Chapter Text
he fidgeted in his new robes, made weeks in advance for this very occasion. they felt heavy on his shoulders, weighed down by the pelts of fur. despite the freezing temperature, sokka felt this suffocating heat that pricked his skin with needles. or perhaps that was just his anxiety. any minute now the ships that were on the horizon would dock at their ports, and with them his fate would draw nearer.
it seemed as though katara could pick up on his unrest, and he felt her hand slip into his. his stomach eased a bit. whatever was to come from the union, better him than her. she was still too young to be brought into political affairs, but he was of age now. it was his duty to serve his people to the best of his ability, and this treaty would help rebuild his tribe. he owed that much to them.
“what are you thinking?” she asked him in a low voice, even though it was just the two of them out on the watchtower he had built a few years ago. lately it’s where he had been spending most of his time, waiting for the day the ships would arrive. and today was that day.
“just wondering i guess.” he didn’t need to say more than that. he was sure she understood. despite being the children of the chief, they lived in relatively small quarters. in comparison to their counterparts up in the northern tribe, they basically lived in a closet. they had no grandiose palace. decades ago before war had weathered away at the world their tribe had been strong, a place to be proud of. he still loved his home, but with the pending arrival of the fire nation it was as though he was viewing everything for the first time, and with a critical eye.
the watchtower he had built so long ago was lopsided. the igloos that many called their homes were small, the insides bare of decorations, holding just the necessities. the outer wall was mostly intact he supposed, but the destruction from the last invasion was still visible. and with a lack of waterbenders, it was difficult to rebuild. his father had asked their sister tribe for support but they too were busy trying to keep themselves afloat after surviving attack after attack.
“he seemed handsome in his portrait,” katara said to reassure him. “aside from his, you know…” she made a vague gesture towards her face.
sokka bumped his hip into hers, “what, you weren’t a fan of the scar?” he teased. “good thing he’s gonna be my husband and not yours.” katara laughed but truth be told, he was happy that the prince had such a visible and prominent scar. he was particularly self conscious about his pale white hair that marked him as a freak even in his own tribe, and he didn’t like to think about what the newcomers might call him behind his back. when he had first received the prince’s portrait he wondered if he wore his scar with pride, or if he too felt a prickle of shame every time he looked at his reflection. he wondered if he would ever even get close enough with him to find out.
“you look handsome too,” she continued, facing him and smoothing down the fur of his robe. she had helped him stitch the wolf he had hunted into something fit for a warrior, despite the fact that he was no soldier. “mom would be proud.” she reached up to her neck to touch the last relic either of them had of their mother and her eyes teared up. sokka drew her into a tight hug. he knew they had grieved their mother differently, the wound cutting far deeper into her than it had him. if they had lost their father that night instead, he knew he would still be recovering. just like he had followed his father everywhere when he was younger, katara had done the same with their mother.
sokka let go of her slowly and realized that he was going to miss her dearly when the day came that they would inevitably have to part. out of the corner of his eye, he could see the ships getting near the shoreline. below them the people of the village were hustling to get things ready for the feast they were to have that night in honor of their guests. the people had mixed feelings about the fire nation, some were wary and had not yet forgotten the effects of the war, others were excited for the future and what this new treaty would bring. he didn’t quite know where his thoughts truly lied.
“are you two up there?” he heard his father ask from the base of the tower.
“yeah!” katara answered before he could.
“i’d join you guys but i’m afraid this thing would collapse.”
“aw c’mon!” he had worked on it for two weeks straight to distract himself from his parents’ absence. and maybe it wasn’t the most sturdy thing but it had held up over the years.
hakoda laughed and continued, “i think it’s time for us to head out to where they’ll dock.”
he sighed mentally, but gestured for his sister to follow him down the slightly steep stairs. he said nothing to them when they reached him. hakoda was also dressed in newer garments, similar to sokka’s own. he could tell that his father was stressed by the whole ordeal of negotiating out a treaty, of trying to rebuild a broken society. anxiety seeped into him again, a lot was resting on his shoulders now too.
together, silently, the three of them walked. in the center of the village, a large tarp had been set up. they had no building large enough to host a feast, but the tarp, lined with leather made from penguins, would protect them well enough from the ever present cold. distantly he could see his grandmother organizing the dishes and the bonfires. she had been preparing for weeks now.
the docks weren’t too far from the outer wall. within a few minutes they were already standing at the shore’s edge. he could make out the ships more clearly now, the dark red insignia of fire nation flags a stark contrast with the light blue of the sky. on the deck of the ship he could see a large beast resting calmly. he had never seen an animal of that magnitude. “what is that?” he asked.
“it seems that the fire lord did not come alone,” hakoda responded and it suddenly clicked for sokka.
it made sense for the avatar to be there to help negotiate the deal and to make sure nothing went awry. still, his presence did nothing to ease the tension in his body. the ocean lapped gently at the edge of the shore. he tried to focus his breathing on that, the constant push and pull of the waves. calm, cool, and collected.
the far two ships docked first, the ramps sliding down to connect them to shore. in a single file line the guards exited the ship and stayed off to the sides. the ship in the middle, the largest and most ornate of the three landed last. a boy with bright blue tattoos leaned forward on the railings of the deck. he didn’t bother waiting for the ramp to descend and instead jumped off the side of the boat.
katara gasped and stepped forward, he didn’t know how she was planning on helping from fifty feet away, but it didn’t matter because the boy landed nimbly on his feet, the snow around him gently blowing away. “chief hakoda!” he yelled out in greeting, waving while jumping.
