An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 10: Sokka's Surprise

The meetings ran long after they were scheduled to finish and by the time Zuko left the throne room, the sun had begun to set. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sokka running towards him with a smile on his face.

"Zuko come on I've got a surprise for you!" Sokka shouted grabbing Zuko's hand and dragging him down the hall.

"Where are we going?" Zuko said slightly out of breath from trying to keep up with his friend's pace.

"I told you it's a surprise," Sokka said while grinning like a fool. They ran up two flights of stairs before Sokka dragged him down a narrow hallway that was bathed in the sun's dying golden rays.

He stopped in front of a set of French doors and opened them, revealing a small balcony overlooking the bay where the sun was setting over the horizon. Sokka took a seat at the small metal table that looked like it was twenty years old and in danger of collapsing under the weight of the meal that awaited them.

"How did you know about this place?" Zuko asked looking dumbfounded and speechless. Zuko had lived in the palace his entire life but not even he knew this spot existed. He had passed through the hallway on a few occasions but never noticed the doors since they looked exactly like all the other windows in the palace.

"While you were cursing out your advisors, I decided to give myself a tour of the palace," Sokka set out the silverware and place a cloth napkin around his neck. "Needless to say, I stumbled upon this place and thought it would be a perfect spot to enjoy dinner."

"I don't know what to say," Zuko said in awe of everything.

"Good because there is a lot of food to eat and not a lot of time to eat it before the sun sets," Sokka took a mouthful of his pasta and Zuko took that as a cue to sit down and do the same.

"I bet you 10 gold coins you can't finish your food before I do," Sokka said, sporting an overconfident look on his face. Zuko knew full well Sokka had mastered the art of eating quickly, and that may have been in part due to him and his sister chasing after team Avatar for so long. Despite this he smirked and said, "You're on boomerang!"

"Boomerang?" Sokka said confused, "Where did that come from?" Before realizing Zuko said that to distract Sokka so he could get a head start. Once he realized this he dug into his food and started stuffing as much into his mouth as he could.

The battle raged on as the two of them only stopped to take a breath. Zuko could tell his body was not going to take kindly to the sudden influx of food but he kept going.

Sokka was surprised by how well the fire lord was doing. He had always been a slow eater but tonight he was posing a real challenge to the water tribesman. Despite this Sokka could tell Zuko was beginning to slow down, but luckily for him he still had plenty of room left in his stomach.

He shoved the final bit of food into his mouth and shot his fist into the air in celebration. Zuko let go of his fork and looked as though he'd be sick.

"Looks like you owe me ten gold coins," Sokka laughed and jokingly held out his hand to receive his reward. Zuko glared at him for a second but let down his guard when he saw Sokka's bright smile. He felt something stirring in his stomach and he was not sure if it was from eating his food too quickly or if it was butterflies from looking at Sokka.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Zuko said and ran towards the edge of the balcony. He made it just in time and puked over the edge. A look of sheer terror spread across his face when he saw one of the palace gardeners get covered in his vomit while tending to the flowers below.

Zuko looked over at Sokka whose face was just as horrified as his. He made a mental note to pay for the gardener's dry cleaning and avoid the gardens for a few weeks.

"I'll pay you the ten gold coins to forget that happened," Zuko said looking at Sokka with a serious expression.

"Don't worry your highness," Sokka said with a bow, "no one will hear a word of it from me."

'What a dork' Zuko thought and went back to the table. He looked down at his plate and decided he did not want to try round two and so he pushed the plate away. Sokka sat down in his seat again thoroughly impressed in his eating abilities.

"It's a really nice night," Zuko said, looking off into the distance watching the sun fade behind the edge of the Earth.

"Yeah, it really is," Sokka said but rather than look at the sunset he couldn't take his eyes off of Zuko. Seeing him at peace, simply existing in a world filled with so much chaos made Sokka feel like everything would turn out okay.

The two sat in peace as the sun gave off its final rays of light before sinking below the sparkling horizon, to let the moon take over its watch for the night.

"We should probably head back inside," Sokka said quietly, "Katara is probably back from her day at the spa by now and she will be wondering where we are."

Zuko nodded his head slowly, in no rush to leave this moment behind. They had only been there for two days and yet it was enough time to completely change how he felt. The fear and uncertainty he was facing before melted away and Zuko thought everything just might turn out okay in the end. The two boys stood up and collected the dishes before heading back inside as the moon took her place in the night sky.