Strange Encounters
The sun was setting over the horizon, creating all sorts of beautiful colors that sparkled over the sea.
Sokka stared up at the sunset and wiped his brow. If there was one benefit of being stuck on this sprit-forsaken boat, it was that the view was spectacular.
He had been busying himself for most of the afternoon and evening with small chores around the ship—whether it be sweeping areas over and over again or scrubbing the eating areas. Anything to get his mind off the rather judgmental stares he received from the fellow crew inhabitants.
He ignored the fact that his actual job was to clean the toilets because....eww. But he was sure the prince wouldn’t notice if he skipped one day. Besides, it was still his birthday. He wasn’t going to spend it scrubbing the excretion of fire nation scum.
He yawned and glanced at the darkening sunset one last time, before going inside to return to his room.
When he returned to his room, he was surprised to see how much more organized and cozy it felt. Katara must have spent her afternoon fixing up the place.
The room wasn’t large by any stretch of the imagination, as there was room for the two bunk beds on the right side of the wall, a desk with a chair on the opposite side, and a small dresser near the door. The wall directly in front of the doorway had a small open window that let in the limited light still left in the sky.
It looked like his sister had removed the unnecessary boxes and junk out of the room, and dusted off the furniture.
He walked over to the bed and pressed on the mattress with his hand. It wasn’t the least uncomfortable thing he’d sleep on, but he hated that the sheets were blood red.
Katara suddenly peered into the doorway with an armful of items, to which she placed onto the desk.
“Oh hey Sokka. You probably noticed that I fixed the place up. What do you think?”
He glanced around the room once more, until his eyes landed on his sister. It looked like she had found a couple extra accessories, as she had matching red and gold bracelets on both of her wrists and a small brown pouch that strapped over her shoulder.
“Uhh,” he paused, “its great.”
His expression held a tinge of resentment, but also longing. Longing to be back at home in the South Pole where things felt familiar.
She put what looked like an oil lamp onto the desk, then walked over to her brother, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“Hey I know this is a lot to get used to. Trust me, I hate that we have to be stuck with fire nation people. But I promise, we’ll be at the North Pole in no time and we can leave this all behind.”
He let out a sign and a small smile, before turning back to face the beds.
“Let me guess, you already claimed the top bunk,” he asked playfully.
“You know it.”
They both laughed, and for a moment, it felt like they were kids again, without any trauma or prejudice or anger.
Katara returned to the bundle of things she had placed on a desk, and grabbed what looked like a black pair of gloves.
She held them up towards Sokka, smiling rather proudly.
“So I know your other gloves were getting a bit worn, so I found this other pair to replace them, kind of like a birthday gift.”
She bent a small amount of water from a cup that was on the desk and carefully used it to slice off the fingers of the gloves to replicate the design of his original pair.
“I know it’s not much, but I hope you like it,” she said with a small smile.
He put them on his hands and wiggled his fingers around.
“They’re perfect Katara, thanks.”
A thump against the doorway made the siblings turn. The prince stood there leaning against it with his arms crossed. Golden eyes pierced through the dimming light at the duo.
“My uncle told me to tell you two peasants that you can go get dinner whenever you want. Just only take one portion.”
Sokka curled his lip and straightened his back.
“Really, is peasant the only insult you got?”
He steadied his glare before scoffing.
“I could call you worse, you’re lucky I don’t.”
The prince seemed tired, Sokka took note of. His features weren’t as tense as usual and his tone less caustic. It was almost disconcerting to see him not bubbling over with rage.
Zuko left the room before Sokka could dwell on it much, and Katara rolled her eyes and followed after him, to which he reluctantly did as well.
The dining area was quite empty by the time they reached it, and honestly, the food didn’t look all that promising.
The prince turned and angrily flung his arm at the room.
“Enjoy your dinner,” he gritted sarcastically before making his way to the exit.
“Prince Zuko, show your guests some hospitality. Eat dinner with them,” Iroh’s voice called from across the room.
Zuko scrunched his nose, almost with disgust, and looked like he was about to pop off with anger.
Sokka scoffed “If his highness doesn’t want to, I really don’t care.”
Zuko noticed the other teenager’s apparent satisfaction at this, so he stubbornly sat his ass down on one of the seats by the table.
