Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sokka was on his way to find wherever Princess Yue had gone when he felt a hand grab his shoulder from behind.

He definitely did not shriek like a little girl and brandish his boomerang in entirely the wrong direction.

“Sokka, it’s me.”

“Zuko!” Sokka gasped. “What are you doing here? Besides giving me a heart attack?” He glared at the older boy, who appeared to be very subtly smirking. “Bell. Neck. Look into it, jerkbender.” And then he just had to pull Zuko in for a hug—very briefly and with a manly slap on the back; he’s not a soft touch like Katara or a girl like Aang. “Hey, how come you’re all damp?”

“Sokka, it’s really important that we get to Aang,” Zuko said, completely (rudely) ignoring Sokka’s question. “I have information about Zhao’s plans that we need to counter immediately.”

Sokka nodded, the seriousness in Zuko’s voice telling him to cut the crap for the time being. “I’m on my way to him now. I just heard that Aang, Katara, and Princess Yue have gone to the Spirit Oasis, wherever that is. Chief Arnook assigned me to Yue’s protection detail.”

“Perfect. Let’s go,” Zuko said as he headed off.

“Hang on, I still have to find out where this Spirit Oasis is,” Sokka said, but Zuko didn’t slow down.

“It has to be at the apex of the city,” Zuko said, barely glancing back at Sokka trotting behind him to keep up with his long strides. “The architecture of the city all points to something sacred in that direction, and there’s even a Moon Gate on the top of the wall up there. I’d rather we not stop or speak to anyone if we don’t have to.”

Sokka was about to open his mouth to respond when Zuko grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows between two buildings. A moment later, a company of warriors rounded the corner and hurried down the street they had just vacated, passing their hiding place by.

That’s right, Sokka had forgotten that Zuko was some kind of spy-ninja with ears like a wolfbat.

Zuko glanced up, and Sokka just knew that he was wishing he could go the rest of the way on top of the roofs like the bad-tempered pygmy puma he must have been in a past life. Too bad for him that Sokka would be keeping his feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much.

They wended their way through narrow alleys, only pausing whenever Zuko’s ears pricked up, or however it was that he sensed danger. Sokka, through great effort, managed to keep his mouth shut the whole way there. The lack of conversation definitely didn’t have anything to do with being out of breath from keeping up with the unnecessarily quick pace Zuko was setting. Sokka could manage to be quiet when it was important, okay!

They finally made it to a door set in the cliff face, which Zuko wasted no time in opening and slipping inside. Sokka followed, even though he still wasn’t sure that this was the right place.

Big mistake.

Sokka barely caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a lot of blue light before a wall of water slammed into him, crushing him against the door they’d just come through. Surprised, Sokka swallowed way more of it than he should have.

Just as suddenly, the water flowed away from his head. Sokka coughed and sputtered, water shooting out his nose. “Katara!” he did not whine as soon as he was able to draw breath. “What’d you do that for?”

“Sorry Sokka, I didn’t realize it was you and—Zuko!” His sister darted forward to hug their feral firebender, who had already recovered from the completely unwarranted attack, drown him, and was—steaming? Sokka squinted. Yeah, that was steam rising from his clothing. Weird one, that guy.

“Oh, you’re all wet!” Katara exclaimed, which made Sokka snort. Katara must have heard the implied sarcastic ‘Really Katara, wonder how that could be,’ because she threw him a quick dirty look before turning her attention back to Zuko. “Here, let me—”

Katara did one of her wavy magic hand motions and suddenly water was lifting away from Zuko’s body in globs, splashing to the ground below.

“Wow,” Zuko murmured, rubbing a hand down his now-dry chest. “You’ve really gotten good, Katara.” Katara beamed at him, pleased as the crococat that got the cream at the compliment. Though Sokka supposed that Zuko would know just how much Katara had improved, since he was the one to walk both her and Aang through the steps of their first waterbending teaching scroll.

“Oh sure, help out the guy who can steam dry his own clothing while he’s still wearing it and leave your own brother to suffer after you attacked him for no reason," Sokka complained.

Katara rolled her eyes, but she did the magic hand wavy stuff in Sokka’s direction until he was dry too—more or less. Katara’s waterbending may have improved in leaps and bounds since she strongarmed Master Pakku into teaching her, but she wasn’t a master yet. Then she tried to hug him too, but Sokka evaded her skillfully. He’d just seen—

“Yue!” he called out as he jogged over the bridge to get to her. “Sorry we barged in. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Yue smiled at him. “I’m just glad it’s you,” she said, and Sokka felt something flutter in his stomach. “I’m glad you’re in here and not out there too,” she added. “Did you change your mind about the special mission with Hahn?”

