An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 54: Reunited

           Sokka, Aang and Katara were seated at the dining room table in the palace’s family dining room. It was nice they weren’t using the large dining room that was used for official events, but it also made him feel a little claustrophobic.

           They were waiting for the Fire Lord to be done with a meeting, and Sokka felt like he was going to fall off his chair because his leg was bouncing so fast.

           “You’re shaking the whole table,” Katara said. She was sitting next to him thankfully, otherwise Zuko would be the one sitting next to him.

           “Sorry I’m pretty nervous,” Sokka said quietly. Not only was his leg bouncing uncontrollably, but his heart was beating at a thousand beats per minute. The longer they waited the more nervous he became.

           “It’ll be fine Sokka,” Aang said in a cheerful way without being too cheerful, “besides, Zuko wouldn’t have let you in if he didn’t want to see you.”

           Katara shot Aang an angry glare and he sank in his seat. Sokka took a deep breath just as the door opened. Sokka looked over and saw Zuko standing in the doorway, face void of any emotion.

           “Thank you all for coming,” Zuko said flatly, his gravelly voice sending shivers down Sokka’s arms.

           Zuko took a seat next to Aang across from Katara. Both he and Sokka were avoiding making eye contact, only making the tension in the room more unbearable.

           “I’m so sorry, but I just realized Aang and I forgot to unload our bags from Appa, we’ll be right back,” Katara said and got up from the table and walked over to Aang who whispered to her, “we did?”

           “Yes,” Katara said and dragged him out of the chair and out of the dining room. Sokka felt like he was going to be sick.

           “So uh, how have you been?” Zuko asked awkwardly, still avoiding Sokka’s eyes in favor of the napkin next to his plate.

           “I’ve been better,” Sokka replied uneasily, “how have you been?”

           “I’ve been alright,” Zuko replied and took to fidgeting with his chopsticks. Sokka took to looking at the door, hoping Katara and Aang would be back soon, even though they left so him and Zuko would be alone.

           The silence hung in the air for what felt like forever, with each of them stealing glances at one another and quickly looking away. Sokka knew there was only one way their silent stalemate would end.

           “Zuko,” Sokka said softly, finally looking up from the napkin on his lap and towards the firebender.

           Zuko looked up at him with an uneasiness in his eyes that scared Sokka more than he expected it would.

           “I know it is hard to forgive me after what I did to you…” Sokka said and trailed off as the memory of their breakup came back in waves. He pushed on through the pain and said, “but I’m willing to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

           “Sokka…” Zuko said quietly, but Katara and Aang walked back in before he could say any more.

           “Wow it took a long time to find those darn bags,” Aang said unconvincingly.

           “I’ll have the chef and staff to bring out the food,” Zuko said and excused himself from the table and walked out of the dining room.

           “How did it go?” Aang asked. In truth, Sokka felt extremely anxious after Zuko got cut off by them coming back.

           “We didn’t talk,” Sokka said and went back to fidgeting with trying to smooth out the wrinkles in his cloth napkin.

           “Oh…” Aang replied and looked as if he wanted to sink under the table to hide.

           “Give it time,” Katara said and tried her best to have a convincing smile. She had told Sokka she had been talking with Zuko some over the past few months, but he was starting to wonder if she exaggerated how much Zuko wanted to see him.

           Zuko came back followed by a cart full of food that normally would make Sokka light up, but now it only made him feel sick to his stomach. The plate set in front of him contained chicken over udon noodles, covered in a savory sauce that did not smell spicy. Even so, as the dinner went on, he was only able to move the food around the plate and nibble on the meat.

           The others noticed how little he was eating, but the whole situation was so awkward that no one said anything about it. After the meal was over Zuko had them shown to their rooms, and unlike before, Sokka’s room was on the opposite side of the palace from Zuko’s.

           If the placement of his guest room wasn’t enough of a clue that Zuko’s feelings for him were all but gone, the decorations were the nail in the coffin. There was no trace of water tribe decorations in the room like Zuko had done for him when he first asked them to visit.

           He didn’t bother to unpack his things because he didn’t think they would be there for much longer with how things had gone. He laid down in bed, not bothering to cover up with the sheets.

           The ceiling was smooth and pale, lacking the warmth of the wooden logs making up his cabin back home. The room felt cold, and not because it was winter in the Fire Nation, but because there was no evidence of anyone ever living in it.

           What would his life have been like had he not broken up with Zuko on Ember Island? What would have happened if he had told Suki about their relationship? What would have happened if he hadn’t been too afraid to hold Zuko’s hand in public?

           The night dragged on, and despite his best efforts to force himself to fall asleep he couldn’t. The confidence he had felt after talking to his gran gran and dad had stayed behind in the south. What was left were the fears and doubt he thought he had left behind instead.

            After hours of tossing and turning he threw off the covers and jumped out of bed, frustrated partly with not being able to sleep, but mostly because of all of his bad decisions. Master Pakku had tried to convince him he had a purpose in life, but that purpose seemed to have been fulfilled after he had helped Aang defeat Ozai.

           Sokka opened the door to his room and closed it quietly behind him. Maybe a late-night walk through the palace would tire him out enough to let him fall asleep.

           The darkness felt eerie in a way it hadn’t before. He had taken walks around the palace countless times while living there, but something about walking around at night made him feel like an intruder who was trying to avoid getting caught.

           He let his feet carry him, not thinking much about where he was going and not caring either. It wasn’t until he heard a shout that he was taken out of his own head and back to reality that he realized he was in the wing near Zuko’s room.

           He took a second to look around and get his bearings, and once he had them, he took off running towards the source of the sound.