#sokka and zuko are best friends/roommates but maybe definitely more and sokka has a plan to get zuko out of his head using the dance studio

[headaching]

🎨

🎨 - show us a w.i.p of yours!

:-) this is from a college roommate au where zuko and sokka are sitting on the floor of their dorm after a night of drinking.

*

How the topic of their taste in men came up, Sokka couldn’t remember. Suddenly it seemed, Zuko was casually asking, “What kind of guys are you into?” Sokka stopped chewing mid-bite and set the upper half of the dinosaur-shaped nugget on the plate. He swallowed and avoided Zuko’s unbridled gaze.

“Um…” Sokka hummed as he crossed his legs and propped his elbows on them.

“You don’t have to answer that,” Zuko mumbled, then took a swig from the flask. He offered it to Sokka, who gratefully accepted.

“It’s okay,” Sokka replied before taking a long drink. He grimaced at the sensation of warm, shitty vodka burning its way along his esophagus. The immediate warmth flooded first Sokka’s stomach, then his cheeks, which only grew rosier as he considered a response. A stolen glance at Zuko revealed his knees had fallen to the floor, his hands braced beside him on the carpet.

“I don’t know,” Sokka admitted with a shrug, his eyes glued to the floor. “I’ve never dated a man before.” Sokka decided on another quick swig for his bravery, and passed it to Zuko, whose eyes hadn’t left Sokka’s face.

“Really?” he asked, sounding astonished.

Sokka nodded sheepishly and hiccuped. “Does that surprise you?” he asked softly, and Zuko tilted his head in thought.

“Kind of. You’re always talking about guys you think are hot,” Zuko observed, and Sokka’s blush crept to his ears.

“Take another drink,” Sokka instructed, afraid to be the drunkest one in the room. Zuko obliged, but his eyes didn’t leave Sokka even as the flask touched his lips. “Yeah, I think a lot of guys are hot,” Sokka continued, the scrutiny of Zuko’s stare a microscope, “but that doesn’t mean I want to date them.”

“Fair enough,” Zuko agreed, the words slurred. Zuko’s eyes narrowed in front of him, focused on nothing in particular as he tipped the flask back once more. When he was finished, Zuko shook the flask, the empty space accentuated. He held it out to Sokka and offered, “Want the last drink?”

Sokka grimaced. “I guess so,” he replied.

He almost spit out the vodka when Zuko nonchalantly implored, “So does that mean you’ve never kissed a guy?”

The alcohol effectively incinerated Sokka’s throat, so his confession was raspy, “No, I haven’t.”

“Do you want to?” Though Zuko’s words ran together, they were confident. The combination of Zuko and the alcohol had the room reeling, or maybe it was just Sokka. He could barely feel his legs as they pulled into his chest, or his hands grazing his shins.

“I do,” Sokka affirmed. His heart hammered like the beat of a drum and Zuko was holding the sticks. “I never really had the opportunity, and…” Words and complex thought alluded him, each blink slowed with drunken stupor. “What if I’m not good at it?”

The question suspended in the air. Zuko shifted so his entire body was directed at Sokka with his knees crossed. “Bet you are,” Zuko argued knowingly, his eyebrow raised. Sokka huffed a short laugh of disbelief.

“Yeah? You think so?” Sure, Sokka had conversed with Zuko on more than one occasion in a way that could be interpreted as flirting, but it was always for the purpose of lighthearted teasing. Sokka clung to the safety of claiming satire, but Zuko never seriously complained. Now, initiated by Zuko, it felt more substantial, somehow.

Zuko nodded, his assurance a simple, “Yup.”

“And why’s that?” Sokka prodded, and relaxed his position to mirror Zuko’s, unafraid now to focus his attention on him.

Sokka was bewildered for a moment when Zuko’s thumb drug across Sokka's lower lip. “That stupid mouth,” Zuko laughed, and Sokka’s jaw fell in mock betrayal. “It’s gotta be good for something.”

Sokka moved the plate to his other side so he could kick Zuko’s leg and slap his hand away at the same time. “Asshole,” he muttered, but Zuko’s giggle was relentless. He slumped over and rested his forehead against his arms as his shoulders shook with laughter. “Ya done?” Sokka asked sarcastically.

When Zuko craned his neck upward, he was no longer laughing, but a dreamy grin encapsulated his face. In one fast motion, Zuko’s fingers smoothed across Sokka’s exposed bicep and caressed the muscles lightly. “What if…” Zuko slurred as his fingers worked their way to Sokka’s chin. “What if I’m the first guy you kiss, for practice?”