“No, your father gave me a new mission. I’m to protect you,” Sokka said, not able to resist puffing out his chest a bit.

“I appreciate it,” Yue said, and she actually did look a little relieved. She lowered her voice. “I know that Katara is a fantastic waterbender and Master Pakku’s top student, but after Aang went to the Spirit World, it felt odd to have just a girl protecting me, with no men.” She blushed prettily. “Maybe that’s my bias talking. I don’t mean to imply that your sister isn’t capable.”

“That’s okay, I get it,” Sokka said. “I’m just glad you feel safe. With me.” Yue smiled at him again, and Sokka’s heart gave a heavy thump.

“Sokka.” Sokka looked away to see Zuko gesturing them over, standing above Aang’s glowing form deep in meditation. Sokka offered his arm, and Yue took it readily, but still hung back when he tried to start forward.

“Isn't he—your…friend—a firebender?” She was biting her lip a little with nerves. “He looks…fierce.”

“Zuko? Nah,” Sokka told her, giving her hand a reassuring pat. “He may look all muscley and mean, but he’s really just a cuddly crococat. He lets Aang have all the hugs he wants, totally spoils the kid.” He could tell his words had relieved some of her anxiety by the way she smiled at him again, and this time moved forward at his side without hesitation.

Katara filled them in on Aang’s second (or was it third?) trip to the Spirit World to find the Moon and Ocean Spirits to ask for their help in the battle. Zuko shook his head.

“I don’t think that Aang will find them in the Spirit World,” he said.

Katara frowned. “You don’t think he can do it? Don’t you believe in him?” she asked, disappointment coloring her voice.

“I believe in Aang,” Zuko said, “but I think he’s looking in the wrong place. I stowed away on Zhao’s flagship to get here, and yesterday I overheard him talking about his strategy. I didn’t hear all of it, but what I did hear was…disturbing.” He looked at Katara. “The full moon is the next night, right?” She nodded. “And that’s when waterbenders are at their strongest. Zhao would be a fool to try to take on an entire city of waterbenders on their home turf during the full moon. So he plans to remove the moon as a factor.”

“And what does that mean?” Sokka didn’t like the sound of it, whatever it was.

Zuko paused, sighed. “I think it means that he’s going to kill the Moon Spirit.” Katara gasped. “No more Moon, no more waterbending,” Zuko finished heavily.

“But he can’t!” Sokka exclaimed. “You can’t kill a spirit. Aren’t they, like, unkillable or something?”

“That’s just it,” Zuko said, brows drawn together in concern. “From what Zhao said, the Moon and Ocean Spirits gave up their immortality long ago to become a part of our world. And he found a scroll that contained the identity of the Moon Spirit’s mortal form. He must also have found out the Moon’s location, which has to be somewhere in this city. Otherwise he would have gone for the Moon before attacking the North Pole.”

“So…he really could kill the Moon?” Katara’s voice is quiet, but Sokka can still hear it shake.

“I’m afraid so,” Zuko said. Silence fell over the little oasis.

Sokka slowly shook his head. “Zhao is a complete nutcase,” he muttered. “Killing the Moon Spirit just doesn’t make any sense. What about the tides and currents? Navigation? What about the fish and ocean life? What about the nocturnal animals? Everything will be thrown completely out of balance if there is no Moon. The Fire Nation will suffer as much as the Water Tribes. Surely someone in the Fire Navy understands how bad it would be for Zhao to do that?”

“Zhao is keeping his cards pretty close to his chest,” Zuko said. “I don’t think he’s told hardly any of the officers what he plans to do. Besides, he’s the highest-ranking naval officer in the fleet, and junior officers aren’t trained to question their superior’s orders. There is one Army official who might be able to stop him—if he’s so inclined—but I wouldn’t count on that. We’re going to have to do something to make sure Zhao won’t succeed in his plan.”

Sokka nodded. “Well, it seems like the place to start is to figure out where or what the Moon Spirit is. Then we need to get Chief Arnook to deploy the best warriors he has to protect the Moon.”

“It’s here!” Yue exclaimed, lighting up. “Tui and La have to be here, in this oasis. It’s the most spiritual place in the North Pole.”

“How can you be sure about that?” Sokka asked, not doubting her so much as wanting to understand how she knew.

“Because I owe the Moon Spirit my life,” was her unexpected answer. Sokka listened, mouth agape, as Yue continued. “When I was born, I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they’re born, but I was born as if I were asleep, my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die. My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me here to the oasis and placed me in this pond. My dark hair turned white.” She tugged absently at a pale braid. Her eyes were solemn as she looked at Sokka. “I opened my eyes and began to cry, and they knew I would live. That’s why my mother named me Yue, for the moon.”

