up, there’s a strange weight on him. Usually, this would send him into a slight panic, but whoever it is probably doesn’t realize he’s awake yet. Taking this into account, he slowly opens his eyes, enough to see dark skin and blue clothes.
He almost sighs in relief.
Everything from last night comes rushing in, from Hakoda letting him cry his eyes out to Sokka hogging all the blankets.
His eyes open fully, Zuko looks down at Sokka, who is snoring softly. He’s laying on his side, right arm curled up next to their heads and partially twisted in Zuko’s hair. His other arm is sprawled out over Zuko’s chest. It almost looks like he’s a cat curling into a sunbeam. Zuko smiles, a small one that comes up without his consent, but he doesn’t wipe it away.
Well, he muses. I hope Aang slept in, this time.
It’s not until much later that he realizes he didn’t have any of his expected nightmares, and falls back asleep with the same small smile on his face.
“Sokka!”
“Zuko!”
“I told you guys,”
Zuko’s eyes shoot open and he jerks upward to a sitting position, Sokka’s arm tumbling to the ground. He stares at the three figures in the door.
“Mmblghrm,” Sokka groans. “Don’t wanna get up, Katara…”
“What is going on?” Katara growls.
“It’s too early, Katara…” Sokka says. “Let me sleep…”
Zuko feels Sokka’s arm reach over him, and then- whoa, he’s back on the ground and Sokka is… cuddling him. Even flat on his back, he can feel Katara’s hot glare.
“So that’s why you didn’t wake me up for morning meditation!” Aang laughs. “We were really worried for a second, Zuko!”
Zuko tries his best to ignore Toph’s laughter as his face turns beet red.
“It’s not like I could just wake him up!” he hisses. “And he’s the one who dragged me into this,” he adds on, grumbling.
“Well, you’re gonna have to wake him up now, Sparky. C’mon, I’m hungry, Katara!”
“Ooh! I’m hungry too!” Aang says. Katara points her fingers at her eyes and then jabs them in his direction. Aang disrupts what Zuko is sure would’ve been a lovely display of territorial sisterly behavior that would have given him nightmares by dragging her out of the room, Toph helping her. Of course, this doesn’t stop her from eyeing him menacingly as she’s pulled out of sight.
Zuko almost calls after them to come back and HELP me with this, please, but then Sokka shifts and nuzzles into him, and oh.
This is nice.
All of a sudden, Zuko is very, very glad that everyone is gone, because he’s sure that his face is brighter than the sunrise he missed.
Unfortunately, he values his life a little bit more than the peace of the moment, and he tries to shake Sokka awake.
“Mmph,” Sokka groans.
“Sokka,” Zuko says. “We need to get up.”
“Nu-uh.”
“Sokka, your sister can and will kill me.”
“Nooo…” Sokka groans.
Zuko’s eyebrow twitches. He almost gives an annoyed sigh, but it’s been such a mostly-relaxing morning that he can’t bring himself to. Instead, he stands up to the best of his ability. Sokka remains clinging to Zuko, arms slipping further until Zuko’s awkwardly stuck with the water-tribe boy hooked around his knees.
“Let go,” Zuko says.
“No way,” Sokka replies. His grip doesn’t loosen. If anything, it gets tighter.
So Zuko resorts to picking off Sokka’s fingers one by one, sighing in relief when he finally gets one full hand off and manages to grab it around the wrist, keeping at least half of his current Sokka-induced issues as bay, while the other half comes surging back to fill his head with things he’d rather not think about right now, thank you very much. Like how even though Sokka is physically very strong, Zuko’s fingers can almost touch around his wrist (and for a moment, he wonders what it’d be like to hold it for real, not just because one of them is falling to their death) and Zuko forcefully shoves these thoughts down to where he will not be thinking about them, returning his focus to the task at hand - getting Sokka’s off of his knee.
Zuko somehow manages to avoid looking at Sokka’s eyes as he finishes pulling off the last finger and grasps Sokka’s wriggling hands together so that they won’t get free again.
In the distance, he hears someone call “breakfast!”
“Breakfast is ready,” he says awkwardly, still looking off to the side.
Sokka groans loudly, enough for Zuko to feel that it’s safe to look at him again - which is a mistake, he quickly realizes, as Sokka takes advantage of his attention.