Sokka let out a tortured breath as his hand closed around Zuko’s wrist, but he didn’t remove Zuko’s fingers. “Zuko,” Sokka breathed, his voice gentle, “you’re really drunk.” It sounded hypocritical out of his mouth, warped and garbled.

“So’re you,” Zuko countered defiantly. He even glared in the cutest way possible, and Sokka was sure his bones liquified. His thoughts jumbled all around his head, and logic was indiscernible amongst the whirlwind of excitement. Zuko bit his lip as his hand fell to Sokka’s shoulder. “Do you want to?” he asked hesitantly, and Sokka hadn’t the willpower to lie.

“Yes,” he replied instantly, and Zuko’s eyes fluttered closed.

Sokka resigned to his erratic breathing and focused on his fingers, testing a featherlight touch against either side of Zuko’s jaw. He unfolded his legs to rest his weight on his knees, and with him he brought Zuko’s head tilted upward. Sokka’s eyes closed and he leaned forward until their lips made contact.

[baegarrick]

ZUKKA ADVICE COLUMNIST AU! EITHER sokka as the columnist with a large readership/listenership bc of his elaborate plans to address typical relationship/work problems & zuko asking questions about social situations/making new friends when you've had a troubled childhood & your best friend is your uncle. OR: zuko as the thoroughly unqualified advice columnist (THAT'S ROUGH BUDDY)

yes 👏🏻

idk if it was inspired by this post or not, but if you haven’t seen it you should

finally got this done I'm the slowest actually

as much as I love “thoroughly unqualified zuko” (he’s my favorite dummy), I’m kinda so here for a “sokka’s elaborate plans” au

I’m thinking a little “you’ve got mail” and that post mixed in

so: Sokka is an advice columnist in the college paper. (this is a college au now sorry)

Zuko is one of his roommates (with like, Aang and Haru or something)

Sokka’s column is one of those “ask auntie” anonymous columns, and the name he’s forced to pen under is.... Aunt Wu. Katara and Aang both know he writes for the paper in the column, bc Katara’s his sister and Aang is their oldest friend and he figured it out (the kid is smart), but most of their friends don’t know, mostly bc the paper wants to keep it as anonymous as possible, and also he really didn't plan on staying this long. it was supposed to be one of those easy jobs for a semester until he got an internship in the robotics department, but it’s three semesters and one robotics internship later and he still!! has a job!! (partially because they told him if he quit they would do something unspeakably horrible to him, and also bc he’s..... popular??)

it started out as just a job, but Sokka’s an overthinker. he’s bright as hell, and maybe it’s his engineering brain, but he sometimes misses the obvious sometimes. Half his plans for “how do I deal with this guy who I’m dating who says either the fish goes or he does?” start out “dump him!!!” and then end with “.... actually wait, first of all it’s really shitty he wants you to get rid of a fish??? its a FISH???? it doesn’t even do anything????” and then three paragraphs of both a personal experience (sokka surprisingly has a lot of personal stories that Relate) and an elaborate plan for dumping this guy and then signing him up for like 12 free fish magazines.

He gets really popular, and while some of the questions he gets are weird and kinda over the top (”aunt wu, I’m blind but want to join the wrestling team, how do i tell my parents I’m both gay and stronger than them?”) some are just kinda sad (”aunt wu, my uncle is my best friend, how do I make friends?”). They’re all asked anonymously, sometimes with funny names attached. The latter is from a guy calling himself, “Blue Spirit.”

Anyway. Three semesters into writing this column, he lives with Aang, Zuko, and Haru. He picked Aang, the other two just came with the place (Suki, Katara, Yue, and Toph said “under absolutely no circumstances will we be splitting up so good LUCK boys we’re out.”)

He starts getting questions like, “How do I break the ice with my roommates?”, from the “Blue Spirit” guy, which prompts Sokka to get his roommates involved. He’s not against crowdsourcing. (only aang knows about the job, he tells the others its for school.) Sokka doesn’t really know Haru and Zuko, but like, this is a great way to get to know them, right?