“Wow,” Sokka whispered, taking her hand. “I guess I owe the Moon too. If she hadn’t saved you, I’d’ve never met you.” Yue blushed again.

“Well, I’m convinced,” Katara said butting in on their moment. “You must be right, Yue, that this is the place. What do you think, Zuko?”

Zuko was frowning down at the pond, watching the koi fish swim—probably trying to ignore Sokka and Yue’s romantic moment, the awkward turtle duck. “Yes,” he said slowly, finally glancing up as though checking the coast was clear. “This place is full of spiritual energy. Zhao will come straight here as soon as he breaches the outer wall. Princess Yue, will you go to your father and tell him what we’ve found out?”

Yue bowed her head. “Of course I will. But…I don’t think he’ll listen. Not to me.” She bit her lip. “I’m his child, and a princess, but I’m a girl. I don’t really have any power. And he—he doesn’t believe that a girl could be right about anything related to war, or anything that is the men’s domain.”

Katara scoffed, face thunderous. Before she could give voice to her very reasonable frustrations and derail the conversation, Sokka jumped in. “I’ll go with you! I’m a warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, and son of the chief. Your dad can’t ignore both of us. Besides,” Sokka continued, feeling the heat rising in his ears, “he gave me the duty of protecting you, his daughter. He must trust me in order to do that.”

Yue was nodding. “Yes, I think it would help a lot for you to accompany me, Sokka. But there’s still one problem…”

“Proof,” Zuko said quietly. “He’ll want proof of how you know that this is a legitimate threat. He won’t just take your word.” Yue nodded despondently.

Their little group was silent a moment, everyone thinking. Sokka cudgeled his brain for a solution. As far as he was concerned, all the proof he needed was Zuko’s word, but he couldn’t just roll up to Chief Arnook’s war council with a firebender in tow. It probably wouldn’t go so well for the firebender in question.

“Zuko, could you go to the Spirit World and find Aang, bring him back to us?” Katara asked. “Then Aang could go with Sokka and Yue and tell the chief that he found vital information about this in the Spirit World. They’d believe the Avatar, I bet.”

Zuko cocked his head to one side, brows drawn together in thought. “When I entered the Spirit World before, I had…help.” Sokka bet that “help” was code for dragon assistance. “I could maybe get there by myself this time—this place is so steeped in spiritual energy that I can practically see it. But it may still take me hours to find Aang there. He might even get back before me. And we don’t have time to waste. The sun is rising. As soon as it’s full daylight, the Fire Nation will resume the attack. We’ll have a much better chance of hashing out a plan for defense if we can do it when we’re not under constant bombardment.”

Zuko was right, Sokka realized. Time was of the essence. He sighed. “I really hate to ask this of you, buddy, but do you think that you could—well—”

“Yes.”

“—and I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t absolutely vital, but—wait, yes?”

“Yes, Sokka,” Zuko said firmly. “I’ll go with you and Princess Yue to talk to the chief.”

Sokka heard Katara draw in a breath, almost a gasp. “Zuko, you can’t! What if the chief doesn’t listen to you? What if he thinks you’re the enemy?”

Zuko had a mulish look on his face, but Katara was also getting that look that meant that she was absolutely not going to let this go, so Sokka jumped in with the only thing he could think of to head them both off.

“Great question, Katara! Yue, what would happen to Zuko if your dad doesn’t like the cut of his jib?”

Yue looked all kinds of concerned, which was rather sweet of her considering she hadn’t known Zuko for more than fifteen minutes. “He would have him arrested and imprisoned,” she replied.

“Would he have me executed?” Zuko asked baldly. Sokka nearly sighed as Katara raised her arms as if ready to go on the attack. Way to ease the tension there, buddy.

Yue paused, then said, “No. At least, not right away. He wouldn’t do anything until after the fighting is over, when he would have time to properly confer with his council about a prisoner’s sentence.”

Zuko nodded. “I should be fine, then.” He seemed impervious to his sister’s dismayed cry. “No really, Katara. As long as I’m alive, there’s still a chance for escape.”

“If that’s your so-called ‘plan,’ then I’m coming with you,” Katara insisted, squaring her shoulders.

“Someone has to stay here to protect Aang and the oasis,” Zuko reminded her. Katara sagged, obviously torn. “I’ll be fine, Katara. Don’t worry about me, just concentrate on Aang. We’ll be back soon with reinforcements.” He turned to go. “Let’s go, Sokka. There’s no time to lose.”

