I'm so excited. I hope this chapter doesnt come off as too awkward, I wrote it sections at a time so it seems a little mixed up I guess. But, BEWARE this segment begins just after Sokka left home from the LAST chapter, but from Aang's and Katartas gag point of view.
Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews, and... ENJOY!!!!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar:The Last Airbender, but then again, I havent been on E-bay in a while...
"What's his problem?" Aang asked as he watched Sokka march out the door without a word.
"I'm not so sure," Katara answered. She took a seat near the air bender and continued. "But I'd like to hear it."
Aang smiled and began the story, which went vaguely like this:
Over three hundred years ago, somewhere in the southwestern region, there once existed a fruitful water tribe village whose name has been long forgotten. It was a peaceful place, healthy with natural resources provided by the deep river that ran through the center of it, and the people were happy.
It wasn't long before the fire nation stumbled over it. They were simply passing through, escorting their princess back home, when she found it wise to stay and take over the village for her nation.
Things were going well for the fire nation. The villagers didn't put up much of a struggle and were helping tremendously to their supplies of food. Even their young leader welcomed them generously.
Then one day, the Fire nation princess and the village leader were discovered having an affair, and it ruined everything.
The people there were very religious and believed that fire benders and water benders were never meant to be together. It was a sin. "The Curse of Jin-Ho" they called it. The curse promised that if any water and fire bender were to elope, the gods would rightfully punish them. So the people did nothing to punish their leader, but waited for the gods to give him what he deserved.
The fire nation, on the other hand, had plans of their own. The fire lord was so ashamed of his daughter he ordered to have her burned at the stake in front of the entire village, and most importantly, the man she was discovered with.
After the Princess was engulfed in flames, the villagers watched in horror as their previous leader screamed and howled in pain as well, the cause unknown. He clawed at his face and skin as it literally boiled and melted away until he too lied dead in the village courtyard.
"So the village blamed the fire nation, the fire nation burnt down the village, and know one's seen it since…" Aang breathed in heavily in an attempt to recover all the breath he lost telling the story. He had tried to sum it up rather nutshell-like but failed miserably.
"Why haven't I heard of this before?" Katara said, astounded. "I mean, growing up that kind of thing just seemed like common sense. I didn't know that there was a whole story behind it."
The air bender stretched sleepily, falling back onto the pillows strewn about the floor behind him. "Well, don't worry about it, Katara. It wasn't exactly a pastime favorite a hundred years ago, either."
Sokka came home late that evening, around ten o'clock. It was later than usual, but he just told his friends that he had gotten lost (which was very likely) and went straight to bed.
Those three days passed as if they were never going to end.
Sokka had never felt anything more powerful in his life. Before that day, he was normal, satisfied Sokka. But now he is nobody. This body of his was limp, weak, a shell of what he once was… a puppet with no strings.
He was somewhere within the wood of that puppet, the wood that once supported the branches of a great oak tree, the wood that once grew and had a purpose but had been torn away, hacked and shaped, stained with toxic paints. This tree now was forced to symbolize something it was never meant to be.
This wood is dead.
But there is hope. For Sokka and for the wood, life will not end with death. It will come at a price, however. The wood, with the humiliating symbol painted on a surface that was never created to see the light of day, must burn. Its only hope is to be reduced to a pile of mineral rich soot that will be sprinkled among the soil so that new life can grow.
Sokka must first burn.
His body, his image, he must give everything up because he has been mercilessly torn away from the tree that was once his comfortable life.
I cannot go on like this, He thought to himself. I have no choice. I must go to him, and I must stay…
Meanwhile Zuko had confined himself to his bedroom, complaining of stomach flu. "That explains why you were in such a hurry last night." His uncle joked, but Zuko just nodded weakly. "Well, I was hoping you could run the shop on your own while I was gone, but I guess it'll have to stay closed."
"I'm sorry, uncle…"
For three days the prince ate and drank little, slept little, and didn't do much of anything else either. There was nothing he could do. Nothing seemed important enough, and nothing was.
His mind was poisoned with the thought of that man's touch, and how he lost control when he felt it. He will never feel anything like it, he was sure of himself.
He wanted his other half. It was so simple… that's what made him angry.
I only want him. I will ask for nothing further. I will accept all the shame and dishonor in the world, but please, give him to me.
Zuko was waiting in the empty teashop on the third day. The curtains were drawn, only a couple lights were on, and all the chairs were stacked upside down on the tables. He sat at the bar with his back to the door waiting anxiously for Sokka to arrive. Hours went by and he simply sat there, fantasizing what he would be able to do to him now that they could meet in private.