Haru’s chill off the bat, but Zuko’s awkward and fumbling, and a little shy (though Sokka has heard him getting in a shouting match with the TV on more than one occasion), but after they get into it, throwing out ideas, Sokka thinks, you know, this was a good way to make friends with roommates. (he doesn’t write that, exactly, he’s got a reputation to uphold, but he includes “tricking them into hanging out with you by asking about a homework assignment” in the article) Zuko’s in the living room a lot more often after that, and even asked for Sokka’s help on a physics assignment once (ya know, bc Sokka’s super smart), so he thinks the method is tried and true.

A couple weeks of other mundane questions, he gets one that makes him pause. “What do I do if I have a crush on my roommate?” (Blue Spirit). and he thinks, “oh no, the ice breaker worked TOO WELL.” (but, of course, he doesn’t know what to do about this. He’s never had a crush on a roommate before. Aang’s like his little brother, Jet was a creep, and Hahn was the WORST. So he outsources again.)

[”Hey Aang,” Sokka says, hanging half upside down off the couch, “would you date your roommate?”

“Sorry Sokka, I’m flattered, but you know that Katara has captured my heart-- hey!” Sokka throws the remote at him.

“Not me! Just like, in general. Would you date someone you’re living with?”

“Oh, is this advice for your...... thing?” His eyes twinkle, “Or.... do you have a crush on someone I should know about????” (Aang is wildly unhelpful. He says he would date his roommate, no questions asked, but Sokka thinks he’s just thinking about Katara.)

He asks Zuko, next, the first person to come through the door.

“Would you date your roommate, Zuko?” Sokka asks. Zuko looks like he’s a deer caught in the headlights. “I’m asking for a friend,” Sokka says, whenever they ask. This was what had gotten him in trouble with Aang, but so far no one else had noticed Aunt Wu answering the same questions in the paper a week later.

Zuko relaxes, but he doesn’t look much better. “Uhhhh.”

“I mean, not like, us,” Sokka said, “I don’t know if you’re into dudes--”

“Definitely into dudes,” Zuko rushes to say, his cheeks pink all over again, and it’s cute. Sokka can see why dating him might be appealing. Oh no. That’s a thought for later. “Definitely gay.” And then, “I mean.... would you?”

“I don’t know,” Sokka says thoughtfully, looking Zuko over. Before he can think over it, Haru comes out of the bathroom, freshly showered.

Haru just shrugs. “I mean, isn’t your spouse just like your permanent roommate? It’s just like making a commitment really really early.”]

He publishes this in the paper: “What do you want to do about it?”

When he’s typing it up, he thinks about it. There are really two options for having a crush on your roommate. One, you can tell them you like them, or two, suffer in silence. He thinks about it. If he had a crush on someone-- his thoughts wandering to Zuko far more often than he likes-- he would probably do something about it. That’s what he did with Yue, that’s what Suki did with him. He details an elaborate plan with anecdotes about what he did with Yue, leaving out the part that they broke up. Giving her gifts, making her laugh, showing up at her workplace just to hang out for a little while. He details a 12-step plan that involves defeating your rival in hand-to-hand combat.

Of course, none of that would work with Zuko. They once got into an argument over how loud the TV was when neither of them were watching it, so he definitely wouldn’t want Sokka fighting his battles for him.

And then, oh no.

(He publishes the article. He tries not to feel like a hypocrite when he doesn’t immediately ask Zuko out, thinking about what Haru says. It’s a lot of commitment for an early relationship. He’s always the responsible one. For once in his life, he doesn’t go after what he wants.)

A couple months of this, living with these dudes, one of whim he now has a crush on!! thanks ANONYMOUS BLUE SPIRIT, the girl running the horoscopes segment of the paper quits and leaves that segment without an author. cue Sokka, reluctant horoscope writer. (He doesn’t even believe in this stuff!! but does he really believe half the stuff he writes in Aunt Wu?)

He half-asses it the first week. He looks up some bullshit guide to what everything means, listens to Toph describe what she thinks they mean over drinks at the tea place, and then sends it off to be published. He finds Zuko sulking in the living room two days later.

[”My horoscope said I’m going to make everyone around me miserable this week!” Zuko falls back on the couch, dramatically, like it’s a fainting sofa. “With my physics exam next week, I know it’s because I’m going to fail and drag you all down with me!”

“Oh,” Sokka says, stopping in the doorway. “You read those? ...and believe them?”

“Yes?” Zuko says, face a flushed red.

“Oh,” Sokka says, mind going a million miles per hour. “I have to, uh, go do my homework now.”]