Sokka took Yue’s hand and led her out of the oasis as Zuko held the door open, letting them pass first. As soon as the door had closed behind them, Yue turned her head to look back at Zuko following them.

“I really appreciate you doing this,” she told him. “I will do my best to keep my father from arresting you. The ice cells are nearly impossible to escape, especially, I think, for firebenders.”

Sokka squeezed her hand. “It’ll be all right,” he reassured her. “Zuko is like, some sort of escape artist ninja. He broke Aang out of Pohuai Stronghold all by himself, and that’s like the most secure Fire Nation Army base to exist. Not to mention he got into this city in the middle of an active siege by—hang on, how did you get in here?”

“I swam.”

“You…swam? Where?” Sokka asked, not really comprehending what Zuko meant by that.

“Under the wall. I followed some turtle seals through a tunnel under the wall.”

Sokka frowned. “But how did you know where the tunnel was going to come out?”

“I…didn’t?”

It took a second for that statement to sink into Sokka’s brain, but when it did—

“WHAT?!”

“Shhh!”

“Turtle seals can hold their breath for two hours! You could’ve drowned!”

“I’m fine, Sokka, just—”

“You could’ve frozen to death!”

“Sokka, seriously, quiet down!”

“We never would’ve known what happened to you!” Sokka grabbed Zuko’s shoulders in both hands like he was going to shake him, though he mustered the control to stop just short of it. He looked directly into Zuko’s eyes, which were wider than usual, like he was surprised that Sokka was having such a strong reaction to him nearly getting himself killed. “Never do that again,” he commanded his friend, putting as much emphasis in his tone as he could. “Giving us advance warning of a threat is good of you, but it’s not worth your life.”

Zuko swallowed, speechless for the moment. Sokka finally broke eye contact to rest his forehead on Zuko’s shoulder. He realized that he was shaking, suddenly overwhelmed by everything—the battle, the threat to the moon, the danger his little family group constantly found themselves in. Who was he to lecture Zuko anyway? Yesterday Sokka had volunteered for a secret mission that might easily have claimed his life.

He felt Zuko’s strong hands grip his sides gently but firmly, then warm skin rubbing against his scalp, rasping over the stubble of the shaved side of his head. A warm breath feathered across his cheek and down his neck. Zuko was doing his weird dragon nuzzling thing again, but Sokka didn’t try to stop him. Truly, the weirdest thing about it was how nice it felt, even though it probably should have made him uncomfortable with how alien it was. He’d never let Zuko do this to him before, not really. He’d seen Zuko do it with Aang and Katara many a time, but Sokka preferred to think of himself as a man who didn’t need that kind of comfort anymore, who could stand on his own. Well, he stood corrected. Besides, Zuko was older than him and probably the most independent person Sokka knew, and he still clearly liked physical affection, so to heck with it. Sokka could be a manly man and still cuddle with his friends.

“I’m sorry, Sokka,” Zuko murmured in his ear. “I promise I wasn’t trying to get myself killed. I just get so focused on what I feel I need to do that I forget to think things through. Maybe I get too goal-oriented sometimes. But I can handle myself, I promise.”

Sokka heaved a huge sigh. ‘Goal-oriented’ was how he would describe Zuko if he were trying to be polite. ‘Crazy obsessive’ was probably closer to being accurate. “Dude, you’re hardcore, but get real.” He felt more than heard Zuko’s laughter through his body.

He took a deep breath and finally pulled away, only to see Yue watching them with equal parts concern and curiosity. Maybe a little more curiosity. Sokka felt his ears begin to heat.

“Okay, time out’s over. Let’s get going before the sun comes up and we all turn into cucumberquats.” He strode off with purpose, letting the other two trail behind him. “And Zuko, if you value your sanity and autonomy, you will never tell Katara that you followed a turtle seal into a tunnel of unknown depth and destination.”

Finding Chief Arnook was, thankfully, not difficult. He was right where Yue had thought he would be—in the council chamber, Pakku by his side, bending over a map and discussing strategy.

If only it would prove just as easy to convince him of the danger.

“How did you learn of this threat?” Chief Arnook asked them, looking between Sokka and Yue. “It hardly seems possible that this could be the Fire Nation’s plan. It is too…unlikely.”

“We had a man on the inside,” Sokka answered, gesturing to Zuko, who was hanging back a bit. No need to reveal that Zuko was a firebender if it wasn’t strictly necessary. “He’s been traveling with us since we left the Southern Water Tribe, but when we left the Earth Kingdom to fly to Agna Qel’a, he decided to stay behind and keep an eye on the movements of the Fire Nation’s forces. It’s a good thing he did, too, or we wouldn’t have known about this.”