“avatar aang,” his father greeted warmly in return and led them nearer. “it’s our honor to welcome you to the southern water tribe. these are my two children, sokka and katara.”
sokka bowed, and elbowed katara to do the same. “we’re honored to be able to meet you avatar aang.” he said.
“ah,” he scratched in head in a sheepish manner. “just aang is fine! and it’s an honor to be here! i’ve never been to the southern water tribe before. i couldn’t believe that zuko was about to leave without me.”
as if the prince’s name were a cue, the ramp lowered from the main ship. with no guards flanking them, the fire lord and his nephew walked down the metal strip. aang stopped mid-conversation and turned to watch as well. his father’s descriptions couldn’t have matched the fire lord better. despite the dark and extravagant colors of his robes, he had a kind and warm face. as for the prince, well. sokka had spent a long time memorizing every detail of the portrait he had received. he was sure he could draw him in his sleep. he met his eyes briefly but quickly looked down and flushed. they were the color of embers of a dying fire. he had never seen eyes with such a hue.
his father bowed when they were level to them. sokka followed suit. “fire lord iroh, prince zuko. the southern water tribe is honored to host you.”
“chief hakoda, it is an honor to be welcomed to your tribe as allies,” the fire lord responded in a slow drawl. the prince joined his uncle in raising his right fist to their open palms and bowing. sokka tried to keep his eyes trained on the fire lord. “and these must be your children, sokka and katara.”
“it’s a pleasure to meet you sir,” katara said sweetly.
“the pleasure is all mine, when i tell you that not a single day went by that your father did not mention his children, well-” iroh chuckled. “he would go on and on about how proud he was of his waterbending daughter, and of his brave son who stayed behind to defend the village.”
his father must not have mentioned how hard he begged to let him go with them, how he too had wanted to avenge his mother’s death. probably for the better that he hadn’t. unwillingly his gaze turned to zuko. he had his hair up in a high ponytail, wrapped in gold leaves made to mimic the flames of fire. he stayed one step behind his uncle with his hands behind his back, silent. his eyes had been trained on hakoda, but it seemed as though he could feel his scrutiny and they quickly met his own.
sokka fought to keep his blush down at having been caught and jutted his chin out slightly. he could see the prince’s eyes go up to his white hair, down to the tattoos on his forehead. he skipped his eyes and went a little bit further down to where sokka had lines and dots decorating his chin. he wondered what he thought of him. did he think he was handsome too? or did he think of him as nothing more than a savage with primitive ways? zuko cleared his throat and sokka looked towards his father.
“huh?”
“i was just saying that while iroh and i discuss politics, you should show prince zuko around,” hakoda said in amusement. he must’ve spaced out, and now everyone was staring at him, waiting for a response.
“y-yes, of course.” he stammered out and cursed himself internally. “i would love to.”
“well then, hopefully we can figure a few things out before dinner,” hakoda said and gestured towards iroh, who patted his stomach.
“i have been looking forward to those sea urchin rice balls of yours the whole voyage,” he said. “i hope you behave yourself nephew, we’ll see you at dinner.”
“yes uncle,” zuko said in a low voice. it was the first time he had spoken. sokka kind of liked how deep his voice was. distantly he heard katara ask aang about waterbending,and he knew that they would be preoccupied with each other for awhile. good on her for finally finding someone who could teach her.
and so it was just him and the prince. they looked at one another in awkward silence, waiting for the other to speak.
“so it’s nice to finally-”
“my name is zu-” they spoke at the same time and both stopped immediately when they realized.
sokka laughed, “sorry, you first.” he saw that the other boy’s cheeks had turned red, like actually red. he had never seen skin so pale before. if he had been a bit farther away it might have even begun to blend in with the snow, if it weren’t for the raised scar that was across his eye.
“i- yeah, okay. my name is zuko, but you probably already knew that…” he trailed off and looked self-conscious. “um, what were you saying?”
“well, zuko , i was just saying that it’s nice to finally meet you.” he put emphasis on his name just to see him grimace and smiled to himself. near the ship there was a loud splash of water, too loud to be a wave. katara was laughing while aang was soaked. even though he had just been drenched in freezing water, he was looking at his sister in admiration and maybe even just a little bit starstruck. “is that something i should be worried about?”
zuko huffed. “aang’s a sweet kid. she’ll be alright.”
he hummed in response. “we can head into the village now if you’d like.” he offered. zuko nodded. two of the guards behind him made to follow him, but he raised his hand and they fell back into place. sokka gestured for zuko to stay close to him, and together they began to walk towards the village.
