An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 48: A Heart Broken

           Zuko ran up the stairs and down the hall to his and Sokka’s room Sokka was laying on the bed staring up at the ceiling. He ran over to Sokka and sat down on the end of the bed next to him.

           “I’m sorry for storming off like that I never should have let my anger get the best of me, I’m…” Zuko started to say but Sokka cut him off, “I can’t do this anymore.”

           “What do you mean?” Zuko asked, his heart stopping at the quiet yet life altering words he had just heard. desperately hoping it didn’t mean what he thought it meant for them.

           “It’s too hard being in this relationship,” Sokka said quietly, “everywhere we go I have to be afraid someone will realize we’re together and will say or do something to us. I have to hide our relationship from everyone except our friends and family, I can’t hold your hand in public, I can’t kiss you whenever I want to, I can’t make my dad proud and carry on our family.”

           Zuko couldn’t find the words to say. He wanted to disagree with everything Sokka said, but he realized he couldn’t because there was truth in his words.

           “I thought we agreed we didn’t care what anyone else thought? I thought our love for each other was enough,” Zuko said, his voice stained by the deep pain he was feeling.

           “I thought it was enough too,” Sokka said and turned his head away from Zuko. “The world isn’t ready for people like us, and I don’t think I am either.”

           “Who cares what the world thinks? Sokka I love you with every ounce of my being. I’ll legalize same-sex marriage in the Fire Nation, I’ll make it illegal to discriminate against people like us, I’ll sponsor plays and stories about people like us, I’ll do whatever it takes to stop me from losing you!” Zuko pleaded.

           “You can’t force people to change their beliefs, you and I both know that,” Sokka said. Zuko thought he heard sadness in Sokka’s voice, like he was fighting back his true feelings in order to seem strong.

           “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. If anyone has a problem with our relationship, they’ll have to answer to me,” Zuko said as frustration tinged his words in bitterness. Sokka wasn’t thinking straight. He couldn’t lose him after all they had gone through together, not over close-minded strangers they pass in the streets.

           Sokka didn’t say anything which made Zuko even more desperate. All he wanted was to hear Sokka’s voice, for him to say it was all a joke and he still loved him.

           “What about our romantic late-night walk on the beach? What about our life together back home? What about everything you’re giving up by leaving?” Zuko asked. Tears threatened to flood his eyes, but he would not let them.

           “Zuko…” Sokka said solemnly, “I don’t want to hurt you anymore, and that means I can’t be with you anymore.”

           “That’s insane! You not being around will hurt me more than anyone else could ever hurt me!” Zuko shouted and wished he could find the perfect thing to say to make Sokka change his mind.

           “I’m going to head back to the south and stay with my dad for a while,” Sokka said and got up off the bed. He started packing up his clothes and all Zuko could do was sit there and watch.

           He had run out of things to say, he had run out of reasons why Sokka should stay, and he had run out of the energy to fight anymore. After 17 long years he finally found someone who truly cared about, only for them to leave him because of how messed up the world was.