The next week, Scorpio gets a nice horoscope about how everything is going to go right in the world and all that other sappy bullshit. Zuko looks better before his exam, and he’s happier. Sokka keeps that in mind whenever he seems Zuko looking a little down.

It’s not until the week before Winter Break that Sokka is forced to confront his feelings, in the dumbest of ways. His laptop breaks, and he asks Zuko to borrow his so he can finish the second-to-final Aunt Wu column. Zuko tosses his laptop over without thinking, from the other side of the couch, and he goes to open a document when he sees one already open.

It’s an early draft of a letter addressed to Aunt Wu, and it’s signed off with, “Blue Spirit.” He looks over at Zuko, who seems to realize what he left open at the same time, and suddenly--

[Zuko pounces, practically leaping into Sokka’s lap to slam the laptop shut. Sokka looks down at him, surprised. The only thing he can think of saying is, “You’re the Blue Spirit?”

Zuko looks more like he’s ready to die than ever, cheeks a furious red, “You read Aunt Wu?”

“Of course not,” Sokka says without thinking. “I write it.”

“Oh,” Zuko says, “that’s so much worse.”

Finally the implication catches up to Sokka, and this time, he feels his face heat, Zuko still sprawled across his lap. “You.... have a crush on your roommate?” Zuko doesn’t say anything. For once, Sokka’s mouth works properly. “Dude, I really hope your crush is on me because otherwise this is gonna be really awkward.”

“Wha--” Zuko tries to say, but Sokka’s leaning down to kiss him. When he pulls back, Zuko looks a little starstruck. “Oh. Yeah. It was definitely on you.”]

(Sokka doesn’t tell him about the horoscopes. He’ll tell him when he graduates, but for now, he likes making Zuko smile.)

[avatarnao]

A Million Dreams CH. 1

Pairing: Zukka, Kataang

Soulmate AU, College AU, Roommates AU

Next

A03

******

There’s a lot of back and forth with Katara and his family, but eventually Sokka is able to convince them to let him move in on his own. It’s sophomore year and he doesn’t need them cramming into a tiny dorm room, taking up more space than necessary, okay? Sokka just wants to get to his room, meet his new roommate, and get unpacked. Maybe run to the dining hall and grab some lunch. Or dinner. Whatever meal is happening by the time he gets there. 

Unfortunately, his plans to meet the roomie are thwarted, the grin on his face and ‘hello’ on the tip of his tongue dying out the moment he opens the door. His roomie’s been here if the immaculately made bed, and almost compulsively organized desk is any indication. Only the room is empty so Sokka can only assume the guy is out and about. 

It’s a little discouraging, but Sokka can live with this. Might be better to unpack on his own anyway. He just hopes his roommate isn’t a neat freak considering the neverending mess that is his room back home. There’s going to be a lot of arguments in the future if that’s the case. Hopefully, some sort of compromise can be reached. 

Sokka gets to work unpacking his things and getting his side of the room set up. He’s sure his roommate wouldn’t appreciate him leaving boxes all over the place to unpack later. The text chime on his phone goes off just as he’s placing a poster on the wall. He checks his phone and finds a message from Yue.

She’s asking if he wants to meet up for dinner. Grinning, he texts her back with a time to meet up and which dining hall. In all honesty, he’d been planning on going alone to try and make some new friends. Having dinner with Yue though is something he can’t pass up. She’s likely to be in the music hall for most of the semester so this might be their only chance to meet up before classes start. 

He has an hour until dinner though, and so he gets to work making his bed and organizing his desk. It’s way more work than he’d normally do, but he doesn’t want to make a bad first impression with his roomie… who still hasn’t returned. 

Zuko. He reminds himself. His roommate’s name is Zuko, and he has got to stop calling him ‘the roommate’. Sokka just hopes they can be amicable towards each other. The last thing he wants is to be living with another Jet. 

Sokka does his best to make his side of the room as neat and organized as possible, then leaves to meet up with Yue.

******

The dining hall is packed by the time Sokka and Yue make it inside. He’s hardly surprised. This is the most popular of the three on campus. They wander through the crowd, looking for an empty table and eventually find one in the back near the windows. Sokka promptly slaps his bag down on the surface and they leave to get food. 

A group of what he assumes to be freshmen watch him go with wide eyes and he laughs a little. They always say not to leave stuff unattended at the tables, but he’s long since gotten over that fear. Nobody in his year or higher seems to care about such a thing and he certainly would never steal someone’s stuff. If someone took his table, though, he’d be fuming. 