“Actually,” he said with an uncharacteristically devious expression, “I’m feeling quite hungry.”
Sokka’s eye twitched with frustration, but ultimately followed suit with his sister when she sat down.
Zuko shot a glare at him from across the table, which Sokka quickly returned.
Katara, who was quite hungry, dove right in, while Sokka stared suspiciously at the plate in front of him.
Katara nudged him “come on Sokka, you’ll literally eat anything and now you decide you’re not hungry?”
“It’s not that I’m not hungry,” he picked at it, then lowered his tone, “they could have poisoned it or something.”
“If we wanted to kill you, trust me, we already would have by now,” the prince replied, angry at the thinly concealed comment.
Sokka looked back at the plate then back at the frowning firebender, then back at the plate. The smell made his stomach growl, so ultimately he gave in and took a bite.
Silence filled the room, and Sokka’s chewing was practically echoing off the walls.
Katara broke the new silence, “So...today is actually Sokka’s birthday.”
“Katara,” Her brother gritted.
“Oh really,” Iroh replied with a smile, “may I ask how old you are turning today?”
“Fifteen,” Sokka grumbled quietly.
“Ah,” Iroh placed a hand on Zuko’s shoulder “you are the same age as my nephew.”
Sokka returned his eyes to the prince, who looked quite upset.
He couldn’t believe that he somehow was the same age as him. The prince seemed so much older then him, perhaps it was because he was frowning all the time.
It was strange. He was.....a kid. Just like him and Katara. It made him strangely relatable in a human fashion.
Zuko shrugged his uncle’s hand off, “I’ll be sixteen in December, so I’m older then him uncle.”
Katara perked up, “My birthday is in December too! I’ll be turning fourteen.”
Zuko didn’t seem to care much about the younger girl’s statement, just picked at his fingers.
Cautiously Sokka continued eating, trying not to gag on the unpleasant flavor of the food. He had already decided that he hated ship food.
The prince continued to fiddle with his fingers, occasionally glancing up at the siblings when he got bored
He quickly stood up, “I’m going back to my room. Don’t bother me.”
He retreated from the dining area without another word, leaving his uncle in frustration.
“You must mind my nephew, he has been through much and has not yet learned how to properly express his emotions,” Iroh explained.
Sokka simply huffed and picked at his food once more, eventually standing up and marching on to his own room.
When he slammed down onto his bed, he buried his face in his pillow and yelled. Loudly.
How in the hell was he supposed to stay on this ship with these damn firebenders for spirts know how long?
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud thumping noise that sounded like it came from down the hallway. He grumbled at first, then pressed the pillow against his ears. When the sound did not relent, he shot out of bed and stomped out of his room.
The sound, he realized, was coming from the prince’s room. He by all means did not want to interact with the firebender, but whatever he was doing in there was driving him insane.
He reluctantly flung the door open.
“What are you doing in—“
He cut himself off when he noticed that the prince was shirtless, in a firebending stance, from what Sokka could tell, which had the other teen’s arm in a flexing position.
Sokka felt heat flood to his face as he took in the muscles of the firebender. They were subtle yet defined, and the thin layer of sweat that lay on his chest made him almost glow in the dim firelight. The water tribe warrior finally peeled his eyes away when the prince practically shot fire at him. Zuko shouted at him.
“What in Agni’s name do you want??”
The blush hadn’t removed itself from his face quite yet, and he stuttered.
“I—uh....”
Zuko threw his hands up, settling them on his hips. Sokka tried to ignore the way his arm muscles flexed as he did so.
“Y-you were being loud...I-uh-just wanted to see what you were....doing.”
His half curious tone quelled the prince’s anger slightly, but he turned away, his ponytail whipping beside him, and glared at the flaming candles.
“I was just firebending,” he said in a unusually soft manner.
Sokka stared at him wide eyed for another moment, backing away.
“Oh,” he mumbled, not quite sure what to say.
This moment was silent, and dare he say, with the glow of the candles and the firebender’s half state of undress, strangely intimate. Zuko must have recognized this vulnerability and tensed almost immediately.
“Well I’m not going to be more quiet,” he leaned forward, “Need I remind you that this is myship. Now get out of my room!”