Chief Arnook regarded Zuko with a frown. “Come forward, young man. Tell me yourself what you have found out.” Zuko stepped forward and began to speak, but the chief interrupted him. “Remove your hood and mask. It is not polite to address me with your face covered.”

Zuko slowly pulled back the hood of his snowsuit and lowered the cowl from his face. Sokka saw the surprise on Chief Arnook’s face when he caught sight of Zuko’s scar for the first time, though he tried to conceal it. Pakku, on the other hand—his eyes narrowed.

“What is your name, soldier?” Pakku scowled.

Zuko met his eyes, expression neutral. “My name is Zuko. I’m not a soldier.”

“No, you’re not, are you,” Pakku growled. “Not a common one, anyway. Not a prince like you.”

Drown it. Pakku knew who Zuko was. The jig was up. Sokka fought to remain calm, even as Yue looked back and forth between them, clearly confused.

“Chief Arnook, this little spidersnake is a prince of the Fire Nation, none other than the son of Fire Lord Ozai,” Pakku pronounced, looking down his nose at Sokka’s stoic friend.

The chief looked to Sokka, the shock clear on his face. “Is this true?” he asked.

“Zuko is our friend and ally, not our enemy,” Sokka said as firmly as he knew how, fighting to keep his voice from cracking or wavering. He had to get this right; if he didn’t, Zuko’s life could be in danger. “He has helped us cross the world to get here. I don’t know if we would have made it without him.”

“Of course he did!” Pakku spat. “He needed you to open the doors of Agna Qel’a to him, so he could lead half the Navy to vanquish one of the last strongholds untouched by the Fire Nation!”

“That doesn’t even make any sense!” Sokka burst out in frustration. “I didn’t even open any doors for him—none of us helped him get in here because we didn’t even know he was coming. He came to warn us, not to help the Fire Nation!”

“Then how did he get in, past the walls and guards and patrols?” Chief Arnook asked, and Sokka realized that he might have messed up already.

“Uh, he…”

“I swam under the wall, through a turtle seal tunnel I happened upon,” Zuko said, voice calm and expressionless. “Your defenses are secure, Chief Arnook. No other Fire Nation soldier would try what I did.”

Pakku scoffed. “Ridiculous! You expect us to believe that you can hold your breath as long as a turtle seal? That you, a firebender, can withstand the freezing temperature of the sea long enough to swim under the wall? What lies!”

“How would you know?” Sokka nearly shouted at Pakku. “Are you a firebending expert? Have you ever even met a firebender, cooped up behind this wall?”

Pakku snarled, but Chief Arnook silenced them both with a loud, “Enough!”

The chief turned to Sokka, frowning, and Sokka winced. Taunting Pakku for hiding behind the wall was a low blow, one that included the chief and all his warriors. That remark was ill-thought-out, and Sokka had known that even as it left his lips.

“I’m disappointed, Sokka,” Chief Arnook said. “I wouldn’t have expected you, of all people, to give credence to Fire Nation lies.” Sokka opened his mouth to protest, but the chief continued, speaking over him. “Take my daughter back to the Oasis, and this time stay there, where it’s safe. If you think the Fire Nation is aiming to attack that spot, then you and your friends are welcome to stay there to defend it, so long as you also defend my daughter.”

Sokka couldn’t accept that. “You won’t even reassign a company of warriors to guard the Oasis? We just gave you intelligence about a threat to the very heart of your city, and you’re going to ignore it?”

“Even if I believed this threat,” Chief Arnook replied, the look in his eyes clearly telling Sokka what he thought of this so-called intelligence, “Our defenders are already stretched thin on the wall. We need everyone we can get to repel the Fire Nation’s attack. It is nearly dawn.”

“You would have more warriors if you recalled Hahn and his men from their mission!” Sokka argued. “What they’re doing is suicide! They don’t have the inside knowledge to take down Zhao on his own ship, and even if they somehow managed it, it wouldn’t stop the attack! Cutting off the head of the spidersnake doesn’t work on the Fire Nation Navy because their hierarchy is designed to replace leaders quickly and efficiently. If Zhao is killed, the next highest-ranking commander will take over and carry on as planned!”

Sokka would have gone on, but the chief held up a hand to silence him. “I have given my orders. Continue this way, Sokka, and there will be consequences for you. Now, I believe I told you to take my daughter to safety.”

Sokka nodded, biting his tongue, and was about to grab his friends to exit in high dudgeon when Pakku made a gesture with his hand that Sokka knew meant he was waterbending. He turned to find Zuko with his legs encased in ice up to the knee.