Yue goes for the sushi. Sokka settles with loading his plate up with meat kebabs. Sushi is all well and good, but he spent the entire summer consuming Water Tribe cuisine. No… he’s been looking forward to food from the other nations to try out. He takes a moment to chat with some of the dining hall staff, surprised to find Suki of all people working the line. She introduces him to a few new faces before he needs to return to his dinner date with Yue. 

Suki gives him a playful shove, eyes rolling as he walks away from her station. She knows Sokka isn’t serious about Yue. Not like that at least. Yue is gorgeous, for sure, and at one point, he thought maybe there was something there. That was before she confessed to having met her soulmate. The news crushed him a little but they’ve managed to stay good friends and he’s more than happy with that arrangement. 

Dinner passes with them getting caught up and sharing stories from over the summer. Sokka’s summer was full of fishing and teaching some of the younger kids how to hunt out on the ice. Yue taught piano and singing lessons to children of nobles.They exchange schedules so they can plan to meet up at some point in the future, though Sokka knows it’s likely to fall through given their classes. Still, it’s the thought that counts, and they can always meet up for a study session if needed. 

Suki has long since finished her shift and joined them for a late dinner by the time they're leaving. The pair part ways with Yue so she can head over to the music room. He’s not even sure if the academic buildings are even open, but Yue’s pretty dedicated to her music. Sokka and Suki head back to their dorm to relax before classes start on Tuesday. 

“I heard there’s a new tea shop in town,” Suki says as their conversation drifts away from classes. She’s walking along one of those low walls along the sidewalk that people love to sit on. “We should go check it out some time.” 

“The one that opened over the summer?” Sokka asks and she nods. “Yeah, I think Aang was talking about it earlier. Said the tea there was the best. I’d be down for going.” 

“Bring your roommate so we can all meet him?” Sokka scoffs and rolls his eyes. 

“I haven’t even met the guy,” he tells her. 

“Oh…” Suki gets to the end of the wall and jumps down. “Has he not moved in yet?” 

“He moved in before me but he wasn’t there when I arrived,” he answers with a shrug. “Guess he’s just busy… or something.” Only… Sokka vaguely recalls something about Zuko being a transfer student. So… maybe he’s been getting familiar with campus, or making some new friends? He shrugs again. “I’m sure I’ll run into him soon enough since we live together. Maybe he’ll be okay with joining us.” Assuming he isn’t busy with his own stuff. 

“Remind me again why you didn’t just room with Haru?” she asks. Sokka sighs. So… in reality, he and Haru probably would’ve been great roommates. Sokka would’ve done it in a heartbeat but Haru wanted to move off campus and he just wasn’t ready for that. Besides, rooming with a random person just means more opportunity to make new friends, and maybe meet his soulmate, of course. 

“I wanted another year on campus, remember?” Suki hums but still looks unconvinced. She would’ve just moved off campus if she were in his position. Jet would’ve turned anyone off from having a roommate again. Thankfully, Sokka believes in second chances. Also, not everyone is Jet. 

“How’s Katara liking her new place?” Suki asks, and the conversation turns to their small group of friends. 

He invites Suki back to his room which she kindly turns down. Something about needing to finish unpacking. 

Much to Sokka’s surprise, his room is currently occupied. By someone he can only assume is his roommate given the guy’s half-naked appearance. Sokka’s gaze starts first at the towel wrapped around his waist, then follows water droplets up his stupidly toned abs, and obscenely muscular arms to land on his surprised gaze. He feels his face grow warm as they stare silently at each other before Sokka abruptly steps out of the room and shuts the door. 

He stares at the door wondering what the hell he’s doing. This is his room too! They’re going to be living together for the next year, and they sure as hell will be times they see each other half-naked! If he can’t survive this then it’s going to be a long year.

Thankfully, his roommate has gotten dressed in the time he spent outside having a crisis, donning a simple red tunic and pants. Fire Nation, then, Sokka determines, glancing quickly over Zuko’s side. Other than his clothes, nothing else seems to reveal his heritage. Makes Sokka wonder at that but he chooses not to ask. For now at least. He’ll ask when they’ve gotten to know each other better. 

Zuko’s sitting at his desk, headphones on and blaring music loud enough Sokka can hear the lyrics. Okay so… not exactly the best first impression, but he wishes he could at least introduce himself properly. Sokka peaks over his shoulder as he moves into the room, curious over what Zuko is furiously scribbling into his book. He must get too close because his companion freezes and then quickly snaps the book shut, turning to glare at the person behind him. The music cuts off suddenly. 