He’s using those stupid puppy-dog eyes that should make him look stupid, but they don’t. Zuko is frighteningly aware of how close Sokka is, with Zuko hunched slightly over to keep holding him by the wrists, and Sokka himself at waist level, leaning into Zuko’s legs. He’s never taken the time to look at someone so closely before, and it’s slightly strange, seeing all of Sokka so close to him. His hair is still down. Something uncomfortably warm grows in Zuko’s stomach, and he swallows hard, hoping it’s not too visible.
“Carry me?” Sokka pleads, and Zuko can’t quite bring himself to say no. He lets go by accident, and Sokka takes the opportunity to push himself off the ground, twisting around so he’s behind Zuko and snaking his arms around Zuko’s neck.
Zuko mumbles something-or-other before letting out a small groan.
“Just this once,” he acquiesces, bending down. “Jump.”
Sokka complies and Zuko catches him under his thighs, hoisting Sokka a little higher. He’s heavier than he looks, but the weight is still familiar from yesterday when Zuko caught him from falling over the edge of the gondola (which isn’t something he’d like to relive anytime soon, and keeping his trauma under lock and key is just fine to Zuko). Sokka lays his head on Zuko’s shoulder as the boy shifts him to a more comfortable position and they start moving.
“You got warmer,” Sokka says quietly. “I was sorta worried, y’know?”
“No, I don’t.”
Sokka squirms a bit. “Just, with the freezer and all. I figured it was a punishment for firebenders for a reason.”
“Oh,” Zuko says. “Well, you don’t have to worry. I was using the breath of fire in there, so I could regulate my temperature.”
“Yeah, but- yeah, I know that.”
“Then why are you asking about it?” Zuko partially turns his head to glance at Sokka quizzically. He steadfastly ignores how much closer Sokka is right now.
“I was just… I wasn’t… I was worried, I guess. It’d suck if you got sick, jerkbender.”
Zuko takes a deep breath, eye twitching. “What’s up with that name anyway?” he asks.
“It’s genius!” Sokka cries, throwing an arm in the air as they step into the open area that’s been claimed as the recreation area, but it’s also where everyone congregates to eat breakfast. “You guys can both firebend, and most firebenders are jerks- no offense, Zuko, Aang,” Sokka says, sheepishly.
“I think Zuko’s right, Sokka,” Aang says through a mouthful of rice before swallowing. “It’s not the most creative name.”
“And it’s annoying,” Zuko mutters. “Get off, Sokka.” He crouches down until Sokka’s feet touch the ground and lets him go.
“What are you doing on him anyway?” Aang asks.
“He was carrying me to make up for the fact that he woke me up,” Sokka replies smugly, tucking his legs up and grasping onto Zuko. “And I’m not getting off yet!” he adds. “Onward, loyal ostrich-horse!”
“No,” Zuko deadpans, carefully keeping an eye on Katara, who is quite viciously eating her rice. “Aang, help me get him off.”
“Aw, but you guys look so cute!” Aang says. “Sorry, Zuko, you’re on your own.”
Zuko can feel his blood pressure rising by the second.
When Hakoda walks into the dining area, he blinks. Several times, actually. Fire Prince Zuko (though he isn’t one currently, he’s still royalty) is laying on his back on top of Sokka, who is determinedly holding onto him, legs wrapped around his torso and arms around his shoulders. Aang is cheering them on with The Duke - but who they’re cheering for is anyone’s guess at this point. Katara is loudly pointing out different strategies that Sokka could use to incapacitate him, and he’s not certain, but he thinks that he can see little bumps of rock wiggling around under the two boys. Most likely from Toph, he muses. Suki is laughing at the two of them with some warm emotion in her eyes. Haru and Teo are eating their breakfast, eagerly watching the spectacle, and Chit Sang isn’t yet there.
He strongly considers turning around and taking a long walk to clear his head of the confusion.
“Oh, morning dad!” Katara says, dragging her attention from the boys, who have somehow reversed their positions so that Sokka is on top of Zuko’s back and pinning him down like a purple pentapus.
“Good morning, Katara,” he responds, trying very hard to ignore the... well, whatever is happening over there.
“Zuko gave him a piggyback ride and Sokka won’t get off,” she says. “Rice?”
“Sure,” he says. “That sounds good right now.”
Zuko eventually notices that they’ve grown a crowd, and struggles to his feet. Sokka takes it as an invitation to tackle him right back over again, and crow about his victory.
“I’m hungry,” he announces loudly, and Zuko sighs in relief. “Bring me to the rice, Zuko!”
At this, Zuko lays right back down on top of Sokka, who begins to squawk. This isn’t too bad, he thinks, even as Sokka digs a knee into his ribs. It isn’t too bad at all.