He whirled back around with a shout of surprise and objection, only to find several warriors converging on them. Two of them had already forced Zuko’s hands behind his back and formed manacles of ice around his wrists. Sokka’s stomach sank.

“It is almost dawn,” Chief Arnook repeated. “The Navy will be at our walls in minutes. I do not have time to summon the council and deal with this interloper now. He will wait in the ice cells until such time as we can devote to his sentencing.” He looked at Sokka with cold eyes. “You can give your defense of him then, if you wish.”

Sokka was on the point of protesting when he felt a small hand on his arm. “Father,” Yue said, “please reconsider sending this prisoner to the ice cells. You said we need every man, and he can be useful to us. Release him under my custody and care. Sokka and I will take him with us to the Oasis, where he will be far from the main action and unable to contact his countrymen. Under the guard of Sokka, Katara and Avatar Aang, he will help us watch over the Oasis and defend it from attack.”

Sokka could have kissed her. She had to be the smartest, prettiest, bravest girl he’d ever met.

But the chief was shaking his head. “That is not a good idea, Yue,” he said. “I do not want this firebender near you, or near the Oasis. He may not be as comfortable with the temperature in the cells, but he will be quite safe there, and we will be safe from him.”

“He isn’t going to hurt any of us! He isn’t our enemy!” Sokka protested again, but stopped when he heard Zuko softly call his name.

“Sokka,” Zuko said, so calmly that Sokka wanted to scream. “I’ll be all right. Aang and Katara need you with them now.”

Sokka looked at his friend, heart sinking. He hated to see Zuko bound like that. It reminded him too much of what happened on the Crescent Isle, where they had come so close to death. But Zuko was meeting his eyes with a steady gaze. He was confident, even now when he was going to be thrown into an ice cell for who knew how long after nearly drowning in freezing waters. How long could a firebender of Zuko’s power and experience withstand the cold of the North Pole? Sokka didn’t want to have to find out, but he finally nodded anyway. “Hang in there, buddy,” he murmured, and Zuko nodded back as Pakku released his legs and no less than four warriors began to lead him away, the prisoner’s arms gripped tightly between them.

“Hey, jerkbender!” Sokka called after him. “How do I wake Aang up?”

The warriors did not stop, but Zuko craned his neck to look back at him over his shoulder. Then he shrugged. “Try breathing on him,” he suggested.

Sokka scoffed. “You’re the one with dragon breath, not me!”

“Trust me, Sokka,” Zuko called back, “yours is bad enough to wake anyone up.” And then his guards shoved him through a door, and he was gone.

“Jerk,” Sokka muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Didn’t even let me get the last word in. C’mon, Yue, let’s go.” He didn’t even glance at the surprised looks on Chief Arnook and Master Pakku’s faces as he took Yue’s hand and strode out of the chamber.

He made it two streets over before his temper burst. “Aaarrgh!” he shouted, kicking out at the wall of a building and then smashing both fists against it. Frustration slightly eased, he let his forehead thunk against the wall as well. He tried to concentrate on breathing to calm himself down. Regulated breathing was pretty much the first thing Zuko had taught all of them, way back before they even knew who he really was. He should probably try for the guy, if not for himself.

“Sokka, I’m sorry,” Yue said.

Sokka shook his head, forehead scraping against the wall. “We never should have gone to the chief,” he muttered. “Now we’re worse off than if we had just stayed in the Oasis and taken care of things ourselves, like we always have to!”

Sokka was tired. He was tired of running everywhere they’d gone since they’d left the South Pole. He was tired of his friends being put in prison and in chains. He was tired of having to be the responsible adult when the only other one he knew was also just a teenager. Well, he supposed that Appa was a responsible adult too, but he was also a bison, so.

He was even more tired of the people who were supposed to be responsible adults ignoring them, dismissing them, and still putting everything on them to take care of alone.

Sokka felt like he hadn’t had a moment’s peace since they’d left home—until they got here. When they finally made it to Agna Qel’a, the place they’d been trying to get to for months, he thought that he could relax a little. These people were his and Katara’s kin, they should have been safe now. But then Katara had to fight to even be trained, and Yue was being forced to marry that idiot Hahn, and then the Fire Nation attacked, and now they’d locked up the one person Sokka was absolutely sure would defend them with his life.

“We had to try,” Yue whispered to him, her small hand coming to rest on his arm. “Zuko knew that, which is why he agreed, despite the risk. We did our best.”

Sokka was increasingly afraid that his best wasn’t good enough.

He was also increasingly sure that he had to keep trying anyway, despite how draining it was. But he still had Aang and his sister to help. And Yue was still here with him, not back there, standing with her father.