“Can I help you?” Zoku growls. 

“Sorry…” Sokka steps away from him and over to his bed. Zuko’s still watching him and he finally notices the very large and entirely unmistakable scar on his face. It looks pretty gnarly and he wonders vaguely if Zuko can even see out of that eye but he wisely chooses not to comment. Instead, he flops onto his bed and says, “I’m Sokka by the way. Nice to meet you officially.”

Zuko hums. There’s a long beat of silence where Sokka thinks the conversation may have ended. He groans and Sokka watches his roommate slide down in his chair, hands on his face. 

“Why am I so bad at this?” he hisses under his breath. He’s trying to be discrete but it’s loud enough that Sokka can hear it. Sokka stares at his phone and pretends like he didn’t hear the comment. Zuko mutters something else that he definitely doesn’t hear and then replies, “I’m… uh...Zuko?” 

Sokka snorts. He can’t help it, and he can’t help the tiny laugh that bursts out of him. Zuko frowns, turns back toward his desk, and okay… now Sokka just feels bad. 

“Sorry,” he says, waving a hand in the air. “Didn’t mean to laugh. I just… are you telling me your name or asking?” Zuko huffs. 

“No, I…” A hand brushes through his hair and he sighs again. “I’m just not good with meeting new people…” A beat of silence. “Sorry…” 

“You don’t need to apologize, man,” Sokka tells him, waving the apology off. Zuko turns around again. Sokka gives him a reassuring smile. “I get it. Meeting new people is hard especially when they’re about to spend a whole year crammed in a tiny room together.” The tiniest possible smile Sokka’s ever seen wiggles onto Zuko’s face. It’s gone just a second later. 

“So… uh… what are you studying?” Zuko asks. 

“I haven’t decided on a major yet…” he confesses. “Sort of stuck between a few different options. You?” 

“I’m studying art therapy.” 

“Oh, cool.” Sokka isn’t too sure what to say to that, other than it sounds like a hard major. He’s honestly surprised that Zuko’s studying something so… artsy? Especially considering how… not art-esque his side of the room is. If Sokka had to guess a major, it probably would have been business related or something. Hell, he doesn’t even have any posters on the walls. If it weren’t for his very obvious Fire Nation attire, Sokka’s not even sure he’d know where his roommate was from. Not that it matters, but still... Zuko’s half of the room is as impersonal as they can get. Guy likes his privacy, Sokka supposes. 

He wonders if Zuko’s a firebender.

“What got you into that?” he asks instead, unwilling to pry into that subject just yet. Zuko shrugs. 

“Art really helped me through some… things,” he answers. “So I wanted to use it to help others.” Curiosity makes him want to ask about it but the scar on his face is probably a big indicator of what happened. Also, asking would be rude and Gran-Gran would no doubt scold him for prying into a sensitive subject.

Instead, Sokka directs the conversation to class schedules. They take the time to go over when each of them wake up every day. Surprisingly (or maybe, unsurprisingly) Zuko has a strict wake up schedule of the literal ass crack of dawn. He likes to get an early start to the day regardless of his plans which only means it’ll translate to the weekends as well, much to Sokka’s dismay. Weekends are Sokka’s down days, okay? He likes to stay up late and sleep until noon. 

Zuko swears he’ll be quiet, which Sokka has no reason to not trust so he goes along with it. It won’t be a problem anyways unless Zuko also goes to bed early which he reassures he definitely does not. 

Sokka admits he’s pretty messy because it doesn’t hurt to tell the person he’s rooming with. He promises to be as clean as possible though so it doesn’t disrupt anyone; something Zuko is visibly appreciative of. 

At some point, Zuko moves to his own bed and the lights are turned off. Silences between conversations grow longer until both boys eventually fall asleep. 

He finds himself swimming deep into the depths of the ocean. Something swims ahead, close enough to make out the shadow but too far to distinguish whatever it is. Still, he finds himself drawn to the creature. 

The water grows colders.

It grows darker. 

Still he swims.

Reaching.

Chasing. 

Trying in vain to catch up to something… something he knows, deep down is important. Whatever’s in front of him is the thing he’s been searching an entire lifetime for yet it eludes him.

Remains too far out of reach until its shadow blends into the darkness of the ocean. 

He finds himself alone.