Sokka felt no want to continue his presence with the prince, so he quietly turned around and returned to his room without a word.
When he closed the door once more, he slid down to the floor. His skin felt sweaty, and he could not understand why his heart was beating so fast. Truly it was perhaps just a fear of the prince he was feeling. It wasn’t that the interaction made Sokka feel anything other then that. After all, what else was there to feel? Zuko was a firebender. And a boy.
His nerves were probably just all over the place. This whole situation was a mess, and he didn’t have room to try and figure out his jumbled emotions just yet.
He was just confused.
Very confused.
...................................................
The next morning was uneventful as usual, with nothing more to do then for the prince to practice his firebending katas and look off into the wide empty expanse of the sea.
He noticed Sokka sweeping once more on the deck of the ship, quite idly to put it.
The other teenager annoyed the everliving crap out of him, but he couldn’t deny that he had made his heart pump in a strange in a strange way when he had burst into his room and stared at him. Most likely, it was simply just his nerves mixed with his anger, and that was it.
The prince averted his gaze when Sokka turned his head upward, although the blue eyed warrior still noticed him. It seems however, Sokka doesn’t move to confront him, perhaps because he himself also still felt rather awkward about their encounter last night.
Katara then walked onto deck to break the tension, an infuriatingly enthusiastic expression painted on her face.
“Good morning Prince Zuko,” the younger girl said with a twinge of snark to it.
He grumbled in reply: he really was not in the mood to deal with two terrifically annoying water tribe peasants.
The prince watched the siblings converse from afar, finding his glare drifting to the boy, until he would catch himself and look away.
Lost deep in thought, he didn’t even notice Lieutenant Jee standing next to him, saying his name.
“Prince Zuko?”
He twitched, surprised by the intrusion of the older man.
“What?” He said rather harshly.
The prince could sense a hint of resentment in Jee’s eyes at the boy’s tone, but he continued.
“I believe Commander Zhao is requesting a meeting on your ship.”
He must have been incredibly deep in thought staring at the water tribe siblings to not have noticed the ship that had pulled up behind him.
Zuko scoffed loudly, quiet irritated at the sudden request.
“Didn’t he just come on board the other day? What does he want?”
An incredibly smug voice came from behind him.
“I’m so glad you asked Prince Zuko. And that wasn’t a request Lieutenant. That was an order.”
Jee kept a stiff posture, but Zuko could tell there was a deep hatred for Zhao buried deep inside of him. He bowed quickly and left the prince with the other man.
The older firebender stepped onto the ship, his signature grin plastered on his face. Zhao continued to smile as he spoke
“I would like to have a private conversation with you Prince Zuko. On certain important matters.”
He rolled his eyes, and as usual, he was not in the mood to deal with Zhao’s bullshit.
“Alright,” he growled, “it’s the two of us. Say whatever it is you want to say.”
The commander’s smile faltered, and he stepped closer to the prince, who clenched up uncomfortably.
The older man’s voice was low.
“I meant somewhere a little bit....less public.”
Unfortunately for the prince, he wasn’t sure what the other firebender was trying to get at, and instead took a step back and crossed his arms.
He huffed “I’m fine where we are. Now hurry up or I’m kicking you off my ship.”
The commander didn’t look pleased at the comment, his eyes turning rather dark and his grin molding into a frown.
He looked like he was about to say some degrading insult, but instead the older man’s eyes became curious and he stared at something past Zuko’s shoulder.
It was Katara and Sokka, both doing a very poor job of pretending not to listen to their conversation by looking preoccupied, and they were failing miserably.
Zhao took a step forward and stared hard at the siblings.
“I don’t believe I’ve seen these two on your ship before,” he questioned.
The duo finally realized they were being analyzed, and tried subtly to go back inside the ship. Zuko wanted to scream in frustration at their obviousness.
“Uhhh...they’re....uh....new here,” the prince stuttered out. He wanted to slap himself for being such an incredibly bad liar.
Zhao’s grin returned when he saw the slight panic in the teenager’s eyes, and he walked over to the siblings from across the ship, determined to find something to nag the prince about.
Zuko took a deep breath and followed quickly behind the commander. He heard the older man greet the two.