He turned to Yue and took her hand, looked into her beautiful, blue eyes. “Thank you for believing in us, Yue. Thank you for believing in me. It means so much. You’re much wiser than men twice your age, no matter what anyone says. You would be a great leader.”

Yue blushed, a shy grin gracing her face. Sokka’s stomach fluttered. “Thank you, Sokka,” she murmured. His heart melted.

He cleared his throat. “Okay, tantrum over. We better get back to the Oasis before the sun rises. And on the way, we better put our heads together to figure out what to tell Katara about Zuko that doesn’t end with her single-handedly storming the ice cells to break him out.”

Though if Sokka had known then that he had just said goodbye to his friend for the final time, he probably would have stormed the cells himself.

And if he had known that this would be Yue’s last day on Earth, he would have spirited them both away if he had to sell his face to Koh to do it.

“The spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born,” Chief Arnook said to him, after. They were alone on the ledge of the highest level of the city. The full moon was just above them, barely visible through the smoky haze filling the air, rising from a dozen wrecked Fire Nation ships. “I saw a beautiful, brave young woman become the Moon Spirit.” The man bowed his head, eyes squeezed shut as though he could not bear to look at the moon any longer. “I knew this day would come,” he almost whispered.

“You must be proud.” Sokka’s voice came out wooden, through numb lips. He wasn’t sure if he meant his words as a comfort, or if he meant them as a rebuke. Both, maybe.

Yue’s father answered him anyway. “So proud,” he said, lifting unfocused eyes to look straight ahead. “And sad,” he finished, voice hoarse.

Sokka said nothing. Not because he had nothing to say to Arnook, but because he felt he would crack open if he gave voice to his true feelings.

But the chief surprised him. He spoke again. “I am sorry that I did not listen to you and Yue when you came to me yesterday morning. You were right, about everything. I should have protected the Oasis better. I should have protected her better.” The man took a deep breath, let it out shakily. “My daughter always led with compassion and an open heart, but that did not make her wrong, or weak. She said we needed every man, and she was right. If I had let the firebender go with her as she asked, could he have been the one man that made the difference?”

Arnook’s voice wavered on the last word. Sokka could see tears in his eyes again, and he felt for the man, he truly did. He’d had many of the same thoughts, kicking himself over and over again for taking a risk that got Zuko locked up—and maybe got Yue killed.

“We can’t know that,” he murmured.

The chief shook his head slowly. “No, we can’t. But I cannot stop myself from thinking such things.” He cleared his throat, and Sokka pretended to look away as he wiped his face.

“I have given the order for your friend’s release,” Arnook finally said, voice still a bit thick but more composed after pulling himself together. “A guard has already taken Katara and Aang to the cells to retrieve him. He will receive an apology from the Northern Water Tribe for his wrongful incarceration, and we will provide any healing he may require.”

“Thank you,” Sokka said, voice almost lost on the wind. Arnook only shook his head again and turned to start back down into the city. Then he paused and half turned back, as though about to say something.

“Sokka!” a young voice carried to their ears on the wind. Sokka turned to see Aang beelining it to him on his glider.

“I will take my leave,” Chief Arnook said. “I only wanted to say, Sokka, that I will not stand in your and your friends’ way anymore. Any assistance you need, I shall endeavor to provide.”

Sokka watched him walk away for a minute, heart both overflowing and empty at the same time. Then Aang nearly knocked him over in a gust of wind with his landing.

“Sokka, Zuko escaped!” the kid nearly shouted, a grin stretching across his face. “He got out of the ice cells all on his own. And we know that it was all him too because the door was busted open from the inside! You should’ve seen the guards’ faces when they saw what he’d done, it was great!”

“So where is he now?” Sokka asked, and Aang just shrugged. Sokka groaned. “At least when he was in the ice cells I knew where he was. Now we have to track him down before he gets himself into trouble again. I am seriously putting a bell on him the very minute I see him again.”

“Katara said that we should just walk around the city calling his name until he came to us,” Aang replied.

Sokka cocked his head, considering. “Like calling a semi-feral pygmy puma? Yeah, that’s probably the strategy with the greatest chance of success when dealing with a wild dragonling. La knows that if he’s hiding, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in Si Wong of finding him.”

Sokka threw an arm around Aang’s shoulders (to make sure the kid’s feet stayed on the ground) and they headed off in a random direction.

“Um, Sokka?”

“Yeah, Aang?”

“About La…”

“Yeah?”

“When our spirits merged…I don’t really remember much, but it seemed like—I mean, do you think—was there a lot—of…damage?”