“so this is the outerwall,” he said as they passed through it. before them was a layout of igloos, all at a distance from each other. in the middle of them was the set up for the feast. the smell of cooking meat and stew wafted through the air and his stomach growled. “shut up,” he whispered viciously to it. zuko looked at him in amusement. “i was too nervous to eat all day,” he explained. “not that i was nervous to meet you!” he said quickly when he realized how that might have sounded. “well, i was, but not in a bad way- you know what? i’ll just stop talking.”
zuko laughed, and even if it was at his expense he was still happy to hear it. “i understand, i was nervous too. still am, actually.”
sokka ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “that’s good to hear. may the bigger nervous wreck win.”
truth be told, there wasn’t much in the village to show. he walked zuko briefly through the process of making an igloo, which was mainly just using a lot of ice, and then pointed out the few teepee tents they had set up for storing food. zuko seemed to be genuinely interested in the process though, which quelled the traitorous voice inside his head that told him he was rambling and being annoying. “and over there is the watchtower that i built a few years ago and-”
“wait,” he said, and sokka stopped. “you built that?”
“yeah, traditionally the men do most of the building. waterbenders too, of course. but we don’t have many of those around anymore. i built you an igloo too, actually.”
“you built me an igloo?”
“which i realize now i shouldn’t have because you’ll probably want to sleep in your quarters on your ship and sleeping in ice instead of fire must be super weird to you but-”
“hey,” zuko grabbed his arm and he closed his mouth. “i would love to sleep in the igloo you built me. i was just a bit surprised. nobody has ever built me an igloo before.” he would hope nobody had ever built him an igloo before, or else sokka would have just been a name on a long list of attempted water tribe betrothals. “and i don’t sleep in fire,” he laughed. “i’m not sure about you but i usually sleep on a bed. if i’m really roughing it out, then maybe on a pile of leaves.”
“well at least after tonight you can add “on a pile of snow” to that list,” he joked. but in actuality he had spent an embarrassing amount of time in planning out the small room and an even longer amount of time making sure it was perfect. pile of snow his ass.
“could i see what you built for me?” he asked.
he nodded and walked them over to where a grouping of five igloos stood, separated from the rest of the residential structures. “this one here is mine,” he said, and then a few yards away, “this is yours.” he had coerced katara into bending snow into sturdy blocks of ice so he could use them for his little project. “after you,” he said to zuko, and watched as the prince disappeared behind the pelt he had hung up to cover the doorway. he followed in right after him.
he had smoothed the blocks of ice until they were no longer jagged, and he had left a few blocks inside to be used as a table. off to the far left he had placed the warmest pelts he could make to be used as blankets, with a hand sewn pillow made from a polar bear dog on top.in the center he had placed rocks in a circle, for a fire. he knew it wasn’t much, that the prince was probably used to more, but it was honest work, and he was proud.
he turned around to ask him what he thought, only to see that zuko had pulled out a small rectangular box from his pocket. “i know that neither of us really chose this, but i had this made for you.” he handed it over abruptly, and sokka carefully opened the box and his breath caught in his throat.
he looked down at the betrothal necklace in his hands. the craftsmanship was superior to anything he would have been able to carve out crudely. the band of the necklace was a line of bright white stones inlaid into gold. the pendant was an even larger white stone, with the design of a wave turning into a flame carved out delicately into it. water tribe and fire nation together as one.
“do you like it?” zuko asked him. there was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. “if not, we can get another one made, tailored to your taste. my uncle informed me of your traditions, but if you’d rather forgo it-”
“i love it, zuko. thank you, truly. it’s beautiful.” and it was. he had never seen anything quite like it. “would you help me put it on?” zuko nodded, and sokka dropped the necklace in his hands. he moved around him and carefully laid the jewelry on his neck to clasp it in the back. his fingers felt hot against his skin. did all firebenders run at this temperature or was it just zuko?
“there,” zuko said and stepped away. the stones had a slight weight to them, and sokka touched them lightly. they seemed to glow under his touch, and they reflected tiny slivers of colored light against the walls of the igloo. “i asked for moonstone to be used,” he added, also admiring the way they shined on the ice. “i didn’t know they’d react like this to a bender.”
“mm, i’m not a bender.”
“oh. sorry, i just assumed, because of your hair.” zuko murmured, his voice getting harder to hear with each word.
“no, it’s fine. a lot of people assume i can do some cool mystical shit, because of my hair, but i can’t.” some women used to say when he was younger that it would have made more sense for him, the son of the chief, to have waterbending. it was a good thing that katara had never given into that sexist bullshit.
“can i ask why it’s like that, if you don’t mind me asking? it’s just that i’ve never seen anyone that looks like you.” zuko said, and sokka knew he didn’t mean it in malice, but it still stung a little bit. yeah, he knew he looked different than everybody else, that he would always stand out, that even his fellow tribesmen didn’t want him going to war because of the rumors circulating about him.
“i’ll tell you, but only if you tell me how you got your scar.” he said in return. zuko’s eyes widened a bit, but he nodded. perhaps he too felt a certain type of kinship with him, in regards to their odd appearances. “we should probably get comfortable.” he gestured towards the pile of pelts and took off his own to set it down so he could sit. he waited for zuko to sit, and began.