“As a commander of these waters, it is my duty to know who sails on them.” He took a pause, staring intently at the two terrified teenagers, who looked like they were about to book it out of there. He continued, his tone suspicious “I don’t believe I have ever seen either of you two before.”
To Sokka and Katara’s surprise, Zuko quickly chimed in, coming up with some bullshit excuse.
“They’re from the colonies.”
Zhao shot him an angered glance, before squinting back at the siblings.
He then stood up straight and smirked.
“Well that explains those ghastly blue eyes. And that dreadfully dark skin,” he said with a hint of disgust, “they almost look like those water tribe savages.”
Katara’s face lit up with rage, and the only reason she didn’t attack him was because her brother put an arm in front of her. He was very upset by the comments as well, but he appeared to have a clearer head in making sure they stayed out of trouble.
Sokka fiercely replied to the older firebender “well we do have some ancestry with the water tribe, being from the colonies and all, so we’d appreciate you not calling them or us savages.”
Zuko was genuinely impressed by his quick and fearless response, especially against someone as imposing as Zhao. It was actually...kind of incredible.
Zhao snarled back at the boy, his anger provoked, “and just what is your name?”
Sokka’s eyes widened as he scaled his brain for a response.
“I’m...uh.”
Once again Zuko leaped into the conversation.
“He’s usually pretty scatter brained Commander. His name is Lee.”
Sokka looked momentarily irritated at the insult, but also slightly grateful.
“And I’m Mizu,” Katara said, luckily before he questioned her.
Zhao scoffed, clearly not buying it but also realizing there was no other way to prove their true identities, so he turned back to the prince.
“I think I’ve seen enough Prince Zuko. It seems the inhabitants of your ship are just as...lowly as usual.”
He looked up in confusion.
“Didn’t you come here for a meeting?”
The tone the older man took was almost jovial, which for Zhao, was quiet disturbing. He placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I think I can wait until the next time we see each other Prince Zuko. You seem to have your hands full with these fools.”
Zuko didn’t like how kind he sounded, and how his hand lingered on him. He was about to smack it off until the man removed it voluntarily.
Zhao bowed swiftly as a farewell, not turning to leave before he shot both the siblings a poisonous glare.
Sokka waited until the commander was on his own ship to break the silence.
“Spirits, who is that asshole? He’s bad even for fire nation standards.”
Zuko sneered as he explained “he’s Commander Zhao, and for your information, everyone in the fire nation knows he’s a piece of shit.”
Sokka shrugged his shoulders “well wouldn’t you know, the murderous imperialists have standards.”
Zuko became quickly offended by the comment.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly as I meant it to,” the water tribe warrior said as he went to go inside.
But the prince, getting increasingly angry, grabbed his shoulder and turned him around, preventing him from leaving.
“I didn’t have to help you guys back there with Zhao. And I didn’t hear a single thank you.”
Sokka laughed sarcastically.
“Thank you your highness for saving me! I’m forever in debt to you,” his tone became more serious, “And if you didn’t want to help us, then why did you?”
Shocked gold eyes stared wide into angry blue ones, and Zuko actually contemplated the question.
He didn’t know the answer. All he knew was that it was almost instinctive to protect the duo from someone like Zhao. Like something engraved into him from a young age, but was buried underneath years of cruelty. Of years of trying to be the person his father wanted him to be, and not who his mother raised.
He was out of words, and he could have sworn he saw Sokka’s eyes soften when his vulnerability was clear, but the blue eyed teenager stomped off instead before Zuko could even think of what to say.
Katara stood there, seemingly not exactly sure what to do, so she picked the broom back up and swept back and forth, before stopping.
“Thank you, for helping us with Zhao. It still doesn’t excuse anything, but thanks.”
He nodded at her in reply, unsure how to reply. She continued what she was doing, and Zuko quickly left, not wanting to be stuck in the awkward silence with her.
He hated that Sokka had now seen him slip up multiple times, and that he had seen him as vulnerable or soft. Or in his father’s words, weak.
Pathetic.
Useless.
He had been too kind today, especially with helping the siblings. With not screaming in Sokka’s face when he questioned his motives behind aiding them, or when he burst into his room when he was practicing. He needed to be cruel. To treat Sokka as a subordinate below him.
But every time he saw those blue eyes, he couldn’t help but feel his cold heart beat just a little faster.