Sokka held in a sigh. Drown Aang’s tender heart. Sokka had no idea how many people had died when the Ocean Spirit decided to take revenge. He was pretty sure it was a non-zero number, but he wouldn’t ever admit that to Aang.

“The Fire Nation were the ones doing the damage,” Sokka said, hoping that would soothe Aang’s conscience. “La just…ended the fight they started.” He looked down to see Aang’s brows furrowed, a worried frown on his face. “It wasn’t you, kid,” Sokka said, giving the younger boy a little squeeze with the arm he had wrapped around him. “Whatever happened…that’s on the Ocean Spirit, not you.”

“I’m afraid, Sokka,” Aang whispered. The admission in that small voice pierced like an arrow through Sokka’s heart. “It was really scary to lose control like that. I’ve never been in control of the Avatar State, and I don’t know how to—how to stop myself.”

“It’ll be okay, Aang,” Sokka reassured him. “We’ll help you figure it out. We can ask Master Pakku what he thinks. And when we find Zuko, I’m sure he’ll have a few ideas too. I know you only got to train with him in firebending for a couple of weeks, but you said yourself that it seemed really spiritual, at least the way Zuko did it.”

Aang nodded. “I like Zuko as a teacher. He’s good at figuring out ways to explain so I understand. He’s almost as good as—Well, he’s one of my favorite teachers ever.”

Sokka nodded, letting Monk Gyatso’s name slide. “Then let’s ask Zuko first. You and Master Pakku never really clicked.”

“Okay,” Aang said, finally grinning up at him. The kid shook himself, then skipped ahead of Sokka to jump up to walk balancing along a narrow wall of ice. “Hey Sokka, we should swing by the prison so you can see what Zuko did to his cell! There’s almost nothing left of the door, it was so cool! We could come up with theories about how he did it and when we find him, we can take bets on who had the best theory!”

Sokka continued to listen with half an ear, nodding along to Aang’s yammering. He wished he could bounce back as quickly as the kid did, but while having a plan seemed to have lifted a weight from Aang’s mind, there was still something heavy sitting in Sokka’s chest.

It was hours before they found a lead on Zuko’s whereabouts, the sneaky stoatweasel. They’d met up with Katara and were combing the canals when a waterbender came up to them. Sokka recognized him as one of the warriors who had taken Zuko to the cells. The guy had heard them calling out for Zuko, and he knew someone who might have seen him.

The warrior led them to the healing halls and brought them inside to see another man who looked almost okay but for the fact that he was shaking slightly and seemed confused. Sokka recognized the symptoms as battle shock. It had been an issue in the South Pole years ago, when raids by the Fire Nation were more common. The weapons the Fire Nation used were terrible—loud and extremely destructive, emitting smoke and fumes. Nothing at all like what their warriors were accustomed to. It had caused damage to the minds of some warriors and civilians, as well as the body.

“Y-yes, I saw him,” the man stammered once they had explained what they were after a couple of times. “He was fighting another firebender, an officer in their Navy, by his armor and uniform. He was tall, and had mutton chops.”

“Zhao,” Sokka growled, anger rising from the numbness that had had hold of his emotions. “Tell me Zuko kicked that sorry son of a spidersnake’s ass.”

“It was a—a close match, I think,” the man said, folding his hands together and gripping his fingers tight. “But I think the prince would have won if not for…if not for…” The man trailed off, mouth going slack and eyes distant in a way that worried Sokka.

“If not for what?” he said, slowly reaching out to cover the man’s hands with one of his own, trying to carefully bring his attention back to the conversation.

The man looked at him, blue eyes wide with fear. “La,” he whispered hoarsely. A shiver went down Sokka’s spine. He let go of the man’s hands to rub his own together, anxious. “La reached up from the canal and—and grabbed them. Grabbed them with a glowing, blue hand and—and dragged them down. Into the canal. They didn’t come back up.”

“No,” a tiny voice whispered. Sokka turned, stomach sinking, to see Aang with tears brimming in his big, gray eyes. “He can’t be—I didn’t—I didn’t—” Katara gathered him in her arms just as the tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“No, you didn’t, Aang,” she said quietly, voice choked. “This wasn’t your fault. And we don’t know what really happened. Maybe he got away. Maybe he’s okay,” she said, but the tears on her face told Sokka that she didn’t quite believe it.

Sokka should comfort Aang. He should put his arms around him and Katara and hold them. He should question the battle shocked warrior to be sure he saw what he saw. He should go comb the canals for Zuko’s body. He should…

But instead he just stood there, tears held at bay for so long finally spilling over, cursing his brave, idiot brother for making them mourn him.