They would have hours, all tothemselves.
The prince smiled. This is so wrong. He thought, so… wonderfully wrong.
Hours stretched into the late afternoon and Zuko was starting to get irritated. I did not spend THREE miserable days nearly tearing myself apart for NOTHING! He clenched his fist and just about slammed it into the counter, but he heard something that stopped him.
The door opened.
Sokka stepped in and closed the door behind him. He was so nervous; his entire body was trembling with fear and anticipation. For the past three days he hadn't even allowed himself to fathom what would come of this meeting. Every time he thought about it, he became drowned in guilt.
He saw Zuko sitting on the other side of the room and a wave of relief washed over him. All the confusion from before seemed to disappear as he approached the fire bender. The way the man sat, with his bare back gleaming in the dim light, it captured Sokka.
Thank god he took his shirt off…
It was so alluring, Zuko's figure. Sokka fought the urge to reach out and touch him, until he figured: why not? So he stretched his hand out to the man, who remained still as if he'd fallen asleep sitting there, and touched him. Just his fingertips at first, gently trailing from his shoulders, down the bumps of his spine all the way to his hips.
The 'sleeping man' awoke the second he felt Sokka touch him. He let out a wayward gasp as his back gave way to that sinful sensation.
"Where the hell have you been!?" Zuko asked fiercely after he felt Sokka's hand lift away.
"You think I could've gotten here any earlier without looking suspicious!?" the boy bit back, "The last thing I'm gonna do is let Aang or Katara find out I'm here…" He hesitated, "…with… you… " Sokka started to back away slowly, he felt that dreaded guilt pour over him again. This is the fire lord's SON we're talking about. I'm fraternizing with the enemy! What if they find out?
Why the hell am I doing this…?
Zuko felt that he was loosing him so he spun off his chair, grabbing Sokka by the shoulders, and kissed him earnestly.
…Oh, THAT'S why…
Zuko immediately went to work, untying the sash around Sokka's waist while he was still distracted by the kiss. The robe was ripped off his shoulders and he pulled the boy to him, their skin crashing together in an explosion of static tension. They were practically traumatized by it, staggering in each other's arms for a moment, but it only left them wanting more.
Sokka became weak and felt his legs start to relent in their attempts to hold his weight. Zuko was way ahead of him, holding up the relatively light boy and guiding him down to the floor, letting him lean against the counter for support.
Now the prince was curious about the parts of Sokka now freshly exposed. He started working his way down his neck and into his shoulder, planting a strange combination of kisses and passionate knaws along the way. It didn't matter how, he wanted to taste every square inch of the boys skin between his teeth.
"Ugh… nhhh, Zuko…" Sokka's voice carried on, he was now free to delight the young prince's ears with his rather honest moans and grunts of pleasure.
Delighted indeed. The fire bender became so intoxicated by his voice that he nearly bit the skin off his neck.
"Aghh!" He screamed, giving up on holding them back.
Zuko sat up again to look Sokka in the face, surprised to find that he was blushing terribly. "Sokka?"
"Nnnh…?" was his only response.
"I want you…"
"I know." He said, without opening his eyes like he was so sure of himself.
Zuko knew otherwise and grabbed him by the shoulders, squeezing tightly until the boy finally looked him in the eye. "No… Sokka, I want all of you…"
There was a long pause; Sokka sat there, letting the meaning of Zuko's words sink in. "I know…" He said, finally, leaning in to kiss the man he never knew he would want so badly.
So he took him… right then in there, on the teashop floor. Neither could hardly recall being at all in control of themselves or even aware that what was happening was really happening, or just some sort of strange dream. What they did seemed to them simply an impulse, natural, as if it made no sense not to do it.
Things got rough, but that didn't stop them. When Zuko entered the boy, they both screamed in what sounded like, and what surely could have been, immense pain. They had just discovered that the chilling, sizzling sensation of the Jin-ho was effective across their entire body, and Zuko ravaged on, no longer holding an ounce of sympathy for the poor boy below him.
It ended quickly, resolving in a fit of deja-vu inducing puffs of hot breath. Before either of them had time to recover, Zuko looked up at the boy and tried to locate his face through the matted, sweaty hair.
"We need to talk."
I hope you liked it as much as I did, save for a few confusing details... hm... But expect some complicated plot development in the next installment. By the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS!!
-Kodoku-shan-